Retro Story Hour: (Contact's) Temple of Elemental Evil 2!
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Wulf Ratbane
Adventurer
Re: Eeeeeverybody huuuuuuuurts . . . sometimes.
<sigh>
This story used to be so good.
Wulf
(contact) said:
<sigh>
This story used to be so good.
Wulf
(contact)
Explorer
Ahhh, slipping in to a nice, warm, dungeon
Eleven: The Thousand Mile Stare
(or, It’s not just a job . . . it’s a really deadly job.)
A young adventuress arrives in town just as the party is returning from the temple. Her name is Prisantha, and she is the love-child of Guillame, an elven priest and adventurer who, 20 years ago, found his fame and fortune beating back the last resurrection of the Temple. Prisantha’s mother relocated to Verbobonc (after being paid off by the poly-amorous Guillame), and Pris has traveled to Hommlet after hearing of the troubles in Knulb. She checks up on her maternal grandparents, and after determining that they are safe, she offers to join the fight against Iuz. A young beauty, the party is at first reluctant to let her join in such a dire cause. But she is insistent, and once she reveals her particular affinity for Enchantment spells, the band of heroes agrees to join forces with the young mage.
Sweet Pea excuses herself to bury Little-Leaf in the forest, in a manner sacred to Wood Elves.
Shortly thereafter, a pair of travelers from Greyhawk City arrive on the scene. They are old adventuring companions of Esril, and when sent on a mission to investigate the brewing war, they hear the name of their old friend. Their questions lead them to Hommlet, and then to Esril’s grave. Esril’s tombstone is but one of fourteen nearby, all of them recent, and some of them still fresh.
As cagey veterans, Egil, a fighter, and Jespo Crim, a conjurer, correctly interpret what all the recent graves mean. They deduce that there is a battle underway, one that is claiming the lives of adventurers at a disturbing rate. When Heydricus and Ren Qi arrive, Jespo Crim and Egil are quickly brought on board.
Jespo Crim is an older wizard, eccentric and wise. He is overly fond of bemoaning the undue attention lavished on flashy Invokers and Transmuters, and of complaining about party tactics. His familiar is a cat by the name of Fräs, and it becomes quickly obvious that Fräs and Jespo disagree about most every subject. Fräs hisses at Jespo, which provokes the old man to command “Silence!”, which provokes a hiss, which provokes a command to silence, etc.
Egil, a Warder of the Circle of Eight, has made his career out of investigating Evil cults, and putting a stop to them. A strong, bull-like man, he advocates a steady, orderly approach to the Temple Dungeon: “Go to the first level, clear it, move on to the second, clear it, and so on until you’ve killed ‘em all”. Egil does not take prisoners.
As the newly-formed group is planning its next foray into the Temple dungeons, they receive a strange visitor. A man arrives, looking for Lucius. When asked his business, he gives the party the following message: He is a member of the Knulb Thieves’ Guild, and is very unhappy with the wererat takeover of the guild. He has recently overheard the wererat’s leader supplicating to a Priest of Iuz, and discussing the fate of the children from Knulb’s Orphanage.
It seems that, contrary to common belief, the children were not slaughtered, but herded away en-masse. The Priest and wererat discussed a date, 25 days from the present, when presumably, the children are to be mass sacrificed in some horrific ritual. The messenger was properly disgusted (not being irredeemably evil himself), and is now fleeing for the ‘safety’ of the Banditlands, where a thief can make an honest living robbing from the poor.
Worse still, the name Zinvellon was mentioned. The leader of the occupation forces in Crockport, this worthy is rumored to be a member of the Lesser Boneheart - - one of the Old One’s personal lieutenants.
The party now has a new impetus to push on, and the clock is ticking.
The group returns to the surface-level Temple compound, and finds it literally thick with undead. It seems the Temple priests have raised the bodies of the Shieldlanders they sent to their deaths in Verbobonc. Worse yet, the undead packs are composed entirely of ghouls and ghasts. The party encounters a score of the monsters just getting to the Temple, and after fighting a few and fleeing from the rest, they obtain entrance.
What they find is even more shocking than the undead menace outside the walls. The ruined Temple has been cleaned up. Ritual instruments that were broken or cast aside have been replaced and put into their proper place. The whole area is well-lit, and although empty, shows signs of recent use. Worse yet, a human sacrifice remains on the altar, it’s heart missing. Egil grimly douses the corpse with holy water.
The party moves down to the first level, and encounters there a T-intersection leading to a strange pair of rooms. To the right a fire-drake is chained to the floor, and to the left a pair of displacer beasts are similarly bound. Jespo summons a sextet of giant crabs, and the battle begins. The beasts are kept by a pair of trolls, but thanks to some quick thinking and teamwork from Jespo Crim and Pris, neither the drake nor the displacer beasts are freed from their confinement. Jespo exhausts six monster summoning spells during the fight, calling to himself giant crabs, goblins from the Temple’s kitchens, an orog wearing the livery of Iuz (most likely from two doors down), a pair of lizardmen from the Pomarj, six fire beetles, and a lone stirge.
The stirge was pretty tough.
Pris finds herself at a loss, as fighting beasts and undead is not an enchanter’s forte) and Ren Qi suffers a severe identity crisis in the midst of the fight. Egil has troubles with his luck, and Jespo Crim’s conjurations are rather, well,
. . . flaccid. (Hiss! “Silence”! Hiss! “Silence!”)
All in all though, the enemy is defeated, and despite the absence of a Cleric, the party remains alive and in one piece.
Eleven: The Thousand Mile Stare
(or, It’s not just a job . . . it’s a really deadly job.)
A young adventuress arrives in town just as the party is returning from the temple. Her name is Prisantha, and she is the love-child of Guillame, an elven priest and adventurer who, 20 years ago, found his fame and fortune beating back the last resurrection of the Temple. Prisantha’s mother relocated to Verbobonc (after being paid off by the poly-amorous Guillame), and Pris has traveled to Hommlet after hearing of the troubles in Knulb. She checks up on her maternal grandparents, and after determining that they are safe, she offers to join the fight against Iuz. A young beauty, the party is at first reluctant to let her join in such a dire cause. But she is insistent, and once she reveals her particular affinity for Enchantment spells, the band of heroes agrees to join forces with the young mage.
Sweet Pea excuses herself to bury Little-Leaf in the forest, in a manner sacred to Wood Elves.
Shortly thereafter, a pair of travelers from Greyhawk City arrive on the scene. They are old adventuring companions of Esril, and when sent on a mission to investigate the brewing war, they hear the name of their old friend. Their questions lead them to Hommlet, and then to Esril’s grave. Esril’s tombstone is but one of fourteen nearby, all of them recent, and some of them still fresh.
As cagey veterans, Egil, a fighter, and Jespo Crim, a conjurer, correctly interpret what all the recent graves mean. They deduce that there is a battle underway, one that is claiming the lives of adventurers at a disturbing rate. When Heydricus and Ren Qi arrive, Jespo Crim and Egil are quickly brought on board.
Jespo Crim is an older wizard, eccentric and wise. He is overly fond of bemoaning the undue attention lavished on flashy Invokers and Transmuters, and of complaining about party tactics. His familiar is a cat by the name of Fräs, and it becomes quickly obvious that Fräs and Jespo disagree about most every subject. Fräs hisses at Jespo, which provokes the old man to command “Silence!”, which provokes a hiss, which provokes a command to silence, etc.
Egil, a Warder of the Circle of Eight, has made his career out of investigating Evil cults, and putting a stop to them. A strong, bull-like man, he advocates a steady, orderly approach to the Temple Dungeon: “Go to the first level, clear it, move on to the second, clear it, and so on until you’ve killed ‘em all”. Egil does not take prisoners.
As the newly-formed group is planning its next foray into the Temple dungeons, they receive a strange visitor. A man arrives, looking for Lucius. When asked his business, he gives the party the following message: He is a member of the Knulb Thieves’ Guild, and is very unhappy with the wererat takeover of the guild. He has recently overheard the wererat’s leader supplicating to a Priest of Iuz, and discussing the fate of the children from Knulb’s Orphanage.
It seems that, contrary to common belief, the children were not slaughtered, but herded away en-masse. The Priest and wererat discussed a date, 25 days from the present, when presumably, the children are to be mass sacrificed in some horrific ritual. The messenger was properly disgusted (not being irredeemably evil himself), and is now fleeing for the ‘safety’ of the Banditlands, where a thief can make an honest living robbing from the poor.
Worse still, the name Zinvellon was mentioned. The leader of the occupation forces in Crockport, this worthy is rumored to be a member of the Lesser Boneheart - - one of the Old One’s personal lieutenants.
The party now has a new impetus to push on, and the clock is ticking.
The group returns to the surface-level Temple compound, and finds it literally thick with undead. It seems the Temple priests have raised the bodies of the Shieldlanders they sent to their deaths in Verbobonc. Worse yet, the undead packs are composed entirely of ghouls and ghasts. The party encounters a score of the monsters just getting to the Temple, and after fighting a few and fleeing from the rest, they obtain entrance.
What they find is even more shocking than the undead menace outside the walls. The ruined Temple has been cleaned up. Ritual instruments that were broken or cast aside have been replaced and put into their proper place. The whole area is well-lit, and although empty, shows signs of recent use. Worse yet, a human sacrifice remains on the altar, it’s heart missing. Egil grimly douses the corpse with holy water.
The party moves down to the first level, and encounters there a T-intersection leading to a strange pair of rooms. To the right a fire-drake is chained to the floor, and to the left a pair of displacer beasts are similarly bound. Jespo summons a sextet of giant crabs, and the battle begins. The beasts are kept by a pair of trolls, but thanks to some quick thinking and teamwork from Jespo Crim and Pris, neither the drake nor the displacer beasts are freed from their confinement. Jespo exhausts six monster summoning spells during the fight, calling to himself giant crabs, goblins from the Temple’s kitchens, an orog wearing the livery of Iuz (most likely from two doors down), a pair of lizardmen from the Pomarj, six fire beetles, and a lone stirge.
The stirge was pretty tough.
Pris finds herself at a loss, as fighting beasts and undead is not an enchanter’s forte) and Ren Qi suffers a severe identity crisis in the midst of the fight. Egil has troubles with his luck, and Jespo Crim’s conjurations are rather, well,
. . . flaccid. (Hiss! “Silence”! Hiss! “Silence!”)
All in all though, the enemy is defeated, and despite the absence of a Cleric, the party remains alive and in one piece.
Joshua Randall
Legend
With apologies to Percy Bysshe Shelly (and John Keats).
I weep for Brother Lucius - he is dead!
O, weep for Brother Lucius! though our tears
Mend not the bits that once composed his head.
And thou, fell Giant, selected from all fears
To cause our grief, rouse thy obscure compeers
And teach them of our sorrow. Say: 'Twas me
Killed Brother Lucius; till the party dares
Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
An echo and a light unto eternity!'
I weep for Brother Lucius - he is dead!
O, weep for Brother Lucius! though our tears
Mend not the bits that once composed his head.
And thou, fell Giant, selected from all fears
To cause our grief, rouse thy obscure compeers
And teach them of our sorrow. Say: 'Twas me
Killed Brother Lucius; till the party dares
Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
An echo and a light unto eternity!'
(contact)
Explorer
Sniff. That's beautiful. (Of course, Lucius is in Hell now.)
Rel: Jespo Crim is in the public domain. Next time I see him, I'll tell him, but I'm sure he'll be flattered.
PC: Nothing happened to Ren Qi, why? She was running around with Heydricus when Jespo and Egil showed up.
Greybar: Who's winning?
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