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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 9155140" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 60: WIDE AWAKE IN DREAMLAND</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Alewyth Putterpye, dwarf priestess of Aerik 12</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Thurloe Pulver, human fighter 3/wizard 3/spellsword 6</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Wakuren, half-orc cleric of Cal 6/paladin 6</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Xandro Silverstrings, human bard 6/rogue 6</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Zander Quilson, elf sorcerer 12</p><p></p><p>NPC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Robin the Balladeer, human bard 3</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Scarlie Besker, half-orc commoner 5</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 30 September 2023</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>The five adventurers appeared in the Centralia Desert, the pseudodragon familiar Petey perched upon his master's shoulders and the activated <em>jade cooshee</em> standing beside the elf sorcerer. Everyone was ready to take on the Nightmare King, but they had apparently beaten him there, for the <em>Dream Gate</em> was quiescent. "He's not here!" said Zander, stating the obvious.</p><p></p><p>However, the <em>Dream Gate</em> was not unoccupied, for basking under the desert sun upon the slab of stone around which the five rune-carved dreamstones had been placed, like petals around a flower, were literally hundreds of serpents. Every once in a while one of them would shake its rattle, but for the most part they were oblivious to the heroes' instantaneous approach, courtesy fo the arcane spell scroll of <em>teleport</em> Zander Quilson had just used to get them here so quickly.</p><p></p><p>"Why isn't he here yet?" demanded Thurloe. He had been all geared up to fight off the Nightmare King when he tried stepping forth into the Mortal World, and was disappointed at being kept waiting. The adrenaline was pumping through his body and he wanted to fight, now!</p><p></p><p>"Time flows funny sometimes in dreams," Alewyth pointed out.</p><p></p><p>"Do you think he already showed up, and took off?" asked Xandro, looking all around him.</p><p></p><p>"No footprints," pointed out Wakuren, pointing to the smooth sands all around the <em>Dream Gate</em>. He took the opportunity to cast a <em>magic circle against evil</em> spell upon himself, just in case there were any summoned hypnalis vipers in among the rattlesnakes. Then he stepped to the side, so all of the others were within the area of protection emanating from him, ten feet in all directions. Alewyth cast a <em>prayer</em> spell on the assembled heroes, knowing the Nightmare King could show up at any time and wanting to be prepared. But their spellcasting had apparently disturbed the nearest clump of vipers, for there was a flurry of shaking rattles and they started moving towards the heroes; apparently, they had sensed the <em>prayer</em> spell affecting them, although they couldn't have any kind of understanding of how the spell worked or what effect it would have. But it had disturbed their basking, and that was enough.</p><p></p><p>"They weren't summoned," Wakuren pointed out as a few of them advanced closer than they'd have been able to get had they been extraplanar creatures, for the half-orc's <em>magic circle against evil</em> spell would have prevented them from getting past its farthest edge. Thurloe grabbed up his <em>wand of shield</em> and zapped a dose his way, while Xandro pulled the <em>Dardolian Lute</em> from his back and began the tune of inspirational courage, while walking at an unhurried pace laterally away from the other heroes; it took him out of the protection of Wakuren's spell but it also got him further away from the advancing serpents. Zander Quilson stood his ground, casting a <em>mage armor</em> spell upon himself and his familiar.</p><p></p><p>The cooshee darted forward a step and bit at a snake that had gotten too close for the elven dog's comfort; he crushed the snake between his jaws, but there were scores more on the move where that one had come from, some slithering forward and some sidewinding. Another snake darted forward and bit the cooshee on the side of the neck, causing it to yelp in pain and release the dead viper from between its teeth. The serpent flopped to the desert sands, the first casualty of the battle.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren pulled back his right hand and thrust it forward, sending a <em>javelin of lightning</em> blasting forth from his <em>gauntlet of Cal</em>. The bolt of electricity burned its way through the swarm of vipers attacking the heroes and another clump of serpents further back, by the <em>Dream Gate</em>. Alewyth cast a <em>flame strike</em> spell on two of the viper swarms in the back, incinerating one entire swarm as a whole. But by then the first swarm was in among the heroes, biting at Thurloe, Wakuren, and Alewyth. They cried out in pain as multiple sets of fangs pierced their flesh, but thus far there were no ill effects from the venom - although how long that would be the case was anybody's guess.</p><p></p><p>All of a sudden, a wind whipped up, sending sand flying in all directions. "It's coming from the <em>Dream Gate!</em>" shouted Alewyth, and sure enough, there seemed to be a dust devil centered around the dreamstones. Through the blowing sands, the silhouette of a large humanoid figure stepped forward from the sky just above the <em>Dream Gate</em>. The figure had a rack of large antlers, marking him as the Nightmare King. But the image shifted and jumped about as seen through the shifting sands, making it momentarily difficult for the heroes to target their foe. But the Nightmare King surprised them all by turning back the way he'd come and raising a hand to another figure stepping forward into the Mortal World from the Dreamlands. "All is in readiness, as we planned it," boomed the deep voice of the Nightmare King to his unseen companion. "Behold the first of the Mortal Worlds to fall under your dominion, my Queen!"</p><p></p><p>And taking his hand, the Queen of Dreams stepped forward into the physical plane. As she looked around her in wonder, the winds died down but the viper swarms that had been near the <em>Dream Gate</em> were already scurrying away in all directions.</p><p></p><p>Thurloe staggered out of the swarm of vipers crawling all around him, his bastard sword <em>Spellslicer</em> out and ready to stab into the Nightmare King. The action caught the Queen of Dreams' notice, and she looked at her five loyal minions for the first time, eye to eye, on the Mortal Plane. "Ah, there you are," she said regally. "You have served me faithfully in the Dreamlands; it is only fitting that you become my first loyal subjects on this world. Bow down now before us and show your allegiance." She held her dreamstaff in her right hand, but her left still held the hand of the Nightmare King.</p><p></p><p>Alewyth dropped to a knee at once, stepping away from the viper swarm to do so, but in her mind she was wondering what kind of magic the Nightmare King had performed on the Queen of Dreams to hold her under his sway like this - <em>charm person? Dominate person?</em> Something even more powerful, like a <em>miracle</em> or <em>wish</em> spell? "I kneel before you, my Queen, but not before the Nightmare King!" she explained. The others stood their ground, Wakuren partly because he was still surrounded by biting vipers, but the others out of sheer stubbornness. A scowl formed upon the Queen's brow at this act of insubordination, and the Nightmare King pointed his <em>flaming longspear</em> at Thurloe. "I will kill them for you, my Queen," he said, "starting with that one!" He apparently had not forgotten the humiliation of having been slain from behind in the Dreamlands by Thurloe while the Nightmare King wore his flaming centaur form. Dropping the Queen's hand and shifting his <em>flaming longspear</em> from his left hand to his right, he also fell forward into his larger shape, rearing higher as he took on the form of a nightmare steed from the waist down and flames burst forth all along his entire, now-centaurian form.</p><p></p><p>Xandro responded by raising his lute higher and playing his song of inspirational courage even louder. His facial expression showed he was less than impressed by the Nightmare King's transmutational display.</p><p></p><p>Zander took a few steps even further back from the swarm of vipers surrounding Wakuren, Petey still on his shoulder and the cooshee stepping back with him. Wakuren, nauseated from the many snakebites he'd taken by that time, was able to stumble forward outside the ring of serpents, but that was about it. However, he refused to genuflect even when he had an opportunity to do so. Seeing this, Alewyth returned to her feet and said, "Your Majesty, you don't have to go along with whatever plan the Nightmare King has come up with...."</p><p></p><p>But she was interrupted on two fronts: one, because the serpents swarmed all around her, lunging and biting, and also because the Queen of Dreams cut her off. "Insolent fools!" she called. "Who are you to deny my wishes? You are mere mortals, while <em>I</em> am a <em>goddess!</em> Very well, betray me if you will, but do so without my aid!" And with the wave of her hand, the slight glow from the dreamstones embedded in the heroes' signature equipment - Thurloe's bastard sword <em>Spellslicer</em>, Alewyth's dwarven warhammer <em>Sjondra</em>, Zander's <em>jade cooshee</em>, Wakuren's <em>shield of Cal</em>, and Xandro's <em>Dardolian Lute</em> - winked out. All of the additional powers she'd been sending from the Dreamlands was instantly drained from the items, weakening them permanently back to their original states.</p><p></p><p>Thurloe ran diagonally away from the other heroes, wanting to get away from any area-of-effect attacks either of these would-be world conquerors might attempt. But he brought <em>Spellslicer</em> up over his shoulder and never once did his eyes leave those of the Nightmare King. Xandro, still playing the song of inspirational courage on his lute, stepped further to the side, away from the others as well. He was planning on using his bardic song to enhance the attacks of his friends, and there was no reason for him to remain in immediate harm's way for him to do so.</p><p></p><p>Zander cast an <em>Elobar's black tentacles</em> spell centered between the five dreamstones circling the <em>Dream Gate</em>, catching both the Queen of Dreams and the Nightmare King in the mass of writhing, ebony appendages which rose up from the ground. But the two had crafted their material bodies to be the height of physical perfection, and that included a high level of resistance to spell energy; as a result, none of the grasping tentacles seemed to be able to make contact with either figure, the massive, flaming centaur or the slight, dark-haired beauty.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren brought the bottom of his <em>shield of Cal</em> down upon the bodies of a few serpents headed his way, slicing them in two but doing very little against the entire swarm as a whole. Alewyth ran away from the swarm, casting a <em>death ward</em> spell on herself as she did so. And that's when she first noticed a pair of figures staggering into view from the west: drunken orc raiders, by the looks of it, for they swayed as they walked, falchions clenched in their dominant hands. She spent a moment wondering what in the world they were doing here, now of all times, and the viper swarm flowed over her way, as she was the nearest target among their foes. She was once again bitten in multiple locations, but her hearty dwarven constitution once again served her well.</p><p></p><p>The Nightmare King came charging out of the field of waving black tentacles, aimed unerringly at Thurloe. The spellsword just had enough time to raise his shield before the <em>flaming longspear</em> was upon him, trying to stab him through the gut. Channeling power from his <em>torc of the titans</em>, he swung <em>Spellslicer</em> down upon the Nightmare King's shoulder, breaking his flaming skin. At the same time, the Queen of Dreams stepped out of the other side of the <em>Elobar's black tentacles</em> spell field, raising her dreamstaff and pointing it in the general direction of the majority of the heroes. Three wild moogles took form in the Material World, black fur covering their pantherish forms, bat wings rising up from their shoulders, and the tell-tale pom-pom dangling from the sole antenna growing form their forehead being the only real proof of any kind of relationship to the moogle guides who served the Queen of Dreams.</p><p></p><p>Growling, the wild moogles converged upon Alewyth and Zander, but the elf stood close enough to Wakuren that he was under the span of protection offered by the half-orc's <em>magic circle against evil</em> spell; as summoned creatures, they couldn't advance past the edge of the spell's effect unless Wakuren made the mistake of closing the distance between them first.</p><p></p><p>Seeing Thurloe in combat with the Nightmare King all by himself, Xandro flung the <em>Dardolian Lute</em> back over his shoulder and raced towards the flaming centaur, pulling his short sword <em>Deathwhisper</em> from the scabbard he wore on his belt as he did so. He approached the Nightmare King in an arc, setting himself up to attack him from directly behind, while his attention was focused upon Thurloe.</p><p></p><p>Since his <em>Elobar's black tentacles</em> spell was currently serving no purpose whatsoever, Zander dismissed it - and then immediately cast another one, this one centered such that its area of effect encompassed both the Queen of Dreams and the closest of the three wild moogles. The winged feline was immediately entwined by grasping, rubbery appendages, and this time the Queen's inherent resistance to spells failed her, for she found herself similarly bound.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren ran forward and attacked the Nightmare King with a slam of his <em>shield of Cal</em>, in so doing getting close enough to Xandro that the human bard fell inside his <em>magic circle against evil</em>. Alewyth, tired beyond belief of snakebites by this time, activated her <em>butterfly brooch</em> and flew just high enough to be out of range of even the largest of the striking serpents. She cast a <em>searing light</em> spell on the closest wild moogle, disappointing herself by how little damage the spell seemed to do to the winged panther. Beneath her, the snakes leaped at her and snapped their jaws, but to no avail. And these were now the only serpents still in the area, as the others had all split off and gone their own separate ways once the <em>Dream Gate</em> had activated.</p><p></p><p>One of the staggering orcs got close enough to Xandro to swing his falchion at the bard, while the other one advanced as well. Surprised by the attack, Xandro spun to face them and got another surprise: the orcs weren't drunk, as he had first thought - they were fast asleep! Apparently the Queen of Dreams, upon seeing her minions refuse to accept her status as the new ruler of this podunk world, had called out to those sleeping nearby, her powers over those caught up in dreams in no way diminished by her journey to the Physical Plane.</p><p></p><p>"I will slay you for your effrontery!" promised the Nightmare King, getting the point of his <em>flaming longspear</em> past the spellsword's guard and stabbing deep into his upper chest. He roared in triumph as he tried lifting the spear over his head, to cause Thurloe to slide down its length, but with a burst of strength from his magic torc the spellsword pulled himself free before he gave his hated foe the satisfaction of waving him around like a flag. Stepping backwards, he cast an <em>expeditious retreat</em> spell upon himself, anticipating the possible need to be able to run away faster than the Nightmare King could catch him.</p><p></p><p>The Queen of Dreams managed to disentangle herself from the black tentacles wrapping themselves around her body - fortunately, she had been at the spell effect's very edge - and stepped back, freeing herself completely. Two of her summoned wild moogles threw themselves at Alewyth, claws scratching in fury, while the third likewise pulled himself out of the black tentacles' embrace and went after Zander - only to find himself unable to approach any closer than 10 feet, for the elf was still under the protection of the half-orc's spell.</p><p></p><p>Xandro stabbed <em>Deathwhisper</em> deep into the Nightmare King's flank, slightly burning his hand in the process but considering it a fair trade on his part. Zander cast a <em>chain lightning</em> spell with the wild moogle closest to him as the primary target, arcs of electricity striking the other two wild moogles, the Nightmare King, and the remaining viper swarm, the latter of which was slain instantly. And Wakuren raced up, slamming his <em>shield of Cal</em> into the flaming centaurian form, the attack having the advantage of shielding him from the Nightmare King's flames.</p><p></p><p>Alewyth fluttered away from the attacking wild moogles and cast a <em>dismissal</em> spell on one of them, hoping to return it immediately to the Dreamlands. However, the feline managed to avoid being forcibly thrust back into his home dimension. And over by Xandro, the sleepwalking orcs swung their falchions at him, neither meeting their marks. (Whether they were more successful in their dreams is unknown.) But over on the other side of the battle area, past the Queen of Dreams, a pair of human sleepwalkers were staggering their way, heeding the Queen's silent call for defenders and worshipers.</p><p></p><p>With his primary target Thurloe having retreated out of reach, the Nightmare King vented his full fury upon the half-orc standing before him. He slammed Wakuren's <em>shield of Cal</em> to the side with a pair of hooves, allowing his <em>flaming longspear</em> to stab all the way through the paladin/cleric's armor and poke out the back. Blood spilled from Wakuren's lips as the spear was pulled back out and the Nightmare King roared in triumph.</p><p></p><p>But Thurloe hadn't been running away out of cowardice; he'd made a wide arc and was now once again approaching the Nightmare King from behind, just as he'd done in the Dreamlands when he'd temporarily killed him. The King saw him out of the corner of his eyes and brought the tip of his <em>flaming longspear</em> slashing out at the spellsword, but then Thurloe finished his maneuver and brought a torc-powered swing of <em>Spellslicer</em>'s blade cutting deep into his foe's hindquarters. "You seem to like facing your enemies from behind!" observed the Nightmare King with a sneer, pulling back on the cry of pain threatening to escape from his lips.</p><p></p><p>"I just wanted to confirm what I saw from this angle last time," replied Thurloe. "Namely, that you don't have any balls!"</p><p></p><p>The Queen of Dreams frowned at the number of foes the Nightmare King was facing in physical combat by himself. In an effort to even the odds, she raised her dreamstaff again and called forth six black-skinned nightgaunts from the Dreamlands. The faceless gargoyles split up, three making for Thurloe and three heading toward Xandro. The lead nightgaunt managed to strike Xandro with a pair of claws, but the three attacking Thurloe found out her was within the protective bubble provided by Wakuren's <em>magic circle against evil</em> spell. That one spell was having an abnormally important effect upon this whole battle, for the wild moogle trying to claw off Zander's face found he still couldn't approach the elf - although the other two managed to attack Alewyth just fine.</p><p></p><p>Xandro ducked away from the sleepwalking orcs and then immediately doubled back, catching the Nightmare King off guard - and straight in the space between his two equine front legs, as the centaurian being had turned to try to face Thurloe once again. Xandro wasn't sure what vital organs were positioned there in the area he hit, but it seemed as if the strike was particularly painful, a fact for which the bard/rogue was more than happy to see.</p><p></p><p>Zander cast another <em>chain lightning</em> spell, choosing one nightgaunt as his primary target and the others as secondaries, along with the orcs, his least favorite wild moogle, and the Nightmare King. He killed the primary nightgaunt and one of the orcs, managing to wound all of the others. And then, to his surprise, the Nightmare King himself, with a look of shock on his face, fell over as well, the spell having overcome his own natural defenses and slain him after all of the other wounds he had taken in this battle.</p><p></p><p>That left the Queen of Dreams as the only remaining original target, and the cooshee dashed off after her, clawing at her shapely leg. Wakuren, barely standing, knew he desperately needed healing, but he called Alewyth over to him with his blood-spattered lips and waited until she was also within range before casting a <em>mass cure light wounds</em> upon all of the heroes. He wasn't the only one in desperate need of healing by that time, for Alewyth and Thurloe had also taken quite a lot of damage by then.</p><p></p><p>The remaining sleepwalking orc staggered over to Thurloe and swung at him with his falchion, but the spellsword easily avoided the clumsy attack. Ignoring the orc entirely, he brought his bastard sword up over his head and brought it slamming down upon the Nightmare King's neck, severing his head from his body. The flames from his body had died down upon his death, but now with his antlered head having been severed, both pieces of his body started crumbling and blowing away like sand in a sandstorm. The spellsword was disheartened to see the King's <em>flaming longspear</em> suffer the same fate; he had no formal training in using such a weapon but had looked forward to having it as a trophy signifying the Nightmare King's defeat in any case.</p><p></p><p>"What? <em>NO!</em>" cried out the Queen of Dreams at the death of her co-conspirator; she'd felt certain that the physically perfect mortal bodies they'd formed for their conquest of the Mortal Worlds could not be so easily slain. She stepped back into the center of the <em>Dream Gate</em> and raised her hands as if in supplication. Immediately, the desert winds started flowing around the area, kicking up sand as the <em>planar gate</em> to the Dreamlands opened up. However, blocking the entry path into the Dreamlands were Mogo, the dreamwalkers' five moogle dream guides, and Mr. Toad, the latter wearing a bronze battle helmet. The six moogles all held pikes which they struggled to hold upright, pointed out directly in front of them. "I don't <em>think</em> so, kupo!" replied Mogo, after having seen the betrayal the Queen of Dreams had performed in secretly working in league with the Nightmare King all this time. The moogles weren't entirely effective combatants., but the spike-tipped pikes all aimed in her direction prevented the Queen from trying to push her way into the Dreamlands. Snarling in rage, she turned back to face the dreamwalkers who had turned against her.</p><p></p><p>The wild moogles and nightgaunts were unable to approach the heroes, for they'd scrambled into position such that Wakuren's <em>magic circle against evil</em> prevented any summoned creatures from getting near enough for them to attack. And the Queen knew that the same would hold true for any other creatures she summoned from the Dreamlands with her dreamstaff. As Zander cast another <em>chain lightning</em> spell that slew the remaining nightgaunts and wounded the wild moogles - and even herself, as surprising as that was for her - she vowed she'd take them down in physical combat, if that's what it took. Holding her dreamstaff before her like a quarterstaff, she stepped forward towards the heroes. Xandro did likewise, leaving the protection of Wakuren's spell to go meet the would-be conqueror of Armaturia in battle. (Little did she realize Wakuren had cast a <em>protection from evil</em> spell upon Xandro before he went to go meet the Queen in battle, but the half-orc had noticed her primary means of attack seemed to be summoning creatures from the Dreamlands, and those were easily countered.)</p><p></p><p>But the cooshee was already right there, clawing away at the Queen and ripping part of the <em>gown of protection</em> she'd fashioned for herself in lieu of armor. Wakuren tried removing her vision with a <em>blindness/deafness</em> spell, but it fizzled against her magical protection against spell energy. Alewyth summoned a dire lion from the celestial planes, figuring she'd let a summoned monster deal with the summoned monsters that had been plaguing her all this time, and the flame-maned feline leaped into battle with the wild moogles, his first attack ripping the pom-pom antenna from a foe's forehead. It plopped onto the desert sands like an overgrown dandelion.</p><p></p><p>The sleepwalking orc continued its feeble attacks upon Thurloe, and off in the distance another three shambling orcs could be seen, the trio likewise having risen from their beds to answer the call of combat without seeing the need to wake up first. Thurloe once again ignored the orcs and cast a <em>scorching ray</em> spell at a wild moogle as he ran forward to go face the Queen of Dreams in physical combat with his bastard sword. The Queen stepped back and summoned a quintet of zoogs, surprised that they were likewise unable to get close enough to the spellsword to attack, for they were far enough away from Wakuren that she would have thought they'd slow the spellsword down; she'd obviously failed to notice Thurloe casting the <em>protection from evil</em> spell upon himself early on in the ongoing battle.</p><p></p><p>The wild moogles pounced on the celestial dire lion, clawing and biting, but the flame-maned feline had a thick pelt that protected him from the worst of the claws and teeth. Zander cast a <em>cone of cold</em> spell at the wild moogles, slaying one outright and covering the sides of the other two in frost. The zoogs, in the meantime, had discovered the cooshee was not protected from their approach, and swarmed over him, biting him with the hidden fangs hidden beneath their dangling facial appendages. The poor elven dog was soon covered in bites that continued to bleed, but he dutifully pressed on his attacks against the Queen of Dreams, ignoring his own predicament.</p><p></p><p>Xandro reached the Queen of Dreams and slashed at her with <em>Deathwhisper</em>. As the two remaining wild moogles attacked their leonine foe, Zander cast a <em>haste</em> spell upon Thurloe, Xandro, and his cooshee. The dog went all-out at the Queen of Dreams in a battle frenzy, while Wakuren cast another <em>mass cure light wounds</em> spell on everybody. One of the sleepwalking humans had by this time reached close enough to Thurloe to swing at him with his dagger, but the spellsword contemptuously knocked him aside with his shield and continued on towards the Queen of Dreams.</p><p></p><p>Alewyth brought <em>Sjondra</em> crashing down upon a wild moogle's head; she knew that in doing so she was opening herself up to attacks from the creature in return, but she was tired of these winged panthers by this time and the prospect felt well worth it. Her summoned celestial dire lion slew another wild moogle. But the main battle was in the circle of the <em>Dream Gate</em>, between Xandro, Thurloe, and the cooshee against the Queen of Dreams, who had learned - self-proclaimed goddess or no - she was no match for these mortals when it came to physical combat, for they managed to avoid most of her attacks with her dreamstaff. Xandro dashed in and stabbed at her with <em>Deathwhisper</em>, causing mortal blood to pour down the side of her mortal body, and then Thurloe finished her off with a final blow from <em>Spellslicer</em>, cutting through her dreamstaff and nearly severing her torso in two from the power of his blow.</p><p></p><p>Upon the death of the Queen of Dreams, the sleepwalking orcs and humans all woke up with a start. The closest orc's initial instinct was to attack, but then he realized how many foes he was up against and hurriedly followed the others, who were already returning west at their fastest speeds. The humans looked around them in puzzlement, not yet noticing the Queen's body breaking up and blowing away into the desert sands, both pieces of her sundered dreamstaff doing likewise. The remaining wild moogles and the zoogs were easily slain after that, and the formerly sleepwalking humans banded together and exited the scene backwards, daggers offering whatever safety they could until they got back to their own desert homes. None of them had any idea of what was going on, but they all knew they wanted nothing to do with it.</p><p></p><p>Alewyth and Wakuren cast healing spells on those who needed them (including the cooshee, who had taken half a dozen bleeding zoog-bites by the time the battle was over), and then, after conferring on what to do next, the five dreamwalkers activated the <em>Dream Gate</em>. The moogles and Mr. Toad put down their pikes and welcomed them in, and Mogo offered to take them to go see the Dragon Council. "That's what they're calling themselves, kupo!" Mogo explained. He led the way down multiple twisting corridors, eventually opening up the doorway which led to the personal dreamscape of the gold dragon Chrysos Arkaurum, this time without the guardian kaiju Hedorah preventing anyone from accessing the dragon's study. As dragons had the ability to alter their dreamscapes at will, the study - which the dreamwalkers had visited before recently - was now twice its normal size, the better to accommodate the large table and the chairs for the humanoid forms of the other four dreaming dragons who had been the unwitting linchpins powering the <em>Dream Gate</em>.</p><p></p><p>"Please, enter," Chrysos greeted them. "Take a seat, we have much to discuss." Just that easily, the table had expanded enough to seat the five visitors. Looking around, they noticed Princess Caroline and Mr. Toad were nowhere to be seen - the princess was likely now awake in the Mortal World.</p><p></p><p>"We have unearthed a bit of information since we last talked," Chrysos began. "It would seem the Queen of Dreams was a willing part of this charade the whole time. Together with the Nightmare King, they set things into motion such that it became necessary for the five of you to place dreamstones upon the brows of the five of us dragons, so they could create a means by which they were able to cross over into our world."</p><p></p><p>"But why?" demanded Alewyth. "She had everything she could have wanted here, in her own realm!"</p><p></p><p>"She was formed here at the creation of the Dreamlands," Chrysos explained. "It is possible that over the many thousands of centuries, she gradually desired to experience more than she was able to here. For example, are you aware that you lose your sense of smell in the Dreamlands?"</p><p></p><p>Thurloe sniffed, and picked up the scents of dried blood and sweat upon himself and the other four heroes. He was quick to point this out to the smarty-pants elf/dragon/whatever.</p><p></p><p>"Ah, but you are here in your mortal forms, having passed through the <em>Dream Gate</em>," countered the gold dragon. "The next time your dream-selves enter, see if you can smell anything."</p><p></p><p>"It's true, kupo," added Mogo.</p><p></p><p>"We think the Nightmare King was ultimately the one behind the whole scheme," pointed out Carmen Melodius. "He was more interested in taking solid form and conquering the Mortal Worlds, and he had untold centuries to break down the Queen of Dreams to join him in his mad scheme."</p><p></p><p>"We didn't know anything about it, though, kupo!" insisted Mogo.</p><p></p><p>"She had us convinced the Nightmare King was her sworn enemy, kupo!" added Calliope. Alewyth was quick to reassure the moogles she believed them.</p><p></p><p>"We must now plan a way ahead," continued Chrysos. "The moogles, if they all work together, could easily dream a new Queen of Dreams into existence. However, they are hesitant to do so, fearing the same thing may happen in the millennia to come: a slow seduction to the idea of conquering the Mortal Worlds."</p><p></p><p>"Do you have an alternative?" asked Xandro.</p><p></p><p>"We have a temporary suggestion. The five of us are continuing our sleep for now. There are other dragons throughout the world engaged in their own dragonsleep; we intend to contact them via the Dragonmind and invite them to join this council. The Council of Dragons will oversee the running of the Dreamlands for now, and we'll see how that goes. The question arises of what to do with the five dreamstones on our collective brows, though - do we have them removed, and shut down the <em>Dream Gate?</em> Or do we keep it open for now, which will entail replacing the five of us with other sleeping dragons as our individual dragonsleep time comes to an end?" Chrysos looked at the heroes expectantly, and Wakuren realized this wasn't just a rhetorical question - he was looking for an answer from them.</p><p></p><p>"I would suggest such a decision be figured out by the Council of Dragons," Wakuren said, looking at the other heroes for confirmation. "The <em>Dream Gate</em> was apparently only able to allow dreamwalkers like ourselves - and the Queen of Dreams and the Nightmare King, apparently - to pass through. If you deem it advantageous to keep open, then we don't have any objections."</p><p></p><p>"Very well, then we shall leave it open for now," decided Chrysos. "After all, it will be easy enough for us to close it should we decide otherwise; we've already taken the precaution of sending in trusted servants by each of our physical forms, to remove the dreamstones should it become necessary. Now then, let us talk about the decrease in power of your items. I must confess we do not, as of yet, know the means by which the Queen of Dreams was able to channel power into your items there on the Material Plane through the dreamstones. We will continue to experiment, but I fear the loss in power may be permanent - at least for now. We have taken steps, however, to see to it that a suitable reward be generated and presented to you on the Physical Plane. You can expect such a reward to find you in the next few days. You may wish to seek out suitable wizards to enhance your items and try to regain the level of power at which they worked before the Queen took back her dream energies."</p><p></p><p>"Thank you," replied Wakuren. His mind was already coming with what he'd like to have done to the <em>shield of Cal</em>, depending upon how money he had to spend on the project.</p><p></p><p>"Two final things: upon the deaths of the Queen of Dreams and the Nightmare King, all of those trapped in dream comas were awakened instantly. There is no longer any need for you to travel the continent to awaken them, as they are no longer in need of such services."</p><p></p><p>"That doesn't mean you have to stop your dreamwalker training, though - there are still plenty of other things we can teach you, kupo!" interjected Mogo.</p><p></p><p>"You can count on it," replied Zander. Then, turning to Chrysos, the elf said, "You said two things?"</p><p></p><p>"Yes. The Council of Dragons has decided to make one addition to its membership: Princess Caroline Devlin, despite her being a human and not a dragon. She intrigues us: she is quite adept at moving through the dreamscapes, in ways even you five cannot - and all of this without any formal moogle instruction. She is very possibly the 'sorcerer' equivalent of a dreamwalker, picking this all up instinctively." Zander knew exactly what the gold dragon meant, for that was exactly how he cast his own arcane spells. "She bears watching, and can quite possibly teach us all a thing or two - even the moogles - about the Dreamlands."</p><p></p><p>The Council having told them all they needed to at this time, they thanked the five heroes once again for their service to the Dreamlands and the Dragonmind, which was itself a part of the Dreamlands. Mogo led them back to the chamber which housed the Dreamlands link to the <em>Dream Gate</em>, and the five heroes returned back to the Centralia Desert, where a few bloodstained sections of sand and numerous dead snakes were the only reminders of their battle against the conquering forces from the Dreaming World.</p><p></p><p>"Now what?" asked Zander.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren unpacked <em>Hesperna's lamp</em>. "Well, for now," he replied, "you guys hop back inside and I'll have Nimbus fly us back to meet up with Robin and Scarlie. Then we can decide where we want to go from there."</p><p></p><p>Several days later, the group was riding their various mounts down the streets of a nearby city when they heard a familiar voice. "So, you guys ready for your payment?" called Wangle Turdblossom. The little gnome led the group down a dead-end alleyway, where he pulled a magic doorknob from his pocket and placed it against the back wall, opening a door that hadn't been there before into the Hidden Market. All ten gnomes were there, the largest one, Biggie Rection, standing with his arms crossed and a black scowl on his face. "This is all for you," he grunted, nodding his bearded head over to a pile of stacked coins and gems leaning up against the wall. Just at a quick glance, it looked to Xandro to be as much, if not more, as the entire treasure hoard of the red dragon the lizardfolk fanatics had tried raising into lichdom.</p><p></p><p>"Two hundred thousand pieces of gold," Biggie said with gritted teeth, pronouncing each syllable as if it personally hurt his throat to do so. Not wanting to drag out his discomfort, Alewyth scrambled forward and started tossing the entire collection into the extradimensional candy dish they had received from the gnomish wizard Grimblegrack Fishmelon.</p><p></p><p>"It's all yours," Wangle reiterated. "But feel free to spend any or all of it here with us, if you're looking for something special! Remember, we can't actually create any new magic items ourselves or further enhance any you might already have, but if you're just looking to pick something up we can probably find what you're looking for!" Alewyth assured them they would keep the Gnomish Consortium in mind, but that as of yet none of them had made any concrete decisions about what to do with their shares. (Wakuren didn't contradict her, although now that he knew his fifth would be 40,000 pieces of gold, he knew exactly what he wanted to do to upgrade his <em>shield of Cal</em>....)</p><p></p><p>"Before you leave," said Humdrum Thundersnore as the five heroes were about to do just that, "I was asked to suggest to you to consult the Council in your dreams tonight."</p><p></p><p>"We'll do so," promised Xandro, wondering if the elderly gnome might possibly be a dreamwalker like them, for the Council to have passed on a message through him.</p><p></p><p>That night, the five dreamwalkers once again found themselves seated at the table of the Council of Dragons. "We have talked it out among ourselves, and decided the five of you are our best non-dragon allies in the Waking World. As such, there is something else we feel we should explain to you, but once again I must swear you all to secrecy: no word of this must pass your lips, for your own safety. Do I have your word?" One by one, each hero gave his or her promise to the gold dragon.</p><p></p><p>"Then you should know that there are no longer any gnomes alive on the surface world."</p><p></p><p>"What? Ridiculous!" scoffed Thurloe. "We just saw ten of them today, and we've met up with plenty of gnomes before!"</p><p></p><p>Alewyth paled. "Did something happen to them--?" she asked, worried about the members of the Gnomish Consortium.</p><p></p><p>Chrysos reassured her at once. "They are perfectly fine," he promised. "They are also not gnomes, but rather dragons in gnome form, as are any other gnomes you might have encountered on the surface world."</p><p></p><p>"Aenus Feysputter?" sputtered Thurloe.</p><p></p><p>"Copper dragon," replied Altum Deepdelver, himself a deep dragon in dwarven guise.</p><p></p><p>"Grimblegrack Fishmelon?" asked Xandro.</p><p></p><p>"Silver dragon, like myself," assured Argentina Quicksilver.</p><p></p><p>"Every dragon, after coming of age, takes on a humanoid form, the better to mingle among the smaller races," explained Chrysos. "Some of us choose to take on gnomish form, the better to honor the first race to whom the dragons taught the ways of magic."</p><p></p><p>"What happened to them?" asked Alewyth.</p><p></p><p>"That, no one knows for sure," admitted Chrysos. "They vanished around two thousand years ago, the victim of a terrible disease that slew them almost instantly. Now only the svirfneblin remain, living deep below the surface, in the Underdark."</p><p></p><p>"We met up with one of them in the Underdark," mentioned Xandro. "We saw her die right before us, too - bleeding from her eyes and ears and nose. It was horrible."</p><p></p><p>"She said, 'deathborn' as she died," Wakuren added. "We're guessing that's the name of the disease."</p><p></p><p>"Very possible," agreed Chrysos. "You have given us some things to ponder upon." Then he reminded them not to mention their knowledge of any gnomes on the surface really being dragons in disguise. "They will not likely take kindly to knowing their secret is known by non-dragons." Xandro could only imagine Biggie Rection's reaction, and swallowed nervously at the thought of Biggie angry with him in particular - the overly large gnome had always kind of bothered the bard.</p><p></p><p>Alewyth assured Chrysos they would keep mum about it and the five took their leave of the Council of Dragons.</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>So, after 60 adventures, the players finally found out their PCs had been played for suckers this whole time. I had told them I owed them an explanation once they saw the Queen in league with the Nightmare King, and once the adventure was over I explained a few things to them. The whole "the Queen was in on it from the start" ploy was the direct result of a comment Dan had made about 15 years ago, when we were all playing through my "Wing Three" campaign. Having been taught AD&D in the First Edition days (as had I), Dan had had the misfortune of playing under an adversarial DM who was always out to screw the PCs over. Dan, not yet used to my non-adversarial DMing style, had made the comment that "he couldn't wait until I threw a patron at them who was secretly the bad guy all along." I filed that away for potential future use, and when designing the broad strokes of this campaign, which I knew would involve waking victims from their dream comas as the PCs traveled the continent, I brushed off the idea and examined it. Finally, I decided it would be a cool thing to try on the players, as I (quite rightly) didn't think they'd expect such a thing from me. They all found it difficult to believe as it happened (even Dan); Vicki had originally been sure the Queen of Dreams was being held as a hostage or under some sort of magical <em>domination</em> effect, until she kept trying to kill them after they'd slain the Nightmare King.</p><p></p><p>The explanations about the gnomes also caused some other revelations to come to light. The Gnomish Consortium - the ten gnomes who run the Hidden Market - are in fact a band of ten dragons, one each of the five chromatic dragons and one each of the five metallic dragons. Biggie is a red dragon, which explained his disdain for the magic trap in the slain red dragon's hoard, asserting contemptuously that "red dragons don't usually feel the need to stoop to such measures to keep their treasure hoards safe." Also, the whole reason they had involved the PCs to fetch the treasure hoard for them in the first place was because that magical trap on the ceiling wasn't geared towards gnomes, it was geared towards dragons - in fact, the flower-petal shape was made up of ten scales, one from each of the ten main dragon types in the <em>Monster Manual</em>. And the items they sell to the PCs are all taken from various dragon treasure hoards; dragons would much rather have more coins and gems to roll around in, rather than potions and scrolls and magic items of little use to them.</p><p></p><p>So there were a few "Aha!" moments as I explained stuff. And then, as this had been our 60th adventure, the PCs all leveled up to 13th level at the end of our game session.</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>T-shirt worn: I chose my Dalek "Exterminate!" T-shirt, as that was the desire of the Nightmare King when it came to Thurloe.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 9155140, member: 508"] [b]ADVENTURE 60: WIDE AWAKE IN DREAMLAND[/b] PC Roster: [INDENT]Alewyth Putterpye, dwarf priestess of Aerik 12 Thurloe Pulver, human fighter 3/wizard 3/spellsword 6 Wakuren, half-orc cleric of Cal 6/paladin 6 Xandro Silverstrings, human bard 6/rogue 6 Zander Quilson, elf sorcerer 12[/INDENT] NPC Roster: [INDENT]Robin the Balladeer, human bard 3 Scarlie Besker, half-orc commoner 5[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 30 September 2023 - - - The five adventurers appeared in the Centralia Desert, the pseudodragon familiar Petey perched upon his master's shoulders and the activated [i]jade cooshee[/i] standing beside the elf sorcerer. Everyone was ready to take on the Nightmare King, but they had apparently beaten him there, for the [i]Dream Gate[/i] was quiescent. "He's not here!" said Zander, stating the obvious. However, the [i]Dream Gate[/i] was not unoccupied, for basking under the desert sun upon the slab of stone around which the five rune-carved dreamstones had been placed, like petals around a flower, were literally hundreds of serpents. Every once in a while one of them would shake its rattle, but for the most part they were oblivious to the heroes' instantaneous approach, courtesy fo the arcane spell scroll of [i]teleport[/i] Zander Quilson had just used to get them here so quickly. "Why isn't he here yet?" demanded Thurloe. He had been all geared up to fight off the Nightmare King when he tried stepping forth into the Mortal World, and was disappointed at being kept waiting. The adrenaline was pumping through his body and he wanted to fight, now! "Time flows funny sometimes in dreams," Alewyth pointed out. "Do you think he already showed up, and took off?" asked Xandro, looking all around him. "No footprints," pointed out Wakuren, pointing to the smooth sands all around the [i]Dream Gate[/i]. He took the opportunity to cast a [i]magic circle against evil[/i] spell upon himself, just in case there were any summoned hypnalis vipers in among the rattlesnakes. Then he stepped to the side, so all of the others were within the area of protection emanating from him, ten feet in all directions. Alewyth cast a [i]prayer[/i] spell on the assembled heroes, knowing the Nightmare King could show up at any time and wanting to be prepared. But their spellcasting had apparently disturbed the nearest clump of vipers, for there was a flurry of shaking rattles and they started moving towards the heroes; apparently, they had sensed the [i]prayer[/i] spell affecting them, although they couldn't have any kind of understanding of how the spell worked or what effect it would have. But it had disturbed their basking, and that was enough. "They weren't summoned," Wakuren pointed out as a few of them advanced closer than they'd have been able to get had they been extraplanar creatures, for the half-orc's [i]magic circle against evil[/i] spell would have prevented them from getting past its farthest edge. Thurloe grabbed up his [i]wand of shield[/i] and zapped a dose his way, while Xandro pulled the [i]Dardolian Lute[/i] from his back and began the tune of inspirational courage, while walking at an unhurried pace laterally away from the other heroes; it took him out of the protection of Wakuren's spell but it also got him further away from the advancing serpents. Zander Quilson stood his ground, casting a [i]mage armor[/i] spell upon himself and his familiar. The cooshee darted forward a step and bit at a snake that had gotten too close for the elven dog's comfort; he crushed the snake between his jaws, but there were scores more on the move where that one had come from, some slithering forward and some sidewinding. Another snake darted forward and bit the cooshee on the side of the neck, causing it to yelp in pain and release the dead viper from between its teeth. The serpent flopped to the desert sands, the first casualty of the battle. Wakuren pulled back his right hand and thrust it forward, sending a [i]javelin of lightning[/i] blasting forth from his [i]gauntlet of Cal[/i]. The bolt of electricity burned its way through the swarm of vipers attacking the heroes and another clump of serpents further back, by the [i]Dream Gate[/i]. Alewyth cast a [i]flame strike[/i] spell on two of the viper swarms in the back, incinerating one entire swarm as a whole. But by then the first swarm was in among the heroes, biting at Thurloe, Wakuren, and Alewyth. They cried out in pain as multiple sets of fangs pierced their flesh, but thus far there were no ill effects from the venom - although how long that would be the case was anybody's guess. All of a sudden, a wind whipped up, sending sand flying in all directions. "It's coming from the [i]Dream Gate![/i]" shouted Alewyth, and sure enough, there seemed to be a dust devil centered around the dreamstones. Through the blowing sands, the silhouette of a large humanoid figure stepped forward from the sky just above the [i]Dream Gate[/i]. The figure had a rack of large antlers, marking him as the Nightmare King. But the image shifted and jumped about as seen through the shifting sands, making it momentarily difficult for the heroes to target their foe. But the Nightmare King surprised them all by turning back the way he'd come and raising a hand to another figure stepping forward into the Mortal World from the Dreamlands. "All is in readiness, as we planned it," boomed the deep voice of the Nightmare King to his unseen companion. "Behold the first of the Mortal Worlds to fall under your dominion, my Queen!" And taking his hand, the Queen of Dreams stepped forward into the physical plane. As she looked around her in wonder, the winds died down but the viper swarms that had been near the [i]Dream Gate[/i] were already scurrying away in all directions. Thurloe staggered out of the swarm of vipers crawling all around him, his bastard sword [i]Spellslicer[/i] out and ready to stab into the Nightmare King. The action caught the Queen of Dreams' notice, and she looked at her five loyal minions for the first time, eye to eye, on the Mortal Plane. "Ah, there you are," she said regally. "You have served me faithfully in the Dreamlands; it is only fitting that you become my first loyal subjects on this world. Bow down now before us and show your allegiance." She held her dreamstaff in her right hand, but her left still held the hand of the Nightmare King. Alewyth dropped to a knee at once, stepping away from the viper swarm to do so, but in her mind she was wondering what kind of magic the Nightmare King had performed on the Queen of Dreams to hold her under his sway like this - [i]charm person? Dominate person?[/i] Something even more powerful, like a [i]miracle[/i] or [i]wish[/i] spell? "I kneel before you, my Queen, but not before the Nightmare King!" she explained. The others stood their ground, Wakuren partly because he was still surrounded by biting vipers, but the others out of sheer stubbornness. A scowl formed upon the Queen's brow at this act of insubordination, and the Nightmare King pointed his [i]flaming longspear[/i] at Thurloe. "I will kill them for you, my Queen," he said, "starting with that one!" He apparently had not forgotten the humiliation of having been slain from behind in the Dreamlands by Thurloe while the Nightmare King wore his flaming centaur form. Dropping the Queen's hand and shifting his [i]flaming longspear[/i] from his left hand to his right, he also fell forward into his larger shape, rearing higher as he took on the form of a nightmare steed from the waist down and flames burst forth all along his entire, now-centaurian form. Xandro responded by raising his lute higher and playing his song of inspirational courage even louder. His facial expression showed he was less than impressed by the Nightmare King's transmutational display. Zander took a few steps even further back from the swarm of vipers surrounding Wakuren, Petey still on his shoulder and the cooshee stepping back with him. Wakuren, nauseated from the many snakebites he'd taken by that time, was able to stumble forward outside the ring of serpents, but that was about it. However, he refused to genuflect even when he had an opportunity to do so. Seeing this, Alewyth returned to her feet and said, "Your Majesty, you don't have to go along with whatever plan the Nightmare King has come up with...." But she was interrupted on two fronts: one, because the serpents swarmed all around her, lunging and biting, and also because the Queen of Dreams cut her off. "Insolent fools!" she called. "Who are you to deny my wishes? You are mere mortals, while [i]I[/i] am a [i]goddess![/i] Very well, betray me if you will, but do so without my aid!" And with the wave of her hand, the slight glow from the dreamstones embedded in the heroes' signature equipment - Thurloe's bastard sword [i]Spellslicer[/i], Alewyth's dwarven warhammer [i]Sjondra[/i], Zander's [i]jade cooshee[/i], Wakuren's [i]shield of Cal[/i], and Xandro's [i]Dardolian Lute[/i] - winked out. All of the additional powers she'd been sending from the Dreamlands was instantly drained from the items, weakening them permanently back to their original states. Thurloe ran diagonally away from the other heroes, wanting to get away from any area-of-effect attacks either of these would-be world conquerors might attempt. But he brought [i]Spellslicer[/i] up over his shoulder and never once did his eyes leave those of the Nightmare King. Xandro, still playing the song of inspirational courage on his lute, stepped further to the side, away from the others as well. He was planning on using his bardic song to enhance the attacks of his friends, and there was no reason for him to remain in immediate harm's way for him to do so. Zander cast an [i]Elobar's black tentacles[/i] spell centered between the five dreamstones circling the [i]Dream Gate[/i], catching both the Queen of Dreams and the Nightmare King in the mass of writhing, ebony appendages which rose up from the ground. But the two had crafted their material bodies to be the height of physical perfection, and that included a high level of resistance to spell energy; as a result, none of the grasping tentacles seemed to be able to make contact with either figure, the massive, flaming centaur or the slight, dark-haired beauty. Wakuren brought the bottom of his [i]shield of Cal[/i] down upon the bodies of a few serpents headed his way, slicing them in two but doing very little against the entire swarm as a whole. Alewyth ran away from the swarm, casting a [i]death ward[/i] spell on herself as she did so. And that's when she first noticed a pair of figures staggering into view from the west: drunken orc raiders, by the looks of it, for they swayed as they walked, falchions clenched in their dominant hands. She spent a moment wondering what in the world they were doing here, now of all times, and the viper swarm flowed over her way, as she was the nearest target among their foes. She was once again bitten in multiple locations, but her hearty dwarven constitution once again served her well. The Nightmare King came charging out of the field of waving black tentacles, aimed unerringly at Thurloe. The spellsword just had enough time to raise his shield before the [i]flaming longspear[/i] was upon him, trying to stab him through the gut. Channeling power from his [i]torc of the titans[/i], he swung [i]Spellslicer[/i] down upon the Nightmare King's shoulder, breaking his flaming skin. At the same time, the Queen of Dreams stepped out of the other side of the [i]Elobar's black tentacles[/i] spell field, raising her dreamstaff and pointing it in the general direction of the majority of the heroes. Three wild moogles took form in the Material World, black fur covering their pantherish forms, bat wings rising up from their shoulders, and the tell-tale pom-pom dangling from the sole antenna growing form their forehead being the only real proof of any kind of relationship to the moogle guides who served the Queen of Dreams. Growling, the wild moogles converged upon Alewyth and Zander, but the elf stood close enough to Wakuren that he was under the span of protection offered by the half-orc's [i]magic circle against evil[/i] spell; as summoned creatures, they couldn't advance past the edge of the spell's effect unless Wakuren made the mistake of closing the distance between them first. Seeing Thurloe in combat with the Nightmare King all by himself, Xandro flung the [i]Dardolian Lute[/i] back over his shoulder and raced towards the flaming centaur, pulling his short sword [i]Deathwhisper[/i] from the scabbard he wore on his belt as he did so. He approached the Nightmare King in an arc, setting himself up to attack him from directly behind, while his attention was focused upon Thurloe. Since his [i]Elobar's black tentacles[/i] spell was currently serving no purpose whatsoever, Zander dismissed it - and then immediately cast another one, this one centered such that its area of effect encompassed both the Queen of Dreams and the closest of the three wild moogles. The winged feline was immediately entwined by grasping, rubbery appendages, and this time the Queen's inherent resistance to spells failed her, for she found herself similarly bound. Wakuren ran forward and attacked the Nightmare King with a slam of his [i]shield of Cal[/i], in so doing getting close enough to Xandro that the human bard fell inside his [i]magic circle against evil[/i]. Alewyth, tired beyond belief of snakebites by this time, activated her [i]butterfly brooch[/i] and flew just high enough to be out of range of even the largest of the striking serpents. She cast a [i]searing light[/i] spell on the closest wild moogle, disappointing herself by how little damage the spell seemed to do to the winged panther. Beneath her, the snakes leaped at her and snapped their jaws, but to no avail. And these were now the only serpents still in the area, as the others had all split off and gone their own separate ways once the [i]Dream Gate[/i] had activated. One of the staggering orcs got close enough to Xandro to swing his falchion at the bard, while the other one advanced as well. Surprised by the attack, Xandro spun to face them and got another surprise: the orcs weren't drunk, as he had first thought - they were fast asleep! Apparently the Queen of Dreams, upon seeing her minions refuse to accept her status as the new ruler of this podunk world, had called out to those sleeping nearby, her powers over those caught up in dreams in no way diminished by her journey to the Physical Plane. "I will slay you for your effrontery!" promised the Nightmare King, getting the point of his [i]flaming longspear[/i] past the spellsword's guard and stabbing deep into his upper chest. He roared in triumph as he tried lifting the spear over his head, to cause Thurloe to slide down its length, but with a burst of strength from his magic torc the spellsword pulled himself free before he gave his hated foe the satisfaction of waving him around like a flag. Stepping backwards, he cast an [i]expeditious retreat[/i] spell upon himself, anticipating the possible need to be able to run away faster than the Nightmare King could catch him. The Queen of Dreams managed to disentangle herself from the black tentacles wrapping themselves around her body - fortunately, she had been at the spell effect's very edge - and stepped back, freeing herself completely. Two of her summoned wild moogles threw themselves at Alewyth, claws scratching in fury, while the third likewise pulled himself out of the black tentacles' embrace and went after Zander - only to find himself unable to approach any closer than 10 feet, for the elf was still under the protection of the half-orc's spell. Xandro stabbed [i]Deathwhisper[/i] deep into the Nightmare King's flank, slightly burning his hand in the process but considering it a fair trade on his part. Zander cast a [i]chain lightning[/i] spell with the wild moogle closest to him as the primary target, arcs of electricity striking the other two wild moogles, the Nightmare King, and the remaining viper swarm, the latter of which was slain instantly. And Wakuren raced up, slamming his [i]shield of Cal[/i] into the flaming centaurian form, the attack having the advantage of shielding him from the Nightmare King's flames. Alewyth fluttered away from the attacking wild moogles and cast a [i]dismissal[/i] spell on one of them, hoping to return it immediately to the Dreamlands. However, the feline managed to avoid being forcibly thrust back into his home dimension. And over by Xandro, the sleepwalking orcs swung their falchions at him, neither meeting their marks. (Whether they were more successful in their dreams is unknown.) But over on the other side of the battle area, past the Queen of Dreams, a pair of human sleepwalkers were staggering their way, heeding the Queen's silent call for defenders and worshipers. With his primary target Thurloe having retreated out of reach, the Nightmare King vented his full fury upon the half-orc standing before him. He slammed Wakuren's [i]shield of Cal[/i] to the side with a pair of hooves, allowing his [i]flaming longspear[/i] to stab all the way through the paladin/cleric's armor and poke out the back. Blood spilled from Wakuren's lips as the spear was pulled back out and the Nightmare King roared in triumph. But Thurloe hadn't been running away out of cowardice; he'd made a wide arc and was now once again approaching the Nightmare King from behind, just as he'd done in the Dreamlands when he'd temporarily killed him. The King saw him out of the corner of his eyes and brought the tip of his [i]flaming longspear[/i] slashing out at the spellsword, but then Thurloe finished his maneuver and brought a torc-powered swing of [i]Spellslicer[/i]'s blade cutting deep into his foe's hindquarters. "You seem to like facing your enemies from behind!" observed the Nightmare King with a sneer, pulling back on the cry of pain threatening to escape from his lips. "I just wanted to confirm what I saw from this angle last time," replied Thurloe. "Namely, that you don't have any balls!" The Queen of Dreams frowned at the number of foes the Nightmare King was facing in physical combat by himself. In an effort to even the odds, she raised her dreamstaff again and called forth six black-skinned nightgaunts from the Dreamlands. The faceless gargoyles split up, three making for Thurloe and three heading toward Xandro. The lead nightgaunt managed to strike Xandro with a pair of claws, but the three attacking Thurloe found out her was within the protective bubble provided by Wakuren's [i]magic circle against evil[/i] spell. That one spell was having an abnormally important effect upon this whole battle, for the wild moogle trying to claw off Zander's face found he still couldn't approach the elf - although the other two managed to attack Alewyth just fine. Xandro ducked away from the sleepwalking orcs and then immediately doubled back, catching the Nightmare King off guard - and straight in the space between his two equine front legs, as the centaurian being had turned to try to face Thurloe once again. Xandro wasn't sure what vital organs were positioned there in the area he hit, but it seemed as if the strike was particularly painful, a fact for which the bard/rogue was more than happy to see. Zander cast another [i]chain lightning[/i] spell, choosing one nightgaunt as his primary target and the others as secondaries, along with the orcs, his least favorite wild moogle, and the Nightmare King. He killed the primary nightgaunt and one of the orcs, managing to wound all of the others. And then, to his surprise, the Nightmare King himself, with a look of shock on his face, fell over as well, the spell having overcome his own natural defenses and slain him after all of the other wounds he had taken in this battle. That left the Queen of Dreams as the only remaining original target, and the cooshee dashed off after her, clawing at her shapely leg. Wakuren, barely standing, knew he desperately needed healing, but he called Alewyth over to him with his blood-spattered lips and waited until she was also within range before casting a [i]mass cure light wounds[/i] upon all of the heroes. He wasn't the only one in desperate need of healing by that time, for Alewyth and Thurloe had also taken quite a lot of damage by then. The remaining sleepwalking orc staggered over to Thurloe and swung at him with his falchion, but the spellsword easily avoided the clumsy attack. Ignoring the orc entirely, he brought his bastard sword up over his head and brought it slamming down upon the Nightmare King's neck, severing his head from his body. The flames from his body had died down upon his death, but now with his antlered head having been severed, both pieces of his body started crumbling and blowing away like sand in a sandstorm. The spellsword was disheartened to see the King's [i]flaming longspear[/i] suffer the same fate; he had no formal training in using such a weapon but had looked forward to having it as a trophy signifying the Nightmare King's defeat in any case. "What? [i]NO![/i]" cried out the Queen of Dreams at the death of her co-conspirator; she'd felt certain that the physically perfect mortal bodies they'd formed for their conquest of the Mortal Worlds could not be so easily slain. She stepped back into the center of the [i]Dream Gate[/i] and raised her hands as if in supplication. Immediately, the desert winds started flowing around the area, kicking up sand as the [i]planar gate[/i] to the Dreamlands opened up. However, blocking the entry path into the Dreamlands were Mogo, the dreamwalkers' five moogle dream guides, and Mr. Toad, the latter wearing a bronze battle helmet. The six moogles all held pikes which they struggled to hold upright, pointed out directly in front of them. "I don't [i]think[/i] so, kupo!" replied Mogo, after having seen the betrayal the Queen of Dreams had performed in secretly working in league with the Nightmare King all this time. The moogles weren't entirely effective combatants., but the spike-tipped pikes all aimed in her direction prevented the Queen from trying to push her way into the Dreamlands. Snarling in rage, she turned back to face the dreamwalkers who had turned against her. The wild moogles and nightgaunts were unable to approach the heroes, for they'd scrambled into position such that Wakuren's [i]magic circle against evil[/i] prevented any summoned creatures from getting near enough for them to attack. And the Queen knew that the same would hold true for any other creatures she summoned from the Dreamlands with her dreamstaff. As Zander cast another [i]chain lightning[/i] spell that slew the remaining nightgaunts and wounded the wild moogles - and even herself, as surprising as that was for her - she vowed she'd take them down in physical combat, if that's what it took. Holding her dreamstaff before her like a quarterstaff, she stepped forward towards the heroes. Xandro did likewise, leaving the protection of Wakuren's spell to go meet the would-be conqueror of Armaturia in battle. (Little did she realize Wakuren had cast a [i]protection from evil[/i] spell upon Xandro before he went to go meet the Queen in battle, but the half-orc had noticed her primary means of attack seemed to be summoning creatures from the Dreamlands, and those were easily countered.) But the cooshee was already right there, clawing away at the Queen and ripping part of the [i]gown of protection[/i] she'd fashioned for herself in lieu of armor. Wakuren tried removing her vision with a [i]blindness/deafness[/i] spell, but it fizzled against her magical protection against spell energy. Alewyth summoned a dire lion from the celestial planes, figuring she'd let a summoned monster deal with the summoned monsters that had been plaguing her all this time, and the flame-maned feline leaped into battle with the wild moogles, his first attack ripping the pom-pom antenna from a foe's forehead. It plopped onto the desert sands like an overgrown dandelion. The sleepwalking orc continued its feeble attacks upon Thurloe, and off in the distance another three shambling orcs could be seen, the trio likewise having risen from their beds to answer the call of combat without seeing the need to wake up first. Thurloe once again ignored the orcs and cast a [i]scorching ray[/i] spell at a wild moogle as he ran forward to go face the Queen of Dreams in physical combat with his bastard sword. The Queen stepped back and summoned a quintet of zoogs, surprised that they were likewise unable to get close enough to the spellsword to attack, for they were far enough away from Wakuren that she would have thought they'd slow the spellsword down; she'd obviously failed to notice Thurloe casting the [i]protection from evil[/i] spell upon himself early on in the ongoing battle. The wild moogles pounced on the celestial dire lion, clawing and biting, but the flame-maned feline had a thick pelt that protected him from the worst of the claws and teeth. Zander cast a [i]cone of cold[/i] spell at the wild moogles, slaying one outright and covering the sides of the other two in frost. The zoogs, in the meantime, had discovered the cooshee was not protected from their approach, and swarmed over him, biting him with the hidden fangs hidden beneath their dangling facial appendages. The poor elven dog was soon covered in bites that continued to bleed, but he dutifully pressed on his attacks against the Queen of Dreams, ignoring his own predicament. Xandro reached the Queen of Dreams and slashed at her with [i]Deathwhisper[/i]. As the two remaining wild moogles attacked their leonine foe, Zander cast a [i]haste[/i] spell upon Thurloe, Xandro, and his cooshee. The dog went all-out at the Queen of Dreams in a battle frenzy, while Wakuren cast another [i]mass cure light wounds[/i] spell on everybody. One of the sleepwalking humans had by this time reached close enough to Thurloe to swing at him with his dagger, but the spellsword contemptuously knocked him aside with his shield and continued on towards the Queen of Dreams. Alewyth brought [i]Sjondra[/i] crashing down upon a wild moogle's head; she knew that in doing so she was opening herself up to attacks from the creature in return, but she was tired of these winged panthers by this time and the prospect felt well worth it. Her summoned celestial dire lion slew another wild moogle. But the main battle was in the circle of the [i]Dream Gate[/i], between Xandro, Thurloe, and the cooshee against the Queen of Dreams, who had learned - self-proclaimed goddess or no - she was no match for these mortals when it came to physical combat, for they managed to avoid most of her attacks with her dreamstaff. Xandro dashed in and stabbed at her with [i]Deathwhisper[/i], causing mortal blood to pour down the side of her mortal body, and then Thurloe finished her off with a final blow from [i]Spellslicer[/i], cutting through her dreamstaff and nearly severing her torso in two from the power of his blow. Upon the death of the Queen of Dreams, the sleepwalking orcs and humans all woke up with a start. The closest orc's initial instinct was to attack, but then he realized how many foes he was up against and hurriedly followed the others, who were already returning west at their fastest speeds. The humans looked around them in puzzlement, not yet noticing the Queen's body breaking up and blowing away into the desert sands, both pieces of her sundered dreamstaff doing likewise. The remaining wild moogles and the zoogs were easily slain after that, and the formerly sleepwalking humans banded together and exited the scene backwards, daggers offering whatever safety they could until they got back to their own desert homes. None of them had any idea of what was going on, but they all knew they wanted nothing to do with it. Alewyth and Wakuren cast healing spells on those who needed them (including the cooshee, who had taken half a dozen bleeding zoog-bites by the time the battle was over), and then, after conferring on what to do next, the five dreamwalkers activated the [i]Dream Gate[/i]. The moogles and Mr. Toad put down their pikes and welcomed them in, and Mogo offered to take them to go see the Dragon Council. "That's what they're calling themselves, kupo!" Mogo explained. He led the way down multiple twisting corridors, eventually opening up the doorway which led to the personal dreamscape of the gold dragon Chrysos Arkaurum, this time without the guardian kaiju Hedorah preventing anyone from accessing the dragon's study. As dragons had the ability to alter their dreamscapes at will, the study - which the dreamwalkers had visited before recently - was now twice its normal size, the better to accommodate the large table and the chairs for the humanoid forms of the other four dreaming dragons who had been the unwitting linchpins powering the [i]Dream Gate[/i]. "Please, enter," Chrysos greeted them. "Take a seat, we have much to discuss." Just that easily, the table had expanded enough to seat the five visitors. Looking around, they noticed Princess Caroline and Mr. Toad were nowhere to be seen - the princess was likely now awake in the Mortal World. "We have unearthed a bit of information since we last talked," Chrysos began. "It would seem the Queen of Dreams was a willing part of this charade the whole time. Together with the Nightmare King, they set things into motion such that it became necessary for the five of you to place dreamstones upon the brows of the five of us dragons, so they could create a means by which they were able to cross over into our world." "But why?" demanded Alewyth. "She had everything she could have wanted here, in her own realm!" "She was formed here at the creation of the Dreamlands," Chrysos explained. "It is possible that over the many thousands of centuries, she gradually desired to experience more than she was able to here. For example, are you aware that you lose your sense of smell in the Dreamlands?" Thurloe sniffed, and picked up the scents of dried blood and sweat upon himself and the other four heroes. He was quick to point this out to the smarty-pants elf/dragon/whatever. "Ah, but you are here in your mortal forms, having passed through the [i]Dream Gate[/i]," countered the gold dragon. "The next time your dream-selves enter, see if you can smell anything." "It's true, kupo," added Mogo. "We think the Nightmare King was ultimately the one behind the whole scheme," pointed out Carmen Melodius. "He was more interested in taking solid form and conquering the Mortal Worlds, and he had untold centuries to break down the Queen of Dreams to join him in his mad scheme." "We didn't know anything about it, though, kupo!" insisted Mogo. "She had us convinced the Nightmare King was her sworn enemy, kupo!" added Calliope. Alewyth was quick to reassure the moogles she believed them. "We must now plan a way ahead," continued Chrysos. "The moogles, if they all work together, could easily dream a new Queen of Dreams into existence. However, they are hesitant to do so, fearing the same thing may happen in the millennia to come: a slow seduction to the idea of conquering the Mortal Worlds." "Do you have an alternative?" asked Xandro. "We have a temporary suggestion. The five of us are continuing our sleep for now. There are other dragons throughout the world engaged in their own dragonsleep; we intend to contact them via the Dragonmind and invite them to join this council. The Council of Dragons will oversee the running of the Dreamlands for now, and we'll see how that goes. The question arises of what to do with the five dreamstones on our collective brows, though - do we have them removed, and shut down the [i]Dream Gate?[/i] Or do we keep it open for now, which will entail replacing the five of us with other sleeping dragons as our individual dragonsleep time comes to an end?" Chrysos looked at the heroes expectantly, and Wakuren realized this wasn't just a rhetorical question - he was looking for an answer from them. "I would suggest such a decision be figured out by the Council of Dragons," Wakuren said, looking at the other heroes for confirmation. "The [i]Dream Gate[/i] was apparently only able to allow dreamwalkers like ourselves - and the Queen of Dreams and the Nightmare King, apparently - to pass through. If you deem it advantageous to keep open, then we don't have any objections." "Very well, then we shall leave it open for now," decided Chrysos. "After all, it will be easy enough for us to close it should we decide otherwise; we've already taken the precaution of sending in trusted servants by each of our physical forms, to remove the dreamstones should it become necessary. Now then, let us talk about the decrease in power of your items. I must confess we do not, as of yet, know the means by which the Queen of Dreams was able to channel power into your items there on the Material Plane through the dreamstones. We will continue to experiment, but I fear the loss in power may be permanent - at least for now. We have taken steps, however, to see to it that a suitable reward be generated and presented to you on the Physical Plane. You can expect such a reward to find you in the next few days. You may wish to seek out suitable wizards to enhance your items and try to regain the level of power at which they worked before the Queen took back her dream energies." "Thank you," replied Wakuren. His mind was already coming with what he'd like to have done to the [i]shield of Cal[/i], depending upon how money he had to spend on the project. "Two final things: upon the deaths of the Queen of Dreams and the Nightmare King, all of those trapped in dream comas were awakened instantly. There is no longer any need for you to travel the continent to awaken them, as they are no longer in need of such services." "That doesn't mean you have to stop your dreamwalker training, though - there are still plenty of other things we can teach you, kupo!" interjected Mogo. "You can count on it," replied Zander. Then, turning to Chrysos, the elf said, "You said two things?" "Yes. The Council of Dragons has decided to make one addition to its membership: Princess Caroline Devlin, despite her being a human and not a dragon. She intrigues us: she is quite adept at moving through the dreamscapes, in ways even you five cannot - and all of this without any formal moogle instruction. She is very possibly the 'sorcerer' equivalent of a dreamwalker, picking this all up instinctively." Zander knew exactly what the gold dragon meant, for that was exactly how he cast his own arcane spells. "She bears watching, and can quite possibly teach us all a thing or two - even the moogles - about the Dreamlands." The Council having told them all they needed to at this time, they thanked the five heroes once again for their service to the Dreamlands and the Dragonmind, which was itself a part of the Dreamlands. Mogo led them back to the chamber which housed the Dreamlands link to the [i]Dream Gate[/i], and the five heroes returned back to the Centralia Desert, where a few bloodstained sections of sand and numerous dead snakes were the only reminders of their battle against the conquering forces from the Dreaming World. "Now what?" asked Zander. Wakuren unpacked [i]Hesperna's lamp[/i]. "Well, for now," he replied, "you guys hop back inside and I'll have Nimbus fly us back to meet up with Robin and Scarlie. Then we can decide where we want to go from there." Several days later, the group was riding their various mounts down the streets of a nearby city when they heard a familiar voice. "So, you guys ready for your payment?" called Wangle Turdblossom. The little gnome led the group down a dead-end alleyway, where he pulled a magic doorknob from his pocket and placed it against the back wall, opening a door that hadn't been there before into the Hidden Market. All ten gnomes were there, the largest one, Biggie Rection, standing with his arms crossed and a black scowl on his face. "This is all for you," he grunted, nodding his bearded head over to a pile of stacked coins and gems leaning up against the wall. Just at a quick glance, it looked to Xandro to be as much, if not more, as the entire treasure hoard of the red dragon the lizardfolk fanatics had tried raising into lichdom. "Two hundred thousand pieces of gold," Biggie said with gritted teeth, pronouncing each syllable as if it personally hurt his throat to do so. Not wanting to drag out his discomfort, Alewyth scrambled forward and started tossing the entire collection into the extradimensional candy dish they had received from the gnomish wizard Grimblegrack Fishmelon. "It's all yours," Wangle reiterated. "But feel free to spend any or all of it here with us, if you're looking for something special! Remember, we can't actually create any new magic items ourselves or further enhance any you might already have, but if you're just looking to pick something up we can probably find what you're looking for!" Alewyth assured them they would keep the Gnomish Consortium in mind, but that as of yet none of them had made any concrete decisions about what to do with their shares. (Wakuren didn't contradict her, although now that he knew his fifth would be 40,000 pieces of gold, he knew exactly what he wanted to do to upgrade his [i]shield of Cal[/i]....) "Before you leave," said Humdrum Thundersnore as the five heroes were about to do just that, "I was asked to suggest to you to consult the Council in your dreams tonight." "We'll do so," promised Xandro, wondering if the elderly gnome might possibly be a dreamwalker like them, for the Council to have passed on a message through him. That night, the five dreamwalkers once again found themselves seated at the table of the Council of Dragons. "We have talked it out among ourselves, and decided the five of you are our best non-dragon allies in the Waking World. As such, there is something else we feel we should explain to you, but once again I must swear you all to secrecy: no word of this must pass your lips, for your own safety. Do I have your word?" One by one, each hero gave his or her promise to the gold dragon. "Then you should know that there are no longer any gnomes alive on the surface world." "What? Ridiculous!" scoffed Thurloe. "We just saw ten of them today, and we've met up with plenty of gnomes before!" Alewyth paled. "Did something happen to them--?" she asked, worried about the members of the Gnomish Consortium. Chrysos reassured her at once. "They are perfectly fine," he promised. "They are also not gnomes, but rather dragons in gnome form, as are any other gnomes you might have encountered on the surface world." "Aenus Feysputter?" sputtered Thurloe. "Copper dragon," replied Altum Deepdelver, himself a deep dragon in dwarven guise. "Grimblegrack Fishmelon?" asked Xandro. "Silver dragon, like myself," assured Argentina Quicksilver. "Every dragon, after coming of age, takes on a humanoid form, the better to mingle among the smaller races," explained Chrysos. "Some of us choose to take on gnomish form, the better to honor the first race to whom the dragons taught the ways of magic." "What happened to them?" asked Alewyth. "That, no one knows for sure," admitted Chrysos. "They vanished around two thousand years ago, the victim of a terrible disease that slew them almost instantly. Now only the svirfneblin remain, living deep below the surface, in the Underdark." "We met up with one of them in the Underdark," mentioned Xandro. "We saw her die right before us, too - bleeding from her eyes and ears and nose. It was horrible." "She said, 'deathborn' as she died," Wakuren added. "We're guessing that's the name of the disease." "Very possible," agreed Chrysos. "You have given us some things to ponder upon." Then he reminded them not to mention their knowledge of any gnomes on the surface really being dragons in disguise. "They will not likely take kindly to knowing their secret is known by non-dragons." Xandro could only imagine Biggie Rection's reaction, and swallowed nervously at the thought of Biggie angry with him in particular - the overly large gnome had always kind of bothered the bard. Alewyth assured Chrysos they would keep mum about it and the five took their leave of the Council of Dragons. - - - So, after 60 adventures, the players finally found out their PCs had been played for suckers this whole time. I had told them I owed them an explanation once they saw the Queen in league with the Nightmare King, and once the adventure was over I explained a few things to them. The whole "the Queen was in on it from the start" ploy was the direct result of a comment Dan had made about 15 years ago, when we were all playing through my "Wing Three" campaign. Having been taught AD&D in the First Edition days (as had I), Dan had had the misfortune of playing under an adversarial DM who was always out to screw the PCs over. Dan, not yet used to my non-adversarial DMing style, had made the comment that "he couldn't wait until I threw a patron at them who was secretly the bad guy all along." I filed that away for potential future use, and when designing the broad strokes of this campaign, which I knew would involve waking victims from their dream comas as the PCs traveled the continent, I brushed off the idea and examined it. Finally, I decided it would be a cool thing to try on the players, as I (quite rightly) didn't think they'd expect such a thing from me. They all found it difficult to believe as it happened (even Dan); Vicki had originally been sure the Queen of Dreams was being held as a hostage or under some sort of magical [i]domination[/i] effect, until she kept trying to kill them after they'd slain the Nightmare King. The explanations about the gnomes also caused some other revelations to come to light. The Gnomish Consortium - the ten gnomes who run the Hidden Market - are in fact a band of ten dragons, one each of the five chromatic dragons and one each of the five metallic dragons. Biggie is a red dragon, which explained his disdain for the magic trap in the slain red dragon's hoard, asserting contemptuously that "red dragons don't usually feel the need to stoop to such measures to keep their treasure hoards safe." Also, the whole reason they had involved the PCs to fetch the treasure hoard for them in the first place was because that magical trap on the ceiling wasn't geared towards gnomes, it was geared towards dragons - in fact, the flower-petal shape was made up of ten scales, one from each of the ten main dragon types in the [i]Monster Manual[/i]. And the items they sell to the PCs are all taken from various dragon treasure hoards; dragons would much rather have more coins and gems to roll around in, rather than potions and scrolls and magic items of little use to them. So there were a few "Aha!" moments as I explained stuff. And then, as this had been our 60th adventure, the PCs all leveled up to 13th level at the end of our game session. - - - T-shirt worn: I chose my Dalek "Exterminate!" T-shirt, as that was the desire of the Nightmare King when it came to Thurloe. [/QUOTE]
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