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: 2257093" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 393“Take cover!” Cal urged, as the companions hid in the deep shadows along the chamber walls.  Dana, still lost in her summoning, was heedless to the danger, but Benzan paused to make her once more invisible with his wand, before refreshing the magic upon himself as well. Dannel ran vertically down the wall before leaping into a shadowed nest between two uneven slabs of stone.  Even as he landed lightly in his chosen position, the companions became aware of a dim buzzing noise that rapidly grew louder.  Something flashed above them quickly and then was gone, fading as quickly as it had come. “What was that?” Hodge said.  “Half-orc mercenaries, mounted on spider eaters,” Dannel said.  “There were only two, but I caught sight of others on the far side of the ruin.  Apparently they conduct regular patrols over the area.”“They’re going to make it harder to get further in,” Lok commented. “Once Dana is done, we’ll go straight for the spire,” Cal said.  “I’ll handle any conversation; remember that I can understand any spoken language.”“With all due respect, bluffing isn’t exactly your strong point,” Benzan noted.“While I will concede that your tongue can be silver, my friend, your foot is so often in your mouth that it interferes with your ability to…”“Um, maybe Dana should do the talking,” Lok said diplomatically.  “She always seems to get what she wants.”“You know,” Benzan replied, “After all these years, I still can’t tell when you’re needling me…”Hodge sidled up to Arun, while the others were quietly debating.  “I thought they ‘ad everythin’ planned out in advance?”  the dwarf whispered. Arun shrugged.  “As always, when the enemy appears, the plan usually explodes.  Just pick a bad guy and start hacking.”Hodge nodded.  “Aye, that be some advice I can follow.”A flare of silver light interrupted their quiet conversations and drew their attention back around to Dana.  The priestess was visible once again, kneeling on a bare patch of stone, her lips still moving in nearly silent prayer as she invoked the power of her patron to open a conduit between their plane and the higher realms of Good.  The light opened into a vertical slash that broadened until a tall figure stepped through, at which point it quickly dimmed and vanished. The newcomer was a perfectly-proportioned, hairless woman with pale green skin, and shimmering white wings folded across her back.  She overshadowed all of them at nearly nine feet tall, and wore glistening, form-fitting attire formed of silvery scales that seemed more like a second skin than a suit of armor.  The hilt of a greatsword protruded over her left shoulder, and as she looked down at them, each of the companions felt a sense of awe and wonder.  “I have come, priestess,” the planetar said, her voice melodic and soothing, but with a hint of steel to it.  Naturally she could easily see through Cal’s veil; no mere glamour or figment would suffice to betray one such as this. “You honor me with your service,” Dana said, rising to her feet, smiling at the celestial.  “We are engaged in a deadly struggle against a potent force for evil…”“I know of your enemies,” the planetar responded.  “You may address me as Tzadkiel, the Bringer of Justice.”Dana drew out a dazzling blue sapphire that seemed to glow with a faint inner light.  “Per the terms of the Compact, I offer for your service this stone, infused with my own…”“The Compact requires that I accept payment for my service on this plane,” the celestial interrupted, cutting her off again.  “I set my price at one piece of copper, of any of the currency forms of this world.”Dana looked confused for a moment. “My price is one copper piece,” the planetar repeated, and something powerful shone in her eyes; had she been a mortal creature, a viewer would have called it a barely-contained rage.  In the planetar, it was something stronger, and even the veterans in the group quailed somewhat at its intensity.  “Do you accept the bargain?”“Here, I’ve got one,” Mole said, materializing beside Dana, offering her a copper coin.  “It’s my good luck piece.”Dana took the coin and handed it to the planetar.  “The bargain is struck,” the celestial intoned, drawing out the massive sword slung across her back.  “Yer know, I be startin’ to see the advantage o’ bringin’ a cleric along on these outin’s,” Hodge whispered to Arun. The paladin did not reply; his thoughts were on what might have been, had a certain young woman been allowed to grow into her full potential. The planetar took the lead, heading immediately toward the far exit.  “We are going for a more stealthy approach,” Cal suggested, hurrying to keep up with her long strides.  The planetar looked down at the gnome, who looked insignificant in the lee of the angelic entity.  “I will defer to you, then, but do not linger long; the Cagewrights have not been idle, and once more events build to a head.”  Without additional preamble, she vanished, accompanied by a rush of air as she lifted into air on her powerful wings. “It would be so much easier if they would just tell us what they know, damn it,” Benzan said.  “Part of it is the Compact, and believe me, you should be grateful they take it so seriously,” Dana replied.  “It is one of the things keeping Faerûn from being turned into another Oinos, or Acheron, wasteland battlefields for outsider factions.  But more than that, often times they seem mysterious and cryptic because they just don’t know the answers.  Celestials may seem powerful, and they are, but they are not omniscient.”“But they serve the gods directly,” Arun said. “Yes.  And do the soldiers of a king know all that their liege does?”The paladin frowned at the analogy, but didn’t say anything further as they gathered their gear and pressed deeper into the ruin. The exit led through another ruined chamber, then opened onto a broad avenue that gave them a renewed view of the great shattered stone, even more impressive now that they were closer.  The fog had grown thicker here, cloying around the walls, masking the farther outlines of the ruin behind a murky haze.  “Stay close,” Cal suggested. No sooner than they had all emerged from the chamber into the courtyard, they heard a loud baying that seemed to echo from everywhere at once.  Two forms materialized out of the fog, massive dire wolves that slavered as they growled at the intruders.  Behind it they could see an even larger form take on distinctive shape as it stepped out of the shadow of the spire, resolving into a massive hill giant.  Above them came the blare of a horn, followed quickly by the familiar buzz that heralded the return of the mercenaries upon their spider eater mounts. “Looks like we’ve found the welcoming committee,” Benzan said.</blockquote>

Verification