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The VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Droid101's Story Hour, "Of Gods and Devils" Updated 10/12!
- Thread starter Droid101
- Start date
Droid101
First Post
The scrying mirror swirled and an image appeared. Adlai looked on with Bink over his shoulder. A large group of seemingly random humanoids appeared, marching over some barren looking ground.
Bink could see clearly that Korbadur, the one they had scryed, was an ogre-mage; his small ivory horns prominent on his head. The rest of his band of near 100 was comprised of ogres, orcs, humans, hobgoblins, and the like. A fairly mish-mashed group.
Bink studied the area around the marching soldiers carefully, so that he could teleport Eltharion, Grog and himself there when they were ready.
“Hm, I have a crazy idea…” Bink says, Adlai looking on.
“And what is that?” Adlai asked.
“The other guys won’t be ready until tomorrow. I think I’ll go harass them right now,” Bink has a gleam in his eye that can only be described as, well, insane.
“You sure you’ll be okay?” Adlai is only slightly concerned.
“Yes,” Bink casts fly, haste and improved invisibility on himself. He then casts teleport and arrives well behind the marching force. He takes to the air and flies over the top of the group.
The area around them looks like a great empty basin; water used to be here, but it’s been so long that it’s just a salty-flatland.
He flew near a couple of humans that were walking. They had strange symbols on their armor—grinning human skulls. Bink made a note of that and listened to their conversation.
“How difficult will it be to break in, anyway?” a cloaked half-elf asks.
“Not sure. They already have a force there, so hopefully some of the cultists should be cleared out,” a larger human responds.
“I hope I don’t have to get my hands too dirty…” the half-elf sneers.
Bink leaves the conversation at that.
He flew over the leader of the group, Korbadur the ogre-mage. He got ready, and let loose. A cone of cold followed by a fireball. Many ogres dove out of the way. Several forms fell to the powerful blasts.
“Right there!” Korbadur called out, pointing about where Bink was floating. One of the humans cast a spell, and Bink appeared.
“Uh oh,” Bink didn’t waste time, and teleported back home immediately. Adlai was watching through the scrying mirror, still.
“Nice shots,” Adlai says approvingly.
“Yeah. Well, I think we’re going to wait a bit before going after them. They seem to be entering some kind of conflict, so hopefully that will thin their numbers, and we can follow in and mop up,” Bink says.
“Sounds like a good plan,” Adlai says, bidding him goodbye. “Try not to be gone too long, if the dark elves are really looking to expand from the dwarven stronghold, then we might be a target here in Brunswick. Considering what those dark elves said that were trying to kill the king.”
“We’ll make it quick,” and Bink is off. He lets Eltharion and Grog know what happened, and they prepare to leave in a couple of days.
Bink looks up some information on ogre-mages from the castle library.
“Eltharion, make a couple of cold resistance scrolls, will you?” Bink asks.
“Okay,” Eltharion goes to work. Grog relaxes for a couple of days while Bink and Eltharion prepare.
They gather in the meeting room of the castle.
Bink casts teleport; Eltharion and Grog are swept through the plane to the salt flats. Eltharion immediately goes to work, easily finding the large group’s tracks, and following them.
They don’t travel too fast, believing that Iuz’s forces are meeting resistance anyway.
“So you really think they’ll be almost destroyed when we get there?” Eltharion asks.
“Well, I heard them talking about having to fight cultists or something,” Bink replies.
“Hope we don’t run into too much trouble,” Eltharion says.
They follow the tracks for about a day. That evening, they see what looks like a bunch of standing stones. They approach, and see that it is many arches in a circular pattern. The first circle is wide, almost a mile in diameter. Then each circle of standing stones gets progressively smaller, until they are standing in a circle of eight. Signs of combat are all around. Littered weapons, burn marks, dried blood.
“Looks like we missed the party,” Bink says. Two of the standing stone arches are are shimmering inside, like a portal.
“Ready?” Eltharion asks Bink and Grog.
“Let’s go,” Grog squeezes the handle of his new katana tightly.
How will Tovag Baragu treat the Heroes? Can three of them hope to defeat Iuz? This and more, next time.
Bink could see clearly that Korbadur, the one they had scryed, was an ogre-mage; his small ivory horns prominent on his head. The rest of his band of near 100 was comprised of ogres, orcs, humans, hobgoblins, and the like. A fairly mish-mashed group.
Bink studied the area around the marching soldiers carefully, so that he could teleport Eltharion, Grog and himself there when they were ready.
“Hm, I have a crazy idea…” Bink says, Adlai looking on.
“And what is that?” Adlai asked.
“The other guys won’t be ready until tomorrow. I think I’ll go harass them right now,” Bink has a gleam in his eye that can only be described as, well, insane.
“You sure you’ll be okay?” Adlai is only slightly concerned.
“Yes,” Bink casts fly, haste and improved invisibility on himself. He then casts teleport and arrives well behind the marching force. He takes to the air and flies over the top of the group.
The area around them looks like a great empty basin; water used to be here, but it’s been so long that it’s just a salty-flatland.
He flew near a couple of humans that were walking. They had strange symbols on their armor—grinning human skulls. Bink made a note of that and listened to their conversation.
“How difficult will it be to break in, anyway?” a cloaked half-elf asks.
“Not sure. They already have a force there, so hopefully some of the cultists should be cleared out,” a larger human responds.
“I hope I don’t have to get my hands too dirty…” the half-elf sneers.
Bink leaves the conversation at that.
He flew over the leader of the group, Korbadur the ogre-mage. He got ready, and let loose. A cone of cold followed by a fireball. Many ogres dove out of the way. Several forms fell to the powerful blasts.
“Right there!” Korbadur called out, pointing about where Bink was floating. One of the humans cast a spell, and Bink appeared.
“Uh oh,” Bink didn’t waste time, and teleported back home immediately. Adlai was watching through the scrying mirror, still.
“Nice shots,” Adlai says approvingly.
“Yeah. Well, I think we’re going to wait a bit before going after them. They seem to be entering some kind of conflict, so hopefully that will thin their numbers, and we can follow in and mop up,” Bink says.
“Sounds like a good plan,” Adlai says, bidding him goodbye. “Try not to be gone too long, if the dark elves are really looking to expand from the dwarven stronghold, then we might be a target here in Brunswick. Considering what those dark elves said that were trying to kill the king.”
“We’ll make it quick,” and Bink is off. He lets Eltharion and Grog know what happened, and they prepare to leave in a couple of days.
Bink looks up some information on ogre-mages from the castle library.
“Eltharion, make a couple of cold resistance scrolls, will you?” Bink asks.
“Okay,” Eltharion goes to work. Grog relaxes for a couple of days while Bink and Eltharion prepare.
They gather in the meeting room of the castle.
Bink casts teleport; Eltharion and Grog are swept through the plane to the salt flats. Eltharion immediately goes to work, easily finding the large group’s tracks, and following them.
They don’t travel too fast, believing that Iuz’s forces are meeting resistance anyway.
“So you really think they’ll be almost destroyed when we get there?” Eltharion asks.
“Well, I heard them talking about having to fight cultists or something,” Bink replies.
“Hope we don’t run into too much trouble,” Eltharion says.
They follow the tracks for about a day. That evening, they see what looks like a bunch of standing stones. They approach, and see that it is many arches in a circular pattern. The first circle is wide, almost a mile in diameter. Then each circle of standing stones gets progressively smaller, until they are standing in a circle of eight. Signs of combat are all around. Littered weapons, burn marks, dried blood.
“Looks like we missed the party,” Bink says. Two of the standing stone arches are are shimmering inside, like a portal.
“Ready?” Eltharion asks Bink and Grog.
“Let’s go,” Grog squeezes the handle of his new katana tightly.
How will Tovag Baragu treat the Heroes? Can three of them hope to defeat Iuz? This and more, next time.
As you can tell, I hardly ever say anything in the story hours. Don't have much to say. This is one of the two story hours I regularly follow. I am really enjoying the pace and the confusion (I guess on my part not on the stories or characters). I cannot tell who is an npc and real character. I have never played in or seen a game which switches in and out characters so easily (or well).
I found the visit to the future/past wild and inventive.
Sigh, obviously I don't have much to say, except thank you for giving me something to look forward to and enjoy.
Sandtiger
I found the visit to the future/past wild and inventive.
Sigh, obviously I don't have much to say, except thank you for giving me something to look forward to and enjoy.
Sandtiger
Droid101
First Post
The circle was about 90 feet across, in total. The arches themselves were towering, 40 foot tall constructions. Bink pokes around at a couple of the bodies that lay around. They all bear a skeletal hand holding an eye tattoo on their wrists.
“Okay, so Iuz’s guys have a grinning skull, and these other cultists have a hand and eye,” Bink says.
“Which portal should we go through?” Grog asks, looking at the three glowing archways.
“This one,” Eltharion was already walking up to one, poking a sword through that he picked off a nearby corpse. He pulled it out and it looked fine. “Looks good to me.”
Eltharion stepped through. Grog and Bink quickly followed, not wanting to leave their friend alone.
They appeared in another stone circle, much like the one they had just come from. The archways looked exactly the same and were positioned in exactly the same way, except outside the circle was a lush looking rainforest, albeit the foliage is blue instead of green. In the center of the circle was a 30 foot high crenellated stone tower. Blood and debris is all around, marking recent battle. Several hide tents could be seen out in the forest.
“You there! Put your hands up!” a voice calls from atop the tower. A man can be seen, pointing a crossbow at them.
“How about… no?” Eltharion says, as he, Bink and Grog charge at the tower.
The man fires, and the bolt sails harmlessly wide. Grog starts hacking into the thick doorway. Eltharion climbs up the walls thanks to his magical sandals, and Bink casts spider climb to follow. The man retreats back and goes down into the tower via a locked hatch.
“This door is magic,” Grog says, a little tired from his hacking. Bink and Eltharion climb back down to him.
“You there! You are against Vecna!” a voice calls from the forest.
“Yes. His man just fired upon us. He is no friend of ours!” Eltharion calls back. A group of four centaurs steps out of several of the tents. One steps forward and introduces himself.
“I am Balophan. My kin and I live in the forest here. We have been fending off those evil Vecna cultists for ages,” Balophan says.
“You want to help us get the guards in this tower, you know, to help your struggle?” Eltharion asks.
“We will help you. You three can climb the wall, I see. If you try to break in from the top, my men and I will try to break in from the bottom at the same time. They won’t stand a chance,” Balophan says.
“I like him,” Grog says to Bink, tugging on his rainbow robe.
“Let’s do it,” Bink gives Grog a spider climb as well, and all they climb up to the top of the tower. Bink lets his vision shift into the magical spectrum and views the main door at the bottom. “Wizard lock.” Bink casts knock and climbs to the top.
“All right, on my mark, start breaking the door…. Now!” Eltharion yells; he and Grog start pounding the hatch. The centaurs below do the same to their large door.
Through luck or coincidence, both doors burst open at about the same time. A fireball explodes around the Heroes, and they all charge in, fending off the blast. Grog runs down the stairs at the cloaked caster. Eltharion runs down the wall at another spellcaster whose spell failed. The centaurs charge the other six weapon-wielding cultists.
Grog’s muscles bulge and his eyes go bloodshot. He yells out in rage and slashes at the spellcaster. Two expert cuts and the man falls, clutching his neck. Eltharion dispatches the other spellcaster equally quickly, albeit with more slashes; six in all. The second man falls, cuts and gouges all over his body.
Bink positions himself and launches a lightning bolt at a few of the warrior-cultists, taking three of them down. The centaurs quickly finish off the rest, with Balophan scoring the final killing blow with his shortsword.
“Now, that wasn’t so bad,” Eltharion sheathes his blades and dusts his hands.
“So do you know why these cultists are here?” Bink asks Balophan.
“The great being Iuz has come to destroy Vecna. Many of his troops have passed through here. We have been trying to drive Vecna away from this place for a long time, so anyone helping do that can’t be bad,” Balophan explains.
“Hm… well, we’re no friends of Iuz or Vecna. We’re just here to stop evil from becoming more powerful,” Eltharion thinks to himself if that aptly characterizes their motivations.
“If you are saying that you will drive Vecna and his evil cult out of this place, then I shall go with you and help you do so,” Balophan says, bringing a bit of whispering from the other centaurs.
“We would welcome your help. I am Bink, this is Eltharion, and this is Grog. We are pleased to have you with us,” Bink says. Balophan leads them out to the only other portal in this reality.
“This gate and the one you came through are the only ones here,” Balophan points to another archway in the circle. The Heroes shrug and step through.
This circle is severly warped. It’s as if the pillars were pulled away like taffy, and then reset, strangely twisted. The stone ground is bulging and uneven in places. Racing red clouds dot the sky, flashes of energy crackling in the distance. It is completely dark outside of the circle; even Eltharion’s Sun-sickle provides no light beyond the inner circle of stones. Several dead bodies lay in different positions. Before they can investigate three forms charge at them.
The stink of decay washes over them as the rotting ghoulish humanoids rush at them. Razor sharp bone claws slash into Eltharion and Grog, both gritting their teeth at the pain.
Grog and Eltharion counterattack. Grog cuts apart the ghoul in three quick katana strikes; all the pieces falling unceremoniously to the ground. Eltharion’s Moon-scimitar makes short work of the second one. Balophan tears into the last one with his longsword and shortsword. All three ghouls fall dead.
“Looks like a big fight happened here…” Bink inspects the bodies. Eight Vecna cultists, three large ogres bearing Iuz symbols, and three centaurs lay dead. The party quickly moves to the only other portal, stepping through.
This stone circle looks normal. It seems to be in the center of a hilly meadow. A warm sun and green grass surrounds them. Two small buildings stand in the center of the circle, one looks like an inn and the other a stable. The doors of the stable have been ripped off the hinges and lay on the ground. The party doesn’t investigate. They see three portals other than the one they came through, and go into the closest one.
Another stone circle, same as the last. This one is surrounded by a pink ocean, small islands off in the distance. In the center of this circle are several tents. A particularly ugly ogre is cooking over an open fire, and about 15 other ogres and half-ogres are sitting around the tents. A few of them hop up immediately and eye the Heroes.
“What you doin here?” the ugly ogre asks threateningly.
Bink surveys the rest of the stone archways and sees no other portals.
“We are the most powerful Heroes you will ever meet. You will never again come through this portal, and you will spend the rest of your life here in this vast ocean. If I so much as see a hair on your ugly head poke through this portal I will be forced to rip your head off your body and use your skull to store any other ogre remains I ever come across. Do I make myself perfectly clear!?” Bink’s voice grew gradually louder (thanks to some cantrips) and he seemed to grow larger and menacing lights danced around him (again, thanks to the cantrips).
“N, n… no, of c.. course not. We live here. W, we no leave,” the terrified ogre mumbles, the other 15 or so ogres and half-ogres don’t advance. Bink and the Heroes retreat into the portal they came from, back to the circle with the two buildings and four portals. They go into the next closest one.
And they are weightless.
All four of them start floating out into space. It’s pitch black, except for the flickering of the portal they came through, and the flickering of another two portals off in the distance. Eltharion solves that issue by brining for the daylight of his Sun-sickle.
The eight archways are in about the same position, but there is no ground. Only what looks like a rope bridge that has been torn asunder, floating a little randomly here and there. They also see a ghoul floating nearby, and an ogre.
“Help me!” the ogre calls out.
Eltharion quickly grabs onto the robe bridge remanants that are connected to the portal they came through. Grog grabs Eltharion, Bink grabs Grog, and Balophan grabs Bink. Bink casts fly on everyone and they glide easily to the other portal, ignoring the ogre’s plea for help.
As they fly through, they are in another circle of stones, same as earlier, however this time they are all covered in ice and snow. The cold is intense, and a shadow is cast over them from above.
A huge (40 feet tall!) block of ice is dropped on them from above. All of the Heroes dive back into the portal they came from. Grog tries to reach back in, but the ice cube blocks the way. They float through the darkness to the other portal.
Little distinguishes this particular circle from its many similar manifestations. As a matter of fact, it looks almost identical to the first circle, the one they started at, complete with more circles of stones outside the inner one, and salty flatlands.
However, something does distinguish it; the presence of many small buildings outside of the circle. They seem like simple houses. Probably near fifty in all. Most of them are burned or otherwise torn down. Similar signs of combat are present in the inner circle, but no bodies remain.
There is one portal other than the one they came through. The Heroes take no time to investigate; they go straight for the portal.
Once they step through, it’s clear that they are somewhere different. No more circles of stone archways. They are in a 20 foot wide underground passage. Alcoves are set into both sides of the passage with small statuettes.
“The palace of Vecna… I have heard of this place… it is called ‘Adytum,’ I think,” Balophan says ominously.
“We made it? That’s it? That’s the big defense of this place?” Eltharion scoffs.
“Well, Iuz’s troops probably softened it up a little bit…” Bink starts, but Eltharion crosses his arms.
The four of them ready their weapons and start down the passage.
How will Vecna’s inner sanctum be? Can they fight two demi-Gods? Will they even want to? Find out this and more, next update.
“Okay, so Iuz’s guys have a grinning skull, and these other cultists have a hand and eye,” Bink says.
“Which portal should we go through?” Grog asks, looking at the three glowing archways.
“This one,” Eltharion was already walking up to one, poking a sword through that he picked off a nearby corpse. He pulled it out and it looked fine. “Looks good to me.”
Eltharion stepped through. Grog and Bink quickly followed, not wanting to leave their friend alone.
They appeared in another stone circle, much like the one they had just come from. The archways looked exactly the same and were positioned in exactly the same way, except outside the circle was a lush looking rainforest, albeit the foliage is blue instead of green. In the center of the circle was a 30 foot high crenellated stone tower. Blood and debris is all around, marking recent battle. Several hide tents could be seen out in the forest.
“You there! Put your hands up!” a voice calls from atop the tower. A man can be seen, pointing a crossbow at them.
“How about… no?” Eltharion says, as he, Bink and Grog charge at the tower.
The man fires, and the bolt sails harmlessly wide. Grog starts hacking into the thick doorway. Eltharion climbs up the walls thanks to his magical sandals, and Bink casts spider climb to follow. The man retreats back and goes down into the tower via a locked hatch.
“This door is magic,” Grog says, a little tired from his hacking. Bink and Eltharion climb back down to him.
“You there! You are against Vecna!” a voice calls from the forest.
“Yes. His man just fired upon us. He is no friend of ours!” Eltharion calls back. A group of four centaurs steps out of several of the tents. One steps forward and introduces himself.
“I am Balophan. My kin and I live in the forest here. We have been fending off those evil Vecna cultists for ages,” Balophan says.
“You want to help us get the guards in this tower, you know, to help your struggle?” Eltharion asks.
“We will help you. You three can climb the wall, I see. If you try to break in from the top, my men and I will try to break in from the bottom at the same time. They won’t stand a chance,” Balophan says.
“I like him,” Grog says to Bink, tugging on his rainbow robe.
“Let’s do it,” Bink gives Grog a spider climb as well, and all they climb up to the top of the tower. Bink lets his vision shift into the magical spectrum and views the main door at the bottom. “Wizard lock.” Bink casts knock and climbs to the top.
“All right, on my mark, start breaking the door…. Now!” Eltharion yells; he and Grog start pounding the hatch. The centaurs below do the same to their large door.
Through luck or coincidence, both doors burst open at about the same time. A fireball explodes around the Heroes, and they all charge in, fending off the blast. Grog runs down the stairs at the cloaked caster. Eltharion runs down the wall at another spellcaster whose spell failed. The centaurs charge the other six weapon-wielding cultists.
Grog’s muscles bulge and his eyes go bloodshot. He yells out in rage and slashes at the spellcaster. Two expert cuts and the man falls, clutching his neck. Eltharion dispatches the other spellcaster equally quickly, albeit with more slashes; six in all. The second man falls, cuts and gouges all over his body.
Bink positions himself and launches a lightning bolt at a few of the warrior-cultists, taking three of them down. The centaurs quickly finish off the rest, with Balophan scoring the final killing blow with his shortsword.
“Now, that wasn’t so bad,” Eltharion sheathes his blades and dusts his hands.
“So do you know why these cultists are here?” Bink asks Balophan.
“The great being Iuz has come to destroy Vecna. Many of his troops have passed through here. We have been trying to drive Vecna away from this place for a long time, so anyone helping do that can’t be bad,” Balophan explains.
“Hm… well, we’re no friends of Iuz or Vecna. We’re just here to stop evil from becoming more powerful,” Eltharion thinks to himself if that aptly characterizes their motivations.
“If you are saying that you will drive Vecna and his evil cult out of this place, then I shall go with you and help you do so,” Balophan says, bringing a bit of whispering from the other centaurs.
“We would welcome your help. I am Bink, this is Eltharion, and this is Grog. We are pleased to have you with us,” Bink says. Balophan leads them out to the only other portal in this reality.
“This gate and the one you came through are the only ones here,” Balophan points to another archway in the circle. The Heroes shrug and step through.
This circle is severly warped. It’s as if the pillars were pulled away like taffy, and then reset, strangely twisted. The stone ground is bulging and uneven in places. Racing red clouds dot the sky, flashes of energy crackling in the distance. It is completely dark outside of the circle; even Eltharion’s Sun-sickle provides no light beyond the inner circle of stones. Several dead bodies lay in different positions. Before they can investigate three forms charge at them.
The stink of decay washes over them as the rotting ghoulish humanoids rush at them. Razor sharp bone claws slash into Eltharion and Grog, both gritting their teeth at the pain.
Grog and Eltharion counterattack. Grog cuts apart the ghoul in three quick katana strikes; all the pieces falling unceremoniously to the ground. Eltharion’s Moon-scimitar makes short work of the second one. Balophan tears into the last one with his longsword and shortsword. All three ghouls fall dead.
“Looks like a big fight happened here…” Bink inspects the bodies. Eight Vecna cultists, three large ogres bearing Iuz symbols, and three centaurs lay dead. The party quickly moves to the only other portal, stepping through.
This stone circle looks normal. It seems to be in the center of a hilly meadow. A warm sun and green grass surrounds them. Two small buildings stand in the center of the circle, one looks like an inn and the other a stable. The doors of the stable have been ripped off the hinges and lay on the ground. The party doesn’t investigate. They see three portals other than the one they came through, and go into the closest one.
Another stone circle, same as the last. This one is surrounded by a pink ocean, small islands off in the distance. In the center of this circle are several tents. A particularly ugly ogre is cooking over an open fire, and about 15 other ogres and half-ogres are sitting around the tents. A few of them hop up immediately and eye the Heroes.
“What you doin here?” the ugly ogre asks threateningly.
Bink surveys the rest of the stone archways and sees no other portals.
“We are the most powerful Heroes you will ever meet. You will never again come through this portal, and you will spend the rest of your life here in this vast ocean. If I so much as see a hair on your ugly head poke through this portal I will be forced to rip your head off your body and use your skull to store any other ogre remains I ever come across. Do I make myself perfectly clear!?” Bink’s voice grew gradually louder (thanks to some cantrips) and he seemed to grow larger and menacing lights danced around him (again, thanks to the cantrips).
“N, n… no, of c.. course not. We live here. W, we no leave,” the terrified ogre mumbles, the other 15 or so ogres and half-ogres don’t advance. Bink and the Heroes retreat into the portal they came from, back to the circle with the two buildings and four portals. They go into the next closest one.
And they are weightless.
All four of them start floating out into space. It’s pitch black, except for the flickering of the portal they came through, and the flickering of another two portals off in the distance. Eltharion solves that issue by brining for the daylight of his Sun-sickle.
The eight archways are in about the same position, but there is no ground. Only what looks like a rope bridge that has been torn asunder, floating a little randomly here and there. They also see a ghoul floating nearby, and an ogre.
“Help me!” the ogre calls out.
Eltharion quickly grabs onto the robe bridge remanants that are connected to the portal they came through. Grog grabs Eltharion, Bink grabs Grog, and Balophan grabs Bink. Bink casts fly on everyone and they glide easily to the other portal, ignoring the ogre’s plea for help.
As they fly through, they are in another circle of stones, same as earlier, however this time they are all covered in ice and snow. The cold is intense, and a shadow is cast over them from above.
A huge (40 feet tall!) block of ice is dropped on them from above. All of the Heroes dive back into the portal they came from. Grog tries to reach back in, but the ice cube blocks the way. They float through the darkness to the other portal.
Little distinguishes this particular circle from its many similar manifestations. As a matter of fact, it looks almost identical to the first circle, the one they started at, complete with more circles of stones outside the inner one, and salty flatlands.
However, something does distinguish it; the presence of many small buildings outside of the circle. They seem like simple houses. Probably near fifty in all. Most of them are burned or otherwise torn down. Similar signs of combat are present in the inner circle, but no bodies remain.
There is one portal other than the one they came through. The Heroes take no time to investigate; they go straight for the portal.
Once they step through, it’s clear that they are somewhere different. No more circles of stone archways. They are in a 20 foot wide underground passage. Alcoves are set into both sides of the passage with small statuettes.
“The palace of Vecna… I have heard of this place… it is called ‘Adytum,’ I think,” Balophan says ominously.
“We made it? That’s it? That’s the big defense of this place?” Eltharion scoffs.
“Well, Iuz’s troops probably softened it up a little bit…” Bink starts, but Eltharion crosses his arms.
The four of them ready their weapons and start down the passage.
How will Vecna’s inner sanctum be? Can they fight two demi-Gods? Will they even want to? Find out this and more, next update.
Droid101
First Post
I knew I'd get a response when I said to Jester "You're my only noticable reader." Heh.
And I'm glad you like my transitions. I like to make character intros and outros seem natural. I felt I did a pretty good job at that.
Thanks for the comments and praise. Does me good. Feel free to ask anything else, I'm always open.
Thanks for taking time to comment here.sandtiger said:
I'll be the judge of that.sandtiger said:
Wow, I made someone's top two. That is truly an honor. Thanks for reading!sandtiger said:
Hm. If you are confused about anything, go ahead and ask. I love answering questions.sandtiger said:
Okay, I love answering all questions but this one. I'll announce who all are NPCs and PCs when I get closer to the end of the campaign.sandtiger said:
And I'm glad you like my transitions. I like to make character intros and outros seem natural. I felt I did a pretty good job at that.
One of my favorite parts of the campaign too.sandtiger said:
I disagree, seems like you had a lot of comments, and it also seems like you have other questions (see "confusion" above) that you haven't asked.sandtiger said:
Thanks for the comments and praise. Does me good. Feel free to ask anything else, I'm always open.
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Droid101
First Post
Interlude the Second…
Ragnar, Kain, Drax, Joseph and Faelean sat in the meeting hall of castle Brunsick, deciding what their next course of action should be.
“I think we deserve a break…” Faelean, the frail grey elf spoke up first.
“We did just get cloned by the man who is supposed to be the king’s royal wizard, and then forced to fight against ourselves,” Kain, the hardened wood-elf gladiator responded.
“For all we know, we could be the clones…” Joseph, the human wyrmslayer and paladin of Torm looked uneasy.
“We aren’t clones. Now listen up, we’re going to go our separate ways for a couple of months, and tend to whatever we need to tend to. I’m headed out to the Adventurer’s Guildhall to meet up with Frole Ganthus, a supposed weapon master. He is going to train me,” Ragnar, the half-human, half-dwarf (mul) said, his bare chest broad and muscular.
“I’ll be headed back to the church of Mystra… I need to report and take a load off,” Faelean said haughtily.
“I’ll go with him,” Drax, the lizardman gladiator hissed. “Don’t want him getting in any trouble all by himself.”
“I’ll go too. Nothing better to do,” Kain said, a little dejected.
“I’m headed down to the Tormyr forest. I heard there is a great green dragon named Drelhornsdrathdin that has become active. I will slay him, single-handedly,” Joseph says proudly.
“All right, looks like we’re all set. I’ll be leaving tomorrow, so we’ll meet back here in Brunswick in two months. Then we can get set to deal with these ‘Dark Tides’ Adlai has been surmising,” Ragnar says, and bids his friends goodbye.
Ragnar, Kain, Drax, Joseph and Faelean sat in the meeting hall of castle Brunsick, deciding what their next course of action should be.
“I think we deserve a break…” Faelean, the frail grey elf spoke up first.
“We did just get cloned by the man who is supposed to be the king’s royal wizard, and then forced to fight against ourselves,” Kain, the hardened wood-elf gladiator responded.
“For all we know, we could be the clones…” Joseph, the human wyrmslayer and paladin of Torm looked uneasy.
“We aren’t clones. Now listen up, we’re going to go our separate ways for a couple of months, and tend to whatever we need to tend to. I’m headed out to the Adventurer’s Guildhall to meet up with Frole Ganthus, a supposed weapon master. He is going to train me,” Ragnar, the half-human, half-dwarf (mul) said, his bare chest broad and muscular.
“I’ll be headed back to the church of Mystra… I need to report and take a load off,” Faelean said haughtily.
“I’ll go with him,” Drax, the lizardman gladiator hissed. “Don’t want him getting in any trouble all by himself.”
“I’ll go too. Nothing better to do,” Kain said, a little dejected.
“I’m headed down to the Tormyr forest. I heard there is a great green dragon named Drelhornsdrathdin that has become active. I will slay him, single-handedly,” Joseph says proudly.
“All right, looks like we’re all set. I’ll be leaving tomorrow, so we’ll meet back here in Brunswick in two months. Then we can get set to deal with these ‘Dark Tides’ Adlai has been surmising,” Ragnar says, and bids his friends goodbye.
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Droid101
First Post
Thus ends Part 2: Intro to the Dark Tides
And Part 3 begins: The Dark Tides Realized
Eltharion, Grog, Bink, and Balophan the centaur creep slowly down the hallway. Fresh air is flowing in from the portal behind them.
They get to the end of the hallway and it opens up into a large room. Green-yellow light shines from guttering lanterns hung above the chamber. Several onyx altars are placed around the hall, with onyx statues of a gaunt skeleton missing its right hand and left eye. Several more of these statues lay on the ground, broken. Four ghoulish creatures can be seen feasting on a corpse in the corner. Bink wastes no time with them.
Just as Bink throws a fireball at them, incinerating them completely, the four onyx statues come to life. They charge the party, but the Heroes are able to dodge their slow and deliberate attacks.
Eltharion, Grog and Balophan slam their weapons into the statues. Bink pelts them with magic missiles. The Heroes make short work of them. They are surrounded by a pile of rock.
“That was easy… too easy,” Eltharion says.
“Well, obviously Iuz’s troops have already broken in here. We shouldn’t see that much resistance,” Bink responds.
The room has five doors. Four of them seem like regular wooden doors, but one is a large stone door with intricate carvings. Grog opens it without thought.
Behind it is a stone wall.
“A door that leads to a wall? What gives?” Eltharion asks.
“I don’t know…” Grog knocks on the stone wall, then closes the door.
“Obviously, this is where we need to go, we just need to find out how to go there,” Bink says, as he moves to another one of the doors. “Let’s go this way.”
Grog nods and triest to open the door Bink points to. It is locked. Bink casts knock and Grog proceeds. Another large chamber lies beyond, with shattered frames, scorched easels, and ashen parchment litter the room. Several ghoul bodies are piled in a corner. A half-ogre and six ogres stand immediately as the Heroes enter. Bink holds out his hands.
“You don’t want to fight us, and we don’t want to fight you. Do not unsheathe your weapons,” Bink says calmly and coolly. The ogres look at each other and don’t move. The half-ogre approaches.
“You not Vekka cult?” the half-ogre stutters.
“No, we’re against them,” Bink replies.
“You Iuz helpers? Good, we need helpers. We runnin’ out of food here,” the half-ogre explains.
“How long have you been holed up here?” Bink asks.
“Just couple of days. But we only go out to find food. Not safe in this place,” the half-ogre says.
“What’s your name?” Bink asks.
“Me Druelnarg. Me strong!” he beats his chest.
“Yes, yes you are. Now, do you know where Iuz went? Or where Vecna is?” Bink asks.
“Yes! Me brudder Festnarg went with Iuz into main room. Door with carving on it. You see it?” Druelnarg points to the door in the other room the Heroes just came from.
“Yes, that door. How do you get in it?” Bink asks.
“You gotta have Vekka relic. Vekka relics got heavy magic,” Druelnarg says.
“And they are in this temple?” Bink asks.
“Yea, Vekka relics are ‘round here somewhere. Me been lookin’ for one so I can find me brudder,” Druelnarg says.
”Okay, how about this: you come with us and we’ll get a relic and get into there, okay?” Bink rolls his eyes at the prospect.
“Okay. You six, stay here until I gets back!” Druelnarg tells the larger ogres what to do, and they sit back down. The Heroes and Druelnarg go across the room and exit a door on the other side.
“Be careful, trolls here, I talk,” Druelnarg says. The Heroes shrug as he opens the door.
The room smells terrible. All the pedestals and statues that were once standing are long destroyed. Rock, sand, and other debris covers the floor. Four trolls are huddled up, and they all jump up as the door opens.
“They with me. Sit,” Druelnarg says to the trolls, who slowly sit back down. Druelnarg leads them into the next room, which is more of a hallway.
“Wait, my sword says there’s a trap…” Grog says, pointing to the ground before them.
“Then let’s avoid it,” Bink casts spider climb on everyone, and they all walk along the wall, then back to the ground after they pass the trap. The hallway turns and comes to a dead end.
“Do you know where you’re going?” Bink asks Druelnarg.
“No, I no know this part,” Druelnarg responds.
“Great…” Bink looks around. Eltharion searches as well.
“Hey, I think there’s a secret…” Eltharion stops as he presses on the wall, and it slides away, revealing a room.
The room is covered in vibrant mosaic tiles; the floor, walls, and ceiling. In the center there is a slim pedestal. On the pedestal is a lamp-shaped container. Inside is a blackened finger.
“Dat’s one!” Druelnarg says, stepping forward. Grog graps his shoulder.
“The room is trapped,” Grog says, hearing the voice of his blade in his head.
“Yeah… electricity,” Bink says, noticing archs of electricity leap from the ceiling to the floor intermittently. There is a door on the other side of the room, as well.
“Well, let’s try something,” Eltharion gets out his rope and ties his grappling hook to it. He throws it at the reliquary a few times, trying to latch onto it. On his third throw, one of the glass panes breaks. “Damn, I can’t get it.”
Grog grabs the hook and throws it, getting a lucky it and latching onto the corner. The reliquary falls to the ground, and Grog drags it back to them. Bink reaches in and pulls out the blackened finger.
“This is a relic?” Bink looks at Druelnarg, who is already grabbing for it.
“Yes, give, so I can find me brudder!” Druelnarg says. Grog steps in between them.
“You’ll get it when we are going to go through that door. First, you need to stay with us,” Bink says. “We’re going to search some more.”
“My sword says a trap is on the other door over there as well,” Grog says, pointing to the door that is in the electrified chamber.
“Here…” Bink casts protection from electricity on everyone. “You run through and open the door. Then, we’ll follow.”
Grog shrugs his shoulders, and runs. He can feel the electricity course through him, though takes no damage due to the spell. He pulls open the door and hears a loud shriek, which dies out in about two seconds. He is through and in another hallway.
“Come on, it’s safe over here,” Grog says. The rest of them run through as fast as they can.
Most of the doorways in this hallway are intricately carved, including the one they found the blackened finger in.
“Be careful, each of these doors has a trap on them,” Grog says. “Except for those… six.”
Grog points out six plain doors, all un-trapped. Eight doors are ornately carved, and have traps.
“Let’s check the rooms without traps, shall we?” Bink says. Two are empty save for desks. Two have large metal cabinets in them, which the Heroes procure several items. Three small bones, two necrotic looking potions, two shriveled up patches of skin, four clay pills, and a large human sized leather case with a hose and a spine coming out of it.
“Wonder what this thing is for… wanna climb inside?” Eltharion looks at Grog, who shakes his head quickly.
Another door leads to what looks like a bunk-area. The Heroes don’t proceed. The final untrapped door opens to a room with several Vecna cultists talking in a corner. A quick skirmish finishes them off without much of a disturbance. After opening another door in this room, they are back to the main chamber they started in.
“Good, okay, now we know where we are. Let’s start dealing with those traps,” Bink and the others go back to the hallway with the trapped doorways. Bink uses his wand of summon monster and summons a dog, who pushes open the first door.
One of the carved images on the doorway’s mouth opens, and thousands upon thousands of beetles pour out. They completely cover the celestial golden retriever, chewing him down to the bone. The dog vanishes. The room is much the same as the one with the blackened finger. Mosaic walls, lamp-like reliquary, and electrified. Grog throws the hook in, breaking one of the glass faces of the lamp. Bink stops him.
“Let’s not waste any more time,” Bink casts mage hand and retrieves the dried patch of scalp from the reliquary. “Are all these relics body parts? That’s disgusting…”
They move on to the next door, standing around the corner, Bink summons another dog, who pushes the door. Just as he pushes it, a trap door opens up underneath him and he falls. The door itself then morphs into a stone statue of a skeletal figure missing its right hand and left eye, and it charges down the hall toward the Heroes. Druelnarg, Grog, Eltharion and Balophan make short work of it, and Bink retrieves another blackened finger, this one a little longer than the last.
The next door has runes on it, which Bink reads.
Neither fowl nor fish;
Not bone nor flesh;
And yet possesses,
Thumb and four fingers.
“Easy, that’s a glove,” Eltharion says without hesitation, and the door slides open.
“How did you… nevermind,” Bink shakes his head and retrieves yet another blackened finger, this one short, but has a long, razor-like nail.
Another dog is summoned to press on the next door. A vent opens above the dog, who is drenched by acid; melting away quickly. The door pushes open and Bink retrieves a shrunken orb, most likely an eye.
“Poor dog, I’m starting to feel bad,” Eltharion quips. They move on.
The next door is pressed, and a golden light shines down on the dog. His skin seems to shrivel up and he becomes emaciated. He vanishes. Bink retrieves a small, blackened tooth.
The next door is pressed, and the dog is surrounded by icy mist, pouring from the sculpture on the door. His body freezes and splinters, cracking, and then vanishes. Bink retrieves two blackened fangs.
The next door is pressed, and a ball of fire explodes around the dog, who is left charred and dead. Bink retrieves a shriveled foot. There is another doorway on the other side of the relic chamber, as well.
“We have enough! Let me find my brudder!” Druelnarg complains, but Bink silences him with a steely gaze.
“Grog, you and I will fly through here and see what’s on the other side,” Bink casts another protection from electricity and fly on both of them, who fly through quickly. On the other side of the door is a small hallway, and two more ornately carved doorways.
A dog is summoned and walks to the first door. He falls into a pit trap. Another dog is summoned on the other side of the pit and pushes the door. The dog vanishes instantly. Bink retrieves a thick roll of leathery parchment from the reliquary.
“This isn’t skin… is it? Yech…” Bink says to himself, putting it into his bag.
This last door is slightly ajar, and Bink pushes it the rest of the way open. The room is the same as the other reliquaries, except that the lamp-holder is empty, and the walls have no electrical charge. There is another door on the other side of this room. Bink cautiously goes in, not feeling the electrical pulse.
Bink summons one last dog to open this door, and a small needle pricks the dog, who doubles over with convulsions. Bink retrieves a mummified head from the final reliquary.
“Man, that’s it, I’m done. We’re leaving, no more body parts,” Bink puts it away, and they fly back to the rest of the group.
“We need to hole up and find a place to rest… I’m running low on spells,” Bink says.
“Agreed, we’re all pretty weak, we’ve been through a lot today,” Eltharion says.
“How about that bunk area? That’d probably be a good spot,” Balophan offers. They head over to that door. Inside is a hallway with doorways leading to small bed-chambers. The Heroes barricade the door with beds and settle down for a while.
Will the Heroes get to Iuz or Vecna in time? In time for what? Who are they even trying to stop now? Become less confused, next time!
And Part 3 begins: The Dark Tides Realized
Eltharion, Grog, Bink, and Balophan the centaur creep slowly down the hallway. Fresh air is flowing in from the portal behind them.
They get to the end of the hallway and it opens up into a large room. Green-yellow light shines from guttering lanterns hung above the chamber. Several onyx altars are placed around the hall, with onyx statues of a gaunt skeleton missing its right hand and left eye. Several more of these statues lay on the ground, broken. Four ghoulish creatures can be seen feasting on a corpse in the corner. Bink wastes no time with them.
Just as Bink throws a fireball at them, incinerating them completely, the four onyx statues come to life. They charge the party, but the Heroes are able to dodge their slow and deliberate attacks.
Eltharion, Grog and Balophan slam their weapons into the statues. Bink pelts them with magic missiles. The Heroes make short work of them. They are surrounded by a pile of rock.
“That was easy… too easy,” Eltharion says.
“Well, obviously Iuz’s troops have already broken in here. We shouldn’t see that much resistance,” Bink responds.
The room has five doors. Four of them seem like regular wooden doors, but one is a large stone door with intricate carvings. Grog opens it without thought.
Behind it is a stone wall.
“A door that leads to a wall? What gives?” Eltharion asks.
“I don’t know…” Grog knocks on the stone wall, then closes the door.
“Obviously, this is where we need to go, we just need to find out how to go there,” Bink says, as he moves to another one of the doors. “Let’s go this way.”
Grog nods and triest to open the door Bink points to. It is locked. Bink casts knock and Grog proceeds. Another large chamber lies beyond, with shattered frames, scorched easels, and ashen parchment litter the room. Several ghoul bodies are piled in a corner. A half-ogre and six ogres stand immediately as the Heroes enter. Bink holds out his hands.
“You don’t want to fight us, and we don’t want to fight you. Do not unsheathe your weapons,” Bink says calmly and coolly. The ogres look at each other and don’t move. The half-ogre approaches.
“You not Vekka cult?” the half-ogre stutters.
“No, we’re against them,” Bink replies.
“You Iuz helpers? Good, we need helpers. We runnin’ out of food here,” the half-ogre explains.
“How long have you been holed up here?” Bink asks.
“Just couple of days. But we only go out to find food. Not safe in this place,” the half-ogre says.
“What’s your name?” Bink asks.
“Me Druelnarg. Me strong!” he beats his chest.
“Yes, yes you are. Now, do you know where Iuz went? Or where Vecna is?” Bink asks.
“Yes! Me brudder Festnarg went with Iuz into main room. Door with carving on it. You see it?” Druelnarg points to the door in the other room the Heroes just came from.
“Yes, that door. How do you get in it?” Bink asks.
“You gotta have Vekka relic. Vekka relics got heavy magic,” Druelnarg says.
“And they are in this temple?” Bink asks.
“Yea, Vekka relics are ‘round here somewhere. Me been lookin’ for one so I can find me brudder,” Druelnarg says.
”Okay, how about this: you come with us and we’ll get a relic and get into there, okay?” Bink rolls his eyes at the prospect.
“Okay. You six, stay here until I gets back!” Druelnarg tells the larger ogres what to do, and they sit back down. The Heroes and Druelnarg go across the room and exit a door on the other side.
“Be careful, trolls here, I talk,” Druelnarg says. The Heroes shrug as he opens the door.
The room smells terrible. All the pedestals and statues that were once standing are long destroyed. Rock, sand, and other debris covers the floor. Four trolls are huddled up, and they all jump up as the door opens.
“They with me. Sit,” Druelnarg says to the trolls, who slowly sit back down. Druelnarg leads them into the next room, which is more of a hallway.
“Wait, my sword says there’s a trap…” Grog says, pointing to the ground before them.
“Then let’s avoid it,” Bink casts spider climb on everyone, and they all walk along the wall, then back to the ground after they pass the trap. The hallway turns and comes to a dead end.
“Do you know where you’re going?” Bink asks Druelnarg.
“No, I no know this part,” Druelnarg responds.
“Great…” Bink looks around. Eltharion searches as well.
“Hey, I think there’s a secret…” Eltharion stops as he presses on the wall, and it slides away, revealing a room.
The room is covered in vibrant mosaic tiles; the floor, walls, and ceiling. In the center there is a slim pedestal. On the pedestal is a lamp-shaped container. Inside is a blackened finger.
“Dat’s one!” Druelnarg says, stepping forward. Grog graps his shoulder.
“The room is trapped,” Grog says, hearing the voice of his blade in his head.
“Yeah… electricity,” Bink says, noticing archs of electricity leap from the ceiling to the floor intermittently. There is a door on the other side of the room, as well.
“Well, let’s try something,” Eltharion gets out his rope and ties his grappling hook to it. He throws it at the reliquary a few times, trying to latch onto it. On his third throw, one of the glass panes breaks. “Damn, I can’t get it.”
Grog grabs the hook and throws it, getting a lucky it and latching onto the corner. The reliquary falls to the ground, and Grog drags it back to them. Bink reaches in and pulls out the blackened finger.
“This is a relic?” Bink looks at Druelnarg, who is already grabbing for it.
“Yes, give, so I can find me brudder!” Druelnarg says. Grog steps in between them.
“You’ll get it when we are going to go through that door. First, you need to stay with us,” Bink says. “We’re going to search some more.”
“My sword says a trap is on the other door over there as well,” Grog says, pointing to the door that is in the electrified chamber.
“Here…” Bink casts protection from electricity on everyone. “You run through and open the door. Then, we’ll follow.”
Grog shrugs his shoulders, and runs. He can feel the electricity course through him, though takes no damage due to the spell. He pulls open the door and hears a loud shriek, which dies out in about two seconds. He is through and in another hallway.
“Come on, it’s safe over here,” Grog says. The rest of them run through as fast as they can.
Most of the doorways in this hallway are intricately carved, including the one they found the blackened finger in.
“Be careful, each of these doors has a trap on them,” Grog says. “Except for those… six.”
Grog points out six plain doors, all un-trapped. Eight doors are ornately carved, and have traps.
“Let’s check the rooms without traps, shall we?” Bink says. Two are empty save for desks. Two have large metal cabinets in them, which the Heroes procure several items. Three small bones, two necrotic looking potions, two shriveled up patches of skin, four clay pills, and a large human sized leather case with a hose and a spine coming out of it.
“Wonder what this thing is for… wanna climb inside?” Eltharion looks at Grog, who shakes his head quickly.
Another door leads to what looks like a bunk-area. The Heroes don’t proceed. The final untrapped door opens to a room with several Vecna cultists talking in a corner. A quick skirmish finishes them off without much of a disturbance. After opening another door in this room, they are back to the main chamber they started in.
“Good, okay, now we know where we are. Let’s start dealing with those traps,” Bink and the others go back to the hallway with the trapped doorways. Bink uses his wand of summon monster and summons a dog, who pushes open the first door.
One of the carved images on the doorway’s mouth opens, and thousands upon thousands of beetles pour out. They completely cover the celestial golden retriever, chewing him down to the bone. The dog vanishes. The room is much the same as the one with the blackened finger. Mosaic walls, lamp-like reliquary, and electrified. Grog throws the hook in, breaking one of the glass faces of the lamp. Bink stops him.
“Let’s not waste any more time,” Bink casts mage hand and retrieves the dried patch of scalp from the reliquary. “Are all these relics body parts? That’s disgusting…”
They move on to the next door, standing around the corner, Bink summons another dog, who pushes the door. Just as he pushes it, a trap door opens up underneath him and he falls. The door itself then morphs into a stone statue of a skeletal figure missing its right hand and left eye, and it charges down the hall toward the Heroes. Druelnarg, Grog, Eltharion and Balophan make short work of it, and Bink retrieves another blackened finger, this one a little longer than the last.
The next door has runes on it, which Bink reads.
Neither fowl nor fish;
Not bone nor flesh;
And yet possesses,
Thumb and four fingers.
“Easy, that’s a glove,” Eltharion says without hesitation, and the door slides open.
“How did you… nevermind,” Bink shakes his head and retrieves yet another blackened finger, this one short, but has a long, razor-like nail.
Another dog is summoned to press on the next door. A vent opens above the dog, who is drenched by acid; melting away quickly. The door pushes open and Bink retrieves a shrunken orb, most likely an eye.
“Poor dog, I’m starting to feel bad,” Eltharion quips. They move on.
The next door is pressed, and a golden light shines down on the dog. His skin seems to shrivel up and he becomes emaciated. He vanishes. Bink retrieves a small, blackened tooth.
The next door is pressed, and the dog is surrounded by icy mist, pouring from the sculpture on the door. His body freezes and splinters, cracking, and then vanishes. Bink retrieves two blackened fangs.
The next door is pressed, and a ball of fire explodes around the dog, who is left charred and dead. Bink retrieves a shriveled foot. There is another doorway on the other side of the relic chamber, as well.
“We have enough! Let me find my brudder!” Druelnarg complains, but Bink silences him with a steely gaze.
“Grog, you and I will fly through here and see what’s on the other side,” Bink casts another protection from electricity and fly on both of them, who fly through quickly. On the other side of the door is a small hallway, and two more ornately carved doorways.
A dog is summoned and walks to the first door. He falls into a pit trap. Another dog is summoned on the other side of the pit and pushes the door. The dog vanishes instantly. Bink retrieves a thick roll of leathery parchment from the reliquary.
“This isn’t skin… is it? Yech…” Bink says to himself, putting it into his bag.
This last door is slightly ajar, and Bink pushes it the rest of the way open. The room is the same as the other reliquaries, except that the lamp-holder is empty, and the walls have no electrical charge. There is another door on the other side of this room. Bink cautiously goes in, not feeling the electrical pulse.
Bink summons one last dog to open this door, and a small needle pricks the dog, who doubles over with convulsions. Bink retrieves a mummified head from the final reliquary.
“Man, that’s it, I’m done. We’re leaving, no more body parts,” Bink puts it away, and they fly back to the rest of the group.
“We need to hole up and find a place to rest… I’m running low on spells,” Bink says.
“Agreed, we’re all pretty weak, we’ve been through a lot today,” Eltharion says.
“How about that bunk area? That’d probably be a good spot,” Balophan offers. They head over to that door. Inside is a hallway with doorways leading to small bed-chambers. The Heroes barricade the door with beds and settle down for a while.
Will the Heroes get to Iuz or Vecna in time? In time for what? Who are they even trying to stop now? Become less confused, next time!
Droid101
First Post
The Heroes awake after eight hours of rest, switching up guard duty between Grog, Eltharion, and Balophan (they let the half-ogre Druelnarg sleep soundly, and snore loudly).
“Okay, we need to get back to the main room and get through that doorway,” Bink says, as they remove the barricade from the exit. The Heroes move out to the access room that leads back to the main room, and arrive. Bink hands everyone a relic, opens the ornately carved door in the main room.
Plates of mirror-bright metal tile the walls, floor, and ceiling. All of them are intricately engraved. A crystal eye shaped lantern hangs and illuminates the room slightly. The floor is littered with bodies; ogres, humans, orcs, ghouls, Vecna cultists, and a few centaurs. The stench is terrible.
“Ah, geez, that’s awful…” Eltharion looks around in disgust. Two passages lead off to the left and right, and a large, ornate door is straight ahead. He heads off to the right, the rest of the party following behind. As they turn the corner, there is another silvery door. However, standing in front of the door is a large, eight foot tall hand, made of iron. It instantly animates and begins to shuffle towards Eltharion. The Heroes fall back into the bigger room.
“Back up! Surround it!” Eltharion calls out, as Grog makes his way around the thing. Balophan does the same. Druelnarg cowers back out of the way, fearing the awkwardly moving hand.
Bink casts haste and lightning bolt. The bolt seems to be absorbed by the iron hand, but it starts to move much more slowly after it is hit. Bink shrugs.
Grog lets out a roar and charges in from behind the hand. His eyes go bloodshot and the spittle flies. His katana, Murasamé, slashes into the metal, denting it somewhat. Eltharion comes in from the other side. He pulls out his Moon-scimitar and his sylvan scimitar, and cuts into the hand a couple of times. Balophan gallops in with his longsword/shortsword combination, landing a couple of good hits.
The hand, moving very slowly, rears back, balancing on its thumb and pinky, and strikes out with its middle finger. Although slowed, the blow is still hard, and it knocks the wind out of Eltharion.
Bink casts another lightning bolt, hoping to slow the creature for longer. He then charges in with his brilliant energy falchion, and slashes hard. It passes right through the animate iron hand.
“Damn energy blade…” Bink curses.
Druelnarg gets up some confidence, and charges the hand, cutting into it with his greatsword. It glances off to no effect.
Eltharion, Grog and Balophan cut into the hand again, denting it all around. Bink goes around, casting haste on everybody, making sure to destroy the thing as quickly as possible.
The hand gets another couple of hits in, striking both Grog and Balophan. The final blow comes from Grog, who cuts completely through the pinky after a volley of hits, and the hand smashes into the metallic ground. Druelnarg runs off by himself, toward the door the hand was guarding.
“Must get da treasure, so I can find me brudder,” he mumbles as he shuffles off. Bink follows. The others examine the iron hand.
As Bink rounds the corner, Druelnarg is pushing open the silvery door. Just as he does so, his skin looks like it is melting off, transforming into a greenish ooze. Druelnarg spins around to Bink, his skin melting, and a look of horror in his eyes.
“You… you ugly monster!” Druelnarg yells, charging at Bink. Bink flies up to the ceiling to avoid the green-slime-dripping Druelnarg, slightly confused.
“Me, a monster? Look at you,” Bink replies, still puzzled.
Druelnarg runs away from Bink, screaming. He slams the silvery door behind him as he runs through.
“Dammit,” Bink flies back to the ground, and pushes open the silver door again. Inside, the scene is even worse. A bubbly pile of green ooze across the room in front of yet another door is draining into the floor, which has tons of small openings, like a grate.
“I guess he got his,” Bink flies quickly through the room, and into the partially-open door across the way. Another relic chamber; mosaic tiles, lamp-like reliquary, mummified hand. On the opposite wall, however, there is a huge sculpture of seemingly hundreds of humanoids carved directly into the wall.
Bink flies directly at the reliquary and removes the hand. All the stone heads on the wall turn toward him and gibber… “Join us!” Bink ignores them and flies back out to the main passageway.
“Find anything?” Grog’s question is answered as soon as Bink holds up the mummified hand.
“More body parts, yuck,” Eltharion kicks around a couple of the cultist bodies littering the room. They all go to the left to investigate.
The room around the corner on this side has burned and blasted tapestries, smashed sculptures, and scorched stone. The silvery door on this side has been half-melted away, and lays off its hinges. In the corner is a huge iron orb, most likely an eye. However, half of it is melted and corroded away, and it sits motionless.
“Somebody had his way with this place…” Eltharion mutters as they move on.
Through the silvery door is gears, springs, and shiny metallic discs with razor edges. Many of the discs are jammed halfway in some of the hundres of slits in the walls. Many others lie crumpled and melted upon the stony floor. A five foot wide path is cleared through the jumble of machinery to the other side, and what was once a large obsidian door, that is now no more than a pile of rocky chunks.
Through this doorway is another relic chamber, but this one has been ransacked. Burnt and shattered tiles are everywhere. The reliquary is broken and on the ground, missing its body-part. The sculptures on the wall are all melted and drooping. A fallen cultist body is on the floor, and above him, written in blood on the wall, it says: Iuz was here.
“Yes, yes he was…” Eltharion responds, as if somebody had read the message. “Maybe we should let Iuz and Vecna deal with eachother…”
“Oh, what, are you afraid of a little demi-God action now?” Bink replies, chuckling slightly. They head back to the main room and look at the final door.
“Not me,” Grog looks at Bink as he kicks in the door.
Crumbled and shattered sapphire tiles cover the floor, and remanants of silk tapestries drape the walls. Thousands of small points of light dot the ceiling. Thirty feet of space separates two bone-pale altars that are in the left and right side of the room. Another large door lays on the other side of this room. However, someone stands inbetween.
She is hideously ugly. Patches of her skin and hair seemed to have been replaced by some mummified leather. She is wearing full plate armor and weilds an ornate mace. The eye-in-hand symbol is seen on her. She calmly and coolly casts a spell as the Heroes enter.
Bink replies in turn. He casts haste and launches a fireball at the priestess and a few ghouls that were rising around her. The fire incinerates the ghouls, but the priestess seems unaffected.
Grog flies into a rage and charges the woman. Eltharion and Balophan follow suit. All of them miss on their initial attacks; the woman is heavily armored and protected by magic.
She steps back and casts another spell. Grog is enveloped by a column of white-hot flames. He screams with rage as his skin and fur are scorched terribly. The priestess smiles evilly.
Grog doesn’t fall.
The priestess' smile fades.
Bink floats up and fires two lightning bolts at the priestess, both of them shocking her terribly. She staggers back, eyes wide in disbelief.
Grog, Eltharion and Balophan step up, this time unloading a vicious volley of attacks. Each of them connects with several hits, and the woman is on her knee, bleeding from the mouth.
She steps back again, casting yet another spell. Her wounds all close up, and she is grinning again.
But not for long.
Bink fires ten magic missiles at her, and Grog, Eltharion and Balophan slash into her again. This time, she doesn’t fare so well. Eltharion scores several nicks, and his final stab with his Moon-scimitar sinks deep into her gut. This proves enough distraction for her to lose her head; literally. Grog finishes her with an expert strike of his razor-sharp katana.
“Bitch…” Grog spits on her, as he sits down, gritting his teeth at the burns all over his body. Eltharion heals him a little, and he gets back up.
“Let’s go!” Bink wastes no time, and opens the door on the far side of the chamber. Eltharion finishes looting the body of the priestess and follows.
The next room holds a 20 foot wide chasm splitting the coal-black chamber. It seems a stone bridge used to cross it, but it has been destroyed. Tiny five-foot wide catwalks are on either side of the chamber, with a door on either side as well. Six ogres are attached to the wall on the other side, by chains wrapped around their torsos. They all bring large longbows to bear, and fire a volley into the Heroes. Everyone takes a grazing arrow hit, and they all think fast.
“Retreat, I’ll handle them,” Bink casts stoneskin and the rest of the party retreats out of the room. The arrows continue to rain in, but Bink is mostly unaffected. He then flies across the chasm to get in better position for a lightning bolt.
Bad move.
A glyph in the ceiling flashes as he flies over, and he feels his fly spell unravel. He begins to fall. However, because of his momentum, he is carried the rest of the way across the chasm, and is able to grab onto the ledge. He climbs up, firing a lightning bolt down the line, killing all the ogres, who fall lifeless, but stay slightly upright, due to the chains holding them up.
Eltharion, peeking through a crack in the door, opens it, seeing the ogres incapacitated.
“Nice work, Bink,” Eltharion says, looking around. “How do we get over?”
“Run and jump…” Bink dusts himself off and catches his breath from the near-death experience.
Eltharion tosses over his grappling hook and rope, which Bink attaches to the chains. Grog and Eltharion are able to crawl across using that method, but it would be complicated for Balophan.
“I’ll just jump,” and so he does, clearing the 20 foot chasm with ease.
“Nice!” Eltharion comments.
“Let’s go…” Bink opens the large door.
A portal archway dominates this 40-foot-high chamber. The portal stands in a shallow niche along the opposite wall. Heavy mist fills the entire archway. Veins of oily fog have spread out from beneath the arch, and they run along the walls and ceiling. A layer of fallen plaster covers the floor in drifts and dunes. The room has a cache of barrels, and lots of creatures. About ten ogres, three half-ogres, three humans, and a purply-skinned ogre with small ivory horns. All of them have Iuz’s grinning skull symbol on their armor.
“It’s Korbadur…” Bink lowers his gaze toward him, evilly. Bink re-casts haste on himself, then casts black tentacles onto the main mass of ogres. The tentacles quickly wrap around and grasp most of them, holding them immobile. One half-ogre jumps back out of the way, only to brush up against one of the inky-black tendrils of darkness drifting from the portal. He vanishes with a scream.
Grog, Balophan and Eltharion charge at the three humans and two remaining half-ogres. They clash, trading blows.
Korbadur lowers his gaze to Bink as well, flying toward him. He unleashes as cone of cold, chilling Bink to the bone. Bink retaliates with a lightning bolt and a fireball. The lightning doesn’t seem to affect Korbadur too much, but the fire burns him terribly. Bink’s smile grows.
Eltharion, Grog and Balophan are kept busy by the five Iuz followers. Grog is able to finish off one, but the everyone is taking heavy damage. They are probably Iuz’s more powerful mercenaries.
Korbadur flies straight at Bink, slashing out with his greatsword. Bink feels the burn of the cut to his bicep. Bink flies back and fires off ten magic missiles. They all pound into Korbadur hard, and his eyes roll back as he falls unconscious. His head cracks against the ground unceremoniously.
Grog, Eltharion and Balophan finish off another mercenary. Bink flies over and strikes one with his falchion. After another minute, they are all dead.
The tentacles mostly hold the ogres, with only two breaking free. Grog meets them, slashing both of their knee-caps, and cutting them down. Bink fires an empowered fireball into the rest of the ogres, burning them to the bone. They all collapse.
Korbadur’s body begins to stir, and Eltharion stabs it again through the skull. The wound immediately starts to close up, albeit slowly.
“Burn it…” Bink says, using a cantrip to light his thumb afire. He blows the flame onto the ogre-mage, and the body burns, filling the room with thick, foul-smelling smoke.
“I say we rest here. Pretty defensible,” Eltharion says.
“What about that?” Balophan points to the tendrils of black energy seeping out of the portal, slowly progressing further and further.
“Let’s sleep on the other side of the chamber…” Grog offers.
They bunk down and rest near the doorway to the chasm-room. Eltharion and Grog push ogre bodies toward the portal, and as the black tendrils touch them, they vanish. They quickly clear the room of the rest of the bodies in this manner.
“Tomorrow, I guess we go in the portal,” Bink says.
After a day of rest in the eerie room, the Heroes gather around the portal.
“I guess we go in. Who’s first?” Bink looks around. Grog steps up.
“I’m not scared,” he bravely walks into the misty portal, and vanishes.
“Well… let’s go!” Bink shrugs, and jumps in himself. Balophan and Eltharion follow suit.
Where are they now? Is Vecna close? Are you still crying over the loss of Druelnarg? Wait until next time, for more adventure!
“Okay, we need to get back to the main room and get through that doorway,” Bink says, as they remove the barricade from the exit. The Heroes move out to the access room that leads back to the main room, and arrive. Bink hands everyone a relic, opens the ornately carved door in the main room.
Plates of mirror-bright metal tile the walls, floor, and ceiling. All of them are intricately engraved. A crystal eye shaped lantern hangs and illuminates the room slightly. The floor is littered with bodies; ogres, humans, orcs, ghouls, Vecna cultists, and a few centaurs. The stench is terrible.
“Ah, geez, that’s awful…” Eltharion looks around in disgust. Two passages lead off to the left and right, and a large, ornate door is straight ahead. He heads off to the right, the rest of the party following behind. As they turn the corner, there is another silvery door. However, standing in front of the door is a large, eight foot tall hand, made of iron. It instantly animates and begins to shuffle towards Eltharion. The Heroes fall back into the bigger room.
“Back up! Surround it!” Eltharion calls out, as Grog makes his way around the thing. Balophan does the same. Druelnarg cowers back out of the way, fearing the awkwardly moving hand.
Bink casts haste and lightning bolt. The bolt seems to be absorbed by the iron hand, but it starts to move much more slowly after it is hit. Bink shrugs.
Grog lets out a roar and charges in from behind the hand. His eyes go bloodshot and the spittle flies. His katana, Murasamé, slashes into the metal, denting it somewhat. Eltharion comes in from the other side. He pulls out his Moon-scimitar and his sylvan scimitar, and cuts into the hand a couple of times. Balophan gallops in with his longsword/shortsword combination, landing a couple of good hits.
The hand, moving very slowly, rears back, balancing on its thumb and pinky, and strikes out with its middle finger. Although slowed, the blow is still hard, and it knocks the wind out of Eltharion.
Bink casts another lightning bolt, hoping to slow the creature for longer. He then charges in with his brilliant energy falchion, and slashes hard. It passes right through the animate iron hand.
“Damn energy blade…” Bink curses.
Druelnarg gets up some confidence, and charges the hand, cutting into it with his greatsword. It glances off to no effect.
Eltharion, Grog and Balophan cut into the hand again, denting it all around. Bink goes around, casting haste on everybody, making sure to destroy the thing as quickly as possible.
The hand gets another couple of hits in, striking both Grog and Balophan. The final blow comes from Grog, who cuts completely through the pinky after a volley of hits, and the hand smashes into the metallic ground. Druelnarg runs off by himself, toward the door the hand was guarding.
“Must get da treasure, so I can find me brudder,” he mumbles as he shuffles off. Bink follows. The others examine the iron hand.
As Bink rounds the corner, Druelnarg is pushing open the silvery door. Just as he does so, his skin looks like it is melting off, transforming into a greenish ooze. Druelnarg spins around to Bink, his skin melting, and a look of horror in his eyes.
“You… you ugly monster!” Druelnarg yells, charging at Bink. Bink flies up to the ceiling to avoid the green-slime-dripping Druelnarg, slightly confused.
“Me, a monster? Look at you,” Bink replies, still puzzled.
Druelnarg runs away from Bink, screaming. He slams the silvery door behind him as he runs through.
“Dammit,” Bink flies back to the ground, and pushes open the silver door again. Inside, the scene is even worse. A bubbly pile of green ooze across the room in front of yet another door is draining into the floor, which has tons of small openings, like a grate.
“I guess he got his,” Bink flies quickly through the room, and into the partially-open door across the way. Another relic chamber; mosaic tiles, lamp-like reliquary, mummified hand. On the opposite wall, however, there is a huge sculpture of seemingly hundreds of humanoids carved directly into the wall.
Bink flies directly at the reliquary and removes the hand. All the stone heads on the wall turn toward him and gibber… “Join us!” Bink ignores them and flies back out to the main passageway.
“Find anything?” Grog’s question is answered as soon as Bink holds up the mummified hand.
“More body parts, yuck,” Eltharion kicks around a couple of the cultist bodies littering the room. They all go to the left to investigate.
The room around the corner on this side has burned and blasted tapestries, smashed sculptures, and scorched stone. The silvery door on this side has been half-melted away, and lays off its hinges. In the corner is a huge iron orb, most likely an eye. However, half of it is melted and corroded away, and it sits motionless.
“Somebody had his way with this place…” Eltharion mutters as they move on.
Through the silvery door is gears, springs, and shiny metallic discs with razor edges. Many of the discs are jammed halfway in some of the hundres of slits in the walls. Many others lie crumpled and melted upon the stony floor. A five foot wide path is cleared through the jumble of machinery to the other side, and what was once a large obsidian door, that is now no more than a pile of rocky chunks.
Through this doorway is another relic chamber, but this one has been ransacked. Burnt and shattered tiles are everywhere. The reliquary is broken and on the ground, missing its body-part. The sculptures on the wall are all melted and drooping. A fallen cultist body is on the floor, and above him, written in blood on the wall, it says: Iuz was here.
“Yes, yes he was…” Eltharion responds, as if somebody had read the message. “Maybe we should let Iuz and Vecna deal with eachother…”
“Oh, what, are you afraid of a little demi-God action now?” Bink replies, chuckling slightly. They head back to the main room and look at the final door.
“Not me,” Grog looks at Bink as he kicks in the door.
Crumbled and shattered sapphire tiles cover the floor, and remanants of silk tapestries drape the walls. Thousands of small points of light dot the ceiling. Thirty feet of space separates two bone-pale altars that are in the left and right side of the room. Another large door lays on the other side of this room. However, someone stands inbetween.
She is hideously ugly. Patches of her skin and hair seemed to have been replaced by some mummified leather. She is wearing full plate armor and weilds an ornate mace. The eye-in-hand symbol is seen on her. She calmly and coolly casts a spell as the Heroes enter.
Bink replies in turn. He casts haste and launches a fireball at the priestess and a few ghouls that were rising around her. The fire incinerates the ghouls, but the priestess seems unaffected.
Grog flies into a rage and charges the woman. Eltharion and Balophan follow suit. All of them miss on their initial attacks; the woman is heavily armored and protected by magic.
She steps back and casts another spell. Grog is enveloped by a column of white-hot flames. He screams with rage as his skin and fur are scorched terribly. The priestess smiles evilly.
Grog doesn’t fall.
The priestess' smile fades.
Bink floats up and fires two lightning bolts at the priestess, both of them shocking her terribly. She staggers back, eyes wide in disbelief.
Grog, Eltharion and Balophan step up, this time unloading a vicious volley of attacks. Each of them connects with several hits, and the woman is on her knee, bleeding from the mouth.
She steps back again, casting yet another spell. Her wounds all close up, and she is grinning again.
But not for long.
Bink fires ten magic missiles at her, and Grog, Eltharion and Balophan slash into her again. This time, she doesn’t fare so well. Eltharion scores several nicks, and his final stab with his Moon-scimitar sinks deep into her gut. This proves enough distraction for her to lose her head; literally. Grog finishes her with an expert strike of his razor-sharp katana.
“Bitch…” Grog spits on her, as he sits down, gritting his teeth at the burns all over his body. Eltharion heals him a little, and he gets back up.
“Let’s go!” Bink wastes no time, and opens the door on the far side of the chamber. Eltharion finishes looting the body of the priestess and follows.
The next room holds a 20 foot wide chasm splitting the coal-black chamber. It seems a stone bridge used to cross it, but it has been destroyed. Tiny five-foot wide catwalks are on either side of the chamber, with a door on either side as well. Six ogres are attached to the wall on the other side, by chains wrapped around their torsos. They all bring large longbows to bear, and fire a volley into the Heroes. Everyone takes a grazing arrow hit, and they all think fast.
“Retreat, I’ll handle them,” Bink casts stoneskin and the rest of the party retreats out of the room. The arrows continue to rain in, but Bink is mostly unaffected. He then flies across the chasm to get in better position for a lightning bolt.
Bad move.
A glyph in the ceiling flashes as he flies over, and he feels his fly spell unravel. He begins to fall. However, because of his momentum, he is carried the rest of the way across the chasm, and is able to grab onto the ledge. He climbs up, firing a lightning bolt down the line, killing all the ogres, who fall lifeless, but stay slightly upright, due to the chains holding them up.
Eltharion, peeking through a crack in the door, opens it, seeing the ogres incapacitated.
“Nice work, Bink,” Eltharion says, looking around. “How do we get over?”
“Run and jump…” Bink dusts himself off and catches his breath from the near-death experience.
Eltharion tosses over his grappling hook and rope, which Bink attaches to the chains. Grog and Eltharion are able to crawl across using that method, but it would be complicated for Balophan.
“I’ll just jump,” and so he does, clearing the 20 foot chasm with ease.
“Nice!” Eltharion comments.
“Let’s go…” Bink opens the large door.
A portal archway dominates this 40-foot-high chamber. The portal stands in a shallow niche along the opposite wall. Heavy mist fills the entire archway. Veins of oily fog have spread out from beneath the arch, and they run along the walls and ceiling. A layer of fallen plaster covers the floor in drifts and dunes. The room has a cache of barrels, and lots of creatures. About ten ogres, three half-ogres, three humans, and a purply-skinned ogre with small ivory horns. All of them have Iuz’s grinning skull symbol on their armor.
“It’s Korbadur…” Bink lowers his gaze toward him, evilly. Bink re-casts haste on himself, then casts black tentacles onto the main mass of ogres. The tentacles quickly wrap around and grasp most of them, holding them immobile. One half-ogre jumps back out of the way, only to brush up against one of the inky-black tendrils of darkness drifting from the portal. He vanishes with a scream.
Grog, Balophan and Eltharion charge at the three humans and two remaining half-ogres. They clash, trading blows.
Korbadur lowers his gaze to Bink as well, flying toward him. He unleashes as cone of cold, chilling Bink to the bone. Bink retaliates with a lightning bolt and a fireball. The lightning doesn’t seem to affect Korbadur too much, but the fire burns him terribly. Bink’s smile grows.
Eltharion, Grog and Balophan are kept busy by the five Iuz followers. Grog is able to finish off one, but the everyone is taking heavy damage. They are probably Iuz’s more powerful mercenaries.
Korbadur flies straight at Bink, slashing out with his greatsword. Bink feels the burn of the cut to his bicep. Bink flies back and fires off ten magic missiles. They all pound into Korbadur hard, and his eyes roll back as he falls unconscious. His head cracks against the ground unceremoniously.
Grog, Eltharion and Balophan finish off another mercenary. Bink flies over and strikes one with his falchion. After another minute, they are all dead.
The tentacles mostly hold the ogres, with only two breaking free. Grog meets them, slashing both of their knee-caps, and cutting them down. Bink fires an empowered fireball into the rest of the ogres, burning them to the bone. They all collapse.
Korbadur’s body begins to stir, and Eltharion stabs it again through the skull. The wound immediately starts to close up, albeit slowly.
“Burn it…” Bink says, using a cantrip to light his thumb afire. He blows the flame onto the ogre-mage, and the body burns, filling the room with thick, foul-smelling smoke.
“I say we rest here. Pretty defensible,” Eltharion says.
“What about that?” Balophan points to the tendrils of black energy seeping out of the portal, slowly progressing further and further.
“Let’s sleep on the other side of the chamber…” Grog offers.
They bunk down and rest near the doorway to the chasm-room. Eltharion and Grog push ogre bodies toward the portal, and as the black tendrils touch them, they vanish. They quickly clear the room of the rest of the bodies in this manner.
“Tomorrow, I guess we go in the portal,” Bink says.
After a day of rest in the eerie room, the Heroes gather around the portal.
“I guess we go in. Who’s first?” Bink looks around. Grog steps up.
“I’m not scared,” he bravely walks into the misty portal, and vanishes.
“Well… let’s go!” Bink shrugs, and jumps in himself. Balophan and Eltharion follow suit.
Where are they now? Is Vecna close? Are you still crying over the loss of Druelnarg? Wait until next time, for more adventure!
