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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 8019676" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 26: THE DESOLATE WATCH</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Cramer Appleknocker, gnome cleric 9</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Jhasspok, lizardman 3/barbarian 2/fighter 4</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Khari Hammerslammer, dwarf fighter 9</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Marlo Pendragon, human sorcerer 9</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Utred "Buckets" Butterflinger, dwarf barbarian 9</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 18 June 2020</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>"We have determined how the Mortal Queen was able to spy upon you so easily," reported T'puuli Tine, the half-celestial drider who ruled over Greenvale in the absence of the Matron Mother of House Ky'hulcressen.</p><p></p><p>"Through these damned tattoos, I imagine," hazarded Cramer, referring to the slave tattoos that had been inscribed on the backs of each of the five slaves upon their capture - or shortly after his hatching, in Jhasspok's case.</p><p></p><p>"But I thought only members of House Jalamir could use the tattoos in that way," countered Marlo. "The tattoos are, after all, the House Emblem of Jalamir. It wouldn't make sense if members of other Houses could <em>scry</em> upon the slaves of other Houses - that would give them a real boost in gaining intelligence on their enemy Houses."</p><p></p><p>"There is a loophole in Overreach law," pointed out T'Puuli.</p><p></p><p>"Nothing lawful about Overreach," grumbled Cramer.</p><p></p><p>"Once she declared herself the Mortal Queen, and thus the highest mortal authority of all drow, she elevated herself above the petty ranks of all Houses," T'puuli continued. "She can now <em>scry</em> at will upon the slaves of any House at all as if a member of that House; as the Mortal Queen, she is effectively a member of all Houses at once."</p><p></p><p>"But she's the Matron Mother of House Bel'vior," argued Marlo. "That gives her House an unfair advantage."</p><p></p><p>"Irrelevant - she has effectively ascended beyond the concerns of any one House. But consider this: she can now <em>scry</em> upon you, through your slave tattoos, not only as a member of House Jalamir - in which case she will see the false images protecting you from being discovered - but also as a member of House Ky'hulcressen - in which case she is privy to your real actions, as House Ky'hulcressen and their Greenvale associates are the ones who had your tattoos modified in the first place."</p><p></p><p>"So she's peekin' behind the curtain," assessed Khari. "Seein' what we do for real."</p><p></p><p>"Effectively, yes."</p><p></p><p>"And there's no way to stop her," sighed Marlo, a tinge of despondency in her voice.</p><p></p><p>"Perhaps not," agreed T'Puuli, "but you have this on your side: in Overreach, tampering with slaves is so commonplace that <em>scrying</em> upon a slave cannot be used as proof of wrongdoing - and remember, in drow society a crime is only illegal if you get caught doing it. Thus, even though the Mortal Queen knows House Ky'hulcressen and House Jalamir are plotting against her, she cannot officially act upon that knowledge without weakening her own position in the eyes of the other drow Houses."</p><p></p><p>"Isn't there anything we can do?" asked Marlo.</p><p></p><p>"The only way to fully prevent her from <em>scrying</em> upon you would be to remove the tattoos..."</p><p></p><p>"Then let's do that!" interjected Cramer, eager to be out from under the yoke of the drow.</p><p></p><p>"...but to do so would be to cause an unnecessary rift between Houses Jalamir and Ky'hulcressen. Remember, House Jalamir is rebelling against the Mortal Queen because in their minds House Bel'vior has overstepped their bounds; they have no intrinsic desire to see Greenvale remain free and divorced from Lolth. And interfering with their slaves - you, which they consider to be their property - would cause bad blood between the two allied Houses."</p><p></p><p>"Well, crap," muttered Cramer.</p><p></p><p>"It is therefore best to continue on as normal. The Mortal Queen can continue to <em>scry</em> upon you but cannot easily use the information she gleans." T'Puuli saw crestfallen looks among the slaves, although the true nature of the problem at hand didn't look to have fully penetrated the minds of Khari or Jhasspok; they looked stoically on as the smarter members of their group had their discussion. No doubt it would all be explained to them later.</p><p></p><p>"In any case, we have two more missions for you," said T'puuli, hoping to move on to more positive subjects. "First, you will go to the Desolate Watch, an outpost at the mouth of the valley leading to the Desolate Wastes, and warn them of the impending drow invasion. It is believed they have a means by which they can communicate with the Undying Crusade, so they should be able to forward Greenvale's call for aid."</p><p></p><p>"What's the Undying Crusade?" asked Utred. T'puuli explained there was a necromantic effect in place throughout the Desolate Waste, reanimating any corpses slain there. This included devils and demons from the Lower Planes, whose bodies were then sent against the living fiends rising up to try to gain a purchase on the mortal realms in a mountain range called the Baator's Breath Mountains to the southeast.</p><p></p><p>"Once you have completed that first mission, you will continue southeast to the Ossirnan Peninsula to try to gain aid from the kingdoms there." Cramer was checking his map but the Ossirnan Peninsula did not appear anywhere on it. He frowned, preferring to have a map before him to make it easier to judge distances. As a follower of the God of Travelers, he was well aware of the importance of a good map.</p><p></p><p>"How far away is the Desolate Watch?" asked Jhasspok.</p><p></p><p>"Five hours by wagon; we will provide a horse and wagon for your journey," T'puuli replied, indicating with a wave of his hand at the window the horse-drawn wagon just now pulling up to the front of the building. The arena slaves gathered up their gear and piled it into the back of the wagon; as normal, Cramer sat up in front, his hands on the reins while Marlo sat beside him and Jhasspok and the dwarves sat in the back.</p><p></p><p>They were less than an hour away from the tower when it became visible on the horizon; disturbingly, it seemed to be covered in black flames. "Izzat normal?" Khari asked, squinting at the sight.</p><p></p><p>"I would imagine not," answered Cramer, coaxing the horse to greater speed for the duration of the journey. All eyes were upon the black flames dancing around the base of the tower; as the group approached they could see the bodies of human soldiers as well as various devils littering the field. Up on the top of the 30-foot stone tower they spotted a massive horned devil in combat with a pair of winged celestials; below, they saw two hell hounds, a chain devil, and a pair of human fighters in heavy armor wielding longswords with a strange, reddish cast to them poked about the slain corpses, killing time until the black <em>wall of fire</em> ran its course. With the crackling of the black flames, none of the fiendish forces noticed the imminent arrival of the five arena slaves in their horse-drawn wagon.</p><p></p><p>Cramer cast a <em>longstrider</em> spell upon himself, realizing without the magical enhancement he'd soon fall behind his fellows in the course of battle - and as the group's primary source of magical healing it was important he be able to keep up. He followed with the spells <em>detect evil</em> and <em>magic circle against evil</em>, realizing their importance in a fight against forces from the Lower Realms. He briefly explained to the others what he could recall about chain devils and hell hounds: the canines were immune to fire, whereas the chain devils had no such protection, although cold-based spells would have no effect upon them.</p><p></p><p>Khari, impatient with the wagon's progress, jumped off the side and raced forward towards the fiendish forces. But rather than get too close, he stopped about halfway between them and the wagon and planted himself into a defensive posture, <em>earthglide warhammer</em> at the ready, preferring they bring the fight to him rather than he get himself too far away from his fighting companions. The chain devil noticed the movement from the corner of her eye and spun about to face the dwarven fighter, the chains hanging from her blue-tinged body spinning away momentarily as she did so. She called something out in the Infernal tongue, a language in which none of the slaves had any familiarity, but Cramer's <em>helm of comprehend languages</em> allowed him to understand her comment to have been an observation that the Desolate Watch must have called in reinforcements. The others about her spun to face the heroes at her warning and then she followed Khari's stratagem of moving forward but taking a defensive posture and letting the enemy make the first move. Behind her, the human fighters moved up slowly, clumsy in their heavy armor.</p><p></p><p>Marlo looked at the group of four foes approaching Khari and stepping up close to the chain devil already in position, as if they would then make a concentrated attack. As a sorcerer, Marlo Pendragon had an instinctive sense about magic; she had never actively studied spellcraft, allowing the spells to come to her as needed. She spread her hands to her sides, feeling for a surge of magical energy all about her. Then, bundling it to her and flinging it out at her foes, she caused the first manifestation of a new spell she'd never cast before in her life.</p><p></p><p>All about the chain devil, the two hell hounds, and the pair of armored men with their hellsteel swords, the ground rumbled and erupted into a sudden burst of tentacles, springing into existence in a manner of mere seconds. These tentacles writhed and contorted like those of the Dying One to whom Marlo had secretly allied herself, like those of the Writhing Gate which N'zorthal controlled in apparent service to the drow of House Jalamir but whose true secrets he kept for himself. The thick, rubbery, black appendages wrapped around the fiendish forces, crushing them in their ebon embrace.</p><p></p><p>The hell hounds let out twin howls of astonishment and anger as they tried futilely to escape their writhing bonds. Seeing this, Utred unfurled his <em>life-flame whip</em> as he raced up to the edge of the mass of waving tentacles, lining himself up to be able to strike the chain devil at the edge of the spell's area of effect.</p><p></p><p>But there were six fiendish foes on the ground around the keep and the sixth, a tiefling named <strong>Amathia</strong>, crept from behind the stone fort at the sounds of outrage and pain from her fellows. She took stock of the situation and cast a <em>flame strike</em> spell on the three heroes still in the wagon, that looking to be the best way to maximize the pain of her spell to the greatest number of enemies. Jhasspok, Cramer, and the unnamed horse evaded the worst of the spell's effects, leaving Marlo as the only one to take the full force of the attack. (The horse, however, reared up in panic and subsequently refused to move from the spot.)</p><p></p><p>Cramer, grimacing through the pain of the <em>flame strike</em> spell, recognized in Amathia a cleric of similar spellcasting skill as his own and targeted her with a <em>spiritual weapon</em> spell. The quarterstaff of pure force energy that suddenly appeared went rushing to attack the tiefling, slamming one end down upon her horned head. The gnome then leaped down from the wagon and approached the other enemies caught up in Marlo's newest spell.</p><p></p><p>Jhasspok leaped down from the wagon as well and sprinted past the mass of tentacles, heading for the tiefling at his greatest speed, his magic battleaxe out and ready to be put to good use. Khari charged through the solid ground - using the power of his <em>earthglide warhammer</em> - and popped up at the edge of the <em>Evard's black tentacles</em> spell, bringing the head of his weapon crashing into the chain-covered body of the kyton. She tried to retaliate but couldn't, her limbs and the bulk of her animated chains pinned in place by the ebon tentacles of Marlo's spell. The hell hounds were now whimpering like frightened puppies, their plaintive cries for mercy out of place coming from the throats of vicious canines from Hell. The human fighters were likely giving their all to trying to escape from the crushing appendages - and finding their all wasn't quite good enough. With each passing second the tentacles' embrace tightened, constricting bodies into near motionlessness and preventing the grappled foes from getting in any deep breaths; soon they'd be so tight they'd prevent any breathing whatsoever.</p><p></p><p>Marlo turned her attention to the tiefling whose <em>flame strike</em> had caused her so much pain. She lashed out with another new spell she'd never been able to manifest before and a <em>lightning bolt</em> sped from the sorcerer's fingertips to streak across the battlefield and blast into Amathia's hell-warped body.</p><p></p><p>But then suddenly, in an unexpected burst of fiendish strength, one of the hell hounds managed to pry himself free from the black tentacles crushing him nearly to death. Unfortunately, he'd been toward the middle of the spell's area of effect and that meant he had to try to make his way outside the circle of writhing appendages, those within reach trying to grab him up again. He whined in terror as he made his way slowly to freedom - only to be grabbed by the back leg by the tip of a tentacle as he was almost free.</p><p></p><p>Utred snapped his <em>life-flame whip</em> into the face of the pinned-in-place female kyton, grinning as he enjoyed the pain each such attack brought. He was not normally a sadistic combatant but he made an exception when fighting fiends - these were, after all, literally devils from Hell trying to spread their evil across the face of the mortal world and they deserved every bit of pain the mortals could inflict upon them - maybe then they'd learn to stick to the Lower Realms and confine themselves to inflicting pain upon those doomed souls who had already earned it. He was also somewhat amused at the thought of the chain devil not having any protection against fire; Utred was no theologian but he had thought Hell was a place of eternally burning fires and the thought of the kytons being burned as easily as any dwarf seemed somewhat ridiculous to the burly barbarian.</p><p></p><p>Amathia cast an <em>unholy blight</em> spell next, catching Utred, Khari, and Cramer within it - but was immediately disappointed in the results. Then Cramer's <em>spiritual quarterstaff</em> took another swing at her, causing her to have to duck to avoid getting pegged again. Cramer disappeared from view, walking casually into the mass of waving tentacles without harm, trusting in his Fharlanghn-granted powers of <em>freedom of movement</em> to keep the appendages from getting him into their unthinking embrace. From the safety of the <em>Evard's black tentacles</em> spell - as safe as a clownfish among the fronds of a sea anemone - he cast a <em>divine favor</em> spell upon himself, gearing himself up for physical combat if it came to that.</p><p></p><p>By this time Jhasspok had reached the back half of the battleground and swung his battleaxe at Amathia, causing her to drop back a few steps from the fury of the lizardfolk's attack and cast a much-needed <em>cure critical wounds</em> spell on herself, closing up the massive wound Jhasspok had just inflicted on her. Khari charged as well, bringing his warhammer crashing down on the hell hound at the very edge of escaping the <em>Evard's black tentacles</em> spell - the dwarven fighter wasn't having any of that! Inside the mass of tentacles, the life was being crushed out of the chain devil, the human fighters, and the pair of hell hounds.</p><p></p><p>Marlo, seeing Jhasspok in Amathia's face and the tiefling likewise under attack by Cramer's <em>spiritual quarterstaff</em>, decided to take care of the chain devil before she could try to escape - for the female kyton was also, by happenstance, at the edge of the area of effect of the <em>Evard's black tentacles</em> spell. She <em>empowered</em> a <em>magic missile</em> spell, swelling in pride when she saw a full five missiles speeding from her hand to strike the chain devil - Marlo had never before managed to send that many out at once! After being struck by the spell, the chain devil passed out from Utred's follow-on whip-strikes, falling to unconsciousness and no longer even able to try escaping from the ever-tightening embrace of the writhing tentacles. Cramer called out from somewhere in the mass of tentacles, "Kytons can regenerate!" while slamming a pinned hell hound with his mace.</p><p></p><p>"I'm on it!" Utred called back. "I'll keep whipping her and giving her something to have to regenerate from!" It looked to the barbarian as if this combat was pretty much wrapped up as it was; he could step aside and relegate this task for himself without endangering any of his friends.</p><p></p><p>Jhasspok, angered that the previous wound he'd inflicted on Amathia had been sealed up by magic, swung his battleaxe at her in a flurry, followed up with a dart forward and a snapping of his sharp teeth. He was pleased to see he'd hit twice with his axe and the taste of blood on his tongue told him he'd been successful with his other attack as well. He could make such attacks on her all day; let's see how long she could continue healing herself with spells! And Cramer's <em>spiritual quarterstaff</em> continued its attacks as well.</p><p></p><p>Khari continued pounding on the hell hound at the edge of the tentacle field with his warhammer. <em>Why was this thing taking so long to die?</em> he wondered to himself. Then, from the other side of the mass of tentacles, one of the human fighters managed to pull himself from the spell effect, tasting sweet, sweet freedom at last. He'd made it out just in time, too, for shortly thereafter his armored counterpart and both hell hounds succumbed to the crushing embrace of the black appendages, their crumpled bodies falling lifelessly to the ground. But his escape from the tentacles didn't mean he was safe, as another <em>empowered magic missile</em> from Marlo made perfectly clear. He staggered forward, almost losing his footing.</p><p></p><p>Amathia turned and sprinted around the back of the tower, temporarily shielded from Jhasspok's view by the black flames still ringing the tower keep. Better yet, she was also shielded from the <em>spiritual quarterstaff</em>, which defaulted to flying back to Cramer once it was no longer in the presence of the target it had originally been set against. But Cramer sent it right back at her from the other side of the tower; she'd granted herself no more than a moment's respite. And it wasn't much of a respite at that, for Jhasspok sprinted around the tower behind her and sent his battleaxe crashing down into her spine, felling her like a tree.</p><p></p><p>Together, Marlo and Khari finished off the sole remaining human fighter with spells and warhammer, respectively. And then, their own foes slain, the heroes looked up to the top of the tower's roof, where the celestials were still fighting the horned devil. "Any way we can get up there?" Utred asked, still occasionally flicking his whip at the unconscious chain devil to keep her out.</p><p></p><p>Cramer considered. The <em>wall of fire</em> was an impediment, surely, its sudden appearance obviously there to prevent anyone from using the front door. The color of the black flames concerned the gnome, as he was unsure if this was some other aspect of the spell to which he was unaware. But then the point was moot, for the celestials finished off their own fiendish foe and one of them flew over to the assembled group of heroes.</p><p></p><p>"I thank thee for thine assistance," the woman said, alighting beside Marlo with a flapping of feathered wings. She strode purposefully beside Utred and sent the tip of her <em>holy sword</em> stabbing deep into the kyton's body, slaying her instantly.</p><p></p><p>"What happened here?" asked Marlo.</p><p></p><p>"The Desolate Watch's purpose is to take care of any threat getting past the Undying Crusade, be that threat devil or undead broken free of the compulsion to aid the Crusade. The Watch was attacked by a tiefling follower - and in truth, very likely a descendant - of a pit fiend most vile, called the <strong>Hope Ender</strong>. With yon Watch destroyed, 'twas believed a small group of the Hope Ender's forces could sneak forth from the Desolate Wastes to wreak havoc upon the mortal world. With most of the Watch slain on the field of battle before thy timely arrival and the others pinned inside the keep by yon ebon flames, 'twas a plan capable of success - had ye not slain those below as we slew the horned devil above. For this, ye have our gratitude. Hast ye a boon to ask?"</p><p></p><p>Marlo explained the group's purpose in coming to the Desolate Watch as the other celestial dispelled the black <em>wall of fire</em> and released the remaining members of the Watch from their tower. After she was finished, the Watch survivors agreed to deliver their proposal to the Undying Crusade. "However," advised the senior remaining Watch member, "many of the Crusade's ranks need to remain within the Desolate Wastes. All who die within the Wastes rise as undead compelled to aid the Undying Crusade - even the devils they fight - but being drawn away from the source of the compulsion would weaken the effect, possibly enabling them to break free. We would not want to have to deal with a marauding army of undead devils on top of everything else, would we?"</p><p></p><p>"We would not," agreed Cramer.</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>This game session was a first: we'd decided that unlike the "Durnhill Conscripts" campaign where it was possible for each session to deal with a lesser number of PCs if some of the players opted not to show up, for this campaign we wouldn't play unless all five players were present. But Dan, Vicki, and Joey are going to be on vacation for the next couple of weeks and we all knew this was to be our last gaming session for the rest of the month - and then Joey ate an entire bag of Flaming Hot Doritos the day we were going to play and had to bow out. Rather than have us cancel the session, he just asked his dad to run Utred for him. So when Utred was put on "keep whipping the chain devil so she doesn't regenerate back to wakefulness" detail, that was just a good way to keep his PC out of the round-to-round action.</p><p></p><p>We got a few goods off of Amathia: Khari took her <em>+1 glamered full plate armor</em> and Jhasspok took her <em>+1 ring of protection</em>. We sold the rest of the masterwork weapons and armor to the Desolate Watch, to give to the reinforcements they'd be calling to replace their slain members.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 8019676, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 26: THE DESOLATE WATCH[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Cramer Appleknocker, gnome cleric 9[/INDENT] [INDENT] Jhasspok, lizardman 3/barbarian 2/fighter 4[/INDENT] [INDENT] Khari Hammerslammer, dwarf fighter 9[/INDENT] [INDENT] Marlo Pendragon, human sorcerer 9[/INDENT] [INDENT] Utred "Buckets" Butterflinger, dwarf barbarian 9[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 18 June 2020 - - - "We have determined how the Mortal Queen was able to spy upon you so easily," reported T'puuli Tine, the half-celestial drider who ruled over Greenvale in the absence of the Matron Mother of House Ky'hulcressen. "Through these damned tattoos, I imagine," hazarded Cramer, referring to the slave tattoos that had been inscribed on the backs of each of the five slaves upon their capture - or shortly after his hatching, in Jhasspok's case. "But I thought only members of House Jalamir could use the tattoos in that way," countered Marlo. "The tattoos are, after all, the House Emblem of Jalamir. It wouldn't make sense if members of other Houses could [I]scry[/I] upon the slaves of other Houses - that would give them a real boost in gaining intelligence on their enemy Houses." "There is a loophole in Overreach law," pointed out T'Puuli. "Nothing lawful about Overreach," grumbled Cramer. "Once she declared herself the Mortal Queen, and thus the highest mortal authority of all drow, she elevated herself above the petty ranks of all Houses," T'puuli continued. "She can now [I]scry[/I] at will upon the slaves of any House at all as if a member of that House; as the Mortal Queen, she is effectively a member of all Houses at once." "But she's the Matron Mother of House Bel'vior," argued Marlo. "That gives her House an unfair advantage." "Irrelevant - she has effectively ascended beyond the concerns of any one House. But consider this: she can now [I]scry[/I] upon you, through your slave tattoos, not only as a member of House Jalamir - in which case she will see the false images protecting you from being discovered - but also as a member of House Ky'hulcressen - in which case she is privy to your real actions, as House Ky'hulcressen and their Greenvale associates are the ones who had your tattoos modified in the first place." "So she's peekin' behind the curtain," assessed Khari. "Seein' what we do for real." "Effectively, yes." "And there's no way to stop her," sighed Marlo, a tinge of despondency in her voice. "Perhaps not," agreed T'Puuli, "but you have this on your side: in Overreach, tampering with slaves is so commonplace that [I]scrying[/I] upon a slave cannot be used as proof of wrongdoing - and remember, in drow society a crime is only illegal if you get caught doing it. Thus, even though the Mortal Queen knows House Ky'hulcressen and House Jalamir are plotting against her, she cannot officially act upon that knowledge without weakening her own position in the eyes of the other drow Houses." "Isn't there anything we can do?" asked Marlo. "The only way to fully prevent her from [I]scrying[/I] upon you would be to remove the tattoos..." "Then let's do that!" interjected Cramer, eager to be out from under the yoke of the drow. "...but to do so would be to cause an unnecessary rift between Houses Jalamir and Ky'hulcressen. Remember, House Jalamir is rebelling against the Mortal Queen because in their minds House Bel'vior has overstepped their bounds; they have no intrinsic desire to see Greenvale remain free and divorced from Lolth. And interfering with their slaves - you, which they consider to be their property - would cause bad blood between the two allied Houses." "Well, crap," muttered Cramer. "It is therefore best to continue on as normal. The Mortal Queen can continue to [I]scry[/I] upon you but cannot easily use the information she gleans." T'Puuli saw crestfallen looks among the slaves, although the true nature of the problem at hand didn't look to have fully penetrated the minds of Khari or Jhasspok; they looked stoically on as the smarter members of their group had their discussion. No doubt it would all be explained to them later. "In any case, we have two more missions for you," said T'puuli, hoping to move on to more positive subjects. "First, you will go to the Desolate Watch, an outpost at the mouth of the valley leading to the Desolate Wastes, and warn them of the impending drow invasion. It is believed they have a means by which they can communicate with the Undying Crusade, so they should be able to forward Greenvale's call for aid." "What's the Undying Crusade?" asked Utred. T'puuli explained there was a necromantic effect in place throughout the Desolate Waste, reanimating any corpses slain there. This included devils and demons from the Lower Planes, whose bodies were then sent against the living fiends rising up to try to gain a purchase on the mortal realms in a mountain range called the Baator's Breath Mountains to the southeast. "Once you have completed that first mission, you will continue southeast to the Ossirnan Peninsula to try to gain aid from the kingdoms there." Cramer was checking his map but the Ossirnan Peninsula did not appear anywhere on it. He frowned, preferring to have a map before him to make it easier to judge distances. As a follower of the God of Travelers, he was well aware of the importance of a good map. "How far away is the Desolate Watch?" asked Jhasspok. "Five hours by wagon; we will provide a horse and wagon for your journey," T'puuli replied, indicating with a wave of his hand at the window the horse-drawn wagon just now pulling up to the front of the building. The arena slaves gathered up their gear and piled it into the back of the wagon; as normal, Cramer sat up in front, his hands on the reins while Marlo sat beside him and Jhasspok and the dwarves sat in the back. They were less than an hour away from the tower when it became visible on the horizon; disturbingly, it seemed to be covered in black flames. "Izzat normal?" Khari asked, squinting at the sight. "I would imagine not," answered Cramer, coaxing the horse to greater speed for the duration of the journey. All eyes were upon the black flames dancing around the base of the tower; as the group approached they could see the bodies of human soldiers as well as various devils littering the field. Up on the top of the 30-foot stone tower they spotted a massive horned devil in combat with a pair of winged celestials; below, they saw two hell hounds, a chain devil, and a pair of human fighters in heavy armor wielding longswords with a strange, reddish cast to them poked about the slain corpses, killing time until the black [I]wall of fire[/I] ran its course. With the crackling of the black flames, none of the fiendish forces noticed the imminent arrival of the five arena slaves in their horse-drawn wagon. Cramer cast a [I]longstrider[/I] spell upon himself, realizing without the magical enhancement he'd soon fall behind his fellows in the course of battle - and as the group's primary source of magical healing it was important he be able to keep up. He followed with the spells [I]detect evil[/I] and [I]magic circle against evil[/I], realizing their importance in a fight against forces from the Lower Realms. He briefly explained to the others what he could recall about chain devils and hell hounds: the canines were immune to fire, whereas the chain devils had no such protection, although cold-based spells would have no effect upon them. Khari, impatient with the wagon's progress, jumped off the side and raced forward towards the fiendish forces. But rather than get too close, he stopped about halfway between them and the wagon and planted himself into a defensive posture, [I]earthglide warhammer[/I] at the ready, preferring they bring the fight to him rather than he get himself too far away from his fighting companions. The chain devil noticed the movement from the corner of her eye and spun about to face the dwarven fighter, the chains hanging from her blue-tinged body spinning away momentarily as she did so. She called something out in the Infernal tongue, a language in which none of the slaves had any familiarity, but Cramer's [I]helm of comprehend languages[/I] allowed him to understand her comment to have been an observation that the Desolate Watch must have called in reinforcements. The others about her spun to face the heroes at her warning and then she followed Khari's stratagem of moving forward but taking a defensive posture and letting the enemy make the first move. Behind her, the human fighters moved up slowly, clumsy in their heavy armor. Marlo looked at the group of four foes approaching Khari and stepping up close to the chain devil already in position, as if they would then make a concentrated attack. As a sorcerer, Marlo Pendragon had an instinctive sense about magic; she had never actively studied spellcraft, allowing the spells to come to her as needed. She spread her hands to her sides, feeling for a surge of magical energy all about her. Then, bundling it to her and flinging it out at her foes, she caused the first manifestation of a new spell she'd never cast before in her life. All about the chain devil, the two hell hounds, and the pair of armored men with their hellsteel swords, the ground rumbled and erupted into a sudden burst of tentacles, springing into existence in a manner of mere seconds. These tentacles writhed and contorted like those of the Dying One to whom Marlo had secretly allied herself, like those of the Writhing Gate which N'zorthal controlled in apparent service to the drow of House Jalamir but whose true secrets he kept for himself. The thick, rubbery, black appendages wrapped around the fiendish forces, crushing them in their ebon embrace. The hell hounds let out twin howls of astonishment and anger as they tried futilely to escape their writhing bonds. Seeing this, Utred unfurled his [I]life-flame whip[/I] as he raced up to the edge of the mass of waving tentacles, lining himself up to be able to strike the chain devil at the edge of the spell's area of effect. But there were six fiendish foes on the ground around the keep and the sixth, a tiefling named [B]Amathia[/B], crept from behind the stone fort at the sounds of outrage and pain from her fellows. She took stock of the situation and cast a [I]flame strike[/I] spell on the three heroes still in the wagon, that looking to be the best way to maximize the pain of her spell to the greatest number of enemies. Jhasspok, Cramer, and the unnamed horse evaded the worst of the spell's effects, leaving Marlo as the only one to take the full force of the attack. (The horse, however, reared up in panic and subsequently refused to move from the spot.) Cramer, grimacing through the pain of the [I]flame strike[/I] spell, recognized in Amathia a cleric of similar spellcasting skill as his own and targeted her with a [I]spiritual weapon[/I] spell. The quarterstaff of pure force energy that suddenly appeared went rushing to attack the tiefling, slamming one end down upon her horned head. The gnome then leaped down from the wagon and approached the other enemies caught up in Marlo's newest spell. Jhasspok leaped down from the wagon as well and sprinted past the mass of tentacles, heading for the tiefling at his greatest speed, his magic battleaxe out and ready to be put to good use. Khari charged through the solid ground - using the power of his [I]earthglide warhammer[/I] - and popped up at the edge of the [I]Evard's black tentacles[/I] spell, bringing the head of his weapon crashing into the chain-covered body of the kyton. She tried to retaliate but couldn't, her limbs and the bulk of her animated chains pinned in place by the ebon tentacles of Marlo's spell. The hell hounds were now whimpering like frightened puppies, their plaintive cries for mercy out of place coming from the throats of vicious canines from Hell. The human fighters were likely giving their all to trying to escape from the crushing appendages - and finding their all wasn't quite good enough. With each passing second the tentacles' embrace tightened, constricting bodies into near motionlessness and preventing the grappled foes from getting in any deep breaths; soon they'd be so tight they'd prevent any breathing whatsoever. Marlo turned her attention to the tiefling whose [I]flame strike[/I] had caused her so much pain. She lashed out with another new spell she'd never been able to manifest before and a [I]lightning bolt[/I] sped from the sorcerer's fingertips to streak across the battlefield and blast into Amathia's hell-warped body. But then suddenly, in an unexpected burst of fiendish strength, one of the hell hounds managed to pry himself free from the black tentacles crushing him nearly to death. Unfortunately, he'd been toward the middle of the spell's area of effect and that meant he had to try to make his way outside the circle of writhing appendages, those within reach trying to grab him up again. He whined in terror as he made his way slowly to freedom - only to be grabbed by the back leg by the tip of a tentacle as he was almost free. Utred snapped his [I]life-flame whip[/I] into the face of the pinned-in-place female kyton, grinning as he enjoyed the pain each such attack brought. He was not normally a sadistic combatant but he made an exception when fighting fiends - these were, after all, literally devils from Hell trying to spread their evil across the face of the mortal world and they deserved every bit of pain the mortals could inflict upon them - maybe then they'd learn to stick to the Lower Realms and confine themselves to inflicting pain upon those doomed souls who had already earned it. He was also somewhat amused at the thought of the chain devil not having any protection against fire; Utred was no theologian but he had thought Hell was a place of eternally burning fires and the thought of the kytons being burned as easily as any dwarf seemed somewhat ridiculous to the burly barbarian. Amathia cast an [I]unholy blight[/I] spell next, catching Utred, Khari, and Cramer within it - but was immediately disappointed in the results. Then Cramer's [I]spiritual quarterstaff[/I] took another swing at her, causing her to have to duck to avoid getting pegged again. Cramer disappeared from view, walking casually into the mass of waving tentacles without harm, trusting in his Fharlanghn-granted powers of [I]freedom of movement[/I] to keep the appendages from getting him into their unthinking embrace. From the safety of the [I]Evard's black tentacles[/I] spell - as safe as a clownfish among the fronds of a sea anemone - he cast a [I]divine favor[/I] spell upon himself, gearing himself up for physical combat if it came to that. By this time Jhasspok had reached the back half of the battleground and swung his battleaxe at Amathia, causing her to drop back a few steps from the fury of the lizardfolk's attack and cast a much-needed [I]cure critical wounds[/I] spell on herself, closing up the massive wound Jhasspok had just inflicted on her. Khari charged as well, bringing his warhammer crashing down on the hell hound at the very edge of escaping the [I]Evard's black tentacles[/I] spell - the dwarven fighter wasn't having any of that! Inside the mass of tentacles, the life was being crushed out of the chain devil, the human fighters, and the pair of hell hounds. Marlo, seeing Jhasspok in Amathia's face and the tiefling likewise under attack by Cramer's [I]spiritual quarterstaff[/I], decided to take care of the chain devil before she could try to escape - for the female kyton was also, by happenstance, at the edge of the area of effect of the [I]Evard's black tentacles[/I] spell. She [I]empowered[/I] a [I]magic missile[/I] spell, swelling in pride when she saw a full five missiles speeding from her hand to strike the chain devil - Marlo had never before managed to send that many out at once! After being struck by the spell, the chain devil passed out from Utred's follow-on whip-strikes, falling to unconsciousness and no longer even able to try escaping from the ever-tightening embrace of the writhing tentacles. Cramer called out from somewhere in the mass of tentacles, "Kytons can regenerate!" while slamming a pinned hell hound with his mace. "I'm on it!" Utred called back. "I'll keep whipping her and giving her something to have to regenerate from!" It looked to the barbarian as if this combat was pretty much wrapped up as it was; he could step aside and relegate this task for himself without endangering any of his friends. Jhasspok, angered that the previous wound he'd inflicted on Amathia had been sealed up by magic, swung his battleaxe at her in a flurry, followed up with a dart forward and a snapping of his sharp teeth. He was pleased to see he'd hit twice with his axe and the taste of blood on his tongue told him he'd been successful with his other attack as well. He could make such attacks on her all day; let's see how long she could continue healing herself with spells! And Cramer's [I]spiritual quarterstaff[/I] continued its attacks as well. Khari continued pounding on the hell hound at the edge of the tentacle field with his warhammer. [I]Why was this thing taking so long to die?[/I] he wondered to himself. Then, from the other side of the mass of tentacles, one of the human fighters managed to pull himself from the spell effect, tasting sweet, sweet freedom at last. He'd made it out just in time, too, for shortly thereafter his armored counterpart and both hell hounds succumbed to the crushing embrace of the black appendages, their crumpled bodies falling lifelessly to the ground. But his escape from the tentacles didn't mean he was safe, as another [I]empowered magic missile[/I] from Marlo made perfectly clear. He staggered forward, almost losing his footing. Amathia turned and sprinted around the back of the tower, temporarily shielded from Jhasspok's view by the black flames still ringing the tower keep. Better yet, she was also shielded from the [I]spiritual quarterstaff[/I], which defaulted to flying back to Cramer once it was no longer in the presence of the target it had originally been set against. But Cramer sent it right back at her from the other side of the tower; she'd granted herself no more than a moment's respite. And it wasn't much of a respite at that, for Jhasspok sprinted around the tower behind her and sent his battleaxe crashing down into her spine, felling her like a tree. Together, Marlo and Khari finished off the sole remaining human fighter with spells and warhammer, respectively. And then, their own foes slain, the heroes looked up to the top of the tower's roof, where the celestials were still fighting the horned devil. "Any way we can get up there?" Utred asked, still occasionally flicking his whip at the unconscious chain devil to keep her out. Cramer considered. The [I]wall of fire[/I] was an impediment, surely, its sudden appearance obviously there to prevent anyone from using the front door. The color of the black flames concerned the gnome, as he was unsure if this was some other aspect of the spell to which he was unaware. But then the point was moot, for the celestials finished off their own fiendish foe and one of them flew over to the assembled group of heroes. "I thank thee for thine assistance," the woman said, alighting beside Marlo with a flapping of feathered wings. She strode purposefully beside Utred and sent the tip of her [I]holy sword[/I] stabbing deep into the kyton's body, slaying her instantly. "What happened here?" asked Marlo. "The Desolate Watch's purpose is to take care of any threat getting past the Undying Crusade, be that threat devil or undead broken free of the compulsion to aid the Crusade. The Watch was attacked by a tiefling follower - and in truth, very likely a descendant - of a pit fiend most vile, called the [B]Hope Ender[/B]. With yon Watch destroyed, 'twas believed a small group of the Hope Ender's forces could sneak forth from the Desolate Wastes to wreak havoc upon the mortal world. With most of the Watch slain on the field of battle before thy timely arrival and the others pinned inside the keep by yon ebon flames, 'twas a plan capable of success - had ye not slain those below as we slew the horned devil above. For this, ye have our gratitude. Hast ye a boon to ask?" Marlo explained the group's purpose in coming to the Desolate Watch as the other celestial dispelled the black [I]wall of fire[/I] and released the remaining members of the Watch from their tower. After she was finished, the Watch survivors agreed to deliver their proposal to the Undying Crusade. "However," advised the senior remaining Watch member, "many of the Crusade's ranks need to remain within the Desolate Wastes. All who die within the Wastes rise as undead compelled to aid the Undying Crusade - even the devils they fight - but being drawn away from the source of the compulsion would weaken the effect, possibly enabling them to break free. We would not want to have to deal with a marauding army of undead devils on top of everything else, would we?" "We would not," agreed Cramer. - - - This game session was a first: we'd decided that unlike the "Durnhill Conscripts" campaign where it was possible for each session to deal with a lesser number of PCs if some of the players opted not to show up, for this campaign we wouldn't play unless all five players were present. But Dan, Vicki, and Joey are going to be on vacation for the next couple of weeks and we all knew this was to be our last gaming session for the rest of the month - and then Joey ate an entire bag of Flaming Hot Doritos the day we were going to play and had to bow out. Rather than have us cancel the session, he just asked his dad to run Utred for him. So when Utred was put on "keep whipping the chain devil so she doesn't regenerate back to wakefulness" detail, that was just a good way to keep his PC out of the round-to-round action. We got a few goods off of Amathia: Khari took her [I]+1 glamered full plate armor[/I] and Jhasspok took her [I]+1 ring of protection[/I]. We sold the rest of the masterwork weapons and armor to the Desolate Watch, to give to the reinforcements they'd be calling to replace their slain members. [/QUOTE]
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