Hey Readers!
Sorry for the long wait between posts here.
Between the Christmas holiday, and a couple of weeks where there was no
game night, I have not had anything to write about. Add that to the fact
that I did not write any additional posts during that same amount of
time and we end up with what we have here, three weeks without a post, and let's not forget that even though there was a game this last Wednesday, between game and now I was SUPER BUSY at work. But the darkness is passed and we are back now folks. To recap, the
party had just been part of stopping the Black Army from "completely"
destroying the city of Wonder, and now we begin with them dealing with
the aftermath...
As the Dragon Rider finished his spell,
and the majority of the Black Army that remained in the city disappeared
with the Dragon and its Rider, leaving carnage and fire behind. Namsuri, Raistlin and Ulemon
having seen the destruction caused by the dragon's acidic breath rushed
up the stairs to where the defenders had valiantly made their last
stand, but when they arrived found nothing but melting human remains. Ulemon did note as they stepped over the remains that upon one of their shields was the device of the Knights of Volunthus. Filing away that information, the party looked upon the doors of the Temple of Tyr
that stood before them. Although warped slightly by the acidic spray,
the doors seemed little worse for the wear, and as the party stood
looking at them they began to open together in unison. Stepping out
first were four dwarves,
all wearing white robes with chain shirts over them, and all four had a
crossbow pointed out in the party's direction. Quickly seeing that the
battle was over, they put up their weapons and started ushering
civilians out of the temple. With a nod to the adventurers, the dwarves promptly seemed to forget their existence, and the party turned and
went back down the steps to see what they could do to assist the town.
Ulemon immediately got busy joining a water brigade, lining up to pass
buckets to throw on the fires to try to put them out before they spread
even further. Raistlin sought out apothecaries and wizard's shops to
help them to recover from the attacks, and Namsuri attempted to help
everyone, as he helped himself to a bit of gold here, and a few pieces
of silver there. After the majority of the fires had been put out, and the majority of the city folk had been helped to the extent the party could provide, they figured that getting back to Volunthus to give a report was probably the smartest plan that they could come up with. So moving back to the edge of town they started discussing which way they should travel. Knowing how close they were to the Tower of Wizardry, Raistlin convinced the party, that they should return to Volunthus via the Eastern Road. Seeing no reason to deny that the Eastern Road returned them to Volunthus at roughly the same pace as the Southern Road, the party set off. However upon reaching the edge of town they came across a noble, on a fine black stallion, riding in the middle of a formation of heavily armed men. As they watched the noble ride through the streets they saw that he rode near enough to the damaged buildings, and injured people to appear concerned. But not close enough to actually allow any of the filth to soil his fine clothes. As he approaches closer to the party, his armed escort fan out to form a defensive line between the party and their leader. After exchanging pleasantries with the party and half-heartedly thanking them for their help during the battle he fields a few meaningless questions from the party about his lack of appearance at the battle. Quickly coming to anger he turns and rides off, his guards quickly following and reforming their box formation. Knowing that their welcome has now officially run out the party leaves the City of Wonder, heading East in the direction of the Tower of Wizardry.
Upon arriving the party splits up to each accomplish their own tasks. Namsuri went searching for a teacher to give him some elementary knowledge of how to use his new found 'talent' (Namsuri having recently taken a level of Bard, he took this opportunity to roleplay gaining that knowledge). Ulemon, having no interest in magical teachings, went directly to the Inn that sits beside the Tower. Raistlin, as it was his idea to come this way, had the most pressing business at the tower. Traveling up to the top floor to where the Archmages waited, Raistlin prepared himself for the Test, and for the inevitable change it would have upon his life. As he stood outside the door to the Archmage's audience chamber he looked down at his brown robes, specifically at the deep red colored cloth belt that held his component pouch. Taking a deep breath, he entered the room. (There actually was no in-game test that was worth any amount of roleplaying, we covered it all by notes so not to interrupt the flow of the game with a solo adventure) Entering the room and completing the test, Raistlin watched as two of the dark figures that were in the room when he started had stood and left the room. The third stood as well, and spoke without revealing their identity, "It is thought that you would like to know, that it was not the third test that led to this choice. It was your actions throughout the testing. We know that it was not your conscious choice, but we also know that it is what you desire, and what you have earned." With that the figure also left. Not knowing what else to do, Raistlin delayed a moment, and in that moment a flash filled the room. All of a sudden, a tall man stood before Raistlin, resplendent even in dark black robes, the man stood in the well lit room as if partially obscured by shadow. Raistlin, knowing this man, but not wanting to show any emotion, stood as straight as he could before him. The man stared at Raistlin, and then with the most effortless of gestures, produced a small chest which he placed on the floor before him. "As is customary, your first set of robes... and a gift from the council. With that the man, who Raistlin knew to be the High Archmage, vanished, it another flash. Opening the chest, which had no lock, Raistlin looked inside to find his destiny. It side the chest has a fist-sized diamond, which he immediately placed atop his staff. It held to the top as if glued in place, and as if it was designed to fit just there. With that done, Raistlin reached into the box one more time... and pulled out the black silk robes that he would call his own.
(I would like to point out that Quastalia has a magic system where all wizards, and there are no sorcerers, have to take a test before they are allowed to use higher level magic. The magic itself is not restricted, they can use higher level magic without taking the test. But if they are found out then the Archmages of the Tower send out groups to hunt them down. Magic is 'controlled' in Quastalia, at least as well as it can be, no one has ever been stopped from taking the test, but those who can not handle the power of higher levels of magic, find that the test is their final reckoning. For those that pass, they are grouped together with like-minded individuals dependent upon which of the Gods of Magic they favor. White, Red and Black, and the colors of robes worn by Wizards who walk the lands of Quastalia. Lawful Good Wizards wear White. Lawful Neutral Wizards wear Red. Lawful Evil Wizards wear Black. Now this being said, a Lawful Neutral character can often find himself wearing White or Black robes, as the influence of the test washes over them. The test itself does not change a characters alignment. Although there have been times where after their role being determined the Wizard in question has gone on to embellish traits of the path that he travels. All of that being said, Raistlin did not kick puppies and kill innocents during his test. No, the black robes found him by far subtler means...)
The next day, after the brief shock of the rest of the party members seeing Raistlin in his new black robes, the party went before the Archmages to tell them of what they had witnessed in the town of Wonder. The Archmages were particularly interested in the Dragon, as Dragons had not been seen in the Realm of Quastalia for the past 200 years. After their conversation, the party was granted their request of the Archmages sending them directly back to Volunthus on the wings of a spell of teleportation. This saved the party 3 weeks of travel by horseback, and allowed them to report back far sooner then Commander Sandoval could have hoped and dreamed. Shuffling into the Commander's office, high atop the Keep's Tower, the party began to deliver their report on what they had seen in the City of Wonder. During their explanation of the Dragon and its rider the Commander's High Priest took a sharp intake of breath, which due to his normal silent demeanor, stopped the party's telling of their tale. Unsuccessfully trying to get the Commander to allow him to speak with him alone, he began telling the story of the mural room. As the group came to the bottom of the stairs, they watched as the High Priest made a series of complex hand motions before opening the only door at the bottom of the solid stone staircase. Walking into the room, the party saw as the murals on the wall changed and shifted as if alive. They were moving so fast that they could not even comprehend what they were seeing. It was not until the High Priest began to pray that the party could keep up with the visuals that went around the circumference of the room as though an ancient flip book. They saw the Black Army as a wave breaking upon the white cliffs that obviously could be see as Fortress Volunthus. But more importantly it showed the dragon and its rider, flying above the army. Seeing more of the possible futures the party turned to trying to identify all of the possible outcomes. It wasn't until the party was making their way back up to the Commander's Office that they had any real proof that what they saw was more then a fancy illusion. A messenger came upon them in a rush, "Commander, the Elves to the West are under attack from the Black Army" he almost shouted as he rushed down the hallway towards them. After verifying the information, Commadner Sandoval requested that the party continue their reconnaissance, and after they agreed, had his High Mage grant them teleportation to put them into the Elven capital before the attack came.
Appearing in the middle of the Knights barracks in Mistrheal, the barracks commander was unhappy with a black-robed mage being in his presence, but as quickly as the party left it was of little consequence. The party quickly found the Protector General who led the 'Protectors' in Mistrheal's forest. Explaining their presence he gave them a jeweled pendent that would identify them to his troops. With this, and a crudely drawn map, the party made their way northward into the forest. The forest itself was as thick as always, and some sort of mist/fog seemed to be stealing even more of there sight the farther they got away from the city. Eventually they realized that it was really smoke, although they had not as of yet run across a fire. On their third night of scouting Namsuri, who was on watch, heard something. Investigating he found a scouting formation for the Black Army. Waking his companions Ulemon and Raistlin they crept upon them and ambushed them. After a short but brutal fight, forced at point-blank-range due to the smoke, the party retreated upon hearing the sounds of the bulk of the Black Army coming straight for them. Although the fighting was tremendously bloody, and no quarter was asked in the end, one member of the scouts had been disabled in the first round of combat. The party bound him and took them with them. Having found the army Namsuri, using his stealth got as close as he could over the course of the next day. Seeing that the smoke in fact was coming from the Black Army who was burning the forest for 200 yards in all directions of their line of march, stopping the 'Protectors' from taking advantage of the formerly ample tree cover to snipe at them along their line of march. Making their way back to the capital to interrogate their prisoner they were met along the way by a group of 'Protectors'. Offering to transport their prisoner for them they were able to pick up their pace and they made it back to the capital a half day before the advancing army. After a quick interrogation session, where they learned that the Black Army was mostly infantry led by a what they assume from the information given is a 'dark cleric' and an 'Anti Paladin', they receive information that the Black Army is now visible from the fortifications that the elves constructed quickly to halt the army's advance. The Black Army, for their part, took up row upon row as they stood read and waiting to attack the city. A carriage, centered in the middle of the infantry formation, opened its door, and in a gust of cold wind and blowing snow, out stepped a man in silvery robes, whose face was hidden in the shadow of his hood. Climbing the back of the carriage and standing upon it, he called upon minor magic to amplify his voice. Offering the elves the chance to surrender now, or to watch their city burn. With absolutely no thought for consequences, Ulemon stood and called out that they would receive no such pleasure as surrender that day, and with that his arrow joined that of all of the elven archers as they fell upon the ranks of the Black Army, although those aimed at the Wizard bounced harmlessly off of a semi transparent shell that had formed around him. It was then that it happened. The party saw the Black Army retreat slowly, one step at a time, as the Wizard dropped his head as if in prayer. His voice still amplified spoke one word, which Raistlin identified as the final word to a very powerful spell. Although the spell itself was not identified, with the completion word being spoken the sky started to turn dark above the city. It became darker and darker the higher the figure raised his arms... until the figure seemed to pass out from exhaustion. The party watched as the figure was pulled from the top of the carriage and put back inside it as the Black Army continued to move back a few cautious steps at a time. Thinking that the spell had failed, there was a cheer from the elves at the barricade... and that is one the first of the flaming rocks began to fall from the sky...........
That is where the session ended for the evening. It had gone a bit over time but I wanted to get to the natural stopping point of the enemy wizards epic spell. The spell itself is NOT an epic level spell, although its results sure seem that way. The players were pissed that I was making things up, so I told them what book to look in... then they were pissed for all sorts of other reasons. The Book of Exalted Deeds, and the Book of Vile Darkness from 3rd Edition D&D are amazing resources for a DM, they are completely broken for players, but for a DM they give a lot of freedom from having to straight make things up, and may I say that the corruption spells in Vile Darkness are Heinous in the extreme. Don't believe me? Look up the corruption spell "Apocalypse from the Sky"
Once again I will apologize for the couple weeks of new update, and again for this one being late being posted. Now that everything is back to normal it shouldn't be a problem. That being said, we are playing early tonight do to my having to work tomorrow evening. I will try to have the next segment up tomorrow that means.
Have a great day readers, and may your sword thrusts be quick, and your rays on target.
-DM Eraser
