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Chapter 4: A Deeper Darkness

Turn 89: The Inner Fane

[Initiative: Luger: 22, Tenaris: 20, Vister: 19, Thrommel: 15, Dragon Hybrids: 15, Syll: 12, Sparhawk: 12]

At the sight of the two massive dragon-like creatures, Luger sprang into action. He ran towards Thrommel, screaming as he went, “Those things might be part dragon and part something else—like a basilisk! Quickly, spread out in case they have a dragon’s breath weapon! But do no meet their gaze, for I fear it will be the end of us!”

As the party members began to scatter in response to Luger’s words, with Tenaris and Vister already rushing towards the two creatures, Luger took one more look at the two beasts, noting that one had black scales and the other blue. Having noted this, he yelled, “Everyone target the blue one first! When we take it down, then we hit the other one!”

With all this said, Luger then cast a spell on Justice in order to enable Thrommel to use it more effectively against the creatures (Cast Greater Magic Weapon: Justice becomes a +3 weapon for 11 hours).

While Tenaris was rushing towards the two huge monsters, she quickly drained a potion of bull’s strength (+3 Strength, +1 to all attack and damage rolls for an unknown number of hours). Drinking the potion slowed Tenaris slightly, allowing Vister to pass her. A moment later, at least one of Luger’s predictions was proven correct: as the two huge reptiles rumbled towards the party, each opened its maw and attacked with a breath weapon. The black one breathed out a line of acid towards Tenaris, while the blue one exhaled a bolt of lightning at Vister (Tenaris reflex save: 16+8=24; success; 6 damage taken). Tenaris was fast enough to avoid the acid shot almost entirely, but Vister was not so lucky—the blue dragon hybrid struck her directly with its lightning bolt.

Although Luger and Thrommel had moved quickly enough to get well off to the side before the dragon hybrids breathed, neither Syll nor Sparhawk had been so fast. Syll found the acid blast heading right at him after it mostly missed Tenaris, while Sparhawk was in the same situation with the lightning bolt that had scorched Vister (Syll reflex save: 6+7=13; failure; 13 damage taken; Sparhawk reflex save: 20+9=29; success; 11 damage taken). The acid struck Syll in the chest, burning his clothing and skin, while Sparhawk fell flat on the ground to avoid the worst of the lightning bolt.

After casting the spell to enchant Thrommel’s weapon, Luger made certain to keep at least one eye on the stairs leading upward at all times. He had a sneaking suspicion that the master of the dragon hybrids might appear on those stairs—just as Ukemil had never been far behind his fiendish lions. The wisdom of this precaution was soon demonstrated, for not long after the melee began, a helmeted, cloaked figure appeared on the stairs, rushing down them at high speed.

[Initiative: Newcomer: 8]

“Not so fast, my friend, not so fast,” muttered Luger as he dropped a Flame Strike on the head of the running man (Cast Flame Strike: Caster level check required: 16+11=27; success; 44 damage done). The blast was so powerful that it not only engulfed the helmeted figure and set him alight, but it also sent him careening down the stairs head first, crashing and banging all the way down.

While Luger engaged the figure on the stairs, everyone else in the party took on the blue dragon hybrid. Syll had decided to test his newly identified rod of force on the creature. The sorcerer pointed the rod at the massive reptilian creature and then uttered the command word to fire a blast of magical energy at it (Use Blast of Force attack: 14+8=22; hit; 28 damage). Although Syll’s shot did not strike the blue dragon hybrid as directly as he might have liked, the effect was still impressive—the wave of black energy that shot out from the rod hit the reptile in its right wing and blasted a large hole clean through it.

After gaining his feet, Sparhawk rushed the blue dragon hybrid and threw all of his strength behind Caladbolg as he slammed into the monster from the side (attack: 17+13=30, 20+8=28; two potential critical hits—2^nd rolls: 20+13=33, 13+8=21; one critical hit and one ordinary hit: 26, 18 damage). Much to Sparhawk’s satisfaction, Caladbolg tore massive chunks of scales and flesh away from the monster’s body. Nearby, both Vister and Tenaris hacked away at the monster as well, with both striking solid hits (Tenaris attack: 5+15=20, 14+10=24; one hit; 11 damage), but not doing anything like the damage Sparhawk had done.

Between all of these attacks, and the incredible damage that Prince Thrommel was doing now that he had a suitably effective weapon, the blue dragon hybrid was being cut to pieces, but that did not stop the thing from striking Vister with both sets of claws and then closing its jaws around her with a metallic-sounding clang. The elven paladin crumpled under the devastating attacks and then the blue-scaled reptile simply swallowed her whole.

Tenaris was shocked and horrified at what had happened to Vister, but she had little time to react, for a second later, the black dragon hybrid, which she and the others had ignored in order to concentrate on the blue one, hit her from the side with its claws and then she felt its jaws closing around her (hit three times for 14-10=4, 10-10=0, 33-10=23 damage; 27 damage total). The jaws threatened to crush Tenaris in her armor and began to lift her off the ground (Tenaris opposed grapple check: 7+13=20; failure).

While the others continued to battle the blue dragon hybrid, most of them oblivious to what was happening to Tenaris, the black creature lifted her twenty feet off the ground and then tried to shift its grip in order to swallow her (Tenaris opposed grapple check: 19+13=32; failure). Tenaris fought as hard as she could, but the monster was simply too large and too strong. A second later she was in its mouth, then she felt a great pressure and she was sliding down the creature’s throat.

While Tenaris and Vister were being consumed, Thrommel and Sparhawk were still hacking away at the blue dragon hybrid (Sparhawk attack: 17+13=30, 9+8=17; one potential critical hit—2^nd roll: 13+13=26; critical hit: 31 damage). Both Furyondians were dealing incredible damage to the blue monster, but somehow it kept on fighting. After swallowing Vister, the creature reared back on its legs and turned to deal with Thrommel next.

“Holy shit!” cursed Syll as he saw Tenaris and Vister swallowed by the pair of monsters. With little else that he could do, the sorcerer blasted away at the blue creature once again with the rod of force (Use Blast of Force attack: 10+8=18; hit; 40 damage). This time his shot could not have been better—the shot of magical energy struck the blue dragon hybrid squarely in the head—literally blasting the head off of the creature’s neck and causing the rest of the body to flail about for several seconds before crashing to the rocky ground.

“I think I’m going to like this rod—a lot,” hissed Syll to himself.

The figure in the helmet and cloak had finally come to rest at the bottom of the stairs. Whoever he was, he had just enough time to get up and cast some sort of spell on himself before Luger hit him with another magical attack (Luger Cast Searing Light: 10+11=21; hit; Caster level check required: 20+11=31; success; 18 damage done). Luger would have liked to have knocked the figure off his feet again, but his beam of divine energy was not powerful enough to do so, and the figure ran off towards the center of the chamber where the main battle was taking place.

Tenaris felt herself falling and sliding through a tight space for a time and then she crashed into a slightly more larger area that was mostly filled with some sort of acid that burned her skin (8 acid damage taken). She was also buffeted and crushed by what she could only guess were the walls of the dragon hybrid’s gizzard (18-10=8 damage taken). With her longsword having been dropped when the monster lifted her off the ground, the elf warrior reached for the enchanted short sword she kept at her side and tried to use it to hack at the walls of the gizzard that threatened to crush her—if the acid did not kill her first (Tenaris attack: 1+13=14, 5+9=14; both miss). Unfortunately, the constant buffeting from all directions, not to mention the acid that burned her, prevented her from doing any damage. In agony from being struck and burned in so many places, Tenaris knew she could not last much longer.

“Heironeous is with us!” screamed Sparhawk to Thrommel when Syll blasted the head off the blue reptile and its body crashed to the ground. “On to the black!”

As Sparhawk moved towards the second monster, his shout drew its attention. He was buffeted by its claws (hit twice: 18-10=8, 15-10=5 damage), but somehow managed to avoid the devastating bite attack that followed immediately behind the claws. He tried to hit the thing with Caladbolg (attack: 4+13=17, 5+8=13; both miss), but was unsteady on his feet from the claw hits he had taken, and failed to penetrate the thick armored scales that protected the creature.

Luger could see that, focused as they were on the black dragon hybrid, none of his associates whom he could see—only Sparhawk, Thrommel and Syll were visible—had noticed the small helmeted figure rushing up behind the massive reptile. The figure appeared to be trying to cast some sort of spell on the monster. Luger was determined to put a stop to that—and to try to injure the dragon hybrid at the same time, so he detonated a holy smite right on top of the pair of enemies (Cast Holy Smite: 29 damage in a 20 foot radius; Caster level check needed against the helmeted figure: 9+11=20; success).

Although the massive reptile managed to step aside from most of the blast of holy energy, the helmeted figure was caught squarely by it—just as he had been earlier by Luger’s flame strike. The blast of divine energy knocked the figure off his feet again and sent him flying onto his back on the rocky ground—wrecking whatever spell he had been casting.

Deciding that he had best hold at least a couple of uses of the rod of force in reserve, Syll switched to his own magical powers and began peppering the black dragon hybrid with magic missiles (Cast Magic Missile: 19 damage done). The salvo of beams of light struck the monster just as it went after Sparhawk again—striking the paladin with all of its attacks this time (Sparhawk is hit three times for 21-10=11, 17-10=7, 35-10=25; 43 total damage) and delivering an awful pounding.

Just as it had done previously with Tenaris, when the creature’s jaws closed around Sparhawk, it tried to lift him from the ground (Sparhawk opposed grapple check: 7+12=19; success). Sparhawk was not in the best position to resist the creature’s efforts, given that both his hands were occupied holding Caladbolg, but somehow the monster still lost its grip on him when it tried to lift him off his feet. Once he slipped free of the crushing grasp, Sparhawk stabbed at the monster’s jaw with his enchanted blade (attack: 10+13=23, 10+8=18; one hit; 15 damage).

Inside the black hybrid’s gizzard, Tenaris continued to be burned by acid (8 damage taken) and buffeted and crushed (20-10=10 damage taken), but she had not come all this way from Celene, survived so many near death experiences, only to be eaten by some stupid dragon wanna-be. With the potion she had drank putting extra strength behind her strikes, she hacked at the wall of the gizzard again and again (attack: 5+14=19; 20+9=30; miss and potential critical hit—2^nd roll: 11+9=20; critical hit; 26 damage).

At first the gizzard continued to suffer only minimal damage from her short sword, but then Tenaris held the weapon in both hands and plunged it forward with all her might. The wall of the gizzard gave way—as did a great deal of muscle and tissue beyond it—and a combination of momentum and strength carried Tenaris forward as she continued to drive the blade ahead of her. There was an awful tearing sound and then the elven warrior was falling again, only to land on hard, rocky ground with a splash of acid all around her. With no idea whatsoever what the larger tactical situation was and in agony from the acid that had burned so many parts of her body, Tenaris reached for and drained a healing potion (cure moderate wounds: +18 HP).

Even as the helmeted figure tried to get up once again, Luger struck him with yet another magical attack (Cast Searing Light: 18+11=29; hit; Caster level check: 4+11=15; success; 37 damage done). This time it was simply too much. The beam of divine light struck the figure in the chest while he was still getting to his feet and blasted him back yet again. This time he did not get up—Luger had apparently dished out more magical abuse than the figure could take.

A fraction of a second later, Thrommel struck the black dragon hybrid a series of hammer blows with Justice and it wobbled, then collapsed under the onslaught. Fortunately for Tenaris, the beast fell to the side and not right on top of where she lay prone on the ground.

“Waaaaaaahhhhhoooooooo!” exulted Sparhawk when the second dragon hybrid went down. “Nothing can stand against the paladins of Furyondy! What a glorious day this is!”

“Nice work on that cultist, or Doomdreamer or whatever he was,” said Syll as he and Luger approached the area where the fight with the two massive reptiles had taken place. “You were all over him like a cheap shirt from the moment he arrived on the scene—that’s clearly a good way of taking these guys down. That went a lot better than our throwdowns with Hedrack and Naquent.”

“Your work with that rod wasn’t bad either,” replied the cleric. “That may be the single most powerful weapon at our disposal. I wouldn’t mind seeing it turned against the Doomdreamers too.”

“We better cut those things open right quick!” said Syll more loudly, so that Thrommel and Sparhawk could hear. “I don’t know if you guys saw, but the blue one swallowed Vister and the black one did the same with Tenaris!”

Luger shook his head. “If they were eaten by those things, I fear both are dead.”

“I don’t know about Vister,” came Tenaris’ voice from somewhere behind the body of the black dragon hybrid, “but I’m not so easy to kill.”

As Tenaris got painfully to her feet, the others could see that she was covered with acid burns, blood—some of it her own, and gore from head to toe. But she also had a fierce, determined look in her eye, and a bloody short sword in one hand.

“You hath cut your way free from the monster’s belly, milady?” asked Sparhawk in a stunned voice.

“Damn straight,” replied the woman. “If I’m to ensure that Danton gets brought back, I have to be around to do it, don’t I? That reminds me, Syll, if nobody else wants it, I’d like to take that magic leather armor from Ukemil for Danton’s use when he gets back.”

“Uh, er, sure,” replied the sorcerer, stunned that the woman was thinking about equipment for Danton right after she had been eaten by a giant reptile.

As it turned out, Vister was plainly not in the same league as Tenaris when it came to pure, stubborn survivability. When Thrommel and Sparhawk finally managed to cut open the belly of the blue dragon hybrid, they found Vister’s lifeless body inside. The elven paladin had been crushed, cut, and burned practically beyond recognition by the monster’s stomach acid.

While Thrommel and Sparhawk were extricating Vister’s body, Luger proceeded to heal the party’s many wounds. Although the cleric and Thrommel had come through the fight unscathed, everyone else had been injured to one degree or another. (Luger Convert Bless to Cure Light Wounds on Syll: +11 HP, Convert Detect Evil to Cure Light Wounds on Sparhawk: +11 HP, Convert Sending to Cure Critical Wounds on Tenaris: +37 HP, Convert Detect Evil to Cure Light Wounds on Tenaris: +8 HP).

When he was finished with the healing, Luger asked Syll, Tenaris, Thrommel, and Sparhawk to begin searching the vast chamber for any means by which the party might descend to the lower levels of the Inner Fane. While they did this, the cleric began the preparations to bring Vister back from the dead.

After passing Ukemils’ +2 leather armor of silent moves to Tenaris, Syll looted the body of the figure that Luger had killed. When he removed the helmet, he saw that it was a short, dark-haired, middle-aged man underneath. Syll stowed away the man’s helmet, robes, full plate armor, heavy mace, large steel shield, inverted ziggurat symbol, what looked like a potion, a coin purse, three balls of incense, and another black thurible for later examination. Then the sorcerer joined the others in searching the chamber.

[Search checks: Syll: 5+3=8, Sparhawk: 3+0=3, Thrommel: 18+1=19, Tenaris: 18+2=20]

Although their search of the vast chamber was hardly systematic, by the time that Luger had cast his raise dead spell on Vister, the others had found nothing.

When Vister began breathing again, she was, not surprisingly, in a state of shock, and most of her wounds remained. Luger performed additional magic healing on those lingering injuries, while Sparhawk regaled the woman with tales of his own “near-death” experience and his meeting with Heironeous. (Luger Convert Command, Comprehend Languages and Bless to Cure Light Wounds: Vister +13, +12, +13 HP).

“I…had no such experience,” said Vister when she had regained her senses and finished hearing Sparhawk’s story. “I felt only pain and blackness and then, suddenly, I was awake again and here. I do feel rather weak though.”

“Ya know,” whispered Syll to Luger while the two were standing together watching Sparhawk and Vister talk, “while we’re on the subject of returns from death, I hadn't really processed that Thrommel is now a fallen paladin. Can you fix him up? Uh, when we aren't being attacked by something, that is.”

Luger replied equally quietly, not turning to look at Syll. “So far, Thrommel has acquitted him well in battle and he has shown no signs of his former self. I can intercede on his behalf with Heironeus so he can receive redemption, but I would prefer to observe him a few more days before I make that sacrifice. Such an act would be wasted on someone who is destined to revert to his old ways.”

“It’s your call,” said Syll, “but he fought like hell against those dragon thingies—those two were definitely not relatives of mine, by the way. Just imagine what he could do if he had all his paladin abilities on top of everything else.”

“You know,” said Tenaris, looking at the maps she had inherited from Danton and updated while the others were otherwise occupied, “Based upon my map, I'd say this room is about the same diameter of the Black Spike, as viewed from the outside. In other words, there's no reason to think that there's any rooms ringing the one we're in. Of course, that assumes that the Inner Fane corresponds to the normal space-time continuum ... but I'll leave that to the magicians and existentialists amongst us to figure out.”

“No worries,” said Syll lightly. “If that needs to be looked into, Sparhawk and I are just the guys to do it.”

”I'm sure Danton would have had something to say about it,” continued Tenaris, “but anyway, that staircase over there seems to go up, which makes sense -- the Inner Fane plainly extends upward. But what puzzles me is how to get down. Danton's map has notes suggesting that some kind of experiment is underway in the ‘fourth underground level’ to transform a talisman from good to evil. We entered at ground level, and the Inner Fane appears to be sunk into the oerth. But there’s no obvious way to get to any of the lower levels, and when we looked around just now, we couldn’t find anything. Maybe we have to use the torch of revealing? Or we can just go up. Makes no difference to me, so I'll leave that up to you guys.”

“I'm just a gal with a sword,” she added a moment later, holding up her enchanted longsword. “I only need to know one thing: where ... they ... are.”

“I would prefer to go down in the tower to find this artifact of good before we go up,” said Luger. “I would assume that the Doomdreamers are in the higher levels so having another weapon against them would be preferred. We should use the torch of revealing as Tenaris suggested and thoroughly search this room for hidden stairs, doors or mechanisms to open a door to the lower levels. As long as we are vigilant to anyone coming for us, we should take as much time as is needed to make sure there is or is not a way to go down.”

“I dunno,” said Syll. “I’m inclined to vote for upstairs first, but I am willing to be flexible. But whatever we do, we need to remember that the Doomdreamers scramble your brain and be prepared to deal with them. Unless,” he added with a smirk, “Luger manages to bombard them with everything but the kitchen sink from the moment they appear so that they never even manage to get a spell off.”

Since everyone agreed that a truly systematic search of the area was necessary, Syll lit the torch of revealing once again, and the party used it as they fanned out and searched the vast chamber as best they could.

[Search checks (whole party takes 20): Syll: 20+3=23, Sparhawk: 20+0=20, Thrommel: 20+1=21, Tenaris: 20+2=22, Vister: 20+2=22, Luger: 20+0=20]

The whole party spent a good forty minutes searching the walls and floor of the chamber, but no one could find anything unusual, not even in the weird purple light of the torch of revealing. Everyone was certain that there must be a way downward, but if there was, no one could find it.

“This is where we really miss Danton’s skills,” said Tenaris sadly when the group had given up. “I know he could have found the way. But for now, it looks like we’re stuck going up.”

“Then we might as well get a move on,” said Syll. “Those stoneskins won’t last forever, so if we’re gonna be doing more fighting, we might as well get on with it while we still got ‘em.”

While the party was gathering its equipment and preparing to make for the stairs leading upward, Luger asked Syll whether the tentacle rod the party had taken from Hedrack could safely be used by a non-evil cleric.

“I think so,” said the sorcerer. “The magic that powers it ain’t inherently evil—it’s just magic, so you oughta be able to try it out no problem.”

“Very well,” replied the cleric. “Then the next time I go into melee, I mean to test its power. Should it prove stronger than Geistblatt, I may make it my primary weapon.”

The stairs on the western side of the chamber wound upward and out of the entry chamber. After climbing for forty feet or so, the party emerged onto a second level. This level was circular with a diameter somewhat less than that of the lower level. Here a multicolored stone rose up from the floor to the ceiling, widening as it did so, so that it was about 12 feet across at the floor, but almost 30 at the ceiling. Light from an unknown source, perhaps the rock itself, played about its facets. It seemed that the stone was translucent enough that the other side of this tower level was just barely visible, in the form of dark shapes, through it.

The iron staircase rose up from the floor below and then twisted back on itself as it continued up to the next level above. Here on the second level, six doorways of ochre light stood around the strange stone pillar. As the party moved around the stone pillar, they could see that an ebony cabinet was in the eastern portion of the room, near the wall. A single, unlit candle sat atop it. As far as anyone could tell, this level of the tower was deserted.

“Do we wanna mess with those funny doors?” asked Syll. “They just don’t look right.”

Still flush with bravado after the victory over the dragon hybrids, Sparhawk scoffed and approached the nearest of the doors. “After slaying dragons, my friend, what be there to fear from a mere door?” he asked as he wrenched open the door—which seemed to be made of light or energy, rather than wood.

Beyond the door was a 20-foot by 20-foot space with dark wood paneling and containing a small wooden frame bed, a wardrobe, a chest, a marble bath, two tables, three chairs, a couch, and a hanging chandelier filled with unlit candles.

“’Tis a mere bedroom,” said Sparhawk dismissively.

“Yeah,” replied Syll, “but did you happen to notice that the space inside the room is larger than what could possibly be contained in the available space when you look at it from the outside?”

Sparhawk had plainly not thought of this, but when he stepped far enough away from the doorway to realize that a 20-foot by 20-foot bedroom could not possibly fit in the space between the strange door and the stone pillar at the center of the level, he blanched and leaned heavily against Luger.

“Oh, ‘tis not right, mine friend,” Sparhawk breathed. “’Tis not right.”

“Somebody messing with the space-time continuum again?” asked Tenaris brightly.

“Yup,” said Syll. “And it’s a pretty cool effect. Like my rope trick, only it appears to be permanent—and comes with furniture and wall paneling. Not too shabby at all.”

While Sparhawk stayed well away from the six extra-dimensional rooms surrounding the pillar in the center of the level now that Syll had explained their nature, the other party members explored them. Five of the six appeared to be uninhabited at the moment—the chests, wardrobes, and the like were all empty. Only the sixth bedchamber appeared to be occupied, with the wardrobe filled with clothing and personal items and the chest locked. No one had the means to open the chest without force or magic and no one wanted to waste time or make a great deal of noise at the moment, so Syll told Tenaris to make a note on her map that the party needed to return later to open and loot the container.

While the search of the level was taking place, Syll asked Sparhawk to scan Thrommel once again for the presence of evil. Sparhawk became indignant at the request—whether because he had already performed such an examination when Thrommel was brought back from the dead or because he resented the implication that the Prince might be anything less than a saint—Syll was not sure. But the paladin nevertheless made the examination (Use Detect Evil ability) and then assured Syll that nothing had changed—Thrommel had no aura of evil.

The only other item of interest on this level was the cabinet on the eastern side of the room, which contained 10 vials of some unknown black liquid. Syll gathered these up for later examination, and then the party was ready to move on.

Returning to the western side of the chamber, the party members moved to the stairs leading upward. They went up thirty feet to a third level. This tower level, 30 feet high, and again a bit smaller than the level below it, was about half filled with a multicolored stone column rising from floor to ceiling, widening as it went. A few large gray feathers lay scattered about the room, and the place stank of rotten meat.

“I got a baaaaad feeling about this place,” said Syll when he got a look at the feathers and a whiff of the foul smell.

A moment later there was a sound like a crack of thunder followed by a rush of hot air and suddenly a bizarre creature materialized out of nothingness in front of the party. It was eight feet tall, bipedal, and looked like a cross between a very large human and a vulture. It had the head of the latter, while its body looked strong and sinewy and was covered with gray feathers. It had a sharp beak and long curved claws on both hands.

[Initiative: Tenaris: 26, Thrommel: 21, Creature: 21, Luger: 18, Syll: 14, Sparhawk: 14, Vister: 5]

Syll was still considering whether he or Luger might be able to trick the creature in some fashion when Tenaris sprang at it with her longsword leading the way (Tenaris attack: 2+15=17, 5+10=15; both miss). The creature dodged easily back from the elf warrior’s rushed attack, emitting what might have been a caw or a laugh as it did so.

Thrommel was right behind Tenaris and he hit the bird-creature three times in quick succession before something bizarre happened. Where previously there had been just one vulture man, suddenly there were eight of them—all of them leaping about, screeching, and charging the party.

“Reinforcements!” hissed Sparhawk.

Luger, who had decided to try out the tentacle rod, moved forward and swung it towards one of the eight creatures. When he waved it at the creature, three long black tentacles extended from the rod and moved of their own will to strike it (attack: 8+9=17, 20+9=29, 8+9=17; three hits). When the tentacles struck the bird man, he simply disappeared.

Seeing this and operating on a theory, Syll fired off a salvo of five magic missiles, but targeted each of the five missiles at a different bird creature. When four of the five struck their targets, those bird men simply disappeared, just like the one had done that Luger struck with the tentacle rod, but when the fifth missile one hit, it had no effect (Syll Caster level check: 9+12=21; failure).

“That’s the real one!” yelled the sorcerer, pointing at the bird man that had not disappeared when his magic missile struck it. “The others are illusions!”

Unfortunately, the three remaining bird men leaped about with such speed and frequency, that it was virtually impossible to keep track of which was which. Thus it was that when Sparhawk swung Caladbolg at one of the three that landed in front of him, it simply disappeared when the sword struck it (attack: 5+13=18, 16+8=24; two hits). Vister and Tenaris each tried to hit one of the two remaining creatures, but both missed (Tenaris attack: 3+15=18, 4+10=14; both miss). It was thus left to Thrommel to destroy the last of the illusions, leaving only what the party presumed to be the real enemy.

This last bird man jumped up with a swirling of feathers and then landed on Vister, knocking her off her feet as she was bitten and clawed. However, although she was bowled over, it appeared that Syll’s stoneskin spell had spared the woman any real damage.

As Tenaris, Sparhawk, and Thrommel rushed in to attack the vulture man and aid Vister, the creature released a cloud of spores that swept over all four of them, causing Tenaris and Thrommel, but not Sparhawk or Vister, to cough and hack even as they continued fighting (Tenaris 6 damage taken). Luger and Syll were spared the spores as both were far enough away that they did not breathe them in.

Using the tentacle rod, Luger was able to attack the vulture man from 10 feet away (attack: 11+9=20, 14+9=23, 20+9=29; one hit; 6 damage; tentacle seeks to grapple opponent: 18+9=27; success). Although only one of the three tentacles struck the creature, it attached itself to him and prevented him from leaping away. Syll tried fruitlessly to penetrate the creature’s magical defenses (Cast Magic Missile: Caster level check: 2+12=14; failure) while Tenaris tried and failed to take advantage of the fact that the enemy was held in place by Luger’s rod (attack: 6+15=21, 9+10=19; both miss). Fortunately, Thrommel was more successful than the elves, hacking the vulture man to pieces with the magically-enhanced Justice.

The creature, whatever it was, crumpled under Thrommel’s blows, but whatever spores it had released continued to cause harm to him and Tenaris (2 damage taken). Looking down at their skin, Thrommel and Tenaris could see small vine-like growths developing and pushing out of their bodies.

“I’ve been slimed,” muttered Tenaris.

After examining her for a moment (Tenaris 2 more damage taken), Luger made a decision and cast a spell on the elf woman (Cast Aid: +1 to attack and saves against fear, plus 4 temporary HP). The protective magic immediately halted the damage of the spores and caused the vine-like growths on Tenaris’ skin to disappear. Luger then rummaged quickly through his scrolls until he found one he could use to halt the spores’ assault on Thrommel’s body as well (Cast Cure Disease on Thrommel from a scroll). Once the immediate problems were solved, Luger then healed the damage that Tenaris had suffered (Convert Command to Cure Light Wounds: Tenaris +13 HP), while Sparhawk did the same for Thrommel (Cast Cure Light Wounds: Thrommel: +8 HP).

Once the bird creature was destroyed and the damage it had caused healed, the party was in a position to search the third level of the tower. As it turned out, other than multiple large piles of offal, a single rotting corpse on the far side of the multicolored stone that filled the center of the level, and the ever-present gray feathers, this level appeared to be completely empty. Once the party members had come to this conclusion, they gathered again at the stairs. Just before the group headed upward once more, Syll issued a warning:

“Be advised, folks, my guess is it’s been nearly two hours since I cast those stoneskin spells, so they’re gonna go bye-bye real soon—if they haven’t already.”

With this warning in mind, the party headed up towards the fourth level, once again with Sparhawk and Thrommel in the lead, followed by Syll and Luger, and with Vister and Tenaris serving as rear guard.

(Will saves: Sparhawk: 6+10=16; failure; Thrommel: 1+12=13; failure; Luger: 11+15=26; success; Syll: 11+10=21; success, Vister: 10+5=15; failure; Tenaris: 8+6=14; failure)

As Thrommel and Sparhawk reached the fourth level, they both swooned and collapsed to the floor with a metallic clang as their armor and equipment hit the stone surface. As the others rushed forward to see what was wrong, Tenaris and Vister collapsed as well, with yet more noise. Both Luger and Syll suddenly felt a dark, oppressive feeling weighing down on them, as if they had walked into shadow and would never see light again, but somehow they both managed to retain their wits—and consciousness.

“What the heck is going on?” hissed Syll as he crouched low by the bodies of the four unconscious party members and looked around at what he could see of the fourth level. This level, which was, as usual, a bit smaller than the one immediately below it, was taken up almost entirely by the huge stone in the center, rising from floor to ceiling. Unlike what the party had seen of the massive multicolored stone on the other levels, here dark shapes seemingly floated through the stone very slowly, as if adrift. Nothing else was visible on the level.

“It could be some sort of evil spell that knocked them out,” mused Luger as he too crouched low and looked about. “Or perhaps merely the evil of this place. If we truly are drawing close to the Doomdreamers and the very heart of their power, it is possible that the environment itself may be hostile to us. Remember the awful cold of the temple in the Outer Fane?”

“You see those weird shapes floating in the stone?” asked Syll. “What’s up with that? Looks kind of like an aquarium I once saw years an’ years ago at the royal court in Kalstrand. Only that had fish and other critters swimming in water, rather than, uh, weird shapes floating around in a rock.”

It took several minutes, but Syll and Luger were eventually able to rouse their four companions from whatever had knocked them unconscious (Tenaris: -6 wisdom, Sparhawk –2 wisdom). All four of those who had been knocked out suffered lingering effects from the experience, becoming jittery and unsettled.

When he saw how twitchy Tenaris, Sparhawk, Vister, and Thrommel had become, Luger whispered to Syll, “All the more reason to do what we must and then get them—and ourselves—far from here.”

“You got that right,” muttered Syll. “Tenaris looks like if someone gave her a dirty look, she might cut him in half. Now I know that’s how she normally looks, but this seems lots worse.”

Once everyone was upright, the party made a circuit around the stone that took up most of this level of the tower. As Syll and Luger had observed earlier, on this level there were shapes floating in the stone. Up close, it was possible to see that these shapes seemed to be creatures. Several looked human, while another that Syll saw looked like a half-orc. Yet another might have been a kuo-toa. They all floated in the stone as if it were water, and seemed completely oblivious to everything around them.

“Are these the Doomdreamers?” asked Tenaris at one point. When she touched the stone, it was solid. “If they’re in the rock, how do we get them?”

“I don’t know,” replied Luger. “Let’s go up to the next level and see what we find.”

When the party made its way up to the fifth level, it appeared exactly the same as the fourth, only a bit smaller in diameter. Here again the stone in the center took up most of the level. And, like the fourth level, there were all manner of humanoids floating in the stone. The party could see a troglodyte, more humans, and some sort of hag floating inside the rock. While most of these drifted seemingly unaware of the party’s presence, just like the other creatures on the level below had done, at least for a moment, the hag seemed to be looking out at the party, watching them as they watched her. Whether this was in fact the case, the thought that something was looking back at them motivated the party to move on quickly.

“Doesn’t it seem weird that we’re running into so few people here?” asked Syll rhetorically as the party headed up the stairs to the sixth level. “Maybe everybody really is off swimming in that rock.”

At the top of the stairs leading up into the sixth level, and at the bottom of the stairs going up farther still, a series of words were carved into the floor in block Oeridian script:

“The Dark God’s favor smiles upon those willing to risk much to gain much.”

Because the tower had gradually narrowed as the party ascended, this sixth level appeared no more than 60 feet in diameter. The massive multicolored stone in the center of every level now filled the vast majority of the space, leaving only a very narrow curving corridor around the edges that the party could move through.

As the party examined all of this from the stairs—and pondered the meaning of the words carved into the floor, a voice called out from around the other side of the multicolored stone in a tone that sounded like gravestones rubbing together:

“Come around here and see if the fortune of the deities smiles upon you.”

With Sparhawk and Thrommel in the lead and wary of some sort of trap and with Tenaris and Vister jumpier than ever, the party moved south and east around the multicolored stone in the direction from which the voice had come. In the southeastern portion of the level, they came upon a skeletal figure in a black robe seated behind a violet stone table. Spread out before it were several large, ornate playing cards on vellum. In a semicircle behind the figure were dozens of burning candles set into tall, black iron candlesticks that sat on the floor.

When the party arrived, the skeletal figure looked up at them.

“All may test the fortune of the deities,” said the figure in the same gravelly voice the party had heard previously. It looked at each of the six party members in turn and said, “Each of you must decide—how many cards will you each take?”

________________________________________________________________

Notes for turn 90:

Please send postings for Turn 90 by the end of Friday, April 4th.

Tenaris, Sparhawk, and Vister all gained enough XP this turn to go up levels. In the case of Vister, all this did was negate the level that she lost when being raised from the dead. But Sparhawk and Tenaris can actually go up levels (Tenaris to 10^th and Sparhawk to 9^th). Please do the level-up changes, and then send me both a list of the changes and an updated character sheet.

Current date/time/location: 24 Kolovoz; approximately 1130; The Inner Fane of the Temple of All Consumption

Items gained this turn and not yet divided: helmet, robes, full plate armor, heavy mace, large steel shield, inverted ziggurat symbol, a potion, a coin purse, three balls of incense, a black thurible, and 10 vials of an unknown liquid

Items used/lost/destroyed/sold/left behind this turn: Tenaris’ potions of Bull’s Strength and Cure Moderate Wounds, 1 ball of incense of revealing, Luger’s scroll of cure disease

FOES DEFEATED:

Active party members listed in green.

This Chapter:

Entire Campaign:

Current Status of the Party:

Luger

AC: 22

Hit Points: 99/99

New XP: 3600

XP total: 63,699

XP needed: 66,000

Equipment: masterwork heavy mace, chainmail +1, masterwork large steel shield, light crossbow, 13 bolts, 3 belt pouches, large bag, 50’ rope, flint & steel, 24 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, Geistblatt (ghost touch longsword +1), 4 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 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, and dispel magic, 2 pink pearls, large steel shield +1, scroll with neutralize poison, purple lamp (everburning torch), morningstar +1, scroll with two Cure Serious Wounds spells, one Neutralize Poison spell, one Remove Disease spell, and one Remove Curse spell, scroll with Heal, one refuge stick, 8 iron triangles with upside down ‘Y’ inside,1 inverted ‘Y” pendant in a brown triangle, Journal of Geynor Ton, a folded piece of parchment with a note addressed to someone named Festrath, spider pendant, letter to Master Dunrat, ochre-colored robe, six sticks of incense of revealing, tattered dwarven book, 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, healing elixir from the fungal forest man, 2 dwarven scrolls found on the balcony over the dark lake, Fachish’s papers, letter from Hedrack to Terrenygit, Naquent letter to Dunrat, key to Varachan’s quarters, Purple Robe of Tharizdun, Lesser Tentacle Rod, Periapt of Wisdom +2, Tome of Understanding +1, Scroll with Heal, journal of Hedrack, tharizdun holy symbol, ochre robe, scroll with cure light wounds, divine favor, and locate object

Spell Selection

Level 0 (6): Detect Magic (x3), Light (x3)

Level 1 (7+1): Protection from Evil (Domain)

Level 2 (5+1): Endurance (x1), Bull’s Strength (x2), Sound Burst (x2)

Level 3 (5+1): Searing Light (x2), Dispel Magic (x1), Magic Vestment (Domain)

Level 4 (4+1): Restoration (x1), Greater Magic Weapon (x1), Divine Power (x1)

Level 5 (3+1): Flame Strike (x1), Spell Resistance (x1),

Level 6 (1+1): Heal (x1), Blade Barrier (Domain)

Turn Undead attempts left on current day: 6 of 7

Gold: 468

Silver: 0

Syll

AC: 20 (21 versus one opponent)

Hit Points: 61/63

New XP: 3600

XP total: 52,218

XP needed: 55,000

Equipment: Cloak of Resistance +1, Urrtarr’s spellbook, Masterwork Longsword, backpack, 3 water skins, 24 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 lesser restoration, 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), scrolls of blink and shield, wand of detect magic (14 charges), potion of cure moderate wounds, one refuge stick, studded leather armor +1 (not worn), Everburning Torch, potion of love, bracers of armor +1 (not worn), potion of hiding, potion of cure light wounds, Vacuous Grimoire, Amulet of Natural Armor +2, Scroll with True Seeing, Contact Medallion, two lilac-colored masks, ochre robe, Purple Robe of Tharizdun, Torch of Revealing, Black Thurible, 6 pieces of Incense of Revealing, Orb of Silvery Death, rings of force armor, rod of force, Ukemil’s iron key, inverted ziggurat pendant

Spells per level per day:

Level 0: (6) 0 used

Level 1: (7) 3 used

Level 2: (7) 0 used

Level 3: (7) 0 used

Level 4: (6) 6 used

Level 5: (3) 0 used

Rod of Force uses left today: 2 of 5

Gold: 3757

Silver: 42

Sparhawk (-2 wisdom)

AC: 20 (23 when using longsword/shield combination instead of great sword))

Hit Points: 74/74

New XP: 3600

XP total: 37,873

XP needed: 36,000

Equipment: backpack, water skin, 24 days rations, bedroll, tent, 2 daggers, 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 with special properties), two dark vision potions and one strength enhancing wafer from the fungal forest man, 2 pink pearls, suit of chainmail +1 (not worn), cloak of resistance +1, club +1, 3 Greater Slaying Arrows (humans), one refuge stick, full platemail +1, javelin of lightning, large steel shield +1, ochre robe, Purple Robe of Tharizdun, ring of feather falling

Spell Selection:

Level 1 (2): Cure Light Wounds

Level 2 (1): Remove Paralysis

Turn Undead attempts left on current day: 5 of 6

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

Smite Evil used today?:No

Gold: 353

Silver: 0

Tenaris (-6 wisdom, +3 temporary strength)

AC: 24

Hit Points: 81/86

New XP: 3600

XP total: 45,328

XP needed: 45,000

Equipment: longsword, chitin full plate mail, large steel shield, masterwork morningstar, 4 javelins, inverted Y pendant, 24 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, one refuge stick, potions of haste, and heroism, Rat’s Tail (rapier +1), boots of elvenkind, a dozen vials of lantern oil, masterwork thieves’ tools, silver and gold brooches, pouch of unknown dried herbs taken from the home of Tal Chamish, emerald pendant, a small ebony troglodyte statuette, a curved dagger, an emerald pendant, 1/3 of Oamarthis gems, pearl from the Dark Lake, masterwork dagger, sack of random bits of metal intended to be used as chess pieces, 3 bottles cheap red wine, 2 pink pearls, 200’ silk rope, Rapier +1, buckler +1, suits of elven chainmail +1 (not worn), cloak of elvenkind (not worn), Potion of Lesser Restoration, ochre robe, Purple Robe of Tharizdun, Potion of Cat’s Grace, ring of protection +1, +2 leather armor of silent moves (not worn)

Gold: 1552

Silver: 460

Prince Thrommel (-3 wisdom, +3 temporary bonus on Justice)

AC: 21 (22 versus one foe)

Hit Points: 121/121

New XP: 3600

XP total: 62,190

XP needed: 66,000

Equipment: breastplate +1, boots of striding and springing, dagger +2, gold belt, ring of protection +1, ring of counterspells, ring, amulet, necklace of Furyondian royal family, holy symbol of Tharizdun, Justice (masterwork greatsword) cloak of resistance +1, bracers of armor +1, masterwork light crossbow, 29 bolts, ochre robe, Purple Robe of Tharizdun, Maicarya (flaming short sword +1)

Platinum: 15

Gold: 88

Silver: 0

Vister (-1 wisdom)

AC: 19 (20 versus one opponent)

Hit Points: 45/50

New XP: 3600

XP total: 21,300

XP needed: 28,000

Equipment: Elven chainmail +1, Rapier +1, Buckler +1, Cloak of Elvenkind, gauntlets of Kord, ochre robe, short sword +1

Spell Selection:

Level 1 (2): Cure Light WoundsX2

Turn Undead attempts left on current day: 4 of 5

Lay on Hands healing points left on current day: 14 of 14

Smite Evil used today?: No

Gold: 20

Silver: 0