Having escaped from the frying pan of Lolth's underworld into the fire of Calamus' London, our heroes meet BOWGENTLE, the blind sage and friend of Count Brass. Bowgentle says the Runestaff told him they would need his help, so here he is.
He is indeed helpful, as he knows of a sewer passage which avoids the monster-filled streets of London. JUNIUS decides to take some of the loud, violent types and create a big ol' diversion, while the sneaky sorts enter Calamus' tower and take him out. He takes BJERN, Gnorfank, Ringorix, and his last surviving officer with him.
(This plan may seem less suicidally brave if one remembers that Junius is carrying the plasma cannon of Shiro, one of the slain Knights of the Dawn. Or then again, it may not.)
The diversion does indeed attract all manner of attention. In battle with a beholder, Ringorix is frozen solid, Equitas (the officer) is killed by lightning, Gnorfank is set on fire, and Junius is slowed down. But he still manages to shoot the beholder (whose anti-magic ray does not affect the plasma cannon, which is not magical at all) long enough for Gnorfank to stab its eye out. Which, being a beholder, is pretty much everything.
POUNCEQUICK sneaks up the tower with the intention of dropping on Calamus from above and stabbing him in the head. Hey, it usually works.
Everyone else sneaks through an oddly clean sewer and ambushes Fabulus Calamus in his lair, next to his brooding balcony. Calamus calls in Andronicus, the rather unmanly governor of Britain. RETARIUS clobbers Andronicus with his shield. He goes down.
ROSA shoots Calamus with an arrow which knocks loose a vial on his vest and eats a hole in the floor. Calamus commands Retarius to slay his friends, and when he refuses, is puzzled. Anyone who talks to Calamus for ten minutes or so basically IS Calamus from that point on. Has Retarius, he asks, been killed and resurrected lately? Because that would explain it.
Indeed, way back in 532, Retarius and the leader of the wolfmen killed each other. Retarius was healed in time, but apparently he was dead for a moment or so, long enough for Calamus' snare on his mind to be broken. Darn it. He had been waiting six years to use that, too.
Calamus shrugs. No matter, the Runestaff predicted he would triumph over the Valerians. He selects another vial, but Retarius knocks it down, then finishes him with a shot in the heart. That wasn't so hard ...
... until Andronicus rises, speaking in Calamus' voice. Seems Calamus took him over long ago, so his consciousness resides in Andronicus as well! Andronicus summons a water warrior, a water crossbow, a water cataupult, and between himself and Retarius, a big water shield! Retarius fakes him out and cuts him, then cuts him again, and Andronicus backpedals out onto the balcony, where Pouncequick drops from above and stabs him in the head!
With Calamus now twice-dead, the monsters of London lose heart and flee, which is bad news for those monsters' caretakers. Count Brass is found in an elaborate water-operated death trap, then freed.
But the Runestaff predicted Calamus would win? Was it wrong? Well, no, says Count Brass. Elrond examines the Runestaff and finds one rune-tag which is brass, not gold. Count Brass added it, and of course anything including this extra rune would be gibberish.
Elrond is about to declare that the Romans have no further need of the Runestaff, so it is time to return it to Elfland. But the Romans aren't sure, and want to return to Rome to check, which Elrond agrees to. There is the little matter of Count Brass' claim to the Runestaff, but Elrond seems content to wait.
Saturday, August 12, 2017
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
To Fall Beyond the Night
Count Brass returns from the Air Dimension and cuts the white thread. Now only two threads, Water and Fire, hold the Demonweb up. They're opposite each other, as you would expect, but the Demonweb begins swinging wildly back and forth.
Lolth, who was about to summon six more bodies, rushes over to stabilize the Air thread. But Count Brass, Pouncequick, the Rebukers, and Bjern rush over to clobber her. Lolth is rescued by a Phase Spider, which transports her and Count Brass to another corner of her dimensional realm.
Next, Lolth summons her princes, Rhan-Tegoth and Abhoth, who burst up out of the ground and web a bunch of people in place. ROSA calls lightning on Rhan-Tegoth, which causes green lightning to burst out of the underside of Hell and smash a hole in his rocky armor. POUNCEQUICK jumps on that hole, stabs it, and rides Rhan-Tegoth up and into the Fire Dimension, pursued by Rosa and her flying horse.
The Fire Dimension turns out to be the interior of Mount Aetna, which Rosa has seen before while Lolth was sabotaging her woodswalk paths. Pouncequick dodges a huge thrown ball of molten metal hurled by the Balrog which lives in Aetna; it hits Rhan-Tegoth squarely, knocking him down into the base of the volcano. Rosa catches Pouncequick and calls lightning into the volcano, turning what was already going to be a Sicily-wrecking eruption into a hard lance of molten iron, straight up into the stratosphere. By the time the hot ash falls back down, it'll be way out in the ocean.
Pouncequick cuts the fire thread, but Lolth grabs the other end. So Pouncequick runs, telling everyone to run to the water thread, and drops the other end of the fire thread. The thread goes slack, and Lolth heaves on it, but she can't support the Demonweb herself, so she pulls in its edges, causing most of her monsters to fall off the suddenly retreating edge. Everyone runs for the water thread.
Meanwhile, BROTHER AQUILA travels up the Water thread and finds it leads to Londinium, capital of Fabulus Calamus the water wizard. He almost drowns in the polluted Thames but manages to avoid the fungus monster and rebuke the patchwork monster, and also some flying knights of the Order of the Bat. He sees the exit thread at the very top of Calamus' Panopticon, the crystal tower which sees all things, and concludes this is not an achievable one-man mission.
Nor need it be so! For just about everyone emerges from the water thread into Londinium. JUNIUS, the last to escape, sees the Demonweb tilt and submerge, falling on the support of the water thread until it snaps, and Lolth and her demons fall, farther and farther from God, glaring at Junius with her six red eyes until she is so far away she cannot see him. So far is she, in fact, that Sylvia cannot even see her with the Jewel in the Skull, and that's pretty darn far.
Next week, the Roman forces are in Londinium, capital of Calamus, the last villain left that they know of. They could just leave, recruit more forces, heal up, plan, and come back, but I somehow doubt that's going to happen ...
Lolth, who was about to summon six more bodies, rushes over to stabilize the Air thread. But Count Brass, Pouncequick, the Rebukers, and Bjern rush over to clobber her. Lolth is rescued by a Phase Spider, which transports her and Count Brass to another corner of her dimensional realm.
Next, Lolth summons her princes, Rhan-Tegoth and Abhoth, who burst up out of the ground and web a bunch of people in place. ROSA calls lightning on Rhan-Tegoth, which causes green lightning to burst out of the underside of Hell and smash a hole in his rocky armor. POUNCEQUICK jumps on that hole, stabs it, and rides Rhan-Tegoth up and into the Fire Dimension, pursued by Rosa and her flying horse.
The Fire Dimension turns out to be the interior of Mount Aetna, which Rosa has seen before while Lolth was sabotaging her woodswalk paths. Pouncequick dodges a huge thrown ball of molten metal hurled by the Balrog which lives in Aetna; it hits Rhan-Tegoth squarely, knocking him down into the base of the volcano. Rosa catches Pouncequick and calls lightning into the volcano, turning what was already going to be a Sicily-wrecking eruption into a hard lance of molten iron, straight up into the stratosphere. By the time the hot ash falls back down, it'll be way out in the ocean.
Pouncequick cuts the fire thread, but Lolth grabs the other end. So Pouncequick runs, telling everyone to run to the water thread, and drops the other end of the fire thread. The thread goes slack, and Lolth heaves on it, but she can't support the Demonweb herself, so she pulls in its edges, causing most of her monsters to fall off the suddenly retreating edge. Everyone runs for the water thread.
Meanwhile, BROTHER AQUILA travels up the Water thread and finds it leads to Londinium, capital of Fabulus Calamus the water wizard. He almost drowns in the polluted Thames but manages to avoid the fungus monster and rebuke the patchwork monster, and also some flying knights of the Order of the Bat. He sees the exit thread at the very top of Calamus' Panopticon, the crystal tower which sees all things, and concludes this is not an achievable one-man mission.
Nor need it be so! For just about everyone emerges from the water thread into Londinium. JUNIUS, the last to escape, sees the Demonweb tilt and submerge, falling on the support of the water thread until it snaps, and Lolth and her demons fall, farther and farther from God, glaring at Junius with her six red eyes until she is so far away she cannot see him. So far is she, in fact, that Sylvia cannot even see her with the Jewel in the Skull, and that's pretty darn far.
Next week, the Roman forces are in Londinium, capital of Calamus, the last villain left that they know of. They could just leave, recruit more forces, heal up, plan, and come back, but I somehow doubt that's going to happen ...
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Against the Demon Queen
Lolth apparently has several identical bodies, or aspects, or something, several of which are fighting various Roman invaders. Others are lying in wait.
Gnorfank leaves off fighting a Lolth to go save the clerics, but Sir Adelphis saves them by leaping onto the spider while it's distracted by the Knights. Gnorfank then falls down, but Rosa heals him.
Bjern stabs Lolth to death at the same time as she stabs him to death. The difference is she doesn't have Rosa to Cure Critical Wounds on him, so he doesn't completely die. As he says "I'm going to live ... kind of."
The Knights and Clerics attack another Lolth, spreading out to give her too much to think about. The Captain-General growls, "Here's your diversion, 'Pouncequick.' Don't waste it."
He doesn't. He strikes at a crack in her armor inflicted earlier by Elrond. Casting Protection from Evil on himself, he stabs his hand deep into Lolth's interior and places a vial of holy water there. Recoiling in all directions from the holy water in her center, Lolth's body explodes.
Decinque hides in a canyon from Molasar, who wants his blood. Decinque cuts himself, spreads blood around, then moves somewhere else. Molasar, riding on a carpet of bats, is deceived and follows the blood lure. Decinque emerges from the crevasse, runs to the base of the black strand in teh sky, follows it back to the Demonweb, and now has both ends of the black thread in his hands. He cuts it, and the black thread is broken.
The Demonweb is now held up by only four strands. It tilts crazily, swinging Lolths and Romans around. Retarius goes around behind the Earth Tower and ascends it, but doesn't enter the Earth Dimension. Decinque, on the other hand, does enter the Earth Dimension, and Lolth, seeing the damage he did to the black thread, pursues him.
The Earth Dimension is green, vast, floaty and translucent, with roots and worms and chunks of minerals floating about. It's a bit like what the Earth would look like if soil were transparent and air were opaque.
Lolth pursues Decinque, but Sylvia, aiming along the green thread, shoots Lolth repeatedly. Lolth uses her control of space to tighten invisible cords around Sylvia's neck, strangling her. But Bjern attacks Lolth, cutting her so badly that she dies. Sylvia is therefore spared.
(Bjern has now killed TWO Lolths to Brother Aquila's one and Pouncequick's one.)
A huge orange rock monster follows the green thread down to the Demonweb and declares, "Calamus was stupid to let you all live!" Retarius thinks this is Binyamin, the Earth Wizard we have never seen. He plans to crush Retarius, Rosa and Elrond, but Rosa seizes the green thread and accesses the really quite bountiful nature power of the Earth Dimension. She uses this excess of druidical might to call lightning, pelting Binyamin painfully and not killing anyone else.
Elrond flourishes his silver sword in a circle and severs the green thread. The Demonweb tilts wildly, wobbling on its three remaining supports.
Bjern, meanwhile, slides along the green-to-blue thread to intercept two Lolths coming the other way, and he leads with the Axe of St. Michael. A thunderclap and flash of blue strikes one Lolth dead, but the other is unharmed. (That's THREE for Bjern.)
Lolth's six eyes are down to one ...
Gnorfank leaves off fighting a Lolth to go save the clerics, but Sir Adelphis saves them by leaping onto the spider while it's distracted by the Knights. Gnorfank then falls down, but Rosa heals him.
Bjern stabs Lolth to death at the same time as she stabs him to death. The difference is she doesn't have Rosa to Cure Critical Wounds on him, so he doesn't completely die. As he says "I'm going to live ... kind of."
The Knights and Clerics attack another Lolth, spreading out to give her too much to think about. The Captain-General growls, "Here's your diversion, 'Pouncequick.' Don't waste it."
He doesn't. He strikes at a crack in her armor inflicted earlier by Elrond. Casting Protection from Evil on himself, he stabs his hand deep into Lolth's interior and places a vial of holy water there. Recoiling in all directions from the holy water in her center, Lolth's body explodes.
Decinque hides in a canyon from Molasar, who wants his blood. Decinque cuts himself, spreads blood around, then moves somewhere else. Molasar, riding on a carpet of bats, is deceived and follows the blood lure. Decinque emerges from the crevasse, runs to the base of the black strand in teh sky, follows it back to the Demonweb, and now has both ends of the black thread in his hands. He cuts it, and the black thread is broken.
The Demonweb is now held up by only four strands. It tilts crazily, swinging Lolths and Romans around. Retarius goes around behind the Earth Tower and ascends it, but doesn't enter the Earth Dimension. Decinque, on the other hand, does enter the Earth Dimension, and Lolth, seeing the damage he did to the black thread, pursues him.
The Earth Dimension is green, vast, floaty and translucent, with roots and worms and chunks of minerals floating about. It's a bit like what the Earth would look like if soil were transparent and air were opaque.
Lolth pursues Decinque, but Sylvia, aiming along the green thread, shoots Lolth repeatedly. Lolth uses her control of space to tighten invisible cords around Sylvia's neck, strangling her. But Bjern attacks Lolth, cutting her so badly that she dies. Sylvia is therefore spared.
(Bjern has now killed TWO Lolths to Brother Aquila's one and Pouncequick's one.)
A huge orange rock monster follows the green thread down to the Demonweb and declares, "Calamus was stupid to let you all live!" Retarius thinks this is Binyamin, the Earth Wizard we have never seen. He plans to crush Retarius, Rosa and Elrond, but Rosa seizes the green thread and accesses the really quite bountiful nature power of the Earth Dimension. She uses this excess of druidical might to call lightning, pelting Binyamin painfully and not killing anyone else.
Elrond flourishes his silver sword in a circle and severs the green thread. The Demonweb tilts wildly, wobbling on its three remaining supports.
Bjern, meanwhile, slides along the green-to-blue thread to intercept two Lolths coming the other way, and he leads with the Axe of St. Michael. A thunderclap and flash of blue strikes one Lolth dead, but the other is unharmed. (That's THREE for Bjern.)
Lolth's six eyes are down to one ...
Sunday, July 23, 2017
Snapshot of the Demonweb
Unless I'm wrong, this is where everyone is:
BROTHER AQUILA, with the Rebukers and the Knights, has just crushed one of Lolth's manifestations near the Death Tower.
DECINQUE has climbed the Death Tower and ascended, if that's really the word, to the Death Dimension.
JUNIUS, badly wounded in the torso, has summoned the Legion of the Dawn, which is fighting it out with Lolth. She has already used invisibly fine spiderwebs to choke one of the Legion to death, and is using spells to poison others, but they're shooting her to pieces. Junius' Romans are lying around in various stages of severe injury. They are near the Fire Tower.
GNORFANK and BJERN are fighting Lolth hand to hand, to hand to hand to hand to hand. Plus she has two more. Gnorfank is wounded unto death, almost, and Bjern is somewhat cut up. They are under the thread connecting the Fire tower to the Earth tower.
ROSA, PETER and ELROND are near Stranthor the pegasus, facing a version of Lolth across a lake of fire neither can cross. Also near Lolth is a rock monster, which has no legs and cannot move, but clearly wants them to come within arm's reach to receive a hug, or something. Rocks are your friends.
They are closest to the Earth tower, which Lolth and rock guy are defending.
SYLVIA is cutting the webbing restricting Gnorfank and Bjern. She's sort of in the middle of the battlefield.
RETARIUS and RINGORIX have slain their spiders, plus some other spiders, and now might be planning to resume their charge toward the Water tower, but have not actually done so. They're also not fighting a version of Lolth, which is nice.
SIR ADELPHIS is near the Air Tower, no longer defended by the Living Hurricane. Actually, if I remember right, he's out of enemies for the moment. He's also Lolthless.
COUNT BRASS has ascended the Air tower and is in the Air Dimension. Oh, and he has the Runestaff.
I confess I do not remember who has the Mad God's Amulet, or the Sanity Grenade, as we've taken to calling it around here.
Any corrections before we kick off?
BROTHER AQUILA, with the Rebukers and the Knights, has just crushed one of Lolth's manifestations near the Death Tower.
DECINQUE has climbed the Death Tower and ascended, if that's really the word, to the Death Dimension.
JUNIUS, badly wounded in the torso, has summoned the Legion of the Dawn, which is fighting it out with Lolth. She has already used invisibly fine spiderwebs to choke one of the Legion to death, and is using spells to poison others, but they're shooting her to pieces. Junius' Romans are lying around in various stages of severe injury. They are near the Fire Tower.
GNORFANK and BJERN are fighting Lolth hand to hand, to hand to hand to hand to hand. Plus she has two more. Gnorfank is wounded unto death, almost, and Bjern is somewhat cut up. They are under the thread connecting the Fire tower to the Earth tower.
ROSA, PETER and ELROND are near Stranthor the pegasus, facing a version of Lolth across a lake of fire neither can cross. Also near Lolth is a rock monster, which has no legs and cannot move, but clearly wants them to come within arm's reach to receive a hug, or something. Rocks are your friends.
They are closest to the Earth tower, which Lolth and rock guy are defending.
SYLVIA is cutting the webbing restricting Gnorfank and Bjern. She's sort of in the middle of the battlefield.
RETARIUS and RINGORIX have slain their spiders, plus some other spiders, and now might be planning to resume their charge toward the Water tower, but have not actually done so. They're also not fighting a version of Lolth, which is nice.
SIR ADELPHIS is near the Air Tower, no longer defended by the Living Hurricane. Actually, if I remember right, he's out of enemies for the moment. He's also Lolthless.
COUNT BRASS has ascended the Air tower and is in the Air Dimension. Oh, and he has the Runestaff.
I confess I do not remember who has the Mad God's Amulet, or the Sanity Grenade, as we've taken to calling it around here.
Any corrections before we kick off?
Decinque in the Death World
Decinque arrives from the mouth of a giant skull into a world so dim it's almost black. But he can still make out heaps of skulls, ridges of black sand, towers of bizarre glossy black stone carved into the shape of snakelike tentacles wrapped around each other ...
... and Molasar. He's over by the base of a tomb, half sunken into the soil like a sinking ship. From the tomb, another black thread pierces skyward, connected to a tiny object in the sky which looks like the Demonweb seen from above.
"You," Molasar declares, "I do not know. But you are among those who sent me to this place, further from the living than I should like. I have been here for some time, grave robber. Everyone here is dead. And there is no warm, living blood to drink ..."
Molasar throws back his cloak, which forms into huge batlike wings on his back.
"... except YOURS."
Molasar hunches over strangely, flexing his back muscles so that he can hurl himself into the air and come down on Decinque from above.
(Sylvia can actually see this, as though far away, through the Jewel in the Skull. So everyone could at least have a chance to be told what's going on with Decinque.)
... and Molasar. He's over by the base of a tomb, half sunken into the soil like a sinking ship. From the tomb, another black thread pierces skyward, connected to a tiny object in the sky which looks like the Demonweb seen from above.
"You," Molasar declares, "I do not know. But you are among those who sent me to this place, further from the living than I should like. I have been here for some time, grave robber. Everyone here is dead. And there is no warm, living blood to drink ..."
Molasar throws back his cloak, which forms into huge batlike wings on his back.
"... except YOURS."
Molasar hunches over strangely, flexing his back muscles so that he can hurl himself into the air and come down on Decinque from above.
(Sylvia can actually see this, as though far away, through the Jewel in the Skull. So everyone could at least have a chance to be told what's going on with Decinque.)
A Fact
Everyone except Brother Aquila (well, and Decinque and Count Brass, I guess) notices that the Lolth they are fighting now only has five glowing red eyes, not six. When Brother Aquila hammer-smashed the Lolth he was fighting, one of her eyes went out everywhere.
Just a note.
Just a note.
Thursday, July 20, 2017
Chaos in the Demonweb!
Well.
Surrounded by spider demons, JUNIUS looks at Lolth through the Coin of Truth. He sees odd shimmerings he can't identify, but also perceives that the five odd towers of fire near the base of the five dimensional strands stretching into the sky are each manifestations of Lolth herself. Kill them, or even one of them, and she might die!
So the formation of Romans explodes outwards like a pool break, with:
JUNIUS and his staff attacking the FIRE tower. Aristocles the Magus gathers the fire into his hands, allowing Junius to cut the ring of runes containing the flames. Whoosh! Junius and his staff get singed. Also, Lolth emerges from the flames and attacks. Junius gets cut by Lolth's foremost spider-claws; the Sword of the Dawn just clangs off Lolth's exoskeleton. When he throws the Eagle of the Twentieth at Lolth, she catches it and hurls it back, stabbing Junius quite badly. He, however, does not lose consciousness, and summons the Legion of the Dawn, which engages her in battle.
Lolth: Do you really think your Sword of the Dawn can save you, here, in my own private Hell?
(Legion of the Dawn arrives)
Oh.
RETARIUS and his Belgae, heading for the WATER tower, are sidetracked by a pair of giant spiders, but they manage to kill them. Only Retarius and Ringorix, last king of the Belgae, are still on their feet when the spider runs away. Ringorix chases and kills it just a few feet from the outstretched fingertips of a massive stone monster which cannot move out of its pit.
COUNT BRASS and SIR ADELPHIS attack the AIR tower. Sir Adelphis climbs up a giant spider's back and stabs it in the head, while Count Brass is sacked and webbed up by another spider. Sir Adelphis manages to free Count Brass, who cooks the spider with his flame-lance. Then a Living Hurricane attacks, becoming disoriented by Sir Adelphis' prayers and winding up on the other side of the Demonweb, knocking aside a few spiders on the way. ROSA dispels it, as it is unnatural.
Beset by other spidery fiends, Count Brass seizes the white thread and whoosh! He is bodily transported away from the Demonweb and up to a world of Air.
ROSA and her friends, including Elrond, attack the EARTH tower. While Rosa fires arrows at a transparent Phase Spider which exists only partially in this dimension, Peter and Elrond destroy the tower of flame, revealing yet another Lolth.
BROTHER AQUILA, the Three Rebukers, the Knights of St. Michael, and DECINQUE attack the DEATH tower. The giant skull guarding it locks its gaze on two knights, who rot away to liquid in an instant, their souls being trapped in the skulls' ruby eyes. Decinque pries one eye out and smashes it, then runs around the skull, evading its lethal gaze. He then climbs up the Death Tower, follows the Black Thread, and is whisked away to a world of Death.
Voluntarily.
Brother Aquila rebukes a zombie dragon so firmly that it flees, and hides as he comes closer. The Three Rebukers are attacked by the Phase Spider, which bites Petrus and carries him off to another dimension.
Putting out the flame pillar reveals, yes, another Lolth, who prepares to attack. Brother Aquila uses the Hammer of Witches to smash Lolth, breaking her back and destroying her body. Her disembodied eyes float away, but hey, we got one of her!
GNORFANK and BJERN attacking Lolth herself, get webbed up by a spider. Rosa shoots it dead, while Sylvia cuts its thread and releases Gnorfank and Bjern. They attack Lolth, who stabs Gnorfank very badly and cuts Bjern semi-fatally. But Rosa's arrows distract Lolth from administering the killing blow.
Many heroes are down, some may be dead, and three are in completely different dimensions? Will they be referred to in the chronicles as the Three Lucky Ones? Stay tuned ...
Surrounded by spider demons, JUNIUS looks at Lolth through the Coin of Truth. He sees odd shimmerings he can't identify, but also perceives that the five odd towers of fire near the base of the five dimensional strands stretching into the sky are each manifestations of Lolth herself. Kill them, or even one of them, and she might die!
So the formation of Romans explodes outwards like a pool break, with:
JUNIUS and his staff attacking the FIRE tower. Aristocles the Magus gathers the fire into his hands, allowing Junius to cut the ring of runes containing the flames. Whoosh! Junius and his staff get singed. Also, Lolth emerges from the flames and attacks. Junius gets cut by Lolth's foremost spider-claws; the Sword of the Dawn just clangs off Lolth's exoskeleton. When he throws the Eagle of the Twentieth at Lolth, she catches it and hurls it back, stabbing Junius quite badly. He, however, does not lose consciousness, and summons the Legion of the Dawn, which engages her in battle.
Lolth: Do you really think your Sword of the Dawn can save you, here, in my own private Hell?
(Legion of the Dawn arrives)
Oh.
RETARIUS and his Belgae, heading for the WATER tower, are sidetracked by a pair of giant spiders, but they manage to kill them. Only Retarius and Ringorix, last king of the Belgae, are still on their feet when the spider runs away. Ringorix chases and kills it just a few feet from the outstretched fingertips of a massive stone monster which cannot move out of its pit.
COUNT BRASS and SIR ADELPHIS attack the AIR tower. Sir Adelphis climbs up a giant spider's back and stabs it in the head, while Count Brass is sacked and webbed up by another spider. Sir Adelphis manages to free Count Brass, who cooks the spider with his flame-lance. Then a Living Hurricane attacks, becoming disoriented by Sir Adelphis' prayers and winding up on the other side of the Demonweb, knocking aside a few spiders on the way. ROSA dispels it, as it is unnatural.
Beset by other spidery fiends, Count Brass seizes the white thread and whoosh! He is bodily transported away from the Demonweb and up to a world of Air.
ROSA and her friends, including Elrond, attack the EARTH tower. While Rosa fires arrows at a transparent Phase Spider which exists only partially in this dimension, Peter and Elrond destroy the tower of flame, revealing yet another Lolth.
BROTHER AQUILA, the Three Rebukers, the Knights of St. Michael, and DECINQUE attack the DEATH tower. The giant skull guarding it locks its gaze on two knights, who rot away to liquid in an instant, their souls being trapped in the skulls' ruby eyes. Decinque pries one eye out and smashes it, then runs around the skull, evading its lethal gaze. He then climbs up the Death Tower, follows the Black Thread, and is whisked away to a world of Death.
Voluntarily.
Brother Aquila rebukes a zombie dragon so firmly that it flees, and hides as he comes closer. The Three Rebukers are attacked by the Phase Spider, which bites Petrus and carries him off to another dimension.
Putting out the flame pillar reveals, yes, another Lolth, who prepares to attack. Brother Aquila uses the Hammer of Witches to smash Lolth, breaking her back and destroying her body. Her disembodied eyes float away, but hey, we got one of her!
GNORFANK and BJERN attacking Lolth herself, get webbed up by a spider. Rosa shoots it dead, while Sylvia cuts its thread and releases Gnorfank and Bjern. They attack Lolth, who stabs Gnorfank very badly and cuts Bjern semi-fatally. But Rosa's arrows distract Lolth from administering the killing blow.
Many heroes are down, some may be dead, and three are in completely different dimensions? Will they be referred to in the chronicles as the Three Lucky Ones? Stay tuned ...
Sunday, July 16, 2017
Count Brass Advises
Count Brass says:
"She can't be everywhere at once. The monsters surrounding us are of no concern to such heroes as we, but Lolth herself is the greatest obstacle.
"So I could attack her, holding her attention whIle the rest of you escape up on of these five threads extending overhead. I can surely hold her attention for long enough, I am sure of it."
"What an imperishable addition to my legend, to grapple with the Demon Queen in the very pit of Hell!
"But it wouldn't do to have her get her hands on the runestaff. I shall have to hand it to someone for safe keeping.
"Ah, but which thread to follow? The black one is anchored in a tower of skulls.
The orange thread emerges from a volcano''s throat.
The green thread grows out of a tower of vines and leaves.
The white thead comes from a box full of whirling winds.
And the blue thread leaps up from a crystalline geyser, as clear as it is cold.
"She can't be everywhere at once. The monsters surrounding us are of no concern to such heroes as we, but Lolth herself is the greatest obstacle.
"So I could attack her, holding her attention whIle the rest of you escape up on of these five threads extending overhead. I can surely hold her attention for long enough, I am sure of it."
"What an imperishable addition to my legend, to grapple with the Demon Queen in the very pit of Hell!
"But it wouldn't do to have her get her hands on the runestaff. I shall have to hand it to someone for safe keeping.
"Ah, but which thread to follow? The black one is anchored in a tower of skulls.
The orange thread emerges from a volcano''s throat.
The green thread grows out of a tower of vines and leaves.
The white thead comes from a box full of whirling winds.
And the blue thread leaps up from a crystalline geyser, as clear as it is cold.
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
Elrond on hell
Elrond says,
"This is NOT hell. It may be important that you know that."
"No matter what the queen of spiders may say, she is not God and therefore cannot damn any soul to perdition. Hell is where there is no hope of the mercy of god. That condition is never entirely true. But if you believe there is no hope, then there is in fact no hope."
"Also, this is not the farthest place from god. Observe the Web lines rising from this place, anchored in the distant sky ... they are holding this place of spiders aloft. There is farther yet that lolth may fall."
"This is NOT hell. It may be important that you know that."
"No matter what the queen of spiders may say, she is not God and therefore cannot damn any soul to perdition. Hell is where there is no hope of the mercy of god. That condition is never entirely true. But if you believe there is no hope, then there is in fact no hope."
"Also, this is not the farthest place from god. Observe the Web lines rising from this place, anchored in the distant sky ... they are holding this place of spiders aloft. There is farther yet that lolth may fall."
Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Trap of the Spider Queen
The Valerians stop at Rome to pick up the Three Rebukers, the Knights of St. Michael, the wizard Aristocles, Peter the engineer, and anyone else they think they might need. Then they head for Spoletum, the Emperor's summer palace, menaced by orc armies.
They arrive just as some goblins are attacking the Emperor at the beach. But they only brought two goblin shamans, and they're really not a match for experienced dungeoneers. Except for one of the Emperor's bodyguards, whose spider amulet makes him try and kill his master. Fortunately, Bjern makes a super-long hammer throw and smacks the assassin, and then the Emperor shoots him dead with his hunting bow.
"Demons. They're made to be shot. Like poets."
His Majesty invites everyone to lunch, taking special note of Pouncequick's bravery and Decinque's fine clothes.
Meanwhile, Junius has prepared a master plan. Briefly, the Emperor will step into a stasis box and appear to be dead. All will bewail his death, apparently at Lolth's hands. Then Sylvia will be shown a statue of Our Lady trampling Lolth underfoot. Lolth will be so wroth that she will come out, and we'll trap her in the other stasis box.
Phases One and Two go fine! Then a flood of black spiders pours into the tent. Pouncequick uses a spell to drive Lolth out of the jewel in Sylvia's skull, where she had been watching. A violet vapor with glaring red eyes emerges.
Brother Aquila condemns her to the foul hells from which she sprang. Lolth agrees.
The rebukers light some incense, but for some reason it all burns up at once, filling the tent with choking smoke. Ringorix, Last King of the Belgae, opens the tent flap to get fresh air.
Eerie blue light floods in from outside.
"I have returned to the hells from which I came," mocks Lolth's voice. "I hope you like it ..."
Because the tent, the knights, the rebukers, and the Emperor of Rome himself (in a box), have been dropped into Lolth's Demonweb!
They arrive just as some goblins are attacking the Emperor at the beach. But they only brought two goblin shamans, and they're really not a match for experienced dungeoneers. Except for one of the Emperor's bodyguards, whose spider amulet makes him try and kill his master. Fortunately, Bjern makes a super-long hammer throw and smacks the assassin, and then the Emperor shoots him dead with his hunting bow.
"Demons. They're made to be shot. Like poets."
His Majesty invites everyone to lunch, taking special note of Pouncequick's bravery and Decinque's fine clothes.
Meanwhile, Junius has prepared a master plan. Briefly, the Emperor will step into a stasis box and appear to be dead. All will bewail his death, apparently at Lolth's hands. Then Sylvia will be shown a statue of Our Lady trampling Lolth underfoot. Lolth will be so wroth that she will come out, and we'll trap her in the other stasis box.
Phases One and Two go fine! Then a flood of black spiders pours into the tent. Pouncequick uses a spell to drive Lolth out of the jewel in Sylvia's skull, where she had been watching. A violet vapor with glaring red eyes emerges.
Brother Aquila condemns her to the foul hells from which she sprang. Lolth agrees.
The rebukers light some incense, but for some reason it all burns up at once, filling the tent with choking smoke. Ringorix, Last King of the Belgae, opens the tent flap to get fresh air.
Eerie blue light floods in from outside.
"I have returned to the hells from which I came," mocks Lolth's voice. "I hope you like it ..."
Because the tent, the knights, the rebukers, and the Emperor of Rome himself (in a box), have been dropped into Lolth's Demonweb!
Thursday, June 29, 2017
The Counsel of the Runestaff
With the aid of the blind sage Bowgentle, the Runestaff reveals what is threatening Rome.
First, Lolth, the Demon Queen of Spiders, is behind the orc horde beyond the Black River. They have already slain Crassus' armies, and now they are approaching Spoletum, the residence of the Emperor and Emperor Emeritus. Once they have him, they will put a spider in his ear, and thereafter he will say whatever Lolth wants him to say.
Second, Fabulus Calamus has remade Britannia, or parts of it, into Granbretan, the Dark Empire. Their armies of beast-men are overruning the empire from the West. Calamus is an ally of Lolth, not a slave. But he serves her purpose.
Third, Persia is to be conquered by Chin, a land in the Far East. Chin has tamed the wild horsemen of the steppes, so their army is invincible. Also, several Persian wizards are servants of Lolth, guiding the Persians to ruin.
And fourth, Lolth has perverted the temples of the old gods of Rome, tolerated by the Christians so long as they celebrate folk heritage rather than worship. But she has promoted pontiffs who are secret pagans and suppressed others who are orthodox. Through their prayers, Lolth knows each man's heart and grows wise.
This has worked literally everywhere, in every dimension, except Rome, which worships the real god instead of pagan sprits.
Sigrid Junia, in particular, was a big pull for secret neo-paganism when she was in charge. She's repented now, but if she won't work for Lolth, she can just be murdered.
That is the limit of the threats described, although the Runestaff can also give the exact location of the contending armies. No doubt those present, Romans and otherwise, will have additional questions.
First, Lolth, the Demon Queen of Spiders, is behind the orc horde beyond the Black River. They have already slain Crassus' armies, and now they are approaching Spoletum, the residence of the Emperor and Emperor Emeritus. Once they have him, they will put a spider in his ear, and thereafter he will say whatever Lolth wants him to say.
Second, Fabulus Calamus has remade Britannia, or parts of it, into Granbretan, the Dark Empire. Their armies of beast-men are overruning the empire from the West. Calamus is an ally of Lolth, not a slave. But he serves her purpose.
Third, Persia is to be conquered by Chin, a land in the Far East. Chin has tamed the wild horsemen of the steppes, so their army is invincible. Also, several Persian wizards are servants of Lolth, guiding the Persians to ruin.
And fourth, Lolth has perverted the temples of the old gods of Rome, tolerated by the Christians so long as they celebrate folk heritage rather than worship. But she has promoted pontiffs who are secret pagans and suppressed others who are orthodox. Through their prayers, Lolth knows each man's heart and grows wise.
This has worked literally everywhere, in every dimension, except Rome, which worships the real god instead of pagan sprits.
Sigrid Junia, in particular, was a big pull for secret neo-paganism when she was in charge. She's repented now, but if she won't work for Lolth, she can just be murdered.
That is the limit of the threats described, although the Runestaff can also give the exact location of the contending armies. No doubt those present, Romans and otherwise, will have additional questions.
Castle Brass
Castle Brass is a metallic cube in the marshlands of southern Gaul, patrolled by flamelance-armed knights. After a welcome Mass in his church, Brass hosts a mandatory banquet in his castle, introducing his daughter, Yisselda.
He has just agreed to come to Rome to help use the Runestaff in the aid of the Romans, when another visitor knocks on the door. He is Baron Meladius, Grand Constable of the Order of the Wolf, a nobleman of Granbretan. His armies are consuming the Roman armies, and he wants to see if Count Brass wants to make an alliance with Calamus.
Quite apart from the oath he swore to the Empire, Count Brass has heard terrible things about Granbretan. Meladius grins and says they're all true; he's about to launch into a long, character-defining speech when Bjern and Pouncequick jump him. Meladius is armed with Mournblade, a vampire sword which drinks the blood of its victims. He gets Junius, Brother Aquila, and Retarius, but Rosa comes in behind and heals them so they don't actually die.
Granbretan soldiers on massive, horse-sized wolves burst in to raven and slay! Rosa decoys the lead wolf with the thought that there's a deer running around outside, so the mounts leave, and Retarius and Bjern defeat some of the Granbretans. Pouncequick casts protection from evil on Meladius, in the thought that some evil power is aiding him and will now be cut off. It does seem to slow him down somewhat.
Junius defeats Meladius by breaking Mournblade with the Sword of the Dawn. Then when Meladius charges, he smashes his throat.
Count Brass ignites his flame-dagger and scorches the Wolves, then sets fire to the big tapestry over their heads and lets it fall on them, wiping them out.
With the Wolf soldiers defeated, Decinque bursts in, exclaiming "giant monster!" A huge rock creature has hauled itself out of the soil and is coming for Castle Brass.
As the knights of Count Brass charge on horseback, the monster reaches deep into the earth and pulls the rock out from under them, causing the soil to collapse. They all fall down.
Bjern, using the Axe of St. Michael, and Decinque, driven aggressively mad with fear, assail the rock monster and kill it.
He has just agreed to come to Rome to help use the Runestaff in the aid of the Romans, when another visitor knocks on the door. He is Baron Meladius, Grand Constable of the Order of the Wolf, a nobleman of Granbretan. His armies are consuming the Roman armies, and he wants to see if Count Brass wants to make an alliance with Calamus.
Quite apart from the oath he swore to the Empire, Count Brass has heard terrible things about Granbretan. Meladius grins and says they're all true; he's about to launch into a long, character-defining speech when Bjern and Pouncequick jump him. Meladius is armed with Mournblade, a vampire sword which drinks the blood of its victims. He gets Junius, Brother Aquila, and Retarius, but Rosa comes in behind and heals them so they don't actually die.
Granbretan soldiers on massive, horse-sized wolves burst in to raven and slay! Rosa decoys the lead wolf with the thought that there's a deer running around outside, so the mounts leave, and Retarius and Bjern defeat some of the Granbretans. Pouncequick casts protection from evil on Meladius, in the thought that some evil power is aiding him and will now be cut off. It does seem to slow him down somewhat.
Junius defeats Meladius by breaking Mournblade with the Sword of the Dawn. Then when Meladius charges, he smashes his throat.
Count Brass ignites his flame-dagger and scorches the Wolves, then sets fire to the big tapestry over their heads and lets it fall on them, wiping them out.
With the Wolf soldiers defeated, Decinque bursts in, exclaiming "giant monster!" A huge rock creature has hauled itself out of the soil and is coming for Castle Brass.
As the knights of Count Brass charge on horseback, the monster reaches deep into the earth and pulls the rock out from under them, causing the soil to collapse. They all fall down.
Bjern, using the Axe of St. Michael, and Decinque, driven aggressively mad with fear, assail the rock monster and kill it.
Monday, June 26, 2017
The Dark City of London
Andronicus and Fabulus Calamus have been busy ...
The Runestaff, according to Sylvia's perceptions, is in the Prison of Souls. While everyone else waits for daybreak, Rosa sneaks in and finds only one prisoner who isn't screamingly insane ... Count Brass, a nobleman of Gaul. He says he's here voluntarily, hoping to learn how Calamus turns one metal into another.
He also knows where the Runestaff is. And when the Valerians break him out, he shows them --- he has it! Indeed, Count Brass had the Runestaff all the time, and the madmen of Granbretan -- the empire Calamus is building on the province of Britannia -- never suspected.
The eagles come at Elrond's call and everyone escapes. Count Brass is willing to discuss what to do with the Runestaff, but demurs Pouncequick and Junius' kind suggestion that they take it to Rome and discuss it. Instead, Count Brass prefers to explain the Runestaff at his home of Castle Brass, surrounded by his own philosophical devices and troops.
The Runestaff, according to Sylvia's perceptions, is in the Prison of Souls. While everyone else waits for daybreak, Rosa sneaks in and finds only one prisoner who isn't screamingly insane ... Count Brass, a nobleman of Gaul. He says he's here voluntarily, hoping to learn how Calamus turns one metal into another.
He also knows where the Runestaff is. And when the Valerians break him out, he shows them --- he has it! Indeed, Count Brass had the Runestaff all the time, and the madmen of Granbretan -- the empire Calamus is building on the province of Britannia -- never suspected.
The eagles come at Elrond's call and everyone escapes. Count Brass is willing to discuss what to do with the Runestaff, but demurs Pouncequick and Junius' kind suggestion that they take it to Rome and discuss it. Instead, Count Brass prefers to explain the Runestaff at his home of Castle Brass, surrounded by his own philosophical devices and troops.
Friday, March 31, 2017
There's No Winter in Africa
During the winter of the year, RETARIUS travels to Africa to investigate the rebel Malaros the Corinthian. He gets permission from SEVERUS SECUNDUS to land behind the rebel lines, and discovers an army of zombies hiding in the shadow of a tree. They aren't hiding from the Romans; they are hiding from the sun. Retarius' Belgae kill them one by one, after defeating the mortal who was tasked to convey the army of zombies here.
Apparently they walk all night then lie up under shelter until the next night, each zombie horde being led by a single minion of Malaros. The minion, under questioning, admits that Malaros is Molasar, the undead sorceror we encountered under the Temple of Elemental Evil, and again in the Frozen North. He was last seen eaten by a colossal purple worm, but apparently, someone COULD survive that fate, irrespective of what it seemed at the time.
Retarius and company travel by boat to the origin of the zombie trail, where they discover an ancient, ruined temple in the desert, guarded by many zombies. Fortunately, as the zombies attack, a Roman legion arrives! Yes, JUNIUS received a letter from SEVERUS SECUNDUS, and brought the entire Legio XX to Africa, and just in the nick of time!
The boss here, we're told, is LAZLO, a wight from Molasar's homeland of Dacia. VESUVIUS takes Lazlo on face-to-face, and does all right, but Lazlo has a whole acre of skeletons and Frankensteinian abominations to throw at him. Eventually Vesuvius has to retreat.
The army defeats the zombies. ROSA flies over the temple, distributing holy salt, and seeing Lazlo, takes him out with a sun-bead arrow in the face. But inside the temple, a deeper darkness is stirring, rising like an ashy fume to cover the temple's interior.
As BJERN is transformed into a fire bear, RETARIUS and EDELWEISS rush the temple from the other side. They enter, where Edelweiss' glowing sword reveals a winged man in leather coat, armed with a cast-iron skull and a book of dead names -- Molasar himself!
"We meet again, play-soldier!" Molasar ought to have said.
"Yes, for the last time, dead man," Retarius should have responded.
And then the blades are flying! Molasar cuts Retarius, a little, but Edelweiss shield-slams him back over an ancient altar. Retarius pins Molasar's bat-wing to the stone, and even Molasar's eruption of black doom magic doesn't stop his nemeses.
Molasar rolls, ripping his own wing off, and faces his foes, now with a sword in each hand. Edelweiss and Retarius have each cut him seriously, but he seems not to mind.
And all around the temple, the ground shudders, collapsing into sinkholes from which purple worms snake hungrily into the world above!
"The worm did not kill me ... but I did learn a few things," Molasar says.
Apparently they walk all night then lie up under shelter until the next night, each zombie horde being led by a single minion of Malaros. The minion, under questioning, admits that Malaros is Molasar, the undead sorceror we encountered under the Temple of Elemental Evil, and again in the Frozen North. He was last seen eaten by a colossal purple worm, but apparently, someone COULD survive that fate, irrespective of what it seemed at the time.
Retarius and company travel by boat to the origin of the zombie trail, where they discover an ancient, ruined temple in the desert, guarded by many zombies. Fortunately, as the zombies attack, a Roman legion arrives! Yes, JUNIUS received a letter from SEVERUS SECUNDUS, and brought the entire Legio XX to Africa, and just in the nick of time!
The boss here, we're told, is LAZLO, a wight from Molasar's homeland of Dacia. VESUVIUS takes Lazlo on face-to-face, and does all right, but Lazlo has a whole acre of skeletons and Frankensteinian abominations to throw at him. Eventually Vesuvius has to retreat.
The army defeats the zombies. ROSA flies over the temple, distributing holy salt, and seeing Lazlo, takes him out with a sun-bead arrow in the face. But inside the temple, a deeper darkness is stirring, rising like an ashy fume to cover the temple's interior.
As BJERN is transformed into a fire bear, RETARIUS and EDELWEISS rush the temple from the other side. They enter, where Edelweiss' glowing sword reveals a winged man in leather coat, armed with a cast-iron skull and a book of dead names -- Molasar himself!
"We meet again, play-soldier!" Molasar ought to have said.
"Yes, for the last time, dead man," Retarius should have responded.
And then the blades are flying! Molasar cuts Retarius, a little, but Edelweiss shield-slams him back over an ancient altar. Retarius pins Molasar's bat-wing to the stone, and even Molasar's eruption of black doom magic doesn't stop his nemeses.
Molasar rolls, ripping his own wing off, and faces his foes, now with a sword in each hand. Edelweiss and Retarius have each cut him seriously, but he seems not to mind.
And all around the temple, the ground shudders, collapsing into sinkholes from which purple worms snake hungrily into the world above!
"The worm did not kill me ... but I did learn a few things," Molasar says.
Thursday, March 9, 2017
The Eternal Kingdom of Perfect Harmony
Trying to walk back to Rome, our heroes instead encounter Elebrion, castle of the Elves. Which is strange, as Elebrion is 500 miles in another direction.
Haldir Stormchandler greets his elder cousin. Pejorative the dragon greets him in reply. The DRAGON is welcome in the elves' home, but the rest of us ...
Elrond Halfelven comes and talks to us. He's a half-elf, so not as worried about polluting his spirit by conversing with mortals. He explains that Lolth has put a spell on us so that, no matter where we go, we end up here.
Actually, the spell was supposed to lead us to the fires of Mt. Etna on Sicily. But the elves stepped in and tangled it up so it led here instead.
They want the Sword of the Dawn so they can find the Runestaff. Vesuvius and Junius swear by sunwine that they will give the Runestaff to the Elves, once they and their people no longer need the Runestaff. And should 4002 AD come, and they be still alive, they have to hand it over then.
The Elves want the Runestaff because the universe is ending. In 4004 BC, the world was made. And it gradually became stronger, richer and more complex until the Year of Our Lord, when it began to decline. In 4004 AD, existence will end. They don't want to die; Brother Aquila tries to get them to see the inevitable rightness of death, but they don't want to hear it. But with the Runestaff, which tells the destiny of men, they might be able to find a way out.
In exchange, Elrond will accompany us on our quest for the Runestaff. He also consents to advise Junius on swordsmanship (although not with Junius' old iron sword, it being IRON) and Vesuvius on sorcery. He has a conversation about the souls of dwarves with Brother Aquila.
Meanwhile, Rosa asks an elf named Farstriker for archery tips, and shoots a fire giant from a mile away.
Fire giant? Yes, for Vartox and his gang are still following us, and the spell leads them inevitably to Elebrion. A fight erupts between Elf and Giant, evenly matched, but for the Romans who are on the Elves's side.
DECINQUE challenges the giants (actually, he's just trying to get a set of Elven garb, but the Elves are playing a joke on him) and survives, fighting three fire giants along with RETARIUS and JUNIUS. They kill Vartox, which isn't as hard as it might be, since he and half his gang are all struck by lightning from the sky!
Elrond gives Retarius a green cloak as light as the wind, for Retaria.
VESUVIUS discovers that when he casts spells in Elfland, the energy he expends is instantly restored! This leads him to use a whole lot of spells, destroying two fire giants. His Reverse Missiles spell takes out three archers, who run away, get toyed with by Bowenn's illusions, and eventually die.
Haldir Stormchandler greets his elder cousin. Pejorative the dragon greets him in reply. The DRAGON is welcome in the elves' home, but the rest of us ...
Elrond Halfelven comes and talks to us. He's a half-elf, so not as worried about polluting his spirit by conversing with mortals. He explains that Lolth has put a spell on us so that, no matter where we go, we end up here.
Actually, the spell was supposed to lead us to the fires of Mt. Etna on Sicily. But the elves stepped in and tangled it up so it led here instead.
They want the Sword of the Dawn so they can find the Runestaff. Vesuvius and Junius swear by sunwine that they will give the Runestaff to the Elves, once they and their people no longer need the Runestaff. And should 4002 AD come, and they be still alive, they have to hand it over then.
The Elves want the Runestaff because the universe is ending. In 4004 BC, the world was made. And it gradually became stronger, richer and more complex until the Year of Our Lord, when it began to decline. In 4004 AD, existence will end. They don't want to die; Brother Aquila tries to get them to see the inevitable rightness of death, but they don't want to hear it. But with the Runestaff, which tells the destiny of men, they might be able to find a way out.
In exchange, Elrond will accompany us on our quest for the Runestaff. He also consents to advise Junius on swordsmanship (although not with Junius' old iron sword, it being IRON) and Vesuvius on sorcery. He has a conversation about the souls of dwarves with Brother Aquila.
Meanwhile, Rosa asks an elf named Farstriker for archery tips, and shoots a fire giant from a mile away.
Fire giant? Yes, for Vartox and his gang are still following us, and the spell leads them inevitably to Elebrion. A fight erupts between Elf and Giant, evenly matched, but for the Romans who are on the Elves's side.
DECINQUE challenges the giants (actually, he's just trying to get a set of Elven garb, but the Elves are playing a joke on him) and survives, fighting three fire giants along with RETARIUS and JUNIUS. They kill Vartox, which isn't as hard as it might be, since he and half his gang are all struck by lightning from the sky!
Elrond gives Retarius a green cloak as light as the wind, for Retaria.
VESUVIUS discovers that when he casts spells in Elfland, the energy he expends is instantly restored! This leads him to use a whole lot of spells, destroying two fire giants. His Reverse Missiles spell takes out three archers, who run away, get toyed with by Bowenn's illusions, and eventually die.
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Fire Giants and Brass Dragon
The Legion of the Cross defeats the Machine Beast, making so much noise and light that Verity and Aristocles are dazzled and incapacitated.
Meanwhile, the other group is fighting Frost Giants. Most of the Valerians rush over there and help, along with the wind-up Dwarf King statues wielding truly enormous stone weapons! The giants lose, although Bjern gets quite severely crushed and has to be healed. Brother Aquila also gets mangled, which is less commonplace.
With the healers out of energy and the Sword of the Dawn safe in hand, it's obviously time to venture deeper into the Dwarven halls, though perhaps not into the room labelled "Sudden Death." Bjern finds a brass dragon, which is willing to follow him in exchange for treats. What do brass dragons like to eat? Gold, mostly. Silver is nice too.
However, Retarius and Adelweiss have gone down another hallway, leading to a lower level full of Fire Giants! They agree to fight for first blood, to see if they will treat the humans like warriors or like vermin. Retarius' flashing sword cuts Chroxilar the Smallish Fire Giant, and he acknowledges defeat, but when called upon to "yield", he gets all upset and appeals to his boss, King Vartox.
"Vartox the Valiant! Vartox the Vanquisher! VARTOX the VOLCANO-SPLITTER!" he introduces himself.
"Wow, that's a pretty cool name," says some human. "Which volcano did you split?"
"THIS ONE!" he says, and strikes the stone with his axe.
The stone splits apart, vomiting steam and smoke and ash and lava. During the eruption, Retarius and Adelweiss leave.
Unfortunately, the commotion has brought the attention of some cave trolls, who attack. Vesuviius gets one to peer closely at his ring, then Dazzles him. The Troll, blaming his eyes, strikes his face repeatedly with a massive iron mace, while Vesuvius skirts around him.
Everyone makes it to the exit chamber, but before they can crawl into the dwarf tunnels leading out, the floor cracks open and flames shoot forth! Clearly King Vartox is coming after them, and he's not bothering to walk through the tunnels to do it!
Vesuvius summons a wall, but horizontally, to bridge the volcanic gap. Everyone hastens out.
Everyone, that is, except Bjern and his dragon, Thorgibar Pejorative. They're still there when Vartox arrives. Bjern uses the box the mordite came it to hurl it at Vartox! It hits his armor, which is not alive, and therefore bounces off, uselessly.
Bjern retreats. The giants, being way to big to fit into the tunnels, cannot pursue.
In the tunnels, Rosa warns of an enchantment. She cannot call out to her spider friend. Retarius thinks it may be Bowenn Ivorybow's doing, and says his name three times. Bowenn, indeed, replies.
Bowenn is invisible, but the dragon can smell him out, wearing, as he does, many pounds of gold and jewelry.
Bowenn demands the Sword of the Dawn. Retarius refuses; he plans to give it to the Cardinal. But once he establishes that the Cardinal is a mortal man, Bowenn is satisfied. The doom which threatens all that lives can wait a lifetime or two before the Sword is needed. He gives everyone leave to depart.
Before that, however, Rosa's spider friend suggests an alternative way out. He appeals to Lolth, Demon Queen of Spiders, to show them to safety, and indeed, she does. Brother Aquila confronts Lolth, endures her terror-attack without panicking, and throws holy salt on her. Lolth withdraws. This causes Rosa's spider friend, halfway to safety, to fall out of the air and get stabbed by Brother A. Rosa finds him, heals him, and carries him to safety. Yes, the spider.
One xp is awarded.
Meanwhile, the other group is fighting Frost Giants. Most of the Valerians rush over there and help, along with the wind-up Dwarf King statues wielding truly enormous stone weapons! The giants lose, although Bjern gets quite severely crushed and has to be healed. Brother Aquila also gets mangled, which is less commonplace.
With the healers out of energy and the Sword of the Dawn safe in hand, it's obviously time to venture deeper into the Dwarven halls, though perhaps not into the room labelled "Sudden Death." Bjern finds a brass dragon, which is willing to follow him in exchange for treats. What do brass dragons like to eat? Gold, mostly. Silver is nice too.
However, Retarius and Adelweiss have gone down another hallway, leading to a lower level full of Fire Giants! They agree to fight for first blood, to see if they will treat the humans like warriors or like vermin. Retarius' flashing sword cuts Chroxilar the Smallish Fire Giant, and he acknowledges defeat, but when called upon to "yield", he gets all upset and appeals to his boss, King Vartox.
"Vartox the Valiant! Vartox the Vanquisher! VARTOX the VOLCANO-SPLITTER!" he introduces himself.
"Wow, that's a pretty cool name," says some human. "Which volcano did you split?"
"THIS ONE!" he says, and strikes the stone with his axe.
The stone splits apart, vomiting steam and smoke and ash and lava. During the eruption, Retarius and Adelweiss leave.
Unfortunately, the commotion has brought the attention of some cave trolls, who attack. Vesuviius gets one to peer closely at his ring, then Dazzles him. The Troll, blaming his eyes, strikes his face repeatedly with a massive iron mace, while Vesuvius skirts around him.
Everyone makes it to the exit chamber, but before they can crawl into the dwarf tunnels leading out, the floor cracks open and flames shoot forth! Clearly King Vartox is coming after them, and he's not bothering to walk through the tunnels to do it!
Vesuvius summons a wall, but horizontally, to bridge the volcanic gap. Everyone hastens out.
Everyone, that is, except Bjern and his dragon, Thorgibar Pejorative. They're still there when Vartox arrives. Bjern uses the box the mordite came it to hurl it at Vartox! It hits his armor, which is not alive, and therefore bounces off, uselessly.
Bjern retreats. The giants, being way to big to fit into the tunnels, cannot pursue.
In the tunnels, Rosa warns of an enchantment. She cannot call out to her spider friend. Retarius thinks it may be Bowenn Ivorybow's doing, and says his name three times. Bowenn, indeed, replies.
Bowenn is invisible, but the dragon can smell him out, wearing, as he does, many pounds of gold and jewelry.
Bowenn demands the Sword of the Dawn. Retarius refuses; he plans to give it to the Cardinal. But once he establishes that the Cardinal is a mortal man, Bowenn is satisfied. The doom which threatens all that lives can wait a lifetime or two before the Sword is needed. He gives everyone leave to depart.
Before that, however, Rosa's spider friend suggests an alternative way out. He appeals to Lolth, Demon Queen of Spiders, to show them to safety, and indeed, she does. Brother Aquila confronts Lolth, endures her terror-attack without panicking, and throws holy salt on her. Lolth withdraws. This causes Rosa's spider friend, halfway to safety, to fall out of the air and get stabbed by Brother A. Rosa finds him, heals him, and carries him to safety. Yes, the spider.
One xp is awarded.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Vault of the Dwarves
ROCKY and IVAR, natural-born dwarves, explain the Dwarven Deeps to the Valerians. They have a map of their domain, which has been entirely overrun by monsters from deeper down. Frost Giants, mostly, but also some other horrors.
VESUVIUS the magician sneaks into the room where the Frost Giants lair. BJERN rolls a sphere of mordite, concentrated essence of death, which he stole from Fabulus Calamus' country estate. One of the giants picks it up, and poof, he's dead.
The others are scared, and one fires a ten-foot arrow into the darkness where the Romans are hiding. Retarius blocks it with his shield, which shatters, but saves everyone else.
The skeleton of the dead giant gets up, shedding his skin, and attacks the other giants. The skeleton has turned solid black, as though it had become solid mordite itself. Another giant dies, and his skeleton comes out, too. It's getting bad.
Vesuvius ducks into the next room along with ARISTOCLES the magician and VERITY the cleric. They meet a Rock Worm whose skin is harder than stone; they can't kill it, so Aristocles puts it to sleep and it falls into a pool of clarifying acid.
Then they encounter a hallway with statues of ancient Dwarven heroes. They come alive and menace the Romans, until Vesuvius gets them reminiscing about the good old days. They're happy to talk to him endlessly, especially when he asks leading questions. Problem solved. As long as the nice young man seems interested in their stories, they don't even mind if his friends go deeper into the dungeon.
Meanwhile, DECINQUE and BJERN jump the remaining panicked giants. Decinque almost kills one with a massive surprise attack, and BJERN tries to knock him over, which fails completely.
Then they pursue the fleeing giants into the tunnels. A rat bites BROTHER AQUILA, causing chills and fever, but he doesn't drop in his tracks, so it must be okay.
Back in the Hall of Heroes, our heroes encounter the Machine Beast, a robotic steam-powered dinosaur with a flamethrower and rock-breaking drill. Aristocles distracts it with an illusion, and they dart through, finding a room with a giant stone box. Breaking it open reveals a mirror-bright sword blade with no handle. Verity uses her cross as a handle and it lights up, revealing eight white-clad fighting men surrounding her.
One of them, who speaks a stilted form of literary Latin, says they are the Legion of the Cross, Christian warriors drawn from throughout time to defend the Faith. Verity sics them on the Machine Beast, and Shiro, a spacesuited jump trooper from the 22nd century, shoots it out with him. Only his plasma charges only hit armor, and the Machine Beast stabs through his armor with its rockbreaker!
One experience point is awarded.
VESUVIUS the magician sneaks into the room where the Frost Giants lair. BJERN rolls a sphere of mordite, concentrated essence of death, which he stole from Fabulus Calamus' country estate. One of the giants picks it up, and poof, he's dead.
The others are scared, and one fires a ten-foot arrow into the darkness where the Romans are hiding. Retarius blocks it with his shield, which shatters, but saves everyone else.
The skeleton of the dead giant gets up, shedding his skin, and attacks the other giants. The skeleton has turned solid black, as though it had become solid mordite itself. Another giant dies, and his skeleton comes out, too. It's getting bad.
Vesuvius ducks into the next room along with ARISTOCLES the magician and VERITY the cleric. They meet a Rock Worm whose skin is harder than stone; they can't kill it, so Aristocles puts it to sleep and it falls into a pool of clarifying acid.
Then they encounter a hallway with statues of ancient Dwarven heroes. They come alive and menace the Romans, until Vesuvius gets them reminiscing about the good old days. They're happy to talk to him endlessly, especially when he asks leading questions. Problem solved. As long as the nice young man seems interested in their stories, they don't even mind if his friends go deeper into the dungeon.
Meanwhile, DECINQUE and BJERN jump the remaining panicked giants. Decinque almost kills one with a massive surprise attack, and BJERN tries to knock him over, which fails completely.
Then they pursue the fleeing giants into the tunnels. A rat bites BROTHER AQUILA, causing chills and fever, but he doesn't drop in his tracks, so it must be okay.
Back in the Hall of Heroes, our heroes encounter the Machine Beast, a robotic steam-powered dinosaur with a flamethrower and rock-breaking drill. Aristocles distracts it with an illusion, and they dart through, finding a room with a giant stone box. Breaking it open reveals a mirror-bright sword blade with no handle. Verity uses her cross as a handle and it lights up, revealing eight white-clad fighting men surrounding her.
One of them, who speaks a stilted form of literary Latin, says they are the Legion of the Cross, Christian warriors drawn from throughout time to defend the Faith. Verity sics them on the Machine Beast, and Shiro, a spacesuited jump trooper from the 22nd century, shoots it out with him. Only his plasma charges only hit armor, and the Machine Beast stabs through his armor with its rockbreaker!
One experience point is awarded.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
The Rhine Cave
The CARDINAL has clues that put the Sword of the Dawn at the bend in the Rhine in Belgica, so that's where we're headed. ROSA leads the expedition on a path she knows which covers the 500 miles in half an hour. Because it's a shortcut.
BOWENN IVORYBOW, former Elvish ambassador, is making a red and gold tornado which snows colored snow. Why, he doesn't immediately say. We rush towards him and are assailed with a crystal tornado and barley stalks which grow actual dagger blades.
JUNIUS takes his ancient iron sword, whose hilt is the Cross, and calls IN HOC SIGNO VICTIS! The illusions vanish.
Bowenn says he is seeking the Sword of the Dawn for his patron. We don't want Crassus to have it, but he explains it isn't Crassus he is aiding. Rather, the Elves are facing their doom, and they hope the Sword will awaken the King Under the Mountain, the king of all Elves who went away a long time ago.
When Junius says we need the Sword to save our own people, and Bowenn cannot convince us that his people matter more than ours, he casts a spell to put us all in a stasis of time, while he goes ahead to find the Sword.
It takes many days for us to walk the half-mile to the hill where the Sword is hidden. There is a cave, cleared out recently, with a zombie dwarf inside. He takes some considerable hacking, but eventually falls.
Junius, Brother Aquila, and Retarius are alone, with the others lost in time. They find and defeat several living stalactites called ropers, and then Vesuvius arrives, one step behind them, which came out to several hours. They do not wait for the others, but press on, deeper into the tunnels in the hard rock under the hill ...
One experience point is awarded.
BOWENN IVORYBOW, former Elvish ambassador, is making a red and gold tornado which snows colored snow. Why, he doesn't immediately say. We rush towards him and are assailed with a crystal tornado and barley stalks which grow actual dagger blades.
JUNIUS takes his ancient iron sword, whose hilt is the Cross, and calls IN HOC SIGNO VICTIS! The illusions vanish.
Bowenn says he is seeking the Sword of the Dawn for his patron. We don't want Crassus to have it, but he explains it isn't Crassus he is aiding. Rather, the Elves are facing their doom, and they hope the Sword will awaken the King Under the Mountain, the king of all Elves who went away a long time ago.
When Junius says we need the Sword to save our own people, and Bowenn cannot convince us that his people matter more than ours, he casts a spell to put us all in a stasis of time, while he goes ahead to find the Sword.
It takes many days for us to walk the half-mile to the hill where the Sword is hidden. There is a cave, cleared out recently, with a zombie dwarf inside. He takes some considerable hacking, but eventually falls.
Junius, Brother Aquila, and Retarius are alone, with the others lost in time. They find and defeat several living stalactites called ropers, and then Vesuvius arrives, one step behind them, which came out to several hours. They do not wait for the others, but press on, deeper into the tunnels in the hard rock under the hill ...
One experience point is awarded.
Fire And a Wedding
On the first day of 855, JUNIUS marries SIGRID, cementing the alliance between Rome and the Isles du Loup.
In the cathedral, a mysterious man in shabby clothes is watching all the guests. RETARIUS questions him; his name is SPADICUS and he claims to know things. He also disappears whenever he strays beyond the cruciform core of the cathedral; this puts Retarius on guard.
SPADICUS says he has spread a song throughout Rome to warn its champions to find weapons of power to defeat the Enemy of all humanity. He can speak freely inside the cathedral, where the Enemy cannot hear, but outside, he has to use code. The song is a good code because the Enemy, being in rebellion, cannot hear the Symphony clearly.
Retarius: Are you used to making no sense at all?
Spadicus: (sigh) Yeah, it's getting familiar.
ROSA hears the song and follows it to a small niche, where she perceives a rainbow glass hummingbird singing the song. She is able to follow the complete song, whose words are:
In the cathedral, a mysterious man in shabby clothes is watching all the guests. RETARIUS questions him; his name is SPADICUS and he claims to know things. He also disappears whenever he strays beyond the cruciform core of the cathedral; this puts Retarius on guard.
SPADICUS says he has spread a song throughout Rome to warn its champions to find weapons of power to defeat the Enemy of all humanity. He can speak freely inside the cathedral, where the Enemy cannot hear, but outside, he has to use code. The song is a good code because the Enemy, being in rebellion, cannot hear the Symphony clearly.
Retarius: Are you used to making no sense at all?
Spadicus: (sigh) Yeah, it's getting familiar.
ROSA hears the song and follows it to a small niche, where she perceives a rainbow glass hummingbird singing the song. She is able to follow the complete song, whose words are:
Bring fire, bring storm, bring light, bring steel.
The Sword of the Dawn,
The Mad God’s Amulet,
And the Jewel in the Skull
Mark the Way to the Runestaff
Which Marks the Destiny of Men.
Bring fire, bring storm, bring light, bring steel.
The bird doesn't know what any of that means ... it's just a song. Rosa befriends the bird, which sings joyously until she can't forget the song even if she wants to.
Rosa approaches the CARDINAL afterwards. He has heard of the objects in the song; they are pre-Christian, indeed, probably pre-pagan artifacts of great importance.
VESUVIUS notices smoke in the air and follows it outside. BROTHER AQUILA, BJERN, and SYLVIA are already running to the Temple of Janus, where there is a huge fire.
Indeed, the priests who attend the Temple are all dead, burned in their tracks. Both doors of the temple, front and back, are open, and flames roar from within. As they approach, additional flames lick down the roads, burning up the firemen who come to put it out. Unlike most fires, this one knows how to defend itself!
BJERN glances inside and sees GAIUS PROCELLUS, the Fire Mage of the Temple of Elemental Evil, within. Procellus emerges and manically demands to know how BJERN will survive when he, Procellus, sets the buildings on either side of him ablaze! Bjern runs forward and cuts Procellus using the Axe of the Apostles, which he borrowed from the Order of St. Michael.
Cut (and arrow-shot), Procellus swells up to giant size, throwing flames far and wide. Brother A rebukes him, Bjern cuts him, Sylvia shoots holes in him, and Vesuvius wonders whether he's using a simple flame charm amped up, or some kind of elemental summoning.
Eventually the Romans punch so many holes in Procellus that the fire roaring within him rages loose, spraying everywhere and setting everything on fire. The Fire Mage may be gone, destroyed!
Junius, recently elected Pontifex of Mars, was supposed to be there at the New Years' feast, but decided to get married in a church instead. Thus, he is the only one of the pontifices still alive. But he has a mission in Belgica, so he leaves his wife, Sigrid, the very recently converted Norse pagan, in charge of all the civic temples of Rome. What's the worst that could happen?
One xp is awarded.
One xp is awarded.
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Dungeons and Eagles Character Creation
Everyone has 200 points to spend. Every stat and skill you choose costs points. Some, like Deafness, cost negative points: if you take this trait, you get more points to spend, because the trait is going to impede you in some way.
The basic stats are ST (Strength), DX (Dexterity), IQ (Intelligence) and HT (Health). Will, Dodge and Hit Points are derived from these stats.
You get a 10 (the human average) for free. So a zero-point character has ST 10, DX 10, IQ 10, HT 10 and no skills.
Each additional level in a stat costs 10 points. So ST 12 costs 20, while DX 17 costs 70.
Stats above 20 are superhuman, and not normally allowed.
You will also want to get several SKILLS. Most are of Average difficulty, and cost 2 points per level. They are tied to DX or IQ; therefore, if you have DX 10, and you want Sword-12, it costs 4 points (2 levels above your DX). Mental skills are based on IQ, physical on DX.
Some useful skills include:
Alertness
Axe/Mace
Boating
Bow
Brawling
Dagger
Detect Lies
First Aid
Hiking
Jumping
Lance
Law
Leadership
Music
Naturalist (outdoor living)
Ride
Running
Sword
Stealth
Shield
Shortsword
Spear
Staff
Survival (outdoor survival)
Swimming
Tactics
Theology
Throwing
Tracking
If you plan to take 10 or more physical skills, it's probably cheaper to buy up your DX before buying skills.
The last category is ADVANTAGES. These are abilities you either have, or don't.
Some appropriate advantages are:
The basic stats are ST (Strength), DX (Dexterity), IQ (Intelligence) and HT (Health). Will, Dodge and Hit Points are derived from these stats.
You get a 10 (the human average) for free. So a zero-point character has ST 10, DX 10, IQ 10, HT 10 and no skills.
Each additional level in a stat costs 10 points. So ST 12 costs 20, while DX 17 costs 70.
Stats above 20 are superhuman, and not normally allowed.
You will also want to get several SKILLS. Most are of Average difficulty, and cost 2 points per level. They are tied to DX or IQ; therefore, if you have DX 10, and you want Sword-12, it costs 4 points (2 levels above your DX). Mental skills are based on IQ, physical on DX.
Some useful skills include:
Alertness
Axe/Mace
Boating
Bow
Brawling
Dagger
Detect Lies
First Aid
Hiking
Jumping
Lance
Law
Leadership
Music
Naturalist (outdoor living)
Ride
Running
Sword
Stealth
Shield
Shortsword
Spear
Staff
Survival (outdoor survival)
Swimming
Tactics
Theology
Throwing
Tracking
If you plan to take 10 or more physical skills, it's probably cheaper to buy up your DX before buying skills.
The last category is ADVANTAGES. These are abilities you either have, or don't.
Some appropriate advantages are:
Blessed 15 May re-roll one die twice per game
Charismatic 10 May inspire others to resist fear
Detect Evil 15 May attempt IQ roll to detect evil
Fearless 20
Inspired 15 Make Will roll to gain +5 on a particular task
Knighthood 20 Legal enforcement powers and Status 6
Lay on Hands 30 May heal light wounds 3 times/day
Protection from Evil 30 If in a state of grace, cannot be harmed by evil magic
Rebuke Evil 30 May present the Cross to drive back evil with a Will roll
Status 30 You are from a powerful family which can equip and defend you
Steed 5 Has a powerful loyal warhorse
Vigil 20 May pray one solid night to obtain visions or contact angels
Code of Honor -15 Do not cheat, allow injustice, or accept an insult
Honest -15 You may not break the law. Difficult in the Roman Empire!
Truthful -10 You may not lie
Poverty -20 You may not acquire equipment except through adventure.
EQUIPMENT is not acquired with points, but bought with money (unless you have Poverty). Your character starts with the equipment collected over a short career: chainmail, a shield, a horse, two weapons, a cross, and any special gear your skills require. If you have First Aid, you have a packet of linen bandages, for instance.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
The Rivals
The Crassus team starts attacking the Valerian team, but then the fountains produce water elementals. Those run over lots of Roman soldiers, but also infuse the soil with elemental water which brings forth monsters! Ogres, four-armed tusked swordsmonsters, giant insects, etc.
Both teams and the remaining Romans fight the monsters. A cross scratched onto the fountains prevents further monsterism.
Once the fighting is over, the mysterious White General of the Crassians shows his face for a moment to Junius. Junius decides to trust him. The two parties agree to race through the mansion, grabbing all they can.
Rosa finds a huge chessboard with hundreds of figures representing powerful leaders and monsters. And for some reason, there are models of all of the dungeoneers except for Retarius. Rosa uses juice from the fruit of the tree of life to bring the model of a wizard partially to life. The wizard turns out to be Bowenn, who doesn't like that at all and destroys the model. This makes Bowenn die, but he gets better, because elf.
Junius finds a miraculous machine that makes whatever you ask for, but then stops working. He tricks the Crassians into going there, hoping to waste their time. They don't have an engineer, but they do discover that you have to put matter into one end of the machine, ask for what you want, and an equal weight of material will be given at the other end. So it cannot make gold out of nothing, but it can turn rocks into gold, carpeting into silver, art and goblets and loose wall boards into tasty pigeon pies, and so forth. His plan succeeds; the Crassians spend all their time at the machine. But they also get all sorts of stuff; the Black Mouser, their thief, is seen leaving with a pillowcase full of diamonds.
Rosa finds a nightmare, which tries to carry her to Hell, and a pegasus, which carries her off into the sky. She sees a huge fireball approaching from the Alps, with a seated man in it.
She warns everyone, and they withdraw with cartloads of loot. The Crassus team teleports to safety, presumably. The fireball blows up the mansion, all of it, and burns down the Tree of Life planted outside.
However, Rosa returns after the Man In The Fireball leaves, digs up the undamaged roots of the Tree of Life, and brings a cutting away with her.
Both teams and the remaining Romans fight the monsters. A cross scratched onto the fountains prevents further monsterism.
Once the fighting is over, the mysterious White General of the Crassians shows his face for a moment to Junius. Junius decides to trust him. The two parties agree to race through the mansion, grabbing all they can.
Rosa finds a huge chessboard with hundreds of figures representing powerful leaders and monsters. And for some reason, there are models of all of the dungeoneers except for Retarius. Rosa uses juice from the fruit of the tree of life to bring the model of a wizard partially to life. The wizard turns out to be Bowenn, who doesn't like that at all and destroys the model. This makes Bowenn die, but he gets better, because elf.
Junius finds a miraculous machine that makes whatever you ask for, but then stops working. He tricks the Crassians into going there, hoping to waste their time. They don't have an engineer, but they do discover that you have to put matter into one end of the machine, ask for what you want, and an equal weight of material will be given at the other end. So it cannot make gold out of nothing, but it can turn rocks into gold, carpeting into silver, art and goblets and loose wall boards into tasty pigeon pies, and so forth. His plan succeeds; the Crassians spend all their time at the machine. But they also get all sorts of stuff; the Black Mouser, their thief, is seen leaving with a pillowcase full of diamonds.
Rosa finds a nightmare, which tries to carry her to Hell, and a pegasus, which carries her off into the sky. She sees a huge fireball approaching from the Alps, with a seated man in it.
She warns everyone, and they withdraw with cartloads of loot. The Crassus team teleports to safety, presumably. The fireball blows up the mansion, all of it, and burns down the Tree of Life planted outside.
However, Rosa returns after the Man In The Fireball leaves, digs up the undamaged roots of the Tree of Life, and brings a cutting away with her.
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