Dino-mite!

Having abandoned the surviving members of Professor Fulcroft's expedition in the caverns deep below the Demon's Mouth, the party once again used the Gatestone to travel to another universe. When they arrived, they found themselves in what appeared to be a natural cavern, ~30’ in diameter. The walls were decorated with odd paintings. Some were outlines of some shape, as if the artist painted over something. They looked, well, kind of like hands, except they’re much bigger than any human hands, the artist would have to have stood on a stepladder, they only had four fingers, and the thumb pointed the wrong direction. But other than that, they looked just like hands. There were also nine symbols painted at regular intervals around the cave. Upon inspection, they proved to be crude versions of the symbols etched on the facets of the Gatestone.


Having barely survived their last battle, and with several party members in the single-digits for hit points, they decided to rest and recover before venturing forth. Once they had regained spells, Stoneskins, and as many HP as they could, the left the cave. A passage led down out of the cavern, and after several hundred feet opened up into a huge tunnel, with a stream rushing down its center. A few hundred feet to their left they could see an opening, and what appeared to be jungle outside.

As the party emerged from the tunnel, they found themselves surrounded by dense jungle. The air was oppressively hot, and a haze of humidity caused everything to fade into gray at a distance. The trees were tall palms, eucalyptus and pine-like trees, and a dense undergrowth of ferns grew to waist height. Strange hoots and bellows could be heard in the distance.

The tunnel came out into a circle of bare earth, perhaps 20’ in diameter. The dirt appeared to have been packed down, and a few sprouts of new growth could be seen to have been recently crushed. Surrounding the circle was a ring of 11 bamboo poles, painted red and black with feathers, shells, and colored rocks tied to them. Each was topped with what appeared to be a small human child’s skull. A rough trail led into the jungle away from the circle, but the Gatestone pointed in the opposite direction.


As the party debated which way to go, they heard a loud rusting in the jungle some distance away. It sounded like a group of large – somethings – were coming down the trail towards them. The rustling was accompanied by odd hissing and snorting sounds.


The party quickly took cover, half ducking back into the mouth of the tunnel and half into the dense jungle. No sooner had they done so when a group of eleven huge, humanoid reptiles marched into the clearing. They were at least 9’ tall, with brown scaly skin like alligator hide. They had long snouts with jutting teeth and long tails that whipped back and forth as they walked. They walked upright, and most were armed with spears or clubs studded with chunks of obsidian. One of the creatures wore a headdress of brown downy feathers and carried a stout staff. Another was a head taller than the others and wore a necklace of children’s skulls. He carried a mace-like weapon that appeared to be made of an enormous bone, with its head studded with huge sharp teeth. One of the creatures carried its spear slung over its shoulder, with what appeared to be a child tied to the end, like a hobo’s bindlestaff; a hood covered the child's head.


The creatures dropped their captive into the center of the clearing and gathered around him, jabbing their spears menacingly. The party decided not to waste any time speculating on their intent, and launched themselves into the attack, catching the creatures by surprise. Ice and Joe went after the largest creature, while Mary attacked the one with the staff. Jerry also clobbered that one with a powerful burst of Magic Missiles, while James cast a Web over the others. Chuck rounded things out with a Prayer, and the battle was joined. 


It proved to be surprisingly one-sided. The beast with the headress and staff managed to hit Mary with a giant Magic Missile that knocked her back several feet, but that was his only contribution before he checked out. The Web didn't seem to be slowing the enormous creatures down any, but Jerry's 50 HP (!) Lightning Bolt certainly did (making the DM have second thoughts about that Amulet of Augmentation that he'd picked up in Merlin's cave). The Chieftan gave out a thunderous bellow, and suddenly grew to 15' tall, but Joe literally cut him down to size when he scored a critical hit with Hito-kaze, slicing off the creature's leg and dropping him to the ground.  


When the dust settled and they removed the captive's hood, they were surprised to find he was not a child at all. He appeared to be a young man, perhaps in his mid-20s with rough facial hair, but no more than 3 ½ feet tall. He was dressed in hide clothing, roughly sewn, and had a necklace of teeth that looked very much like those in the mouths of the creatures now lying lifeless in the circle. Dried blood stained his scalp. He began jabbering at the party in a high-pitched language that they did not understand. However, his motions and body language made it clear that, while grateful for his rescue, there were many more of the homosaurs coming and that the party should follow him. He used the spearhead from one of the slain creatures to dig a giant fang from the chieftain’s mouth, then hurried the party into the jungle, away from the trail.


They followed him for several hours. He was clearly exasperated by their noisy progress and inability to travel without leaving a trail, but they managed to avoid any dangers. During the trip, he made it known that his name was F'uada. Finally, the party came out of the jungle into a broad area where the trees were less dense, although the giant ferns grew in profusion. They heard what sounded like a bird call, and their guide smiled and noticeably relaxed for the first time since his rescue. He returned the call, and two dozen figures suddenly rose up from the ferns around the party. They were 6½ foot tall reptiles, like miniature T-Rex’s, with long snouts full of sharp teeth and curved, wickedly sharp claws on their powerful hind legs. Mounted in a saddle on the back of each creature was a child-sized man, much like their guide, all armed with long spears.


These were clearly F'uada's people, and after a short talk, they led the party on until they came out into a broad grassy valley sheltered under the face of a tall cliff on the opposite side. A slender waterfall plunged down the side of the cliff, where it formed a pool at the bottom before turning into a rushing stream heading down the valley floor. Looking several miles down the length of the valley, the party could see a large lake, or possibly a bay of an ocean, with a large volcanic-looking island rising in its midst. A small herd of brontosaurs were grazing at the water’s edge.


Along the base of the cliff near the pool was a large village. A long thatched building on stilts sat in the center of the village, surrounded by a handful of smaller buildings. People could be seen coming and going from a large number of small caves tunneled into the side of the cliff, with bamboo ladders providing access to many different levels. A large corral held several dozen of the reptilian mounts that their guards were riding, while several youngsters of the species could be seen running and frolicking with children in the village. No one in the village was more than half the height of a normal human.

As they entered the village, there was a tearful reunion between F'uada and his father, who appeared to be the chief. The party was led to a large open area where all the inhabitants of the village soon gathered. F'uada stood on a stone dias in the center and appeared to tell the tale of his capture, the party's battle with the homosaurs, and his rescue. He pointed again at the party and held aloft the enormous tooth that he took from the fallen Homosaur Chieftain. There was a moment of awed silence, and then the crowd erupted in cheers of adulation.

The party soon found themselves the guests of honor at a celebration feast. It was difficult to follow the native's speech, but they were able learn a little from sign language, drawings, and mime. The little people called themselves the Eoihai, and the velociraptors they ride  are the Eoihoiri, apparently equal parts pets, mounts, and weapons. The giant creatures the party defeated are the Oarcha'a, and seem to be the Eoihai's arch-enemies. 

As the celebration wound down, the party decided to check the Gatestone. It pointed towards the volcanic island, now bathed in moonlight.