Of Whose Pawns Are We?

As my companions and I ventured forth from the entrance hall to the dungeon, we walked through a magic-emanating waterfall into a room with a giant chess board as a bridge over a 30 foot drop into some sort of water flow.

As we stepped onto the giant chess board, we became subject to an enchantment, causing to only be able to move in turn and in form as if chess figurines. Any of us that were lost to the strategy of the enchantment of the opposing side, were flung from the board and subject to great pain.

We managed to slowly eliminate the opposing pieces, and ventured across the hall into a cylindrical room. At the far side of the room was a ladder, up which the ninja attempted to climb. Unfortunately, he failed to check if the ladder were trapped, and as the ladder's rungs collapsed beneath him, he vaulted up the poles, and the column in the middle of the room began to rotate.

The ninja determined that the apparent exit at the top of the ladder was merely an alcove designed to trick someone into climbing the ladder. I used magical webs to slow the rotation of the column, which appeared to be attempting to deploy spinning blades, but our way of entry had sealed itself. The ninja lept down, and then managed to notice a hidden door beneath the ladder, leading downward. Using more of my inherited sorcerous ways, I shrunk our centaur companion such that he would fit through the door, and then we entered the final room of this menacing dungeon.

Set atop a pedestal at the far end of the room, was the staff we sought. The staff that could control the serpent of the mighty river on the side of the mountain around us. As we approached the far end of the room, I discovered an arcane barrier designed to prevent crossing by creating a wall of fire. I easily dispelled a small section of it to allow us to pass.

On both sides of the pedestal was a statue. One of a basilisk, one of a manticore. My companions had the bright idea to attempt to destroy the statues before they could potentially be animated against us. This act, in and of itself, caused the statues to begin awaking. As they smashed at the basilisk statue, both began to turn to flesh. I quickly used more of my sorcerous power to subdue the manticore with webs. I eliminated further magical trappings of the pedestal, and removed the staff for safe keeping.

The manticore attempted to take flight, but I subdued it with further webs. Meanwhile, the basilisk was enduring onslaught from all of my companions except for the centaur. (I had thought of centaurs as being noble, but he clearly was not capable of combat, despite being well armed.) The basilisk began to turn the ninja to stone, which I quickly countered with more dispelling force.

(I have become weary of attempting to dispel stone form from accursed creatures. Each time I have done it, I become more aware of the powerful nature of the curses I am countering, and it is possible that I may fall to the same fate as the necromancer that freed me. I shall be more careful in the future...)

As the basilisk was slain, we all focused attention on the struggling manticore, and quickly slew it. We exited the room, back into the cylindrical one, to find that the trap within had reset, and so we passed through.

As we crossed the chess board we became aware of the possibility that more statues within the dungeon had animated themselves. The ninja snuck to the threshold to the entrance all, and saw the now-alive giant spider within, making food of one of its weaker neigboring now-alive statues.

We decided to venture down into the water-way beneath the chess room. We determined that we needed to go upstream to find our way back to the myconid colony. However, the river was blocked by a grate of thick metal bars.

Using gunpowder from the ninja's flintlock rifle, we crafted charges to break the bars free of the concrete. I used magical acid to weaken the bars. Overhead, the giant spider had heard something, and was crossing the chess board. I quickly distracted it with disembodied sounds from the far side of the room. We went back to work. After we had detonated all of our charges, we apparently managed to attract the attention of the now-alive minotaur from the entrance hall. As it began to charge at us, I put it into a deep sleep.

We pried the bars from the wall, and slipped into the tunnel. I had to shrink the centaur, once again, so that he could come along. I cast a magical alarm around the entrance of the tunnel, such that if the minotaur awakes, or the medusa or the beholder attempts to follow us, at least we will know that death is near, for we are weak.

I know not why the spear, for which this staff will be traded, is important. But if it is as powerful as an artifact as my companions believe, it may be useful in pursuading this "Gregor" into revealing how I came to be in this land, when and if, we ever catch up with him. And then, only then, shall I find reason for why I am doing, what I am doing. If there is any at all.

Eight Statues, and Tough Lizard Folk

We've entered the temple, after solving a tacky puzzle to open the door. (Dials that had to be arranged to spell "O P E N M E").

Inside this entry way, we found that it was a long hallway, with side halls, sort of like alcoves, off of the side. At the end of each of the alcoves was a statue. In all, there was a mermaid, a centaur, a medusa, a etercap, a drider, a troll, a minotaur, and a beholder.

As we ventured down the hallway, we encountered a couple of aging traps at the two center-most intersections. The first, the one closest to where we entered, made spikes shoot from the floor. I was quite amazed at the ninja's tenacity. Instead of trying to disable the trap directly, he set it off on purpose, and then destroyed the resulting spikes.

The second trap was a spray of acid from the floor. Once again, our ninja's ineptitude has shown, as acid was flung into the air. If I had not been exploring the room by spider climbing on the ceiling, I would have been most unfortunate.

As we were exploring the room, lizard folk were attempting to enter through the entrance, which we had closed. From the noises, we could tell that they could not understand the opening mechanism, and were getting electrically shocked as a result. Sounded pretty dumb to me.

The door at the far side of the room, which we had reached, was sealed by means unknown. Upon its frame were images resembling the status throughout the room. We ventured back towards the entrance to the room, and it occured to me that my druid friend's use of Detect Magic might have failed to uncover the finer vaguries of currently inert magic. I used Dispel Magic, to great effect, to re-animate the mermaid and the centaur. And then the stupid lizard folk got in the room.

The lizard folk moved in fast. The mermaid was slain, and it was up to me and the ninja to repel the incursion, as the druid and the cleric were at the far end of the hall, on the other side of the still-active acid trap. I took a spear to my side, and a cleaver to my other side. My magicks were not strong enough to repel the crowd. I put my immediate threat to sleep, but one of the lizard folk was, amazing to me, demonstrating skill in the arcane.

I crept up the wall and along the ceiling, near death, knowing that only the cleric could save me. To my great fortune, he had gotten closer, and healed me quickly. I quickly used my newly regained health to retaliate against the lizard folk. Striking them with magic missile, as our group managed to push the aggressors back. The centaur was mortally injured, barely having been aware of the conflict to begin with. As we finished off the lizard folk, we were tired.

The druid grew strangle quiet, as he apparently does often after major encounters. Almost as if he exerts part of his soul during combat. Or maybe he is just being pensieve. Alas, I do not know.

I have summoned Leomund's Secure Shelter outside of the temple, almost against the entrance. I have enchanted an alarm around it. The ninja has shown the centaur the puzzling door that was at the far end of the hall, and the centaur was kind enough to show us an obvious way to open it.

We are now going to make rest in the cottage. The centaur will stay with us on our foray through this temple, as he is too weak to possibly encounter more lizard folk on his own.

I am glad that we will not have to awaken the other statues to proceed through the temple. And I wish I had not delayed the druid and the cleric's approach into combat, as I did not expect the use of magic from the lizard folk. Next time, I will be better prepared. And next time, I will make sure to kill them faster.

Of Rock, Water, and an Ice Hydra

Since my awakening from the stone, I have been journeying with quite a weird bunch. An amnetic ninja (who seems to spend too much time with devil's grass, if you know what I mean); a druid who has a puer aeternus complex, as if the child of, his lupine animal companion; a warrior of some sort, who was lost to an animated pit of flesh and blood; and a carefree cleric, who is a bit messianic when comes to healing wounds.

We journeyed forth from the lair of my rescue, pursuing an enemy of my newfound friends - an enemey that is the only clue to my capture, or even how long I was bound in stone. As we chased him into daylight, we discovered he made use of a river for his escape. And I discovered that I was at the edge of a strange city, on a strange mountain, undoubtedly further from the lands I once called home, than I could imagine.

We made journey down the river, being attacked by lizard folk whom live aside it. We encountered a great serpent, whom merely stared us down, before we vacated the river for shelter. Upon doing such, we made combat with a couple of lizard folk, and encountered a colony of myconids.

The myconids made use of some sort of spore, to enable us to telepathically understand their communications. Of such methods, I am quite suspicious. Being fungi, it is quite obvious they make use of dead flesh to feed themselves. And anything that has enough power to make you hear things that are not being said, might have enough power to make you do things you would rather not.

But their leader proposed to help us. If we traverse a nearby temple to acquire a sacred artifact for the myconids, (a means to control the giant serpent of the river), which is also sought by the lizard folk, the myconids will retrieve for us some sort of mystical spear that my companions have encountered in a distant cavern some several days ago.

So we ventured forth, further into the caverns, to find this temple, and to enter forth into it. Alas, at its entrance was a icy hydra, which we made amazing short work of. We used various magical means to enhance our ninja friend. He snuck in close to the sleeping hydra, and I used a flaming sphere, (as I hung from the cavern ceiling), to singe the stumps of its denumerating heads. It did not survive long.

Whereforth our journey takes us from here, I shall not know until it happens. If you are fortunate, and if I am even moreso, I will survive to journal at least once more.

Of What Kind Of Sorcery Is This?

Greetings, my name is Gelvran. I write in this diary as a means to track my adventures across this world.

My life is rather hectic. I've journeyed through this world, (and maybe eventually into others), in search of my past. A search, that for now I have accepted, may be more important in and of itself, rather than what is sought.

As an example of the trifles I have had, only recently I befriended a well-intentioned, though rag-tag, group of adventurers. Financed by an unseen hand we journeyed from the Sharn, the City of Towers, to uncover a mysterious force of evil, when we were ambushed on the boat on which we had sought passage. Several of my companions were knocked overboard.

From throwing sorcerous magic at my foes on the boat, to waking up from petrification in a strange lair, I cannot remember what transpired. Which isn't even the original mysteries of my past that I was seeking to uncover. Nevertheless, I found myself surrounded by yet another group of rag-tag adventurers, on the other side of the world. My revivication came at the cost of one of their companions taking my place, lost in a strong enchantment of stone.

I now journey forth with them, seeking to repay my debt to them, and to earn their trust - for only with companions shall I overcome my dark past, and press on to the future.