The next morning, fully rested, and somewhat restored (except for the guards, who had suffered severely from the vitality-draining powers of the spectres and dread wraiths), the wagon train set off on the next stage of their journey. After seven days, they emerged from the Sulhaut Mountains to face their next obstacle: a tremendous desert, extending south, east and west as far as the eye could see.
They now followed the foothills of the vast range, along the northern fringe of the desert, where even the hardy desert vegetation soon disappeared into the burning sands. "We need to head west about a hundred miles," the merchants advised the adventurers. "Then we turn southwest," they continued. "Eventually we’ll reach an oasis, then the final leg will get us to Uf."
"That’s a lot of desert to cover," Edward noted.
"Then we’d best get started," answered the merchants.
After five days of difficult travel, the wagon train had advanced about sixty miles west. It was late in the day. The path the wagon train was following began to curve to the right. Suddenly Edward held up. "Do you see that?" he asked Green Arrow. The elven archer paused, listening. He heard what sounded like the sound of distant roaring. Both of them spotted something flying toward them at speed.
The flyer rapidly came into view. A couatl.
Edward heard the creature speaking to him telepathically. None of the others in the wagon train heard it.
"Can you help us?" pleaded the couatl. And it began to explain the need that drove it to seek the aid of Edward and his companions.
Ten years ago
Iphess and Simeheff, great wyrm brass dragons, life mates, long-time residents in the far reaches of the Sulhaut Mountains just north of the Sea of Dust, were enjoying their recent good fortune. Seismic activity in the area had caused a large rockslide that had exposed the opening of a large tunnel into the mountains. A subsequent windstorm had exposed a road leading into the tunnel. Investigating the newly opened tunnel, the dragons came upon a huge mining complex, long-abandoned and the work of some unknown race or nation, perhaps the ancient Suel from over a thousand years ago, that appeared to have abandoned the mine suddenly and while it was fully operational. Vast metal ore deposits and large quantities of refined metals were piled and strewn about the complex. Nothing could have been more pleasing to a pair of brass dragons.
The two dragons began to assemble the metals into a huge hoard, and combined it with gold, silver, coins and other precious objects from their previous lair, which they soon abandoned in favor of the mining complex. They also made every effort to secure their new abode, and to prevent word of their discovery from leaking out into the wider world. For a treasure trove of this magnitude would surely attract plunderers from all over the multiverse if its existence became known.
And yet, despite their best efforts, word somehow did leak out.
Earlier that day
"Motion to the south, and dust," Iphess warned Simeheff, her mate. The two dragons were positioned just inside the entrance to the mining complex, which was about thirty-five feet wide by twenty feet high. A short, triangular valley, about sixty yards long and bound by tall cliffs, extended into the mountainside, ending at the entrance.
"How much can you see?" the male dragon asked.
Iphess focused her gaze out into the desert sands. "Great wyrm blue. Looks like Zizz," she continued. They had battled this particular great wyrm blue dragon, Zizzetokhtaangkesh, in years past, when they had dwelt in their previous lair. "And bluespawn. Four stormlizards at least. And a godslayer."
"Knowing the blues, probably more that cannot be seen, likely burrowing toward us," observed Simeheff. "We must summon allies."
Iphess was a master of conjuration magic, and proceeded to summon as many allies as she could. A pair of celestial elephants, a celestial triceratops, a ghaele eladrin, and a couatl answered her call.
The dragons and their summoned allies swiftly deployed outside the entrance to the mining complex, Iphess and Simeheff taking their places just outside the entrance, the celestial elephants on their right along the valley wall, the triceratops across from Simeheff to his left against the opposite valley wall. The eladrin stood to Simeheff’s left; the couatl flew overhead above the triceratops. The dragons and their eladrin and couatl allies spelled up as best they could in preparation for the onslaught of their blue enemies.
Flying farther upward, the couatl struck first, directing a fireball at the approaching stormlizards. All four of the Tiamat-spawn were scorched. The great wyrm blue dragon soared toward Simeheff. His stunning breath spell was countered by Simeheff’s dispel magic; his follow-up breath weapon attack did minor electrical damage to the brass dragon. The remaining defenders held their ground.
"Ambushers approaching!" the couatl warned Iphess as it continued to fly above the battle. It had spotted a horde of ten bluespawn ambushers heading toward the defenders from the right, along the edge of the foothills leading to the valley.
Zizz took wing and soared over Simeheff, attacking the brass dragon as he winged over and banked to his left, making a U-turn and preparing for another fly-by. His tail-slap missed Simeheff. The brass dragon, in response, flew up and over the valley wall and struck at his blue enemy, slashing at his back for moderate damage. As the two great wyrms battled, the godslayer (now seen to be a fighter as well) rushed toward Iphess. She instantly struck the enemy dragon with a chaos hammer spell, wounding and slowing the creature.
Now the celestial elephants and the celestial triceratops redeployed to form a wall to the defenders’ left flank, opposing the assault of the godslayer, and the advancing stormlizards. From above, the couatl launched another fireball, this time blasting the bluespawn ambushers for substantial damage.
The blue wyrm continued flying back over the valley, then turned back and fired a cone of cold at Simeheff. The spell failed to penetrate the brass dragon’s spell resistance and fizzled harmlessly. But now the ghaele eladrin’s flamestrike blasted the blue dragon, and Simeheff, soaring upward above the valley, followed with a fiery breath attack that singed his foe’s scales. Meanwhile, as the celestial elephants stood their ground, Iphess benefitted them, and the triceratops, with her wand of mass bull’s strength. The added strength was immediately put to use against the charging stormlizards. Both bands of creatures wounded their foes, but the stormlizards were confused due to the elephants’ protective cloak of chaos bestowed on them by Iphess. The triceratops joined in the battle, devastating one of the stormlizards.
Another fireball from the couatl blasted the stormlizards. But the flying serpent then spotted yet another group of foes approaching. "Burrowers!" the creature warned Iphess, as ten exceptionally large bluespawn burrowers appeared to the defenders’ right and then quickly burrowed beneath the sandy floor of the valley. As they did so, Zizz flew up and back over the right valley wall in a flyover attack against Simeheff, but his bite missed the brass dragon. But Simeheff continued on his flightpath, turning to the right until he was heading back toward Zizz. A blast of fiery breath seriously wounded the blue dragon.
The battle raged. The godslayer slowly moved into contact with the celestial triceratops, but the huge beast ignored it, instead focusing its rage on one of the stormlizards, which it fatally impaled on its horns. The celestial elephants likewise attacked the stormlizards, who struck back with a fury, in their confused state, both at the dragons’ allies and at each other. Iphess’ timely mass cure critical wounds kept the elephants and dinosaur in fighting condition.
Meanwhile, the ghaele eladrin cast holy star, producing multiple fire bolts at the godslayer for serious damage. Now the couatl focused its attention on the godslayer as well, blasting it with still another fireball. The godslayer in turn landed a vicious blow on the celestial triceratops. The eladrin continued with a holy smite, striking the godslayer and the surviving stormlizards. Iphess joined the struggle, flying to land behind the godslayer, from which position she bit and bloodied the blue Tiamat-spawn.
Overhead, Zizz flew in a 270-degree turn to assault Simeheff from the south. The blue wyrm attempted to dispel his foe’s cloak of chaos, but failed. Simeheff launched into a twisted Immelman and headed back toward Zizz. A word of chaos stunned and deafened the blue dragon, and he plummeted to the ground!
At the other side of the valley, the three surviving stormlizards moved into flanking positions about the celestial elephants and triceratops. Suddenly, arcs of lightning sizzled between the dragons, shocking the elephants and the dinosaur for serious damage! Enraged, the elephants struck back, battering two of the stormlizards.
Something made its way into the awareness of the couatl. Several immense creatures were present. Creatures that were invisible, and that were rushing into the battle. "Three dragons incoming. All invisible!" the winged serpent alerted Iphess and Simeheff. Before either could react, Simeheff heard the rush of wings beating the air, coming at him from his left. A slashing fly-by attack seriously wounded the great wyrm. The invisible attacker wheeled around and landed behind Simeheff. Another invisible attacker flew over Zizz, severely wounding the helpless blue wyrm, then turned around and landed between Zizz and the mine entrance.
Little did the invisible attackers know that Simeheff’s true seeing revealed their presence. Still, Simeheff focused on the visible enemy. The brass dragon landed south of Zizz and inflicted a savage bite wound on the blue dragon. While her mate was thus engaged, Iphess landed and breathed at the (not-so-)invisible dragon south of Simeheff. Her fiery breath weapon blasted the dragon for serious damage. But then yet another intervening dragon blasted Iphess with superheated sparks, shocking and burning her, then slashed at her as he flew over, inflicting still more wounds. The creature made a U-turn and landed west of the dragon that Iphess had blasted.
Meanwhile, the godslayer struck the celestial triceratops, but in turn was burned by another firebolt from the eladrin’s holy star. Landing next to the dinosaur, the ghaele eladrin strengthened the beast with bear’s endurance. The dinosaur needed all the help it could get: the stormlizards attacked it, and the elephants, with electrical bolts and gore attacks. In return, the brass dragons’ allies savaged the stormlizards.
The valley was now filled with dragons and dragonkind. Zizzetokhtaangkesh, the great wyrm blue dragon, and his bluespawn minions, battling the great wyrm brass dragons Iphess and Simeheff and their allies, and both battling the three extra-planar interlopers, two tremendous rust dragons and a ferocious iron dragon. Zizz, still deafened but now able to attack again, focused on Simeheff and viciously wounded the brass dragon. Simeheff attacked back for even more damage. But now the smaller of the two rust dragons rushed Simeheff from his blind side and attempted to strip the brass dragon of his magical protections and steal them for himself via a reaving dispel. The attempt was unsuccessful, and Simeheff battled on. From Zizz’s blind side, the larger rust dragon also charged, and laying a claw on the blue dragon, tried to make him dance. Otto’s dance proved resistible, however, and Zizz remained focused on Simeheff for the time being.
Seeing her need, the ghaele eladrin flew to Iphess and provided a timely heal spell. The female brass dragon then attacked the smaller rust dragon’s right flank rear, biting and drawing blood. At the same time, the iron dragon crashed into Iphess and also bit.
Off to the right side of the valley, the godslayer, no longer slowed, had slashed at Iphess as she charged at the smaller rust dragon, wounding her seriously but suffering from confusion due to Iphess’ cloak of chaos. The stormlizards swiftly linked up to deal more electric damage to the celestial elephants, the gored the dinosaur and one of the elephants. Their number was reduced to two as the celestial triceratops fatally gored the first of the stormlizards. But the stormlizards in turn took out one of the elephants.
The battle was becoming desperate. From his aerial observation point, the couatl spotted movement far around the bend of the foothills to its left. It cast see invisible to ensure that no hidden foes were also nearing, and detected for evil, but found none. Hoping that the approaching beings, whoever they were, might prove friendly and able to help, the couatl sped toward them.
Suddenly, the great wyrm blue dragon disappeared, only to reappear three hundred feet above the valley floor. The lesser rust dragon seared Simeheff with a line of acid. The larger rust dragon moved in and again tried to compel Simeheff to dance, but failed to overcome the brass dragon’s spell resistance. Iphess, seeking to reposition herself, withdrew back and up two hundred feet above the eastern wall of the canyon, while Simeheff retaliated against the larger rust dragon with a fiery blast that burned the creature for serious damage. Simeheff then flew up and over the west side cliffs, leaving the valley.
As the colossal dragons battled, the godslayer began to babble, still confused. The eladrin seized the opportunity and seared the godslayer with two light rays. But now the iron dragon joined the attack, biting the godslayer as he flew by to pursue Iphess. The two surviving stormlizards gored the celestial elephant and triceratops, killing the remaining elephant. The triceratops took out another stormlizard, leaving only one left to deal with.
Mid-day
The couatl approached the advancing wagon train. The party appeared to include at least one powerful fighter. Speedily the flying serpent reached the party.
"Can you help us?" pleaded the couatl telepathically to the fighting human below.
"Who are you?" answered Edward, aloud.
"I am an ally of two noble brass dragons. They are under attack from evil blue dragons and bluespawn of Tiamat. And all are now prey to three planar dragons suddenly appearing to intervene, for purposes unknown," the couatl explained.
"Why are you under attack?" Edward continued.
"The brass dragons can tell you more. Most likely to plunder the metals and the treasure they have discovered and accumulated."
Edward shot a quick glance back to Green Arrow and Lina. Then, scarcely pausing for their reply, he answered the couatl. "We shall assist you!" the paladin declared. Green Arrow, following Edward’s lead, advised the wagon train crew to pull off the road and take shelter, such as it was, in the foothills north of the road. He pulled an item out of his haversack. "Take this," he told the leader of the wagon train. "It’s a bracelet of friends. If you find yourselves in danger, activate it and I’ll be there."
Lina promptly shapechanged to solar form. "Let’s see what these dragons can do!" she urged. And the three adventurers accompanied the couatl to battle.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
LXIII. Deathdrinker
The caravan entered the ruined town. Green Arrow promptly activated his winged boots, flew up over the town and took the point. As he looked down, he spotted the shadowy forms of undead creatures: spectres!
While Green Arrow was scouting the town, Lina shapechanged to solar form. Edward approached the first building at the edge of the town, a U-shaped structure, half collapsed, with a small courtyard between two wings, and peered into the tumbled-down east wall. Inside, he also spotted spectre. Just then, Green Arrow called out, "We’ve got company!"
Edward quickly protected himself with death ward, then advanced toward the spectre. "Why aren’t you resting in a grave?" the paladin questioned the undead creature. "What is your business here?" The spectre’s response was not what Edward expected: it immediately withdrew from the ruined building. Nothing of value was present in the building, so Edward moved on
Lina assumed the form of a nightwalker (much to Edward’s displeasure) and confronted another spectre. It too fled, at which point Lina reverted to solar form, appeasing Edward.
Past the northern outskirts of the town, Edward located a large graveyard. He went to investigate the cemetery, and encountered still another spectre. He tried to shake hands with the incorporeal undead, but the creature fled as had all the other spectres they had encountered so far. From his knowledge of religions, Edward determined that this was an ordinary spectre, nothing special about it.
A dozen or so yards down the road into the town lay another ruined structure, and the story repeated: spot spectre, advance, watch spectre flee. Across the street, in the rubble of another destroyed building, Edward spotted a different creature, this time what appeared to be a dread wraith. He attempted to question the wraith, but it fled as had all the other creatures.
Above the town, Green Arrow positioned himself behind the last wagons of the caravan. Nothing threatening was visible to the elven archer.
Another ten yards along the road into the town was a relatively intact home. In a bedroom, Edward found some fine furniture, as well a some hidden valuables, including a sword which he left for Lina. No spectres or wraiths haunted this building. Nor were any found in the ruined building to the rear of the home.
The paladin crossed to the north side of the street to investigate another intact home. He spotted another dread wraith inside the building. Like the others he had seen before, it fled from him. The living room and bedroom were well furnished. Several sets of expensive clothing, some reference books, and a fine tapestry were recovered and given to the merchants, who stowed them in one of their wagons.
Next door to the home was a weed-choked, dusty park, with a dried-up fountain. Edward spotted another dread wraith lurking behind the fountain. It quickly fled north across the road to another ruined structure. In the fountain lay a skeleton with a sword in its back.
The road through the town continued westward for a few yards, then began to curve to the south, eventually forming a large "U". A large building on the south side of the road, where the road began to curve, proved to have been ransacked.
Looming above the rest of the ruined town, to the west of the bend in the road, was what appeared to be a sizable temple. It had been defaced and vandalized to the extent that the deity to which it had been dedicated could not be determined. "Wonder whose temple this was?" Green Arrow pondered as the caravan approached the edifice.
As the party approached the steps leading up to the temple, a shadowy form took shape before them. A shadowy dragon form. A dragon ghost!
At the same time, dread wraiths and spectres emerged from their hiding places and fell upon the caravan, attacking the guards and draining their vitality. The ghostly dragon flew back from the front of the temple, then soared up forty feet over the party and breathed fire at Green Arrow, Lina and Edward, all of whom were astonished that a dragon ghost retained its breath weapon. The elven archer’s quick reflexes saved him from any damage from the fiery blast. Edward’s helm of brilliance completely negated the fire. Only Lina took any damage, and she rapidly recovered, being in solar form.
Two shots from Green Arrow’s bow struck the ghost, inflicting serious wounds. Quickly, the elf flew downward and positioned himself behind Edward. The mighty paladin, not at all intimidated by the ghostly dragon, charged through the air directly at the ghost, crying, "Time to meet Gabriel!" The ghost touch weapon devastated the incorporeal creature, which bellowed under the attack.
As Edward faced the ghost, the wraiths and spectres continued their assault on the caravan, draining still more life from the beleaguered guards. One of the wraiths turned its attention to Edward and landed a heavy blow. Fortunately for the paladin, his scarab prevented the wraith from draining him as well. Another wraith flew at speed toward Edward.
Now casting on the defensive, the dragon ghost dispelled Edward’s death ward protection, then flew over a large ruin to the east of the bend in the road. Edward got in an opportunistic blow, further wounding the creature as it flew by.
Green Arrow’s attack of opportunity also missed. But the elven archer was far from finished. He flew toward the temple, then turned toward the wraiths and spectres and unleashed a hail of arrows at the undead. Two of the wraiths and three of the spectres felt the sting of Green Arrow’s bow.
Meanwhile, Lina sent a maximized scorching ray at the spectres, torching two for serious damage, while the third evaded the attack. She then flew to the end of the wagon train to assist the guards, teamsters and merchants, who had taken defensive positions as best they could under the onslaught of the incorporeal beings.
Ignoring the pesky wraiths and spectres, Edward charged the dragon ghost again. This time, his furious assault on the ghost was enough to destroy it. As he did, an evil voice rang out from an unknown location. "So, you think yourselves mighty," the voice ominously observed. "We shall see!"
The wraiths now focused on Green Arrow, four of them striking the elven archer. He shrugged off the damage, and suffered no loss of vitality due to his own scarab, but swiftly withdrew fifty feet from the incorporeal creatures. The spectres continued to attack the wagon train’s guards, three of them draining still more life from their victims. Another scorching ray from Lina struck one of the spectres, but missed another two. She withdrew back over the U in the road to fly above the ransacked building.
Shouting his war cry, Edward flew straight at the dread wraiths, focusing on the first of the five. All were able to land blows against the on-rushing paladin, but again, his scarab prevented any loss of vitality. He slashed the first wraith, landing blow after blow that left the incorporeal creature tattered and heavily damaged.
And still the spectres continued to attack the hapless guards and crew of the wagon train, draining still more life energy from the guards. The wraiths, having withdrawn to the ruined structure south of the ransacked building, came under attack from Green Arrow. They survived the elven archer’s assault, but three quickly fell to Edward’s charge as he smote the evil creatures. The spectres were more fortunate, as another of Lina’s scorching rays failed to find their targets.
The surviving wraiths and spectres gathered to regroup between the two buildings in the U of the road. They came under fire from Green Arrow and Lina, and another dread wraith was destroyed. Edward added to the assault with a prismatic spray from his helm, but did little damage as most of the rays missed the incorporeal creatures.
An evil laugh came from out of nowhere. It was followed by the sudden appearance of a huge, horned creature with a huge, bloody sword. "Demon!" shouted Green Arrow. He was unable to identify the fiend any more precisely.
The demon immediately fell upon Edward, and landed four devastating blows on the mighty paladin, one striking deep into his shield arm. "Vaakh’lihgh’t has come for you! I shall drink of your deaths!" the fiend shouted. Some kind of deadly aura from the demon seemed to drain Edward of even more strength. The situation appeared desperate for Edward!
Things became more desperate as the last dread wraith flanked the paladin and landed an incorporeal touch, although, again fortunately for him, Edward’s scarab prevented any loss of vitality. The spectres rushed to surround him, and one struck him for more damage.
"Hold still!" Green Arrow called out to Edward. The elven archer then loosed a flight of five arrows of cure critical wounds! Instantly, the healing power of the arrows undid most of the damage the demon had inflicted on him. "Thanks, I needed that," Edward acknowledged.
The mighty paladin then turned toward his demonic foe. "Oh Hieroneous! Let Gabriel strike my foe!" he called on his patron deity, as the demon continued to laugh at him.
The demon apparently had never encountered a paladin before. Or at least, not a high-level paladin armed with a mercurial greatsword and the power of Hieroneous behind him. Three mighty blows connected with the demon, as the divine power of Hieroneous flowed through the sword to smite the evil being. The third blow pierced the demon’s evil heart and exited the back of the creature. His laughter died on his lips as his black blood gushed out of his body. "That’s not . . . right," the creature gasped. And then crashed to the ground, shaking the surroundings with his fall as he died.
Edward pulled his sword from the corpse of the huge demon and started to shout in victory. But his shout was cut off in mid-sentence. He felt a terrible stabbing pain in his back. Blood spurted from a puncture. Bright red blood, as if an artery in his back had been cut. He turned around to see a rapier being pulled back toward another ghostly figure, this one seemingly a former human. The last dread wraith again touched Edward for still more damage, as did one of the spectres.
Green Arrow pulled out two arrows of death and fired them at the ghostly assassin, but failed to destroy the ghost. He did, however, succeed in sending three more arrows of cure critical wounds Edward’s way, healing the paladin of some of the latest damage he had suffered. Now Edward faced his ghostly attacker. "Time to join your comrades!" he cried, and Gabriel claimed his third victim of the battle.
With the fall of their strongest allies, the remaining dread wraith and the surviving spectres quickly fled the scene.
Although the battle was over, Edward noticed that he continued to bleed. "Must have been something about that rapier," he said. So, while Green Arrow employed a wand of cure critical wounds to restore Edward to approximately full strength, Edward read a scroll of remove curse. This proved sufficient to stop further bleeding from the wound.
The teamsters and guards of the wagon train heaved sighs of relief at the end of the battle. "This should get business back to normal, gods willing," one of the merchants observed. While the crew returned to their wagons, now that the ruined city had been cleared of its evil occupants, the adventurers searched the remains of their fallen foes. Much booty was collected.
As he was searching the corpses, Edward suddenly stopped to listen. He heard a faint noise from somewhere above him, as if the sound of wings in the mountain air. He looked up.
Black crows were winging across the sky. Winging back toward the Sulhaut Mountains and Kanak. Back toward the Hellfurnace Mountains.
"Well, we’d better call it a night," suggested Lina. "Best idea I've heard today," agreed Edward.
While Green Arrow was scouting the town, Lina shapechanged to solar form. Edward approached the first building at the edge of the town, a U-shaped structure, half collapsed, with a small courtyard between two wings, and peered into the tumbled-down east wall. Inside, he also spotted spectre. Just then, Green Arrow called out, "We’ve got company!"
Edward quickly protected himself with death ward, then advanced toward the spectre. "Why aren’t you resting in a grave?" the paladin questioned the undead creature. "What is your business here?" The spectre’s response was not what Edward expected: it immediately withdrew from the ruined building. Nothing of value was present in the building, so Edward moved on
Lina assumed the form of a nightwalker (much to Edward’s displeasure) and confronted another spectre. It too fled, at which point Lina reverted to solar form, appeasing Edward.
Past the northern outskirts of the town, Edward located a large graveyard. He went to investigate the cemetery, and encountered still another spectre. He tried to shake hands with the incorporeal undead, but the creature fled as had all the other spectres they had encountered so far. From his knowledge of religions, Edward determined that this was an ordinary spectre, nothing special about it.
A dozen or so yards down the road into the town lay another ruined structure, and the story repeated: spot spectre, advance, watch spectre flee. Across the street, in the rubble of another destroyed building, Edward spotted a different creature, this time what appeared to be a dread wraith. He attempted to question the wraith, but it fled as had all the other creatures.
Above the town, Green Arrow positioned himself behind the last wagons of the caravan. Nothing threatening was visible to the elven archer.
Another ten yards along the road into the town was a relatively intact home. In a bedroom, Edward found some fine furniture, as well a some hidden valuables, including a sword which he left for Lina. No spectres or wraiths haunted this building. Nor were any found in the ruined building to the rear of the home.
The paladin crossed to the north side of the street to investigate another intact home. He spotted another dread wraith inside the building. Like the others he had seen before, it fled from him. The living room and bedroom were well furnished. Several sets of expensive clothing, some reference books, and a fine tapestry were recovered and given to the merchants, who stowed them in one of their wagons.
Next door to the home was a weed-choked, dusty park, with a dried-up fountain. Edward spotted another dread wraith lurking behind the fountain. It quickly fled north across the road to another ruined structure. In the fountain lay a skeleton with a sword in its back.
The road through the town continued westward for a few yards, then began to curve to the south, eventually forming a large "U". A large building on the south side of the road, where the road began to curve, proved to have been ransacked.
Looming above the rest of the ruined town, to the west of the bend in the road, was what appeared to be a sizable temple. It had been defaced and vandalized to the extent that the deity to which it had been dedicated could not be determined. "Wonder whose temple this was?" Green Arrow pondered as the caravan approached the edifice.
As the party approached the steps leading up to the temple, a shadowy form took shape before them. A shadowy dragon form. A dragon ghost!
At the same time, dread wraiths and spectres emerged from their hiding places and fell upon the caravan, attacking the guards and draining their vitality. The ghostly dragon flew back from the front of the temple, then soared up forty feet over the party and breathed fire at Green Arrow, Lina and Edward, all of whom were astonished that a dragon ghost retained its breath weapon. The elven archer’s quick reflexes saved him from any damage from the fiery blast. Edward’s helm of brilliance completely negated the fire. Only Lina took any damage, and she rapidly recovered, being in solar form.
Two shots from Green Arrow’s bow struck the ghost, inflicting serious wounds. Quickly, the elf flew downward and positioned himself behind Edward. The mighty paladin, not at all intimidated by the ghostly dragon, charged through the air directly at the ghost, crying, "Time to meet Gabriel!" The ghost touch weapon devastated the incorporeal creature, which bellowed under the attack.
As Edward faced the ghost, the wraiths and spectres continued their assault on the caravan, draining still more life from the beleaguered guards. One of the wraiths turned its attention to Edward and landed a heavy blow. Fortunately for the paladin, his scarab prevented the wraith from draining him as well. Another wraith flew at speed toward Edward.
Now casting on the defensive, the dragon ghost dispelled Edward’s death ward protection, then flew over a large ruin to the east of the bend in the road. Edward got in an opportunistic blow, further wounding the creature as it flew by.
Green Arrow’s attack of opportunity also missed. But the elven archer was far from finished. He flew toward the temple, then turned toward the wraiths and spectres and unleashed a hail of arrows at the undead. Two of the wraiths and three of the spectres felt the sting of Green Arrow’s bow.
Meanwhile, Lina sent a maximized scorching ray at the spectres, torching two for serious damage, while the third evaded the attack. She then flew to the end of the wagon train to assist the guards, teamsters and merchants, who had taken defensive positions as best they could under the onslaught of the incorporeal beings.
Ignoring the pesky wraiths and spectres, Edward charged the dragon ghost again. This time, his furious assault on the ghost was enough to destroy it. As he did, an evil voice rang out from an unknown location. "So, you think yourselves mighty," the voice ominously observed. "We shall see!"
The wraiths now focused on Green Arrow, four of them striking the elven archer. He shrugged off the damage, and suffered no loss of vitality due to his own scarab, but swiftly withdrew fifty feet from the incorporeal creatures. The spectres continued to attack the wagon train’s guards, three of them draining still more life from their victims. Another scorching ray from Lina struck one of the spectres, but missed another two. She withdrew back over the U in the road to fly above the ransacked building.
Shouting his war cry, Edward flew straight at the dread wraiths, focusing on the first of the five. All were able to land blows against the on-rushing paladin, but again, his scarab prevented any loss of vitality. He slashed the first wraith, landing blow after blow that left the incorporeal creature tattered and heavily damaged.
And still the spectres continued to attack the hapless guards and crew of the wagon train, draining still more life energy from the guards. The wraiths, having withdrawn to the ruined structure south of the ransacked building, came under attack from Green Arrow. They survived the elven archer’s assault, but three quickly fell to Edward’s charge as he smote the evil creatures. The spectres were more fortunate, as another of Lina’s scorching rays failed to find their targets.
The surviving wraiths and spectres gathered to regroup between the two buildings in the U of the road. They came under fire from Green Arrow and Lina, and another dread wraith was destroyed. Edward added to the assault with a prismatic spray from his helm, but did little damage as most of the rays missed the incorporeal creatures.
An evil laugh came from out of nowhere. It was followed by the sudden appearance of a huge, horned creature with a huge, bloody sword. "Demon!" shouted Green Arrow. He was unable to identify the fiend any more precisely.
The demon immediately fell upon Edward, and landed four devastating blows on the mighty paladin, one striking deep into his shield arm. "Vaakh’lihgh’t has come for you! I shall drink of your deaths!" the fiend shouted. Some kind of deadly aura from the demon seemed to drain Edward of even more strength. The situation appeared desperate for Edward!
Things became more desperate as the last dread wraith flanked the paladin and landed an incorporeal touch, although, again fortunately for him, Edward’s scarab prevented any loss of vitality. The spectres rushed to surround him, and one struck him for more damage.
"Hold still!" Green Arrow called out to Edward. The elven archer then loosed a flight of five arrows of cure critical wounds! Instantly, the healing power of the arrows undid most of the damage the demon had inflicted on him. "Thanks, I needed that," Edward acknowledged.
The mighty paladin then turned toward his demonic foe. "Oh Hieroneous! Let Gabriel strike my foe!" he called on his patron deity, as the demon continued to laugh at him.
The demon apparently had never encountered a paladin before. Or at least, not a high-level paladin armed with a mercurial greatsword and the power of Hieroneous behind him. Three mighty blows connected with the demon, as the divine power of Hieroneous flowed through the sword to smite the evil being. The third blow pierced the demon’s evil heart and exited the back of the creature. His laughter died on his lips as his black blood gushed out of his body. "That’s not . . . right," the creature gasped. And then crashed to the ground, shaking the surroundings with his fall as he died.
Edward pulled his sword from the corpse of the huge demon and started to shout in victory. But his shout was cut off in mid-sentence. He felt a terrible stabbing pain in his back. Blood spurted from a puncture. Bright red blood, as if an artery in his back had been cut. He turned around to see a rapier being pulled back toward another ghostly figure, this one seemingly a former human. The last dread wraith again touched Edward for still more damage, as did one of the spectres.
Green Arrow pulled out two arrows of death and fired them at the ghostly assassin, but failed to destroy the ghost. He did, however, succeed in sending three more arrows of cure critical wounds Edward’s way, healing the paladin of some of the latest damage he had suffered. Now Edward faced his ghostly attacker. "Time to join your comrades!" he cried, and Gabriel claimed his third victim of the battle.
With the fall of their strongest allies, the remaining dread wraith and the surviving spectres quickly fled the scene.
Although the battle was over, Edward noticed that he continued to bleed. "Must have been something about that rapier," he said. So, while Green Arrow employed a wand of cure critical wounds to restore Edward to approximately full strength, Edward read a scroll of remove curse. This proved sufficient to stop further bleeding from the wound.
The teamsters and guards of the wagon train heaved sighs of relief at the end of the battle. "This should get business back to normal, gods willing," one of the merchants observed. While the crew returned to their wagons, now that the ruined city had been cleared of its evil occupants, the adventurers searched the remains of their fallen foes. Much booty was collected.
As he was searching the corpses, Edward suddenly stopped to listen. He heard a faint noise from somewhere above him, as if the sound of wings in the mountain air. He looked up.
Black crows were winging across the sky. Winging back toward the Sulhaut Mountains and Kanak. Back toward the Hellfurnace Mountains.
"Well, we’d better call it a night," suggested Lina. "Best idea I've heard today," agreed Edward.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
LXII. Lina's In-Vest-Ment
"Well, that was fun," said Lina to nobody in particular, as she sat in the parlor of her estate in Darksea after returning from the desert of Khemri. And for the next few months, she took time off from adventuring to tend to her estate, visit with neighbors, work on her sorcerous powers, and take a few well-earned vacations. But soon enough, like any true adventurer would, she started getting restless. It didn’t help that her sister Firiona had gone off on a quest of her own, with or without company.
"Seems like everyone else is questing, or wants to go questing, so I might as well try my hand at it," she thought to herself. "The only question is, what do I want?"
After much consideration and a lot of research, Lina settled on what she wanted. Her investigations had led her to cryptic references to a powerful artifact known as the vest of the archmagi. This item, when worn by any spellcaster, was said to confer a number of astounding powers on the wearer, including greatly improved spell penetration, spell recall, and healing powers. However, the vest had disappeared centuries ago, and its whereabouts were unknown.
Her research, and use of a vision spell, yielded the mysterious words "Khemri" and "Thutep", apparently the names of a lost kingdom and one of its last rulers, as well as an image of a beautiful woman’s face, which may have been some kind of death mask. The city of Kanak, far to the southwest in the Plains of the Paynim, also seemed to have some significance.
"Well, let’s see if my friends are interested in another adventure," thought Lina to herself. "And Edward, at least, owes me some assistance after that war we fought in Chalons!" So, the elven sorceress went to Greyhawk, where she met with Edward and Green Arrow, who happened to be in Greyhawk at the same time as she was. "What do you say, fellas?" she asked. The paladin and the elven archer seemed agreeable to join Lina on her mission. "Guess it’s about time to go monster-hunting again," Green Arrow observed. Edward nodded. "And to generate some revenue!"
The first thing the party needed to do was to obtain information about, and ideally a map of, the city of Kanak. A brief search at the main Greyhawk library yielded both. The city was about one thousand miles as the crow flies from the city of Pellak, on the shore of Lake Udrukankar in the desert realm of the Paynim, of which it was their capital. Once the needed information was obtained, the adventurers teleported back to Darksea, where Lina had artisans at the Darksea Magic Academy prepare a number of needed magic items, including a wand of assay spell resistance (which was very rarely found in conventional magic shops). The production process took about two weeks. Edward and Green Arrow took the time to prepare themselves and obtain magic items of their own.
Two weeks went by, and finally the adventurers were ready. They teleported to the outskirts of Kanak, about two miles out. They could see in the distance Lake Udrukankar, a nearly lifeless body of salt water. Salt flats lay about them, to the east and north of the lake. A few groups of Paynim nomads could be seen in the distance, heading toward or from the city.
The party advanced toward their destination. From time to time they passed isolated structures, and more frequently, tents. The density of structures gradually increased, until they reached the outskirts of the city proper. The adventurers were surprised to note that the city had no walls surrounding it, although apparently it had had such defenses in earlier days. Perhaps the natives no longer needed to rely on defensive structures?
On entering the town, Lina noticed that the town’s inhabitants weren’t speaking common! At least, nobody was speaking common within earshot of them. This would present a substantial obstacle to the party if something weren’t done to facilitate communication with the natives. So, Lina shapechanged into a ghaele eladrin, thus gaining an eladrin’s tongues power, while Edward relied on Sharkbite’s similar ability.
Now able to communicate (primarily in Ancient Baklunish, as they learned), the party looked for the city’s marketplace. Eventually they found it: a large central square, surrounded by merchant’s stalls and heaps, stacks and sacks of goods of all kinds. Narrow streets and crowded alleys extended from the central square into the surrounding districts. Shops of greater or lesser quality fronted on the various side passages.
Lina’s initial attempts to gather information about the names from her vision met with no success. Nobody had ever heard of "Khemri" or "Thutep." Edward was likewise unsuccessful. So next, Lina began to look about the market to see if anyone were selling masks that might be similar to the image she had seen. Again, she spotted no such items. But this time, Edward began to gather information about merchants that might deal in such objects.
"Ah, yes," said one man. "Dry Bones Alley is where you should go. A merchant there deals in ancient artifacts, including masks." The man directed the party to the appropriate location, in a narrow alley, almost at the end.
The adventurers soon found Dry Bones Alley. It was very crowded, both with goods and with customers. Awnings stretched from the buildings on either side, shading almost the entire length and width of the alley. Near the end of the alley they spotted it: a large shop, with a large doorway and large windows displaying a variety of artifacts of indeterminate age. They went in.
More goods were displayed inside. Ancient artworks, weapons, and other items hung from the walls or filled display cases, racks and floor stacks. Soon, from behind a curtain in the back wall a man emerged, clearly the owner of the establishment.
"Can I help you, noble travelers from a far land?" asked the merchant in common, recognizing the party as foreigners immediately.
Lina described the image of the beautiful woman, which she guessed was a mask of some kind, to the merchant. Edward diplomatically asked the merchant if he’d ever heard of such a thing. "My, my!" said the dealer. "You seem to be describing an ancient death mask. It is similar to masks I have obtained from time to time from desert traders who call on this city with their goods. I believe it represents a queen of an ancient kingdom that vanished centuries ago."
"Do you know, or can you guess, where it may have come from?" Edward continued. "No, alas, I know not where such an object may have come from, based only on your description. Have you any more information about the object?"
"It may be associated with the name "Thutep" in some way," Edward replied. "Hmmm, I still cannot say. But perhaps the people of the Oasis of Uf might know of such an individual. They have many legends from the ancient days. I have dealt with them on occasion. Some of my finest artefacts have come from Uf."
Edward also offered the name "Khemri," but the dealer’s response was the same. "Now, if you should desire to find the Oasis of Uf, the best way is by caravan," the merchant added. "But, alas, no caravans have arrived from Uf, or from anywhere south of the Sulhaut Mountains, for six months or more." His eyes darted toward the shop’s front door, and he lowered his voice. "Rumor has it that an evil power has arisen in ruins in the Sulhaut Mountains, and has blocked the caravan route." He then spoke up a bit. "There might be profit in it for you, noble travelers, if you escorted a caravan and dealt with this evil." He winked slyly at the party. "I may perhaps know of some bold merchants who would be interested in joining such a venture."
Edward looked at Green Arrow and Lina. This sounded interesting! Edward pulled out a money pouch and gave the merchant one hundred gold pieces. The man’s eyes went wide with amazement.
"Thank you, thank you, most generous travelers!" exclaimed the merchant.
"It is nothing," replied Edward. "Now, about those merchants?"
"Yes, yes. If you would stay here in the city for a day or so, I will gladly arrange for a meeting," said the dealer.
Green Arrow asked where the best inn in town was. "Alas, even the best inn in Kanak is not so good, certainly not for great ones such as you," replied the dealer fulsomely, "but I shall direct you to one that is close to being worthy of your presence." And he provided the party with directions to the Inn of the Loyal Servant of the Amir. The three adventurers proceeded apace to the recommended inn, and took rooms that were the best in the establishment. The merchant was, unfortunately, correct in his assessment of the inn’s quality, but the party didn’t care much about comfort under the circumstances.
They stayed in the inn for the next three days, leaving only briefly for fresh air and short walks. At last, on the evening of the third day of their stay, the merchant showed up at the inn with a party of adventurous men–and women!–who were interested in the journey to Uf. They discussed the project in the inn’s common room.
It would be a long journey, about sixteen hundred miles in all, through deserts, dry grasslands and mountain passes. But Uf was so remote that virtually any goods from the outside world would find a ready and profitable market. So, arrangements were made.
The caravan would include the three Enterprise agents; three expert merchants, led by a local man named Zeff; ten warriors to guard the caravan; and ten teamsters, each driving a wagon with a team of two horses. Five wagons would be loaded with trade goods, the other five with provisions for the journey. Any extra provisions could also be sold in Uf for a handsome profit, so Edward planned to make liberal use of his create food and water spell.
The first stage of the journey, a distance of about six hundred miles, would take about forty-eight days, from Kanak to a valley in the Sulhauts in which a city was known to exist, or to have existed (if rumors were true). From there, another four hundred miles would lead the caravan to an area of rocky foothills, from which the main caravan route across the Sea of Dust began. It was another four hundred miles to the first oasis, and four hundred miles more to their destination, the Oasis of Uf.
But a journey of sixteen hundred miles begins with a single step, and the following morning, the caravan took that step. The first stage was relatively uneventful, with no monsters and only scattered local nomads sighted. After forty-eight days, the caravan reached a crest in the road. They looked down and ahead to see a small valley. The road stretched down into the valley and through it back into the Sulhauts beyond. Edward and Green Arrow looked carefully, and saw what appeared to be a town, the buildings of which were in various stages of ruin. They also spotted an area on the near outskirts of town that seemed to be a cemetery of some kind, from the number of tombstones that were visible.
"Seems like everyone else is questing, or wants to go questing, so I might as well try my hand at it," she thought to herself. "The only question is, what do I want?"
After much consideration and a lot of research, Lina settled on what she wanted. Her investigations had led her to cryptic references to a powerful artifact known as the vest of the archmagi. This item, when worn by any spellcaster, was said to confer a number of astounding powers on the wearer, including greatly improved spell penetration, spell recall, and healing powers. However, the vest had disappeared centuries ago, and its whereabouts were unknown.
Her research, and use of a vision spell, yielded the mysterious words "Khemri" and "Thutep", apparently the names of a lost kingdom and one of its last rulers, as well as an image of a beautiful woman’s face, which may have been some kind of death mask. The city of Kanak, far to the southwest in the Plains of the Paynim, also seemed to have some significance.
"Well, let’s see if my friends are interested in another adventure," thought Lina to herself. "And Edward, at least, owes me some assistance after that war we fought in Chalons!" So, the elven sorceress went to Greyhawk, where she met with Edward and Green Arrow, who happened to be in Greyhawk at the same time as she was. "What do you say, fellas?" she asked. The paladin and the elven archer seemed agreeable to join Lina on her mission. "Guess it’s about time to go monster-hunting again," Green Arrow observed. Edward nodded. "And to generate some revenue!"
The first thing the party needed to do was to obtain information about, and ideally a map of, the city of Kanak. A brief search at the main Greyhawk library yielded both. The city was about one thousand miles as the crow flies from the city of Pellak, on the shore of Lake Udrukankar in the desert realm of the Paynim, of which it was their capital. Once the needed information was obtained, the adventurers teleported back to Darksea, where Lina had artisans at the Darksea Magic Academy prepare a number of needed magic items, including a wand of assay spell resistance (which was very rarely found in conventional magic shops). The production process took about two weeks. Edward and Green Arrow took the time to prepare themselves and obtain magic items of their own.
Two weeks went by, and finally the adventurers were ready. They teleported to the outskirts of Kanak, about two miles out. They could see in the distance Lake Udrukankar, a nearly lifeless body of salt water. Salt flats lay about them, to the east and north of the lake. A few groups of Paynim nomads could be seen in the distance, heading toward or from the city.
The party advanced toward their destination. From time to time they passed isolated structures, and more frequently, tents. The density of structures gradually increased, until they reached the outskirts of the city proper. The adventurers were surprised to note that the city had no walls surrounding it, although apparently it had had such defenses in earlier days. Perhaps the natives no longer needed to rely on defensive structures?
On entering the town, Lina noticed that the town’s inhabitants weren’t speaking common! At least, nobody was speaking common within earshot of them. This would present a substantial obstacle to the party if something weren’t done to facilitate communication with the natives. So, Lina shapechanged into a ghaele eladrin, thus gaining an eladrin’s tongues power, while Edward relied on Sharkbite’s similar ability.
Now able to communicate (primarily in Ancient Baklunish, as they learned), the party looked for the city’s marketplace. Eventually they found it: a large central square, surrounded by merchant’s stalls and heaps, stacks and sacks of goods of all kinds. Narrow streets and crowded alleys extended from the central square into the surrounding districts. Shops of greater or lesser quality fronted on the various side passages.
Lina’s initial attempts to gather information about the names from her vision met with no success. Nobody had ever heard of "Khemri" or "Thutep." Edward was likewise unsuccessful. So next, Lina began to look about the market to see if anyone were selling masks that might be similar to the image she had seen. Again, she spotted no such items. But this time, Edward began to gather information about merchants that might deal in such objects.
"Ah, yes," said one man. "Dry Bones Alley is where you should go. A merchant there deals in ancient artifacts, including masks." The man directed the party to the appropriate location, in a narrow alley, almost at the end.
The adventurers soon found Dry Bones Alley. It was very crowded, both with goods and with customers. Awnings stretched from the buildings on either side, shading almost the entire length and width of the alley. Near the end of the alley they spotted it: a large shop, with a large doorway and large windows displaying a variety of artifacts of indeterminate age. They went in.
More goods were displayed inside. Ancient artworks, weapons, and other items hung from the walls or filled display cases, racks and floor stacks. Soon, from behind a curtain in the back wall a man emerged, clearly the owner of the establishment.
"Can I help you, noble travelers from a far land?" asked the merchant in common, recognizing the party as foreigners immediately.
Lina described the image of the beautiful woman, which she guessed was a mask of some kind, to the merchant. Edward diplomatically asked the merchant if he’d ever heard of such a thing. "My, my!" said the dealer. "You seem to be describing an ancient death mask. It is similar to masks I have obtained from time to time from desert traders who call on this city with their goods. I believe it represents a queen of an ancient kingdom that vanished centuries ago."
"Do you know, or can you guess, where it may have come from?" Edward continued. "No, alas, I know not where such an object may have come from, based only on your description. Have you any more information about the object?"
"It may be associated with the name "Thutep" in some way," Edward replied. "Hmmm, I still cannot say. But perhaps the people of the Oasis of Uf might know of such an individual. They have many legends from the ancient days. I have dealt with them on occasion. Some of my finest artefacts have come from Uf."
Edward also offered the name "Khemri," but the dealer’s response was the same. "Now, if you should desire to find the Oasis of Uf, the best way is by caravan," the merchant added. "But, alas, no caravans have arrived from Uf, or from anywhere south of the Sulhaut Mountains, for six months or more." His eyes darted toward the shop’s front door, and he lowered his voice. "Rumor has it that an evil power has arisen in ruins in the Sulhaut Mountains, and has blocked the caravan route." He then spoke up a bit. "There might be profit in it for you, noble travelers, if you escorted a caravan and dealt with this evil." He winked slyly at the party. "I may perhaps know of some bold merchants who would be interested in joining such a venture."
Edward looked at Green Arrow and Lina. This sounded interesting! Edward pulled out a money pouch and gave the merchant one hundred gold pieces. The man’s eyes went wide with amazement.
"Thank you, thank you, most generous travelers!" exclaimed the merchant.
"It is nothing," replied Edward. "Now, about those merchants?"
"Yes, yes. If you would stay here in the city for a day or so, I will gladly arrange for a meeting," said the dealer.
Green Arrow asked where the best inn in town was. "Alas, even the best inn in Kanak is not so good, certainly not for great ones such as you," replied the dealer fulsomely, "but I shall direct you to one that is close to being worthy of your presence." And he provided the party with directions to the Inn of the Loyal Servant of the Amir. The three adventurers proceeded apace to the recommended inn, and took rooms that were the best in the establishment. The merchant was, unfortunately, correct in his assessment of the inn’s quality, but the party didn’t care much about comfort under the circumstances.
They stayed in the inn for the next three days, leaving only briefly for fresh air and short walks. At last, on the evening of the third day of their stay, the merchant showed up at the inn with a party of adventurous men–and women!–who were interested in the journey to Uf. They discussed the project in the inn’s common room.
It would be a long journey, about sixteen hundred miles in all, through deserts, dry grasslands and mountain passes. But Uf was so remote that virtually any goods from the outside world would find a ready and profitable market. So, arrangements were made.
The caravan would include the three Enterprise agents; three expert merchants, led by a local man named Zeff; ten warriors to guard the caravan; and ten teamsters, each driving a wagon with a team of two horses. Five wagons would be loaded with trade goods, the other five with provisions for the journey. Any extra provisions could also be sold in Uf for a handsome profit, so Edward planned to make liberal use of his create food and water spell.
The first stage of the journey, a distance of about six hundred miles, would take about forty-eight days, from Kanak to a valley in the Sulhauts in which a city was known to exist, or to have existed (if rumors were true). From there, another four hundred miles would lead the caravan to an area of rocky foothills, from which the main caravan route across the Sea of Dust began. It was another four hundred miles to the first oasis, and four hundred miles more to their destination, the Oasis of Uf.
But a journey of sixteen hundred miles begins with a single step, and the following morning, the caravan took that step. The first stage was relatively uneventful, with no monsters and only scattered local nomads sighted. After forty-eight days, the caravan reached a crest in the road. They looked down and ahead to see a small valley. The road stretched down into the valley and through it back into the Sulhauts beyond. Edward and Green Arrow looked carefully, and saw what appeared to be a town, the buildings of which were in various stages of ruin. They also spotted an area on the near outskirts of town that seemed to be a cemetery of some kind, from the number of tombstones that were visible.
LXI. Restoration, and Retaliation
The Wild Hunt was over, but half the game remained to be played. Somehow, Gelf had to be restored to his rightful place at the court of his father in Ratik.
Rest and study were in order first. The two casters returned to Darksea, where for the next seven months Firiona had Magic Academy workers reproduce the various magic items that had been disjoined by the hoary hunters. In the meantime, Firiona decided that, since she was going to get an ultra-powerful bow, she ought to make the most of it. So, she began the study of arcane archery. Six months of further study and preparation in Greyhawk, Gryrax and elsewhere and the two wizards were at last ready for Gelf’s return to reclaim his heritage.
Quest Day 730
Firiona and Gelf set out for the city of Marner, capitol of the Archbarony of Ratik. "Best to just go to the main gate. I’ll tell the guards I’ve returned and want to be taken to my father."
"You’re the local expert," said Firiona.
The two wizards reached the outskirts of Marner, a walled city of about eight thousand souls. It was the early evening of a foggy, misty mid-August day.
"Is this normal?" Firiona inquired.
"I don’t remember it being foggy and misty this time of year," Gelf answered, as puzzled as Firiona.
The two continued along the road to the main city gate. Out of the corner of her eye, Firiona spotted small flying creatures winging their way from the city. Bats. She stopped to listen, and heard the sound of howling in the distance. This is definitely not right, she thought.
Finally, Firiona and Gelf reached the main city gate. A huge portcullis was down, blocking their entry into the city. They spotted a guardhouse, staffed with soldiers.
"Let’s go to the guardhouse. I’ll introduce myself. Ask to be taken to Archbaron Alain," suggested Gelf.
"Do you see anything out of place?" asked Firiona.
"No," said Gelf.
So the two wizards approached the guard house. Gelf knocked on the door. It opened, and a guard appeared in the doorway. "State your business, strangers," the guard demanded. "Why do you wish to enter Marner after dark?"
"I am Gelf, son of your lord Alain. I have returned! I wish to be taken to my father immediately."
The guard looked closely at Gelf. Then, recognizing the long-absent prince, he exclaimed, "Well, bless my sword! It is you, master Gelf. After two years! We all thought you were dead!"
"As you can see, I am quite well," declared Gelf. "How fares the realm?"
The guard came closer to Gelf, then hesitated. "But first: who is your companion? Is she a friend of Ratik?"
"She is indeed a friend of Ratik," said Gelf, vouching for Firiona. "She aided me at need, and helped me return to the city."
"Firiona Vie, at your service," the elven wizard introduced herself to the guard, curtseying every so slightly.
Satisfied, the guard spoke in low voice to Gelf, Firiona listening carefully from behind him. "Since you were lost, things have been getting odd," said the guard. "You weren’t the only person to disappear. And there’s been strange noises, and strange creatures seen outside the city, and even some inside the city! And people have been whispering about . . . undead!" He shuddered.
"Did any other royalty disappear?" asked Firiona.
"Not that we know of," the guard answered. "But some important people in town, as well as ordinary people."
"Have you noticed anything else," Gelf continued.
The guard whispered, "Your father’s advisor seems different as well. Seems to be exerting more and more influence over your father and your brother!"
At this, Firiona pulled Gelf aside. "I should request an audience with the archbaron," she quietly advised. "Keep your presence a secret. Don’t let Syagrius know you’re back."
Gelf nodded agreement. He returned to the guard and asked him to keep quiet about his return. "And please arrange for and audience for my friend," he added.
"It so happens that the archbaron is meeting tonight with his council!" the guard pointed out. "Perhaps this would be a good time to appear, as he hears petitions from his subjects!" "Sounds good," Firiona acknowledged. She advised Gelf to pull his hood over his head to keep his identity a secret.
The guard went back into the guard house and informed the other guards on duty that he had important visitors to escort to the archbaron. "Be extra-vigilant until I return," he ordered. With that, he accompanied Firiona and Gelf into the city.
Shortly, the three arrived at the archbaron’s palace. The guard led Firiona and Gelf to the archbaron’s council chamber, where subjects were presenting their petitions to him. In the chamber were numerous aristocrats, guards and retainers, seated in two banks of benches on either side of the council chamber. The archbaron was sitting on a royal throne on a dais at the far end of the council chamber. Next to him was his younger son, Cail. On the other side was the archbaron’s advisor, Syagrius.
Firiona and Gelf promptly took their place in the line of petitioners. They listened attentively as the subjects of Alain V presented their needs to him. One asked for relief for his farm, which had been devastated by a recent flood. The petition was granted. The next asked for the archbaron’s judgment of a dispute. The archbaron granted the request to judge the case, but set a later date at which both parties would present. After him, another subject requested backing for a trade mission. The archbaron asked him to submit a proposal in writing.
Now it was Firiona’s turn to address Alain. As she began to speak, Gelf, standing hooded behind her, surveyed the chamber more carefully. In the bank of seats to his right, among a group of lower-ranking aristocrats, Gelf recognized Syagrius’ assistant, the young woman Metella, an attractive redhead. Then his attention focused on Syagrius. He’s looking a bit pale, even for Ratik, thought Gelf to himself.
"Excellency, I am Firiona of Darksea," Firiona began. "I’ve traveled great distances to many kingdoms. I’m a wizard who would like to start a magic academy here in Marner, to our mutual benefit, if you would grant me a building." She paused, while Alain looked attentively at her and nodded for her to continue.
"And as a token of my appreciation, I present this to you!" Firiona announced. She removed the hood from Gelf’s head. Everyone in the council chamber gasped in astonishment!
Alain was about to speak when Syagrius interrupted. "Majesty, what do we know of this wizard and her hooded guest? Is this a trick? Your son was lost many moons ago!" Syagrius scrutinized both Firiona and Gelf. "This is not what it appears!" the archbaron’s advisor cried. "This hooded figure is under the control of this wizard! Let me deal with them as they deserve for their impudence!"
And without waiting for authorization from Alain, Syagrius shapechanged into balor form, then assaulted Firiona with his flaming whip! The whip singed her and drew her into the flaming aura of the balor for severe damage as the demon grappled her. But Firiona kept her wits about her and was able to dimension door out of the grapple. Gelf responded to the appearance of the demon by casting his own shapechange and assuming solar form. Angel versus demon!
Bystanders in the chamber quickly ducked down, taking cover in or behind the banks of seats. Women and children began screaming in fear. Nobles’ pages hid behind their masters. Cail took cover behind his father the archbaron.
Seeing Firiona escape from his flaming grapple, Syagrius next took the shape of a mature adult silver dragon. The frightful presence of the dragon drove most of the lower-ranking aristocrats fleeing from the chamber or crouching down in terror. Cail was terrified of the huge monster and hid behind Alain. Firiona, Gelf, Alain and some of the most powerful aristocrats summoned enough courage to face down the dragon. Remarkably, two of the mid-ranking aristocrats also withstood the dragon’s presence, including Syagrius’ assistant, Metella.
Frightening children and decadent aristocrats was not enough for Syagrius. He immediately targeted Firiona with a blast of dragon’s breath. The elven wizard managed to evade some of the damage, but was still seriously injured by the blast. Gelf shouted out to the archbaron, "Father, it’s me!" To prove his identity, he referred to a childhood incident only Alain would know. The archbaron pricked up his ears, but otherwise said nothing in response.
While Alain considered solar-Gelf’s words, the young prince rushed the dragon, grasping its foreleg and attempting to cast Otto’s irresistible dance on the creature. No effect! Luckily for Gelf, the dragon’s counterstrike also missed.
A new tactic suddenly occurred to Firiona. She spoke the mystic syllables of the gate spell. Immediately, through the gate emerged a pale, misty figure.
"Does that look familiar???" Firiona screamed, taunting Syagrius. She spoke brief instructions to the newly-arrived fey. Quickly, the hoary hunter used its greater dispel magic power on Syagrius! The wizard’s shapechange was dispelled, and he assumed his normal form. Most of his other protective and augmentative spells were also wiped out by the fey’s power.
Suddenly, one of the senior aristocrats jumped out of the box to the right of the king and joined the battle!
And nobody in the chamber noticed that his complexion had suddenly grown unusually pale.
"Oh, he looks familiar, alright!" replied Syagrius to Firiona’s challenge. "I hear he’s a pretty good dancer too!" With that, the wicked wizard rushed toward the hunter, slapped a hand on him. Immediately, the hunter began prancing about under Otto’s influence.
Firiona and Gelf saw the aristocrat (Eldrood by name) join the fight, and welcomed his assistance. Right up to the point where he charged into Gelf and slammed the young prince! Gelf shook off the actual battery damage easily enough, but felt his very life force somehow draining away from him.
Enraged, and at the same time frightened, by the unexpected assault from a formerly loyal aristocrat of Ratik, Gelf reached deep within himself and gated in another ally. Again, some unknown but mighty source of power somehow enabled him to bring a creature much more powerful than he had any right to expect.
Through the gate there emerged the shimmering form of a mighty force dragon. The creature was so tall it had to crouch down in order not to burst through the roof of the chamber. Its movement was constrained by the relatively small size of the chamber. But it had enough maneuvering space to launch a full attack on Syagrius. The wicked wizard suffered severe damage from the dragon’s natural weapons.
But Syagrius seemed to recover somewhat from the wounds the dragon had just inflicted on it. He recovered somewhat from the next attack by the force dragon, which Firiona’s quickened snake’s swiftness provided the creature. Alas, Alain’s council chamber did not show any signs of recovering from the dragon’s presence. Chairs, tables, roof beams and other structures splintered under the impact of the mighty creature. Archbaron Alain, witnessing the destruction, became more and more agitated.
The hoary hunter kept on dancing, but Syagrius was unable to land a blow on the amazingly tough creature even as it danced.
And then another aristocrat (known as Kurbin) suddenly charged into battle, running around the force dragon toward Firiona!
Syagrius paid no heed to Kurbin’s intervention, but advanced on the dragon and slapped its leg. "Dance, little dragon!" the wizard shouted with glee, as the creature proceeded to do just that, wreaking more mayhem and destruction in Alain’s council chamber. At the same time, Eldrood slammed Gelf again, but this time the young prince was unharmed by the attack. Ignoring the attack on himself, Gelf quickened a targeting ray at Syagrius, then attempted to dispel the Otto’s irresistible dance on the force dragon. The dragon immediately stopped the uncontrollable movement. Now thoroughly annoyed, the dragon took out its aggravation on Eldrood, and with one blow downed the pale aristocrat.
From the benches to the archbaron’s left, Metella’s stifled gasp could be heard by those who might be listening. But none were: all attention was focused on the battle, and right then on Firiona. She assayed Syagrius’ spell resistance, then fired a maximized darkbolt at the wicked wizard. With a shriek, Syagrius fell to the floor, slain. Metella screamed as her master went down.
Kurbin rushed Firiona, attempting to slam the elven wizard. The attack missed as Firiona successfully dodged the onslaught of the crazed aristocrat.
From the corner of her eye, Firiona noticed Alain writhing, shaking his head and groaning, as if he were under some kind of invisible assault. Then his head seemed to clear. Whatever had been assailing him apparently had failed to harm him.
Clearly something was not as it seemed in the council chamber. Gelf and the force dragon both cast true seeing, then surveyed the room. What they saw was disturbing: Eldrood, Kurbin, and Syagrius himself, lying on the floor, incapacitated, yet not destroyed. Because all three of them were revealed as vampires.
An even more disturbing sight greeted Gelf and the dragon when they turned their attention to Syagrius’ assistant. For Metella was revealed as someone far different from the young, attractive, red-haired aristocrat she had seemed to be. In her place they perceived a pale, gaunt, grey-haired woman of indeterminate age and evil mein.
The woman brought up a prismatic sphere around herself in response. "Who are you to interfere with my plan??!!" she shrieked. Then she began to prepare a greater teleport spell, readying her escape.
But Firiona’s greater dispel magic the hoary hunter’s dance. Quickly, the hunter disjoined Metella’s prismatic sphere! As the sphere was being taken down, Kurbin suddenly turned gaseous! The vaporous vampire speedily escaped out the door of the council chamber.
"Dragon!" Gelf called out. "Check the archbaron! Find if he is bewitched!" The dragon immediately cast analyze dweomer on Alain. At the same time, Gelf himself cast assay spell resistance on Metella, or the being previously known as Metella, hoping to overcome whatever spell resistance she might have and prevent her fleeing by dimensionally anchoring her. But Metella was able to activate the previously prepared greater teleport before Gelf was able to anchor her. She flashed out of view and was gone.
Soon the force dragon informed Gelf, "There are no spells on your father!" At that, Gelf approached the throne, knelt and laid down his weapon. "Father," he addressed Alain, "don’t you recognize your own son?" But the archbaron looked at the kneeling solar and replied, "I don’t know you, and my son wasn’t a fighter, still less some celestial being!"
"I have changed over the time I’ve been lost," said Gelf. "Let me prove myself!" Dropping his shapechanged form, the young prince turned back into his natural self.
Alain was unconvinced. "You could have killed him and taken his form!" the archbaron angrily charged.
Having approached behind Gelf, but still in solar form, Firiona now spoke. "Mighty archbaron, summon a cleric and have him determine the truth of what has been told to you!" she advised. She whispered to Gelf, who then turned to the force dragon, and with thanks for his aid, dismissed him from further service. Firiona likewise dismissed the hoary hunter.
Alain was still highly agitated. "Impudence!" he shouted. "To order me about in my own hall! Which you have ruined, yet, with your monstrous beast!" But Cail, from behind his father, tugged on Alain’s royal robes and whispered to him. "Daddy, maybe he’s telling the truth!" said the observant child.
Alain thought things over. "Sometimes children prove wiser than their elders," he said. Signaling to one of the guards who had remained steadfast during the battle, he gave the man instructions. The guard promptly left the wrecked council chamber.
As the remaining retainers and other subjects who had been terrified by the dragon returned to their senses, the guard returned with a high priest of Kord. "How may I be of service, sire?" the priest asked. "And what happened in your hall??!!"
"That is what I hope to determine," replied Alain. He requested that the priest determine whether or not Gelf’ story were true. Accordingly, the priest cast zone of truth, as well as discern lies. "Please tell us your tale, young prince," the priest urged. So Gelf told the story of everything that had befallen him since the time of his departure from Ratik almost two years ago. When he was finished, Alain demanded that Firiona do the same. She too described her deeds, beginning with her quest and ending with the dispatch of the last hoary hunter and the end of the Wild Hunt against him.
The priest turned to Alain. "They speak the truth, sire!"
Alain thanked the priest for his services and dismissed him, then turned to look at Gelf. "It’s really you then?" he said. "We all feared you were lost. Syagrius told me he had tried to locate you, without success."
"Small wonder," replied Gelf. "Syagrius himself was behind the attack on me." And the prince told his father what he had learned about Syagrius’ attempt to have him killed by the hoary hunters.
"I can scarcely believe it!" exclaimed the archbaron. "And yet I see him lying undead on the floor of my hall!"
"Did you notice anything strange about him?" Gelf asked. "I saw immediately that he seemed paler than normal, even for this northern clime."
"Now that you mention it," said the archbaron, "he did seem to change. It was shortly before your disappearance." He pondered this new realization for a short time. "And another thing," he continued. "He took on Metella as his assistant at about that same time."
Alain’s recollections were interrupted by the sudden sound of thunder, which seemed to emanate from the ceiling near the entrance to the council chamber!
Firiona was the first to spot it: an image hovering in the air that was faint at first, then clarified. A sending.
The image stirred a vague memory of having heard of such a manifestation–from Amalla?! But the image promptly began to speak.
"You have interfered with my plan, and I will remember it. Name yourselves if you are not craven!"
Gelf recognized the image as that of the woman he had known as "Metella" in her true form. Firiona stared more closely at the vision. She looked somewhat familiar, like someone she had fought before.
"Where have we met before?" Firiona demanded of the image.
"I do not know you, woman," the image replied angrily, "except that you have interfered with my plan, which you will regret!" And she laughed evilly at the thought. Firiona thought carefully. She’d heard that laugh before. But where? Suddenly she recalled an evil temple complex far underground! And Edward, chained to a column!
"Khadija!" she exclaimed.
"How do you know me?" demanded Metella/Khadija. "I do not know you!"
"But well you should!" gloated Firiona. "We defeated you in the shrine of Orcus beneath Alar’s Crypt, you and Oconee and your cultists!"
But Khadija again protested, "I tell you I don’t know you!"
"I am the great Firiona!" boasted the elven wizard. "So now you do!"
"Now I do indeed," answered Khadija. "I will remember your name, and we will meet again! And I will have my revenge, and far sooner than you imagine!" And with that, the sending disappeared.
Looks like the Enterprise has some ‘splainin’ to do, thought Firiona to herself.
Everyone else in the room was stunned into silence, not knowing what was going on. At last, Alain spoke up. "Let all leave this hall!" he ordered. "It shall be rebuilt and purified of the taint of evil that Metella brought to it. Metella, or whatever her true name is!" With that, all present cleared out of the chamber.
Alain ordered his guards and nobles to escort Firiona to quarters where she could rest and refresh herself, for there would be a great celebration tomorrow to mark Gelf’s return. Gelf accompanied his father. Meanwhile, Alain’s guards put an end to the undead existence of Syagrius and Eldrood.
Quest Day 731
The next morning, after Firiona had arisen and dressed, a noblewoman knocked on the door of her quarters. "Today is a great feast, in honor of the return of Prince Gelf," she informed Firiona. " You are invited to our master’s table to dine with him and his son, and celebrate his restoration to his rightful place. And our master wishes to reward you for rescuing his beloved son!" Firiona replied, "Now that’s an invitation I’m happy to accept."
Accompanying the noblewoman, Firiona soon came to a field with a large pavilion. "Quite a set-up," Firiona observed. Her noble escort explained, "Archbaron Alain has a magic device that allows him to produce a huge feast for special occasions! A "rod of splendor", I’ve heard it called."
Eventually the two women reached the pavilion and entered. A huge throng of Ratik’s most eminent citizens were assembled at table. Heaps of roasted meats, fresh breads, tasty vegetables and other fitting foodstuffs were awaiting distribution. A guard approached, and escorted Firiona to the head table, where Alain and Gelf were seated.
When Firiona arrived, Alain, stood up and announced, "Let the feasting begin! For my son Gelf was lost, and has been found!" All present gladly followed their lord’s suggestion.
At table, Alain thanked Firiona frequently and profusely. He offered to reward Firiona, telling her, "If it is in my power to grant, I will gladly grant it!"
Firiona thanked the archbaron. "My people will contact your people," she said. "About trade relations. Maybe also setting up that magic academy I mentioned last night." "It shall be done!" said Alain.
Alain also rewarded Firiona with a chest of gold, to the tune of 50,000 gp. "Start-up costs," he suggested. And during the course of the feasting, Alain announced the official restoration of Gelf as his heir-apparent. After a few hours, bellies were fully and wine cups were empty.
Suddenly Firiona heard several things. There were tapping sounds like light, tiny objects falling on the pavilion. There was some kind of commotion outside. And then, panicked citizens burst into the pavilion as if they were looking for shelter!
Firiona got up and ran to the nearest entrance to the pavilion. She looked outside. Alain, Gelf and some other guards and nobles followed her and looked out as well.
Outside, people were still running toward the pavilion. Or under trees. Or to any shelter they could find. Tiny thorns kept falling from the sky, as far as the eye could see. Anyone exposed to the falling thorns were wounded by the tiny objects. Some fell down and did not get up.
Instantly, Firiona cast detect magic. She was astonished by the power of the phenomenon. It was magic, alright, and it was evil magic as well. She recalled reading something about such phenomena in her studies at the Spire of the Encyclic, back in Erelhei-Cinlu. It was called, appropriately enough, "evil weather."
And evil it was. After a few minutes, the thorns that struck the soil burrowed into the ground, only to sprout as choking weeds and nettles! This went on for almost half an hour. By the time the rain ended, crops far and wide had been destroyed, and fields had been ruined. Entire forests were damaged.
Firiona asked one of the clerics present, "Can you advise me as to what this is?" But the cleric had never seen anything like it. Alain was terribly distressed. "How much of my land has suffered from this rain of nettles?"
"I can survey the land from the air!" Firiona announced. Then without further delay, she shapechanged into the form of an air elemental, and commenced an aerial survey. After flying at a top speed of almost forty miles per hour for six hours, she determined that over 2500 square miles had been affected by the evil weather. Land from Marner to the Timberway Forest had suffered heavy damage. Ratik had suffered huge losses of forests and farmland.
There was an open spot at the center of the devastation. From the air, it appeared that a round open space only about ten feet wide had been spared. It looked like there was some kind of object at the center of the space. Firiona flew down to hover over the object.
It proved to be a stone block with a message carved on its top surface. Firiona hovered above the surface and was able to read the inscription: "I told you it would be far sooner than you imagine!"
Firiona speeded back to the pavilion to report her findings.
"Who is responsible for this???" cried Alain.
"Metella," answered Firiona. "That is, Khadija. Khadija, high priestess of Orcus, demon prince of undeath!"
Alain buried his face in his hands. "What will we do? How will we survive?" he wailed.
"I’ll find help!" Firional promised. And before anyone could say anything further, she teleported straight to Enterprise headquarters in Greyhawk, and from there requested an urgent meeting with the highest levels of Enterprise leadership. She soon was granted a meeting with Armed Forces Director Andronikos Phaskos. And also, to her surprise, the Director of Intelligence & Operations. The Blue Dahlia.
Quest Day 732
Firiona provided a brief but concise report of her recent activities, culminating in Khadija’s attack on Ratik. "The Archbarony of Ratik has been laid waste," Firiona concluded.
"We know," the Blue Dahlia responded, "and that is unfortunate."
"You know?!" cried Firiona. "I need to know how that happened, why it happened, and what can be done about it!"
"Remember to whom you speak," warned Phaskos. "And now, just listen." With that, the Blue Dahlia briefed Firiona on the Enterprise’s role in the Ratik disaster:
When the adventurers had turned Khadija over to the Enterprise after destroying the cult of Orcus based in the Dim Forest, Enterprise agents had interrogated her. It was clear that a potentially very valuable resource had fallen into their hands. While the interrogation was going on, Enterprise agents were exploring the underground shrine complex and recovering all booty available. During the course of the exploration, the agents had located a secret escape route that Firiona and her companions had missed. It led to a teleportation circle to a secret hideout in the Rakers.
The Enterprise also knew that Khadija was a very high-ranking cultist of Orcus. Thus, a plan suggested itself: the Enterprise would purge Khadija’s mind of all memory of her contact with Enterprise agents, replacing them with false memories, including how she escaped from the sack of her shrine by invading adventurers of unknown origin. In addition, the Enterprise would plant a suggestion in her mind: if she ever learned of any new plans of Orcus, she would immediately convey them to Enterprise agents (unknown to her, of course). The Enterprise then turned her loose at her Rakers hideout, with her manufactured memories, and waited for further developments.
Scrying (without detection) revealed that Khadija immediately began to plot. What area is near the Rakers? The Archbarony of Ratik, for one. What other city was in the area? Chalons! And who was active in the vicinity of Chalons, working to build a force of giants? Hulagu. Ratik would make a perfect base for her own operations, in conjunction with Hulagu’s should he find success with the giants. And so, she proceeded with her scheme to infiltrate the court of Archbaron Alain and subvert his realm to serve her purposes. She must somehow have gained control of Syagrius, possibly by means of an epic-level spell.
"So thanks to you, Ratik has been destroyed??!!" Firiona exploded.
The Blue Dahlia was unperturbed. "First, mind your place, wizard," she said icily. "You are an agent of the Enterprise, and a third-level agent at that. Your loyalty is to this organization, as is your respect, and we expect both your loyalty and your respect at all times. Second, you are assuming nothing can be done. It should be obvious even to you that that is not the case!"
Firiona paused, considering the Dahlia’s last statement. Were there things that could be done? She pondered. Well, Gelf was still on the scene, and she had taught him a number of powerful spells. Could he use them properly? Did he know the wish spell?
"I, er, ah, . . . I apologize for that last outburst," said Firiona. "I was speaking out of concern for my friend Gelf–and I do consider him my friend after this experience–and for his homeland."
"Apology accepted," said Phaskos. "Now, let the Enterprise worry about weeds in Ratik. You have other things to attend to." With that, he and the Dahlia rose to leave. Firiona took her leave of Enterprise headquarters as well.
Having completed her quest, Firiona was anxious for her celestial reward. So, she planeshifted directly to Celestia and in due course reported her success to the solar who had given her the assignment. She provided a full account–except for the part the Enterprise had played in the events. The solar was pleased.
"You have done well," said the solar, "and as promised, you shall receive that which you seek." He vanished, then returned after a short time with a bow. "Receive this solar’s bow," the angelic being said to Firiona, "in recognition of your achievement. May it serve you well, and in the cause of good."
Firiona thanked the solar, then planeshifted back to her estate in Darksea. The second clause of the solar’s benediction had troubled her.
Am I really in the cause of good? she thought to herself.
Rest and study were in order first. The two casters returned to Darksea, where for the next seven months Firiona had Magic Academy workers reproduce the various magic items that had been disjoined by the hoary hunters. In the meantime, Firiona decided that, since she was going to get an ultra-powerful bow, she ought to make the most of it. So, she began the study of arcane archery. Six months of further study and preparation in Greyhawk, Gryrax and elsewhere and the two wizards were at last ready for Gelf’s return to reclaim his heritage.
Quest Day 730
Firiona and Gelf set out for the city of Marner, capitol of the Archbarony of Ratik. "Best to just go to the main gate. I’ll tell the guards I’ve returned and want to be taken to my father."
"You’re the local expert," said Firiona.
The two wizards reached the outskirts of Marner, a walled city of about eight thousand souls. It was the early evening of a foggy, misty mid-August day.
"Is this normal?" Firiona inquired.
"I don’t remember it being foggy and misty this time of year," Gelf answered, as puzzled as Firiona.
The two continued along the road to the main city gate. Out of the corner of her eye, Firiona spotted small flying creatures winging their way from the city. Bats. She stopped to listen, and heard the sound of howling in the distance. This is definitely not right, she thought.
Finally, Firiona and Gelf reached the main city gate. A huge portcullis was down, blocking their entry into the city. They spotted a guardhouse, staffed with soldiers.
"Let’s go to the guardhouse. I’ll introduce myself. Ask to be taken to Archbaron Alain," suggested Gelf.
"Do you see anything out of place?" asked Firiona.
"No," said Gelf.
So the two wizards approached the guard house. Gelf knocked on the door. It opened, and a guard appeared in the doorway. "State your business, strangers," the guard demanded. "Why do you wish to enter Marner after dark?"
"I am Gelf, son of your lord Alain. I have returned! I wish to be taken to my father immediately."
The guard looked closely at Gelf. Then, recognizing the long-absent prince, he exclaimed, "Well, bless my sword! It is you, master Gelf. After two years! We all thought you were dead!"
"As you can see, I am quite well," declared Gelf. "How fares the realm?"
The guard came closer to Gelf, then hesitated. "But first: who is your companion? Is she a friend of Ratik?"
"She is indeed a friend of Ratik," said Gelf, vouching for Firiona. "She aided me at need, and helped me return to the city."
"Firiona Vie, at your service," the elven wizard introduced herself to the guard, curtseying every so slightly.
Satisfied, the guard spoke in low voice to Gelf, Firiona listening carefully from behind him. "Since you were lost, things have been getting odd," said the guard. "You weren’t the only person to disappear. And there’s been strange noises, and strange creatures seen outside the city, and even some inside the city! And people have been whispering about . . . undead!" He shuddered.
"Did any other royalty disappear?" asked Firiona.
"Not that we know of," the guard answered. "But some important people in town, as well as ordinary people."
"Have you noticed anything else," Gelf continued.
The guard whispered, "Your father’s advisor seems different as well. Seems to be exerting more and more influence over your father and your brother!"
At this, Firiona pulled Gelf aside. "I should request an audience with the archbaron," she quietly advised. "Keep your presence a secret. Don’t let Syagrius know you’re back."
Gelf nodded agreement. He returned to the guard and asked him to keep quiet about his return. "And please arrange for and audience for my friend," he added.
"It so happens that the archbaron is meeting tonight with his council!" the guard pointed out. "Perhaps this would be a good time to appear, as he hears petitions from his subjects!" "Sounds good," Firiona acknowledged. She advised Gelf to pull his hood over his head to keep his identity a secret.
The guard went back into the guard house and informed the other guards on duty that he had important visitors to escort to the archbaron. "Be extra-vigilant until I return," he ordered. With that, he accompanied Firiona and Gelf into the city.
Shortly, the three arrived at the archbaron’s palace. The guard led Firiona and Gelf to the archbaron’s council chamber, where subjects were presenting their petitions to him. In the chamber were numerous aristocrats, guards and retainers, seated in two banks of benches on either side of the council chamber. The archbaron was sitting on a royal throne on a dais at the far end of the council chamber. Next to him was his younger son, Cail. On the other side was the archbaron’s advisor, Syagrius.
Firiona and Gelf promptly took their place in the line of petitioners. They listened attentively as the subjects of Alain V presented their needs to him. One asked for relief for his farm, which had been devastated by a recent flood. The petition was granted. The next asked for the archbaron’s judgment of a dispute. The archbaron granted the request to judge the case, but set a later date at which both parties would present. After him, another subject requested backing for a trade mission. The archbaron asked him to submit a proposal in writing.
Now it was Firiona’s turn to address Alain. As she began to speak, Gelf, standing hooded behind her, surveyed the chamber more carefully. In the bank of seats to his right, among a group of lower-ranking aristocrats, Gelf recognized Syagrius’ assistant, the young woman Metella, an attractive redhead. Then his attention focused on Syagrius. He’s looking a bit pale, even for Ratik, thought Gelf to himself.
"Excellency, I am Firiona of Darksea," Firiona began. "I’ve traveled great distances to many kingdoms. I’m a wizard who would like to start a magic academy here in Marner, to our mutual benefit, if you would grant me a building." She paused, while Alain looked attentively at her and nodded for her to continue.
"And as a token of my appreciation, I present this to you!" Firiona announced. She removed the hood from Gelf’s head. Everyone in the council chamber gasped in astonishment!
Alain was about to speak when Syagrius interrupted. "Majesty, what do we know of this wizard and her hooded guest? Is this a trick? Your son was lost many moons ago!" Syagrius scrutinized both Firiona and Gelf. "This is not what it appears!" the archbaron’s advisor cried. "This hooded figure is under the control of this wizard! Let me deal with them as they deserve for their impudence!"
And without waiting for authorization from Alain, Syagrius shapechanged into balor form, then assaulted Firiona with his flaming whip! The whip singed her and drew her into the flaming aura of the balor for severe damage as the demon grappled her. But Firiona kept her wits about her and was able to dimension door out of the grapple. Gelf responded to the appearance of the demon by casting his own shapechange and assuming solar form. Angel versus demon!
Bystanders in the chamber quickly ducked down, taking cover in or behind the banks of seats. Women and children began screaming in fear. Nobles’ pages hid behind their masters. Cail took cover behind his father the archbaron.
Seeing Firiona escape from his flaming grapple, Syagrius next took the shape of a mature adult silver dragon. The frightful presence of the dragon drove most of the lower-ranking aristocrats fleeing from the chamber or crouching down in terror. Cail was terrified of the huge monster and hid behind Alain. Firiona, Gelf, Alain and some of the most powerful aristocrats summoned enough courage to face down the dragon. Remarkably, two of the mid-ranking aristocrats also withstood the dragon’s presence, including Syagrius’ assistant, Metella.
Frightening children and decadent aristocrats was not enough for Syagrius. He immediately targeted Firiona with a blast of dragon’s breath. The elven wizard managed to evade some of the damage, but was still seriously injured by the blast. Gelf shouted out to the archbaron, "Father, it’s me!" To prove his identity, he referred to a childhood incident only Alain would know. The archbaron pricked up his ears, but otherwise said nothing in response.
While Alain considered solar-Gelf’s words, the young prince rushed the dragon, grasping its foreleg and attempting to cast Otto’s irresistible dance on the creature. No effect! Luckily for Gelf, the dragon’s counterstrike also missed.
A new tactic suddenly occurred to Firiona. She spoke the mystic syllables of the gate spell. Immediately, through the gate emerged a pale, misty figure.
"Does that look familiar???" Firiona screamed, taunting Syagrius. She spoke brief instructions to the newly-arrived fey. Quickly, the hoary hunter used its greater dispel magic power on Syagrius! The wizard’s shapechange was dispelled, and he assumed his normal form. Most of his other protective and augmentative spells were also wiped out by the fey’s power.
Suddenly, one of the senior aristocrats jumped out of the box to the right of the king and joined the battle!
And nobody in the chamber noticed that his complexion had suddenly grown unusually pale.
"Oh, he looks familiar, alright!" replied Syagrius to Firiona’s challenge. "I hear he’s a pretty good dancer too!" With that, the wicked wizard rushed toward the hunter, slapped a hand on him. Immediately, the hunter began prancing about under Otto’s influence.
Firiona and Gelf saw the aristocrat (Eldrood by name) join the fight, and welcomed his assistance. Right up to the point where he charged into Gelf and slammed the young prince! Gelf shook off the actual battery damage easily enough, but felt his very life force somehow draining away from him.
Enraged, and at the same time frightened, by the unexpected assault from a formerly loyal aristocrat of Ratik, Gelf reached deep within himself and gated in another ally. Again, some unknown but mighty source of power somehow enabled him to bring a creature much more powerful than he had any right to expect.
Through the gate there emerged the shimmering form of a mighty force dragon. The creature was so tall it had to crouch down in order not to burst through the roof of the chamber. Its movement was constrained by the relatively small size of the chamber. But it had enough maneuvering space to launch a full attack on Syagrius. The wicked wizard suffered severe damage from the dragon’s natural weapons.
But Syagrius seemed to recover somewhat from the wounds the dragon had just inflicted on it. He recovered somewhat from the next attack by the force dragon, which Firiona’s quickened snake’s swiftness provided the creature. Alas, Alain’s council chamber did not show any signs of recovering from the dragon’s presence. Chairs, tables, roof beams and other structures splintered under the impact of the mighty creature. Archbaron Alain, witnessing the destruction, became more and more agitated.
The hoary hunter kept on dancing, but Syagrius was unable to land a blow on the amazingly tough creature even as it danced.
And then another aristocrat (known as Kurbin) suddenly charged into battle, running around the force dragon toward Firiona!
Syagrius paid no heed to Kurbin’s intervention, but advanced on the dragon and slapped its leg. "Dance, little dragon!" the wizard shouted with glee, as the creature proceeded to do just that, wreaking more mayhem and destruction in Alain’s council chamber. At the same time, Eldrood slammed Gelf again, but this time the young prince was unharmed by the attack. Ignoring the attack on himself, Gelf quickened a targeting ray at Syagrius, then attempted to dispel the Otto’s irresistible dance on the force dragon. The dragon immediately stopped the uncontrollable movement. Now thoroughly annoyed, the dragon took out its aggravation on Eldrood, and with one blow downed the pale aristocrat.
From the benches to the archbaron’s left, Metella’s stifled gasp could be heard by those who might be listening. But none were: all attention was focused on the battle, and right then on Firiona. She assayed Syagrius’ spell resistance, then fired a maximized darkbolt at the wicked wizard. With a shriek, Syagrius fell to the floor, slain. Metella screamed as her master went down.
Kurbin rushed Firiona, attempting to slam the elven wizard. The attack missed as Firiona successfully dodged the onslaught of the crazed aristocrat.
From the corner of her eye, Firiona noticed Alain writhing, shaking his head and groaning, as if he were under some kind of invisible assault. Then his head seemed to clear. Whatever had been assailing him apparently had failed to harm him.
Clearly something was not as it seemed in the council chamber. Gelf and the force dragon both cast true seeing, then surveyed the room. What they saw was disturbing: Eldrood, Kurbin, and Syagrius himself, lying on the floor, incapacitated, yet not destroyed. Because all three of them were revealed as vampires.
An even more disturbing sight greeted Gelf and the dragon when they turned their attention to Syagrius’ assistant. For Metella was revealed as someone far different from the young, attractive, red-haired aristocrat she had seemed to be. In her place they perceived a pale, gaunt, grey-haired woman of indeterminate age and evil mein.
The woman brought up a prismatic sphere around herself in response. "Who are you to interfere with my plan??!!" she shrieked. Then she began to prepare a greater teleport spell, readying her escape.
But Firiona’s greater dispel magic the hoary hunter’s dance. Quickly, the hunter disjoined Metella’s prismatic sphere! As the sphere was being taken down, Kurbin suddenly turned gaseous! The vaporous vampire speedily escaped out the door of the council chamber.
"Dragon!" Gelf called out. "Check the archbaron! Find if he is bewitched!" The dragon immediately cast analyze dweomer on Alain. At the same time, Gelf himself cast assay spell resistance on Metella, or the being previously known as Metella, hoping to overcome whatever spell resistance she might have and prevent her fleeing by dimensionally anchoring her. But Metella was able to activate the previously prepared greater teleport before Gelf was able to anchor her. She flashed out of view and was gone.
Soon the force dragon informed Gelf, "There are no spells on your father!" At that, Gelf approached the throne, knelt and laid down his weapon. "Father," he addressed Alain, "don’t you recognize your own son?" But the archbaron looked at the kneeling solar and replied, "I don’t know you, and my son wasn’t a fighter, still less some celestial being!"
"I have changed over the time I’ve been lost," said Gelf. "Let me prove myself!" Dropping his shapechanged form, the young prince turned back into his natural self.
Alain was unconvinced. "You could have killed him and taken his form!" the archbaron angrily charged.
Having approached behind Gelf, but still in solar form, Firiona now spoke. "Mighty archbaron, summon a cleric and have him determine the truth of what has been told to you!" she advised. She whispered to Gelf, who then turned to the force dragon, and with thanks for his aid, dismissed him from further service. Firiona likewise dismissed the hoary hunter.
Alain was still highly agitated. "Impudence!" he shouted. "To order me about in my own hall! Which you have ruined, yet, with your monstrous beast!" But Cail, from behind his father, tugged on Alain’s royal robes and whispered to him. "Daddy, maybe he’s telling the truth!" said the observant child.
Alain thought things over. "Sometimes children prove wiser than their elders," he said. Signaling to one of the guards who had remained steadfast during the battle, he gave the man instructions. The guard promptly left the wrecked council chamber.
As the remaining retainers and other subjects who had been terrified by the dragon returned to their senses, the guard returned with a high priest of Kord. "How may I be of service, sire?" the priest asked. "And what happened in your hall??!!"
"That is what I hope to determine," replied Alain. He requested that the priest determine whether or not Gelf’ story were true. Accordingly, the priest cast zone of truth, as well as discern lies. "Please tell us your tale, young prince," the priest urged. So Gelf told the story of everything that had befallen him since the time of his departure from Ratik almost two years ago. When he was finished, Alain demanded that Firiona do the same. She too described her deeds, beginning with her quest and ending with the dispatch of the last hoary hunter and the end of the Wild Hunt against him.
The priest turned to Alain. "They speak the truth, sire!"
Alain thanked the priest for his services and dismissed him, then turned to look at Gelf. "It’s really you then?" he said. "We all feared you were lost. Syagrius told me he had tried to locate you, without success."
"Small wonder," replied Gelf. "Syagrius himself was behind the attack on me." And the prince told his father what he had learned about Syagrius’ attempt to have him killed by the hoary hunters.
"I can scarcely believe it!" exclaimed the archbaron. "And yet I see him lying undead on the floor of my hall!"
"Did you notice anything strange about him?" Gelf asked. "I saw immediately that he seemed paler than normal, even for this northern clime."
"Now that you mention it," said the archbaron, "he did seem to change. It was shortly before your disappearance." He pondered this new realization for a short time. "And another thing," he continued. "He took on Metella as his assistant at about that same time."
Alain’s recollections were interrupted by the sudden sound of thunder, which seemed to emanate from the ceiling near the entrance to the council chamber!
Firiona was the first to spot it: an image hovering in the air that was faint at first, then clarified. A sending.
The image stirred a vague memory of having heard of such a manifestation–from Amalla?! But the image promptly began to speak.
"You have interfered with my plan, and I will remember it. Name yourselves if you are not craven!"
Gelf recognized the image as that of the woman he had known as "Metella" in her true form. Firiona stared more closely at the vision. She looked somewhat familiar, like someone she had fought before.
"Where have we met before?" Firiona demanded of the image.
"I do not know you, woman," the image replied angrily, "except that you have interfered with my plan, which you will regret!" And she laughed evilly at the thought. Firiona thought carefully. She’d heard that laugh before. But where? Suddenly she recalled an evil temple complex far underground! And Edward, chained to a column!
"Khadija!" she exclaimed.
"How do you know me?" demanded Metella/Khadija. "I do not know you!"
"But well you should!" gloated Firiona. "We defeated you in the shrine of Orcus beneath Alar’s Crypt, you and Oconee and your cultists!"
But Khadija again protested, "I tell you I don’t know you!"
"I am the great Firiona!" boasted the elven wizard. "So now you do!"
"Now I do indeed," answered Khadija. "I will remember your name, and we will meet again! And I will have my revenge, and far sooner than you imagine!" And with that, the sending disappeared.
Looks like the Enterprise has some ‘splainin’ to do, thought Firiona to herself.
Everyone else in the room was stunned into silence, not knowing what was going on. At last, Alain spoke up. "Let all leave this hall!" he ordered. "It shall be rebuilt and purified of the taint of evil that Metella brought to it. Metella, or whatever her true name is!" With that, all present cleared out of the chamber.
Alain ordered his guards and nobles to escort Firiona to quarters where she could rest and refresh herself, for there would be a great celebration tomorrow to mark Gelf’s return. Gelf accompanied his father. Meanwhile, Alain’s guards put an end to the undead existence of Syagrius and Eldrood.
Quest Day 731
The next morning, after Firiona had arisen and dressed, a noblewoman knocked on the door of her quarters. "Today is a great feast, in honor of the return of Prince Gelf," she informed Firiona. " You are invited to our master’s table to dine with him and his son, and celebrate his restoration to his rightful place. And our master wishes to reward you for rescuing his beloved son!" Firiona replied, "Now that’s an invitation I’m happy to accept."
Accompanying the noblewoman, Firiona soon came to a field with a large pavilion. "Quite a set-up," Firiona observed. Her noble escort explained, "Archbaron Alain has a magic device that allows him to produce a huge feast for special occasions! A "rod of splendor", I’ve heard it called."
Eventually the two women reached the pavilion and entered. A huge throng of Ratik’s most eminent citizens were assembled at table. Heaps of roasted meats, fresh breads, tasty vegetables and other fitting foodstuffs were awaiting distribution. A guard approached, and escorted Firiona to the head table, where Alain and Gelf were seated.
When Firiona arrived, Alain, stood up and announced, "Let the feasting begin! For my son Gelf was lost, and has been found!" All present gladly followed their lord’s suggestion.
At table, Alain thanked Firiona frequently and profusely. He offered to reward Firiona, telling her, "If it is in my power to grant, I will gladly grant it!"
Firiona thanked the archbaron. "My people will contact your people," she said. "About trade relations. Maybe also setting up that magic academy I mentioned last night." "It shall be done!" said Alain.
Alain also rewarded Firiona with a chest of gold, to the tune of 50,000 gp. "Start-up costs," he suggested. And during the course of the feasting, Alain announced the official restoration of Gelf as his heir-apparent. After a few hours, bellies were fully and wine cups were empty.
Suddenly Firiona heard several things. There were tapping sounds like light, tiny objects falling on the pavilion. There was some kind of commotion outside. And then, panicked citizens burst into the pavilion as if they were looking for shelter!
Firiona got up and ran to the nearest entrance to the pavilion. She looked outside. Alain, Gelf and some other guards and nobles followed her and looked out as well.
Outside, people were still running toward the pavilion. Or under trees. Or to any shelter they could find. Tiny thorns kept falling from the sky, as far as the eye could see. Anyone exposed to the falling thorns were wounded by the tiny objects. Some fell down and did not get up.
Instantly, Firiona cast detect magic. She was astonished by the power of the phenomenon. It was magic, alright, and it was evil magic as well. She recalled reading something about such phenomena in her studies at the Spire of the Encyclic, back in Erelhei-Cinlu. It was called, appropriately enough, "evil weather."
And evil it was. After a few minutes, the thorns that struck the soil burrowed into the ground, only to sprout as choking weeds and nettles! This went on for almost half an hour. By the time the rain ended, crops far and wide had been destroyed, and fields had been ruined. Entire forests were damaged.
Firiona asked one of the clerics present, "Can you advise me as to what this is?" But the cleric had never seen anything like it. Alain was terribly distressed. "How much of my land has suffered from this rain of nettles?"
"I can survey the land from the air!" Firiona announced. Then without further delay, she shapechanged into the form of an air elemental, and commenced an aerial survey. After flying at a top speed of almost forty miles per hour for six hours, she determined that over 2500 square miles had been affected by the evil weather. Land from Marner to the Timberway Forest had suffered heavy damage. Ratik had suffered huge losses of forests and farmland.
There was an open spot at the center of the devastation. From the air, it appeared that a round open space only about ten feet wide had been spared. It looked like there was some kind of object at the center of the space. Firiona flew down to hover over the object.
It proved to be a stone block with a message carved on its top surface. Firiona hovered above the surface and was able to read the inscription: "I told you it would be far sooner than you imagine!"
Firiona speeded back to the pavilion to report her findings.
"Who is responsible for this???" cried Alain.
"Metella," answered Firiona. "That is, Khadija. Khadija, high priestess of Orcus, demon prince of undeath!"
Alain buried his face in his hands. "What will we do? How will we survive?" he wailed.
"I’ll find help!" Firional promised. And before anyone could say anything further, she teleported straight to Enterprise headquarters in Greyhawk, and from there requested an urgent meeting with the highest levels of Enterprise leadership. She soon was granted a meeting with Armed Forces Director Andronikos Phaskos. And also, to her surprise, the Director of Intelligence & Operations. The Blue Dahlia.
Quest Day 732
Firiona provided a brief but concise report of her recent activities, culminating in Khadija’s attack on Ratik. "The Archbarony of Ratik has been laid waste," Firiona concluded.
"We know," the Blue Dahlia responded, "and that is unfortunate."
"You know?!" cried Firiona. "I need to know how that happened, why it happened, and what can be done about it!"
"Remember to whom you speak," warned Phaskos. "And now, just listen." With that, the Blue Dahlia briefed Firiona on the Enterprise’s role in the Ratik disaster:
When the adventurers had turned Khadija over to the Enterprise after destroying the cult of Orcus based in the Dim Forest, Enterprise agents had interrogated her. It was clear that a potentially very valuable resource had fallen into their hands. While the interrogation was going on, Enterprise agents were exploring the underground shrine complex and recovering all booty available. During the course of the exploration, the agents had located a secret escape route that Firiona and her companions had missed. It led to a teleportation circle to a secret hideout in the Rakers.
The Enterprise also knew that Khadija was a very high-ranking cultist of Orcus. Thus, a plan suggested itself: the Enterprise would purge Khadija’s mind of all memory of her contact with Enterprise agents, replacing them with false memories, including how she escaped from the sack of her shrine by invading adventurers of unknown origin. In addition, the Enterprise would plant a suggestion in her mind: if she ever learned of any new plans of Orcus, she would immediately convey them to Enterprise agents (unknown to her, of course). The Enterprise then turned her loose at her Rakers hideout, with her manufactured memories, and waited for further developments.
Scrying (without detection) revealed that Khadija immediately began to plot. What area is near the Rakers? The Archbarony of Ratik, for one. What other city was in the area? Chalons! And who was active in the vicinity of Chalons, working to build a force of giants? Hulagu. Ratik would make a perfect base for her own operations, in conjunction with Hulagu’s should he find success with the giants. And so, she proceeded with her scheme to infiltrate the court of Archbaron Alain and subvert his realm to serve her purposes. She must somehow have gained control of Syagrius, possibly by means of an epic-level spell.
"So thanks to you, Ratik has been destroyed??!!" Firiona exploded.
The Blue Dahlia was unperturbed. "First, mind your place, wizard," she said icily. "You are an agent of the Enterprise, and a third-level agent at that. Your loyalty is to this organization, as is your respect, and we expect both your loyalty and your respect at all times. Second, you are assuming nothing can be done. It should be obvious even to you that that is not the case!"
Firiona paused, considering the Dahlia’s last statement. Were there things that could be done? She pondered. Well, Gelf was still on the scene, and she had taught him a number of powerful spells. Could he use them properly? Did he know the wish spell?
"I, er, ah, . . . I apologize for that last outburst," said Firiona. "I was speaking out of concern for my friend Gelf–and I do consider him my friend after this experience–and for his homeland."
"Apology accepted," said Phaskos. "Now, let the Enterprise worry about weeds in Ratik. You have other things to attend to." With that, he and the Dahlia rose to leave. Firiona took her leave of Enterprise headquarters as well.
Having completed her quest, Firiona was anxious for her celestial reward. So, she planeshifted directly to Celestia and in due course reported her success to the solar who had given her the assignment. She provided a full account–except for the part the Enterprise had played in the events. The solar was pleased.
"You have done well," said the solar, "and as promised, you shall receive that which you seek." He vanished, then returned after a short time with a bow. "Receive this solar’s bow," the angelic being said to Firiona, "in recognition of your achievement. May it serve you well, and in the cause of good."
Firiona thanked the solar, then planeshifted back to her estate in Darksea. The second clause of the solar’s benediction had troubled her.
Am I really in the cause of good? she thought to herself.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
LX. The Wild Hunt: Tip of the Sword
Quest Day 128
Another month passed, and the two wizards readied themselves for their next encounter with the hunters.
"We’re going to need more back-up this time," observed Firiona. "We barely made it out alive the last time."
"I was that close to a one-way ride," agreed Gelf. "And there’s still almost an hour left with this group."
"You remember what I told you?" Firiona asked the prince.
"I can see it as if I’d met one myself," replied Gelf, showing more confidence than he actually felt.
"Then let’s go."
Back to the frigid glade the two casters transported themselves. They waited. But not for long.
The first of three hoary hunters charged into the glade and made for Firiona. The fey slashed with its sword, landing first one, then another blow on the wizard. And then a third blow struck with devastating effect: Firiona seemed to be drawn into the gem set into the sword’s hilt!
Gelf recognized what had happened. A critical strike from a hoary hunter’s blade binds the soul of its victim into the blade’s gem, for easy transport back to the Unseelie Court. A fate that could have been his, and was intended to be his yet.
Without further thought, Gelf cast time stop: two extra rounds of subjective time allowed him to cast effulgent epuration on himself, and then used a scroll to attempt to gate in back-up. He did his best to visualize the type of re-inforcement he and Firiona had previously selected. And through the gate came–an ally. And one far beyond what Gelf should have been able to call on. It was as if some hidden force were acting through Gelf to reach creatures more powerful than Gelf alone could reach.
Through the gate emerged an adult force dragon!
Without preliminaries, Gelf called out to the dragon, "Quick! Dispel the gem on that hunter’s sword!"
Immediately, the force dragon used its greater dispel magic power on the hunter’s sword. The gem flared with searing light and then went dark. Suddenly, Firiona reappeared–freed from the gem!
A second hunter charged the force dragon, but the dragon unexpectedly grappled the hunter. Meanwhile, Firiona cast her own time stop. Two subjective rounds allowed her to protect herself with effulgent epuration, and to gate in another ally of her own. And again, somehow a source of great power seemed to power Firiona’s gate command, for through the gate emerged another creature of incredible power: an adult prismatic dragon! In turn, the dragon cast its own time stop, allowing it to haste the wizards, the force dragon and itself, as well as protect Firiona and itself with stone skin.
Unintimidated, the third hoary hunter charged the prismatic dragon, but like its fellow fey, it too was grappled. Meanwhile, the first hunter resumed its attack on Firiona, landing another critical blow that, fortunately, failed to bind the wizard due to the gem’s having been dispelled. Gelf and Firiona protected themselves with iron guard, while the two dragons breathed at the hunters they had grappled, and their respective steeds. The second hunter took heavy damage, but was able to plane shift out of the dragon’s grapple, rendering itself hors de combat. The third hunter fell victim to the prismatic power of the dragon’s breath weapon, and fell dead, poisoned! The two steeds died where they stood, overwhelmed by the dragons’ power.
Now there was only one hoary hunter left, with his steed. The hunter uttered mystic syllables. Immediately all of the party’s magic and magic items were under assault from Mordenkainen’s disjunction. Many of the magic items of Gelf and Firiona were instantly rendered non-magical. Most of their protective spells were wiped out as well. The prismatic dragon’s haste and stone skin disappeared also. But that was the last hurrah for the hunter, as both the evil fey and its steed finally fell to the combined assault of the two wizards and their dragon allies.
Gelf shook his head and looked at Firiona and the dragons. "Did we do it?" he asked in amazement.
"Three down. Four and five to go," answered Firiona. "Not to rain on the parade or anything," she added with a smile.
Quest Day 157A month of warm climates and magic study can do wonders for a party of wizards under attack by hoary hunters.
The two casters spent time at Firiona’s magic academy in Darksea. Gelf learned a number of new spells. Firiona had replacements made up for the magic items she and Gelf had lost in the last encounter with the evil fey, and also prepared a wand of assay spell resistance, an item sure to help them in the upcoming struggle.
The next full moon came as the weather was finally starting to warm up. "This may be the last time for a few months," observed Gelf. "We may not end this until autumn."
"Or later," answered Firiona.
Back to the now-familiar icy glade the two casters returned during the next full moon. Both casters made use of iron guard and shapechange–Firiona to the form of a gloom, Gelf to the shape of a pit fiend. At the far end of the glade, the hunters quickly appeared.
Firiona acted instantly, stopping time to protect herself with effulgent epuration, then casting gate once again. And again, somehow she tapped into hidden reserves of power within herself. Through the gate emerged their previous ally, the force dragon. The dragon knew why it was there, and instantly cast improved invisibility on itself.
Two of the evil fey rushed toward Gelf, but the young prince had plenty of time to stop. In five subjective rounds, he was able to gate in another dragon ally, this one a massive rust dragon, and to spell up both the dragon and himself. But then two more hoary hunters advanced on the casters and their dragon allies. One loosed Mordenkainen’s disjunction at the party, dropping magic protections and neutralizing several magic items.
A huge darkbolt flew from Firiona’s finger and killed the fourth hunter’s steed. The summoned force dragon took out the third hunter’s steed with its breath weapon, and seriously wounded the third hunter. The third hunter, however, directed his attacks to the rust dragon, wounding it slightly. At the same time, the first hunter disjoined Gelf’s protective spells, as well as a number of his magic items, including his headband of intellect, cloak of resistance and ring of protection. Gelf was now seriously weakened. The second hunter, meanwhile, dismounted and attacked the rust dragon, seriously wounding the creature, which bit and clawed the hunter in return for lesser damage. His steed, along with the first hunter’s steed, became ethereal, waiting for further orders from their masters.
The fourth hunter advanced on Firiona and disjoined critical magic items in her possession, as well as her protective effulgent epuration, as well as suppressing her shapechange. Firiona, like Gelf, was now also seriously weakened.
Battle continued. Firiona cast iron guard on the force dragon, which in turn savaged the third hunter for severe damage with jaws, claws, wings and tail. The first, second and third hunters, continuing their assault on the rust dragon, landed heavy blows on the creature. The fourth hunter, at the same time, assaulted Firiona. The wizard fell back, seriously wounded. Quickly she cast mast haste on the dragons: the extra actions would give the wizards a fighting chance to survive the onslaught of the hunters.
And indeed they did. The force dragon immediately attacked the fourth hunter, landing blow after blow and dealing massive damage to the evil fey. The first and second hunters again attacked the rust dragon, each dealing critical damage to the already-weakened creature. Gelf recognized the danger to his dragon ally; a quick iron guard protected the creature, which then dimenson door’d to excape the onslaught of the first and second hunters, only to reappear flanking the fourth hunter. Before the dragon could act against the fourth hunter, however, the frosty fey landed two vicious blows on Firiona.
Her shapechange ability now restored, Firiona assumed solar form, regaining vitality due to the transformation. Again she cast iron guard on herself. Then, she moved underneath the force dragon. "Now let’s see you do that again!" taunted Firiona, as the fourth hunter hissed in anger at her retreat out of safe reach. The force dragon, seeing an easy target before it, blasted the fourth hunter with its breath weapon. The hunter was lucky enough to evade some of the damage, but still suffered severe harm from the attack.
The first and second hunters now changed tactics. The first hunter recalled his steed, then flew to join the third fey. The second hunter withdrew toward the trees surrounding the glade, while the third hunter advanced toward the force dragon.
Gelf tried to set the fourth hunter dancing, but failed in the attempt. But the rust dragon was able to grab and grapple the fey. However, the hunter was able to plane shift out of the grapple, and, luckily for the wizards, also out of the combat.
From under the force dragon, Firiona prepared a mighty spell should any of the hunters come within reach of her. The force dragon took the more direct approach, and attacked the third hunter with a fury. The evil fey suffered tremendous damage, and fell back from the dragon, casting fog on itself as it retreated to augment its defenses.
The first and second hoary hunters now cast true strike on themselves, and circled around on their steeds toward the rust dragon. Gelf tried to strike the approaching second hunter, but missed. The rust dragon was more successful, and grappled the second hunter, lifting him right off his steed!
The pace of the battle quickened as Firiona cast mass snake’s swiftness on the dragons. Extra attacks from the dragons inflicted additonal damage on the fey, as well as killing the first hunter’s steed. But in return, the first hunter was able to dispel the force dragon’s iron guard, making it vulnerable once again to blows from metal weaponry. The second and third hunters did no further damage to the dragons, but the rust dragon maintained its grapple of the second hunter.
By now, Firiona, Gelf and the rust dragon were severely wounded, the dragon especially so. An admixed fire/acid ball from Firiona did minor damage to the second hunter. The force dragon’s mighty jaws shredded the second hunter’s steed, while its tail attack battered the second hunter himself. The first hunter charged the force dragon, but did no damage. The second hunter, however, attacked and finally killed the rust dragon, then withdrew back into the surrounding woods. Gelf, seeing the fall of his rust dragon ally, dimension door’d back to Firiona and the force dragon.
From beneath the protective force dragon, Firiona cast assay spell resistance at the third hunter. Then, knowing its weaknesses, she launched a darkbolt at the evil fey that dealt serious damage to the creature. The force dragon likewise targeted the third hunter, and its attacks finally drove the wounded hunter to plane shift from the battle.
The force dragon now took charge of the battle. It strode toward the second hoary hunter, leaving Firiona and Gelf behind, then looked back and cast forcecage on the two casters, protecting them with bars of force! But the hunters, changing strategy once again, both withdrew into the woods, in different directions. "What in the world are they doing?" thought Firiona from her protected position.
Firiona kept regaining vitality due to her solar form. Meanwhile, the force dragon flew over the woods where the first hunter had fled to, and its breath weapon blasted the evil fey. But the hunter then raced back out of the woods and up to the forcecage in which the two wizards were confined!
The first hunter suffered another blast from the force dragon, and was now severely wounded. He withdrew toward the woods once again. The second hunter retreated further into the woods, and was obscured from overhead view. The force dragon continued to pursue and attack the first hunter, who finally reached the relative safety of the woods. Unfortunately for the hunter, the force dragon regained its breath weapon unusually rapidly, and, flying overhead again, spotted the hunter and blasted the evil fey into oblivion.
Now, the second hunter engaged in a game of hide-and-seek with the force dragon. The hunter ran in random directions around and about the woods surrounding the glade. The dragon attempted to locate and blast the fleeing hunter, but could not pin down the fey’s position. After a time, the dragon returned to the forcecage, dismissed it, and had Firiona and Gelf mount its back before resuming its overhead patrol of the woods.
"Now I know what the hunter’s up to," said Firiona from the dragon’s back. "He’s trying to run out the clock. He knows you will only be here for a limited time." She asked the dragon, "What would it take to extend your presence here and keep helping us?" The dragon sadly shook its head. "I’m sorry," it replied, "but that’s against the rules. I can only remain for the time allotted to your gate spell." And so it went: the dragon soon returned home, while Firiona and Gelf evaded the second hunter for the remainder of the hour needed to end the day’s hunt. They had prevailed, but only with the greatest difficulty.
"Better return to base," said Firiona. "We can better prepare for the final battle."
"And have replacement items made up?" asked Gelf. "Naturally," confirmed Firiona.
Quest Day 331Late spring had transitioned into summer, and summer had passed into autumn. The two casters were now ready for the last conflict. Five hoary hunters would stand between them and safety for Gelf.
Firiona had crafted replacements for Gelf’s magic items that had been disjoined in the last battle, and provided additional items to further enhance the prince’s effectiveness. She also taught the prince a number of additional spells, including shapechange. Gelf, in return, taught Firiona some of the spells he had learned during his time in the court of Ratik.
At length, Firiona and Gelf made for the far north of the Flaeness, an area of frozen tundra, icy foothills, no trees and scattered boulders. Both shapechanged into frost giant form, fitting for the environment. Gelf cast foresight, and the two casters took up positions behind boulders on a frozen hillside. An hour went by.
Suddenly, Gelf had the feeling that hunters were converging on them from multiple directions!
Firiona spotted patches of fog and mist advancing on the party, charging from about one hundred feet away. Immediately, Firiona took the form of a gloom, while Gelf shapchanged to pit fiend form.
Both of them once again attempted to gate in dragon allies. And again, inexplicably, both were able to bring to their aid creatures far more powerful than they had any right to expect. Two mighty force dragons appeared, ready for the coming struggle.
Firiona and her dragon ally acted first, the dragon flying toward the second hunter and blasting away with its breath weapon, killing the hunter’s steed and severely wounding the hunter, while Firiona flew toward the second hunter. All five hunters struck back quickly. The first evil fey’s dire charge against Gelf did some damage, but less than the fey expected. Hunter two swung at Firiona for heavy damage, but in turn took a deep wound as it left itself open to her force dragon ally. The third hunter also charged Gelf and wounded him, while the fifth hunter attempted to dominate the young prince, but was resisted. Meanwhile, the fourth hunter charged Firiona, seriously wounded her, and almost succeeded in binding her into the gem of his sword. Fortunately for her, Firiona found the willpower to resist the gem’s evil power.
Gelf quickly found himself overwhelmed by the fury of the frosty feys, and took the opportunity to teleport back to Darksea! His gated force dragon likewise left the battlefield, returning home. Firiona followed Gelf, and her ally likewise conceded the field.
Back in Darksea, Firiona and Gelf rested and recovered their spells. "We need a change in tactics," observed Gelf. "Indeed," replied Firiona.
The next day came. Firiona and Gelf, healed and spell-fortified, returned to the icy hillside. Firiona once again took gloom form. Gelf shapechanged to pit fiend form. The prince’s foresight was active.
Two hours later, Gelf had the feeling again. Instantly, Firiona and Gelf both cast gate, and, somehow once more, two ultra-powerful force dragon allies stepped through.
With the incredible reflexes of a gloom to aid her, Firiona was able to seize the initiative. Instantly she provided Gelf with iron guard. She then backed away and took the form of a nightcrawler. Firiona’s force dragon ally breathed at the second of the advancing hoary hunters, seriously damaging the fey and killing its steed. The first two hoary hunters responded by locking down both Firiona and Gelf with dimensional anchor. The third hunter charged Gelf, landing three solid blows that nevertheless did no damage! The fey hissed in anger as its sword was unable to break through Gelf’s magical protection.
Just to continue the "iron" theme of the battle so far, Gelf then shapechanged into an iron golem. A quickened true strike enabled the prince to reach the fourth hunter with a ray of dizziness, after which Gelf ran toward Firiona’s dragon ally. Gelf’s dragon, in the meantime, blasted the second hunter for even more breath weapon damage.
The fourth hunte was far too powerful to be left dizzy for long. His greater dispel magic ability quickly eliminated the problem. His steed, on command, went ethereal, then galloped toward the fifth hunter, who was in the process of charging Firiona for a ride-by attack. Firiona took three vicious blows that, however, did less damage than the evil fey hoped for.
Now in nightcrawler form, Firiona tried to bite the third hunter. She was able to penetrate the fog cloud surrounding the fey, then grapple the hunter in her nightcrawler jaws once she had bitten him. But the first hunter was having none of that, and used his greater dispel magic power on Firiona. Her shapechange was immediately suppressed, and the third hunter easily broke her unaugmented grapple. The angry hunter landed three savage blows on the elven wizard, two of them against vital areas. The gem on the hilt of the third hunter’s sword flared into brilliance as Firiona struggled valiantly to resist its binding power. But to no avail. Firiona was bound into the gem!
While Firiona was battling the third hoary hunter, her dragon ally was savaging the second hunter with bite, claw, wing and tail. The second hunter attempted to dispel Gelf’s protective magic, but failed in the effort. "So!" exclaimed Gelf. "Let’s see who’s got the real magic!" He again shapechanged to pit fiend form and quickened his true strike. "I’ve got you now!" he taunted the hunter. Reaching out, he touched the third hunter. "Dance for me!" he demanded. The hunter looked back at him with utter contempt, seeming to shrug off Gelf’s spell. Gelf, in despair, cried out to his gods for help. Suddently, as if his prayer had been granted, the third hunter dropped everything he was holding and began to jump around!
"Thank you, oh heavenly powers!" exclaimed Gelf at their intervention on his behalf. And not just on his behalf: Gelf’s force dragon ally rushed to retrieve the third hunter’s fallen sword and immediately attacked the gem within which Firiona was bound! A mighty tail slap pounded the gem, and tiny cracks began to appear within it.
The fourth hunter, now ethereal, hurried toward the third of his comrades. The fifth hunter turned about and, flying toward Gelf, attempted a greater dispel magic. The attempt, fortunately for the prince, failed.
Overhead, the first force dragon wheeled around, flying back toward the third and fourth hunters, and loosed its breath weapon on hunters and sword alike. The hunters’ steeds were instantly slain. Their masters took heavy damage. But most importantly, the dragon’s breath destroyed both sword and gem. Firiona was released!
The second force dragon likewise breathed at the third and fourth hoary hunters, both of which took severe damage. No help came from the third hunter, who was still compelled to dance by Gelf’s spell. Gelf himself shook off the second hunter’s attempt to dominate him: iron golems cannot be dominated! Then Gelf swiftly took a defensive position between Firiona and her dragon ally. Not enough: the fifth hoary hunter’s greater dispel magic suppressed his shapechange ability!
Firiona, although near the first force dragon, was also within reach of the fourth hoary hunter’s attacks, and was struck four times! Blood gushed from wounds to her arms and head. She was beginning to weaken against the evil fey’s onslaught. To protect herself, she shapechanged to solar form, then defensively cast a windowless forcecage around her. It wasn’t enough, as the first hunter readily dispelled it. But the first force dragon managed to breathe yet again, and blasted the third and fourth hunters for massive damage.
While Firiona and the first force dragon were engaged, the second force dragon came under assault from the second and fifth hunters. The first hunter unsuccessfully sought to grapple the dragon (much to its surprise), but the dragon batted the evil fay away before he could get a grip. The fifth hunter circled to flank the second dragon, true strike readied, but the dragon in turn grabbed the hunter’s steed!
Gelf, aided by true strike, reached out and successfully set the fourth hoary hunter dancing, joining his companion the third hunter. "A hoary hunter chorus line!" mocked Gelf. The third hunter didn’t have time to laugh, as Gelf’s dragon ally attacked with every weapon at its disposal and landed them all. The frosty fey shrieked in pain.
The fighting continued. Augmented by Firiona’s quickened snake’s swiftness, the first force dragon attacked in a frenzy of blows, slashes, bites and slaps. The third hunter was the first to die, bitten in half by the dragon! The fourth and fifth hunters also suffered the dragon’s wrath. The second dragon likewise breathed again, killing the fifth hunter’s steed and wounding the first and fifth hunter. The hapless fourth hunter took opportunity damage while it was busy dancing.
The fighting went on. Firiona recovered somewhat from her wounds due to her solar form. She managed to strike the second hunter with a targeting ray, making it easier for her allies to strike the evil fey. The fourth fey fell to the first dragon’s attacks.
But now the fifth hunter produced Mordenkainen’s disjunction. Two of Firiona’s wands and her gloves of dexterity were disjoined, and her shapechange ability was suppressed. Gelf was badly weakened as his cloak of resistance and ring of protection were rendered non-magical; his shapechange ability was also suppressed, and a wand was destroyed. The targeting ray on the second hunter was also removed by the disjunction!
Gelf’s retaliation was ineffective, as he failed to break through the second hunter’s spell resistance. The second force dragon was more successful, damaging the fey with three attacks.
No longer protected by her solar form, Firiona took cover among the allied dragons and speeded up their attacks with snake’s swiftness. The first force dragon breathed yet again, killing the first hunter’s steed and damaging the remaining three hunters. The first hunter was able to deploy a protective fog cloud and retreated into the mist. But the protection soon ended, due to Gelf’s greater dispel magic. The next spell by Gelf afforded the second force dragon an extra attack on the fifth hunter, which wounded it slightly, but its normal attacks proved sufficient to dispatch the second hunter.
The fifth hunter faced Gelf and tried to dominate the young prince again. And again, Gelf resisted the hunter’s mental assault!
The tide of the battle seemed to change, for now only two hunters remained out of the initial five. The surviving fifth hunter was targeted by the first force dragon. The dragon’s attacks devastated the frosty fey. A quickened snake’s swiftness from Gelf then allowed the dragon an extra attack. Even the fifth hunter’s protective fog could not stop the dragon (endowed with blindsight) from delivering the fatal blow. The fifth hunter went down.
Now only the very first hunter remained: the one who had initiated the Wild Hunt in the first place!
The first hunter was also protected by fog. Not well enough. The first force dragon was able to dispel it. Now was the time that Firiona’s shapechange power resumed. The first force dragon swiftly struck the surviving hunter for serious damage. Ignoring the wound, the hunter attempted to dominate Gelf once again, and again was denied as Gelf’s will proved superior. Even the hunter was impressed with the young prince’s strength of mind! His respect suddenly turned to a shriek of pain, though, as Gelf’s avasculate spell drained the fey of half his vitality. The second force dragon, seeing the black manifestation drain the hoary hunter of life, closed in for the kill. The dragon struck, once, twice, three times, four times, striking the fey for massive damage. But, in its overconfidence, the dragon carelessly struck out with his second wing and, amazingly, slashed itself in a critical area instead, drawing much blood. The hoary hunter laughed with scorn at his foe’s fumbled attack.
That was the frosty fey’s last laugh. The first force dragon’s breath weapon was active again, and the blast of force brought the hunter to his knees. With a final tip of his sword, the hunter saluted Gelf, then fell down, lay still, and disappeared back to the Unseelie Court to follow its companions. The Wild Hunt was over.
Another month passed, and the two wizards readied themselves for their next encounter with the hunters.
"We’re going to need more back-up this time," observed Firiona. "We barely made it out alive the last time."
"I was that close to a one-way ride," agreed Gelf. "And there’s still almost an hour left with this group."
"You remember what I told you?" Firiona asked the prince.
"I can see it as if I’d met one myself," replied Gelf, showing more confidence than he actually felt.
"Then let’s go."
Back to the frigid glade the two casters transported themselves. They waited. But not for long.
The first of three hoary hunters charged into the glade and made for Firiona. The fey slashed with its sword, landing first one, then another blow on the wizard. And then a third blow struck with devastating effect: Firiona seemed to be drawn into the gem set into the sword’s hilt!
Gelf recognized what had happened. A critical strike from a hoary hunter’s blade binds the soul of its victim into the blade’s gem, for easy transport back to the Unseelie Court. A fate that could have been his, and was intended to be his yet.
Without further thought, Gelf cast time stop: two extra rounds of subjective time allowed him to cast effulgent epuration on himself, and then used a scroll to attempt to gate in back-up. He did his best to visualize the type of re-inforcement he and Firiona had previously selected. And through the gate came–an ally. And one far beyond what Gelf should have been able to call on. It was as if some hidden force were acting through Gelf to reach creatures more powerful than Gelf alone could reach.
Through the gate emerged an adult force dragon!
Without preliminaries, Gelf called out to the dragon, "Quick! Dispel the gem on that hunter’s sword!"
Immediately, the force dragon used its greater dispel magic power on the hunter’s sword. The gem flared with searing light and then went dark. Suddenly, Firiona reappeared–freed from the gem!
A second hunter charged the force dragon, but the dragon unexpectedly grappled the hunter. Meanwhile, Firiona cast her own time stop. Two subjective rounds allowed her to protect herself with effulgent epuration, and to gate in another ally of her own. And again, somehow a source of great power seemed to power Firiona’s gate command, for through the gate emerged another creature of incredible power: an adult prismatic dragon! In turn, the dragon cast its own time stop, allowing it to haste the wizards, the force dragon and itself, as well as protect Firiona and itself with stone skin.
Unintimidated, the third hoary hunter charged the prismatic dragon, but like its fellow fey, it too was grappled. Meanwhile, the first hunter resumed its attack on Firiona, landing another critical blow that, fortunately, failed to bind the wizard due to the gem’s having been dispelled. Gelf and Firiona protected themselves with iron guard, while the two dragons breathed at the hunters they had grappled, and their respective steeds. The second hunter took heavy damage, but was able to plane shift out of the dragon’s grapple, rendering itself hors de combat. The third hunter fell victim to the prismatic power of the dragon’s breath weapon, and fell dead, poisoned! The two steeds died where they stood, overwhelmed by the dragons’ power.
Now there was only one hoary hunter left, with his steed. The hunter uttered mystic syllables. Immediately all of the party’s magic and magic items were under assault from Mordenkainen’s disjunction. Many of the magic items of Gelf and Firiona were instantly rendered non-magical. Most of their protective spells were wiped out as well. The prismatic dragon’s haste and stone skin disappeared also. But that was the last hurrah for the hunter, as both the evil fey and its steed finally fell to the combined assault of the two wizards and their dragon allies.
Gelf shook his head and looked at Firiona and the dragons. "Did we do it?" he asked in amazement.
"Three down. Four and five to go," answered Firiona. "Not to rain on the parade or anything," she added with a smile.
Quest Day 157A month of warm climates and magic study can do wonders for a party of wizards under attack by hoary hunters.
The two casters spent time at Firiona’s magic academy in Darksea. Gelf learned a number of new spells. Firiona had replacements made up for the magic items she and Gelf had lost in the last encounter with the evil fey, and also prepared a wand of assay spell resistance, an item sure to help them in the upcoming struggle.
The next full moon came as the weather was finally starting to warm up. "This may be the last time for a few months," observed Gelf. "We may not end this until autumn."
"Or later," answered Firiona.
Back to the now-familiar icy glade the two casters returned during the next full moon. Both casters made use of iron guard and shapechange–Firiona to the form of a gloom, Gelf to the shape of a pit fiend. At the far end of the glade, the hunters quickly appeared.
Firiona acted instantly, stopping time to protect herself with effulgent epuration, then casting gate once again. And again, somehow she tapped into hidden reserves of power within herself. Through the gate emerged their previous ally, the force dragon. The dragon knew why it was there, and instantly cast improved invisibility on itself.
Two of the evil fey rushed toward Gelf, but the young prince had plenty of time to stop. In five subjective rounds, he was able to gate in another dragon ally, this one a massive rust dragon, and to spell up both the dragon and himself. But then two more hoary hunters advanced on the casters and their dragon allies. One loosed Mordenkainen’s disjunction at the party, dropping magic protections and neutralizing several magic items.
A huge darkbolt flew from Firiona’s finger and killed the fourth hunter’s steed. The summoned force dragon took out the third hunter’s steed with its breath weapon, and seriously wounded the third hunter. The third hunter, however, directed his attacks to the rust dragon, wounding it slightly. At the same time, the first hunter disjoined Gelf’s protective spells, as well as a number of his magic items, including his headband of intellect, cloak of resistance and ring of protection. Gelf was now seriously weakened. The second hunter, meanwhile, dismounted and attacked the rust dragon, seriously wounding the creature, which bit and clawed the hunter in return for lesser damage. His steed, along with the first hunter’s steed, became ethereal, waiting for further orders from their masters.
The fourth hunter advanced on Firiona and disjoined critical magic items in her possession, as well as her protective effulgent epuration, as well as suppressing her shapechange. Firiona, like Gelf, was now also seriously weakened.
Battle continued. Firiona cast iron guard on the force dragon, which in turn savaged the third hunter for severe damage with jaws, claws, wings and tail. The first, second and third hunters, continuing their assault on the rust dragon, landed heavy blows on the creature. The fourth hunter, at the same time, assaulted Firiona. The wizard fell back, seriously wounded. Quickly she cast mast haste on the dragons: the extra actions would give the wizards a fighting chance to survive the onslaught of the hunters.
And indeed they did. The force dragon immediately attacked the fourth hunter, landing blow after blow and dealing massive damage to the evil fey. The first and second hunters again attacked the rust dragon, each dealing critical damage to the already-weakened creature. Gelf recognized the danger to his dragon ally; a quick iron guard protected the creature, which then dimenson door’d to excape the onslaught of the first and second hunters, only to reappear flanking the fourth hunter. Before the dragon could act against the fourth hunter, however, the frosty fey landed two vicious blows on Firiona.
Her shapechange ability now restored, Firiona assumed solar form, regaining vitality due to the transformation. Again she cast iron guard on herself. Then, she moved underneath the force dragon. "Now let’s see you do that again!" taunted Firiona, as the fourth hunter hissed in anger at her retreat out of safe reach. The force dragon, seeing an easy target before it, blasted the fourth hunter with its breath weapon. The hunter was lucky enough to evade some of the damage, but still suffered severe harm from the attack.
The first and second hunters now changed tactics. The first hunter recalled his steed, then flew to join the third fey. The second hunter withdrew toward the trees surrounding the glade, while the third hunter advanced toward the force dragon.
Gelf tried to set the fourth hunter dancing, but failed in the attempt. But the rust dragon was able to grab and grapple the fey. However, the hunter was able to plane shift out of the grapple, and, luckily for the wizards, also out of the combat.
From under the force dragon, Firiona prepared a mighty spell should any of the hunters come within reach of her. The force dragon took the more direct approach, and attacked the third hunter with a fury. The evil fey suffered tremendous damage, and fell back from the dragon, casting fog on itself as it retreated to augment its defenses.
The first and second hoary hunters now cast true strike on themselves, and circled around on their steeds toward the rust dragon. Gelf tried to strike the approaching second hunter, but missed. The rust dragon was more successful, and grappled the second hunter, lifting him right off his steed!
The pace of the battle quickened as Firiona cast mass snake’s swiftness on the dragons. Extra attacks from the dragons inflicted additonal damage on the fey, as well as killing the first hunter’s steed. But in return, the first hunter was able to dispel the force dragon’s iron guard, making it vulnerable once again to blows from metal weaponry. The second and third hunters did no further damage to the dragons, but the rust dragon maintained its grapple of the second hunter.
By now, Firiona, Gelf and the rust dragon were severely wounded, the dragon especially so. An admixed fire/acid ball from Firiona did minor damage to the second hunter. The force dragon’s mighty jaws shredded the second hunter’s steed, while its tail attack battered the second hunter himself. The first hunter charged the force dragon, but did no damage. The second hunter, however, attacked and finally killed the rust dragon, then withdrew back into the surrounding woods. Gelf, seeing the fall of his rust dragon ally, dimension door’d back to Firiona and the force dragon.
From beneath the protective force dragon, Firiona cast assay spell resistance at the third hunter. Then, knowing its weaknesses, she launched a darkbolt at the evil fey that dealt serious damage to the creature. The force dragon likewise targeted the third hunter, and its attacks finally drove the wounded hunter to plane shift from the battle.
The force dragon now took charge of the battle. It strode toward the second hoary hunter, leaving Firiona and Gelf behind, then looked back and cast forcecage on the two casters, protecting them with bars of force! But the hunters, changing strategy once again, both withdrew into the woods, in different directions. "What in the world are they doing?" thought Firiona from her protected position.
Firiona kept regaining vitality due to her solar form. Meanwhile, the force dragon flew over the woods where the first hunter had fled to, and its breath weapon blasted the evil fey. But the hunter then raced back out of the woods and up to the forcecage in which the two wizards were confined!
The first hunter suffered another blast from the force dragon, and was now severely wounded. He withdrew toward the woods once again. The second hunter retreated further into the woods, and was obscured from overhead view. The force dragon continued to pursue and attack the first hunter, who finally reached the relative safety of the woods. Unfortunately for the hunter, the force dragon regained its breath weapon unusually rapidly, and, flying overhead again, spotted the hunter and blasted the evil fey into oblivion.
Now, the second hunter engaged in a game of hide-and-seek with the force dragon. The hunter ran in random directions around and about the woods surrounding the glade. The dragon attempted to locate and blast the fleeing hunter, but could not pin down the fey’s position. After a time, the dragon returned to the forcecage, dismissed it, and had Firiona and Gelf mount its back before resuming its overhead patrol of the woods.
"Now I know what the hunter’s up to," said Firiona from the dragon’s back. "He’s trying to run out the clock. He knows you will only be here for a limited time." She asked the dragon, "What would it take to extend your presence here and keep helping us?" The dragon sadly shook its head. "I’m sorry," it replied, "but that’s against the rules. I can only remain for the time allotted to your gate spell." And so it went: the dragon soon returned home, while Firiona and Gelf evaded the second hunter for the remainder of the hour needed to end the day’s hunt. They had prevailed, but only with the greatest difficulty.
"Better return to base," said Firiona. "We can better prepare for the final battle."
"And have replacement items made up?" asked Gelf. "Naturally," confirmed Firiona.
Quest Day 331Late spring had transitioned into summer, and summer had passed into autumn. The two casters were now ready for the last conflict. Five hoary hunters would stand between them and safety for Gelf.
Firiona had crafted replacements for Gelf’s magic items that had been disjoined in the last battle, and provided additional items to further enhance the prince’s effectiveness. She also taught the prince a number of additional spells, including shapechange. Gelf, in return, taught Firiona some of the spells he had learned during his time in the court of Ratik.
At length, Firiona and Gelf made for the far north of the Flaeness, an area of frozen tundra, icy foothills, no trees and scattered boulders. Both shapechanged into frost giant form, fitting for the environment. Gelf cast foresight, and the two casters took up positions behind boulders on a frozen hillside. An hour went by.
Suddenly, Gelf had the feeling that hunters were converging on them from multiple directions!
Firiona spotted patches of fog and mist advancing on the party, charging from about one hundred feet away. Immediately, Firiona took the form of a gloom, while Gelf shapchanged to pit fiend form.
Both of them once again attempted to gate in dragon allies. And again, inexplicably, both were able to bring to their aid creatures far more powerful than they had any right to expect. Two mighty force dragons appeared, ready for the coming struggle.
Firiona and her dragon ally acted first, the dragon flying toward the second hunter and blasting away with its breath weapon, killing the hunter’s steed and severely wounding the hunter, while Firiona flew toward the second hunter. All five hunters struck back quickly. The first evil fey’s dire charge against Gelf did some damage, but less than the fey expected. Hunter two swung at Firiona for heavy damage, but in turn took a deep wound as it left itself open to her force dragon ally. The third hunter also charged Gelf and wounded him, while the fifth hunter attempted to dominate the young prince, but was resisted. Meanwhile, the fourth hunter charged Firiona, seriously wounded her, and almost succeeded in binding her into the gem of his sword. Fortunately for her, Firiona found the willpower to resist the gem’s evil power.
Gelf quickly found himself overwhelmed by the fury of the frosty feys, and took the opportunity to teleport back to Darksea! His gated force dragon likewise left the battlefield, returning home. Firiona followed Gelf, and her ally likewise conceded the field.
Back in Darksea, Firiona and Gelf rested and recovered their spells. "We need a change in tactics," observed Gelf. "Indeed," replied Firiona.
The next day came. Firiona and Gelf, healed and spell-fortified, returned to the icy hillside. Firiona once again took gloom form. Gelf shapechanged to pit fiend form. The prince’s foresight was active.
Two hours later, Gelf had the feeling again. Instantly, Firiona and Gelf both cast gate, and, somehow once more, two ultra-powerful force dragon allies stepped through.
With the incredible reflexes of a gloom to aid her, Firiona was able to seize the initiative. Instantly she provided Gelf with iron guard. She then backed away and took the form of a nightcrawler. Firiona’s force dragon ally breathed at the second of the advancing hoary hunters, seriously damaging the fey and killing its steed. The first two hoary hunters responded by locking down both Firiona and Gelf with dimensional anchor. The third hunter charged Gelf, landing three solid blows that nevertheless did no damage! The fey hissed in anger as its sword was unable to break through Gelf’s magical protection.
Just to continue the "iron" theme of the battle so far, Gelf then shapechanged into an iron golem. A quickened true strike enabled the prince to reach the fourth hunter with a ray of dizziness, after which Gelf ran toward Firiona’s dragon ally. Gelf’s dragon, in the meantime, blasted the second hunter for even more breath weapon damage.
The fourth hunte was far too powerful to be left dizzy for long. His greater dispel magic ability quickly eliminated the problem. His steed, on command, went ethereal, then galloped toward the fifth hunter, who was in the process of charging Firiona for a ride-by attack. Firiona took three vicious blows that, however, did less damage than the evil fey hoped for.
Now in nightcrawler form, Firiona tried to bite the third hunter. She was able to penetrate the fog cloud surrounding the fey, then grapple the hunter in her nightcrawler jaws once she had bitten him. But the first hunter was having none of that, and used his greater dispel magic power on Firiona. Her shapechange was immediately suppressed, and the third hunter easily broke her unaugmented grapple. The angry hunter landed three savage blows on the elven wizard, two of them against vital areas. The gem on the hilt of the third hunter’s sword flared into brilliance as Firiona struggled valiantly to resist its binding power. But to no avail. Firiona was bound into the gem!
While Firiona was battling the third hoary hunter, her dragon ally was savaging the second hunter with bite, claw, wing and tail. The second hunter attempted to dispel Gelf’s protective magic, but failed in the effort. "So!" exclaimed Gelf. "Let’s see who’s got the real magic!" He again shapechanged to pit fiend form and quickened his true strike. "I’ve got you now!" he taunted the hunter. Reaching out, he touched the third hunter. "Dance for me!" he demanded. The hunter looked back at him with utter contempt, seeming to shrug off Gelf’s spell. Gelf, in despair, cried out to his gods for help. Suddently, as if his prayer had been granted, the third hunter dropped everything he was holding and began to jump around!
"Thank you, oh heavenly powers!" exclaimed Gelf at their intervention on his behalf. And not just on his behalf: Gelf’s force dragon ally rushed to retrieve the third hunter’s fallen sword and immediately attacked the gem within which Firiona was bound! A mighty tail slap pounded the gem, and tiny cracks began to appear within it.
The fourth hunter, now ethereal, hurried toward the third of his comrades. The fifth hunter turned about and, flying toward Gelf, attempted a greater dispel magic. The attempt, fortunately for the prince, failed.
Overhead, the first force dragon wheeled around, flying back toward the third and fourth hunters, and loosed its breath weapon on hunters and sword alike. The hunters’ steeds were instantly slain. Their masters took heavy damage. But most importantly, the dragon’s breath destroyed both sword and gem. Firiona was released!
The second force dragon likewise breathed at the third and fourth hoary hunters, both of which took severe damage. No help came from the third hunter, who was still compelled to dance by Gelf’s spell. Gelf himself shook off the second hunter’s attempt to dominate him: iron golems cannot be dominated! Then Gelf swiftly took a defensive position between Firiona and her dragon ally. Not enough: the fifth hoary hunter’s greater dispel magic suppressed his shapechange ability!
Firiona, although near the first force dragon, was also within reach of the fourth hoary hunter’s attacks, and was struck four times! Blood gushed from wounds to her arms and head. She was beginning to weaken against the evil fey’s onslaught. To protect herself, she shapechanged to solar form, then defensively cast a windowless forcecage around her. It wasn’t enough, as the first hunter readily dispelled it. But the first force dragon managed to breathe yet again, and blasted the third and fourth hunters for massive damage.
While Firiona and the first force dragon were engaged, the second force dragon came under assault from the second and fifth hunters. The first hunter unsuccessfully sought to grapple the dragon (much to its surprise), but the dragon batted the evil fay away before he could get a grip. The fifth hunter circled to flank the second dragon, true strike readied, but the dragon in turn grabbed the hunter’s steed!
Gelf, aided by true strike, reached out and successfully set the fourth hoary hunter dancing, joining his companion the third hunter. "A hoary hunter chorus line!" mocked Gelf. The third hunter didn’t have time to laugh, as Gelf’s dragon ally attacked with every weapon at its disposal and landed them all. The frosty fey shrieked in pain.
The fighting continued. Augmented by Firiona’s quickened snake’s swiftness, the first force dragon attacked in a frenzy of blows, slashes, bites and slaps. The third hunter was the first to die, bitten in half by the dragon! The fourth and fifth hunters also suffered the dragon’s wrath. The second dragon likewise breathed again, killing the fifth hunter’s steed and wounding the first and fifth hunter. The hapless fourth hunter took opportunity damage while it was busy dancing.
The fighting went on. Firiona recovered somewhat from her wounds due to her solar form. She managed to strike the second hunter with a targeting ray, making it easier for her allies to strike the evil fey. The fourth fey fell to the first dragon’s attacks.
But now the fifth hunter produced Mordenkainen’s disjunction. Two of Firiona’s wands and her gloves of dexterity were disjoined, and her shapechange ability was suppressed. Gelf was badly weakened as his cloak of resistance and ring of protection were rendered non-magical; his shapechange ability was also suppressed, and a wand was destroyed. The targeting ray on the second hunter was also removed by the disjunction!
Gelf’s retaliation was ineffective, as he failed to break through the second hunter’s spell resistance. The second force dragon was more successful, damaging the fey with three attacks.
No longer protected by her solar form, Firiona took cover among the allied dragons and speeded up their attacks with snake’s swiftness. The first force dragon breathed yet again, killing the first hunter’s steed and damaging the remaining three hunters. The first hunter was able to deploy a protective fog cloud and retreated into the mist. But the protection soon ended, due to Gelf’s greater dispel magic. The next spell by Gelf afforded the second force dragon an extra attack on the fifth hunter, which wounded it slightly, but its normal attacks proved sufficient to dispatch the second hunter.
The fifth hunter faced Gelf and tried to dominate the young prince again. And again, Gelf resisted the hunter’s mental assault!
The tide of the battle seemed to change, for now only two hunters remained out of the initial five. The surviving fifth hunter was targeted by the first force dragon. The dragon’s attacks devastated the frosty fey. A quickened snake’s swiftness from Gelf then allowed the dragon an extra attack. Even the fifth hunter’s protective fog could not stop the dragon (endowed with blindsight) from delivering the fatal blow. The fifth hunter went down.
Now only the very first hunter remained: the one who had initiated the Wild Hunt in the first place!
The first hunter was also protected by fog. Not well enough. The first force dragon was able to dispel it. Now was the time that Firiona’s shapechange power resumed. The first force dragon swiftly struck the surviving hunter for serious damage. Ignoring the wound, the hunter attempted to dominate Gelf once again, and again was denied as Gelf’s will proved superior. Even the hunter was impressed with the young prince’s strength of mind! His respect suddenly turned to a shriek of pain, though, as Gelf’s avasculate spell drained the fey of half his vitality. The second force dragon, seeing the black manifestation drain the hoary hunter of life, closed in for the kill. The dragon struck, once, twice, three times, four times, striking the fey for massive damage. But, in its overconfidence, the dragon carelessly struck out with his second wing and, amazingly, slashed itself in a critical area instead, drawing much blood. The hoary hunter laughed with scorn at his foe’s fumbled attack.
That was the frosty fey’s last laugh. The first force dragon’s breath weapon was active again, and the blast of force brought the hunter to his knees. With a final tip of his sword, the hunter saluted Gelf, then fell down, lay still, and disappeared back to the Unseelie Court to follow its companions. The Wild Hunt was over.
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