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Menexenus's Age of Worms Campaign Journal
Session 76: The Lost Island of the Order of the Storm
1st of Reaping. Having met with Lashonna at midnight the previous night, the party members were convinced of the urgency of finding Tilagos Island before Darl Quethos and his minions did. Killick and Talon mounted his Ebon Steed and flew off to find the island, while Alexander teleported the rest of the party back to Greyhawk for some rest and a few hours' worth of shopping.
About an hour after noon, Killick and Talon teleported to the garden in front of Eligos's house, where the rest of the party was waiting for them. They informed the party about what they had witnessed from the Ethereal Plane as they had approached the island. They had got through the storm raging around the island easily enough and passed into an area of relative calm. Here they had found a small beachhead... and then nothing - about 5 miles of nothingness - before passing through into the raging storm again on the other side of the "eye." Killick speculated that the area of nothingness was a portion of the Prime Material Plane that was no longer connected to the Ethereal. Rather than risk coming out of the Ethereal Plane into nothingness, they had returned to the rocky beach head. There they had seen the remains of numerous shipwrecks, perhaps 100. They had also seen 8 or 9 shadowy humanoid figures moving about the beach. Some seemed to be scavenging parts from the wrecks while others seemed to be building and still others were setting up a camp. After observing them for a short time, Killick and Talon had entered one of the wrecks a safe distance from the humanoids' activity and emerged from the Ethereal Plane. Killick had told Talon to teleport them immediately back to Greyhawk, without investigating any further. The party prepared to teleport back to the island as a group.
They arrived inside the wreck that Killick and Talon had left only minutes earlier. They heard a constant rain and a howling wind beating against the side of rotting ship's hull. Alexander cast a cantrip to ensure that the noise would not interfere with his ability to correctly intone arcane words of power. (It did not.) Killick assured them that what they were hearing was was merely a gentle spring rain in comparison to what they had witnessed inside the storm itself. The party carefully crept out of the shipwreck and into the open. They found 8 or 9 orcs moving about the beach near the newest wreck. They seemed to be trying to build a seaworthy vessel using parts from the wrecks on the beach. Neither Darl Quethos nor any of the other minions that they had viewed in Lashonna's scry attempt were visible on the beach. After observing the orcs for a short while, Alexander decided to step forward and make contact with them.
At first, the orcs huddled together defensively, with weapons raised. Alexander and Killick asked them questions, which they were reluctant to answer (without some form of compensation). Killick offered to use his wood-shaping spells to help them craft a new boat to get off the island if they would share what they knew about Darl Quethos. They accepted this offer. The orcs seemed to have worked for Quethos out of fear rather than loyalty. The orc captain told the party that Quethos had hired them in Highport to deliver him and his men to an island in the Nyr Dyv the identity of which he would not divulge until the voyage was underway. Of course, they were not told that the delivery would need to be made in hurricane force winds. However, once Quethos and his "men" were aboard, the orcs quickly realized that they had no chance standing up to Quethos. They had no choice but to follow his orders and hope for the best.
After the boat crashed on the rocks, Quethos and his men made for the ancient stone ruins visible at the top of the hill. Quethos has been gone for more than half a day now, and the orcs hope to never see him again. An hour or so after Quethos left, the orcs had tried to follow him into the ruin to make a dry camp and get some shelter. But after only a few minutes within the ruin, they were attacked by loud, angry rocks with lots of ropes. The orc captain had lost only 3 sailors during the crash, but he had lost 6 more in the ruins. He had ordered his men back to the beach and had been trying to figure out what to do ever since. The party asked about what became of Heskin, Lashonna's former servant. The orc captain replied that he had been thrown overboard immediately after being killed. The party asked for descriptions of all of Quethos's people. The orc captain described a red-skinned giant whose skin was burning hot to the touch (an efreet), an enormous black skinned horse with fiery mane that belonged to the red-skinned giant (a nightmare), a sneaky crow-man who almost never spoke (a kenku), a hairy but immensely powerful man with a bull's head (a minotaur), an ogre-sized demon with hideous scales, enormous wings, and vicious looking horns the size of longswords on its head (a horned devil), and two male twins with small horns on their foreheads who wore red silk robes and kept mostly to themselves (tieflings).
In appreciation for the orcs' helpfulness (and out of sympathy for their plight), Alexander offered to go beyond the terms of their agreement and teleport the orcs off the island to whatever city they desired after their business on the island was concluded. The orc captain, who now introduced himself as Grogriss, seemed appreciative. He pointed out that most humans would not go out of their way for folks like him. However, he noted that he would continue working on constructing a new boat anyway, since Alexander's offer was contingent on defeating Quethos. Killick suggested that the orcs could improve the party's odds of success by accompanying them. The orcs laughed off this suggestion and bid the party farewell. As they trudged up the rocky hillside toward the ruins at the top of the hill, the wind suddenly changed direction, and the party noticed that the orc ship bore a hidden sail with a pirate emblem on it.
After centuries of neglect the interior of the stone ruins had become maze-like. After several twists and turns the party happened upon a relatively largre room dominated by many enormous stalagmites. The room was also different in that there was a strange green glow coming from the center of the room. Although Killick quickly realized that the stalagmites were unnaturally large and not matched by opposing stalactites on the ceiling, Killick had no time to convey this information, as Alexander strode confidently into the room to examine some intriguing runes he had noticed. Suddenly (but not surprisingly) the stalagmites came to life and attacked those they could reach with their sticky strands. The stalagmites were actually ropers. The party members were not concerned. They allowed the ropers strands to draw them closer to the bizarre beasts so that they could deliver extra attacks.
It turned out that the party's confidence was well-founded, as all 6 ropers were killed relatively easily. Immediately after combat had concluded, Alexander (who had recently made See Invisibility permanent on himself) caught a glipse of a kenku spying on them from about 50 feet away. Alexander announced the presence of an enemy to the party and charged after it. He turned a corner just in time to see the kenku cast Dimension Door and escape. Killick used Grimlock's scent ability to track where the kenku had come from. Grimlock seemed to insist that the kenku had come from a towering pile of rubble. Killick spoke with his animal friend and asked why he was pointing at a pile of rubble. Grimlock replied that what the party was seeing wasn't really there. Killick looked again and the pile of rubble was gone, replaced by a bedroll, cold firepit, and what looked like a hastily constructed nest. Killick informed the party that the rubble was merely an illusion. Alees checked the site, but found nothing of value or importance. Having lost the kenku's trail, the party was about to return to the room with the green crystals. However, just before leaving - Alexander, who had harbored a dislike for kenku since they nearly killed him in the Ebon Triad's Vecna temple in the mines below Diamond Lake - paused to urinate on the bedroll and in the nest. The party returned to the room filled with dead ropers and found about a dozen glowing crystals, all of which they quickly pocketed.
They continued exploring the ruin and came across something that looked important. It was a large circular obsidian disc inlaid into the floor. Its rim was decorated with strange runes. At three points around the disc's circumference, were shallow hollows that looked to be about the same size as the gems they had picked up earlier. The party tried placing 3 of the glowing gems in these shallow depressions. When they did so, they found that the runes on the left-hand side of the disc began to glow as if back-lit from a light within the obsidian. However, the runes around the other two depressions did not glow. The party removed all three gems and continued searching the complex.
Next the party came across what once might have been a collection of impressive marble statues which had all been reduced to a pile of rubble. Killick noticed that the dispersal pattern of the rubble was strangely inconsistent with simply crumbling in place. Alexander cast Detect Magic and noticed that the statues retained the dull glow of items that had recently been magical but which were no more. He also noticed a more intense glow from underneath one of the crumbled statues - something different. The party worked together to lift the tremendously heavy stone. Underneath they found the shattered remnants of a gem glowing with blue light. It occurred to Killick that since gems are essentially mineral crystals, Stone Shape might work to repair the gem and return it to its original shape. Killick cast the spell and concentrated to reform the shattered splinters into a single whole gem, roughly the same shape as the green ones. They took the blue gem back to the circular disc, inserted it into the other two depressions, and found that it did indeed cause the runes along the top portion of the disc to glow as if back-lit by an internal radiance. The party surmised that Quethos had destroyed the animated statues that had been left to guard the blue gems and then had taken all of the gems he could find. Either he did not see the broken gem, or he assumed that it was useless to anyone who might be following.
The party continued searching the complex for the third and final key to what they assumed was a portal that would take them to the hidden portion of Tilagos Island. Eventually they noticed a red glow coming from up ahead. As they turned a corner, they saw a murky pool in the middle of a junction connecting several corridors. From the thick tangle of moldering driftwood and seaweed cluttering the pool grew and immense black plant whose roots coiled out through the surrounding water and whose twisted trunk supported eight rubbery-looking dark branches that seemed to sway gently in the breeze. The red glow seemed to be coming from within the pool beneath the tree. The party approached the pool carefully, and at the moment the tree began to animate, Alexander cast Maze on it, causing it to temporarily disappear. Killick quickly jumped into the water and turned into a fish. He swam down and retrieved two red crystals. Then the party quickly withdrew with their treasure before the tree-thing could return.
Having collected what they were sure was the third and final activation gem, they made preparations to teleport into an unknown situation. When they were ready, they placed the gems in their appropriate depressions and stepped onto the disc together. A swirl of multi-colored energy rose up from the disc, and the party-members were suddenly transported away. Suddenly, there was bright light and there was no more noise from wind and rain. Below them was another obsidian disc, but smooth - without runes or depressions. Above them they saw a bright, overcast sky. They looked around and found themselves on a plain covered with tall grasses. To the right (east?), the party could see a sprawling, dense forest in the distance a mile or two away. To the left (west?), the party could see mountains off in the distance a mile or two away. The party-members were fascinated by what they were perceiving. All the colors, sounds, and sensations were somehow sharper and more intense than anything they had ever perceived before. It was pleasant, but slightly disorienting. After a few moments, Killick looked around and noticed that, although the sky was bright, it was of equal brightness in all directions. There seemed to be nothing approximating a "sun" illuminating this land. Alexander and Killick both realized that the intensity of sensation was caused by positive energy which infused the landscape. They speculated that if an undead creature were brought here, it would be rendered catatonic by the assault of positive energy on its senses. Alexander also perceived that since they were in a pocket dimension that was no longer adjacent to coterminous realms like the Ethereal and Astral planes, many of the party's spells would be useless here - spells like Dimension Door, Teleport, Summon, and Plane Shift.
No sooner had the party gotten their bearings than four figures suddenly appeared before them. The four were not identical, but they were all quite similar in appearance. They were tall, lithe figures with alabaster skin and gaunt facial features. They wore a gossamer armor, covered by a cloak of vicious nettles. A halo of churning insects swirled noiselessly about their heads. Each wields a wicked barbed spear carried in both hands. Protruding from each figure's back were four banners attached to poles, one fiery red, another translucent white, a third deep brown, and the last blue as a pristine ocean lagoon. After a pregnant pause in which the four beings seemed to be waiting to see what the party members would do, one of them stepped forward, saying, "I am Tylanthros, guardian of this realm. We are the Last Resort, as surely as the trees and stones and sea and air around you. We protect the secrets of this island from all trespassers. You have mastered the portal of storms, and therefore must be brave, but it remains to be seen if you belong here at all. Why have you come to Last Resort?"
Killick answered, "We come seeking knowledge to help us prevent the Age of Worms. We wish to know the secret location of Dragotha's phylactery."
Tylanthros replied, "Then you seek the Fountain, although you do not yet realize it. The Fountain of Dreams is linked to all things in Last Resort. The earth, the dark trees of the Doomshroud, the clouds above, my life and that of my brothers are a poart of it. If the waters are concumed, the Order of the Storm's rite is undone. The secrets kept from the world will be released, and the great creatures of legend imprisoned here on this isle shall be unleashed upon your world once more. To find the Fountain you must accomplish four tasks and prove yourselves worthy of the heroes of old. Survive these trials, and you may slake your thirst on what you seek. Fail, and Last Resort shall be your grave. I am Tylanthros, and the first trial is the Claiming of Krathanos's Golden Belt."
Tylanthros steps back and one of his brothers steps forward. "I am Beskawahn, and the second trial is the Silence of the Doomshroud's Mournful Song." He steps back and a third brother steps forward. "I am Thadimar, and the third trial is the Death of the Thorn Vale Nightmare." He steps back and the last creature steps forward. "I am Sayren-Lei, and the final trial is the Harvest of the Living Feather of the Roc King." This creature steps back and Tylanthros steps forward again. "These trials complete, return here and we shall show you the Fountain of Dreams. Until then, we will watch and wait."
Sensing that the four watchers were about to leave, Killick asked quickly about the progress made by Darl Quethos and his minions. Tylanthros spoke again, "The Hand of the Lich-Lord has come to Tilagos with his flock, seeking knowledge as you do. Even as you linger, they seek to complete the tasks we have named. If they outspeed you, then the secrets of the Fountain are theirs. Who claims the secrets of the Fountain matters little to us, for once these secrets are claimed our role in Last resort has come to an end." With that, the four imposing beings disappeared from view, and the party was left listening to the gentle wind carrying a tremendous variety of birdsongs, the drone of insects, and the occasional roar of distant predators. Suddenly, the party noticed a flash of brilliant lightning striking the moutain tops off in the distance, however there was no sign of storm clouds.
1st of Reaping. Having met with Lashonna at midnight the previous night, the party members were convinced of the urgency of finding Tilagos Island before Darl Quethos and his minions did. Killick and Talon mounted his Ebon Steed and flew off to find the island, while Alexander teleported the rest of the party back to Greyhawk for some rest and a few hours' worth of shopping.
About an hour after noon, Killick and Talon teleported to the garden in front of Eligos's house, where the rest of the party was waiting for them. They informed the party about what they had witnessed from the Ethereal Plane as they had approached the island. They had got through the storm raging around the island easily enough and passed into an area of relative calm. Here they had found a small beachhead... and then nothing - about 5 miles of nothingness - before passing through into the raging storm again on the other side of the "eye." Killick speculated that the area of nothingness was a portion of the Prime Material Plane that was no longer connected to the Ethereal. Rather than risk coming out of the Ethereal Plane into nothingness, they had returned to the rocky beach head. There they had seen the remains of numerous shipwrecks, perhaps 100. They had also seen 8 or 9 shadowy humanoid figures moving about the beach. Some seemed to be scavenging parts from the wrecks while others seemed to be building and still others were setting up a camp. After observing them for a short time, Killick and Talon had entered one of the wrecks a safe distance from the humanoids' activity and emerged from the Ethereal Plane. Killick had told Talon to teleport them immediately back to Greyhawk, without investigating any further. The party prepared to teleport back to the island as a group.
They arrived inside the wreck that Killick and Talon had left only minutes earlier. They heard a constant rain and a howling wind beating against the side of rotting ship's hull. Alexander cast a cantrip to ensure that the noise would not interfere with his ability to correctly intone arcane words of power. (It did not.) Killick assured them that what they were hearing was was merely a gentle spring rain in comparison to what they had witnessed inside the storm itself. The party carefully crept out of the shipwreck and into the open. They found 8 or 9 orcs moving about the beach near the newest wreck. They seemed to be trying to build a seaworthy vessel using parts from the wrecks on the beach. Neither Darl Quethos nor any of the other minions that they had viewed in Lashonna's scry attempt were visible on the beach. After observing the orcs for a short while, Alexander decided to step forward and make contact with them.
At first, the orcs huddled together defensively, with weapons raised. Alexander and Killick asked them questions, which they were reluctant to answer (without some form of compensation). Killick offered to use his wood-shaping spells to help them craft a new boat to get off the island if they would share what they knew about Darl Quethos. They accepted this offer. The orcs seemed to have worked for Quethos out of fear rather than loyalty. The orc captain told the party that Quethos had hired them in Highport to deliver him and his men to an island in the Nyr Dyv the identity of which he would not divulge until the voyage was underway. Of course, they were not told that the delivery would need to be made in hurricane force winds. However, once Quethos and his "men" were aboard, the orcs quickly realized that they had no chance standing up to Quethos. They had no choice but to follow his orders and hope for the best.
After the boat crashed on the rocks, Quethos and his men made for the ancient stone ruins visible at the top of the hill. Quethos has been gone for more than half a day now, and the orcs hope to never see him again. An hour or so after Quethos left, the orcs had tried to follow him into the ruin to make a dry camp and get some shelter. But after only a few minutes within the ruin, they were attacked by loud, angry rocks with lots of ropes. The orc captain had lost only 3 sailors during the crash, but he had lost 6 more in the ruins. He had ordered his men back to the beach and had been trying to figure out what to do ever since. The party asked about what became of Heskin, Lashonna's former servant. The orc captain replied that he had been thrown overboard immediately after being killed. The party asked for descriptions of all of Quethos's people. The orc captain described a red-skinned giant whose skin was burning hot to the touch (an efreet), an enormous black skinned horse with fiery mane that belonged to the red-skinned giant (a nightmare), a sneaky crow-man who almost never spoke (a kenku), a hairy but immensely powerful man with a bull's head (a minotaur), an ogre-sized demon with hideous scales, enormous wings, and vicious looking horns the size of longswords on its head (a horned devil), and two male twins with small horns on their foreheads who wore red silk robes and kept mostly to themselves (tieflings).
In appreciation for the orcs' helpfulness (and out of sympathy for their plight), Alexander offered to go beyond the terms of their agreement and teleport the orcs off the island to whatever city they desired after their business on the island was concluded. The orc captain, who now introduced himself as Grogriss, seemed appreciative. He pointed out that most humans would not go out of their way for folks like him. However, he noted that he would continue working on constructing a new boat anyway, since Alexander's offer was contingent on defeating Quethos. Killick suggested that the orcs could improve the party's odds of success by accompanying them. The orcs laughed off this suggestion and bid the party farewell. As they trudged up the rocky hillside toward the ruins at the top of the hill, the wind suddenly changed direction, and the party noticed that the orc ship bore a hidden sail with a pirate emblem on it.
After centuries of neglect the interior of the stone ruins had become maze-like. After several twists and turns the party happened upon a relatively largre room dominated by many enormous stalagmites. The room was also different in that there was a strange green glow coming from the center of the room. Although Killick quickly realized that the stalagmites were unnaturally large and not matched by opposing stalactites on the ceiling, Killick had no time to convey this information, as Alexander strode confidently into the room to examine some intriguing runes he had noticed. Suddenly (but not surprisingly) the stalagmites came to life and attacked those they could reach with their sticky strands. The stalagmites were actually ropers. The party members were not concerned. They allowed the ropers strands to draw them closer to the bizarre beasts so that they could deliver extra attacks.
It turned out that the party's confidence was well-founded, as all 6 ropers were killed relatively easily. Immediately after combat had concluded, Alexander (who had recently made See Invisibility permanent on himself) caught a glipse of a kenku spying on them from about 50 feet away. Alexander announced the presence of an enemy to the party and charged after it. He turned a corner just in time to see the kenku cast Dimension Door and escape. Killick used Grimlock's scent ability to track where the kenku had come from. Grimlock seemed to insist that the kenku had come from a towering pile of rubble. Killick spoke with his animal friend and asked why he was pointing at a pile of rubble. Grimlock replied that what the party was seeing wasn't really there. Killick looked again and the pile of rubble was gone, replaced by a bedroll, cold firepit, and what looked like a hastily constructed nest. Killick informed the party that the rubble was merely an illusion. Alees checked the site, but found nothing of value or importance. Having lost the kenku's trail, the party was about to return to the room with the green crystals. However, just before leaving - Alexander, who had harbored a dislike for kenku since they nearly killed him in the Ebon Triad's Vecna temple in the mines below Diamond Lake - paused to urinate on the bedroll and in the nest. The party returned to the room filled with dead ropers and found about a dozen glowing crystals, all of which they quickly pocketed.
They continued exploring the ruin and came across something that looked important. It was a large circular obsidian disc inlaid into the floor. Its rim was decorated with strange runes. At three points around the disc's circumference, were shallow hollows that looked to be about the same size as the gems they had picked up earlier. The party tried placing 3 of the glowing gems in these shallow depressions. When they did so, they found that the runes on the left-hand side of the disc began to glow as if back-lit from a light within the obsidian. However, the runes around the other two depressions did not glow. The party removed all three gems and continued searching the complex.
Next the party came across what once might have been a collection of impressive marble statues which had all been reduced to a pile of rubble. Killick noticed that the dispersal pattern of the rubble was strangely inconsistent with simply crumbling in place. Alexander cast Detect Magic and noticed that the statues retained the dull glow of items that had recently been magical but which were no more. He also noticed a more intense glow from underneath one of the crumbled statues - something different. The party worked together to lift the tremendously heavy stone. Underneath they found the shattered remnants of a gem glowing with blue light. It occurred to Killick that since gems are essentially mineral crystals, Stone Shape might work to repair the gem and return it to its original shape. Killick cast the spell and concentrated to reform the shattered splinters into a single whole gem, roughly the same shape as the green ones. They took the blue gem back to the circular disc, inserted it into the other two depressions, and found that it did indeed cause the runes along the top portion of the disc to glow as if back-lit by an internal radiance. The party surmised that Quethos had destroyed the animated statues that had been left to guard the blue gems and then had taken all of the gems he could find. Either he did not see the broken gem, or he assumed that it was useless to anyone who might be following.
The party continued searching the complex for the third and final key to what they assumed was a portal that would take them to the hidden portion of Tilagos Island. Eventually they noticed a red glow coming from up ahead. As they turned a corner, they saw a murky pool in the middle of a junction connecting several corridors. From the thick tangle of moldering driftwood and seaweed cluttering the pool grew and immense black plant whose roots coiled out through the surrounding water and whose twisted trunk supported eight rubbery-looking dark branches that seemed to sway gently in the breeze. The red glow seemed to be coming from within the pool beneath the tree. The party approached the pool carefully, and at the moment the tree began to animate, Alexander cast Maze on it, causing it to temporarily disappear. Killick quickly jumped into the water and turned into a fish. He swam down and retrieved two red crystals. Then the party quickly withdrew with their treasure before the tree-thing could return.
Having collected what they were sure was the third and final activation gem, they made preparations to teleport into an unknown situation. When they were ready, they placed the gems in their appropriate depressions and stepped onto the disc together. A swirl of multi-colored energy rose up from the disc, and the party-members were suddenly transported away. Suddenly, there was bright light and there was no more noise from wind and rain. Below them was another obsidian disc, but smooth - without runes or depressions. Above them they saw a bright, overcast sky. They looked around and found themselves on a plain covered with tall grasses. To the right (east?), the party could see a sprawling, dense forest in the distance a mile or two away. To the left (west?), the party could see mountains off in the distance a mile or two away. The party-members were fascinated by what they were perceiving. All the colors, sounds, and sensations were somehow sharper and more intense than anything they had ever perceived before. It was pleasant, but slightly disorienting. After a few moments, Killick looked around and noticed that, although the sky was bright, it was of equal brightness in all directions. There seemed to be nothing approximating a "sun" illuminating this land. Alexander and Killick both realized that the intensity of sensation was caused by positive energy which infused the landscape. They speculated that if an undead creature were brought here, it would be rendered catatonic by the assault of positive energy on its senses. Alexander also perceived that since they were in a pocket dimension that was no longer adjacent to coterminous realms like the Ethereal and Astral planes, many of the party's spells would be useless here - spells like Dimension Door, Teleport, Summon, and Plane Shift.
No sooner had the party gotten their bearings than four figures suddenly appeared before them. The four were not identical, but they were all quite similar in appearance. They were tall, lithe figures with alabaster skin and gaunt facial features. They wore a gossamer armor, covered by a cloak of vicious nettles. A halo of churning insects swirled noiselessly about their heads. Each wields a wicked barbed spear carried in both hands. Protruding from each figure's back were four banners attached to poles, one fiery red, another translucent white, a third deep brown, and the last blue as a pristine ocean lagoon. After a pregnant pause in which the four beings seemed to be waiting to see what the party members would do, one of them stepped forward, saying, "I am Tylanthros, guardian of this realm. We are the Last Resort, as surely as the trees and stones and sea and air around you. We protect the secrets of this island from all trespassers. You have mastered the portal of storms, and therefore must be brave, but it remains to be seen if you belong here at all. Why have you come to Last Resort?"
Killick answered, "We come seeking knowledge to help us prevent the Age of Worms. We wish to know the secret location of Dragotha's phylactery."
Tylanthros replied, "Then you seek the Fountain, although you do not yet realize it. The Fountain of Dreams is linked to all things in Last Resort. The earth, the dark trees of the Doomshroud, the clouds above, my life and that of my brothers are a poart of it. If the waters are concumed, the Order of the Storm's rite is undone. The secrets kept from the world will be released, and the great creatures of legend imprisoned here on this isle shall be unleashed upon your world once more. To find the Fountain you must accomplish four tasks and prove yourselves worthy of the heroes of old. Survive these trials, and you may slake your thirst on what you seek. Fail, and Last Resort shall be your grave. I am Tylanthros, and the first trial is the Claiming of Krathanos's Golden Belt."
Tylanthros steps back and one of his brothers steps forward. "I am Beskawahn, and the second trial is the Silence of the Doomshroud's Mournful Song." He steps back and a third brother steps forward. "I am Thadimar, and the third trial is the Death of the Thorn Vale Nightmare." He steps back and the last creature steps forward. "I am Sayren-Lei, and the final trial is the Harvest of the Living Feather of the Roc King." This creature steps back and Tylanthros steps forward again. "These trials complete, return here and we shall show you the Fountain of Dreams. Until then, we will watch and wait."
Sensing that the four watchers were about to leave, Killick asked quickly about the progress made by Darl Quethos and his minions. Tylanthros spoke again, "The Hand of the Lich-Lord has come to Tilagos with his flock, seeking knowledge as you do. Even as you linger, they seek to complete the tasks we have named. If they outspeed you, then the secrets of the Fountain are theirs. Who claims the secrets of the Fountain matters little to us, for once these secrets are claimed our role in Last resort has come to an end." With that, the four imposing beings disappeared from view, and the party was left listening to the gentle wind carrying a tremendous variety of birdsongs, the drone of insects, and the occasional roar of distant predators. Suddenly, the party noticed a flash of brilliant lightning striking the moutain tops off in the distance, however there was no sign of storm clouds.
Sessions 77-79: Confronting Quethos
1st of Reaping (continued). Once the party members were convinced that the four mysterious Watchers would not return, the party members began speaking among themselves, strategizing. They surmised that the lightning strike indicated that Darl Quethos's team was currently attempting to Harvest the Living Feather of the Roc King. They had no idea how many other of the trials that they might have already completed. But they reasoned that, either way, they would have to deal with Quethos's team sooner or later. So it might as well be sooner. Consequently, they all resolved to head in the direction of the lightning bolt, hoping to intercept Quethos.
After a few hours of marching, Alees seemed troubled. She quietly announced to the party that they were being stalked by large beasts. As the party members began looking back to see what was following them, the stalkers launched their attack, charging at the party from behind. They recognized the stalkers as Displacer Beast Packlords, the same kind of magical beast that had once felled Thorash within the Temple of the Dark Sun. However, rather than only one Packlord surrounded by a pack of normal displacer beasts, all of the half-dozen beasts had the size and bearing of a Packlord. As had become her recent custom, Alees dove into the grass and hid while the rest of the party dealt with the threat, deaf to their exhortations and pleas for assistance. The Packlords coordinated their attacks, focusing on one of the party's clerics. One of their number successfully grabbed him and tried to make off with him, but the party was too powerful. They were able to slay the creatures faster than they could get away. When half their number (including the one that had been carrying Norvelle) were slain, the rest of the displacer beasts fled. The party killed another of their number before deciding to break off the pursuit. The party quickly healed up from the damage that the displacer beasts had dealt and then continued on.
Eventually, the party made it into the foothills before the mountain where they had seen the lightning strike. They continued to march for hours. Eventually, they realized that the sky was no darker now than when they had first arrived. Killick explained that the light that was diffused in the overcast sky was a magical effect that was not caused by the rising or setting of any sun. As a result, there would be no night in this place. The party would have to rely on their internal clocks in order to decide when to rest and when to pray.
Once the party members had made it deep into the foothills and were nearing the base of the mountain, they started feeling tired and began scouting around for a defensible campsite. However, before the party could find a place to rest, they felt a strange rumbling beneath their feet. Moments later, an enormous set of jaws erupted from the earth. The landshark clamped its jaws on Katawan and maintained a firm grip on him. The party members tried to force the creature to release him, but in a very short time, Katawan was unconscious and near death. Sensing the opportunity a greater meal, it released Katawan in order to take a bite out of Tarric. However, the party had quickly recognized what a brutally efficient opponent the land shark was, and so they had found ways to get everyone in the air. While Tarric lured the beast away, Killick flew in to pick up Katawan's unconscious form. Then Tarric himself took to the air. The land shark bellowed in anger for having lost the meal it had earned. But once it realized that the party members weren't going to land any time soon and that they could continue damaging it from the air, it reluctantly burrowed back into the earth and did not re-emerge. The party flew a safe distance away, and Killick used spells to create a treetop refuge that would keep them safe from any further land shark attacks.
2nd of Reaping. When the party members awoke the next day, they saw that Alexander and Tarric were bleary-eyed. They both admitted to having strange nightmares all night long that had apparently prevented them from gaining the benefits of a normal night's rest. They wondered if the nightmares might have something to do with the tasks that the Wild Watchers had given them. But before they had time to consider this prospect further, Alexander was contacted mentally by Darl Quethos. He relayed Quethos's message to the party. Quethos had challenged them to mortal combat for control of the island's secrets. The two parties were to face one another at the site in the grassy plain where they had entered the demiplane. The party did not relish the idea of backtracking, but they decided it was best to take Quethos and his team out as soon as possible. This time they cast flight spells on everyone in the group and flew back towards their point of origin in a fraction of the time that it had taken them to hike the same distance. As they got close, they wondered whether Quethos's invitation had been merely a ruse to lead them away from Quethos's real target, but in the distance they could see that Quethos's team was indeed assembled and prepared for battle. The most spectacular of the enemy combatants was an efreet astride a snorting fiendish horse (called a Nightmare). There were also two identical-seeming combatants in hooded red satin robes. Near Quethos stood a hulking minotaur bodyguard as well as the kenku spy that the party had briefly pursued back on Tilagos island before transporting themselves to this demiplane. Out in front was a horned devil who seemed eager for battle. It quickly became clear that all the combatants on both sides were airborn, using either wings or spells.
As the two parties closed for combat, Alees dove to the ground to find cover in the tall grass. She had made it clear before that she would no longer be risking herself in combats, and she was acting true to her word. From long range, Alexander tried launching a fireball at a grouping of opponents, but predictably, the attack had little effect. As the two parties drew nearer, the efreet called out a warcry in some language that the party didn't know and charged Tarric waving his immense scimitar. As he rode by, he sliced a gaping wound in the fighter. The two hooded red-cloaked figures flew up to Alexander and Talon. As they moved closer, it became clear to the party that these robed figures were twin tiefling monks who had had Silence cast on them. However, Alexander was able to tumble away from his silenced monk and turned his attention to the efreet who had just wounded Tarric so grievously. He trained a Cone of Cold on the fiery efreet who screamed out in agony. Killick followed this up with an Ice Storm centered on the efreet. Suddenly, it was the efreet who was in very bad shape. He was no longer making any warcries. He rode back toward Quethos who had healing energy crackling on his hand, but he was felled before he could reach his master by a volley of Alexander's maximized magic missiles. Quethos reluctantly bestowed his prepared healing spell on the nightmare and spoke to it in an infernal language that no one in the party understood. After hearing what Quethos had to say, the fiendish horse turned to face the party without a rider. Tarric focused his energies on the horned devil, Grimlock and Killick were being attacked by the Nightmare, Talon and Alexander seemed to have little difficulty avoiding their tiefling monk pursuers, but Katawan was aiding them just for good measure. Norvelle did what he could to provide healing to those in need. On the other team, the kenku looked for opportunities for flank attacks against the party, focusing mostly on Talon and doing significant damage to her. It also eventually dawned on the party that Quethos's minotaur bodyguard was only an illusion and could take no part in the fight. Once Tarric felled the horned devil, he tried to approach Quethos but found that some spell effect made it impossible for him to approach the cleric of Vecna - who made no secret of wielding the Hand of Vecna. Alexander tried to cast a magic missile spell on him from afar, but it was turned back on him, dispersing harmlessly on Alexander's Shield spell. The party could also see that Quethos had cast a Stoneskin spell on himself. It was clear to the party that the Hand of the Lich Lord was well-protected. He would be a tough nut to crack.
Becoming annoyed with the tiefling monk who kept following him and putting him in a zone of Silence, Alexander cast a spell on him that compelled him to attack his master. The monk turned and began to charge Quethos! Quethos ordered his brother, whom he called "Jalagar" to protect him from the other monk, whom he called "Sabir." Jalagar reluctantly withdrew from Talon to try to hold his brother back. However, it turned out that Sabir was unable to approach Quethos beyond a certain point. So Alexander ordered him instead to attack his brother who was now right next to him. This order caused Sabir to shake off Alexander's influence. However, by this point, the tide had turned decisively in the party's favor. Killick had successfully turned the nightmare to stone, Tarric had dispatched the horned devil back to the Nine Hells, and the kenku was badly wounded and trying to withdraw. So now the party focused their attacks on the two monk brothers, standing side by side. The party's withering attacks caused Sabir to fall to the ground unconscious. Jalagar moved to stabilize his brother, but the party's attacks were unrelenting. The brothers died side by side amid the waving tall grasses of Last Resort under a hail of spell power and melee attacks. This left only Quethos. The party used all the Dispel power it could muster to bring down as many of Quethos's defensive spells as possible. When they had dispelled as much as they could, Tarric and Killick found that they were able to charge in and stand toe-to-toe with the wielder of the Hand of Vecna. Both felt the Hand's cold embrace, but they took only minimal damage from its touch. Although the cleric was able to heal himself many times, it soon became clear that without help or a place to hide, Quethos's time was limited. So when his healing power was exhausted and he realized that his end was imminent, he screamed to the heavens, "Vecna, why have you forsaken me, your most devoted servant? With my last breath, I command you to show these heathens your true power!" As an impressive column of fire fell out of the sky directly onto his position, Quethos just closed his eyes and held his arms aloft, as if waiting to be lifted up. The flames incinerated his flesh (along with the immense Roc feather he had in his possession) and did a significant amount of damage to Tarric and Killick as well, but the Hand of Vecna was none the worse for wear. The party searched for Quethos's kenku rogue with no luck. Even Alees could find no trace of him. The bird man was apparently highly skilled at avoiding capture. Convinced that they would not be able to locate the kenku without serious magically-aided effort, the party consoled themselves by looting the bodies of their enemies, making sure to take and stow the Hand of Vecna, to keep it away from those who might wish to use it. Having exhausted much of their spell power, the party made camp once again, using Killick's treetop refuge.
1st of Reaping (continued). Once the party members were convinced that the four mysterious Watchers would not return, the party members began speaking among themselves, strategizing. They surmised that the lightning strike indicated that Darl Quethos's team was currently attempting to Harvest the Living Feather of the Roc King. They had no idea how many other of the trials that they might have already completed. But they reasoned that, either way, they would have to deal with Quethos's team sooner or later. So it might as well be sooner. Consequently, they all resolved to head in the direction of the lightning bolt, hoping to intercept Quethos.
After a few hours of marching, Alees seemed troubled. She quietly announced to the party that they were being stalked by large beasts. As the party members began looking back to see what was following them, the stalkers launched their attack, charging at the party from behind. They recognized the stalkers as Displacer Beast Packlords, the same kind of magical beast that had once felled Thorash within the Temple of the Dark Sun. However, rather than only one Packlord surrounded by a pack of normal displacer beasts, all of the half-dozen beasts had the size and bearing of a Packlord. As had become her recent custom, Alees dove into the grass and hid while the rest of the party dealt with the threat, deaf to their exhortations and pleas for assistance. The Packlords coordinated their attacks, focusing on one of the party's clerics. One of their number successfully grabbed him and tried to make off with him, but the party was too powerful. They were able to slay the creatures faster than they could get away. When half their number (including the one that had been carrying Norvelle) were slain, the rest of the displacer beasts fled. The party killed another of their number before deciding to break off the pursuit. The party quickly healed up from the damage that the displacer beasts had dealt and then continued on.
Eventually, the party made it into the foothills before the mountain where they had seen the lightning strike. They continued to march for hours. Eventually, they realized that the sky was no darker now than when they had first arrived. Killick explained that the light that was diffused in the overcast sky was a magical effect that was not caused by the rising or setting of any sun. As a result, there would be no night in this place. The party would have to rely on their internal clocks in order to decide when to rest and when to pray.
Once the party members had made it deep into the foothills and were nearing the base of the mountain, they started feeling tired and began scouting around for a defensible campsite. However, before the party could find a place to rest, they felt a strange rumbling beneath their feet. Moments later, an enormous set of jaws erupted from the earth. The landshark clamped its jaws on Katawan and maintained a firm grip on him. The party members tried to force the creature to release him, but in a very short time, Katawan was unconscious and near death. Sensing the opportunity a greater meal, it released Katawan in order to take a bite out of Tarric. However, the party had quickly recognized what a brutally efficient opponent the land shark was, and so they had found ways to get everyone in the air. While Tarric lured the beast away, Killick flew in to pick up Katawan's unconscious form. Then Tarric himself took to the air. The land shark bellowed in anger for having lost the meal it had earned. But once it realized that the party members weren't going to land any time soon and that they could continue damaging it from the air, it reluctantly burrowed back into the earth and did not re-emerge. The party flew a safe distance away, and Killick used spells to create a treetop refuge that would keep them safe from any further land shark attacks.
2nd of Reaping. When the party members awoke the next day, they saw that Alexander and Tarric were bleary-eyed. They both admitted to having strange nightmares all night long that had apparently prevented them from gaining the benefits of a normal night's rest. They wondered if the nightmares might have something to do with the tasks that the Wild Watchers had given them. But before they had time to consider this prospect further, Alexander was contacted mentally by Darl Quethos. He relayed Quethos's message to the party. Quethos had challenged them to mortal combat for control of the island's secrets. The two parties were to face one another at the site in the grassy plain where they had entered the demiplane. The party did not relish the idea of backtracking, but they decided it was best to take Quethos and his team out as soon as possible. This time they cast flight spells on everyone in the group and flew back towards their point of origin in a fraction of the time that it had taken them to hike the same distance. As they got close, they wondered whether Quethos's invitation had been merely a ruse to lead them away from Quethos's real target, but in the distance they could see that Quethos's team was indeed assembled and prepared for battle. The most spectacular of the enemy combatants was an efreet astride a snorting fiendish horse (called a Nightmare). There were also two identical-seeming combatants in hooded red satin robes. Near Quethos stood a hulking minotaur bodyguard as well as the kenku spy that the party had briefly pursued back on Tilagos island before transporting themselves to this demiplane. Out in front was a horned devil who seemed eager for battle. It quickly became clear that all the combatants on both sides were airborn, using either wings or spells.
As the two parties closed for combat, Alees dove to the ground to find cover in the tall grass. She had made it clear before that she would no longer be risking herself in combats, and she was acting true to her word. From long range, Alexander tried launching a fireball at a grouping of opponents, but predictably, the attack had little effect. As the two parties drew nearer, the efreet called out a warcry in some language that the party didn't know and charged Tarric waving his immense scimitar. As he rode by, he sliced a gaping wound in the fighter. The two hooded red-cloaked figures flew up to Alexander and Talon. As they moved closer, it became clear to the party that these robed figures were twin tiefling monks who had had Silence cast on them. However, Alexander was able to tumble away from his silenced monk and turned his attention to the efreet who had just wounded Tarric so grievously. He trained a Cone of Cold on the fiery efreet who screamed out in agony. Killick followed this up with an Ice Storm centered on the efreet. Suddenly, it was the efreet who was in very bad shape. He was no longer making any warcries. He rode back toward Quethos who had healing energy crackling on his hand, but he was felled before he could reach his master by a volley of Alexander's maximized magic missiles. Quethos reluctantly bestowed his prepared healing spell on the nightmare and spoke to it in an infernal language that no one in the party understood. After hearing what Quethos had to say, the fiendish horse turned to face the party without a rider. Tarric focused his energies on the horned devil, Grimlock and Killick were being attacked by the Nightmare, Talon and Alexander seemed to have little difficulty avoiding their tiefling monk pursuers, but Katawan was aiding them just for good measure. Norvelle did what he could to provide healing to those in need. On the other team, the kenku looked for opportunities for flank attacks against the party, focusing mostly on Talon and doing significant damage to her. It also eventually dawned on the party that Quethos's minotaur bodyguard was only an illusion and could take no part in the fight. Once Tarric felled the horned devil, he tried to approach Quethos but found that some spell effect made it impossible for him to approach the cleric of Vecna - who made no secret of wielding the Hand of Vecna. Alexander tried to cast a magic missile spell on him from afar, but it was turned back on him, dispersing harmlessly on Alexander's Shield spell. The party could also see that Quethos had cast a Stoneskin spell on himself. It was clear to the party that the Hand of the Lich Lord was well-protected. He would be a tough nut to crack.
Becoming annoyed with the tiefling monk who kept following him and putting him in a zone of Silence, Alexander cast a spell on him that compelled him to attack his master. The monk turned and began to charge Quethos! Quethos ordered his brother, whom he called "Jalagar" to protect him from the other monk, whom he called "Sabir." Jalagar reluctantly withdrew from Talon to try to hold his brother back. However, it turned out that Sabir was unable to approach Quethos beyond a certain point. So Alexander ordered him instead to attack his brother who was now right next to him. This order caused Sabir to shake off Alexander's influence. However, by this point, the tide had turned decisively in the party's favor. Killick had successfully turned the nightmare to stone, Tarric had dispatched the horned devil back to the Nine Hells, and the kenku was badly wounded and trying to withdraw. So now the party focused their attacks on the two monk brothers, standing side by side. The party's withering attacks caused Sabir to fall to the ground unconscious. Jalagar moved to stabilize his brother, but the party's attacks were unrelenting. The brothers died side by side amid the waving tall grasses of Last Resort under a hail of spell power and melee attacks. This left only Quethos. The party used all the Dispel power it could muster to bring down as many of Quethos's defensive spells as possible. When they had dispelled as much as they could, Tarric and Killick found that they were able to charge in and stand toe-to-toe with the wielder of the Hand of Vecna. Both felt the Hand's cold embrace, but they took only minimal damage from its touch. Although the cleric was able to heal himself many times, it soon became clear that without help or a place to hide, Quethos's time was limited. So when his healing power was exhausted and he realized that his end was imminent, he screamed to the heavens, "Vecna, why have you forsaken me, your most devoted servant? With my last breath, I command you to show these heathens your true power!" As an impressive column of fire fell out of the sky directly onto his position, Quethos just closed his eyes and held his arms aloft, as if waiting to be lifted up. The flames incinerated his flesh (along with the immense Roc feather he had in his possession) and did a significant amount of damage to Tarric and Killick as well, but the Hand of Vecna was none the worse for wear. The party searched for Quethos's kenku rogue with no luck. Even Alees could find no trace of him. The bird man was apparently highly skilled at avoiding capture. Convinced that they would not be able to locate the kenku without serious magically-aided effort, the party consoled themselves by looting the bodies of their enemies, making sure to take and stow the Hand of Vecna, to keep it away from those who might wish to use it. Having exhausted much of their spell power, the party made camp once again, using Killick's treetop refuge.
Sessions 80 - 82: Completing the Four Tasks
3rd of Reaping. Since the Roc feather that Quethos had had in his possession had been incinerated by his suicidal Flame Strike, the party decided to head toward the mountaintop where they had seen the lightning strike once more. But this time, they decided to use one of Talon's Windwalk spells to get there without having to face any pesky land sharks or packlords. On the way there, they spotted a valley from the air which looked like it must be the Vale of Thorns. The valley floor was covered in dense, enormous thorn bushes. On top of that, the valley was crawling with land sharks. However, the flying party seemed to have no need to actually land on the valley floor, because at the far end of the valley, they noticed a gigantic cavern far above the valley floor which was belching smoke. Surely this was the lair of the Thorn Vale Nightmare whose death was one of the tasks given to them by the Watchers. The party decided to take a quick detour to investigate this mysterious cavern. When they got closer, they found that the white "smoke" that the party had seen from afar was really just water vapor, probably emanating from some geological feature. But they had a very unsettled feeling when they landed at the cave's entrance which confirmed their hunch that this might be the lair of some dread beast. Alees wished them luck as they entered the cavern. They found that the water vapor in the cavern was thicker than fog and made sight by any means virtually impossible. The party members could barely see their hands in front of their faces. Their inability to see clearly made them extraordinarily cautious. Alexander quickly tired of his companions' caution, bordering on indecision, and he flew forward headlong into the cavern by himself. He flew over one crevasse that was emitting steam and then over another, after which he was suddenly able to see clearly in the torchlight that he had invaded the lair of an enormous creature with no eyes and huge tusks. The monster didn't seem to appreciate the intrusion. It charged at Alexander, causing him a grievous wound. Alexander fell back toward his party members and breakneck speed, yelling out about what he had found. The party could feel the creature's footsteps as it approached. The party members fell back out of the cavern to the ledge where they could see more clearly and readied themselves for a fight. But unexpectedly, the footsteps stopped. The monster had apparently decided not to follow Alexander out of the cavern. As the party waited uneasily, they set up a perimeter around the cave's mouth. Killick called it a chokepoint. At just that moment, a cloud of yellow gas rolled out of the cavern - a Cloudkill spell. "Chokepoint" indeed! The party withstood the worst of that spell and then waited for the inevitable attack. Then another poisonous Cloudkill rolled out, followed by an Incendiary Cloud.
At this point, it was clear to the party that the beast had no need to come out on its own. So the party's melee fighters - Tarric, Killick, and Katawan - entered the cave once again to try to lure it out. It continued casting spells as long as it was approached by only one or two party members - Chain Lightning, Disintegrate, Heat Metal. But once it noticed the party members trying to surround it, it simply ran away, trampling over whomever might be in its way, causing serious damage. The party became very concerned. This was a beast that could not be targeted at range as long as it remained in the cave and who could easily avoid melee gang tactics by simply running over whomever might be in its way. However, the beast's trample ability was a double-edged sword, for while it could get away from multiple opponents in flanking positions, it was unable to focus attacks on a single target or prevent a single target from withdrawing to be healed up by the party's clerics. So, the party eventually won the battle of attrition, and the Thorn Vale Nightmare was slain. The party members intuited that one of their tasks had been successfully completed.
The party chose to continue on without rest to the summit of the mountain where they had seen the lightning flash in the hopes of completing a second task. When they reached the summit, they were disgusted to find the rotting corpse of an enormous bird partially submerged in a small lake of its own blood. Apparently, Quethos had attempted to burn the corpse so that no useful feathers would be left when the party arrived to collect one. However, Killick realized that a feather from a dead Roc would have been of use to neither party, since the Watchers had specified that the task was to return with a feather of the *living* Roc King. The party imposed on Alees, who provided a scroll of Raise Dead. Norvell cast it on the Roc and it returned to life. However, it returned to the world in the same state of mind that it had left the world with - namely one of fear and anger. Killick cast a spell enabling him to speak to the Roc and was able to use his affinity with nature to calm the creature and convince it of their harmless intent. They even displayed the disembodied Hand of Vecna in order to convince the creature that they had exacted vengeance upon its killers. Once calm, the enormous bird thanked the party for raising it from the dead and asked if there was something it could do for the party to repay the favor. The party members looked at each other with wide grins. They asked the Roc for two things: a single feather from its hide and some information about the rest of the island. The Roc gladly agreed to both requests. It plucked out one of its own feathers and gave it to the party and then consented to answer any questions that the party might have about the island and its denizens. From the Roc, the party learned that the Doomshrowd Forest was filled with giant Girallons and that at its heart was an enormously powerful tree that had tainted the surrounding trees for miles around. They also learned that Krathanos lived in a keep on the far side of the island. He seemed to be some sort of giant with the ability to hurl thunderbolts. The party thanked the Roc and made for Killick's treetop sanctuary in order to rest up.
4th of Reaping. Since the Doomshroud Forest was closer, they decided to deal with that task next. Once again, they had Talon cast Windwalk so that the entire party could avoid the Girallons on the ground and travel directly to the evil tree at the forest's heart. After a few hours of searching, the party felt confident that they had discovered the lonesome tree at the heart of the forest from which the evil that pervaded the rest of the forest seemed to spread. They landed a short distance away from the tree and carefully began their approach. From the ground, the forest was even more disturbing than it was from the air. It was an alien landscape whose black, monolithic trees seemed to shift unnaturally even when there was no wind. The canopy was able to block out so much of the light coming from the overcast sky above that the party experienced night-like conditions for the first time since arriving in the demiplane. The forest's drooping trees continuously wept a thick black ichor from which the party was careful to keep its distance. After a short time, the party reached the clearing dominated by a single evil tree which seemed to hover over the rest of the trees in the forest. As the party tried to decide its course of action, the tree struck first by casting a spell on Talon, knocking her instantly unconscious. The party leapt to action. Alexander reasoned that the tree would be vulnerable to fire, so he cast a quickened Fireball to test his hypothesis. When he saw that his hunch had been correct, he then followed up his first spell with a maximized Fireball. The tree creeked and groaned in ways that sounded eerily like shrieks of pain. The party was surprised to find that, not only was the tree vulnerable to fire, but it seemed to have no natural defense against spells. So they simply threw Flame Strikes and Fireballs on the thing until it was a burnt cinder. About 10 seconds after the fight had begun, it was suddenly over. The party huddled around Talon and was relieved to discover that she was fine. The tree's spell had appeared to be much more potent than it truly was. They investigated the base and the interior of the burnt tree, hoping to find some treasure, but they found none. Still, they were proud that they had accomplished the third Task with extraordinary ease.
Having some time remaining on their Windwalk spell and having most of their spell complement available, they decided to fly to the island's far coast and scout out Krathanos's keep. Once they emerged from the forest, the keep was clearly visible about a mile away. As they approached, they saw some winged creatures flying around. Eventually, those winged creatures flew out to meet the party. The party didn't know what to expect. They prepped for another fight, but the flying gargoyles made it clear that they wanted to talk, not fight. With pleasant words, the gargoyles invited the party to sit at their lord Krathanos's table tonight for dinner. The party was reluctant, but the gargoyles insisted that their master would take great offense if his invitation was refused. Suspecting the worst, the party decided to accept the invitation. The gargoyles were overjoyed. They led the party into the keep, which the party found was in a terrible state of disrepair. The keep's main entrance stood wide open without a door or a portcullis to keep enemies out. There was little left of the original keep other than the walls, and even these looked like they had been knocked down recently and had not yet been built back up enough to conceal Krathanos's head when he stood up. In the back corner of the keep were some shoddily-fashioned cages containing 9 or 10 normal-sized girallons.
Krathanos welcomed the party gleefully, saying that it had been a long time since he had had the opportunity to entertain civilized folk and learn about the outside world. The party wondered aloud that he hadn't been visited by Quethos's band. Krathanos admitted that he had recently been approached by a minotaur, but he had smashed him because he didn't like its manners. This flippant mention of killing a visitor on a whim sent chills up the party members' spines. They made sure they were on their best behavior. They asked how Krathanos had ended up on the island. Krathanos accused a group of druids of imprisoning him here. This topic seemed to anger Krathanos, so the party changed the subject. Once he was sufficiently calm, the party admired Krathanos's belt. Krathanos was very proud of it. He claimed it was a symbol of his rulership of a sprawling and powerful country on Oerth, prior to his imprisonment of course. He seemed to feel that if he ever escaped from his prison, he would need the belt when he returned to Oerth to prove that he was indeed the rightful ruler of his former realm. It seemed clear that the would not part with it easily. The party said they would pay him what it was worth, in gold or in trade. He refused. They tried persuading him that his best chance at freedom would be to give them the belt, because once they had it, the Watchers had assured them that all the demiplane's denizens would be returned to Oerth. This seemed to sway Krathanos somewhat. He said he would give them his precious belt if they would give him Talon. He said she would make a pretty pet who could entertain him for many long years. Although the party was very reluctant to agree to Krathanos's terms, he seemed to assume that this deal was so generous that the party could not refuse. He was completely oblivious to their reluctance, and moved toward Talon with the clear intent of grabbing her. The party forcefully interposed themselves between her and the titan and made clear that they were refusing his deal. This sent Krathanos into a pompous rage. How could such insects dare refuse him, especially when he was being so generous with them? His magnificent belt for a measly girl? How could they refuse, unless it was their intent to insult him? They would have to pay for their insolence. He drew his enormous warhammer and began pounding people with it.
When Krathanos connected with his warhammer, he did tremendous damage. The party also discovered that he was nearly invulnerable to spells. So they had no choice but to withdraw. Alexander stayed behind to occupy the titan with spells and give the rest of his comrades time to escape. But Krathanos seemed to have little interest in pursuit. He realized that the party would have to come back to him if they wanted his belt, so he was willing to bide his time. The party withdrew to its secluded treetop sanctuary to rest and recover spells.
5th of Reaping. The party devised a plan and made an assault on Krathanos's keep the following day. However, when the gargoyles did not come out to engage the party as they had the previous day, this seemed to undermine the party's plan. They pressed the attack anyway. To their chagrine, they discovered that Krathanos was a master of the Chain Lightning spell. Not only could he hurl it from an enormous distance, but he could do it an unlimited number of times per day. Consequently, some of the party members were significantly wounded by the time that they made it to the keep itself. Just as the melee combat got underway, Alexander called the retreat. He realized that the party was fighting in suboptimal conditions and that the party would be better off retooling their combat plan and approaching again on a subsequent day. The rest of the party reluctantly heeded his call to withdraw. Krathanos seemed to find this turn of events extraordinarily amusing. He allowed the party to retreat without continuing to assault them with Chain Lightning. As they fled, he called out to them saying that he hadn't had as much fun in centuries and insisting that they return again the following day so that he could have more fun. The party returned to their treetop lair and plotted.
6th of Reaping. The party made a second assault on Krathanos's keep. This time they flew in invisibly so that they could avoid the killing field of Chain Lightning that they had endured the previous day. Once they were all in position, they unleashed their attacks as planned. Surprisingly, their attack plans focused almost entirely on a low-level spell that they had almost forgotten about since their journeyman days - Melf's Acid Arrow. The maximized it, quickened it, and empowered it, shooting it at the titan again and again and again. Apparently, Melf's Acid Arrow was immune to the titan's spell resistance, so the acid just kept eating away at his flesh until - less than 30 seconds into the fight - the titan was dead. The acid continued eating away at his corpse. The last thing to dissolve was the look of disbelief on the titan's face that such a puny spell had defeated him. As soon as Krathanos fell, his gargoyle and girallon minions fled. Alexander summoned a Floating Disk to carry Krathanos's enormous, emerald-studded belt back to the place where they had entered the demiplane. Needless to say, they also looted his other belongings and found a number of other valuable-looking treasures most of which he had stored in a bag he kept tied around his belt.
After a long march, the party members arrived back at the obsidian circle where they had entered the demiplane. As soon as they all stepped onto it again, the Watchers re-appeared. Tylanthros stepped forward and said, "Indeed you are the Heroes of Legend, for you have completed the tasks. Soon you will drink from the fountain and you will have the knowledge you seek and our purpose here will be at an end. Last Resort will be no more, and we, its Watchers, will cease to exist also. Before we go, we wish to give you our standards." He twisted around, grabbed the flag that rose behind his back, wrenched it free from his belt and handed it to Katawan. He continued, "When you wear my standard, you will be protected from fire and may cast Flame Strike once per day." Another watcher removed his standard and stepped forward, handing it to Norvelle. Tylanthros continued saying, "Beskawahn's standard protects its bearer from cold and allows him to breathe underwater at will." A third watcher removed his standard and stepped forward, handing it to Killick. Tylanthros said, "Thadimar's standard protects its bearer from electricity and allows its bearer to cast Air Walk once per day." The last watcher removed his standard and stepped forward, handing it to Tarric. Tylanthros said, "Sayren-Lei's banner protects its wearer from acid and allows its bearer to cast Stoneskin once per day." Finally, Tylanthros approached Alexander and handed him his ornate mithril spear, carved to look like intertwined thorns. He said, "Lastly, I give you my spear. I will not be needing it where I travel now." Suddenly, Tylanthros stepped aside, revealing a simple stone fountain gurgling with pure, clear water that hadn't been there a moment before. He said, "This fountain represents the knowledge you seek. Drink from it and all that you desire to know will be revealed to you." Alexander stepped forward and drank deeply, without hesitation. And Last Resort was no more.
3rd of Reaping. Since the Roc feather that Quethos had had in his possession had been incinerated by his suicidal Flame Strike, the party decided to head toward the mountaintop where they had seen the lightning strike once more. But this time, they decided to use one of Talon's Windwalk spells to get there without having to face any pesky land sharks or packlords. On the way there, they spotted a valley from the air which looked like it must be the Vale of Thorns. The valley floor was covered in dense, enormous thorn bushes. On top of that, the valley was crawling with land sharks. However, the flying party seemed to have no need to actually land on the valley floor, because at the far end of the valley, they noticed a gigantic cavern far above the valley floor which was belching smoke. Surely this was the lair of the Thorn Vale Nightmare whose death was one of the tasks given to them by the Watchers. The party decided to take a quick detour to investigate this mysterious cavern. When they got closer, they found that the white "smoke" that the party had seen from afar was really just water vapor, probably emanating from some geological feature. But they had a very unsettled feeling when they landed at the cave's entrance which confirmed their hunch that this might be the lair of some dread beast. Alees wished them luck as they entered the cavern. They found that the water vapor in the cavern was thicker than fog and made sight by any means virtually impossible. The party members could barely see their hands in front of their faces. Their inability to see clearly made them extraordinarily cautious. Alexander quickly tired of his companions' caution, bordering on indecision, and he flew forward headlong into the cavern by himself. He flew over one crevasse that was emitting steam and then over another, after which he was suddenly able to see clearly in the torchlight that he had invaded the lair of an enormous creature with no eyes and huge tusks. The monster didn't seem to appreciate the intrusion. It charged at Alexander, causing him a grievous wound. Alexander fell back toward his party members and breakneck speed, yelling out about what he had found. The party could feel the creature's footsteps as it approached. The party members fell back out of the cavern to the ledge where they could see more clearly and readied themselves for a fight. But unexpectedly, the footsteps stopped. The monster had apparently decided not to follow Alexander out of the cavern. As the party waited uneasily, they set up a perimeter around the cave's mouth. Killick called it a chokepoint. At just that moment, a cloud of yellow gas rolled out of the cavern - a Cloudkill spell. "Chokepoint" indeed! The party withstood the worst of that spell and then waited for the inevitable attack. Then another poisonous Cloudkill rolled out, followed by an Incendiary Cloud.
At this point, it was clear to the party that the beast had no need to come out on its own. So the party's melee fighters - Tarric, Killick, and Katawan - entered the cave once again to try to lure it out. It continued casting spells as long as it was approached by only one or two party members - Chain Lightning, Disintegrate, Heat Metal. But once it noticed the party members trying to surround it, it simply ran away, trampling over whomever might be in its way, causing serious damage. The party became very concerned. This was a beast that could not be targeted at range as long as it remained in the cave and who could easily avoid melee gang tactics by simply running over whomever might be in its way. However, the beast's trample ability was a double-edged sword, for while it could get away from multiple opponents in flanking positions, it was unable to focus attacks on a single target or prevent a single target from withdrawing to be healed up by the party's clerics. So, the party eventually won the battle of attrition, and the Thorn Vale Nightmare was slain. The party members intuited that one of their tasks had been successfully completed.
The party chose to continue on without rest to the summit of the mountain where they had seen the lightning flash in the hopes of completing a second task. When they reached the summit, they were disgusted to find the rotting corpse of an enormous bird partially submerged in a small lake of its own blood. Apparently, Quethos had attempted to burn the corpse so that no useful feathers would be left when the party arrived to collect one. However, Killick realized that a feather from a dead Roc would have been of use to neither party, since the Watchers had specified that the task was to return with a feather of the *living* Roc King. The party imposed on Alees, who provided a scroll of Raise Dead. Norvell cast it on the Roc and it returned to life. However, it returned to the world in the same state of mind that it had left the world with - namely one of fear and anger. Killick cast a spell enabling him to speak to the Roc and was able to use his affinity with nature to calm the creature and convince it of their harmless intent. They even displayed the disembodied Hand of Vecna in order to convince the creature that they had exacted vengeance upon its killers. Once calm, the enormous bird thanked the party for raising it from the dead and asked if there was something it could do for the party to repay the favor. The party members looked at each other with wide grins. They asked the Roc for two things: a single feather from its hide and some information about the rest of the island. The Roc gladly agreed to both requests. It plucked out one of its own feathers and gave it to the party and then consented to answer any questions that the party might have about the island and its denizens. From the Roc, the party learned that the Doomshrowd Forest was filled with giant Girallons and that at its heart was an enormously powerful tree that had tainted the surrounding trees for miles around. They also learned that Krathanos lived in a keep on the far side of the island. He seemed to be some sort of giant with the ability to hurl thunderbolts. The party thanked the Roc and made for Killick's treetop sanctuary in order to rest up.
4th of Reaping. Since the Doomshroud Forest was closer, they decided to deal with that task next. Once again, they had Talon cast Windwalk so that the entire party could avoid the Girallons on the ground and travel directly to the evil tree at the forest's heart. After a few hours of searching, the party felt confident that they had discovered the lonesome tree at the heart of the forest from which the evil that pervaded the rest of the forest seemed to spread. They landed a short distance away from the tree and carefully began their approach. From the ground, the forest was even more disturbing than it was from the air. It was an alien landscape whose black, monolithic trees seemed to shift unnaturally even when there was no wind. The canopy was able to block out so much of the light coming from the overcast sky above that the party experienced night-like conditions for the first time since arriving in the demiplane. The forest's drooping trees continuously wept a thick black ichor from which the party was careful to keep its distance. After a short time, the party reached the clearing dominated by a single evil tree which seemed to hover over the rest of the trees in the forest. As the party tried to decide its course of action, the tree struck first by casting a spell on Talon, knocking her instantly unconscious. The party leapt to action. Alexander reasoned that the tree would be vulnerable to fire, so he cast a quickened Fireball to test his hypothesis. When he saw that his hunch had been correct, he then followed up his first spell with a maximized Fireball. The tree creeked and groaned in ways that sounded eerily like shrieks of pain. The party was surprised to find that, not only was the tree vulnerable to fire, but it seemed to have no natural defense against spells. So they simply threw Flame Strikes and Fireballs on the thing until it was a burnt cinder. About 10 seconds after the fight had begun, it was suddenly over. The party huddled around Talon and was relieved to discover that she was fine. The tree's spell had appeared to be much more potent than it truly was. They investigated the base and the interior of the burnt tree, hoping to find some treasure, but they found none. Still, they were proud that they had accomplished the third Task with extraordinary ease.
Having some time remaining on their Windwalk spell and having most of their spell complement available, they decided to fly to the island's far coast and scout out Krathanos's keep. Once they emerged from the forest, the keep was clearly visible about a mile away. As they approached, they saw some winged creatures flying around. Eventually, those winged creatures flew out to meet the party. The party didn't know what to expect. They prepped for another fight, but the flying gargoyles made it clear that they wanted to talk, not fight. With pleasant words, the gargoyles invited the party to sit at their lord Krathanos's table tonight for dinner. The party was reluctant, but the gargoyles insisted that their master would take great offense if his invitation was refused. Suspecting the worst, the party decided to accept the invitation. The gargoyles were overjoyed. They led the party into the keep, which the party found was in a terrible state of disrepair. The keep's main entrance stood wide open without a door or a portcullis to keep enemies out. There was little left of the original keep other than the walls, and even these looked like they had been knocked down recently and had not yet been built back up enough to conceal Krathanos's head when he stood up. In the back corner of the keep were some shoddily-fashioned cages containing 9 or 10 normal-sized girallons.
Krathanos welcomed the party gleefully, saying that it had been a long time since he had had the opportunity to entertain civilized folk and learn about the outside world. The party wondered aloud that he hadn't been visited by Quethos's band. Krathanos admitted that he had recently been approached by a minotaur, but he had smashed him because he didn't like its manners. This flippant mention of killing a visitor on a whim sent chills up the party members' spines. They made sure they were on their best behavior. They asked how Krathanos had ended up on the island. Krathanos accused a group of druids of imprisoning him here. This topic seemed to anger Krathanos, so the party changed the subject. Once he was sufficiently calm, the party admired Krathanos's belt. Krathanos was very proud of it. He claimed it was a symbol of his rulership of a sprawling and powerful country on Oerth, prior to his imprisonment of course. He seemed to feel that if he ever escaped from his prison, he would need the belt when he returned to Oerth to prove that he was indeed the rightful ruler of his former realm. It seemed clear that the would not part with it easily. The party said they would pay him what it was worth, in gold or in trade. He refused. They tried persuading him that his best chance at freedom would be to give them the belt, because once they had it, the Watchers had assured them that all the demiplane's denizens would be returned to Oerth. This seemed to sway Krathanos somewhat. He said he would give them his precious belt if they would give him Talon. He said she would make a pretty pet who could entertain him for many long years. Although the party was very reluctant to agree to Krathanos's terms, he seemed to assume that this deal was so generous that the party could not refuse. He was completely oblivious to their reluctance, and moved toward Talon with the clear intent of grabbing her. The party forcefully interposed themselves between her and the titan and made clear that they were refusing his deal. This sent Krathanos into a pompous rage. How could such insects dare refuse him, especially when he was being so generous with them? His magnificent belt for a measly girl? How could they refuse, unless it was their intent to insult him? They would have to pay for their insolence. He drew his enormous warhammer and began pounding people with it.
When Krathanos connected with his warhammer, he did tremendous damage. The party also discovered that he was nearly invulnerable to spells. So they had no choice but to withdraw. Alexander stayed behind to occupy the titan with spells and give the rest of his comrades time to escape. But Krathanos seemed to have little interest in pursuit. He realized that the party would have to come back to him if they wanted his belt, so he was willing to bide his time. The party withdrew to its secluded treetop sanctuary to rest and recover spells.
5th of Reaping. The party devised a plan and made an assault on Krathanos's keep the following day. However, when the gargoyles did not come out to engage the party as they had the previous day, this seemed to undermine the party's plan. They pressed the attack anyway. To their chagrine, they discovered that Krathanos was a master of the Chain Lightning spell. Not only could he hurl it from an enormous distance, but he could do it an unlimited number of times per day. Consequently, some of the party members were significantly wounded by the time that they made it to the keep itself. Just as the melee combat got underway, Alexander called the retreat. He realized that the party was fighting in suboptimal conditions and that the party would be better off retooling their combat plan and approaching again on a subsequent day. The rest of the party reluctantly heeded his call to withdraw. Krathanos seemed to find this turn of events extraordinarily amusing. He allowed the party to retreat without continuing to assault them with Chain Lightning. As they fled, he called out to them saying that he hadn't had as much fun in centuries and insisting that they return again the following day so that he could have more fun. The party returned to their treetop lair and plotted.
6th of Reaping. The party made a second assault on Krathanos's keep. This time they flew in invisibly so that they could avoid the killing field of Chain Lightning that they had endured the previous day. Once they were all in position, they unleashed their attacks as planned. Surprisingly, their attack plans focused almost entirely on a low-level spell that they had almost forgotten about since their journeyman days - Melf's Acid Arrow. The maximized it, quickened it, and empowered it, shooting it at the titan again and again and again. Apparently, Melf's Acid Arrow was immune to the titan's spell resistance, so the acid just kept eating away at his flesh until - less than 30 seconds into the fight - the titan was dead. The acid continued eating away at his corpse. The last thing to dissolve was the look of disbelief on the titan's face that such a puny spell had defeated him. As soon as Krathanos fell, his gargoyle and girallon minions fled. Alexander summoned a Floating Disk to carry Krathanos's enormous, emerald-studded belt back to the place where they had entered the demiplane. Needless to say, they also looted his other belongings and found a number of other valuable-looking treasures most of which he had stored in a bag he kept tied around his belt.
After a long march, the party members arrived back at the obsidian circle where they had entered the demiplane. As soon as they all stepped onto it again, the Watchers re-appeared. Tylanthros stepped forward and said, "Indeed you are the Heroes of Legend, for you have completed the tasks. Soon you will drink from the fountain and you will have the knowledge you seek and our purpose here will be at an end. Last Resort will be no more, and we, its Watchers, will cease to exist also. Before we go, we wish to give you our standards." He twisted around, grabbed the flag that rose behind his back, wrenched it free from his belt and handed it to Katawan. He continued, "When you wear my standard, you will be protected from fire and may cast Flame Strike once per day." Another watcher removed his standard and stepped forward, handing it to Norvelle. Tylanthros continued saying, "Beskawahn's standard protects its bearer from cold and allows him to breathe underwater at will." A third watcher removed his standard and stepped forward, handing it to Killick. Tylanthros said, "Thadimar's standard protects its bearer from electricity and allows its bearer to cast Air Walk once per day." The last watcher removed his standard and stepped forward, handing it to Tarric. Tylanthros said, "Sayren-Lei's banner protects its wearer from acid and allows its bearer to cast Stoneskin once per day." Finally, Tylanthros approached Alexander and handed him his ornate mithril spear, carved to look like intertwined thorns. He said, "Lastly, I give you my spear. I will not be needing it where I travel now." Suddenly, Tylanthros stepped aside, revealing a simple stone fountain gurgling with pure, clear water that hadn't been there a moment before. He said, "This fountain represents the knowledge you seek. Drink from it and all that you desire to know will be revealed to you." Alexander stepped forward and drank deeply, without hesitation. And Last Resort was no more.
Sessions 83 - 84: The Heroes of Legend
Approximately 1500 years earlier. After Alexander drank from the Fountain of Dreams, all of the members of the party were overwhelmed by a rush of alien yet strangely familiar memories. The landscape around them swirled away into a vortex of lightning and wind, fire and rain, ending in the darkness of utter nothingness. For several uneasy moments, the party members floated adrift in this empty silence. They felt the cold perpetuity of the infinite weighing upon them. Suddenly, the party members found themselves standing on a windy bluff overlooking an immense canyon that had to be Rift Canyon. The canyon was surprisingly lush, with enormous trees growing all the way up to the canyon's rim. Far to the south, across a long, flat plain, the party members could just barely make out the faint, looming specter of White Plume Mountain. Then the unmistakeable din of battle, both near and distant, assaulted the party members' ears. As if rising from the ground, on ledges and mesas both near and far, armies of creatures faded into view. In the distance, towns and villages lay smoking in ruin, and the sky was cast with a dark pallor. The cacophonous moans of the undead rode the wind. The party members saw huge numbers of armed and armored humanoids arrayed against an apparently endless wave of undead. Many of these undead creatures were familiar to the party - Spawn of Kyuss, Swords of Kyuss, Knights of Kyuss, Wormcallers, Morhgs, Eviscerator Beetles, Overworms, and Ulgurstastas - along with other Kyuss-creatures that the party had never seen, such as enormous worm-dripping centipedes, immense black scorpions, and immense wormlike dragons who breathed swarms of Kyuss-worms upon their enemies. And wheeling in the skies above, attended by numerous smaller dragons, was a horrifying shape - a skeletal red dragon of great size. Dragotha. For all of the humanoid army's numbers, it was clear to the party members that they were doomed to fall before the invincible minions of Kyuss.
As soon as they became oriented to their new surroundings, they heard someone behind them say in an unfamiliar language that they could nonetheless understand perfectly, "Thank the Mother, they have arrived!" The party turned to see a small unit of perhaps two or three dozen somber druids wearing tattered, blood-stained robes. Although they were clearly tired and battle-scarred, they did not have the look of hopelessness about them that one might expect. The one who had spoken approached the party members who recognized him as the living Tylanthros who would eventually transform himself into the undying warden of the Fountain of Dreams. He approached the party members, saying, "The spell was successful! You must be the heroes of legend who have partaken of the Fountain of Dreams in order to prevent the Age of Worms in our future. You have been summoned to aid us now in our time of greatest need, for if we do not succeed in our task now, then there will be no future for you to save." He gestured behind him and the druids parted to give the party members a glimpse of a large package, a strange container with its sides carved in the shape of leering demonic and draconic faces. "Dragotha's phylactery is ours, yet at a great price. He and his minions come for us even now to reclaim it. We must hide it forever from his reach. If we take it from this land, he will sense its loss and abandon his army. Without Dragotha's leadership, the undead horde will wander without focus and will be vulnerable to counter-attack. This is our only hope of defeating an army that has us vastly outnumbered. However, in order for us to remove his phylactery, we need you to buy us some time. You must hold off the Kyuss-spawn that even now scramble at the edges of the cliffs around us. Our trusted ally will hold off his aerial forces while you prevent the ground forces from disturbing us while we break the wards that protect the phylactery."
With this, Tylanthros gestured at a gorgeous young elf woman dressed in ornate mithral armor whom the party recognized as a younger version of Lashonna, Zeech's mysterious elven advisor! She stepped forward without any sense of recognition in her eyes and said, "I have volunteered to sacrifice myself in order to hold off Dragotha and his progeny. You will face Swords of Kyuss and Spawn of Kyuss. But beware, there is also something else approaching, an abomination the likes of which I have never seen before. It, too, must be delayed if our druid friends are to complete their work. Farewell and good luck." Having no time for lengthy goodbyes, Lashonna spread her arms and transformed into a magnificent silver dragon. With a single beat of her wings, she launched into the air and soared off toward the distant dracolich.
As Lashonna receded into the sky, the company of druids began dragging the phylactery into a natural cavern in the rock wall behind them. Tylanthros paused to give the party some important last words. "Fear not, my friends. While Lashonna flies off to her almost certain death, you are summoned creatures. Your death in this place will not be your final death, for when you die here, you will reappear whenever you left, none the worse for wear. You will notice that any wounds you had when you left have been healed and all your spellcasting power has been refreshed. So be bold and be brave. Hold them off for as long as you can. At all costs, prevent them from disturbing our work in that cavern! It may benefit you to know that we plan to entomb Dragotha's phylactery in a place he'd never think to look, right under his nose in Rift Canyon! If you ever need to recover it, you will find it in a stone giant fortress known as Kongen-Thulnir." Tylanthros paused for a moment as if seeing or hearing something important. Then he continued, "I must fly! Protect me and my companions from the Kyuss-spawn, or the Age of Worms shall doom us all!" With that, Tylanthros ran into the cavern and was quickly out of sight.
Killick strode towards the cave and cast a spell, sealing its entrance up with a sheet of rock. Then he turned to his companions and said, "This is the main event folks. You all know what to do." Tarric looked over at Alees and saw her trembling with fear. He said, "You just heard the stakes. Can we count on you to help us this time?" Alees's eyes were transfixed on the unending horde of undead that stretched to the horizon. Without meeting Tarric's gaze, she replied, "Yes, I'm with you. Fharlangn protect me... Fharlangn protect us all! The Age of Worms is real!" At long last, she turned to face Tarric and announced, "We can't let this happen in our time! We have to stop it!" Tarric gave a nod of agreement. He was pleased to hear that she finally understood the stakes.
For a few moments, all that could be heard was the sound of frantic spell-casting, as the party members cast preparatory defensive spells. But less than a minute later, the first wave of Swords of Kyuss scrambled over the cliff's ledge and began approaching the party. Half of them approached the party at top speed - clanking forward in the heavy armor - but the rest of them used their abilities to call down black columns of unholy flame on the still-clustered party members. Most of the party was immune to this unholy magic, but although Alexander was invisible, he was still unprotected. The party heard his screams of pain as he was quickly dispatched back to his own time. First blood went to the minions of Kyuss.
The party members were all stunned for a moment, shocked by the sudden loss of the party's wizard. But then they sprang into action with a renewed sense of purpose and ferocity. With the use of potent clerical spells and deft melee attacks, most of the Swords of Kyuss were quickly dispatched. There were only about five left when the next wave of undead clambored over the ledge. There were two eviscerator beetles along with an animated pile of bones whose shape resembled an enormous white dragon. As this animated conglomeration of bones approached the party, they could see something protruding from its sides. These protrusions seemed to be growing larger and taking shapes of their own. This lumbering bag of bones was a surprisingly agile combatant, able to move from opponent to opponent. Grimlock moved up to it to protect its master, but the Boneyard bit the dog with its tremendous dragon jaw. The dog gave a horrific yelp. The party watched helplessly as the dog's bones flew out of its body and merged with those of the Boneyard. It had absorbed the dog's bones into itself! Killick yelled "No!" as the Boneyard tossed Grimlock's lifeless husk back down to earth. In the mean time, two giant worms - an Overworm and an Ulgurstasta - surrounded by about two dozen Spawn of Kyuss crested the ridge and began moving in to make attacks. Norvelle did what he could to keep the remaining Swords of Kyuss from reaching the cave entrance while Alees tried to occupy the Spawn of Kyuss, Killick attacked the worms, and Tarric and Katawan remained focused on the Boneyard.
At this point, the Boneyard jettisoned three dragon skeletons from its body which began fighting independently. They surrounded Killick who was occupied with the two giant worms, but he was anything but disturbed by being outflanked by the enemy. Instead, he seemed to revel in the combat. He yelled with the glee of vengeance when he felled the ulgurstasta - the same sort of worm creature that had rampaged through Greyhawk when the party had been unable to stop it. Having been unable to hurt Killick, the dragon skeletons disengaged from him and headed straight for the cavern entrance. This forced the party to move back to make sure that none of them could disturb the druids' work.
Then three things happened nearly simultaneously that caused the party's hearts to sink into their stomachs. First, another wave of Swords of Kyuss crested the ridge, and they immediately began healing the Boneyard by calling down their black flames upon it. Second, the Boneyard successfully grabbed Katawan in its immense jaws and caused the monk's bones to fly out of his body, killing him in just the same way as it had killed Grimlock. Finally, in the distance, the party saw Lashonna's defeated and apparently lifeless body plummeting to the ground. Now Dragotha himself was on his way to deal with the party himself! But the party had no time for despair. They redoubled their efforts.
But it was no use. One by one, the party members succumbed to the unending wave of Kyuss-minions. Norvelle was next to fall, then Tarric, then Talon, then Alees. Finally, only Killick remained, grievously wounded. He used his last potent spell to sheath his quarterstaff in flame. Using it, he was able to strike the Boneyard down at long last. He grinned as it collapsed into a pile of bones, and he didn't stop grinning even when he saw Dragotha himself land on the ledge. He approached Killick's position, but just as he was about to engage the druid, the undead dragon paused and gave an unearthly ear-piercing wail. Killick surmised that Dragotha had just sensed the loss of his phylactery. The party had succeeded; the druids had gotten away with Dragotha's phylactery! Killick gave a pained smile and beckoned for Dragotha to approach. Dragotha took his frustrations out on the defiant, but wounded druid, slaying him instantly with a slap of his tail. But before the life went completely out of his broken body, Killick's dying eyes saw Dragotha take flight. He was fleeing, leaving his army behind just as the druids had predicted!
Suddenly, Killick awoke to find himself surrounded by all of his boon companions. Killick told them all what he had seen just before his "death," and the party rejoiced in their victory. They could barely recognize the island they were on without the constant wind and rain that they had experienced upon arriving. They could clearly see the ancient temple where they had found the gems necessary to activate the gate to the demiplane, and beyond that they could see the orc pirates who had been shipwrecked by Darl Quethos on the coast, still working on fashioning a new ship. Alexander looked at his friends, smiled, and said, "I have a promise to keep," and he began walking toward the beach.
Approximately 1500 years earlier. After Alexander drank from the Fountain of Dreams, all of the members of the party were overwhelmed by a rush of alien yet strangely familiar memories. The landscape around them swirled away into a vortex of lightning and wind, fire and rain, ending in the darkness of utter nothingness. For several uneasy moments, the party members floated adrift in this empty silence. They felt the cold perpetuity of the infinite weighing upon them. Suddenly, the party members found themselves standing on a windy bluff overlooking an immense canyon that had to be Rift Canyon. The canyon was surprisingly lush, with enormous trees growing all the way up to the canyon's rim. Far to the south, across a long, flat plain, the party members could just barely make out the faint, looming specter of White Plume Mountain. Then the unmistakeable din of battle, both near and distant, assaulted the party members' ears. As if rising from the ground, on ledges and mesas both near and far, armies of creatures faded into view. In the distance, towns and villages lay smoking in ruin, and the sky was cast with a dark pallor. The cacophonous moans of the undead rode the wind. The party members saw huge numbers of armed and armored humanoids arrayed against an apparently endless wave of undead. Many of these undead creatures were familiar to the party - Spawn of Kyuss, Swords of Kyuss, Knights of Kyuss, Wormcallers, Morhgs, Eviscerator Beetles, Overworms, and Ulgurstastas - along with other Kyuss-creatures that the party had never seen, such as enormous worm-dripping centipedes, immense black scorpions, and immense wormlike dragons who breathed swarms of Kyuss-worms upon their enemies. And wheeling in the skies above, attended by numerous smaller dragons, was a horrifying shape - a skeletal red dragon of great size. Dragotha. For all of the humanoid army's numbers, it was clear to the party members that they were doomed to fall before the invincible minions of Kyuss.
As soon as they became oriented to their new surroundings, they heard someone behind them say in an unfamiliar language that they could nonetheless understand perfectly, "Thank the Mother, they have arrived!" The party turned to see a small unit of perhaps two or three dozen somber druids wearing tattered, blood-stained robes. Although they were clearly tired and battle-scarred, they did not have the look of hopelessness about them that one might expect. The one who had spoken approached the party members who recognized him as the living Tylanthros who would eventually transform himself into the undying warden of the Fountain of Dreams. He approached the party members, saying, "The spell was successful! You must be the heroes of legend who have partaken of the Fountain of Dreams in order to prevent the Age of Worms in our future. You have been summoned to aid us now in our time of greatest need, for if we do not succeed in our task now, then there will be no future for you to save." He gestured behind him and the druids parted to give the party members a glimpse of a large package, a strange container with its sides carved in the shape of leering demonic and draconic faces. "Dragotha's phylactery is ours, yet at a great price. He and his minions come for us even now to reclaim it. We must hide it forever from his reach. If we take it from this land, he will sense its loss and abandon his army. Without Dragotha's leadership, the undead horde will wander without focus and will be vulnerable to counter-attack. This is our only hope of defeating an army that has us vastly outnumbered. However, in order for us to remove his phylactery, we need you to buy us some time. You must hold off the Kyuss-spawn that even now scramble at the edges of the cliffs around us. Our trusted ally will hold off his aerial forces while you prevent the ground forces from disturbing us while we break the wards that protect the phylactery."
With this, Tylanthros gestured at a gorgeous young elf woman dressed in ornate mithral armor whom the party recognized as a younger version of Lashonna, Zeech's mysterious elven advisor! She stepped forward without any sense of recognition in her eyes and said, "I have volunteered to sacrifice myself in order to hold off Dragotha and his progeny. You will face Swords of Kyuss and Spawn of Kyuss. But beware, there is also something else approaching, an abomination the likes of which I have never seen before. It, too, must be delayed if our druid friends are to complete their work. Farewell and good luck." Having no time for lengthy goodbyes, Lashonna spread her arms and transformed into a magnificent silver dragon. With a single beat of her wings, she launched into the air and soared off toward the distant dracolich.
As Lashonna receded into the sky, the company of druids began dragging the phylactery into a natural cavern in the rock wall behind them. Tylanthros paused to give the party some important last words. "Fear not, my friends. While Lashonna flies off to her almost certain death, you are summoned creatures. Your death in this place will not be your final death, for when you die here, you will reappear whenever you left, none the worse for wear. You will notice that any wounds you had when you left have been healed and all your spellcasting power has been refreshed. So be bold and be brave. Hold them off for as long as you can. At all costs, prevent them from disturbing our work in that cavern! It may benefit you to know that we plan to entomb Dragotha's phylactery in a place he'd never think to look, right under his nose in Rift Canyon! If you ever need to recover it, you will find it in a stone giant fortress known as Kongen-Thulnir." Tylanthros paused for a moment as if seeing or hearing something important. Then he continued, "I must fly! Protect me and my companions from the Kyuss-spawn, or the Age of Worms shall doom us all!" With that, Tylanthros ran into the cavern and was quickly out of sight.
Killick strode towards the cave and cast a spell, sealing its entrance up with a sheet of rock. Then he turned to his companions and said, "This is the main event folks. You all know what to do." Tarric looked over at Alees and saw her trembling with fear. He said, "You just heard the stakes. Can we count on you to help us this time?" Alees's eyes were transfixed on the unending horde of undead that stretched to the horizon. Without meeting Tarric's gaze, she replied, "Yes, I'm with you. Fharlangn protect me... Fharlangn protect us all! The Age of Worms is real!" At long last, she turned to face Tarric and announced, "We can't let this happen in our time! We have to stop it!" Tarric gave a nod of agreement. He was pleased to hear that she finally understood the stakes.
For a few moments, all that could be heard was the sound of frantic spell-casting, as the party members cast preparatory defensive spells. But less than a minute later, the first wave of Swords of Kyuss scrambled over the cliff's ledge and began approaching the party. Half of them approached the party at top speed - clanking forward in the heavy armor - but the rest of them used their abilities to call down black columns of unholy flame on the still-clustered party members. Most of the party was immune to this unholy magic, but although Alexander was invisible, he was still unprotected. The party heard his screams of pain as he was quickly dispatched back to his own time. First blood went to the minions of Kyuss.
The party members were all stunned for a moment, shocked by the sudden loss of the party's wizard. But then they sprang into action with a renewed sense of purpose and ferocity. With the use of potent clerical spells and deft melee attacks, most of the Swords of Kyuss were quickly dispatched. There were only about five left when the next wave of undead clambored over the ledge. There were two eviscerator beetles along with an animated pile of bones whose shape resembled an enormous white dragon. As this animated conglomeration of bones approached the party, they could see something protruding from its sides. These protrusions seemed to be growing larger and taking shapes of their own. This lumbering bag of bones was a surprisingly agile combatant, able to move from opponent to opponent. Grimlock moved up to it to protect its master, but the Boneyard bit the dog with its tremendous dragon jaw. The dog gave a horrific yelp. The party watched helplessly as the dog's bones flew out of its body and merged with those of the Boneyard. It had absorbed the dog's bones into itself! Killick yelled "No!" as the Boneyard tossed Grimlock's lifeless husk back down to earth. In the mean time, two giant worms - an Overworm and an Ulgurstasta - surrounded by about two dozen Spawn of Kyuss crested the ridge and began moving in to make attacks. Norvelle did what he could to keep the remaining Swords of Kyuss from reaching the cave entrance while Alees tried to occupy the Spawn of Kyuss, Killick attacked the worms, and Tarric and Katawan remained focused on the Boneyard.
At this point, the Boneyard jettisoned three dragon skeletons from its body which began fighting independently. They surrounded Killick who was occupied with the two giant worms, but he was anything but disturbed by being outflanked by the enemy. Instead, he seemed to revel in the combat. He yelled with the glee of vengeance when he felled the ulgurstasta - the same sort of worm creature that had rampaged through Greyhawk when the party had been unable to stop it. Having been unable to hurt Killick, the dragon skeletons disengaged from him and headed straight for the cavern entrance. This forced the party to move back to make sure that none of them could disturb the druids' work.
Then three things happened nearly simultaneously that caused the party's hearts to sink into their stomachs. First, another wave of Swords of Kyuss crested the ridge, and they immediately began healing the Boneyard by calling down their black flames upon it. Second, the Boneyard successfully grabbed Katawan in its immense jaws and caused the monk's bones to fly out of his body, killing him in just the same way as it had killed Grimlock. Finally, in the distance, the party saw Lashonna's defeated and apparently lifeless body plummeting to the ground. Now Dragotha himself was on his way to deal with the party himself! But the party had no time for despair. They redoubled their efforts.
But it was no use. One by one, the party members succumbed to the unending wave of Kyuss-minions. Norvelle was next to fall, then Tarric, then Talon, then Alees. Finally, only Killick remained, grievously wounded. He used his last potent spell to sheath his quarterstaff in flame. Using it, he was able to strike the Boneyard down at long last. He grinned as it collapsed into a pile of bones, and he didn't stop grinning even when he saw Dragotha himself land on the ledge. He approached Killick's position, but just as he was about to engage the druid, the undead dragon paused and gave an unearthly ear-piercing wail. Killick surmised that Dragotha had just sensed the loss of his phylactery. The party had succeeded; the druids had gotten away with Dragotha's phylactery! Killick gave a pained smile and beckoned for Dragotha to approach. Dragotha took his frustrations out on the defiant, but wounded druid, slaying him instantly with a slap of his tail. But before the life went completely out of his broken body, Killick's dying eyes saw Dragotha take flight. He was fleeing, leaving his army behind just as the druids had predicted!
Suddenly, Killick awoke to find himself surrounded by all of his boon companions. Killick told them all what he had seen just before his "death," and the party rejoiced in their victory. They could barely recognize the island they were on without the constant wind and rain that they had experienced upon arriving. They could clearly see the ancient temple where they had found the gems necessary to activate the gate to the demiplane, and beyond that they could see the orc pirates who had been shipwrecked by Darl Quethos on the coast, still working on fashioning a new ship. Alexander looked at his friends, smiled, and said, "I have a promise to keep," and he began walking toward the beach.
Session 85: Arrival at Kongen-Thulnir
7th of Reaping - 4th of Harvester. While many members of the party paid to have magic items improved or crafted, Talon was the party member who spent the longest amount of time crafting items herself - a total of 53 days. During this time, Killick spent time in the libraries at Greyhawk and Magepoint researching Kongen-Thulnir, the location of Dragotha's phyhlactery. He was astounded to see that references to Kongen-Thulnir were suddenly to be found in books that he was positive had contained no reference to that location on previous readings. Killick verified this suspicion by showing one such book to a librarian who was intimately familiar with the work. The librarian was equally as surprised to see the reference to Kongen-Thulnir, which he knew had not been there before.
Killick discovered that Kongen-Thulnir was a fortress-town built into one of the cliffsides of Rift Canyon by a tribe of stone giants who had been allied with the Order of the Storm. He met with the rest of the party in Greyhawk to relay this news. He was eager to travel to this location as soon as possible to seek the phylactery, but the party decided to wait until Talon was finished crafting. So Killick mounted his Obsidian Steed (Grimlock was jealous) and traveled to Kongen-Thulnir alone. As he approached the location that he had read about in his books, he entered the Ethereal Plane to evade detection. He found the cliffside fortress and observed hill giants and fire giants who seemed to be warring amongst each other within the city. He cast a spell that allowed him to determine the proximity of unnatural beings. He sensed the presence of one overwhelmingly powerful unnatural being as well as numerous smaller ones, and they all were in the same direction as the cliffside fortress. Rather than risk himself by approaching the city any closer, Killick wheeled his magical horse around and returned to Greyhawk to inform the party of what he had learned.
5th of Harvester. Three weeks later, when Talon was finally finished crafting, the party made for Kongen-Thulnir via one of Talon's Windwalk spells. They resolidified about a mile from the edge of Rift Canyon. The terrain surrounding the Canyon was a depressingly dry, flat, nearly featureless plateau. Killick created water for a nearby scrub oak and magically asked it some questions about local goings-on, but the tree was of little help to the druid. As the party approached the edge of the canyon, they noticed that the fortress-town in the opposite cliffside was under attack by dragons! At least six dragons - green, black, blue, and red - were visible at any given time, wheeling in the sky and employing their breath weapons on those giants manning impressive static defenses, including catapults and heavy ballistae. The town was also equipped with well-camoflaged guy-wires designed to seroiusly injure flying creatures. It was almost as if the fortress had been constructed with defense against dragon attacks in mind.
The party observed that the northerm portion of the city had been almost completey destroyed by the dragons. They were currently focusing their attacks on the southern portion of the city as well as a fortification built on an outcropping of rock across from the middle of the middle of the city. A similar outcropping of rock across from the devastated northern end of the city had been completely leveled. Since the dragons seemed to be focusing their attention elsewhere, the party decided to use the still-active Windwalk spell to take mist-form again, fly across the canyon, land on the outcropping, take solid form again, and then walk across the bridge that connected the outcropping with the enormous cliffside cavern containing the city. The first part of their plan was uneventful. The successfully made it to the northern outcropping without attracting the attention of the attacking dragons. As the party members resolidified, Katawan heard something that sounded like a voice, but he couldn't tell what it was saying or where the voice was coming from. Then Alexander yelled out that an invisible green dragon was crawling out onto the outcropping. (Apparently, this dragon had been clinging to the underside of the stone bridge, lying in wait for enemies who might wish to organize new defenses on the flattened outcropping or in the destroyed northern portion of the city.)
Killick cast Glitterdust on the dragon to outline it for his comrades. Alexander shot a Fireball and a volley of Quickened Magic Missiles which bounced off the dragon's Shield spell. The dragon belched out a cone of corrosive gas and then took off into the air, hovering above the party. Tarric flew up to engage the dragon in melee, but it was too fast for him to catch up with. Katawan had similar difficulties. It looked like ranged attacks and spells would be the order of the day. Norvelle and Talon had success bringing down holy columns of flame onto the dragon's head. Alexander had success with more Fireballs and a Polar Ray. Since the dragon's own spells had been completely ineffective against the party, it swooped in, grabbed Alexander in its tremendous jaws, and then flew away with him. For a moment, the party was concerned that Alexander was lost, because they knew the dragon flew faster than they did, but within moments Alexander teleported back to the outcropping none the worse for wear. In frustration, the dragon tried its breath weapon again, to little effect. Talon cast Dispel Magic in hopes of dropping the dragon's Shield spell. Alexander tried more Quickened Magic Missiles, which now struck true. Then he cast Feeblemind on the dragon. Alexander's impressive arcane power overwhelmed the creature and it reverted to animal intelligence. In its unthinking fury, it landed on the outcropping to engage the party in melee. Tarric obliged the dragon, using his spring attack ability to avoid the dragon's claws as he approached. However, after Tarric's sword, Branwhite, tasted the dragon's flesh, the dragon brought its full fury down on its wielder, biting him, slashing him with claws, buffeting him with its wings, and slapping at him with its tail. Tarric could not sruvive another such onslaught and withdrew to partake of Talon's healing abilities.
However, once the dragon had landed, it lost most of its advantages. Now all the party members could bring their abilities to bear. After getting Healed by Talon, Tarric ran back into the fight and delivered the killing blow. The ancient lieutenant of Kyuss slumped to the ground in ignominious defeat. (Perhaps its feeble-minded state was a blessing in disguise since its stupidity rendered it incapable of comprehending the humiliation of its utter defeat at the hands of beings less than a 20th of its age.)
Norvelle and Talon healed up the damage caused by the dragon and Alees relieved the dragon's corpse of an amulet and a ring. Then they headed across the bridge to the war-ravaged northern side of town. After briefly looking around, they found a functional well as well as the top of a stone ladder leading down the face of the cliff to a small under-city whose buildings looked small enough to house humanoids. In the distance, the party could see a keep guarding a gate which separated the northern and southern halves of the city. This keep was obviously still manned, as harpoons and catapults were being fired at passing dragons from that location. The party reasoned that if the dragons had destroyed this part of the city and had moved on, then the phylactery must not be here, so there was little reason to stay and search it exhaustively. The party chose to approach the manned keep and hopefully pass unseen into the southern half of the city rather than scale the ladder down to the undercity.
Just when the party was about to move out, a small figure climbed out from hiding and hailed the party. As it approached, the party recognized this gnome as the Ominous Fabler, Prince Zeech's court jester! They asked him what he was doing here. He replied that his position as court jester for Prince Zeech was only a ruse which allowed him to spy on the Prince and attempt to learn what connection the Cult of Kyuss had with Alhaster. His former master, a stone giant from the floor of Rift Canyon had dreamed of the coming Age of Worms and his visions convinced him that this apocalypse would be initiated somehow in Alhaster. So the Ominous Fabler (whose real name was Gazilfek) had been dispatched to Alhaster to learn as much as he could and report back. When the party had arrived in town making no secret of their hatred for the Ebon Triad, Gazilfek thought that they might be useful allies in the effort to prevent the Age of Worms. On the way back to Rift Canyon to report what little he had learned to his stone giant master, he suddenly found a note in one of his texts on the Age of Worms that he knew hadn't been there before. It indicated that Dragotha's phylactery was hidden somewhere in Kongen-Thulnir. He knew that Dragotha was Kyuss's primary servant on the Material Plane, so he made a detour here to find out what he could. He arrived just a day before the dragons attacked. Since then he has been scouting out the city, looking for where the phylactery might be hidden. While he hasn't found it yet, he could still be of use to the party by guiding them through the town, saving them from wasting time on false leads, and he would also be willing to use his bard song to help the party in battle.
Alexander waited patiently for Gazilfek to finish his pitch before asking him why they should trust an undead creature such as himself. The rest of the party was surprised by this news - the gnome looked living to them. Gazilfek hesitated and then asked how he could carry out his mission to safegard the world from the Age of Worms with but one lifetime? Becoming undead had been necessary, he claimed. Killick used his Wormhunter power to sense if Gazilfek had become an agent of Kyuss. He had indeed. Killick informed the party that the gnome was indeed an agent of Kyuss and the party sprang into action. Tarric, Katawan, and Killick moved up to engage the gnome, who smelled of vomit covered up by strong perfume. As the three party members moved in close enough to attack, Gazilfek shot Kyuss worms into the air from all over his body. All three party members were struck, but they were able to scrape off the worms before they could begin burrowing. Each party member took a turn doing their worst to Gazilfek who didn't survive to take another action. Gazilfek's zombie-like corpse was wearing much more equipment than the Ominous Fabler had worn in Zeech's palace. Alees took everything of value so that the magical items could be identified later.
The party continued with their original plan of trying to sneak by the gatekeep that separated the currently destroyed lower-class northern half of Kongen-Thulnir from the besieged upper-class southern half of the city. The hope was that the keep's inhabitants would be too occupied with the dragons flying out in the skies to notice smaller beings like themselves flying up and over their gate. However, the plan didn't work. As they approached the gate moving slowly up against the back wall of the cavern, they saw a giant poke his head up, point in their direction, and shout an alarm to its brethren. The attempt to bypass the keep undetected had failed.
[Special note: This session was played at Origins and was briefly observed by none other than Monte Cook himself!]
7th of Reaping - 4th of Harvester. While many members of the party paid to have magic items improved or crafted, Talon was the party member who spent the longest amount of time crafting items herself - a total of 53 days. During this time, Killick spent time in the libraries at Greyhawk and Magepoint researching Kongen-Thulnir, the location of Dragotha's phyhlactery. He was astounded to see that references to Kongen-Thulnir were suddenly to be found in books that he was positive had contained no reference to that location on previous readings. Killick verified this suspicion by showing one such book to a librarian who was intimately familiar with the work. The librarian was equally as surprised to see the reference to Kongen-Thulnir, which he knew had not been there before.
Killick discovered that Kongen-Thulnir was a fortress-town built into one of the cliffsides of Rift Canyon by a tribe of stone giants who had been allied with the Order of the Storm. He met with the rest of the party in Greyhawk to relay this news. He was eager to travel to this location as soon as possible to seek the phylactery, but the party decided to wait until Talon was finished crafting. So Killick mounted his Obsidian Steed (Grimlock was jealous) and traveled to Kongen-Thulnir alone. As he approached the location that he had read about in his books, he entered the Ethereal Plane to evade detection. He found the cliffside fortress and observed hill giants and fire giants who seemed to be warring amongst each other within the city. He cast a spell that allowed him to determine the proximity of unnatural beings. He sensed the presence of one overwhelmingly powerful unnatural being as well as numerous smaller ones, and they all were in the same direction as the cliffside fortress. Rather than risk himself by approaching the city any closer, Killick wheeled his magical horse around and returned to Greyhawk to inform the party of what he had learned.
5th of Harvester. Three weeks later, when Talon was finally finished crafting, the party made for Kongen-Thulnir via one of Talon's Windwalk spells. They resolidified about a mile from the edge of Rift Canyon. The terrain surrounding the Canyon was a depressingly dry, flat, nearly featureless plateau. Killick created water for a nearby scrub oak and magically asked it some questions about local goings-on, but the tree was of little help to the druid. As the party approached the edge of the canyon, they noticed that the fortress-town in the opposite cliffside was under attack by dragons! At least six dragons - green, black, blue, and red - were visible at any given time, wheeling in the sky and employing their breath weapons on those giants manning impressive static defenses, including catapults and heavy ballistae. The town was also equipped with well-camoflaged guy-wires designed to seroiusly injure flying creatures. It was almost as if the fortress had been constructed with defense against dragon attacks in mind.
The party observed that the northerm portion of the city had been almost completey destroyed by the dragons. They were currently focusing their attacks on the southern portion of the city as well as a fortification built on an outcropping of rock across from the middle of the middle of the city. A similar outcropping of rock across from the devastated northern end of the city had been completely leveled. Since the dragons seemed to be focusing their attention elsewhere, the party decided to use the still-active Windwalk spell to take mist-form again, fly across the canyon, land on the outcropping, take solid form again, and then walk across the bridge that connected the outcropping with the enormous cliffside cavern containing the city. The first part of their plan was uneventful. The successfully made it to the northern outcropping without attracting the attention of the attacking dragons. As the party members resolidified, Katawan heard something that sounded like a voice, but he couldn't tell what it was saying or where the voice was coming from. Then Alexander yelled out that an invisible green dragon was crawling out onto the outcropping. (Apparently, this dragon had been clinging to the underside of the stone bridge, lying in wait for enemies who might wish to organize new defenses on the flattened outcropping or in the destroyed northern portion of the city.)
Killick cast Glitterdust on the dragon to outline it for his comrades. Alexander shot a Fireball and a volley of Quickened Magic Missiles which bounced off the dragon's Shield spell. The dragon belched out a cone of corrosive gas and then took off into the air, hovering above the party. Tarric flew up to engage the dragon in melee, but it was too fast for him to catch up with. Katawan had similar difficulties. It looked like ranged attacks and spells would be the order of the day. Norvelle and Talon had success bringing down holy columns of flame onto the dragon's head. Alexander had success with more Fireballs and a Polar Ray. Since the dragon's own spells had been completely ineffective against the party, it swooped in, grabbed Alexander in its tremendous jaws, and then flew away with him. For a moment, the party was concerned that Alexander was lost, because they knew the dragon flew faster than they did, but within moments Alexander teleported back to the outcropping none the worse for wear. In frustration, the dragon tried its breath weapon again, to little effect. Talon cast Dispel Magic in hopes of dropping the dragon's Shield spell. Alexander tried more Quickened Magic Missiles, which now struck true. Then he cast Feeblemind on the dragon. Alexander's impressive arcane power overwhelmed the creature and it reverted to animal intelligence. In its unthinking fury, it landed on the outcropping to engage the party in melee. Tarric obliged the dragon, using his spring attack ability to avoid the dragon's claws as he approached. However, after Tarric's sword, Branwhite, tasted the dragon's flesh, the dragon brought its full fury down on its wielder, biting him, slashing him with claws, buffeting him with its wings, and slapping at him with its tail. Tarric could not sruvive another such onslaught and withdrew to partake of Talon's healing abilities.
However, once the dragon had landed, it lost most of its advantages. Now all the party members could bring their abilities to bear. After getting Healed by Talon, Tarric ran back into the fight and delivered the killing blow. The ancient lieutenant of Kyuss slumped to the ground in ignominious defeat. (Perhaps its feeble-minded state was a blessing in disguise since its stupidity rendered it incapable of comprehending the humiliation of its utter defeat at the hands of beings less than a 20th of its age.)
Norvelle and Talon healed up the damage caused by the dragon and Alees relieved the dragon's corpse of an amulet and a ring. Then they headed across the bridge to the war-ravaged northern side of town. After briefly looking around, they found a functional well as well as the top of a stone ladder leading down the face of the cliff to a small under-city whose buildings looked small enough to house humanoids. In the distance, the party could see a keep guarding a gate which separated the northern and southern halves of the city. This keep was obviously still manned, as harpoons and catapults were being fired at passing dragons from that location. The party reasoned that if the dragons had destroyed this part of the city and had moved on, then the phylactery must not be here, so there was little reason to stay and search it exhaustively. The party chose to approach the manned keep and hopefully pass unseen into the southern half of the city rather than scale the ladder down to the undercity.
Just when the party was about to move out, a small figure climbed out from hiding and hailed the party. As it approached, the party recognized this gnome as the Ominous Fabler, Prince Zeech's court jester! They asked him what he was doing here. He replied that his position as court jester for Prince Zeech was only a ruse which allowed him to spy on the Prince and attempt to learn what connection the Cult of Kyuss had with Alhaster. His former master, a stone giant from the floor of Rift Canyon had dreamed of the coming Age of Worms and his visions convinced him that this apocalypse would be initiated somehow in Alhaster. So the Ominous Fabler (whose real name was Gazilfek) had been dispatched to Alhaster to learn as much as he could and report back. When the party had arrived in town making no secret of their hatred for the Ebon Triad, Gazilfek thought that they might be useful allies in the effort to prevent the Age of Worms. On the way back to Rift Canyon to report what little he had learned to his stone giant master, he suddenly found a note in one of his texts on the Age of Worms that he knew hadn't been there before. It indicated that Dragotha's phylactery was hidden somewhere in Kongen-Thulnir. He knew that Dragotha was Kyuss's primary servant on the Material Plane, so he made a detour here to find out what he could. He arrived just a day before the dragons attacked. Since then he has been scouting out the city, looking for where the phylactery might be hidden. While he hasn't found it yet, he could still be of use to the party by guiding them through the town, saving them from wasting time on false leads, and he would also be willing to use his bard song to help the party in battle.
Alexander waited patiently for Gazilfek to finish his pitch before asking him why they should trust an undead creature such as himself. The rest of the party was surprised by this news - the gnome looked living to them. Gazilfek hesitated and then asked how he could carry out his mission to safegard the world from the Age of Worms with but one lifetime? Becoming undead had been necessary, he claimed. Killick used his Wormhunter power to sense if Gazilfek had become an agent of Kyuss. He had indeed. Killick informed the party that the gnome was indeed an agent of Kyuss and the party sprang into action. Tarric, Katawan, and Killick moved up to engage the gnome, who smelled of vomit covered up by strong perfume. As the three party members moved in close enough to attack, Gazilfek shot Kyuss worms into the air from all over his body. All three party members were struck, but they were able to scrape off the worms before they could begin burrowing. Each party member took a turn doing their worst to Gazilfek who didn't survive to take another action. Gazilfek's zombie-like corpse was wearing much more equipment than the Ominous Fabler had worn in Zeech's palace. Alees took everything of value so that the magical items could be identified later.
The party continued with their original plan of trying to sneak by the gatekeep that separated the currently destroyed lower-class northern half of Kongen-Thulnir from the besieged upper-class southern half of the city. The hope was that the keep's inhabitants would be too occupied with the dragons flying out in the skies to notice smaller beings like themselves flying up and over their gate. However, the plan didn't work. As they approached the gate moving slowly up against the back wall of the cavern, they saw a giant poke his head up, point in their direction, and shout an alarm to its brethren. The attempt to bypass the keep undetected had failed.
[Special note: This session was played at Origins and was briefly observed by none other than Monte Cook himself!]
Session 86: Capturing the Roundhouse
5th of Harvester (continued). A hill giant sentry in the round tower had detected the party and they had to decide quickly how to react. Alees hid. Alexander drew a wand and cast invisibility. Killick cast spider climb on Grimlock. But before combat could begin in earnest, Katawan stepped forward with his arms extended in a sign of peace and began speaking to the sentry in the giant tongue. Although the sentry still seemed wary, he did not attack. He shouted something back but seemed ready to toss something if a fight broke out. Tarric asked Katawan to translate. Katawan quickly informed the party that the giants refuse to let them pass unless they kill two dragons. Talon cast a quick prep spell. This angered the giant who began shouting. Katawan told the party to stop casting spells until the negotiations were over. After speaking briefly with Grimlock, Killick stepped forward, displaying his dragonhide cloak. He shouted up to the giant that the party were no friends of dragons and that they wished to ally with the giants against the dragons. The giant cocked its head in confusion. It said something quizzical to Katawan who then translated what Killick had said into the giant tongue. The party heard the giant repeat itself. Katawan confirmed that the giant was still insisting that the party kill two dragons prior to allowing their entry. Katawan yelled back in a more menacing tone, but the sentry was clearly unconvinced. Disappointed, Katawan said, "Oh well. He's not going to let us through. I guess it's show time."
Just then, the party saw Alexander emerge from his invisibility atop the wall near the cavern's back wall. The arcane energies he invoked formed themselves into a Force Cage right in front of him on the battlements directly over the gate. A cry of anger and alarm went up from some unseen giant inside the cage. Tarric, Katawan, and Talon activated their Winged Boots and began flying up toward the battlements. Alees drew her lightning sword and activated its flight power. Norvelle cast Sanctuary and found a big rock to hide behind. Grimlock began climbing the wall toward the cavern's ceiling. Killick sprouted wings and began flying up. More giants came into view behind parapets at the top of the roundhouse keep. They all threw the strange green catapult loads that seemed to have bizarre sewn-up faces on them. They threw at Grimlock and Killick first, who were closest to the gate. Two of the hurled missiles impacted on Grimlock and one on Killick. Upon impact, the missiles exploded with greenish goo. The missiles themselves didn't seem to do much damage, but the goo had some sort of paralytic property. Killick's Ring of Free Action made him immunte to these effects, but Grimlock was rooted to his spot on the wall, unable to move. From his relatively secure position behind the Force Cage, Alexander peppered the giants with Maximized Fireballs and Quickened Magic Missiles. Talon cast Firestorm on them. Just as their two ballistae and catapults started to smolder from all the flames, Killick cast an Ice Storm on them and put out the flames. The giants seemed to have little defense against such attacks, but they did not flee. They continued defending their post against the intruders. Katawan hurled his last Bead of Force at the hill giant that he had negotiated with and it was caught in a force bubble, unable to attack. Katawan also hurled the last beads from his Necklace of Fireballs, which caused the first casualty on the gaints' side. Tarric flew up to teh battlements and attacked one of the giants through the parapet. Talon moved up to Grimlock and cast a spell to revive him. Alees made her way behind the one that Tarric had attacked to get a sneak attack. The roundhouse's two ballistae fired at and missed Katawan on the north side of the wall and Alees on the south side.
In rapid succession, Tarric's blade felled one giant while Talon's Flame Strike felled two others. Half of the keep's garrison was now dead and two of the remaining giants were immobilized. At this point, the fire giant in the Force Cage shouted in Common that the keep surrendered. He shouted something in Giant and the two remaining active but bloody fighters put down their weapons and raised their arms in surrender. The fire giant said bitterly, "I suppose your dragon masters will reward you well for your service." Killick replied that the party members were no friends of these dragons. In fact, they had already killed one as they had entered the city. However, they were here in Kongen-Thulnir on important business. They were here to retrieve an important artifact from the city. That being the case, the fire giant asked if his remaining soldiers might be permitted to resume their attacks on the dragons. The party granted permission and the tired and bloody giant fighters rolled the ballistae back into their original outward-facing position and resumed launching missiles at the green, black, and red dragons, who were circling an impressive fortification built on an outcropping of rock about 100 feet away from the cliff wall.
Killick began interrogating the fire giant leader, who seemed reasonably cooperative after he learned that the party had no love for dragons. He explained that the giants who lived in Kongen-Thulnir were divided into 3 independent factions, the Riftlords who were loyal to the elderly cloud giant king, Achaime Silvereye, the Riftcrawlers, who were the remnants of a failed coup attempt and whose main base of operations was now in the servants quarters below the city, and the Keepers whose only concern was defending the Citadel of Weeping Dragons regardless of who ruled the city. However, all of the factions had united to defend the city once the dragons attacked. The fire giant and the troops under his command were all Rift Crawlers. The fire giant said that if the party was looking for the same thing that the dragons wanted, it was probably in the Citadel's Vault, but neither he nor anyone else knew what was in the Vault any more. The fire gaint warned the party that the Keepers would not let the party into the Vault without a fight. The Keepers were loony fanatics, as far as the fire giant was concerned. He also let the party know that there was no point in going down to the Vault until the party had both Vault keys but he had no idea where the keys were or who would know where they were.
The party began discussing the need for rest. The fire giant offered to let the party stay in the roundhouse. At first the party was suspicious of this offer, but the fire giant seemed honorable enough to keep his word. They accepted his hospitality. Before resting Alexander used a new ability to learn the basic function of new magic items to ascertain that the dragon's amulet had increased the power of his natural attacks and that his ring had been a Ring of Invisibility. Furthermore, Gazilfek, the Ominous Fabler had been wearing a Helm of Teleportation and a Ring of Chameleon Power. Although he was interested in learning more, he needed to rest so that the party could continue their search the following day. It was crucial that the party find Dragotha's phylactery before his dragon minions did!
5th of Harvester (continued). A hill giant sentry in the round tower had detected the party and they had to decide quickly how to react. Alees hid. Alexander drew a wand and cast invisibility. Killick cast spider climb on Grimlock. But before combat could begin in earnest, Katawan stepped forward with his arms extended in a sign of peace and began speaking to the sentry in the giant tongue. Although the sentry still seemed wary, he did not attack. He shouted something back but seemed ready to toss something if a fight broke out. Tarric asked Katawan to translate. Katawan quickly informed the party that the giants refuse to let them pass unless they kill two dragons. Talon cast a quick prep spell. This angered the giant who began shouting. Katawan told the party to stop casting spells until the negotiations were over. After speaking briefly with Grimlock, Killick stepped forward, displaying his dragonhide cloak. He shouted up to the giant that the party were no friends of dragons and that they wished to ally with the giants against the dragons. The giant cocked its head in confusion. It said something quizzical to Katawan who then translated what Killick had said into the giant tongue. The party heard the giant repeat itself. Katawan confirmed that the giant was still insisting that the party kill two dragons prior to allowing their entry. Katawan yelled back in a more menacing tone, but the sentry was clearly unconvinced. Disappointed, Katawan said, "Oh well. He's not going to let us through. I guess it's show time."
Just then, the party saw Alexander emerge from his invisibility atop the wall near the cavern's back wall. The arcane energies he invoked formed themselves into a Force Cage right in front of him on the battlements directly over the gate. A cry of anger and alarm went up from some unseen giant inside the cage. Tarric, Katawan, and Talon activated their Winged Boots and began flying up toward the battlements. Alees drew her lightning sword and activated its flight power. Norvelle cast Sanctuary and found a big rock to hide behind. Grimlock began climbing the wall toward the cavern's ceiling. Killick sprouted wings and began flying up. More giants came into view behind parapets at the top of the roundhouse keep. They all threw the strange green catapult loads that seemed to have bizarre sewn-up faces on them. They threw at Grimlock and Killick first, who were closest to the gate. Two of the hurled missiles impacted on Grimlock and one on Killick. Upon impact, the missiles exploded with greenish goo. The missiles themselves didn't seem to do much damage, but the goo had some sort of paralytic property. Killick's Ring of Free Action made him immunte to these effects, but Grimlock was rooted to his spot on the wall, unable to move. From his relatively secure position behind the Force Cage, Alexander peppered the giants with Maximized Fireballs and Quickened Magic Missiles. Talon cast Firestorm on them. Just as their two ballistae and catapults started to smolder from all the flames, Killick cast an Ice Storm on them and put out the flames. The giants seemed to have little defense against such attacks, but they did not flee. They continued defending their post against the intruders. Katawan hurled his last Bead of Force at the hill giant that he had negotiated with and it was caught in a force bubble, unable to attack. Katawan also hurled the last beads from his Necklace of Fireballs, which caused the first casualty on the gaints' side. Tarric flew up to teh battlements and attacked one of the giants through the parapet. Talon moved up to Grimlock and cast a spell to revive him. Alees made her way behind the one that Tarric had attacked to get a sneak attack. The roundhouse's two ballistae fired at and missed Katawan on the north side of the wall and Alees on the south side.
In rapid succession, Tarric's blade felled one giant while Talon's Flame Strike felled two others. Half of the keep's garrison was now dead and two of the remaining giants were immobilized. At this point, the fire giant in the Force Cage shouted in Common that the keep surrendered. He shouted something in Giant and the two remaining active but bloody fighters put down their weapons and raised their arms in surrender. The fire giant said bitterly, "I suppose your dragon masters will reward you well for your service." Killick replied that the party members were no friends of these dragons. In fact, they had already killed one as they had entered the city. However, they were here in Kongen-Thulnir on important business. They were here to retrieve an important artifact from the city. That being the case, the fire giant asked if his remaining soldiers might be permitted to resume their attacks on the dragons. The party granted permission and the tired and bloody giant fighters rolled the ballistae back into their original outward-facing position and resumed launching missiles at the green, black, and red dragons, who were circling an impressive fortification built on an outcropping of rock about 100 feet away from the cliff wall.
Killick began interrogating the fire giant leader, who seemed reasonably cooperative after he learned that the party had no love for dragons. He explained that the giants who lived in Kongen-Thulnir were divided into 3 independent factions, the Riftlords who were loyal to the elderly cloud giant king, Achaime Silvereye, the Riftcrawlers, who were the remnants of a failed coup attempt and whose main base of operations was now in the servants quarters below the city, and the Keepers whose only concern was defending the Citadel of Weeping Dragons regardless of who ruled the city. However, all of the factions had united to defend the city once the dragons attacked. The fire giant and the troops under his command were all Rift Crawlers. The fire giant said that if the party was looking for the same thing that the dragons wanted, it was probably in the Citadel's Vault, but neither he nor anyone else knew what was in the Vault any more. The fire gaint warned the party that the Keepers would not let the party into the Vault without a fight. The Keepers were loony fanatics, as far as the fire giant was concerned. He also let the party know that there was no point in going down to the Vault until the party had both Vault keys but he had no idea where the keys were or who would know where they were.
The party began discussing the need for rest. The fire giant offered to let the party stay in the roundhouse. At first the party was suspicious of this offer, but the fire giant seemed honorable enough to keep his word. They accepted his hospitality. Before resting Alexander used a new ability to learn the basic function of new magic items to ascertain that the dragon's amulet had increased the power of his natural attacks and that his ring had been a Ring of Invisibility. Furthermore, Gazilfek, the Ominous Fabler had been wearing a Helm of Teleportation and a Ring of Chameleon Power. Although he was interested in learning more, he needed to rest so that the party could continue their search the following day. It was crucial that the party find Dragotha's phylactery before his dragon minions did!
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