NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ziona" data-source="post: 331336" data-attributes="member: 484">The Maze and The MageAfter the heroes left the room of the green slime, they followed the corridor downstairs to the sixth level of the dungeon.  Gideon was never quite sure if he believed Venus was a vampire, but when the group began discussing where to leave the coffin, Gideon decided it must be true.“You actually rest in a coffin?”“I must,” said Venus flatly.“And what about sunlight?” asked Gideon.“I am unaffected by the glorious light of the sun…The Morning Lord has granted me much,” said Venus with reverence.“So you are the one, then?  The ‘Soldier of Lathander?’” asked Gideon with wide eyes.“I am he,” said Venus with surprise.  “I certainly hope you do not plan on collecting a bounty on my head, friend.”“I only hunt wizards,” said Gideon with a smile.  “You needn’t worry about that.”As the heroes traveled through the endless corridors, they slowly realized that they were going in circles.  Occasionally they found dead ends, which would result in their turning and changing direction again.  “To the Abyss with this maze,” spat Dent.The companions sat down after nearly three hours of endless wandering.  It felt as though they would never find their way out of the dungeon.  As they snacked on their rations, Ziona strummed her Elven lute lightly and hummed a soothing melody.  Lox watched Gideon as he created light blue mind blades and twirled them about his fingers.  Just as they were ready to begin wandering about the maze again, Gideon stopped twirling the blades, and hushed them all.“Someone is approaching,” he said, readying the blue blades.“How do you know?” asked Doc.“I can hear their thoughts with my ring,” said Gideon.  “He must have heard the half-drow’s music.”Ziona’s face flushed as she put away the lute and pulled out her bastard sword.  The party awaited their next foe, thankful for something to think about other than the winding passageways of the maze.From around the corner came a hulking half-orc with a short sword in his hand and a lute strapped to his back.“Halt, vicious foe, or I’ll have your hide!” cried Doc.The half-orc stopped and stood his ground.“Who are you that wonder Rappan Athuk?” he called.“We are those who have come to smite the evil that inhabits these halls!” shouted Venus.“Then why are you threatening me?” called the half-orc.  “I am not evil.  I am merely lost in the maze, like yourselves.”“If you are not evil,” said Ziona stepping forward, sheathing her sword, “then you won’t oppose me when I cast on you.”“Well, milady,” said the half-orc, “that depends what you want to cast on me.”As Ziona stepped closer, the half-orc saw her silvery hair and grey skin.“You are a drow and you dare ask if I am evil?!” he exclaimed.“I am a half-drow Priestess of Eilistraee,” said Ziona evenly.  “You have my word that I will only cast to see if your intentions are for good or evil.”Meanwhile, Rossal communicated to Ziona that he could read no evil thoughts from the half-orc, only that he was unsure whether to trust her or not.“Very well, milady,” said the half-orc.  He knelt before her as though she were a princess, and allowed her to cast Detect Evil on him.“It’s okay,” she called to the others.  “What is your name?”“I am called Gorthat, milady, and you are?”“I am Ziona,” she said.  “These are my companions.”“Well met, Gorthat,” said Dent.“It’s Gee-or-they,” he corrected.“Right,” said Dent with confusion.“How long have you been lost within the maze, Gorthat?”“As far as I can tell,” he replied, “nearly four or five hours.  But, I believe I have found a way out.  I only turned back because I thought I heard music.”“That was Miss Ziona,” said Lox.  “She has a pretty voice.”“I am quite fond of music, myself,” said Gorthat.  “I imagine not many half-orcs become bards,” said Ziona curiously.“Well, I don’t imagine many half-drow are clerics of good deities, either,” he said.“About that exit,” said Gideon.“Ah, yes. This way.”Gorthat lead them back the way he had come, which eventually brought them to a small room with a door leading out.Rossal, who had been communicating with Gideon on the way, had concluded that Gorthat wasn’t leading the party into a trap.  (Or if he was, he wasn’t thinking about it at all!)  He communicated this to the rest of the party so they could relax around the strange bard.Gideon was almost happy that Gorthat happened upon the party, because now Lox had a new person to tell his tales of wonder and adventure to.  The odd thing was, Gorthat didn’t seem to mind, and even began to put the stories to music as they traveled.Eventually, the group came to an open room with a stream running through it, which they entered slowly and carefully, at Gideon’s suggestion.“Someone was just here,” he warned.  “Goblins, maybe. I couldn’t understand their language.”But for all their caution, their foe still caught them off guard.  The sudden sound of chanting filled the air.  Before they knew it, a mud and stone avalanche dropped between them, separating Gideon, Doc, Dent and Haley from the rest of the group.  Ziona, Lox, Venus, Gorthat and the dragons began trying to dig through the debris, while their companions fought the onslaught of the goblins.Venus, frustrated that they were getting nowhere, reverted to his gaseous form and seeped through the crevasses in the rocks.Meanwhile, Ziona cast Stone Shape to try and create a passageway through the stone and mud.On the other side of the wall, Doc lashed out at the invisible magic user and interrupted their spell, while Gideon used his mind blades to attack the goblins that poured into the room.  Dent fired his flaming arrows into the advancing goblins, while Haley chomped and tore into any that got too close to the ranger.Seeing that he was losing the battle, the invisible mage jumped into the stream and tried to swim away unnoticed.  However, both Doc and Gideon saw the shape moving through the water and leapt in after it, not realizing the fast moving stream ended with a waterfall.Thinking quickly, Gideon used his psionic ablility to make himself  float, and began wading around at the bottom of the waterfall.  Doc jumped out of the stream, rapier in hand, and watched for movement in the water.  But, the invisible mage cast Fear on Doc Midnight, and Gideon watched as his new companion fled in terror, running deeper and deeper into the caverns of Rappan Athuk.Gideon, realizing Doc was long gone, and not sensing his opponent nearby, created a light blue oar and paddled back up to the rest of the party.  The Adventure Continues…</blockquote>

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