Castle Amber: A D&D Adventure

Rob casts Cure Serious Wounds on Azedarac, and leaves him behind the mushroom.

He looks to the crowd of Kythons.... It seems that now is the time for some Glibness!

"Finally." Lynda says. "I'm tired of this nonsense."

Lynda takes a gemstone out of the necklace of fireballs and tosses it towards the horde of Kythons.

Bead Used: 7d6

Ardan continues to defend the mouse and the frog from anything that threatens them.

Standing in a corner, facing 4 very angry Kythons, Harvey remembers the dumbest thing he ever heard in his life: "Harvey, my boy.. you can't kill all your problems." The invisible killer shudders, stricken by the sissiness of the words.

Unfortunately, with only the chance to kill 2 of the monsters before they inevitably kill him, the words are starting to ring a little true. Arrows may not be the way out of this... but what? His eyes search the room for something, anything, and they don't have to look far. Why is there a mushroom here? Why are there three of 'em? Why is there a crystal here? I think there were three of them too.. and there's no such thing as coincidences.

This place is as messed up at that castle. A silly place! And a silly place deserves a silly death, doesn't it Harvey? Or should I say Percy Foolsgold? Seems more up his alley.. at least it'll be entertaining.

The invisible man picks up the crystal, and feeling like he's about to be either the smartest or dumbest man in history, smacks it into the nearby mushroom. That's just what the bastards who built this place wanted, isn't it? Some hot crystal on mushroom action. You want it, you got it

Kalar flies even higher, as far up as he is able to. From there, he calls out, "If you're on the ground, get clear!"

He then focuses on his holy symbol, creating a large circular plane of gnashing teeth across the ground and centered on where the avatar is trapped.


Spell Used: Whirl of Fangs

Wall or plane of darting jaws up to 20 ft long/level
Lasts 14 minutes
48 damage, Ref 24 for half when passing through
8 damage per turn, Ref 24 for half each round within plane

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Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

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In a fit of frustration and madness, Harvey picks up one of the large purple crystals near him. The crystal was remarkably light. He was able to weld it with ease. It buzzed slightly in his hands as he brought it down upon the mushroom to his right. The crystal cut through the mushroom like delicious butter. It clanked on the stoney ground below after passing through the mushroom. As it did, a wild spark of energy shot out from the crystal. For a short moment, those witnessing the spectacle wondered what the energy could be. Then the crystal exploded.

MEANWHILE...
More than a decade had past since the heroes had disappeared into the misty pillar.
The war against the growing horde of insect-like creatures had thrown the kingdom into complete chaos.
The final hope for the kingdom, a glowing man of mysterious origin, had fallen in battle. It would be only days before the final stronghold would be over run.

"Will you stay?" asked Rachelle.
"Of course," answered Voulton. "I would never leave my queen."
"I don't think I'll be brought back to life this time," Rachelle said.
"We all have our end," Voulton added. "But this won't be ours." Voulton revealed a pair of teleportation crystals he had been saving. "Your friend Thistlewhistle had a plan I think we should try."

"The remaining flames of the torch should get you through the mist," stated Thistlewhistle. "If my dream is to be believed, the others will be inside the pillar, almost completely untouched by the passage of time."
Tammytharn listened intently. She had worked too hard raising her children to watch them be eaten by a horde of bugs. "Won't you come?" asked the healer of her bed ridden friend.
"I will be of no help in a fight without all my limbs," Thistlewhistle replied. "Plus, there are only seven teleportation crystals. A crystal would be wasted on me."
"Goodbye Thistlewhistle," came a gruff voice. "Know that we never thought of you as a burden as you feared." The voice came from a large hairy young man. His eyes oozed confidence and wisdom. "We should go. The northern guard tower has fallen. The monsters will inside the city soon. Galse is waiting with the others."
Using the last of the inquisitor's teleportation crystals, Tammytharn, Galse, and five others appeared outside of the whirling pillar of mist that had stood as a sign of the times for years.
They were surprised when Rachelle and Voulton teleported just a few meters away from where they stood. Thistlewhistle's torch flared to life. It's flames burned a hole in the misty pillar until a path to the other side formed. The nine heroes hurried through.

Veins of electricity sprawled out from the explosion in a flash, arcing between the many Kythons, Harvey, Kalar and Rob's double as well, stopping just short of Rob himself. The lightning shredded through flesh and scales, leaving smoldering wounds in it's path. Harvey fell to the ground from the blast. This electricity was followed by a fiery blast courtesy of Lynda's fireball. Even though she could not see Harvey, Lynda luckily aimed her fireball far enough away, due to Kalar's location, to miss the hidden hero as he lay dying on the ground.
The fireball finished off the badly hurt, smaller kythons. The larger Kythons, though clearly wounded deeply, were still ready to fight.

Sure he could talk this whole mess out, Rob quickly helped Azedarac to his feet, healing him as best he could given the situation. Azedarac's wounds would not be so easily healed. Due tot he acid, his limbs had warped and he had lost many of his fingers. Azedarac struggled to get in a battle ready position, despite his handicap.

Kalar created a whirling wall of fangs as the Kythons scattered. The fangs tore through one of the injured kythons, ending it's life. The other kython each sought out a target. One of the kythons attacked Lynda while she sat atop Stumpy. The force of the attack threw Lynda off the saddle tot he ground. Another kython attacked Kalar's shadow minion. It's attack missed. The third kalar shot a spine at kython, striking instead his shield, doing no damage.

Two more large kythons leaped through the hole in the wall before a wall of stone was magically created. Dan, still unseen, was likely the source of this wall. Meanwhile, Arden in kython form finished off one of the smaller kython. While he did, a devilish flying insect flew up to him and began speaking an a language foreign to Arden. It seemed upset. The fire nearby continued to spread at an increasing rate.

A large and powerful werewolf came sprinting into the room through the open door leading to the room that formerly homed the land sharks. The werewolf leaped over the 20ft wall of whirling fangs and engaged a Kython in battle.
Four other, smaller werewolves followed behind. Two of them went after the nearby kython that was attempting to attack Kalar's shadow minion.
The werewolves were followed by a woman in white and a gruff old man. Galse and Tammytharn readied themselves for battle.

Fumes began to rise from the stone surrounding the avatar.

Harvey takes 71 dmg
Kalar takes 71 dmg
Lynda takes 23 dmg

Lynda scrapes herself off the ground, and catches sight of the newcomers. The combination of a cleric and a group of werewolves could only indicate Tammytharn. Were they not in battle, she might've rushed up and hugged her.

Lynda regains her composure and fetches her fire gem from her pack. She then crushes it underfoot, attempting to summon an elemental to help her battle.

Tammytharn raises hero holy symbol. It is a new one that she has twisted into the Symbol of Rao from a long braid of werewolf hair taken from her children over the years.

She opens her mouth and in a loud voice, utters a Prayer

God of Peace, God of Reason,
I invoke you now in this time of war and chaos,
That you may forgive our violence,
And bless it for the greater service of your ultimate goals!

As she speaks she is surveying the scene, trying to establish who is friend, who is foe, and where to direct her wraith


Rob doesn't recognize the newcomers, but he recognizes them as reinforcements, and breaths a momentary sigh of relief.

Rob casts Glibness on himself, and shouts to the Kythons,
"Kythons! Your master is trapped in that stone dome! Quickly! Free him or he will be angry at you!"

Kalar reels from the damage he's taken, but tries to ignore it. Instead, he flies farther away while focusing on his holy symbol to bring another ally onto the field.

[b]Spell Used: Summon Monster VII, Huge Earth Elemental

If attacked, will expend psionic focus on subsequent concentration check to take 15 on the roll for a total of 26.

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Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

Using Editor version wip 20170527 gfx_sdl+fb music_sdl

Harvey isn't even sure what happened. There was a bright flash and it must've looked amazingly cool but the invisible man was too close to get to appreciate it.

He dusts himself off, becoming aware of the fact that his equipment is missing. "Hehe.. musta knocked it clean off. Good thing my clothes are okay. No need to ruin the fireworks by whippin out Little Harvey." It's dark in here.. damn dark! Has it always been this dark?

Turning around to look at the others, Bilchik's heart sinks. Looking back at him, clad in hides that can conceal only their shame and never their disapproval are Harvey's ancestors.

"Well, shit. I'm unconcious again." He sits in the dirt inside of his mind and looks up at the mournful faces. "Alright, I'm ready. What'd I do wrong this time?"

Enhanced through the power of prayer, the werewolves converge on the nearby wounded kython. It is quickly overwhelmed and defeated. Galse and Tammytharn watch with pride. The Werewolf alpha slashes hard at the kython in front of him. This was not the first of their kind he had fought and would not be the last he would kill.
Rachelle and Voulton rounded the corner into the room then. Voulton's charge was stopped short by the whirling barrier of fangs.
Rob began to lie then. The kython seemed to understand the general tone of the lie and seemed to agree. The one focused on Kalar turned toward the mound of rock the avatar of the lord of the seventh level of hell was trapped inside of. The other kythons did the same. The kython battling the werewolf alpha turned it's attention away from the melee and instead attacked the mound of stone. The werewolf alpha took the opportunity to attack the thing, but the kython had succeeded. The stone, weakened by acid, collapsed. The avatar of the lord of the seventh level of hell emerged from the stone dome. It splashed the werewolf alpha with it's deadly acid.
An unseen force dispelled The barrier of fangs then. At the same time, Lynda and Kalar both summoned elementals. Lynda summoned a raging fire elemental and Kalar a huge earth elemental. Azedarac readied his lances of darkness and turned his sight on the avatar, while the avatar's sight seemed focused on Rob.
Meanwhile, Arden, possessing a kython, fought the red kython that was trying to reach the frog and mouse. He made quick work of the kython but the flying creature that had been trying to talk to him flew up and out of range. It stopped talking then and turned it's attention towards the frog and mouse. Arden could sense the creatures wicked intent.
The fire flared to life in the tomb. The red carpeting seemed to be quite flammable. The fire was spreading quickly.

"Stay strong, my son!" Tammytharn calls to the Alpha Werewolf, as she casts Protection from Energy (Acid) on him.

Rob casts Modify Memory on the Avatar, attempting to erase his own previous lie to the Kythons from the Avatar's memory.

"The Kythons are against you, they have been plotting to betray you at now at this critical moment! You can't trust them anymore!" Rob lies, hoping that his Gilbness and the Modify Memory spell might reinforce one another.

Ardan backs away from the fire, and prepares to defend the frog and mouse.

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Lynda ascends in to the air, and then fires more arrows towards the avatar.

Looks like the leathery face of Galse The Cook has lived to get another day leathery-er. His squinty-eyes have begun to wrinkle with middle age, and the hair he had is long gone. Gone too is most of his ego, standing in the shadow of a giant for so long having drained any delusion of being the toughest guy in the room.

Older and wiser, Galse has fallen back what he does best: cooking. "An army lives and dies on its stomach and none of you would be here without me." he's reminded all of those brave enough to fight the bugs, three times a day for the past twelve years, right before he takes their lunch money. See? There's still a little bit of that ego left.

His trusty sap still sits at his side, waiting to end any argument between the good guys. These days his weapon of choice is an axe (It does feel manlier...) and with a few years of Voulton's tutelage, he's almost not clumsy with it. Those wrinkled squinty eye scan the room. He might not be the best fighter, but he's still got a talent. Someone out there is tougher than the others, and when Galse figures out who it is he's gonna point Voulton in the right direction.

Voulton's eyes are also searching the chaos of the battle. He stands a little prouder and taller, having found redemption and solace in the courageous campaign they've waged against the forces of evil, but even after all this time, war doesn't come naturally. He's trying to figure out where he belongs... who's doing what...

Hey, is that... Lynda?! "Hey! Lynda!" the half giant roars over the din of combat. "Turns out Azedarc's that guy who tried to kill you in the past! Remember that?!" The time travel incident... Voulton's spent many an hour rubbing his two brain cells together over that one. "You don't look any different!... why don't you look any different?! Did you guys go to the future afterwards and not invite me? Are we in the future now?!"


Harvey's eyes are still behind his closed lids. (As in unmoving, not like they got up and went somewhere) His foot twitches (How cute! He must be chasing the mailman!) as his battered body clings to life.

"Am I awake yet?" the assassin asks his ancestors, not for the first time, not for the last. He knows the answer, but it's more fun this way. Something to pass the time. The ancient hunters continue their pointed, sad stares, unmoved by this latest foolishness.


Harvey is still dying and unable to do anything.

Galse stays the hell out of the way, scanning the battle for anything unusual and offering tactical advice. If anyone moves to attack him, he will defend himself.

Voulton should be attacking someone but I don't know who. I'll trust Spoony's judgement as to who should be getting that axe action.

Kalar channels power into his holy symbol, sending it forth into a screaming blast the erupts into a circular wall of fangs surrounding the avatar. He makes sure to shape it so that it separates the bugs from his other allies, providing them some breathing room. He focuses it, making it smaller than he would normally be able to so as to not cause any friendly fire.


Spell Used: Whirl of Fangs

Lasts 13 minutes
Radius: 5 ft./2 levels
20 feet high

Any passing through take maximized 12d4 damage, Reflex half.
Any within wall take maximized 2d4 damage, Reflex half, each round it remains.

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Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

Using Editor version wip 20170527 gfx_sdl+fb music_sdl

Decades of being a lizard had not done Rachelle much good. Her scales had lost much of their sheen, thanks to the stress of having to lead when she had no real experience outside of being on the gradually losing side of war. Her place was... she really didn't know. She felt cowardly on the battlefield, but behind a desk was no place for a barbarian. And yet, entering this tomb, decades after it and the pillar of mist about it had first appeared, felt like something she had to do.
Entering the tomb and seeing evidence of a string of desperate battles did nothing to assuage her fears that this had all been for nothing - but as she continued in, she began to hear evidence of a battle. She took out the best oil that money could buy her and spread it over her quarterstaff.
...but to see her old party members, exactly as they had been before she had departed! Rachelle drinks a potion of Bull's Strength, lifts up her quarterstaff, and quickly looks over the battlefield, readying herself to counter anything that comes at her. A proper offensive could wait, if only for a few seconds.