Tales from Toril- The Underdark Escapees: Book One, Chapter Thirty

The Living Dungeon Part 1:
Playing the Game

Dramatis Personae:

Lady Claire Thundersword, the Human Wererat Swordcaptain of the Purple Dragon Knights
Hans, Claire's Basalt Wolf Figurine
Riddle, Claire's baby Basilisk
Mezzem, the Kobold Wererat Priestess of Bahamut who plots the murder of anyone who slights her
Lit, Mezzem's baby Basilisk
Natali, the Tiger Therinthrope Beastmaster
Osaw, Tali's baby Basilisk
Rosebud Goldenrod Petunia, the Halfling/Shetland Pony "Centaur" Wererat Berserker; who sees magic where there is none
Lily Trillium Petunia, the Green Dragonborn Lore Bard, and Rosebud and Geophry's "Momma"

Seluna, the Moon Elf Drow Totem Warrior Circle of the Moon Druid and Silverstar of Selûne
Flimflam Pebblehead, the Deep Gnome Arcanist who really likes killing things, thinks he has powerful enemies out to get him that are telling him what to do, he has a voice giving him directions in his head, and is enamored with every beautiful voice he hears
Roswyn Darkshooter, the Deep Gnome Delver from the Miner's Guild
Smoothpalm, the Deep Gnome Monk of Smoothhands
Niles Rubusthorn, the Moon Elf Shadow Dancer
Twyla Alderleaf, the Moon Elf Scout
Geophry Cherry Blossom Petunia, the chair that used to be a boy
Stool, the Myconid Child was raised from the grave by Mezzem
Galothel Nightbreeze, the Moon Elf Alchemist
Amin of Citadel Adbar, the Shield Dwarf Alchemist
Mithrilye, the Sun Elf Entertainer who will do anything to achieve her goals
Lith, the Bronze Dragonborn Scholar
Fitzzle, Lith's violet faerie dragon familiar

Comrades we have lost:

Ront, the Orc Fighter- turned into hamburger by Pwent

Buppido, the Derro- smashed by Orvald

Eldeth Feldrun, the Shield Dwarf- killed during escape

Hera Adaar, the Abyssal Tiefling Wild Sorceress- swept away

Luna Trelawny, the Human Divination Wizard- skull caved in by rock thrown by Fidget, then finished off by black pudding

Sarith Zekarit, the Drow Scout- drowned

Phillip Johnson, the Human Cleric- in a seemingly irreversible coma, left in Hemeth's care

Jim Jar, the Deep Gnome- eaten by grell

Prince Derendil, the Quaggoth- killed by sea troll

Shuushar, the "Awakened" Kuo-toa- turned into shuushi by sea troll

Hemeth, the Duergar Arms Dealer- parted with group in Gracklstugh met group briefly on route to Mantol Derith to trade
Thimblepwent Battlehammer, the Dwarven Battlerager Barbarian- turned into dog food
Orvald Abershaw, the Mousefolk Barbarian- became a squeaky toy last seen in Bahamutsville under Zin-carla
Zenit 'Dracon, the Drow Fighter- abandoned the party because Orvald died last seen in Bahamutsville
Lythana Belmyr, the Half-Drow Blood Hunter of Eilistraee- sacrificed to Demogorgon
Codsworth, the polite Flumph- shredded by crossbow
Zarrus, the Tiefling Favored Soul Sorcerer of Mephisto- vanished during gnoll fight
Ol' Sparky, the Deep Dragon- last seen thrown into a portal to the Abyss by a glabrezu
Aura, the Air Genasi Storm Sorceress- accidental self-vaporization (bitch blew herself up)
Kyri, the Minotaur Scout- vaporized by a jackass

Fidget Stonegear, the Deep Gnome Inventor- big badda boom 

Miarielle, the Lythari Priestess of Corellon- bigger badda boom
Kazul, the Copper Dragonborn Shadow Monk of Bahamut- skull caved in by another rock from Fidget
Glabbagool, the Gelatinous Cube- stayed with the kobolds
Kara Reginleif, the Half-Valkyrie Wererat Champion from the Zhentarim- vorpaled to pieces by demon Easter bunnies

Rumpadump, the Myconid Child- frozen by demon Easter bunny was raised by Mezzem and went missing, it is believed that Stool ate him
Sajin Silvertongue, the Deep Gnome Wererat Assassin- got stoned and kissed a pretty Medusa
Thecker Powdercraft, the Deep Gnome Wererat Gunslinger and Inquisitor of Bahamut- retired in Blingdenstone
Topsy and Turvy Goldwhiskers, the Deep Gnome Wererat Rogue Twins- stayed in Blingdenstone
Yklwa, Tali's Deinonychus animal companion- devoured by corbies

Party members killed: 22
Overall party members lost: 31

NOTE: Things will be mostly from Claire's perspective, anything with italics is from a third party, since the knight can't be everywhere at once.

***** Marpenoth 12

       We were relaxing in the tower, trying to decide what our next move was, when Rosebud showed us a box that said "The Living Dungeon, want to play a game?" Inside the box were tiles, a black diamond, and several small, nondescript figurines. Rosebud picked up one of the figurines and vanished... inside the box was a small version of the lad. Interesting... Lily called everyone into the room to invite us to play.

       Lily, Rosebud, Tali, Mezzem, myself, Lith, Mithrilye, Flimflam, Niles, and Amin ended up playing- thought Amin didn't play by choice. Coward. Once we were all inside, a voice announced the rules:

       "Worry not about your own head, there are always spares. Heads are not scored until returned to spawn point. Deaths caused by hazards do not count. Spawn zones are safe zones, none may enter but you. One must wait a moment before passing through safe zone, it can only be entered once per round. To win the game you must collect one of every head, or three of a single head."

       So we had to kill each other. This was going to be interesting.

       In the tower, the rest of the group watched the game begin, and placed bets on their friends.

The bets:

Smoothpalm: 50 gold on Claire

Roswyn: 50 gold on Flimflam, and 50 gold that Niles wouldn't kill himself twice

Twyla: 50 gold on Lily, and 50 gold that Niles would kill himself twice

Seluna: 50 gold on Flimflam

Galothel: 50 gold on Rosebud

       Rosebud charged out of his spawn zone, ready for battle as always. Tali covered herself in the sand in her zone before sneaking out. Flimflam launched two fireballs at Rosebud, but only one of them went off. Mithrilye sashayed out of her safe zone, looking as seductive as possible, and became ghostly. Niles made the mistake of attacking Rosebud, he not only missed, but then found himself scooped up by the halftaur, who demanded he hand him his head. The elf tried in vain to convince Rosebud to go for Flimflam instead. Amin cast a spell that made the room quake and tiles changed. 

       The floor around Rosebud turned to green slime, as Rosebud ripped Niles' head from his shoulders. Unfortunately the halftaur couldn't make it back to his safe zone quickly enough. 

       I saw a few little winged creatures that looked like they were made of earth and fire- I learned later they were magma mephits- appeared, and one breathed magma at Tali; she jumped on the wall. A shadow creature rose out of my shadow and took a swipe at me, missing me completely. I saw the magma mephit explode from one of Tali's arrows, as a centaur randomly appeared. This game is fucking weird. I destroyed the shadow easily, and chucked my javelin at Tali, but the damn cat moved. She's way too fast to hit easily. 

       The fireball that Flimflam had thrown at Rosebud earlier finally went off, striking the halftaur. Flimflam breathed his dragon fire at Rosebud, and a ring of grease appeared, which was instantly burning from the flame spell. Lith stole Niles' head from Rosebud, and began moving to her safe zone. Mithrilye used a suggestion spell to make Lith hand over the head. Mithrilye jumped back into her safe zone immediately, and scored the first point of the game.

       Lily's Hand scooped me up and began moving toward a ring of fire. I began working on trying to break out of her spectral grasp. As she moved me, I heard her shout an insult at Flimflam. 

       Amin stepped out of his safe zone and shot a chromatic orb at the newly respawned Niles, missing completely. Rosebud charged his momma, who somehow deflected the attack with ice. A magma mephit appeared in Flimflam's ring of fire and attacked him. Mezzem finally emerged from her spawn point, and sent a spiritual weapon after Rosebud. The centaur saw a new target and charged the priestess- missing her entirely. 

       Tali summoned four giant spiders and four giant badgers, and had them surround Lily, Mezzem, and the centaur. The badgers and one of the spiders killed the centaur with ease; the remaining spiders weren't as lucky with their attack on Lily. 

       I felt some weight on the Hand, which helped keep me pinned- Flimflam had used a spell to move himself to be on top of it. I kept struggling against the Hand and just couldn't get out of the damned thing. I felt a pressure as the Hand hit something, from the grunt I heard, I'm pretty sure it punched Mezzem. 

       Flimflam turned the mephit that had been in his circle into a statue, then an owl appeared and handed him an empty scroll case. The dungeon then teleported Flimflam right back into his circle. Lith saw Rosebud turn toward her, and knowing he'd kill her instantly, she scooped up a handful of the green slime and swallowed it; the dragonborn killed herself to prevent Rosebud from getting the head. Niles failed an attack against Amin, and ran back to the safety of his spawn point. 

       Lily sent a torrent of magic missiles at Tali- they hurt her, but she didn't drop. Mithrilye turned the sounds of battle into a song that caused Rosebud to slow. The tiles shifted again, putting a stream right below one of Tali's badgers, killing it instantly; another died trying to scramble out of the stream. The remaining critters moved to attack Lily and Flimflam, and they all missed their marks. Rosebud charged Mithrilye for stealing Niles' head from him, killing the bard instantly. The halftaur scooped up her head and ran for his safe zone- though he couldn't enter it yet. 

       Mezzem's spiritual weapon hit Lily again, but not enough to break her concentration on the Hand. Lily got randomly teleported to the edge of the stream, and proceeded to push one of Tali's badgers into it. Tali hurled magic missiles at Mezzem, while a troglodyte appeared and went right for Rosebud. Flimflam killed two more of Tali's spiders with a force wave, then he struck a pose that he imagined looked awesome, and set himself on fire...

       I continued struggling in Lily's Hand. I could feel it trying to squeeze the life from me, and dammit I would not die from a stupid spectral Hand. I had to break Lily's grasp. I fucking hate that damn bard right now, and made a point to yell that at him- she probably found it amusing. I heard a bone couple of bones snap as the Hand squeezed. I also felt pressure as he used the Hand to punch someone. 

       Lith attempted to charm Rosebud, but failed at it. In frustration, she lashed at him with her whip, which missed; she bolted back to her safe zone, and paused at the entrance, unable to enter just yet. Mithrilye then tried to charm Rosebud, and also failed. Even though the barbarian is usually the most easily charmed, apparently he was immune to the feminine wiles of the women he had grown up thinking of as his aunties. The troglodyte attempted to poison Rosebud, and he killed the beast. With no new critters around for him to kill, he could now focus on his friends.

       Mezzem's spirit weapon dropped Flimflam, and as she moved to get his head, one of Tali's spiders bit her. A bite wasn't enough to sway her from her path, and she quickly cut Flimflam's head off. Tali ripped another star from her robe and hurled it at Mezzem- the priestess was not looking good, she was very near death. Flimflam respawned and used his dragon breath, it washed over Mezzem, Lily, and the Hand holding Claire. Then he became naked and everything he had on him was in a leather backpack that appeared on the ground. Flimflam then used misty step to get away from them, and a deerstalker cap appeared on his head and a magnifying glass in his hand. 

       I felt my hair burn and my flesh sizzle as fire hit me, I don't know where it came from. The damn flames didn't destroy the Hand though, or cause Lily to lose the spell. Sometimes I really hate magic. I struggled against the Hand, praying that I could escape, but it still wouldn't let me out. I reminded Lily of how much I hated her in that moment. The Hand smashed into something, and Lily yelled something at me, I'm not sure what exactly she said, but it made my head throb. I feared I was nearing death. I had to break out of this fucking Hand before Lily finished me off. I felt one final blow before everything went dark... 

       Lith finished Mezzem off, and used her whip to retrieve her head. The head vanished when she grabbed it, as Fitzzle took the bag with both of them back to Lith's spawn point. Mithrilye turned her charm on Flimflam, but he managed to resist her beauty; she instead caused him to slow. While Niles shot Tali, Amin managed to strike him with a chromatic orb. Tali's badger retaliated against Niles, one spider finished him off, and the last removed his head. 

       Rosebud again went for Mithrilye, killing her again, but Tali stole the head out from under him. Mezzem threw a guiding bolt at Amin, but a shield flared, protecting the coward. He is well practiced in avoiding injury. Flimflam cast a thunderwave at Tali, killing her badger and one of her spiders, a burst of colorful spray then flowed from his outstretched palm, which did nothing; he then snatched Mithrilye's head from the spider, and whirled to run away- crashing right into Lily's legs. Niles was deafened by the thunderwave. 

       Lily's Hand squeezed Claire and Lith's heads off, and Lily wrenched Mithrilye's head from Flimflam's grasp. 

      I found myself back in my spawn point... Fucking Lily had killed me. That bitch's head is MINE. I charged out of my spawn point with eyes for only him, and slashed at him with my blade- only one of my swings hit, I think my rage may have messed up my aim.

       Lily felt a tug at the bag with the heads in it- Fitzzle was trying to steal the heads for Lith. My rage was further fueled by Lily using the spell that hurtles her through dimensions, right back into his safe zone. 

       Mithrilye gave up on charming, and slowed Niles instead. Amin cast something to help protect his head, slipped and fell on his ass, and scurried back to his safe zone. Rosebud then slipped on his ass when he exited his safe zone. A thri-kreen randomly appeared and threw something at the prone halftaur. Mezzem had decided to target Tali in response to the tiger's assault on her; Tali used her snake armor and morphed into a huge snake. 

       Since the dragonbitch was hiding in her safe zone, I set my sights on Flimflam. It was easy enough to kill that insane svirfneblin, and I gathered his head. As Claire passed Niles, he swapped out the bag with Flimflam's head for a bag of coins.

       Flimflam hurled two fireballs at Mithrilye, killing her; the spell caused some rocks to start jumping around. He then used misty step to get to her head, and became outlined in blue faerie fire... his wild magic does some peculiar things. Lily turned his Hand at Niles, killing the rogue instantly; it retrieved both his and Flimflam's heads for the bard. 

       Mithrilye's charm finally worked, and she convinced Flimflam to give her back her head, and to bring her more. She promised they're have fun later if he did this for her. Rosebud got back on his feet, only to slip and fall back over. He got up again, and this time was able to charge Niles. Flimflam used his dragon breath on Rosebud and Niles- this time as ice- and poor Niles went down again. Mezzem sent a pillar of fire on Rosebud and the newest corpse of Niles, then sent her spiritual weapon against Flimflam. The priestess killed Rosebud, but before she could gather his head, Flimflam misty stepped to their bodies and collected the heads for himself. 

       Lily was finally within my reach again, I slashed my blade at the bitch, and missed completely. By the Nine I hate her right now. Then suddenly I was puzzled, unsure of my surroundings or what I was doing. Lith had used a confusion spell on Claire. Then Lily's Hand grabbed me again and dropped me in a pit. Through my confusion, my hatred for Lily burned. 

       Mithrilye got her head in her safe zone, and told Flimflam to bring Rosebud's and Niles' to her. Amin got his hands on one of Niles' heads and ran back to his safe zone- but he couldn't enter yet. When the tiles shifted, Tali found herself completely boxed in by walls. She was trapped in a tiny room. She decided that killing herself would be the best way to solve this problem, and began bleeding out. Mezzem threw another pillar of flames at Flimflam. 

       I looked up as I was falling, it felt like I'd fall forever- and saw Rosebud was now falling after me. Shit... I'd likely die again if he landed on top of me. He was wriggling around weird, but I couldn't tell what the hell he was trying to do. I landed with a thud, not dead, but I could tell most of my bones were broken. I thought that the ladder function in my Rod would get me out, but first I had to deal with the halftaur that was plummeting toward me. 

       Rosebud had been randomly teleported into the pit, and was attempting to snap his own neck in order to leave the pit... so far it wasn't working in the slightest. Since that plan failed, Rosebud managed to get his legs against one of the walls, and use his momentum to charge at Claire, sword first. The Purple Dragon died again. Her body seemed to break his fall, since the landing only hurt him a little bit. 

       Flimflam launched a fireball at Mezzem and Tali... and suddenly found himself wearing fine clothing, and his magnifying glass shattered. The sorcerer didn't know that Mezzem was immune to fire. Lily's Hand scooped up Mezzem, it was her turn to be squeezed to death. Mithrilye walked up to Flimflam, gave him a very passionate kiss... and slit his throat. Newly spawned Flimflam hurled a lightning bolt at Lily, and his Hand vanished- Mezzem was almost dead from it. Flimflam then vanished in a puff of silvery light.

       In the pit, Fitzzle used her euphoria breath on Rosebud, and took the bag with heads in it from him. Frustrated, with no way out, Rosebud decided to kill himself and respawn. 

       I saw Lith near my spawn point, so I darted out and beheaded her. She respawned and tried to get her head from me, but I was much stronger than her. After dropping off Lith's head, I rushed back out at her, and unleashed several strikes on her, which she wasn't able to return. If I could get her head two more times I could win this stupid game. Next time someone says we should play a game, I'm asking what the fucking game is first. 

       Lily summoned a new Hand and crushed Mezzem to death with it- he then bolted for his safe zone. Tali hurled a star at the newly spawned Mezzem, doing some hefty damage to her. 

       Mithrilye attempted to charm Flimflam again, but this time she failed. He probably didn't appreciate her killing him while kissing him. Flimflam used his ice dragon breath on Mezzem, since he'd learned that cold didn't affect her, and as he did a globe of darkness appeared. He then misty stepped away, and felt ill. Tali summoned more spiders and badgers and had them surround Flimflam, but only one spider managed to score a hit. Since Flimflam is a generally reckless person, he decided to drop a fireball on himself, killing all eight of Tali's critters, and himself in the process. 

       During all of this, Amin and Niles had been walled off from the rest of the combat, exchanging fire with few actual hits. Rosebud respawned next to the pair, and charged at them both. Amin cast a reduction spell at Rosebud to shrink him, but the halftaur shook it off. The cowardly dwarf bolted back to his safe zone. Niles didn't even attempt to ht Rosebud, he just ran back to his safe zone. The tiles around their room changed, and a door appeared. Rosebud couldn't ram it open though, and in the process of trying to, the ceiling collapsed, pinning him under rubble. 

       I managed to kill Lith once more and get her head back to my safe zone. Now I just needed to drop her once more and this stupid game would be over. Unfortunately the bitch moved her spawn point after my second shot. This meant I had to search for her, and if I got lucky I'd be able to kill Lily at least once in the process. Currently I was boxed in, and no one was near me. At least I had a moment to gather my thoughts.

       Lily had been in the same area as Claire, but he was invisible. He used a dimension door to escape the wrath of the Purple Dragon. 

       Mezzem threw a globe of daylight up to negate the darkness Flimflam's wild magic had formed. Tali, able to see again, summoned eight more spiders, hoping they wouldn't get decimated instantly by Flimflam like the last batch was. Unfortunately for the therinthrope, Flimflam cackled madly to himself and dropped another fireball, killing all of her spiders again. This cause a wild surge that allowed him to hear the thoughts of others... and he heard the naughty things Mithrilye was planning to do to him is she won. He then unleashed a ray of frost on Tali. 

       Mezzem dropped Mithrilye, though she wasn't bleeding out, just unconscious. Flimflam, determined to make those thoughts become reality, pushed Mithrilye into her safe zone and tossed his head in after her. However, she was to be unconscious for the next hour or so, which meant she couldn't win. He was definitely not going to be seeing anything of those thoughts come to life anytime soon.

       As soon as Lily emerged from his dimension door, Mezzem dropped a pillar of fire on him. Tali, frustrated with Flimflam fireballing her spiders, decided to summon three giant hyenas instead- she hoped those would last a little longer than the spiders had. 

       A path finally opened up for me, and I ran straight for Mezzem. As I hit the priestess she informed me that Lily was hiding behind a pillar  right by me. My target was finally in sight. I abandoned my plan to kill Lith once more, even though the way to her had just opened up. Though the bitch hit me with a cold spell that chilled me to the bone. I should have gone back to end her. That would have been the smart move. But I had to get my revenge on Lily.

       The next room shift had Mezzem completely submerged in magma- the only person who it wouldn't actually kill. The random teleportations had me surrounded by Rosebud and Tali's hyenas. I slashed at Rosebud, scoring a couple of nice hits on him. One of the hyenas went for Flimflam, ripping off his head and bringing it to Tali.

       A purplish smoke appeared out of nowhere and hit Rosebud, he seemed to relax a little. That was fucking weird. Lily went for the hyena holding Flimflam's head, and wrestled it away, then he used the spell that hurls him through dimensions right into his safe zone. The bitch had just won the fucking game.

       We were all suddenly in our spawn points, and the chambers began filling with sand. We were being buried alive.

       Lily found himself standing in a grand chamber standing before a Dao- an earth genie- and it was clearly ancient. It thanked Lily for its gifts- the rest of the party- and told him that each of the others would have the chance to become a Dao too. Lily demanded the group be released, but the Dao simply laughed at him. It told Lily that he was getting three wishes as his prize for winning the game. 

       Lily used his wishes to attempt to help the group. The first wish was that everyone was released and back in the safety of the tower. The second was that the Dao release everything it had gathered over the centuries- both people and treasure alike. Lily's final wish was for the Dao to go away and never do this crap again. At that the Dao chuckled and told him that he couldn't simply leave the game. So Lily wished for him to find whatever it was he needed to be released. 

       Suddenly the sand stopped rising, and we were all in the middle of the arena, Lily included. Dust began to swirl as Lily told us it seemed we had to fight a Dao. This game fucking sucks. I may never play a game again after this. All of us were refreshed as if we'd just respawned, except for Lily. Mezzem prayed to Bahamut and her prayer was answered, Lily was refreshed now too. This is going to be a grueling battle, but at least we were all on the same side again.

*****

The death count from the Living Dungeon:
Claire- 2
Mezzem- 2
Tali- 1
Rosebud- 2
Lily- 1
Niles- 5
Amin- 1
Mithrilye- 5
Lith- 3
Flimflam- 7

The Dungeon

Tales from Toril- The Underdark Escapees: Book One, Chapter Twenty-Nine

Lily's Wish and Mushroom Madness

Dramatis Personae:

Lady Claire Thundersword, the Human Wererat Swordcaptain of the Purple Dragon Knights
Hans, Claire's Basalt Wolf Figurine
Riddle, Claire's baby Basilisk
Mezzem, the Kobold Wererat Priestess of Bahamut who plots the murder of anyone who slights her
Lit, Mezzem's baby Basilisk
Natali, the Tiger Therinthrope Beastmaster
Osaw, Tali's baby Basilisk
Rosebud Goldenrod Petunia, the Halfling/Shetland Pony "Halftaur" Wererat Berserker; who sees magic where there is none
Lily Trillium Petunia, the Green Dragonborn Lore Bard, and Rosebud's "Momma"

Seluna, the Moon Elf Drow Totem Warrior Circle of the Moon Druid and Silverstar of Selûne
Flimflam Pebblehead, the Deep Gnome Arcanist who really likes killing things, thinks he has powerful enemies out to get him that are telling him what to do, he has a voice giving him directions in his head, and is enamored with every beautiful voice he hears
Roswyn Darkshooter, the Deep Gnome Delver from the Miner's Guild
Medic Stonebandage, the Deep Gnome Priest of Smoothhands from the Stoneheart Enclave who can't take a joke, and often reacts violently, if not murderously, to them
Smoothpalm, the Deep Gnome Monk of Smoothhands
Terrik Stoneshot, the Deep Gnome Gunslinger from the Bounty Hunter's Guild
Niles Rubusthorn, the Moon Elf Shadow Dancer
Twyla Alderleaf, the Moon Elf Scout
Geophry Cherry Blossom Petunia, the chair that used to be a boy

Lily's Summoned Allies:
Gimli, the Gnome Scholar
Umund, the Dwarf Scholar
Elyn, the Halfling Artist
Galothel Nightbreeze, the Moon Elf Alchemist
Ukal of Citadel Adbar, the Dwarf Aristocrat
Boada, the Elf Scholar
Lith, the Bronze Dragonborn Scholar
Arwenel, the Elf Scholar
Amin of Citadel Adbar, the Shield Dwarf Alchemist
Mithrilye, the Sun Elf Entertainer
Sabel, the Halfling Servant

Blingdenstone Contacts Summoned:
Dorbo and Seni Diggermattock
Dwarvenforge
Tappy Foamstrap
Yornik Greenpaw
Glyphic Shroomlight
Thecker Powdercraft, the Deep Gnome Wererat Gunslinger and Inquisitor of Bahamut
Topsy and Turvy Goldwhiskers, the Deep Gnome Wererat Rogue Twins

Comrades we have lost:

Ront, the Orc Fighter- turned into hamburger by Pwent

Buppido, the Derro- smashed by Orvald

Eldeth Feldrun, the Shield Dwarf- killed during escape

Hera Adaar, the Abyssal Tiefling Wild Sorceress- swept away

Luna Trelawny, the Human Divination Wizard- skull caved in by rock thrown by Fidget, then finished off by black pudding

Sarith Zekarit, the Drow Scout- drowned

Phillip Johnson, the Human Cleric- in a seemingly irreversible coma, left in Hemeth's care

Jim Jar, the Deep Gnome- eaten by grell

Prince Derendil, the Quaggoth- killed by sea troll

Shuushar, the "Awakened" Kuo-toa- turned into shuushi by sea troll

Hemeth, the Duergar Arms Dealer- parted with group in Gracklstugh met group briefly on route to Mantol Derith to trade
Thimblepwent Battlehammer, the Dwarven Battlerager Barbarian- turned into dog food
Orvald Abershaw, the Mousefolk Barbarian- became a squeaky toy last seen in Bahamutsville under Zin-carla
Zenit 'Dracon, the Drow Fighter- abandoned the party because Orvald died last seen in Bahamutsville
Lythana Belmyr, the Half-Drow Blood Hunter of Eilistraee- sacrificed to Demogorgon
Codsworth, the polite Flumph- shredded by crossbow
Zarrus, the Tiefling Favored Soul Sorcerer of Mephisto- vanished during gnoll fight
Ol' Sparky, the Deep Dragon- last seen thrown into a portal to the Abyss by a glabrezu
Aura, the Air Genasi Storm Sorceress- accidental self-vaporization (bitch blew herself up)
Kyri, the Minotaur Scout- vaporized by a jackass

Fidget Stonegear, the Deep Gnome Inventor- big badda boom 

Miarielle, the Lythari Priestess of Corellon- bigger badda boom
Kazul, the Copper Dragonborn Shadow Monk of Bahamut- skull caved in by another rock from Fidget
Glabbagool, the Gelatinous Cube- stayed with the kobolds
Kara Reginleif, the Half-Valkyrie Wererat Champion from the Zhentarim- vorpaled to pieces by demon Easter bunnies

Stool, the Myconid Child- unwilling dance partner to drunk stone giant

Rumpadump, the Myconid Child- frozen by demon Easter bunny
Sajin Silvertongue, the Deep Gnome Wererat Assassin- got stoned and kissed a pretty Medusa
Thecker Powdercraft, the Deep Gnome Wererat Gunslinger and Inquisitor of Bahamut- retired in Blingdenstone
Topsy and Turvy Goldwhiskers, the Deep Gnome Wererat Rogue Twins- stayed in Blingdenstone
Yklwa, Tali's Deinonychus animal companion- devoured by corbies

Friendly fire overall: 166
Party members killed: 23
Overall party members lost: 32

NOTE: Things will be mostly from Claire's perspective, anything with italics is from a third party, since the knight can't be everywhere at once.

***** Marpenoth 1, 1489 DR (The Year of the Warrior Princess)
THE CARAVAN

       As the group was looting the demons they'd slain, they heard a screech coming from the direction of the tower. They looked up to see a vrock circling the tower, and heard sounds of battle. Before they could process any of this, their ears began to ring in a high pitched whine, and suddenly they were in a room filled with books. 

       Confused, they began to look around, and a voice rang out "Narwall." They felt as if the ground had dropped out from under them, and suddenly they were sitting in an empty cavern, surrounded by the rest of the group and many strangers; the tower seemed to have vanished.

*****

       In the blink of an eye, we went from standing in the circle in the tower to standing on a plateau. Lily was holding a chess piece in his hand, which I think is what the tower turned into. Our friends from Blingdenstone were there, looking confused, as were many strangers. I think Lily's wish may have backfired a little bit.

       I heard the ear-piercing and all too familiar screech from above- the damn vrock was still there. Before any of us could do anything, three more of the damned things burst out of portals. Thecker was the first of us to respond, and she attempted to taunt one- which didn't work, as usual. Frustrated, my friend pulled out her gun and shot it.

       Seluna drew her blade and turned into some feathered beast, she flew straight for one. Tali shot at one and her arrows hit true; I followed suit and drew my crossbow. Suddenly, a fucking door stood up and attacked one of the strangers- that damn mimic door apparently came back after the wish. Dwarvenforge swung his hammer at the door, and it got stuck to the damn thing. The twins killed the mimic quickly.

       One of the beasts came into my range and I stabbed it with my spear. The damn thing grabbed my spear and took flight, then attacked me since I was still hanging on- the spear was a function on my Rod, and was chained to my wrist. Somehow I managed to hang on to the vrock and not plunge to my doom. In the heat of the moment, I didn't realize exactly how high up I was, and so I morphed my Rod so I could get out of the vrock's grasp. Once I began falling, I realized what a dumb idea that was, and quickly morphed the Rod into a ladder, hoping that would help when I hit the ground.

       Below Claire, the fight continued with the other vrocks. Tali dropped one of the fiends, leaving only three more for them to contend with. Rosebud was pounding on one of the demons. Amin, one of Lily's accidentally summoned allies, saw Mezzem, screamed and ran away. Amin is a coward, and the sight of the kobold terrified him. Thecker and Terrik were both shooting a constant stream of bullets, and Tali was shooting arrow after arrow. With their combined efforts, Tali managed to polish another one off.

       Before I was able to test my theory on if I'd survive the fall with my ladder hitting first, the damn vrock swooped to attack me- it missed, and decided to instead grab my ladder, then fly even higher. Shit. Suddenly two lightning bolts hit the vrock and I- I bet it was Flimflam- causing me to lose my grip on my ladder. Fortunately I was still attached to it, but I was now flailing limply in midair, in the clutches of the vrock. I managed to get my hands around my ladder again and morphed it back into a spear, then I attempted the life drain ability my Rod has- it didn't seem to do anything though. The fucker then flew even higher up, dropped me, and then swooped at me to attack.

       Rosebud managed to finish off the last vrock within their reach, leaving only the one Claire was battling with midair. Amin, gripped in terror, tried to attack Mezzem and failed miserably; Turvy, being homicidally possessive, hit Amin for his attempt, and accidentally cracked his skull open, killing him. Medic was able to revive the dwarf before he died permanently. As one, the group began firing at the vrock Claire was locked in combat with, hoping to save their friend before she crashed to her doom.

       I swiped at the vrock with my spear, and missed. The bastard responded with a hit of its own, and I felt myself lose consciousness. With Claire in hand, the vrock dived straight at Lily, hoping to kill both of them. Lily cast Feather Fall at the vrock, but it was able to avoid his spell. It landed on top of Lily, crushing Claire in the process. The vrock died, but Claire managed to just barely survive the landing. 

       I came to with Tali standing over me, and my entire body hurt. She told me we'd won, and at the news that we were done fighting for the day, I passed out.

       Sabel, a halfing woman with a mop of red hair that looked exactly like Rosebud's, took one look at the halftaur, screamed, and passed out. She was the mother to the halfling half of Rosebud, and she sold him to Lily. Sabel had spent her life searching for her long lost boy, and finally found him as a halftaur. Her mind just couldn't take it.

      Lily and Rosebud entertained his accidentally summoned allies, telling them his entire story, from the point he was revived by Mezzem up until the battle they'd just fought. 

       When I awoke a couple hours later, Rosebud was trying to convince Tali to help him shrink the vrock's armor down to a size one of us could actually wear. She did, and it fused to her flesh; Mezzem removed the curse that held it there, but we still had to literally peel it off of her. I gave her a bottle of Gresyl Wine to knock her out so Rosebud and I could do this without her being aware of the excruciating pain we were causing. After watching that, Twyla decided to stay in a similar set of armor that she'd gotten during their demon fight. I don't blame her.

***** Marpenoth 2

       The next morning we decided to send the weapons crates back to Blingdenstone with the friends Lily had called. There was no need to tote them to Neverlight Grove since we now had the option not to. In addition to our Blingdenstone friends, we also sent back Terrik and Medic to help guard the weapons carts. Gimli, Umund, Elyn, Ukal of Citadel Adbar, Boada, Arwenel, and Sabel were also going back to Blingdenstone, since they didn't really want to be here anyways. Mithrilye, Lith, Amin, and Galothel decided to stay with us, this was an opportunity they didn't want to pass up.

***** Marpenoth 6

       As we traveled, we heard a cry of surprise coming from up ahead in the tunnel. Roswyn saw darkness bloom in her path, a giant rocktopus. Both she and Flimflam moved into the darkness, and he used his fire breath at it. 

       I saw the darkness clear, there were seven small, charred figures, a very charred and dead giant rocktopus, and one small, charred figure who was still alive. Lily and Roswyn rushed to the side of the living creature- a svirfneblin, I think- and healed it. Before passing out it whispered "bandits." Lily decided to give it Gresyl Wine to keep it unconscious for longer.

       When this was done, Lily, Tali, and Flimflam decided to eat the charred gnomes... disgusting! I permitted Riddle to eat them, Mezzem and Tali also let their babies do it. The sight of this made Roswyn, Smoothpalm, and Rosebud follow suit. The rest of us were completely horrified by this, it was just wrong! You'd never see a Cormyrean doing something like that, especially with a giant rocktopus to eat.

***** Marpenoth 7

       Since we were only a couple of days away from Neverlight Grove, Mezzem decided it was time to try to bring Stool and Rumpadump back from the grave. Bringing them back was an ordeal, and both sprouts now saw visions all around them, viewed reality in an altered way, periodically slipped into catatonic states, and their intelligence was constantly slipping. For some reason, it didn't occur to her to fix those. But it took her forever to even consider bringing them back in the first place, so I suppose we shouldn't have been surprised. I really need to learn not to expect from Mezzem the same caliber of priestess that I would have in Cormyr.

***** Marpenoth 8

       Today we reached the point on the map that marked the Grove as being somewhere near us. The exact location wasn't known, but we were getting closer. If the sprouts were sane, they could probably help us.

***** Marpenoth 9

       We entered a cavern that was carpeted in brown fungus, and the temperature was noticeably colder, which was odd since there were a couple of steam vents in the room. I would have thought they'd make the room warmer. Lily said he'd heard stories about this fungus being bad for someone's health, and that this was really a brown mold.

       Upon hearing that, Flimflam used an ice spell and the fungus blackened. Rosebud hit it with the fire mace, and it seemed to feed on the flames, it thickened and grew in the area he'd hit. Flimflam then used his dragon breath in ice form on the mold, blackening it enough for us to get through it; the spell temporarily blinded him.

***** Marpenoth 10

       When we reached the area where we'd camp for the night, we found some torch stalks. Rosebud started throwing the damned things, then tried to hand Geophry one to throw... which resulted in him dropping it. This began a torch stalk fight, with Rosebud and Geophry throwing them at each other. Then Mezzem said she was immune to fire, so they both turned their torches on her. It was ridiculous, but hilarious.

***** Marpenoth 11

       As we traveled, suddenly we heard in our heads that Lily stole the pony too, that I secretly had loved Kazul, and that Tali had tried to kill her sister. Then a claw slashed at Lily.

       Another claw swiped at me and hit, as did one that targeted Mezzem. A fourth one slashed at Tali, but it missed her. Rosebud reared back, dropping Geophry- who had been on his back- and began pounding on one of our attackers. We learned they were nothics, creepy little monsters with one large eye, talons, and spikes on its torso- there were four of the little fuckers.

       Lith unleashed her lightning breath on them, hitting the one that was attacking Mezzem. Twyla moved up and stabbed the one that was attacking me- she's learning quickly, she actually managed to hit him. Geophry got to his feet and rammed into the one attacking Lily, while Tali clawed at and bit the one on her- she announced it tasted like tainted magic.

       The nothic on Lily missed a swipe at her, and tried to move away- Geophry and Rosebud pounced on it, and the little chair killed it. Apparently he isn't as helpless and innocent as we had thought. Lily and I were both hit again with new attacks. With a slash of her blade, Seluna cut the nothic that was attacking Mezzem in half. Smoothpalm and Rosebud went for the one Tali, and dropped it easily. An arrow from Niles sank into the final nothic- the one attacking me. Flimflam stood and began dragging Geophry- he'd been tied to the chair- and shot a bolt of fire at the nothic. Roswyn finished it off with a whirl of her scimitars.

       Lily used a spell that brings someone back from the grave, if they've been gone for a minute or less. Rosebud held it for him, and Lily tried to compel it to give him its secrets. The beast was terrified and shat all over Rosebud... Rosebud then turned it around and rubbed its nose in the shit. This was the most ridiculous interrogation I've ever seen! The nothic retaliated by announcing that Rosebud had wet the bed until he was six. It then started saying something about Zuggtmoy, the Demon Queen of Fungus. At that, Lily gave Rosebud permission to hit it- which killed it again... and it shat on the halftaur a second time.

       Shortly after that, Stool began talking to Fidget and someone named Orvald. The twins had mentioned that name before, they said he was a mousefolk they escaped the drow prison camp with.

       Lily decided he needed time in the tower to go through all of the long dead wizard's books for information on Zuggtmoy. Rosebud quickly located a spot where we could set it up. Rosebud, Geophry, and Mezzem spent all night cataloging books for Lily to go through. Geophry spent much of the night complaining that he wanted to do something else. 

       Mezzem decided to start helping Stool, but she could only remove two of his insanities at a time, so she still didn't help much this night. 

***** Marpenoth 12

       Lily spent time the circle in the top floor, and learned there was a dungeon with occupants in it, there was a shield we could put over the roof, that the chasm we'd crossed was part off the tower's defenses, and that we could have spectral servants.

       Seemingly on whim, Lily decided to adopt Geophry, naming him Geophry Cherry Blossom Petunia.

       We went to check out this dungeon, and find out who our prisoners were. There were ten corbies in there total- we could only see five of them, but Lily knew there were five other invisible ones. The disgusting beasts were throwing bones at the cell doors- Yklwa's bones. We proceeded to kill all of the little fuckers, and collect Yklwa's remains. In the process, Flimflam set off a thunderwave, and managed to somehow set Geophry on fire. Lily kicked the insane gnome out of the room at that. Instead of leaving though, Flimflam used his dragon fire breath and killed two corbies- hitting Tali and I in the process. Tali and I finished off the remaining corbies, and gathered the rest of Yklwa's remains.

       We took Yklwa outside and buried him. Tali said he was at peace, and with their God Ubtao. It was a sad ceremony, I wish we could have saved him. My heart is heavy with sorrow at the loss of him.

       Since we learned that we could leave people in the dungeon, we decided to keep our lizards, Galothel, Amin, Mithrilye, Stool, Rumpadump, and Geophry in there to protect them. Lily shaped the cells into bedrooms for all of us who wished them. When I went upstairs to go get our poor, insane little myconids, Rumpadump was nowhere to be seen. Lily used the circle and learned that he never left the tower, somehow he vanished. None of us have any idea how that had happened. Someone suggested Stool ate him, but there's no way he would have eaten his best friend. Mezzem finished removing Stool's madnesses tonight, the poor boy was finally back to himself.

The entire layout of the tower now known as Chateau Petunia

Tales from Toril- The Underdark Escapees: Book One, Chapter Twenty-Eight

The Tower of Corbies Part 3:
The Wizard's Private Sanctum

Dramatis Personae:

Lady Claire Thundersword, the Human Wererat Swordcaptain of the Purple Dragon Knights
Hans, Claire's Basalt Wolf Figurine
Riddle, Claire's baby Basilisk
Mezzem, the Kobold Wererat Priestess of Bahamut who plots the murder of anyone who slights her
Lit, Mezzem's baby Basilisk
Natali, the Tiger Therinthrope Beastmaster
Yklwa, Tali's Deinonychus animal companion
Osaw, Tali's baby Basilisk
Rosebud Goldenrod Petunia, the Halfling/Shetland Pony "Centaur" Wererat Berserker; who sees magic where there is none
Lily Trillium Petunia, the Green Dragonborn Lore Bard, and Rosebud's "Momma"

Seluna, the Moon Elf Drow Totem Warrior Circle of the Moon Druid and Silverstar of Selûne
Flimflam Pebblehead, the Deep Gnome Arcanist who really likes killing things, thinks he has powerful enemies out to get him that are telling him what to do, he has a voice giving him directions in his head, and is enamored with every beautiful voice he hears
Roswyn Darkshooter, the Deep Gnome Delver from the Miner's Guild
Medic Stonebandage, the Deep Gnome Priest of Smoothhands from the Stoneheart Enclave who can't take a joke, and often reacts violently, if not murderously, to them
Smoothpalm, the Deep Gnome Monk of Smoothhands
Terrik Stoneshot, the Deep Gnome Gunslinger from the Bounty Hunter's Guild
Niles Rubusthorn, the Moon Elf Shadow Dancer
Twyla Alderleaf, the Moon Elf Scout
Geophry, the chair that used to be a boy

Comrades we have lost:

Ront, the Orc Fighter- turned into hamburger by Pwent

Buppido, the Derro- smashed by Orvald

Eldeth Feldrun, the Shield Dwarf- killed during escape

Hera Adaar, the Abyssal Tiefling Wild Sorceress- swept away

Luna Trelawny, the Human Divination Wizard- skull caved in by rock thrown by Fidget, then finished off by black pudding

Sarith Zekarit, the Drow Scout- drowned

Phillip Johnson, the Human Cleric- in a seemingly irreversible coma, left in Hemeth's care

Jim Jar, the Deep Gnome- eaten by grell

Prince Derendil, the Quaggoth- killed by sea troll

Shuushar, the "Awakened" Kuo-toa- turned into shuushi by sea troll

Hemeth, the Duergar Arms Dealer- parted with group in Gracklstugh
Thimblepwent Battlehammer, the Dwarven Battlerager Barbarian- turned into dog food
Orvald Abershaw, the Mousefolk Barbarian- became a squeaky toy last seen in Bahamutsville under Zin-carla
Zenit 'Dracon, the Drow Fighter- abandoned the party because Orvald died last seen in Bahamutsville
Lythana Belmyr, the Half-Drow Blood Hunter of Eilistraee- sacrificed to Demogorgon
Codsworth, the polite Flumph- shredded by crossbow
Zarrus, the Tiefling Favored Soul Sorcerer of Mephisto- vanished during gnoll fight
Ol' Sparky, the Deep Dragon- last seen thrown into a portal to the Abyss by a glabrezu
Aura, the Air Genasi Storm Sorceress- accidental self-vaporization (bitch blew herself up)
Kyri, the Minotaur Scout- vaporized by a jackass

Fidget Stonegear, the Deep Gnome Inventor- big badda boom 

Miarielle, the Lythari Priestess of Corellon- bigger badda boom
Kazul, the Copper Dragonborn Shadow Monk of Bahamut- skull caved in by another rock from Fidget
Glabbagool, the Gelatinous Cube- stayed with the kobolds
Kara Reginleif, the Half-Valkyrie Wererat Champion from the Zhentarim- vorpaled to pieces by demon Easter bunnies

Stool, the Myconid Child- unwilling dance partner to drunk stone giant

Rumpadump, the Myconid Child- frozen by demon Easter bunny
Sajin Silvertongue, the Deep Gnome Wererat Assassin- got stoned and kissed a pretty Medusa
Thecker Powdercraft, the Deep Gnome Wererat Gunslinger and Inquisitor of Bahamut- retired in Blingdenstone
Topsy and Turvy Goldwhiskers, the Deep Gnome Wererat Rogue Twins- stayed in Blingdenstone

Friendly fire overall: 159

NOTE: Things will be mostly from Claire's perspective, anything with italics is from a third party, since the knight can't be everywhere at once.

***** Marpenoth 1, 1489 DR (The Year of the Warrior Princess), the tower

       I only really needed an hour to recharge myself, so I asked Lily if she could get Grazilaxx to swap me out for Flimflam during this rest. I didn't like leaving the caravan untended for so long, and wanted to check on things for myself. Lily said he felt like he was hitting a wall when he reached out to Grazilaxx. Rosebud volunteered to try as well, since he had also been tentacle mind fucked by this guy, and the lad nearly shit himself in the attempt. There was nothing I could do, so I settled in to relax and rest.

***** The Caravan

       The group began seeing some flesh showing through the stone of Seluna and Terrik; the spell turning them to stone was breaking, as Sloopidoop and Grazilaxx had promised. After about five hours they were about half flesh again. 

       Roswyn was guarding the overlook to the tower, in case that demon returned, and Twyla was guarding the tunnel that led into the clearing they were stopped in. Twyla heard something- a shuffling noise, followed by something similar to a whistle, and spider things approached. A group of duergar began to appear behind the spider things, and the moment Grazilaxx saw them he turned invisible. 

       The duergar in charge was Hemeth- the same Hemeth that the old party had met in Sloobludop! Unfortunately there was no one at the caravan- or with the party in general- who knew Hemeth, so it was not a reunion. Hemeth was on his way to Mantol Derith with 100 sets of weapons and armor for trade, which he would be willing to trade for the salt the group had been carrying. They invited him to join them for a rest and share their fire. 

       Hemeth asked the group if they'd heard of Orvald, since he knew the mousefolk had been heading to Blingdenstone. Roswyn told him there were only wererats in the svirfneblin city, which prompted him to ask about the twins; the duergar was not surprised to learn that they were now the leaders of the wererat clan. Hemeth told the group that they didn't want to go to Gracklstugh, the whole city had gone mad. The city had descended into chaos and everyone who wasn't duergar had been kicked out of the city or killed. 

       While Hemeth was with them, the stone on Terrik finished melting, and the gunslinger was finally freed. After trading the salt for the weapons, Hemeth let the group look through his personal stock of magic armor and weapons, and from the money they'd made killing the dracolisk, they completely cleaned the dealer out. When Hemeth left, Grazilaxx and Sloopidoop left with him.

       An hour after Hemeth's departure Seluna was freed from the stone. Shortly after that, Flimflam, Medic, and Roswyn got hit with a nasty psychic attack- which killed Medic's sense of humor. Shadow demons swooped in, possessing Roswyn and Medic. Two more shadow demons hovered above Terrik and Flimflam, as the demonic knight returned. Roswyn turned her blades on Terrik and sliced up the gunslinger quite badly. Terrik cautiously backed away from Roswyn and began shooting her. 

       Seluna cleared Flimflam's mind a little to let him cast some spells. The arcanist was still paralyzed, but he didn't need to move to cast his magics. Medic turned his crossbow on Seluna, and missed horribly; the priest was not a very good shot. Niles stepped into the shadows and aimed his bow at the knight- he not only hit it, but he actually hurt it this time! Meeting Hemeth had been very good for the elf. Twyla charged the knight and hit it with a sweep of her sword.

       Flimflam shot fire from his nostrils at the shadows hovering over him and Terrik, and they both screeched in pain from his flaming snot. The knight stabbed at Twyla, but now that she had proper armor, it didn't do much to her. Roswyn continued her attack on Terrik, she couldn't expel the shadow possessing her. Terrik continued trying to evade Roswyn, and turned his gun on the shadow above him. Seluna turned Flimflam into a monkey so he could move around; he could still use his spells as an ape. 

       Niles injured one of the shadows, and Twyla pressed on with the demon knight- though she barely scratched it this time. Flimflam slapped at the shadow above him, and Seluna finished that one off. There were still three remaining shadows and the knight, who could conjure more shadows. Medic summoned his spirit weapon and sent it after the knight, landing a blow right away. Flimflam shat in his hand and cast a catapult spell on it, launching the shit at the demon knight. His wild magics surged around him, and for the next hour Flimflam heard "bing!" whenever anyone was within 10 feet of him- he was completely insane. The shit connected with the knight and hit it so hard that it fell to one knee. 

       As the knight raised its sword at Twyla, Medic's spirit guardians killed it; only its armor and blade remained. There were still three shadow demons to contend with, one of which was still possessing Roswyn. Seluna turned to Roswyn and expelled the demon from her body, the scout was finally in control of herself again. Niles shot at one of the shadows, finishing it off, and leaving only two more to contend with. Twyla pounded on another one, who Medic's spirit guardians finished off. Flimflam chucked the shit covered helm of the knight's at the final shadow, killing it. 

       They inspected the knight's armor and weapon, and had no idea what it was or could do, so they put it in the cart with everything else, hoping Lily could tell them what it did later. Twyla was quiet interested in the armor, and began contemplating taking it for herself before Lily returned.

       Flimflam announced he needed sleep to recover, at which time Seluna realized that a superior healing potion should help the arcanist. It indeed fixed him up physically, and the insane svirfneblin passed out. Medic decided to wake Flimflam, and paid for that- Flimflam awoke shooting fire at the priest. 

***** The Tower

       Rosebud began getting restless while we rested, and corbies were beginning to surround the protective bubble of Lily's Hut. When we were about halfway through our rest, he decided to throw out a card and summon something to clear out some of the corbies lurking nearby. An erinyes appeared and began hacking through the corbies like they were nothing. In the minute the creature was there, it killed about 45 corbies! The boy is definitely a powerful summoner.

       When our rest was complete, we waded through the carnage Rosebud's erinyes had caused, and realized the room we were in was once a magic laboratory of some sort. Anything useful was long gone, caked in corby shit. Instead of taking the stairs to the next floor, we decided to just climb up from the outside. Tali shifted, and I climbed on her back, the plan was for us to tie a rope to the balcony when we got up there so the others could climb up.

       The room looked like it had once been a library, though it was as disgusting as everything else in this damned tower. Before we could set up the rope, a screech rang out in the room, and there was a whooshing sound, followed by warm, putrid air, as a vrock flew at us. The sound of its screech stunned me, and I couldn't move. Down below, Yklwa was also stunned by the demon's cry. Rosebud attempted to shoot at the vrock from the balcony below, to no avail. Smoothpalm began molding the stone wall to make handholds so the party could climb up to help, while Lily grabbed his boy and dimension doored up there- since Mezzem was still on Rosebud's back, she was drug along. 

       Yklwa began looking for stairs to get to Tali, he couldn't climb well, and would probably have fallen to his death if he tried. Unfortunately, the party hadn't cleared out this floor as thoroughly as they had thought. The dinosaur rounded a corner and was faced with a group of albinos, who instantly pounced on him, ripping the poor creature to shreds. The party couldn't revive him without a very powerful resurrection spell, which Tali would later choose not to do, since her companion was with their god, and she didn't want to take Yklwa from Ubtao's side. Many tears would be spilled by the loss of Yklwa.

       While I was stuck in place, Tali drew her bow and began peppering the vrock with her arrows. Lily began singing a spell, which attracted harpies to come investigate the room we were in. One tried its siren song on him, but it failed- the bard was no as easily charmed as his boy was. The next harpy sang and hit Rosebud and Smoothpalm- again. Those two are charmed far too easily. I can't say much through, the fear shriek hit me and terror gripped my heart again. I had to get away, so I jumped off the balcony- catching myself on the one below, before losing my balance... I was plummeting toward what could very well be my death.

       Lily summoned his Hand and began squeezing one of the harpies with it. Tali continued peppering the vrock with arrows, intent on getting rid of it while the others dealt with the harpies. 

       I landed on the ground with a thud, that shook my bones. Thanks to being a wererat, the fall didn't kill me, or even hurt. I was still terrified of the damned harpy, and could only run in one direction: around the tower, so I began circling it, terror still clinging to me.

       A dread corby came after Tali, and hit with a nasty attack that badly wounded the ranger. Mezzem smacked some sense into Rosebud, bringing him out of the harpy's charm, again. Smoothpalm, still enthralled, moved up to the harpy before coming to his senses. Since Rosebud had his wits about him again, he moved up and pounded on the dread corby, badly injuring it. Lily finished off the harpy in his Hand, and polished off the dread corby that Rosebud was wailing on. Tali unleashed a lightning arrow at the vrock, but it didn't do much to it, the beast seemed to be resistant to lightning. 

       I continued sprinting around the building, and was about halfway through my second pass when I finally came to my senses. I then remembered that my Rod turns into a ladder... I didn't need to jump off the balcony to escape, I could have just shifted my Rod- but terror had a bad hold on me at that moment, so I wasn't thinking clearly.

        Smoothpalm and Tali were on the receiving end of some nasty attacks by the remaining harpy and the vrock; but fortunately for them, Mezzem was there to patch them up. Smoothpalm began beating on the harpy, and bludgeoned the beast to death with his staff. The vrock released spores, poisoning Tali in the process, but Lily finished the demon off right after. Tali began shooting another dread dread, and another harpy began pounding on Lily.

       I set up my ladder and began climbing back up the tower to the group, it was a much quicker- and cleaner- route to my friends.

       Rosebud splatted the harpy, and got to Tali so Mezzem could heal the badly injured, and poisoned, therinthrope. There seemed to be no end to the beasts, harpies and dread corbies just kept coming at them. Lily sent his Hand to another harpy, which it grabbed and began squeezing, while Lily insulted the dread. Tali, freshly healed, began shooting another dread. 

       I reached the balcony I'd fallen off of, and adjusted my ladder so I could go up one more floor. I wish I'd remembered this sooner, it would have saved us a lot of trouble.

       The dread had decided it didn't like Tali, and unleashed a flurry of hits on her, leaving her badly wounded again- but Mezzem healed her right away. Smoothpalm used an ability called Stone Maiden on the dread, encasing it in stone to hold it in place. 

       I scrambled over the ledge, just in time to see a dread corby break out of some stone prison. It stumbled and swung at me, I returned the blow, stumbling myself, but I didn't fall off the balcony again. Rosebud aimed his bow at the dread, and hit me with the bolt instead... it stung a bit, but didn't seem to hurt me much. Smoothpalm chucked some darts at the dredge, and Lily insulted it- his Hand still squeezing the life out of the harpy; it looked like the harpy was about done, the juices and viscera oozing through the fingers were a good hint at that. Mezzem finished off the dread, and its body almost collided with mine. I managed to catch the dread and keep myself and the corpse from going over the edge.

       That seemed to be the last of them in this room, but we could hear more coming our way. I took up position just outside the door they'd be coming through so I could pounce on them as they entered. Rosebud summoned a frost giant to help us deal with the beasts, his summoned creatures had done a lot of good for us thus far. The harpies entered the room singing, and suddenly they were the most beautiful creatures in the room. Rosebud was also enthralled- again- by the harpies song. Lily's Hand blocked anything else from coming through the doorway, but it didn't matter, the beautiful harpy I adored was with us.

       Lily found a hidden doorway in the room, which he believed led to some stairs. As Mezzem smacked some sense into Rosebud- again- Lily cast knock on the door, opening it up. They decided to go up the stairs to finish the fight. Tali began singing to me and bitch slapped me, bringing me out of the harpy's charm; she is a good friend. The stairs had another door just inside, and we found ourselves trapped between the fiends and a door that Mezzem couldn't open. I pulled out a broken lock that had the knock spell enchanted on it, opening the door up. As the door opened, fire came pouring out, hitting all of us.

       That door opened up to another fucking door. This stairwell was miraculously shit free, it seemed the corbies had never discovered it, or just couldn't get it open on their own. Lily began checking this door for traps, and his tool got stuck to it. Then, part of the door lashed out with a tentacle thing, swiping at Lily; the door was a mimic. Down below, Rosebud's frost giant was polishing off the corbies for us. We killed the mimic, and behind it was a very posh sitting room.

       Rosebud wandered in and lied down on the lush, shaggy carpet. In the corner of the room was a quivering armchair... It began speaking to us with a voice that trembled as badly as the rest of it. The chair introduced itself as Geophry, and told us that he was about 10 years old, and had been the wizard's apprentice. One day the wizard got angry at the boy and turned him into a chair, which he has been stuck as ever since. Lily and Mezzem both tried different means of removing the magics that had been put on the boy, to no avail. Whatever this wizard had done to the lad was beyond their magical abilities. They said he had either been hit with a true polymorph spell, or was some sort of chimera.

       We befriended the chair, and he instantly loved Rosebud, who started calling him Chairy, because I had called him cherie before we learned his name. Geophry took us to his master's lab, which was full of potions, and had a powered up magic circle in the middle of it. Apparently that is how the chair eats, by sitting in the circle. He told us that one day his master had gone into the circle and never came back; he had been gone for a very long time.

       The next room was a library, which Lily and Rosebud instantly started cataloging; Smoothpalm joined in. Off of the library was a set of double doors which Geophry said led to his master's bedroom. Mezzem examined the doors, which were covered in runes. Since Lily was so focused on the books, Mezzem took his pipe that allows him to detect magic. She said the door was very magical, and there was a barrier of some sort on it. Rosebud came over and kicked the door, hurting himself in the process. Since the door had hurt his boy, Lily came to help us with it, and his attempt to dispel the door's magic backfired- we all got hurt from the magical backlash.

       At this point Tali and I were annoyed with the door and went to go see what potions were in the lab. Among the potions available was a potion of longevity, which I downs right away, and I became young! I'm not sure my actual age, but I know I'm now much closer to it than I was before. I'm young again!!! I danced around the room singing "I'm young again" to Tali, and tried to get her to dance with me.

       In their attempts to get through the door, they set off a ward that shot two lightning bolts at the group. Lily was so badly injured by the bolts that he got dizzy, and began puking his guts out for the next couple of minutes. Rosebud retaliated on the door for hurting his momma, and began pounding on it, eventually hurting it enough that the magic sputtered out. Even once the magic was gone, Rosebud was so angry about the door hurting momma that he kept pounding on it the entire time his mother was ill.

       They told us they'd gotten the stupid door open, so I stopped the celebration of regaining my youth to go see what was beyond the doors that had taken so much to open. Rosebud stepped in the room first, and was attacked by a candelabra and an ewer. The fucking furniture in this room was enchanted to attack intruders- this place is fucking ridiculous. The mirror began taunting Rosebud as Tali climbed the wall to shoot it.

       Rosebud moved forward and shattered the mirror, then reduced a broom that was coming toward him to splinters. Lily threw a magic missile at an animated dagger, destroying it, and I destroyed a stool and swung at a picture frame. A pot and the ewer hit Tali, and a pillow hit Mezzem- this place is fucking weird. Lily began insulting a pillow, but nothing seemed to happen, I guess pillows are immune to mental attacks; though it didn't like his insult, it responded by whacking him in the face. Rosebud sliced through the pillow, and feather rained down on all of us. I finished off the candelabra, and that seemed to be the end of it- though Rosebud decided to attack the bed, just in case.

       In the armoire of the room, Lily found a wish ring with one wish left, and announced he would use it to restore the tower to its former glory, and hopefully turn Geophry into a little boy again. Through a spell of his that tells him the history of something, Lily learned that the tower had been here for about 200 years, and was created out of nothing by the wizard Narrus. He had only a minor magical talent until the tower came to be, and he loved to collect apprentices. Narrus held the tower for 100 years, until something in his own dorm ended him. The tower then sat empty until the corbies moved in. He also learned of the roof entrance, and the word Narwhal, though that didn't come with any meaning.

       Lily opened up the passage to the roof, and a very large vrock was perched on the ceiling of the cavern. We began to move up, preparing to fight the beast, and it screamed, freezing Rosebud and Smoothpalm in place. It released a cloud of spores from its wings, poisoning Mezzem. Lily cast a spell to calm its emotions, attempting to make it indifferent to us instead of hostile. It began to fly away from it, and Rosebud shot it... breaking the zen that Lily had just given it. The vrock swooped back down at us, screeching, stunning Tali and Smoothpalm. Lily insulted it, but nothing seemed to happen, and my javelin had a similar effect. It screeched again, and I felt my muscles lock up- it seemed to have hit Rosebud and Mezzem too. This wasn't going well.

       The vrock dived at Smoothpalm, picked him up, flew over the chasm, and dropped him in it. It flipped around and dived at me, pain lanced through me as it connected- though thankfully it didn't grab me. Lily put a dimension door under the falling monk, bringing him back to the roof. Its scream stunned Rosebud, Tali, and Smoothpalm this time, and I shot it in retaliation. The demon swooped at Tali and blood spilled from my friend, then it jabbed its beak at Mezzem.

       As I began wondering if we would survive this, Lily's voice rang out in the cavern: "I wish for the tower of Narrus, and its inhabitants before the invasion of the creatures tainted by the demonic influence, to be restored to former glory, all traces of the accursed beasts that desecrated this place to be removed, while myself and my allies are maintained safely within."

       We found ourselves standing in the circle in the lab, and heard shouts of confusion from other rooms in the tower. Everyone Lily has ever considered an ally was brought to the tower by the wish. The wish didn't work on Geophry though, he was still a chair, but we were hopefully safe now.

       The tower was back to how it was before the corby invasion, everything was in perfect condition again, and the shit paint was gone.

       Lily exclaimed Narwhal, and I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as the floor dropped out from under me...


       145 corbies were killed in the taking of this tower.

The first two levels of the tower

The second two levels of the tower

The final level of the tower and the roof

Tales from Toril- The Underdark Escapees: Book One, Chapter Twenty-Seven

The Tower of Corbies Part 2:
Harpies

Dramatis Personae:

Lady Claire Thundersword, the Human Wererat Swordcaptain of the Purple Dragon Knights
Hans, Claire's Basalt Wolf Figurine
Riddle, Claire's baby Basilisk
Mezzem, the Kobold Wererat Priestess of Bahamut who plots the murder of anyone who slights her
Lit, Mezzem's baby Basilisk
Natali, the Tiger Therinthrope Beastmaster
Yklwa, Tali's Deinonychus animal companion
Osaw, Tali's baby Basilisk
Rosebud Goldenrod Petunia, the Halfling/Shetland Pony "Centaur" Wererat Berserker; who sees magic where there is none
Lily Trillium Petunia, the Green Dragonborn Lore Bard, and Rosebud's "Momma"

Seluna, the Moon Elf Drow Totem Warrior Circle of the Moon Druid and Silverstar of Selûne
Flimflam Pebblehead, the Deep Gnome Arcanist who really likes killing things, thinks he has powerful enemies out to get him that are telling him what to do, he has a voice giving him directions in his head, and is enamored with every beautiful voice he hears
Roswyn Darkshooter, the Deep Gnome Delver from the Miner's Guild
Medic Stonebandage, the Deep Gnome Priest of Smoothhands from the Stoneheart Enclave
Smoothpalm, the Deep Gnome Monk of Smoothhands
Terrik Stoneshot, the Deep Gnome Gunslinger from the Bounty Hunter's Guild
Niles Rubusthorn, the Moon Elf Shadow Dancer
Twyla Alderleaf, the Moon Elf Scout

Comrades we have lost:

Ront, the Orc Fighter- turned into hamburger by Pwent

Buppido, the Derro- smashed by Orvald

Eldeth Feldrun, the Shield Dwarf- killed during escape

Hera Adaar, the Abyssal Tiefling Wild Sorceress- swept away

Luna Trelawny, the Human Divination Wizard- skull caved in by rock thrown by Fidget, then finished off by black pudding

Sarith Zekarit, the Drow Scout- drowned

Phillip Johnson, the Human Cleric- in a seemingly irreversible coma, left in Hemeth's care

Jim Jar, the Deep Gnome- eaten by grell

Prince Derendil, the Quaggoth- killed by sea troll

Shuushar, the "Awakened" Kuo-toa- turned into shuushi by sea troll

Hemeth, the Duergar Arms Dealer- parted with group in Gracklstugh
Thimblepwent Battlehammer, the Dwarven Battlerager Barbarian- turned into dog food
Orvald Abershaw, the Mousefolk Barbarian- became a squeaky toy last seen in Bahamutsville under Zin-carla
Zenit 'Dracon, the Drow Fighter- abandoned the party because Orvald died last seen in Bahamutsville
Lythana Belmyr, the Half-Drow Blood Hunter of Eilistraee- sacrificed to Demogorgon
Codsworth, the polite Flumph- shredded by crossbow
Zarrus, the Tiefling Favored Soul Sorcerer of Mephisto- vanished during gnoll fight
Ol' Sparky, the Deep Dragon- last seen thrown into a portal to the Abyss by a glabrezu
Aura, the Air Genasi Storm Sorceress- accidental self-vaporization (bitch blew herself up)
Kyri, the Minotaur Scout- vaporized by a jackass

Fidget Stonegear, the Deep Gnome Inventor- big badda boom 

Miarielle, the Lythari Priestess of Corellon- bigger badda boom
Kazul, the Copper Dragonborn Shadow Monk of Bahamut- skull caved in by another rock from Fidget
Glabbagool, the Gelatinous Cube- stayed with the kobolds
Kara Reginleif, the Half-Valkyrie Wererat Champion from the Zhentarim- vorpaled to pieces by demon Easter bunnies

Stool, the Myconid Child- unwilling dance partner to drunk stone giant

Rumpadump, the Myconid Child- frozen by demon Easter bunny
Sajin Silvertongue, the Deep Gnome Wererat Assassin- got stoned and kissed a pretty Medusa
Thecker Powdercraft, the Deep Gnome Wererat Gunslinger and Inquisitor of Bahamut- retired in Blingdenstone
Topsy and Turvy Goldwhiskers, the Deep Gnome Wererat Rogue Twins- stayed in Blingdenstone

Friendly fire overall: 150

NOTE: Things will be mostly from Claire's perspective, anything with italics is from a third party, since the knight can't be everywhere at once.

***** Marpenoth 1, 1489 DR (The Year of the Warrior Princess), the caravan

       A couple of hours after the party defeated the dracolisk- at the cost of Seluna and Terrik being turned to stone- Roswyn heard some stones falling near where they were camped. Twyla happened to be looking in that direction and saw some movement in the debris. The moon elf raised her bow and shot at the movement, and the arrow vanished. A kuo-toa appeared in the spot she had been firing at, and announced he came in peace. He said that his friend- who was still invisible- was something that was normally considered bad, but he assured everyone that this guy wasn't. 

       The friend in question was an illithid, which gave everyone pause. The kuo-toa introduced himself as Sloopidoop, and the illithid was Grazilaxx. They were from the Society of Brilliance, which was apparently a group of people who felt their intelligence and pursuit of knowledge was above that of others. Sloopidoop told the party that he believed they could help one another. 

       The pair had been inspecting a faerzress cavern nearby when they were attacked by shadow demons. Sloopidoop said that something was controlling the demons, they weren't acting on their own accord. Before he could say much more than that, they heard a dull whine akin to whistling coming from the direction the pair had come from. It seemed the demons had followed them. When it sounded like the whistling noise was almost at them, it suddenly went silent. 

       Shadows began to form around Smoothpalm and Medic, trying and failing to possess them. Smoothpalm turned and began wailing on the one that was swirling around him, and Medic summoned his spirit guardians and weapon. Grazilaxx turned invisible at the sight of the demons. Roswyn whirled her scimitars through the one on Medic, completely destroying it. Sloopidoop's rod began emitting an odd light, and Medic's wounds began to close. 

       An armored figure levitated up the ledge, and exhaled a shadowy cloud at Medic and Roswyn, then followed up by swinging a shadowy sword at Medic. Twyla shot at the demonic knight, and though she hit it, it didn't seem to really hurt the fiend. Niles destroyed the shadow demon that was attacking Smoothpalm, freeing the monk up to go pummel the demon knight. A lightning bolt lanced toward the knight from the direction Grazilaxx had been standing when he turned invisible. Sloopidoop's robes began to flash with bright colors as he healed some of Medic's wounds again. 

       Shadows began pouring out of the demonic knight's armor again, and the whistling wail began anew as three shadow demons flowed out of the knight's armor. Medic and Smoothpalm were possessed by two of them, and the demon knight devoured the third to heal its wounds. The shadow in Smoothpalm held a blade to his throat, but the moment the blade was at his throat, the shadow began vacating his body. Medic's dagger was also brought to his throat by the demon possessing him, but this one didn't leave.

       Roswyn ignored the threat- she could heal Medic if need be- and hacked at the knight, her blades a blur of steel. The knight responded by stabbing Medic and exhaling another shadow at Medic, Roswyn, and Smoothpalm- Medic went down, forcing the shadow possessing him out. The knight devoured another shadow demon, while the one who left Medic attempted and failed to possess Roswyn. Arrows flew into the knight from Niles and Twyla, but without magic weapons their shots were useless. 

       Smoothpalm unleashed a flurry of blows on the knight, and seemed to do some harm to it. Medic was healed by Sloopidoop and sent his spirit blade at the knight... and somehow he completely missed and hit Grazilaxx instead. Grazilaxx sent a column of fire at the knight and it easily dodged out of the way- though it likely wouldn't have done much to it anyways, since demons are usually immune to fire. The knight exhaled again, and this time Roswyn and Smoothpalm went down. Another lightning bolt went streaking over to the knight from Grazilaxx, and this time his aim was true. Medic revived Smoothpalm and Roswyn just in time for the knight to make blocks of ice spring up from the ground; Smoothpalm went down again, as did Medic. The knight ate the final shadow that was whirling around the cavern, and leapt off the cliff. It seemed the fight was over, for now at least. 

       Grazilaxx and Sloopidoop thanked the group for their help, and said they would stay the night with them at their little campsite. Roswyn asked if they could do anything for Seluna and Terrik, since both were still statues; they smeared some disgusting smelling goop on both of their stoned companions, and said it would take some time for it to work. Smoothpalm set about putting up stone walls around their campsite to help protect them a little better next time. 

***** The Tower

       We were nearing the end of our rest, when suddenly Mezzem began screaming in her sleep. We tried to wake her, but she was in a catatonic state, and couldn't be roused. Since there was no way we could just carry around a catatonic Mezzem in a tower surrounded by disgusting enemies, Lily and Rosebud decided to take her back to the caravan and get Medic. I hoped he'd be more useful this time.

***** The Caravan

       Lily and Rosebud delivered the catatonic cleric to the caravan, and met their guests. After some convincing, Lily got Grazilaxx to agree to use his illithid tentacle mind-fuck on him, so he could get the new knowledge- Lily passed out from the pain. When the bard came to, he asked to join the Society of Brilliance, but they told him he wasn't quite ready yet. Rosebud then asked Grazilaxx to do the same to him, to see if he could join... the halftaur passed out for five minutes, and was definitely not intelligent enough to join them. 

       While that was happening, Medic examined Mezzem, and said she had taken some sort of psychic trauma, and there was no way he could bring her out of it. He reluctantly agreed to come back with Lily and Rosebud, knowing they needed a priest.

***** The Tower

       The moment Lily and Rosebud left, a wall of water appeared, which instantly froze over, and the floor was so slick that all of us fell over. When Lily, Rosebud, and Medic reappeared, they joined us on the floor. Flimflam announced that he could remove the ice with dragon breath, but in such a tight space, that sounded like a recipe for disaster- or at least more noxious shit fumes. Rosebud decided to attack the wall of ice with a sword, which snapped in half and hit Lily... He means well.

       Out of ideas, we decided to let Flimflam melt the wall with his magic, but we all cleared out of the room first. His spell melted most of the wall, but it seemed to be thicker than we had anticipated, so he had to do it again. The second spell still didn't fully melt the wall, but we could now vaguely make out figures on the other side chipping away at the wall. We decided to just stand back and wait for them to bust through the wall, that way we could spring on them.

       The second that wall went down Lily opened a portal and two of them were dropped in the chasm; Rosebud tossed out one of his cards and called forth a bugbear- I didn't think that one would last long. One of the corbies clawed the hell out of Flimflam and he dropped. A scream came from down the hall- Tali had been hit with a fear spell of some kind. Medic activated his spirit guardians and hurriedly revived Flimflam. Lily calmed Tali and broke the fear spell, while Rosebud called out his silly battle cry of "for momma!" and stabbed at one of the disgusting fiends.

       Flimflam threw up a sphere of force and almost killed Medic- then he misty stepped away from the corbies; Medic's ribs were badly broken from the spell, and his spirit guardian spell ended. Since Tali was no longer afraid, she was able to pepper several of the corbies with her arrows. I cut one down and moved up to the front line next to Rosebud. One of them moved to attack me and tripped, giving me the opportunity to stab it instead.

       Lily summoned his giant hand again and began slapping corbies on the other end of the room. Flimflam's wild magic placed a GPS type voice in his head that was giving him directions. Rosebud shot at the corbies around me, while Flimflam chucked hunks of ice at them. I saw more of Tali's arrows flying in the room as I cut another one down- then somehow I hit myself on my next swing, I suppose it's probably from fighting in such tight quarters. We continued exchanging blows with them, until I dropped one that let out a high pitched shriek, terrifying Medic. There were only three left at this point, and we made short work of them.

       We could hear more corbies in the next room, and as Flimflam moved forward he told us he there was a hallway full of the fuckers beyond. He made the room shake for a moment, causing three of them to fall over. Lily moved his Hand into the doorway to block them off so that we could get healed up without interruption. Since the corbies were pretty much trapped in this little hall, the mages started throwing spells at them. A couple of the corbies managed to climb over Lily's hand, attacking Medic and Flimflam; Medic went down, and Flimflam became paralyzed and started meowing. Lily slammed his hand into the corbies, killing nine of them. Flimflam went even more insane and is now convinced that he has powerful enemies hunting him that tell him where to go- the GPS voice is now how the enemies are influencing his actions. I dropped one of the fuckers who climbed the hand, while Tali rushed to heal Flimflam and Medic. Lily's hand burst and we all worked to quickly finish them off. In the process Yklwa went down and got infected with rot, but Lily took care of him quickly.

       Tali moved to open the next door, which was of course glued shut by shit. I stayed just outside the door, and cut one down as it rushed in. Lily lit up the room, making the corbies screech from the sudden glare of light. I got hit with that ray again that made me feel weaker, and Rosebud charged in, ready to slaughter the corbies- but instead of corbies, he found a harpy who opened its mouth and began singing. The sound of the harpy's voice wriggled into Flimflam's cracking brain, making him permanently enamored with every beautiful voice he hears. 

       I dropped one corby as I entered, and Rosebud and I turned in sync toward the next one. Tali was charmed by the harpy. One of the harpies struck Medic and I- it definitely seemed do harm poor Medic. Lily realized something was amiss with Tali and bitch-slapped her, breaking the hold the harpy had on her. The harpy turned to flee, and Rosebud stabbed it as it went by. Before it could get up the stairs, as it was trying to do, Tali peppered it with arrows and it dropped.

       As we looked around the shit coated room at one another, we decided that Flimflam and Medic needed to get back to the caravan. Flimflam was paralyzed, and clearly deranged, and poor Medic seemed to be at death's door.

***** The Caravan

       Mezzem had been suffering from a nightmare where she slaughtered everyone, and her sanity was no longer in tact when she awoke. With homicide on her brain, she now is always plotting the murder of anyone who slights her. 

       As soon as Mezzem awoke, Grazilaxx used his new psychic connection with Lily to tell him she was up. 

***** The Tower

       We decided that Tali would be our best bet to get our fallen friends back to the caravan, As we began preparing to tie Flimflam to her, Lily announced that someone called Grazilaxx was telepathically telling him that Mezzem was awake. After a few moments, Lily told us that Grazilaxx could literally swap people out, so we'd be able to send Medic and Flimflam back, and instantly get two in their place- but we had to make it a completely even trade. We decide since Mezzem was up to get her and Smoothpalm over here; we needed our healer.

       With a flash of light, Flimflam and Medic were gone, and Mezzem and Smoothpalm were standing in their place. Whoever this Grazilaxx is, he's certainly powerful.

       Since I had a clairvoyance potion, we decided I'd use that to see what was on the other side of the door to the next room before going in. Walking in blindly was getting a little annoying. Another harpy, an albino, and two reds were in that room, and as Rosebud jerked on the shit glued door, they noticed- the albino vanished. His second try at the door opened it with that disgusting sploshing noise, and Mezzem hurled a bead of force into the door. The harpy and one of the reds were trapped in the room, and the other red was smashed between the bead and the wall. We couldn't get in the room to attack, and we couldn't send most attacks through the bead, but Lily began insulting it and it writhed in pain. By the time the bubble was gone, the reds and harpy were dead. The albino appeared as the bubble burst, and Rosebud and I pounced on it- between the two of us it died instantly.

       That worked so well we decided to do it in the next room too. This time we caught two harpies and a dread corby- the offspring of a harpy and a corby. Once Lily finished insulting the three of them, we moved to the next room and repeated, catching two reds, a dread corby, and one of the weaker type corbies we'd killed earlier. The next room had three fiendish dire corbies, and Lily was only able to kill one before the bubble burst; the rest of us shredded the fuckers before they could do anything.

       When we had finished off that floor we decided I'd use my last clairvoyance potion to see what awaited us on the next floor. Inside was a half-eaten dretch corpse, and signs the corbies had been here recently, the shit was literally oozing off the walls. The debris in the room looked like it had once been a study, what seemed to have once been bookshelves lined the walls, and there were some overturned tables that could have been desks.

       Rosebud yanked on the door a couple of times to no avail, until he went into rage- then the door popped open easily, with a disgusting splooch. Lily stepped into the room behind his boy and noticed some corbies my potion hadn't seen- he chucked a bead at them. I saw two reds, three blacks, and one green corby. A horrible scream rang out when he threw the bead- but nothing happened. The shriek turned into a crooning melody meant to charm us, and it succeeded with Rosebud. The halftaur began yelling about titties and attempting to climb the wall to reach the damn harpy. It sang again, charming Smoothpalm.

       Mezzem tried smacking sense into Rosebud, but it didn't work- she probably didn't hit the dolt hard enough. Before I could do anything another scream rang out... and nothing happened. A second scream peeled through the air, and I felt myself freeze in terror- I had to get away from these things now; Lily was also stricken with terror from the harpy's shriek. Two corbies struck me, and damn did it hurt, but that didn't matter, nothing mattered but getting away from the harpy. Lily and I turned and ran toward the stairs, the need to escape pounding through our veins.

       Tali burst into song and hit Lily upside the head to break the charm, and it worked; turns out the therinthrope has a hidden musical talent. She sent Yklwa after Claire to do the same thing, but the dinosaur was no singer, and the knight was still frightened to her core. Yklwa had me pinned somehow, preventing me from escaping the harpy in the other room. I wasn't even this terrified by the wyvern that had been illusioned to look like Thauglorimorgorus attacked Suzail in the Year of the Nether Mountain Scrolls. Somehow that harpy was more terrifying than the Purple Dragon.

       Smoothpalm managed to shimmy up the wall to reach the harpy, while Rosebud kept trying to climb and failing. The harpy smacked Smoothpalm as he reached it, and shoved him off the wall. Tali shot arrows at the harpy, while Lily summoned his Hand and smashed one of the harpies with it. Smoothpalm shimmied up the wall again, and jumped on the bubble left by the bead of force, punching the harpy who had charmed him right in the face. Mezzem took a nasty hit and went down, but Rosebud revived her by smashing a health potion on her- he didn't want to take the time to pour it down her throat. 

       I suddenly felt like myself again, and Yklwa and I ran back up the stairs to help our friends. The harpies were gone when we got there, but Yklwa tackled an albino and killed it! I rarely saw him in action, so I was proud of the little guy. With the harpies out of the way we were able to finish off the corbies in the room.

       Our mages were completely drained of magical energy, and we were all badly injured and wiped out. We decided to have Lily put up his Hut again so we could rest and recharge.

The first two levels of the tower

The second two levels of the tower