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Menexenus's Age of Worms Campaign Journal
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<blockquote data-quote="Menexenus" data-source="post: 3843366" data-attributes="member: 8951"><p><strong>Session 45 & 46: The Rod of Seven Parts (or, "Easy Come Easy Go")</strong></p><p></p><p><em>19th of Harvester</em>. Alexander was propelled along a column of wind up through an illusion in the ceiling of the cavern into another, smaller room which had magical lanterns in each corner, a floating stone sarcophagus in the middle and a raised alcove on the far side. One by one, Alexander's comrades joined him in the chamber which one could only guess was Icosiol's final resting place. Katawan was the third one to bob into view riding on the column of air and join his comrades in the room. He told the others that he thought he heard whispers on the far side of the room. As others arrived, he lost track of the sounds. When Alees arrived, she heard them too and said they sounded like spell-casting. However, since nothing was happening, the party took no offensive action. The party members had all remained near the column of air when they had arrived in the room, as it appeared to be the only means of entry and exit. However, Alees now began moving forward into the room slowly, heading toward the sarcophagus, looking for traps as she went. Just in case, Alexander cast Web into the far side of the room, where the whispers had been heard.</p><p></p><p> Suddenly, a previously invisible creature cast a unholy destructive area effect spell that caught the entire party in its blast. After suffering from the wave of evil energy, the party looked up and saw a flying demon hovering just above the web covered with independently moving eyeballs on all the surfaces of its body. Its body was surrounded by a yellow glow that was most likely the result of some kind of spell. Since all of the members of the party were able to fly due to prior spell-casting (except Thorash), many of them flew up and took flanking positions around the demon. Their attacks caused it some damage, but it was clear that the demon benefitted from some kind of mystical resistance to physical attacks. Since Thorash could not rise up to combat the creature, he called out to it in a horrific language, asking it a question. It responded to him in the same language. Thorash shrugged his shoulders, and cast a protective spell on himself. It was at this point that the last of the party-members - Killick, holding a reduced version of Grimlock - bobbed into view riding the column of air. </p><p></p><p> Now that all of the party members were in view, all of the demon's many eyes glowed with energy simultaneously and continued glowing for the rest of the combat. Additionally, three sickly gray rays shot out from random eyes striking party members every few seconds. Alexander seemed to be affected by the glowing eyes. He was held in place, unable to move. Alees was quickly overcome by the sickly gray beams. After being struck twice, she screamed in terror and ran away. The demon hid among the webs (the effects of which it seemed able to ignore), so Killick set the webs alight with Produce Flame while Thorash accelerated the process with a Flame Strike. Eventually, Tarric also succumbed to the gray beams of energy. He dropped his sword screaming and tried to flee. Thorash tried to block his egress until he too was affected by the beams and was also compelled to flee. Fleeing the combat posed no danger to most of the party, as they were able to fly. However, Thorash was the only member of the party unable to fly. So when he made it down to the bottom of the column of air, he had a horrific choice to make: stop fleeing (which seemed impossible) or leap from his column to another with a nearly bottomless pit threatening almost certain death if he should fail. Luckily for him, Alees had shaken off the effects of her fear and was returning just as Thorash made his way down. She cast a spell on him that removed his fear. He thanked her and then began ascending back up the column of air to face the demon again.</p><p></p><p> Meanwhile, Alexander had also become unfrozen and cast Magic Missiles at the demon, some of which the demon was able to ignore while others seemed to deal significant damage. Alexander did this for as long as he could until he succumbed once again to the demon's petrifying gaze. </p><p></p><p> Virtually all of the members of the party took turns being held motionless or running in fear. There were rarely more than two party members fighting the demon at any one time. Although the demon had taken significant damage from various spells cast by Alexander, Killick, and Thorash (as well as minor damage from physical attacks made by Katawan and Tarric), it became apparent that the party was fighting a losing battle. It was just a matter of time before the party would be unlucky enough to have all of its members motionless or running away, during which time the demon could simply coup de grace those who were motionless. The party reluctantly decided to call the retreat. Some did not wish to leave their favorite weapons behind (which they had dropped when they had panicked). Two party members - Thorash and Tarric - attempted a brief but unsuccessful foray back into the demon's chamber to collect their dropped weapons. They picked up the weapons for a brief time, but then dropped them again when they were affected once more by the gray beams.</p><p></p><p> The party withdrew to Diamond Lake, camped, healed, and recovered spells.</p><p> </p><p> <em>20th of Harvester</em>. The party returned to Icosiol's tomb, fully prepared for all of the demon's modes of attack. In this more prepared and protected state, they made short work of the foul guardian, putting it out of its misery. When they examined the sarcophagus closely, they saw that Icosiol's hands were outstretched on top. They placed the Seal in the hands of the figure that was reaching out from the top of the sarcophagus. This caused the lid to disappear, revealing dust along with a short sword, a longsword, a ring, and a foot-long fragment of a long thin object. The outside of the object was polished smooth, but the inside seemed to resemble a geode, whose small gem-like protuberances exhibited unnatural order and symmetry. A sense of otherworldly calm and well-being came over the party. All at once, Alexander felt sure that he could fully utilize his Talisman of the Sphere (whose command word he had never successfully researched), Killick - who wore the diadem recovered from Zosiel's tomb in the Whispering Cairn - felt much wiser and charismatic and he realized that he could now speak Auran and Vaati, and the entire party knew that the fragment was a piece of the Rod of Seven Parts, knew the command word for the Rod, and knew that it could be used to miraculously Heal someone of all the damage they had sustained. The party emerged from Icosiol's Cairn victorious and in good spirits! They spend time identifying the magical properties of the swords and the ring.</p><p> </p><p> <em>21st of Harvester</em>. The party teleported back to Eligos's house in Greyhawk. Eligos gave them the Wand of Cure Serious Wounds which he had repaired for them. He informed them that, since his position and mission had been compromised by the doppelganger minions of Kyuss that had killed him and briefly taken his identity, he had been instructed to sell the house in the Garden District and be reassigned to some unknown part of the Flanaess. However, Eligos's patron had taken notice of the party's work against the Cult of Kyuss and wished to meet with them. Eligos revealed that his patron and master was Tenser, archmage, former member of the Circle of Eight, and one of the most powerful mortals on Oerth. Tenser had asked to meet with the entire party at his castle. It was no secret that Tenser's castle was in a small but growing town called Mage Point, nominally in the Domain of Greyhawk, on the southern shore of the Nyr Dyv. However, Tenser was currently away dealing with pressing business on the Astral Plane, so there was no telling how soon the meeting might take place. Eligos had taken the liberty of informing his contact that the party had reason to fear attack by the Rainbow Mage in the interim and requested safe haven for the duration of the wait. The contact had responded that the party would be given sanctuary in Tenser's near-impregnable castle while they awaited his return. While their access to the castle would be limited (and guards would accompany them at all times), they would be given access to the library and the laboratory. They would also be allowed to venture out to the town of Magepoint, if they wished. The party was grateful for this news.</p><p></p><p> Thorash left and returned later the same day wearing a much finer cloak.</p><p></p><p> When the party chose to depart for Magepoint, they would be able to teleport to a small town called Hardride about 2 days east of Diamond Lake along the Urnst Road (which they had passed through before on the long journey to Rosewater). However, it would still be another day and a half journey to Magepoint from there, following a small river north through very hilly terrain to Magepoint. The party decided to travel together to increase their collective safety on the road. That meant that the group had to wait in Greyhawk for another week and a half so that Tarric could be knighted by the Order of Holy Shielding on Godsday of Brewfest at Greyhawk's High Church of Heironeous.</p><p> </p><p> <em>22nd of Harvester - 3rd of Brewfest (10 days). </em> Tarric spent most of his time studying and training with the Order of Holy Shielding in preparation for his knighting ceremony. Alees slept most days and stayed out all night most nights. Some nights she did not return at all and was gone for 2 or 3 days at a time. Thorash made regular trips into the city, returning the same day. Killick made a trip back to Diamond Lake near the time of the full moon and returned a few days afterward. Alexander spent time studying in Eligos's library, since most of it was soon to be sold along with the house (and he might not ever have access to it again). Katawan meditated and remained vigilant in case the party were to be ambushed by enemies.</p><p> </p><p> <em>4th of Brewfest (Godsday). </em> Tarric was knighted by his mentor in the Order of Holy Shielding, Lady Lemanda. His partymates were all in attendance - all of them except Alees, that is. At the ceremony, Tarric gave the Order a magical bastard sword from his own scabbard as a donation to aid in their continuing fight to liberate the Shield Lands. This gift was meant to help the cause until such time as Tarric himself could embark on his own crusade to lift the yoke of Iuz's slavery in formerly free lands. The device on Tarric's shield was completed to indicate his transition from squire to full-fledged knight. With his knighting, Tarric had ascended to the lowest rung of aristocracy. Henceforth, all strangers would naturally look to Tarric as the leader of the party simply because he occupied the highest social station. Tarric realized that he would also be able now to avail himself of certain legal rights and courtesies extended to nobility which he and the party otherwise would not have had access to in the past. Having lived his entire life among peasants, servants, and laborers, Tarric knew it would take some time getting used to the idea of living and behaving as an aristocrat.</p><p> </p><p> The party engaged in modest celebration that evening, but they did not over-indulge themselves, as they knew they were to set out for Magepoint the following day.</p><p> </p><p> <em>5th of Brewfest</em>. The party waited as long as they could for Alees, who did not return to Eligos's house at the appointed departure time. The party spent much of the day trying to locate her with no success. Eventually, Thorash cast a spell asking his deity if Alees was in trouble. When he was told that she was not in need of help, the party decided to leave without her. She would have to find her own way to Magepoint. The party teleported to Hardride and then began making their way north through the Cairn Hills towards Magepoint.</p><p></p><p> Along the way, they were ambushed by a group of six evil outsiders. Two were medium-sized and covered with spikes upon spikes - as many spikes as there were stars in the night sky. These two seemed to be in command of the small force. The other four were much larger bony creatures with long curving tails ending in stingers that dripped with venom. All were flying and all had been invisible until they commenced the attack. The smaller barbed creatures created explosions of evil energy (much like the explosion the party had experienced at the hands of the many-eyed demon guarding Icosiol's sarcophagus). These explosions killed most of the party's horses. While the bony creatures shot rays of green energy at individual party members, bathing them in a green glow. (Alexander realized that the purpose of the green glow was to help prevent the party's escape.) As they flew down towards the party, they yelled out repeatedly in broken Common that seemed to have been memorized phonetically, "Give us the Rod and you live." Tarric, who had developed a sense for such things, determined that these were not demons (denizens of the Abyss). Consequently, he concluded that these beings probably had no connection to Kyuss (or to Iuz, for that matter). </p><p></p><p> Alexander tried to magic missile one of the creatures, but the energy of his magic seemed to wash over his target harmlessly. Killick and Thorash cast protective spells. Katawan drew his crossbow and Tarric drew his sword and waited for a target to come near him. Next the bone devils cast walls of ice that formed a square around the party, trapping them inside, while the barbed devils cast spells whose effects their targets seemed to resist. Thorash cast Searing Light at one of the Bone Devils overhead. Killick cast Flame Strike on a corner of the ice wall, causing it to melt and turn into steam which obscured sight. He then rode his wounded horse through the mist, dismounted, and smacked its behind encouraging it to run to safety. Grimlock followed his master, guarding him from potential attackers.</p><p></p><p> Seeing that Killick had broken their perimeter, the barbed devils descended and attacked him with their claws. One of them struck Killick, and because of the creature's spikey hide, it was able to get a firm hold on Killick, keeping him from escaping. Killick was bleeding from where the creature's many spikes had impaled him. The bone devil that had been hit by Thorash's searing light, flew down to attack him. All the others converged on the corner of the ice wall from which party members were emerging, one by one. One of the bone devils struck Alexander, causing him to panic and flee in terror. Tarric was also overcome by terror when one of the barbed devils approached him, and he too fled in terror. This left only Katawan, Thorash, Killick, and Grimlock in the fight. Thorash was occupied by one of the bone devils who eventually stung him, injecting him with a poison that weakened him. Meanwhile the barbed devils focused on Killick and Grimlock. Katawan tried to help free Killick from the devil's grapple, with minimal success. One time Killick did break out of the devil's grasp only to be grabbed again immediately afterward. The creature's barbs were causing Killick so much blood loss that eventually Katawan was forced to draw the Rod and use its healing ability on Killick, restoring him to full health. </p><p></p><p> However, this act drew the attention of all the devils who surrounded him. Now that they were ignoring Killick, he cast a spell on Katawan which magically protected him from the grasping spikes of the barbed devils. Although they were able to hit him, they could not now get a hold of him as they had done to Killick. So they were not able to damage Katawan as quickly as they had damaged Killick. Although the bone devils had difficulty striking him, one of them did successfully disarm him of the Rod fragment. Just as it ran away with the Rod announcing to its brethren that their mission had been accomplished, Thorash emerged from the steamy corner of the Ice Wall. He saw Katawan surrounded by devils, so he began casting. Katawan saw what Thorash was doing and yelled out for him to stop, but Thorash was determined. He cast a Flame Strike centered on Katawan that wounded 3 of the 4 devils that still surrounded him. Unfortunately for Katawan, though, the spell's damage gravely wounded him, knocking him unconscious and leaving him bleeding profusely on the ground.</p><p></p><p> With their mission accomplished, the devils did not remain to finish the killing. They simply teleported away. The party regrouped and stabilized its wounded. Then they continued on foot towards Magepoint, despondent and dejected at having lost such an important artifact.</p><p> </p><p> <em>6th of Brewfest</em>. Late in the day, near dinner time, the party arrived in Magepoint and made their way to the only bar in town, called the Blue Beacon. They informed the barkeep that they were guests of Tenser. They were given refreshments and accorded great respect. They were asked to await one of Tenser's servants. About an hour later, after a fine dinner, the party was surprised and happy to see Celeste stride through the door! The last time the party had seen Celeste, she was shooting bolts of energy at the Apostle of Kyuss in the Greyhawk Arena during the Worm's Rampage. They had not been certain whether she had survived. After catching up a bit, Celeste led the party across the long causeway leading out to Tenser's castle which had been built on a promontory of rock jutting above the surface of the Lake of Unknown Depths. The castle was really just a tall narrow tower, painted blue, with a gigantic ball of crackling blue energy at the top (which must have served a function akin to that of a lighthouse). As the party traversed the narrow causeway, Celeste proudly pointed out many of the security features which would protect them once they were inside, such as the hundreds of nesting bloodhawks which were trained to attack any flying creatures that approached the tower, and the sea monster that lived near the tower who immediately attacked anyone attempting to swim to the tower, and the wards against teleportation, and the illusions along the causeway that would lead the unwary to fall into the lake. Upon arriving at the tower, the party was shown to their luxurious accommodations, and she informed them that she would be in charge of escorting them wherever they might need to go within the tower (with the understanding that certain areas were to be off-limits).</p><p></p><p> Celeste took them to a basement and showed them a magical fountain, believed to have been created by Zagig Yragerne, the mad archmage who had built Castle Greyhawk and who had presided over Greyhawk as its mayor for a short time. Celeste informed them that those who drank from the fountain would gain a permanent boon but would also suffer a permanent impairment. The drinker could either choose the impairment or the boon, but the other would be inflicted on the drinker randomly. Alexander chose a specific impairment which he did not share with the group, and when he drank, a pair of magical gloves suddenly appeared in his hand. He seemed pleased by this outcome, so Killick chose to drink as well. He, too, chose an impairment, and was randomly granted a boon of increased vigor. Katawan drank, choosing an impairment, and was granted a protective boon which would be of great value some time in the future. Thorash drank, choosing an impairment, and was granted the boon of becoming slightly more perceptive. Tarric drank, choosing an impairment, and was granted the boon of becoming more knowledgeable. (Tarric and Thorash were somewhat disappointed with their boons in comparison to Alexander and Katawan.)</p><p> </p><p><em>7th of Brewfest - 28th of Sunsebb (85 days). </em> Alees showed up in Magepoint about a week after the rest of the party. She found that Celeste watched her a bit more closely than the others. Knowing that Alees was safe, Killick took his leave of the party, explaining that there were important tasks he needed to perform. He told the party to contact him magically if his presence was required. He returned 8 weeks later, seeming different somehow in some imperceptible way. But there was still no sign of Tenser. After a few more weeks, the party became understandably restless and impatient. They had crafted everything they could possibly afford to make in the laboratory. They were eager to continue the fight to save the world from the Age of Worms, and it seemed that waiting for Tenser was only holding them back. Plus, they were just plain bored. Their only consolations were that they were safe from attack, the food and lodging were of excellent quality, they had a large library to help them pass the time, and it was winter anyway - a time of year that was not conducive to adventuring (unless one is planning to explore the tropics). Still, despite these consolations, the party was restless...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Menexenus, post: 3843366, member: 8951"] [b]Session 45 & 46: The Rod of Seven Parts (or, "Easy Come Easy Go")[/b] [I]19th of Harvester[/I]. Alexander was propelled along a column of wind up through an illusion in the ceiling of the cavern into another, smaller room which had magical lanterns in each corner, a floating stone sarcophagus in the middle and a raised alcove on the far side. One by one, Alexander's comrades joined him in the chamber which one could only guess was Icosiol's final resting place. Katawan was the third one to bob into view riding on the column of air and join his comrades in the room. He told the others that he thought he heard whispers on the far side of the room. As others arrived, he lost track of the sounds. When Alees arrived, she heard them too and said they sounded like spell-casting. However, since nothing was happening, the party took no offensive action. The party members had all remained near the column of air when they had arrived in the room, as it appeared to be the only means of entry and exit. However, Alees now began moving forward into the room slowly, heading toward the sarcophagus, looking for traps as she went. Just in case, Alexander cast Web into the far side of the room, where the whispers had been heard. Suddenly, a previously invisible creature cast a unholy destructive area effect spell that caught the entire party in its blast. After suffering from the wave of evil energy, the party looked up and saw a flying demon hovering just above the web covered with independently moving eyeballs on all the surfaces of its body. Its body was surrounded by a yellow glow that was most likely the result of some kind of spell. Since all of the members of the party were able to fly due to prior spell-casting (except Thorash), many of them flew up and took flanking positions around the demon. Their attacks caused it some damage, but it was clear that the demon benefitted from some kind of mystical resistance to physical attacks. Since Thorash could not rise up to combat the creature, he called out to it in a horrific language, asking it a question. It responded to him in the same language. Thorash shrugged his shoulders, and cast a protective spell on himself. It was at this point that the last of the party-members - Killick, holding a reduced version of Grimlock - bobbed into view riding the column of air. Now that all of the party members were in view, all of the demon's many eyes glowed with energy simultaneously and continued glowing for the rest of the combat. Additionally, three sickly gray rays shot out from random eyes striking party members every few seconds. Alexander seemed to be affected by the glowing eyes. He was held in place, unable to move. Alees was quickly overcome by the sickly gray beams. After being struck twice, she screamed in terror and ran away. The demon hid among the webs (the effects of which it seemed able to ignore), so Killick set the webs alight with Produce Flame while Thorash accelerated the process with a Flame Strike. Eventually, Tarric also succumbed to the gray beams of energy. He dropped his sword screaming and tried to flee. Thorash tried to block his egress until he too was affected by the beams and was also compelled to flee. Fleeing the combat posed no danger to most of the party, as they were able to fly. However, Thorash was the only member of the party unable to fly. So when he made it down to the bottom of the column of air, he had a horrific choice to make: stop fleeing (which seemed impossible) or leap from his column to another with a nearly bottomless pit threatening almost certain death if he should fail. Luckily for him, Alees had shaken off the effects of her fear and was returning just as Thorash made his way down. She cast a spell on him that removed his fear. He thanked her and then began ascending back up the column of air to face the demon again. Meanwhile, Alexander had also become unfrozen and cast Magic Missiles at the demon, some of which the demon was able to ignore while others seemed to deal significant damage. Alexander did this for as long as he could until he succumbed once again to the demon's petrifying gaze. Virtually all of the members of the party took turns being held motionless or running in fear. There were rarely more than two party members fighting the demon at any one time. Although the demon had taken significant damage from various spells cast by Alexander, Killick, and Thorash (as well as minor damage from physical attacks made by Katawan and Tarric), it became apparent that the party was fighting a losing battle. It was just a matter of time before the party would be unlucky enough to have all of its members motionless or running away, during which time the demon could simply coup de grace those who were motionless. The party reluctantly decided to call the retreat. Some did not wish to leave their favorite weapons behind (which they had dropped when they had panicked). Two party members - Thorash and Tarric - attempted a brief but unsuccessful foray back into the demon's chamber to collect their dropped weapons. They picked up the weapons for a brief time, but then dropped them again when they were affected once more by the gray beams. The party withdrew to Diamond Lake, camped, healed, and recovered spells. [I]20th of Harvester[/I]. The party returned to Icosiol's tomb, fully prepared for all of the demon's modes of attack. In this more prepared and protected state, they made short work of the foul guardian, putting it out of its misery. When they examined the sarcophagus closely, they saw that Icosiol's hands were outstretched on top. They placed the Seal in the hands of the figure that was reaching out from the top of the sarcophagus. This caused the lid to disappear, revealing dust along with a short sword, a longsword, a ring, and a foot-long fragment of a long thin object. The outside of the object was polished smooth, but the inside seemed to resemble a geode, whose small gem-like protuberances exhibited unnatural order and symmetry. A sense of otherworldly calm and well-being came over the party. All at once, Alexander felt sure that he could fully utilize his Talisman of the Sphere (whose command word he had never successfully researched), Killick - who wore the diadem recovered from Zosiel's tomb in the Whispering Cairn - felt much wiser and charismatic and he realized that he could now speak Auran and Vaati, and the entire party knew that the fragment was a piece of the Rod of Seven Parts, knew the command word for the Rod, and knew that it could be used to miraculously Heal someone of all the damage they had sustained. The party emerged from Icosiol's Cairn victorious and in good spirits! They spend time identifying the magical properties of the swords and the ring. [I]21st of Harvester[/I]. The party teleported back to Eligos's house in Greyhawk. Eligos gave them the Wand of Cure Serious Wounds which he had repaired for them. He informed them that, since his position and mission had been compromised by the doppelganger minions of Kyuss that had killed him and briefly taken his identity, he had been instructed to sell the house in the Garden District and be reassigned to some unknown part of the Flanaess. However, Eligos's patron had taken notice of the party's work against the Cult of Kyuss and wished to meet with them. Eligos revealed that his patron and master was Tenser, archmage, former member of the Circle of Eight, and one of the most powerful mortals on Oerth. Tenser had asked to meet with the entire party at his castle. It was no secret that Tenser's castle was in a small but growing town called Mage Point, nominally in the Domain of Greyhawk, on the southern shore of the Nyr Dyv. However, Tenser was currently away dealing with pressing business on the Astral Plane, so there was no telling how soon the meeting might take place. Eligos had taken the liberty of informing his contact that the party had reason to fear attack by the Rainbow Mage in the interim and requested safe haven for the duration of the wait. The contact had responded that the party would be given sanctuary in Tenser's near-impregnable castle while they awaited his return. While their access to the castle would be limited (and guards would accompany them at all times), they would be given access to the library and the laboratory. They would also be allowed to venture out to the town of Magepoint, if they wished. The party was grateful for this news. Thorash left and returned later the same day wearing a much finer cloak. When the party chose to depart for Magepoint, they would be able to teleport to a small town called Hardride about 2 days east of Diamond Lake along the Urnst Road (which they had passed through before on the long journey to Rosewater). However, it would still be another day and a half journey to Magepoint from there, following a small river north through very hilly terrain to Magepoint. The party decided to travel together to increase their collective safety on the road. That meant that the group had to wait in Greyhawk for another week and a half so that Tarric could be knighted by the Order of Holy Shielding on Godsday of Brewfest at Greyhawk's High Church of Heironeous. [I]22nd of Harvester - 3rd of Brewfest (10 days). [/I] Tarric spent most of his time studying and training with the Order of Holy Shielding in preparation for his knighting ceremony. Alees slept most days and stayed out all night most nights. Some nights she did not return at all and was gone for 2 or 3 days at a time. Thorash made regular trips into the city, returning the same day. Killick made a trip back to Diamond Lake near the time of the full moon and returned a few days afterward. Alexander spent time studying in Eligos's library, since most of it was soon to be sold along with the house (and he might not ever have access to it again). Katawan meditated and remained vigilant in case the party were to be ambushed by enemies. [I]4th of Brewfest (Godsday). [/I] Tarric was knighted by his mentor in the Order of Holy Shielding, Lady Lemanda. His partymates were all in attendance - all of them except Alees, that is. At the ceremony, Tarric gave the Order a magical bastard sword from his own scabbard as a donation to aid in their continuing fight to liberate the Shield Lands. This gift was meant to help the cause until such time as Tarric himself could embark on his own crusade to lift the yoke of Iuz's slavery in formerly free lands. The device on Tarric's shield was completed to indicate his transition from squire to full-fledged knight. With his knighting, Tarric had ascended to the lowest rung of aristocracy. Henceforth, all strangers would naturally look to Tarric as the leader of the party simply because he occupied the highest social station. Tarric realized that he would also be able now to avail himself of certain legal rights and courtesies extended to nobility which he and the party otherwise would not have had access to in the past. Having lived his entire life among peasants, servants, and laborers, Tarric knew it would take some time getting used to the idea of living and behaving as an aristocrat. The party engaged in modest celebration that evening, but they did not over-indulge themselves, as they knew they were to set out for Magepoint the following day. [I]5th of Brewfest[/I]. The party waited as long as they could for Alees, who did not return to Eligos's house at the appointed departure time. The party spent much of the day trying to locate her with no success. Eventually, Thorash cast a spell asking his deity if Alees was in trouble. When he was told that she was not in need of help, the party decided to leave without her. She would have to find her own way to Magepoint. The party teleported to Hardride and then began making their way north through the Cairn Hills towards Magepoint. Along the way, they were ambushed by a group of six evil outsiders. Two were medium-sized and covered with spikes upon spikes - as many spikes as there were stars in the night sky. These two seemed to be in command of the small force. The other four were much larger bony creatures with long curving tails ending in stingers that dripped with venom. All were flying and all had been invisible until they commenced the attack. The smaller barbed creatures created explosions of evil energy (much like the explosion the party had experienced at the hands of the many-eyed demon guarding Icosiol's sarcophagus). These explosions killed most of the party's horses. While the bony creatures shot rays of green energy at individual party members, bathing them in a green glow. (Alexander realized that the purpose of the green glow was to help prevent the party's escape.) As they flew down towards the party, they yelled out repeatedly in broken Common that seemed to have been memorized phonetically, "Give us the Rod and you live." Tarric, who had developed a sense for such things, determined that these were not demons (denizens of the Abyss). Consequently, he concluded that these beings probably had no connection to Kyuss (or to Iuz, for that matter). Alexander tried to magic missile one of the creatures, but the energy of his magic seemed to wash over his target harmlessly. Killick and Thorash cast protective spells. Katawan drew his crossbow and Tarric drew his sword and waited for a target to come near him. Next the bone devils cast walls of ice that formed a square around the party, trapping them inside, while the barbed devils cast spells whose effects their targets seemed to resist. Thorash cast Searing Light at one of the Bone Devils overhead. Killick cast Flame Strike on a corner of the ice wall, causing it to melt and turn into steam which obscured sight. He then rode his wounded horse through the mist, dismounted, and smacked its behind encouraging it to run to safety. Grimlock followed his master, guarding him from potential attackers. Seeing that Killick had broken their perimeter, the barbed devils descended and attacked him with their claws. One of them struck Killick, and because of the creature's spikey hide, it was able to get a firm hold on Killick, keeping him from escaping. Killick was bleeding from where the creature's many spikes had impaled him. The bone devil that had been hit by Thorash's searing light, flew down to attack him. All the others converged on the corner of the ice wall from which party members were emerging, one by one. One of the bone devils struck Alexander, causing him to panic and flee in terror. Tarric was also overcome by terror when one of the barbed devils approached him, and he too fled in terror. This left only Katawan, Thorash, Killick, and Grimlock in the fight. Thorash was occupied by one of the bone devils who eventually stung him, injecting him with a poison that weakened him. Meanwhile the barbed devils focused on Killick and Grimlock. Katawan tried to help free Killick from the devil's grapple, with minimal success. One time Killick did break out of the devil's grasp only to be grabbed again immediately afterward. The creature's barbs were causing Killick so much blood loss that eventually Katawan was forced to draw the Rod and use its healing ability on Killick, restoring him to full health. However, this act drew the attention of all the devils who surrounded him. Now that they were ignoring Killick, he cast a spell on Katawan which magically protected him from the grasping spikes of the barbed devils. Although they were able to hit him, they could not now get a hold of him as they had done to Killick. So they were not able to damage Katawan as quickly as they had damaged Killick. Although the bone devils had difficulty striking him, one of them did successfully disarm him of the Rod fragment. Just as it ran away with the Rod announcing to its brethren that their mission had been accomplished, Thorash emerged from the steamy corner of the Ice Wall. He saw Katawan surrounded by devils, so he began casting. Katawan saw what Thorash was doing and yelled out for him to stop, but Thorash was determined. He cast a Flame Strike centered on Katawan that wounded 3 of the 4 devils that still surrounded him. Unfortunately for Katawan, though, the spell's damage gravely wounded him, knocking him unconscious and leaving him bleeding profusely on the ground. With their mission accomplished, the devils did not remain to finish the killing. They simply teleported away. The party regrouped and stabilized its wounded. Then they continued on foot towards Magepoint, despondent and dejected at having lost such an important artifact. [I]6th of Brewfest[/I]. Late in the day, near dinner time, the party arrived in Magepoint and made their way to the only bar in town, called the Blue Beacon. They informed the barkeep that they were guests of Tenser. They were given refreshments and accorded great respect. They were asked to await one of Tenser's servants. About an hour later, after a fine dinner, the party was surprised and happy to see Celeste stride through the door! The last time the party had seen Celeste, she was shooting bolts of energy at the Apostle of Kyuss in the Greyhawk Arena during the Worm's Rampage. They had not been certain whether she had survived. After catching up a bit, Celeste led the party across the long causeway leading out to Tenser's castle which had been built on a promontory of rock jutting above the surface of the Lake of Unknown Depths. The castle was really just a tall narrow tower, painted blue, with a gigantic ball of crackling blue energy at the top (which must have served a function akin to that of a lighthouse). As the party traversed the narrow causeway, Celeste proudly pointed out many of the security features which would protect them once they were inside, such as the hundreds of nesting bloodhawks which were trained to attack any flying creatures that approached the tower, and the sea monster that lived near the tower who immediately attacked anyone attempting to swim to the tower, and the wards against teleportation, and the illusions along the causeway that would lead the unwary to fall into the lake. Upon arriving at the tower, the party was shown to their luxurious accommodations, and she informed them that she would be in charge of escorting them wherever they might need to go within the tower (with the understanding that certain areas were to be off-limits). Celeste took them to a basement and showed them a magical fountain, believed to have been created by Zagig Yragerne, the mad archmage who had built Castle Greyhawk and who had presided over Greyhawk as its mayor for a short time. Celeste informed them that those who drank from the fountain would gain a permanent boon but would also suffer a permanent impairment. The drinker could either choose the impairment or the boon, but the other would be inflicted on the drinker randomly. Alexander chose a specific impairment which he did not share with the group, and when he drank, a pair of magical gloves suddenly appeared in his hand. He seemed pleased by this outcome, so Killick chose to drink as well. He, too, chose an impairment, and was randomly granted a boon of increased vigor. Katawan drank, choosing an impairment, and was granted a protective boon which would be of great value some time in the future. Thorash drank, choosing an impairment, and was granted the boon of becoming slightly more perceptive. Tarric drank, choosing an impairment, and was granted the boon of becoming more knowledgeable. (Tarric and Thorash were somewhat disappointed with their boons in comparison to Alexander and Katawan.) [I]7th of Brewfest - 28th of Sunsebb (85 days). [/I] Alees showed up in Magepoint about a week after the rest of the party. She found that Celeste watched her a bit more closely than the others. Knowing that Alees was safe, Killick took his leave of the party, explaining that there were important tasks he needed to perform. He told the party to contact him magically if his presence was required. He returned 8 weeks later, seeming different somehow in some imperceptible way. But there was still no sign of Tenser. After a few more weeks, the party became understandably restless and impatient. They had crafted everything they could possibly afford to make in the laboratory. They were eager to continue the fight to save the world from the Age of Worms, and it seemed that waiting for Tenser was only holding them back. Plus, they were just plain bored. Their only consolations were that they were safe from attack, the food and lodging were of excellent quality, they had a large library to help them pass the time, and it was winter anyway - a time of year that was not conducive to adventuring (unless one is planning to explore the tropics). Still, despite these consolations, the party was restless... [/QUOTE]
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