Age of Worms Campaign Update 2/21/2008

CHRONICLE VAULT 20080221, FROM THE LIBRARY OF RHAVUS THE FIEND-SAGE ...

Readying 10, 595 CY
Slightly disorientated from the deluge of information from the noble salamander Antyress Redpike, and certainly still nursing wounds from the fight against the black dragon, the heroes decided to rest in the chamber of pillars. The knowledge that they were in the tomb of a fallen Wind Duke of Aaqa weighed heavily on their minds and they were determined more than ever to find Allustan.

The elf monk Kaspar kept a silent vigil during the rest period as he always did. As the rest of the party awoke, Argo spotted something out of the corner of his eye. A gigantic spider phased into existence behind Kaspar, grasped him in its front legs, then winked out of existence! Everyone saw the elf monk get taken by the creature, and Duke was able to identify the means of transportation as passing into the Plane of Shadow. Whatever this creature was that took Kaspar it came and went from this other plane of existence.

With little information to go on, the heroes continued to follow the trail of Allustan the Sage hoping that the elf monk's location would be revealed. They passed through a chamber that contained beautiful but strange purple chandeliers and wisely chose not to bother them. They passage leading out sloped downward at a steep angle, descending deeper into the earth beneath the Plains of Pesh.

The chamber at the bottom held three doors - two on either side of the entrance and one in the middle at the end of a short flight of stairs. In the middle of the room the heroes found Kaspar, unconscious and hanging from a strand of purple spider silk. As they approached cautiously the massive spider emerged from the Plane of Shadow.

The spider called itself Flycatcher, and told the companions that in order to free their friend they would need to do something. Beligerent as always, Klaus demanded to know what the spider was talking about. Flycatcher explained that a short time ago a thief came up from the River of Blood and stole the "amulet." If the heroes would kill the thief and return with this item Flycatcher would release Kaspar. The giant spider directed them to the door on the left and then to follow the River of Blood to its end to find the thief. Seeing little other choice the heroes agreed.

Flycatcher returned to the Plane of Shadow, taking Kaspar with him. Argo identified Allustan's footsteps as continuing through the chamber to the center door, and Klaus decided he wanted to find out what was in there. As he approached, Flycatcher's voice demanded that the dwarf not continue. Klaus ignored the voice and tried to open the door. A bolt of lightning struck out from the trap, which he shook off. He tried again and got the same result. A third time produced a third lightning bolt, at which point the dwarf rogue realized that the door seemed to require a special "amulet" sized key. He stalked off with the rest of his companions to the door on the left to the sound of Flycatcher's whispered laughter.

Through the door was a mostly natural cavern, through which a strange river of blood-red water flowed swiftly. A natural bridge of slick stone crossed the river to the other side, where the banks were not so steep. Kong crossed easily enough, along with Argo. Duke started to cross, lost his footing but caught himself before falling and decided a rope would be helpful. He tossed one end of the rope to Argo and tied the other end around his waist. About halfway through the dwarf wizard hit a slick spot and tumbled headfirst into the river. The rocks at the bottom gave him a bit of a jarring, but with the help of Argo and Kong holding the other end of the rope he clambered up to the shore. Klaus walked easily across the river.

The companions were now faced with a difficult situation. Kong could hear that the river continued a short distance down the cavern before coming to a waterfall. None of them were equipped with the water travel capabilities necessary to swim, so Duke suggested he cast fly on himself and spider climb on everyone else to navigate the tunnel. For lack of a better idea they decided on this, but realized they would have to rest so that the wizard could prepare the necessary spells. They rested in the cavern.

After the rest period, Duke cast the requisite spells and they were off. The dwarf wizard, under the effects of the fly spell, had to go ahead of the rest of the party - his spell wore off sooner and gave him a faster movement than the others. He flew ahead and found that the River of Blood did indeed come to a waterfall in a narrow tunnel, which he followed down roughly one hundred and fifty feet to a small lake of blood, which tumbled again over another waterfall down about seventy feet. From there the blood water pooled and exited via some unknown underground exit in a large chamber at the bottom.

As he stood in the chamber alone, Duke caught something out of the corner of his eye. It was a humanoid shape that ducked into one of the crevices of the cave. He lit a light spell but did not get a good look at the person. He decided (wisely) to wait until the rest of his companions arrived before investigating further.

After an hour Argo, Klaus, and Kong arrived climbing along the ceiling. Duke pointed out the stranger in the corner, who stepped forward and lit a strange lamp. The lamp shed green light, and illuminated everyone with glowing faerie fire. The man was of average height and wore a heavy cloak and a greatsword on his back. He approached cautiously.

Duke asked him who he was the man replied that he was Moreto, Marquis of Ravenstone from the White Kingdom. No one had ever heard of this place, and Moreto indicated it was a nation of his own people deep beneath the surface - a kingdom of true ghouls. He shed little other light on the subject other than this. Kong point-blank asked him if he was the one who stole the "amulet" from the spider Flycatcher. At this, Moreto laughed.

He asked if Flycatcher sent them to kill him, and when they confirmed this he replied with a counter-offer - help him kill Flycatcher and he would give them the "amulet" and whatever treasure the shadow spider had accumulated. Moreto explained that the spider was an obstacle in his path towards the surface world, and that the two had reached something of a standstill.

The heroes were unsure of who to trust, and rightfully so. On one hand they had an obviously psychotic shadow spider holding their friend hostage. On the other they had a sinister true ghoul with dubious goals wanting to escape. After much debate they decided to side with Moreto and return up the River of Blood and kill Flycatcher. Unfortunately, Duke needed another rest period in order to get everyone up (though Moreto had his own means - a cloak of the bat).

During the rest period Moreto probed the heroes for information on the surface world. He didn't get much information, but he did reveal that he had uncovered whispered legends amongst his own people about a dark time of writhing decay. He was sent by the ruling body of the White Kingdom to the surface world to determine the validity of these prophecies. The heroes let some information slip about Kyuss and the Age of Worms, which Moreto was greatly interested in - but the conversation ended there. Perhaps for the best.

After the rest period, all of the heroes used the power of the spider climb spell to clambor up the sides of the slick tunnel while Moreto flew up. It was about an hour before the heroes reached the top, and there as they approached Flycatcher's chamber the true ghoul asked about tactics. Still not trusting their new-found ally, the companions were vague, talking of "charging" and "staying prepared." This seemed to worry Moreto.

Eventually they reached the door across the ledge, and Moreto positioned himself amidst the party near the rear. Kong kicked down the door, and the true ghoul's strange green lantern illuminated Flycatcher despite him not being on this plane. The barbarian gave a mighty yell and charged, and managed to hit the shadow spider on the Plane of Shadow. Klaus moved into a flanking position on the other side of Flycatcher and Argo drew his daggers. Moreto drew his flaming greatsword and approached as well.

After the initial attack, the shadow spider phased into this plane and flew into a berserker rage upon spotting Moreto. Flycatcher was not to be reasoned with as he brought all of his attacks to bear against his opponents. However, given the element of surprise and a good deal of luck, the heroes managed to drop the shadow spider with the barest hint of a threat. The spider curled up, dead, and Moreto stabbed the creature repeatededly for good measure. He helped very little during the battle.

Afterwards, Moreto thanked the heroes and held up his end of the bargain. He tossed to the ground the "amulet" which they discovered was actually a disc of blue crystal about six inches in diameter engraved with runes. Moreto then took his leave and the companions watched him go.

After a thorough search Klaus found the unconscious Kaspar in the adjoining chamber. They dragged him out as they tried to figure out what to do. When Klaus picked up the seal left by the true ghoul he was suddenly surrounded by four djinni, who demanded he put down the Seal of Law. The dwarf did, and the djinni disappeared after a minute. Curious to see what would happen, Argo picked up the seal - and found himself surrounded by four invisible stalkers, which disappeared when he dropped the object. Duke decided to try his luck, and was suddenly surrounded by four greater air elementals that disappeared after he dropped it. Kong thought it best not to try his luck.

The conversation then turned as to how to get the seal to the door, which was the way that Allustan had went. Eventually they settled on a Tenser's floating disc to carry the seal to the doorway, which worked. The chamber beyond was a shrine of some sort dedicated to the Wind Duke general Icosiol, with a single exit that Allustan had taken. It was unlocked so Klaus opened it.

On the other side was a strange sight indeed. A large metal spike protruded from the ceiling and terminated at the apex of a ball of electrical energy. Inside this globe was the unconscious form of Allustan. Their goal finally within their grasp, Klaus boldly stepped forward - and quickly dodged the bolt of lightning that shot out from the metal spike. Every six seconds another bolt of lightning shot out, but luckily Klaus was very nimble and was under Duke's elemental protection spell. His ducking and dodging brought him back to the entrance.

The heroes decided to attack the metal spike, with Duke volunteering since no one else had enough ranged firepower to damage the thing. It took the better part of an hour, but through judicious use of the acid splash spell the dwarf wizard finally destroyed the metal spike. The lightning globe shattered, sending Allustan tumbling to the ground. Everyone rushed forward and found that the sage was bleeding profusely.

Argo shared a healing potion with Allustan, who awoke in a shock. He greeted the heroes warmly and asked what they were doing here. When confronted with confused looks, the sage explained that he had just found this chamber with the metal spike not a few minutes ago. Duke recognized the signs of a temporal stasis spell and informed Allustan that he was stuck in the globe for at least a week based on what they had heard in Diamond Lake.

Allustan was slightly confused but recovered quickly. When they told him about Eligos' findings and that they were sent to find Malakara the Mad Mage, the sage's countenance grew dark. He admitted that Malakara was probably the best course of action, but that the elderly wizard had a chaotic temperance. Neither Eligos nor Allustan had spoken or had any dealings with the Mad Mage for quite some time, but he told him where to find the reclusive man. Along the barren southern shore of the Nyr Dyv (the Lake of Unknown Depths) there was a peninsula called Point Hollow. There a raging storm of metal encircled Malakara's crystal tower. It was roughly 150 miles up the coast from Elmshire.

Duke gave Allustan Eligos' notes along with a copy of the Apostolic Scrolls, and the sage encouraged the heroes to finish exploring Icosiol's tomb. If the Age of Worms were really approaching it would be helpful to have as many tools at their disposal as they could, and certainly even just a portion of the Rod of Seven Parts could be helpful. He told them that he would return to Diamond Lake and study up on what Eligos had sent, after which the heroes could bring it to Malakara.

It was at that point that Duke brought up the dragon. Allustan was visibly upset when they told him that the black dragon had attacked Diamond Lake searching for the sage, and that the sage's home was one of those that were destroyed. Many of the townsfolk had died but the heroes drove the dragon away at the entrance to the Whispering Cairn. Allustan recovered quickly and told the companions to meet him at the inn back in Diamond Lake once they were complete. The sage also informed them the command word for the Seal of Law so that they could handle it without summoning angry elementals.

The heroes were seemingly at an impass. Klaus felt pretty confident in his searching skills, and hadn't found anything unusual or hidden so far in the tomb. The one area so far as yet unsearched was the River of Blood's cascading waterfalls. They decided to take a quick pass over the area and see what they could find. Duke took the Seal of Law.

Lo and behold, behind the second waterfall, the Seal of Law illuminated a secret door in the rock face which opened mysteriously when they approached. Beyond was a long narrow passage, and it ended at a set of massive adamantine-laid granite double doors. Like before the Seal of Law glowed brightly when brought forth and the doors swung open. The chamber beyond the doors was unlike any they had seen before.

The ceiling was easily sixty feet high and lit by elongated metal lanterns that glowed with the colors of the rainbow. A white marble sarcophagus floated in the air at the end of the room, ten feet off the floor, and the heroes could make out the image of Icosiol, Wind Duke of Aaqa, upon the sarcophagus' bottom. The walls of the chamber were carved to depict a funeral procession that wound up in a spiral, showing Wind Dukes, djinni, air elementsl, and other elemental servants of law in mourning as they attended the body of a fallen general. After the first spiral, the upper sections showed the general's ascension into a primal vortex of wind and thunder.

The heroes approached with reverence to the sarcophagus, knowing that they were standing before the final resting place of the bearer of the Staff of Law. With Kong's help, Argo scrambled up to the top and found a spot to fit the Seal of Law. Snapping it into place, the sarcophagus slowly floated to the ground and opened gently. Inside were the moldering physical remains of Icosiol along with his most prized possessions.

The swords born by the Wind Duke were known as the sword of Aaqa and the lightning sword. When Argo picked them up, he felt a momentary rush of anger, then contentment and a sense of wonder. The weapons resized to fit his halfling hands.

Also amongst Icosiol's possessions was the ring of the wind dukes, which Duke claimed. The final artifact in the sarcophagus was perhaps the most valuable. It was the seventh segment to the fabled Rod of Seven Parts, a weapon and a tool of great power. They took the fragment, for its powers alone would be helpful to their goal.

The heroes exited the tomb of Icosiol on Readying 10. A cold wind and flurries greeted their arrival, with their next goal in mind - to meet with Malakara the Mad Mage.

Session Updates
Alright, start as usual around 7 pm tomorrow. Nothing else to update here.

Quest Cards Completed
* Return to Allustan with Eligos' Notes
* Rescue Allustan

Quest Cards In Progress
* What's Ilthane Up To?
* Speak with Malakara the Mad Mage
* Recover Rod of Seven Parts (Optional)

XP Recap
10th-level Character 12,000 XP
11th-level Characters 8,000 XP

'Till next, Game On!

"Weird" Dave Olson
Dragonfyre Gaming Association
weird.dave.dfga@gmail.com