[Dungeons & Dragons 3.5] Shadows of Greatness, parts 65 - 70

65. A Question of Faith

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When I returned from our short journey to Yalasch, I was reminded that I do not care for this city of Calimport. It will be a relief to get shut of it. It is not only the heat nor the lack of greenery that makes this city unwelcoming to me, nor even the scarcity of Tel'Quessir in this land. It is the lack of value these Calishites place on life.

As my friends and I made our way back to the temple of Lathanul from the house of the wizard Abatu, we came upon an auction of various armor and weaponry. This items, I learned, had been taken from persons captured and sold as slaves. Slavery is an alien concept to me and one that appears to me to be the most painful of fates. Nekaya finds slavery less offensive than most of my other friends, for she proclaims that in her native land it is commonplace, but there all slaves are property of the temples of the gods and there are stringent laws regarding care and treatment of slaves. No such laws appear to exist here in Calimshan.

I should have merely passed by without interest, but an item the auctioneers where displaying to the crowd caught my eye: a finely-crafted suit of armor of elven design. My curiosity was aroused and I approached and asked if I might examine it. The auctioneers courteously paused their activities to permit me to look at the armor more closely. Rock confirmed my thought that the armor was of very high quality. In addition to the armor I saw that the auctioneers intended to sell a handsome longsword of ancient design and a cloak of a type I recognized, often worn by foresters to disguise themselves amongst the trees.

Bidding on the suit of armor had already begun and had reached a considerable sum. But I realized that my past frugality had left me with sufficient funds to surpass that amount. Though I was uncomfortable with the source of the armor, I felt compelled to attempt to obtain it. I am not one to object to those of another race using the crafts of my people, but the circumstances under which this armor had been obtained caused me to feel that it should not fall into the hands of some unappreciative Calishite.

Corellon was with me, and though I was obliged to expend the majority of my funds, I successfully acquired the armor. It is beautiful, and enchanted as well as of expert craftsmanship. When I made arrangements to submit payment I took the opportunity to ask one of the men organizing the auction what had become of the armor's original owner. I was told that he was indeed one my kindred, and that he had been taken in slavery by desert tribesmen and sold at auction to a person known as Synvar the Bloodied, who often purchases slaves for combat in the coliseum.

To my regret my funds were not sufficient to permit me to also acquire the ancient sword. I must seek what became of it. In the meanwhile I have asked the folk of Covenant House if they will learn more of the armor's original owner. I wish to speak with him and aid him in regaining his freedom if I can. Having seen what can occur here if one is a foreigner without family, I am now inclined to be far more cautious in my movements about the city. I have recommended to my friends that we should not travel alone.

My desire to depart from Calimport has been further increased by Liadan's recent experience. The temple of Lathanul often sends priests to the slave pens to minister to the ills of those poor unfortunates, and Liadan offered to perform this duty. She was so shaken by that experience that she could scarcely speak of it. I would that I could do more to convince the people of Calimshan of the worth of each life, but at present I do not see how to manage such a daunting task.

While I joined Rock at the temple of Elishar to continue repairs, Erim was visited at the temple of Lathanul by a youth called Khai, who bore a letter of introduction from Madu el Barake. Erim arranged for our party to meet with Khai and his father to discuss acquiring their services as guides into the desert.

On the following morning after dawn services at the temple, we met Khai and is father Jibade in the courtyard. They are obviously people of the desert wastes, and Jibade is a man whose calm and confident demeanor encourages me. Though I cannot shake from my thoughts my dismay that other such desert folk will seize upon travelers and bind them captive for sale in the slave markets.

Jibade is willing to serve as our guide to the Pillars of Fire, the abode of the efreet Phaeretimm. Though Jibade did not speak himself, the message was conveyed to us that we must anticipate great hardships during our journey into the desert. The heat of the Great Waste is such that there may be occasions when our weapons will become too hot to hold. There are zones in which no magic will function. Huge and deadly beasts populate much of the land. Jibade requested a curious addition to the price of 500 gold pieces per person he asked for his services: He wishes to have first pick of trophies or other portions of any monsters we encounter. Evidently he wished to take such items as can be sold for use in crafting magical equipment.

We will be obliged to leave our horses here in the city, for they are too delicate of nature to withstand the heat and limited water supply in the desert. Though Liadan still carries the rune of water, we concluded that other difficulties would make horses a liability. I am reluctant to leave Aratan for fear that we may be unable to return immediately to Calimport, but I would not risk his life.

Tomorrow Khai and Jibade will assist us in purchasing appropriate attire and equipment for our trip. I think that Jibade believes our journey to be a futile one and that we will become prisoners in the efreet's dungeon. I will place my faith in Corellon Larethian that though we may indeed be subject to imprisonment, we will prevail in speaking to Osaze Mumbai and regaining our freedom to pursue Covenant's quest. Perhaps I should no longer refer to this quest as Covenant's quest. It is now our quest.

66. Into the Burning Sands

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We spent the better portion of a day with Jibade purchasing supplies and equipment for our journey to the Brass Palace. Though he is young even by the standard of Men, he is most knowledgeable with regards to the dangers of the desert. He has warned us of numerous hazards, from giant vermin and bandits to lethal storms, creatures of living stone, and places where magic ceases to function.

In preparation for such dangers I have acquired loose desert garb to protect my body from the heat. In addition I have a mask to prevent inhaling of blowing sand and goggles to shade my eyes from the intense glare of the sun. I have also obtained a peculiar bedroll that is intended to be buried in the sand like the lair of some burrowing creature, and several vials of antitoxin and curative potions in the event that Liadan or Nekaya should be unable to reach me.

Corellon has seen fit to bless me with a tiny measure of his healing grace, but as yet I am unschooled in its use and can do no more than remove the most insignificant of injuries. I must learn to rely less upon Liadan and Nekaya-Re for the ministrations of their dieties.

In the hours prior to our departure I spent a long while grooming Aratan, making certain that he was in the best of condition. I have told the priests of Lathanul's temple that should I fail to return within two months' time, they have my leave to sell him to someone of good heart who will treat him with all due respect and kindness.

When we met to take our evening repast, I determined the time appropriate to speak with my friends of a matter that has long weighed on my heart: the foretelling given me by Sir Tyrion's enchanted blade in Ankhapur. I had kept this information to myself, sharing a little only with my dear friend Baran, and I now see that this was wrong. I should have told all of my friends of the sword's words at once. Though I sought only after my wife, she is in company with others who are dear to my friends, and her fate is likely their fate.

When I had read the prophetic verse aloud to my companions, I laid the bit of parchment upon the table and awaited their response. Their manner was subdued as they began tentatively to examine the words. It was suggested by Erim that there are powerful items of magic that can capture souls, though if this is the case the item must be powerful indeed if the magic of the gods cannot find these stolen souls. Nekaya-Re wondered if perhaps the Elf Lord spoken of might refer to myself, and I explained to her that I have no doubt these words speak of my Lord Corellon.

The result of this conversation was to strengthen our resolve to seek out Osaze Mumbai and gain his aid, or at the least his advice in contacting the dragon. It seems likely that once our business in the desert is concluded we will be returning to the familiar environs of the Cloven Mountains.

Following our meal I spent some while in prayer to Corellon. I pray that he will watch over my companions and I and aid us in achieving our goal. It is only the first step toward determining what has truly befallen my beloved and her company. Corellon bless my efforts to remedy this injustice.

We met with our guide Khai well past midnight, for we are to travel during the night to avoid the worst of the heat, though we shall not travel throughout the hours of darkness. Khai warns that this is when many of the desert's dangers are at their worst. I believe that we have chosen an admirable guide, taciturn though he is, and that he is satisfied with the care of our preparations. In addition to all our new purchases, Liadan bears the rune of water that can slake our thirst, and Lathander grants her the power to daily summon a feast that not only bolsters the body's hunger but will also protect us from the venom of poisonous beasts. Nekaya-Re has prepared with magic wands that can defend us against the heat and heal our wounds.

Before we departed Nekaya-Re sought to persuade Pakkin that he should not accompany us, but he would not be deterred. Her shining example has turned the goblin from the path of evil he followed and made him into a doughty and loyal companion.

The first hours of our journey were uneventful. We followed a trade road that permitted us to walk with relative ease. I found it strange that as soon as we had left the walls of Calimport behind all sign of Man's habitation ceased. We were surrounded by nothing but sand and the occasional ruin of some long-ago attempt to tame more of the desert.

Near sunrise as we approached another cluster of fallen walls, Khai stopped and signalled to us that he detected an ambush by bandits ahead. He at first intended to deal with them himself, though he indicated that there were perhaps a dozen men hiding among the rubble. Nekaya-Re remarked to him that we had acquired his services as our guide and advisor, not as our protector, and he agreed that we should take on those bandits hiding in the nearest ruin, while he dealt with the archers he detected behind a low hillock. When he slipped away into the darkness Pakkin followed him.

Nekaya-Re then freed her hakra from its sheath, filling the roadway with the golden glow of Elishar's light. We heard a shout and coarse laughter from the ruins. A gruff voice called out demanding that we lay down our weapons. When we refused, a voice shouted out some imperative and arrows began to rain down on us from behind the hill. I took an arrow but it did me little harm. I kept Brimstone and Sulian in their sheaths.

I began to move toward the nearest ruin, as did Nekaya-Re. Sunshine appeared from within her bag, adding to the illumination as the strange creature's luminous tentacles trailed over the sand. Liadan chanted a prayer to Lathander and a burst of brilliant light appeared behind the crumbling stone wall, raising cries of alarm and pain. Two bandits stumbled out, their eyes streaming, obviously unable to see.

But not all of the ruffians had been so discomfitted and three of them rushed me. As I snatched out my blades and struck them Baran charged toward one of my foes. Baran hurled his grandfather's hammer at one bandit's head, shouting to me in the Elven tongue to duck, and the hammer went whirring over my head. His hammer felled two of our enemies while the third was brought low by my swords.

Baran then vaulted over the wall to attack a group of bandits that had surrounded Nekaya-Re. I ran around the end of the ruined wall to pierce another man with both blades at once. I had not even troubled to bring Brimstone's flames to life. Within moments Baran and Nekaya-Re had dealt with the rest of the men near us but for a few who fled and three who were rendered blind by Lathander's fearsome radiance.

Nekaya-Re and Liadan wished to offer mercy to the men who had been blinded, for Lathander's light would leave them permanently sightless without his healing grace. But the men all refused our aid and we were obliged to let them wander off into the desert in their helpless state.

The corpses of their companions yielded nothing of value other than a salutory lesson on the folly of banditry. Baran summoned a small bird to carry a message to the temple of Lathanul should the priests there wish to recover the bodies for burial.  When Khai and Pakkin returned little the worse for wear, we left the bandits' bodies where they lay in the sand and resumed our journey.

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Quips & Quotes:

GM: "As he falls his eyes pop out and hit you. You take 2 points of subdual damage. Oh, wait, those aren't his eyes!"

Telemnar (singing to the tune of 'Strangers in the Night'): "Bandits in the night..."

Rock: "...exchanging lances..."

Liadan: "You know, Rock's bumped into me for more damage."

GM: "He's not interested in you and Rock bumping."
Rock: "It was ugly."

Rock (squirming in his chair): "But I've been holding an action since we left!"

67. Desert of Dangers

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I might have suspected that as we met our first obstacle within hours of our departure, our journey to the efreet's palace would be fraught with danger. But had it not been for the blessings of our gods our travels would have been far deadlier. Each night when the moons cast their cool glow upon the sands I give thanks to Corellon for the wisdom of my companions in preparing for this journey.

My prayers also contain my desire that such a fate should never befall the Hidden Hills as befell this land. Once my people were not strangers to this place, and their domain was not hidden beneath the ever-shifting sands, nor preyed upon by such variety of vicious threats.

Our first days of travel were spent learning how to stride upon the dunes in a manner that would make walking less tiresome and conceal our location from prying eyes. Khai introduced us to many dangers of the Calim beyond those his son had detailed for us. We learned of the strange purple plants known as 'cacti' that would explode at the slightest touch, thereby setting off all their neighbors in turn. He also warned us against a salt lich who rules one part of the desert near to our course.

On the third day of our journey Baran drew my gaze to a group of birds circling in the distance - or so I thought at first glance. When I looked closer I realized they were in fact very large birds and not nearly so far away as I had first assumed. Liadan wondered if perhaps we should investigate whatever drew them, to which Khai responded that "nothing in this desert is worth investigating."

We were not to pass without trouble, for our motion drew the attention of the great birds and they began to draw nearer. At that same moment we heard a strange sound, like the growling of some beast but oddly muffled. Over the crest of a dune to my left emerged two creatures the size of horses.

They resembled wolves, but from their tawny fur grew sharp spikes of crysalline material. Khai warned that such beasts hunt in packs. Liadan at once seared them with Lathander's divine light. Baran called to me to exchange places with Erim so that the mage might conserve his magic, but Erim did not agree and instead stepped closer to the slope of the dune, drawing his blade. More of the wolfen creatures climbed over the dunes.

Baran hurled his grandsire's hammer at the first two beasts and they rushed him. Liadan then called out to the Morninglord and in response a huge chunk of fiery rock came hurtling from the heavens to crush two more of our foes. I sprang forward to the attack once I had a target within reach.

Now the large birds that had circled overhead began to descend upon us, fouling the air with their abominable stench. They resembled huge vultures and smelled of offal and decay. My stomach roiled at their odor and Pakkin doubled over, retching onto the sand. My blade cut deeply into one bird as it swooped above my head.

I shifted to Erim's side to aid him and felt one wolf-beast's jaws clamp upon my arm. Where its fangs scored my flesh the wounds burned as though sprinkled with salt. Not wishing to suffer such injury again, I danced about the creature, stabbing it with both blades at once. Erim sent a burst of lightning through his sword to wound the beast.

In moments all of the wolf-beasts lay dead upon the bloodstained sands, the last one brought low by Lathander's might channeled through Liadan's hands. The vultures settled to feed upon the corpses. When Liadan had blessed us with Lathander's healing mercies we continued on our way.

Further dangers loomed around us that day, though we were able to avoid them thanks to Khai's wisdom. Once he pointed out to us an area of black sand which he told us would raise to an unholy semblance of life any creature that died in its embrace. Such places are thought to be the blood of Memnos the efreet, seeping up from where that mighty being lies buried beneath the desert.

On another occasion that day we observed what at first appeared to be a pool of clear, still water, surrounded by another patch of the seemingly innocuous purple cacti. But we soon learned that the 'water' was in fact a boneless creature lying in wait for unwary creatures to consume.

The following day we watched a thunderstorm proceed rapidly across the horizon, lightning dancing amid the sable clouds. We camped amid some ruined structure that had been eaten away by the wind and sand until its form could scarcely be discerned.

Our fifth day introduced us to another potential danger of the Calim: the Asherati, a fiery people who seem to live within the dunes themselves. Two scouts emerged suddenly in our path, but they appeared to know Khai and did not threaten us. They offered trade should we desire it. We had not brought any items expressly for that purpose, but Liadan drew out a fine tablecloth from her father's enchanted saddlebags and exchanged it with the Asherati for a handful of diamonds.

Later we managed to disturb a next of large scorpions that attempted to sting us in their ire. Had we not been protected by the nourishment of the Morninglord's holy repast we might have suffered sorely from their venom.

Dawn of the sixth day brought a threatening shift in the wind. Khai advised us that this presaged a sandstorm. All morning we were able to see the storm in the distance, darkening the sky. By mid-morning it was apparent that it was approaching us. We unfolded our sand tubes rapidly and began to burrow into the dunes as quickly as we could.

By the time we had buried ourselves the storm reached our location. Despite the weight of sand surrounding my sand tube I could feel the power of the storm above me, shifting vast quantities of sand with a force that could tear the flesh from my bones had I been so unfortunate as to be caught in that wind. The storm raged for hours, leaving us to contemplate the frailty of our flesh against the forces of nature. Though we wore our enchanted rings and could speak with one another at will, our wait was for the most part conducted in silence but for the howling of the storm.

By midday the storm abated and we dug ourselves free of our bolt-holes to find that the landscape around us had been utterly changed. The sands were littered with glittering bits of obsidian that were sharper than Sulian's blade. My admiration for Khai's skill as a guide grew as I realized that he could never rely upon landmarks or familiar sights to steer his course in this place.

We proceeded onward, having lost only half a day's travel to the storm. But the middle of the day was even more unbearably hot than morning or evening, despite our magical protection from the elements. It was a relief to find another ruin in which to set our camp at dusk.

Liadan had been examining each ruin to ascertain if any dangerous magic lingered there and found that this ruin did hold traces of enchantment. It appeared that it was the last remnant of a temple to the beholder tyrants that had once ruled here. But the lingering magic offered less danger than one precarious wall that Khai warned us against.

Danger came to meet us on the seventh day almost before we set out. We had not left the ruined temple far behind when a huge worm erupted from beneath the sand, its hot breath spewing flames and molten sand upon us!

Erim summoned up a blast of frigid air that covered the worm in a rime of ice. Liadan chanted a prayer that would give us the blessings of the righteous as we prepared to do battle with the fiery worm. The worm lunged at me, its many rows of teeth piercing my flesh, and began to wind its body snake-like about me as it tried to score me with its spines, which dripped a foul greenish ichor. Thanks to my second enchanted ring it could not hold me pinioned and I slipped free.

I drew Brimstone and set him aflame with a word. Then two smaller worms burst from the dunes, deepening my concern. A ray of intense sunlight burst from Liadan to scorch one creature. One of the worms tried to ensnare Baran as it had attempted to grapple me. Thankfully Lathander's feast had once again protected us from such venoms as its spines carried.

The second worm spat a gout of lava upon myself and several of my friends, while its third companion did the same to the remainder of our party. Khai slashed the first worm with his scimitar, causing it to let go its hold on Baran. My dwarven friend's hammer then laid it low.

Liadan seared the second worm with Lathander's holy radiance, while the third worm sank its teeth into Baran. I moved to strike the second worm with both my blades. As I did so, the corpse of the fallen first worm suddenly burst in a shower of hot flesh and poisoned spikes, splattering most of the area. Corellon's grace protected Liadan and myself from the stinging spray.

Nekaya-Re had now been gripped in the coils of one worm. Pakkin courageously rushed to her side and emptied a potion vial on her body. In a heartbeat she had grown several sizes larger and shrugged off the worm's embrace.

The second worm sank its teeth into me. Liadan cried out for us to withdraw to the temple ruins. I pulled away from the worm and began to run. As I sped back toward the ruined structure, Liadan summoned a comet from the sky as she had done against the wolf-creatures, slaying the second worm. I increased my pace, knowing now that this worm's body would explode as had its companion's. Then Khai shouted that yet more worms were pursuing us beneath the sand!

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Quips & Quotes:

Nekaya: "I'm followed by a 5-foot ball of light. I'm kind of obvious."

Baran/Rock: "Can you put a cloak over that?"

Telemnar: "Put a white sheet over it."

Erim: "So basically your god sent you a night-light."

Liadan: "Didn't Nekaya-Re come from a desert country?"

Baran: "They weren't high on survival there."

GM: "They were high on Sunshine."

Liadan: "The sugar sands are over there."

Telemnar: "It's the condiment desert."

Telemnar: "The jackals ordered extra salt in their blood."

Baran: "I'm not trying to touch them."

Telenar: "Yes you are, with your hammer of love."

Nekaya: "I didn't know Baran had a hammer of love."

Baran: "It's a hammer of tough love."

Erim: "Is this Heroes Feast vegan?"

Nekaya: "No animals were harmed in the making of this Heroes Feast."

Baran: "We've got the rings of communication, so speak up if you're in trouble."

Liadan: "Anyone want to tell ghost stories?"

Nekaya: "Do we get double temporary hit points if we eat two portions of Heroes Feast?"

Telemnar: "No, but you get a stomachache."

68. Beneath the Temple of the Eye Tyrants

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My friends and I raced to the relative safety of the ruined temple as fast as our legs would carry us through the sand. I sprang onto a stone ledge just outside the main structure and turned to face our foes, my blades at the ready. As I did so the worms overran both Nekaya-Re and Khai, who had trailed behind the rest of the group in our mad dash.

Khai was bowled over by the worm's attack, but righted himself and continued to flee toward the temple ruin. Nekaya-Re, who remained enlarged by Pakkin's helpful potion, was not so easily overcome by the second worm. Erim rushed forward and chanted an eldritch phrase, causing the first worm to pause in its headlong rush toward us. Its partner charged at Nekaya-Re. Liadan then called upon Lathander's might and sent a lance of pure brilliance darting out to pierce the second worm's flesh.

Just as this took place, the first worm shook itself free of Erim's spell and began to move again. Baran hurled his grandsire's hammer at the worm menacing Nekaya-Re. It struck with the fury of the dwarves behind its blow. The worm's body suddenly burst asunder, showering the area with poisoned spines and gobbets of hot flesh. By Corellon's mercy I was not struck by any of this foul debris.

I determined that I should attack the remaining worm from as great a distance as I could manage. I backed into the shelter of the ruin's remaining walls and exchanged my swords for my bow. Erim then made another arcane gesture and summoned a wall of transparent energy between our party and the worm. The worm rushed forward in pursuit of my retreating friends, but as it came to the magical wall it seemed to sense the barrier and slowed its progress enough that it struck the barrier with little force. 

Behind me Khai shouted for us to retreat further into the ruined structure, where the stone floor could not be penetrated by the worm. Nekaya-Re then reached her hakra over the magical wall to strike the worm. Erim took the chance to move nearer so that he might direct more arcane energies at the creature, but his spell appeared to take no effect. The worm then burrowed into the sand and emerged on the other side of Erim's wall, snapping at Nekaya-Re with its many jagged teeth.

Baran hurled his hammer once again, and its effect was the same - the worm exploded, spraying its substance throughout the area. This time I did not escape injury from the flying bits of searing carcass. But my indignity was little compared to what was to come.

The temple ruins were already unstable. Khai had warned us against the rear wall, and a gaping opening lay in the floor just at the base of this unstable piece. Now the entire structure began to collapse in on itself under the assault of two exploding worms. Khai had retreated furthest into the ruins, accompanied by Nekaya-Re's strange companion, Sunshine. Our guide now began to scramble desperately for footing as a great crack spread across the floor and it began to slide toward the hole in the rear of the temple. As we all watched in despair, none of us near enough to render aid, Khai slid down the dark opening and vanished from our sight. Then the rear wall folded itself over the hole like the lid of a cistern and a great tide of sand rushed in to cover the fallen stones.

The only sounds once the collapse ceased were the hiss of more sand sliding into the ruins, and our panting breath.  Then Erim removed a magic stone from his pouch and set it circling his head before lifting from the floor in flight and descending down a second, smaller opening in one of the corners of the remaining structure. He quickly found that this shaft was choked with ancient rubble.

It occurred to Liadan that the temple had been built on a symmetrical design, so she rushed to the opposite corner to seek a similar shaft. Under a coating of sand a circular stone lid was revealed. Baran determined that the stone was not of any great depth. While my dwarven friend worked at this lid to raise it, Liadan extended Lathander's healing grace to those of us who were hurt. It was not until then that I realized how many wounds I carried from our struggle with the desert worms.

Using his axe of adamantine and the enchanted rod of immobility that he carries, Baran was able to lever up the stone lid, revealing a dark shaft a little less than twice my height in diameter. As he lifted it away a foul odor of decay was released. He then suspended the magic rod in the air and tied one end of his never-ending rope to it, attaching the spool at the other end of the rope to his belt. With Baran in the lead and myself and Pakkin taking up the rear, we began to descend.

As we lowered ourselves into the unknown depths of the eye-tyrants' temple, Baran noted that there was something peculiar in the shaft below us. He removed his coin of unending light from where it hung around his neck and dropped it down the shaft. He then reported that the shaft had been set with a trap to harm the unwary, three blades that would spring out of the shaft walls to slash at anyone descending the shaft.

Nekaya-Re dangled an end of her own silken rope down the shaft to determine if the blades would react to it and if they could reach it. It became apparent that should one of the blades be disabled or destroyed we might continue our descent by pressing against that side of the shaft. Erim then carefully directed a spell into the groove containing one blade, shattering the blade and sending its sharp shards tumbling harmlessly below.

Suddenly the light below us changed, growing brighter. To our dismay we saw a small eye tyrant rising up the shaft, with Baran's glowing coin resting atop its roughly spherical body! As I hung feeling frustrated by my inability to act, Baran let go the rope and dropped down the shaft on top of the creature.

An alien voice cried out from below and I saw a brief flash of red light as Baran tumbled to the bottom of the shaft and landed in a heap. Erim murmured the words of a simple spell and a bright missile shot from his fingers to strike the eye tyrant. It collapsed to the floor like a punctured bladder of air. Baran shouted up to us that two more of the creatures could be seen from his vantage.

Erim described an arcane gesture and endowed all of us but Nekaya-Re with the ability to float gently to the floor of the shaft. Freed from having to cling to the rope, I was able to draw my swords and stab one of the eye creatures as I drifted downward. I felt a brief curious sensation as one of its six eyes glared at me, but this did not disturb my ability to harm it.

Below me I heard Liadan utter a short prayer and the entire shaft lit up with the warmth of the sun's rays. Then my feet touched the floor. One of the eye creatures was wobbling about eratically, apparently blinded by the light. Baran hurled his hammer at the other creature. Despite its wounds the thing turned one of its eye-stalks toward me and a black energy flowed from its alien eye. I was able to strike it nonetheless, though I could feel my arms trembling with weariness as I brought my swords to bear.

Pakkin fired arrows at the creatures, while Liadan raised the mace that she now seldom uses to strike. Her blow brought down the eye tyrant that had ensorcelled me. Nekaya-Re summoned the energies of the circlet she wears to blast the second creature. Both creatures joined their fellow on the filthy floor of the malodorous chamber.

The softly glowing form of Sunshine appeared from the darkness, coming to Nekaya-Re's side. She communed silently for a moment with the creature, then turned to report more dismaying news: a larger eye tyrant had evidently turned Khai to stone! Without our guide we had no hope of finding the Pillars of Fire, so we steeled ourselves to do battle with one of the larger creatures. Nekaya-Re and Liadan summoned the divine power of their gods to remove the exhaustion that Baran and I had suffered, and Erim warned us of what other powers the larger eye tyrant might possess.

We found that another narrow shaft descended from this chamber, the eye tyrants having no need of stairways to ascend. In an effort to lure the larger creature to us, we threw the corpses of its smaller kin down the shaft. Baran lent me a sword he carries that can contain a single spell, so that I might use both Brimstone's flames and the lightning the other sword contained against the creature. He also prepared a magical rod that can absorb arcane energies, and most amazingly he revealed that a small figurine of an elephant he has been carrying for some while can be triggered to transform itself into an actual elephant! This beast he commanded to push a boulder into the shaft when the eye tyrant began to ascend.

In the meanwhile Liadan blessed us with a prayer. We could now hear noises below as of crude speech, several voices speaking words none of us could comprehend. Nekaya-Re shouted a challenge to the creatures beneath us. Then another of the small creatures ascended the shaft to our level. It was swiftly slain by Nekaya-Re and Baran.

But now the larger eye tyrant appeared before us, staring directly into my eyes with its own single large orb. I had set Brimstone alight a moment earlier, but now his flames were extinguished. The circling stone orbiting Nekaya-Re's head fell to the floor. Baran's elephant returned to the form of a tiny stone figurine.

I moved to one side and found that I had stepped beyond the range of the creature's magic-suppressing effect, for Brimstone burst once more alight. Erim called a spell to hand that allowed him to lift a large boulder into the air and hurl it at the eye tyrant. The creature in return shot multicolored rays of light from several of its eye-stalks at the mage. Then Nekaya-Re raised her hakra and struck the creature with such force that its eyes at once went dark and it fell to the floor!

As there was no sign of Khai in the chamber where we now stood, Liadan and Baran immediately jumped down the shaft the eye tyrants had ascended. I heard both of them grunt in pain as they landed. I elected to use a rope to descend. The floor of the next chamber was covered in slime, and the room was filled with fungi and smelled even more unpleasant that the levels above. Liadan summoned Lathander's radiance into the room to reveal more of its repugnant details - including the presence of three more of the smaller eye tyrants.

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Quips & Quotes (lots of eye puns, what a surpreyes! ):
GM: "There's an icon carved on the temple floor."
Erim: "An eye-con?"

Nekaya: "I think gloating is a full-round action."

Erim: "Picture a tunnel."
Baran: "No, we got the shaft."

GM: "You notice that the small beholders only have 6 eyes."
Baran: "They're baby beholders. Eventually the baby eyes drop off and their adult eyes come in."

Liadan: "The mother beholder makes eyes-cream."

GM: "You notice a bad smell down here."
Nekaya: "What do you suppose the beholders eat down here?
Erim: "Beans."

69. Ropers and Ladders

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In the golden radiance of Lathander that shone from Liadan, I could see clearly the misshapen and hideously colored fungi that covered the floor of the subterranean chamber. I have never cared for such fungi as are considered a culinary delicacy by some. To me they taste of earth and decay.

The two small eye tyrants hovered over this unappetizing mass. Liadan's finger shot out a ray of intense light that blackened the fungi and left one eye creature blind.

At the center of the fungal mass stood what I had taken to be a roughly hewn pillar of black stone set with a single large ruby. Liadan then pointed to this pillar and exclaimed, "It's alive!"

Baran's hammer flew toward the second eye tyrant and sent it plummeting to the filthy floor like a rotten melon. Its companion moved nearer to where Liadan stood and fired a ray of energy from one of its smaller eyes, but as it was unable to see her it could not gauge its aim accurately.

Black ropes of flesh sprang forth from the pillar-creature and snapped out to ensnare my companions, including Baran. I moved to aid my friend, calling Brimstone's flames forth once more. One tendril lashed at me but failed to find purchase thanks to my enchanted ring, praise Corellon. I cut Baran free of the tentacle encircling him.

Amid the fungus some of the mushroom-like growths began to move toward us, seeking with tentacles of disgusting pink flesh. I began to dart in and out at the edge of the fungus patch, slashing at these horrid moving things. Their tentacles also could find no purchase on me, but they stung mightily where they struck. I slew three of the things as my friends carried on their own struggles with the blind eye tyrant, the moving fungi, and the black pillar-creature which Baran named a 'roper'.

While I dodged and wove among the moving fungi Baran's hammer, Pakkin's arrows, and Liadan's rays of light struck the roper again and again, until at last it began to retreat and finally slumped to the floor. When it was gone Liadan blasted the entire fungus patch with Lathander's light until all was black and still. Amid the charred remains she found a softly glowing spear.

Baran examined the patch of burnt fungi and declared that such a crop could not support more than a dozen eye tyrants. Thank the Seldarine that we would not have to face many more of those creatures. But there was no sign that Khai had ever been in this chamber. We must continue our search and face whatever other dangers the underground temple might hold.

Another of the beholder's tubular shafts descended from this room, but in this instance it contained iron rungs inset into the wall. A second shaft led upward into another chamber we had been unable to access during our earlier descent. Erim flew up through this shaft to seek evidence of Khai. Baran and Nekaya-Re then climbed up to examine that room. It was half filled with sand and Baran described signs that Khai might be injured, but he was no longer to be found there.

A light dropped down the descending shaft showed us that the ladder did not reach to the bottom. We descended to another level of the temple, finding ourselves among several circular chambers leading off the shaft. The first room we examined was decorated with carvings of beholders and a legend in the common tongue: Vision, Obedience, Loyalty. The walls were also inscribed with various runes, though even Erim's expansive knowledge could not decipher them.

Other statues lined one wall, these of human males. On closer examination it became apparent that these were no likenesses created by artisans, but were once living beings whose forms had been transformed into stone by the eye tyrants. But it appeared that they had already been deceased at the time of this transformation, for each of them bore a mortal wound. Long ago the Men of the Calim had worshipped and served the eye tyrants as their overlords, and it seemed that the beholders had attempted to show some appreciation for this service by preserving their dead soldiers here.

On one wall we espied a carving of an eye tyrant with each of its eyes occupied by a gem. Near this were inscriptions of human-like figures with lines leading from them to various of the gems. Liadan recognized that this carving was intended to explain how the eyes of a beholder function in their magical abilities. She surmised that the gems were also magical, and that the diagram further explained their use. She removed a black gem from the carving quite easily and demonstrated its use by attaching it to her mace. The gem clung there as if the weapon had been made to hold it.

Liadan explained that she could sense the purpose of the gem now that she wore it. Should the wearer take some hurt in battle, upon his next strike against his foe the gem would magically heal a portion of his wounds. The other gems each had a different enchantment. My friends began to remove them eagerly from the wall, knowing that our two previous conflicts had left us weakened and we might yet have more struggles ahead of us.

After some discussion it was determined that I should be given charge of the black gem, as I am often in the thick of battle. When I took it from Liadan I saw that it gave off a slightly unpleasant glow, but Nekaya-Re had already determined that the gems were not of an evil nature. I attached the gem to Sulian's hilt. Once all of the gems had been identified from the diagram, a second gem which would aid me in preventing a foe from disarming me was attached to Brimstone's pommel.

Having quickly distributed the gems among us, we resumed our search for Khai. As the ladder did not continue, we attached our ropes to it and climbed down. Below us I could see that the light dropped earlier illuminated a large circular chamber. The sand on the floor below the shaft moved strangely, like waves on the ocean.

Suspicious of this, Erim flew into the chamber to anchor the end of the rope at a point beyond this patch of oddly moving sand. I came down through the roof of the chamber to see that we were entering a very large structure. A dozen horizontal shafts led into this space, each of them marked by a stone pedestal. Seven of these pedestals contained a statue of a beholder, though in truth these appeared more to be petrified beholders like the men in the chamber above. Two of the pedestals had been shattered and lay in heaps of rubble on the floor. One plinth stood vacant.

As I observed this and uttered a brief prayer to Corellon that the eye tyrants would not be revived from their stony existence, a deep voice belowed from the one tunnel that did not terminate in a pedestal. I realized that the stiff form of Khai lay upon the floor near to the opening of the shaft. Then a large beholder, its flesh marred by age and its central eye missing altogether, emerged from the shaft and bellowed angrily, "How dare you defile the sacred sands?"

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Quips & Quotes:

GM: "There's a dead beholder on the floor."
Baran: "He's fertil-eye-zer."

Nekaya: "Does the roper take a snack of opportunity?"

Baran: "I bet the beholders have one big huge vision statement."

Erim: "It's the law of conservation of hit points."

70. Behold!

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Ever optimistic since her conversion to the faith of Elishar, Nekaya-Re called out to the blinded eye tyrant that we wished only to retrieve our lost companion and depart. But the wrinkled, hovering monster would have none of it. It exclaimed, "You are here to die!" and its eyestalks began to weave about in a manner that Erim identified as the gestures used by spellcasters. Curiously, those same stalks, which were as thick as my wrists, bore bracers upon them as do my arms. The creature also had amulets festooned among its semblance of limbs, and a great belt large enough to be worn by a giant encircled its circumference.

A ray of frost shot toward Nekaya-Re from one of its myriad smaller eyes, while another fired several missiles of magical force at Pakkin and a third sent a ball of flame hurtling toward Erim. Some of the flames singed me as well, for I stood near to him. Baran cleverly raised the eldritch rod he carries and the flames were consumed by it. Nekaya-Re then rushed forward to smite the monster with Elishar's righteous wrath.

Liadan chanted a prayer to Lathander and a sunny radiance issued from her. She then sent a ray of searing radiance against the eye tyrant. Pakkin bravely plied his small bow. I moved nearer to the creature, drawing both Brimstone and Sulian and calling Brimstone's fires to life once more. Baran flung himself toward the beholder, wielding his hammer. I heard Erim murmuring an incantation I recognized and felt the familiar burst of alacrity that accompanied the spell.

Erim took the opportunity to draw closer to the eye tyrant himself, but some invisible force from the creature pushed him back a few steps. It chilled him with its frosty gaze again and then floated away from me. I struck at it as it moved but my blade glanced off some unseen force surrounding its body. One eye stalk turned toward me and for a moment I felt a wave of despair but it quickly passed. I felt buoyed up somehow by the locket containing one of my beloved's tresses.

As it retreated from our attacks, the elder eye tyrant summoned a wall of stone into being between itself and Liadan. Though Erim's spell had failed to reach her, Liadan responded to the eye tyrant's gambit by running around the length of the wall. Nekaya-Re once more rushed at the beholder. Liadan aimed a spell at it but it seemed to miss the mark. Then Baran drew out the elephant token from his pouch and with a word brought a living elephant into being, commanding it to gore the eye tyrant.

Erim gestured and suddenly he stood as tall as the elephant, looming over us all. Strangely the blind tyrant seemed to feel more threatened by my presence than that of either the great tusked beast or my enlarged companion. In rapid succession I was chilled by frost, struck by several missiles, and scorched by flame. Then the monster sent a blast of lightning at Nekaya-Re, Erim, and Liadan, as well as some unknown energy at the elephant. Whatever it attempted to do to the elephant at that moment failed, but a moment later it murmured something to the animal and the elephant turned away from its target and began to glower at those of my friends who stood nearest to it.

A ray of some greyish substance shot from the eye tyrant toward Baran, who wielded the rod to absorb the arcane energy. The monster attempted once again to move out of my reach, but on this occasion I was able to penetrate its defenses with my blades. It lifted itself over the stone wall it had brought into existence and then summoned a second such wall to surround it, enclosing itself in a roofless stone structure.

Fortunately whatever enchantment the creature had placed upon the elephant did not preclude Baran's ability to command the animal. He uttered the phrase that controls the token and the elephant vanished before it could do anyone injury.

Taking advantage of this respite, Nekaya-Re stepped toward Erim to extend him the healing energies of her deity. Liadan then lifted aloft and hovered above the eye tyrant's enclosure. She remained in flight for only a few heartbeats, yet long enough to punish the creature once more with Lathander's searing radiance. Erim, recovered somewhat from his wounds, leaned his great height over the wall and swung at the monster. It responded by rising up out of its stone hut and sending a ball of fire shooting out toward a portion of the chamber that was occupied by nothing but one of its stone fellows.

However, this state of affairs did not long remain, for once it had descended back into its lair the creature rattled off another arcane invocation and the stone eye tyrant nearest to where I stood suddenly turned to flesh and floated off its pedestal! Brimstone's flames were extinguished as it opened its huge central eye. It fired some spell from one of its lesser orbs toward me, but I suffered no ill effect. Nekaya-Re then rushed the second tyrant. As it turned toward her Brimstone's fires burst to life once more.

Heartened that I was free of the central eye's malign effect, I sprang behind the monster and stuck both blades in its newly-restored flesh. Erim also moved to strike it, though he was now diminished in stature by the effect of its eye. The creature floated away from me once and attempted to bite Erim as it moved, then aimed another of its small eyes at me, once more failing to do me any harm, praise Corellon.

But as the monster rose it directed another eye at Nekaya-Re, who then appeared to become confused.  She wandered off to retrieve her magic stones that had fallen to the floor when the creature's eye turned on her. The tyrant then used some arcane trick to lift one of the stones and draw it toward itself, causing Nekaya-Re to follow. I stabbed it with both blades once more. It attacked me with its lesser eyes again to no avail.

It began to ascend toward the ceiling of the chamber to get out of reach of our weapons. I realized then that Brimstone had a trick I could use to my advantage. I aimed him at the monster and sent a tongue of fire to char its hide. Baran, his eyes glowing with cold fury, made a mightly leap and struck it a tremendous blow with his grandsire's hammer. The eye tyrant began to wobble and floated gently to the floor like a leaf falling from a tree limb, its eye stalks gone limp.

Erim, restored to giant size when its large eye fell shut, leaned over the monster and saw to it that it could not recover to threaten us again. Baran meanwhile began using his adamantine axe to strike the eye stalks from all of the stone beholders that ringed the chamber. Should they by some misfortune be restored to life as their companion had been they would find themselves blind and maimed.

The elder eye tyrant lay dead within its walls, struck down by Liadan's spells. Not satisfied with merely blinding and maiming the stone tyrants, Baran summoned forth his elephant once again to smash their bodies to flinders. While Baran conducted this task, Nekaya-Re had recovered her composure and borrowed his rod to use its energy, calling on Elishar to heal all of our company.

Our next task was to recover Khai, whose petrified form still lay upon the floor near where the elder tyrant had entered. Though his leg had been injured before his petrification, he did not appear otherwise harmed. Liadan explained that following her morning prayers on the morrow she would be able to restore him to flesh. Baran was reluctant to remain within the chamber, and no one disagreed with his reasoning. Erim then cast a spell that allowed him to lift Khai's stony form and raise it up the shaft into the barracks chamber above.

Though Baran had feared that other eye tyrants might yet inhabit the complex, our night passed without danger. When Liadan had prayed to Lathander she restored Khai, though it was difficult and she had to borrow energies from Baran's rod to complete the transformation. While our grateful guide recovered from his ordeal, we searched the alchemical laboratory that lay adjacent to the barracks.

It appeared that this place had been abandoned in haste, for numerous magical scrolls were discovered in the laboratory, along with an amulet and several vials of potions. These were taken charge of by Erim and Liadan. Before we left the lower chamber on the previous day Liadan had relieved the aged tyrant of his various accoutrements as well, substantially adding to the amount of equipment hidden in her saddlebags.

Healed of his injuries, Khai descended to the temple chamber to acquire what trophies he desired from the fallen eye tyrants. While he went about this gruesome task we determined to search the tunnels leading off the central chamber. Most of them were empty or filled with rubbish, but Liadan and Baran stumbled upon the aged tyrant's treasure trove, finding a bejewled golden statue of an eye tyrant, a very large blue diamond, an oddly-shaped sword, and a staff in addition to various coin. They also discovered a large star ruby, which Erim recognized as an ancient gem of great fame and worth, so much so that wars had been fought for possession of it. I cannot fathom the wisdom of going to war over a gem. But it did occur to us that perhaps the efreet we seek may have interest in such a jewel.

When we had searched as much as we were willing and rested further, we ascended once more to the furnace of the Calim. It was late morning when we once more bestrode the burning sands. Our short sojourn beneath the dunes left us startled once more by the brilliance and heat of the desert. We resumed our journey with optimism despite our discomfort.

For four days we traveled with little concern, troubled only by the ordinary small denizens of the desert such as scorpions and snakes. On the fifth day we crested a dune to find ourselves overlooking an awe-inspiring sight. Beneath us on a broad plain we saw innumerable pillars of fire, some frozen like ice and others dancing about to some mysterious pattern. Amid them stood other pillars of glossy obsidian. Through the haze of heat that filled the area we now and again glimpsed a vast brass dome. Khai pointed to this vision and announced that we beheld the Brass Palace of the efreet Phaereteim al-Ashen.

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Quips & Quotes

Erim: "We're boned."
GM: "Make a Spellcraft check."
Erim: "That's 35, or 37 if it's Transmutation boneage."

GM: "The beholder uses telekinesis to lift the ioun stone toward it."
Nekaya: "Does the stone float in front of its center eye and then fall down?" (The main eye of a beholder projects an anti-magic field.)

GM: "You find a scroll of remove blindness."
Erim: "That was created by the great beholder mage Lasik."