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Dreams of Erthe
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 8840941" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 39: PREGNANT PAUSE</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: </p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Alewyth Putterpye, dwarf priestess of Aerik 8</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Thurloe Pulver, human fighter 3/wizard 3/spellsword 2</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Wakuren, half-orc cleric of Cal 4/paladin 4</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Xandro Silverstrings, human bard 6/rogue 2</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Zander Quilson, elf sorcerer 8</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 19 November 2022</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>"Tonight we're going to examine a different type of dream, kupo!" Mogo explained, opening a door in the Corridor of Dreams and ushering inside the five dreamwalkers he'd been assigned by the Queen of Dreams to train in the art of interacting with the dreams of other people. Stepping inside, the dreamwalkers immediately saw the truth of the little moogle's words, for this dreamscape was unlike any other they'd ever seen. Instead of a dreamscape vista like the ones to which they'd become been accustomed, they seemed to be inside a large room, lit only by the moving images displayed on a vertical wall ahead of them.</p><p></p><p>"We call this a 'first-person view' dream, kupo!" Mogo explained. "You're seeing everything through the eyes of the person who's dreaming, kupo. And usually – but not always – it's because the dream is a memory of something that really happened, kupo!"</p><p></p><p>"Doesn't this make it more difficult to alter the dream?" wondered Alewyth. </p><p></p><p>"Oh, absolutely, kupo! It's not impossible, but it's much harder to alter a dream of a memory of something that actually occurred, kupo! But let's see what this dream has to offer - I picked a first-person dream of someone who was dreaming about one of you, kupo!"</p><p></p><p>As one, the five dreamwalkers gave the screen their undivided attention, eager to see which of them was the subject of the dream. So far, none of them was visible in the dream, for the screen showed the vantage point of someone riding a horse. Off to the side, another figure was riding another horse alongside the dreamer, but it was difficult to make out any features on the other rider. Then there was an audible cry of pain and the screen's image turned sideways - apparently the dreamer had fallen from the horse being ridden. The screen momentarily darkened, leaving the five dreamwalkers and their moogle instructor without any light at all.</p><p></p><p>"Did you see that?" asked Zander.</p><p></p><p>"See what?" asked Wakuren.</p><p></p><p>"Right before the screen went sideways - there was a little rock or something coming in from the left. Sling bullet, maybe."</p><p></p><p>Then the screen started lightening up again, and this time there was a face covering most of the screen. He rocked back and forth in a rhythmic fashion, and it took a moment for the dreamwalkers to figure out what the dreamer was experiencing, as all they were experiencing was the visual point of view of the dreamer - who was apparently laying upon her back where she'd fallen from the horse, and now had someone atop her, grunting and thrusting. Alewyth's mouth opened in shock and surprise, but before she could put voice to her outrage she gave a little shriek of surprise, for a long blade came swinging in from the side, cutting through the attacker's neck. Blood sprayed forward towards the screen as the head went flying off to the side, out of view.</p><p></p><p>"Hey, wait a minute..." began Thurloe, squinting at the figure holding the lengthy sword that had just been used to decapitate the person lying atop the dreamer. The figure was much younger than Thurloe had ever seen him, but he looked an awful lot like Fraser, the man who had taught him how to first wield a bastard sword. The spellsword suddenly had a pretty good idea which of the five of them was going to be featured in this dream....</p><p></p><p>Sure enough, the dream-screen went black again for a moment, and then suddenly the dreamer was still lying on her back, but she was in a decent house covered with a blanket, and she was holding a little baby in her arms, wrapped up in swaddling clothes apparently moments after having been born. Standing beside her was a man Thurloe instantly recognized as his Uncle Marten, which would make the dreamer his Aunt Charlotte, as he had begun to suspect. "Are you sure about this, Charlotte?" Marten asked, to which she replied, "What else can we do, Marten? We'll just raise him as if he was ours. If he ever asks when he gets older, we'll just tell him his parents died when he was little."</p><p></p><p>Mogo opened the door back to the Corridor of Dreams. "Uh, sorry about that, kupo," he said, visibly embarrassed. "I, uh, probably should have checked the dream out ahead of time, kupo. Come on, let's find a different point-of-view dream somewhere else, kupo." The others exited the dreamscape after the moogle.</p><p></p><p>"You okay?" Xandro asked Thurloe, looking over at the swordsman.</p><p></p><p>"Yeah. I guess I'll have a real interesting topic of conversation the next time I see my 'Aunt Charlotte,'" he replied.</p><p></p><p>The next morning, after a successful bout of dream training, the group awakened and went about their normal business. The next dream victim was in a place called Sun Valley, a little farming village. They arrived shortly after noon, to find a cluster of little farms, a single tavern, and a small temple of Cal - and that, apparently, was the sum total of Sun Valley. "It ought to be easy to find our dreamer," prompted Xandro, looking on the bright side. "What do you think, tavern or temple?"</p><p></p><p>"Temple," Wakuren answered at once. Having trained as both a cleric and a paladin of the God of Air and Healing, he was eager to see what this small temple had to offer.</p><p></p><p>"Temple it is, then," replied Scarlie, steering the two mules hitched to the wagon that way. The others followed on their mounts. There were a couple of hitching posts in front of the small temple, and - somewhat incongruously - a pair of angel statues holding up the roof at the building's front, a rather ostentatious display for the temple of a small farming village. But inside, the church was pretty much what Wakuren had expected: two rows of wooden pews with an aisle down the middle, a raised stage at the back with a podium so the cleric could give his sermons, and a pair of doors at the back. The door to the left was closed but the one to the right was open, and a man stepped out upon hearing visitors to his temple.</p><p></p><p>"May I help you?" asked <strong>Father Bristol</strong>, smiling at the newcomers - until his gaze reached Wakuren. Then his smile hardened to a frown, seeing the symbols of his god emblazoned upon the shield and tabard worn by a half-orc, of all things.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren chose not to take offense, realizing full well most half-orcs in the world didn't take up the calling of a servant to Cal, God of Air and Healing. "We're looking for anyone in your village who might have fallen into a dream coma," he answered, giving Father Bristol a friendly smile.</p><p></p><p>"What is the meaning of this...mockery?" demanded Father Bristol. "Are you seriously trying to pass yourself as a cleric of Cal?"</p><p></p><p>"A cleric and a paladin," corrected Wakuren.</p><p></p><p>"Preposterous! Who would dare ordain an orc as a cleric - or as a paladin?"</p><p></p><p>"Half-orc," Wakuren corrected him. "I did not get any choice in my parentage, but Cal has seen fit to grant me spells. I would tend to believe He has found me worthy in His eyes."</p><p></p><p>"But...a half-orc cleric...that does nothing but drag us all down to your level! I mean, if any old damned orc can cast spells, that really lowers the bar for the rest of us. After all, how hard can it be to become a cleric of Cal if a lowly orc can join the team?"</p><p></p><p>"Now wait just a minute," snarled Alewyth, angered on her friend's behalf. But Xandro, as always, managed to smooth things over with the locals. "Perhaps we can get back to our main reason for being here," he suggested. "We have been traveling the lands, rescuing people who have fallen asleep and been unable to wake up on their own. Is there anyone around here who fits that description?"</p><p></p><p>"Well, yes," admitted Father Bristol, seemingly pleased to be speaking to a human. "<strong>Allison Dormigliona</strong>. She's been asleep for about two months now. I tried everything I could to wake her, but none of my spells were effective. Strangely, she doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects, though."</p><p></p><p>"That's the way this dream sickness manifests," Xandro explained. "The body undergoes a sort of magical stasis, requiring no food or drink while the person just dreams." But he got directions to the Dormigliona farm from the cleric, thanked him, and led the group back out the way they had come.</p><p></p><p>"Petty old bigot," grumbled Alewyth as she climbed back onto her dire goat Pyrite's saddle. They found their way to the Dormigliona farmhouse without any trouble; it was a series of connected buildings with a large barn. Leaving the wagon and the riding mounts in the clearing, the group knocked on several of the doors, with no answer. Then Zander saw the metal triangle on a pole to the side of the house and hit it several times with the metal clapper hanging from it by a leather cord. Before too long, <strong>Elmer Dormigliona</strong> came up to the side of the house from the fields where he'd been working alone. "Help you folks?" he asked, scrubbing his hands clean on a rag at his belt.</p><p></p><p>"We were rather hoping we might be able to help you," Alewyth answered, explaining the reason for their travels. Elmer brightened up at once, eagerly bringing them into the house and to the bedroom in the back, where his wife Allison lay asleep in their bed, on her back. The size of her belly showed she was quite pregnant. "How far along is she?" Alewyth asked.</p><p></p><p>"Well, that's kind of tricky," Elmer answered. "She was eight months along when she fell asleep, and judging by the looks of her she's still about eight months along. But she's been sleeping there for two months now. Whatever's put her in a trance or whatever's done the same thing to our baby."</p><p></p><p>Alewyth explained the procedure to Elmer as the others made their standard preparations: pulling the bed into the middle of the room so they could sit around it in a ring, placing a leather headband around Allison's head with a dreamstone centered on her forehead, and Zander activating his <em>jade cooshee</em> and setting the elven dog on guard duty. "What should I do?" asked Elmer.</p><p></p><p>"You stand right here and look after us while we're sleeping here," Thurloe answered. "We'll station Scarlie just outside the house, and you guys make sure we're not disturbed. And with any luck, you wife will be awake in a few minutes."</p><p></p><p>Alewyth, on a sudden hunch, cast a <em>magic circle against evil</em> spell upon herself before taking her position on the floor at the foot of Allison's bed. Then she closed her eyes, slowed her breathing, and entered a dream state. "Hey, kupo!" said her moogle guide Calliope as she entered the Dreamlands. Together, they met up with the others in the Corridor of Dreams, the doors of which Mogo had reshuffled once again to get to Allison's dream.</p><p></p><p>Stepping through the door, Alewyth and the others saw this was not one of the first-person dreams like the one they'd seen the night before, but a more standard one where they could interact with the dreamer. And there, sitting on a rock, was Allison Dormigliona, just as pregnant here in her dream as she was in real life - and had been for the past two months. Allison looked up at the five dreamwalkers, not at all alarmed at their presence. "Are you lost, too?" she asked.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren looked around the dreamscape and saw they were in a clearing, but all around them was a maze whose walls were made of stalks of living corn. The plants were pressed tightly together; unlike the standard corn maze, it didn't look like you would be able to just push your way through a wall if needed. "Apparently we are," he answered the young mother-to-be.</p><p></p><p>"The passageways are very confusing - they change when you're not looking. And we're not alone in here, you know," Allison confided in the heroes. "I keep hearing somebody following me, almost like he's stalking me."</p><p></p><p>"That's probably how we wake her from the dream," mused Xandro. "Deal with whoever it is hunting her in the maze."</p><p></p><p>"Well, the first thing to do is make sure whoever's after you can't get to you," suggested Alewyth, pulling out Hesperna's lamp. She pulled Allison to her feet, held her hand, and said the command word that shunted the two of them inside the extradimensional space inside the magic lamp. In a moment she returned, alone. "She should be safe in there," the dwarven priestess declared.</p><p></p><p>"You check her out?" Thurloe asked Wakuren.</p><p></p><p>"What?" the half-orc asked, perplexed. "In what way? She seems just as pregnant here in her dream--"</p><p></p><p>"No, no, I mean is she evil?" Thurloe interrupted.</p><p></p><p>"What?" repeated Wakuren. "I didn't check her aura to see if she was evil!" He was flabbergasted the spellsword even suspected Allison might be anything other than what she appeared to be - an expectant mother-to-be.</p><p></p><p>"What about her husband?" Thurloe pressed. "He's out there standing over our bodies. You bother checking on him?"</p><p></p><p>Wakuren sighed, starting to get angry at this line of questioning. "You can't just go around expecting everyone to be evil," he chided the spellsword.</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, well, I remember a time when it might have been nice to know ahead of time that the nice, old lady on the horse asking for directions was really a night hag! Prep spells," commanded Thurloe, changing the direction of the conversation and casting a <em>mage armor</em> spell upon himself.</p><p></p><p>"We don't even know what we're going to be up against," argued Zander.</p><p></p><p>"Doesn't matter - ready yourself for battle." The elven sorcerer complied with a <em>mage armor</em> spell of his own, followed by a <em>haste</em> spell upon the entire group. Alewyth repeated her <em>magic circle against evil</em> spellcasting, while Wakuren cast the spells <em>align weapon</em> and <em>heroism</em> upon himself. Once everyone indicated their readiness, Xandro started playing his song of inspirational courage on his <em>Dardolian lute</em>. "Might as well let whoever's stalking her know right where we are," the bard figured.</p><p></p><p>There was a rustling among the corn stalks as passageways in the maze reconfigured themselves to the stalker's benefit. Then the maze shifted such that there was now an open corridor right behind Thurloe, and in that passageway stood a nearly-nude man with batlike wings spreading out from his back. His skin glistened as if recently oiled. "You're not Allison," he purred.</p><p></p><p>"Nope," agreed Thurloe, spinning to face the newcomer. "We're her bodyguards."</p><p></p><p>"Fair enough," replied the incubus, claws flashing in to scratch across the spellsword's face. Zander blasted him with a <em>magic missile</em> barrage and was momentarily surprised to see them strike him in his oiled chest but have no apparent effect. This was either a peculiarity of the dream, the sorcerer mused, or the fiend had some sort of inherent resistance to spells. Fighting from inside a dreamscape, either or both might be true.</p><p></p><p>The incubus repeated his claw attack against Thurloe but this time the swordsman ducked back out of range as he pulled the bastard sword from its scabbard on his broad back. He brought <em>Spellslicer</em> in at a sideways strike, hitting the incubus but once again failing to do too much damage. Like its inherent spell resistance, the demon had an innate resistance to physical harm. Alewyth further proved this supposition when she struck at the fiend with <em>Sjondra</em>, dealing him a perfectly good strike but failing to cause him nearly as much harm as she would have expected. The incubus just smirked at their efforts, his smirk changing into a leer as he let his eyes roam over Alewyth's body. "I guess you'll do just as well," he purred to himself.</p><p></p><p>With Xandro's magical tune aiding in the power of his strike, Wakuren found his <em>align weapon</em> spell, cast upon his shield, managed to overcome whatever inherent protections the demon had against physical damage, for the <em>shield of Cal</em> met the fiend's body with a bone-crunching sound that had the incubus gasping in unexpected pain. Zander tried again with a <em>magic missile</em> spell, faring no better than he had with his first attempt. And despite the beating he'd just taken from Wakuren, the incubus focused his attention on Alewyth, the only woman on the scene. He tried clawing her face, but the priestess of Aerik stepped back from his attack in time.</p><p></p><p>Thurloe found he did not like being ignored in battle. Activating his <em>torc of the titans</em>, he swung again at the incubus, this time for all he was worth plus now with a little extra boost in the strength department. He grinned as his sword dealt what he felt was more in the range of what damage it should. Alewyth had no such strength-boosting magic at hand but she didn't let that stop her, for she knew each strike with <em>Sjondra</em> - no matter how much the demon seemed to shrug it off - took him that much closer to being defeated. She just snarled in wordless anger as she realized the incubus was suggestively thrusting his pelvis in her direction in between lashing out with his claws and trying to avoid incoming blows from her and her friends. But eventually, Wakuren and his good-aligned shield managed to take the incubus down - and with the fiend slain, the dreamscape started fading away all around them. "You think maybe this demon is the real father of the pregnant chick's baby?" Thurloe wondered aloud, earning him a barrage of "What's wrong with you?" comments.</p><p></p><p>Allison awoke from her two-month slumber to find herself surrounded by a ring of strangers. She stifled a gasp of fear, as her husband pulled her close to him in a welcome hug. Looking at the afternoon sunlight streaming in through the bedroom window, Allison gasped, "Oh! I'm sorry - I must have slept in!" Elmer just laughed and began explaining just exactly how long Allison had slept in. She obviously though he must be pulling her leg or something, when the bedroom door opened and Scarlie poked his head inside. "Uh, guys, you might want to get out here, quick - we got a situation!"</p><p></p><p>Xandro picked up the <em>Dardolian lute</em> and stepped outside, wondering what could possibly have worried Scarlie to such an extent. He got his answer at once, for rounding the corner and stepping into the area where the group's wagon and animals stood came a mob of a couple of dozen or more farmers, all wielding pitchforks or clubs or whatever convenient tool that could be wielded as a weapon had been at hand. The bard's keen eye picked up a couple of half-elves in amongst what was otherwise an exclusively human mob; they wore green cloaks and had scimitars at their belts - druids, Xandro assumed. He also saw four acolytes wearing the symbol of Cal around their necks. But most unmistakable of all was Father Bristol bringing up the rear, continuing a harangue he'd apparently started as the mob made their way to the Dormigliana residence. "She's been pregnant now for ten months!" the cleric called out to his followers. "I ask you: what human baby lies in the womb for ten months? None! This is evidence that this is no human baby waiting to be born, but a <em>devil</em> from the lower planes! And lo, the forces of evil have sent their emissaries to check on the demon-spawn's progress! Five devils, in mortal guise, their leader an <em>orc</em> blaspheming Cal by wearing the vestments of a cleric he slew on the way! I have detected evil in every one of them! They will not fool us with their schemes!"</p><p></p><p>Without conscious effort, Xandro's fingers began strumming the strings of his lute, and he began the words to his song of fascination, targeting both Father Bristol and one of a pair of roguish-looking scoundrels wielding short swords, deciding he was likely better versed in combat than the farmers surrounding him, none of which looked like they really wanted to be there. Fortunately, the magic of the song caught up both targets and they stopped what they were doing, intent upon Xandro's every sung word and every plucked chord. Father Bristol's diatribe sputtered to an immediate stop.</p><p></p><p>However, while most of the farmers were looking amongst themselves as if unsure of what to do without Father Bristol's words egging them on, the two half-elf druids were less uncertain. Motioning with his hand, one of them sent two eagles flying down from the skies above to attack Xandro, hoping to put an end to the magical song affecting the spiritual leader of Sun Valley. The great birds clawed at Xandro, but he effortlessly dodged their talons, never once letting up from his song. The other druid cast a summoning spell, causing a full-grown hippogriff to manifest on the ground beside Xandro, wings flapping in agitation.</p><p></p><p>"<em>Haste</em>," Thurloe commanded, hearing the fracas outside. Zander cast the spell on everyone as directed, then followed the spellsword as he dashed out the back door of the farmhouse, circling around the building so he could flank the mob from the north. His cooshee, still active even though his guard-the-sleeping-dreamwalkers duty was finished for the day, followed at his master's heels. The other human rogue, unaware that his partner wasn't with him, sprinted up at Xandro and tried stabbing the bard with his short sword. Xandro spun to the side and took a small cut in his arm as a result but that didn't cause him to miss as much as a beat of his song.</p><p></p><p>Alewyth strode to the north, past the doorway in which Xandro was standing, and opened another door from the kitchen area. From there, she could see the hippogriff and, realizing it was most likely here as a result of a summoning spell, cast a <em>dispel magic</em> spell of her own upon the great beast. It spun in her direction, beak open in fury, and then disappeared as quickly as it had first arrived, the dwarf's spell having successfully worked its magic.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren activated his <em>ring of invisibility</em> and stepped outside, slipping past Alewyth and dodging the shifting farmers. One farmer threw a rock at Xandro and then approached with a kitchen knife at the ready, but most of the others seemed apprehensive, nobody really wanting to be the first to attack people that looked like...well, people. And none of the farmers wanted to have to grab Allison Dormigliona, who was after all one of their townsfolk, somebody they'd known for years. Surely she hadn't been having relations with a devil or demon.</p><p></p><p>Two clerics, however, seemed intent upon doing just that: getting to Allison. They entered the house from the northernmost door, over by the triangle where Zander had first called Elmer in from the fields. Once inside, they made their way south through the house, heading for the bedroom where they expected Allison would be. Allison and Elmer, however, were being herded by Scarlie into the barn, the half-orc wagon driver holding out his dagger, the only weapon he had on hand, in case anybody tried getting to either of the farm-folk. Scarlie wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he had full faith that the five people he worked for would sort it out. In the meantime, he wished he had a drink on hand....</p><p></p><p>The two other acolytes cast <em>shield of faith</em> spells on themselves and prepared to move in, scimitars in hand - if the weak-willed farmers weren't willing to take on these demons in mortal form, then by Cal they'd do it! Xandro was still concentrating on his song, trying to weave in a <em>suggestion</em> that Father Bristol call his troops to stand down, but despite the cleric's having been caught up in the <em>fascination</em> effect, Xandro couldn't seem to magically compel him to confess he'd lied about the five heroes being demons.</p><p></p><p>The druids each cast <em>longstrider</em> spells on themselves and followed the two clerics into the Dormigliona farmhouse, while their eagles pressed on the attack from the air around Xandro's head. But Thurloe, seeing the bard's predicament, aimed his <em>wand of magic missile</em> at the closest of the two birds and fired off a charge, hitting it in the torso. Zander followed up with the same spell of his own, targeting the same eagle and killing it.</p><p></p><p>However, Xandro wasn't out of the woods yet. He now only had one eagle trying to claw him with its talons, but he still had a rogue trying to gut him with his short sword. Fortunately, the rogue's skill with his blade wasn't as developed as his bravado, and Xandro managed to dodge most of the attacks.</p><p></p><p>Alewyth stepped outside - and in doing so managed to miss spotting the druids turning the corner in the kitchen and make their way through the house interior behind her - and tossed a tanglefoot bag at one of the two acolytes outside among the farmers. The bag hit and exploded into a gooey mess which instantly hardened in the outside air, gluing the young man in place. Alewyth hefted <em>Sjondra</em> over her head, showing it to the assembled mob. "I've got much more deadlier tactics at hand," she called out, "but I've chosen t' use nonlethal methods! Let this be a demonstration o' me good faith - I don't wanna hurt any o' ye if'n I can help it!" Unnoticed, in her excitement her speech started devolving into the slang brogue preferred by most members of the dwarven races. But her words - and actions - caused the group around her to hold their actions, most of them wanting to believe this was all some sort of mistake.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren, by this time, had invisibly maneuvered himself over to Father Bristol and was surprised to note the man's aura held no trace of evil. That was certainly strange! Looking around at the assembled mob of farmers, the half-orc was similarly perplexed when he saw no traces of evil among any of the people there, either. In fact, the farmers were mostly egging on other members to go start a fight with one of the strangers Father Bristol had labeled as demons. "Go get 'im, Fergus!" one would suggest, pointing at Xandro, only to have Fergus come back with, "Whyn't you go get him, Billy?"</p><p></p><p>Inside the barn, the two acolytes crowded around Scarlie. They stabbed with their scimitars but failed to connect. Elmer, in the meantime, was steering Allison over to the back stalls, where their one horse and one cow bunked for the night. And then a little winged humanoid appeared in the air above Scarlie's head. "We must kill the humans, Master, to ensure the safety of the demonspawn about to be born!" it said, causing the half-orc to look up at it in surprise and confusion. Where did this thing come from and what was it saying? It didn't make any sense. By then, the half-elf druids had made it through most of the house and were entering the hallway leading to the door to the barn; their eyes widened as the quasit's words reinforced what Father Bristol had claimed - Allison Dormigliona had been impregnated by a fiend!</p><p></p><p>Xandro was still dodging the talons of the remaining eagle and the mobile rogue while trying to get Father Bristol to succumb to his <em>suggestion</em>, but the cleric's will was resisting the magical effect. Thurloe and Zander, with the elven cooshee following in their wake, pushed through the part of the crowd Alewyth had calmed and headed over by the barn. Alewyth continued calling out to the others to stop their attacks, but the rogue seemed focused upon killing Xandro - or at least getting him to stop playing the song on his lute that had somehow paralyzed Father Bristol. Wakuren, alerted by the shouts coming from inside the barn, focused his magical sight in that direction and was disappointed to sense a palpable sense of evil coming from that direction. <em>Thurloe better not have been right about the Dormiglionas</em>, he thought to himself as he rushed, still invisible, over to the barn doors. Once there, he thrust the doors open wide (the action causing the nearby farmers to fall back in surprise, for to them the doors seemed to have opened by themselves), and among startled cried of "Ghosts!" from the farmers, he saw the quasit flying above the acolytes' heads, slashing at them with his poison-dripping claws. The two slashed at the flying creature with their scimitars, but the quasit was fairly maneuverable in the air and managed to avoid their weapons.</p><p></p><p>One of the druids continued down the hall and entered the barn to see the quasit there, attacking the two acolytes of Cal, while the other one decided he'd rather take his chances with the demons that at least looked to be mortal. Ducking out a side door, he brought his scimitar slashing at Alewyth, whose back had been turned to the half-elf. Thurloe, seeing that, hefted his bastard sword and announced loudly that the next person to attack the dwarf was going to find his head separated from his body in no time. His fierce scowl in the direction of the half-elf druid certainly gave the belief that this was no idle threat. Zander, in the meantime, did his best to calm down the farmers over by the barn, telling them they needed to stop attacking people who weren't attacking them. "But by all means, defend yourself against <em>actual</em> demons," he added, pointing to the quasit.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren focused his <em>detect evil</em> sense on the Dormiglionas and breathed out a sigh of relief when he got back a negative response. Then he looked over at the quasit and sure enough, it had been the thing that had triggered his senses. The quasit, in the meantime, had noticed the barn doors were open and took advantage of the situation, flying over to them and calling out, "Excellent, my demonic brethren - let us slay all of the humans to save the demonspawn about to be born!" It chuckled at the confusion this statement caused, with farmers mumbling to themselves about how Father Bristol had been right all along. They started looking at Xandro, still playing his lute and avoiding attacks from a sword-wielding rogue and an enraged eagle as best he could, with a critical eye - was he really a demon in disguise? Xandro, for his part, was getting frustrated that the cleric was able to resist his attempts at weaving a <em>suggestion</em> spell into his song - he wasn't sure how long he could keep up the attempts before one of his foes forced him to stop the song altogether.</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately for the quasit, its showboating in front of the frightened peasants brought it within striking range of Wakuren's shield. The farmers all gasped aloud when an enraged half-orc suddenly appeared before them, his shield slamming into the flying demon and causing it to veer around erratically in the air, desperately trying not to fall to the ground. But no matter how erratically he flew, a <em>magic missile</em> spell from Thurloe's wand wasn't going to have any difficulty in striking him down, and it did just that - one blast and that was it for the troublemaking quasit. Wakuren bent down and lifted it up by the scruff of its neck. "We are not demons!" he called out to the farmer. "We are slayers of demons! Now everyone, put down your weapons!"</p><p></p><p>The farmers lowered their weapons and the druid waved away his eagle companion, who seemed more than happy to fly off to the top of the barn's roof and look over the mob from there. About that time, Xandro's spell finally overcame Father Bristol's willpower and he followed the <em>suggestion</em> the bard had woven into his tune. "Stand down!" Father Bristol reiterated. "This has all been a mistake!"</p><p></p><p>And then, as if having the <em>suggestion</em> spell overcome his will opened up a dam, more declarations came pouring forth. "Everything I said, about Allison's baby and demons and everything, it was all forced out of me!" He turned to Zander, the closest of the heroes to him. "But there is a demon, hidden in the mausoleum of the temple! He took over my mind, made me say things I never would have said if my will had been my own!" Looking over at Wakuren, who was approaching along with the other heroes, he added, "All of those things I said about orcs - that was the demon, trying to goad you into battle, for its own amusement! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"</p><p></p><p>Under questioning by Thurloe, Father Bristol described the demon as a "hunched over thing, with vertebrae growing up out of its back," giving the spellsword enough to go by to announce they were probably up against a cerebrilith. "They like controlling and dominating other beings," he told the others.</p><p></p><p>"Then let's go get it!" replied Wakuren, eager to slay this demon who had taken over the mind of a cleric of Cal and tried to get the heroes to slay a bunch of farmers in self-defense. Father Bristol, to his shame, said he feared returning to the temple, not wanting the demon to take over his mind again. Wakuren reassured him on that front, saying he was better off staying behind and keeping the villagers safe, while the five heroes went in to confront the demon. "This is part of what we do, as adventurers," he told the village cleric.</p><p></p><p>As they approached the temple, Thurloe had everyone cast whatever spells they thought they'd need. Wakuren and Thurloe had <em>protection from evil</em> spells cast upon them, as one of the effects of the spell protected them from mind-affecting attacks. Alewyth, with her <em>magic circle against evil</em> spell still active, would have to stick close to Zander and Xandro to ensure they remained safe inside her area of effect. Wakuren cast <em>align weapon</em>, <em>divine favor</em>, and <em>entropic shield</em> upon himself and his shield, enhancing his combat abilities significantly. Alewyth cast <em>bless</em> and <em>prayer</em> spells on the group, and Father Bristol cast what spells he had available on the group to aid them in their quest: an <em>owl's wisdom</em> spell on Alewyth, a <em>bear's endurance</em> spell on Wakuren, and a <em>shield of faith</em> spell upon Thurloe. "It's a good thing you took me out of the fight so quickly," he told Xandro, "or I'd likely have wasted those spells on myself, as I was forced to fight you." He then told the group the temple had a permanent <em>hallow</em> effect, which included a permanent <em>light</em> spell, covering all but his own quarters. "That was on purpose, so I could get some sleep at night," he admitted.</p><p></p><p>The group of five adventurers strolled boldly into the temple, Zander, Xandro and the cooshee sticking close to Alewyth, lest they become susceptible to mental domination. Xandro began the tune to his song of inspirational courage, figuring the demon would know soon enough they were there in any case - Thurloe was pretty sure it was telepathic, so it might already be aware of their presence. They moved between the rows of pews to the door at the back of the raised stage which led to the mausoleum. Wakuren opened the door and saw another door before him; it took a moment for him to realize there was no light back there and he was seeing via his inherent darkvision; the demon must have canceled out the <em>hallow</em> effect in some way, which took the <em>light</em> spell with it. But according to Father Bristol, the door before him led to the actual mausoleum, where the founder of the temple was interred; there were doors all along the hallway that ringed the mausoleum, where other bodies had been placed in their coffins. This whole area was built of stone, in contrast to the rest of the temple which was wooden; Wakuren supposed the cerebrilith liked it back here because the thick stone walls would block any <em>detect evil</em> spells that might give away its location.</p><p></p><p>After looking at the others and gauging their readiness, Wakuren pulled open the mausoleum door. Instantly, his body was covered in writhing spiders; the cerebrilith in the back of the mausoleum had cast a <em>summon swarm</em> spell it had at the ready for as soon as anybody opened the door. Wakuren involuntarily shook his body about, trying to dislodge as many of the spiders as he could, while they in turn bit at him where they could reach unprotected flesh.</p><p></p><p>Thurloe stayed well away from the spiders and cast a <em>Mhaurgh's acid arrow</em> spell at the cerebrilith, but the spell fizzled and sputtered upon reaching the demon, snuffed out by the fiend's resistance to spells. It retaliated with an <em>unholy blight</em> spell, catching all five heroes and the elven dog in its area of effect and causing them varying levels of pain, from Thurloe and Xandro, who were physically sickened by the attack, to Zander and the cooshee, who hardly seemed affected at all. The elven sorcerer, seeing Wakuren writhe under the constant spider-bites of the swarm of arachnids encompassing him, opted to get rid of the spiders the quickest way he knew how: by blasting his half-orc friend with a <em>burning hands</em> spell. Wakuren cried out in pain as the flames covered his body, but then the flames were gone and the spiders had all been burned to a crisp. "Thanks!" he called to Zander.</p><p></p><p>Alewyth cast a <em>dismissal</em> spell at the cerebrilith, hoping to send it back to whatever foul plane had spawned it, but it had no more effect than Thurloe's acidic spell. Wakuren summoned a celestial bison into the mausoleum, making it a tight fit in there with two large creatures, but he figured that might work to their advantage. The bison instinctively gored the cerebrilith with its massive horns, dealing the foul beast its first dose of pain.</p><p></p><p>Thurloe and Wakuren stepped forward, the spellsword swinging his bastard sword and the half-orc slamming the cerebrilith with his shield. Each managed to deal it some damage despite the thickness of its bony hide. Then the fiend reached into its magical repertoire and cast another summoning spell (although the pair of heroes each got in another attack with their weapons of choice as the demon's attention was focused on its calling forth allies), this one resulting in 14 dretches suddenly appearing. Two of them showed up inside the crowded mausoleum, but most of the others ended up inside the burial niches ringing the mausoleum. Doors to the niches popped open as the glistening, fetid bodies of the feral demons stepped outside, eager to attack their summoner's foes. However, this posed a bit of a problem, for the heroes at hand - Alewyth, Xandro, Zander, and the cooshee were all still back in the chapel part of the temple - were all protected by <em>protection from evil</em> spells that prevented the summoned dretches from being able to even touch them, let alone rend them with their claws or bite them with their teeth. It was a dejected group of dretches that realized they had been brought forth to attack a bunch of foes they couldn't even touch. (The two inside the mausoleum proper at least were able to vent their attacks upon the celestial bison.)</p><p></p><p>Zander tried a <em>scorching ray</em> at the cerebrilith, only for the spell to fizzle out upon arrival once again. Alewyth, seeing the ring of frustrated dretches (and knowing that if she attacked them directly, any of them she attacked would be able to reciprocate), summoned a celestial dire badger beside one of them and set it to the attack. The dretch actually seemed pleased to have a raging mammal biting and clawing it, for it meant he could do likewise, which certainly beat standing around not being able to do anything. The dretch even got the better of the deal in the first round of attacks - although the dire badger, once bloodied, became an even deadlier combat machine as it flew into a blood-red rage.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren pressed the attack with his <em>shield of Cal</em>, bringing it crashing down on the cerebrilith's armored head with every ounce of strength he possessed - and was pleased to hear the sounds of cracking and shattering bone as individual pieces of its outgrown vertebrae went flying. Thurloe activated the power of his magical torc to bring a bit more of his own strength to play, cutting deep into the fiend's body with the blade of his bastard sword. That was it, the cerebrilith decided; it had been fun stirring up trouble in Sun Valley after it had escaped days ago from a foolish wizard's <em>planar gate</em>, but discretion was by all means the better part of valor and the fiend didn't want these mortals putting an end to its potentially immortal existence. But that's exactly what happened; to the accompaniment of Xandro's song of inspirational courage, Thurloe and Wakuren brought their weapons to bear as the fiend tried instantly escaping, and while the spellsword's blade managed to bury itself a bit into a bony shoulder, Wakuren's shield crushed through its skull, slaying the demon instantly.</p><p></p><p>"Oh, praise Cal!" Father Bristol sighed when the five heroes returned outside the temple to inform him the demon had been slain - and the dretches it had summoned vanished as soon as it was dead, much to the consternation of a battle-crazed dire badger from the celestial realms. He shook his head at the thought of how much damage the demon could have brought to their little farming community, if it hadn't been for these traveling dreamwalkers seeking out Allison Dormigliona.</p><p></p><p>"Here," he said to Wakuren, pulling an item from a pocket of his robes. "This is scant reward for all the good you've done us - and in repayment for the terrible things I said about you upon your arrival - but I think this would see better use in your hands than in mine." Handing it over, Wakuren looked to see what it was the cleric had given him. It was a headband, which the half-orc placed around his temple. "It's a <em>headband of Cal</em>," Father Bristol explained, "granting its wearer a pocket of cool, clean air, even when underwater or in a smoke-filled room. I don't have many occasions where such a power would do me any good, tending to the farmers in the village."</p><p></p><p>Wakuren placed a hand upon the cleric's shoulder. "Thank you," he said. "May Cal be with you."</p><p></p><p>"And with you," Father Bristol replied, then watched as the heroes mounted their animals and rode off, heading to the next dream victim on their seemingly endless list of those trapped by the machinations of the Nightmare King.</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>This was an unusual adventure, as I wanted to try something different: none of the foes (save Father Bristol) was much of a threat against a party of 8th-level characters, but they were all innocent dupes unworthy of being killed in battle. Fortunately, Xandro's well-timed <em>fascination</em> took Father Bristol out of the equation almost instantly, and the players managed not to have their PCs kill any of their foes (with the exception of one eagle animal companion). And then, protected as they were from attacks by summoned creatures, the dretches were likewise completely ineffective. However, despite all that, I at least managed to deal some damage to each of the PCs this time, which hasn't been the case in recent history. (They all came out pretty much unscathed from "Nest Quest.")</p><p></p><p>Vicki was also a bit concerned when the dream opponent turned out to be an incubus; I don't think she's fully recovered from dealing with the incubus Malaterminus in our "Kordovian Adventurers Guild" campaign.</p><p></p><p>As for Thurloe's back story (as the PCs watched in the dream of his "Aunt Charlotte"), that was what Dan had come up with as far as Thurloe's parentage went; I took what he had given me and made it a dream sequence, since that seemed like a good way to get the truth of the matter out into the open. We'll see what all Thurloe and Charlotte (and Marten, for that matter) have to say to each other the next time they meet up. (Why they didn't just tell Thurloe he was their kid in the first place is a mystery to me - that seems like it would have been so much simpler....)</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>T-shirt worn: My "Moore/Hanes Family Reunion" T-shirt, because it has a silhouette of a "family tree" on it, and the Dormiglionas were just starting their own family.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 8840941, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 39: PREGNANT PAUSE[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Alewyth Putterpye, dwarf priestess of Aerik 8[/INDENT] [INDENT] Thurloe Pulver, human fighter 3/wizard 3/spellsword 2[/INDENT] [INDENT] Wakuren, half-orc cleric of Cal 4/paladin 4[/INDENT] [INDENT] Xandro Silverstrings, human bard 6/rogue 2[/INDENT] [INDENT] Zander Quilson, elf sorcerer 8[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 19 November 2022 - - - "Tonight we're going to examine a different type of dream, kupo!" Mogo explained, opening a door in the Corridor of Dreams and ushering inside the five dreamwalkers he'd been assigned by the Queen of Dreams to train in the art of interacting with the dreams of other people. Stepping inside, the dreamwalkers immediately saw the truth of the little moogle's words, for this dreamscape was unlike any other they'd ever seen. Instead of a dreamscape vista like the ones to which they'd become been accustomed, they seemed to be inside a large room, lit only by the moving images displayed on a vertical wall ahead of them. "We call this a 'first-person view' dream, kupo!" Mogo explained. "You're seeing everything through the eyes of the person who's dreaming, kupo. And usually – but not always – it's because the dream is a memory of something that really happened, kupo!" "Doesn't this make it more difficult to alter the dream?" wondered Alewyth. "Oh, absolutely, kupo! It's not impossible, but it's much harder to alter a dream of a memory of something that actually occurred, kupo! But let's see what this dream has to offer - I picked a first-person dream of someone who was dreaming about one of you, kupo!" As one, the five dreamwalkers gave the screen their undivided attention, eager to see which of them was the subject of the dream. So far, none of them was visible in the dream, for the screen showed the vantage point of someone riding a horse. Off to the side, another figure was riding another horse alongside the dreamer, but it was difficult to make out any features on the other rider. Then there was an audible cry of pain and the screen's image turned sideways - apparently the dreamer had fallen from the horse being ridden. The screen momentarily darkened, leaving the five dreamwalkers and their moogle instructor without any light at all. "Did you see that?" asked Zander. "See what?" asked Wakuren. "Right before the screen went sideways - there was a little rock or something coming in from the left. Sling bullet, maybe." Then the screen started lightening up again, and this time there was a face covering most of the screen. He rocked back and forth in a rhythmic fashion, and it took a moment for the dreamwalkers to figure out what the dreamer was experiencing, as all they were experiencing was the visual point of view of the dreamer - who was apparently laying upon her back where she'd fallen from the horse, and now had someone atop her, grunting and thrusting. Alewyth's mouth opened in shock and surprise, but before she could put voice to her outrage she gave a little shriek of surprise, for a long blade came swinging in from the side, cutting through the attacker's neck. Blood sprayed forward towards the screen as the head went flying off to the side, out of view. "Hey, wait a minute..." began Thurloe, squinting at the figure holding the lengthy sword that had just been used to decapitate the person lying atop the dreamer. The figure was much younger than Thurloe had ever seen him, but he looked an awful lot like Fraser, the man who had taught him how to first wield a bastard sword. The spellsword suddenly had a pretty good idea which of the five of them was going to be featured in this dream.... Sure enough, the dream-screen went black again for a moment, and then suddenly the dreamer was still lying on her back, but she was in a decent house covered with a blanket, and she was holding a little baby in her arms, wrapped up in swaddling clothes apparently moments after having been born. Standing beside her was a man Thurloe instantly recognized as his Uncle Marten, which would make the dreamer his Aunt Charlotte, as he had begun to suspect. "Are you sure about this, Charlotte?" Marten asked, to which she replied, "What else can we do, Marten? We'll just raise him as if he was ours. If he ever asks when he gets older, we'll just tell him his parents died when he was little." Mogo opened the door back to the Corridor of Dreams. "Uh, sorry about that, kupo," he said, visibly embarrassed. "I, uh, probably should have checked the dream out ahead of time, kupo. Come on, let's find a different point-of-view dream somewhere else, kupo." The others exited the dreamscape after the moogle. "You okay?" Xandro asked Thurloe, looking over at the swordsman. "Yeah. I guess I'll have a real interesting topic of conversation the next time I see my 'Aunt Charlotte,'" he replied. The next morning, after a successful bout of dream training, the group awakened and went about their normal business. The next dream victim was in a place called Sun Valley, a little farming village. They arrived shortly after noon, to find a cluster of little farms, a single tavern, and a small temple of Cal - and that, apparently, was the sum total of Sun Valley. "It ought to be easy to find our dreamer," prompted Xandro, looking on the bright side. "What do you think, tavern or temple?" "Temple," Wakuren answered at once. Having trained as both a cleric and a paladin of the God of Air and Healing, he was eager to see what this small temple had to offer. "Temple it is, then," replied Scarlie, steering the two mules hitched to the wagon that way. The others followed on their mounts. There were a couple of hitching posts in front of the small temple, and - somewhat incongruously - a pair of angel statues holding up the roof at the building's front, a rather ostentatious display for the temple of a small farming village. But inside, the church was pretty much what Wakuren had expected: two rows of wooden pews with an aisle down the middle, a raised stage at the back with a podium so the cleric could give his sermons, and a pair of doors at the back. The door to the left was closed but the one to the right was open, and a man stepped out upon hearing visitors to his temple. "May I help you?" asked [B]Father Bristol[/B], smiling at the newcomers - until his gaze reached Wakuren. Then his smile hardened to a frown, seeing the symbols of his god emblazoned upon the shield and tabard worn by a half-orc, of all things. Wakuren chose not to take offense, realizing full well most half-orcs in the world didn't take up the calling of a servant to Cal, God of Air and Healing. "We're looking for anyone in your village who might have fallen into a dream coma," he answered, giving Father Bristol a friendly smile. "What is the meaning of this...mockery?" demanded Father Bristol. "Are you seriously trying to pass yourself as a cleric of Cal?" "A cleric and a paladin," corrected Wakuren. "Preposterous! Who would dare ordain an orc as a cleric - or as a paladin?" "Half-orc," Wakuren corrected him. "I did not get any choice in my parentage, but Cal has seen fit to grant me spells. I would tend to believe He has found me worthy in His eyes." "But...a half-orc cleric...that does nothing but drag us all down to your level! I mean, if any old damned orc can cast spells, that really lowers the bar for the rest of us. After all, how hard can it be to become a cleric of Cal if a lowly orc can join the team?" "Now wait just a minute," snarled Alewyth, angered on her friend's behalf. But Xandro, as always, managed to smooth things over with the locals. "Perhaps we can get back to our main reason for being here," he suggested. "We have been traveling the lands, rescuing people who have fallen asleep and been unable to wake up on their own. Is there anyone around here who fits that description?" "Well, yes," admitted Father Bristol, seemingly pleased to be speaking to a human. "[B]Allison Dormigliona[/B]. She's been asleep for about two months now. I tried everything I could to wake her, but none of my spells were effective. Strangely, she doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects, though." "That's the way this dream sickness manifests," Xandro explained. "The body undergoes a sort of magical stasis, requiring no food or drink while the person just dreams." But he got directions to the Dormigliona farm from the cleric, thanked him, and led the group back out the way they had come. "Petty old bigot," grumbled Alewyth as she climbed back onto her dire goat Pyrite's saddle. They found their way to the Dormigliona farmhouse without any trouble; it was a series of connected buildings with a large barn. Leaving the wagon and the riding mounts in the clearing, the group knocked on several of the doors, with no answer. Then Zander saw the metal triangle on a pole to the side of the house and hit it several times with the metal clapper hanging from it by a leather cord. Before too long, [B]Elmer Dormigliona[/B] came up to the side of the house from the fields where he'd been working alone. "Help you folks?" he asked, scrubbing his hands clean on a rag at his belt. "We were rather hoping we might be able to help you," Alewyth answered, explaining the reason for their travels. Elmer brightened up at once, eagerly bringing them into the house and to the bedroom in the back, where his wife Allison lay asleep in their bed, on her back. The size of her belly showed she was quite pregnant. "How far along is she?" Alewyth asked. "Well, that's kind of tricky," Elmer answered. "She was eight months along when she fell asleep, and judging by the looks of her she's still about eight months along. But she's been sleeping there for two months now. Whatever's put her in a trance or whatever's done the same thing to our baby." Alewyth explained the procedure to Elmer as the others made their standard preparations: pulling the bed into the middle of the room so they could sit around it in a ring, placing a leather headband around Allison's head with a dreamstone centered on her forehead, and Zander activating his [I]jade cooshee[/I] and setting the elven dog on guard duty. "What should I do?" asked Elmer. "You stand right here and look after us while we're sleeping here," Thurloe answered. "We'll station Scarlie just outside the house, and you guys make sure we're not disturbed. And with any luck, you wife will be awake in a few minutes." Alewyth, on a sudden hunch, cast a [I]magic circle against evil[/I] spell upon herself before taking her position on the floor at the foot of Allison's bed. Then she closed her eyes, slowed her breathing, and entered a dream state. "Hey, kupo!" said her moogle guide Calliope as she entered the Dreamlands. Together, they met up with the others in the Corridor of Dreams, the doors of which Mogo had reshuffled once again to get to Allison's dream. Stepping through the door, Alewyth and the others saw this was not one of the first-person dreams like the one they'd seen the night before, but a more standard one where they could interact with the dreamer. And there, sitting on a rock, was Allison Dormigliona, just as pregnant here in her dream as she was in real life - and had been for the past two months. Allison looked up at the five dreamwalkers, not at all alarmed at their presence. "Are you lost, too?" she asked. Wakuren looked around the dreamscape and saw they were in a clearing, but all around them was a maze whose walls were made of stalks of living corn. The plants were pressed tightly together; unlike the standard corn maze, it didn't look like you would be able to just push your way through a wall if needed. "Apparently we are," he answered the young mother-to-be. "The passageways are very confusing - they change when you're not looking. And we're not alone in here, you know," Allison confided in the heroes. "I keep hearing somebody following me, almost like he's stalking me." "That's probably how we wake her from the dream," mused Xandro. "Deal with whoever it is hunting her in the maze." "Well, the first thing to do is make sure whoever's after you can't get to you," suggested Alewyth, pulling out Hesperna's lamp. She pulled Allison to her feet, held her hand, and said the command word that shunted the two of them inside the extradimensional space inside the magic lamp. In a moment she returned, alone. "She should be safe in there," the dwarven priestess declared. "You check her out?" Thurloe asked Wakuren. "What?" the half-orc asked, perplexed. "In what way? She seems just as pregnant here in her dream--" "No, no, I mean is she evil?" Thurloe interrupted. "What?" repeated Wakuren. "I didn't check her aura to see if she was evil!" He was flabbergasted the spellsword even suspected Allison might be anything other than what she appeared to be - an expectant mother-to-be. "What about her husband?" Thurloe pressed. "He's out there standing over our bodies. You bother checking on him?" Wakuren sighed, starting to get angry at this line of questioning. "You can't just go around expecting everyone to be evil," he chided the spellsword. "Yeah, well, I remember a time when it might have been nice to know ahead of time that the nice, old lady on the horse asking for directions was really a night hag! Prep spells," commanded Thurloe, changing the direction of the conversation and casting a [I]mage armor[/I] spell upon himself. "We don't even know what we're going to be up against," argued Zander. "Doesn't matter - ready yourself for battle." The elven sorcerer complied with a [I]mage armor[/I] spell of his own, followed by a [I]haste[/I] spell upon the entire group. Alewyth repeated her [I]magic circle against evil[/I] spellcasting, while Wakuren cast the spells [I]align weapon[/I] and [I]heroism[/I] upon himself. Once everyone indicated their readiness, Xandro started playing his song of inspirational courage on his [I]Dardolian lute[/I]. "Might as well let whoever's stalking her know right where we are," the bard figured. There was a rustling among the corn stalks as passageways in the maze reconfigured themselves to the stalker's benefit. Then the maze shifted such that there was now an open corridor right behind Thurloe, and in that passageway stood a nearly-nude man with batlike wings spreading out from his back. His skin glistened as if recently oiled. "You're not Allison," he purred. "Nope," agreed Thurloe, spinning to face the newcomer. "We're her bodyguards." "Fair enough," replied the incubus, claws flashing in to scratch across the spellsword's face. Zander blasted him with a [I]magic missile[/I] barrage and was momentarily surprised to see them strike him in his oiled chest but have no apparent effect. This was either a peculiarity of the dream, the sorcerer mused, or the fiend had some sort of inherent resistance to spells. Fighting from inside a dreamscape, either or both might be true. The incubus repeated his claw attack against Thurloe but this time the swordsman ducked back out of range as he pulled the bastard sword from its scabbard on his broad back. He brought [I]Spellslicer[/I] in at a sideways strike, hitting the incubus but once again failing to do too much damage. Like its inherent spell resistance, the demon had an innate resistance to physical harm. Alewyth further proved this supposition when she struck at the fiend with [I]Sjondra[/I], dealing him a perfectly good strike but failing to cause him nearly as much harm as she would have expected. The incubus just smirked at their efforts, his smirk changing into a leer as he let his eyes roam over Alewyth's body. "I guess you'll do just as well," he purred to himself. With Xandro's magical tune aiding in the power of his strike, Wakuren found his [I]align weapon[/I] spell, cast upon his shield, managed to overcome whatever inherent protections the demon had against physical damage, for the [I]shield of Cal[/I] met the fiend's body with a bone-crunching sound that had the incubus gasping in unexpected pain. Zander tried again with a [I]magic missile[/I] spell, faring no better than he had with his first attempt. And despite the beating he'd just taken from Wakuren, the incubus focused his attention on Alewyth, the only woman on the scene. He tried clawing her face, but the priestess of Aerik stepped back from his attack in time. Thurloe found he did not like being ignored in battle. Activating his [I]torc of the titans[/I], he swung again at the incubus, this time for all he was worth plus now with a little extra boost in the strength department. He grinned as his sword dealt what he felt was more in the range of what damage it should. Alewyth had no such strength-boosting magic at hand but she didn't let that stop her, for she knew each strike with [I]Sjondra[/I] - no matter how much the demon seemed to shrug it off - took him that much closer to being defeated. She just snarled in wordless anger as she realized the incubus was suggestively thrusting his pelvis in her direction in between lashing out with his claws and trying to avoid incoming blows from her and her friends. But eventually, Wakuren and his good-aligned shield managed to take the incubus down - and with the fiend slain, the dreamscape started fading away all around them. "You think maybe this demon is the real father of the pregnant chick's baby?" Thurloe wondered aloud, earning him a barrage of "What's wrong with you?" comments. Allison awoke from her two-month slumber to find herself surrounded by a ring of strangers. She stifled a gasp of fear, as her husband pulled her close to him in a welcome hug. Looking at the afternoon sunlight streaming in through the bedroom window, Allison gasped, "Oh! I'm sorry - I must have slept in!" Elmer just laughed and began explaining just exactly how long Allison had slept in. She obviously though he must be pulling her leg or something, when the bedroom door opened and Scarlie poked his head inside. "Uh, guys, you might want to get out here, quick - we got a situation!" Xandro picked up the [I]Dardolian lute[/I] and stepped outside, wondering what could possibly have worried Scarlie to such an extent. He got his answer at once, for rounding the corner and stepping into the area where the group's wagon and animals stood came a mob of a couple of dozen or more farmers, all wielding pitchforks or clubs or whatever convenient tool that could be wielded as a weapon had been at hand. The bard's keen eye picked up a couple of half-elves in amongst what was otherwise an exclusively human mob; they wore green cloaks and had scimitars at their belts - druids, Xandro assumed. He also saw four acolytes wearing the symbol of Cal around their necks. But most unmistakable of all was Father Bristol bringing up the rear, continuing a harangue he'd apparently started as the mob made their way to the Dormigliana residence. "She's been pregnant now for ten months!" the cleric called out to his followers. "I ask you: what human baby lies in the womb for ten months? None! This is evidence that this is no human baby waiting to be born, but a [I]devil[/I] from the lower planes! And lo, the forces of evil have sent their emissaries to check on the demon-spawn's progress! Five devils, in mortal guise, their leader an [I]orc[/I] blaspheming Cal by wearing the vestments of a cleric he slew on the way! I have detected evil in every one of them! They will not fool us with their schemes!" Without conscious effort, Xandro's fingers began strumming the strings of his lute, and he began the words to his song of fascination, targeting both Father Bristol and one of a pair of roguish-looking scoundrels wielding short swords, deciding he was likely better versed in combat than the farmers surrounding him, none of which looked like they really wanted to be there. Fortunately, the magic of the song caught up both targets and they stopped what they were doing, intent upon Xandro's every sung word and every plucked chord. Father Bristol's diatribe sputtered to an immediate stop. However, while most of the farmers were looking amongst themselves as if unsure of what to do without Father Bristol's words egging them on, the two half-elf druids were less uncertain. Motioning with his hand, one of them sent two eagles flying down from the skies above to attack Xandro, hoping to put an end to the magical song affecting the spiritual leader of Sun Valley. The great birds clawed at Xandro, but he effortlessly dodged their talons, never once letting up from his song. The other druid cast a summoning spell, causing a full-grown hippogriff to manifest on the ground beside Xandro, wings flapping in agitation. "[I]Haste[/I]," Thurloe commanded, hearing the fracas outside. Zander cast the spell on everyone as directed, then followed the spellsword as he dashed out the back door of the farmhouse, circling around the building so he could flank the mob from the north. His cooshee, still active even though his guard-the-sleeping-dreamwalkers duty was finished for the day, followed at his master's heels. The other human rogue, unaware that his partner wasn't with him, sprinted up at Xandro and tried stabbing the bard with his short sword. Xandro spun to the side and took a small cut in his arm as a result but that didn't cause him to miss as much as a beat of his song. Alewyth strode to the north, past the doorway in which Xandro was standing, and opened another door from the kitchen area. From there, she could see the hippogriff and, realizing it was most likely here as a result of a summoning spell, cast a [I]dispel magic[/I] spell of her own upon the great beast. It spun in her direction, beak open in fury, and then disappeared as quickly as it had first arrived, the dwarf's spell having successfully worked its magic. Wakuren activated his [I]ring of invisibility[/I] and stepped outside, slipping past Alewyth and dodging the shifting farmers. One farmer threw a rock at Xandro and then approached with a kitchen knife at the ready, but most of the others seemed apprehensive, nobody really wanting to be the first to attack people that looked like...well, people. And none of the farmers wanted to have to grab Allison Dormigliona, who was after all one of their townsfolk, somebody they'd known for years. Surely she hadn't been having relations with a devil or demon. Two clerics, however, seemed intent upon doing just that: getting to Allison. They entered the house from the northernmost door, over by the triangle where Zander had first called Elmer in from the fields. Once inside, they made their way south through the house, heading for the bedroom where they expected Allison would be. Allison and Elmer, however, were being herded by Scarlie into the barn, the half-orc wagon driver holding out his dagger, the only weapon he had on hand, in case anybody tried getting to either of the farm-folk. Scarlie wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he had full faith that the five people he worked for would sort it out. In the meantime, he wished he had a drink on hand.... The two other acolytes cast [I]shield of faith[/I] spells on themselves and prepared to move in, scimitars in hand - if the weak-willed farmers weren't willing to take on these demons in mortal form, then by Cal they'd do it! Xandro was still concentrating on his song, trying to weave in a [I]suggestion[/I] that Father Bristol call his troops to stand down, but despite the cleric's having been caught up in the [I]fascination[/I] effect, Xandro couldn't seem to magically compel him to confess he'd lied about the five heroes being demons. The druids each cast [I]longstrider[/I] spells on themselves and followed the two clerics into the Dormigliona farmhouse, while their eagles pressed on the attack from the air around Xandro's head. But Thurloe, seeing the bard's predicament, aimed his [I]wand of magic missile[/I] at the closest of the two birds and fired off a charge, hitting it in the torso. Zander followed up with the same spell of his own, targeting the same eagle and killing it. However, Xandro wasn't out of the woods yet. He now only had one eagle trying to claw him with its talons, but he still had a rogue trying to gut him with his short sword. Fortunately, the rogue's skill with his blade wasn't as developed as his bravado, and Xandro managed to dodge most of the attacks. Alewyth stepped outside - and in doing so managed to miss spotting the druids turning the corner in the kitchen and make their way through the house interior behind her - and tossed a tanglefoot bag at one of the two acolytes outside among the farmers. The bag hit and exploded into a gooey mess which instantly hardened in the outside air, gluing the young man in place. Alewyth hefted [I]Sjondra[/I] over her head, showing it to the assembled mob. "I've got much more deadlier tactics at hand," she called out, "but I've chosen t' use nonlethal methods! Let this be a demonstration o' me good faith - I don't wanna hurt any o' ye if'n I can help it!" Unnoticed, in her excitement her speech started devolving into the slang brogue preferred by most members of the dwarven races. But her words - and actions - caused the group around her to hold their actions, most of them wanting to believe this was all some sort of mistake. Wakuren, by this time, had invisibly maneuvered himself over to Father Bristol and was surprised to note the man's aura held no trace of evil. That was certainly strange! Looking around at the assembled mob of farmers, the half-orc was similarly perplexed when he saw no traces of evil among any of the people there, either. In fact, the farmers were mostly egging on other members to go start a fight with one of the strangers Father Bristol had labeled as demons. "Go get 'im, Fergus!" one would suggest, pointing at Xandro, only to have Fergus come back with, "Whyn't you go get him, Billy?" Inside the barn, the two acolytes crowded around Scarlie. They stabbed with their scimitars but failed to connect. Elmer, in the meantime, was steering Allison over to the back stalls, where their one horse and one cow bunked for the night. And then a little winged humanoid appeared in the air above Scarlie's head. "We must kill the humans, Master, to ensure the safety of the demonspawn about to be born!" it said, causing the half-orc to look up at it in surprise and confusion. Where did this thing come from and what was it saying? It didn't make any sense. By then, the half-elf druids had made it through most of the house and were entering the hallway leading to the door to the barn; their eyes widened as the quasit's words reinforced what Father Bristol had claimed - Allison Dormigliona had been impregnated by a fiend! Xandro was still dodging the talons of the remaining eagle and the mobile rogue while trying to get Father Bristol to succumb to his [I]suggestion[/I], but the cleric's will was resisting the magical effect. Thurloe and Zander, with the elven cooshee following in their wake, pushed through the part of the crowd Alewyth had calmed and headed over by the barn. Alewyth continued calling out to the others to stop their attacks, but the rogue seemed focused upon killing Xandro - or at least getting him to stop playing the song on his lute that had somehow paralyzed Father Bristol. Wakuren, alerted by the shouts coming from inside the barn, focused his magical sight in that direction and was disappointed to sense a palpable sense of evil coming from that direction. [I]Thurloe better not have been right about the Dormiglionas[/I], he thought to himself as he rushed, still invisible, over to the barn doors. Once there, he thrust the doors open wide (the action causing the nearby farmers to fall back in surprise, for to them the doors seemed to have opened by themselves), and among startled cried of "Ghosts!" from the farmers, he saw the quasit flying above the acolytes' heads, slashing at them with his poison-dripping claws. The two slashed at the flying creature with their scimitars, but the quasit was fairly maneuverable in the air and managed to avoid their weapons. One of the druids continued down the hall and entered the barn to see the quasit there, attacking the two acolytes of Cal, while the other one decided he'd rather take his chances with the demons that at least looked to be mortal. Ducking out a side door, he brought his scimitar slashing at Alewyth, whose back had been turned to the half-elf. Thurloe, seeing that, hefted his bastard sword and announced loudly that the next person to attack the dwarf was going to find his head separated from his body in no time. His fierce scowl in the direction of the half-elf druid certainly gave the belief that this was no idle threat. Zander, in the meantime, did his best to calm down the farmers over by the barn, telling them they needed to stop attacking people who weren't attacking them. "But by all means, defend yourself against [I]actual[/I] demons," he added, pointing to the quasit. Wakuren focused his [I]detect evil[/I] sense on the Dormiglionas and breathed out a sigh of relief when he got back a negative response. Then he looked over at the quasit and sure enough, it had been the thing that had triggered his senses. The quasit, in the meantime, had noticed the barn doors were open and took advantage of the situation, flying over to them and calling out, "Excellent, my demonic brethren - let us slay all of the humans to save the demonspawn about to be born!" It chuckled at the confusion this statement caused, with farmers mumbling to themselves about how Father Bristol had been right all along. They started looking at Xandro, still playing his lute and avoiding attacks from a sword-wielding rogue and an enraged eagle as best he could, with a critical eye - was he really a demon in disguise? Xandro, for his part, was getting frustrated that the cleric was able to resist his attempts at weaving a [I]suggestion[/I] spell into his song - he wasn't sure how long he could keep up the attempts before one of his foes forced him to stop the song altogether. Unfortunately for the quasit, its showboating in front of the frightened peasants brought it within striking range of Wakuren's shield. The farmers all gasped aloud when an enraged half-orc suddenly appeared before them, his shield slamming into the flying demon and causing it to veer around erratically in the air, desperately trying not to fall to the ground. But no matter how erratically he flew, a [I]magic missile[/I] spell from Thurloe's wand wasn't going to have any difficulty in striking him down, and it did just that - one blast and that was it for the troublemaking quasit. Wakuren bent down and lifted it up by the scruff of its neck. "We are not demons!" he called out to the farmer. "We are slayers of demons! Now everyone, put down your weapons!" The farmers lowered their weapons and the druid waved away his eagle companion, who seemed more than happy to fly off to the top of the barn's roof and look over the mob from there. About that time, Xandro's spell finally overcame Father Bristol's willpower and he followed the [I]suggestion[/I] the bard had woven into his tune. "Stand down!" Father Bristol reiterated. "This has all been a mistake!" And then, as if having the [I]suggestion[/I] spell overcome his will opened up a dam, more declarations came pouring forth. "Everything I said, about Allison's baby and demons and everything, it was all forced out of me!" He turned to Zander, the closest of the heroes to him. "But there is a demon, hidden in the mausoleum of the temple! He took over my mind, made me say things I never would have said if my will had been my own!" Looking over at Wakuren, who was approaching along with the other heroes, he added, "All of those things I said about orcs - that was the demon, trying to goad you into battle, for its own amusement! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Under questioning by Thurloe, Father Bristol described the demon as a "hunched over thing, with vertebrae growing up out of its back," giving the spellsword enough to go by to announce they were probably up against a cerebrilith. "They like controlling and dominating other beings," he told the others. "Then let's go get it!" replied Wakuren, eager to slay this demon who had taken over the mind of a cleric of Cal and tried to get the heroes to slay a bunch of farmers in self-defense. Father Bristol, to his shame, said he feared returning to the temple, not wanting the demon to take over his mind again. Wakuren reassured him on that front, saying he was better off staying behind and keeping the villagers safe, while the five heroes went in to confront the demon. "This is part of what we do, as adventurers," he told the village cleric. As they approached the temple, Thurloe had everyone cast whatever spells they thought they'd need. Wakuren and Thurloe had [I]protection from evil[/I] spells cast upon them, as one of the effects of the spell protected them from mind-affecting attacks. Alewyth, with her [I]magic circle against evil[/I] spell still active, would have to stick close to Zander and Xandro to ensure they remained safe inside her area of effect. Wakuren cast [I]align weapon[/I], [I]divine favor[/I], and [I]entropic shield[/I] upon himself and his shield, enhancing his combat abilities significantly. Alewyth cast [I]bless[/I] and [I]prayer[/I] spells on the group, and Father Bristol cast what spells he had available on the group to aid them in their quest: an [I]owl's wisdom[/I] spell on Alewyth, a [I]bear's endurance[/I] spell on Wakuren, and a [I]shield of faith[/I] spell upon Thurloe. "It's a good thing you took me out of the fight so quickly," he told Xandro, "or I'd likely have wasted those spells on myself, as I was forced to fight you." He then told the group the temple had a permanent [I]hallow[/I] effect, which included a permanent [I]light[/I] spell, covering all but his own quarters. "That was on purpose, so I could get some sleep at night," he admitted. The group of five adventurers strolled boldly into the temple, Zander, Xandro and the cooshee sticking close to Alewyth, lest they become susceptible to mental domination. Xandro began the tune to his song of inspirational courage, figuring the demon would know soon enough they were there in any case - Thurloe was pretty sure it was telepathic, so it might already be aware of their presence. They moved between the rows of pews to the door at the back of the raised stage which led to the mausoleum. Wakuren opened the door and saw another door before him; it took a moment for him to realize there was no light back there and he was seeing via his inherent darkvision; the demon must have canceled out the [I]hallow[/I] effect in some way, which took the [I]light[/I] spell with it. But according to Father Bristol, the door before him led to the actual mausoleum, where the founder of the temple was interred; there were doors all along the hallway that ringed the mausoleum, where other bodies had been placed in their coffins. This whole area was built of stone, in contrast to the rest of the temple which was wooden; Wakuren supposed the cerebrilith liked it back here because the thick stone walls would block any [I]detect evil[/I] spells that might give away its location. After looking at the others and gauging their readiness, Wakuren pulled open the mausoleum door. Instantly, his body was covered in writhing spiders; the cerebrilith in the back of the mausoleum had cast a [I]summon swarm[/I] spell it had at the ready for as soon as anybody opened the door. Wakuren involuntarily shook his body about, trying to dislodge as many of the spiders as he could, while they in turn bit at him where they could reach unprotected flesh. Thurloe stayed well away from the spiders and cast a [I]Mhaurgh's acid arrow[/I] spell at the cerebrilith, but the spell fizzled and sputtered upon reaching the demon, snuffed out by the fiend's resistance to spells. It retaliated with an [I]unholy blight[/I] spell, catching all five heroes and the elven dog in its area of effect and causing them varying levels of pain, from Thurloe and Xandro, who were physically sickened by the attack, to Zander and the cooshee, who hardly seemed affected at all. The elven sorcerer, seeing Wakuren writhe under the constant spider-bites of the swarm of arachnids encompassing him, opted to get rid of the spiders the quickest way he knew how: by blasting his half-orc friend with a [I]burning hands[/I] spell. Wakuren cried out in pain as the flames covered his body, but then the flames were gone and the spiders had all been burned to a crisp. "Thanks!" he called to Zander. Alewyth cast a [I]dismissal[/I] spell at the cerebrilith, hoping to send it back to whatever foul plane had spawned it, but it had no more effect than Thurloe's acidic spell. Wakuren summoned a celestial bison into the mausoleum, making it a tight fit in there with two large creatures, but he figured that might work to their advantage. The bison instinctively gored the cerebrilith with its massive horns, dealing the foul beast its first dose of pain. Thurloe and Wakuren stepped forward, the spellsword swinging his bastard sword and the half-orc slamming the cerebrilith with his shield. Each managed to deal it some damage despite the thickness of its bony hide. Then the fiend reached into its magical repertoire and cast another summoning spell (although the pair of heroes each got in another attack with their weapons of choice as the demon's attention was focused on its calling forth allies), this one resulting in 14 dretches suddenly appearing. Two of them showed up inside the crowded mausoleum, but most of the others ended up inside the burial niches ringing the mausoleum. Doors to the niches popped open as the glistening, fetid bodies of the feral demons stepped outside, eager to attack their summoner's foes. However, this posed a bit of a problem, for the heroes at hand - Alewyth, Xandro, Zander, and the cooshee were all still back in the chapel part of the temple - were all protected by [I]protection from evil[/I] spells that prevented the summoned dretches from being able to even touch them, let alone rend them with their claws or bite them with their teeth. It was a dejected group of dretches that realized they had been brought forth to attack a bunch of foes they couldn't even touch. (The two inside the mausoleum proper at least were able to vent their attacks upon the celestial bison.) Zander tried a [I]scorching ray[/I] at the cerebrilith, only for the spell to fizzle out upon arrival once again. Alewyth, seeing the ring of frustrated dretches (and knowing that if she attacked them directly, any of them she attacked would be able to reciprocate), summoned a celestial dire badger beside one of them and set it to the attack. The dretch actually seemed pleased to have a raging mammal biting and clawing it, for it meant he could do likewise, which certainly beat standing around not being able to do anything. The dretch even got the better of the deal in the first round of attacks - although the dire badger, once bloodied, became an even deadlier combat machine as it flew into a blood-red rage. Wakuren pressed the attack with his [I]shield of Cal[/I], bringing it crashing down on the cerebrilith's armored head with every ounce of strength he possessed - and was pleased to hear the sounds of cracking and shattering bone as individual pieces of its outgrown vertebrae went flying. Thurloe activated the power of his magical torc to bring a bit more of his own strength to play, cutting deep into the fiend's body with the blade of his bastard sword. That was it, the cerebrilith decided; it had been fun stirring up trouble in Sun Valley after it had escaped days ago from a foolish wizard's [I]planar gate[/I], but discretion was by all means the better part of valor and the fiend didn't want these mortals putting an end to its potentially immortal existence. But that's exactly what happened; to the accompaniment of Xandro's song of inspirational courage, Thurloe and Wakuren brought their weapons to bear as the fiend tried instantly escaping, and while the spellsword's blade managed to bury itself a bit into a bony shoulder, Wakuren's shield crushed through its skull, slaying the demon instantly. "Oh, praise Cal!" Father Bristol sighed when the five heroes returned outside the temple to inform him the demon had been slain - and the dretches it had summoned vanished as soon as it was dead, much to the consternation of a battle-crazed dire badger from the celestial realms. He shook his head at the thought of how much damage the demon could have brought to their little farming community, if it hadn't been for these traveling dreamwalkers seeking out Allison Dormigliona. "Here," he said to Wakuren, pulling an item from a pocket of his robes. "This is scant reward for all the good you've done us - and in repayment for the terrible things I said about you upon your arrival - but I think this would see better use in your hands than in mine." Handing it over, Wakuren looked to see what it was the cleric had given him. It was a headband, which the half-orc placed around his temple. "It's a [I]headband of Cal[/I]," Father Bristol explained, "granting its wearer a pocket of cool, clean air, even when underwater or in a smoke-filled room. I don't have many occasions where such a power would do me any good, tending to the farmers in the village." Wakuren placed a hand upon the cleric's shoulder. "Thank you," he said. "May Cal be with you." "And with you," Father Bristol replied, then watched as the heroes mounted their animals and rode off, heading to the next dream victim on their seemingly endless list of those trapped by the machinations of the Nightmare King. - - - This was an unusual adventure, as I wanted to try something different: none of the foes (save Father Bristol) was much of a threat against a party of 8th-level characters, but they were all innocent dupes unworthy of being killed in battle. Fortunately, Xandro's well-timed [I]fascination[/I] took Father Bristol out of the equation almost instantly, and the players managed not to have their PCs kill any of their foes (with the exception of one eagle animal companion). And then, protected as they were from attacks by summoned creatures, the dretches were likewise completely ineffective. However, despite all that, I at least managed to deal some damage to each of the PCs this time, which hasn't been the case in recent history. (They all came out pretty much unscathed from "Nest Quest.") Vicki was also a bit concerned when the dream opponent turned out to be an incubus; I don't think she's fully recovered from dealing with the incubus Malaterminus in our "Kordovian Adventurers Guild" campaign. As for Thurloe's back story (as the PCs watched in the dream of his "Aunt Charlotte"), that was what Dan had come up with as far as Thurloe's parentage went; I took what he had given me and made it a dream sequence, since that seemed like a good way to get the truth of the matter out into the open. We'll see what all Thurloe and Charlotte (and Marten, for that matter) have to say to each other the next time they meet up. (Why they didn't just tell Thurloe he was their kid in the first place is a mystery to me - that seems like it would have been so much simpler....) - - - T-shirt worn: My "Moore/Hanes Family Reunion" T-shirt, because it has a silhouette of a "family tree" on it, and the Dormiglionas were just starting their own family. [/QUOTE]
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