The Realms of Enlightenment: The Grey Companions

[Hairy Minotaur]

A whole week with no updates?

I think I'm getting withdrawls.

 

[Jon Potter]

[Realms #290] Hot Enough for Ya?

HM- Here's a quick fix for you.

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"Buff? What she mean 'Buff up before combat'? I stand there and choose to rally the party with a few inspirational dwarven war cries, and they all 'ave the nerve to finish off the Stone Golem without me!" Karak grumbled to no one in particular as he rested his axe on one shoulder and felt around with his other hand for his 'sticks o' healing'. He wasn't too happy about completely wasting Shaharizod's Divine Favor; such grace wasn't easy to come by. He produced one of the wands and stabbed it at Ixin's back. "An' she thinks I just be standin' there. Well, that be ridiculous. Ridiculous, I say!"

"Karak!" Morier called. "These two need healing. Are you going to do it or should I?" The Eldritch Warrior stood between Ledare and Feln and held his hands near the stoppered vials at his belt as if threatening to use the healing draughts at a moment's notice. Karak fixed him with a challenging eye and spat once before trundling towards him.

"Nae! Nae!" he growled. "Now lemme take a look at ye, Feln! Hmm you not be busted up so bad, but 'ere is a whack o' the stick of healing and off you go, now." Feln wasn't too sure about the dwarf's assessment of his injuries. He felt like he'd been struck by an avalanche, which in a way he had. Still the magic of Karak's wand began to ease the pain at once.

"Thank you, Karak," the half-orc said as the pain in his ribs began to recede. The dwarf nodded once before turning to Ledare.

"Nice back flips, by the by. Ye could be be part of a travellin' circus," he added as he he turned away and levelled his wand at Ledare. "And you, lemme feel your head. I don't think I never see you close in combat before. I usually see you plinking away with yer drow handshooter. Ye be feelin alright, lass?"

"Very funny," Ledare muttered as she endured the dwarf's attempts to check her for fever.

"You nae be under a spell, are ye? Ixin why nae ye check out our Leader here and see if she be enspelled," Karak called to the drakeling. He lowered his voice conspiratorally and favored Ledare with a wink, adding, "We do nae want to be givin Grisham any ideas about your leadership skills now would we?" Ledare managed a weak smile and nodded silently as he sent a trickle of healing magic into her body.

"We're looking at a lot of heat coming from down below," Ixin said as she came over to join the triage. Feln and Morier joined Grisham and Vade in searching the chamber for hidden or concealed exits.

"Now why do you suppose we just face two elementals? One of wind now one of earth," Karak muttered aloud. "Maybe down there be one o' fire?"

"Does anyone not think there's a fire elemental down there?" Ledare asked loud enough for all to hear. Head shakes were her answer from everyone. "Do you recall me telling you that before we left Barnacus, I and my original companions had a series of prophetic dreams or visions? We sought the help of the Onieromancer who tried to interpret our dreams, but didn't really give us much to go on. He did confirm that four is an important number and the elements: air, water, earth and fire are the four to concern ourselves with."

"I remember that," Vade piped up from across the room. Ixin nodded as well.

"The idea was mentioned that through the dreams, the gods were attempting to communicate around Umba's decree that they not contact mortals directly. And that they wouldn't place before us a riddle that we were incapable of solving," the Janissary went on, her thoughts returning to a time that seemed so much longer than a half-dozen weeks before. Her companions at that time - Finian, Soriah, and Kirnoth - were all gone, lost to Chaos or death. The bitter taste of regret mingled with the blood in her mouth and her face grew resolute. "So it is my thought that we were meant to chase Tarawyn (or whoever he is really) and delve deeper into this mystery."

"Aye!" Karak agreed, rapping the haft of his axe on the stone tiles for emphasis. "I say we continue to where this leads - to its end and see where this Tamaryn has gone. It's down to a chamber and the flames be below, right?" Ixin nodded. "I do believe Ixin and I can take the heat, for I am used to the forges, but I do nae know for the rest of you. Ixin, do you have a way to determine if we all can withstand the heat?"

"I'm not even sure I can withstand the heat," the sorcerer admitted. "I'm quite resistant to fire, but I'm not totally immune to its effects. And I don't think that I have anything that will protect you guys, in any case."

"I think checking out the pit should be our last resort," Morier admitted. "And even then, I don't think it's a healthy one."

"Given the mention of the four elements and what we learned from the celestial about hidden evil, I think this trail is too important to abandon," Ledare countered. "We must go forward." The albino nodded his deference to her command and returned to checking the walls.

"I don't see how we can not go down," Ixin added. "I think it's a definite that there is an elemental down there and we need to go in ready."

"Aye!" Karak agreed, thumping the mage on the back. "Let's have you go down, take a peek then come back up an' tell us what's what."

"We can't go one at a time," the drakeling argued, striking her right fist into the palm of her left hand. "We need to go together and strike very quickly and without warning." The dwarf turned a skeptical eye on her, raising one shaggy eyebrow.

"How are we going to get everyone down, wizard?" Karak asked. "What do we do if it looks like a massive cavern tunnel or somethin'?"

"I don't know. We have rope don't we?" Ixin sputtered, but she could see it was a losing argument.

"I will let Ixin borrow my slippers if she wants to go down and have a look at the fire," Vade offered. "They would look very nice on you, I must say, Ixin." She sighed and looked over at the halfling's innocent face.

"Okay," she relented.



The shaft was hot and it only got hotter as she descended, following the trail of rusty handprints down to the chamber below. The end of the shaft was centrally set into the ceiling of a large stone chamber that was the mirror of the one above except that the entire middle of the room was a massive firepit twenty feet on a side. Ixin could see no obvious source of the flames, so they were likely magical in nature, perhaps even representing a portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire, and an instant death by immolation to anyone not protected from heat. Only a 15 ft. wide lip around the room's perimeter offered any safe footing, and the drakeling could tell that it would be extremely hot even there. Like the chamber above, a single doorway led off of the room, but she could see nothing of where it went for it was choked completely with clouds of hissing steam.

The heat here wasn't as bad as she feared it would be - certainly, she was in no danger - and she surmised that, provided they avoided any contact with the actual inferno, her companions could survive in the chamber for upwards of half an hour. That would be plenty of time to deal with the fire elemental if there was in fact one to be dealt with.

Hanging from the ceiling, she scanned the conflagration below and felt the sympathetic tingle of her draconis fundamentum within her breast; she was born of fire and she could feel her maturing draconic nature yearning to more fully realize itself. And part of her was eager to become what she was, but she realized that once she started down that path there was no turning back and she was still young. She had centuries to explore her true nature if she chose to wait and-

With a swirl of rising embers, an anthropomorphic creature of sentient flame formed in the center of the firepit. Its arms were twin columns of fire and it swung up at Ixin even as she retreated up the shaft to the chamber above. She felt the white-hot glow of its touch pass by her as she went, able to reach the ceiling of its room but no further. She spared it a glance as she scrambled up to rejoin her friends and saw its burning visage glare hatefully at her from below.

 

[Rel]

Jon,

Just checking in to let you know that I'm about to embark upon reading your Story Hour from start to finish. I'm finding myself in need of a bit of inspiration and I figure that there's no better place to look than in the Story Hour of one of my most faithful Game Day players.

As a result, you may find me posting comments or questions from WAY earlier in the thread. If you find that annoying in that it breaks up the flow of your current posts then I'm more than happy to e-mail them to you instead. Either way is fine with me.

So don't be shocked when you see your Views count starts to trend upwards over the course of the next week or so. That's just me popping in to read another update whenever my schedule allows.

 

[Jon Potter]

Just checking in to let you know that I'm about to embark upon reading your Story Hour from start to finish. I'm finding myself in need of a bit of inspiration and I figure that there's no better place to look than in the Story Hour of one of my most faithful Game Day players.

Well, I'm not sure how much inspiration you'll cull from here, but I hope that you find some entertainment. There's certainly nothing here to compare to the Adventures of Samantha the Red! Expect me to pick your brain at the next Game Day for details of how you "ran" that little gem. I don't want my own pint-sized adventuress to get left out of the fun.

As a result, you may find me posting comments or questions from WAY earlier in the thread. If you find that annoying in that it breaks up the flow of your current posts then I'm more than happy to e-mail them to you instead. Either way is fine with me.

Be aware that the story of this Story Hour actually begins w-a-a-a-y back here using the 2E ruleset. (Yeah, I know. We're behind the times.) And I'm happy to answer any questions you might have right here. Who knows? The answers might benefit another reader in the process!

So don't be shocked when you see your Views count starts to trend upwards over the course of the next week or so. That's just me popping in to read another update whenever my schedule allows.

It's surprising, given how important readership is to me, that I don't pay more attention to my Views.Of course, Views are welcome too.

 

[Rel]

Well, I'm not sure how much inspiration you'll cull from here, but I hope that you find some entertainment.

You'd be surprised! I am preparing to run a solo campaign for my wife in the near future and seeing how you've woven such an interesting early story around Kirnoth is riveting. I was actually cursing you for ending the first few installments in cliffhangers! It makes it hard to read in short increments when you keep saying, "Well, I gotta read the next one to see how this comes out!" I think that the adventure you've come up with for a single, 1st level Wizard is outstanding.

As far as the adventures of Samantha the Red, I'll be happy to share my techniques with you (it's all pretty simple, actually) at the next game day if you like. But feel free to post any questions in that thread and I'll be happy to answer them. I'll be posting more updates on our latest adventure tomorrow.

 

[Jon Potter]

You'd be surprised! I am preparing to run a solo campaign for my wife in the near future and seeing how you've woven such an interesting early story around Kirnoth is riveting. I was actually cursing you for ending the first few installments in cliffhangers! It makes it hard to read in short increments when you keep saying, "Well, I gotta read the next one to see how this comes out!" I think that the adventure you've come up with for a single, 1st level Wizard is outstanding.

This was my wife's first real forray into gaming and it was really a last resort for her. She determined she could either put up with a lot of my free time going toward a game she knew nothing about or she could involve herself in that game. The hardest part about that first adventure was getting her interested in actually adventuring! She was much more concerned with what the people were eating than she was in getting to the bottom of a ghostly mystery.

In retrospect, I guess that was a good thing, given the 1st Level Wizard thing and all. When she did finally get around to slinging a few spells, the spell point system we were using did more damage to her than her adversaries. :\

She immediately didn't trust my very unsubtledly disguised plot hook, Torrik. But at the same time, she blindly accepted what he said about elves being immune to fear although I'd never told her that as DM.

All in all, it was the things that I took for granted as someone who'd gamed a lot that presented unforeseen stumbling blocks. She wouldn't have any trouble with that stuff now, of course. (Just in case she reads this. )

 

[Funeris]

Ahhhh...a melding of SH minds....
(thinking to self: Hmmm...that's where Rel ran off to).

I'm running a new campaign this weekend (world is pretty much done now..thanks for the info Rel). My girlfriend actually yielded and decided to try it since I, too, spend a lot of time working on this stuff. I only hope she takes to it

Well. Enough of the personal BS. Keep up the good work Jon. And Rel, when you feel inspired again, feel free to update. No pressure or anything.

Ditto for you, Jon.

 

[Jon Potter]

I'm running a new campaign this weekend (world is pretty much done now..thanks for the info Rel). My girlfriend actually yielded and decided to try it since I, too, spend a lot of time working on this stuff. I only hope she takes to it

Well I wish you success with this. Having my gaming habit turn from a point of contention to one of mutual enjoyment has made it all that much better. Good luck.

 

[Jon Potter]

[Realms #191] The Guardian of Fire

The second trip down to the chamber below went a little differently than the first. For one thing, Ixin was in a hurry, and she scuttled down the shaft and moved along the ceiling toward the edge of the room. For another, she was trailing a length of rope that was tied to her belt as she went. And for a third, both she and the rope were dripping wet - insurance against the elemental's fiery touch.

Predictably, it rose up within the twenty-foot firepit and took a swing at Ixin; the mage was an easy target hanging awkwardly from the ceiling and she could do nothing to avoid the attack. It flaming fist slammed into her with appalling strength and knocked her easily from her perch. She tumbled, unfurled her wings and glided lightly to the ground beside the fire. As she had supposed, she was in no danger from the elemental's heat, but its strength was none the less considerable and she knew full well that she'd never be able to stand another blow like that one.

"Stick to the plan," she hissed to herself, as she opened up her cloak and reached into the largish pocket reserved for Martivir. From it, she pulled a gasping and sputtering halfling.

"No air!" he choked as he scrambled out of the impossibly small pocket. "How does Marty stand it in there?"

"Not now, Vade!" Ixin growled as she turned to look up at the elemental towering above her. Behind it, she could see Karak come drifting down out of the shaft with Morier and Ledare clasped in his arms - which were rippling with muscles, thanks to the scroll of Bull's Strength that Vade had used on the dwarf. He had the other end of Ixin's rope looped around his belt and thanks to his Ring of Feather Falling was moving downward at a leisurely pace.

She tugged on the rope as Vade activated the Ring of Invisibility and disappeared beside her. The rope snapped taut beside the elemental's head and it turned to regard the drifting dwarf and his steel-plated burden. It swung out at him, but its flaming fist passed harmlessly above his head, and a moment later, he'd clanked down near Ixin.

Morier stepped lightly away from him, his greatsword held awkwardly in one hand as he moved the other in the proper arcane gestures. Ledare managed to lose her footing and she fell to one knee as Karak turned with his axe in hand to face the fire elemental.

"As Shaharizod is me witness, I vow this: with Her strength, I will hold an' me blade will Strike True," Karak intoned, steam rising from his water-soaked beard as the elemental loomed above him.

Unseen behind the glowing monster, Feln slipped out of the shaft, holding onto the smallest of cracks by his fingertips alone. He dangled there long enough to swing his legs back and forth, building up enough momentum to propel himself through the air away from the firepit. He somersaulted through the air and landed like a cat on the opposite side of the pit. A sharp pain shot up his right leg from the fall, but he managed to avoid any broken bones by shear skill.

Ledare got to her feet and readied her sword beside Karak and Morier at the same time that Ixin's familiar, Martivir, came spiraling silently out of the shaft above and came straight for Ixin.

"Hey, Hot Stuff! Over here!" a disembodied voice called from a few dozen feet to the others' right. An instant later, Vade appeared in that spot, his body twisted awkwardly from the throw he'd just executed. The waterskin that he'd especially prepared, arced through the air and slammed into the elemental's left shoulder where it exploded with an obscene seething sound. A cloud of steam rose up at once and the elemental whirled toward Vade, seeking its tormentor.

Vade did his best to dodge, but its fist managed to barely clip him regardless. The thing's strength was enough to drive Vade backward, but unlike Ixin, Vade wasn't immune to fire, and he sustained some nasty burns on his arm as well. His shirt threatened to catch on fire, but with a quick jerk of his arm he extinguished the glowing embers.

Vade's sacrifice was all the more distraction that Karak and Morier required. The dwarf struck with his waraxe, guided by Shaharizod's hand and powered by all the strength he had in his compact frame. It split the flames that made up the thing's torso, and an instant later, Morier was doing the same. With a shout of "Fidus attingo!" the eldritch warrior drove his electrified greatsword into the elemental's back.

It roared in pain, and its voice was like a forest fire.

Feln was struck momentarily by the thing's cry of pain, but an instant later he had disappeared into the shadows on his way to the only obvious door way leading out of the hot chamber.

Martivir landed on the hot floor beside Ixin and waited patiently for the mage to strip off the Slippers of Spider Climbing. It hooted to her and Ixin spared him a small chuckle. "I agree," told him as she carefully put the delicate footwear into the owl's beak. "But that's a pretty big 'if'. Now, go! Get these to Grisham!" The bird took to the air as Ixin flexed her own wings and rose at once to her feet, a spell already on her lips.

Ledare stepped up as the elemental was turning back to face them and she drove Ravager savagely into the main conflagration of its body, drawing another unsettling cry of pain from the thing. Vade seized the distraction to activate his Ring and turn Invisible once more. The elemental's arms both lashed outward seeking Karak and Ledare. For the third time that day, the Janissary's magical shield spared her from injury, but Karak bore the full brunt of its attack across his chest. Searing pain filled the dwarf's body and his beard burst into flames.

"Oh, ye great flamin' bastard!" Karak roared as he patted out the flames and swung his axe ineffectually. "Ye'll pay for that, ye will! Nobody sets my beard on fire and lives!"

Morier's sword too seemed unable to match its earlier success, and instead parted air beside the elemental even as Ixin sent a pair of Magic Missiles arcing over the albino's head. They slashed into the monster's fiery body, making it hiss in pain.

Ledare stepped up and drove her bastard sword into the thing's side. It retaliated in kind, roughly slamming her with one of its huge fists. She grunted with pain and alarm as she saw that her cloak had caught on fire. A moment later, however, Karak's waraxe had put an end to the flaming monster.

As its remnants sank down into the firepit, Grisham finally poked his head out of the shaft above, scuttling along with the Slippers of Spider Climbing.

"About time, ye showed up, woodsman!" Karak called up to him. "Fun's all over with now!" Grisham snorted derisively and continued to pick his way toward the floor.

"And no casualties," Ixin said as she looked the group over. Vade reappeared nearby and he had a troubled look on his face.

"Has anybody seen my buddy, Feln?" he asked and an moment later, the half-orc's scream pierced the air.

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

"And no casualties," Ixin said as she looked the group over. Vade reappeared nearby and he had a troubled look on his face.

"Has anybody seen my buddy, Feln?" he asked and an moment later, the half-orc's scream pierced the air.

always forgetting the half-orc.