tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53077393537220406422024-03-08T14:33:09.301-05:00Merlin's Gate IIA running description of our Sunday night D&D sessions.Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-45971359940584329582011-10-17T15:37:00.000-04:002011-10-17T15:37:26.053-04:00DM CommentaryThis adventure started with a casual decision I made in the middle of writing the Grail Quest adventure. In the crystal cavern hidden behind the Grail Tower (aka The Tower of the Lovelorn Knight), there was a Hall of Many Doors, with a pit at the end. On a whim, I decided to have you find a set of ancient bones, and strange cards bearing names like "James St. John" and "Isaac MacAllister". It was intended as just a way of making you, as players, go "WTF?!?".<br />
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However, having done that, I felt like I'd written myself into a corner. I couldn't stop wondering how your characters had gotten into a pit that was (a) clearly in a different universe than yours, and (b) apparently at a different point of history. And had they really died there? Was that the end of their story? I wanted to revisit these characters again, but I felt like I couldn't without answering those questions.<br />
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Taking more than a little inspiration from the Jet Li movie, "The One" (which, to be honest, I didn't even like all that much), I came up with the concept of multiple universes, with doubles of each of you in them, and someone trying to get them to kill you so they could gain your powers. This had the added attraction of letting me play around with a variety of different settings, including fulfilling my long-held desire to give Scott a taste of his own Ravenloft medicine. And I pretty quickly came up with the idea of the anime universe, which I though could be a real hoot, especially after we started playing 4E and I decided to create pseudo-4E characters with custom powers just for that universe.<br />
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So going in, I was very excited about this adventure. Now that it's all over, I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed in how it all played out. That's a comment on me as the DM/author, not on how any of you played it.<br />
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First of all, I over-wrote it. One thing I learned a long time ago is that the secret to a successful adventure (at least for my definition of "successful") is to have a basic framework for the plot and then give you all well-rounded characters with your own motivations and flaws, and let you go to town. However, in this case I found myself getting into the story way too much, and treating it more like I was writing a novel than sketching out an adventure. I was too into the details, dialogue, etc. and not leaving enough to you. In addition, the overall structure of the adventure, which required you to transit from universe to universe, created a structure that was way more linear than I prefer, with far fewer options for you as players (unless I wanted to truly flesh out each and every universe, which I didn't have time or energy enough for).<br />
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This showed up right away, when I lost control of the flow on the very first night. I never, EVER considered that your reaction to Harry's murder would be to do everything in your power to AVOID getting together! I'd written the whole first chapter assuming that you'd all feel a need to figure out who had killed Harry (to see if they were also a threat to you), and would all gather together to head to Costa Rica to play detective. Instead, your immediate reaction was to scatter to the four winds and impose radio silence!<br />
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Let me emphasize - I'm not saying you played it "wrong". You did what was natural to your characters as you live them. They really are YOUR characters, not mine. I just hadn't anticipated this reaction, and wasn't prepared for it. It's really no different than Joe's decision in the original adventure to leave the group and return to Chicago. I never expected THAT, either! However, the way I'd written that adventure was more open-ended, and there were plenty of things Joe could be doing in Chicago at the same time the rest of you were buying real estate in LA (also off the map!).<br />
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Ultimately I had to throw together some hasty ambushes to convince you to huddle up, and had to have Joe's Qabbal contacts feed you critical information (like the fact that Harry's murder had apparently been committed by some of you). This worked, but felt forced (at least to me). And, as you saw from the final confrontation, if Twynillios & co. had really cornered any of you in isolation, you would not have survived (as it was, I gave Jerry and Chuck some wild magic help to get them out of what would otherwise have been certain death).<br />
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Once you started hopping universes, the linear structure really started to feel limiting (again, to me). It had too much of a standard dungeon-crawl feel to it ("Open the door. Kill what's inside. Open the next door..."). I realized that I had committed myself to too many different universes to really be able to spend much time working on any one of them, so most of them felt a bit rushed to me.<br />
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Having said all that, there were things that I felt worked well. To me, the Ravenloft section worked best. Part of that might be because Ravenloft is a pretty well-defined place already, and it also has the convenient mechanism of the Mist to keep you on task. However, I felt the whose circus experience was good, and you all seemed to get into the idea of figuring out what happened to little Jane's parents. And your time as freaks was (I thought) a lot of fun. Then at the end, you had a pair of moral dilemmas to deal with: what to do with Jane and what to do with the other freaks. The freaks you left to starve in their cages (you could have restored them to their original bodies and set them free), but Jane you took with you to the bright and happy world of the Cthulu mythos.<br />
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I also had fun as we started to go into the pseudo-4E characters in the Star Wars and Anime universes. It was fun to change things up a bit, and give you all new powers to experiment with. The Anime world was especially fun for me, both inventing the powers for your characters and watching you play with them. Again though, I felt I fell into what I've complained about in 4E, i.e. having everything be too combat focused and not enough role playing.<br />
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One thing I didn't do consistently that I think would have added more of a fun factor was the use of wild magic. The idea was that Harry's death had weakened the forces that bind the multiverse together (per Merlin's explanation). As a result, magical spells that draw on those forces don't always work as you'd expect. I created a spreadsheet that would randomly select from a set of wild magic effects based on the probability of anomalies (which would go up as more alter-egos (or characters) died before their gates were locked down). Unfortunately, I needed to remember to use that spreadsheet any time anyone cast a spell, and I frequently forgot. In particular, in the final encounter with Twynillios, when spells were flying like crazy, I totally forgot about it. There were some really interesting effects you never got to experience!<br />
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So all in all, I don't think this was one of my better efforts, but I don't think it was a total bust, either. It was definitely fun to revisit these characters, and I hope we're not done with them (although I have nothing in mind at the moment).Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-49518663745944596922011-10-17T14:04:00.000-04:002011-10-17T14:04:51.585-04:00EpilogueHaving defeated Tynillios and his collection of the party's alter-egos, the party debated about how long to wait before returning to Earth. The Gatestone pointed to a weathered flagstone in the center of the tower's floor, and Earth's was the only facet still glowing green on the Gatestone. After healing up as best they could without an overnight rest, they decided there wasn't likely to be any danger waiting for them back on Earth, now that Twynillios was out of the picture. Placing the Gatestone on the flagstone, they pressed the facet for Earth, and felt the familiar stretching sensation.<br />
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And found themselves standing in the center of Stonehenge. The real, original Stonehenge. Back on Earth. They heaved a momentary sigh of relief, until they realized they were not alone. Dozens of tourists stood staring at them. About half of them panicked at the sight of seven strangely dressed and heavily armed people suddenly appearing in their midst, and ran screaming for their tour busses. The other half immediately whipped out cell phones and cameras, and began taking pictures as fast as they could, apparently assuming they were in the midst of some movie set.<br />
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The party made their way as quickly as they could across the road to the gift shop. A check of the Gatestone showed it pointing north, but a quick triangulation showed they were probably many miles from its target. They needed transportation, and quickly, before the excited tourists brought in the authorities. They briefly considered hijacking a tour bus, but decided that that might cause more problems than it solved. Joe got on the phone to his contact in the Qabbal, but although he said he would send "a team" to "extract" them, he said it would take several hours, and he didn't sound very reassured by Joe's rambling story about meeting Merlin, travelling to alternate universes, and killing their doubles. Mary finally got exasperated by the rest of the group's overly complicated strategems for getting away, and got on her own phone and used her super-platinum card to simply charter a bus out of nearby Salisbury to pick them up ASAP.<br />
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The bus arrived before any police, and they immediately headed back to their hotel in Bath. Mary and James confirmed that their chartered jet was still waiting for them (and I'd hate to see the bill for THAT charter!). However, they also found their faces were all over the news, along with a story about an unauthorized movie shoot frightening tourists at Stonehenge. Jerry quickly checked his electronic tripwires, and found out that all the agencies he was monitoring were suddenly abuzz with activity about all of them - apparently their faces had been immediately recognized and people who had though they were long dead were now on the hunt for them again.<br />
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Deciding it was best to get out of the UK as quickly as possible, they chartered yet another bus, and began wandering the English countryside in the dark, trying to navigate by GPS (Gatestone Positioning System). Ultimately, it led them to a tiny village called Avebury, about 25 miles north of Stonehenge. A large network of standing stones surrounded and included the village, and the Gatestone led them to one otherwise unremarkable stone. Following Merlin's instructions, they placed the Gatestone on it, and backed away. A few seconds later, there was a blinding flash of light, and when they could see again, the Gatestone was gone.<br />
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Wasting no time, they had the bus take them back to the Bath airport, where they used magical means to bypass security and get undetected to the hanger containing Mary and James' plane. Shortly thereafter, they were airborne over the north Atlantic, headed for Brazil and an uncertain future.Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-35404708282008953502011-10-10T12:29:00.000-04:002011-10-17T13:27:40.547-04:00The Final ConfrontationThe party took an extended rest after defeating the SpellWeaver, and then prepared to leave. They were reluctant to leave all that valuable-looking loot behind, but could find no way to separate any item from the rest of the hoard. The Gatestone only had two facets left untouched: the one for Earth, and one more unknown universe. Pressing that facet, they felt the now-familiar stretching sensation as they were transported across dimensions.<br />
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When the sensation stopped, they found themselves in the center of a circle of standing stones, very similar to Stonehenge. Sheep grazed on the green grass growing around them, apparently unperturbed by the party's sudden appearance.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> A few miles away, a good sized village could be seen nestled
in a broad valley. Its rooftops were a mix of shingles and tile, with a tall
square church tower rising from the center of town. A river ran through the
town, spanned by several stone bridges, and emptied into what looked like an
estuary of a sea. What appeared to be factories lined the riverbank and spewed smoke
from tall smokestacks. Several steamships could be seen plying the waters of the
estuary, and a large dirigible drifted slowly overhead, with what appeared to be
the hull of a ship suspended beneath it, belching thick black smoke.</span><br />
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the opposite direction from the town, a tall hill rose above the surrounding
landscape, with a gothic stone tower rising dramatically from its summit. A
path could be seen leading to the tower, with more sheep grazing on
the hillside. The Gatestone pointed towards the tower.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As they took stock of their surroundings, the party realized that they were back in their original bodies, and had all the possessions they'd had before they got all "cartoony", including the lightweight composite armor and blaster pistols they'd picked up in the Star Wars universe. After briefly considering heading down to the village to look for a pub, they decided to avoid entanglements and head straight for the tower.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As they approached, the tower appeared to be abandoned. Two doorways could be seen on the ground floor but with no doors in place, and they could see empty space within. There appeared to be two upper floors, with windows likewise open to the elements. However the stonework of the tower appeared to be intact and solid - no crumbling ruin here.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">When they were about 30 yards from the tower, a tall, broad-shouldered man suddenly stepped into the doorway and, without so much as a "Howdy", let loose with a <i>Lightning Bolt</i> that sizzled Joe, Phil, and Chuck for some serious damage. He stood his ground as James and Jerry retaliated with spells of their own, only to see them disappear into a shimmering barrier a few feet away from him. He flung a fireball back, hitting Joe, Phil, and Chuck again, and this time catching Mary as well, and Phil went down in flames; luckily, Chuck was able to extinguish him and administer some healing to get him back on his feet.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As the party charged the tower, counter-fire suddenly erupted from the upper floor windows and roof. Someone inside were apparently armed with Star Wars blasters of their own. As they tried to get a bead on the people poking their heads around the window frames or over the parapets to shoot at them, they realized with a start that they recognized their assailants - the people firing down on them looked like exact duplicates of themselves! They had met the enemy, and they were them.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Mary charged the doorway and Ice raced around to the back door. But as Mary got toe-to-toe with the mysterious MU (now assumed to be Twynillios), he suddenly disappeared. As soon as he did, the interior of the ground floor of the tower was suddenly filled with a bewildering blur of blinding blades; Ice just managed to leap back outside to avoid being sliced and diced. However a small hemisphere just inside the front door was clear of the blades, and Mary was able to step inside. From that vantage point, she could see that the interior of the tower was open to the sky, with no upper floors or roof. However, wooden planks had been put in place forming crude walkways around the perimeter of each level. The characters' alter-egos were using these as their firing platforms. She also saw a new player standing on a plank over the center; he apparently had been responsible for the <i>Blade Barrier</i>. Twynillios was hovering in the air next to him, but before she could get off a shot, he disappeared again.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">In addition to the fire coming from inside the tower, someone invisible was throwing <i>Magic Missiles</i> from outside. Suddenly, Twynillios appeared on the ground outside the tower, drawing blaster fire from James and <i>Magic Missiles</i> from Jerry. However, the shots appeared to go right through him. They quickly concluded it must be an illusion, but Chuck was unconvinced until his +1 Mace passed harmlessly through the thing's skull.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">After the opening salvos had hurt them so badly, most of the party had been gulping potions of <i>Extra Healing</i> like kool-aid. Now Ice and Joe each downed potions of <i>Invulnerability</i>, making them basically immune to the blaster fire from their alter-egos. Together with Mary, they began to concentrate their own blaster fire on the unknown cleric in the center of the tower. Jerry and James decided to remove themselves from the target pool; James cast <i>Invisibility</i> and began climbing the outside wall, while Jerry cast <i>Improved Invisibility</i> followed by <i>Fly</i>. He then set off a <i>Fireball</i> above one corner of the roof, and the alter-Chuck and alter-Jerry went tumbling down into the Osterizer below.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Suddenly a <i>Cone of Cold</i> blasted the front door from some unseen assailant to the south, putting Mary down. Joe took down the cleric with his next shot, but was himself felled by <i>Magic Missiles</i>. With the cleric dead, the <i>Blade Barrier</i> went away, leaving the inside of the tower accessible. Deciding the that blaster fire from their alter-egos was less dangerous than the spells from the unseen MUs outside, most of the part took refuge inside. Chuck was able to drag both Joe and Mary inside and revive them, while James used <i>Magic Missiles</i> to pick off the alter-Joe and alter-Phil. When Joe revived after the alter-Joe had been killed, he found that he was a level higher than he had been!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The rest of the alter-egos quickly fell to the blaster fire from their more experienced selves inside, and the party had the interior of the tower to themselves. Small consolation, as an <i>Ice Storm</i> rained giant hailstorms down into the open interior, knocking Mary out yet again. Deciding that maybe being clustered in one area wasn't such a good idea, they scattered again. Joe fired blindly at the area in the sky where the most recent spell had seemed to originate from, and one of his shots actually seemed to find a target. James climbed to one of the windows, and used a <i>Detect Magic</i> to locate <u>something</u> flying around, and began directing fire. About this time, a new assailant suddenly appeared near the back of the tower: their old friend Harry, his <i>Improved Invisibility</i> having apparently worn off. Mary tried catching him in a <i>Web </i>from her <i>Cloak of Arachnidia</i>, but he deftly dodged it.</span></div>
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James directed a <i>Lightning Bolt</i> towards the area where he could detect magic, and a few seconds later, a loud <i>THUD</i> and smoke rising from the ground announced that Twynillios had bit the dust. At the back of the tower, Harry was desperately preparing some spell aimed at Phil and Mary, but before he could get it off, Jerry hit him with an exceptionally powerful set of <i>Magic Missiles</i>, and he, too, took a dirt nap. A blessed quiet fell over the tower and its surroundings. </div>Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-9383975963928392202011-10-05T14:08:00.001-04:002011-10-05T14:08:42.409-04:00The SpellWeaverHaving survived their encounter with the gremlins, the party paused to catch their breath and bind their wounds. They searched the room, but found nothing magical (or almost anything that wasn't broken, shredded, or befouled by the gremlins). That just left the doors in the far corner of the room, so arranging themselves, they pushed them open.<br />
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They opened into<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> an enormous room, well over 100’ square. The floor was
polished marble and the ceiling was at least 25’ high. </span>In the center of the room was a huge pile of what appeared to
be treasure. Gold and gems glistened in the pile, but most of it appeared to be
made up of objects of various sorts: swords, axes, and daggers; armor, helmets,
and shields; wands and staves; scrolls and potions; rings and amulets. It rose a good 5-7’ above the level of the floor and glowed with warm, golden light.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Circling around the pile were a dozen brightly colored orbs.
They appeared solid, as if they were made of glass or highly polished stone, but
they flew through the air like planets orbiting the sun. There appeared to be two
concentric rings of orbs, one orbiting slowly near the center and another set
moving much faster farther out. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Standing atop the trove of treasure was a strange, slender
creature. It had three pairs of skinny arms extending from robes of rich fabric
and an ostrich-like neck topped by a head that looked like a cross between a
chicken and a praying mantis. It <span> wa</span>s
looking directly at the door as if it had been expecting them.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“Welcome!” it said in a reedy, strangely feminine voice.
“I’m so happy to see you. I can see that you’ve brought me so many interesting
new playthings! If you just leave everything there by the door, I’ll let you
leave in peace.”</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Joe and Ice immediately entered the room, Ice skulking along the south wall while Joe strode directly towards the creature. "Here, let me just add my sword to your pile," Joe said, trying to sound compliant. The creature wasn't fooled; it gestured towards Joe, who seemed dazed for a moment then turned and began to attack Ice!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The battle was joined, and the initially the party's only success was that Joe couldn't hit Ice worth a darn. An initial flurry of spells aimed at the creature simply fizzled out as they neared the outer ring of orbs. Ice managed to get away from Joe (who of course missed on the opportunity attack), and raced towards the center, using his Donkey Kong barrels to knock the SpellWeaver down and stun it for a round. Phil did a double move, then took an action point only to miss with his <i>Eye Poke</i>. Mary hit it with her <i>Sniper Rifle</i>, and Ice scored a critical hit, but the SpellWeaver only smiled at him, as if the blow were nothing.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The orbs were beginning to make their presence felt. Those in the inner ring did fire and cold damage to anyone too close, while those in the outer ring had other effects. Several party members found themselves slowed and dazed, while others were pushed back or found their attacks and defenses were weakened. And spells continued to fizzle apparently randomly. Chuck got the bright idea to cast his 2nd Edition <i>Sticks to Snakes</i> and send the mass of wrigglers after the Spell Weaver, but they all were immediately dazed and slowed by one of the outer orbs, then killed off by damage from the inner orbs before they could get close enough to hit.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Ice suddenly found himself teleported into some pocket dimension where all he could see were reflections of himself in every direction; Phil soon found himself in the same predicament. They spent a few rounds there before they popped back into the fray. Joe had shaken off the effects of whatever spell had caused him to (feebly) attack his friends, and rushed to the center to join Ice, Phil, and Chuck in ganging up on the SpellWeaver. At that point, the SpellWeaver simply teleported away. Joe chased him, took an action point to get a double attack, and <u>finally</u> bloodied him.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The combat took on a new flavor, with the SpellWeaver now teleporting away from the party's tanks while continuing to cast spells. Phil was hit by some fire spell that immobilized him, but also caused him to give off a burst of flame each turn, damaging anyone standing nearby. Luckily, he was able to use his <i>Go Get Him, Tiger</i> power to give up his standard action to one of his comrades. Mary pulled an RPG out of her magic panties, and scored a critical hit, while Joe scored a double-hit with <i>Hito-kaze's Fury</i> and <i>Hito-kaze's Touch</i>, severely injuring the creature. Jerry began hitting with <i>Magic Missiles</i>, and succeeded in <i>Ingiting</i> the SpellWeaver. Finally, Mary pulled out her trusty <i>Shotgun</i>, and blew the creature away.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">During the course of the combat, those who had climbed up on the mound of treasure found that instead of thousands of individual items, which it appeared to be, it was actually one massive lump of matter. Each of the items seemed to have somehow fused to the others, making it impossible to extract one from another. </span>The Gatestone pointed directly towards the mound. Chuck toyed with the idea of trying to capture one of the gray orbs (which appeared to have some anti-magic properties), but no one was keen on the idea of trying to catch a 3' sphere that was flying faster than any of them could run. In the end, the party took some time to stand off and begin taking target practice on the orbs; they found that after a few hits, they would explode into tiny shards, which turned to smoke before hitting the ground.</div>
Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-27952140738959824412011-09-26T11:56:00.000-04:002011-09-26T11:56:31.983-04:00Don't Feed Them After MidnightAfter finishing off Professor Frink and his robots, the party spent some time healing up and searching the room. They didn't find anything of interest on the bodies of the Professor or his assistant, but Chuck was worried about the machinery that still hummed and crackled in the corner. There was a <i>very</i> female robot hooked up to the machinery, and although it appeared completely inanimate, Chuck decided that he'd sleep better if he smashed it up a bit. The Gatestone now pointed almost due east, but the only obvious exit from the room was to the south, so the party spent some time searching (unsuccessfully) for secret doors along the east wall.<br />
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Deciding the south door was their next step, they moved to examine it. A piece of paper had been taped to the door with the handwritten message: "<b><i>DANGER! Do <u>NOT</u> Open!</i></b>". Confident that this message was intended for someone else, the party gave the door a push. It was locked, but that proved little challenge for James' skills.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As the door opened, a strong musky odor rolled out, making the party retch slightly. The room beyond was a complete mess. Tables and chairs were overturned, and crates and barrels broken were open and their contents scattered about. Several scorch marks were clearly visible on the floor and walls, and may have been related to the open chests or containers nearby. At the far end of the room a large cage could be seen with its door ominously open, but the party saw nothing living in the room. Near the cage, another set of double doors were in the east wall.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The party moved cautiously into the room, alert for any escaped animals that the stench and the open cage promised. Initially, they saw nothing, but as they began to spread around the room,<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">a number of small, scaly, green creatures with enormous ears suddenly popped out of barrels, crates, and other hiding places around the room; some even seemed to materialize out of thin air. They were ~3’ tall, and wore odd mis-matched pieces of clothing. They had three-fingered hands ending in long talons, and their grinning mouths were full of sharp teeth. They cackled with glee as they leaped to the attack.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hAnpq9MS4pk/ToCXch8kVLI/AAAAAAAAAnw/_uhgXBafG3E/s1600/Gremlin+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hAnpq9MS4pk/ToCXch8kVLI/AAAAAAAAAnw/_uhgXBafG3E/s200/Gremlin+1.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gremlin Skulker</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x1kbPoOqsyg/ToCXcw9sAuI/AAAAAAAAAn0/0P0tUj-uchA/s1600/Gremlin+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x1kbPoOqsyg/ToCXcw9sAuI/AAAAAAAAAn0/0P0tUj-uchA/s200/Gremlin+2.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gremlin Deceiver</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rmaeWeeKuHI/ToCXc2dCh1I/AAAAAAAAAn4/LOnoJqWh4uk/s1600/Gremlin+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rmaeWeeKuHI/ToCXc2dCh1I/AAAAAAAAAn4/LOnoJqWh4uk/s200/Gremlin+3.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gremlin Prankster<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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</tbody></table>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The party found themselves hemmed in from all sides. The Gremlin Deceivers kept casting </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Befuddling Burst</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> at groups of party members, dealing psychic damage, and messing up their reflexes so that they were unable to shift or stand up. Simultaneously, the Gremlin Pranksters would use their </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Slip Up</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> power to slide characters into clusters and then </span>knock them<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> prone. While the others held back for these ranged attacks, the Gremlin Skulkers closed with the party, and immediately became invisible, even as they attacked with their </span>vicious<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> claws.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The party immediately began having difficulties. They found that the Pranksters were almost impossible to hit, apparently having outrageously high armor class and other defenses. Meanwhile, the Skulkers kept shifting around invisibly, leaving the characters unsure where the next attack would come from, and often targeting empty space with their attacks. The Deceivers were the only relatively easy targets, and the party concentrated much of their firepower on them. Ice found himself crawling around on the floor, unable to stand but unwilling to give up on the attack.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Things were starting to go against the party until once again, the critical hits began to flow like crazy. Phil was being hard-pressed by one of the Pranksters, until he scored a critical with his <i>Look at This!</i> power, slapping the creature's hand down and around until it hit itself in the head, and promptly died (while they were almost impossible to hit, the Pranksters apparently died pretty easily once you managed to score a hit). Chuck immediately followed up with a critical <i>Avenging Light</i> against one of the Deceivers, killing it. Joe maneuvered himself into the center of a cluster of gremlins, and then used <i>Hito-kaze's Flashing Blade</i> to kill all three creatures (including a critical against the Prankster).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Soon the only creatures left were the invisible Skulkers, but they proved to be very difficult to bring down. They apparently had very good Stealth, making it difficult for the party to sense their location as they shifted all over the battlefield; the party suffered considerable damage from opportunity attacks as they unknowingly moved past unseen opponents. But the party gradually began to triangulate on their location. Ice got an idea of where one was, and promptly unloaded all four of his <i>Donkey Kong</i> barrels on the hapless target, scoring four hits and leaving it stunned, prone, and visible. Phil tempted another to reveal himself by starting a <i>Pie Fight</i>, which could have gotten hilariously chaotic had Chuck not missed with both the pies he tried to throw. Jerry began casting <i>Magic Missiles</i>, and while he never succeeded in Igniting one of the invisible Skulkers, he did whittle down their HP, and soon the last Skulker fell.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As the party stood panting among the fallen bodies, Jerry checked the Gatestone. From here, it pointed northeast, leading him to conclude that they were getting very close. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-70258124844732488272011-09-19T13:57:00.003-04:002011-09-19T14:58:39.877-04:00I, RobotThe party was still in battle with the alchemists and their plants, but the tide had clearly turned in their favor. Phil managed to escape the vines that had ensnared him and tried to put some distance between himself and the creature. The lone remaining active alchemist slipped away from Joe and hurled a couple more vials of chemicals his way, but it was too little, too late, and he soon became compost for the greenhouse. The party briefly considered leaving the plants alone, but another <i>Caustic Cloud </i>from the Vine Horror Spellfiend that left Joe blinded (again) quickly changed their minds.They had little trouble finishing off the two remaining plants, then delivered a coup de grace to the Held alchemist and his master. There was more rustling and movement from the far reaches of the greenhouse, suggesting that more of the plant creatures still remained, but for now, all was quiet.<br />
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The party briefly rested and healed up, keeping a wary eye on the greenery. Then they moved to the doors on the right side of the room. They were not locked, so they pushed them open. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">They revealed a large, brightly-lit room. Unlike the
stiflingly humid air in the previous room, this one was air-conditioned to the
point of inducing shivering. The oppressive scents of the last room were
replaced by a distinct smell of ozone.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hQL84JRTqn8/Tnd3NOCQHPI/AAAAAAAAAl8/-aeUEMhQbbY/s1600/scientist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hQL84JRTqn8/Tnd3NOCQHPI/AAAAAAAAAl8/-aeUEMhQbbY/s200/scientist.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">In the center of the room, a dead body lay spread-eagled on
some sort of metal table connected to strange equipment. A trail of blood led from a nearby metal stretcher. Another demon-like creature like the one they'd seen outside stood over the body
with bloody surgical instruments. In the corner, and odd-looking man in a white
lab coat fussed with some crackling electrical machinery. </span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P6LwDe8hmAQ/Tnd3hwNgsaI/AAAAAAAAAmA/gzHJ0SI_8ro/s1600/Whirling+Blades+Automaton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P6LwDe8hmAQ/Tnd3hwNgsaI/AAAAAAAAAmA/gzHJ0SI_8ro/s200/Whirling+Blades+Automaton.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Arrayed around the room were a variety of robots. Along the
left wall were three huge robots; one arm ended in a massive hammer while the
other ended in a wicked claw. Opposite them were three smaller robots with
conical drill bits at the end of each arm. On the far wall were three small
spider-like constructs with buzz saws where their mandibles would be. In
between were three tall humanoid robots. At the end of their right arm were twin
blades that began to spin into a circular blur as soon as the door was opened.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oyXlnd6vjJA/Tnd3HNu3uxI/AAAAAAAAAl4/ouNfWRnOJEE/s1600/hammerer+automaton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oyXlnd6vjJA/Tnd3HNu3uxI/AAAAAAAAAl4/ouNfWRnOJEE/s200/hammerer+automaton.jpg" width="172" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The
man in the corner looked up at the party through thick glasses. “Hmm Guyvin-whey-hey
make with the running and the exploding and the crying HOYVIN-GLAVIN! with the
dancing and the twisting and kung-fu FIGHT-ing.” That apparently was the command
to attack, and the robots began marching forward.</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The <b>Blades Automata</b> took up defensive positions while the <b>Hammer Automata</b> moved towards the party; the <b>Collider Automata</b> seemed to be having trouble getting started. The <b>Arachnid Clockwork Horrors </b>scuttled quickly forward to take up positions near the demon creature.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Joe and Ice moved into the room to focus their attacks on the lead Blades Automaton, and quickly found that its twirling blade could attack both of them at once. To make matters worse, the demon, after casting an <i>Infernal Bolt</i> at Joe, animated some spikes from his tray of instruments that flew through the air and nailed Joe's feet to the floor, immobilizing him and causing ongoing damage as he struggled to free himself. Phil also made it into the room, and immediately found himself grabbed once again, this time by the claw of a Hammer Automaton. The machine raised its other arm to smash Phil with its giant hammer, but Phil poked it in the eyes, blinding it. Phil was unable to escape the grab, but the robot was unable to save to end the blindness, so the two danced with each other for several rounds.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
James cast a <i>Stinking Cloud</i> around <b>Professor Frink</b>, forcing him to move away from the equipment that he seemed to be preparing to use; he did manage to create some sort of lightning creature before he left. Mary moved into the room and unlimbered her sniper rifle to take a shot at the professor, but found that the cloud obscured line of sight against him. When he moved out of the cloud, he cast <i>Painful Jaunt</i> against Mary; this did quite a bit of damage, but worse, it caused her and one of the Arachnids to swap places, putting her adjacent to one of the Blades Automata and far away from the rest of the party.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Collider Automata finally rumbled to life. They were slow, but when they hit, they did serious damage. Joe and Ice found themselves surrounded in the center of the room, while Mary was on her own against two robots near the south wall. The rest of the party hung back by the doorway, casting ranged spells. Joe and Ice killed the first Blades Automaton, but its propeller-like blade exploded, sending shrapnel flying in a five-square radius. James kept moving his <i>Stinking Cloud </i>to keep the professor on the run. Jerry cast a good ol' 2<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span> Edition <i>Fireball</i> that bloodied the professor, his assistant, and one of the Blades and took out one Arachnid and the lightning creature. The professor cast a <i>Temporal Disruption</i> on the bulk of the party clustered near the door, leaving the all dazed and slowed.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Mary did a <i>Spin Kick</i> that damaged the two robots surrounding her and let her slip a few squares away. She chucked a <i>Hand Grenade </i>their way and killed the Blades Automaton, but was damaged by the resulting shrapnel. One more hit from the Collider and she fell unconscious, far away from the party's healers, who were still bottled up near the door.<br />
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Seeing poor defenseless (yeah, right!) little Mary fall seemed to be just the incentive the rest of the party needed to heat up their dice, and critical hits suddenly started coming right and left. Ice did a <i>Simian Leap</i> to get free of the robots surrounding him and then went all <i>Donkey Kong </i>on their asses, scoring not one, but TWO critical hits with his barrels. Joe scored a critical with <i>Hito-kaze</i>, and while he didn't sever anything he began putting down the robots around him (and <i>Hito-kaze's</i> blade began to flicker with electricity). Chuck scored a critical with an <i>Avenging Light</i>, then moved down to cast a <i>Healing Word</i> that revived Mary. </span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Jerry was casting <i>Magic Missile</i> at anything that moved, and trying to ignite it, and James was using his <i>Cloud of Daggers</i>. The professor went down before he could do any further damage, and finally only one robot was left. Phil gave it a <i>Bitch Slap</i> that allowed Ice an opportunity attack - and he scored another critical to put it down and out. The room fell silent except for the heavy breathing of the exhausted characters.</span></div>
Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-69498204961395874592011-09-14T13:16:00.000-04:002011-09-14T13:16:43.588-04:00Better Living Through ChemistryHaving fended off the welcoming committee that had demanded the surrender of their weapons and magic, the party took a brief rest and then checked the Gatestone. It seemed to point towards the building they could see on the hill a mile or so away, so they set off. <br />
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As they approached the building, they could see that it was a structure of redwood and glass, built on a natural ledge on the hillside, but appearing to extend back into the hill itself. A pair of large wooden doors carved with geometric shapes was the only obvious entry. James spotted what appeared to be a camera lens above the door, and there was what appeared to be a doorbell button beside it. Deciding once again to show good manners, the party rang the bell several times, but no one answered. The doors were locked, but proved no match for James' skills.<br />
<br />
Inside, they found what appeared to be a very well-appointed home. The furnishings were very modern looking and (at least to James' practiced eye) tasteful. The glass front of the house provided spectacular views of the grounds and the ocean beyond. Abstract art and sculptures were scattered throughout - James didn't recognize any of it, but he appreciated its aesthetic quality. The house was very clean and neat, but there were no signs of any inhabitants.<br />
<br />
At the left rear of the house, they found a large metal door - this was the only obvious exit other than the doors through which they'd entered. There was writing on it, but the characters were unrecognizable to any of the party. This door was also locked, but again gave way quickly to James' picks. It opened into a broad hallway, running at right-angles to the front of the house and with windows lining the left side. The windows showed more views of the grounds below (although looking away from the sea), and ahead it looked like a greenhouse jutted out from the side of the building just beyond the end of the hall; however its glass was fogged with moisture and it was impossible to see what might be inside other than dense greenery. Whereas the rest of the building clearly seemed to be a home, this area had a more industrial feel, with simple tile floors, unadorned walls, and fluorescent lighting. The air held a faint smell of chemicals.<br />
<br />
There was a pair of metal double doors at the opposite end of the hall, and the party arranged themselves and pushed the doors open.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> They opened into a humid, smelly room. The odors of
fermentation mixed with sharp, acrid scents in the heavy air, burning the eyes
and making it difficult to breathe. A greenhouse opened from the left-hand side
of the room, filled with a dense, jungle-like growth of unrecognizable plants.
A pair of large vats full of viscous, bubbling liquid flanked the door, and another set of double doors could be seen on the right side of the room.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Several men wearing leather aprons over stained white lab
coats stood hunched over workbenches covered with chemical apparatus, wearing
googles against the fumes. A tall, gangly man was at a larger workbench in the
corner, apparently dissecting vines and plants with a variety of sharp knives.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">They all looked up in surprise as the party entered. “Oy – you
can’t be in ‘ere!” one of them barked. “Get the ‘ell out o’ ‘ere a’fore you
ruins our experiments!” In response, Joe strode boldly into the room, causing the
man in the back to snarl, “Enough of this distraction. Eliminate these
intruders!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">James managed to dart into the room before its inhabitants could react. The alchemists began grabbing vials of liquid off their workbenches and out of deep pockets in their aprons and hurling them at the party. Several tossed <i>Stink Bombs, </i>creating zones of choking gas that blocked the party's exit from the hall. Others threw <i>Caustic Glue</i>, that caused acid damage and slowed anyone it hit, and still others threw pure acid. Two of the jars hit the glass vats on either side of the door, shattering them and and spilling slime onto the floor around them. The leader in the back hurled some sort of chemical explosive spell in to the midst of the clustered party, causing ongoing damage and slowing anyone who hadn't already been hit by the glue.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The party was challenged from the get-go, and struggled to take the fight to their opponents. Joe quickly closed with the leader, but found himself hurled backwards by some invisible force as soon as he got adjacent to him. The main body of the party found themselves bottled up near the doors, unable to put much distance between themselves because they were slowed, and so being subject to frequent area-of-effect attacks. The slime from the vats bubbled up and two creatures emerged from it. One moved into the doorway to attack Ice; it was quickly dispatched, but when it died, it exploded into a shower of slime, immediately bloodying Phil. The other headed towards Joe and James, but the party managed to take it out with ranged attacks before it got close enough to hurt them with its death throes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Other foes appeared as the party began to make their way into the room. A cluster of vines rose up out of the greenhouse jungle to form some horrid </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">creature that fired a <i>Caustic Cloud</i> at James and Joe; Joe found himself blinded and taking ongoing acid damage. Phil managed to get out of the doorway and into the room, only to find himself ensared by vines from yet another plant creature, which drug him off into the undergrowth to attempt to devour him. Meanwhile the alchemists and their master continued to hurl chemical attacks at the party.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Poor little Mary. After being such a hellcat in the last battle, her luck deserted her here. Not only did all her attacks miss miserably, but she could not save against the various affects and ongoing damage. She was slowed almost all night, blinded for much of it, and taking acid damage almost every round. About the only time she hit all night was when she was blindly firing her shotgun in the opposite direction from where she knew the party to be.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">For awhile it looked bad for the group. Almost everyone in the party was bloodied at one point or another, some multiple times. Now they got to be on the other side of having clerics on board, as Phil and Chuck (and even Mary, at one point) provided healing to keep their friends (or themselves) alive. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The tide began to turn when Chuck used one of his daily powers to cast the 2<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span> Edition <i>Hold Person</i> spell against the leader and one of his assistants. With them out of the fight, the other alchemists began to fall one by one. They were tough cookies, apparently able to regenerate some HP by taking melee attacks after they were bloodied. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We ran out of time before completing the battle, but when we ended there was one alchemist still in the fight (though bloodied), the Vine Horror Spellfiend was also bloodied, and the other vine creature had Phil grabbed and pulled deep into the greenhouse. The leader and one of his assistants were still Held, although the leader still seemed to be able to use his telekinetic shield against anyone getting too close. Of the party members, only Phil is currently bloodied.</span></div>
Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-29493679493693661902011-09-09T14:50:00.001-04:002011-09-09T14:51:29.675-04:00I Feel FunnyThe party had defeated a strange assortment of monsters, robots, and ray-gun wielding baddies, and used the Gatestone to transport themselves to the next unvisited universe.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> They found themselves standing on a floor of chipped and weathered marble. Crumbled walls,
columns, and arches surrounded them, and if there was ever a roof to this place it was long since gone. Behind them stood a half-domed grotto holding a statue of a
winged woman, almost like an angel, but the face of the statue was weathered to
the point that it was impossible to tell whether she was benevolent or
cruel. Despite the long-abandoned and ruined nature of the rest of the
building, water bubbled merrily in a fountain before them.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">They heard the sound of surf, and looking behind they saw that the ruin stood at the top of a low cliff overlooking a vast sea. In the
other direction, the land was rolling and quite beautiful. Low grass covered the
hills with small groves of trees scattered here and there. It almost appeared landscaped. The hills rose to an outcropping of rock several miles away, and
they could see a large building built into the rock face. Its style was fairly
modern, almost Japanese looking.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Despite the beauty of the landscape, something about it
seemed off, troubling. Everything seemed too … <i><u>flat</u></i>, almost two-dimensional. The colors were pretty, but
there were just too <i><u>few</u></i> of
them. Each leaf, each stone, each bird was of a single color – no variation in
hue from edge to center, front to back. They weren't sure why that bothers them –
isn’t this how things have <i><u>always</u></i>
looked?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As they looked at their friends, the unsettled feeling grew. They recognized each other, but it had a dreamlike feeling, where you <i><u>know</u></i> that that the person in your
dream is your brother, even though they look like Richard Nixon. They stood staring at
each other, trying to shake the feeling that somehow, some<i>where</i>, they didn’t always look like
this.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Chuck</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
had his ever-present cigarette dangling from his mouth, dropping ashes on his
Roman collar. Why do you keep thinking he used to be black?</span></span></div>
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<b>Phil</b> had a
perpetual scowl below his bowl-shaped haircut. You know you don’t want to get
on his bad side.</div>
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<b>Mary</b> has eyes
that fill most of the area of her face. She wore her usual short schoolgirl
skirt that barely seemed adequate for its job, topped by a white blouse and big
bow. Because her clothes barely cover her essentials, you aren’t sure <i><u>where</u></i> she keeps all those
weapons.</div>
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<b>James</b> has spiky
hair, large eyes (though not as large as Mary’s), and seems to have daggers
hidden in every part of his clothing.</div>
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<b>Jerry</b> also has
large eyes, and a mouth so tiny you don’t know how he could eat. His demeanor
is solemn.</div>
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<b>Joe </b>wears his
usual leather and bronze armor, and has his sword, Hito-Kaze, slung casually
over his shoulder. The sword is taller than he is, and a good 2 ½ feet wide. It
looks as if it would be far too heavy to lift, but he wields it with ease.</div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Ice</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
has his derby hat perched jauntily atop his massive head. He adjusts his bow
tie with one huge hand while the knuckles of the other rest on the ground at
his feet.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Somehow, they also felt they were missing some of their possessions - that they used to have other weapons, other clothing, other armor. But no, that would be silly, wouldn't it?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As the party stood trying to shake this unsettling feeling that things weren't what they always had been, a group of people-ish <i>things</i> emerged from the edge of the ruin's clearing and fanned out in front of them, stopping 30-50' away.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>Some of them appeared to be human, but others clearly weren’t.
One looked human, but was only 4 ½ feet tall, despite his thick beard and thicker
muscles. Another looked like some sort of demon, with thick horns and a barbed tail.
Two others were some sort of lizard creatures with rough scaly skin and blunt
snouts.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">One of these seemed to be their leader. He was armed with an
enormous spear, and strode to the front, grinning at the party. “Well, what do you know? Just like
the Master said – guests have arrived. I’m going to have to ask you nice folks
to surrender any weapons and magic you might be carrying, and then you can go
peacefully on your way. We don’t want any trouble, and there’s no reason to be
frightened – we don’t intend to do you any harm as long as you obey the law.
And the law here is that no one is allowed to have any weapons or magic except
the duly appointed authorities … which would be us.”</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The party was naturally reluctant to comply with this request, and tried to find another solution. Chuck asked, "Who is your master? Can we meet him?" The leader nodded amicably. "He's the Spellweaver. He's always happy to meet new people and learn new things. Just hand over your weapons and magic, and we'll take you to him." Mary tried twirling her hair around her finger and batting her enormous eyes </span>flirtatiously<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">, but even this sweet little girl couldn't sway them.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Finally Joe twirled <i>Hito-kaze</i> menacingly before him, producing an audible whistling sound. "You can have my sword when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers." Unoriginal, but it got the point across. The leader sighed and his shoulders slumped. "I'm so sorry to hear that. Like I said, we don't want any trouble, so I guess we'll have to leave you folks alone. Come on guys." His group turned as if to leave, took two steps, then spun around and attack. The party was not taken in by their pathetic attempt at subterfuge.</span></span></div>
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The leader charged in, using his extra-long spear to attack from outside the party's grappling range. He then breathed a cloud of poisonous gas that damaged several of the clustered party members. One of the humans charged into engage Ice, while another went after Joe. He held a rapier in one hand and a hand crossbow in the other, attacking with both each round and using his flashing rapier to avoid opportunity attacks. That lasted only as long as it took Joe to roll a critical hit with <i>Hito-kaze</i>, lopping off the attacker's right hand at the wrist. He picked up the rapier with his left hand and tried to continue, but a couple of rounds later Joe rolled <i>another</i> critical and almost disemboweled him - he was down and out.</div>
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Most of the others held back and attacked with ranged weapons or spells. One of the lizard-like things was clearly a magic user, and two others were clerics. The party learned just how frustrating it can be to have clerics in the opposition; every time it seemed like the big guy was getting weak, one of the clerics would jump in with a <i>Healing Word</i> and he'd be back up again.</div>
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But the party was hardly overmatched. Once again, they found that they had new powers they'd never explored before. Chuck created a <i>Wall of Light</i> that protected anyone standing in it and gave them temporary HP at the beginning of each round. Jerry was able to <i>Ignite</i> foes when he hit them with other spells, doing ongoing fire damage and outlining them in flames to make them easier to hit. Phil took great pleasure in poking his opponents in the eyes, temporarily blinding them. At one point, Ice pulled several large barrels out of his back pocket and rolled them at the opponents, knocking them prone.</div>
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But innocent little Mary seemed to be the most full of surprises. When the battle commenced she somehow produced a heavy machine gun out of nowhere and sprayed the opposition. The next time anyone looked, she had a submachine gun, and was doing the same. She filled the leader with buckshot from a shotgun (where did <i>that </i>come from?), then lobbed a hand grenade. When she got tired of the enemies who were flinging ranged spells, she pulled out some sci-fi looking thing she referred to as a "Big F*(#&$ Gun" and blasted them with an enormous plasma blast, bloodying most of them. Finally, she pulled out her sniper rifle (<i>Oh come on! She doesn't even have POCKETS!</i>) and took out the enemy MU.</div>
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Finally the last of the attackers fell, and the only sound was the bubbling fountain. The Gatestone pointed towards the house in the hills.</div>
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<br />Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-26281360900857765922011-09-08T17:49:00.000-04:002011-09-08T17:49:42.680-04:00Long Ago, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away ...The party had completed their mission for the King of the Fire Elementals, returning (very reluctantly) to Ravenloft to bury the gem he had given them, creating a new-born volcano in the process. They hurriedly returned to Castle Lightningspire, ignoring the bodies of the dead circus folk strewn about outside, and used the Gatestone to re-close the gate.<br />
<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">They found themselves standing in an expanse of rolling, grassy hills. They were in the center of a circle of huge stone masks, each a good 15-20’ tall. The heads were very elongated, with wide, open mouths and oval eyes. They were concave, hollowed out from behind, and the eyes and mouth are open, so you could look out through them. Most were still upright, although leaning, but a few had fallen on their sides. The heads faced outward, away from the center of the circle, and the grass growing up around the stones and in the center of the circle showed no sign of having been disturbed in some time.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Following the Gatestone, they set out towards a line of hills or cliffs in the far distance. As they </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">traveled</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">, they found themselves filled with a vague sense of unease. Something about this place simply felt </span></span><i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">wrong</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">. Some of the party's spellcasters attempted to cast simple spells, only to find that they could not. It wasn't clear why - if anything the lines of Force felt stronger here than any other universe they had visited, but something just wasn't working right. </span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uQg1qwm7Fsw/TmkdyzHWXwI/AAAAAAAAAk0/_toa7FUgVjI/s1600/Nexu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="169" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uQg1qwm7Fsw/TmkdyzHWXwI/AAAAAAAAAk0/_toa7FUgVjI/s320/Nexu.jpg" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">After travelling for a full day, they stopped to make camp for the night. They stomped down the tall grass and made a cold camp, setting watches. Midway through the night, two giant feline creatures leaped out of the grass to attack Joe and Phil, who were on watch. The beasts had enormously wide mouths, filled with razor-sharp teeth, and forked prehensile tails. After slashing at Joe, the first beast leaped a good 20' and grabbed Mary in its jaws, trying to shake her the way a cat would a mouse. Ice and Chuck moved in to help Phil, but found themselves knocked prone when the creature's tail whipped their legs out from under them. However, after recovering from the initial surprise, the party was able to dispatch the two creatures without taking undue damage.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">In the course of the battle, the party discovered that they had strange new powers. The spellcasters, and even some of the fighters, found that by using the power of the Force, they could tap skills they had never before known. The clerics and wizards found that they could still cast their old spells, but that it required an expenditure of Force power in a way that was new to them.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">One other thing was different. When Joe drew his sword, <i>Hito-Kaze</i>, it was no longer a gleaming Japanese katana. Instead it was an intense beam of red light, emitting a low humming sound. When the party questioned Joe about it, he looked at them like they were crazy. "What are you talking about? It's always looked like this!" Deciding not to debate who might or might not be crazy, the party let it drop.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">The party continued their travels the next day, eventually approaching a line of dark cliffs split by a number of narrow canyons. A thin stream of smoke could be seen rising from near one of the canyon mouths. They sent James forward (invisibly) to scout. Spread out around the canyon mouth, he could see at least a dozen squat, muscular humanoids, with green skin and pig-like faces They were armed with axes of various sizes, and were scattered on either side of the opening. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Hoping for the best, the party approached in the open, calling out a friendly greeting. In response, the creatures charged in to attack. Despite their superior numbers, it was hardly a battle. A couple of fireballs took out a good half of the enemy, and the party made short work of the rest. A few of them were armed with huge, two-handed pole-axes, that gave off a high-pitched whine as they whizzed through the air. Only Ice was strong enough to wield one of these vibro-axes, and he claimed one eagerly.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">The Gatestone pointed down the canyon that the creatures had apparently been guarding, so the party continued on. After a few miles James, who was scouting ahead, spotted movement ahead. Creeping forward, he saw a wide metal door inset into the canyon wall. Arrayed around it were a large group of robots. Most were slender bronze robots armed with short, rifle-like weapons, but there were several much larger machines marching among them.</span><br />
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Remembering that being neighborly hadn't worked too well with the pig-things, the party decided to go on the offense. Ice, being Ice, charged right in and leveled one of the bronze robots with his new axe, causing all the others to turn their weapons his way. Just then, James remembered that one of his new Force powers allowed him to hide his allies from sight. Just in time, he cloaked the party, and Ice was able to dodge the barrage of energy bolts that blasted into the area where he'd last been seen. </div>
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While the rest of the party took advantage of the robots' momentary confusion to array themselves around the canyon, Mary rushed forward to the door, hoping to open it and let the party slip inside unnoticed. Unfortunately, she found herself confronted with a 16-key keypad and no idea what combination might open it.</div>
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As the robots continued to blaze away blindly with their energy weapons, Joe tired of waiting for the others to do something. He stepped forward and raised his hand in a dismissive gesture, and suddenly a good half-dozen of the robots went flying through the air, landing in smoking, sparking heaps. With that, the battle was on. Joe laid into the robots with his light saber, using it to deflect several shots that came his way. Ice did the same with his vibro-axe, while Phil provided <i>Covering Fire</i> that distracted the enemy and made his allies harder to hit. Again, the battle was fairly short-lived, and soon all the robots were piles of smoking junk.</div>
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The robots' weapons didn't seem to have any obvious trigger mechanism, and were useless to the party. Examining the door, James found that there was a round, fluted hole just below the keypad that looked like it might just be an exact match for the bronze robots' left thumbs. They drug one of the machines to the doorway, inserted it's thumb, and the doors slid open with a hiss.</div>
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Inside was a large room littered with stacks of metal boxes, barrels, and machinery of unknown purpose. Another pair of doors similar to those the party had just opened could be seen at the far end. As the party entered the room, a good 25 creatures popped up from hiding places all around the room and opened fire.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rAdN5puPIyY/TmkmMzm6pCI/AAAAAAAAAk8/EUjSjAcScwo/s1600/StormTrooper.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rAdN5puPIyY/TmkmMzm6pCI/AAAAAAAAAk8/EUjSjAcScwo/s200/StormTrooper.gif" width="200" /></a>The new foes looked like white robots of some sort, but whatever they were, they went down easily. Chuck stepped to the front of the party and used one of his new Force powers to <i>Draw Fire</i>, causing a large proportion of the enemies to attack only him; for some reason, their attacks seemed to do minimal damage even when they hit. This freed the rest of the party up to spread out around the room and start dishing out whup-ass. Once again Joe used his <i>Force Slam </i>to take out a substantial number of enemies (making the DM think he should have either made that a smaller area of effect or a daily power, or both). A <i>Fireball </i>from James and another from Jerry each took care of another group, and before long the battle was over.</div>
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As the party examined the bodies, they found that they were actually humans, wearing some sort of lightweight composite body armor. While the helmets proved to be unusable (the party couldn't figure out how to activate their internal displays, leaving them blind), several people took portions of the close-fitting body armor. They also picked up a number of the blaster pistols, which seemed to dish out quite a bit of damage. They seemed to be powered by a replaceable energy cartridge of some sort, and they picked up as many of these as they could find.</div>
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Again using the thumb of one of the deceased robots as a key, they opened the next set of doors. This time, no ambush awaited. The party found themselves on a catwalk over a deep pit. Many small tunnels went off in all directions from the main room, and small flying machines could be seen darting in and out of them. Most pulled carriers full of broken rock, which they dropped into a series of hoppers passing beneath the party's feet. A few emerged from the tunnels with tiny red crystals held between tweezer-like fingers. These would drop their crystals into an opening in a large device at the far end of the room, and a short time later a brilliant flash of light would emerge. A normal-sized door was at the opposite end of the catwalk. </div>
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The party decided to examine the device at the opposite end of the room before opening the door, but as soon as they approached, it slid open on its own. Deciding that they'd better investigate that first, they entered. The room inside was a 60' cube. In the center was a large growth of bright red crystals, glowing with internal fire. They reminded the party very much of the crystals they'd found at the bottom of the Demon's Mouth, although they didn't have the same disturbing non-Euclidean geometry. Naturally, the Gatestone pointed directly at them. To the left the machinery from the previous room extended through the wall into this room, and several smaller red crystals could be seen on a belt coming out of the machine. Two large cylindrical tanks, ~30' high, dominated the opposite side of the room.</div>
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Mary moved to examine a control panel on the left side of the room, but as she approached, a hooded figure leaped from hiding behind the machinery. Simultaneously, two similar figures emerged from behind the crystals. All three were armed with light sabers similar to Joe's, and they charged in to attack.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-64PmQFEayhE/TmkzWCG8k6I/AAAAAAAAAlM/q6xFctnSUKY/s1600/Sith+Duelist+1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-64PmQFEayhE/TmkzWCG8k6I/AAAAAAAAAlM/q6xFctnSUKY/s200/Sith+Duelist+1.gif" width="167" /></a>At the same time, a pair of storm troopers opened fire from atop each of the tanks on the far side of the room, while a flying figure began spraying any grouped members of the party with bursts of energy bolts. The hooded figures concentrated their attacks on any spellcasters and on Joe, while the shooters tried to focus on Joe. One round after the attack began, a fourth hooded figure emerged from behind the crystals, and began to slash at Joe. He seemed to be more skilled than the others. All of them were able to use their light sabers to deflect some ranged attacks as well as to block blows from swords and axes - but not all of them. Gradually, the party began to overwhelm them. James took out the flying attacker, who crashed to the ground with a small explosion. The hooded warriors fell one by one, and finally only the party was left standing.</div>
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After taking a short rest to heal up, the party again placed the Gatestone on the source of they ley lines, and once again felt themselves being stretched impossibly thin ...</div>
Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-90407090371171482722011-06-08T17:10:00.000-04:002011-06-08T17:10:36.900-04:00The Fortress of GlassAt the urging of their oracle, Queen Amal and her Amazon warriors had agreed to to take the party across the "Lake of Fire" to the "Fortress of Glass" - whatever that meant. Mounted on the Amazons' pterodactyls, the party flew up the side of the volcano at the center of the island, and over the lip of the crater. At that moment, the oracle's words made sense. Below them, the caldera was a filled with a lake of molten lava, seething and bubbling. Rising from the center of the sea of magma was an island of black rock. Seeming to grow out of the rock itself was a tower of black obsidian. At a command from the Queen, the flight of pterodactyls banked as one, and began descending towards the tower.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zi31UUWyoGI/Te_HuSghBoI/AAAAAAAAAkU/w0e6eoHxN2w/s1600/Efreet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zi31UUWyoGI/Te_HuSghBoI/AAAAAAAAAkU/w0e6eoHxN2w/s200/Efreet.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>Suddenly, a <i>Wall of Fire</i> appeared directly in front of the Queen and her mount - and Mary, who was riding in the seat of honor. Unable to dodge, the startled beast flew directly through the roaring flames, while the rest of the flight scrambled in all directions to try to avoid the same fate. At that moment, four huge creatures appeared in the air around them. They seemed to be half-fire, and zipped around the lumbering pterodactyls like jet fighters attacking WWI biplanes. They would flash in, swing with their enormous fists, and then dart back out, leaving only the slightest opportunity for a counter-attack.<br />
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Unfortunately for them, a slight opportunity was all it took. Phil managed to cover about half the party with a <i>Prayer</i>, tipping the odds in the party's favor. Jerry unleashed one of his trademark <i>Lightning Bolts</i>, and the Queen responded with one of her own from her steel spear. Small arms fire erupted from most of the party, and the Amazons proved to be quite handy with their slender bows. Within a few rounds, all four of the creatures disappeared in a flash of flame and a fall of ash.<br />
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Fearing more attackers, Queen Amal wasted no time in delivering the party. The pterodactyls raced down towards the tower and flapped their wings in a short hover above its flat rooftop; the Amazons unceremoniously pushed their passengers off and then flew away as fast as they could.<br />
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The tower was made of black obsidian, its surface slick and treacherous underfoot. It was also searingly hot, and the party leaped to their feet as soon as they landed, to avoid burns. Even then, they found themselves hopping from foot to foot as the heat threatened to become unbearable. The roof had an irregular opening into a room ~18' below, as if something had melted through its surface. Jerry quickly cast a <i>Fly</i> spell on Ice, and he ferried everyone down.<br />
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The floor of the room below was inscribed with intricate patterns that appeared to be astrological in nature, and several huge brass astrolabes and telescopes were scattered around the room. The air here was even more stifling than above, and Chuck cast <i>Resist Heat </i>on himself and James; everyone else wished he had more of the spells. A stairway led down, and a ruddy glow could be seen at its bottom. Joe led the way, wanting to get out of the heat as soon as possible.<br />
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At the bottom of the stairs was a broad hallway. The obsidian of the outer walls had thinned to the point where it became translucent, allowing in a modicum of light. The heat here was almost overwhelming. Mary and Phil actually fainted briefly from the heat, and everyone lost one point of Strength. In the center of the hallway were a pair of bronze doors. Taking advantage of his heat resistance, Chuck pulled them open.<br />
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The floor of the room inside was also inscribed with astrological symbols<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> and patterns, similar to the room above. There were also twelve stone pedestals arranged in a circle, aligned with each of the signs of the zodiac. On each pedestal stood a bronze statue. The statues were of humans. They were naked, although each held some object: a scale, a spear, a bow, a horn, etc. They appeared to be symbols of zodiac signs, although for a zodiac the party was unfamiliar with. Another stairway leading down could be seen in the far corner of the room. James cast a <i>Detect Magic </i>from the wand, but nothing showed up, so the party headed for the stairs.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Itha1GLJhUg/Te_HtTYCtvI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/egWqoa8NR8k/s1600/Harginn.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Itha1GLJhUg/Te_HtTYCtvI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/egWqoa8NR8k/s200/Harginn.gif" width="113" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As soon as everyone was inside the room, the statues (of course) came to life.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Where once stood a bronze statue, there was now a gruesome creature with flaming hair atop its leering, skull-like face. Their skin was scarlet and orange, and had only a column of flame where their legs should be. The creatures shot out a fan of flames from their hands, engulfing anyone it its path. They also had an annoying habit of blinking from place to place rather than moving in a normal fashion.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">James immediately took out three with a <i>Lighting Bolt</i> of his own. Phil, who had been bringing up the rear, quickly found himself surrounded and in flames, looking for help. The creatures weren't terribly difficult to hit, but it took awhile to bring them all down, and in the meantime, they inflicted quite a bit of damage on the party. By the time the last one disappeared in a column of oily smoke, the party was pretty burned and blistered.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">At the bottom of the stairs was another hallway, and another pair of double doors. These were made of iron, and glowed cherry red with heat. After some speculation about exactly what temperature caused iron to glow red, Chuck tried wrapping his hands in cloth to pull open the doors, only to have the cloth immediately begin to </span>smolder<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> and smoke. Deciding to go with Plan B, he used a camp shovel to hook through the door pulls instead.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Opening the doors was like opening the doors to a blast furnace. A searing wave of intense heat erupted out of the room, singeing the hair and eyebrows off everyone in front of it and temporarily blinding them. Even when they were able to see again, the party had to shield their eyes against the light and heat emanating from the room. In the center of the room was an enormous column of flame, nearly 20’ in diameter. It rose up out of a platform of black rock that appeared to be nearly molten.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Before the party could gather their wits, booming laughter greeted them, accompanied by a fresh wave of heat. “After all these centuries is this the best that old man can do?” A face could be seen in the flames, grinning cruelly. “I know that Merlin sent you – you’re carrying that precious Gatestone of his. What is it he wants this time?” The party tried explaining that they were on a mission to save the multiverse from being destroyed, but they received an unexpectedly cool (hah!) reaction. "Why should I care if your paltry multiverse gets destroyed? My realm is separate from all of your universes, and only touches on them in a few places, such as this. If your multiverse disappears, it is of little interest to me." More persuasion had little affect, and although Ice wanted to fill him with hot lead, cooler heads prevailed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, someone asked if there was anything at all they could do for this creature of flame. He seemed to grow thoughtful.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“Hmmm … now that you mention it, I might be able to make some use of that gem of Merlin’s. The Plane of Fire does not connect with all of your universes, so I cannot travel to all of them. Normally I would not care – most of your worlds are far too cold and wet for my taste. However, one of your universes contains an annoying mage who has tried to summon me many times against my will. I should like to pay him a visit, to teach him the error of his ways, but I cannot reach his world. If you would be willing to help me, I would allow you to close this Gate." The party asked if he knew the name of this mage - could it be Twynillios? "No," came the reply, "I think he calls himself ... Azalin." Although the characters had never heard this name, the players all groaned in dismay.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">A finger of flame snaked out from the central column and touched the Gatestone, pointing out the facet for Ravenloft. Even though the party had closed this gate once, the rune now glowed green again, indicating that the gate had been re-opened. "I simply need to create a linkage between the Plane of Fire and his universe." Another finger of flame reached out and dropped a large ruby at the party's feet. "Take this with you, and bury it anywhere in his world. You need not find this Azalin, or even be anywhere near him. <u style="font-style: italic;">I</u> will have no trouble finding him." Almost as an afterthought, he added, "Oh, and after you bury it, you'd best get far away. Things will get a bit <i>warm</i>."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">When the party agreed to his terms, the column of flame began to shrink, until it was an intense jet of blue-hot flame, and receded into the far corner of the room. After a few rounds, the room cooled enough for the party to enter. They placed the Gatestone on the black stone platform, and it's mercury-like base bubbled and boiled, but managed to cover the stone. They touched the rune for Ravenloft, and felt the familiar stretching sensation ...</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">... and found themselves once again in a trackless plain filled with impenetrable mist. After a time, they began to hear distant thunder, and the mist thickened until it became a light rain. A flash of lightning revealed they were on a mountainside, surrounded by pine forests and rocky outcroppings.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The party debated whether to bury the ruby immediately, but the Fire Tyrant's warning worried them. Just how far away did they need to get? With images of Krakatoa running through their heads, they decided it was best not to bury the stone until they were ready to leave this universe for good, so they began to follow the Gatestone. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">After about an hour,<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> another </span>flash of lightning revealed a narrow valley ahead of them. On the opposite slope a small gray stone keep sat atop a foothill of the surrounding mountains. Two pointed spires jutted from the roof of the central tower, extending another 30’ above the structure. They acted as natural lightning rods, attracting bolt after bolt. </span>A rushing mountain stream poured down the valley floor, spanned by a stone bridge. A rutted road led away down the valley, and up to the keep on the hill above. It seemed the party had returned to Castle Lightningspire.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The party decided to cross the bridge to the castle, leaving Jerry behind with the ruby. Once they were almost ready to go in, he would bury the ruby and then use <i>Polymorph Self</i> to transform into a fast-flying bird, and join them. Then they'd all get out of Dodge. Crossing the bridge, they found that a path led up to the castle gate, which they knew was barred from the inside, while the road continued around the hillside to where the circus camp had been, and where they knew a tunnel led into the castle (although it was barred by a portcullis). Following the road, they found the circus camp all right, but all of the circus people were dead. Bodies lay everywhere, scorched and gutted. Someone - or something - appeared to have killed them all shortly after the party had escaped.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Seeing the party disappear around the hill, Jerry carried out his portion of the plan. As soon as he covered the ruby, steam began to rise from the freshly turned earth. Without waiting to see what would happen next, Jerry took off like a bat out of hell. A couple of rounds later, an enormous column of flame shot up out of the earth, reaching into the heavens. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it was enough to set everything around it aflame. Lava began bubbling up from the crater it left behind, and flowing slowly towards the riverbed.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When he caught up to the party, they took advantage of his bird form, and he flew through the bars of the portcullis, returned to human, and opened it from the inside. Inside the castle, everything was as the party had left it - the remaining circus animals and freaks were slowing starving to death in their cages, and the dead bodies lay decomposing on the floor as they'd fallen. On the second floor, the party did a little more thorough investigation than they had on the first visit, and with the help of the <i>Wand of Magic Detection</i>, found a cloak and a pair of scrolls that glowed magical. Ascending to the top floor, they found a number of magical potions and ointments in one of the laboratory workrooms. More disturbing, they found litter in the two rooms flanking the stairway that had not been there a week ago: plastic and foil food wrappers and drink bottles, with labels in languages no one recognized. It looked like a group of people had been spending some time there, but had left in a hurry.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Still worried that the newborn volcano across the stream might become more violent, the party decided not to spend time on this mystery. They placed the Gatestone on the twin spires (again), and pressed a new facet ...</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">... and found themselves standing in an expanse of rolling, grassy hills. They were in the center of a circle<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> of huge stone masks, each a good 15-20’ tall. The heads were very elongated, with wide, open mouths and oval eyes. They were concave, hollowed out from behind, and the eyes and mouth are open, so you could look out through them. Most were still upright, although leaning, but a few had fallen on their sides. The heads faced outward, away from the center of the circle, and the grass growing up around the stones and in the center of the circle showed no sign of having been disturbed in some time.</span></div>Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-56587381325207560982011-06-05T11:34:00.000-04:002011-06-05T11:34:21.592-04:00AmazonsAfter spending the night in the village of the little people who had befriended them, the party began looking for any signs of boats, fishing nets, etc. that you might expect in a village of people living this close to a body of water, but saw none. Before venturing off to the island that the Gatestone was pointing to, they decided it might be wise to try to communicate with the locals. They summoned the chieftan, <b>B'bao,</b> and Chuck cast a <i>Tongues</i> spell, which gave them about 10 minutes to ask their questions. B'bao, and his son, <b>F'uada</b> didn't seem terribly surprised by his use of magic.<br />
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After cutting off B'bao's expressions of gratitude for rescuing his son, he explained that they needed to travel to the island. He asked if they had any boats that could take them to the island. "Oh no, it is far too dangerous in the water. There are creatures there that would swallow us whole." Turning to Mary, he continued. "If you wish to return to A'ahollaracha, why don't you just summon your lo'o'ocha'ra and fly there?" When asked what a lo'o'ocha'ra was, he looked puzzled. "Like our Eoihoiri, but with wings." When asked if his people could summon the lo'o'ocha'ra, he shook his head emphatically and pointed at Mary. "Only you can summon the lo'o'ocha'ra." At this point, F'uada stepped forward and presented Mary with a necklace made from the tooth of the giant homosaur the party had slain. He insisted that she put it on, and when she had said, "When you return to your people, you must tell them that the Eohai are friends."<br />
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Thoroughly confused, the party announced their intention to depart immediately and then the <i>Tongues</i> spell expired. The villagers escorted them down the valley to the water's edge.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Along the way, they saw herds of dinosaurs of various sorts – brontosaurs, stegosaurs, duck-billed hadrosaurs, and others they </span>didn't<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> recognize – grazing on the grassy plains that lined the shore or wading in the shallows. The dinosaurs all kept a wary distance from the Eoihai and their velociraptor mounts. The water itself was salty, apparently a bay of some larger sea. The peak of the island could be seen several miles offshore, rising out of a low fog bank.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Jerry and James cast <i>Fly </i>spells on the largest members of the party, <i>Levitate</i> on the others, and Jerry used <i>Polymorph Self</i> to transform into an osprey, and they set off, the villagers waving them goodbye. For the first few miles, they could see enormous dark shapes gliding through the waters below them, but soon the fog closed in. Just as they were beginning to worry that the spells would not last long enough to make landfall, the island loomed out of the mist before them. The Gatestone still pointed upwards and towards the central peak of the island. Unfortunately, it didn't offer any suggestions about a convenient path to reach there.</span><br />
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<div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">After an hour or so of trekking through the jungle, the party heard a voice call out. The language was unknown, but the tone was unmistakable: “<i>HALT!</i>”. Instantly, a dozen women appeared out of the underbrush around the party, armed with slender spears and bows. A screeching sound from above drew their gaze upwards, where half a dozen more women mounted on pterodactyls swooped back and forth just below the leafy canopy, keeping bows trained on the party.</span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C9IetSfBUXQ/TeuMuEoB7YI/AAAAAAAAAkI/ZDbVrzOoIoo/s1600/Amazon.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C9IetSfBUXQ/TeuMuEoB7YI/AAAAAAAAAkI/ZDbVrzOoIoo/s200/Amazon.gif" width="150" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">These were not just any women. They could have been the models for every fantasy book cover ever painted. They were clothed – barely – in tight supple leather that clung to their ample curves. Their thick hair flowed down their backs, and somehow was not tangled. Their eyes were pale green or blue, contrasting to their tanned, glistening skin. The men of the party (well ... except James) found themselves staring open-mouthed at their beauty.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The leader of the group strode confidently up to Mary, apparently oblivious to anyone else in the party. She rattled off something in an unknown language, obviously demanding information of some sort. The guys of the group immediately read the group dynamic, and made no attempt to interject themselves into the conversation. Phil still had a <i>Tongues</i> spell on-line and, kneeling before Mary (nice touch), he began to interpret.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The Amazon woman demanded to know who she was and what she was doing on their island. Mary introduced herself and explained that they had come from far away and needed to go to the volcano in the center of the island. This brought surprised murmurs from many of the women surrounding them, but their leader seemed nonplussed. Gesturing disdainfully at the rest of the party, she asked, "Are these men all yours?" When she said that yes, these men were all with her, even the leader seemed impressed. One of the guards walked boldly up to Ice and grabbed him firmly by the groin. After checking out his package, she turned to the others, waggling her hand back and forth making unimpressed noises - "Meh". </span><br />
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Meanwhile, the leader noticed the necklace Mary was wearing, and asked where she had gotten it. She explained that the little people on the mainland had given it to her after they had killed a group of giant lizard-men and rescued the chief's son. "You killed the beast?" the leader asked with surprise. Mary said yes, and tried to emphasize how much help each of the other party members had been, but the leader simply said, "You killed it all by yourself while defending your harem?" This brought gasps from the women surrounding the party, and the leader looked at Mary with newfound respect.<br />
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Mary tried to change the subject, and said again that they only wished to travel on to the volcano. "You wish to go to the Lake of Fire? That place is taboo, and very dangerous. I cannot let you go there without permission from <b>Queen Amal</b>." She would not listen to any pleas from Mary, and with the <i>Tongues</i> spell running out, the party had no choice but to allow themselves to be led at spearpoint to a clearing where another dozen Amazons waited with a large group of pterodactyls. The leader mounted one, and motioned for Mary to climb in front of her before taking off. The others also mounted the flying dinosaurs, and then one by one they swooped down and lifted up the other party members in their powerful claws.<br />
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They were carried over the jungle to a large cave opening in the face of a sheer cliff in the mountainside. A large village of mud-brick buildings could be seen inside the cavern. They were dropped just inside the opening, where a large crowd had gathered.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> The women were all like the ones escorting the party: tall, statuesque, muscular, and extraordinarily beautiful. The men, on the other hand, were uniformly thin and scrawny. They had no facial hair, weak chins, and concave chests. They could be seen preparing food, scraping hides to make leather, or caring for children. They were as scantily clad as their female counterparts, wearing nothing but odd strips of leather wound around their waist and groin that appeared to have codpieces in them.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">A delegation made its way through the crowd of curious villagers. They were led by a middle-aged woman who, despite the flecks of gray in her hair, was still clearly in incredible shape and stunningly beautiful, despite a number of scars that marred her otherwise flawless skin. She wore bracers of gold on her wrists and a necklace of emeralds. She was flanked by a pair of older women carrying metal spears. The leader of the group that captured the party knelt respectfully before her and spoke rapidly in their language. The queen listened impassively, her gaze fixed on Mary without expression. When the guard captain finished, the queen stepped forward and examined Mary's necklace. Then she turned to the crowd, raised both arms, and made some sort of proclamation in a loud voice. Whatever she said was greeted with cheers from the crowd.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The party soon found themselves guests at yet another celebratory banquet. At least, Mary was a guest. The men of the party were separated from her and taken to another room, where they were decorated with garlands of flowers and given bowls of food and drink that it was clear they were supposed to serve to Mary. In the banquet hall, Mary was given a seat of honor next to the queen. As the evening wore on, the party noticed that <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">each </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">woman had a particular man waiting on her. From the familiar way they interacted, as well as the loving touches and looks, it appeared the men serving them were their husbands. Some of the women sitting near the queen had two men serving them, while the queen herself had three. The fact that Mary had six men serving her brought open looks of amazement from many of the women in the room. Ice also attracted a number of open looks, but these were more of anger or disgust, and most of the men were very careful to keep their distance from him. (Apparently, Ice was far too "effeminate" for comfort.)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">After an evening of feasting and much wine, the couples (and threesomes) began to filter happily out of the banquet hall. Queen Amal stood up and indicated to Mary that she should do likewise. She then motioned for the youngest of her three husbands. He smiled shyly, looking at the floor. The queen took his hand, and placed it in Mary’s, saying a few words. She then waited expectantly, looking from Mary to the rest of the party, particularly at Phil (who, in this culture at least, was seemingly the most masculine of Mary's harem). Agreeing not so reluctantly to take one for the team, Phil accompanied the Queen to her bower, while Mary and the queen's mate went off to a bedroom of their own. The rest of the men were taken to a dormitory for young men who had passed puberty but not yet married. As the natives prepared for bed, the rest of the group realized with a shock that those were <u style="font-style: italic;">not</u> codpieces beneath the Amazon men's loincloths. A short time later, they heard singing coming from the direction of Mary's bedroom (<i>"Sweet mystery of life, at last I've found you!"</i>).</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">After a restful night (Mary slept <i>particularly</i> well), the party repeated the scene from the night before over breakfast. This time, Phil was able to use a <i>Tongues </i>spell to allow Mary to speak with the Queen. She explained again that they needed to travel to the volcano, drawing a dark look from the Queen. "That place is forbidden to our people, and very dangerous. We must speak to the oracle and seek his advice on this."</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">They were led to a narrow crevice near the back of the cave, guarded by a pair of Amazons, which led to a winding tunnel. It finally opened into a small natural cave, devoid of any light. Inside, a wizened old man sat cross-legged on the floor. His milky eyes betrayed his blindness, but he greeted the queen by name. She bowed solemnly, then </span>knelt<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> before him, pressing her forehead to the stone floor. She spoke quietly, and as he listened, his sightless eyes fell unerringly on Mary. When the queen finished, he motioned for Mary to come to him. He began to run his fingers lightly over her face, and his eyes rolled back into his head and he appeared to go into some kind of trance, chanting softly in a low voice. Suddenly, his head snapped forward, and he asked the queen, "Did they bring a great gem?" Guessing that he meant the Gatestone, the party passed it to him, and he held it for some time in his hands. Growing visibly pale, he thrust the Gatestone back to Mary, and proclaimed in a wavering voice, "A great doom follows Queen Ma'ri'i and her harem. They must be taken across the Lake of Fire to the Fortress of Glass, so that the Web of Fate might remain unbroken."</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">This brought gasps from the queen's guards, but she simply nodded grimly, and led the party back out to the main cavern. One of her advisors led the party to their rooms, where she made it clear that they should quickly gather their belongings. Then they were led back to the mouth of the cavern.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">After a short wait, Queen Amal joined them, leading a small band of Amazons, including the leader of the group that originally captured the party. Her expression was grim, and she and the others appeared to be dressed for a very kinky war. They wore lacquered leather bustiers, and their biceps and thighs were wrapped in leather bands, while their forearms were sheathed in metal bracers. Their flowing hair was tucked up into peaked leather helmets. The queen carried a long, steel spear, and the others were armed with spears and bows.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Standing at the lip of the cliff, the queen gave a long whistle<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">. </span>Each of the Amazons with her did the same, and presently seven pterodactyls glided to a landing beside them. They were led by an enormous beast with a tall red crest atop its bony head. The queen mounted it with a leap, and motioned for Mary to climb up onto its neck in front of her. Each of the other Amazons did likewise, inviting a party member to ride with them. Once everyone was aboard, the giant reptiles leapt off the sheer cliff and </span>plummeted<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> downwards, until at last they extended their wings and swooped upwards into the sky.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The pterodactyls carried the party in swooping circles ever higher up the mountainside. As they neared the peak, the lush jungle gave way to barren black lava flows and eroded basalt, and a thin stream of smoke could be seen rising from the cone above them. As they crossed the lip of the cone, they were hit by a wave of heat rising from below, as though someone had opened the door of a furnace, and the flying dinosaurs immediately soared upwards 50’ or more in the updraft. Below them, filling the crater, was a lake of seething lava. Bubbles of molten rock formed and burst in slow motion, while swirling currents carried chunks of unmelted slag in lazy circles. The stench of sulfur filled the air.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> <div class="MsoNormal">Rising from the center of the sea of magma was an island of black rock. Seeming to grow out of the rock itself was a tower of black obsidian. Its walls were covered with dripping flows of glass, as though it had melted and reformed countless times. Pointing her spear at the tower, Queen Amal shouted a command and, as one, the flight of pterodactyls banked and began to descend into the crater.</div></span></div>Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-25023337754384701782011-05-25T15:25:00.000-04:002011-05-25T15:25:02.655-04:00Dino-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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> 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.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">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, <i>Stoneskins</i>, 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.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> 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.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">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 – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">somethings</i> – were coming down the trail towards them. The rustling was accompanied by odd hissing and snorting sounds.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">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 <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">so when </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">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 <i>Magic Missiles</i>, while James cast a <i>Web</i> over the others. Chuck rounded things out with a <i>Prayer</i>, and the battle was joined. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">It proved to be surprisingly one-sided. The beast with the headress and staff managed to hit Mary with a giant <i>Magic Missile</i> that knocked her back several feet, but that was his only contribution before he checked out. The <i>Web</i> didn't seem to be slowing the enormous creatures down any, but Jerry's 50 HP (!) <i>Lightning Bolt</i> certainly did (making the DM have second thoughts about that <i>Amulet of Augmentation</i> 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 <i>Hito-kaze</i>, slicing off the creature's leg and dropping him to the ground. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">When the dust settled and they removed the captive's hood, they<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> were </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">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 <b>F'uada</b>. Finally, the party came out of the jungle into </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">These were clearly F'uada's people, and after a short talk, they led the party on until they came </span>out<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> 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.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">, and his rescue.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">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 <b>Eoihai</b>, and the velociraptors they ride are the <b>Eoihoiri</b>, apparently equal parts pets, mounts, and weapons. The giant creatures the party defeated are the <b>Oarcha'a</b>, and seem to be the Eoihai's arch-enemies. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As the celebration wound down, the party decided to check the Gatestone. It pointed towards the volcanic island, now bathed in moonlight.</span></div>Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-58087986946542903842011-05-23T17:01:00.000-04:002011-05-23T17:01:25.077-04:00The Mines of the Mi-GoThe party had made their way to an icy chamber in the center of the underground complex beneath the Demon's Mouth. The Gatestone pointed to a featureless section of wall, with no apparent opening. As the party stood discussing their options and looking for secret controls, the wall suddenly shot open of its own accord. A blinding light shot forth; Mary, Brett, and the Professor were temporarily blinded.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HkTjA-n5Jlo/TdrAkyw73MI/AAAAAAAAAkA/f5KBAU4Yq2Q/s1600/Mi-Go.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HkTjA-n5Jlo/TdrAkyw73MI/AAAAAAAAAkA/f5KBAU4Yq2Q/s320/Mi-Go.gif" width="169" /></a></div>In the room beyond were five hideous, flying, insect-like creatures, with long prehensile tails and a number of wriggling tentacles sprouting from their thorax. They had no apparent eyes or mouth, and their head was a pulsing blog covered with a mass of writhing, maggot-like antennae. Taking advantage of their surprise, they immediately launched into an attack. One shot a powerful bolt of psychic energy straight through the doorway, catching Ice, Mary, and Jerry, nearly killing Jerry with the very first shot. One telekinetically pushed Mary away from the door, while two flew out to flank the party from either side, dividing their focus.<br />
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When the party recovered from the shock of the creatures' sudden appearance, they began a counterattack. James caught two of the things in a <i>Lightning Bolt</i>, but Joe felt as if <i>he </i>had been the target of the spell. Nonetheless, he rushed forward to engage the creatures in the room, and quickly dispatched one of those James had wounded. The other proved to be much tougher; every time Joe hit it, he found himself taking damage.<br />
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Meanwhile out in the large room, Phil was facing one creature while Ice and Mary (who had been pushed back next to it) engaged the other. Chuck rushed to Jerry's side and cast a <i>Cure Serious Wounds,</i> then both retreated out of line of fire from the two things fighting Joe. Doreen grabbed her uncle's hand and tried to run away, but to her shock, the Professor suddenly turned and attacked her with mad fury. In a panic, she fled the room into the darkness of the chamber full of pits. She was not carrying a light. At the same time, Brett, still blinded, pulled his pistol and began firing wildly at Red. The thing in front of Ice and Mary released a blast of psychic energy that damaged Ice and Jerry, seriously injured Mary, and laid Red and Bret flat on the floor. However, Ice was able to finish it off before it could do any more damage.<br />
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Phil and Chuck concentrated their fire on the one remaining in the room while Ice and Mary rushed to Joe's aid. However, Ice quickly found himself in the same boat as Joe: every time anyone hit the thing he was fighting, he took damage as well. Joe and Ice had just realized that killing these last two creatures would probably kill them too, when Jerry stuck his head around the corner and unleashed a massive <i>Lightning Bolt</i>. As feared, Joe and Ice fell as well as the last two Mi-Go.<br />
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Luckily, both Joe and Ice were revivable, as were Red and Brett. Brett was no longer combative, but was still in his "happy place". Unfortunately, when Phil went to look for Doreen, she was nowhere to be found; all feared she had tumbled into one of the bottomless pits in the darkness. The Professor was inconsolable.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The room behind the door wasn’t much smaller than the other rooms on this level, but somehow it felt cramped and claustrophobic. Every surface was covered by a single, seamless expanse of impossibly smooth metal that, somehow, changed colors from white to gray to tan without any clear reason.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The walls and ceiling were covered with strange, blocky protrusions that stuck several feet out from the wall. Although these were part of the same seamless metal, they had lights blinking on their surfaces. These protrusions were irregular in shape and seemed to twist and bend at odd, almost impossible angles. Looking at them too long produced a feeling of vertigo, as though you had stepped into an Escher drawing. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The floor space was mostly open except for a single, large, roughly fifteen-foot square mass that rose from the middle of the room to a height of nearly eight feet. Unlike the odd metal that made up everything else in the room, this formation appeared to be a natural crystal, bright red and glowing with internal fire. Depending on one’s point of view, it seemed like a sculpture of a strange city skyline or a surreal and random collection of non-Euclidean building blocks topped with a central column or tower that rose several feet above the rest. The facets and shafts that made up the crystal somehow looked <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wrong</i> – the angles of the facets of a single shaft appeared to add up to much more or much less than 360<sup>o</sup>, and shafts that looked as though they should intersect with each other didn’t. The Gatestone pointed directly at this formation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The party decided it was time to leave, and tried to explain to Red that it would be up to him to get the Professor and Brett back to the surface. To make it easier, Jerry cast a </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Fly </i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">spell on Red and started to explain how he could use it to carry his two </span>surviving<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> comrades up the shaft. Unfortunately this, on top of all the other horrors he'd witnessed, was the final straw for the poor boy's sanity. He went into hysterics, crying and curling into the fetal position. And so the happy expedition that was to have been a "summer holiday" ended: Doreen lost and presumed dead; Professor Fulcroft helpless with grief; Red crying hysterically, and Brett lost in madness.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The party had little sympathy at this point, having endured hardships enough of their own. As they entered the inner chamber, the door hissed shut behind them, locking them in. They placed the Gatestone on the central crystal structure, and pressed one of the facets of the gem. They felt the now-familiar stretching sensation, and then everything went black ...</span></div>Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-39155269019067752092011-05-23T16:01:00.000-04:002011-05-23T16:01:20.576-04:00Swallowed by the MouthHaving survived the descent into the Demon's Mouth, the party set out exploring their surroundings. They were surrounded by a vast cavern, extending off an unknown distance in every direction. There was an obvious crater in the bat guano that covered the area beneath the shaft (but not inside the cavern itself), and a path through the guano indicated that whatever had fallen had been drug off. Mary followed the trail, and soon found the skeleton of a deer. Many of the bones were shattered, consistent with a 200' fall, but they also showed signs of having been gnawed on. No one could identify what kind of animal had done the gnawing.<br />
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Having ventured some way into the cavern, Mary noticed a dim greenish glow in the distance. The party decided to investigate, and soon found that the glow was coming from a dozen or so clusters of white, fan-shaped objects jutting up from small humps on the cavern floor. A few feet farther on was a rock wall, the first the party had seen of the edge of the cavern. The Professor and his team rushed forward to investigate, ignoring the party's warning of caution, and soon declared that they were some sort of fungal growth. When nothing bad immediately happened, the party joined them. They soon found that the hummocks the fungi were growing out of were decayed bodies. The bodies were humanoid, but smaller than humans and with elongated jaws filled with sharp teeth.<br />
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Before anyone had a chance to recover from the shock of this discovery, a horde of creatures burst out of crevices in the rock wall and attacked. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">They were vaguely humanoid, some traveling upright on two legs while others maneuvered on all fours. They were covered with short dark gray hair or fur, except for their hands, feet, and faces, which were covered with tough, scaly skin, similar to a rat’s tail. Their faces were narrow and elongated, and they had sharp fangs, as well as long sharp nails on their hands. Their high-pitched squeaking noises sounded almost like language, and they wore crude loincloths.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Phil cast a quick <i>Prayer</i> as the battle was joined. Everyone had at least one of the Rat-Things attacking them, and the Professor soon went down. Everyone else managed to hold their own against the creatures, and soon most of them were dead. Joe killed a couple, and suddenly found himself flying. At that point, an even larger group appeared from farther up the cavern. James had had enough of this, and his <i>Fireball</i> wiped out the entire group. In the silence that followed, more squeaking could be heard from the opposite direction, retreating - apparently these creatures had enough intelligence to know when they were outclassed.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Some bandaging and a <i>Cure Light</i> brought the Professor back to consciousness. Joe used his newfound (and unexplained) ability to fly to scoot down the cavern wall a ways until he found an opening. The cold draft they'd felt at the surface seemed to be coming from here, where a broad ramp led downwards. This passage appeared to have been excavated from the rock - its walls, floor, and ceiling were unnaturally smooth. It curved downwards, roughly paralleling the curve of the cavern wall above. It ended abruptly and opened into a broad avenue leading off to the right. Like the ramp, it's walls were completely smooth and featureless, except for two 20' wide openings directly opposite each other midway down its length.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The party elected to follow right-hand-rule, and found themselves in another vast chamber. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Their lights seemed especially inadequate to illuminate its unmeasured length. While the floor of the passages they’d just traversed were unnaturally flat and smooth, the floor of this chamber was completely uneven, covered with innumerable small hummocks or piles of debris. On closer examination, these proved to be piles of desiccated human bones. There must have been thousands upon thousands of sets of remains, covering virtually every square foot of the enormous chamber. The party cannot even walk across the floor without crunching dry, brittle bones underfoot.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Doreen examined the remains, and declared that the bones bore the racial markers of American Indians, and appeared to be many thousands of years old. Among the remains, the party found the occasional flint tool, although nothing that would resemble a weapon. Any organic material, whether cloth, leather, or wood, would have long since disintegrated. Many of the bones bore teeth marks, and the skeletons appear to have been scattered by scavenging animals. In addition, many of the skulls had odd marks encircling the entire top of the skullcap. Doreen proclaimed that marks appeared to be scars where the bone was cut and then healed together again. She says they looked very much like the skulls from cadavers of people who had undergone brain surgery that she examined at the University’s medical school.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As the party examined the inner wall of the chamber, they found a place where the stone gave way to a rectangle of copper-colored metal. Its surface was untarnished, and covered with a light layer of frost. Beside the metal panel was a square engraved into the stone, with a a strange rune or symbol etched into it. Just the appearance of the symbol was disturbing - there was an indescribable feeling of <i>wrongness </i>about it. Just the sight of it was enough to send Brett past his breaking point - one look, and he ran screaming from the chamber. Red went after him, and when he brought him back, Brett's mind had clearly snapped. "Oh, look at all the pretty flowers," he said, pointing to the piles of dead bodies.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bKAJuGYQ_JM/TdmiG0njqLI/AAAAAAAAAj0/4iLuYB79SCM/s1600/Pictographs.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bKAJuGYQ_JM/TdmiG0njqLI/AAAAAAAAAj0/4iLuYB79SCM/s320/Pictographs.gif" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Assigning Red to keep Brett under control, the group continued their explorations. On the wall opposite the metal panel, they found an area of the wall that was </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">covered with paintings. Some were outlines of human hands or stylized pictures of deer and buffalo, such as the party had seen photos of from Cro-Magnon cave paintings in France. However, most were very strange. They showed human-like figures that appeared to be running from or bowing before strange, winged beings with no arms or legs. They almost appeared to be insect-like creatures, like butterflies or dragonflies, except they have no legs and strangely misshapen heads. Other humanoid creatures with similarly misshapen heads appeared to accompany the winged beings. The colors of the paintings are drab – mainly deep purples and off-whites – but they are still very clear, and in fact glisten as though the pigments are still wet. Doreen </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">speculated that the winged creatures may have been a depiction of the primitive tribe’s gods, because the human figures clearly seem subservient to them.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Fascinated by the apparently wet pigments of the paintings, James reached out to touch one. He was immediately seized by a convulsion. When he regained consciousness he described a vision he'd had. This cavern had been full of living people, and he'd been one of them. He had furtively dug a hole in the wall and buried a small metal sphere, quickly covered it, and began painting over the spot. Just then, a section of the opposite wall slid open, and blinding light spilled out,<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">silhouetting a figure too horrible to remember.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Deciding not to disturb the paintings for now, the party continued their exploration, eventually moving to the room on the opposite side of the hallway. At first glance, it appeared similar to the first room: innumerable hummocks cover the floor. Upon examination however, these prove to be piles of rock and rubble, surrounding countless perfectly circular pits in the floor. The pits descend for an unknown depth, and many have passage dug into one wall. Likewise, the outer wall of the chamber is riddled with crude tunnels, some still showing the signs of supporting timbers, but most long since caved in. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Many of the rocks are encrusted with red crystals that seem to fluoresce under the party's lights. They also sport clusters of fungi growing from them, different from those found upstairs. The professor was very excited by this find, and although the party kept trying to stop him, he insisted on digging through the piles of rubble, examining the crystals under a magnifying glass and putting samples into his backpack. He said they looked like a type of uranium crystal, but the color was all wrong. Leaving him to his work, the party kept </span>exploring<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">. They found another copper-colored section of wall, seemingly identical to the one in the other chamber, but nothing else of interest. They decided to go back and look behind the painting in the first room. However when they went to leave, they found the Professor sitting lethargically among his crystals. He responded to their questions, and obediently followed when they told him to leave. Worrying about what might have caused his change in behavior, the party dumped all his crystals on the floor. He didn't protest, a sure sign that something wasn't right.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Back in the first chamber, Jerry went to the place where James had experienced his vision, and used a camp shovel to dig behind the painting (much to Doreen's horror). A few inches in, he found a dull metal sphere, miraculously still attached to a supple leather thong. It looked like the Spirit Stones that Ulysses had worn. Jerry tied it around his neck. </span><br />
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</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4NZnaCawdvI/TdmiJxCcZ_I/AAAAAAAAAj4/rs9V0ohbqGY/s1600/Control+Panel.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4NZnaCawdvI/TdmiJxCcZ_I/AAAAAAAAAj4/rs9V0ohbqGY/s320/Control+Panel.gif" width="247" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Deciding that it was time to try the metal panel, the party arrayed themselves around it. Presuming that Jerry was now "protected", they let him press the strange rune. The panel slid aside with a his, and a blast of cold air flowed out. Inside was a large, circular chamber. The air was icy cold, and the party found themselves shivering in their summer clothes. In the center of the chamber was a large, circular sheet of ice; the party decided to give it wide berth. The Gatestone pointed to a featureless section of wall. On the opposite side, the party found a section where the smooth surface of the wall was interrupted by absolutely straight precise grooves forming a 5x10 grid. Each square contained one of the disturbing, abstract glyphs. Once again, the party decided to err on the side of caution and leave it untouched.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Examining the wall indicated by the Gatestone more closely, Jerry noticed a hairline break in the wall's surface, outlining a large rectagular area. However, no amount of experimentation (without touching the panel on the far side) could cause it to open. However, as they stood staring at the wall, wondering how to get past it, it suddenly flew open and a blinding light spilled out, </span>silhouetting figures too horrible to remember...Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-89407808280970482011-05-13T14:09:00.000-04:002011-05-13T14:09:22.106-04:00Into the MouthThe party had found themselves in the pleasant New England town of Bethlehem, New Hampshire, in 1928. They had made the acquaintance of <b>Professor Quentin Fulcroft</b>, who was leading a small expedition in search of an unusual local geographic feature called the <b>Demon's Mouth</b>. The party invited themselves along, since the area the professor planned to explore was in the general area pointed to by the Gatestone.<br />
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After making arrangements for little Jane to stay with a local woman "for just a few days", they set out. Prof. Fulcroft had hired a truck to drive them and their equipment to their starting point in the the White Mountains, and had a packhorse to carry their supplies. In addition to Prof. Fulcroft, the other expedition members included his niece, <b>Doreen Hastings</b>, who was an anthropology professor, one of his grad students,<b> Red Barnsford</b>, and a mountaineer and explorer, <b>Brett Vanderwaal</b>.<br />
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The first day was like a pleasant vacation. The mountains were scenic and not rugged, and the weather was perfect. The party made slow progress, as the route was mostly uphill and they had to divert up every side valley to look for any signs of the Demon's Mouth. But occassional surreptitious checks of the Gatestone showed they were heading in generally the right direction. They camped for the night, and Mary was annoyed to discover that she and Doreen were naturally expected to cook and clean for the whole party.<br />
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The night passed uneventfully, but everyone awoke a bit on edge. No one slept well, troubled by dark dreams that they can’t quite remember. Doreen complained of a headache, Brett spilled hot coffee and burned his hand, and the horse, quite docile the previous day, kicked and bit as the party tried to load their gear. The weather and terrain were much the same as the previous day, but the trail felt more steep. Brambles seemed to constantly catch at their clothing, and branches seemed more apt to slap in their face. The air felt dense and stifling, and the birdsong was grating rather than pleasant. They stopped for a short, cold lunch, but didn’t tarry long; they now seemed to be attracting swarms of small biting flies.<br />
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Around mid-afternoon, they spotted a small column of smoke rising off to the right. This was the first sign of human habitation they’d seen since leaving the road, so they diverted in that direction, and soon came to a small cleared area, backing up against a rock bluff. Built against the bluff was a small log cabin. As they approached the cabin, the door opened, and a strange figure emerged. He had a wild mane of white hair and a bushy white beard and was wearing a pair of filthy long johns, tall buckskin moccasins, and a shapeless felt hat. His skin was dark and leathery. One eye was dark and glittering, almost black, but the other was white and darted disconcertingly around in its socket. He pointed an ancient double-barreled shotgun at the party.<br />
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“This heah’s my propity, an you tain’t been INvited. Nope, we don’t a-want ya heah, an if’n ya don’t git right quick, we’ll just fill ya with buckshot and smoke YOU over yon fiah.” He jerked his head to one side as if listening to someone, then turned back. “We ain’t got nothin’ ya want, and ya ain’t got nothing we need, so just git!” He waved the shotgun menacingly.<br />
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The party tried to act friendly, and said they were simply looking for directions to a place called the Demon’s Mouth. That made him even more agitated. “Git out’n here NOW! I keeps the Old Ones away, yes I do, every single day, but you’ll bring ‘em out, sure as shootin’! They cain’t git MY soul, so they’ll a-come fer yer’n, an I don’t want t’ be anywheres near when THAT happens! No sir!”<br />
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Just as it seemed there was no hope in getting anything useful out of the crazy old man, Chuck offered him some of the whiskey the professor had brought along. That made his eyes light up. "I s'pose just a little drink wouldn't hurt none." 'Just a little drink' quickly turned into most of the bottle.<br />
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The whiskey made him mellow. His bad eye stopped moving wildly around, and stared fixedly off to the left. He began to open up. “M’name’s <b>Ulysses Merrill</b>. Been a-livin’ in these mountains all m’life, an’ I spose it’s made me a mite strange. Don’t get no visitors, ‘cept’n sometimes hunters out after my deer an’ bear. This land used t’ all b’long to my people, an’ I don’t like strangers a’traipsin’ around it.” Asked who 'his people' were, he explained he was one of the last of the Abenaki Indians.<br />
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The party tried asking again about the Demon's Mouth, and this time he was more forthcoming. “That’s a bad place, and no mistake. You really don’t want to go there. My granddaddy warned me away from there since I was no bigger’n this stump." Ulysses told them his people's legend of how the Great Spirit had killed a giant snake beneath the earth, creating a giant hole with his spear and releasing evil into the world. “That evil is real, and it tain’t nowhere stronger than at the Demon’s Mouth. I got protections, but you don’t” His hand went beneath his beard, as if caressing something hidden there. “Folks that go there, most of ‘em never come back. The ones as do, they’ve had their souls stolen. They’re crazy. Dangerous sometimes.” His bad eye started jerking again, and his head twitched from side to side nervously. “Sometimes … yeah sometimes we got to …” his voice trailed off.<br />
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When the party asked about his “protection”, he reached protectively for his neck with his left hand, while his right gripped his shotgun. “Sorry. we just … I mean I .. I guess I’m kinda protective." He raised his beard. On a leather thong around his neck were five dull metal spheres, about an inch in diameter, smooth, and perfectly round. There were no markings that the party could see in the fading light. “These are Spirit Stones.” He touched them one by one. “This was my granddaddy’s, this was my granny’s, this was my daddy’s, this was my mama’s, and this one’s mine. They keep the demons away, keep ‘em from stealing my soul. There’s only five. That’s why my mama and daddy only had one child, and why my daddy didn’t have no brothers nor sisters. They been handed down my family since back in the olden days. They protect us from the Old Ones – the demons from the pit.”<br />
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Chuck tried convincing Ulysses that they could "close" the Demon's Mouth, and destroy the evil there (drawing odd looks from the professor and his friends). However, that just drew a gale of laughter from old Ulysses. "You want to go sacrifice yourselves to the Old Ones, go right ahead! They’re about two miles straight over that ridge” He pointed to the bluff behind his shack. “Just don’t come back here yammerin’ after my soul once they’ve taken yours, or I’ll blow you to kingdom come!” He staggered back to his shack (keeping the shotgun in one hand and the other firmly around the neck of the whiskey bottle), and slammed the door.<br />
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</div><div>The party made camp in Ulysses' clearing, but no one had a restful night. Several members awoke screaming during the night, haunted by strange nightmares where they seemed to inhabit the bodies of someone else. They broke camp early the next morning, and quickly found a trail leading up the bluff behind the cabin. At the top, the land flattened out, forming a natural bowl between the mountains surrounding it. A trail led around the circumference of the bowl, but after traversing a quarter of its length, it was clear that the Gatestone was pointing towards the center.</div><div><br />
</div><div>As they moved closer to the center, everyone was filled with a deep sense of foreboding. Some felt as if they were being watched by unseen eyes; others felt as if the ground were about to give way beneath their feet; still others felt as if the forest were closing in around them, the plants grasping at their feet and clothing. They pressed on despite their fears, and the trees began to look stunted and withered. Finally they found themselves in a clearing - in the center was a dark pit, 20' in diameter and perfectly circular.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Prof. Fulcroft and his team were excited by the find, and rushed to the edge, but the party was more cautious. Finally, seeing that nothing was reaching up to pull the others into the pit, they approached. The pit appeared bottomless; even their most powerful flashlight revealed no bottom. There was a gentle updraft coming from the pit, and while one would epect a breeze from a deep cave to be cool, this one was almost icy. Brett went back to the packhorse and returned with a long coil of rope and a small camp shovel. Tying it to the rope, he chucked it over the edge. He determined that there was in fact a bottom, although it lay almost 200 feet down.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Brett explained that they'd brought enough rope and rappelling equipment for four people to descend at once. The party broke into three groups. The first to descend were Brett and the Professor, accompanied by Jerry and Ice. During the first 50 feet, they had difficulty with roots and loose rocks catching on their clothing, and occasionally put their foot on what they thought was a solid outcrop, only to have it give way and their foot sink ankle-deep into a disgusting swarm of worms or insects. Roughly 100 feet down, they encountered a colony of bats. Brett was able to easily vault over them, but Jerry blundered into their midst, and woke them up; the hundreds of bats swarming around him caused him to lose his grip on the rope and fall some distance before he caught himself, suffering rope burns and badly pulled muscles in the process (as well as the terror of falling into the suffocating darkness).</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oBT-t0jKBVo/Tc1qv_XLAFI/AAAAAAAAAjo/FSC3cZ_HZsM/s1600/Bat-things.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oBT-t0jKBVo/Tc1qv_XLAFI/AAAAAAAAAjo/FSC3cZ_HZsM/s200/Bat-things.gif" width="116" /></a></div><div>As they continued down, they could hear more high-pitched sounds coming from below, but <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> they were less piercing than the cries of the bats. In fact, they sounded almost like tiny human screams of pain and torment. Suddenly, Brett was attacked by four hideous flying creatures. The size of a skinny human child, they had a thin membrane of veiny flesh between their arms and sides, allowing them to fly with a great deal of maneuverability. Their faces were like an evil caricature of a human face, with long, wide ears and long, sharp teeth. They swooped in attempting to sink their claws into his flesh; when they succeeded, they began to tear at his neck with their fangs.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Brett began firing his pistol at the creatures, but was handicapped by the need to maintain his grip on the rope and by the awkward angle of shooting at something on his own back. Jerry was also limited in his use of spells by the need to hold onto the rope, but he managed to exhaust his supply of <i>Magic Missiles</i> on the creatures. Ice decided to use his paintball gun (in the DM's opinion mostly because he'd been dragging it around through a succession of universes with no opportunity to use it). This succeeded mainly in decorating the attackers in a rainbow of psychedelic hues. However, it did do 1 HP of damage, and amazingly, ended up killing several of the creatures. Brett was very badly wounded, but managed to continue his descent.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Shining their light down, they finally begin to see the bottom – or at least something blocking their way. Unlike the rough, dark rock of the pit walls, the surface revealed in the dim light was a pale, sickly color, and seemed to be smooth and undulating – almost like pale, anemic flesh. Ultimately they discovered this was a thick layer of bat guano. The pit opened up into a wider cavern roughly 15 feet above the floor, extending off into some unknown distance in the darkness.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Once the first group had reached the bottom, they jerked the ropes in a signal for the next group to descend. Those at the top had heard the distant sound of gunfire echoing up out of the pit, but had not been able to see what was happening in the darkness below. Nonetheless, the second group began their descent: Chuck, James, and Joe, along with Doreen. They had the same difficulties with obstacles and with passing through the colony of bats. This time it was Joe who found himself under attack by the horrible bat-things. He fared better than Brett, mainly thanks to the <i>Stoneskin</i> spell he'd received the night before. Like Jerry before him, James used up his <i>Magic Missiles</i> on the creatures.<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Urrr58Q3dq8/TWvLFoRhPOI/AAAAAAAAAgk/JTzm_sO5vT8/s1600/MAC10.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="70" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Urrr58Q3dq8/TWvLFoRhPOI/AAAAAAAAAgk/JTzm_sO5vT8/s200/MAC10.gif" width="200" /></a> Chuck, deciding that Joe was tough enough to take it, just began blasting away with his Mac-10. He did quite a bit of damage to the bat-things, and slightly less damage to Joe. Ultimately, all the creatures fell, and they joined the rest of the party on the floor below.<br />
</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The final group was Mary, Phil, and Red. When they reached the level of the bat-things, both Phil and Mary came under attack. Having heard all the gunfire from the two groups before them, and seeing their lights only 50 feet below, they elected not to fight, and instead just rappelled down as quickly as they could. Once they came within range of the rest of the party, they made short work of the attackers.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The party found themselves surrounded by a seemingly vast cavern extending off in all directions beyond the reach of their lights. The sunlight that made its way down the long narrow shaft cast a glow barely brighter than faint moonlight in the area immediately below it. The air in the cavern was unusually cold, even for a cave. The area immediately below the shaft was covered with a nearly a foot of bat guano. and the acrid stench of guano made it difficult to breathe. Beneath the guano, the floor was littered with rocks that had fallen from the sides of the pit over the years, making it uneven and bumpy. On the opposite side of the shaft from where the party descended, there was an obvious crater in the guano, where something appeared to have fallen in from the surface. Whatever it was is gone, and a trail led through the guano off into the darkness showing where it either dragged itself off, or <i>something</i> drug it away. The Gatestone, still pointed down.</span></div></div></div>Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-29950411066439884242011-04-25T18:36:00.001-04:002011-05-15T19:49:51.322-04:00Slouching Towards BethlehemHaving defeated Gondolfino and his minions at Castle Lightningpsire, and having transferred their minds back into their own bodies, the party was ready to move on. They just had one problem - the little girl, Jane, who they'd rescued. Confident that the next world they visited would have to be better than one filled with undead, they elected to take her with them. Using the Gatestone, they felt themselves being stretched impossibly thin ...<br />
<a name='more'></a>From the dark, damp interior of the castle, they found themselves transported into a bright, sunny glade. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">They were standing on a large flat stone that appeared to be a natural feature, in the middle of a clearing surrounded by a hardwood forest. After some investigation, the party set out in the direction indicated by the Gatestone, which appeared to be northeast.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">After a few hours of pleasant hiking, they heard a rumbling sound coming from up ahead. As it grew closer, they recognized it as the sound of a truck engine. Moving forward, they came out of the woods onto the shoulder of a blacktop road. Coming up the hill towards them was a truck hauling a load of lumber. Except that the truck appeared to be an antique, like an oversized Model-T.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, the party retreated into the woods and let the truck pass, then began to follow the direction it had gone down the road. After a couple more hours, as the afternoon was growing late, they came upon a town. Deciding to try to look as "normal" as possible, they stopped to take off any chainmail or leather armor they'd picked up, and replace it with their 21st </span>century<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> clothing. They also tried to hide as much of their arsenal as possible, but things like bastard swords are a bit difficult to conceal.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rllZk6GOZkQ/TbXq6DaIDtI/AAAAAAAAAjY/LdGHrBiOdfs/s1600/The_Colonial_Theatre%252C_Bethlehem%252C_NH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rllZk6GOZkQ/TbXq6DaIDtI/AAAAAAAAAjY/LdGHrBiOdfs/s320/The_Colonial_Theatre%252C_Bethlehem%252C_NH.jpg" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As the party walked up the broad sidewalks of <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Main Street</st1:address></st1:street>, they could see several churches, a hardware store, a feed store, a grocery/general store, a café, a newspaper office, and the town hall. Several cars puttered along the streets or were parked along them; most were Model-A’s or Model-T’s, with a few antique Buicks or Plymouths mixed in for variety. There were also a few horse-drawn wagons. The people strolling on the street were dressed in 1920’s era clothing. They eyed the party’s outlandish garb with open skepticism, and several of the ladies sniffed haughtily at the sight of Mary in pants.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The day was growing late, and the party decided that they needed to find a place to stay. But to do that, they'd need money, so Joe took one of Jerry's gold bars and went into the local bank (after first divesting himself of sword and pistol, drawing open stares from passers-by). The bank manager was more than happy to exchange gold for cash, but would need to validate the authenticity of the metal first - could Joe please come back tomorrow? Joe agreed, but asked for the location of a </span>jewelry<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> store. He also learned that the town was Bethlehem, New Hampshire, and the date was June 10, 1928. At the </span>jewelry<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> store, he was able to exchange some rubies and gold for enough cash to cover the party's needs for the immediate future. Mary immediately took Jane off to do some clothes shopping. The banker had recommended the Maplewood Hotel as the finest place to stay, and the rest of the party headed in that direction.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The Maplewood Hotel was a massive four-story Victorian structure just past the northeastern edge of town. The clerk behind the front desk seemed non-plussed by their odd </span>appearance<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> and strange possessions.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>“Oh, you folks must be with the University expedition. I </span>wasn't<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> aware that Professor Fulcroft was expected anyone else, but that’s all right – the busy season </span>hasn't<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> started yet, and we have plenty of rooms.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>Professor Fulcroft and the rest of your colleagues are in the lounge – I’m sure they’re anxious for you to join them. Let me just get you checked in." He let each person sign the guest register and gave them room keys. But when he got to Chuck and Ice, he simply said, "And your boys can stay out back in the servants' quarters." The party prepared for an unpleasant confrontation, but after the initial shock, Chuck and Ice shrugged off the racism, and retired to the (quite adequate) servants quarters.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The rest of the party dropped their gear in their rooms and then went to the lounge to check out this "expedition" they were assumed to be part of. They spied<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>a quartet of three men and a woman gathered around a small table in one corner, huddled over a large map. An older man in tweed gestured repeatedly at the map with the stem of his pipe. A young woman with short dark hair in a long skirt and white blouse sat to his left. Across the table was a red-haired young man in his early 20’s, and to his right sat a sturdy looking man with a pencil mustache and slicked back hair. His pants were tucked into tall laced boots, and was smoking a cigarette.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As the party approached, the man in tweed broke off his conversation and gave them a broad smile. “Ah yes, you must be my surprise assistants! Imagine my surprise when the clerk told me that ‘the rest’ of my party had arrived. I wasn’t aware I was missing anyone! A natural mistake, I suppose. I just hope you weren’t offended to be mistaken for stodgy old college professors!” The party insisted they were actually quite interested in hearing more about this "expedition". The man seemed quite excited by their interest.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">“Pardon my manners – I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m<b> Dr. Quentin Fulcroft</b>, professor of geology at the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">New Hampshire</st1:placename></st1:place>. This is my niece, Miss<b> Doreen Hastings</b>, who is a professor of anthropology at the <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:state></st1:place>. This young fellow is <b>Red Barnsford</b>, one of my graduate students. And this is<b> Brett Vanderwaal</b>. He’s quite a noted mountaineer, if you follow those things, but more importantly for my purposes, he’s a very accomplished spelunker.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">“Doreen here specializes in gathering the legends of <st1:place w:st="on">New England</st1:place>’s Indian tribes. She’s heard several legends of an unusual geological formation in this area, and she asked me if I knew anything about it. To my surprise, I hadn’t, and it didn’t appear on any maps or surveys. However Red here is from this area, and he said everyone in these parts had heard of it, even if no one he knew had actually visited it.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">“It’s called the Demon’s Mouth, and according to the descriptions, it’s a perfectly circular shaft that descends several hundred feet into the earth. Technically speaking, such a chasm would be described by geologists as a “collapse pit”—a nearly vertical, almost perfectly circular hole. Generally, these are found in volcanically active regions when lava hardens around and over columns of escaping gas. What seems to be a solid part of the lava plain can, in fact, be merely a few feet of rock covering a yawning circular hole hundreds of feet deep. However, the mountains of <st1:place w:st="on">New England</st1:place> have not been home to any active volcanoes for hundreds of millions of years. I’m not aware of any similar collapse pits anywhere in this part of the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region> or <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place>. That’s why I became so excited, and decided to mount this expedition. We would be the first scientists to explore this site – in fact, we’d be the first to even map it!”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">At this point, Red took up the narrative. “I grew up a little south of here. ‘Round here, the Demon’s Mouth is something you use to scare little kids – ‘You be good, or I’ll drop you in the Demon’s Mouth.’ Older folks say it’s haunted, though </span>I've<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> never heard by who or what. I don’t know anyone who’s actually been there, although everybody agrees it’s east of town, up in the </span><st1:place style="font-family: inherit;" w:st="on">White Mountains</st1:place><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">. Every so often a hunter will go out that way and never come back, and people will whisper ‘He must have gone to the Demon’s Mouth’, but hunters disappear all the time regardless of </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">which</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> direction they go.” </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As the evening continued and the party kept asking questions, Doreen described her research<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“This area was originally inhabited by the Abenaki Indians, but they were almost entirely wiped out by a series of epidemics soon after the first European colonists arrived. There can’t be more than a handful of true Abenaki left alive. However the legends of all the <st1:place w:st="on">New England</st1:place> tribes speak of a hole in the earth where evil first entered the world. Some say that the Great Spirit was hunting deer spirits, and his spear pierced the earth and stabbed a demon buried there. Others say that a lightning bolt burned a hole into the earth, and released an evil spirit that had been imprisoned there. Still others say that all the poisonous snakes and spiders in the world first emerge from that hole.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“I was doing research at <st1:placename w:st="on">Northeastern</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype>’s library, in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Boston</st1:city></st1:place>, and I came across the diary of one of the first settlers in this area, Josiah Lloyd. He founded the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">village</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Bethlehem</st1:placename></st1:place> in 1732. In his diary, he talks about being befriended by the local Abenaki Indians, and how they helped him and his family survive that first winter. In his diary, he tells how the Abenaki warned him never to go near the “Demon’s Mouth”, which he said they told him was but five leagues east of his homestead. They told him it was an evil place, and all who went there went mad or died.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">She pulled a folded piece of paper from a notebook in front of her. “Now listen to this,” she continued excitedly. “This is from Lloyd’s diary about a year after the Abenaki first warned him of the Demon’s Mouth.” She began to read.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Winter is fast approaching, and game is scarce. Went far into the mountains following deer spoor but spying none. Came upon a clearing with a greate hole in its centre. This hole was as perfectly round as any welle dug by hand of man, but was a rod or more acrost. I durst not approach the edge, for fear it would give way beneathe my feet. I laid upon my belly and crawled like a snake to the edge, but tho twas midday and the sun strait overhead, I could see no bottom. A cold wind came forth from its depths, so cold I could see my breath tho twas a warm day. Sudden I was seized with greate fear, and heard the screams of the damned crying up from the pit. I lept to my feet and ran with all speede and did not stop until my legs could carry me no more. This must be the evil Demon Mouth that my Indian friends have warned me of. It is a fell place indeed, and Satan must reside there.”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />
</i></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The party offered to join their expedition, and Professor Fulcroft agreed wholeheartedly. He said they planned to leave first thing in the morning, but Mary asked if they could delay for a few hours. She still had to make arrangements for Jane. She had inquired about girls' schools, but there were none in town. She asked the hotel manager if he knew of anyone who could look after Jane "for a few days" while she was out of town, and he agreed to make some inquiries and set up some interviews for potential nannies.</span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The party spent a peaceful night. The next morning, Mary interviewed three prospective nannies, and found two who might work out: a grandmotherly widow and a young schoolteacher looking to earn some extra money during the summer break. The party planned to leave most of their money, gold, and gems with Jane as her "inheritance", and Mary tried to explain to her that they would be leaving her and would not be coming back. Jane looked as if her parents had just died a second time.</span></div>Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-49917817246732155992011-04-25T17:31:00.000-04:002011-04-25T17:31:13.193-04:00Getting in Touch With YourselfOur freakish heroes were embroiled in combat, seeking revenge against their maker, Gondolfino, and his evil clown minions, with hopes that somehow they could return to their own bodies before their minds became too weak. One clown had fallen, but another still fought, while the third was strapped to the table of Gondolfino's infernal device, hideously transformed into a travesty of a woman. Gondolfino himself had disappeared, but Phil seemed to be able to sense his presence with his snake's senses, although he didn't seem to be capable of hitting him.<br />
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Jerry, shrunk to only 6" tall, clambered to what he hoped was a safe spot on the ceiling, and tried to fire a burst of <i>Magic Missiles</i> at the remaining clown, but the spell inexplicably fizzled. Ice and Joe also concentrated their attention on Flatto. Ice scored a good hit with his sword, while Joe coiled around him and began to squeeze, and Flatto went limp in his embrace.<br />
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Meanwhile Gondolfino was desperately trying to escape. He flung quick disorienting spells (<i>Color Spray</i> and <i>Hypnotic Pattern</i>) at the party, but no one was affected. Chuck tossed a bag of flour in the general direction of whatever Phil was aiming at (causing some concern among party members who were familiar with the effects of combining airborne flour dust with open flames). As the cloud began to settle, a human outline could be seen where Phil was still unsuccessfully striking. Seeing a target, Jerry let fly another barrage of <i>Magic Missiles</i>. These worked as normal, and the figure slumped to the ground.<br />
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When no more enemies appeared, the party began to take stock of the room. The control panel where Gondolfino had been working was like something out of a Frankenstein movie - a confusing array of dials, switches, gauges, and meters. Luckily, there was the requisite giant-sized double-pole knife switch in the center of the console. Without waiting to investigate or experiment, Phil went downstairs and retrieved his original body, strapped it to the table where the clown had been, and placed himself on the empty table. He instructed the others to attach the metal caps to both of himselves, and told Chuck to throw the switch. Chuck did so, ignoring the fact that Gonfolfino had had a pair of tinted goggles around his neck, and was immediately blinded by the impressive electrical display that erupted from the spires. Both of Phil's bodies began to convulse uncontrollably. When the current was finally removed, both continued to twitch for a bit, then lay still. Were they both dead? The snake-head body certainly was, but some checking revealed a faint pulse in Phil's original body.<br />
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Convinced that the procedure must have been a success (despite the fact that Phil still lay comatose on the floor), others began to haul up their bodies from downstairs to queue up for transfer. Mary James did their best imitation of Larry and Curly trying to carry an unconscious Moe up a flight of stairs and through multiple doors, but ultimately both of them were back in separate bodies. After about half the party was transferred and lying unconscious on the ground, the rest decided it might be prudent not to have the entire party incapacitated just in case something unexpected happened, like oh, say, Lord Strahd showing up to claim the bodies. After a half hour or so, the converted party members began to revive, and after an hour they were mobile enough that the rest of the team felt comfortable continuing with the procedure.<br />
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Ultimately, the entire party were back in their own bodies. As they regained consciousness, they struggled to find and put on their clothing. They were weak and a bit disoriented, but recovered much faster than after the first transfer. Their hair was badly scorched, and what was left of it was standing straight out in all directions. The Gatestone pointed directly at the strange spire that pierced the castle, so they knew they were in the right place to lock down this ley line and move on to the next universe. They debated the trade-offs of leaving immediately, and dropping into who-knows-where in their depleted state, or spending the night in the castle with the risk of being attacked. They opted to recover.<br />
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That just left the question of what to do with little Jane. She'd been left hiding under Gondoflino's desk downstairs. The party debated their options:<br />
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<ul><li>They could return her to Vallaki. Except they had no idea where Vallaki was from here or how to get there. And they'd still have to return here to use the Gatestone.</li>
<li>They could leave Jane with the remainder of Gondolfino's circus, who they could see camped a few hundred yards away outside. After all, surely the only evil people in the circus were the ones they'd already killed, right? Once the party explained that they'd killed their boss (i.e. cut off their paycheck) and his clowns (possibly the only thing keeping them in line), they'd be welcomed as liberators, right? And carnies are well-known for being trustworthy and good with children.</li>
<li>They could take Jane with them, and try to find a home for her in the next universe. After all, it had to be a better place than this. Didn't it?</li>
</ul><div>Various party members were in favor of each of the options. Ultimately, Mary asked Jane what she wanted, and she made it clear she didn't want to be left with the circus people. Since 10-year olds always know what's best for them, they agreed to take her with them. They gathered around the spire and watched as the base of the Gatestone covered it completely. They felt the facet of the Gatestone grow warm and pulse, and then felt themselves being stretched impossibly thin ...</div><div><br />
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</div>Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-34290305085660579192011-04-20T11:43:00.003-04:002011-04-21T17:36:17.760-04:00Get Your Freak OnTrapped in bizarre circus-freak bodies and imprisoned by the evil circus-master Gondolfino, our characters' fate seemed bleak. Within a day or two, if Gondolfino could be believed, their minds would succumb to the strain of trying to adapt to their new bodies and they would become gibbering idiots, living out the rest of their days horrifying the paying guests at Gondolfino's circus.<br />
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But the characters were not ready to give up just yet. They had been preparing for any opportunity of escape to present itself. James and Jerry had been racking their brains for any spells they might be able to cast, while James had also been trying to teach his "better half" (Mary) how to help him pick the lock to their cage.<br />
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Although they'd only had a day to observe the prison routine, it seemed to be taking an unusually long time for the guards to return to feed them. When the door finally opened and one of the prison roustabouts entered, he ignored the party completely. He went straight for Jane's cage,<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> carrying a frilly white dress, towels, and a bucket of soapy water. He unlocked Jane’s cage, saying, “Time to get you cleaned up, little missy. Them upstairs are havin’ a party, and you’re the guest of honor. Need to look nice ‘n pretty for your party now, don’t ya?”</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Escape suddenly took a back seat to saving poor Jane from the horrifying fate that Gondolfino and the clowns clearly had planned for her. Jerry still had a <i>Dimension Door</i> online, and he blinked out of his cage, positioning himself between the guard and the exit. Simultaneously, James hit him with a set of <i>Magic Missiles. </i>Before the poor guard could open his mouth to scream, Jerry spun around and blasted him with sticky webs out of his butt. Saying a silent prayer for it to work, Chuck bellowed out what he hoped was a <i>Hold Person</i> spell, and the guard stopped struggling - apparently God can understand Alligator.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Jerry got the keys from the guard's belt and quickly released the rest of the party. Unsure of what might be waiting on the other side of the door, Phil laid down and managed to flick his cobra's </span>tongue beneath the ill-fitting door. He could sense people, animals, and <i>things</i> on the other side. Deciding their was no point in caution (as usual), the party flung open the door and rushed through.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">They found themselves in a room crammed with circus wagons holding what remained of the circus menagerie, as well as the rest of the freaks from the freak show. A stairway led up out of the room, and there was a portcullis in one wall. There were also two roustabouts and the animal trainer sitting at a table playing cards. As soon as they spotted the party, the two roustabouts rushed them with daggers, while the animal trainer headed towards the wagons. Chuck stopped him in his tracks with another <i>Hold Person </i>and headed after him to ensure he didn't release any animals. Ice began pummeling one of the roustabouts, while Joe coiled himself around the other and began to squeeze. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Mary James tried to enter the fray, but quickly discovered that despite years of martial arts training, when you only control half of an out-of-shape fat man, you aren't a terribly effective fighter. Sometimes the Mary half of the body would do what he wanted, but other times the James half would get what she wanted. Either way, their weak punches did little damage. Chuck caught up to the animal trainer, snapped at him with his alligator jaws, and suddenly was seized by a primitive instinct to roll and spin with his victim. Jerry tried exercising more of his spider abilities, and discovered he could climb the walls; he quickly scampered across the ceiling to take up a position guarding the staircase. Phil struck out with his cobra head, and the roustabout in Joe's coils went into convulsions and died.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">With the guards dispatched, the party examined the room. The dominant feature in the room, besides the circus wagons, was a glassy pillar that rose out of the floor and continued up through the ceiling. Its dark interior was filled with dancing patterns and flashes of light. The portcullis led to a tunnel, </span>presumably<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> to the outside to bring the wagons in and out. The staircase led to a trapdoor in the ceiling.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Taking the guards' daggers, the party crept up the stairs and pushed open the trapdoor. It opened into a large room. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The strange lightning-charged pillar extended up through the floor, and continued through the ceiling. Several large chandeliers hung from the ceiling and once would have brightly lit the room, but they were now festooned with cobwebs. Tattered and faded tapestries hung crookedly from the walls. There were three long tables in the room, covered with dirty dishes and eating utensils, along with half-empty serving bowls of food. An equally filthy kitchen could be seen off one corner of the room. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">There were several doors out of this room. Some led to small courtyards filled with trash and crude latrines, and another led to a heavy barred gate in the outer wall, apparently the entrance to the castle. Outdoors it was night and raining, with flashes of lightning illuminating the sky. Two of the doors led to bedrooms. One was empty, apparently belonging to to the squad who'd been on duty downstairs. The other held four more roustabouts, who awakened as soon as the door opened and rushed out to attack.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The party was ready for them. As soon as the first enemy hit the doorway, Jerry farted out another web to fill the door. The lead roustabout managed to leap clear of the web, but soon wished he hadn't. Ice beat the poor schmuck to within an inch of his life, and then the couple of HP damage from Phil's fangs killed him off before their poison even had a chance to take effect. This set the pattern for the other roustabouts once they cut their way through the web across the doorway: Ice-Phil, Ice-Phil, Ice, with a little Chuck thrown in for good measure.</span><br />
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The party picked up some more daggers, but found little else of use among the guards' possessions (unless you count pornographic playing cards and the unexplained set of women's undergarments hidden in the bottom of one guard's footlocker). They picked up a few gold and silver coins that they decided to give to young Jane for a sort of trust fund. (They'd brought Jane along with them, apparently figuring she hadn't seen enough murder and mayhem in her short life.)<br />
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Another staircase led up from this level, and the party ascended. This led up to another open room, albeit better maintained than the one below. The strange pillar continued through this level as well, although it seemed to be tapering, being noticeably thinner at the top than at the bottom. There were three doors out of this room as well. The first door they tried was locked. Mary James tried unsuccessfully to pick it, so Ice opened it the old fashioned way: hit it with an 800-pound gorilla. That worked. On the other side was a short hallway with rooms on either end. To the left was an ornate bedroom with a bed, dressing table, and a pair of armoires. One held fancy clothing, including Gondolfino's ringmaster uniform. The other held an odd assortment of white coveralls and gowns, leather aprons, and a pair of dark goggles.<br />
<br />
To the right was a study. A large desk sat in front of a fireplace with an elaborately carved mantel; a fire burned in the fireplace. Bookcases lined the walls. Many of the books were in languages the party didn't recognize, but others had titles like<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> like <i>“On the Art and Science of Reanimation”, “Undeath and Dying – The Five Stages of Death”, “Phantasmal and Spectral Forces”, “Neither Dead Nor Undead – The Ones Between”,</i> and<i> “Possession – A Primer”. </i>Searching the desk, Mary James found a secret compartment containing a wand, a spellbook full of illusionist spells, and the Gatestone.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Heartened by the discovery of the Gatestone, the party tried another door.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>When opened, a stench of decay washed out. The room inside was decorated like a nightmarish playroom. Distorted toys littered the floor: a brightly colored ball studded with spikes; a rocking horse whose seat was covered with broken glass; a jump rope with a hangman’s noose at each end; a baby bottle filled with yellow curdled milk; a stuffed bear with dagger-like claws. Dead puppies and kittens in various stages of decay lay about the floor. The walls were decorated with brightly colored pictures, childishly drawn in crayon, but the subjects of the drawings were so disturbing they had to look away. Luckily, they'd left young Jane downstairs.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The third door was also locked, but Mary James had better luck with this one. As it was opened, a blast of cold air hit the party. Inside, the windows in the south and west walls had been smashed, allowing the cold mountain air to sweep through the room. On the floor were several rows of coffins and a large iron chest.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Apparently forgetting they were in Ravenloft, the characters were eager to start opening coffins. (Let's see - a remote castle on a stormy night, a room full of coffins with the windows smashed to allow things to fly in and out - what possible danger could there be? The DM resisted the urge to put a couple of vampires in them just to teach the party humility.) The first several coffins contained strangers they'd never seen before, but then they hit paydirt - their own bodies, cold, naked, and staring blankly into space. Chuck picked his up and began carrying it around, apparently hoping that physical contact would make everything right again. The party also noticed that Joe's left arm and upper legs were criss-crossed with scars.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Meanwhile Chuck had decided to check out the iron chest, which contained all the party's clothing and belongings. To the best of their new abilities, the party tried to equip themselves with weapons, kevlar vests, etc. Jerry and James took their spellbooks and spent as much time as they dared relearning some spells. Then they headed up yet another flight of stairs. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">These opened up into a dark hallway, illuminated by flashes of lightning from rooms at either end. The smell of blood and harsh chemicals filled the air. One room was a workshop of some sort, full of electrical apparatus. The other was a grisly operating theater. A large<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">table was in the center of the room, covered in blood. The remains of a woman lay on the floor beside the table, pools of blood congealing beside her. The party recognized her as one of the acrobats from the circus.</span> It appeared that her reproductive organs had been removed, and from the spray of blood on the ceiling and walls, it is apparent that the victim was alive during at least part of the surgery.A trail of blood led down the hall to the east.<br />
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<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Continuing around the perimeter of the level, the party found two more corner rooms. The first contained a pair of large glass vats of bubbling liquid. Floating in the liquid were a variety of body parts. Along the back wall were rows of shelves containing jars, bottles, beakers, and small boxes of foul-smelling liquids, ointments, and powders. The fourth room was empty. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">That left a large space in the center of the castle unexplored. Doors led into it from the north and south; the trail of blood led to the south door. Unsure whether the space inside was one large room or multiple rooms, the party split up; Mary James remained at the north door, conferring among themself on a plan of attack, while the rest of the party went to the south door.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As previously agreed, Mary James opened the north door first.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> As the door opened, they were </span>momentarily blinded by the transition from darkness into bright light. As their eyes adjusted, they were drawn first to the electrical display before them. The strange spire that had been piercing each level of the castle split into two arms, which continuee up through the roof above. Great arcs of electricity jumped and spit between them. As thunder cracked outside, the entire spire glowed brightly, and the lightning bolts between the horns grew even more intense.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">They took this all in in an instant, and then their eyes were pulled to a horrifying tableau. In front of the spire were two wooden tables, sloping at a 45<sup>o</sup> angle. One was empty, save for leather straps positioned to restrain the wrists and ankles of a young child. On the other was one of the clowns. Or what <i><u>was</u></i> one of the clowns. It had been transformed into a horrible travesty of a woman. Bright yellow hair hung in ringlets from its scalp. Bright red lips in a kewpie doll pout. Enormous breasts that hung almost to its waist. And it had … female genitalia. And fresh bloody sutures on its abdomen. A metal cap was tied to its head with a leather strap, and coils of copper wire led to one arm of the spire. Identical coils led to a metal cap lying on the empty table.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The other two clowns stood over their … mate? Gondolfino was by the east wall, beside a bank of dials, gauges, and switches. He was wearing a white lab coat and leather apron; both were covered in blood.</span><br />
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</span></div><div>Focused as they were on their own activities at the south end of the room, none of them noticed the north door open, and Mary James was able to cast a <i>Fireball</i> into their midst. The sound of the explosion inside was the cue for those at the south door to fling it open, and the battle was on. The clowns immediately tried to induce <i>Fear of Clowns</i> in the party, but this time it had no effect (perhaps waking up in the body of a freak of nature makes clowns not so scary anymore). </div><div><br />
</div><div>Gondolfino immediately cast <i>Mirror Image</i> on himself, and the party found themselves confronting seven versions of him. James and Jerry used <i>Magic Missiles </i>to quickly whittle those down, but then Gondolfino disappeared. Phil discovered that neither the multiple images nor the invisibility fooled his snake senses; he was able to track the real Gondolfino. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to hit worth a darn. Chuck cast a <i>Prayer</i>, and then seeing Phil striking at something invisible, tried to get into position to toss a bag of flour he'd taken earlier from the kitchen downstairs. Ice waded into battle with the clowns, wielding his sword, but the clowns fought back, one with a bucket and one with a three-legged stool: apparently anything is a weapon in the hands of a clown. However, Blotto soon went down. Jerry cast another set of <i>Magic Missiles</i> at Flatto, and found that he was no longer a man attached to the body of a giant spider - now he was a tiny man attached to the body of a regular-sized spider.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We ran out of time with the battle still raging but appearing to tilt in the party's favor. We're at Leo's again next week.</div>Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-21143740107637373392011-04-11T16:15:00.000-04:002011-04-11T16:15:22.404-04:00You Don't Quite Feel Like YourselfIn their attempt to rescue the young girl, Jane, who had dashed off in search of her recently deceased parents, the party had become embroiled in combat with a swarm of undead who were somehow allied with denizens of the Circus Gondofino. Things were looking promising, however. Only a handful of the undead remained standing, along with just a couple of roustabouts, and three of the four big cats were down. However, something or someone was still casting spells at the party, and the clowns were unaccounted for.<br />
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Jerry took out the last of the lions with a burst of <i>Magic Missiles</i>. However, just as the party thought they had things under control, a new round of reinforcements arrived. A black jaguar came dashing out of the darkness to join the fray, accompanied by a gorilla. Worse, the hill giant who had been guarding the Freak Show tent came lumbering in as well. A new batch of undead could be seen clambering over the wall and starting to descend the ladder, and the evil clowns chose this moment to reappear on the opposite side of the party. As if that wasn't enough, Phil felt the power of his <i>Prayer</i> suddenly evaporate.<br />
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Things rapidly turned ugly for the party. Mary dashed off to try to topple the ladder and prevent any more undead from escaping the cemetery. She succeeded, but found herself backed against the wall fighting off two ghasts and a ghoul who had managed to get over the wall. Joe, who had been dishing out damage like there was no tomorrow (and perhaps there wasn't) suddenly felt a pinprick in his neck and fell into unconsciousness. Jerry and James both decided that they'd be better off above the fray and each cast <i>Fly</i> on themselves, James simultaneously activating his <i>Ring of Invisibility</i>. However, Jerry had barely started to move towards the new undead threat when some form of <i>Confusion </i>spell went off, catching Jerry, Phil, Chuck, and Ice. At the same time, a <i>Stinking Cloud</i> went off in the same area.<br />
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That left James and Mary as the only members of the party still able to carry on fighting. Mary remembered her <i>Cloak of Arachnidia</i>, and used it to envelope the undead attacking her in thick webs, which the Cloak allowed her to pass through to escape. Unfortunately, that merely brought her face to face with the hill giant. James, meanwhile, got hit with a very paltry <i>Lightning Bolt</i>. He couldn't see the caster, but the bolt gave him a general sense of where the spell had originated and he replied with a much more effective <i>Fireball</i> of his own. Before he could do anything else however, a horrid, fanged, winged creature materialized out of the darkness and swooped in to attack him. It missed, and James used the <i>Wand of Force</i> to enclose it in a sphere of force. But not for long; once it realized it was trapped, it appeared to <i>Dimension Door</i> out of the sphere, and came back in to attack. This time it sank its fangs into James' throat, and he fell senseless to the ground.<br />
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One by one, those still on the ground began to fall, each feeling a needle prick before losing consciousness. Mary got in one good lick against the hill giant, but then found herself suddenly unable to move. Jerry, still confused, was drifting over the cemetery wall when the gorilla clambered atop it, leaped up, and grabbed him by his feet and pulled him down. They too fell into unconsciousness. The combat was over, and the party's fate unkown.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">After some time, they began to rouse from the blackness that had descended outside the cemetery. They didn't know how long they'd been unconscious – it might have been hours, or weeks. They had dim memories – being carried and tossed into foul smelling straw. Jostling and bumping, the squealing of wagon wheels and the rattling of tack. Bright flashing light, the stench of blood, intense pain. Then lying on cold stone, unable to move, aching all over, feeling sick. </span><br />
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As each regained their senses, they found themselves locked in iron cages in a large, high-ceilinged stone room. They felt sick and injured, and could barely control their own limbs. With mounting horror, they began to realize that this was because they were <i style="font-weight: bold;">not</i> their own limbs ... they were in the bodies of some sort of horrible monstrosities, imprisoned with other members of Gondolfino's freak show! They were unable to speak - some because they could not yet control their lips and vocal cords, but others because they <u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">had</u> no lips or vocal cords.<br />
<br />
<i style="font-weight: bold;">Chuck</i> - A tall man with the head of an alligator<br />
<i style="font-weight: bold;">Ice</i> - A gorilla with large black wings sewn onto its back<br />
<i style="font-weight: bold;">Jerry</i> - A giant spider sprouting the torso of a young man<br />
<i style="font-weight: bold;">Joe</i> - A large constrictor snake with the head and arms of a child<br />
<i style="font-weight: bold;">Phil</i> - A woman with almost 4' of cobra where her neck and head should be<br />
<i style="font-weight: bold;">James & Mary</i> - Two heads sewn onto a fat man's body. James' head is female and Mary's is male<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">There was only one human inhabitant of the room. In a cage in one corner, young Jane from the inn sat rocking endlessly back and forth, staring with unseeing eyes at the wall and humming some unknown tune to herself. Her clothes were torn, her hair tangled, and her face was smeared with dirt and blood.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Soon after the party revived, the door to the room opened and </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">Gondofino </b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">entered, flanked by two of his clowns. </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B31rwuHiVrb6MmQzMWZkODUtMTMyNS00ZDM1LWEzNDMtZGNlYzc1NTQ5YzIx&hl=en&authkey=CNHoupAB" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Gondolfino explained</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> that the party were his guests here at </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">Castle Lightningspire</b><i style="font-family: inherit;"> </i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">at the specific request of </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">Lord Strahd</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> himself. Apparently Strahd had </span>foreseen<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> the party's coming, knew that they were being pursued, and that if killed it would, in Gondolfino's words, "be very bad for Barovia" (not to mention the rest of the multiverse). So he had arranged for Gondolfino to "protect" them by transferring their souls into these new and unique bodies. Their former bodies would be transported to Castle Ravenloft, to serve as bait for Twynillios.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Gondofino explained that there was only one small side effect to the procedure. Apparently the human consciousness is a delicate thing, and doesn't adapt well to new surroundings. Within a few days, he explained, they would lose all capacity for conscious thought, speech, or free will, and would become drooling idiots. On the bright side, they would be wonderful additions to his circus!</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Gondolfino walked back to Jane’s cage, followed by his grinning clowns. “And this little moppet – we have great plans for her, don’t we, boys?” The two clowns capered about, somehow managing to snarl and laugh at the same time. “She was the bait for our little trap, but now that we’ve caught her, too, we just can’t pass up such an opportunity.” He turned back to the party. “You see, <b>Grave Clowns</b> don’t breed. They’re created through a very unusual – and unpleasant – combination of circumstances. My three associates constitute perhaps half the entire population of Grave Clowns in the world. Which is unfortunate, because the world can never have enough clowns, don’t you agree? Ah, but with this precious little beauty, and my special skills, we intend to change that, don’t we?” The two clowns slobber and scream with an obscene combination of rage and lust.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The party spent the next day trying to acclimate to their new bodies. After a night's rest, they felt a bit more comfortable with them, and those who were physically able were able to talk. Their movements were still uncoordinated, and fine motor skills were more the exception than the rule. Roustabouts would occasionally come in to toss rancid food into their cages and set small buckets of water outside them. They taunted the characters about their "new looks" and easily evaded their clumsy attempts to grab or hit them.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">But as their faculties returned, they began to look for ways to escape. The buckets seemed the only available resources, so Mary/James disassembled one while Chuck chewed another into splinters. They discovered that young Jane could squeeze between the bars of her cage, and they enlisted her aid in distributing the scraps of wood from the broken buckets among the party members. Various members began trying to file the staves of wood into something that might be sharp enough to do some damage, while Phil tried to milk venom from his fangs into his bucket. Jerry experimented with shooting webs, although the sensation was extremely </span>embarrassing<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">. </span> Jerry bemoaned the fact that he had used all his spells in the previous combat, but James still remembered a couple of <i>Magic Missile </i>spells that might come in handy. James tried picking the lock with some of the splinters, but between the poor quality tools, his lack of fine motor skills, and the fact that he could only control his left hand while having to tell Mary what to do with the right, all he succeeded in doing was breaking off several pieces of wood in the lock.<br />
<br />
But hope was returning. They didn't yet have a plan, but then again, when did they ever?Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-314030326250228752011-04-09T16:41:00.001-04:002011-04-09T16:52:41.534-04:00A Day (and Night) at the CircusHaving visited the Menagerie and Freak Show, the party decided it was time to visit the Big Top. After buying their tickets, they were ushered into the tent, where rough bleachers had been erected. A small band was playing cheery tunes, while roustabouts circulated among the crowd selling snacks. With a fanfare from the band,<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> a diminutive, round man entered with a flourish. He was dressed in a bright red coat with long tails and a high stiff collar, and shiny black riding boots. He had a mustache waxed into precise curls, and his hair was oiled and brushed back almost into wings on either side of his bald pate. He carried a large megaphone which he used to address the crowd.</span><br />
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<div><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, esteemed dignitaries, and visitors from afar!. I am <b>Enrico Gondolfino</b>, and I welcome you to that most glorious, most incredible, most amazing, most astounding, most thrilling, and most magnificent entertainment ever presented in one spot – <i>The Circus Gondolfino!</i>” He paused as the crowd erupted in cheers. “I have assembled, at great personal expense and no small personal risk, the most talented performers, the most fearsome beasts, the most amazing freaks, and the most entertaining clowns in this or any other Land!“ (More cheers and applause.) “You are about to see feats of daring and agility that have caused the deaths of almost all who have attempted them! You are about to see wild beasts, capable of killing <i>everyone in this tent</i>!” (gasps from the crowd) “You are about to see entertainments that have delighted and amazed <i>Lord Strahd himself</i>!” (oohs and ahhs from the crowd) “For the rest of your days, you will tell your friends, your family, your children and your grandchildren of the day you saw …<i> The Circus Gondolfino!</i>” The band struck up a cheery march, and a pair of women on white horses came cantering into the tent, and began to circle the ring in opposite directions.</span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">For all the hyperbole of Gondofino's introduction, the party found the circus itself quite ordinary. Besides the women acrobats, there were trained dogs, a trained bear, a "high wire" act (that was only 15' off the ground), and some trapeze artists. Everyone was proficient, but not outstanding, although the local crowd was amazed and enthralled.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">In the middle of the show, they began setting up a cage in the middle of the tent for a wild animal act. While the roustabouts set up the cage, three clowns came in to entertain: <b>Floppo, Flatto, </b>and <b>Blotto</b>. They had white faces, large red noses, wild multi-colored hair, baggy raggedy clothing, and enormous feet. They pranced around the ring, tripping each other, hitting each other with ladders and hammers as they attempted to “help” the roustabouts, doing pratfalls, spilling imaginary buckets of water on the crowd – all the cliché things clowns are wont to do. Several times one would select a child out of the crowd, and entice him or her into the ring, presumably to help the clown with something. While two of the clowns distracted the child, the other would sneak up behind it, elaborately miming to the crowd to keep quiet. Then it would leap at the child and grab it with a ferocious roar. In every case, the child ran screaming and crying back to its parents while all three clowns rolled on the ground laughing.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The wild animal act was the highlight of the circus. A barechested man in a loincloth entered the cage with a pair of lions. He had them perform a number of tricks, then added two tigers to the mix, and ultimately a black jaguar as well. For the finale, all five cats formed a pyramid and the trainer climbed on top. It was really most extraordinary.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">After the big cat show was complete, the roustabouts began to disassemble the cage. As they did, Floppo, Flatto, and Blotto reentered the ring. At their appearance, all the children in the tent began to scream and cry. They put on another act to distract the audience from the roustabouts, although this time they were unable to entice any children out of their seats. This didn't seem to bother them, though. In fact if anything, they seemed to be almost strutting around the ring. They seemed less like clumsy buffoons, and more … well, <i>intimidating</i>. Even the adults seemed to shrink away from them as they passed close.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Soon the show ended, and everyone filed out of the tent. At this point, the party decided to split up. Mary decided to try to find out more about the fate of Jane's parents. Along with Chuck and Jerry, she paid a visit to the House of the Dead. This large stone building was built into the wall surrounding the cemetery, with a heavily barred archway through the building itself being the only entrance to the cemetery. There was a pull chain outside the gate, and Mary gave it a tug. After a few minutes, an iron door in the middle of the passage way slowly opened with a squeal of rusty hinges, and <b>The Undertaker</b> emerged. He was a tall, impossibly thin man dressed in a long black coat with a<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> high </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">collar, and a tall black top hat. His face was very pale, the skin drawn and leathery, and the hair that emerged from beneath his hat was wispy and white.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Mary asked if it was too late to purchase additional rest for someone. "It is never too late," came the reply, sounding as if it were coming from the bottom of a deep well. When asked the cost, he explained,<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“You can give your friend Eternal Rest for 500 raven-wings. You can give him a century of Rest for 100 raven-wings. You can give him a lifetime of Rest for 50 raven-wings, you can give him a decade of Rest for 20 raven-wings. You can give him a year’s Rest for 10 raven-wings. Or you can give him a week’s Rest for 1 raven-wing.” When Mary asked if someone would want to have rest or not, he simply raised one eyebrow, as if the question had never occurred to him.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Mary then decided to go to the inn and talk to Jane, who had seemed more chipper that morning than she had the day before. That quickly changed as Mary started asking questions about her dead parents and how they had died. When Mary asked the little girl if her dead parents would want more rest, she burst into tears and ran from the room. Questioning Ernst provided no new information, although when asked about the condition of the bodies, he referred them to Constable Muller.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Meanwhile, back at the circus, Phil decided to do a little exploring, accompanied by James and Joe. He started poking around behind the big top, in the area where the circus folk kept their wagons and where the circus acts entered the tent from the rear. He was quickly intercepted by a group of roustabouts with billy clubs who made it clear this area was off-limits. Phil wouldn't take no for an answer, and kept pressing to "just have a look around". James offered his support (Joe was hanging back enjoying the free show), and the roustabouts were just about to rough up this old man and his "nancy-boy friend" when Gondolfino appeared. He quickly stepped in to calm things down, giving Phil and James free tickets to the show and offering to let them come back in a couple of days to watch them tear down and pack up the circus. The confrontation was avoided (although I suspect both sides wished it hadn't).</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The group eventually all met up back at the inn, and decided to have a talk with <b>Constable Muller</b>. He was across the street, keeping an eye on the men's guesthouse, and was happy to talk to the party. He had no explanation for Jane's parents death - "Tain't natural" was how he put it. There were no marks or obvious signs of injury or disease on the bodies. The party asked where they had lived, and he gave them directions to a small house in the northeast part of town. The house was little more than a shack, although clean and well maintained. It had two rooms: a main room that served as living room, kitchen, cobbler workshop, and Jane's bedroom, and a small room separated by a curtain that had been the parents' bedroom. The only door to the house had obviously been broken in (Constable Muller had broken it down after neighbors heard Jane screaming inside), but nothing else looked out of place.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As the sunset bell began to ring, the party decided to split up. Most of the party decided to spend the night in Jane's former home, thinking that whoever killed her parents (or the parents themselves) might return. Mary and James returned to the inn, taking one of Ice's portable radios with them so the two groups could stay in touch. The drizzle of the day had now turned into a steady rain, and thunder rumbled in the distance.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Around midnight, James and Mary heard screams from downstairs. Rushing down to investigate, they found </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Ernst holding Mama back while also trying to close the front door of the inn, which was standing wide open. “It’s Jane!” Mama screamed “The child! She took the key from the nightstand and went out into the night! She said her parents had come back for her!”</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Ignoring Ernst's warnings to stay inside, Mary and James rushed out into the rain, summoning the rest of the party by radio. They could hear a child's voice callin<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">g </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“Mommy! Daddy! Here I am!” from the direction of the cemetery. A flash of lighting revealed Jane running around the corner of the ominous stone building. Mary and James followed. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As they rounded the corner, they saw Jane rushing towards a pair of figures standing in the rain beside the cemetery wall. About ten yards behind them, a ladder was propped up against the cemetery wall and a group of shadowy figures were clustered around its base. “Mommy! Daddy!” Jane cried in delight, and threw herself into the couple’s arms.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">A sudden flash of lightning illuminated a grisly tableau. A man and woman held Jane. They may once have been her parents, but their rotting flesh was already revealing the bones beneath. As Jane saw their true features, her cries of joy turned into screams of terror. Behind them, a crowd of animated corpses huddled at the base of the ladder. Three white faces turned to face the party eagerly, their maniacal red grins framing rows of crooked yellow fangs. Floppo, Flatto, and Blotto had come out to play.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tlkYdH52TnI/TaDG3MTsGuI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/8-k9LCwe0ec/s1600/evil-clowns-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tlkYdH52TnI/TaDG3MTsGuI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/8-k9LCwe0ec/s1600/evil-clowns-01.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">At the sight of the hideous clowns, Mary and James were filled with terror, and collapsed into the fetal position. The horde of undead descended on them, apparently intent on tearing them to pieces and devouring them. Luckily the rest of the party appeared at this point. Jerry got off a <i style="font-weight: bold;">really</i> good <i>Fireball</i> that took out about half of the undead and seemed to do considerable damage to the clowns. Chuck attempted to <i>Turn</i>, and while the results weren't what he had hoped for, he did manage to chase off three of the four ghasts that were chewing on Mary and James.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The battle was on. The clowns did not succeed in instilling fear in any of the rest of the party (beginning a pattern of excellent saving throws for the party and terrible rolls by the DM that continued throughout the rest of the night). A pattern of waving colored lights appeared in the air, and Phil and Jerry were transfixed by them. That left only Joe, Chuck, and Ice to fight off the half-horde of remaining undead, who were quickly joined by a half-dozen or so roustabouts wielding short swords. Luckily, the party was fully equipped with <i>Stoneskins</i>, which warded off most of the initial damage. Mary quickly regained her composure, but found herself getting pinned between undead that Chuck was turning (they'd move away from him, and find her in their path) and previously turned undead that seemed to be getting "un-turned" and found her as their first target as they returned to the fight. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Ice activated the <i>Ring of Blinking</i> that he'd gotten from Merlin's cave for the first time, and found that it made it impossible for him to use his sword. But that was fine with him, since he also had his Glock. With most of the enemies unable to get a fix on him, he began using his pistol to good effect. After taking a few well-placed hits from him, the clowns simply disappeared from the battlefield, and Ice redirected his fire to the big cats. More hypnotic-type spells kept going off from some unseen source, but the party's excellent saving throws kept them from being affected.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Jerry and Phil shook off their trance after a few rounds, but almost immediately found themselves under attack from the lions and tigers from the circus. Jerry managed to cast a <i>Haste</i> spell, on the party, which increased their rate of fire dramatically. James also finally wiped away his tears and was able to join the attack. Joe meanwhile was slicing through undead like a hot knife through butter (he'd attempted to use his own pistol at the start of the battle, only to find that its clip was mysteriously empty).</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">By the time the evening ended, the undead had been pretty well whittled down, as had the roustabouts. Only one lion was left alive. Something or someone was still casting spells, and something kept hitting the party with needle-like pricks (to no effect). And the clowns were unaccounted for.</span></div></div>Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-17168667274992764342011-04-01T14:14:00.001-04:002011-04-09T15:09:12.787-04:00A Trip to the FairAfter surviving their encounter with a pack of apparent werewolves, the party began healing up. They were concerned about the bites of the wolf-like creatures potentially infecting them (having all seen werewolf movies), so they also began casting <i>Cure Disease</i> spells just as fast as the party's clerics could learn them. They heard children's laughter from the midnight forest around them, which only added to their sense of paranoia. However, the rest of the night passed uneventfully.<br />
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</div>With morning, they continued following the general directions from the Gatestone, and after a few hours came out of the forest overlooking a broad, grassy valley. A long lake ran along the far side of the valley, and a dirt road ran down its center. A wagon pulled by a pair of oxen could be seen making its way along the road; it appeared to be a family carrying a load of root vegetables. Mary and James (believing they were the least threatening looking members of the group), strode forward to try to make friends and see what they could learn. Despite their obvious discomfort with their <i>very</i> odd clothing and possessions, the family didn't have much choice but to allow the party to join them.<br />
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They explained they were on their way to the Fall Festival in the village of <b>Vallaki</b>, some miles down the road. The Festival was apparently the high point of the year in this vicinity, providing farmers from all around the opportunity to sell their crop, purchase tools and get old ones repaired, and generally socialize before the onset of winter. There was always a fair, and this year they'd heard rumors there would even be a circus.<br />
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The party tried to learn more about Vallaki. For example, who was in charge? The burgomeister, came the reply, although the position is largely ceremonial. Does the burgomeister collect taxes? "Oh no - he can't do that. Only<b> Lord Strahd</b> can collect taxes." The characters felt a chill run down their spines, although they didn't know why.<br />
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After a few hours of pleasant travel, they indeed came to a small town. Although the townsfolk eyed them suspiciously (as their travelling companions had warned them they would, given their odd clothing), no one took exception to their presence. Many of the buildings were plastered with posters advertising<b> The Circus Gondolfini</b>, confirming the rumors the farm family had heard. In the middle of town was a small square, with a well in the center and a bell mounted next to it. On one side of a square was the <b>Rising Sun Inn</b> (the only one in town), and on the other the village hall had been converted into a men's guesthouse for visitors (they were told that the Church of the Morninglord would serve as the women's guesthouse. A policeman (<b>Constable Mulle</b>r, according to the farmers) could be seen idling twirling a billy club outside the entrance to the guesthouse.<br />
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They Gatestone pointed on to the east-northeast, so the party decided to forgo the attactions of the fair and continue on. As they left Vallaki they could see the fair on the west side of town, with the larger tents of the circus going up just beyond it. They also passed a very large stone building (the only stone building they'd seen in town) connected to a very sturdy-looking stone wall surrounding the local cemetery. A large arched passageway led through the building to the cemetery inside, blocked by strong iron gates secured by thick chains.<br />
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The party continued walking towards the mountains to the northeast, but a fog began to settle in. It soon grew so thick they could hardly see the road. Then it cleared, and the party soon found themselves approaching another town. At least they at first thought it was another town - it actually was Vallaki, and the party was entering it from the east, just as they had earlier in the day!<br />
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They debated attempting to leave town by different routes, but ultimately decided to stop in at the inn. They were greeted warmly by the proprietor, <b>Ernst</b>, who showed them to a table and offered them a hot lunch and the last available room in the inn. Ernst ran the Rising Sun with his wife (known to all as "<b>Mama</b>") and his two teenaged sons, <b>Horst </b>and <b>Mutt</b>. A young girl of about 11 pushed a broom around the room lethargically. When Mary asked about her, Ernst got a sad expression and lowered his voice.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> “Such a tragedy, that. ‘er name’s <b>Jane</b>, and her parents died just last week. Father was a cobbler, nice fella, and the mother was just the sweetest young thing. Then, last week, they just up’n died. Both of ‘em, died in their beds on the same night. Doors was locked up tight – Muller had to bust the door down when the neighbors heard young Jane screamin’ in the morning. Poor thing’s got no family now. Mama took her in here, on account of she’s got no place else to go. Parents barely had two Rats to rub together.” He’ll look over his shoulder to make sure Jane’s not within earshot, then whisper, “We could only buy ‘em a week’s Rest.” There’s a catch in his voice. “They deserved better ‘n that. <i>She</i> deserves better ‘n that.” When asked how one could purchase more "rest", he replied "Why, from the <b>Undertaker</b>, at the House of the Dead", but refused to say more.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">After lunch, most of the party decided to check out the fair, while Chuck and Phil elected to visit the Church of the Morninglord. As they left, Ernst told them, “Enjoy the fair! You’ll hear the town bell a half-hour before sunset, so you’ll have plenty of time to get back before we lock up.” When the party asked what he meant, he looked at them with surprise. “Goodness, you <b><u>are</u></b> foreigners, aintcha? <i>Everyone </i> in Barovia locks their doors at night, and <i>no one</i> will open them for anyone, for any reason, until dawn. Barovia’s a nice place, with nice people, but after dark, there are … <i>things</i> that roam the night. Some can take the form of anyone, even someone you know and love, so you dursn’t let anyone in. We ring the bell a half hour before sundown, so as no one loses track of time, and once the sun sets, there won’t be a <i><u>living</u> </i>soul abroad.”</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The fair was a small tent city with vendors selling all manner of food and goods along with a variety of games of chance and skill. Other vendors and and entertainers wandered the fair. They party saw a young juggler who was quite good, and seemed to be collecting a hatful of contributions, while a mime drew lots of laughs by following the party around </span>mimicking<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> their odd looks and ways. The circus was till setting up, and wasn't yet open, although hammering could be heard coming from inside the big tents.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Off by itself to the north of the fair was a gypsy wagon. Some men could be seen sitting around a small campfire outside it, and an </span>occasional<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> solitary fairgoer would make his or her way to the wagon and disappear inside. Joe decided to pay it a visit, but as he approached a gypsy girl of about eight stopped him. "Where are your friends?" she asked. "Grandmother is waiting for you, but you must all come together." </span>Intrigued<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> by how she knew he was with a group, he decided to gather everyone together (including Chuck and Phil, who had learned little from their trip to the local church).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">When the entire group arrived at the wagon, they were ushered inside. The wagon seemed larger on the inside than it had appeared from outside, and they were greeted by a wizened old woman who introduced herself as <b>Grandmother Rosa</b>. She prepared to tell their fortune with an old deck of strange cards, but suddenly became very upset when she realized there were only seven of them.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“But there were supposed to be eight! The cards clearly said eight!. Oh, this is ominous, ominous indeed!” She fretted for awhile, muttering to herself, and to the deck of cards she held in her hand. Finally she announced, “We will have to let the Dead choose for the missing.” She went to a trunk in the back of the wagon and returned with a yellowed skull, which she placed on the empty stool.</span><br />
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<div>One by one, the party members drew cards and she laid them on the table, <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B31rwuHiVrb6NjlhOGM3NTktNzFiNC00NjRhLWFhYWYtNzQ1OTdkYTQ2NGFl&hl=en&authkey=CK-3stEP" style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">pronouncing a mysterious meaning for each one</span></a>. Finally she declared, “Now I shall lay the Fate card, the card that unifies all.” She cut and turned the card over, then gasped. “The Horseman! This is not just your fate, but the fate of all! All shall perish, or all live, at your hands." She’ll hurriedly gather her cards together, her hands trembling. “Go now! Your reading is over. I have lived too long, to have seen such a thing!”</div><div><br />
</div><div>As the party left the gypsy wagon, they encountered the young juggler they'd seen earlier. He'd been badly beaten, and his arms and fingers broken. He said that the circus roustabouts had done it, telling him they didn't want any competition, and threatening to kill him if he ever showed his face where they were performing again. The party gave him healing to knit his broken bones, but before they could go "talk" to the roustabouts, the town bell began to toll.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> Everyone at the Fair immediately stopped what they were doing and started making their way back to town. There was no sense of panic or alarm – people continued laughing and joking, children skipped, couples walked arm in arm. However, everyone returned to their homes and closed their doors behind them. At the Rising Sun, Ernst was waiting by the door, greeting everyone as then came in, and pointing them to the tables where Horst and Mutt were already laying out food. Once everyone was in, he closed the door, turned a key in the lock, and dropped a heavy bar into place. He went around making sure all the shutters were securely fastened, making chit-chat as he did so.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The party spent a pleasant evening in the crowded inn, then retired to their rooms. Once inside, they began casting a few end-of-day spells before going to bed. As Chuck cast yet another <i>Cure Disease</i>, he suddenly disappeared! A few seconds later, there was a knock on the door, and there stood Chuck, who had somehow been transported out into the hallway. A minute later he vanished again, this time appearing in the far corner of the room, his nose to the outside wall. Afraid of finding himself transported outdoors, Chuck spent the next several minutes trying desperately to stay as close to the center of the building as possible, as he continue to pop in and out. Meanwhile Jerry was handing out <i>Stoneskin</i> spells when he suddenly found everyone looking at him very strangely. Somehow he had sprouted a pair of short horns growing out of the top of his head, and a long barbed tail sprouting out the other end!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Even though they were in the inn, the party decided to set watches. During Joe's watch, he heard noise from the alley below. Peering out the window, he could make out vague shapes in the darkness below, near the kitchen door, but the thick wavy glass made difficult to discern details in the darkness. However he heard scratching and soft moaning sounds rising from the alley. After a few minutes, the figures moved slowly to the other end of the alley and out of sight.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The next morning the party dressed in local clothing they'd purchased at the far the previous day. Jerry still had his horns and tail, so someone made a quick run to buy him a hat (he was able to hide his tail down his pant leg, although it appeared he was </span><u style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">very</u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> happy to see you). After breakfast, they all set out to visit the circus. There were three tents: the big-top, which housed the main show, already had a long line of people waiting to buy tickets, so the party decided to check out the other </span>attractions<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">. To the south was the <b>Menagerie</b>,<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">billed as “The Most Magnificent and Malevolent Menagerie Ever Imagined by the Mind of Man”. Inside were a collection of wild animals and strange beasts. Some - lions, tigers, gorillas, etc. - were familiar to the party, but others were like something out of a horror movie. Giant insects. A unicorn. A two-headed giant. There was even a half-horse, half-eagle creature that bit the hand off a young man who tried to pet it. The circus folk who were stationed around the tent to keep the crowd moving didn't seem too concerned by his injury - they simply pointed to a sign that read "Keep hands away from the animals!"</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Leaving the Menagerie, the party decided to visit the <b><a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B31rwuHiVrb6NjZlODlmYTYtNTJhZS00Y2ZhLWJiODUtOGYzODUzMzIwNjUy&hl=en&authkey=COOZxJsP"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Freak Show</span></a></b>. Inside, the tent was divided into two sections. The first was billed as a wax museum, with extremely lifelike figures dressed in different costumes, each labeled as some famous hero or villain from history (and of course the party has never heard of any of them). Chuck cast a <i>Detect Magic</i>, but found nothing except the party's gear. On the other side of the canvas wall were the freaks. They were a truly disturbing collection of creatures. Most seemed to be some sort of unholy hybrid: a large snake with the head and arms of an infant, a giant spider with the face of a woman, a child with the head of a large cat. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The party left the freak show badly shaken, and decided that maybe watching the circus performance would cheer them up. We'll find out next week.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We're at Rich & Joette's next week.</span></div>Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-7080517435612988512011-03-24T11:27:00.001-04:002011-03-24T11:34:25.268-04:00EscapeTheir attempt to sneak undetected into the castle having failed, the party found themselves once again stripped to their skivvies and thrown into a dungeon cell. Total silence reigned - obviously their captors had experience with spellcasting prisoners. The party wished their sense of smell was also magically muted, as the odor of urine, feces, blood, and death filled their nostrils.<br />
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Before the party could do much more than get their bearings, the door opened and a group of soldiers armed with crossbows entered, followed by a tall man with a shaved head, wearing a black robe and carrying a staff with a red dragon head top-piece. As he entered, the magical silence dissipated. He introduced himself as High Inquisitor Vors, and demanded to know who the party was and what they were doing here.<br />
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The party tried to truthfully explain that they had come from Merlin's cave, and were on a mission to prevent an out-of-control wizard from destroying the multiverse. Vors listened with obvious skepticism. Chuck even referred to the wizard as "Tweedledum". But when someone mentioned the name "Twynillios", the guards looked at each other with surprise, and Vors responded with anger. "So you <i style="font-weight: bold;">are</i> spies sent by the False Council in a futile attempt to undermine High Lord Twynillios' plan! You shall die like all the others. And you," he continued, turning to Chuck. "You think yourself clever to mock High Lord Twynillios.We'll see how funny you think it is after we've finished with you in the torture chamber. I shall personally try to see if we can extend your torment even longer than the last prisoner. I think he lasted for ten days."<br />
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With that, Vors turned and stalked out of the room, followed by his guards, and silence again descended. The party realized that they have traveled to Avalon's world of Arcadia, and ended up in the middle of the civil war he had told them about. They weren't keen on waiting for Vors to make good his threat of torture, so they began looking for a way to escape.<br />
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Ice tried his strength on the bars of the cell, and was able to bend one partially. With Mary's help, he worked on the bar opposite it, until they'd made room for the more slender members of the party to slip through. Meanwhile, Chuck had been searching the straw and rags covering the floor, and found a rusty nail amongst the debris. James was able to use this to pick the lock of the cell door, and soon the whole party was out of the cell, but still behind a solid wooden door that led out. There was a small opening in the door for the guards to look in on the prisoners, and James was able to peek out and see an anteroom with four guards playing dice. The door, however, would not open, and the party was still enveloped in silence.<br />
<br />
Jerry searched his memory for a spell that did not require a verbal component. <i>Wraithform</i> seemed to fit the bill, and its material components were a bit of gauze and a wisp of smoke. Luckily, Jerry's tidy whities were old and ragged enough to pass for gauze, and a pair of torches provided the smoke. Jerry cast the spell, and slipped beneath the door unnoticed by the guards. Looking up, he could see an iron bar secured the door. He returned to material form, and leaped to his feet to throw off the bar, drawing the notice of the guards in the process.<br />
<br />
But it was enough to allow Ice and Joe to bull their way out into the room, swinging the torches taken from the hall outside their cell. Jerry took quite a bit of damage from the guards before they turned their attention to the new threat. But as soon as he was able to exit the silence, Chuck cast a <i>Hold Person</i> that rendered all but one of the guards immobile. The fight was quickly over, and Joe and Mary were able to equip themselves with short swords and leather armor (Ice got a sword, but couldn't squeeze his NFL-sized frame into the leather armor).<br />
<br />
There were two doors out of the room, and the party knew from being brought in that one led to the hallway out. From the other door, they heard a voice calling softly, "Is someone there? Can you help me? Please - help me!" While Mary stood guard, the others opened the other door. They found another room with three cells, one occupied by a thin man who introduced himself as Lord Palkins, the rightful lord of this castle. He explained that someone named Lord Lingon (apparently Twynillios' second in command) had killed his father and taken over his castle to use as headquarters for the rebellion. He asked the party to free him, and said some of his followers were also being held nearby.<br />
<br />
When the party said they were looking for a source of magic somewhere beneath the castle, Palkins looked surprised. "You mean the grotto? I didn't know anyone other than me still knew about it. My grandfather showed it to me when I was a boy. He knew there was power there, but never knew how to tap it. The secret entrance isn't far from here - if you free me, I can show you."<br />
<br />
The party agreed, and soon Palkins and eight of his men (who were being held in a large cell just outside) had joined them. One of Palkins' men took the left over short sword from the dead guards. The party's main concern at this point was finding their lost equipment (this seems to be becoming a pattern). They crept past the foot of the staircase they'd been brought down, and listened at another closed door, hearing voices behind it. Bursting through, they found four more guards. Now that they were at least partially armed, they made short work of their opponents, and four more of Palkins' men were soon armed.<br />
<br />
The next room was a well-equipped torture chamber, thankfully empty. Beyond was another door, again with muffled voices. Inside were five men in robes, one with a wand, who were examining the party's gear. Jerry took advantage of the surprise round to cast a <i>Silence</i> spell in the room and after that it was all over but the (silenced) shouting. As the party collected their equipment, Palkins' men claimed the dead guards' weapons and armor, while Palkins put on one of the mages robes and took his travelling spellbook. "I don't know if we can sneak out disguised like this, but I'd rather die trying than let them hold me here until I rot."<br />
<br />
Before he and his men left, Palkins showed the party a secret door in the wall of the room. It revealed a narrow stariway that led deep beneath the castle, and a winding tunnel beyond. At the end was a bronze door, green with age. Inside was a large natural grotto, with a pool of seawater at one end and a cluster of stalactites and stalagmites at the other. The Gatestone pointed at the cluster of stone columns. After spending some time to rest and relearn spells, the party placed the Gatestone in the center of the circle, pressed one of the facets, and waited for it to do its thing ...<br />
<br />
... and suddenly found themselves surrounded by a thick, chill fog. The shapes of standing stones could barely be made out in the darkness. They checked the Gatestone for directions, but it simply throbbed in their hands, pointing nowhere. With nothing to guide them, the party just struck off in a random direction, hoping for the best. After a few minutes, they became aware of the smell of pine, and realized that the ground beneath their feet was blanketed with a thick layer of pine needles. They could now make out the shapes of large trees around them, and as they continued walking, the fog quickly thinned. The were in the midst of a dense forest at night. The Gatestone now pointed generally in the direction they were travelling.<br />
<br />
After half an hour or so, they became aware of a violin playing softly somewhere in the distance. They soon began to see firelight flickering through the trees ahead. Deciding that they didn't need any new friends, they quietly made a wide circle around the fire and the unseen musician, and continued on their way. After another hour or so, with no indication sunrise was coming any time soon, they decided to make camp. They set watches and settled in for some rest.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-GBw09vcAJYE/TYtkT8T3CVI/AAAAAAAAAic/J9wLIc8suZU/s1600/WOLFWEREs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-GBw09vcAJYE/TYtkT8T3CVI/AAAAAAAAAic/J9wLIc8suZU/s1600/WOLFWEREs.jpg" /></a></div>James and Phil were on watch when a group of creatures leaped out of the underbrush and savagely attacked. They were half man, half wolf, standing upright and carrying short swords, but also snapping at their victims with slathering jaws. Four of them attacked James and Phil, while four more went after the sleeping party members. They were tough customers, doing significant damage with their dual attacks, but the party ultimately dispatched them. As they died, they turned into human form, ultimately leaving five men's and three women's bodies scattered around the campsite. They were clad in simple peasant clothing. Searching their bodies, the party found a collection of unusual gold and silver coins, but nothing else.<br />
<br />
We'll be at Leo's again next week.Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-67888509201923509072011-03-20T10:15:00.000-04:002011-03-20T10:15:36.751-04:00Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire<div class="MsoNormal">Having used the Gatestone to leave Merlin's cavern, the party found themselves standing on a grassy plain, surrounded by a circle of weathered, standing stones, very much like <st1:place w:st="on">Stonehenge</st1:place>. The land in front of them sloped gently upwards, and a large castle could be seen several miles in the distance. The peaceful scene before them is at odds with the sounds coming from behind them: a tumult of shouts, screams, thundering hoofbeats, and loud crashes.</div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Turning, the party was confronted with a scene of horror. Several hundred yards away, a berm of earth rises up to a stone wall roughly 15’ tall. This is part of a series of zigzag fortifications that extends for several miles in either direction. Behind the fortifications, and manning the parapets of the walls are thousands of men and other creatures. Flights of arrows arch over the wall from an unseen enemy on the opposite side, while archers firing from atop the walls and through arrow slits in their sides send their own arrows back in reply. Occasionally, large boulders come soaring through the air to crash against the stone walls or into the press of men behind them. On this side, giant humanoid creatures heft the fallen stones and heave them back in the opposite direction. The tops of several ladders suddenly appear above the parapets. A cry goes up, and dozens of men below grab hold of several stout poles that protrude from the wall. Working together, they push the poles outward, and the ladders can be seen to topple backward.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Other archers are stationed well back from the walls, facing away and scanning the sky. The sky above is filled with a low cloud cover, although it was clear over the castle. In places, the cloud begins to thin, and young men on horseback gallop to and fro, wielding wands that regenerate the layer of thick fog, barely 30’ above the ground. As the party watches, something comes diving through the clouds. It looks like a lion with the wings and head of a huge eagle, and a man is riding on its back. The beast swoops down and grabs one of the horsemen in its talons, lifting him off his mount and into the air. A volley of arrows from the watching bowmen shoot towards the intruder, but bounce harmlessly off both him and his mount (although a few pierce the hapless victim dangling in the beast’s claws). Just before he disappears back into the clouds, the man gestures with a wand of his own, and a blast of flame engulfs a crowd of soldiers near the base of the wall.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">At this point, one of the archers spotted the party. “Intruders at the Gate!” he shouted, and began to fire at the party. His comrades joined him and two of the horsemen wheeled their mounts and began to charge towards the party. A bearded man on horseback who appeared to be directing operations for this section of the defenses shouted something and a large group of roughly 100 soldiers broke away from the rest manning the wall, and came jogging towards the party.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Finding themselves in the middle of a war between unknown combatants, the party found themselves with few options, none of them good. A quick check of the Gatestone showed it pointing towards the castle, but there were several ranks of cavalry and footsoldiers between the party and the castle, apparently being held in reserve for the battle, and another line of fortifications could also be seen blocking their path several miles away.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Feeling slightly outnumbered, the party decided to follow the time-honored tactic of "Run Away!". Jerry cast a quick <i>Invisibility 10' Radius, </i>and the party began to try to pick a route towards the castle. However, the mounted mages galloped past the party to several of the reserve units, and quickly formed a double-line of pikemen, who began marching resolutely forward, sweeping the entire area. Thinking quickly again, Jerry cast a <i>Rope Trick</i> and everyone quickly clambered up and out of the way of the searchers. Once the line had passed below them, the party dropped down, still invisible, and again tried to find a way to reach the castle.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The tide seemed to be turning in the battle behind them. A section of the wall crumbled, and attackers began pouring through. The defenders sounded the retreat, and troops began moving back to the second line of defenses, apparently to a gate at the far right-hand end of the second wall. In so doing, they began to empty the left-hand portion of the field, making it easier for the party to make their way undetected to the inner wall. There they found another row of zig-zag fortifications, some 40' tall with a 30' deep dike in front of them. The wall was heavily defended, and ended at the left at a sheer cliff that dropped into the sea.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-93olukYS5X4/TYYHpzyUvcI/AAAAAAAAAiU/yWOKHCP56x8/s1600/Krak+des+Chevaliers+2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-93olukYS5X4/TYYHpzyUvcI/AAAAAAAAAiU/yWOKHCP56x8/s320/Krak+des+Chevaliers+2.gif" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Keeping their invisibility up, the party waited for darkness while Jerry and James re-learned some spells. After nightfall, they cast <i>Fly</i> on a few party members, Jerry used <i>Polymorph Self</i> to transform into a parrot (a form that had provided loads of entertainment in the past), and the group set off around the end of the wall and towards the castle. The ground inside the inner defensive wall was crammed with tens of thousands of troops, both human and non-human, as well as flocks of sheep and cattle - the defenders were apparently prepared for a long seige.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Staying within 10' of each other (by holding onto short lengths of rope), the party made their way apparently undetected over the soldiers below, and the massive castle loomed before them. As they grew nearer, they could see it consisted of multiple inner keeps, with many towers and battlements. The party made for the roof of one of the central towers. However, as they were coming in to land, several members suddenly found themselves unable to move, including Mary, who was one of the flyers. She crashed hard into the rooftop, but since everyone was invisible, no one really realized what had happened. A minute later, most of the remaining characters were also paralyzed, leaving only Ice and Chuck still mobile as a trapdoor in the roof opened, and an armored figure with a crossbow popped his head up. "Surrender!" he demanded, as several other soldiers clambered up from below, followed by a bald man in black robes carrying a dragon-headed staff. Remembering their unpleasant experience in Merlin's pit, Ice and Chuck immediately complied.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">While the soldiers seemed to be randomly waving their crossbows in the general direction of the invisible party, the bald fellow had no trouble picking out each of the party members as he instructed the soldiers in stripping them of their belongings. He even ordered Jerry's parrot form to be taken prisoner, and cast some spell that returned him to human form. In the confusion, Ice managed to slip the <i>Ring of Blinking</i> Niviane had given him into his mouth, hoping to keep it from discovery. Stripped once again to their underwear, the party was led down numerous flights of stone stairs and thrown into a dungeon cell where total silence reigned.</div>Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-9162094185594745122011-03-19T17:37:00.000-04:002011-03-19T17:37:49.891-04:00The Crystal CavernAfter their untimely deaths, our party found themselves in a warm dark tunnel, with a bright light at the end. Distant music could be heard from the direction of the light. As they moved towards the light, it receded away, finally vanishing with a distant flash. The sound of music was replaced by mocking laughter, which also faded away. They floated in the darkness for what seemed an eternity.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">With a start, they beca aware of surroundings other than darkness. They found themselves lying on a cold stone floor, in a room lit by blindingly bright light. They try to sit up, but found that they were paralyzed, unable to move anything other than their eyes. From what little they could see, they were on the floor <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">of a brightly lit cavern. The walls and ceiling are curtains of limestone flows, and are encrusted with crystals. Each crystal reflects light in a dazzling rainbow.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Three figures moved into view. The first is an old man with snow-white hair and a beard that reaches almost to his knees. The second is perhaps the most beautiful woman they had ever seen. She has milky skin, and hair the color of sunlit honey. She was clad in a filmy gown that is all but transparent. Her face is indescribable. It is the face that poets and painters were born for. Her eyes seem to shift colors every second, like opals, and they look as though they have seen every joy and every sorrow since the world began. Just as they began to feel they could disappear into those eyes forever, the third figure loomed up behind her. It was the giant figure of a man, cast from iron, with a stern, unmoving visage.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The old man eyed the party suspiciously for some time. “Hmmph … I have to say that you’re about the unlikeliest looking bunch of trespassers I ever expected to see. Let’s see what story you have for us before I have Errol here stomp you into jelly.” With a dismissive gesture with his hand, found that their heads and mouths were free to move. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The party tried asking some basic questions, but the old man simply scowled at them. As they tried to explain why they were here, he began to show some interest, especially when they said they believed that someone was trying to close all the Gates between worlds. But his interest was really piqued when they mentioned that one of their comrades had been murdered by people who looked just like them.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">He stroked his beard thoughtfully and turned to the woman, “What do you think, my love – are they telling the truth?” She nodded. “Yes, I think so too. Interesting implications to their story. Maybe we should be more hospitable.” With a wave of his hand the party will found themselves free to move, although they were stripped to their underwear and barely alive.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="MsoNormal">The old man's tone, menacing before, now turned jolly.“First, I should probably apologize for your reception. I don’t appreciate uninvited guests, and I learned a long time ago that most of them weren’t coming for a cordial visit. I redirected the Gate to this world to drop travelers into my pit, and arranged a little reception to make sure they exhausted their powers before I brought them in to say hello. Not bad, huh? Every bit as effective as the real thing, but you don’t have to feed ‘em.” He laughs hysterically at his own joke, hysterical being the operative word.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>“You should be congratulated – you’ve found who you were looking for straight off. Yes, I am Merlin, the one and only, the once and future, the great and powerful. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! This of course is Niviane, my one true love, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Ni-vi-ane! You’re probably thinking I look pretty good for a man over 1500 years old. Well, I’ll let you in on my secret.” He looks around conspiratorially, and then in a stage whisper says “Great sex!” and jerks his thumb at Niviane, who simply smiles. This triggers another bout of uncontrolled laughter.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div>Introductions out of the way, Merlin proceeded to share with the party his <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B31rwuHiVrb6OWM5YjljZjAtZWE0YS00MmUxLWFmOTctNmRlOTE2NGU5NTRi&hl=en&authkey=CMmt7NMF">theory of the multiverse</a>. It involved quite a bit of physics and math, and went right over everyone's head. The gist of it was that the world we live in consists of 11 dimensions: 2 dimensions of time and 9 spatial dimensions. Each of the 9 spatial dimensions has a corresponding universe, and 9 universes sharing a time-plane make up the multiverse. What the party knows as ley lines, or lines of force, are actually linkages between the dimensions of the multiverse. Merlin believes that by following in his footsteps, Twynillios stumbled across a property of the multiverse that was previously known only to Merlin. That is that the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">linkages between universes create a pairing between everything in one universe and everything in another. Particles, atoms, even entire creatures or worlds are entwined between universes. Anything that affects one also has an effect on each of its mates in the other universes, albeit usually in very subtle and nearly undetectable ways. However, if something from one universe were to destroy its counterpart from another universe, all the energy of that linkage would flow to the survivor. In the case of people, all the knowledge and powers of the person killed would flow to the one who survived. If an person from yet a 3<sup>rd</sup> universe were to kill that survivor, all the powers of <i>both</i> individuals would flow to him. Merlin believes that Twynillios has recruited doubles for each party member from across the universes, and plans to have them kill each of the party members, thus absorbing their powers. Then, if Twynillios kills his recruits, he will acquire god-like powers!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="MsoNormal">“There’s just one flaw in his plan, and it’s one I’m sure he isn’t aware of because I’ve only perfected the theory that’s allowed me to understand this within the last century. If an entwined entity destroys its mate from another universe, the bond between dimensions for the entire multiverse is weakened. If both of the pair are destroyed, those two dimensions will be severed from each other. As more bonds weaken and break, the multiverse becomes more unstable and unpredictable. Ultimately, if Twynillios succeeds in his plan, he will become a god, but destroy the entire multiverse in the process.” Merlin shakes his head and begins to chuckle, and the chuckle grows into another bout of hysterical laughter.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Unfortunately for the party, Merlin seemed positively excited by the prospect of the end of the multiverse; apparently life had become awfully boring for the old wizard. Fortunately Niviane intervened and cajoled the old man into giving the party some minimal help. On his instruction, the iron golem trudged off to a storeroom and returned with a multi-faceted gem the size of a fist. Each of its nine faces was inscribed with a rune. Merlin called it a Gatestone, and explained that it would allow the party to travel between universes, and once there would point them to the source of the ley line for that universe. If the party placed the Gatestone on the source, it would somehow lock it down before then transporting to yet another universe. However, he was unwilling to do more than this to help the party, even refusing to return their clothes or equipment. He then led Niviane off for some afternoon delight, leaving the party to ponder their plight.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Taking advantage of a magical chalice in a grotto of the cavern, the party was able to heal themselves back to full strength, but was not able to find their possessions. Merlin had left the golem (apparently named "Errol") on guard, and he strenuously objected to any attempts to purloin any of Merlin's magical items. However, after a few hours, Nivane returned, furtively looking over her shoulder.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> “Quickly, we haven’t much time. He’s sleeping now, but he’ll awake soon, and you must be gone by then. I’m afraid Merlin is quite mad. You’re very lucky that you caught him in a good phase. Usually when you come, the monsters in the pit are real, and you all die.” When the party asked what she meant by "<u style="font-style: italic;">usually</u> when you come", she explained "All this has happened before, and will happen again." Apparently there are a succession of multiverses, each following the same pattern across the plane of time. The pattern is approaching a branching point, where one path leads to the end of the multiverse, and the other leads to an unknown fate. Niviane knows all this because she is a Time Nymph, and is doomed to repeat the final weeks of her life for all eternity. Unlike Merlin, she does <i>not</i> want the multiverse to end.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">She instructed the golem to fetch the party's clothes and possessions, and gave them a few of Merlin's magical items to help them in their task. The party followed Merlin's instructions, and held hands while one of them pressed a finger against one of the facets of the Gatestone. They found themselves being stretched thin, as thin as streaks of starlight, and then everything went black ...</span></div></span></div>Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5307739353722040642.post-14473379927436458072011-03-10T19:02:00.000-05:002011-03-10T19:02:23.754-05:00Rest in Peace?When last we saw our intrepid adventurers, they were at the bottom of a pit, under relentless attack by flaming bats and crystalline scorpion-like creatures. They had come in search of some information left behind by the great mage Merlin after he disappeared some 1500 years ago, but things had gone horribly wrong.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>After correcting for some DM oversights from the previous week, the party was hurting, but not in such dire straits as the week before. The bats were not that hard to kill, but there were a LOT of them, and once they attached themselves, their burning bodies did continual damage until they died. People were reluctant to start shooting at bats that were attached to their friends, so it tended to be every man for himself (plus Mary). The crystalline creatures were much harder to hit, took more hits to kill, and did even more damage than the bats, so they tended to attract a lot of attention. Chuck cast a <i>Sticks to Snakes</i> spell and his snakes began to harrass the creatures, doing a little damage but also distracting them. They even tried attacking some of the bats attached to Phil (who did a drop-and-roll) but discovered that it's hard for a constrictor snake to squeeze a bat attached to a person without also squeezing that person. Whoops.<br />
<br />
However, the party began to turn the tide. Only one of the bats remained, and only two of the crystalline creatures were still attacking. Just then, a wave of mist began to pour out of the fissures in the walls of the pit. This mist gradually resolved itself into two groups of figures. Four were vaguely humanoid, semi-transparent and wraith-like. The other four had clouds of mist at their center, but extended tendrils of mist that quickly solidified into long, talon-tipped tentatcles.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-kIfW3D-5dsk/TXlf9Ph6qKI/AAAAAAAAAhc/DospIVfS1kU/s1600/Drelb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-kIfW3D-5dsk/TXlf9Ph6qKI/AAAAAAAAAhc/DospIVfS1kU/s200/Drelb.jpg" width="154" /></a></div>Chuck turned (literally) to confront the new threat as any good cleric should, attempting to turn the four wraith-like creatures. He rolled well, and it looked like his attempt had worked - the creatures seemed to recede quickly away from him. And then they smacked him. Apparently they had glided smoothly forward while simultaneously shrinking in size, creating the illusion of moving away while in fact moving in to attack. Chuck now had four wraith-like creatures in his face. He attempted to turn again, and Phil pitched in with a turn of his own, but the creatures appeared unfazed. When one of them hit Chuck, he fell shivering to the floor from its chill touch.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the other creatures began attacking with their tentacles. Each had four tentacles that they used to try to ensnare party members, and then drag them towards their central body of mist. With the crystalline creatures still in the fray (the last bat finally fell), the party was hard-pressed. To make matters worse, it quickly became apparent that none of the misty creatures could be harmed except with magical weapons, and the tentacled monstrosities apparently needed <i style="font-weight: bold;">very</i> magical weapons. Mary made quick quick work of one with her +2 longsword, but then was felled by the chill touch of one of the wraith-like beings, and started to be dragged away. Ice picked up her sword and managed to free her, but options and hope were shrinking fast. Jerry tossed a rope into the air, hoping to escape into a <i>Rope Trick</i>, but it fell back limply at his feet.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VBa0l7RkTjI/TXlmPe88IMI/AAAAAAAAAhs/lGgo3tAER1k/s1600/gloomwin.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VBa0l7RkTjI/TXlmPe88IMI/AAAAAAAAAhs/lGgo3tAER1k/s200/gloomwin.gif" width="200" /></a>It was his last hope. Jerry was the first to die, and was quickly dragged into one of the mist-creature's bellies. Phil followed soon after. In desperation, James tossed a hand grenade at a couple of the creatures, but only succeeded in deafening himself and his comrades. Joe and Mary continued to hack away, Joe becoming almost a blur of flashing blades. It almost looked as if at least a few of the party might survive as the last of the mist-creatures evaporated, but then new threats appeared. A flock of giant moths descended from the ceiling, while simultaneously a group of disgusting looking giant worms squeezed out of the crevasses in the walls. Caustic venom dripped from their mandibles, and the remaining party members quickly learned their acidic poison was deadly. And the moths emitted a strange pheromone that sapped the characters' strength. One by one, they succumbed, and breathed no more ...<br />
<br />
Next week we're back at Rich and Joette's.Mark Gauldinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06865648707164502779noreply@blogger.com1