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- *****
- *
- * The 8 player characters contained in this writing are copyright
- * 1992 by Thomas Miller...copying and distribution of these stories
- * is permissible only under the condition that no part of them will
- * be used or sold for profit. In that case, I hope you enjoy them.
- * The dungeons and non-player characters contained herein are from
- * TSR's module, A2, and are copyright 1980 by TSR, Inc. Although
- * they are reprinted after a fashion in this story writeup, they
- * are not being used for profit or personal gain in any way. In
- * this spirit, verbatim text and maps from the module have been
- * avoided. I would encourage anyone who does not own the Slaver
- * series, that is, TSR modules A1-A4, to buy them, as much more
- * enjoyment will come from actually playing them rather than from
- * reading about one party's experiences within.
- *
- *****
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- THE PARTY:
-
- Alindyar, 6th level drow elf mage (N)
- Belphanior, 4th/4rd/5th level high elf fighter/mage/thief (CN)
- Ged, 5th/5th level grey elf priest/mage of Boccob (NG)
- Halbarad, 6th level human ranger (NG)
- Mongo Thunderhead, 6th level dwarf fighter (CG)
- Peldor, 7th level human thief (N)
- Peyote, 5th/5th level half-elf fighter/druid of Obad-Hai (N)
- Rob, 6th level human priest of Trithereon (LG)
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
-
- XXIII. Empty Rooms; the Cloaker's Lair; Pursuit; Shooting Stars; Trouble
-
-
-
- The party defeated some hobgoblins and entered a carpeted corridor.
- This new passage was shadowy and silent, and veered sharply left about
- sixty feet ahead.
-
- Mongo: Hmm. Pretty damn quiet in here, if you ask me.
- Peyote: Yeah.
- Alindyar: Methinks someone overcarpeted this hallway.
- Rob: It's pretty comfortable.
- Halbarad: Rob, watch it with that torch. Don't hold it directly above
- our heads.
- Belphanior: What's that?! (a rat scurries forth and vanishes into a
- hole in the wall before he can throw a dagger at it) Damn.
- Peldor: Guess that means no dinner for us tonight, eh?
- Ged: Quiet, fool.
-
- They continued along the passage, turning left, then left again. A
- door was visible on the left wall, and the corridor went on for about
- twenty feet before ending in a draped wall. The door was swinging to
- and fro as they approached.
-
- Halbarad: Someone cover me, I'm going in that door. (enters the room
- beyond) Hmm. An empty room. Nothing is here except old barrels
- and chests and junk.
- Belphanior: There's a fireplace. Let's start a fire in it.
- Ged: That's an idiotic idea. Besides, there's already one burning
- somewhere up above.
- Mongo: We haven't forgotten.
- Belphanior: There's a draft coming down this fireplace. Smells like
- smoke, slightly.
- Ged: Why don't you climb up it or something?
- Peldor: (finds a leather pouch near the door, containing a chisel and
- hammer) I wonder what these are for?
- Mongo: Hammer and chisel. Usually used to shape stone.
- Peldor: I knew _that_...
- Peyote: Let's depart and move on.
-
- They went to the end of the corridor, and Belphanior brushed aside
- the drapes there. Beyond was a continuation of the passage, without
- carpeting or drapes. Suddenly...
-
- Mongo: AAAAAaaaaa.....(falls into a pit)
- Ged: Not again!
- Belphanior: (peering over the edge, into a 10' wide, 10' deep pit.
- Mongo is at the bottom groaning in pain.) Hmph. Should've been
- more careful.
- Mongo: Ow.
- Halbarad: Are you okay?
- Mongo: Pretty much. I grazed a few spikes here, and have some new
- bruises, but I'll live. Throw me a rope.
- Peyote: (lowers a rope to the dwarf) Dude. Let me heal you.
- Mongo: (climbing to the top of the pit) Sure.
- Peyote: (works some healing magic on Mongo)
- Mongo: Ahh. Much better. My ring will take care of the rest, in
- time. Let's go on. But, dammit, from now on, any suspicious
- areas get checked before we walk on them. I'm sick of falling
- into pits!
- Belphanior: Seems reasonable.
- Peldor: Stand back. I shall leap the pit and send back a rope.
- (backs up, dashes forth and leaps over the pit, but then hits
- something above the far end and bounces back, falling into the
- pit) Oof!
- Mongo: What the hell...!
- Peldor: Hrmph. (gets up, brushes himself off. Somehow, he didn't
- impale himself on any of the spikes.) Felt like a tripwire. (to
- DM) I search the bottom of the pit before climbing back out, on
- the far side. (finds nothing; rolls to climb and is successful)
- DM: Okay. There's a thin black wire strung about four feet up, on
- the far side.
- Peldor: Not anymore. (cuts it with his sword) What do I see ahead?
- DM: The passage bends left.
- Peldor: Hm. I'd better get the others across. (he throws them a
- rope, and both ends are secured; the crossing begins.)
- Belphanior: I'll go last, and take this end of the rope with me.
- (climbs down into the pit, stepping around the spikes there) That
- way, no one will use our own rope to follow us.
- Alindyar: 'Tis a good idea.
-
- Soon, they were all across the pit. Rob healed Peldor, for the
- thief was somewhat bruised from his fall. The party forged onward.
-
- Halbarad: The passage continues...shall we check out this door
- before continuing?
- Mongo: Sure! Hey wait, it's locked. (prepares to kick it down)
- Belphanior: Wait a minute. You said that you didn't want to set
- off any more traps, right? Well, this is an ideal location for
- one. Let me check it out.
- Mongo: Err, okay.
- Belphanior: Let's see...No traps here. (a lockpick appears in
- his hands) Hmm. Click! There it goes. NOW we can enter
- safely.
- Mongo: Gr. (considering giving up his door-breaking ways)
- Halbarad: (enters the chamber, a small boxy storeroom) This
- place is well-stocked.
- Mongo: Yup. They have all kinds of good stuff here. (rummaging
- through the bales and crates)
- Ged: Tools, cloth, pots and pans. Nothing even remotely useful
- to us. Bah.
- Alindyar: What we need is a mages' storeroom, with spellbooks,
- scrolls, and wands...
- Ged: Now that would be good.
- Peyote: Let's split.
-
- They left this room and continued down the corridor. There was
- another door to the left, then the passage ended in yet another door
- to the west.
-
- Belphanior: (listening at the first new door) Nothing. Not that I
- can hear, anyway. Shall we?
- Peyote: Let's. (they enter a square room) Phew.
- Halbarad: Something's rotting in here.
- Ged: Let's hope that it's nothing that can attack us.
- Belphanior: (looking at some huge barrel-like things standing on end
- to the south) What are these? Barrels?
- Alindyar: Tuns.
- Rob: Huh?
- Belphanior: Oh. Well, they have spigots. I wonder what's inside?
- Halbarad: (grabs the torch from Rob's hand and holds it above one
- of the containers) Nothing. Just water.
- Peldor: (also looking into the tuns, with his lantern) This one's
- got a sack or something at the bottom. Do these drains work?
- Mongo: (comes over and tries to turn the spigot and drain the water
- out of it) Mmmh. Won't budge. Damn thing's busted!
- Peldor: We could dive for it...
- Mongo: Or I could smash open the barrel. It's mostly rotten anyway.
- Ged: Let's come back later and worry about this.
- Peyote: I disagree. We may not have a chance, once we run into some
- large pack of guards.
- Rob: (looking at some buckets nearby)
- Belphanior: (losing interest in the sack, since Peldor seems determined
- to get it, he wanders into a passage to the southeast) I'm going to
- go check this out.
- Alindyar: I shall accompany you. (they go south, finding a tunnel
- which ends in a deep well) Hmm.
- Belphanior: Maybe this is the main water supply for the whole place.
- Do you think I should poison it or something?
- Alindyar: I can't see why not. However, I can't see why either. It
- would be a most destructive act in any case.
- Belphanior: Yeah...I'll hold off...for now.
- Alindyar: There is obviously nothing of interest here. Let us go back.
- Belphanior: Sure thing. (they return to the others, finding that Peldor
- has gotten the contents of the pouch - a few gold coins, a crappy gem,
- and a ring)
- Ged: Great treasure indeed.
- Peldor: Bah.
- Halbarad: I hope that you are satisfied now. Shall we go?
-
- They went on, to the door at the end of the passage.
-
- Belphanior: I hear no noise.
- Ged: I feel uneasy.
- Peyote: As do I.
- Alindyar: Now that you mention it, something IS odd here.
- Mongo: Crap! Just open the door! (does so)
-
- Beyone was a dismal sight. The room was large, and terraced, with a
- series of raised stone platforms to either side. A narrow passage ran
- through the center of the place. On the stone steps were huddled many
- naked humans, staring blankly into space. They were all chained to
- the walls by their necks, but none seemed very inclined to escape. A
- number of cloaks and blankets adorned the walls.
-
- Belphanior: Slaves!
- Ged: They don't seem too happy.
- Alindyar: Who would be?
- Rob: Brr. This room gives me the jitters.
- Alindyar: Watch out for the slaves. Remember the other room, in
- Highport, where the "slaves" were actually slavers in disguise.
- Halbarad: There is a door on the opposite side, there. That looks
- like a hobgoblin guard, too. Is he asleep?
- Peldor: If so, we can change that.
- Peyote: (looking around uneasily as they slowly traverse the room)
- It's way too shadowy in here, man.
- Alindyar: What is that? A moan...?
-
- A low moan filled the room just then. Its unearthly sound struck
- terror into the hearts of all present (or tried to, anyway)...
-
- slaves: (all cowering in the shadows)
- Alindyar: (makes his save, and is unaffected) From whence comes
- that keening?
- Belphanior: (makes his save as well) Yeah! Where?
- Ged: (makes his save easily, due to high Wisdom) Boccob's bones!
- That sound is EVIL! (prepares magic missiles)
- Halbarad: (fails his save, and bolts for the door) Aaaaa!
- Mongo: (makes his save) Somebody make some light!
- Peldor: (fails his save) Aaaaa! (flees)
- Peyote: (makes his save) Peldor flees in terror, I see. (waves
- his arms about, making a spell)
- Rob: (makes his save) Where are those two running off to?
- Mongo: Who knows? Agh! (suddenly, something shadowy flits about
- his head, as a different moan starts) Agh! I am paralyzed!
- (he failed his save)
- Cloaker: (envelops Mongo and bites him)
- Mongo: Aaaaagh!!! Help!
- Peyote: (casts continual light on the ceiling of the room; most of
- the shadows nearby disappear)
- Alindyar: (prepares a spell)
- Ged: Hold still there! (blasts the cloaker with his magic missiles)
- Damn! It's still alive!
- Belphanior: (grabs at the cloaker, trying to pry it off of Mongo)
-
- Mongo: (bitten again)
- Belphanior: (grips the cloaker) Off you go.
- Cloaker: (bats Belphanior with its spiked tail)
- Belphanior: Ouch! Okay, motherfucker! (draws his sword)
- Alindyar: (casts a color spray at the cloaker)
- Cloaker: (fails its save miserably, and drops onto the floor) Scrh!
- Belphanior: A-ha! (hacks wildly at the thing) Die, demonspawn!
- Ged: I think it's dead now.
- Rob: Peldor and Halbarad ran away...
- Mongo: (moving about weakly)
- Ged: Let me help...(heals Mongo)
- Mongo: Thanks, I owe you one.
- Halbarad: (re-enters the room) We're back.
- Peldor: (also comes back) Some evil spell drove us away...temporarily
- that is.
- Ged: I wouldn't believe you, except I saw the monster. Otherwise your
- fleeing could be attributed to cowardice.
- Belphanior: (slays the dazed hobgoblin standing by the exit) (to DM)
- I check his body for anything that looks good.
- DM: He has a few coins, and a nice cloak.
- Rob: (wanders up) Did you find anything?
- Belphanior: (pockets the gold, but not the cloak, in time) damn.
-
- Soon, everyone was ready to go. The slaves were left here for the
- time being, as they would just slow the party down. The door opened
- into a long, winding hallway, with many doors on both sides. Rather
- than open all eight of them, they instead proceeded to the ninth one,
- at the end of the passage after it curved several times. As they
- listened at this door and checked for traps, a ruckus came from the
- south, near the slave/cloaker room. Some wandering guards had seen
- the party and were raising a local alarm.
-
- hobgoblins: (beating on doors as they advance on the party; they are
- about a hundred feet away. Others come from the rooms and join them
- as the whole mass runs toward the adventurers.) Intruders! Kill!
- Maim! Hack! Slay!
- Rob: Uh-oh!
- Mongo: (hurls his hammer at one of the lead attackers, now a mere
- seventy feet away) I'll never get them all in time.
- Alindyar: We need a lighting bolt.
- Belphanior: I have my staff...
- Mongo: (catches his bloody hammer)
- Ged: No! Boccob has told me, it's MY turn now! Let me to the rear
- of the party! (dashes out, facing the oncoming horde) Go back,
- yonder fools! I have the power!
- hobgoblins, orcs, half-orcs, humans, etc.: AARGH! ELF! KILL!
- Ged: Don't say I didn't try...(brandishes his hand, with the ring
- he found in Highport; magical energy fires off down the passage,
- eliminating all of the guards in an inferno of destruction. All
- of the doors are blasted off of their hinges, and there is silence
- from that direction.) Boccob shouts for vengeance! Hah! What
- power I have found!
- Peyote: Chill out, man.
- Belphanior: Where can I get one of those rings?
- Halbarad: So much for subtlety.
- Peldor: I hear noises behind this door.
- Rob: What's that odor?
- Mongo: Smells like roasting meat. Halbarad, open the door. I'll
- stand ready with my hammer (raises the hammer)
- Halbarad: Check. (opens the door ahead)
-
- Beyond the final door was a huge squarish room, about fifty feet to
- a side and over forty feet high. It was a kitchen; the center of the
- chamber was a large fire pit, with the immense carcass of a roasting
- lizard turning slowly on a chain. The room was otherwise filled with
- crates and kegs, and some humans...
-
- tall man: (black-skinned, about 7' tall, wearing a helm with no holes
- for his eyes) Fire!
- others: (three red-bearded barbarians) Aye! (hurl axes at the party)
- tall man: Fire! (ducks behind a huge barrel near the firepit)
-
- To either side of the door, hobgoblins arose from their cover of kegs
- and boxes, and hurled axes at the party also.
-
- Mongo: Fuck! Ambush! (hit by several axes) Augh!
- Halbarad: (hit by one axe, for minor damage) Move into the room!
- Mongo: (he and the ranger enter the room) Damn!
- barbarians: (duck behind tables)
-
- Belphanior: (hurdles some barrels and slices into the hobgoblins) Die
- a bloody death, slaver scum!
- hobgoblin: (slashed mortally) Agh...(dies)
- Peyote: (slips on his ring, goes invisible)
- tall man: (behind the huge barrel, kicks it toward the party)
- Mongo: Yah! There's a big barrel rolling our way!
- Halbarad: (dodges to the side) Whoa...
- Mongo: Uh-oh! (not quick enough to get out of the way, the dwarf is
- run over by the barrel)
- Rob: (he and Ged are in the third rank) Aaa! (they back up, as the
- barrel slams against the doorway and shatters with a wet crunching
- sound) I'm all wet!
- Alindyar: Enough of this foolishness. Into the room! (starts spell
- preparation)
- Ged: (likewise)
- Rob: (casts a blessing on the party)
- Peldor: (trying to get into the room) Out of my way!
- tall man: (advances on Halbarad)
-
- From behind the tables, the barbarians emerged once more...but they
- had undergone a change. No longer human, they were now in some sort
- of were-form. Frothing tusks and sweaty snouts ready, the wereboars
- bore down on the party from a different direction. Simultaneously,
- the hobgoblins near the door drew swords and clambered over their
- crates, while two others in the rear of the room lit oil flasks and
- grinned evilly.
-
- Halbarad: Oh shit.
-
-
-
-
-
- next time: Battle; the dungeons.
-
- ************************************************************************
- NOTES: As I write this, I am sick with a cold and not feeling well at
- all. So excuse any grammar or continuity errors - I wouldn't be at all
- suprised if I have the flu...
- As I said, part 25 will have some blurbs of information at the end,
- concerning backgrounds, interests, high (and low) points of the eight
- adventurers, major items retained, etc.
- ************************************************************************
-
-