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Message: <blockquote data-quote="sniffles" data-source="post: 2821095" data-attributes="member: 30035">A Foul Fate AvertedBetween sessions I missed the most previous session of this campaign due to illness (stupid cold!).Telemnar received a 'boon' from Tyrion Sinistral, paladin of Tyr, as a result of winning the horse race in Ankhapur (which he did by rolling well on Ride checks, not because he's a PC).After careful consideration, the question Telemnar asked of Sir Tyrion's sentient sword, Justice, was this: "How may I be reunited with my dear wife?"Here is the response of the sword, emailed to me by our illustrious GM, Devo:"You stand before Tyrion Sinistral, with Judgement held out between you.Tyrion bids you place your hands upon his blade, then closes his eyes.You touch Judgement, and instinctively close your own eyes.A hollow, emotionless voice echoes from out of the darkness."Injustice! Constructed by immortal artefact, not divine.This question cannot be answered by cosmic being,For this place is hidden from cosmic sight;Mortal eyes must find the way.Spirit and form sundered one from another.Great injustice to the Elf Lord, who has not collected his due.Greatness is measured in deed and intent,And only in the Shadows of Greatness will you find your answer."There is a power to this cryptic answer, if an answer it is. And yetTelemnar has the deep-buried feeling that everything he needs is hiddenin this riddle. The consideration and introspection that comes frompondering Tyr's answer opens up new paths of contemplation for our elfwarrior.Telemnar gets +2 Wisdom." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I'm going to dive right into our latest session, since I missed the previous session, and Telemnar hasn't told any of the other PCs except Rock about the divination he received.When we had dispatched all of the monstrous creatures, we turned our attention to the huge horror that had remained where it sat near the dwarven wagons. Rock charged up to it, still filled with cold rage, and began to pound it with his hammer.I rode Aratan after him, but on approaching the thing I thought it wiser not to risk my mount even with the handsome new barding I had purchased in Ankhapur, particularly after seeing how one of its spawn nearly slew Pekuah. I leaped down and ran to my friend's side, but before I could reach him the hideous creature had extruded a portion of itself and caught hold of him, lifting him above my head. By the time I was within reach it engulfed my friend!I began to slash and hack at the thing in an effort to cut my way through to Rock. Nekaya and even Pakkin came up beside me and joined in this effort. The goblin is more courageous than I have given him credit for in the past.The creature struck at me several times with its extrusions but I was able to avoid the brunt of its blows. Liadan sent Lathander's healing energies to all of us through the brooches she had given us, and seared the monster with her god's holy light. At last it fell still, and we were able to cut Rock free.We had only a few moments to enjoy our victory, however, for we saw in the distance that more monsters were coming toward us, following a trail of slime that led off into the distance. As we caught our breath and enjoyed the application of more divine healing from Liadan and Nekaya, we were approaced by a dwarf wearing the emblem of the dwarven god Clangeddin. Rock has been teaching me of the gods of his people.This dwarf spoke to us in the common tongue, telling us that we should not be so pleased with our victory for this monster we had just vanquished was the third of its kind he and his brethren had seen. He was near to collapsing from exhaustion as he spoke. Nekaya and Liadan then called on the power of their gods to give him relief of his weariness and to remove some disease that one of the creatures had inflicted upon him. After this he seemed less gruff in his manner.All the while we were speaking with the dwarf - who never told us his name - we continued to hear a strange chanting that had been going on during our struggle with the monsters. The dwarf believed that to be coming from the source of whatever was bringing these horrors into existence.He and his brethren refused to leave the wagons, even after Liadan had healed most of their wounds, explaining that the goods they carried were too valuable to abandon. I thought this a strange way of looking at the matter and asked Rock what could be so valuable that the dwarves would risk their lives. The priest replied that the items in the wagons were the fruits of their labor. When I remarked that only one's friends and loved ones are worth dying for he did not respond. He did confide to us that among the items they carried was a quantity of starmetal, which he believed was attracting the monsters in some manner.We mounted our steeds and parted company with the dwarves, leaving them in better condition to face the approaching creatures. It was paramount to prevent any further creatures from being brought into the world. Erim had determined that most probably some entity was summoning the monsters from another plane of existence.We followed the trail of slime for a distance, all the while seeing monsters pass us by, seeming interested only in reaching the dwarven caravan. At last we came upon a small hillock and saw the source of the creatures. On the hill a ring of figures surrounded a small altar, and above them a dark rent had appeared in the sky, as if some horror from another realm had torn a hole into our world.Through the rent we could see something vast and dark moving slowly. Innumerable black tentacles extended down from this rift, some of them plunging into the hill, others groping about as if seeking something. All around the hill a distortion filled the air like waves of heat from a fire. Erim told us this must be some magical defense for the figures around the altar, to prevent us from attacking with spells or bows at a distance.Seeing that approaching the altar would be difficult in the presence of the tentacles, we quickly formed a plan of attack. At that point, Pakkin to my surprise offered up four potions in his possession that would cause a person to grow larger. He was willing to share them with us. I accepted one gratefully, as did Liadan, Nekaya, and Rock.Erim suggested that he should cast several spells upon my person so that I could attack the altar directly. First he cast an enchantment that turned my skin to stony hardness. I swiftly drank a potion I had long carried that would give me the strength of a bull. Then Erim transformed me into an ethereal figure of mist.I found that I could not move quickly in this form, though I could float along without touching the earth and the tentacles did not perceive me. As I proceeded to the altar, my friends struggled to make their way through the forest of black tentacles. All of them were caught and held at times, though most were able to break free and continue toward the altar. Poor Erim, however, was unable to free himself and could not draw nearer.When I had reached the altar Erim pronounced the command that would return me to solidity. I found that on the altar lay a corpse that appeared to have had its heart torn out. With a murmured prayer to Corellon I positioned myself to straddle this poor unfortunate so that I could attack the mages from a higher vantage.Attacking the wizards and priests was not as simple as I had hoped. I realized once I stood above them that these figures were no longer human. Their features seemed to have melted like silver in a crucible, and several of them looked as though two persons had been fused together. I quickly discovered that the magical field we had passed through to approach the hill was not their only defense. Any wound I inflicted upon them appeared to be spread to all, such that no one figure suffered much injury.When I struck at the wizards the tentacles began to grasp at me. I was able to pull myself free of their grasp, but this slowed my ability to attack my foes. One tentacle caught hold of my shortsword and wrenched it from my hand. I swiftly drew Tasarol and continued my assault, focusing my blows on only one of the spellcasters who had extended a tentacle from himself and was using it to threaten Rock.At the same time a great swarm of black insects had emerged from the rift overhead and began clambering over Rock. He resisted their stings and directed his attacks at the tentacled mage. Liadan first struck some of the others with her mace, but a tentacle disarmed her. She then began to call Lathander's power to sear them with light.Pakkin had insisted upon coming with us, but was quickly caught up by the tentacles and could not get free. Nekaya freed herself and then pulled him free as well, carrying him upon her back. A wave of magical energy burst out from the altar or one of the mages; I felt it try to affect me and then fade, but the goblin wailed in terror.Under our determined onslaught, several of the priests suddenly collapsed. They were gathered up by tentacles and lifted into the rent in the sky. Abruptly I felt as though time had lurched, like a horse stumbling. I realized that I and the remaining priests had all been repositioned somehow. I was no longer standing on the altar. But I was still larger than the priests and continued to slash at the target I had been attacking.The tentacle that had stolen my sword from me began to slash at me with it, though it did not do me much harm. It was distracting to have such a thing attacking me, I must confess. But I had entirely forgotten the presence of the ioun stone that had been orbiting my head all during the battle.The disturbing chanting coming from the rift grew more insistent. Erim shouted out that the ritual must be reaching a climax. If we did not succeed soon then whatever lay on the other side of the rift would be able to enter our world. Liadan hurled another bolt of divine light, and the remaining priests fell to the ground to be scooped up by tentacles and borne away.Then another man suddenly appeared through the rift. He shouted out to us that thought we had succeeded this day, his Master would return. Then a black tentacle shot down from the slowly diminishing rift, and impaled him through the skull! Had it not been so horrific it might have been comical to see his expression go from gloating to shocked.Then the tentacle retracted and the rift vanished. The man stood with a vacant look in his eyes. A terrible howl arose, and my mind went blank*.*Rock and Telemnar both failed their saves against a 'confusion' effect.I can't help but remember this session fondly. Before he approached the altar, Telemnar was enhanced by enlarge, gaseous form , stoneskin, and bull's strength. He also had an ioun stone that gave him +2 Dex.   <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> Quips & QuotesDevo: "The chanting you hear is in Abyssal."Jubilee: "Aw, I don't speak that. What about Goblin?"Devo: "No, that would be Abysmal."Sniffles: "It can't attack now - it ate a Rock!"Erim: "Can jello actually be prone?"Devo: "Jello puddle pops!"Devo: "You hear Pakkin's bowels move."Jubilee: "Ew! I put him down."Devo: "No, no, he's comfortable."Erim: "Oh, now you want to put him down when it gets inconvenient!"Jubilee: "Does he have Liadan's mace?" (We thought it had been pulled through the rift)Devo: "He does not."Jubilee: "Throw him back!"Hedrin: "I broke Rock's Will!" (Hedrin was running Rock due to Zora's absence. We have a running joke that rolling a 1 means something breaks)</blockquote>

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