Post by David on Oct 11, 2005 12:30:21 GMT -5
The heroes (River, Laurel, Andorllan, Soren, Thera, Trillian, and Jellie) awoke cold and tired on the morning of May 16th. Only a month to complete their quest or die in the Apocalypse...what a nice way to motivate.
The heroes climbed for the majority of the day, slowly making headway up the cliffs. Near the end of the day, the party had managed over 1000 feet of vertical ascent; the summit was only another two weeks IF the heroes could keep up this pace...
Trillian came up with a daring idea. Using both his levitate spells and four lighten loads he would be able to basically make the party weightless. Then, hopping on the broom of flying, he could zoom UP the mountain at something like 15mph (more like 8 because of the wind). The heroes knew that spells would begin to fail at some point, so Trillian's plan was to stay low over the snow and be ready to fall. And sure enough, in less than an hour, the party ascended more than 10,000 feet before stalling out on a snowbank.
The heroes pushed on an found a cave to camp in, only to discover in was occupied -- by a guardian naga named Pallavi. She was willing to let the heroes rest in her cave if they would bring rose petals to the summit and release them. In addition, she mentioned she was guarding a special treasure which only the "noble and good" could reach.
Trillian thought he qualified, so he stepped into the curtain of magic flame and nearly burned to death in seconds! Were it not for Soren, River, and Laurel, he would have. Pallavi explained the flames fed on a person's sins, so the damage would take quite some time to heal AND would have serious side effects. For the other three, however, the curtain posed no barrier. On the other side, however, was a sort of riddle -- "which is most important: love, virtue, or life?" All three answered "love"; they could each bring out ONE piece of treasure, but only for another person. Laurel chose a magical frying pan for Jellie, River a suit of golden-dragon leathers for Soren, and Soren an elixir of health for Flora (or whomever needed it before the quest was done!).
The 16th had been a good day.
But the 17th was fraught with peril. In the middle of the night, Soren was possessed by a spirit and nearly tried to hike away alone, although a color spray from Jellie stunned the consciousness enough for Soren to regain control. The party was having trouble adjusting to the new altitude and several party members had nearly fatal accidents. Trillian was very weak from the holy flames, needing to use spells to deal with the cold (River made him new clothes out of the winter wolf fur) and even be carried for a while by Andorallan.
Then, as the group prepared camp, a pack of ogres out hunting spied the heroes and attacked. Amazingly, the group came away with few casualties, with Andorallan again being the savior in combat.
On the 18th, the party encountered eight ice trolls. The monsters first caused an avalanche that nearly tore the heroes off the mountain, then they attacked by climbing like spiders down to the narrow ledge the heroes were on. The monsters tried to pitch the fighters to their doom, but wound up falling themselves instead. In the process, Jellie's shoulder was badly injured, many of her back muscles severed.
In rapid succession, the heroes encountered another possessing spirit (this time grabbing Jellie until Thera drove it out), ice toads, yeti (which nearly killed several of the heroes), snow leopards (which Laurel talked out of fighting), and frost giants (which Andorallan helped the group avoid).
On the 21st, the heroes found an evil mystic sitting at a fire. The creature fled into the snow and wind, leaving his fire and cave behind. The party spent the night in warmth and safety, only to discover in the morning that Andorallan had grown a ridge from head to butt, Soren had 4" horns coming out of her head, and River had shark's teeth. Luckily, a remove curse from Trillian dealt with Soren and River's problems.
On the 23rd, within a short distance of the summit, the heroes even saw a massive white dragon flying overhead, but with Soren and Jellie's spells as well as some potion of invisibility, the group managed to become invisible and the dragon was high enough up that it didn't notice.
Finally, on the afternoon of the 24th of May, the heroes reached the top of the mountains. There, they met a titan named Seetharama who healed their wounds (restoring Jellie and Flora), gave them advice, and helped them get to the bottom of the valley floor below.
Now, as night settles, the party prepares to sleep in a strange, noisy, spirit-filled, tropical jungle after nine days in the frozen wastes...
The heroes climbed for the majority of the day, slowly making headway up the cliffs. Near the end of the day, the party had managed over 1000 feet of vertical ascent; the summit was only another two weeks IF the heroes could keep up this pace...
Trillian came up with a daring idea. Using both his levitate spells and four lighten loads he would be able to basically make the party weightless. Then, hopping on the broom of flying, he could zoom UP the mountain at something like 15mph (more like 8 because of the wind). The heroes knew that spells would begin to fail at some point, so Trillian's plan was to stay low over the snow and be ready to fall. And sure enough, in less than an hour, the party ascended more than 10,000 feet before stalling out on a snowbank.
The heroes pushed on an found a cave to camp in, only to discover in was occupied -- by a guardian naga named Pallavi. She was willing to let the heroes rest in her cave if they would bring rose petals to the summit and release them. In addition, she mentioned she was guarding a special treasure which only the "noble and good" could reach.
Trillian thought he qualified, so he stepped into the curtain of magic flame and nearly burned to death in seconds! Were it not for Soren, River, and Laurel, he would have. Pallavi explained the flames fed on a person's sins, so the damage would take quite some time to heal AND would have serious side effects. For the other three, however, the curtain posed no barrier. On the other side, however, was a sort of riddle -- "which is most important: love, virtue, or life?" All three answered "love"; they could each bring out ONE piece of treasure, but only for another person. Laurel chose a magical frying pan for Jellie, River a suit of golden-dragon leathers for Soren, and Soren an elixir of health for Flora (or whomever needed it before the quest was done!).
The 16th had been a good day.
But the 17th was fraught with peril. In the middle of the night, Soren was possessed by a spirit and nearly tried to hike away alone, although a color spray from Jellie stunned the consciousness enough for Soren to regain control. The party was having trouble adjusting to the new altitude and several party members had nearly fatal accidents. Trillian was very weak from the holy flames, needing to use spells to deal with the cold (River made him new clothes out of the winter wolf fur) and even be carried for a while by Andorallan.
Then, as the group prepared camp, a pack of ogres out hunting spied the heroes and attacked. Amazingly, the group came away with few casualties, with Andorallan again being the savior in combat.
On the 18th, the party encountered eight ice trolls. The monsters first caused an avalanche that nearly tore the heroes off the mountain, then they attacked by climbing like spiders down to the narrow ledge the heroes were on. The monsters tried to pitch the fighters to their doom, but wound up falling themselves instead. In the process, Jellie's shoulder was badly injured, many of her back muscles severed.
In rapid succession, the heroes encountered another possessing spirit (this time grabbing Jellie until Thera drove it out), ice toads, yeti (which nearly killed several of the heroes), snow leopards (which Laurel talked out of fighting), and frost giants (which Andorallan helped the group avoid).
On the 21st, the heroes found an evil mystic sitting at a fire. The creature fled into the snow and wind, leaving his fire and cave behind. The party spent the night in warmth and safety, only to discover in the morning that Andorallan had grown a ridge from head to butt, Soren had 4" horns coming out of her head, and River had shark's teeth. Luckily, a remove curse from Trillian dealt with Soren and River's problems.
On the 23rd, within a short distance of the summit, the heroes even saw a massive white dragon flying overhead, but with Soren and Jellie's spells as well as some potion of invisibility, the group managed to become invisible and the dragon was high enough up that it didn't notice.
Finally, on the afternoon of the 24th of May, the heroes reached the top of the mountains. There, they met a titan named Seetharama who healed their wounds (restoring Jellie and Flora), gave them advice, and helped them get to the bottom of the valley floor below.
Now, as night settles, the party prepares to sleep in a strange, noisy, spirit-filled, tropical jungle after nine days in the frozen wastes...
