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Menexenus's Age of Worms Campaign Journal
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<blockquote data-quote="Menexenus" data-source="post: 3618271" data-attributes="member: 8951"><p><strong>Sessions 33-35: Securing the Rainbow Mage's Dungeon</strong></p><p></p><p><em>24th of Goodmonth</em>. After fighting an Aboleth, Killick and Alees were both in the process of turning into some kind of aquatic creature. Alexander informed the party that a Cure Disease spell was needed to prevent the transformation. Thorash had one memorized, but there were two party-members to choose from. Rather than make the choice himself, Thorash left the decision to a party vote. Killick and Alees voted for themselves, cancelling each other's votes out. Katawan voted for Alees, but Alexander and Tarric voted for Killick. Consequently, Thorash cast the spell on Killick, and his skin returned to its normal hues. Alees was desperate to prevent the transformation. She opened all 9 of the unidentified potions that the party had recently found and quaffed them all in sequence, hoping that one might have the effects of a Cure Disease spell. Some of them made her stronger. Some of them made her quicker. Some of them healed her damage and restored her abilities. One of them caused her to fall head over heels in love with Thorash. But none of them stopped her transformation. Minutes later, Alees became a fish creature. She was unable to communicate with her friends and had a strong desire to keep her skin wet. She sullenly jumped into the Aboleth's pond and swam down to the bottom looking for treasure. But she found that she wasn't as good as she used to be at finding hidden things. Thorash cast Fox's Cunning and Water Breathing on himself and had Alees accompany him to the bottom of the pool to assist him in looking for the Aboleth's nest (which she did gladly). After a good deal of swimming and looking, the pair found a hidden cave where the Aboleth had stored some valuables.</p><p></p><p> Alexander promised Alees that the party would take no actions until she was cured. This seemed to raise her spirits a bit. Unfortunately, though, now that the transformation was complete, Alexander informed the party that a higher level spell would be needed in order to return her to normal. After he described the required spell, Thorash admitted that he was unable to cast it himself. Consequently, the party pooled all of the loot that they had accumulated since leaving Greyhawk, and Alexander prepared to teleport to Greyhawk the next morning to purchase a scroll of the necessary spell.</p><p> </p><p> <em>25th of Goodmonth</em>. The party camped in the pond room overnight. When they awoke, Alexander rememorized spells, gathered the swag to sell, and teleported to Greyhawk. The party kept watch on the exits of the room and did what they could to keep Alees's spirits up. The thing that Alees seemed to want most in the world was Thorash's love and attention, but all of her advances were gruffly spurned by the dour dwarf. The party rested up and waited for Alexander's return...</p><p> </p><p> <em>26th of Goodmonth</em>. Alexander returned in the morning with a scroll of Heal along with the leftover cash in platinum which he divided evenly among his party-mates. Thorash successfully cast the spell from the scroll and Alees transformed back to her old self. Alees was over-joyed to be back to her old self. Thorash had to fight to squirm out of Alees's exuberant hug of gratitude (and attraction). The party got ready to continue on into the memorably bizarre dungeon of the Rainbow Mage.</p><p></p><p> Leading out of the Aboleth's cavern was a narrow stone passageway that glittered darkly with small gemstones. As they filed into the hallway, a loud noise exploded all around them. The walls of the cavern seemed to be amplifying the effect, causing damage to those who were not fast enough to cover their ears. The party moved forward quickly into a very large, dimly lit cavern of gem encrusted rock. In the middle of this natural cavern stood a glowing pillar of light. The party approached it. The pillar seemed to be carved out of crystal with a magical light effect inside that gently changed colors as the viewer watched. As the party began fanning out to explore their surroundings, they noticed figures emerging from the walls of the cavern. The humanoid figures seemed to be made of gem-encrusted rock, just like the walls of the cavern. There was little time to ponder who or what these creatures might be, because they were attacking the party! The party formed up to defend itself. The rock creatures moved into close range and then emitted a colorful spray of light from their mouths that had a stunning effect on some members of the party. The rock creatures moved to grapple those who were stunned by this effect. Those who were not stunned fought back, but found that their weapons had a significantly reduced effect against their enemies' rocky hides. All except Thorash, that is. His dagger seemed to be doing full damage. As Thorash stabbed at the rocky creatures, he wondered suddenly why he had drawn his dagger. Hadn't he intended to draw his morningstar? Nevermind. He lunged at the rocky creatures again and again. But on two occasions, when he made particularly poor attempts to hit his enemies, his dagger doubled back and cut Thorash instead! Thorash accepted these painful rebukes from his dagger in stride and pledged to wield it more expertly in the future.</p><p></p><p> Alexander used his wand to cast Magic Missiles at the creatures. Some of them damaged the creatures, but some did not. When the rock creatures died, their bodies exploded, sending shards of rock outward in all directions. Those standing close to the creatures had to jump out of the way quickly to avoid taking damage. Just as the encounter seemed almost over, the party noticed more of the same shapes moving towards them in the gloomy distance. Katawan pulled the penultimate bead from his Necklace of Fireballs and tossed it towards the reinforcements. The explosion lit up the back of the cavern and revealed 8 more rocky creatures coming to aid their brethren. Alexander also launched a fireball. The combined explosions caused one of the creatures to collapse, but the other 7 continued their approach. They also used their colorful attack at short range to disable some members of the party while others tried to grapple those who were stunned. Tarric found himself grappled by 4 of the creatures, and had difficulty escaping their combined hold on him. His party-mates tried to help, but both Killick and Katawan hit him instead of the rocky creatures. (They both tried to make amends for their embarrassing mistakes by administering healing potions to their grappled friend.)</p><p></p><p> However, at long last, the party was successful and all was quiet in the dark cavern. The party explored the cavern and found a large pool at the far side of the pool, but no valuables and no obvious exits. Could this entire underground complex be a dead-end? Killick had found no exits in the jungle cavern, and there seemed to be no exits from this one either. However, after about an hour of careful searching, Alees discovered a secret door hidden in the rock. The door was opened using the familiar rotating handprint symbol that had also been used to drop and raise the force fields they had passed through earlier. Since it was untrapped, Alees opened it.</p><p></p><p> The contrast between the dark rough cavern they had just been in and the new room beyond the secret door couldn't be any starker. Inside the door was a well-lit, immaculately clean sitting room, containing couches, comfortable chairs, rugs on the smooth floor, and pleasant tapestries hanging on the walls. On the far wall was another door with a handprint symbol in the middle. Alees carefully checked it for traps and found none. She stepped away and allowed one of the better armored characters to open it. It opened into a slightly larger but even more brightly lit room. The light coming from this room was so intense that it took the party-members a while for their eyes to adjust. When they could see clearly, they saw an empty room with a ceiling that glowed like the noonday sun and strange runes that circled all four walls in a repeating but uninterrupted pattern. There were doors on each of the 3 other walls. </p><p></p><p> Alees checked the door to the right first and found it untrapped. Killick opened the door and saw a dark room full of coffins - 3 smashed wooden coffins and 5 stone coffins against the far wall. (One of the stone coffins was also broken or collapsed.) Killick checked for tracks in the room and found some that were very old. He looked up and noticed a strange mist hanging near the 20 foot high ceiling. He and Thorash moved into the room to investigate the coffins. The wooden ones contained nothing of value. Thorash moved to the smashed stone coffin and found it was also empty. Killick and Thorash jointly surmised that the coffins had been smashed from the outside, not the inside. They noticed that the stone coffins were ornately decorated, but no names or dates were carved into them. Killick asked Thorash if his faith would permit the party to disturb the closed coffins at the back of the room. Thorash determined that since the coffins had no markings, they were probably empty. (So there would be no offense in opening them.) Killick tried to open the one in the middle, but found that the stone lid was too heavy for him. He called for help. Katawan came in to help out, and Tarric moved into the doorway as a precaution. Katawan and Killick lifted the stone slab off the coffin in the middle and found 5 potions and a wand inside. </p><p></p><p> Just as the party members were becoming interested in the swag found in the coffin, the mist on the ceiling poured down onto the floor behind the doorway and became a pale humanoid with piercing eyes wearing a chain shirt and a bastard sword on his belt. The creature gazed at Tarric and told him to close the door and prevent anyone from leaving. As it spoke, Tarric noticed the creature's long, pointed incisors. For a moment, Tarric paused, but then he shook off the creature's beguiling effect and drew his bastard sword to confront it. Seeing that its command had failed, it drew its weapon as well. The party surrounded the creature, taking turns lashing out at it. When it was flanked, it resumed its misty form and returned to the ceiling. Alexander continued peppering its misty form with magic missiles. The mist reformed into its humanoid form standing on the wall. It tried to command Alexander to fire his magic missiles at his friends, but Alexander refused the command. With the next volley of magic missiles, the vampire turned into mist and entered the coffin in the far corner of the room. The party fashioned a stake out of some of the broken wooden coffins, lifted the lid of the vampire's coffin, and plunged it into the creature's heart. It opened its eyes and screamed in agony before turning into a pile of dust. Inside the vampire's coffin was a bag with a number of pearls and some money as well as a finely made dagger. Lifting the lids off the other coffins, the party found 3 scrolls as well as a ring hidden under a pillow.</p><p></p><p> The party returned to the bright empty room and Alees searched the next door - the one opposite the one they had entered. Again it was untrapped. This time Tarric opened the door and found a large laboratory, filled with benches and bottles, shelves full of reagents, half-finished experiments, drawers containing glassware, and a basin for washing. There were three other doors in this room as well, one on each wall (as before). However, this time, one of the doors was purple. Alees checked them all for traps and found that only the door across from the purple one was trapped (the door to the right of the door from which the party had entered). She admitted that she was unable to disarm the trap. The party decided to try the trapped door first. Katawan thought he might be best able to avoid the trap and volunteered to open the door. He placed his hand into the hand print and turnd the dial. When he did so, a large jet of freezing cold air blasted out at him, but with almost unnatural reflexes, the monk was able to avoid the effects of the blast without removing his hand from the door. Katawan finished opening the door and found a decaying corpse lying on the floor of a small square room decorated with multi-colored tiles. The corpse wore a rainbow colored cloak and had a black arrow protruding from its chest. Killick examined the corpse and estimated that it had been dead for about 2 months, which fit well with the timeline of the Rainbow Mage's disappearance. The body also wore a signet ring identical to the one that Learah had worn at the inn back in town. These were almost certainly the remains of the Rainbow Mage.</p><p></p><p> The party removed the Rainbow Mage's body from the small room and brought it into the laboratory. Someone cast Detect Magic, and all of the mage's magic items were removed from his body for safe keeping. Then the party moved on to open the next door. Beyond this door was a large library, containing shelves full of books that covered the walls, floor to ceiling. In the middle of the room was a comfortable looking chair next to a round table. Some books were still sitting on the table. However, as soon as the doors were opened, 3 robed figures standing in the corners raised their heads and looked at the intruders. Their faces were wooden. Not recognizing the party members, the wooden creatures began to howl and moved to attack. They seemed to be the same wooden guardians that the party had fought upstairs in the Rainbow Mage's office and bedroom. Alexander screamed out to Katawan that fireballs were off limits in the library! </p><p></p><p> The party fought the 3 creatures from the doorway for a while. After killing one, they moved into the room to take advantage of flanking positions. The wooden guardians were no match for the party and were quickly destroyed. As Alexander perused the library, the party heard a loud pop come from the laboratory. Everyone came to see what had happened. They found Alees standing over an open drawer with a soot on her grinning face. She said sheepishly, "I guess this one was trapped." Inside the open drawer was an ornate book titled "Utility." Alexander cast Detect Magic and realized that it was a spellbook. Then he walked into the library and quickly found 5 more spellbooks scattered randomly throughout the packed shelves. Alees glanced at the books that Alexander was removing from the shelves and indicated that she thought they might be trapped. The party also looked at the books sitting on his reading table. Two of the books on the table comprised a 2 volume set titled "The Arcanari." A third book on the table was titled "Jaeral's Jungle Guide." The last book on the table was called "Iliachoam's Beasts and Saddles."</p><p></p><p> The party moved back into the laboratory and investigated the purple door. Alees certified that it was not trapped, but she could find no way to open it. The handprint on the door would not turn and the stone door was locked firmly in place, with no wiggle room whatsoever. Having no luck with the purple door, the party returned to the previous room (the bright room), and opened the last remaining door. It opened into a dusty closet with a large trunk in the back corner. Katawan moved into the closet to investigate, and as he bent down to investigate the trunk, a large mass of arms, eyes, mouths, and sinew rose up from behind it and struck him. Katawan felt his body losing cohesion for a moment, but then used the mental training he had learned in the monastery to bring himself back under control. The party jumped to attention and came to Katawan's defense. The chaotic aberration did not last long under the party's expert assault.</p><p></p><p> When the fight was over, Alees reported that she had discovered a secret door behind a false bank of bookshelves in the library. The party came in and saw a large steel metal door exposed where there had only been books before. Alees reported that the door was certainly trapped but she was unable to disarm it. Again, Katawan volunteered to be the one to try the door. Thorash remained in the room with him, but the others left the room, just to be safe. Katawan turned the hand dial in the middle of the door and a tremendous thunderclap filled the room. A huge lightning bolt struck Katawan in the chest and then arced across the room and struck Thorash as well. Both were sorely wounded by the trap, but still alive. After setting off the trap, Alees was able to finish unlocking the door. The party opened the heavy metal door and found a narrow 10 by 30 room filled with valuables. Inside were many of the Rainbow Mage's most powerful magical items, bags full of cash, and his journal. Several members of the party were now regretting their agreement with the Rainbow Mage's daughter that each party member would receive only one magical item in payment for their work.</p><p></p><p> The party decided to return to the large jungle cavern that they had encountered before the aboleth. Thorash decided to cast Comprehend Languages on the giant in the cavern so that he could understand its speech. But he would need to be able to touch it. So he cast protective spells on himself, and Katawan donated a stored Invisibility spell from his ring. Killick accompanied Thorash into the cavern in bird form. The cavern was full of think underbrush making movement difficult and limiting vision. However, Killick was able to lead Thorash to where the giant lay sleeping. Thorash successfully delivered the touch spell (causing him to become visible), but the giant did not wake. So Thorash slapped it across the face. It woke up and said in a language that Thorash could now understand, "You stupid for coming back. Me eat you now."</p><p></p><p> The giant stood up and swiped at Thorash, but missed him. Killick moved out of the giant's reach and transformed back into human form. The rest of the party heard things going badly and began moving into the cavern. The giant caught up to the retreating Thorash, drawing 2 clubs as he did so. With its third arm (the one extending from the middle of its chest), it grabbed tightly onto Thorash and squeezed. Thorash was in severe pain. Alexander shot a powerful lightning bolt at the giant which also damaged Thorash. As the party moved to Thorash's aid, the giant continued squeezing Thorash, causing him to collapse. Keeping its grip on Thorash's unconscious form, the giant swung its 2 clubs at the remaining party members. However, since it was not able to scare the party away, and since it was unable to run away, it fought to the bitter end. As the giant fell to the party's combined assault, it released its grip on Thorash's body, which fell to the ground gently, like a feather. The party looted the giant's body of some necklaces and bracelets. They also found some valuables hidden where the giant had slept.</p><p></p><p> With the threat eliminated, Alees did an extensive sweep of the walls of the cavern. After a couple hours, she found a hidden door. The party turned the dial and found a short narrow hallway opening up to a larger room. Killick went in to investigate. On the far wall was a purple hand dial, but there was no door. However, on both sides of Killick were 2 force fields that seemed to be holding back some kind of gas. Thorash cast Detect Poison and identified that the gas was poisonous. Thorash offered Killick a vial of antitoxin to help him in case the gas was released, and Killick gratefully accepted. After drinking it, Killick turned the dial. When he did so, the force fields dropped, and the gas engulfed Killick. He did his best to hold his breath. But emerging from the mist he saw a horrific sight - 4 bandaged undead approaching him with arms extended and malevolence in their eyes. Killick called out for help against mummies. Alexander immediately pulled out a scroll and cast Fireball centered on Killick's position. The explosion immediately dispersed the gas and destroyed the mummies. Thorash found an extraordinary amulet around the neck of one of the mummies, and picked it up. Alees mentioned that she thought she heard some sort of mechanism being tripped when Killick turned the purple hand dial inside the secret room.</p><p></p><p> The party split up and started looking around to see if something had changed. After 20 minutes or so, Alees called out that she thought the purple door in the laboratory was now unlocked and could be opened. The party gathered around the last known door in the Rainbow Mage's dungeon and opened the door. Inside was a bare stone room with magical symbols inscribed around the walls. Even fancier symbols were inscribed in a circle on the floor. And inside that circle stood a male human bard. He thanked the party graciously for rescuing him. The party was dubious. They asked how long he had been there. He replied that he couldn't be exactly sure, but he thought it had been months. They asked what he had eaten and drunk during that time. He replied that he had just recently finished the food supply that had been left for him. They asked him where his waste products were. He ignored this question and begged them for some water. Killick asked, "Why don't you come out here and get some?" At this, the male bard suddenly turned into an extremely beautiful naked woman with small horns on her forehead and large leathery bat wings extending from her back. In a sultry voice, she said, "Thank you for inviting me out. You deserve a kiss." Then the demonic creature stepped out of the circle and started moving menacingly towards the party.</p><p></p><p> Alexander cast Web into the room to keep it occupied. But it started casting spells instead. First, it produced an area of inky black darkness centered on the door. Then it caught Killick, Alexander, and Katawan in an explosion of dark energy, causing them damage and sickening Alexander. Thorash dispelled the Darkness and Killick tossed an Alchemist's Fire into the web, which immediately started burning. Tarric moved into the fire and attacked the shapely demoness. Thorash shouted out to the demoness in a harsh-sounding language. It shouted something back in reply. Thorash reported to the party that it was willing to leave the party in peace if they would allow it to leave. However, the party was not interested in making such a deal. The demoness began waving its arms, as if to cast a spell, but Tarric swiped at her with his sword, creating a gash that caused her spell to fizzle. Killick tumbled into the room to take up a flanking position behind the demoness. This acrobatic display occupied the demon's attention, causing her to drop her guard momentarily. This was all the opportunity that Tarric needed to bring his martial training to bear. With expert efficiency that surprised even himself, Tarric whirled around, giving his sword an increase in velocity which, when it made contact with the demon's neck, caused it to travel all the way through. The demoness's head hit the floor full seconds before its body, ending its days on Oerth (for at least the next century).</p><p></p><p> Having cleared the entire dungeon, the party made camp in and around the laboratory. It had been a very eventful day.</p><p> </p><p> <em>27th and 28th of Goodmonth</em>. The party recuperated while Thorash and Alexander identified magic items.</p><p> </p><p> <em>1st of Harvester</em>. Alexander used the laboratory to begin crafting a Headband of Intellect +2. Late in the afternoon, Alexander received a Sending from someone claiming to be Lady Learah's servant asking for a progress report. He responded that he would meet her for dinner at the White Boar Inn. He told the party where he was going and teleported directly there by himself.</p><p> </p><p> <em>2nd of Harvester</em>. Late in the morning, Alexander rode back to the Rainbow Mage's house along with Lady Learah atop a large wagon. Attending Lady Learah were 6 retainers, 4 of which were heavily armed guards and 2 of which seemed to be scribes or advisers. One of them took out a piece of parchment and scribbled notes as Alexander led Learah through the mansion, noting traps that she should avoid. He led her and her servants down into the dungeon areas where the rest of the party had been waiting. She was astonished by all of the strange caverns that she had never seen on her previous visits to her father's home. She was shown all of the rooms in the basement and was finally brought to the vault, where all of the items the party had found were stored and cataloged. </p><p> </p><p>Learah was very pleased with the party's work. She instructed her servants to carry her father's corpse out to the wagon and to bring her bodyguards down so that they might begin carrying her inheritance out to the wagon piece by piece. The party asked if she planned to have her father raised from the dead. She indicated that she would have to discuss the matter with her husband. In accordance with their agreement, Learah invited each party member to select an item as payment for services rendered. Alees choose a unique item called the Rainbow Crossbow, which fired a bolt of force once per round without first needing to be loaded. Killick took a unique item called the Rainbow Ring, which would allow him to create and wield a staff of energy 3 times per day. Katawan selected a unique item known as the Rainbow Bracers, which would allow him to cast Shield on himself 3 times per day. Tarric selected the mage's Ring of Protection +3. After clearing the choice with Learah first, Alexander selected the Rainbow Mage's spellbook, a Boccob's Blessed Book filled with 45 spells from levels 1 to 9, including 3 unique spells of the Rainbow Mage's own creation. Thorash selected the mage's +3 Dagger (which he intended to trade).</p><p></p><p> As Learah and her servants were loading their wagon, Killick asked if the party might retain the Rainbow Mage's journal along with the 3 items with strange magical auras that could not be identified by traditional means. Killick suggested that the party would continue trying to decipher the journal in order to discover what the Decaying Book, the large faceted ruby with a black imperfection in the middle, and the miniature stone pyramid might do. (Killick suggested that this was for Learah's safety.) Alexander also asked her leave to remain in the house in order to continue crafting magic items in the mage's well-stocked laboratory. She agreed to the arrangement as long as Alexander paid for any resources that were expended and as long as the party consented to defending the house from looters while they stayed. The party agreed. (Alexander paid her 100 gp up front for use of laboratory materials.) Learah said she would return with her husband in a fortnight. At that time, she would expect the return of her father's journal, the Decaying Book, the ruby, and the pyramid. She would also expect the party to take their leave of her father's house. </p><p></p><p>As she was leaving, she asked the party one more question: what did they call themselves? She explained that she was thinking of having her bards compose a song about the party's bravery and honesty, and she wanted to know what she should call them. The party told her they would have to think about it and try to give her an answer when she returned in two weeks.</p><p></p><p> After Learah left, Alexander continued crafting his Headband.</p><p> </p><p> <em>3rd of Harvester</em>. Alexander continued crafting his Headband. He also worked on deciphering the code with which the Rainbow Mage had written his journal. (Alees tried unsuccessfully to use her roguish skills to help with this task.)</p><p> </p><p> <em>4th of Harvester</em>. Alexander completed his Headband. Later that same day, Alexander finally cracked the difficult code that the Rainbow Mage had used in writing his journal. As he read the Rainbow Mage's journal, he observed a brilliant man whose bitterness caused him to descend into a state of evil and near madness. In his readings, Alexander discovered that the ruby, the pyramid, the Decaying Book, and the amulet worn by the mummy (which Katawan had claimed as treasure) were all powerful relics related to the cult of Kyuss and the Age of Worms. Without telling the rest of his party-mates, he gathered all of these items together (except Katawan's amulet), and teleported to Greyhawk alone.</p><p></p><p>While he was gone, the rest of the party discussed how they should approach Alexander's apparent betrayal if he should ever return.</p><p> </p><p> <em>5th of Harvester</em>. Alexander teleported back in the morning. The rest of the group insisted on casting Detect Evil on him, which he did not resist. The party found that Alexander was untainted by evil, but Katawan's amulet radiated moderate evil. Alexander belatedly informed the group what he learned from deciphering the Rainbow Mage's journal. The Rainbow Mage had become intent on conquest and had turned to members the Ebon Triad to assist him. The Decaying Book contained such potent arcane secrets of Kyuss's evil that merely reading about them warped the reader's soul, bringing his alignment in accord with that of Kyuss and his worshippers. This had changed the Rainbow Mage into a man of scholarly arcane interests into a rabid Kyuss worshipper. According to the journal, the ruby and the pyramid were two parts of a three-part artifact that, when used in concert, had horrific powers that (among other things) could be used to help facilitate Kyuss's return to the Material Plane. The amulet that Katawan had selected for himself as treasure was really a key that would help unlock secret doors in a temple inside Arn's Mountain where the Rainbow Mage believed he would find the third part of the artifact, known as the White Eye. Realizing the power of these items, Alexander had taken them immediately to his mentor Eligos in Greyhawk. </p><p></p><p>However, Alexander confided that he was worried that Eligos might have been compromised as a trustworthy contact. Alexander related to his party-mates that Eligos had insisted that Alexander spend the night in a hotel rather than staying in the house. He also found it odd that Eligos wanted the group to recover the White Eye and bring it to him. He thought that bringing the 3 pieces of the artifact together made little sense. Alexander expressed his worry that Eligos may have been corrupted somehow.</p><p></p><p> Killick asked where the items were now. Alexander replied that they had been left with Eligos. Killick expressed anger that Alexander had taken matters into his own hands without consulting the rest of the group. He said that if the two were not lifelong friends, he would seek Alexander's expulsion from the group for this breach of trust. This comment drew Alexander's ire, and things were tense between all of the party members.</p><p></p><p> However, these disagreements did not have time to fester because Alexander reported that Allustan had just sent him a magical message. Allustan had told Alexander in a hurried, panicked voice that Diamond Lake was under attack by a large black dragon and that it seemed to be looking for the party. Allustan claimed that he had tried to draw the dragon's attention away from Diamond Lake. He said that he had retreated into the Whispering Cairn and that he hoped he might find a weapon to use against the dragon there. Alexander had replied that he would bring the group back to Diamond Lake as soon as he could.</p><p></p><p> For the rest of the evening, the party's disagreements were set aside as they began planning how they might best confront a powerful dragon in order to defend whatever would be left of their childhood home. (Alexander left a note for Learah, along with the Boccob's Blessed Book he had selected from the Rainbow Mage's belongings, explaining his actions and promising to face any necessary legal consequences.)</p><p> </p><p> <em>6th of Harvester</em>. Since Alexander can only teleport 3 people with him, two party members must be shrunk down in order to make the trip with the rest of the party. Killick reduced his wardog Grimlock II and turned himself into an eagle. Alees drank her potion of Gaseous Form and put herself inside a bottle for Alexander to carry. The party teleported inside the Whispering Cairn and immediately saw that a previously collapsed passage had been cleared of rubble, revealing a new (and apparently functional) dimensional portal. Killick found boot prints leading from the entrance of the Cairn into the portal. Killick transformed into an eagle and flew out of the cairn towards Diamond Lake on a scouting mission. On the way out, he spotted a large black dragon hiding in a small stand of trees on a hill overlooking the mouth of the Cairn. He continued on towards Diamond Lake and found that about a quarter of the buildings in town had been destroyed, either by acid, weight, or strength. The two most notable losses were the Church of St. Cuthbert in the town square and the Greyhawk Militia garrison just outside town. He did see a few people moving in the town. So it had not been completely destroyed or depopulated. Killick flew back into the Cairn, transformed back into human form (for the second time that day), and reported what he had seen.</p><p></p><p> Since the dragon was literally lying in wait just outside the Cairn, the party considered entering the portal and following Allustan. Killick pounded a piton into the ground near the portal and tied a rope to it. Katawan lost patience with the party's careful preparations for entering the portal and walked in without a rope. Seconds later, he fell back out with a nasty-looking gash across his chest. Katawan claimed that some humanoid creature with claws inside the portal that tried to block his progress to the other side.</p><p></p><p> Now that it was clear that travel through the portal would not be automatic, the party decided to face the dragon after all. All of the preparatory spells they had cast had been with a black dragon in mind. They decided they might as well face what they were prepared to fight. When everyone was ready, all the party members except Alexander left the cairn at once, scattering in all different directions. Killick had sprouted wings and was flying. Tarric was flying (via a Fly spell) near Killick. Alees and Katawan were trying to sneak around the opposite side of the Cairn's entrance towards the dragon's position. Thorash strode straight out the cairn's entrance and turned to face the dragon (trying to draw its attention away from Alees and Katawan).</p><p></p><p> The dragon stood up from its hiding place. She said in Common, "I chased Allustan here to force him to tell me where you are, but instead you have come to me. All the better! You will pay for your interference in my plans. Prepare to die, heroes."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Menexenus, post: 3618271, member: 8951"] [b]Sessions 33-35: Securing the Rainbow Mage's Dungeon[/b] [I]24th of Goodmonth[/I]. After fighting an Aboleth, Killick and Alees were both in the process of turning into some kind of aquatic creature. Alexander informed the party that a Cure Disease spell was needed to prevent the transformation. Thorash had one memorized, but there were two party-members to choose from. Rather than make the choice himself, Thorash left the decision to a party vote. Killick and Alees voted for themselves, cancelling each other's votes out. Katawan voted for Alees, but Alexander and Tarric voted for Killick. Consequently, Thorash cast the spell on Killick, and his skin returned to its normal hues. Alees was desperate to prevent the transformation. She opened all 9 of the unidentified potions that the party had recently found and quaffed them all in sequence, hoping that one might have the effects of a Cure Disease spell. Some of them made her stronger. Some of them made her quicker. Some of them healed her damage and restored her abilities. One of them caused her to fall head over heels in love with Thorash. But none of them stopped her transformation. Minutes later, Alees became a fish creature. She was unable to communicate with her friends and had a strong desire to keep her skin wet. She sullenly jumped into the Aboleth's pond and swam down to the bottom looking for treasure. But she found that she wasn't as good as she used to be at finding hidden things. Thorash cast Fox's Cunning and Water Breathing on himself and had Alees accompany him to the bottom of the pool to assist him in looking for the Aboleth's nest (which she did gladly). After a good deal of swimming and looking, the pair found a hidden cave where the Aboleth had stored some valuables. Alexander promised Alees that the party would take no actions until she was cured. This seemed to raise her spirits a bit. Unfortunately, though, now that the transformation was complete, Alexander informed the party that a higher level spell would be needed in order to return her to normal. After he described the required spell, Thorash admitted that he was unable to cast it himself. Consequently, the party pooled all of the loot that they had accumulated since leaving Greyhawk, and Alexander prepared to teleport to Greyhawk the next morning to purchase a scroll of the necessary spell. [I]25th of Goodmonth[/I]. The party camped in the pond room overnight. When they awoke, Alexander rememorized spells, gathered the swag to sell, and teleported to Greyhawk. The party kept watch on the exits of the room and did what they could to keep Alees's spirits up. The thing that Alees seemed to want most in the world was Thorash's love and attention, but all of her advances were gruffly spurned by the dour dwarf. The party rested up and waited for Alexander's return... [I]26th of Goodmonth[/I]. Alexander returned in the morning with a scroll of Heal along with the leftover cash in platinum which he divided evenly among his party-mates. Thorash successfully cast the spell from the scroll and Alees transformed back to her old self. Alees was over-joyed to be back to her old self. Thorash had to fight to squirm out of Alees's exuberant hug of gratitude (and attraction). The party got ready to continue on into the memorably bizarre dungeon of the Rainbow Mage. Leading out of the Aboleth's cavern was a narrow stone passageway that glittered darkly with small gemstones. As they filed into the hallway, a loud noise exploded all around them. The walls of the cavern seemed to be amplifying the effect, causing damage to those who were not fast enough to cover their ears. The party moved forward quickly into a very large, dimly lit cavern of gem encrusted rock. In the middle of this natural cavern stood a glowing pillar of light. The party approached it. The pillar seemed to be carved out of crystal with a magical light effect inside that gently changed colors as the viewer watched. As the party began fanning out to explore their surroundings, they noticed figures emerging from the walls of the cavern. The humanoid figures seemed to be made of gem-encrusted rock, just like the walls of the cavern. There was little time to ponder who or what these creatures might be, because they were attacking the party! The party formed up to defend itself. The rock creatures moved into close range and then emitted a colorful spray of light from their mouths that had a stunning effect on some members of the party. The rock creatures moved to grapple those who were stunned by this effect. Those who were not stunned fought back, but found that their weapons had a significantly reduced effect against their enemies' rocky hides. All except Thorash, that is. His dagger seemed to be doing full damage. As Thorash stabbed at the rocky creatures, he wondered suddenly why he had drawn his dagger. Hadn't he intended to draw his morningstar? Nevermind. He lunged at the rocky creatures again and again. But on two occasions, when he made particularly poor attempts to hit his enemies, his dagger doubled back and cut Thorash instead! Thorash accepted these painful rebukes from his dagger in stride and pledged to wield it more expertly in the future. Alexander used his wand to cast Magic Missiles at the creatures. Some of them damaged the creatures, but some did not. When the rock creatures died, their bodies exploded, sending shards of rock outward in all directions. Those standing close to the creatures had to jump out of the way quickly to avoid taking damage. Just as the encounter seemed almost over, the party noticed more of the same shapes moving towards them in the gloomy distance. Katawan pulled the penultimate bead from his Necklace of Fireballs and tossed it towards the reinforcements. The explosion lit up the back of the cavern and revealed 8 more rocky creatures coming to aid their brethren. Alexander also launched a fireball. The combined explosions caused one of the creatures to collapse, but the other 7 continued their approach. They also used their colorful attack at short range to disable some members of the party while others tried to grapple those who were stunned. Tarric found himself grappled by 4 of the creatures, and had difficulty escaping their combined hold on him. His party-mates tried to help, but both Killick and Katawan hit him instead of the rocky creatures. (They both tried to make amends for their embarrassing mistakes by administering healing potions to their grappled friend.) However, at long last, the party was successful and all was quiet in the dark cavern. The party explored the cavern and found a large pool at the far side of the pool, but no valuables and no obvious exits. Could this entire underground complex be a dead-end? Killick had found no exits in the jungle cavern, and there seemed to be no exits from this one either. However, after about an hour of careful searching, Alees discovered a secret door hidden in the rock. The door was opened using the familiar rotating handprint symbol that had also been used to drop and raise the force fields they had passed through earlier. Since it was untrapped, Alees opened it. The contrast between the dark rough cavern they had just been in and the new room beyond the secret door couldn't be any starker. Inside the door was a well-lit, immaculately clean sitting room, containing couches, comfortable chairs, rugs on the smooth floor, and pleasant tapestries hanging on the walls. On the far wall was another door with a handprint symbol in the middle. Alees carefully checked it for traps and found none. She stepped away and allowed one of the better armored characters to open it. It opened into a slightly larger but even more brightly lit room. The light coming from this room was so intense that it took the party-members a while for their eyes to adjust. When they could see clearly, they saw an empty room with a ceiling that glowed like the noonday sun and strange runes that circled all four walls in a repeating but uninterrupted pattern. There were doors on each of the 3 other walls. Alees checked the door to the right first and found it untrapped. Killick opened the door and saw a dark room full of coffins - 3 smashed wooden coffins and 5 stone coffins against the far wall. (One of the stone coffins was also broken or collapsed.) Killick checked for tracks in the room and found some that were very old. He looked up and noticed a strange mist hanging near the 20 foot high ceiling. He and Thorash moved into the room to investigate the coffins. The wooden ones contained nothing of value. Thorash moved to the smashed stone coffin and found it was also empty. Killick and Thorash jointly surmised that the coffins had been smashed from the outside, not the inside. They noticed that the stone coffins were ornately decorated, but no names or dates were carved into them. Killick asked Thorash if his faith would permit the party to disturb the closed coffins at the back of the room. Thorash determined that since the coffins had no markings, they were probably empty. (So there would be no offense in opening them.) Killick tried to open the one in the middle, but found that the stone lid was too heavy for him. He called for help. Katawan came in to help out, and Tarric moved into the doorway as a precaution. Katawan and Killick lifted the stone slab off the coffin in the middle and found 5 potions and a wand inside. Just as the party members were becoming interested in the swag found in the coffin, the mist on the ceiling poured down onto the floor behind the doorway and became a pale humanoid with piercing eyes wearing a chain shirt and a bastard sword on his belt. The creature gazed at Tarric and told him to close the door and prevent anyone from leaving. As it spoke, Tarric noticed the creature's long, pointed incisors. For a moment, Tarric paused, but then he shook off the creature's beguiling effect and drew his bastard sword to confront it. Seeing that its command had failed, it drew its weapon as well. The party surrounded the creature, taking turns lashing out at it. When it was flanked, it resumed its misty form and returned to the ceiling. Alexander continued peppering its misty form with magic missiles. The mist reformed into its humanoid form standing on the wall. It tried to command Alexander to fire his magic missiles at his friends, but Alexander refused the command. With the next volley of magic missiles, the vampire turned into mist and entered the coffin in the far corner of the room. The party fashioned a stake out of some of the broken wooden coffins, lifted the lid of the vampire's coffin, and plunged it into the creature's heart. It opened its eyes and screamed in agony before turning into a pile of dust. Inside the vampire's coffin was a bag with a number of pearls and some money as well as a finely made dagger. Lifting the lids off the other coffins, the party found 3 scrolls as well as a ring hidden under a pillow. The party returned to the bright empty room and Alees searched the next door - the one opposite the one they had entered. Again it was untrapped. This time Tarric opened the door and found a large laboratory, filled with benches and bottles, shelves full of reagents, half-finished experiments, drawers containing glassware, and a basin for washing. There were three other doors in this room as well, one on each wall (as before). However, this time, one of the doors was purple. Alees checked them all for traps and found that only the door across from the purple one was trapped (the door to the right of the door from which the party had entered). She admitted that she was unable to disarm the trap. The party decided to try the trapped door first. Katawan thought he might be best able to avoid the trap and volunteered to open the door. He placed his hand into the hand print and turnd the dial. When he did so, a large jet of freezing cold air blasted out at him, but with almost unnatural reflexes, the monk was able to avoid the effects of the blast without removing his hand from the door. Katawan finished opening the door and found a decaying corpse lying on the floor of a small square room decorated with multi-colored tiles. The corpse wore a rainbow colored cloak and had a black arrow protruding from its chest. Killick examined the corpse and estimated that it had been dead for about 2 months, which fit well with the timeline of the Rainbow Mage's disappearance. The body also wore a signet ring identical to the one that Learah had worn at the inn back in town. These were almost certainly the remains of the Rainbow Mage. The party removed the Rainbow Mage's body from the small room and brought it into the laboratory. Someone cast Detect Magic, and all of the mage's magic items were removed from his body for safe keeping. Then the party moved on to open the next door. Beyond this door was a large library, containing shelves full of books that covered the walls, floor to ceiling. In the middle of the room was a comfortable looking chair next to a round table. Some books were still sitting on the table. However, as soon as the doors were opened, 3 robed figures standing in the corners raised their heads and looked at the intruders. Their faces were wooden. Not recognizing the party members, the wooden creatures began to howl and moved to attack. They seemed to be the same wooden guardians that the party had fought upstairs in the Rainbow Mage's office and bedroom. Alexander screamed out to Katawan that fireballs were off limits in the library! The party fought the 3 creatures from the doorway for a while. After killing one, they moved into the room to take advantage of flanking positions. The wooden guardians were no match for the party and were quickly destroyed. As Alexander perused the library, the party heard a loud pop come from the laboratory. Everyone came to see what had happened. They found Alees standing over an open drawer with a soot on her grinning face. She said sheepishly, "I guess this one was trapped." Inside the open drawer was an ornate book titled "Utility." Alexander cast Detect Magic and realized that it was a spellbook. Then he walked into the library and quickly found 5 more spellbooks scattered randomly throughout the packed shelves. Alees glanced at the books that Alexander was removing from the shelves and indicated that she thought they might be trapped. The party also looked at the books sitting on his reading table. Two of the books on the table comprised a 2 volume set titled "The Arcanari." A third book on the table was titled "Jaeral's Jungle Guide." The last book on the table was called "Iliachoam's Beasts and Saddles." The party moved back into the laboratory and investigated the purple door. Alees certified that it was not trapped, but she could find no way to open it. The handprint on the door would not turn and the stone door was locked firmly in place, with no wiggle room whatsoever. Having no luck with the purple door, the party returned to the previous room (the bright room), and opened the last remaining door. It opened into a dusty closet with a large trunk in the back corner. Katawan moved into the closet to investigate, and as he bent down to investigate the trunk, a large mass of arms, eyes, mouths, and sinew rose up from behind it and struck him. Katawan felt his body losing cohesion for a moment, but then used the mental training he had learned in the monastery to bring himself back under control. The party jumped to attention and came to Katawan's defense. The chaotic aberration did not last long under the party's expert assault. When the fight was over, Alees reported that she had discovered a secret door behind a false bank of bookshelves in the library. The party came in and saw a large steel metal door exposed where there had only been books before. Alees reported that the door was certainly trapped but she was unable to disarm it. Again, Katawan volunteered to be the one to try the door. Thorash remained in the room with him, but the others left the room, just to be safe. Katawan turned the hand dial in the middle of the door and a tremendous thunderclap filled the room. A huge lightning bolt struck Katawan in the chest and then arced across the room and struck Thorash as well. Both were sorely wounded by the trap, but still alive. After setting off the trap, Alees was able to finish unlocking the door. The party opened the heavy metal door and found a narrow 10 by 30 room filled with valuables. Inside were many of the Rainbow Mage's most powerful magical items, bags full of cash, and his journal. Several members of the party were now regretting their agreement with the Rainbow Mage's daughter that each party member would receive only one magical item in payment for their work. The party decided to return to the large jungle cavern that they had encountered before the aboleth. Thorash decided to cast Comprehend Languages on the giant in the cavern so that he could understand its speech. But he would need to be able to touch it. So he cast protective spells on himself, and Katawan donated a stored Invisibility spell from his ring. Killick accompanied Thorash into the cavern in bird form. The cavern was full of think underbrush making movement difficult and limiting vision. However, Killick was able to lead Thorash to where the giant lay sleeping. Thorash successfully delivered the touch spell (causing him to become visible), but the giant did not wake. So Thorash slapped it across the face. It woke up and said in a language that Thorash could now understand, "You stupid for coming back. Me eat you now." The giant stood up and swiped at Thorash, but missed him. Killick moved out of the giant's reach and transformed back into human form. The rest of the party heard things going badly and began moving into the cavern. The giant caught up to the retreating Thorash, drawing 2 clubs as he did so. With its third arm (the one extending from the middle of its chest), it grabbed tightly onto Thorash and squeezed. Thorash was in severe pain. Alexander shot a powerful lightning bolt at the giant which also damaged Thorash. As the party moved to Thorash's aid, the giant continued squeezing Thorash, causing him to collapse. Keeping its grip on Thorash's unconscious form, the giant swung its 2 clubs at the remaining party members. However, since it was not able to scare the party away, and since it was unable to run away, it fought to the bitter end. As the giant fell to the party's combined assault, it released its grip on Thorash's body, which fell to the ground gently, like a feather. The party looted the giant's body of some necklaces and bracelets. They also found some valuables hidden where the giant had slept. With the threat eliminated, Alees did an extensive sweep of the walls of the cavern. After a couple hours, she found a hidden door. The party turned the dial and found a short narrow hallway opening up to a larger room. Killick went in to investigate. On the far wall was a purple hand dial, but there was no door. However, on both sides of Killick were 2 force fields that seemed to be holding back some kind of gas. Thorash cast Detect Poison and identified that the gas was poisonous. Thorash offered Killick a vial of antitoxin to help him in case the gas was released, and Killick gratefully accepted. After drinking it, Killick turned the dial. When he did so, the force fields dropped, and the gas engulfed Killick. He did his best to hold his breath. But emerging from the mist he saw a horrific sight - 4 bandaged undead approaching him with arms extended and malevolence in their eyes. Killick called out for help against mummies. Alexander immediately pulled out a scroll and cast Fireball centered on Killick's position. The explosion immediately dispersed the gas and destroyed the mummies. Thorash found an extraordinary amulet around the neck of one of the mummies, and picked it up. Alees mentioned that she thought she heard some sort of mechanism being tripped when Killick turned the purple hand dial inside the secret room. The party split up and started looking around to see if something had changed. After 20 minutes or so, Alees called out that she thought the purple door in the laboratory was now unlocked and could be opened. The party gathered around the last known door in the Rainbow Mage's dungeon and opened the door. Inside was a bare stone room with magical symbols inscribed around the walls. Even fancier symbols were inscribed in a circle on the floor. And inside that circle stood a male human bard. He thanked the party graciously for rescuing him. The party was dubious. They asked how long he had been there. He replied that he couldn't be exactly sure, but he thought it had been months. They asked what he had eaten and drunk during that time. He replied that he had just recently finished the food supply that had been left for him. They asked him where his waste products were. He ignored this question and begged them for some water. Killick asked, "Why don't you come out here and get some?" At this, the male bard suddenly turned into an extremely beautiful naked woman with small horns on her forehead and large leathery bat wings extending from her back. In a sultry voice, she said, "Thank you for inviting me out. You deserve a kiss." Then the demonic creature stepped out of the circle and started moving menacingly towards the party. Alexander cast Web into the room to keep it occupied. But it started casting spells instead. First, it produced an area of inky black darkness centered on the door. Then it caught Killick, Alexander, and Katawan in an explosion of dark energy, causing them damage and sickening Alexander. Thorash dispelled the Darkness and Killick tossed an Alchemist's Fire into the web, which immediately started burning. Tarric moved into the fire and attacked the shapely demoness. Thorash shouted out to the demoness in a harsh-sounding language. It shouted something back in reply. Thorash reported to the party that it was willing to leave the party in peace if they would allow it to leave. However, the party was not interested in making such a deal. The demoness began waving its arms, as if to cast a spell, but Tarric swiped at her with his sword, creating a gash that caused her spell to fizzle. Killick tumbled into the room to take up a flanking position behind the demoness. This acrobatic display occupied the demon's attention, causing her to drop her guard momentarily. This was all the opportunity that Tarric needed to bring his martial training to bear. With expert efficiency that surprised even himself, Tarric whirled around, giving his sword an increase in velocity which, when it made contact with the demon's neck, caused it to travel all the way through. The demoness's head hit the floor full seconds before its body, ending its days on Oerth (for at least the next century). Having cleared the entire dungeon, the party made camp in and around the laboratory. It had been a very eventful day. [I]27th and 28th of Goodmonth[/I]. The party recuperated while Thorash and Alexander identified magic items. [I]1st of Harvester[/I]. Alexander used the laboratory to begin crafting a Headband of Intellect +2. Late in the afternoon, Alexander received a Sending from someone claiming to be Lady Learah's servant asking for a progress report. He responded that he would meet her for dinner at the White Boar Inn. He told the party where he was going and teleported directly there by himself. [I]2nd of Harvester[/I]. Late in the morning, Alexander rode back to the Rainbow Mage's house along with Lady Learah atop a large wagon. Attending Lady Learah were 6 retainers, 4 of which were heavily armed guards and 2 of which seemed to be scribes or advisers. One of them took out a piece of parchment and scribbled notes as Alexander led Learah through the mansion, noting traps that she should avoid. He led her and her servants down into the dungeon areas where the rest of the party had been waiting. She was astonished by all of the strange caverns that she had never seen on her previous visits to her father's home. She was shown all of the rooms in the basement and was finally brought to the vault, where all of the items the party had found were stored and cataloged. Learah was very pleased with the party's work. She instructed her servants to carry her father's corpse out to the wagon and to bring her bodyguards down so that they might begin carrying her inheritance out to the wagon piece by piece. The party asked if she planned to have her father raised from the dead. She indicated that she would have to discuss the matter with her husband. In accordance with their agreement, Learah invited each party member to select an item as payment for services rendered. Alees choose a unique item called the Rainbow Crossbow, which fired a bolt of force once per round without first needing to be loaded. Killick took a unique item called the Rainbow Ring, which would allow him to create and wield a staff of energy 3 times per day. Katawan selected a unique item known as the Rainbow Bracers, which would allow him to cast Shield on himself 3 times per day. Tarric selected the mage's Ring of Protection +3. After clearing the choice with Learah first, Alexander selected the Rainbow Mage's spellbook, a Boccob's Blessed Book filled with 45 spells from levels 1 to 9, including 3 unique spells of the Rainbow Mage's own creation. Thorash selected the mage's +3 Dagger (which he intended to trade). As Learah and her servants were loading their wagon, Killick asked if the party might retain the Rainbow Mage's journal along with the 3 items with strange magical auras that could not be identified by traditional means. Killick suggested that the party would continue trying to decipher the journal in order to discover what the Decaying Book, the large faceted ruby with a black imperfection in the middle, and the miniature stone pyramid might do. (Killick suggested that this was for Learah's safety.) Alexander also asked her leave to remain in the house in order to continue crafting magic items in the mage's well-stocked laboratory. She agreed to the arrangement as long as Alexander paid for any resources that were expended and as long as the party consented to defending the house from looters while they stayed. The party agreed. (Alexander paid her 100 gp up front for use of laboratory materials.) Learah said she would return with her husband in a fortnight. At that time, she would expect the return of her father's journal, the Decaying Book, the ruby, and the pyramid. She would also expect the party to take their leave of her father's house. As she was leaving, she asked the party one more question: what did they call themselves? She explained that she was thinking of having her bards compose a song about the party's bravery and honesty, and she wanted to know what she should call them. The party told her they would have to think about it and try to give her an answer when she returned in two weeks. After Learah left, Alexander continued crafting his Headband. [I]3rd of Harvester[/I]. Alexander continued crafting his Headband. He also worked on deciphering the code with which the Rainbow Mage had written his journal. (Alees tried unsuccessfully to use her roguish skills to help with this task.) [I]4th of Harvester[/I]. Alexander completed his Headband. Later that same day, Alexander finally cracked the difficult code that the Rainbow Mage had used in writing his journal. As he read the Rainbow Mage's journal, he observed a brilliant man whose bitterness caused him to descend into a state of evil and near madness. In his readings, Alexander discovered that the ruby, the pyramid, the Decaying Book, and the amulet worn by the mummy (which Katawan had claimed as treasure) were all powerful relics related to the cult of Kyuss and the Age of Worms. Without telling the rest of his party-mates, he gathered all of these items together (except Katawan's amulet), and teleported to Greyhawk alone. While he was gone, the rest of the party discussed how they should approach Alexander's apparent betrayal if he should ever return. [I]5th of Harvester[/I]. Alexander teleported back in the morning. The rest of the group insisted on casting Detect Evil on him, which he did not resist. The party found that Alexander was untainted by evil, but Katawan's amulet radiated moderate evil. Alexander belatedly informed the group what he learned from deciphering the Rainbow Mage's journal. The Rainbow Mage had become intent on conquest and had turned to members the Ebon Triad to assist him. The Decaying Book contained such potent arcane secrets of Kyuss's evil that merely reading about them warped the reader's soul, bringing his alignment in accord with that of Kyuss and his worshippers. This had changed the Rainbow Mage into a man of scholarly arcane interests into a rabid Kyuss worshipper. According to the journal, the ruby and the pyramid were two parts of a three-part artifact that, when used in concert, had horrific powers that (among other things) could be used to help facilitate Kyuss's return to the Material Plane. The amulet that Katawan had selected for himself as treasure was really a key that would help unlock secret doors in a temple inside Arn's Mountain where the Rainbow Mage believed he would find the third part of the artifact, known as the White Eye. Realizing the power of these items, Alexander had taken them immediately to his mentor Eligos in Greyhawk. However, Alexander confided that he was worried that Eligos might have been compromised as a trustworthy contact. Alexander related to his party-mates that Eligos had insisted that Alexander spend the night in a hotel rather than staying in the house. He also found it odd that Eligos wanted the group to recover the White Eye and bring it to him. He thought that bringing the 3 pieces of the artifact together made little sense. Alexander expressed his worry that Eligos may have been corrupted somehow. Killick asked where the items were now. Alexander replied that they had been left with Eligos. Killick expressed anger that Alexander had taken matters into his own hands without consulting the rest of the group. He said that if the two were not lifelong friends, he would seek Alexander's expulsion from the group for this breach of trust. This comment drew Alexander's ire, and things were tense between all of the party members. However, these disagreements did not have time to fester because Alexander reported that Allustan had just sent him a magical message. Allustan had told Alexander in a hurried, panicked voice that Diamond Lake was under attack by a large black dragon and that it seemed to be looking for the party. Allustan claimed that he had tried to draw the dragon's attention away from Diamond Lake. He said that he had retreated into the Whispering Cairn and that he hoped he might find a weapon to use against the dragon there. Alexander had replied that he would bring the group back to Diamond Lake as soon as he could. For the rest of the evening, the party's disagreements were set aside as they began planning how they might best confront a powerful dragon in order to defend whatever would be left of their childhood home. (Alexander left a note for Learah, along with the Boccob's Blessed Book he had selected from the Rainbow Mage's belongings, explaining his actions and promising to face any necessary legal consequences.) [I]6th of Harvester[/I]. Since Alexander can only teleport 3 people with him, two party members must be shrunk down in order to make the trip with the rest of the party. Killick reduced his wardog Grimlock II and turned himself into an eagle. Alees drank her potion of Gaseous Form and put herself inside a bottle for Alexander to carry. The party teleported inside the Whispering Cairn and immediately saw that a previously collapsed passage had been cleared of rubble, revealing a new (and apparently functional) dimensional portal. Killick found boot prints leading from the entrance of the Cairn into the portal. Killick transformed into an eagle and flew out of the cairn towards Diamond Lake on a scouting mission. On the way out, he spotted a large black dragon hiding in a small stand of trees on a hill overlooking the mouth of the Cairn. He continued on towards Diamond Lake and found that about a quarter of the buildings in town had been destroyed, either by acid, weight, or strength. The two most notable losses were the Church of St. Cuthbert in the town square and the Greyhawk Militia garrison just outside town. He did see a few people moving in the town. So it had not been completely destroyed or depopulated. Killick flew back into the Cairn, transformed back into human form (for the second time that day), and reported what he had seen. Since the dragon was literally lying in wait just outside the Cairn, the party considered entering the portal and following Allustan. Killick pounded a piton into the ground near the portal and tied a rope to it. Katawan lost patience with the party's careful preparations for entering the portal and walked in without a rope. Seconds later, he fell back out with a nasty-looking gash across his chest. Katawan claimed that some humanoid creature with claws inside the portal that tried to block his progress to the other side. Now that it was clear that travel through the portal would not be automatic, the party decided to face the dragon after all. All of the preparatory spells they had cast had been with a black dragon in mind. They decided they might as well face what they were prepared to fight. When everyone was ready, all the party members except Alexander left the cairn at once, scattering in all different directions. Killick had sprouted wings and was flying. Tarric was flying (via a Fly spell) near Killick. Alees and Katawan were trying to sneak around the opposite side of the Cairn's entrance towards the dragon's position. Thorash strode straight out the cairn's entrance and turned to face the dragon (trying to draw its attention away from Alees and Katawan). The dragon stood up from its hiding place. She said in Common, "I chased Allustan here to force him to tell me where you are, but instead you have come to me. All the better! You will pay for your interference in my plans. Prepare to die, heroes." [/QUOTE]
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