Shackled City Epic: "Vengeance" (story concluded)
- Thread starter Lazybones
- Start date
Neverwinter Knight
First Post
I doubt that this will be the solution of this dilema. Also, I wonder how Lazybones will decide upon the fate of the Shackleborn, which is different than the description of the original module, I hope!Dungannon said:
And also - WOW. One/two rounds for old big bad & ugly - I'd never have guessed.
Having interrogated the assassin really payed off there, too.
Broccli_Head
Explorer
so Arun and Hodge didn't even get a whack in?
lol
lol
Loincloth of Armour
First Post
Lazybones said:
To add to that lesson:
Remember kids, if you're evil, remember to taunt the heroes from behind the safety of your Mislead spell. Nothing ruins a day faster than having the goody-too-shoes inturupt your Spiel-of-Evil.
On the technical side: this last battle was extremely anti-climatic. As a player, I'd go, "What a jip!" As a reader, I say, "And outsider-boy's role in this story was what?"
The characters should earn their victory through hard-fought/by-the-skin-of-their-teeth/my-goddess-how-can-you-be-that-lucky action.
Unless someone/something comes around to pwn the party after this, we're going to feel slighted.
I suggest dropping the mountain on them. Everyone loves load-bearing bad guys.
Lazybones
Adventurer
I'd agree, if that battle was the climax of Book IX.Loincloth of Armour said:
I don't think you'll feel slighted.
I think I'll need to double-post to set up a proper Friday cliffhanger. So I'll post 380 now, and 381 later this evening.
* * * * *
Chapter 380
Benzan knelt on the hard stone floor, his body shaking. The eerie illumination cast by the surrounding lava flows framed his features with a diabolical glow that seemed to highlight the faint hints of his mixed ancestry. He’d always been able to pass for human, unlike his daughter, but at this moment, in the depths of his grief, he seemed more alien than ever before.
Directly above him was the soulcage containing the dead body of his daughter. Her friends and family stood arrayed behind the tiefling, offering quiet support and witness. A short distance away lay the sagging corpse of Dyr’ryd, a hissing sound occasionally rising from it as runnels of demodand blood trailing from the decapitated body found their way into the surrounding lava streams.
For several minutes they were silent, respecting the man’s grief and each sharing it. Dana stood closest, but she knew the man better than anyone ever had, knew that he needed to be alone, at least for the moment. After a time, Cal spoke. “We have to go. We must find the failsafe device that Wiejeron spoke of.”
“Go,” Benzan said. “I will wait until you are clear, and then destroy the Tree.”
“Benzan, we can’t…” Lok began.
“I know what you are going to say. But Cauldron is already destroyed; everyone who can get away has already done so. Isn’t it more important to be certain? What if Wiejeron was lying, and while you’re looking for something that doesn’t exist, the ritual is completed? There’s only one way to be certain that this is done, now.”
“I share your conviction, and if it comes to that, I will help you destroy the Tree,” Arun said. “But a cataclysmic eruption would mean certain death for the refugees from Cauldron, and suffering for many thousands more. We must seek out what options remain, swiftly, before taking the ultimate action.”
“He’s right,” Dana said. “And if the Tree must be destroyed, we’ll all do it together. Its destruction may disrupt the interference that prevents teleportation magic to function, which would give us a chance to escape.”
“I was thinking, that room with the summoning diagram looked like it might have belonged to the wizardess, the one that Wiejeron mentioned,” Mole said. “Maybe we can find some clues there.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Cal said. “I would suggest we start the search there.”
“Benzan?” Dana asked.
The tiefling rose, and slide his sword into the sheath at his waist. Deliberately, he turned to them, an iron look in his eyes.
“Let’s go.”
The adventurers hastened back through the complex to the chamber of Freija Doorgan, where they proceeded to tear the place apart in a hurried but intense search. Mole found a secret door near the summoning diagram that opened onto a small hidden workshop cluttered with stone tables and shelves along the perimeter of the room, along with a weathered desk in one corner. Everything was laid out with precision, and there was not a speck of dust to be found anywhere within the room. A small fountain full of bubbling lava provided heat and light. After a quick examination Cal reported that the materials here were used in the creation of various magical items, possibly including the evil rings that each of the members of the Thirteen wore. They had six of those rings now, stored in a velvet bag tucked deep inside Cal’s handy haversack.
Mole found a hidden drawer in the desk and produced a folio of papers that she quickly shared with Cal.
“Abyssal,” he said, examining the ugly script that covered the parchment sheets. The gnome had permanently empowered himself with the ability to comprehend languages, so he had no difficulty understanding the text. He read quickly while the others finished their examination of the room.
“No other exits,” Benzan reported. “What do you have there?”
Cal held up a hand to forestall him, while he continued reading. His augmented intelligence allowed him to grasp the content of the documents faster than most scholars, but it was still nearly a full minute more before he responded.
“We’re looking for something called a ‘dispersal collar,’” he reported. “Doorgan constructed it at Regidin’s direction to be able to abort the ritual, if necessary.”
“And where is this collar now?” Arun asked.
Cal frowned. “The only reference to its location is here. The entry reads that it has been given for safekeeping, to “that fiery beast from Gehenna.”
“That doesn’t sound promising,” Lok said.
Arun and Dannel exchanged a look. “The lava cavern,” the elf said.
“I think I be needin’ a drink,” Hodge said.
Lazybones
Adventurer
Chapter 381
For the second time the heavy stone portals swung open, but this time the Heroes of Cauldron, along with their new allies, stepped forward into Moltenwing’s lair.
The cavern was much as they’d left it, a vast open space maybe sixty feet wide and more than twice that in depth; it was difficult to make out the far edge with all of the smoke and haze from the roiling sea of lava that filled the room in between. There were a number of stone “islands” situated across the chamber, but they were surrounded by stretches of lava too wide for most of them to hazard leaps across. The ledge they were on was only about fifteen feet deep and maybe twice that across, gently sloping down to a crumbling edge that was only a few feet above the surface of the bubbling lava.
For a long moment they simply regarded the chamber in watchful silence, looking for any sign of danger.
“This is so obviously a bad idea that I’m not going to say anything,” Benzan said.
“Clearly the Cagewrights picked a good place to hide their object,” Cal noted.
“Where’s the ‘fiery beast,’ do you think?” Mole asked.
“Gold piece gets you five it’s under the lava,” Dannel said. “Probably knows we’re here, and probably is just waiting for us to make our move.”
“From the description in the notes, I doubt that the collar would survive long-term immersion under the lava,” Cal said. “It’s likely hidden somewhere else in the chamber.”
“Detect magic scan?” Benzan suggested.
Cal nodded. “That was my first thought, and I’ve already given the room a quick scan. Unfortunately it’s either shielded—perhaps in a deep crevice that we cannot see from here—or situated on the far side of the chamber, beyond the range of the spell.”
“So what you’re saying is, we’re going to have to go out there,” Arun said.
“You can fly, right?” Hodge said to Lok. “Why not just scoot out there an’ take a look, eh?”
The genasi shook his head. “That was Dana’s magic, and the spell is only useable once per day.”
“I can go,” Mole said. “The islands are close enough for me to make the jumps.” Somehow the gnome managed to look frightened and excited at the same time. She’d actually taken a few steps toward the edge of the lava lake before Cal stopped her.
“Wait. Dana?”
The mystic wanderer regarded the lava field with an intent expression. The way that the ember glow from the superheated magma shone over her pale features, she looked eerily like the succubus she’d imitated earlier through the power of Cal’s veil spell. Finally, she spoke.
“I will try.”
* * * * *
Their names were Ik-tr’k, Noxtes, and Calimansyes, and they were not that enthusiastic about Dana’s commands.
Nevertheless, it was obvious that the mephits conjured by Dana’s spell were in their element. They were a varied lot, each with a unique form and features, but all united in their affinity to heat and flame. The other companions gave them a wide berth as Dana quickly related her instructions. The mephits were not especially intelligent, and the summoning spell of limited duration, so she was brief and clear in expressing what she wanted. Despite whatever misgivings they might have had about being used as proxies in an obviously dangerous situation, the creatures were bound by the power of her spell, so once she finished issuing her commands, and pointed out across the room, they hastened to obey. The magma mephit dove into the lava pool, instructed to seek out any threats lurking within, while the other two, a fire mephit and a steam mephit, flapped their tiny wings and flew out across the room, with orders to look for hiding places that might conceal the dispersal collar that they sought.
“It looks like there’s a big ledge there, on the far side of the room,” Dannel said, advancing almost to the edge of the bubbling sea of hot lava, peering through the thick haze of smoke and noxious gases that filled the room.
“Careful, Dannel,” Dana cautioned. “A bath in that would not be pleasant.”
The elf nodded, and turned back to his viewing. The mephits, advancing cautiously, were about halfway across the room, now. “Odd… I can just make out the back wall of the ledge… it looks strange, almost like golden striations in the surface.”
“Maybe it’s a vein of ore,” Cal suggested.
Arun abruptly looked around. “Where’s Mole?”
“Invisible again,” Hodge suggested. “Probably hidin’ somewheres ‘round ‘ere.”
“No…” Cal said, alarmed, looking out across the lava maze.
“Mole, no!” Dannel said, realizing what all of them had. “Get back here!”
But before any of them could do anything further, there was a tinny screech as the magma mephit burst from the lava toward the far end of the chamber. Its wings flapped madly as it tried to climb into the air, but it had gained barely ten feet of clearance before the lava below it erupted.
A huge form emerged from the lava, sending a spray of molten droplets across the far side of the room. As it unfolded they companions could see that it was an enormous dragon, its dense brown hide glowing with heat, its wingspan easily thirty feet across as it spread them out upon the surface of the molten rock, allowing it to lift its upper body and long neck high up into the air after its hopeless prey. Its jaws spread wide, wide enough to simply absorb the desperate mephit, which disappeared into that cavernous maw before the jaws snapped shut, crushing it with obvious finality.
Moltenwing had appeared, at last, to greet its visitors.
For the second time the heavy stone portals swung open, but this time the Heroes of Cauldron, along with their new allies, stepped forward into Moltenwing’s lair.
The cavern was much as they’d left it, a vast open space maybe sixty feet wide and more than twice that in depth; it was difficult to make out the far edge with all of the smoke and haze from the roiling sea of lava that filled the room in between. There were a number of stone “islands” situated across the chamber, but they were surrounded by stretches of lava too wide for most of them to hazard leaps across. The ledge they were on was only about fifteen feet deep and maybe twice that across, gently sloping down to a crumbling edge that was only a few feet above the surface of the bubbling lava.
For a long moment they simply regarded the chamber in watchful silence, looking for any sign of danger.
“This is so obviously a bad idea that I’m not going to say anything,” Benzan said.
“Clearly the Cagewrights picked a good place to hide their object,” Cal noted.
“Where’s the ‘fiery beast,’ do you think?” Mole asked.
“Gold piece gets you five it’s under the lava,” Dannel said. “Probably knows we’re here, and probably is just waiting for us to make our move.”
“From the description in the notes, I doubt that the collar would survive long-term immersion under the lava,” Cal said. “It’s likely hidden somewhere else in the chamber.”
“Detect magic scan?” Benzan suggested.
Cal nodded. “That was my first thought, and I’ve already given the room a quick scan. Unfortunately it’s either shielded—perhaps in a deep crevice that we cannot see from here—or situated on the far side of the chamber, beyond the range of the spell.”
“So what you’re saying is, we’re going to have to go out there,” Arun said.
“You can fly, right?” Hodge said to Lok. “Why not just scoot out there an’ take a look, eh?”
The genasi shook his head. “That was Dana’s magic, and the spell is only useable once per day.”
“I can go,” Mole said. “The islands are close enough for me to make the jumps.” Somehow the gnome managed to look frightened and excited at the same time. She’d actually taken a few steps toward the edge of the lava lake before Cal stopped her.
“Wait. Dana?”
The mystic wanderer regarded the lava field with an intent expression. The way that the ember glow from the superheated magma shone over her pale features, she looked eerily like the succubus she’d imitated earlier through the power of Cal’s veil spell. Finally, she spoke.
“I will try.”
* * * * *
Their names were Ik-tr’k, Noxtes, and Calimansyes, and they were not that enthusiastic about Dana’s commands.
Nevertheless, it was obvious that the mephits conjured by Dana’s spell were in their element. They were a varied lot, each with a unique form and features, but all united in their affinity to heat and flame. The other companions gave them a wide berth as Dana quickly related her instructions. The mephits were not especially intelligent, and the summoning spell of limited duration, so she was brief and clear in expressing what she wanted. Despite whatever misgivings they might have had about being used as proxies in an obviously dangerous situation, the creatures were bound by the power of her spell, so once she finished issuing her commands, and pointed out across the room, they hastened to obey. The magma mephit dove into the lava pool, instructed to seek out any threats lurking within, while the other two, a fire mephit and a steam mephit, flapped their tiny wings and flew out across the room, with orders to look for hiding places that might conceal the dispersal collar that they sought.
“It looks like there’s a big ledge there, on the far side of the room,” Dannel said, advancing almost to the edge of the bubbling sea of hot lava, peering through the thick haze of smoke and noxious gases that filled the room.
“Careful, Dannel,” Dana cautioned. “A bath in that would not be pleasant.”
The elf nodded, and turned back to his viewing. The mephits, advancing cautiously, were about halfway across the room, now. “Odd… I can just make out the back wall of the ledge… it looks strange, almost like golden striations in the surface.”
“Maybe it’s a vein of ore,” Cal suggested.
Arun abruptly looked around. “Where’s Mole?”
“Invisible again,” Hodge suggested. “Probably hidin’ somewheres ‘round ‘ere.”
“No…” Cal said, alarmed, looking out across the lava maze.
“Mole, no!” Dannel said, realizing what all of them had. “Get back here!”
But before any of them could do anything further, there was a tinny screech as the magma mephit burst from the lava toward the far end of the chamber. Its wings flapped madly as it tried to climb into the air, but it had gained barely ten feet of clearance before the lava below it erupted.
A huge form emerged from the lava, sending a spray of molten droplets across the far side of the room. As it unfolded they companions could see that it was an enormous dragon, its dense brown hide glowing with heat, its wingspan easily thirty feet across as it spread them out upon the surface of the molten rock, allowing it to lift its upper body and long neck high up into the air after its hopeless prey. Its jaws spread wide, wide enough to simply absorb the desperate mephit, which disappeared into that cavernous maw before the jaws snapped shut, crushing it with obvious finality.
Moltenwing had appeared, at last, to greet its visitors.
Neverwinter Knight
First Post
I had hoped the companions would still be in time, but I forgot how hard you can be on your characters, Lazybones.Lazybones said:
Having to face Moltenwing on his own terrain, I know why you gave them a little break with Dyr'ryd. Also, as all gamers should have experienced at some point or another, sometimes the dice really do favour you!
Lazybones
Adventurer
I'll expand more on Zenna's fate in a later update.Neverwinter Knight said:
* * * * *
Chpater 382
Charmed by the summoning of the mephits—Zenna had called them before, she recalled—Mole quickly decided that she wasn’t going to wait on the sidelines while events developed. She had no doubt in the ability of her friends to deal with the “fiery beast” described in Freija’s journal, but she also knew that their success might depend upon them getting that collar-thing and getting out of here, fast.
That was true, but there was also something else that drew her forward. The uneven sea of lava, with the jagged stone islands stretching out across the cavern, presented her with a challenge. A difficult, dangerous challenge; the sort that she wasn’t very good at resisting.
Mole Calloran wasn’t a fool. She knew that a dire threat lurked in this place, probably even now moving to strike at them from beneath the shelter of the magma expanse. But she was confident in her abilities, had survived virtually unscratched dangers that had nearly destroyed her companions. She’d ridden a dragon, had taken down three of the Cagewrights herself. She was a shadow, a zephyr, one of the best-damned rogues in the Realms.
Invisible, silent, she ran across the platform and leapt out across the lava. Augmented by her magical boots, she flew across superheated molten death. The gap between the starting ledge and her goal—a long, slender finger of uneven rock about eight feet wide, and twenty feet long—was just under twenty feet, and she cleared it easily. Landing smoothly, conserving her forward momentum, she kept running to the end of the first island. The next one was nearly thirty-five feet away, but there was a small outcropping of stone jutting from the lava field near the halfway point of the gap. The outcropping was only about two feet across, but it was her target, and she did not hesitate, leaping across the gap. Her aim was flawless, and as she hit the outcropping she sprang forward into another leap, somersaulting in mid-air as she arced toward the larger island. Below her, the lava grew closer as her inertia faded, hot bubbles of air popping through the surface of the molten rock as they rose from below, as if to welcome her lethal immersion within.
But then, there was solid rock beneath her feet, and she landed smoothly into a crouch, her forward momentum spent. Glancing behind her, she saw that there were six inches of exposed stone behind her feet, and then only lava a foot below the upper edge of the rock island where she stood.
Breathing heavily, exhilarated, she looked back at her friends. The only bad part was that none of them had seen the deed, but as Dannel called out after her, she knew they’d recognized her absence.
Looking up, she saw the mephits flying above her, just a short distance ahead. She’d covered just over half the distance across the room in her leaps. She looked ahead, at the far ledge now almost within reach, and started forward, looking for the best route to reach that destination.
But she never got there. Even as she took her first step, the magma mephit appeared from the lava ahead, followed by the impressive figure of the pyroclastic dragon, Moltenwing.
Mole just stood there for a moment in stunned amazement as the dragon effortlessly destroyed the magma mephit. The other two mephits had drawn back in sudden alarm, but not quickly enough; the dragon had driven itself forward to the nearest outcropping of rock—thankfully, not the same one that Mole was perched on!—and pulled itself out of the clinging magma with a speed and agility that surprised the gnome. As she watched, Mole became aware of buzzing shafts lancing the air around the dragon, missiles fired from the weapons of her companions. The part of her brain that was registering cohesive thoughts studied the impacts, most of which glanced harmlessly off the dragon’s body. Armor, then; a hide stronger than steel plate, or a castle bulwark. It likely had some sort of magical protections inherent as well, she thought.
Her brain and body were starting to work together again, and she crouched low, her body pressed into the rock beneath her, willing herself to be silent, unseen. The dragon launched itself into the air, ignoring the continuing barrage of fire. A black ray glanced off its torso, but it seemed to dissolve as it impacted the dragon’s body. Spell resistance, she thought, not really surprised.
Her hand dropped to her small crossbow, but her mind dismissed that thought as ludicrous. Getting back to the others was the logical course, but she would have to get a running start to have a reasonable chance of clearing that long gap at her back.
Above her, the dragon lashed out and took out the steam mephit much as it had the first. The fire mephit was backpedaling as fast as it could fly in the opposite direction, but the dragon almost casually flicked its long tail out behind it, and smote it a devastating blow that knocked it down into the lava, its little body broken. The drake seemed capable of easily coordinating its actions against multiple opponents, and it had a purely ungodly reach.
Hovering, the dragon turned toward the entry to its cavern, and the companions gathered on the ledge at the edge of the flowing lava. More missiles impacted it, and Mole saw that several arrows drove deep into its hide. Dannel and Benzan were starting to have an impact… but the missiles looked damned tiny in the hide of the massive beast.
The dragon flew over her, and Mole froze. Even to one able to penetrate her invisibility, she was but the tiniest bump upon the stone island.
But the dragon suddenly stopped in mid-air, the beating of its wings casting a driving wind across her shelter.
Mole looked up, and met the dragon’s eyes. In that instant she knew what it saw her to be, knew what she was. A tiny, insignificant thief, trying to steal its treasure.
The dragon’s jaws opened.
Mole heard a yell from across the cavern. Her name. She tensed, ready to dodge. She’d avoided explosions, spells, even dragonbreath…
She was quicksilver, uncatchable.
But the dragon did not disgorge a cone of fire, nor any other attack she could evade. Instead it breathed an ultrafocused stream of pure sonic energy, a devastating pulse that stabbed unerringly at its target.
The gnome did not even have a chance to scream as the blast slammed into her body, and disintegrated her.
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