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- + THE ADVENTURERS +
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- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- + The various characters contained in these writings are +
- + copyright 1993 by Thomas Miller. Any resemblance to any +
- + persons or characters either real or fictional is utterly +
- + coincidental. Copying and/or distribution of these tales +
- + is permissible only under the sole condition that no part +
- + of them will be used or sold for profit. In that case, I +
- + hope you enjoy them... +
- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- + THE PARTY: +
- + +
- + Alindyar 11th level drow elf mage (N) +
- + Lyra 7th level female drow elf mage (N) +
- + Belphanior 8th/8th/9th level high elf w/m/t (CN) +
- + Ged 9th/9th level grey elf priest/mage (NG) +
- + Arnold 7th level human warrior (NG) +
- + Mongo 9th level dwarf warrior (CG) +
- + Peldor 12th level human thief (N) +
- + Rillen 9th level human warrior (N) +
- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- + Date: 7/16/571 C.Y. (Common Year) +
- + Time: late, late morning +
- + Place: the Underdark +
- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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- LXXXI. Swamp Terrors
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-
- The party had set out in the direction in which Rob
- disappeared. After they had been walking for a mere
- ten minutes, something approached them.
-
- Belphanior: Hark! Enemies dead ahead!
- Peldor: Souls?
- Belphanior: No, undead. (his previously cast spell to
- detect undead has alerted him to some shadowy forms
- lying ahead in ambush) _Dead_ ahead, get it? Ha!
- Ged: Evil undead, too! (his own detection spells go
- off) Boccob! (brandishes his holy symbol and starts
- chanting) Now that Rob's gone, it's all up to _me_.
- Alindyar: You relish this, no?
- Ged: Shut up.
-
- A number of shuffling forms appeared from the shadows
- ahead. The marauders consisted of a trio of crusty
- skeletons, two hunched humanoids with yellow teeth and
- dirty hair, a rotting mummy, and a floating wraithlike
- being.
-
- Belphanior: Undead with souls, too! Oh, joy! (moves
- to the side to facilitate Ged's turning attempts)
- Hurry up and turn them so I can attack whatever is
- not repelled.
- Mongo: (his helm's diamond begins to glow with a
- bright light) Huh?
- Ged: Evil spawn, begone from our path! Disperse!
- greater skeletons: (crumble into dust instantly)
- Lyra: I guess they took you literally...
- wights: (turn and flee in defeat and fear)
- mummy: (likewise flees, dropping bits of bandage in
- its wake)
- wraith: (also flees)
- Ged: Boccob is triumphant once more!
- Peldor: Bah. Puny Boccob.
- Rillen: Those people smelled.
- Belphanior: (disappointed that there was no battle)
- Damn.
- Mongo: (his helm's jewel goes dim once more) Oh,
- well. There's always another time to fight the
- undead.
- Alindyar: No undead wander aimlessly here in the
- Underdark. Someone or something was no doubt
- guiding them.
- Belphanior: Well, if they show themselves, we can
- always kill _them_ instead of their servants.
- Ged: That's looking on the bright side...
-
- The adventurers resumed their march. Peldor held
- his green torch high, at the rear of the party, as
- he (being human) could not see in the dim light of
- the huge tunnel. Arnold, as well, now held a torch
- to help him see here. Rillen, the only other human
- in the party, did not seem to be overly worried
- whether there was much light or not; he held his
- quarterstaff at the ready.
- The party found a side passage, but it led only a
- short way back, to a dead-end cavern. Nothing was
- to be found there, so they returned to the main
- tunnel and continued on their way. Soon, a major
- obstacle was reached...
-
- Mongo: Pugh! What's that _smell_?!?
- Belphanior: (peering ahead) Swamp. A swampy area
- lies ahead of us.
- Rillen: (covers his nose) This is not healthy.
-
- Ahead of them, the tunnel was encrusted with muck
- on most of its surface. The floor and walls (up to
- about fifty feet) were covered in greenish-brown
- slime. A stench like no other manifested itself.
-
- Rillen: (uses his staff to test the depth of the
- mud on the floor ahead, and finds it to be about
- a foot deep) Hmm. There is no other way across.
- Ged: Wonderful. We have to trod through the mud,
- eh? I think not. Surely I have a spell to help
- in this situation.
- Belphanior: Hey guys, if it helps, I detect no
- souls here...
- Ged: Well, _that's_ good to know.
- Arnold: (watching the mud in front of the party)
- Huh? Whad's thad? (points ahead) Look!
- Ged: Not now, Arnold- What?!?
-
- Something was moving - no, rising - from the mud
- and slime. It looked vaguely humanoid, but was
- fully ten feet tall. Roots and vines crossed its
- thick limbs, and between them were masses of brown
- and green vegetation, perhaps rotting. The thing
- seemed to be facing the party, challenging their
- intrusion into its domain.
-
- swamp thing: AROOOOOOOOOO!
- Belphanior: (begins spellcasting)
- Ged: Boccob's blasted bones! (begins digging in
- his pack) Where's that potion of plant control?
- Where the hell did I put it?!?
- swamp thing: (advances)
- Rillen: (bashes the thing with his staff) Take
- that, vegetable.
- swamp thing: (ignores the blow, and punches the
- warrior hard enough to stun him)
- Rillen: Ugh.
- Belphanior: (casts a Flame Sphere upon the creature)
- Chew on that, you!
- swamp thing: (hugs the blazing sphere of flame to
- its chest, extinguishing it)
- Belphanior: Huh? I've never seen such a thing!
- Ged: Aha! (triumphantly holds aloft a small potion
- bottle) My plant control potion! (drinks the
- vial's contents quickly) Glug, glug. Urp.
- swamp thing: (shambles toward Mongo, who prepares
- to attack as Arnold circles around)
- Alindyar: Try the potion!
- Ged: Yea...(steps in front of the creature and holds
- up one hand) STOP!
- swamp thing: (halts in its advance)
- Ged: (motions it to one side) Aside! We will pass
- without further incident.
- swamp thing: (complies)
- Ged: (to the party) Now! Go!
- Mongo: (tromps through the mud without hesitation)
- Arnold: (mindlessly walks through the muck as well)
- Rillen: (removes his boots and follows them)
- Alindyar: I have no wish to coat myself in mud.
- (casts Fly and zips right over the mud, Lyra in
- his arms) There we go.
- Lyra: (somewhat relieved that she didn't have to
- waste a spell for this) Thanks.
- Alindyar: My pleasure.
- Belphanior: (waiting) Hmm...
- Ged: Spells?!? Oh, come _on_! We don't have time
- for this! Just walk through the mud! You can
- clean up later.
- Belphanior: (hesitantly dashes through the mud)
- Peldor: (telekineses himself over the mud) Hah.
- Ged: (realizes that he has no clean way over the
- muck) Hey! No fair! Wait a second!
- Belphanior: Oh, come on. Just walk through the
- mud, now. What are you waiting for?
- Ged: Grr. (prepares to walk through the mud)
- Damn it. It'll take _weeks_ to clean up...
- Peldor: (uses his ring to lift the elf over the
- muck layer) Hey, look at Ged fly!
- Ged: Wha- (lands on the far side, with the rest
- of the party) Hey! (elated, but doesn't want
- to have to thank Peldor)
- Peldor: That's for saving me from the poison the
- other day.
- Ged: Oh, thanks. I guess.
- Peldor: Never let it be said that Peldor forgets
- his debts.
- Lyra: Perish the very thought!
- Peldor: (beaming) Of course, servants of Boccob
- have their natural place among the muck and the
- slime, so...
- Ged: Quiet, fool.
-
- The shambling mound just stood there, per Ged's
- command, and the party moved onward, ignoring the
- numerous bodies and skeletons which lay rotting
- amidst the muck. Those who had trod through the
- mud found that the stuff produced a noxious odor
- when dried. Actually, even those who had not trod
- through the mud were forced to detect this effect.
- Just as the swampy area and the big monster were
- out of sight, it was unanimously decided that the
- time had come for Mongo, Arnold, Belphanior, and
- Rillen to clean the mud from themselves.
-
- Ged: (casting a spell to Create Water) This will
- provide a way for you people to bathe yourselves
- and clean up...
- Arnold: Bathe?
- Mongo: (produces a basin from his portable hole,
- and he and the others start cleaning away the mud)
- Ged: Phew.
-
- Meanwhile, Alindyar and Lyra talked quietly, and
- Peldor examined the walls, perhaps in quest of some
- secret doorway. The thief didn't notice the thing
- behind him until the last moment, when he spun about
- in a blur, and came face to face with a nightmarish
- countenance! The thing that stood next to Peldor
- could best be described as a humanoid weed. It had
- limbs like men, but they were thin, and appeared to
- be woven of green strands. Patches of fungus were
- liberally spaced over the thing's body. Perhaps
- most disconcerting of all was the utter lack of a
- face on the thing's head-mass. Peldor had suddenly
- found himself looking into a bulb of fungi and weeds
- that held no expression whatsoever.
-
- Peldor: Yagh! (leaps backwards, really spooked)
- Rillen: Looks like there is a fungus among us.
- Ged: What in Boccob's name is that thing?!?
- Lyra: Make that _those_ _things_.
-
- Indeed, though no sound had been made, no less
- than a dozen of the creatures stood near Peldor
- now. They did nothing, just stood there silently
- and intimidated the party.
-
- Ged: Boccob! (tries to command the things since
- his potion is still in effect) Go away! Stay
- back!
- things: (slowly advance on the party, some of
- whom have no boots or leg-armor on right now)
- Alindyar: Aaa! The fungus that walks like a man!
- (retreats, trying to cast a spell and get back
- at the same time)
- Lyra: Beware their touch! If he is right, then
- the mere touch of one of these creatures means
- certain death!
- Peldor: Shiiiit! (retreats) Someone cast a spell
- or something!
- Belphanior: (about to attack, barefoot, backs up)
- Ged: Yea. They're not listening to the potion's
- power, so...(uses his wand) Uh...NDREK.
-
- This previously unused command word produced a
- mighty effect indeed. A twenty-foot wide swath of
- flame appeared in front of Ged (thus between the
- party and the things) and then moved forward very
- rapidly, until it hit the wall behind the things.
- The flames lasted for a full minute, and the party
- took advantage of this to move a hundred feet down
- the huge tunnel. When the flames died out, there
- was no sign of the things, or any remains for that
- matter.
-
- Ged: Wow! What an awesome weapon this wand is!
- Alindyar: You are gloating...
- Lyra: Wouldn't you?
- Peldor: Death? I was just standing a few inches
- from that thing...(shudders)
- Mongo: (trying to put his boots back on while
- standing) How embarrasing. A battle, and I was
- barefoot.
- Rillen: I would have fought anyway.
- Belphanior: Yeah, me too.
- Alindyar: Not a good idea. Those creatures have
- the hellish ability to grow spores on anyone
- they touch. Death is quick and painful, and no
- known spells can slow or halt the process.
- Lyra: The drow call them "the fungus that walks
- like a man" for want of a better term.
- Ged: Well, they walk no more. Let's get a move
- on.
- Arnold: Yah!
-
- The adventurers, no longer smelling of underground
- swamp mud, moved onward in the huge tunnel.
-
-
-
-
-
- next time : a small golem
-
- ftp site : ccosun.caltech.edu, in pub/adnd/fluff/adventurers
-
- notes : ...
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