Chapter #1222
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+ THE ADVENTURERS +
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+ Epic VI +
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+ Many of the locations, non-player characters, spells, and other +
+ terms used in these stories are the property of Wizards of the Coast +
+ which has in no way endorsed or authorized their use. Any such +
+ property contained within these stories are not representative of +
+ Wizards of the Coast in any fashion. +
+ The player characters depicted in these stories are copyright +
+ 1991-2026 by Thomas A. Miller. Any resemblance to any persons +
+ or characters either real or fictional is utterly coincidental. +
+ Copying and/or distribution of these stories is permissible under +
+ the sole condition that no money is made in the process. In that +
+ case, I hope you enjoy them! +
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+ Alindyar 18th level dark elven wizard, illusionist +
+ Belphanior 18th/18th/18th level elven fighter/wizard/thief +
+ Hope 16th level female human wizard +
+ Poulos 8th level human warrior +
+ Irina 14th/7th level female human priestess/warrior +
+ Neera 12th level female human wizard (sage/savant) +
+ Otto 12th/14th level dwarven fighter/thief +
+ Adolphus 10th level half-ogre warrior +
+ Damien small, renegade imp +
+ Peyton 11th level gnome thief +
+ Rogar 10th level human priest of Olidammara +
+ Sylus 8th/10th level dark elf warrior/thief +
+ Wembly 10th level human wizard +
+ Paige 13th level human female warrior +
+ Razor Charlie 12th level human fighter +
+ Skektek 14th level human wizard +
+ Ys 14th level reptilian fighter +
+ Lyra 14th level female drow wizard, invoker/evoker +
+ Pallin 18th level grey elven wizard, teleporter +
+ Socrates large albino hound +
+ Talos adamantine golem +
+ Parekh 18th level female human wizard, innovator +
+ Drak 15th level human barbarian +
+ +
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+ Date: 4/20/587 C.Y. (Common Year) +
+ Time: late morning +
+ Place: the northern end of the Rakers mountain range +
+ Climate: cold +
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+ "Why would you do this?" +
+ "Because no one else would." +
+ - from _Geostorm_ +
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MCCXXII. The Treasure of Chargrim
After taking over Chargrim's secret mountainside citadel - using the
threat of force more than force itself - the Bright Alliance party has
made its way through the place and overcome various guardians, traps,
and other defenses. They now stand before a sizable laboratory filled
with a wide assortment of worktables, tools, devices and much more.
Belphanior: (turns to the other wizards, a smile on his face) Jackpot.
Alindyar: Aye. The sheer scope of this chamber's contents - quantity,
quality, and variety - is staggering.
Parekh: (slowly gazing around the room in wonder)
Pallin: There are literally magic auras in every direction.
Lyra: There ought to be, after everything we had to deal with just to
get here.
Neera: I just hope there aren't more challenges here, in this place...
like equipment that animates and attacks, or unstable potions that
explode if touched, or books with teeth...
Belphanior: Good point. (to his people) Nobody touch anything. It's
possible that some of this might be dangerous.
Paige: Hey, no problem. (she eyes a small cauldron that rests within
a base whose legs resemble the claws of some horrible monster) Yuck.
Ys: (to Otto) It is fortunate that the small one known as Bosco failed
to join us on this mission.
Otto: Heh.
Parekh: (raises her voice slightly, so that all can hear her clearly)
At this point, we need to look through this entire place, checking to
see what's enchanted...and what's _highly_ enchanted. I suggest that
we work in pairs, look at everything, and - as Belphanior said - touch
nothing.
Belphanior: (nods, his crystal eye sparkling)
Neera: (hefts the powerful artifact known as the Finger of Boccob)
Hope: (to Skektek) Time to cast some spells of magic detection.
Skektek: (surveying the room full of arcane equipment happily) Yeah.
Some of the teams formed naturally (Alindyar and Lyra, Parekh and Drak,
Hope and Poulos) while others were intentionally made to pair a wizard
with a non-wizard, or to divide other skillsets. For example, Neera was
using the Finger of Boccob, which made her one of the most powerful when
it came to detecting and understanding magical auras; Ys (who had no such
ability) was assigned to walk with her and protect her, should something
happen. Otto accompanied Skektek, while both Razor Charlie and Irina
joined Belphanior; the high priestess could see things through the lens
of her own magic, which was different but still useful.
Pallin: (heads toward a worktable, his pale hound following closely)
Otto: Well, at least your dog there is fairly big and tough, in case
something appears and attacks you.
Pallin: (drily) Actually, Socrates is capable of sniffing out magical
auras as well.
Otto: Oh. (he frowns) Okay.
Socrates: (regards the dwarf, eyes narrowed)
Otto: (shrugs) Hey, sorry. No offense meant.
With that, they commenced their survey of the hidden laboratory of the
late Chargrim, one of the most notable members of a group that had been
infamous in its power and influence. The wizard's laboratory was rather
spacious, filled with arcane things of all sorts...a large brass cauldron
around which hundreds of sealed bottles contained ingredients both common
and rare, apparently ready to mix for potions...a half-dozen large metal
slabs on which rested golems in various states of completion...more than
one pentagram or other mystical barrier carved into the stone floor (and,
thankfully, verifiably empty after being checked via spells for invisible
or ethereal occupants)...a shelf holding a wide variety of skulls, some of
whose species were unidentifiable...a large worktable on which rested a
half-dozen unfinished wands along with a few scroll cases, a complete set
of small hand tools for doing intricate carving work, and several jars of
magical inks and pastes...a fine portrait, mounted on one wall, depicting
Chargrim himself, his deep pupil-less eyes contrasting his unnatural ebon
skin as they almost seemed to watch the intruders...more than one large
bookshelf, each one crammed full of dusty, worn tomes or stacked scroll-
tubes...a small, gilded brass cage suspended from the ceiling, within
which was a metallic bird, its silvery eyes gleaming as it regarded the
new arrivals with interest...a pair of thin metal hands whose wrists
ended in bases, such that all their fingers pointed upward, each finger
bearing a different magical ring...a dozen assorted wand-cases of varying
appearance, some of which rested atop scraps of parchment holding notes
scribbled in faded ink...and more, much more - the bulk of it tools and
supplies relevant to the sorts of things wizards did in places like this.
Adjoining the laboratory and connected to it by a short, narrow passage
was a small round chamber with no other exits. Its walls were built from
some highly-magical stone, and at its center was a square table fashioned
from a single piece of gray crystal. On the table's surface was stretched
an ancient piece of parchment, atop which was a thin, clear lens of glass
mounted within a mithril frame. It appeared to be a magnifying device
of some sort, while the parchment was clearly a map of the known world...
although it depicted quite a bit more than the commonly-known portion of
the Flanaess.
Alindyar: Astounding.
Parekh: It's really a wonder that someone - anyone - didn't find this
place already.
Belphanior: Bear in mind that Chargrim perished in some other dimension,
or maybe more accurately a place between dimensions. (he frowns) I'm
not completely sure myself, but Kronos could explain.
Pallin: It was a space between spaces...and times.
Belphanior: (nods) My point is, almost no one could have kept track of
him once he left this world...and I bet that _no one_ could have done
it once he was in the Center of Time. So it's not like a signal went
up once he was dead, letting everyone know.
Lyra: (nods) It happened so far away from here, even someone trying to
scry for him wouldn't have any luck.
Belphanior: Right. Unless one was there - which we were - one couldn't
possibly know what happened to him. Like the guards left behind here.
They had no way to know their boss was dead, only that he was gone and
had been gone for a long time. So they stayed and it was business as
usual, and anyone who did happen to be watching would have assumed the
wizard was still around and active.
Parekh: And even a wizard or group with sufficient power to know of the
wizard and his disappearance - I'm thinking about the Circle of Eight
here - likely wouldn't have put the pieces together and connected the
dots like we did.
Lyra: They might have been afraid to do too much, given that the bulk of
them were slain in one place, at one time, while out on a mission not
too many years ago.
Alindyar: Aye. (he notes an adamantine scroll tube tucked away in one
corner of a shelf) We will need to verify, but I believe _that_ to be
the formula for a true dweomer.
Parekh: Ooooh.
Drak: A what?
Parekh: A spell that came from the gods, with legendary provenance and
epic outcomes...more powerful than the mightiest conventionally known.
(she frowns) Remember how I'm always telling you that a wish is just
about the most advanced and most potent spell that exists?
Drak: Sure.
Parekh: And that spell, among others, can only be cast by the greatest
and most experienced of magi. (she sighs) So a true dweomer is yet
more powerful - but also can't be cast by any single wizard, not even
one of the caliber necessary to employ the wish spell. (she shakes her
head) It would take at least three of the Bright Alliance to utilize
such magic at all, much less successfully.
Drak: Oh, okay.
Neera: So that's how it works. (she pauses) I mean, I knew about such
spells - I had heard, and researched their existence - but the details
yet remained beyond me.
Belphanior: I think we just closed that gap a bit. And we've had some
experience with these in the past.
Alindyar: Aye. During our various travels and travails, certain of us
have come upon elements of a couple of these magicks...once within a
forgotten vault of the arch-lich Xusia, another time in the vampiric
city of Skava-Ra, deep beneath the world's surface.
Parekh: And now, possibly, a third. (her jaw tightens) We, and I mean
the entire Bright Alliance, need to dedicate some time and effort to
studying and then possibly employing these true dweomers. And soon.
Alindyar: Verily.
Nearby, Otto (being uninterested in true dweomers but being quite
interested in other things that might lie within this place) had knelt
down at the base of one of the massive pedestals atop which a metal slab
held a half-constructed golem.
Otto: (studying the floor, he runs a calloused finger along the dusty
stone)
Paige: (wanders over) What've you got?
Otto: There's...a seam here, I think. (he produces a small blade and
starts poking at the stone floor) Yeah. See there?
Paige: Damn...barely.
Otto: It's hair-thin, and I only spotted it because one of us must have
disturbed the dust while walking around this place.
In truth, he had also spotted the crack because he stood shorter than
most, and thus his gaze was often directed lower than that of the average
person. Further, Otto had been a thief - and an exceptional one - for
decades; he looked at (and saw) things in a completely different way than
most people. Last but not least, he had unusually sharp eyesight, which
helped him both at a distance and up close.
By now, others had noticed him working away at the floor and come over
to see what was afoot...or underfoot.
Belphanior: What've you got?
Otto: It's not a trap, that's for sure. Or a hatch, door, or other
portal. (he frowns) If I didn't know better, I'd say someone filled
in an entire section of the floor with stone, sealing it perfectly.
Paige: Almost perfectly.
Otto: (chuckles) Yeah. (to Belphanior, who is scrutinizing the area
of the laboratory's floor) What do you see?
Belphanior: I see...nothing at all. A whole lot of nothing. (to the
other wizards) This floor is completely normal stone, as far down as
my eye can see. There's not even random bits and things embedded in
it, like usually happens with dungeon rock.
Neera: Well, maybe that's the point.
Belphanior: Eh?
Neera: A big, thick slab of perfectly-ordinary stone...so much that no
spell or augmented vision can see through it? That isn't natural.
Alindyar: Hmm.
Neera: If I wanted to hide something - especially something valuable and
highly magical - I'd box it up, then encase it in lead or some other
metal that blocks scrying spells...and then bury all that underneath a
whole lot of average, unexceptional stone. And maybe put a big, heavy
pedestal on top of _that_ for good measure, masked with a layer of dust
like that found on any floor in any place. (she shrugs) Conventional
methods of searching would never have a hope of finding it...nor would
magical methods, especially if there are a hundred other highly-magical
valuables scattered all around to act, intentionally or not, as decoys.
Belphanior: That...wow. (to Otto) Can you trace the seam, find the
real size of this thing?
Otto: (shakes his head) No dice. What I found is only a small crack,
probably caused by the stone not settling perfectly when it was put
there. That's all we've got.
Belphanior: (turns to the other archmagi) What do you think?
Alindyar: (smiles thinly)
A great deal of powerful magic was then brought into play, quickly and
efficiently. First, the thick pedestal - metal slab, golem, and all - was
moved aside. After that, the stone block (which turned out to be about
ten feet long, five feet wide, and some thirty feet deep) was dealt with.
This didn't involve moving it or breaking it up, but rather changing the
rock into air, one thick slice at a time. Other methods might have done
damage to whatever unknown treasure presumably lay below, so Alindyar was
careful and methodical. Under the stone plug was a thick metal box of
almost the same length and width; while the heavy metal blocked scrying
efforts, it offered no resistance to being magically lifted up and out
of the shaft.
Paige: Or tomb.
Otto: What?
Paige: Well, it could be a tomb. There could be a mummy in there, or a
vampire, or something even worse.
Otto: Hm.
Presently, the metal box (measuring about nine feet by four feet by
two feet and weighing more than any manual laborers could have handled)
was out of the pit and lying on the floor of Chargrim's laboratory.
Hope: In all this excitement, I almost forgot we were in the work area
of a slain foe.
Irina: Understandable.
Belphanior: (to the high priestess of Istus) Any thoughts about this
thing?
Irina: Well, it's big, and it's heavy, and it's dirty. (she frowns)
I could better answer the question if the thing was open.
Hope: I would guess that it's some mighty artifact...either something
unholy or holy, depending on whether the wizard was trying to protect
it or hide it.
Razor Charlie: Or it's full of gold and silver.
Poulos: Really?
Razor Charlie: (grimaces) Hey, I only think about what I know.
Paige: (casually keeps her hand resting on her sword's pommel) I still
say it's a monster.
The wizards spent a few moments studying the metal box and debating
various means of getting inside without damaging the contents, while
the warriors readied their weapons in case some horrific creature, be
it undead or something else, slumbered within. Ultimately, the topmost
surface of the metal box was disintegrated into dust, revealing a black
coffin of iron packed within thick velvet cushions of a deep red hue.
A silver cross was inlaid into the top of the sealed coffin, and the
entire thing radiated extremely strong magic.
Otto: Well, well.
Paige: Told you. (she draws her sword, small flames coming to life on
the blade)
Belphanior: I can feel the magic, and it's strong.
Alindyar: Aye.
Neera: (pointing the Finger of Boccob at the coffin, she employs the
wand's mighty powers to learn more about the nature of the coffin's
enchantments) I sense equal measures of alteration...and abjuration.
(her brow furrows in thought as she works to understand what the wand
is telling her) It's...hmm.
Paige: It's a vampire, I tell you.
Otto: Shh. Let her concentrate.
Neera: (opens her eyes) The occupant of the coffin is in a state of
temporal stasis, and has been for a long time...a prisoner, within.
Irina: (having cast one of Istus' spells during this time, she nods)
A prisoner...and not an evil one, nor inherently powerful or magical.
Belphanior: So who the hell is in the coffin? (he regards the others)
You think we can open it? Should we?
Parekh: I doubt we'd harm the occupant- prisoner.
Neera: You wouldn't. I believe that the coffin being open or closed
will have no bearing on the stasis. To defeat it and bring the one
within back to life, we will need more time, and more magic.
Belphanior: Alright then.
In addition to sensing no traps or other protections using his crystal
eye, Belphanior assisted Otto with a quick physical check of the coffin's
lid and surface while a couple of the others employed spells as well.
Parekh: Nothing.
Lyra: Agreed. This is a prison, not a trap.
Belphanior: I trust in your - in all of our - skills and judgment. (he
takes hold of the coffin lid, unconsciously holding his breath...and
then opens it)
The coffin's interior was of high quality, with a soft lining of plush
white cloth. Within rested a handsome man, tall and broad with shoulder-
length blond hair. He was clad in fine mail with a white surcoat, that
latter quartered by the arms of Furyondy and Veluna as well as the red
antlers representing the Knights of the Hart. About his neck was a gold
chain bearing an emblem of a crown and crescent moon, and one finger on
his left hand had a gold ring with a similar device. The gold belt at
his waist held a dagger, while a shield rested at his feet; atop this was
a fine broadsword in its sheath.
Parekh: Hmm. Not what I was expecting.
Pallin: (drily) Not what any of us were expecting.
Paige: (muttering to Otto) He could still be a vampire.
Otto: I'm guessing not.
Skektek: So who is this guy?
Belphanior: I don't know...he doesn't look familiar to me, but I feel
like I should know who he is.
Irina: (working another spell) If the fates are kind, Istus will tell
us momentarily.
The priestess' efforts caused strands of white mist to appear, moving
over and across the coffin although they were unable to actually touch
its occupant. Irina's eye remained closed as she communed silently with
her goddess for long moments.
Irina: (opens her eye) We are fortunate this day...I have been blessed
with some measure of success here.
Paige: Awesome. So he's a vampire, albeit a fairly good-looking one?
Belphanior: (glares at her) Not now.
Irina: The bad news is, I was unable to learn how exactly to break the
spell over this man, so you wizards will have to figure that out later.
Belphanior: I'm sure we'll find a way. What's the good news?
Irina: The good news, aside from the fact that he's no vampire, is that
his identity is now known to us. (she turns to regard the man lying
in magical stasis in the iron coffin) I give you Crown Prince Thrommel
IV, Marshall of Furyondy, Provost of Veluna, and Hero of Emridy Meadows.
next: mopping up
map: http://www.peldor.com/world/atlas/Bright-Desert_1203.jpg
www: http://www.peldor.com/download.html
homepage: http://www.peldor.com/
email: tmiller@peldor.com
released: 8/14/2026
notes: So you either know who Prince Thrommel is or you don't;
that depends on your knowledge of events in the World of Greyhawk,
specifically around 1980 when its first real product was released.
Basically this guy was a hero and did a lot of good things, and as
the son of the king of Furyondy and heir to the throne, was next in
line to rule one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world. Given
that he was also set to marry his counterpart in nearby Veluna, the
union would forge a really strong and beneficial alliance and make
the world a better place.
Except it didn't happen, because in 573 C.Y. he vanished (he was
actually secretly kidnapped by bad guys). The impending alliance,
which would have been a real pain in the ass for evildoers everywhere,
was cancelled as the prince never did turn up. (One product/module
released in 1985 gave a canon answer to his fate, and I'll be weaving
that into my stories in the next episode; suffice it to say that unless
one used that module in their campaign, the prince was probably just
gone for good.)
So why do I care? Because way back in 1980 when I first got the
Greyhawk folio set and read about Thrommel's kidnapping, I thought it
was sad and that someday, someone ought to rescue him. And that idea
has floated around in my head ever since, seldom near the surface yet
always nearby...and then recently I thought up a way to connect all of
the dots on this and finally get this poor guy back into the world,
fourteen years after he was taken by the forces of evil. It will all
be explained in-story during the next episode, as I said.
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