A snippet from before leaving for Orinocco, and the rest after having met with Pilgrim… ending back at the Prime Plane.
….
11. The “Eye and Fist” (the high-priest and high-mystic) of Jaigon relate
some information to Nameless One, Efrim and Carrock:
They meet with them in one of the dilapidated and abandoned (and stinky)
Nagpa huts on Catalon island. After shutting the door, Xiactun (the Eye)
casts a spell. After looking around the room for a good three or four
minutes he at last sits down on the floor, crosses his legs, and begins to
talk:
“I apologize for all the secrecy. What I have to tell you today is of
little import, although I ask you not to relate it to others.
“I think everyone has already pretty much figured out what was going on
long ago with the Rebellion of the Handsome Monkey King. Please don’t
hold the poor behavior of his grandchildren against him. The Great Sage
wanted what was best for all of you and what most terrified all of those
bastards up there (Jaigon excluded, of course). I’m just here to confirm
that most of your hunches about Pilgrim are more or less correct, and you
know exactly what his elite group of researchers were up to.
“So successful were they, in fact, that our hero Pilgrim had established
for himself a miniature pantheon of his own godly followers. If only he
knew there was a traitor among them. Certainly talking to his ghost would
tell you much about the buried past. (At this, Xiactun fixes Carrock with
a stare and then continues)
………
POST PILGRIM – EXIT THE GRAVELANDS:
From: justin tiwald <jtiwald@midway.uchicago.edu>
Date: October 5, 2000 11:34:55 AM EDT
To: Clay Lewis <wussking@yahoo.com>
Cc: Anil Chandra Seth <seth@astro.washington.edu>, David Williams <davidw@ksu.edu>, Joe Hyberger <JWHyber@aol.com>, Eric Sergeant <ens105@psu.edu>, akuso242@hotmail.com, Ray Paulson <raypaulson@aol.com>
Subject: Spoo Update
Congrats on getting a full time job. Enjoy your last few days of freedom. Will you have
internet access from the new office?
Flunk the football player!
A working computer with good modem makes Justin and happy spoo….
Anil, have you so soon forgotten about Catalon’s great investment scheme? The
messenger service in Wynaitin could always use more money, and promises to return that
money at a rate of 10% or more each year. It may be a bit risky (as the messengers are
sometimes pegged as vain magic users), but it seems like Al might want to give it a try.
…
Unfortunately, Hutaaka knows too little about the End of the World Mountains on the
Prime to say what the Watcher Collosi are. He has heard of them, of course. And he
knows that in his own day it was said the Collosi were created by the gods who ruled
during the age of giants (the gods who allied themselves with elements more than with
spheres of power). He has no certain idea for what purpose they were created. Nothing
like them exists on any plane that he knows of.
Hutaaka exchanges words with the small gathering of mages around him through the night.
He takes his leave just minutes before dawn, and those who stayed up through the night
return to the party’s campsight bleary-eyed and fatigued.
Highlites of the next two days:
A. Al and Shaggy spot a banner
While Al is hiking through deep underbrush he spots a long, red banner whipping in the
wind to the right — roughly seventy feet away. The pole to which the banner is attached
appears to be fixed in the ground. Since the color of the banner contrasts so starkly against
the blue sky, Al concludes that other members of the party must have seen it as well.
Seeing Shaggy fly overhead he hails him and asks him to take a look. Shaggy lands next
to Al staring toward the banner. He shakes his head and asks, ?Now what would that be
doing there?? Meanwhile, Charles stands scratching his head claiming that there’s nothing
there. At this point both Al and Shaggy make a wisdom check (2 and 18) and infer that
they must be the victims of some kind of illusion. Both immediately avert their eyes and
continue trudging forward. As a favor to their comrades, they do not call any attention to
the flag.
B. The Trailman negotiates with caymen
After climbing over the saddled between two hills the party begins to notice more and more
caymen scattering in front of the party or staring at them from treetops. Their numbers
continue to increase during the next several minutes of hiking. Eventually, as the party
passes through a small grove, Al spots a cayman holding a small shield decorated with
autumn leaves in one arm and a bone spear in the other. The tip of the spear drips as
thought it were recently washed or dipped in some liquid. Al warns the other party
members to look out for caymen, and suddenly the Trailman stops. All around the party
hundreds of pixie-sized lizard men drop their leafy camouflage and reveals themselves,
holding various missile weapons aloft. The Trailman tells everyone in the party not to be
alarmed and not to start trouble, ?Would anyone care to give up his iron rations? They’re
practically worthless to us now but these guys love them.? Charles is the first to
volunteer, followed by Lemat, Hebelios, Krysom and Yukihiro. As the party members
bring their iron rations to the Trailman he throws them on the ground before him,
eventually forming a fairly tall and impressive-looking pile. After he throws in Yukihiro’s
lot of food one of the caymen makes a clicking sound and then the whole group lowers its
weapons. The party walks around the pile in silence and proceeds until it has left the grove
and is walking again under the open sky. Al asks the Trailman whether the caymen were
really any threat to the party, and the Trailman answers that it was a cheap bribe to avert
trouble. Needless bloodshed should be avoided when it costs so little. Hebelios expresses
his agreement.
C. Al and Shaggy have the same nightmare
That night, both Al and Shaggy dream that they are fleeing through the underbrush on their
hands and knees from a large group of human ?hunters? wielding crossbows. Both wake
with a start just as their bodies become riddled with crossbow bolts, and both Shaggy and
Al scream at the top of their lungs for help in their separate native languages. At this the
whole party wakes up and some members (such as the Trailman and Blackmoore) even
jump out of their bedrolls with their weapons in hand. Eventually both nightmares are
fully explained, and the Trailman briefly comments on the fact that the dreams were
simultaneous: ?It could mean a lot of things. Perhaps you were both cursed earlier today.
Perhaps the same god meant to send both of you message. Either way I suggest we all
just forget about it.? But the whole even leaves every party member in a very sombre
mood. The rest of the night each and every party member sleeps restlessly, running
through the most frightening events in recent days over and over again in their heads. For
most this is the drowning in the bottomless boat. For Blackmoore, at least, it is the
helpless moments he spent trapped in the jaws of TWLL.
D. Mad Jack has a flashback
As I mentioned before, the Trailman is leading the party (with some reluctance) through an
area of the gravelands that is known to be active in spiritual life. It is called “the Woods of
North Merumon,” among other things, and it once served as a battle ground between the
gods and the forces of the Monster King of the Chevall (a race of intelligent horses that can
turn into centaurs when fully matured). He warns the party to be wary of odics (the type of
undead which is notorious for possessing plants at night and once wrecked great havoc in
New Sun. During the day they are less lethal). The telltale sign that one has decided to
occupy a tree or bush is that the tree or bush will begin to glow with a sphere of green
light — usually growing outward. Lemat suggests that the druids and fanaere of the party
cast anti-plant shell so as to protect themselves from possible attack, and it turns out that
Mad Jack and Krysom both have the spell memorized. With the two of them leading the
way through the woods, then, the party continues. But at one point Mad Jack announces
that he must go relieve himself and takes leave of the party. Hebelios recommends that
Mad Jack either take Hebelios with him or not wander far, and Mad Jack agrees not to
wander far.
But after stepping only ten feet from the party Mad Jack finds himself suddenly alone on
the open planes, with the woods a good mile to the West of him. To the North he sees a
herd of wild horses galloping toward him, and he suddenly begins to panic. Not being able
to use his flying carpet in the gravelands, Mad Jack runs quickly toward the cover of the
woods. By his estimate he might be able to reach cover before the horses reach him. After
three minutes of running he begins to feel very tired. He looks behind him to see if the
horses are following him. What he finds is that the horses in fact have the torsos of
human beings with long uncut hair, thick and wild eyebrows and beards strewn with food
and leaves. Moreover they seem to be galloping at a pace that is unnatural for
creatures of their stature. The pounding of hooves is already too close and he judges that
they will catch up long before he can reach any cover. With some resignation, then, Mad
Jack casts anti-animal shell and turns to face them. As the horses slow and form a circle
around him Jack attempts to cast “speak with animal” on the centaur that appears to be the
leader of the group, hoping to predispose him to think kindly of Jack.
As the centaurs form a circle around Jack they all draw longbows from belts strapped
around their horse-backs. And as Jack begins to address the leader they each notch an arrow
and pull their bows taught. The leader of the centaurs tells him not to move. Then he
says something very puzzling:
“Give us the location of the Daandrites, Peisandros, and tell us where they keep their
chariots. If you can also say in which tent they keep their wares then you will be spared,
although I can’t say the same for your driver and slaves. They will either die defending you
or surrender themselves to us.”
Mad Jack looks around but sees no driver or slaves. He looks at himself and sees just the
rags and bare skin of himself — Mad Jack — not of this mysterious Peisandros fellow.
Accordingly, he asks the leader if he is play-acting. The leader does not seem pleased by
the question and demands his information immediately. The rest of centaurs close in on
Mad Jack by another two steps, their arrows still notched and longbows still taut. At this
point Mad Jack decides that he will do whatever it takes to get rid of the centaurs. He
begins to make things up, telling the leader that everyone is camped out at the biggest
bend in the river, on the West side, and that they keep all their wares in the purple tent.
He even tells them that there is a secret guard posted inside the tent with a horn ready to
blast should someone enter without permission. The leader looks slightly more satisfied,
but still insists binding Mad Jack to a tree and then checking Jack’s information against
the facts. If Jack is wrong, he says, they will return and execute him. Jack declares boldly
that he has told the truth and agrees to the leader’s terms to buy time. At this point many
of the centaurs relax and allow their arrows to hang loose. Two step forward, one holding
a mace and the other a rope made of silk and silver thread. These two begin to lead him
toward a dead stump. As Jack proceeds before them, however, he casts a spell. It takes the
centaurs a few seconds to realize that he is doing it, but when they do the two centaurs
strike out. The one holding the mace swings at Mad Jack but misses (AC 5), and the
other attempts to pick Jack up with the rope, effectively cutting off circulation and
interrupting the spell. But Mad Jack works a duck into his spell just as he finishes it and
the second centaur, too, misses (AC 9). Jack turns to face his opponents with his hands
splayed out, each of his ten fingers pointing toward the ground. Immediately the air fills
with the sound of twittering and buzzing. In the space before him each the centaurs begins
to kick and scream as bugs crawl out of the ground and eat their legs raw in seconds.
Some try to gallop away but the bugs cling to them and continue to chew. In a matter of
rounds the space before him is a wasteland — nothing but bones and bare earth. Jack sends
the insects back into the ground.
After the air is quiet and all the buzzing has died away, Jack takes a more careful look at
the work his insects made of his enemies. To his astonishment he sees that the bones left
behind are not in fact those of centaurs, or even of horses, but those of small furry animals
at best — squirrels and other rodents. He pokes around looking for evidence of the centaurs
but finds no tracks left by horses or any other hooved animals. At long last, Jack
concludes that he has just become the victim of his longest and most vivid delusion ever.
He has indeed just finished a creeping doom spell, but all he has laid waste to are some
grasses and small furry animals. Vowing to cut back on the zzonga for the next few days,
he trudges back into woods and eventually finds the party.
The party is pleased to see him, as he has been gone for more than half an hour. Everyone
begins to ask Jack what happened to him, but the Trailman (businesslike as usual)
interrupts. The party should climb out of these woods first, he says, and there will be time
for telling Jack’s story later.
E. Gathered around their last campfire in the gravelands, the party discusses Important
Things
That night around the campfire the Trailman informs everyone that they will be out of the
gravelands by noon the next day. No doubt everyone will be relieved, he says, but there is
one luxury that they will no longer have there: protection from the eyes of the gods. “Our
last chance to discuss things without fear of the gods looking in on us is here. Now. So I
suggest that we make the best of it.”
If anything needs to be said at this moment (or later, after Yukihiro has gone to sleep), feel
free to say it.
F. The Party acquires an artifact?
The next day at noon the party climbs to the top of a bald hill and the Trailman turns to
face them: “Congratulations. All of you have survived, and I must say I have been
impressed by your collective capacities.” Everyone takes this to mean that they have now
passed from the gravelands. The Trailman makes two final requests of the party: 1) He
wants you to consider paying him more money. He only brings this up because most of
you seemed moved by his cause, and all the money he makes on these trips goes to the
Messengers. You are aware that he cut you a special deal, and you probably realize by now
that his services are very, very valuable. He isn’t demanding more money, of course. He
leaves it up to your own sense of charity. 2) He would like for someone to
teleport/transport him back to Dioso. Perhaps the party will want to stay an Inn there
tonight anyway. He can arrange to find the party a nice, out-of-the-way place where they
can remain as anonymous as possible.
The party briefly discusses these two issues on the bald hill before the Trailman suggests
that they descend to some lowland before they are seen: “This is a fairly well-watched
exit,” he says, pointing up the sky to suggest that the gods might be looking in.
Concerned about this, Hebelios casts truesight and looks around, finding nothing. Al
points out that a falconike is perched on a log about forty feet away, and Lemat
accordingly activates the “detect magic” effect of her glasses. The falconike glows with the
imbuement of spells, and Lemat signals this to the party. Everyone immediately cuts their
conversation short and begins to hike downward. The falconike spreads its wings and takes
to the air, flying off into the Northeast until it fades out of sight. Now under the cover of
sumac trees, the party crouches and continues its discussion. They quickly resolve to take
the Trailman back to Dioso (and I would like to hear whether anyone offers to tip him as
he requested) and the party is making logistical arrangements for the trip (who will teleport
who, etc.) when Al spots a shimmering bird descending apparently from the sun.
Everyone begins to panic and Old Mac suggests teleporting out before anything bad
happens. But with his penetrating vision Hebelios makes out a certain detail of the bird
which should arouse the interest of everyone present: The creature seems to be metallic. It
looks something like a small, iron or even steel golem. Everyone peers into the sun and
watches the creature descend toward the party. As it gets closer, some can even make out
that creature makes grinding noises as it beats its wings. Krysom discerns that it has the
shape of an owl. And as just moments before the creature lands on tall rock just in front
of the party Lemat announces that the creature detects as magic. But not just magic —
immortal magic. With truesight up, Hebelios informs the party that the owl has no hit
dice. It is not a golem, everyone decides, but an artifact. The owl turns away from the
party but keeps its eyes fixed on Hebelios. No one moves. After a few moments of
silence the owl looks away from the party, lifts and wing, and begins to preen itself.
Individual sheets of metal lay over one another to create the effect of feathers, or perhaps
scale mail. The Trailman looks at Hebelios in puzzlement.
So here are the things I’d like to know when you are able:
1. Are there any last minute things to discuss that last night around the fire?
2. Are you tipping the Trailman? And if so, how much?
3. What are you going to do about this damn owl?
Justin
From: Justin Tiwald <jtiwald@midway.uchicago.edu>
Date: August 27, 1956 12:09:48 PM EDT
To: Raypaulson@aol.com
Cc: wussking@yahoo.com, akuso242@hotmail.com, seth@astro.washington.edu, davidw@ksu.edu, ens105@psu.edu, jtiwald@midway.uchicago.edu, jwhyber@aol.com
Subject: Spoo update
Reply-To: jtiwald@midway.uchicago.edu
Spoostuff…
I. The party spends a night in Dioso
Blackmoore proposes that the party take the owl with them and everyone agrees. Hebelios
withdraws a sack which contains some of his iron rations and empties the rations into his
backpack. He approaches the owl, bag in hand, as the owl perches on a decaying log
nearby. When Carrock comes within 20’ of it, the owl leaps into the air, making angry
chirps and hooting noises. After attempting to bag the owl two more times Lemat
proposes just having him return on the shoulders of some party member. Hebelios tries to
get the owl to perch on his shoulders but the owl refuses, behaving as though he were
incensed. Al tries and the owl gladly lands on his shoulder and begins preening himself.
With all of their belongings in hand, then, the party casts teleport spells, transport spells,
grab onto one another and blink back into the home of the Trailman. Tips are paid, books
are ordered, and farewell and exchanged.
The party spends an uneventful night in an inn at the outskirts of town. The innkeeper is
unobtrusive and there is no tavern there, making for little congeniality between the guests.
The inn seems to be a place for those who want to mind their own business, and that’s just
what everyone does for the night while they reflect and meditate on all that has happened in
the past week.
The next morning Blackmoore, sharing a room with Old Mac, wakes to the sound of a
knocking on the door. He leaps out of bed immediately, approaches the door quietly, and
puts his ear to it. In the hallway outside he can hear the sound of footsteps retreating. Old
Mac sits up and asks what’s going on. Blackmoore explains that someone has knocked on
the door and then walked away. Old Mac leaps out of bed and runs to the window, looking
down upon the main entrance to see who might be leaving the inn next. No visible
creature does so. After some deliberation, Blackmoore opens the door into the hallway to
see if anyone is there. What he finds instead is an unmarked package, wrapped in giant
elephant-ear-sized leaves, leaning against the wall just to the right of the door. After
examining the package for traps he opens it and finds the following contents:
1. A book, titled “Kassangiturnok.”
2. Four scrolls:
a) “A Response to Kronos”
b) “A Debate with Koryis”
c) “How to Sustain an Uprising”
d) “The Methods of Clandestine Warfare”
The book, as it turns out, is a very eclectic collection of short stories, anecdotes and
didactic treatises. Sometimes the main character seems to be a mortal woman named
Kassan, a master rogue. Everywhere she goes the banners and flags point away from her,
as though the wind were emanating from her person. If Blackmoore spends a few hours
with this books he’ll finally conclude that the setting for these stories seems to be in
Orinocco, although an Orincco that would seem strange and unfamiliar to anyone working
today. The names of places have changed, the landscape has changed, and the nature of the
government has changed. Orincco is still ruled by a Tser, but he has only recently
conquered an area called “Hylon Lake” at the time, and he is still experiencing tremendous
upheavals in that area (largely at Kassan’s instigation). Let me know if you are
particularly curious about any of these texts.
II. The party returns to Cavell
The next afternoon the party teleports into field of milo just outside the town the Cavell
and enters the town through its north gate. The guards at the gate remember this group of
freaks and weirdos, and so they ask them several detailed questions (“Where have you been
for the past eight days”? “The wicca over there looks slightly different. Did he get a
haircut or something?”). The party eventually finds its way in and then passes through the
city again, headed toward the home of Krysom’s friend (the same place they stayed last
time). On the way there they find themselves crossing in front of a little alcove with a tile
roof built over it. Just inside the alcove and on top of a small dais is another statue of
Tser, and spread at his feet are several bags of coins. Lemat believes for a minute that she
thinks she sees the statue keeling over, just as the wounded soldier did in front of her in the
petrified forest. But she quickly shakes the image and moves on. Having already prepared
a bag of gold coins for such an event, Old Mac removes a small pouch and tosses it at the
feet of the statue as he passes by. No one says a word.
III. Lemat, Old Mac, Blackmoore and Al meet with a representative of the mage’s guild
Lemat receives a message from her host that the mage’s guild member has arranged for a
new meeting place (you might recall that you were originally going to meet in that upper
class inn where you found Krysom’s Messenger-friend). The new meeting place is in pit
of an abandoned latrine in an old tanner’s shop. He assures you that the pit has long since
been cleaned out.
So the next morning the four mages and Al rise early and slip out of their host’s home
before dawn. Dressed in their usual disguises, they walk toward the market square under
the cover of darkness and take liberal looks behind them to make sure that they aren’t being
shadowed. With his long-range infravision Al discerns that they are being followed by a
short, bearded man. So the party agrees to duck into a building and then d-door out the
back side. They force their way into a brewery and d-door from inside just as some old
woman begins to shout for help. From the backside of the building Al looks around and
finds no one watching. From there, then, the party turns invisible and flies down the
streets of the city looking for their meeting-place.
A half hour later Lemat finds herself leading the way into the latrine-pit and entering into a
small, fragrant torchlit room occupied by three middle-aged women and one young man.
The man addresses the party first and asks them who they are, what they’re doing, and why
they’re doing it. By now Lemat and others have gotten their stories down pat and they
give them without batting an eye. The man looks back to one woman — red haired and
wearing (among other things) a large, platinum belt buckle. She nods to the man and then
begins to speak. During the exchange that follows, the party learns the following things:
-The Mage’s Guild is highly illegal and is therefore forced to remain quite secretive.
-Most members of the guild don’t even know one another very well. They try to maintain
some anonymity even from other mages.
-This is because Tser has several spies planted among the group.
-The spell which Lemat wants — called ‘Surrogation.’
Surrogation (Level 8)
Range: touch
Duration: 1d6+6 turns
Effect: produces caster’s own spells from a proxy, up to three miles per level
When this spell is cast upon a live creature with mercury in its bloodstream, the creature
becomes a proxy for that caster. For the duration of the surrogation, any spell of fourth
level or less cast by the master of the proxy and intended for the proxy will emanate from
the proxy instead of the caster. No more than 2d2 spells can be cast in this manner before
the surrogation spell is expired. The caster does not automatically gain control over the
proxy, and surrogation will not work if the proxy goes beyond the maximum range of the
spell (three miles per level of the caster). If the proxy is killed the spell expires.
Although Surrogation is an eight level spell, it may be made into a permanent effect by
means of the magic-user ‘Permanence’ spell or any similar spell-like effect.
Due to the scarcity of living creatures which can survive on a diet of mercury pills, finding
good proxies is often difficult.
-Al and Blackmoore trade for two more unique spells:
Foam (level 1)
Range: 50?
Duration: 1 round/2levels
Effect: causes up to four gallons of liquid to foam
Featherfall (level 2)
Range: 0?
Duration: 1 turn/level
Effect: allows caster to fall at the rate of 10? per round
IV. Into the Mountains
As you might recall, Krysom has befriended a clan of peaceful, semi-nomadic peoples who
live without the watchful eye of Tser over them in the mountains of the South coast.
Civilized people call them “Hyothin” and they live about a day’s flight from Cavell, and
Krysom suggests staying at one of their temporary villages that night. Everyone agrees
and leaves town the next morning, undergoing the usual rigmarole at the gates on the way
out.
During their flight toward to the village the party passes over a large army advancing up a
steep slope. Behind them is an army (of equal size) of mules, all laden with large pieces of
siege equipment or side-saddles of supplies, etc. Krysom suggests that the army must be
about to take a long tour, and he informs the party that this should improve the mood of
the ordinary citizens back in Cavell. With so many soldiers gone so long, everyone will
enjoy along respite from the usual pattern of bullying and harassing. Hebelios peers down
and notices that a small encampment is perched about six miles southwest of the army, and
he wonders aloud whether that might be the encampment of a group of scouts.
V. The Party Spends Two Days with the Hyothin
The days are lazy and relaxed for the party. Krysom recommends that each party member
give some precious item to the clan as a gift, and after everyone picks a gem or
non-magical shield to donate the clan is quite generous to them. Everyone stays with a
separate family and is waited upon hand and foot. Blackmoore wrestles some with the six
boys living in the household that he is given, and Al and Charles play a backwards
arm-wrestling-like game with the father in charge of their household (Charles usually wins
and Al usually loses). The party quickly learns two interesting things about this clan:
First, Lemat is staying with a woman who claims to be the village oracle, and she reads
the future by listening to the talk of birds. By the Hyothin’s reckoning, the birds are able
to climb higher into the sky than any other mortal creature, and as such they have closer
contact with the gods than the Hyothin themselves do. Oftentimes the birds return to the
earth repeating the conversations they overheard while in Heaven, and it is the job of the
oracle to interpret these conversations. The first afternoon, the oracle invites several VIPs
to come and witness her interpretation of the party’s future. All party members except
Shaggy show up in a small grove, and after some conversation the oracle instructs
everyone to shut up. The place turns quiet and oracle puts her hands to her mouth to make
some burbling sounds. She does this for more than ten minutes before a small group of
birds land in a nearby tree to check it out. She stops making her call and listens in. After
a minute or two the bird begin to chirp, and after just a few minutes of listening to them
chirp the oracle throws up her hands and begins to shout. Krysom translates for the party:
“Doom! Doom! Your homeland is being ravaged by snow and ice! Your enemies are
turning the gods against you! Your friends have already deserted you! You must return and
relocate your families in a warmer climate!”
Carrock and Krysom (who speak most forms of ‘bird’), however, hear something quite
different:
“Does that look edible? Yes? You pick it up. The wind is cold. Let’s get out of here.”
Lemat officially thanks the oracle for her interpretation, and promises to move on as soon
as possible to see to her family. Nevertheless the party lingers with the Hyothin for
another day. Shortly after the ceremony the metallic owl chases the birds away.
Second, the Hyothin often have what they call a “golden guest.” Apparently a beautiful
young woman has been visiting them every few years for the last hundred years or more,
and when she arrives she usually stays at the house of Jeruna, one of the most
distinguished families in the clan. She has amber skin and never seems to age and when
the clan is in trouble she goes out to summon a powerful gold dragon to come and rescue
them. The Hyothin think she is the daughter of Hogesh, one of their gods.
VI. The fanaere kill a megatherium
A large sloth-like creature passes nearby on the second day and one of the village runners
returns to the village to make the announcement. Several hunters immediately prepare
their spears and longbows to go and slay it, and Charles asks them if he can come along.
They agree, and soon Al asks if he can come along too. Again they agree, and shortly
thereafter Hebelios, Shaggy and Krysom decide to join the group. Eventually they track
the creature down as it leans against a tree and eats at the leaves — standing about 15’ tall
while upright. The hunters explain to Krysom (who explains to the party) that these
creatures are extremely dangerous because of their size, although this is a young one. They
usually start by crawling as close as possible along the ground and firing a few arrows.
Then the creature usually charges one of the archers and the spear leap out to defend that
archer. The party reluctantly agrees to this tactic, although every one of them would prefer
just to charge up and take a swipe at the creature. After the archers fire a few arrows the
creature drops all four legs to the ground and begins to run — but not in the direction of the
hunters. The fact that the megatherium decides to flee catches the hunters completely off
guard and they immediately begin to argue about what to do. Hebelios tells them not to
worry and he takes the other two fanaere with him to catch up with the creature and slice
him up, which they do quite easily. With only a few minor scratches on their faces and
backs the hunters return triumphant — each with a 60 pound piece of meat on his back.
That night everyone eats well.
VII. Mad Jack discovers a foot-long beetle
After studying it for some time he decides to leave it where he found it. He suspects that
this species of beetle might upset the balance of his own grove if he were to introduce it
there.
VIII. Krysom learns some mythology
One night around the fire pit with his host family, Krysom listens to some tales of the
clan’s past. He hears that they were once closer to the gods, that they were once made up
of hundreds of villages (they occupy only a handful now) and that they once ventured
further out into the plains than they do now. Now they stay under the cover of the
mountains so as to avoid the roving armies of Orinoccans. Krysom learns that the clan
has mastered some of the techniques of appeasing and sometimes even befriending dragons
and that they pilgrimage to various mountain shrines whenever they need a favor from the
gods. Krysom asks for the location of these shrines, but the Hyothin say that they cannot
disclose these locations. In fact, only the village clerics know them, and they won’t say a
word without the permission of Hogesh.
IX. Yukihiro leads the party deeper into the mountains
Yukihiro announces on the third morning that Pflar has spoken to him, and that the friends
of Pflar draw near. Everyone gets their belongings together and thanks their respective
hosts before leaving. After the party leaves the village Lemat suggests casting fly and
saving some time, and everyone does so. After a long day of flying the party lands that
night in a deep valley and pitches camp next to a gushing mountain river. It rains that
night and the sound threatens to mask any noises that an approaching assailant might
make, so Al volunteers to stay up most of the night keeping a lookout with his
infravision.
In return for Al’s sacrifice, Odd Job (Mad Jack) lets Al sleep on his flying carpet as the
party moves the next day. After another wearisome 16 hours of flight Yukihiro leads the
party to the base of a steep slope. Built into that slope is an old, 2-ton stone door that
lays unhinged against an entrance to a tunnel. Somehow someone (a giant?) has managed
to open the door by about one foot, and by the looks of it the door was opened recently.
Yukihiro leads the way inside.
As soon as they enter the tunnel it fills with light. Several yellow light spells centered on
the vaulted ceiling emanate from above, making everyone in the room cast a long shadow
behind him. The tunnel is lined with pillars, and beside each pillar is a rock golem form
of a beastman, each standing about 7’ tall. Hebelios’s truesight detects that these creatures
each have 16 HD. A phalanx of six golems form a wall before the party (shoulder to
shoulder), and behind them 22 more rock golems line up in pairs. There is a rumbling
sound from above, and Lemat looks up to see that the ceiling is shaking (a large holy
symbol of Pflar inscribed just above her). The phalanx of golems begins to advance in
perfect unison. Blackmoore asks Yukihiro what they are supposed to do, and Yukihiro
shouts at everyone: “Put your weapons down! On the ground! That means you have to
let them go, Charles!” Hebelios reluctantly lets go of the hilt of X4 as he sets him on the
floor. Everyone either sheaths their weapons or sets them on the floor. The golems
continue to advance. Blackmoore begins to cast force field but Yukihiro interrupts him:
“Don’t do that, Blackmoore! No spells!” Blackmoore interrupts his own spell and it is
lost for the day. The phalanx then marches within inches of Yukihiro and stops. The
rumbling stops. The room is quiet for the next few seconds.
Then the rumbling begins again with a renewed vigor. Indeed, the clerics in the party are
all immediately convinced that they have become the victims of a full blown earthquake.
The walls and ceiling begin to shake, although no large pieces fall on top of any party
members. The floor cracks open and Lemat and Yukihiro make saves to avoid falling in.
They succeed (11, 14). Shaggy and Charles head for the door, hoping to make an escape
before the whole place collapses. But the door has fallen back into place. Charles demands
of his boss that he use telekinesis on the door, but Al is too busy watching for falling
rocks and trying to keep his footing. Everyone lifts just a few feet off the ground as a
precaution while the ground opens wider in front of them. After several minutes of this
the earthquake stops. The party finds themselves looking down into a deep chasm —
perhaps 100’ deep. Yukihiro suggests that the party fly in. He hops onto Mad Jack’s
carpet and the two of them lead the way.
At the bottom of the pit the ground is covered with rubble. Just underneath a thin slab of
rock Yukihiro spots a small arched doorway. He asks Charles to help him remove the
rock, and after doing so the party sees that the doorway is quite elaborately decorated. It is
carved with numerous runes — some in Ancient Nithian, some in the Ancient Tongue.
Pictures of beastmen line the sides, and at the center is a tall, building-like structure.
Several beastmen scale the building with ropes and hundreds are gathered at its base.
Yukihiro utters a prayer and opens the door. Inside he finds a small meditation room.
Everything in the room is plush and everyone is made for those who are accustomed to
sitting, sleeping, eating and drinking on the floor. There are no chairs or tables and only
pillows. No dust has settled in the room. Against one wall three elegant lanterns hang
from the ceiling. Against another a hole for latrine-related matters fits into the floor, and a
curtain and curtain rod partially cover it over. Against the back wall are two shelves — one
with books and another with fruit and golden goblets filled with clean water. And just
before the party (against the front wall) is a tall statue of Pflar, his eyes literally burning
with fire and his skin gilded with gold. He wears real robes of some kind of shimmering
silken material (again, looking as good as new) and seemingly stares into the distance.
Yukihiro makes an announcement: “We meditate here for a few days, then the others will
meet us.”
X. The party prays and meditates in comfort for two days
Those who know how to honor Pflar spend most of their waking hours doing so.
Everyone else eats the fruit, drinks the water, lounges on the pillows and makes jokes
about bodily functions. The fruit and water replenish themselves three times a day. Old
Mac picks up some of the books and begins to thumb through them. He is disappointed
to discover that they are all written in a language he doesn’t even recognize (much less
understand). Al dons his helmet and peruses them. The titles are as follows:
1. Tales
2. History
3. Ethics
4. Rituals
5. Dream Interpretation
6. Heritage
By Al’s lights, all six books consistent of very drab and dogmatic readings for those
devoted to Pflar. Blackmoore asks Yukihiro during his next break from meditation whether
he can take some of these books with him, and Yukihiro warns him that he should not try
and that it will be no use anyway. The books are meant to stay here for guests.
Let me know if you would like to do anything else during this two day wait.
XI. The beastmen arrive
The party wakes up in the middle of the second night to the sound of thunder. Soon they
learn that it is not thunder that they hear, but rather that of another earthquake. From
within the room the earthquake seems relatively innocuous — causing the cups to vibrate
on their shelves but no major damage. Soon thereafter the door swings open, and a tall
beastman wearing white robes and a single, silver necklace lowers his head and step in.
Seven more step in behind him. He looks out over his long nose at Yukihiro with wide
eyes and says nothing. Then he finds the holy symbol of Pflar under his robe and shows it
to the party. Yukihiro returns the gesture, and Blackmoore and Lemat quickly do the same.
The beastman gently prods Lemat with a stick, and after he does so he begins to speak.
Everyone in the room immediately recognizes the effect of the “communicate” spell, and
the beastman and Lemat begin to hold a conversation.
It turns out that this surviving clan of beastmen is extremely small — just sixteen
survivors total. Their numbers were five times that just ten years ago before they were
wiped out by an attack conducted by Tser personally. Somehow one of Tser’s elite mages
managed to track them down in the mountains and Tser organized an ambush. The
beastmen who stand before you now and the rest who wait for you above ground represent
a combination of the survivors of that attack and the fortunate few who were out gathering
supplies at the time that the attack occurred.
For the past ten years they feel as though they’ve survived only by the skin of their teeth,
so when they heard that Pflar was sending a human mage to take them to a safe haven they
were ecstatic. They have come here not to negotiate an agreement to go back to the Prime,
but merely to put their full faith in you and depart outright. Lemat is relieved to hear that
she will have to do no persuading, and so she asks the leader of the beastmen if he will be
ready to depart as soon as this morning. He answers that he will need one day to clean out
the temple before leaving. The nearest node is just a mile away. Lemat agrees. Then she
asks his name. He introduces himself as “Pine.”
The party remains in the meditation room the next day while the hutaaka walk down the
hallway above (the rock golems sidling aside to make way for them) and clean out some
room deep within which the humans in the party are not allowed to visit. There is one
exception to this — Yukihiro attends the cleaning ceremony with the beastmen and even
helps carry several large bins of burning oil to the out of doors. After 16 hours of work
the beastmen look tired and their clothes look dirty worn. The next morning Lemat rises
from her bed, opens her spell book, and selects her spells for the day. On this particular
day one of those spells is “Gate.” After everyone is prepared they take their leave from the
meditation room and fly back into the light of day. It is dawn outside and 14 of the
temple’s rock golems are lined up in formation. Pine gets Lemat’s attention and points at
them with a clawed thumb, as if to say “we’re taking these along too.” Other than Pine,
the rest of the beastmen are loaded down with relics, small furniture, and their own
supplies. The golems will not carry supplies. Lemat infers (correctly) that moving
everything through the gate in one turn is going to take some coordination, so she makes a
list and lines everyone up in the proper order. After a short countdown she casts the gate
spell. The beastmen are the first to pass through, although they do it very slowly — some
of them dropping belongings on their way out, and then running back through the gate to
retrieve them after they’ve set everything else down on the Prime. Then the party passes
through (the owl on Old Mac’s shoulder), leaving just Pine and Lemat behind. Finally
Pine orders the rock golems to crawl through the gate (they’re too large to walk through
upright). This is a slow and tedious process, and as the minutes tick away Lemat begins
to get worried. But the golems all pass through with about two minutes to spare. Lemat
and Pine take one last look around and jump through.
The party is now standing in the middle of the New Averoigne wilderness, looking like
they and their belongings were dropped off here by a moving truck and then abandoned.
Blackmoore kisses the ground.