Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 2210965" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 381For 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.</blockquote>

Verification