SanguisAevum
2011-09-14, 04:48 AM
Hello there all.
I have been a long time lurker here, and finally decided to come out of the shadows.
For my first post i thought i would share a short piece i wrote following our latest group session. I am currently DMing a long running game that will take the players up to very high levels. No need to share the details of the game in this post... suffice to say that the group is currently dungeon delving to try to stop one of the villains of the world raising an army of monsters.
This short was inspired by a very tense encounter near the end of our last session.
Without further ado...
The great hunting cat that was Baldur tentatively batted at the now the limp eye stalk of the gauth he had just finished chewing. Apparently satisfied that the aberration was dead, the shape changed druid padded over to the rest of the group and sat on his haunches while proceeding to clean his face and whisker's.
"Is Anyone injured?" inquired Kal. as the party regrouped in the centre of the large stone chamber.
"I am" replied Findal. The war mage had caught the full force of one of the bizarre creatures' necromantic eye-rays and where the dark beam had struck his face, the skin was dead, almost rotting.
"I too was caught off guard by one of the beasts" Added Talyrind. The dark elf scout's admission was pained. Charred flesh was clearly visible under scorched clothing.
Kal intoned a prayer to Bahamut, and the soothing energy of the Favoured Soul's divine magic washed over the group. The fight had been brief, and other than the two elves 'mishaps' it had been relatively painless. With most of the strange eye-rays simply outright resisted by the hardened heroes. As the priest healed the others, the newest member of the group, Nia, stalked silently to the southern exit of the chamber, her magically enhanced sight pierced the absolute darkness ahead to reveal another long corridor that opened up into a similar chamber to this one.
"Looks like there is another room further on..." She whispered. The sentence was left hanging, it was almost a question. Kal opened his eyes after finishing his prayer and strode purposely towards the opening.
"Then we continue" he said simply.
Cautiously the group proceeded down the tunnel, just at the point where the new chamber started to open out, Talyrind grunted and indicated with a point of his nose at a large opening in the opposite chamber wall about fifty feet up. Even as he gave the warning, he was raising his bow. Something was moving up there.
"It would seem... that my children were of little threat to you" a deep baritone voice echoed out across the cavern. As its owner came into view its features became apparent. It was much bigger than the gauths, and it's large central eye was blood red and trained on the party. A dozen smaller eyes on stalks writhed about the crown of its spherical body. Baldur's feline hiss turned into a human curse as his wild form was suppressed by the piercing gaze of the creature. Magical sight failed, and protective enchantment's disappeared as the creature looked down upon the heroes. Talyrind recognised the threat immediately, a dread creature from the books he read during his time studying the dangers of the deep. His blood froze for a moment as he recalled name from memory.
"Beholder!"
"Indeed... Elf, that is what your kind refer to me as" The creature's tone was mocking, even mirthful. It was clearly unconcerned by the group encroaching its lair. "It has been some time since I had visitors, my children normally deal with anything that makes it this far. Why are you here?" The question echoed deeply around the stone chamber.
Unsure of how to proceed, the group remained silent... Kal, ever the diplomat, was first to speak.
"We seek to undo the source of power that threatens to raise an army of monsters nearby. the dark druid we defeated indicated that there was an alter, deep within this complex" It was then Kal noticed the shard of crystal embedded in the underside of the creature. On a hunch, he continued "I suspect it was the same druid who experimented on you... no?"
The beholder growled threateningly. Clearly a nerve had been struck.
"To progress past the gate on this level both shards must be used" A slight twist of its floating body briefly presented the shard embedded in the flesh of the creature. "The other is held by my counterparts on the other side of this level. The shards must be presented to their respective locks individually, unfortunately, as the second shard is inserted, the resulting release of energy will most likely kill the bearer. It is for that reason we both still reside here, trapped... neither willing to die so the other might be released. Since you have come this far, you may just be the chance I have been waiting for all this time. I offer you your lives, in exchange for freeing me. Go, kill the guardians of the other shard, and bring it to me. I will open the gate for you... safely"
The group considered this in stunned silence for a few moments, finally Findal spoke.
"What manner of creature guards the other shard?" he asked carefully.
"They are Mind-Shredders" the beholder replied "A failed experiment of the illithids. A species designed to be guard dogs of a sort, they quickly outgrew there creators and now pursue there own agenda. They are agile, and feed on mental energy. The elders are very skilled at both manipulating and reading thought."
"What will you do after you open the gate" asked Nia, a look of concern was evident on her face.
"I will be free, that is all you need to know, elf" it replied. "Now... decide quickly"
"Well?" whispered Kal "What say we?"
"I see no reason to risk a confrontation with this thing unless we have to" answered Talyrind quietly. "Kal can shield our minds from harm to face these so called shredders... i would rather face them than THAT thing" he finished with a shudder.
"But it will be free to roam..." said Nia "I don't think I can knowingly release this thing to the world... I mean... Look at it! and look at how concerned the dark elf is!"
"Can we kill it?" Whispered Findal
"Possibly" came the reply from Talyrind... but it will be very dangerous..." the scout did not sound confident.
The discussion was interrupted by its subject.
"Enough!" boomed the creature. "Make your choice now, or leave this place!" It's great maw opened as the threat spilled forth, revealing a forest of dagger like fangs and the eyes atop its stalks writhed in anger.
The group glanced back and forth at each other nervously
"I am sorry" whispered Nia to the others, it cant be allowed to live"
Purposefully the stealthy cleric stepped forwards.
"We have decided" She shouted, before deliberately raising her bow. "You die!"
And at that point i called it a night... next Monday we begin with Nia's shot... its going to be messy i think!
:)
I have been a long time lurker here, and finally decided to come out of the shadows.
For my first post i thought i would share a short piece i wrote following our latest group session. I am currently DMing a long running game that will take the players up to very high levels. No need to share the details of the game in this post... suffice to say that the group is currently dungeon delving to try to stop one of the villains of the world raising an army of monsters.
This short was inspired by a very tense encounter near the end of our last session.
Without further ado...
The great hunting cat that was Baldur tentatively batted at the now the limp eye stalk of the gauth he had just finished chewing. Apparently satisfied that the aberration was dead, the shape changed druid padded over to the rest of the group and sat on his haunches while proceeding to clean his face and whisker's.
"Is Anyone injured?" inquired Kal. as the party regrouped in the centre of the large stone chamber.
"I am" replied Findal. The war mage had caught the full force of one of the bizarre creatures' necromantic eye-rays and where the dark beam had struck his face, the skin was dead, almost rotting.
"I too was caught off guard by one of the beasts" Added Talyrind. The dark elf scout's admission was pained. Charred flesh was clearly visible under scorched clothing.
Kal intoned a prayer to Bahamut, and the soothing energy of the Favoured Soul's divine magic washed over the group. The fight had been brief, and other than the two elves 'mishaps' it had been relatively painless. With most of the strange eye-rays simply outright resisted by the hardened heroes. As the priest healed the others, the newest member of the group, Nia, stalked silently to the southern exit of the chamber, her magically enhanced sight pierced the absolute darkness ahead to reveal another long corridor that opened up into a similar chamber to this one.
"Looks like there is another room further on..." She whispered. The sentence was left hanging, it was almost a question. Kal opened his eyes after finishing his prayer and strode purposely towards the opening.
"Then we continue" he said simply.
Cautiously the group proceeded down the tunnel, just at the point where the new chamber started to open out, Talyrind grunted and indicated with a point of his nose at a large opening in the opposite chamber wall about fifty feet up. Even as he gave the warning, he was raising his bow. Something was moving up there.
"It would seem... that my children were of little threat to you" a deep baritone voice echoed out across the cavern. As its owner came into view its features became apparent. It was much bigger than the gauths, and it's large central eye was blood red and trained on the party. A dozen smaller eyes on stalks writhed about the crown of its spherical body. Baldur's feline hiss turned into a human curse as his wild form was suppressed by the piercing gaze of the creature. Magical sight failed, and protective enchantment's disappeared as the creature looked down upon the heroes. Talyrind recognised the threat immediately, a dread creature from the books he read during his time studying the dangers of the deep. His blood froze for a moment as he recalled name from memory.
"Beholder!"
"Indeed... Elf, that is what your kind refer to me as" The creature's tone was mocking, even mirthful. It was clearly unconcerned by the group encroaching its lair. "It has been some time since I had visitors, my children normally deal with anything that makes it this far. Why are you here?" The question echoed deeply around the stone chamber.
Unsure of how to proceed, the group remained silent... Kal, ever the diplomat, was first to speak.
"We seek to undo the source of power that threatens to raise an army of monsters nearby. the dark druid we defeated indicated that there was an alter, deep within this complex" It was then Kal noticed the shard of crystal embedded in the underside of the creature. On a hunch, he continued "I suspect it was the same druid who experimented on you... no?"
The beholder growled threateningly. Clearly a nerve had been struck.
"To progress past the gate on this level both shards must be used" A slight twist of its floating body briefly presented the shard embedded in the flesh of the creature. "The other is held by my counterparts on the other side of this level. The shards must be presented to their respective locks individually, unfortunately, as the second shard is inserted, the resulting release of energy will most likely kill the bearer. It is for that reason we both still reside here, trapped... neither willing to die so the other might be released. Since you have come this far, you may just be the chance I have been waiting for all this time. I offer you your lives, in exchange for freeing me. Go, kill the guardians of the other shard, and bring it to me. I will open the gate for you... safely"
The group considered this in stunned silence for a few moments, finally Findal spoke.
"What manner of creature guards the other shard?" he asked carefully.
"They are Mind-Shredders" the beholder replied "A failed experiment of the illithids. A species designed to be guard dogs of a sort, they quickly outgrew there creators and now pursue there own agenda. They are agile, and feed on mental energy. The elders are very skilled at both manipulating and reading thought."
"What will you do after you open the gate" asked Nia, a look of concern was evident on her face.
"I will be free, that is all you need to know, elf" it replied. "Now... decide quickly"
"Well?" whispered Kal "What say we?"
"I see no reason to risk a confrontation with this thing unless we have to" answered Talyrind quietly. "Kal can shield our minds from harm to face these so called shredders... i would rather face them than THAT thing" he finished with a shudder.
"But it will be free to roam..." said Nia "I don't think I can knowingly release this thing to the world... I mean... Look at it! and look at how concerned the dark elf is!"
"Can we kill it?" Whispered Findal
"Possibly" came the reply from Talyrind... but it will be very dangerous..." the scout did not sound confident.
The discussion was interrupted by its subject.
"Enough!" boomed the creature. "Make your choice now, or leave this place!" It's great maw opened as the threat spilled forth, revealing a forest of dagger like fangs and the eyes atop its stalks writhed in anger.
The group glanced back and forth at each other nervously
"I am sorry" whispered Nia to the others, it cant be allowed to live"
Purposefully the stealthy cleric stepped forwards.
"We have decided" She shouted, before deliberately raising her bow. "You die!"
And at that point i called it a night... next Monday we begin with Nia's shot... its going to be messy i think!
:)