Chapter #64

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*****
*  The 8 player characters contained in these writings are copyright
*  1992 by Thomas Miller.  Any resemblance to persons or characters
*  either real or fictional is utterly coincidental.  Copying and/or
*  distribution of these stories is permissible only under the one
*  condition that no part of them will be used or sold for profit.
*  In that case, I hope you enjoy them.
*****

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THE PARTY (temporarily split up; this is the "land" group):

Alindyar, 9th level drow elf mage (N)
  Lyra, 5th level female drow elf mage (LE/N)  [pseudo-prisoner]
Halbarad, 8th level human ranger (NG)
Peldor, 10th level human thief (N)
Peyote, 7th/8th level half-elf fighter/druid of Obad-Hai (N)
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Date:   12/20/570 C.Y. (Common Year)
Time:   late afternoon
Place:  the forest to the north of the town of Tragidore
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                    LXIV.  The Hideaway



  The party found a crying girl, and Peldor was affected in a
strange way after trying to comfort her...

Peldor:  (turns around, looking dully)  Don't hurt her.  (draws
  his sword)  I won't _let_ you hurt her.
Peyote:  Rats!
Halbarad:  I see only one rat - Peldor.
Alindyar:  (not fooled by the "girl" or her illusion due to
  his keen intelligence, sees a half-goat, half-woman thing
  grinning evilly next to Peldor)  Beware!  That is no girl,
  but rather a monster of some sort!
Peldor:  Monster?  (moves to protect the goat/girl, which his
  charmed mind sees as a young girl in need of help)  Back,
  or Peldor shall have to show his wrath!
Peyote:  (sees a little girl)  Huh?
Halbarad:  (sees a lamia)  Foul vermin!  (unslings his axe)
  I am with you, mage!
Lyra:  (sees a lamia)  !  (in drow)  That is one ugly bitch!
lamia:  (casts mirror image, making 6 other images of herself)
  Help!  Why are you people attacking me?  Protect me, you!
  (pokes Peldor)
Peldor:  Yes!  Peldor stands ever-ready to protect the innocent!
  (attacks Halbarad)  Back, you goody-two-shoes dork!
Halbarad:  (parrying)  The thief is mad.
Peyote:  What the hell's going _on_ here?!?!?  (signals his two
  wild boars to stay put)  Hold, greasy ones.
boars:  (itching to attack somebody)  Grr!  Snort!
Lyra:  (in drow)  The she-beast has them all confused.
Alindyar:  I beg your pardon?
Lyra:  Except you, of course.  (casts a shield spell upon
  herself)
Alindyar:  Indeed.  (begins spellcasting)
Peldor:  (engaged in deadly melee with Halbarad)  I've had it
  up to here (holds his free hand up to his neck) with you,
  you fool!  How dare you attack innocent girls?!?
Halbarad:  You are mad, thief.  (parries another slashing attack)
  Mad, and bewitched.
Peyote:  (casts entangle on the ground under everyone but himself)
  Cease this stupidity at once!
Alindyar:  (in the air on his carpet, of course)  Good move.  Now
  you have her - it - them - right where I want them.  (casts a
  web onto some of the lamia's images)
Halbarad:  (stuck by the roots, grapples with Peldor)  Stop your
  fighting, you crazed rascal.
Peldor:  (also stuck)  Never!  (they wrestle)
lamia:  (most of images under the web dissolve; she saves against
  the druidical entangle anyway)  Ha ha ha!  (all the images now
  gallop away)
Lyra:  (in drow)  Damn!
Alindyar:  You can say that again.
Lyra:  (in drow)  Damn!
Peyote:  Hey!  She - they - are getting away!  (hastily finds his
  wand of wonder and aims it at the fleeing lamia/images)  Stop!
lamia:  (laughing and becoming more distant)  Ha ha ha!
Peyote:  Okay, I warned you.  (fires the wand, and all of the
  lamias/images suddenly disappear)  Huh?
Alindyar:  Good work.
Peyote:  (wondering what in the hell he just _did_)
Lyra:  (in drow)  Who knows where _she_ went?  (shrugs)
Peldor:  (suddenly, no longer charmed)  Hmm?  (looks around)  Wha-
  HEY!  Why am I stuck in roots and vines?!?  Get me out of here
  at once!
Halbarad:  You fell under the spell of some foul goat-thing and
  were mindless.
Alindyar:  (to Lyra, in drow)  He is usually mindless anyhow.
Lyra:  (giggles)
Peldor:  Stop laughing at me.  Hey, Peyote, how about freeing
  us now?
Peyote:  Sure, dude.  (cancels the spell)  Let's get a move on -
  that girl or whatever was surely not the source of the missing
  men.
Halbarad:  I doubt it, and don't call me Shirley.
Peldor:  Hey!  Did I hear that right?  Did Mr. Axe-and-Dagger
  Goody-Two-Shoes actually make a _joke_?
Halbarad:  (scowling)
Peyote:  Very funny, dude.  (wanders northward)

  Shortly, they saw that the trees ahead thinned out abruptly,
revealing a clearing of sorts.  They advanced a bit, and saw a
squat, cylindrical tower-like building, over a hundred feet
in diameter and constructed of stone blocks.  No windows were
visible, but a recess on the east face held a pair of large
wooden doors...

Peldor:  Quiet, now.  We'll sneak up on the place, and...wait,
  wait, wait.  Better yet, Let _me_ sneak up on the place, and
  I'll take care of the lock.  Then the rest of you can follow.
Halbarad:  Go then.  Hurry it up.
Peldor:  (sheathes & unsheathes his sword, becoming invisible,
  and runs over to the door, presumably)
Peyote:  I wish we could see him.
Halbarad:  Then again, if _we_ could, then so could any guards.
Peyote:  Good point.
Alindyar:  (casts Invisibility on Lyra)
Lyra:  (in drow)  Muchly appreciated.
Halbarad:  Eh?!  Where did she go?
Alindyar:  (casts Improved Invisibility on himself)  To the
  same place I went.  Nowhere.
Peyote:  (grinning)
Halbarad:  (looks at Peyote)  You wouldn't...
Peyote:  Yep.  (slips on his ring, going invisible)  Heh heh.
Halbarad:  Argh.  (puts his head in his hands)

meanwhile...

Peldor:  (at the big doors, picking the locks, remembers not
  to whistle while doing so)  ...
Alindyar:  (prepares to move, on foot now - the carpet has been
  stashed away in his bag)
Lyra:  (casts a Shield spell on Halbarad as well)
Halbarad:  (tingles)  What?!?
Alindyar:  Lyra just afforded you a spell of protection.
Halbarad:  Uhh...my thanks, then.
Alindyar:  (in drow)  He gives his thanks.
Lyra:  (happy, smiles invisibly)
Peyote:  (whispering)  Look!  The doors open!  Peldor was
  successful!
Alindyar:  That, or else he has been slain...
Halbarad:  Let us move out, then.  Slowly and quietly!  (uses
  his ranger skills to try and do so)

  Soon, they were all inside the doors, which were quickly closed
to avoid possible detection should someone show up.  Halbarad
opted to lead the way, by virtue of simply walking out in front
of the invisible party before anyone else could (a la Mongo).

Halbarad:  (sneaking along quietly, down a hall which opens into
  a larger room)
others:  (following him; Alindyar and Lyra both cast Fly on
  themselves first)

  The ranger moved past some pillars into a larger open area.
He was just as surprised as the two slim, dark-skinned warriors
who moved quickly to flank him.

drow warrior#1:  You!  You are an intruder here!  We have you
  surrounded!  Drop that big axe and your knife, and surrender,
  else we shall slay you on the spot!
drow warrior#2:  (menaces Halbarad)
Halbarad:  (cockily)  Really?  (holds up his weapons)  Hah!
drow warrior#1:  You are outnumbered and outskilled.  (they
  both move closer quickly, shortswords raised)  Prepare to
  die, human fool!
Halbarad:  You can never beat me.
drow warrior#2:  (smirking)  Why not?
Halbarad:  Because I know something that you do not...
drow warrior#1:  (shrieks suddenly, as a sword point pops
  out of his neck)  Aaaaugh!  Gurgle gurgle...(falls)
Halbarad:  ...See?
Peldor:  (appears)  Ha.  Peldor's mastery prevails yet again.
drow warrior#2:  (slashes Halbarad, nicking him, and then
  fills the room with darkness)  Aie!
Halbarad:  (can't see a thing)  Damnation!
drow warrior#2:  (emerges from the darkness sphere, intending
  to flee and summon help)
Alindyar:  (invisible, sails over the darkness and casts
  Forget upon the drow warrior)
drow warrior#2:  (somehow fails his magic resistance check
  _and_ his save, forgets the events of the past minute)  Eh?
Lyra:  (flies out of the darkness)
Peyote:  (charges from the darkness, but runs into a wall)
  Oof!
Peldor:  (slithers out of the darkness by feeling along one
  stony wall)  ...
Halbarad:  (slowly wanders about in the darkness)  Damn.

Alindyar:  (casts a Color Spray on the drow)
drow warrior:  (shrugs off the spell)  What is this?!?
Lyra:  (having no offensive spells, she simply watches)
Peyote:  (sees the drow warrior, and charges him)  Aaaaa!
drow warrior:  (perceiving Lyra to be the greatest threat,
  casts Faerie Fire around her, and then charges her)  Hah!
Lyra:  (in drow)  Is that the best you can do?  Hah!
  (realizes that the warrior is bearing down on her)  Uh-oh.
Peyote:  Hai!  (intercepts the warrior, slashing him deeply
  as he runs by)
drow warrior:  Argh!  (slumps)
Peldor:  (suddenly runs up and hacks at the drow from the
  front, slaying him)  Hah!  It's Peldor again!
Alindyar:  I suppose we cannot question him now that he is
  dead...

  Shortly, they all recovered and examined the chamber as
best they could.  Tapestries revealed that this place was
some kind of dark elf home - one mural depicted a few of
the drow overcoming many humans in battle.  Another showed
the life of a female drow, eventually being served by human
slaves.  Lyra was quick to identify this person as Zara,
the evil drow mage of no small power.  The party rested and
prepared to check out the only exit, a door to the north.





next time:  more dark elves

FTP SITE: ccosun.caltech.edu (in pub/adnd/fluff/adventurers)
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NOTES:  Do lamias drain Wisdom _permanently_?  Can a mage cast a
Shield spell on others?  Did the cow jump over the moon?  Yee-haa!
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