Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Gate Pass Irregulars: A War of the Burning Sky Campaign
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Cafu" data-source="post: 6306518" data-attributes="member: 6692807"><p>We took the scroll with the questions to Simeon; he scanned it quickly and I could have sworn I saw a slight smile as he read the last question. Then he began to cast the spell. It was not particularly complicated magic, just quite long.</p><p> </p><p>Diogenes must have been waiting for our response because the answer to the message began to flow back very rapidly. It took some time and several castings before Simeon was able to answer our questions. The information was haphazard and disorganized, as if Diogenes had a group of people there, all giving him information and he was relaying it to us word for word; these were the pieces that he could give us:</p><p> </p><p>The dragon wore an Inquisitor mask which was said to be inhabited by the spirits of dead Inquisitors. He had shown the powers of Inquisitor including their uncanny ability to counter magic; I groaned mentally at this. The mysteries of the Ragesian Inquisitor masks were getting deeper the more we delved. Quite how they were managing to do this was a magic as deep and impenetrable as any I had ever come across.</p><p> </p><p>Vorox-Hul somehow drained magic upon touching items or weapons and armour. Again, a mysterious, power that had never been recorded for a dragon; as an aside, I wondered if it was also connected with the Mask.</p><p> </p><p>He could sense unseen individuals; unlike the two previous powers, this was a known power of dragons.</p><p> </p><p>He was very resistant to weapons which were not magical; again, this was a known trait of the great beasts but particularly potent if Vorox-Hul was also able to drain weapons of their magical powers.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, the dragon had a fearsome breath weapon; it was fire, but not only normal fire but it was mixed with some strange unholy power; this power was thought to drain the vitality, energy and power of the victim.</p><p> </p><p>Simeon stopped momentarily and as he did, Longhelim turned to and looked at me in particular:</p><p> </p><p>“I am no great expert but this certainly does not sound like a normal red dragon, insofar as any of these beasts could be called normal.”</p><p> </p><p>I was in full agreement with him:</p><p> </p><p>“The first two abilities are nothing I have ever read about; I am not sure just what powers the Ragesian mask gives him but they may be connected with that. The breath weapons worries me as well. It will affect everyone but the spell casters in particular. They may lose many of their spells.”</p><p> </p><p>Felix spoke up at this point:</p><p> </p><p>“I have certain spells that protect against this but if the dragon has Inquisitor abilities, then it is very likely that it could strip these protections from us they way other Inquisitors have done before.”</p><p> </p><p>Simeon spoke up at this point. He was still receiving information from Gate Pass:</p><p> </p><p>The dragon resided on top of a tall tower on the same square as Draco Coaltongue’s statue; incidentally, it was also the same square which contained Erdin Menash’s strange abode.</p><p> </p><p>General Danava of Ragesia, was possibly amenable to a negotiated peace although he had strict orders from Leska. As such, he was not greatly enamoured of the Empress. Did we feel that there was an opportunity here?</p><p> </p><p>The Shahalesti were uncertain allies, rigid and unbending.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, if we were successful against the dragon, there were many other tasks and problems that we would need to face in Gate Pass.</p><p> </p><p>After this final communication, the magic finally ceased.</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim looked deep in thought and then shook his head:</p><p> </p><p>“The comment about Danava does not make sense; why would the Ragesian general seek peace? We know that Leska ordered him to take Gate Pass. He has no room to maneuver around those orders, short of coming out in direct rebellion against the empress. He has already killed almost a third of the population of the city; his dragon is sitting in splendid isolation above the rooftops, waiting for the Resistance to just show its head before he bites it off. No, this possible peace overture sounds more like a trap than anything else.</p><p> </p><p>I am not a trained diplomat but I do know when one side has no position from which to negotiate.”</p><p> </p><p>John then said:</p><p> </p><p>“And the Shahalesti: Rigid and unbending? I am shocked, shocked I tell you!”</p><p> </p><p>I was thinking ahead:</p><p> </p><p>“Well, they need us tomorrow night or early morning. We have to make plans. Just one thing: What about the Trillith?”</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim grimaced:</p><p> </p><p>“That is just so esoteric at the moment that we have to take that as it comes; I have no idea who or what they are, who the woman is or what she is talking about. From what I can tell, Simeon has about as much of an idea as we do so for the moment, we just concern ourselves with the more mundane, like the dragon.”</p><p> </p><p>Right; so, the mundane dragon which wore an Inquisitor mask, drained magic and breathed unholy fire; very ordinary; with these thoughts rattling in my head, I went to bed.</p><p> </p><p>The next morning, we all woke up early. We were going to be leaving roughly at midnight, so we were going to learn our spells this morning. As usual, there was much consultation, expectation and innovation. All of us had acquired new skills and abilities after we had destroyed the Obelisk; ironically, I had learned much from watching Kreven cast his spells; although I hated the man and knew that he was mad and steeped in evil, I could not deny his spell casting expertise; it far outstripped mine.</p><p> </p><p>Felix talked of spells which had been granted to him recently; one of them sounded very useful, providing an total immunity to certain spells without impeding one’s own casting; another was a very powerful defense against evil, which also had a chance to blind an evil attacker; I was intrigued by this and asked Felix just how that worked. He promised to explain it to me as soon as we had some free time.</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim and Victor discussed tactics upon facing the dragon. Victor had a very interesting idea:</p><p> </p><p>“I say we try it! After all, what do we lose?”</p><p> </p><p>“Do you really think you could break it? It is on its head after all; I think that head will be the size of a cart!”</p><p> </p><p>“I have been looking how to do this for some time; I think I’ll be able to reach it; and I’ll be using normal falchions anyway; I don’t want to risk my adamantite one against its magic draining power. What do you think it is going to do to your Torch?”</p><p> </p><p>I approached them:</p><p> </p><p>“What are you planning? Sounds intriguing.”</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim took his pipe out of his mouth:</p><p> </p><p>“Victor believes he can slice through the mask the dragon is wearing. If it wants to bite us, which it will, it has to get within reach of his falchion. All of the masks we have seen so far would be unlikely to withstand one of Victor’s blows, so there is a chance he may be able to break it.”</p><p> </p><p>I stood still and thought a bit. I honestly had no idea if it was possible and more importantly, what would happen if he succeeded. One thing I was sure of though; it wouldn’t help the dragon to have his mask smashed; at worst, it would not do anything at all.</p><p> </p><p>“It has to be worth a try,” I said to them; “all the masks that we have found so far enhance the wearers’ powers so it is very likely that they do the same thing for the dragon; in fact, John and I were speculating that the spirits in the mask may even act independently of the dragon, so if you can break their vessel, then it is very likely to actively harm them.”</p><p> </p><p>Victor grunted:</p><p> </p><p>“Yes; that’s what Longhelim and I believe as well.”</p><p> </p><p>Conversations of this ilk were taking place all day; sometimes between the group; sometimes between the group and Simeon and Kiernan; Simeon again attempted to try to research the mask magically but was unable to do so; the magic that was used to make them was just too alien for his discipline.</p><p> </p><p>About mid-afternoon, Felix shouted:</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve got it! I know how we can get up the tower to confront the dragon without being assaulted from all sides as we are climbing the clock tower; I was never comfortable with the idea of flying towards it under stealth spells. We have already been told that the dragon had a method of detecting the most stealthy of intruders, no matter what magic hides them. I have a spell which creates a tunnel through ethereal plane; if we put it through the tower and then move to the top, we may gain at least a few moments of surprise.”</p><p> </p><p>This idea engendered a great deal of spirited discussion but ultimately, it was the best one we had to gain a stealthy entry into the tower.</p><p> </p><p>So, finally, the appointed hour came and we began casting longer lasting spells in preparation. This took a little time, especially checking that everyone had the defences and effects that they were supposed to. Once that was done, we all left and met our new raiding force.</p><p> </p><p>I was quite perturbed; it was very small:</p><p> </p><p>“Longhelim; how are we supposed to lead an uprising with such a small force; even if we succeed, the numbers of all the fighting men in Gate Pass together with this group will barely equal the Ragesian army remaining.”</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim just shrugged:</p><p> </p><p>“I am assuming that Seaquen and Gate Pass discussed this amongst themselves and that provisions are being made; it may be that once we deal with the dragon, we will be tasked with getting more men from Seaquen.”</p><p> </p><p>I was dubious about this explanation; I thought it far more likely that as usual, we were not being told the full story here. However, despite my distrust, suddenly, there was no more time as Longhelim activated the Torch.</p><p> </p><p>Our arrival on the other side, through the fiery tunnel, was uneventful. As our raiding force began appearing behind us, we had a little time as we cast a few more spells which were much shorter in duration. Once those were cast, we employed the Torch again, this time to take us to the Tower.</p><p> </p><p>As the magic moved us through the fiery tunnel, I felt a wrench and we were sent tumbling in a different direction. Moments later, we found ourselves in a pit, next to a familiar white column! A teleport disruptor! A wire grate above us was being prevented from falling and a voice said:</p><p> </p><p>“Ah…..things have not gone completely to plan! Please get out of the pit as quickly as you can! This is getting very heavy!”</p><p> </p><p>It was Rantle! Katarina’s brother and now apparently one of the leaders of the Resistance. We could see that he was using his sword to prevent the grate from falling on top of us. He now had a goatee and moustache and was looking at us with a grin. There were four other warriors with him, who threw ropes to us.</p><p> </p><p>Drudge was also flying and he helped to carry us out of the pit.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cafu, post: 6306518, member: 6692807"] We took the scroll with the questions to Simeon; he scanned it quickly and I could have sworn I saw a slight smile as he read the last question. Then he began to cast the spell. It was not particularly complicated magic, just quite long. Diogenes must have been waiting for our response because the answer to the message began to flow back very rapidly. It took some time and several castings before Simeon was able to answer our questions. The information was haphazard and disorganized, as if Diogenes had a group of people there, all giving him information and he was relaying it to us word for word; these were the pieces that he could give us: The dragon wore an Inquisitor mask which was said to be inhabited by the spirits of dead Inquisitors. He had shown the powers of Inquisitor including their uncanny ability to counter magic; I groaned mentally at this. The mysteries of the Ragesian Inquisitor masks were getting deeper the more we delved. Quite how they were managing to do this was a magic as deep and impenetrable as any I had ever come across. Vorox-Hul somehow drained magic upon touching items or weapons and armour. Again, a mysterious, power that had never been recorded for a dragon; as an aside, I wondered if it was also connected with the Mask. He could sense unseen individuals; unlike the two previous powers, this was a known power of dragons. He was very resistant to weapons which were not magical; again, this was a known trait of the great beasts but particularly potent if Vorox-Hul was also able to drain weapons of their magical powers. Finally, the dragon had a fearsome breath weapon; it was fire, but not only normal fire but it was mixed with some strange unholy power; this power was thought to drain the vitality, energy and power of the victim. Simeon stopped momentarily and as he did, Longhelim turned to and looked at me in particular: “I am no great expert but this certainly does not sound like a normal red dragon, insofar as any of these beasts could be called normal.” I was in full agreement with him: “The first two abilities are nothing I have ever read about; I am not sure just what powers the Ragesian mask gives him but they may be connected with that. The breath weapons worries me as well. It will affect everyone but the spell casters in particular. They may lose many of their spells.” Felix spoke up at this point: “I have certain spells that protect against this but if the dragon has Inquisitor abilities, then it is very likely that it could strip these protections from us they way other Inquisitors have done before.” Simeon spoke up at this point. He was still receiving information from Gate Pass: The dragon resided on top of a tall tower on the same square as Draco Coaltongue’s statue; incidentally, it was also the same square which contained Erdin Menash’s strange abode. General Danava of Ragesia, was possibly amenable to a negotiated peace although he had strict orders from Leska. As such, he was not greatly enamoured of the Empress. Did we feel that there was an opportunity here? The Shahalesti were uncertain allies, rigid and unbending. Finally, if we were successful against the dragon, there were many other tasks and problems that we would need to face in Gate Pass. After this final communication, the magic finally ceased. Longhelim looked deep in thought and then shook his head: “The comment about Danava does not make sense; why would the Ragesian general seek peace? We know that Leska ordered him to take Gate Pass. He has no room to maneuver around those orders, short of coming out in direct rebellion against the empress. He has already killed almost a third of the population of the city; his dragon is sitting in splendid isolation above the rooftops, waiting for the Resistance to just show its head before he bites it off. No, this possible peace overture sounds more like a trap than anything else. I am not a trained diplomat but I do know when one side has no position from which to negotiate.” John then said: “And the Shahalesti: Rigid and unbending? I am shocked, shocked I tell you!” I was thinking ahead: “Well, they need us tomorrow night or early morning. We have to make plans. Just one thing: What about the Trillith?” Longhelim grimaced: “That is just so esoteric at the moment that we have to take that as it comes; I have no idea who or what they are, who the woman is or what she is talking about. From what I can tell, Simeon has about as much of an idea as we do so for the moment, we just concern ourselves with the more mundane, like the dragon.” Right; so, the mundane dragon which wore an Inquisitor mask, drained magic and breathed unholy fire; very ordinary; with these thoughts rattling in my head, I went to bed. The next morning, we all woke up early. We were going to be leaving roughly at midnight, so we were going to learn our spells this morning. As usual, there was much consultation, expectation and innovation. All of us had acquired new skills and abilities after we had destroyed the Obelisk; ironically, I had learned much from watching Kreven cast his spells; although I hated the man and knew that he was mad and steeped in evil, I could not deny his spell casting expertise; it far outstripped mine. Felix talked of spells which had been granted to him recently; one of them sounded very useful, providing an total immunity to certain spells without impeding one’s own casting; another was a very powerful defense against evil, which also had a chance to blind an evil attacker; I was intrigued by this and asked Felix just how that worked. He promised to explain it to me as soon as we had some free time. Longhelim and Victor discussed tactics upon facing the dragon. Victor had a very interesting idea: “I say we try it! After all, what do we lose?” “Do you really think you could break it? It is on its head after all; I think that head will be the size of a cart!” “I have been looking how to do this for some time; I think I’ll be able to reach it; and I’ll be using normal falchions anyway; I don’t want to risk my adamantite one against its magic draining power. What do you think it is going to do to your Torch?” I approached them: “What are you planning? Sounds intriguing.” Longhelim took his pipe out of his mouth: “Victor believes he can slice through the mask the dragon is wearing. If it wants to bite us, which it will, it has to get within reach of his falchion. All of the masks we have seen so far would be unlikely to withstand one of Victor’s blows, so there is a chance he may be able to break it.” I stood still and thought a bit. I honestly had no idea if it was possible and more importantly, what would happen if he succeeded. One thing I was sure of though; it wouldn’t help the dragon to have his mask smashed; at worst, it would not do anything at all. “It has to be worth a try,” I said to them; “all the masks that we have found so far enhance the wearers’ powers so it is very likely that they do the same thing for the dragon; in fact, John and I were speculating that the spirits in the mask may even act independently of the dragon, so if you can break their vessel, then it is very likely to actively harm them.” Victor grunted: “Yes; that’s what Longhelim and I believe as well.” Conversations of this ilk were taking place all day; sometimes between the group; sometimes between the group and Simeon and Kiernan; Simeon again attempted to try to research the mask magically but was unable to do so; the magic that was used to make them was just too alien for his discipline. About mid-afternoon, Felix shouted: “I’ve got it! I know how we can get up the tower to confront the dragon without being assaulted from all sides as we are climbing the clock tower; I was never comfortable with the idea of flying towards it under stealth spells. We have already been told that the dragon had a method of detecting the most stealthy of intruders, no matter what magic hides them. I have a spell which creates a tunnel through ethereal plane; if we put it through the tower and then move to the top, we may gain at least a few moments of surprise.” This idea engendered a great deal of spirited discussion but ultimately, it was the best one we had to gain a stealthy entry into the tower. So, finally, the appointed hour came and we began casting longer lasting spells in preparation. This took a little time, especially checking that everyone had the defences and effects that they were supposed to. Once that was done, we all left and met our new raiding force. I was quite perturbed; it was very small: “Longhelim; how are we supposed to lead an uprising with such a small force; even if we succeed, the numbers of all the fighting men in Gate Pass together with this group will barely equal the Ragesian army remaining.” Longhelim just shrugged: “I am assuming that Seaquen and Gate Pass discussed this amongst themselves and that provisions are being made; it may be that once we deal with the dragon, we will be tasked with getting more men from Seaquen.” I was dubious about this explanation; I thought it far more likely that as usual, we were not being told the full story here. However, despite my distrust, suddenly, there was no more time as Longhelim activated the Torch. Our arrival on the other side, through the fiery tunnel, was uneventful. As our raiding force began appearing behind us, we had a little time as we cast a few more spells which were much shorter in duration. Once those were cast, we employed the Torch again, this time to take us to the Tower. As the magic moved us through the fiery tunnel, I felt a wrench and we were sent tumbling in a different direction. Moments later, we found ourselves in a pit, next to a familiar white column! A teleport disruptor! A wire grate above us was being prevented from falling and a voice said: “Ah…..things have not gone completely to plan! Please get out of the pit as quickly as you can! This is getting very heavy!” It was Rantle! Katarina’s brother and now apparently one of the leaders of the Resistance. We could see that he was using his sword to prevent the grate from falling on top of us. He now had a goatee and moustache and was looking at us with a grin. There were four other warriors with him, who threw ropes to us. Drudge was also flying and he helped to carry us out of the pit. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Gate Pass Irregulars: A War of the Burning Sky Campaign
Top