Seekerofskill
First Post
And with the varrious boost, the effiective CR is one or two points higher. The Guardian Angels can now successufully get a paper from a newstand in Sharn!
Shilsen's Eberron SH (Finished - The Last Word : 9/20/15)
- Thread starter Rackhir
- Start date
And with the varrious boost, the effiective CR is one or two points higher. The Guardian Angels can now successufully get a paper from a newstand in Sharn!
That's just crazy talk. We can't possibly do that until we're well into epic levels.
Currently we could only manage that if we went en mass, hopefully with some friendly NPCs for backup.
shilsen
Adventurer
That evening, after nightfall …
“So we’re carrying out a cunning plan?” asks Korm, with a mixture of gloom and anticipation, “You know it’ll just fail and they’ll catch us and we’ll have to kill them the old-fashioned way, right?”
“Perhaps,” says Six, “But not if Nameless and I are right in our calculations.” He lays out a parchment on the table before the others. Drawn on it is a crude map showing Patrahk’n, the lake and the river, and the supposed location of the aberration army. “Now this is what we’ll be doing…”
A quarter of an hour later, the Guardian Angels emerge from the bole of a large tree some twenty miles from Patrahk’n. Nearby is the broad expanse of Blackwater River, gleaming darkly in the light of the six moons which are full this midwinter night. Despite the habitual heat and humidity of the Shadow Marches, there is a nip in the air, but none of the Angels notice it, having been inured to such things and also focusing on other issues.
“There,” says Korm, after having flapped his way aloft on the cloak-like wings protruding from his back, pointing to the south-west. “I see some lights. They’re a number of miles away.”
“Good,” says Six. “Your turn, Luna.”
“Sure,” says the druid and transforms into a hawk, which is – due to Mordain’s modifications – the size of a large eagle. She flaps away awkwardly and returns a few minutes later, this time with a water rat held gently in her claws. The creature hangs there passively, looking up at the bird with what must pass for adoration among rodents. “Here you go.”
The rat quivers with fear but remains quiescent as the others approach it, only trembling slightly as Korm touches it and casts a spell. Luna then casts a second spell and chitters to the creature in its own language, before releasing it. It listens to her intently, chittering back a little, and then turns and scurries away in the direction of the aberration army.
“It’ll go to the army,” says Luna, transforming back into her own form, “But I can’t guarantee it’ll stay there. It’s just a rat, after all. Korm, is your spell working?”
The Gatekeeper concentrates, and as he does so, his eyes turn milky white, as if he were blind. After a couple of seconds, they return to their normal color, and he says, “Yes. I can see through its eyes. Perfectly, but the angle takes a little getting used to. I like this chain of eyes spell. Why haven’t we used it before?”
“Because some of you prefer to start hitting things rather than gain information about them first,” rasps Nameless. “Speaking of which, Luna…”
“Yes, I know,” says the druid, having seated herself on a comfortable clump of vegetation. “I’m doing it. You lot be quiet.” Luna begins to intone the words of a commune with nature, closing her eyes as she does so.
After ten minutes of quiet chanting, she says, her voice sounding distant, “It’s done. What do we want information about?”
“Powerful aberrations, presence of humans, and the general terrain.”
“All right.” Luna falls silent for a couple of minutes, eyes closed and lips moving as she concentrates on the information gained by her spell. Then she opens her eyes and says, “Okay, here’s what I saw.” Picking up a stick, she draws on the damp ground before her, scratching out a crude map. “The area’s mostly flat and the army’s camping here. They’re a large oval, with the humans in a ring around the aberrations. This side to the east is open, creating a channel to the river, which is about five hundred feet away. I think, from what I picked up, that’s for the aquatic aberrations to move back and forth without eating any of the humans.”
Luna pokes at a spot a third of the way into the camp and says, “That’s approximately where I picked up the most powerful of the aberrations. There were six of them in one spot. There are other powerful ones around the place. Also, back here,” she indicates a spot near the back of the camp, “There are some twenty or more really large ones. Not that powerful, but big. Must be twenty-thirty feet long each.”
“Siege aberrations?” asks Six, completely seriously.
“No idea. And one more thing – we showed up as powerful unnatural creatures too. All five of us.”
“Why am I not surprised?” rasps Nameless.
“Even me?” asks Gareth, frowning at the news.
“Yes, Gareth, even you,” grins Luna. “Unless there’s a big powerful unnatural creature hiding here that we can’t see.”
“Maybe I should eat fewer aberrations for a while,” muses Korm aloud. He scratches his head thoughtfully and then looks around. “I’ll think about it. So, are we going back now?”
“Yes, we are,” says Nameless.
A few minutes later, the Angels are back in their temporary quarters in Patrahk’n, waiting for Korm to relay them more information about the aberration army. The Gatekeeper checks periodically as the water rat makes its way towards the camp.
After a good couple of hours, it is on the outskirts of the army, having spotted the hundreds of humans encamped around the aberrations. The animal dithers for a while, scurrying closer and then backing away in fear, magical compulsion and natural instinct warring with each other. Finally, as a couple of men blunder aimlessly in its direction, its nerve breaks and it runs for the water.
Luckily for the Angels’ reconnaissance mission – and unfortunately for the rat – the motion has been noted by a hunting owl. There is a shadowy flash of wings and a shriek from the rat as the bird descends on it. As claws dig into it, Korm quickly transfers the chain of eyes to the predator. The owl, having dispatched the water rat, picks it up in its claws and wings its way over part of the camp. As it flies, Korm watches through its eyes, studying the area below.
The Gatekeeper sees that while the humans have fires lit, much of the larger area inhabited by the aberration is dark, though a few sections have large campfires burning. One such area is the section where Luna said she thought the leaders were. The area is dominated by a large, bulbous structure, its shape and apparent consistency (as far as Korm can decipher at this distance) like the top of a giant mushroom some thirty feet across without the stem. A number of such structures dot the area, all of them smaller than this one.
As the owl continues to fly over, Korm also spots the giant aberrations Luna mentioned, near a clump of smaller mushroom-cap structures. These creatures are something he has never seen, resembling gelatinous cubes, but translucent rather than transparent. They are roughly squarish in shape, stretching from a dozen feet to over twice that length. Unlike normal gelatinous cubes, they are much lower to the ground than they are long or broad, only six feet high or so. And, if their appearance were not strange enough, their tops are covered with what looks like moss.
Korm relays what he sees to the others, as he continues to watch through the owl’s eyes. “Maybe they are siege aberrations,” he says. “Those could be howdahs on them.”
“Anything’s possible with Xoriat,” says Nameless. “Keep watching.”
“I am,” grunts Korm. “Now the owl….” He breaks off as the owl banks suddenly, dropping the rat’s corpse and desperately trying to flee. But it’s too late, and as a new predator seizes onto this one, Korm quickly transfers his spell again. “Something got the owl, but I’m watching through it now,” he says, once it has occurred. “I think it might be a cloaker, but I’m not sure.”
Korm is right, and the cloaker that killed the owl flaps its way down lazily to the camp below. It lands on one of five wooden stakes sticking out of the ground near one of the large mushroom-like structures, the other four occupied by a resting cloaker each. Dolgrims are encamped around the area in groups of a dozen or so.
The cloaker shifts and moves for a while before settling down and closing its eyes. “I think it’s going to sleep,” says Korm. “Anyway, we’ve learned a … wait, it’s opening its eyes.” He sees the reason for the disturbance, some ten dolgrims led by a dolgaunt walking by near the cloakers. As Korm watches, they walk over to the giant aberrations, which have been placed nearby in a makeshift pen of some kind.
Entering the enclosure, two of the dolgrims begin to cut large chunks of flesh – or whatever it is made of – off a couple of the huge creatures. The pieces are loaded into panniers on the backs of the other dolgrims. The large aberrations flinch at the slicing and slowly begin to move away, but the dolgaunt waves its tentacles at them and they desist, remaining in one place and quivering gently as the process continues. Korm doesn’t get to see the end of it, as the cloaker closes its eyes again, but he is fairly certain what they are doing.
“Looks like they’re some sort of food,” he opines, having broken off his contact with the cloaker. “Knowing the damn aberrations, they’re probably food and transport and siege engines.”
“We’ll find out tomorrow,” says Gareth, “When we destroy them.”
“Yes,” says Luna. “I’m looking forward to this! I never got to use that spell in this way before, and the weather seems perfect for it. I forecast strong winds!”
As she chuckles to herself, Six says, “I’d like some more information, if possible. Gareth, can you cast a divination?”
“Not today,” says the paladin. “Tomorrow morning, but that means one less spell I can use for the battle.”
“All right,” says the warforged, reaching into his special magical backpack full of scrolls. After rummaging for a few seconds, he produces one and tosses it to Gareth. “There you go. Compliments of your Keeper.”
Gareth catches the scroll and says, “The things she gave us have been very handy. We should return to Flamekeep again to re-supply at some point.”
“Strange how you seem to think of the bastion of your faith as a supply depot,” says Korm, grinning.
Gareth’s face reddens and he says, “I do not! If she needed me right there now, I’d be there. I told you that her sending today said the situation was stable in Thrane.”
“You also said,” Luna puts in, “That she asked when we might be able to go and help.”
“Well,” says Gareth hotly, “I told her we’re here helping Korm’s people and that we have to go back to Argonnessen for more information. If she needs us in Thrane instead, I’m sure she’ll tell me!”
“Gathering information, eh?” says Korm to Nameless, sotto voce but intentionally just loud enough for Gareth to hear, “Is that what we’re calling revenge on Xagygyrag nowadays?”
Before the paladin can retort, Six says, his metallic voice calm as ever, “Gareth – the divination?”
Gareth opens his mouth, snaps it shut, takes a deep breath, and then nods. Opening the scroll, he begins to read from it, gesturing as he does so. Ten minutes later, as he completes the spell, silvery light wells from his eyes. Gareth then asks the question that the others instruct him to – “How may we best defeat this army?”
The silvery glow deepens and Gareth recites the answer he receives, his voice more resonant than usual – “Defeat the celestial twins touched by Xoriat, who live as one and will die as one. Seek not solely the defeat of the army, but the reason for the army.”
“Ah, great!” says Korm, as Gareth’s eyes return to normal. “I love cryptic messages!”
* * * * *
Early the next morning, the aberration army has begun to stir, readying itself for its march towards Patrahk’n, when the Angels appear in their midst, right outside the large structure that Korm had studied.
If their sudden appearance is surprising for the aberrations in the area, it is especially so for the four muscular dolgaunts which had just stepped out of the bulbous structure through a sphincter in its side. The nearest of them almost walks into Gareth as the Angels appear, and after a second of shocked amazement, they leap to the attack, tentacles flailing.
These are unusually muscular dolgaunts, bred in the depths of Khyber for speed and power, trained since birth to be killing machines. So they actually last nearly ten seconds against their foes – perhaps because two of the Angels never take a hand. Six sweeps out the feet from beneath two of them as they rush in, and then Gareth, Korm and he unleash a flurry of blows on the dolgaunts, reducing them to bloody ruin in moments.
Meanwhile Nameless rasps, “They’ve got it under control,” as he rises into the air, “Do it, Luna. Now!”
“All right!” says the druid, grinning fiercely in anticipation. She raises her arms and shouts words of power. And in response, the sky darkens above them and there is a momentary hush, as all wind movement in the area suddenly dies, as if nature too were holding its breath in anticipation. The next occurrence, while taking only seconds, stretches out before the gaze of the fascinated Angels and the doomed army. Eddies of wind flow out from Luna’s position, strengthening swiftly, raising little puffs of dust as they move away from her. The spurts of dust increase in size and begin to move slowly in a counter-clockwise motion as they move away from Luna. And thirty feet from Luna, they explode with a fury that none of the Angels has ever seen, especially not at such close quarters. Instantly, they are surrounded by a forty foot high wall of raging wind and dust as a tornado envelops the army.
The aberrations and their allies never have a chance. The magical storm spins in a counter-clockwise direction, extending over six hundred feet away from the Angels in every direction.* Hurricane-force gusts sweep inexorably through the area, snatching up whatever is in its path, be they human, aberration or malformed animal. Cloakers attempt vainly to flap to safety and dolgaunts wrap their tentacles around the closest solid structure, but they are torn away by the wind. The humans who are lucky enough to be outside the whirlwind turn and flee, while their fellows are swept away, screaming unanswered prayers to the Dragon Below. Whatever few bushes and trees were in the area are torn out by their roots and join the whirling mass of flesh slowly being pulped by the storm.
If that were not enough, as soon as Luna unleashes her spell, Nameless casts one too. A three hundred feet long wall of fire appears, extending into the whirlwind. And as the hurricane of wind spins the hapless creatures in a circle, it hurls them through the wall, over and over. Thousands of screams from the dying, wounded and terrified rise around the Angels, but they barely hear them, whipped away as they are by the howling wind.
“Done,” says Nameless in satisfaction, turning back to the structure before them, which sits in the center of the sixty foot wide eye of calm which Luna had left in the middle of the storm. “Ready?”
“Yes,” replies Luna, who has been standing with arms raised, hair rippling gently in the wind. As she lowers her arms her form shifts and grows, until she is back in the tendriculos form she wears for battle.
“Good.” Korm steps forward to the sphincter which the dolgaunts had emerged from and slices into it. The meteoric blade bites easily through the tough fleshy material, rending it apart in seconds, and soon there is a gaping hole where the obstruction once stood. Revealed beyond the opening is the interior of the structure, which seems mostly empty of both objects and living creatures. Thick rope-like strands of some dark substance form a webbing that covers its interior surface, and the only visible sign of life is a huge snake on the opposite wall. Its body coiled through and around the large strands on the wall, it hisses angrily at the intruders. A greenish-red spine made of what seem to be small tentacles extends over the majority of its back.
Though nothing else is seen, there is the sound of more hissing and movement from the darkness on either side. Nameless doesn’t waste time waiting for the hidden foes to emerge, immediately causing a giant fireball to blossom inside the structure. The snake on the wall hisses loudly in pain as it is badly scorched and hurries to slither around and out of sight of the hole, and more pained hisses are heard on either side. As is the sound of flapping wings, as two figures emerge from the right to hover before the Angels.
These two are identical creatures, appearing at first glance to be extremely beautiful male humanoids with supple, lithe bodies, naked except for the boots and wrap-around skirts they wear. The effect is spoiled by the large, leathery wings on their backs, similar to those grown by Korm when wearing the aspect of the cloaker, and especially the black pits where their eyes should be. A tiny tentacle emerges from each eye-socket and wriggles slightly before retracting, like an earthworm in its hole. Both creatures have a complicated-looking sigil in their chests, and they each carry a heavy mace wielded in both hands.
“Astral devas,” says Nameless immediately, before adding a little unnecessarily, “But different.”
“The celestial twins, I guess,” says Gareth, moving forward to join Korm in the doorway, a frown on his face as he finds himself facing two angels – or former angels, from the looks of them.
Not that the angels have any such worries, it seems, as both of them gaze eyelessly at the Angels with placid expressions. “Baran,” says one, and “Yes, Narab,” replies the other, as they nod simultaneously.
An instant later, two blade barriers appear among the Angels, one right through the spot where Korm and Gareth stand, while another reaches through Six’s and Luna’s position. And as the Angels throw themselves out of the way, the two creatures disappear.
Nameless, his arcane sight letting him see them clearly, shouts, “They’re invisible. Luna – faerie fire! And dispel the blade barriers.”
“Yeah, yeah!” grunts the tendriculos, green sap running down from where the blades had ripped open her side, casting swiftly. One of the barriers disappears, and a second later, lavender light illumines the shapes of the two devas. But another barrier remains, separating Nameless, Luna and Six from Korm and Gareth.
The alienist too is already casting, and a moment later, a horrific but now familiar form appears behind the twins. “Kha’tvan’ga,” rasps Nameless, “Destroy them.”
The eldritch horror surges forward, tentacles reaching for the devas, but something resembling a tentacle lashes out from the side at it. It is the giant snake – or another like it – and the aberrant reptile bites into Kha’tvan’ga’s side. Though it does little damage it holds on, its weight slowing the horror, and throws a coil around it. Seconds later, two more such snakes appear, similarly biting and seizing onto Nameless’ strange companion. Kha’tvan’ga rages silently against its captors, tearing gaping wounds in them, but there are too many for it to break away from.
A fourth snake snaps its head around the opening, biting at Gareth from an unexpected angle. But as it strikes, so does Six, who has darted forward, diving through the remaining blade barrier so swiftly that the whirling shards of metal barely grazed his form. Now his spiked chain punches up and catches the snake in mid-strike, smashing its head to the side. Before it can recover, the Endless Blade slashes down, severing the head from the torso.
As Gareth strikes the twin devas step forward, coordinating their blows to strike in quick succession at him. The blows are heavy and the paladin stumbles backwards under the onslaught, attempting to block and strike back with the Endless Blade. Korm attacks too, but his target ignores him, even though the meteoric blade lays his arm open. Interestingly, the same wound appears on the second deva a split second later.
“Narab,” the first deva says calmly, bringing his mace down on Gareth’s arm, “Focus on this one.” His twin replies, in precisely the same voice and tone, “Yes, Baran.” As Baran’s blow forces an opening in Gareth’s defenses, Narab’s mace descends on the paladin’s head, and then does so again. The iron helmet crumples beneath the blows and Gareth drops, blood flowing from a shattered skull.
“Sh*t! Six! Give me a second!” shouts Korm, and the warforged complies, chain lashing alternately at the twins as he attempts to pull them off their feet. The only result is Six himself almost being pulled to the ground, but at least it takes a couple of seconds, and spells from Luna and Nameless add to the distraction, though they do only limited damage to their targets.
Seizing the moment, Korm reaches down to grasp Gareth’s arm and casts a spell. The new bracers on his arm flare with magic, causing the spell to affect himself and the paladin, healing them both.
“He is healed,” says Baran, as Gareth rises back up, and Narab replies, “We should be too.” He concentrates and his wounds disappear, an instant before his twin’s do too.
“Oh, come on!” growls Luna, “That’s not fair! How do we kill these two?”
“Let me try something,” says Nameless. As Korm, Gareth and Six move in together, the alienist pulls a strangely carved rod from a pouch and waves it in the direction of the devas, speaking words of power. An instant later, one of them disappears, as Nameless’ banishment takes hold. Followed a split second later, to the alienist’s disappointment, by the other.
“Hey!” says Gareth, spinning around, “What did you do?”
“Banished one,” says Nameless, frowning. “I hoped the other would remain but…,” he shrugs eloquently.
“Now how do we find them?” complains Gareth.
“I’m guessing,” says Six, backing out of the structure and away from Kha’tvan’ga, who has disposed of the aberrant snakes, “They’ll find us soon enough. Remember, someone was scrying us earlier, and I doubt it’s one of our friends.”
“Well,” says Luna, lumbering forward, “Let’s clean up this place and go home.” She looks around at the still raging winds. “We’ve got a lot of cleaning up to do.”
* High level druids and Control Winds are a terrifying combination.
“So we’re carrying out a cunning plan?” asks Korm, with a mixture of gloom and anticipation, “You know it’ll just fail and they’ll catch us and we’ll have to kill them the old-fashioned way, right?”
“Perhaps,” says Six, “But not if Nameless and I are right in our calculations.” He lays out a parchment on the table before the others. Drawn on it is a crude map showing Patrahk’n, the lake and the river, and the supposed location of the aberration army. “Now this is what we’ll be doing…”
A quarter of an hour later, the Guardian Angels emerge from the bole of a large tree some twenty miles from Patrahk’n. Nearby is the broad expanse of Blackwater River, gleaming darkly in the light of the six moons which are full this midwinter night. Despite the habitual heat and humidity of the Shadow Marches, there is a nip in the air, but none of the Angels notice it, having been inured to such things and also focusing on other issues.
“There,” says Korm, after having flapped his way aloft on the cloak-like wings protruding from his back, pointing to the south-west. “I see some lights. They’re a number of miles away.”
“Good,” says Six. “Your turn, Luna.”
“Sure,” says the druid and transforms into a hawk, which is – due to Mordain’s modifications – the size of a large eagle. She flaps away awkwardly and returns a few minutes later, this time with a water rat held gently in her claws. The creature hangs there passively, looking up at the bird with what must pass for adoration among rodents. “Here you go.”
The rat quivers with fear but remains quiescent as the others approach it, only trembling slightly as Korm touches it and casts a spell. Luna then casts a second spell and chitters to the creature in its own language, before releasing it. It listens to her intently, chittering back a little, and then turns and scurries away in the direction of the aberration army.
“It’ll go to the army,” says Luna, transforming back into her own form, “But I can’t guarantee it’ll stay there. It’s just a rat, after all. Korm, is your spell working?”
The Gatekeeper concentrates, and as he does so, his eyes turn milky white, as if he were blind. After a couple of seconds, they return to their normal color, and he says, “Yes. I can see through its eyes. Perfectly, but the angle takes a little getting used to. I like this chain of eyes spell. Why haven’t we used it before?”
“Because some of you prefer to start hitting things rather than gain information about them first,” rasps Nameless. “Speaking of which, Luna…”
“Yes, I know,” says the druid, having seated herself on a comfortable clump of vegetation. “I’m doing it. You lot be quiet.” Luna begins to intone the words of a commune with nature, closing her eyes as she does so.
After ten minutes of quiet chanting, she says, her voice sounding distant, “It’s done. What do we want information about?”
“Powerful aberrations, presence of humans, and the general terrain.”
“All right.” Luna falls silent for a couple of minutes, eyes closed and lips moving as she concentrates on the information gained by her spell. Then she opens her eyes and says, “Okay, here’s what I saw.” Picking up a stick, she draws on the damp ground before her, scratching out a crude map. “The area’s mostly flat and the army’s camping here. They’re a large oval, with the humans in a ring around the aberrations. This side to the east is open, creating a channel to the river, which is about five hundred feet away. I think, from what I picked up, that’s for the aquatic aberrations to move back and forth without eating any of the humans.”
Luna pokes at a spot a third of the way into the camp and says, “That’s approximately where I picked up the most powerful of the aberrations. There were six of them in one spot. There are other powerful ones around the place. Also, back here,” she indicates a spot near the back of the camp, “There are some twenty or more really large ones. Not that powerful, but big. Must be twenty-thirty feet long each.”
“Siege aberrations?” asks Six, completely seriously.
“No idea. And one more thing – we showed up as powerful unnatural creatures too. All five of us.”
“Why am I not surprised?” rasps Nameless.
“Even me?” asks Gareth, frowning at the news.
“Yes, Gareth, even you,” grins Luna. “Unless there’s a big powerful unnatural creature hiding here that we can’t see.”
“Maybe I should eat fewer aberrations for a while,” muses Korm aloud. He scratches his head thoughtfully and then looks around. “I’ll think about it. So, are we going back now?”
“Yes, we are,” says Nameless.
A few minutes later, the Angels are back in their temporary quarters in Patrahk’n, waiting for Korm to relay them more information about the aberration army. The Gatekeeper checks periodically as the water rat makes its way towards the camp.
After a good couple of hours, it is on the outskirts of the army, having spotted the hundreds of humans encamped around the aberrations. The animal dithers for a while, scurrying closer and then backing away in fear, magical compulsion and natural instinct warring with each other. Finally, as a couple of men blunder aimlessly in its direction, its nerve breaks and it runs for the water.
Luckily for the Angels’ reconnaissance mission – and unfortunately for the rat – the motion has been noted by a hunting owl. There is a shadowy flash of wings and a shriek from the rat as the bird descends on it. As claws dig into it, Korm quickly transfers the chain of eyes to the predator. The owl, having dispatched the water rat, picks it up in its claws and wings its way over part of the camp. As it flies, Korm watches through its eyes, studying the area below.
The Gatekeeper sees that while the humans have fires lit, much of the larger area inhabited by the aberration is dark, though a few sections have large campfires burning. One such area is the section where Luna said she thought the leaders were. The area is dominated by a large, bulbous structure, its shape and apparent consistency (as far as Korm can decipher at this distance) like the top of a giant mushroom some thirty feet across without the stem. A number of such structures dot the area, all of them smaller than this one.
As the owl continues to fly over, Korm also spots the giant aberrations Luna mentioned, near a clump of smaller mushroom-cap structures. These creatures are something he has never seen, resembling gelatinous cubes, but translucent rather than transparent. They are roughly squarish in shape, stretching from a dozen feet to over twice that length. Unlike normal gelatinous cubes, they are much lower to the ground than they are long or broad, only six feet high or so. And, if their appearance were not strange enough, their tops are covered with what looks like moss.
Korm relays what he sees to the others, as he continues to watch through the owl’s eyes. “Maybe they are siege aberrations,” he says. “Those could be howdahs on them.”
“Anything’s possible with Xoriat,” says Nameless. “Keep watching.”
“I am,” grunts Korm. “Now the owl….” He breaks off as the owl banks suddenly, dropping the rat’s corpse and desperately trying to flee. But it’s too late, and as a new predator seizes onto this one, Korm quickly transfers his spell again. “Something got the owl, but I’m watching through it now,” he says, once it has occurred. “I think it might be a cloaker, but I’m not sure.”
Korm is right, and the cloaker that killed the owl flaps its way down lazily to the camp below. It lands on one of five wooden stakes sticking out of the ground near one of the large mushroom-like structures, the other four occupied by a resting cloaker each. Dolgrims are encamped around the area in groups of a dozen or so.
The cloaker shifts and moves for a while before settling down and closing its eyes. “I think it’s going to sleep,” says Korm. “Anyway, we’ve learned a … wait, it’s opening its eyes.” He sees the reason for the disturbance, some ten dolgrims led by a dolgaunt walking by near the cloakers. As Korm watches, they walk over to the giant aberrations, which have been placed nearby in a makeshift pen of some kind.
Entering the enclosure, two of the dolgrims begin to cut large chunks of flesh – or whatever it is made of – off a couple of the huge creatures. The pieces are loaded into panniers on the backs of the other dolgrims. The large aberrations flinch at the slicing and slowly begin to move away, but the dolgaunt waves its tentacles at them and they desist, remaining in one place and quivering gently as the process continues. Korm doesn’t get to see the end of it, as the cloaker closes its eyes again, but he is fairly certain what they are doing.
“Looks like they’re some sort of food,” he opines, having broken off his contact with the cloaker. “Knowing the damn aberrations, they’re probably food and transport and siege engines.”
“We’ll find out tomorrow,” says Gareth, “When we destroy them.”
“Yes,” says Luna. “I’m looking forward to this! I never got to use that spell in this way before, and the weather seems perfect for it. I forecast strong winds!”
As she chuckles to herself, Six says, “I’d like some more information, if possible. Gareth, can you cast a divination?”
“Not today,” says the paladin. “Tomorrow morning, but that means one less spell I can use for the battle.”
“All right,” says the warforged, reaching into his special magical backpack full of scrolls. After rummaging for a few seconds, he produces one and tosses it to Gareth. “There you go. Compliments of your Keeper.”
Gareth catches the scroll and says, “The things she gave us have been very handy. We should return to Flamekeep again to re-supply at some point.”
“Strange how you seem to think of the bastion of your faith as a supply depot,” says Korm, grinning.
Gareth’s face reddens and he says, “I do not! If she needed me right there now, I’d be there. I told you that her sending today said the situation was stable in Thrane.”
“You also said,” Luna puts in, “That she asked when we might be able to go and help.”
“Well,” says Gareth hotly, “I told her we’re here helping Korm’s people and that we have to go back to Argonnessen for more information. If she needs us in Thrane instead, I’m sure she’ll tell me!”
“Gathering information, eh?” says Korm to Nameless, sotto voce but intentionally just loud enough for Gareth to hear, “Is that what we’re calling revenge on Xagygyrag nowadays?”
Before the paladin can retort, Six says, his metallic voice calm as ever, “Gareth – the divination?”
Gareth opens his mouth, snaps it shut, takes a deep breath, and then nods. Opening the scroll, he begins to read from it, gesturing as he does so. Ten minutes later, as he completes the spell, silvery light wells from his eyes. Gareth then asks the question that the others instruct him to – “How may we best defeat this army?”
The silvery glow deepens and Gareth recites the answer he receives, his voice more resonant than usual – “Defeat the celestial twins touched by Xoriat, who live as one and will die as one. Seek not solely the defeat of the army, but the reason for the army.”
“Ah, great!” says Korm, as Gareth’s eyes return to normal. “I love cryptic messages!”
* * * * *
Early the next morning, the aberration army has begun to stir, readying itself for its march towards Patrahk’n, when the Angels appear in their midst, right outside the large structure that Korm had studied.
If their sudden appearance is surprising for the aberrations in the area, it is especially so for the four muscular dolgaunts which had just stepped out of the bulbous structure through a sphincter in its side. The nearest of them almost walks into Gareth as the Angels appear, and after a second of shocked amazement, they leap to the attack, tentacles flailing.
These are unusually muscular dolgaunts, bred in the depths of Khyber for speed and power, trained since birth to be killing machines. So they actually last nearly ten seconds against their foes – perhaps because two of the Angels never take a hand. Six sweeps out the feet from beneath two of them as they rush in, and then Gareth, Korm and he unleash a flurry of blows on the dolgaunts, reducing them to bloody ruin in moments.
Meanwhile Nameless rasps, “They’ve got it under control,” as he rises into the air, “Do it, Luna. Now!”
“All right!” says the druid, grinning fiercely in anticipation. She raises her arms and shouts words of power. And in response, the sky darkens above them and there is a momentary hush, as all wind movement in the area suddenly dies, as if nature too were holding its breath in anticipation. The next occurrence, while taking only seconds, stretches out before the gaze of the fascinated Angels and the doomed army. Eddies of wind flow out from Luna’s position, strengthening swiftly, raising little puffs of dust as they move away from her. The spurts of dust increase in size and begin to move slowly in a counter-clockwise motion as they move away from Luna. And thirty feet from Luna, they explode with a fury that none of the Angels has ever seen, especially not at such close quarters. Instantly, they are surrounded by a forty foot high wall of raging wind and dust as a tornado envelops the army.
The aberrations and their allies never have a chance. The magical storm spins in a counter-clockwise direction, extending over six hundred feet away from the Angels in every direction.* Hurricane-force gusts sweep inexorably through the area, snatching up whatever is in its path, be they human, aberration or malformed animal. Cloakers attempt vainly to flap to safety and dolgaunts wrap their tentacles around the closest solid structure, but they are torn away by the wind. The humans who are lucky enough to be outside the whirlwind turn and flee, while their fellows are swept away, screaming unanswered prayers to the Dragon Below. Whatever few bushes and trees were in the area are torn out by their roots and join the whirling mass of flesh slowly being pulped by the storm.
If that were not enough, as soon as Luna unleashes her spell, Nameless casts one too. A three hundred feet long wall of fire appears, extending into the whirlwind. And as the hurricane of wind spins the hapless creatures in a circle, it hurls them through the wall, over and over. Thousands of screams from the dying, wounded and terrified rise around the Angels, but they barely hear them, whipped away as they are by the howling wind.
“Done,” says Nameless in satisfaction, turning back to the structure before them, which sits in the center of the sixty foot wide eye of calm which Luna had left in the middle of the storm. “Ready?”
“Yes,” replies Luna, who has been standing with arms raised, hair rippling gently in the wind. As she lowers her arms her form shifts and grows, until she is back in the tendriculos form she wears for battle.
“Good.” Korm steps forward to the sphincter which the dolgaunts had emerged from and slices into it. The meteoric blade bites easily through the tough fleshy material, rending it apart in seconds, and soon there is a gaping hole where the obstruction once stood. Revealed beyond the opening is the interior of the structure, which seems mostly empty of both objects and living creatures. Thick rope-like strands of some dark substance form a webbing that covers its interior surface, and the only visible sign of life is a huge snake on the opposite wall. Its body coiled through and around the large strands on the wall, it hisses angrily at the intruders. A greenish-red spine made of what seem to be small tentacles extends over the majority of its back.
Though nothing else is seen, there is the sound of more hissing and movement from the darkness on either side. Nameless doesn’t waste time waiting for the hidden foes to emerge, immediately causing a giant fireball to blossom inside the structure. The snake on the wall hisses loudly in pain as it is badly scorched and hurries to slither around and out of sight of the hole, and more pained hisses are heard on either side. As is the sound of flapping wings, as two figures emerge from the right to hover before the Angels.
These two are identical creatures, appearing at first glance to be extremely beautiful male humanoids with supple, lithe bodies, naked except for the boots and wrap-around skirts they wear. The effect is spoiled by the large, leathery wings on their backs, similar to those grown by Korm when wearing the aspect of the cloaker, and especially the black pits where their eyes should be. A tiny tentacle emerges from each eye-socket and wriggles slightly before retracting, like an earthworm in its hole. Both creatures have a complicated-looking sigil in their chests, and they each carry a heavy mace wielded in both hands.
“Astral devas,” says Nameless immediately, before adding a little unnecessarily, “But different.”
“The celestial twins, I guess,” says Gareth, moving forward to join Korm in the doorway, a frown on his face as he finds himself facing two angels – or former angels, from the looks of them.
Not that the angels have any such worries, it seems, as both of them gaze eyelessly at the Angels with placid expressions. “Baran,” says one, and “Yes, Narab,” replies the other, as they nod simultaneously.
An instant later, two blade barriers appear among the Angels, one right through the spot where Korm and Gareth stand, while another reaches through Six’s and Luna’s position. And as the Angels throw themselves out of the way, the two creatures disappear.
Nameless, his arcane sight letting him see them clearly, shouts, “They’re invisible. Luna – faerie fire! And dispel the blade barriers.”
“Yeah, yeah!” grunts the tendriculos, green sap running down from where the blades had ripped open her side, casting swiftly. One of the barriers disappears, and a second later, lavender light illumines the shapes of the two devas. But another barrier remains, separating Nameless, Luna and Six from Korm and Gareth.
The alienist too is already casting, and a moment later, a horrific but now familiar form appears behind the twins. “Kha’tvan’ga,” rasps Nameless, “Destroy them.”
The eldritch horror surges forward, tentacles reaching for the devas, but something resembling a tentacle lashes out from the side at it. It is the giant snake – or another like it – and the aberrant reptile bites into Kha’tvan’ga’s side. Though it does little damage it holds on, its weight slowing the horror, and throws a coil around it. Seconds later, two more such snakes appear, similarly biting and seizing onto Nameless’ strange companion. Kha’tvan’ga rages silently against its captors, tearing gaping wounds in them, but there are too many for it to break away from.
A fourth snake snaps its head around the opening, biting at Gareth from an unexpected angle. But as it strikes, so does Six, who has darted forward, diving through the remaining blade barrier so swiftly that the whirling shards of metal barely grazed his form. Now his spiked chain punches up and catches the snake in mid-strike, smashing its head to the side. Before it can recover, the Endless Blade slashes down, severing the head from the torso.
As Gareth strikes the twin devas step forward, coordinating their blows to strike in quick succession at him. The blows are heavy and the paladin stumbles backwards under the onslaught, attempting to block and strike back with the Endless Blade. Korm attacks too, but his target ignores him, even though the meteoric blade lays his arm open. Interestingly, the same wound appears on the second deva a split second later.
“Narab,” the first deva says calmly, bringing his mace down on Gareth’s arm, “Focus on this one.” His twin replies, in precisely the same voice and tone, “Yes, Baran.” As Baran’s blow forces an opening in Gareth’s defenses, Narab’s mace descends on the paladin’s head, and then does so again. The iron helmet crumples beneath the blows and Gareth drops, blood flowing from a shattered skull.
“Sh*t! Six! Give me a second!” shouts Korm, and the warforged complies, chain lashing alternately at the twins as he attempts to pull them off their feet. The only result is Six himself almost being pulled to the ground, but at least it takes a couple of seconds, and spells from Luna and Nameless add to the distraction, though they do only limited damage to their targets.
Seizing the moment, Korm reaches down to grasp Gareth’s arm and casts a spell. The new bracers on his arm flare with magic, causing the spell to affect himself and the paladin, healing them both.
“He is healed,” says Baran, as Gareth rises back up, and Narab replies, “We should be too.” He concentrates and his wounds disappear, an instant before his twin’s do too.
“Oh, come on!” growls Luna, “That’s not fair! How do we kill these two?”
“Let me try something,” says Nameless. As Korm, Gareth and Six move in together, the alienist pulls a strangely carved rod from a pouch and waves it in the direction of the devas, speaking words of power. An instant later, one of them disappears, as Nameless’ banishment takes hold. Followed a split second later, to the alienist’s disappointment, by the other.
“Hey!” says Gareth, spinning around, “What did you do?”
“Banished one,” says Nameless, frowning. “I hoped the other would remain but…,” he shrugs eloquently.
“Now how do we find them?” complains Gareth.
“I’m guessing,” says Six, backing out of the structure and away from Kha’tvan’ga, who has disposed of the aberrant snakes, “They’ll find us soon enough. Remember, someone was scrying us earlier, and I doubt it’s one of our friends.”
“Well,” says Luna, lumbering forward, “Let’s clean up this place and go home.” She looks around at the still raging winds. “We’ve got a lot of cleaning up to do.”
* High level druids and Control Winds are a terrifying combination.
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For Luna with a bead of Karma running (+4 caster levels) that's a 800' radius (1600' diameter) area, with the winds cranked up to 175 mph and IIRC we had a "fortune" card that let us step up the severity of the weather a notch...
The army never stood a chance.
We had initially planned on putting up more walls of fire or possibly even a prismatic wall, but quickly decided anything else we did past the first wall of fire would have been irrelevant.
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The_Warlock
Explorer
Well done!
Yeah, Control Winds is why one of the characters in my campaign gained the appellation "Bloodstorm."
Just...Brutal.
Yeah, Control Winds is why one of the characters in my campaign gained the appellation "Bloodstorm."
Just...Brutal.
carborundum
Adventurer
Oooooh, I can't wait!
Will the update be here before Christmas? Only Santa knows....!
Will the update be here before Christmas? Only Santa knows....!
shilsen
Adventurer
HO! HO! HO!
Ahem. Actually, no update by Christmas, but there'll be a couple over the next couple of weeks, since I'm off from college now. Watch this space.
Quartz
Hero
carborundum
Adventurer
Finally made it to the keyboard!
Happy Christmas you lot!
Happy Christmas you lot!
