The Continuing Adventures of the Knights of the Silver Quill: Glacier Season

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Piratecat

Sesquipedalian
Dr Midnight said:
Imix was now surrounded by Knights, so he spread his attacks out among them. Jettok and Dartan took the most damage, as they seemed the greatest threat.

You see what happens when you cut class at the Elder Elemental Prince of Evil Strategy School (tm)? We flash back in time as the teacher, Mrs. Ogremoch, lectures to a bored Yan-C-Bin, Ogremoch himself, whoever that water one was and Imix's empty desk....

"When surrounded by pesky adventures, children, always kill one first and then move on to the next. Don't spread your attacks out between them; it just makes them angry, and thus more heroic. Sigh... I wish Imix hadn't played hooky today. Some day, children, this information may save your life!" :D

This is too cool! No one look in the shrimp's eyes!

- Piratecat
 

Dr Midnight

Explorer
Well, honestly, no one could ever accuse me of running effective monsters. :D

Also, I took Imix and the medusa down in powers and tactics just a bit, to compensate for the Knights getting to the end of the module as an 11th-level party, not a 13th. Truth be told we just wanted to end it and move on. The Temple was getting a little stale.

Much more to come, including some great roleplaying and an epic end (to this adventure).
 

Renshai

First Post
Very cool Doc. I know it must feel great to be past the Temple. We still have the Earth and Fire Temple left plus the Inner and Outer Fane... it really has started to get stale for us as well.

Maybe its just returning to the same place so many times.

I'm trying to spruce up the place a bit though ;)

Anyway, great story Doc.

Ren
 


Numion

First Post
Dr Midnight said:

Also, I took Imix and the medusa down in powers and tactics just a bit, to compensate for the Knights getting to the end of the module as an 11th-level party, not a 13th. Truth be told we just wanted to end it and move on. The Temple was getting a little stale.

We'll be completing RttToEE tomorrow, and my players are going to be in a world of hurt. I'm not selling those two cheap.

Nice story, as always!
 


Lazybones

Adventurer
Dr Midnight said:
Well, honestly, no one could ever accuse me of running effective monsters. :D

Also, I took Imix and the medusa down in powers and tactics just a bit, to compensate for the Knights getting to the end of the module as an 11th-level party, not a 13th. Truth be told we just wanted to end it and move on. The Temple was getting a little stale.

Yeah, but isn't the module designed for four characters? You guys have what, six?

Was the sword-drop by Imix an actual fumble roll, or a DM-decision to expedite the end of the battle? He appears as well in the Baldur's Gate II expansion game, but he's somewhat... smaller.

Still, an epic conclusion to the module, and I can see the virtue in wrapping up the adventure quickly (it does get a little repetitive and gruelling toward the end). Looking forward to what challenges await the Knights in the future (along with everyone else on the board, I'd wager).
 




Ziona

First Post
Kat

Ahem.
Actually, as I remember it, after Katya polymorphed the chick, she used her Ring Of Invisiblity and moved closer to the creature. From there, she used Mage Hand to snatch the globe, and duck into the side corridor, where she bellowed, "HALT." It was AFTER the battle was done that Katya picked up the shrimp.
Thank You. ;)
 




Wee Jas

First Post
You mean the sword that dropped on me after the Prince was dead for 30pts of damage?

Who said doc pulls punches...
 

Dr Midnight

Explorer
The burned and bloodied party crawled from the hall and went back to the room with the magic circle, which teleported them back to the Temple. In the main Temple room, they set camp. They needed a night of sleep before they went on.

Dartan and Jettok left to do a sweep of the perimeter. Katya held the squirming shrimp up for Vek, who sucked the life force from it in an unsettling display. The shrimp turned back into a medusa, lying dead on the floor. They made certain to avoid its dead gaze. They searched her for items. Vek came across a curious item- an iron medallion embossed with a plain-looking, stylized sun icon.

medallion.jpg


“Hey… what was it again that Dartan said the cleric woman was looking for again?” he asked.

Kyla said “Her name was Angelique Mathea. She was searching for the Glaring Sun.”

“Could this be it?” He held the medallion up for her to see.

She shrugged. “It could be. Reports vary on what it looked like. It’s reputed to clear the minds of men. Shall we try it on Dartan’s father?”

When Dartan returned, he said “There’s no one around. No ogres, no hobgoblins, no cultists, no one. Everyone dropped what they were doing and fled.”

Vek and Kyla explained their theory on the iron medallion, and Dartan agreed to try it on his father. They slept the night away, first- “Let the old man sit in his cell for a while longer,” was Dartan’s suggestion. “He’s got a lot of thinking to do for himself.”

Godsday, 4th of Needfest

In the morning, they walked to the beholder’s lair. Korgan was found sitting in the center, swaying back and forth. Without water, the deposed black knight wasn’t faring well. He still had spit and curse enough for them, though.

“Come back to do me in, eh?!” he shouted. “I’m not good enough to leave without torturing me to death, is that the way of it?”

Katya gave him a swig of water from her flask, which she had to drink from first to show that it was not poisoned.

Dartan turned to Vek. “Give me the medallion. Take the others and wait outside.” With the sun disc in his hand, he approached his father.

Korgan laughed. “Finally decided you can take me down on your own… only after I’m tied up! Won’t need your little friends for THIS epic battle, will you? Bastard!!”

“Dad…” Dartan said. “Shut up.” He pressed the medallion against his father’s forehead and held it there.

Nothing happened.

“Is this one of your new black magic tricks? Trying to suck my soul with your dark trinkets? Well, guess what, ‘son’- I’m a holy man of Heironeous, and I WILL NOT BE DESTROYED BY A KNICK KNACK!”

Dartan cursed and threw his delirious father over his shoulder. He carried him out and faced the others. “It doesn’t work,” he said angrily.

Rafflorn said “Well… cheer up. Another moment and I’ll have us teleported back to Verbobonc, where we can revel in the peace of a job well done.” He moved his hands about, muttered a magic phrase, and they all traveled to Verbobonc in an intant of intense light.

Standing in the center of Verbobonc, it was immediately clear that there was something was wrong. Armored men ran about with weapons, and women and children wept in the alleys. All around them raged the sound of an intense war… the city of Verbobonc was under siege. By the sound of it, an entire army was outside the city gates.

Rafflorn grabbed the tunic of a passing soldier and asked “What’s going on?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’s going on’? Where have you been? We’re being attacked by the Eye of Heironeous, the Eye of Kord, the Eye of Lolth, Moradin’s Eye, and about a thousand orcs and ogres!” The panicking man broke free and ran away, clutching a dull spear.

Jettok began panicking himself. “Damn!! What do we do?!”

Rafflorn took charge. “Kyla, go to the Temple of Pelor- find Canoness Y’dey, see if she knows how to operate the medallion.”

“I’ll go with her,” Dartan said.

“Anyone else, follow me- I’m going to the weapons shop. Katya’s father may know where we’re needed most. Let’s go!” The group separated. Kyla and Dartan (and Korgan) went to the Temple of Pelor, and Katya, Jettok, Rafflorn and Vek went to Ohanna’s Steelworks.

KABOOM!! Dartan kicked the door to the Temple of Pelor open, then dumped his father’s cursing body to the floor. The Temple was all but empty- only a single frail altar boy remained, praying at the feet of a great sun symbol. He jumped up and turned around in fright.

“Easy, Timmels,” Kyla said. “It’s me… It’s Kyla.”

He looked relieved. “Thank the shining one you’re here, milady! The city is under siege, and…”

“I know. Tell me- where is Canoness Y’dey?”

“She went to the north of town, to heal the archers at the tower,” Timmels said. Kyla and Dartan ran out of the Temple, to the north.

Back at O’hanna Steelworks, Katya burst in the door. The sight that greeted her triggered her deepest fears; the shop was in a shambles. All of her father’s prized weapons were missing from the walls, and her father was nowhere to be seen. “DAD?!?”

“Katya?” Her father stepped from the back room, with an armload of magical weapons and goods. He dropped them and rushed forward to hug his daughter. “I thought you were far away, what are you doing here, you shouldn’t be here! Oh, it’s so good to see you!” Tears squeezed from his eyes. “Where’s Kyla?”

“She’s at the Temple of Pelor. Dad, what’s going on?”

“Several hours ago, several town guards spotted a host of warriors on the horizon. We were confident that our walls would hold, until the army got closer and we saw the size of it. In addition to that, imagine our horror when we saw the war-banners of Heironeous, Kord, and the orcin army! Since then, it’s been the chaos of war… I’ve been here donating my weapons and items to the cause.”

He looked up to see Rafflorn standing there. “Why did you bring her here?” he snapped. “You were supposed to be protecting her! You’ve brought her here, to the mouth of hell! What kind of-“

“DAD!!” Katya shook her father. “We need to focus… What should we do?”

He looked at her sadly. “Well, I can’t speak for you girls… but I’m going to fight to the last.” He picked up an enchanted bow. “You should run.”

“No,” she said. “We’re fighting too. Let’s go!”

Dartan and Kyla were running through town. Ahead, they saw the forty-foot high archery tower. Hundreds of arrows peppered the sky, shot from the tower and at the tower. They climbed the ladder, doing the best they could to avoid stray arrows. As they climbed high enough, they finally saw over the walls. The army beyond stretched clear to the base of the mountain range three miles away. Dust hung over the land like a caul. The din of war made a monotone buzzing noise that rattled the chest and sped the heart. The sight of the huge army was sickening… The sad shape of their odds was clear.

They reached the top of the tower and found Canoness Y’dey huddling against a wall with an arrow through one shoulder, close to her heart. She was doing her best to heal a dreadfully injured man.

“Canoness!” Dartan yelled as he walked over, keeping his head low to dodge incoming arrows. Men all around him were hit and killed, as others ceaselessly pulled arrows from the bodies of their comrades and fired them back into the surging mass.

Dartan pulled out the iron medallion and showed it to her. “Is this the Glaring Sun, Canoness? It doesn’t work- how do we use it??”

The cleric’s eyes went wide. “Give it- TO HER!” She pointed to Kyla. Dartan nodded and turned, tossing the medallion across the tower’s width to where she stood. The medallion turned in the light, casting glints on the walls as arrows flew past it. Her hand reached up and spread out to catch it. The world slowed down, just for her, just then. She knew only silence and the will to catch the medallion in her hand. Nothing else existed. It was like…

The medallion slapped firmly into her waiting palm.

…Destiny.

The Glaring Sun flashed with blinding, brilliant white light. It bathed Kyla, then the tower, then the field with its burning light. Kyla’s eyes glowed white-hot. Her face was peaceful and noble… godlike. She strode to the front of the tower, ignoring arrows as they flew all around her like bees. She held the white medallion high. A beam of brilliance shot from the Glaring Sun into the eyes, mind and heart of every man on the field below. In that moment, each man was washed of his illusions. Each man knew he’d been deceived and slowly corrupted by the feverish workings of an evil god. Each man knew what he’d done for Tharizdun in his god’s name.

The battle stopped. Orcs and monsters looked to their human companions, wondering what the problem was. In a moment, the battle started again- within the army itself. The roars of rage and bloodlust were now twice as loud as the army swallowed itself. Men of good gods turned on their evil armymates. Orcs squealed in fury. Swords rang. Men and monsters died.

Dartan was already climbing down the ladder to the ground. He hit the ground running. He burst through the door of the Temple of Pelor to find his father.

The Temple was now different, somehow more luminous. The light of the Glaring Sun shone through the stained-glass windows. Each and every candle within the Temple was now lit. A golden light filtered through the rafters. Dartan knelt by his father and looked into his eyes.

His father spat in his face.

Dartan stood, seething with rage. The Glaring Sun had shown the deceived the errors of their ways, but not his own father. He pulled out a dagger and stood over his father.

“Finally going to kill me in the belly of your black church, here? Well, do it and be done, coward.”

Dartan cut his bonds. “You’re free. Run. If you trouble me ever again, I will kill you.”

Korgan stood shakily and edged his way towards the door. He pushed open the doors- then spat on the floor and left. Dartan sat hard in one of the pews, his face in his hands.

Korgan looked up and saw that something incredible was happening, around the archery tower to the north. He couldn’t quite make it out, but it was clear that a high concentration of magic was being displayed there.

Black magic, no doubt.

Korgan found himself running to the archery tower. If he could do one last thing in this world, he would find and kill the black sorcerer atop the tower. Surely Heironeous would grant him one last victory, then a warrior’s death in combat. It was how he was meant to live and die.

Climbing the ladder, he felt a sharp stinging in his back. He turned and swatted a mechanical pseudodragon from the air. He kept climbing. At the top, he saw the black silhouette of some awful demon. Its back was to him, and it was shining some bright spell-light before it onto an army.

I will kill this demon… as my last act. In Heironeous’ name.

He grabbed the hilt of a nearby soldier’s shortsword and kicked the man away, unsheathing the weapon. He hefted the sword over his head, preparing the killing blow.

Vek, floating protectively nearby, saw Korgan and shouted “Kyla, behind you!”

The goddess Kyla heard the warning and turned. She placed the Glaring Sun before Korgan’s face, and his eyes were filled with the pure white light of Pelor. The shortsword fell from his hands and a line of spittle rolled from the corner of his mouth. He collapsed to his knees, and then rolled over on his back. He was filled with knowledge of what he’d done and what he’d become. He was Tharizdun’s chosen champion. He’d worn a suit of black demon armor. He’d faced and killed another high warrior for the honor of being sent to his death in Tharizdun’s name. All the while, he’d believed it the will of his true god. The knowledge was like a frozen icepick in his stomach. Tears streamed from his eyes, and his mouth opened and closed.

The battle had wound down to a clear victory. The humans, dwarves and elves had defeated the orcs, ogres and drow. The remaining monsters fled for the foothills of the nearby mountains.

Kyla’s eyes cleared. She lowered the Glaring Sun and looked down on the field below her. The Knights of the Silver Quill had won- they’d made all the difference. She turned her face to the sky and let the sun’s rays warm her. She smiled. Pelor was good.
 

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