The Creation Schema:THE FINAL BATTLE FOR POSSESSION OF THE SCHEMA

[megamania]

THE CREATION SCHEMA
SEGMENT 271
09/09/06
“ALBANY GAMEDAY- Xen’drik PART IX”

Tarmac watches from the temple’s sacrificial block as Jenner works her way down to the pit. “It stinks here!” he calls out to his teammate above. “Stinks like rotten meat!”.

The halfling gets a bit closer then notices something about the mist. It is escaping from the pit. He calls this up and Tarmac decides to climb down next. “What could it be?” he asks the human warrior once he arrives.

“Smells bad. That would have to be a lot of dead people to smell like that. How deep is the pit? I can’t see too far into it.”

The Ghallanda halfling pulls out a copper piece and drops it. Even his sensitive ears do not hear it ever hit bottom. “Must be deep.”

“Maybe deep enough for a forge. Lets try something bigger.”

A piece of broken off temple is pushed in. This time something is heard. “It went ‘squish’! “ exclaims the halfling.

“Try rope.” Offers the human.

The rope is lowered and disappears as it enters the pit. They pull the rope up and it reappears. “A powerful darkness spell to hide whatever is within…. Great.” says Tarmac.

“What next?” asks Jenner.

“One of us needs to climb in using the rope.” He says while looking at the halfling who has already proven to be a great climber.

“NO! It smells like rotted food and meat in there! NO! No! No!” Exclaims the cleric / Dragon Heir whom back-peddles away from the edge and nearly falls into the unknown of the mist.

“Very well. I’ll go.” Says the Breland spy. At this point he feels he needs to know if a Forge is there hidden under a darkness spell and possibly illusionary smells.

His foot touches the spell effect and disappears. He instinctively withdraws his foot quickly. Sighing and uncertain if this is really wise, he continues down. When nearly submerged in the darkness he calls for a torch. Jenner gives him a lit torch and he slides into the darkness. Jenner listens carefully hoping against hope he will not be hearing screams of pain and agony.

The smell is terrible but finally Tarmac breaches the darkness spell. It is a shaped spell that has created a zone of darkness 2 feet thick and covers the entire entrance to the pit. The mist rolls out from the walls and along the ceiling until it escapes through the spell and into the outside areas. There are several large columns and something large and wet below. He swings the torch towards the mass and discovers a HUGE pile of intestines below. They are still wet and sticky with internal juices and fluids. Nauseated, Tarmac lowers himself still further.

Then suddenly the mass of internal organs strikes out and grabs his leg with a coil of guts!

“AGH! Jenner I need your help!”

Nothing is heard from above.

Tarmac struggles to pull free and can not from this Huge Undead Visceral Mass.

DM NOTES: It is now 7:10pm and we have to stop since I promised to be home around 8pm. Albany is 45-75 minutes away and I am in an area of Albany I do not know (meaning more than 500ft from the thruway). The following segment is what MAY have happened. It was not played out but reveals much about the temple and what it is for and acts as a lead in to CHAOS EFFECT which is my next campaign that will begin next summer.

 

[megamania]

THE CREATION SCHEMA
SEGMENT 272
09/09/06
“ALBANY GAMEDAY- Xen’drik PART X”

“Quiet 241. We are not alone!” admonishes Lennington in a harsh whisper.

“But my boulder…” SHEESH!

The warforged fighter stares at the cleric with no emotion visible on its metallic face.

Filzer, the ranger crouches and crawls into the thick mist just as it reaches the forest once more.

There is a sudden burst of activity then silence.

“I figure it is the Drow.” Says the Zilargo spy gnome known as Talina as she pulls out her twin small sized rapiers.

“Perhaps If I caste ARRRGH!” A short spear bursts through his thigh.

Talina begins to swings open and broad swings around her as one would in a training exercise. Using the few words she has been is Drow for I mean no harm she calls out “- Take the little one first- “.

Jenner has managed to climb to the surface of the rocky structure that the temple is built on and spots several dark figures searching the grounds. “Uh-oh.”

“Tarmac- we have company….” She quietly says.

He answers with a scream of pain and surprise.

The halfling looks into the darkness then back to the where the figures were. They are gone. He looks down and sees nothing but can see the rope swinging and jerking wildly like a line to a fishing pole. “Ah crap….” And she looks back and sees the leather boots of a humanoid and the tip of a spear leveled at her head. “Ah crap….”

Tarmac quickly drops the torch to the side of the creature and reaches for his sword. More loops of intestines are coiling up to strike him. He cuts himself free. The boot is heavily damaged from digestive acids and icor. He then begins to swing himself on the rope from one side to the other until he reaches the wall. Here he pushes off the wall and leaps away from the mass and picks up his torch again.

He looks around and sees two smaller masses of coiled guts that seems slightly different. They are dry- not covered in ooze. “What have we stumbled into here?”

The mass shifts to find its meal again. Suddenly there is a grunt of pain and the speared halfling falls through the darkness spell and into the mass before him. The coils roll unto itself and swallow up the dead halfling. Tarmac looks around and sees several places high up where the ooze may not be able to reach him. It will be hard to climb there but he is willing to try. Then a loud clank is heard. Looking to the sound, he spots Lennington Storm bleeding and unconscience.

The ooze stops then begins to move to him. Tarmac rushes around the mass easily out distancing it and picks up the heavily armored cleric in a fireman carry position. “Why does everyone think heavy armor is awesome?” says the rogue fighter to himself.

He struggles to toss the cleric into the spot he had seen and then climbs there himself. He hopes his aura of non-detection holds up as he huddles into the corner with no torch which slowly burns still on the floor.

Two dark figures slide down the rope. The ooze stops and slowly moves away and eventually to a dark corner out of sight.

The dark skinned elf with white hair steps up to a wall with small holes. This is where the two strange looking creatures went.

“Yes. The believers were killed. The others were saved for use.”

A moment of silence.

“No, the construct fled into the forest.”

The drow squirms in obvious pain.

“Yes…. I will hunt down the construct and destroy it.”



And thus Tarmac and Lennington are witness to the beginning of the Chaos.

 

[megamania]

THE CREATION SCHEMA
SEGMENT 273
09/17/06
“Stromreach”

It takes many days to reach Stormreach in Xen’drik. The elemental airship limps along with the aid of Pebbles doing some on it. The captain remains quested and is very unhappy about it. They fly over many small islands on the way.

The waters here are choppy from the strange and unpredictable weather conditions that come and go within this region. As they near the land the ship is nearly destroyed twice by savage storms. The clouds are low and thick with lightning streaks made of many colors.

The group are warned these storms are very dangerous. They are called Chaos Storms. Anytime the lightning strikes there are altered conditions there. Sometimes the undead seem to come to life, other times magic goes dead or becomes unpredictable. There are reports of it altering elementals also. This possibility scares the pilot enough to keep far away from the clouds and their magical and cursed lightning strikes.

From several dozen miles away, Cedious and the others can see the area referred to as Stormreach. There are towering stone structures here that rise about the tree line and canopy top. Several ships are anchored offshore and other smaller ships are at the several docks located here.

“Do you think Garrow knows we are coming?” asks Pebbles of Cedious.

“I can only hope so.” Replies the rogue.

As the ship closes in on the port they see giant stone structures that lay in partial ruin. Wood and clay structures mixed with bamboo have been built within and between the ancient structures. The ship redirects itself to follow the shoreline. The quested captain has never been here before but has heard tales from other captains and mentors. He aims the ship for a giant sized obelisk marked with runes. Commanding the fire elemental to slow down the ship nears the stone tower and the crew prepare lines to tie off the ship.

Once the ship stops and it is tied and secured, the new captain asks the elemental to withdraw into the shard until asked to come out. The ship made of floatwood hovers in the gentle sea breeze.

“We’re here. Let’s go.”

The spell effect lifts and the captain curses at the group. “You will hear from the house leaders!”

 

[megamania]

THE CREATION SCHEMA
SEGMENT 274
09/17/06
“Welcome to Stormreach”

Cedious and the group walk onto the wooden gangplank that is the dock for the airship. It stands about 100ft off the ground. The plank leads to a watch area or possibly where a signal fire once was kept for the original builders. From this point, there are bamboo and wooden stairs that lead down following the edges of the hollowed out tower of stone. The steps lead down to the ground within the tower. At the base of the steps is a welcomer. The human is dressed in clean well-made clothes. He welcomes the group to Stormreach and directs them to a table area in the center of the tower. Here a very beautiful female human works papers occasionally writing or reading some of the papers.

“Welcome to Stormreach. Stormreach is the gateway to Xen’drik; The home of adventure and fortunes just waiting to be found. Are you here for pleasure or business?”

“I hope for both.” Says the rogue as he tries to charm her. He notes the plunging collar of her thin satin top and almost can make out all of her bodily features. She repeats herself twice until Pebbles answers for Cedious. “Adventure and research. We hope to learn more about the area.”

“Oh wonderful. I must ask you to write your names and last place you called home here. I will mark business as the reason for coming. What kind of business will you be doing?”

“We seek an old friend whom is believed to be here. He tends to be shy and avoids trouble.”

“We wish no trouble and as such I must warn you, the streets here allow for an open community. People of all walks of life and beliefs are free to be here. We as such sometimes have heated arguments. I hope your ‘friend’ will not cause any trouble. What is his name?”

Pebbles hesitates as she tries to think of a way to avoid lying to her. “Garrow. He is a changeling that works for the Emerald Claw.” Blurts out Cedious. He hopes to find the allusive changeling by having him come to him instead.

“The Claw are welcomed here as much as any other religion, race or nationality.” She shifts in such a way that the halfling has a closer view of her chest.

“Where could we go to find specific people here?” asks Ippikak.

“Many taverns are to the right of this community center. There are rooms, food and other … entertainment there.”

“Really?” says the rogue. “Entertainment… what kind? I like entertainment.”

“All kinds. Some can be very HOT and compelling. I could show you if you wished.”

“Yes! I mean yes, I would like a private tour. I’m sure the others can procure a room and the such. Right guys.”

“Sigh. Yes.” Says the dwarven battlesmith in wariness.

“I am free in a few hours to find entertainment for you. Just what is your name again?”

After a short five minutes of signing the papers and writing in Clorox’s name for him, the group leave the community center and turn right to locate the taverns she spoke of.

“So, Boddynoc, where to?” says Pebbles nearly in disgust.

“Not far away I hope.” Smiles the rogue.

In the next two hours, the group witness Silver Flame, Emerald Claw, Sahuagin, ½ giants and other groups and races wandering around. Stormreach is as much of a melting pot of cultures and races as suggested by the woman. They also pick a fight with an Emerald Claw member speaking to an Ogre about possibly killing someone that night.

They also learn of two taverns that Emerald Claw members often go to. With no fear, the group goes to the first one. All except Cedious whom has a private guide to find entertainment.

 

[megamania]

THE CREATION SCHEMA
SEGMENT 275
09/17/06
“Gathering Storm Fronts”

Cedious finds entertainment within the locked doors of the tower beginning on the desk and moving to the floor. As her intense release of personal energy is vocally released she morphs from one beautiful female to another. Cedious is taken back for as far as a personal prayer to himself that the changeling is in fact female naturally and not a male taking on a female form.

Meanwhile, the others learn several important facts. One, Garrow is indeed within Stormreach. Two, he is gathering many guides, thugs and unmentionables for a special job. Further rumor has it as a mission that is very personal to him. Further gathering of information suggests they have a secret meeting place located on the docks somewhere.

Armed with this information, they pick and end several fights with Emerald Claw members before leaving to find the rogue. The sun has settled and the first three moons have risen when they decide to try finding Cedious at the community center.

Ippikak is about to knock on the locked door when he hears a female call out to Boddynoc. Shaking his head in shame and embarrassment, the elf turns. “He is finding entertainment still.”

Finally the rogue leaves and finds the group waiting for him on the dock close by. “Was it good for her as well as yourself?” asks Talon while still picking at an imaginary piece of dirt on his weapon’s edge.

“I won’t tell.”

“Don’t need to. Half of the block heard her.”

The group continues to pick on Cedious and his lustful needs until they reach the warehouse the Emerald Claw was rumored to have a special member waiting at. They do find a secret door to it and most of the group enters. Flurry and Talon wait outside. Flurry notes some activity on the docks. He climbs up the building and watches from a hidden spot. A person comes to the dock entrance where a sunken sink was once anchored. He spends 10-15 minutes there then leaves. A minute later, another person comes by and does the same thing. And again. Flurry decides to investigate further on his own.

Within the warehouse, the group discusses what to do. Burn down the place is mentioned more than once. General destruction of the property within the warehouse is another common thought. Little is found inside. There are hints that the Emerald Claw has been here however. They find empty crates from Korth and a helmet with the distinctive split visor. Then they realize that Flurry is not there anymore.

 

[Solarious]

When did Boddynoc come back from the grave? Again? Speaking of which, is the fun about to begin?

 

[megamania]

Cedious is using Boddynoc Grinkle as his alias so as to avoid trouble.

Xandar and Xandor make an appearance shortly.

Later the group once more does something I did not predict that changes the entire game (again).

 

[megamania]

THE CREATION SCHEMA
SEGMENT 276
09/17/06
“Xandor & Xandar”

Flurry watches as three Emerald Claw members in their full armor and cape walk down the dock. They look for witnesses then climb onto the bow of the sunken ship. They disappear from view. A sailor continues to stand at the dock entrance. He pretends to have not seen the three leave the dock and board the mostly sunken ship.

Flurry decides to find out more. The moment the guard at the dock leaves he knows he has about one minute with no guard. He races across the courtyard of the warehouse building and to the dock. The dock has several rotten boards that slow him down, as he must be careful where to step. He reaches the area the men went and steps down onto the ship. Here he discovers a hidden catwalk under the pier that goes back to shore. He begins to climb onto it when he spots something also under the dock. Something large and floating above the water yet under the dock. It has what looks like tentacles and one eye.

He turns and flees.

The creature he saw flies out after him and as he climbs onto the dock again another one flies up from under the dock cutting him off.

At this point Talon notices the warforged monk is missing and alerts the others. They look and see him scramble up from under the dock. They know if he is running then there is trouble so they in turn then begin to run.

The warforged is struck by two rays fired from what he thought were tentacles but are instead eyes. The first beam washes over him, as he will not bow to their wishes. The second hits him and he feels himself fall apart at the molecular level, soon he becomes fine metallic dust with a few magical items mixed in. The gentle breeze from the sea begins to draw him into the air and onto the waters as the group reaches the dock.

The guard is surprised as Clorox charges down onto him and the centaur warhulk kills him outright. Ippikak begins to fire arrows at the Beholder that killed Flurry. The second Beholder flies down the dock to deal with Talon and Cedious whom are looking to cross the dangerous dock.

Beams of energy wash over both and Cedious ignores the beam’s power but Talon is painfully hurt from the inside – out as he resists death but falls under their brief command. He leaps off the dock into the water where he is slowed down to a crawl and becomes much easier to hit. Cedious decides to leap into the water also to pretend to be under their control.

Clorox is fearful to charge down the dock but fears the beams of energy even more. He taunts the creatures even as he treads lightly on the dock, which creaks and cracks loudly. Pebbles decides to fly at them to attack instead of using the dock. One anti-magic beam later and she is swimming (sorta).

Ippikak hires into the closest Beholder causing it to roar out in pain. Ippikak is zapped and killed for his troubles.

Cedious climbs out of the water and onto the under dock catwalk. Using the dock for shelter, he sneaks up on the one Aberration nightmare and scores a critical strike with his dart. It splashes into the water dying. The other creature circles around to find out what killed its brother. It comes to close to the dock as Clorox strikes it. The dock’s inferior condition turns out to be a hoax- a magical illusion complete with sound effects.

For his effort he is struck by the Charm Monster, Finger of Death and disintegration rays in that order and fails each one in that order.

DM NOTE: I fear a TPK at this point.

Pebbles flounders out of the anti magic area and flamestrikes the beholder. Set on fire, Cedious darts it from under the dock. Talon finally reaches the dock and proceeds to pull himself out. He is not happy.

Finally, with more divine attacks and another few darts the creature goes down. They collect what they can of their friends and anything they can sell before returning to the main section of Stormreach.

 

[megamania]

THE CREATION SCHEMA
SEGMENT 277
09/17/06
“The Emerald Claw Game Plan”

The changeling paces within the secret underground location used by the Claw in Stormreach. These tunnels were once used by Giants and their slaves 1000’s of years ago. Once discovered by the claw, they sunk a ship near the entrance and treated the area magically to discourage others from locating the site. Now they are slowly exploring and controlling portions of these tunnels under Stormreach. This is where Garrow hopes to trap Cedious and his friends and kill them in the name of Vol and of course revenge.

Finally the person in charge of these catacombs arrives. The changeling makes enough eye contact to show his lack of fear but not to challenge the outsider. The dog headed outsider pauses only long enough to look over the Changeling before going to his table and chair.

“Lord Certaind, I am pleased to meet you at last.” Lies Garrow.

“Humph. Indeed. I understand Vol herself has sent you here. That is a great honor. Do not shame yourself or myself by failing.” The evil Hound Archon Hero replies. His threat is only slightly veiled.

“I understand your plan is designed to aid me also. How do you plan to destroy them?”

“I wish to lead them here and run them through a gauntlet of traps of servants. I will lead them directly to the outer most section where I understand there are …issues. Either they will deal with the issues or die trying. Either way, glory comes to Vol and yourself.”

The Blackguard of Vol considers this plan for a moment. His eyes never leave those of Garrow. “Very well. I have several undead that can help you a few security measures to weaken them. How will you get them to go into the caverns?”

“I will become invisible and cling to the ceiling of a room that I doubt they will spend much time within.”

“Very well.” Certaind stands up. “Long Live Vol.”

“Long Live Vol.” And Garrow turns to leave. He hopes this dog will die by accident along with Cedious.

 

[megamania]

When did Boddynoc come back from the grave? Again?

Who said he was destroyed? oh yeah- Cedious. [plug evil laughter here]