Chapter 8 - Mists of the Medusa

General Summary

The party evidently reached the island of Demetria, seeing it was an island formed from a volcano. The island looked quite industrialized. The ship called The Aquarius, which the party stole, docked at the south bay. There, Gnolls hired by "The Master" began to inspect the ship, but Creetens used his spell suggestion to distract them with something else. Meanwhile, Theeden climbed off the ship and scouted over the walls and started a fire in the slave camps, distracting the Gnolls from the party's presence.
The party quickly travelled into a burnt forest encompassing the island. There, they met an escaped halfling slave named Kepuros, who warned them of the evils ahead. Primarily, of a multi-headed "dragon" and some of the gnolls. He also warned them of "The Master's plan" of enslaving citizens of the Tallian Empire, and how they have been working on building weapons, armor, and extracting lava from the volcano for some strange reason. Just as Kepuros finished talking, Theden snuck up on Ascus to alert his presence, causing Ascus to yelp. This alerted Gnolls in the forests, who came to try and kill the party. After a bloody duel, the party continued onward through the burnt forest.
To meet them was a pristine fountain guarded by fog. The party took a break near there. Creetens got the idea of dumping out the stolen chemical he took in the fountain, causing an explosion to erupt in the water, as the potassium met the water. The sound of the explosion alerted a creature within the fog, one with three heads. The hydra slithered to the party. The beast excited Ascus, who proclaimed it was a creature finally worth his might. It was hard for the party to see within the fog, and the hydra used that to it's advantage. Ascus cut off a head, causing it to grow two more, until the party did enough cutting so that the Hydra had six heads.
The party was tossed around by the six-headed creature, with Ascus being knocked out, then the Hydra chomped it's heads at Rashida, who nearly died. This left Theden and Creetens, who kept their distance from the beast. Creetens used psychic spells against the hydra, while Theden relied on throwing oil at the creature, and then igniting it with a fire arrow. This worked as the hydra slowly burned to it's death, and Theden and Creetens whittled it down until the Hydra collapsed. The creature was dead. Theden swooped in to revive Rashida. Badly wounded, the entire party then rested.
After an eight-hour rest, the party recovered and continued up the mountain. They faced gnoll guards but defeated them swiftly. Finally, they reached a temple on the side of the volcano, made of pillars that looked to be columns of petrified humans. Exploring the temple, they saw inscriptions upon the walls.

When the creatures of Brigid first walked Creation, the god of blood, Loxelel, grew envious. He twisted the blood of animals and men and refused to relent. Thus, Boldur sent Fate to stop him. With the sword Fatebender in her hand, Fate wounded the god of blood and buried him under the Mountain of Demetria as a prison.

Exploring more into the temple, the party overheard a conversation between a man and a woman. "This is fine work, Demetria," the man said. "Within hours, we will get our divine revenge. Finally we will break the gods and be freed from their binds. Then, we shall rule ourselves!" Rashida, listening closely, recognized the voice: it was King Asthenios. Evidently, Asthenios then realized someone was in the temple, and told his feminine cohort to "deal with company" and made his way to the back balcony of the temple.

Medusa by Irenhorrors

The party thus had to deal with a mighty Medusa. Ascus stormed into the sanctuary where the Medusa was. The Medusa raised three stone statues to fight the party. It was a struggle for the party, as they had to avert their eyes to fight, leaving many of their attacks to be inaccurate. Ascus and Rashida battled the statues as Theden and Creetens tried to take the Medusa head-on. The Medusa struck Creetens with her snake hair, poisoning him and knocking him out. With a messy situation, Rashida prayed to her goddess, Vanu-Am, and channeled divine power against the Medusa. The Medusa was weakened, giving Theden the chance to make a perfect shot against the Medusa with his Oathbow. Theden spoke "swift defeat to my enemies" and shot the Medusa with his piercing arrow. She was mortally wounded by the shot, falling onto the ground in slithering cry. Ascus finished the statues, and the battle was won!
The party hurried to catch King Asthenios, but they were interrupted by a sudden earthquake. They stumbled out to the balcony, where they saw the source of the quake: King Asthenios, plunging a large, wicked sword into the side of the volcano. Cracks grew into the ground. As he looked toward the party, he said, "It had to be done somehow." Then, he raised a necklace and teleported away.
The booming of the earthquake roared, and a ginormous red hand poked up from the volcano. They heard a deep, powerful laughing, as the god Loxelel boomed, "AT LAST I AM FREE!" The island started to collapse. The party quickly pulled out the magic carpet and flew away as the screams of hundreds, both from slaves and gnolls, haunted the island as the volcano burst lava into the sky and tsunami-like waves began to take in the island. The island sunk away while the party flew to their safety, coming back into contact with the ship The Aquarius.
With some bad news: according to Captain Dorian, he got a report that Mryna was seized by King Asthenios' troops the moment they left the city. Returning to the Kingdom of Potea was a terrible idea with Asthenios knowing who they were. Thus, there was only one safe option: the heartlands of the Tallian Empire. Captain Dorian suggested travelling into the gulf, to the city of Egona. The party agreed, and thus they departed for the heartlands of the Tallians.

Jethro: King Asthenios! To think he'd betray his own nation in such a way.

Theodora: And the gods as well, dear brother.

Jethro: Well, he won't succeed. The gods exist even in this day... Right?

Theodora: Questions will be answered, my brother. For now, why not give the Tallians a visit?

In World Date

September 4th-5th, 2003

Report Date

11 Oct 2020

Hydra by Stefan Kopinski

In the Fountain of Demetria, the party was faced by a fearsome Hydra. The battle nearly took one of their own.

Characters in this adventure:

• Rashida is a loyal human disciple of Vanu-Am, the hidden goddess of fate, who has saved her from death. Rashida devoted her life to hermitage, walking around the coast of Dragoncrest to secretly assist the misfortunate. She hails from Tamay.

• Theden is an elven acrobat and storyteller, hailing from Potea. He has a strong ethical code, looking out for the little guy and does the right thing more often than not.

• Creetens is a triton bard, one who prefers to enchant his problems away. He is a charlatan and a thief, but as well as a proper performer and musician. He was exiled away from the triton kingdom for his ravaging behavior.

Allies of the Party:

• Ascus the Brave. Once a drunkard, Ascus turned aside that life and found purpose as a hero. He swore his life to Morganine and fights for her honor and glory.