The Roots of Darkness - 27/10/2022 - Archie’s Extracts
Oct 29, 2022 23:25:40 GMT
Velania Kalugina, Orianna Èirigh, and 1 more like this
Post by Andy D on Oct 29, 2022 23:25:40 GMT
On The Small Print of the Teleportation Spell
The sub-title here should be ‘On when substituting for your Half-Giant friend is ill-advised’.
The lovely blue tiefling, druid girl, Orianna organised an adventuring party to meet at Portal Plaza where we would then teleport to the Sunset Spines, and begin our adventure trying to discover the lair of a being called Desathrax. This being is a combination of the divine sparks of both Tiamat and Bahamut followers, who had been fouled by visions to come to the Sunset Spines on a holy pilgrimage, only to never return. Desathrax is attempting to reach godhood. It was up to us to discover his lair, discover a weakness and bring the information back to both dragon temples in order to put together a plan to assault the lair.
And so, Ms Orianna paid the price for teleportation in order to expedite our travel. However, the spell for teleportation has a fine print. Teleporting to a place unknown to the caster, or not providing the caster an object from the location, comes with peril. There was a mishap on the first casting, one that took the wind right out of me. I’ll have bruised ribs for days. On my shortlist of ideas to extend my own longevity is to use the True Polymorph spell and transform into a half-elf. Perhaps I would enjoy polmorphing into a goliath trained to expertise in Iron Strong methods, like Kavel, sacrificing the extended longevity for an impervious body!
The second casting of the teleportation spell got us to what was once the Turning Fields, at the base of the Sunset Spines.
Ilthuryn, a new companion to me, and also a druid like Ms Oriana provided some scouting for the party as a giant eagle. Druids have terrific command of their own version of the polymorph spell. From their overhead view, we discovered it would be best to skirt around the mountain first, before scaling it north to where Ms Orianna felt we’d find the lair.
On Two Wizards Being Better Than One
My lovely harengon, conjuror friend, Ms Lolly, was part of the group scouting the Spines. We coordinated our spell preparation for the trip. By working together, we guaranteed no spell duplication in our prepared lists, and maximised the variety of our unique spells available to the party.
Dear Lolli said she had been practising the Galdur’s Tower spell, and was keen to prepare it for our adventure. So, this freed me up to prepare something else. Marvellous stuff - as was her version of the Tower. Naturally the whole building was decorated in her, bright coloured and sweet toothed motif. I could imagine this could be too much for some people. But, I think it brings such wonderful cheer and joy to a party. And because Lolli has greater arcane stamina than myself, she provided a three tiered tower meaning that there was no need for cramped conditions in our glamping experience.
On Delicate Cultural Differences
Ilthuryn, I learned, is rather fond of nature. He appreciated the Tower, but as a Wood Elf, they were more comfortable outside, so they rested under the stars while the rest of us enjoyed the inside. The next morning, they had prepared rabbit for breakfast, cooked over an open fire with a butterfly cut. Illthuryn offered some to everyone. Orianna accepted, as did Itzal, Cechec and I. Lolli declined… as she did, it was clear from the very felt silence that we all acknowledged the faux-pas. Illthuryn offered some berries instead. Lolli accepted and ate these.
On Mountaineering
Illthuryn once again provided us their talent as an aerial scout, and we plotted a route into and up the mountains. A few hours into our journey, whatever joy one normally feels being out in nature, hiking through the mountains was robbed from us by this most uneasy feeling, as if happiness was being sucked out of the air. The horrible feeling got worse the further we ventured in, and the surrounding nature matched our vibe; the foliage was withered. It confirmed that we were on the right path though.
Itzal, our Half-Orc fighting cleric, could sense the presence of undead in the area. Illthuryn came back from another advanced scout, and learned from a younger giant eagle exactly where we needed to head. There were many lessons to learn from my excursion to the Spines. One that should not be forgotten amongst the horrors I saw, was that mountaineering with an eagle scout that can communicate to other animals is very useful for finding the right path.
On Ill Advised Spell Usage
At a certain point during our march, we stopped for a rest and Orianna reminded us our mission that day consisted only of scouting, not engaging. The Gold Dragonborn fighter, Cechec, was a bit upset about that. However, he understood the parameters of the task, which given the opposition we were to be face to face with, was somewhat reassuring - we could swear we heard dragons.
We were alerted to the presence of an undead acolyte stumbling its way towards us. We all hid, as it shambled forward on the path we were following. I was able to witness what Kavel had told me about; the open wounds and the eternally lit black flames seeping out from the wounds.
We all stood silently as we observed the zombie acolyte shamble past us, chanting something in a mixture of infernal and something else. I grew curious, and performed the ritual for Comprehend Languages, which I quick-started with my Awakened Spellbook to cast instantaneously. I should not have done any of this. As my mind began to gleam some understanding of the zombie’s words, it also set on fire with psychic pain! I fell to the ground in agony. I did my best to suppress a scream, and fortunately Orianna lept to my side, covered my mouth, and in addition began casting a healing spell into me. Orianna blamed herself for not warning me of this danger. But, as I told her, I should have consulted her before casting the spell, as she had the most experience here. I also thanked her greatly for her healing spell, as my brain’s burning pain subsided. The pain was such, it was almost like being back in Portal Plaza when the teleportation spell backfired!
With a lead we could literally follow, we carried on. But, this time one of our two druids cast the Pass Without A Trace spell, to reduce our presence.
On Magical Espionage
I’m not sure how Kavel’s sister Sorrel could ever manage stealth without magic. No doubt she is extremely skillful in her talents. But without the aid of the Pass Without A Trace spell, and Invisibility, and other spells; my party would be dead.
The party’s following of our zombie lead had to be enhanced by invisibility, as maintaining obscurity without the spell became hazardous to our health; the number of zombies on the path ahead grew considerably. Both in terms of zombies shambling towards the peak, and those present as watchmen.
The invisibility spell was courtesy of Lolli - she was well prepared that day!
We witnessed freshly zombified members of the Tiamat and Bahumat temples holding their hearts out in front of the wound in their chest, walking the offering out before them. These unfortunate souls, like the rest of them, have been fouled by visions of their deity to pilgrimage here, only to fall victim to a fatal confidence scam.
We decided that following the hearts would lead us to the lair. Itzal braved the journey without the benefit of invisibility. She is very skilled at non-detection. I could not see her, and that was a good thing.
A few metres higher up the mountain, we heard a very loud, unmistakable, draconic road as a blue dragon flew above us with one leg missing and black flame spurting out of its neck.
We reached the mouth of a cave entrance with minutes left on the duration of the invisibility spell. Lolli was well prepared today. But, it demanded too much magical reserves to cast invisibility on all the party again. Fortunately, the wizard-adjacent druids had the solution. Illthuryn summoned pixies who can cast the Polymorph spell, and we all agreed to be polymorphed into hawks, to expedite the pursuit of our lead(s) and climb the mountain.
On Taking Spells for Granted
As hawks we flew up the path of a mountain, undead below us and younger dragons abound. Despite the dangers around us, flying as a hawk was exhilarating.
In wizard school, the transmutation teachers would polymorph us into various animals to allow us to get a feel for it. Flying animals were a real treat, and it should never go unappreciated how immensely enjoyable it is to soar through the skies. It was an enjoyable respite from the terror of the mission.
At the peak of the mountain was a large plateau before a cave entrance. All of this area was previously obscured by clouds. Emerging from the cave, was an incredibly gargantuan ancient dragon of multiple colours of the chromatic spectrum, and shockingly but expectantly, also burning with black flame about its body.
The dragon stood a bit away from the entrance. We followed Orianna’s hawk form high up in the sky, and like her; dove for the cave entrance. This was not encouraged in wizard school. I barely made the landing as I reopened my wings later than the others and almost skidded across the cave floor.
With the incident at portal plaza, the ill-advised use of Comprehend Language, and now my near death from stunt-flying; it was something of a rough day.
On Cultists
We descended further into the cave and returned to humanoid form. The more we descended the black granite structure of the cave, the more we could hear rhythmic chanting.
We came towards an entrance and a ledge above a vast room that sprawled out for a mile. Below us, a hundred or more undead chanting in front of a warlock individual. Between the warlock and the many undead was a void from which we could hear a rumble. Some of my allies went further in along the plateau.
Two eyes and a draconic face emerged from the shadows of the void. A multi-coloured dragon with many heads. I should say, more necks than heads. And the person spoke to us. The game was up. We had been detected.
There was a disagreement between Ms. Orianna and the individual from the void, who was Desathrax. I do not recall Ms Orianna mentioning how acquainted she was with this individual, but it appeared she was offered a position within Desathrax’s emerging empire as the Star Herald. Orianna rejected the proposal with disdain.
From my position I noted that the cave entrance might be the weakest point of the entire structure that surrounded us. Other than that, despite my vast reading on all matters of the natural world, arcane world, religions and history - I could not determine a particular weakness in this room like, for example, the phylactery of a lich.
We were most fortunate to be allowed to leave. The druids summoned giant eagles to carry us up and out of the cave. The dragon at the entrance stood by the side and did not interfere with our departure.
We travelled as far as we could with the eagles, before our druids had to cast the summoning spell again. We journeyed as much as we had to on foot back to the city. It was a bittersweet journey. In truth though, we were successful. We did discover Desathrax’s lair, and we got a very good impression of the size of his army. It was depressing though to know that he showed little concern for us gaining such knowledge, and let us escape. We can, though, at least report these findings back to the two temples.
I fear though, I will not be able to aid in whatever future siege there may be, for I have just received word from a scurry of squirrels to come to Fort Ettin; my other druid friend, Carnan has asked for help with Eric