Early in the afternoon you come to the west end of a lake. The trail curves off along its south shore. Near where you come out of the forest you see a ruin...all that remains of a small keep. The area seems to be deserted.
As you head over to the place for a closer look, the sound of disturbed air above you attracts your attention. Coming down at you, you see an eagle...surely not the source of the noise.
The eagle lands, and transforms into Equinox, while almost at the same time a hippogriff with Hlarn on its back becomes visible beside him. The hippogriff turns into Kailar...and Hlarn and the gnome go tumbling.
At last, you are all together in the Rift of the Dead. The weather is now partly cloudy, and the rain which has fallen all morning is tapering off (it is now early afternoon). The temperature is 58F, and a strong wind is blowing out of the south.
Zanax greets Hlarn, Kailar and Equinox with a smile.
"Good to finally catch up to you guys. As you may have noticed, we've been experiencing problems with teleporting and telepathy. Not to mention some other bad news. Anyway, how have you guys been?"
"Bored," replies Equinox.
"We've ben fine. What happened to you guys? There's been a problem with scrying in the area. We haven't been able to see a thing," adds Kailar.
Hlarn nods.
"Why don't you tell me what happened, and where everyone else is. Last I heard from you something had happened and some of the party was killed," the dwarf says anxiously.
"Well, Kal and one of Sian's followers was killed at the pool that enhance physical abilities. We then raised Sian's follower with the last Wish from the Luck Blade. Kadlian said Kal did not want to be raised if he was ever slain.
"Rage, Sian and I then split off from the group to kill some trolls, intending on catching up to the others by teleporting. However, we were slowed by having Rage and Sian's mounts slain by spiders. Then, we learned that our abilities to teleport and use telepathy were being blocked. Still haven't quite figured that out, yet. Rage cast some kind of heavy cloud to slay the trolls down in their lair, although, we never did find out if it worked. On the way back, we encounted Aron (indicating the new human) and convinced him to come with us instead of wandering alone.
"On our way to try and catch up to Kadlian, we heard some huge flying beast overhead. A day or so later, we found the charred remains of the party's mounts. The whole area had been scorched. We found tracks and caught up to Kadlian, his treants, blink dogs and two of Sian's followers. The treants indicated that hooded figures came out of the sky and fireballed the party while Kadlian and Sian's followers were scouting a ridge. The hooded figures questioned the spirits of our companions and then took their bodies into some kind of portable hole. Furgh was supposedly scouting a town nearby, but never came back.
"Several days ago, we came through an intersection where and army was deploying several hundred troops and supply wagons. Not sure where they were headed, though."
Zanax looks at Kadlian expectantly.
"Nlad. They were headed to Nlad. I expect that when we are able to get news of recent events, we are going to find that Mestom has invaded southern Nlad. All the troop movements we have seen are going north. And it makes me wonder if this teleportation and telepathy difficulties are due to them."
"Who exactly was lost?" asks Kailar.
"Anyone you don't see here." Zanax replies dejectedly.
"Zanax since your psionic abilities still do not seem to be functioning, I am going to assume that teleportation to Sandas is going to be impossible. So, a wish from Ray Jay is not useful at this time.
"However, it is only a five day march back to that town where we lost our friends. We could head there and try to discover what has occurred. However, even if we do find enough remains to remain, I do not believe we have the power to bring them back. Hlarn can raise the dead, but their bodies have to be ashes at this point, which means a ressurection or a wish spell, which we do not have access to without teleportation.
"So, the question is what do we do now? I know Sian and Zanax have voiced their opinions, but what about the rest of you? Is there some possibility I have overlooked? Some spell we do have that can bring them back?"
"Like going back to where the enemy might be?"
"Quite possibly. Or at least close to that town of Mestom."
Hlarn looks at the newcomer. "It seems tough times are ahead. It would be best if we all knew exactly where we stood with each other."
"My name is Hlarn Meg..." the dwarf pauses as if thinking he forgot something, but he is too agitated to remember what... "and I'm a warrior priest of Silverbeard. Perhaps you tell me what your skills are? Sorry if you've already gone over this with the others, but as one of the strategists of this party I find it best if I know what we are capable of."
"I am Aron, a warrior of Tyr."
Hlarn bows. "Glad to meet you Aron. I wish it could be under better circumstances. Your diety has always been a friend of mine and I'm glad to have one of his warriors at my side."
"I don't think it is a good idea to go after this artifact until we know who these people are and why they attacked us. They could be looking for the rest of us. I think we should try to find out if Furgh is alive, perhaps using that commune with nature spell that Equinox has been using."
"Commune with nature has only about a 4 1/2 mile radius. If we were within that distance of a party member, I think that I would know it through the spell. The biggest problem is the limited range."
"What information can your spell tell us?"
"Just about anything within its area of effect, I think. The spell is, of course, limited to natural settings, out of doors. It will not tell me anything about a castle, for example."
"And what about a town?"
"I do not believe that a town is a 'natural setting' and so will not be within the area of effect of the spell."
"Well, if my guess is right, that is where the people live who did this."
"Why do you think the people came from that village? The large creature Zanax and other heard flying overhead toward the party could have been a dragon that was controlled by the attackers. They would not have had to come from the nearby town if they had flying as a mode of transportation."
"Well, we were only attacked as we made camp near the town. I have no proof, but Furgh went into that town and never came back. And shortly after he went into that town, the camp was attacked. Coincidence? Maybe."
"You said you heard something fly above you? We, too, heard something. I thought it was a large bird. I hit it with an arrow, and the noise it made sounded like a bird, as well."
"Hey I was thinking here. These people who killed everyone..." says Sian,turning to everyone who don't know anything, "we will get into that....could it have been the people that Beauty was running from? Just a thought. We need to get to Sandas I think. We can get this thing for Verona later. Our companions should be seen to first."
Zanax shakes his head. "We're here. Let's finish this and be off. More than likely, timing is critical and it would take weeks to months to get to Sandas and return without teleportation or flying. As bad as it sounds, our companions are dead, so they're not going anywhere and nor are they waiting for us. Let's retrieve this rod and then leave this god forsaken land."
"I agree with Zanax. I think we should attempt to find the rod before returning to Sandas."
Hlarn seems very disturbed by what you tell him... his fists clench and unclench at hearing the news. He turns away and walks a few feet as if his whole body wants to simply flee from the horror of it all. Stopping suddenly, he turns around.
"Kailar. Begin looking into that ball of yours. Scry for Gnarsh and Furgh...anybody you know, even me although I'm standing here. See if we are still blocked. If so, fly a few miles away and try again. Rage, try teleporting from here to say, a few feet from here. We know we could scry earlier... I'd like to figure out if it is an area affect or something specifically done to either of you or us. Zanax... see if you can communicate telepathically with me right now..."
Kailar does as he is asked. He also tries to dimension door.
The ball does not clear.
The dimension door works.
"Interesting again. Rage was able to use dimension door when we were attacked by the spiders, but not when we were travelling to catch up with all of you. Perhaps these spells work only sometimes..."
"Kailar, perhaps your cat, Sir, may know something? I mean, he does play poker with the gods, right?"
"Which is why I suggest going to one of the nearby towns. There you may find someone who knows this area and why your magics do not work here."
Hlarn shakes his head. "I'd advise against it. If Mestom is at war then any border town will be full of soldiers. Sure they would probably know what caused the magical effect, but the last thing we want is to notify them that a possible enemy is camped nearby."
Hlarn casts a detect magic spell to see if any strange magics are discovered.
The whole area seems to radiate a faint magic.
Kadlian looks around in awe and a little fear. "How is something like this possible? Should we try to dispel it?"
The dwarf shrugs. "There are magics that can disrupt teleportation and communication, but I've never heard of them being spread over a large area of effect..."
"But this does seem to be an area effect sort of spell. Kailar couldn't scry anything recently... which started about the same time your problems started. As far as I know only the gods have such power, granted directly, or via a wish or through the use of some artifact. My guess is that before Mestrom attacked they invoked this power in some manner to keep word of their attack from spreading quickly."
Hlarn shrugs. "Does anyone here know anything about Mestrom? What sort of ruler does it have? Would it have the help of a diety?"
"The only thing I know is that they hate elves. I do not know about how they are ruled or what deities they worship."
Zanax detects evil.
Zanax tries to contact Hlarn telepathically.
No luck.
That failing, he actually touches Hlarn and tries to contact him again.
This works.
"Now that's an interesting effect..."
"Do you detect any sort of evil, Zanax? One priority should be discovering the cause of our sudden lack of powers."
Zanax sighs and starts removing his magic items, except for his Holy Avenger.
"Hlarn, do you have another Detect Magic?"
Regardless, Zanax tries to Dispel Magic around himself with his sword repeatedly while trying to contact Hlarn telepathically.
An intermittent contact is established. However, the instant he stops waving his blade around the contact is broken.
Zanax snorts. "Too bad we need magic to teleport..."
Zanax waves his sword again and tries to see the area where the party members died.
He sees nothing.
Seeing the effects that Zanax's sword has, Hlarn casts a dispell magic toward an area nearby, and then asks Kailar to move the ball into the area and try scrying then.
The dwarf waves at you to hurry up, as his mind begins assessing other matters...
Zanax puts a restraining hand on Hlarn's shoulder. "Calm down, friend. We have been experiencing this problem for over a week, ever since we went to find the trolls. Rage and I have tried to use our abilities many times already. What is strange is that I was able to reach you earlier. Which either means this interference started recently or that those outside the area of this interference can still teleport or communicate to those inside the area of interference."
"Now go over this carefully. You mentioned beasts, and that the area was scorched. Are we talking about red dragons here? Or something else all together. Did you feel any sort of fear? Kadlian, I take it the treats were present when the attack came? What else can they tell us about it? What race were the hooded figures, and how exactly did they come out of the air, via magic or beast? Was this attack in the Enchanted Valley or elsewhere?"
"No, we did not feel fear. The treants did, but only because some of the attacks were fire based. And that is quite understandable. The treants never got a good look at the figures. They flew out of the air, probably via magic. And the attack came while we were is Mestom. The town was definitely a Mestom town.
He looks at Kadlian sharply. "You said they took the bodies... who's bodies exactly, and were any totally vaporized and only ash remained?"
"I never saw anything. The treants told me what they saw. There was a trap awaiting us at the top of that hill. We did not try to trip it considering our numbers..."
"Here is what the treants told me. 'They came from the sky unseen, with fire and cutting blades of magic,' the treant whispers back. In the dimness you see that he looks scorched. His hide is cut in many places. Nearby, you can make out the shapes of the other treants.'
"'They landed once all were dead, and spoke with the bodies,' the treant continues in a barely audible voice. 'The dead answered them. Then, they dumped the bodies in a strange pit that one unfolded from his robes, and stripped the dead animals of anything of value. At last, they took to the air again, and vanished.'"
"As for the artifact we are seeking... I dread trying to get it without the full strength of our party. The two ruins down below do contain monsters... one holding creatures of lesser strength than us, but the other holding much more powerful creatures beyond what Kailar, Equinox and I could possibly handle. My guess is that our prize, if it exists, lies in that stronger ruin. Now if we are to bring our companions back, this artifact seems the only method of doing so, but even that is worthless without the remains of our friends. So our first priority should be in trying to locate their bodies and recover them."
Kadlian coughs and shuffles his feet uncomfortably. "I hate to say this, but we have really only lost Agulhas, Furgh and Kal. Sian's and my followers were probably not skilled enough to face what we will face. And Beauty and Logan were unknowns. However, do not doubt that I want them all back alive. It is just a question of whether we need them to complete this task."
"Well, we lost Kal before they were attacked. What really hurts is the loss of Agulhas' mage ability. Perhaps if they were not attacked by the local town, we might be able to find some adventurers willing to aid us."
"Kadlian, were your blink dogs with you on the ridge or with the treants during the attack?"
"I left them behind. The treants did not know if they were still alive, so they must have believed they were in camp."
Zanax asks the blink dogs about the attack. It turs out that the dogs were off frolicing down the hill aways, and missed the attack.
Hlarn pulls out his candle. "I can get a lot more accurate information direclty from Silverbeard, but the answers will be yes and no's only. Lets think of what we want to ask."
"Did this interference start within the last month?"
"Does this interference affect those outside the interference trying to teleport or communicate with us?"
"It affects my telepathy and clairvoyance, but not my levitation ability. It probably affects my ESP ability, too."
"That is interesting. So what kind of classification of magical or psionic abilities is that?"
Zanax shrugs. "So far, it seems to affect instantaneous travel, like teleport or dimension door, and distance communication, like telepathy and clairvoyance."
"It seems almost like some kind of defense," comments Aron. "An enemy couldn't magically spy upon you nor teleport in to attack."
"Or vice versa," comments Birch.
"That sounds plausible, but you would think it would only be incoming attempts, not outgoing as well. Agulhas and I attempted to teleport to Sandas without any luck. Still, that is an interesting theory to pursue."
Hlarn points out, "My guess is that it doesn't affect the invoker's own magicians. That would be the ideal invocation. Thus the rulers can scry and survey the attack and move about freely, but those attacked can teleport out to get help, or teleport help in where it is needed."
"If we come across any magicians or priests from Mestrom, look for an amulet or something that might grant immunity to this effect."
Hlarn turns to Rage. "Can you cast an anti-magic spell yet? It would be a good test to see if we can create a pocket of anti-magic that Zanax could then walk into and try using his mental powers."
"Are the bodies or remains of our companions in the village? We should reword this question, but I'm not sure how."
"I can think of two right off the bat..."
"Did the attackers come from the town nearby? And is this difficulty with teleportation and psionics a localized effect?"
"I think that we should also consider these questions:
1. Is the artifact we are seeking in one of the two ruins before us?2. Are we as a party now, powerful enough to successfully recover the artifact?
3. Will taking the time now to atempt to recover the artifact have any effect on our chances to recover our friends' and/or their bodies?
Hlarn lights the candle and begins to commune with his diety.
"Great Silverbeard, grant my prayers and give advice to your faithful servant who has questions to ask...
1) Is my companion Furgh alive?
"NO." booms a voice out of the heavens.
2) Is the interference in teleporting or using communication spells directed at our party specifically?
"NO."
3) Did someone serving Mestom invoke this magic?
"YES."
3) Can we simply try dispelling it to rid ourselves of this effect?
"YES."
4) Does the interference affect those outside the interference trying to teleport or communicate with us?"
"YES."
5) Are the bodies or remains of our companions in the village Zanax spoke of?
"NO."
6) Did the attackers on Kadlian's camp come as a result of Furgh's trip to the town?
"YES."
"I wonder if that was also related to Mestom's hatred of elves, as Kadlian reported."
Hlarn nods. "Probably didn't help matters."
7) Is the artifact we are seeking in one of the two ruins in the valley below?
"YES."
"Perhaps the next time you commune, you could also ask Silverbeard which ruin it's in."
"My guess would be the one with the stronger creatures. Artifacts always are well guarded by whoever hid them, or by whoever took them from their last users. But I will ask when next I commune."
8) Are we as a party now, powerful enough to successfully recover the artifact?
"YES."
"Well, that's at least encouraging."
9). Will taking the time now to attempt to recover the artifact ruin our chances of retrieving our dead companions remains?
"NO."
"I must point out that we should not put too much stock in Silverbeard's response to the third question as the question was poorly drafted. The third question only asks whether we could try to dispel it ourselves. Of course we can TRY to dispel it ourselves, it does not mean that we have the capability to SUCCESSFULLY dispel it.""
Hlarn clucks his tongue in disapproval. "You are right. Sorry I botched that one. But by the looks of things we can indeed dispel it, if only temporarily. Zanax's sword being the proof. Unfortunately dispelling magic that way also dispells our ability to cast magic in response."
Hlarn quickly puts the candle away.
About 85% of its original length remains.
"Well, we don't know where our companions might have been taken which means a long search, or using a full wish to bring them back. And that means travelling back to Sandas to find Ray Jay or Occa... a trip of a couple of weeks with this evil magic affecting us."
"However we found several items holding wishes in the Black Keep, and its possible we'll find others in these ruins. Besides, as I said before its likely Ray Jay or Occa won't be available in the near future. So I suggest we attempt the ruins... both for the artifact, and the chance we'll find an object granting wishes."
"Now I'm guessing Furgh somehow was caught and slain, and his spirit questioned which drew attention to our camp. After the attack they questioned others of our companions. They thus know how many of us there are, and likely where we were heading and why. And by taking the bodies, they can question them again later if they wish. So if we don't get this object soon, its probable Mestrom will attempt take it also. Which also means we might soon have competition in this area, so as soon as possible we should secure a safe camp inside the ruins and out of sight."
"So if that is our plan then I suggest we start in the morning. Standard precautions before entering a dangerous area."
"Are we all agreed to make an attempt to recover the artifact, then?"
Kadlian nods. "It seems our best approach."
Hlarn nods. "You know my opinion."
Hlarn suggests that you return with him, Kailar and Equinox to their camp, but then realises that what is a flight of a few hours would actually be a walk of several days duration. So, you decide to move the camp down into the valley, closer to the ruins.
You spend the balance of the afternoon doing this. By nightfall you are camped at the end of a narrow cove on the south side of the lake, perhaps a quarter mile from the trail and a mile or so from the westermost ruin. The forest here is very dense, and conceals you well.
Tonight Hlarn also casts some auguries to see if planar travel also is affected by this magic. (i.e. could he travel to the astral plane).
He develops the impression that such an action would be beneficial.
He casts a couple more auguries to determine if once in the Astral Plane one would be able to view Sandas in the color pool. (i.e. is Sandas in the area of affect of this magic)
He gets the impression that such an action would not be beneficial.
Finally he'll cast a couple more auguries to see if should we get to Sandas in the next couple of days that we'd find Ray Jay in residence.
He gets no answer to this augury.
"Which of Sian's and Kadlian's followers survived and are with us? Trying to figure out how many clerics we now have here..."
"Only Vanadil and Birch survived from Sian's followers. The treants and the blink dogs survived from those that followed me. Birch is a druid and Vanadil is a fighter."
Finally Hlarn asks Rage, "So how far did you get with travelling the magical pools and such? Everyone now more experienced?"
In the meanwhile Hlarn adds some auguries to see if starting with the stronger ruin will find the artifact faster than starting in the weaker ruin.
He gets the impression that a more favourable result would occur if you started with the "weaker" ruin.
"Well, I can set the creatures in the area searching for the missing party members while we delve into the dungeons below."
Equinox begins praying for spells.
"You can do that from here? Pretty impressive. And by all means, please do so."
Equinox casts Animal Summoning I (2x) and Animal Summoning II (once).
Six crows, four wild dogs and five hawks answer the summons.
He directs them when they arrive. Basically, he describes the area of the attack, the nearby town, the missing party members and the description of the attackers and ask them to look in and around the forest for the party members or their attackers. He will ask them to return to the nearby area of this camp after they are found. This is a request for information, not a request that the animals attack anybody or anything on the party's behalf.
If nothing is found, then the animals should return in two weeks. In no event should these requests be considered lasting longer than two weeks. If Equinox should not return to the camp within two weeks, the animals are released from any request.
Finally, Equinox requests that the animals refrain from hunting or hurting each other during these two weeks.
The animals depart into the evening gloom.