Post by David on May 6, 2005 13:12:48 GMT -5
Bruised and battered, the party worked out their next move. Shay Shay volunteered to fly back on Calliope and gather the horses while Harbinder meditated to regain her psionic energy. Meanwhile, the rest of the group either chose to remain on watch or search the drow pavilion...
As the heroes looted the bodies of the fallen drow, they found several copper medallions with wands carved in relief on them. Touching one, Isaac went blind. Mahara, however, managed to cure the half-orc archer using his spells. Flint discovered several books, backpacks, coffers, and rolls of cloth, but chose not to investigate further. Instead Hefesta played with them, learning the bundles of silk were actually drow mummy-bags, one of the books was an Arabic treaty on the nature and biology of avians and avian-monsters, another book was filled with cryptic runes, and the third book of the six summoned a mauve and ochre amorphous creature!
The blob nearly killed both Sabuto and Hefesta. It's acid seriously burned the martial artist and only Taephyr's ability to dimension door saved him. Hefesta was likewise laid out and only rescued through the combination of Flint's scimitars, Harbinder's limited psionics, and Isaac's withering arrow fire. The cleric of Annubis was saved and continued her investigations. Next she decided to sip a clear potion she found in one of the drow coffers. Luckily, the lethal weapon toxin didn't kill her outright, but it did lapse her into a coma. The heroes managed to stabilize Hefesta's condition somewhat and waited for Shay Shay to return with the mounts.
Meanwhile, the alchemist stumbled into a gnoll ambush and narrowly managed to escape. With a bit of luck, she saved all three horses and the mule from the hyena-men. About the time Shay Shay returned, Harbinder used her newly restored mental energies to save Hefesta's life.
The heroes rested most of the day. Harbinder periodically interrupted her meditations to minister to the wounded, restoring most of them to near-full strength. By the end of the day, the heroes decided they needed to push on. About three hours before sunset Flint, Sabuto, Isaac, and Harbinder mounted up with Taephyr and headed toward the storm on the horizon. Shay Shay remained behind to finish questioning the drow warrior the group had captured. Learning that the drow were hoping Oerth would immanently be destroyed and Ghaunadaur would be freed, Shay Shay flew to join the others.
Unfortunately, the deeper into the storm the heroes journeyed, the stranger things became. Patches of ice appeared, only to melt away into hot sand. Small mushrooms appeared in isolated patches, disappearing when the party looked at them again. The wind blew in chaotic gusts, ranging from 5 to 55 miles per hour. Visibility was likewise illogically varied. Suddenly Taephyr became violently ill and the mounts rebelled, unwilling to continue further. Flint turned the group back and within minutes they came upon Shay Shay, now racing along the ground as Calliope was unwilling to fly in the storm.
Loading the young lammasu aboard the pegasus, Shay Shay asked Calliope to lead the other horses, now tethered to her, back to camp. The heroes then pressed on through the storm...
The air became thick, slowly solidifying into a reddish mass. Gasping for air, Harbinder lapsed unconscious. Isaac and Sabuto soon joined her. Flint and Shay Shay tried to drag Sabuto and Harbinder clear, but only Shay Shay managed to escape the thick goo. When she looked back, her other compatriots were now encased in solid crystal, with a volcano of burning flowers erupting nearby...
Stealing her mind, Shay Shay managed to impose order on the chaotic landscape. She and Harbinder rescued the others and pressed on, with the psionist using some of her concentration to restore some sense of reality to the strange landscape.
Within a mile of the center of the disturbance, an 8' tall reddish frog-man with gray splotches leapt out of the chaos storm and attacked. It seriously savaged the party and nearly defeated the lot of them. A single croak stunned everyone but Isaac and Shay Shay. The monster leapt about, attacking first Isaac then Flint. When the heroes finally regained their feet, they seriously wounded the creature, but it managed to leap away and escape back into the storm...
As the heroes looted the bodies of the fallen drow, they found several copper medallions with wands carved in relief on them. Touching one, Isaac went blind. Mahara, however, managed to cure the half-orc archer using his spells. Flint discovered several books, backpacks, coffers, and rolls of cloth, but chose not to investigate further. Instead Hefesta played with them, learning the bundles of silk were actually drow mummy-bags, one of the books was an Arabic treaty on the nature and biology of avians and avian-monsters, another book was filled with cryptic runes, and the third book of the six summoned a mauve and ochre amorphous creature!
The blob nearly killed both Sabuto and Hefesta. It's acid seriously burned the martial artist and only Taephyr's ability to dimension door saved him. Hefesta was likewise laid out and only rescued through the combination of Flint's scimitars, Harbinder's limited psionics, and Isaac's withering arrow fire. The cleric of Annubis was saved and continued her investigations. Next she decided to sip a clear potion she found in one of the drow coffers. Luckily, the lethal weapon toxin didn't kill her outright, but it did lapse her into a coma. The heroes managed to stabilize Hefesta's condition somewhat and waited for Shay Shay to return with the mounts.
Meanwhile, the alchemist stumbled into a gnoll ambush and narrowly managed to escape. With a bit of luck, she saved all three horses and the mule from the hyena-men. About the time Shay Shay returned, Harbinder used her newly restored mental energies to save Hefesta's life.
The heroes rested most of the day. Harbinder periodically interrupted her meditations to minister to the wounded, restoring most of them to near-full strength. By the end of the day, the heroes decided they needed to push on. About three hours before sunset Flint, Sabuto, Isaac, and Harbinder mounted up with Taephyr and headed toward the storm on the horizon. Shay Shay remained behind to finish questioning the drow warrior the group had captured. Learning that the drow were hoping Oerth would immanently be destroyed and Ghaunadaur would be freed, Shay Shay flew to join the others.
Unfortunately, the deeper into the storm the heroes journeyed, the stranger things became. Patches of ice appeared, only to melt away into hot sand. Small mushrooms appeared in isolated patches, disappearing when the party looked at them again. The wind blew in chaotic gusts, ranging from 5 to 55 miles per hour. Visibility was likewise illogically varied. Suddenly Taephyr became violently ill and the mounts rebelled, unwilling to continue further. Flint turned the group back and within minutes they came upon Shay Shay, now racing along the ground as Calliope was unwilling to fly in the storm.
Loading the young lammasu aboard the pegasus, Shay Shay asked Calliope to lead the other horses, now tethered to her, back to camp. The heroes then pressed on through the storm...
The air became thick, slowly solidifying into a reddish mass. Gasping for air, Harbinder lapsed unconscious. Isaac and Sabuto soon joined her. Flint and Shay Shay tried to drag Sabuto and Harbinder clear, but only Shay Shay managed to escape the thick goo. When she looked back, her other compatriots were now encased in solid crystal, with a volcano of burning flowers erupting nearby...
Stealing her mind, Shay Shay managed to impose order on the chaotic landscape. She and Harbinder rescued the others and pressed on, with the psionist using some of her concentration to restore some sense of reality to the strange landscape.
Within a mile of the center of the disturbance, an 8' tall reddish frog-man with gray splotches leapt out of the chaos storm and attacked. It seriously savaged the party and nearly defeated the lot of them. A single croak stunned everyone but Isaac and Shay Shay. The monster leapt about, attacking first Isaac then Flint. When the heroes finally regained their feet, they seriously wounded the creature, but it managed to leap away and escape back into the storm...