Session 220 - Tigers in the Halls of Light
General Summary
5th and 6th of Halane (Second Month of Autumn) 724TR
The story so far
Jolanta, and her trusty bodyguard Blaine, are agents of the mysterious Order of the White Hand, hunting down unscrupulous mages and covering up magical mishaps.
An extremely dangerous Navehan Assassin is hunting Jolanta, so she has decided to flee to her home in the distant Kingdom of Melderyn through a shortcut. A magical gateway located in the Earthmaster site of Telumar.
This is the continuation of Session 217 - A Dagger in the Dark.
Location - Earthmaster site of Telumar, west of the Kingdom of Melderyn.
Part 1 - Tigers
Blaine and Jolanta's rushed trip south to Telumar is uneventful. However, the ancient Earthmaster site has much changed from her previous visit. The wooden side building has been abandoned and is in a dilapidated state. But much more disturbing are a series of stakes driven into the ground, decorated with impaled men, local Bujoc barbarians. A close examination reveals the corpses are around ten days old and many of the bodies have claw marks.
Cautiously the duo enters the Earthmaster building. There is no sign of the Master Illusionist Lepridis Ueld. Jolanta recalls when she last saw her old teacher he was preparing to leave Telumar, which was over a year ago. The entry chamber is smeared with blood and gore, animal and human remains are scattered about. Coming up the stairs, the characters are shocked to see a huge, powerful cat. A vicious beast with orange and black stripes. The duo battle among the gore, and it is a very dangerous feline, but eventually, it falls to Jolanta's disintegration magic. It is not alone.
Part 2 - Strangers from a Strange Land
Three men arrogantly approach. They are foreigners, dark-skinned, wearing brightly colored garb. Two are warriors wielding intricate serrated steel-headed spears. The other appears to be an elaborately dressed, a noble of some type, perhaps? These must be visitors from afar away from land, having traveled through the Godstone. The warriors immediately attack and prove a challenge for Blaine; their spears cause all manner of grievous cuts. However, he holds them at bay until Jolanta destroys them with her disintegration magic.
The noble is another story altogether. He casually shrugs off her most potent spells with contempt and advances. Only Blaine's magic sword Orc Bleeder seems to be causing the foreigner concern. Blaine cuts the man's side, suddenly his appearance wavers. His true form is revealed: a sinister cat-man with black and yellow fur with sharp claws set of hands that appear twisted, facing the wrong way. Jolanta identifies this as a legendary Rakshasa, a demon from the jungle nations to the far south. The man-beast tears into Blaine and Jolanta.
Just as Blaine appears to be getting the better of him out of the nearby pool, a huge statue emerges. The water-drenched constructs pummel Blaine allowing the Rakshasa to escape downstairs to the building's chamber of the Godstones. Does the creature mean to escape? Jolanta shouts, "The statue is an illusion." She is correct, it is quickly dispersed, and the heroes rush downstairs in hot pursuit.
More illusions wait for the duo, appearing as giant rock-like lizards, but these are little more than a distraction. The Rakshasa strikes from the shadow, tearing into Blaine, and then turns Invisible and darts back into darkness in the confusion. However, Blaine scores some decent hits, and the Rakshasa starts bleeding badly, so he decides to escape through the Godstone. Jolanta feels the psychic energy of an activated magical gateway. Using her Necklace of Infravision, she follows the warm blood trial and directs Blaine to attack a point just before the Godstone. He swings his sword blindly and hits something solid, killing the Rakshasa moments before it can escape.
Part 3 - Exploring Teluma Again
Now the heroes have time to rest and assess the situation. Jolanta spends the next day exploring Telumar again to see if anything else has changed since she studied Illusion and Earthmasters here a year ago.
One room contains entrapped Air Elementals, which causes considerable explosive havoc when released from confinement. Another contains strange glowing swarms of firefly-like creatures, but the quick-witted Jolanta closes the door before they burst free. A section of the broken wall has allowed mud to seep in, and it moves, animated by some elemental spirits attracted by the magical nature of the location. Again this is quickly dealt with.
Also, the heroes briefly explore the strange rubble-filled chamber filled with weird glowing bubbles of light. Unfortunately, one hits Blaine, and he finds himself turning to stone. Only a last-second Dispel Magic saves him from becoming a statue. The characters decide to leave this dangerous chamber alone. The Jolanta also finds a psionic locked door, but she cannot open it; the door was shut last time she visited.
Not wanting to waste any more time, Jolanta decides to leave Telumar through the Godstone. Sensing the coordinates are set to a location she is unfamiliar with, possibly the home of the Rakshasa? Not wanting to encounter another one of those fiends any time soon, she resets the address to the Cherafir Chantry of the Guild of Arcane Lore and travels to the Kingdom of Melderyn. And not a moment too soon, the Navehan Assassin is on her trail and less than a half a day behind.
To be continued.
NPC Interactions
Not this week.
Challenges Overcome
Killed a Tiger and a Rakshasa plus 2 x Foreign Fanatics.
Destroyed 2 x Air Elementals. Avoided 2 x Firefly Swarms.
Eliminated 1 x Muck Spawn and 10 x Mud Mephits.
Survived a few seconds in the infamous Bubble Chamber.
Created Contact
Nothing this week.
Related Reports
Player Character Status
Jolanta - Human - Level 11 Evoker.
NPC Companions
Blaine
Jolanta's loyal and often drunk bodyguard.
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