Summary 17: Trials and Tribulations
There is a strangeness that has started coming over me these days. Something that I have not felt since that time long ago, even before these latest events. The memories of my past are gone, destroyed at the time when my first ever love betrayed me. Perhaps one day, I might trust my companions to see into my own heart, to see the pain that they could never fathom which dwells within me. Now though, I have found a new love, and I am even more terrified. For the one thing I fear is to have my heart snapped in two again. And I know Garland that you are reading this log entry, and so I wanted you to know this. But this is not a story of what I once was; this is but a simple recounting of our most recent adventures.
After our success over recovering the prized bat statue, we decided to check out the left most passage in the hopes of recovering more treasures. Given our current equipment status, we truly had little to show for our long ocean voyage at that point.
We sent the Assassin to scout ahead, while stopping along the way to recover Skald’s items. There were no taps to greet us, only runes that detailed the power of the ancient Olman god of Fire. Near one of these scribblings was a long decayed body of a former explorer. His meager possessions were of no value to waste valuable ink describing. It seemed he had died before exploring the only other thing of note in the room, which was a deep well. Being possessed of Devil’s Sight, I looked down into the darkness. There I spotted something lurking within it gloom. I suggested we shed some light on the situation. First I cast light on a rock. Then I cast light on one of Gustav’s arrows. As I threw the rock down the well, he timed his shot to fire at whatever was waiting for us. And indeed the plan worked, which of course invoked the beasts wrath. The thing was an amorphous of eyes, tentacles, and mouths. As it emerged, its keening wail filled the room and our senses with confusion. Gustav, Cindel, Croc, and I were able to shrug it off, but the thin-headed Garland and Orol succumbed to the magic. This forced them both to simply stand still and babble incoherently. Using the magic missile wand, I send a force barb into the beast, while Gustav moved into position. Just before he struck though, the gibbering mouther spit a glob of acid into his eyes, blinding him. In the meantime, Cindel sent her crocodile in to harass the monster, scoring a mighty blow. The mind-meddling magic soon caused Orol to run into melee to engage the mouther. Garland meanwhile charged Croc from behind, and thankfully missed with his spear after his weapon got caught up in his clothing. This was fortunate since the crocodile was dealing the greatest of damage upon our foe. I was able to mull its senses with a sorrow spell, just as Gustav shook off the remaining acid from his eyes and Garland finally shook off the confusion. This allowed them both to help in the fight that was not at all going well. For all this time, Orol had been bitten time and time again, and was now being consumed by the mouther, becoming a part of it. We stepped up our attacks, as we desperately wanted to save the stone salve that Orol had on his person.
The actual life of the gnome was of course meaningless.
A final tail slap by Croc finally ended the gibbering mouther’s life, while consequently saving Orol’s. Seeing the archeologist’s sad state of health, we took his stone salve and brought him back to the ship to heal.
Arriving back at the well, we spotted a floating eye watching us. Garland claimed it was a baby beholder, so Gustav shot it dead. With no other guardians, we went down one at a time down the shaft. Cindel though slipped, but was lucky to be caught by Garland down below. Surveying our surroundings, we found ourselves faced with four paths. Each one led to a room with a different elemental. Using a comprehend languages spell, I was able to understand that this was all some sort of test. Should we pass the four tests of combat, we would be granted audience with the ancient Olman shamans, and perhaps their buried treasures. At the Wind passage, Garland was able to actually converse with the elemental. It was here where we found out that someone else was in the process of completing the tests. Without further delay, we began the trials, starting with Air.
After entering the door, we found ourselves on a hillside, with clouds high above. Without warning, a bolt of lightening struck down in our midst. Gustav and I were able to dodge aside, but Garland and Cindel were hit hard. Quickly we separated, but Cindel was struck again and nearly killed. Since death meant only that we would be returned to the elemental room, we didn’t give her cries of pain too much heed. High above, we finally saw our foe; a mooncalf. Gustav tagged it with an arrow, which focused the beast’s entire wrath on him. His vision was soon filled with wings and tentacles as the mooncalf tried to scoop the Assassin into the air. This gave us only a moment to charge in and strike true with our weapons. Just before Gustav was yanked from his feet, I infused negative energy into the monster, but it seemed it still had plenty of life-force left. And then Gustav was airborne, with not a thing that we could do. The Assassin hung on valiantly, even stabbing it with his rapier before the mooncalf finally sent him crashing lifeless to the ground.
Next it was Garland’s turn. Already injured from the lightening blast, he stood tall as his doom barreled down upon him. I was able to get to Gustav’s fallen weapons in order to be able to be more effective in combat, and managed to nearly sever a tentacle with a rapier swipe, before Garland too was carried aloft. It was not the fall that eventually killed the Captain, who held on for dear life. Rather it was a massive bite from the mooncalf that tore his throat out and ended the test for him. Through all the chaos though, the creature was weakening, thanks in large part to the damage that Gustav and Garland had already done to it. Cindel was next on the hit list, going down under five massive tentacle rakes.
Only I remained. If I failed, then our quest for treasure was already over. Abandoning the bow, I took in hand the magic missile wand, and Gustav’s rapier. On came the beast, and on I charged. My only hope was to allow it to bring me aloft, so that I could slay it, while holding on with my pole-dancer legs. It did not take long for the ground to fall away from me. High above, wounded, I stabbed hard and imbedded the rapier in the mooncalf’s eye. After taking a minor bite, I dropped the blade and sent another wave of dark energy into the beast.
It faltered in its flight as though it was barely holding on.
With my legs wrapped around its tentacle, it failed to dislodge me, but still bit hard on my chest. I looked down and saw my own heart beating feebly. With my last effort, I activated the magic missile wand. And then we were both falling. The element of Air was dead, and I appeared alive and unscathed in the elemental chamber where there my companions waited, equally unharmed. One down, three trials to go.
Our next choice was the test of Earth. After going through the door, we found ourselves in a web-lined cave. There a woman greeted us and gave us a choice as to whether we wished to face one large beast, or many smaller ones. Thinking that the latter would be much easier, we opted for the smaller spiders. This surprised the woman. She said that we were the first in many centuries to make such a choice.
The four of us went back to back as from out of the darkness came eight large spiders. After a few seconds of near unsuccessful web attacks, the arachnids moved in. Garland and I used our superior reflexes to slash many of them before they could close within bite range. Despite Cindel dropping dead early on in the fight, the trial was a simple matter compared to the Air one. My monk skills were admittedly paltry in the fight, but Gustav and Garland shined as bright as they ever have. Gustav used his assassin skills to critically wound spider after spider. Garland meanwhile charged into the circle of fangs time and time again, inflicting massive wounds upon the insects. With our ability to dodge most of the spiders attacks, we were easily able to dispatch all eight.
Our next test was the Water one. The door opened to a beach with fisherman dragging out pearls from the brine. Gazing at these white treasures gave us all a greedy eye for what we might find on the Isle of Dread. After the Olman’s fled, we plunged into the water to look for something to slay. A cry for help was what brought us to it, for no one would be alive that deep and be able to cry so clearly. The ahuizotl’s ruse had failed it, revealing its location to us all in the process. Gustav lunged and struck true, while Garland torpedoed past the beast, miscalculating his lunge. Cindel meanwhile sent her newly summoned crocodile into the fray. By the time I arrived, I had time for only a single magic missile before Gustav stabbed a killing blow through the ahuizotl’s throat. Another easy victory.
The final test was the one of Fire. After entered the test, we were greeted by a huge red dragon. He explained that we simply had to survive one minute in a fire pit with a gargantuan fire snake. As we positioned ourselves in the fiery arena, the serpent emerged from the ground and breathed a cone of fire upon us. All of us were able to dive away from it, so the serpent charged after Cindel. In the blink of an eye, she was carried in its jaws and then subsequently incinerated by another fire breath.
Next on the burn list was Garland. The Legendary Captain couldn’t hope to avoid the jaws of death that scooped him up. Yet as the serpent tried to swallow him down whole, I witnessed a feat of strength that has yet to be matched. For Garland placed a hand on each of the creatures jaws and pushed them wide open, allowing him to jump out to the ground below. There he hid amongst the smoke to buy more time. All the while, Gustav and I continued to fire arrows in he hopes of scoring a lucky critical hit. Those arrows brought the wrath of the monster upon Gustav. There was simply no stopping the jaws that bit down. The coup-de-grace was when the Assassin became impaled upon the serpents tail stinger, then shaken loose like a dead rodent.
And yet our time of victory was near.
I ensured that the monster focused its sights upon me. Closing my eyes, I allowed pain and death to crush my body to paste. For when that happened, the time was up. And we had passed the trial with Garland still remaining alive.
The world gave way to the entrance hall of the four tests. Except that now there was another well to climb down, this to reach the shamans. After we arrived at its floor, we were confronted by four hallways, each leading to an elemental shaman’s resting place. We were also greeted by the other who had succeeded in passing the trials as well. He was a half-dragon from the Mist Kingdom. His name was Malfurian of the Keepers of Time, and he claimed to be a chronicler for several recent great events. He said that he was keeping tabs on several other people who were destined for greatness, as though implying that we were such a group. He then asked if he could venture forth with us to the Isle of Dread, that he might bear witness to our exploits. He offered three potions that would allow us to scry on a moment in the Past, Present, and Future. He also said he could identify items.
And so the debate began. Looking into his soul, I saw the taint that I’ve learned to distrust. This I voiced to my comrades. How could we simply trust such a powerful stranger after all? But I was a voice of four, and I said that I would accept the decision of the majority. To my surprise, everyone agreed with my assessment. In our discussions though, I was forced to reveal several secrets that I had been withholding.
There was a curiosity about the bat statue, as to how it might protect us on the Isle. But I already had the answer to this question; it would not. For you see, I was not a worshipper of Hextor, but rather a disciple of Olidamara. I had been sent on a mission by my deity, but that it would only become clear once I had reached Tomoachan. The trapped demon was in fact the emissary with the mission. He said that I was to take the bat statue to the Bat Temple on the Isle of Dread. The statue was in fact a key that would open a door there. Beyond the door, I would find a magic item that I was to give to Olidamara. This was my task to become a true disciple. I had feared that no one would have accepted a priestess to the god of rogues onboard ship. Nor did I think anyone would believe my story about the Bat Temple, and taking a detour in our voyage to go to the shaman burial grounds on Tomoachan. After I recounted my tale, I saw some anger in their eyes, but also acceptance. I then openly asked for their help in going to the temple to recover the item, and they all agreed. For twas only a single item that I was to hand over. All the other trinkets were free for our takings. Given this, and our moral codes for the most part, we turned down Malfurian’s offer. He frowned on our decision, but did not force the issue, and teleported away. Taking with him the only means of scrying upon Vanthus.
All around us were ancient Olman writings. Luckily, Gustav was able to discern most of them. They spoke of the demise of the Olman populous. How a pearl, like the one Vanthus had dropped, had killed a great number of their people in a rite dedicated to the Dragon God. Three heroes went out and sought revenge, but unknowingly went against the wrong enemy. Using an artifact called Klaluk’s Tear, the Elements of Vengeance destroyed nearly the entire Aboleth race. Only Bakura returned from the mission alive to his tribe. Shortly after though, the remaining shamans, including Bakura, were assassinated in the night by lizard-like creatures wrapped in bandages. The survivors thus came here to Tamoachan to inter their honored dead and preserve their history.
We then went to talk to the spirit of Bakura who was buried nearby. He filled in some of the gaps to the tales we had deciphered. He also asked that, if we were to continue our voyage, that we find and bring back his lost friends Meleeki and Immortal. Their bodies should be buried with him, so that the Elements of Vengeance could be reunited. He warned though that Immortal may have become an undead, after mistakenly killing Meleeki in the final seconds of the Aboleth battle. He then offered us his ancient items, to aid us, and to show to the remaining Olmans that the Gods remained with them.
Whatever!
His items were fairly insignificant, save for a cloak that allowed its wearer to fly indefinitely. The gauntlets became a temporary weapon for me as they would send a lash of fire when they struck an enemy. Taking Bakura’s advice, we did not raid the tombs of the other shamans. We packed our things and went back to the ship, continuing our voyage to the Isle.
As the days passed by, the weather became stormy. Yet despite the wind, both ships saw their progress floundering. The wench Sindorei began screeching that she had heard tales of something called “journey’s end” and that she only then realized that we had reached this phenomenon. The non-crazy-lady term for what we had actually hit was a sargasa: a sea weed trap.
We dropped anchor to get a better idea as to what we were dealing with. Garland took me in his arms and we surveyed the surroundings from above as it was he who had donned Bakura’s Cloak. All around us was solid sea weed beds, and ships overgrown with them. We stopped at one of them and looked around the mucus-ridden deck. Eventually, we came to the captains quarters where we found his long dead corpse and his nicely preserved log book. Most of it was made up of ramblings over missing crew members and undead walking at night. What was interesting was where he had written about the “Mother at the heart.” Thinking that perhaps this might be something we could kill in order to free our ship, we did a flyby deeper into the sargasa. Soon we came to a huge galleon, completely covered over with foliage. Figuring we had found what we came for, we flew back to the ships. There we warned everyone to stay below deck. We were in for a rough night of creeping vines and possible walking dead.
And indeed no one slept at all. The sounds of slithering vines sent chills up our spines. The pounding on the doors had our hearts leaping to the floors. The odor of burning, had all our minds for land yearning. And when the raven called for dawn, all the night terrors were gone. We dared venture outside to see, that the ship was overgrown with a plethora of weeds. Captain Garland ordered them to away they be hacked, while he flew to dish out a major bitch slap. And so it was that he, Gustav, Lavinia, Cindel, and I went to kill the Mother sucker.
After defensive spells were cast, we approached what we had thought to be where the center of the sargasa was. Cindel started the battle by rolling a ball of fire over the plant ships hull. This sparked an immediate surprise response. The plants surrounding the ship coalesced into an enormous plant creature: The Mother of All. Thinking that perhaps the sea weed we were standing on was a part of the creature, Lavinia stabbed downwards. And indeed she did appear to slightly annoy the creature as it retaliated with a vine slap. It then produced a field of scintillating flowers whose aura made it difficult for any spellcasting.
By the looks of our foe, we were way overmatched. It was this intimidation that caused most of my attacks to miss their mark. Yet again though, Garland and Croc were there to dish out the big hits. Gustav sent arrow after stinging arrow flying home, while I was able to flame plant matter with my gauntlets. Garland and I took some painful retaliatory vine hits, but we were also able to avoid many slaps. Yet again, Gustav got in the killing blow.
As the Mother of All began sinking, she brought with her, all her vines. We hurried back to our ships, praying to Olidamara that the crew had had enough time to free the vessels from their clinging prisons. As we arrived, we saw that Garland’s orders had indeed been successfully carried out. Before long, the water was clear for sailing. I don’t think we had ever faced such trials of battle in the last few days. We had battled ancient terrors of the Isle of Dread, and destroyed the legend of “journey’s end.” The battles had been tough, with our triumphs over each, being a true team effort. Who would have thought that such an unlikely trio as us would ever come together? An unrelenting triad of power.
After our success over recovering the prized bat statue, we decided to check out the left most passage in the hopes of recovering more treasures. Given our current equipment status, we truly had little to show for our long ocean voyage at that point.
We sent the Assassin to scout ahead, while stopping along the way to recover Skald’s items. There were no taps to greet us, only runes that detailed the power of the ancient Olman god of Fire. Near one of these scribblings was a long decayed body of a former explorer. His meager possessions were of no value to waste valuable ink describing. It seemed he had died before exploring the only other thing of note in the room, which was a deep well. Being possessed of Devil’s Sight, I looked down into the darkness. There I spotted something lurking within it gloom. I suggested we shed some light on the situation. First I cast light on a rock. Then I cast light on one of Gustav’s arrows. As I threw the rock down the well, he timed his shot to fire at whatever was waiting for us. And indeed the plan worked, which of course invoked the beasts wrath. The thing was an amorphous of eyes, tentacles, and mouths. As it emerged, its keening wail filled the room and our senses with confusion. Gustav, Cindel, Croc, and I were able to shrug it off, but the thin-headed Garland and Orol succumbed to the magic. This forced them both to simply stand still and babble incoherently. Using the magic missile wand, I send a force barb into the beast, while Gustav moved into position. Just before he struck though, the gibbering mouther spit a glob of acid into his eyes, blinding him. In the meantime, Cindel sent her crocodile in to harass the monster, scoring a mighty blow. The mind-meddling magic soon caused Orol to run into melee to engage the mouther. Garland meanwhile charged Croc from behind, and thankfully missed with his spear after his weapon got caught up in his clothing. This was fortunate since the crocodile was dealing the greatest of damage upon our foe. I was able to mull its senses with a sorrow spell, just as Gustav shook off the remaining acid from his eyes and Garland finally shook off the confusion. This allowed them both to help in the fight that was not at all going well. For all this time, Orol had been bitten time and time again, and was now being consumed by the mouther, becoming a part of it. We stepped up our attacks, as we desperately wanted to save the stone salve that Orol had on his person.
The actual life of the gnome was of course meaningless.
A final tail slap by Croc finally ended the gibbering mouther’s life, while consequently saving Orol’s. Seeing the archeologist’s sad state of health, we took his stone salve and brought him back to the ship to heal.
Arriving back at the well, we spotted a floating eye watching us. Garland claimed it was a baby beholder, so Gustav shot it dead. With no other guardians, we went down one at a time down the shaft. Cindel though slipped, but was lucky to be caught by Garland down below. Surveying our surroundings, we found ourselves faced with four paths. Each one led to a room with a different elemental. Using a comprehend languages spell, I was able to understand that this was all some sort of test. Should we pass the four tests of combat, we would be granted audience with the ancient Olman shamans, and perhaps their buried treasures. At the Wind passage, Garland was able to actually converse with the elemental. It was here where we found out that someone else was in the process of completing the tests. Without further delay, we began the trials, starting with Air.
After entering the door, we found ourselves on a hillside, with clouds high above. Without warning, a bolt of lightening struck down in our midst. Gustav and I were able to dodge aside, but Garland and Cindel were hit hard. Quickly we separated, but Cindel was struck again and nearly killed. Since death meant only that we would be returned to the elemental room, we didn’t give her cries of pain too much heed. High above, we finally saw our foe; a mooncalf. Gustav tagged it with an arrow, which focused the beast’s entire wrath on him. His vision was soon filled with wings and tentacles as the mooncalf tried to scoop the Assassin into the air. This gave us only a moment to charge in and strike true with our weapons. Just before Gustav was yanked from his feet, I infused negative energy into the monster, but it seemed it still had plenty of life-force left. And then Gustav was airborne, with not a thing that we could do. The Assassin hung on valiantly, even stabbing it with his rapier before the mooncalf finally sent him crashing lifeless to the ground.
Next it was Garland’s turn. Already injured from the lightening blast, he stood tall as his doom barreled down upon him. I was able to get to Gustav’s fallen weapons in order to be able to be more effective in combat, and managed to nearly sever a tentacle with a rapier swipe, before Garland too was carried aloft. It was not the fall that eventually killed the Captain, who held on for dear life. Rather it was a massive bite from the mooncalf that tore his throat out and ended the test for him. Through all the chaos though, the creature was weakening, thanks in large part to the damage that Gustav and Garland had already done to it. Cindel was next on the hit list, going down under five massive tentacle rakes.
Only I remained. If I failed, then our quest for treasure was already over. Abandoning the bow, I took in hand the magic missile wand, and Gustav’s rapier. On came the beast, and on I charged. My only hope was to allow it to bring me aloft, so that I could slay it, while holding on with my pole-dancer legs. It did not take long for the ground to fall away from me. High above, wounded, I stabbed hard and imbedded the rapier in the mooncalf’s eye. After taking a minor bite, I dropped the blade and sent another wave of dark energy into the beast.
It faltered in its flight as though it was barely holding on.
With my legs wrapped around its tentacle, it failed to dislodge me, but still bit hard on my chest. I looked down and saw my own heart beating feebly. With my last effort, I activated the magic missile wand. And then we were both falling. The element of Air was dead, and I appeared alive and unscathed in the elemental chamber where there my companions waited, equally unharmed. One down, three trials to go.
Our next choice was the test of Earth. After going through the door, we found ourselves in a web-lined cave. There a woman greeted us and gave us a choice as to whether we wished to face one large beast, or many smaller ones. Thinking that the latter would be much easier, we opted for the smaller spiders. This surprised the woman. She said that we were the first in many centuries to make such a choice.
The four of us went back to back as from out of the darkness came eight large spiders. After a few seconds of near unsuccessful web attacks, the arachnids moved in. Garland and I used our superior reflexes to slash many of them before they could close within bite range. Despite Cindel dropping dead early on in the fight, the trial was a simple matter compared to the Air one. My monk skills were admittedly paltry in the fight, but Gustav and Garland shined as bright as they ever have. Gustav used his assassin skills to critically wound spider after spider. Garland meanwhile charged into the circle of fangs time and time again, inflicting massive wounds upon the insects. With our ability to dodge most of the spiders attacks, we were easily able to dispatch all eight.
Our next test was the Water one. The door opened to a beach with fisherman dragging out pearls from the brine. Gazing at these white treasures gave us all a greedy eye for what we might find on the Isle of Dread. After the Olman’s fled, we plunged into the water to look for something to slay. A cry for help was what brought us to it, for no one would be alive that deep and be able to cry so clearly. The ahuizotl’s ruse had failed it, revealing its location to us all in the process. Gustav lunged and struck true, while Garland torpedoed past the beast, miscalculating his lunge. Cindel meanwhile sent her newly summoned crocodile into the fray. By the time I arrived, I had time for only a single magic missile before Gustav stabbed a killing blow through the ahuizotl’s throat. Another easy victory.
The final test was the one of Fire. After entered the test, we were greeted by a huge red dragon. He explained that we simply had to survive one minute in a fire pit with a gargantuan fire snake. As we positioned ourselves in the fiery arena, the serpent emerged from the ground and breathed a cone of fire upon us. All of us were able to dive away from it, so the serpent charged after Cindel. In the blink of an eye, she was carried in its jaws and then subsequently incinerated by another fire breath.
Next on the burn list was Garland. The Legendary Captain couldn’t hope to avoid the jaws of death that scooped him up. Yet as the serpent tried to swallow him down whole, I witnessed a feat of strength that has yet to be matched. For Garland placed a hand on each of the creatures jaws and pushed them wide open, allowing him to jump out to the ground below. There he hid amongst the smoke to buy more time. All the while, Gustav and I continued to fire arrows in he hopes of scoring a lucky critical hit. Those arrows brought the wrath of the monster upon Gustav. There was simply no stopping the jaws that bit down. The coup-de-grace was when the Assassin became impaled upon the serpents tail stinger, then shaken loose like a dead rodent.
And yet our time of victory was near.
I ensured that the monster focused its sights upon me. Closing my eyes, I allowed pain and death to crush my body to paste. For when that happened, the time was up. And we had passed the trial with Garland still remaining alive.
The world gave way to the entrance hall of the four tests. Except that now there was another well to climb down, this to reach the shamans. After we arrived at its floor, we were confronted by four hallways, each leading to an elemental shaman’s resting place. We were also greeted by the other who had succeeded in passing the trials as well. He was a half-dragon from the Mist Kingdom. His name was Malfurian of the Keepers of Time, and he claimed to be a chronicler for several recent great events. He said that he was keeping tabs on several other people who were destined for greatness, as though implying that we were such a group. He then asked if he could venture forth with us to the Isle of Dread, that he might bear witness to our exploits. He offered three potions that would allow us to scry on a moment in the Past, Present, and Future. He also said he could identify items.
And so the debate began. Looking into his soul, I saw the taint that I’ve learned to distrust. This I voiced to my comrades. How could we simply trust such a powerful stranger after all? But I was a voice of four, and I said that I would accept the decision of the majority. To my surprise, everyone agreed with my assessment. In our discussions though, I was forced to reveal several secrets that I had been withholding.
There was a curiosity about the bat statue, as to how it might protect us on the Isle. But I already had the answer to this question; it would not. For you see, I was not a worshipper of Hextor, but rather a disciple of Olidamara. I had been sent on a mission by my deity, but that it would only become clear once I had reached Tomoachan. The trapped demon was in fact the emissary with the mission. He said that I was to take the bat statue to the Bat Temple on the Isle of Dread. The statue was in fact a key that would open a door there. Beyond the door, I would find a magic item that I was to give to Olidamara. This was my task to become a true disciple. I had feared that no one would have accepted a priestess to the god of rogues onboard ship. Nor did I think anyone would believe my story about the Bat Temple, and taking a detour in our voyage to go to the shaman burial grounds on Tomoachan. After I recounted my tale, I saw some anger in their eyes, but also acceptance. I then openly asked for their help in going to the temple to recover the item, and they all agreed. For twas only a single item that I was to hand over. All the other trinkets were free for our takings. Given this, and our moral codes for the most part, we turned down Malfurian’s offer. He frowned on our decision, but did not force the issue, and teleported away. Taking with him the only means of scrying upon Vanthus.
All around us were ancient Olman writings. Luckily, Gustav was able to discern most of them. They spoke of the demise of the Olman populous. How a pearl, like the one Vanthus had dropped, had killed a great number of their people in a rite dedicated to the Dragon God. Three heroes went out and sought revenge, but unknowingly went against the wrong enemy. Using an artifact called Klaluk’s Tear, the Elements of Vengeance destroyed nearly the entire Aboleth race. Only Bakura returned from the mission alive to his tribe. Shortly after though, the remaining shamans, including Bakura, were assassinated in the night by lizard-like creatures wrapped in bandages. The survivors thus came here to Tamoachan to inter their honored dead and preserve their history.
We then went to talk to the spirit of Bakura who was buried nearby. He filled in some of the gaps to the tales we had deciphered. He also asked that, if we were to continue our voyage, that we find and bring back his lost friends Meleeki and Immortal. Their bodies should be buried with him, so that the Elements of Vengeance could be reunited. He warned though that Immortal may have become an undead, after mistakenly killing Meleeki in the final seconds of the Aboleth battle. He then offered us his ancient items, to aid us, and to show to the remaining Olmans that the Gods remained with them.
Whatever!
His items were fairly insignificant, save for a cloak that allowed its wearer to fly indefinitely. The gauntlets became a temporary weapon for me as they would send a lash of fire when they struck an enemy. Taking Bakura’s advice, we did not raid the tombs of the other shamans. We packed our things and went back to the ship, continuing our voyage to the Isle.
As the days passed by, the weather became stormy. Yet despite the wind, both ships saw their progress floundering. The wench Sindorei began screeching that she had heard tales of something called “journey’s end” and that she only then realized that we had reached this phenomenon. The non-crazy-lady term for what we had actually hit was a sargasa: a sea weed trap.
We dropped anchor to get a better idea as to what we were dealing with. Garland took me in his arms and we surveyed the surroundings from above as it was he who had donned Bakura’s Cloak. All around us was solid sea weed beds, and ships overgrown with them. We stopped at one of them and looked around the mucus-ridden deck. Eventually, we came to the captains quarters where we found his long dead corpse and his nicely preserved log book. Most of it was made up of ramblings over missing crew members and undead walking at night. What was interesting was where he had written about the “Mother at the heart.” Thinking that perhaps this might be something we could kill in order to free our ship, we did a flyby deeper into the sargasa. Soon we came to a huge galleon, completely covered over with foliage. Figuring we had found what we came for, we flew back to the ships. There we warned everyone to stay below deck. We were in for a rough night of creeping vines and possible walking dead.
And indeed no one slept at all. The sounds of slithering vines sent chills up our spines. The pounding on the doors had our hearts leaping to the floors. The odor of burning, had all our minds for land yearning. And when the raven called for dawn, all the night terrors were gone. We dared venture outside to see, that the ship was overgrown with a plethora of weeds. Captain Garland ordered them to away they be hacked, while he flew to dish out a major bitch slap. And so it was that he, Gustav, Lavinia, Cindel, and I went to kill the Mother sucker.
After defensive spells were cast, we approached what we had thought to be where the center of the sargasa was. Cindel started the battle by rolling a ball of fire over the plant ships hull. This sparked an immediate surprise response. The plants surrounding the ship coalesced into an enormous plant creature: The Mother of All. Thinking that perhaps the sea weed we were standing on was a part of the creature, Lavinia stabbed downwards. And indeed she did appear to slightly annoy the creature as it retaliated with a vine slap. It then produced a field of scintillating flowers whose aura made it difficult for any spellcasting.
By the looks of our foe, we were way overmatched. It was this intimidation that caused most of my attacks to miss their mark. Yet again though, Garland and Croc were there to dish out the big hits. Gustav sent arrow after stinging arrow flying home, while I was able to flame plant matter with my gauntlets. Garland and I took some painful retaliatory vine hits, but we were also able to avoid many slaps. Yet again, Gustav got in the killing blow.
As the Mother of All began sinking, she brought with her, all her vines. We hurried back to our ships, praying to Olidamara that the crew had had enough time to free the vessels from their clinging prisons. As we arrived, we saw that Garland’s orders had indeed been successfully carried out. Before long, the water was clear for sailing. I don’t think we had ever faced such trials of battle in the last few days. We had battled ancient terrors of the Isle of Dread, and destroyed the legend of “journey’s end.” The battles had been tough, with our triumphs over each, being a true team effort. Who would have thought that such an unlikely trio as us would ever come together? An unrelenting triad of power.
posted by Adimarchus | 8:55 PM
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