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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lightful" data-source="post: 956500" data-attributes="member: 10870">Round 1 entryIngredients ancient elfalbino elvesprayer beadsspecimen collectionwithered gardenphase spider"Hear our prayers... "This is intended as an adventure for high(er) level characters. What exactly that might be varies greatly from campaign to campaign. However, the capability for extra planar travel will be necessary.    PROLOGUE    The Bielaja are a strain of ALBINO ELVES living to the far north of the world, beneath the surface where almost nothing grows and fierce winds whip through the icy tunnels. Living as primitive hunters and gatherers, sheltering from the merciless elements in natural caverns they developed a simple yet unique religion based upon two figures: The Giver is the source of all light, warmth and life, while the Taker must be appeased lest he lay claim to even more still.     Prayers uttered by the Bielaja fluttered to the outer planes, beyond the knowledge of their originators. Thanks for bounty were heard by the Seldarine, while pleas for mercy were whispered in Lloths ears. Faith strengthens all divine beings and a faith divided benefits none, so both godly parties preffered to be the sole focus of the Bielaja’s devotions and both chose to employ the same methods.    They chose a mortal champion, one of their faithful, and infused them with the merest wisp of divine favor so that they might hear the prayers of the Bielaja and take steps to gather all of their piety for their respective causes. Lloth empowered an unusual drow, Noxilea Thyr’athagh, the youngest child of a powerful house, who chose to devote herself to the socerous talent roiling in her blood. The Seldarine retained the services of Asquilla, a devout elven druid living on the surface far to the south.    Newly ascended, yet not fully divine, these quasi-powers established their realms on demi-planes in the Deep Ethereal; a twisting cavernous hold and a brightly verdant garden. They contested for the Bielaja’s devotions, working from afar at first, emulating their patrons, then ever closer, bending to the task, sending their minions, PHASE SPIDERS and treants, working now less and less on bringing their chosen flock into their own fold and ever more on stopping the machinations of the other side. Finally, they took the step that no true diety takes lightly and engaged each other in direct confrontation.     This proved their undoing, in laying waste to each other they snuffed out their divine essences and destroyed their respective realms: Noxilea’s hold caved in upon itself while Asquilla’s GARDEN WITHERED. Their godly masters forgot about them and wrote off the effort spent converting the Bielaja as lost, resuming their endless struggles on a thousand other mortal worlds.TODAY    Lloth was incensed by her chosens failure, and subjected her to the same horrid fate awaiting all failed drow; Noxilea was transformed into a drider. Homeless and wandering the ethereal with her retinue of phase spiders, driven mad by the divine power she had held and lost, she finally spun her home (literally) among the boughs of Asquilla’s withered garden. Asquilla herself returned to her world, as touched as her counterpart. Forsaking her lush southern homeland, she lives near the Bielaja, wandering the harsh landscape scraping lichens and moss for sustenance from the cavern walls, appearing as an ANCIENT ELF with wild white hair, festooned with PRAYER BEADS, forever counting them, mumbling, imagining she still hears the Bielaja’s pleas on the howling wind, hoping madly against hope that one day there will be enough of them for her to truly ascend back to her onetime position.              Noxilea, brooding madly in the dark, has given herself over to macabre experiments, twisting her phase spiders in various ways (apply templates as the fancy strikes you, chimeric, half-golem, fiendish, wood element and vile are all appealing possibilities). Having built up a sizeable COLLECTION of SPECIMENS, she hit at last upon an idea: Those miserable elves which percipetated her fall would suffer as she has – she’d turn every last one of them into driders (see the WOTC site).ENTER THE PC’S    If the PC’s are traveling the northern Underdark they could be staying with the Bielaja. They could meet a group of them and be invited to share their meager hearths. They could be pointed to them by divinations concerning Asquilla (who was a figure of some  stature prior to her disappearance). If one of the PC’s is a follower of the Seldarine, they could even be sent directly to them in order to attempt to bring them into the flock again.    Among the Bielaja they here tell of an ancient ghostly figure roaming the surrounding halls, mumbling with the wind. Others may mention that recently several hunting expeditions have failed to return (this is Noxilea starting to send her spiders to abduct the Bielaja, carrying them off to the ethereal – I realize that the mechanics of ethereal jaunt don’t allow for it but it’s conceivable that Noxilea bred it into them). On the PC’s second night with the tribe several spiders attack the main village, encampment or hollowed out cliff face (depending on how primitive you’ve decided to portray the Bielaja). This should be enough to stir the heroes into action.    Depending on the PC’s capabilities they may be able to follow the spiders into the ethereal, or they may consider the ancient ghost to be a clue. Gather Information checks among the tribe might reveal that there was a far distant time when dreams, omens and portents were rampant, but nothing more. Asquilla will be incoherent if approached, interspersing refences to her “tall, bright trees” with counting “three thousand from the hunters of the fish and two hundred more from the women at their skins” counting off from the numerous prayer beads looped about her body. Spending enough time with her (a week, ten days or anything you think is right) will enable attentive listeners to piece together her story, although by then it might be too late for the Bielaja ! If she is attacked she will defend herself as powerful druid. Bardic Lore checks or divinations will give quicker answers.    Whatever the case, the Bielaja will need the PC’s to protect them, and ultimately discover and unearth the power behind the attacks. If successful this will invariably lead them to the Ethereal Plane.INTO THE ETHER    Once the PC’s are on to Noxilea’s dastardly scheme, stopping her is a comparatively simple matter of shifting into the ethereal plane and tracking her spiders across it to her hideout. This can be as easy or as difficult as you choose. Ether cyclones, secretive mages and fiends or celestials on unexplained errands are all good encounters. Tracking phase spiders across the Deep Ethereal should be a feather in any adventurers cap ! Ultimately they should succseed and enter the Withered Garden.    This place is truly a mockery of what it once was. Tangled undergrowth cracks with every step, trees creak ominously and the stench of death is everpresent. Spiderwebs are everywhere. Skeletal (WOTC site) tendriculi and assassin vines, along with some of Noxilea’s more hideous creations will assail the characters as they make their way towards her lair spun from living webs among the boughs of the dead trees. A final guardian will await them before they may enter: a fully advanced, corrupted (vile template) treant will hide, stock still, until the characters are in melee range before attacking, animating other drywood (treants with the zombie template (Dragon or WOTC site)) as he does so.    Breaching this final barrier the characters may enter and battle Noxilea and as many assorted phase spiders as you see fit in her own lair (Balance, Tumble and Jump checks galore !). This ought to be a challenge unto itself, but adding insult to injury might be including a few more driders, newly transformed Bielaja into the mix ! The characters may want to avoid slaying these unfortunates in the hope of being able to reverse the transformation. DENOUMENT    Once the characters are triumphant, any number of possibilities open up. Curing any transformed Bielaja is a priority, but any druids, rangers or elves will consider that restoring the withered garden almost as important (if they’ve figured out that it once was glorious). All this mortal activity could spark a renewal of interest in the Bielaja from both the Seldarine and Lloth in which case Asquilla’s role is most assuredly not over. Plenty of opportunities for the enterprising DM.</blockquote>

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