Post by David on Dec 17, 2010 17:28:07 GMT -5
The heroes (Torr with Zayüß, Lowdog with Woxin the eagle, Tensay the snow leopard, Masamo the giant constrictor, and Diawané the grizzly, Yavin, Stephan with Peter, and Artec) make their way back to the goblins, where they are welcomed and asked how their mission went. They try to explain what happened to Idky and request to stay around for a time.
Yavin telepathically connects to Artec and Stephan to facilitate the communication between the goblin king and the party. The goblin king gladly allows them to stay among his people (and spend a fortune while there!). The goblins live in utter poverty, and it’s hard to find any food that would last more than a couple days. Meanwhile, the cost of goods is exorbitant with the heroes spending roughly 10gp per living creature per day.
The party hikes up to the top of the frozen crevasse (an 8-hour trip). It’s just a frozen wasteland up there. It smells very lemony. The sky is striated with rainbow sherbet colors above, blending to a white haze near the horizon. The group doesn't find what it's hoping for and heads back down to the goblins.
After six days with the goblins, Treblo appears and the group tells party that Idky is currently on the Astral plane. Treblo is unable to reach the cleric's exact position while he's in transit across the silver waste, so the Mage instead offers to teleport the entire party back to Tovag Baragu while they await Idky's return. This would give Black Robe a break from guarding the stone circle, since that's all the shaman has been doing for months on end (since before the adventures on Charn began!).
The party agrees and pays Treblo, who brings them all to the Tovag Baragu complex. The area is at the edge of a saltwater lake and is a one mile wide complex of five concentric stone circles. The heroes take up positions in the central circle where poor Stephan happens to look into the former Charn portal, and sees himself come out of it. The false him casts web at him. He evades and casts hold person in return, which his dream self also evades. A web from the real Stephan catches the dream Stephan. That wakes Stephan up from his daydream, and the dream self fades away. Black Robe warns him not to look into that portal. It is from that gateway that the stranger monsters have been coming of late...
After a couple of days on guard duty, out of a portal comes a creature looking like a 4-armed mind flayer, except it has claws oozing slime and membranous wings. Lowdog notices and charges the creature, as Stephan casts magic missile. Artec starts launching arrows. As Lowdog runs up, the mind flayer (who is also hasted) mind blasts Lowdog and the animals. Lowdog and all his animals but the cougar get stunned.
Artec’s aim is true, and he damages it. The creature responds by telekinesing Artec through a nearby gate and into another world.
Zayüß charges it and riverdances the illithid-being, meanwhile, Stephan wakes up Yavin and goes invisible.
The mind flayer mind blasts the horse, stunning it. It then mind blasts the rest of the group, which stuns Torr. Stephan invisibly sneaks around as Yavin mind thrusts the creature but misses. Yavin also gets teked through a gate, but it’s not active. The monster then claws the stunned Zayüß, who starts twitching. Yavin mind thrusts again, but the attack again fails. Stephan backstabs it (as an assassin), severely wounding the four-armed creature. Unfortunately, the creature notices and spins to attack him. He hits four times, and a neural toxin takes effect in Stephan, reducing all his body's ability to manage itself. Stephan manages to take one last, twitching swing with his scimitar, which kills the monster. Somehow, however, the thing is able to function while dying and moves to attack Stephan before falling. Fortunately, Yavin’s mind thrust connects, so it hesitates and simply dies.
Meantime, Artec finds himself in a jungle on a world with a green sky. He tries to go back through the portal, but it shifts immediately and the Archer finds himself stepping out of a different gate still under a green sky. He's now facing East looking across a vast plain while behind him is a huge jungle. Back at Tovag Baragu, Stephan catches a brief glimpse before the portal shuts...
Yavin casts neutralize poison on Stephan and Zayüß, relieving their symptoms. It's the first time the cleric of Celestian has been able to use this spell...
Eeps: 4296 (for Artec and Yavin)
The next day, Treblo arrives with Idky, who tells his story: He had gotten transported to Nirvana. He found a guide to Arcadia, where he looked up a lammasu to take him to a world on an alternate Prime Material plane via the Astral Plane. From there, he plane shifted to Oerth but missed Tovag Baragu. Treblo located him and teleported him to the group. They inform Treblo about Artec, and he contacts Moorak to try to contact Artec.
Shortly after Treblo leaves, 14 graymorphs come through the portal-formerly-connected-to-Charn. Idky casts prayer. Torr and Zayüß charge. Stephan webs them, catching eleven of the monsters so only three get through. Yavin casts meteors at two of the incoming ones, but they are ineffective.
All of them charge Torr and Zayüß. The pair kills two in very short order while Yavin again casts meteors at the remaining one, killing it
Idky starts casting call lightning. The resulting lighting blast obliterates the webbed graymorphs. However, Idky disappears. In his place, wearing Idky’s clothing is a 4-foot tall lizard creature with clawed feet, a forked tail, green scales. Fortunately, Idky is a natural shapeshifter and is able to revert back to his human shape . . . to everyone’s great relief.
Six hours later, 10 fuzzy bipedal crustaceans with wings come through a gate. Stephan yells a warning and casts web at them, catching five.
The five others zoom very quickly on their wings to attack. The webbed ones attack various party members psionically, only hitting Zayüß, who berserkly attacks the webbed creatures and catches himself in the web.
Torr attacks the ones that attacked Yavin, stunning it. Stephan wounds the one attacking him. Lowdog’s snake enwraps one of the creatures, though catching only one of its claws. Idky sets up behind Stephan’s opponent.
More physical and psionic attacks ensue. The cougar bolts!
Idky backstabs, causing a good amount of damage (finally!). Lowdog kills the one on his snake. The bear attacks his opponent.
Stephan splits magic missiles between his (killing it) and the bear’s opponent. Torr kills two. Zayüß c to attack the webbed ones, getting further stuck and thrashing around. Yavin casts meteors at the bear’s opponent (now that he's on a world with access to Celestian, Yavin enjoys this spell!).
The webbed ones continue to psionically attack, this time hitting Torr, Lowdog, the snake, and the bear. Yavin runs over to the webbed ones and Stephan does the same. Torr puts down his sword and starts praying. The bear starts trying to mate with snake, who reciprocates. Lowdog starts looking for his ‘mommy’.
Idky, realizing that the webbed ones are causing havoc, drops a globe of darkness on them. Meantime, the one left out of the web tries to attack Idky and misses. Stephan kills the last one with magic missiles. Torr recovers and goes to help Zayüß.
Yavin casts flame blade, ignites the webs and rushes into the darkness to attack. Torr charges in next, stunning two. Zayüß, who enjoys Torr’s sensory abilities in this close proximity, engages another one, the flames of the web not bothering him.
Lowdog recovers and runs after the cougar, who has also recovers. The one unengaged creature flies straight up and out of the dark. Stephan notices it and magic missiles it as it ascends. It forces it to crash, nearly killing it.
It attacks Stephan with ego whip. Idky runs over and kills it. Torr kills his two while Yavin and Zayüß make short work of theirs.
Eeps: 2262 each
Next game -- RETURN to Etheria...without Artec...8-(
Yavin telepathically connects to Artec and Stephan to facilitate the communication between the goblin king and the party. The goblin king gladly allows them to stay among his people (and spend a fortune while there!). The goblins live in utter poverty, and it’s hard to find any food that would last more than a couple days. Meanwhile, the cost of goods is exorbitant with the heroes spending roughly 10gp per living creature per day.
The party hikes up to the top of the frozen crevasse (an 8-hour trip). It’s just a frozen wasteland up there. It smells very lemony. The sky is striated with rainbow sherbet colors above, blending to a white haze near the horizon. The group doesn't find what it's hoping for and heads back down to the goblins.
After six days with the goblins, Treblo appears and the group tells party that Idky is currently on the Astral plane. Treblo is unable to reach the cleric's exact position while he's in transit across the silver waste, so the Mage instead offers to teleport the entire party back to Tovag Baragu while they await Idky's return. This would give Black Robe a break from guarding the stone circle, since that's all the shaman has been doing for months on end (since before the adventures on Charn began!).
The party agrees and pays Treblo, who brings them all to the Tovag Baragu complex. The area is at the edge of a saltwater lake and is a one mile wide complex of five concentric stone circles. The heroes take up positions in the central circle where poor Stephan happens to look into the former Charn portal, and sees himself come out of it. The false him casts web at him. He evades and casts hold person in return, which his dream self also evades. A web from the real Stephan catches the dream Stephan. That wakes Stephan up from his daydream, and the dream self fades away. Black Robe warns him not to look into that portal. It is from that gateway that the stranger monsters have been coming of late...
After a couple of days on guard duty, out of a portal comes a creature looking like a 4-armed mind flayer, except it has claws oozing slime and membranous wings. Lowdog notices and charges the creature, as Stephan casts magic missile. Artec starts launching arrows. As Lowdog runs up, the mind flayer (who is also hasted) mind blasts Lowdog and the animals. Lowdog and all his animals but the cougar get stunned.
Artec’s aim is true, and he damages it. The creature responds by telekinesing Artec through a nearby gate and into another world.
Zayüß charges it and riverdances the illithid-being, meanwhile, Stephan wakes up Yavin and goes invisible.
The mind flayer mind blasts the horse, stunning it. It then mind blasts the rest of the group, which stuns Torr. Stephan invisibly sneaks around as Yavin mind thrusts the creature but misses. Yavin also gets teked through a gate, but it’s not active. The monster then claws the stunned Zayüß, who starts twitching. Yavin mind thrusts again, but the attack again fails. Stephan backstabs it (as an assassin), severely wounding the four-armed creature. Unfortunately, the creature notices and spins to attack him. He hits four times, and a neural toxin takes effect in Stephan, reducing all his body's ability to manage itself. Stephan manages to take one last, twitching swing with his scimitar, which kills the monster. Somehow, however, the thing is able to function while dying and moves to attack Stephan before falling. Fortunately, Yavin’s mind thrust connects, so it hesitates and simply dies.
Meantime, Artec finds himself in a jungle on a world with a green sky. He tries to go back through the portal, but it shifts immediately and the Archer finds himself stepping out of a different gate still under a green sky. He's now facing East looking across a vast plain while behind him is a huge jungle. Back at Tovag Baragu, Stephan catches a brief glimpse before the portal shuts...
Yavin casts neutralize poison on Stephan and Zayüß, relieving their symptoms. It's the first time the cleric of Celestian has been able to use this spell...
Eeps: 4296 (for Artec and Yavin)
The next day, Treblo arrives with Idky, who tells his story: He had gotten transported to Nirvana. He found a guide to Arcadia, where he looked up a lammasu to take him to a world on an alternate Prime Material plane via the Astral Plane. From there, he plane shifted to Oerth but missed Tovag Baragu. Treblo located him and teleported him to the group. They inform Treblo about Artec, and he contacts Moorak to try to contact Artec.
Shortly after Treblo leaves, 14 graymorphs come through the portal-formerly-connected-to-Charn. Idky casts prayer. Torr and Zayüß charge. Stephan webs them, catching eleven of the monsters so only three get through. Yavin casts meteors at two of the incoming ones, but they are ineffective.
All of them charge Torr and Zayüß. The pair kills two in very short order while Yavin again casts meteors at the remaining one, killing it
Idky starts casting call lightning. The resulting lighting blast obliterates the webbed graymorphs. However, Idky disappears. In his place, wearing Idky’s clothing is a 4-foot tall lizard creature with clawed feet, a forked tail, green scales. Fortunately, Idky is a natural shapeshifter and is able to revert back to his human shape . . . to everyone’s great relief.
Six hours later, 10 fuzzy bipedal crustaceans with wings come through a gate. Stephan yells a warning and casts web at them, catching five.
The five others zoom very quickly on their wings to attack. The webbed ones attack various party members psionically, only hitting Zayüß, who berserkly attacks the webbed creatures and catches himself in the web.
Torr attacks the ones that attacked Yavin, stunning it. Stephan wounds the one attacking him. Lowdog’s snake enwraps one of the creatures, though catching only one of its claws. Idky sets up behind Stephan’s opponent.
More physical and psionic attacks ensue. The cougar bolts!
Idky backstabs, causing a good amount of damage (finally!). Lowdog kills the one on his snake. The bear attacks his opponent.
Stephan splits magic missiles between his (killing it) and the bear’s opponent. Torr kills two. Zayüß c to attack the webbed ones, getting further stuck and thrashing around. Yavin casts meteors at the bear’s opponent (now that he's on a world with access to Celestian, Yavin enjoys this spell!).
The webbed ones continue to psionically attack, this time hitting Torr, Lowdog, the snake, and the bear. Yavin runs over to the webbed ones and Stephan does the same. Torr puts down his sword and starts praying. The bear starts trying to mate with snake, who reciprocates. Lowdog starts looking for his ‘mommy’.
Idky, realizing that the webbed ones are causing havoc, drops a globe of darkness on them. Meantime, the one left out of the web tries to attack Idky and misses. Stephan kills the last one with magic missiles. Torr recovers and goes to help Zayüß.
Yavin casts flame blade, ignites the webs and rushes into the darkness to attack. Torr charges in next, stunning two. Zayüß, who enjoys Torr’s sensory abilities in this close proximity, engages another one, the flames of the web not bothering him.
Lowdog recovers and runs after the cougar, who has also recovers. The one unengaged creature flies straight up and out of the dark. Stephan notices it and magic missiles it as it ascends. It forces it to crash, nearly killing it.
It attacks Stephan with ego whip. Idky runs over and kills it. Torr kills his two while Yavin and Zayüß make short work of theirs.
Eeps: 2262 each
Next game -- RETURN to Etheria...without Artec...8-(