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Dreams of Erthe
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 8790314" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 35: DREAMSTONE VISION</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Alewyth Putterpye, dwarf priestess of Aerik 7</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Thurloe Pulver, human fighter 3/wizard 3/spellsword 1</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Wakuren, half-orc cleric of Cal 3/paladin 4</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Xandro Silverstrings, human bard 5/rogue 2</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Zander Quilson, elf sorcerer 7</p><p></p><p>NPC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Streggin Cavedelver, dwarf ranger 3</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 24 September 2022</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>"That's the three-column landmark," Streggin observed, pointing to a clump of three stalactites who hung down so low from the cavern ceiling they had merged with the three stalagmites directly below, forming three lumpy columns reaching from floor to cavern ceiling. "Just like Lorgar said. That side tunnel on the left leads directly into the kobold warren."</p><p></p><p>The group approached cautiously, with weapons drawn and combat spells ready to fire. Turning the corner, however, was somewhat anti-climatic, for the corridor was empty - and rather than leading directly into a kobold worship cavern with a statue whose eyes were made of solid dreamstones, there was instead a solid wall of absolute blackness. Of course, that didn't mean there wasn't the kobold statue on the other side of the <em>deeper darkness</em> spell, just that it couldn't be seen.</p><p></p><p>"You hear that?" Zander asked, cocking his head. The others strained their ears and there was indeed some sort of rhythmic chanting going on, in a squeaky language none of the group could understand. It came from the other side of the magical darkness. The elf sorcerer cast a <em>mage armor</em> spell on himself, predicting imminent combat now that they were finally here. After all, he couldn't very well believe the kobolds were just going to hand over the dreamstones the Queen of Dreams had sent her five dreamwalkers to fetch and return to the surface world.</p><p></p><p>Thurloe cast a <em>mage armor</em> spell on himself as well and took a few hesitant steps forward. "Odd that they don't have any guards posted," he whispered to the others.</p><p></p><p>Alewyth was already tired of all of this pussy-footing around. It seemed to her as if none of the men wanted to be the first to step forward into the magical darkness. Of course, if what people said about kobolds was true - that they were devious, nasty trap-makers with a penchant for evil - their cautiousness was probably warranted. But her dwarven temperament wasn't geared for putting off the inevitable; if there was a trap ahead, the best way to deal with it was to press on ahead and trust in Aerik's protection to keep her safe from harm. With that thought in mind, she boldly stepped forward, <em>Sjondra</em> in hand.</p><p></p><p>Before she reached the zone of darkness, though, a pair of reptilian heads popped out of the wall at her side, mouths opened wide and long, venomous fangs exposed as they bit at her. She managed to dodge one of the snakes but the other got a grip on her arm with its jaws and the priestess could feel the venom being pumped into her system. But dwarves were a hardy lot and she gritted her teeth, ignored the pain of the bite, and willed the poison to dissipate harmlessly into her system. Unfortunately, these snakes were quick, and as she spun about to face them head on one of the two got in another poisonous bite. Alewyth grunted in pain and could actually feel the double-dose of venom start to have an effect on her vitality.</p><p></p><p>Streggin stepped forward, crossbow pointed at the snakes but they were gone - their striking heads had darted back through the seemingly solid wall of the tunnel. Still, the dwarven ranger had heard of these kinds of illusory tricks before, and even though he couldn't see through the illusion, he fired his weapon blindly into the <em>illusory wall</em> spell, hoping for the best.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren took the concept one step further, by stepping forward and sticking his head completely through the <em>illusory wall</em> spell, where he was the first to see that both snakes were actually the two ends of a single creature. He slammed his shield into the amphisbaena, causing it to hiss in pain from the powerful blow.</p><p></p><p>Xandro figured any attempts at quietly sneaking into the kobold warren were probably moot by this time, and decided if they were already making the sounds of combat likely to alert the kobolds, he might as well add to the cacophony with a tune of inspirational courage on his <em>Dardolian lute</em>. That way, his friends and allies would at least get the benefit of his magical music inspiring them to greater efforts.</p><p></p><p>Zander was worried there was going to be an army of kobolds spilling out of the magical darkness at any moment and wanted to be able to warn the others if this was about to occur. Activating the full power of his <em>scout's headband</em>, he granted himself the ability to magically pierce the <em>deeper darkness</em> via a <em>true seeing</em> effect, which allowed him to verify there was indeed the cavern they had hoped for on the other side of the darkness. And on the far side of the open chamber was the kobold statue they sought, raised on a natural outcropping of stone that elevated the 10-foot-tall statue even higher. As the moogles had surmised, the kobolds apparently worshiped this statue as a god, for there must have been 50 or so of the little reptiles, all facing the statue in ragged rows, their backs turned to the darkness. They stood in place, each with a spear in their left hand while their right hand thumped rhythmically on their chests. If they heard any of the sounds of battle coming from outside, they gave absolutely no indication of it. Perhaps, Zander mused, they were gearing themselves up into a religious frenzy, where the outside world no longer mattered to them. But then, with his <em>true seeing</em> enhancing his vision, he noted something he hadn't paid attention to himself at first - the kobolds, all 50 of them, were illusions! That made absolutely no sense to the elf sorcerer - why in the world would you craft an illusion of false worshipers? Were they really trying to pull a fast one on their statue god?</p><p></p><p>Thurloe, in the meantime, followed Wakuren's lead and stepped through the <em>illusory wall</em>, bringing his bastard sword crashing into the side of the amphisbaena's scaled body. He noted the light from Zander's <em>everburning torch</em> had no trouble illuminating this side of the illusion spell; he gave a moment's thought about canceling the <em>illusory wall</em> spell with his sword, <em>Spellslicer</em> being particularly useful in that regard. But then he decided not to let the kobolds know the adventurers had already tumbled upon one of their secrets. Alewyth stepped through the false wall and brought her warhammer <em>Sjondra</em> crashing down upon one of the dual-headed serpent's skulls, crushing it instantly. The remaining head hissed in pain and the creature's long, serpentine body lowered itself to the cold, stone floor of its lair cavern as it died.</p><p></p><p>Streggin, hearing the sounds of combat die down, closed his eyes and cast his dwarven senses about - if there was one <em>illusory wall</em> around here, it only made sense there could well be another. His inherent dwarven stonecunning allowed him to sense an opening behind him that, when he opened his eyes and spun about, wasn't at all visible to the ranger. But trusting his senses, he stepped forward and passed through the fake wall, finding himself in a narrow passageway sloping down and turning to the right. He backed up into the main tunnel and explained his findings to the others. Zander took the opportunity to tell the rest of the group of his own discovery about what was on the other side of the <em>deeper darkness</em>.</p><p></p><p>"The little buggers sure like their illusions, don't they?" Alewyth scoffed.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren took a moment to cast a <em>light</em> spell upon his <em>shield of Cal</em>. "Now we've got two sources of illumination, if we want to split up," he suggested. Xandro continued playing his tune while the others decided their next move.</p><p></p><p>"I'm going to check out the chapel," Zander told the others, stepping forward into the zone of darkness. It lasted only about 10 feet or so, and then he was in the large cavern with the fake kobold parishioners worshiping their stone god. He stepped up until he was level with the back row of illusory kobolds, continuing to beat their chests and grunt in their doggy language. Thurloe followed, and on a whim decided to use <em>Spellslicer</em>'s ability to dissipate illusions by touching his blade to the head of one of the back-row worshipers. To the spellsword's surprise, the entire row of five kobolds popped like a bubble. There were five rows of kobolds, with a passageway down the middle of them; now the back row only consisted of the three kobolds on the other side of the central aisle. "Weird," Thurloe commented to himself.</p><p></p><p>Alewyth stepped forward into the darkness and emerged inside the chapel with Thurloe and Zander. "What's this all about?" she asked the others.</p><p></p><p>"We're still trying to figure that out," admitted Zander.</p><p></p><p>There was a sudden commotion behind them, and as the trio of adventurers spun around to face the back of the chapel, two feeble, wooden crates were tossed down on them by a quartet of kobolds from a sort of natural balcony off to their right and about 20 feet up. One hit Alewyth on the top of her head, while the other crashed to the floor at Thurloe's feet. But both crates shattered to splinters upon impact, almost causing Thurloe to utter a snide remark about kobold craftsmanship - until the swarms of scorpions skittering out from the crates' remains made it perfectly clear the crates had been built shoddily on purpose. Dozens, scores, hundreds of scorpions crawled along the floor in all directions, some of them scampering up Alewyth and Thurloe's legs, their venomous stingers doing the kobolds' work for them. Alewyth, already weakened from the amphisbaena's venomous bites, felt her vaunted dwarven constitution failing her as she succumbed to dozens of stings. Her body seemed sluggish, although her mental faculties were still all up to par and she realized she needed to get free of these pesky arachnids.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren and Xandro, in the meantime, offered to follow Streggin down the other tunnel and see where it led, the bard continuing his tune of inspirational courage. The tunnel descended as it curved to the right, and in a larger cave at the end of the sloping passageway stood two kobold sentries, each armed with a light crossbow. Streggin got off the first shot, skewering one of the kobolds in the throat, killing him instantly. The other got off a shot which went over the ranger's head, then both raced to be the first to reload. Streggin won that contest by a fraction of a second, but it was enough to fire off a shot at the other kobold, killing him as well.</p><p></p><p>Zander Quilson, realizing his <em>true seeing</em> had a limited duration, looked all around to see if there was anything else of note in the chapel. He started walking slowly down the aisle between the kobold illusions, paying special attention to the 10-foot-tall kobold statue at the far end. It, however, was exactly what it appeared to be: a carved stone statue of an enormous kobold, whose eyes were definitely dreamstones and not carved from the rock of the rest of the statue - they had to have been carved separately, or perhaps the stone of the kobold's head was shaped around the existing dreamstones. In any case, there didn't seem to be any other illusions or other types of magical auras in the vicinity.</p><p></p><p>Thurloe leapt out of the swarm of scorpions surrounding him, brushed off a few that were crawling up his body, and cast a <em>scorching ray</em> spell, sending one blazing blast at each of the two swarms. Alewyth also stepped away from the scorpion swarm surrounding her and fished out a tanglefoot bag from her backpack. Tossing it directly into the mass of scorpions that had flowed out of the crate that had bonked her on the head, the gooey mass flowed over the scorpions, pinning them into place. The scorpions weren't particularly harmed by this process, but they were immobilized and would eventually starve to death, she reasoned. In any case, short of someone lying down upon the glued-into-place mass of arachnids, they were effectively out of the combat. She thought of repeating the maneuver against Thurloe's swarm, but by then they had spread out too much to make a second tanglefoot bag an effective strategy.</p><p></p><p>From the balcony above, the four kobold scorpion wranglers pulled out slings and sent stones flying down at Alewyth and Thurloe. But their attacks missed; they'd already used up their "big guns" with the scorpions and were no longer much of a threat. The remaining scorpion swarm capable of mobility surged forward to encompass Thurloe and Zander, stabbing and pinching, much to the two heroes' annoyance.</p><p></p><p>Down in the lower side tunnel, Wakuren stepped forward towards the dead kobolds, for there were other passageways in the back of the small guard station he wanted to check out. Unfortunately, a section of floor just before him was an open pit, its presence masked by a horizontal <em>illusory wall</em> spell making that section look no different than the rest of the stone floor. Putting his weight down on a foot where there was suddenly no solid floor beneath him sent the half-orc plummeting into the pit. Fortunately. with the <em>shield of Cal</em> strapped to his arm, its innate <em>feather fall</em> abilities kicked in at once, so Wakuren had no concerns about falling for any great distance and injuring himself. What <em>did</em> concern him, however, was both the smell wafting up from the bottom of the pit and what he saw waiting there for him at the bottom: the kobolds used this 20-foot-deep pit not only as a trap for unwary invaders, but also as a latrine. Wakuren desperately wished the <em>shield of Cal</em> had a reverse setting allowing him to slowly rise instead of fall, or that the walls of the latrine pit were less smooth so he could grab hold of an outcropping or something and stop his leisurely descent. But such was not the case, and Wakuren steeled himself to the fact he was about to ruin his boots.</p><p></p><p>"You need any help down there?" Xandro called, cautiously sticking his head through the <em>illusory wall</em> spell so he could try to see if Wakuren was okay. By then the half-orc had landed in a pool of kobold wastes, much to his own disgust.</p><p></p><p>"No, I'll just use <em>gaseous form</em> to float back out of here," Wakuren answered.</p><p></p><p>Zander wandered to the front of the illusory kobold worshipers until he was at the foot of the statue's raised stone floor, then turned around to check out the back of the chapel. There was, he saw, a second balcony over on the left side of the chapel, across the span where the four kobolds were tossing sling stones down at Alewyth and Thurloe. Fortunately, there were no other kobolds in place there to toss down crates of scorpions; if it was intended as a higher ground from which kobolds could attack intruders from above, it was currently unmanned.</p><p></p><p>However, while Zander's attention was on the balconies in the back of the chamber, he failed to notice some movement from within the kobold illusions. There were six narrow holes in the floor scattered beneath six of the 51 (now only 46, thanks to Thurloe's experiment with <em>Spellslicer</em>) illusions, and scrambling up through these holes were six kobold warriors, each more or less identical to their illusory versions. They mirrored the movements of the illusions around them, blending in fairly well from "inside" the illusions, and then they each struck, tossing their spears at Zander. Two of them hit the sorcerer directly, one in the shoulder and one in the thigh, while the others either missed outright or just skimmed along an arm and harmlessly fell to the side. But the surprise - and fear - on Zander's face from this unexpected assault was genuine, and he plucked the spears from his body while frantically looking around to see where they had come from. With his <em>true seeing</em> still in place he was able to see the six real kobolds standing inside the rows of illusory kobolds, and he could also see six more spears being handed to them from someone directly below where they stood. The kobolds looked at the elf with smirking looks upon their reptilian faces.</p><p></p><p>Thurloe, in avoiding the mobile swarm, stepped onto the one encased in hardened tanglefoot glue, his hard boots crunching the immobilized scorpions beneath his tread, as he cast another <em>scorching ray</em> spell, this time focusing both fiery blasts at the still-mobile scorpions. Alewyth, in the meantime, cast a <em>spiritual weapon</em> spell up at the kobold slingers, slamming a dwarven warhammer made of solid force energy their way. The first blow killed its kobold victim outright; Alewyth was learning these reptilian beasts were not very powerful when it came to physical combat, which is probably why they relied so much upon devious trickery.</p><p></p><p>Not wanting to be the next victim of the <em>spiritual warhammer</em>, one of the kobold slingers raced down a sloping passageway that led up to the balcony (and the cave behind it where the scorpions had been raised) - and promptly found himself staring down Streggin Cavedelver, who had his light crossbow loaded and ready to fire. The kobold soon had a crossbow bolt embedded in the space between his eyes, and he fell to the ground, dead. Then, as Wakuren floated up out of the latrine pit in <em>gaseous form</em> and resumed a more solid existence, Streggin looked about and saw where the several other passageways led. Two, directly ahead of him, looked like they led underneath the central "chapel" cavern, but they were low and narrow - easily traversed by a three-foot-tall kobold, but more of a tight fit for a good-sized dwarf. Another passageway kept more or less to the same level, and it led into what looked to be a fungal garden. There was always the likelihood of some dangerous growths in there - violet fungus, perhaps, or an ascomoid - but the ranger figured it was more likely a food supply for the kobold warren, and therefore probably perfectly safe. He voiced his reasoning to the others and Xandro decided that was likely the best option.</p><p></p><p>Stepping into the cave with Wakuren - and the light from his shield - behind him, Xandro quickly learned the fungal cavern wasn't <em>entirely</em> safe, for there were two kobolds in there, harvesting fungal growths. They were armed with slings and several stones came hurtling his way, but he easily dodged the little missiles and then prepared a counterattack.</p><p></p><p>The remaining scorpions skittered over to Alewyth, the nearest warm-blooded target now that their dander was up and they were in a combative mood. But while she was dealing with avoiding them, Thurloe, near the entrance to the chapel, was facing the statue - and saw a reptilian head pop up from the ground by the statue's feet. It dropped down as quickly as it had risen up, but during that time Zander felt a magical attack trying to block his vision - a <em>blindness/deafness</em> spell, no doubt. Looking about and not seeing any likely spellcasters (just the six kobolds grabbing up spears being handed to them from below), the elf decided discretion was the better part of valor and went racing down the central aisle between the illusory kobolds, past Alewyth and Thurloe, through the <em>deeper darkness</em> spell effect area, and back over to the entry tunnel where the group had fought off the amphisbaena. Hoping he'd have better luck going down the other tunnel, he passed through the <em>illusory wall</em> spell and started following the path Streggin, Wakuren, and Xandro had taken. There, on the floor before him (with his <em>true seeing</em> still in effect), he saw the <em>illusory wall</em> spell covering the open pit Wakuren had fallen into earlier. He cast a <em>prestidigitation</em> spell that altered the coloration of the stone floor to make the square stand out, so any of his friends would know to avoid it. Then, giving the square a wide berth, Zander pressed on. He cast a <em>bear's endurance</em> spell upon himself, hoping to buoy up his physical fortitude after having taken those two hits from the kobolds' spears. It wasn't the same as an actual healing spell or potion, but it was what he had on hand at the moment and would have to do.</p><p></p><p>With Zander gone from the chapel, the six hidden kobolds spun around and threw their second spears at Alewyth and Thurloe, dividing the targets up evenly between them. Thurloe finished off the remaining scorpions with a well-placed <em>scorching ray</em>, much to Alewyth's relief, but then she signaled for Thurloe to join her in following Zander's path. "Splittin' up was probably not our best idea," she said. Thurloe shrugged and followed, while Alewyth fished around in her backpack and applied a dose of <em>Keoghtom's ointment</em> to her many stings, the magical paste helping neutralize the venom coursing through her system. Her still-active <em>spiritual weapon</em> floated beside her once she could no longer see any foes to which to send it to the attack.</p><p></p><p>They caught up to Streggin before long; the dwarf had stationed himself in front of the two narrow passageways leading below the chapel, light crossbow at the ready. "Anything pops its head out of either tunnel, it's getting a bolt to the face," he promised. "Xandro and Wakuren are in the fungal cave behind me."</p><p></p><p>Unseen by any of the others, the dark naga allied with the kobolds - and who had popped its head up from a narrow, corkscrewing tunnel at the foot of the kobold statue to cast a <em>blindness/deafness</em> spell at Zander, to no avail - crawled down from its sentry point and back into its own lair. It cast a <em>mage armor</em> spell upon itself, preparing for combat with the intruders it could hear in the fungal cavern, one short passageway distant. But then it was seen by Wakuren, whose darkvision was just as sharp as its own, and the armored half-orc came charging at the serpentine foe, shield raised and ready to deploy as a weapon. Xandro, in the meantime, had slain one of the kobolds in the fungal cave with his <em>frost short sword</em>. The twang of Streggin's crossbow and the startled cry of a slain kobold indicated the little buggers had tried exiting the cavern beneath the chapel, to no avail. But now Thurloe and Alewyth were within sight of the dwarven ranger, and Alewyth sent her <em>spiritual weapon</em> spell ahead to take out another kobold exiting the second of the to narrow tunnels.</p><p></p><p>After Wakuren's shield slammed into the dark naga's side, it opted to retaliate physically at first before employing any of its offensive spells. In the manner of a true serpent, it unhinged its jaws and bit at the half-orc, who managed to get his shield up in time to deflect the attempted bite attack. But the bite had been mostly a feint, allowing the sharp stinger at the tip of the dark naga's tail to strike just as quickly and pierce the half-orc's neck. The venom injected into Wakuren's system worked almost instantly; the half-orc staggered, then fell crashing over onto his side, poisoned into a nightmare-wracked sleep.</p><p></p><p>Seeing this, Alewyth passed her vial of <em>Keoghtom's ointment</em> over to Thurloe and pointed to the dark naga slithering over Wakuren's recumbent form; fortunately, the <em>light</em> spell was still in effect upon the <em>shield of Cal</em> so Thurloe, with his limited human vision, could see the threat for what it was. He took the vial from Alewyth and, bastard sword in his right hand, advanced cautiously towards the dark-scaled serpent with the disturbingly-humanlike head. Alewyth killed the other fungal-gathering kobold with <em>Sjondra</em>, dealing with the last threat in the fungal cavern.</p><p></p><p>Streggin took out another kobold in the rightmost tunnel, then rushed to reload before any of the others behind the newly-slain one could reach him. A flurry of kobold spears came flying up at him, but they had been thrown in hasty panic and none of them hit the dwarf. Alewyth's <em>spiritual warhammer</em> took out another kobold coming out of the leftmost tunnel as Streggin got his crossbow up again in time to shoot another kobold emerging from the tunnel to the right.</p><p></p><p>Xandro pulled out his <em>Dardolian lute</em> and started playing an intricate tune. This was not his song of inspirational courage, the tune he most often employed in combat - instead, this was a tune he'd only used once before, when he'd <em>fascinated</em> a pair of awakened apes in Baron's Haven who had been magically disguised by illusion magic to appear as a commoner and a large dog. But playing for all he was worth, he slowly, in a non-threatening fashion, started walking toward the dark naga, not a trace of fear on his face as he approached.</p><p></p><p>The dark naga wasn't quite sure of what to make of this strange behavior - but it was, there was no denying it, quite fascinating.</p><p></p><p>Having caught the dark naga up in his musical spell, Xandro entered the dark naga's cavern lair and circled around the serpentine beast; it followed his movements, turning its back on the fungal cavern passageway. This allowed Thurloe, quietly sheathing his bastard sword, to enter the cavern, pick up Wakuren, and bring him quietly back into the relative safety of the fungal cavern, where he applied <em>Keoghtom's ointment</em> to the stab-wound in the cleric-paladin's neck. Wakuren's eyelids fluttered as he woke back up from his nightmarish sleep, the venom from the dark naga's stinger having been fully neutralized from his system. In a whisper, Thurloe filled him in on the current state of affairs: Streggin and Alewyth's <em>spiritual warhammer</em> taking care of the advancing kobolds, while Xandro held the dark naga enthralled by his music.</p><p></p><p>"Then let's get him while he's helpless," suggested Wakuren, activating his <em>ring of invisibility</em> and stepping quietly back into the dark naga's cavern lair. Thurloe motioned for Zander and Alewyth to join them, and they each quietly entered the naga's lair, weapons and spells at the ready. Streggin was left alone to deal with the kobolds - Alewyth's <em>spiritual weapon</em> spell finally ran its course and disappeared from existence - but he managed to hold his own even when they charged him and he had to drop his light crossbow and deal with them using his handaxe. But then the dreamwalkers attacked all at once, Thurloe slicing deep into the dark naga's serpentine body with his bastard sword, Alewyth slamming <em>Sjondra</em> in a bone-crunching overhead swing that shattered several vertebrae, Zander blasting it with a <em>scorching ray</em> spell, and Wakuren bringing the point of his shield crashing down upon its skull (and reverting him to full visibility as a result). Against such a coordinated attack, the dark naga didn't stand a chance; it died on the spot.</p><p></p><p>"Nice one, Xandro!" Zander called out.</p><p></p><p>"Hey, what's this?" asked Alewyth, looking at a pile of stones up against a wall. The base was made up of a ring of ordinary stones, but they were used to prop up a larger stone, this one black with flecks of white and gold interspersed throughout. "Is that dreamstone?"</p><p></p><p>Closer inspection confirmed it was indeed, and a much larger chunk than they'd ever seen before. The group decided it must be tied in to the ones in the kobold statue in the chapel outside, and in that they were correct - the dark naga had learned to focus upon the dreamstone as it fell asleep, in such a fashion it was able to look out of the dreamstone eyes in the kobold statue, thus keeping an eye over the kobold chapel even while it slept. And it found the lucid dreams, from the statue's visual point of view, to be very appealing, with dozens of kobolds chanting in unison as they seemingly worshiped the dark naga. It was as close to godhood as the dark naga was ever going to get.</p><p></p><p>Zander saw a pool of water in a cavern to the north, with a short connecting passageway from the naga's lair. To the east from this pool cavern was another sloping passageway, this one rising up higher than the chapel level. "That's likely where the leaders of this kobold warren live," surmised the elf.</p><p></p><p>"Let's find out," suggested Wakuren, casting a summoning spell that brought an air-element hippogriff into existence, hovering over the pool. With a pointed finger, Wakuren directed the hippogriff, whose body was composed of compressed winds from the Elemental Plane of Air, into the cavern. The shrieks and yips that emanated revealed the accuracy of Zander's supposition, as the hippogriff made short work of the kobold leaders who had opted to remain in hiding while their lower, expendable minions dealt with the incursion into their warren.</p><p></p><p>Grabbing up the dreamstone from the naga's lair, Wakuren backtracked back to the temple, the others following. They picked up Streggin along the way once the ranger had determined there were no more kobolds coming out to attack him from either tunnel. Then, facing the kobold statue, Alewyth used a <em>soften earth and stone</em> spell to more or less "melt" the carved kobold's head into clay, allowing them to pluck the chunks of dreamstone that had been embedded into the statue out. The Queen of Dreams had sent them to fetch the two dreamstones and they'd be returning with three; not a bad haul! Zander, being the skinniest of the group, made his way up a narrow kobold tunnel to check out the leaders' cavern, where he verified they'd all been slain by Wakuren's hippogriff; he also found quite a bit of treasure stashed up there, including a coveted magical haversack that held more than its external dimensions would indicate. "That'll make hauling the dreamstones back even that much easier!" the elf sorcerer enthused. Thurloe realized they already had the magical lamp, which was an extradimensional space, but didn't say anything to dampen the elf's enthusiasm.</p><p></p><p>"Now we just need to retrace our way back to the surface," Alewyth asserted.</p><p></p><p>"Sounds like a plan," Streggin agreed, ready to be off. But Thurloe held him off with an alternate idea. "This place has fresh water," he pointed out. "It's fairly defensible, with plenty of ways to exit if anything comes heading our way we can't handle. We might as well hold up here for the day, and get off on a fresh start in the morning. That way we all start off with a full day's allotment of spells. You never know when that will come in handy."</p><p></p><p>Streggin didn't mind; it meant another day's pay for him. And there were blind fish in the pool of water he wouldn't mind having a go at catching; fresh fish while delving about in the Underdark was a rare treat.</p><p></p><p>And, as it turned out, the group would be plenty happy to have a full complement each of their spells in the morning, for the way back home wasn't going to be as easy as they might have hoped.</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>I'm glad we had time to go through this adventure in the same gaming session as "Underdark Trails," because this, I felt, was a more "proper" adventure, whereas the first one was just a series of unrelated encounters taking advantage of an environment in which the PCs didn't get to spend a whole lot of time: deep underground. And I had already planned that the next adventure would introduce them to a bunch of other creatures I was fairly certain none of them had ever encountered before - even Dan, who like me had been gaming since the AD&D first edition days.</p><p></p><p>Everyone leveled up to 8th level at the conclusion of this adventure.</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>T-shirt worn: My USA shirt, because we went through this adventure on the same session as the previous one.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 8790314, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 35: DREAMSTONE VISION[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Alewyth Putterpye, dwarf priestess of Aerik 7[/INDENT] [INDENT] Thurloe Pulver, human fighter 3/wizard 3/spellsword 1[/INDENT] [INDENT] Wakuren, half-orc cleric of Cal 3/paladin 4[/INDENT] [INDENT] Xandro Silverstrings, human bard 5/rogue 2[/INDENT] [INDENT] Zander Quilson, elf sorcerer 7[/INDENT] NPC Roster: [INDENT]Streggin Cavedelver, dwarf ranger 3[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 24 September 2022 - - - "That's the three-column landmark," Streggin observed, pointing to a clump of three stalactites who hung down so low from the cavern ceiling they had merged with the three stalagmites directly below, forming three lumpy columns reaching from floor to cavern ceiling. "Just like Lorgar said. That side tunnel on the left leads directly into the kobold warren." The group approached cautiously, with weapons drawn and combat spells ready to fire. Turning the corner, however, was somewhat anti-climatic, for the corridor was empty - and rather than leading directly into a kobold worship cavern with a statue whose eyes were made of solid dreamstones, there was instead a solid wall of absolute blackness. Of course, that didn't mean there wasn't the kobold statue on the other side of the [I]deeper darkness[/I] spell, just that it couldn't be seen. "You hear that?" Zander asked, cocking his head. The others strained their ears and there was indeed some sort of rhythmic chanting going on, in a squeaky language none of the group could understand. It came from the other side of the magical darkness. The elf sorcerer cast a [I]mage armor[/I] spell on himself, predicting imminent combat now that they were finally here. After all, he couldn't very well believe the kobolds were just going to hand over the dreamstones the Queen of Dreams had sent her five dreamwalkers to fetch and return to the surface world. Thurloe cast a [I]mage armor[/I] spell on himself as well and took a few hesitant steps forward. "Odd that they don't have any guards posted," he whispered to the others. Alewyth was already tired of all of this pussy-footing around. It seemed to her as if none of the men wanted to be the first to step forward into the magical darkness. Of course, if what people said about kobolds was true - that they were devious, nasty trap-makers with a penchant for evil - their cautiousness was probably warranted. But her dwarven temperament wasn't geared for putting off the inevitable; if there was a trap ahead, the best way to deal with it was to press on ahead and trust in Aerik's protection to keep her safe from harm. With that thought in mind, she boldly stepped forward, [I]Sjondra[/I] in hand. Before she reached the zone of darkness, though, a pair of reptilian heads popped out of the wall at her side, mouths opened wide and long, venomous fangs exposed as they bit at her. She managed to dodge one of the snakes but the other got a grip on her arm with its jaws and the priestess could feel the venom being pumped into her system. But dwarves were a hardy lot and she gritted her teeth, ignored the pain of the bite, and willed the poison to dissipate harmlessly into her system. Unfortunately, these snakes were quick, and as she spun about to face them head on one of the two got in another poisonous bite. Alewyth grunted in pain and could actually feel the double-dose of venom start to have an effect on her vitality. Streggin stepped forward, crossbow pointed at the snakes but they were gone - their striking heads had darted back through the seemingly solid wall of the tunnel. Still, the dwarven ranger had heard of these kinds of illusory tricks before, and even though he couldn't see through the illusion, he fired his weapon blindly into the [I]illusory wall[/I] spell, hoping for the best. Wakuren took the concept one step further, by stepping forward and sticking his head completely through the [I]illusory wall[/I] spell, where he was the first to see that both snakes were actually the two ends of a single creature. He slammed his shield into the amphisbaena, causing it to hiss in pain from the powerful blow. Xandro figured any attempts at quietly sneaking into the kobold warren were probably moot by this time, and decided if they were already making the sounds of combat likely to alert the kobolds, he might as well add to the cacophony with a tune of inspirational courage on his [I]Dardolian lute[/I]. That way, his friends and allies would at least get the benefit of his magical music inspiring them to greater efforts. Zander was worried there was going to be an army of kobolds spilling out of the magical darkness at any moment and wanted to be able to warn the others if this was about to occur. Activating the full power of his [I]scout's headband[/I], he granted himself the ability to magically pierce the [I]deeper darkness[/I] via a [I]true seeing[/I] effect, which allowed him to verify there was indeed the cavern they had hoped for on the other side of the darkness. And on the far side of the open chamber was the kobold statue they sought, raised on a natural outcropping of stone that elevated the 10-foot-tall statue even higher. As the moogles had surmised, the kobolds apparently worshiped this statue as a god, for there must have been 50 or so of the little reptiles, all facing the statue in ragged rows, their backs turned to the darkness. They stood in place, each with a spear in their left hand while their right hand thumped rhythmically on their chests. If they heard any of the sounds of battle coming from outside, they gave absolutely no indication of it. Perhaps, Zander mused, they were gearing themselves up into a religious frenzy, where the outside world no longer mattered to them. But then, with his [I]true seeing[/I] enhancing his vision, he noted something he hadn't paid attention to himself at first - the kobolds, all 50 of them, were illusions! That made absolutely no sense to the elf sorcerer - why in the world would you craft an illusion of false worshipers? Were they really trying to pull a fast one on their statue god? Thurloe, in the meantime, followed Wakuren's lead and stepped through the [I]illusory wall[/I], bringing his bastard sword crashing into the side of the amphisbaena's scaled body. He noted the light from Zander's [I]everburning torch[/I] had no trouble illuminating this side of the illusion spell; he gave a moment's thought about canceling the [I]illusory wall[/I] spell with his sword, [I]Spellslicer[/I] being particularly useful in that regard. But then he decided not to let the kobolds know the adventurers had already tumbled upon one of their secrets. Alewyth stepped through the false wall and brought her warhammer [I]Sjondra[/I] crashing down upon one of the dual-headed serpent's skulls, crushing it instantly. The remaining head hissed in pain and the creature's long, serpentine body lowered itself to the cold, stone floor of its lair cavern as it died. Streggin, hearing the sounds of combat die down, closed his eyes and cast his dwarven senses about - if there was one [I]illusory wall[/I] around here, it only made sense there could well be another. His inherent dwarven stonecunning allowed him to sense an opening behind him that, when he opened his eyes and spun about, wasn't at all visible to the ranger. But trusting his senses, he stepped forward and passed through the fake wall, finding himself in a narrow passageway sloping down and turning to the right. He backed up into the main tunnel and explained his findings to the others. Zander took the opportunity to tell the rest of the group of his own discovery about what was on the other side of the [I]deeper darkness[/I]. "The little buggers sure like their illusions, don't they?" Alewyth scoffed. Wakuren took a moment to cast a [I]light[/I] spell upon his [I]shield of Cal[/I]. "Now we've got two sources of illumination, if we want to split up," he suggested. Xandro continued playing his tune while the others decided their next move. "I'm going to check out the chapel," Zander told the others, stepping forward into the zone of darkness. It lasted only about 10 feet or so, and then he was in the large cavern with the fake kobold parishioners worshiping their stone god. He stepped up until he was level with the back row of illusory kobolds, continuing to beat their chests and grunt in their doggy language. Thurloe followed, and on a whim decided to use [I]Spellslicer[/I]'s ability to dissipate illusions by touching his blade to the head of one of the back-row worshipers. To the spellsword's surprise, the entire row of five kobolds popped like a bubble. There were five rows of kobolds, with a passageway down the middle of them; now the back row only consisted of the three kobolds on the other side of the central aisle. "Weird," Thurloe commented to himself. Alewyth stepped forward into the darkness and emerged inside the chapel with Thurloe and Zander. "What's this all about?" she asked the others. "We're still trying to figure that out," admitted Zander. There was a sudden commotion behind them, and as the trio of adventurers spun around to face the back of the chapel, two feeble, wooden crates were tossed down on them by a quartet of kobolds from a sort of natural balcony off to their right and about 20 feet up. One hit Alewyth on the top of her head, while the other crashed to the floor at Thurloe's feet. But both crates shattered to splinters upon impact, almost causing Thurloe to utter a snide remark about kobold craftsmanship - until the swarms of scorpions skittering out from the crates' remains made it perfectly clear the crates had been built shoddily on purpose. Dozens, scores, hundreds of scorpions crawled along the floor in all directions, some of them scampering up Alewyth and Thurloe's legs, their venomous stingers doing the kobolds' work for them. Alewyth, already weakened from the amphisbaena's venomous bites, felt her vaunted dwarven constitution failing her as she succumbed to dozens of stings. Her body seemed sluggish, although her mental faculties were still all up to par and she realized she needed to get free of these pesky arachnids. Wakuren and Xandro, in the meantime, offered to follow Streggin down the other tunnel and see where it led, the bard continuing his tune of inspirational courage. The tunnel descended as it curved to the right, and in a larger cave at the end of the sloping passageway stood two kobold sentries, each armed with a light crossbow. Streggin got off the first shot, skewering one of the kobolds in the throat, killing him instantly. The other got off a shot which went over the ranger's head, then both raced to be the first to reload. Streggin won that contest by a fraction of a second, but it was enough to fire off a shot at the other kobold, killing him as well. Zander Quilson, realizing his [I]true seeing[/I] had a limited duration, looked all around to see if there was anything else of note in the chapel. He started walking slowly down the aisle between the kobold illusions, paying special attention to the 10-foot-tall kobold statue at the far end. It, however, was exactly what it appeared to be: a carved stone statue of an enormous kobold, whose eyes were definitely dreamstones and not carved from the rock of the rest of the statue - they had to have been carved separately, or perhaps the stone of the kobold's head was shaped around the existing dreamstones. In any case, there didn't seem to be any other illusions or other types of magical auras in the vicinity. Thurloe leapt out of the swarm of scorpions surrounding him, brushed off a few that were crawling up his body, and cast a [I]scorching ray[/I] spell, sending one blazing blast at each of the two swarms. Alewyth also stepped away from the scorpion swarm surrounding her and fished out a tanglefoot bag from her backpack. Tossing it directly into the mass of scorpions that had flowed out of the crate that had bonked her on the head, the gooey mass flowed over the scorpions, pinning them into place. The scorpions weren't particularly harmed by this process, but they were immobilized and would eventually starve to death, she reasoned. In any case, short of someone lying down upon the glued-into-place mass of arachnids, they were effectively out of the combat. She thought of repeating the maneuver against Thurloe's swarm, but by then they had spread out too much to make a second tanglefoot bag an effective strategy. From the balcony above, the four kobold scorpion wranglers pulled out slings and sent stones flying down at Alewyth and Thurloe. But their attacks missed; they'd already used up their "big guns" with the scorpions and were no longer much of a threat. The remaining scorpion swarm capable of mobility surged forward to encompass Thurloe and Zander, stabbing and pinching, much to the two heroes' annoyance. Down in the lower side tunnel, Wakuren stepped forward towards the dead kobolds, for there were other passageways in the back of the small guard station he wanted to check out. Unfortunately, a section of floor just before him was an open pit, its presence masked by a horizontal [I]illusory wall[/I] spell making that section look no different than the rest of the stone floor. Putting his weight down on a foot where there was suddenly no solid floor beneath him sent the half-orc plummeting into the pit. Fortunately. with the [I]shield of Cal[/I] strapped to his arm, its innate [I]feather fall[/I] abilities kicked in at once, so Wakuren had no concerns about falling for any great distance and injuring himself. What [I]did[/I] concern him, however, was both the smell wafting up from the bottom of the pit and what he saw waiting there for him at the bottom: the kobolds used this 20-foot-deep pit not only as a trap for unwary invaders, but also as a latrine. Wakuren desperately wished the [I]shield of Cal[/I] had a reverse setting allowing him to slowly rise instead of fall, or that the walls of the latrine pit were less smooth so he could grab hold of an outcropping or something and stop his leisurely descent. But such was not the case, and Wakuren steeled himself to the fact he was about to ruin his boots. "You need any help down there?" Xandro called, cautiously sticking his head through the [I]illusory wall[/I] spell so he could try to see if Wakuren was okay. By then the half-orc had landed in a pool of kobold wastes, much to his own disgust. "No, I'll just use [I]gaseous form[/I] to float back out of here," Wakuren answered. Zander wandered to the front of the illusory kobold worshipers until he was at the foot of the statue's raised stone floor, then turned around to check out the back of the chapel. There was, he saw, a second balcony over on the left side of the chapel, across the span where the four kobolds were tossing sling stones down at Alewyth and Thurloe. Fortunately, there were no other kobolds in place there to toss down crates of scorpions; if it was intended as a higher ground from which kobolds could attack intruders from above, it was currently unmanned. However, while Zander's attention was on the balconies in the back of the chamber, he failed to notice some movement from within the kobold illusions. There were six narrow holes in the floor scattered beneath six of the 51 (now only 46, thanks to Thurloe's experiment with [I]Spellslicer[/I]) illusions, and scrambling up through these holes were six kobold warriors, each more or less identical to their illusory versions. They mirrored the movements of the illusions around them, blending in fairly well from "inside" the illusions, and then they each struck, tossing their spears at Zander. Two of them hit the sorcerer directly, one in the shoulder and one in the thigh, while the others either missed outright or just skimmed along an arm and harmlessly fell to the side. But the surprise - and fear - on Zander's face from this unexpected assault was genuine, and he plucked the spears from his body while frantically looking around to see where they had come from. With his [I]true seeing[/I] still in place he was able to see the six real kobolds standing inside the rows of illusory kobolds, and he could also see six more spears being handed to them from someone directly below where they stood. The kobolds looked at the elf with smirking looks upon their reptilian faces. Thurloe, in avoiding the mobile swarm, stepped onto the one encased in hardened tanglefoot glue, his hard boots crunching the immobilized scorpions beneath his tread, as he cast another [I]scorching ray[/I] spell, this time focusing both fiery blasts at the still-mobile scorpions. Alewyth, in the meantime, cast a [I]spiritual weapon[/I] spell up at the kobold slingers, slamming a dwarven warhammer made of solid force energy their way. The first blow killed its kobold victim outright; Alewyth was learning these reptilian beasts were not very powerful when it came to physical combat, which is probably why they relied so much upon devious trickery. Not wanting to be the next victim of the [I]spiritual warhammer[/I], one of the kobold slingers raced down a sloping passageway that led up to the balcony (and the cave behind it where the scorpions had been raised) - and promptly found himself staring down Streggin Cavedelver, who had his light crossbow loaded and ready to fire. The kobold soon had a crossbow bolt embedded in the space between his eyes, and he fell to the ground, dead. Then, as Wakuren floated up out of the latrine pit in [I]gaseous form[/I] and resumed a more solid existence, Streggin looked about and saw where the several other passageways led. Two, directly ahead of him, looked like they led underneath the central "chapel" cavern, but they were low and narrow - easily traversed by a three-foot-tall kobold, but more of a tight fit for a good-sized dwarf. Another passageway kept more or less to the same level, and it led into what looked to be a fungal garden. There was always the likelihood of some dangerous growths in there - violet fungus, perhaps, or an ascomoid - but the ranger figured it was more likely a food supply for the kobold warren, and therefore probably perfectly safe. He voiced his reasoning to the others and Xandro decided that was likely the best option. Stepping into the cave with Wakuren - and the light from his shield - behind him, Xandro quickly learned the fungal cavern wasn't [I]entirely[/I] safe, for there were two kobolds in there, harvesting fungal growths. They were armed with slings and several stones came hurtling his way, but he easily dodged the little missiles and then prepared a counterattack. The remaining scorpions skittered over to Alewyth, the nearest warm-blooded target now that their dander was up and they were in a combative mood. But while she was dealing with avoiding them, Thurloe, near the entrance to the chapel, was facing the statue - and saw a reptilian head pop up from the ground by the statue's feet. It dropped down as quickly as it had risen up, but during that time Zander felt a magical attack trying to block his vision - a [I]blindness/deafness[/I] spell, no doubt. Looking about and not seeing any likely spellcasters (just the six kobolds grabbing up spears being handed to them from below), the elf decided discretion was the better part of valor and went racing down the central aisle between the illusory kobolds, past Alewyth and Thurloe, through the [I]deeper darkness[/I] spell effect area, and back over to the entry tunnel where the group had fought off the amphisbaena. Hoping he'd have better luck going down the other tunnel, he passed through the [I]illusory wall[/I] spell and started following the path Streggin, Wakuren, and Xandro had taken. There, on the floor before him (with his [I]true seeing[/I] still in effect), he saw the [I]illusory wall[/I] spell covering the open pit Wakuren had fallen into earlier. He cast a [I]prestidigitation[/I] spell that altered the coloration of the stone floor to make the square stand out, so any of his friends would know to avoid it. Then, giving the square a wide berth, Zander pressed on. He cast a [I]bear's endurance[/I] spell upon himself, hoping to buoy up his physical fortitude after having taken those two hits from the kobolds' spears. It wasn't the same as an actual healing spell or potion, but it was what he had on hand at the moment and would have to do. With Zander gone from the chapel, the six hidden kobolds spun around and threw their second spears at Alewyth and Thurloe, dividing the targets up evenly between them. Thurloe finished off the remaining scorpions with a well-placed [I]scorching ray[/I], much to Alewyth's relief, but then she signaled for Thurloe to join her in following Zander's path. "Splittin' up was probably not our best idea," she said. Thurloe shrugged and followed, while Alewyth fished around in her backpack and applied a dose of [I]Keoghtom's ointment[/I] to her many stings, the magical paste helping neutralize the venom coursing through her system. Her still-active [I]spiritual weapon[/I] floated beside her once she could no longer see any foes to which to send it to the attack. They caught up to Streggin before long; the dwarf had stationed himself in front of the two narrow passageways leading below the chapel, light crossbow at the ready. "Anything pops its head out of either tunnel, it's getting a bolt to the face," he promised. "Xandro and Wakuren are in the fungal cave behind me." Unseen by any of the others, the dark naga allied with the kobolds - and who had popped its head up from a narrow, corkscrewing tunnel at the foot of the kobold statue to cast a [I]blindness/deafness[/I] spell at Zander, to no avail - crawled down from its sentry point and back into its own lair. It cast a [I]mage armor[/I] spell upon itself, preparing for combat with the intruders it could hear in the fungal cavern, one short passageway distant. But then it was seen by Wakuren, whose darkvision was just as sharp as its own, and the armored half-orc came charging at the serpentine foe, shield raised and ready to deploy as a weapon. Xandro, in the meantime, had slain one of the kobolds in the fungal cave with his [I]frost short sword[/I]. The twang of Streggin's crossbow and the startled cry of a slain kobold indicated the little buggers had tried exiting the cavern beneath the chapel, to no avail. But now Thurloe and Alewyth were within sight of the dwarven ranger, and Alewyth sent her [I]spiritual weapon[/I] spell ahead to take out another kobold exiting the second of the to narrow tunnels. After Wakuren's shield slammed into the dark naga's side, it opted to retaliate physically at first before employing any of its offensive spells. In the manner of a true serpent, it unhinged its jaws and bit at the half-orc, who managed to get his shield up in time to deflect the attempted bite attack. But the bite had been mostly a feint, allowing the sharp stinger at the tip of the dark naga's tail to strike just as quickly and pierce the half-orc's neck. The venom injected into Wakuren's system worked almost instantly; the half-orc staggered, then fell crashing over onto his side, poisoned into a nightmare-wracked sleep. Seeing this, Alewyth passed her vial of [I]Keoghtom's ointment[/I] over to Thurloe and pointed to the dark naga slithering over Wakuren's recumbent form; fortunately, the [I]light[/I] spell was still in effect upon the [I]shield of Cal[/I] so Thurloe, with his limited human vision, could see the threat for what it was. He took the vial from Alewyth and, bastard sword in his right hand, advanced cautiously towards the dark-scaled serpent with the disturbingly-humanlike head. Alewyth killed the other fungal-gathering kobold with [I]Sjondra[/I], dealing with the last threat in the fungal cavern. Streggin took out another kobold in the rightmost tunnel, then rushed to reload before any of the others behind the newly-slain one could reach him. A flurry of kobold spears came flying up at him, but they had been thrown in hasty panic and none of them hit the dwarf. Alewyth's [I]spiritual warhammer[/I] took out another kobold coming out of the leftmost tunnel as Streggin got his crossbow up again in time to shoot another kobold emerging from the tunnel to the right. Xandro pulled out his [I]Dardolian lute[/I] and started playing an intricate tune. This was not his song of inspirational courage, the tune he most often employed in combat - instead, this was a tune he'd only used once before, when he'd [I]fascinated[/I] a pair of awakened apes in Baron's Haven who had been magically disguised by illusion magic to appear as a commoner and a large dog. But playing for all he was worth, he slowly, in a non-threatening fashion, started walking toward the dark naga, not a trace of fear on his face as he approached. The dark naga wasn't quite sure of what to make of this strange behavior - but it was, there was no denying it, quite fascinating. Having caught the dark naga up in his musical spell, Xandro entered the dark naga's cavern lair and circled around the serpentine beast; it followed his movements, turning its back on the fungal cavern passageway. This allowed Thurloe, quietly sheathing his bastard sword, to enter the cavern, pick up Wakuren, and bring him quietly back into the relative safety of the fungal cavern, where he applied [I]Keoghtom's ointment[/I] to the stab-wound in the cleric-paladin's neck. Wakuren's eyelids fluttered as he woke back up from his nightmarish sleep, the venom from the dark naga's stinger having been fully neutralized from his system. In a whisper, Thurloe filled him in on the current state of affairs: Streggin and Alewyth's [I]spiritual warhammer[/I] taking care of the advancing kobolds, while Xandro held the dark naga enthralled by his music. "Then let's get him while he's helpless," suggested Wakuren, activating his [I]ring of invisibility[/I] and stepping quietly back into the dark naga's cavern lair. Thurloe motioned for Zander and Alewyth to join them, and they each quietly entered the naga's lair, weapons and spells at the ready. Streggin was left alone to deal with the kobolds - Alewyth's [I]spiritual weapon[/I] spell finally ran its course and disappeared from existence - but he managed to hold his own even when they charged him and he had to drop his light crossbow and deal with them using his handaxe. But then the dreamwalkers attacked all at once, Thurloe slicing deep into the dark naga's serpentine body with his bastard sword, Alewyth slamming [I]Sjondra[/I] in a bone-crunching overhead swing that shattered several vertebrae, Zander blasting it with a [I]scorching ray[/I] spell, and Wakuren bringing the point of his shield crashing down upon its skull (and reverting him to full visibility as a result). Against such a coordinated attack, the dark naga didn't stand a chance; it died on the spot. "Nice one, Xandro!" Zander called out. "Hey, what's this?" asked Alewyth, looking at a pile of stones up against a wall. The base was made up of a ring of ordinary stones, but they were used to prop up a larger stone, this one black with flecks of white and gold interspersed throughout. "Is that dreamstone?" Closer inspection confirmed it was indeed, and a much larger chunk than they'd ever seen before. The group decided it must be tied in to the ones in the kobold statue in the chapel outside, and in that they were correct - the dark naga had learned to focus upon the dreamstone as it fell asleep, in such a fashion it was able to look out of the dreamstone eyes in the kobold statue, thus keeping an eye over the kobold chapel even while it slept. And it found the lucid dreams, from the statue's visual point of view, to be very appealing, with dozens of kobolds chanting in unison as they seemingly worshiped the dark naga. It was as close to godhood as the dark naga was ever going to get. Zander saw a pool of water in a cavern to the north, with a short connecting passageway from the naga's lair. To the east from this pool cavern was another sloping passageway, this one rising up higher than the chapel level. "That's likely where the leaders of this kobold warren live," surmised the elf. "Let's find out," suggested Wakuren, casting a summoning spell that brought an air-element hippogriff into existence, hovering over the pool. With a pointed finger, Wakuren directed the hippogriff, whose body was composed of compressed winds from the Elemental Plane of Air, into the cavern. The shrieks and yips that emanated revealed the accuracy of Zander's supposition, as the hippogriff made short work of the kobold leaders who had opted to remain in hiding while their lower, expendable minions dealt with the incursion into their warren. Grabbing up the dreamstone from the naga's lair, Wakuren backtracked back to the temple, the others following. They picked up Streggin along the way once the ranger had determined there were no more kobolds coming out to attack him from either tunnel. Then, facing the kobold statue, Alewyth used a [I]soften earth and stone[/I] spell to more or less "melt" the carved kobold's head into clay, allowing them to pluck the chunks of dreamstone that had been embedded into the statue out. The Queen of Dreams had sent them to fetch the two dreamstones and they'd be returning with three; not a bad haul! Zander, being the skinniest of the group, made his way up a narrow kobold tunnel to check out the leaders' cavern, where he verified they'd all been slain by Wakuren's hippogriff; he also found quite a bit of treasure stashed up there, including a coveted magical haversack that held more than its external dimensions would indicate. "That'll make hauling the dreamstones back even that much easier!" the elf sorcerer enthused. Thurloe realized they already had the magical lamp, which was an extradimensional space, but didn't say anything to dampen the elf's enthusiasm. "Now we just need to retrace our way back to the surface," Alewyth asserted. "Sounds like a plan," Streggin agreed, ready to be off. But Thurloe held him off with an alternate idea. "This place has fresh water," he pointed out. "It's fairly defensible, with plenty of ways to exit if anything comes heading our way we can't handle. We might as well hold up here for the day, and get off on a fresh start in the morning. That way we all start off with a full day's allotment of spells. You never know when that will come in handy." Streggin didn't mind; it meant another day's pay for him. And there were blind fish in the pool of water he wouldn't mind having a go at catching; fresh fish while delving about in the Underdark was a rare treat. And, as it turned out, the group would be plenty happy to have a full complement each of their spells in the morning, for the way back home wasn't going to be as easy as they might have hoped. - - - I'm glad we had time to go through this adventure in the same gaming session as "Underdark Trails," because this, I felt, was a more "proper" adventure, whereas the first one was just a series of unrelated encounters taking advantage of an environment in which the PCs didn't get to spend a whole lot of time: deep underground. And I had already planned that the next adventure would introduce them to a bunch of other creatures I was fairly certain none of them had ever encountered before - even Dan, who like me had been gaming since the AD&D first edition days. Everyone leveled up to 8th level at the conclusion of this adventure. - - - T-shirt worn: My USA shirt, because we went through this adventure on the same session as the previous one. [/QUOTE]
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