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Story Hour
Return to the Tomb of Horrors finally gets a Story Hour!
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<blockquote data-quote="James McMurray" data-source="post: 85060" data-attributes="member: 743"><p>Our weary band returned from the Black Academy beaten but not broken. Although some had fallen in battle, they were confident that they could soon be returned to the land of the living. Also, William Siege had yet to realize it, but many of his most potent items, including the Holy symbol he himself had created and consecrated to Heironious had been stolen by Nuala, Headmistress and old foe.</p><p></p><p>In a daring hit and run raid, Teflon Billy and Galrond take time the next morning to teleport into the foyer of the Academy, free Whitefire from his prison of stone, and return to the Temple of Pelor in Greyhawk. Whitefire, seemingly shocked and confused, and looking somehow “gray” and “frayed along his edges” flles the templs to the street, and begins digging into the ground, crying for freedom. A few moments later, he stops and looks about partially calmed. “Where are we? How did we get here? I don’t feel safe, can we get to the Mansion soon?” He was referring of course, to Galrond’s Magical Mansion, which he creates nightly for the party to sleep in, safe from prying eyes and teleporting foes. “Of course, Galrdon replies, and beckons to the planes, who deliver the mansion’s doorway to him.</p><p></p><p>The party enters and talks a bit, filling Whitefire in on what has occurred, and Teflon Billy leaves for some shopping (for both himself and others).</p><p></p><p>That evening, watches are set, as our paranoid party fears reprisals, especially while many of their friends still lie dead. William had been Raised, but Cristoph and Kargur still needed tending to. Unfortunately, their preparations and defenses were seemingly smoke, as the next morning, William failed to come down for breakfast, which he normally provided as a Heroic Feast from Heironious.</p><p></p><p>Investigating his room, Amastacia and Gundarag enter to find gore strewn all about, with a message written in blood on the wall: THE DIM TRIAD COMES FOR THEE. Atop the bed were three large burlap body bags, one of which, marked ‘William’ in blood, contained the corpse of their friend, his mouth sewn shut. The other two were marked Galrond and Kargur, but were thankfully empty.</p><p></p><p>Pulling their friend from the bag, Amastacia and Gundarag alert the rest of the party, who try to figure out how the assassins entered the mansion, and discuss the only clue, a human sized boot-print in the blood, scraped clean before seemingly leaving the room. Wary, they give a full search of the mansion, but find no one, so they return to the temple with William’s body and pick up their friend Cristoph, who had perished in the previous fight. </p><p></p><p>The priest agrees to raise William, but only if all other members of the party who had not previously agreed to the Geas would do so. They do, and the party returns to a new mansion, this one designed to allow the group to all sleep together in a common room.</p><p></p><p>That night, as Whitefire, Amastacia, and Gundarag stand watch, Whitefire makes his move. Sauntering nonchalantly over to Galrond’s sleeping form, he lifts his arm high and throws it down again. The sound of breaking glass is the last noise heard, as magical silence engulfs the room. Moving with inhuman speed, he snaps his fingers and a flaming Rapier appears in his hand, to be instantly driven through Galrond’s throat. One short gurgle, and Galrond is no more. Turning to the rest, he prepares to defend himself, as Gundarag and Amastacia look on in shock.</p><p></p><p>Whitefire tumbles out of Gundarag’s reach, and heads towards another body, intent on taking someone else’s life before they can be awoken. But Gundarg charges, kicking Teflon Billy as he passes, and strikes twice, hitting hard with his bastard sword, and driving Whitefire back. Amastacia also attacks, calling her hand crossbow from her magical glove, and shooting a holy bolt into Whitefire’s side. Whitefire, seeing the odds turn against him, attempts to dominate Gundarag, but his fledgling Vampiric powers are no match for the veteran warrior, and Whitefire turns to flee. Gundarag follws, and hits a solid blow again, while Amastacia fires another holy bolt. Whitefire seems to be standing perfectly still, then a flicker of speed and he is out of the way of the bolt. Billy meanwhile, is waking up, still clouded with sleep.</p><p></p><p>Whitefire disappears from sight, but Amastacia, who had ensorcelled her eyes to be able to see the unseen during her watch, sees him head towards the hallway, while Gundarag swipes at the air where Whitefire once stood. Billy moves out of the area of silence, and prepares himself with spells for the battle he has been awoken to.</p><p></p><p>Whitefire hides in the kitchen area, while Lanis and Cristoph are awakened. Lanis moves to search Galrond’s body, intent on protecting his gear in the hopes that they can revive him later. Cristoph also gives chase. Whitefire remains hidden though, until he sees a clear shot on Amastacia, and puts two arrows deep into her belly form behind. Staggered, Amastacia moves to try to cure herself, while Gundarag heads to the kitchen to kill the thing that harmed his wife.</p><p></p><p>Cristoph follows Gundarag, and readies his net to strike if Whitefire moves towards him. Again outnumbered, Whitefire turns invisible, while Billy moves down the hallway to join the fray. However, Cristoph’s Magical Blade “Vigilance” grants him the ability to see invisible beings, and Whitefire is not as safe as he hopes. Meanwhile, Gundarag and Billy move into the kitchen, searching for Whitefire, who is soon found as he reappears and shoots Teflon Billy twice, nearly killing him.</p><p></p><p>Gundarag charges, and drives his sword through Whitefire’s neck. As the vampire’s head rolls from his body, he turns to mist, and flees for the door to the outside world and the sunlit street beyond. The party follows, and Lanis and Cristoph head to the Temple to alert the priests. The high priest hears the warnings and cries of “Vampire!” and although puzzled, as it is 5:45 in the morning, he heads outside to investigate.</p><p></p><p>Teflon Billy dispels the forces that allows Whitefire to remain gaseous, dropping him to the ground, where Gundarag swings at him wildly before Whitefire shifts form to that of a massive bat and turns to fly away.</p><p></p><p>“Pelor, destroy this foul beast of the night with your Holy Power!” rings out, and the morning clouds part. A ray of sunlight falls from the sky, and although the magics which have protected him so far try to save him, Whitefire falls to the ground before the unstoppable power of the Sun god.</p><p></p><p>Many thanks are made, and explanations given. The group finds a salve which, when identified, turns out to be a way for vampires to avoid the light of the sun for a time, and the priest seems very concerned. The party, knowing they must prepare, has Amastacia, their most people-friendly person, try to sway the priest into allowing an extension on their quest, that they might better prepare. After a moment of Starflower’s beautiful eyes and pleasing voice, he concedes, allowing for another week to prepare.</p><p></p><p>The group gets set, Amastacia begins ensorcelling weapons to make them sharper, and storing them in everyone’s magical gloves so that the spell will not wear off. Other do research to look into how to kil vampires. Billy takes the time to scribe a see invisible spell into his books, while everyone else has potions of the same made.</p><p></p><p>The group, all raised and ready for battle, decides that a diversionary assault is I order. They have been slaughtered every time they went due to massive preparations on the enemy’s part, and feel if they attack once, those spells will get cast. They can then flee, and return a few hours later, when the most potent defenses have been wasted.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the group, Nuala has taken the stolen goods from William and sold many of them, while taking a powerful circlet to use herself. She has ordered several items from mages in Greyhawk City, Lopolla, and the Lands of Iuz, and many will be prepared by the time the party attacks. Additionally, she has enlisted the aid of a dark priest to erect a forbiddance upon the entryway to the Academy, to refuse admittance to all non-evil people and teleportation. The day of the group’s planned assault, she will be traveling from city to city picking up many of the items.</p><p></p><p>The day before the planned assault, Galrond and Billy teleport the group the swampy outskirts or the Skull City, and they take shelter in a mansion, where William casts many spells, extended and made to last at least 24 hours. The next morning, the group flies to the hilltop above the Academy’s doors, and Lanis shoots and kills a black-robed figure seen leave the Academy to the macabre circus tent outside.</p><p></p><p>The group charges in, only to find the area filled with billowing fog, and Amastacia unable to enter due to the Forbiddance. In a quick and mostly blind scuffle, they kill a couple of students, while Harrow, the Vampire Shugenja, engages the group. Clouding many minds with Confusion magic, he also turns himself invisible and awaits an opportunity to strike. Amastacia, confused, begins to wander away, while Lanis shoots Galrond at point blank range with his bow.</p><p></p><p>Seeing the situation, and knowing the alarm has already gone up, William gives the order to retreat, and moves to drag Amastacia back to the group. Meanwhile, Galrond continuously attempts to dispel the fog, and finally succeeds, teleporting away with Cristoph, Gundarag, and Kargur shortly after. William returns with Amastacia, and Billy teleports them out as a gout of unholy fire engulfs the party. Thanks to quick reflexes and Energy Immunity spells, they take very little damage, and return to camp wounded but unhurt. William drains a wand to ensure everyone is at full strength, and the group debates what to do, as the forbiddance destroyed their plan for a secondary assault ia teleportation.</p><p></p><p>They finally decide that Billy, Galrond, and Amastacia will teleport in and try to Dispel the Forbiddance, then teleport back out. They do so, and Billy manages to destroy the ward, then Galrond teleports them back to camp as the alarm is raised yet again.</p><p></p><p>Now all that remains is for the party to begin their final assault, hopefully strengthened by the fact that they have used considerably fewer magical resources than their foes have.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="James McMurray, post: 85060, member: 743"] Our weary band returned from the Black Academy beaten but not broken. Although some had fallen in battle, they were confident that they could soon be returned to the land of the living. Also, William Siege had yet to realize it, but many of his most potent items, including the Holy symbol he himself had created and consecrated to Heironious had been stolen by Nuala, Headmistress and old foe. In a daring hit and run raid, Teflon Billy and Galrond take time the next morning to teleport into the foyer of the Academy, free Whitefire from his prison of stone, and return to the Temple of Pelor in Greyhawk. Whitefire, seemingly shocked and confused, and looking somehow “gray” and “frayed along his edges” flles the templs to the street, and begins digging into the ground, crying for freedom. A few moments later, he stops and looks about partially calmed. “Where are we? How did we get here? I don’t feel safe, can we get to the Mansion soon?” He was referring of course, to Galrond’s Magical Mansion, which he creates nightly for the party to sleep in, safe from prying eyes and teleporting foes. “Of course, Galrdon replies, and beckons to the planes, who deliver the mansion’s doorway to him. The party enters and talks a bit, filling Whitefire in on what has occurred, and Teflon Billy leaves for some shopping (for both himself and others). That evening, watches are set, as our paranoid party fears reprisals, especially while many of their friends still lie dead. William had been Raised, but Cristoph and Kargur still needed tending to. Unfortunately, their preparations and defenses were seemingly smoke, as the next morning, William failed to come down for breakfast, which he normally provided as a Heroic Feast from Heironious. Investigating his room, Amastacia and Gundarag enter to find gore strewn all about, with a message written in blood on the wall: THE DIM TRIAD COMES FOR THEE. Atop the bed were three large burlap body bags, one of which, marked ‘William’ in blood, contained the corpse of their friend, his mouth sewn shut. The other two were marked Galrond and Kargur, but were thankfully empty. Pulling their friend from the bag, Amastacia and Gundarag alert the rest of the party, who try to figure out how the assassins entered the mansion, and discuss the only clue, a human sized boot-print in the blood, scraped clean before seemingly leaving the room. Wary, they give a full search of the mansion, but find no one, so they return to the temple with William’s body and pick up their friend Cristoph, who had perished in the previous fight. The priest agrees to raise William, but only if all other members of the party who had not previously agreed to the Geas would do so. They do, and the party returns to a new mansion, this one designed to allow the group to all sleep together in a common room. That night, as Whitefire, Amastacia, and Gundarag stand watch, Whitefire makes his move. Sauntering nonchalantly over to Galrond’s sleeping form, he lifts his arm high and throws it down again. The sound of breaking glass is the last noise heard, as magical silence engulfs the room. Moving with inhuman speed, he snaps his fingers and a flaming Rapier appears in his hand, to be instantly driven through Galrond’s throat. One short gurgle, and Galrond is no more. Turning to the rest, he prepares to defend himself, as Gundarag and Amastacia look on in shock. Whitefire tumbles out of Gundarag’s reach, and heads towards another body, intent on taking someone else’s life before they can be awoken. But Gundarg charges, kicking Teflon Billy as he passes, and strikes twice, hitting hard with his bastard sword, and driving Whitefire back. Amastacia also attacks, calling her hand crossbow from her magical glove, and shooting a holy bolt into Whitefire’s side. Whitefire, seeing the odds turn against him, attempts to dominate Gundarag, but his fledgling Vampiric powers are no match for the veteran warrior, and Whitefire turns to flee. Gundarag follws, and hits a solid blow again, while Amastacia fires another holy bolt. Whitefire seems to be standing perfectly still, then a flicker of speed and he is out of the way of the bolt. Billy meanwhile, is waking up, still clouded with sleep. Whitefire disappears from sight, but Amastacia, who had ensorcelled her eyes to be able to see the unseen during her watch, sees him head towards the hallway, while Gundarag swipes at the air where Whitefire once stood. Billy moves out of the area of silence, and prepares himself with spells for the battle he has been awoken to. Whitefire hides in the kitchen area, while Lanis and Cristoph are awakened. Lanis moves to search Galrond’s body, intent on protecting his gear in the hopes that they can revive him later. Cristoph also gives chase. Whitefire remains hidden though, until he sees a clear shot on Amastacia, and puts two arrows deep into her belly form behind. Staggered, Amastacia moves to try to cure herself, while Gundarag heads to the kitchen to kill the thing that harmed his wife. Cristoph follows Gundarag, and readies his net to strike if Whitefire moves towards him. Again outnumbered, Whitefire turns invisible, while Billy moves down the hallway to join the fray. However, Cristoph’s Magical Blade “Vigilance” grants him the ability to see invisible beings, and Whitefire is not as safe as he hopes. Meanwhile, Gundarag and Billy move into the kitchen, searching for Whitefire, who is soon found as he reappears and shoots Teflon Billy twice, nearly killing him. Gundarag charges, and drives his sword through Whitefire’s neck. As the vampire’s head rolls from his body, he turns to mist, and flees for the door to the outside world and the sunlit street beyond. The party follows, and Lanis and Cristoph head to the Temple to alert the priests. The high priest hears the warnings and cries of “Vampire!” and although puzzled, as it is 5:45 in the morning, he heads outside to investigate. Teflon Billy dispels the forces that allows Whitefire to remain gaseous, dropping him to the ground, where Gundarag swings at him wildly before Whitefire shifts form to that of a massive bat and turns to fly away. “Pelor, destroy this foul beast of the night with your Holy Power!” rings out, and the morning clouds part. A ray of sunlight falls from the sky, and although the magics which have protected him so far try to save him, Whitefire falls to the ground before the unstoppable power of the Sun god. Many thanks are made, and explanations given. The group finds a salve which, when identified, turns out to be a way for vampires to avoid the light of the sun for a time, and the priest seems very concerned. The party, knowing they must prepare, has Amastacia, their most people-friendly person, try to sway the priest into allowing an extension on their quest, that they might better prepare. After a moment of Starflower’s beautiful eyes and pleasing voice, he concedes, allowing for another week to prepare. The group gets set, Amastacia begins ensorcelling weapons to make them sharper, and storing them in everyone’s magical gloves so that the spell will not wear off. Other do research to look into how to kil vampires. Billy takes the time to scribe a see invisible spell into his books, while everyone else has potions of the same made. The group, all raised and ready for battle, decides that a diversionary assault is I order. They have been slaughtered every time they went due to massive preparations on the enemy’s part, and feel if they attack once, those spells will get cast. They can then flee, and return a few hours later, when the most potent defenses have been wasted. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the group, Nuala has taken the stolen goods from William and sold many of them, while taking a powerful circlet to use herself. She has ordered several items from mages in Greyhawk City, Lopolla, and the Lands of Iuz, and many will be prepared by the time the party attacks. Additionally, she has enlisted the aid of a dark priest to erect a forbiddance upon the entryway to the Academy, to refuse admittance to all non-evil people and teleportation. The day of the group’s planned assault, she will be traveling from city to city picking up many of the items. The day before the planned assault, Galrond and Billy teleport the group the swampy outskirts or the Skull City, and they take shelter in a mansion, where William casts many spells, extended and made to last at least 24 hours. The next morning, the group flies to the hilltop above the Academy’s doors, and Lanis shoots and kills a black-robed figure seen leave the Academy to the macabre circus tent outside. The group charges in, only to find the area filled with billowing fog, and Amastacia unable to enter due to the Forbiddance. In a quick and mostly blind scuffle, they kill a couple of students, while Harrow, the Vampire Shugenja, engages the group. Clouding many minds with Confusion magic, he also turns himself invisible and awaits an opportunity to strike. Amastacia, confused, begins to wander away, while Lanis shoots Galrond at point blank range with his bow. Seeing the situation, and knowing the alarm has already gone up, William gives the order to retreat, and moves to drag Amastacia back to the group. Meanwhile, Galrond continuously attempts to dispel the fog, and finally succeeds, teleporting away with Cristoph, Gundarag, and Kargur shortly after. William returns with Amastacia, and Billy teleports them out as a gout of unholy fire engulfs the party. Thanks to quick reflexes and Energy Immunity spells, they take very little damage, and return to camp wounded but unhurt. William drains a wand to ensure everyone is at full strength, and the group debates what to do, as the forbiddance destroyed their plan for a secondary assault ia teleportation. They finally decide that Billy, Galrond, and Amastacia will teleport in and try to Dispel the Forbiddance, then teleport back out. They do so, and Billy manages to destroy the ward, then Galrond teleports them back to camp as the alarm is raised yet again. Now all that remains is for the party to begin their final assault, hopefully strengthened by the fact that they have used considerably fewer magical resources than their foes have. [/QUOTE]
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