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ShortQuests -- Pocket Sized Adventures! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed for 1-2 game sessions.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 9875698" data-attributes="member: 508">ADVENTURE 15: MAYOR MAY NOTPC Roster:  Amris Goodwitch, celestial elf witch (wizard) 6                     Avoroth Bleakborn, fiendish human cleric 6                     Gonkle Bu'Onk, fiendish orc fighter 6                     Wilbur Von Schattenwalde, shadow human druid 6NPC Roster:  Aria Hellborne, tiefling wizard 9                      Esmara Swiftbrook, half-water elemental elf wizard 9                      Umbrios Darkmantle, shadow human wizard 9Game Session Date: 4 March 2026 - - -The seven citizens of Elsewhere rode back into town upon four fiendish horses; of the group, only Avoroth enjoyed a horse to himself, which was exactly how he liked it.  The tiefling wizard, Aria Hellborne, rode behind Gonkle on his horse Runtlemeat, while Esmara Swiftbrook sat behind Wilbur on his horse Blackie, and Amris shared her own fiendish steed Flick with the shadow human wizard Umbrios Darkmantle.  Anyone who suggested Avoroth's horse Victor be used to transport two riders for a while was quickly reminded that the slain mayor rode in the fiendish cleric's Heward's even handier haversack, and thus Victor was transporting two people back to town, the same as the others.But as they approached the town of Elsewhere, a thick mist rose up from the ground.  They were still able to see the road ahead of them skirting through the fields of crops that encircled the plane-hopping town, but visibility did not extend too far to either side.  As the group traveled by night and there was no moon on the plane of Mechanus - Elsewhere's present location - even those blessed with darkvision found their field of vision somewhat limited.Still, they arrived at the outskirts of the town proper without incident and were surprised to see a figure standing there in the street, waiting for them.  As they got closer, they could see it was none other than Father Solaire, one of the town's four leaders.  He stood in his human guise, although the four planar scouts were well aware that he was actually a solar, one of the most powerful of the celestial beings."Good evening," said the solar in his deep baritone voice.  "I have been expecting you."  This didn't particularly surprise any of the scouts, for none of them knew exactly what all abilities he, as a solar, possessed - had he been scrying upon their progress?  But Wilbur felt something was a bit off about Father Solaire's presence, and he discretely cast a detect magic spell while the solar continued with his greetings."First of all, thank you for rescuing the three wizard artisans who were taken from their shops.  You three are dismissed; you may return to you homes."  Grateful for the journey's end, they slid from their shared mounts, gave their thanks to their rescuers and went about their way, further into the town proper.  Within moments, they had been swallowed up in the mist.  "But I have something I must discuss with your four," Father Solaire continued."Come," said Father Solaire, as he started walking down a narrow alley, waving for the team to follow him.  "We need to inspect the corpse of the mayor."  But this was ringing all kinds of alarm bells not only in Wilbur's head, but Avoroth's as well.  "Ask him something in Celestial," whispered the cleric to Amris, the only one of the group who spoke the language of the solars.  "Why are we inspecting the corpse in an alleyway?" asked the elven witch.  "Wouldn't it be more proper to do the examination back in the temple?"If Father Solaire was surprised at the sudden switch in languages, he didn't let it show.  Answering the elf back in the Celestial tongue, he replied, "There's no time for that, and it's possible the temple has been compromised."  Wilbur heard the solar's words, but he was concentrating on the results of his detect magic spell.  He was getting auras from all over the town - that was to be expected, as Elsewhere had magical protections preventing scryng, teleportation, and calling spells within its borders - but also multiple auras of various types of magic emanating from the solar looking back impatiently at the group, still on their horses and not yet following him into the alley.  "Come, time is of the essence!" he said, a slight indication of impatience in his voice.Amris had proven the figure before them - if it were indeed Father Solaire, which was seeming less and less likely, given his strange actions - at least understood and spoke the Celestial tongue, as would be expected of a solar, but now Avoroth decided to verify whether he spoke Infernal as well.  "What's the hurry?" he asked the solar in the language of the devils."I will explain everything later," promised Father Solaire, speaking in Infernal.  But then the cleric realized a simple tongues spell would enable a spellcaster to be able to understand and reply in any language, not just Celestial and Infernal.  They hadn't proved anything about whether or not this was the real Father Solaire, but they had certainly given hints to him that they were suspicious of the possibility they were dealing with an impostor.By now, Wilbur had gotten a lot of information back from his detect magic spells.  Most of the nearly dozen auras were coming from Father Solaire himself, with the only two exceptions being those coming from the entire surrounding area.  Avoroth saw the druid's frown and deduced he wasn't liking what he had picked up from his spell, but Amris was determined to try to allay the solar's suspicions.  "Coming!" she called, as she slipped from Flick's saddle and went to tie the reins to one of the trees lining the center of the roadway into town.  However, when she wound the reins around the trunk, they slipped completely through it...the tree was nothing more than an elaborate illusion."The whole town's an illusion!" Wilbur exclaimed aloud, having determined the most powerful aura of the entire surrounding area was that of the school of illusion magic.  And that likely applied equally to "Father Solaire," who Wilbur suspected was none other than the wizard Timaeus Summerfrost, one of the original residents of Elsewhere who viewed the entire town as his to do with as he wished.  "You're not really Father Solaire, are you?" demanded the shadow druid.  "You're Tomato Summersquash!"A dark look crossed Father Solaire's face.  "Where did you hear that name?" he demanded.Amris took this as a good time to cast a magic circle against evil spell upon herself, as Pivot leapt from his perch on her shoulder and took to the misty skies.  And then "Father Solaire," with a sigh realizing the jig was up, resigned himself to doing this the hard way.  He cast a fireball spell that went flying through the illusory buildings to explode in the middle of the group.  Avoroth and Runtlemeat both managed to avoid any damage whatsoever by mere luck - and their slight resistance to magic due to their fiendish natures, which in this instance paid off - but Amris and all the horses but Runtlemeat collapsed into instant unconsciousness, Victor and Blackie throwing their riders to the dirt of the street.  Tamaskan, of course, was unaffected, her fiery nature making her immune to such fire-based spells."All you had to do was give me the mayor's body," said the figure pretending to be Father Solaire as Avoroth and Wilbur climbed to their feet.  "Give it up and I'll let you live."Avoroth looked about the group, saw who all was down and in need of his healing spells, and set his priorities.  Channeling negative energy through his Boccob's book of knowledge, he converted one of his more powerful spells into healing energy and sent its power straight into the unconscious body of Victor, his ignoble steed.  As the fiendish horse staggered to his feet, the cleric leaped back up onto his saddle.  That was more like it! he thought.  I can tend to the elf in a moment, but now at least I have full mobility again, as it should be!Gonkle saw the way things were and smiled a tusk-filled smile.  Gripping his falchion in both hands, he went running straight through the illusory buildings and charged directly at the false solar, swinging for all he was worth.  His blade struck true, but the orc could tell this was definitely not really a celestial being, or else the unholy property of his falchion would have kicked in; the fact it didn't was evidence enough whoever this was, he was not of the decidedly good nature of a celestial being.Pivot landed back upon Amris's shoulder, crying out in their secret language for her to get up.  The elf, however, remained unmoving in the street, her flesh covered in nasty burns from the fireball spell that had taken her out.  Pivot swiveled his head to stare accusingly up at Avoroth, astride his fiendish mount; if the cleric even noticed, it didn't seem to bother his conscience any.Wilbur bent over and ran his hand through Tamaskan's fur, casting a greater magic fang spell upon his trusted companion.  The dire fell fox knew that to be the signal to attack, and since the group was all attacking the same enemy, that made it easy for her to decide on her own target.  She bit at the false celestial's leg, and from the minimal damage she inflicted - and likewise the mere scratches dealt by the burly fiendish orc's magic blade - it was evident their foe was protected by a stoneskin spell or similar magic.  Wilbur's detection of an abjuration aura around the false celestial provided further evidence of such a spell being in effect.Still attempting to salvage the situation, the impostor opted for a less lethal chill touch spell to drain some of Gonkle's strength.  But the orc didn't even seem to notice the minimal damage inflicted by the spell, and he resisted any strength drain at all, making the spellcaster regret his spell choice more than the fact Gonkle shaved off a bit more of his stoneskin spell's protection during his casting of the chill touch spell.Avoroth sent Victor heading over to Amris, but rather than attempting to heal her, he took the opportunity to cast a blindness/deafness spell at the figure of Father Solaire, thinking a blinded foe would be that much easier to take down.  But his spell had no effect, and the cleric sighed in frustration; he might as well take the next moment to heal the damn elf after all.Gonkle continued his assault upon the impostor with his falchion; even with the stoneskin spell up, he was whittling away at him bit by bit.  Wilbur cast a poison spell upon the foe, draining a bit of his vitality in the process.  Tamaskan kept up the attacks with both her fangs and her flaming tail.  And then Avoroth bent down from Victor's saddle, touching Amris upon the shoulder and channeling another spell through his Boccob's book of knowledge, imbuing her charred body with enough healing energy to rise her to consciousness; Pivot filled her in with everything she had missed while she was out.Rising to her feet in anger, the celestial elf witch cast a lightning bolt at the foe who had knocked out both her and her horse with his accursed fireball spell.  The bolt went blasting straight through him, seeming to surprise him at how much damage the elf had caused him; apparently his numerous protective auras didn't include anything shielding him from electrical attacks.Perhaps as a result of the example of just how easily the planar scout team could actually hurt him, the impostor dashed past Avoroth and Victor in a surprising burst of speed.  Then, when he was what he deemed a safe distance from immediate reprisal, he cast a suggestion spell directly at Avoroth.  "Pull out the mayor's body from your extradimensional haversack," he commanded the cleric, readying a disintegrate spell to completely destroy the mayor's body before he could be brought back to life.  But the spellcaster had failed to take one thing into account: by finally getting around to rousing his unconscious teammate, Avoroth sat upon Victor well within the area of effect of the witch's magic circle against evil spell, and - his own evil nature notwithstanding - he was thus fully protected from such mind-affecting magic.  "I think not," spewed the cleric with a touch of scorn in his voice.  And then, not having any more attack spells readied, he drove Victor forward with a kick of his legs and brought his masterwork quarterstaff crashing down upon the enemy spellcaster's head.Gonkle wasn't about to end his own fight with the enemy, and charged across the field of battle to bring his falchion blade striking the fake celestial, all but removing the last bit of stoneskin protection he enjoyed.  The spellcaster saw Wilbur grinning out of the corner of his eye and wondered what the druid thought was so funny; he got his answer when the shadow lion Wilbur had just summoned swiped him from behind with a powerful rake of his front claws.  He'd no sooner turned to face this new foe when an old foe - Tamaskan - came running up to bite him on the leg from behind.Amris cast a scorching ray at their shared enemy but sent the gout of flames flying harmlessly over her foe's left shoulder, missing him entirely; Avoroth sighed and wondered, yet again, why such powerful spells were left in the hands of foolish arcane spellcasters, when those empowered by their gods could surely put them to much better use."ENOUGH!" cried the false Father Solaire as he cast a cone of cold spell that encompassed a goodly number of his foes.  Wilbur and Gonkle, as well as Runtlemeat, caught in the middle of the blast of frigid energy, flew backwards and landed in the street, unconscious and bleeding out.  Blackie, still out from the damage taken by the spellcaster's initial fireball spell, was instantly and irrevocably slain; Avoroth could see at once there was nothing he could do for the dead mount, as he'd already used up his two daily uses of his Boccob's book of knowledge and was now limited to the relatively paltry charges of his wand of cure light wounds - nowhere nearly powerful enough to snatch Blackie from death's door.Avoroth had another split-second decision to make: who to heal up first, the shadow druid or the fiendish orc?  Having no real love of the orcish race - the cleric considered them barely a step above tool-using animals - his choice was a rather easy on to make; he once again bent down from Victor's saddle and this time poked Wilbur's unmoving body with his wand, sending enough positive energy into the shadow druid to waken him from his involuntary unconsciousness.Wilbur cast his mind through the planes and summoned forth a swarm of spiders, causing them to appear right next to their shared foe, but before they could do much, Tamaskan leaped up and buried her teeth into the spellcaster's throat, ripping it out.  Expecting to get drenched in a shower of blood, the dire fell fox was surprised to have the flesh in her mouth turn to snow, as the rest of the simulacrum they'd been fighting all this time likewise returned to its original form, a vaguely humanoid shape carved from densely-packed snow.  It collapsed to the ground and splooshed in all directions."What in the--?" sputtered Amris."Brilliant job with the spiders!" groused Avoroth, as the swarm of hungry arachnids the druid had summoned turned their beady, shining eyes towards the heroes and were skittering their way; the druid had no way of controlling the swarm once they'd been brought forth and as far as they were concerned, the heroes were just as much logical target as the false celestial had been.  Sheepishly, Wilbur hurriedly dismissed them, sending them back to where they'd been summoned.With the death of the simulacrum, his spells started fading away.  The surrounding mist blew away, as did the illusory buildings, streets, and trees of Elsewhere.  The three wizards they'd rescued from the formian nest were half a mile away, looking around in confusion, as the lights of the real town of Elsewhere could be seen some two miles away or so in the distance.  The group stood in the middle of a grassy field, the actual area upon which the simulacrum had piled multiple hallucinatory terrain and mirage arcana spells."What's Summersquash got against the mayor?" wondered Wilbur aloud."Maybe the mayor can answer that, after we've had him restored to life," suggested Amris.Avoroth revived Gonkle, Flick, and Runtlemeat with his wand and then came to a horrible realization: there were now seven of them but only three horses to go around!  That meant he'd have to ride double - ugh!  At least it ended up being Wilbur riding behind him instead of one of the "useless wizard artisans," as the cleric thought of them.  And it was only for two miles or so.  But he was glad when they finally entered the streets of the actual town of Elsewhere and could drop off their burdens for real. - - - So, based on the power of the simulacrum's cone of cold spell, we figure he was an 11th-level wizard - which puts the real Timaeus Summerfrost at 22nd level!  Not anybody we want to tangle with just yet, that's for sure.Joe was working again during this session, so Dan ran his PC for him as well as his own.</blockquote>

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