Game Date: July 14th, 2007 (Bethel Park, PA - John’s House)
Experience: 5,825 per player, 5,200 per cohort.
Battle Details:
8 Constrictor Snakes, Giant – CR 5
7 Medusae – CR 7
2 Frost Worms – CR 12
20 Greater Shadows – CR 8
3 Devourers – CR 11
1 Nightcrawler – CR 18
CHAPTER ONE - Entrance/Namakin’s Path
It had been a unanimous decision: in order to make their journey for the Commands of the Gods worth anything, the group would have to defeat the Ancient Evil. One of the original summoners of the creature, Berimaan, convinced them to enter into the collective conscience of the great beast. Once inside, he would show them the way to a means of defeating the great aberration. When asked why he could not retrieve the item himself, his reply was only that he did not have the strength. Since he was part of the collective mind of the monster, his good-aligned essence was slowly being deteriorated by the overwhelming evil presence within. The creature had simply devoured more evil, Demagorgon being the catalyst, than good. It was only a matter of time before Berimaan’s futile resistance was crushed.
Again, he explained that the Commands of the Gods would be useless if the Ancient Evil was allowed to live. Now that the Pale Commander was dead and exerted no control over the creature, it was nothing more than a roving garbage disposal – eating the destroying anything that came into its path. The adventurers were torn – they had spent the past year searching for an entrance to the Acropolis, and now they finally had the map, yet they were abandoning their cause! Berimaan’s word rung true, however, and the five companions sullenly agreed that it was the only choice they had right now. When, or more appropriately IF they came out alive, they would resume their objective of finding the Acropolis’ entrance. Time was their worst enemy at this point.
When they were ready, Berimaan reached out his hand, touching Pontius on the shoulder. His hand became viscous, and seemed to liquidate on the ranger’s armor. Before he knew it, the slimy appendage that now began to work its way back towards Berimaan covered him until he was nothing more than a thick reflective wax like blob. What was once his arm began to envelope Pontius, dripping onto the green grass below and slithering towards the other party members. Despite their strength, the eerie nature of the consuming force was felt in each of their pounding hearts. In an instant, the creature had taken them.
There was nothing but silence.
In the blink of an eye, the slowly changing autumn fields had been replaced with a warm underground breeze and a dark stone corridor. The sounds of a large battle echoed down the hallway from a distance. It didn’t take long for the group to realize that they were beneath the surface, or they were at least treated to the illusion that they were below the ground. They all knew that anything they “saw” was simply the result of the Ancient Evil’s mind – a manifestation made to look, smell and feel familiar. Ander looked over at Namakin to see the small gnome shaking off some sort of mental attack. When he attempted to help his friend, Namakin simply held up a hand and let him know that he was in no danger. The creature had attempted to infiltrate the mage’s thoughts, but was unsuccessful. Everyone grouped together and made their way down the cavern towards the sounds of fighting. There was only one way out of this situation – with or without the means to destroy this creature.
Upon reaching the end of the tunnel, the vista displayed before them was one of carnage – a gnomish city being ravaged by an attacking force. Namakin recognized it as the home he had left long ago with Ghanadar. He had never known what became of his mother and father, and for all he knew they were still alive, living happily beneath the surface in their ancient home. Despite strong attempts to make him believe otherwise, he knew that this display was nothing more than an image conjured up by the beast they were contained in. With that knowledge, he prompted his friends to move forward. Berimaan’s voice whispered delicately inside each one of their minds, mentally highlighting their intended path to push through these illusions. He explained that in order to reach their destination, they would have to prove their willpower, a series of tests that each one of them must pass or be forever entombed. Namakin had beaten the attack on his mind, would the others be so lucky?
The adventurers entered the flaming city from the north, walking onto a main street that was filled with panicked gnomes and littered with the corpses of those not so lucky. The street itself almost seemed to be alive with movement, and upon closer inspection was teeming with snakes of all sizes, ranging from tiny tree snakes to massive constrictors. Everyone was immediately thrown into battle, keeping careful watch not to let any of the larger serpents get a hold. Namakin had to pay special care, as one wrong move could send him into oblivion against the bigger foes. For what seemed like an eternity, the friends fought off wave after wave of the snakes, only to have a volley of arrows fly by their heads, narrowly sending them to their doom – one fall could prove disastrous. Loutarin looked up and quickly averted his eyes at the source of the arrows – medusae!
The fight had taken a new and dangerous turn, one that kept the group busy and not pitted them against a smarter enemy. The medusae came from all directions and many were cut down with ease. The weapons and magic of the party proved quite powerful and filled the streets with a veritable river of green blood from the attackers. More than a few times, the serpents injected vile poison after biting the group, and Namakin fell victim to one of the large constrictors, but it was the final enemy that truly put a chill in their bones. When two large frost worms erupted in the middle of the town, the medusae and snakes seemed pitiful in comparison, and the chaos in the town rose to a new level. Screams were easily deafened by the roar of the worms, and the group took a defensive stance, making sure not to let the enemy get the upper hand.
The fight lasted long, with the worms working in tandem, attempting to flank the smaller creatures, but in the end the sheer power of Namakin & Ander’s magic, coupled with Loutarin’s deadly rapier & Pontius’ lethal bow proved too much. They fell after their killing blows, but not before erupting into a thousands of shards of ice and debris – a final act of defiance that almost brought the adventurers to death’s door. Battered and bruised, the group quickly used their healing spells to replenish their health. They made sure that everyone was alright, silently cursing the sick and twisted nature of the Ancient Evil. After witnessing the combination of foes in this town, the group didn’t know what to expect from here on out. If a frost worm and medusae could appear in a gnomish city, there was no rhyme or reason as to what they would be facing next.
Crying from a nearby house caught their attention, and upon investigation, revealed a morbid scene. Namakin’s “parents” were strung up on the wall, obviously tortured and in great pain, barely hanging onto life. They saw their son as he entered the room and they plead him for help, wailing and appealing to his sense of mercy. Below them stood a menacing figure, one that the adventurers had never seen before – that of a dark haired mage, one who was apparently taking great pleasure in causing the two victims pain. Namakin once again felt the pangs of a mental attack deep within his thoughts – and once again fought it off without harm. Even though he realized that these images were fake, they were hard to stomach. Ignoring the thoughts, he whispered the beginning of spell meant to destroy the mage, but it was too late. In his defiance of the fraud, the disturbing image was no longer there. Only a shining portal now stood where his parents were, and Berimaan’s whispered thoughts again prompted them forward before more danger came.
Namakin had beaten the Ancient Evil’s test. The group moved forward into the portal, and into the unknown.
CHAPTER TWO - Ander’s Path/Loutarin’s Death
It wasn’t more than a instant after they had stepped blindly into the lit portal that they found themselves standing under the open sky. It was amazing that even though everyone knew their surroundings were fake, how real they looked. Strange horizons stretched out in every direction, however, making the reality of it all a little easier to dismiss. Fiery skies loomed to the west, an unnatural thunderstorm to the east, snow to the south and the wispy signs of a sandstorm to the west. In front of the them, less than a few hundred yards, was a small village bustling with its daily activities. The village could not have been more than a collection of twenty or more houses, a small commons hall and a few posts where business was conducted.
This time, Ander felt the crawling tendrils of the Ancient Evil, slithering mentally into his head and trying to grasp a hold of something to exploit. The cleric recognized what this was supposed to be – this village was the one he had lived in many years ago. In reality, it was destroyed by a rogue necromancer and his followers, nothing was spared. It was only by the grace of some god that Ander had escaped as a child. The destruction of his village was his reasoning for joining the ranks of Lathander, to fight the undead and wipe their kind from the earth. Now, the creature in his head was trying to make him believe that this village was real, that it had not been destroyed. Ander knew better, and after years of mental training, shrugged the attack off. Was that all the Ancient Evil could muster? Ander knew that was probably not true, but he didn’t argue.
The rest of the group saw what had just happened, and suggested that they move forward. It was only after Ander saw the lone man on the horse-drawn cart did he understand what must be done. The man was entering the village, cloaked and ready to unleash his minions on the unsuspecting men, women and children. It was the mage that had killed his family and the rest of the villagers long ago. Even in this false reality, Ander would take great pleasure in destroying this one.
By the time the group had decided to act, the hooded figure was already well into the middle of the village, and mumbling some sort of incantation. Pontius loosed a volley of arrows at the cart, hitting the necromancer and sending his cart into a full run. Namakin threw a fireball immediately after, ensuring he would not get far. The cart exploded into a globe of flame, and crashed into the side of a nearby house.
Screams from inside nearby houses let them know that they had not acted quickly enough. As they ran to help the citizens, inky black shadows appeared, their victims being dragged behind them with unseen hands. The creatures lunged at the party, cutting through even Ander’s armor with their ghostly touch. From every house they appeared, surrounding the adventurers and forcing them to work together for survival. Normal battle tactics were useless against this foe who seemed to move through the normal front-line defenses of Ander and Loutarin. Namakin had little time to cast spells, and Pontius found getting in range difficult with the misty foes.
Multiple crashes implied a larger foe in the distance, and the group could see that the common hall was crumbling at the foundation, but its cause was unknown. Something was under the ground, and it was large. The shadows moved aside to allow a host of devourers a chance at the group. These large skeletal creatures held the bodies of the slain within their bloated ribcage, adding a despicable appearance to their deadly abilities. They were much more resilient that the shadows, and coupled with the fact that many of the group’s resources were already drained, the fight was difficult. Namakin communicated that he was running out of spells and eventually started using his crossbow as a means of protection, while Loutarin and Ander did the best they could to stem the tide of monsters flowing out of the houses. Pontius, using the time he was given, was able to make good use of his bow and picked off a few enemies before they ever got close.
The battle raged on, and the last of the shadows bled into the walls of the closest house. Two devourer corpses lay at the party’s feet, the bodies of those trapped inside now strewn about or hanging through the creatures’ shattered ribs. The group was tired, but there would be no rest yet.
Whatever was under the ground was moving their way.
Before there was time to react, the soil in front of them erupted, sending shards of wood and clumps of dirt flying through the air. A black, scaly worm-like creature reared before them and wasted no time to attack. Clamping its maw down on the nearest party member, the battle for their lives had started. The aura of undead coming off of the creature overwhelmed Ander and the mere presence of the thing prompted one of the devourers to stand back up and begin the fight again. The prospects of defeating the monster were grim, and the adventurers had to muster every last item and power in their arsenal.
A well placed disintegrate spell by Namakin ended up hurting the night-crawler more than any weapon, but the celebration was short lived as the worm picked the small gnome up and grappled him down. The mage was swallowed whole by the creature, and was on course to be digested alive by the thing. Loutarin charged the creature, knowing it was the only chance to save the mage, but slipped on the bloody remains that literally covered the ground. His feet thrown out from underneath him, the rogue was helpless.
Pontius tried to gain the attention of the thing by putting as many arrows as he could into it. The giant beast turned his attention to the ranger, but Loutarin had regained his footing at that time. His rapier flashed with the black blood of the worm and he unleashed his attacks on the massive foe. Pain ripped through the beast, and it wasted no time on refocusing its rage back on Loutarin. With one swift action, the giant maw came down on the rogue, lifting him up, and relieved his body of his head.
The corpse hit the ground, and the site of their friend’s lifeless body put the remaining three into a rage. Ander, Pontius and Relak cut the thing down, draining the little energy it had left. The worm fell, and expelled a gnomish turd, freeing Namakin from the deadly digestive juices that were sure to seal his fate.
Ander walked over to the cart where, by some amazing miracle, the necromancer crawled in a futile attempt to escape. His skin was badly burned and life was nothing more than a hope at this point. The cleric of Tempus had enough this day, and quickly put the blade of his axe clean through the man’s head. There was a bittersweet satisfaction, replace quickly by the reminder of his friend’s fate.
Grabbing Loutarin’s remains and sealing them carefully, the party called upon Berimaan. They could not withstand another attack, and they could not move forward today. Regardless of the consequences of being ripped from the Ancient Evil’s conscience, it was a better alternative than death. They would need to rest before they even thought about going back in. Using the little willpower he had over the hive-mind, Berimaan brought the party back to the Material Plane. Nothing more than the sound of the autumn wind rustling the dead leaves was heard.
Victories has prices, but the group wondered how high this one would end up being.
Music is a huge part of our game, and I’m guessing it plays a big part at other groups’ tables as well. The perfect soundtrack is one that plays nicely in the background without affecting or intruding too much on the actual events in the game. A few musical scores regularly grace our sessions: 13th Warrior, Gladiator, LOTR and the ever present Midnight Syndicate medley.
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