[4
Gozran 4708 continued]
Although
the sudden reappearance of the Hidden Beast is startling, Jinks doesn’t
hesitate to jump up on the dais and stab it in the face! This time, bereft of its magical protections,
the decapus proves much less of a threat and is killed easily. The adventurers discuss whether they should
take the corpse of the vampiric monstrosity to the surface and expose it to the
sun, but Jinks is concerned about the vampiric skulks who escaped the previous battle. What if they’re still in hiding? The decision is made to stay on guard in the
chamber and rest.
But the Hidden Beast has made this entire lair its “coffin” for
millennia—after about an hour, it surges back to a false mockery of life and
arises! Turning quickly into a gaseous
mist, it disappears into small cracks around the walls of the chamber. Kang quickly applies an alchemical glue to
try to trap the Hidden Best, but there’s no way of knowing whether it will
work.
At
Kang’s prompting, the group leaves the lair of the Hidden Beast and explores
some of the other tunnels in the area.
In one area, they’re attacked by a strange one-eyed creature with
lengthy tentacles that stick to Jinkatsyu’s skin and drain him of his
strength. After a lengthy battle, the
creature tries to surrender and shows the intellectual and linguistic ability
to communicate! But it’s too late, as
one of Kang’s delayed-fuse bombs explodes and incinerates the creature. With Jinkatsyu and Morgiana badly wounded in
the confrontation, the group retreats and rests for the night. |
Ropers are sometimes known
to be quite the philosophers! |
[5
Gozran 4708]
In
the morning, Kang drinks a magical concoction allowing him to send his mind
vast distances. Although he intends to
contact Father Zantus back in Sandpoint to ask the priest what he knows about
vampires, the telepathic projection is somehow redirected by the strange planar
magicks around Xin-Shalast! Kang finds
himself in brief mental contact with bizarre monstrous spider-like beings who
tell him “stop the lens, stop the denizens” before the link is broken. Kang’s previous research in the Therassic
Library comes in useful once again, allowing him to realise these creatures are
so-called Leng Spiders, an other-dimensional race locked into an eternal war
with the bipedal but still inhuman “Denizens of Leng.” However, the reference to a “lens” remains
cryptic. Kang’s mental projection is able to continue on and engage with Father
Zantus, but unfortunately the man knows only general information about vampires
and not the specifics the group needs to know in order to permanently destroy
one.
Soon
after Kang’s mind returns to his body and he shares with the others what he
learned, Morgiv and his band of skulks known as the Spared arrive. Morgiv takes the news that the Hidden Beast
may still be alive gracefully, and says he knows the Chosen One (meaning Kang)
will succeed in destroying the evil once and for all. The skulk leads his people away to a safer
area after giving the party a tapping code they can use on the rock walls of
the subterranean area to communicate with them across surprising distances.
The
Heroes of Varisia return to the Hidden Beast’s lair, but all seems quiet. Exploration of a side tunnel leads to an
ancient shrine devoted to the Spared’s original saviour, Mesmina. On one wall is a crudely-painted depiction of
the Chosen One that will someday free the people from a future enslavement—and
the figure does look a great deal
like Kang! It’s clear the Spared haven’t
been able to visit this shrine ever since the Hidden Beast emerged, and some of
the group’s magical treasures remain.
Among them are several elixirs designed to allow one to survive the
extreme altitudes here on the world’s roof.
Kang is outraged to realise the composition is identical to Nisk
Tander’s so-called “Elixir of the Peaks”, and suspects the devious amateur must
have some sort of connection to Xin-Shalast.
In yet another bizarre moment, Jinks casually says “So, the meddlers
have returned. Perhaps this age is not
so feeble after all. Didn’t I crush this
one into pebbles?” The kitsune denies he
said anything of the sort when confronted by his allies.
The
adventurers return to the lair of the Hidden Beast, determined to finish the
creature off once and for all. Morgiana
cleverly uses her magical ring to see through the first several inches of rock
along the walls of the chamber, and finds the hidden niches where the decapus
and his turned skulks are resting. The
adventurers discuss plans to force them out and finish the job.
-----------------------------
Director's Commentary
This was the third session in the "Hidden Beast" saga. I think the roper was from a random encounter table, but it was pretty nasty because it had some sort of ability damage or drain effect. I liked the bit of foreshadowing that Kang's arch-nemesis, Nisk Tander, had a connection to Xin Shalast.
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