Correl: An Element of Origin

[MarauderX]

Session 29: A Door Into the Unknown

The group scouted the Keep of Nemirka and realized it was completely empty. There were no bones or signs of struggle. It was as though the place was abandoned long ago and the inhabitants had taken everything they could carry with them. There were overturned chairs and tables, shutters were torn from windows, and wind-blown snow stacked up on walls.

The tracks of the tiger they had seen were investigated again by Quentin and Jerrin, the latter in the form of a wolf. Again they found nothing, as the tracks simply stopped soon after they left the keep, and there was no scent on the air. The party stayed the night in the keep, free from the cold wind that had whipped around them on the trail there. In the morning they left.

The trail was more apparent as a solid stone walkway ten feet wide, and it wound around several turns toward the mountain of Thermoleth. Snow had been blown away by the constant wind, and the spell-wrapped group made their way a little faster than before. Several days stretched out, and with each they could see the mountain hovering over them, its black peak soaking in the spring sun. At long last Jerrin stopped the group and they realized the mountain was now before them.

The hour was late and the sun was about to set when they made another cold camp. In the morning they found that the trail wound to the side of the mountain as it gradually split from the stream beside it. Grimnyr chiseled into the ice of the stream as water could be heard under it. Quentin scrounged among several plants looking for game and Alex kept a vigilant watch with Thovaas. Jerrin morphed into an eagle and cruised around the mountain, fighting to stay aloft and towards the direction he chose as the wind buffeted him. It was then that he noticed that the trail continued beyond the mountain and around a bend to stone-carved entrance in a mountain. He returned to tell the others what he had found.

The group walked the trail to where Jerrin had seen from above. They could see the bridge high above spanning the frozen waterfall, and Jerrin told them that the small gatehouse in the middle was empty and abandoned. Alex passed through the wide stone entrance, keeping an eye out for anything peculiar as Grimnyr inspected the construction. Cautiously they entered and Jerrin brought forth a light for Alex to guide them up the spiral ramp inside.

The group pondered that the ramp might be wide to allow for horses with carts to come up the path, but the radius of the turn was sharp and the path perhaps too steep. As they walked up the ramp Quentin told the others to halt for a moment, as he thought he distinctly heard something. Thovaas scoffed, telling him it was the wind as it whistled by the entrance below. Or perhaps it was the three horses they had left to graze on the mountainside until they returned. Jerrin cast a charm to enhance his medium and high-pitched hearing and they continued.

Then again, Quentin heard it, and this time so did Alex, but it was Jerrin that shook his head in disbelief. They waited for a moment and in a minute a low rumble could clearly be heard by all. Alex and Quentin ventured further up the slope to peer around the middle column that much further, and Jerrin pulled forth a wand to help boost their nimbleness.

Alex was the first to see a large, perfectly spherical stone ball rolling down the ramp. It came into the light quickly and Alex sprang to climb and cling to the outer wall. Alex felt the squeeze of the stone ball rolling over the backs of his calves. Quentin dove to the ground to avoid the ball which filled the ramp. Grimnyr and Jerrin had pressed themselves to the inner wall as Thovaas dismissed his mount and did the same. Thovaas sucked in his breath to avoid the ball, but his armor pressed hard into him as the ball dragged him as it passed. They were all quiet, listening as the ball descended the ramp and perhaps for another ball. They heard the crushing of ice and the low rumbling stopped.

Ascending up the ramp further, Alex and Quentin steadfastly inspected the perfectly hewn walls for anything that might be out of the ordinary. They reached the top and saw the bridge over the waterfall. The empty stone gatehouse rested in the middle and they inspected it as Alex discovered where the rolling stone ball had dropped from. He saw there that more large stone balls awaited on a ramp, and that it was likely if the trap were triggered again the next stone ball in the line would begin its descent.

The group pressed on, following the trail as it ascended above the small river. At ninety feet above it they walked along the gorge path as the shear walls of the mountain funneled the wind into their faces. Occasionally they felt the bite of the cold wind as it pushed beyond the limits of their magical protection. In an hour they saw the path ahead was blocked by what looked like a landslide. Inspecting the rocks, it was believed that the rocks had fallen recently as there was no snow on them. Alex volunteered to be the first to cross, and he had Thovaas tie a safety line around both their waists just in case something happened. It was an idea that likely saved his life, as his feet gave beneath him on loose gravel and he slide over the edge. Thovaas anchored himself before the rest helped to pull Alex back to the ledge.

He tried again and this time scaled over taking a route much further from the edge. Quentin climbed across next, and he and Alex anchored the one side for Thovaas, and Jerrin and Grimnyr held the other side. Thovaas made his way over rather easily, and Grimnyr followed him closely. Jerrin decided to ride his mount Tempest over the rocks. Halfway over Tempest shuddered beneath Jerrin and skittered to the edge. Jerrin gripped the edge of the cliff with his one hand and strapped his arm under Tempest’s barding with the other just as they were about to go over. The others sprang into action, Thovaas Quentin and Grimnyr pulling as Alex climbed over the edge to assist Jerrin with Tempest’s weight. The group strained to pull the wolfhound up to the ledge, and finally breathed a sigh of relief. They pushed on once more.

Ahead the group saw a missing section of the path ahead, as if the path itself had collapsed. There was a narrow ledge about six inches wide, and the gap was twenty feet long. Grimnyr, Quentin and Alex got a running start and leapt across. Jerrin did the same while mounted on Tempest. Lastly Thovaas took off his armor and, with Grimnyr’s assistance to take his armor, Thovaas made it over the gap. It took him some time again, but he finally strapped his armor back on.

In another hour the group saw a bridge ahead that crossed a chasm perpendicular to the gorge the trail followed. The bridge had several sections missing and quickly the group’s trained eye saw ledges for them to step down to the bottom and back up the other side. At the bottom they saw a natural cave and decided to approach it. They heard growling echo out of the cave, and Alex dove to hide in a flanking snow bank as an enormous bear strode forth. It galloped forth just as they party slashed and stabbed it. Its large paws swung at them, but as soon as the fight had begun it was over.

The party huddled to make a small fire and cooked the bear meat, the first filling meal in many days. Grimnyr entertained them with a compelling story of restless men venturing into the world and their wild encounters in foreign lands.

The next day the group ascended to continue north along the gorge path. In an hour they saw that there was another bridge a quarter mile ahead that crossed the gorge. However, this bridge also had sections missing. On the other side there was clearly a doorway in the middle of a stone wall. Jerrin decided to cast a spell to allow him to walk on air, then he transformed into a massive wolf. One by one he ferried the others across. When it came to Tempest, Grimnyr stroked the beast and spoke lulling lines from a famous wolf named White Fang many years ago. The wolfhound lay quietly across Jerrin’s back while Grimnyr stroked behind his ears as they crossed the gorge walking on air as the wind whipped around them.

On the other side the group saw a malevolent door. Detailed carvings of vile figures dancing, praying, and fighting surrounded the door. A depiction of a demon hung over the archway, and symmetrical serpentine shapes wound their way over the doors. Thovaas and the others felt their skin crawl for a moment, then a voice boomed, but not in their ears. It was in their minds, and though the words were foreign to them, the rhyme was still very clear.

“Approach me as you would to pass,
You are of the bastard races, alas,
To find a secret you wish to unmask,
A parade of five en masse

“Servants of the elders you all five be,
Seeking to see the other side of me,
But in only one way will you pass for free,
Name for me the elders, three.

“First place your palm on my face,
Let my grip with yours enlace,
Cast a spell of your divine’s grace,
And solve the riddle of the race.”

Thovaas tentatively held forth him hand, palm out, and pressed it to the door. As he did, tendrils parted from the door and wound around his wrist and forearm. They felt cold to him, yet soothing. Relaxing, Thovaas loudly called upon the healing power Heironeous and felt the tendrils clasp tightly to him as the healing magic pulsed through him and into the door.

The voice boomed in their heads again, and Tempest lowered his head and hid behind Jerrin.


“One race should you know for your group is a tenth,
Though none of which are here to represent
Their choice has guided their descent
From the skies, though many repent

“What race are they?”

The group agreed on an answer, though their voices were strangely surreal compared to the words in their head. Thovaas spoke. “Elves.” he said. The voice boomed again.

“Another your path has found,
Not once but twice before he was downed,
Of this race, he searched for a common ground,
But his logic you five did confound.

“What race are they?”

The party agreed with a nod, and this time Thovaas said “Rakshasa.” The voice loudly erupted again.

“After a trail of deceiving tricks,
A surprise was found in a home of bricks,
The death followed a dangerous conflict,
Of a member of this race whose arms number six.

“What race are they?”

The group glanced at each other and agreed quickly. “Marilith.” Thovaas said. The door gave way under Thovaas’s pressure, but the tendrils did not yet let go of his hand. As they looked beyond the door the voice boomed once more.

“Behind me lies a path of grief,
For all those of strong or weak belief,
Shall meet the beyond with no relief,
As for every soul there lies a thief.”

Looking at each other, the group memorized the vague warning as if they had heard it all their lives. The tendrils released their grasp on Thovaas, and he rubbed his formerly constricted hand to get the blood flowing again. Good thing he had used his shield hand just in case they run into any trouble beyond the door.

They walked in what seemed a deep chasm, and dark threads and streaks could be seen moving against the blackness beyond. In front of them a doorway of white light marked the exit, and in a moment they were through it.

Differently colored walls lay beyond. They walled in the pathway that began to open up for the party. Soon they saw what lay ahead, and several of them stopped in their tracks in disbelief.

A jungle stretched out as far as they could see. Palm trees soared above their heads and exotic fruit hung from strange plants that they had never seen. Grottos extended from the overgrown path, and a steamy mist hung over them, obscuring their vision to only see a few hundred yards.

The group went forth into the jungle, gazing at all of the strange things around them. To the sides of the path they saw more bizarre animals, and just as they were striding slowly through the jungle, something stirred. The group looked over to see tall ferns rustling and just as they stopped an enormous head pulled up to spot them. The huge lizard-beast blinked once before it sprang towards them, and the party scrambled to pull weapons and prepare.

In a moment the beast was upon them, and it snapped its terrible jaws at Tempest. The wolfhound felt the knife-like teeth dig at his flesh, trying to grasp him in its massive mandibles. Only the magic Jerrin had used protected him from being swallowed whole.

A wave of surreal fear fell on the group, but Thovaas helped to slough it off. Only Alex was impressed with the size of the huge lizard before them and thought the others were crazy for standing their ground against it. The group surrounded the beast, slashing and stabbing through its thick hide. Thovaas rode forth on his mount beside the bestial Jerrin. Quentin stabbed and retreated several times while Alex maneuvered to flank the massive creature. Grimnyr recited an epic from the barbarian vocal history before striking deeply into the giant lizard’s leg.

Again the beast could not swallow Tempest, and the canine howled as the long teeth ripped his hide deeper and deeper. The group continued their onslaught, and the beast snapped at Tempest again, and this time he went limp from blood loss. He hung from the great lizard’s jaws, and just as it was about to make a meal out of the wolfhound, the group managed to drag down the beast. Tempest slumped out of the jaws of the thing, and was soon healed. Tempest whined painfully in gratitude as his wounds were closed.

The party stopped to appraise their foe. Next time they said they would have to try something different. They carved a few pieces of the giant lizard’s flesh to cook and eat, and most took several teeth from the beast to prove that such large things do exist. Alex’s hands stopped shaking and told them how brave and unwise the others were while laughing. The group tore open the great beast’s innards and found only a few items of any worth. Before long they decided to prop up the massive head of beast along the trail to ward off anyone who came their way.

They traveled for another couple of hours, and the sun seemed to be in the place it should according to when they entered. The jungle was thick, and Jerrin led the way through the thickening plants. Hacking his way through, he led the group more swiftly along the path for several miles into the late afternoon. As he was making his way, the group heard echoes of voices around the valley.

Soon Jerrin caught a glimpse of a clearing ahead in the jungle and decided to venture towards it. As they made their way, loud shouting could be heard, loud enough to echo in the valley. It was these voices that they had heard earlier, and now Jerrin saw a few flashes of movement through the thick jungle. He led the group forward a little more then stopped them silently when he could see more.

Ahead, in the large clearing, Jerrin saw two groups. The first group looked like a cross between humans and cats, some thick and tough looking while most were gangly. All carried long, recurve bows and had brightly colored fletchings on tapered arrows. They were surrounded by the other group, and were poised to fire in a flash.

The second group was composed of dwarf-like men, only with pitch black skin and white beards. Grimnyr recalled legends of old that told of nasty dark dwarves called Duergar and whispered that these dwarves reminded him of such tales. There were about a score and a half of them, though many had different looks to them. The tops of all their heads were bald, and the hides they wore for armor came from no animal the group recognized. There were many that had no beards at all, but they had thick, pronounced jaws. The leader of the group was mounted on a salamander as large as a horse, and the long toes ended with suction-cup pads that rested nimbly on the ground.

Thovaas peered through the jungle to inspect the duegar dwarves. By his power could tell that blood-soaked armor was done so in a ritual that was likely more disturbing than he would care to imagine. The group heard the dwarves shouting loudly in a tongue none of them could recognize, and heard the cat-like people in the middle announcing commands to one another that sounded vaguely elven. The duegar taunted the catfolk for a few minutes, several of them laughing fiendishly.

A wicked smile was across the leader’s face as Alex and Quentin crept closer to get in a position to strike. The leader had seen the leaves in jungle moving, and he directed a half dozen of the closest to investigate. That was when Quentin and Alex struck.

The two of them leapt out of the jungle and stabbed two of the closest to them just as they swung around to face them. Thovaas charged through the thick jungle on his mount and struck another with his lance. Jerrin used a wand to cause plants to grab hold and inhibit an area to one side of the duergar. Grimnyr charged forth on the other side to slash at another. The cat-folk saw the opportunity and opened fire on the duergar, felling several of the beardless ones. The duergar then went into action to strike back. The majority charged the cat-folk, dropping several of the weaker ones as they drew twin scimitars to defend themselves.

Several of the duergar struggled against the entangling branches Jerrin had brought forth, and one of the beardless stood before Grimnyr. The barrel-chested dwarf dropped his massive jaw and Grimnyr saw that there wasn’t a tooth in the dwarf’s mouth. It was then that the duergar blasted Grimnyr with such a violent sound to jar his insides and nearly made him dizzy with illness. At once to him the sound was magical as it was brutal.

Quentin and Thovaas worked in tandem to strike several of them and finally bring one down. On the other side Grimnyr and Alex worked to strike down another. More cat-folk fell as beardless duergar shouted into their closed-in group, then brought forth bursts of sounds to wrack them even more. The leader guided his mount in to kill attack the cat-folk as he directed others to deal with the party. Jerrin summoned forth a lion that struck the leader and slashed deep gouges into his dark flesh. The leader then commanded several of the beardless to cast enchantments to silence Jerrin as he tried to summon another ally, then to dispel the mystical lion.

Jerrin then transformed into a large ape and strode forward with Tempest at his side. He struck down several of the duergar as more cat-folk fell. The cat people were routed, and the survivors darted behind the gorilla-like Jerrin. In a flash the duergar leader pursued them, as many of the duergar paused to heal wounds and cast enhancing spells to increase their size to match Jerrin’s.

Thovaas kept four duergar busy as they struck his mount repeatedly. His mount struck back, but the proud horse was dropped under a hail of blows. Thovaas then stood against them and his armor deflected many blows as they came at him, but was still injured several times as they came at him. Quentin worked around him to help drop more of them.

The rest of the party decided to attack the lizard mounted leader at once. Jerrin struck and bit him, Alex stabbed him through his thick hide armor and the cat-folk peppered him with arrows. Everyone attacked him repeatedly as he dropped several more cat-folk. Hammering him time and again, the group finally dragged him, lifeless, from his mount. Grimnyr defeated another of the duergar and the group then turned to see the rest of the duergar headed their way.

Grimnyr charged straight at them, screaming madly as he swung his sword over his head and struck one of them. They stopped to retaliate, staggering him in place. The other duergar rushed forward to engage the party, but all the while kept their eyes on the cat-folk.

BATTLE TO BE CONTINUED…

 

[MarauderX]

Session 30: Ancient Discoveries

The air was quiet for an instant, and in that instant the group became self aware of their own mortality. The clearing next to the jungle was soaked with blood of the fallen cat-folk and duergar. The area was littered with the fallen, and their weapons gleamed in the beams of the dim afternoon sun.

Grimnyr broke the silence as he slashed upward at the duergar hovering over him. His blow landed solidly against the dark dwarf. The dwarf staggered his way over to receive healing by the nearest enlarged vocal duergar. Grimnyr passed out on the ground, his mouth still clenched in grim determination.

Thovaas went into motion and struck the duergar sergeant in front of him with a smiting blow. The shock of the strike woke everyone around him as his sword bit deeply beyond the dark-skinned dwarf’s armor. The duergar sergeant grunted and dropped to his knees as the life poured out of him, a foreshadowing of what was to come. Quentin saw an opening on another and lunged forward to stab the duergar before stepping back to form a solid line with Thovaas.

Alex tumbled his way over to the fallen Grimnyr, pulling out his water skin with the magic water from the Tower of Chautauqua. The cat-folk that had maneuvered themselves behind Jerrin suddenly split up to prevent the duergar from advancing around the party to get to them. One of the cat-folk touched the enlarged, ape-shaped Jerrin and a healing wave surged over him. Another touched Thovaas on his back and the same happened. The other two went to either side of the battle in hopes to hide in the jungle and flank the duergar.

The duergar struck out at Jerrin and his wolfhound, Tempest. Several of their axes drew blood as they slid around them in hopes to flank the large Jerrin. Two of the vocal duergar strode forward to blast Quentin, Thovaas and the cat-folk behind them with deafening shouts. They were also pursued by two of the duergar foot soldiers that struck out at them, and Quentin and Thovaas responded with attacks of their own.

Alex rushed to pry Grimnyr’s mouth open and dump a pint of the water down his throat. His eyes snapped open long enough for him to see Alex over him now. Grimnyr smiled and relaxed as his body let go of the fury it had had moments before and went limp again. Alex shouted his name trying to wake him, and then poured another pint of the water into his fallen comrade’s mouth.

Meanwhile, the battle raged around them. Jerrin picked up one of the injured duergar and ripped his chest wide open, painting a dark red splash across the lush grasses. With another he tore the arm from it after securing it in his gory mouth.

Thovaas stood fast as Quentin dove through the gap between the two enlarged vocal duergar. Thovaas slashed one powerfully and Quentin took advantage and pierced it in the throat. It slumped into a jungle tree and was still. The other attacked Thovaas and as he did, Quentin managed to pierce through their powerful armor as he grabbed it by the shoulder and felt it convulse as he twisted and stirred his blade between its vertebrae. It slumped forward and Quentin pulled out his blade and jumped to the side of another as it swung at him.

Tempest harried one of the duergar soldiers with his bite, and finally ripped the bowels out of it as it yelled out in pain. Jerrin slammed his large fist against another and bones could be heard snapping from the bludgeoning. The other vocal duergar behind him could be heard gasping for its final breaths, its massive lungs pierced with multiple arrows.

After Alex had played medic he made his way behind one of the duergar that had stuck Jerrin and attacked. Grimnyr stood up and gripped his axe. Though he was winded, he still walked toward the nearest duergar and swung his axe.

Soon there was only one lone duergar left. He was facing off against Thovaas and Grimnyr, and he decided with a vengeful scream that he would fight to the end. Thovaas struck him again then Jerrin’s massive form lumbered over to let both arms fall like trees onto its head. The skull could be heard cracking at its head dropped to be even with its shoulders.


The group surveyed the damage, and Thovaas re-scanned the cat-folk to see if they could be determined to be evil in the least. Seeing no deception, he sheathed his sword, but only partly as he scanned the fallen for magically enhanced items. He was taken aback when every one of the bodies in the field glowed with magical armor, and each of their weapons shown with an aura of enhancement. After seeing Thovaas’s face, Alex quickly went to work collecting the armor and checking the dead for treasure.

Quentin was about to join them, but suddenly he heard Jerrin and the cat-folk talking in elven and decided that perhaps he should help. They began speaking to Quentin directly, saying that they were glad to have his help along with that of his servants. Their accent when speaking many of the elven words was unique, as if they wanted to enunciate each word perfectly. Already Jerrin had asked them who they were, and they seemed just as curious about the party. Quentin corrected them about the other party members’ status, saying that all in the party was equals and their eyes blinked several times in apparent astonishment.

The cat-folk referred to themselves as Litorians. Their leader, Felvonni, inspected Quentin closely and remarked that the elves had changed much since she last saw them. Quentin told her that he was half-elven, that his father was human and his mother elven and had died in child birth. The Litorians snickered at first then were strangely fascinated with the concept.

Felvonni explained that their expedition was on their way to meet two Rakshasa that had spoken to them in dreams. The large group had been attacked by an army of duergar, who was once their slaves. The Litorians used their escorts to fend them off while they escaped, but the remnants of the army pursued them across the valley. They were hoping to escape into the jungle as they had in the past, but the duergar had cut them off and surrounded them just as the party showed up.

Alex uncovered small sacks of gems and it started to dawn on him and Grimnyr that the duergar had been trying to travel light even though they had worn chain shirts and scale mail. But when they began stacking it, they realized how light it was. Grimnyr inspected the scale mail and determined that though it was similar to many dwarven makes; it was of no shape of any clan that he had seen.

Jerrin and Quentin did their best smooth talking, landing casual compliments in order to earn their trust. It was clear the Litorians owed them their lives, and graciously complimented the party in turn. The Litorians asked if the party had seen the Rakshasa, to which they replied they had not. They complimented Jerrin for being brethren of the wild, and asked about their journey there. Quickly they began to pick up several of the words in common that Thovaas, Grimnyr and Alex had said in the infrequent silences of their conversation.

Quentin and Jerrin asked and listened as Felvonni told them about the Litorians retreating to this hidden valley toward the end of the Great War. Seeing both of them shaking their heads, she explained that the Litorians went there to avoid being attacked by elders or other slave races. They took with them two slave races; the duergar to build their homes and tend their farms, and the canids to raise and tend their cattle as well as scout their lands. Pitting the two slave races against one another, the Litorians kept a balance between them for fifteen hundred years, having each vie for Litorian favor.

Eventually the duergar learned to hide their actual numbers deep within unmapped caves, and were secretive to even the Litorians. The duergar descended deeper into vile means to achieve what they wished. They began a war of attrition against the canids, wiping out the young of entire villages at a time. It became harder and harder to breed enough of them to match the duergar, and then the balance was undone. The canids were hunted to extinction.

Following this the Litorians were able to keep the duergar in check with a relative peace over the next five hundred years. Then the duergar were granted powers by a strange 6-faced god and were no longer afraid of the Litorians. They made threats and started to reject any authority the Litorians tried to maintain. Suddenly war broke out and the duergar made weapons of war to try to match the magical capacity of the Litorians. The Litorians, who had once roamed the valley freely, now were forced to retreat behind the stone battlements the duergar had labored to create.

The war has been ongoing for over five hundred years, and in that time the duergar have been steadily increasing their numbers while being able to exploit the knowledge of their own constructions. The Litorians have been on a steady retreat, and the thought of impending doom has given birth to three factions within the Litorians as to how to ensure their survival.

Felvonni says that she is one of the Greenbonds, one of the three Litorian factions. The faction is dedicated to finding a peaceful resolution and is open to guidance from the spirits of the world. They also appreciated help from outside sources, as they recognize the duergar for the fiends they have become.

The group gathered the equipment they had collected and hid it within the jungle, including the gear Thovaas’s mount had been carrying. They planned to come back for it, but the Litorians told them that the duergar had likely used their vocal communications to relay their position. The group set out to reach a nearby outpost the Litorians told them about, and they were on their way before long.

Talking along the way, the Felvonni asked about the elves and the outside world. Quentin and Jerrin told her about the new prince that had ascended to the throne in the forest of Elarith. She had raised an eyebrow with interest and Quentin asked what she knew of the elves of old and the Great War.

Felvonni said it all started with the elves. They had seen the powers that the humans had been granted, and most had sided with their creations, for better or worse. Most thought it was their foolish pride in their own work that had made them so attached to the humans, but they were willing to fight the gods. For this they were stricken from the skies, their wings ripped from the backs of all that had sympathized with the humans.

The elves that did not side with the humans were also banished from the skies. They were doomed to spend their days below the earth, never to soar under the sun again. One race was more pleased with this result than any other – the dragons.

The great serpents were now rulers of the realms over the ground. They used their own slaves to wage this war, breeding larger, nastier creatures to fill the ranks of their armies. Orcs made up the vast majority as they were quick to reproduce. Ogre captains led death squads to decimate the humans in their homes, and they rode large foul beasts with many horns. Goblin sappers made ruin of dwarven fortifications and foiled Halfling traps.

But even the reptile lords were divided in their interests.

The division was split as scholarly dragons sought to find the root of the cause, to find enlightened humans and test them for their worthiness. Eventually the scholar dragons found the slave races to be of noble quality, and that they should share this world with them. Others would never give up their newfound power of the skies, and the line was drawn between their race as well.

We were set in our ways, as we had become lazy and complacent. We were content to live as we had, having the slave races fill the duties they had been assigned by our design. We Litorians had developed the canids and duergar to assist us with mining and herding long before the Great War started. We tried to remain neutral, to settle matters by way of judicious decision after much thought. It was our eastern cousins, the Rakshasa, who dragged us away from center.

The Rakshasa had ruled that the old laws of war no longer applied to the slave races, as they were creations that they owned, and were to live and die at their whim. They employed diseases, manipulation and treachery that had not been seen in a very long time. The Rakshasa made the convincing argument that no matter how they tried the slave races were doomed to extinction if they wished. The Litorians joined them, if only half-heartedly, in an effort to quell the rebellion and let the elves descend to join them.

Then the gods had their say. The humans, Halflings, dwarves and other folk were granted powers from these new gods. The tide turned, and the slaves won battle after battle with the aid of the crippled elves and the dragon scholars. So we created a home to retreat to, bringing the savanna and jungle from the south with us. We Litorians populated it with many of our familiar cattle-like creatures, and set about worshipping the gods as we always had. Only they seemed to stop listening as intently, and it was clear to us then that we had been abandoned by most of them.

The grey god of death, Incabulos, was one of those to remain, and it is to one of their operating temples that Felvonni led the group toward. Felvonni explained that the Litorians, now that they were under threat of extinct themselves, had divided opinions on how to ensure their own survival. From it came the three factions, and Felvonni led a large group of the Greenbonds to try to meet with the Rakshasa to deal with the duergar threat, or in the least, provide another home in which to settle.

Felvonni warned that although they were headed to a Litorian outpost, the inhabitants were of the Incabulos faction. The last faction was of those that thought they should seek out Thermoleth and bring her to help. The party recognized the name Thermoleth, and Grimnyr explained that the only place he had heard of it was that the black-peaked mountain they had passed was called Thermoleth. When they arrived at the outpost they saw what looked like catapults on top of thick stone walls. The tall walls had several smears of soot where the fires of war had scarred them.

The party was greeted lukewarmly, and the thirty Litorian inhabitants scanned over the group snootily with their eyes. All were devotees of Incabulos and wore black, grey, red and white to signify their status. Their leader stopped to greet them with two followers behind him. Nodding, they greeted the party with a glance and spoke with Felvonni in the strange Litorian tongue.

Felvonni replied in elven for the benefit of Quentin and Jerrin. She introduced them as equals to one another, and explained Quentin’s half-elven heritage to him. Then she explained that they had helped defeat an army of duergar that had harried them across the valley. She introduced the Litorian as Mezimi, high priest of Incabulos and leader of the outpost.

Jerrin then mentioned that they had come upon the Greenbond Litorians as they were venturing to the gate they had come through to meet the Rakshasa. From that Felvonni gave Jerrin a stunned look while Mezimi smiled crookedly. Mezimi then replied that he understood the need to meet the Rakshasa, and such an ally would certainly help with repressing the duergar. With that he glided away, expecting them all to follow him to the main stone temple at the center of the outpost.

The group walked in tentatively. They saw the broken-arch vaulting thirty feet above them, and scanned the dark grey stone that had various relief carvings painted with white and deep shades of red. In front of them was a ring of seven worshipping Litorians that surrounded a square stone slab that was raised a foot or so from the floor. It was stained red with blood from use, and piled in the center were corpses and bones. The chanting figures were led by another high priest of Incabulos.

Behind this two channels carved into the floor led past three metallic creatures that stood unmoving on ten-foot square raised tiles. Beyond them the channels, filled with a red substance that looked like blood, ended in churning blackness. Above these two swirling masses the blackness changed to a greenish, and two stunning figures could be seen trapped within. What was between them made most of the party gasp.

A Rakshasa stood on the middle raised tile, blue light shimmering around it from below. Female, the Rakshasa had her strange palms turned outwards, and from them a greenish blue light extended to envelope the angelic beings. The Rakshasa looked strained, as if it was taking all of her effort to maintain what she was doing while the chanters in the foreground raised the pitch of the throng.

Jerrin pulled out the wand of curing and tapped Tempest, who sat by him whining with concern. Then he tapped himself several times as Mezimi blathered on about how a Rakshasa indeed makes an almost perfect ally. Quentin stepped to his side just as Grimnyr spotted something stirring on the red slab. Grimnyr wasted no time, and plucked one of the orange spheres from the belt around his waist and threw it in the middle of the room. It exploded, blasting six Litorian onlookers into the wall behind them and incinerating two of the priests.

Quentin slashed through Mezimi’s thick black robes as he tried to strike him, and Jerrin mounted Tempest and streaked across the room toward one of the entrapped figures. Alex leapt into action, streaking to the nearest priest and lodging his blade into the Litorian’s back deep enough to make him fall. Thovaas strode up to Mezimi, who swirled around in time to meet his blade. Quentin saw that the Litorian was still stammering from surprise and his rapier ended his days. Just after Jerrin ran across the room, Grimnyr hurled another of the orange spheres, this time striking the other side and leveling the other Litorian priests surrounding the red slab.

Suddenly the group saw the wide metal figures move toward them with thundering steps that echoed about the great hall. Quentin dropped another of the priests as the skeleton they had summoned stood and wielded a scimitar against him. Alex tossed a tangle-foot bag and the glob inside quickly hardened around the skeleton’s feet. The Greenbond Litorians fired arrows at one of the priests and then at the immobile skeleton as they moved in tandem with one another. The Litorian onlookers dashed for cover after the two fiery explosions and they huddled in a corner.

Jerrin dug his small hands into the green goop and the radiant green light from the Rakshasa suddenly ceased. Jerrin looked over his shoulder to see the female Rakshasa had dropped to one knee, and then she looked up and made several motions with her awkward-looking hand. Across the room one of the jade statues stepped forward as centuries of dust stirred. Jerrin asked if she was alright in elven, and she replied that she was. They exchanged names, she called herself Arilthar, before she wiped her brow and stood.

The metal statues lumbered forward and one of them struck Quentin heavily. Another slammed Thovaas with its metal fist. Quentin, feeling the bruise that was sure to form, backed away from the metal monster. Thovaas stood toe-to-toe with his and he hit the thing with his longsword as hard as he could. His blade struck it heavily in the side twice, and with the second blow the blade remained lodged in it. Thovaas watched as its strange metal flesh wrapped around the blade while he tugged on it before deciding to let go.

Grimnyr and Alex made their way to assist Thovaas, and together they worked against the metal construct. Jerrin tapped his wand of healing on the head of the beautiful winged creature trapped in the green goo, and it stirred slightly. He reached up and tried to pull her free, and in an instant he was enraptured with her stunning magnificence. Quentin made his way around the metal statues and came alongside Jerrin to assist in freeing the being within the gel.

Grimnyr lost his temper after the metal statue slugged him in the chest, and he swung his sword into it with all his might. It stuck, but he pulled it free after tugging on it several times. Again he swung, and again it stuck before he pulled it free. The next time his blow landed heavily on its shoulder, and this time his sword stayed wedged in its flesh. Alex also stabbed it with his rapier and when it pierced its flesh he felt the tip stick. He pulled and pulled, and the weapon was slowly consumed by the metal monster. As he saw his favorite weapon disappear he noticed that the wounds that it had sustained were closing.

Jerrin saw that Quentin had attracted one of the metal constructs and he summoned an ape to help deal with it. He also enhanced the ape’s claws with magic, and it struck the metal figure heavily several times just as it struck the ape.

Thovaas pulled a duergar axe from his belt and used it to strike the metal beast, and hit several times before it stuck and was swallowed into the thing. Two jade statues engaged the third metal figure and they traded many blows before the metal monster seemed to simply seize up and fall over. Another of the jade statues came to the protection of the Rakshasa. The last assisted Thovaas, Alex and Grimnyr with their metal figure.

Jerrin’s summoned ape beat against the metal construct but was slammed roughly again and disappeared. The jade statue that was near Arilthar the Rakshasa stepped forward to strike it several times before it froze in place after a hard blow. The huddling Litorians, threatened by Quentin to help him or die, scurried toward the entrance in a pile. One of the jade statues spun and lopped the head from a Litorian, and Quentin pulled his bow and shot another. Not seeing it drop, he gave chase and brought it down with another arrow. The remaining shed their robes and dropped to the ground, huddling in fear for their lives. Their cries were in Litorian and they seemed to be cowing to Felvonni as she notched another arrow.

Grimnyr finally felled the last of the metal constructs and Alex kicked at it, hoping to retrieve his rapier, but had no luck. Quentin returned to where Jerrin was digging at the base of the green gel and her angelic body slid free. Quentin gripped her by the shoulders and instantly felt a wave of pure joy sweep his body. A smile sprang to his face as he and Jerrin helped her to carefully stand. After she was stable she leaned on the proud Jerrin as Quentin, his chest puffed, crossed to free her twin on the opposite side. Thovaas, ever wary of danger, detected nothing vile about either of the angelic women.

Arilthar stepped around the group with the four jade statues surrounding her for protection. She nodded at Jerrin and said in common so the Litorians could not understand. Sneering, she focused on the party as they showed little surprise at her stripped fur, and she realized this was not the first Rakshasa they had seen. She said that the next time that they shall meet they will no longer be allies, but will welcome the day that she can snuff the life out of the halfling, choke the knight of Heironeous to death, and flay the flesh from the cunning sneak. Arilthar moved to leave with the jade statues flanking her, and Jerrin bid her a less-than-fond farewell. The Greenbond Litorians, guarding the few remaining Litorian priests that had surrendered, asked Quentin what had been said.

In a few words, Quentin summed it up as a misunderstanding, that the group had had poor experiences with Rakshasa in the past. Felvonni shrugged and also let Arilthar disappear without pursuit, saying that now that the party was here there would be no need of her. Glancing sidelong at one another, Quentin and Jerrin cleared their throats and mentioned it might be difficult if their comrades lacked the proper tools of war. Felvonni said something to one of the other Litorians, then responded saying that the outpost still maintained a decent armory and that they were welcome to take whatever they wished.

The group tentatively exited, and outside the dozen remaining Incabulos devotees stepped back from them. Felvonni motioned to them, and at once they removed their robes and held their paws outward to them in a sign of submission. Felvonni told the group in elven that they would likely need the priests as they could use the extra numbers if the duergar assaulted the outpost. Felvonni herded the cat-folk into the temple and explained what had happened.

Alex searched thoroughly over the bodies of the charred Litorians before moving on to investigate the head priest leading the ceremony and Mezimi. He found that Mezimi had a staff with a green glass sphere on the end, and the black wood was very cold to the touch. The skeletons on the red slab had a collection of chipped scimitars and axes, none of which seemed to be of much value. Taking a look at the metal statues once more he wondered if they could be dismembered for shipping, as the dwarves would likely pay a hefty price for even one of their arms.

Felvonni took the group to the outpost armory at their request. Inside they were astonished to see an array of weapons gleaming as they were displayed on specialy made supports to show them in the best light. Many of them had etchings on them with strange symbols, and upon inspection they were neither arcane nor divine in nature. In the center of the room a work table sat unused, and in the center of it a gem was mounted. The group was told to to choose a weapon and touch gem to feel the abilities of each. Nodding, the group poised to investigate the array of weapons presented to them.

 

[MarauderX]

Session 31: Guiding Angels

The group stood stunned at the collection of weapons and armor that was available to them. One by one they reviewed them, discussed, and decided that they were taking them all, but only had to decide who would take which item. Taking several hours, Jerrin and Quentin each watched the celestials as they occasionally spoke to each other and watched the party.

Jerrin asked about the magic that the Litorians used and if they could help him find someone. Certainly was the reply from Felvonni, as she began searching her memory for the rituals to be done. She swatted one of the Incabulos Litorians and told him to bring her specific herbs before the ritual tomorrow at about noon.

The group rested the night in a large stone room built along the outer wall. Quentin took second watch and spent the vast majority of it staring blatantly at the two celestials as they stood quietly. Jerrin awoke for the next watch and repeated what Quentin had done. Both had found it difficult to close their eyes for fear of something happening to them.

In the morning Grimnyr used an enchantment to allow him, Thovaas and Jerrin to speak freely with the celestials. They asked the celestials where they were from and how they arrived here. The two angelic figures sang a greeting to them and said that they were pulled here by force. They said they resided in another world, one much different than this one, and that it was forbidden for them to be here. Going on, they said that they were restricted from this world after they were first made, as supposedly the brood gods claimed that the likeness to elves and humans had crossed the line of creation and were banished.

Their interest piqued, the group asked more of who had created them. Sheepishly the two heavenly bodies responded that the gods of old had fashioned them in such a way to appease their children, combining the splendor of the elves with the industrious nature of humans entwined and polished to a exquisiteness that was undeniable. The celestials’ pacifist nature ensured that they would not fight amongst themselves or with others, and their sheer magnificence would protect them from being victims. This was not to last.

Before the celestials were banished, the elders made several attempts to mollify their children. These new beings were antithesis of the celestials, and found their saintly innocence to be absolutely repulsive. The holocaust that ensued was tragic, and the celestials learned that simply existing was not enough to save them. Some of the children of the gods came to their aid and taught some to resist, and to fight as a means of protection.

Eventually, being an attempt at a surrogate for humans and the disloyal elves, the celestials were treated with disdain from the elder god’s offspring. The elder gods, not pleased with the reaction, made to destroy the celestials, as their allure had failed to appease the children gods enough to replace the existing humans and demi-humans. Instead the children of the gods intervened and had the celestials banished to the once tumultuous realm of the Abyss. Since then it had been many millennia of study, work and dedication to form a pocket of stability and hope in the vastness of the Abyss. It had expanded to encompass a portion of the realm, but still there was much to be done.

Grimnyr asked how they had come and who had brought them. It was soon understood that a Rakshasa had yanked them from their world to use them in a vile ceremony. They communicated that they were pulled through a waterfall that resided on a floating island on a lake and dragged here with the Litorians wearing the insignia of Incabulos.

The group asked more questions on the details of their world, its composition, whether they had seen the gods themselves, and if they could fly with the wings they had. The celestials answered that they could indeed fly, that their realm was one of beauty and peace, and the gods of old or new had yet to grace them with their presence as they did not reside with them in this heavenly realm. When the spell ended Jerrin found more affection for them than he had before he could speak with them. Quentin begged him to relay every word that they had spoken and asked Grimnyr if he could speak with them too. Grimnyr replied that although the celestials were striking they simply weren’t his type and that his energies were better spent elsewhere.

* * * * *

Thovaas and Jerrin left to fetch the things that were on the celestial warhorse before it had been defeated by the duergar. They found the pack easily enough and reloaded the revived warhorse with the tapestries among their other collectibles. They traveled back to the keep unmolested as Jerrin guided their way.

Back at the keep Felvonni prepared a ritual circle, carving mystical letters into the air with a curved dagger and tossing herbs onto the ground in a symmetrical fashion. She continued all morning while Quentin, Alex and Grimnyr watched. Her two remaining assistants bustled to and fro, fetching various components and pouring thick liquid in certain spots on the ground. When the viscous fluid contacted the herbs it began to form into solid symbols that glowed and pulsed as they burned away the ground in an arc around them. Thovaas and Jerrin returned just in time as Felvonni explained what was to happen.

Jerrin was to relax, to let his guard down if he could, and let Felvonni enter his mind. Once this happened he was to recall the memories of He’lander and try to guide Felvonni to those thoughts. The rest of the party was told to stand back more than fifty feet away while the ceremony occurred and not to interfere.

Felvonni took the Halfling in her arms and guided him to a half-sleep. He twitched at first, his brow furrowing in discomfort. The ritual circle flared and grew, scorching the earth and the walls of two nearby stone homes. The Litorian gripped Jerrin by the face to hold him steady as he jerked violently in her grasp. Trickles of blood flowed from his forehead as he was held in place.

Jerrin felt Felvonni push her way into his mind and it was as if a horse were trying to push its way into a rabbit hole. His mind screamed in agony at first, then the horror subsided and he stayed conscious with a dull ache. Jerrin had trouble focusing as Felvonni prodded his thoughts, seeing more than he may have liked, but he was too overwhelmed to care, let alone resist. Felvonni must have felt Jerrin slipping away and released some of the tension as she withdrew into the deepest recesses of his mind. He thought of He’lander, of his training with him and the last time they had parted. She seemed to sense this and focused on it which was like a white-hot spike into Jerrin’s mind.

Several hours passed for the ritual before Felvonni released the Halfling. Jerrin blinked several times, and he stretched as though waking from a stiff night’s sleep. Felvonni said that his friend He’lander was indeed in a dark place, somewhere that he could not escape. His soul must be troubled, she said, as it was difficult to locate him since his body may have proceeded with out his soul. Jerrin scowled and asked what she meant. She replied that he may not be in full command of his faculties at the moment, as his soul may perhaps be misplaced. Felvonni then added that the magic might be wrong as he was after all an elf and resistant to such measures of detection.

* * * * *

Quentin asked Felvonni about a lake with a fountain so that they could return the celestials to their home. Felvonni told them that the lake was not far, less than a half day from the keep. The party told her that they were going to go there immediately to see if they could return them. Felvonni begged off as she was clearly exhausted from the ritual and claimed she had much to do. Quickly sketching a path with several landmarks, Felvonni told them to be wary of the walking dead after dark.

The group left shortly and proceeded toward the lake and saw a number of unusual creatures along the way. Jerrin and Quentin escorted the celestials closely as Thovaas led the way. The light waned and they saw the lake to their west. Along the northern shore was a small island anchored to the shore by a metal bridge. Jerrin morphed into and eagle and soared over the lake to investigate more closely. He saw a solid vertical wall on the square island, and the whole island looked as it if was floating. The bridge was made to expand and contract yet still keep the island firmly moored to land. The wall was easily thirty feet high and fifty feet long. Along the north side a waterfall spouted from the middle of the wall and fell into a pool with beveled edges. At the center of the pool was a hole, and from above Jerrin could see that the fountain fed into the lake from below the pool. Since this lake had no other water sources, Jerrin determined that this was a magically made lake.

Taking another pass, Jerrin saw a figure lying down on the top of the wall. It was a duergar, and it seemed to be bored as it lay on its back and stared at the open sky. Jerrin made his way back to the others who slowly proceeded along the path that took them to the north side of the lake, and would eventually intersect where the bridge met the path. Relaying what he had seen, the group decided to see if they could negotiate or otherwise talk their way into using the fountain.

The group stopped before crossing the bridge, and Quentin stayed toward the rear to guard the celestials from anything unexpected. Jerrin rode onto the bridge and watched as the duergar lazily first sat up then stood. Jerrin tried several languages, including the common tongues of several elements. The duergar looked like he was trying to understand and began saying something back that no one could understand. Jerrin then tried elven while the duergar seemed to banter on, repeating gestures. Grimnyr, attempting to translate the hand signals thought that the duergar might be pregnant and had a strange craving for pickles. Instead the winding sinews of magic could suddenly be seen, and an instant later a burst of fire erupted around them.

Thovaas led the way over the bridge, followed by Alex and Grimnyr as Jerrin placed an enchantment of protection from fire on the celestials that happened to encompass many of the group as well. Suddenly an deafening roar pounded those on the bridge. Appearing in front of them a barrel-chested duergar stood with enormous maw wide open to let the sonic attack hit them. As they focused on this new adversary, an ear-splitting scream passed next to Alex’s head. The source was a crossbow bolt that could have rattled the confidence of the most battle-hardened warrior, but Alex glanced over his shoulder at the calm Thovaas and shrugged off the fear. Alex looked at the duergar who had fired the bolt, and the scantly clad evil dwarf sneered wickedly at him.

Grimnyr moved in to engage the new duergar targets as Jerrin set his sites on the mage high on the wall. As Jerrin approached the pool by the fountain he felt the whoosh of a weapon swinging very close to him. Standing next to him was another duergar, and this one was heavily armed and armored. Quentin and the celestials were far enough away not to be harmed so he stayed near them and fired arrows with his bow. Several of his missiles found their mark and he saw sparks of electricity sear his targets. He grinned with glee.

The duergar sorcerer cast another spell from atop the wall, this time showering Quentin and the celestials with a storm of ice and hail. Grimnyr, hearing the celestials cry and Quentin’s pleading to help them, surrounded the duergar caster with an area of absolute quiet to thwart his spells. Alex and Thovaas assisted Jerrin as he stepped back from the armored duergar to begin casting his own spell.

The duergar on top of the wall ran its length and hopped off of the end, and a grotesque crunch could be heard as he howled in pain and grasped his ankle. Thovaas guided his mount to run him down as he leveled his sword. In a clean strike, Thovaas sent the duergar’s head sailing through the air and into the water of the lake.

The vocal duergar had yelled twice more, punishing Alex as a screaming crossbow bolt struck him in the arm. The vocal was attacked by Jerrin and his animal companion Tempest who knocked him to the ground with a forceful snap of his jaws. The vocal rolled into the water to escape the wolfhound, and Quentin fired an arrow into the duergar’s shoulder. Tempest reached out and clamped the duergar’s face in his jaws, crushing the rest of the life out of him.

Grimnyr ran and jumped through the air, aiming to defeat the crossbow wielding duergar in one blow. His attack went wide, and the duergar then struck him with three kicks in quick succession while he reloaded his crossbow then took a step back. Alex went toe to toe with the armored duergar and felt the hand axe dive into his flesh again and again. Alex stayed with him though, but was soon overcome from loss of blood. Thovaas charged the duergar but he and his mount missed the chance to overrun him. The duergar fighter then swiveled to see Grimnyr precariously close to the edge of the island and charged him. Grimnyr tried to resist but was instead shoved into the water. The crossbow wielding duergar smiled as he considered a point-blank shot at Grimnyr’s head, but was soon dealing with an angry paladin and irate druid. In moments the beleaguered duergar fell before them.

Jerrin rushed to aid Alex while Thovaas pulled Grimnyr from the lake. Quentin’s gaze turned immediately from the fight to the celestials that had huddled together on the ground. They watched him with some fear in their eyes, as apparently they had never witnessed violence and the ferocity of killing before. With open arms Quentin smiled and spoke soothing words though he was sure they had no idea what he said. He led them over the bridge and onto the island, and they looked at the fountain and nodded.

The group paused as Quentin and Jerrin led the celestials to the edge of the pool. They continued to the waterfall until it cascaded over them. In a moment of panic of losing them, Quentin rushed into the pool announcing his undying love and devotion to them. Tears welled in Jerrin’s eyes as the group watch the celestial angels fade from view. Then they were gone.

Quentin despaired and lay in a heap, his heart in agony. Grimnyr felt words to a new larger-than-life elegy bubble forth as he witnessed the shadowdancer’s emotional anguish. He was about to comfort Quentin when he recalled the primal sonic energy the vocal had used. Grimnyr reflected for a moment while the others pulled the duergar bodies together and recovered several valuables from them. The vocal duergar had not just been using his ability to attack, but was also likely trying to communicate. The shouts were deafeningly loud and must have been heard across the vast valley; there was no way other duergar could not have heard it when they were trained to do just that. He warned the others.

It was well after dark and the group left promptly for the keep. It took them several hours to get there, and when they did an arrow greeted them. A few shouts in elven cleared up the misunderstanding and Felvonni welcomed them back. The group stretched from the fast pace they took before settling down for the night.

* * * * *

Felvonni greeted them in the morning and asked to meet with them. The party agreed and they sat outside the temple. She told them that she received a communiqué from the other Greenbonds in the valley that had troublesome news. It was apparent that the Incabulos faction had become powerful enough to unleash darker forces against the duergar and had done so without consent. Doing so was not just dangerous for the duergar but also the Litorians. Now the night was no longer a safe time for anyone. The Greenbonds had also decided to redouble their effort to seek aid, as they Felvonni had told of contact with exceptional humans, a halfling and a half-elf.

Felvonni then relayed that the Litorian high priest, Jolenta, had asked for their help with either matter. Would they help to end the new plague that had been released by their race and protect them from the duergar? Or could they instead take on Felvonni’s task and seek out Thermoleth and ask the powerful dragon for aid in person if she was alive?

 

[MarauderX]

Session 32: Leaving Paradise

Felvonni relayed that the Litorian high priest, Jolenta, had asked for their help with either matter. Would they help to end the new plague that had been released by their race and protect them from the duergar? Or could they instead take on Felvonni’s task and seek out Thermoleth and ask the powerful dragon for aid in person if she was alive?

The group pondered Felvonni’s dilemma and agreed to assist her. They asked to talk amongst themselves in private to determine which task they might be more effective with. Felvonni agreed and stepped outside to give orders with subtle hand gestures that likely were more admonishing than her loudest yell could ever be.

They dismissed the idea of tracking down the evil the Incabulos Litorians had unleashed in lieu of finding an actual dragon, which to them was mere myth until now. The party pondered the wisdom of waking up a dragon that had been sleeping for millennia to assist the Litorians, another elder race, to defeat a slave race. Thovaas mentioned that the duergar were undoubtedly evil and deserved swift justice, whether by his hand or another. Jerrin wondered what they should say when they met this dragon and wanted to ask Felvonni more.

Felvonni stepped back into the magically lit stone house. The group told her that they would venture to the mountain where Thermoleth was alleged to reside. Curious, they asked what dragons were like and what they were capable of. Felvonni sat with her legs folded and began her recollection of dragons during the War of Abandonment.

“Gigantic titans, they loomed over a field of battle with humans and scatter them with every breath they unleashed upon them. They would strike without warning in the night, using magic to send the humans into panicked disarray. They would assault armies as they mustered in the spring or when they were about to disband in the fall as a means to demoralize the army, laying waste to legions in less than an hour. The war was a concern for all, and as it began, sides were drawn more sharply, leaving no room for neutrality as we were to find out.

The war naturally garnered the attention of Bahamut, the deity director of the dragons, who had decided to aid the slaves in seeking their independence. Indrisideous had led an establishment against Bahamut’s wishes, as Indrisideous had garnered the unexplained power to ascend to the throne as deity of the dragons. To do so, Indrisideous forced four other dragons to merge with her in a dreadful occurrence that could be felt throughout the world. All magic ceased on this day when Indrisideous became the deity Tiamat, the dread lord of dragons. That day dragons were struck with a life-changing force that painted them with either bold colors or that of glistening metal. This defined who they were and would worship from that day forth. The two deity-lords would now oversee a split domain and have been at odds ever since.

The dragons fought as loners; they each raised and supplied their own armies of orcs and other foul creations. When one dragon moved to engage the elf-led armies the others stayed their hand to see the outcome. Many of us think the dragons viewed this as an experiment and didn’t take the war seriously as a threat. They used the war to let their political rivals crumble as they used their resources in battles they thought might be pointless. The hoards of treasure and diplomatic favors that they had saved up began to be cashed out as events unfolded.

The dragons never led their forces into battle, as it was a relative sign of weakness to the other races that this particular dragon required the assistance of its minions. Instead, the dragons urged their forces to decimate human settlements and lay siege to elven strongholds while the dragon would personally engage an entire army by themselves. This haughty approach proved dangerous soon enough as the humans came in droves to wear down the enormous creature.

The dragons considered their size and strength to be the least useful of their assets. Their great and expanding knowledge of the arcane became ever more prevalent as they introduced vile magic that caused diseases. Their human subjects, though few, were more useful for testing these hideous malignancies. Perhaps they thought that these plagues would annihilate the slave-folk, or at least thin them out to a point where they were again safely contained. However the elves, even though they had lost the skies to the dragons, worked diligently to counter these damaging contrivances.

The elves became more of a factor as they intertwined themselves with halflings and humans. Weapons became harder to trace, something we had always focused on, and with the sabotage of our libraries we lost the catalogs of most of the things imbued with magic by the elders. We were winning a war of attrition waged by the humans and elves in our lands when dragons intervened.

It was the silver dragon Herria-Delatitus that invaded first with her armies. Many of her followers had already infiltrated our ranks as our mindset was most closely aligned with the world in which we all dwell. We had even sponsored foul pixies and other of the faen to remain in our lands unharmed. We were betrayed, and the fey were among the first to poison our shared lands with their bitter magic. The fey and the armies of Herria-Delatitus were also the first to feel the wrath of the forest under our tempered control. She came alone soaring over our holdings, just a dragon always does. The sun winked out as clouds collapsed around her, and in a moment she was fleeing for refuge from the very sky she thought she owned! Ah, the sight was beyond belief as many a head snapped up to see the mighty dragon grounded, weakened for her own army to see! And there she died, a most wretched death for a dragon, as the forces of the earth itself impaled her, holding her fast, while our own meager army swarmed over her like ants. And such was her end, and not a piece of her flesh did we spare.

Bahamut had likely witnessed this shameful event. Wrath would be the reply, and in the course of the coming years the metallic dragons lay waste to our borders and mounted a magical blockade to render us ineffectual. We pleaded to remain beyond the scope of the war, replying that Bahamut had already taken on an impossible task and that we would take issue with new policies once a victor had been declared. Instead the dragons changed their tactics and a scorched earth policy began. They laid waste to our beautiful gardens, our lush jungles, and exterminated the sentient trees that had inspired us for eons. Our lands were once where you now have nothing but desert sands. But that was a long time ago. Sniff.

My high-priestess Jolenta had a profound urgency in her voice when last we spoke. Tomorrow I leave to aid in breaking the siege that they are under in the center of the valley. She said the duergar have managed to piece together machinations to thwart our own magical constructs, and that these things never tire. The Incabulos had been cast out only a week before, and their exodus had left the walls with scanty defenses. Before they withdrew the Incabulos had also unleashed an elusive creature that has claimed duergar and Litorian alike. Although both sides have sustained substantial casualties, it is unlikely the duergar will break off their attack as long as they have their new walking devices to press their advantage.

It is our hope that it would be in Thermoleth’s interest to aid us as we once had common foes. If you meet her, be sure to humble yourselves in her presence as a lord of magic. She can and will see through any disguises, so show yourselves plainly for what you are. Tell her that you have come on behalf of the Litorians who now fight against their servants known as the duergar. And be sure to mention the inventions the duergar have manufactured, as Thermoleth may have interest in them for her own devices. Lastly she may doubt your word, rebuffing everything that you may tell her as she would rather remain undisturbed with her comfortable hoard. That is when you must show her this.”

An exquisite locket rested in the middle of Felvonni’s open palm. It glimmered as she held it still, and it seemed as though light slowly pulsed over its surface. Within the locket was a mystical message that would only show itself once when opened, and she insisted that the locket be shown only to Thermoleth. A mithril chain from the single loop on the locket dangled below her hand as the group looked at each other nervously. Felvonni did not look surprised, as she knew it was a leap of trust to accept the locket as a package for delivery. Thovaas stretched out his hand and collected the chain and locket then placed it around his neck.

Jerrin and the others asked what they should do when meeting the dragon and what to expect. Felvonni told them to be truthful as it was likely Thermoleth would not be fooled by magic or other means. They might expect several tests meant to prohibit the foolish from attempting to visit, but it had been some time and her ways may have evolved as much as the Litorians.

The group also asked about tapestries that had been woven by the elders and in particular a tapestry that brought them there. They mentioned Chautauqua, Kargam, and other sites indicated on the map, and asked whether there was something about the others as well. Felvonni asked if the group had the tapestries and Jerrin fibbed at first. His face was flush then he nervously sank his fingers into his curly hair. He corrected himself, saying that he didn’t personally have the tapestries. As if she expected it, Felvonni nodded and inquired no further, merely saying that she wished she could have a look at them.

The night had stretched into the early hours of the morning and the group decided to rest fully before leaving. As they tried to slow their quickened pulse and struggled to find sleep, Quentin sketched what the dragon might look like as Grimnyr let words compose themselves around a meter for a new poem.

* * * * *

In the morning the party left with Thovaas leading, the Armor of Incabulos shining brilliantly in the late morning sun. They retraced their trek into the valley and as they walked they kept a wary eye out for any sign of trouble. As they passed along open fields with thinning trees, a sign of trouble found them.

An arching arrow descended from the sky, and was heard whistling over Thovaas’s head before it landed to his left. At once the group looked to their right, scanning for movement out to the horizon. Grimnyr hoisted his axe and swiftly sprinted outward to where the sniping arrow had come from. A hushed warning came from Quentin not to advance just before he disappeared from view. Alex pointed when he saw a large head raise itself above the grasses and into view. Then it stood upright and Alex knew they had seen this type of beast before.

The T-rex lumbered slowly, walking parallel to the party. The group moved closer across the open field between them and the T-rex, cautiously casting spells to enhance their abilities and speed. That was when Alex whispered for the group to stop advancing. A second tail curled up into view and a moment later the head of a second T-rex emerged. The party paused as the two T-rexs turned in their direction. Another arrow came out of the sky and clacked on Thovaas’s armor, breaking the intensity of the moment. With the sound one of the heads twitched and the nostrils flared; it had heard and had now picked up a scent, and likely the closest thing to them was the party.

Quentin and Alex fired several arrows into the first beast as it strode forward. Jerrin completed his call for aid, and a celestial crocodile sallied forth towards the two large lizards. Thovaas readied his lance once more and prepared to charge as he and Grimnyr moved forward. The humongous lizards ran to them, closing the distance between them and the party in seconds as their muscular legs covered fifteen feet per stride. The T-rex’s heads bobbled side to side as their eyes locked in on their target, and their jaws clicked as they drooled with anticipation.

More arrows sank deeply into the dinosaurs’ hides as they towered over the group. Grimnyr ran and leapt through the air, descending with a tremendous blow as Thovaas drew the Sword of Zurn, a blade made to defeat reptiles. Grimnyr then unleashed his full fury and might, his axe diving into the taught flesh of the dinosaur time and again with ease.

Working quickly the party slashed, stabbed, shot, clawed and bit the T-rexs. Jerrin, now assuming the form of a massive ape, tore the first beast’s mandible from its head and slung it aside, letting the beast writhe violently in the grass before it died. The second beast snapped its jaws into the celestial crocodile.

The group brought down the second enormous reptile quickly before it got to choose another target. Immediately the party began scanning the grasses and trees for wherever an archer may be hidden. Quentin darted from shadow to shadow, coming to the crest of a gentle hill three hundred yards away. His eyes continuously searched his surroundings for any signs of a humanoid that might have fired the long, heavy arrows at Thovaas. Finding nothing he returned to the site of the fight.

The others compared the teeth of the two T-rexs with those they had taken from the first they had defeated, noting that they were about the same size. They saw the T-rexs had been pawing through an old carcass of another strange beast, one with three horns sprouting from a hard carapace. Satisfied that there was nothing left for them there, they decided to move on.

* * * * *

Traveling back through the crevasse that had led them to the valley, Quentin was the first to see that the way back was now guarded. Slapping Thovaas’s mount to wake the leading paladin, Quentin called for a halt. It was clear there were more than half a dozen tall, dark humanoids over the exit from the valley. Each had gangly legs that carried massive upper bodies, and one of them noched an arrow in a thickly wound recurve bow. Another held onto four leashes that held back two hyenas and two skeletal recreations of themselves.

The group burst into action. Alex maneuvered to the edge of the jungle growth where he fired an arrow as Quentin sank into the shadows after doing the same. Thovaas spurred his steed forth to close the distance to them and Jerrin, still in ape form, walked with his knuckles around the pond on his right. Grimnyr then made his way up the trail and launched a spell that burst with a shimmer as the smell of spices filled the air. Several of those on top of the wall were suddenly dazed and the one with the leashes dropped them to babble and murmur in a language none understood.

Arrows came down from the wall, many of them clanking against the armor Thovaas had donned. A spell was cast at Jerrin and at a few others but each resisted in turn. Two of the dog-like beasts dropped their bows in order to engage Thovaas. One of them wrapped its flail around his leg and dragged him from his saddle then the other attacked with a morningstar that glanced off of the knight’s armored chest. Thovaas stood as more blows were driven aside by the armor then attacked the beast with the heavy flail until he fell. The morningstar-weilding creature knocked Thovaas down in order to try to pummel him into the ground, but suddenly his steed landed its hooves on the dog-beast’s shoulders to snap bones. Thovaas slashed the beast one last time before pulling himself onto his mount once again.

On the other side Grimnyr met one of the hyenas halfway, leaping through the air to split its skull as he landed. Jerrin summoned forth a cloud of fog to obscure the site of the caster on the wall before guiding Tempest forward with him. They and Grimnyr met another of the massive dog-like beasts, knocking it to the ground with a surprising strike. They moved closer to the stair on their left to chase after the caster as one of the skeletal creatures raced to engage Alex as he shot arrows at open targets. The other skeletal creature pursued Quentin as he had come forward, just as the prone beast rolled off of the ground to give chase.

Grimnyr saw the spell-slinging beast at the top of the stairs, and as their eyes locked Grimnyr felt a spell effect wrap around his body, holding him in place. Quentin raced to find a shadowed corner near the stair and breathed as sigh of relief. Jerrin moved in to intercept one of the beasts as it came towards Grimnyr just before it ran away, still confused. The spell casting creature then darted into the fog bank, hoping to hide from Quentin and Jerrin as they raced after him. It jumped clumsily from the wall to hit the ground below before attempting to limp away. Quentin leapt after him, rolling with the fall and tumbling to his feet to catch the fleeing creature. Grimnyr shook loose from the spell that had befallen him and whirled to also give chase to the spell caster.

Thovaas reared his steed to kick at the archer beast before he swung a final blow across its chest to topple it from the wall. Galloping down the steps, he raced across the open ground to where Alex was giving ground to the skeleton that had bloodied his arm. Alex wielded his rapier in one hand and a dagger in the other, but his blows were not nearly as effective since the creature had no flesh for him to pierce. Thovaas called forth the power of Heironeous, which only got its attention at first, then with a second calling blasted the skeleton with fiery might turning its bones to ash.

Grimnyr growled at the spell casting creature as it begged for its life. Grimnyr turned his axe blade to the side and hit the caster as hard as he could in the face, knocking it unconscious. Jerrin grasped onto the remaining skeleton and tackled it under his large girth. Soon a skull popped away from the spine and the rest of the bony thing fell apart in his arms. Quentin stabbed one of the beasts that had clawed Jerrin and the creature slumped forward.

The last dog-like beast stood on the stairs and unwrapped first one whip, then a second, and lashed Quentin across his back with the knife-like tips. Jerrin and Quentin worked in tandem against the thing, and Grimnyr suddenly descended from the sky to fell the creature. Squeals and yips were heard before the few living beasts ceased breathing. Surveying the battle field they began collecting the weapons as Thovaas bound and gagged the spell caster.

 

[MarauderX]

Session 33: Uphill Battle

The group looked over the stairs and ground they had claimed in battle. The gnoll sorcerer woke and cowered again before Thovaas. The group gathered around the prisoner as Alex swiftly collected what he could from the fallen gnolls. Jerrin asked the surviving gnoll several questions in his many languages, but it yipped and laid its ear flat against its head. Grimnyr cast a spell to allow Quentin to speak to it and understand what it said. When Quentin spoke it took a second look at him then understood magic was involved.

Quentin asked the gnoll sorcerer what it was doing here and why it had tried to stop them. It replied that they had suspected the party was working for the litorians and were either hunting down the last of the gnolls or were going to find reinforcements. Quentin explained that the latter was true, that they were seeking reinforcements for the litorians to aid them against the duergar. Quentin tried to explain that since they have the same enemy, the duergar, they were actually on the same side. The gnoll then asked why they didn’t use their magic to try to communicate first, as it would have saved these brave warriors from a pointless death. Quentin stammered and replied that the gnolls started first by instigating the attack with arrows that were fired at Thovaas that led them to fight the Tyrannosaurus Rexes. Then the gnoll stammered, frustrated with his words and losing to the only humans he had ever met.

Quentin asked the gnoll some questions about the litorians and how they were faring in the war against the duergar. The gnoll replied that only a few litorians even knew the gnolls were alive and had many tribes hidden in the jungles, and that the duergar haven’t pursued them since they are concentrating on defeating the litorians. He also explained that their tactics in battle used to be much more honorable, but since the duergar were not as honorable the gnolls had to resort to similar vile tactics. The gnoll asked a few questions in return, asking him pointedly if they were going for reinforcements. Quentin nodded, and the gnoll then said that if the party were to spare his life he would tell his people to allow them safe passage through the gate should they return. Quentin explained this to the party and they accepted. As a token of trust the gnoll asked that the weapons and armor that were being collected be returned to his people as well, to let them know that the party was indeed honorable in victory and worthy of their trust. Again the party agreed to this and untied him. He bowed deeply, gathered several items in his arms and began walking away.

The party paused to heal their wounds with magic before deciding to go forward through the door. As they passed through it one by one, the sensation of magic poured over them, making each shiver with the tingle of magic. Once through they proceeded on the stone bridge toward the only other opening. Black tendrils slowly twisted on either side, made barely visible by the light from the other doorway. Then suddenly the light from the doorway dimmed, and Quentin saw a figure in the doorway ahead. He took a fighting stance and the others noticed him readying his bow when they too saw the figure. They approached closer and saw the figure step backward in a cautious manner. Quentin and the others emerged from the gateway to see a female Rakshasa standing before them.

It spoke in common to them, asking where the group was going. Quentin responded that they were going home, back to Kargam to get a warm meal and a soft bed. The Rakshasa rolled her eyes and asked if any of the others would be honest with her. Alex noticed the shadows of something overhead and glanced up to see four jade statues watching from thirty feet up. Cautiously the group spread out across the wide platform. The Rakshasa stepped backward from the edge and stood away from the ledge by ten feet, standing on the air itself.

Grimnyr then spoke up, telling her that the group was going to visit Thermoleth on behalf of the litorians. The Rakshasa turned to Grimnyr and introduced herself as Arilthar. She ignored Jerrin, Thovaas and Alex as she requested that the group take something with them on their journey. She pulled a locket from her robe and held it from her hand. She asked that the group also show it to Thermoleth to add more clout to the request the litorians had made. She explained that if two of the elder races were requesting assistance, surely the need would be impressed upon the great dragon. A quick discussion revealed that the rakshasa had been seeking out the valley as a refuge, but it had turned out to be a paradise at war. Grimnyr smiled as best he could as he received the amulet from her. The rakshasa then began walking away, heading upward to the statues as she walked on the chilly air.

With a quick discussion the group decided to head down the windy valley. Jerrin glanced to his side and a nearby shrub stole his attention. His brow furrowed, he explained that the plant was an oakleaf hydrangea and that its flowers came out in the summer and faded to a pinkish brown in the fall. The group looked at the small plant and saw that its pink-brown flowers were beginning to fall to the ground. Apparently time passed in the valley in relation to the rest of the world they knew.

The group made their way down the empty valley and took their time traversing the obstructions that had hindered their way before. The river below was flowing beneath them. At the top of the falls they peered at Mount Thermoleth as it towered over them. They walked slowly down the spiral ramp and saw the bodies of the two horses they had left behind. Their desiccated skin was wrapped tightly around their bones and the packs had disappeared. Alex took the time to search the smooth walls of the spiral ramp and found nothing. They decided they should start climbing the mountain, and spent the rest of the day preparing.

Jerrin knelt on the ground and gathered some of the rocky earth in his small hands. He began chanting a divination with his eyes closed and in a minute he had whipped his voice into frenzy as he called the attention of the spirits of the wild to listen to his request. In almost a pleading manner he requested the spirits and living rock itself to answer what it could about the mountain of Thermoleth. Several minutes went by where the air around the druid was swirling with pebbles, dirt and nearby debris, and the sinews of magic flowed into and out of his small form. The pace continued to increase for five more minutes then it began to subside. Afterward the druid opened his eyes and told the others what he had heard.

Jerrin had learned that the interior of the mountain was unnatural, and that the way in was toward the top. His inquiry into other locations was unanswered, and he also learned that much of the oppressive weather that had plagued the area for centuries may have been forced. With this news the group made the decision to scale the mountain.

The next morning the group began the ascent of the mountain. Grimnyr led the way up, with a rope end tied to his belt. The other end of the rope Alex secured to his waist, and between them Thovaas and Quentin climbed very slowly with their aid. Jerrin began the climb without his faithful wolfhound companion, but then returned and changed Tempest into a spider monkey for an easy climb. Jerrin, in the form of a dire ape, calmed Tempest enough for him to clamber onto his back. They caught up to the others as they found a good sized niche for them to rest for the night.

Again in the morning the party worked their way up the mountain. Thovaas and Quentin both stumbled at times, but Grimnyr and Alex managed to catch them. Thovaas had packed away his armor and graciously accepted a chain shirt from Grimnyr for an easier climb. As they worked their way up through the ice and snow laden portions they could see that in another day they would be beyond the ice. The climb became steeper and more difficult as they went. The plethora of handholds had thinned to be few and far between. Grimnyr led the path up the mountain with aid from Jerrin, and several times they doubled back in order to make the climb easier.

They saw the snow thin and end as they climbed over it. Oily black soot took the place of the snow, and soon the group was covered with it. Jerrin used his powers to mold a ledge from the hard rock and there they slept during the third night on the mountain. The air was thinning and the group realized the climb would only get harder. The next morning they set out again, climbing above the clouds that had blocked their view before.

Then Jerrin felt a shadow cross over his back. The sun shown in his eyes and he couldn’t see what it was exactly, but he sensed something was in the sky. A few minutes later the shadow passed over him again, and suddenly the clatter of darts hitting the mountain wall were heard. Thovaas cringed as he was hit by one of them, as did Alex, but it was Thovaas who started to slide down the mountain. Grimnyr pulled the rope taught but Thovaas had lost his grip on it. Alex braced his feet against the side and relied on Grimnyr’s pull with one hand as he reached out for the sliding paladin with the other. Gripping his chain shirt, Alex pinned the large man to the mountain and showed him a foothold to gain stability. Jerrin cast a spell to walk on air, and Quentin carefully hopped on the dire ape’s shoulders to gain stability. Using his knees to keep steady on while riding Jerrin, Quentin pulled out his bow and fired a quick return shot at the beast.

The thing was a massive winged beast, and it was keeping its distance as it glided parallel to the mountain face. The thing turned its head to show a humanoid face that spat draconic curses at them, then the whip-like tail snapped and another volley of spikes struck the group. Jerrin cautiously stepped out away from the mountain wall and stood on thin air. Tempest, as a spider monkey, screamed with fear as he scampered over Jerrin. Quentin froze and then his heart caught in his throat as suddenly Jerrin charged away from the mountain towards the flying beast.

Thovaas clung to the wall as Alex looped the rope through the back of his belt and climbed ahead of the paladin. Alex looked for a ledge of some type on which to guide Thovaas to safety. Thovaas clung to the wall, not moving, and peeked over his shoulder. Quentin stabbed the thing in the rear haunch and blood spurted onto Jerrin’s shaggy fur. He saw the winged beast peel away from the monstrous Jerrin and it loosed another volley of spikes at the pursuing druid. Quentin struggled to remain on Jerrin’s shoulders as he strode forward, still walking on thin air. The shadowdancer steadied then lashed out with another set of blows just as Jerrin punched the beast. The blow landed at the side of its head and the tentacle-like neck recoiled oddly as its wings suddenly folded and it tumbled downward out of the sky.

The wind whipped against Quentin and he hugged the top of Jerrin’s massive head as Tempest clung to the druid beneath his warm armpit. They walked toward the mountain once more and Jerrin decided to make the most of the moment and hauled the rest of the group up by towing them on a rope. As Jerrin walked on the air next to the mountain his breaths became more labored. He stopped and formed a ledge from the mountainside, dropped everyone off, then fell fast asleep. The others kept watch over the mountainside as they slept in turn, not disturbing the Halfling druid.

The morning came early to them, as they saw it break through the clouds below. This time Jerrin decided to take the form of something with more stamina – that of a rhinoceros. Grimnyr and Quentin tied a rope around his massive girth for the others to hand on, and before long Jerrin was hauling them upward, calling upon the nature spirits to guide him as he walked on air. With repeated calls the group made their way up without the risk of climbing the treacherous terrain. Again they spent the night and the fatigued druid slept past dawn for the first time in months.

The next day the group proceeded in the same fashion, with Jerrin walking them ever upward as the air made it cumbersome to breath. Quentin happened to look down the mountain as they gazed at its inky blackness and noticed that there was a very slight reddish tint in an area. Jerrin stepped downward toward it and they saw it was an opening in the mountainside, deep and dark. A glow came from the interior walls, illuminating the way for only a dozen or so feet.

Quentin stepped onto the ledge from Jerrin’s back and peered inward with his exceptional vision. Waving to the others, they joined him on the ledge before he moved forward into the murky cave. The first cave was expansive and had rough hewn walls. The top was easily twenty feet or more, and there were two rough corridors that led away from the room. Quentin stepped forward on the dry, uneven floor and looked first one way then another. Suddenly he heard the roar of fire.

The others watched Quentin melt into the darkness and they held their breath as he quietly disappeared. In an instant he was gone, then suddenly the whole room was aflame, and Quentin’s face was aglow with surprise as flames erupted from the closest wall to him. Just as the flames waned, flaming arrows streaked from each of the corridors, several striking Quentin and others targeting Grimnyr. A burst of flames exploded in the middle of the room, catching them all within its radius and singeing them through the soot that covered them.

Immediately the group sprang into action; Grimnyr imbued everyone with speed and swiftness just as Alex made his way down one of the corridors. Jerrin followed up with a protection spell to prevent fire from hurting them as severely. Quentin dashed to another wall out of the line of site from either corridor, pulled out the wand of healing and managed to seal one of his blackened wounds. Thovaas summoned forth his trusted warhorse and used him as cover before swinging himself into the saddle.

Alex discovered the archers further down the corridor as they were reloading. He had drawn his rapier and he pulled the Sword of Light loose from its sheath with his other hand. The light revealed the creatures in front of him – they were snake-like humanoids with wide flaring necks and gangly limbs. They stood at seven feet tall with their long serpentine necks, and their tails wound in coils behind them. Alex saw another behind the two archers as it began chanting an arcane spell, and the archers stepped backward to fire arrows just as the spell was complete. The shorter serpent creature extended its clawed finger to point at Alex’s chest and a purple beam struck him, sapping his strength.

A wall of flames roiled out in a circle to enclose the rest of the group in the first room. Just outside of the circle, Quentin pulled up his bow and fired twice at the shorter robed creature. Thovaas took his horse through the wall of flames and saw the Sword of Light gleaming in the darkness. He guided his mount toward it until he could see his target in front of him. Seeing an easy opening, Thovaas struck the casting lizard-like thing with his sword, causing a deep gash down its arm.

Jerrin stayed within the circle, protected from the flames, and called forth a genie while the wall of flames illuminated the area.

Grimnyr stepped through the wall of fire and was soon in darkness as he made his way down the opposite hall. The snake-creature archers came into view as he stepped forward, then another robed creature to the side. Grimnyr pulled his weapon as he stepped towards the thing, and it lowered its gaping maw…

TO BE CONTINUED!

 

[MarauderX]

Session 34: Brutal Mercy

The dimly glowing walls barely reflected the snake-man before Grimnyr, and he made out its face and its lowered jaw in time to see flames spew forth from its maw. Arrows from the nearby archers pelted him, and rage wrested his actions away from rational thought. Grimnyr heard Jerrin’s quick call for how many stand in front of him. In a misconstrued blurt he shouted the number three at the top of his powerful voice before heaving his axe down on the fire-breathing beast in front of him.

Thovaas watched as the lizard-like creature spat flames at him and his mount a moment before he swung his large sword at it. His mount reared upward and slapped the beast with its hooves, knocking it to the ground with its skull caved in. Alex slinked closer to the two snake-archers and slashed one of them repeatedly. Quentin followed closely, using the shadows for cover before striking out with arrows.

Meanwhile, Jerrin heard a thump of something that had landed at the entrance they had come through. Though he couldn’t see beyond the wall of fire that had been erected, his ears told him something was there over the roar of the fire. His spell ended and five dire wolves now leapt through the wall of fire to aid the others. Jerrin followed two of them toward the brilliant sword Alex wielded and barked for two others to attack any lizards down the other passageway.

Grimnyr swung around and split the bow of one of the archer snake-men before turning to attack the caster. That was when two flaming arrows sailed down the hall, one striking the barbarian in the shoulder. The wolves loped down the roughly hewn corridor to aid in the attack, and they downed the archer nearest Grimnyr. They moved in the tight area as the caster tried to place a curse on the raging bard. The other archer retreated all the way back, but the wolves chased him there, relentlessly attacking.

The other side pressed their advantage against the two archers as they gave ground, as an explosion ripped through the middle of them. The fiery blast failed to caution the party, and Quentin led the way down the hall, surging forward in the darkness to fire several arrows at the second archer. With his bowstring still humming, Quentin saw two figures standing in the murky darkness behind him.

The archer didn’t seem to take notice of him as he fired into the crowd down the hall, striking one of the other archers as well as a summoned wolf. The other snake-figure completed a spell that projected a ray from its clawed hand. The ray found Quentin in the darkness and drained his strength from him instantly.

Alex struck down one of the archers and moved to gain advantage by slipping around the other. Thovaas had dismounted to push the archers back down the hall, and he struck out down the hall just as Alex motioned him into a flanking position. The blow he landed struck down the remaining archer with such force that the lanky creature was sliced in two.

Quentin lunged at new archer with his rapier then spun out of the way in one swift motion. Alex set off in pursuit of the new targets, his sword of light revealing the two new figures in a nearby room. Jerrin’s collar blazed when he told the wolves in their language to attack the caster, and they recognized him as the pack leader, not to be questioned. The wolves brought the caster to the ground as the archer fired on Alex. The snake-man caster suddenly conjured an area of grease beneath the summoned wolves, and they fell to the ground. Thovaas ran down the hallway, armor clacking around him, and tried to use the one summoned wolf as a bridge over the area of grease. The wolf pitched, and Thovaas felt his weight go forward uncontrollably. He slid down next to the caster and for an instant they looked each other in the eye before a spell and a smile followed. The caster slapped the paladin on the arm and Thovaas felt his endurance weaken.

Jerrin sprinted back toward the entrance and popped his head through the wall of fire. There a manticore took a swipe at the small Halfling as he ran toward the other corridor where Grimnyr had disappeared. The wolves struck out again to knock over the caster near Grimnyr, and Jerrin commanded them to then attack the manticore that had followed him down the hall. They traded blows and the manticore was finally brought down.

Grimnyr, with no nearby foes and seeing the sword of light, ran toward the archer that was firing on Alex. In a quick blow by Grimnyr and Quentin the archer brought down, and Grimnyr leapt through the air to land a devastating hit on the prone caster near Thovaas. Quentin fired his last two arrows and with a lucky shot struck the snake-caster in the side of the head. It went limp instantly.

Jerrin summoned forth a unicorn that promptly healed Grimnyr and Quentin. Thovaas helped with the healing as well, and after a few minutes everyone had their wounds sealed. The strength that had been sapped from Alex and Quentin returned, the wall of fire burnt out, but Thovaas’s cursed health remained. They gathered the light metallic arrows, bows, and swords from the defeated reptile-men and stripped them of the armor as well. After Grimnyr and Jerrin had examined the strange layered armor, Thovaas systematically slashed the hide-like protective covering up the middle, cut the straps and poked a plethora of holes in each of the three suits. He broke the three swords at the hilt and also destroyed the bows.

Quentin kept watch at the stair entry and a strong, hot breeze forced him to squint as it pushed his hair back. The group readied themselves and proceeded down the steps, always forty feet behind Quentin, and Grimnyr held the ever-burning torch aloft above his head for everyone. After progressing for three or four hundred feet down the crudely crafted steps Quentin saw an opening to a room ahead. Motioning for the others to remain behind, he and Alex crept toward the room to investigate. Quentin sensed a trap of some sort, something that would go off if he took another step. A whispered debate ensued about who should try to disarm it, and Quentin impatiently gave up and decided to take a chance. A moment later the group saw a vortex of flame shoot forth from near the wall where Quentin was, but he had ducked in time to avoid the severe burns. Alex just shook his head as Quentin shrugged.

Quentin used his darkvision to scan the room. He saw a table, some bookcases and a few cabinets. The only thing moving was a piece of paper fluttering around the room, repeating a circular pattern. Quentin stepped in and saw that on the other side of the room were more stairs leading down.

The group was motioned in and Alex began searching the blackened walls for anything suspicious, as it seemed the hotter air was leaking from the room in more than one place. Alex followed the direction of black sooty streaks along the wall and moved a cabinet out of the way to see that there was indeed an outline of a door, black on black. In a few minutes Alex popped the door open and it swung out from the room. It was only four feet tall and two feet wide and pitch black beyond.

Quentin moved into the enclosed space and walked twenty feet before he saw an opening ahead. From the widening corridor he could see the room was cylindrical with a slightly bowl-shaped floor. In the middle of the floor was a grate. A liquid seemed to be draining to the grate after dripping from a location above near the surrounding walls. Quentin peered upward and his breathe caught in his throat at what he saw.

Hanging nearly twenty feet from the floor were bodies. The bodies had been stripped of their skin, completely, even between their toes and fingers, and no hair could be seen. The exposed organs glistened but the bodies did not seem to bleed from a lack of skin. The bodies that were hanging there had been slashed, stabbed and mutilated - recently. Blood poured from the wounds, pooled on the floor, and then ran into the drain at the center of the room. Quentin turned away in disgust and he nearly dry heaved into his hands. Sensing trouble the others made their way forward to observe the room.

The group examined the bodies that hung there. They discerned the bodies had elven bone structure and features, but were missing many of the signature features that designate the race, such as pointed ears. The wrists were tied together and the bodies hung down from them with the feet tied together at the bottom ten feet above the floor.

The round room had four exits, and Quentin peered down each to see another cylindrical room of the same type. He ventured into the next as the party stood in silence with the sundered bodies. Quentin stopped and called back, saying that they have some ‘live’ ones. By living he had meant undamaged; they were still bodies without skin, but they had not been destroyed in the same way as the others. Thovaas detected no evil on them but Grimnyr could tell there was a strong presence of necromantic magic.

Alex found and opened a second secret door in the room with the stairs, in a mirrored location to the other secret door. Quentin began the task of exploring the other side to find more cylindrical rooms in a symmetrical pattern with skinned bodies hanging in each. Quentin became jitterier as he explored room after room of the same, finding that none of the elven bodies in the rooms were damaged on this side. On each side there were twenty-four rooms with the hanging bodies for forty eight total, and three of them had freshly bloodied bodies.

It was when Quentin returned that Thovaas made a realization. The bodies that had been mutilated showed wounds very similar to the armor that he had destroyed, with the same gashes running up the middle and holes poked through the armor at the same points. The others concurred that this was likely true, and Grimnyr surmised that it was the reason his axe did not sink so deeply in the reptile-men casters. Thovaas murmured a prayer for them and himself as he did not know what he had done. Grimacing, the group decided to cut down and behead all of the hanging bodies to put them at peace as well as undermine the magic to the armor the humanoid snakes wore.

The group got underway immediately. They began with Thovaas cutting them down, Grimnyr swinging his axe and the paladin blessing them while the others kept watch. After several rooms Thovaas felt his muscles aching, but they decided to keep going despite the slower pace. They made their way through more rooms and the paladin was exhausted from his efforts as Jerrin informed them night had come. They rested.

The next day they began again, only this time Thovaas called upon the power of Heironeous to turn away the necromantic hold on the bodies. It worked, and the bodies were charred from the holy blast Thovaas shot forth. Jerrin undid his own magic he had used to transform Tempest, his wolfhound companion, into a monkey. He then took the form of a giant ape and began ripping the bodies apart, leaving arms hanging downward by the wrists. He stacked the bodies in first one room, then another as they piled up. Jerrin was hoping to plug the drains with the bodies to prevent the blood from spilling into it. He couldn’t help but calculate that there were five-hundred-seventy-six elven bodies that they were removing from the walls. That could encompass five or six elven families, and he shuddered as his imagination raced with how the elves might have been caught and strung up.

While the others worked, Quentin decided to explore. In a wink he was down the steps, and the party didn’t notice that he was gone until he reappeared an hour later asking for some rope and a grappling hook. He went back down the steps, and the stairs progressed deeper and deeper into the mountain. They kept sloping downward the further he went until the steps seemed to be more of a climb than anything else. Quentin fastened the grappling hook to a nearby crevasse and lowered himself the full length of the rope – fifty feet. From there he could see downward with his darkvision that the steps evened out once more. He returned back to the party to report.

Later, while the party worked, Quentin had been keeping watch at the top of the steep drop when he saw what he thought was a piece of paper fluttering upward on the hot air. Instead it was something tiny with wings, and it was using the updraft to easily glide upward. The scaly thing was much smaller than even Jerrin and as it was about to whisk by, Quentin lunged at it. He had struck it with his rapier, jabbing it in the side and it spun about to look at Quentin with a face of alien surprise. It then let go of the ceiling which it clung to, folded its wings tightly to its side and dropped like a rock down the shaft. Quentin looked down but didn’t hear it hit the bottom – it had likely slowed its decent before it hit.

The group still worked to bring down the bodies from the walls and completed the task on the third day – just as Quentin returned in a hurry from the stairs. He told them what had happened and the heavily breathing Jerrin, Thovaas and Grimnyr thanked him and said they could only hope for enough rest if something was going to come after them.

Wheezing from the hot, dry air, Jerrin cast a spell that brought forth a being who presented an exquisite meal for them all. Meats, cheeses, and most importantly water was available to them immediately. The group ate and drank before setting up three watches for the night.

In the morning the group decided to continue down the stairs several hundred to the drop Quentin had mentioned. Jerrin cast a spell to walk on air again, and holding the rope the others rappelled down the chase. They continued onward again, the hot air blasting against their faces. Four or five hundred feet downward they descended until Quentin made out a soft glow ahead. The glow became stronger and they heard a dull roaring sound fill the stairs. Quentin could see something beyond the archway and pressed himself against the wall as he neared the reddish-orange opening.

Before him was a lake of magma and in the center a stone peak rose from it. Quentin saw that there was a floating tiled path that led from the landing to an opening in the solid black rock. Several rock islands seemed to be floating on the lava as well, and on them several reptile-men were stooped, and some of them were enormous. Smaller winged creatures, like the one Quentin had stabbed, circled in the vast cavern. Looking around the ring of magma Quentin saw something that had only been described in legends and fairytales like some of those Grimnyr told. It must be a dragon. The shear size of it made Quentin’s mouth drop and he couldn’t turn away from it. A colossal head was supported by an S-shaped neck, and the broad torso had mammoth wings extend behind it. Sinewy arms were outstretched, and one clawed hand blazed with magic that held a massive orb aloft.

Then, without moving its neck, the head swiveled about to show a black eye that seemed to peer straight at Quentin.

 

[MarauderX]

Session 35: Thermoleth

Quentin hugged the wall. He waited for a moment before slowly pulling a wand from his belt and tapped himself. The others watched him carefully, his actions a silhouette against the glowing lava in front of him. As they watched the bridge path toward the spire at the center of the lava moat began to recede downward into the lava. Quentin heard the four lizardmen calling magical energy forth as he saw the large form of what had to be a dragon vanish from the corner of his eye.

Grimnyr strode into position and cast a spell to quicken everyone should something happen. Hastened, Alex ran to the bottom of the stairs, jumped over the lava gap and landed on the last sinking slab. His feet began burning through his sizzling boots and he danced in place to avoid scorching blisters. Jerrin placed an enchantment to mitigate the extreme heat on the rest of the group after he had morphed into a large lion. He guided Tempest to charge forward with him to avoid the huge sword-wielding serpent to engage one of the casting lizard-like men.

Suddenly a wall of fire sprang up, sealing off Alex and Jerrin from the others as flames flooded outward in waves. Grimnyr shouted a battle hymn about the lineage of the barbarian people as he strode forward through the wall, and the others followed.

The rest of the group stopped at the base of the stair to look for the dragon. Thovaas handed Quentin the locket that had been given by Felvonni and the shadowdancer held it aloft while hailing the dragon-like creatures before them in draconic. After firing several arrows into one of the casters, Quentin told the creatures that they would yield to them if they would disengage their attack and take them to Thermoleth. Some listened intently, fixed on the half-elf’s words, the first they had heard by an outsider in centuries. Others did not stop, however, and a wispy hand slammed into Quentin to deliver a magical curse that sapped his strength. Several more times the spectral hand tried to quiet him, but Quentin persisted with pleading to meet Thermoleth.

A fiery Halfling-sized lizardman sneered at Quentin and struck him with his hammer. Thovaas swung his sword in retaliation, felling the short being as fire shot up the paladin’s arm. The protective magic managed to prevent the small eruption from singeing his arm. Alex leapt backwards from the sinking tile onto a group of smoldering rocks floating on the lava. The red-hot rocks burned through the soles of his soft-bound boots and nearly caused him to fall to avoid his feet from burning more, but then he dove to the safety of the stair landing behind Thovaas.

Jerrin withdrew through the wall of fire as the stone walkway across the lava moat slowly sank; another ten-foot section was now below the surface. Transforming back to Halfling form, Jerrin called out for the others to fall back and regroup. One by one they passed through the wall and tendrils of smoke came up from Alex’s clothes after he came through the wall. Jerrin cast a protective spell on Alex as they discussed the tactics they should use when they went back through the wall. Just as suddenly as the wall had appeared, it was now gone.
Two of the reptilian casters launched more spells and fire exploded in the hallway several times. The magical protection helped to absorb much of the damage. Just as the group noched arrows and turned to face them another wall of fire formed to block their sight, this time with the waves of fire flowing into the corridor.

Jerrin summoned an air elemental and spoke to it in its native tongue, telling it to form a whirlwind and consume the small creatures. The strange creature whisked through the wall of fire and spun into one of the small flying dragon-like creatures. Sweeping it up, it then plowed through the four reptilian casters, pulling one from his feet into the air. In a moment the reptilian humanoids countered with spells, firing enchantments that broke the bond that the elemental had with their plane.

Quentin gestured his wand at the others to boost their reactions and Grimnyr healed Alex as he drank the enchanted water he had brought from Chautauqua. Jerrin summoned a covey of dire bats then enchanted them with a spell to enlarge them. Thovaas stepped through the wall and discovered the sword-wielding serpent was waiting for him and slashed downward across his arm. With forceful instruction the druid persuaded the bats to venture through the wall of fire. Following them through, Jerrin and Tempest surrounded the huge sword-wielding serpent.

Alex ventured through the wall of fire and immediately a flash of bright sparks spewed up from the lava in front of him. Blinded, he and Thovaas steadied themselves on the platform. Thovaas slowly moved upward, walking on the air itself knowing that Jerrin’s magic would prevent him from falling into the lava.

The enlarged bats were blasted with a ball of fire, dismissing two of them before they attacked a massive clawed draconian. Grimnyr and Quentin stepped through the wall of fire to see the action, and Grimnyr felled the serpent in front of Jerrin with an axe that cleaved its skull in two. Jerrin and Tempest turned to charge the massive draconian, airwalking over the lava below them. Jerrin, in the form of a gigantic rhino, pierced the draconian through the shoulder before Tempest managed to drop it down to its knees.

Another flash of light blazed upward from the lava to blind Grimnyr and Quentin. Grimnyr gauged the edge of the platform, backed up until he could feel the warmth of the wall of fire, and then made a running leap. He launched himself blindly into the air and fell awkwardly to land on his hands and knees on the nearest floating island. Picking himself up he listened to see if anything was near him. Quentin retreated behind the wall of fire and hoped that the spots that blocked his delicate vision would soon pass.

Jerrin watched as the bats defeated the massive draconian in front of him, its face being torn from its screaming head. He plowed over it to slam into one of the four lizard-like casters, knocking its chest in with his immense horn. The bats moved forward to engage another of the casters as Tempest closed in on another, crushing its throat.

When Alex and Thovaas could finally see, they looked around at the empty area and saw dark figures swimming away from them just under the surface of the burning lava. The pathway from the stair landing to the opening in the spire had completely sunk, but Thovaas and Jerrin glided on the air to carry the others. They picked up Grimnyr last as he stood statuesque on a small rock as the lava lapped against it near his feet. With everyone together, the group passed through the dark entry.

They passed into an area of complete darkness as the light had been dampened with magic. The party stopped as they felt the smooth rock beneath their feet and knew they had entered a larger room. The light began to return and they could see they were in a large cavernous room that was much taller than wide. At the center a circular pool of lava bubbled. On the opposite side of the oval cavern a solid platform was raised high from the floor. A gargantuan darkened husk rested on top of the golden platform, and suddenly it moved. The light glinted off of the tattooed skin of the husk, and soon they realized they were wings unwrapping themselves. The wings parted to reveal the rest of the dragon beneath, and the glowing orb in its clawed hands illuminated its broad chest. The light shed a ghastly shadow on the wall, casting each of its pointed barbs as a deathly cowl on the walls behind it. One by one the tingle of fear made them shudder as they looked far up at it.

The reptilian eyes blinked as it swung its head down to examine them then turned its gaze back into the swirling orb. Quentin cleared his throat and stammered through a greeting in draconic to recognize the great Thermoleth. The dragon turned to him and Quentin’s voice trailed off to stop after a brief introduction. The large jaws opened slightly and the dragon turned to them before speaking.

Thermoleth’s voice boomed although it seemed she was speaking quietly in the vast vault. All the while she clung to the orb with both clawed hands and stopped to examine it on occasion.

“I have witnessed your movements since I sensed your motives to come to the mountain, my mountain. Your movements have been aided by your magic, of which I have learned to adapt to defeat in order to survive. Your magic protected you from the harsh cold of the driving winds; perhaps you think I am responsible for the steady growth of the glaciers to the north. The snows and ice that surround my mountain were not made by my power, but of another to the north. This rival may seek to court me in some fashion or perhaps to test my boundaries. I have not stopped him, as through the last millennia he has encroached up to my doorstep. Though he is irksome, such a playful gesture may eventually be matched by my own. Perhaps your interest in me is sparked by aiding me in thwarting his advances? It would be a rare find to witness a group that should find concern with the affairs of a pair of dragons. So what is the path that brought you here?”

With a nod, Grimnyr began the story of the party’s formation, how they defended the homestead of Sukyskin from the goblin tribes organized by Golthar, and how they discovered Chautauqua in order to defeat the Rakshasa. He continued with stories of Kargam and their river journey, how the tapestry had led them to the hidden valley and ended with the Litorian request for assistance from the visionary Thermoleth.

Afterward Thermoleth continued.
“Your race is young, and not of an age where you would have recorded the last skirmish had made its trek from here to the sea. No, you are too new to this world and will have barely learned enough to command your own faculties before you begin to wither. Such was your race constructed so as never to excel before time dragged you back to the dust from which you were created.

Time is our equalizer, an assurance that we can outlast the fickleness of our betrothed lords, the gods that likely have been lost to you. They are not gone. They rest while their children patrol our universe on the prime material plane, fighting insignificant battles to achieve marginal victories for worthless goals.

Some of these children are not even as old as I. The cunning Vecna belongs to your treasured host of gods, yes? It ascended to such a pedestal with the aid of others while I sparred with Nerull, the child god fathered by Incabulos. My worshippers were many and my realm stretched far, even in the time of men, but never beyond my sight, as nothing is beyond my sight.

Vecna had used every path available to defeat the ravages of time that were to claim his life despite his search for immortality. And he found a way, giving his flesh and soul as a sacrifice. Was it worth it? You are short lived, would the attractiveness of immortality be enough to lure you to accept undeath as a means to continue your existence? Do not answer now; ponder the question and the lure of immortality.

Cuthbert… another to ascend. Do you know of him? I did not. Did he know what awaited him? Perhaps his ascension was not on purpose as his loose code of ethics led him inevitably closer to it. He fought during your war for freedom, defying even the elves who had called for strict adherence to codes and ethics as a model for the freed slaves. In a wink he had traversed the boundary from mortal to immortal while I slept after your war and waited for my followers to revive me once more.

And now you are here. Why? Do not answer, I already know. To preserve all that you know and hold dear to your hearts… to save your lands, your cities, your homes… your countrymen, your families, yourselves… to save your efforts, your knowledge, your dreams…and to grant yourself fame and fortune along the way… as saviors.

For what? To keep dying breeds alive? To extend the lives of its institutions that are doomed to failure? To uphold races that have glimpsed the greatness of establishments before them but lack the vision and focus to see beyond their own time? There is much that I know of this world, and examining it while it is underutilized by the once-slave races must leave the gods wonting. I should know, it leaves me wonting, and I am a divine mortal.

The time of the slaves has thus far been squandered quarreling amongst themselves and using their efforts to merely facilitate their own laziness. They have failed to unite long enough to take advantage of the vast resources that were handed to them. The potential has been wasted. Our time will come again and the children of the gods and their chosen people shall fade to the past, but not completely. So powerful is my vision, I have seen this as an absolute. But that is of modest consequence. Tell me of the Litorians.”

Thermoleth gestures for Grimnyr to tell the tale in a fantastic style, and improvises to have Quentin as an interpretive dancer to represent the Litorian plight. The dragon seemed uncomfortable with the dancing half-elf as she licked her lips several times. She motioned for the nimble shadowdancer to stop prancing and for Grimnyr to proceed. Grimnyr’s performance was mesmerizing, and the dragon looked less and less into the orb, instead watching and listening to the bard as he spun his account using magic cantrips to add flash and flavor to invoke the mood. At the end of the performance the party resisted clapping in approval as the dragon looked at Grimnyr as if waiting for more.

“Now I see you have come, not as worshippers, but as messengers. You bring me these gifts as a bribe from a people you do not even know, and that speaks loudest of all. Do you know what you have said to me? That you want a chance, to survive to fulfill your remaining days chasing the dream you seek to preserve. That is honorable.

But beyond this you… desire… oh yes, I sense it, an aura that surrounds each of you with a need to continue to risk your life to satiate that desire. Your yearning swells larger than your hearts; it crowds out your feelings of contentment, love, and fear and pushes you… here… to me.

You must realize that by sending you the Litorians have guaranteed that I cannot refuse these gifts, thereby forcing me to accept their proposal. And as would-be loyal servants your lives would be part of that understanding. The remains of Miruka-Tabuset are returned to me. And the rest are here as well, all of which I have once controlled and expended to sway events to my advantage. Everything you once owned belongs now to me. And the lockets, open the Litorian one first.

* * * * *

Litorian Locket, showing Felvonni:
“Thank you for accepting these valuable gifts from us. Bearing them are those from the freed races; I hope they have survived long enough to deliver this message themselves. Our leader, Jolenta sends her greetings and I speak on her behalf.

We seek your aid. We are locked in a struggle of survival against the very creations we had prized – the duergar. They have driven us from our open plain homes and chased us into the stone cities that they created. We know of their ways, as dishonorable and malicious as they are, and our people are divided in our strategy to deal with them. Thus we have not been able to unify under a single leader, and this division has come to fruition as distrust amongst the Litorians.

What do we expect of you? Solely your renowned vision, to show us what the duergar have been hiding, how they breed so quickly and details of what they plan to do next. This is all we can hope for. We do not wish to disturb you beyond this, as we cannot repay resources expended on our behalf.

Again, please accept these gifts as our meager payment for your vastly powerful services, and I await your contact at your leisure.”

* * * * *

That is a wonder. I have never seen such a blatant request from the Litorians, they must truly be desperate. Now show me the other locket.

* * * * *

The Rakshasa Locket glows before an image showing Arilthar in exquisite robes:
“Your majesty, I am humbled that you may one day hear my voice and gaze down on me once more.

I have found the Litorians and grasp that their plight is true. They are divided in their goals, and currently have limited aptitude to deal with the hazardous duergar. The other slave race that they had taken to their dale has been exterminated, leaving the aggressive duergar with only the Litorians to vent their fury. And such an angry race cannot be easily quelled.

Many Litorians have bowed to the teachings of Incabulos and to these followers I have shared much of what I know of his son, Nerull. They have retained an extent of their former power but I fear they lack any control over the entities they fashion or beckon. However, this may play to the Litorian’s advantage.

The lifestyles of the Litorians has been switched with the duergar - since the fighting began, the Litorians have taken defensible positions in and around many of the massive stone cities the duergar once occupied. The duergar now roam the valley, using their vocal exchanges to follow Litorian movements. The Litorians have broken every coded message the duergar sent, so they have stopped using coded communication and rely on their booming tones for alerts and simple messages. Because of this, the Litorians remain behind enclosed walls at night and have restricted patrols during the day. The Litorian followers of Incabulos have called forth beings that patrol the long valley floor at night, weakening the duergar hold. Though it is new, some of the duergar have already learned to control such elements for a limited time. While droves of duergar have been found massacred by whatever beings the Litorians have brought, that number his being hedged quickly by them, a little too quickly.

Another group of Litorians has been magically forging metal guardians with magic to wield against the duergar. These constructs are tough opponents, but are too few to be useful for more than a skirmish. The duergar have used their ingenuity to manufacturer similar guardians of their own, and have supposedly begun production of a mammoth automaton that would end the war. I have only heard about his thing but have yet to witness it. Should you observe it, I implore you to share all that you can about the process in which it was created.

Another concern of the Litorians is the rapid rise of the duergar population. They have found that the amount of duergar in the valley has more than tripled in the time since the war began, and their reproduction capabilities are slower than that of dwarves. With that in mind the Litorian spies have turned up nothing revealing, and they are stumped as they have introduced various diseases to sabotage the duergar efforts to have young.

I would also call your attention to those who have delivered this message to you. Bold they are, and practical, but their days should end early before they become as dangerous as some in the past. Though they are an anomaly of power, bending them to meet your needs may prove to be a mistake. The choice is yours, of course, but take heed in allowing them to live out their days. Of particular note are the fearless rogue, the knight of Heironeous and the shapeshifter Halfling. The others are ancillary.

I look forward to one day being in the grace of your presence, and Golthar sends his warmest regards from the beyond.”

* * * * *

Warmest regards indeed. How rare an opportunity. I have been more popular, but you likely don’t appreciate the enormity of the situation. They spent considerable effort in preparing these messages, and for Arilthar to mention you must mean you scare her in some manner. Now that you have entrusted yourselves with me, I should take care that you, as my tools, should be honed to face her should the need arise. Abide my wishes and you shall witness what I see and learn of ancient days.

You should know, if only to preserve your hope, the Litorians were among the first advocates for fair treatment of your races. Yes, I recall that many Litorians vied for political position in order to sway the other races. The elves were reluctant to join them, if only because the leader of their dictatorial regime refused. In a way your races owe them as much as the elves for their freedom.

Your use to me could prove valuable, although short term. My use to you is to preserve the status quo of the world you know, and to that I am aligned, at least for the length of your lives. Then again, the Litorians sought to preserve their world, and you have witnessed how it has changed. So to you I should ask to aid in the preservation of the Litorians. Let us investigate the duergar and their methodology."

 

[MarauderX]

Session 36: Out of the Frying Pan

Thermoleth’s lair was sparse. She sat on her pedestal-like throne and stared into the orb in her hands for hours at a stretch. In the center of the large room was a circle that extended downward into the molten lava, and with the archway sealed this became the only way out. The walls and floor were smooth and polished rock, mostly black with sparkles of the strange grey metal littering the surface. There were no furnishings per se, but hemispherical niches in the floor and a few ledges along the walls provided a place to sit and relax. Later the group was to find out that these niches were carved for the strange creatures with long tails to coil themselves comfortably and nap.

The dragon started to conjure images over several hours and managed to spy on the duergar as they worked. The image then refocused and the image of a human woman came into view. Her smile accented her beauty, and she seemed to look straight at them as if she knew they were watching. Behind her stood a metal behemoth twice her height. The thing looked like a hunchback man with a round torso and metal skin. Unlike the Litorians’ metal creations, this construct had no gentle curves or sleek skin. Instead it looked clunky, as if plates of metal were strung together to make this humanoid-like beast. The woman kept her smile and winked.

The dragon asked if the party recognized the woman. They shook their heads, and then Thermoleth told them to look again and said it was Arilthar in disguise. She had already infiltrated the duergar and was waiting to show the dragon the duergar secrets she had found. She gestured for them to follow her and Thermoleth guided the image to look over the woman’s shoulder along several corridors. After turning into a large hallway the woman pointed to a massive metal wall that ran from the ground to the high arched ceiling above. It was slightly curved and was easily a hundred feet long. The woman tapped it, swept her hand over it, and then indicated a portion on her arm a few inches long. They then understood that his huge metal piece was that section in the behemoth that was under construction. After a while the dragon stopped showing the images as she drew the orb closer to her face.

Hours passed by, and the group took turns sleeping fitfully as they guessed at what time it was. When they had surmised a few days had gone they kindly asked Thermoleth if they might be allowed to leave, for they were hungry and tired. The dragon insisted Grimnyr ask appropriately and with that she informed the party they were to be guests for the winter. Politely trying to refuse, the dragon turned her focus from the orb and explained one more time that they were guests for the winter, thinly veiling anger by reasoning that the group wouldn’t survive the trek back in the vicious cold.

Thermoleth showed the group as much hospitality as she was able, and she asked them question after question about their language, rituals, habits and behaviors. She told them that she was comparing against how the races have changed their living habits through the ages. Thermoleth remarked that Grimnyr’s people, the barbarians, seemed to be the most closely following the traditions of their ancestors. She said that though cities were not a new invention, their population had never been as high as in just the last millennium.

The dragon revealed images of far distant lands and showed them immense temples that the elders had built that were now being used to worship another god. Tall spires stabbed upwards into the sky in a place that Thermoleth said was far to the south, where winter was summer and summer was winter. The spires had been erected by collaboration between the Rakshasa, Marilith and Aranea. The golden towers started with a single building, and then one after another they worked to build higher into the sky to oversee the nearby island chains and the seas in between.

More images came as the dragon scanned people, places and magically imbued items. Days became a week, then two, and Thermoleth asked about certain people within the kingdom. She scried over a man dressed in red robes and Thovaas recognized him as the King’s advisor, Rekkin, as he peered into another orb similar to the one Thermoleth clasped. Another image of a woman came into view as she stirred a cauldron before she detected someone was magically spying. No one in the party knew who she was, but Thermoleth was certain that she would somehow be important in the upcoming decades.

After a few more weeks an image of another dragon was presented, however this one had white scales that helped it blend with the snowy white background in which it lay. Beside this dragon was a similar orb, but of much greater size. In a flash the image was cut short and Thermoleth explained that this dragon had stopped her from scrying further. Thermoleth explained that this other dragon was Eiskonig, and that his concern with territory was far out of bounds with his own judgment to defend it.

After a time, Jerrin grew comfortable enough to ask the all-seeing dragon about his old mentor, He’lander. The dragon had seen him before and churned up a few memories before finally locating him. He was holding a spear as if hunting, but as he turned it was clear that he was on the defensive, waiting to detect something that was near. Thermoleth scanned the area, and they watched for an hour as the wild elf held his posture, never dropping his guard. The dragon, bored with the loner elf, moved on to scan through the elven lands.

She scryied over the Fountain of Anaphia to see the half-orc monk Varekai piling rocks to recreate the wall over the fountain. Nearby a grave marker held comforting words etched crudely into its surface. The display was guided beyond this to visit Elarith, and Jerrin’s heart drummed when he saw the roof of his family home. Thermoleth guided the image to show them through the elven high court and through the chambers below the trees. They managed to see several elves with black spines or perverse markings on their skin. These elves practiced wicked magic in side chambers of a stone building built into the ground. In an inner courtyard a well had been revitalized. Light glowed from the well and wisps of ghostly faces stirred in and around it. A figure in the foreground uttered words of magic before turning to peer straight at them. It was the new elven prince. His white hair flowed down over his shoulders and he gripped a staff in his hands as it pulsed with magic. With a smirk he waved his hand and the image went black.

Thermoleth did not seem to sleep in the time the party was there. She constantly peered into the orb, and sometimes the sinews of magic were pushed into it. The pool of lava at the center of the room bubbled, and slowly the creatures that the party had fought pulled themselves through and cowered behind Thermoleth’s throne. Eventually they crept closer when the party was inactive, and before long the two groups began to trust one another. The reptilian-like creatures performed simple skits and jokes in draconian, and the party felt more at ease with them around as time went by. They were not as curious enough to pry through the party’s things, nor did they wake or toy with them in any manner. More than once Thovaas pushed them back with a wave of his sword. Quentin told them to maintain their distance if they wished to keep all of their limbs. They complied.

Several more months passed and the party had begun to get restless. Making use of what he could, Jerrin still had to appeal for several materials to be brought to him so that he could construct another wand. Thermoleth heard the request and took a keen interest in the materials and methods the small druid was using to create the item. The dragon watched every action as if Jerrin were an experienced teacher and she was a dazzled pupil. Suddenly the immense form of the dragon had disappeared and was replaced by the slender figure of a human woman. The dragon had tried to morph into a human, but she still retained a red-scaled tail, horns and wings. While the change disconcerted Jerrin at first he gulped and retained his focus to finish creating the wand. Once done, Thermoleth twirled the wand in her fingers and marveled at how the new races could change three simple arrows into a magical device. She tossed him the wand and Jerrin watched as the normal sized woman grew into the dragon as she walked back to sit on her throne.

Two creatures that came through the lava circle were female and looked like muscular elves with bat wings. Fire-red hair billowed upward from the heat, and they stepped out of the lava naked to stand with their hands on hips. They waited. Finally Grimnyr and Quentin gathered the courage to approach them, and as they neared the women respectively gathered them in. From then on the two men were barely seen far from the winged women, as the creatures followed each unless told to keep their distance.

Occasionally Thermoleth would peer into the dreams of the party and put the results on display for everyone to see. Many of the dreams were a blended mesh of Kargam and childhood memories, with the occasional image of Thermoleth, the Litorians or the duergar. In these dreams Thermoleth was seen to prod with magic and she pulled forth memories of Golthar and Chautauqua. She had each of them relive all of their battles up to the moment they arrived outside the spire they were now in.


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Thovaas was the first to notice that a patch under his skin on each arm was turning dark. Grimnyr mentioned that he too was getting similar markings on his forearms. With a quick inspection of one another they found the same was happening to Alex’s back, Quentin’s neck, and Jerrin’s head. They tried a number of methods to remove the marks but to no avail. Finally they asked the dragon. Thermoleth didn’t respond right away, and when she did it was with one word: gifts. A week later the patches had formed into black tattoos of jagged markings to form a pattern. By rubbing over the symbol each was able to activate a new power. Quentin ran his hand down his neck and he felt his tongue change. Opening his mouth, out slithered a snake head that extended easily ten feet. Alex patted his shoulder blades and wings sprang from his back and lifted him into the air. Jerrin rubbed his temples and in a moment a third eye opened on his forehead, blinking and giving him new insight. Thovaas watched as thick, golden, snake-like scales rippled to cover his skin. Grimnyr watched his forearms and calves become freakishly strong and pulsing red, blue and purple as his heart pounded. These effects lasted about half and hour if they needed it and could be dismissed earlier as they wished.


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Thermoleth showed the broken lands and the division of knights that were stationed at the sturdy keep there. She then had the image fly over the broken lands to reveal tribe upon tribe of orcs, hobgoblins, ogres, and the like. Easily the orcs outnumbered the knights by a hundred to one in the short distance Thermoleth had shown. It also looked as though the orcs were mustering under the common banner showing a red dragon head on a black field. Thovaas asked why the dragon had so much interest in them if she already had considerable forces under her command. She replied that a paladin of Heronious under her direction was unique in and of itself, that the group was indeed a wonderful asset with which to learn from and to bond with humans and Halflings. Thermoleth said that since their causes were aligned, they should accept her direction for the preservation of the new races in the greater scheme of the world. And to have them do so and still maintain their individualism was important, especially to have as a tool should Arilthar be of concern.


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The dragon waited for the Halfling druid to wake before showing images of the dark forest. Jerrin knew of the forest through druidic stories and was told not to venture there for the wilds had been tainted with foul magic. It was said that the woods were set against druids and the creatures there had turned into cannibals and the trees themselves would turn a druid’s senses around. There were other legends why the woods behaved in this fashion, from a powerful deranged fairy to an evil tree army that could tear an elephant apart.

Thermoleth guided the orb’s image over the snow covered treetops before descending to the forest floor. It was strewn with pine needles and evergreen shrubs and bushes gave way to a more lush area with tropical plants and steamy air. Through this they could see light emanating from a central point from behind tall ivory trees. Between the cracks of the trees the group saw a beautiful woman wreathed in soft leaves and branches, and the pulse of woodland magic seemed to flow effortlessly from her. Looking at her more closely, her head was bowed with eyes closed as if sadly sleeping while she stood. Grimnyr recalled a legend of the Queen of Mist, and Jerrin confirmed that he also had heard the tale.

The Mist Queen, according to the fairy tale, was a source of holy magic straight from the goddess Ehlonna that kept a peaceful balance for the good of the forest. Her pacifist outlook made her a target for many that sought to use her power for themselves, but such schemes only succeeded in causing chaos in the forest. She went missing long ago, and the elves two generations ago sought her out to return the Mist Queen to her throne. It was assumed, at that time, that she had run away after being saddened when she witnessed a nearby battle for the first time.

Thermoleth had focused on another image, one of an angry looking man who scowled as he crept over a log. He whittled a stick to a point then threw it to connect with a rabbit. Instead of stopping to claim his prize he kept walking, cutting another branch down without breaking stride as he mumbled to himself. The dragon whirled the image around and it almost made them sick as they were engrossed with what they saw. She spoke something quietly and the orb whisked them to see an orc riding on top of a huge bear. The orc seemed to be fiddling with something, and after seeing the background Jerrin could see that he was trying to track something through the dark woods. The image moved again and refocused on a short figure, another Halfling, as it rode on the back of a dire rat. The dragon said that these are important figures in this forest, and to negotiate a safe passage through the forest would be very useful to her.


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The dragon stirred the image around Kargam for a time then reeled east over the swamp. In the swamp the group saw a new lizard-like beast, massive and hiding beneath the rotting water. The image got closer then suddenly the form erupted toward them as if it was chasing them down. It was another dragon with jet-black scales and massive horns on its head. Thermoleth stopped the image and told them that this was the estranged dragon Winnower, the one that claimed to be the Lizard King. She waited several hours before showing another image of the dragon, and this time it revealed a thinner beast as it lorded over its hoard of gold. Thermoleth explained that Winnower was a clever trickster, ever changing appearances and locations to confuse any who might watch over instead of outright blocking them from scrying.


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Pushing the images into the ground, Thermoleth showed them the subterranean world of the Illithid and Drow. The dragon told of the time when the elves had divided after being stricken from the skies. There were those who had never wished to side with the slave races in hopes of being restored. The Illithid made a pact with these new dark elves and together they have been working in conjunction to rebuild their underground empire and to restore the old gods.


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Sometimes the party members had fitful dreams in which they found themselves struggling against unseen chains. Two options were unfolded before them, and they were held captive until they chose between them. A devilish woman guided them to see all that they could have and offered still more should they be ambitious. Vast treasures of gold and luxury were presented, along with power and control over both the physical and metaphysical world. Strange women and twisted beings danced upon command, while food, wine and gold fell like rain. The other option was presented as purity in white, and a chaste woman showed them the treasures they already possessed inside themselves. In fields of colorful flowers she projected freedom from the bonding chains of servitude to a corrupt, competitive life. She presented a different path, one of hope and mutual respect of all things, living or dead, and a love of life so strong it could not be twisted by the temptation of power. From this dream each of the party members chose. Quentin was the only one to choose the path of dark power.

When they woke the group saw a wide, shallow bowl hovering in the air above the lava. It moved to them and Thermoleth called out Quentin. He moved forward, half scared, half eager to receive more power. The dragon told him to hold out his arms above the bowl and to slit his wrists. Second thoughts made the shadowdancer hesitate, but those warnings were overpowered as thoughts of gifts, gold and women filled his mind. In a flash he had done it, and his own lifeblood poured from his arms. He felt suddenly weak and cold and thought he could stand no longer as his blood had saturated the fluid in the bowl. His blood had turned it from yellow to a deep mauve. As he watched with glossy eyes, the viscous fluid leapt up of its own accord and covered the wounds. Like molasses with a mind of its own, it pushed back into his bloodstream through the wounds. His hands pulsed and stung as if plunged in boiling water, and Quentin crumpled to the floor. He twisted in agony and his cries of pain reverberated in the large chamber. Several minutes later his tears had stopped and he picked himself up from the floor. Examining his hands, Quentin turned to the others. Alex backed away as if expecting the shadowdancer to confront him while Thovaas stood his ground as he had witnessed little of the revolting ceremony. Then Quentin smiled and a small giggle escaped him as he looked at each of them.

As winter began to subside across the lands of Correl, Thermoleth zoomed in to investigate Suln, Kargam and the leaders and barons surrounding each. Grimnyr swelled with pride when he saw the image of Thord Sulisen come into view as he led a contingent of his army east across the open steppes. The elves were staying closer to home instead of beginning their nomadic trek through the forests. She scanned over many of the images they had already seen until they landed on a group of humanoids walking among the peaks of the mountains. With each step snow crests broke away and cascaded down the mountain. As the image came closer to them it was apparent that these humanoids were far taller than any man. They were giants, and were headed south.

Thermoleth gazed at the giants for a long time, looking at details of their large metal maces and the clasps that held their cloaks around their necks. She spoke as she watched, telling the story that the giants were made in the form of large men as humans were versatile enough at a smaller scale, giants could be used for a wider range of tasks and better entertainment. Dragons had purged many giants from the world simply because their size threatened them. Giants alone had been the cause for the death of some dragons in wars past, and they were never taken lightly when a dragon confronted them, no matter how dumb or clumsy they might be. These giants were moving south for a reason, she said, and she was it. She drew several hypotheses such as their arrival being a test by Eiskonig whether she was still alive. She also guessed they might be patrolling south to prevent trade between Correl and Shen Jin, a strategy of isolation Eiskonig had practiced before.

As spring came to the mountains she showed the party how the dwarves of Kryll were quarreling amongst themselves and the dwarven mountain fortresses had just opened to new trade. Thermoleth remarked that it was about this time a year ago that the party had ventured to the mountain and perhaps it was time that she let others know she was less of a myth and more a reality.

Another week passed as she thought of how she would reveal herself to the world once more. In this time she laid out a list of options for her newest of recruits, the five party members that had stayed the winter with her.

Revisit the Litorians and Jolenta. Inform them of what the party had witnessed. Tell them that Thermoleth is looking to aid them against the duergar.
Assist the Litorians with the fight against the duergar and put an end to their vile practices.
Tell Eiskonig that Thermoleth has awoken and will be reclaiming her lands. Thank him for watching over her lands and that this is not an act of aggression. Tell him that Thermoleth will force the glaciers that have encroached upon her territory to recede. Lastly, tell him that it takes two to flirt.
Smite the giants headed southward.
Seek out the Winnower and tell him to renounce the title of Lizard King. Show him the proof that Thermoleth is alive and will need to know the black dragon’s intentions soon.
Venture to Elarith to usurp the elven prince once he marries. Without him, Eve’lyn may claim the throne and force the elves to join Thermoleth and the Litorians.
Find and aid the witch who has come to spread the teachings of the old gods to mankind.
Raise, organize and lead the orc armies in the broken lands to march against those of the under-earth.
Find the mad druid in the dark wood. Ask him to name a price for passage through his lands. Seek out the other druids to ensure they will not interfere.
Ask the human leaders, barons and king for command of an army to march eastward to face against those of the under-earth.
Contact the Aranea in the under-earth and tell them Thermoleth is the last dragon alive, the Wood Elves are defeated and in ruins, and the Litorians march the surface prowling through every crevasse in the earth.
Visit the Drow high court and inform them that Thermoleth seeks relations with their current queen.
Be the first humans to visit the Illithid and live to tell the tale.
Once Thermoleth conveyed these items, the group decided to first inform the Litorians that Thermoleth was watching their actions and attempting to perceive how the duergar were increasing their numbers and skills. After that they decided that they should help defeat the duergar and put an end to their threat.

A week later the mountain began to grumble. Thermoleth still peered into the orb, ever fascinated by whatever she was viewing. The mountain grew louder and the inner spire began to shake. The dragon showed them the image of what was happening. The lava had filled up the inside of the mountain and was now pouring down the side, creating instant steam when it touched the snow. They watched all afternoon as lava leaked out melt away all the snow on the surrounding mountains as well.

The next day the party was told to go. They left the same way they came in and were soon down the mountain with the aid of Jerrin’s magic. At the base of the mountain they could see the roadway had been destroyed and they had to pick their way over the hardening lava carefully as it was still hot in many places. They reached the spiral ramp and made their way up to the top where they reflected upon their stay with the dragon in the smoking mountain.

The group made their way to the entrance to the hidden valley and was granted permission by the door without any riddles. Walking through the valley, they easily retraced their steps to find Felvonni still in charge of the keep. She saw from their markings that the party had seen Thermoleth, and from this the Litorian told them she must take them to see Jolenta.

They only traveled in the day. Felvonni told them that something iniquitous now stalks the night using hidden passages and portals to move unseen. At each town they received a quick greeting and Felvonni cut off questions that dealt with the flind, or gnolls as the party knew them. Many also remarked that the symbols on their skin were very much like those other elders used, and that was Felvonni’s cue to usher them to leave.

Through the dark Jerrin led them toward the south where Jolenta was supposed to be staying. As they ventured through the night they saw a few of the walking dead as they stumbled. They saw the glint of light where the mountain formed a wall along the south. As the group closed in on the light they could see the fifty foot high walls and stone fortifications. A single arrow greeted them, letting them know to identify themselves. When they did another voice called to welcome them. The smaller gate beside the massive one opened and the party was welcomed in.

Jolenta clasped each of them and was gregarious in welcoming them. Once alone with them, however, she was somber. The group told her why they were there and all that they knew of Thermoleth. The party had thought perhaps the news of the dragon coming to their aid would be good, the Litorian offered a weak smile and told them they will need to visit with the Litorians under the worship of Incabulos. The group stayed the night and left at dawn to seek out and speak with Berra, the spiritual leader of the Litorians that follow Incabulos.

As they traveled Quentin spotted a small group of duergar huddled in place. Two continued to work feverishly on something that glinted like metal while the others kept watch. Alex, Quentin and Jerrin moved into position while Grimnyr and Thovaas kept their distance. Seeing that they were working on one of their mechanical constructs they struck. Quentin fired at one of the duergar and it jumped into the air and whirled around to face him, but already the shadowdancer had vanished. Jerrin brought forth a bolt of lightening down to strike another, and Alex moved in to get a better position to strike. Again both Jerrin and Quentin attacked, but this time the duergar saw where the thief was hiding and struck him. Grimnyr and Thovaas ran toward the fight at top speed, but it was to be some time before they would arrive.

Alex stepped up to wound another duergar and Jerrin pounded another with lightening. Quentin disappeared into the shadows of the tall grasses for a moment only to reappear and let several arrows fly. The two duergar working on the metal thing on the ground worked with more fervor as the rest defended. Jerrin pegged another with lightening just before Thovaas arrived to plow his lance into another to bring it down. Quentin and Alex each maneuvered to flank separate duergar, and Grimnyr arrived to strike another. Before long the duergar began to fall, and Alex stabbed the last one just as he turned to fight after being struck while working on the metal thing.

The group examined the metal construct and saw that there were strange devices and metal wheels attached to rods and pins. Alex took a while to rip apart the metal thing while Thovaas worked to remove a huge sword from the metal gauntlet-like hand. After spreading the parts and pieces through the grass they buried the chassis so the duergar could not relocate it again. When they left the sun was beginning to set.

They kept going through the night’s darkness and as they neared a walled city they could see a few bodies of the walking dead saunter forth. The zombies came into the light of the heatless torches and were soon littered with arrows as the Litorians practiced their aim. Quentin hailed them from just beyond the torchlight and the Litorians told them they were welcome to enter.

Inside they could see many of the buildings had the markings of Incabulos etched on them, as well as the signs of Nerull scattered between them. A unit of guards escorted the group through a few streets of the town and toward the shear face of the mountain that rose up behind it. In a massive temple a single figure stood at the center and looked down upon them. Dressed in the same black robes as typical for the Litorian worshippers of Incabulos, this figure also had a silver medallion that hung from a chain around its neck. The group was about to go up the steps to greet him when the guards stood in front of them. After a minute the figure introduced himself as Berra and said that he had seen them enter Jolenta’s home. He wanted to know why, and with little detail told him. Taking his time he descended the steps to get a better look at the party.

The group explained that they had been to see Thermoleth and that the great dragon was going to aid them in the fight against the duergar. Berra scoffed at first, saying that the Litorians would need no aid if they could complete their work there. Quentin said that even the littlest of help may be the tipping point. Berra inspected the shadowdancer once again, this time examining Quentin’s hands. The Litorian smiled and clasped him on the shoulders, then said the word for ‘dearest brother’ in elven.

Berra guided the group to dine with him, but instead the party wished to be on their way as quickly as they could. Berra accepted this without slight and ushered them through dark hallways beneath the temple. They walked by a ceremony with Litorians bowing down before a large green stone set high in the wall. The halls were smoothly hewn from the rock but still twisted and turned before ending at a small cavern. Berra guided them further still until she stopped at another cavern. He gave them each an item that could hide their mixed identities from others who could scan them as he did, and told them it could also be used to shape their appearance to fool others, but only once. Berra told them that misbegotten things now roamed the caverns and they should make haste instead of attempting to deal with every perceived threat. He warned of traps that had been set by the Litorians at this end, and that the duergar would likely have something similar. Lastly he added that they should never speak of what they saw with anyone.

The group disappeared into the darkness. Quentin led the way with his enhanced vision while Alex partly unsheathed the sword of light to allow the rest to follow the half-elf. The rough tunnel walls meandered in the darkness, sloping up and down. They realized the tunnels were a vast network as many connectors intersected the tunnel they followed. With Jerrin’s aid they were able to take a course south and west, and many times they ran into dead ends and had to backtrack to take another path. Pools of water littered the floors in many places, and the smell of mold and other fungi filled the air. More than once the group got the feeling they were not alone in these dark depths.

The group took a break to eat some of the stale wheat-mix the Litorians had provided them, which tasted like soggy bread. It was then that they heard the sounds of something ghastly slithering through the tunnels. A screech echoed in the distance and the party was on their feet and moving through the tunnels once again.

Miles of tunnels were traversed and the group decided to get some sleep in a widened tunnel while they had the chance. During Jerrin’s watch he heard the unmistakable sound of something coming down the winding corridor towards them. He woke the others and they had time to grab their gear. Alex drew the sword of light and though they couldn’t see anything, the flow air had been restricted by something in the tunnel just outside of the light. Alex stepped forward. Greasy tentacles wound their way into the torchlight and Alex backed against the wall, unsure how to strike the faceless tentacles. The others saw the tentacles encroach into their area and they moved to attack them. There were eight in all, and one of them wrapped around Alex and drew him toward the center. The others watched as a gibbering mound of flesh came into view from Alex’s sword. At the center of the tentacles, each twice as thick as Thovaas’s leg, rows of teeth surrounded the black void of a mouth. Alex was drawn to it and was about to loose one of his limbs when suddenly it recoiled. Thovaas had severed one of the other tentacles to get its attention, and Quentin rolled along the slime-covered floor to arrive behind it. Grimnyr jumped into the midst of its tentacles and Jerrin rode Tempest forward just beyond its reach. Grimnyr and the others cleaved through the beast’s tough skin and finally it stopped moving, the bloated form sagging in defeat. Alex squirmed free of the tentacle that had grasped him and regained the use of his limbs. The group inspected the gross blob as the tentacles twitched in death, and they decided to continue moving once again.

The group took the tunnels headed more west and after several more miles of walking and climbing they came across an etching in the stone. It was at an intersection and it clearly indicated which path to take with a colored code surrounding each exit. Quentin had to wait until the yellow light of Alex’s sword to shine on it before he could discern the colors. After a quick investigation they found traps and figured out how the colors could guide them through and they proceeded onward through the darkness. Quentin scouted out each intersection and soon the group wound their way by following the color code for each section. Occasionally they saw detailed carvings that indicated caverns ahead or an underground stream that had to be crossed.

The group kept their guard up as they entered a different section of tunnels. These had been finished a little more to even out rough spots to form arched tunnels that were much easier to traverse. The group still followed the etched maps and color coding, and now they saw there were large rooms and many branches, each with chamber after chamber. The path they were led on was likely the longest, but it was still safe from traps and alarms as far as Quentin and Alex could tell. They walked through a vast hall with a vaulted, cathedral-like ceiling, and after that they zigzagged through various antechambers and walked up many flights of stairs of various sizes. Finally they entered a round room with a map of the surrounding areas, but this time there was no color coding. Quentin shushed the paladin, but still Thovaas’s armor rustled as he breathed. Down the corridor Quentin, then Alex and Grimnyr, swore they heard a low murmur of voices, as if a choir of twenty men with deep bass voices was humming continuously.

 

[MarauderX]

Session 37: Temple of Destruction

Quentin proceeded forward cautiously along the side of the dark corridor. Alex sheathed his sword of light to allow the shadowdancer to use his vision. Then it seemed as though Quentin was no longer moving forward. Alex asked what was wrong and Quentin whispered that his leg had pushed a switch of some sort. Alex examined the lever and found the fulcrum point, at which he wedged a small piece of wood to prevent the lever from moving further forward or back. Alex motioned for Quentin to back off and the lever remained locked in the same position.

Quentin pushed forward further down the wide corridor and he noticed that the rooms to the side did indeed look exactly like the map on the wall. Quentin moved to the first one on the right and ducked into the room as the motion of a duergar caught his attention. Alex continued to search for triggers that could sound an alarm or worse. The rest of the party waited patiently.

Quentin watched the duergar stop at the edge of his vision, then another stood next to him. He watched as they held their crossbows in both hands and faced down the hall. Then a voice boomed down the corridor and the two duergar Quentin could see around the corner snapped into a pose to aim their weapons. Another command echoed out, and both duergar fired their crossbows down the dark corridor together, then they each swirled to the side chamber arches where they began reloading. Just as they moved out of the way, another command came down the hall, and Quentin saw another pair of duergar fire and spin to the side. Another bark came and two more bolts whistled by just as they moved out of the way. One more time it happened then a series of other orders, in the gravelly duergar language, echoed out.

The rest of the group heard the orders, but not knowing what they were stood their ground and examined the dark corridor. The crossbow bolts flew out of the darkness in pairs at them, several hitting the group. Thovaas had the chance to step to the side and Jerrin began casting enchantments. The group began moving their way up to the duergar, and Grimnyr sprinted in to engage them. Alex crept along examining the worked rock as he went. Quentin helped to fell one of the duergar as more crossbow bolts came soaring down the corridor. Jerrin stepped into view of the corridor and cast a spell to fill the area with a thick fog.

Still the crossbow bolts flew blindly down the corridor in hopes of finding a target, but the group had other ideas as they all crammed into the first small room on their right. Each in turn saw the ghastly figure strung up in the middle of the room. It reminded them of the mummy they had faced in the mountains, but instead of being a dry husk, this figure was wet with oozing pus. It was strung up with wrists held by a strong metal cord tied to a hook anchored into the ceiling, and the ankles were tied similarly with a cable lashed around a hook in the floor. Overcoming their fear of it they went to work.

Jerrin kept watch and cast several spells to enhance his hearing that would prove to be invaluable. Quentin aided Alex as he scoured the room for anything strang, hidden, or even better - shiny. He found a nich in the wall that held scalples, small hooks, and rolls of bandages and not much else. Grimnyr studied the thing as it hung and wondered how a necromancer might find use for such a thing, then realized that it might be more handy to an alchemist looking to extract fluid from the juicy mummy. Thovaas examined it warily as he thought it another vile trap to be ignored.

Jerrin thought of the layout of the place they were in and decided to summon a creature to aid them in taking a different route. A thoqqua appeared and began burrowing through the solid rock upon the druid's instruction. The others prepared spells and made other protective measures. Grimnyr's chanting about his forefathers and the riches given them by Kord could be heard over the din the thoqqua was generating. At the last measure of space to be burrowed through, Jerrin nodded at the others as it burst through to the other side of the rock.

Without warning, a surge of lightning blasted them all, sending electricity up and down their spines. The thoqqua had vaporized from the blast, and it showed a clear hole to the other side where a packed audience watched the searing hot walls cool. Jerrin pushed forward with his massive bulk forward, as he was now in the form of a bear, and the red-hot rock was only slightly warm through his thick fur, hide, and magical protection. An instant later the group was pummeled by rocks falling from the ceiling, and a wave of mud threatened to bury them in the small room.

Jerrin squeezed into the temple area at the end where he seemed to be interrupting a particularly dark ceremony. The head priest waved his arms and a symbol of a black skull dangling from his neck jostled from side to side. Suddenly Jerrin was struck blind, but fortunately his magically enhanced senses allowed him to use his ears to sense what was near. Wading into the alter area, Jerrin heard the cathedral-like area was full with worshippers now poised to follow the dark priest's orders.

Grimnyr pushed his way to try to follow after Jerrin and his wolfhound Tempest, but his hand pressed against an unseen barrier. The wall of force blocked his way into the temple, sealing off the druid from the rest of the party as they wallowed in the chest-deep mud. Looking in, Grimnyr saw the followers begin to rise from their knees and he projected his thoughts though the barrier. A score of the followers were dumbstruck as to what to do at first, then they fled away from alter area as quickly as they could. Grimnyr instructed the others to follow Quentin to go the long way around in order to save the druid from peril.

Quentin had made his way down the corridor where he managed to sneak into a good position using the cover of darkness. Alex kept his sword out and when he reentered the fog cloud Quentin saw their attention turn towards it. Quentin struck out, then vanished into the inky blackness, unseen by even their keen eyesight. Alex made his way slowly down the corridor after sheathing his sword to provide cover for himself. Thovaas and Grimnyr soon emerged into the corridor just as Alex drew his sword to strike at one of the duergar, and with him as a focal point, Grimnyr and Thovaas charged into battle.

Meanwhile, Jerrin took several slashes from the ranger in front of him as his hearing was being inundated with cries of confusion. He cast airwalk and ascended to the highest reaches of the ceiling, flattening himself along an upper alcove where the echoes from below were weakest. The head priest and the elven wizardess flung spells at the blind druid, and Jerrin decided to even the odds a bit by calling on his own powers of magic to create a storm of sleet in the large room. He smiled inwardly as he heard the confusion below, knowing that the wicked congregation was now almost as blind as he. Jerrin guided Tempest to the ground where he protected his master as he summoned aid. An air elemental whisked forth, and Jerrin instructed it to create a whirlwind to devestate those in the temple. It got to work and pummeled the vast majority of the dark worshippers, flinging them about the room into the walls and against the stone ceiling. The druid release the sleet storm and noticed that he elf wizardess, the dark priest and the ranger were not among the defeated in the room. With the room mostly clear, Jerrin walked out of the room several feet above the floor.

The others worked their way through the duergar as they charged forth, and Quentin stood hidden in the shadows to dispatch them as they came. With the way clear, they moved forward to see the intersection they had been expecting. Quentin met Jerrin half way down the corridor and grinned when he looked at the destruction in the temple. Quentin passed through another side chamber with four statues standing in niches along the one wall. Getting an eerie feeling, he left the room to report not to go back in there.

Alex strode forward as word from the druid revealed that the three at the alter were likely still alive. Just as Alex reached the corner to the next side passage, the flash of a blade gleamed from the light of Alex's sword. Too late, and a line of crimson splashed onto the stone floor. Alex recoiled and the others charged in to find the attacker. Jerrin waived his small hand over Thovaas's sword, and from seemingly inside the weapon a bright glow pierced the darkness. Quentin objected to using such a fierce light, but the others all agreed that it would allow them all to see anyone trying to hide in the darkness.

The group glanced down the wide passage and saw only darkness. Alex moved forward and soon found he was sliding in a pool of grease beneath his feet. To his left the cleric stood, but now he was twice his height. His warhammer cracked against the stone near Alex and the others came down the hall to join in the fray.

Grimnyr bounded over the grease spot easily enough to launch a striking blow against the elf wizardess. She gasped as surely the wound Grimnyr left would cause a scar and more, and she backhanded the tall bard. The blow nearly knocked him off of his feet, and surely it would have knocked any normal man's head off, but Grimnyr stood firm. Again Grimnyr swung his axe into her, and this time it bit deeply into her heart. The barbarian-bard watched the gleam of life dull in her eyes before looking at the dark cleric to vent his fury.

Jerrin summoned a massive earth elemental that filled what was left of the room. The dark priest took a heavy blow from the rock abomination, but still he stood and with both hands he swung his warhammer into Grimnyr's chest. Everyone heard the crackling of ribs, the sound of spurting blood coming from the man's mouth and hitting the wall, and Grimnyr's gasp for air as his lungs filled with blood after being punctured by his own ribs. Miraculously still standing, the tall man stared into the evil priest's eyes, defiant to the last. On the back swing the priest smashed his hammer into Grimnyr's back, further driving the broken ribs to pierce the man's heart. Though the spirit fought ever on, the tall man's flesh finally yielded.

In a newfound rage Grimnyr would have been proud to write a poem about, the party found themselves re-energized with a hate for their opponents. The ranger tried several times to stop Jerrin in his tracks, and even attempted to charm the druid's companion away from him, but each to no avail. Thovaas slashed and struck down the ranger with Alex's aid, while Jerrin dealt with the dark priest to avenge Grimnyr.

Quentin kept busy something nasty the elf wizardess had summoned, and he was soon aided by them all. It lashed out wildly as it screached, and the group worked in tandem to strike it down, Thovaas finally sending it back from where it came with a smiting blow.

The group surveyed the damage and the costly victory as they gathered around Grimnyr's broken body.


<<Holy crap have I been slammed at work. I'll be finishing up this week, but it depends whether I play my cards right to get the 2 interns and/or 2 junior peeps to help me. It's time to burn more skill points on Appraise Coworker, Office Diplomacy, and Project Intimidation. Where's the dang office bard when you need one to attend management meetings.>>

 

[MarauderX]

Session 38: Spin Room

The group made a quick search of the area with Alex scouring the room. They saw a religious preparation equipment in the room, from fine cloth with miniature symbols to leathery tidbits of a creature stewing in a bitter smelling liquid. Ceremic tiling covered the entire wall facing them. It depicted an elven woman on a massive throne with wisps of fog surrounding.

Alex tapped on several of the tiles and found that most of them might crack if he applied more pressure. His search for a secret door or hidden alcove came up empty. Also in the room he saw a metal lever protruding from the wall, and it was in the down position. While the party discussed the wisdom of throwing the switch, Alex made his way into several of the other rooms they had already come through. In the catherdral area he saw several saucers with blood that was coagulating. He recalled several dots on the elf woman's wrists, and surmised that it was her blood in the saucers. Also on the alter were several jars filled with spices, preservatives, and dyes to use as paint.

The group decided to withdraw from the area without searching the circular side rooms or disturbing the dust on the statues in the nearby room. Jerrin morphed in a much larger shape in order to carry all the bodies out of the area.

The party found a safe, defensible area, and after scouting it out they made camp among the dank rock. Tired, they decided to rest. Thovaas polished his armor and weapons while keeping guard for the first watch. Jerrin woke them all after the last watch, and during that time he studied Grimnyr's body. After a cold meal Jerrin began pouring through his pouches to find ingredients for a particular spell. He found much of what he needed from materials on the cleric and his unholy alter, and after inspecting them thoroughly he carefully applied them to Grimnyr's body. The dead barbarian lay cold and stiff on the floor of the cave, and after several hours of preparation he was ready to perform the spell.

The others stood guard and also watched the small druid as he began the incantations. With one hand placed on Grimnyr's head, he began repeating the same phrase they all remembered from when Jerrin had reconstructed Varekai's body. The halfling's other hand shook, then something began to grow in his palm. In a minute the formation of a human head appeared and began growing more the rest of the way down the new body. As Grimnyr's body was being reconstructed, his old one began to whither and eventually became dust. Before them was a naked, hairless barbarian man. He lay unmoving on the stone floor until Jerrin finished the incantation, and suddenly he gasped his first breath.

Though the man looked like Grimnyr, the group could tell that it was physically not him. His facial features seemed changed slightly, as his nose had straightened and his scars were gone. The black marks that had formed while being with Thermoleth were gone, and the tall man was even missing a belly button.

The group congratulated him as they provided him with his things and adjusted to his new body. He had a little trouble with motor control at first, but after the group fed him some warm soup he was swinging his axe while reciting the measures of his songs. Clearly he was ready to venture forth once again, even if his spirit had taken a blow.

As they rested for the night, Grimnyr recounted what he could of the afterlife. He told of the strong arms of Kord nestling him close while telling Grimnyr he had heard his voice before, bravely chanting and singing over the din of battle, and what a glorious thing it was. Then, the god Olidamara came to visit. The god of chance wished, on behalf of a request from Ehlonna, to send Grimnyr back into the world. Kord knew the god of luck would wish to skew Grimnyr upon his return, but Kord would not refuse Ehlonna's call, and he yeilded to chance. With a grin, Olidamara rolled his great dice into the air and when they stopped a human face appeared. A smirk of resignation crossed Olidimara's face, and the god of strength nodded approval. Olidamara snatched his dice to possibly roll again, to change the flavor of life that had been assigned the barbarian-bard, but Kord stopped him. The god of luck pouted and Kord released Grimnyr to be taken to Ehlonna.


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In what Jerrin guessed had been a full day of recovery, the group ventured forth. Quentin led the way, guiding Alex through the darkness as they moved to ambush a party of Duergar. Two of the duergar were wrestling on the stone floor while the others watched and cheered, oblivious of everything else around them. The party moved into position and waited for Alex to draw his sword of light, the signal that they should attack. Quentin first stabbed one of the Duergar in the back and as he collapsed Alex struck the next. The dueger, stunned and partly blinded by the suddenly bright weapon attacking them, retreated toward the great double doors behind them.

The party lurched forward, striking down several of the duergar as two of them darted to the side rooms. Soon they returned and their numbers had been halved as the massive doors opened. Jerrin whipped several balls of fire at the apparent leader of the duergar, as only he and one other slipped through into the room beyond. The group braced for what lay beyond, not sure what to expect. When Alex waved his sword of light into the room, they could see the two duergar frantically pushing on something like a pedestal in the center.

The party strode in and dispatched the two remaining duergar, then investigated the strange round room. There were no other exits other than the one they had come through, and the only thing of interest was the pedestal with weird ceramic tiles in the center. Alex searched the room thoroughly and reported that it didn't have anything of interest, except that it didn't have any holes whatsoever, and every surface had a glass-like feel to it. The group filtered in, and Thovaas decided to give the strange button tiles on the pedestal a try. He pressed his palm into a scad of the buttons, and with a shudder the room shook and unexpectedly began slowly turning. The surprise had caught most of them off guard and after nearly falling they stared at the doorway they had just come from, expecting something else to appear.

The room turned perhaps all the way around and stopped facing a dark opening. They heard the trampling and clicking of bare, clawed feet against stone and the party drew their weapons and braced themselves for whatever lay in the room. Suddenly five orb-like beasts with many limbs clambored from out of the darkness. Their skin was a festering pale pink, and a gaping maw opened in the middle of their bodies, from which protruded a hose-like tongue. Three of them came along the floor of the opening. The other two scampered along the sides, clinging to the walls with what looked like suckers in the middle of their feet. The abominations paused after seeing the party and one by one they sprayed acid in an arc to cover many of them at a time. The only one who was safe was Thovaas who stood in the rear to launch arrows at the creatures.

Grimnyr stood his ground as Alex and Quentin moved in to stab with their rapiers. The creatures snapped their jaws at them, and in moments they began to drop from the party's fierce fighting. The last scrambled along the ceiling to stop overtop the paladin and let another spat of acid loose. It was soon brought down by Quentin after his hands called forth his bow with a snap.

The party found that the glass-like tiles in the circular spin room match those of the room adjacent that held the acid-spewing creatures. They ventured into the dark room and found it was easily thirty feet tall. Along the top ten feet on the opposite side from them, metallic bars vertically split the room they were in with an area above. Alex climbed the wall to take a look at the other area through the bars and saw a mostly empty room beyond. In the center three poles from the ceiling dropped into three hemispherical bowls at the bottom. From the bowls a channel was carved in the stone from the bowls to the edge of the room the party was in. The three channels stopped at the edge of the wall to form a small scupper from which slowly dripped a thin yellow liquid. The group considered this room to be a trap from the spinning room if you pressed the wrong button, and that the room beyond the bars was a feeding chamber of sorts.

The group tossed the foul smelling bodies of the acid-spitting beasts back into their disgusting lair, then went about trying to figure out how to activate the buttons on the pedestal to make the room spin once more.

The room shook and turned once again, this time it stopped on a set of double doors. Alex went to work opening them, and eventually he found a latch on one side that he managed to unfasten. He worked on the other door and did the same before sliding the crossbar to open the doors. They stared into the gloom and Alex could shone the light from the Short Sword of Light further into the room. In it were columns that marched systematically down and across, with one positioned every ten feet. As they moved forward, movement caught their eye.

A slow moving grey tendril floated into the spinning room. It was followed by five more, and they each had a feather-like tip that seemed to measure the air by waving back and forth. The party backed up, giving ground to the smooth tendrils that were no thicker than a man's finger. However when they reached halfway across the room Thovaas stood his ground. A tendril slinked near him, and he held out his sword to it. The feather-like probiscus danced along the edge of it. With a flick of his wrist Thovaas severed the tendril. The remainder of it retreated into the darkness and the others moved in toward the paladin.

Suddenly a wall of fire sparked to life, blocking the double door entrance and searing the tendrils, cutting them all off with the flames. Jerrin stood in silent concentration, hands outstretched to maintain the wall. Grimnyr picked up on the cue and soon the rest of the party was mashing buttons on the pedestal to make the room spin again. After a few tenious minutes the room shuddered and turned. Jerrin let his concentration on his wall of fire slip and he huffed to catch his breath from the effort. After it dispersed they saw the opening faced a solid grey wall.

The group took the next several hours trying to figure out the pedestal and how to operate it, but often they gave up in frustration as it refused to move. The room lurched a few times, and finally they managed to get it to face an alternate direction. They heard voices down a lit corridor that went forty feet before turning left. One voice quieted them, then told them in draconic to ensure 'they' didn't survive. The party manuevered into a better position and began casting enhancement spells just as the light from the corridor went dim. They could see what was blocking it - a massive lumbering lizard-like hulk. It shoved Alex out of the way before it stopped in the middle of the party and flexed and roared. It was quieted first by a heavy blow from Grimnyr, then another from the barbarian-bard as he dug deep into its flesh with his axe. Alex and Quentin dealt successive quick blows, finding ample targets along its back. Jerrin, in the form of a bear, swiped the thing with his claws and Thovaas carved deep wounds in the massive lizard's hide. It staggered and fell face down never to rise again.

The other lizard men moved in. Four of them weilded heavy axes that they swung over their heads to strike Alex, Quentin and Grimnyr. The others, including their apparent leader, fired arrows at them with deadly accuracy. The arrows were tipped with a poison but also tore at the flesh with the passion of a god of death. Grimnyr, for the first time, cringed after one of the arrows struck him. Jerrin cast a spell to first cause a cave in on the short lizard archers, then he put up a wall of wind to prevent their arrows from getting through. The party worked to dispatch the rest of the axe-wielding draconians, and they fought to the last as the archers retreated out of the mud.

Jerrin then cast a spell to airwalk over the mud and the rest of the party joined him on the other side, around the corner of the corridor. There a room opened up to them, all lit with an eerie green fluid that seemed to course through parts of the ceiling thirty feet above. In the center, twenty feet from the floor, an oval opening swirled with darkness. On either side of the room stairs climbed to seemingly nowhere in the empty space. On the top of each of the stairs two of the reptilians loosed their arrows at the party.

TO BE CONTINUED...