Book VI
Cordozo – Chapter Thirty – The Gift that Keeps on Taking
We returned to town some days later, my head still spinning from all that I had seen and learned. I had nightmare visions of the “Vessel” returning to oppress all of those ox-demons, thanks to us. Maybe the ox-demons were evil, maybe they were just seeking some well-deserved freedom or revenge. We would probably never know for sure, but I’m sure it will haunt me for some time to come. And yet I can’t be sure the ox-demons were truly sincere. They certainly had thugs of questionable character in their employ. Perhaps the Vessel was not so bad. I suppose that if I was sure she was, I would have crushed her brain myself before letting her return to oppress masses of people.
My ruminations were interrupted by an announcement of a new form of “magic” called “Dream Gifts” – magic that takes something from its wearer such that much more powerful magic for less cost can be made. Such a gift was made to us as an introduction to a meeting for hire. Already, I could sense the evil we would unwittingly spread. Or perhaps my cynicism is simply spreading from law to adventuring. The “Gift” such as it was, was a small gold circlet. Tossing caution to the fates, I quickly donned it, and felt myself stricken with weakness to my stamina. Fortunately, Marcus was able to rectify the situation, and I was able to wear the circlet safely. Right away I noticed something very different about it – it actually was magic that affected the powers of the mind! I could sense its tendrils enveloping my being in its soft embrace, providing me protection against the minds of others, no matter what form their mental emanations may take. Perhaps this “Gift” is not so bad after all.
Our client turned out to be perhaps the last member of a group called Thalos that once had something called the Occulus that was since struck and destroyed by a firey meteor, or perhaps it was just shifted into another plane. In any event, it was our task to seek some way to restore this Occulus to the group so they could resume their Dream Gift creations.
So down yet another road we travel, for reasons that will perhaps never be clear. Just as we were about to depart, I felt another surge of power rush through my mind and then everything went black.
Cordozo – Chapter Thirty-One – Nightmares … and Death
Strange, wispy shapes. That’s all I can remember. Darkness. Monsters that seemingly appear out of mist in ambush only to vanish back into it as they are slain.
Somewhere in my waking life, I have dim recollections of our client Thalos voicing a need to find seven medallions or tokens, one of which he already held. We needed to dive into the realm of shadows, of dreams – a realm I seemed to already be slipping into even when awake. So through a portal we went, into the shallows of the shadow realm. In my dreams I sensed that those whom we were seeking, whom Thalos was seeking, were somewhere between good and evil, on the edge of insanity. Perhaps it was the Occulus.
Thalos was with us in the mist. Just past the gate, nightmares of mist rose up and provided a nasty fight. I have trouble now remembering which was real and which was my own nightmares brought to life. But I do know we prevailed, much drained. So rest we did, in the mists.
Unfortunately for Thalos, his rest was both ended and made eternal as three appeared out of the mist and slipped their knives into his ribs, killing him before we could even react. And then they ran, one escaping, the other two joining Thalos in permanent dreaming in the mists.
On his lifeless body we found one of the medallions or tokens of which he spoke. He also had a book that exuded so much evil that it was painful for Marcus to even examine its aura. We prepared to return to the temple of Pelor for further information. Unfortunately, death was not finished with us.
Another ambush, this time leaving Morwen’s corpse to dream the dreamless sleep of eternity. Two bodies, more unanswered questions. The only positive notion was that as Morwen died, the mist in my mind parted, and my nightmares retreated to my sleep for the time being.
Corozo – Chapter Thirty-Two – Life restored, life ignored, a book explored
The priests worked their strange magic, restoring life to Morwen, who seemed rather perturbed to have lost her life. I think she was more upset about the surprise of the ambush than she was about the death itself. I’ll never understand the strange magic of the priests. How can they have such faith when the world is full of such injustice even from the best of men? But then I suppose it helps that their magic is so powerful.
Marcus asked his order about the book and about the fate of our client. The book’s evil came first, an evil that we discovered could only be destroyed in a place of shadow called the Abyss of Possibilities. We are still unclear as to whether Thalos was intending to destroy the book or use its evil for something befitting its nature. Now, much like the appeal of a capital case of an already-hanged man, it was moot. Because Marcus’ other inquiry, about the fate of Thalos, was answered with a simple, if cryptic sentence: “This man is not needed alive.” So dead he stayed.
The question was – what do we do with the book? I ventured that we must destroy it. And perhaps those tokens were the key, regardless of Thalos’ true intentions. Thus armed with a purpose, we ventured forth into the town to gather supplies and provisions for our return through the gate to the plane of shadow.
Cordozo – Chapter Thirty-Three – Odd Haversack out
Amongst the strange and wondrous items found in the shallows was an item of much interest to me – a circlet that increases one intellect. Beyond the possibilities of the courtroom that swam through my mind, I wondered if it would help me focus my newfound powers. I was eager to try, and thankfully, my companions let me do so. Brains would be crushed with glee! I silently thanked the gods that no one could have read my mind at that particular moment.
Even more of interest to me were several items that I could sense mental emanations from, almost as if they had small minds of their own. Items of mental power! I never dreamed such items could exist, much less that I would hold them in my hands. A crystal. A wand. An amulet of psionic power. I reverently held them all in my hands before donning them on my body. I felt my mind pulse with power as the crystals touched my flesh.
My companions also have found something they all relish – something called a “handy haversack” or some such nonsense. I didn’t quite understand the need. All I ever needed, even in the direst of combats, was the sharpness of my mind. I could think of nothing worth spending my hard-earned coin on, so I again held it in my purse, even as it bulged ever outward.
We spent one night in town, to rest up before returning to the shallows. My nightmares returned, thankfully only in my sleep, and I discovered something else of note. Morwen, recently restored to life, was having nightmares of her own, strangely similar to mine. I could feel them leaking from her dreams into my consciousness as she slept. Curious.
Cordozo – Chapter Thirty-Four – Gates, gates, grey gates, crimson stains of death
Upon our return through the gate, we found ourselves on a peninsula of mist that held three further gates. With a depth of analysis akin to a coin toss, we stepped through another gate and found ourselves on a grey plain of seemingly infinite expanse. Looking down at ourselves, we found that we were grey as well, even Morwen’s orange complexion having returned to a duller state.
Looking off into the distance, we saw the only non-grey in sight was a stain of red of indeterminate distance and indeterminate size. Having no other landmarks to guide our steps, toward the red we then marched.
As we closed in on the stain, we discovered it was the stain of blood, apparently the only substance to keep its natural hue in this grayish land. Before we could do more than lean toward the body, out of the mists leapt the shape of a vicious animal covered in a strange, shaggy coat. I was so excited! A chance to try out my new powers, my new items of power, my new mind! I would crush its brain into a fine powder, more insubstantial than the very mists of the land!
Quickly, my companions jumped into action. A whir of blades, a smash of staffs, a slinging of spells, and the shaggy dog lay dead, then slipped back into the mists. Just as I was about to make my move. I wasted another crossbow bolt, firing it off into the far horizon in mute protest. I don’t think my companions even noticed. They were too busy examining the corpse. They found what we could only assume was a token or medallion. This must be one of the seven. I guess now we know at least two of the seven are dead. Time to find number three.
Given what was found before, I reached out the tendrils of my mind, searching for other minds with powers like my own, and much to my delight and surprise, I found minor minds again upon items on the person of the corpse. What a joy for me, though it would be better to find a living mind to converse with and explore just what these powers mean and where they came from.
On the body we also found a note, written by the dead man, Solon by name. It merely said that “Thalos must be SLAIN. KILLED KILLED KILLED.” So either he was insane, Thalos was evil, or both. We’re definitely going to need to screen our clients better.
After we finished with the body, we considered giving him a proper burial, but there was nothing here. I suggested we leave the body where it is, as its own marker. If we buried him, in this empty place, there would be no sign of his existence at all. So we let him lay where he was.
Cordozo – Chapter Thirty-Five – Plains of grass, ants of size, swamps of sadness, and chips of buffalo
The next gate brought us to a homestead on a vast plain, in a misty sort of way. Swampy shores nipped at our heels as we gazed off toward a herd of grayish buffalo, only slightly obscured in our line of sight by two buildings just a short hop away. Before we could fully appreciate the dull beauty of our surroundings, yet another set of monsters slipped out of the mists of the swamp and attacked.
We faced down fifteen giant insectoid creatures. This time I was determined to act before the others could steal my glory. I wanted to stretch my mind, express my power, destroy them all! Every injustice in court I’d seen, every corrupt judge, every guilty noble who walked free, every last ounce of indecency in the law flowed through me and then out of me as I lashed out at the creatures. Five large balls of cold issued forth from my mind, coalesced in the air, and slammed into their armored carapaces. I watched with great satisfaction as four of their bodies exploded in a surge of mental energy and then faded into the mists. Strangely, one seemed unaffected, as if he could resist my mind completely. How strange! Perhaps it had a crown, much like the one that sucked away my life force after given to me by Thalos. Or perhaps it was naturally resistant. I was determined to see if it could survive another strike from my mind.
My companions moved and made attacks of their own, striking down a few of their numbers before I acted again, this time I threw every last ounce of my mind into my globes of cold fury and this time I watched with great satisfaction as all five of my targets fell to my mental aim and exploded in a shard of armed mist. Including the one who was previously unaffected by my mind. I knew he could not last.
As the battlefield lay quiet, the corpses slowly fading back into the mists, I felt a warm wave of powerful satisfaction at how easily I decimated my enemies before me. No crossbow bolts were wasted on that day.
Before we even turned away from the corpses, we heard a loud battle cry as an armored figure burst forth from the house, screaming “Have no fear! I’m here to help!”
Thus, we made Chilon’s acquaintance, a man of great enthusiasm for battle if bad timing for charges. If only his enthusiasm held true in other areas.
Cordozo – Chapter Thirty-Six – Invited inside – and not much else
Chilon introduced himself as the protector of the Occulus. He was a warrior of the mind, as I sensed from him as I probed his thoughts. Disappointingly, he seemed much weaker of mind than myself, and was probably not one from whom I could learn much about my own art. His lack of concern about anything beyond living in his “retirement” on this shadow realm of his own making.
He admitted he had a medallion token of his own, but refused to give it up, even to as a loaner, for us to see what we needed to do with all seven of the tokens. To him, it was just a token of his past, a badge of his office. Though he created the whole realm we were standing in from the deep recesses of his mind, and could probably have made his own substitute badge, to him, it just wasn’t the same.
Seeing how useless this conversation was going, we decided to leave. I suggested we could always return once we’d found the other tokens and try again. Perhaps then we‘d know more about what we might even need to use the tokens for. He sure seemed nice enough. It would be a shame if he had to die. I wondered if it would be more evil to kill him to destroy the evil book, or to not kill him, leave the book intact, and then perhaps some greater evil is loose in the world. I hate our clients.
So through yet another gate we went.
Cordozo – Chapter Thirty-Seven – A city of millions, A city of one
We emerged from the gate into a town square set with a fountain and three more gates. A city loomed in the distance and all around us. Buildings of gigantic proportions. A temple pyramid up to the clouds. And a population of millions moving through the streets, out of the buildings, all around us. All identical. All silently mouthing the same words as they noiselessly walked past us.
As we tried to explore, we found ourselves moving in circles, always returning to the fountain of our origin. Finally, we managed to change our course and enter a tower from which all of the silent twins seemed to emerge. Inside, floating in air, seemingly in agony, we saw what spawned them. Another of the lords of Thalos, holding on to some unseen, glowing thing, body suspended in air, an endless stream of her shadow selves shedding from her body. Her words we could somehow discern, wordlessly repeated by all of her shadows.
“Please, the blackness looms. Please, the blackness looms. It touches each of the seven, even me. With each semblance cast off, my mind knows peace, but the blackness grows.”
Ok, I said, time to get her down. I’d seen enough. “Ee, go ahead,” I said, and looked expectantly.
“Me watch her,” was all he said.
“Ee?”
I was startled – Ee usually isn’t so thoughtful. Thankfully, Morwen acted, and then Ee followed suit, and soon the unseen pearl in her hand was seen just as her whole body crumbled to dust. And then we were seen, as every single one of those millions of semblances turned in our direction.
Sometime after I was already running toward the gate, I heard myself yell “run for the gate!”
As we ran past the many shadow images, they swung and snapped at us, shredding our flesh even as we kept on moving. I felt my blood draining away, my life leaving me. Just as I was about to fall, the fountain came into sight. So close. I called out to Marcus. I felt claws grasp my throat. The gate loomed ahead, back to the buffalo. I jumped. Claws grasped. Everything again went black.
Cordozo – Chapter Thirty-Eight – I take another licking
Something wet. Something warm and wet. There it was again, against my cheek. The darkness faded and a fuzzy world came into semi-focus. As my eyes opened, I saw a huge, hideous beast looming over me, its pink, wet appendage assaulting me without mercy. And then the buffalo licked my cheek again in a long, slow, slurping stroke. The flavor it left in my throat reminded me of the aroma of a particularly well-traveled tavern around dawn, when only the dwarves are still conscious after a full night’s drinking. I sat up and took in my surroundings. Back on the homestead.
Chilon gave as warm a greeting as his buffalo, though fortunately with less tongue. Given our previous failure to get him to give us his token, I decided instead to ask him for something he may part with – information about the others of his former seven. We knew of Thalos, who died under our competent care. We had found the body of Solon, and we determined that the now dusted body of a million shady images was a woman by the name of Biana. Chilon was kind enough to name Pherecyde, Anacharsi, and Cleobulus as the remaining three lords of the tokens we had yet to find. We rested and thanked him for his help before departing his plane and heading back toward the unknown, through yet another wispy portal.
We ran back through to the land of the million shades, never even slowing down as we ran through to another portal, hopefully for somewhere less disturbing. We were sorely disappointed.
Cordozo – Chapter Thirty-Nine – Disgusting. Utterly disgusting.
We ran out of the city of the million dead shades walking, and right into the land of phlegm. Knee deep phlegm. Waterfalls of phlegm, down the walls, across the floor, into a veritable river of phlegm. I found myself longing for more tongue action from the buffalo if it meant I did not have to experience the milky-white sticky fluid running past my disturbed toes. My brain, well primed from my unfortunate sewer experience, was ahead of my feet and I found myself standing on the surface of the phlegm even as my companions were knee-deep in the disgusting goop.
The stench was overpowering. Only the thought of how horrible it would be to have vomit all over my very expensive clothes kept me from spewing out my own version of the phlegm they were standing in and I was standing on. Morwen glanced over at me and asked “can you do that for me?” I looked down at my dry feet standing on top of the disgusting river beneath me and replied “no, sorry.”
The walls were like the soft, pink innards of one’s intestines, which didn’t make keeping my own intestines steady any easier. Whatever it was we might find here, I hoped we’d find it quick, so onward we marched. The passageway, if you could call it that, wound its way forward, and led out into another, even larger chamber full of phlegm. Before we got there, though, a rather large mass of what looked like animated phlegm rose up out of the muck and smashed its slimy pseudopods into Ee’s body. Ee screamed and sliced it in two. Unfortunately, this left us with two creatures to kill instead of one. Morwen’s arrow contributed further to our troubles, and now we faced three creatures. Not liking the way this was adding up, I set forth my own concentration and a long blast of cold air went forth from my mind, striking all three of them at once. Before I could take stock of the results, a massive column of flame came down into the phlegm and all of the remaining quivering mass melted back into the goop. I heard a shout from behind me, “By the power of Pelor,” followed by “hey, I killed something too!”
After we got over the new, disgusting smell of burned, frozen slime, Ee searched through the muck and found something rather remarkable: a longsword made out of ductile stone. I kept my distance, not wanting to hurt myself by holding it, but I did find it a fascinating concept. For some reason, the mental vibrations emanating from its surface created the word “stonewand” in my mind. I repeated this out loud, and then attempted to convince Ee that this was the instrument of a dwarf wizard. Ee, much to my delight, both thought and said at the same time, “It longsword. Ee not that stupid.”
Cordozo – Chapter Forty – Phlegm down the drain – please, please, please no
Around the intestine-like corridor we walked until we came to another room, this one with a drain in the floor creating a waterfall of phlegm down into unseen depths. No, no, it can’t be. There’s no way I’m going down there, I thought to myself. Or so I thought, as I heard my words echo off of the slimy pink walls.
“That’s where we need go,” said Ee.
“No, that’s where YOU can go,” I found myself saying, with Morwen, in unison.
“Sure, me do it,” said Ee. Then, in a flash of insight, he said, “me not too smart anyway.”
“I’m not going down there,” I said, in case anyone had missed it the first time.
“Here, take my ring of swimming,” Marcus said as he handed over his ring of swimming to Ee. Ee also had his slippers of spider climbing. I took a look down at the waterfall of phlegm and silently wondered just how useful either of those items would be in a free fall on down. Then I took another look at Ee and at the rest of us, and wondered just who was going to be strong enough to not only lower his bulk down a rope but pull him back up.
In the meanwhile, to make sure we could communicate through the inverse fountain of phlegm, I linked my mind with Ee’s. I asked him, inside his head, “can you hear me?” Ee began looking around frantically, not saying a word. Or thinking a word, for that matter. After several minutes of explaining to Ee that nothing nefarious was afoot, we changed our mind and decided to send down Morwen instead. She was not happy about it. I tried not to say anything. I linked with her mind, though, so we could communicate when her face would be full of phlegm. We only had 120 feet of rope to work with, given that there was no rope in my briefcase.
As we lowered Morwen down into the muck, I learned several new swear words I had never heard before, which she shouted through our mindlink. And every once in a while I’d hear “not there…” until finally, after several tries, I hear the “good, I’m here” from the link, which I passed on to the others. I asked her if she could go invisible. Surprisingly, she said she could, apparently by downing an elixir. I suggested she do so if she were to go explore alone down there. Helpfully, I asked her to “let us know if anything kills you.”
Morwen described for us a sharp protrusion that would have nicely impaled us if we had been so foolish as to jump down instead of climb down. Several skeletons covered with green fungus decorated her landing. Two passageways left her location, and she went down both, one at a time. Her running commentary was none too helpful at times.
“Oh, that’s ok. That looks suspicious there. Oh, that’s ok. Curves to the left. Then to the right. Oh, an island free of milky fluid.”
And thus one led to an apparently empty room, the other to a room with what could only be described as a lake of phlegm – at least, that’s what she said – “it looks like a lake of phlegm” with an island in the middle that was covered with overlapping runes of all kinds. There seemed to be some meaning to it, but what that was was very unclear. I asked her to write it down, but she had no paper. Apparently only lawyers carry briefcases full of paper into dungeons.
“Is there a demon?” I asked her. She mentally shrugged in reply, if such a thing is possible.
Then she said, “ok, Cordozo, this one seems pretty normal? The other side looks, perhaps, too dangerous. There is a pretty strong current.” I almost forgot to pass it on to the others. I quickly mind linked with them all to make sure they wouldn’t miss any of my commentary just because I forgot to open my mouth when making it.
Since she had no way to cross the lake, she came on back up to remedy that situation with a little divine Pelorian help. There’s something almost comical about hauling up an invisible Morwen who is miserable, and dripping wet with slime. I was so glad it wasn’t me. I really hoped no one heard me think that thought through the mindlink.
So back down she went, this time with paper, which she used to transcribe what she saw. She came back up and still I could make no sense of what she had written. It was likely psionic in nature. So naturally, they wanted to send me down to see it for myself. Naturally, I did not want to go. Ee offered to go down with her. “Me go down with you.” But somehow, I doubted his expertise would help with the puzzle of the sigil-laden island. I reminded everyone I could crush them with my mind before I tied the rope around my waist and prepared myself for my disgusting fate.
No, no, no, no, no, I said to myself as I wrapped my cloak tightly around me and was lowered into the gurgling phlegm. At least Morwen went first. I enhanced her commentary with some of my own on the way down.
Morwen, at least, offered me an invisibility potion of my own to use. I didn’t relish the thought of what might be in that lake. Morwen seemed like she’d offer me scant protection against the demons of the deep. Where was a good wall of ‘Ee’ when you needed one?
I made my way to the island, walking on the surface as Morwen walked on air beside me. Power of Pelor indeed. I still could not make out anything of the symbols. I got disgusting for this?? Next time, I swore, I’d send Ee down instead of me.
On the way back out, it became apparent there was something nasty in the nasty. Morwen went looking for it in the lake, swimming in the muck. It makes me wretch to think of it even now. Something seemed to go after her, but nothing happened. That was all I needed to get out of there. “I’ll go up first.” Once I was up, “let’s leave.” I sure hope we don’t need to come back here. I have a bad feeling about it.
Cordozo – Chapter Forty-One – Out of the phlegm and into the fire
We returned to a safer, nicer place and cleaned up, using this fountain that was there. It made my mind refreshed to drink from it, in ways that I normally could not without resting for the night. I’m definitely going to have to write this place down. Morwen and myself then immediately asked Marcus to cure disease on us both. “You don’t look sick,” he said. We were sick, we insisted, until he relented. Best not to take any chances.
Unfortunately, to get to the next gate, we had to walk through the slime again. This time, Morwen rode on my back for the trip, in order to avoid the muck. Much to our surprise, instead of slime, we found ourselves knee deep in a million images in a city that looked hauntingly familiar. They all looked our way. I ran, Morwen rode, and we got the hell out. And then back into the slime. I didn’t even slow down before I stepped through the next portal. Anything would be better than what we just experienced.
The next place was so hot I almost passed out when we stepped in. Steam rose from unseen vents. A pillar of fire shot forth next to a structure of some kind in the distance. And out of it popped several salamander creatures, breathing fire and looking rather uninviting. So naturally, we charged them.
Before anyone got too far, I deduced that they would not be great fans of cold, and sent a few globes of cold their way from my mind, dispatching them in almost an instant. My, that sure beats wasting another crossbow bolt.
Ee ran and charged. And then kept on running and charging almost through another portal. Ok, Ee, the battle is over. We chased Ee through the portal and then brought him back, just in time to meet a new “friend.”
Cordozo – Chapter Forty-Two – A nice Pherecyde chat.
Standing before the column of fire upon our return was a woman of a rather fiery disposition. She seemed rather inclined to kill us all. That is, until my companions said, “hey, you’re the lawyer, use your diplomacy or something,” and so I turned on my lawyerly charm and soon she was inviting us in for biscuits. If by biscuits, one meant salamander constructs she was building to amass an army to kill all of her former companions.
We asked her if she could help us. She did offer to help us kill the others. She said they were all crazy. It was perhaps the only true thing we could glean from our conversation with her. She boasted about making the salamanders and also this horrible guardian. I sensed trouble right away, behind me and to the right. Before I could even open my mouth, I heard my worst fears realized: “Me kill him!” stated loudly and proudly. I closed my eyes and waited for the carnage to start. I was wrong. We had to wait a few more minutes for that.
She did offer to help us kill Cleobulus, who she said was in the river of phlegm. Wonderful! Maybe none of us would have to get dirty. We also told her about the evil artifact and asked her about it. She asked about it, so of course, we showed it to her. And then the carnage began. I shouted at the top of my lungs, “Dammit, we should have done this AFTER she went into the slime for us!”
I killed another salamander with my mind. Unfortunately, its mind already had Ee, and so he first killed Pherecyde and then attacked Morwen. Fortunately, we were able to stop him before he ran very far this time.
Pherecyde, in one last desperate move, incinerated us all in a globe of fire centered on herself. I could feel its heat burn into my skin and into my mind. I tried to absorb her energy, but was unable to do so. Yet I did feel a strange signature leave its imprint on my mind when she was done. This was definitely something I needed to explore.
Her body yielded yet another token, a gem, a box with incense, and a ring. I fervently prayed to Pelor and every other god I could think, imploring them not to make us go through any more slime. Somehow, I knew those prayers would go unanswered.
Cordozo – Chapter Forty-Three – We need to Ash some Questions
Frantically, we wracked our collective wisdoms to figure out where our path should take us next. In truth, Morwen and I attempted to figure some way to avoid ever having to even say the word “phlegm” again. Eventually, we settled on the vast, empty plain of grey ash. Perhaps that heralded the fact that our ideas were as empty as an infinitely large plane filled with nothing but grey ash. We found nothing.
We did see the body again, but we elected to leave it where it was, both as a monument and a landmark in a place bereft of both. At least, that was my argument. Ee agreed, albeit in a rather cruder form. Marcus and Morwen argued that we had agreed to bury it at a later time, but I did not recall ever making such an agreement. Ee denied it even more vehemently, then turned to me and said “Me talk to my lawyer.” I turned back to Marcus and Morwen and announced, “I’m representing Ee in this matter.”
I pointed out that there was no formal contract between Ee (or myself) and anyone regarding the disposition of the body. And, moreover, if there was, which I did not concede, it was unsupported by consideration, and was therefore unenforceable. And thus I fulfilled my pro-bono quota for the year. That body didn’t move.
But we did not find much of anything either. Or rather, we found nothing. So we returned to the buffalo. I kept my distance. After much more deliberation, we decided that, whatever we needed to do, we at least needed to get the token from the phlegm, wherever that was. I selflessly volunteered to stay behind while they did it, but my companions rather ungraciously declined my charitable offer.
Ee did vote to kill Chilon to get his token. I suggested we show him the book, and if he attacks us, so be it, but if he does not, then perhaps he’ll volunteer to help us. Morwen and Marcus thought this was a weasely attempt to find an excuse to kill him. Hey, stop looking at me, just because I’m a lawyer. Ee made a very eloquent case for it, which seemed to impress Morwen, if not of the validity of his position, at least of his vastly improved grammar and elocution. That is, until she saw me standing nearby, listening and concentrating and saying nothing. Oh well, maybe on another occasion, it will be beneficial to feed Ee some good lines of conversation though a mindlink.
One other benefit of my mindlink with Ee was that all of his comments about how stupid certain individuals we have encountered are, or how we should kill them, stayed unvoiced, and only in my head. Perhaps that will get him a few dozen less arrows from the Captain of the Guard the next time we save a Kingdom from utter destruction.
Cordozo – Chapter Forty-Four – Phlegm. Again. No, I don’t want to talk about it.
There I stood, my feet refusing to penetrate the river of phlegm beneath them, Morwen standing on my back. My companions were trying to figure out some way to get all of us down that horrid, putrid shaft filled with the phlegm waterfall. I was trying to figure some way to guarantee I’d never have to feel phlegm in my hair and down my shirt and pants ever again. I concentrated so hard on it, until I felt my mind turn in upon itself. I began to visualize the area below. I visualized myself there, unencumbered by any phlegm. I concentrated so hard, the phlegm beneath me began to ripple outwards with patterns of shockwaves. And then suddenly, something inside me snapped, and then slammed into my brain with the force of a mountain collapsing inside my head. I saw a flash of the mages we fought for the Vessel of Stars, one down, one picking up his fallen companion and vanishing, and then everything went black.
When I opened my eyes, my companions were staring at me expectantly.
“What do you mean, you can get all of us down there?”
I felt awkward, like I was intruding upon a conversation long in progress, despite my apparent participation in the discussion from the beginning. I felt my mouth say the words, “I can do it. I can take us down there. I can do two of you at a time.” My companions kept insisting I explain further, but I felt I could not find the words; I did not understand it myself, I just knew it was true and wanted to show them.
In order to reduce our trip down via my brain to one trip down, Ee and Marcus agreed to be lowered via rope to the bottom before Morwen, Krynyn, and myself followed in the non-phlegm version of the trip.
After Marcus was lowered down, but before Ee was lowered down, there was a long discussion between Ee and Morwen about the merits of simply going into the room below and killing everything in it. Morwen, like Marcus, had certain reservations. I wisely stayed out of it and let Ee’s eloquence rule the day. Nothing was resolved, but it was refreshing to hear Ee’s complaints over the mindlink. I did also learn something else as I rooted around in Ee’s mind. Ee’s name, or rather, its origin. Ee was apparently from a barbarian tribe that traditionally named its warriors after animals, right at birth, with the animal pronounced by one’s father, as the first animal seen, as the name one took for life.
When Ee was finally free of his mother’s womb, his father proudly looked up to the sky and the first animal he saw was an eagle, flying high and soaring through the clouds. Just as he was pronouncing the name, an orc warrior shot an arrow right through his father’s throat, spraying blood over the already bloody baby. All his father got out was “Eeeeeeee” before he collapsed and died. I imagined his mother took appropriate revenge on said orc, though I tried not to picture if that was before or after the cord was cut. But I digress.
Ee was finally slowly lowered down, and then Morwen collected the rope, and held my hand, as did Krynyn, and then in a blink of an eye, we were standing over a hundred feet below where we were, still, unfortunately, surrounded by phlegm. The tunnel to the island awaited us.
I pulled out a large diamond from my pack and gave it to Krynyn. I had already given one to Marcus earlier. I said, “if I die, use this to bring me back with that divine magic you have. I know from Marcus that you can do this if you get to my corpse fast enough.” I figured it was an expensive form of life insurance, but one I certainly would endorse.
Cordozo – Chapter Forty-Five – I offer a roomful of death – Brother Marcus offers pleasant conversation
Marcus was sitting down in the phlegm when we arrived, meditating with Pelor and waiting. I think he has long ago discerned that sometimes we have “problems” deciding a certain course of action, and so Marcus was patiently waiting until “solved” whatever “problem” we were on that was delaying us.
I offered to fill the room with death, something I think I can do if I now concentrate. The only catch is I can’t control it very well, so I’d kill all of my companions if they were there with me. I didn’t relish the thought of standing in the room by myself, but I thought I’d offer. Marcus’ reply was succinct. “Please don’t, unless absolutely necessary.”
Ee took in his surroundings, and pronounced his findings so all could hear. “This phlegm deep.”
I sensed something psionically active ahead, but could not discern exactly what it was. Marcus detected three evil beings ahead. I again offered to kill everything in the room, but he again declined. I never saw anything wrong with a little efficiency when it comes to slaying evil. I know many judges who put efficiency over everything else, including justice. I was not sure if I was becoming more cynical or if it was defensible because, after all, we detected evil, by the power of Pelor. Pelor wouldn’t lie, would he? Unfortunately, something else nagged at the back of my mind. What if there were other creatures, not evil, lurking in the muck? Justice, as always, is hard work. Harder than expediency. But I gave it one last try.
“They’re evil. Do you want me to kill them? You want to kill evil, or talk to the evil things?”
Marcus being Marcus, gave me his answer, shouting into the room with a lake of gurgling phlegm, “Hello! We mean you no harm! Will you please communicate with us?” Silence was the only response, if you ignore the never-ending gurgling of the disgusting phlegm, which I was doing my best to make my new profession.
We would have waited longer for a response, more out of a desire not to enter the lake of phlegm than any optimistic assessment of a possible answer, but Ee being Ee finally could wait no more and proudly marched forward, walking on air (courtesy of Krynyn), and, taking Marcus on his back, marched around the lake, trying to figure out where the evil beings were. They decided they were near the island, so they walked up to it, and then they appeared.
Surging out of the water were three psionically active beings with large spikes on their back. I sensed that they were all somehow part of one being, perhaps deceased, in some slightly less disturbing version of the million-image city we had recently vacated. Pelor proved accurate when they immediately attacked. I could feel the air crackling with pisonic energy.
Before they could eviscerate Ee, I sent three surging balls of fire from my mind, circling out over the lake of phlegm, and into each of the spike-backed creatures. One fell, two advanced, though one of those did not get very far before being stunned by a blast of shadow energy from Krynyn. Number two fell, leaving just the stunned one alive. Marcus helpfully suggested we interrogate the remaining creature, though by the time he finished his sentence suggesting it, Ee had already killed him. Ee has his own brand of efficiency. We certainly spent no time debating the merits of Marcus’ suggestion.
The corpses yielded another token, our fifth, not including Chilons nor the ever unseen and apparently domainless Anarcharsi’s. There was also a ring, of the same sort of dream magic Thalos had demonstrated before. I declined to touch it, but Ee quickly put it on. Morwen had goggles of similar magic, and I had my crown in my briefcase. Once Morwen gave me that headband of intellect, it seemed more prudent to wear that than something that shields my mind.
Cordozo – Chapter Forty-Six – Buffalo. More damn Buffalo. And a request.
“Ho, dreamers!” was what greeted us when we again stepped home on the range, where Chilon was playing. We again asked him about his token, and got nowhere. Ee was surrounded by trees for his trouble. Fortunately, he kept the insults in his (and my mind) and nothing further happened. It was interesting to watch trees spring out of nothingness. We convinced him to let Ee go. (Which he may not have, had he heard Ee’s thoughts. First, he thought to himself (and to me) “He dead,” then he finished with “Me not apologizing. Time come, he die.”)
But now we had to figure out what to do. We had to find a way to get to the True Adyton to find the Abyss of Possibilities so we could throw in the book and destroy it. There were no more domains that we could find, leaving us one token unseen. I wondered if the book was a domain of its own. Chilon said Anarcharsi was “into books” and I toyed with taking him literally. Finally, Krynyn asked his god for an answer, and got one of the most useless answers yet – “Follow your heart, drink lots of water.” Several wasted crossbow bolts later, our Pelorian decided to ask his god for the same advice, and he got a slightly more helpful answer – give the tokens to Chilon and let the “glib one” talk to him. All eyes turned to me. I swore if I could not read minds, I could still have read all of their minds at that moment anyway. I broke out my briefcase, polished my briefs, and then entered into the most eloquent and persuasive argument of my existence, extolling our virtues, the virtues of helping us, the virtues of destroying the evil book. Chilon sat and watched with wonder, and decided, must to our surprise, that his apathy was over and he would actually, not only help us with the token situation, but come along with us and see it through to the end.
And they said a lawyer wouldn’t make for a good adventurer. Well, ok, no one said that, but I’m sure many would think it, had that unlikely scenario been brought to their attention, perhaps while at a bar and after a few ales.
He walked with us to the non-functional gate, which then cleared and opened, and we stepped through to the shadow plane beyond.
Cordozo – Chapter Forty-Seven – We fight ourselves, but with red lightning in the background
We found ourselves on a large rock that was endlessly falling through a dark storm punctuated by strikes of red lightning. It was really beautiful, in an “evil, we’re all going to die” sort of way. There were four portals, two facing two, outside of what appeared to be the remnants of a building with a large double door. Boldly, Ee kicked it open, revealing the far end of the rock and a woman, whom I guessed was Anacharsi. I hoped she wasn’t evil. Ee apparently had some confusion on that note, because before she could finish her speech, he was charging her. Before he killed someone who might have answers, I locked his brain in place with my mind and then again, she tried to finish her speech. This time I caught the part about the Occulus, but I think I missed something else about madness and evil. And the future. She did greet us with a “Ho Ho dreamers!” so I was ho-ho-hopeful she wouldn’t try and kill us.
With her and Chilon there, we had a reunion of sorts, which only got sicker when the corpses of Thalos, Solon, Phercyde, and Biana showed up through the four portals. They didn’t look all that different from the last time we saw them. Disgusting, though not quite as disgusting as the phlegm – sorry, the universe is just going to have to try harder for me to ever use that word again without it being the phlegm. Though the way their intestines were hanging out and their tongues were pulsating and extended out was kind of gross.
Oh, and there was one other detail about them I’ve not mentioned yet. Everyone else had moved forward into the “room” to talk with Anacharsi. I was still standing outside when these things showed up and completely surrounded me. I really really really wanted to be somewhere else. The funny thing about having strange powers of the mind is that when you think about what you want, if it happens to correspond with what your mind can do, it happens – and so when I closed my eyes and wished I was somewhere else, I felt a shift, and when my eyes opened, I was somewhere else. In fact, I was standing near Anacharsi. I sure hoped she wasn’t evil.
My companions rushed back to fight them. Well, except for Ee who was standing there, not moving. Morwen threw a big bag of sticky stuff that adventurers apparently carry for just such an occasion. I thought it unnecessary, given his brain was locked. Except that I dropped it when I shifted. Oh well. Maybe Ee would come to his senses. I was wrong.
Ee did take several seconds to smash his way out with his axe. Then he turned on Marcus and Krynyn. Morwen, not wanting to be left out, turned on me, slashing me rather painfully. I ran, sending waves out from my brain to slow her down. I did not wait to see if it worked before I got into the only available corner and waited. She ignored me and went after the next closest target, the woman in the white robes. Marcus blocked her, then she stepped forward and blasted Morwen with her mind. It was an awesome spectacle. I wondered if my mind could do such a feat. It left Morwen stunned, leaving us time to figure out what to do about the book.
Marcus and I had a conversation with the woman as the battle raged behind us. I did a quick turn and sent four balls of fire to the attackers, killing three of them, before turning my attention back to the conversation. But before I turned around, I saw Krynyn rushing back, my diamond in his hand. No! That was for me! Unfortunately for Chilon, the fourth one, unseen by me, had paralyzed him and was starting to feast on his corpse. I decided we needed to do a little accounting later.
Marcus asked me if I thought Anacharsi could be trusted. We pulled out the book and showed it to her and asked her how we could destroy it. She, very sincerely, asked for the book. Marcus looked at me expectantly. “What, am I the liar expert here?” Apparently I was. “Let’s just trust her,” I said, “She seems sincere.” Whether she was sincere about helping us destroy the book or sincere about wanting to take the book from us so she could use it to cook up a nasty recipe for feasting on our roasted corpses, I was somewhat unclear about, but I didn’t say that to Marcus. Besides, what else did we have to lose?
So Marcus handed over the book, and she began an incantation of protection and unwrapped it from its cloth. Much chanting began, and then she turned and looked at us expectantly. “Give me the tokens, now.” Ah! The tokens, I think those were on Chilons recently dead body, no alive, laying at the feet of Krynyn as he was surrounded by four of those images from the city of millions (where did they come from?) and also one of the dead former sages. Oh, and Ee was also attacking Krynyn. Wonderful.
Marcus turned, I turned, I sent four balls of fire to the undead creature and three of the shadows, Marcus summoned a lion of otherworldly beauty and sent it to attack, then Krynyn blasted the shades with some shadow magic of his own. Then in quick succession, Ee gained his wits, sliced the standing shades to bits, finishing them off from my blast in one long, slicing cleave that sliced through them all. And then the last was dispatched by the lion. It couldn’t have gone more smoothly and efficiently had we planned it, which was good, because usually our plans don’t turn out so well.
Unfortunately, now Chilon was far away, with Ee and Morwen between him and us. And they had decided to switch sides yet again, motivated by unseen forces. I quickly linked with Chilon’s mind and told him we needed him to bring us the tokens. Marcus sent his lion to run circles around Ee and Morwen, drawing their attention (and their attacks) while Chilon then ran around them as fast as he could in his heavy armor. Marcus ran back to cover him, I tried to lock Ee’s and Morwen’s mind, and finally, the tokens arrived in Anacharsi’s hands.
She did some fancy handwork and then tossed the book and all of the tokens into this big, swirling abyss of fire that lay just off the edge of her end of the endlessly falling rock. There was a light show the likes of which I will probably never see again. And then the book was destroyed and Morwen and Ee started acting normal again.
Anacharsi explained to us that the book was sent from something called the “Dark Plea,” a god-like being from the future that sent the book through the past to gain power. Thalos found it and he used it to make the dream magic items we had, items which allowed the “Dark Plea” to control Morwen and Ee when they were using them here. Wonderful. She originally wanted to destroy the book and the Occulus, to stop its corruption, and so she summoned the meteor. But then the “Dark Plea” sensed it coming, so it shattered the Occulus and sent it into the dream planes, along with the sages, to protect itself. But now we have fixed it. She said that the connection with the future was now severed and all was well.
I told her “Sounds good to me,” and then started running out because the whole plane started to destroy itself. We didn’t stop running until we were all the way out of the shadows. Only then did we take stock of what we had. I glanced over the items and coins, and then looked up at Krynyn. “About that diamond…”
