Episode #8: The Arch

The net the imp-thing was bound up in was small but effective, sticky with resin and natural barbs. The PCs interrogated and intimidated the creature to the best of their ability, learning only a little. He didn't seem afraid to die; indeed, he seemed to welcome death, saying he would only come back. There was discussion about whether to kill it, leave it behind, or bring it alive. Indecision ultimately led to keeping it alive and bringing it along.

"You are in trouble, much trouble!" the creature shrieked at them. When pressed, it said other curious things. "You will be cut in two. Always in two." Penitence may or may not have recognized something in its disturbing claims, but the tiefling shared nothing with her new companions.

Gregor took charge of the imp-thing and they showed it to the Olman tribesmen. The shaman repeatedly spoke the words he used the night before, suggesting it was a demon, obviously affiliated with the invaders to the Isle.

The PCs foraged for a few hours before setting out, finding only some maroon-colored, grapefruit-sized fruit for sustenance. It was sweet and tasted vaguely of fermented cider but was shunned by the Olman. Grüff also scrounged up enough material from tree fibers and with Elody's help fashioned a length of rope to fully bind the creature in the net. Now their little captive would be easier to carry. Gregor pounded it unconscious and then they gagged it.

One of the Olman from the Tiger Clan, named Ukha, would be their guide and he would show them the way to the oracle of which the old shaman had spoken.

The meandering trek was largely uneventful. They passed through a grove of large, three-petaled purple flowers which Elody wanted to examine closer but the others urged she leave them alone. Grüff, with his keen shifter senses and ranger's training, eventually realized that the group was being followed. Not from any creature walking along the ground but traversing from tree to tree. Spying it, he saw that it was one of the little furry gray-brown, monkey-raccoon creatures they'd seem a few times already. Armed with a spear and wearing a tiny backpack, the little critter followed, unaware of Grüff's doubling back.

At one point, the PCs spotted some sort of guard patrolling the "tall road," the long stone wall that stretched across the jungle landscape to the beach, where Bartholomew, Grüff  Elody, and Edrathior first washed ashore. Merely a silhouette, the figure rode a giant reptilian mount and crawled southward. Uhkta, meanwhile, led them to a break in the wall and stopped there. They could see a trail lead into the jungle. The Olman would go no further.

So they went on, and Grüff rejoined them. The furry creature was nowhere to be seen at this point.

As the jungle around them thickened, the road they walked left them little choice but to follow it. Before long, a large stone arch came into view, nearly forty feet high, forming a threshold in the road. Idly guarding it were two men, cultists like the ones the PCs had fought in Mora upon the ziggurat. Wearing ragged cloaks, bodies ritually scarred, and wielding both axes and javelins. One sat on the top of the arch nearly forty feet off the ground; the other crouched on the ground. An iron staff was planted in the ground, with an attached chain leading straight into the ground nearby, where a large section of freshly dug-up earth lay mounded.

Seeing no way around the arch or through the dense jungle, the PCs initiated a surprise fight. Grüff led off with a shot and the battle was quickly joined. Edrathior's magic yanked the cultist on the arch forward and down, hard to the ground. Gregor closed the distance and pounded on both men, while the cultists responded with screams of rage that magically endured and assaulted those nearby with waves of scathing. When one wrenched the iron staff out of the ground, the chain was loosed and this seemed to prompt the unseen beast beneath the ground to attack. Gregor grabbed the chain before it disappeared in the earth and with it managed to clothesline one of the cultists.

The monster burst from the earth with a spray of rock and dirt and a deep roar—a bullette! Called "land sharks" by those who know and rightly fear them, bulettes are large, heavily armored, and burrow through the ground as easily as through water.

Rising up between Elody and Penitence, the beast attacked. After sustaining a psychic retaliation from Edrathior, it turned on him. Despite its bulk and squat legs, the bulette was a remarkable jumper. It sprang upon the eladrin and bit into him. Before there was proper time to keep hitting on it, the land shark dove under the ground again. Moments later, the last of the cultists fell dead.

The PCs paused to look around for the bulette. They could feel it burrowing somewhere beneath them, but when it broke out again it was beyond the arch. It rose and turned toward them, seeming calmer. As if acting at the command of a master. Buletters are known for their ferocity and dangerous resistance to proper training. Yet this one, while obviously scarred and tortured into obedience, was calm.

And in that moment, a figure emerged from the shadow of the arch, bearing the prominent horns of a tiefling.

Episode #7: Smoke and Monsters

Diary of Gregorius Half-Orc the Cenobite

Conclusion of the First Day on the Isle

Having eaten, we took shelter in the cave, hoping to rest before travelling any farther. The tribesmen seemed reliable, but we decided someone should keep watch just the same. I had not so much as sat down when I was roused by a commotion from outside the tunnel entrance.

Outside, the shaman was pointing and directing the tribesmen about. They for their part passed back and forth, in and out of the jungle. Two brought to the mouth of the cave long staves and a stretched skin, and set about erecting a tent before us. Others brought firewood and pungent aromatic herbs. As I watched from the tunnel, the old shaman prepared a low fire within the tent, and laid thereon the herbs, in accord with some esoteric rite known only to him.

The shaman gestured for us to come out and join him. With some suspicion, my companions and I did as he asked. We sat around the smoldering herbs; a fragrant plume wound its way through the air and rose out of the tent. From among his ritual accouterments he produced a long, carved smoking pipe. He tamped down a pinch of some nameless herbs, lit the pipe, took a draught of the smoke, and offered the pipe to us. Ecaris, Edrathior, and I partook. Ever suspicious Grüff did not, nor did Elody and Penitence. As we watched, the smoke thickened and formed shapes before us.

The shaman spoke, and I understood his meaning as plain as day. Though the words themselves remained foreign, I understood what he was attempting to communicate. Judging by their faces, those who had not shared the piped did not.

The shaman told us how one month ago, the people had noticed a disturbance among the beasts of the isle. 

1 month ago: "Animals began to act strange. Upset. Angry." The smoke formed animal shapes. Monkeys, birds, snakes, capybaras. Even some of the behemoths.

3 weeks ago: "The people from from Tanaroa came to inquire. They were seeing the same disturbances. New beasts began to appear. Brightly-colored reptiles, most smaller than behemoths but more vicious. Demons? Sharks congregated around the beaches in larger numbers than usual." The smoke depicted spiny, fanged monstrosities.

2 weeks ago: "Tanaroa went silent. Messengers were sent out. They did not return." The smoke shows men and women walking outward, then fading away.

Three weeks ago, foreign invaders had arrived, accompanied by a tribe of cannibals from “beyond the wall.” The old man called them “traitors to the Olman.” The "Olman" seem to be the name the tribesmen give themselves. The foreigners and their servants destroyed Mora, killing many of its people. Those they did not kill they enslaved. The shaman said these villains led the people away, probably toward Tanaroa.

3 days ago: “Then they came. Enemies. Foreigners to the Isle. Like you, but not like you. They came from the north, from the direction of Tanaroa. Cruel men and women wearing strange garments and with savage beasts as pets. They acted like spirit shamans but they served spirits from beyond death, not animal spirits of the world. They came with cannibals from beyond the Wall, traitors to the Olman. They destroyed Mora and demanded surrender from our people. Those who raised weapons were struck down—including the Chieftain. The weak were shackled and taken away, presumably to Tanaroa.” The smoke showed violence. Monsters and men took shape and struck villagers down.

The shaman said these invaders were led by two twins, that these twins conducted some vile ritual atop the ziggurat in the center of Mora. What this ritual had been exactly, he seemed not to know. But it "changed the sky."

“The invaders were led by two leaders. Twins who argued and even fought. But together they enacted a terrible ritual upon the ziggurat. It summoned the storms and changed the sky. Then they left. Now the jungle is patrolled by the invaders.”

The shapes in the fog dispersed, and we were back in the tent of the shaman. We asked him if he knew any more. He did not, but knew of an oracle not far to the west. He said this oracle might have information for us. I explained to my companions what he had said. We will speak to this oracle, but first we must rest.

“There is one who can say more. A place where a Truth Seeker ["oracle"?] resides. In an temple erected by the gods. A place the Olman visit but never stay, where only brave warriors are permitted to pass if they can survive. The temple can be found by following the 'tall road’ from the sea. It is not far, a half day’s journey.

*          *          *

Edrathior may be many things, but let it never be said a liar is one of them. It began while we rested in the cavern. We felt something amiss, and gazed at the shaft down which we had earlier climbed. The rope hanging there swung gently, though no wind nor draft blew to disturb it. I said then, “Pull it up and let whatever’s down there stay down there.” My companions must have thought I jested, for we soon descended to investigate. 

We confirmed something was very much amiss. Across the chasm, into the chamber rolled the same gray mist we had seen issuing from the top of the ziggurat earlier today. The imp-thing that had bitten Ecaris mere hours ago scampered out of the mist, and against our better judgment we advanced.

We drove the imp off easily enough; it fled as soon as we engaged. We pursued, needing to know what deviltry was afoot but apprehensive that we might find out. The mist dispersed as we stepped into the tomb. There, to nobody’s surprise, stood the three cadavers. Attacking as cadavers generally do not.

We fought, the dwarf and the knight striking at Ecaris and me with withered fists. The elf was the worst; her entrails crawled forth from her body, grasping and coiling. They were stronger than they looked, but not as strong as I. I broke free and ducked between the three corpses. I struck the dwarf in the back of the head and he, or it, crumbled to the floor. The elf moved to grapple Ecaris, and that was when things got strange. Edrathior at the far end of the room called up another bolt of magic, wound up, swung, and whiffed. Thunder filled the room. All of us, living and dead alike, were hurled through the air and to the floor. After we regained our feet, the melee resumed with gusto. We overcame the undead without undue hardship.

Once we were safe, we searched the area for signs of further danger. I peered out the window, suspecting the enemy had approached by sea. As far as I could tell they had not. While we are on this isle, we’d do well to cremate any more cadavers we find. I will discuss this matter with my companions. I will also speak to Elody of this matter; perhaps she can intercede with whatever god reigns here, and influence them to leave us unmolested by the living dead. Or perhaps Penitence is the one with further knowledge of the dead that do not rest.

It was then that discovered the imp-thing again, attempting to escape on the other side of the chasm. But before we could stop it, a small net was thrown over it by something else as small as it. Whatever cast the net fled back up the rope, leaving the gray imp bound before us.