# The Hand of Quoad



## DustinGebhardt (Sep 26, 2010)

One of my players has taken to writing the recaps for our sessions, and I thought it was worthy of posting here.  Comments and critiques welcome!

Link to the Wiki (with earlier sessions without the dialogue)


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## DustinGebhardt (Sep 26, 2010)

*An Exercise in Futility*


As  the newest threat of gargoyles fly towards us from across the large  inlet, we take a quick moment to assess our situation. Behind is the  trail we have already taken, ahead is the way we are going...obviously.  To our left, East, the gargoyles, with their king approach at a steady  pace above the sixty foot drop to the rocky shore. To our right is a  shallow alcove of a cave that is split at the entrance like an ancient  double arched doorway. I take my place in the small amount of shadow  that this pseudo pillar affords; it is more than enough for me to hide  in. Mythyria, calculating the enemies approach, begins her all too  familiar chant; ending any thoughts of banter with the approaching  creatures. Mort and Hekuba take position in front of my pillar; the monk  goes into a fighting stance, and the half-orc draws one of his  crossbows. 

"How you gunna hit 'em elf?" Hekuba asks as he loads a bolt  into his crossbow and lines up a shot, waiting for the gargoyles to get  closer. Mort has no time to reply before Mythyria finishes her spell and  a small bead of orange light sails toward the creatures. We lose sight  of it just before it becomes a sphere of inferno around three of the  five winged beasts. 

"What about elves? Orcling?" Mythyria remarks  with a smirk. The proud ranger is cut short by Hoppup, "Argue semantics  later you two, we've an enemy to face, and five of five still fly." 

They  lizard wizard draws his short bow and readies himself next to Mythyria  with a confidence that he did not offend the often sarcastic elf caster.  

Karyan rolls her eyes, not for the first time, as she draws her long  bow. "One of these days our wagging tongues will be the end of us all,  mark my words." 

Kamal smiles a knowing smile and simply moves alongside the human ranger; the only one privy to the knowledge that she  and I are in fact twins, the priest softly sings a prayer to Sarenrae  that holds no magic, but reassures us to a one.

I listen with a  measured interest and maintain my shadowy cover. "Where's Eriks?" Mort  notices at last, and answers his own question; "oh right, he's sneaking.  Hekuba, I thought you were going to shoot them." The monk taunts his  friend. 

"Concentrating here." Mythyria replies with annoyance; even  as she quickly chants another spell and three rays of flame strike the  king gargoyle hard leaving a trail of smoke behind his highness and  visible scorch marks on its wildly glyphed skin, even as she dives  immediately into another incantation. Hekuba gives a resigned "Harumph",  deftly switches from his crossbow to his sword and shield, and answers;  "Might as well keep at what we're best at." 
"Agreed" Hoppup states,  as he lets fly an arrow from his short bow; it falls short of the mark  however and Karyan comments, "Too far for that one" Her long bow shot  finds its mark. 

Kamal draws the power of his goddess and a  concentrated beam of sunlight also lands home among the gargoyles.  "Steady all, they are almost upon us, and still number five." 

"Five  Schmive" Mort replies, "Hey ugly! When we kill you, I want that crown!"  the monk taunts. If the gargoyle king understands the words, he makes no  indication. The first of the gets close to the cliff edge and is struck  by Mythyria's enfeebling ray and is visibly weakened but still closes  in and swings weakly at Mort. The blow falls short of connecting with  the agile monk, who now stands beside Hekuba nearer to the edge. Another  gargoyle gets dangerously close, and our ranged options grow thinner. 

Hekuba  raises his sword against the monster, and the strike digs much deeper  than the strength of the ranger should allow. "Die! You vile creatures!"  he shouts as he notices the gash his enchanted sword has opened on the  gargoyle. "Good hit Hekuba!" Hoppup encourages as he conjures a small  flame into his palm, throwing it at the nearest creature. The small orb,  while nowhere near the size of Mythyria's explosion finds an already  opened spot on the creature's skin, scorches its insides and it falls to  the rocks below. 
Kamal's armor deflects the blows of his enemy, and he begins chanting another prayer.

A  third gargoyle advances, swipes a fiendishly sharp claw at Karyan, and  misses. "It will take your king to even scratch me beast" she threatens  as the king swoops upon Hoppup. A keening screech that I do not think I  could have weathered nearly as well assailed the lizard wizard, and  though his head lolled once, Hoppup kept his composure enough to avoid a  clawed strike from the gargoyle king.

I shudder as I see that Karyan  has no way to fire her bow so pressed. She realizes the same thing and  drops the weapon in favor of her swords. In the instant her guard is  down, the creature upon her connects and draws a shallow cut in the  crease where her armor bends for her hips. She grunts through the pain  and returns a slice that looks much worse than the one she took for her  trouble. Kamal notices the blood drawn on his ally, and invokes a prayer  that guides our actions and confuses our enemies. 

Having seen my  sister injured, I step from the pillar and fire a shot into the eye of  the enemy closest to me, my shot works in keeping me from its sight, for  I am able to quickly take a second shot that pierces the other eye;  dropping the creature in a world of darkness and pain. 

With three of  the five creatures down ,Mort flies into a flurry of fists and feet, I  can hardly discern one blow from the next, but the the coordinated monk  lands each one precisely. Although the gargoyle still breaths, Mort has  managed to find pressure points with each strike, causing it to go rigid  and begin to fall from the cliff face. Hekuba seizes the opportunity of  the creature's dropped guard and swings into; drawing a line of red  even as it begins to fall. 

"These things are barely worth my spells"  Mythyria laments; the elf takes a shot with her bow, but the missile  skips harmlessly off the tough skinned enemy. "Silly elf, it's like  this." Hekuba taunts the wizardress as he quickly draws his crossbow and  connects to flesh where her own shot was just repelled. Karyan gives  another shout as the gargoyle upon her has learned how to breach her  armor, its efforts are rewarded five-fold as she starts a series of  swipes high and low, connecting with all, and bringing the to a wet and  sloppy end before it can even sort that the first swing drew blood.  Kamal and Hoppup finish their spells nearly simultaneously as an arc of  lightning flashes on the Gargoyle king and a burst of pure sound erupts  on the same target. Good thing too, for the Gargoyle king, though  pressed from two spells rakes his claws into Hoppup. The burst of  Kamal's spell muffled out the cries of pain that nearly double the  lizard wizard over. How he kept his feet after seeing the tissue under  his scaly skin, I do not feign to know. 

With only one enemy left on  the field, I advance upon the Gargoyle king, even I hear Mort shout,  "You're about to be a king without a crown sucker!" I chuckle even as  the point of my thinblade buries itself within the enemy's side. It  grunts in pain, but still presses us. Hekuba prepares to slice at the  king just as he notices that the gargoyle we thought had fallen has  winged its way back onto the cliff face. With a feral shout of pure rage  at the creature's refusal to die, Hekuba swings his sword in a downward  arc that takes the persistent monster's wing off. "Fly back up now  beastie." the half-orc taunts, "ain't you done yet?" he regards to  Mythyria. "Not my fault you all like to stand in the way of my spells"  she retorts, "such it shall be, I suppose" the elf sighs and quickly  begins chanting. Hoppup, who managed to keep his concentration held  enough to maintain the flame in his palm, which he desperately thrusts  at the Gargoyle king to ward off the terror. "No worries Hoppup! I'll  get him" Mort cries, as the fleet footed elf moves beside the lizard man  and punches a vital area on the last remaining enemy. We all see the  crowned thing go rigid, and Karyan steps in. Just as the ranger begins  her first double slice into the gargoyle, Mythyria's spell fires and  four bolts of arcane energy fly unerringly toward and strike the  creature. It shows no sign of falling, but this could be due to Mort's  earlier strike. Karyan ignores the missiles flying about her and with  striking speed commits two double slice maneuvers, high and low on the  beast's torso. Deep lines of red, follow the strikes, and the Gargoyle  King falls.

I am the first  upon the fallen king's body, which is well..."He has eight rings", I  report, "some bracers, and..." I am cut short as Mort does not even wait  for Mythyria to identify the magical headpiece before he grabs it from  the still bleeding corpse and dons it. "Wait you fool!" Mythyria tries  to warn even as Mort adjusts the enchanted crown atop his head. "Well,  at least let me tell you what it can do if you are so insistent upon  wearing it." The wizardress proceeds to examine the gear with her  knowledge of the arcane and reveals that the monk's new accessory is  indeed very magical and can even harden the wearer's skin to that of  stone! "You know, some items just like that will take your head off  without the proper handling", Mythyria scolds mostly to herself; as Mort  has found a mirror and adjusts the crown to his liking. "I feel  inclined to inform you, Morty", I say with a poorly hidden smirk, "that  is definitely a princess's crown."

"Jealousy doesn't look as good as I  do right now Eriks." Mort quickly sends back. Hekuba and Karyan make no  attempt to hide their own laughter, though whether at me or the monk, I  do not know. Hopup shares a hissing laugh that would be quite menacing  under different circumstances. Even Kamal cannot contain a controlled  chuckle at the exchange. Mythyria just rolls her eyes and suggests we  set camp inside the alcove. 

As we set a watch, Kamal again recalls  the answer he received from the spell cast to help us locate the  'presence' that has haunted our steps of late.
 "To finally confront the demonous ape,
find the growing place of the canyon grape;
But beware the ravine's funnel-type shape,
for it barely affords a narrow escape."

"I  like the rhyme scheme, but the whole 'narrow escape' bit puts me ill at  ease" I say, not for the first time. Hoppup reminds us that we are not,  in fact, very far from where he believes the 'canyon grape' to be.  "Now, more than ever, we should be on guard, this means no idle  distractions while on watch, and no drinking", he directs the last part  of his warning toward me. I give a sheepish smile and hold my hands up  in resignation. "Alright, no drinks on watch." I agree, "good thing I'm  on third watch!" I exude as I take a long draw from the Aranea liquor.  Ignoring us with precision born of practice, Mythyria casts a spell that  keeps us all comfortable during the night.
Perhaps too comfortable.  When we are at last all awake, and take stock of our gear to begin our  travels, we notice that several items have gone missing in the night.  Not the least of which is my magical bag!

"Okay, really no one saw  anything?" I ask for perhaps the hundredth time as we walk on. "No one  saw any more than you did Eriks, and good Hekuba and Karyan both report  no sign of a trail to follow." Kamal tries to calm my ever diminishing  resolve. "And besides," Mort adds, "If it's that 'grape ape' thing,  we're about to take it down anyway." All the encouragement does little  to lift my mood, but I act the part for their benefit. Karyan comes  alongside me, puts her hand on my shoulder, and reassures; "Cheers  Eriks, be glad we all yet breathe, whatever came to us in the night  could have slit our throats or taken us away." I give her a slightly  more genuine smile. Mythyria, perhaps taking the nocturnal invasion as  hard as I, berates herself for not casting a spell to alert us all if  any other than us enter the camp. The day goes much in this manner, as  we all have the sobering thought that tonight we will be invaded again.  We come to another abandoned village, and decide to travel slightly away  from the place as night falls and we mush again set camp. Mythyria  casts her comfort spell once more, and adds to it an incantation that  will cause a loud alarm to sound if any enters the area without the  password. 

During second watch, around the opposite of noon, while  Mythyria and Karyan are keeping vigil, the alarm sounds. We all awaken  with a start, but none of us can see who or what has caused the spell to  trigger. Mythyria quickly chants a spell and keeps it charged on her  hands, ready to direct it at the assailant as soon as it is revealed.  Hekuba is up in a flash and draws his weapons scanning everywhere and  seeing nothing. Karyan is sure she heard a disturbance at the perimeter  of the camp, and using her ranger abilities, summons a cone of wind  where she thinks the invisible stalker to be. Mythyria, trusting  Karyan's judgment, directs her spell into the funnel of wind and a  hideous, ape-ish laughter howls even over the sound of the alarm and  wind. Kamal, targets the disembodied laughter with a spell to dissolve  invisibility. Hekuba, luckily standing close, is there as the demonic  ape's invisibility is countered. The half-orc takes a swing and connects  with the enemy, and battle is joined by us all.

With a whisper, my  thinblade is drawn as I move upon and piece the menacing ape. The effect  of Mythyria's spell expires and the creature's terrible laughing stops.  Hoppup summons the energy of his weird spell source and Hekuba,  Mythyria, and I are all given a burst of energy. Hekuba's bolt shoots  wide of the beast, as it is also countered in the wall of wind.  Mythyria, perhaps of caution, perhaps of fear creates a hand of energy  to attack for her. I find another opening in the the ape's defense.  Karyan lets down the wall of wind, draws her blades and attacks. Where a  line of red formed from her swing, she notices that it disappears  almost instantly. "It heals as a troll might!" the ranger warns the rest  of us. Even as I at last notice that the holes I found in its flesh are  smaller than they should be. "Once again, magic trumps might" Mythyria  boasts. She has charged her spectral hand with a spell, and touches the  ape with it...and the spell is resisted. "You were saying elf?" Hekuba  mocks. The hulking ranger stows his crossbows and pulls out sword and  shield. Making his way to the ape, he lets loose a slice that goes wide  and a bash that connects but is absorbed in the thing's thick skin.  "Back to the Abyss with you demon!" Kamal growls. A blast of holy energy  bursts from his hands, pierces its resistance to spells, and drives  into the demonic ape. It howls in frustration and throws both of its  huge arms around Karyan. I can hear bones crunching as it squeezes with  unholy strength. A rage boils in my veins and as I scream in anger, the  beast disappears with Karyan still wrapped in its arms. My scream turns  to frustration as I swing wildly at the air, where the ape once was. 

"It is gone, teleported" , Mythyria reports. 

"But  to where?!" I scream. Holding back tears I did not know I had. I wash  my face a palette with a splash of alcohol to ease my nerve and hide my  emotion. "You can track them can't you?" I ask Mythyria with more  desperation in my voice than I would like. Kamal cuts the elf's  response, "We know where she is Eriks, there is nothing for it but to  continue to the canyon. Pray for calm in troubling times friend."  Following his advice , I ask Cayden to ease my temper; he responds with a  desire to have another drink. Who am I to question his motives? I pull  out the coaster he gave me and let the magic of it drift into my  thoughts. Perhaps there is something I can do to hurt this ape...

Morning  finds me in much better spirits, determined to end this creature and  return any harm it has done to my sister. Not long into the day, we come  to the canyon of grapes, they are large and ripe for picking.  Inspiration strikes me, and I ask Kamal to fashion a planter out of the  stone. With the help of Hekuba, I locate a taproot and take some of the  grapes with me. "These will make an excellent wine" I say, and though  the others do not share my enthusiasm, none argue the point. Around mid  afternoon, long after the grapes are behind us, the canyon narrows. We  get the sense of being watched once more, and before any of the others, I  see the figure of Karyan tied to a huge boulder in the center of the  depression. I pull a wand of protection and trigger its effects as I  begin to run toward my sister. 

A howling laughter, not born of a  spell's effect, begins to echo through the canyon. Bouncing from side to  side, it is almost deafening. Hoppup and Mythyria begin casting and  advancing behind me. Hoppup chanting quickly to bless our actions and  put a ball of flame in his palm; Mythyria from a wand to increase her  vitality. Mort outruns me to get to Karyan, just before I arrive myself;  she is alive, but bound by thick viney ropes. "Take a blade, start  cutting!" I command to Mort as I begin to free my sister. Behind us,  Kamal advances cautiously, Hekuba draws his sword and shield; and the  howling laughter continues. I do not even bother a glance as I hear a  huge rock flies from the canyon wall and strikes truly against Mythyria.  It makes a terrible cracking sound, as it is broken upon a magical  force of armor surrounding the wizardress. 

The source of the howling  is revealed as a mob, beyond massive, of various ape and monkey  creatures appears on the canyon wall. It rolls towards us, a shambling  swarm of teeth, claws, and fur. Everyone else secures their positions,  as Mort and I continue to cut Karyan's bonds. I do not even react as the  monk screams a warning and another boulder flies at me from the canyon  wall. With a similar sound, the rock is broken upon the magical force I  warded myself with earlier. Hoppup summons an ant to fight alongside us  and begins summoning energy for the coming battle.

The summoned ant  flies into the mob of creatures and connects as Hoppup's next spell  lends power to Mort, Kamal, and Mythyria. "I'm sorry, but I must join  battle." Mort laments as he moves from my side. The nimble monk charges  the swarm and flies into a flurry of feet and fists that each connect  with the mass of evil. Mythyria shouts, "the demon ape is likely here  and invisible, stay alert!" She calls a protection upon herself and then  quickly mouths the words to a familiar spell. The ball of flame ignites  around where she predicts the demon to be, and the screech of pain  assures us all that the spell connected. I do nothing but continue to  cut the ropes binding Karyan. Kamal incants a fast prayer to Sarenrae  before calling down the very power of the sun. A burst of pure and holy  light fills the canyon. The demon ape, and the swarm give terrible keens  of pain. The blast reveals the demon ape, for a split second, before it  is invisible once more. 

The mob of creatures, though diminished, moves  closer toward me, taking glancing blows from the summoned ant, and Mort  for its effort. The entirety of the mob moves around Mythyria, but her  arcane protection from evil keeps even the lightest of blows from  connecting. Hekuba chases the mob and connects with a powerful blow.

Hoppup  and Kamal each begin chanting again as Mythyria emerges from the mob  unharmed. The wizardress runs for cover behind a large rock and realizes  just too late that she has tripped a wire. Three large and deadly  spears thrust at her, but are pushed aside by her unseen armor. Mort,  seemingly caught within the huge swarm of creatures kicks, punches, and  bites at every available target; enough of the mob must have been harmed  by the monk's attacks because the swarm begins to crumble around him.  The summoned ant attacks the demon ape, but cannot connect a blow as the  demon ape rushes and slams into me. I take the hit and continue to cut  at Karyan's bonds. Hekuba rushes to my side and aids my struggle as  Kamal and Hoppup's spells are both absorbed by the demon ape's natural  resistance.

I at last free Karyan, and Hekuba notes that she is badly  injured. Mythyria, Kamal, and Hoppup all begin chanting as Mort runs to  the creature. With a flying kick that could have gone through a wall,  Mort flies wide of hitting the demon ape. The ape makes a running attack  upon Mythyria, but again the elf is saved by her energy armor. A  barrage of spells target the creature even as the summoned ant still  cannot seem to harm it. Darts of magic fly from Hoppup and connect,  Mythyria fires an arrow made of acid and Kamal again summons holy might  to scorch the creature. It howls as some of the energy finds its way  into its flesh.

Kamal and Hoppup begin chanting once more as the ape,  looks skyward. I use my wand to heal Karyan, noting that even as her  flesh reknits, there are many bruises and cuts apparent. Hekuba, quickly  sheaths his blade, draws a crossbow, fires and misses hitting the ape.  Hoppup's spell trigger and a wave of energy is transferred to Mythyria,  Mort, and Kamal. Mythyria moves into better position as Mort and Kamal's  attempts to strike the beast both fail. The demon ape gives a sinister  smile and begins flying. Kamal quickly chants a dispel magic spell, but  it fails to stop the flight. Mort connects a glancing blow but it does  nothing to stop the ascent. The monk tries to climb the canyon wall to  give chase, but slips and falls back down. Angered, the elf goes to the  remains of the swarm and begins footing through the carnage.

Hoppup  lets loose another series of magical darts as Mythyria sends two rays of  fire at the quickly rising foe. Hoppup's spell connects while the elf's  is absorbed. With little other option, I cast a spell from a wand that  also fails to connect. Karyan takes my wand of healing and uses it on  herself once more. "Worry not, Eriks, we will get him" she assures me,  but I am too frustrated to listen. I take a drink and lose some  memory...

Mythyria casts a spell and reports,"I'm following it with a  clairvoyance, it won't get away!" I begin to climb the cliff wall. I  climb the wall, nearly as high as Mort before me and Mythyria creates  her spectral hand to deliver more spells to the fleeing creature. The  rest move to join my climb except for Hekuba and Karyan. The half-orc  reports that my magical bag is not in the bloody mess on the canyon  floor, and Karyan uses the wand once more to heal her broken flesh. "By  the ancients you sneaky devil!" Mythyria curses. "The foul beast has  teleported once more." And so we stand, beaten, tired, and ultimately  outmatched.


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## DustinGebhardt (Sep 26, 2010)

*Session 30*

*Resolutions and Riddles*


Standing  in the canyon, I feel utterly helpless. Karyan, looking much more her  actual color now, passes my wand of healing back to me. "What now?" She  asks, so nonchalantly for one who until so recently was unconscious and  bound to a huge rock. 
"Don't we have a village to get to?" Mort asks, "I, for one, am in no mood to wait around for more of those monkeys." 
"I  still need my bag, and owe that creature some blood." I reply as I rub  my bruised side; the cut has stopped bleeding already, but the pain  lingers still.
"Well, how is the APE", Hekuba corrects Mort, "finding  and infiltrating us so easily? Maybe it is tracking us as a wizard  might." The half-orc gives an wary glance to Mythyria and Hoppup.
"An  excellent suggestion Hekuba", the lizard wizard comments, "Mythyria,  will you assist me in searching our gear for some sort of scrying  trigger?"
"Indeed, and we should give extra care to inspect Karyan, just in case." The elf agrees. 
The  two arcanists systematically search each of us and our equipment,  focusing on Karyan. They both report nothing out of the ordinary and  begin a lengthy discussion about how else to prevent the demon ape from  returning. 
"If the thing is everywhere, then it does not matter where we go." Mort points out matter of factly.
"He's right", I agree, "and I would rather walk than talk."
The  canyon continues on for several miles, but Hoppup assures us that  according to his memory and the map, that the village should be three or  four days away. As the sun sets behind the canyon wall, we are met with  a brilliant orange red glow that reflects spectrums off the dozens of  tributary waterfalls that drain into the valley. We follow the gathering  stream and as night approaches, we come to the edge of a fog dense  jungle.
"This is the Fog-mire", Hoppup reports, "It is sacred to our people, and few of us ever venture into its borders." 
From  our vantage point, we can see a crystalline lake within the jungle, and  even from the the fringe and through the fog an inexplicable number of  snakes and lizards can be seen slithering paths to and fro. 
"Let us find a trail, Hekuba." Karyan calls to her fellow ranger. We all venture into the edge, and the two scout ahead.
Some time later, they return; faces ashen with an unknown disquieting visage. 
"Dark  and empty" Hekuba swears, "Nothing in here is as it should be, and  there are no large game. This place is cursed. What do you know lizard  man?"
"Many rumors, nothing more." Hoppup calmly replies. "I sense unease too. It is late, and we need rest though."
"Perhaps,  outside the edge this night?" Kamal suggests; we all readily agree and  make camp outside the edge of the fog shrouded jungle.
Our watches go  uninterrupted, despite the feeling of being watched the entire time.  When dawn breaks at last, we realize that we are already in the  Fog-mire.
"Cayden's empty tankard!" I exclaim as the reality of the situation sets in. 
"There  is nothing for it now." Hekuba remarks, "We make for the village and  out of here as fast as we can." Several voices put in a defused  agreement, and we start to traverse the Fog-mire.
The abundance of  reptiles does not relent, and neither does the thickness of the fog. Our  packs and clothes quickly become saturated with sweat and humidity.
"I like drinking my ale, not my air." I complain.
"I think I see a clearing up ahead, Eriks." Hekuba reports. "From the bush and the fog, it seems."
We  breach the edge of the clearing, to a ruined stone village. Only a  skeleton of what was likely once a towering wall remain in any form of  repair. A solitary building, that may have once been a temple stands in  the center, and all around it there are overgrown stone frames where  other structures formed the village. I feel ill at ease, and get a sense  of evil surround the ruined village; the entire Fog-mire itself. As we  circumnavigate the ruin, there are a few glyphs discernible on the wall;  surprisingly, the symbols are not Nythyian; a fact that unsettles us  all, but perhaps Hoppup most of all. 
The temple, which shares a  border with the West most wall, has visible scaffolding, as though when  the village was abandoned, the people there were still keeping it in  repair. But what we witnessed next gave us even more pause. A Nythyian  man is crucified to a makeshift cross secured to the scaffolding, and  though he shows the decay and rot of many days dead in the jungle, he  grins at our approach.
"You will all join me soon." the Nythyian  hisses through its ruined mouth, "Trapped! Trapped all of you!" The  creature cackles a terrible laugh that makes a rattling and wet sound.
"The  Light will bring us through!" Kamal exclaims as he clutches his holy  symbol and becomes a living conduit of Sarenrae. Light bursts from the  priest and destroys the thing utterly.
"Yeah, eat it!" Mort taunts  the ashes, as he squeezes the juice from one of my taproot's grapes onto  the powdery remains. We continue on our way; victorious?
Back in the  Fog-mire, the thickness of the air has become somewhat bearable. Just  as the sun moves past the mid-day point, a hulking figure appears from  seemingly nowhere, rakes two bestial claws across my path, and draws  blood with each lightning fast strike. It comes to a stop a good seven  paces from where I stand wounded; the demon ape, grinning a sinister  smile.
"Blood for blood demon, and I'll take all I'm owed now." I  threaten the creature. If it understands me, it makes no sign other than  to continue its mocking grin. "By skill or luck, you don't escape this  time!" I lift my sword to the demon threateningly and feel the power of  Cayden Cailean flow into me; warming me as no drink ever has.
In my  vow to smite the creature, I notice an ant appear directly in front of  my query. The ape, muscles roped under too-tight skin deftly grabs the  ant as it makes a feeble attempt to bite. A sickeningly wet crunch is  heard as the demon tears the ant into two not so equal halves and tastes  the dripping entrails, even as the summon insect evaporates in a puff  of gray smoke. I begin a casual stride toward the demon, pulling out my  protective wand. Behind me twin rays of fiery power slam into the  creature; but he and I have eyes only for each other. Sharing a moment  of pure hatred toward the other. I can hear Karyan casting a spell of  some sort; then the surprised shouts of the others as two more apes,  females I'm later told, appear and attack our formation. Hoppup is  pinned beneath one of the beasts, his legs only barely visible; while  Mort, showing no fear, tackles the second one before it can grab the  lizard wizard's exposed limbs and tear them off.
I advance slowly,  and use my wand to cast a protective dweomer that will block the demon's  attacks. Karyan finishes her spell and a living wisp of cloud and air  invades the space of the fiendish ape. 
"He does not escape this  time!" I hear Kamal affirm as a pale orange glow covers first his hands  then shimmers around the ape; for a heartbeat, the glow appears to be  repelled, but then clings to its slick fur. "I have locked him against  teleporting!" Kamal reports to me. I cannot hide a pleased smile.
"No running this time beastie." I threaten as I continue to close the distance between us. 
Behind  me I catch the last syllables of a spell I do not recall hearing from  Mythyria prior to this day. A sickly green ray reaches the demon ape and  pierces its defense. For a moment the orange from Kamal's anchor and  the green from Mythyria's ray coalesce and shed wisps of yellow all  about the creature. When the smokey lights clear, the orange shimmer  remains and the ape looks visibly weaker than before the spells struck. I  hear a blood curdling scream as Hoppup begins to teleport with the ape  that has the lizard wizard pinned. It is not a scream of terror however,  but one of defiance; as the sheer force of his will keeps him locked in  place while his grappler vanishes. He is left drenched in sweat, prone  on the ground, but still with us. The other female ape tries to escape  the same way, but Mort's hold on her is too strong to allow enough space  for her to shift dimensions.
"Alright there elf?" Hekuba asks Mort.  Before getting an answer, the half-orc deftly climbs a tree near the  demon ape, gets a good position and loads his crossbow.
The living  air pocket around the demon ape slams its force into the creature. The  ape draws a huge breath, nearly inhaling the vapor and tears into the  air with a keening howl. The animated wisp is no more. The creature is a  dagger's throw away and still has not unlocked its gaze from mine.
Mort,  despite the female apes bulging muscle mass and alarming agility, keeps  a firm hold on the creature; even freeing an arm to strike a blow  against the wrestled foe, but causing no visible harm. Hoppup gives a  loud hiss of defiance and drives a dagger, crackling with electricity,  into the female ape. Though the weapon buries to the hilt before the  lizard pulls his strike back, the wound begins to close the instant the  blade is free.
"Curse you demon!" Hoppup growls in frustration.
"Like  this!" I yell as I lunge the remaining distance to the fiend ape and  drive my thinblade into its flesh. A flash of bright blue light  accompanies the wound, and it pierces deep into the creatures side. 
"And  again!" I draw my blade free and spin, using the momentum to take the  tip of my Cayden blessed weapon into the ape's other side; giving it  matching wounds and eliciting a singular howl of pain and rage.
"Karyan, do likewise!" Kamal intones the power of light into the ranger's blade and she charges toward the ape.
"Mind  the magic!" Mythyria warns, as she lets loose two more streams of fire  at the beast. This time the rays absorb harmlessly in its natural  defense and the elf swears in a foreign tongue.
Karyan ends her  charge with a cross swipe on the apes corded chest, drawing a deep line  of red that penetrates its innate defense as easily as my own strikes.
"You are not the only one who owes this creature blood Eriks." She oaths as her blade drips with the blood of the demon ape.
"That's  right! Eat this!" Hekuba reveals his perch and fires his crossbow. The  bolt flies true, pierces the ape's skin, but draws no blood. Hekuba  jumps down cursing and draws his blade.
The ape does not flinch from the bolt, and to my horror, wraps it's muscled arms around Karyan and begins to squeeze. 
"Support!"  Hoppup cries as another incantation, this time of fire, fails to harm  the ape entangled with Mort. The monk and the ape are a mass of muscle  and fur, but Mort has somehow managed to keep the advantage.
"Eriks?" Mythyria asks, even while moving her fingers in the pattern of an easy spell. 
"I  have him, help the others. Kamal to me." I respond as the fiend  tightens its grip around Karyan. Mythyria turns in a flash and lets  loose four bolts of pure arcane power that fly unerringly into the chest  of the female grappled with Mort.
"Hey ape, I can see your kidneys." I threaten. 
Taking  advantage of the beasts disadvantage while holding Karyan, I stab my  blade low into the thing's side; black red blood oozes from the wound  and the ape gives a cry of pure pain; for once not mixed with rage. "Not  done!" I growl as I take a back step left to put my sword in reach of  its other side. I drive the blade home, and the same black blood flows  freely from both sides now. Its howl is accompanied with dropping Karyan  and gripping its sides as its natural healing cannot keep up with the  deep strikes I have dealt.
"Sarenrae is with us!" Kamal exclaimed as  he calls upon the power of his goddess. A lance of golden energy gathers  in the priest's hands and he focuses it toward the bleeding demon. The  creature's defense fails and it takes the full force of the holy energy.  
Bleeding from multiple wounds and seared with a divine energy, the  demon ape falls on top of Karyan. "Off of me you dirty ape!" The ranger  cries as she digs her still enchanted sword into the fallen creature's  neck and uses it as a grip to stand.
"And stay down!" Hekuba snarls  as he bashes his shield so far into the ape's skull that its brain and  blood make a puddle of mud and gore on the jungle floor.
We all  notice the struggle still unfolding now as Mort grunts through his  continued stalemate with the female ape, "Congrats guys; little help?"
I  ignore the monk and begin digging through the demon ape's remains for  my missing bag. Hoppup, still lying on the ground from resisting the  teleportation earlier mimics Mythyria and lets loose a pair of pure  arcane bolts that connect and bruise the female ape.
"No spells to  offer." Kamal reports as he advances upon the two combatants. "I'll hold  her for a strike then." Mort replies and nimbly moves into an arm  locking position behind his foe.
"Yes, just like that." Mythyria  compliments the monk as she lets loose a bolt of magical energy dripping  with acid. The missile hits the ape, but appears to not harm it much.  "it grows weary, I can feel it; but so do I." Mort manages through  gritted teeth. 
"Stand aside Kamal!" Karyan charges with her sword  still aglow in holy light. The priest takes a single downward thrust at  the ape held by Mort and connects drawing a thin red line on its  shoulder.
"Stick with what works." Hoppup remarks as two more bolts  fly into the creature causing an eye to swell and eliciting a muffled  keen of pain. Kamal uses the momentum of his swing to side step the  creature just as Karyan charges and buries her blade half to the hilt in  the female ape's chest. Mort releases his grip thinking the battle won,  but the obstinate creature grabs Karyan's blade and begins to rise in  defiance. 
"Oh, just die already!" Mythyria cries in frustration; she  hastily recites the words to a spell that will drain the creature of  life with her touch. The wizardress spies a patch of skin already raw  from arcane bolts pummeling its body and releases her spell. The last  vestiges of life within the female ape expire, even as some of the force  travels into Mythyria. The ape goes down in a heap and Karyan recovers  her blade just as the last bit of holy energy upon it swirls harmlessly  into the air.
"Yeah! Score another one for the good guys! C'mon, look  like we just won it guys." Mort tries to rouse the group as we, weary,  cut, and bruised gather our bearings in the fog ridden jungle.
"I  feel like we have been walking for months! When does the jungle end? I  thought this was a small, usually uncharted island." I complain, not for  the first time.
"So, your new shoes don't keep your feet from  flapping your mouth?" Mythyria retorts, with slightly more venom in her  voice than she had wanted. The elf gives an apologetic look, and the  exchange ends.
"He's right though." Hekuba adds, "We should have at least gotten to that lake by now. "I think we are walking in circles." 
As  if the jungle actually wanted to prove the ranger's point, we come to a  ruined temple; the same ruined temple where Kamal earlier destroyed a  living corpse.
"Well, trim my ears and call me human, Eriks and Hekuba were right; at the same time." Mythyria exclaims.
The sun has painted the sky in pinks and reds, as darkness takes a stronger hold on the day.
"We should rest soon, though I dread to in this place." Karyan says, her voice tense and agitated.
Mort looks skyward, "Eriks, can you use those new boots to scout around for anything other than this temple?"
I  activate the power of the boots to make myself weightless, but still  able to move. I rise steadily, but as I approach the canopy an unseen  force pushes and pulls me back to the earth.
"Guess not." I reply even as I pour a drink for the monk and myself. "Growing your tolerance, I see." I state more than ask.
"Gonna drink you under the table before you know it!" Mort replies.
Hoppup  looks around, as though the lizard wizard expected to see ghosts rise  at any moment. "Not in this place, we have an hour yet, let us make camp  elsewhere."
We make good speed away from the ruins, as the jungle's  foliage seems to appear all the same, even to Hekuba and Karyan. Sure  enough, before the last light of day is gone, we come to the same ruins  once more. 
"There's nothing for it." Kamal reports, "We sleep here and hope that the dawn brings clarity to our situation." 
After  a brief inspection of the ruins - just enough to ease our minds that  there are no more living dead or ambush areas - we at last lay down for a  fitful respite. The fog-mire at night is exactly as pleasurable as it  sounds. Dawn breaks at last, and our spirits are lifted little.
"Did anyone else have, uh, dreams last night?" Hekuba asks, clearly agitated, while we walk a narrow game trail.
"Now  that you mention it." Karyan looks hesitantly from me to the half-orc.  "There was a temple, and some sort of shrine, I felt as though I needed  to spill my blood upon the altar." Hekuba gives his fellow ranger a  concerned and agreeing look.
"Though I felt no desire to spill my blood, I too saw this temple." Kamal remarks.
"We  should seek it out, perhaps it is a way to get out of this accursed  fog-mire." Mythyria complains while inventorying her various arcane  components. 
It does not take long before the structure from our  dreams comes into view. A massive black spire, radiating with an evil  aura is seen above the canopy long before we enter the clearing that  hosts its perverted form. Two ape-like statues that resemble the  bar-igura creatures we fought in the forest. There is a set of double  doors leading inside, with motifs of demonic apes as handles. 
"It is a temple of the evil Immortal, Demigorgan." Kamal reports with a severity of tone that leaves no room for compassion.
"It  may have something to do with the curse on this place, if we could  destroy it somehow..." Hoppup trails of, talking as much to himself as  us in a frightened tone.
Inside, the temple has several winding  tunnels, with one clear path to another set of double doors. These with  vicious barbed handles. I implore the group to make a full circuit of  the other pathways first, only to encounter some crudely made, but  deadly traps that could have easily taken one or more of us to a  devastating fall. Depicted an every wall, and often the floor and  ceiling are twisted and evil serpent and ape motifs. The barbed doors do  not seem to open without a certain action. 
"I've got this!" Mort  boasts, as he grabs both handles. The barbs pierce the monk's palms and  fingers, draining a small amount of his life blood, and open. In this  room are more ape and serpent designs, two thrones face North and South,  each with mirrors hanging over them. To the left is an altar with two  solid black candles.
"That altar!" Karyan exclaims. She blanches for a moment, but regains her composure. 
There  is a small door opposite the altar, it leads to a winding path that  connects to the rest of the temple. Although I am almost positive we  have gone through the passage before, sitting nonchalantly in a cross  path is my haversack. 
I occupy the next few moments ensuring nothing has been removed from the bag, and Kamal interrupts me.
"I attempted to consecrate the altar, I was met by a powerful evil. This must be our priority."
I investigate the decor of the throne room, and before I can warn against it, Mort lights both candles on the altar.
The  booming echo throughout the room is enough to startle us all, and the  monk is sporting scorch and pierce marks on his hands now. 
"I need  some time to figure this out, these mirrors are trapped, and Mort has  shown us likewise of the candles." I report after using a wand to mend  Mort's hands. 
Kamal sighs. "I cannot abide this temple. If we do nothing, I will not rest well." 
"Nothing I can do in here right now, I need rest, as do we all."
"Then I do what I can for now." Kamal states matter of factly, "We leave from the inside."
As  we exit, Kamal begins chanting. It is a spell he has used before, but  casting it several times -expending a large amount of divine energy. A  soft orange glow travels from the priest's hands to the earth as he  touches ground near the obsidian spire. The ground trembles as Kamal  struggles to keep his incantation strong. Then the spire begins to move,  tilt, falter. Fall! the entire spire has been up-grounded by the  priest. Only the bottom of the temple remains.
"Faith moves mountains." Hoppup observes with a smile.
I use my latent power to divine evil presences.
"There is less evil here than before, but I still need more time in the throne room if we are to truly end this curse."


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## DustinGebhardt (Sep 26, 2010)

*Session 31*

_*Never in my life did I ever feel as ill at ease than the day I  looked into that mirror. Not only could I see all that is my opposite,  Mythyria utterly destroyed my double with one spell! To see my own  capacity for evil, as well as my own mortality was more sobering than I  care to think about. I have faced demons and living dead, slavers and  magic of all kinds, but never do I wish to repeat that encounter. It  begs the question though...Where exactly does my evil self reside? Kamal  once warned of not losing myself, but who am I in the first place? A  son, adopted. A husband and father, to a tragic end. A champion of an  Immortal, the truth of which I discover more of each day. A brother, at  last. A friend, yes a friend. This is what separates me from the dark  side of the mirror. I have people I love, who love me in return. This is  what keeps me free, keeps me fighting for the same freedom for all  others. Of this I am certain; love brought me this far, and love will  see me through. Though, the dangerous opposite is ever present; a thin  line between love and its own opposite that I hope to never cross.

Eriks G.


*_Another  restless night passes and the group wakes with more visions of spilling  their own blood upon the altar. Kamal and the rangers seem more  affected this morning than the rest.
"Dark dreams, and a fog shrouded morning. We end this today." Kamal vows to the rising sun.
"A  drink to clear your heads sirs and lady?" Eriks pulls three mismatched  cups from one of the side flaps of his bag, deftly pours two fingers in  each and offers them to the trio waking from ill omens. Slight and  courteous head shakes return from the priest and Karyan, Hekuba reaches  for a cup.
"It is to us then, good Hekuba." I say with a smile, "First one of us done, gets the third dose!"
Without  pausing to check if the half-orc won the contest, Eriks downs both of  the drinks left in his hands. With an exaggerated sigh, the rogue shakes  loose the last bit of his night time stiffness and recovers the cup  from a toothy grinned Hekuba.
"If you are quite finished." Mythyria  leaves the remark open ended to warn them all of the wrath that is her  impatience. "I still need an hour to prepare my spells, make yourselves  useful and break camp, but do so quietly, I thought you were good at  that Eriks."
Without a sound the tall human gives a stage worthy bow  and disappears from her sight, leaving Hekuba with the full glare of the  wizardress.
While Mythyria is occupied the others begin their own  morning routines. Hoppup is also preparing spells, Karyan, Hekuba, and  Mort are repacking tack and gear. Kamal, though he has already prayed  for his spells and felt the power surge within him excuses himself to  just out of earshot of the camp. 
"You can stop hiding Eriks. Just because I cannot see you, does not mean I did not see which direction you went."
Stepping  through foliage and fog, Eriks gives Kamal a friendly smile. "One of  these days, she's just going to burn me to a crisp, I know it."
"And you would likely deserve no less." 
"Ouch" Eriks mocks a wound across his face as Kamal's goes deadly serious.
"There is something wrong here Eriks, something inherently out of place, I know you can feel it."
"I  can, more acutely perhaps than I thought I ever could." The rogue's  hand went instinctively to his coaster - a magical item given to him by  the Immortal Cayden Cailean - that is slowly teaching Eriks the path of a  hero.
Not missing the hand's destination, Kamal continues, "It is of  that which I wish to speak. I have noticed a change in you Eriks. After  bringing you from undeath, you told me that Cayden Cailean had chosen  you. But it is more, not so?"
"It is." Eriks' face goes tight and his voice becomes barely a whisper.
"I have observed powers from you; granted by the Immortals yes?"
"Yes" is all the reply the rogue can muster.
"Do  not misunderstand my intent Eriks, I count you a dear friend, but I  know too well the draw of power. Sarenrae grants me the use of her  divine energy daily, and I hope always to use it in a manner that befits  her. But in so doing, I have given up who I once was. Do you  understand?"
"The powers granted me by Cayden are not my own."
"Yes,  but they are yours to use. To serve an Immortal the way we do is to  relinquish control to that Immortal, while simultaneously keeping  yourself. Do you understand?"
"We are more than vessels of power, we  are living examples of our chosen patrons." Eriks, had pondered this all  for quite some time, but had not the courage to broach the conversation  himself.
Kamal nodded his approval and continued. "The immortals  choose who they will for a reason Eriks, I have no doubt of that for  either of us. Remember that, you were chosen as you were. Power can  easily sway lesser men, and temptations appear as an easy path. Do not  lose yourself Eriks, Cayden is counting on you to be you."
"But who am I?" The tall man whispered to no one, nearly forgetting that Kamal was still there.
As  the pale haze  of dawn broke into an opaque brightness in the fog,  Eriks pondered his  question. Much had transpired since the day he lost  his family and vowed  vengeance on those who took his girls away. Even  then, he had kept his  sense of honor in not ever taking the life of  another; he had always  felt it was not his place to decide who should  live or die. 
The words resounded in Eriks' mind, "Cayden is counting on you to be you."
"You  are you, Eriks. A husband, father, brother, and friend. You have passed  through death, undeath, and I cannot say what else. To be a hero, if it  is even possible, means making the choices that others cannot, finding  the solutions that others do not see. 
With that, the priest walked back to the camp and began aiding the others in preparing to re-enter the shrine of Demigorgon.
The group cautiously returned to the room that houses two thrones, two mirrors, and two candles. 
"There  is certainly something of a duality that must be completed here." Eriks  states more to himself than anyone in particular, "And I know that the  mirrors are trapped in a most fiendish way; Mythyria, would you lend a  hand?"
The rogue and wizardress proceed to successfully stutter  through the arcane words of disarming on each mirror and immediately the  group goes to work trying to put together a sequence of events to  proceed deeper into the temple. Each time, as the second candle is lit, a  small explosion accompanies it and raises our frustrations. Eriks tells  the group to sit tight, while he ponders what sequence they have not  yet tried.
"Of course! Cayden's Cup, why didn't I think of it  before?" Eriks takes a drink to sooth some of the remaining char marks  from previous attempts and returns every piece of the puzzle to their  starting points. 
"Okay, watch and remember, 'cause I might not stay in this room once this is done." 
First  the man lit the West candle, then sat in the East throne, but just as  the wryly smiling human turned and touched the corresponding mirror, he  realized that the trap in the piece had reset itself. Eriks disappeared  into the mirror and a shadowy vile version of the rogue jumped out in  his place. 
The evil Eriks gave a grin more sinister than sly, drew his sword, and began an approach on the awestruck group.
Wasting  no time, Mythyria sped through a flaming ray spell, adding certain  emphasis to boost the spells power. Twin rays of arcane fire connected  squarely onto the evil facsimile's chest and left little more than a  smoldering husk. With the copy defeated, Eriks, the real Eriks, emerged  from the mirror with an apologetic face that looked more like child that  knows he's in trouble.
"Well, you're still in this room." Mythyria commented sarcastically. "Though, I must say I've wanted to do that for some time." 
The group shared a laugh at this and Eriks, defeated, disarmed the mirrors and tried once more.
"So,  again. IF this works, I will be transported deeper into the temple. Do  as I did, and you should all come to the same place." Eriks reported  with slightly less confidence than before.
Repeating the first steps,  only this time not being swapped as he touched the first mirror, Eriks  smiled knowingly at the group. "Here we go."
Eriks stepped to the  East candle and lit it, when no explosion was forthcoming, he virtually  skipped to the West throne to sit, turned to touch the second mirror,  and disappeared.
"We should make haste" Kamal stated emphatically, "We know not the dangers beyond the mirror." 
One by one, the group went through the sequence Eriks had shown them and the party found themselves in a strange room indeed.
The  upper level connected to the wall at three points, and in the corner a  set of stairs led to the upper chamber. The entire room was cast in an  eerie red glow that seemed to be pulsating from the very walls, but  originating from a circular pool of deep crimson just in front of them.  Above them, the upper level connected to the wall at three points. 
"The  blood of Demigorgon." Kamal nearly spat the words. Before any of them  could ponder more on the nature of the room, two familiar _thuds_ were heard on either side of the group.
"Invisible  Bar-Igura!" Karyan warns the group. Before most of the group has had a  chance to even draw weapons, one of the creatures pops into view with  its hulking arms wrapped around Kamal. Mythyria and Hoppup begin their  familiar harmonies of casting, the lizard wizard proves faster. A  hypnotic spray of light and colors fan in front of the lizard man and to  the left of Eriks. Though the invisibility of the monster is not  usurped, a clear howl is heard, alerting the group that the spell has  had at least some success.
Mort, seeing Kamal's distress, rushes in  and lands a well placed blow to the ribs of the Bar-Igura holding the  priest. The beast goes rigid from the attack, but shows no sign of  taking any injury. This proved counter productive however, as the huge  creature toppled on top of Kamal, pinning the priest of Sarenrae to the  floor. Hekuba and Karyan move in and slash at the stunned Bar-Igura, but  the lines cut into its flank disappears as soon as it is drawn.  Mythyria's spell is at last completed, and a ghostly hand appears in  front of the wizardress. Everything seemed under control until a  tell-tale pea sized orange orb flies into the group. As an inferno  erupts, engulfing the whole group, another creature appears; this one  with a thick serpentine body with a human like face that has angles  entirely too sharp to be anything of this world. 
"A Naga." Mythyria reports almost fascinated, just before she falls into casting another spell.
"It's  mine!" Eriks shouted as he activated the flight ability in his boots  and soared toward the snake-like creature. As he sails away, the rogue  intones a prayer to Cayden that sets his blade and the Naga aglow in a  similar faint blue light.
Hoppup joins Mythyria chanting, and again  finishes before the elf. Three bolts of arcane energy sail unerringly  into the creature atop Kamal. Hekuba, and Karyan continue their  ineffective assault on the beast, and Mort begins to climb the wall to  join Eriks in the fight with the Naga; which has begun chanting in an  alien tongue. Kamal crawls from under his burden, to hear Hoppup cry in  pain. The other Bar-Igura reveals itself as it bowls over the lizard  wizard in an excruciating crunch. Mythyria finishes her casing at last  and directs the spell into her ghostly hand. The hand connects on the  thick hide of the creature howling over Hoppup, but the electric charge  is wasted as the beast's flesh resisted the spell. It has decided,  however that enough is enough and teleports away. 
Mythyria and  Hoppup continue their mismatched spell song. Hoppup finishes his casting  just before the other Bar-Igura tackles the lizard wizard to the floor.  The beast's flesh smolders with the electric touch of Hoppup's spell  and even as it yelps in pain Mythyria finishes her own casting. The  ghostly hand shimmers once more with power as the elf moves it onto the  wrestling beast. It visibly drains in color, as Mythyria surges with the  life stolen from the creature. Kamal invokes the power of his goddess  and the group feels more confident of their blows. Karyan connects with  her twin blades, and though her strikes are true, the wounds do little  damage. "Let's try somethin' new." Hekuba taunts as he activates his  ram-faced ring. A concussive blow just barely misses knocking the  Bar-Igura off of Hoppup, as the half-orc curses unpredictable magic. 
Eriks  flew true toward the Naga, and made a feinting swipe at the thing's  head. The snake creature fell for the ruse and bunched into a shorter,  wider target. The rogue struck twice against the evil thing, boring deep  holes in the things flesh. 
"Save some for me!" Mort called out,  even as the monk breached the upper level, rushed forward, and connected  a flying kick to the bleeding creature. It's incantation lost, the  snake creature willed itself back into invisibility, leaving Eriks and  Mort wary, but smiling at its pain. "Nothing else for it" Eriks says  with a smile as he drives his blade twice into where the Naga should  have been. The second point, connects, and though Eriks can still feel a  spiritual connection between his blade and the creature, he also is  sure that the thing is slithering away. Mort launches into a flurry of  punches and kicks, but the Naga is not struck by any of the monk's  efforts.
Below, Kamal begins to move toward the stairs to join the  drunken masters as he veils himself in protective magic. Mythyria  follows the cleric, keeping an eye on the many alcoves set into the  walls on the lower level. Karyan's strike remain true, but still  ineffective against the Bar-Igura's thick hide. Hoppup and the creature  continue to struggle on the floor, the lizard wizard scoring another  electrifying hit against the creature. Hekuba, looks to his weapons, and  to Karyan's, grunts in frustration, and again activates his ram-headed  ring. This time, the concussion strikes the Bar-Igura, sliding it and  Hoppup across the floor and into the wall. A howl of pain is heard and  the fabric of space bends around Hoppup. The lizard wizard keeps his  wits enough to not be transported away as the Bar-Igura retreats in the  manner it is so accustomed.
"The Naga remains!" Eriks yells as he  flies and blocks a set of double doors on the upper level. Mort moves  beside his rogue friend, and the rest of the group begin cautiously  climbing the stairs opposite the double doors. Hoppup and Mythyria cast  protective spells of their own, and the room goes quiet for a heartbeat.
Never  to be outdone, Eriks pulls a wand from his belt and casts a protection  of his own, even as Mythyria adds to her layers. The group goes quiet  once more and an unease creeps into the room.
Eriks begins looking across the room once more, this time however, his eyes have a soft green glow. 
"I'll  find that snake, by thinking like a snake." Mort claims as the monk  uses astonishing speed to make a serpentine pattern across the upper  level toward the stairs. Hoppup and Hekuba spot another door near the  stairs and begin investigating it just as an all too familiar orange  glow bursts all around them. The Naga appears on the lower level, having  lost its invisibility with the attack, and those caught in the flames  curse through smoking armor and clothes. Kamal and Mythyria burst into  casting, Kamal also running to the edge of the upper level. Mythyria is  the faster, her ghostly hand once more lights with power, moves to  attack, but is dodged by the slithering foe. The Naga is not so lucky  against the priest, who finishes his chant and sends a ray of pure  sunlight into the creature, burning its flesh. Karyan and the others  begin to run back down the stairs, recklessly taking them two at a time.
Eriks  flies at the Naga and proves to quick for his own attack as he thrusts  his blade too late to connect to the snake creature. Mort, in an effort  of brave heroics or boastful showmanship dives off of the upper level  into a flying kick the connects squarely on the long body of the beast.  Hekuba and Karyan flank the creature, Karyan drawing its defenses away  from the half-orc as he connects to slice of scale and seared flesh. The  Naga coils in pain and gazes deeply into the half-orc's eyes. Hekuba  can hear a voice in his head assuring him that the snake creature is no  foe and this is all a misunderstanding. But the stubborn orcling denies  that call and instead roars his frustration back into the Naga's fine  featured face. Hoppup throws an enchanted dagger rather haphazardly  toward the creature, but misses hitting; fortuitously missing Eriks,  Mort, and the rangers as well. Mythyria's ghostly hand touches the snake  thing and she assures the group that she has now limited it's spells.  Kamal falls ambush as both Bar-Igura reappear on the upper level. The  priest rushes through a prayer that allows him to open a hole underneath  one of the creatures, but it jumps to safety just in time.
Eriks  reorients himself and sees that the Naga is busy with four defenders,  just as any rogue would like. "In Cayden's name, die already!" The man  screams; the warcry is the perfect addition to the presently distracted  Naga, and Eriks drives his blade into the creature's upturned eye. The  fine elven blade sinks to the hilt and the Naga crumples in a heap.  "Great, now finish these!" Kamal yells at the group. Hoppup, his hand  still crackling with electricity, slaps the appendage against the  Bar-Igura closest to him. The charge leaps onto the creature, and  finally stops its heart. The rest of the group runs back to the stairs  to finish the wretched thing, even as it jumps onto Mythyria. The elf is  caught but for a moment before her lithe body slides free of the  thing's embrace.
"I've not much left!" Hoppup yells as he sends  another three bolts of mystic energy into the Bar-Igura. Mort races past  the rest and begins his squall of fists and feet. The creature proves  more nimble, and turns to jump to the lower level. "Eriks! To you!"  Karyan calls, as she see the things intent. The Bar-Igura leaps from the  ledge, but is more unbalanced by Mort's attacks than it knew. It's  footing is precarious, and instead of a controlled jump, it falls the  thirty feet from the upper level. Ungraceful to the last, the beast  lands rump first and a loud crack can be heard even through its thick  muscle. A heartbeat later, the creature collapses, having broken its own  back.


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## DustinGebhardt (Dec 3, 2010)

*Session 32*

_What  is evil? Is it the action of opposition to good? The temple of  Demigorgon virtually radiated an aura of evil, a terrible weight on the  shoulders of those of us who could feel it. But I left wondering, would  the worshipers of this immortal not feel the same oppression in a temple  to a good deity? I decided later in life that it is not the action that  makes the deed, but the intention behind it. Now, what to say of  inaction? Can a good person see evil and do nothing? _

The  companions regrouped in the large chamber and began investigating the  various avenues of escape. “What does your sense tell you Eriks?” Kamal  asked thoughtfully, “Can you isolate where the evil presence is coming  from?”

It was a good thought, and as the rogue shifted his  perception to reveal the auras of evil around him, he almost fainted.  Catching himself before he dropped to the floor, Eriks reported. “Except  for your own silhouettes, this whole place is pulsing with a vile ambiance.”

“Well, we should waste no time then.” Mythyria stated matter-of-factly. 
 The team begins systematically checking the exits, and finds three  doors. The door on the first level leads to a room filled with offal,  refuse, and other smells that they dare not imagine. 

“Whoa! What a  wonderful smell you’ve discovered” Mort exclaims to Eriks, after the  human insisted on opening the door that had been locked moments earlier.  A rusty grate topped the room, no doubt the dumping ground from above.

“Can we please move on?” Hekuba asks with his face nearly buried in his leather armor.

The group climbs the stairs once more, Eriks’ flying magic having  expired some time before. Opening the door to the room above the refuse  dump, they see six columns bordering a short hallway around the rusty  grate, and a throne carved in stone and embossed with several depictions  of demonic apes and monkeys, all with sinister evil grins on their  faces that seem to cast knowing glances to the group. 

“There should be more to this room” Karyan remarks. “I think there is something behind this throne.”

They are rewarded for the diligence of the ranger when the throne  slides forward to reveal a small room that smells of rotting wet fur  with two rusty treasure chests. Eriks barely stops Mort from walking  straight toward them.
“A little more caution elf, they may look old, but I doubt anything here is easy pickings.”

True to his prediction, the rogue discovers that one treasure chest is  rigged to explode upon opening unless a small trigger is held the entire  time that it is open. Looting the belongings of both chests, the party  comes away with a wand, some coins, and an oddly shaped ape paw.

“May  I?” Mythyria asks extending her own hand to the carved piece. The  wizardress examines the paw and reports. “There is a dweomer of some  kind on this, similar to the red and blue rods from the underground  path. I’d wager this is a key of some sort.”

“Our way out, perhaps?”  Karyan asks hopefully. To this point, none had given another mention to  the fact that there seemed to be no exit back into the jungle or even a  guarantee that they were still anywhere near the jungle.

With only one door remaining, the group moves on.

“Worry  not friends, we do good work here, and Sarenrae will not abandon us.”  Kamal’s words come as a welcome comfort as the doors to the third room  reveal piles and piles of bone that speak to the past occurrences of the  temple. Twin fountains shaped as baboons spewing a murky liquid that  could barely be called water donned the wall on the right. Eriks began  work immediately to unlock the double doors across from their own  entrance.

“There is another ape paw here.” Hoppup announced as he  peered into the deeper pool beneath the fountains. “Perhaps I should  turn off the water with this valve.” The lizard wizard’s hand begins to  reach then he pauses. “Eriks, should it be this easy?”

Startled,  Eriks looks to Hoppup and frowns, “No, it should not.” Asking Mythyria  to finish unlocking the doors, the human examines the valves and notices  that one-the one Hoppup very nearly turned-was indeed trapped. He took  several moments and his frown turned into a frustrated scowl. “I cannot  determine the nature of the trap. I’m sorry, but I think you are getting  your hands dirty.”

Hoppup sighs in disgust and dares not to look as  he reaches in the bubbling murk. He sinks all the way to his shoulder  and is forced to lie on the floor to at last grip the paw. “Done with  that door yet?” the lizard man implores, clearly ready to be gone from  the room.

“Ready when you are.”

Kamal is the first to enter, and  tries hard to mask the slump of his shoulders. “I see where the paws go,  I am not sure I want to attach them.” 
 Directly across the room is  another set of double doors made of solid iron. In the center of the  polished marble room, two giant simian statues of iron stand; each  missing a paw. 

“Maybe, we can open the door without using these.”  Eriks states more to himself than anyone else. The unspoken fear of  animating the iron statues hangs heavy in the air.

After what seemed  an eternity of waiting, and several bouts of whispered cursing, Eriks  walks away from the iron doors and shakes his head.

“Nothing for it  then.” Mort comments and jams one paw onto the statue it clearly  belonged to. When nothing happened, Hekuba placed the other hand and  with held breath, the group watched the iron doors slowly open.

A  long hallway lined with apes brandishing flaming blades and depicted as  howling to an unseen presence ends with gleaming copper doors. Mort  dashes forward, “This has got to be close to the end.”

“Wait!” Karyan  barely finished the word before the ape statues begin howling. The  monk’s pace goes from brisk to sprint and he yells to the rest to  follow. Showing speed born of fear, the group dashes down the hall to  find the copper doors unlocked. They enter quickly and close the portal  behind them.

Eriks nearly loses consciousness once more and is steadied by Kamal. “What news Eriks?”

“That one, that’s the source.” Eriks reports.

The room is rectangular with two alcoves East and two West. In each  alcove is another ape statue standing in reverence to the center statue  that stands nearly twice the height of the tall Hekuba. Where arms  should be, there are squid-like tentacles and its shoulders are fanged  heads of fiendish baboons. The statue’s stare meets the group then locks  on Eriks with hate. Its mouth crunches open and it lets out a keening  screech that strikes terror into the human. Eriks runs screaming back  through the copper doors.

Undeterred, the group goes into action.  Hoppup, Mythyria, and Kamal begin their familiar spell harmony as Mort,  Hekuba, and Karyan rush in to meet the animated evil. 

“Courage Eriks!” Karyan yells as she knocks her bow and lets loose, the arrow bounces harmlessly off of the stone creature. 

“Two  can play the stone game!” Mort shouts at the enemy as the power of his  crown hardens the monk’s skin. Hekuba, seeing Karyan’s ineffectiveness,  stands defensibly and tries to spot a weak spot in the stony hide of the  animated statue.

The spells erupt in a surge of arcane, divine, and  natural magic. Hoppup and Mythyria’s hands erupt with flames and their  spells meet to create scorching and molten stone on the enemy. Kamal’s  hands fly toward the sky and divine light covers the group. Eriks,  having heard his sister’s plea, and feeling the warmth of the priest’s  prayer turns back and rushes toward the creature.

As Mort closes the  last few paces between the creature and himself, the floor beneath him  erupts in flames. The nimble monk avoids the fiery wisps, but the  distraction is all the enemy needs to wrap him in one of its strong  tentacles. The creature screams once more, and begins to squeeze the  monk. Hekuba, distracted by his own study of the creature begins to  shake with fear. 

Eriks passes the half-orc, “No time for fear friend!” he yells as he thumps Hekuba on the shoulder. 

The cacophony of spells begins again as Eriks gets behind the statue  and fires his crossbow; only to have the bolt bounce harmlessly away.

“Already tried that!” Karyan yells as she draws her sword and rushes the creature, Hekuba right behind her. 

Mort cries out in pain as the creature wraps its second tentacle around  his already grappled body. Even over the spell trio and din of battle,  bones can be heard cracking, and the fact that the elf did not fall  unconscious then was enough to fuel his companions into a battle fury.  Three spells connected in succession, lightning, fire, and holy light  creating a blinding spell wall and causing a painful scream from the  foe. 

Hekuba and Karyan arrive at the same time, the half-orc making  a feint bash with his shield. The ploy works as the creature leans to  avoid the strike, and takes a deep gash from Karyan’s blade. It bellows  in pain at the ranger and begins to draw breath for another magical  keening. The screech comes out instead as a death gasp as Eriks appears  behind the creature, his thin-blade buried half way to the hilt into the  evil thing.

It goes down in a heap and releases Mort from its  tentacled grasp. As the creature’s last breaths escape into the air, the  sense of evil wanes to nothingness. The wall opposite the door melts  away to reveal the jungle, formerly the fog-mire.

Mort asks Kamal  for what healing the priest can spare, as the group moves into the  jungle. “Good has been done here.” Kamal encourages the group.

“Any one you walk away from right?” Mythyria replies.

“I  do not know what my people will do now that the fog-mire is…” Hoppup is  cut short and wails in pain drawing everyone’s eyes to the lizard man.

“Rot  grubs!” Karyan exclaims seeing the creatures burrow into Hoppup’s flesh  from the shallow pools that dot the landscape. The group looks on in  horror as the lizard wizard rolls on the ground screaming with the rat  sized insects crawling under his skin.

“We’ve got to get them out!”  Hekuba cries and pushes Kamal forward. Eriks and Mythyria take his legs  as Karyan and the half-orc hold down Hoppup’s arms. Kamal begins cutting  the Nythian’s flesh and extracting the grubs.
 His screams turn to  whimpers, and his body goes limp, as blood pours from the wounds  inflicted by Kamal’s procedure. The priest intones a powerful healing  spell and begins the process again. And again, until the ground is muddy  with Hoppup’s blood and the last grub is out of his body.

“We should camp soon, he needs rest.” Kamal says, holding back tears for the grim work he was forced to perform.

Supporting Hoppup, the group finds an area of mostly dry undergrowth.  Mythyria casts some protective spells and the party takes a much needed  reprieve.


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## DustinGebhardt (Dec 3, 2010)

*Session 33*

* 			Session 33
	

	
	
		
		

		
			



*

_Is  the past something that is really ever behind us? I know I am not the  same man as I was even a few months ago. Circumstance has seen to that!  But does this mean that I am free from the influence of my past? By no  means. If anything, I press on to discover more of who I will become  because of the person I have been. My past is filled with joy and  sorrow, loss and gain, good and evil. I have come to rely on my past  support and guidance, as I am sure my friends have done the same.  Everyone must carry their own past with them, and a precious few will  help you burden your own. Such it has become with Karyan and I. If only I  had discovered her sooner, perhaps I could have prevented some of the  pain she now shoulders. But, I cannot trap myself into this thinking.  Regret, whether of past action or inaction is a downward spiral that  will ultimately destroy the soul. Karyan bears her past with grace and  accomplishment, I cannot wish to change that. And me? I am glad for the  events of my past as well, all of them, for they have made me who I am._
_E.G._

The  jungle seemed no less thick than ever as the travelers approached the  most massive set of double doors they had ever witnessed. The doors were  as thick as ancient tree trunks and easily sixty feet high. The walls  were even more imposing; almost doubling the height of the entryway. The  stone work was similar to other structures they had all seen, but none  had ever been this gargantuan. Eriks let out a whistle. “Those have to  be ten feet thick!” indicating the doors, “How do they even open?”  Hoppup smiled at the awe the party showed his home village, “It takes  more than muscle if that is your question. But something does not feel  right, we should have run across a sentry by now, and I see no guards  atop the wall; only…” The lizard wizard’s words trailed off as the group  all turned their eyes to what had so transfixed the Nythyian.

“Dark and empty.” Hekuba swore, “I’m guessin’ that plume of smoke ain’t supposed to be there?”

The half-orc’s question fell on inattentive ears as the group all began  to hustle behind Hoppup; who had turned a brisk pace into a near sprint  for the towering doors.

“Do you… have another… entrance?” Mythyria  puffed out between breaths as she struggled with the heavy pack she  bore; filled to bursting with spell components and other various magical  accoutrement, the elf belied her small frame by carting such a load. 

“I  can jump it.” Mort suggested, easily keeping the pace with no lack of  breath. Despite the height and difficulty, the party did not argue the  boast.

“No need. Look.” Kamal, also burdened with a heavy pack filled  with what could only be called a mobile library, pointed ahead of the  running group to indicate that the doors were opening of their own  accord.

“So the village knows its own?” Karyan asked. Hoppup either did not hear her or was too out of breath already to answer.

“Well, time for some _acting_  then.” Eriks, also easily keeping the fast pace, activated the spell on  his magical ring and instantly took on the form of a lean and tall  Nythyian.

The sprint became a wary stroll as the group passed  through the open doors. There were signs of a struggle everywhere.  Scorch marks dotted the land, and buildings-well built mostly one story  affairs that did not seem to be placed in any discernible pattern-stood  cracked and beaten. No one, Nythyian or otherwise could be seen. The  plume of smoke, rising from beyond a huge burial mound, was beyond their  vision.

“Serpent’s scales” Hoppup whispered, “We should have been  greeted, or…or anything. Where are the guards?” The lizard man made his  way for the gate house that was adjoined on the inside to the huge wall,  which remained relatively undamaged.

As they approached, the sound of rustling armor and weapons could be heard beyond the door.

“Let’s  see what the hold up is.” Mort said, as the monk reached for the door  of the station. Before he could touch the handle, the door burst open  and a group of six human guards cried out an alarm that would surely be  heard halfway across the village.

Taken by surprise, the agile monk was no match for the sheer number of pole-arms being thrust in his direction. 

Lightly  armored with metal studded leather, and each boasting a long pikes and  strange ropes tied together with sizable rounded stones at each end, the  humans looked more shocked than the incoming companions at the  disturbance.
The sound of heavy footfalls echoed from several corners  of the open area as Hoppup at last reaches the gate house door. Barely  has the Nythyian taken the scene in before three more guards rush up to  block his path back to the group who was caught completely off guard and  was left standing in the main thoroughfare.

"Why do we always end up  separated!?" Mythyria exacerbated. Her words fell on unlistenting ears  as the group began to form up a defense against the approaching humans.  The odd roped weapons whirled above the enemies heads, promising broken  bones and tangled feet.

"By the Burning Sun!" Kamal exclaimed as a  jet of white hot flame shot from the priest's hands and into the foes  that had surrounded Mort and Hoppup. "I should remain toward the center,  but they need support, Hekuba?" Kamal was beginning to come into his  own as a strategist, and the group was well adapted to using each others  strengths.

Karyan sounded a Darine war cry and made it clear that  the guards approaching from the opposite side of the gatehouse would not  join their comrades. Her bow twanged and took root in the leg of one of  the humans, making him drop his bolas, and cry in agony.

"What's that thing?!" Eriks pointed skyward toward the pillar of smoke that the companions had spied before entering the city. 

Instead  of a building or some other pyre set to blaze, the smoke emanated from a  huge fiendish man riding atop a horse made of coal and fire. Karyan  froze at the sight of it, and it was Mythyria who tackled the ranger to  the ground as an arrow that would have pierced her heart came streaking  from the mounted beast.

"What now girl? Do you want to die?"  Mythyria's tone was more sisterly than scornful; but carried enough of  both to let Karyan know she meant reproach.
"That's...Jakub..." Was all the ranger could reply, and an understanding lit the elf and Eriks' faces. 

The  rogue's eyes narrowed, "Jakub? Right then." With a thought, Eriks was  in the air and speeding toward Kamal. Mythyria and Karyan could barely  make a whispered prayer on the rogue's lips even as his elven thinblade  began to glow a faint blue.

Kamal's eyes fleet from Eriks, to Karyan,  to Jakub and he understands immediately. "To me Eriks! Not that I think  you should, but if you are to fight him, you will need help." 

"Lizard,  monk, orcling! Be quick, a new foe is come and we best face him as  one!" Mythyria had lost all sarcasm, and a timbre that might even be  fear sounded in her warning.

The other companions took little time  picking up on the urgency and went to work. Hoppup began summoning the  elements to his aide; lightning flashed almost as fast as Mort's fists  and feet. Hekuba abandoned his crossbow and charged in with his heavy  shield leading. The humans were quickly over matched, but more had heard  the call and were coming even as the battle looked to be in the  companion's favor.

"You're alright." Mythyria told Karyan, though  whether it was to reassure or ask the ranger, she would never know. More  enemies were getting close, and Jakub had already proven his accuracy  with the bow from a great distance. The wizard held nothing back and  small orange bead shot from her fingers into a line of eleven advancing  men. The shout of alarm came just too late as the bead exploded in a  fiery flash that was over in a heartbeat and left all but four of the  would-be attackers charred and unmoving.

Her eyes still fixed toward  the sky, Karyan hardly notices as two arrows streak from on high. One  grazes her shoulder, but the other sinks deep into her side. The shocked  cry is felt by Eriks as he reaches Kamal.

"Quickly now, and help  her!" The rogue is flustered but cannot afford to rush without some  precaution. Kamal's hand's glow with the rosy red of the dawn as he  places them on Eriks, the glow surrounds the rogue then fades from view.  Without waiting for any thanks from his friend, Kamal begins another  prayer, this one to help the whole group. And none too soon, the priest  believes, as he hears Mort cry out in pain.

The monk has held his own  against six foes, but even his guard cannot stop every attack. Hoppup  creates another loop of electricity, and Mort takes advantage of the  stunned guard's prone stances. Still crackling with the lizard wizard's  spell energy, Mort turns extends his fists to resemble spear points and  strikes a nerve cluster in the guard's neck; the human falls like a  lump. Behind Hoppup, Hekuba has three foes of his own to face. He comes  across with a wide sweeping blow, that the guard easily dodges. Just as  the half-orc wanted him to. With the guard's defenses and attention low,  he never sees the spiked shield that raps across his skull with bone  crunching power.

Mythyria lets loose a bolt of lighting that singes  three more guards, and as they smolder, Kamal finishes a prayer that  bolsters the resolve of each companion that can hear it. 

Eriks  shoots skyward, his eyes fixed on Jakub. The hero of Cayden Cailean  pulls a bottle out and takes a drink; another warm glow passes over his  body. 
Rousing from her trance by the pain in her side, Karyan knocks  her bow and fires, wounding another approaching guard. She does not  know how from such a distance, but she can hear Jakub release two more  arrows from his nightmarish mount. She flinches thinking that the  missiles are inbound for herself, but is instead startled to hear Eriks  cry out from above. In the din of battle she had nearly forgotten that  her brother charged into the sky. The ranger turned toward Mythyria. "We  have to help him!"

"Not until we can without getting ourselves  killed, young one!" The elf replied as she let loose another bolt of  lightning. In answer to her own spell, Hoppup's loop of electricity  erupted once more. Inside the gatehouse, Mort was faring better than his  opponents but was still outnumbered. Hoppup's spells were helping, but  Hekuba was tied up with more guards outside. Kamal ran to aide the  half-orc and hope to end the ground assault so that their focus could  turn to Jakub.
Pain ripped through the rogue's leg as an arrow slams  hard into the muscle, before Eriks even has a chance to pull it free,  another goes through his left arm. Screaming in pain, and using his good  arm, the rogue curses the half-fiend, pulls out a vial, breaks the wax  seal with his teeth and gulps the concoction down. As the last drop  pours down his throat, the rogue shimmers out of sight. Through the pain  rearing in his extremities, Eriks manages a smile and says, "That will  be the last time you draw my blood." 

On the ground, the companions  continued to assail the intruders of the Nythyian village. Spells,  arrows, and fists flew from both sides, but it was clear that the  invaders were outmatched. Then, arrows from the fiendish rider flew once  more. Karyan cried out in pain as an arrow pierces through her armor,  shoulder and back out again. Her next scream is muffled as another of  the arrows thuds into the ranger's side. She dropped to one knee as her  vision began splotching with streaks of gray, but with a determined  grunt, the resilient ranger kept her wits and even knocks and lets an  arrow fly that drops another of the human attackers. Even with the  aerial support, the remaining ground force begins a hasty withdraw. Half  of those fortunate enough to be in the open suffer a quick death as  Mythyria hurls a mighty lightning bolt at the fleeing humans. 

Those  left in the gate house, however, were not so lucky. Hoppup spells rip  through the remaining guards, leaving three standing. Hekuba slashes his  blade and spins with his movement to follow the move wish a bash of his  spiked shield. The move drops one of the three left standing. Mort  throws fist and foot in a flurry of blows and half of this force drops  never to rise again. The final foe flees, but is no match for the monk's  preternatural speed. Mort wrestles the invader to the ground and ends  his life in one quick thrust. 

To Be Continued...


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## DustinGebhardt (Dec 3, 2010)

*Session 34*

*             Session 34                   *

*The Battle Against Jakub Continues
*


Outside,  Kamal rushed to the kneeling Karyan. He felt the power of his  prepared  spells in his mind and found a more potent one. Then,  concentrating,  the priest let the structure of the spell slip away and  conjured it  instead as a powerful healing touch. Karyan's wounds closed,  but  remained bruised; the ranger nodded her thanks and, slinging her  bow on  her unwounded shoulder, drew out a potion and swallowed it in one   gulp. Her bruising eased, and her breathing became more controlled.   "There now," Kamal said warmly, "Feeling-" His concern was cut short as   two of the fiend's arrows pierced his finely made armor. Neither shaft   struck deeply, but both drew a heavy amount of blood and the priest   staggered. 

Behind Kamal, Mythyria fired four unerring missiles at   the mounted archer Jakub. Karyan took a defensive stance in from of   Kamal and let two arrows fly at the fleeing invaders-dropping both of   her targets. Behind her, Kamal prays for the healing light of Sarenrae   and is answered with a surge of warm light that closes some of his   wounds and even more of Karyan's. 

Well timed too, as two more of   Jakub's arrows fly into the cleric. One opens a piercing that had only   just closed, ripping his flesh and causing the man to sway and nearly   lose his feet. Mythyria lets fly another volley of magical darts, but   this time the energy is just absorbed in the demon Jakub's skin. Kamal   maneuvers out of sight and prays again for the healing light of his   goddess; more warm light washes over those left on the ground. Karyan,   seeing the ineffectiveness of shooting the rider, instead levels her bow   at the fiery horse. She lets loose two shots in rapid succession, and   both connect solidly into the steed. It loses some altitude and bucks,   but Jakub shows no sign of losing his saddle.

The fiendish human   locks eyes with the ranger that dared to attack his mount; he let fly   another of his deadly arrows. The missile pierced Karyan's armor but   most of its force was absorbed by the protective plates. The small force   of humans remaining on the ground regrouped to make a final charge on   the companions; knowing that their airborne leader would support the   effort. 

"That will be far enough boys" Mythyria said with a smirk.   The elf's fingers waved frantically but controlled as she incanted and   arcane words and retrieved the components of one of her most potent   spells. A tiny bead of orange streaked into the gathered humans, and   before any of them could react, it exploded engulfing them all in   flames. Only two of the gathered eight remained standing, and the spell   was sufficient to turn their heels.

"Oh no ya don't!" Hekuba takes   aim with his crossbow and let fly. The bolt sinks into one of the   fleeing thug's arms, but the man growls through the pain and continues   running. 

"Never mind them good orc! That is our target!" Hoppup   indicated the half-fiend and its hellish steed while cautiously getting   in closer range.

The rest of the group follow the lead of the   Nythyian and take refuge behind buildings to obstruct Jakub's view of   them. All that is except for Karyan and Mort. 

With courage defying   her wounds, the ranger loosed another two arrows at the Nightmare; it   dodges the first, but the second cleanly sinks into its flank. Another   small bottle falls to the ground from seemingly nowhere. Mort spots a   set of stairs. "Guys! We can get higher, and get to him!" He yells back   as he bounds up; taking the stone steps two and three at a time. 

Jakub   flies his steed closer to the wall while shooting once more at Karyan.   The half-fiend screams something at the ranger, but it is lost in the   wind.

"Karyan, we need to get higher, and you need to stop  bleeding!"  Kamal calls the ranger to his side. She hurries to him as  the whole  group begins to make their way up the stairs Mort discovered.  The cleric  expends another of his spells to close more of Karyan's  wounds. Just as  the group has reached the bottom of the wall, Mort  bounds out of an  upper level opening on the wall and leaps the space  left open between  the huge wooden doors. As she runs, Mythyria conjures  a ghostly hand  that she can use to deliver spells to her opponents.
The  monk begins  to taunt Jakub, and the fiend obliges with another deadly  arrow. The  projectile misses its mark however, as Jakub flies closer  still to the  group. While they climb, Hoppup summons an insectoid ally  the resembles a  flying ant the size of an average dog. Kamal calls down  the power of  Sarenrae and a healing wave washes over those in the  group around him.

"Wait!  Karyan, Hekuba, over here. Each of you  gather ten of your arrows or  bolts, I have an idea." Kamal stops the  two before they climb even a  singe step. With Mort's taunts echoing  above, the cleric calls forth a  ribbon of light and ties it around the  missiles; they retain a slight  shimmer as the two companions replace  them in their quivers. The hum of  wings can be heard as the summoned  ant flies toward Jakub, even as the  half-fiend fires another arrow at  Mort that misses the agile monk. A  second arrow flies from Jakub's bow  as his steed passes the wall and  begins circling back. This arrow  pierces the approaching ant through the  thorax, sending it careening  toward the ground; lifeless before it  knows the impact. Seeing the  height and time it would take to traverse  the stairs, Karyan and Hekuba  start to climb a smaller building to get a  better vantage at Jakub.  Hoppup, Kamal and Mythyria each cast spells  into their palms but let  the power stay there without releasing. Each of  them waiting for Jakub  to come into clear view.

Mythyria gets the  first chance and lets  loose four glowing bolts that connect to the  nightmare. Jakub still  keeps his saddle and fires again at Mort. Again  the monk taunts the  half-fiend; though the arrow would have hit, Mort  uses uncouth speed to  knock it harmlessly away. Karyan gains the top of  the small building,  while Hekuba struggles to find the grips the human  did. She readies an  arrow and perceives that Jakub has not taken notice  of her. A smile  crosses her face as Hekuba's hand at last grips the  roof. The rest of  the group makes way for the stairs once more leaving  Kamal, Hekuba, and  Karyan below. Jakub lets two arrows fly toward Mort.  The agile elf  dodges one and smacks the other away.

"You really need  to learn how  to use that thing!" The monk yells, not caring whether or  not Jakub can  hear him. The nightmare whinnies as Karyan's arrow, now  glowing with  holy light, sinks into its haunch. Jakub turns in his  saddle and raises  his bow toward the ranger.

"Hey ugly! Did'ya forget  about me?!"  Mort tries to regain Jakub's attention to no avail. The  half-fiend  fires two shots at the ranger, and Karyan cries out as both  projectiles  find their mark. 

"Worry not, keep shooting the horse!"  Kamal calls  up to the ranger as the cleric channels more divine energy  around  himself. The healing wave steadies Karyan and she fires another  glowing  arrow. The missile makes an audible thud as it drives deep  enough into  the creature to pierce its heart. The steed falters, then  rider and  mount fall. Jakub kicks off the nightmare and unfurls wings of  his own.  The half-fiend cannot get enough momentum to arrest his fall.  He  manages to trade an arrow with Karyan and dodge a crossbow bolt fired   by Hekuba before landing in front of Mort.

"Now we see how you   really fight." Jakub's voice was an imposing bass that resonated with a   hiss like a volcanic steam vent. The towering half-fiend made an  arching  swipe with a longsword that hummed with a shadowy palpable evil  force.  The agile Mort waited til the very last moment then rolled his  torso  backward, leaving Jakub to growl in frustration as his blade's  momentum  carried it harmlessly over the monk. Mort deftly moved his  hands to the  stone crown atop his head and used the power inside to  harden his skin  from an already resilient leather to that of stone. The  half-fiend  roared with rage and brought his second sword to bear, he  feigned  another high blow and as Mort rolled his body under the blow,  Jakub  followed with the other blade, digging into the monk's side. Mort   faltered in his dodge, and the first sword came down to slice his   shoulder. The monk let out cry of pain but took hope to see Mythyria at   last arrive at the top of the stairs. The wizardress released a spell  as  soon as Jakub was in her line of sight; the half-fiend cried in pain  as  crackling black energy ripple over his body. Mort seized the   opportunity to press an advantage; he let fly a flurry of fists and feet   too fast to follow with normal vision. Despite the enfeebling energy  he  had just suffered, Jakub managed to dodge the first blow and block  two  more. Then two kicks hit in rapid succession against the  half-fiend's  exposed side. His infernal resilience absorbed one blow,  but the other  connected solidly; Mort heard a telltale crack and was  sure that a rib  had broken. The monk smiled, as did Jakub; the  half-fiend brought his  swords back into an offensive position then  cried in pain.

Behind  Jakub, Eriks' invisibility dispelled with a  quick flash as his thinblade  pierced both of Jakub's kidneys. The  half-fiend roared in pain and  unfurled his leathery bat-like wings. He  takes to the air as Mort  retreats to the stairway. Mythyria aims a  fiery ray of arcane power at  the fleeing Jakub and releases; the spell  bounces off the half-fiend's  skin like a small rock hitting a tree.  Hekuba appears behind the elf and  quickly fires a crossbow bolt at the  flying target. The bolt is  repelled in much the same manner as the  spell and Jakub gains more  altitude. Eriks, using the still active  power in his boots flies in  pursuit of his sister's bane but Jakub has a  substantial lead and  continues to gain the advantage of height; the  villain casts a spell  over himself while flying and a shimmer flashes  over him. Mythyria, down  to her less powerful spells, lets loose four  more bolts of arcane  energy. They are absorbed in Jakub's flesh and he  makes no sign of  slowing. Then, Hoppup appears, his hand aglow with  built up magics he  has been storing during his climb of the stairs. In  much the same manner  as Mythyria, the lizard wizard releases arcane  bolts; instead of four  however, twelve of the missiles appear and  explode onto the fleeing  Jakub. The half-fiend cries in pain and  falters. Before he can regain  control of his flight, Eriks is upon him.  The rogue flies in close with  his body horizontally aligned. With his  off hand he grabs the still  writhing Jakub by the shoulder, matching  the rhythm of the beat of those  leathery wings. Eriks brings his mouth  to the ear of Jakub and whispers  in a voice more sinister than he  thought himself capable of. "This, is  for my sister." The human drives  his blade, its glowing holy energy  piercing all defenses through the  back of his foe. Jakub finches and  reaches for a blade of his own, but  Eriks is the quicker. The rogue  pulls his blade free, then releasing  his grip on his enemy's shoulder  drives his blade through the back of  his neck and out of Jakub's own  mouth. A gurgle of blood and bile are  the last sounds made as Jakub  plummets fifty feet back onto the city  wall. 

Karyan comes to the top  of the stairs just as Jakub falls,  and fires her bow at her own  personal demon. If Eriks' blade, and the  fall had not finished him, the  ranger's shot surely would have. Still  glowing with the holy energy  Kamal had bestowed upon it, her arrow flew  straight into the left eye of  the falling fiend burying itself to the  shaft and protruding out the  creature's skull.

The companions  gathered around the fallen Jakub and stared for a moment. Karyan, with a  fire of death itself in her eyes approached the broken creature with  her sword drawn. Saying not a word and giving no regard for the  half-fiend's modesty, she ripped away his breeches, lifted her sword  high, and swung a huge downward arc; eliminating evidence of Jakub's  masculinity. 

"Good Karyan, please..." Kamal was stopped short by Eriks. "She needs this priest, let her be."

The  ranger then kicked her severed prize away from its host and fell to her  knees. With a scream born of terror and rising into a shout of victory  she reversed the grip on her blade and drove the pommel into the flesh  before. She continued this until all that was left before her was a dark  red smear of flesh.
None of the other companions felt it wise to disturb the ranger, so they quietly went to shedding Jakub of his equipment.

"The  bow, both blades, the scabbard, both rings, the cloak, the belt, the  armor, and the necklace." Mythyria, using her ability to see unseen  auras of magic reported the items worth inspecting further. 

Hekuba  reached for the swords, but was cut short by Eriks. "Hold friend, you  may not have seen, but at least one of these blades is filled with  malice." The rogue closed his eyes and, in the same way Mythyria focuses  on magic, attuned his vision to see the evidence of evil around  himself. He opened his eyes and indicated the same sword that had hummed  with vile energy before. "I'll hold on to this, we need to have it  destroyed." Eriks announced to the group. Taking a winter blanket that  had seen no use since arriving on the Isle of Dread, the human wrapped  the blade and stowed it away. 

"Look!" Hoppup had moved to the edge  of the wall, and when the others joined him, they could see what he  spotted. Nythyians, dozens of them, presumably the villagers were  emerging from small buildings all around and looking through the bodies  left on the ground and up at the triumphant heroes. 

"Lets burn this  body." Kamal indicated toward Jakub, "I do not wish him to ever return."  The group agreed and as Hoppup and Mythyria began gathering magical  fire Eriks stepped in front. "Hold a moment please." The Nythyian seemed  just as content to let the fire dance around his hands, while Mythyria  though clearly not singed by her own flame gave a rather annoyed look at  the human. Eriks worked quickly, ruining a plain dagger, and sawed the  right horn off of Jakub's lifeless head. "Proceed." the rogue said with a  triumphant smile. The arcanists let loose their combined power and the  body of Jakub was engulfed in short order.


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## DustinGebhardt (Jan 27, 2011)

*Session 35*

*             Session 35                    *

*Meet the Nythyians and Take the Ship.*


As the group collected themselves on the top of the wall, more Nythyians began to gather. 
"Allow  me to lessen our wounds before we meet your people Hoppup." Kamal  raised his holy symbol and mimed a gesture that resembled a rising sun.  Warm light washed over the companions and the worst of their visible  cuts and bruises subsided; the priest repeated the process twice more.  Each time, the group felt more refreshed and less battle weary; the  errant bone could be heard snapping back into place. By the time the  companions descended into the city once more, the Nythyians were waiting  with cheers and saurian smiles full of sharp white teeth. 

"Well met  good Nythyians!" Eriks' command of the slithering language was far from  perfect, but the greeting party seemed to understand him well enough.

An  aged Nythyian with a headdress made of small bones and colored,  polished stones stepped forward and quelled her cheering kinsmen. 

"I am Oha-Uaho, former chieftess of our tribe. Hoppup, if you are here, then has Oxyl has deemed your spirit quest at its end?"

The  lizard wizard bowed his head in a submissive gesture. "No, my quest is  not at an end, but I am afraid that both Oxyl and Moxtie met their ends  helping us reach you."

Oha-Uaho's face fell forlornly and she sighed. "How did this happen?"

Hoppup  recounted the tale of Oxyl's trek over the mountain and the heroic act  of distracting the ogre hoard so that the companions could pass safely.  When he was finished, the looks of cheer and praise were gone from every  face; Nythyian or otherwise. 

"You can not linger here young Hoppup, your quest is not at an end." The chieftess said with a soft sadness."

"Where is everyone else?" Hoppup asked. "In a short time, have that many died?"

"No,  young one. Many have been taken by the humans to the forbidden plateau.  We have seen a ship out to see as well; they block our trade routes and  threaten to take more of us to the plateau."

"Sounds as though we need to take out that ship then." Hekuba commented.

"We could use a replacement for the _Dance_." Mythyria remarked.

"Oha-Uaho,  please show us the ship. My friends and I will capture it, and then  free those that were taken to the forbidden plateau."

"See that you do young Hoppup, see that you do."

The  companions exited the city and did not have to travel far to spot the  ship anchored in a nearby cove. As the sun set, they set their camp just  inside the tree line; planning a full assault for the morning. 

As  the Eastern sky split, Eriks and Kamal were already awake and preparing  for the day to come. Karyan strolled to her brother's side. "Eriks, do  you here that?"

"I hear nothing Karyan, should I?" 

Hekuba began his morning stretches and commented. "Yeah, somethin's not right. I don't hear any animals."

"Back  home" Mythyria chimed as Kamal tried desperately to keep his focus with  all the conversation. "If the animals went quiet, it usually meant..."

Her  words were cut short as the earth began to tremble; knocking the  wizardress prone and thoroughly breaking Kamal's concentration.

"An earthquake or something was on the way." Mythyria finished from an unflattering position next to her gear.

"Shall we then?" Karyan said with a chuckle. "I think that ship needs to be ours within the hour."

"I tend to agree." Kamal said, rising and gathering his things. "Let us break camp and be on our way." 

The companions gathered on the beach in the cove where the ship lay anchored. 

"I'd say we're about eight long-shots away." Karyan noted. 

"Plenty of time to augment ourselves magically to make this much easier." Mythyria replied.

Kamal  began with a spell that allowed the group to walk on the waves as  though they were solid ground. Mythyria and Hoppup spun enhancements  over the group; causing Eriks to shimmer from sight and Mort to increase  to the size of an ogre. They set out at once, a wave of air flowing as  Eriks, though invisible, flew above the group. Hoppup, having no need to  walk on the water, dived into the waves and easily kept pace with the  running group. 

A call sounded from the ship and a pair of arrows  flew towards Mort, Who had outpaced the others in short time. The agile  monk knocked one missile away, but the other skid across his shoulder. A  thin red line formed, but Mort did not slow. The companions ran on,  undaunted as a pea-sized orange ball flew from the starboard side of the  ship and exploded amongst them. Cries of victory were cut short as the  group emerged from the blast, singing and smoking in the dawn light, but  otherwise unslowed. The silence turned then to cries of alarm as Mort  lept onto the deck and landed a powerful blow against a large reptilian  figure. 

Still striding the water, Kamal drew power from his goddess  and summoned a celestial companion to help the monk on the bridge of the  ship. 

The lizard creature began waving its arms in an articulate  arcane pattern. Mort, enspelled by Mythyria to match his opponent's  size, kicked high into the air and knocked wide the red lizard caster's  hand. It growled in frustration as the palpable energy it was gathering  charged the air, then fizzled into a harmless hum. Two of the leader's  ship mates emerged from below decks and pressed against Mort and the  Archon. The monk anticipated the maneuver and jumped straight up,  tucking his legs as he did, and causing the blade to cleanly sweep under  his legs. The Hound Archon felt the blow land behind it, but rolled  forward with its right shoulder absorbing the blow, then spinning to  make a wide arc with its greatsword. The arcing sweep came just shy of  splitting the crewman's stomach from side to side. 

Eriks popped into  to sight as his thin blade dug deep into the red lizard's flesh,  causing it to howl and turn its gaze to the new foe. The eyes of the  leader bore into the will of the rogue, and he could feel a weight like a  drunkenness and a soft voice whispering to stop attacking. Eriks, being  no stranger to the drunken sensation shook of the compulsion. Eriks  smiled and lowered his sword to feign the creature into thinking its  eyes had worked. The red lizard grinned, then began an irregular spasm.  Mort, still dodging the crewman behind him, let loose a flurry of fists  and feet that caused bones to snap and deep impressions to form in the  creature's flesh. No longer needing to continue the feint, Eriks pressed  his advantage and drove his thinblade into the throat of the red  lizard. It falls to the deck with a gurgle of blood sputtering from its  torn throat.

A third and final crewman dashed topside and swiped at Eriks, but the limber rogue glided easily away from the clumsy stroke.

The  Hound Archon's foe made another lunge; this time the summoned ally  caught the crewman's arm. The Archon bit down on the human's shoulder  with its canine snout, then drove its greatsword through the unfortunate  man. The scream would have been louder, if the man had not spent his  last breath on the desperate lunge. 

The second crewman made a wide  swipe at the Archon, but the celestial creature jerked his greatsword  free with a flash and knocked the attack high and out of any threatening  area.
Mythyria, still striding the water rattles through a quick  spell and releases two fiery rays at the crewman whose sword was  parried. The fire dances over him, but he remains standing.

Eriks  turns to face the third crewman just as an arrow and a bolt sink into  the second. Karyan and Hekuba stand triumphantly on the water as the  crewman falls to the deck burned and broken.

Kamal, and Hoppup at  last breach the top of the ship and join Eriks around the last crewman.  The slaver waves a basic defense pattern with his blade and follows with  a swing at the Hound Archon. The following drop in his defenses find  him a thinblade, a dagger crackling with electricity, a deadly sharp  scimitar, and several fists. He goes down in a heap and the companions  encounter no more threats on the ship.

Mythyria inventories the few magical items the red lizard was carrying and the others take stock of the ships supplies. 

"She's a good ship." Mort replies after looking the vessel over bow to stern. "I think at last things are looking up for us."

Karyan  shoots the elf a wicked glare, and the monk steps back to see Hekuba,  Eriks, Mythyria, Hoppup, and even Kamal staring daggers at him.

"What'd I say?"

Eriks  sighs and cups his forehead in his palm looking at the deck of the  ship. "You never say things like that, you just never do. The minute  some fool comes along and talks about how everything is going good, is  the same minute things will become worse than we could ever imagine."


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## DustinGebhardt (Jan 27, 2011)

*Session 36*

*             Session 36                    *

*The last days of THE Last action HERO...

Diary excerpt from The legacy of Mort Cromwell: monk. man. mystery. maniac
* 
After the battle on the ship we went back to the now "liberated" lizard  folk village to summon their god of battle, Zot Zala'ha. As the  villagers were running around in these crazy masks around a burning  wooden stake with a statue on the top, The statue suddenly came to life  as a figure covered in black hair with an angry visage of a bat for a  face. (honestly... I'd hit it... I mean it has been almost a year and a  half) once the figure was standing in front of us she looked at Eriks  and said something* that sounded like she was pissed, or at least that's  the impression I got. 
**writers note: she said "I have heard your puny excuses for prayers and that witch is mine should be returned"*

After she spoke the figure turned into seven flaming bats and that's  when the village burst into utter chaos. We broke out to vanquish these  flamers, but yet again just when I thought I would be of use to the  party by punching the **** out of these foes. I was faced with the fact  that Lizard people like to run to fire producing rodents of the air, and  my punches were doing more damage to me than to the bats. After the  foes were taken down mostly by Hohop, Mathyria, and Karyan. We treated  the wounded and put out the fires that the damnable creatures had  started Unfortunately some of the kind, but less intelligent, Lizard  folk didn't make it. I will always remember you green one, green  two,slightly less green one, and damn near green two. You were not on my  list as the brightest but dying like that had to have sucked.

After  I helped clean up, We decided to turn in. This was a pleasant change to  the normal sleep on the ground because we finally got to spend the  night inside a "building". 
_*
The Bat Cave:*_
 The morning was more pleasant than I figured it would be. We found  where the crazy demon man was hiding all of his fancy useless junk and  his food. Most of the village elders that were still around started  going through the room while we restocked our food supplies and headed  off to the bat lady god temple. It was two days of uneventful travel.  The breeze coming off the ocean was nice and I didn't have to struggle  to breathe, walk, or anything for that matter.(I wish we could have  stopped.) When we arrived at Zot Zala'ha's temple entrance man was it  hot. I figured it would have been a building out side of the volcano,  you know, maybe with something like the previous temple, but no, We had  to go into the bottom OF A FRAGGIN VOLCANO. I mean who has the for  thought to think. hmm good place for a temple. GOD DID I SAY IT WAS HOT,  cause it was hot. I'm not one to complain about stuff too much, but  damn it was hot. As we descended down the path to the temple room I  figured with my luck we would run into some more fire rodents of doom,  but no, it honestly was kind of easy. Then we made it to the chamber  where this statue of the god went. When we got in the room Eriks placed  the statue in its corresponding place and we started to leave. That's  when she came out. The same figure as in the village but this time she  had WAY more bats and I'm thinking OH ****. She saw us and then luckily  saw what we put back and sighed. Dismissing all of her flame bats with a  wave of her had she told us that we could have one item out of her  treasure room that was now opening. Now I know what your thinking of  course this is where Mort gets the girl, no, Mort gets an amulet because  the rest of the stuff that was in the room was for the rest of the  pansies in the party. Kamal took a lucky stone, Mathyria took some  Powerful Pearl... figures. Eriks took a buckler with his gods symbol on  it. Hopop found an invisible ring, I mean I couldn't find it. Hekuba got  a breastplate of Mithral, and Karyan found a quiver of holy arrows.  When we were leaving I couldn't help thinking that we could have taken  more stuff than what she offered. I could have taken her. 

So we  headed back to the village, again pleasant conditions and a longing for  the sea. Hop hop said goodbye to his elder I guess she told him that. He  needed to stop being a pansy and not to come back until he was a man  cause he left in a fowl(smelling) mood.*
* *Hopop  was actually told that his visit was not one of unpleasantness, but that  it would be wise for him not to return until his journey was complete,  because it would cause distress to the remaining villagers, Hop hop also  stated that he now knew what his spirit journey was.
*_*
The day the Muscle died:*_
  So we headed north again to hopefully convince the Recostas to lend us  a hand by lending their arms to the locals so we can finally start  making a dent in the forces controlling the island of dread.*
**So  lets take a side bar here for a second. Why would you want to liberate  The ISLAND OF DREAD? I mean I feel bad for the people on the island, but  really pick a better name like big ass jungle island of horrible things  that could get you eaten. I mean that's more like it because at least  you know what your getting into I would dread going to the island of  dread because it could be anything dreadful from a parchment cut to not  having enough blankets because the damn weather changes on a whim. I'm  done...*

On our way to the Recostas we have to cross a  stink fest of awesome known as the tar pits, I mean I have sailed with  men that could compare to the smell of this place, but it is not  anyplace I would like to spend any time in. While crossing the tar pit  we hear a large growl and some high pitched whimpers and squeaks from  the woods to our left. Eriks flew up to check it out while Karyan,  Hekuba and I took the sneakier rout to see if their was anything we  could do. After a few seconds of noise from the other two we quieted  down to actually sneak up on what it was. Eriks got really quiet so I  shouted for him to tell me what he saw. His reply was "I think this is  one for Mort!" After hearing that I broke into a dead sprint to get to  what ever this massive rumbling was, boy oh boy I was not disappointed.  When I broke the tree line their she was. The BIGGEST, the UGLIEST damn  lizard I had ever seen, and she was picking on these little monkey/sloth  looking creatures trapped in the tar pit. I mean like they were a  sampler platter you would get at one of those fancy parties hosted by  someone with way too much money and too little sense to just serve  everyone dinner already. At seeing this I wanted to do nothing more than  to hit this thing as hard as I could. So I ran, and ran, and ran... I  got close, close enough for it to notice that one of the samples had  come out and wanted to get eaten faster. Unfortunately for me. I found  myself in the massive jaws of this colossal beast trying my best to get  out. The last thing I remember is was clawing everything I had to get  out of its jaws, but the smell and the strength of the massive creature  was too much the last thing I saw was Karyan screaming in anguish and a  massive burst of flame from one of Mathyria's great fire ball surprises.  Soon, my body seemed to go numb, but it was as if my eyes still "saw"  everything. I thought I saw Elloy for a moment, but I wasn't about to  leave the party for his ugly mug I wanted to make sure everyone made it.

Mythyria hit it with everything she had scorching rays, Hop hop used  powers I had never seen before they were like fire ball surprises, but  full of hate and lightning. Kamal put on Hopop's ring of invisibility  and stood below the beast channeling energy to the now eaten Eriks who  was cutting his way out of the beast not for his own sake but also for  his sister's. All the while Hekuba stood back firing every arrow he had  at his disposal for his comrades in danger. Eventually the Massive beast  was taken down by one of Mathyria's weirder spells she uses. When the  beast fell, it fell on top of Kamal. He shrugged it off and began to cut  out Eriks and the others. I saw my body there. limp and burned from the  stomach juices. Poor Karyan it seemed shared a similar fate to mine.  Eriks was upset of course, but knew he had no time to morn the loss of  his sister at the moment. 
 The party talked with the little  monkey/sloth creatures for a time. The creatures led them away from the  body to what looked like a near-by settlement.

At least my last days weren't as boring as I thought they would be.
_-M-_


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## DustinGebhardt (Jan 27, 2011)

*Session 37*

*Gaining Momentum*


*I failed to save her...

That  terrible beast, gigantic compared to the one we faced on the beach  swallowed my sister, and despite taking perhaps the biggest risk of my  life to jump in and free her, she is dead. Mort was also taken from us,  but his spirit remained. Karyan is simply gone. I can only hope that her  soul finds peace or finds a way back to us soon. I will not dwell, for  to do so is to be defeated. If Karyan sought Bargle's death, then I  shall carry on where she left off, keeping hope that she may yet be  returned to me.

*Eriks, in a shallow attempt to hide his despair, went to work dislodging teeth from the fallen Tamahotee. 

"Son, we can bring her back, do not fret." Kamal's words were of little comfort to the rogue, but he smiled nonetheless. 

"We ought to find the Phanatons" Hoppup commented, "They will be eager to help knowing we have killed this beast."

A cool breeze swirled in the air, accompanied by a faint shimmering blue light.

"Dark and empty!" Hekuba swore. "What was that?"

Before  anyone could garner a response, the chill coalesced before the group  and a translucent image of Mort manifested itself among them.

"Is that my body?!" The monk's voice sounded as if it were muffled under heaver wool blankets.

"Are  you surprised?" Mythyria asked, seeming unaffected at the sudden  appearance of Mort's ghost. "You were eaten and began to digest."

Eriks  could feel his heart race and he looked all around for another shimmer  of light, felt for another chill breeze, listened for another muffled  voice, but it did not come.

"I cannot abide this Mort." Kamal spoke  loudly, "We must return you to your body as quickly as we can. We will  do the same for Karyan."

"I'm down" the monk replied, "Where is Karyan?"

Eriks  felt the lump rise in his throat, and unwarranted anger swell toward  the oblivious Mort, but before he could spill his wrath, Hoppup replied.

"She  is busy, I communed with her spirit for just an instant before you  appeared Mort. She says she will gather information for us and return as  soon as she is able."

What should have been happy news fostered only  resentment in Eriks. Why would Hoppup lie like this? If it was to spare  his feelings, he should not bother, the anger in him threatened to boil  over, he reached for his Aranea alcohol determined to take at least  three fingers then speak his mind. Instead, the man took his sacred  drink and downed the concoction. Since being blessed as the Hero of  Cayden Cailean, every time he drank it, he would lose a small amount of  memory, while the others told him of mighty deeds he did not remember  doing. The drink finished, Eriks' eyes slowly closed. When they opened,  Karyan and no one else, stood before him. 

"I've not the time to deal  with you sulking, I will return when it is fitting and no sooner." The  tone of her voice made it clear she was not at all happy with her  brother. "And if I don't return at all, you must do what I could not.  Now snap out of it!"

"Eriks!!" The sound of Kamal's voice reverberated through his skull. "We make for the Phanatons, do you have enough teeth?" 

In  his absentmindedness, Eriks had not realized that he was still pulling  teeth from the behemoth of a dinosaur, he counted a dozen lying near  him.

"Yes. Yes, sorry. Let's go." Was all the ordinarily eloquent man could muster. 

"Hey, she'll be alright, don't worry." Hekuba, who shared a ranger's bond with Karyan laid a meaty hand on Eriks' shoulder.

Mythyria,  already several paces ahead, raised her voice and said, "Neither of the  dead ones will be alright with out the proper components, and Hoppup  says the Phanatons should have what we need."

Hoppup was able to help  Hekuba locate a camp of the small Phanton tribe, and the group asked  about finding the diamonds needed to bring Mort and Karyan back to life.  

"Find Teka Tek, he leader, have many jewels." The language was  similar to Nythian, but primitive enough to cause more than a few "I'm  sorry's" and "Repeat pleases." 

The companions were taken to Teka Tek, and the chief did not trust the group.

"You look like those that stole family." He said, glaring at Eriks. 

Missing not a beat, the rogue activated his magical ring and changed his appearance to that of a Nythian. 

"I  look like many things." He said while using the ring to look like an  elf, then a tall Phanaton. "But a kidnapper is not one of them."

While this thoroughly amused the other Phanatons, and annoyed his companions, Teka Tek seemed less impressed.

"You have great magic. You come to hurt Teka Tek;s family."

"You have it all wrong." Hoppup announced. "We have already defeated Tamahotee."

A  high pitched laugh spread through the gathered Phanatons and Teka Tek  spoke once more. "No one can kill Tamahotee, he is ever hungry."

At  this, Eriks stopped shifting forms and spoke up. "Ah, but we are more  hungry." The man brought forth a tooth of the mighty beast to show all  the Phanatons, then brought out the eleven others to prove it was not a  fortunate find. Teka Tek appeared even more worried.

"You hungrier  than Tamahotee? Kill Tamahotee? Now kill us?!" The Phanaton group began  to gather together as Kamal stepped forward.

"Mighty Teka Tek, we are  here only to help, but we also need help. Tamahotee killed two of our  friends, and we need certain materials to bring them back to life."

At  this Mythyria and Hekuba respectfully pulled the corpses of Mort and  Karyan out for view. Teka Tek looked them over and solemnly spoke.  "Tamahotee indeed. What you need from me, if you can kill Tamahotee?"  Mythyria chimed in. "Two of those stones." pointing to small uncut  diamonds on the chiefs adornments.

"We trade?" 

"We trade." Hoppup and Hekuba spoke in unison, causing another curious glance from the Phanaton chief. 

The  ghost of Mort hovered nearly invisibly behind the companions, and  insisted that they trade his magical ring of protection for the diamond  component.

"Teka Tek thinks this not good trade." The chief spoke.  Hekuba intervened. "This ring will keep you from getting hit." At this  declaration, Teka Tek put the ring on another of his numerous "family"  then proceeded to punch his partner in the face. As the startled  Phanaton rubbed a bruising cheek, Teka Tek pulled off the ring and said.  "No work."

"Good chief." Eriks interrupted. "I apologize for that,  the ring must only work for tall ones. May I offer these in its place?"  The rogue produced two mundane golden rings. 

"Both for this one?"  The chief gave a look as though he didn't understand the unfair trade  but would not question the tall one's dimness. "Okay, but not enough for  stones."

"I thought as much." Eriks continued. "I will add this,  though it has served me well, I offer it to you to show how great is our  need." The human pulled out his finely made spear and it began to  crackle with the cold energy that it constantly held. The offering  worked as Teka Tek's eyes lit up and he hesitantly grasped for the  weapon.

For an instant, the cold touch burned at the Phanaton's skin,  but as his hand grasped the shaft, it remained bearable but still  steaming in the hot jungle.

"This great gift, we trade." Was all the chief could manage.

The  rest of the Phanatons were in no less awe of their chief than he was in  the weapon. Two diamonds of the proper size were produced immediately  from the vestments of Teka Tek. The chief then brought out two more  diamonds larger than an orc's fist. "These too big, you take." All eyes,  especially Eriks' widened at the sight of the gems. Mythyria broke the  silence as she passed the smaller diamonds to Kamal. The priest went to  work on Mort's body and Mythyria approached Teka Tek.

"Good chief, we need more I'm afraid."

"That all we have for trade. Why you tall so hungry?" Teka Tek questioned.
Mythyria  smiled at this and replied. "Hungry? Indeed. But you misunderstand, we  want no more treasures. We need aid to find the Rakastas." 

"Rakastas  gone, taken by the other talls." The reply made her frown, but she  quickly hid her displeasure. "But we have heard they made weapons,  weapons we can use to fight the other talls. You mentioned hunger, are  you in need of food?"

"We no hunt for long time, you feed us?" The  sides of Teka Tek and several other Phanaton mouths began to moisten as a  collective grumble resounded from stomachs at the mention of  nourishment.

Mythyria smiled, "Who among is the best artist?" A  moment passed and a young female Phanaton stepped forward. "Tega." the  small woman introduced herself. Mythyria recited a string of arcane  syllables and conjured a canvas, brush, and several bright pigments.  "Paint whatever you wish to eat dear."

Tega hesitantly took the brush  and put it to the canvas. With magic guiding the strokes, in a matter  of minutes a huge feast was depicted before them all. 

Kamal heard  the exchange but paid it no heed. Anticipating success, the cleric had  prayed for certain powerful spells that morning and was invoking the  power to raise the dead into Mort's body. The monk's many wounds closed  to form pink and gray scars and color returned to his cheeks. His chest  began to rise and fall. Slowly, Mort opened his eyes and smiled. "Next  time, don't let me do that." Kamal smiled, "Next time, you will forget  this time." The priest moved then to Karyan's body. He began praying,  and though he felt the power flowing, no soul was present to answer the  summons to return to the body. Frowning, Kamal turned to Hoppup. "Is she  still out there?"

"I do not know, I can attempt to locate her once  more." The lizard wizard said. As the Nythian postured into a meditative  stance, Teka Tek's voice interrupted.

Through a mouth full of conjured food from the painting Tega and Mythyria created, the chief spoke. "You talk to stars?"

Hoppup, taking the Phanaton's meaning nodded. 

"Our star talker was taken, you talk to stars for us?"

Hoppup nodded once more. "I'd be happy to."

As  the day drew to a close, Hoppup's trance became more intense, and the  revelry took several ups and downs as stories were traded between the  groups.

The Nythian came from his meditation at last and approached the group.

"Your  own star talker still lives, as will all of the Phanatons if they help  us." Turning to Eriks, Hoppup added, "Karyan is okay."

"This great news!" Teka Tek exclaimed, nimbly bouncing from one foot to another. "Jek! Get Jek!"

A much older Phanaton answered his chief's call and introduced himself to the companions as Jek. 

"Jek knows the jungle, knows where Rakastas village was." Teka Tek tells them. "He take you there."

Without a word, Jek bows his head and meanders back into the crowd.

The  day grew darker, and the night passes with more stories and occasional  snoring. As the suns rays break the Eastern horizon Kamal and Eriks are  speaking about the coming battle and the role Karyan was to play, the  rest of the group is making a light breakfast as Teka Tek approaches  them.

"Teka Tek speaks!" the chief, despite his small stature  commanded much attention. "I say, these talls are family, and we help  them on flat mountain. We come in one week. Now, we gather rest of  family."

"Here" Eriks said, rifling through his pack. "Take these  with you so that the rest of your family will know that together we are  strong." the rogue produced tow teeth of the mighty Tamahotee, as well  as two smaller teeth he had collected on the beach months before.

The  chief took them, the smaller set easily could have been used as blades  for the Phanatons, while Tamahotee's measured nearly as long as the  tribe's average height. 

Cheers from all over the camp responded to  the announcement. The makeshift village is quickly broken down and Jek  hobbled over to the group.

"You know the way to the Rakasta's village?" Hekuba asks.

"Jek knows, young tall, Jek knows." the older Phanaton replies "And know Rakastas liked to hide things." 

Several of the companion's ears perked at this, but Mort spoke what they each thought. "Like weapons and armor?"

Jek, already walking a steady pace with his cane and small knapsack just turned his head and gave a knowing smile.


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## DustinGebhardt (Jan 27, 2011)

*Session 38*

* 			Session 38
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	


 *

*Of Serpents and Swords*


The  days went by and Jek said very little as he led the group eventually to  a dilapidated ziggurat in what might have once been a clearing. Under  the thick layer of foliage, including vines, creepers, and a multitude  of weeds, are the signs of an epic battle. So engrossed with the new  sights, the group took little notice of Jek turning around and leaving  the party at their desired destination. 

"Check this out, these claws  are not Rakasta." Hekuba stated. The rest of the group took longer to  notice, and the signs the half-orc indicated were too deep and spread  apart gouges in the stone to be of the feline race. "Looks like it was  over a year ago too." the half-orc continued.

"Are we going to the  ziggurat or what?" Mort commented impatiently as he began to walk toward  the broken archway leading to the ruined structure.

"Wait Mort! Just because it's old doesn't mean there is no reason to be cautious, in fact it could mean..."

The  rogue's words were cut short as a gargantuan anaconda dropped in front  of the monk. Mythyria sprang into action first, charring the snake and  leaving a sizable scorch mark. Hekuba let fly a crossbow bolt that  connected but did not pierce the thick scales of the creature. Hoppup  sent an electric charge that seemed to have little effect, while Eriks  took to the air and flew behind the giant serpent. 

Disregarding the  rest of the company, the snake only has eyes for Mort. With startling  speed, the creature coiled around the monk and began to squeeze. The  monk let out a gasp of pain, that he immediately regretted as it was  terribly difficult to draw his next breath. Kamal, seeing Mort's plight,  channeled the power of his god. Mort felt his ribs strengthen and his  breath return. Mythyria created a glowing hand of energy and used it to  deliver a shock to the snake; Hoppup created a colorful sphere of  energy, both attacks bypassing the thick scales of the huge beast. Eriks  managed to place his sword between two scales and draw blood, while  Hekuba attacked with a wave of sword strokes that failed to penetrated  the snake's scales.

The companions were in dire straits, not piercing  its scales, and the creature squeezing the life from Mort. Kamal  approached the massive beast with determination in his eyes and a  powerful spell on his tongue. As the power of Sarenrae gathered,  Mythyria conjured a layer of grease upon Mort. With the combined effort  of the monk's writhing, the pressure of snake's constriction, and the  augmentation of Mythyria's spell, Mort squeezed out of his peril and was  thrust into the trees.

Kamal finished his spell, a ray of life  draining energy erupting from his palm. The creature, however, resisted  the worst of the curse and took advantage of the priest's proximity to  snatch him in its coils and squeeze. Mythyria lets out an exasperated  sigh and began to recall her spell of grease. Hoppup continued to  conjure spheres of light, but the spell was having little effect. More  so, however, than Eriks and Hekuba were having trying to pierce the  creature with their weapons. Kamal let out a cry of agony as the snake's  coils tightened and the priest felt bones snap. Mythyria's grease spell  flowed over him, and with little effort of its own, the snake's coils  shot Kamal nearly thirty feet away into the tree canopy.

Frustration  gripping the creature, it lashed at Hekuba and in one lightning quick  motion, the half-orc was in its coils and being crushed. Hoppup  continued to cast his spheres and Mythyria recited a quick curse to  drain the snake's life force. A burst of healing energy shot from the  trees where Kamal decided to stay put. Hekuba, trapped in the same  general area as Mort and Kamal before him manages to free himself from  the coils, and is launched into the trees in the same fashion.

Eriks  then braved an attack from the snake, but the quick rogue managed to  evade being coiled in the creature's grip. A war cry is heard as Mort  runs from the trees, his crown aglow with an earthen power. Mythyria,  now free to cast more effective spells, uses her spectral hand to  deliver more draining magic to the creature. Hoppup summons a loop of  electric energy that rattles across the creature's scales. Kamal's  healing energy bursts over and over, and Mythyria cants one of her most  powerful curses. The snake visibly weakens as Mort begins to pummel the  creature with smiting energy. Hoppup's electric loop arcs once more and  the snake freezes in place. Eriks scores another hit, and Mort continues  his assault on the foe, now unable to slither away. With the foe now  helpless the companions at last inflict enough hurt on the creature; the  great snake falls to the earth with a great rush of displaced air and a  loud crash. Eriks went to work extracting teeth from the giant snake  and saving some of its scales for his prize collection as the rest of  the companions regrouped in the clearing that the creature had blocked.

Kamal  returned from his precarious perch and beheld the bruises evident on  his friends. A pang of guilt ran through the cleric, but he reminded  himself that all of them had a role to play. Satisfied that he was  needed, the cleric clasped his holy symbol and made his body a vessel  for the power of his goddess. A warm and familiar light washed over the  party; cuts closed, bruises faded, skin re-knitted, and even a bone or  two could be heard cracking back into place. 

Somberly, the group  crossed the remainder of the way into the opening of the ziggurat;  mostly ignoring the many more old scorched stone and claw marks that  marred the area. Before they could enter though, Hoppup stepped in front  of the entrance.

"Okay, is anyone going to break the silence?"  Hoppup's words seemed resounding even against the backdrop of clatter  from the jungle. "You all call this the Isle of Dread no? I think,  particularly after our trip into Demi-gorgon's temple, we have grown in  despair. Eriks, you used to be the spirit of this group." Mythyria made a  clucking noise with her teeth. "Do not scoff, it is the truth of  things." Hoppup scolded the elf. "We each have a part to play, and if  one of us falters, then the rest of us suffer. When Karyan died, we lost  a piece, but we cannot afford to lose two." The Nythyian leveled his  gaze toward Eriks. "And besides that, we know she will return." All eyes  went to the rogue, and he wished that he could simply disappear. How  could any of them possibly understand the pain it caused him to see his  family slain? As the tall man swallowed hard to form a reply, Hekuba  spoke up. 

"The lizard is right, I think this place is doing  something to us. Maybe 'cause I haven't been here as long, I can see it a  little clearer, but it as if the island feeds on our hope." 

"I feel  fine." Mort commented, though his face clearly showed that he didn't  quite believe his own words. A silence that lasted a few heartbeats and  an eternity followed, then at last Eriks found his voice.

"Perhaps  that means there was never any hope for you." The group turned squarely  upon Eriks, who at last wore a smile they had not seen in some time.  Kamal stifled a small hiccup, but then it erupted into a great laugh.  Hekuba, Hoppup, and Mythyria joined; Eriks kept smiling and began to  shake himself. Mort's gaze remained cold and dead on Eriks, but the  twitching of his lips betrayed the true emotion he was trying to hide.  At last the monk also burst into laughter and the whole group nearly  lost their breaths letting out the pent up frustrations of months in a  hostile land filled with terror and hardships.

The first to recover  enough to speak Mythyria addressed her trusted friends. "I do not think  we are free from the influence of this place, but being aware of it will  surely help in the days to come. Now let's see what the Rakastas left  for us." The group finished their laughing fits one by one and entered  the ruined structure.

Inside the temple, the group is astounded to  find several very well preserved statues. All of them are various jungle  cats, some that look more human than feline, but all in poses of  defense and aggression. A dozen statues of finely crafted stone form a  circle; in the center of which is a jaguar that looked as if it would  pounce at any moment were it not crafted entirely of jade. The jade  jaguar stands atop a large stand. Eriks begins examining it and the  rogue's eyes widen as he realizes the truth of the statue. 

"This is  obviously where they would hide anything." Mort says and crouches into a  stance that shows his intention of jumping onto the jade jaguar. 

"Not  twice today!" Eriks managed to make a leap of his own, but not onto the  stature. The rogue tackles Mort to the floor, leaving them both in a  heap and the group looking inquisitively. "The jaguar isn't real." Eriks  reports. "Can anyone dispel its magic?" 

"I happened to think we  would need that today." the priest reports. He chants a simple prayer  and waves his hand toward the center statue. A blue shimmer can be seen  wavering in the air as it passes through a ray of sunlight. The wave  flares and strikes the statue. For an instant nothing happens, then with  an audible 'pop!' the jaguar and every other statue in the place vanish  from sight.

"Well done sir." Hoppup commends the priest.

Where  the statue stood, instead there is a long drop into a large, poorly lit,  tunnel. Mort and Eriks, have untangle from one another peer over the  side. 

"Are the two of you sight-seeing or treasure hunting?"  Mythyria calls with a smile on her voice. The elf was apparently the  first to spot a ladder that goes down the side into the pit.

The  tunnel slopes slowly downward and is faintly illuminated by what must be  everburning flames that rest behind more statues of jaguars that  overlook the companions about three feet above their heads. Eriks  notices that each jaguar has jewels for eyes as his thieves tools appear  in his dexterous hands. 

"Hey, no. No, man." Mort put a hand on the  rogue's shoulder. "You talk about traps? Well what if something down  here doesn't want us taking stuff?"

Eriks processed this for a moment. "We're here to take stuff anyway, right Mythyria?"

"If I'm to be in this, then I side with Mort. We are here for a cache of weapons, not jewels."

Much slower than he drew them, Eriks returned his tools; though his eyes remained on the jeweled eyes a few moments more.

The  tunnel ends into a room that is much like the one the group left to  venture underground. A dozen statues of various feline forms circle the  center. On the walls, a detailed depiction of Rakastas fighting a  multitude of foes can be seen. The floor is thick with dust, and in the  center of the room is a smaller circle of pillars with bamboo mats at  the very center; noticeably clear of dust.

"Hold, we are not alone." Hekuba tells the group as he points to the floor. 
In the dim light, the group can just make out the slithering that give away a snake's path. "How old are these?" Kamal ask.

"Not  old, I think" The ranger replies. The group gives a start as the  whisper of steel on leather sounds. Eriks stands with his blade in a  defensive position and his gaze upward. "We are being watched, I know  it. It is not evil, but..." He let his words hang in the air.
Hoppup  lets his vision slip to see the unseen sheen of magical auras. "I do not  detect any magic above, maybe under the mats..." The Nythyian's words  are cut off by a melodious voice from above the group. The words sound  sweet, but only Mythyria responds, in the same rhythmic language.
_
"Who are you?"

"We were sent to end the blood moon."

"Why?"

"It is our mission and we seek the Rakasta's weapon to help our fight. Who are you?"

"Guardian."
_
Mythyria visibly stiffened, and she told the group the conversation so far, then continued.
_
"If you guard the legacy of the Rakastas, you should know. There is nothing left."

"You are mistaken. The Rakastas were careful; their legacy remains."

"May we see you?"

"No."

"What killed all the Rakastas?"

"Why do you care?"

"This island is threatened once more, we do not want history to repeat itself."
_
A  breeze whirls through the chamber and the whole room begins to glow  with a soft light. A long serpent with angelic wings that shift with  every color in the rainbow appears before the group. The creature's gaze  meets them all. 
_
"The Nythyians used magic beyond their limits,  it summoned creatures called Skinwalkers. These evil creatures could  kill and wear the skin of their prey. The Rakastas knew the threat was  coming and tried to prepare by building up their strength. Alas, it was  not enough and the Skinwalkers slaughtered them all. This is all that  remains now of the Rakastas legacy."
_
The mats in the center of  the room roll away and the stone floor raises with the grumble of stone  grating stone. The floor continues to rise to reveal a large weapon  rack, filled with finely made war-claws, bows, arrows, spears, and  javelins. A separate rack holds one bow, a greatsword, and a war-claw.  Mythyria approached the winged serpent that she later identified as a  Coatl.
_
"May we use these to hunt our enemies and yours?"

"Only if you do just that."

"You have our thanks..."

"You may call me Tona-Tiuh. I am no longer needed here, but I will help in what ways I may. Take these." _The Coatl presented three of her own feathers to the group.
_
"Three times, you may call me, and I will assist you. Now go and see the Skinwalkers dead."
_
With that, Tona-Tiuh shimmered and faded from sight.

"I  didn't catch all of that, but I think we just got another strong ally."  Kamal remarked breaking another silence, though this one born of awe.

The  group made preparations to rest in the underground temple. Taking their  watches in turn, Eriks declared that he wanted to make sure the tunnel  was still clear.

The next morning, the group made their way back to  the surface, and only Hekuba noticed-with a hidden smile-that the  jeweled eyes in the statues of the tunnel were all missing.


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## DustinGebhardt (Jan 27, 2011)

*Session 39*

* 			Session 39
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	


 *

*Reunited And It Feels So Good...Hey, That's A Dragon!*



Leaving  the Temple of the Jaguar, an apparition coalesces before the party.  Before Kamal has a chance to brandish the power of Sarenrae, Eriks stops  him. "Hold friends! It is Karyan. What news sister? Are you ready to  return to us?"

The ghostly form of the ranger becomes slightly more  solid, just enough to display discernible facial features. In a voice  that sounds as a hollow whisper of her own, the ghost of Karyan reports  while the group struggles not to stare at the images of a terrible teeth  and acid scars on the specter's body. "Brother, all; I bring news, but  no I can not yet return. I must check on Bargle and his progress on the  central plateau." Turning her gaze toward Hoppup, the ranger continues.  "You will be happy to know that your people are already rebuilding  quickly and are eager to march. The more pressing concern though, is the  crew from _The Dark Maiden's Dance_. They are in dire straits, and  those that still live are under some type of mental control. Make haste  friends, I go now to spy on Bargle, but will return as soon as I can."

With her message complete, the spirit of Karyan dissipates into a thin vapor and then shifts into the wind. 

"I guess that makes our next stop pretty clear?" Mythyria said, breaking the silence.
"So long as it is by way of the Nythian village to deliver these weapons." Hoppup remarked. 

"We can get to where we left the crew much faster in our new ship, and I for one am ready to stretch my sea-legs again." 

"Not  all of us like boats, monk." Hekuba gruffly told Mort, with a face that  could have been a smile or scowl. "But I agree, we need to hurry. Those  little Rakasta things will be marching soon themselves."

"Yes, what a  terrible guilt to bear if we were not there when all the fun begins."  Eriks said cheerily just before sipping from his rather large, and  nearly half drained tankard. 

"Do you ever stop drinking? I am at a  loss for how you actually manage to walk, let alone wield divine power."  Kamal sounded like a chastising parent.

"We can't all be solar powered Kamal." Eriks replied, "Some of us need alternate sources of power." 

"Enough you two." Mythyria scolded. "This gets us no closer to the Dance or Bargle." 
With  that the two holy men shared nod. Knowing that though they travel  different paths, their causes were very much the same. The trek to the  village was uneventful and the group made quick work of setting sail  around the island.

The wind and waves seemed wanting to hurry the  ship to its destination, and in record time the group dropped anchor and  lowered a longboat into the cove that served as the Dance's final  resting place.

"Do you guys hear that?" Mort's eyes had gone wide,  and before anyone could form an answer, the monk jumped into the frothy  waters and began swimming toward the dance. 

"Wait! What are you?"  Hoppup jumped in the sea to follow the monk; Eriks, without saying a  word, took to the air and followed his two companions. As Hekuba and  Kamal rowed the longboat, Hoppup cried out. "Something in the water!"  The lizard-wizard joined Eriks in the sky, leaving Mort to swim a fast  pace ahead of them, but not before a single bolt of lightning bounced  off of his skin. Mythyria created a ghostly version of her own hand,  while a glowing scimitar appeared in front of Kamal. Hekuba, letting the  boat travel on momentum drew his bow and shot into the growing shadow  in the cove. The shadow broke the surface and lashed at the swimming  Mort, but whatever source controlled the monk kept him moving too  quickly to be struck. Mort reached the rocks that the ship were impaled  upon and began climbing. 

Mythyria's summoned hand plunges into the  deep, but whether or not the spell the wizardress placed upon struck  true could not be determined. Another bolt of lightning glances off of  Hoppup, but his scales seem resistant to the energy, leaving less  scorching than it should have. The lizard wizard raises his trident,  "Try some of this lightning!" A larger, brighter bolt slams into the  water and sizzles the creature. Eriks lets loose a single bolt that  embeds into a tentacle, but does not appear to do much damage. The  glowing scimitar in front of Kamal strikes and scores a hit while the  priest, still not rowing the longboat summoned an orca next to the sea  monster. The giant mammal speared the creature and an audible underwater  thud. The tentacled menace begins to retreat, but Hekuba lets fly two  arrows that open its skin and make it falter. The water turns red with  blood and the threat seems to be ended. Except that Mort has now made  his way onto the ruined main deck of the Dance.

With the sea creature  dying, Hoppup and Eriks continue their flights toward the ship, the  rogue advancing as far as the main the deck, only to see Mort go below;  where the ship is angled and mostly underwater. Mythyria and Hekuba  begin rowing the longboat and another bolt flies from the sky. Though  the wizardress was the bolt's intended target, the elf managed to jump  away from the strike. Kamal stood up from his rowing position. "You  coward! Fight in the open under Sarenrae's light!" 

Mythyria spies  movement in the ship and understands that Mort will be the first to  encounter whatever creature is hurling the bolts. Trusting in her  spectral hand, the elf delivers a spell unto the monk that increases his  size and strength. The ship groans as its burden is so suddenly  increased. "Mort! I'm here!" Eriks announces as he follows the monk  below decks. Hoppup flies around the back side of the ship, and gets his  first look at the creature plaguing them. A twisted and aquatic looking  affair with octopus like tentacles and a beak where its mouth should be  and several larger protrusions writhing off of its body. Mort, with a  glassy look in his eyes approaches the creature and hears a voice in his  head. "Kill the one behind you." For a heartbeat, the monk's fists  clinch as if to follow the order, but Mort's extensive training steeled  his mind against the intrusion at last. His eyes become clear as the  creature makes a hideous gurgling sound and lunges a tentacle at his  lost thrall. Mort, even in a larger more lumbering form, easily dodges  the blow. "Guys! Little help?!" An electric loop bursts through the back  side of the ship and shakes the creature. Mort, clenches his fists and  while still dodging the whipping appendage of the creature lands two  heavy blows.

Mythyria, having heard Mort's pleas but not seeing the  whole scene aims a wand and lets fly an orange bead that explodes,  reducing a large portion of the Dance into embers, burning the creature,  and engulfing Mort, Eriks, and Hoppup. The monk and rogue both manage  to duck into the water to avoid the blast, but the flying Nythian is  caught in the blaze. Eriks uses the power of his flying boots to put his  body into a horizontal position, maneuver behind the creature, break  the surface, and slash at it with his newly acquired holy sword. With  its attention on Mort and not its back, the rogue is able to bury the  sword deep into its flesh. The creature's screams are cut short by  another loop of electricity. The aquatic thing slumps into the water and  lays still. Huddling on the far side of the underdeck; Mikhail, Avner,  Skald, and two other survivors of the Dance's crew emerge. The company  is helped from the ruined ship to the new acquisition. The few things  salvageable from the Dance are ferried over, but the companions help  themselves to a few magic trinkets and the makings of some sort of  laboratory the creature had set up.

"We can make good with this heap" McHale informs the group, "When do we leave?"

"Not  for some time captain." Eriks informs his once employer. "We have some  loose ends to tie up, and my sister needs to come back to life."

"Your what?" The captain looks more astonished than his malnutrition lets him sound.
"Quite  a long story sir, but he is right. We have to finish a few things  before departure." Kamal reassures the castaways as only he seems to  know how.

The group sets off into the jungle once more. 

"Now, why are we _trying_ to find a dragon?" Mythyria asks for the dozenth time.

"Because Cayden said we should." Eriks responds. "You're not afraid are you?"

With  that the group traveled on in silence until they came to a large  clearing. On one side a great mountain casts a shadow over the clearing,  and opposite the mountain Arithiavox stares at the travelers. If the  dragon took any notice of the group, he did not show it. Instead, the  beast grabbed a huge dinosaur and wrestled it to the ground; tail, feet,  wings, and arms a flurry of motion and destruction. Without a sound,  the mighty green dragon hurtled into the sky and the group was left  staring at its diminishing form.

"So, no luck, we can leave."  Mythyria tries to reason once more. Before Eriks can debunk her  objections, the ghostly form of Karyan appears before them. Her spirit  looks as though it is in pain; Kamal and Eriks both rush to see what has  happened. 

"Sister! What is wrong?"

"Can't...I...Body..."  Karyan's response is fractured, but not so much that Kamal does not  understand the need for the ranger to be returned to her body. 

"We need to bring her back. Let's rest so I can prepare the proper spells." 
Before  settling for the night, Eriks sends a message to Mildred asking for  more information about the vision Cayden Cailean presented to him.

The  group camps at the foot of the mountain, which is in actuality a huge  copse of trees that have been twisted and shaped into the mound. Eriks  and Kamal are the first to rise and as soon as the priest finishes his  prayers, the group helps them prepare Karyan's body. In a ritual that  was becoming all too familiar, the group witnesses Karyan's soul return  into her body and her eyes flutter open. 

"Thank you! My spirit was  attacked by a necromancer in Bargle's employ. I was able to gather some  vital information though. Whatever we are about, we must act quickly for  I feel as if Bargle is leaving soon. His army of undead is massive, and  we will need all the help we can get. There's more, two pieces of the  Hand of Quode are on the central plateau, and a mustached man with  Bargle holds our family's sword." Karyan directed the last part of her  message toward Eriks, and the rogue suddenly felt a strange longing for  the blade.


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