On a morning in the third month of Edward’s penance, a prominent church of Hieroneous in Greyhawk was burglarized, and a number of sacred items were stolen. Church authorities turned to Edward to deal with the matter, and it was decided that Edward’s new cohort, along with several of his more capable followers, would be dispatched to Greyhawk to investigate. And so Merovech, the cohort, a powerful eldritch knight and former paladin of Hieroneous, gathered his party: Isembard, a young paladin; Childeric, a cleric; Clothilde, a ranger; and Kenric, a sorcerer.
At Greyhawk, Merovech and the followers inspect the church. The stolen items were identified – golden candlesticks, censers, paintings and icons – and plan of action was formulated. The party would ask the resident priests if any suspicious characters had been seen in the area, and if they had any other information that might bear on the break-in.
"Being that you mention it, I did notice a sneaky-looking fellow over past the week and half," responded one of the priests. "First time I saw him at a service, but I thought, "Now let’s don’t judge a man by his appearance." But a few days later I also spotted the chap loitering about the area. That was about two days ago, behind the church." The priest provided a description of the man: early twenties, human male, about 5'5", scrawny looking, prominent facial scar, notched ear, dark hair of medium length.
Merovech proposed checking out the nearby restaurant/tavern for possible additional sightings or information about the suspect, and also suggested checking the surrounding alleys for clues. The followers agreed, and promptly began their investigations. Initial examination of the premises revealed that the sacristy door had been pried or picked open, probably by a knowledgeable thief. Meanwhile, Merovech sent his hawk familiar flying above the area to keep watch and report what it saw to him empathically.
The party next sought the nearby restaurant/tavern, the Happy Paladin. Isembard detected for evil, but, unsurprisingly, found none. After taking a seat at the bar, Merovech gave the bartender 10 gp (a hefty sum!), and inquired about the sneaky-looking suspect. The bartender thought for a bit, then remembered seeing someone fitting that description. "It was the night before last, and this fellow was in the tavern having a drink with some bloke who owns a pawnshop, I think," said the bartender. "Don’t remember ‘is name, the pawnbroker, but I know where ‘is shop is and what ‘e looks like." He provided a description: a middle-aged, balding man, on the fat side, a good tipper. The fellow’s pawnshop was a couple of miles away, in a middle-class part of town.
Returning to the church, Merovech asked if any of the stolen items had any marks or other means for identifying them. The priests told the party how to identify the makers’ marks on the various gold items; the icons and paintings were custom commissioned. The group then headed toward the pawnshop, a trip of about half an hour on horseback. When they arrived at the pawnshop, however, a sign in the window read "OUT TO LUNCH".
So, the party searched for side or rear entrances to the pawnshop. They found the rear entrance in the alley behind the block of buildings in which the pawnshop was located. Merovech posted Childeric and Kenric in the alley to stake out the rear entrance, then headed to a store across the street from the pawnshop to observe the place, waiting for the owner to return. After about half hour, he appeared and re-opened the shop.
Merovech entered the pawnshop, followed by the other two group members. He introduced himself to the pawnbroker, then said, under his breath, that he was looking for "religious articles" and asked if he had any for sale. The broker was suspicious, however, and denied dealing in such items. Isembard asked if he had any nice weapons, but the broker also denied dealing in arms. While the broker was addressing Isembard, Merovech detected for evil. He found it–the pawnbroker’s aura was definitely evil.
Meanwhile, Isembard described the sneaky-looking suspect to the pawnbroker and told him he had recommended the broker for items of these kinds. All of the party tried their best to maintain the bluff. The broker, looking around, noticed a large bag of gold that Childeric had quietly placed on his counter.
"You know, perhaps I might have heard something you’d be interested in." He eyed the bag. "They say that untying purses can often untie tongues." Isembard pulled out twenty gold pieces and laid them on the counter. The broker took them and said, "Last night the man you described asked if I knew anyone who might be interested in choice goods. I said I did. They’re due to meet tonight at midnight."
Childeric produced thirty more gold pieces and asked where the meeting might be. "Behind the shop, around midnight, with Bragi." He asked for a hundred more gold pieces, which Merovech produced. "Bragi is a very good fighter with chains," the broker continued, describing Bragi’s appearance and abilities. Then he whispered, "Don’t tell anyone. This conversation never happened." The party nodded in agreement and quickly left the pawnshop.
That night, the party visited several cheap taverns in the area, then wandered into the alley. Some pretended to be drunk and passed out, while others hid behind barrels and crates in the alley. Merovech’s hawk perched on a nearby roof to observe the scene.
At about 11:45, the party heard footsteps coming from behind them in the alley. Then about ten minutes later, the party heard several sets of footsteps coming from the opposite direction toward the rear entrance of the pawnshop. Opening one eye, Merovech saw them: Bragi, a human male, along with three burly human thugs.
The suspect and Bragi met. The suspect had a large bag, which he opened to let Bragi examine its contents. Bragi pulled a candlestick out, looked at it, put it back in the bag, looked over various other items, then nodded and gave the suspect a small pouch. The suspect handed over his bag to Bragi. Quickly, Merovech quaffed a potion of bull’s strength, then came out of hiding, declared himself and told the thieves, "Drop your weapons and surrender!" Two of the others of his group "woke up" and backed up Merovech.
Bragi looked at Merovech and said, "Good evening, we’ve been expecting you!" From the other end of the alley, the party noticed three archers who had come up behind them.
Isembard wasted no time in charging the thief. Unfortunately, the thief was uncannily able to dodge Isembard’s attack. The thief immediately decided to flee the scene, and tumbled out of battle. He ran down the alley as fast as he could, with Merovech’s hawk flying after him, trying to keep him in sight.
Meanwhile, Kenric cast mage armor on himself, then ran up next to Merovech. Bragi got to Merovech first and attempted to disarm him with his chail. He was unable to do so. But Merovech advanced on him and stripped Bragi of his chain, then tripped him with his heavy flail and struck him with it.
The three archers loosed arrows at Kenric and Childeric. Two missed, but the third hit Childeric and lodged in his thigh, critically injuring him. Heedless of his own injuries, Childeric cast bless on the rest of the party.
Yvonne attempted to land a blow on Bragi herself, but missed. Bragi’s three thugs swung wildly at her and Isembard, doing no damage. Isembard ignored the thugs and focused on Bragi. The thief took two critical smites from the young paladin!
Suddenly, Merovech grew rapidly in size, as a result of Kenric’s enlarge spell. Bragi tried to stand up while the knight was enlarging, but Merovech tripped him again! Giving up further attempts to rise, the robber drew his scimitar and prepared to strike.
Three more arrows whizzed by Merovech and Kenric, but again failed to find their targets. Bragi cursed their poor archery. But he quickly had more urgent matters to curse about–Merovech attacked, striking him three times for serious damage.
The fighting between Yvonne, Isembard and the three thugs continued ineffectually, only Isembard suffering even minor scratching. Isembard again ignored the thugs and swung at Bragi, wounding him again. Kenric wounded him as well with a scorching ray.
Bragi’s attacks from the prone position unexpectedly dealt Merovech heavy physical damage and, shockingly, also drained him of constitution! Unfortunately for Bragi, the damage wasn’t enough to prevent Merovech from beating him into a subdued state.
"Surrender, you villains!" Merovech demanded of the three thugs. He struck one, who went down unconscious. The other two, realizing the battle was over, withdrew and fled the scene. The three archers likewise fled.
The fighting over, Childeric cast cure serious wounds on Merovech. The knight seized Bragi, while Isembard seized the fallen thug. The crew recovered the stolen goods that the thief had given to Bragi. The thief, however, was able to escape, evading Merovech’s hawk and ducking into a doorway while the rest of the party was occupied.
"Don’t worry about him," said Merovech. "We’ve got what we came for. Now let’s take ‘em where they belong." The party went back to the church to return the stolen objects, to the profuse gratitude of the clerics. Bragi and the third archer they escorted to the nearest police station. They were shown to the appropriate accommodations in the jail. Satisfied with their night’s work, the party retired to their quarters.
The morning after next, Merovech received an urgent message from the police station. He gathered the party and hurried to the station, to be met by one of the jailers at the door. "There’s been a jailbreak!" he exclaimed.
"What?!" exclaimed Merovech. "When did this happen? And how came you jailers to fail in your charge?" Merovech inquired. He turned to his companions. "Examine this place," he instructed. "Inside and outside. We’ll find out how this happened."
It was readily apparent what had happened: before dawn, someone had cut the bars out of the window of the cell in which the suspects had been held. The question now was, how?
Merovech returned to the office and began questioning the jailers again. It turned out that, at the crucial time, both jailers had been asleep. "Asleep on duty!" exclaimed Merovech. "Please, sir, please don’t report this!" implored the guards. "We don’t know how it happened! We were working like any other night, going over our paperwork, we sent out for coffee, then, well, that’s the last thing we remember!"
Merovech quickly cast detect evil, but found none in the guards. The questioning continued.
"It must have been a spell!" cried the senior of the two guards. "Where is the coffee? What cups did you use?" demanded Merovech. The guards indicated where the requested items were. "We shall have these objects examined," said Merovech. He gave them to Isembard and signaled for the rest of the party to follow him out of the jail.
They headed across town to a magic shop familiar to Merovech, where a friendly alchemist was employed. The party went in, and Merovech asked the alchemist to analyze the cups and the coffee pot, giving him a suitable fee for the analysis. About an hour later, the alchemist returned.
"Well, well, where’d you get these? Somebody have insomnia or something?"
"Not exactly," said Childeric. "What have you found?"
"Definitely traces of a sleeping potion in these objects," answered the alchemist.
"I guessed as much," Merovech confirmed. Thanking the alchemist, he left, with the rest of the party following along.
Back at the jail, the party continued their investigation. "Where did the coffee come from?" asked Isembard. "We always get it from this tavern just a ways down the road. It’s called The Puking Hog," the senior guard answered. "Doesn’t sound very appetizing," observed Isembard. "Or clean!" added Childeric, a look of disgust on her face.
"Do you get it yourselves, or is it delivered?" continued Isembard. "Usually we get it delivered. Sadie brings it over," said the guard. "Right, but she was off last night. Out sick, it seems. A new girl brought the pot over."
"New girl?" exclaimed Childeric. "Ah, yes, the new girl: short, kind of mousy-looking, not all that attractive. Human at least, probably thirty-ish age," the second guard added. "Said her name was Jeni or Zheni or something, sounded rustic like she was from out in the country."
"I think we have a lead here," observed Kenric. Merovech and the others nodded in agreement. "Let us head for this, this tavern," said Merovech disdainfully, "and let us hope that the name is ironic rather than descriptive." The two guards looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
The party made their way to The Puking Hog: a down-scale tavern and inn, to put it generously. It was about two o’clock in the afternoon. They found a table, sat down and ordered drinks. Merovech looked for a barmaid matching Jeni’s description, but saw no such girl.
Merovech asked the barkeep if Sadie was on duty. "Naw, she’s night shift. Comes in around ten at night," he replied. Merovech returned to the table with the information. "Sounds like we’re going to have to hang around," said Childeric. "Indeed. We may as well find a room for ourselves," noted Isembard. They all agreed, and sought out the innkeeper to obtain suitable lodging.
They rested until eight in the evening, then returned to the common room for dinner. The food was every bit as good as the tavern name suggested.
At ten, the night shift came on. The party ordered more food and drink. Soon it appeared, brought over by a new barmaid, who introduced herself. "Hello! I’m Sadie," she told the group. "The barkeep said you were asking for me?"
"Indeed we were," said Merovech. "We didn’t see you last night. Someone else was doing the service in your stead." Sadie replied, "Oh yes, I had a terrible headache last night, just came over me kinda sudden. So Max, the proprietor, had to call in Jeni to take over for me. She’s a new girl, came from out of town looking for work. Had a sad story. She’s scared, comes from out in the country, near where all these killings happened lately."
"How shocking!" exclaimed Childeric.
"Indeed," agreed Sadie. "She’s from out Codsall way, back way out in the countryside."
"Well, we hope she stays safe here in Greyhawk," said Merovech. Sadie nodded, then said, "Gotta go. Other customers, you know. Be back soon!" And she was off.
"It seems we have our next destination," said Merovech to the others. They all agreed to head to Codsall in the morning.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
XXXIII. Before the Tribunal
A few days later, Edward received a summons from the Church of Hieroneous in Greyhawk. They demanded that he explain his recent actions. Edward promptly reported to the central temple of Hieroneous in Greyhawk to appear before a special tribunal assembled to hear his case.
"We have heard that you, a paladin of the Church, employed devious and dishonorable means in your recent encounter," the chief of the tribunal said to Edward. "Furthermore, we have heard that you have consorted with devils. And this is not the first rumor of such associations that we have received. There have been others."
Edward nodded, and the cleric continued. "Although the Church of Hextor is our enemy and is to be fought whenever the opportunity arises, nevertheless, as a paladin of the Church, you are expected to behave honorably at all times. We therefore demand that you explain yourself."
Edward began his explanation by describing to the tribunal the nature of the tarrasque, the results of their research, and especially the means by which it could be defeated. Then, he addressed the actions of the party in the battles against the beast.
"Eminences, I must be completely honest. The minions of Hextor are more than a little justified in what they say."
The tribunal gasped almost as one, then began to murmur in outrage.
He went on to explain that he and the party he led were desperate to defeat the monster at all costs as they knew what devastation it could cause. They had it defeated once, but couldn’t keep it down. "Our wizard failed in her attempts–three!–to wish the monster dead, which was the only way we knew to finally kill it."
"So you just left the monster in the city?" asked the chief inquisitor.
"We thought the city guards could keep track of it in our absence."
"Keep track of it?!" exclaimed another inquisitor, more hostile than his superior. "You expected simple townsmen to "keep track of" the most dangerous creature known to this land? I think you expected too much!"
"The only thing we could do was to obtain further magical support from Greyhawk," replied Edward, chastened by the inquisitors.
"Did you consider what the likely result of your leaving the city would have been? No! You didn’t," exclaimed another inquisitor. "Why did you not remain on watch while your wizards obtained the needed magical items?" added the chief inquisitor. "Certainly it was within your ability to inflict sufficient damage on the beast to keep it stunned, as we understand from your account of its nature."
"We all needed to replenish our stores of magic," answered Edward.
"I see," said the chief inquisitor. "So, you abandoned the city for the greater good?"
"Yes," replied the paladin. "We took a considerable length of time--perhaps too long under the circumstances–preparing to re-engage the monster. When we finally returned to its location, we found a second party already battling the beast. This was the party of Hextor’s minions." He took a breath, then continued. "Here lay my error: I, and the rest of the party, believed they were attempting to capture the monster rather than destroy it."
"What caused you to think that?" demanded an inquisitor.
"Hextor’s minions are evil," said Edward.
"Certainly. They are also lawful," replied the hostile inquisitor. "And skilled at arms, as we have repeatedly learned, to our cost. Did it not occur to you that they might in fact have been attempting to slay the beast, in order to protect this city?"
"I couldn’t take the chance," answered Edward, surprised at the direction the questioning was taking. "And furthermore, it appeared that the party of Hextor was failing in its attempt to defeat the monster, whether or not their intent was in fact to destroy it."
"And how did you know this? Did you assess the state of the monster’s health?" demanded the hostile inquisitor.
"From its appearance, it seemed not to be seriously injured," said Edward.
"So. You concluded the other party was incapable of defeating the monster. What did you do then?"
"Several of our party began to attack it," said Edward. "But then, another, perhaps overzealous, party member took it upon herself to attack Hextor’s agents as well."
The chief inquisitor considered this for a moment. "So, your party attacked the other party, without declaring yourselves, and while that party was in fact striving to destroy the monster? Is that your testimony?"
Abashed, Edward answered,"Unfortunately, yes, that is so."
"You failed to control the actions of your party?"
"Yes. I believed our actions were necessary."
"So, the ends justify the means?" demanded the hostile inquisitor.
"I thought what we were doing was proper."
"Very well," interjected the chief inquisitor. "What did you personally do? Ruslan has named you specifically as acting in an underhanded manner."
"I remained invisible until the attack," said Edward, "and then I appeared, behind Ruslan, and declared myself. I ordered him not to take offensive action against us. Then he disappeared, along with all of his party. I did not attack him or take any other action against his party."
The tribunal members spoke briefly among themselves. The chief inquisitor then continued. "Now let us address the matter of your consorting with devils . . . ."
"I would never do such a thing!" interrupted Edward. "I am a true follower of Hieroneous! The truth is that the so-called "devils" were in fact two of my party members, who had used their magic to shapechange into the form of pit fiends."
"So again, unacceptable means, and lack of control over your party!" exclaimed the hostile inquisitor.
Taken aback by the inquisitor’s anger, Edward considered his reply. "They are good individuals. What matter if they take any particular form, if their hearts be pure and their deeds directed toward the good?"
"Actions have consequences, would you not agree?" asked the chief inquisitor. "And we have heard reports of this behavior before. For example, there was the matter of your recent destruction of the cult of Orcus based in the Dim Forest," he began. "Admirable rescue of those captive children, I might add," he said, almost as an aside to Edward.
"Surely you’ve also heard that I was being held prisoner myself, by a necromancer of great power, and that I was unable to take any action on my behalf!" exclaimed Edward. Then, thinking better of himself, he added, "Pardon my outburst, eminence. But again, the evildoers were destroyed, and I was freed. The outcome was all to the good."
"That remains to be decided. And again, you argue that the ends justify the means!" said the hostile inquisitor.
The chief inquisitor raised his hand. "I believe this tribunal has been fully informed at this point. Have you anything left to add, Edward Gallahan?" Edward replied, "No, eminence, I have described events as I believe they occurred."
"Then we shall adjourn and consider this matter. You will be summoned when we have reached a decision." Edward rose and bowed to the tribunal as they left the chamber, then turned and left.
Two days later, Edward was summoned to hear the tribunal’s findings.
"Edward Gallahan, you are to be commended for your and your party’s defeat of the tarrasque, although we are somewhat troubled that it was only removed, rather than finally destroyed," began the chief inquisitor.
"That having been said, we remind you that, as a high-ranking paladin of Hieroneous, and one with a reputation for bravery and honor that is known throughout the Flanaess, your deeds are under constant scrutiny. Well do you know that you are bound to uphold the highest standards of conduct at all times and under all circumstances.
"It is the finding of this tribunal that you have fallen short of the standard of conduct required of a paladin of Hieroneous in this matter. Although you personally may not have attacked the party of Hextor’s agents as they fought the tarrasque, you acquiesced in the decision to observe them while invisible. That in itself could be considered an underhanded strategy, unworthy of Hieroneous. Moreover, you in effect allowed them to do a great deal of the fighting for which your party would ultimately have claimed all of the credit.
"By failing to influence and control the actions of your fellow party members, you also facilitated the appearance of evil beings among your party, causing scandal to the Church. The fact that those who had taken the evil forms were good themselves is irrelevant, and in any event could not be determined by a detached observer. To all appearances, you and the evil beings were collaborating. A paladin of Hieroneous must avoid even the appearance of impropriety at all times. You did not do so.
"Finally, in leaving the city of Verbobonc to its fate, rather than taking the necessary measures to ensure that the tarrasque would not revive itself and wreak havoc, you exercised inadequate leadership and exhibited poor judgment which led to great destruction and additional embarrassment to the Church."Therefore we pronounce your doom. It is the judgment of this tribunal that you will atone for your actions, specifically for allowing yourself to be seen in the presence of devils, as well as for your failure to prevent the destruction of the city of Verbobonc. You will further serve the Church for a term of six months, without advancement in rank or acquisition of wealth. During this time, you will assist in the training of new paladins, and perform other duties as required by the Church."
Edward bowed to the tribunal. "Humbly do I accept the decision of the tribunal," he said. "I further pledge a tithe of one fifth of all wealth I derived from the incident, in partial compensation for damages incurred as a result of actions, or inactions, attributable to me or my party."
The chief inquisitor smiled. "Accepted, in token of your true repentance." The hostile inquisitor then added, "Be further advised, Edward Gallahan: let there be no repetitions of the behaviors we have here judged. In particular, any further failure to prevent the appearance of evil creatures among your party will be considered a wilfully evil act, with all consequences attendant upon the commission of such an act. You have been warned." And with that, the tribunal rose and left the chamber.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party had been called to account as well, but to the Enterprise rather than the Church of Hieroneous. Green Arrow, Firiona, Lina, Arnold and Elana were separately called to the secret Enterprise agency in Greyhawk. There, they were questioned concerning the events surrounding the tarrasque’s rampage and ultimate defeat. In particular, the Enterprise was interesting in hearing the adventurers’ explanations of the failure to save Verbobonc and of their inability to finally kill the monster.
After an initial debriefing at the Enterprise agency, the adventurers were led to a meeting with the director of Intelligence and Operations–the Blue Dahlia herself. The adventurers now realized exactly how important this matter was to the Enterprise!
Green Arrow began by explaining why he felt a need to leave Verbobonc without having finally dispatched the tarrasque. "Our weaponry was in need of replenishment," he said. "Why didn’t you–or anyone–guard the creature at Verbobonc?" asked the Dahlia. Green Arrow had no good answer to that question. Firiona then added that the party also suffered from a shortage of spells, and that this shortage compelled them to leave, despite their failure to destroy the creature. "And at considerable personal cost to myself," she added, referring to the three wishes she had cast in her unsuccessful attempt to finally kill the monster."Did it ever occur to you that it would level the town?" inquired the Dahlia. "Unless we killed it, there was no way to control it. The whole party could have kept it down, but then we would have had no way to regenerate our spells. Eventually the creature would have overcome us," answered Firiona.
"Why did you send the tarrasque to the Negative Material Plane?" the Dahlia asked. "Because that plane would do constant damage to it. I had hoped that this would keep it permanently disabled, even if it wasn’t fully dead." "But you do realize that the plane is inhabited, don’t you?" continued the Dahlia. "I knew that," replied Firiona, "but I didn’t think the locals would mind."
The Dahlia appeared to find this reply less than satisfactory, but didn’t follow up. She went on to discuss the Church of Hextor’s exploitation of the events. The party expressed their regret, but the Dahlia assured them that Enterprise propaganda operatives would take appropriate steps to counter the spin from the Church of Hextor. She took this opportunity to re-emphasize the necessity for all Enterprise agents to think before they acted and consider all consequences of their actions.
Before she left, the Dahlia did offer a bit of praise for the party’s actions. "You did what you thought best under the circumstances. Now keep this experience in mind for the next time."
The Enterprise advised the party to take some time off for relaxation and study, which suggestion the adventurers gladly followed. Elana began looking for followers. Firiona and Lina began a spell research program, based on their observations made during the recent events; this led to their successful development of the prismatic ray and avasculate spells, respectively. Firiona was able to learn her new spell, but Lina discovered that she needed some additional maturity as a spellcaster before she could put her research into practice.Time passed. Edward continued on penitential duty. Meanwhile, Green Arrow, Firiona, Lina, Elana and Miae were contacted by the Enterprise. They met with the head of the Enterprise’s Underdark Special Operations Task Force, a woman named Tisiphone.
"We have heard that you, a paladin of the Church, employed devious and dishonorable means in your recent encounter," the chief of the tribunal said to Edward. "Furthermore, we have heard that you have consorted with devils. And this is not the first rumor of such associations that we have received. There have been others."
Edward nodded, and the cleric continued. "Although the Church of Hextor is our enemy and is to be fought whenever the opportunity arises, nevertheless, as a paladin of the Church, you are expected to behave honorably at all times. We therefore demand that you explain yourself."
Edward began his explanation by describing to the tribunal the nature of the tarrasque, the results of their research, and especially the means by which it could be defeated. Then, he addressed the actions of the party in the battles against the beast.
"Eminences, I must be completely honest. The minions of Hextor are more than a little justified in what they say."
The tribunal gasped almost as one, then began to murmur in outrage.
He went on to explain that he and the party he led were desperate to defeat the monster at all costs as they knew what devastation it could cause. They had it defeated once, but couldn’t keep it down. "Our wizard failed in her attempts–three!–to wish the monster dead, which was the only way we knew to finally kill it."
"So you just left the monster in the city?" asked the chief inquisitor.
"We thought the city guards could keep track of it in our absence."
"Keep track of it?!" exclaimed another inquisitor, more hostile than his superior. "You expected simple townsmen to "keep track of" the most dangerous creature known to this land? I think you expected too much!"
"The only thing we could do was to obtain further magical support from Greyhawk," replied Edward, chastened by the inquisitors.
"Did you consider what the likely result of your leaving the city would have been? No! You didn’t," exclaimed another inquisitor. "Why did you not remain on watch while your wizards obtained the needed magical items?" added the chief inquisitor. "Certainly it was within your ability to inflict sufficient damage on the beast to keep it stunned, as we understand from your account of its nature."
"We all needed to replenish our stores of magic," answered Edward.
"I see," said the chief inquisitor. "So, you abandoned the city for the greater good?"
"Yes," replied the paladin. "We took a considerable length of time--perhaps too long under the circumstances–preparing to re-engage the monster. When we finally returned to its location, we found a second party already battling the beast. This was the party of Hextor’s minions." He took a breath, then continued. "Here lay my error: I, and the rest of the party, believed they were attempting to capture the monster rather than destroy it."
"What caused you to think that?" demanded an inquisitor.
"Hextor’s minions are evil," said Edward.
"Certainly. They are also lawful," replied the hostile inquisitor. "And skilled at arms, as we have repeatedly learned, to our cost. Did it not occur to you that they might in fact have been attempting to slay the beast, in order to protect this city?"
"I couldn’t take the chance," answered Edward, surprised at the direction the questioning was taking. "And furthermore, it appeared that the party of Hextor was failing in its attempt to defeat the monster, whether or not their intent was in fact to destroy it."
"And how did you know this? Did you assess the state of the monster’s health?" demanded the hostile inquisitor.
"From its appearance, it seemed not to be seriously injured," said Edward.
"So. You concluded the other party was incapable of defeating the monster. What did you do then?"
"Several of our party began to attack it," said Edward. "But then, another, perhaps overzealous, party member took it upon herself to attack Hextor’s agents as well."
The chief inquisitor considered this for a moment. "So, your party attacked the other party, without declaring yourselves, and while that party was in fact striving to destroy the monster? Is that your testimony?"
Abashed, Edward answered,"Unfortunately, yes, that is so."
"You failed to control the actions of your party?"
"Yes. I believed our actions were necessary."
"So, the ends justify the means?" demanded the hostile inquisitor.
"I thought what we were doing was proper."
"Very well," interjected the chief inquisitor. "What did you personally do? Ruslan has named you specifically as acting in an underhanded manner."
"I remained invisible until the attack," said Edward, "and then I appeared, behind Ruslan, and declared myself. I ordered him not to take offensive action against us. Then he disappeared, along with all of his party. I did not attack him or take any other action against his party."
The tribunal members spoke briefly among themselves. The chief inquisitor then continued. "Now let us address the matter of your consorting with devils . . . ."
"I would never do such a thing!" interrupted Edward. "I am a true follower of Hieroneous! The truth is that the so-called "devils" were in fact two of my party members, who had used their magic to shapechange into the form of pit fiends."
"So again, unacceptable means, and lack of control over your party!" exclaimed the hostile inquisitor.
Taken aback by the inquisitor’s anger, Edward considered his reply. "They are good individuals. What matter if they take any particular form, if their hearts be pure and their deeds directed toward the good?"
"Actions have consequences, would you not agree?" asked the chief inquisitor. "And we have heard reports of this behavior before. For example, there was the matter of your recent destruction of the cult of Orcus based in the Dim Forest," he began. "Admirable rescue of those captive children, I might add," he said, almost as an aside to Edward.
"Surely you’ve also heard that I was being held prisoner myself, by a necromancer of great power, and that I was unable to take any action on my behalf!" exclaimed Edward. Then, thinking better of himself, he added, "Pardon my outburst, eminence. But again, the evildoers were destroyed, and I was freed. The outcome was all to the good."
"That remains to be decided. And again, you argue that the ends justify the means!" said the hostile inquisitor.
The chief inquisitor raised his hand. "I believe this tribunal has been fully informed at this point. Have you anything left to add, Edward Gallahan?" Edward replied, "No, eminence, I have described events as I believe they occurred."
"Then we shall adjourn and consider this matter. You will be summoned when we have reached a decision." Edward rose and bowed to the tribunal as they left the chamber, then turned and left.
Two days later, Edward was summoned to hear the tribunal’s findings.
"Edward Gallahan, you are to be commended for your and your party’s defeat of the tarrasque, although we are somewhat troubled that it was only removed, rather than finally destroyed," began the chief inquisitor.
"That having been said, we remind you that, as a high-ranking paladin of Hieroneous, and one with a reputation for bravery and honor that is known throughout the Flanaess, your deeds are under constant scrutiny. Well do you know that you are bound to uphold the highest standards of conduct at all times and under all circumstances.
"It is the finding of this tribunal that you have fallen short of the standard of conduct required of a paladin of Hieroneous in this matter. Although you personally may not have attacked the party of Hextor’s agents as they fought the tarrasque, you acquiesced in the decision to observe them while invisible. That in itself could be considered an underhanded strategy, unworthy of Hieroneous. Moreover, you in effect allowed them to do a great deal of the fighting for which your party would ultimately have claimed all of the credit.
"By failing to influence and control the actions of your fellow party members, you also facilitated the appearance of evil beings among your party, causing scandal to the Church. The fact that those who had taken the evil forms were good themselves is irrelevant, and in any event could not be determined by a detached observer. To all appearances, you and the evil beings were collaborating. A paladin of Hieroneous must avoid even the appearance of impropriety at all times. You did not do so.
"Finally, in leaving the city of Verbobonc to its fate, rather than taking the necessary measures to ensure that the tarrasque would not revive itself and wreak havoc, you exercised inadequate leadership and exhibited poor judgment which led to great destruction and additional embarrassment to the Church."Therefore we pronounce your doom. It is the judgment of this tribunal that you will atone for your actions, specifically for allowing yourself to be seen in the presence of devils, as well as for your failure to prevent the destruction of the city of Verbobonc. You will further serve the Church for a term of six months, without advancement in rank or acquisition of wealth. During this time, you will assist in the training of new paladins, and perform other duties as required by the Church."
Edward bowed to the tribunal. "Humbly do I accept the decision of the tribunal," he said. "I further pledge a tithe of one fifth of all wealth I derived from the incident, in partial compensation for damages incurred as a result of actions, or inactions, attributable to me or my party."
The chief inquisitor smiled. "Accepted, in token of your true repentance." The hostile inquisitor then added, "Be further advised, Edward Gallahan: let there be no repetitions of the behaviors we have here judged. In particular, any further failure to prevent the appearance of evil creatures among your party will be considered a wilfully evil act, with all consequences attendant upon the commission of such an act. You have been warned." And with that, the tribunal rose and left the chamber.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party had been called to account as well, but to the Enterprise rather than the Church of Hieroneous. Green Arrow, Firiona, Lina, Arnold and Elana were separately called to the secret Enterprise agency in Greyhawk. There, they were questioned concerning the events surrounding the tarrasque’s rampage and ultimate defeat. In particular, the Enterprise was interesting in hearing the adventurers’ explanations of the failure to save Verbobonc and of their inability to finally kill the monster.
After an initial debriefing at the Enterprise agency, the adventurers were led to a meeting with the director of Intelligence and Operations–the Blue Dahlia herself. The adventurers now realized exactly how important this matter was to the Enterprise!
Green Arrow began by explaining why he felt a need to leave Verbobonc without having finally dispatched the tarrasque. "Our weaponry was in need of replenishment," he said. "Why didn’t you–or anyone–guard the creature at Verbobonc?" asked the Dahlia. Green Arrow had no good answer to that question. Firiona then added that the party also suffered from a shortage of spells, and that this shortage compelled them to leave, despite their failure to destroy the creature. "And at considerable personal cost to myself," she added, referring to the three wishes she had cast in her unsuccessful attempt to finally kill the monster."Did it ever occur to you that it would level the town?" inquired the Dahlia. "Unless we killed it, there was no way to control it. The whole party could have kept it down, but then we would have had no way to regenerate our spells. Eventually the creature would have overcome us," answered Firiona.
"Why did you send the tarrasque to the Negative Material Plane?" the Dahlia asked. "Because that plane would do constant damage to it. I had hoped that this would keep it permanently disabled, even if it wasn’t fully dead." "But you do realize that the plane is inhabited, don’t you?" continued the Dahlia. "I knew that," replied Firiona, "but I didn’t think the locals would mind."
The Dahlia appeared to find this reply less than satisfactory, but didn’t follow up. She went on to discuss the Church of Hextor’s exploitation of the events. The party expressed their regret, but the Dahlia assured them that Enterprise propaganda operatives would take appropriate steps to counter the spin from the Church of Hextor. She took this opportunity to re-emphasize the necessity for all Enterprise agents to think before they acted and consider all consequences of their actions.
Before she left, the Dahlia did offer a bit of praise for the party’s actions. "You did what you thought best under the circumstances. Now keep this experience in mind for the next time."
The Enterprise advised the party to take some time off for relaxation and study, which suggestion the adventurers gladly followed. Elana began looking for followers. Firiona and Lina began a spell research program, based on their observations made during the recent events; this led to their successful development of the prismatic ray and avasculate spells, respectively. Firiona was able to learn her new spell, but Lina discovered that she needed some additional maturity as a spellcaster before she could put her research into practice.Time passed. Edward continued on penitential duty. Meanwhile, Green Arrow, Firiona, Lina, Elana and Miae were contacted by the Enterprise. They met with the head of the Enterprise’s Underdark Special Operations Task Force, a woman named Tisiphone.
XXXII. A Likely Story
The party teleported to Elana’s manor in Greyhawk to recuperate and formulate a new plan of battle. Edward rested and trained, hoping that an increase in his skills as a paladin would help finally to defeat the monster. Green Arrow did likewise. Arnold rested, ate and drank.
Elana searched for followers to assist her. At a tavern near her manner (where Arnold happened to be drinking), she gathered information, finding that a number of low-level adventurers sought opportunities for adventure. Suddenly, someone ran into the tavern.
"The tarrasque is awake!" he shouted. Chaos broke out in the tavern.
Elana tried to calm the patrons. Some did calm down; most remained terrified, and many ran out of the tavern, panic-stricken.
She asked the man for info about situation. "I came from Verbobonc!" he cried. "The city is almost totally destroyed!" "How long ago?" asked Elana. "Less than an hour ago. Then the monster left, heading along the river northeast toward the Gnarley Forest."
One of the frightened tavern patrons asked about survivors. "There were many refugees! And there was a party that tried to stop the monster, but failed!"
"I hate the word "fail"!" she said. "We just didn’t achieve success."
"Were you one of them?!" asked the astonished refugee.
"What of it? We saved your life. You should be thankful," replied Elana, condescendingly.
The refugee gave Elana an angry look, then ran out of the tavern, leaving Elana shaking her head and the other tavern patrons looking at her with various expressions, none of them very friendly.
Sudden commotion outside drew Elana’s attention. "It’s coming!" someone shrieked. Hearing that, Elana decided to return to her manor, where Firiona and Lina waited. Meanwhile, Edward did some self-improvement at the main temple of Hieroneous in Greyhawk.
Arnold decided to go off to search for more information. Late that night, he returned to the manor. Panic was spreading through Greyhawk. Not only that, but at least one refugee recognized Arnold as part of the party that had failed to save Verbobonc. Edward had also been recognized.
"We’d better hunker down for the night," suggested Arnold. "We’ll have time to go monster-hunting tomorrow. That crowd’s getting ugly." Elana agreed, and spoke to her servants about increasing security at the manor.
Next morning, Edward and Green Arrow returned to Elana’s manor. It was decided that Firiona should try to scry on the monster, determine its location, and then go out to confront and destroy it. After four hours, and tghree fafter four hours, and three failed attempts, Firiona finally succeeded in scrying on the monster. It was heading out of the Gnarley Forest, heading for Dyvers, and didn’t notice the scrying.
That afternoon, almost a day and a half after the party had fled Verbobonc, they spelled up and prepared to renew the battle. Firiona and Lina both assumed pit fiend form again, while all the party turned invisible. Finally ready, the party teleported to the previously-scried location of the tarrasque.
They arrived to find another party already fighting the monster! Eight heavily-armed fighters surrounded the beast. Two more lay scattered on the ground, apparently dead. Standing apart from the fighters, a cloaked and armored figure stood, gesturing and speaking words of power.
None of the party noticed that tail spikes and rear claws of the tarrasque were missing!
The party, invisible but for the "pit fiends" and Arnold on Lina’s shoulder, stood by observing and readying actions as the cloaked figure pointed a finger at the monster. A bolt of blackness shot toward the monster, only to stop just short of the beast. The caster slapped his head, as if he’d just done something foolish. The tarrasque responded by striking at several of the fighters, wounding two with horns and claws and sending another flying with an awesome tail slap. As they fought, Firiona consulted her store of religious knowledge, and was startled to realize that the other party was affiliated with none other than the Church of Hextor!
Two of the troops spotted the flying pit fiends, with Arnold on Lina’s shoulder. "Look!" they shouted. "Hextor has sent us even more aid!" Inspired to even greater bravery, the troops landed blow after blow on the monster, inflicting massive damage on it. The caster screamed, "Kill it for the glory of Hextor! We shall prove our valor to all Greyhawk!" He pointed a finger at the beast, and suddenly it seemed to wilt before their eyes, as if moisture were being sucked out of its body.
Edward, seeing this, casts holy sword on Green Arrow’s mercurial greatsword, which he still bore, and advanced toward the tarrasque, being careful to stay out of reach of the monster. Firiona likewise advanced toward the monster, which immediately leaped up to bite her! Shaken, she proved unable to avoid the jaws of the beast, which grappled her and prepared to swallow her whole!
Arnold immediately attacked the monster, hitting it but becoming visible in the process. In response, Lina waved a wand at Arnold, who reverted to invisibility. Elana unleashed one of her signature spells, sonic orb with sonic might, wounding the tarrasque, and closed in on the monster.
One of the fighters noticed that bolts were hitting the tarrasque without any visible shooter. "There’s something strange here!" he shouted, alerting the other fighters. The fighters continued their assault on the beast, striking blow after blow and severely wounding it. Shouting "Hextor, guide me!" the sorcerer cast the same horrid wilting spell again, striking the beast and draining more of its precious bodily fluids from it.
Fiend-Firiona, although grappled, was able to cast dimension door and thus escape the grapple! She reappeared next to fiend-Lina. Now without a victim, the tarrasque suddenly bullrushed two of the fighters, forcing them back twenty-five feet. The other troops landed several blows as the opportunity presented itself, wounding the beast but not enough to stop its rampage. Arnold, meanwhile, attempted a sneak crossbow attack, missed, but remained invisible. Lina directed another sonic orb at the monster, one which did not miss, and moved closer toward the tarrasque. The battle against the beast appeared well in hand.
But suddenly, Elana decided to attack Hextor’s troops as they were engaged with the monster! A mighty shout blasted five of the fighters as she suddenly became visible. The troops were now shaken! Retaining enough composure to shoot, one fired a volley of arrows at Elana. Or rather, at her images. Four images disappeared. Another fighter shot down those that remained. The other fighters, still focused on the tarrasque, hit it with blow after blow, and the beast bellowed in pain. One called out, "Ruslan!"
The caster, seeing Elana appear and his fighters suffer from her attack, shouted, "Oh treacherous one, feel the power of Hextor!" Pointing his finger at her, he sent a deadly bolt against her. It struck her, and she was barely able to avoid being killed outright, but took severe damage from the attack.
But then Edward, who had previously flown, invisibly, above and behind Ruslan and quaffed a potion that enlarged him to twice his normal size, turned visible and declared himself. "I am Edward Gallahan, paladin of Hieroneous!" he shouted, warning Ruslan of his peril. "Take any offensive action and it will be your last!"
Ruslan looked up behind him at the giant flying paladin. Quickly taking thought, the sorcerer began a spell. Firiona recognized it.
He was preparing a wish.
Before any of the party could activate their readied actions, Ruslan completed the spell. Suddenly, Ruslan, the fighters, and their fallen comrades all disappeared!
Now that the field of battle was clear of distractions, Green Arrow was free to fire at the tarrasque. Five shafts found their mark, inflicting heavy damage. Firiona quickly attempted to cast imprisonment on the tarrasque, but the spell failed to affect the beast. Realizing it was under attack from new and more powerful foes, the tarrasque ceased its attacks and ran, at top speed, away from the party, until it was five hundred feet or more from its tormentors. But Elana cast dimension door, and headed off the beast. Lina likewise pursued it. Arnold, Green Arrow and Edward followed. Green Arrow’s shooting struck critical areas of the monster twice and stunned it! Edward ran to the supine beast and hacked off a claw.
But the monster was far from vanquished. Its wounds began to heal, and suddenly it was back on its feet, biting Edward but failing to hold him in its jaws. Then, suddenly, it was back down again! Lina had spoken a word of deadly power, dropping the monster in its tracks! Edward hacked off more claws and scales, but the monster still regenerated itself enough to get back up and keep fighting. Again and again it was put down, again and again claws, scales and bits of carapace were hacked off, and again and again it got back on its feet! Firiona cast spell after deadly spell at it, hoping one would finally put an end to the threat of the monster, but without success. One of her errant spells almost imprisoned Edward, who barely evaded its effect. Imprisonment, polymorph, flesh to stone –none had any effect.
Exhausted and running out of magical firepower, Firiona cast one last spell–and the tarrasque suddenly vanished, sent out of the world to parts unknown. She had successfully plane-shifted the monster to the Negative Energy Plane! Firiona had hoped that the life-draining properties of the plane, not to mention its lack of air, would keep the monster from regenerating, and in any event, that the monster would not be able to return to the Prime Material Plane any time soon, certainly not before the party could re-locate it and finally destroy it.
"Is it gone, finally?" Arnold asked.
"Gone enough for our purposes," replied Firiona.
"Then let’s get out of here!"
The party could think of nothing they’d rather do than head back to Greyhawk. Getting themselves together and catching their breath, they all transported themselves, and large quantities of claws, scales, hide and carapace portions, back to Elana’s manor for rest and recuperation.
They awoke to find that the story of the tarrasque’s defeat had spread throughout Greyhawk. It was not, however, the story they were familiar with.
Ruslan had used his wish well, transporting himself and all of his crew, living and dead, back to Greyhawk, along with the claws, scales and other parts of the tarrasque that they had taken during their battle with the beast. He and the surviving fighters of the Church of Hextor had spread their version of the tarrasque encounter, spinning it to put the Church of Hieroneous in the worst possible light.
"Greyhawk is safe thanks to us!" they proclaimed. "The Church of Hextor immediately tried to save Greyhawk from being ravaged by the tarrasque. We were the first ones to locate and attack the monster. And we had the monster defeated, when minions of Hieroneous came to steal the victory and the corpse for themselves!
"These renegades came upon us invisibly, the dishonorable sneaks! They obviously watched while we did the hard work. No doubt they were afraid to attack it themselves. They knew they couldn’t kill it themselves, as they proved when they abandoned Verbobonc to its fate. That city now lies in ruins, devastated!
"And when they thought the time was right–when we had the monster on its last legs–they attacked us without warning while we were focusing all our efforts on destroying the monster! Not only that, they used pit fiends against us–a lawful good organization using the services of devils! And there’s more! A paladin of Hieroneous was involved in this treachery! Edward Gallahan, whose reputation is known far and wide. He showed his true colors in this fight!
"But the Church of Hextor always acts according to our code of honor in battle. And we have proof of our deeds–claws, hide and scales from the monster!"
Having heard this, the party discretely gathered information from throughout Greyhawk. They learned that public opinion in Greyhawk now favored the Church of Hextor’s claims. In particular, numerous refugees from Verbobonc were speaking out against the party’s actions.
"They failed us and then ran away, leaving our city to be destroyed!" they said to all who would listen. "And one of them had the nerve to demand our gratitude!" There was even a distorted version of the story that seemed to be gaining acceptance: Hextor’s fighters actually killed the monster, then the party had attacked them and stolen the corpse!"
The party found these developments disturbing. Apparently, so did others.
Elana searched for followers to assist her. At a tavern near her manner (where Arnold happened to be drinking), she gathered information, finding that a number of low-level adventurers sought opportunities for adventure. Suddenly, someone ran into the tavern.
"The tarrasque is awake!" he shouted. Chaos broke out in the tavern.
Elana tried to calm the patrons. Some did calm down; most remained terrified, and many ran out of the tavern, panic-stricken.
She asked the man for info about situation. "I came from Verbobonc!" he cried. "The city is almost totally destroyed!" "How long ago?" asked Elana. "Less than an hour ago. Then the monster left, heading along the river northeast toward the Gnarley Forest."
One of the frightened tavern patrons asked about survivors. "There were many refugees! And there was a party that tried to stop the monster, but failed!"
"I hate the word "fail"!" she said. "We just didn’t achieve success."
"Were you one of them?!" asked the astonished refugee.
"What of it? We saved your life. You should be thankful," replied Elana, condescendingly.
The refugee gave Elana an angry look, then ran out of the tavern, leaving Elana shaking her head and the other tavern patrons looking at her with various expressions, none of them very friendly.
Sudden commotion outside drew Elana’s attention. "It’s coming!" someone shrieked. Hearing that, Elana decided to return to her manor, where Firiona and Lina waited. Meanwhile, Edward did some self-improvement at the main temple of Hieroneous in Greyhawk.
Arnold decided to go off to search for more information. Late that night, he returned to the manor. Panic was spreading through Greyhawk. Not only that, but at least one refugee recognized Arnold as part of the party that had failed to save Verbobonc. Edward had also been recognized.
"We’d better hunker down for the night," suggested Arnold. "We’ll have time to go monster-hunting tomorrow. That crowd’s getting ugly." Elana agreed, and spoke to her servants about increasing security at the manor.
Next morning, Edward and Green Arrow returned to Elana’s manor. It was decided that Firiona should try to scry on the monster, determine its location, and then go out to confront and destroy it. After four hours, and tghree fafter four hours, and three failed attempts, Firiona finally succeeded in scrying on the monster. It was heading out of the Gnarley Forest, heading for Dyvers, and didn’t notice the scrying.
That afternoon, almost a day and a half after the party had fled Verbobonc, they spelled up and prepared to renew the battle. Firiona and Lina both assumed pit fiend form again, while all the party turned invisible. Finally ready, the party teleported to the previously-scried location of the tarrasque.
They arrived to find another party already fighting the monster! Eight heavily-armed fighters surrounded the beast. Two more lay scattered on the ground, apparently dead. Standing apart from the fighters, a cloaked and armored figure stood, gesturing and speaking words of power.
None of the party noticed that tail spikes and rear claws of the tarrasque were missing!
The party, invisible but for the "pit fiends" and Arnold on Lina’s shoulder, stood by observing and readying actions as the cloaked figure pointed a finger at the monster. A bolt of blackness shot toward the monster, only to stop just short of the beast. The caster slapped his head, as if he’d just done something foolish. The tarrasque responded by striking at several of the fighters, wounding two with horns and claws and sending another flying with an awesome tail slap. As they fought, Firiona consulted her store of religious knowledge, and was startled to realize that the other party was affiliated with none other than the Church of Hextor!
Two of the troops spotted the flying pit fiends, with Arnold on Lina’s shoulder. "Look!" they shouted. "Hextor has sent us even more aid!" Inspired to even greater bravery, the troops landed blow after blow on the monster, inflicting massive damage on it. The caster screamed, "Kill it for the glory of Hextor! We shall prove our valor to all Greyhawk!" He pointed a finger at the beast, and suddenly it seemed to wilt before their eyes, as if moisture were being sucked out of its body.
Edward, seeing this, casts holy sword on Green Arrow’s mercurial greatsword, which he still bore, and advanced toward the tarrasque, being careful to stay out of reach of the monster. Firiona likewise advanced toward the monster, which immediately leaped up to bite her! Shaken, she proved unable to avoid the jaws of the beast, which grappled her and prepared to swallow her whole!
Arnold immediately attacked the monster, hitting it but becoming visible in the process. In response, Lina waved a wand at Arnold, who reverted to invisibility. Elana unleashed one of her signature spells, sonic orb with sonic might, wounding the tarrasque, and closed in on the monster.
One of the fighters noticed that bolts were hitting the tarrasque without any visible shooter. "There’s something strange here!" he shouted, alerting the other fighters. The fighters continued their assault on the beast, striking blow after blow and severely wounding it. Shouting "Hextor, guide me!" the sorcerer cast the same horrid wilting spell again, striking the beast and draining more of its precious bodily fluids from it.
Fiend-Firiona, although grappled, was able to cast dimension door and thus escape the grapple! She reappeared next to fiend-Lina. Now without a victim, the tarrasque suddenly bullrushed two of the fighters, forcing them back twenty-five feet. The other troops landed several blows as the opportunity presented itself, wounding the beast but not enough to stop its rampage. Arnold, meanwhile, attempted a sneak crossbow attack, missed, but remained invisible. Lina directed another sonic orb at the monster, one which did not miss, and moved closer toward the tarrasque. The battle against the beast appeared well in hand.
But suddenly, Elana decided to attack Hextor’s troops as they were engaged with the monster! A mighty shout blasted five of the fighters as she suddenly became visible. The troops were now shaken! Retaining enough composure to shoot, one fired a volley of arrows at Elana. Or rather, at her images. Four images disappeared. Another fighter shot down those that remained. The other fighters, still focused on the tarrasque, hit it with blow after blow, and the beast bellowed in pain. One called out, "Ruslan!"
The caster, seeing Elana appear and his fighters suffer from her attack, shouted, "Oh treacherous one, feel the power of Hextor!" Pointing his finger at her, he sent a deadly bolt against her. It struck her, and she was barely able to avoid being killed outright, but took severe damage from the attack.
But then Edward, who had previously flown, invisibly, above and behind Ruslan and quaffed a potion that enlarged him to twice his normal size, turned visible and declared himself. "I am Edward Gallahan, paladin of Hieroneous!" he shouted, warning Ruslan of his peril. "Take any offensive action and it will be your last!"
Ruslan looked up behind him at the giant flying paladin. Quickly taking thought, the sorcerer began a spell. Firiona recognized it.
He was preparing a wish.
Before any of the party could activate their readied actions, Ruslan completed the spell. Suddenly, Ruslan, the fighters, and their fallen comrades all disappeared!
Now that the field of battle was clear of distractions, Green Arrow was free to fire at the tarrasque. Five shafts found their mark, inflicting heavy damage. Firiona quickly attempted to cast imprisonment on the tarrasque, but the spell failed to affect the beast. Realizing it was under attack from new and more powerful foes, the tarrasque ceased its attacks and ran, at top speed, away from the party, until it was five hundred feet or more from its tormentors. But Elana cast dimension door, and headed off the beast. Lina likewise pursued it. Arnold, Green Arrow and Edward followed. Green Arrow’s shooting struck critical areas of the monster twice and stunned it! Edward ran to the supine beast and hacked off a claw.
But the monster was far from vanquished. Its wounds began to heal, and suddenly it was back on its feet, biting Edward but failing to hold him in its jaws. Then, suddenly, it was back down again! Lina had spoken a word of deadly power, dropping the monster in its tracks! Edward hacked off more claws and scales, but the monster still regenerated itself enough to get back up and keep fighting. Again and again it was put down, again and again claws, scales and bits of carapace were hacked off, and again and again it got back on its feet! Firiona cast spell after deadly spell at it, hoping one would finally put an end to the threat of the monster, but without success. One of her errant spells almost imprisoned Edward, who barely evaded its effect. Imprisonment, polymorph, flesh to stone –none had any effect.
Exhausted and running out of magical firepower, Firiona cast one last spell–and the tarrasque suddenly vanished, sent out of the world to parts unknown. She had successfully plane-shifted the monster to the Negative Energy Plane! Firiona had hoped that the life-draining properties of the plane, not to mention its lack of air, would keep the monster from regenerating, and in any event, that the monster would not be able to return to the Prime Material Plane any time soon, certainly not before the party could re-locate it and finally destroy it.
"Is it gone, finally?" Arnold asked.
"Gone enough for our purposes," replied Firiona.
"Then let’s get out of here!"
The party could think of nothing they’d rather do than head back to Greyhawk. Getting themselves together and catching their breath, they all transported themselves, and large quantities of claws, scales, hide and carapace portions, back to Elana’s manor for rest and recuperation.
They awoke to find that the story of the tarrasque’s defeat had spread throughout Greyhawk. It was not, however, the story they were familiar with.
Ruslan had used his wish well, transporting himself and all of his crew, living and dead, back to Greyhawk, along with the claws, scales and other parts of the tarrasque that they had taken during their battle with the beast. He and the surviving fighters of the Church of Hextor had spread their version of the tarrasque encounter, spinning it to put the Church of Hieroneous in the worst possible light.
"Greyhawk is safe thanks to us!" they proclaimed. "The Church of Hextor immediately tried to save Greyhawk from being ravaged by the tarrasque. We were the first ones to locate and attack the monster. And we had the monster defeated, when minions of Hieroneous came to steal the victory and the corpse for themselves!
"These renegades came upon us invisibly, the dishonorable sneaks! They obviously watched while we did the hard work. No doubt they were afraid to attack it themselves. They knew they couldn’t kill it themselves, as they proved when they abandoned Verbobonc to its fate. That city now lies in ruins, devastated!
"And when they thought the time was right–when we had the monster on its last legs–they attacked us without warning while we were focusing all our efforts on destroying the monster! Not only that, they used pit fiends against us–a lawful good organization using the services of devils! And there’s more! A paladin of Hieroneous was involved in this treachery! Edward Gallahan, whose reputation is known far and wide. He showed his true colors in this fight!
"But the Church of Hextor always acts according to our code of honor in battle. And we have proof of our deeds–claws, hide and scales from the monster!"
Having heard this, the party discretely gathered information from throughout Greyhawk. They learned that public opinion in Greyhawk now favored the Church of Hextor’s claims. In particular, numerous refugees from Verbobonc were speaking out against the party’s actions.
"They failed us and then ran away, leaving our city to be destroyed!" they said to all who would listen. "And one of them had the nerve to demand our gratitude!" There was even a distorted version of the story that seemed to be gaining acceptance: Hextor’s fighters actually killed the monster, then the party had attacked them and stolen the corpse!"
The party found these developments disturbing. Apparently, so did others.
XXXI. Attack of the Great Devourer
The party left the scene of the monster’s appearance and fled back north to Verbobonc to warn the city. They also contacted Elana, who rejoined them.
The monster, rampaging through the countryside at astonishing speed, soon reached inhabited areas, sending villagers fleeing for their lives. Some at the scene, capable of speedy travel, magical or otherwise, likewise headed for Verbobonc to sound the alarm. It looked as though the tarrasque would reach Verbobonc the next day!
Panic spread. People from throughout the outlying areas streamed into Verbobonc. Many immediately sought to take ship out of the area entirely. Citizens of the town likewise began to leave. A few brave defenders manned the walls of the city.
The party prepared for battle.
They advised the defenders to attack only the tarrasque, regardless of what else they may see during the battle. The party members cast spells and activated magic items that would help them during the coming battle. All were now ready, waiting.
They didn’t have long to wait. The monster came into view in the distance, charging rapidly toward the city walls. Lina flew up eighty feet above the wall and over toward Arnold, looking for an advantageous position.
The tarrasque charged against the city walls, at a speed that was almost beyond belief. The city walls held, but took heavy damage. From her aerial vantage point, Firiona hurled an admixed fire/acid ball at the monster, but the monster shrugged it off with no damage. She then flew upward to 140 feet above the city.
Then Elana had an inspiration: she flew toward the tarrasque and cast Otto’s irresistible dance. Immediately, the monster began hopping about, shaking the ground for hundreds of yards in all directions! This gave Edward an opportunity to put his rifle to use once again; unfortunately, the weapon had not been well-maintained, and only did minor damage to the creature.
Green Arrow was more effective, as he flew up to an altitude of 240 feet, next to Edward, and loosed four arrows at the monster. All found their mark and did damage, but not, unfortunately, as much damage as hoped for. Arnold, firing invisibly, struck a vital spot on the monster and did significant damage as well.
The brave townsmen at the walls all shot at the creature, but their arrows bounced harmlessly off the almost impregnable hide and carapace of the monster.
Lina picked up the now-visible Arnold and moved away from the tarrasque, which continued its forced shuffling. Persistent as ever, Firiona launched another fire/acid ball, but failed again to strike the creature. Elana flew up and out of reach of the creature.
Edward now took Green Arrow’s mercurial greatsword and charged downward, attempting to get into melee range of the tarrasque. Green Arrow again relied on his bow, and struck with one arrow, but then badly fumbled a shot and dropped his bow! He watched as the bow plummeted to the ground, out of reach. Arnold and the townsmen had less success: all missed with their ranged attacks.
As the monster kept dancing, Lina cast improved invisibility on Arnold, hoping that he would be able to do increased damage by attacking unseen. Firiona’s spells continued to fail against the incredible spell resistance of the tarrasque, as Elana, like Edward, flew down into melee range. In melee, Edward now called again on the might of Hieroneous, and landed three huge blows against the great devourer, doing heavy damage. Arnold also launched a sneak attack with his crossbow. The townsmen, once again, could not so much as scratch the hide of the beast.
Lina, hoping for a quick end to the battle, casts finger of death at the monster, but, as with so many other spells cast by the party, this too failed to affect the still-dancing tarrasque. Firiona’s spell-casting futility continued, as two more acid balls did nothing.
Seeing that the dance of the tarrasque was coming to an end, Elana attempted to force the monster to continue. But this time, the monster was unaffected. The party knew it was in for a fight now!
Edward sought to land as many blows as he could while the monster still was compelled to dance, and landed four more huge blows, backed by divine might. Green Arrow then activated his boots of speed, recovered his bow, and struck the beast with four more arrows. Arnold snuck in two blows, and even the townsmen managed to hit the monster, though, alas, doing no damage.
Desperately trying to prevent the monster from attacking, Lina once more cast Otto’s irresistible dance. Unfortunately, the spell proved far from irresistible, and Lina also found herself no longer invisible.
The tarrasque, now free to act as it desired, climbed over the city wall! Once inside the city, although several of the party landed opportunistic blows, the rampaging beast knocked down a number of houses and other structures. Verbobonc was now in deadly peril!
Elana’s attempted sonic orb attack failed to overcome the spell resistance of the brute. Charging against the creature, Edward launched into a full power attack, but missed! Green Arrow was more successful, hitting with four arrows, although again, none did as much damage as otherwise expected. Arnold and the townsmen again failed to do any damage. But now Firiona, who had held her spells, sent a quickened acid ball at the monster, and it struck home, although the succeeding acid ball failed to do so.
Now enraged even beyond its natural ferocity, the tarrasque focused all its anger on Edward, doing devastating damage with its bite, horns, claws and tail. Elana cast orb of sound, with sonic might, and this time blasted the monster with her magical power.
Edward shook off his injuries and, summoning all his strength, swung at the tarrasque. Four times he missed the monster. He swung one last time, and this time hit, a vital spot! The monster collapsed, stunned. Now, Firiona seized the opportunity. She spoke words of incredible power, and wished the monster dead forever.
And failed. Her head spun, and she could feel part of her life energy leave her. Shocked, the other party members held their actions.
Firiona took thought, and repeated her wish. Again, she failed.
Still recovering from the effort, she heard a mystic voice, as if from some celestial place, tell her to try again. She tried again. And . . . failed again!
The party stood aghast. Elana readied an empowered sonic orb for when the tarrasque roused itself, as it surely would. Edward healed himself to full strength; Green Arrow, Arnold and the townsmen readied shooting actions as well.
The tarrasque lay still. Firiona and the other party members could see its wounds healing before their eyes. Hoping to stop it before it regenerated itself any further, Firiona flew to the monster and touched it, hoping to imprison it. The spell broke through the monster’s spell resistance–but had no effect, as the beast shook off the attempt! Elana immediately fired a sonic orb at the monster, stunning it. Edward called out to the townsmen, asking if any powerful wizards remained to assist in the defense. The answer was negative.
"Evacuate the town!" Edward shouted in response. It seemed that the party would not be able to defeat the monster or stop it from rampaging through the town. When the defenders had evacuated, the party fled back to Greyhawk.
Could they stop Greyhawk from falling as well?
The monster, rampaging through the countryside at astonishing speed, soon reached inhabited areas, sending villagers fleeing for their lives. Some at the scene, capable of speedy travel, magical or otherwise, likewise headed for Verbobonc to sound the alarm. It looked as though the tarrasque would reach Verbobonc the next day!
Panic spread. People from throughout the outlying areas streamed into Verbobonc. Many immediately sought to take ship out of the area entirely. Citizens of the town likewise began to leave. A few brave defenders manned the walls of the city.
The party prepared for battle.
They advised the defenders to attack only the tarrasque, regardless of what else they may see during the battle. The party members cast spells and activated magic items that would help them during the coming battle. All were now ready, waiting.
They didn’t have long to wait. The monster came into view in the distance, charging rapidly toward the city walls. Lina flew up eighty feet above the wall and over toward Arnold, looking for an advantageous position.
The tarrasque charged against the city walls, at a speed that was almost beyond belief. The city walls held, but took heavy damage. From her aerial vantage point, Firiona hurled an admixed fire/acid ball at the monster, but the monster shrugged it off with no damage. She then flew upward to 140 feet above the city.
Then Elana had an inspiration: she flew toward the tarrasque and cast Otto’s irresistible dance. Immediately, the monster began hopping about, shaking the ground for hundreds of yards in all directions! This gave Edward an opportunity to put his rifle to use once again; unfortunately, the weapon had not been well-maintained, and only did minor damage to the creature.
Green Arrow was more effective, as he flew up to an altitude of 240 feet, next to Edward, and loosed four arrows at the monster. All found their mark and did damage, but not, unfortunately, as much damage as hoped for. Arnold, firing invisibly, struck a vital spot on the monster and did significant damage as well.
The brave townsmen at the walls all shot at the creature, but their arrows bounced harmlessly off the almost impregnable hide and carapace of the monster.
Lina picked up the now-visible Arnold and moved away from the tarrasque, which continued its forced shuffling. Persistent as ever, Firiona launched another fire/acid ball, but failed again to strike the creature. Elana flew up and out of reach of the creature.
Edward now took Green Arrow’s mercurial greatsword and charged downward, attempting to get into melee range of the tarrasque. Green Arrow again relied on his bow, and struck with one arrow, but then badly fumbled a shot and dropped his bow! He watched as the bow plummeted to the ground, out of reach. Arnold and the townsmen had less success: all missed with their ranged attacks.
As the monster kept dancing, Lina cast improved invisibility on Arnold, hoping that he would be able to do increased damage by attacking unseen. Firiona’s spells continued to fail against the incredible spell resistance of the tarrasque, as Elana, like Edward, flew down into melee range. In melee, Edward now called again on the might of Hieroneous, and landed three huge blows against the great devourer, doing heavy damage. Arnold also launched a sneak attack with his crossbow. The townsmen, once again, could not so much as scratch the hide of the beast.
Lina, hoping for a quick end to the battle, casts finger of death at the monster, but, as with so many other spells cast by the party, this too failed to affect the still-dancing tarrasque. Firiona’s spell-casting futility continued, as two more acid balls did nothing.
Seeing that the dance of the tarrasque was coming to an end, Elana attempted to force the monster to continue. But this time, the monster was unaffected. The party knew it was in for a fight now!
Edward sought to land as many blows as he could while the monster still was compelled to dance, and landed four more huge blows, backed by divine might. Green Arrow then activated his boots of speed, recovered his bow, and struck the beast with four more arrows. Arnold snuck in two blows, and even the townsmen managed to hit the monster, though, alas, doing no damage.
Desperately trying to prevent the monster from attacking, Lina once more cast Otto’s irresistible dance. Unfortunately, the spell proved far from irresistible, and Lina also found herself no longer invisible.
The tarrasque, now free to act as it desired, climbed over the city wall! Once inside the city, although several of the party landed opportunistic blows, the rampaging beast knocked down a number of houses and other structures. Verbobonc was now in deadly peril!
Elana’s attempted sonic orb attack failed to overcome the spell resistance of the brute. Charging against the creature, Edward launched into a full power attack, but missed! Green Arrow was more successful, hitting with four arrows, although again, none did as much damage as otherwise expected. Arnold and the townsmen again failed to do any damage. But now Firiona, who had held her spells, sent a quickened acid ball at the monster, and it struck home, although the succeeding acid ball failed to do so.
Now enraged even beyond its natural ferocity, the tarrasque focused all its anger on Edward, doing devastating damage with its bite, horns, claws and tail. Elana cast orb of sound, with sonic might, and this time blasted the monster with her magical power.
Edward shook off his injuries and, summoning all his strength, swung at the tarrasque. Four times he missed the monster. He swung one last time, and this time hit, a vital spot! The monster collapsed, stunned. Now, Firiona seized the opportunity. She spoke words of incredible power, and wished the monster dead forever.
And failed. Her head spun, and she could feel part of her life energy leave her. Shocked, the other party members held their actions.
Firiona took thought, and repeated her wish. Again, she failed.
Still recovering from the effort, she heard a mystic voice, as if from some celestial place, tell her to try again. She tried again. And . . . failed again!
The party stood aghast. Elana readied an empowered sonic orb for when the tarrasque roused itself, as it surely would. Edward healed himself to full strength; Green Arrow, Arnold and the townsmen readied shooting actions as well.
The tarrasque lay still. Firiona and the other party members could see its wounds healing before their eyes. Hoping to stop it before it regenerated itself any further, Firiona flew to the monster and touched it, hoping to imprison it. The spell broke through the monster’s spell resistance–but had no effect, as the beast shook off the attempt! Elana immediately fired a sonic orb at the monster, stunning it. Edward called out to the townsmen, asking if any powerful wizards remained to assist in the defense. The answer was negative.
"Evacuate the town!" Edward shouted in response. It seemed that the party would not be able to defeat the monster or stop it from rampaging through the town. When the defenders had evacuated, the party fled back to Greyhawk.
Could they stop Greyhawk from falling as well?
XXX. The Wakers of the Beast
Two months later, Firiona introduced her sister Lina to the rest of the party. Lina, it seemed, wanted to work with the group. Firiona explained that her sister was a first level Enterprise agent, but one who, up to now, had operated fairly independently. She had also, unfortunately, never been too friendly toward humans. This was something she was trying to change; hopefully, contact with the party would help her become more tolerant and friendly.
Edward, Green Arrow, Miae and Arnold decided they could always use a high-level sorcerer, and one with a pseudodragon familiar at that. They welcomed Lina to their group.
About four months later, Edward, Green Arrow, Firiona and Lina were gettting together at the Sign of the Cloud, the best tavern at South Gate in Darksea, when someone approached them. It was a young female. She gave the secret sign of a first-level Enterprise member. Edward gave the recognition sign.
The girl introduced herself. "My name is Elana Songbreeze. I've heard a lot about you all, inside and outside our organization. I’d like to join you, learn from you, write songs about you–your deeds should be sung in many a hall!" The party briefly got teary-eyed over the memory of Lou, but quickly welcomed the addition of a new bard! Especially one whom the Enterprise had authorized to approach them and ask to work with them.
Four weeks or so passed, when Arnold called Edward, Green Arrow and Firiona together. He had a proposal for the group. "I’ve been working the trading company since we all got back, and let me tell you, the gold’s been rolling in," he said. "Well, I’m about to go on another trip in a few days. Why don’t you come along with me, you know, take a break, see the world, make some money?" This sounded good to the rest of the group, and they readily agreed.
The party took ship from the Darksea docks a few days later, heading into the (now dredged and improved) river Darkbourne. About fifteen miles downstream, they stopped at the newly enlarged docking facilities at Mile Marker 1 Plaza, now expanded to include bout a dozen new residences and several new businesses, was the site of the Fair Fiend Tavern and Inn, an establishment the party, and Arnold in particular, were well familiar with. Arnold was interested to see that the place was now a two-story facility and a major stop on the way into and out of Darksea. The crew stopped for a drink, and Arnold greeted his old friend the barkeep.
The inn’s common room was filled with travelers from various places, and Arnold chatted up a trade group from Verbobonc. He found out something interesting: it seemed that strange humanoids with long claws had been seen prowling in the Kron Hills, and also along the river route heading toward the city. When Arnold reported his findings to the party, they all agreed that this needed to be investigated. It could be bad for business!
Over the course of the next few days, the party stopped off at Thornward and headed toward Mitrick, doing business at various points along the way. The convoy now included four ships loaded with cargo. At Mitrick, the party spent a few days shopping and acquiring various weapons and magic items. They also heard further reports of disappearances over the past few months, and of a prowling humanoid observed in wooded areas east of town. When the party reached Caronis, at confluence of the Velverdyva River, about three days later, Arnold transacted more business, Lina performed for appreciative audiences, but no further rumors of prowling humanoids or disappearances were heard.
Setting out again, the convoy headed toward the Dapple Wood and the Iron Wood. That evening, they stopped at the small village of Audags. A poor quality inn was the best the village had to offer, but Lina made the best of it, performing to an enthusiastic audience that night. The now-friendly villagers advised the party several disappearances that had occurred over the last five to six months. Some were village citizens, others outlying hunters or farmers, mostly south to southeast of the village. Next morning, at breakfast before departing, a villager came into the inn bearing news. The party bought him some breakfast, and he told his tale.
He had been returning from a trip to Hundsham, another village to the south, on foot (about two days’ walk). He was following a game trail off the road, looking for rabbits. The trail trail led off into the bush, then came to a little glade. There in the glade, he had spotted what appeared to be some kind of shrine–a shrine made almost entirely of razors.
Arnold was anxious to get back to business, but Lina wanted to find the shrine and investigate the matter further. So, Arnold sailed ahead to Hundsham, to meet the rest of party there after they were finished with their investigation. The investigators took their leave and began their hike toward Hundsham.
The next day, they reached the site of the shrine. It was a small structure, built of branches, like an A-frame, with stones at the rear sealing the rear wall. Stones at the front and sides kept the structure erect. Green Arrow went invisible and flew up about twenty feet, patrolling the area. Edward detected evil. He spotted something inside the shrine. Elana spotted the same object. Cautious investigation revealed that the object was an altar made entirely of razor blades, just as the villager had reported.
Whose altar? Edward and Elana, using their knowledge of religion, concluded that it was a shrine to the obscure, but very evil, god Rallaster, a god of murder, torture and psychotic behavior, known to religious scholars as the Insane God and the God of Madmen, followed by psychopaths and mass murderers. Elana took another look inside and saw old, dried blood on and around the altar.
The party resolved to destroy the evil shrine, and after a long stake-out, interrupted only by the approach of a deer, which quickly fled the area, they smashed and blasted it to pieces.
Continuing on to Hundsham, the investigators met up with Arnold that evening. The next evening, the trading convoy stopped off at the village of Wulfos, on the south shore of the river in the Iron Wood, a relatively large village compared to Hundsham or Audags. Elana again performed, to cheers from the villagers, but Edward and Arnold noticed a lot of uneasy faces in the crowd, despite their desire for entertainment. After speaking with audience members, Elana learned that several prowling humanoids with large claws had been seen in the nearby woods, beginning about six to eight months ago. There had been no known abductions, but the mutilated body of a stranger, with large claw marks, had been found in the Iron Wood southeast of the village in the direction of the Kron Hills.
The convoy pressed on, and late the next evening pulled alongside the dock at Verbobonc. After Arnold paid the port fees for the ships, the party headed for the noble Emerald Inn, while the ships’ crews found less costly sailors’ quarters. Arnold conducted his business the next day, while the other party members went shopping or rested. That evening, Elana again performed and chatted with the Emerald Inn audience, seeking information, and learned that citizens had been disappearing over the last eight months. At another cheaper travelers’ inn, she learned that a prowling humanoid had been seen in a bad part of town, and that a stranger’s mutilated body had also been found there.
After a quick dinner, the party decided to investigate the "bad part of town." Elana disguised herself as a poor commoner and moved away from the crowd, while Lina’s familiar flew around and snooped. After a few hours, Elana heard noises from a side alley: the muffled sounds of a struggle. She approached the alley, followed by Edward, and came upon a fight going on. Shortly after their arrival, three dead thugs lay in the alley, and one rescued girl thanked Edward and Elana for her life. Edward inspected the bodies. All were humans (apparently), with no claws; however, the third thug bore the unholy symbol of Rallaster.
Elana questioned the girl, who turned out to live and work in a tavern in the area, being from a poor family. "Those thugs just grabbed me as I was walking by!" she cried. The thugs’ bodies had only a few cheap coins, which the party gave to the girl. They escorted her safely home, then returned to the Emerald Inn. They kept the unholy symbol.
More questions the next morning revealed that a stranger a few months ago came to the city library, searching for information on monsters, the bigger the better; also, a scruffy, downtrodden character had been coming into town, ordering supplies (foods, household items, also scrap metals), then heading south out of town. Elana also learned of a report from a wounded, dying halfling, telling of finding a shrine to an evil god in the hills south of the city (the Kron Hills), as well as someone overhearing an ugly humanoid leaving the city outskirts, muttering "Rallaster". Firiona and Lina learned that, over most of last year, a strange band of hunters had been seen coming and going into town; also, an unusually large humanoid had been seen on the outskirts, with one of the strange hunters each time. Arnold was briefed, and sought to develop his own information if possible.
One of the party’s contacts came to them the next morning, bearing news. Leaving business late last night on the edge of town, the man heard a strange-looking person shuffling by; the person had unusually long fingers and was muttering, mostly unintelligibly. Some of the mutterings included "wake the beast", "Rallaster", and "end of the world". The man was afraid, and quickly went back into an alley and hid. Elana used her bardic knowledge, trying to identify the three phrases. She could draw no connection between "Rallaster" and the two other phrases; however, the two remaining phrases did seem to be connected. She recalled hints of cultish groups seeking to summon monsters, the bigger the better, and turn them loose on the world to wreak destruction.
Elana and the others then visited the city library to follow up on the "monster book" clues. At the library, the librarian remembered a suspicious character asking for such books. He showed the party the books. They proved insufficient to answer Elana’s questions. The librarian then advised the party, "If you’re really interested in obscure lore or other things we don’t have books on, try going to Greyhawk. They have larger libraries than we do." So Arnold suggested splitting up, with him staying in town to take care of business while the others went to Greyhawk to follow up on leads. "Get some good spies, Arnold, and try to find and follow the supply flunky," Elana advised.
Once in Greyhawk, Elana identified exactly what library to go to. Once there, she asked the librarian about the Verbobonc inquirer. The head librarian referred the party to the head research librarian. He remembered someone making the same inquiry about three months ago. He also remembered the books he found for the inquirer, some rare or otherwise restricted. The party asked to look at them, and the librarian complied, returning after a time with six books. After examining the books, the party discovered that two books had torn-out pages. "Do you know what was on these pages?" the party asked. The librarian examined the books, and gasped at the realization of what was missing. "The missing pages describe . . . the tarrasque!" he exclaimed.
The party realized they were in trouble now.
Several weeks of intense additional research armed the party with all available knowledge about the tarrasque, including how to make incredible weapons and armor from its claws and hide and diamonds from its carapace, and, most importantly, the only known way to kill it–by knocking it unconscious and then wishing it dead. Elana also uncovered the true significance of "wake the beast": it was associated with cult groups known as "Wakers of the Beast". Cultists were said to acquire powers associated with an unknown monster, even as they lost some of their humanoid characteristics. An ancient police report shed further light on an earlier instance of cult activity, associated, surprisingly, with Nerull rather than Rallaster.
In the meantime, Arnold’s spy network back at Verbobonc had achieved results: a spy followed the flunky to a secret hideout. So, over the next week, various spies and agents watched the hideout and the perimeter of town, look for that unusually large humanoid who met with the strange hunters. After several days, the surveillance bore fruit, and a hidden hunter’s camp in the forest outside the city was located. A short, but sharp, battle ensued, and the party captured the hunter: an ugly human but otherwise unremarkable.
Edward interrogated the hunter. The results were surprising.
"Who are you?" "A simple hunter."
"Who are you really?" "My name is Aldo."
"Who do you worship?" "We are followers of Rallaster--you wouldn’t understand him!"
"Why are you here?" "To waken the beast--the beast that will destroy the world! The great devourer!"
The hunter began babbling incoherently. Edward pressed on. "What is your mission?" "Soon we will gather together and our leader will take us to the secret shrine."
The hunter eventually revealed that their leader, a being named Teshan, and the rest of the cultists would soon attempt to "wake the beast" at a secret shrine to which Teshan would lead them. Teshan was described as very tall, with large, long long fingers and mighty claws. The hunter even revealed the secret word that would open the hidden door to the cultists’ nearby hideout.
Edward then proposed a plan: he would infiltrate the hideout, impersonating Aldo, and place himself among the cultists when the beast was to be awakened. Meanwhile, the rest of the party, telepathically linked to Edward, would secretly follow. At the appropriate time, they would attack the cultists and attempt to prevent completion of the summoning.
At the hidden door, Edward successfully impersonated Aldo and bluffed his way inside. Eventually, through a previously secret door, several figures entered. One was a lot taller than normal, but all had unusually long fingers, and the leader had blade-like claws! The crowd became excited, and Edward followed along. When the large figure addressee the crowd, he didn’t sound very smart. "Tonight we work together! Maybe succeed tonight!" he shouted. "Follow me! We go! Meet others on way!"
Out they went, with the rest of the party turning invisible and following along. About six hours’ march led the cultists to their goal, but by then the rest of the party was out of telepathic range and were forced to track the cultists. Deep in the Kron Hills, a canyon led to an area with an old rockfall through which a narrow opening led inward. The cultists entered, Edward among them. Once through the rockfall, they entered a really wide passage, with a high ceiling, that extended about 200 feet before reaching a vast underground cavern, at the end of which was another huge rockfall.
At the far end, toward the rockfall, Teshan and several other clawed figures gathered. Teshan addressed the cultists again. "Wakers finally find sleeping place. Today maybe we rouse great devourer!" he shouted. "We wake it, it never sleep again! Take world now! Take us first!" He and the other Waker leaders then began to chant strange words of evil power. Meanwhile, the party had followed the cultists and Edward, and positioned themselves, trying to move silently. Unfortunately, one of them was not silent enough.
The cultists were alerted. Battle ensued!
While most of the cult leaders continued with their summoning ritual, Arnold fell back and hid, watching from around a corner. A group of armed cultists made for the tunnel entrance, hoping to block access to any (still invisible) intruders. Green Arrow, undeterred, loosed a hail of arrows, including a death arrow aimed at Teshan. Teshan took heavy damage but did not fall. Five other Wakers, and three cultists, also took heavy damage, while one of the Wakers was critically hit and felled. Lina moved up toward Arnold, while Firiona cast quickened and empowered fireballs to blast more of the monster’s demented votaries.
Another group of armed cultists, stealthier than the rest, moved toward the intruders, some of whom were now visible. One of the Waker leaders, leaving off his chanting, directed magic missiles at Firiona, inflicting minor damage. Edward, still in disguise, moved back toward the center of the cavern to "protect" Teshan. A third group of fighting cultists all ran toward Firiona and Green Arrow. Teshan waved his hands and spoke mysterious words, apparently casting some type of spell immunity on himself, while other leading Waker cast additional protective spells on themselves. A huge half-orc Waker, a raging barbarian, raced toward the party, as did four other heavily armed fighters.
As Arnold backed up, still watching the action, several of the fighters assaulting Green Arrow tried to disarm or grapple him, but the doughty elf evaded them. Another swung at Firiona with his axe, but missed. The rest continued to advance. Green Arrow again fired a volley of arrows, and a Waker leader fell dead, silencing another chanting voice. A prismatic spray leapt from Lina’s fingers, injuring three of the armed cultists, killing another two outright, poisoning still another, stoning two others, driving two more insane, and sending five more to other planes, as she proved she was truly Firiona’s sister. Meanwhile, Firiona herself, becoming visible, pointed a finger at another Waker, who failed to resist her power and disintegrated into a pile of dust.
Edward chose this moment to reveal himself, and charged the heavily wounded Teshan. Summoning all his might, he smote the monstrous humanoid creature. Still, two other leaders of the Wakers continued their summoning ritual. Meanwhile, the raging half-orc charged Lina, but she easily side-stepped his crazed charge. As she did, she heard a low rumbling start, emanating from the rockfall at the far end of the chamber.
Moving up behind Firiona, Arnold saw two armed cultists rush up to Green Arrow. One of them stripped the bow from the elvish archer! He immediately picked up his bow, but was stricken by the warrior as he did so. Green Arrow then flew up and away from the warrior. Firiona blasted the raging half-orc with a scorching ray, and Lina followed up with yet another prismatic spray, frying the barbarian with a bolt of electric power, poisoning two others of the enemy and sending still others off to other planes. But six sneaking cultists then spread out, trying to minimize their vulnerability to further sprays. At the other end of the cavern, Edward continued his assault on the Wakers’ leader, and eventually smote him to his ruin. The monstrous figure was felled by the power of Hieroneous and the mighty paladin.
But one of the surviving warriors of the Wakers ran up beside Edward, flanking him, and a Waker leader, drawing a huge mercurial greatsword, drew blood from the paladin! Seeing an opportunity, another Waker leader tried to bullrush Edward, but lacked the strength to move him. The remaining Waker fighter fled into the corridor past Green Arrow, who was unable to strike him as he passed.
The rumbling noise was getting louder.
Seizing his chance to finally strike a blow, Arnold stabbed at one of the sneaky cultists with his frost rapier, drawing blood and weakening the roguish enemy. Green Arrow’s next flight of arrows took down still more of the Wakers’ followers. Firiona cast fly on herself and flew up next to Green Arrow, as did Lina, now in pit fiend form. Meanwhile, a roguish follower tried to flank-attack Arnold, but failed. Another fled back down the corridor. The remaining Waker leaders fell to Edward’s unstoppable attacks. But as they did so, the rumbling reached a crescendo, causing a rockfall in the corridor that killed one of the fleeing Waker followers. Suddenly, the rocks at end of the cavern collapsed. Bursting through the piled rubble with a deafening roar, it emerged--the tarrasque!
One of the remaining followers screamed, "Hail the beast!", drawing the attention of the tarrasque. The monster instantly attacked him, grappled him, then swallowed him whole!
The party quickly realized that they couldn’t stop the monster. Green Arrow flew at top speed out of the cavern. Lina flew to Firiona, then sought the end of the tunnel via dimension door. Arnold quaffed a potion of flying and flew out of the tunnel.
Edward checked the monster, seeing if it had sustained any injuries–it hadn’t–and then, activating the power of his sword, flew out as well.
One remaining follower bowed down before the monster and was quickly swallowed. The others, suddenly losing their devotion to ending the world and themselves, ran away as fast as they could.
The Great Devourer had been wakened.
Edward, Green Arrow, Miae and Arnold decided they could always use a high-level sorcerer, and one with a pseudodragon familiar at that. They welcomed Lina to their group.
About four months later, Edward, Green Arrow, Firiona and Lina were gettting together at the Sign of the Cloud, the best tavern at South Gate in Darksea, when someone approached them. It was a young female. She gave the secret sign of a first-level Enterprise member. Edward gave the recognition sign.
The girl introduced herself. "My name is Elana Songbreeze. I've heard a lot about you all, inside and outside our organization. I’d like to join you, learn from you, write songs about you–your deeds should be sung in many a hall!" The party briefly got teary-eyed over the memory of Lou, but quickly welcomed the addition of a new bard! Especially one whom the Enterprise had authorized to approach them and ask to work with them.
Four weeks or so passed, when Arnold called Edward, Green Arrow and Firiona together. He had a proposal for the group. "I’ve been working the trading company since we all got back, and let me tell you, the gold’s been rolling in," he said. "Well, I’m about to go on another trip in a few days. Why don’t you come along with me, you know, take a break, see the world, make some money?" This sounded good to the rest of the group, and they readily agreed.
The party took ship from the Darksea docks a few days later, heading into the (now dredged and improved) river Darkbourne. About fifteen miles downstream, they stopped at the newly enlarged docking facilities at Mile Marker 1 Plaza, now expanded to include bout a dozen new residences and several new businesses, was the site of the Fair Fiend Tavern and Inn, an establishment the party, and Arnold in particular, were well familiar with. Arnold was interested to see that the place was now a two-story facility and a major stop on the way into and out of Darksea. The crew stopped for a drink, and Arnold greeted his old friend the barkeep.
The inn’s common room was filled with travelers from various places, and Arnold chatted up a trade group from Verbobonc. He found out something interesting: it seemed that strange humanoids with long claws had been seen prowling in the Kron Hills, and also along the river route heading toward the city. When Arnold reported his findings to the party, they all agreed that this needed to be investigated. It could be bad for business!
Over the course of the next few days, the party stopped off at Thornward and headed toward Mitrick, doing business at various points along the way. The convoy now included four ships loaded with cargo. At Mitrick, the party spent a few days shopping and acquiring various weapons and magic items. They also heard further reports of disappearances over the past few months, and of a prowling humanoid observed in wooded areas east of town. When the party reached Caronis, at confluence of the Velverdyva River, about three days later, Arnold transacted more business, Lina performed for appreciative audiences, but no further rumors of prowling humanoids or disappearances were heard.
Setting out again, the convoy headed toward the Dapple Wood and the Iron Wood. That evening, they stopped at the small village of Audags. A poor quality inn was the best the village had to offer, but Lina made the best of it, performing to an enthusiastic audience that night. The now-friendly villagers advised the party several disappearances that had occurred over the last five to six months. Some were village citizens, others outlying hunters or farmers, mostly south to southeast of the village. Next morning, at breakfast before departing, a villager came into the inn bearing news. The party bought him some breakfast, and he told his tale.
He had been returning from a trip to Hundsham, another village to the south, on foot (about two days’ walk). He was following a game trail off the road, looking for rabbits. The trail trail led off into the bush, then came to a little glade. There in the glade, he had spotted what appeared to be some kind of shrine–a shrine made almost entirely of razors.
Arnold was anxious to get back to business, but Lina wanted to find the shrine and investigate the matter further. So, Arnold sailed ahead to Hundsham, to meet the rest of party there after they were finished with their investigation. The investigators took their leave and began their hike toward Hundsham.
The next day, they reached the site of the shrine. It was a small structure, built of branches, like an A-frame, with stones at the rear sealing the rear wall. Stones at the front and sides kept the structure erect. Green Arrow went invisible and flew up about twenty feet, patrolling the area. Edward detected evil. He spotted something inside the shrine. Elana spotted the same object. Cautious investigation revealed that the object was an altar made entirely of razor blades, just as the villager had reported.
Whose altar? Edward and Elana, using their knowledge of religion, concluded that it was a shrine to the obscure, but very evil, god Rallaster, a god of murder, torture and psychotic behavior, known to religious scholars as the Insane God and the God of Madmen, followed by psychopaths and mass murderers. Elana took another look inside and saw old, dried blood on and around the altar.
The party resolved to destroy the evil shrine, and after a long stake-out, interrupted only by the approach of a deer, which quickly fled the area, they smashed and blasted it to pieces.
Continuing on to Hundsham, the investigators met up with Arnold that evening. The next evening, the trading convoy stopped off at the village of Wulfos, on the south shore of the river in the Iron Wood, a relatively large village compared to Hundsham or Audags. Elana again performed, to cheers from the villagers, but Edward and Arnold noticed a lot of uneasy faces in the crowd, despite their desire for entertainment. After speaking with audience members, Elana learned that several prowling humanoids with large claws had been seen in the nearby woods, beginning about six to eight months ago. There had been no known abductions, but the mutilated body of a stranger, with large claw marks, had been found in the Iron Wood southeast of the village in the direction of the Kron Hills.
The convoy pressed on, and late the next evening pulled alongside the dock at Verbobonc. After Arnold paid the port fees for the ships, the party headed for the noble Emerald Inn, while the ships’ crews found less costly sailors’ quarters. Arnold conducted his business the next day, while the other party members went shopping or rested. That evening, Elana again performed and chatted with the Emerald Inn audience, seeking information, and learned that citizens had been disappearing over the last eight months. At another cheaper travelers’ inn, she learned that a prowling humanoid had been seen in a bad part of town, and that a stranger’s mutilated body had also been found there.
After a quick dinner, the party decided to investigate the "bad part of town." Elana disguised herself as a poor commoner and moved away from the crowd, while Lina’s familiar flew around and snooped. After a few hours, Elana heard noises from a side alley: the muffled sounds of a struggle. She approached the alley, followed by Edward, and came upon a fight going on. Shortly after their arrival, three dead thugs lay in the alley, and one rescued girl thanked Edward and Elana for her life. Edward inspected the bodies. All were humans (apparently), with no claws; however, the third thug bore the unholy symbol of Rallaster.
Elana questioned the girl, who turned out to live and work in a tavern in the area, being from a poor family. "Those thugs just grabbed me as I was walking by!" she cried. The thugs’ bodies had only a few cheap coins, which the party gave to the girl. They escorted her safely home, then returned to the Emerald Inn. They kept the unholy symbol.
More questions the next morning revealed that a stranger a few months ago came to the city library, searching for information on monsters, the bigger the better; also, a scruffy, downtrodden character had been coming into town, ordering supplies (foods, household items, also scrap metals), then heading south out of town. Elana also learned of a report from a wounded, dying halfling, telling of finding a shrine to an evil god in the hills south of the city (the Kron Hills), as well as someone overhearing an ugly humanoid leaving the city outskirts, muttering "Rallaster". Firiona and Lina learned that, over most of last year, a strange band of hunters had been seen coming and going into town; also, an unusually large humanoid had been seen on the outskirts, with one of the strange hunters each time. Arnold was briefed, and sought to develop his own information if possible.
One of the party’s contacts came to them the next morning, bearing news. Leaving business late last night on the edge of town, the man heard a strange-looking person shuffling by; the person had unusually long fingers and was muttering, mostly unintelligibly. Some of the mutterings included "wake the beast", "Rallaster", and "end of the world". The man was afraid, and quickly went back into an alley and hid. Elana used her bardic knowledge, trying to identify the three phrases. She could draw no connection between "Rallaster" and the two other phrases; however, the two remaining phrases did seem to be connected. She recalled hints of cultish groups seeking to summon monsters, the bigger the better, and turn them loose on the world to wreak destruction.
Elana and the others then visited the city library to follow up on the "monster book" clues. At the library, the librarian remembered a suspicious character asking for such books. He showed the party the books. They proved insufficient to answer Elana’s questions. The librarian then advised the party, "If you’re really interested in obscure lore or other things we don’t have books on, try going to Greyhawk. They have larger libraries than we do." So Arnold suggested splitting up, with him staying in town to take care of business while the others went to Greyhawk to follow up on leads. "Get some good spies, Arnold, and try to find and follow the supply flunky," Elana advised.
Once in Greyhawk, Elana identified exactly what library to go to. Once there, she asked the librarian about the Verbobonc inquirer. The head librarian referred the party to the head research librarian. He remembered someone making the same inquiry about three months ago. He also remembered the books he found for the inquirer, some rare or otherwise restricted. The party asked to look at them, and the librarian complied, returning after a time with six books. After examining the books, the party discovered that two books had torn-out pages. "Do you know what was on these pages?" the party asked. The librarian examined the books, and gasped at the realization of what was missing. "The missing pages describe . . . the tarrasque!" he exclaimed.
The party realized they were in trouble now.
Several weeks of intense additional research armed the party with all available knowledge about the tarrasque, including how to make incredible weapons and armor from its claws and hide and diamonds from its carapace, and, most importantly, the only known way to kill it–by knocking it unconscious and then wishing it dead. Elana also uncovered the true significance of "wake the beast": it was associated with cult groups known as "Wakers of the Beast". Cultists were said to acquire powers associated with an unknown monster, even as they lost some of their humanoid characteristics. An ancient police report shed further light on an earlier instance of cult activity, associated, surprisingly, with Nerull rather than Rallaster.
In the meantime, Arnold’s spy network back at Verbobonc had achieved results: a spy followed the flunky to a secret hideout. So, over the next week, various spies and agents watched the hideout and the perimeter of town, look for that unusually large humanoid who met with the strange hunters. After several days, the surveillance bore fruit, and a hidden hunter’s camp in the forest outside the city was located. A short, but sharp, battle ensued, and the party captured the hunter: an ugly human but otherwise unremarkable.
Edward interrogated the hunter. The results were surprising.
"Who are you?" "A simple hunter."
"Who are you really?" "My name is Aldo."
"Who do you worship?" "We are followers of Rallaster--you wouldn’t understand him!"
"Why are you here?" "To waken the beast--the beast that will destroy the world! The great devourer!"
The hunter began babbling incoherently. Edward pressed on. "What is your mission?" "Soon we will gather together and our leader will take us to the secret shrine."
The hunter eventually revealed that their leader, a being named Teshan, and the rest of the cultists would soon attempt to "wake the beast" at a secret shrine to which Teshan would lead them. Teshan was described as very tall, with large, long long fingers and mighty claws. The hunter even revealed the secret word that would open the hidden door to the cultists’ nearby hideout.
Edward then proposed a plan: he would infiltrate the hideout, impersonating Aldo, and place himself among the cultists when the beast was to be awakened. Meanwhile, the rest of the party, telepathically linked to Edward, would secretly follow. At the appropriate time, they would attack the cultists and attempt to prevent completion of the summoning.
At the hidden door, Edward successfully impersonated Aldo and bluffed his way inside. Eventually, through a previously secret door, several figures entered. One was a lot taller than normal, but all had unusually long fingers, and the leader had blade-like claws! The crowd became excited, and Edward followed along. When the large figure addressee the crowd, he didn’t sound very smart. "Tonight we work together! Maybe succeed tonight!" he shouted. "Follow me! We go! Meet others on way!"
Out they went, with the rest of the party turning invisible and following along. About six hours’ march led the cultists to their goal, but by then the rest of the party was out of telepathic range and were forced to track the cultists. Deep in the Kron Hills, a canyon led to an area with an old rockfall through which a narrow opening led inward. The cultists entered, Edward among them. Once through the rockfall, they entered a really wide passage, with a high ceiling, that extended about 200 feet before reaching a vast underground cavern, at the end of which was another huge rockfall.
At the far end, toward the rockfall, Teshan and several other clawed figures gathered. Teshan addressed the cultists again. "Wakers finally find sleeping place. Today maybe we rouse great devourer!" he shouted. "We wake it, it never sleep again! Take world now! Take us first!" He and the other Waker leaders then began to chant strange words of evil power. Meanwhile, the party had followed the cultists and Edward, and positioned themselves, trying to move silently. Unfortunately, one of them was not silent enough.
The cultists were alerted. Battle ensued!
While most of the cult leaders continued with their summoning ritual, Arnold fell back and hid, watching from around a corner. A group of armed cultists made for the tunnel entrance, hoping to block access to any (still invisible) intruders. Green Arrow, undeterred, loosed a hail of arrows, including a death arrow aimed at Teshan. Teshan took heavy damage but did not fall. Five other Wakers, and three cultists, also took heavy damage, while one of the Wakers was critically hit and felled. Lina moved up toward Arnold, while Firiona cast quickened and empowered fireballs to blast more of the monster’s demented votaries.
Another group of armed cultists, stealthier than the rest, moved toward the intruders, some of whom were now visible. One of the Waker leaders, leaving off his chanting, directed magic missiles at Firiona, inflicting minor damage. Edward, still in disguise, moved back toward the center of the cavern to "protect" Teshan. A third group of fighting cultists all ran toward Firiona and Green Arrow. Teshan waved his hands and spoke mysterious words, apparently casting some type of spell immunity on himself, while other leading Waker cast additional protective spells on themselves. A huge half-orc Waker, a raging barbarian, raced toward the party, as did four other heavily armed fighters.
As Arnold backed up, still watching the action, several of the fighters assaulting Green Arrow tried to disarm or grapple him, but the doughty elf evaded them. Another swung at Firiona with his axe, but missed. The rest continued to advance. Green Arrow again fired a volley of arrows, and a Waker leader fell dead, silencing another chanting voice. A prismatic spray leapt from Lina’s fingers, injuring three of the armed cultists, killing another two outright, poisoning still another, stoning two others, driving two more insane, and sending five more to other planes, as she proved she was truly Firiona’s sister. Meanwhile, Firiona herself, becoming visible, pointed a finger at another Waker, who failed to resist her power and disintegrated into a pile of dust.
Edward chose this moment to reveal himself, and charged the heavily wounded Teshan. Summoning all his might, he smote the monstrous humanoid creature. Still, two other leaders of the Wakers continued their summoning ritual. Meanwhile, the raging half-orc charged Lina, but she easily side-stepped his crazed charge. As she did, she heard a low rumbling start, emanating from the rockfall at the far end of the chamber.
Moving up behind Firiona, Arnold saw two armed cultists rush up to Green Arrow. One of them stripped the bow from the elvish archer! He immediately picked up his bow, but was stricken by the warrior as he did so. Green Arrow then flew up and away from the warrior. Firiona blasted the raging half-orc with a scorching ray, and Lina followed up with yet another prismatic spray, frying the barbarian with a bolt of electric power, poisoning two others of the enemy and sending still others off to other planes. But six sneaking cultists then spread out, trying to minimize their vulnerability to further sprays. At the other end of the cavern, Edward continued his assault on the Wakers’ leader, and eventually smote him to his ruin. The monstrous figure was felled by the power of Hieroneous and the mighty paladin.
But one of the surviving warriors of the Wakers ran up beside Edward, flanking him, and a Waker leader, drawing a huge mercurial greatsword, drew blood from the paladin! Seeing an opportunity, another Waker leader tried to bullrush Edward, but lacked the strength to move him. The remaining Waker fighter fled into the corridor past Green Arrow, who was unable to strike him as he passed.
The rumbling noise was getting louder.
Seizing his chance to finally strike a blow, Arnold stabbed at one of the sneaky cultists with his frost rapier, drawing blood and weakening the roguish enemy. Green Arrow’s next flight of arrows took down still more of the Wakers’ followers. Firiona cast fly on herself and flew up next to Green Arrow, as did Lina, now in pit fiend form. Meanwhile, a roguish follower tried to flank-attack Arnold, but failed. Another fled back down the corridor. The remaining Waker leaders fell to Edward’s unstoppable attacks. But as they did so, the rumbling reached a crescendo, causing a rockfall in the corridor that killed one of the fleeing Waker followers. Suddenly, the rocks at end of the cavern collapsed. Bursting through the piled rubble with a deafening roar, it emerged--the tarrasque!
One of the remaining followers screamed, "Hail the beast!", drawing the attention of the tarrasque. The monster instantly attacked him, grappled him, then swallowed him whole!
The party quickly realized that they couldn’t stop the monster. Green Arrow flew at top speed out of the cavern. Lina flew to Firiona, then sought the end of the tunnel via dimension door. Arnold quaffed a potion of flying and flew out of the tunnel.
Edward checked the monster, seeing if it had sustained any injuries–it hadn’t–and then, activating the power of his sword, flew out as well.
One remaining follower bowed down before the monster and was quickly swallowed. The others, suddenly losing their devotion to ending the world and themselves, ran away as fast as they could.
The Great Devourer had been wakened.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)