The
EARTH story - November 25, 1372
When you awaken it is dark.
The sky overhead is a uniform, starless black. However, as you are
breaking your fast it begins to lighten, and after awhile full daylight
returns.
Jon takes out his magic user books and starts to study spells while mumbling to himself, "Dragons, trolls, giants...probably fire and cold spells."
Equinox moves away a short
distance from the rest of you and casts his spell. However, when he
does so, nothing happens. Apparently, despite its similar appearance,
the nature of this plane is markedly different from the nature for
which the spell was designed to commune with.
"For those of us who do not follow Thor or Odin or another Norse God, a
quick primer on the Norse religion might be helpful," Equinox explains,
"Jotunheim is one of the nine worlds of the Norse Gods, and is the
homeland of the frost and stone giants. It is on the snowy regions on
the outermost shores of the ocean on Midgard, on the middle level of
the Norse universe, and is separated from Asgard by the river Iving,
which never freezes over.
"Since we are in the home of the Frost Giants, fire spells and attacks
are likely to be the most effective: cold-based the least. If we
spell-casters need to relearn our spells, it is probably best if we do
it now, before we cross the Iving."
"Equinox, can you Commune with Thor or any spirits to get the general location of the blade we seek?" Al asks.
Equinox replies to Al: "I am afraid that all of my communing abilities
are useless here. It seems that my Druidic magic is tied to the Prime
Material Plane. I am pretty sure that if I were to try any of my nature
magic, whether to summon animals or other creatures, or to call
lightning from the sky, they would be equally ineffective. I sort of
expected this, so I prayed mostly for healing and protective magics,
which should work. I hope."
"Anyway, we don't need to Commune with Thor. Heimdall told us to cross
the Iving and carefully and quietly follow the trail to the tunnel of
the Sword. He said the trail would be faint, but I am sure we will be
able to find it. He also said that we should try to be as stealthy as
possible. I, for one, plan to be invisible and flying above us in Raven
form to scout for as much as possible of the journey."
"So be it, Brother E," Al says with a smile.
"I am going to scout around for the boat to cross the Iving right now."
Equinox puts on his ring of invisibility. While he scouts, Kithus and Op Code also go prowling along the river bank.
After a bit the druid returns, having found no sign of a boat from the air.
Jon looks to the group and tries to count who's left and makes a terrible
mess of it, saying aloud:
"Equinox
Sharone
Jon & Violet
Kithus
Beth & Brennon
Mikodin
Drinor
Devlin
Ayazin
Al
and Tully ?"
Jon continues, "Does anyone have in their spellbook any of these
spells: enlarge, feather fall, polymorph self or stoneskin and would be
willing to let me learn from their books? Ooh...other than than the
scouting do we have a plan? Is there anything in group treasure that
may help? I seem to remember there is a flaming sword that someone
should use at least!!"
"I am a cavalier and a cleric, I do not read from any mage books," Al
says with a nod. "Who among us can conceal themselves one way or
another? Equinox can cast an invisibility spell, I can do so because of
an item; anyone else?"
Equinox responds to Al: "I can only become invisible by using my ring of invisibility. I think that Jon is the only spell-caster in our group."
Jon - invisible - looks shocked by Equinox's statement, "Ummm what
about Beth?? I can turn two people invisible today - Violet and one
other - but I think we would be better served by having the at least
the druid, rangers and monk scouting."
"And do not forget Aldarin and Brennon, either," adds Devlin.
Then Equinox replies to Jon: "I think our best plan is to travel as
quickly, quietly and invisibly as possible. How many people can you
turn invisible?"
At this point the rangers report that they have found a boat moored to
the riverbank under a low hanging tree, thus concealed from the air. It
does not look too big, but should be adequate to carry you across the
Iving.
Drinor replies to Jon, "I had a flaming broadsword that I returned to
the group treasure. It is a fine sword, if a bit awkward, but it's not
the equal of my holy sword."
"I am a ranger," replies Kithus, "I guess I can scout for us. Although
I am not sure how similar this world is from ours. Already, some of the
spells are not working. I can try my best, but that might confuse us
more than before."
Aldarin, still somewhat amazed at the journey so far, finally speaks
up. "I have that ability to become invisible also. Given some
time, I could relearn some spells so that I could cast them on others
if need be. Of course the question begs to be asked, what
intelligent creature would look upon a boat being driven on the river
without any sight of boatsmen and not find it a curiosity?"
"That is true," repiles Equinox to Aldarin, "but it cannot hurt if we
are invisible on the trip over the Iving and I am more concerned with
stealth and visibility after we cross. We have a long journey to the
Tunnels of the Sword."
Tully says, "We could always use the carpet of flying that I loaned
Beth to get across the river. By the way, does anyone want to trade
something for a wand of conjuration? I got this years ago and have
never been able to use it."
Ayazin says, "I can shapechange as well, and I have a few concealment
spells such as Obscurement, but I can't guarantee they'll work."
Drinor says, "Stealth isn't my strong point. Even invisible, this plate mail will give me away."
Tully starts as if waking from a deep slumber. "I am not too familar
with the Norsemen or their gods. Are their tales rife with heros
slinking about invisible from place to place? I would love to hear more
about the Norse tales."
"No, our heroes fight face to face. It is Loki and his cronies that
skulk, but Lord Heimdall has charged us with a mission of stealth and
if that includes us to go in quietly and without being seen, then so be
it!" Al replies to Tully.
Equinox reddens slightly. "I am no hero, Tully, but neither do I slink.
I want to recover the Sword and if we try to do so by attracting as
much attention to ourselves as possible, we might not make it even to
the Tunnels of the Sword. Heimdall suggested that we avoid notice as
much as possible and I think the best way to do so is by being
invisible for as much time as possible."
Tully says, "You are right, I am sure."
"The boat seems like a good way to go. Let's try that."
"Fine, the boat should do," Al says as he gets on it and then with a twist of his ring, he vanishes from sight.
Equinox does the same.
Brennon can cast invisibility twice. One for himself which he will do after casting on another. Then he gets into the boat.
With so many invisible people you spend a lot of time jostling and
bumping before getting properly settled in. Indeed, you almost tip the
boat in the process. The craft is small, but you all fit into it.
Additional problems arise when you take up the oars and try to row
across the river. Invisible people have problems trying to coordinate
their strokes, so the boat goes in circles for awhile. Finally, Devlin
and Drinor - both visible - take the oars and soon have you underway
properly.
It takes about twenty minutes to cross the Iving. The shore on the
Jotenheim side is rocky, with dark conifers overhanging a steep bank.
Drinor and Devlin row the boat between two large boulders and you
clamber ashore. The air over here seems to be much colder; you can see
your breath.
While the rest of you get organised, Op Code and Kithus do some
scouting. After a short time they return, to tell you that they have
indeed found a faint trail nearby. In one direction it follows the
river; in the other direction it heads inland.
When you are ready you set out, following the rangers. After a short walk they pause and point out the trail before you.
Without their eyes you would never have seen it.
You turn right, and set off, Op Code and Kithus leading. The forest here is so overgrown that it seems like twilight.
For the first hour or so the trek is uneventful...then suddenly the
bushes part and you find yourself confronting an enormous, worm-like
creature. It is about 70' long. It has a pair of small wings behind its
head and its body seems to radiate heat.
It bellows and lunges to attack!
Jon takes to the air and evades while yelling, "Run, Violet!"
She takes his advice and retreats.
Jon then casts a lightning bolt at the creature, aiming away from the group.
"Thor guide my lightning strike for justice."
Since his first strike will cause him to become visible, Al launches himself into the air and slices at the wyrm with Claw.
Tully pulls out his bow and begins to fire at the creature as quickly as he can.
Mikodin draws his magic axe and launches himself at the creature.
Equinox flies up into the air and looks around to see if there is anything else threatening the party.
He sees nothing else.
"That is not a small worm," Beth says calmly, and then begins a polymorph other spell, trying to turn the worm into a small, sessile, non-poisonous jellyfish.
Brennon launches a magic missile attack against the worm.
Drinor gives a shout and pulls out his crossbow, firing bolts at the worm.
Ayazin (still in raven form from the river crossing) flies in a wide
circle around the worm, looking for monsters or other threats that
might be nearby.
Op Code lunges at the worm, hoping to avoid having the invisible people from becoming visible unnecessarily
Since he is using a ring for his invisibility, Aldarin attacks the worm-like creature with a lightning bolt.
Devlin moves forward with Op Code to melee the monster.
Al becomes visible as he attacks the head of the worm. He opens a small wound.
The creature bellows and lunges at the flying cavalier, swallowing him whole and killing him instantly.
Jon's lightning bolt bounces off of the monster without doing any damage.
Tully's two arrows burst into flames as the strike the red-hot back of the worm, doing no damage.
Mikodin attacks with his axe, opening another small wound in the monster.
Beth's polymorph spell does not affect the worm, and nor does Brennon's magic missile spell.
Drinor's bolt bursts into flames as soon as it touches the back of the monster without doing any damage.
Op Code easily slices into the underside of the monster with Longsword #2, drawing its attention to him.
Aldarin's lightning bolt does not affect the enemy.
Devlin lands two quick hits on the soft underbelly of the worm, and the creature drops to cover its most vulnerable area.
"Yipes!" Beth cries, as she sees attacks fail and Al get eaten. "It's magic resistant!"
Tully pulls some magical arrows out this time and shouts, "Maybe we should run for it instead of fighting this stupid beast!"
Drinor bellows, "No! We cannot leave Al behind in the belly of that beast!"
"We must avenge Al!" replies Devlin, as he presses the attack.
The paladin fires another bolt, this time aiming for the creature's head in hopes of hitting a vulnerable spot.
Equinox flies down to the ground behind the beast, casts protection from fire on himself and then, without much hope of success, tries to bash the Worm with MC Hammer.
Mikodin, seemingly oblivious to all except the wyrm, attacks again with his handaxe.
Aldarin draws his magical long sword and moves in to attack, attempting
to strike at the underside of the beast and definitely not the red hot
back of the beast.
Kithus, who is not invisible, charges the worm with his two-handed
sword drawn, while trying to avoid the head of the worm, which has
demonstrated its killing power.
Jon, flying and visible, casts mirror image
and then maneuvers to attack the underbelly if an opportunity presents
itself while keeping away from the back of the creature and the mouth.
Tully lets loose his magical arrows, aiming for any vulnerable places
he can see...the belly or the eyes or the open mouth. He stays clear of
the beast however.
Since magic seems to have no effect, Brennon moves away from the battle and stays away from the worm's attacks.
Op Code presses his attack.
The ranger lands a glancing blow on the monster's head as he dodges
that engulfing maw. His next swing also results in a small wound.
Close by, Devlin lands another hit on its back with his non-magical
bastard sword, then lets out a bellow of dismay as the blade droops and
melts before his eyes!
Mikodin lands another blow with his axe.
Tully's two magic arrows miss the monster.
Jon swoops in and finds an opening with Geerzo, but the two of them are turned by the worm's hide.
Kithus attacks, and lands a hit on the monster's back with his glowing sword. The monster bellows in agony.
Near the rear, Equinox and MC Hammer miss.
Aldarin also connects, then jumps aside as flaming ichor gushes out of the wound.
Drinor's next bolt misses.
The beleaguered remorhaz is surrounded.
Op Code opens a large wound under one of its eyes, partially blinding it. Kithus, with another swing, finishes it off.
The worm bellows one last time and flops to the ground, dead.
"We have to go and get Al's body so he can be raised," says Equinox, "let's cut this beast open."
"Agreed," says Kithus as he prepares to help, "But I think we should do
it fast. Who knows what kind of predators or other monsters might be
lured by the scent of recent kills? Just tell me where to cut."
"Let's hope Al's body isn't too chewed up!" Op Code remarks.
"Good point," replies Equinox, "Someone should probably scout about
from the air to give us warning if something else approaches. Can
anyone do that other than me?"
The raucous call of a raven overhead reminds you that Ayazin, in bird
form, is already circling overhead and watching for enemies.
"Right, that's one of us," Beth says, pointing at the avian Ayazin and
generally feeling slow. She won't rise in the rug, but will keep
it out in case Ayazin needs some quick air support.
Drinor says, "Here, one of you rangers use a hunting knife to slit this
beast's belly quickly! We must get to Al's body before it's digested,
or we might not be able to bring him back from the dead."
"Doesn't anybody besides Al carry something sharp?" Beth echoes.
"I do," says Mikodin quickly, cutting open the beast with his magic
axe, fervently hoping to recover a corpse whole enough to be
resurrected.
Kithus draws his knife. He will do his best to comply with Drinor's wish.
"I am basically immune to fire and heat for a while so if someone will lend me a sword or an axe, I will get started."
Equinox will start at the side of the creature, about where he would estimate the creature's stomach to be.
Jon walks along side the monster, asking Geerzo to detect magic, trying
to locate the dead body within the creature and taking care not to
touch the back of the creature.
"Right here!" says Geerzo, drawing your attention to a spot aft of the monster's head.
Op Code helps out Mikodin with his magic sword. He will make a long slit, looking for the worm's stomach.
Cutting the flesh of the monster releases a gout of smoke and steam,
and you jump back, waiting for things to cool. At last you resume your
autopsy, and pull out the remains of the cavalier. Most of his body has
been burned and consumed already. All that remains, you discover, is
his...belly button.
"That is not enough to raise him," observes Devlin, who has just
returned from a walk in the woods. "I followed this creature's slime
trail back to a hole in the ground," he continues, "There, I found
these things..."
He presents you with 28,000cp, 2000gp, three potions, a scroll, and a shield.
"Perhaps we should check out these items," he says with that strange
prescience that only NPCs have, "Something here might be useful."
Mikodin eyes the treasure carefully, trying to estimate how much closer
he might be to a return match with a certain middle-aged monk.
Tully says, "Maybe a mage and cleric should each look at the scroll."
He examines the other items.
Jon reads the scroll.
"It might be better if someone casts an Augury or a spell of a similar nature BEFORE you read that scroll, Jon."
Too late. It contains wish (1) and teleport without error (X 2).
Jon looks nervously at the scroll, "Somebody else had better do this
wish thingie...and I didn't think you could teleport without error???"
"The important thing about teleport without error," Beth says, "is that
it works across planes. We should hold onto this scroll.
Indeed, I'd like to hold on to it until I'm high enough level to learn
it myself, so I can copy it into my spellbooks. However, it's a
good thing to have because it might pull our fat out of the fire in an
emergency situation.
"If nobody has any objections, I will hold on to it," Beth adds.
"As for the wish," she goes on, "I might suggest that Al's sword is
something we don't want to do without. I propose that we attempt
to use the wish to bring Al back. The question is whether or not
you trust me to try it, or whether we should go running to a higher
level wizard to take care of it for us. I'm happy to give it a
try, if everybody else is happy with that."
Tully says, "I would recommend that we use the wish. All the tales talk
about making it as simple and selfless as possible and it should work
without a hitch."
He pauses, "Of course, there may be some issues with using on an outer plane."
He shrugs. "Probably worth the risk."
"What, exactly, do you intend to Wish for?" asks Equinox.
"Of course, I'd have to be very careful. Just a wish to get Al
back: how about something simple, such as 'I wish that Al be restored
to life and full health.' Do you think that would work?"
Tully says, "That sounds pretty good to me."
"To the end of that, you better add 'as he was just before he was eaten
by the monster we just killed'," Op Code adds. "I've seen wishes used
before and if you are not exact in your request, you may end up with
something altogether different."
"I think we would need the Wish to have a reference in Time and Place.
The Gods could, if they wanted to cause trouble, grant that Wish by
bringing Al back to life 200 years from now and on a different plane,"
Equinox answers Beth.
Then he frowns and thinks: "What if you were to Wish that Al and all
his equipment be restored, right here and now, to the same state as
they existed immediately before our battle with the giant Rehmorhaz?"
Mikodin interrupts, "I don't know. Might he come back healthy but
naked? We have no great amount of extra equipment, and Al had a
magic sword, didn't he?"
Drinor chortles, "You'd better ask for his possessions back too, or he'll be pissed!"
Tully says, "Were they fully destroyed? I don't think asking for items
as well is a good idea. That seems a bad idea. If the gods who power
this wish decide to do so, they will provide him his items."
Aldarin says, "Instead of wishing in the positive sense, thus trying to
cover all issues in one blanket statement. Why not try wishing
that Al had dodged the Wyrm's attack in the first place? By doing
so, he would be standing here, in good health, with all of his original
items, and without any detrimental effects."
Tully says, "Oh, while that sounds like a good idea, it really isn't.
That is much more powerful than you think, because you are changing the
past and that always has dire consequences. For example, if you could
do that, then we could just wish that someone wasn't born. So wishes
like that either fail or backfire in very bad ways. So, maybe Al would
live, but three others might have died instead. We should stay away
from that. Good idea, though, but it has been tried before."
"That's loaded with pitfalls," Beth says, siding with Tully. "If
the worm didn't eat Al, then maybe it did something else at the same
time. We might find ourselves back in time with a huge worm still
to fight. Better keep it simpler, I think."
Mikodin shrugs his shoulders, and says, "All wishes are dangerous, I
suppose. I wish I had won my fight against a monk a while back,
but I wouldn't know how to frame such a wish."
Looking rather puzzled by the whole conversation, Brennon listens
quietly. Wishing someone back alive seems to difficult for him to
understand.
You do see some of his magical goodies there. The non-magical stuff was consumed.
Op Code states, "That's good. The non-magical stuff can be replaced no problem."
Tully turns to Beth. "Just wish him back. He has enough, I would warrant."
"Read the scroll, Beth. Let's get Al back so we can continue."
Beth reads the wish spell...then, she speaks her original wish...
...For a bit nothing seems to happen, and Beth begins to wonder if she blew it.
Then, you hear a faint cry from above, which rapidly grows louder...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA..."
And suddenly Al drops out of the heavens, crashes into a tree overhead, and tumbles to the ground at your collective feet.
He is aglow with health and stark naked. His face is encrusted with bug juice.
He finds that he is back at the scene of the battle with the remorhaz,
which lies dead and dissected nearby. The rest of the party is present.
In a pile are his possessions which survived the monster's digestive
tract: his armour of Horus, his helmet, his buckler, his scimitar, his
girdle, his wand, his longsword and ring of sustenance. Destroyed was
his ring of air elemental command.
All of his non-magical possessions have been consumed as well.
Jon collects some of the internal juices of the monster for examination later.
Jon and Violet with great care collect as many of the back plates as possible from the monster and store them in the Jupiter 2.
However, when he tries to expand the Jupiter 2, nothing happens.
"Whoa," Al says as he shakes his head, "What a rush, dude!"
He slowly gets up.
Equinox laughs: "Nice entrance, Al. Welcome back. Did you get to see Thor again?"
"Oh yes, a short but sweet visit!" he replies.
Tully averts his eyes and carries his cloak over to Al, "Welcome back,
Al. I will likely compose a ballad about such an end and a beginning."
"Thanks, Tully," he says as he gets dressed.
His nakedness doesn't embarrass him in the slightest, but being in hostile territory forces him to dress quickly.
"I met Thor and what a ride he gave me!" he says with a wide smile. "Fancy horseless chariot, wow!"
Tully looks over at Beth and says, "Great first wish!"
Beth winks and says, "Thanks. I can only look forward to the day
when I can do that without a scroll. Ahhh..." Beth sighs
wistfully, dreaming of cosmic power.
Tully says, "Nothing wrong with wishful thinking."
He chuckles to himself despite the obviousness.
"Beth, Might I be able to train under your guidance while we adventure about, so that I can increase my level?" Brennon asks.
Beth says, "Generally that kind of training takes more attention than one could accomplish while we're adventuring."
You gather up the goodies you found and continue down the faint trail, the rangers leading.
In all you walk for ten hours through the forest. You have no further
encounters. Then, the light starts to fade, and after but a few minutes
it is pitch dark.
You move off of the trail and make a camp. The night is quiet, and nothing attacks you.
Next day