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War Golem's Return of Khaos (Updated 8/10 & 8/11)
- Thread starter War Golem
- Start date
War Golem
First Post
To my 3 semi-interested readers, I apologize for the delay in posting. I've been away on vacation. 
Hi Welverin,
Thanks for taking a look.
The Jester's chart can be pretty devastating. Some of the stuff the players rolled ended up being either too debilitating, or would have knocked the campaign way off track. I gave them a partial "out" by the end of the adventure, though, as you'll see.
Hi Sarellion,
Let's start with the easy stuff...
Leta, the kzinti rogue is no longer with the group. In one of the earliest adventures, the Questioning explored an ancient Khaos temple, although they had no idea of its particular significance at the time. It was just a dark, scary place that housed a demonic black panther, which tore them up a bit before escaping its centuries of confinement. This creature is the forvalaka, which the Questioning later learned is a harbinger of the arrival of the Khaos Lords on the Prime Material Plane.
Back on point... the Questioning discovered a few items of interest in the temple, including a pair of vials filled with a murky black oil. Magical identification failed to reveal the nature of this oil. Leta carried around one of these vials for quite a long time, not knowing what it really was but figuring it was some magical potion.
Much later, the Questioning were trapped in a mage's tower, under assault from an elven sorceress and her vampyre and troll minions. The situation was looking a bit grim, and Leta, wounded and desperate, decided to take a chance and drank the black oil. Unfortunately, quaffing the distilled essence of Khaos did nothing to aid the rogue. In fact, after the party escaped the tower, Leta's health began to deteriorate rapidly. The party sought out a druid to help, but was ambushed and Leta was kidnapped by a giant-sized, dark being that called itself Ghostwalker. Leta was still clinging to life at this point, albeit weak, nappy-furred, club-footed, and covered in sores and hives.
Her eventual fate remains unknown...
<><><><><><><><>
Nali are a race of my own devising. I saw a creature in an old Larry Elmore painting called "Journey to the Gathering," and created an entire race base on the one picture. I'll post their full write-up soon.
Here's a link to the picture:
Journey to the Gathering
<><><><><><><><>
Background on the world... I'll keep this brief, but if you have any specific questions, just ask.
Much of my world is intentionally vague; a backlash of sorts to players who know every damn detail of everything there is to know about Greyhawk, the Realms, Krynn, what have you. I prefer the players to have to figure things out as they go, and this has worked well for my current group, at least half of whom had little or no gaming experience prior to this campaign.
The general flavor of the campaign and the world, though, is on par with Greyhawk or FR, with respect to magic and technology level. The general mood of the game is not as serious or dark as I would sometimes prefer, and the subject matter might suggest. This is due to a combination of my players, who, as a group, are not hardcore gamers and are not overly serious about their characters or the game (although Heian and Six are probably notable exceptions to this), and also the fact that I tend to play a lot of my NPCs for comic effect... in a mild, understated kind of way.
<><><><><><><><>
Okay, more to come in the next couple days, including more background, some pictures and another update.
Cheers,
Welverin said:
Hi Welverin,
Thanks for taking a look.
The Jester's chart can be pretty devastating. Some of the stuff the players rolled ended up being either too debilitating, or would have knocked the campaign way off track. I gave them a partial "out" by the end of the adventure, though, as you'll see.
Sarellion said:
Hi Sarellion,
Let's start with the easy stuff...
Leta, the kzinti rogue is no longer with the group. In one of the earliest adventures, the Questioning explored an ancient Khaos temple, although they had no idea of its particular significance at the time. It was just a dark, scary place that housed a demonic black panther, which tore them up a bit before escaping its centuries of confinement. This creature is the forvalaka, which the Questioning later learned is a harbinger of the arrival of the Khaos Lords on the Prime Material Plane.
Back on point... the Questioning discovered a few items of interest in the temple, including a pair of vials filled with a murky black oil. Magical identification failed to reveal the nature of this oil. Leta carried around one of these vials for quite a long time, not knowing what it really was but figuring it was some magical potion.
Much later, the Questioning were trapped in a mage's tower, under assault from an elven sorceress and her vampyre and troll minions. The situation was looking a bit grim, and Leta, wounded and desperate, decided to take a chance and drank the black oil. Unfortunately, quaffing the distilled essence of Khaos did nothing to aid the rogue. In fact, after the party escaped the tower, Leta's health began to deteriorate rapidly. The party sought out a druid to help, but was ambushed and Leta was kidnapped by a giant-sized, dark being that called itself Ghostwalker. Leta was still clinging to life at this point, albeit weak, nappy-furred, club-footed, and covered in sores and hives.
Her eventual fate remains unknown...
<><><><><><><><>
Nali are a race of my own devising. I saw a creature in an old Larry Elmore painting called "Journey to the Gathering," and created an entire race base on the one picture. I'll post their full write-up soon.
Here's a link to the picture:
Journey to the Gathering
<><><><><><><><>
Background on the world... I'll keep this brief, but if you have any specific questions, just ask.
Much of my world is intentionally vague; a backlash of sorts to players who know every damn detail of everything there is to know about Greyhawk, the Realms, Krynn, what have you. I prefer the players to have to figure things out as they go, and this has worked well for my current group, at least half of whom had little or no gaming experience prior to this campaign.
The general flavor of the campaign and the world, though, is on par with Greyhawk or FR, with respect to magic and technology level. The general mood of the game is not as serious or dark as I would sometimes prefer, and the subject matter might suggest. This is due to a combination of my players, who, as a group, are not hardcore gamers and are not overly serious about their characters or the game (although Heian and Six are probably notable exceptions to this), and also the fact that I tend to play a lot of my NPCs for comic effect... in a mild, understated kind of way.
<><><><><><><><>
Okay, more to come in the next couple days, including more background, some pictures and another update.
Cheers,
War Golem
First Post
Meta-Game Notes:
Nali are a race I created for my personal D&D campaign, and it is intended for non-commercial use only. Copyrighted and such to the extent possible under law.
<><><><><><>
Nali
General:
Nali are a quiet, reflective race renowned for their arcane mastery. While not as abstract or innovative in their studies as elven or human wizards, nali wizards are credited with improving and refining dozens of spellcasting techniques. They are also highly regarded for their expert knowledge of agriculture and engineering.
Personality:
Nali are quiet and unassuming. When a nali talks, it is often in a low, coarse whisper. Nali take joy in simple labors, such as farming and cooking. They prize education and knowledge, and are devoted students of lore and history. Most nali are insatiably curious, and love riddles and magic. They dislike brute force, preferring to outwit their opponent through cunning and guile. Nali are secretive, but not unfriendly.
Physical Description:
Nali stand about 3½ to 4 feet tall and weigh about 50 to 60 pounds. Nali have pronounced noses (more wide and big than pointy and long) and large, bat-like ears. A young nali’s skin is light to medium blue. As a nali ages, his skin tone will grow deeper and darker. In nali who develop skill in arcane magic, this coloration shift is more purplish than blue. The skin of an elder nali archmage, for instance, will invariably be entirely deep purple in color. Nali develop very little body hair, and never any on their head or face. Nali tend to dress simply, always opting for function over style. Nali reach adulthood at about age 35 and live between 200 and 300 years.
Relations:
Nali get along well with humans and elves, with which they freely share discoveries and debate matters both philosophical and practical. They are capable of amiable dealings with dwarves and kzinti, but are not often friends with these races. The more brutish races such as orcs, hobgoblins and the like are viewed poorly by nali, and they limit their interaction with these races to a minimum. Nali have a history of conflict with saurans and gnolls. The difference is that while a nali will make an effort to get along with a sauran (friends would be pushing it), gnolls are always disrespected, if not attacked outright.
Alignment:
Nali are most often good, and are not strongly inclined towards either law or chaos.
Nali Lands:
Nali are generally found in small cities secluded amongst the hills and forests of warmer climes. Their engineering skills lead to impressive architecture, with many slim towers and soaring bridges. Even smaller nali dwellings will demonstrate tasteful artistry in their design. Other races are welcome in nali homes and cities, although most larger races find the buildings somewhat cramped. Nali economy is invariably agricultural based.
Nali encountered outside of their own cities are typically serving as agricultural advisors, engineers or tutors of the arcane arts.
Religion:
Religion does not play a prominent role in the workings of nali society. Individual nali are religious to varying degrees, and are likely to worship any of the good or neutral deities. Those rare neutral or evil nali may worship any deity.
Language:
The nali language, Nazim, bears a passing resemblance to both elvish and draconic due to its strong arcane emphasis. Nali have a long and rich written historical record. Nali literature is famous for both its treatises on the metaphysics of spellcasting as well as excellent handbooks for more mundane pursuits, such as farming and cooking. Nearly all nali are fluent in three or more languages.
Names:
Nali have a given name and a family name. The spoken pronunciation of nali names tends to reflect the spirit of their heritage (magic and farming) but rarely do their names actually mean anything.
Adventurers:
Nali adventurers are usually driven by curiosity and a thirst for knowledge, rather than a lust for excitement and danger. Nali often travel the world in search of the answers to seemingly minor and esoteric questions, or in pursuit of strange and ancient magic items. They particularly enjoy the exchange of knowledge with other races, especially when the nali can learn a new trick or technique that improves on what they knew already.
NALI RACIAL TRAITS
· +2 Intelligence, -2 Strength: Nali are a scholarly race, possessed of small bodies that are not as strong as other humanoids.
· Small: As Small creatures, nali gain a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but they must use smaller weapons than humans use, and their lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of Medium-size characters.
· Nali base speed is 20 feet.
· Low-light vision: Nali can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight and similar conditions or poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
· Nali with Intelligence scores of 10 or higher may cast the 0 level spells (cantrips) Detect Magic, Light, and Prestidigitation, each once per day. These are arcane spells, and as such the nali suffers spell failure penalties for wearing armor. Treat the nali as a 1st level caster for all spell effects dependent on level.
· +2 racial bonus on Spellcraft checks.
· All Knowledge skills always count as class skills for a nali.
· Spell Resistance (11): All nali are innately in tune with the flows of arcane magic, and as such possess a low degree of Spell Resistance.
· Automatic Languages: Nali and any one language from the bonus list. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Elf, Terran, Goblin, and the geographically nearest 2 human languages (or Orc if near their lands).
· Favored Class: Wizard. A multiclass nali’s wizard class does not count in determining whether he suffers an XP penalty for multiclassing.
<><><><><><>
If you want to download the nicely formatted PDF of this race, with the originating picture, here's the link: War Golem's Nali
Nali are a race I created for my personal D&D campaign, and it is intended for non-commercial use only. Copyrighted and such to the extent possible under law.
<><><><><><>
Nali
General:
Nali are a quiet, reflective race renowned for their arcane mastery. While not as abstract or innovative in their studies as elven or human wizards, nali wizards are credited with improving and refining dozens of spellcasting techniques. They are also highly regarded for their expert knowledge of agriculture and engineering.
Personality:
Nali are quiet and unassuming. When a nali talks, it is often in a low, coarse whisper. Nali take joy in simple labors, such as farming and cooking. They prize education and knowledge, and are devoted students of lore and history. Most nali are insatiably curious, and love riddles and magic. They dislike brute force, preferring to outwit their opponent through cunning and guile. Nali are secretive, but not unfriendly.
Physical Description:
Nali stand about 3½ to 4 feet tall and weigh about 50 to 60 pounds. Nali have pronounced noses (more wide and big than pointy and long) and large, bat-like ears. A young nali’s skin is light to medium blue. As a nali ages, his skin tone will grow deeper and darker. In nali who develop skill in arcane magic, this coloration shift is more purplish than blue. The skin of an elder nali archmage, for instance, will invariably be entirely deep purple in color. Nali develop very little body hair, and never any on their head or face. Nali tend to dress simply, always opting for function over style. Nali reach adulthood at about age 35 and live between 200 and 300 years.
Relations:
Nali get along well with humans and elves, with which they freely share discoveries and debate matters both philosophical and practical. They are capable of amiable dealings with dwarves and kzinti, but are not often friends with these races. The more brutish races such as orcs, hobgoblins and the like are viewed poorly by nali, and they limit their interaction with these races to a minimum. Nali have a history of conflict with saurans and gnolls. The difference is that while a nali will make an effort to get along with a sauran (friends would be pushing it), gnolls are always disrespected, if not attacked outright.
Alignment:
Nali are most often good, and are not strongly inclined towards either law or chaos.
Nali Lands:
Nali are generally found in small cities secluded amongst the hills and forests of warmer climes. Their engineering skills lead to impressive architecture, with many slim towers and soaring bridges. Even smaller nali dwellings will demonstrate tasteful artistry in their design. Other races are welcome in nali homes and cities, although most larger races find the buildings somewhat cramped. Nali economy is invariably agricultural based.
Nali encountered outside of their own cities are typically serving as agricultural advisors, engineers or tutors of the arcane arts.
Religion:
Religion does not play a prominent role in the workings of nali society. Individual nali are religious to varying degrees, and are likely to worship any of the good or neutral deities. Those rare neutral or evil nali may worship any deity.
Language:
The nali language, Nazim, bears a passing resemblance to both elvish and draconic due to its strong arcane emphasis. Nali have a long and rich written historical record. Nali literature is famous for both its treatises on the metaphysics of spellcasting as well as excellent handbooks for more mundane pursuits, such as farming and cooking. Nearly all nali are fluent in three or more languages.
Names:
Nali have a given name and a family name. The spoken pronunciation of nali names tends to reflect the spirit of their heritage (magic and farming) but rarely do their names actually mean anything.
Adventurers:
Nali adventurers are usually driven by curiosity and a thirst for knowledge, rather than a lust for excitement and danger. Nali often travel the world in search of the answers to seemingly minor and esoteric questions, or in pursuit of strange and ancient magic items. They particularly enjoy the exchange of knowledge with other races, especially when the nali can learn a new trick or technique that improves on what they knew already.
NALI RACIAL TRAITS
· +2 Intelligence, -2 Strength: Nali are a scholarly race, possessed of small bodies that are not as strong as other humanoids.
· Small: As Small creatures, nali gain a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but they must use smaller weapons than humans use, and their lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of Medium-size characters.
· Nali base speed is 20 feet.
· Low-light vision: Nali can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight and similar conditions or poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
· Nali with Intelligence scores of 10 or higher may cast the 0 level spells (cantrips) Detect Magic, Light, and Prestidigitation, each once per day. These are arcane spells, and as such the nali suffers spell failure penalties for wearing armor. Treat the nali as a 1st level caster for all spell effects dependent on level.
· +2 racial bonus on Spellcraft checks.
· All Knowledge skills always count as class skills for a nali.
· Spell Resistance (11): All nali are innately in tune with the flows of arcane magic, and as such possess a low degree of Spell Resistance.
· Automatic Languages: Nali and any one language from the bonus list. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Elf, Terran, Goblin, and the geographically nearest 2 human languages (or Orc if near their lands).
· Favored Class: Wizard. A multiclass nali’s wizard class does not count in determining whether he suffers an XP penalty for multiclassing.
<><><><><><>
If you want to download the nicely formatted PDF of this race, with the originating picture, here's the link: War Golem's Nali
Last edited:
War Golem
First Post
The party appears on one end of a large rectangular cavern, and immediately find themselves further "changed" by their respective masks. A series of five pools are spaced throughout the cavern, as well as a pair of floor sections that glow with a faint blue color. Along the walls, three large, red portals pulse dimly. The party quickly discovers in each of the pools several pieces they need to complete the amulets they acquired earlier, and the adventurers begin racing around the room grabbing pieces from the various pools. They quickly find that each pool has a limited number of pieces, that each adventurer can take only a single piece from any particular pool, and eventually that upon the final piece being remove from a pool, one of the red portals activates and gates in a monster. First up, a death slaad, who quickly scans the situation, then disappears.
Each of the five pools also has a transformative effect on those who retrieve an amulet piece from it, all of which are beneficial, although some come with minor side effects. One pool grants a bonus feat, one grants minor energy resistance, one grants one Avoid, one powers up plussed magic items (but permanently drains one other item), and the last enhances an ability score.
Upon stepping on the blue sections, one's mask kicks in again, transforming the adventurer even more, but a Chaos effect happens as well.
As the party works their way through this room, gathering pieces to complete their amulets, they manage to summon several nasty monsters: a gulguthydra, a rampager, a beholder, all of which are dispatched fairly easily. However, the death slaad eventually reappears and gets off a finger of death at Kimchee that he fails to resist.
The party rests in this cavern so Six can pray for resurrection for Kimchee, and Jenna needs to collect one more amulet piece, which ends up summoning an iron golem. The party runs from this monster and its debilitating breath (which caught Kimchee, who was having a rough night), and departs the room.
Each of the five pools also has a transformative effect on those who retrieve an amulet piece from it, all of which are beneficial, although some come with minor side effects. One pool grants a bonus feat, one grants minor energy resistance, one grants one Avoid, one powers up plussed magic items (but permanently drains one other item), and the last enhances an ability score.
Upon stepping on the blue sections, one's mask kicks in again, transforming the adventurer even more, but a Chaos effect happens as well.
As the party works their way through this room, gathering pieces to complete their amulets, they manage to summon several nasty monsters: a gulguthydra, a rampager, a beholder, all of which are dispatched fairly easily. However, the death slaad eventually reappears and gets off a finger of death at Kimchee that he fails to resist.
The party rests in this cavern so Six can pray for resurrection for Kimchee, and Jenna needs to collect one more amulet piece, which ends up summoning an iron golem. The party runs from this monster and its debilitating breath (which caught Kimchee, who was having a rough night), and departs the room.
War Golem
First Post
Next up, the party finds themselves scattered around a large cavern, half of which is taken up by a large natural pool. A light shies from within its depths. Six, whose currently has wings from her mask, flies out above the pool to get a better look, but Heian (whose mask has turned him into an aquatic creature) dives into the pool and heads straight for the light.
The pool erupts, as a monstrously huge tentacled ooze creature lifts out of the pool, crawling on to shore and striking out at Six. The creature is seemingly created from the very essence of chaos, and the room warps and shifts all around the party as they try to fight the beats. Portals appear frequently and at random and try to suck various adventurers through to unknown destinations. At some point during the battle, Blade fails to pull away from a portal and is sucked through and lost.
The creature's tentacle is an attack to be feared - it rarely misses, and when it hits, the raw chaos energy inflicts horrible transformations upon the target. The party lucks out at Mugo's expense when the tentacle latches onto Mugo's face and doesn't let go for several rounds. There isn't much left of poor Mugo by the time the beast releases his unconscious body, but what is left has been polymorphed into a sickly looking mind flayer.
The light at the bottom of the pool is from the glowing diamond set atop a staff. Heian grabs the staff, and immediately "knows" that he now holds the Staff of Law. To drive home the point, the staff inflicts some lawful damage on the chaotic good elf. But he holds onto it, and brings it back to the surface. He tries to give it to Kimchee to use against the chaos beast, but there is some confusion about who is supposed to do what with the staff, and in the end it is never used on the beast.
The party does manage to finally slay the creature, mostly through some constant heavy pounding with melee attacks. Upon its death, it dissolves and flows back down into the pool, which begins to slowly drain away. Meanwhile, the party examines the Staff of Law some more, and many people handle it, all of whom take lawful damage upon touching it save Falko. The party realizes that using the Staff of Law can remove some of the chaos effects they have suffered, albeit at the cost of some of the life essence.
Before too long, the pool has completely drained away, revealing an iron door that was previously submerged. The party opens it and passes though into a smaller room with a spiral staircase on the far side that leads up. Upon entering this room, each of their masks unlatches itself from their heads, melts away into a flowing ooze that drips onto the floor and then pools in the center of the room. Runic script around the ooze puddle is deciphered to translate as "Consume, and Evolve." The party looks around at one another; no one is sure what to do next....
The pool erupts, as a monstrously huge tentacled ooze creature lifts out of the pool, crawling on to shore and striking out at Six. The creature is seemingly created from the very essence of chaos, and the room warps and shifts all around the party as they try to fight the beats. Portals appear frequently and at random and try to suck various adventurers through to unknown destinations. At some point during the battle, Blade fails to pull away from a portal and is sucked through and lost.
The creature's tentacle is an attack to be feared - it rarely misses, and when it hits, the raw chaos energy inflicts horrible transformations upon the target. The party lucks out at Mugo's expense when the tentacle latches onto Mugo's face and doesn't let go for several rounds. There isn't much left of poor Mugo by the time the beast releases his unconscious body, but what is left has been polymorphed into a sickly looking mind flayer.
The light at the bottom of the pool is from the glowing diamond set atop a staff. Heian grabs the staff, and immediately "knows" that he now holds the Staff of Law. To drive home the point, the staff inflicts some lawful damage on the chaotic good elf. But he holds onto it, and brings it back to the surface. He tries to give it to Kimchee to use against the chaos beast, but there is some confusion about who is supposed to do what with the staff, and in the end it is never used on the beast.
The party does manage to finally slay the creature, mostly through some constant heavy pounding with melee attacks. Upon its death, it dissolves and flows back down into the pool, which begins to slowly drain away. Meanwhile, the party examines the Staff of Law some more, and many people handle it, all of whom take lawful damage upon touching it save Falko. The party realizes that using the Staff of Law can remove some of the chaos effects they have suffered, albeit at the cost of some of the life essence.
Before too long, the pool has completely drained away, revealing an iron door that was previously submerged. The party opens it and passes though into a smaller room with a spiral staircase on the far side that leads up. Upon entering this room, each of their masks unlatches itself from their heads, melts away into a flowing ooze that drips onto the floor and then pools in the center of the room. Runic script around the ooze puddle is deciphered to translate as "Consume, and Evolve." The party looks around at one another; no one is sure what to do next....
War Golem
First Post
As the party ponders the nature of the offer before them, they see the faint ghostly images of the masks they previously donned flicker intermittently on the surface of the ooze puddle. Heian volunteers to take a chance, and consumes a handful of the viscous, primordial goo. He immediately feels himself charged with energy, a sense that an untapped potential has been released; he has but to focus it. And so he does, directing the change into his physical body. Eventually, all those present imbibe some of the goo and initiate their own transformations.
The party heads up the spiral stairs and finds themselves in the room where they started their adventures on this lost island. They return to the Catspaw, to the relief of the captain and crew, but mourning the mysterious loss of the warrior Blade. Mugo in particular is noticeably depressed and withdrawn over the next few days. Flick informs the party that five days have passed since they landed on the rocky shore of this little island. The boat seems to have no problem pushing away, though, and continuing on its way.
Despite the very overcast and foggy weather on the Crystal Sea, Giblet manages a passable job of guiding the boat towards the northern coastline in the vicinity of the river that leads to the Misty Lake. Three days after leaving the island, the Catspaw is a few hours upriver when the remnants of a recent battle are sighted on the western shore. The burnt and smashed bodies of several dozen wolfen warriors lay strewn about the shoreline. Bytnr makes use of his new wings to do some aerial recon but does not approach the wreckage closely enough to gather any more insight into what took place here.
The party decides to continue on, and so the Catspaw continues its slow trek up the river. An hour later, the western shoreline is again the source of something unusual - a pair of twenty-foot tall roman crosses standing up on the upper bank. A pair of figures are visible strapped to the crosses, and Heian's sharp eyes reveal that they are most likely human or elven. Flick informs them that occasionally such crosses are used along this river to ransom prisoners or sell slaves. Some of the party wants to stay on course, but Bytnr and Heian are uncomfortable leaving the captives behind in such a state.
Bytnr flies over to the shore and hovers about twenty feet from one of the crosses. He can tell that the captive is a pale elf, bloody and battered, dressed in torn furs and seemingly unconscious. Bytnr is doing his best to determine if the elf still lives without getting too close, and is caught completely by surprise when the ground beneath him erupts in a furious explosion. As the poor rogue flaps his wings in a panic, a massive column of stone and earth rises up next to him. As it rises to its full forty foot height, it grows a pair of club-like appendages and ferociously smashes Bytnr.
Bytnr is desperate to get away from the monster, and his companions, still on the ship, are now desperate to get on shore. However, options for quickly traversing the sixty feet or so from the boat to the shoreline are few. Deuce casts fly on Heian, Jenna casts freedom of movement and water breathing on herself, and Falko dimension doors himself next to the earth elemental. Soon, Bytnr has flown back to the relative safety of the boat, while Falko and Heian are on shore attacking the monster. Six aids them with a blade barrier, which rips apart the earth elemental at a height of thirty feet, until it manages to sink back into the ground below the whirling disk of ginsu death.
Jenna leaps over board, quickly sinks to the riverbed, and runs onto shore. By this time, a huge fire elemental has sprung up as well, and not long after, a water elemental rises up next to the boat. The party takes some blows, but nonetheless seems well on the way to beating down the elementals. Six casts phantom steed, and Deuce casts fly on Kimchee, and the two of them make their way to shore, only to be greeted by yet another pair of earth and fire elementals. By now, the original earth elemental has been dispatched, but the party members on shore are hurting, and with three elder elementals running around, the situation isn't looking so rosy.
They get no sympathy from Bytnr, though, as he attempts to battle the water elemental and comes up on the losing end. The towering column of water menacing the Catspaw directs all of its attacks at the flying rogue and pummels him mercilessly, until Bytnr plummets into the river. With Bytnr's death, the water elemental sinks back into the river. It forms again next to shore, where it catches an unsuspecting Jenna with a couple slams.
The first fire elemental falls, but the remaining elementals are still close to full strength. The party is getting pretty ragged, as the earth and fire elementals don't miss with their attacks very often. Falko and Heian both spend a round or two unconscious before Kimchee can tend to them with his wand. Six is severely buffed out, and takes the attack to the elementals, making good use of her phantom steed and her strength domain granted power. Freshly returned to consciousness, a desperate Heian pulls out his Rod of Chaos, a magic item he has carried for a long time but never used. He aims it at the water elemental and says the command word, "Pocus-Cadabra!" An inky green ray streaks towards the elemental, striking it and injecting it with a random chaos effect - in this case, aging the elemental ninety-two years. Although the party is not sure exactly how this should affect an elemental, they are quite relieved to see it immediately fall apart and back into the river.
The remaining combatants spend a couple rounds only one good hit away from meeting their makers, but manage to take down the earth elemental. The fire elemental, quicker and making good use of its spring attack ability now that it is outnumbered, finally falls as well. As the clerics immediately start dumping healing spells into themselves and anyone nearby, the relief from the group is palpable.
The party heads up the spiral stairs and finds themselves in the room where they started their adventures on this lost island. They return to the Catspaw, to the relief of the captain and crew, but mourning the mysterious loss of the warrior Blade. Mugo in particular is noticeably depressed and withdrawn over the next few days. Flick informs the party that five days have passed since they landed on the rocky shore of this little island. The boat seems to have no problem pushing away, though, and continuing on its way.
Despite the very overcast and foggy weather on the Crystal Sea, Giblet manages a passable job of guiding the boat towards the northern coastline in the vicinity of the river that leads to the Misty Lake. Three days after leaving the island, the Catspaw is a few hours upriver when the remnants of a recent battle are sighted on the western shore. The burnt and smashed bodies of several dozen wolfen warriors lay strewn about the shoreline. Bytnr makes use of his new wings to do some aerial recon but does not approach the wreckage closely enough to gather any more insight into what took place here.
The party decides to continue on, and so the Catspaw continues its slow trek up the river. An hour later, the western shoreline is again the source of something unusual - a pair of twenty-foot tall roman crosses standing up on the upper bank. A pair of figures are visible strapped to the crosses, and Heian's sharp eyes reveal that they are most likely human or elven. Flick informs them that occasionally such crosses are used along this river to ransom prisoners or sell slaves. Some of the party wants to stay on course, but Bytnr and Heian are uncomfortable leaving the captives behind in such a state.
Bytnr flies over to the shore and hovers about twenty feet from one of the crosses. He can tell that the captive is a pale elf, bloody and battered, dressed in torn furs and seemingly unconscious. Bytnr is doing his best to determine if the elf still lives without getting too close, and is caught completely by surprise when the ground beneath him erupts in a furious explosion. As the poor rogue flaps his wings in a panic, a massive column of stone and earth rises up next to him. As it rises to its full forty foot height, it grows a pair of club-like appendages and ferociously smashes Bytnr.
Bytnr is desperate to get away from the monster, and his companions, still on the ship, are now desperate to get on shore. However, options for quickly traversing the sixty feet or so from the boat to the shoreline are few. Deuce casts fly on Heian, Jenna casts freedom of movement and water breathing on herself, and Falko dimension doors himself next to the earth elemental. Soon, Bytnr has flown back to the relative safety of the boat, while Falko and Heian are on shore attacking the monster. Six aids them with a blade barrier, which rips apart the earth elemental at a height of thirty feet, until it manages to sink back into the ground below the whirling disk of ginsu death.
Jenna leaps over board, quickly sinks to the riverbed, and runs onto shore. By this time, a huge fire elemental has sprung up as well, and not long after, a water elemental rises up next to the boat. The party takes some blows, but nonetheless seems well on the way to beating down the elementals. Six casts phantom steed, and Deuce casts fly on Kimchee, and the two of them make their way to shore, only to be greeted by yet another pair of earth and fire elementals. By now, the original earth elemental has been dispatched, but the party members on shore are hurting, and with three elder elementals running around, the situation isn't looking so rosy.
They get no sympathy from Bytnr, though, as he attempts to battle the water elemental and comes up on the losing end. The towering column of water menacing the Catspaw directs all of its attacks at the flying rogue and pummels him mercilessly, until Bytnr plummets into the river. With Bytnr's death, the water elemental sinks back into the river. It forms again next to shore, where it catches an unsuspecting Jenna with a couple slams.
The first fire elemental falls, but the remaining elementals are still close to full strength. The party is getting pretty ragged, as the earth and fire elementals don't miss with their attacks very often. Falko and Heian both spend a round or two unconscious before Kimchee can tend to them with his wand. Six is severely buffed out, and takes the attack to the elementals, making good use of her phantom steed and her strength domain granted power. Freshly returned to consciousness, a desperate Heian pulls out his Rod of Chaos, a magic item he has carried for a long time but never used. He aims it at the water elemental and says the command word, "Pocus-Cadabra!" An inky green ray streaks towards the elemental, striking it and injecting it with a random chaos effect - in this case, aging the elemental ninety-two years. Although the party is not sure exactly how this should affect an elemental, they are quite relieved to see it immediately fall apart and back into the river.
The remaining combatants spend a couple rounds only one good hit away from meeting their makers, but manage to take down the earth elemental. The fire elemental, quicker and making good use of its spring attack ability now that it is outnumbered, finally falls as well. As the clerics immediately start dumping healing spells into themselves and anyone nearby, the relief from the group is palpable.
