The group resets time and re-ponders the issues at hand. Shall the party re-engage the jungle dwelling magician and his snakefolk allies? Shall the group go take on the ‘god’ of the fogfolk? Shall the group return to the fire giants to seek out he Drow and engage them? Maybe the group could use their high level wizard to go beat up some mongrelfolk? A sense of ennui settles over the group. As they sit by their campfire, the bard leaves through the magical atlas they kiped from one poor foe or another. He looks at the various lands and reads the entries regarding the basic information about each. The group members are torn twixt the desire for yet more power and the fear of losing what they have already gained, Ideas are presented, discussed, re-dicussed, shelved, re-tabled and verbally chewed over once again.
Finally the discussion seems to center on a triad of possibilities…seek out the sphinx that guards the tomb of the sphinx queen – kill him and enter the tomb to slay the queen. Or, take on one of the dangerous huge ancient elder dragons that have carved the Star Mount into so many fiefdoms. The third option is flirted with, laughed off and returned to a few times. Finally, over the goggle-eyed objections of the bard, the group decides to venture into the depths of Undermountain and take on the labyrinth of Halaster the Mad.
Before leaving it is decided that the snakefolk need one more bout of punishment, and maybe – just maybe – that step pyramid migh t hold some secrets. So, the group gears up and gets ready for the assault. The druids casts several rock to mud spells and melt off the top of the pyramid under cover of darkness. As the dawn breaks, the snakefolk are visibly perturbed by the vandalism. While Dalliance and Ti’Karu ride on the broom invisibly as air support, Ti’Karu creates an illusion of himself squatting and defecating on the top of the molten pyramid remains. As the angry ones draw closer, this outrage provokes a massed charge – which Dalliance breaks up with fireballs. The snakefolk scatter and are harassed by further fiery artillery strikes from the sky. This prompts some response from the magician as the invisibility spell is removed from the airborne duo, and Ti’Karu narrowly escapes having his intellect reduced to that of a root vegetable. This prompts a rapid retreat back to the jungle and the decision that the group members are done with this corner of the world.
They teleport to Dalliance’s tower in the fortified keep at Thudheim and spend a few weeks preparing themselves. They do a bit of shopping, but find the demand for ‘adventuring magic’ has declined in the north – due in no small part to the stabilizing influence of the EFK over the decades. Though the participants and their motives varied along the way, in the end the EFK helped settle (and then threaten to tear asunder) the norhtlands. Bah!
There is more discussion – traveling to Drow cities…leaving the known world…going back to Shadowdale…anywhere but Undermountain. The next day, the group travels to Waterdeep and enters the Yawning Portal tavern. With bards in animal form, Dalliance, Ron’j! and Ti’Karu pay their gold and are lowered into the darkness…as the torchlight of the tavern begins to fade from sight the discussion springs back to life…’do we really want to do this’?
Leave a reply