EPT
[D&D] Kobolds of Wyweria - 4th Session
This is an adventure summary from a Dungeons & Dragons Campaign I'm currently DMing. For information on the campaign, check out the introductory post here first: (link), the Genesis of Wyweria: (link), the 1st Campaign Session: (link), the 2nd Campaign Session: (link), and the 3rd Campaign Session: (link).
We last left off with our four Kobold warriors, each birthed from the dead spirits of their murdered people, just winding down from their final confrontation with Bloody Jack. They are the great reincarnations of the legendary heroes of the Kobold race: Calhar (Monk), Errantspark (Bard), Sandwhale (wilder), and Vodkaholic (Druid). As they rested in the woods, they were confronted by a mysterous iron creature, an Inevitable-- a being of pure Law. It knew they were Kobolds, and promised death upon them.
The players reconvene, and the plot continues.
The Inevitable
Our heroes, such as they are, find themselves face-to-face, 720 feet in the air, with the Inevitable. They immediately scatter and get ready to do battle, as they cannot escape via flight. Sandwhale actives the Winged Boots taken freshly from the corpse of Bloody Jack, and backs off, firing a beam of crystallization at the Construct. However, it is protected by bands of holy energy and he cannot pentrate its resistance. Errantspark uses his ring of Feather fall and begins casting enchantments and using bard song to increase the strength of his allies, and Vodkaholic turns into an eagle, flying down below the Inevitable. Only Calhar remains to do battle, he who is without magical flight and must remain on the flying carpet.
The blows exchanged between the Inevitable and the Kobold Monk are mighty. Though the Inevitable's attacks are slow, they are powerful and it is all Calhar can do to avoid them. Calhar's attacks are plentiful and accurate, but only sometimes can overcome the Damage Reduction of the powerful machine, and must battle against its constantly-running self-repair mechanisms. Vodkaholic summons a lightning storm and smites the Inevitable several times. Sometimes his bolts pierce its resistance, and sometimes they do not. Sandwhale quickly realizes his crystallization spell isn't working, and summons constructs to fire beams of energy at the extraplanar foe.
It is a long and grueling battle, but at last the Inevitable seems to fail-- damaged badly, it will not last much longer. Then, it lands a blow with its lightning fist on Calhar, and the monk is temporarily blinded. The Extraplanar Construct begins to make its escape, for discretion can be the better part of valor, liberally using its Dimension Door ability. There is nothing Sandwhale or Errantspark can do, and even if Calhar could see, the Magic Carpet isn't nearly fast enough to carry him. It is Vodkaholic who finds the solution, converting his prepared spells into mighty summoning magic, summoning into the Material Realm two giant Air Elementals. They go racing off after the creature of Law, moving as fast as the wind itself. They run it down, and rend it apart, smashing the gears and mechanisms that support it.
The Inevitable is dead.
The Kobolds gather around and plan their next move with increased urgency. Yes, nobody on the Material Plane knew they existed, but they had violated fundamental laws of the universe. They had to move quickly. Who should they target next? The Sage, the Avatar, and the Dwarflord all still stood against them. They'd only be able to surprise one more-- the dissappearace of any of the remaining heroes, all of whom were well-known leaders, would raise the attentions of the remaining two. They opted to attack the Champion who would benefit the most from being prepared, and be the weakest if caught by surprise: Rotuvius, Chief Librarian of Athis and eternal member of the Council of the Forest. A mage of unparralleled power and influence, his good and righteous deeds, and arcane knowledge and power are beyond the comprehension of any mortal. An Elf hundreds of years old, he has seen the birth and death of Kings and Nations. Some even whisper he was one of The First Elves, born in that misty passage at the dawn of time when the world was young and the gods still created new life.
They can't afford to scry on him, because as a mage he doubtlessly has magical protection and detection against scrying. However, he is no rogue, he is no thief. If they disguise themselves and ask questions about him in a tavern they're just another group of curious travelers, though. He won't have his ear to the ground, and people probably ask about him all the time. They will find him, isolate him alone, and attack him all at once. Using Gloves' contact network they purchase two scrolls of Antimagic field. Although none of them know the spell, Errantspark can fake it long enough to get the field going. Their tactic: get the Sage into the field, and beat him to death physically. No spells, no magic, nothing but brute strength.
Through the meticulous gathering of information at various libraries, trading posts, and bars, they learn of Rotuvius' patterns. For a few hours each day he deals with public inquiries in the Library's main hall-- and the rest of the time he's in his private study. His wife, Tyanil, lives in the capital, Pora. After some discussion, the players decide that targetting the wife is a sub-optimal strategy. Rotuvius may have friends and extra resources to bear if the wife is used as bait or ransom. No, they'd need to go after him directly. Errantspark buys a scroll of Greater Teleport, and they hash out their plan. The study, they know, is Dimensionally Locked-- no teleporting in or out. The hallway, however, is not. They'll teleport in, activate the Antimagic Field scroll, and rush forwards to destroy their adversary before he can cast his powerful spells.
The Sage
The first part of the plan goes smoothly. The four warriors pop into existence outside the door of Rotuvius' study. Looking around, they quickly realize the corridor is empty. Sandwhale creates an Astral Construct, and Errantspark activates his scroll of Antimagic field. They burst through the door, finding themselves in a large laboratory. Benches with arcane experiments, shelves with stacks of books, tables and chairs and lamps clutter the room. Seated at a table writing is an ancient elf. Rotuvius.
The Kobolds spring into action, barreling down on the might wizard. Errantspark engulfs him in the antimagic field, and Calhar moves to cut off any possible escape. Sandwhale steps forward and suddenly finds himself engulfed in an arcane trap, as webs spring up out of the floor and drop down from the ceiling, entangling him. Alarms blare out throughout the study and the hallway outside Vodkhalic slams down a wall of stone to block off the south and east exits of the room. No Teleporting, no spellcasting, no escape. The sage only has time to croak "No!" before Calhar shoves a wretched Kobold claw into the him.
As he dies, it is not blood that leaks out of the Elf, but Water. His entire body suddenly seems to be made of ice or snow, and is melting into the floor beneath the group's feet. What just happened? The kobolds regroup and Errantspark remembers a forgotten piece of Bardic Lore, about a tale ages ago when, at the height of some political conflict, hired killers tried to kill Rotuvius. His arcane might was such that he created an animated a simulated construct of himself, a simulacrum that could feel, think, reason, and even use magic-- but it was much weaker than himself, and when it was slain Rotuvius arrived and apprehended the killers. At first he had thought the spell to be a complex shadow magic spell, but he realized now it was not. As he explained this, a ripping sound is heard. Rotivius has arrived in the hallway via teleportation. The Kobolds turn to face the wizard.
Rotuvius strikes first, using powerful time magic, and in the space of a single turn moves so fast the Kobolds might as well be stationary. He casts several spells, his motion blurring against the wall behind him, strengthening and protecting him. Then, he tears open a Gate between this realm and the next, calling Celestial creatures to his aid to strike down the evil Kobolds. 5 Unovirns choose to heed his call, and they stride out of the gate and array themselves before him. He points out the Kobolds, and the beautiful horselike creatures growl in anger.
Sandwhale steps out of the antimagic field. He fires a beam of crystallization, but Rotuvius' defensive wards deny it. Calhar leaps forwards and strikes the front unicorn, but finds it partially immune to his all-too-mundane fists. Errantspark moves forwards, hoping to dispel the summons with his Antimagic field, but they are no summons, they are Called creatures-- they chose to come to this plane, and are not bound here by their magic but their will. Vodkaholic leaps forwards and strikes one of the unicorns.
In the following frenzy of combat, Astral Constructs and the Kobolds do battle with the unicorns, while Rotuvius tries several times to enchant or dominate Calhar and Vodkaholic, to little effect. Spells fly back and forth, and Sandwhale is unable to penetrate the Elf's defenses with his save-or-die spells. The Unicorns are canny, intelligent fighters, and cast divine spells like clerics, healing and supporting each other without getting focused down. Calhar is getting low on hit points, and though Vodkaholic has a couple healing spells and a scroll or two left, it looks like our heroes, such as they are, might run out of resources in this battle against the mighty Wizard and his angelic friends. Time is running out, for in another few minutes or so, reinforcements would arrive from the central library. Tempers run hot, and the players blame each other for a plan so badly botched.
At last, Calhar sees his opening, and uses his Boundless Step to jump past the Unicorn frontlines and bring him in close to the mighty Wizard. He swings his clawed fist at the Wizard, and finds himself grasping at air-- for it was not the mage, but an image of him that stood rearguard. The Unicorns turn on him and strike at him as he drinks a potion of See Invisibility, spotting Rotuvius hidden at last against the opposite wall. Rotuvius panics and attempts to Disintegrate the Monk, but Calhar nimbly dodges the deadly beam. He leaps onto the Hero of Elves, tackling him to the ground in an attempt to stop the salvos of deadly spells. Errantspark runs after him, tumbling between the Unicorns to bring the Wizard, now held in place, within range of the Antimagic field.
The Monk squeezes the Wizard around the throat. "die... die..." he hisses in his serpentine native tongue, Draconic. The Wizard whispers, trying to cast spells, but is unable to speak-- and even if he could, the antimagic field would stop him. Calhar is elated. Suddenly, he feels hooves against his back as several tons of angry Unicorn bear down on him, trying to pin him to the floor with their enormous weight. Sandwhale commands his Astral Constructs in, and as a unicorn tackles Errantspark and drags him away, Vodkaholic joins in. Suddenly the hallway is a mess of Constructs, Animals, Unicorns, and Kobolds wrestling, grappling, pinning, biting, kicking, punching, and bleeding, and it continues this way for a couple minutes (30 minutes real time due to the arcane incomprehensible 3.5e multi-grapple rules) until at last the Wizard has been choked out. More mages are heard running down the hall as the Kobolds form up, and Errantspark activates a scroll of Teleport to bring them away, away to freedom.
Their vengeance is bloody and dirty, for even the best-laid plans rarely survive contact with the enemy-- but the life was at last choked out of the Sage Rotuvius, Master of Enchantments, Slayer of the Dragon Tyrant, child of the First Elves. They have to move quickly now, though-- only a day to rest, and they would be going after their next target, for now that the world knows of Kobolds killing off The Champions, they can afford no more dalliance. They will have vengeance for their people. They must.
