The Unusual Heroes vs. The Pool of Radiance
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Session 10, Part 2: The Vow…
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Hunter continued to hack at the massive creature while the others moved into position. Ziona, fearful that the beast was going to attempt to drown her allies, quickly cast control water, lowering the room’s water level to little over an inch deep. The lowering of the water turned out to be a major asset to the party and a great annoyance to the Deep Spawn known as “Beautiful Flower.”
Now that it had been denied it’s cover from attacks under the dark and murky water, the beast had no intention of negotiating with the heroes. Before the others could react, the Deep Spawn reached out with one of its tentacles and used its powers to magically hold Hunter in place. Only moments later, Spiderfang performed one of his patented, and very risky, charges. He leapt over the massive creature and landed on its backside, allowing the party to use advanced melee tactics.
The battle quickly accelerated when the others joined in the fray. The monster continued to strangle the helpless Hunter while it beat on Horace and Spiderfang and bit chunks out of Doc Midnight and Holden. Meanwhile, Drexel continued to plug the bald man with magic missles from one of his pilfered cultist wands. Ziona struck the Deep Spawn with a ray of piercing light, but the creature completely resisted the spell’s effect.
Shortly after the first of “Beautiful Flower’s” caretakers perished from the onslaught of Drexel’s spell power, several other identical twins of the man appeared at the end of the hall. Several of the previously escaped Dire Apes and some undead accompanied them. Drexel realized that with the others preoccupied fighting in melee combat with the Deep Spawn, which had just naturally healed itself back to full life, that he and Rossal were alone in the corridor with a small army of assailants.
“Rossal, fly to Ziona,” Drexel yelled.
Rossal was torn apart inside. He didn’t want to leave his friend to face the threat alone, but both knew that there was little that the pseudodragon could due to help at this point. Reluctantly, young Rossal flew towards his master, Ziona. Once it was clear that Rossal was safely out of harms way, Drexel sent a split lightning bolt down the remaining length of the corridor. He closed his eyes after the sparks exploded from his fingertips because he was sure he was only moments away from being cut down by the rushing force. Moments later, after no weapon tore through his unprotected flesh, he opened his eyes to see that he had obliterated the opposition. When Drexel turned to check on the status of the party, he witnessed Ziona deliver the killing blow to the Deep Spawn with a powerful cleave from her bastard sword.
The familiar telepathic voice of Rossal, cheered in all of their heads like he was the party’s mascot, “Yippee! We did it!”
After the monster had been defeated, Holden and Horace searched the area of the defiled sarcophagus of Orbakh while Ziona healed the other injured party members. The group found several curious magical items and the empty phylactery that marked Orbakh’s failed progression into lichdom.
Only moments after Drexel had handled the Ivory Scepter of Orbakh, there was a distortion in the air of the chamber, that preceded the appearance of a semitransparent image of a tall, impressive-looking elf with shriveled skin and glowing white eyes.
The elf raised his hands in a gesture of peace and spoke the following:
“I mean you no harm. I am Molostroi, a baelnonrn, undead guardian of this once great city. I send this image to you now because you have touched Orbakh’s Ivory Scepter, an evil item of power buried long ago in this crypt. I am not here to warn you of its use or to coerce you to leave it in place, but to ask you for help.
“The Cult of the Dragon has discovered a pool of radiance in Myth Drannor and used the power of the pool to corrupt the city’s mythal. Their ultimate goal is to immerse the dracolich Pelendralaar in the pool, magnifying his dread powers a hundredfold and allowing him to take control of the mythal, bending it to his own ends and unleashing a flood of evil upon Faerun.
“The Cult is working with magic it does not quite understand, and is gambling that the immersion of the dracolich will not destroy him. They are hedging their bets by bringing Pelendralaar’s phylactery here and storing a fresh reptilian corpse nearby so if the dracolich is killed by the pool, he can transfer his essence to the phylactery, possess the dead reptile, and immediately try again.
“Another of my kind is in contact with another group that has already reached the inner ruins of the city. They have agreed to battle the most powerful forces of the Cult, including the dracolich, but if they slay Pelendralaar he will only be forced to his phylactery – a temporary victory at best. However, the item you have found here can be used to destroy the phylactery, making the dracolich’s death permanent. This form is only an image, and I cannot move objects. I need you to bring the scepter into the ruins of Myth Drannor and aid the attack against the Cult so that the mythal may be saved and repaired. It is dangerous, but I know secret paths. Will you aid me?”
In answer to the Elven lich’s question, Drexel looked down at the pile of treasure that had been looted from Orbakh’s crypt. He picked up one of eight sliver rings engraved with a skull insignia. After he slipped the ring on his finger and held his fist forward he valiantly proclaimed, “I vow to stop the Cult of the Dragon at any cost!”
Holden followed suit, slipped another of the rings on, and pressed his fist to Drexel’s. “As do I,” he announced with feeling that came straight from his core of his being.
Ziona, (with Rossal atop her shoulder), Spiderfang, Hunter, Horace, Lia, and Doctor Midnight picked up the remaining rings and formed a circle. Once again they spoke, this time as a group, “WE WILL stop the Cult of the Dragon at any cost!”
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Next Time: The Lich Wars Continue…
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Session 10, Part 2: The Vow…
-------------------------------------------
Hunter continued to hack at the massive creature while the others moved into position. Ziona, fearful that the beast was going to attempt to drown her allies, quickly cast control water, lowering the room’s water level to little over an inch deep. The lowering of the water turned out to be a major asset to the party and a great annoyance to the Deep Spawn known as “Beautiful Flower.”
Now that it had been denied it’s cover from attacks under the dark and murky water, the beast had no intention of negotiating with the heroes. Before the others could react, the Deep Spawn reached out with one of its tentacles and used its powers to magically hold Hunter in place. Only moments later, Spiderfang performed one of his patented, and very risky, charges. He leapt over the massive creature and landed on its backside, allowing the party to use advanced melee tactics.
The battle quickly accelerated when the others joined in the fray. The monster continued to strangle the helpless Hunter while it beat on Horace and Spiderfang and bit chunks out of Doc Midnight and Holden. Meanwhile, Drexel continued to plug the bald man with magic missles from one of his pilfered cultist wands. Ziona struck the Deep Spawn with a ray of piercing light, but the creature completely resisted the spell’s effect.
Shortly after the first of “Beautiful Flower’s” caretakers perished from the onslaught of Drexel’s spell power, several other identical twins of the man appeared at the end of the hall. Several of the previously escaped Dire Apes and some undead accompanied them. Drexel realized that with the others preoccupied fighting in melee combat with the Deep Spawn, which had just naturally healed itself back to full life, that he and Rossal were alone in the corridor with a small army of assailants.
“Rossal, fly to Ziona,” Drexel yelled.
Rossal was torn apart inside. He didn’t want to leave his friend to face the threat alone, but both knew that there was little that the pseudodragon could due to help at this point. Reluctantly, young Rossal flew towards his master, Ziona. Once it was clear that Rossal was safely out of harms way, Drexel sent a split lightning bolt down the remaining length of the corridor. He closed his eyes after the sparks exploded from his fingertips because he was sure he was only moments away from being cut down by the rushing force. Moments later, after no weapon tore through his unprotected flesh, he opened his eyes to see that he had obliterated the opposition. When Drexel turned to check on the status of the party, he witnessed Ziona deliver the killing blow to the Deep Spawn with a powerful cleave from her bastard sword.
The familiar telepathic voice of Rossal, cheered in all of their heads like he was the party’s mascot, “Yippee! We did it!”
After the monster had been defeated, Holden and Horace searched the area of the defiled sarcophagus of Orbakh while Ziona healed the other injured party members. The group found several curious magical items and the empty phylactery that marked Orbakh’s failed progression into lichdom.
Only moments after Drexel had handled the Ivory Scepter of Orbakh, there was a distortion in the air of the chamber, that preceded the appearance of a semitransparent image of a tall, impressive-looking elf with shriveled skin and glowing white eyes.
The elf raised his hands in a gesture of peace and spoke the following:
“I mean you no harm. I am Molostroi, a baelnonrn, undead guardian of this once great city. I send this image to you now because you have touched Orbakh’s Ivory Scepter, an evil item of power buried long ago in this crypt. I am not here to warn you of its use or to coerce you to leave it in place, but to ask you for help.
“The Cult of the Dragon has discovered a pool of radiance in Myth Drannor and used the power of the pool to corrupt the city’s mythal. Their ultimate goal is to immerse the dracolich Pelendralaar in the pool, magnifying his dread powers a hundredfold and allowing him to take control of the mythal, bending it to his own ends and unleashing a flood of evil upon Faerun.
“The Cult is working with magic it does not quite understand, and is gambling that the immersion of the dracolich will not destroy him. They are hedging their bets by bringing Pelendralaar’s phylactery here and storing a fresh reptilian corpse nearby so if the dracolich is killed by the pool, he can transfer his essence to the phylactery, possess the dead reptile, and immediately try again.
“Another of my kind is in contact with another group that has already reached the inner ruins of the city. They have agreed to battle the most powerful forces of the Cult, including the dracolich, but if they slay Pelendralaar he will only be forced to his phylactery – a temporary victory at best. However, the item you have found here can be used to destroy the phylactery, making the dracolich’s death permanent. This form is only an image, and I cannot move objects. I need you to bring the scepter into the ruins of Myth Drannor and aid the attack against the Cult so that the mythal may be saved and repaired. It is dangerous, but I know secret paths. Will you aid me?”
In answer to the Elven lich’s question, Drexel looked down at the pile of treasure that had been looted from Orbakh’s crypt. He picked up one of eight sliver rings engraved with a skull insignia. After he slipped the ring on his finger and held his fist forward he valiantly proclaimed, “I vow to stop the Cult of the Dragon at any cost!”
Holden followed suit, slipped another of the rings on, and pressed his fist to Drexel’s. “As do I,” he announced with feeling that came straight from his core of his being.
Ziona, (with Rossal atop her shoulder), Spiderfang, Hunter, Horace, Lia, and Doctor Midnight picked up the remaining rings and formed a circle. Once again they spoke, this time as a group, “WE WILL stop the Cult of the Dragon at any cost!”
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Next Time: The Lich Wars Continue…
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Dr Midnight
Explorer
Marauder said:
No no, we're talking about the man, not the slimy monster.
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Session 11, Part 1: Into Myth Drannor…
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The party had agreed to work with the Baelnorn, and it had informed them that it would contact them once again with more detailed instruction from within the city walls of Myth Drannor. The heroes left the Crypt of Orbakh and spent the night once again in the hidden passageway that led from the Polyandrium to the barracks in the city.
The next morning the group woke refreshed and entered into Myth Drannor proper. They arrived in what had once been the main barracks, but was now nothing more than another looted and vandalized building. It was evident that this place had been well searched and not a valuable item remained within its walls.
The party cautiously moved out in to the sunlit street. They attempted to move stealthily to a degree as to not be noticed by the winged demons that were circling in the air above. The heroes were traveling under the guise of cultists, but they were still looking to avoid attention. Drexel was using his hat of disguise to appear as Nevessam, the wizard that they had recently killed, who was known to be the brother of Shamoor.
The sites of the city were disturbing and sad as once great and marvelous buildings now laid in ruin. As the party moved closer to the Castle Cormanthor, they came across a large building that still remained somewhat intact, which was a rare site for a structure of this magnitude.
The heroes moved in to explore and noticed that there was a small handful of cultists at the other end of the building searching the wall in depth. Holden, Ziona, and Lia took the leader of the bunch by surprise as they pelted him with missile fire, felling him before he could even react.
The cultist fighters stood at the ready, unsure what to do with their leader dead, and the attackers appeared to be fellow members of the Cult of the Dragon. Drexel approached them, armed only with the claws that were commonly worn by the cultist spellcasters. In a bold and now well practiced voice, he said, “Your leader has been executed for acts of treason against the Wearers of Purple. If you do not surrender now, you will suffer his fate.”
Astonished by the accusations, the warriors looked perplexed, yet they could not deny that their leader had just been killed before their eyes. Reluctantly they dropped their weapons and surrendered. Holden moved up to bind their hands and Drexel demanded that they close their eyes. With a quick flick of his tail, Rossal lightly scratched both men across the. Both men fell to the ground as the pseudodragon’s sleep poison overcame their immune systems. The party waited a few minutes to see if either of the men were strong enough to fight off the effects, yet neither awoke.
“They’ll be out for a few days. Now won’t THEY be in for a surprise,” claimed Ziona with a half grin on her face.
Holden explored the wall in greater detail but could find nothing. Drexel had aided his friend’s search by casting detect magic. Although the entire building showed signs of residual spells, nothing appeared to be currently radiating magic. Content that they were not likely to find anything here, the party continued to explore the city of Myth Drannor.
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Still more to come…
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Session 11, Part 1: Into Myth Drannor…
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The party had agreed to work with the Baelnorn, and it had informed them that it would contact them once again with more detailed instruction from within the city walls of Myth Drannor. The heroes left the Crypt of Orbakh and spent the night once again in the hidden passageway that led from the Polyandrium to the barracks in the city.
The next morning the group woke refreshed and entered into Myth Drannor proper. They arrived in what had once been the main barracks, but was now nothing more than another looted and vandalized building. It was evident that this place had been well searched and not a valuable item remained within its walls.
The party cautiously moved out in to the sunlit street. They attempted to move stealthily to a degree as to not be noticed by the winged demons that were circling in the air above. The heroes were traveling under the guise of cultists, but they were still looking to avoid attention. Drexel was using his hat of disguise to appear as Nevessam, the wizard that they had recently killed, who was known to be the brother of Shamoor.
The sites of the city were disturbing and sad as once great and marvelous buildings now laid in ruin. As the party moved closer to the Castle Cormanthor, they came across a large building that still remained somewhat intact, which was a rare site for a structure of this magnitude.
The heroes moved in to explore and noticed that there was a small handful of cultists at the other end of the building searching the wall in depth. Holden, Ziona, and Lia took the leader of the bunch by surprise as they pelted him with missile fire, felling him before he could even react.
The cultist fighters stood at the ready, unsure what to do with their leader dead, and the attackers appeared to be fellow members of the Cult of the Dragon. Drexel approached them, armed only with the claws that were commonly worn by the cultist spellcasters. In a bold and now well practiced voice, he said, “Your leader has been executed for acts of treason against the Wearers of Purple. If you do not surrender now, you will suffer his fate.”
Astonished by the accusations, the warriors looked perplexed, yet they could not deny that their leader had just been killed before their eyes. Reluctantly they dropped their weapons and surrendered. Holden moved up to bind their hands and Drexel demanded that they close their eyes. With a quick flick of his tail, Rossal lightly scratched both men across the. Both men fell to the ground as the pseudodragon’s sleep poison overcame their immune systems. The party waited a few minutes to see if either of the men were strong enough to fight off the effects, yet neither awoke.
“They’ll be out for a few days. Now won’t THEY be in for a surprise,” claimed Ziona with a half grin on her face.
Holden explored the wall in greater detail but could find nothing. Drexel had aided his friend’s search by casting detect magic. Although the entire building showed signs of residual spells, nothing appeared to be currently radiating magic. Content that they were not likely to find anything here, the party continued to explore the city of Myth Drannor.
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Still more to come…
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