Printable Format

Chapter 4: A Deeper Darkness

Turn 81: Into the Outer Fane

As the dragon flew across the vast chamber, Sparhawk, invisible as ever, began screaming to his unseen associates:

“Mine companions, the hour is upon us to prove our mettle and strike down these forces of evil! Use every power in thine ability and fight with me unto our deaths! This shalt be our finest moment, and those who fight not with us whilst they rest at home shalt rue the day for they wert not with us to save the world! Thou art mine brothers! I feel strengthened with new powers bestowed upon me by the Light of Oerth! Let us extinguish these forces of darkness and herald a new age of pace et bonum!”

The paladin hefted Caladbolg and moved forward to meet the dragon as it descended. “To arms, mine friends, to arms!” he yelled.

Syll, who was close enough to the paladin to be able to discern his rough location from the shouts, hissed back, “Whoa! I ain't going down in no blaze of glory! We need to find the smallest door and get through it now. Then we shut it behind us and get the heck out of here. Fighting this thing would be suicidal!”

Syll did not wait to see if Sparhawk would respond. Rather, the elf ran flat out, away from the paladin and towards the exit, before the dragon could close with him.

Although it had not been Sparhawk’s intention per se, his shouts drew the dragon right to him. It crashed to the ground just west of the paladin and then flailed about wildly with its claws, teeth, wings, and tail. Such was the dragon’s power and the frenzy of its attack that Sparhawk was hit no less than six times by its various physical weapons (7, 3, 1, 0, 0, 8 damage—each of these numbers already reflects the damage reduction of 10 thanks to the Stoneskin spell protecting Sparhawk—60 points of Stoneskin are used up). The pounding—particularly the final slap from the dragon’s tail—sent Sparhawk flying to crash against the northern wall of the chamber, and it was only Syll’s stoneskin spell that kept the paladin alive at all.

“Syll!” shouted Luger from the western side of the room, not realizing the elf had already fled. “I do not think our magical fire will be effective against this dragon, but our other spells could be enough to give it pause. I would suggest you move out of its path and fire some magic missiles or cold/ice spells at it if you have them. I'll hit it with my searing light spells before giving Geistblatt a taste of dragon blood!”

“Uh, I ain't in great shape, and I don't have anything that will even make this thing pause!” shouted the elf from where he now stood on the far side of the chamber, quite close to Danton in the far northeastern corner, although the elf had no idea the scout was so close.

“I think if we stick around we will all be seriously dead before anyone can even try to reason with this thing!” continued the elf. “It already crisped us once; I don't think we can talk to it!”

Danton had watched all of this in silence while considering what the party should do to escape the death trap into which it had stumbled. Syll’s blunt words helped him reach a decision.

“Comrades!” screamed the Velunese at the top of his lungs. “Let us flee through the northward exit, and with all the speed you can muster! There art armored ogres down the eastern corridor, and we stand no chance against this wyrm at the present time! We must go north until we can duck into a side passage.
But, beware! Whoever picketh up the rear wilt have to go backward, with his shield betwixt him and the dragon's fire, for the beast wilt surely be able to shoot another gout of flame at us!”

“I’m with you, man!” said Syll from nearby. “Let’s go!”

”Let us away!” yelled Danton as he watched the dragon looking about for targets. “Come, Tenaris! Do not tarry! Neither your sword nor your bravery art a match for this wyrm! Run!”

With Danton and Syll plainly intending to flee, Luger gave up any thought of fighting or parleying with the dragon, and he too headed for the exit, skirting well around the area where the dragon was thrashing about—seemingly trying to find someone else. The cleric thought he could hear Tenaris following close behind him.

Danton and Syll were in the archway that led to the northern hallway in a matter of seconds. Here they could no longer see the ogres down the eastern corridor, but there was no sound of the humanoids approaching—at least not yet.

“Once we art beyond the doorway and safe,” said Danton quietly—so that only Syll could hear, “the ogres wilt have to expose themselves to the dragon's wrath in order to follow us, if they can see us at all. Then, once out of the dragon's sight, we can pull the ogres' fingernails off if we please ... though it may prove tougher than one might at first suppose.”

“I’m not sure the dragon can see us,” mused Syll as he watched the beast throw itself about as if it were trying to strike something blindly. “I think it heard us when we came in and just decided to bathe as much of the room in fire as it could. I think if it could actually see invisible creatures we’d all be dead by now.”

While Luger and Tenaris were working their way carefully around the dragon—taking advantage of the fact that it was making so much noise in its search for someone else, the person whom it sought—Sparhawk—picked himself up off the floor, quietly healed as many of his wounds as he could (Lay on Hands: +24 HP), and then moved along the wall towards the exit.

[Move Silently: Sparhawk: 11-2=9, Luger: 19-2=17, Tenaris: 4-2=2]

Although Sparhawk was hardly quiet as he crept towards the exit, someone else made more noise than he, and this drew the dragon’s attention. Rather than flying this time, it lumbered towards the center of the room, thrashing about as it went. This distraction enabled Sparhawk to reach the entrance to the northern hallway without suffering further abuse.

“I doth not like fleeing from all these dragons!” he muttered to no one in particular. “I am a Knight of Heironeous! I shalt destroy them all on the way out, or if the temple is destroyed and the dragons too, I shalt go on a quest to slay ten dragons!”

“Pipe down!” hissed Syll. “We’re getting outta here as soon as Luger and Tenaris arrive!”

”Alas,” sighed Sparhawk, “let us see if we canst not find a way towards the Doomdreamers, bypassing, unwillingly, their evil hordes, whilst we art invisible to mortal eyes.”

There was still no sign of the ogres, who apparently hesitated to enter the dragon’s chamber when it was in such a wrath.

Based on the dragon’s behavior, it was now obvious that the beast could not in fact see the party members. It stalked about the center of the room, thrashing about with all of its razor-sharp appendages, evidently hoping that luck and its sense of hearing and would enable it to strike something.

Suddenly there were footfalls nearby and then Luger’s voice could be heard. “We’re here!” hissed the cleric. “Now, let’s move!”

“Tenaris?” asked Danton, determined to be sure the woman had made it, despite the fact that he had heard two sets of footsteps approaching.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” said the woman quietly.

“Lovely,” said Syll. “Now can we please get the hell out of here?”

Just as the group was about to move off, the dragon apparently realized its victims were escaping, for it suddenly roared out a booming command, in orcish of all languages, that Danton understood all too clearly.

<<After them, you pathetic cowards! They flee to the north and I must remain here! If they escape, Hedrack will have your hides!>>

“Move now!” hissed Danton. “To the northernmost side corridor you can see! There we shall make our stand against the ogres—if they pursue.”

“My Lady Death,” he added to Tenaris, wherever exactly she was, “flee to the northern hall, where I shalt be waiting for you! And prithee call out when you art there, so that I know it!”

And with that, Danton and the others were off. This time there was no pretense of stealth. Only speed was a priority now. The group raced past the first western corridor that Danton had seen, noting that it ran for sixty feet before turning northward. A total of two closed wooden doors were visible on the northern side of the hallway.

Once past that hallway, the group entered a very narrow area—so narrow that Syll and Danton—who were ahead of the others—bumped into each other more than once. After approximately fifty feet in the narrow passage, Danton and Syll entered a wider area, where the eastern wall withdrew to a distance of forty feet. There was a narrow hallway heading to the west. When Danton glanced in that direction briefly as he ran past it, it looked like the hallway ran for sixty feet and then intersected with another north-south hallway. Ten feet past that hallway, the scout came to the northernmost corridor heading west and he stopped short. Syll, still closeby, heard Danton halt and stopped too.

When the scout and the sorcerer looked back to the south, they could see that a total of six ogres, all in black full plate armor, with the symbol of the Elder Elemental Eye emblazoned on the breastplates, were moving charging up from the south towards them—obviously following the sounds of the party’s retreat. Each ogre wielded a massive greatsword.

“Time for our stand! We cannot have this lot pursuing us wherever we go!” hissed Danton. “Is everyone present?”

“Ya know I’m here,” replied Syll.

“I’m here,” said Luger.

“Bring ‘em on!” came Tenaris’ voice from nearby.

“Let us stand and fight—for once!” said Sparhawk as he backed towards the others.

The party members each quickly chose their own targets—declaring which ogres they would attack based on the physical characteristics and locations of the latter. All of this talk and noise ruined the element of surprise, but it did enable the invisible party members to coordinate the beginning of the imminent battle to a degree.

[Initiative: Tenaris: 27, Sparhawk: 20, Luger: 18, Syll: 17, Ogres: 10, Danton: 5]

Tenaris and Sparhawk opened the attack on the ogres, becoming visible as they did so. Sparhawk’s initial strikes with Caladbolg were particularly devastating. He slashed right through the plate mail of his chosen ogre, and then cut the massive humanoid down with a follow-up swing (attack: 16+15=31, 20+10=30, hit and potential critical hit—2^nd roll: 17+10=27; critical hit; 14, 29 damage). The paladin’s follow-up attack was so devastating that the swing carried through after felling the first ogre and slammed into a second, nearby humanoid (cleave feat attack: 11+10=21; hit; 12 damage).

“Die fiends!” exulted Sparhawk as he saw the looks of shock on the ogres faces.

Luger and Syll’s sudden appearances and assaults on the ogres were not quite so devastating, but no less dramatic. Appearing out of thin air, the elf sent a volley of magic missiles slamming into one of the humanoids. The volley was so powerful that it staggered the massive creature and nearly knocked him over (cast magic missile: 18 damage). At the same time, Luger appeared out of thin air and struck another ogre from the side twice with his blade before the big creature even knew the cleric was there (attack: 17+11=28, 16+6=22; two hits, 5, 8 damage).

The five ogres that survived the party’s initial onslaught concentrated most of their wrath on Tenaris and Sparhawk, with two of the humanoids attacking each of the party’s warriors. Both the elf woman and the paladin were hit multiple times, and the ogre’s blows with their massive greatswords were enough to blow through Syll’s magical protection (Sparhawk hit twice: damage reduced to 5, 11 by stoneskin; 20 points stoneskin used). Luger took a hard hit as well when the ogre he had surprised turned and struck him in the side with its massive blade (hit once: damage reduced to 8 by stoneskin; 10 points stoneskin lost).

When Danton saw Tenaris hit by the ogre, he had to fight the urge to scream and rush to her assistance. Somehow managing this feat, the scout continued to slip invisibly around the ogres, pressing himself up against the side of the corridor at one point, and then came up behind the last of the creatures, where he quickly ran Rat’s Tail through the back of the beast (attack: 19+11=30, 11+6=17; one potential critical hit—2^nd roll: 9+11=20; ordinary sneak attack hit only: 28 damage). Danton struck twice in such rapid succession that it was only after his second thrust with his rapier caromed off the ogre’s armor did he realize that the first strike had been fatal—the ogre was already bleeding out and collapsing to the floor.

A second later, Tenaris finished the ogre she had attacked and, with a wild spin move, stuck her blade into the opposite side of the one fighting Luger. This distracted the humanoid just long enough for the cleric to stab it in the gut with Geistblatt, finishing it off (attack: 4+11=15, 19+6=25; one hit; 4 damage).

“Thou shalt join thy fellows in the deepest pits of Hades!” bellowed Sparhawk as he brought the brief fight to an end by cleaving the last ogre’s right arm clean off its shoulder and then running it through with Caladbolg (attack: 11+15=26, 16+10=26; two hits; 14, 19 damage).

With the ogres dispatched, it was obvious that the party needed a location to get out of sight and heal the worst of the damage administered by the dragon’s breath. Starting with the closest option at hand, Danton moved towards a closed wooden door that he had seen on the northern side of the northernmost east-west passageway, just to the west of where the party had fought the ogres. Moving quickly, he stuck his head against the wooden door in the northernmost east-west corridor (search: 12+16=28, listen: 7+8=15), and, detecting nothing, motioned for Sparhawk to try the door. Much to everyone’s relief, it was not locked.

Beyond the door was a small living chamber, no more than fifteen by thirty feet in dimensions, but large enough for the party to slip inside and finally get out of the exposed corridor. Black curtains lined the walls of the small chamber, with three large Elder Elemental Eye triangles suspended from the ceiling on heavy iron chains. A bed, side table, a dresser, a wardrobe, a chest, and several bookcases furnished the room.

“Well done,” said Sparhawk to Danton once the party was safely—at least for the moment—ensconced in the room and the door was shut and locked. Unlike the torch-lined hallways outside, there was no light here, so Danton withdrew his magical green torch. Luger immediately began the process of healing the party’s many wounds, with some assistance by Sparhawk (Convert Detect MagicX2 and LightX2 to Cure Minor Wounds: Danton +4 HP, Convert Comprehend Languages and Command to Cure Light Wounds: Syll +16 HP, Convert Endurance, Sound BurstX2 to Cure Moderate Wounds: Tenaris +70 HP, Convert Searing Light and Dispel Magic to Cure Serious Wounds: Sparhawk +41 HP, Convert Greater Magic Weapon to Cure Critical Wounds: Luger +29 HP; Sparhawk cast Cure Light Wounds twice on self: +17 HP).

“Thou hath been brave, pithy, and even commanding,” continued Sparhawk to Danton approvingly as the healing took place. “Apparently all it doth take is a dragon to rob our scout's philosophizing tongue from him. I mayest seeketh their company more often!”

”’Pithy’?” asked Danton rhetorically. “Now I know you art being sarcastic. Let us get moving again that you may get thee to the rear with your bravery, Sir Sparhawk, whilst I traipse on up ahead to find some trap to waylay your noble self. But forget not to hold your shield up high ... for 'twould be a shame to lose such a vainglorious head as your own.”

Danton paused in his retort and then shrugged his shoulders. “Alas, but even in rejoinder I am not pithy.”

”Thou canst talk, Danton, thou canst talk,” laughed Sparhawk. “Should the dragon hunt us, I mayest just let mine shield fall and enjoy the crashing fire surrounding mine ears and washing thy words away in a moment of pure and blissful delight!”

“Nay, Sir Sparhawk,” shot back Danton. “It troubles me greatly to say so, but should it come to another encounter, methinks the fiery blast is all yours.”

Sparhawk laughed again. “I wilt truly enjoy those bottles of Furyondian red with thee, our feet up next to a roaring fire, and the pleasant sounds of a bard lulling us to sleep as I finally hear thy tale, friend. Thou hast taught me the value of a good laugh to balance mine righteousness since I hath met thee by the side of the mountain what seemeth like a lifetime ago.”

“Well, we hath had a close call, and no mistake!” said Danton, turning away from Sparhawk and looking at the rest of the burned and battered group around him. “Even gaining the front door of the Outer Fane plungeth one into immediate peril, which leaveth me chary of going forward ... in most any direction. But onward we must go, since we wilt have to deal with the dragon if we go back. And even if we slay the wyrm, there is no guarantee that we can pry the exterior door back open ... nor any reason to believe, even if we could, that such would be a wise course of action.”

”For mine part,” he continued, “I see no point to returning to slay the dragon. It is a doorward and guardian, 'twould seem to me, and we hath avoided it wisely. Why fight it unless we hath no choice? That indicates to me that we should begin exploring this northern wing of the Outer Fane. I also doth not think we hath much time to waste. Mine concern is that if we linger for very long, the Doomdreamers wilt be alerted to our presence ... if they doth not already know of it ... and then they wilt visit pain upon us in some manner. Either way, we wilt not be long safe anywhere in the Outer Fane. This is as I guessed it to be. So methinks we must press our luck and press forward as carefully and craftily as possible, fighting only when we must and settling down for rest only when we hath no choice. What say the rest of you?”

The scout looked at Tenaris with a grin, “Any insights, mine quick-tempered Mistress of the Open Palm?”

“Better that than Mistress-of-the-flat-of-my-sword!” interjected Sparhawk before the woman could say anything.

“He’s right,” said Tenaris with a nod towards Sparhawk. “Your decisiveness out there almost makes me forget all of your recent obnoxiousness—almost.”

”Danton, thou hath proposed a reasonable, prudent plan,” said Sparhawk. “We must act quickly if we art to keep whatever advantage we doth have in exploring unseen before our foes art upon us! Why doth mine mind tell me that much worse evils await us around other corners?”

“Frankly,” said Luger, “I am not concerned at this point about the Doomdreamers knowing we are in the Outer Fane because I believe they have been aware of our whereabouts for some time. It is obvious that we were expected and that the dragon’s and ogres’ ambush was planned. I actually expected there would be even more forces waiting for us and I find myself surprised that there—seemingly—were not. That strikes me as strange—and somehow worrisome.”

“Yer all worked up by the fact that there weren’t more guys waiting to attack us?” asked Syll. “Man, I thought I was paranoid.”

“Be that as it may,” said Luger, “now that we are committed to the north tunnel, there is probably no turning back. I think the door to the bridge could likely be opened from the inside just as it is from the outside—with the key. We might keep this in mind should we have the opportunity to flee back outside of the Fane at some point to regroup. In such a scenario, we might try to track down Eiger and company and add them to our team when re-entering. If we had to face the dragon again, it would be useful to have allies.”

“Allies? Cannon fodder—or all-purpose damage absorbers, you mean,” added Syll helpfully.

Luger smiled at the comment. “While I do not relish the idea of backtracking, there is no doubt that the mines and tunnels are relatively safe compared to this awful place.”

While the others continued speaking, Danton quickly rifled the room (search: 9+16=25). The bookcases contained a great number of works on geography, the peoples and nations of the Flanaess, magical theory, and science. The wardrobe was conspicuously empty, as was the sole, unlocked chest. In fact, the only item of note was an envelope addressed to someone named “Master Dunrat” from someone else named “Naquent” that had been left on the desk.

Danton picked up the envelope and tore it open without a moment’s hesitation.

“Guess you spy-types got lots of practice reading other people’s mail eh, Danton?” asked Syll with a smirk.

“Gentlemen do not read one another’s mail,” commented Sparhawk disdainfully. “At least not in Furyondy.”

“Oh, yes they do,” retorted Danton as he unfolded the single sheet of parchment that had been in the envelope. “Sometime I shalt have to tell you about mine run-ins with the Furyondian secret service—their exploits—and ruthlessness—are nothing short of legendary.”

While Sparhawk seemed flabbergasted by the very idea that there might even exist a Furyondian secret service, Danton proceeded to read the contents of the parchment aloud:

“Master Dunrat:

Once you return with the relics from the Moathouse, you are immediately commanded to present a full report to Master Hedrack. He does not want to be kept waiting.

--Naquent”

“A very interesting letter, albeit a brief one,” mused Luger when Danton finished reading. “So was this Dunrat the leader of the Moathouse expedition that we destroyed? Or is he someone who has since been sent there to continue the work of those we killed?”

“I shall have to give this some thought,” said Danton, “and look back through mine journal and the papers we hath acquired—perhaps they offer some clue or answer.”

“That shall have to wait until we rest once again,” pronounced Sparhawk, “should we ever have the opportunity to rest again. This endless temple is enough to make anyone weary, but Caladbolg weighs heavier still. Although, in recompense, the blade hath also spoken to me again, and it claimeth that its powers hath increased once more.”

(Caladbolg has now begun to provide Sparhawk with the ‘defiance of heroes’, a +2 bonus to all saving throws, but it has also taken 2 more hit points from him.)

Because time was clearly of the essence, the group moved quickly out of the bedchamber, with Danton stowing away the Naquent note and then pulling the door shut behind the party. As he did so, Syll lingered behind with him and said in a low voice:

“You better watch it with Tenaris, bud. Speaking both as a native of Celene and as one guy to another, I can tell you that you are really starting to annoy her. If you keep up all this bullshit, I think she’s going to dump you. In the abstract, I don’t really give a crap about that—it’s your problem, not mine—but if it poisons the whole group while we’re still in this place—then it is my problem. So do us all a favor and tone down the smart comments and ass-grabbing, okay? Show a little respect, eh?”

Danton was caught off guard by the elf’s comment and the others were both close by and anxious to get moving again, so there was no opportunity to respond.

Once out of the small bedchamber, the group turned west down the short corridor. Forty feet past the doorway, Danton and Sparhawk came to a north-south hallway that was fifteen feet wide. Looking south, they could see that this was the same hallway that intersected with the two other east-west halls they had passed. Beyond the entrances to those passages, there was a single closed wooden door near the southern end of the hallway, as well as an opening on the hall’s western side, roughly halfway down its distance.

Immediately to the north was a vast hall with a vaulted ceiling 30 feet high. The room was forty feet wide from east to west and eighty feet long from south to north. It was furnished with a number of long wooden tables flanked by benches. A raised area along the east wall held another table with four chairs on one side, so that those seated in them would face the rest of the room. Behind the table were six long purple banners with alternating black triangles with inverted Ys and black, upside-down two-step pyramids. The west wall had a shelf about ten feet up, upon which rested gargoyles of gray stone.

There was a single closed wooden door in the center of the western wall. A ten-foot wide hallway led out of the room to the north. An archway of carved skulls girded each of the two main entrances to the hall.

Since there appeared to be nothing of value in the room and the party felt very exposed while in such a large, open space, Danton and Sparhawk led the group through it and out the northern hallway very quickly.

After only twenty feet, the northern hallway entered a second sizable hall. Spreading out both vertically and horizontally, this large chamber was only dimly torchlit, but the full 60-foot vaulted ceiling was still visible. The walls—sixty feet north to south and fifty west to east—and ceiling had been elaborately painted with images of men and women—mostly human, but some not—dressed in ochre robes. In the middle of the room was a dais with bronze statues depicting six more similarly dressed individuals.

Two very narrow hallways were visible on the western side of the room. From what the party could see, each ran for only twenty feet before opening up into storage rooms of some sort—all manner of crates and boxes were visible even from here.

Beyond the room, off to the north, it appeared that the long hallway that the party had been following continued for another hundred feet before ending and turning off to the east. Again seeing relatively little to search in the chamber where they stood, the party members moved off to the north, following the hallway until it ended. Near the corner where the hall turned east were two closed wooden doors on its western side.

“You know, we really need to be more thorough,” groused Syll when he saw Danton and Sparhawk moving past the two doors and down the hall to the east. “We gotta be missing all kinds of important stuff by just passing by all these doors.”

When the hallway turned east, it remained twenty feet wide for seventy feet and then narrowed to ten feet in width. There was a single closed wooden door on the south side of the center of the wider part of the hallway, directly across from which was an open doorway leading into a dark chamber from which the smells of urine and filth emerged. Danton and Sparhawk bypassed this door and opening as well, moving east into the narrower part of the hallway (Danton listen: 2+8=10).

The narrower part of the hallway continued east for sixty feet and then turned northward. When Danton and Sparhawk reached the corner and looked around it, they saw that the hallway ran for thirty feet before opening up into a room sixty feet long and of unknown width. In the middle of the room was a crude wooden table covered in wooden mugs and dice. Next to the table were a large keg and a basket of dried meats and cheeses. Sitting and standing around the table were six more ogres, wearing black full plate mail, just as had been the previous group of ogres the party encountered.

At the same time that Danton and Sparhawk saw the ogres, those of the humanoids sitting or standing facing south saw the scout and paladin. The ogres shouted something guttural and then the whole group pushed away from the table and began reaching for weapons.

“More ogres!” called out Danton to those behind him and Sparhawk.

[Initiative: Luger: 22, Tenaris: 20, Sparhawk: 14, Syll: 9, Danton: 9, Ogres: 7]

“Let me soften ‘em up this time!” yelled Syll, pushing his way around Danton and immediately launching a fireball down the narrow hallway towards the ogres, even as the latter were still organizing for a fight and moving around the table (Cast fireball: 23 area-effect damage in a 20 foot radius). The blast was relatively weak by Syll’s standards, but it did appear to engulf all six of the ogres. Once the flames faded, Sparhawk and Tenaris charged down the narrow hallway to the room at the far end, where the ogres, all of which had apparently survived the blast, moved to meet them.

Sparhawk struck down one of the ogres instantly (attack: 7+15=22, 20+10=30; hit and potential critical hit—2^nd roll: 7+10; two ordinary hits only: 15, 14 damage), the momentum of his swing carrying the blade forward to clang off the thick armor of another ogre (cleave feat attack: 1+10=11; miss, bonus cleave feat attack due to Caladbolg: 3+10=11; miss).

The ogres trying to hold the doorway against Tenaris and Sparhawk fought back fiercely, striking both warriors. When Sparhawk felt the heavy, full impact of the greatwsword of the ogre that struck him (15 damage taken), he realized that all of the magical protection that Syll had provided him had been used up.

Behind Tenaris and Sparhawk, Luger considered using one of his powerful spells to finish the ogres, but after Syll’s fireball had already softened them up, he decided—at least for the moment—to hold his magic in reserve. Danton was also reduced to spectator status, and he could not help but cringe at the sight of Tenaris taking on the vastly larger humanoids.

While Tenaris and Sparhawk continued fighting, Syll launched a volley of magic missiles, targeting four different ogres (4, 4, 3, 2 damage done), which blasted two badly burned ogres off their feet. Sparhawk then cut down yet another ogre (attack: 19+15=34, 11+10=21; potential critical hit and regular hit—2^nd roll: 10+15=critical hit and regular hit; 26, 16 damage); the paladin’s momentum then carried him and his blade into the room, where he struck down another ogre (cleave attack: 19+10=29; potential critical hit—2^nd roll: 17+10=27; critical hit: 26 damage). The second ogre crumbled, but still Sparhawk moved methodically forward (cleave attack: 3+10=13; miss; bonus cleave attack due to Caladbolg: 20+10=20; potential critical hit—2^nd roll: 20+10=30; critical hit: 27 damage), striking down the only remaining ogre before he even knew what hit him.

By the time the body of the last ogre fell to the ground, Sparhawk stood in the center of the room the humanoids had defended. He spun about, holding Caladbolg at the ready, looking for more foes, but there were none.

“Holy shit!” blurted out Syll as he watched the paladin go through the ogres like a scythe through wheat. “I’ve never seen anything like that before!”

“Indeed,” agreed Danton. “Methinks I shalt make no more comments about our Furyondian getting dumped on his arse when the chips are down…”

“Such is the power of Heironeous against the forces of evil,” said Sparhawk between deep breaths. “And Caladbolg is a most mighty weapon.”

The chamber that the ogres had defended was apparently a guardroom of some sort, for other than the table and chairs the ogres had occupied, it was empty. The room was sixty feet from north to south and thirty from west to east. The only other exit was a ten-foot wide hallway that ran east out of the northeast corner of the room and ended at a closed wooden door after only twenty feet.

Danton put his ear to the door (search: 4+16=20, listen: 20+8=28). The door seemed perfectly ordinary, but there were strange sounds to be heard beyond it.

“I hath heard something that sounded—if you can believe it—like the flapping of wings. We should thus be alert for danger from above.”

“There was a time I might have been excited at the prospect that wings might mean one of my dragon relatives,” said Syll, “but after all the abuse we’ve taken from dragons lately, let’s hope it’s a little birdie instead. I’ve about had it with dragons.”

With weapons at the ready, Sparhawk threw open the door and the party looked through the opening into an octagonal shaped chamber that was sixty feet across. The room apparently rose up very high overhead, for no ceiling was visible. There were torches spaced around the walls, but their light was not enough to light all of the dark space high above. Closed wooden doors were visible on the eastern and southern sides of the chamber, while a large opening exited the room to the north. The beating of wings could be heard from somewhere above, but its source was not visible.

“Let us make for the passageway to the north,” said Danton, “but be ready for trouble from above. Should it be another wyrm, we run, not fight,” he added with emphasis, looking at both Sparhawk and Tenaris.

“The day for slaying dragons shall come,” pronounced the paladin, “but I agree that it is not today—much as I might wish otherwise.”

With that, Danton and Sparhawk led the party out into the octagonal chamber, with Danton watching the ground and Sparhawk keeping his gaze high above as the group advanced.

“Great birds!” screamed Sparhawk not long after the whole party had moved into the chamber. “Diving!”

[Initiative: Tenaris: 23, Danton: 19, Enemies: 17, Luger: 16, Sparhawk: 13, Syll: 7]

When the others looked up, they could see four hawk-like birds that were ten feet long from beak to tail with wingspans of about 15 feet. Their feathers—some of which seemed almost scale-like—were brightly colored—a mix of shades of orange and blue. As they dove towards the party, it became apparent that each bird actually had four wings, with one pair on the top of the long, narrow body, and the other below. The birds also had four eyes, with one pair on the top of the body and the other below.

“More hellspawn!” hissed Sparhawk when he got his first good look at the unnatural creatures.

Although it had first appeared that the birds intended to dive into the midst of the party and attack with beak and claw, instead they pulled up short and fired bolts of electricity at the party from out of their maws. Sparhawk and Tenaris managed to avoid the blasts directed at them, but both Luger (7 damage) and Danton (2 damage) were hit. The birds then swirled around above the party, apparently maneuvering for another salvo.

“Go with ranged weapons!” yelled Syll as he fired off a volley of magic missiles at one of the birds (16 damage done). Luger, shrugging off the electrical attack (concentration check: 15+9=24; success) followed suit on a second bird with searing light (attack: 20+10=30; hit; 23 damage). Both magical attacks blasted wings and scales off of the two birds hit, and the creatures pounded their wings hard to avoid crashing into the sides of the room high above under the impact of the magical attacks.

While Tenaris began throwing javelins and spears at the birds, Danton withdrew his crossbow and cracked off shot after shot (16+9=25, 7+4=11, 8+9=17, 4+4=8; one hit; 6 damage), trying to concentrate on the birds that Syll and Luger had already wounded. Sparhawk did the same with his longbow (attack: 17+8=25, 5+3=8, 4+8=12, 18+3=21; two hits; 6, 3 damage), but neither was particularly effective.

At the same time as the party began to fire on them, the strange hawks sent one electrical blast after another down into the midst of the group (Tenaris, Danton (10 damage), Luger (16, 12 damage), Syll (10 damage) all hit). For the moment, only Sparhawk was spared the onslaught.

With few magical options remaining, Luger reluctantly decided to use his Holy Smite against the birds, even though he thought it likely that they were merely wild beasts rather than evil in nature, which would limit the effectiveness of the spell (Cast Holy Smite: 28 damage versus evil creatures and 14 versus neutral in a 20 foot radius). All four birds were caught in the blast of bright light—which Luger detonated forty feet off the ground, but it failed to bring any of them down. With little else left to use other than harsh language, the cleric then shifted to shooting at the birds with his crossbow (attack: 16+10=26, 13+5=18; one hit; 8 damage).

With only two birds left, the electrical attacks were less frequent, but Luger (7 damage) and Syll (14 damage) were both hit again. Fortunately, one last salvo of magic missiles from Syll (concentration check: 15+16=31; success; Cast Magic Missile: 12 damage), combined with a hail of bow and crossbow fire (Danton attack: 8+9=17, 17+4=21, 18+9=27, 10+4=14; two hits; 7, 5 damage; Sparhawk attack: 17+8=25, 8+3=11, 10+8=18, 9+7=16; one hit; 3 damage; Luger attack: 13+10=23, 19+5=24—potential critical hit—2^nd roll: 2+10=12, 17+10=27, 15+5=20; 3 ordinary hits; 8, 7, 7 damage) finally brought down the two birds—with Luger finishing off both.

“Dragons, ogres, and now birds of all things,” muttered Syll. “We’ve gotten past them all, but they’re sure wearing us down.”

“All the more reason to consider a withdrawal to the mines to recuperate,” said Luger, reiterating his earlier point.

“We may also have the green lion man on our heels again soon too, you know,” commented Syll. The Doomdreamers know we’re here and they know the lion man gave us a really rough go the first time he tracked us down. And, as if that thought ain’t bad enough, they probably have even worse stuff than him to throw at us in here.”

“Then let us keep in motion…and see what we shall see…off to the north,” said Danton. By this time Tenaris had managed to recover most of her javelins and spears, so the group was ready to move again.

The open area on the northern side of the octagonal chamber led to a wide set of stairs leading downward for forty feet. At the bottom of the stairs was a short hallway with a closed stone door on each side. The hallway ran for forty feet, and it was all stone painted white and blue, with dark blue—almost black—in spots, giving the impression of a stormy sky. At the northern end of the hall was a tall black door bound in silvery metal that looked almost exactly like the huge black door the party had used to enter the Outer Fane in the first place.

“Methinks we hath found another exit!” said Danton excitedly.

“Yeah, but which one?” asked Syll. “We know it ain’t the fire one, and I don’t see any water around here, so it’s gotta be air or earth, right?”

“Let’s find out,” said Luger, withdrawing the metal bars that functioned as keys. Just for the sake of being thorough, the cleric first combined the two diamond-shaped bars that had opened the fire door. When he held the single larger bar up to the black door, nothing happened.

“That’s what I expected—since, as Syll pointed out, this isn’t the fire door,” the cleric commented, “but it’s good to know for sure.”

Next Luger combined the two triangular shaped bars the party had taken from the former Earth Temple and held them up to the door in various places. Once again, nothing happened.

“So,” said Syll, observing Luger’s efforts, “we can’t get out of here through this door—either because the keys don’t work from the inside, or because this is either the water or the air door, right?”

“That pretty well sums it up,” agreed Luger.

“Look at these paintings on the walls,” said Tenaris. “The night sky? Seems like an ‘air’ theme more than anything else doesn’t it?”

“I feared as much from the moment I saw the murals,” admitted Luger. “But we had to try. Since exit here is impossible, the question is what to do now. Do we continue making our way around the island, moving rapidly as we have done and ignoring all doors and side passages for the sake of speed, or do we retrace our steps and explore more thoroughly the areas we have already seen? Or do we try something else entirely?”

________________________________________________________________

Notes for turn 82

Please send postings for Turn 82 by the end of Friday, January 26.

Current date/time/location: 21 Kolovoz; approximately 1030; The Outer Fane of the Temple of All Consumption

Items gained this turn: Naquent letter to Dunrat

Items used/lost/destroyed/sold/left behind this turn: various bolts and arrows fired at the hawks

Undivided items: none

FOES DEFEATED:

Active party members listed in bold.

This Chapter:

Entire Campaign:

Current Status of the Party:

Danton

AC: 17 (18 vs. one opponent)

Hit points: 38/51

New XP: 1080

XP total: 50,704

XP needed: 55,000

Equipment: 6 daggers, light crossbow, studded leather armor +1, quiver with 23 bolts, bedroll, backpack, flint & steel, thieves picks, 3 waterskins, 30 days trail rations, hooded lantern, gold ring engraved with the name Karakas, 1 sap, 1 metal key from Yusdrayl, Everburning Torch, old journal, 8 iron triangles with upside down ‘Y’ inside,1 inverted ‘Y” pendant in a brown triangle, new journal, notebook, pen, ink, parchment in sealed waterproof box, pipe, tobacco, metal box, whetstone, six packets of tinder for lighting fires, gold inlaid dagger, Journal of Geynor Ton, a folded piece of parchment with a note addressed to someone named Festrath, spider pendant, a disguise kit, letter to Master Dunrat, ochre-colored robe, potion of love, a dozen vials of lantern oil, masterwork thieves’ tools, Rat’s Tail (Rapier +1), silver and gold brooches, bracers of armor +1, potion of hiding, pouch of unknown dried herbs taken from the home of Tal Chamish, emerald pendant, a small ebony troglodyte statuette, a curved dagger, six sticks of incense, an emerald pendant, boots of elvenkind, 1/3 of Oamarthis gems, tattered dwarven book, pearl from the Dark Lake, nine inverted Y pendants with blue-green squares behind them, 3 iron keys from Fire Temple forces, inverted y pendant with red diamond background, map of Fire Temple area, letter from Hedrack to Tessimon, 2 vials of unknown liquid #1 and three vials of unknown liquid #2 (Turn 66), healing elixir from the fungal forest man, masterwork dagger, sack of random bits of metal intended to be used as chess pieces, 4 bottles cheap red wine, 2 pink pearls, 2 dwarven scrolls found on the balcony over the dark lake, cloak of resistance +1, Fachish’s papers, letter from Hedrack to Terrenygit, potion of cure light wounds, Naquent letter to Dunrat

Gold: 1025

Silver: 430

Luger

AC: 22

Hit Points: 13/91

New XP: 1080

XP total: 47,454

XP needed: 55,000

Equipment: masterwork heavy mace, chainmail +1, masterwork large steel shield, light crossbow, 13 bolts, 3 belt pouches, large bag, 50’ rope, flint & steel, 30 days rations, silver holy symbol of Heironeus, 3 healer’s kits, backpack, cleric’s vestment, traveler’s clothing, 3 waterskins, bedroll, iron triangle with upside down ‘Y’ inside, eight cockatrice feathers, scroll of cure disease, Geistblatt (ghost touch longsword +1), 5 vials of Furyondian Fire, cloak of resistance +1 (+1 to all saves), potions of reduce, nondetection, 2 silver and 2 gold brooches from Woodstock, tattered black cloak with burning eye emblazoned on it, note from Master Hedrack to Master Uskathoth (in Draconic), one large triangular metal bar and one large diamond shaped metal bar, 2 emerald endants, book on history and worship of Elder Elemental Eye cult, one inverted Y pendant in brown triangles, scroll with remove paralysis and protection from elements, Oamarthis note, 3 books: The Worship of the Elder Elemental Eye, A History of Evil Cults, and The Temple of Elemental Evil, Aseneth’s House Torquann dragon ring, ring of jumping (+30 to jumping checks), 1 iron triangle with inverted ‘Y’, three black cones made of some unknown substance, a black scepter decorated with a half dozen violet gems, metal scroll tube, one inverted ziggurat pendant; scrolls of contagion, greater magic weapon, bracers of health +2, scroll of bless, hold person, and dispel magic, 2 pink pearls, large steel shield +1, scroll with neutralize poison and silence, purple lamp (everburning torch), unknown magic morningstar

Spell Selection

Level 0 (6): Detect Magic, Light

Level 1 (5+1): Protection from Evil (Domain)

Level 2 (5+1): Aid (Domain)

Level 3 (4+1): Magic Vestment (Domain)

Level 4 (4+1):

Level 5 (2+1): Flame Strike (x1), Flame Strike (Domain)

Syll

AC: 15 (16 versus one opponent)

Hit Points: 17/50

New XP: 1080

XP total: 35,223

XP needed: 36,000

Equipment: Ring of Protection +1, Cloak of Resistance +1, Urrtarr’s spellbook, Masterwork Longsword, backpack, 3 water skins, 30 days rations, bedroll, magnifying glass, 2 flint & steel, 10 candles, map/scroll case, parchment, ink & pen, mirror, oil flask, 40 arrows, clothing, longbow, 1 dagger, sack, 50’ rope, chalk, 5 torches, storm whistle, 5 bells, gold brooch, lamp, black cloak, inverted Y pendant, rose quartz gem, ring of climbing, bracers of health +2, 1/3 of Oamarthis gems, scrolls of Pyrotechnics, Protection from Fire, Animal messenger, Summon Monster II, Change self, Enlarge, Sleep X2, Wand of Monster Summon I (8 charges), potion of water breathing, potion of cure light wounds, potion of lesser restoration, ring of feather falling, wand of fireballs (12 charges; caster level 6), potion of protection from elements (fire), potion of cure moderate wounds, 2 pink pearls, eyes of the eagle (+5 to all spot checks), gauntlets of Kord (not worn), scrolls of blink and shield, unknown wand and potion from the battle at the western bridge complex

Spells per level per day:

Level 0: (6)

Level 1: (7) (7 used)

Level 2: (7) (5 used)

Level 3: (6) (1 used)

Level 4: (4) (4 used)

Gold: 3737

Silver: 42

Sparhawk

AC: 18 (20 when using longsword/shield combination instead of great sword)

Hit Points: 52/74

New XP: 1080

XP total: 29,303

XP needed: 36,000

Equipment: backpack, water skin, 30 days rations, bedroll, tent, 2 daggers, masterwork great sword (Justice), longsword, composite longbow, 1 quiver with 10 arrows, ink & inkpen, 50’ silk rope, whetstone, 1 vial holy water, masterwork large steel shield, 2 candles, signet ring and sealing wax, gilded warhorn, chalk, 2 mirrors, flint & steel, 5 pitons, 20 pieces parchment, 2 empty sacks, silver holy symbol of Heironeous, Everburning Torch, black cloak, inverted Y pendant, gauntlets of dexterity +2, pearl from the Dark Lake, gold-inlaid black urn, Tessimon’s jewelry box, golden orb set with amber, Book of the Dark Eye, Caladbolg (barbed great sword +1), two dark vision potions and one strength enhancing wafer from the fungal forest man, 2 pink pearls, suit of chainmail +1, cloak of resistance +1, unknown magic club

Spell Selection:

Level 1 (2):

Level 2 (1):

Turn Undead attempts left on current day: 6 of 6

Lay on Hands healing points left on current day: 0 of 24

Smite Evil used today?: No

Gold: 333

Silver: 0

Tenaris

AC: 23

Hit Points:48/76

New XP: 1080

XP total: 29,083

XP needed: 36,000

Equipment: longsword, chitin full plate mail, large steel shield, masterwork morningstar, 4 javelins, 1 troglodyte spear, inverted Y pendant, 30 days rations, potions of cat’s grace, spider climb, 1/3 of Oamarthis gems, cloak of resistance +1, black robe, Bracers of Kord (strength) +2, pearl from the Dark Lake, short sword +1, large steel shield +1, two strength enhancing wafers and one healing elixir from the fungal forest man, Masterwork longsword, Maicarya (flaming short sword +1), 2 pink pearls, longsword +1, golden dagger, golden necklace, 2 vials Furyondian fire oil, slippers of spider climbing

Gold: 507

Silver: 30