For the Love of Tomeri...(23June2004)

[simmo]

chapter 2 Sing a Song of Mephits

The mephits flew above Zakar's head singing an annoying tune. The chorus 'You aint nothing but a hound archon' really set Zakar's teeth on edge. The earth mephit claimed to have heard the song during a performance in the Civic Festhall, but the other two scoffed at the idea of an earth mephit being allowed inside the headquarters of the Society of Sensation.

Serena told Zakar to deal with the mephits after she'd finished her discussion with her father, but the hound archon was not able to reach them. This only spurred the pesky creatures to greater heights of taunting and eventually Cade stepped in. He sang to them a song about a group of mephits finding a large pot of gold and being allowed to keep it all for themselves. The halfling's performance was so good that some of the knights in the tents nearby came over to listen.

The mephits were entranced by Cade's song and they quieted down during his performance. When the halfling had stopped singing and playing his instrument he left them with the feeling that they should desist their taunting. Some of the other travellers who were following the march invited Cade over to play some more and the halfling spent the remainder of the evening entertaining the other travellers.

In the morning the companions rode away from the marching modrons and the knights guarding them. They bid farewell to Lady Toujin and Sir Osbourne accepted her blessing for a successful hunt.

Zakar led the way, using his skills as a tracker to follow a path towards a base belonging to the Ankharim. The hound archon was able to track the faint aura of the yeth hounds and wounded modrons, leading the travellers in the direction of the Spire. Along the way Caleb talked to Andrew at great length about the religious ceremonies of Grumbar. After several hours of listening about how best to meditate on a rock, Andrew almost fell off the chariot as he dozed off. “Wow, that... is... so.... interesting....,” he said as longed for a cold mug of ale in his favourite drinking haunt in Sigil.

He thought about Malkir's condition and tried to figure out what the Convergence and subsequent Divergence were all about. As he stood in the chariot, trying not to listen to the earth genasi's droning voice or the fawning high pitched voices of his smelly mephits praising their master's wisdom, Andrew has a Revelation.

He felt a moment of connection to himself that few other mortals ever felt. He sensed all the possible Andrews that existed throughout the Mutliverse, in all parallel realities, in all existence. Andrew knew at that moment that they were all the same. Each Andrew was identical to the other. He was the fixed point in the Multiverse which meant that he was possibly the Centre of All.

The Indep thought it over for awhile and realised that he was drifting dangerously close to thinking like a member of the Sign of One. He'd heard the screed that the Signers spouted by the Hall of Speakers and had not been that impressed by their speeches. Andrew laughed off the idea and Caleb paused his long slow speech to look at the human in puzzlement for a moment, before continuing on to relate tales of how Grumbar had defeated the Four Winds.

The rode the entire day away from the marching modrons in the direction of the spire. Clouds obscured part of the infinite spike that protruded out of the Outlands, but the torus shape at the top was still clearly visible. The mephits had been reprimanded by their master about their singing and instead spent the whole day arguing amongst themselves whether or not the torus shape was Sigil, City of Doors or not.

At the end of the day the mineral and ooze mephit had agreed to test their theory by pushing the earth mephit off Suicide Alley the next time that they were in the Cage. The mineral mephit pointed out that no one had ever seen anyone fall down the Spire, but the ooze mephit just laughed and said: "So?" They both burst out laughing and the earth mephit came to the realisation of what had been discussed. The mephits were too busy fighting to notice that they had not complimented Caleb or praised him for awhile, but then they saw that the travellers were setting up camp for the night.

Littleby was concerned about what they'd encountered that day. Thanks to Serena's psi crystal Ps'mon and his ability to see through magical deception they'd managed to avoid riding in to several dead-end canyons that appeared to lead in to other canyons. They saw vultures circling over the canyons and could smell the stench of a battlefield that Littleby guessed was the location where the knights belonging to Order of Planar Militant had made their desperate escape from the Ankharim ambush.

At the end of the day as the light was fading, they set up camp and prepared to rest for the night. When the discussion turned to who would keep a look out, Caleb stated: “MY MEPHITS WILL LOYALLY GUARD US WHILST WE SLEEP.”

The others remained silent for awhile and they chose who would keep watch at the different hours. During the night nothing untoward happened. The travellers took turn keeping a look out and the mephits spent the night patrolling above the canyons.

In the morning Cade sang a short ditty in to which he wove an enchantment that would enable him to sculpt sounds as if they were like clay. Serena was curious what the halfling had planned and Cade explained that it would enable him to change any one sound to another for the better part of the day. He did not elaborate on what sound he planned to change and the companions rode out in silence.

After several hours of riding in silence through a maze of canyons Zakar reported that they were getting very close. They left the horses behind once they'd reached a wide canyon and slowly climbed on to some higher ground to have a look at the Ankharim base. At first the building were difficult to see, but Littleby pointed each of them out to his friends.

Nestled inside the wide canyon were several buildings. The largest was two stories tall and had a smoke stack at the back. A thin streamer of black smoke drifted upwards and was dispersed by the strong winds that whistled over the tops of the canyons. The large building had a large set of wooden doors and no windows on the ground floor. Next to it was a tall, thin watchtower that looked like a mushroom which had sprouted out of the ground. On the other side were two small buildings. One was a stable and the other slightly further away was a kennel.

“Zakar, is his where the trail ends?” Serena asked her protector.

“Yes my Lady,” the hound archon replied.

“So what are we going to do?" The seer asked her other companions.

 

[cmnash]

Earth, Mineral and Ooze ....

Doesn't quite have the same ring as Earth, Wind and Fire does it?

Keep up with the posting Simmo, I think it's great and really appreciate the regular updates

 

[simmo]

Shhh better not mention Wind and Fire to Caleb, they are hated elements in his opinion

I gave the player a choice of mephit types associated with earth. His choices included: earth, mineral, dust, ooze and magma.

Perhaps later in the campaign he may end up with additional or different mephit followers. Each of the mephits have fairly distinct personalities. The earth mephit is always looking to get some money and invest it to try and get rich quick. The mineral mephit is after money as well, but prefers to hoard it (and in fact it has accumulated a fair amount of wealth for a mephit). The ooze mephit simply wants to become a kobold, or so it claims.

Thanks for the feedback, it's great to hear that you are enjoying the story so far. Coming up: attack on the Ankharim base, followed by a journey to Faunel that results in many curious revelations and changing of attire

 

[simmo]

chapter 3 Gentleman Adventurer

“Well I know something that I can do," Cade commented enthusiastically. "If those yeth hounds start up, then I should be able to counter that.”

“OK." Serena smiled at the halfling, glad that they'd brought him along. "Lets take a closer look.” Serena called forth on the powers of her mind to strip away all deception and reveal all hidden things in her field of vision. However, nothing appeared different. The buildings were concealed well within the canyon so that spotting it from the air was difficult, but there was no illusionary powers at work.

The seer could see that there were three black armoured knights who stood watch. They appeared to be taking their duties lightly as they were playing a game of cards, but sat within easy reach of the large alarm bell that hung inside the top of tower.

“WHY DON'T WE SEND IN THE WIZARD AND THE THIEF," Caleb suggested. He saw the stone cold look that Andrew was giving him and corrected his previous suggestion. "UH, GENTLEMAN ADVENTURER.”

"Master," one of the mephits cackled gleefully. "I did not realise that we were supposed to bring black masks.”

Andrew volunteered to stealthily make his way over to the watch tower and take out the three guards. Caleb enquired whether he was planning on using enchantment to aid him in reaching the tower and Andrew did not look impressed.

“I can hide quite adeptly,” he stated caustically.

“Once I discovered how to see invisibility, it kind of seemed dishonourable." Littleby admitted to no one in particular. "I've levelled the playing field somewhat.”

“Strange," Andrew replied. "But I don't see your logic in that at all.”

“I know. I'll be leaving now.” The dwarf laughed and then realised that no one got the joke, perhaps if he'd said something about getting his coat. Nevermind, he thought, how about coming at the tower from a different angle. “I could go very high and then come down on the watch-tower.”

“You do that and why don't we synchronise it so that I jump out of the shadows and we cause bodily harm to the guards?” The Indep drew his longsword in a single motion, checked its balance and then slid it back in to its scabbard.

“I have a talent that would help us to synchronise that perfectly,” Serena suggested.

“Sir Osbourne could do a flying charge at the same time,” Cade added.

“I COULD STAY HERE AND GET THE DIRT OF MY SHOES,” the earth genasi said straight faced.

“I'll be here with you,” the halfling was grinning from ear to ear in anticipation of the upcoming excitement about to be played out in the canyon. “We will join in as the second wave, won't we?”

“I'll go in as the third wave,” the seer stated in a less than enthusiastic tone.

Whilst the warriors were checking their equipment, Serena sent out a mental invitation for each of them to join in her collective link. This would enable them to each broadcast messages to the others and communicate even when out of sight of each other. The seer made a point of not inviting the mephits who were constantly linked to their master in any case.

Caleb knelt down, touching the soil with both hands and called upon the power of Grumbar to grant him protection from those of a malevolent disposition within a certain radius of himself. When he finished praying he noticed that Littleby had begun to cast the same enchantment on each of the companions that asked for it. They both stopped what they were doing and looked at each other with a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance.

“We should have discussed this in the morning, shouldn't we?” Littleby asked.

“YES. ANYWAY....” Caleb scratched the back of his head and then they both began to laugh heartily.

With the protective enchantments in place, Andrew got ready to approach the tower. Littleby flew upwards almost out of sight and the others waited behind some large boulders for the signal to be sent.

 

[simmo]

chapter 4 For Whom does it toll?

The earth genasi stared at the human intently, waiting to see if he could spot when Andrew would disappear from sight. After several long minutes of staring at the position that the Indep was standing in, Caleb came to the realisation that he might actually be looking at an Andrew shaped piece of rock. This thought was confirmed when he heard the others whisper about Andrew's progress towards the tower.

The Indep snuck along the side of the canyon walls quieter than an owl in flight, making best use of the terrain to blend in as much as possible. Andrew was more used to travelling unobserved in urban settings, but even the eagle-eyed seer was having difficulty spotting him.

When Andrew got to the door to the tower and saw the lock he almost laughed. Grimthar's Ultimate in Protection and Theft Deterrence mark II was so out of date that the Indep felt a moment of anger at the lack of money spent on keeping the buildings secure. He'd been able to open such a lock many years ago and felt it a little beneath him to do so now. Instead of simply opening the lock, he also fixed it a little so that it would be more difficult for the next gentleman adventurer to come along.

The Indep moved up the stairs as silently as he'd glided across the terrain towards the tower. The mice did not hear his passing. Once he had reached the top he could hear the gruff voices of the Anakharim knights arguing about the stakes for a game of chance. The amount of noise that they made as they moved around in their black plate armour made Andrew regret a little how much effort he'd made to move silently up the stairs. He could smell metal polish and recently oiled leathers. Through a crack in the door he could see that their swords were in good repair, standing ready in case of attack.

Ready when you are gentlemen, Andrew sent to the others along the link that Serena was sustaining.

Cade hummed a quick ditty that would allow him to move at faster than normal speed should a hasty retreat be called for. When Serena raised an eyebrow at him, the halfling motioned with his hands that it could be used to advance as well as retreat.

Now Andrew! Cade confirmed with his friends.

Now would be a good time, Andrew agreed as he saw one of the guards moving towards the trap door. The Indep stepped away from the ladder and in to the shadow so as to remain hidden, but he knew that it would not last long.

Suddenly all was silent in the tower and Andrew realised that someone had magically dampened all sound within the top of the tower. He could see the guards looking around in confusion and surprise. It was at that point that Andrew chose to strike.

In a single motion his sword was in his hand as he rushed through the trap door and slashed at one of the dark knights with his weapon. The knight cried out silently in fear and fumbled for his own weapon. As he clutched his wound with his other hand, his clothes became soaked with dark fluid and he collapsed to the ground.

The wooden roof of the tower burst apart as a shining warrior of light flew through the slats with his great sword ready to do battle. Sir Osbourne folded his shining white wings in time to land athletically and proceeded to launch an attack against one of the dark knights. The bright light pouring in through the broken roof, silent dance of death and sudden appearance of armed foes left the remaining guards reeling with shock. Sir Osbourne struck down his opponent in a single blow.

Now would be a good time! Andrew sent out the mental call again for the others to attack the base, this time his thoughts were more emphatic and urgent.

The dwarven scholar hovered above the opening in the watch-tower roof and wove an enchantment that he cast at the remaining knight. The Anakharim knight shrugged off the fell curse that would have robbed him off his sight and struck his weapon against the side of the large bell. On his second blow he realised that the whole area was blanketed in silence and he turned to face the advancing foes who had broken in to the tower.

Caleb sent out a mental command for his mephits to join the attack as he'd received a message from Littleby that the fight had begun. However, the mephits were caught in the middle of an intense philosophical debate and were slow to respond to the commands of their master.

“There is no bell,” the earth mephit stated.

“It's not tolling therefore there is no bell,” the mineral mephit agreed.

“If the bell is really ringing," the ooze mephit asked, enjoying playing the role of devil's advocate. "Then for whom does it toll?”

“Argh, don't say that.” The mineral mephit was about to whap the ooze mephit, when Caleb grabbed it and flung it in the direction of the watch tower.

“IT TOLLS FOR THEE, IF YOU SAY THAT AGAIN." Before the earth genasi had a chance to throw any of his remaining servants towards the fight, they flew off in the direction of the tower reluctantly.

“Red leader this is Blue Leader,” the ooze mephit shouted as his oily bubble-like wings flapped hard, trying to catch up with the mineral mephit.

“Huh, oh." The earth mephit joined them, flying clumsily. Amazingly it had figured out what the other two mephits were on about and decided to join in. “Blue Leader, this is Orange leader, Red is coming in at different attack vector.”

“Orange leader, this is Purple leader we are joining Red in attack run.” The mineral mephit's laughter sounded like breaking pottery and the three creatures flew erratically to the tower.

The halfling cleared his throat, getting ready to start singing loudly in case the yeth hounds should make an appearance and start their terrifying howling. Caleb hefted his hammer and began to advance, joined by the hound archon who was wielding a great sword forged in the celestial smithies of Mount Celestia.

Littleby swooped down towards the kennels next to the stables and tossed a small ball of flame through the window. As he made his pass the low building exploded in a rain of flaming wood and death. The yeth hounds slumbering within were caught completely off guard and most were incinerated in the first volley. The wooden structure caught fire and only two of the black hounds made it out alive. The others howled in agony as they were burnt alive.

Seeing a flash of orange light outside through the broken roof, the last guard lowered his sword in surrender. After he'd dropped his sword Andrew tried to knock the man unconscious, but the knight managed to side-step the attack. The Indep jumped his opponent in a second attempt to incapacitate the man, but the knight proved to be the stronger of the two.

As the two combatants rolled across the floor over the splinter and broken slats, Andrew looked up to Sir Osbourne for some help. “Hey, large angel. Some help here?” he shouted.

Zakar and Caleb were all that stood between Cade and two enraged yeth hounds, with possible reinforcements coming out of the main building or from elsewhere. They'd had the element of surprise on their side right up until the point that Littleby had set the kennels ablaze. He sent out a mental summons for his champion and Sir Osbourne took flight out of the tower to land in front of his halfling charge in a but a few wing-beats.

Sinner, thought Caleb, these dark hounds do not even touch the earth when the run. By the power of Grumbar grant me the strength to drive them in to the ground. The earth genasi felt strength flow in to his body and he began shouting insults at them. The two surviving hounds responded by howling and charging the intruders in a berserk rage. Caleb, Zakar and Sir Osbourne stood in a line, ready to hold back the darkness descending upon them.

Meanwhile up in the watch tower the knight had broken free of Andrew and sprinted over to the ladder. The young knight began to descend the ladder in the hopes of raising the alarm before all was lost. The Indep sighed silently and chased after him.

Realising that they'd lost the element of surprise and not wanting any of their foes to escape, Littleby quickly crafted a spell that would prevent all dimensional travel within the bounds of the canyon.

 

[simmo]

chapter 5 Knights in White Satin

Andrew leapt after the knight who was climbing down the ladder to raise the alarm. If not for the magical silence, the Indep would have heard the young knight taking in great gulps of air as he rushed to get down in a blind panic. Andrew grabbed hold of the sides of the ladder with his hands and heels and slid down the sides, instead of using the rungs of the ladder. His booted feet came in to contact with the hands of the knight with such a force that the young man let go with a silent yelp of pain and fell.

Andrew continued to slide down the ladder after his brief interruption. When he got to the bottom he could hear the young knight crying out in pain from his broken fingers and legs. The Indep glanced around to see if the knight was still a threat, but saw no weapons lying nearby. Instead he stepped over the prone body and sprinted outside to join the others. The young man stopped shouting after awhile and eventually passed out.

As he exited the tower he saw a huge wall of flame burst in to existence all along the front of the large stone building. The double doors were made of wood and began to smoulder, but the building did not immediately catch fire. Andrew noted that as he ran that he could not feel heat coming from the wall of flame, but he could certainly see the effects that the fire was having on the other side.

When the Indep reached the others he could hear that Cade was belting out a song at the top of his lungs. He could make out the words "Letters I’ve written, Never meaning to send". The song drowned out the howls from the yeth hounds and the black hounds seemed demoralised by the halflings impressive performance.

The black shadow hounds, with their human like faces and red glowing eyes never stood a chance against the might of stone and celestial power. Caleb struck at them with his great maul called Aggemam the Destroyer. The hound archon and half-celestial paladin fought side by side, two beacons of light that drove back the darkness and banished it from the canyon forever. Had more of the hounds made it out alive then the tide of battle may have turned, but the dwarven scholar had taken care of that problem with a single ball of flame. After Caleb had smashed the skull of one of the hounds, he dropped his full weight through his elbow unto the dying shadow creature.

During the brief fight the mephits were shouting words of encouragement to their master. One of the mephits began to comment on the fight as if it was a prize championship match and this annoyed Serena greatly. The mephits had been sent to her position to keep an eye out for reinforcements as well as to guard the seer. However, Serena saw them more as a annoyance than capable of providing any help. When one of them got too close she slashed at it with her dagger to keep the thieving vermin away and they immediately began to taunt her.

“A surprise contender has come in to the ring, none other than Serena Allman, Chosen of Tomeri, goddess of Love and Wisdom.” The mineral mephit clutched its side where the seer's dagger had chipped its ribs.

“I say, this certainly does not look like love and wisdom to me.” The earth mephit commented, laughing at the mineral mephits misfortune.

“It certainly isn't,” the mineral mephit agreed.

“But wait, the ooze mephit has found a chair and he's going for her.” The earth mephit cried out and waved his arms wildly as if warding off an attack, but the alert seer saw through the creature's trickery.

“What are you talking about, the ooze mephit has fled already!” The mineral mephit shouted as it fled from the seer's angry seer's and sharp dagger.

Whilst the others were busy dispatching the yeth hounds, Littleby crafted an enchantment of protection over himself against fire and flew over the building to the back. He took one look down the chimney and saw that there was indeed a fire at the bottom. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and leapt down the chimney relying on his enchantments of flight and protection to see him through to safety.

Once his feet touched the burning coals at the bottom, he jumped out of the fire at the base of the chimney stack. He opened his eyes and found himself in a large room with metal pipes that connected several furnaces together and fed each with liquid fuel. The dwarven scholar saw that despite the fact that each of the furnaces contained coals, they were fed by pipes that reached from the front of the building. Tables lay nearby that were stained with dark fluids and smelled of oils and alcohols. Racks stood nearby with vials of different colours and it looked as though the work was recently abandoned.

Littleby felt somewhat exposed inside the enemy compound by himself and spoke the arcane words that created a bubble of force around himself. As he was about to exit the room through the only door down the corridor he felt his flight spell almost fail. He heard a chugging sound and felt as though he was about to fall, but then continued on as normal. Muttering about the poor craftsmanship of the flight enchantment he moved forward.

The Dwarven scholar slowly made his way along the corridor, passing barracks on one side and storage rooms on the other. In front of him he could see a number of black armoured knight constructing a barricade of metal tables and laboratory equipment. Up to that point Littleby had never heard the sound of modrons screaming in mortal terror and it chilled him to the bone. The air stank of modron vitals, a fetid metallic smell that was almost overpowering. The air was also laced with the strong scent of oils and alcohols that appeared to emanate from metal barrels and vats scattered around the workshop.

The knights made a point of not moving the barrels or vats towards their improvised barricade and Littleby could hear the sound of tiny metal filings, gears and springs crunching beneath their feet as they walked under the dissected modrons that hung from the ceiling. A number of the modrons were still moving and their wails of pain echoed feebly off the ceiling. The presses, grinding wheels and metal tables were stained with dark fluids that the dwarven scholar presumed was modron blood.

One of the knights spotted the dwarf inside his sphere of protection slowly drifting towards them. The leader who was not wearing armour was alerted and Littleby tried to stall for time so that he could come up with a plan.

“I can assure you that you are completely outnumbered, any resistance is futile." The dwarven scholar watched with interest as one of the knights was ordered to roll a metal barrel in his direction but thought nothing of it. "Surrender and you may... uh... survive the conflict. Although I can't guarantee that the earth genasi will spare you.”

It was then that Littleby saw that the leader had been moving her hands, tracing out the patterns of an arcane gesture. He recognised it as the same spell that he'd used against the yeth hound kennels, but she was not intending on using it on him. Instead she launched the rapidly growing ball of flame at the rolling metal barrel. It impacted the barrel just as it reached the edge of the bubble of protection and resulted in an immense explosion that partially demolished the walls on either side and sent Littleby flying backwards through the furnace room, through the smokestack and all the way out off the building. The dwarven scholar felt as though he'd been shot from a ballista with an explosive force and during that moment of violence he had a revelation about the metal tubes with stubby ends onboard the flying ship the Princess Profiteer.

By the time that Littleby had regained his senses the chimney had collapsed and there was a gaping hole at the back of the building.

Andrew had been keeping watch at the front of the building, taking cover behind some rubble and trying to spy on the defenders inside past the flames licking at the front of the building. He caught glimpses of the improvised barrier that the defenders were erecting and could faintly hear the screams of the terrified modrons. Andrew saw a flicker of movement near the doors and thought that they might be planning to shoot through the wall of flames. However, when he saw that they were stacking up the barrels it took him only a heartbeat before he shouted 'Sweet Tomeri!' over the mind-link and sprinted away as fast as his legs could carry him.

 

[simmo]

chapter 6 Boom

There is going to be an almighty explosion, Andrew shouted over the mind-link.

Caleb who'd been advancing towards the building praying for Grumbar's protections against the hated element of fire reacted to Andrew's warning too late. He glimpsed Andrew dashing past, saw Sir Osbourne take flight and carry Cade to safety. Zakar sprinted up to the heart seer of Tomeri and helped her to run even faster with her feet barely touching the ground as the hound archon almost carried her along.

The mephits screamed in panic but by the time that the earth genasi had finished his prayer it was too late. The barrels filled with alcohols and oils that were stacked close to the double doors with the wall of flames on the other side caught fire. There was a bright flash of orange fire, followed by a huge thunderclap as the barrels exploded. The doors were incinerated before the splinters had a chance to fly outwards. The metal bindings arced over the field of battle like super-heated shots from a trebuchet and the shards of the barrels sprayed in all directions.

Fortunately Caleb was protected somewhat by the grace of Grumbar from the flames, but never the less the fire, molten metal and shrapnel scorched him and left numerous small cuts. It took a few moments for the earth genasi to register what had happened and he only slowed his forward movement for a little while. Rubbing his eyes and bellowing in rage he hefted Aggemam the Destroyer and began a lumbering sprint towards what was left of the front of the building.

The screams from inside the building had peaked during the blast and became mercifully silent. Some voices could still be heard from within, but these were not modron voices. There were humans inside shouting, but amidst the chaos it was too difficult to tell whether they were calls for help or angry battle cries.

Meanwhile the knights and their leader had rushed behind their barrier and headed down the corridor towards the exit that Littleby had inadvertently created when he was blasted out the back of the building. They waited long enough to hear the boom from the explosion and after picking themselves of the ground, got ready to leave through the hole in the back.

Unfortunately for them the shock wave from the explosion had brought Littleby back to his senses. The dwarven scholar sat up and was confronted with a large group of Anakharim knights about to climb through the wall towards him. He grasped for the first enchantment that came to mind and crafted a eldrich wall of force to prevent their escape. Two of the knight managed to jump through in time, but the majority were caught on the other side. Hammering their mailed fists against the shimmering wall of energy that their swords could not penetrate.

The two knights who had go out chose to flee rather than confront the powerful spell-slinger and began to running towards the other end of the canyon and to freedom. Not wanting any Anakharim to escape the dwarven scholar quickly flipped through one of his tomes and settled on a spell that he'd used to seal the front of the building. The knights were surprised to find a ring of flames spring up around them, trapping them inside.

Littleby turned to look back at those trapped inside the building and saw that one of them had fallen awkwardly trying to breach the shimmering barrier. The others had returned down the corridor towards the barricade to make a last stand. When Littleby saw the destruction on the other side of the building, he was shocked.

Kill it now! Andrew shouted in to Littleby's mind, referring to the magical wall of flames. The Indep had quickly got to his feet after the tremendous blast and was busy running back to the building. The earth genasi was ahead of him, although he was gaining ground. The Indep feared that Caleb was planning to rush through the flames in his fit of anger and shouted again for Littleby to dispel the barrier.

Littleby waved his hands in dismissal and the flames died immediately. He turned to look back at the two knight caught in the ring of fire and was horrified to see that they were trying to fight their way through. One of the knight was pushing the other towards the wall and the two ran together. The first knight stopped suddenly, almost knocking over the second as the searing heat scorched their flesh and heated their armour. The first knight was incinerated by the fire, but the second managed to get through. He held his charred hands in front of him as he ran and Littleby sighed in exasperation.

“What does it take to keep you contained, damn you?” he asked the man, but the knight was too far away to hear the question. Flicking through the pages of the tome the dwarven scholar chose the bubble of protection as a suitable prison and the knights escape was finally halted.

 

[Fimmtiu]

Wow. Messy battle. Sounds like they could have used a bit better reconaissance beforehand. Kudos for the wonderfully creepy description of the experimentation chamber.

Man, you guys are way too kind to your bard. Any bard starts using that as a countersong around our group, and we'd have fed him to the yeth hounds and said it was too good for him!

 

[simmo]

Wow. Messy battle. Sounds like they could have used a bit better reconaissance beforehand.

Thanks. There was pretty much no reconaissance, which is a shame considering they have a seer, a couple of spellcasters and a cleric. I guess that they'll learn for next time.

Kudos for the wonderfully creepy description of the experimentation chamber.

I can't take much of the credit for this. A portion of the text was 'borrowed' from the module with a few embellishments.

Man, you guys are way too kind to your bard. Any bard starts using that as a countersong around our group, and we'd have fed him to the yeth hounds and said it was too good for him!

Have you ever had one of those moments when someone mentions the name of a song. One person starts to sing it and suddenly almost all of the gaming group are singing it (badly) at the top of their lungs? Well, that was the song and considering the bard got a '20' on his performance check - the rest of the gourp was generous and let him off. I'm sure that he could have charmed his way out of any trouble with a few mental nudges, lots of smiling and the help of Sir Osbourne.

Coming up: an arial pursuit and the final battle in the Anakharim base.

 

[simmo]

chapter 7 The Rendering Works

Kill it now! Andrew shouted via the mental link that Serena had formed between them. The flames were already dying away as the earth genasi stormed across the blasted threshold of the building and on to the stone workshop floor.

Broken tables, small pools of molten metal and charred apparatus lay scattered around the ground of the Rendering works. The chain hanging from the ceiling had melted in the blast and only small streamers of bright steel and iron remained. As they swung aimlessly they collided and sounded almost musical, accompanied with the hoarse shouts of fear and pain coming from the covered pits in the far corner.

At the back of the large ruined chamber stood the battered remains of the barricade that the Anakharim knights had swiftly erected when the alarm was raised. The front of the structure had taken most of the blast, but further back the defendable wall was mostly intact. The knights, led by black robed woman, were hastily rebuilding the barricade preparing for the next attack. A bariaur woman had cautiously come down the stairs and was holding a short blade in her quivering hand. She stared around in disbelief, feeling angry at the intrusion on her work and the destruction that it had brought with it.

Caleb and Andrew sprinted across the chamber, their boots crunching through the dust of the modrons that were incinerated in the blast. A hot wind blew through with them promising further bloodshed and pain. As the earth genasi got close to the barrier he hefted Aggemam the Destroyer high above his head in an arc, bringing it around in a backwards stroke.

The swing was timed perfectly at a weak spot in the barrier where it tore through the cooling metal as if it was paper. The hammer continued its forward momentum with Caleb pushing it and Aggemam ploughed the sheared off metal strip through the chest of the one of the knights. The young warrior did not even get a chance to cry out in pain before his body slumped to the ground.

“Go on master, that's a superb hit!” the earth mephit shouted as it hurried to catch up with Caleb.

“Oooh, that's gonna sting in the morning.” The ooze mephit cackled gleefully and shouted words of encouragement to its master.

The bariaur woman backed away from the combatants, lowering the blade that she was carrying and seeking cover behind the others.

Andrew had slipped in behind Caleb, using one of the rivets on the earth genasi's armour to give himself extra leverage as he swung himself bodily at one of the other knights with his longsword leading the way. The woman brought up her sword to block the strike, but the Indep battered it aside and buried his sword in her stomach.

Zakar and Sir Osbourne charged in through the breach created by Caleb. The hound archon swung his great sword around in deadly arc keeping the enemies at bay. He saw the Andrew's sword wet with blood and slashed down at the fallen knight, bringing her suffering to a merciful end. Sir Osbourne leapt over the metal carnage and landed next to the black robed woman. With a prayer to Bahamut on his lips he launched several deadly strikes at her. Amazingly only one of them managed to injure her and the Sir Osbourne almost swore when he saw that her skin was as hard as granite.

The Anakharim knights rallied and hit back at their attackers. The large chamber was filled with the sounds of weapons clashing that drowned out the pitiful cries for help from those dying in the pits. Caleb sent a mental command to his mephits to aid him and they began to sing praises to him and his mighty hammer. Andrew winced when he heard the words “it's hammer time” and “can't touch this”, which put him off enough that he was unable to decapitate one of the knights. His sword did got through the knights defences and left him clutching his neck with dark fluid pooling rapidly at his feet.

Zakar and Caleb worked together to bring down one of the other dark knights and Sir Osbourne called upon the power of his pure faith to strike the wizardess. He almost succeeded in finishing her off, but through sheer will power alone she remained standing. The spell that was at the tip of her lips fizzled away as she struggled to stay on her feet. The woman wailed in despair at the loss of the arcing lighting enchantment that had fizzled away and she prepared another spell that would enable a hasty departure.

Just as Caleb was musing aloud Maybe we should take her alive? to the others, Andrew snuck up on her and stabbed her in the side. The tip of his sword protruded from the other end and the wizardess fell to the ground in a pool of blood and metal. I'm sorry, you were saying? Andrew asked Caleb innocently.

The last knight standing threw down his sword and held out the palms of his hands in a sign of surrender. The injured man collapsed and Zakar made sure that he would not bleed to death. The bariaur woman held out her hands in surrender as well and Cade approached her with a big smile on his face.

Caleb and Sir Osbourne rushed over to the covered pits and saw several unmoving bodies inside. One of them was still moving slightly. Heaving with all his might the earth genasi attempted to push the bars aside. Sir Osbourne had a go as well, but was unable to get much further. On Caleb's second attempt Sir Osbourne knelt down and reached for the dying woman. The tips of his fingers brushed her head and he was able to channel the healing power of Bahamut in to the captive. A quick inspection of the other pits revealed that the humans and dwarves in them had either perished during the blast or shortly afterwards. Several of the pits were lined with a fine dust.

Whilst the others were trying to save the dying woman in the pits, Cade decided to find out how much the woman knew in case there were any other nasty surprises awaiting them.

“So then, what's up?” the halfling asked, smiling kindly at the bariaur woman. He could sense the ripples of fear in her mind and sifted through her emotions at the thoughts underneath.

“You won't get away with this,” she spat at the halfling who easily stepped around it.

“I rather think that we already have,” Cade replied with a triumphant smile.

“Do you really think that this is an important base? You've not seen anything yet.” The bariaur woman felt something feathery brush against her mind and realised that the halfling or another was attempting to read her thoughts.

“Of course not, we've only just got here.” The halfling looked around as if he was admiring the view of the devastated work-shop and continued to pick at the surface thoughts of the bariaur woman. He sensed her anger at disturbing her work as well as a fear for what they might find upstairs.

“So why shouldn't we go upstairs?” Cade asked the woman with a warm smile that did not quite reach his cold, hard eyes. He was pleased to see the pupils of her eyes enlarge in fear and twirled his knife between his fingers. The woman tried not to think about her experiments upstairs and instead focused her anger on their leader Sethesis. She was sure that he would have fled at the first sign of trouble. 'To avoid being captured by the enemy' as he often put it.

If you are at all interested, the chap that you are busily exchanging spells with or what ever it is you're doing out there is called Sethetis, the leader of the base. Cade was vaguely aware that Littleby was in a spell duel of some kind and wanted to pass on the information that he'd gathered so far.

He has a name? Littleby asked from far away, trying to out-fly a swarm of locusts.

Sethetisithetis or Sethetis or something. Cade said the name aloud just to confirm it with the bariaur woman. She did not reply but the change in her expression told him enough. He's some kind of leader so it's best not to kill him.