As the Angels make their way under the acidic waterfall and through the entrance to the Seed, each of them encounters the same thing Luna has already felt – the intense cold and the resistance as they enter a place where time works differently. But that’s not the only change. When Nameless steps across the boundary, the cloak of mist that has covered him ever since he entered the Mournland is stripped off him as if by a strong wind and swiftly dissipates.
“Well, that’s interesting!” says Gareth, looking at him while shaking off the droplets of acid that cover him, even though the protective spells the Angels are warded with make him immune to their effect.
“Yes,” says Nameless, blinking slightly as he now sees without a foggy filter to his vision for the first time in days. “That’s a relief. By the way, there’s no dimensional lock in here.”
“Really? So we can summon things in here?” asks Luna.
“Yes. And does anyone else feel things are different in here?”
“Yup,” grins Korm. “I’m standing inside a giant fleshy seed inside a suspiciously circular tunnel with a weird opening at the end and hoping like hell that this isn’t supposed to resemble a part of the orcish body. So I feel a little different here.” Despite the humorous comment and tone, the Gatekeeper’s eyes are wary and his sword remains ready in his hand.
“Don’t say that,” says Six. “I already think this whole pooping business is why you people are messed up. I don’t need to find out more about it, especially not from the inside.”
“What are you doing?” Gareth asks, as Nameless pulls out a dagger.
“Testing something,” replies the alienist. Holding the dagger in his tentacle, he makes a tiny cut in the top of his index finger. As blood flows, he says, “Heal this, Gareth. Use a cure minor.”
“Okay,” says Gareth uncertainly, but he complies. To his surprise, the spell takes effect, closing the little wound.
“Excellent!” smiles Nameless. “I thought that was the case. The effects of the Mournland are in abeyance here. Which means you can use your healing magic and my … our … spells do not have the unreliability which they previously had. That makes us much more effective.” And I expect we’re going to need it.
“Very good,” says Six pragmatically, “Now let’s go on, shall we?”
With weapons and spells at the ready, the Angels proceed into the Seed. Their movement is slow, as the coarse hairs growing out of the fleshy walls writhe and coil around their legs. The living tunnel shudders faintly under their feet, beads of acidic sweat oozing from the porous walls and dripping on them. A thick stench of rot and decay fills the passage they are in, and some areas have pockets of noxious fumes which make all except the non-breathing warforged cough and pause to wipe dripping eyes.
The entire place is dark, and supernaturally so, since the continual flame torches stuck in some of their belts produce only a fitful glow that extends a few feet ahead. Luckily darkvision, whether natural or bestowed by spells, seems to work normally. Another of the few positives is that the passage is a huge one, near twenty feet tall and wide, allowing space for even Luna to make her way through it.
Not that it makes the druid any the happier. “Is this what Xoriat feels like, Nameless? No wonder you’re all screwed up!” Then, as a deep and rumbling chuckle floats down the tunnel, interspersed with a series of groans and a distant shriek, Luna adds, “And what the hell is that?”
“I have no idea,” says Nameless. “But this is nothing like Xoriat, believe me. Be glad of that. And there’s more good news, in a manner of speaking. I can sense the Seal. It’s down that way.”
The Angels continue along the passageway as it curls its way into the Seed, until it splits into two. At that point, as Nameless’ prying eyes had revealed, three large tumor-like growths extend from the wall of the passage. Sticking out of each is the half-grown form of an illithid, complete from the lower forehead to the forearms to the upper thighs. They are evidently at least partially sentient, since their dark eyes roll towards the Angels and their tentacles strain weakly towards them. But there is no accompanying mind blast or any other attack.
“Looks like they’re helpless,” says Korm.
“Good,” replies Six. “That’s my favorite kind of mind flayer. Now let’s get rid of them.”
“That’s not much fun,” grumbles Korm, but he proceeds to do so with Six, and a few seconds later the remnants of the mind flayers hang limply from the tumors they were growing from.
Picking one of the two passageways randomly, since neither of them leads any more directly than the other towards the Seal that Nameless senses, the Angels continue onwards. As they near the valve at the end, it splits to reveal the chamber beyond, from which another passage leads away. Large patches of fresh blood decorate the floor of this area, and scattered around it are the ripped and torn bodies of what seem to be four dolgaunts.
Examining them, Six says, “Interesting. I’d swear it was a spiked chain – or chains – that they were killed with, but much bigger than mine. It looks like…”
He is interrupted by the sound of guttural screams and the sound of small explosions from up ahead. At the same time, a lurid and flickering light is visible around the turn in the passageway leaving the chamber, as if the area beyond were on fire. “Let me go ahead,” says Six quickly, “So I can see what’s going on. Stay a little distance behind me.”
As the warforged advances, the shadowy armor from his harness flows around him. He concentrates, mentally commanding it to camouflage him so that he blends with the walls and ceilings here, and it does take on a similar shade, but he somehow still remains very distinctly visible. Disappointed, he proceeds quickly but carefully.
Even though only a couple of seconds have passed, the sound of the shouts ahead have resolved themselves into two distinct, if similar, voices, both of them screaming in daelkyr. More precisely, screaming the same words over and over.
“What are they saying, Nameless?” asks Luna.
“Die, die, die…!” replies the alienist.
Around the corner, Six peers carefully into a large chamber which opens off the passageway. The tunnel itself continues onwards, but the warforged cannot see much further down it, since a wall of fire completely blocks it off. Not that Six spares the wall of flame a second glance. His attention is purely focused on the two combatants in the chamber.
Two beholders fly in circles around the area, screaming madly at each other, eyes firing rays constantly. Both of them are critically wounded, gore dripping from a dozen wounds, and even as Six stares at the insane battle, it is over. One of the beholders screams in not just anger but pain as another pair of rays hits, one ripping off a large section of flesh and another burning a hole right through its ovoid body. It shudders and falls, dead before it hits, reflexively firing more rays. One of them hits home and the other beholder falls silent in mid-scream. A gray pallor shoots around its body from the spot the ray hit, and seconds later, a stone statue hits the ground besides the corpse of its erstwhile foe.
Looking around to ensure that there are no hidden enemies, Six cautiously begins to step into the room. Then, the wall of fire flickers out of existence. Revealed beyond it is a humanoid figure, as tall as an ogre, but with the proportional slimness of an elf. No features are visible due to the segmented form-fitting metal armor that covers it from head to toe. A large spiked chain is in its hands, and a series of other weapons are visible, the latter orbiting it in a deadly metal cloud.
As soon as Six sees it, he feels an unexpected sensation of incredible bloodlust wash over him. For a second, all the warforged wants to do is rip, slay and tear apart anything he sees before him, and he takes a step towards the creature. But somewhere, deep within his mind, Six’s natural caution is fighting against the compulsion, and his will reasserts itself.
Without a word, Six spins on his heel and flees. There is a whirr behind him and he feels the pain of the creature’s spiked chain as it lays open his back, but he simply uses the impact to increase his momentum. “Guys!” Six shouts as he runs, “We have company!”
Already having begun to move when the commotion ahead ended, his allies begin to rush forward in response. As Six hurtles around the corner and his larger enemy follows, each of them feels the surge of violent rage that he just felt, each one momentarily wanting to attack their nearest comrade. But like Six, each of them manages to throw off the enchantment before it can really take hold.*
The second of hesitation, however, is all the enemy needs. It takes a spiked gauntlet off the chain and gestures, and a long wall of whirling metal blades appears in the middle of the Angels. The hand sweeps back, and another wall of fire appears, parallel to the blade barrier. The Angels fling themselves aside as best they can, but all of them emerge badly slashed or scorched, some especially so. Luna, with her giant bulk, is especially badly off, with the two magical walls literally bisecting her, and her screams of pain fill the chamber.
“Get it!” shouts Nameless, “If it can do it once it can do so again!” He quickly casts, dropping an empowered fireball down the corridor behind the creature, and then sends a volley of magic missiles after them. The missiles wink out as they impact it, but the fireball leaves scorch marks on the surface on its armor. The expected flame strike from Luna which follows a second later has no effect, leaving her near incandescent with anger combined with the pain.
“Damn!” says a bleeding Korm, looking at the only open area before the attacking creature, between the two magical barriers, and the cloud of flying weapons whirling around it, and the long chain it holds at the ready. “This is going to hurt! Come on, Gareth, Six – time to take one for the team!” The Gatekeeper grits his teeth and rushes in, followed a second later by Gareth and Six.
The ensuing battle is short, bloody and very, very painful. The creature’s spiked chain rips into the attackers as they move in, and every time they attack the weapons that orbit it tear into their arms. And it again conjures up a blade barrier and a wall of fire to join the ones that were already present, so that the three attackers are actually sometimes standing within them as they hack feverishly into their enemy. Flesh (and in Six’s case, metal, stone and wood), even that blessed by the Silver Flame or enchanted by Mordain, can only take so much, and by the time the creature drops, Korm, Gareth and Six are all seriously wounded. Even Nameless and Luna, lobbing spells from the rear, are hurt, especially the shifter, whose bear form has made her even more susceptible to damage in these conditions.
Luckily, as the creature falls, the effects it created fade away. The weapons that floated around it disappear too, as does the spiked chain it wielded and the armor it wore. All that is left is a light gray-skinned creature, with no facial features except for two large black eyes, and a body which has no evident gender.***
Korm kneels painfully beside the body, blood still streaming down his arms, legs and chest, and asks, “Anybody know what the hell this is?”
“No,” says Nameless, “Presumably something created by this place.”
“Whatever it was,” says Six, while using a wand to repair the damage to his superstructure, “It affected aberrations too. It got two beholders to kill each other in the chamber back there.”
“Beholders? Let’s go see.”
“Umm,” says Gareth from where he is slumped against a wall, leaning on the Endless Blade. “Can somebody heal me?”
“Fine, fine,” says Luna, but Nameless puts in, “Save the heals. We may need them. Use our wands.”
The Angels move on into the other chamber while doing so. After examining the beholders, Nameless says, “You know, this petrified one is in fairly good shape. We should add it to our collection. A little judicious use of stone shape and we could make a fountain out of it.”
“Yay!” shouts Luna excitedly, clapping her paws together, “I love it when we can kill things and turn them into furnishings!”
“You guys are all freaking nuts!” says Korm, busily slicing strips off the other dead beholder.
“I could point something out about what you’re doing right now,” replies Gareth, “But I won’t.”
“What? An orc’s got to eat!”
While they are carefully putting the stone beholder in the portable hole, Six – who has gone to check on what lies ahead – returns to say, “Dead end up ahead. It’s another chamber, actually. Unoccupied, but it has some things I think Nameless should check, in case they mean something.”
A bright light emanates from the chamber as the adventurers advance towards it. Entering, they see that the walls are dotted with hundreds of small purple crystals, each glowing akin to a continual flame, combining to create a brilliant gleam.
“Intriguing,” says Nameless. “They have multiple faint magical auras, but I don’t know what they do.”
“They’re beautiful!” Luna reaches up to a wall and pulls at a gem, which easily comes off. “And they’re removable! Okay, start collecting them.”
“Luna!” Nameless protests, “We don’t really have time for this.”
“Listen, you,” growls the druid, “We’ve got hundreds of pretty magical glowing stones. I am not leaving them here! If you want me out of here fast, you’ll help me.”
“Fine, fine,” says Korm, beginning to pull gems off the walls too, “Let’s just get this over with.”
Some time later, the Angels are back at the valve they had not passed through. When it opens, they see another chamber beyond with more of the tumor-like growths on the walls. These ones have large gaping holes in them and pools of slime at the bottom.
“Looks like whatever was growing here finished the job,” says Gareth.
“Well, how about you guys waiting again while I check ahead?” suggests Six. “Once I find what’s ahead and it tries to kill me, I’ll yell.”
“Sounds like a plan,” says Korm. “Just no more guys who throw around blade barriers please!”
“Deal,” says Six, before quietly moving down the passage which exits this chamber and around the corner. As with the previous passageway, another chamber opens off it a short distance around the corner. There is the sound of movement within, accompanied by a soft sloshing sound, as if someone – or something – were stepping in liquid. Six cautiously looks around the corner of the entrance into the room beyond.
The large chamber beyond is kidney-shaped and has small pools of what look like acid on the floor. Unlike the other passages and chambers within the Seed, this one is lit by a large disk of gently pulsing puce light on the far wall. The disk actually appears to be a translucent opening to the next room, and Six can vaguely see movement within. Bu details are impossible to make out and his attention is focused rather on the two inhabitants of this chamber.
The two six-foot tall creatures each have three long, multi-jointed legs ending in hooked claws. The bodies are long green ovoids which hang down beneath the tripod formed by the legs, and their lower extremities end in a single large red eye. More, smaller eyes are scattered haphazardly around the bodies.
The aberrations are walking around the chamber, clearly unaffected by acid as their feet land equally on the floor or in the acid pools, but both halt instantly, eyes swiveling in Six’s direction. Before the warforged can move, the multiple legs flex and hurl them forward towards him, strange chittering sounds emanating from unseen mouths.
With subterfuge useless, Six yells, “I’m under attack!” and attempts to backpedal, but one of the enemies reaches him. It kicks out instantly, driving a clawed leg into a joint between his metal chest and the fibrous growths beneath. As it hits, the claws clamp shut, digging deep into the warforged’s side. Expecting the creature to try and pull him towards it, Six prepares to resist, but instead the enemy actually steps towards him. Then there is a cracking sound as the leg actually rips itself free of the creature’s body. The end of the leg has a harpoon-like barb, and it drives itself towards the ground as if both alive and intelligent.
Instinctively realizing that if it hits he will be stuck to the spot, Six desperately flings himself backwards, causing the barb to miss. It then hangs limply from his side, as if whatever volition it had was expended in the initial effort. Glancing at the creature that hit him while he backs away, Six sees another similar leg emerge from the hole where the previous one had been. The second creature is moving in too and the warforged strikes it with his chain as it advances, but the barbs skitter off its surface leaving only a faint scratch.
Luckily for Six, this is when the rest of the Angels arrive, giving the two strange creatures much more to concern themselves with. But there are also unexpected concerns for some of the Angels. Just as Luna shambles around the corner and spots the creatures, she feels a movement in her stomach and a sensation that she is absolutely certain is the baby – which Mordain had mentioned and which she has found no signs of carrying – kicking. Followed instantly by a nauseating surge of what can only be morning sickness. Beside her, Korm halts also, a queasy expression on his face, and clutches at his stomach. “Your baby kicked also?” asks Luna, feeling amusement even at this moment. Korm looks back at her with an expression where nausea is submerged under horror and panic and growls, “No! Not at all!” Oh gods! I felt it!
Turning, Korm rushes in at the creatures along with Gareth, and is unpleasantly surprised for the second time in mere seconds. Their enemies’ legs are strangely extensible, shooting out to pierce the two attackers’ flesh before they can come within reach. Lacking Six’s lightning reflexes, both Gatekeeper and paladin find themselves momentarily stuck in place, as the barbed legs anchor them to the ground. Luckily, Luna and Nameless quickly conjure up a number of elementals to bracket the walking tripods, preventing them from following up their attacks.
With an angry effort, Korm rips himself free, tearing out the end which is buried in his side. “Damn!” says Gareth, trying to work himself free more gently and failing, “Does that hurt?”
Korm looks at him as if he is mentally deficient and points at the bleeding gash in his side. “What do you think?” Without waiting for an answer, he rushes into battle, using the rocky bulk of an earth elemental to cover his approach until he can reach the enemy. There, like Six – who is now darting in and out at his side too quickly to be attacked – Korm discovers that the creatures’ flesh is heavily resistant to his weapon, despite his meteoric blade’s anathematic relationship with aberrations. “Gareth – get in here!” he shouts.
With a sigh, Gareth also rips himself free and runs in. As Korm had expected, the combination of the paladin’s gifts from the Silver Flame and the Endless Blade allows him to slice easily through the tripods’ resistance to damage. Of course, this makes him the primary target for them, even in comparison to a gigantic fire elemental that towers over twice his height. A blur of clawed legs envelop him, and seconds later Gareth is not just bleeding heavily from multiple wounds but has literally been crucified, three barbed legs holding him pinned in place.
Luckily, Gareth’s unintended sacrifice keeps the creatures occupied, allowing Six, Korm and the summoned elementals to hammer them with impunity. A few seconds later, both of the tripods are down and dying, their bodies slowly dissolving into pools of acid.
The Angels begin healing themselves and cautiously nearing the translucent opening. “Is the Seal in that direction, Nameless?” asks Six. “Yes,” says the alienist. He takes a step closer and the light shimmers and disappears.
The roughly square chamber beyond is a huge one, stretching nearly a hundred feet across and with a domed ceiling that rises about forty feet. Unlike the other chambers in the place, this one is lit with a puce radiance, just like the doorway leading to it was. The central fifty feet of the chamber’s floor is a huge dimensional seal, but it is almost completely covered in the thick, ropelike strands of hair which have covered the surface of the Seed’s passageways, which have grown over it. Floating just above this seal is an amorphous, roiling cloud of darkness about ten feet in diameter, which radiates strong illusion and evocation magic to Nameless’ gaze. Protruding from the side of it is an inhumanly perfect human male face, the only part of the cloud that doesn’t change constantly.
* A DC 28 Will save and the bums all made it! Admittedly Korm needed a swashbuckling card that gave him an auto-success and Six had to use his Moment of Perfect Mind maneuver, but even so that’s horrible.
** Getting hit by an empowered Blade Barrier and a Wall of Fire at the same time hurts, but having to stand inside them to fight really sucks!
*** Mechanically it was a Ragewalker from MM3.
