The Font of Pestilence: Cat Fight! As told by Meth I woke up wretched and hung over (why didn’t anyone warn me
about the consequences of drinking 15 beers?) with the horrible feeling I’d
promised to be somewhere and that I was late. A pounding at my door confirmed the horrible truth. Opening it the haggard visage of Ahzad leered
at me and I felt the flesh creep under my fur. “Come Meth the cat person”, he cried. “It
is time to follow my vision and leave on a quest!” I cursed the name of Lickwick once more as I felt my stomach
move in ways I was sure it shouldn’t. My
room stank of beer and sick and, well, me.
A quest in the West Marches sounded like a better option so I followed the
flamboyant bard down the stairs. Our companions already waited outside; Alexandria, an impressive
paladin, resolute and courageous in her faith and Cinnamon, a tiny pixie who
was to prove a manic and deadly fighter.
Preening by himself in a corner was the self-styled wizard Karson ‘Angel
Eyes’. Most importantly there was Bean,
a tabaxi warlock who was to prove my invaluable mentor in all things related to
my new form. Alexandria kindly loaned me her spare horse and we were off
out down the West road, moving through thick fog. Our journey progressed without hindrance and
we made camp that night. Around camp
fire I lamented my new state of affairs but while my companions were
sympathetic I felt they didn’t truly appreciate the magnitude of my loss. Fortunately Bean, a kind, optimistic creature
took me under her wing and gave me long instruction on the essential realities
of my new form. She might not have been
the brightest spark in the party but what she didn’t know about untangling
matted fur simply wasn’t worth knowing. That night Bean and I kept a vigilant watch, chasing dancing
lights and practicing our cat stretches.
Inexplicably we were surprised by a group of lizardmen running through
our camp. Fortunately they were too bent
on fleeing to mean us harm . though the mighty basilisk following them was
another story. We woke our companions and the fight was joined. The beast was a mighty combatant and we were
hampered by the need to avoid its gaze.
Alexandria, without her armour, took a frightful beating before we
managed to kill the beast. Karson was almost
petrified by its gaze before shrugging off the influence. The following day we made excellent progress once more,
crossing the river at Borin’s Folly and then following it South for 18 miles before
reaching the cursed temple. We didn’t
even have a chance to enter before we faced our next foe, an evil priest and its
undead minions. We divided our forces with Alexandria, Cinnamon and Ahzad
battling a mighty skeletal bear while the rest of us scaled a cliff to take the
fight to the priest of Orcus and its remaining forces. The battle was hard, for the priest had some power and poor
Ahzad was knocked unconscious by its foul magic. Alexandria and Cinnamon fought like demons
and Karson showed great creativity in shoving the priest over a 20’ cliff. Alexandria finished it off and the battle was
won. A brief pause for healing and into
the temple we went. Yet again I bemoaned my new fleshly state for the smell was
utterly appalling. The stench of
corruption had me vomiting in the corner, I couldn’t believe that Bean wasn’t
similarly afflicted. We battled through
several rooms and long corridors, fighting a succession of undead in small
battles. Our team functioned well with everyone playing their role
despite the bickering between Karson and Ahzad.
Neither undead nor corridors could defeat us, though the stench and
sickness that pervaded the blighted temple was hard to bear.
I shall pause this tale here for I can feel another furball
rising up even as I think of all that foul corruption. I hope that surviving these horrors will give
me the strength to embrace my new form and bring it into harmony with my mind
and magic…
