Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 1719198" data-attributes="member: 1210">Into the Underdark6:30 a.m., 7/30/96 O.L.G., near the Eastern Precipice, StrogassFirst light.  Chanticleer Gilder-Ynarlsland stood impatiently above Akakathan and Urdor as they tied rope off to the edge of the gash in the ground that led downward.  Soon, they hoped, they would have success in their quest for a weapon to neutralize Dexter.  “So we killed a dragon,” enthused Vosh.  The centaur druid was clopping around impatiently.  He was not enthusiastic about being lowered in a harness to who-knows-what, but... what had to be done had to be done.“Not really,” Urdor grunted.  “It was a drake.”“Huh?  What’s the difference?”  Vosh blinked.“Drakes are smaller, stupider.  Dragons are gods.”  The dwarf glanced at the centaur.  “You don’t want to try to fight a god, do you?”*“No...”Urdor Darkwind laughed into his beard, stroking the Black Sun of Bleak that hangs around his neck reverently.Soon the ropes were tied and the group began descending into the Underdark.  A sheer drop 30’ down to an islet in the middle of cold water... Akakathan shrugged off his armor and leapt into the water, changing into his dolphin-like form as he did so, and checked the surrounding caves.  Though it was cold, his people were used to the currents of the sea, and he managed to avoid any mishaps initially.  Soon he returned to the group, reporting the exit he’d found.  The group strung ropes across with Akakathan’s aid, and using the rope they hand-over-handed across, avoiding getting wet.  Delilah was delighted- it had been her idea.  She attacked the problem the way she attacked all problems: with her razor-sharp intellect.She was turning that to the question of Dexter.  The group followed a tunnel some hundreds of feet as it went from small to larger and back to small.  In some places Vosh was brushing the walls on either side; in others, the group could easily spread out in a skirmish line.  Soon it narrowed again, one part of the cave being choked off by rubble; and as they passed it, a huge creature sprang out at them!  Strangely insect-like, it had a fat wide body and huge mandibles.  And it had two large insectoid eyes- wait!  Maybe those were its eyes, instead?  Those two red ones... Whoah... And with that, the umber hulk spun Urdor and Akakathan into confusion!The others sprang to action.  Vosh surged forward, striking with his powerful hooves, while Chanti rushed in on the monster’s other side, squinting and trying to avoid its gaze.  Delilah cast a spell and a poisonous spider appeared on the creature, biting it and delivering a searing poison.  The monster’s huge claws proceeded to demonstrate that they were not just huge, but in fact were strong and powerful as well.  The beast stood toe-to-toe with Vosh and Chanti simultaneously, delivering a powerful gash to the flank of the horse part of Vosh’s body and biting Chanti viciously on the left breast.  She growled and stuck her sword deep into its chest in retaliation and Vosh slashed with his scimitar and continued to pummel it with his hooves.  Delilah sighed in delight and threw a dagger, but it deflected from the beast’s carapace.Another series of blows staggered Chanti, but she gritted her teeth and cried, “Bleak favor me!!”  A strong, mighty strike hit the umber hulk in the chest again, and this time was enough.  The monster collapsed in a spray of brown blood.After retrieving their confused fellows- who had wandered off- the party searched for treasure and then moved on.  Urdor coughed as they passed the corpse and made an obscene gesture.Next Time: The party meets Arvandor Illspree! *For those of you that ‘go way back,’ as this was in the days of 2e, think of a ‘dragon’ as a 2e dragon turned up to 11 and a ‘drake’ as a 1e dragon with animal intelligence.  There are only a few true dragons in the world at this point in the campaign’s history.</blockquote>

Verification