Spectrum's Comments: The Seekers have returned to the ruined city where they battled Woodstalker the Green Dragon. In the back of the dragons cave there was a large stone door with Elder runes engraved on it. The Seekers opened the door and released a guardian-- a demon from the abyss! Now the fun begins!
The Frontier #86 -
Opening the mysterious door, the Seekers have unwittingly unleashed the portal's guardian: a Fiend. Pad, Fin, Steph and Arocken flee in terror.
Round 1:
Mercy tries to calm one the fleeing Seekers as they pass him. Stephanie fails to stop and runs Mercy over!
Vonte casts Faerie Fire, trying to illuminate the critter. The spell fizzles out around it. Zynara launches an Acid Arrow. She hits the Fiend, but it shows no discomfort from the arrow in its chest.
Claudius fires a Magic Missile. The Missiles fade out right before contact.
Bernice runs forward and slings a stone at the thing. It falls short.
Thundron fires a pair of arrows, but both are off to the left. The Fiend stares at Claudius its bug-like eyes piercing his very soul.
Round 2:
Many of the Seekers close to HTH range.
Validar swings with his enchanted blade. The Fiend lets out a shriek as the weapon strikes him.
Claudius, in somewhat of a stupor, turns towards Zynara and hits her with a Magic Missile!! Fortunately, for Claudius that is, Blod did not see this as his back was to both mages.
Thengor swings his battle-axe at the critter, but fails to land a solid blow.
Thundron fires another pair of arrows. One sails high, while another nearly clips Validar.
Vonte fires his own barrage of arrows. His are all high.
Zynara, enraged and surprised about being Magic Missiled by Claudius, rushes towards him.
Armon attacks with his bastard sword, but misses.
Bernice slings another stone, but misses again. In fact, it bounces harmlessly off of Blod!
The Fiend wades into his attackers. A claw rakes Armon, but fortunately he is protected by the Stoneskin Pad cast on him. Blod is not so lucky as the thing bites him.
Fear overwhelms Thengor and he breaks off and runs for it!
Blod swings his great sword, but misses the elusive Fiend.
Round 3:
Zynara reaches Claudius and punches him right in the face! Claud is also protected by Stoneskin and takes no damage, but his spell is ruined.
Claud swings back, but misses badly.
Validar connects again. The Fiend glares at him.
Vonte runs in with his own sword, swings and misses. The Fiend snaps its teeth tearing into Vonte! Fear overcomes Vonte and he also high-tails it!
Validar, seeing Claudius' traitorous behavior, orders Armon and Thundron to knock the mage out. Armon tackles Claud around the knees, while Thundron hits Claudius over the head with the hilt of his sword. Claudius goes down, unconscious.
Bernice launches another stone and again almost hits Blod.
Blod lands a powerful hit on the Fiend. It smiles at him with an evil and toothy grin.
Twin claws rake into Blod, leaving huge, bloody scratch marks. Its tail whips around and catches Validar solidly. A numb cold comes over the noble warrior and he finds his limbs frozen.
GM Notes:
That completes rounds 1-3.
The following is a list of which rounds characters can attack HTH.
Ranged attacks can be launched earlier, depending on the range itself.
Arocken 7
Finrod 11
Padraig 13
Stephanie 5
Thengor 15
Vonte 12
Claudius has lost 3 levels of his Stoneskin, Armon 1 level, Zynara 3 levels.
Hit Points:
Blod 14 of 36
Mercy 9 of 10
Validar 49 of 63
Vonte 9 of 16
Zynara 10 of 19
I realize that this is a day early, but everyone was in. If everyone is in by Saturday Night, I'll post an expanded update on Sunday.
All yours! (To survive that is... ;D)
SUBJ: Armon FROM: Omni Tuens 04/03/91 S#: 825829
Armon stands amidst the chaotic melee, in which friend strikes friend with every other blow. Unfortunately, the bard meets with no success, save, of course, downing Claudius. Looking around, the young man realizes that over half the party is either out of action or has...left. He grins and resumes the struggle, enjoying the thrill of the combat and not seeing what there is to be afraid of. In an attempt to boost the obviously faltering morale, the bard starts up a steady banter of encouragement as he attacks.
"Onward Seekers!!! He can give so well; let us teach this foul demon to receive! Let none stand before our might! Let none be a match for our valor! Make this foe taste your blade, and may all the mugs be raised tonight in a toast to our victory!"
SUBJ: Blod... FROM: Blod 04/03/91 S#: 394425
Seeing Validar standing motionless and being somewhat bruised and battered by this fiend, Blod, never the less continues his attack. Hearing words of encouragement from our resident bard helps and that fiend will pay for that evil grin!
"Eat Steel, Soulless SnotBag!"
(You are so lucky Claud!)
Spectrum's Comments: Yep, Claud was. Blod would have made mince meat of him!
SUBJ: Arocken FROM: Wildchilde 04/04/91 S#: 399800
Seeing his companions attacking one another and the battle going so poorly, Arocken throws himself into battle and swings both swords at the beast.
"Die creature from the nine planes!"
SUBJ: FINROD FROM: SGT STONEY 04/05/91 S#: 434840
Running full-tilt away from the Fiend, the lithe Elven mercenary is conducting a deep soul-searching consideration. This emotion he is overcome by is unfamiliar to him. He has never before felt fear. Oh, sure, there has always been a sense of concern, before... concern that he might not live through the battle at hand. But THAT emotion was only a goad to his muscles and brain...something to make him fight all the harder. It was nothing compared to this sheer, gut-wrenching terror, this emotion so like a slimy creature, alive and crawling inside his very skin.
It takes a very long time for him to haul himself down from a full sprint, to make himself stop running- and in the end, it is more the tiredness of his muscles that does the job, than any regaining of self-control.
Finrod turns and begins the long run back to where the remaining party members are doubtless dying at the hands of the foul beast, dying because of his own lack of control.
As he runs, his mind instinctively turns to how to take out the fiend, but deep inside, something is shattered, some secret part of the soul of the gray-eyed mercenary that now knows a limit that it never before had considered.
Upon getting back to the melee, if any party members remain standing Fin will cast HASTE upon himself, Steph, Val, Arocken, Blod, and Bernice. If any of the above are down, he will HASTE Armon in their place. If ALL are down, the beast will be blasted with a FIREBALL, and then face the savage attack of Fin's full fury, armed with sword and dagger.
SUBJ: Stephanie FROM: Schar 04/06/91 S#: 453855
At last the fear in the pit of my stomach dies. I come to a screeching halt and reverse my course, rushing back to my comrades.
"Defend thyselves, comrades! I shall add my steel shortly!!"
As I run, my legs begin to feel like lead. At least any extra weight gained during the months back in Gateway will be lost by the end of this day!
SUBJ: Bernice FROM: Merri2 04/07/91 S#: 418376
The halfling turns her head watching her friends Fin and Steph run past.
'That's funny, I wonder what...' she puzzles. She peers in the door. 'Eww. That's ugly. And big! I guess they need me in there.' She trembles slightly as she moves forward firing her sling.
When she sees her sling bullet hit Blod, she stops. 'Oh, he's gonna be ma-a-d.' She pockets her sling, knowing what she has to do. She draws her sword and walks forward, squinting and looking away.
SUBJ: Mercy FROM: Mastiff1 04/07/91 S#: 397323
Seeing that his friend are in trouble, Mercy will pull out his holy symbol and attempt to turn the creature "Begone creature of Darkness, return to the pit that spawned you!"
*********************
If that does not work, Mercy will cast Prot. from Evil then engage the monster.
SUBJ: Zynara FROM: Zynara 04/09/91 S#: 522847
When Claud attacks me, my anger gets the better part of me. Claud might have some nasty spells but my fists can travel faster than most of his spells! With that I try to knock him out like I did my brothers. When help comes and takes him out, I smile, and then realize there is still the creature.
I turn and see Blod covered in blood. This sets me off. Seeing the acid not effecting it and the lesser spells fizzling our, I use the flame arrow spell as I did the acid arrow. I will then cast vampiric touch and rush to my husband's aid. Once I have used that touch (Hopefully with my knuckles) I will use chill touch in the same fashion.
The Frontier #87 -
Round 4:
Bravely, Bernice advances with her magic shortsword. She takes a swing, but misses the fiend.
Zynara conjures a Flame Arrow and flings it at the fiend. It screams as the fire hits it.
"Destroy you, shall I!", it thinks to her.
Thundron comes in, blades swinging. He misses.
Mercy closes and attempts to turn. He does not have the effect that he desired as it is he who winds up fleeing!
The Fiend attacks. Two claws rip into Blod and he goes down. Its teeth bite Thundron and its tail catches Bernice. She freezes in her tracks.
Round 5:
Validar comes out of his paralysis just as Stephanie arrives on the scene. He swings his blade, but misses twice. Steph does likewise, missing once, but rocking the Fiend with the other.
Enraged, it concentrates all of its attacks on Steph. Only the tail reaches her, but it does not paralyze her.
Armon misses with his sword. Zynara fails to make contact with her Vampiric Touch.
Round 6:
Validar and Stephanie attack again. Both land solid hits and the Fiend drops!
The fighting ceases for a moment.
Round 7:
The Fiend mysteriously disappears. You do not see it anywhere. Arocken returns.
Round 8:
Seemingly out of nowhere a sheet of ice appears overhead! It crashes down on Bernice, Armon, Claudius, Stephanie, Thundron, and Validar. Thundron goes down in a bloody heap.
You spot the Fiend on the far side of the cavern.
Round 9:
Padraig rushes in, all you note that he currently looks like a quickling. Seeing the Fiend, he casts a spell at it. It doesn't appear to have any effect.
"Get rid of me easily, you will not!"
Seeing several Seekers approach, it rises into the air and hovers near the ceiling.
Round 10:
Pad fires off 5 Magic Missiles. Luck is with him and they affect the Fiend. It falls to the ground.
Validar, Stephanie and the just returning Finrod all attack the downed creature. It disappears in a sulfurous puff of smoke. It does not reappear.
GM Notes:
Well, that was fun! ;)
Hit Points:
Arocken 39 of 49
Bernice 18 of 38
Blod 0 of 36
Mercy 9 of 10
Stephanie 40 of 50
Thundron RIP
Validar 42 of 63
Vonte 9 of 16
Zynara 10 of 19
Next week: Update XP's, since it appears that you will be resting for several days.
Claudius, Zynara and Armon's Stoneskins are gone.
Spectrum's Comments: I have no idea why the demon was speaking like Yoda.
SUBJ: Padraig FROM: GM Shifty 04/11/91 S#: 453203
Bouncing from one foot to another in a blur, Pad mutters, "This is worse than drinking an entire pot of espresso." Not wanting to shut down his Polymorph spell with hours left on its duration, Pad pictures a half-elf in his mind. Concentrating, he assumes that shape.
"Much better," he sighs. Turning to the others, "A nasty fight. Never saw one myself, but I believe that was one of the greater baatezu, a gelugon. Nasty critters from the Nine Hells. How are the injured doing?"
Upon hearing that one of the party didn't survive, Pad bows his head for a moment. "Are we going to continue our search beyond this door or leave? I still have most of my spells left, but those of you who were here for the entire fight must have depleted your own. I do have a spell prepared that can give us a look inside without any of us having to pass the doorway. I'll send it in and see if there are any obvious threats beyond."
Pad walks over near the door and casts a Wizard Eye. He then sends the invisible eye into the corridor beyond the door. He'll use it for a quick scouting unless something interesting comes into view. At that point, he'll stop the search and concentrate on getting a detailed picture of that.
SUBJ: Armon FROM: Omni Tuens 04/12/91 S#: 466385
The bard is ecstatic when the demon falls, and even happier to find himself in one piece. He is brought up short, however, when he realizes that the party has dead among them. After making sure there's nothing of immediate use he can do, Armon wanders over to Padraig.
"So you think that was a gelugon? I guess it meets everything I've heard about them...but wouldn't that mean that THAT door..." he points at the guarded entrance, "is a hellgate?"
Armon is eager to explore beyond the door, and will volunteer to be one of the first ones through it if given an option.
(Mad, did I get the dragon's tooth or not?) >:D
SUBJ: Vonte 1 FROM: Vonte 04/12/91 S#: 403194
After the intense fear to flee has been overcome, I will return to the parties locale as fast as my feet will carry me.
after seeing the ceiling turn to a shower of ice, and most of the party falling due to their injuries, I will attend to the wounded as best as possible. bind Blod: CLW Blod X2 CLW Bernice
I will then make the rest of the parties wounded as comfortable as possible until more healing spells can be granted by Ehlonna.
Upon seeing Thundron's mangled body, and feeling that there is no hope for recovering (short of a divine intervention or the like) I will draw my holy symbol and say a prayer of mourning for the warrior, and pray for some type of miracle to occur.
SUBJ: Vonte FROM: Vonte 04/12/91 S#: 440869
part two kinda after thoughts after realizing what exactly has happened.
***************************************
* After a moment, the full effects of what has actually happened strikes, emotions flood through my head each trying to make it way to being expressed.
First, denial of the death, a feeling of guilt, anger rears its ugly head, rage fills me, the desire for the fiend to reappear so it may feel the horror of reliving its death this time but by MY HAND wishing it could feel the intense hatred for its foulness, and lastly the helplessness.
Guilt returns, If I only hadn't run away, If I only had more power to help Thundron, If only.....
Once again I will pray to Ehlonna in hopes that her power will fill me enough to right this unjustness.
Thundron should not have died, It should have been me!!!
SUBJ: Arocken FROM: Wildchilde 04/12/91 S#: 402408
Arocken warily walks away from the Battle site, for the first time in his life he felt completely useless, neither of his blades seemed to have found there mark and he fled in the face of the enemy.
"I would be willing to continue on, I will take the point, with my ring I heal faster than most, I should be fully healed in a couple of days at the most."
SUBJ: Zynara FROM: Zynara 04/12/91 S#: 474788
When the creature disappears the first time, I start moving towards my downed husband. When the ice comes crashing down, I head for Blod quickly. 'If I am going to die, I will do it near my husband.'
When the creature falls a second time, I wait a few moments to see if it returns. When it doesn't, I immediately start yelling for a cleric to come and take care of Blod. I will do what I can till one comes. Tears shall be in my eyes as I watch him lie there unconscious. "Blod! You better hang in there. I won't ever forgive you if you go and die on me now!"
SUBJ: GM Notes FROM: GM Mad 04/14/91 S#: 415084
Anyone who mentioned wanting a portion of the dragon managed to get the part they desired.
Vonte throws CLW's on Blod and Bernice. Blod is now 12 of 36, Bernice 25 of 38.
Pad creates a Wizard Eye and sends it into the opening. The passage is roughly 8' wide. It leads away and slightly down. After 80' it enters into a large cavern. Numerous bones and other remains are piled in the room.
Occasionally, he sees pieces of equipment mixed in with the debris. Some of it still looks useable.
There are two passages leading off of this cave. One winds back 40' and comes to an end. At the end, there is a shaft going down into darkness. Taking just a quick glance, Pad sees only the shaft dropping away. No bottom is in sight.
The other passage winds its way 60' back. It opens up into a small cavern. However his attention is riveted by a formation of pillars bearing runes. They look very familiar to the ones under Gateway.
SUBJ: Stephanie FROM: Schar 04/14/91 S#: 462433
I let out a huge sigh of relief when that thing goes down. After a few moments, I move over to Pad.
"What is that thing? A quickling? I think they're darling!!"
I'm disappointed when he changes into a half-elf. ;D
I notice Vonte over the limp body of his friend Thundron. I walk to his side and place my hand on his shoulder.
"Vonte? Please, do not torture yourself so. You consider yourself at fault when you are not. You do not know that if you did not succumb to the fear of that creature that things would not be any better. You cannot assume that you could have saved him. Death is the risk that we all face. It's a fact of our lifestyle. Do not consider me to be cold. I weep for our fallen comrade, but his time had come."
After learning what Pad sees with his magic, I suggest that we go in and look about. There don't appear to be any other threats here.
Still later I approach Finrod.
"I noticed your apprehension with Zynara bearing a child. If understand you correctly, then you are concerned with our offspring. Let me just say this, I have no desire to bear children at this point of my life. I hope you understand."
SUBJ: Padraig FROM: GM Shifty 04/14/91 S#: 491075
Pad smiles at Steph's comment about quicklings, but his voice is very serious as he replies, "Quicklings are not to be considered cute. They are a viciously evil sort of pixie. They withstand the effects of magic much better than you would expect, and they have a few innate spell abilities of their own. Topped with their great speed and abilities in melee, they are a fearsome adversary."
After having checked out the first parts of the complex, Pad turns to our esteemed party leader and says, "Well, my guess would be that the first room was the lair of the gelugon, and contains the remains of its victims. I would hazard to guess that it was summoned and bound here as a guardian."
"The shaft might lead to more dangers, but I could temporarily block it off with a Wall of Stone. We could then search the first floor in relative assurance of not being disturbed from below."
"The last room I saw appears to be another of those pillar arrangements, like the one under Gateway. I would suggest quickly, but carefully, searching it and not tampering with anything we find until we've had a chance to rest and recover."
SUBJ: Zynara FROM: Zynara 04/14/91 S#: 498720
When Blod is healed, I smile and give him several big kisses then, "Next time you hit a creature and don't hurt it, will you do me a small favor? Get the Hell away from it?"
When news of what is in the tunnel is heard, "Might I suggest we move into the first cavern and attempt to seal or trap the other two entrances? That way we can search through the first cavern and see what is there. We might find something in it to help with anything else we encounter in the tunnels and caverns."
SUBJ: Blod FROM: Blod 04/15/91 S#: 445342
Still fearing for the life of my Wife and unborn child, I continue to struggle vainly against the Fiend. When he finally knocks me cold, the last thing I utter is the name of my wife.
When I come around, the first thing I do is check on Zynara to make sure she and the child are alright. "Zynny, my love. I feared for you and had to keep that thing away from you!"
Upon hearing what Pad has found, Blod says to Validar, " We should at least see what is in the cavern, We may find something useful. Afterwards, might I suggest moving away and using the Rod. Some of us are sorely in need of some rest. If Armon could loan me his ring when we have reached safety, my healing will be that much faster."
SUBJ: VALIDAR FROM: Bl Panther 04/15/91 S#: 831728
Validar is pleased with the Seekers relatively easy triumph over the fiend.
"I had expected an even MORE difficult time in dealing with that foul creature. This battle is a tribute to the considerable power and ability we have attained. Surely the Seekers are a force to be reckoned with," Validar proudly states.
As Padraig completes his scouting of the area beyond the door, Validar also offers his opinion and consolation to the obviously distraught Vonte.
"Stephanie is indeed correct in her estimation. This is a dangerous occupation by nature and we are in a foul and evil land. At the risk of sounding callous and unfeeling, death is a matter of fact that must be dealt with or it will consume you. Many distinguished comrades have fallen in battle at my side. And unfortunately many more will in the future. Thundron has passed from this existence, leaving us with but a memory of his time with us. We shall have to go on from here. Otherwise we will have dishonored that memory."
As the rest of the party do their various actions, Validar speaks with the wizard...
"I see no reason to put our expedition on hold at this point. We have sustained a few injuries and lost one of our number, but most of us are healthy and most of the spellcasters have available spells. Therefore, we will begin our search of the immediate area beyond the door. Those who have sustained more serious injuries will occupy the interior positions of the party's order."
"To be sure, we will not be able to explore as much area if we had not met the fiend in combat, but we are still in decent condition."
"Closing off the shaft to below would be a good idea, Padraig. I'm not sure I want to close us in entirely by cutting off any other entrances/exits at this time however." (However, according to notes, Padraig, you do not have a WALL OF STONE in memory currently. Am I mistaken?)
"I want a thorough examination of the room like the one we found under Gateway. We never did determine a satisfactory explanation as to its use or function. Seeing another one here may offer another purpose to these Elder areas."
"Once the immediate area has been searched, we will rest and recover and then begin a serious search of this complex. It may be even bigger than I originally expected."
SUBJ: Query? FROM: Bl Panther 04/15/91 S#: 828387
Is it my imagination, or did Blod suddenly become more eloquent and well spoken? Perhaps the shock of fatherhood has affected our powerful fighter in a way as yet unseen before!
;)
SUBJ: Padraig FROM: GM Shifty 04/15/91 S#: 797346
(No, Pad does have a Wall of Stone in memory at the current time. I don't know where you'd have any notes about my spell selections, I never posted them openly. Want to keep a few surprises. ];> )
"Fine, Validar, I'll go in and seal off the shaft first, then the rest of you can come in. I can cast a spell on myself that should prevent me from sounding any magical alarms."
Pad casts a Non-detection spell on himself and shifts into an owl. He then flies down the corridor into the central chamber. There he lands and resumes his normal shape. He gets out a vial and opens it, letting light fill the room. He then casts a Wall of Stone so it plugs the corridor towards the shaft.
Walking across the room, he calls up the tunnel, "OK, you can come down now. Better have someone check for traps on your way."
Spectrum's Comments: Val saw my copy of Pad's spell list, so thats how he knew he had a Wall of Stone.
SUBJ: Bernice FROM: Merri2 04/15/91 S#: 444348
Bernice stands paralyzed, terror in her eyes. She tries to scream, but can't. When the paralysis wears off, she screams. Well maybe shrieks. And collapses. Gradually the halfling quiets down and becomes almost coherent. Only people close to her can hear, 'Never, never again...big bad nasty!...owwy ...hurts bad, really bad. Ice from nowhere...bad, bad magic.'
When Vonte approaches, Bernice is startled by his touch. 'Healing? Oh, PLEASE yes!' She whimpers a little during the spell, but Vonte now has Bernice's gratitude forever. Whenever possible she'll regal him with her previous exploits with the Seekers, preferably out of earshot of anyone who could dispute her tales. No less than once per hour she'll show him an unhealed wound, hinting she'd like it healed.
After a few hours Bernice is her usual self, but slightly saddened by Thundron's death. Obnoxiously she tries to cheer Vonte up. She feels a little better knowing she'll be in the middle of the party if we explore the caverns soon. She's not up to anything brave right now.
Spectrum's Comments: Next time: The Seekers explore more of the caves and uncovered another Elder pillar formation.