Tienarth’s Raiders stared through the short passage into the larger chamber beyond. As before, the image of death hung in the air, a skeleton in black robes. At floor level was an archway throw which bright light stabbed. “Let’s parlay,” suggested Aderian. The death devil greeted them and explained that the rules required authorization to pass through the archway, “but something valuable offered to me might make it worth bending the rules.”
Jerker entered the chamber and activated the cube. “Don’t try breaking the rules again,” warned the devil. Aderian kneeled, offering up a magical javelin. “Yes, this item is suitable. You may pass.” Aderian stood, and walked through the archway and was instantly blinded by the intense light produced by the sheets of lightning on either side of the glass-smooth path. He remained still, calling for help.
Jerker, took the Bone of St. Jaludi he kept on a string around this neck and handed it to Silverfish. “It’s most important that you get to the workshop. This relic ought to be acceptable.” Indeed, it was. The death devil seemed delighted to have such a powerful item. “This will certainly please the master to have, if he discovers I’ve let you through, that is.” He waved a bony hand towards the archway, inviting Silverfish to proceed. The old wizard closed his eyes tightly and stepped towards Aderian.
Presently, a dog ran past the party who were all waiting outside the chamber. It soon transformed into the fearsome form of Carrasthinian. Jerker remain inside the cube. Tienarth glanced into the room and immediately turned to run. Hocuspo, Ollie, Nate, Ghevont and Elaria followed. Jerker made frantic motions with his hands towards Urgesh. By some miracle, the half-orc understood his intent, which was to be rescued directly after he shut the cube down, for while it was up, the sound of his voice could not pass its magical walls.
The undead mage brought forth a dome of stone around himself with a single, small window. The death devil turned to inscribe a terrible symbol on the wall. The next moment, Jerker pressed a side of the cube, bringing it down. Urgesh rushed in, snatched Jerker, and dragged him out of the room.
Among the lightning, Aderian fished out a potion of flying. He bid Silverfish to climb upon his back. From there, he executed an unlikely maneuver, flying low with one hand on the edge of the path. By this method, he was able to avoid falling off the path into the lightning. The two of them arrived at the bottom, unhurt. The door remained open, and the ring remained embedded in the surface. They made their way through the doorway and up the stairs. Soon, they were in the workshop.
Aderian was still blind, and would remain so for about an hour. Silverfish advised him to remain where he was while he conducted a search for the black telescope. When Aderian’s vision began to return, Silverfish had found the telescope. He slipped his lens into a slot midway down the tube. He began scanning the sky. He advised Aderian not to meddle with any of the other items in the vast workshop. The innumerable telescopes peered into many locations, some on other worlds and planes. And the bag, Irenduel, was listening. He spoke, then, insisting that Aderian make a search for a way to return him to his original form.
In the first telescope, he saw beetle men driving barges down canals of crimson waters in a red desert. In a second telescope, he saw an underground lake. In the center wss an island where a massive mushroom grews. On the shore of the lake were mushroom men detaching themselves from the spongy floor to march off into the darkness. In the third telescope, he looked down upon a village that seemed familiar. It was St. Orlan, recognized by the remains of the church. Most of the building were aflame, and devils walked openly in the streets among dead bodies.
The scene drifted closer, focusing on the mayor’s palace, then looking through a window. Sheriff Bremlai was down on hands and knees, a collar around his neck. A leash tethered him to a pale hand with pierced palm which belonged to a face Aderian barely recognized as a vampire he once met in Tosasth. Behind him, two figures in green sat on matching thrones. One of them looked directly at the watcher, waved his hand, and the image went dark.
Presently, Silverfish announced that he’d located the Neh Rod. He allowed Aderian to look through the black telescope to see for himself. From a great height, he saw a step pyramid in a thick jungle. At the base was a glowing portal. And all around the edifice were gogglers. Silverfish explained that while he was sure the Neh Rod was somewhere beyond that glowing portal, he could not penetrate past it. Aderian drew back on the perspective very far so that he could see the relationship of where the jungle was with respect to the Naked Isle. It was a on a larger landmass far to the south. He had enough of an understanding to navigate there.
Now it was time to leave the workshop, but how? Silverfish explained that there were many entrances, though usually any visitor came and went trough the same door. He thought he might find another door that didn’t present such a problem for escape. Aderian had a plan for escape by using another potion, but it would not provide a safe escape route for Silverfish. The old wizard decided to continue to look for another door, but before they parted, they noticed a log book. It contained many names, and flipping back through pages, they found those of Carrasthinian and Morstregal. The dates seemed to be hundreds of years in the past.
The two bid each other farewell, and Aderian downed the potion, becoming a nothing more than a cloud of smoke. Without human eyes, the lightning was unable to blind him. He drifted up the pathway, avoiding the lightning and re-entering the chamber where the death devil waited. He looked up, saw the symbol of death drawn upon the wall and felt an intense wave of negative energy wash over him. His very life tilted in the balance, but he survived. Cheated, the death devil merely gestured dismissively for the fighter to be gone.
Carrasthinian, apparently, had left, though the dome of stone he created remained. Aderian headed for the exit and found the wall of force active once again. But in gaseous form, he was able to flow through a narrow crack and escape. He found his companions waiting on The Ranger. Tienarth produced his crystal ball and spied on Carrasthinian, finding him back at his tower fortress. Then, the looked for Silverfish, and observed a thrilling battle within the workshop.
Appearing suddenly was Arianna who appeared to berate Silverfish. (The crystal ball could only show images). Then she transformed into a gigantic spider with six eyes. Tienarth was sure this was the vision they saw momentarily when they first freed Arianna from her capsule. The spider cast a spell, and many giant ice spiders streamed into the workshop. Silverfish cowered, making signs of pleading. And then a rift in reality opened and another Arianna appeared. With her were beetle-men. They were roughly humanoid, with hard, black shells. The beetles fought the ice spiders which Arianna and her impostor traded spells. After some time, the giant spider retreated through a magic portal with her surviving spider army.
The genuine Arianna comforted Silverfish. Then she seemingly tore a gash in reality, pulling him with her as she stepped through. The workshop was empty. The sun was dipping low by this time, so they remained anchored and set sail for the Naked Isle in the morning (4/5).
The days passed with few remarkable events. Tienarth used his crystal ball to try to look at SIlverfish again. He only got a glimpse of Arianna who put her finger to her lips before the image darkened. The old elf also looked on Jerker’s parents, whom he found among many refugees heading for Slateholm. Jerker was comforted that they survived.
The ship stopped at Malb’s Island where the pirate crew had been left a week before. Only 17 of the 25 remained alive. Gogglers on the island had attacked before the men could flee into the thick jungle. The men were relieved to escape and agreed to crew The Garlic Frog under Jerker’s command.
On the sixth day at sea (4/10), a storm blew them off course, three extra days to the north. The following day, the winds calmed and there was little to do but fish. Urgesh pulled a Goliath Grouper from the depths. Three days later (4/13), they spotted a desert islet (1.3 x 1.1mi) from which protruded a tower. They did not stop to investigate, though Urgesh noted it on his map. After another five days (4/15), they pulled into the harbor at the Naked Isle.
The plague still raged on the Naked Isle, and nine of Jerker’s crew began to become ill. Ghevont tended to them over several days, and while he could not cure them all, none suffered any lasting disability. Urgesh, now immune from the plague, began working on repairs to The Ranger.
Thus ended The Quest for the Workshop of Telescopes, earning each player (not PC) 16,666 xp to spend directly as they wish.
End Notes
- Days
- 4/4 Aderian brings Silverfish to the workshop
- 4/5 – 4/15 Returning to the Naked Isle
- Treasure: none
- Combat: none
- Characters
- Aderian
- Elaria
- Ferris (present but not played)
- Ghevont
- Hocuspo
- Jerker
- Nate (present but not played)
- Ollie (present but not played)
- Tienarth
- Urgesh
- The Ranger (Caravel)
- HP 60/75 hardness 8
- Crew (10)/Passengers: 10/3
- 10 elven sailors
- Jonja
- Dwarf youth
- Urgesh
- Cargo: 17 of 75 tons *
- Food: 126 man/weeks
- Water: 880 gallons
- 1060 lbs of roc meat
- The Garlic Frog (Caravel)
- Hit Points: 75/75 hardness 8
- Crew (10)/Passengers: 10/ 16
- 10 human sailors
- 7 extra human sailors
- Aderian, Jerker, Elaria, Tienarth, Hocuspo, Nate, Ferris, Ollie, Ghevont
- Cargo: 60.5 of 75 tons *
- Food: 0 man/weeks
- Water: 5000 gallons
- 22 tons of sugar, 5 tons of cocoa, 5 tons of cotton
* See Ship Cargo for figuring cargo needed for goods and people