The Gate Pass Irregulars: A War of the Burning Sky Campaign

[Cafu]

Felix approached the warrior and cast a healing spell on him. John was also still scorched so healing was used on him as well; as this was being done, the rogue looked very pleased with himself:

“Well, at least it wasn’t a complete waste of time. This Damatarian did have something in his sarcophagus.”

John opened his palm and we all saw a finely crafted ring. It looked very old and very fine.

I looked at it with professional curiosity:

“Magical?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t checked yet but I would be very surprised if it wasn’t.”

Longhelim glanced at it and said:

“We can research it later. We need to get ready to meet this……whatever that thing was. Let’s get healed and then we can go into its room.”

We all began to approach the door into the room with the cells. I could see that Drudge was still watching it but he had stirred, which suggested that there had been no activity. A few last healing spells were cast and then we all surrounded the door.

“Remember its breath weapon,” I whispered to everyone although it was obvious that everyone had as they had all dispersed. Then, once everyone was in position, Longhelim nodded to me and I dismissed my magical wall. As soon as I nodded in return, the paladin moved inside the room, ready to engage.

The room looked just like before with one major exception. It still looked like a carved cave. There was a door to our immediate left, a few steps away. There were still a collection of four barred cages on the far left. These had been used as cells; and a chasm bisected the cave although there was a stone bridge leading across it. The main difference was that the strange monolith which attracted teleporting beings had been moved. We were not sure where it had been put but it was not in one of the barred cages where it had been previously.

There was no reaction from the lava chasm as Longhelim moved in.

Moments later, we had all entered the room, making sure to be apart from each other so as not to be caught in a breath weapon. Victor then moved to the door and opened the door to our left, to reveal another empty room.

Still, no reaction.

Felix then cast a strange spell and as he went invisible, an illusion that looked just like him approached the bridge and crossed over it.

Again, there was no reaction from anything in this room.

Longhelim stood up from his crouch and seemed to relax a bit:

“I think it’s gone.”

Drudge frowned and still kept his bow aimed loosely at the chasm:

“That’s very frustrating. My concern is that if we have to return here to perform this ritual to blind the eye on the flying ship, then we’ll all be concentrating in getting that right and then it appears again just at the most inopportune moment.”

I gaped for a moment: had I just heard Drudge use the word “inopportune?”

Longhelim shrugged:

“Nothing we can do about that. We’ll just have to take our chances. Short of jumping down into the lava, I cannot see any other way of chasing down that thing.”

John and looked at me speculatively:

“Faden, do you think you could change yourself into a creature of the plane of fire, say a salamander or something and go after it?”

I just looked at the rogue and then asked him:

“So, you want me to change into a salamander, jump down a chasm of lava and go after an opponent on my own that sent the six of us scurrying to safety a few moments ago?”

“Well, if you put it like that…….”

Longhelim had obviously lost patience:

“Enough! John, you know that’s not practical. That thing would rip Faden to pieces. We’ll go back out to the Lyceum. If it decides to come after us again, then we’ll just have to take our chances. In the meantime, we need to get in touch with this Gohnaach and decide how we are going to tackle this flying ship and the army on board.”

As we walked back, I heard Victor speaking quietly to Longhelim:

“You know there is only one way to deal with an army and that is with another army.”

The paladin replied:

“Yes, I know but from what I have seen, although we have an army down here, it is not of the greatest quality, shall we say.”

Still on alert, we approached the main cave and Longhelim was able to take us up through the hole in the ceiling as he still had the spell which allowed him to walk on air. Since he had to take us up invidually, this took quite long but we finally emerged from the sunken building. Thankfully, the creature with the face of a toad did not make a further appearance.

We were very unobtrusive as we travelled into Seaquen and then the Lyceum. We saw that there was a lot of activity in the town after the destruction committed by the ice elementals. At least there was rebuilding going on now as opposed to clearing rubble. Still, it was distressing to see the level of devastation which had been loosed upon the town. Fortunately, one of the reasons for the progress of the rebuild was the work being done by the soldiers from Dassen and Sindaire; their officers must have realised that it must have been far better for bored soldiers to have something to do and what better way to keep them occupied than rebuilding the town; and when you have eight thousand men available……someone seems to have been using their heads.

We sneaked into the Lyceum before anyone realised and quickly made our presence known to Gohnaach. We were quickly ushered into the map room as I called it. There was an individual I could only describe as an administrator. He was a wizened little man with spectacles, a few wisps of hair and ink stained fingers. I assumed he was some kind of magician, but it was very difficult to tell.

He was looking at us anxiously and spoke to us as soon as we entered into the room. He had a surprisingly rich voice:

“You came! You know about the ship that’s coming. Are you going to drive it away?”

Longhelim replied:

“Yes we did come and we plan to do something about the ship but first we need to ascertain as much as we can about it. What can you tell us?”

He looked at us in surprise:

“Me? I don’t know anything. That’s why I called you!”

We all looked at him wordlessly. Then Longhelim said:

“Have you managed to get in touch with Simeon?”

He shook his head.

“I do not have the power.”

The paladin just nodded and said:

“We will do that tomorrow.”

After that, we all sat down around the table and Longhelim asked:

“So what are our options?”

John was the first to speak:

“Well, we could evacuate the city via the Torch. It would mean another sacrifice but we would potentially save thousands. It is difficult to conquer someone when there is no one to fight.”

Gohnaach frowned:

“Wouldn’t the ship just come after us again?”

Victor spoke at this point:

“Possibly but the ship is slow. More importantly, it is far more advantageous for us to choose our ground for this battle. For example, if we suddenly arrived in the Shining Lands of Shahalesti and Pilus started moving his ship into their sky, I suspect that Shalaadel would be very unhappy and more importantly, he has a selection of powerful good outsiders in his service. With its lack of defenses, Seaquen is particularly vulnerable to this kind of attack.”

Longhelim was loading his pipe:

“That’s a very good option, John. I like that a lot.”

I had thought a little about it as well:

“We could approach the ship from the ethereal plane? Scout it out from there.”

Felix frowned at this:

“We would be very vulnerable. It is not particularly difficult to see into the ethereal. More importantly, Pilus is a powerful mage and Faden, that is pretty obvious move; he will have something up there to defend his ship.”

Victor asked:

“There is an army on that ship, or so we were told. We must assume that it was observed as it boarded. Is there any indication of its size? And how is it being supplied?”

Longhelim puffed on his pipe and looked at Gohnaach who again just looked at us and did not say anything.

I was thinking along the same lines as the warrior and John:

“That is a very good point. If there is an army of about ten thousand soldiers up there, that needs an enormous baggage train. We could probably get an accurate estimate from General Danaava but whatever its size is there is only so much space on that ship. If we evacuate the population, forcing them to chase after us, then we will have spoilt their schedule and they will have to stop off somewhere and re-supply. I am sure they will have thought of this and have depots on hand but if the ship has to land then it will be far more vulnerable.”

Longhelim said:

“I like all of these options. There are several plans we could employ here but I think that we need to scout the ship as it approaches. If we observe it even from a distance, it will give us a much better concept of just what we are dealing with.”

No one spoke but we all nodded. It was all very well theorizing about what we could do but there was no substitute for an actual observation, no matter how distant.

Wordlessly, we all stood up and prepared for our journey.

Longhelim turned to Felix and asked:

“You do have that spell, don’t you?”

 

[carborundum]

Welcome back!

 

[Cafu]

Thank you. As I mentioned before, one of the players has a new role at work now which entails a lot of travelling; which in turn means less chances to meet and play. The game is still going strong, but the updates will be a little less regular. Having said that, there will be another next week.

 

[Cafu]

The cleric nodded and without further discussion cast it on all of us. Wordlessly we went outside of the Lyceum, turned into mist and sped into the sky.

The journey took several hours even at the extraordinary speed endowed on us by the magic. It was impossible to speak to each other but finally, Longhelim began to slow a little and we took that as a sign that we should be getting close to the flying leviathan. We began to rise to cloud level and search the darkening sky.

After some time, we saw Victor’s form suddenly change direction and arrow towards a point in the distance at some speed. Soon, we were all able to ascertain where he was going. The first thing I was able to see was a series of flashes. Thank the Gods that it was getting dark otherwise it would have been unlikely that we would have seen them. As it was, they were far more visible in the dusky sky. As we flew closer, we were able to see that origin of the flashes and finally, there was a darker spot in the distance, although, again, in the dark, it was almost invisible in the far distance.

We slowed and approached more cautiously, rising into the clouds melding into them, making sure that there were no unpleasant defences waiting for us. Thankfully, this was not the case and we were able to approach closely enough to ascertain some further details.

The most immediate feature was the size of the ship. It was enormous. I must confess that initially, I found it difficult to believe that any vessel could carry an army of ten thousand but looking at this construction, I was forced to admit that it was doing so with ease. It was also some sort of biomancy experiment or creation. The creature or construct resembled an enormous marine creature, some sort of gigantic fish but with distinctly dragon like features. It looked to have a large tail that had been curled like a scorpion to form a covered upper deck. Below this upper deck, towards the front, was a lower deck, formed of the back of the construct; it was difficult to tell from this distance, but there seemed to be movement on it and I assumed that that was the location of the army.

There were also small dots flying around the ship; again, I couldn’t tell exactly what they were but as we suspected, Pilus had certainly taken precautions against an aerial assault. Finally, there was one more spectacular effect discernible at this distance: the ship looked as if it was riding a storm. Those were the flashes we had seen. Indeed, lightning was blasting under it together with swirling wind and rain and even flurries of snow. Yes, it really looked as if the ship was riding the mother of all storms!

Still cautiously, Longhelim flew a little closer, again circling above the ship, well away from the storm. As we neared, more detail became visible. The ship itself was full of various holes and strange apertures of different shapes; the outside was certainly not smooth. The upper deck on the stern of the ship was not open to the elements and it was impossible to see what was inside; and there were peculiar platforms overhanging the edge, some of which had siege engines installed. More curiously, there were appendages of various lengths and thicknesses protruding from the sides; putting them to scale, the largest looked like tree trunks while the thinnest seemed like very long willow branches. Whatever these were, they would make any conventional boarding of the ship extremely difficult.

We were also able to discern the creatures on the deck with more ease now and it became immediately obvious that there was a group of giants down there; I couldn’t quite make out what type but definitely giants.

Longhelim seemed to hesitate and then flew even closer, again circling from above. Even more detail became apparent; first of all the deck was made of some sort of interlocking plates; the army on it was well organized; some of them were drilling and exercising while others were resting; although mostly humanoid, there were definitely non-human elements in it; giants and maybe also ogres although it was difficult to tell from this distance. Also devils; a fair amount of them as these things can be judged; certainly more than a dozen; it was difficult to tell what type but their presence alone was a very unpleasant surprise. The flying creatures were hippogriffs, each with a human rider. The flying horses with eagle’s heads and claws were supposed to be very difficult to catch and train but the Ostaliners seemed to have several wings of them.

We also saw that there were two strange protrusions on the deck, almost like small hillocks with a crater in the centre that seemed to lead into the depths of the ship. These were surrounded by camping areas of resting troops so it would be almost impossible to try to sneak into the craters. Another small flash caught my eye and as I paid more attention, I saw a bolt of electricity flash between two of the thinnest limbs jutting out of the ship’s side. Suddenly the function of the strange antennae surrounding the ship was explained.

We could see some of the army officers but no one in overall charge and I assumed that they must be either inside the ship or on the private upper deck. We continued to watch and to try to get further insights but that was certainly all I could see for the time being.

A little time later, Longhelim turned around and we all followed him. The hippogriffs had not spotted us and so, we sped back to the Lyceum. There was a great deal to think about on the way back.

It was very late by the time we returned to the Lyceum; despite this, Gohnaach and his staff were waiting for us. As soon as we arrived, they brought a meal and refreshments which we accepted with gratitude. Once those finished everyone sat down and Longhelim spoke:

“That was very useful; I have my thoughts but Victor, please begin your assessment as a soldier. I felt that army was very impressive and I would ask you to share your thoughts.”

Victor closed his eyes and then looked into the distance, as if he was remembering all that he saw and then recited:

“The Khagan has managed to collect an impressive military force. I saw a group of giants; these could be used to throw rocks and other large missiles, thus very capable to disrupting formations. They would also be used as shock troops, to make breaches into fortified positions or military groups. There were several groups or squadrons of hippogriffs, giving the army an aerial threat as well as observation capabilities not usually available to commanders. One must assume that they also have a method to communicate over distance.

There were dismantled and assembled artillery pieces; amongst all of these, I saw at least two dozen devils of various types; I am not sure if we approached closely enough for Faden to discern just how powerful these were but we do know that they can transport themselves magically around the battlefield which makes it very difficult to defend our commanders or strategic points. They become highly mobile, powerful individuals, specifically able to target trouble spots or assault our vulnerabilities.

Among the human combatants, I saw a group of both priests and mages, indicating a strong core of magical support of the army.

Finally, one must assume that there would be more powerful individuals among the above groups who would act as officers for their specific contingents. These may be in more private quarters as is common with officers.

It is also a very substantial army; I am not sure if it is the size we had calculated but it must be close.

In short, from what I have been able to observe, if we bring our army into conflict with those on the ship, they will barely be an exercise for them.”

Longhelim nodded as he puffed his pipe. Gohnaach looked very concerned and I was still thinking hard. Then the paladin puffed out some smoke and asked:

“John?”

The rogue pondered and then replied:

“Victor has given a very good description of the army; I cannot add little to that. I can try to speculate and make informed guesses about the ship. I saw that it had platforms strapped or made on the side of the deck. These looked as if they were large enough to support a squad of individuals who could strike at enemy below or attackers attempting to board the ship. These would be ideal platforms for spell casters. The ship also had bone spurs or arms around its edges which could reach onto the deck and either strike or even grab and fling individuals over the edge.

I also saw a much thinner groups of arms which produced electricity, again no doubt designed as defences against an attack on the deck.

The most interesting thing I saw though, were a pair of small hills on the deck which had craters which led into the interior of the ship; I couldn’t see far inside them but I think they are a way in.”

The paladin then turned to me:

“Faden? Anything to add?”

I tugged my beard gently, thinking:

“Not a lot. John saw far more than I did. I agree with what both he and Victor have said so far. I wasn’t able to make out just what type of devils were on deck although in many ways it doesn’t really matter. Individually they are far more powerful than any soldiers we have and since we are outnumbered anyway, this will be just a soul harvest for them if we decide to attack with our army.”

Victor spoke up at this point:

“What about Pilus? What can anyone remember about him?”

I thought back:

“Well, we did meet him; when we were at the Monastery of the Two Winds. He looked human, insofar as that means anything for a powerful wizard. If he had anything to do with building this ship, then who knows what he has become.”

Longhelim was silent for a time as were we all. I was trying to remember anything else that could be significant. Then Longhelim spoke again:

“So, I think everything has been said about our scouting trip, unless you have anything to add Drudge? No? In that case, what are our thoughts as to how to deal with this?”

I spoke slowly:

“I believe that now we have seen what we would be facing, John’s initial idea of evacuating the city with the Torch is even more valid. There is no way our army would be able to stand against their assault and if we moved our army onto their deck they would not only have to suffer the assault of the creatures but also of the deck defences. Victor summed it up when he said that it would be an exercise for them at best. However, if they cannot find a population in the city, they may destroy the city, but so what? At least the people are safe; less souls for the devils to harvest that way as well.”

Longhelim nodded:

“That strategy has merit; but ultimately, it is only a delaying tactic.”

I retorted:

“Yes, but it can be a very long delaying tactic; we can do it more than once and the one weakness I see on that ship is that it is very slow; at some point or other, logistics must come into play with that army. I am not sure just what magic if any is being used to keep it supplied but I am fairly certain that the Khagan is unlikely to have factored multiple uses of the Torch to transport his conquests away from his army. I don’t think Pilus thought about it either.”

John suddenly stiffened and then shouted in glee; everyone looked at him; he spoke slowly as if he was formulating an idea in his head as he spoke:

“What if…..what if, instead of moving our people away from ship, we…..Longhelim, sorry, could you please explain how the power of the Torch works again?”

The paladin replied, stone faced:

“I have to make a sacrifice. Then, moments after that, I and anyone I can see for a mile comes with me to a location of my choosing. It is as simple as that.”

John was nodding:

“Yes, that’s what I thought. You have only to see them, don’t you? So, what if you go invisible, fly above the ship with some sort of sacrifice and then just move their army? Preferably somewhere really far away?”

 

[RangerWickett]

Artifacts, son. It's good to abuse their power.

 

[carborundum]

Ohhhhh....now that's good thinking

 

[Cafu]

The plan was brilliant! There was also no record of the Torch being used in that way before, so hopefully it would come as a complete surprise.

Everyone was nodding and looking at John including Longhelim, who said:

“Yes. That is a very good idea, John; although the creatures in the army would be unwilling and everyone is inborn with a resistance to magic but the Torch is very powerful and I should be able to take most of them with me to a very inconvenient location. A small remnant would resist the Torch’s power but still……it would severely weaken that army; in fact, it should be difficult to call it an army after the event.”

John continued:

“Then, if you returned, we would move our army up there to combat the remnant. That should cause enough confusion for us to slip inside the ship and deal with Pilus.”

At this point, I added:

“I still believe that we should at least remove the civilians from Seaquen. It is a great plan but we may still fail and if we do, then they are at the mercy of Pilus; please remember that what remains of my family is among them.”

Taking a puff on his pipe, Longhelim explained:

“I can do this mass move three times in a day before the Torch exhausts itself of that power; so once for the civilians; then when I return, I tackle the Ostaliner army and the third time would be to get our army up to the ship.”

I was nodding, thoughfully:

“Yes, that sounds feasible. Now we need to find the sacrifices; we won’t be able to take magically enhanced horses this time.”

It took us some time put together our plan; or to detail our plan to be more exact. The general outline was based around John’s idea but we had to work out what magic to use and how to implement and time it correctly. Finally, we repeated the magic and its sequence several times to ourselves and were satisfied that, according to our current knowledge, it would succeed.

After that, we went for some much needed rest but just before we did, I asked John:

“That ring; the one we found in Damatarians tomb? Can I look at it for a moment please?”

Wordlessly, the rogue gave me his newly acquired ring and I looked at it while magically casting my last spell of the day. I took out my little monocle, examined it while mouthing he spell and whistled once I realised what I held in my hand:

“This is a powerful ring indeed. With it, you can attempt to command fire elementals. It seems as if Damatarian’s reputation as a pyromancer is well deserved. I have only read about these; they are almost legendary. Not only do you have power over elementals, they give you the ability to cast a variety of fire spells and strong defensive abilities against fire. Water elementals won’t like you a great deal. Good to see that our side trip into the tomb produced something at least.”

The next morning, we begun studying or praying for our spells. Personally, I felt that I was able to remember more spells than previously; whether it was due to practice or the endless hours of study or a combination of both, I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth and began to study my book more intensely. I had been noting down some rough ideas about other spells I had envisaged and I took the opportunity to write them down in a coherent, thaumaturgical manner as opposed to short hand. This in turn helped me to memorise them.

While I was doing this, I saw that Longhelim, Victor and Drudge were having intense conversations with Gohnaach and his staff. They all left in a hurry leaving us to our own devices until we were finally finished. John, Felix and I had a last discussion about which spells to memorise before we finished and after that we sat down to Felix’s usual magical breakfast.

As we were eating, one of the young Lyceum wizards ran in with a sack, which he handled quite gingerly. He handed it over to Longhelim who took a quick look inside and nodded. He whispered something to Felix, who nodded. Then he put it down and continued eating. It was all very mysterious but I was willing to go along with it.

As usual, I was reading some parchments with my rough notes while eating and not paying a great deal of attention to what the others were saying. I was just getting to an interesting annotation about the powers of a particularly rare water elemental when Felix clapped his hands and declared breakfast over. We ran through some minor adjustments to our plan and finally finished the meal.

Moments later, we began to cast various spells on ourselves. It took a little longer than usual as we calculated that we were going to be facing an almighty battle. Those spells were going to be disappearing fairly quickly as soon as battle was joined and it was unlikely that we would have the time to cast them once that had happened so we would take full advantage of them when we could.

So, spells finished we went outside, to find a huge crowd in front of us; not surprising as we had sent out the Lyceum wizards to collect as many people as possible.

Without preamble, Longhelim spoke out. Subtly, I cast a little spell, allowing him to project his voice so that everyone could hear it:

“No doubt you will have heard the rumours. The Khagan and an enormous Ostaliner army are on their way here on a giant flying ship. Yes, you heard aright; a giant flying ship! We plan to stop him but there is no guarantee that we will. Therefore, we offer a safe evacuation to everyone who wishes it. I plan to take those who are willing with me to Gate Pass. You will be safe there; or safer than here. So, those who want to go, stay in front of me; those who want to take the risk and stay here, get away from this gathering place.”

Most people stayed; some made themselves scarce, but most stayed. Once we could be sure that all movement had ceased, we began the next phase of our plan.

Emptying out the sack, Longhelim revealed three large centipedes. As soon as they appeared, Felix cast two fast spells; I recognised the spells the first made them aware. The next made them very large indeed. I realised what they were doing as soon as I saw the spells, and I immediately changed into a dragon and grabbed one in my talon. Longhelim flew up and I followed him, making sure that the other two were subdued. The one in my claw was slain by the Torch, fulfilling the obligation which ensured that Longhelim could employ its power for the evacuation.

We arrived on the square that used to house Coaltongue’s statue in Gate Pass without mishap but we had to leave at once. I only made sure that my family, or my mother and sisters I should say, were among this group; then I grabbed another large centipede in my claw and this time Longhelim and the rest of us transported ourselves very near the ship. Amongst the spells we had cast were various invisibility spells including the most powerful one on Longhelim. Once we were under the ship, Longhelim and I flew up, with the centipede still clutched in my claw. Once above it, Longhelim slew it with the Torch yet again, but this time, he used the same power on the Khagan’s army, transporting most of it and himself to the far North of Ragesia, where he had fought Kreven.

The effect was devastating! Most of the military personnel disappeared, leaving only a few hundred beings of all races and types. I had no doubts that the devils would be able to return but no one else. For all intents and purposes, that army ceased to exist as a viable unit on board of the ship. Now we would stand a chance! It was impossible to do so at this distance, but I would have dearly like to have seen the faces of the Khagan’s generals.

As soon as we saw the results of our expedition, I flew back to the others and we transported ourselves next to our army in Seaquen. Moments later, Longhelim joined us and this time, as the last centipede was slain and we transported our army onto the deck of the ship.

Although we had some idea of the size of the ship from afar, being actually on it literally took my breath away. It was truly enormous. The scale was extraordinary. It was able to make giants look just like large humans.

As soon as we arrived, we saw that there were still formidable pockets of enemy dotted around the deck and there were also an unusual amount of invisible enemies which I could see with my magic. For a moment, I thought I saw Pilus but I couldn’t be sure because whoever that figure was, it moved out of sight before I could see it properly.

After a quick look around I saw that the colour of the deck was a light green and it seemed to consist of interlocked tiles which moved, giving the deck an unexpected elasticity. The two large hillocks with their craters were of a darker green colour and fortunately, quite deserted so while our army made ready to battle the remnants of the Khagan’s, we made our way to them.

Despite our determination to get to there as quickly as possible, the enemy began to form up in a disciplined manner almost immediately. They may have been decimated by the Torch but they were obviously willing to fight to the last man or beast or thing…..As I mentioned above, the amount of invisible creatures was also impressive; that was something else that would have to be investigated further; just how did they know when to make themselves unseen and more importantly, just when did learn about how the Torch functioned.

Thankfully, our troops were also disciplined and even if they were not quite as fit as their opponents, they did outnumber them by roughly eight to one.

Although all of these things flashed through my mind, I had to push them back as we quickly realised that unless we transported ourselves magically to the entrance points, we would be engaged and impeded before reaching the tunnels. Mentally, I caught a question from Longhelim:

“Torch? To the hillocks?”

Before I had a chance to reply in the affirmative, I heard John, again mentally:

“Yes; everyone touch Longhelim!”

I had just barely done so when we were above a tunnel, staring down. I could hear fighting all around me but my attention was on the tunnel. To put it bluntly, it was a dark orifice going down. In a horrid way, it was fascinating. The interior walls were pink and there were veins of darker material way running through them. The whole effect was as if we were going into some sort of fleshy aperture.

As we flew down, it became noticeable that the walls glistened and moved slightly every so often as they pulsed; and then there was the stench; Gods that was repulsive. I even saw poor Felix retching as he was overcome by it. It was truly putrid.

We landed in an opening full of a pool of green bile that had a strange fleshy bridge rising above it. The liquid bubbled gently but looked very dangerous to touch and as I looked around me, I saw that the walls had figures visible within them. Initially, they were difficult to discern but as I flew closer down, I could see humans, elves and even a satyr, distinctive due to its lower body; and towards the far part of the opening, there was another creature…….a poor sphinx. Ye gods, I hoped that we would be able to free these beings after we confronted Pilus.

We waited at one end of the flesh bridge as Victor flew over to an obvious exit:

“It’s not a door. It’s some kind of aperture though; looks like closed fist. No obvious ways to open though.”

John flew up and said:

“Let me try.”

He took out his chime and sounded it. It had worked on all previous doors but this one was obviously different as there was no reaction.

Victor said:

“Shall I just hit it?”

I nodded. There was nothing to lose. So Victor sliced it with his falchion. After his first blow, it didn’t open but there was a definite reaction as the fist convulsed and some liquid spurted out onto Victor’s armour. I suspected that if he had not been magically protected against acid, it would have been very unpleasant.

Victor hit it again and this time the fist opened convulsively into a fleshy corridor. Victor stepped through but as we all attempted to move through, the fist convulsed again and closed. We managed a glimpse through though, seeing another fleshy corridor.

With a growl, Longhelim moved up and smashed his axe into the fist and it squirted a liquid at him again but convulsively opened up. This time the paladin moved through as did everyone else except for me, who was not able to move up in time. Fortunately, a moment later, the fist opened up again and I was able to slip through.

The corridor here was of the same substance as before but it seemed to be a little darker, with darker patches on the walls, as if they were bruises. There were also strange little polyps on the on the walls. The floor looked spongy although we were certainly not walking on it as I had a horrible feeling that it could sink and engulf us at the earliest opportunity. I flew up to the others who were healing Victor.

“What happened?” I asked as I saw he some burns on him.

He grimaces and replied:

“I came through here and was met with a strange fleshy construct that looked like Pilus. Talked like him to. He gave me some speech about looking forward to seeing us but frankly, I was too busy trying to hit him to pay much attention. He was busy trying to dissolve my spells. I did manage to hit him a few times and he just turned into some disgusting gloop but he was still able to take some of my spells away.”

He was pointing at a pool on the ground but I have to say, it didn’t look any different to any other pool of liquid although what was interesting was that Pilus was able to project himself onto different parts of the ship and more importantly, was able to cast spells through these constructs. This must have been some strange biomancy development.

We had a choice of going up a couple of corridor, basically, left or right and we chose to go right. The corridor pulsed and heaved but did not touch us. Then it also twisted several times until it came to another aperture. We were still flying as the floor looked distinctly unappetizing.

Victor moved up to the new fist and this hit it. This time, as it convulsed, there was a hiss as foul gas was expelled and as well as a squelch with the resulting convulsion as it opened. It revealed a large round room with another slight colour variation as the room had sections of dirty white, like old fat. However, before I was able to look at this any further, my attention was gripped by the large creatures that were looking at us. It was difficult to describe them. They were enormous, round and had no legs. They looked like large balls with long snouts or trunks. As Victor, Longhelim and Drudge moved in, they managed to hit one of them and it collapsed. Drudge also shot it and the arrow sank all the way into it. It was like huge pustule of fat.

Unfortunately, another one raised its snout and white mucus sprayed out of it, like fine spider web, except that it glistened, it was wet and very strong, entangling the warriors. Several more of these creatures moved to the left side of this room and sprayed everyone with acid. Initially, these sprays were difficult to dodge because of the mucus but thankfully, most of it was burned away. Thankfully, we were protected from this so there was little effect on anyone, with the exception of Victor, who had had his protective spell dissolved. He suffered, badly.

Then, just to add to the fun, a scalding shower of liquid mucus hit us from above; it just rained down into the room and there was nothing we could do to avoid it; poor Victor was beginning to smoke again, so it must have been acidic.

John had cast a speed spell on everyone and then I flew into the room. I took one look and knew exactly what I was going to do as I cast an invisible wall which bisected the opening, sealing us from the creatures but still leaving part of the obvious fist on the other side of the opening free for us to open.

I told the others mentally exactly what I was doing so everyone immediately moved up. I saw a couple of the creatures squash themselves against the barriers but by that point, Longhelim had already smashed the fist open and we all flew out. There was one last acid shower from the ceiling which affected poor Victor but then we all reached the corridor beyond.

 

[Cafu]

Another break after this update I am afraid.

 

[RangerWickett]

So close to the end, and no progress?

 

[Cafu]

Hi Rangerwickett; thanks for the interest. Game is still going strong but the GM is in the middle of moving house right now so we have an enforced hiatus. We are in the process of having a meaningful diplomatic meeting with Pilus and his allies at the moment. I have written the last session up but I want to have a little more ready to post before I continue.