Post by Dead Greyhawk on Nov 14, 2007 20:29:37 GMT -5
The Company decides to stop investigating the details of the various buildings, choosing instead to focus their attention on the large wall to the right. "Walls are meant to protect, to keep things out," declares Winthrop.
"Unless they are to keep things in," retorts Antonus morosely.
The Company continues forward on the white road, willing to follow it so long as the wall remains in sight. They are quite pleased then when the road branches again and the right hand branch extends towards the wall. As the Company walks towards the wall, greater detail comes forth from the surface of the wall itself. Carvings of growing, curling plants adorn the surface of the wall, appearing to move under the pressure of some unfelt wind. The carvings are a marvelous piece of stonework, impressive to both the gnome and the dwarf.
The beauty of the wall dissipates as the Company comes even closer. The carvings, and the wall itself, darken upon approach, first turning the color of ever older ivory and then becoming a smooth black granite. The surface of the wall is smooth to the touch, not even the faintest of roughness to provide a foothold or toehold. The wall looms a good thirty feet above the Company, but the long boughs of the Great Tree jut out high above it.
The white road leads up to the wall to a place that appears to be a gate of some sort. Made of latticework iron forged in the shape of vines and trees, it is embedded in the wall, totally lacking in hinges. Worse, each intersection of the latticework is sculpted into a long thorn, easily the length of a dagger. Anyone attempting to bash the gate down would be severely imperiled. A tunnel through the wall can be seen beyond the latticework, but no way to reach it is visible.
Otto, ever prepared, pulls out a grapnel and long rope. Tying it firmly together, he whirls the grapnel out over his head and then up over the top of the wall. Three times he does so, each time trying to set the grapnel, and each time the grapnel comes back down, having found no purchase. Whatever strange effect the wall has, it seems to prohibit purchase from mechanical implements as well.
Raven looks around for a nearby tree that would be high enough to reach over the wall, but none are available. All of the nearby trees are small, or are at such a distance that their limbs do not reach over the top of the wall. Only the Great Tree's boughs seem to pass over the wall.
"Any ideas?" asks Raven.
Winthrop cracks his knuckles and smiles. "I could start with fire, to warm it up, and then cold, to try to get it to freeze. The stress would crack it. If that didn't work I could pile lightning bolts through it until the intersections melted from the strain," exclaims Winthrop, the visions of destruction boiling in his eyes. "It would take some time, but it would be glorious!"
"How about the robes?" asks Antonus. The rest of the Company turns to look at him. "Herbert's got the robes from the chest. See if they will let you through the gate," suggests Antonus, as if it is the most natural thing to do.
"Man's got a point," says Raven, beckoning towards Herbert. Herbert looks at Otto, unsure whether this is wise. Otto seems as equally confident as Raven though, and he enthusiastically waves Herbert onwards. Herbert unslings his pack and digs through it, pulling out the ceremonial robes and donning them.
"Don't forget the pin," says Antonus, with a grin. Herbert scowls at the mage, but he draws out the copper pin and pins it prominently on his chest. With clear trepidation, Herbert approaches the gate.
"Open in the name of Phyton!" commands Herbert, waving his hands at the gate.
"Phyton!" exclaims Raven. "He's a Nerullite!"
The gate does not move. "Open in the name of Phyton! I command it!" declares Herbert, striding up towards the gate. Indeed, as he closes with the gate, the gate slides backwards away from him, into the wall proper, creating a tunnel in the wall. "Let's get a move on!" exclaims Herbert, excited at his newfound ability. With Herbert leading them, the gate continues to slide away from them, through the wall. The sharp thorns stay a constant two feet away from the druid, no matter how quickly or slowly he walks, until they reach the inner surface of the wall. There, the gate slides to one side along the face of the wall, providing entry into a less wooded area. In contrast to the fading afternoon sun behind them, the light in this area is much dimmer, as if the sun was about to go over the horizon.
The space beyond the wall appears well maintained, almost gardened, with small trees and shrubs dotting the scenery. The grass is cropped to a short length, but does not appear to be cut. The trees are of a wide variety, including fruit bearing kinds, but none of the fruit appear ripe, and none lie beneath the trees themselves.
Beyond the grass, the shrubbery, and the trees, lies the Great Tree, reaching up ever higher the closer the Company approaches. Where before they thought the tree limbs began at thirty feet, the wall showed them that that was too low a height. Perhaps the boughs began at sixty feet, based on the wall and the distance the limbs were above it. Now, even closer to the tree, the limbs tower far overhead, easily a hundred feet above. "That can't be right," says Antonus. "How would it support itself if it was that big?"
"It's a holy tree," says Herbert. "You see before you the power of Oerth."
Between them and the Great Tree is a massive wall of thorns. Towering twenty feet high and innumerably dense, the thorn wall is a frightful thing to look at. The thorns ooze, hopefully dew, and glisten in the fading light. The Company decides that broaching the thorn wall will not be their first action.
The wall behind them remains dark, and, as they turn to look at it, the gate slides back over the opening in the wall and begins a stately procession back down the tunnel. "Guess we're in here for a while," comments Raven. The wall extends a goodly distance to both sides, but appears to turn inwards, making a very large square.
To the right and to the left are buildings, each situated in the apex of the square. The building to the right seems larger and of an odd shape, while that to the left looks more conventional, square and boxy. The Company opts to head over to the one on the right.
They walk around the building to get some sense of its shape. The building itself is made of a reddish granite, unlike the white buildings outside and the black wall. It is shaped in two arcs with a half dome in the middle, looking from above vaguely like a steer's head. Between the two arcs, in the half dome in the middle, are large wooden doors with brass fittings. Two tall ash trees flank the doors.
The Company approaches the doors with some trepidation, but they open smoothly, revealing a dimly lit interior lined with brass braziers. In the half dome above is a glittering pattern reflecting the light the Company sheds. Beneath it, in the floor, is an extensive mosaic with a bright golden center. Beyond the mosaic is a small stone altar with some round symbol adorning the wall behind it.
The Company carefully enters the building. Antonus searches the braziers that line the arcs, finding them full of the ashy remains of incense. Herbert stares up into the half dome, seeing that the glittering reflection is a pattern of gold inlay shaped like a growing leafy vine. The mosaic on the floor is a pastoral scene with fields in full bloom and the golden center of the mosaic appears to be a circular golden plate, positioned to be the sun. Hugh strides forward over the mosaic to the altar.
"Don't mess with anything on the altar," shouts Raven. "It's not good to touch things like that. Trust me." The stone altar contains two braziers, each with partially burnt incense in them. Behind the altar is a round, gold-tinted mirror, shaped to match the plate in the mosaic on the floor. Hugh contemplates the mirror and the altar. Then he ignites his broadsword and extends it forward, lighting the incense in the braziers on fire.
Behind him, the sound of surprise and battle erupt as the golden mirror clouds momentarily and then shines forth a golden light. Hugh sees an image in the light, and the image reveals itself in a series of actions. First, a group of men, robed as Herbert is and carrying scimitars and wooden shields, accost a single man similarly clad who is escorting what appears to be a group of townsfolk. The single man looks somewhat familiar to Hugh, but in the odd coloring of the image, he is unable to identify him.
The man with the townsfolk seems to be accepted by the others, and he is next shown wearing a similar garb and escorting the townsfolk into through the wall, just as Herbert did for the Company. In the image, the wall is a white color, as the buildings and the road have been. The man, now identified as a druid, and the townsfolk walk with purpose towards the center of the grove, towards the Great Tree.
Sylvan creatures frolic in the grasses and between the trees, but they flee before the druid and his compatriots. Another druid confronts them, and things fall apart. The townsfolk transform themselves into hideous forms with great wings and disgusting shapes. Hugh recognizes them of a type similar to what Dursang summoned with the Hand of Vecna to fight the Company outside of Longspear. Six of the fell creatures ravage through the grove, slaying all within range.
The druid moves confidently towards the Great Tree, his foul minions with him, and a great wall of thorns rises from the ground, impaling several of the creatures. Not all are so affected, and the druid is not affected at all. They walk through the thorn wall towards the Great Tree, unhindered.
The golden light fades, and the image is lost to Hugh. Now that he has seen the whole vision, he can put a name to the face he saw: Keefe O'Mara. Hugh turns to the others to tell them and finds them binding their wounds. A large gruesome creature, wreathed in black smoke, lies on the floor, carved into chunks. A thin layer of ice coats an area behind it, where Antonus must have used his wand.
"Welcome back," chuckles Winthrop. "This one gave us a bit of a start, but nothing we couldn't handle."
"I told you not to touch anything on the altar," glowers Raven at Hugh. Hugh explains the vision that he saw upon lighting the incense in the braziers. The Company is set astir, both because they yearn to face Keefe O'Mara again and also because facing Keefe O'Mara in another hallowed ground may pose a greater threat, especially if he has new allies.
Raven, in turn, explains that a fiery creature erupted from the floor of the building and moved to assault Hugh as he stood their rapt. "We got your back," quips Raven, as he points to the now dismembered corpse.
The Company, knowing now that a true foe is present in the area, girds themselves more carefully. They continue to search what they believe is to be a temple of some sort, but find no more enemies within. The more larcenous of the Company, Diego in specific, argue that the gold plate in the floor should be pried out and taken. "Just in case," says Diego. "You know, so we can protect it." Before Herbert can even express his outrage, Otto vetoes the idea, and Diego acquiesces. "Just an idea," he mumbles.
The Company exits the building into the gloom. Even though they have spent time within the building, long enough that the sun should have set, the sky is the same shade of twilight as when they entered. Relying on their magical illumination, the Company continues to move to the right, heading away from the reddish, horned building towards the next corner. Another building stands there surrounded by trees.
As before, the Company circles the building to gain perspective on what it might hold. The building is octagonal in shape, made of gray stone, and topped by a sixty foot tower. Like the other building, large doors block entry, but these doors reflect the Company's light back at them. They appear to be made of silver with black iron hinges. Two small holly trees flank the entrance.
Like the other doors, these open easily when Otto pushes on them. The inside of the building is mostly bare, with alcoves to the right and left and an altar across the room against the far wall. The Company cautiously enters, searching for enemies. Hugh and Herbert approach the altar, searching it as was done before. Antonus visits the alcoves while the rest of the Company keeps watch.
On the altar sits two censers, each made of silver. Unlike the previous altar, no incense sits in the censers. In each alcove is a single silver censer, and a silver dish holding several cubes of incense sits in the left hand alcove. Antonus, recalling Hugh's beneficial vision, places incense in the censers of both alcoves and lights them. A great wind begins to whip through the room, spiraling with increasing force. Through the middle of the wind, a creature of humanoid shape with gruesome feature arises, lashing at the Company with cutting gusts. Otto and Alouicious hack at the thing while Raven and Diego struggle to bring their bows to bear.
The winds increase in power until two whirlwinds have formed, one in each alcove. "Obey me! For I am your master!" shouts Antonus over the howling wind. One of the towering whirlwinds does not move, remaining in its alcove, but the other one shoots forward at Antonus. A heavy gust of wind lifts Antonus off his feet and slams him painfully to the ground. Scrabbling in his pocket, he grabs a handful of iron filing and, with a flick of his wrist and arm, spreads them in a rough circle around him. Screaming unintelligible syllables, Antonus mimes complex gestures, and the iron filings align end to end. The whirlwind batters at the ring of filings surrounding Antonus, and now the second whirlwind joins in, struggling to breach the spell that shelters Antonus from its wrath.
"Should we help him out?" asks Otto. Antonus blanches, but is then reassured by Winthrop's nod. The rest of the Company, having slain the gruesome flying creature clears a path for Winthrop. His experience outside of Karmuk's Tower has educated him about what happens when lightning crosses through a whirlwind creature. "Raven, Diego, you're with me and Al," directs Otto, as he circles behind Winthrop.
A long, narrow bolt of lightning flies from Winthrop through the whirlwind and then out the door of the the temple, the thunderclap echoing loudly within the small structure. The whirlwind staggers and cants and then loses cohesion, flying apart in a sudden great gale. The warriors, bastardswords and battleaxe firmly grasped in hand, fall upon the whirlwind. The heavily magicked swords seem to tear the creature apart, while Alouicious's axe simply sails through the creature without gaining any traction. The frightful blows laid upon the whirlwind are enough to destabilize it as well, and it flies apart in a similar fashion.
"Does that teach you a lesson, or merely confirm your natural mental prowess?" asks Winthrop of Antonus, who staggers up from his prone position. From the crooked smile on Antonus's face, it is not at all clear what the answer to that question is.
"Unless they are to keep things in," retorts Antonus morosely.
The Company continues forward on the white road, willing to follow it so long as the wall remains in sight. They are quite pleased then when the road branches again and the right hand branch extends towards the wall. As the Company walks towards the wall, greater detail comes forth from the surface of the wall itself. Carvings of growing, curling plants adorn the surface of the wall, appearing to move under the pressure of some unfelt wind. The carvings are a marvelous piece of stonework, impressive to both the gnome and the dwarf.
The beauty of the wall dissipates as the Company comes even closer. The carvings, and the wall itself, darken upon approach, first turning the color of ever older ivory and then becoming a smooth black granite. The surface of the wall is smooth to the touch, not even the faintest of roughness to provide a foothold or toehold. The wall looms a good thirty feet above the Company, but the long boughs of the Great Tree jut out high above it.
The white road leads up to the wall to a place that appears to be a gate of some sort. Made of latticework iron forged in the shape of vines and trees, it is embedded in the wall, totally lacking in hinges. Worse, each intersection of the latticework is sculpted into a long thorn, easily the length of a dagger. Anyone attempting to bash the gate down would be severely imperiled. A tunnel through the wall can be seen beyond the latticework, but no way to reach it is visible.
Otto, ever prepared, pulls out a grapnel and long rope. Tying it firmly together, he whirls the grapnel out over his head and then up over the top of the wall. Three times he does so, each time trying to set the grapnel, and each time the grapnel comes back down, having found no purchase. Whatever strange effect the wall has, it seems to prohibit purchase from mechanical implements as well.
Raven looks around for a nearby tree that would be high enough to reach over the wall, but none are available. All of the nearby trees are small, or are at such a distance that their limbs do not reach over the top of the wall. Only the Great Tree's boughs seem to pass over the wall.
"Any ideas?" asks Raven.
Winthrop cracks his knuckles and smiles. "I could start with fire, to warm it up, and then cold, to try to get it to freeze. The stress would crack it. If that didn't work I could pile lightning bolts through it until the intersections melted from the strain," exclaims Winthrop, the visions of destruction boiling in his eyes. "It would take some time, but it would be glorious!"
"How about the robes?" asks Antonus. The rest of the Company turns to look at him. "Herbert's got the robes from the chest. See if they will let you through the gate," suggests Antonus, as if it is the most natural thing to do.
"Man's got a point," says Raven, beckoning towards Herbert. Herbert looks at Otto, unsure whether this is wise. Otto seems as equally confident as Raven though, and he enthusiastically waves Herbert onwards. Herbert unslings his pack and digs through it, pulling out the ceremonial robes and donning them.
"Don't forget the pin," says Antonus, with a grin. Herbert scowls at the mage, but he draws out the copper pin and pins it prominently on his chest. With clear trepidation, Herbert approaches the gate.
"Open in the name of Phyton!" commands Herbert, waving his hands at the gate.
"Phyton!" exclaims Raven. "He's a Nerullite!"
The gate does not move. "Open in the name of Phyton! I command it!" declares Herbert, striding up towards the gate. Indeed, as he closes with the gate, the gate slides backwards away from him, into the wall proper, creating a tunnel in the wall. "Let's get a move on!" exclaims Herbert, excited at his newfound ability. With Herbert leading them, the gate continues to slide away from them, through the wall. The sharp thorns stay a constant two feet away from the druid, no matter how quickly or slowly he walks, until they reach the inner surface of the wall. There, the gate slides to one side along the face of the wall, providing entry into a less wooded area. In contrast to the fading afternoon sun behind them, the light in this area is much dimmer, as if the sun was about to go over the horizon.
The space beyond the wall appears well maintained, almost gardened, with small trees and shrubs dotting the scenery. The grass is cropped to a short length, but does not appear to be cut. The trees are of a wide variety, including fruit bearing kinds, but none of the fruit appear ripe, and none lie beneath the trees themselves.
Beyond the grass, the shrubbery, and the trees, lies the Great Tree, reaching up ever higher the closer the Company approaches. Where before they thought the tree limbs began at thirty feet, the wall showed them that that was too low a height. Perhaps the boughs began at sixty feet, based on the wall and the distance the limbs were above it. Now, even closer to the tree, the limbs tower far overhead, easily a hundred feet above. "That can't be right," says Antonus. "How would it support itself if it was that big?"
"It's a holy tree," says Herbert. "You see before you the power of Oerth."
Between them and the Great Tree is a massive wall of thorns. Towering twenty feet high and innumerably dense, the thorn wall is a frightful thing to look at. The thorns ooze, hopefully dew, and glisten in the fading light. The Company decides that broaching the thorn wall will not be their first action.
The wall behind them remains dark, and, as they turn to look at it, the gate slides back over the opening in the wall and begins a stately procession back down the tunnel. "Guess we're in here for a while," comments Raven. The wall extends a goodly distance to both sides, but appears to turn inwards, making a very large square.
To the right and to the left are buildings, each situated in the apex of the square. The building to the right seems larger and of an odd shape, while that to the left looks more conventional, square and boxy. The Company opts to head over to the one on the right.
They walk around the building to get some sense of its shape. The building itself is made of a reddish granite, unlike the white buildings outside and the black wall. It is shaped in two arcs with a half dome in the middle, looking from above vaguely like a steer's head. Between the two arcs, in the half dome in the middle, are large wooden doors with brass fittings. Two tall ash trees flank the doors.
The Company approaches the doors with some trepidation, but they open smoothly, revealing a dimly lit interior lined with brass braziers. In the half dome above is a glittering pattern reflecting the light the Company sheds. Beneath it, in the floor, is an extensive mosaic with a bright golden center. Beyond the mosaic is a small stone altar with some round symbol adorning the wall behind it.
The Company carefully enters the building. Antonus searches the braziers that line the arcs, finding them full of the ashy remains of incense. Herbert stares up into the half dome, seeing that the glittering reflection is a pattern of gold inlay shaped like a growing leafy vine. The mosaic on the floor is a pastoral scene with fields in full bloom and the golden center of the mosaic appears to be a circular golden plate, positioned to be the sun. Hugh strides forward over the mosaic to the altar.
"Don't mess with anything on the altar," shouts Raven. "It's not good to touch things like that. Trust me." The stone altar contains two braziers, each with partially burnt incense in them. Behind the altar is a round, gold-tinted mirror, shaped to match the plate in the mosaic on the floor. Hugh contemplates the mirror and the altar. Then he ignites his broadsword and extends it forward, lighting the incense in the braziers on fire.
Behind him, the sound of surprise and battle erupt as the golden mirror clouds momentarily and then shines forth a golden light. Hugh sees an image in the light, and the image reveals itself in a series of actions. First, a group of men, robed as Herbert is and carrying scimitars and wooden shields, accost a single man similarly clad who is escorting what appears to be a group of townsfolk. The single man looks somewhat familiar to Hugh, but in the odd coloring of the image, he is unable to identify him.
The man with the townsfolk seems to be accepted by the others, and he is next shown wearing a similar garb and escorting the townsfolk into through the wall, just as Herbert did for the Company. In the image, the wall is a white color, as the buildings and the road have been. The man, now identified as a druid, and the townsfolk walk with purpose towards the center of the grove, towards the Great Tree.
Sylvan creatures frolic in the grasses and between the trees, but they flee before the druid and his compatriots. Another druid confronts them, and things fall apart. The townsfolk transform themselves into hideous forms with great wings and disgusting shapes. Hugh recognizes them of a type similar to what Dursang summoned with the Hand of Vecna to fight the Company outside of Longspear. Six of the fell creatures ravage through the grove, slaying all within range.
The druid moves confidently towards the Great Tree, his foul minions with him, and a great wall of thorns rises from the ground, impaling several of the creatures. Not all are so affected, and the druid is not affected at all. They walk through the thorn wall towards the Great Tree, unhindered.
The golden light fades, and the image is lost to Hugh. Now that he has seen the whole vision, he can put a name to the face he saw: Keefe O'Mara. Hugh turns to the others to tell them and finds them binding their wounds. A large gruesome creature, wreathed in black smoke, lies on the floor, carved into chunks. A thin layer of ice coats an area behind it, where Antonus must have used his wand.
"Welcome back," chuckles Winthrop. "This one gave us a bit of a start, but nothing we couldn't handle."
"I told you not to touch anything on the altar," glowers Raven at Hugh. Hugh explains the vision that he saw upon lighting the incense in the braziers. The Company is set astir, both because they yearn to face Keefe O'Mara again and also because facing Keefe O'Mara in another hallowed ground may pose a greater threat, especially if he has new allies.
Raven, in turn, explains that a fiery creature erupted from the floor of the building and moved to assault Hugh as he stood their rapt. "We got your back," quips Raven, as he points to the now dismembered corpse.
The Company, knowing now that a true foe is present in the area, girds themselves more carefully. They continue to search what they believe is to be a temple of some sort, but find no more enemies within. The more larcenous of the Company, Diego in specific, argue that the gold plate in the floor should be pried out and taken. "Just in case," says Diego. "You know, so we can protect it." Before Herbert can even express his outrage, Otto vetoes the idea, and Diego acquiesces. "Just an idea," he mumbles.
The Company exits the building into the gloom. Even though they have spent time within the building, long enough that the sun should have set, the sky is the same shade of twilight as when they entered. Relying on their magical illumination, the Company continues to move to the right, heading away from the reddish, horned building towards the next corner. Another building stands there surrounded by trees.
As before, the Company circles the building to gain perspective on what it might hold. The building is octagonal in shape, made of gray stone, and topped by a sixty foot tower. Like the other building, large doors block entry, but these doors reflect the Company's light back at them. They appear to be made of silver with black iron hinges. Two small holly trees flank the entrance.
Like the other doors, these open easily when Otto pushes on them. The inside of the building is mostly bare, with alcoves to the right and left and an altar across the room against the far wall. The Company cautiously enters, searching for enemies. Hugh and Herbert approach the altar, searching it as was done before. Antonus visits the alcoves while the rest of the Company keeps watch.
On the altar sits two censers, each made of silver. Unlike the previous altar, no incense sits in the censers. In each alcove is a single silver censer, and a silver dish holding several cubes of incense sits in the left hand alcove. Antonus, recalling Hugh's beneficial vision, places incense in the censers of both alcoves and lights them. A great wind begins to whip through the room, spiraling with increasing force. Through the middle of the wind, a creature of humanoid shape with gruesome feature arises, lashing at the Company with cutting gusts. Otto and Alouicious hack at the thing while Raven and Diego struggle to bring their bows to bear.
The winds increase in power until two whirlwinds have formed, one in each alcove. "Obey me! For I am your master!" shouts Antonus over the howling wind. One of the towering whirlwinds does not move, remaining in its alcove, but the other one shoots forward at Antonus. A heavy gust of wind lifts Antonus off his feet and slams him painfully to the ground. Scrabbling in his pocket, he grabs a handful of iron filing and, with a flick of his wrist and arm, spreads them in a rough circle around him. Screaming unintelligible syllables, Antonus mimes complex gestures, and the iron filings align end to end. The whirlwind batters at the ring of filings surrounding Antonus, and now the second whirlwind joins in, struggling to breach the spell that shelters Antonus from its wrath.
"Should we help him out?" asks Otto. Antonus blanches, but is then reassured by Winthrop's nod. The rest of the Company, having slain the gruesome flying creature clears a path for Winthrop. His experience outside of Karmuk's Tower has educated him about what happens when lightning crosses through a whirlwind creature. "Raven, Diego, you're with me and Al," directs Otto, as he circles behind Winthrop.
A long, narrow bolt of lightning flies from Winthrop through the whirlwind and then out the door of the the temple, the thunderclap echoing loudly within the small structure. The whirlwind staggers and cants and then loses cohesion, flying apart in a sudden great gale. The warriors, bastardswords and battleaxe firmly grasped in hand, fall upon the whirlwind. The heavily magicked swords seem to tear the creature apart, while Alouicious's axe simply sails through the creature without gaining any traction. The frightful blows laid upon the whirlwind are enough to destabilize it as well, and it flies apart in a similar fashion.
"Does that teach you a lesson, or merely confirm your natural mental prowess?" asks Winthrop of Antonus, who staggers up from his prone position. From the crooked smile on Antonus's face, it is not at all clear what the answer to that question is.
