A Fungus Among Us

After their grueling battle with Katiyana and the storm gems, the group awoke bruised and sore, but grateful to be alive. The storm sphere that had hung above the tower was gone, leaving the interior dark, but through the hole in the ceiling they could catch glimpses of stars through the wisps of remaining cloud, the first time they’d been able to see the sky in weeks. They took this for a good omen, and set off to rejoin their friends in the caravan.

Bella activated the elevator controls, and they descended to the ground floor. Zhustin cast a Light spell to give them some illumination. On the far side of the elevator shaft was another hexagonal opening, and they could see the dim outline of unrecognizable objects in the room beyond. Not having explored here before, Zhustin and Marie moved to investigate.

From the haphazard way the objects were piled in the room, it appeared to be a junk room. But what junk! There were nameless mechanisms and artifacts that clearly dated to the origin of the Storm Tower. Their original purpose was impossible to guess, and none of them detected as magical, but Zhustin knew what ancient Thassilonian artifacts sold for to collectors back in Magnimar, and if these were indeed linked to the Nameless Spires, the lost city at the north pole, then legend said they predated the Thassilonian empire by millennia. He quickly began to gather up the most intact-looking specimens, and Sawyer and Nicki moved in to join them. Sandoval, worried that something might sneak in behind them, moved to guard the southern entrance to the elevator, and Shinjiro went with him, moving on into the southern end of the unexplored room to the east.

As Zhustin’s light spilled into the room to the east, they caught a glimpse of some large, shadowy object inside. As they peered into the gloom, trying to make out what it was, it suddenly emitted a blinding flash of light. Blinding indeed, for Zhustin and Shinjiro both found themselves unable to see anything but a pulsing afterimage. What the others saw was a giant alien plant, a Gnarled Moonflower. It grew a good 15’ tall, with thick, gnarled branches that grew ropy tentacles, and was topped with a flowering bud filled with wicked fangs. It shuffled slowly towards them, waving its vines menacingly. Zhustin of course had no idea what they were facing, but he knew it couldn’t be good, so he cast a quick Haste on his nearby friends and tried to stay out of their way.

Sawyer figured this thing couldn’t be that hard to kill – it was a freakin’ flower, for gods’ sake – so he charged forward. Before he even reached it, it lashed out with surprising speed, grabbing Sawyer in its jaws. He managed to get in one good hit from Suishen before it flipped him up and down into its interior. For the second time in as many days, the party saw one of their own swallowed by an enemy. A few seconds later, there was an ominous flatulent sound, and a large ropy cocoon emerged from the Moonflower’s nether regions. Sawyer, trapped inside the pod, struggled to escape, but was bound so tightly there was nothing he could do but strain ineffectively to burst its wall. This just seemed to make the cocoon compress even more, slowly crushing him as the Moonflower’s reproductive juices began to do their work to transform him into a copy of its “mother”.

With Sawyer once again out of the fight, it was up to the others to carry on. Nicki blasted the Moonflower with a pair of Scorching Rays, and was pleased to see that the flames seemed to do extra damage to the thing’s woody exterior. Marie hurried in and activated her Aura of Freedom, as insurance against anyone else being swallowed. Then she teleported past the Moonflower and began slashing at Sawyer’s pod with her starknife. She began cutting away some of the pod, but muffled yelps from inside indicated she was also cutting away at Sawyer. Bella tried shooting it with arrows, but when she did manage to hit, they simply glanced off its tough exterior. Shinjiro, blind on the far side of the room, heard the sounds of combat and shouts that indicated Sawyer was in trouble. Anxious to help, he began groping his way along the wall, hoping to find his way to the battle.

Zhustin was still hanging back, trying to stay out of trouble until his sight returned. Suddenly he felt something cold bang into his back, and unseen fangs tear at his cloak. Unharmed but unnerved, he yelped moved away and Nicki, standing nearby, looked back over his shoulder, but saw nothing; he figured the wimpy wizard was simply scared of his own shadow.

Ignoring Zhustin’s cries, Nicki fired off another pair of Scorching Rays, leaving the Moonflower badly scorched but still fighting. Shinjiro stumbled into Sawyer’s pod, and earned a slap from the Moonflower’s tentacle for his trouble Luckily Marie warned him what was in front of him before he began pounding the hapless Sawyer-pod. Shinjiro had a sai that he could have used to try to cut away the cocoon, but he feared he’d hurt Sawyer, so he tried ripping it apart with his bare hands. It was like trying to peel apart a solid piece of wood, and he made no progress; meanwhile inside, Sawyer continued his painful evolution into the plant kingdom.

Up in the corner, Zhustin once again felt a cold presence, and this time its icy fangs sank deep into his unprotected flesh. This time, Nicki was looking in Zhustin’s direction when the attack occurred. He saw a semi-transparent fungal-looking creature flicker into sight for a moment as it snapped at the wizard, then immediately disappear again. Zhustin, not knowing what was after him, dashed away towards where he remembered the corner of the room being. As he ran, he Summoned a wolf to protect his back.

Nicki, given a choice of frying the enemy he could see or the one he couldn’t, chose the former. He blasted the Moonflower with yet another Scorching Ray. The thing was barely more than a charred skeleton of wood by now, and by all rights should have been dead, but it kept advancing. Bella fired off one last volley of arrows. One of them barely glanced off one of the Moonflower’s remaining leaves, but that was apparently all it took: the giant plant toppled over. Bella dropped her bow and rushed to Sawyer’s aid. Her rapier sliced through a big chunk of the pod’s tough surface, but they heard Sawyer scream inside, and the cocoon’s fibers began to be soaked with blood. Marie thrust a hand through the new opening and delivered a Cure Critical Wounds, hoping they could free the fighter before they killed him.

Frost Phantom

Suddenly the Frost Phantom reappeared in front of Zhustin’s wolf, and quickly sent it howling back into oblivion. At the same moment, another pair of Frost Phantoms appeared on either side of Sandoval, at the far end of the room, slashing him with their icy fangs. As soon as they’d completed their attacks, all three Phantoms vanished from sight. The still-blind Zhustin, hearing his wolf’s howl, cast Mirror Image on himself and assumed a defensive, almost fetal, posture.

Marie was torn – should she continue trying to save Sawyer, or go to the aid of her other friends? Hoping that Sawyer was tough enough to survive a few more rounds inside the pod, she moved away from him into the center of the room and cast Invisibility Purge. Immediately, all three Frost Phantoms sprang into sight. With targets they could now see, the group made short work of them. Nicki blasted the one who’d been attacking Zhustin with yet another Scorching Ray as it rushed down to attack Marie, somehow knowing that she was responsible for negating their innate invisibility. She shrugged off the cold damage it inflicted, and smacked it with her mace; Nicki followed up with a volley of Magic Missiles and it hit the floor. Meanwhile Sandoval began to dance away from his attackers, hitting one with a pair of vicious blows from his echoblade. Bella also abandoned Sawyer to his fate, and rushed down to backstab the Phantoms chasing Sandoval. Now that they were visible, they were no match for their combined blades, and fell within moments of one another.

That just left Sawyer, still undergoing his excruciating transformation inside the pod. Nicki pulled out a dagger, and slashed away with abandon; he had no compunction about possibly hurting Sawyer (although he did considerately withhold the poison from his blade). Sandoval moved in and sliced with his echoblade, and Sawyer at last tumbled from inside his pod prison. “Boy you look pooped!” Bella chortled. Everyone but Sawyer laughed. In the ashes of what remained of the Moonflower, the group found the weapons and other possessions of whatever poor soul had been consumed and transformed as it tried to do with Sawyer. Apparently he had been a fighter, like Sawyer, but without friends who survived long enough to save him.

Marie healed everyone back up, and they set out to return to the caravan, leaving the Storm Tower behind them. On the trip back, they saw no signs of the undead who had been patrolling in numbers two days ago. While they were grateful not to be harassed, they weren’t entirely sure whether this was a good sign or not. Where had all those walking dead gone? Nonetheless, their friends were delighted by their safe return, and the caravan was soon back on its way.

While the weather was still, well, arctic, it felt almost balmy in the absence of the wind that had been howling around them for the last few weeks. The great storm had broken up with the destruction of the Storm Sphere. It was still the deepest part of the polar winter, but for the first time in weeks they could see stars and the aurora overhead. They followed the strange black road for awhile, but it was tracing a broad curve, apparently circling the pole, and Ulf ultimately led them off the road and on south towards where they would eventually rejoin the far end of the Path of Aganhei.

After several days of travel, they began to notice what at first seemed like a strange aurora on the horizon. An odd blue-green glow would appear and move across the horizon. However it was brighter than any aurora. Sometimes it would streak across the horizon at high speed, while other times it would seem to be marking lazy circles high in the air before disappearing. Ulf had never seen anything like it, but it soon became a familiar part of their travel.

Boreal Yrthak

Then one day it suddenly appeared over a small hillock just a few hundred yards ahead of the caravan. It looked like a giant, furred flying lizard surrounded by a glowing blue and green aura of electrically charged particles that blurred its form, making it difficult to make out (or target). It zipped along parallel to the party’s path, and as it drew even with the lead wagon, it opened its mouth and emitted an almost inaudible shriek. This sonic lance blasted Ulf and Sandru, making them feel as if their teeth would vibrate out of their sockets.

As the Boreal Yrthak continued its flight, everyone leaped to combat stations. Zhustin hammered it with a volley of Magic Missiles. Sawyer leaped off his wagon, and feathered it with an arrow; Sandru also fired at it, but the blurring effect of its aura caused him to miss. Bella rushed up to Sandoval. “Hey! You’ve got that wand, right? This would be a good time to use it!” Sandoval instantly understood, and whipped out his Wand of Flame Arrow, and a moment later, both his and Bella’s quivers were glowing.

Amatatsu Crest

Ameiko and Koya had been working on some sewing project during the long caravan rides. Most had assumed they were just making a blanket to keep them warm, but now Ameiko unveiled their creation: it was a flag bearing the double-crane crest of the Amatatsu family. She waved it overhead. “For House Amatatsu, and for Minkai!” she shouted, and for the first time, the party could imagine her leading a nation. Inspired, Shinjiro leaped off his wagon and charged the Yrthak, despite the fact that it was still 30’ in the air. Tiny Spivey also charged the huge beast, unleashing a Starlight Blast right in its face. Unfortunately, the Yrthak didn’t even notice as it sent Spivey spiraling away in its wake. As it passed over Shinjiro, it dove down, slashing him with its claws as it flew by, headed straight for Koya and Ameiko.

But it never made it. Bella and Sandoval both hit it with flaming arrows, and the fire burned extra intense on this creature of the arctic. Sawyer also had a few Flame Arrows in his pack, and added them to the attack. Finally, Nicki unleashed an Empowered Fireball above the Yrthak’s path. It augured in, its smoking carcass stopping just feet short of Ameiko’s wagon.

With the Yrthak’s threat passed, the caravan continued on. Days passed, and the air, always frigid, grew almost impossibly cold. With the protection of the Sashimono of Comfort and a bevy of Endure Elements spells, the party and crew survived, but their gear began breaking down; sleigh runners would snap, or harnesses would shatter from the intense cold.

After several days, and not sure how much longer their equipment could survive these conditions, the party discovered a strange artifact in the midst of the ice cap. It was a large blue stone circle, inscribed with strange glyphs. The interior of the circle was filled with swirling blue light, and the air above it glittered with minute ice crystals. “I … I think it’s a Gate to the Elemental Plane of Cold!” Zhustin stuttered through chattering teeth.

The party began to debate whether to try to shut it down, or just move on and try to put as much distance between themselves and the Gate as quickly as possible. Bella worried that this was yet another construct left by Katiyana in the service of Sithhud. No one was sure what it would take to close the Gate, or indeed if it could be closed at all, but no one was keen to get any closer to it to learn more. Finally, Koya Summoned an Earth Elemental to approach the Gate. Before it had taken two steps, a trio of figures rose up out of the ice, leaving no trace behind them. They were Ice Elementals, and their bodies were hard facets of ice. The two on either side were simply Very Big, but the one in the center was Huge, and they did not look happy to be disturbed.

The PCs earned 2,971 XP, putting them at 75,455 XP. They have now reached Level 9, and need 105,000 XP for Level 10. Please have your level 10 characters ready for next week. We’ll be at Leo’s next Sunday. The following Sunday, April 19, we’ll be back at Rich and Joette’s, and I’ll be there in person.