CHRONICLE VAULT 20080207, FROM THE LIBRARY OF RHAVUS THE FIEND-SAGE ...
Readying 7, 595 CY
The Champion's Game of the City of Greyhawk ended on Fireseek 22, with the Kings of the Road being declared the champions. This year's games did nto go as smoothly as previous years, however, what with the appearance of the Apostle of Kyuss - an ulgurstasta of immense proportions - during the final match. But the heroes prevailed and were treated like - well, like kings.
Following the discovery of Eligos' murdered body on Fireseek 23, the heroes felt that things were not quite over as far as Kyuss and the Age of Worms was concerned. But for the time being the Free City treated them celebrities. Lord Mayor Nerof Gasgal invited them to dinner on Fireseek 24, where he secretly thanked the companions for bringing him the list of officials who had been replaced by dopplegangers. With their well-earned money, the heroes hit the town hard, shopping for new magical toys to upgrade or replace existing ones.
But the death of Eligos gnawed at them, and the knowledge that their actions may have brought upon the sage's death weighed heavily upon all of them. Duke suggested that they pool their resources together and pay to have Eligos resurrected. It was agreed, and they brought the high-ranking priest of Pelor to where the city was storing the sage's body. On Fireseek 26, Eligos the Sage was brought back to the world of the living.
He was disoriented to be sure, but when asked about the note he was writing he was quick to explain. Both Eligos and Allustan were once apprentices to the same master, the legendary wizard Malakara the Mad. Most of the heroes had heard this name, though usually in conjunction with fantastic stories of magic and adventure that have surely become exaggerated tales over the years. Nonetheless, the Mad Mage should be alerted to this information about the Age of Worms - it is possible he even knows more about what's going on.
Unfortunately, Eligos and Malakara had a bit of a falling out, the details of which the sage was not willing to go into. But Allustan was always on better terms with the old wizard, and he should know of the Mad Mage's current location. Eligos returned home to recuperate, and then told the heroes that they should probably get out of town quickly. He was, and made arrangements to leave Greyhawk the next day.
The heroes did their best to keep a low profile while they waited for orders to be fulfilled. Kong had a custom suit of magical armor made, Argo ordered a pair of magical daggers to augment his already impressive skills, and Kaspar kept mostly to himself. Duke worked on scribing scrolls while Klaus busied himself with finding the Thieves' Guild of the city. He was unsuccessful.
All of the equipment was ready to go by Readying 2 and they prepared to leave the very same day. With Duke's caravan, it was agreed that Klaus and Kaspar would ride with the dwarf wizard while Argo rode his dire badger companion Bacon and Kong rode a horse. Then the barbarian saw something catch his eye on the way to the stables. It was a yak, and the image of the proud Kong sitting astride such a powerful beast was one that he couldn't pass up. He offered the keeper of the yak several hundred gold for the beast, which the peasant man was only to happy to take.
So, caravan, badger, and yak left the Free City of Greyhawk on Readying 2 bound for Diamond Lake, the home of Allustan. It was a four day journey, and the mid-winter winds whipped furiously about them. The region around Greyhawk and the Cairn Hills did not get much snow, but they saw a few flakes here and there along the road. Mainly it was just the biting wind.
On Readying 6 the heroes arrived in Diamond Lake, and immediately they knew something was wrong. Not a soul could they see on the roads of the mining town, and a few of the buildings seemed destroyed - almost melted. As they rode through the main street, a few of the townsfolk rushed up to greet them. They asked if they had seen the dragon that attacked the town just a few days ago. It was black dragon, who was demanding Allustan be brought before him. The sage's home was destroyed, along with a few adjacent buildings, and many people were killed before someone finally mentioned that Allustan was last seen a few miles away in one of the many old caves that dotted the area. Called the Whispering Cairn by the locals, it was a site that the sage had been spending quite a bit of time at recently. The black dragon flew away to that location, leaving the citizens of Diamond Lake to cower in fear.
The heroes immediately set out for the Whispering Cairn. It was possible that this dragon was Ilthane herself, perhaps seeking Allustan for his involvement in the destruction of the clutch of eggs in the Twisted Branch tribe. It was a short journey to the site, and they left their mounts a distance away as they approached the entrance to the Whispering Cairn on foot.
It was Kaspar's sharp elven eyesight that caught the first bit of movement beyond the cave entrance. The companions prepared themselves by scattering and taking up defensible positions. Their prudence was rewarded when a large black dragon swooped down and landed on the cairn entrance. It was definitely not Ilthane, they surmised, but the dragon did demand to know what the heroes were doing.
Klaus antagonized the dragon foolishly, perhaps thinking ... well, to be honest no one really knows what he was thinking. His rude actions prompted the dragon to spit a line of acid at him, which carried some sort of poisonous taint along with the flesh-eating acid. The black dragon landed, and melee was engaged with the beast.
It was a tough battle against a tough foe. The dragon brought all of its considerable combat skills to bare against the companions, managing to knock down Kong, Argo, and Duke at separate times. Feeling that his fists were useless against their foe, Kaspar stayed back for most of the fight, running in with lightning speed when he saw one of his party members fall.
Eventually, the black dragon was wounded to the point where he did not want to fight anymore, and uttered a curse against the heroes. "Ilthane and Dragotha take you!" he spat as he flapped his wings and flew away, keeping low to the hills so as to thwart any more spells or arrows.
The heroes were successful, but the fight drained them almost completely. Curiosity got the best of them, however, and they decided to venture into the Whispering Cairn to see how far they could get. The first chamber inside was well-traveled, but Argo was able to pick up Allustan's trail. They followed it to an opaque blackness filling a doorway. Duke identified it as some sort of portal, and Argo verified it was safe. Walking through it was like passing through a wall of mud, but they all emerged through the viscous portal unscathed.
The other side was a hallway where screaming winds kept up a strange piping sound as it passed over holes in the wall. Despite the wind Argo was still able to follow Allustan's tracks, which led into a large chamber containing many pillars. Upon the pillars and walls were runes, runes of a long-dead language that Duke could barely make out. It was based off of Auran, the language of the wind elementals, but was far older. He was able to pick out a few phrases - "glorious Icosiol", "Incomparable Army", and "Battle of Pesh" were all he could read. Everyone started to wonder exactly where they were.
Allustan's tracks continued on to a small intersection with three doors and a statue of a large armored man holding a sword and scales of balance. The sage's footprints led right, but the door from the left door suddenly burst open. Everyone prepared for the worst as two being emerged. The first was a huge fire elemental, crackling with the life, and the second was a large and distinguished looking salamander.
The salamander carried a long spear but was not holding it threateningly. In fact, the normally evil creature from the Elemental Plane of Fire seemed to be in a chatty mood! He introduced himself as Antyress Redpike, Earl of Coalchester of the Coalchester Salamanders, charged with guarding the tomb of Icosiol for all eternity. He invited the heroes into his chamber, which they discovered was layered with red hot coals, and asked if they knew where they were. When Kaspar ventured a guess of the Cairn Hills, Redpike laughed. He called the heroes "young whippersnappers" and led them back to the chamber of pillars so that he could properly tell his tale.
Thousands of years ago, the Earl of Coalchester explained, the forces of Chaos clashed with the forces of Law. On one side was the Queen of Chaos and her champion, Miska the Wolf-Spider, and on the other were the Wind Dukes of Aaqa, charged with upholding law for all eternity. Their conflict raged for time immemorial, until finally they met for a final confrontation on the Prime Material Plane. There, on the Plains of Pesh, the Wind Dukes fought the Queen of Chaos and Miska. The leader of the Wind Dukes was the mighty general Icosiol, who wielded the famous Staff of Law. It was with this powerful artifact that he pierced Miska the Wolf-Spider, defeating the forces of Chaos but killing Icosiol and splintering the item into seven parts. The multiverse knows this now as the Rod of Seven Parts.
After the battle, the Wind Dukes knew their time was fading. And so they built many tombs for their fallen heroes. Icosiol was buried under the Plains of Pesh themselves, and the Wind Dukes extracted an oath from the Elemental Prince of Fire to protect the mighty general's burial site. The noble salamander family of Coalchester was selected to serve as guard.
And thus has it been for many centuries. It was a lot for the companions to take in, and they decided to rest for a period before continuing on. Antyress Redpike did mention seeing a bearded human cross his path a few days ago, confirming Argo's tracking skills. The noble salamander returned to his chamber and the heroes bedded down in the room of pillars, thinking on what they had learned.
Session Updates
Hey, this one is almost on time. Getting better, huh? At any rate, next session is on Feb 14 - Valentine's Day. If someone has something else going on, let me know. Otherwise it's game as usual.
Quest Cards In Progress
* What's Ilthane Up To?
* Return to Allustan with Eligos' Notes
* Rescue Allustan
XP Recap
10th-level Characters 6,000
11th-level Characters 3,050
'Till next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Dragonfyre Gaming Association
weird.dave.dfga@gmail.com
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