Report: Terrors of the Tower
General Summary
I joined Russell, Monique, and Patrick on a visit to the Tower of Water, one of the four elemental towers associated with the Deadstone Tower. Russell brought Daisy, the elephant, Patrick brought a horse, and I summoned Phantom Steeds along the way for Monique and I.
We set off to the tower, which Russell had wanted to explore. Approximately four hours into the trip I noticed through Bonemeal’s vision that strange flying creatures were flying towards bonemeal, coming from near trees ahead. We soon identified these to be manticores. Four of them were a bit bigger than me, while another was quite large.
My intention was for us to run, but unfortunately Daisy, although fearsome and loyal, and Patrick’s horse were no match for the raw speed and power of my horses. That’s the kind of quality you can come to expect if you find yourself riding one of my horses. Monique and I burned down one of the smaller manticores as I blitzed past everyone. Unfortunately, I realized that their mounts were not quick enough to avoid the attack. Quickly, Patrick’s horse fell unconscious in combat and I was forced to turn around.
The raw power of Daisy as well as the athleticism of Russell allowed them to knock creatures down and grapple them with great ease. Soon, Russell had grappled the largest one to the ground. We continued our assault, and eventually the manticores were defeated. Patrick’s horse was healed, and Patrick began harvesting the corpses.
The largest manticore only had one eye and eerily seemed to be some sort of experiment, mixed with a humanoid creature. Though Patrick was bloodied, we made the decision to press on and rest at the tower. I was concerned for his health, but I understood where they were coming from.
As we approached the tower, we noticed close to it a cold campfire with supplies nearby. Next to the fire pit was a large sleeping chimera. It bore three heads. That of a goat, an otter, and a reptilian head. We formulated a plan. I would web the creature in their sleep while Russell and Monique, atop Daisy, would rush towards the creature ready to attack. Unfortunately, before we could do that, harpies came rushing at us waking the chimera up.
Fortunately, the web held, as Russell, Monique, and to be honest, Daisy most of all, mauled the creature. It did fight back and it seemed a mighty foe, but the others were two powerful. Meanwhile, Patrick and I focused on the harpies attacking. Together we were able to destroy all threats. One of the harpies also seemed twisted by experiments making it more human like the Manticore from earlier.
After resting and fighting we entered the tower. Though I had not ever taken a trip to the central tower or any of these elemental towers, I could tell something was wrong. Each floor seemed as though it had been cleaned out, empty of documents or useful items that must have once adorned the rooms. I was beginning to think the whole tower was empty, but we arrived at the top of the tower where we found two beings unfamiliar to all but myself.
First was S.A.M.. I have not met them but I have heard of their power and potential as well as their general function. Unfortunately for S.A.M., only a head remained of their golem body. After a brief conversation he clarified that having had time to think about things he realized that we were not who he thought we were. The other was Dame Tessia the Adamament, Knight commander of the Knights Sapphire. She expected us, apparently sooner.
In the room was a blue gem on the wall, cracked and flickering. We were informed that the gem no longer contained enough energy to serve its purpose. I pondered what happened here, and though we learned a bit, I would have liked to learn more. What I did learn is that the gem was broken on purpose and would take a long time to be repaired. Malkor had morphed through all of the towers and he had also opened portals sending many of his creations to stop us. Dame Tessia also stopped many of the creatures when it happened, but ultimately we suspect some creatures may still be around.
The other knights had also come here, including an apparently skilled knight known as Sir Devyln Bluebell, who I admit I had to read about upon my return. Each of them had gone to a different tower. Dame Tessia admitted concern for the other knights. She told us that the other knights, with the exception of Sir Devyln, were not skilled enough to stay alive for long in the towers. Even Sir Devyln seemed to be in trouble as he had gone to the Fire Tower, the location where Malkor’s Prime form resided, as the tower contained the most power. She was trying to form a strategy about how to recover her knights. We offered to help.
We used a Freezing Core to traverse to the Water Plane. They decided to take S.A.M.’s head with us on the trip which deeply confounded me. When we arrived we found ourselves completely submerged. Monique had cast a spell on each of which pushed us all towards the “Surface”. We came to the top which led to a more open area with several paths around us which we could take. Soon sharks began approaching and I made a decision to Polymorph Patrick into a shark. It was mostly a great idea.
We fought the approaching beasts, and Russell, who has quite possibly developed a non-substance based addiction to burning things, lit himself aflame, despite being completely submerged in water. He even burned Monique and came very close to burning us as well. Fortunately, Patrick was immensely powerful in his new form, and was incapable of harvesting. This, along with his speed, made him a powerful asset in this mission. I watched in awe as he devoured the smaller sharks, sometimes in one gulp.
Russell unfortunately found the body we were looking for. He was dead and we lacked the ability to do anything about it. We proceeded to look for a way out. Eventually Patrick, now in shark form, Monique and I found a small cove with an abundance of gold. I thought for a moment about how to recover a bunch of the gold at this moment, but failed to recognize the time pressure we were under. I momentarily moved away from Patrick and froze a section of the water with a rope part way in the space so that we may drag the gold with us.
To my horror, as I turned around Patrick, now a shark, had taken Monique away and they moved with great celerity. This was in contrast to me who was extremely slow and relying on the speed of a shark to carry me.
Then it happened. We had an interaction of sorts with Malkor. He spoke to us in our minds saying something along the lines of “I see you’ve arrived at my Tower of Water. I have sent my friends to come keep you company until I arrive.”
Needless to say we were frightened and my allies frantically looked for an exit. Unfortunately Patrick and Monique were long gone. Fortunately Russell came to my rescue. He took the ice and I took the body. I was still very slow but had he not done this I would have had to abandon the block right then.
We navigated the underwater space before us. Russell eventually found his way to a strange room which he described as being a room for a ritual or something. I unintentionally followed him but only had a second glance. What I did see was many strange tentacle creatures almost forming a circle around a constructed room with coral around the edges.
We could feel many many enemies approaching. As Patrick and Monique found an exit and managed to break it open, Malkor spoke to us again, threatening us mockingly and warning us about a rising tide. I could feel our time running thin. Luckily, Russell and I caught up and we all exited through a large blue gem.
We returned the body to Dame Tessia. She seemed confident she would be able to get the knight resurrected. We hope to return to assist with the other knights, if not to at least return their remains. I will admit, seeing even a fraction of Malkor’s power was impressive. I can only imagine what the Primal form of Malkor is like, and what vast knowledge of magic he holds.
Scribed by Pale Moon
Adventuring Party: Pale Moon, Russell, Monique, Patrick Smith
Date: 21JUN22
Report Date
21 Jun 2022
Primary Location
Related Characters
Comments