Session 61: All are but Food for Worms Report

General Summary

The Roses face Cereniya, the ruler of a region filled with all manner of evil and corruption. As she spoke Boris noticed a worm, perhaps 3cm across peek out of her mouth and retreat; even as he realized she had no tongue. She said "You, however, The Worm tells me that you are ready to take the worm now." She turned to the throne behind her, and turned back holding five 80cm long and 2-3cm diameter disgustingly slimy white albino worms and said "Come forth, take your worm, accept the great blessings of The Worm That Walks and become greater than any you have ever known!".

Fighting a terrible compulsion, Jeeves and Roisin Marshfield managed to remain still. Roy , Boris, and Cigfran succumbed, however. The trio stepped forward, accepted a worm each, and mouths open wide, allowed the worms to slither down their throats before using the cluster of spiked cilia forming about half the body length at the tail to begin burrowing through the flesh at the back of the pharynx near the pharyngeal recess. Jeeves used the distraction to apply poison to some arrows while Roisin Marshfield applied a Witch Ward fungus to her ears. Cereniya continued to exhort the remaining two to take their worms. As it became clear that combat was inevitable, Cereniya used magic to cause Jeeves , Roy , and Cigfran to be lost in the Throes of Ecstasy, leaving them all rigid and incapacitated with the extreme of physical ecstasy. Cigfran suddenly dropped to hands and knees to vomit forcefully, a divine boon causing him to vomit forth the worm, which promptly died on the ground. Cigfran also broke free of the throes of ecstasy. Roisin Marshfield ordered Boris to attack, but he was distracted by the sudden pain in his throat as he cast the spell, causing him to miss. Roy then fell to the ground, and vomited forth his worm, which also died. Boris, however, succumbed to the worm. Jeeves remained caught in the throes of ecstasy. Cereniya waxed enthusiastic about one of them succeeding in taking the worm, commented that the princess was fighting the worm, then attempted to rip knowledge from Roisin Marshfield's mind, but failed due to the ring magically shielding her mind. Cigfran took careful aim, and was further assisted by a powerful divine boon, striking Cereniya with an impact that should have killed the woman outrigh; her preturnatural resilience, doubtless part of the "gift of the worm" she raved about, enabled her to remain standing. Cereniya then let loose a psychic scream that very nearly destroyed everyone; only Roy managed to resist partly, and it still almost killed him. Roisin Marshfield, stunned by the power of the scream in her mind, was unable to act. Boris, not hampered by the psychic assault, found himself fighting for control of his own being; his insight proved sufficient to recognize the threat, and his will and force of personality proved so overwhelming that he gathered the courage to reach into his own throat and excruciatingly tear this horror from his body. The tearing caused considerable harm, but Boris still used what little strength remained to him to rip the worm in half, causing Cereniya to scream in rage and horror. The lair then came alive and a crystal talon attempted to spear Boris, but the halfing priest dodged the attack. Jeeves managed to shake free of his own stunned reaction to the psychic assault, but remained in the throes of ecstasy. Cereniya teleported behind Roisin Marshfield and conjured the ravages of time, causing Roisin Marshfield to suddenly age to the very edge death for even the very long-lived halfing could not live forever; although a divine boon enabled Roisin Marshfield to remain vital and alive. Cigfran took careful aim, and shot Cereniya again, staggering her. Cereniya then launched four blasts of magical force, nearly killing Roisin Marshfield outright, but yet another divine boon enabled her to remain conscious. The impact shook Roisin Marshfield out of her stupor, but Cereniya launched another series of blasts of magical force. Roisin Marshfield was struck twice, then another divine boon enabled Jeeves to teleport Roisin Marshfield out of the shield around the platform, so the remaining two beams knocked Jeeves unconscious. Boris, realizing Cereniya could not see him for some reason, moved behind her, used a divine healing word to bolster his friends, and use the Might of Borelius to strike Cereniya in the back of the head before stepping forward, to deliver a death blow by crushing her skull to crush the worm within her mouth, and, with a spin of the hammer, shattered the crystal shard she carried. This sudden firey flurry of divine justice causing her body to shatter like glass and fall to dust at Boris' feet, leaving only her dramatic cape to flutter aside. Jeeves took a moment to heal himself. Cigfran used a powerful herb to recover from his exhausted state. Roisin Marshfield, however, succumbed to her grevious wounds and died. Roy used a dimensional door to move down through the floor, but left Cigfran behind, and rushed to Roisin Marshfield's side. Boris noticed the witch had left the cape behind and recognized its power; he siezed the cape, rushed over to Jeeves , then swirled the cape bringing himself and Jeeves down to the level below before drinking an alchemical draught to heal a bit of his own wounds. Jeeves rushed over to Roy and Roisin Marshfield, but realized, too late, that there was nothing he could do. Roy used a highly empowered divine spell, stored in his magical ring some weeks before by Boris, to revive Roisin Marshfield. Roisin Marshfield, was in a dark place, with worms crawling all over, in, and around her body; bound in chains made from worms. Just as a large worm began to crawl down her throat, a flash of divine light burned away the darkness and Roisin Marshfield awoke. Jeeves bound Roisin Marshfield's wounds. A short time later the dome of force collapsed and Cigfran was finally able to rejoin the group. Cigfran , after complaining about being unnecessarily left behind by Roy , gave his last magical herb to Roisin Marshfield to restore her to youth and vigor.

The group finally realized the tower was beginning to collapse, so Roy magically accelerated the group to help them get to a point where they could leave the tower. Boris suggested leaping down with magical support and Jeeves led the group to the edge of the tower a couple levels down. There, everyone joined hands and leapt from the edge as Roy used fuirther magic to slow their fall. Reaching the ground a few seconds later, the group continued to run at astounding speed, faster than the fastest of galloping horses, reaching a point of safety just in time to avoid harm as the tower exploded in a massive eruption of magic and crystal shards behind them. As the tower exploded, Jeeves used his healer's sight and saw the cloud flowing in the ethereal realm suddenly shot through with tendrils of greenish light, along with strikes of ethereal lightning slamming into the towns nearby as the cloud was blown away by unfelt winds. Around the group, everyone saw a few persons who were walking the road suddenly crumble to dust even as Jeeves saw the same persons struck with yet more tendrils of greenish ethereal energies. Everyone further witnessed as the towns faded away, the roads suddenly aged to mere tracks, and the fields turned to dust, as the epic magic binding the whole region unraveled, leaving it with the appearance of a realm not inhabited for a thousand years or more. Jeeves , tired, sat down in the dust as it began to rain. Roy stepped a short distance away and conducted a familiar ritual to conjure a shelter, a large three story hunting lodge with a 20x40 foot footprint. Heading inside, the group took an hour to rest and recover from the intense events of the previous half hour, during which time Jeeves provided some assistance to help the group recover, and also adjust Roy 's humors to restore his energy. Boris offered a prayer of healing as well. As they rested, the group discussed possible next destinations, and Jeeves focused on the tower everyone had decided not to risk, conflating it with the tower they had just destroyed. More discussion ensued, but little was decided.

As the rest came to an end, a knock was heard at the door. Jeeves went to the door, but timidly waited for another to open it. Roy simply stepped up and opened the door, asking what they wanted. The person at the door asked if the persons within were responsible for destroying the tower, and Roy admitted they were. The visitor further asked if the witch was truly dead, if anyone had managed to shatter the crystal she carried. When Boris said that he had, a great cheer arose and the man asked who they might remember for freeing them. The man then suddenly dropped to his knees and, trembling, added that they could stay and rule if they chose, but that if they did not the community wished to construct a small memorial. Jeeves said Roisin Marshfield should be the one to rule, and Roy interrupted Jeeves saying they wanted to keep Roisin Marshfield's name secret. The man looked back and forth between them, then, with a look of fear and regret, took a short sword and fell on it. Everyone was shocked, and Boris rushed forward to pull out the sword and revive the dead man. Cigfran told Jeeves to stop talking and Roisin Marshfield told him to just go upstairs. When the peasant revived, he explained that they wanted to keep a secret, and he could only do that if he was dead. He further explained he would gladly give up his life if needed to thank those who had freed his people; adding that he knocked on the door because he was merely the town drunk, the one man in the community who nobody would miss if they turned out to be like the witch and killed him (or worse). Further discussion ensued, with Boris and Roy telling this poor man he could never drink again, upon which he simply turned to Boris and asked "Kill me, please?"; a request Boris declined. Boris used a lesser divine magic of restoration, upon which the man's eyes turned milky white then cleared. The man looked at Boris with awe "What have ye done? I don' want th' drink anymore!", then fell to the ground, began to weep, and hugged Boris feet. A middle-aged woman then stepped up and said "From what little I heard you saved us, you do not wish to rule us, and you do not wish us to know your names. Is there a name we can place on the memorial, other than 'Unknown Heroes'"? Roisin Marshfield answered "The Roses". The Woman said "The Roses, I like it", then turned to the crowd and shouted "The Roses have saved us all!" before turning back "That should keep them from asking any further questions". The woman said "Thank you, we have been living in these mountains for generations, trying to fight the evil in this valley as best we could." Boris asked if they knew anything about the area, and the woman repeated, in a strained voice, "We've been living in these mountains for generations". They asked a few more questions, and the woman called over the community historian. They asked if the man knew of the "Freehold of Artificers, Alchemists, and Aquamancers", the old man explained there were ancient stories of such a place, but it would have been somewhere near a gigantic tree had appeared about a week earlier. After some additional conversation it came up that the community would much appreciate a shelter for the winter. Roy called for a short discussion in the lodge, and when the group came back out they announced that Boris would use magic to build a shelter in the woods. The woman, clearly a community leader, thanked the halfling priest and Boris just marched toward the forest, along with most of the community. Arriving after a few hours, and with the help of some members of the community familiar with construction of solid structures, Boris threw down a magical origami work crew. The origami figures grew and multiplied into a crew of thousands that began to work at terrific speed; 10 minutes later the land was cleared, trees and rocks removed from the area, and a large sleeping lodge stood in the new clearing in the woods. The community leaders, clearly awed at their capabilities, thanked Boris. The woman also brought over a young woman, introducing the youth as her daughter. The community leader explained that this young woman wished to become a priest as well and Boris informed them that he would conduct the proper rites at dawn. Boris used his Ghostsight lantern to view the ethereal as he returned to the lodge, and saw only a few spirits that wach disappeared as a red hand siezed each dragging it downward, leaving nothing by the time his magic expired. Boris stepped more lightly at this, arriving near sundown.

Over dinner, the group discussed remaining in this valley to train and recover before continuing their long deferred journey, and decided this was a good place to spend a couple of weeks. The next morning, Boris performed the ceremony of dedication, empowering the ritual with divine magic, to dedicate the young woman from the day before in lifelong service to The Source. The ritual was performed at dawn, and as the rays of the sun struck the woman's face, her entire form was engulfed in radiant light, and her black hair turned milk white as her eyes also turned silver-blue. The youth looked to Boris wide-eyed as her mother wept with joy. The asked Boris, in a wondering voice, "Who is Liathiar?". Boris, somewhat flustered, explained that this was a powerful celestial, among the most powerful of all servants of The Source. The woman replied, still wondering, to explain that she had heard the voice of Liathiar, who told her that she was to be a true cleric, rather than a common priest, among the one in a thousand priests with real divine magic, and Boris was dumbstruck. Over the next couple of weeks, the party rested and trained, as well as learning a bit about this long-suffering community. By the end of this time, in addition to training, Boris and Roy had constructed a beautiful solid stone church for the community. On the last day of their sojourn in this place, Boris hallowed the entire structure in a ceremony involving the entire community and a ritual that started and ended at dawn, spanning a full 24 hours. In the end the church became a place of divine favor, where the worshippers of The Source within are protected from dangers across planes; where the interior is always filled with daylight; where people gain courage; where all can understand one another regardless of language; and where necrotic energies cannot harm the faithful. With a strong community now growing in place of the evil recently destroyed, the group resumed their journey north, in search of an unknown individual in the distant city of Sudafell.