Reis_Thunderwood
First Post
Bump! Back to page 1 with you.
Reis.
Reis.
-
NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
(Cydra) Great Conflicts
- Thread starter the Jester
- Start date
the Jester
Legend
Yeah, omrob has got the reason right. Wrist is getting better, but I am starting to think that I may have put a hairline fracture in one of the bones in my hand, which makes it a bitch to type.
In the war between doin' a story hour update and doin' game prep so I can run my game, the prep wins 99 out of 100 times.
Sorry guys! Soon as I can there will be more.
In the war between doin' a story hour update and doin' game prep so I can run my game, the prep wins 99 out of 100 times.
Sorry guys! Soon as I can there will be more.
hippiejediz
First Post
Everybody was Kung Fu fighting.
Baron Opal
First Post
Jester's hands were fast as lightning.
Angel of Adventure
First Post
Jester, don't forsake us! Update!
the Jester
Legend
It's short, but better than nothing
Somewhere on the Abyss
Seclaidra peers into her mirror of minions and, somewhere inside, she smiles. Well done, pet, she thinks approvingly. Enemies of mine or not, the champions of Chaos are our best hope at laying low the forces of Law. Her lips only twitch, despite her joy. The smile does not touch her eyes. For her joy at the terrible blows being dealt to Law is mixed with her distaste at the source of those blows. After all, those fools have had the audacity to challenge her in her own desmense!
Well, she doesn’t expect that to happen again. As long as she keeps her nose out of their affairs, Seclaidra fully expects to avoid any further unpleasantness with the heroes. There is no need, she reflects. They will all die of old age at some point, and until then, I can wait. I can bide my time. She thinks about Darkhold, where our heroes are seeking sanctuary, and about the countless eons she spent there. She thinks about Fuligin and Felenga, and she frowns as she thinks about the signs of trouble that her agent has seen in Darkhold. Since the heroes released her, the succubus has been to the entryway and back and has seen the devastation.
Seclaidra wonders. She believes it was something breaking out of Darkhold, not in to it, the demon queen thinks. She, a ruthless being of almost infinite age, with a heart blacker than pitch and fouler than lowest level of Hell, does not want to contemplate how awful the possibilities are.
***
Darkhold
Our heroes move up the ladder, through a long narrow shaft and up into a wide hallway of staircases flanked by traps, magical and mundane. They see strange, wide caverns of water that inflicts drunkenness. Darkhold is uncomfortably large, miles larger on the inside that it is on the outside. And, although it does not seem as insidiously dangerous and careless of their safety as other trips within it have shown it to be, Darkhold remains a place that they occupy uneasily, at best.
Who was the succubus referring to? Was she lying? Our heroes wonder, and wander, until they finally meet the moltarri.
Half molten rock, half crystal, the moltarri are taller than any normal man, though smaller than Thrush or Sybele.* They are even friendly- and when our heroes question them, it becomes clear why.
The so-called ‘New Gods’ are their friends.
Well, not friends, precisely; but allies. And much closer allies than our heroes would expect gods to be to mortals.
“Then again,” Baron Lillamere points out wryly, “we’ve met the New Gods, so why not?”
“Yet Galador never shows himself,” Gerontius snorts disdainfully.
“Galador is a prisoner in Heaven,” Alcar declares. “I tried to get in to see Him years ago, when I was in good standing with Heaven and the other angels. No one gets through to see Him. I don’t even know when the last time He appeared was.”
“That might explain a lot,” nods Sybele. “Like how He can be all good and allow all the suffering caused by the Great War of Ethics!”
“Or maybe he’s just too busy to see most people,” suggests Wankerman. “He is a god, you know.”
“His appointment book is probably full for centuries,” notes Lillamere.
***
The moltarri give gifts to our heroes, impressive gifts, and answer what questions they can. They do not know precisely who rampaged through or within Darkhold, but they know enough that it chills our heroes.
“Two Angels of the Apocalypse,” the moltarri tell our heroes.
“TWO!” erupts Alcar is dismay.
“What’s an Angel of the Apocalypse?” Thrush asks.
“Felenga,” Alcar replies. “Fuligin.”
“Oh,” Thrush says. He looks pensive. After a few moments, he adds, “I guess there are more of them?”
“Back in the other world, the other time,” Alcar groans. “The world where Tharizdun ate Nature.”
“Humm,” nods Thrush. “Sounds ugly.”
“It was the end of the multiverse,” nods Lillamere. “Yeah, we’ve heard the story before, from Lester.”
“We have?” Thrush asks. He chuckles. “I kind of blow off a lot of his stories, to be honest.” Jibber Junior laughs at that.
“Well, you should pay attention to this one,” Alcar grunts. “The Angels of the Apocalypse were the agents of Tharizdun, which was some kind of bound dark god thing that devoured all of Nature in the old universe. Only Darkhold escaped, and Cydra came about as a- kind of an experiment, I guess. It only got made ‘real’ when Lester, Thinbleton, Hobbes, Stone and all of those guys went back in time and collected a bunch of stuff- look, it was pretty complicated.”
“Huh,” says Thrush. “So, I guess we should kill these ‘Angels of the Apocalypse’ then?”
Alcar sighs.
Chakar interjects, “Wasn’t it a quest of over a century to slay Fuligin? And Felenga took years to defeat, too, did he not?”
“Look, it doesn’t matter right now,” Lillamere breaks in. “We have more important irons in the fire, remember? The Arrows of Law?”
“Oh yeah!” exclaims Sybele.
“We could rest,” the baron goes on, “but our super disguise and secure telepathic bond will only last so long...”
“Let’s get them,” Gerontius pipes up enthusiastically.
“I agree,” nods Alcar. “The longer we wait, the more time they have to prepare.”
“Then where are we striking next?” asks Chakar.
The party is silent, contemplating, for a moment. Then Baron Lillamere speaks up again.
”The Tiger Empress.”
Next Time: Our heroes strike again!
*Both of whom are large sized these days.
Somewhere on the Abyss
Seclaidra peers into her mirror of minions and, somewhere inside, she smiles. Well done, pet, she thinks approvingly. Enemies of mine or not, the champions of Chaos are our best hope at laying low the forces of Law. Her lips only twitch, despite her joy. The smile does not touch her eyes. For her joy at the terrible blows being dealt to Law is mixed with her distaste at the source of those blows. After all, those fools have had the audacity to challenge her in her own desmense!
Well, she doesn’t expect that to happen again. As long as she keeps her nose out of their affairs, Seclaidra fully expects to avoid any further unpleasantness with the heroes. There is no need, she reflects. They will all die of old age at some point, and until then, I can wait. I can bide my time. She thinks about Darkhold, where our heroes are seeking sanctuary, and about the countless eons she spent there. She thinks about Fuligin and Felenga, and she frowns as she thinks about the signs of trouble that her agent has seen in Darkhold. Since the heroes released her, the succubus has been to the entryway and back and has seen the devastation.
Seclaidra wonders. She believes it was something breaking out of Darkhold, not in to it, the demon queen thinks. She, a ruthless being of almost infinite age, with a heart blacker than pitch and fouler than lowest level of Hell, does not want to contemplate how awful the possibilities are.
***
Darkhold
Our heroes move up the ladder, through a long narrow shaft and up into a wide hallway of staircases flanked by traps, magical and mundane. They see strange, wide caverns of water that inflicts drunkenness. Darkhold is uncomfortably large, miles larger on the inside that it is on the outside. And, although it does not seem as insidiously dangerous and careless of their safety as other trips within it have shown it to be, Darkhold remains a place that they occupy uneasily, at best.
Who was the succubus referring to? Was she lying? Our heroes wonder, and wander, until they finally meet the moltarri.
Half molten rock, half crystal, the moltarri are taller than any normal man, though smaller than Thrush or Sybele.* They are even friendly- and when our heroes question them, it becomes clear why.
The so-called ‘New Gods’ are their friends.
Well, not friends, precisely; but allies. And much closer allies than our heroes would expect gods to be to mortals.
“Then again,” Baron Lillamere points out wryly, “we’ve met the New Gods, so why not?”
“Yet Galador never shows himself,” Gerontius snorts disdainfully.
“Galador is a prisoner in Heaven,” Alcar declares. “I tried to get in to see Him years ago, when I was in good standing with Heaven and the other angels. No one gets through to see Him. I don’t even know when the last time He appeared was.”
“That might explain a lot,” nods Sybele. “Like how He can be all good and allow all the suffering caused by the Great War of Ethics!”
“Or maybe he’s just too busy to see most people,” suggests Wankerman. “He is a god, you know.”
“His appointment book is probably full for centuries,” notes Lillamere.
***
The moltarri give gifts to our heroes, impressive gifts, and answer what questions they can. They do not know precisely who rampaged through or within Darkhold, but they know enough that it chills our heroes.
“Two Angels of the Apocalypse,” the moltarri tell our heroes.
“TWO!” erupts Alcar is dismay.
“What’s an Angel of the Apocalypse?” Thrush asks.
“Felenga,” Alcar replies. “Fuligin.”
“Oh,” Thrush says. He looks pensive. After a few moments, he adds, “I guess there are more of them?”
“Back in the other world, the other time,” Alcar groans. “The world where Tharizdun ate Nature.”
“Humm,” nods Thrush. “Sounds ugly.”
“It was the end of the multiverse,” nods Lillamere. “Yeah, we’ve heard the story before, from Lester.”
“We have?” Thrush asks. He chuckles. “I kind of blow off a lot of his stories, to be honest.” Jibber Junior laughs at that.
“Well, you should pay attention to this one,” Alcar grunts. “The Angels of the Apocalypse were the agents of Tharizdun, which was some kind of bound dark god thing that devoured all of Nature in the old universe. Only Darkhold escaped, and Cydra came about as a- kind of an experiment, I guess. It only got made ‘real’ when Lester, Thinbleton, Hobbes, Stone and all of those guys went back in time and collected a bunch of stuff- look, it was pretty complicated.”
“Huh,” says Thrush. “So, I guess we should kill these ‘Angels of the Apocalypse’ then?”
Alcar sighs.
Chakar interjects, “Wasn’t it a quest of over a century to slay Fuligin? And Felenga took years to defeat, too, did he not?”
“Look, it doesn’t matter right now,” Lillamere breaks in. “We have more important irons in the fire, remember? The Arrows of Law?”
“Oh yeah!” exclaims Sybele.
“We could rest,” the baron goes on, “but our super disguise and secure telepathic bond will only last so long...”
“Let’s get them,” Gerontius pipes up enthusiastically.
“I agree,” nods Alcar. “The longer we wait, the more time they have to prepare.”
“Then where are we striking next?” asks Chakar.
The party is silent, contemplating, for a moment. Then Baron Lillamere speaks up again.
”The Tiger Empress.”
Next Time: Our heroes strike again!
*Both of whom are large sized these days.
hippiejediz
First Post
Welcome back J, props on the update, I trust you have at least 1.5 hands if you are able to update the SH. Killer as always. Though I recall some sort of elemental trap+doors+shannanigans, which I hope is not a spoiler. I remember a theme as to the gifts that were beseeched upon us by the molatrri though specifics are beyond me.
Last edited:
the Jester
Legend
The items the party members gained were:
Mabrack- a rod that let him use the following metamagic effects 2/day each on a spell up to the maximum level indicated: Explosive Spell (9th level), Empower Spell (6th level), Maximize Spell (3rd level).
Lillamere- boots that grant a +10 competence bonus to Balance, Climb, Jump, Move Silently and Swim checks, a +10’ enchancement bonus to land speed, and haste as a swift action for up to 6 rounds/day.
Alcar- a medal that grants immunity to fear in a 30’ radius, a +1 morale bonus on attacks, saves and weapon damage rolls in a 30’ radius, and 1/day can cast greater dispel magic, CL 20.
Chakar- a headband that lets him use ego whip 2/day at ML 16, telekinesis 1/day at ML 16 and clairaudience/clairvoyance 1/day, 10 round duration.
Gerontius- a +4 ghost touch dagger of speed that counts as silver for purposes of penetrating DR; it also ignores the first 5 points of DR x/adamantine.
Wankerman- a ring of protection +3, resistance +3 and feather falling.
Jibber Junior- a pair of bracers that store 11 psionic power points, gives a +10 competence bonus on Psicraft checks, allows him to gain psionic focus 1/day as a swift action and gives spell turning 1/day for 10 rounds.
Thrush- a necklace that gives constant water breathing and planar adaptation, and once per day allows him to heal himself (150 hp) and see invisibility.
Sybele- a third eye that constantly detects magic, psionics and secret doors and discerns shapechangers.
Now, where were we?
***
They’ve been hitting us in our loved ones. It’s time to turn the tables.
The party appears a few hundred yards away from the Tiger Empress’ base. Alcar casts earthquake, and a moment later figures start appearing, teleporting in to attack our heroes (who still appear to be a party of gnomes).
Then, in an instant, our heroes superior teleport again, this time to a short distance from Cluma. Unfortunately for them, when they appear, their enemies- Prayzose, Cluma, Alyth and Marius- are all together, backed up by Prayzose’s personal guard (called the Eagles) and a cadre of inevitables and wearing many layers of magical defense, thanks to the time they gained from Marius’ greater anticipate teleport spell.
What ensues might best be described as ‘teleport shennanigans’, as multiple teleports of various kinds and greater anticipate teleports poke each other in the eye, until finally Alcar plane shifts the party to Olympus.
Over the secure telepathic link that the party received from Garnet, our heroes discuss a rather pressing issue: despite the mind blanks covering the group, the forces of Law seem to be able to follow them. Lillamere suggests that there must be some kind of device on them that enables Law to track them.
Master Control, Alcar suggests.
Let’s get out of here! They’ll be on our tail any second! Sybele cries mentally. And I know just where we need to go! And what to do to defeat them- we have to disable their spellcasting. I’ll use my wildzone Gift of Chaos to foil Marius and Prayzose both!
Wait a moment, Chakar starts, but it is already too late.
Sybele psionically plane shifts the party to the ever-changing Chaos of Limbo.
All around them, winds of paint howl and stretch in long strands of color. A tree sails by. A rain of water and frogs pours below them, on the not-ground. It is a dizzying, confusing environment...
“Let me,” Dorn Wankerman, Xaositecht, urges, and he exerts his will upon the environment. Long years of training in the ways of Limbo pay off. A large chunk of earth forms, and our heroes land upon it.
“Incoming,” announces Lillamere.
Our heroes brace themselves. The Arrows and their entourage appear, but our heroes are ready for them. Alcar uses a miracle and a metamagic rod to ape a maximized empowered delayed blast fireball, and several of the inevitables are blasted to scrap and sparking wires. One of the Eagles goes down as well. Gerontius tumbles in and attacks Cluma, his daggers flashing as deadly as any weapon ever wielded. Blood sprays from where the Arrow suddenly finds deep wounds opening, and he cries, “Aargh!”
“You are ze biggest bitch of all of Law!” Gerontius taunts him.
Thrush steps towards the mass of inevitables. He is, of course, larger than normal, thanks to the permanent enlarge person on him; combined with the elasticity that he is also affected by, this makes his reach enormous. Two massive hews of his sword drop the first inevitable, and he cleaves into another. It staggers back, badly damaged, and Thrush screams a war cry as he hacks into it again, finishing it off. He continues cleaving through several more, until there are none left within his reach.
Marius the Chronomancer growls, “You will rue the day you chose the side of Chaos!” He fires a quickened disintegrate at Gerontius, but the wily halfling dodges! With a snort, Marius erects a wall of fire, separating the others from the invisible blade.
Meanwhile, without, Wankerman and Sybele team up and finish off the Eagles. Things are happening fast. Wankerman hollars, “Cluma is a bitch!” Sybele cackles and whoops agreement. Lillamere, having cast Marius’ double actions (and the irony of using Marius’ spells against him tastes so good in Baron Lillamere’s mouth), casts two crushing fists of spite, one on Prayzose (who evades it completely) and one on Cluma.
Cluma goes down.
“Cluma, you’re a bitch!” Lillamere crows.
Our heroes roar triumphantly.
Chakar tumbles in on Marius. This is it! he thinks, his spirit soaring. I can get him!
Unfortunately, Marius’ contingency goes off when Chakar tries to grab him, and mirror images spring forth. Chakar grunts; A logical defense, he thinks.
“Good, Chakar, you are off to a good start,” Pan Lo says expressionlessly. “You must be aggressive. Like the mantis, you must grip to your prey.”
Meanwhile, Lord Alyth is a blur. He has pulled both of his legendary swords, Judgment and Execution, so fast that they seemed almost to simply appear in his hands; then he unleashes a flurry of attacks on Gerontius. Unfortunately for him, every one of his double-wielding attacks misses! That halfling (though disguised as a gnome) is slippery...
Mabrack fires off a maximized magic missile at Lord Alyth. “You’re next!” he threatens.
“That is enough,” Prayzose, God-Emperor of Forinthia, sighs. Regretfully, he draws forth his mace. The weapon glimmers steadily with holy power- and the power of Law. He glances at Gerontius, who is dancing around the blows of Alyth as he would those of a kobold commoner. Prayzose continues, “I am sorry. Some of you are my friends. I wish there was another way.”
With that, he strikes Gerontius four times in rapid succession. Then, almost as an afterthought, he casts a quickened flame strike, which Gerontius is shocked to not evade.
Prayzose glances at Alcar and shakes his head sadly. “Ah, Alcar,” he says, “that it has come to this...”
Next Time: The wildzone! Mad battle between our heroes and the remaining Arrows! The Limbo showdown!!
Mabrack- a rod that let him use the following metamagic effects 2/day each on a spell up to the maximum level indicated: Explosive Spell (9th level), Empower Spell (6th level), Maximize Spell (3rd level).
Lillamere- boots that grant a +10 competence bonus to Balance, Climb, Jump, Move Silently and Swim checks, a +10’ enchancement bonus to land speed, and haste as a swift action for up to 6 rounds/day.
Alcar- a medal that grants immunity to fear in a 30’ radius, a +1 morale bonus on attacks, saves and weapon damage rolls in a 30’ radius, and 1/day can cast greater dispel magic, CL 20.
Chakar- a headband that lets him use ego whip 2/day at ML 16, telekinesis 1/day at ML 16 and clairaudience/clairvoyance 1/day, 10 round duration.
Gerontius- a +4 ghost touch dagger of speed that counts as silver for purposes of penetrating DR; it also ignores the first 5 points of DR x/adamantine.
Wankerman- a ring of protection +3, resistance +3 and feather falling.
Jibber Junior- a pair of bracers that store 11 psionic power points, gives a +10 competence bonus on Psicraft checks, allows him to gain psionic focus 1/day as a swift action and gives spell turning 1/day for 10 rounds.
Thrush- a necklace that gives constant water breathing and planar adaptation, and once per day allows him to heal himself (150 hp) and see invisibility.
Sybele- a third eye that constantly detects magic, psionics and secret doors and discerns shapechangers.
Now, where were we?
***
They’ve been hitting us in our loved ones. It’s time to turn the tables.
The party appears a few hundred yards away from the Tiger Empress’ base. Alcar casts earthquake, and a moment later figures start appearing, teleporting in to attack our heroes (who still appear to be a party of gnomes).
Then, in an instant, our heroes superior teleport again, this time to a short distance from Cluma. Unfortunately for them, when they appear, their enemies- Prayzose, Cluma, Alyth and Marius- are all together, backed up by Prayzose’s personal guard (called the Eagles) and a cadre of inevitables and wearing many layers of magical defense, thanks to the time they gained from Marius’ greater anticipate teleport spell.
What ensues might best be described as ‘teleport shennanigans’, as multiple teleports of various kinds and greater anticipate teleports poke each other in the eye, until finally Alcar plane shifts the party to Olympus.
Over the secure telepathic link that the party received from Garnet, our heroes discuss a rather pressing issue: despite the mind blanks covering the group, the forces of Law seem to be able to follow them. Lillamere suggests that there must be some kind of device on them that enables Law to track them.
Master Control, Alcar suggests.
Let’s get out of here! They’ll be on our tail any second! Sybele cries mentally. And I know just where we need to go! And what to do to defeat them- we have to disable their spellcasting. I’ll use my wildzone Gift of Chaos to foil Marius and Prayzose both!
Wait a moment, Chakar starts, but it is already too late.
Sybele psionically plane shifts the party to the ever-changing Chaos of Limbo.
All around them, winds of paint howl and stretch in long strands of color. A tree sails by. A rain of water and frogs pours below them, on the not-ground. It is a dizzying, confusing environment...
“Let me,” Dorn Wankerman, Xaositecht, urges, and he exerts his will upon the environment. Long years of training in the ways of Limbo pay off. A large chunk of earth forms, and our heroes land upon it.
“Incoming,” announces Lillamere.
Our heroes brace themselves. The Arrows and their entourage appear, but our heroes are ready for them. Alcar uses a miracle and a metamagic rod to ape a maximized empowered delayed blast fireball, and several of the inevitables are blasted to scrap and sparking wires. One of the Eagles goes down as well. Gerontius tumbles in and attacks Cluma, his daggers flashing as deadly as any weapon ever wielded. Blood sprays from where the Arrow suddenly finds deep wounds opening, and he cries, “Aargh!”
“You are ze biggest bitch of all of Law!” Gerontius taunts him.
Thrush steps towards the mass of inevitables. He is, of course, larger than normal, thanks to the permanent enlarge person on him; combined with the elasticity that he is also affected by, this makes his reach enormous. Two massive hews of his sword drop the first inevitable, and he cleaves into another. It staggers back, badly damaged, and Thrush screams a war cry as he hacks into it again, finishing it off. He continues cleaving through several more, until there are none left within his reach.
Marius the Chronomancer growls, “You will rue the day you chose the side of Chaos!” He fires a quickened disintegrate at Gerontius, but the wily halfling dodges! With a snort, Marius erects a wall of fire, separating the others from the invisible blade.
Meanwhile, without, Wankerman and Sybele team up and finish off the Eagles. Things are happening fast. Wankerman hollars, “Cluma is a bitch!” Sybele cackles and whoops agreement. Lillamere, having cast Marius’ double actions (and the irony of using Marius’ spells against him tastes so good in Baron Lillamere’s mouth), casts two crushing fists of spite, one on Prayzose (who evades it completely) and one on Cluma.
Cluma goes down.
“Cluma, you’re a bitch!” Lillamere crows.
Our heroes roar triumphantly.
Chakar tumbles in on Marius. This is it! he thinks, his spirit soaring. I can get him!
Unfortunately, Marius’ contingency goes off when Chakar tries to grab him, and mirror images spring forth. Chakar grunts; A logical defense, he thinks.
“Good, Chakar, you are off to a good start,” Pan Lo says expressionlessly. “You must be aggressive. Like the mantis, you must grip to your prey.”
Meanwhile, Lord Alyth is a blur. He has pulled both of his legendary swords, Judgment and Execution, so fast that they seemed almost to simply appear in his hands; then he unleashes a flurry of attacks on Gerontius. Unfortunately for him, every one of his double-wielding attacks misses! That halfling (though disguised as a gnome) is slippery...
Mabrack fires off a maximized magic missile at Lord Alyth. “You’re next!” he threatens.
“That is enough,” Prayzose, God-Emperor of Forinthia, sighs. Regretfully, he draws forth his mace. The weapon glimmers steadily with holy power- and the power of Law. He glances at Gerontius, who is dancing around the blows of Alyth as he would those of a kobold commoner. Prayzose continues, “I am sorry. Some of you are my friends. I wish there was another way.”
With that, he strikes Gerontius four times in rapid succession. Then, almost as an afterthought, he casts a quickened flame strike, which Gerontius is shocked to not evade.
Prayzose glances at Alcar and shakes his head sadly. “Ah, Alcar,” he says, “that it has come to this...”
Next Time: The wildzone! Mad battle between our heroes and the remaining Arrows! The Limbo showdown!!