Saving Agamemnon

The party received reinforcements in the form of Joram, Char, Bannor and Boken. They arrived escorted by a contingent of dwarves sent up to cover their rear. Their arrival was just in time to make use of Bokens additional healing prayers. After the application of prayers from the clerics, the party settled down to rest, using the barracks area off the room they had taken from the Slavers.

They prepared to leave the next day and the dwarves presented Raifer with a key they found in the master quarters. What it fit, they did not know, but it looked important. With that, they set upon the gate attempting to clear it for entry. SD attempted to blow away the dust that created a barrier and was able to move some of it. Joram cast an Unseen Servant in an attempt to have it hold a bag open while the group blew it in to a bag for later use, but the dust reacted with the magic of the Unseen Servant and caused a small blast that destroyed the spell. SD decided to use a Gust of Wind to remove the last of the material and the were able to clear the path.

The group stepped in to the gate in pairs. It was fortunate that they did because as they passed through they were transported in a very non gate transportation manner. Each group was dropped in to a separate room. The rooms were connected, or rather divided by some form of force wall barrier. As they were deposited in to the room, some other creatures were transported in as well. They were each on their own for their own fight. SD and Raifer dropped in a room alone and were opposed by a horrendous winged snake beast with a sharp beak and spiked tail. Jockbar and Joram were the first in to a room that was joined by two serpent looking people. They were also joined by party members Patrick O'Furniture, Marci, Char and Boken as they crossed the portal. John Z and Parker found themselves face to face with giant spiders. The same fate met Kunder and Duther. While Yosh and Nord faced 2 Thri-Kreen and Indigo and Morgan faced one, Bannor, Andrya and PJ faced down a Githyanki warrior.

The fights erupted immediately upon entry. Joram was hit hard and poisoned by the serpent beast. He slowed but did not fall. He struck back but the second attack from the beast caused him to drop, not dead but paralyzed. Marci and Jockbar traded blows with one of the creatures and Marci dealt a death blow. They struck as a team again and dropped the last one.

John Z decided to not fool around and blasted the first spider with a Lightning Bolt. They then tried to double team the second. John hit it with a Melf's Acid Arrow, but the spider got in a poisonous sting on John and he was paralyzed. This left Parker to fend for herself. She continued to swat away with her hammer and John's spell continued to eat away at the creature who eventually fell.

Nord charged a Thri-Kreen and Yosh cut deeply with his axe in to the second. A few blows were traded back and forth but the Barbarians were far too much for the bug people. Morgan tried her Ring of Invisibility on, only to find that it was not functioning on this plane. The Thri-Kreen moved in to attack her. Indigo let loose with an Agannavers Scorcher, which seemed to be extra powerful here and the beast fell quickly as the spell subsided. Kunder and Duther were both bit by spiders and shrugged off the poison and quickly defeated the arachnids.

SD and Raifer were perhaps the most endangered of the party. The creature they faced was something entirely new. A never before seen creature that swooped in to attack with a razor sharp beak and a spiked tail. What they did not know was that the creature oozed poison from everywhere. It also was able to perform a 'buffet' attack with its wings. It moved in on SD and attacked with its beak. It scored a deep hit on SD who was able to withstand the poison. It also attacked with the wing buffet, but SD struck back hard and Raifer cut in to the creature from the rear. But the creature struck back at Raifer with its tail. The spikes hit and he fell to the floor in obvious and sharp pain, convulsing. SD summoned his strength and cut again, scoring a great gash in the creature who dropped to the floor.

PJ, Andrya and Bannor faced a Githyanki warrior. A no less dangerous foe but certainly more of a known quantity. They moved in to attack and Bannor went to the cage walls to scour for an exit. They traded blows and the Githyanki was hit hard by PJ and he exchanged back a pair of heavy cuts. PJ was hurt more deeply than he had been in quite some time. It was at this point that SD had finished off the creature in his room. He turned and fired a Lightning Bolt at the Gith, starting it at a distance from himself inside the other room, and blew the warrior away. With this death, most of the walls fell away. As the rest of the battles concluded, so did the other walls.

Boken cast a cure spell on Joram, which revived him. Parker went to John Z and layed a Neutralize Poison on him which brought him around. SD had moved and placed a Ring of Regeneration on Raifer, but it did not seem to help. Raifer recovered after Joram cast another Neutralize Poison on him. But Raifer was far from healthy as the poison weakened him severely. It was decided to use some more of the healing prayers and potions to recover. As they completed what they were going to use, they began to hear drums from down the halls, beating out a staccato rhythm that told them they had to move quickly.

Agamemnon woke up. He had apparently been unconscious since the time he was 'removed' from the room with the party. His head hurt and so did his chest. Breathing was difficult but possible. As he slowly gained his faculties, he realized that he was gagged and chained naked to a wall. If he didn't know any better, he would also think he was upside down, but then the thought comes that he was on another plane, probably the Astral plane, which was skewing his perception.

There was no one else in the room and the chamber appears to be some form of living quarters. It was ornately decorated, almost all things were gilded and on the opposite wall hung a plaque bearing the image of an octopus faced creature.

He began to take inventory of his body and came to see that he felt relatively well given the circumstances except for the headache and the pain on his chest. A look at his chest revealed that whoever his captives were, they had inscribed some symbols in to his flesh. Carvings. Yes, he was bleeding, or rather was before. What shapes did they carve? He could only identify the pentagram. The other images made no sense. He prayed for help, guidance and strength.

The creatures entered the room and formed up for some type of ritual. It was obvious that Agamemnon was to be the sacrifice. There were several creatures here. A winged snake like beast, an odd large winged insect like beast, massive in size an presence and many man sized reptilian men who appeared to be the shaman of the ceremony. Three of them chanted and wore clerical garb while another ten beat these ornate snakeskin covered drums.

The party moved through the halls towards the sounds of the drums. Raifer got a quick look around the corner to see what was there and saw the sacrifice beginning. The decision was made that they could not leave Agamemnon to this fate and they charged the room. But Bannor and Indigo found an second doorway hidden in the hall. They decided it might be a good idea to check it out to ensure that they would not be swept in on and surrounded by this path. PJ went with them.

As they ran in to the room, Raifer froze stiff. SD was swept down upon by the snake like flying creature as it swooped for an attack, strafing as it passed. The bug like creature moved in but was cut off by Jockbar and Yosh. SD let loose a Cone of Cold on the Snake creature and wounded it and John Z let go of a Melf's Acid Arrow at the Bug creature. As the battle was joined by the rest of the party through the main entry, the last member of the ritual entered from the far passage. It was a huge Gug creature, similar to one that they had faced once before.

At that moment, the group that went down the alternate hall found that it led directly to another entrance of the chamber and they burst open the door. PJ led the way knocking over one of the snake men standing in front of it. Patrick loosed an arrow at the flying snake but it bounced away. He had forgotten that it was impervious to this form of attack. John Z tried to use a Web spell on it in an attempt to slow it down or pin it to the ceiling of the chamber, only to have the Web spell fail. Then the Bug like creature used its wing flap fire blast attack. The only real effect was minor wounds to some members and SDs Fire Shield becoming active. As this transpired, the Gug moved to cast a spell, but even its magic seemed to fail and its frustration was evident.

Andrya and Char moved over and attacked several of the snake men banging the drums and quickly dispatched several of them. They put up no fight and seemed devoutly intent on continuing their beat at all costs. Yosh cut in to the Bug like creature and wounded it deeply. It made to move away, flying up towards the ceiling. But the Melf's Arrow that John had used earlier finally finished it off and the beast fell. Only it fell on top of Yosh, pinning him under and inflicting poison to his body from some of the spiked areas on the things body. SD evoked a Lightning Bolt at the Flying Snake only to have it display a Magic Resistance, causing the spell to have no effect.

Agamemnon still lay on the table and Bannor moved to assist him. He would have to dodge his way through, but this was Bannors game and he has gotten quite good at it. The clerical snake men attempted to continue their ceremony as the battle continued and the party moved in.

The Flying Snake creature then unleashed a screech that struck fear in to the hearts of many in the party, and several fled back in to the hallway. But John Z hung on and cast a Magic Missile with the intent to destroy all of the drums. Maybe stopping the beat would disrupt their ceremony. His spell was a masterwork of control and he destroyed all of the drums still in the hands of the living creatures. There were not quite as many of them as Joram and Kunder had moved in and were hacking at them, cutting away at the creatures and killing them, including two of the shamen. Parker moved to help Raifer who was still frozen and cast a Remove Paralysis on him. This freed him, but he was also struck by the terror of the screech and he broke and ran in to the hallway too. In all, Raifer, Morgan, Marci and Patrick fled the battle.

By this time Bannor had reached the dais and now stood over the body of Agamemnon in a protective stance. The Gug saw him clearly and made to cast a spell at him only to have it fail him again. Bannors luck continued to be his best asset. SD was in just as good position as he was holding, waiting for the Snake creature to swoop at him again. As it did, he cut in to it as well. While he did not kill it, he definitely hurt it badly. Char noticed one of the drums that was still in tact. He picked it up and attempted to play a different beat on it, hoping to disrupt whatever force the music provided.

The Ritual had reached a climax and the snake shaman moved to thrust his knife in to Agamemnon. John Z evoked a Bigbys Interposing Hand to stop it, but the spell had no effect of it. The Snake shaman plunged his serpentine dagger towards the helpless Agamemnon. But at the last moment, the blade was struck away by what appeared to be a hammer that materialized out of thin air. His prayers had been answered and he was spared.

The Gug was now furious and he took a huge swing at Bannor with its dual clawed arms. He struck and knocked the monk down but did not kill him. The foul creatures realized they no longer had the upper hand. The Gug reached down and picked up the last snake shaman while the Flying Snake creature swooped to its side. As it cast a spell to teleport out, Bannor stood and taunted it. " You show up, you fail and you couldn't even kill a little monk." And with that the beasts were gone.

Agamemnon was released from his bonds and the group collected its breath. With the creatures gone, the fear they evoked subsided from those in the hall. Char approached Raifer and confronted him about something personal, but Raifer was left wondering exactly what he meant.

They knew it wasn't over, but at least the party now felt they had the beasts on the run.

Next time ...

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