The Fire Goes Out

AK510-40 Cool Summer End Week 4 [Charon Guiding, Shale Resting, Cycles Watching]

Shaleday (afternoon)

As they continued to the detention level, they were attacked by a force sent by the Prince of Schliss. Charmer, Ivellios and Stuffitt heard the attackers noisily ascending towards them and warned the others.

The footsteps that echoed noisily through the cavernous darkness of the main stairwell accompanied the sounds of mystic chants and solemn prayers as those who could, cast defensive spells. Todd disappeared from view. Appleby imbued his staff with the power of Naduir. Tanner surrounded himself with a wall of whirling maces. Ivellios cast conjured a shield of force.
Four Steel Clan Lizardfolk and a DeDannan Ogre Zombie ambushed them at the door to the storage level.

The lizardfolk had been horribly mutated by the experiments being conducted below and possessed powers similar to those of their mind flayer masters. They bombarded the companions with a series of mind shattering mental blasts. The Gods protected most of them and from the mental assault but Appleby and Stuffitt succumbed and were stunned. After the psychic barrage, came a howling blizzard of cold, so bitter it could only have come from the foul depths of The Prison. A flash of hell-frost snapped through the party and only the icy numbness of the cold made the pain bearable.

Ivellios howled in rage and grief. Tin Tan, a creature of heat and fire, could not endure such cold and was slain. Pain ripped through him as the familiar's spirit was torn from the mortal realm and entered into the eternal fires of Tine's kingdom. Shock froze them. This should not be happening, not to the best character in the village! But there was no time to morn. Indulging shock and grief in a battle such as this would be fatal.

The cold disappeared as quickly as it had been conjured and the conjurer was revealed. Floating in space above the dark shaft was a large blue skinned figure with a black top-knot and a yellow toothed smile. Ethan knew of his kind. This was an ogre mage. Ogre mages were the ancient enemy of the DeDannan Ogre race. They were created by the DeDannan's experiments. Instead of solving the DeDannan's fertility problem however, the Athru cursed experiments had created a new race bent on the death of their progenitors. The Ogre Mage grinned and nodded at the undead DeDannan ogre under his command. The creature's slimy green tentacle flexed sinuously, glistening under the magical lights, then it ducked behind its head. It opened its mouth and belched forth a torrent of psychic illithid bile.
The acidic liquid sprayed over the clustered explorers and they were badly burned. The acid burnt into flesh that has still ice coated and the magical damage had left them badly weakened and in severe pain. Ivellios and Gozzar were in critical condition, dying on the icy acid splashed stone.

This was not going according to plan.
Not by a long shot.
They almost considered retreating.
Almost.

Carraig moved to his masters side. No mark touched his newly repaired body, the gift on Tionscail to many of his children is immunity to magic. He took a healing potion from Ivellios' belt and roughly poured it down his throat. Ivellios began to revive. His anger at Tin Tan's murder lent him strength to return to the fight. He cast a spell and freed Appleby from the effects of the psychic attack. Charmer avenged Gozzar with a rapid series of sonic arrows from his bow and felled three of the half illithid lizardfolk. Ethan lashed out with his flail and killed the last remaining tzakandi. Then Tanner charged the Voidmind DeDannan Ogre and cracked its skull. Appleby completed his summoning spell and a pair of hippogriffs appeared beside the mutant. They started to claw and bite at it, but it's hide was too tough and they made little impression.
The voidmind ogre lashed out with another psychic blast but to now avail. The ogre mage used his magic to render himself invisible once again and sought a better vantage point to press the attack. Charmer's arrows bit into empty as he tried to feather the craven creature.

Tanner and Ethan pounded at the undead DeDannan monstrosity and knocked it senseless, it fell off the balcony and into the empty air. There it was caught by the ogre mage. Appleby sent his hippogriffs after them. Their talons gripped the falling mutant and tumbled with it down into the darkness. Beak claw and Talon met the ogre mage's greatsword as they fell. Charmer raced to the edge and sent a couple of arrows in the ogre mage for good measure. The druid's summoned allies kept the ogre mage at bay with their ferocious attacks and although his sword dispatched one of the hippogriffs during the descent there was nothing he could do to prevent the bone shattering impact that they made with the ground below. He barely escaped with his own life. He flew into the darkness to report to his masters.
Then all was quiet. The danger was gone for the moment, but the party were all in pain and close to death. Acidic and Icy burns covered them all and they saw the wisdom of returning to the safety of the temple.

Meanwhile Ethan examined the half illithid bodies and noted that they were tzakandi, a creature that was created by implanting an Illithid tadpole into the brain of a lizardfolk. The transformation should have taken weeks to complete and even then it should have taken a score of years for the creature's intellect to mature. The Prince and High Feeder Lord must have discovered a way of accelerating the process. This must have been what the purple slimed cocoons they found in Honeyglen and Setanta's Tomb were for. It did not bode well. He turned to explain this to the other but found them absorbed by Ivellios' overwhelming grief as he cradled Tin Tan in his arms.