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Message: <blockquote data-quote="James McMurray" data-source="post: 1583308" data-attributes="member: 743">The next day the group slips back into the slaver’s stockade. The upper area is still empty, and they head down the stairs again. Exploring a few dead ends, they finally come across a strange room. A sewer moat surrounds a central platform, with four bridges at each cardinal point. In the center is a man standing beside a desk. All around is a small flock of what looks to be lamprey eels. The eels burrow up and down through the ground, swimming through earth like fish. Also in the room are eight orcs: four in the front of the room and four I the back. All eight hold crossbows at the ready.The scouting Nadeem waves the group forward, and Vides asks if he should send constructs forward first. His call definitely alerts the guards if they were not already aware of the party’s approach. The front four orcs head towards the tunnel and Nadeem puts a soul blade into one’s throat. The others crowd the tunnel, drawing swords and pushing each other in their eagerness to draw blood.The orcs prove to be no math for Nadeem and an astral construct created by Vides. Before Vides can create another one, the land lampreys burrow up through the ground. One latches onto Argol, but is quickly blasted by Tahm. Another latches onto Tor and begins to suck the lifeblood from the psychic warrior. It is soon killed be Nadeem, but not before it does its dirty work, leaving Tor feeling weakened and fatigued.Vides sends forth another construct, but two bright flashes explode forth from the room. Nobody sees what happened, but when they enter the room the party finds that there are no more constructs. Vides creates another, and the party moves in to fight orcs and several flesh harrowers who appear to have come through double doors at the far end of the room. As they fight, the man that had been standing at the desk appears out of thin air, his fist outstretched towards Nadeem. A shimmering star of fire and light shoots out of a comet signet ring and slams into the soul knife. It explodes in a burst that sends Tor and Nadeem reeling, and also explodes one of the harrowers.Tor charges the slaver and take a mighty swing. The slaver again raises the ring and a shower of electrical sparks lashes out at Nadeem and Tor, sending their muscles into spasms as the electricity overrides their normal impulses and clenches every muscle tight. They shake it off but are still pained. Tor attacks again but the agile man evades the blows.Meanwhile Vides’ construct is attacking orcs and flesh harrowers. Orcs die almost instantly but the more resilient harrowers prove tougher to kill. Tahm, unable to get a lear shot, holds back and waits defensively for an opening.The slaver rumbles away and quaffs a potion, disappearing into thin air. Nadeem hurls his blade to the spot where the man disappeared, and it connects. The results of the blow are unseen, but a grunt of pain lets them know the man is not amused. Throughout the room orcs are dying and flesh harrowers are stubbornly refusing to do the same. Vides presses forward through the doorway and enters a hall. At the end of the hall he finds a strange room. The floor is made up of 1’ wide beams. Below floor level are cages holding human prisoners. Balanced on the beams are several orcs and two humans. On wears full plate, the other an aristocrat’s outfit. As Vides calls out his find, the walls of the cages fold upwards, creating a full floor. The full plated warrior charges forward and slams his bastard sword into the wilder, as the floors drop back down. Behind Vides a shimmering curtain of electricity appears, and sparks from it lash out at him.The man he chased appears again, with his comet ring pointed at Vides. A shimmering orb of light hurtles forth, but misses Vides. The resulting fireball still hurts, but nowhere near as bad as it would have had it been a direct hit. Vides lashes out and kills the enemy. Vides moves up and grabs the ring off of the man’s hand, stowing it in his backpack to deliver to Castellan Woodridge as ordered.The fight with the warrior continues and the rest of the group moves forward, except for Tor, who fights a seemingly unending battle with the remaining harrower, both combatants unable to land a telling blow. Tahm tries twice to remove the curtain of energy but fails, and he decides to step though. He comes out he other side with muscles clenched tight, and the enemy psion creates another wall of electricity, trapping Tahm, Vides, and the warrior. Their battle is waged across the double-doored passageway, and doors are both opened and closed to block escape routs and wall emanations.The enemy psion’s head pokes itself out of the floor between the two walls of electricity, and he tries unsuccessfully to brain lock Vides. The enemy fighter is killed, and one of Tahm’s energy rays passes harmlessly through the incorporeal foe.The rest of the group finally arrives at the battle, and Nadeem’s mind blade strikes home, slamming into the bodiless foe. Finding himself outnumbered, the slaver flees through the floor.The group pushes forward into the room, with Nadeem easily balancing his way across he beams to a door. Inside the door is a flesh harrower and several metal levers. The harrower lashes out at Nadeem, who is hurt but avoids falling. Tor run around the walls and into the chamber. The two psychics easily finish off the harrower, and operate the levers to raise the floors so the remainder of the party can catch up.In the next room the party finds more cages filled with slaves, as well as two storage rooms. The slaves have not seen the enemy’s flight, sot he party decides to flee the slaves and retreat to rest. They use rope found in the storage rooms to free the slaves from the pit room, and lead them all to the surface.On the way out they are attacked by more of the land lampreys. Several of the slaves are killed, and Tor is yet again sucked on. This time he is left almost dead, and the group flees the surviving lampreys in the corridor. They reach the top without further incident, and return to The Duerf’s base camp. The slaves are given directions back to town and sent on their way. Lord Djonnimar tells them the if any of them are looking for work, they can contact him. A few express interest.</blockquote>

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