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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 9516316" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 86: NAGA SAGA</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Alewyth Putterpye, dwarf priestess of Aerik 18</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Thurloe Pulver, human fighter 3/wizard 3/spellsword 10/eldritch knight 2</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Wakuren, half-orc cleric of Cal 9/paladin 9</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Xandro Silverstrings, human bard 6/rogue 12</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Zander Quilson, elf sorcerer 18</p><p></p><p>NPC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Beetle Darkcloud, halfling ranger 6</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Robin the Balladeer, human bard 6</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 9 November 2024</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>Wakuren had gotten up early. While Alewyth was preparing her spells so she could summon forth the morning's <em>heroes' feast</em>, the half-orc was walking from room to room in the dilapidated wooden building they had recently taken over as their own, casting <em>make whole</em> spells. He'd noticed that while in its humanoid form, the wood colossus had a sort of self-regenerating property keeping it whole, but it really showed its age - several millennia, if the tales about the drow wizard wars were true - when it reverted back to its manor house mode. After Wakuren's spells (and his travels from room to room while spellcasting) were complete, the building's interior and exterior looked as good as new, although the water-damaged scrolls and tomes were unrecoverable. He looked over his work with a feeling of pride and accomplishment; after all, he was starting to think of the wood colossus as "his," and was even considering naming it "Patience" - or maybe "Penitence."</p><p></p><p>But once the heroes had finished up their morning rituals - devouring the <em>heroes' feast</em> and casting their morning spells, like Zander's <em>mage armor</em> and the <em>endure elements</em> spells that kept Alewyth, Xandro, Robin, and Wakuren comfortable under the hot sun - they saddled up their mounts and started back on the road. They were now an even odder-looking caravan than before, with their halfling guide Beetle riding upon his fastieth mount Yellow-Belly in front, five heroes riding their "bonehead" mounts behind (with Wakuren's dinosaur, Perseverance, trailing behind Robin with his reins tied to the saddle of the young bard's mount Alosaurus), and now with a 65-foot-tall humanoid made of wood trudging behind the rest of the group, with Wakuren sitting in the attic control room giving the construct its verbal orders.</p><p></p><p>There was a hill ahead of them, and cresting it from the opposite direction was a drow merchant in his cart, being pulled by a horse-sized spider. However, while the heroes had gotten used to the idea that the drow often used giant lizards and spiders as riding mounts and beasts of burden, this merchant had never seen a wood colossus, and his immediate reaction was to guide his spider in a perpendicular path that took them off the road and away from the giant wooden monster trailing the dinosaurs and their riders. It took Thurloe, calling out in the drow tongue (he'd decided learning the language was important now that they had a wood colossus that could only be given verbal directions in the drow tongue) that they were friendly, and that the "giant wooden man" wouldn't hurt anyone. To reinforce the spellsword's words, Wakuren gave a friendly wave from the attic window down at the drow merchant, who was finally persuaded that the small caravan with the enormous ambulatory house-man weren't threats. Xandro, who hadn't bothered learning the drow language, cast a <em>tongues</em> spell that would allow him to understand what the merchant said and be able to respond to him in kind.</p><p></p><p>"If you're heading towards Van'kiroth, you'd do well to look out for a strange monster that's been attacking travelers along the stretch of road between here and there," the drow merchant warned. He went on to explain it was a multi-headed dinosaur built like a "much smaller thunderherder," which, once Beetle explained was a seismosaurus, a much larger version of a brontosaurus, they took to mean a hydra. The merchant, a drow named <strong>Vendikov</strong>, went on to explain he'd seen the creature himself not two hours earlier, and while he couldn't be sure how many heads it had (in part due to the creature's orange-brown coloration, which allowed it to blend in rather easily with the natural rock all around), it was no more than six. "Now, this is nothing more than a rumor I've heard," Vendikov continued, "but I've heard the beast can cast spells as easily as any of the drow wizard-kings of old. I didn't see it casting any spells, but as soon as I caught sight of it, we sped away as fast as we could go!"</p><p></p><p>He also warned the heroes there were rumors of a vicious pack of gnoll raiders who had been making sporadic attacks between Van'kiroth and Skel'dorath, the city the heroes had just come from. He was relieved to hear they'd already dealt with the gnolls, and was pleased when they opted to purchase some of his wares - a few bottles of antidote to the drow sleep venom used by many of his race, and several bottles of his finest drow wine. Then they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways, Vendikov towards Skel'dorath and the heroes off to Van'kiroth.</p><p></p><p>It was several hours later that they met up with the hydra.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren, with his higher perch in the wood colossus' control room, was the first to spot it crawling out of a cave in the side of a hill. Almost immediately thereafter, he felt the tingling of a spell effect dancing around in his brain, but he managed to shrug off whatever the intended effects might have been. Had the hydra cast the spell at him? It was impossible for the half-orc to say, as there had been no unusual activity from the hydra that might have been the casting of a spell, although Wakuren admitted to himself he had no idea how a creature without hands would perform the somatic gestures most spells required. Neck movement, perhaps? Who knew? But while he dwelt upon the possibilities, he also called out a warning to his friends below. What he didn't see was a pair of two spell effects quietly form around the hydra: a <em>protection from good</em> spell followed by a <em>mage armor</em> spell, as neither had any flashy effects.</p><p></p><p>Thurloe activated the <em>fly</em> spell in his <em>celestial armor</em> and flew into the air, advancing upon the hydra - it had only four heads, he noticed, less than any hydra he'd heard of before - with his bastard sword <em>Spellslicer</em> out and ready. Behind him, Beetle dutifully grabbed up the reins of Thurloe's pachycephalosaurus mount, Boney, and led him to the back of the group's formation. Unseen by any of the heroes, a <em>shield</em> spell effect quietly snapped into place around the hydra.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren stood up from behind the control desk in the attic - the wood colossus' head when it was in humanoid form - and cast a <em>thunder strike</em> spell at the advancing hydra through the open window before him. The spell hit the four-headed reptile full-force, sending electrical energy coursing down its back as a roll of thunder erupted all around it. However, he kept the wood colossus back for now, as he feared moving it forward would crush one or more of the dinosaur mounts scattered before it.</p><p></p><p>Robin knew well her role in this - as any other - combat; she began playing the song of inspirational courage on her lute as she hung towards the back of the formation, even encouraging her bonehead to drop back behind the wood colossus, out of the way. But then Zander urged his own bonehead forward, so he could cast a <em>sunburst</em> spell directly around the hydra, ensuring the area of effect of his spell was well away from Thurloe. The blast of brilliant light had the intended effect: all four of the hydra's heads were instantly - and permanently - blinded, causing the creature to blink in confusion as it tried to clear its vision.</p><p></p><p>(But that wasn't the end of the spell's effects, for inside the creature's lair, three of the four nagas who had been scrying through necklaces worn by the hydra, allowing them to see what it saw and cast spells through the rubies adorning each piece of jewelry, were likewise struck blind by the elf sorcerer's spell. Of course, none of the heroes were aware of this yet, but Zander's spell would prove to have been the most effective tactic employed during this entire combat.)</p><p></p><p>Petey took off from his master's shoulder and flew towards the hydra, who was now scuttling around in a circle, heading back to the imagined safety of its cavernous lair. Xandro dismounted from his bonehead, Ceph, and activated his <em>ring of invisibility</em> as he cautiously advanced, his rapier <em>Deathwhisper</em> in hand. None of the advancing forces had any advance notice when a <em>fireball</em> spell came hurtling from the hydra into the midst of the heroes who had yet to move that far forward; it exploded in an eruption of flame, engulfing Alewyth upon her mount Lapis; Zander upon his mount Pachy; and Boney, who was caught in the far end of the explosion as he was being led away by Beetle and Yellow-Belly.</p><p></p><p>The <em>fireball</em> spell was followed almost immediately by a <em>lightning bolt</em> spell, also fired blindly from another of the hydra's heads. The electricity of the spell zapped through Alewyth and Lapis, continued on through Zander and Pachy, and then finally through Boney, Yellow-Belly, and Beetle. The fastieth dinosaur, the frailest of the bunch, was slain immediately, causing the halfling to drop Boney's reins as he scrambled to land on his feet as his mount crumpled to the ground beneath him. The three boneheads likewise crashed to the ground, but they were at least only unconscious - but Alewyth and Zander were both thrown from their mounts as well. Beetle had no time for mourning his lost, loyal dinosaur mount, scrambling to the safety inherent in being behind the wood colossus's right leg, where he could no longer be seen by any of the hydra's heads. Unseen by anyone, a <em>resist cold</em> spell sprang into being around the hydra as it slowly retreated back into its lair.</p><p></p><p>Thurloe crossed the distance between himself and the hydra in an instant, casting a <em>dimension door</em> spell from mid-air. He appeared on the ground directly behind the blinded hydra, from which angle he could see several things that hadn't been apparent from farther away: there were five stumps among the creature's four remaining reptilian heads, so it had apparently originally had nine heads and had five of them severed; also, from one of the five neck-stumps protruded the hilt of a greatsword, likely the weapon of someone involved in severing said necks before being snapped up himself and devoured. The spellsword realized the greatsword likely had a magic of its own, for he recalled hearing once a hydra's neck had been severed it needed to be seared by fire, or frozen by cold, based upon the type of hydra it was. Given this one's coloration, he was willing to be it was a pyrohydra - the four remaining heads could likely spit fire like a red dragon! - and he vowed to stay behind it if at all possible.</p><p></p><p>Inside the cavern, a blinded water naga cast a <em>false life</em> spell upon himself, buoying himself up for the combat he feared was fast approaching, as these heroes followed the fleeing hydra into the lair they all shared. Outside, Wakuren cast a <em>mass cure light wounds</em> spell upon his wounded friends and their mounts, awakening the three downed boneheads to consciousness. They staggered to their feet and sought refuge by Beetle, whom they associated with comfort and safety. Robin continued her song of inspirational courage but led her own bonehead mount behind the wood colossus as well.</p><p></p><p>Then Zander, no longer mounted but stepping forward, cast a <em>chain lightning</em> spell at the cautiously retreating hydra. The spell slew the four-headed reptile at once, dropping it just to the side of the cave opening of its lair in the side of the hill. Petey flew forward and spotted the necklaces around the four necks; Xandro and Thurloe spotted them soon thereafter and removed them, the spellsword also yanking out the <em>frost brand greatsword</em> from its neck-stump. Alewyth activated her <em>butterfly brooch</em> and joined them, dropping down into the cave opening. The cave ahead had a set of wide, natural stone steps leading down into a larger cavern with several tunnels branching out in various directions.</p><p></p><p>"See anything?" asked Thurloe, knowing the dwarf's darkvision allowed her to see perfectly fine into the darkness, while he cast a <em>protection from evil</em> spell upon himself, worried that the necklaces the hydra had worn might have some sort of <em>magic jar</em> effect - he didn't want anybody taking over his body! Alewyth explained what she could see to the others as they approached.</p><p></p><p>Inside the lair, in their individual caverns, the blinded guardian naga cast a <em>stoneskin</em> spell upon himself, as the sightless spirit naga cast <em>protection from good</em> and the equally blind water naga protected itself with a <em>mage armor</em> spell. The dark naga, the only one of the four to have resisted being blinded by Zander's <em>sunburst</em> spell, remained hidden behind a stone slab and cast a <em>major image</em> of itself out in the open at the end of the short tunnel leading to its own small cave. Thus prepared as best as possible for the arrival of the group they now wished they'd never spotted on the road, they wondered if they would survive the next few minutes as the heroes stepped into their entry cavern and made their own preparations.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren brought the wood colossus right up to the front of the cavern entrance and had it transform back into its manor structure; it did so, entirely blocking the way into the hydra's lair. (Beetle had opted to stay outside with the boneheads.) After walking down the steps to the front door, Wakuren stepped inside the cave and closed the door behind him. He cast a <em>magic circle against evil</em> spell upon himself, the better to protect against any <em>domination</em> attempts or whatever spell had been cast his way at the beginning of the encounter with the hydra. Thurloe cast a <em>light</em> spell on the end of a sunrod, prompting Alewyth to ask him why he didn't just activate the sunrod itself. "This way I can use it again if I need to," the spellsword replied. The dwarf just shook her head in disbelief.</p><p></p><p>Robin started her song of inspirational courage back up, after the group jointly decided any enemies inside hydra's cave likely already knew they were there. Wakuren cast a <em>mass bear's endurance</em> spell upon the assembled group, including Petey, who had once again found a perch on his master's shoulder. Alewyth cast a <em>magic circle against evil</em> spell upon herself, following her fellow cleric's logic. But the nagas were likewise getting in some last-second spellcasting as the heroes slowly advanced down the natural stone steps at the back of the entry cavern: <em>mage armor</em> spells protecting the guardian and spirit nagas; a <em>resist fire</em> spell further enhancing the dark naga's defenses; and a <em>protection from arrows</em> spell doing likewise for the water naga. Then they got attack spells ready for as soon as any of these intruders got within range.</p><p></p><p>Before the heroes split off into different directions, Thurloe cast a <em>haste</em> spell on the group. Then he took a tunnel on the right, which led to a small cavern with a series of small boulders scattered in the back. Behind these boulders, lying flat for most of his length save for his head, which rose up high enough for the spellsword to see, was the guardian naga, no doubt under the belief he had flattened himself enough to remain undiscovered by the human intruder. But although blinded, the naga could hear Thurloe's footsteps in his private lair and cast the spell he'd readied, a <em>summon swarm</em> that filled the air around Thurloe with bats. But while the bats approached the spellsword, they failed to get close enough to him to touch, shielded as he was by his <em>protection from evil</em> spell, which warded off summoned creatures. The bats, unaware of why they couldn't get close enough to the human to bite, sought elsewhere for their foe, and found it in the next closest creature to them: the guardian naga who had summoned them here in the first place.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren, in the meantime, had come to the bottom of the natural steps and turned left, entering the spirit naga's cave. There was a vertical wall of woven branches propped up against the far wall, and with his inherent darkvision the half-orc could see a serpentine shape crouching behind it. The spirit naga, hearing Wakuren's armor as he approached, cast his readied <em>lightning bolt</em> spell right through the branch-wall, striking the half-orc in the chest. Wakuren instinctively tried to sense any evil in the cave with him, and was not at all surprised to feel its presence in the direction of the sundered wall. He called out the serpent's evil nature to his friends.</p><p></p><p>Robin stayed right where she was in the entry cave, allowing her music to be heard by her friends and companions. But Zander and Petey followed in Wakuren's footsteps and entered the spirit naga's cave right beside the half-orc. The elf cast a <em>cone of cold</em> spell at the spirit naga, coating his scales through the woven branches (and especially through the large hole the reptile had just made in its protective wall). Then Xandro stepped up beside them, whispering his presence to the elf (for he was still invisible at the time), and stepped quietly up to the broken branch-wall, his rapier out and ready to strike.</p><p></p><p>Alewyth went down the steps and continued south, making a left into a side cavern after she saw the shape of a dark naga coiled there at the entrance. She instinctively cast a <em>flame strike</em> spell at it, and was surprised to see it have no apparent effect upon the dark-scaled serpent. But the dark naga's tongue flickered in and out as it said the words to its own spell, although Alewyth wasn't worried about the spell so much as she was about the growl of the dire bear she could swear was coming up directly behind her. But when she spun about, <em>Sjondra</em> at the ready, she saw no such cave bruin approaching. Nor did Thurloe or Robin, for there was no dire bear there at all; Wakuren, Zander, Petey, and Xandro heard nothing (it had just been a <em>ghost sound</em> spell, after all), for the spirit naga had covered his cave with the effects of a <em>silence</em> spell, thinking it would prevent these intruders from casting any spells while he dealt with them the old-fashioned way: with fang and poison. But he hadn't counted on the invisible Xandro standing right beside him; in a flash, the rogue stabbed out with his rapier, piercing the serpent in the side and drawing blood. The attack brought Xandro into full visibility in the light of the elf's <em>everburning torch</em>, although the blinded spirit naga obviously couldn't see him.</p><p></p><p>The guardian naga cast a <em>shield</em> spell upon himself as the bats moved in, and Thurloe cast a <em>slow</em> spell on him for good measure. Over in the spirit naga's cave, Zander backed up out of the cave until he could once again hear, then shut off the <em>silence</em> effect with a targeted <em>greater dispel magic</em> spell. Having done so, those in the cave could once again hear Robin's song coming from the entry cave, inspiring them all to acts of great courage.</p><p></p><p>Xandro, perhaps being so inspired, stabbed the spirit naga to death.</p><p></p><p>"Why are you attacking?" called out the guardian naga, and though Thurloe was uncertain whether the question was being addressed his way or to the bats who were now swooping in and biting the hooded serpent, he opted to answer anyway. "You attacked us first, through your hydra guardian!"</p><p></p><p>"Fair enough," conceded the guardian naga, "but we were just trying to gather together enough magic items to be able to take on the wizard and free our mates!"</p><p></p><p>"Say what now?" queried the puzzled spellsword.</p><p></p><p>The guardian naga ignored the question and asked one of his own. "Are you able to cure the blindness you inflicted upon us?" He knew none of the four nagas had the magic required to do so.</p><p></p><p>"You willing to talk?" demanded Thurloe, lowering the bastard sword he held at the ready to attack if the serpent made the wrong move. In response, the guardian naga called, "Hold off!" to his associates. "We are ceasing combat!"</p><p></p><p>There was no immediate response, for the spirit naga was already dead and the water naga was hiding in his underwater cave-pocket. The dark naga heard the command loud and clear, but ignored it, firing off a <em>hold person</em> spell at Alewyth it hoped would freeze her up long enough for it to swallow her whole; it could always explain the call for a ceasefire had come too late. But the dwarven priestess overcame the naga's spell, and it sighed in disappointment.</p><p></p><p>"Gather up!" Thurloe called to his friends. "These guys are going to explain just what the Hell is going on here!" The heroes converged upon the large cavern at the bottom of the stone steps, as Thurloe and the blind guardian naga - <strong>Pendriclax</strong>, once introductions were made - exited the naga leader's personal lair. He sent the dark naga, <strong>Stormscale</strong>, into the water naga's pool to fetch him forth, and it soon returned with <strong>Subaquianda</strong> in tow. Wakuren, in the meantime, cast a <em>cure minor wounds</em> spell on Pendriclax to stop the bleeding from the multiple bat bites he'd received; the bat swarm had finally dissipated soon after the guardian naga had stopped concentrating on the spell that had brought them forth.</p><p></p><p>"Okay, I think you were about to explain all of this," prompted Thurloe.</p><p></p><p>Pendriclax began his story. "There is a drow wizard who experiments in transmutation magics. He captured six different nagas, including the four of our mates, and merged them into a foul, six-headed beast - an abomination. He has been trying to track us down, to experiment upon us as he did upon them. And we, in turn, have tried to find his lair, that we might attempt to rescue our joined mates from his domination, and possibly find a way to undo what he has done. To do so, we prey upon those who travel the roads between the drow cities, occasionally gaining magical items from those the hydra slays. In this way, we hope to gain some magic item capable of restoring the naga abomination to their original selves."</p><p></p><p>"Ye don't need to be slaying innocents on the road!" exploded Alewyth, her dwarven brogue coming to the forefront in her exasperation. "I kin cast a <em>miracle</em> spell on th' abomination an' restore them in that way!" Wakuren, in the meantime, was surreptitiously scanning the auras of the nagas, seeking out evil. The guardian naga - nope; the water naga - nope; the dark naga - well, what a surprise: as evil as they came.</p><p></p><p>"You can do such a thing?" gasped Pendriclax. "And you would do so, after we attacked you?"</p><p></p><p>"All ye needed t' do was ask," scoffed Alewyth. "Had ye done so, yer spirit naga companion would still be alive t'day." Calming herself down, she thought over her current spell selection and admitted, "Well, I can't actually cast a <em>miracle</em> spell today, but I can have one ready to go for tomorrow."</p><p></p><p>"We still have to find that wizard and the naga abomination first anyway," pointed out Xandro. He didn't feel the least bit bad about having slain the spirit naga, <strong>Rotikulata</strong>, as the serpent had attacked them first.</p><p></p><p>"In the meantime," said Wakuren, approaching the guardian naga and laying his hands gently over the serpent's eyes, "I can heal one of you today of your blindness. The other one" - and here he indicated the water naga with a nod of his head - "will have to wait until tomorrow." But he channeled Cal's healing energy through his hands in the form of a <em>remove blindness</em> spell, and Pendriclax could suddenly see again.</p><p></p><p><Boss!> called Petey telepathically to his master. <We got a snake headed this way!> Zander held up his <em>everburning torch</em> and looked at the entry cave; sure enough, his sharp-eyed pseudodragon familiar had spotted a tiny serpent, not much bigger than a hand's length, crawling across the stone floor of the entry cave. It was small enough to have easily fit between the cave opening and the wooden manor house currently blocking it.</p><p></p><p>"The snake is evil!" warned Wakuren, having detected evil coming from that direction, and the only other being that way was Robin, whom he already knew wasn't the source. But before anyone else could react, Petey went leaping from his master's shoulder and stabbed his stinger into the viper's head, coursing sleep venom into its system. It stopped where it was at once, apparently sound asleep - not that anyone could be sure of that, given its lack of eyelids and its constant stare. But it had stopped all movement, which was a good sign.</p><p></p><p>"Is that the drow wizard, <em>polymorphed</em> or something?" hazarded Robin, stepping away.</p><p></p><p>"Could be," admitted Thurloe. "Or--"</p><p></p><p>"--his familiar!" finished Wakuren, as realization of the possibility hit him.</p><p></p><p>Sure enough, there was a sudden displacement in the middle of the entry cavern as two figures teleported in. The first of these was the drow wizard, although there was something a bit off on his appearance; had the heroes a moment for a closer inspection they would have no doubt come to the realization this was no true drow but a yuan-ti doing his best to pass as a dark elf. The creature beside him had a thick, serpentine body from which branched off six narrower necks, each ending in the distinctive head of a naga: guardian, spirit, dark, water, iridescent, and moonchild. It looked all about it with unblinking eyes, seemingly dazed.</p><p></p><p>"Why, excellent!" declared the wizard <strong>Stassishannas</strong>, seeing the assembled nagas and the heroes. "I see I have finally tracked down the subjects of my next experiment! And some strange humanoids as well - I wonder what I might be able to make out of you!" He smirked over at the naga abomination at his side, and commanded, "Attack them!"</p><p></p><p>The six-headed reptile tried its best, but neither head had full control of the body and it tried slithering off into multiple directions at once, with the end result of it remaining in place and wriggling around a bit. It was no wonder Stassishannas wished to continue his transmutational experiments - this first one was a bit of a disappointment!</p><p></p><p>But Alewyth reacted the quickest of the heroes, throwing an <em>implosion</em> spell at the yuan-ti. There was a moment when it looked as if the spell might not take effect - as with most yuan-ti, the wizard enjoyed a healthy amount of spell resistance - but then his body started warping and compressing, finally imploding into a single point somewhere around his stomach area. Just that quickly, the threat he posed was no more.</p><p></p><p>That left only the naga abomination, but with the wizard no longer there <em>dominating</em> it, it was no longer compelled to obey his commands. "<strong>Vertifrue</strong>!" called out Pendriclax, slithering over to nuzzle his mate's nose with his own. Subaquianda likewise greeted his water naga mate <strong>Deepcurrent</strong> (having to explain his present blindness), as Stormscale nodded briefly to his own mate, <strong>Gloomtongue</strong>. "Where is Rotikulata?" demanded the spirit naga head of the abomination, <strong>Apparandro</strong>. Pendriclax explained the spirit naga's death, and how the dwarf would be able to set everything right the next morning, after she had prayed to her god.</p><p></p><p>And sure enough, the next day, the heroes were able to perform the actions they had agreed upon with Pendriclax in a private meeting the night before. Wakuren cast a <em>remove blindness</em> spell upon Subaquianda, restoring the water naga's sight. Alewyth cast a <em>miracle</em> spell, restoring the six conjoined nagas to their original forms. And then Xandro, Thurloe, and Zander fell upon the evil nagas (the spirit naga and the two dark nagas), slaying them where they stood.</p><p></p><p>"It never sat right with me, joining forces with nagas of such an evil bent," admitted Pendriclax. "But it was in our own best interests to work together, in an attempt to reunite with our captured mates."</p><p></p><p>"Always happy to rid the world of evil," replied Xandro, wiping the blood from <em>Deathwhisper</em> and returning the rapier to its scabbard at his hip.</p><p></p><p>Pendriclax brought the group to the very back of the cavern, where a permanent <em>illusory wall</em> sealed off a side cavern from immediate view. behind that was the nagas' assembled treasures, taken from the victims they had attacked via the hydra's magic necklaces. Piles of various coins, assorted jewelry, and a few bits of magic - a vial of <em>silversheen</em> and the <em>hand of the mage</em> worn by Rotikulata, as well as the headbands linked to the four ruby necklaces the hydra had worn - were turned over to the heroes in reward for their aid. Alewyth placed the treasures inside the extradimensional storage space of the gnomish candy dish she carried among her personal stash from inside <em>Hesperna's lamp</em>. Then Wakuren stepped through the front door of the manor house blocking the way out of the cave, climbed his way up to the attic, and had the wood colossus transform into its humanoid form. Beetle and the boneheads were waiting for them on the other side, having sheltered against the wooden construction for the night. The little halfling had buried poor Yellow-Belly the night before, and now climbed up onto the half-orc's bonehead mount, Perseverance (after getting a boost up by Xandro - the bonehead was a much larger dinosaur than the fastieth Beetle was used to).</p><p></p><p>"We should hit Van'kiroth before sundown!" Beetle called to the rest as they headed west once again.</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>I saw the six-headed naga abomination miniature at a hobby store and immediately decided I needed it, although at the time I had no idea how I'd use it. I printed off a few color pictures of it to give Logan an idea of how it should be painted (he's the mini painter in the family), and he put it off long enough that I eventually had to prompt him I'd be needing it for the next adventure session. But he got it done in time, although he was worried about fighting a monster that could cast six spells at a time (as they'd been up against a four-headed nagahydra before in a previous campaign and it had nearly wiped out the party). But I purposely made this naga abomination substandard, coming up with a simple decision mechanism: on the abomination's turn, I rolled 6d6. If more dice came up either odds or evens, it would get to act normally; if it was a 3-3 tie, the six heads were all sending conflicting messages to the body and it wasted its turn arguing with itself. Little did I know Vicki would take out my yuan-ti wizard with one spell!</p><p></p><p>The players are right now concocting a scheme wherein the expandable ruby necklaces will be placed on the wood colossus's "wrists" amd "elbows" in human form and the headbands that go with them worn by four PC spellcasters, such that they can fire spells from the colossus's arms (in the fashion of Giant Robot from the old "Johnny Sokko" TV show).</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>T-shirt worn: My green dragon shirt, as it was a large reptilian monster, the closest thing I had to a naga abomination.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 9516316, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 86: NAGA SAGA[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Alewyth Putterpye, dwarf priestess of Aerik 18[/INDENT] [INDENT] Thurloe Pulver, human fighter 3/wizard 3/spellsword 10/eldritch knight 2[/INDENT] [INDENT] Wakuren, half-orc cleric of Cal 9/paladin 9[/INDENT] [INDENT] Xandro Silverstrings, human bard 6/rogue 12[/INDENT] [INDENT] Zander Quilson, elf sorcerer 18[/INDENT] NPC Roster: [INDENT]Beetle Darkcloud, halfling ranger 6[/INDENT] [INDENT] Robin the Balladeer, human bard 6[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 9 November 2024 - - - Wakuren had gotten up early. While Alewyth was preparing her spells so she could summon forth the morning's [I]heroes' feast[/I], the half-orc was walking from room to room in the dilapidated wooden building they had recently taken over as their own, casting [I]make whole[/I] spells. He'd noticed that while in its humanoid form, the wood colossus had a sort of self-regenerating property keeping it whole, but it really showed its age - several millennia, if the tales about the drow wizard wars were true - when it reverted back to its manor house mode. After Wakuren's spells (and his travels from room to room while spellcasting) were complete, the building's interior and exterior looked as good as new, although the water-damaged scrolls and tomes were unrecoverable. He looked over his work with a feeling of pride and accomplishment; after all, he was starting to think of the wood colossus as "his," and was even considering naming it "Patience" - or maybe "Penitence." But once the heroes had finished up their morning rituals - devouring the [I]heroes' feast[/I] and casting their morning spells, like Zander's [I]mage armor[/I] and the [I]endure elements[/I] spells that kept Alewyth, Xandro, Robin, and Wakuren comfortable under the hot sun - they saddled up their mounts and started back on the road. They were now an even odder-looking caravan than before, with their halfling guide Beetle riding upon his fastieth mount Yellow-Belly in front, five heroes riding their "bonehead" mounts behind (with Wakuren's dinosaur, Perseverance, trailing behind Robin with his reins tied to the saddle of the young bard's mount Alosaurus), and now with a 65-foot-tall humanoid made of wood trudging behind the rest of the group, with Wakuren sitting in the attic control room giving the construct its verbal orders. There was a hill ahead of them, and cresting it from the opposite direction was a drow merchant in his cart, being pulled by a horse-sized spider. However, while the heroes had gotten used to the idea that the drow often used giant lizards and spiders as riding mounts and beasts of burden, this merchant had never seen a wood colossus, and his immediate reaction was to guide his spider in a perpendicular path that took them off the road and away from the giant wooden monster trailing the dinosaurs and their riders. It took Thurloe, calling out in the drow tongue (he'd decided learning the language was important now that they had a wood colossus that could only be given verbal directions in the drow tongue) that they were friendly, and that the "giant wooden man" wouldn't hurt anyone. To reinforce the spellsword's words, Wakuren gave a friendly wave from the attic window down at the drow merchant, who was finally persuaded that the small caravan with the enormous ambulatory house-man weren't threats. Xandro, who hadn't bothered learning the drow language, cast a [I]tongues[/I] spell that would allow him to understand what the merchant said and be able to respond to him in kind. "If you're heading towards Van'kiroth, you'd do well to look out for a strange monster that's been attacking travelers along the stretch of road between here and there," the drow merchant warned. He went on to explain it was a multi-headed dinosaur built like a "much smaller thunderherder," which, once Beetle explained was a seismosaurus, a much larger version of a brontosaurus, they took to mean a hydra. The merchant, a drow named [B]Vendikov[/B], went on to explain he'd seen the creature himself not two hours earlier, and while he couldn't be sure how many heads it had (in part due to the creature's orange-brown coloration, which allowed it to blend in rather easily with the natural rock all around), it was no more than six. "Now, this is nothing more than a rumor I've heard," Vendikov continued, "but I've heard the beast can cast spells as easily as any of the drow wizard-kings of old. I didn't see it casting any spells, but as soon as I caught sight of it, we sped away as fast as we could go!" He also warned the heroes there were rumors of a vicious pack of gnoll raiders who had been making sporadic attacks between Van'kiroth and Skel'dorath, the city the heroes had just come from. He was relieved to hear they'd already dealt with the gnolls, and was pleased when they opted to purchase some of his wares - a few bottles of antidote to the drow sleep venom used by many of his race, and several bottles of his finest drow wine. Then they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways, Vendikov towards Skel'dorath and the heroes off to Van'kiroth. It was several hours later that they met up with the hydra. Wakuren, with his higher perch in the wood colossus' control room, was the first to spot it crawling out of a cave in the side of a hill. Almost immediately thereafter, he felt the tingling of a spell effect dancing around in his brain, but he managed to shrug off whatever the intended effects might have been. Had the hydra cast the spell at him? It was impossible for the half-orc to say, as there had been no unusual activity from the hydra that might have been the casting of a spell, although Wakuren admitted to himself he had no idea how a creature without hands would perform the somatic gestures most spells required. Neck movement, perhaps? Who knew? But while he dwelt upon the possibilities, he also called out a warning to his friends below. What he didn't see was a pair of two spell effects quietly form around the hydra: a [I]protection from good[/I] spell followed by a [I]mage armor[/I] spell, as neither had any flashy effects. Thurloe activated the [I]fly[/I] spell in his [I]celestial armor[/I] and flew into the air, advancing upon the hydra - it had only four heads, he noticed, less than any hydra he'd heard of before - with his bastard sword [I]Spellslicer[/I] out and ready. Behind him, Beetle dutifully grabbed up the reins of Thurloe's pachycephalosaurus mount, Boney, and led him to the back of the group's formation. Unseen by any of the heroes, a [I]shield[/I] spell effect quietly snapped into place around the hydra. Wakuren stood up from behind the control desk in the attic - the wood colossus' head when it was in humanoid form - and cast a [I]thunder strike[/I] spell at the advancing hydra through the open window before him. The spell hit the four-headed reptile full-force, sending electrical energy coursing down its back as a roll of thunder erupted all around it. However, he kept the wood colossus back for now, as he feared moving it forward would crush one or more of the dinosaur mounts scattered before it. Robin knew well her role in this - as any other - combat; she began playing the song of inspirational courage on her lute as she hung towards the back of the formation, even encouraging her bonehead to drop back behind the wood colossus, out of the way. But then Zander urged his own bonehead forward, so he could cast a [I]sunburst[/I] spell directly around the hydra, ensuring the area of effect of his spell was well away from Thurloe. The blast of brilliant light had the intended effect: all four of the hydra's heads were instantly - and permanently - blinded, causing the creature to blink in confusion as it tried to clear its vision. (But that wasn't the end of the spell's effects, for inside the creature's lair, three of the four nagas who had been scrying through necklaces worn by the hydra, allowing them to see what it saw and cast spells through the rubies adorning each piece of jewelry, were likewise struck blind by the elf sorcerer's spell. Of course, none of the heroes were aware of this yet, but Zander's spell would prove to have been the most effective tactic employed during this entire combat.) Petey took off from his master's shoulder and flew towards the hydra, who was now scuttling around in a circle, heading back to the imagined safety of its cavernous lair. Xandro dismounted from his bonehead, Ceph, and activated his [I]ring of invisibility[/I] as he cautiously advanced, his rapier [I]Deathwhisper[/I] in hand. None of the advancing forces had any advance notice when a [I]fireball[/I] spell came hurtling from the hydra into the midst of the heroes who had yet to move that far forward; it exploded in an eruption of flame, engulfing Alewyth upon her mount Lapis; Zander upon his mount Pachy; and Boney, who was caught in the far end of the explosion as he was being led away by Beetle and Yellow-Belly. The [I]fireball[/I] spell was followed almost immediately by a [I]lightning bolt[/I] spell, also fired blindly from another of the hydra's heads. The electricity of the spell zapped through Alewyth and Lapis, continued on through Zander and Pachy, and then finally through Boney, Yellow-Belly, and Beetle. The fastieth dinosaur, the frailest of the bunch, was slain immediately, causing the halfling to drop Boney's reins as he scrambled to land on his feet as his mount crumpled to the ground beneath him. The three boneheads likewise crashed to the ground, but they were at least only unconscious - but Alewyth and Zander were both thrown from their mounts as well. Beetle had no time for mourning his lost, loyal dinosaur mount, scrambling to the safety inherent in being behind the wood colossus's right leg, where he could no longer be seen by any of the hydra's heads. Unseen by anyone, a [I]resist cold[/I] spell sprang into being around the hydra as it slowly retreated back into its lair. Thurloe crossed the distance between himself and the hydra in an instant, casting a [I]dimension door[/I] spell from mid-air. He appeared on the ground directly behind the blinded hydra, from which angle he could see several things that hadn't been apparent from farther away: there were five stumps among the creature's four remaining reptilian heads, so it had apparently originally had nine heads and had five of them severed; also, from one of the five neck-stumps protruded the hilt of a greatsword, likely the weapon of someone involved in severing said necks before being snapped up himself and devoured. The spellsword realized the greatsword likely had a magic of its own, for he recalled hearing once a hydra's neck had been severed it needed to be seared by fire, or frozen by cold, based upon the type of hydra it was. Given this one's coloration, he was willing to be it was a pyrohydra - the four remaining heads could likely spit fire like a red dragon! - and he vowed to stay behind it if at all possible. Inside the cavern, a blinded water naga cast a [I]false life[/I] spell upon himself, buoying himself up for the combat he feared was fast approaching, as these heroes followed the fleeing hydra into the lair they all shared. Outside, Wakuren cast a [I]mass cure light wounds[/I] spell upon his wounded friends and their mounts, awakening the three downed boneheads to consciousness. They staggered to their feet and sought refuge by Beetle, whom they associated with comfort and safety. Robin continued her song of inspirational courage but led her own bonehead mount behind the wood colossus as well. Then Zander, no longer mounted but stepping forward, cast a [I]chain lightning[/I] spell at the cautiously retreating hydra. The spell slew the four-headed reptile at once, dropping it just to the side of the cave opening of its lair in the side of the hill. Petey flew forward and spotted the necklaces around the four necks; Xandro and Thurloe spotted them soon thereafter and removed them, the spellsword also yanking out the [I]frost brand greatsword[/I] from its neck-stump. Alewyth activated her [I]butterfly brooch[/I] and joined them, dropping down into the cave opening. The cave ahead had a set of wide, natural stone steps leading down into a larger cavern with several tunnels branching out in various directions. "See anything?" asked Thurloe, knowing the dwarf's darkvision allowed her to see perfectly fine into the darkness, while he cast a [I]protection from evil[/I] spell upon himself, worried that the necklaces the hydra had worn might have some sort of [I]magic jar[/I] effect - he didn't want anybody taking over his body! Alewyth explained what she could see to the others as they approached. Inside the lair, in their individual caverns, the blinded guardian naga cast a [I]stoneskin[/I] spell upon himself, as the sightless spirit naga cast [I]protection from good[/I] and the equally blind water naga protected itself with a [I]mage armor[/I] spell. The dark naga, the only one of the four to have resisted being blinded by Zander's [I]sunburst[/I] spell, remained hidden behind a stone slab and cast a [I]major image[/I] of itself out in the open at the end of the short tunnel leading to its own small cave. Thus prepared as best as possible for the arrival of the group they now wished they'd never spotted on the road, they wondered if they would survive the next few minutes as the heroes stepped into their entry cavern and made their own preparations. Wakuren brought the wood colossus right up to the front of the cavern entrance and had it transform back into its manor structure; it did so, entirely blocking the way into the hydra's lair. (Beetle had opted to stay outside with the boneheads.) After walking down the steps to the front door, Wakuren stepped inside the cave and closed the door behind him. He cast a [I]magic circle against evil[/I] spell upon himself, the better to protect against any [I]domination[/I] attempts or whatever spell had been cast his way at the beginning of the encounter with the hydra. Thurloe cast a [I]light[/I] spell on the end of a sunrod, prompting Alewyth to ask him why he didn't just activate the sunrod itself. "This way I can use it again if I need to," the spellsword replied. The dwarf just shook her head in disbelief. Robin started her song of inspirational courage back up, after the group jointly decided any enemies inside hydra's cave likely already knew they were there. Wakuren cast a [I]mass bear's endurance[/I] spell upon the assembled group, including Petey, who had once again found a perch on his master's shoulder. Alewyth cast a [I]magic circle against evil[/I] spell upon herself, following her fellow cleric's logic. But the nagas were likewise getting in some last-second spellcasting as the heroes slowly advanced down the natural stone steps at the back of the entry cavern: [I]mage armor[/I] spells protecting the guardian and spirit nagas; a [I]resist fire[/I] spell further enhancing the dark naga's defenses; and a [I]protection from arrows[/I] spell doing likewise for the water naga. Then they got attack spells ready for as soon as any of these intruders got within range. Before the heroes split off into different directions, Thurloe cast a [I]haste[/I] spell on the group. Then he took a tunnel on the right, which led to a small cavern with a series of small boulders scattered in the back. Behind these boulders, lying flat for most of his length save for his head, which rose up high enough for the spellsword to see, was the guardian naga, no doubt under the belief he had flattened himself enough to remain undiscovered by the human intruder. But although blinded, the naga could hear Thurloe's footsteps in his private lair and cast the spell he'd readied, a [I]summon swarm[/I] that filled the air around Thurloe with bats. But while the bats approached the spellsword, they failed to get close enough to him to touch, shielded as he was by his [I]protection from evil[/I] spell, which warded off summoned creatures. The bats, unaware of why they couldn't get close enough to the human to bite, sought elsewhere for their foe, and found it in the next closest creature to them: the guardian naga who had summoned them here in the first place. Wakuren, in the meantime, had come to the bottom of the natural steps and turned left, entering the spirit naga's cave. There was a vertical wall of woven branches propped up against the far wall, and with his inherent darkvision the half-orc could see a serpentine shape crouching behind it. The spirit naga, hearing Wakuren's armor as he approached, cast his readied [I]lightning bolt[/I] spell right through the branch-wall, striking the half-orc in the chest. Wakuren instinctively tried to sense any evil in the cave with him, and was not at all surprised to feel its presence in the direction of the sundered wall. He called out the serpent's evil nature to his friends. Robin stayed right where she was in the entry cave, allowing her music to be heard by her friends and companions. But Zander and Petey followed in Wakuren's footsteps and entered the spirit naga's cave right beside the half-orc. The elf cast a [I]cone of cold[/I] spell at the spirit naga, coating his scales through the woven branches (and especially through the large hole the reptile had just made in its protective wall). Then Xandro stepped up beside them, whispering his presence to the elf (for he was still invisible at the time), and stepped quietly up to the broken branch-wall, his rapier out and ready to strike. Alewyth went down the steps and continued south, making a left into a side cavern after she saw the shape of a dark naga coiled there at the entrance. She instinctively cast a [I]flame strike[/I] spell at it, and was surprised to see it have no apparent effect upon the dark-scaled serpent. But the dark naga's tongue flickered in and out as it said the words to its own spell, although Alewyth wasn't worried about the spell so much as she was about the growl of the dire bear she could swear was coming up directly behind her. But when she spun about, [I]Sjondra[/I] at the ready, she saw no such cave bruin approaching. Nor did Thurloe or Robin, for there was no dire bear there at all; Wakuren, Zander, Petey, and Xandro heard nothing (it had just been a [I]ghost sound[/I] spell, after all), for the spirit naga had covered his cave with the effects of a [I]silence[/I] spell, thinking it would prevent these intruders from casting any spells while he dealt with them the old-fashioned way: with fang and poison. But he hadn't counted on the invisible Xandro standing right beside him; in a flash, the rogue stabbed out with his rapier, piercing the serpent in the side and drawing blood. The attack brought Xandro into full visibility in the light of the elf's [I]everburning torch[/I], although the blinded spirit naga obviously couldn't see him. The guardian naga cast a [I]shield[/I] spell upon himself as the bats moved in, and Thurloe cast a [I]slow[/I] spell on him for good measure. Over in the spirit naga's cave, Zander backed up out of the cave until he could once again hear, then shut off the [I]silence[/I] effect with a targeted [I]greater dispel magic[/I] spell. Having done so, those in the cave could once again hear Robin's song coming from the entry cave, inspiring them all to acts of great courage. Xandro, perhaps being so inspired, stabbed the spirit naga to death. "Why are you attacking?" called out the guardian naga, and though Thurloe was uncertain whether the question was being addressed his way or to the bats who were now swooping in and biting the hooded serpent, he opted to answer anyway. "You attacked us first, through your hydra guardian!" "Fair enough," conceded the guardian naga, "but we were just trying to gather together enough magic items to be able to take on the wizard and free our mates!" "Say what now?" queried the puzzled spellsword. The guardian naga ignored the question and asked one of his own. "Are you able to cure the blindness you inflicted upon us?" He knew none of the four nagas had the magic required to do so. "You willing to talk?" demanded Thurloe, lowering the bastard sword he held at the ready to attack if the serpent made the wrong move. In response, the guardian naga called, "Hold off!" to his associates. "We are ceasing combat!" There was no immediate response, for the spirit naga was already dead and the water naga was hiding in his underwater cave-pocket. The dark naga heard the command loud and clear, but ignored it, firing off a [I]hold person[/I] spell at Alewyth it hoped would freeze her up long enough for it to swallow her whole; it could always explain the call for a ceasefire had come too late. But the dwarven priestess overcame the naga's spell, and it sighed in disappointment. "Gather up!" Thurloe called to his friends. "These guys are going to explain just what the Hell is going on here!" The heroes converged upon the large cavern at the bottom of the stone steps, as Thurloe and the blind guardian naga - [B]Pendriclax[/B], once introductions were made - exited the naga leader's personal lair. He sent the dark naga, [B]Stormscale[/B], into the water naga's pool to fetch him forth, and it soon returned with [B]Subaquianda[/B] in tow. Wakuren, in the meantime, cast a [I]cure minor wounds[/I] spell on Pendriclax to stop the bleeding from the multiple bat bites he'd received; the bat swarm had finally dissipated soon after the guardian naga had stopped concentrating on the spell that had brought them forth. "Okay, I think you were about to explain all of this," prompted Thurloe. Pendriclax began his story. "There is a drow wizard who experiments in transmutation magics. He captured six different nagas, including the four of our mates, and merged them into a foul, six-headed beast - an abomination. He has been trying to track us down, to experiment upon us as he did upon them. And we, in turn, have tried to find his lair, that we might attempt to rescue our joined mates from his domination, and possibly find a way to undo what he has done. To do so, we prey upon those who travel the roads between the drow cities, occasionally gaining magical items from those the hydra slays. In this way, we hope to gain some magic item capable of restoring the naga abomination to their original selves." "Ye don't need to be slaying innocents on the road!" exploded Alewyth, her dwarven brogue coming to the forefront in her exasperation. "I kin cast a [I]miracle[/I] spell on th' abomination an' restore them in that way!" Wakuren, in the meantime, was surreptitiously scanning the auras of the nagas, seeking out evil. The guardian naga - nope; the water naga - nope; the dark naga - well, what a surprise: as evil as they came. "You can do such a thing?" gasped Pendriclax. "And you would do so, after we attacked you?" "All ye needed t' do was ask," scoffed Alewyth. "Had ye done so, yer spirit naga companion would still be alive t'day." Calming herself down, she thought over her current spell selection and admitted, "Well, I can't actually cast a [I]miracle[/I] spell today, but I can have one ready to go for tomorrow." "We still have to find that wizard and the naga abomination first anyway," pointed out Xandro. He didn't feel the least bit bad about having slain the spirit naga, [B]Rotikulata[/B], as the serpent had attacked them first. "In the meantime," said Wakuren, approaching the guardian naga and laying his hands gently over the serpent's eyes, "I can heal one of you today of your blindness. The other one" - and here he indicated the water naga with a nod of his head - "will have to wait until tomorrow." But he channeled Cal's healing energy through his hands in the form of a [I]remove blindness[/I] spell, and Pendriclax could suddenly see again. <Boss!> called Petey telepathically to his master. <We got a snake headed this way!> Zander held up his [I]everburning torch[/I] and looked at the entry cave; sure enough, his sharp-eyed pseudodragon familiar had spotted a tiny serpent, not much bigger than a hand's length, crawling across the stone floor of the entry cave. It was small enough to have easily fit between the cave opening and the wooden manor house currently blocking it. "The snake is evil!" warned Wakuren, having detected evil coming from that direction, and the only other being that way was Robin, whom he already knew wasn't the source. But before anyone else could react, Petey went leaping from his master's shoulder and stabbed his stinger into the viper's head, coursing sleep venom into its system. It stopped where it was at once, apparently sound asleep - not that anyone could be sure of that, given its lack of eyelids and its constant stare. But it had stopped all movement, which was a good sign. "Is that the drow wizard, [I]polymorphed[/I] or something?" hazarded Robin, stepping away. "Could be," admitted Thurloe. "Or--" "--his familiar!" finished Wakuren, as realization of the possibility hit him. Sure enough, there was a sudden displacement in the middle of the entry cavern as two figures teleported in. The first of these was the drow wizard, although there was something a bit off on his appearance; had the heroes a moment for a closer inspection they would have no doubt come to the realization this was no true drow but a yuan-ti doing his best to pass as a dark elf. The creature beside him had a thick, serpentine body from which branched off six narrower necks, each ending in the distinctive head of a naga: guardian, spirit, dark, water, iridescent, and moonchild. It looked all about it with unblinking eyes, seemingly dazed. "Why, excellent!" declared the wizard [B]Stassishannas[/B], seeing the assembled nagas and the heroes. "I see I have finally tracked down the subjects of my next experiment! And some strange humanoids as well - I wonder what I might be able to make out of you!" He smirked over at the naga abomination at his side, and commanded, "Attack them!" The six-headed reptile tried its best, but neither head had full control of the body and it tried slithering off into multiple directions at once, with the end result of it remaining in place and wriggling around a bit. It was no wonder Stassishannas wished to continue his transmutational experiments - this first one was a bit of a disappointment! But Alewyth reacted the quickest of the heroes, throwing an [I]implosion[/I] spell at the yuan-ti. There was a moment when it looked as if the spell might not take effect - as with most yuan-ti, the wizard enjoyed a healthy amount of spell resistance - but then his body started warping and compressing, finally imploding into a single point somewhere around his stomach area. Just that quickly, the threat he posed was no more. That left only the naga abomination, but with the wizard no longer there [I]dominating[/I] it, it was no longer compelled to obey his commands. "[B]Vertifrue[/B]!" called out Pendriclax, slithering over to nuzzle his mate's nose with his own. Subaquianda likewise greeted his water naga mate [B]Deepcurrent[/B] (having to explain his present blindness), as Stormscale nodded briefly to his own mate, [B]Gloomtongue[/B]. "Where is Rotikulata?" demanded the spirit naga head of the abomination, [B]Apparandro[/B]. Pendriclax explained the spirit naga's death, and how the dwarf would be able to set everything right the next morning, after she had prayed to her god. And sure enough, the next day, the heroes were able to perform the actions they had agreed upon with Pendriclax in a private meeting the night before. Wakuren cast a [I]remove blindness[/I] spell upon Subaquianda, restoring the water naga's sight. Alewyth cast a [I]miracle[/I] spell, restoring the six conjoined nagas to their original forms. And then Xandro, Thurloe, and Zander fell upon the evil nagas (the spirit naga and the two dark nagas), slaying them where they stood. "It never sat right with me, joining forces with nagas of such an evil bent," admitted Pendriclax. "But it was in our own best interests to work together, in an attempt to reunite with our captured mates." "Always happy to rid the world of evil," replied Xandro, wiping the blood from [I]Deathwhisper[/I] and returning the rapier to its scabbard at his hip. Pendriclax brought the group to the very back of the cavern, where a permanent [I]illusory wall[/I] sealed off a side cavern from immediate view. behind that was the nagas' assembled treasures, taken from the victims they had attacked via the hydra's magic necklaces. Piles of various coins, assorted jewelry, and a few bits of magic - a vial of [I]silversheen[/I] and the [I]hand of the mage[/I] worn by Rotikulata, as well as the headbands linked to the four ruby necklaces the hydra had worn - were turned over to the heroes in reward for their aid. Alewyth placed the treasures inside the extradimensional storage space of the gnomish candy dish she carried among her personal stash from inside [I]Hesperna's lamp[/I]. Then Wakuren stepped through the front door of the manor house blocking the way out of the cave, climbed his way up to the attic, and had the wood colossus transform into its humanoid form. Beetle and the boneheads were waiting for them on the other side, having sheltered against the wooden construction for the night. The little halfling had buried poor Yellow-Belly the night before, and now climbed up onto the half-orc's bonehead mount, Perseverance (after getting a boost up by Xandro - the bonehead was a much larger dinosaur than the fastieth Beetle was used to). "We should hit Van'kiroth before sundown!" Beetle called to the rest as they headed west once again. - - - I saw the six-headed naga abomination miniature at a hobby store and immediately decided I needed it, although at the time I had no idea how I'd use it. I printed off a few color pictures of it to give Logan an idea of how it should be painted (he's the mini painter in the family), and he put it off long enough that I eventually had to prompt him I'd be needing it for the next adventure session. But he got it done in time, although he was worried about fighting a monster that could cast six spells at a time (as they'd been up against a four-headed nagahydra before in a previous campaign and it had nearly wiped out the party). But I purposely made this naga abomination substandard, coming up with a simple decision mechanism: on the abomination's turn, I rolled 6d6. If more dice came up either odds or evens, it would get to act normally; if it was a 3-3 tie, the six heads were all sending conflicting messages to the body and it wasted its turn arguing with itself. Little did I know Vicki would take out my yuan-ti wizard with one spell! The players are right now concocting a scheme wherein the expandable ruby necklaces will be placed on the wood colossus's "wrists" amd "elbows" in human form and the headbands that go with them worn by four PC spellcasters, such that they can fire spells from the colossus's arms (in the fashion of Giant Robot from the old "Johnny Sokko" TV show). - - - T-shirt worn: My green dragon shirt, as it was a large reptilian monster, the closest thing I had to a naga abomination. [/QUOTE]
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