To War Against Felenga (FINAL UPDATE POSTED!)

[the Jester]

Fightin' Poo

There isn’t much doubt in most of our heroes’ minds that they’ve never faced anything so disgusting before- except, of course, for Malford and Lester. They have; they were here long ago. The horror of fighting such an obscenity again is almost overwhelming... but only almost.

A volley of spells and arrows flies at the monster, some dealing damage, and as fire and acid burn it an even worse stink rises from it. Angelfire gulps down a potion and tumbles in on it, slashing with his deadly falchion, giving it a good cut along the side- brown fluid leaks out all over his arms- but then the creature’s forebody gapes open like a mouth, and with a swiftness that belies its bulk the monster slaps down and swallows the Coilite whole! A shout of horror emerges from its gullet and the scarlet-skinned psychic warrior finds himself attacked from within by a host of pale white maggots as long as his forearm.

Good thing for that potion, he thinks, breathing a great gout of fire inside the beast. It blasts out, sizzling over the maggots and scorching the inside of the worm-thing’s long stomach.

I’m guessing that having someone breathe fire on you from inside can’t be good for you; the poop-worm sure doesn’t seem to like it. It convulses violently, thrashing about, and lets out a horrible keening sound that deafens the entire group. Within it, Angelfire decides that, despite the stench, that really is his best bet- so he breathes again, red fire cracking, burning and drying the wet slimy filth all around him. Then he does it again and timeslips into the time stream.

Malford dodges nimbly, but even so, only his mirror images prevent the beast from swallowing him down. “GRRAGH!” he shouts, undergoing a Tenser’s transformation, and attacks the horrid creature in a tornado of blows. Only a few hit, but Drelvin is continuing to sink arrow after arrow into it. The serpent of waste keeps striking at Malford but only drops his images one by one, and before it takes the last of them down Drelvin sinks an arrow deeply into it, finishing it off. With a tremendous high-pitched whine, the serpent poop shudders one last time, then flops down with a loud squish and moves no more.

“Eww,” Drelvin comments.

Angelfire reappears in a few more seconds, no longer inside the creature; it had moved but he hadn’t, so he’s quite relieved to find himself free of the thing’s gullet. As Malford’s spell of transformation wears off, our heroes glance around, seeking an exit. Unfortunately, there isn’t a wall showing anywhere.

“Hmph,” Malford grumbles thoughtfully, “I admire this filth-chamber approach to the entrance of this castle. I should get something similar.”

“No,” replies Drelvin the archer, holding his nose. “No, you shouldn’t.”

Malford shrugs and pulls out a decanter. Unstoppering it, he mutters a command word and a geyser of water shoots forth. Using it like a hose, he first cleans off the party and then starts clearing some of the crap from the walls. Exchanging glances, the others take to the air as the floor level of the place starts to slowly fill with a sewage-like mix of water and filth. Finally, after a good fifteen minutes, a door is revealed and Malford turns the water off. Venturing through the door, our heroes find a hallway with a door to each side and another at the far end. They open the left-hand door- and find themselves looking at a sumptuously-bedecked room, with tables stacked with trays of fine viands and pitchers of wine, water and more. There is an extremely comfortable-looking bed at one end of the chamber, many heavily cushioned couches throughout it, several sturdy-looking but well-padded chairs near the many tables bearing the delicious-smelling food of all descriptions. And sitting upon one couch, facing the group, is the Master of Darkhold.

He looks like any other man, his features like pale chiseled marble below a shock of dark hair. He wears all black, simple clothing; no jewels adorn him, but there is an air of power about him. “Good afternoon,” he says calmly. “Please come in. We have much to speak about.”

Nobody pull any levers, Malford prays as the group enters.



Next Time: Advice on how to deal with Felenga!

 

[Welverin]

Where's mister Hankey?

Healing, a brief rest full of paranoid dreams, a hearty breakfast- and then our heroes depart, teleporting back to the caverns beneath the Bendrock Mountains where the road they were traveling led. Heck, even if Darkhold isn?t there they can at least And there, just as they left it, is Darkhold. The hedges remain, blocking their view of everything except the tallest portions of the towers through some trick played by magic on perspective. Even when they fly above the hedges, the adventurers cannot see more. In fact, attempting to fly over the hedges reveals an oddity: it just doesn?t seem possible. They always seem to rise just a little higher. Climbing across them is easy enough, however, and so our heroes do so- but not without some trepidation. They drop down into a grassy yard; ahead of them, a castle, surrounded by a moat. The drawbridge is down, inviting; there is an open entrance beyond it.

Is it just me or does the underlined part not make sense because somethings missing?

?Looks clear,? comes the crisp, metallic voice of the archer?s sword, and the party flies cautiously forward into Darkhold. They find themselves on a ledge of some sort of white ceramic material that goes almost completely around a small bowl-shaped room half full of water. There are no obvious exits, but Drelvin?s keen eyes spot a hole in the bottom of the bowl, under the water, and after a few moments of hesitation the archer jumps in. He glances up with a look of horror on his face.

You are a cruel, cruel man. Was that actually the only way out?

 

[the Jester]

Whoops! You're right- I must've missed that when I copied and pasted stuff in. Fixed it.

And yes, that was the only way in.

 

[Welverin]

Whoops! You're right- I must've missed that when I copied and pasted stuff in. Fixed it.

Good line, that.

And yes, that was the only way in.

Yuck, I don't know if I would have had the intestinal fortitude to go through that. I may have just called it an adventure an gone home and waited/looked for the quest.

 

[the Jester]

The Simulacrum Wars (prologue 2)

Simultaneously (although frankly, concepts such as simultaneity don't really apply either in Darkhold or the Plane of Time), Marius the Chronomancer is realizing what a horrible misjudgment he's made.

How? he wonders, but the answer's obvious.

Wryly, he thinks, One cannot master that which is above him. I have created them too powerful. I have made a terrible mistake.

At least he prepared for the worst- and he did it after creating them, so they wouldn't know of his countermeasures. But now-!

He loses his train of thought as another empowered fireball bursts near his hiding place. Flames roar all around the small niche of the Citadel of Eternity that he's pushed himself into. Composed of frozen time, the walls stay cool around him, and they give him enough cover from the fireball that he suffers no damage. Wincing in pain from his existing wounds, he unstoppers a healing potion and quietly drinks it down. From without, he hears his own voice calling out, "No sign of him!"

It's eerie- he's being stalked by, essentially, a warped version of himself.

At least I found out before I made more of them, he tells himself grimly. And I have a reasonable idea of what they're doing. But the audacity! If I hadn't found his research notes, I'd have no idea! Lips pressed together tightly, Marius ponders his options. If they've already contacted other powerful arcanists, it may be too late. I shudder at the thought of an over-empowered Estelias or, worse yet, Zsadly. I must get word out to the greatest wizards of the sea and land not to make my mistake! For an instant, his pride rears up, and Marius almost leaves the rest of the world to its own devices; to do otherwise is to admit to a deadly mistake, one a novice could have- should have- foreseen. But I dare not leave the others to their own devices- the danger is too great!

Chewing his lip, he mulls his options. He has many allies that he could call upon, but the simulacra could predict most of them. No, better to call upon an unexpected ally- a former enemy.

Better to call on Sybele.

But first, he knows, he has to recover, regain spells, plan a little. There is nothing to be gained by attacking a smarter, more powerful version of himself- especially one that can make smarter, more powerful versions of itself- until the moment is ripe and his plan is laid.

First he must build a demiplane.

Marius the Chronomancer plane shifts from the Citadel of Eternity, then rapidly teleports and plane shifts again to make his trail more muddled. If they come after him, there could be serious trouble. He must have adequate time to prepare- he must!


Next Time: Back to our regularly scheduled adventure as our heroes talk with the Master of Darkhold! Will he have anything good to tell the party about fighting Felenga?

 

[Welverin]

Re: The Simulacrum Wars (prologue 2)

From without, he hears his own voice calling out, "No sign of him!"

Ooh, I thought we'd have to wait a lot longer for this. The teaser doesn't seem like cruel taunting quite so much now.

 

[CrazyGothBard]

Hi there!

Just wanted to say I find this Story Hour very entertaining. I've only been on these boards a short while, and started reading the "Agents of Chaos" one as it seemed most similar in power level and attitude to the game I'm currently playing in. It seemed to be a stroke of luck when this thread appeared and began by summarising what has gone before.

If this has been asked before (or if it's a stupider question than it sounds), please accept my apologies, but I'd like to know if you write up the events of one game session when you post, or if you wait until there's some sort of conclusion and then post it?

 

[the Jester]

If this has been asked before (or if it's a stupider question than it sounds), please accept my apologies, but I'd like to know if you write up the events of one game session when you post, or if you wait until there's some sort of conclusion and then post it?

First off, welcome to the boards, CrazyGothBard!

To answer your question- well, the game I'm in the middle of updating happened May 4th, so I'm a bit behind (as usual ). I don't split the story hour installments like the games themselves split- sometimes a single battle takes multiple updates to go through, especially on the bigger battles and such. I don't think I've gotten an entire game in a single update yet; I try to split the updates at logical points, so there's either something interesting about to happen, something has just wrapped up, or a discrete scene has played out. But frankly, I often write until I have to go take care of something else and then put in as good of an ending point as I can- for instance, the first Simulacrum Wars prologue cuts off as Malford and his wife are conversing in bed, mostly cause I was out of time and had to leave for work.

Welverin: you will have to wait a bit for the Simulacrum Wars to evolve and involve the party- that's actually really just getting started in tomorrow's game- but you may see more little teasers in the interim. Stay tuned- things are gonna get ugly!

 

[the Jester]

The Weapon

"You are aware of Felenga, of course. He is dangerous. He is from-" the Master of Darkhold glances at Lester and Malford- "a realm before. And he is very tricky."

Angelfire has poured himself some beer and is drinking. The party is taking their ease on the couches of the chamber.

"Why did he come here?" asks Malford.

"He took samples," the Master replies. He face is expressionless. "I believe he seeks to fashion a key so that he can seek Darkhold out at will."

"What would happen if he came in after you?"

"He would be imprisoned." The Master of Darkhold pauses, his eyes narrowing. "You cannot fight him without a powerful weapon. You must find one. I will aid you. When you leave here, you will find it if you look for the hands. You need only follow the path before you."

"Is that where the weapon is?"

"The body with the hands held the weapon."

"What can you tell us about it?"

"Only that it is in the Far Realms. The hands will lead the way."

"In the-!" Horbin exclaims, choking on his words.

The Master of Darkhold gives them room to rest, food, drink. Lester is nervous; what will this weapon be, how long will it take, and most importantly- will it satisfy his geas to work against the Temple of Elemental Evil? It is for the purpose of overthrowing Felenga, so- he hopes- it counts. It does, he tells himself, sweating slightly.

After a luxurious night's rest, the party leaves Darkhold. A strange place, with a strange Master- possessed of strange powers. They exit back into the subterranean realm they had come from. Taking the Master of Darkhold at his word, they head along the underground path they are on, and after an uneventful few minutes they are beset by some sort of incorporeal beast that grabs at them with its ghost touch tentacles, dematerializes them and drags them into the stone, and releases them, dealing significant damage to them as they're shunted from the stone. Darting from within the floor and walls, the bizarre spectral lurker cannot stand up to the readied attacks of our heroes en masse, and is finally driven away. A search of its lair turns up a skeleton with strangely disfigured hands, the fingers stretched and curled in weird waves. Clearly, this is what the Master of Darkhold was talking about. Among other things, the body bears a staff and a weird skull mask. They return with the loot to Var in order to have Orbius' perfect identify them; this reveals the staff to be a staff of earth and stone, which Malford claims, and the mask to be a mask of the skull, which goes to Drelvin.

Lester has been struck by an idea for the last little while; now he tries it out, casting lesser planar ally to summon Turfi the aerial servant mortal hunter. In a howl of wind, the aerial servant appears, visible to the L through his ability to perceive elementals.

"Will you serve me, Turfi?" Lester cries.

"If you pay my price," Turfi answers in Auran. Lester's ability to speak with elementals sees him through.

"I ask you to kill your counterpart, Lendivo!" the L announces dramatically. "What is your price?"

"In return, you must kill your companions!"

"Um, no, that's not a good deal. All right, then you must answer our questions for an hour!"

"For each question you ask, you must sacrifice a sentient being."

"Gah! Never mind, you're dismissed!" Turfi vanishes, and Lester grumbles to himself. "Well, I tried," he mutters.

Sybele, who was with him in case of mischief nods agreement. "You did. Thanks for trying."

The group sips at Angelfire's flask of tiley. Malford's simulacrum gets really drunk and rants about killing illithids. Jezebel takes a drink after receiving mixed signals of approval from the party and her mother, and promptly passes out. In the morning she awakens feeling awful, and the simulacrum of Malford approaches her about learning magic. "You have dragon blood, after all," he points out. "You should be a capable sorcerer."

Sometime around noon, Malford's lamassu cohort Charleston casts speak with dead on the body with the warped hands.

What is the most powerful weapon you've seen in the Far Realms? --the Deleter, comes a whispy voice, hoarse from the grave.
Where in the Far Realms is it? --Unknown
Who holds it or controls it? --Unknown

"Curses," he mutters.

"It's a start," Orbius says confidently. "Tonight I'll commune."

Malford again proposes that the party go to kill the illithids that plague the svirfneblin they met, but Lester emphasizes again the immediacy of his geas. "Maybe we can do it on the way back," Malford says. "I understand about geasa... and maybe I can help you remove it. I'm gonna need some samples."

That night, Orbius communes with Boccob.

Is the Deleter the weapon of the Master of Darkhold was referring to? Seems likely.
Where in the Far Realms is it specifically located? It moves.
What creature or force has it? Unknown.
How will it help us? Unknown.
Where can we find a cleric strong enough to resurrect the bones? The Halls of Heaven.
Where will the Deleter be in 10 hours? Unknown.
Where is it right now? Beyond the Veils of Madness.
What is the best way to find it? Seek Olaf's Book.
Where specifically can we find this book? The Halls of Greypeak.
Where are these halls? On Arba.
Has the Temple of Elemental Evil resurrected Lareth? No.
Who besides Felenga would know where his phylactery is? His familiar.
What is his familiar's name? Mr. Grab.
Is Mr. Grab always with Felenga? Yes.
What is Mr. Grab? A hand
What's the best strategic location to strike at the Temple of Elemental Evil? Their portals.
What do we need to do to destroy their portals? Destroy the orb.
Is the Queen wise to Malford's shenanigans? Yes.

A divination follows, seeking advice on where to find Arba.

Seek the portal at Makon, comes the celestial whisper to Horbin.

"That's the same city that had the scroll of true resurrection that Galador guided me to!" exclaims Lester. "I'll bet there's lots of loot in there somewhere, but it's huge!"

A little more research and another divination lead them to
the Prince's Library, which lies in ruins. Beneath it they find a secret door and a strange, pearlescent portal. Orbius suggests the party take a little time to do some divinations before venturing through it. He sits for a while and uses a legend lore spell to learn a little ditty:
A way in but not out
To a place inspiring doubt
A place where magic fades
Where strength rules the raids
Where iron is the master
He wins who is the faster
Where spells will not prevail
Where madness pounds a nail
Where Ruin rules the land
With an iron hand
Where escape is only found
In the Halls of the Unbound

"Er, that sounds like a low magic world to me," Orbius says, disgruntled. "And one that it's hard to escape from."

"Clearly," Malford says, "we should do more divinations before going through that portal."

"Tomorrow," the Eye agrees.

The party trumps back to Var.


Next Time: A little more about Arba, and Angelfire has a strange little problem!

 

[Welverin]

Welverin: you will have to wait a bit for the Simulacrum Wars to evolve and involve the party- that's actually really just getting started in tomorrow's game- but you may see more little teasers in the interim. Stay tuned- things are gonna get ugly!

Drat, foiled again!