Session 44: The Elemental Guardians
18th of Harvester. After some discussion, the party decided to ascend back up the waterfall rather than follow Moreto into the Underdark. The last of Moreto's belongings to be moved or disturbed was the Seal, which the party now saw was a rectangular chunk of polished quartz with a handle on top. A mirror image of Icosiol's personal crest was carved into the bottom of the Seal. One side was carved with the same symbols the party had seen on the fresco in the room above (which Allustan had informed them were the activation words - "Icosiol", "Aaqa", and "Pesh"). Another side was carved with a depiction of a man-like figure holding the Seal while standing on a small circle in front of a massive pair of doors. At long last, Killick volunteered to pick up the Seal. He spoke the words and held it aloft. He felt magical power coursing through it. He tried activating it by pointing it at things and reiterating the activation words, but there was no effect. Alexander spoke the words and tried the same, with identical results. Alees drank a potion of Protection from Law, spoke the words, and reached for the Seal with the intention of using her roguish ability to blindly activate magic items. However, she found that she was unable to touch the Seal - it seemed to repel her. Killick tried to put the Seal in his Heward's Handy Haversack, but it would not enter. So Killick put the Seal back down and asked for other volunteers to carry it (as he wished to be able to hold his quarterstaff).
Katawan decided to pick up the Seal without saying the words (just to find out what would happen). Suddenly three 10-foot-tall beings appeared around Katawan. These beings had the dark skin of people who spend a great deal of time out in the sun, and they wore the silk and satin clothing of (wealthy) desert nomads. After identifying Katawan as the offender, they all transformed themselves into mini-tornadoes, that struggled against the ceiling of the natural cavern. All three passed over Katawan, but only the third was successful in picking him up and spinning him aloft. The rest of the party rushed to Katawan's aid, attacking the wind-beings. Tarric swang his sword to great effect. Thorash and Killick let loose their Flame Strikes. Alexander havatu-ed. Alees shot the creatures with force bolts. And even Katawan was able to land a blow as he was being flung around in the air. Within seconds, all three wind-beings had been damaged enough to cause them to disappear.
When the danger was past, Alexander spoke the words again and picked up the Seal. He would carry it. Knowing that two of the Wind Warriors awaited them somewhere above, Alexander and Killick took the lead in physical form, while their companions returned to mist form and slowly ascended behind them. After a few moments, Alexander and Killick found the Wind Warriors hovering, waiting for intruders. However, when they saw the Seal in Alexander's hand, they stopped and bowed before him, seeming to await his command. In addition, Alexander noticed something that he had not seen before - the outline of a secret door carved into the rock. He spoke the words again, and the secret door opened to reveal a small landing leading to a 5-foot-wide staircase ascending. The party assembled on the landing and reverted to physical form. Then they ascended the staircase carved from natural rock. Eventually, the apparently haphazardly-hewn staircase gave way to a large room made of carefully carved stone. The only thing in this room was a 50-foot-tall set of closed metal doors. Alexander said the words again, and the giant doors rumbled open. Beyond the doors was a ledge. Thorash walked up to the edge and looked down. He saw no bottom. What he did see was a rolling mist about 80 feet down. He also noticed arcs of electricity that played randomly in the mist and along the walls. However, the yawning chasm was not empty. There were seven columns ascending out of the mist, leading to the far wall which was blocked by yet another massive set of metal doors.
Alexander attempted to fly to the other side of the room, but he noticed 2 giant creatures that were made of living wind emerging from the mist below, so he returned to the floor with the rest of the party. One of these creatures retained a vaguely humanoid shape with two gigantic fists which it swang at Alexander. The other of these creatures took the form of a giant funnel cloud and flew over Thorash, picking him up and spinning him around near the ceiling. Alees retreated to the doorway and shot at the creatures with the Rainbow Crossbow. Tarric charged the one that had attacked Alexander, taking a pounding as he approached. Killick, who had magically shrunk his companion wardog for the ascent up the waterfall, returned him to his usual size and ordered him to defend Alexander. Alexander tumbled out of the Elemental's reach (taking another pounding in the process), drew a wand, and tapped himself with it, causing himself to appear visibly healthier.
The funnel cloud elemental moved back out over the chasm and ejected Thorash from the funnel, causing him to fall down into the mist. While the party expected to hear a loud 'thud', instead they heard Thorash's continued screams as he continued falling. Realizing that this must be a very deep pit indeed, Killick decided to use his wings to dive down after his dwarven comrade in arms. However, just as he felt he was nearing Thorash's falling body, he heard Thorash desperately cast a spell and then Killick could hear him no longer. Killick assumed that he must have saved himself somehow, so he started making his way back up to the rest of the group. However, when he cleared the mist, he witnessed the funnel cloud dropping his wardog companion into the mist about 10 feet away from him. So he descended once again. This time he caught up with his companion and struggled to carry him back up.
Up above, the fight against the giant Wind Elementals was going poorly for the party - so poorly in fact that Alexander was forced to call for retreat. Most of the party members quickly fell back into the staircase, where they were surprised to see Thorash who was now in mist form. Alexander readied to cast Wall of Iron at the top of the stairs once Killick and Grimlock appeared - but they did not. After a few excruciating seconds, the party heard Killick call out for help in a panic. Tarric who was closest to the top of the stairs, reached into his pack and threw his bronze griffin figurine into the room. As it hit the floor, the figurine turned into a large metal griffin. Tarric commanded it to help Killick, but (unsurprisingly) it flew back to the doorway and attacked Tarric instead. Katawan virtually flew up the stairs, moved past the griffin (which ignored him), and moved to the ledge to see what was going on. He looked down and saw that Killick was about 70 feet down holding on to Grimlock and trying to fly up to the ledge, but he was flanked by both Wind Elementals and was taking a pounding whenever he moved. Without hesitation, Katawan jumped off the ledge and grabbed onto Killick as he fell. Suddenly, Katawan, Killick, and Grimlock appeared at the landing at the base of the stairs, collapsing into a pile of falling bodies. Alexander breathed a sigh of relief and cast his Wall of Iron spell at the top of the stairs. The party heard the sounds of the Wind Elementals attacking the bronze griffin, but then all was silent again.
The party decided to return to Diamond Lake, confer with Allustan, rest, heal up, recover spells, and identify Moreto's magic items.
19th of Harvester. After accomplishing their tasks, the party returned to Icosiol's Cairn much better prepared for combat against the Wind Elementals. Once they had returned to the staircase leading up from the secret door in the waterfall shaft, Killick used his Gauntlet of Rust to open up a hole in the Wall of Iron left behind by Alexander. Alexander ordered the two remaining wounded Wind Warriors into the room to attack the Elementals. The Elementals quickly pounded them to dust, but this gave the party time to deploy into the room. The party then commenced efficiently destroying the two Wind Elemental guardians. Although Flame Strikes were effective as always, perhaps most effective were Alexander's Maximized Empowered Magic Missiles.
With the battle quickly won, Katawan pointed out something he had noticed before - that Icosiol's symbol was inscribed on the top of one of the columns that ascended from the mist. Alexander flew over to it with the Seal and spoke the command words once again. This caused a great column of wind to erupt from the top of the column, propelling Alexander through an illusion-concealed hole in the ceiling.
18th of Harvester. After some discussion, the party decided to ascend back up the waterfall rather than follow Moreto into the Underdark. The last of Moreto's belongings to be moved or disturbed was the Seal, which the party now saw was a rectangular chunk of polished quartz with a handle on top. A mirror image of Icosiol's personal crest was carved into the bottom of the Seal. One side was carved with the same symbols the party had seen on the fresco in the room above (which Allustan had informed them were the activation words - "Icosiol", "Aaqa", and "Pesh"). Another side was carved with a depiction of a man-like figure holding the Seal while standing on a small circle in front of a massive pair of doors. At long last, Killick volunteered to pick up the Seal. He spoke the words and held it aloft. He felt magical power coursing through it. He tried activating it by pointing it at things and reiterating the activation words, but there was no effect. Alexander spoke the words and tried the same, with identical results. Alees drank a potion of Protection from Law, spoke the words, and reached for the Seal with the intention of using her roguish ability to blindly activate magic items. However, she found that she was unable to touch the Seal - it seemed to repel her. Killick tried to put the Seal in his Heward's Handy Haversack, but it would not enter. So Killick put the Seal back down and asked for other volunteers to carry it (as he wished to be able to hold his quarterstaff).
Katawan decided to pick up the Seal without saying the words (just to find out what would happen). Suddenly three 10-foot-tall beings appeared around Katawan. These beings had the dark skin of people who spend a great deal of time out in the sun, and they wore the silk and satin clothing of (wealthy) desert nomads. After identifying Katawan as the offender, they all transformed themselves into mini-tornadoes, that struggled against the ceiling of the natural cavern. All three passed over Katawan, but only the third was successful in picking him up and spinning him aloft. The rest of the party rushed to Katawan's aid, attacking the wind-beings. Tarric swang his sword to great effect. Thorash and Killick let loose their Flame Strikes. Alexander havatu-ed. Alees shot the creatures with force bolts. And even Katawan was able to land a blow as he was being flung around in the air. Within seconds, all three wind-beings had been damaged enough to cause them to disappear.
When the danger was past, Alexander spoke the words again and picked up the Seal. He would carry it. Knowing that two of the Wind Warriors awaited them somewhere above, Alexander and Killick took the lead in physical form, while their companions returned to mist form and slowly ascended behind them. After a few moments, Alexander and Killick found the Wind Warriors hovering, waiting for intruders. However, when they saw the Seal in Alexander's hand, they stopped and bowed before him, seeming to await his command. In addition, Alexander noticed something that he had not seen before - the outline of a secret door carved into the rock. He spoke the words again, and the secret door opened to reveal a small landing leading to a 5-foot-wide staircase ascending. The party assembled on the landing and reverted to physical form. Then they ascended the staircase carved from natural rock. Eventually, the apparently haphazardly-hewn staircase gave way to a large room made of carefully carved stone. The only thing in this room was a 50-foot-tall set of closed metal doors. Alexander said the words again, and the giant doors rumbled open. Beyond the doors was a ledge. Thorash walked up to the edge and looked down. He saw no bottom. What he did see was a rolling mist about 80 feet down. He also noticed arcs of electricity that played randomly in the mist and along the walls. However, the yawning chasm was not empty. There were seven columns ascending out of the mist, leading to the far wall which was blocked by yet another massive set of metal doors.
Alexander attempted to fly to the other side of the room, but he noticed 2 giant creatures that were made of living wind emerging from the mist below, so he returned to the floor with the rest of the party. One of these creatures retained a vaguely humanoid shape with two gigantic fists which it swang at Alexander. The other of these creatures took the form of a giant funnel cloud and flew over Thorash, picking him up and spinning him around near the ceiling. Alees retreated to the doorway and shot at the creatures with the Rainbow Crossbow. Tarric charged the one that had attacked Alexander, taking a pounding as he approached. Killick, who had magically shrunk his companion wardog for the ascent up the waterfall, returned him to his usual size and ordered him to defend Alexander. Alexander tumbled out of the Elemental's reach (taking another pounding in the process), drew a wand, and tapped himself with it, causing himself to appear visibly healthier.
The funnel cloud elemental moved back out over the chasm and ejected Thorash from the funnel, causing him to fall down into the mist. While the party expected to hear a loud 'thud', instead they heard Thorash's continued screams as he continued falling. Realizing that this must be a very deep pit indeed, Killick decided to use his wings to dive down after his dwarven comrade in arms. However, just as he felt he was nearing Thorash's falling body, he heard Thorash desperately cast a spell and then Killick could hear him no longer. Killick assumed that he must have saved himself somehow, so he started making his way back up to the rest of the group. However, when he cleared the mist, he witnessed the funnel cloud dropping his wardog companion into the mist about 10 feet away from him. So he descended once again. This time he caught up with his companion and struggled to carry him back up.
Up above, the fight against the giant Wind Elementals was going poorly for the party - so poorly in fact that Alexander was forced to call for retreat. Most of the party members quickly fell back into the staircase, where they were surprised to see Thorash who was now in mist form. Alexander readied to cast Wall of Iron at the top of the stairs once Killick and Grimlock appeared - but they did not. After a few excruciating seconds, the party heard Killick call out for help in a panic. Tarric who was closest to the top of the stairs, reached into his pack and threw his bronze griffin figurine into the room. As it hit the floor, the figurine turned into a large metal griffin. Tarric commanded it to help Killick, but (unsurprisingly) it flew back to the doorway and attacked Tarric instead. Katawan virtually flew up the stairs, moved past the griffin (which ignored him), and moved to the ledge to see what was going on. He looked down and saw that Killick was about 70 feet down holding on to Grimlock and trying to fly up to the ledge, but he was flanked by both Wind Elementals and was taking a pounding whenever he moved. Without hesitation, Katawan jumped off the ledge and grabbed onto Killick as he fell. Suddenly, Katawan, Killick, and Grimlock appeared at the landing at the base of the stairs, collapsing into a pile of falling bodies. Alexander breathed a sigh of relief and cast his Wall of Iron spell at the top of the stairs. The party heard the sounds of the Wind Elementals attacking the bronze griffin, but then all was silent again.
The party decided to return to Diamond Lake, confer with Allustan, rest, heal up, recover spells, and identify Moreto's magic items.
19th of Harvester. After accomplishing their tasks, the party returned to Icosiol's Cairn much better prepared for combat against the Wind Elementals. Once they had returned to the staircase leading up from the secret door in the waterfall shaft, Killick used his Gauntlet of Rust to open up a hole in the Wall of Iron left behind by Alexander. Alexander ordered the two remaining wounded Wind Warriors into the room to attack the Elementals. The Elementals quickly pounded them to dust, but this gave the party time to deploy into the room. The party then commenced efficiently destroying the two Wind Elemental guardians. Although Flame Strikes were effective as always, perhaps most effective were Alexander's Maximized Empowered Magic Missiles.
With the battle quickly won, Katawan pointed out something he had noticed before - that Icosiol's symbol was inscribed on the top of one of the columns that ascended from the mist. Alexander flew over to it with the Seal and spoke the command words once again. This caused a great column of wind to erupt from the top of the column, propelling Alexander through an illusion-concealed hole in the ceiling.