Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Raiders of the Overreach
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7878596" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 5: FUN IN THE SUN</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Cramer Appleknocker, gnome cleric 2</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Jhasspok, lizardfolk 2</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Khari Hammerslammer, dwarf fighter 2</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Marlo Pendragon, human sorcerer 2</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Utred "Buckets" Butterflinger, dwarf barbarian 2</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 18 December 2019</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p><There is a side chamber off to your left,> instructed N'zorthal. <You will make camp there, out of the way for the evening. Tomorrow morning you will be teleported through the Writhing Gate to the location of the caravan you will attack.></p><p></p><p>The slaves looked over to the side chamber indicated by the mind flayer seated at one of the ten stations of the Writhing Gate. It was a roughly circular chamber with a radius of nearly 30 feet. Carved into the smooth, stone floor were a series of concentric rings; Cramer and Marlo each identified the runes circumscribed along the rings as being tied into various <em>magic circles</em> shielding against the forces of evil, law, and chaos. As they stepped into the chamber and inside the circumference of the circles, they felt the background "wrongness" they'd felt since stepping within visual distance of the Writhing Gate dissipate.</p><p></p><p>Setting up their sleeping areas, Cramer called over to the mind flayer. "You want to tell us more about this raiding mission we're being sent on?" he asked.</p><p></p><p><You will be sent to the vicinity of a caravan. You will attack the caravan and take its contents for the drow. When you have defeated the members of the caravan, I will reopen the gate and you will send the supplies you have gathered through.></p><p></p><p>"How big of a caravan we talkin' 'bout?" asked Utred.</p><p></p><p><Unknown. I will set the parameters of the desired location on the surface and the Writhing Gate will seek out the nearest such set of circumstances.></p><p></p><p>"So we don't even know where on the surface we'll be going?" asked Khari.</p><p></p><p><Correct.></p><p></p><p>"Are we to kill the members of the caravan?" Marlo asked.</p><p></p><p><Killing isn't necessary to the drow's plans - but do not let them flee to gather reinforcements. Once you have sent the goods through the gate, you will scout out the area to learn what resources are nearby and worth raiding in the future. At the end of 12 days on the surface, I will open the Writhing Gate again and you will return to Overreach.></p><p></p><p><em>And these stupid slave tattoos will ensure our good behavior,</em> Cramer thought sourly to himself.</p><p></p><p><That is correct,> replied N'zorthal, a reminder that mind flayers were mind readers as well. Cramer didn't say another word for some time, nor did he try to think anything he wouldn't mind N'zorthal picking up. Dealing with telepaths was certainly frustrating!</p><p></p><p>The group set up their camp and discussed the mission among themselves. The dwarves were all for a head-on assault, rushing in with weapons swinging before the caravan members had time to prepare a defense. Marlo suggested spying on the caravan for a bit first if possible, to see what kind of opposition they might face. Jhasspok didn't put a whole lot of thought into what the next day would bring; he'd simply do as instructed and hope for the best. He had no qualms against killing whoever might be among the caravan; as the lizardfolk saw it, this was little different from the arena battles they'd performed during the Festival of Blood - it was either slay or be slain, and if the caravan members didn't want to get killed they'd best do what they could to overcome their attackers. And if they <em>did</em> get killed by the House Jalamir slaves, then they must not have sufficiently wanted to remain living.</p><p></p><p>Eventually the talk died down - as did the illumination as each member deactivated the illusory flames emanating from their individual <em>slave-light cloaks</em>. As for N'zorthal, he remained seated at his station at the Writhing Gate, as motionless as the nine petrified remains of other illithids manning the other nine wriggling tentacles.</p><p></p><p>The mind flayer awakened the slaves the next morning with a telepathic prompting. Cramer meditated and prepared his spells for the day as the others rolled up their blankets and bedrolls and gobbled up a quick breakfast of various dried foodstuff. (Jhasspok once again got no takers when offering to share his supply of dried dung beetles.) Then, ready for their mission, the five slaves braced themselves and stepped out of the safety of the <em>magic circles</em>. They each immediately tensed up as the primitive portions of their brains informed them, on a subconscious level, they needed to immediately flee from the vicinity at full speed.</p><p></p><p>Then the writhing tentacles started moving as one, rising up to their full height and touching each other at their tips, forming a cone pointed at the ceiling. A grayish-white glow surrounded the tips of the rubbery appendages as five of them suddenly ripped downward, tearing a vertical shear in reality and burrowing through the tear.</p><p></p><p><Step through, quickly!> admonished N'zorthal. Fearing retribution, the slaves all stepped forward through the tear in reality, Cramer tempting fate by taking the time to cast a <em>longstrider</em> spell on himself before following the other four through the opened <em>gate</em>.</p><p></p><p>Utred and Jhasspok stepped through the <em>gate</em> unscathed. The other three, however, each became suddenly - and horribly - aware of the infinitesimal space between moments. As spellcasters, both Cramer and Marlo had been taught teleportation magic sends travelers briefly through the Astral Plane, but this was...something else entirely - some<em>where</em> else, actually. Somewhere much, much farther away. As the trio got glimpses of various impossible horrors out of the corners of their eyes, they heard an equally terrible voice. Looking in a direction best described as "down" (but only in a general sense; there was no real word for the direction in a language that only acknowledged three dimensions), the three slaves saw the rest of the lengths of the five tentacles responsible for creating the <em>gate</em> guiding them through the Far Realm, eventually connecting to an enormous, severed head floating in the cosmos. This head had a hundred wriggling tentacles coming from it, the five a mere handful of the whole.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>"SERVE ME,"</em></strong> said the floating head in a whisper that screamed through the heads of Cramer, Marlo, and Khari. <strong><em>"SERVE ME AND ALL SHALL BE WELL."</em></strong></p><p></p><p>All of this transpired in no actual time at all, the three slaves stepping out onto the surface world immediately after Utred and Jhasspok had done so. Utred looked around at his surroundings and merely grunted in acknowledgment. They were at the edge of a forest, standing in a small clearing surrounded by trees. There was a road before them, and the clattering of hoof-beats coming from off to the left - the caravan they were to attack, no doubt.</p><p></p><p>But Jhasspok was in a world of wonder, a place of inexplicable things he'd never seen before - things like trees, and grass, and sky. He felt a warmth coming down from above him and looked up to find its source, his curiosity causing him to ignore the disturbed expressions of Khari, Marlo, and Cramer. Then--</p><p></p><p>"Down!" cried Jhasspok, leaping onto Khari and pulling the Hammerslammer dwarf to the ground, covering him with his own massive body and cowering into a ball, his turtle-shell shield held over his reptilian head.</p><p></p><p>"What th' thunderation?" sputtered Khari, struggling to extricate himself from the lizardfolk's embrace. "What are you doing?" hissed Marlo, not wanting the antics of the lizardfolk and the dwarf to alert the approaching caravan of their presence. For a supposedly stealthy mission, this was getting off to a rather bad start!</p><p></p><p>Jhasspok raised his hand and pointed to the sky. "<em>Fireball</em>!" he hissed back.</p><p></p><p>Marlo looked up. "That's the <em>sun</em>, you idiot!" she hissed back at the frightened lizardfolk. Then she regretted her harsh words, realizing Jhasspok had never before stepped foot upon the surface world - everything she took for granted here, above ground, was brand new to him. "It's just the sun," she whispered. "It won't hurt us."</p><p></p><p>"It won't fall down on us?" Jhasspok asked, peering fearfully at it from around the edge of his shield. He was familiar with the <em>fireball</em> spell - drow wizards often cast such spells into the air around the Eight Pillars during times of celebration - and this "sun" looked suspiciously like one of those, perhaps the variant kind where they took a moment or two to explode.</p><p></p><p>"No, it won't - I promise."</p><p></p><p>"Git offa me, ye varmint!" growled Khari. Jhasspok, still not trusting the <em>fireball</em> hanging in the sky, gazed up at it warily as he stood back up and helped Khari up as well. "And quit lookin' directly at it, or ye'll go blind!" the dwarf added.</p><p></p><p>Cramer, in the meantime, had ignored the others and was giving the caravan his full attention. There were only two carts, each pulled by a single horse; the lead cart was the smaller of the two, with a human farmer behind the reins, while the larger cart behind held five individuals. A human driver sat on the front bench, flicking his reins at the draft animal, while beside him sat an elven woman singing a sad lament. She had a blindfold of dark cloth across her eyes. Behind her were a halfling woman and two rough-looking men, one a human and the other a dwarf.</p><p></p><p>A quick <em>detect magic</em> spell confirmed Cramer's suspicions that the caravan merchants and their guards had magic about them, centered around the back cart. The cleric hatched a plan at once, using his innate abilities to create a <em>ghost sound</em> effect from behind him: the howling of a pack of wolves, for he needed an excuse for his sudden appearance on the scene and this would not only put him in the role of a victim in the eyes of the caravan members but also hopefully attract their attention to the part of the forest where the wolf-calls were emanating. "Help me!" he cried, rushing forward between the trees and through the underbrush, right up to the edge of the road, with a look of fearful panic evident upon his face. He was, he noted, halfway between the two carts.</p><p></p><p>But beside him sprang Jhasspok, running at full speed, his tail sticking out behind him to keep his balance. Not having been briefed on Cramer's plan, he had no idea what those dreadful howling noises were supposed to signify; he just made a bee-line for the four-legged monster at the front of the caravan. Jhasspok had never seen a horse before, but judging by its impressive size - and the fact that it led this procession - he reasoned it was the most powerful enemy they faced and it would therefore be prudent to take it out as quickly as possible. He stabbed deep into the beast's right flank with his masterwork short sword, causing the horse to whinny in pain and terror.</p><p></p><p>Khari ran up and shot an arrow at the horse Jhasspok had just attacked. Unlike the lizardfolk, the dwarf had seen a horse before and had no misconceptions about it being a powerful foe; however, he realized a dead horse couldn't run out of range and allow its master to fetch help from elsewhere. Unfortunately, the terrors he had just seen during the travel through the Writhing Gate were still playing in his mind, throwing off his aim. The arrow whizzed harmlessly past the horse's head, to eventually plunk down into the ground on the far side of the road.</p><p></p><p>Utred saw the advantages of slaying the horses first and charged the beast pulling the larger of the two carts. But by this time the caravan members were well aware of the attack and the driver was able to pull the reins to the side, yanking the horse's head out of the way of the dwarven barbarian's swing with his greataxe.</p><p></p><p>Unwilling to allow this attack to go unanswered, the halfling woman, <strong>Heather Thistlefoot</strong>, leapt down from the wagon, ran up, and stabbed up at the burly dwarf with her rapier. Her other hand held a shield emblazoned with the crest of the halfling goddess <strong>Yondalla</strong>. But her paladin senses, which usually aided her in battle, were confusing her here, for when she concentrated on Utred's aura to see if it bore the unmistakable taint of evil she saw only a ribbon of evil rising up from his chest; the barbarian himself was clean of the stain. (The <em>ring gate</em> Utred wore on a chain around his neck was beneath the dwarf's thick beard and N'zorthal's tentacle was thus hidden from view even if its evil aura was clear enough for the paladin to sense.) Thus distracted, her rapier-stab went wide, leaving Utred unharmed.</p><p></p><p><strong>Wulfrik</strong>, the dwarven ranger, displayed a remarkable swiftness in firing and reloading his light crossbow at Utred. What he failed to display was any sense of accuracy, as both bolts went whizzing harmlessly by the sides of Utred's bearded head. But the failed attacks did attract the Butterflinger dwarf's attention; he spun about and locked eyes with the dwarven crossbowman, giving him an unspoken "I'm going to kill you personally for that!" message that was received loud and clear by Wulfrik.</p><p></p><p>Marlo cast a <em>magic missile</em> spell at the driver of the second cart, who at this time was working to get the frightened horse under control. The spell hit true, causing the merchant to fall, unconscious, over the side of the vehicle into the dirt of the road beneath. The horse reared and kicked out frantically with its forelegs, but Utred was well out of range at that point.</p><p></p><p><strong>Guthier</strong> followed Heather's lead and leaped off the side of the back cart to attack Utred. His attack was much more successful than those of his companions, the blade of his bastard sword slicing into the dwarf's side, drawing blood. Utred immediately added the human fighter to his list of people who needed the personal attention of his greataxe, as he let the rage build inside him to power his attacks.</p><p></p><p>The farmer driving the first cart, however, was much too busy trying to deal with the reptilian monster attacking his horse to worry much about what might be going on behind him. With a frantic flip of his reins and a shouted "HAH!" he tried getting his horse to hightail it out of there. As it turned out, this dovetailed rather nicely with the horse's own thoughts on the subject and the cart lurched forward at top speed. But Jhasspok wasn't going to allow this giant, four-legged threat to escape to gather more of its monster kin; he sprinted forward alongside the fleeing cart, stabbing his sword into the monster's side. Another arrow went whizzing by the horse's head, proof that Khari was still focused on bringing the horse down before the cart could get out of range and the farmer could go for aid. But another slash of the lizardfolk's masterwork blade and the horse crumpled in mid-stride, tipping the cart over and sending the farmer flying to crash to the dirt on the side of the road, where he desperately played possum. With any luck, the lizard-monster would think he was already dead and would leave him alone.</p><p></p><p>No such luck, alas. Having slain the assumed leader of the caravan procession, Jhasspok leaped over the toppled cart and sent his blade deep into the body of the leader's underling. Just that quickly, the farmer was no longer only playing dead.</p><p></p><p>This whole time, <strong>Elithiel the Blind</strong> had continued with her elven dirge. Now, she subtly changed the words to her song, invoking a <em>sleep</em> spell in the area of combat to her right. She caught Cramer in its area of effect and the gnome cleric crashed to the ground, already fast asleep. However, falling right next to him was Guthier, who had also succumbed to the spell. Utred mentally shifted the human bladesman lower on his list of people to kill and turned his attention back to Wulfrik. But then Heather stepped right up to him, her rapier ready for another thrust, and Utred nearly cut her down with a single swipe of his axe. The halfling backed away rapidly, applying a healing spell to the deep gash Utred had cut through her side. Wulfrik responded by leaping off the side of the cart and sending another rapid-fire set of bolts racing at Utred, one of them striking the barbarian in the upper arm. Utred roared in pain and put Wulfrik at the very top of his list.</p><p></p><p>Elithiel suddenly stopped her song, listening intently to the fight going on alongside her. She heard Heather's frantic spellcasting and cast a spell of her own, <em>cure light wounds</em>, to aid the little halfling, who by the sounds of it was surely hurt rather badly. Leaning over the side of the cart, in the space vacated by the driver, she reached down and tried to heal her halfling friend. Unfortunately, she couldn't find the little paladin and the spell remained, unspent, in the blind elf's blindly groping hand.</p><p></p><p>Marlo cast another <em>magic missile</em>, this one striking Wulfrik; she hoped to distract the dwarven ranger long enough to keep him from shooting crossbow bolts at Utred, for she knew her dwarven barbarian friend could take care of the ranger once he had gotten close enough to him. The ploy worked, for Wulfrik turned but for a moment to scowl at the human sorcerer and when he turned back to his original foe he was shocked to find Utred standing there in front of him, his greataxe coming down in an overhang swing. Wulfrik tried to dodge at the last moment and while the axe's blade still struck him, the ranger got off with his life - and his consciousness - still barely hanging by a thread. He dropped his crossbow from numb fingers and tried staggering back, out of range of the raging barbarian.</p><p></p><p>From the wagon, Elithiel's blind, groping hand reached down for Wulfrik, hoping to send her healing energy his way if Heather was out of reach. Her hand finally reached a target, and a dwarven one at that - but it was Utred's shoulder she brushed against and thus Utred whose wounds the blind elf's spell set about to healing.</p><p></p><p>With a moan of despondency, Wulfrik looked about him and saw his companions dead, incapacitated, or barely holding on to consciousness like himself. Utred had spun about at Elithiel's touch and the rage-mad barbarian looked like he was going to retaliate against the blind woman's spell until even he realized what had just happened. Then Utred turned and, renewed, hefted his axe in Wulfrik's direction. "We surrender!" the ranger called out immediately, holding out his weaponless hands; the crossbow was already on the ground before him. He looked back at Heather and the paladin, frowning, dropped her rapier and shield at her feet.</p><p></p><p>Marlo stepped forward and started gathering up the dropped weapons, pulling them out of reach. She shook Cramer awake and he helped bind their prisoners' hands and wounds. Utred snapped out of his battle-rage and the two dwarves took stock of the contents of the rear cart. Up at the overturned front cart, Jhasspok did the same, but the wagon's only contents were sacks filled with some sort of lightweight rocks. Strange! The lizardfolk trotted back to the others as Elithiel spoke from the rear cart.</p><p></p><p>"I know why you are here, more so than you do," she said to the group at large. "I will make you an offer: I will give you each a glimpse of your fates, if you will promise me a quick death afterwards."</p><p></p><p>"A quick death?" asked Cramer. "We don't have to kill you."</p><p></p><p>"It is my wish, the price for the information I have."</p><p></p><p>"You actually <em>want</em> us to kill you?" asked Marlo, astonishment in her voice.</p><p></p><p>"It is preferable to the other path before me, for I have seen what would come next."</p><p></p><p>"Feels kind of wrong killing a blind elf in cold blood like that..." began Khari as the group conferred quietly among themselves.</p><p></p><p>"But if she wants it..." pointed out Utred.</p><p></p><p>"I'll kill her," offered Jhasspok. He wasn't quite sure at the hesitation on the part of his fellow slaves; they'd been instructed they didn't have to kill the members of the caravan but it was quite obviously still an option and if the elf wanted to die, what was the real problem?</p><p></p><p>"All right," Cramer told the elf shortly thereafter. "We'll give you the swift death you're looking for. So, you can see our futures, is that it?"</p><p></p><p>In way of replying, Elithiel turned and faced the gnome straight on; had she not still wore a black band of cloth across her eyes she'd be staring right at him. "Cramer," she intoned - which itself was somewhat eerie, as the cleric was sure he hadn't provided his name to her - "the enemy of your enemy can be your salvation, but you must continue to play the spider's game that all may be free." Cramer scowled; it sounded like he'd been told he had to remain a slave for some time and he was chafing to find his friend and fellow cleric of Fharlanghn and escape the clutches of the drow. Still, he'd also been given a thread of hope: the "enemy of his enemy" could very well be those elven assassins with the full-body tattoos disguising themselves as drow, the better to infiltrate Overreach and try to topple it from within. If he could somehow get in contact with that group....</p><p></p><p>Elithiel turned her head to face Marlo. "Marlo, when the dragon prince seeks his own kingdom, your village shall know great peril." That caused the sorcerer's face to frown in incomprehension: what dragon prince was she talking about? And how was she supposed to do anything about her home village, when she was a slave in the Underdark and had no idea even where her village was in relation to where she was now?</p><p></p><p>Utred Butterflinger was up next apparently, for Elithiel faced him next and said, "Utred, the greatest blacksmith of Brunniir walked into a bar. He left a barmaid and a bastard. Through your father's blood you hold the key to the forgotten forge and the treasures within." The barbarian shrugged. None of that meant anything to him; he liked the bit about the treasure, though.</p><p></p><p>"Jhasspok," the blind elf began next, and the lizardfolk was shocked that she had pronounced his name correctly. "All your life others have told you what to do. One day you shall learn an uncomfortable truth. On that day only you can decide your fate."</p><p></p><p>Finally, Elithiel turned to face Khari Hammerslammer. "Khari, you were not always the way you are. Remember your dreams of the old man. Remember the words he seared with fire and fear into your mind. Only then can the truth of Brunniir be found."</p><p></p><p>Then, facing the group of five slaves as a whole, the blind woman added, "One last vision to share. He was there at the beginning. He will be there at the end. Finish what <strong>Wee Jas</strong> started. End the cycle else all shall be for naught."</p><p></p><p>That got Cramer thinking. "Is your desire for a swift death because of your fear of the <strong>Dying One</strong>?" he asked, using the name of the many-tentacled head he'd "seen" during the trek through the Writhing Gate.</p><p></p><p>"He was there at the beginning. He will be there at the end," Elithiel repeated, apparently the only answer she was willing to give.</p><p></p><p>"We promised you a quick death," Cramer said, sighing. "What about these others?"</p><p></p><p>"They would likely wish it, if they knew what was to come - but ultimately it is not my decision to make." Utred glared immediately at Wulfrik, ready to put an end to that particular life. He shifted his grip on his greataxe tellingly.</p><p></p><p>"I would prefer to face my fate - whatever it might be - head on," replied Wulfrik. To his credit, he said it without his voice breaking and while staring Utred right in the eye.</p><p></p><p>"I will not willingly surrender my life," replied Heather. Guthier likewise stated his preference for life. In the end, it was only Elithiel who was slain, quickly as promised, with a single strike of Jhasspok's blade straight through the elven woman's heart.</p><p></p><p>"So now what?" asked Marlo. "Do we get to keep any of this stuff for ourselves or does it all go back to Overreach?"</p><p></p><p><You are permitted to retain that which you find useful for your current mission,> came the immediate mental reply, causing the sorcerer to flinch. She'd forgotten N'zorthal was watching everything they did. <Load everything else up on the larger of the two carts.></p><p></p><p>At Cramer's command, Jhasspok dragged over the sacks of "lightweight rocks" - in reality, potatoes, yet something else with which the lizardfolk had no prior experience - from the other cart and loaded them up onto the larger one. In the meantime, Marlo claimed a fancy dagger Elithiel had worn at her belt as it looked to be magical, and she also took Wulfrik's masterwork light crossbow and the quiver of bolts that went with it as her own, earning her a deep scowl from the dwarven ranger. Cramer had no use for most of Heather's gear, but he did take a rather well-made sling she carried, thinking it would come in quite handy with his <em>magic stone</em> spell.</p><p></p><p>"What are these?" Jhasspok asked, opening a chest and finding within a pile of shiny, golden disks.</p><p></p><p>"That's gold!" exclaimed Khari, suddenly very interested. Then his expression soured. "I suppose it's t'be shipped back to the drow," he guessed.</p><p></p><p><On the contrary: it would be best for you to take it with you, to pay your way upon the surface world,> corrected N'zorthal. <You will retain the smaller of the carts and the remaining horse for your use during this mission as well.></p><p></p><p>"Then let's load up everything going back to Overreach on the big cart!" called Cramer, hoisting up the paladin's rapier, armor, and shield. Utred and Khari assisted him, loading the cart up with the rest of their prisoners' unwanted goods. The rest of the previously-loaded materials on the larger cart seemed to be mostly lumber and food, all of which would be well-received back in the drow city.</p><p></p><p>There was also a folded map on the body of the rear cart's driver. With directions from Wulfrik, the group found out exactly where they were on the map and where the caravan had been headed: the elven city of Greenvale. The elves there were xenophobic and kept themselves apart from the rest of the world, but recently they had experienced some hard times and were now reliant upon resources from the outside communities.</p><p></p><p>"That should do it," replied Cramer, packing the last of the captured goods onto the wagon: Guthier's armor and his bastard sword, a rather fine-looking weapon but not one any of the melee combatants wanted to wield for their own. Marlo unhitched the horse from the cart. "But now how are we going to get the cart back to Overreach without the horse?"</p><p></p><p><The new slaves will push it,> informed N'zorthal directly into the heads of Cramer, Khari, Marlo, and Utred - the four Jalamir slaves who wore the <em>ring gates</em> on necklaces through which the mind flayer had the tip of his tentacle extruded and touching their skin, by which means he was able to keep in telepathic contact with them from all the many, unknown miles away in the deep recesses of the Underdark.</p><p></p><p>"The new...?" began Marlo, sudden realization dawning on her face. <em>That</em> was why Elithiel, a blind elf, sought death rather than "the other path" before her - the drow would be quite brutal to any member of the elven race, their most hated enemies, brought before them.</p><p></p><p><Yes, the new slaves,> interrupted N'zorthal. <But before they push the cart through the Writhing Gate, you must load it up with the rest of the recoverable items.></p><p></p><p>"What do you mean?" asked Khari, looking around to see what they might have missed.</p><p></p><p><The bodies of the slain, to include the dead horse. It will be reanimated to pull the cart back to Overreach the way you all came. And the bodies of the humans you slew will also serve similar purposes. Fetch them at once and add them to the cart.></p><p></p><p>Cramer explained to Jhasspok - who, lacking a <em>ring gate</em> of his own, had heard none of the mind flayer's instructions - what needed to be done. Realizing the dead horse could be reanimated as a skeleton just as easily as a zombie, the practical lizardfolk used his sword to carve off great chunks of horseflesh from the corpse of the monster he had slain, to serve as provisions for the group while on the road. Then the remains of the equine and the bodies of the caravan drivers and of Elithiel herself were piled onto the back of the cart.</p><p></p><p>"You three: up against the front of the cart," commanded Cramer to the human fighter, the halfling paladin, and the dwarven ranger whose lives they'd thought they'd simply been sparing, not realizing they'd just turned them into Jalamir slaves. Utred cut the bindings tying their wrists together with a dagger but had his greataxe out and ready should they try anything.</p><p></p><p>"What are we supposed to do now?" groused Guthier.</p><p></p><p>"Just push," Cramer commanded, as the Writhing Gate suddenly opened directly behind the cart. "...You'll find out the rest of it on the other side."</p><p></p><p>"I won't forget this," promised Heather Thistlefoot, glaring at the five slaves. "I will find a way to track you down and make you pay for what you've done this day."</p><p></p><p>"That probably won't be as difficult as you might think," sighed Utred, thinking these three would naturally become Jalamir slaves as well once they made it back to the drow city. They'd no doubt be seeing each other again as soon as this current raiding mission was over. The cart was pushed through the <em>gate</em>, which then vanished once the three new slaves had made it completely through.</p><p></p><p>"I wonder if they'll see the Dying One, like we did," Marlo muttered quietly to herself. Jhasspok and Utred looked at each other with quizzical expressions, not knowing what their female friend was talking about - neither of them had experienced anything unusual when passing through the Writhing Gate. But the other three Jalamir slaves had not only seen the tentacled, decapitated head of an Elder God floating through the ether as they passed through the <em>gate</em>, they'd each been given the choice to serve the Dying One or suffer the consequences. Cramer, not wanting to forswear his chosen god Fharlanghn, had refused, as had Khari out of pure stubbornness. But Marlo Pendragon, given the assurances that life would go much easier for her should she swear allegiance to the Dying One, had decided on the spot to accept. Her life, after all, had been all but taken away from her; where she was once a free woman of her village she was now nothing more than a slave to the drow - why <em>shouldn't</em> she take any opportunity to improve her lot in life?</p><p></p><p>"So where should we go next?" asked Cramer, looking at the farmer's map.</p><p></p><p>"Greenvale's as good a place as any," Utred suggested. "And it sounds like they're looking for resources from the outside world, so they'd likely take us in without any questions."</p><p></p><p>But Jhasspok had a question. "What's that noise?" he wanted to know.</p><p></p><p>"What noise?" asked Khari.</p><p></p><p>"That...singing."</p><p></p><p>"Oh, that? Those're just birds."</p><p></p><p>"'Birds'? What are 'birds'?"</p><p></p><p>"Y'know, birds! Little flying things."</p><p></p><p>"Bugs?" asked Jhasspok. He was at least familiar with bugs; the Underdark had plenty of bugs, but he'd never heard of these bird things.</p><p></p><p>"They're like fish," explained Utred, putting the concept into terms the inexperienced lizardfolk could understand. "Except they swim through the air instead of the water, and their fins are bigger and they're covered in feathers instead of scales. Oh, and they got two legs and a beak."</p><p></p><p>Jhasspok tried putting all of this information into a coherent image in his head. "...Those are some strange fish," he decided.</p><p></p><p>"Lotsa strange stuff up here on the surface," Utred warned the lizardfolk. "Just wait until you see rain."</p><p></p><p>"What is 'rain'?"</p><p></p><p>"Water that falls from the sky."</p><p></p><p>"Ssss-ssss-ssss-ssss-ssss-ssss!" laughed Jhasspok. "Now I know you're making this up!"</p><p></p><p>"We'll see," smirked Utred as the group hitched their new horse up to the smaller cart and headed off to Greenvale.</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>Logan had each of us make a Will save when we passed through the Writhing Gate and only Joey and I made our saves. So Logan took the others outside the room while Joey and I chatted about school. We didn't get to find out until the end of the session about the Dying One. Apparently he gave each of the three a choice: follow him and gain a permanent +1 to attacks and saves, or deny him and gain a -2 on attacks and saves for this entire adventure. Harry and Dan both said no and accepted the consequences, whereas Vicki - possibly out of curiosity - took Logan up on the offer. (According to Dan when he and I talked about the session the next day at work, Logan's face lit up in excitement when Vicki accepted the Dying One's offer.) And at the end of the session, Vicki asked Logan what all she needed to update on her character sheet. He showed her where to put the permanent bonuses, and when she asked if there were any changes to her alignment, all he'd say was, "Not yet...." So I think we'll have to keep an eye on Marlo from now on - there's no telling just what all is going on there. But being asked to worship a decapitated Elder God's head from the Far Realm is not likely to be a good thing! (We're also pretty sure, based on the last prophecy we received, that the Dying One is our endgame enemy and that Wee Jas is responsible for his current state.)</p><p></p><p>Also, we hadn't thought far enough ahead to realize the enemies whose surrender we'd accepted were going to wind up as slaves. Now we're going to be facing them from now on once our PCs get back to Overreach, and as they have class levels they'll likely level up as we do, providing us with a ready source of level-appropriate antagonists. That should be interesting.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7878596, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 5: FUN IN THE SUN[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Cramer Appleknocker, gnome cleric 2[/INDENT] [INDENT] Jhasspok, lizardfolk 2[/INDENT] [INDENT] Khari Hammerslammer, dwarf fighter 2[/INDENT] [INDENT] Marlo Pendragon, human sorcerer 2[/INDENT] [INDENT] Utred "Buckets" Butterflinger, dwarf barbarian 2[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 18 December 2019 - - - <There is a side chamber off to your left,> instructed N'zorthal. <You will make camp there, out of the way for the evening. Tomorrow morning you will be teleported through the Writhing Gate to the location of the caravan you will attack.> The slaves looked over to the side chamber indicated by the mind flayer seated at one of the ten stations of the Writhing Gate. It was a roughly circular chamber with a radius of nearly 30 feet. Carved into the smooth, stone floor were a series of concentric rings; Cramer and Marlo each identified the runes circumscribed along the rings as being tied into various [I]magic circles[/I] shielding against the forces of evil, law, and chaos. As they stepped into the chamber and inside the circumference of the circles, they felt the background "wrongness" they'd felt since stepping within visual distance of the Writhing Gate dissipate. Setting up their sleeping areas, Cramer called over to the mind flayer. "You want to tell us more about this raiding mission we're being sent on?" he asked. <You will be sent to the vicinity of a caravan. You will attack the caravan and take its contents for the drow. When you have defeated the members of the caravan, I will reopen the gate and you will send the supplies you have gathered through.> "How big of a caravan we talkin' 'bout?" asked Utred. <Unknown. I will set the parameters of the desired location on the surface and the Writhing Gate will seek out the nearest such set of circumstances.> "So we don't even know where on the surface we'll be going?" asked Khari. <Correct.> "Are we to kill the members of the caravan?" Marlo asked. <Killing isn't necessary to the drow's plans - but do not let them flee to gather reinforcements. Once you have sent the goods through the gate, you will scout out the area to learn what resources are nearby and worth raiding in the future. At the end of 12 days on the surface, I will open the Writhing Gate again and you will return to Overreach.> [I]And these stupid slave tattoos will ensure our good behavior,[/I] Cramer thought sourly to himself. <That is correct,> replied N'zorthal, a reminder that mind flayers were mind readers as well. Cramer didn't say another word for some time, nor did he try to think anything he wouldn't mind N'zorthal picking up. Dealing with telepaths was certainly frustrating! The group set up their camp and discussed the mission among themselves. The dwarves were all for a head-on assault, rushing in with weapons swinging before the caravan members had time to prepare a defense. Marlo suggested spying on the caravan for a bit first if possible, to see what kind of opposition they might face. Jhasspok didn't put a whole lot of thought into what the next day would bring; he'd simply do as instructed and hope for the best. He had no qualms against killing whoever might be among the caravan; as the lizardfolk saw it, this was little different from the arena battles they'd performed during the Festival of Blood - it was either slay or be slain, and if the caravan members didn't want to get killed they'd best do what they could to overcome their attackers. And if they [I]did[/I] get killed by the House Jalamir slaves, then they must not have sufficiently wanted to remain living. Eventually the talk died down - as did the illumination as each member deactivated the illusory flames emanating from their individual [I]slave-light cloaks[/I]. As for N'zorthal, he remained seated at his station at the Writhing Gate, as motionless as the nine petrified remains of other illithids manning the other nine wriggling tentacles. The mind flayer awakened the slaves the next morning with a telepathic prompting. Cramer meditated and prepared his spells for the day as the others rolled up their blankets and bedrolls and gobbled up a quick breakfast of various dried foodstuff. (Jhasspok once again got no takers when offering to share his supply of dried dung beetles.) Then, ready for their mission, the five slaves braced themselves and stepped out of the safety of the [I]magic circles[/I]. They each immediately tensed up as the primitive portions of their brains informed them, on a subconscious level, they needed to immediately flee from the vicinity at full speed. Then the writhing tentacles started moving as one, rising up to their full height and touching each other at their tips, forming a cone pointed at the ceiling. A grayish-white glow surrounded the tips of the rubbery appendages as five of them suddenly ripped downward, tearing a vertical shear in reality and burrowing through the tear. <Step through, quickly!> admonished N'zorthal. Fearing retribution, the slaves all stepped forward through the tear in reality, Cramer tempting fate by taking the time to cast a [I]longstrider[/I] spell on himself before following the other four through the opened [I]gate[/I]. Utred and Jhasspok stepped through the [I]gate[/I] unscathed. The other three, however, each became suddenly - and horribly - aware of the infinitesimal space between moments. As spellcasters, both Cramer and Marlo had been taught teleportation magic sends travelers briefly through the Astral Plane, but this was...something else entirely - some[I]where[/I] else, actually. Somewhere much, much farther away. As the trio got glimpses of various impossible horrors out of the corners of their eyes, they heard an equally terrible voice. Looking in a direction best described as "down" (but only in a general sense; there was no real word for the direction in a language that only acknowledged three dimensions), the three slaves saw the rest of the lengths of the five tentacles responsible for creating the [I]gate[/I] guiding them through the Far Realm, eventually connecting to an enormous, severed head floating in the cosmos. This head had a hundred wriggling tentacles coming from it, the five a mere handful of the whole. [B][I]"SERVE ME,"[/I][/B] said the floating head in a whisper that screamed through the heads of Cramer, Marlo, and Khari. [B][I]"SERVE ME AND ALL SHALL BE WELL."[/I][/B] All of this transpired in no actual time at all, the three slaves stepping out onto the surface world immediately after Utred and Jhasspok had done so. Utred looked around at his surroundings and merely grunted in acknowledgment. They were at the edge of a forest, standing in a small clearing surrounded by trees. There was a road before them, and the clattering of hoof-beats coming from off to the left - the caravan they were to attack, no doubt. But Jhasspok was in a world of wonder, a place of inexplicable things he'd never seen before - things like trees, and grass, and sky. He felt a warmth coming down from above him and looked up to find its source, his curiosity causing him to ignore the disturbed expressions of Khari, Marlo, and Cramer. Then-- "Down!" cried Jhasspok, leaping onto Khari and pulling the Hammerslammer dwarf to the ground, covering him with his own massive body and cowering into a ball, his turtle-shell shield held over his reptilian head. "What th' thunderation?" sputtered Khari, struggling to extricate himself from the lizardfolk's embrace. "What are you doing?" hissed Marlo, not wanting the antics of the lizardfolk and the dwarf to alert the approaching caravan of their presence. For a supposedly stealthy mission, this was getting off to a rather bad start! Jhasspok raised his hand and pointed to the sky. "[I]Fireball[/I]!" he hissed back. Marlo looked up. "That's the [I]sun[/I], you idiot!" she hissed back at the frightened lizardfolk. Then she regretted her harsh words, realizing Jhasspok had never before stepped foot upon the surface world - everything she took for granted here, above ground, was brand new to him. "It's just the sun," she whispered. "It won't hurt us." "It won't fall down on us?" Jhasspok asked, peering fearfully at it from around the edge of his shield. He was familiar with the [I]fireball[/I] spell - drow wizards often cast such spells into the air around the Eight Pillars during times of celebration - and this "sun" looked suspiciously like one of those, perhaps the variant kind where they took a moment or two to explode. "No, it won't - I promise." "Git offa me, ye varmint!" growled Khari. Jhasspok, still not trusting the [I]fireball[/I] hanging in the sky, gazed up at it warily as he stood back up and helped Khari up as well. "And quit lookin' directly at it, or ye'll go blind!" the dwarf added. Cramer, in the meantime, had ignored the others and was giving the caravan his full attention. There were only two carts, each pulled by a single horse; the lead cart was the smaller of the two, with a human farmer behind the reins, while the larger cart behind held five individuals. A human driver sat on the front bench, flicking his reins at the draft animal, while beside him sat an elven woman singing a sad lament. She had a blindfold of dark cloth across her eyes. Behind her were a halfling woman and two rough-looking men, one a human and the other a dwarf. A quick [I]detect magic[/I] spell confirmed Cramer's suspicions that the caravan merchants and their guards had magic about them, centered around the back cart. The cleric hatched a plan at once, using his innate abilities to create a [I]ghost sound[/I] effect from behind him: the howling of a pack of wolves, for he needed an excuse for his sudden appearance on the scene and this would not only put him in the role of a victim in the eyes of the caravan members but also hopefully attract their attention to the part of the forest where the wolf-calls were emanating. "Help me!" he cried, rushing forward between the trees and through the underbrush, right up to the edge of the road, with a look of fearful panic evident upon his face. He was, he noted, halfway between the two carts. But beside him sprang Jhasspok, running at full speed, his tail sticking out behind him to keep his balance. Not having been briefed on Cramer's plan, he had no idea what those dreadful howling noises were supposed to signify; he just made a bee-line for the four-legged monster at the front of the caravan. Jhasspok had never seen a horse before, but judging by its impressive size - and the fact that it led this procession - he reasoned it was the most powerful enemy they faced and it would therefore be prudent to take it out as quickly as possible. He stabbed deep into the beast's right flank with his masterwork short sword, causing the horse to whinny in pain and terror. Khari ran up and shot an arrow at the horse Jhasspok had just attacked. Unlike the lizardfolk, the dwarf had seen a horse before and had no misconceptions about it being a powerful foe; however, he realized a dead horse couldn't run out of range and allow its master to fetch help from elsewhere. Unfortunately, the terrors he had just seen during the travel through the Writhing Gate were still playing in his mind, throwing off his aim. The arrow whizzed harmlessly past the horse's head, to eventually plunk down into the ground on the far side of the road. Utred saw the advantages of slaying the horses first and charged the beast pulling the larger of the two carts. But by this time the caravan members were well aware of the attack and the driver was able to pull the reins to the side, yanking the horse's head out of the way of the dwarven barbarian's swing with his greataxe. Unwilling to allow this attack to go unanswered, the halfling woman, [B]Heather Thistlefoot[/B], leapt down from the wagon, ran up, and stabbed up at the burly dwarf with her rapier. Her other hand held a shield emblazoned with the crest of the halfling goddess [B]Yondalla[/B]. But her paladin senses, which usually aided her in battle, were confusing her here, for when she concentrated on Utred's aura to see if it bore the unmistakable taint of evil she saw only a ribbon of evil rising up from his chest; the barbarian himself was clean of the stain. (The [I]ring gate[/I] Utred wore on a chain around his neck was beneath the dwarf's thick beard and N'zorthal's tentacle was thus hidden from view even if its evil aura was clear enough for the paladin to sense.) Thus distracted, her rapier-stab went wide, leaving Utred unharmed. [B]Wulfrik[/B], the dwarven ranger, displayed a remarkable swiftness in firing and reloading his light crossbow at Utred. What he failed to display was any sense of accuracy, as both bolts went whizzing harmlessly by the sides of Utred's bearded head. But the failed attacks did attract the Butterflinger dwarf's attention; he spun about and locked eyes with the dwarven crossbowman, giving him an unspoken "I'm going to kill you personally for that!" message that was received loud and clear by Wulfrik. Marlo cast a [I]magic missile[/I] spell at the driver of the second cart, who at this time was working to get the frightened horse under control. The spell hit true, causing the merchant to fall, unconscious, over the side of the vehicle into the dirt of the road beneath. The horse reared and kicked out frantically with its forelegs, but Utred was well out of range at that point. [B]Guthier[/B] followed Heather's lead and leaped off the side of the back cart to attack Utred. His attack was much more successful than those of his companions, the blade of his bastard sword slicing into the dwarf's side, drawing blood. Utred immediately added the human fighter to his list of people who needed the personal attention of his greataxe, as he let the rage build inside him to power his attacks. The farmer driving the first cart, however, was much too busy trying to deal with the reptilian monster attacking his horse to worry much about what might be going on behind him. With a frantic flip of his reins and a shouted "HAH!" he tried getting his horse to hightail it out of there. As it turned out, this dovetailed rather nicely with the horse's own thoughts on the subject and the cart lurched forward at top speed. But Jhasspok wasn't going to allow this giant, four-legged threat to escape to gather more of its monster kin; he sprinted forward alongside the fleeing cart, stabbing his sword into the monster's side. Another arrow went whizzing by the horse's head, proof that Khari was still focused on bringing the horse down before the cart could get out of range and the farmer could go for aid. But another slash of the lizardfolk's masterwork blade and the horse crumpled in mid-stride, tipping the cart over and sending the farmer flying to crash to the dirt on the side of the road, where he desperately played possum. With any luck, the lizard-monster would think he was already dead and would leave him alone. No such luck, alas. Having slain the assumed leader of the caravan procession, Jhasspok leaped over the toppled cart and sent his blade deep into the body of the leader's underling. Just that quickly, the farmer was no longer only playing dead. This whole time, [B]Elithiel the Blind[/B] had continued with her elven dirge. Now, she subtly changed the words to her song, invoking a [I]sleep[/I] spell in the area of combat to her right. She caught Cramer in its area of effect and the gnome cleric crashed to the ground, already fast asleep. However, falling right next to him was Guthier, who had also succumbed to the spell. Utred mentally shifted the human bladesman lower on his list of people to kill and turned his attention back to Wulfrik. But then Heather stepped right up to him, her rapier ready for another thrust, and Utred nearly cut her down with a single swipe of his axe. The halfling backed away rapidly, applying a healing spell to the deep gash Utred had cut through her side. Wulfrik responded by leaping off the side of the cart and sending another rapid-fire set of bolts racing at Utred, one of them striking the barbarian in the upper arm. Utred roared in pain and put Wulfrik at the very top of his list. Elithiel suddenly stopped her song, listening intently to the fight going on alongside her. She heard Heather's frantic spellcasting and cast a spell of her own, [I]cure light wounds[/I], to aid the little halfling, who by the sounds of it was surely hurt rather badly. Leaning over the side of the cart, in the space vacated by the driver, she reached down and tried to heal her halfling friend. Unfortunately, she couldn't find the little paladin and the spell remained, unspent, in the blind elf's blindly groping hand. Marlo cast another [I]magic missile[/I], this one striking Wulfrik; she hoped to distract the dwarven ranger long enough to keep him from shooting crossbow bolts at Utred, for she knew her dwarven barbarian friend could take care of the ranger once he had gotten close enough to him. The ploy worked, for Wulfrik turned but for a moment to scowl at the human sorcerer and when he turned back to his original foe he was shocked to find Utred standing there in front of him, his greataxe coming down in an overhang swing. Wulfrik tried to dodge at the last moment and while the axe's blade still struck him, the ranger got off with his life - and his consciousness - still barely hanging by a thread. He dropped his crossbow from numb fingers and tried staggering back, out of range of the raging barbarian. From the wagon, Elithiel's blind, groping hand reached down for Wulfrik, hoping to send her healing energy his way if Heather was out of reach. Her hand finally reached a target, and a dwarven one at that - but it was Utred's shoulder she brushed against and thus Utred whose wounds the blind elf's spell set about to healing. With a moan of despondency, Wulfrik looked about him and saw his companions dead, incapacitated, or barely holding on to consciousness like himself. Utred had spun about at Elithiel's touch and the rage-mad barbarian looked like he was going to retaliate against the blind woman's spell until even he realized what had just happened. Then Utred turned and, renewed, hefted his axe in Wulfrik's direction. "We surrender!" the ranger called out immediately, holding out his weaponless hands; the crossbow was already on the ground before him. He looked back at Heather and the paladin, frowning, dropped her rapier and shield at her feet. Marlo stepped forward and started gathering up the dropped weapons, pulling them out of reach. She shook Cramer awake and he helped bind their prisoners' hands and wounds. Utred snapped out of his battle-rage and the two dwarves took stock of the contents of the rear cart. Up at the overturned front cart, Jhasspok did the same, but the wagon's only contents were sacks filled with some sort of lightweight rocks. Strange! The lizardfolk trotted back to the others as Elithiel spoke from the rear cart. "I know why you are here, more so than you do," she said to the group at large. "I will make you an offer: I will give you each a glimpse of your fates, if you will promise me a quick death afterwards." "A quick death?" asked Cramer. "We don't have to kill you." "It is my wish, the price for the information I have." "You actually [I]want[/I] us to kill you?" asked Marlo, astonishment in her voice. "It is preferable to the other path before me, for I have seen what would come next." "Feels kind of wrong killing a blind elf in cold blood like that..." began Khari as the group conferred quietly among themselves. "But if she wants it..." pointed out Utred. "I'll kill her," offered Jhasspok. He wasn't quite sure at the hesitation on the part of his fellow slaves; they'd been instructed they didn't have to kill the members of the caravan but it was quite obviously still an option and if the elf wanted to die, what was the real problem? "All right," Cramer told the elf shortly thereafter. "We'll give you the swift death you're looking for. So, you can see our futures, is that it?" In way of replying, Elithiel turned and faced the gnome straight on; had she not still wore a black band of cloth across her eyes she'd be staring right at him. "Cramer," she intoned - which itself was somewhat eerie, as the cleric was sure he hadn't provided his name to her - "the enemy of your enemy can be your salvation, but you must continue to play the spider's game that all may be free." Cramer scowled; it sounded like he'd been told he had to remain a slave for some time and he was chafing to find his friend and fellow cleric of Fharlanghn and escape the clutches of the drow. Still, he'd also been given a thread of hope: the "enemy of his enemy" could very well be those elven assassins with the full-body tattoos disguising themselves as drow, the better to infiltrate Overreach and try to topple it from within. If he could somehow get in contact with that group.... Elithiel turned her head to face Marlo. "Marlo, when the dragon prince seeks his own kingdom, your village shall know great peril." That caused the sorcerer's face to frown in incomprehension: what dragon prince was she talking about? And how was she supposed to do anything about her home village, when she was a slave in the Underdark and had no idea even where her village was in relation to where she was now? Utred Butterflinger was up next apparently, for Elithiel faced him next and said, "Utred, the greatest blacksmith of Brunniir walked into a bar. He left a barmaid and a bastard. Through your father's blood you hold the key to the forgotten forge and the treasures within." The barbarian shrugged. None of that meant anything to him; he liked the bit about the treasure, though. "Jhasspok," the blind elf began next, and the lizardfolk was shocked that she had pronounced his name correctly. "All your life others have told you what to do. One day you shall learn an uncomfortable truth. On that day only you can decide your fate." Finally, Elithiel turned to face Khari Hammerslammer. "Khari, you were not always the way you are. Remember your dreams of the old man. Remember the words he seared with fire and fear into your mind. Only then can the truth of Brunniir be found." Then, facing the group of five slaves as a whole, the blind woman added, "One last vision to share. He was there at the beginning. He will be there at the end. Finish what [B]Wee Jas[/B] started. End the cycle else all shall be for naught." That got Cramer thinking. "Is your desire for a swift death because of your fear of the [B]Dying One[/B]?" he asked, using the name of the many-tentacled head he'd "seen" during the trek through the Writhing Gate. "He was there at the beginning. He will be there at the end," Elithiel repeated, apparently the only answer she was willing to give. "We promised you a quick death," Cramer said, sighing. "What about these others?" "They would likely wish it, if they knew what was to come - but ultimately it is not my decision to make." Utred glared immediately at Wulfrik, ready to put an end to that particular life. He shifted his grip on his greataxe tellingly. "I would prefer to face my fate - whatever it might be - head on," replied Wulfrik. To his credit, he said it without his voice breaking and while staring Utred right in the eye. "I will not willingly surrender my life," replied Heather. Guthier likewise stated his preference for life. In the end, it was only Elithiel who was slain, quickly as promised, with a single strike of Jhasspok's blade straight through the elven woman's heart. "So now what?" asked Marlo. "Do we get to keep any of this stuff for ourselves or does it all go back to Overreach?" <You are permitted to retain that which you find useful for your current mission,> came the immediate mental reply, causing the sorcerer to flinch. She'd forgotten N'zorthal was watching everything they did. <Load everything else up on the larger of the two carts.> At Cramer's command, Jhasspok dragged over the sacks of "lightweight rocks" - in reality, potatoes, yet something else with which the lizardfolk had no prior experience - from the other cart and loaded them up onto the larger one. In the meantime, Marlo claimed a fancy dagger Elithiel had worn at her belt as it looked to be magical, and she also took Wulfrik's masterwork light crossbow and the quiver of bolts that went with it as her own, earning her a deep scowl from the dwarven ranger. Cramer had no use for most of Heather's gear, but he did take a rather well-made sling she carried, thinking it would come in quite handy with his [I]magic stone[/I] spell. "What are these?" Jhasspok asked, opening a chest and finding within a pile of shiny, golden disks. "That's gold!" exclaimed Khari, suddenly very interested. Then his expression soured. "I suppose it's t'be shipped back to the drow," he guessed. <On the contrary: it would be best for you to take it with you, to pay your way upon the surface world,> corrected N'zorthal. <You will retain the smaller of the carts and the remaining horse for your use during this mission as well.> "Then let's load up everything going back to Overreach on the big cart!" called Cramer, hoisting up the paladin's rapier, armor, and shield. Utred and Khari assisted him, loading the cart up with the rest of their prisoners' unwanted goods. The rest of the previously-loaded materials on the larger cart seemed to be mostly lumber and food, all of which would be well-received back in the drow city. There was also a folded map on the body of the rear cart's driver. With directions from Wulfrik, the group found out exactly where they were on the map and where the caravan had been headed: the elven city of Greenvale. The elves there were xenophobic and kept themselves apart from the rest of the world, but recently they had experienced some hard times and were now reliant upon resources from the outside communities. "That should do it," replied Cramer, packing the last of the captured goods onto the wagon: Guthier's armor and his bastard sword, a rather fine-looking weapon but not one any of the melee combatants wanted to wield for their own. Marlo unhitched the horse from the cart. "But now how are we going to get the cart back to Overreach without the horse?" <The new slaves will push it,> informed N'zorthal directly into the heads of Cramer, Khari, Marlo, and Utred - the four Jalamir slaves who wore the [I]ring gates[/I] on necklaces through which the mind flayer had the tip of his tentacle extruded and touching their skin, by which means he was able to keep in telepathic contact with them from all the many, unknown miles away in the deep recesses of the Underdark. "The new...?" began Marlo, sudden realization dawning on her face. [I]That[/I] was why Elithiel, a blind elf, sought death rather than "the other path" before her - the drow would be quite brutal to any member of the elven race, their most hated enemies, brought before them. <Yes, the new slaves,> interrupted N'zorthal. <But before they push the cart through the Writhing Gate, you must load it up with the rest of the recoverable items.> "What do you mean?" asked Khari, looking around to see what they might have missed. <The bodies of the slain, to include the dead horse. It will be reanimated to pull the cart back to Overreach the way you all came. And the bodies of the humans you slew will also serve similar purposes. Fetch them at once and add them to the cart.> Cramer explained to Jhasspok - who, lacking a [I]ring gate[/I] of his own, had heard none of the mind flayer's instructions - what needed to be done. Realizing the dead horse could be reanimated as a skeleton just as easily as a zombie, the practical lizardfolk used his sword to carve off great chunks of horseflesh from the corpse of the monster he had slain, to serve as provisions for the group while on the road. Then the remains of the equine and the bodies of the caravan drivers and of Elithiel herself were piled onto the back of the cart. "You three: up against the front of the cart," commanded Cramer to the human fighter, the halfling paladin, and the dwarven ranger whose lives they'd thought they'd simply been sparing, not realizing they'd just turned them into Jalamir slaves. Utred cut the bindings tying their wrists together with a dagger but had his greataxe out and ready should they try anything. "What are we supposed to do now?" groused Guthier. "Just push," Cramer commanded, as the Writhing Gate suddenly opened directly behind the cart. "...You'll find out the rest of it on the other side." "I won't forget this," promised Heather Thistlefoot, glaring at the five slaves. "I will find a way to track you down and make you pay for what you've done this day." "That probably won't be as difficult as you might think," sighed Utred, thinking these three would naturally become Jalamir slaves as well once they made it back to the drow city. They'd no doubt be seeing each other again as soon as this current raiding mission was over. The cart was pushed through the [I]gate[/I], which then vanished once the three new slaves had made it completely through. "I wonder if they'll see the Dying One, like we did," Marlo muttered quietly to herself. Jhasspok and Utred looked at each other with quizzical expressions, not knowing what their female friend was talking about - neither of them had experienced anything unusual when passing through the Writhing Gate. But the other three Jalamir slaves had not only seen the tentacled, decapitated head of an Elder God floating through the ether as they passed through the [I]gate[/I], they'd each been given the choice to serve the Dying One or suffer the consequences. Cramer, not wanting to forswear his chosen god Fharlanghn, had refused, as had Khari out of pure stubbornness. But Marlo Pendragon, given the assurances that life would go much easier for her should she swear allegiance to the Dying One, had decided on the spot to accept. Her life, after all, had been all but taken away from her; where she was once a free woman of her village she was now nothing more than a slave to the drow - why [I]shouldn't[/I] she take any opportunity to improve her lot in life? "So where should we go next?" asked Cramer, looking at the farmer's map. "Greenvale's as good a place as any," Utred suggested. "And it sounds like they're looking for resources from the outside world, so they'd likely take us in without any questions." But Jhasspok had a question. "What's that noise?" he wanted to know. "What noise?" asked Khari. "That...singing." "Oh, that? Those're just birds." "'Birds'? What are 'birds'?" "Y'know, birds! Little flying things." "Bugs?" asked Jhasspok. He was at least familiar with bugs; the Underdark had plenty of bugs, but he'd never heard of these bird things. "They're like fish," explained Utred, putting the concept into terms the inexperienced lizardfolk could understand. "Except they swim through the air instead of the water, and their fins are bigger and they're covered in feathers instead of scales. Oh, and they got two legs and a beak." Jhasspok tried putting all of this information into a coherent image in his head. "...Those are some strange fish," he decided. "Lotsa strange stuff up here on the surface," Utred warned the lizardfolk. "Just wait until you see rain." "What is 'rain'?" "Water that falls from the sky." "Ssss-ssss-ssss-ssss-ssss-ssss!" laughed Jhasspok. "Now I know you're making this up!" "We'll see," smirked Utred as the group hitched their new horse up to the smaller cart and headed off to Greenvale. - - - Logan had each of us make a Will save when we passed through the Writhing Gate and only Joey and I made our saves. So Logan took the others outside the room while Joey and I chatted about school. We didn't get to find out until the end of the session about the Dying One. Apparently he gave each of the three a choice: follow him and gain a permanent +1 to attacks and saves, or deny him and gain a -2 on attacks and saves for this entire adventure. Harry and Dan both said no and accepted the consequences, whereas Vicki - possibly out of curiosity - took Logan up on the offer. (According to Dan when he and I talked about the session the next day at work, Logan's face lit up in excitement when Vicki accepted the Dying One's offer.) And at the end of the session, Vicki asked Logan what all she needed to update on her character sheet. He showed her where to put the permanent bonuses, and when she asked if there were any changes to her alignment, all he'd say was, "Not yet...." So I think we'll have to keep an eye on Marlo from now on - there's no telling just what all is going on there. But being asked to worship a decapitated Elder God's head from the Far Realm is not likely to be a good thing! (We're also pretty sure, based on the last prophecy we received, that the Dying One is our endgame enemy and that Wee Jas is responsible for his current state.) Also, we hadn't thought far enough ahead to realize the enemies whose surrender we'd accepted were going to wind up as slaves. Now we're going to be facing them from now on once our PCs get back to Overreach, and as they have class levels they'll likely level up as we do, providing us with a ready source of level-appropriate antagonists. That should be interesting. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Raiders of the Overreach
Top