Summary 19: The Confrontation

I Crimson, have tried so hard to fit into our groups dynamics. With my skills, I’ve negotiated peace treaties with demons, gods, thieves, and even mayors. Still, yet, I am not trusted. And still I am accused of erroneous crimes. Only through Olidamara’s urging do I continue. My Faith is my anchor. The Hand of Doom, my ship.

Cindel and I waited for Garland to return from the Nixie. We were only to wait one day. If the wannabe Legendary Captain did not join us by then, we were to go on without him. This indeed became the case. Garland you see, was exhausted from his flights back and forth between the two groups of crew. Nearly three days with no sleep finally caught up with him on the Nixie. There he settled in the crows nest for a long rest. Once he finally awoke, it was evident that the Nixie needed him, as it was greatly undermanned, thanks to the betrayal of the ape demons. For they had taken ten crew, as opposed to the three that Garland and I had offered. This, in order to save our own crew from a similar fate, and to allow for us to travel through their lands unmolested.

After the agreed time had expired, Cindel, myself, and our crew, followed the winding paths to enter through a lost cave. This would bring us to the mountains, and to the land of the bat god. Using my devil sight, I led our group to an entrance hall, where an impaled skeleton hinted at possible dangers. There was also a sickly fountain that resisted any temptation for exploration.

The entrance hall led to a one hundred foot decaying bridge. This spanned a large cavern, whose floor was covered with deadly giant centipedes. Blasius, our engineer, warned us of the obvious unstable condition the bridge was in. Any attempt at crossing it might surely lead to death. Cindel too warned that if the fall failed to kill us, then the centipedes poison would. Luckily she was able to conjure up a solution. Using her druidic powers, Cindel called into existence, several hippogriffs to ferry us all across.

From there we came to a juncture where left led to an Olman burial chamber, while right led to the unknown. We decided to head right, not bothering to check out yet another suspicious pool of water; a decision that would have led to a deadly encounter with a black pudding. The door to continue on was stuck hard though. I thus used a talent I had never used before, to reduce the structural integrity of the wood to almost nothing. This allowed for Croc to easily break down the door.

Beyond the splintered remains, was a room with a door leading back to the catacombs, and a set of iron doors that led to our way onwards. Blasius surmised that the only way to open them was to turn the red and blue pillars that were also located in the room. Unfortunately, their activation handles were missing, and so needed to be found. Again Cindel surprised us in this search, by casting a spell that allowed her to sniff for valuables. Her nose brought us to the door of the burial chambers.

At the far reaches of the tomb, Blasius discovered a secret door behind an ornate mosaic. Opening it revealed a smaller room with the familiar pyramid sarcophagus. With my innate ability to resist almost anything, I moved everyone out of the way before opening the lid. The anticipated nauseating gas riffled through the room. Skillfully, I was able to lock out my lung pockets so that I was unaffected by the trap. On the Olman corpse before me were several valuables, including one of the rods we sought. As I reached for it, a necromantic energy filled the air and brought to unlife, three shambling mummies. Flaming spheres, fiery gauntlets, and savage tail slaps met and destroyed these walking dead in a few short seconds. After it was all over though, Croc began taking on a sickly complexion. I recognized the signs of the incurable mummy rot. Cindel looked to me and nodded in understanding. She whispered soothing words to relax him. Meanwhile, I made a loop in the middle of my barbed whip dagger and placed it around the crocodile’s neck. Tugging on both ends, I mercifully decapitated our reptilian ally. We then set off to find more treasure, including the second rod.

We ended up in the entrance hall with the fountain and the impaled skeleton. Blasius confirmed no presence of traps as well as the fact that the spear was magical. I took the spear and gave it to Cindel, whom, after only a second, gave it back. She said the weapon made her feel all wrong inside. So I kept it with me, suffering from no such affliction. The fountain meanwhile had a sickly complexion within its aqueous contents. As I was the appointed leader, I reached in and pulled out the second rod. Not surprisingly, the water seemed to try to meld with my flesh. Not surprisingly, I resisted its effects.

On our way back, Cindel indicated that her spell said there was treasure below with the centipedes. I logically assumed that the insects only feasted on living flesh, and so summoned a skeleton below to try to find any valuables. Indeed it came across a long diseased Olman. The skeleton reached down and threw to me an amulet, and a box, before my magic faded away. With nothing else to look for, we headed back to the pillars.

Before opening the iron doors, I went to the catacombs to try and figure out how the box and magical amulet worked. The later I figured out was a broach of shielding. The box meanwhile turned out to be a pleasant surprise. After manipulating it, I discovered that it folded out into a large boat. I decided to christen it The Hand of Doom. After folding it back up, I moved in front of the water doors, and cast an omen of peril. If we opened the doors at high tide, we would drown ourselves. My spell indicated great danger, so we waited a few hours before I cast the spell again. When it indicated safety, we turned the pillars to open the path.

We came to a split in the cave, with water flowing from the right to the left. Since it was out where we wanted to go, we followed the water, coming out on a small beach. By our map, it was not exactly where we wanted to be. And yet, by our calculations, this put us between the Sea Nixie and Vanthus’s ships. Figuring it might be a good idea to meet up with our friends, we used my folding boat to sail to Farshore. At the time at least, I thought they were my allies, but I would soon find out how wrong I was.

To our surprise, we soon saw the flying, well rested, Garland coming towards us. He saw me and took a somewhat guarded position, before greeting us. He asked for two crew members for the Nixie, which we granted, before we handed over the helm. Garland seemed astonished at my discovery of the folding boat as it was an item on his secret wish list that he longed to covet. He told us that Lavinia had already flown to Farshore and evacuated everyone. All we needed to do now was to all meet up, and then head to a concealed cove hear the bat temple.

Before long, we finally reached shore. Our destination was the bat temple of Zotzilla. Blasius finally had a chance to survey the damage to the Nixie, estimating that if anyone dropped a bolt on the lower deck, it would cave the hull in two. The ship needed drastic repairs, but they would have to wait. A column of smoke in the forest nearby was our immediate concern. A few of us headed out to investigate, and beheld a pyre of burning Olman corpses. Adding to the pile were fire-breathing bat creatures. Luckily, there was little risk of a forest fire, but the scene was obviously conceived by the bat god in order to gain more power. Despite this, we continued past it, hoping to negotiate with the deity for peace.

Soon enough, the bat cave was before us. We meandered our way to the central platform. There, Zotzilla sat and brooded. My telepathic message startled him into action. I should have chosen my words more carefully in retrospect. I told him that we had come with a key that would allow us access to a door, where there I would find an item I sought. It seemed I had not been well informed by Olidamara though. The statue I held aloft before the bat gods eyes, was in fact the stolen key that allowed access to his very own treasure vault. Despite my well armed companions around, he accused me of stealing from him, and rushed to attack. I stood there in shock. Time stood still as the wrath of a God bore down upon me. I looked to my right and saw Garland. I saw a battle raging upon his face. He could save me, but was fighting that choice for another. And I knew then that Gustav had finally discovered the secret I and another had laid bear for him and Garland. And for my unknown bravery in that act, I was about to pay the ultimate price. Garland in the end did nothing but stand there, giving a simple, heartless, jab with his spear. Zotzilla then tore a huge chunk of flesh from my body, and also sapping my strength. Yet somehow I stood; barely. I desperately tried to be more civil with the bat god. My snake-like words entered through his ears to finally coil around his pea-sized intellect. Thinking fast, I said I had used the powers of psionics to steal the key. The powers of Zotzilla were so strong though that I had been unable to take the item I truly sought from the vault. Zotzilla’s anger changed to become intrigue. I said a silent prayer to Olidamara for sending me to face a bat god that was also an imbecile. I offered him a magical sacrifice in the form of Bakura’s cloak, as well as the bat statue, in exchange for the item I sought, as well as shelter for the Olmans. He thought it was a shield of Olidamara I sought, so he gladly accepted. All of this exchange was spoken in the abyssal language. So when I pointed to Garland, he recoiled, thinking himself as a sacrifice that I had offered. When I said it was his cloak I needed, he handed it over, then looked in shock as Zotzilla ripped it to shreds in glee. The bat god then opened his vault to us. The treasure pile was enormous. My eyes though were only for one item wrapped in velvet. I knew instinctively that whatever was in its folds, I needed to have. Oh and, uh, the shield of Olidamara as well since this is what the bat god initially thought we had come for. There was no objection to me taking both items since neither had ay real value at all. Zotzilla let us go with a satisfying grin on his face. He gave to us his promise that he would look after the Olmans, provided they continued to worship him. He also said he would look into these “psionic” magics.

All things considered, everyone was satisfied with the deal that I had just negotiated to sanctuary the Olman’s. To my allies, I did not reveal yet the treasure I held in my hands. This had been a personal mission for Olidamara that had coincided with saving the Olmans. Everyone had placed their faith in my words. I wonder now why that was so, given their suspicions. Anyway, with the item still in its wrappings, I took it to a high above rocky outcropping. There, alone, I could commune with Olidamara, using the item: a demonic tooth, as a focus. It seemed this item was a way in which I could speak directly to my deity, and he to me.

Far below, curious onlookers saw me as I gazed skyward. Only I saw the face of Olidamara manifest before me. His shining radiance was all the reward I needed. The god of Trickery applauded me for my tenacity in getting this far. He said that retrieving the tooth was simply a test to see how far I would do to serve him. Now that I could be depended upon, I was to be given my true task. The shadow pearl that had been unleashed in Kraken’s Cove, was one of many that was currently being manufactured here on the Isle of Dread. Olidamara’s servants, including the Lotus Dragons, had been tricked into helping to fund this project, before they were all later exterminated by their masters. Infuriated over this deception at losing so many loyal followers, Olidamara wished for me to strike a blow against their killers by halting production of these shadow pearls. The factories were located in three temples scattered around the island. Each one was more deadly than the next. The last temple, he said, contained a guardian whose might was greater than even Zotzilla’s. It was for this reason that he advised that I and my companions take out the bat god before going to the third temple. His treasure hoard would aid us greatly. Olidamara also revealed that he would place in my hands, a great treasure once the mission was complete, saying only that it would help us leave the Isle of Dread whenever we wanted to. When finally my god departed, I was left with a renewed sense of purpose.

I approached Gustav, Garland, and Lavinia, and explained all that had happened. I told them about how we had a chance to save the poor, innocent crew who had been captured. I told them about the temples and how we could save all the Olmans. I told them about the shadow pearls, and how we could all be heroes by bringing an end to their construction.

They listened, but they did not hear.

Their eyes might well have been daggers, piercing my very soul. And even before Gustav started speaking abyssal to me, I knew the peons had finally discovered what I had been hinting at for a long, long time. Their concern was not the safety of the world. Their only concern as what they should do with me now that they finally had evidence that I committed an act as monstrous as the ape demons.

Gustav voiced the accusation: that I had brutally killed Glaive.

Why they hadn’t discovered this before is a mystery. I knew that Gustav had been looking into the matter. What I did not know was that someone was blocking his attempts. Yet it became pretty obvious to me right away, and I presume it became quite clear to all a little later as to whom the culprit was. These words in the log are for Garland and Gustav’s eyes, as within I shall soon reveal the truth, and the ultimate secret that I have been hiding.

For the moment, I had only one response to their accusation, that Gustav was mistaken. I had no doubt that Gustav had used the potion that Malfuryian had offered in order to see what I had wanted everyone to eventually see. Gustav had granted “secret” passage aboard the Nixie in exchange for the potions; an act I was all too aware of. It was something I wanted. After a great deal of discussion as to whether I was innocent or guilty of the crime of murder, I proposed a deal: true resurrect Glaive so that he could prove my innocence. This was agreed to. Zotzilla granted us a teleportation to the fire god’s temple, under the premise that we planned to destroy him. In reality, the fire god was the only denizen we knew of who might be powerful enough to bring back Glaive from the dead.

Soon the fires of the dragon deity were around us. We kneeled before the fire god, saying that we had passed the shaman trials. We wished him to bring back our friend Glaive in exchange for the great artifact that was Bakura’s Gauntlets. He agreed, and sent his thoughts to the afterlife in order to pluck the roguish spirit from the nether realm of death. And I knew that the dragon god would not make contact with him.

Bringing his conscious instead to the real world, the fire god began searching around the world to finally make contact with a very much alive Glaive.

Gustav was shocked to silence. Garland meanwhile cursed his brother’s name in every language he knew. He then asked the dragon god to send a quick message to Glaive, letting him know that he was coming to kill him. The message was received, sending a chill of fright through the battle mage’s spine. Unknown to us, Glaive had already settled into is infinite roll. It was in part he who had attempted to block Gustav’s attempts to see the past, until it was too late to do anything to stop him.

And now the truth for you Gustav, and for you Garland.

Glaive and I were indeed attacked by a priestess who warned us to stay away from the Isle of Dread. Glaive’s words were very volatile towards her in his refusal to heed the warning. From there, all hell broke loose. In the end, the sea witch teleported away, after we severely wounded her. Glaive then asked a favor of me. He wanted me to help fake his own death. He said he had a private mission he wished to pursue, and that he dared not involve anyone else. When I asked if he could elaborate, he said only that, “an army awaited him.” For reasons that will remain my own, I agreed. Using mine and his disguise skills we re-created a scene wherein it would appear as though I had murdered him. I would later say that the sea witch had in fact killed Glaive, knowing full well that eventually someone would see our false murder scene. As for the corpse, we used one of the dead crew members and disguised him to look like Glaive. We knew that Garland or someone would likely look into the death and so we had to make it look perfect. Any divinations on Glaive’s death would come up empty as he had not actually died. The conspirator then sailed to shore, disembarked, and set the Sea Wyvern adrift. I meanwhile took a life boat and waited for rescue from the Nixie. At the risk of exposing several other contacts, I will not get into any more details. Basically, I was asked to play the roll of a person whom everyone suspects of every evil act that has ever been committed. I was to ensure that I played the part well enough so that all suspicions and divinations would be upon me, so that no one would send any such magics or thoughts towards Glaive until we arrived at the Isle of Dread. For by then, he said that it would be too late to intervene. And since Trickery is my deity’s delight, the entire plan was music to my ears.

At this point I wish to mention that had it not been for this deceit, I never would have suspected Garland faking his own death. The chances of both brothers “dying” seemed an impossibility, given the ploy that Glaive and I had only just pulled. It is for this reason that I suspected Garland had faked his own death, since I knew first hand the ease in which it could be accomplished.

After our discussion over Glaive being alive, there still remained an incredible mistrust towards me. Garland could hardly look at me. His suspicion that I had killed his brother is what had stayed his bravery to protect me when we had faced Zotzilla in combat. Gustav, I could tell, did not know how all his efforts could have been wrong. The bitch Lavinia still looked upon me with loathing. She wanted fuel for her own personal fires over me. Taking advantage of my moment of openness, she took the mantle of inquisitor to find out more truths. She accused me of murdering Meravanchi. To this, I responded that he died by my hands. It was by the order of Captain Garland Gangsworth that I did the deed however. The contract we had all signed stated that those aboard would obey the captain. I was simply following orders. Captain Garland had been fed up with dealing with the aristocrat fop. He did not want to wash his own hands in blood, and so called on the only person who might be willing; me. I cannot say that it was murder though. Meravanchi had asked for the same treatment that I gave Garland each and every night. He had accepted. We had both warned him that it could be rough, but Meravanchi said he could take anything. Garland knew that that statement was false. And so it was, as Meravanchi’s corpse later testified to.

Lavinia then asked me about whether I would kill any of my allies. I said that if Olidamara willed it, then I would try. I also said that I would fail in such an attempt. My battle skills were nothing compared to Cindel’s, Garland’s, and Gustav’s. It would be a pointless attempt on my part.

Lavinia then asked me where I had learned the abyssal language. I said I was born knowing it, but no one believed me. So I said someone at the dance school taught me. Still no one believed me. So I simply refused to answer the question. In truth, where I learned it is my own secret that I wish to keep hidden. I admit Gustav’s next sudden declaration stunned me. He said that I was working for Demogorgon, and that it was through him that I had learned the language. Naturally I denied this, as I honestly hardly even know who this demon lord is. Yet I could see in Gustav’s eyes that he had used his resources to come to this conclusion, and that he had already convinced everyone else. I suppose they thought that I had offered the ten Nixie crew as sacrifices, rather than the three which I had always claimed I had offered to the ape demons. Even three crew members are still excessive, now that I think of it. And so we stood there, staring each other down.

Quite simply, I had reached the point where my allies’ opinions of me meant nothing. I have tried so hard to gain their trust. And still they despise me. Well to the abyss with them all I say. I have a mission to save the Olmans which I plan to see through until my very death. I told them all that I was going to the temples with or without them. The spear is now in their courtyard. Do they travel with a former Lotus Dragon whose initiation was to hand over Lavinia? Can they put aside their own sins of the past and do what is right?

I hope so.

For I cannot destroy the shadow pearl temples without them. I need their eyes, their loyalty, and their arms. I need my comrades more than ever. And though they are blind to this next fact; they most certainly need me.

Session 18: Player Thoughts

Well I must say that this past session was as chaotic as it has gotten so far. We had a game full of so much death. We had a monumental surprise suggestion from Garland that crossed the border to treachery. We had a split in the party both on the physical and emotional levels. We had a DM whom I don’t think could have ever surmised how screwed we were intentionally making our characters as we progressed. For me personally, I don’t think I could have asked for a better session.

I used this last game as sort of a coming out for my character. As time has worn on, I’ve tried to hide a few things by falsifying the info on my character sheet. But as certain things have become more difficult to hide, I’ve typed in the truths. There is little now that is hidden, but the one great revealed truth was my alignment. Although it has been posted for a while, I don’t think anyone realized it until I actually said my alignment out loud this past game. This happened because I questioned Garland’s actions based on his alignment, and found that Eric was completely correct in how he had played through the situation. I should add that this lookup was more for fun, as we are a group that’s pretty liberal when it comes to alignment. We then read the “chaotic evil” reference in the players handbook to see how close I was playing my character to this. It turns out that in a sense I’ve probably been playing Crimson as more of a neutral evil person, but with some chaos thrown around for good measure. This comes with my unfamiliarity with this as I don’t think I’ve ever played a chaotic evil character. But this also comes from having to make what was going to be my secondary character, my main character. Trying to develop her into something that is noteworthy has been difficult, particularly considering that I don’t want to have her thrown out of the party. I’m still working hard to get in the mixture of camaraderie, while still staying true to her goals and the Paladin of Slaughter class.

That’s why I loved this past session. It magically produced a lot of opportunities for me to use Crimson’s skills, and to finally explore the chaotic side that I’ve been trying to keep hidden. For the audience, the suspected little white lies I might have told with Crimson to the party, I said in front of everyone so none of the players are in the dark about the truths. I wanted to show everyone that Crimson is a “viscous, arbitrarily violent, and unpredictable” person.

There is reason behind almost everything. I say this only because I don’t want anyone, DM or player, to take things too personally. I hinted at one of Crimson’s motivations in all of this and hope that everyone at least believes that. I also said aloud, and I’m very serious, that I will not have Crimson scan the minds of her friends, even though that would realistically be the first thing she would do. I respect that Garland and particularly Gustav have their own secrets and I Chris don’t want to spoil the fun for Eric and Bob when they come out with them. Sneaky move for Bob in giving Gustav the Abyssal language. Know the language of your enemies right? Mwahaha ha haaa!

Anyway, it was indeed a session of surprises. The biggest probably being that Gustav had somehow managed to get a hold of and drink at least one of the potions that the Half-Dragon had offered us. There was also the surprise of Garland leaving out of his aerial scouting, a key threat on the horizon. And who could forget my nearly being digested to death by a t-rex. Something I hope the court will take into consideration when Gustav puts me on trial for the murder of ten people that the demons took from the Nixie. It will be interesting to see what the aftermath of the campaign will bring. Perhaps we might even be able to roll-play a complete session on it.