The Eye in the Waste

There lie seven deserts beyond Bodrahan, which is the city of the caravans' end. None goeth beyond. In the first desert lie the tracks of mighty travellers outward from Bodrahan, and some returning. And in the second lie only outward tracks, and none return.

The third is a desert untrodden by the feet of men.

The fourth is the desert of sand, and the fifth is the desert of dust, and the sixth is the desert of stones, and the seventh is the Desert of Deserts.

In the midst of the last of the deserts that lie beyond Bodrahan, in the centre of the Desert of Deserts, standeth the image that hath been hewn of old out of the living hill whose name is Ranorada—the eye in the waste.

About the base of Ranorada is carved in mystic letters that are vaster than the beds of streams these words:

To the god who knows.

Now, beyond the second desert are no tracks, and there is no water in all the seven deserts that lie beyond Bodrahan. Therefore came no man thither to hew that statue from the living hills, and Ranorada was wrought by the hands of gods. Men tell in Bodrahan, where the caravans end and all the drivers of the camels rest, how once the gods hewed Ranorada from the living hill, hammering all night long beyond the deserts. Moreover, they say that Ranorada is carved in the likeness of the god Hoodrazai, who hath found the secret of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, and knoweth the wherefore of the making of the gods.

They say that Hoodrazai stands all alone in Pegana and speaks to none because he knows what is hidden from the gods.

Therefore the gods have made his image in a lonely land as one who thinks and is silent—the eye in the waste.

They say that Hoodrazai had heard the murmers of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI as he muttered to himself, and gleaned the meaning, and knew; and that he was the god of mirth and of abundant joy, but became from the moment of his knowing a mirthless god, even as his image, which regards the deserts beyond the track of man.

But the camel drivers, as they sit and listen to the tales of the old men in the market-place of Bodrahan, at evening, while the camels rest, say:

"If Hoodrazai is so very wise and yet is sad, let us drink wine, and banish wisdom to the wastes that lie beyond Bodrahan." Therefore is there feasting and laughter all night long in the city where the caravans end.

All this the camel drivers tell when the caravans come in from Bodrahan; but who shall credit tales that camel drivers have heard from aged men in so remote a city?

Session 22: The Fist of Kord, Part 10

August 25, Year 3488 (SE 118)

The party stop and listen for any sign of the harpies, but they don't hear anything, so they decide to secure the area before continuing on. Zedlyn loots the javelins from the dead lizardfolk and the entire party search the room that's beyond the ledge. The room appears to be the harpies' nest. The edges of the cave are covered in nesting made from rubble and vegetation, and the center of the room is dominated by a fire pit. Scattered over the floor are humanoid bones and the remains of clothing and gear.

A thorough search of the room reveals a large, iron-banded chest, (poorly) concealed inside the nesting; however, it is locked. P'hla is able to detect the presence of magic radiating from inside. None of the party are skilled in lockpicking, and they have no tools better than a dagger or a file. They attempt to pick the lock anyway, but are unsuccessful. They consider smashing the chest open, but in the end they decide to bring it back to Barar to find a locksmith. They leave the heavy chest behind for now.

The room also has a passage leading to the east, which the party follow and arrive at another small cavern, containing what appears to be a crude altar against the north wall, manacles shackled to the northern and southern walls, and a passageway continuing to the east. The altar is a bloodstained stone block, with a pouch lying atop it. Iriellis takes the pouch (while the rest of the party backs off for safety), but it turns out to be empty and there is nothing below it. A quick search of the room reveals a few gold pieces scattered around the floor, but nothing else.

The passage to the east slopes downwards, and after about fifty feet it also branches to the south. This southern branch continues for twenty more feet before ending in a large, flooded chamber, which the party don't explode immediately. Instead, they continue down the eastern passage.

The eastern passage continues for another fifty or so feet before levelling out and joining with another, larger passage coming from the southwest. Glancing down the southwest passage, the party see several features of note. The passage goes for thirty feet before hitting water, and right before the water are three crude clay huts. Against the southeastern wall, about ten feet above the ground, is a opening in the wall.

The party cautiously approach the huts, surmising that this must be where the lizardfolk live. However, their caution appears to be unnecessary, as the huts seem to be empty of both inhabitants and valuables.

Leaving the water alone for now, the party return to the eastern passage, which starts sloping upwards as they follow it. It winds onwards for a few hundred feet, and after turning a bend, they spot sunlight up ahead! The total length of the passage turns out to be 700 feet, and at the end the slope is steep enough to cause some difficulty in climbing it. It emerges onto a steep hillside, about twenty feet above ground level.

Returning to the cave, the party decide to investigate the two collapsed passages that they discovered several days before. They spend the next several hours digging and clearing rubble, only to come to the realization that the collapses are complete, and there is nothing beyond the rubble.

At the this point, it is getting fairly late in the day, so they decide to extract the treasure chest from the harpies' nest and return to Barar. Rather than try to cross the narrow ledge with the heavy chest, they instead haul it up the new exit that they had just discovered. Emerging at the hillside, they slide it down using rope, while Iriellis guides it past obstacles. They return to Barar on horseback, with Tamat going back to the nearby Druid circle.

August 26, Year 3488 (SE 118)

The next morning, the party head to the town locksmith, who charges them ten gold pieces to crack the lock after they convince him that they are adventurers who found the chest (rather than thieves who stole it). Several party members stay behind to keep an eye on the process while the rest spend the time relaxing about town.

Several hours pass and the locksmith is successful is cracking open the chest. Inside are several thousand silver pieces, several valuable pieces of jewelry, and a pair or sturdy, enchanted gloves. They distribute the silver and spend several hours selling the jewelry around town, netting themselves over a thousand gold pieces total. P'hla identifies the gauntlets as Gauntlets of Ogre Power, which, true to their name, give the wearer the strength of an ogre. Zedlyn and Adokas both want the gloves - Zedlyn, because he is the party's main front-line fighter, and Adokas because he is naturally weaker than Zedlyn so he will receive a larger boost from the gloves. In the end, the gloves go to Adokas.

By the time all of these tasks are completed, it's already mid-afternoon, meaning that it would be evening by the time they reached the caves if they left now. So, the party instead decide to spend the night in Barar and set out the next morning.

August 27, Year 3488 (SE 118)

The next day, the party arrive at the cave and immediately get to searching for the harpies, since they may have returned since the party was last there. The check all of the areas around the harpy lair, but they are not present. They conclude that the harpies must have fled.

They move on to the ledge that they spotted near the lizardfolk huts. They climb the ledge using the Rope of Climbing, and it leads to a short passageway leading the a small cavern containing a pool a water at the far end. Apart from the pool, the cavern is empty. Iriellis wades into the pool (which is only about one foot deep) and spots a gold ring at the bottom. It is not enchanted, but she pockets it anyway.

At this point, as far as anyone knows, the only spots left to search are the two large pools of water - the one near the lizardfolk huts and the one that several of them fell into while fighting the lizardfolk. Adokas starts from the huts and swims into the pool, trying to explore it as thoroughly as possible. He finds an underground passage that connects this pool with the other. Further, he finds a leather sack at the bottom of the pool, and drags it out for the party to inspect. Inside the sack are several hundred gold pieces, three rubies, and, most importantly, a golden symbol of a fist. It's the holy symbol of Kord, the object of their quest.

Though they now have what they need from the cave, they agree to help Tamat finish searching the area for the harpies. Adokas explores the other pool of water but finds nothing of interest, while the rest of the party collect the thumbs from the dead lizardfolk, so they can prove to the head merchant of Barar that the threat is dealt with. This completes their exploration of the caves, but they agree to help Tamat explore the nearby hills more thoroughly, in case the harpies are nearby.

They spent the rest of the day exploring the hills, with no success in finding the harpies. They conclude that they must have fled far away. In this case, they are likely no longer a threat to the area, so Tamat is satisfied.

Session 21: The Fist of Kord, Part 9

August 23, Year 3488 (SE 118)

As the party prepare their weapons, the two shapes emerge from the murky water and reveal themselves to be two giant toads - either the same ones that party avoided earlier, or two more of the same type. The party get the drop on them and attack. Warned that the toads are large enough to swallow halflings or gnomes whole, the smaller members of the party attack with ranged weapons and retreat around the corner after attacking. The first toad is struck by several sling bullets and a javelin, and Flossaria moves up and finishes it with her sword before it even has a chance to attack. With the smaller party members safely around the corner, the second toad lashes out at Flossaria with its tongue. It grabs her and pulls her into its mouth, and Flossaria immediately falls into convulsions, evidently from sort sort of poison. As the toad attempts to choke her down into its gullet, P'hla unleashes a Sleep spell, which takes both the toad and Flossaria, allowing the rest of the party to easily finish the creature off and extract her from its mouth.

Iriellis takes the Rope of Climbing and swims through the passage, confirming that the other end emerges into the room where they first saw the giant toads. Adokas searches the remains of the toads, hoping to identify and preserve whatever gland produced the poison, but is unsuccessful. Checking up on Flossaria, Tamat identifies the poison from the toad as a contact poison that will cause periodic convulsions, which will intensify over the next few days, potentially leading to death within the week. The party opt not to continue with Flossaria in this state, instead retreating from the dungeon in order to find help for her.

Tamat takes her to his Druidic circle and begins searching from the herbs and ingredients he'll need to make a salve that should help against the poison. Adokas comes with him, hoping that his knowledge of poisons will allow him to help. The rest of the party return to Barar and ask around town. Unfortunately, the town herbalist has none of the ingredients that Tamat requires, and none of the clerics in town are powerful enough to deal with the poison magically. The party decide to give Tamat time to create his remedy, and if he isn't successful, they'll evaluate whether they need to return to Viskha.

August 24, Year 3488 (SE 118)

Having had no success during the previous day, Tamat and Adokas continue their efforts, while the rest of the party rest up in town. Eventually, by the end of the day, Tamat announces that his salves are having the desired effect, and the poison is in remission. By the next day, Flossaria should be back to full health and ready to continue adventuring.

August 25, Year 3488 (SE 118)

The next morning, the party purchase some additional pickaxes to help them break through the rubble that they encountered in their last expedition to the caves. They return to the dungeon, make their way to the blocked passage, and begin clearing a path through it. The process is long and noisy; it takes about 40 minutes for them to clear a path that's large enough to allow them to continue, and in the process they create enough noise to surely alert any creatures that are beyond.

Past the rubble is the ledge running over a pool of water that Adokas had previously attempted. The party prepare to cross. P'hla casts a Light spell on the Rope of Climbing and Flossaria takes the lead, using the rope to light the way ahead of her. She is followed by Tamat, then Zedlyn and Sharla, who are tied together in case Sharla falls, then P'hla, Adokas, and Iriellis. As they cross, they hear the same siren song as before, coming from further down the ledge. Sharla and Iriellis both sing in an attempt to drown out the hypnotic song, and they are successful - the party are able to resist its effects. They continue making their way along the ledge.

Soon, however, disaster strikes - simultaneously, both Zedlyn and Sharla slip and fall! Zedlyn tries to grab the ledge as he falls, but he's tied to Sharla, and her weight sends him falling down. The rest of the party immediately throw down ropes; Flossaria and Tamat hold the Rope of Climbing, while P'hla, Adokas and Iriellis throw down a non-magical rope. Despite his heavy armor, Zedlyn manages to keep himself above the water and grab the ropes, but Sharla is drowning below him. To make matters worse, a trio of javelin-wielding lizardfolk appear at the far end of the ledge and attack Flossaria!

Just as the rest of the party start having some success in lifting Zedlyn and Sharla out of the water, Flossaria is struck by a javelin, loses her balance, and goes tumbling in as well. Tamat manages to hold on to the Rope of Climbing, while P'hla and Adokas leave Iriellis with the other rope and move to engage the lizardfolk. P'hla casts a Sleep spell at them and all three go down, as Adokas moves in to finish them off. At the point, Zedlyn has climbed back up on top of the ledge, so Tamat puts down his rope and goes to help Adokas, and Iriellis drops her rope to heal Zedlyn. Flossaria, meanwhile, manages to overcome the weight of her armour and swim to the cavern wall, where she can safely hold on the side.

As Adokas and Tamat move to kill the sleeping lizardfolk, they reach the end of the ledge, which leads to a larger, open area. Waiting for them are three more lizardfolk. Tamat charges them while Adokas stays behind to kill their sleeping companions. However, in the three-against-one fight, Tamat is struck several times and is badly wounded. P'hla and Iriellis both make their way across the ledge and move in to help, while Zedlyn pulls Sharla up then tosses the Rope of Climbing to Flossaria.

P'hla unleashes a second Sleep spell at this next group of lizardfolk, which drops two of the three, while Adokas strikes the third with a stunning blow, and Iriellis heals Tamat with her divine magic. Tamat finshes off the stunned creature with his sword, just as Zedlyn finishes lifting Flossaria back up to the ledge. Zedlyn and Flossaria then make their way to the rest of the party. They are now all past the ledge, and the six lizardfolk that attacked them are dead - but they know the harpy is still somewhere further into the cave.

Session 20: The Fist of Kord, Part 8

August 21, Year 3488 (SE 118)

After resting the night at an inn, the party awaken and plan their day. Zedlyn and Flossaria decide to go visit Iskander and Arik to report their progress, while the rest of the group go to see Hadia to report their findings about the lizardfolk.

Zedlyn and Flossaria arrive at Iskander's mansion and are greeted by Iluva, Iskander's wife, an elven woman. She calls Iskander and Arik for them, and they report their progress. Iskander is annoyed that they haven't actually retrieved the holy symbol of Kord yet, but grudgingly admits that, yes, at least they know where it is and are still working towards it. Arik encourages them to hurry, as he's getting tired of being cooped up in Iskander's home, not working towards his goal.

The rest of the party go to the Viskhan police station to speak with Lieutenant Hadia. She's not in when they arrive, so they're forced to wait an hour or two until she returns from her rounds. During this wait, Zedlyn and Flossaria arrive at the police station as well. When Hadia returns, she takes them to her office and they report in. They tell her that they've found where the lizardfolk live, but she replies that, since her jurisdiction is limited to the city, she can't help. She suggests they speak with the army, but also warns them that the flooding season is coming soon, so the army is very busy with preparations for the war with Cappadarnia to continue and may not be available to help them. For her part, Viskha has not had much success investigating into the lizardfolk's contact in Viskha; apparently, the gang has doubled down after they caught Adokas following them, and many of the merchants he identified have gone missing.

Next, the party ask Hadia to take them to the captive cultist who was carrying the same holy symbol that they found in the Temple of the Iron God. She does so, bringing them to the nearby prison and leading them, and the prisoner, to an interrogation room. The prisoner turns out to be an extremely nondescript, average looking man. They attempt to use magic to get him to confess - first, Flossaria magically compels him to "remember" his connection to the holy symbol; when he says that he cannot, despite the magical compulsion, she tries forcing him to "confess" whether he's lying. But either the magic doesn't work or he really isn't lying, as the prisoner continues to maintain that he knows nothing about the symbol.

Sharla tries next. Asking everyone to leave the room (except Hadia, who must be there to oversee the process), she uses a spell to hypnotize the prisoner. She pulls out the party's copy of the holy symbol and tries to convince him, while under hypnosis, that she is a fellow member of the cult, so he can safely talk to her. This doesn't work either; while he seems to believe the hypnotic suggestions, he angrily explains that he remembers nothing; there's a blank spot in his memory between leaving his home village years ago for Viskha, and standing at a murder scene being taken away by the guards.

Unable to do anything else with the prisoner, the party give up. They decide not to bother with the army's help, and set out immediately for Barar; travelling on horseback for the rest of the day.

August 22, Year 3488 (SE 118)

Most of this day is spent travelling; they take a few short breaks for P'hla to identify the magical items that they previously found in the caves - a sword, a wand, and a rope. The sword turns out to be a magical longsword that is enchanted to be particularly deadly to the undead, which Flossaria takes. The wand is a wand of paralysis, containing a number of charges that will completely paralyse the target when used. They give it to P'hla. Finally, the rope is a Rope of Climbing, which Zedlyn takes, to be used by the party as a whole.

No longer slowed by caravan wagons or injured party members, the party arrive at Barar by the end of the day. Jalessa returns to the Temple of Kib, while the rest of the party find an inn and rest for the night.

August 23, Year 3488 (SE 118)

In the morning, the party do a bit of shopping before heading out, purchasing a rope ladder to help them handle the many chasms and cliffs in the cave to the north, along with some iron pitons. They then head out for the caves, which takes them about an hour.

Back at the caves, nothing much seems to have changed since they left, and they decide to return to the ledge where they fought the harpies. They use the rope ladder, secured with the pitons, to descend down the fifty-foot chasm, leaving it behind in case it's needed for a quick escape. At the bottom of the cliff, two things have changed. First, the dead carrion crawler has continued to decompose; the horrible smell nauseates P'hla and Flossaria, though the rest of the party manage to resist. Second, the rubble that was blocking the eastern passage has been moved; it's now blocking the western passage instead.

They decide to leave the rubble undisturbed for now, and explore the eastern passage. It leads to a narrow passageway that slopes upwards, then turns to the south. To the south, it continues forwards and upwards before curving to the west. At several points, branches in the passage lead to caved-in dead ends. Sharla and Zedlyn use their gnomish knowledge to attempt to identify whether the cave-ins are natural or artificial; they find no evidence of artificial tampering. Returning to the fifty-foot cliff, they decide to check the cave-in there as well, finding that it, unlike the others, appears to be artificial - there are marks from tools on the walls and ceiling.

Back in the passage, Iriellis searches for tracks and finds that the tunnel has been traversed by others, as recently as a few days ago. The tracks appear to be made by clawed, rather than bare or booted, feet, but neither she nor Tamat can identify exactly what they are.

At the end of the passage, where it curves to the west, it descends into a pool of water and continues underwater. The group decide to send the Robe of Climbing, with a Light spell cast on it, snaking ahead into the water. The water is murky, and within twenty feet all they can see if a muffled point of light. Suddenly, something grabs the rope at the other end and pulls hard. Zedlyn and Flossaria, who are holding it, manage to hold on, and the scream for everyone else to come help. P'hla, still nauseated from the decomposing carrion crawler, stays back, but everyone else grabs the rope and pulls. With a mighty effort, they tear the rope away from whatever was holding it, pulling it back out of the water. Aware that they're disturbed something in or beyond the water, they draw their weapons, as two indistinct shapes move towards them from the water...

Session 19: The Fist of Kord, Part 7

August 17, Year 3488 (SE 118)

Backing off from the giant toads, the party decide to investigate the final, unexplored ledge. However, getting to this ledge requires the entire party to cross the sinkhole - a dangerous undertaking for the less dexterous party members. Considering their options, they decide the best way to handle this is to steal the plank of wood that's lying across the ravine full of bees, and use that to cross.

Starting from the north end of the chamber containing the ravine, Adokas sneaks forward with a rope. Moving silently, he avoids disturbing the bees below, and ties the rope to the end of the wooden plank before retreating back to the rest of the group. Everyone takes hold of the rope, and with one solid tug, they pull the plank past the ravine and halfway across the room.

The commotion rouses the bees, but the party immediately retreat around the corner after their single pull. They hear the agitated bees buzzing around, but the sound doesn't get any closer, and after a few minutes it subsides. Venturing back into the room, the see that the room is clear and the bees have apparently returned to the ravine, allowing them to pull the wooden plank the rest of the way out of the room.

Placing the plank across the sinkhole allows the entire party to cross without too much difficulty, and after they cross they make their way to the ledge and look down it. This ledge is much larger than the previous ones; their lantern illuminates thirty feet down without reaching the floor. Tying the lantern to a rope, then lower it down, discovering that the ledge goes down about fifty feet.

As they lower the lantern towards the floor, a hideous, tentacled centipede-like greater emerges from the darkness (later identified by Tamat as a Carrion Crawler). Attracted by the light, it flails at the lantern with its tentacles, but it is just out of reach. While Sharla holds the lantern's rope, the rest of the party pelt the creature with ranged weapons and two flasks of flaming oil. The first of oil goes wide, but the second strikes it directly. The creature shrieks in pain and retreats into the darkness, but the flaming oil makes it a clearly visible target and the party finish it off with a second valley of missile attacks. The creature explodes in a shower of goo and pus, causing the party to recoil in disgust, despite being over fifty feet away.

With the Carrion Crawler taken care of, Adokas climbs down to investigate the area below. He finds himself in a wide hallway running east-west. To the east is an area full of rubble, which it first glance appears to be a dead end. On closer inspection, the passage does continue past the rubble, although the rubble would need to be cleared out first. The half-eaten corpse of a recently deceased lizardfolk lies near the rubble. Adokas pockets a pouch that it was carrying, which contains several hundred gold pieces and a pair of gemstones. To the west, the passage emerges halfway up the wall of a large chamber. Twenty feet below the opening there is water, and the passageway turns into a narrow and winding ledge that runs along the north end of the chamber.

Adokas climbs back up to report his findings, and the group begin descending from the ledge. Rather than having everyone climb, which could be disastrous for the less skilled climbers, they tie ropes to each individual and lower them down one-by-one. Flossaria, Iriellis, P'hla and Sharla are all lowered, while Tamat, Zedlyn, and Adokas, the three remaining individuals at the top, climb down normally. Everyone reaches the bottom of the ledge safely.

Sharla goes to investigate the rubble, and Flossaria goes as well to keep an eye on her. The rest of the group head to the west, and watch as Adokas heads out onto the ledge, making his way across the room. When he's about thirty feet out, he suddenly hears the sound of something moving rapidly towards him. He turns and starts running back, as two harpies emerge from the darkness and fly towards him!

In his haste, Adokas stumbles and falls, and although he manages to stay on the ledge, the harpies catch up to him and begin tearing into him with their claws. Flossaria and Sharla start running back as the rest of the party pelt the creatures with ranged attack. One of the creatures tears open Adokas's stomach with its claws, dealing him a mortal wound and knocking him unconscious.

The creatures advance on the rest of the party, and Zedlyn steps forward to engage them. One of the harpies is killed by missile weapon fire, but Zedlyn is badly wounded and is forced to retreat. Flossaria, who has just arrived from the other end of the hallway, steps to the front and attacks the creature, badly wounding it and forcing it to flee.

With the immediate danger taken care of, the party approach Adokas to see how bad his wound is. It's bad - the halfling is barely alive, and will most likely bleed out in a matter of minutes without medical attention. None of the spellcasters in the party are skilled enough with healing magic to cure such a serious wound, but casting all of their remaining healing magic at least slows the bleeding process and affords Adokas a few more hours to live. Bandaging him up as best as they can, they take Zedlyn's bedroll to use as a stretcher and, following a suggestion from Tamat, decide to retreat from the dungeon and return to Barar, hoping that the Priests of Kib there will be able to help.

Tamat and Zedlyn climb up the fifty foot ledge first, then use a pair of ropes to pull up Adokas, with the rest of the party following. When they reach the sinkhole, they carry Adokas across. Sharla, in her haste, nearly falls in, but catches herself on a rope that the rest of the party were holding. There are no further obstacles between the party and the exit, so they leave the cave and head back to Barar.

The trip takes several hours, and Adokas's condition remains stable. They arrive at the Temple of Kib and speak with Jalessa, the highest-ranked priestess. Unfortunately, the injury is beyond her skill as well. She advises them to go to Viskha, a three-day journey away. Sharla and Iriellis convince Jalessa to come with them by pointing out that Adokas's injuries were sustained while doing Kib's work, destroying unnatural creatures.

It is already past nightfall at this point, so Jalessa heals Adokas as well as she can, allowing him to survive through the night. Everyone rests and prepares to head for Viskha.

August 20, Year 3488 (SE 118)

After three days of travel, the party arrive at Viskha. The trip was uneventful, and the combined attention of three clerics (Iriellis, Flossaria and Jalessa) and a druid (Tamat) was enough to keep Adokas alive throughout the duration. It is nearly nightfall when they arrive, and, considering their options, they decide to go to the Temple of Kib and speak with the High Priest of Kib.

They present Adokas before the High Priest, and he tells them that he is indeed capable of healing the halfling. However, such an expenditure of time and power will require a substantial donation to the Temple of Kib - nearly 500 gold pieces. The party consider attempting to haggle, but decide to pay the price without complaint. The High Priest casts his spell, and Adokas is healed.

Session 18: The Fist of Kord, Part 6

August 17, Year 3488 (SE 118)

The party pick the easternmost ledge, closest to their current position, and send Adokas down first. They anchor a rope to the rock nearby using a grappling hook and he climbs down. At the bottom of the ledge is a short passage that leads to a four-way intersection, with a sinkhole directly in the center of the intersection, preventing easy navigation. The rest of the party climb down, and Adokas ties a rope around himself, giving the other end for the party to hold in case he falls. He then shimmies across the walls, exploring the three other passages around the sinkhole.

To the right, the passage opens into a room that ends in another ledge going down. To the left, the passage continues until it reaches a t-intersection. Directly across from where the party entered is a passage that veers to the left into a chamber. Peering down into the sinkhole itself, Adokas's torch doesn't illuminate far enough to see the bottom, but he can see that the hole appears to be filled with some sort of haze or mist. He also catches a glimpse of some sort of movement below, and decides to leave it alone.

Picking the passage directly across from the rest of the party, Adokas soon sees that the room ahead is filled with bats, roosting on the ceiling. As he sneaks forward, the bats begin to get agitated, so he backs off. Conferring with Tamat, the druid tells him that he knows a spell that will calm animals that could be of use in this situation, but the party decide to explore in other directions rather than disturbing the bats.

The group pick the left passage that ends in a tee and send Adokas again. Adokas looks down the left fork of the tee, and see that it's a short passage which connects to another of the ledges they had previously discovered. This discovery allows the rest of the party to get around to his position without having to climb past the sinkhole, so they use this opportunity to regroup.

The right fork of the tee opens into a room filled with spider webs and spiders. The party see several side passages that are blocked with webbing, but there is only one way to follow that doesn't involve hacking through webbing. They follow this direction, which leads them into a large chamber, again filled with spiders and webbing. As they begin to cross the chamber, two giant, monstrous spiders appear out of the darkness ahead of them and attack!

Zedlyn, Adokas, Flossaria, and Tamat charge forward into melee, while Iriellis stays behind them in order to heal and Sharla and P'hla stay back, unable to get a clear shot. Both Zedlyn and Adokas are bitten by the spiders as they fight, but Iriellis' healing keeps them going, and eventually the spiders go down, with Flossaria claiming both killing blows. Tamat identifies the spiders as a breed possessing a paralytic poison, but luckily both Zedlyn and Adokas seem to have fought off its effects.

Adokas works on extracting some of the spiders' venom while the rest of the group explore the area. The discover that two of the webbed-off side passages lead to the two other ledges that they had discovered while exploring the upper level. There are two un-webbed passages at the far end of the room; one to the north and one to the south. Adokas is unsuccessful in extracting the spider venom.

The southern passage opens into a smaller, webbed room - a dead end. This appears to be the lair of the giant spiders, as it is filled with carcasses and scraps. Wary of more spiders waiting in ambush, Sharla conjures up a pair of dancing lights and sends them into the room, but they don't provoke any response. The party advance into the room, and when they are not attacked by anything, they drop their guard and search through the scraps for valuables. The search turns up a pouch of gold coins and a crystal wand. They give the wand to P'hla and share the coins.

Returning to the previous room, they explore the north passage, which leads to a room filled with bones and carcasses, mostly of animals but with a few humanoids mixed in. They again send the ghostly lights in first, but they again provoke no response. Realizing that searching this area would take forever due to the amount of bones and bodies, Iriellis instead casts a spell to detect magic. She uses it to confirm that the wand from the room before is indeed magical, and she also detects something magical under the layer of bone. They pull it out and discover that it's a rope.

Going over their options, the party decide to return to the sinkhole and explore the room full of bats. Adokas and Tamat make their way across the sinkhole, and Tamat casts his spell, which keeps the bats docile as the two adventurers pass. They step into the room, which turns out to be mid-sized and a dead end. Apart from bats and bat guano, there doesn't seem to be anything of value in the room.

They next turn their attention to the sinkhole itself. They tie a torch to a rope and begin lowering it down. This allows them to see that the total depth of the sinkhole is forty feet, and at the bottom are two undead skeletons, reaching up towards the torch. Iriellis's immediate response is to Turn Undead; she charges forward with her holy symbol and drives them back with holy power. The skeletons cower in the corner of the sinkhole as the party decide what to do.

Worried that the mist might have some sort of magical properties that caused the skeletons to animate, they have P'hla cast her Detect Magic spell down into the sinkhole. The skeletons themselves radiate magic, of course, but the mist itself does not. She discovers something else though - at the bottom of the pit is a magical sword. Adokas pelts the skeletons with sling stones from above until they're destroyed, then they head down to retrieve the sword. Apart from the sword, at the bottom of the pit they discover a series of about forty tally marks scratched into the wall - evidently left by the skeletons while they were still alive.

Considering the directions that the lizardfolk could be in, they decide to search the two rooms containing pools of water, as the lizardfolk could easily have passed through underwater passages. The westernmost chamber, closer to the entrance, contains a small, clear pool, only about two feet in depth. Both Adokas and Iriellis strip down and wade in, but their search turns up nothing of interest.


They step into the easternmost pool chamber, and are about to advance when both Zedlyn and Iriellis notice that something is amiss. They realize that two shapes, which on first glance look like plain old boulders, are actually camouflaged giant toads, nearly indistinguishable from the rock. They stop the rest of the party from advancing and retreat to consider their options.

Session 17: The Fist of Kord, Part 5

August 17, Year 3488 (SE 118)

Having decided to ambush the lizardfolk, the party approach the clearing by the lizardfolk lair and prepare themselves. The dead lizardfolk is used as bait, placed near the opposite end of the clearing in order to draw the other lizardfolk out. Sharla conjures up an illusion of a demon using her magic, having it loom over the corpse, and Zedlyn prepares to supplement the illusion with a blood-curdling roar, using his natural gnomish abilities.

Everyone else prepares to attack in various ways. Adokas hides in the bushes near the corpse, ready to assassinate one the lizardfolk with his sling. P'hla stands further back away from the clearing, ready to cast a Sleep spell from a distance. Flossaria, Iriellis, and Tamat fan out across the edges of the clearing and prepare to attack with crossbow, sling, and longbow, respectively.

Ten minutes or so pass as the group waits, when finally a few dark figures appear near the cave's exit. However, a few seconds later, they move back into the cave rather than head out into the ambush. Whether they detected the ambush, they were scared off by the demon, or they have some other motive is unclear. The party continue holding their positions, hoping that the lizardfolk will reappear.

A few minutes later, with the party still hoping for the lizardfolk to emerge, a mysterious and beautiful song begins to emanate from the cave entrance. It seems to pull at the listeners, urging them to step forward towards the cave. Flossaria, Sharla, and Iriellis all resist its influence, but Adokas, Zedlyn, P'hla and Tamat all find themselves unwillingly stepping forward.

Sharla thinks back to her bardic training, and realizes that she's heard of something like this before. There are a multitude of creatures, such as Sirens and Harpies, that are said to have hypnotic songs, but the stories say that they can be countered by another song. As Adokas steps towards the cave, Sharla rushes up to him and sings a hymn of his faith into his ear. It works - the second song draws his attention away from the first, and he suddenly snaps back to awareness.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party are having much less luck. Iriellis is trying to slow or trip P'hla, and while she has some success, P'hla continues to rise and move towards the clearing. Flossaria is trying to stop Tamat, but he brushes off her efforts. His Druidic abilities allow him to step easily through the undergrowth, even while in a daze, and soon he is out in the open, in the clearing, where Flossaria doesn't want to follow. No one is trying to stop Zedlyn, but his short stature and heavy armor combine to make his progress through the bushes very slow.

Flossaria and Adokas begin circling the edge of the clearing, making their way towards the cave entrance, hoping to leap out and stop Tamat right before he reaches the cave. Sharla runs to Zedlyn and tries the same tactic she used on Adokas, this time using a soldiers' marching tune. It works a second time; Zedlyn snaps out of his daze and stops moving towards the cave.

Iriellis is still having no luck, and P'hla escapes her grasp and reaches the edge of the clearing, before Sharla shouts out instructions to Iriellis, telling her to sing to counter the effect. Iriellis, lacking Sharla's training, picks a tavern song at random and sings it into P'hla's ear, and is surprised to find that it works - P'hla recovers her senses, leaving only Tamat still moving forward.

The druid is too fast, and he reaches the cave before Flossaria and Adokas are in position, stepping into the darkness. Sounds of combat and cries of pain emerge from the cave, and Adokas throws a torch towards the entrance. It falls short, but illuminates enough for the group to see several figures attacking Tamat. P'hla casts a Sleep spell into the darkness and most of the figures go down. Tamat has apparently regained his senses during the fight; he rushes out of the cave, bloodied but still standing. He turns back and casts a spell that causes roots and vines to burst out of the cave walls, holding fast the one remaining lizardfolk, then puts an arrow through its throat.

During this chaos, the song has stopped, so everyone regroups, with the clerics healing Tamat. Adokas quietly goes to the cave entrance and finishes off the three sleeping lizardfolk that were caught by P'hla's spell. They decide to press their advantage and head into the cave.

The cave turns out to be a large, sprawling affair with many branching passages. The party move quickly, not stopping for a thorough investigation of any of the areas that they encounter. These areas include a ravine that is apparently filled with bees, which the group avoid, two separate caverns containing large pools of water, a cavern that slopes up to a small opening in the ceiling, and a cavern filled with rat dung, presumably the home of some sort of rat colony.

As they explore the cave, the party pass by four different ledges that drop down to a lower section. They finish their cursory exploration of the upper section, and it yields no signs of the lizardfolk lair, so they decide to descend to the lower section and continue searching.