|
Background and Summary: Having acquired the Ebon Stone,
the Party heads to Tor Ëonan in order to rescue Fundin. They
find him in a strange demon land, rescue him and another captive,
and kill many demons. On the way back, they find themselves in a
secret Drow complex; they kill most of the Drow and drive the rest
away.
|
|
Dafan time:
|
162 Tuilë 34 - Yavië 48 (May 4 - September
18) |
|
Real time:
|
2011 March - September (sessions 199-218) |
|
Starting members:
|
Mei-Peng
(N7), Vishu
(Mk7), Aknot (F8), X
(MU7), Jett (NtC7/F5), Artemisia
(B7), Taro (F6/T7), Karg
(WrC7), Vragg (NtC9), Elena
(N5/A3), Brunhilde
(F2) |
|
(Session 199)
|
| Tuilë 32 |
In Sidheag, X goes recruiting for a local
Ranger. At the Mercenaries Guild, she finds a veteran scout who is
familiar with Viressë (which means "April" or "Spring"
in Quenya), the area in which they suspect lies Tor Ëonan. Gwynyth
of Lutetia asks some questions about the Party's capabilities; X admits
that while they are well-supplied with spell casters, the front line
is a bit weak; so Gwynyth suggests another guild member -- a Dwarf
who is feeling out of place in Sidheag, and looking for any excuse
to get out in the field and away from large concentrations of humans.
X brings the two to the Party: Gwynyth
(R5) and Kelvin Silvervein
(F6) join. |
| |
Gwynyth tells the Party that not only are
they becoming known amongst the general population as being "demon
hunters", but there is even betting occurring on their survival
chances. There is also some fear that the Party's actions will somehow
trigger an invasion by demons. |
| |
As for concerns about Onchu of Elias and
vampires, Ciaran had reported that when he was in Glantri, he met
an Elf who recalled over a century ago meeting (and battling) a Vampire
named Eli or Elias who was associated with a tower or fortress in
the southern end of the Vampire lands that had an alternate name that
sounded like "Onchu". X and Mei-Peng inquire at the Necromancers
Guild, and learn that an expedition was sent to Viressë about
15 years ago in response to a rumour of Vampire activity there; nothing
unusual was found. Likewise Gwynyth knows scouts of the region to
which they are heading, and there have never been reports of Vampires.
|
| |
X also asks the Necromancers what they know
of demons, and learns that their best defence is the use of simple
undead -- besides being good cannonfodder, they are immune to most
demonic magic (much of which seems to be based on psionics, which
typically only affects minds which simple undead conveniently lack).
Thus some Party members stock up on animal corpses; Taro stores many
in his Cloak of Many Pockets, which seems to preserve its contents
very well. |
| Tuilë 32 |
The Party buys a number of horses (Elena's
being by far the biggest, despite her being nearly the smallest member)
and leaves Sidheag. They briefly consider heading north, so as to
confuse any locals thinking to follow and/or ambush the Party; but
quickly decide that there would be no point, and so they head east
along a main road. |
| Tuilë 40 |
With Gwynyth as guide, they arrive in the
vicinity of Viressë. Jett notices signs of blighted plant life
that reminds him of the lands around Vridistan. |
| |
An Ent walks into the Party. Besides attacking,
it is babbling in some unknown language (not Entish). Vragg is able
to paralyse the Ent with a Hold Plant spell. Jett detects a
second life-form in the Ent; thinking it is a demon, Vishu attacks
with a demonbane spear; narrowly avoiding killing the Ent, the presumed
demonic life-form is killed. |
| (S200) |
|
| |
Jett has a "quick" chat with the
Ent, and learns that it vaguely recalls meeting something dreadful
about 50 km NE of here, apparently over 250 years ago, and has been
living a nightmare ever since. It also believes that other Ents are
likely in the same possessed state. The Ent wants to find a river
in which to bathe, so as to remove the ick of being possessed; when
they find one, the Ent declares that it is tainted and unfit for bathing;
it is now torn between wandering to the next valley for a bath and
continuing with the Party so as to help free other Ents. In the end,
it decides to accompany the Party. |
| |
X surveys the valley from up high on her
broom, and notices several obscured and/or heavily overgrown regions.
Heading towards the most central of these suspicious regions, they
come to a brick wall with a well-preserved, wrought-iron gate. Mei-Peng
unpacks 6 dog corpses, raises them as Ghouls (the "drooly ghoulie
dogs of doom"), and sends them forth; but they cannot get passed
the gate or dig under it. Detect Magic reveals that the gate,
wall, and even the air above the wall is extremely magical. Through
the bars of the gate, a few odd looking, pure-white birds are seen
calmly walking in the heavy vegetation; X recognises their shape (but
not colour) from rich estates in Hestia as peacocks. When Taro attempts
to pick the lock in the gate, he finds that his hands pass through
the bars as if they were made of smoke. He, Elena, and Vishu find
they can walk through the bars, producing impressive smoke trails
that reform as bars; but no one else can pass through. Elena then
determines that she can carry others through, and even ride her enormous
horse through. Eventually all are brought through the gate except
Brunhilde and the Ent, who are too heavy to ride on any of the horses;
they are told to wait outside the gate. |
| |
The Party finds a dying deer off to one
side. Vragg cures it (but finds that his cures are not very potent),
and the deer frantically tries to plough through the wall; eventually
they lead it to the gate and Taro escorts it through, whereupon it
bounds away. |
| |
Following a long overgrown pathway, weaving
through grotesquely shaped and coloured trees and bushes, they come
to an intersection and are attacked by 3 obviously possessed Ents.
Two of the Ents are killed, but one survives while it's demon is killed.
This time, once Vishu starts to attack with her demonbane spear, the
Ents spiral on her; they clearly recognise her as a threat. Curing
after the battle by Vragg and Jett (Nature Clerics) is feeble. They
think that the blighted landscape is limiting their ability to draw
power from Nature. |
| (S201) |
|
| |
The Party finally decides that having horses
in this dangerous esate is not a good idea. Karg keeps his with him
(he at least is an experienced rider), but the rest are escorted out
of the gate to be watched over by the two freed Ents and Brunhilde.
Pushing on, they come to the remains of a small village. In the centre
is what seems to be the remains of an ancient battle, with armour
bits and bones scattered about. Elena investigates; but when Kelvin
joins her, the armour starts to mound together into some sort of armour
golem. It proceeds to pound Kelvin, Aknot, and Karg (i.e. the heavily
armoured ones); at one point, it steals Aknot's helmet, which attaches
itself to the golem and makes it a bit tougher. They eventually destroy
the golem. Aknot recovers his helmet, but finds it ... disconcerting
to hold. |
| |
The Party exits the grounds and camps a
short distance from the gate. That night, Karg casts Exorcise
and makes Aknot's helmet bearable and thus wearable again. The two
Ents continue their brief conversation; the Party learns that the
second one became possessed quite some distance from where the first
was possessed, and likely several decades later. |
| Tuilë 41 |
The next morning, they re-enter the grounds.
Again, all but Karg leave their horses with the Ents. Brunhilde accompanies
the Party this time. They come to a pair of extremely well made, life-sized
statues that flank the pathway. They are not petrified elves, but
they do seem to gaze haughtily at the Party. Elena blindfolds them,
stuffs wax in their ears, and then paints graffiti on them. |
| |
They then come to a low hill in a large
clearing. At the centre are 4 tall pillars in a square, with odd carvings
on each. Elena approachs, examines, and becomes completely enthralled
by the carvings. Aknot tries to remove her, and also becomes enthralled.
Aknot is dragged free, but not Elena. On a hunch, X pulls out the
Ebon stone and tries to look at Elena through it; much to her surprise,
a sickly grey beam zaps Elena. Elana is damaged, but snaps out of
the enchantment and is able to stagger away. X also finds that while
holding the Ebon Stone, she sees things differently: 5 pillars, with
the spaces between hazy and elusively unseeable. |
| |
During all the excitement, no one noticed
that Brunhilde vanished. A patch of turned up turf is the only clue;
the Party quickly digs and finds Brunhilde covered in vines, blissed
out, and partially digested - ouch. |
| |
The Party debates what to do. X considers
teleporting to Ikon and trying to find Coronu (lich, former empress
of Vridistan, power-broker, and a reputed foe of Maoleonan). |
| (S202) |
|
| |
Having Vragg cast Commune seems to
be the best idea, so the Party decides to exit the grounds to get
away from the blight to some spot where Vragg's spells are working
correctly. On the way out, they are ambushed by Oomh and Paa, two
hideous demons (plus a 3rd one, summoned by Oomh). Brunhilde is almost
killed; but through superior numbers, the Party is victorious. Part
way through the battle, Taro had a fright when he recognised the demons
as being identical with a nasty one he encountered over a year ago,
very far away. |
| |
After travelling a few kilometers back the
way they first came, to where to plant life seemed natural, the Party
encamps. Vragg casts Commune, and they learn some things: of
the known enemies of Maoleonan, their most likely ally would be the
dragon Hallström, who turns out to be close by. From the Ents,
they learn that Hallström is likely a Green Dragon; not at all
a nice prospect. |
| Tuilë 42 |
The Party nonetheless goes to find Hallström.
After some effort, they succeed in getting her attention; but as she
can mask herself from their minds, they only realise they found her
when she had already scouted them out very closely (as in, from right
beside them). Hallström is indeed a Green Dragon -- huge (80'
long), battle-scarred, intelligent, and ... not hungry. The Party
quickly tells her that they are after Maoleonan (or at last, they
are trying to rescue a captive from that demon). When Hallström
sense they have the Ebon Stone, and thus the means to enter Maoleonan's
realm (through somehow being joined to it), she agrees to assist them.
She casually warns them not to awaken the Ebon Stone (for example,
through psionic contact by Mei-Peng) or it will destroy them all.
She also informs Vishu that that the point of her demonsbane spear
is also somehow linked to a demon plane; but that it is a far safer
item to be with than is the Ebon Stone. Hallström then shrinks,
takes the form of a rather weathered and scarred Wood Elf, and says:
"Let's go!". |
| (S203) |
|
| |
The Party heads back into the grounds. At
the ruined village, they are attacked by 3 pale and very fast Elvish
Vampires. Mei-Peng and Elena are both grappled, but avoid being bit;
they each lose 2 levels just from the cold touch. Brunhilde shows
she was welled trained by the Monks at the monastery in Vampire defenses
- she breaks off a large branch from a nearby purple tree, and uses
it to plough one Vampire off Mei-Peng and then pin it to the ground
long enough for others to finish it off. In the end, the 3 Vampires
are destroyed, or at least force to vanish. Hallström doesn't
bother to help, as the Party clearly handled the situation. |
| |
After the battle, the Party picks up a lot
of jewellery that the Vampires had dropped when they charged into
the Party. One monocle-like item, when looked through, reveals scary
versions of everyone about - Aknot as a slobbering, hugely-fanged
monster; Jett and Vragg as large and threatening animals; Taro conveys
a creepy sense of having just robbed one blind; and so on. |
| |
The Party comes to the hill with the creepy
pillars. Although hazy, there is some sunlight here; Mei-Peng and
Elena start to feel better, and after about 15 minutes seem to have
recovered their level losses. Just as the Party decides to approach
the pillars, out steps Maoleonan him/her/itself. A vicious battle
begins; Aknot and Kelvin are quickly recipients of some mightly blows;
Hallström launches herself at the enormous demon, transforming
quickly back to her Dragon self. Elena, carrying the Ebon Stone, tries
to sneak around the battle to the pillars, but out steps Oomh, or
Paa, or some very close relative; and soon smaller demons (purple,
squat, winged, drooling and happy) start popping out of thin air all
around. The Party finds these lesser demons a welcome excuse to pull
back from Maoleonan and tackle all the newcomers, leaving Hallström
to fight one on one; for she seems to be winning. Mei-Peng and Brunhilde
are nearly killed before the Party can defeat all the minions. But
when Hallström seems to be close to crushing Maoleonan, the two
suddenly vanish. |
| |
While trying to patch everyone up, Jett
finds that his spells no longer work as expected - an interrupted
spell during the combat has cursed him with wild magic surges. His
first accident is to put a Wall of Fire around Brunhilde, making
it impossible for anyone to cure her; then, when he tries to put out
the fire, he creates a 35' deep pit beneath her: Brunhilde falls
to her death. |
| (S204) |
|
| |
After people are patched up somewhat by
Vragg (Jett's spellcasting being too dangerous for anyone's liking),
Elena with the Ebon Stone leads the Party to the pillars. As they
pass between them, they abruptly find themself in a much large chamber,
unlit, with a smooth white floor that flows in a sweeping curve into
a large central pillar that climbs higher than anyone's light can
reveal. While flying on her broom, X deduces that gravity doesn't
seem to be very strong here; and while walking around, Kelvin discovers
that if he walks towards the pillar, he can walk right up it as if
gravity twisted to point into the pillar. Soon determining that there
was no where else to go, the Party walks up the pillar. |
| |
After apparently ascending over 200', the
Party suddenly finds themself in a huge dimly lit cavern, with many
large rock pillars about. Some look relatively natural. Others have
large ornate carved pillars on top that look rather Pelasgian or Hestian;
all of these are broken in the middle, with rubble floating in the
gaps. Distant sounds of chittering and flowing water is heard. Gwynyth
notices that plenty of tracks are about, but she cannot determine
what made them - her best guess is enormous insects or crustaceans.
|
| |
After a moment surveying the landscape,
they cautiously head in the direction of one distinctive and enormous
pillar/rock/tower/butte. It is soon obvious that the chittering sounds,
while all around, grow louder towards the tower. Taro scouts ahead,
and confirms that there is considerable activity on the tower, especially
some balcony-like features that appear part way up. Elena, whose Elvish
sight is clearly superior in the dim light, spots many large insect-like
beings crawling on the steep slopes of the rocky tower as well as
on the balconies; she also sees many of the purple "pop-up"
demons that they just encountered on the hill. |
| |
The Party stops and discusses whether or
not to proceed. Jett then notices that they have been followed: a
short, red, vaguely-humanoid being is standing some distance behind.
Elena approaches and tries to talk to it. It replies in speech that
no one understands. Elena, however, can understand it perfectly; it
is as if she can read strange glowing script floating about the creatures
head; more likely, she figures, it is some form of psionic communication.
|
| |
The Party learns that this happy little
being - Imbie - knows some things about the tower, and thinks that
Hobbit-like creatures may be captive inside. Imbie is happy to have
new friends, as friends mean power, and power means vengeance and
violence and the gloriously crushing foes to very painful pulps. Imbie
also seems to be aware of the condition of these foes in the tower,
commenting that one had died over the time it took Imbie to count
the remaining 22. |
| |
Imbie says that the tower is filled with
beings, and the safest way in is through a slave entrance. So the
Party cautiously follows as Imbie leads them away from the tower,
past an enormous salt-crystal-like feature and pool that Imbie cautions
is extremely dangerous to touch. Entering a tunnel, they soon hear
sounds of metal working and machinery ahead. The come to a large cavern
filled with working slaves - slaves that are of every conceivable
shape and colour, except that none bear any resemblance to anything
anyone has ever seen before. The Party carefully skirts along one
wall to avoid the attention of possible guards at the other side,
and continue up a sandy-floored passageway that curves up and around
the noisy cavern. After climbing a good 100', they pass by a sandy-floored,
elaborate gladiatorial arena, seemingly lit by brilliant sunlight.
The passage continues curving up and around this chamber, until it
ends in an ornate pair of double doors. Imbie has only rarely been
this high in the complex before, even though Imbie has lived and died
47 times. (Imbie is quite surprised to learn that no one in the Party
is reborn at the will of their Masters into whatever sort of body
the Masters wish - they are all mortals, an exotic form of life that
Imbie has only rarely encountered.) |
| |
Taro and others try to examine and then
open the door. But suddenly they all find themself at the centre of
yet another large cavern. This one, however, has a spectacular, engraved
marble floor and a large domed ceiling, with balcony-like openings
arranged all about in a geometric and very eye-pleasing manner. Unfortunately,
5 large beings immediately jump out of some of these openings and
float effortlessly towards the Party - more OomhPaas. |
| (S205) |
|
| |
A big battle unsues. Mei-Peng is mangled,
three times reduced to negative hit points and revived; only Vragg's
repeated curing keeps her alive. Vishu and Taro are also taken below
zero and Imbie is killed; several people are infected by some unpleasant
disease from the rotting tusks of the OomhPaas. Aknot fumbles and
breaks another magic long sword; besides almost killing Jett, this
results in summoning 8 giant Rats that attack randomly and turns Aknot
into Aknolotta (fortunately, only for 10 minutes). Part way through
the battle, X spots tentacles coming out of one of the openings above
and soon Maoleonan is looking down on them; somehow he has returned
from being mauled by Hallström but appears very weak . Artemisia
drills Maoleonan with arrows, and it retreats; X then flies Artemisia
on her broom up to the opening and they finish off the clearly struggling
demon. Meanwhile, the rest of the Party fights desperately and eventually
kill the OomhPaa demons. |
| (S206) |
|
| |
After the battle, Jett finds that his spells
still do not work correctly; a cure into Karg almost converts his
magic shield into a vase filled with flowers. With most of the Party
in bad shape, they decide to fly up to the room where Maoleonan was
killed, hoping that nothing would disturb them there. They find some
interesting valuables on display - a nice long sword, some egg-shaped
objects, and a jewellery set which Mei-Peng, Jett, and Artemisia eventually
deduce belonged to a former demon
king of the nasty city of Grimlon in Vridistan. |
| |
After resting but a a few minutes, a purple
"pop-up" demon flies into the room and attacks. The Party
easily defeats it; but then two more arrive, and then three, and then
more and more. Realising that the Party was in no shape to fight large
numbers of foes, Vragg creates a Wall of Fire across the entrance
to the room; fortunately for the Party, these smaller demons are vulnerable
to fire, and after a few suicidal attempts, the demons back off. A
waiting game ensues, as Vragg can keep the wall going only as long
as he can concentrate. Artemisia starts singing some painful songs
out into the main cavern, which gradually drives off the purple demons.
X casts Locate Object on Fundin's shirt and is relieved to
find that it is nearby. After several hours with only the occasional
sighting of purple demons, Vragg drops the fire wall and the Party
cautiously looks out into the large hall. One demon flies up and is
quickly killed; otherwise, the hall appears empty. |
| Tuilë 43 (?) |
In the morning, they find in another room
in the domed ceiling a chair-like object holding and half-encasing
a Hobbit. Mei-Peng senses that the "chair" is alive. Karg
approaches, and suddenly crumples; Jett tries to grab Karg's body,
and crumples. Staying well back from the "chair", others
use hooks and ropes and haul the two back. Gwynyth rummages through
Jett's belongings and finds his tranquilizer antidotes and gives Jett
a jab with some - he awakes, and then revives Karg. Karg casts Protection
from Evil on himself and again tries to approach; he senses something
shadowy lunge at him, but sees nothing. He slips his Ring of Free
Action on the Hobbit's finger. The "chair" suddenly
reacts, forming a pseudopod and clubs at Karg. Others carefully fire
arrows at the "chair" while Karg hauls the Hobbit out of
the "chair", and they kill it with little difficulty. Fundin
has indeed been rescued, but he is emaciated and comatose.
Taro puts his Ring of Sustenance on Fundin, and they carry
him out. |
| |
Exploring, they find a library. Most of
the books are in Astaran (the language of the Vridi), with some in
Hannu and Elvish. Many look quite valuable and they take them; Mei-Peng
in particular takes as many as she can carry. Meanwhile, Fundin begins
to recover from what he recalls felt like a lifetime of spying on
a powerful demon named Tromeda while in some sort of invisible, floating
state. |
| (S207) |
|
| |
They then deal with 3 more "chair"
monsters. One "chair" is occupied by an Hobbit corpse; but
two emaciated survivors are rescued: Penelope the Farmer (Farmer-1)
and Iqqwappl the Second (Illusionist) from Anglia (no relation
to Iqqwapl the First from Snooka, who always tarnishes this Iqqwapl's
good name). Both recall vaguely similar experiences as did Fundin,
of spying on beings; a green blobby thing with an unpronounceable
name, in the case of Penelope (perhaps the former emperor Archidamus
or his parasitic demon Azakk?);
and a tall, Stone-Giant-like being named Isspa, in the case of Iqqwappl.
|
| |
While letting the 3 rescuees recover for
an hour or two, Mei-Peng raises as Ghouls a few corpses brought by
Taro, "just in case". Jett tries to cast a spell and again
generates a wild magic surge: a large circle of mushrooms sprout around
him. |
| |
After a few hours of pondering, the Party
realises they have no obvious way to leave the large hall. Elena had
previously reported that while holding the Ebon Stone on its chain,
she could see a large opening at the centre of the room's ceiling,
it proves to be difficult to study; and the only way to get to it
appears to be via X's broom, which can only carry two. X has a bright
idea, and leads the party up the wall; for the first tower they entered
had similarly odd gravitational charactistics. |
| |
Thus the Party walks "into" the
hole in the ceiling, and finds themselves in a small chamber. All
surfaces seem to be made of a single "flow" of wood, as
if grown. A water-tight and moist door is avoided; instead, they head
up a ramp and enter a long curving hallway ramp, again seemingly made
or grown from wood. |
| |
Heading left and upwards, they come to a
door. Opening it reveals a being not seen in centuries: a Drow Elf.
It shoots Elena with a poisoned bolt but is then chopped down by Karg
and Aknot. Moments later, those still in the hallway are attacked
by several more Drow. |
| (S208) |
|
| |
Three Drow fighters sneak into the midst
of the Party, while one holds back and fires Lightning Bolts
at the Party (avoiding for the most party damaging any of the Drow
fighters). X and Mei-Peng are almost killed by the bolts; Penelope
is killed. More casualties were averted by a well-timed Colour
Spray from Iqqwappl that threw off the Drow mage's aim of the
second bolt. Several magic items are destroyed (Jett yet again loses
some armour, Mei-Peng loses most of her spell book, and Gwynyth loses
almost all of her possessions), resulting in several wild magic surges;
results vary from streams of butterflies coming from X and Mei-Peng's
mouths, all lights being extinguished and disenchanted; and Gwynyth
and one of the Drow vanishing. [unknown at this point, Gwynyth
dies shortly; her body is found next day - see session 212] |
| |
When Mei-Peng is revived, she suddenly remembers
that it is her birthday - hurray! |
| |
After the battle, the Party sacks out in
one of the rooms they have found. Jett finds that his spells now work
correctly. |
| (S209) |
|
| Tuilë 44 (?) |
The Party advances up the spiral hallway,
and come to an open area. A door there is examined and a trap detected;
X opens the door with a Knock, and out flies a rope that ties
her up. Elena rushes forth to cut the rope, and is similarly tied
up. Karg frees them when he cuts the rope with Taro's anti-magic dagger.
Looking about, they now realise that they are at the crook of a huge
branch and they have, in fact, been inside an immerse tree. The surrounding
area is very dark and gloomy; dense spider webs seem to be all about
the neighbouring trees. They are hundreds of feet above the ground.
Puzzled by their location, they halt for a bit. Vragg casts Commune,
and learns that they are back on Dafan; that they can leave the tree
by going up or down; and that they should not lose the Ebon Stone.
|
| |
Going a bit out on the branch and then around
the trunk a bit, they find another entrance into the tree. Going in
and up, they come to a caged room filled with giant rats. For some
pointless reason, X and Elena kill them all. The passage then exits
onto another huge branch; a ways out, they see the start of a rope
bridge. X and Iqqwappl fly cautiously above the bridge in order to
see where it goes. A giant owl appears out of the gloom and somehow
emits a lightning bolt at the two; X is knocked out and falls, while
Iqqwappl is grabbed by the Owl and carried away; X falls to her
death. Karg generates between the Party and the Owl (via a wild
magic surge) a huge black slab of foam, which promptly falls (almost
on top of X; no luck there). Various archers strike the Owl and kill
it just as it lands by a huge nest on a far branch (the other side
of the bridge); going across the bridge, Jett finds Iqqwappl unconscious
but alive, and cures her up. |
| |
Vragg shapeshifts into a bird and flies
down to find X. He finds her mangled corpse, her broom (undamaged),
and a strange black slab of foam (which vanishes while he is picking
up the X pieces). He also hears sounds of movement around in the dense
underbrush; he quickly flies back up to the Party. |
| |
[Note: this ends X's short reign as Iron
Woman. With Jett having sat out the previous adventure, as of the
start of this one X had adventured without dying slightly longer than
any other characters in the Dafan, Decast, and Beory campaigns. Jett
now regains his long-held title of Iron Man.] |
| (S210) |
|
| |
They proceed across the bridge, and find
another entrance into the tree. Inside they find 10 captives shackled
to the passageway walls; many are in pitiful condition. With some
difficulty, the Party are able to free all. Three Drow in a guardroom
are encountered: two are killed, one is captured and destined for
some questioning ... |
| (S211) |
|
| |
Elena interrogates the captive by means
of Comprehend Languages. Stoically enduring a barrage of racial
insults, Elena learns some disturbing news about Drow activities and
numbers - disturbing, as Drow were thought nearly driven to extinction
soon after the Cataclysm 250 years ago. When the spell ends, Elena
executes the captive. |
| |
Pushing on, the Party and the 10 rescued
captives finds the passageway ends in an unnaturally dark room with
no obvious exits. Fundin, Taro, and Elena cautiously explore. Elena
finds an odd gap in the walls in one corner. She doesn't enter, but
is suddenly expresses the desire to leave NOW. As she pushes her way
back through the Party, panic engulfs half of the crowd, and they
rush back down the hall. For better or worse, the door leading out
the large branches has thoroughly locked behind them, and the panicked
horde simply piles up at the door. This allows Artemisia to cast Remove
Fear on them all, one by one. While that was occurring, Vishu
senses that her demon-slayer spear is somehow urging her to do something
... violent to Elena. Vishu quickly concludes that Elena has been
possessed (in the same manner as were the Ents back in the estate
grounds), and calls for some clerical assistance. Jett soon detects
something very odd about Elena, especially on her back (wings?). Elena
willingly turns around to let him investigate, then whips out her
sword and nearly assassinates him. Vishu's spear nearly jumps into
action and Elena is overpowered; she nearly dies; after the last jab
from Vishu, Jett briefly senses another entity impaled on the spear,
but it vanishes quickly. |
| |
When Elena is revived, at first she has
no recollection of the last hour or two. Then she has vivid memories
of hunting Gnomes in the Snooka mountains (much to the disgust of
Iqqwappl, who knows those mountains and its inhabitants well, and
knows of vicious winged demons there). But Elena has no memory of
the room from which she just departed. |
| |
In the meantime, Karg has been casting Detect
Enemies and come up with enemies in several directions. Fundin
has also noticed the opening in the wall, and seen in it the deep
gloom a red, glowing something. He retreats unaffected; then he and
Taro search another wall, and Taro finds a secret door. |
| (S212) |
|
| |
Jett examines the gap in the wall; a winged
shadowy being attacks. Various people rush to help and they soon kill
the winged demon - it is indeed the sort that Iqqwappl knows from
Snooka. When it dies, the unnatural darkness lifts. Elena heads into
the small chamber beyond the gap and finds a glowing red gem. Before
she can do anything with it, Vishu pokes at it with her demon-slayer
spear; the gem explodes and Elena almost dies again. |
| |
The Party heads through the secret door
found by Taro. It leads to a shallow pool in an irregular room. A
crumpled shape by the pool turns out to be the corpse of Gwynyth.
While investigating the body, Vishu suddenly finds a clone of herself
standing beside her; the clone attacks. Then a clone of Elena (who
had been standing near to Vishu) appears and attacks. The rest of
the Party holds back, fearing that proximity to the pool spawns the
clones. The two Monks deke it out; both have an excellent armour class
that outclasses their ability to hit themselves. The Elenai, however,
are already injured; luckily for the real one, she strikes the first
blow and cuts down her clone. Meanwhile, Taro crawls to the pool with
eyes closed, hoping to disenchant it with his special dagger; he has
no luck with that, and in fact spawns his own clone. Adding to the
confusion, the clone has a clone sword; and so soon there are 4 Taroi
fighting. |
| |
Various archers and spell casters attempt
to help Vishu and Taro, to varying success. Jett casts Destroy
Water on the pool, making it sizzle and shrink; but it also triggers
a new set of clones to appear immediately: for Vishu (who had just
finished defeating her first one), Elena, and also Aknot. With some
difficulty, all of the clones are defeated. The Party decides to stop
and camp out. |
| (S213) |
|
| Tuilë 45 (?) |
Looking more closely at the corpse of Gwynyth,
Vragg thinks he can raise her. Gwynyth raised, but grumbles
"Where's my loot?!", as much of her wealth was destroyed
(see session 208) and her coinage looted sometime afterwards. As she
isn't capable of walking for many hours, let alone fighting, the Party
continues to rest. In the afternoon, 8 Quaggoth wander into the room
they are in. A short battle ensues. Mei-Peng and Elena animate the
corpses as Zombies and park them in the small chamber in which the
demon was found. |
| Tuilë 46 (?) |
The Party explores the next cavern. Harmless-looking
giant mushrooms puncture and shred one lead Zombie. Iqqwappl and Fundin
take to broom and fly over the mushrooms. Just as they go around a
corner and out of sight of the rest of the Party, giant spiders descend
upon them ... |
| (S214) |
|
| |
Iqqwappl does a hasty u-turn and flies herself
and Fundin back to the party before the spiders can touch them. She
then flies Mei-Peng into the chamber, who unleashes Necrotising
Fasciitis upon the spiders. Iqqwappl successfully flies back into
the small passageway just before the now-enraged spiders attack; unfortunately,
Mei-Peng could not crouch down low enough on the broom, hits the wall,
and falls into the "mushrooms"; painfully so, as she now
learns that the mushrooms were merely illusions covering a dense stand
of wooden spikes. She also finds that the spiders know exactly who
cast the painful spell, and chase her back into the passageway. While
2 of the spiders are killed (Vragg cleverly uses the giant spikes
in the room as amunition for a Thornspray), Elena manages to
charm one; it obediently bounds to her, crouches down, and allows
her to ride it; Elena is very happy. |
| |
Meanwhile, the rest of the Party is surprised
when 2 Ghouls and 2 Drow attack from the rear. Gwynyth is paralysed
by one Ghoul, Mei-Peng (who had just fled the spiders) is Held
by one Drow (but not before she successfully takes control of one
the Ghouls and gets it to attack the Drow); Iqqwappl finds that her
Chromatic Orb fails to touch the Drow, so (still on broom)
instead tries to crash into one Drow when it is casting a spell. The
Drow are quickly cornered and killed. Their room is looted. |
| (S215) |
|
| |
The Party heads through the fake mushroom
room and up another winding passageway that ends in a small room with
double doors. Karg casts Detect Enemies and confirms their
suspicions that enemies lie ahead. Elena - striking a dramatic fake-Drow
pose upon her charmed enormous spider, wearing Drow armour and having
coloured her skin black -casts Necrotising Fasciitis beyond
the doors; then Karg and Aknot push open the doors and enter a large,
dark chamber. Enormous angry spiders descend from above and poisoned
bolts are fired from out of the dark. Kelvin charges left and finds
a Drow to hit; Karg follows and finds another. Aknot charges forward
and gets stuck in some sort of invisible webbing; Drow fighters appear
in front of him and proceed to hack him to bits. Before the Party
can do much more, they themselves are hit with Necrotising Fasciitis,
some sort of Ice Storm, and then a massive Lightning Bolt.
Elena, Mei-Peng, Taro, Jett, and Iqqwappl die; Gwynyth and
Vragg almost die. Aknot frees one hand and hammers his main opponent
with a bolt from his Thor's Rune while Karg presses forth from the
left; the Drow spell-casters see those as the two main (remaining)
threats and prepare to deal with them; but before their main strike
can be unleashed, Karg pulls out a magical egg-shaped object they
had found in Maoleonan's lair and through it casts a Holy Word.
Most of the Drow are stunned or paralysed (while some unseen undead,
held in reserve, simply crumple on the spot). Aknot is also stunned
(too many thoughts of yummy white Elf meat). Meanwhile, Fundin and
later Artemisia sneak right and attack the stunned spell casters.
In short order, only one Drow survives and runs into the surrounding
darkness between large pillars; Vishu pursues, predicts exactly where
the Drow runs, and catches him quickly; she and Artemisia finish the
Drow off. |
| |
While the battle raged, Vragg and Artemisia
(at first) pull various fallen companions back down the hallway and
try to revive whom they can. When Vragg finally comes to the remains
of Elena, he is shocked to see that the corpse has wings, clawed hands,
and a hideous face, as if she was one of the winged demons that the
Party defeated two days before. |
| (S216) |
|
| |
Severely depleted in spell power and live
bodies, the mangled Party rests. The previously rescued captives are
put to work, especially those with some useful skills (Niall the Thief
and Thorgerd the Fighter). Drow and fallen companions are looted.
Doors to unknown areas are spiked shut. That evening, Jett is revived
by Vragg. It is noticed that Elena's corpse has been slowly reverting
to Elven form; and by evening, Jett is able to confirm that there
is no demonic presence in it. |
| Tuilë 47 (?) |
Next morning, Taro is raised by Vragg.
Of the remaining party corpses, none can be revived with just a Raise
Dead; so the party debates whether or not to trying using the
remaining two "Spell Eggs" to cast Resurrection on
them. In the end, the decision is to revive the one who has the most
power; but also, to see if by any chance the device can revive two
at a time. That evening, X is resurrected by Vragg but Elena
fails to be the bonus revival. (Mei-Peng was not attempted as her
spell capability was severely depleted, and Iqqwappl was not attempted
because illusions did not see that useful in the current situation.) |
| Tuilë 48 (?) |
Next morning, everyone (of the living) is
back to full strength. Doors are opened, rooms are found and searched,
and loot obtained. No exits are found from this upper level. Corpses
(friend and foe) are bagged, tagged, and readied for dragging. |
| (S217) |
|
| |
Before descending, Vragg casts Speak
with Plant and converses with the tree. The tree is named Launewt
- a name that one of the captives recognises. It is happy that most
of the humanoid infestations have recently left its innards and that
the Party will also soon leave. It informs them that there are only
3 other humanoids inside. |
| |
The Party finds a number of rooms near ground
level. Only a flock of Stirges put up a (trivial) fight. They find
three comatose Bugears -- they were utterly inebriated when their
associates fled, leaving them behind (but not their loot). Their leader,
Yusamma, quickly realises the advantages of turning coat, and tells
all. She figures that the Drow have fled back underground from whence
they first came, via a cave a few hours travel north. In exchange,
the Party offers them a job of being a guides for Celts that will
soon arrive -- for the Party intends to inform the ArDan Celts of
this Drow threat and hopes that some will come to investigate. Yusamma
and her buddies Bukhild and Mneklin wave the Party bye as they head
south. |
| Tuilë 50 (?) = Yavië 36 |
Come to vicinity of Tor Ëonan. One
of the befriended Ents is found, and they learn that their horses
were sent on their way quite some time ago ... for the Party has been
gone for months. The trouble with Demons is what their lands do to
time. |
| Yavië 38 |
After chatting for days with the Ent, and
finding 3 horses, the Party pushes on. |
| Yavië 45 |
Arrive back at Sidheag ("SHEE-ak")
for training, treasury, and reporting that Drow are operating just
beyond the North East border of ArDan. Training are Vishu to Mk8,
X to MU8, Taro to F7, Fundin to R6, Elena to N6/A4, Artemisia to B8,
and Gwynyth to R6. Fundin decides he's had enough of this rabble;
Fundin retires. |
| (S218) |
|
| |
Party takes corpses of Mei-Peng, Elena,
and Iqqwappl to the grand guild complex of the Friends of Arawn (the
Necromancers of Sidheag). The Necros explain that they do have the
means to revive all three at once, as they all died at the same time,
but there are risks. In particular, they are guardians of an extremely
ancient arch that can change things upon request (a Wish, in
effect); unfortunately, side effects can be significant and widespread.
After some discussion, it is decided that the simplest, and thus safest
request would be to have the three sent forward in time from the point
moments before they all died to now. Nonetheless, the Necros first
cast Speak with Dead upon each corpse, to verify that none
are interracting with other spirits in ways that could cause complications
(they are well aware of what dire events happened when Mei-Peng was
last dead). One complication is learned: Iqqwappl, the II, is actually
a clone of Iqqwappl I (who seems to be associated with, if not the
head of, a nasty group of Gnome mages: the Guild of Stone); the Necros
think this will not be a problem, but are not sure. |
| Yavië 48 |
The Party and several Necros journey to
the Arch of Time (a.k.a. the Arch of No Safe Name).
In hushed tones, the Party is warned not to look too closely at the
arch, nor to inquire about it, and especially not to attempt to learn
any of its secrets (the last point in particular for Artemisia, who
is dying to cast Legend Lore on it); for the arch senses inquiring
minds, and treats them much like someone would treat an annoying bug
that stares back ... The three corpses are tied together in heavy
chains. Aknot and Karg toss the unpleasant bundle through the arch
at the same time as the Necros cast some spell and make the request.
The bundle lands on the other side. Elena, revived, finds herself
chained to the corpse of Iqqwappl, with no Mei-Peng present. A few
seconds later, a revived Mei-Peng fades into existence, nearly
dead (as expected). Inquiries and examination lead to the following
observations and conclusions: |
| |
| |
• Iqqwappl II failed to be revived because of some sort
of interference by Iqqwappl I |
| |
• Elena has changed; her spirit is less detectable than
before, making her nearly invisible to undead. This would be
useful to most people, but as a Necromancer it could be a class-breaker
as she may not be able to interact at all with undead. |
| |
• Mei-Peng is less present in the mortal realm, as if
tainted by a ghost; she is 10% lighter and slightly translucent
around the edges. |
|
| |
The Party decides that Iqqwappl I is a menace
that will have to be dealt with some day. Just in case there is still
some connection between the two Iqqwappls, Karg casts Death Prayer
on the corpse of Iqqwappl II; and then the corpse is finished off
with a good funeral pyre. |
| |
Gwynyth finds herself becoming progressive
more ill. It is quickly determined that since she came back to life,
she has been under a Quest and must leave once she completes
training. |
| |
X decides to retire from adventuring and get busy on a more
important and pressing career - politics - with the goal of becoming
a Hestian senator as soon as possible. This will allow her to better
direct Hestian attention to the important task of overseeing Hallgato's
progress in restoring order to the world and the heavens via the
Towers. After teleporting to Tallinn in Glantri for magic-item shopping,
she teleports to Hestia City. Artemisia goes with her for training
and singing the glory of X.
|
| |
Jett and Vragg brew some new potions: Cure
Necrotising Fasciitis, Faerie Fire on Contact. |
| |
Mei-Peng take Aknot, Vishu and Jett to Ikon
(via guild means), and introduces them to her new keep near Enipeus
(the one she recently obtained via the Deck
of Many Things). Vishu also gets training in nearby Tualyn.
Aknot goes to Maegenbaldt and visits a Thor temple in order to find
out more about the Thorn Rune
on his palm. |
| Quellë 06 |
X, Mei-Peng, and Jett are surprised to "hear"
from Eldor via their Rings of Telepathy. He has a message for them
from 'Sheh, who says that James requests the Party's services to investigate
the disappearance of his cousin, the crown prince of Noranglia. |
| |
The Party splits, half to assist Gwynyth
with her quest, half to assist James with his request. |
| |
|
|
Surviving members:
|
Mei-Peng
(N7), Vishu
(Mk8), Aknot (F8), X
(MU8), Jett (NtC7/F5), Artemisia
(B8), Taro (F7/T7), Karg
(WrC7), Vragg (NtC9), Fundin
(R6), Elena (N6/A4), Gwynyth
(R6), Kelvin (F6) |
|
New members:
|
Gwynyth, Kelvin, Iqqwappl
(I5/T5)
|
|
Returning members:
|
Fundin |
|
Casualties:
|
Brunhilde, Gwynyth (revived), X (revived), Elena (revived),
Mei-Peng (revived), Iqqwappl, Taro (revived), Jett (revived) |
|
Retirees:
|
X, Fundin |
|
Continuing parties:
|
1. Mei-Peng, Vishu, Jett, Taro, Karg, Elena, Gwynyth (to Gwynyth's
Quest)
2. Aknot, Artemisia, Vragg, Kelvin (to James's
Request)
|
|
