Another week (11/2 – 11/7) was spent in Osrendell, preparing for an third venture into the caves beyond the portal. During that downtime, Tienarther analyzed the shield and potion recovered the previous week. The statue of the cyclops created with Hestrin’s Chisel was rigged into a position where it held a beer keg, as it had been frozen in a pose where it was grappling Nate. It was the subject of conversation for several days. At the end of the week, Nate used his holy powers to rid Hocuspo of his curse.
The severed head of another cyclops was presented to Ollie for the purpose of using his ring that allowed him to pose questions to dead bodies. He handed the ring to Urgesh to ask the four questions.
Gathering Information
His first question was, “Is there anyone there?” To this, the cyclops head could only reply “Yes”, though it also confessed some confusion. The second question was, “Why are you being difficult?” The head explained, “I just went through great trauma, my body having separated itself from my head.” The third question, one more practical, was “What is the prophecy?” The head described the caves as a prison for Mandeli, the serpent god. Cyclops were placed as guardians and given a prophecy that they would be attacked by a band of adventurers who looked tiny but were very strong. And the only way to defeat them was to call on the fire elemental. This essentially matched the sequence of events the week prior. The final question could have been considered rhetorical coming from anyone but Urgesh: “How did that work for you?” The cyclops answered with no sense of irony that it had no idea because it died before the elemental was summoned.
They next paid visits to Silverfish and then Peran, looking for more clues. Silverfish did not recognize the name Mandeli, though he found it plausible as one of the many lesser gods that inhabit the world. He described it as a hunch and posed the question, “can you trust a hunch?” From Peran, they got confirmation of the god’s name, and that it would make sense that he was imprisoned, almost as a note to himself. Ollie asked how they might appease Mandeli. Peran had no idea. Jerker shared some concern, recalling the Dragon of Bedmer, whom the people worshiped as a saint.
The adventuring group included Urgesh, Jerker, Elaria, Aderian, Nate, Ferris, Tienarth, Hocuspo, and Ollie. On the eighth (11/8), they formed a plan that involved using the cube of force. There was much arguing, as usual, and when the plan was fixed, further questions were shouted down with cries of, “we already agreed and we won’t talk more about it!”
Into the Caves
The march to the tower over two miles of swamp was uneventful, though soggy. They climbed the tower and passed through the glowing portal. Once on the other side, they could not find the engraved serpent that led to the secret door. Jerker walked to the end of the cave to find a similar but very different landscape. Rather than swampy jungle, the mountain slope descended into barren rock. In the distance, a black sea crashed sinister waves on a beach. The sky was red and filled with flying humanoid, not unlike the devils they sought to confront that day. A soft rain fell, dribbling green water past the cave opening.
Partly intrigued but mostly disturbed, they retreated through the portal to find the Naked Isle as it was. Presently, they tried the portal again, this time finding the cave to be in the expected state, including the secret door. Urgesh produced a spike and hammer, making a distinct gash in the cave wall.
They traveled down the stairs, past two large chambers until they approached the third chamber where the devils waited still. Naturally, confusion over the plan returned. Crammed together, the five fighters crept up to the threshold of the entrance inside the cube. One of the devils brought forth a wall of fire, but they were safe due to the cube. Hocuspo dispelled the wall of fire. They pushed forward slowly, driving the devils back as they attempted to bash at the cube.
Then, the cube was deactivated and the devils created another wall of fire. In the end, the devils were no match for the powerful heroes. Once struck down, the devils disappeared in wisps of smoke. As the last one was gone, a call was made to use the remaining moments of the haste spell. Urgesh, Aderian and Ollie rushed through the room to face whatever might be found.
The found themselves in a vast chamber filled with a pool. The extent of the cavern could not be ascertained as the edges disappeared beyond the reach of vision. A ripple formed in the water followed by a spray that accompanied a giant serpent. It towered over the figures, projecting words into their minds. To Urgesh, identified as a mortal, it asked if he had come to free it. Urgesh, with some belligerence, asked what he might get in trade. Mandeli had no patience. He transformed Urgesh into an ordinary frog. Aderian snatched it up, lest the frog jump into the pond and be lost.
Next, Ollie attempted to bargain with the serpent with the same lack of humility. Mandeli changed him into something halfway between a frog and a dwarf. He still had his senses about him, but his form was horrendous. Tienarth called out, reminding them to appease the prisoner. Aderian fetched a sword tied to his pack. It was a treasure recovered from Doukreg. Lightning sparks played across its surface. The former pirate knelt and offered the sword as a tribute. Mandeli thanked him. The sword floated away and then disappeared into the water.
Now Mandeli asked Aderian if he meant to release the god from his prison. The answer was in the affirmative. The cave rumbled and the sound of cracking rock was heard. From the depths came a glowing pendant. It floated over to Aderian’s hands. It was a gift of the serpent god, who then made to leave. Jerker stepped up, calling attention to himself. He offered a curled parchment, begging Mandeli to restore the forms of his friends in exchange for the gift. Mandeli agreed. Urgesh and Ollie reverted to their natural forms. With that, the serpent twist and dash into the darkness.
The scroll given to Mandeli was one recovered by Ghevont in Shayde Calarook’s laboratory. He gave it to Jerker before returning to the east. If he’d been there, the quizzical cleric might have protested given up such a unique magical item.
Delayed by a Greedy Bag
They soon made to leave the caves, but Irenduel, the intelligent pouch worn on Aderian’s belt chose that time to make his desires known. Always hungry for gold, Irenduel claimed to sense some nearby, demanding that Aderian fetch it. He sought to avoid being dominated by the will of the bag and instead agreed of his own free will. The rest of the party went along.
Down a side passage, they came to a room with three iron chests. Urgesh, opening one, was struck in the back with a spear. It seemed to be the only trap in place. The chests were opened and Aderian grabbed many handfuls of coins at the bag’s insistence. He also scooped up 25 ornamental stones. The coins numbered 400 cp, 1000 sp and 300 gp. The trunks also contained a longsword that glowed when Jerker picked it up.
The bag didn’t sense more gold, but they explored further, finding a 50’ circular room. In the center was a raised platform where inlaid stones glowed softly. Innumerable symbols were carved into the walls, some recognizable as those of the Anointed One, Nebro and the World Tree. Many other symbols were unrecognized. Urgesh flipped over the map of the seas he’d made and quickly drew nine crude approximations of these.
All faithful citizens of the empire recognize the sign of the Anointed One, a vertical beam crossed with a horizontal beam approximately one third of the way from the top. The followers of Nebro corrupt this form by placing small discs at the top, left and right extents. The elves and druids who worship the World Tree can be seen holding holy symbols with a shaft topped by a cross and an oval, vaguely suggesting the shape of an oak. Dwarves, though secretive of cults, have been known to use symbols similar to those of the elves that replace the oval with a diamond. The similarities of these forms is no doubt due to influence of the one, true god and the aim of his pretenders to trade off of his power.
Ronconta’s Religious Symbology
Meanwhile, Aderian mounted the platform and began praying. After approximately ten minutes, a door on the west wall burst open and three balls of gore rolled into the room. They were 10′ tall masses of humanoid body parts. The sickly sound of flesh crushing and rolling was heard. But then the quick-thinking Tienarth produces a wall of fire that cut through each of them. They were burned instantly and proved to be no threat. Ferris and Tienarth recalled encountering a similar creature in Tosasth. This encounter convinced them to return to the village, and they did, meeting no trouble along the way.
Attempt to Reforge the Ring
They went straight away to Peran to complete the transaction. He was very pleased to have the pendant and began work on reforging the ring. The three fragments were brought together, and the jeweler carefully welded them together. He called for Tienarth to cast the wish spell from the scroll to complete the task.
The old elf unrolled the scroll and studied the words. The spell was of immense complexity, far beyond his comprehension, but he hoped to cast the spell successfully. He began pronouncing the words. The letters on the paper glowed and faded away as he spoke each word. Halfway through, though, something went amiss. A tiny flame appeared on the scroll which quickly spread and consumed the parchment.
“Drat!” exclaimed Tienarth. “The spell has fizzled. I have failed to cast it. The odds were even that’s I’d fail or succeed.”
“It’s worse than that,” added Peran. “Your spell has produced an opposite effect. Look here.” The ring was now in six pieces, each of a half-circle shape. “Take comfort in knowing that I can still bring these pieces back into the proper shape, but you’ll need to bring me another wish spell.
End Notes
- Days
- 11/2 – 11/7 Downtime
- 11/8 Recover the pendant from Mandeli
- Treasure:
- 400 cp
- 1000 sp
- 300 gp
- 25 ornamental stones (10gp/each)
- Longsword +1
- Combat: 2445 xp
- 3 Horned Devils 205 xp each
- 3 Corpse Abominations 610 xp each
- Characters (8 shares of 306 xp)
- Aderian (human, fight, in front) 343 xp
- Elaria (hireling) 153 xp
- Ferris (human) 337 xp
- Hocuspo (hireling) 153 xp
- Jerker (human, fight, in front) 343 xp
- Nate (human, fight, faith) 343 xp
- Ollie (haggler, underground, fight, in front) 318 xp
- Tienarth (haughty, patient, avoid combat, intelligence) 318 xp
- Urgesh (half-human, action-oriented, fight) 327 xp