In which our heroes continue to
be amazed Book Two, Chapter 3.2
(session 67, 27 th November 2018) The Party: Naergon Harna, elven wizard (Diviner) Mads Rangle, human
fighter/warlock (Fiend: Archdevil Zariel) Jamna Gleamsilver, gnome rogue (Arcane
Trickster) Tomaz Stormwind, human ranger
(Hunter) Druscilla Oakenrock, dwarven
cleric (Trickery: Mask) Talis Wintercrest, half-elven
cleric (War: Bane) Mads swings his glaive and leaves and stalks fly
everywhere as he chops into the nearest plant. Druscilla drops her crossbow,
pulls a mace and swats the closest plant. Naergon urges them on from the back
but does nothing assist. Tomaz, retires down the path behind Naergon saying “ I suggest we disengage from these beautiful
flowers and came back to the path. I have a plan .” Talis steps forward to
where Tomaz was, saying “ I’ve always
wanted to fill Tomaz’s boots ” and casts Spirit Guardians. The spectral
images of ghouls and demonic faces swirl around her, snapping and snarling and
tearing chunks out of the nearest plants. The plants to either side reach out
with their tentacles, two of them grapple Mads, Jamna is grappled by three and
slammed into the ground, Druscilla is grappled by one of the southern plants
which then slams her and bites her. Jamna misty steps [bonus action] away down
the path. Mads casts Misty Step [bonus action] and also moves
away down the path alongside Jamna. Druscilla activates her helmet and
teleports after Mads, as she reappears, she says “ I have one more teleport left, I say I use it and get us all direct to
the tower balcony, I’ve had enough of this damn maze!” “Sounds good to me” replies Tomaz, looking
around and finding the tower is currently about 200 yards away to the left. “ yes, works for me says Mads, do it!”
Naergon interjects rather morosely “ it
won’t work, the tower, or us, this maze is a dimensional maze, the tower is somewhere
else, I doubt very much we can just teleport straight there but feel free to
try ”. Meanwhile Talis keeps the
nearest plants firmly within the cordon of her Spirit Guardians, leaves and
branches withering as the spectral ghouls and fiends reach for them. Jamna,
looks around and says “ if we’re going let’s
just do it ”. Druscilla activates her helmet, everything shimmers,
there’s an instant where the maze almost phases out of existence then there’s a
loud shrieking noise, ozone fills the air and with a staggering jolt the party
find themselves back exactly where they were. “ See, told you that wouldn’t work” says Naergon “ I just knew that was going to happen, trust
me there’s some weird interdimensional sorcery going on with this maze. I don’t
think we are where we think we are.” “Well, it was worth trying” says
Druscilla “ but that’s it I can’t try that
again until after dawn tomorrow.” “We’d best hope we don’t need to then ” Naergon
replies. Druscilla turns to Tomaz “ So, you told us all to come back here because you had a plan. What is
it? What’s your plan for dealing with the plants” “Oh. No. My plan was to
teleport to the tower”. “Best think again dearie” calls Talis “ has anyone else got any spells that they can
put up to just mow these damn things down? Come on guys think harder, and I’m
beginning to wonder if I made the deal with the right people!” Naergon
sniffs and takes a few more steps back along the path away from the plants. Tomaz
also takes a step back, staying with Naergon. “Oh great, I’ll just stand here then and kill stuff on my own, shall I?”
grumbles Talis as her shrieking guardians continue to drain the life from the nearest
plants. The plants’ tentacles wave frantically but can’t reach anyone. Jamna
mutters “ oh very well” and casts ray
of frost into the closest plant, leaves freeze, curl and drop. Mads steps forward behind Talis and whispers “ duck!” and casts three eldritch blasts,
leaves and branches disintegrate as they slam into the heart of the nearest
plant. Druscilla steps up alongside him and casts blade barrier in a line right
along the flower bed to the south, razor sharp blades start threshing through the
plants causing immense damage. “That’s more like it” cries Talis as she
advances her spirit guardians, behind her Jamna again pumps a ray of frost into
the plants on the north. Over the next couple of minutes between Druscilla’s
blades and Talis’ spirits with Mads and Jamna adding their spells from behind
all the plants are killed and the path made safe. “ Well done party” says Naergon finally stepping forward, “ no thanks to you” Talis curls her lip.
Jamna collects the pearls that fall from the plants and starts to head down the
path. “Hold
on Jamna ” calls Naergon “ I’m
done with this maze, I say we just chop through the hedges in a direct line for
the tower. That way it’s about two hundred yards away, let’s just cut our own
path .” Tomaz mutters from the back “ I
don’t think that cutting through the maze, a magical maze. A maze you describe
as interdimensional Naergon is really going to work very well” “Nonetheless, we
shall try it” says Naergon “ nothing
else has worked well, so we’ve little to lose at this point. Mads would you please
oblige?” Mads lays into the hedge with gusto and soon cuts a
gap through which the party can push their way through, emerging on the other
side onto another path that twists away to left and right between high
hedgerows. “I t’s another path , just the same as the last one ” cries
Mads. “ do not worry about that, just keep
hacking through, the straight line is the best line ” declares Naergon.
Tomaz turns to Druscilla “ I realise that
you used your last teleport for the day but do you think a spell such as
dimension door would suffer the same result?” “Probably ” says Druscilla “it’s very similar magic, I can’t see why
one would work if the other did not, it’s probably that the tower is warded” In the meantime, Mads cuts through the hedge again,
and emerges once more onto a curving path, running left and right. Looking
around he sees the tower, now some four hundred yards away and off to the far
right. “ Well so much for the straight
line Naergon ” he calls as Naergon steps through. “I hate this maze, it’s just interdimensional weirdness, cutting
through hedges won’t work” grumbles the elf as he turns and stomps off down
the right-hand path. After a few minutes’ walk the party emerges once
more into the sundial intersection, the shadows pointing to all points of the compass.
Upon arrival Druscilla and Talis cast curing spells whilst they debate what to
do next. “ Well what’s your plan Naergon?”
asks Tomaz. “ It’s not a plan, as I
said before anyone can go left, anyone can go right. I don’t care.” “You were
the one suggested this course of action, so we are following you ” replies
Tomaz. Druscilla interrupts “It doesn’t mean he has to go
first Tomaz” “ Mads, jump on the dial,
like you did last time ” suggests Naergon “ Are you going to do the same?” queries Mads. “ Yes!” confirms Naergon, “ You
do remember the result, last time, when we jumped into the sundial?” asks
Mads. “ Yes, we ended up somewhere else,
somewhere we couldn’t have reached otherwise, that’s the point! Naergon replies. “ Look, maybe jumping
through the sundial is the way we navigate. Maybe the maze is a kind of 3D
effect thing, so you kind of have to jump into different levels of the maze. I
don’t know, but that’s what I think it might be ” explains Naergon. Talis
chimes in “ Yes, dear but last time the shadows
shrank back into the sundial, this isn’t the same.” “Ah, yes they did . . .”
mutters Naergon. Talis continues “ they’re
different this time, therefore I think we can assume that this time we need to
do something different dearie. Don’t you?” “I don’t know why we listen to you”
snaps Naergon. “ Oh, that’s nice, isn’t it?
Very charming ” snarks Talis. “ Actually,
it’s not just Talis saying it Naergon ” Tomaz interjects “ things are different this time” “Oh please
don’t tell me Tomaz agrees with me ” mutters Talis. “ Yes, he does” confirms Naergon “but
he isn’t coming up with any new ideas either”. “Err,
no, my idea is that if we keep our shadows pointing directly away from the tower
then we’re on the right path. Every time we come here our shadows and the tower
are in different locations. Only the sundial shadow remains the same. We should
follow the variable”. Tomaz explains. “Mads turns
around, “so you want to go that way?” pointing
to the path adjacent to the one they just emerged from. “ Yes!” confirms Toma. “ Ok,
then, let’s do that” says Mads keen to be doing something. “ Yes, let’s follow Tomaz’s plan ” says
Naergon sarcastically. “ Come on then off
you go”. As they walk, Mads asks Druscilla “ Do you have any theories?” She replies “ not really, there doesn’t appear to be any
logical method to it. If we assume, we are always teleporting back to the same
place, and that the sundial is actually always in the same equidistance of the
tower . . .” “It’s difficult to judge that though ” interrupts Mads. “ We should be able to work it out, none of us
are stupid, especially Naergon . . .” Druscilla starts to answer when Talis
interjects “ I beg to differ dear. I think
it’s fair to say that some of you are stupid!” “. . . err, well yes some of us
maybe ” stutters Druscilla. “ She may
be talking about me ” whispers Mads. “ Yes,
quite ” continues Druscilla. “ Anyway,
I think Naergon should be able to calculate if the tower is the same height and
if it looks to be at the same distance each time. If it looks the same
distance, then we only have to go down each path and eliminate them.” After a few minutes walking they emerge into a large
open space with a placid circular pool in its centre. A stout pagoda rises from a huge boulder that
stands in the water like an island. An arched bridge crosses the water to the pagoda,
whose red roof is held up by six sturdy pillars, capped with carved fish. A
human male wearing yellow silk robes embroidered with red and gold fish stands in
the pagoda. From somewhere, unseen the sound of exotic music being played on a stringed
instrument fills the area. The path continues and exits the space on the opposite
side. The robed figure bows to the party, moves into the
pagoda, and sits down on the boulder where it protrudes through the floor of
the pagoda. He waits patiently in a pose of contemplation, eyes shut. Around
the boulder, the floor of the pagoda is not wooden, but rather is a rock garden
of decorative stones and brushed sand. A charcoal pit smoulders beside the boulder
where the man sits. Tomaz steps forward, bows and declaims “ Greetings, good sir. How are you?” There
is no response, the figure doesn’t acknowledge the speech in any way. Tomaz
turns to the group “I suggest we walk
forward courteously” and proceeds into the courtyard remarking “ what a lovely pagoda. I do like your pool,
very relaxing. The carvings of those fish are remarkable, quite exquisite.”
Arriving at the far exit, he turns to the rest of the party, points at the exit
and beckons them to follow. Meanwhile Mads walks up to the bridge and looks
straight at the figure sat on the boulder and says “ Oi, mate! We’re trying to get through the maze, can you help us? Tell us
which way to go? Also, if you’re interested would you like to have a fight with
me?” The figure does not speak, he opens his eyes, looks directly at Mads,
smiles and makes a sweeping gesture, indicating the soft silk cushions arrayed
in a ring around him. Clearly offering Mads a seat, before once again closing
his eyes and adopting his contemplative pose. Mads, crosses the bridge and
takes a seat on one of the cushions, mimicking the same pose. Druscilla, Jamna and Talis follow Mads and take a
seat on the cushions in front of the strange figure. “I don’t know what Naergon is planning but we might as well sit and be
comfortable in the meantime, eh Maddsy?” says Talis as she sits, just a
little too close to him. Mads begins to tell stories based around the exploits
of Maglubiyet to see if he can get a response. The figure appears to listen but
does not interact with him or respond. He sits in the same pose throughout. Tomaz calls out “ the
exit is here, what are you doing?” Mads replies “ I think this guy probably knows stuff, we should talk to him” “Yeah,
fine. But there’s an exit here, right now. We should go ” calls Tomaz. “ Strangely, I find myself agreeing with Tomaz”
calls Naergon from the entrance as he starts to walk towards the exit. “I mean have you not worked out yet that
this maze is just weird? Nothing good happens here, Nothing! Good!” he
shouts. “Yes, I realise that” says
Mads “ but I think some things need to be
interacted with”. “Bah ”
returns Naergon “we’ve interacted with
plants, we’ve interacted with cyclops throwing rocks, we’ve interacted with all
sorts and nothing is good. Nothing!” Mads continues, “ this is the first thing that looks like it can actually speak to us,
none of us can speak cyclops or plant but hopefully we can speak monk!” “ Nope! I think it’s a well dodgy set up and I
think you’re insane to interact with it ” huffs Naergon “ at the end of the day six of us get to sit
in a pagoda, and the gods know what will happen then. I’m not sitting in there,
nope, no way. Painful as it is for me to admit this but I actually agree with
Tomaz. I think we should just follow the path.” Mads sighs and turns to the monk “ are you actually going to say anything? If
you’re not going to speak, I’m going to leave” The figure, dips his head
slightly, smiles and says nothing. Naergon calls “if you really want to provoke
a reaction why don’t you give him a poke with your glaive?” “Because that seems
unnecessarily aggressive” replies Mads as he gets up and leaves the pagoda.
Jamna and Druscilla stand and begin to follow Mads. Talis, still reclining says
“Aw, well that was nice whilst it lasted.
We got to sit down for a while in peace and quiet with nice music. If only
someone had brought wine.” Then she slowly stands, bows at the monk and follows
the rest over the bridge. Naergon laughs, turns to Tomaz “ come on then, you’re in charge, we’re following. Off you go, lead on!” With
that Tomaz leads the party off down the winding path. After a couple of minutes,
they turn a corner and find themselves once again at the entrance to the open
glade with the pagoda in the centre of a pool. Whether the same space or a
different one is impossible to tell. The silk robed human, bows gestures to the
pagoda and walks over the bridge to sit down.
Druscilla turns to Naergon “ will you come and sit on the cushions with us this time?” adding “ Mads have you noticed the tower is in a
different location this time, has it moved or is this a different place?” Naergon
looks at the monk in the pagoda, mutters something and casts a firebolt. “ Woah” shouts Mads “ I thought I was the impulsive one here, what are you doing?” Talis
grins “ well that’s a decision made, honey”
and Tomaz groans “ no, no, no this isn’t
the way” as Jamna mutters “ time for sneaking
and talking is over, time for killing now” and starts to string her bow.
