Blarkon Dragonslayer
First Post
Great stuff indeed.
Tales of the Legacy - Concluded
- Thread starter Delemental
- Start date
Ooh, that bitch Meeranda is back... Along with the cornugon who cast that nasty spell. Here's hoping the party manages the lay the smackdown on them. I dearly hope they have some sort of dimensional anchor prepared to keep the sneering bitch from escaping again.
It should be an interesting fight.
It should be an interesting fight.
Delemental
First Post
The room beyond was huge, and well lit with torches. They emerged at the top level of a series of three steppes that descended to the opposite end of the chamber. The steppes looked as though they had been dug away rather than built or carved, giving the room the feel of a mine or a pit. The ceiling was huge, extending beyond the limits of their sight, and was supported by massive pillars throughout the room. At the bottom level sat the largest sphinx any of them had ever seen or heard of.
“I think we found the ‘creature’,” Osborn said.
The party studied the scene more carefully. They saw several of the puzzle-statues scattered about the room, vainly trying to reassemble themselves. They also saw signs of an archeological dig; bits of pottery, stone tablets, and other items were scattered about, and the sphinx appeared to be gently brushing dirt away from a spot on the floor.
Everything suddenly clicked into place for Lanara. “Feesha’s fingernails!” she exclaimed, “I think that’s Athentia!”
“A-who?” Kyle asked.
“Athentia the Great Sphinx,” Lanara explained, slightly awestruck. “She’s not only the greatest loremaster of all time, but the greatest riddlemaster. She specializes in pre-Cataclysm knowledge. Many have sought her out for what she knows, but few succeed in finding her, and fewer return.”
“Why is that?” Autumn asked.
“Like most sphinxes, she asks a riddle before giving information. But if you get it wrong, she turns you into one of those puzzle-statues. The answer to your riddle is the key to restore you, but of course you have to be put together first. The more rare or precious the knowledge is, the harder the riddle gets.” Lanara looked at the group. “So, do we ask a question, or just leave?”
“I’m not sure we should bother her, given what that elf said,” Osborn stated.
“She’s really not known to be overtly hostile, unless provoked or unless you disrupt her work,” Lanara said. “If we’re polite and leave quickly…”
“I don’t think we have the time,” Tolly said, “and I don’t think there is anything we could ask her that would help in our current situation. Perhaps we should simply introduce ourselves, apologize for the interruption, and be on our way.”
The party fully entered the chamber, and waited patiently for Athentia to take note of them. The sphinx eventually looked up and took them in.
“Our apologies for the interruption, great Athentia,” Lanara said, bowing. “We have no wish to disturb you. I am Lanara Rahila, of the adventuring group the Legacy. This is Princess Ariadne Verahannen of Tlaxan, Duchess Autumn goodson of Vargex, Brother Tolly Nightsleaving of Ardara, Kyle Goodson of Targeth, and Osborn Greenbottle of the Khag Steppes. We wish merely to pass beyond this chamber.”
Athentia stared at them a moment. “Touch nothing on your way through,” she said at last.
The party complied with the sphinx’s wishes, moving along the wall to avoid getting near any of the partially unearthed items. As they made it to the arched doorway on the far side of the room, Kyle paused for a moment, looking regretfully at the giant form of the sphinx, before turning to rejoin his companions.
The chamber beyond was barren, save for a large ziggurat-like structure in the center. The room had obviously been the subject of Athentia’s attentions, as it had been completely dug out and every stone bore signs of having been dusted and carefully examined.
“I think it’s safe to say there’s nothing here,” Arrie sighed.
“Where now?” Autumn asked.
“The other sources of activity I saw were more in that direction from here,” Kyle said, pointing. “I think we should just try and make our way into that general area and go from there.”
The Legacy found another entrance to the ziggurat room, and from there a long passageway leading in the direction they wished to go. There were innumerable turns, dead ends, and empty chambers along the way, but they managed to stay on course.
Approaching a T intersection, Osborn suddenly paused. Two large, rough columns stood in the center of the intersection, blocking the view of the passage beyond. At first, Osborn thought that this was what put him on edge, but suddenly he realized the true cause.
“Hey, columns don’t breathe!” he exclaimed.
As if on cue, each pillar suddenly sprouted four long tentacles, which lashed out at them. A tentacle slipped around Arrie’s whirling weapon and wrapped itself around her waist, dragging her toward the column.
“Gee, I’m so glad I spent all those years learning an evasive combat style!” she said, as she began hacking at the tentacle. Autumn was also caught by a tentacle, but Osborn, thanks to his magical ring, easily wriggled out of the ropers’ grasp.
Kyle unleashed a fireball at the two creatures, singing one but leaving the other unharmed. The columns growled, revealing sharp-toothed maws. In response to the spell, one of the ropers grabbed on to Kyle with a pair of tentacles. He felt his strength being sapped by some sort of toxin, and before he could react he fell limply to the floor. He tried to slash at the tentacles with his metal wings, but his feeble blows bounced off, and soon he found himself being shoved into the roper’s maw.
As expected, the other members of the Legacy took exception to this. While both Rupert and Tolly’s new dog bit at the tentacles to try and break them, the rest of them battered their way through the ropers’ thick skin until they fell to the ground, shrieking. Kyle was pulled out of the roper, slimy but unharmed. Tolly cast a spell to restore a small amount of his strength, enough to allow him to stand. After another spell and a potion, Kyle had enough strength to move about.
“Wow,” Kyle said, lifting and lowering his arms slowly. “Now I know what regular wizards feel like.”
“Let’s move on,” Tolly said. “Unfortunately I can’t do much more for him at this time.”
“Well then, it should be dawn soon,” Kyle said. “You’ll have a chance to pray.”
“How do you know?” Tolly asked.
“Because a while back I did a sending to Aran, to let him know what had happened. I asked him to tell me the current time and date – we’ve been down here about thirty hours. Since it was early evening on the 29th when we were taken, I figure we’re getting toward the morning of the first now.”
They marched onward through the long, winding corridors, alert for any sign of change in the dark, dust-filled hallways. Eventually, they reached a point that Kyle felt was close to some of the other active areas on his crude map. They decided on a direction and went forward. Eventually, they reached a room from which an iridescent glow was emanating. The party entered the room and saw that it was filled with several fist-sized, floating geometrical objects, which appeared to be orbiting the room at various rates. The shapes were glowing with all manner of different colors. They couldn’t see any pattern in the orbits.
“It’s beautiful!” Autumn exclaimed. “Can we take it with us?” She began to unfold her portable hole.
“Um, why don’t we leave the pre-Cataclysmic magic object alone?” Kyle advised.
“Autumn, this thing could very well be another ‘puzzle box’,” Tolly warned.
“Maybe we can come back afterward and see what it is,” Kyle offered.
With only a slight pout, Autumn agreed, and the party turned to find a new area to explore. Eventually, they came to an area where the hallways widened, which struck Kyle as familiar. Proceeding cautiously, they eventually came upon a spot where a circular tunnel had been cut through the stone between two hallways running parallel, allowing easier access between the two.
“This hole was disintegrated,” Tolly said. He ran his fingers along the edge of the tunnel, “relatively recently, though down here that could mean it’s a few hundred years old.” Osborn stepped into the tunnel and followed it into a small area that glowed with several types of phosphorescent fungi. Seeing nothing of interest, he returned shortly. The party decided to press on down the hallway.
Tolly, who was acting as a rear guard, felt a sudden presence behind them as the party rounded a corner. The mysterious copper-colored dog also tensed slightly, fur bristling. Glancing back, Tolly caught a brief image of a large floating orb. Making a quick decision, Tolly turned and cast blistering radiance into the corridor behind them.
The beholder howled, jerking backward, and then unleashed its eye rays into the party. Arrie, Autumn, Kyle, Tolly and Osborn were all struck by rays. Tolly’s armor sizzled as it was partially dissolved, but there seemed to be no other harm done. In response, Tolly summoned an Ardara’s clenched fist behind the beholder, intent on pummeling the abberation. But the beholder turned its back on the party and aimed its central eye at the corridor, dispelling the blistering radiance and the fist.
Autumn threw a tanglefoot bag at the beholder, covering it in sticky fluid and making it more difficult for it to aim its eyestalks. She was about to follow up with her greataxe, but suddenly she found herself pinned to the wall by Arrie, who had turned Anyweapon into a mancatcher.
“Leave him alone!” Arrie shouted at her sister. “It’s just a big misunderstanding!”
Another spread of rays struck the party, and again most of the worst effects were avoided. Even the ray striking Tolly’s dog seemed to be absorbed harmlessly. But Autumn’s face was suddenly stricken with panic, and she squirmed her way out of the mancatcher, wanting to do nothing but flee. Fortunately, Osborn’s many daggers were able to dispatch the beholder quickly so they could turn their attention to the two stricken women. Lanara tried to calm the panicked sentinel with soothing words, but she was too terrified to listen. She broke out of Arrie’s mancatcher and tried to flee down the hall, but Arrie whipped around and tripped Autumn with the other end of her weapon, sending her sprawling to the ground. Tolly ended the fear effect on Autumn, and she immediately calmed. Arrie seemed glad to see Autumn recover, but she still shot a dirty look at Tolly.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“You didn’t have to go and hurt the beholder,” she said, “I’m sure he was coming to help us.”
Tolly sighed. “I’m sure that in a while you’ll come to understand why I did it, Arrie.”
They went back and searched the fungi-filled chamber, which as they now suspected turned out to be the beholder’s lair. Among the items they found buried in the fungus was a single arrow, etched with magical runes. Autumn picked it up, and immediately felt ill.
“I don’t think I should carry this,” she said, passing it to Kyle.
“No wonder,” he commented, turning it over in his hands. “This arrow is enchanted to kill outsiders with a celestial origin.”
“That’s not something we want,” Osborn commented.
“Well, easily dealt with,” Kyle said. He walked across the chamber with the arrow. A moment later there was a snap, and then Kyle tossed the broken shaft away. “Well, at least I know I have enough strength to break a stick.”
Everyone chuckled and went back to searching for valuables. After a while, Kyle moved out of the room and came up to Arrie, who was standing outside in the hallway. Still under the effect of the beholder’s charm, she’d refused to participate in the looting out of respect for him. As she stood watch, she felt him slip something into her pack.
“I thought you broke that,” she said quietly.
“Broke an old wand,” he explained. “Look, although I hope it never comes up, you and I both know that you could have potential problems if you end up using the wrong kind of abilities in front of the wrong kind of people. Let’s just call it our secret insurance policy.”
Arrie looked at him quietly for a moment, then nodded slightly.
Once finished searching the lair, the party returned to the previous corridor and went the other direction. They passed a set of stairs leading down to another level, but decided to check the other areas of activity first. They proceeded along the corridor until they reached what initially looked like a simple right turn. But when they got closer, they saw that the outer corner of the bend was shrouded by another curtain of blackness, placed diagonally across the corner.
“Looks like one of those curtains,” Arrie commented.
“Maybe we should go through this one just to make sure there’s nothing important on the other side,” offered Kyle.
Osborn frowned. “I don’t think so.” He picked up a loose pebble, and walked over to the curtain, bouncing the stone in his hand. He tossed it through the curtain, and then listened for a moment.
“Just what I suspected,” he said. “It’s a trap. Behind the curtain is a pit and a chimney, one above the other. There’s also a gravity-reversing effect. You step into the pit, you fall up until you hit the ceiling, and then the gravity reverses and you fall down from way up there to way down there.”
“How’d you know it was there?” Kyle asked.
“I remembered hearing about them during my days with the Shadow Hand,” he explained. “I figure they’ve got a bunch of those dark curtains around all over as decoys, to get people used to the idea that they aren’t really hiding anything. Then people just start walking right through without checking.”
Carefully bypassing the trap, the party was soon on their way again. Eventually they reached the end of a long, wide hallway, coming to an impressive set of metal doors. The metal was pitted with age, but still intact. The hinges of the door showed no signs of rust or wear, and on closer inspection they were made of alchemically hardened gold.
“That’s probably going to be really noisy to open,” Osborn commented.
“Should we oil it?” Tolly asked.
“No need.” Osborn invoked his Talent, and pushed on the door. It yawned open in complete silence.
Beyond the doors was a large, ornate chamber, with high vaulted ceilings supported by marble columns that stretched up far past the range of their light. It was some type of entry hall, leading off into the darkness. There were several arched openings to other chambers along the side walls.
“I’ll take a look up there,” Kyle said, spreading his magical wings. He flew up to the ceiling. “Nothing dangerous up here,” he said.
Osborn suddenly heard a noise, a faint, rasping whisper. “So the hunt begins…”
“Something’s hunting us,” Osborn said, filling the others in on what he’d heard.
“Well, if something’s hunting us, they need to take a number,” Kyle said.
The party continued forward into the hall. Quick inspections of the side chambers revealed that they contained nothing of interest, so little time was spent exploring them. The great hall itself began to narrow as they progressed, with the walls and ceiling shrinking in progressively smaller steps, until Kyle was finally forced to land near the arched exit at the far end.
“Gee, anyone else feel like they’re being funneled?” Arrie sighed.
Beyond the arch was a modest-sized room, roughly square, filled with the remnants of rotting chairs. An alcove against the back wall framed another set of metallic double doors. Two smaller doors led off to the left and right.
“Shall we check the side doors before springing the trap?” Kyle asked.
A quick examination revealed what they had suspected; the side doors led to abandoned rooms filled with old tapestries and furniture. Unlike the chambers occupied by Athentia, which seemed more like a temple complex, these rooms appeared to have once housed nobility of some kind. The party soon found themselves back at the double doors.
“Your move, Osborn,” Autumn encouraged.
The metal doors swung open with a loud groan. The room beyond was vast, and roughly T-shaped, with the doors opening at the top of the T. Large marble columns ran along the walls, spaced every ten feet or so. Directly ahead, at the end of the corridor, a large raised platform supported the bulk of two iron golems. Their green, glowing eyes fixed the party with an unflinching stare.
“Spread out!” Autumn barked, as she dashed off to the side before making a beeline toward the golems.
“They’re vulnerable to adamantium,” Tolly broadcast across the telepathic bond, as he invoked a righteous might spell and grew to enormous size. Arrie immediately shaped Anyweapon into an adamantium greatspear as she charged in.
Kyle flew up and enveloped both in a cone of electricity, slowing the golems down. Then he cast another spell, enveloping himself in a cascade of stars. Flying down toward the golems, he slashed at one with his metallic wings, shearing a chunk of iron off. The golem swung a huge fist at him in response.
“Look out!” Autumn shouted.
The fist passed through Kyle harmlessly, as if he wasn’t there. Grinning, he pressed his attack, although his inexperience at close combat and his weakened state meant that he had relatively little impact. However, between Arrie, Osborn, Autumn, and Tolly, they were able to bring the two golems down relatively quickly.
“Tell me, Kyle,” Arrie said, as she caught her breath, “your magic eyes didn’t happen to see any actual psions amidst the Underground City of Monsters?”
“All I was able to make out were signs of activity,” Kyle explained. “The eyes can’t see in the dark. It’s kind of hit or miss. At least we don’t have to wander all these winding passages and hope we get lucky.”
“Speaking of getting lucky,” Lanara said, “there’s another set of doors leading out of here behind where those golems were. I don’t know about you, but anything that uses iron golems as doormen is probably not going to be happy about visitors.”
“I think we found the ‘creature’,” Osborn said.
The party studied the scene more carefully. They saw several of the puzzle-statues scattered about the room, vainly trying to reassemble themselves. They also saw signs of an archeological dig; bits of pottery, stone tablets, and other items were scattered about, and the sphinx appeared to be gently brushing dirt away from a spot on the floor.
Everything suddenly clicked into place for Lanara. “Feesha’s fingernails!” she exclaimed, “I think that’s Athentia!”
“A-who?” Kyle asked.
“Athentia the Great Sphinx,” Lanara explained, slightly awestruck. “She’s not only the greatest loremaster of all time, but the greatest riddlemaster. She specializes in pre-Cataclysm knowledge. Many have sought her out for what she knows, but few succeed in finding her, and fewer return.”
“Why is that?” Autumn asked.
“Like most sphinxes, she asks a riddle before giving information. But if you get it wrong, she turns you into one of those puzzle-statues. The answer to your riddle is the key to restore you, but of course you have to be put together first. The more rare or precious the knowledge is, the harder the riddle gets.” Lanara looked at the group. “So, do we ask a question, or just leave?”
“I’m not sure we should bother her, given what that elf said,” Osborn stated.
“She’s really not known to be overtly hostile, unless provoked or unless you disrupt her work,” Lanara said. “If we’re polite and leave quickly…”
“I don’t think we have the time,” Tolly said, “and I don’t think there is anything we could ask her that would help in our current situation. Perhaps we should simply introduce ourselves, apologize for the interruption, and be on our way.”
The party fully entered the chamber, and waited patiently for Athentia to take note of them. The sphinx eventually looked up and took them in.
“Our apologies for the interruption, great Athentia,” Lanara said, bowing. “We have no wish to disturb you. I am Lanara Rahila, of the adventuring group the Legacy. This is Princess Ariadne Verahannen of Tlaxan, Duchess Autumn goodson of Vargex, Brother Tolly Nightsleaving of Ardara, Kyle Goodson of Targeth, and Osborn Greenbottle of the Khag Steppes. We wish merely to pass beyond this chamber.”
Athentia stared at them a moment. “Touch nothing on your way through,” she said at last.
The party complied with the sphinx’s wishes, moving along the wall to avoid getting near any of the partially unearthed items. As they made it to the arched doorway on the far side of the room, Kyle paused for a moment, looking regretfully at the giant form of the sphinx, before turning to rejoin his companions.
The chamber beyond was barren, save for a large ziggurat-like structure in the center. The room had obviously been the subject of Athentia’s attentions, as it had been completely dug out and every stone bore signs of having been dusted and carefully examined.
“I think it’s safe to say there’s nothing here,” Arrie sighed.
“Where now?” Autumn asked.
“The other sources of activity I saw were more in that direction from here,” Kyle said, pointing. “I think we should just try and make our way into that general area and go from there.”
The Legacy found another entrance to the ziggurat room, and from there a long passageway leading in the direction they wished to go. There were innumerable turns, dead ends, and empty chambers along the way, but they managed to stay on course.
Approaching a T intersection, Osborn suddenly paused. Two large, rough columns stood in the center of the intersection, blocking the view of the passage beyond. At first, Osborn thought that this was what put him on edge, but suddenly he realized the true cause.
“Hey, columns don’t breathe!” he exclaimed.
As if on cue, each pillar suddenly sprouted four long tentacles, which lashed out at them. A tentacle slipped around Arrie’s whirling weapon and wrapped itself around her waist, dragging her toward the column.
“Gee, I’m so glad I spent all those years learning an evasive combat style!” she said, as she began hacking at the tentacle. Autumn was also caught by a tentacle, but Osborn, thanks to his magical ring, easily wriggled out of the ropers’ grasp.
Kyle unleashed a fireball at the two creatures, singing one but leaving the other unharmed. The columns growled, revealing sharp-toothed maws. In response to the spell, one of the ropers grabbed on to Kyle with a pair of tentacles. He felt his strength being sapped by some sort of toxin, and before he could react he fell limply to the floor. He tried to slash at the tentacles with his metal wings, but his feeble blows bounced off, and soon he found himself being shoved into the roper’s maw.
As expected, the other members of the Legacy took exception to this. While both Rupert and Tolly’s new dog bit at the tentacles to try and break them, the rest of them battered their way through the ropers’ thick skin until they fell to the ground, shrieking. Kyle was pulled out of the roper, slimy but unharmed. Tolly cast a spell to restore a small amount of his strength, enough to allow him to stand. After another spell and a potion, Kyle had enough strength to move about.
“Wow,” Kyle said, lifting and lowering his arms slowly. “Now I know what regular wizards feel like.”
“Let’s move on,” Tolly said. “Unfortunately I can’t do much more for him at this time.”
“Well then, it should be dawn soon,” Kyle said. “You’ll have a chance to pray.”
“How do you know?” Tolly asked.
“Because a while back I did a sending to Aran, to let him know what had happened. I asked him to tell me the current time and date – we’ve been down here about thirty hours. Since it was early evening on the 29th when we were taken, I figure we’re getting toward the morning of the first now.”
They marched onward through the long, winding corridors, alert for any sign of change in the dark, dust-filled hallways. Eventually, they reached a point that Kyle felt was close to some of the other active areas on his crude map. They decided on a direction and went forward. Eventually, they reached a room from which an iridescent glow was emanating. The party entered the room and saw that it was filled with several fist-sized, floating geometrical objects, which appeared to be orbiting the room at various rates. The shapes were glowing with all manner of different colors. They couldn’t see any pattern in the orbits.
“It’s beautiful!” Autumn exclaimed. “Can we take it with us?” She began to unfold her portable hole.
“Um, why don’t we leave the pre-Cataclysmic magic object alone?” Kyle advised.
“Autumn, this thing could very well be another ‘puzzle box’,” Tolly warned.
“Maybe we can come back afterward and see what it is,” Kyle offered.
With only a slight pout, Autumn agreed, and the party turned to find a new area to explore. Eventually, they came to an area where the hallways widened, which struck Kyle as familiar. Proceeding cautiously, they eventually came upon a spot where a circular tunnel had been cut through the stone between two hallways running parallel, allowing easier access between the two.
“This hole was disintegrated,” Tolly said. He ran his fingers along the edge of the tunnel, “relatively recently, though down here that could mean it’s a few hundred years old.” Osborn stepped into the tunnel and followed it into a small area that glowed with several types of phosphorescent fungi. Seeing nothing of interest, he returned shortly. The party decided to press on down the hallway.
Tolly, who was acting as a rear guard, felt a sudden presence behind them as the party rounded a corner. The mysterious copper-colored dog also tensed slightly, fur bristling. Glancing back, Tolly caught a brief image of a large floating orb. Making a quick decision, Tolly turned and cast blistering radiance into the corridor behind them.
The beholder howled, jerking backward, and then unleashed its eye rays into the party. Arrie, Autumn, Kyle, Tolly and Osborn were all struck by rays. Tolly’s armor sizzled as it was partially dissolved, but there seemed to be no other harm done. In response, Tolly summoned an Ardara’s clenched fist behind the beholder, intent on pummeling the abberation. But the beholder turned its back on the party and aimed its central eye at the corridor, dispelling the blistering radiance and the fist.
Autumn threw a tanglefoot bag at the beholder, covering it in sticky fluid and making it more difficult for it to aim its eyestalks. She was about to follow up with her greataxe, but suddenly she found herself pinned to the wall by Arrie, who had turned Anyweapon into a mancatcher.
“Leave him alone!” Arrie shouted at her sister. “It’s just a big misunderstanding!”
Another spread of rays struck the party, and again most of the worst effects were avoided. Even the ray striking Tolly’s dog seemed to be absorbed harmlessly. But Autumn’s face was suddenly stricken with panic, and she squirmed her way out of the mancatcher, wanting to do nothing but flee. Fortunately, Osborn’s many daggers were able to dispatch the beholder quickly so they could turn their attention to the two stricken women. Lanara tried to calm the panicked sentinel with soothing words, but she was too terrified to listen. She broke out of Arrie’s mancatcher and tried to flee down the hall, but Arrie whipped around and tripped Autumn with the other end of her weapon, sending her sprawling to the ground. Tolly ended the fear effect on Autumn, and she immediately calmed. Arrie seemed glad to see Autumn recover, but she still shot a dirty look at Tolly.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“You didn’t have to go and hurt the beholder,” she said, “I’m sure he was coming to help us.”
Tolly sighed. “I’m sure that in a while you’ll come to understand why I did it, Arrie.”
They went back and searched the fungi-filled chamber, which as they now suspected turned out to be the beholder’s lair. Among the items they found buried in the fungus was a single arrow, etched with magical runes. Autumn picked it up, and immediately felt ill.
“I don’t think I should carry this,” she said, passing it to Kyle.
“No wonder,” he commented, turning it over in his hands. “This arrow is enchanted to kill outsiders with a celestial origin.”
“That’s not something we want,” Osborn commented.
“Well, easily dealt with,” Kyle said. He walked across the chamber with the arrow. A moment later there was a snap, and then Kyle tossed the broken shaft away. “Well, at least I know I have enough strength to break a stick.”
Everyone chuckled and went back to searching for valuables. After a while, Kyle moved out of the room and came up to Arrie, who was standing outside in the hallway. Still under the effect of the beholder’s charm, she’d refused to participate in the looting out of respect for him. As she stood watch, she felt him slip something into her pack.
“I thought you broke that,” she said quietly.
“Broke an old wand,” he explained. “Look, although I hope it never comes up, you and I both know that you could have potential problems if you end up using the wrong kind of abilities in front of the wrong kind of people. Let’s just call it our secret insurance policy.”
Arrie looked at him quietly for a moment, then nodded slightly.
Once finished searching the lair, the party returned to the previous corridor and went the other direction. They passed a set of stairs leading down to another level, but decided to check the other areas of activity first. They proceeded along the corridor until they reached what initially looked like a simple right turn. But when they got closer, they saw that the outer corner of the bend was shrouded by another curtain of blackness, placed diagonally across the corner.
“Looks like one of those curtains,” Arrie commented.
“Maybe we should go through this one just to make sure there’s nothing important on the other side,” offered Kyle.
Osborn frowned. “I don’t think so.” He picked up a loose pebble, and walked over to the curtain, bouncing the stone in his hand. He tossed it through the curtain, and then listened for a moment.
“Just what I suspected,” he said. “It’s a trap. Behind the curtain is a pit and a chimney, one above the other. There’s also a gravity-reversing effect. You step into the pit, you fall up until you hit the ceiling, and then the gravity reverses and you fall down from way up there to way down there.”
“How’d you know it was there?” Kyle asked.
“I remembered hearing about them during my days with the Shadow Hand,” he explained. “I figure they’ve got a bunch of those dark curtains around all over as decoys, to get people used to the idea that they aren’t really hiding anything. Then people just start walking right through without checking.”
Carefully bypassing the trap, the party was soon on their way again. Eventually they reached the end of a long, wide hallway, coming to an impressive set of metal doors. The metal was pitted with age, but still intact. The hinges of the door showed no signs of rust or wear, and on closer inspection they were made of alchemically hardened gold.
“That’s probably going to be really noisy to open,” Osborn commented.
“Should we oil it?” Tolly asked.
“No need.” Osborn invoked his Talent, and pushed on the door. It yawned open in complete silence.
Beyond the doors was a large, ornate chamber, with high vaulted ceilings supported by marble columns that stretched up far past the range of their light. It was some type of entry hall, leading off into the darkness. There were several arched openings to other chambers along the side walls.
“I’ll take a look up there,” Kyle said, spreading his magical wings. He flew up to the ceiling. “Nothing dangerous up here,” he said.
Osborn suddenly heard a noise, a faint, rasping whisper. “So the hunt begins…”
“Something’s hunting us,” Osborn said, filling the others in on what he’d heard.
“Well, if something’s hunting us, they need to take a number,” Kyle said.
The party continued forward into the hall. Quick inspections of the side chambers revealed that they contained nothing of interest, so little time was spent exploring them. The great hall itself began to narrow as they progressed, with the walls and ceiling shrinking in progressively smaller steps, until Kyle was finally forced to land near the arched exit at the far end.
“Gee, anyone else feel like they’re being funneled?” Arrie sighed.
Beyond the arch was a modest-sized room, roughly square, filled with the remnants of rotting chairs. An alcove against the back wall framed another set of metallic double doors. Two smaller doors led off to the left and right.
“Shall we check the side doors before springing the trap?” Kyle asked.
A quick examination revealed what they had suspected; the side doors led to abandoned rooms filled with old tapestries and furniture. Unlike the chambers occupied by Athentia, which seemed more like a temple complex, these rooms appeared to have once housed nobility of some kind. The party soon found themselves back at the double doors.
“Your move, Osborn,” Autumn encouraged.
The metal doors swung open with a loud groan. The room beyond was vast, and roughly T-shaped, with the doors opening at the top of the T. Large marble columns ran along the walls, spaced every ten feet or so. Directly ahead, at the end of the corridor, a large raised platform supported the bulk of two iron golems. Their green, glowing eyes fixed the party with an unflinching stare.
“Spread out!” Autumn barked, as she dashed off to the side before making a beeline toward the golems.
“They’re vulnerable to adamantium,” Tolly broadcast across the telepathic bond, as he invoked a righteous might spell and grew to enormous size. Arrie immediately shaped Anyweapon into an adamantium greatspear as she charged in.
Kyle flew up and enveloped both in a cone of electricity, slowing the golems down. Then he cast another spell, enveloping himself in a cascade of stars. Flying down toward the golems, he slashed at one with his metallic wings, shearing a chunk of iron off. The golem swung a huge fist at him in response.
“Look out!” Autumn shouted.
The fist passed through Kyle harmlessly, as if he wasn’t there. Grinning, he pressed his attack, although his inexperience at close combat and his weakened state meant that he had relatively little impact. However, between Arrie, Osborn, Autumn, and Tolly, they were able to bring the two golems down relatively quickly.
“Tell me, Kyle,” Arrie said, as she caught her breath, “your magic eyes didn’t happen to see any actual psions amidst the Underground City of Monsters?”
“All I was able to make out were signs of activity,” Kyle explained. “The eyes can’t see in the dark. It’s kind of hit or miss. At least we don’t have to wander all these winding passages and hope we get lucky.”
“Speaking of getting lucky,” Lanara said, “there’s another set of doors leading out of here behind where those golems were. I don’t know about you, but anything that uses iron golems as doormen is probably not going to be happy about visitors.”
Blarkon Dragonslayer
First Post
I wonder how Kyle's lady is going to feel about him keeping an arrow around that is designed to kill her, and even better, effectively lying about it? We all know such things ALWAYS come to light at the most inopportune moment.
Considering Autumn is already keeping a secret of her own from Kyle and the rest of the group, I doubt she'll make loud noises of protest. In fact, if the arrow is discovered, I think it will be other members of the group who'll be unhappy with Kyle (and Arrie).
And, ahhh, the group is now doing that most traditional of all adventuring activities, dungeon-crawling. Sweet.
And, ahhh, the group is now doing that most traditional of all adventuring activities, dungeon-crawling. Sweet.
Delemental
First Post
Blarkon Dragonslayer said:
Krafus said:Considering Autumn is already keeping a secret of her own from Kyle and the rest of the group, I doubt she'll make loud noises of protest. In fact, if the arrow is discovered, I think it will be other members of the group who'll be unhappy with Kyle (and Arrie).
And, ahhh, the group is now doing that most traditional of all adventuring activities, dungeon-crawling. Sweet.
Well, here's the thing about all this.
First of all, I should clarify that Autumn did eventually break down and tell Kyle her secret, after Kyle let her in on the secret of Tolly's 'animal friend'. There was just never a good point in the story to insert this bit of revelation (it happened between games over email).
And about the arrow... that little exchange between Kyle and Arrie didn't happen during the game session. I inserted it into the story afterward - the first time anyone in my gaming group learned about it, even OOC, was when I posted this story. I basically abused my creative license to pull it off - Kyle's Bluff stinks, and too many people in the party have a high Sense Motive for him to pull this off in-game (witness the disastrous attempt to cover up his knowledge of what Tolly's horse really is).
I just came to realize that it's something Kyle would do. He's protective of Arrie, especially since she has no resurrection escape clause in her adventurer's contract. All divine servants - angels, archons, devils, demons, and eladrin - are under strict orders to slay any Anathema they encounter. There is no such thing as 'extenuating circumstances'- a psion killed a god, so they are very unwilling to let history repeat itself. Should Arrie display psionic ability in front of an angel, she will be attacked. Though Kyle certainly doesn't like the idea of killing a servitor of Good, he's also very opposed to the idea of arbitrarily killing all psions, especially ones he cares about. By giving Arrie the arrow, he is giving her the means to defend herself, but leaving it up to her discretion of when or if to use it. If it came right down to it, if Arrie was being attacked by a planetar, I think everyone in the group would be standing between it and her.
Should Kyle tell everyone else about the arrow? Maybe he should, and maybe later he will. We're not exactly in a position currently to have a deep philosophical argument over the implications - we have bad psions and devils to squish.
And yes, we are doing a traditional dungeon crawl (heck, we're using the map from Undermountain as the dungeon). Considering it's basically our first one ever, it's been an interesting change of pace. I have to resist the urge to unload all my spells on every encounter.
Delemental
First Post
Just FYI, there will not be an update posted this week. 
Due to various events, our group hasn't been able to meet for a couple of weeks, thus I have no material from which to write. Our next session is scheduled for next Friday, so I'd expect it'll be a couple of weeks yet before I have anything to post.
Just figured I'd save you the trouble of checking for updates for a bit.
Due to various events, our group hasn't been able to meet for a couple of weeks, thus I have no material from which to write. Our next session is scheduled for next Friday, so I'd expect it'll be a couple of weeks yet before I have anything to post.
Just figured I'd save you the trouble of checking for updates for a bit.
Delemental
First Post
Krafus said:Curses! To think of all the story hours that lack updates because their writers lack time...
Maybe you could write new alternate stories?
Yeah, I've always been a relatively fast writer, which helps with the time thing. Whether the speed is a good or bad thing in terms of quality is up for debate.
As far as alternate stories... we'll see. The trick is finding a point in time where I can construct and set such a tale, and recent events have left us little 'wiggle room'. If inspiration strikes, I'll see what happens.
