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.
No comments:
Post a Comment