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Raiders of the Overreach
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7978433" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 19: BROKEN COMB</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Cramer Appleknocker, gnome cleric 7</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Jhasspok, lizardman 3/barbarian 2/fighter 2</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Khari Hammerslammer, dwarf fighter 7</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Marlo Pendragon, human sorcerer 7</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Utred "Buckets" Butterflinger, dwarf barbarian 7</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 29 April 2020</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>Half a day out from Revin's capital city, the group approached a camp of makeshift tents off to one side of the road. These tents were much smaller than those most of the slaves would find comfortable, but that turned out to be because most of the inhabitants of the camp were gnomes. One of them recognized Cramer at the front of the wagon and called out to him. "Cramer! So <em>that's</em> where you went! Got some adventurers to help with the problem, huh? Good thinking!"</p><p></p><p>Cramer brought the wagon to a halt beside the other gnome and introduced him to his fellow slaves. "Guys, this is <strong>Buckleby Noggenfurter</strong>, a friend of mine from Grover's Comb." He looked around the tent camp, recognizing a few other gnomes from his home village, all looking somewhat bedraggled. Apparently these were refugees; something bad had happened to Grover's Comb after Cramer had followed the drow who had captured his friend Honeycomb Buzzwort into the cave outside the village and then been captured himself. Cramer decided to play along, not wanting to get into the fact he'd been a slave of the drow of Overreach these past weeks.</p><p></p><p>As one, the group of slaves climbed down from the wagon and entered the makeshift camp. "My parents...?" Cramer asked hesitantly.</p><p></p><p>"They're here, and they're fine," Buckleby assured the cleric. He sent a young gnome to go fetch them while he explained to the other four adventurers (assuming Cramer already knew what had happened to Grover's Comb) the recent history of the small village.</p><p></p><p>"It was about seven weeks ago" - about three days after Cramer's capture by the drow, the cleric figured - "that a human wizard named <strong>Valicent</strong> showed up in the village and rented a room for an extended stay at the inn," Buckleby explained. "He said he was studying an odd, lingering magical aura he'd discovered in a nearby cave - a weird combination of conjuration and transmutation magic, he said. And, get this, he said it was 'as if somebody disintegrated the fabric of reality in order to create a portal.'" The slaves all looked sidelong at each other, each thinking that sounded suspiciously like the Writhing Gate. (All but Khari, that is: he was wondering if the combination of magic described would be "conjmutation" or "transuration.")</p><p></p><p>Buckleby hadn't noticed the visitors' sidelong glances, continuing on with his tale. "About three weeks after his arrival, he suddenly disappeared...and people started having disturbing dreams. And a week after that, some of those nightmarish dreams began manifesting. It was shortly thereafter we evacuated the village, for our own safety."</p><p></p><p>"What kinds of disturbing dreams?" Marlo prompted.</p><p></p><p>"Weird monsters, plants eating animals, melting buildings - all kinds of weird stuff," Buckleby answered. "They sent in the Revin soldiers to investigate, and they came back claiming they'd been attacked by the maddened survivors - those who stayed behind, that is, when the rest of us got out of there - and by the mutated vegetation...heck, one soldier said he'd been attacked by one of the <em>buildings! </em> Not all of the soldiers came back with their wits intact, if you know what I mean." The gnome tapped the side of his temple with a stumpy finger.</p><p></p><p>"So that's how things stand right now?" asked Utred.</p><p></p><p>"Yep. Nobody wants to go back in, but scholars studying the effect claim it's spreading - slowly, sure, but spreading nonetheless. Unless someone goes in and stops it at the source, the whole kingdom could be in jeopardy." Buckleby beamed at the group. "I reckon that's why you're here, huh?"</p><p></p><p>Cramer answered for the group. "That's right. We'll go check it out and see what we can do about the effect. I'm sure the Revin leaders would be very appreciative of having this situation taken care of." The gnome cleric figured this would be a good first step in gaining the cooperation from the kingdom in joining the coalition to aid Greenvale. He stood up and started heading back to the horse and wagon, the others following behind him.</p><p></p><p>"Uh, you'd be best leaving them behind," Buckleby suggested. "Animals, they don't like going near the afflicted zone. Get all skittish, like. You'd be better off going in on foot."</p><p></p><p>"Not without saying hello to his mother, he wouldn't - not if he knows what's good for him!" boomed a female voice approaching at a rapid pace. Cramer turned his head just in time to be scooped up by his mother, <strong>Peach</strong>, and crushed into a bearlike hug. "We thought you were dead!" Peach scolded her son.</p><p></p><p>"No, no, I'm fine," Cramer argued. "I was just, you know, finding help." He waved the part of his arm not currently crushed to his side by his mother's embrace feebly in the direction of his fellow arena slaves.</p><p></p><p>"Well, it's been this long, it can wait long enough for you and your friends to have some pie," admonished Peach, finally releasing her son and leading them back to her tent. "Your father's gathering firewood, but he'll be back shortly. Sit, sit! I'll be right back." And the gnome woman popped into the tent, returning soon thereafter with a berry pie and a knife to cut it. She passed thick slabs of pie all around. Jhasspok looked at his piece uncertainly - it didn't seem to have any <em>meat</em> in it, how could this be considered <em>food</em>? Still, the others seemed to be enjoying it so he popped it into his mouth and swallowed it down. It was...okay. And then, remembering his manners and the proper use of money, he opened the satchel at his hip and passed a slave token to Peach, who stared at it in confusion.</p><p></p><p>"It's a lizardfolk thing," Cramer whispered to his mother as an attempt at explanation. Peach just shrugged and put the slave token in the pocket of her apron. Cramer's father returned from his wood-gathering expedition and introductions were made all around again, but then Cramer insisted they'd best get on their way to investigate this strangeness that had taken over their home village.</p><p></p><p>"Your mom seems nice," Marlo said as they walked away from the camp, headed for Grover's Comb. Cramer grunted noncommittally and cast a <em>longstrider</em> spell so he could keep up with the others.</p><p></p><p>As they neared the site of the village, the group noticed the plant life was growing more primeval - and in some cases completely alien. Khari watched with puzzlement as a bee landed on what looked like a normal daisy, only to have the petals enclose the frantic insect and the sounds of chewing lasting longer than the sound of buzzing wings. "That ain't right," the dwarf commented to himself.</p><p></p><p>Another bee landed on Cramer's arm as they walked. Looking down at it, the cleric flinched in surprise: not only did it have legs twice as long as normal and with double the usual number of joints, but every facet of its multifaceted eyes was a tiny eyeball just like his own. He brushed it away with a sudden revulsion.</p><p></p><p>But this mutant bee was but the first of many. A veritable swarm of the things approached, grouped together into two aerial clumps headed their way, even the droning noise of their buzzing wings sounding somehow <em>wrong</em>. Utred wasn't taking any chances with weird, mutant bees he knew nothing about; he plucked his next-to-last bead from his <em>necklace of fireballs</em> and hurled it at the closest swarm. Marlo followed it up with a <em>scorching ray</em> spell and the first swarm dropped, individual insects flaming down like sparks. Cramer encased the second swarm within a <em>wind wall</em> spell, closed into a circular column that prevented any of them from escaping until Utred tossed his last bead into their midst and burned them up as well. Khari and Jhasspok held their weapons at the ready, realizing there wasn't much either of them could do against a mass of individual insects; neither warhammer nor battleaxe was an optimal weapon against such foes. They were pleased to see their contributions were not needed in this particular fight. Then, the swarms destroyed, the group continued on.</p><p></p><p>They made it into the village proper without any further attacks. At first, the village seemed to be perfectly normal, if eerily quiet and motionless - except for the irritating sensation of unseen movement just out of the corner of your eye, which was somewhat disconcerting. Then Cramer, in the lead because he was the only one who'd been here before, pointed to the fountain in the center of the village square. "Check it out," he said, pointing. It was burbling blood instead of water and as they got nearer Jhasspok could smell the coppery scent coming from the fountain. Not wanting to take any chances, Cramer cast a <em>magic circle against evil</em> spell on himself, advising the others to stay close. "The inn's over there," he said, pointing to a larger structure to the east. "Let's check where that wizard was staying - maybe he left notes or something."</p><p></p><p>The group, unnerved and keeping close, moved behind several smaller buildings as they approached the inn. Utred, once he got close enough, noticed the inn seemed to be oozing some sort of glistening slime. Jhasspok, however, focusing on the blood fountain, failed to heed Cramer's warning and wandered the other way around the smaller buildings, heading straight for the inn's front doors rather than approaching it from the side like the others. He kept an eye on the fountain, idly wondering if the blood was tasty, when he heard the burbling of the fountain intensify - and, oddly, the sound was coming not only from the fountain but also the rooftop of the inn--strange!</p><p></p><p>What was stranger still was when the blood gushing up from the fountain started sprouting eyes and mouths and crawling out of the fountain...as a second ooze, similarly sprinkled with a plethora of eyes and mouths, plopped down from the inn's rooftop directly in front of Utred. These gibbering mouthers babbled and muttered, cried and screamed, their cacophony doing their best to affect the minds of those within the general vicinity. Khari and Utred felt an itching sensation in the back of their brains but managed to shrug off the mental oddness; Jhasspok's primitive lizard brain wasn't as well able to cope and his mind froze up, odd sounds coming from his mouth as he lost all ability to form coherent words. Cramer and Marlo were unaffected, whether because they were the farthest away or due to the cleric's spell was uncertain.</p><p></p><p>That didn't matter to Khari; he backed up into the radius of Cramer's <em>magic circle against evil</em> spell as a precaution, his warhammer ready to strike if either of these strange oozes approached. Marlo cast a <em>magic missile</em> spell at the rooftop ooze, the shafts of energy striking unerringly. Cramer gauged the distances between the oozes and targeted the space directly between them with a <em>silence</em> spell. Their insane utterances stopped at once but Jhasspok, outside the spell's effect, could still be heard perfectly as he stood rooted in place, dazed beyond comprehension. "Spoog. Spimfiddly. Bondo rimborry. Gershtunk. Framiroll."</p><p></p><p>Utred pulled the <em>Elderwood flaming longsword</em> from its sheath and charged the fountain ooze. The enchanted blade came crashing down but surprisingly bounced off the amorphous blob's ever-shifting form. Both gibbering mouthers headed his way, spitting at him from numerous orifices and half a dozen of the fountain ooze's mouths trying to take a bite out of the barbarian. Of these, only one managed to clamp down on him and it failed to even pierce his skin.</p><p></p><p>Emboldened by the <em>silence</em> spell, Khari charged the rooftop ooze, hitting it with his <em>earthglide warhammer</em>. Ripples exploded across the gibbering mouther's body from the point of impact, causing a few eyes and mouths to shift about.</p><p></p><p>Cramer and Marlo, in the meantime, targeted the one trying to bite Utred. Marlo <em>empowered</em> a <em>magic missile</em> spell and threw it at the gibbering mouther while Cramer cast a <em>spiritual weapon</em> spell, sending the flying quarterstaff thus created slamming down into the amorphous creature's mass. "Shimtooky," muttered Jhasspok, possibly in admiration. "Squintocky. Plonkerdoom. Skrotumbulus." Utred sliced his blade into the creature before him, noting it wasn't as effective an attack as he'd have hoped; the creature seemed partially impervious to slashing attacks. The dwarven barbarian ducked as more spittle was flung his way, then both dwarves were attacked by chomping teeth, Khari crying out in pain as he was bitten on the leg. He retaliated with a powerful blow from his warhammer, sending ripples quivering throughout the gibbering mouther's body to the point it looked like it might discorporate entirely. Seeing its apparent weakness, Marlo cast a <em>magic missile</em> spell, sending only one of the missiles to finish that one off (which it did) and the others into the one concentrating its attacks upon Utred over by the fountain.</p><p></p><p>As the <em>spiritual quarterstaff</em> crashed into the gibbering mouther again, Cramer cast a <em>bless</em> spell on the group. "Bintwinkle," commented Jhasspok. "Vashpertoddle. Filinificum. Grompletonkers. Tweef." Utred finished off the second gibbering mouther just as Jhasspok's mind started recovering from the <em>confusion</em> effect brought on by the oozes' mutterings. The lizardfolk shook his head and then flinched, startled - when had his dwarven friends moved up into positions fighting the blobs, and how long ago had the blobs been killed? What was going on here?</p><p></p><p>"That's the inn, there," Utred said to the perplexed lizardfolk, pointing to the building beside Jhasspok. Shrugging it off, Jhasspok went to open the door to the inn, only to have it collapse as if made of dry, brittle wax. That did nothing to reassure the lizardfolk he wasn't still under the mind-altering effects of the gibbering mouthers! Still, he wandered inside the inn and into the bedroom Cramer had said was the biggest and the one Valicent would likely have rented. Sure enough, there was a book by the nightstand. Eager to learn if there was anything written inside that would help them learn about the strangeness affecting the area, Jhasspok passed it over to Marlo - he couldn't read.</p><p></p><p>Marlo skimmed through the pages. "It's a journal," she reported to the others. "Notes he's taken on the mysterious aura, seems to line up with what we were told. The last coherent note says he's gonna peek inside the rift - then there's a lot of nonsense. I'd guess he went into the cave, found a way to see through the aura remnant to the other world, went mad, and then scribbled this incomprehensible gibberish at the end." She looked over the Cramer. "You think he then went back and opened the rift all the way?"</p><p></p><p>"It's likely," Cramer agreed. "Buckleby said the aura was in a nearby cave. That would be the one the drow raiders used the Writhing Gate to send their forces to capture Buzzwort - and then me too, when I followed them. But I know where the cave is - let's go!"</p><p></p><p>The cave was in the hills nearby. As the arena slaves headed up a winding incline towards the cave, they saw two huge creatures standing on a ridge looking down at them. One was built like a bear and another was lupine in form but their bodies looked like solid voids filled with what Marlo said were likely Far Realm energies.</p><p></p><p>"Far Realm?" asked Khari.</p><p></p><p>"Where the Dying One came from," she explained. Cramer cast a <em>detect evil</em> spell and was admittedly surprised when neither creature detected as such.</p><p></p><p>"I will get the one on the right," Jhasspok announced, climbing up onto a large boulder and from there leaping up to pull himself onto the ledge before the wolf-creature. The lizardfolk readied his battleaxe for the monster's likely attack. The bear-thing, in the meantime, clambered partway down the slope, meowing as it did so. A pseudopod erupted from the side of its ursine head, slamming into Cramer before the gnome had time to react. Then Marlo and the dwarves, standing in a group, found themselves being bombarded by a <em>concussive blast</em> apparently generated by the Far Realm bear.</p><p></p><p>The wolf-thing dashed forward, slamming a pseudopod of its own at Jhasspok, missing the lizardfolk whose weapon also failed to deal his foe any damage. But a second <em>concussive blast</em> exploded around Khari, Utred, and Marlo, the close quarters between the trio apparently too good of a target to overlook.</p><p></p><p>The wolf was up on a ledge too steep for Khari to climb easily so he charged the bear, bringing his warhammer crashing into the thing's ribs. Utred did likewise, striking the bruin with the flaming blade of his longsword. Cramer backed away from the Far Realms bear and cast a <em>shield of faith</em> spell on Utred, the crafty gnome doing what he could to keep the group's toughest combatant in the fight longer. Marlo, once again worried about Jhasspok fighting on his own, sent an <em>empowered magic missile</em> screaming up at the wolf-thing to help the lizardfolk.</p><p></p><p>Jhasspok was, by that time, glad for the assistance. He'd attacked the massive wolf-thing with his battleaxe and instinctive snapped his jaws shut on the beast's foreleg, getting a taste of its warped flesh. His mind still somewhat fuzzy, the lizardfolk got the distinct impression he now knew what "purple" tastes like. "Ssss-ssss-ssss-ssss-ssss-ssss!" hissed the wolf, an eerie mirroring of the lizardfolk's own laughter.</p><p></p><p>Down the slope, the bear-monster slammed Utred with another pseudopod, then hit him, Khari, and Cramer with a <em>concussive blast</em>. Another blast hit the same three courtesy of the wolf-thing above, who also slammed Jhasspok with a pseudopod at the same time. Khari, snarling, activated his warhammer and slipped below the surface of the earth, only to earth glide to the other side of the Far Realm bear and rise back up, swinging his weapon into the creature's back. Utred, roaring in rage at the beating he was taking by those damned <em>concussive blasts</em>, brought his longsword tearing deep into the ursine beast - who was now barking like a dog - while Cramer healed him up a bit with a <em>cure critical wounds</em> spell. Marlo sent a <em>scorching ray</em> spell blasting into the side of the bear-thing and lamented that the fire spell didn't seem to do as much damage to the thing as her <em>empowered magic missiles</em> did.</p><p></p><p>Jhasspok sent his battleaxe crashing into the wolf's neck, not bothering to try to bite it again - he didn't like the way the taste of the thing confused his senses. He got the thing's full focus again, being struck by a pseudopod and a <em>concussive blast</em> all at once, causing the rage to build up inside of him. Down below, the bear-thing slammed Utred with another pseudopod but then targeted Khari with its <em>concussive blast</em>. But by now it was on its last legs and the dwarven barbarian slew it with his <em>Elderwood flaming longsword</em>, crying out in exultation as the thing finally died. But then he looked up at the monster wolf fighting Jhasspok and started trudging up the steep slope to aid the lizardfolk.</p><p></p><p>Marlo, however, finished off the Far Realm wolf with another <em>empowered magic missile</em> before Utred could race up the hillside path. Jhasspok leaped back as the thing fell forward in death. After that, once the rest of the group made it up the path, Cramer applied healing spells where they were needed - and they were needed by everyone by this point.</p><p></p><p>Having all caught their collective breath, Cramer led the way into the cave opening he saw ahead. It was as he had remembered it, up until he actually entered the cave interior, at which point he noted the fingerlike protrusions sticking up from the floor and covering the walls and ceiling as well had definitely not been there the last time he'd been inside this cave. The projections writhed like undersea fronds, grasping at the gnome's feet but lacking the strength to actually grab him up. Nonetheless, a <em>fly</em> spell put him out of their reach; they were disconcerting, if nothing else.</p><p></p><p>Flying into the cave a foot or more above the level of the floor, Cramer saw a beam of bluish light reaching from cavern ceiling to stone floor, a veritable tear in the fabric of reality; the now-familiar vista of the Far Realm - as had been seen on the surfaces of the lupine and ursine creatures outside - could be seen within the rift.</p><p></p><p>Cramer looked around for a body, expecting Valicent to have been killed when opening the rift. There was a greenish lump nearby, writhing among the wriggling tendrils on the cave's floor. He flew over to examine the lump, discovering it to be the remains of a wizard's robes, but the wizard himself had been transformed into an upright tentacle-thing. The empty sleeves of the robes fluttered as the tentacle rose up and curved in the gnome's direction, the tip slapping the gnome hard across the face, the sharp, hardened suckers along its length scoring gashes across Cramer's cheek.</p><p></p><p>Marlo entered the cave, making a face as the finger-stubs tried unsuccessfully to grab onto her feet; she had never before in her life been so glad to wear boots. But seeing a robed tentacle reaching out for Cramer, she cast a <em>lightning bolt</em> at the thing. Khari charged in beside her and whacked the rubbery form of the former wizard with his warhammer. The tentacle arced around, casting an <em>energy bolt</em> that hit Khari, Marlo, and Jhasspok with its electrical energy.</p><p></p><p>Snarling in refueled rage, Utred charged the tentacle with his longsword, Jhasspok following in his wake, each striking with their blades at the writhing, ten-foot appendage that had once been Valicent. Cramer flew back out of range, casting a <em>cure moderate wounds</em> spell upon himself.</p><p></p><p>Marlo cast another <em>empowered magic missile</em>, the spell quickly becoming her favorite form of attack. Each dart of energy made sizzling sounds as they struck the tentacle's length. Khari finished it off, his warhammer crashing into the middle of the rubbery appendage and crushing some vital organ within; the robed tentacle crashed down to the cavern floor and did not move again. A thin fluid leaked out of several rips in the rubbery flesh, possibly some equivalent to blood.</p><p></p><p>"Search the place," suggested Cramer as he bent over and dug through the pockets of the wizard's robes. They found only the shattered remains of empty potion vials, broken wands, and the torn pages of what must have once been a spellbook. But among that useless debris Marlo found a bent scroll tube whose contents were still usable; casting a <em>read magic</em> spell, she pored over the arcane writing within and gave a big smile. "Valicent came prepared," she told the others. "This is a spell to close a portal - he must have brought it along just in case, but was transformed before he could use it." <em>Or</em>, she thought to herself, <em>maybe he was okay with bringing the Far Realm into our world....</em></p><p></p><p>Reading the words to the <em>seal portal</em> spell, Marlo caused the rift to flicker out and die. With the rift gone, the wriggling tendrils slowed their movement. "Is that it, then?" asked Khari. "Will everything go back the way it was?"</p><p></p><p>"In time," answered Marlo. "Without the unnatural energies of the Far Realm flowing through the area, most of the effects should eventually wear off in a month or two. Those effects that remain should at least be easier to purge without any further mutations occurring." She turned to Cramer. "Eventually, your villagers should be able to return to their homes."</p><p></p><p>"Might want to tear down any buildings with waxy doors and who sweat out them eyeball-mouth blobs," suggested Utred. "Maybe rebuild from scratch."</p><p></p><p>The group walked back to the temporary camp of the Grover's Comb refugees. "Will you at least stay the night?" Peach asked her son when he explained the threat had been dealt with but they had to go to the capital city to explain what had happened and to get the kingdom to join an alliance to fend off an incoming attack by the drow. "There's not much room in the tent, but we've got extra blankets for you and your friends...."</p><p></p><p>"That's okay, Ma," Cramer smirked, walking back to the wagon and pulling out the cube of ironsilk stored there. Then, tugging it to the ground and saying a command word, he caused the <em>ironsilk tent</em> to expand to its full size, mentally crafting the image of the marble castle it had previously taken when used by the mind flayer Absor'thal and his bliss-seeking minions. He grinned at the open-mouthed astonishment evident on the faces of the gnomes all around him.</p><p></p><p>"We got our own tent."</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>Jhasspok was completely useless in the fight against the mutant bee swarms; he was useless in the fight against the gibbering mouthers, too, succumbing to the <em>confusion</em> effect before he even got to wield his battleaxe against them once. But when Logan informed me my roll of "43" on the <em>confusion</em> effects table had me babbling nonsensically, I proceeded to do just that, muttering some nonsensical string of syllables every few seconds. I rolled a "33" for my second round of <em>confusion</em>, which was the same effect, so I continued my verbal nonsense. (Hey, I was <em>role-playing!</em>) And by the time the effect wore off, both of the gibbering mouthers had been slain. So while I didn't get to do much to pull my own (considerable) weight, I did manage to amuse myself during the enforced "down time."</p><p></p><p>The Far Realm wolf and bear were actually two Christmas ornaments Logan saw in a Michael's store last year and thought he could put a use to someday; they're painted with a kind of starscape. The fight in the Grover's Comb town square and the slope up to the cave were done on Paizo Flip-Maps: "Village Square" and "Hill Country," respectively. And he built a small cavern using nine tiles from the "Darklands Starter Set" from the same line of gaming products.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7978433, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 19: BROKEN COMB[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Cramer Appleknocker, gnome cleric 7[/INDENT] [INDENT] Jhasspok, lizardman 3/barbarian 2/fighter 2[/INDENT] [INDENT] Khari Hammerslammer, dwarf fighter 7[/INDENT] [INDENT] Marlo Pendragon, human sorcerer 7[/INDENT] [INDENT] Utred "Buckets" Butterflinger, dwarf barbarian 7[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 29 April 2020 - - - Half a day out from Revin's capital city, the group approached a camp of makeshift tents off to one side of the road. These tents were much smaller than those most of the slaves would find comfortable, but that turned out to be because most of the inhabitants of the camp were gnomes. One of them recognized Cramer at the front of the wagon and called out to him. "Cramer! So [I]that's[/I] where you went! Got some adventurers to help with the problem, huh? Good thinking!" Cramer brought the wagon to a halt beside the other gnome and introduced him to his fellow slaves. "Guys, this is [B]Buckleby Noggenfurter[/B], a friend of mine from Grover's Comb." He looked around the tent camp, recognizing a few other gnomes from his home village, all looking somewhat bedraggled. Apparently these were refugees; something bad had happened to Grover's Comb after Cramer had followed the drow who had captured his friend Honeycomb Buzzwort into the cave outside the village and then been captured himself. Cramer decided to play along, not wanting to get into the fact he'd been a slave of the drow of Overreach these past weeks. As one, the group of slaves climbed down from the wagon and entered the makeshift camp. "My parents...?" Cramer asked hesitantly. "They're here, and they're fine," Buckleby assured the cleric. He sent a young gnome to go fetch them while he explained to the other four adventurers (assuming Cramer already knew what had happened to Grover's Comb) the recent history of the small village. "It was about seven weeks ago" - about three days after Cramer's capture by the drow, the cleric figured - "that a human wizard named [B]Valicent[/B] showed up in the village and rented a room for an extended stay at the inn," Buckleby explained. "He said he was studying an odd, lingering magical aura he'd discovered in a nearby cave - a weird combination of conjuration and transmutation magic, he said. And, get this, he said it was 'as if somebody disintegrated the fabric of reality in order to create a portal.'" The slaves all looked sidelong at each other, each thinking that sounded suspiciously like the Writhing Gate. (All but Khari, that is: he was wondering if the combination of magic described would be "conjmutation" or "transuration.") Buckleby hadn't noticed the visitors' sidelong glances, continuing on with his tale. "About three weeks after his arrival, he suddenly disappeared...and people started having disturbing dreams. And a week after that, some of those nightmarish dreams began manifesting. It was shortly thereafter we evacuated the village, for our own safety." "What kinds of disturbing dreams?" Marlo prompted. "Weird monsters, plants eating animals, melting buildings - all kinds of weird stuff," Buckleby answered. "They sent in the Revin soldiers to investigate, and they came back claiming they'd been attacked by the maddened survivors - those who stayed behind, that is, when the rest of us got out of there - and by the mutated vegetation...heck, one soldier said he'd been attacked by one of the [I]buildings! [/I] Not all of the soldiers came back with their wits intact, if you know what I mean." The gnome tapped the side of his temple with a stumpy finger. "So that's how things stand right now?" asked Utred. "Yep. Nobody wants to go back in, but scholars studying the effect claim it's spreading - slowly, sure, but spreading nonetheless. Unless someone goes in and stops it at the source, the whole kingdom could be in jeopardy." Buckleby beamed at the group. "I reckon that's why you're here, huh?" Cramer answered for the group. "That's right. We'll go check it out and see what we can do about the effect. I'm sure the Revin leaders would be very appreciative of having this situation taken care of." The gnome cleric figured this would be a good first step in gaining the cooperation from the kingdom in joining the coalition to aid Greenvale. He stood up and started heading back to the horse and wagon, the others following behind him. "Uh, you'd be best leaving them behind," Buckleby suggested. "Animals, they don't like going near the afflicted zone. Get all skittish, like. You'd be better off going in on foot." "Not without saying hello to his mother, he wouldn't - not if he knows what's good for him!" boomed a female voice approaching at a rapid pace. Cramer turned his head just in time to be scooped up by his mother, [B]Peach[/B], and crushed into a bearlike hug. "We thought you were dead!" Peach scolded her son. "No, no, I'm fine," Cramer argued. "I was just, you know, finding help." He waved the part of his arm not currently crushed to his side by his mother's embrace feebly in the direction of his fellow arena slaves. "Well, it's been this long, it can wait long enough for you and your friends to have some pie," admonished Peach, finally releasing her son and leading them back to her tent. "Your father's gathering firewood, but he'll be back shortly. Sit, sit! I'll be right back." And the gnome woman popped into the tent, returning soon thereafter with a berry pie and a knife to cut it. She passed thick slabs of pie all around. Jhasspok looked at his piece uncertainly - it didn't seem to have any [I]meat[/I] in it, how could this be considered [I]food[/I]? Still, the others seemed to be enjoying it so he popped it into his mouth and swallowed it down. It was...okay. And then, remembering his manners and the proper use of money, he opened the satchel at his hip and passed a slave token to Peach, who stared at it in confusion. "It's a lizardfolk thing," Cramer whispered to his mother as an attempt at explanation. Peach just shrugged and put the slave token in the pocket of her apron. Cramer's father returned from his wood-gathering expedition and introductions were made all around again, but then Cramer insisted they'd best get on their way to investigate this strangeness that had taken over their home village. "Your mom seems nice," Marlo said as they walked away from the camp, headed for Grover's Comb. Cramer grunted noncommittally and cast a [I]longstrider[/I] spell so he could keep up with the others. As they neared the site of the village, the group noticed the plant life was growing more primeval - and in some cases completely alien. Khari watched with puzzlement as a bee landed on what looked like a normal daisy, only to have the petals enclose the frantic insect and the sounds of chewing lasting longer than the sound of buzzing wings. "That ain't right," the dwarf commented to himself. Another bee landed on Cramer's arm as they walked. Looking down at it, the cleric flinched in surprise: not only did it have legs twice as long as normal and with double the usual number of joints, but every facet of its multifaceted eyes was a tiny eyeball just like his own. He brushed it away with a sudden revulsion. But this mutant bee was but the first of many. A veritable swarm of the things approached, grouped together into two aerial clumps headed their way, even the droning noise of their buzzing wings sounding somehow [I]wrong[/I]. Utred wasn't taking any chances with weird, mutant bees he knew nothing about; he plucked his next-to-last bead from his [I]necklace of fireballs[/I] and hurled it at the closest swarm. Marlo followed it up with a [I]scorching ray[/I] spell and the first swarm dropped, individual insects flaming down like sparks. Cramer encased the second swarm within a [I]wind wall[/I] spell, closed into a circular column that prevented any of them from escaping until Utred tossed his last bead into their midst and burned them up as well. Khari and Jhasspok held their weapons at the ready, realizing there wasn't much either of them could do against a mass of individual insects; neither warhammer nor battleaxe was an optimal weapon against such foes. They were pleased to see their contributions were not needed in this particular fight. Then, the swarms destroyed, the group continued on. They made it into the village proper without any further attacks. At first, the village seemed to be perfectly normal, if eerily quiet and motionless - except for the irritating sensation of unseen movement just out of the corner of your eye, which was somewhat disconcerting. Then Cramer, in the lead because he was the only one who'd been here before, pointed to the fountain in the center of the village square. "Check it out," he said, pointing. It was burbling blood instead of water and as they got nearer Jhasspok could smell the coppery scent coming from the fountain. Not wanting to take any chances, Cramer cast a [I]magic circle against evil[/I] spell on himself, advising the others to stay close. "The inn's over there," he said, pointing to a larger structure to the east. "Let's check where that wizard was staying - maybe he left notes or something." The group, unnerved and keeping close, moved behind several smaller buildings as they approached the inn. Utred, once he got close enough, noticed the inn seemed to be oozing some sort of glistening slime. Jhasspok, however, focusing on the blood fountain, failed to heed Cramer's warning and wandered the other way around the smaller buildings, heading straight for the inn's front doors rather than approaching it from the side like the others. He kept an eye on the fountain, idly wondering if the blood was tasty, when he heard the burbling of the fountain intensify - and, oddly, the sound was coming not only from the fountain but also the rooftop of the inn--strange! What was stranger still was when the blood gushing up from the fountain started sprouting eyes and mouths and crawling out of the fountain...as a second ooze, similarly sprinkled with a plethora of eyes and mouths, plopped down from the inn's rooftop directly in front of Utred. These gibbering mouthers babbled and muttered, cried and screamed, their cacophony doing their best to affect the minds of those within the general vicinity. Khari and Utred felt an itching sensation in the back of their brains but managed to shrug off the mental oddness; Jhasspok's primitive lizard brain wasn't as well able to cope and his mind froze up, odd sounds coming from his mouth as he lost all ability to form coherent words. Cramer and Marlo were unaffected, whether because they were the farthest away or due to the cleric's spell was uncertain. That didn't matter to Khari; he backed up into the radius of Cramer's [I]magic circle against evil[/I] spell as a precaution, his warhammer ready to strike if either of these strange oozes approached. Marlo cast a [I]magic missile[/I] spell at the rooftop ooze, the shafts of energy striking unerringly. Cramer gauged the distances between the oozes and targeted the space directly between them with a [I]silence[/I] spell. Their insane utterances stopped at once but Jhasspok, outside the spell's effect, could still be heard perfectly as he stood rooted in place, dazed beyond comprehension. "Spoog. Spimfiddly. Bondo rimborry. Gershtunk. Framiroll." Utred pulled the [I]Elderwood flaming longsword[/I] from its sheath and charged the fountain ooze. The enchanted blade came crashing down but surprisingly bounced off the amorphous blob's ever-shifting form. Both gibbering mouthers headed his way, spitting at him from numerous orifices and half a dozen of the fountain ooze's mouths trying to take a bite out of the barbarian. Of these, only one managed to clamp down on him and it failed to even pierce his skin. Emboldened by the [I]silence[/I] spell, Khari charged the rooftop ooze, hitting it with his [I]earthglide warhammer[/I]. Ripples exploded across the gibbering mouther's body from the point of impact, causing a few eyes and mouths to shift about. Cramer and Marlo, in the meantime, targeted the one trying to bite Utred. Marlo [I]empowered[/I] a [I]magic missile[/I] spell and threw it at the gibbering mouther while Cramer cast a [I]spiritual weapon[/I] spell, sending the flying quarterstaff thus created slamming down into the amorphous creature's mass. "Shimtooky," muttered Jhasspok, possibly in admiration. "Squintocky. Plonkerdoom. Skrotumbulus." Utred sliced his blade into the creature before him, noting it wasn't as effective an attack as he'd have hoped; the creature seemed partially impervious to slashing attacks. The dwarven barbarian ducked as more spittle was flung his way, then both dwarves were attacked by chomping teeth, Khari crying out in pain as he was bitten on the leg. He retaliated with a powerful blow from his warhammer, sending ripples quivering throughout the gibbering mouther's body to the point it looked like it might discorporate entirely. Seeing its apparent weakness, Marlo cast a [I]magic missile[/I] spell, sending only one of the missiles to finish that one off (which it did) and the others into the one concentrating its attacks upon Utred over by the fountain. As the [I]spiritual quarterstaff[/I] crashed into the gibbering mouther again, Cramer cast a [I]bless[/I] spell on the group. "Bintwinkle," commented Jhasspok. "Vashpertoddle. Filinificum. Grompletonkers. Tweef." Utred finished off the second gibbering mouther just as Jhasspok's mind started recovering from the [I]confusion[/I] effect brought on by the oozes' mutterings. The lizardfolk shook his head and then flinched, startled - when had his dwarven friends moved up into positions fighting the blobs, and how long ago had the blobs been killed? What was going on here? "That's the inn, there," Utred said to the perplexed lizardfolk, pointing to the building beside Jhasspok. Shrugging it off, Jhasspok went to open the door to the inn, only to have it collapse as if made of dry, brittle wax. That did nothing to reassure the lizardfolk he wasn't still under the mind-altering effects of the gibbering mouthers! Still, he wandered inside the inn and into the bedroom Cramer had said was the biggest and the one Valicent would likely have rented. Sure enough, there was a book by the nightstand. Eager to learn if there was anything written inside that would help them learn about the strangeness affecting the area, Jhasspok passed it over to Marlo - he couldn't read. Marlo skimmed through the pages. "It's a journal," she reported to the others. "Notes he's taken on the mysterious aura, seems to line up with what we were told. The last coherent note says he's gonna peek inside the rift - then there's a lot of nonsense. I'd guess he went into the cave, found a way to see through the aura remnant to the other world, went mad, and then scribbled this incomprehensible gibberish at the end." She looked over the Cramer. "You think he then went back and opened the rift all the way?" "It's likely," Cramer agreed. "Buckleby said the aura was in a nearby cave. That would be the one the drow raiders used the Writhing Gate to send their forces to capture Buzzwort - and then me too, when I followed them. But I know where the cave is - let's go!" The cave was in the hills nearby. As the arena slaves headed up a winding incline towards the cave, they saw two huge creatures standing on a ridge looking down at them. One was built like a bear and another was lupine in form but their bodies looked like solid voids filled with what Marlo said were likely Far Realm energies. "Far Realm?" asked Khari. "Where the Dying One came from," she explained. Cramer cast a [I]detect evil[/I] spell and was admittedly surprised when neither creature detected as such. "I will get the one on the right," Jhasspok announced, climbing up onto a large boulder and from there leaping up to pull himself onto the ledge before the wolf-creature. The lizardfolk readied his battleaxe for the monster's likely attack. The bear-thing, in the meantime, clambered partway down the slope, meowing as it did so. A pseudopod erupted from the side of its ursine head, slamming into Cramer before the gnome had time to react. Then Marlo and the dwarves, standing in a group, found themselves being bombarded by a [I]concussive blast[/I] apparently generated by the Far Realm bear. The wolf-thing dashed forward, slamming a pseudopod of its own at Jhasspok, missing the lizardfolk whose weapon also failed to deal his foe any damage. But a second [I]concussive blast[/I] exploded around Khari, Utred, and Marlo, the close quarters between the trio apparently too good of a target to overlook. The wolf was up on a ledge too steep for Khari to climb easily so he charged the bear, bringing his warhammer crashing into the thing's ribs. Utred did likewise, striking the bruin with the flaming blade of his longsword. Cramer backed away from the Far Realms bear and cast a [I]shield of faith[/I] spell on Utred, the crafty gnome doing what he could to keep the group's toughest combatant in the fight longer. Marlo, once again worried about Jhasspok fighting on his own, sent an [I]empowered magic missile[/I] screaming up at the wolf-thing to help the lizardfolk. Jhasspok was, by that time, glad for the assistance. He'd attacked the massive wolf-thing with his battleaxe and instinctive snapped his jaws shut on the beast's foreleg, getting a taste of its warped flesh. His mind still somewhat fuzzy, the lizardfolk got the distinct impression he now knew what "purple" tastes like. "Ssss-ssss-ssss-ssss-ssss-ssss!" hissed the wolf, an eerie mirroring of the lizardfolk's own laughter. Down the slope, the bear-monster slammed Utred with another pseudopod, then hit him, Khari, and Cramer with a [I]concussive blast[/I]. Another blast hit the same three courtesy of the wolf-thing above, who also slammed Jhasspok with a pseudopod at the same time. Khari, snarling, activated his warhammer and slipped below the surface of the earth, only to earth glide to the other side of the Far Realm bear and rise back up, swinging his weapon into the creature's back. Utred, roaring in rage at the beating he was taking by those damned [I]concussive blasts[/I], brought his longsword tearing deep into the ursine beast - who was now barking like a dog - while Cramer healed him up a bit with a [I]cure critical wounds[/I] spell. Marlo sent a [I]scorching ray[/I] spell blasting into the side of the bear-thing and lamented that the fire spell didn't seem to do as much damage to the thing as her [I]empowered magic missiles[/I] did. Jhasspok sent his battleaxe crashing into the wolf's neck, not bothering to try to bite it again - he didn't like the way the taste of the thing confused his senses. He got the thing's full focus again, being struck by a pseudopod and a [I]concussive blast[/I] all at once, causing the rage to build up inside of him. Down below, the bear-thing slammed Utred with another pseudopod but then targeted Khari with its [I]concussive blast[/I]. But by now it was on its last legs and the dwarven barbarian slew it with his [I]Elderwood flaming longsword[/I], crying out in exultation as the thing finally died. But then he looked up at the monster wolf fighting Jhasspok and started trudging up the steep slope to aid the lizardfolk. Marlo, however, finished off the Far Realm wolf with another [I]empowered magic missile[/I] before Utred could race up the hillside path. Jhasspok leaped back as the thing fell forward in death. After that, once the rest of the group made it up the path, Cramer applied healing spells where they were needed - and they were needed by everyone by this point. Having all caught their collective breath, Cramer led the way into the cave opening he saw ahead. It was as he had remembered it, up until he actually entered the cave interior, at which point he noted the fingerlike protrusions sticking up from the floor and covering the walls and ceiling as well had definitely not been there the last time he'd been inside this cave. The projections writhed like undersea fronds, grasping at the gnome's feet but lacking the strength to actually grab him up. Nonetheless, a [I]fly[/I] spell put him out of their reach; they were disconcerting, if nothing else. Flying into the cave a foot or more above the level of the floor, Cramer saw a beam of bluish light reaching from cavern ceiling to stone floor, a veritable tear in the fabric of reality; the now-familiar vista of the Far Realm - as had been seen on the surfaces of the lupine and ursine creatures outside - could be seen within the rift. Cramer looked around for a body, expecting Valicent to have been killed when opening the rift. There was a greenish lump nearby, writhing among the wriggling tendrils on the cave's floor. He flew over to examine the lump, discovering it to be the remains of a wizard's robes, but the wizard himself had been transformed into an upright tentacle-thing. The empty sleeves of the robes fluttered as the tentacle rose up and curved in the gnome's direction, the tip slapping the gnome hard across the face, the sharp, hardened suckers along its length scoring gashes across Cramer's cheek. Marlo entered the cave, making a face as the finger-stubs tried unsuccessfully to grab onto her feet; she had never before in her life been so glad to wear boots. But seeing a robed tentacle reaching out for Cramer, she cast a [I]lightning bolt[/I] at the thing. Khari charged in beside her and whacked the rubbery form of the former wizard with his warhammer. The tentacle arced around, casting an [I]energy bolt[/I] that hit Khari, Marlo, and Jhasspok with its electrical energy. Snarling in refueled rage, Utred charged the tentacle with his longsword, Jhasspok following in his wake, each striking with their blades at the writhing, ten-foot appendage that had once been Valicent. Cramer flew back out of range, casting a [I]cure moderate wounds[/I] spell upon himself. Marlo cast another [I]empowered magic missile[/I], the spell quickly becoming her favorite form of attack. Each dart of energy made sizzling sounds as they struck the tentacle's length. Khari finished it off, his warhammer crashing into the middle of the rubbery appendage and crushing some vital organ within; the robed tentacle crashed down to the cavern floor and did not move again. A thin fluid leaked out of several rips in the rubbery flesh, possibly some equivalent to blood. "Search the place," suggested Cramer as he bent over and dug through the pockets of the wizard's robes. They found only the shattered remains of empty potion vials, broken wands, and the torn pages of what must have once been a spellbook. But among that useless debris Marlo found a bent scroll tube whose contents were still usable; casting a [I]read magic[/I] spell, she pored over the arcane writing within and gave a big smile. "Valicent came prepared," she told the others. "This is a spell to close a portal - he must have brought it along just in case, but was transformed before he could use it." [I]Or[/I], she thought to herself, [I]maybe he was okay with bringing the Far Realm into our world....[/I] Reading the words to the [I]seal portal[/I] spell, Marlo caused the rift to flicker out and die. With the rift gone, the wriggling tendrils slowed their movement. "Is that it, then?" asked Khari. "Will everything go back the way it was?" "In time," answered Marlo. "Without the unnatural energies of the Far Realm flowing through the area, most of the effects should eventually wear off in a month or two. Those effects that remain should at least be easier to purge without any further mutations occurring." She turned to Cramer. "Eventually, your villagers should be able to return to their homes." "Might want to tear down any buildings with waxy doors and who sweat out them eyeball-mouth blobs," suggested Utred. "Maybe rebuild from scratch." The group walked back to the temporary camp of the Grover's Comb refugees. "Will you at least stay the night?" Peach asked her son when he explained the threat had been dealt with but they had to go to the capital city to explain what had happened and to get the kingdom to join an alliance to fend off an incoming attack by the drow. "There's not much room in the tent, but we've got extra blankets for you and your friends...." "That's okay, Ma," Cramer smirked, walking back to the wagon and pulling out the cube of ironsilk stored there. Then, tugging it to the ground and saying a command word, he caused the [I]ironsilk tent[/I] to expand to its full size, mentally crafting the image of the marble castle it had previously taken when used by the mind flayer Absor'thal and his bliss-seeking minions. He grinned at the open-mouthed astonishment evident on the faces of the gnomes all around him. "We got our own tent." - - - Jhasspok was completely useless in the fight against the mutant bee swarms; he was useless in the fight against the gibbering mouthers, too, succumbing to the [I]confusion[/I] effect before he even got to wield his battleaxe against them once. But when Logan informed me my roll of "43" on the [I]confusion[/I] effects table had me babbling nonsensically, I proceeded to do just that, muttering some nonsensical string of syllables every few seconds. I rolled a "33" for my second round of [I]confusion[/I], which was the same effect, so I continued my verbal nonsense. (Hey, I was [I]role-playing![/I]) And by the time the effect wore off, both of the gibbering mouthers had been slain. So while I didn't get to do much to pull my own (considerable) weight, I did manage to amuse myself during the enforced "down time." The Far Realm wolf and bear were actually two Christmas ornaments Logan saw in a Michael's store last year and thought he could put a use to someday; they're painted with a kind of starscape. The fight in the Grover's Comb town square and the slope up to the cave were done on Paizo Flip-Maps: "Village Square" and "Hill Country," respectively. And he built a small cavern using nine tiles from the "Darklands Starter Set" from the same line of gaming products. [/QUOTE]
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