Clearly, there's something wrong...

The Aboleth was dead. There were some very serious wounds to be healed and that was the first order of business. While the group tended to their wounded Mayor Farris was seen to be giving a stern talking to and dressing down of Tollemay. A little eavesdropping on the Gnomish confrontation revealed that Tollemay had been the source of the problem that brought the Aboleth to the kingdom. He came across it in the 10,000 Islands and was accompanied by it back to Gulfmoor. How long ago that happened was a surprise.

The group talked with these two leaders about their lives, the history they knew and what was happening around the kingdom. All of this was news to the Gnomes. Their lives had been the same for so very long. They would awake every morning, tend their duties and go to bed as the sun went down. They had not seen the night in over 150 years but the passage of time was as if it had just been yesterday to them. They were oblivious to the fact of the vast amount of time, were unaware that the rest of the world, except for Sudalon, considered their kingdom to have gone extinct. But that extinction rumor seemed to coincide with the approximate timeframe when the Aboleth arrived. They had also not seen any visitors in all that time.

The news regarding the strange mechanical or magical devices was also news. Tollemay was understandably curious and wished to see some of these things. So the hover platform was brought to his lab area. During this transport they discovered the vehicle would in fact hover and travel over water. Tollemay asked of it was ok if he were to inspect and in some ways pick apart the device in order to understand it and they agreed to allow it. Indigo would assist and Alydra, Garan and Warrex would also stay to provide some backup. Meanwhile, the remainder of the team would leave the kingdom proper to investigate if the strange fog mist would appear again. This time they would be accompanied by Farris, some members of his kingdom legislature and a number of well respected merchants.

The fog rolled in just as it had before as the last of the sun dipped below the horizon. It quickly flowed over the entirety of the mountain home encompassing it in a swirling mass of fog. From a mile away the group could get no clear vision of what the fog was made of and decided to move in a bit closer. At half a mile out some of the group began to hear a low tortured sounding vocal moan and some lights began to appear in the mist. Closer in they moved and everyone was now able to hear the sound of tortured groans. The lights appeared to have some form to them and were not just random spots of light. They moved and dipped abouts randomly appearing and disappearing. Unable to fully see what they wanted they moved in close enough to perform some spells in to the fog.

Parker cast a Detect Evil at just about the range limit. The presence of evil was so great she was hurled back by some unseen force. Jimmi attempted a Detect Magic which at first yielded no results. But as he cast his spell about searching for some signs of magic his brother Jerri has approached as well and was enthralled by the sounds he heard. The sounds made some sense to him as a combination of some vowels and consonants but not words he recognized. He decided to attempt to copy and repeat those sounds back at the fog. This he did for several sound combinations. As he echoed back the sounds he began to see more distinct shapes moving about in the fog. Creatures that looked insect like, bird like, humanoid, snake like and others he could not even classify. What seemed to him to be a minute or so was perceived by the others as spanning only a few seconds. As he did this the Detect Magic cast by Jimmi now lit up as if the entire mist was magical.

The spell and Jerri’s conversation were broken. Raifer questioned Jerri as to what he saw. Raifer offered some explicit creature descriptions and Jerri confirmed some of those were in the fog. This news greatly disturbed Raifer as these were creatures of Cthulhu he had seen some time back in the 10,000 Islands and confirmed the presence of the evil religion here in the kingdom.

As daylight broke, the mist dissipated and the team outside the mountain made their way to the entrance at the top. Once there they were shocked by the sight of dead inhabitants of the kingdom laying about in the avenues of the mountain city. They were gone mad, some stabbed, some shredded, some gouged, some choked. But they all lay in groups scattered abouts. Jimmi performed an Object Reading on a knife they found and he saw the insanity driven possessor of the knife wildly attacking another citizen. Proof of the fact there were no other creatures here but it was the citizens who had turned on each other.

Fortunately, not all of the citizens were affected in this manner and many were still alive. They split into teams and hurriedly scattered to finds survivors and a few raced down to the lab to find Tollemay and his companions for the night. They were just waking when the search team arrived. Their story was curious. They had been investigating the platform all day and as night fell they all sensed an odd urge come over them suggesting something subconsciously but none succumbed to the notion. Shortly after that, Indigo was able to convince the group they needed to rest and they all found a place to sleep and each fell away into slumber.

A decision was made by Farris along with Raifer, the city was no longer safe and had to be emptied. People were dispatched to instruct everyone to pack what they needed and evacuate down to the docks muster area outside the mountain proper. As they scanned for the citizens in all parts of the city one group went looking for supplies to take along and they were lead in to the large storage cavern. Here were kept the food and drink supplies for the city. The cavern was massive. And hidden among the supplies were spare parts and barrels of the black pitch used to make the devices. Now there was proof of the presence of the hover craft having been in the kingdom. Teams were organized to transport supplies to help feed the survivors of the populace down to the docks and on to the waiting boats.

The team continued their scan looking for survivors and directing them all to leave. They made their way to the top of the mountain and stepped out on top of the mesa. There many conversations about Cthulhu and the evil religion they knew of. About the obvious influence it had on the dwarves of Sudalon and the medallions they carried. Raifer pulled one of these from his pouch and showed Tollemay. His reaction was obvious that he had seen the symbol before and he confirmed he had seen it in the 10,000 Islands. As the conversation about these facts continued Raifer noticed something odd about the ground encompassing the mesa. There were ruts and gouges in the ground and he suddenly realized they were not random or natural but in the shape of a pattern. He stepped back and to the edge taking in the whole of the design and recognized it as identical to the pattern on the medallion where the entryway down in to the mountain was neatly tucked in the spot where the mouth lay in the design. It was now obvious the ground was cursed or desecrated or in some other way branded for some evil purpose. It took no time to decide it was now imperative they all leave immediately.

The order was given to make haste to the exit way that led to the dock muster area but that exit was on the fifth level tier down. They had to move quickly as the day has slipped past while they completed their tasks and daylight had almost expired. The group raced as quickly as they could making their way along the avenues, avoiding bodies that lay dead in their way and being careful to keep their footing on the path where it had become blood soaked. Somewhere on the third tier down things took an unanticipated twist as Booty spotted Jerri making a turn away from the group, not following the main body of the team. Booty alerted Books and he called for a halt.

He and a few others turned to go after Jerri and a chase ensued. Jerri was racing away and apparently trying to use his skills to hide and move silently as he called out that they were “it” and had to find him. A few turns and it appeared they had lost him. But they waited and listened carefully. Jerri, in his hiding place, could not contain himself and let out a little giggle and said “They’re almost here with us”. They had him and they closed in. As Books and Raifer approached him they passed the hiding spot just missing him and Jerri broke free. Books tried to stop him by knocking him out as Jerri ran by but only landed a glancing blow. Raifer , also caught off guard, tried as well but cleanly missed the diminutive Halfling. And off he went again in to the darkness.

This went on for some time with other members of the group attempting to vector out to cut off any back tracking in hopes Jerri would run into them but there was no luck with this strategy. Now frustrated and annoyed at these events and with the light close to being gone the decision was made to stop the chase and head for the exit. Jerri, not happy with this crept in range and fired a sling bullet at Books that missed. This was the last straw and they now moved to leave him behind. But at that time a scuffle was heard coming from where Jerri was. He called out and let out a blood curdling scream as he fell in to an area that was lit. Books was able to make out the figure of Jerri and noticed the Halfling was bloodied. They paused for a moment but Raifer ordered them to leave him behind and make for the exit.

As they left Jerri spoke out loud strange words… “Are you guys going to kill me?” This stopped his brother Jimmi in his tracks. Books, not pleased with yet another delay, smacks Jimmi to get him moving. Jimmi was reluctant but quickly gave in and continued on his way out.

It was at that point everything changed. The group had made it to the fourth level and were not far from making the fifth and a close exit when a small child’s voice was heard coming from the market area of the fourth level. “Where’s my dad?” While most of the group did not hear this, at the very least Raifer, Books, Jimmi and Parker did. And Parker was the problem. The rest were content to keep going but she would not. Parker stopped and turned to go rescue the child. Raifer could do nothing more than go with her. They found a small child, apparently alone. Parker scooped him up and they made for the exit.

But Jerri had crept in on them as they diverted to pick up the child. He found a darkened spot to wait and as they passed by Jerri stepped out with surprise and struck at Parker from behind. She was wounded and slowed but still able to move. Raifer took hold of the child and they continued on as best they could. The ground was more difficult to navigate here as this was the most crowded area of ground covered with the bodies and blood of the dead from the previous night. It did not take long before Raifer lost his footing and tumbled with the child in his arms. His fall was anything but graceful. But with great effort he utilized his training and managed to alter his fall in to an acrobatic tumble, holding the child close and protecting him from the impact. Parker moved to help them up and was yet again attacked by Jerri who had been following behind them. A small voice spoke out “I’m sorry, Parker” as hit attacked.

Books was not far away. He turned and saw Jerri now in the light and decided it was time to stop this. He charged at the Halfling and lunged at him in order to tackle him to the ground and subdue him. He was successful and a grapple ensued where Books was able to gain position and pin Jerri. Raifer suggested to Parker she use the Remove Curse on Jerri she had thought of before and she quickly fired it off but the spell fizzled. Jerri continued to struggle and eventually was able to wriggle free as Parker dipped in to her spells for one last shot using a Hold Person on him which was finally successful.

The obviously mentally affected Jerri was now subdued and frozen. Books quickly tied his legs and he was carried away by Meercon. The group raced for the fifth level and their exit. They dipped and dodged the bodies and blood but several members of the group were unable to keep their footing and fell. This slowed the entire team down. Raifer had continued to bark order for everyone to get out and keep moving. The light dripped away as they approached the exit point. Furion, Tyrade, Booty, Ilykia and Cade made it to the exit. But as Ruurik approached the last light faded and a magical closure sealed the exit way trapping the remainder of the party inside.

Jerri was tied up and a gag inserted to keep him as harmless as possible even though a sense of peace and calm washed over him. Books attempted a Knock spell to see if he could magically open this exit to no avail. A long discussion ensued to determine the best place to hold up for the night. Either in the hall where they were or perhaps down in the lab where Indigo and the other had spent the prior evening with no ill effects. The decision settled on the lab and they made their way down. Once there they had to decide how to survive the night. It appeared that people who had slept through the night had been unaffected by the madness. Some wanted to try to have everyone just go to sleep. Some wanted to have everyone tied up for the night. In the end there was no real consensus but everyone agreed to retreat to their own space here in the lab and settle in for the night.

Top of page

Previous Session Notes

Next Session Notes

Back to the History Index

Back to the Dungeon

This page and its contents are presented solely for the purpose of the RPG game events conducted by a private group. Any references to people or places is explicitly within the context of these RPG games and has no connection to any other similarly named source.