Shadow of the Spider Moon

[NoOneofConsequence]

I've decided to start chronicling the adventurers of our Shadow of the Spider Moon (spelljammer) campaign. The story is told from the point of view of my new character, Prentice Ash - a level 6 Psychic Warrior. It's written in journal form. I hope everyone enjoys it.

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My name is Prentice Ash. My mother named me Prentice, because she said that I should never cease from learning. I’m not convinced that it wasn’t a joke. Ash is the name that I earned for myself in combat, my battle name. My comrades in the first mercenary company I served with called me Ash because of my dirty, grey hair. My knack for survival in impossible situations caused one of my commanders to remark, “The fire of war leaves nothing but Ash.”
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The Verdant Coast is hot in the dry season, and the sun beat down upon us, when my new companions and I finally emerged from the jungle. The sight of Fareach was a genuine pleasure, its painted and gabled roofs shining brightly under the tropical sky. After a year in a cave, held prisoner by lizard folk, the colonial city seemed like a bustling metropolis to me.

For the next three weeks we lived high on the treasure we took from the lizard folk, as well as from Mr Smart and his pompous half-elven hireling, Thurolust. Our tales of the ship crashed in the jungle and the Temple of Ardreth give us no shortage of drinking partners. The people of Fareach have no knowledge of spelljamming and they scoffed at each telling of a ship stuck twenty feet up a tree, twenty leagues from the coast. I guess that ignorance is bliss.

The gold was running dry when a merchant named Nataleod, from Holly Canal, sought me out with a proposition. Stories of the group’s battle with the lizard folk tribe had reached Holly Canal, a smaller settlement six hundred miles down the coast. Nataleod claimed that he and the local merchants were having some trouble with the lizard folk population in Holly Canal, and he wanted to pay us to help sort it out. He offered four hundred guilders a piece for the job, as well as the cost of the ship’s fare down and back. He assured me that it should only take a day or two in Holly Canal, with a possibility of further work, if this first job went well.

While I was arranging a meeting with my new companions I was approached by a tall woman with a cascade of long red hair and dressed in leather armour that looked like it was made of tree leaves sewn together. She said that her name was Veridian Pax and that she understood that I was a part of a company of adventurers who might be willing to take on another hand. I never say no to another blade. Besides, a short, simple job, like Holly Canal promised to be, is a great way to test new blood. I needn’t have worried, as it turned out.

When we gathered again at the Reef and Sheet, I outlined the job and introduced Pax to the crew. It turned out Pax was known to many of our company, having adventured with them in the past. In fact, she was more widely trusted than I was. After a little discussion, and some well-brewed ale, it was decided to accept the job and take ship to Holly Canal. Only Celaro, the roguish halfling who always seemed to know more than he was letting on, would not be with us; he was chasing down some old friend.

After spelljamming, ocean-bound travel always seems as rough as a pony trap over open ground. This sea journey was better than most, with the steady easterly giving a swift, smooth journey. The vessel was a trader skiff called the Coast Rose and she seemed almost to fly across the shallow bays of the Verdant Coast. Only one incident of note occurred during the journey, when two elven warbirds flew overhead. Flying at height, I was unable to make out their markings, but regardless of who they were, their presence boded ill for the treaty that protected the continent. The days of peaceful isolation are surely doomed.

As the Coast Rose turned west into the inlet of the Criaki River we caught our first glimpse of Holly Canal. Or, more specifically, of the lizard folk settlement just east of Holly Canal. It was collection of domed huts, made from wattle and daub, with a pale local mud. The settlement housed the indentured lizard folk workers who did virtually all the menial work in Holly Canal. Strictly speaking, the settlement had no name, but the locals called it Scalytown.

An hour’s sail upstream brought us to Holly Canal, and as the Coast Rose put into port we could see the extraordinary feature which gave the town its name. Running almost directly north from the docks, in a perfectly straight line, was a canal of magnificent construction. The canal predates the settlement itself and is fed by an extensive network of ancient sewers. Like the canal, the sewers are superbly constructed and, as such, the town is undoubtedly the cleanest settlement of any size in the entire of the Verdant Coast colonies. The canal goes deep inland, over three leagues, and so the town of Holly Canal enjoys much more trade and wealth than most towns its size. The town’s name derives from the wild, tropical holly bushes which grow along the steep banks of the canal, forming a natural barrier to any amphibious predators which may seek to enter the settlement from the canal.

Arriving on the docks, the company quickly made its way to the warehouse of Nataleod, which sat right on dockside. Once there, in the cool shade of the Nataleod’s office, the merchant outlined his particular problem and what he wanted us to do about it. He told us that there was some kind of holy man among the lizard folk who was stirring up unrest. The holy man was causing a major disruption to the trade in the town, since the main of the dock workers were lizard folk and were often not available to work, because of the holy man’s sermons.

Many of us were sympathetic to the lizard folk at this point, our previous battles with their race not withstanding, and Harmony the druid and Kakita Kai, a dai-sho warrior, both suspected that Nataleod was not telling us the whole story. However, Nataleod seemed quite genuine. He explained that other members of the ruling council had advocated resolving the problem by force but that he had persuaded them to allow him a chance to find a peaceful solution. He had called upon us to help because of our recent fame in dealing with lizard folk. It appeared that he had not heard the whole story of our battles near the Temple of Ardreth.

He explained that what he hoped that we would do was to go to Scalytown and locate the lizard folk holy man. Once we had done that he wanted us to persuade him to meet with Nataleod. Apparently it had been difficult to locate the holy man previously and he hoped that our familiarity with lizard folk culture would make us more suited to being go-betweens. After a small discussion, we accepted the job and then sat down in the shade of the warehouse’s courtyard to await the cool of the evening. Towards late afternoon, Nataleod’s foreman, a young man named Maglorix, came to show us the way to Scalytown.

As we walked the west bound road through the dunes, Kuslamarka (“Mark”) scouted out to the side of us, keeping our flank protected. In spite of his best efforts though, the sparse dune grass could not hide even his small form. His cloaked head bobbed back and forth in its peculiar way, crossbow at the ready.

During our journey we learned from Maglorix that he knew how to speak a little of the Draconic creole which was the native dialect in Scalytown. He said that by and large Scalies were never dangerous, but that since the coming of the holy man, the city watch no longer patrolled Scalytown after dark and that he himself would not accompany us into the settlement. He would wait on the outskirts and when we located the holy man, we were to send him word so that he could go and fetch Nataleod to a meeting.

Entering Scalytown, we found the outskirts almost completely deserted. Proceeding to the meeting area in the middle we found the entire population seated together on the ground. They were humming, or moaning, in a vaguely sibilant way, while a single lizard man stood before them, speaking in Draconic. The entire group seemed peaceful and were not offended by our presence. The preacher spoke of all mortals being children of the cosmos, free to strive under the sun. This was the firebrand holy man we were sent to talk to, yet none of his words were the least bit seditious or inflammatory (several of our group could speak Draconic, though the local dialect was a little troublesome).

When the sermon was over the lizard folk dispersed peacefully and returned to their homes for their evening meal. We approached the holy man, who greeted us and invited us to sit with him in the front of his tent. From him we learned that Nataleod’s story had not been entirely accurate. For the past several months there had been attacks in Scalytown by some unspecified force. Whatever was making the attacks only came at night. It left no tracks or markings and carried off its victims leaving neither blood nor any other sign of struggle. It had even taken lizard folk from their huts as they slept. The population had sent the holy man as a representative to the ruling council to seek help from the city watch. The council had refused to help and so the population of Scalytown became less inclined to leave their homes to work at nights, since they were afraid of losing relatives in their absence. The holy man now led them daily in prayers for deliverance and peace.

We told the holy man about Nataleod’s desire for a meeting and he agreed. We sent Mark to tell Maglorix to set up a meeting and then we agreed to stay and keep watch over the village, in case the “force” showed up that night.

Mark gave the message to Maglorix and then followed at a discrete distance to see if Nataleod was on the level. Soon after Maglorix entered Nataleod’s private estate, a curtained palanquin left the estate and headed towards the canal, away from the direction of Scalytown. Mark tried to follow the palanquin, but soon lost it in the unfamiliar streets, crowded as they were with night market patrons. In the hope of perhaps finding the palanquin again, Mark headed to the canal. He didn’t see the palanquin, but did observe that the sewer openings in the canal walls were large and in excellent condition.

Returning to Scalytown, Mark related the results of his investigations and the party hunkered down to wait, happy to give Nataleod the benefit of the doubt, but becoming increasingly suspicious.

A short while later, there was a terrible scream from inside the holy man’s tiny hut. Harmony, who was resting beside the hut rushed in to see a hole in the floor, into which the holy man’s body had been obviously dragged. Before the hole could close, she transformed herself into the shape of constrictor snake and slithered part the way down the shaft to investigate.

The rest of the party stood at the ready, waiting to respond to any danger. Danger came in the form of an insectoid beast, which erupted from the ground beneath Aria, the beautiful, but flighty, half-elven bard. Caught in the claws of an umber hulk, Aria was almost torn to pieces in a single instant, but the creature instead flung her to the ground like a bleeding doll.

We all turned to face the creature and, looking into it eyes, I suddenly found it hard to think. I stood dumbfounded as Mark tried to put a safe distance between himself and the umber hulk. The beast was swift, though, and its claw raked Mark’s scaly back. He turned and fired a crossbow bolt straight at the beast. Pax, wielding her spiked chain like a deadly iron serpent, charged at Harmony, obviously confused by the hulk’s dire gaze, and struck the shape shifting druid with a whipping blow. In my confusion I took Pax for an enemy – after all, she was attacking Harmony – and fired on her with my Kolter Gorgon. Thankfully the musket bullet went astray, but my shot gave Pax some pause and she ceased attacking our companion.

In the meanwhile, Kakita Kai and Telara, our halfling ranger, maintained a steady stream of arrow fire at the beast. However, when it became clear that the beast might charge them, Kakita threw down his bow and with a piercing battle cry, drew forth his katana and charged the beast. His swift, downward stroke was brutal and the hulk staggered from the combined damage of Telara’s arrows, Mark’s quarrels and Kakita’s blade. It dove beneath the sands like a swimmer beneath the waves, in full retreat.

With the beast gone, the effects of its gaze soon faded. Harmony caused some consternation when she emerged from the holy man’s hut still in her snake form, but she shifted back to her human form before any further trouble occurred. After tending to Aria’s wounds, the party paused to consider what our next action should be.

 

[Cyronax]

Hey NoOneofConsequence, nice start! Your character (great name btw) and adventures seem interesting, I look forward to reading more.

C.I.D.

 

[Richards]

Very nice! Looks like a promising beginning. And hey, you've got a Veridian in the party! We've got one, too -- ours is a 13th-level druid who up until recently had a dire wolf animal companion.

I look forward to reading your further exploits.

Johnathan

 

[Erifnogard]

The campaign sounds very cool, and your write-up for it is excellent. Should prove very interesting.

 

[NoOneofConsequence]

I thought it was time to introduce the party in detail

Cast of Characters

Prentice Ash (Human; Psychic Warrior 6) NG
The narrator and my character. His early life is obscure, though he claims to have been born in a human settlement in the Chain of Tears. He has served as a mercenary soldier for many years, fighting with anyone who opposes the mind flayer invaders of Moradin’s Forge. Of all the party he is the only one with any knowledge of spelljamming and the wider solar system.

Veridian Pax (Human Faerie Kin; Barbarian/Ranger 3/1) CG
Pax is a barbarian from beyond the Onzkret Mountains in the south. She is a tall red headed terror with piercing emerald green eyes. She left the party for some time, during which she encountered the creatures of the deep forest and was adopted by them as blood kin. She has returned to the party, who do not fully appreciate the changes she has experienced. Pax is famous for her fear of the sea and all things swimming related. She will not undertake any sea voyage without first obtaining a personal supply of ale.

Telara (Halfling; Ranger 6) CG
Telara is the companion’s premier scout and tracker. She prefers bow combat, although she has enjoyed mixed results with it. Telara claims that she is related to the other halfling in the party, (Celaro), but he hotly denies this. Mostly quiet, Telara can always be relied upon to stand by other party members, even to the risk of her own life.

Harmony (Half Elf; Druid 6) NG
Harmony is a child of the wilderness. Her ragged hair is covered in grass and twigs and she delights in being in the wild. For some time her closest friend was a black bear who accompanied her everywhere, but during a recent combat, the bear was driven off in terror and never returned. For a long time Harmony advocated only peaceful resolution to conflict. Lately, she has been developing more predatory instincts, and will seek to resolve problems through violence. She laments the loss of her wild companion.

Oralec (Halfling; Rogue 5?) CN
There is no more mysterious figure in the party than Oralec. Telara, the other halfling, insists that he is her long lost half twin Celaro. Oralec has never shown any indication that this might be true, although there is a striking resemblance between the two. Oralec frequently works private contracts alongside whatever the party is doing. Until now this has not brought him into conflict with the party, though this might change in the future.

Aria (Half Elf; Bard/Shadow Dancer 5/1) CN
Aria is a petite beauty who only cares about two things – having fun and being the centre of attention while doing it. She is adept with magic, and her crossbow, but by far her most vicious weapon is her wit, which she turns upon fellow party members from time to time. Mockery and disrespect are constants in her behaviour. Recently, her personality has taken a slightly darker turn and she has taken to fighting with only a dagger.

Kakita Kai (Human; Samurai 6) LG
This exotic warrior hails from a land unfamiliar to the party, but which is also under the protection of the High Trader treaty with the kingdoms of Perianth. As such he shares the ignorance of spelljamming which most of the party experiences. He is a fine bowman, but is most expert with his katana, which he frequently wields to great effect. Polite and urbane, he will often opt to negotiate where other warriors might resort to violence. His most impressive achievement with the party has been to impress a lizard folk shaman with his manners during an intricate tea ceremony, during which he negotiated safe passage for the party through hostile territory.

Kuslamarka “Mark” (Kobold; Rogue/Sorcerer 5/1) CG
Mark is an outcast from his tribe, who joined the party after they were shipwrecked on the island where Mark and his tribe lived. Through the use of disguise (and now magic) Mark has in the past managed to convince people that he is a lizard man, a gnome and a halfling. There are even members of the party who do not realise that he is a kobold. Mark is a skulker, often displaying apparent cowardice and attaching himself to strong or powerful members of the party. Both Pax and Harmony (with her bear) have been on the receiving end of Mark’s “attentions”. However, when conflict arrises, Mark wields his light crossbow to deadly effect.

 

[NoOneofConsequence]

Part 2: In the Sewers of Holly Canal.

After our run in with the umber hulk, we were all in the mood for some payback. Most of us stood watch and discussed what to do while Harmony treated Aria’s wounds and then ministered to Telara, who had twisted her ankle badly during the fight. Kakita was unhappy that the beast had caught unprepared so easily and so spent several minutes examining the dirt where it had emerged from the ground and also, where it had descended, parting the earth as easily as a swimmer breaks the surface of a mill pond. He was looking for any possible indication that he could watch out for, if it should come again.

Mark wasn’t interested in discussions. It seemed that he felt some kinship with the lizard folk and so he climbed rapidly into the shaft in the lizard holy man’s hut. Descending thirty feet, he found the tunnel at the bottom, which ran from the shaft back east, towards Holly Canal. He followed the tunnel for several hundred yards, before starting back to the party.

In the meantime, Harmony and Kakita insisted that we had to save the holy man. While we weren’t completely agreed on this course, when Kakita discovered that Mark was miss he immediately assumed that the umber hulk had take him and went straight to the tunnel. The company quickly followed. The tunnel was barely five feet wide, so we walked single file, though the roof was nearly seven feet above and so we were able to stand. In the flickering torch light the tunnel seemed very like a rabbit or mole hole, just an empty shaft that wended and wound its way in basically the same direction. It seemed as if it had probably been just dug by the umber hulk in order to carry the lizard folk priest through the earth. This must have been the reason, because otherwise the umber hulk would have had no need of such a construction, since it “swims” through the earth. The tunnel gave us hope that the lizard man was still alive.

Pressing through the darkness, we came upon Mark, who had found some of the umber hulk’s blood upon the ground. Mark scouted ahead, while the party came up with torches some distance back. After about a mile of travel underground, we arrived at a T junction, where our rough earthen tunnel intersected with a stone walled construction running N/S. A hole had been torn in the wall of the stone tunnel to allow access and there was the sound of running water. It seemed that we were entering the famed sewers of Holly Canal.

Keeping the rest of the party well back, Mark jumped quietly through the opening and pressed himself into the shadows of the tunnel wall opposite. Peering into the gloom his slitted eyes made out a figure, somewhere in the distance, trudging towards him through the mucky water. His cautious observation turned to surprise and astonishment, when he realised that it was in fact Oralec. The gnome was muttering under his breath about being lost and feeling stupid. So absorbed in his own anger was he that he almost stumbled across Mark before he knew that he was there.

Oralec nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Mark’s voice say his name. “Mark?” said Oralec, peering into the gloom. “Is that you?”

“Yes.”

“What are you doing here?” asked Oralec.

“I’m here with the others.” replied Mark, as the rest of the company emerged from the hole in the sewer wall. “What are you doing here?”

We all listened intently as Oralec explained that he had gotten a contract to investigate the sewers here for the possible presence of a secret society. He seemed evasive about what sort of secret society he was looking for and refused to tell us from whom he received the contract. We explained what had happened with regards to the umber hulk and our mission to contact the lizard folk holy man. Oralec was happy to take up with us, since he had gotten himself lost. We all headed off together, with Mark tracking the passage of the wounded umber hulk.

The tunnels of the sewers were impressive, formed of such regular stonework that they seemed all the same. It soon became obvious why Oralec had become lost down here. For the time being though, we were not worried, since the trail we were following would allow us to back track. With Mark and Oralec scouting ahead, we were making excellent time. When Mark thought that he had heard a noise coming from an intersection just ahead, he ducked into a rubbish filled alcove to hide and see. Oralec followed him and just as they were crouching out of sight, Mark though that he had seen something, like a flickering light in the garbage around them.

Oralec and Mark tried to search through the surrounding garbage in the alcove, but Mark lost sight of it and Oralec felt suddenly unwell. In fact, Oralec felt very ill, as though he had just contracted a really bad case of demon fever, and he fell back into the sewer, shaking with fever, aches and chills. It was all he could do to sit up, and the company was very concerned about this outcome.

Several members of the company advocated pressing on after the umber hulk, especially Kakita, who was afraid that if we did not hurry, we would be too late to save the lizard holy man, whom Kakita was convinced was still alive. The company continued to follow the blood trail for a short while, but Mark stopped and decided to go back. He was convinced that there was something of significance for him there and he intended to find it. As a warrior of the mind, I am sensitive to intuition myself, and I was more than willing to allow Mark to follow his hunch. Shrugging their shoulders, the rest of our number followed as Mark and I made our way back to the garbage filled alcove.

We dug with our hands, risking the infection that had claimed Oralec, and soon found that the alcove was in fact an entry way to a room, which was blocked by a rusted gate, against which the garbage had been pushed against. The flickering light which Mark’s sharp eyes had perceived was in fact a flame which was burning in a censer in the centre of the room. The censer was of embossed bronze and the flame within burned with a warm, sun-like radiance. It was strange enough that there should be a still burning flame hidden here in the dark, but stranger still was the fact that within the fire was a white chrysanthemum, growing and not being consumed by the flame.

As we entered the room with this mysterious flame, a voice sounded within our heads, like the use of telepathy between psions. “Welcome,” it said. “It has been too long since I have had visitors. I am the Flame of the Hearth of Worlds. I exist to heal and to protect. If you would be healed of your hurts or blessed for your trials then rest awhile with me.”

Mark did not hesitate, but knelt before the Flame. Following his lead, each of us knelt, and were healed of all hurts and wounds. Some were even surrounded in a glowing radiance. All of us knelt, except for Oralec and Aria, who looked at us with puzzled expressions.

“What are you doing?” asked Oralec.

“Kneeling,” said Mark. “Just like the Flame said.”

“The Flame said?” asked Aria. “The Flame is…talking to you?” It was plain she felt that Mark must be crazy. However, looking about group, she and Oralec could see that they were the only ones who could not “hear” the flame talking to them. With some hesitancy the two of them began to kneel. They heard a sudden voice in their heads crying out.

“Hold,” spoke the Flame, telepathically. “Do not seek my blessing unless you would show forth fruits worthy of righteousness.”

In response, Oralec claimed that he had such fruits, and quickly related the story of how he had saved Telara from drowning during a sea voyage from Landfall to Fareach. Aria said nothing. Both of them continued to kneel and were healed, but within themselves they felt a change, a shift in their personalities which made them feel less self focussed and more willing to consider the feelings of others. This strangeness settled about them and they were subdued as the company stood and left the Chapel of the Sacred Flame, healed, refreshed and blessed.

All except Harmony. She was touched by the Flame in a way that she could not describe and, in return for its blessing, she asked it if she might perform a service in return.

“I have but one service I might request,” replied the Flame. “But it is no small thing. The cost is great.”

“I am unafraid of the cost,” replied Harmony.

“I require a steward,” the Flame explained. “A servant to carry forth my power to the world. To heal the wounded and to defend the weak.”

Something powerful was passing between the Sacred Flame and Harmony because she responded by saying, “I will be your Steward.”

With these words, the Flame grew and enwreathed Harmony, as a part of the fire of the Living Sun, the Hearth of Worlds, detached itself and came to dwell in Harmony’ soul. She and the Flame were now bound tighter than husband and wife, than mage and familiar. They were two, dwelling in one body. As Harmony emerged from the shrine into the sewers, the flames in the bronze censer died away and the chrysanthemum crumbled to dust.

Encounters with spiritual beings, either a blessing or a curse, nonetheless have with them a strange sense of otherness. Though we had just experienced a wonderful moment of spiritual blessing, we returned to our hunt for the wounded umber hulk as though awaking from a pleasant dream, giving our experience no more thought than that. Excepting, of course, Harmony, who was now changed forever.

Continuing to track the umber hulk’s blood through the sewers, we come to a long stretch of tunnel which enters a sluice room. There’s another of the ubiquitous alcoves in this room and a second tunnel exiting. From down this second tunnel came a series of gurgling noises. The whole party was alert and ready, moving single file through the room. Mark and Oralec moved ahead, just inside the range of our torchlight. We kept our eyes open, looking for trouble. Even so, when it came, we just weren’t ready for how.

As we moved down the tunnel towards the noises we could hear, two shapes detached from the walls. They were the shape of large lizard folk warriors but their skin was the colour and patterns of the walls themselves. It was as if they were lizard folk made from the walls. As the came at us, the strange colour and pattern faded and the lizard warriors took on the ordinary hues of their kind. From their heads hung two thick tendrils, like two ponytails made of flesh. Whatever these beings were, they were no ordinary lizard folk warriors. While two of them attacked our flanks from alcoves to the side of the tunnel, we heard Aria cry out that a third one had surprised her as she was just exiting the sluice room.

The lizard folk warriors came at us with steel halberds, which they wielded with surprising aptitude. One of them struck at Kakita, while another lunged at Pax. Kakita’s heavy armour proved an impediment in the narrow tunnel, for he could not dodge the blows. He took two slashing strikes which bit deeply into his flesh. The lightly armoured Pax was more alert however and she weaved lithely away from the attacking lizard man, her spiked chain whipping about her.

I was standing second to last in the line, next to Aria, and I saw with dismay the lizard warrior’s halberd catch her a glancing blow in the shoulder. Knowing that she was ill prepared to stand toe-to-toe with such a powerful warrior, I touched her shoulder, telling her to switch places with me. She waited for the right moment, and then with a deft motion, we switched places, putting me in the front line, as it were. The lizard halberdier was unfazed as to which target he was attacking and pressed me as hard as he could, slashing away. I responded in kind, and my long sword drew more blood than his halberd.

Back in the middle of our line, Kakita was making repeated strikes at his opponent, his katana leaving slash after slash in the lizard warrior’s unarmoured torso. Kakita was appalled however, when he heard a low pitched hum, and the creature’s skin seemed to close some of its wounds automatically, as if healing that would take days, was happening in seconds. Unsure how many times the lizard man could achieve this healing, Kakita redoubled his attack.

Pax continued to rake her enemy with the taloned end of her steel chain. Dancing and weaving with astonishing grace for one so tall, the fey-touched barbarian held her opponent at bay, only once receiving a strike in return.

Shut out from the combat by his position in the front of the line, Oralec nonetheless was resolute in his desire to strike at these foes. Waiting for the right moment, he dove beneath Pax’s legs and then tumbled past the halberdier wielder to stand at his back, in a perfect flanking position. The sudden movement by the halfling rogue distracted the lizard warrior and he strove in vain to protect his flanks as Pax continued to attack. He should have paid more attention to the smaller foe, for Oralec’s dagger found the lizard man’s vitals with the kind of strike that only those familiar to the shadows can make.

With Pax’s foe slain and Kakita’s falling beneath a storm of steel, I lunged forward at my opponent, only to find that my foot had become wedged in a gap in the stones on the floor. I fell heavily, and lost my grip on my sword. I tried my best to keep my head, rolling out of the way as swiftly as possible as my opponent hammered his halberd down at me. I was searching for a moment to safely re-take my feet when Pax’s chain whipped over my head and ripped its way across the lizard man’s throat. He collapsed to the flagstones, his life’s blood flowing into the mucky water.

While the battle raged, Mark snuck forward to see what lay at the end of this tunnel. Peeking through an open doorway at the end of the corridor, Mark looked into a large chamber, filled with strange objects which looked to be equal parts living beings and magical devices. Across the chamber Mark could make out the shape of the umber hulk, standing so still it might well have been a statue. Behind it, against the wall, were a number of humanoid figures, chained and bound. There were tables which seemed to have been grown from bone and pools of water made from membranous flesh. Something large and distressed writhed in a large, fleshy bag hanging from the ceiling. It looked as if it might well have once been the organ of a living thing, as though a giant had swallowed a man and then the stomach had been cut free and hung from the roof like a sack. Moving back and forth in this biological madness, seemingly oblivious to the noises of combat coming from up the passage, was a single figure in leathery robes. Mark’s blood chilled as the figure turned in profile to a lamplight and he saw the four whipping tentacles hanging from the humanoids mouth and chin. A mind flayer!

 

[NoOneofConsequence]

Part 3 - The Mind Flayer's Lab

When Mark returned with the news that a mind flayer lurked at the end of the passage, I knew that we had stumbled upon something of greater scope than some random monster terrorising the lizard folk of Scalytown. Illithids are not given to random acts. They are calculating, cruel and extremely dangerous. I conveyed as much to the others.

Orallec was extremely interested to learn whatever I knew about this creature and its strange environs. I explained that what Mark described was typical of mind flayer bases of operation. The illithidim know the artifice of manipulating living flesh the way mortal races manipulate stone, wood and metal. Where a dwarf, elf, halfling or human might build a table out of wood or a chair from stone, mind flayers grow their furnishings from flesh and bone, often rendering down living beasts and mortals to do so, as though flesh were merely an ore to be smelted for their use. Discussing the depravities of the illithidim there in the dank, cold dark left all of us cold in our hearts and bodies. It was at this point that Tellara noticed that some of our number were missing. During our whispered deliberations, Harmony, Mark and Kakita had snuck forward to engage the monsters alone. Their rashness endangered us all. The mind flayer almost certainly had heard the sounds of our battle with the lizard folk halberdiers and would be waiting for them.

As swiftly as I could I explained that the most fearsome weapon in the mind flayer arsenal was their ability to assault the minds of others directly, by thought alone. It is a deadly and effective power. I knew that of all of us, I had the training that would give me the best chance of survival against the monster’s powers. In a moment of joint epiphany, those of us who remained in the sewer tunnel devised a desperate rescue plan. Aria cast dweomers over herself, Tellara and Pax, rendering them each invisible. Orallec trusted to his skills with stealth for his part. Alone of the party, I would make no attempt at stealth, instead trying to draw the mind blast of the illithid down upon myself.

We snuck as quickly as we dared to the entrance of the mind flayer’s lair, each one in turn stealing inward on stealthy footsteps. At last only Orallec and I remained in the doorway. The halfling rogue flipped himself through the doorway and over the edge of the stairs with the silent confidence of a monkey through high tree-tops. Now the whole of the company were sneaking their way through the lair. In the far corner from the entry stairs we could make out the figure of the lizard folk holy man chained to the wall. In between stood the mind flayer, bending over the collapsed figure of the umber hulk, and the clustered bodies of our companions, apparently limp. Most likely, they had assaulted the umber hulk directly and had been caught in the mind blast of the illithid, which had not hesitated to use its powers on the umber hulk as well as its enemies. Between the doorway and mind flayer was a sheet of membranous skin, like a living curtain. From where I stood, I could see the illithid over the top of this ‘curtain’ but found it disconcerting to have to look at, at the blood vessels in the sheet of skin seemed to move and congregate like symbols, letters and words. The illithid was writing in veins and arteries on a curtain of living flesh. I had heard of such things before but this was the first time I had seen it.

From my left there came a noise, like metal scraping against metal. It sounded as though Pax were readying her chain for a strike. I froze, watching the illithid to see if it had heard. It seemed as though it must have, because it turned in the direction of the noise, focussing its lidless eyes in space, doubtless using its psychic powers to scan the space before it. Trying to take advantage of the distraction to sneak closer, Orallec made his way silently around the suspended sack of fluid. He was almost past it when he was suddenly assaulted by the half dissolved figure within. The dying body was no longer strong enough to pierce the fleshy skin of its prison; nonetheless its deformed features were pressed against the flexible surface like a distended silhouette. In spite of himself, Orallec cried out in horror. We all cursed his ill luck as the mind flayer’s head whipped in his direction, intent on finding him out.

Realising that I had no more time to wait, I emerged onto the stair’s landing. “Over here, squid face!” I shouted, raising my musket to my shoulder and firing. There was a loud report, and through the smoke of my weapon I saw the musket ball hit home, tearing a hole in the illithid’s chest. In spite of this effort though, the mind flayer was not off balance. The air between us rippled with psionic force as it unleashed its mind blast at me. I felt the wave of alien mentality crash against my mental defences like a the brutal tide upon the rocks, but my defences held. Another like that might finish me though.

With a whooping cry, Pax emerged from her invisibility and struck the mind flayer across the head, the taloned end of her chain leaving a brutal gash. As grey ichor ran down the alien humanoid’s face, Tellara likewise struck, sending a flight of three arrows to their target. Bristling with fletched shafts, the mind flayer staggered back, having forgotten about Orallec’s presence. The halfling’s knife sliced through muscle and tendon, finding a vital organ. Even so sorely pressed, the illithid never uttered a word, disdaining speech, like so many telepathic races.

Aria had not emerged from her covering enchantment, hoping instead to see to the health of our friends. Still invisible, she checked the life-pulse of first one and then the others, finding them to still be living. However, she had no idea what danger she had placed herself in, for the mind flayer had decided to flee rather than face our continued assault. Utilising a power I had not anticipated, it stepped into the midst of the bodies upon the floor and then vanished, along with the unconscious umber hulk, our comrades and Aria.

It was a moment before we realised that our invisible bard had been swept up in the power of the mind flayer’s translocation.

 

[Sen Udo-Mal]

very cool story so far...

Really like it, please keep it up! I love Spelljammer...

 

[Knightfall]

Very cool!

What a great start for a Spelljammer story hour. Knightfall gives this his nod of approval.

Squid face... heh. Funny!

Keep it up NOoC!

KF72

 

[NoOneofConsequence]

Part 4: No mind flayer gets out alive.

As the mind flayer disappeared with our unconscious comrades, I dove forward to the point on the floor which they had just been occupying. Seeing the illithid vanish, I could tell what psychic ability it had engaged and I knew that I might have a chance at doing it as well. With desperate hands I pulled away the biological trash from the cold stone floor, searching for the marked circle which I knew must be here. I managed to find it, but only because I had seen where the mind flayer had been standing exactly – if I hadn’t known where to search I would never have found it. When mages utilise teleporting circles the powers which they invoke are complex, requiring sophisticated rituals and intricate markings. Awakened minds can use similar powers, but their circles are so simple that only the most skilled searchers might find one by accident.

While I scrabbled amongst the mortal detritus of the illithid laboratory, Pax and Tellara saw to the health of the lizard man priest. It appeared that he was shaken, but unharmed. Meanwhile, Orallec searched through the tables, making no secret of his investigations. After a moment he took a parchment from beneath a series of bottles and rolling it into a scroll, shoved it into his vest. None of us bothered to question him about it though and he joined us as we prepared to follow the mind flayer and rescue our friends.

“I believe I can work the teleport circle,” I told them. “But I don’t know how long its power will last and I can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to get back.”

“What choice do we have?” asked Tellara, and this summed up everyone’s attitude. One at a time, we stepped into the circle and the transportations were effected.

----

Aria had done her best to resist the power of the circle’s pull, but to no avail. She was dragged through a psionic hole in the fabric of space and time and emerged almost immediately through another such hole, into the middle of a darkened room. With her enhanced vision she watched the mind flayer leave the bodies of her comrades, and its pet umber hulk, and walk out of the small room. Still invisible, she pressed herself into a corner and considered her position. A minor shifting of weight on the floor told her that the umber hulk was still alive and might awaken at any point. She had already faced this brute once this night and it had nearly killed her. She would not do it again.

Aria was contemplating her next action when there was a low hum and suddenly Tellara appeared in the middle of the room. Tellara took a combat stance and peered into the near pitch blackness. Seeing her disorientation, Aria whispered a warning; “Tellara! It’s me, Aria. We’re in a room with the others and the umber hulk, which is just behind you. Ahead of you is a doorway, that’s where the mind flayer has gone.”

Before Tellara could whisper her thanks, there was another low hum and Orallec appeared in the room. In spite of the tension, Aria had to stifle a laugh. Two bodies naturally refuse to occupy the same space, and since Tellara had refused to move, the psychic power had deposited Orallec directly on top of her. With his excellent sense of balance, the rogue landed deftly on the ranger’s shoulders and stood there, accustoming himself to his new surroundings. Like blind circus tumblers, both stood comfortably, one atop the other in the dark, as Aria repeated her explanation of the situation.

Tellara was about to move when a third low hum was heard. Both Tellara and Orallec tried to react to save themselves as the unyielding figure of Pax appeared in the space where they stood. Tellara was thrown to the ground, but Orallec flipped neatly from her falling frame, to land deftly on the stones near the door. Pax was swifter to orient herself than any of the others had been and quickly took up a position near the door, her chain at the ready. Without a word the barbarian conjured a series of flickering faerie lights to see by. Her companions were puzzled by this incongruous ability and would have questioned her on it when, last of all, I appeared in the room. I spared only a bare glance for the others, first quickly reassuring myself that there was indeed a circle here by which to transport us back.. I breathed a sigh of relief as I did indeed find the psychic energy traces I hoped for. Then I stepped back away from the door, kneeling down by the umber hulk. Thinking to waste no opportunity, I thrust my sword into the beast’s throat and twisted until the blood flowed freely. It died with not even a murmur.

After a quick discussion, it was decided that Aria would scout ahead and find out what we should expect. The rest of us would follow at a short distance, ready to provide support as necessary. We all waited quietly as she snuck into the next room. As we waited I drew out my ram rod and reloaded the gorgon; as my sergeant at arms used to say, there are no quiet moments in a battle, just opportunities to reload!

Following Aria’s whispered voice, the company quickly explored what turned out to be a series of caves which had been fitted to function as storerooms. In short order we found a long passageway that looked to lead to daylight. As we looked out, we could see the flickering figure of some predatory beast stalking down the passage towards us. The beast seemed to jump about, shimmering like a distant mirage on a hot day. In shape it was akin to a predatory cat, grey to black in colour, and above its head whipped two long tentacles which originated from somewhere on its back.

There was a palpable tension amongst us as the beast began to make its way deliberately down the passage toward us. All possibility of stealth was lost as Pax roared an eldritch battle cry which echoed through the chamber. The enraged barbarian and the stalking displacer beast leapt upon each other, like fell lovers flinging themselves into a deathly embrace. We quickly followed our companion and in the dark confines of the tunnel battle was joined, lighted only by arcane will-o-wisps of light.

The displacer’s shifting image was terrifyingly difficult to strike, even though we managed to surround it, and for a time it struck about itself, its barbed tentacles scoring first one of us and then another. I wasted a good shot with my musket, piercing only a false image. The leadshot struck sparks from the cave wall where it struck. Soon we were all bloodied and increasingly frustrated by its ever shifting appearance. It was Pax though who first began to gain the upper hand. As the beast’s tentacles scoured her thigh, she returned the favour, raking the displacer’s back with her chain’s spikes. After a few more hits from all quarters the beast panicked and fled. By accident rather than design, I was closest to the beast as it fled and so was the first to follow it up the passageway, toward the light. Behind me charged the still raging Pax, her spiked chain whistling through the air as she spun it above her head. I ran at full pelt, more desperate to keep ahead of the armed storm of angry steel behind me than to catch the fleeing displacer ahead.

The displacer beast reached daylight ahead and turned to its left. I heard it scream and saw its hind quarters slip downwards out of sight. Warned by the scream, I eased back from my headlong flight and was able to not lose my footing as the tunnel burst forth from the rock onto a mountain ledge, half a pace from infinite space. Ahead of me stretched the sky, a line of rounded blue. Below me, far below me, the clouds carpeted my vision. Most shocking of all though were the stars and night sky which yawned above me. I was high, unfathomably high, on a mountainside that neared the empty void between worlds; at the horizon of the lifebreath of a planet. I had seen vistas like this before, but only from the deck of spelljamming vessels, never when land bound. Somewhere far below, the displacer beast was descending inexorably, already beyond the range to hear its screams.

The ledge ran a hundred yards to the left, ending in a small open plateau, barely thirty paces across. In the midst of the plateau stood an object which resembled a small insect, like a maggot, but was the size of a large carriage or even a small skiff. It was an illithid boreworm, the smallest vessel by which mind flayers travel the voids between worlds; and heading towards it was the mind flayer from beneath Holly Canal, moving unhurriedly and apparently still ignorant of our pursuit. Behind me I heard Pax catch her breath as the vista drained her rage in an instant. She stood dumbfounded, the spiked chain forgotten in her hands. Behind her the others crowded up the passage until they too were awe-struck by the view.

Heedless of my lack of support, I ran swiftly after the mind flayer. As it reached the boreworm, the vessel’s entire front opened upwards like a door and the creature made to step inside. Only at the last second did it hear my footsteps and it turned just in time to see my blade swing before it clove the monster’s head from its shoulders. It was with grim satisfaction that I flung the illithid’s head over the edge of the plateau and then returned to my comrades in the caves.

“Grab whatever you can,” I said, pointing to the stores in the various caves. “We must be gone very soon.”

Orallec and Tellara came upon a cash hoard in a small hard wood chest. I managed to find a warrior’s kit, with a fine battleaxe and a suit of armour made by a master smith. It was Pax who turned up the jewel of the booty though. Hidden behind a crate, hanging on the wall, was a fine bugle, silvery in hue and inlaid with a mother of pearl design. Aria recognised it at once, naming it a blasting horn. By blowing upon it, she claimed, it would produce sound that would strike like the force of a catapult throw, knocking down mortals and structures alike. It was with no small amount of pleasure that we gathered up our treasure and our still unconscious friends and passed back through the psionic circle to the sewers of Holly Canal.