At long last, Arianna was freed from her capsule. She directed the party to help her find the Neh Rod before it’s used to turn the world to ash.
On the morning of the 22nd (12/22), Nate knelt in prayer, relieving himself of the cursed shield. The group made plans to return into the Doukreg tunnels. They seemed to agree to find Level 10, but Ollie lead them back to Level 5 and the purple portal. Before there could be much debate, they all walked through the doorway of purple fire. This time, Tienarth remained in his elfen form, for his golden dragon form would not fit through the doorway.
Now they were all in the small room where Urgesh and Ollie defeated four glass statues. Ollie made for a chamber to the west, and they all recognized a familiar sight. The beautiful woman in the capsule lay dreaming, just as they’d seen in Tienarth’s crystal ball. Nearby was a table with six indentations arranged in the shape of a triangle. Six boxes held four jewels each in six different colors: red, green, blue, black, yellow and white. Dots on the boxes numbered them one through six.
They saw no seam nor hinge on the capsule, which was mostly metal with a large section of glass allowing a view of the sleeping woman. Aderian wondered about the type of metal, and Ollie touched it in order to use his magic ring only to be zapped by lightning. Next, they set about solving the riddle of the jewels and the table. A few attempts were made at arranging the jewels. As the last stone was place, time seemed to slow, and then the table flashed red momentarily. Presently, Ferris arranged the stones in an alternating pattern of red and yellow. Once again, time distorted but the table glowed blue. The vision of a six-eyed beast flashed before their eyes and was gone.
Time resumed its normal pace as a hiss of escaping gas preceded the capsule swinging open. The woman slowly opened her eyes and reached out her hand for support. Jerker helped her step out of the capsule. She introduced herself as Arianna. Her manner was that of a dispassionate goddess. She remarked on the various shapes of the heroes, how they seemed mutated and not what she expected.
She claimed to be from the distant past, having preserved herself in order to wake now and defeat a plot to find the Neh Rod, with which she feared a rival would turn the world to ash. To find the rod, they must first find Silverfish Imperetrix, her associate who was a master of telescopes. She could feel his presence distantly to the south and east.
They noticed that while her lips moved, the words seemed to be beamed directly into their minds. She explained her use of telepathy. The charade of common speech provided a familiar experience.
Once they located Silverfish Imperetrix, he of the uncorrupted eye, they would take him to a great workshop of various telescopes. He would be able to look through one of them to see exactly where the Neh Rod was hidden. Their enemy was searching for it as well. It was a contest to find it first to prevent a world-ending catastrophe.
They made for the river camp immediately, and then for the ruined tower. As they skirted the southern edge of the swamps, a group of gnolls were seen. Tienarth surrounded them in a wall of fire and Saul scorched them with lightning. After a moment, only two survived. Panicked, they dove through the wall and were incinerated.
Nate made for Lah’s Retreat the next day (12/25) while the rest of the party used the day to prepare. Jerker visited his parents. Few of them had ranged far from St. Orlan. Going south and east meant going out to sea, and they considered gathering the money needed to buy a ship. Civil war in the empire still disrupted life in the western lands. Despite the risk, they planned to find a vessel in Slateholm, but first they would meet up with Nate.
Nate conferred with Lah. Arianna’s story contradicted scripture. She claimed she was from a time millions of years in the past while the faithful knew the world to have been created a few thousand years before. The identity and intentions of this alleged goddess were unknown. Lah advised Nate to stick with his friends, to provide comfort and watch for signs of evil. As was his way, Lah also gently lamented the still-infested state of Tosasth.
The next day (12/26), they met with Nate and walked to Slateholm. Ollie started talking about how he intended to remove the loot from his backpack and bury it. The rest of them argued against this path. Substantial loot taken from the tunnels under Doukreg had been stuffed in Ollie’s magic backpack and it had yet to be divided into shares. The loot remained the backpack.
They arrive in Slateholm in the evening, finding rest at Jolar’s Dancing Toad. The innkeep was surprised to see them after an absence of a few years. They asked him about a ship. Most vessels were working for the empire under the force of a royal decree, but Jolar knew of one caption willing to defy the law for a price. They met with Captain Ephor the next day (12/27) and struck a bargain based on Aderian’s fame. He agreed to sail away from Slateholm into the unknown south for a share of the treasure. One day was needed to gather his crew and they set sail on the 28th.
Veering south, they headed towards warmer waters. As the evening approached, three large birds were seen on the horizon. Rocs swooped down on the ship. The crew retreated below decks. Nate followed. As the birds sped towards them, Tienarth transformed into a dragon. Ollied tied himself to a mast and readied his bow.
A roc clawed Jerker viciously, but he responded with two terrible blows. Urgesh grabbed the bird and wrapped a chain around its neck, but Aderian stepped up and killed it before Urgesh could complete whatever scheme he had in mind. Tienarth, as a dragon, destroyed a second roc. It slipped over the side and sank below the waves. The other defeated roc draped over the deck, its wings 48 feet across.
The third roc swooped over the ship. Jerker shouted, “Get Back, Jack!” as he leaped high and landed gently onto the back of the enormous bird. Tienarth launched himself into the air to fight the roc. Saul called down lighting that struck the wings of the rock. Jerker struggled to keep from falling. Tienarth grabbed the armored warrior as the roc beat its mighty wings and escaped.
End Notes
- Days
- 12/17 – 12/21 5 days downtime in the mine
- 12/22 Exploring Doukreg tunnels
- 12/23 – 12/24 Returning home
- 12/25 Nate goes to Lah
- 12/26 The others meet Nate at Lah’s Retreat
- 12/27 Travel to Slateholm. Talk to Jolar and Captain Ephor.
- 12/28 Set sail. Battle Rocs.
- Treasure: none
- Combat 7,065 xp
- Gnoll Leader 240 xp
- 16 Gnolls 75 xp each
- 3 Large Rocs 1,875 each
- Characters 673 xp each (10.5 shares)
- Aderian (fight) 747 xp
- Ferris 740 xp
- Hocuspo 740 xp
- Jerker (fight) 747 xp
- Nate 740 xp
- Ollie (underground, fight, lead) 693 xp
- Saul and Lion 740 xp
- Tienarth 673 xp
- Urgesh (fight) 707 xp
- Ylindar (fight) 747 xp