Arcade’s Journal -- The Faerie Circles, Part 3

...some of the party decided to explore the hillock which we had arrived on. They climbed down one side and found a small brook at the bottom.

Suddenly a pair of javelins shot out of the nearby bushes and over the group’s head. A pair of large, froglike humanoids emerged, and sprang to the attack! Tao and the rest made short work of the two as the other Defenders charged down the hill to assist, but in an instant the air was full of the creatures as more leaped from the water and out of the brush. One of the frog-beings (who we later discovered were bullywugs), made for me and stabbed me deeply with his spear. I needed a distraction to escape, so I quickly took out the stone of Continual Darkness that I keep in hidden in my cloak-hem pouch.

I had planned to expose it for only 10 seconds or so, to give me time to get away. Unfortunately Velendo had been aiming at the thing when everything went dark. He struck out, and gave me a bash that nearly put out my lights! I managed to pocket the stone, and the returning day revealed that the bullywug had fumbled his spear haft right into Velendo’s grasp. I cut loose with some Missiles and the party set to with a will. The battle was, thankfully, soon over....

...spent some time getting healed and being berated by the party for not giving warning before using spells that could cause darkness or blindness. After some discussion we hit upon a plan. To avoid such problems in the future, we will call out maneuver numbers to warn of impending events. "Maneuver 1" will indicate darkness, "maneuver 2" a blinding effect, and "maneuver 3" will be a warning to drop to the ground. Others will be added as needed....

...realized that if we remained in place the bullywugs might return, and set off into the swampy forest. It soon became clear that we would not be able to continue traveling on foot much longer, as the swamp was becoming more and more damp. Just then, out of the mist drifted a large raft, being piloted by an elderly female orc. Using some translation spells we discovered that her name was Agatha, and that she wasn’t a bad sort. A combination of friendliness, persuasion and bribery with Badgerbite got us a ride.

Alix and Tom-Tom were carrying around way too much energy after the combat, and they worked some of it off by tossing Velendo into the swamp for fun. There he met the local leeches, which it took quite some time to get off.

Agatha told us that twice a month, further to the northwest, a huge pillar of fire rises into the sky. It is followed by a wave of darkness that seems to emanate from that direction. She was quite pleased that we had dealt with the bullywugs, as the creatures had killed and eaten her pet lizards. ("My muckies," she called them.)

It seems likely that the pillar of fire is being made by the being that we are seeking. We are making all possible speed to the northwest....

...a bit later in the day. We were poling through the swamp, and suddenly heard a loud "whoomph!" Far away we could see the pillar of fire reaching towards the sky. We are hurrying on, using the site as our target....

...much later, arrived at a large, dry clearing below a hill. Through the scrub, the remains of a stone building with a tower are visible. We sent Agatha on her way with some Badgerbite and much thanks.

I have consumed a potion of Vitality, so that I may both take a watch and memorize spells in case of attack....

...during the night a huge mass of bullywugs surrounded our position but did not attack. In the morning they approached under truce, and the largest of them said "Chundath awaits you." He gestured towards the hill, and we made our way up to the summit, walking between two lines of armed bullywugs who watched us in silence.

When we reached the top we were herded into a large, rope-enclosed circle. Out of the still air came the high-pitched whine of the Doxelfar. I informed the staff that now was the time, and in a green flash the tableau vanished, leaving only the staff and myself! To my left and right I saw walls of green flame, with a black wall behind. Before me, I saw a wall of white flame which seemed to pull me forward. I stepped through and found myself back in the clearing.

Everything appeared frozen in place. Two short, thin, brownie-like creatures (the Doxelfar), seemed to be in the middle of trying to wrap the party up in the rope. The Defender’s weapons were drawn, and each member was looking about, wildly. Since I could finally see our foes I tried launching a Magic Missile, but it fizzled on contact. I wrongly presumed that the beings had resisted the spell, when, with a sudden jerk, everything sped back into motion. I appealed to the staff to try again.

Again, I faced the flaming walls and stepped through into the frozen scene. This time I stabbed one of the Doxelfar, and my blade snapped as if I’d struck stone. A magical dagger also failed to leave even a scratch. As real time again took hold, I suddenly realized that I could only manipulate things which I had personally carried through the wall of white flame.

I quickly grabbed some rope and one of Velendo’s holy bricks. Unfortunately, one of the creatures began attacking me. Tom-Tom hit it with a ram of invisible force, and the creature collided with me at great speed. I was flung to the ground and lost my grip on the staff, just as it disappeared.

When it reappeared a minute later it looked most unhappy, and glowered balefully at me. (Never mind that it hadn’t told me what it was going to do, nor mentioned what the rules for using the period of no-time were going to be!)

Mostly by luck, the Doxelfar had both received wounds, and now they fled. Glimmer remained tightly wrapped in the rope. At that moment a pair of creatures emerged from the tower. A large bullywug strode towards us, a strange lizard-like dog at his side.

The bullywug spoke to us in broken Common. "Surrender now, quick and painless, you die!"

As one, we attacked.

I put a patch of Grease under both creatures, and several missile weapons struck the bullywug, blasting it apart. DogC (Tao’s new dog), closed in to finish off the lizard beast.

Our victory was short-lived. DogC began whining in terror, and Cambion burst into blazing light in Alix’s hand. The lizard-dog’s mouth opened impossibly wide, and it began to change shape, growing into a hideous humanoid that reeked of the Abyss. It was clad in what looked like golden-dragon-scale armor, and it wielded a fell mace that screamed as it split the air.

The creature mocked us.

"Bearsfroth told me to expect your arrival. You are even more pathetic that he described! I bring news of your late acquaintance, Nostradis Ghend. He is chained to a rock having his entrails removed for all eternity, but he remembers you quite clearly. Now you shall join him in death!"

As one frog, the bullywugs fled.

I opened the battle with a Darkening Bolt, but he laughed as the electricity played about him. Plainly, he was immune. Tao closed and struck him with the Gauntlet of Shrinking, but again the enchantment had no effect. He also resisted Nolin’s Snowball Swarm. Things were looking bad.

A bloody and very nasty combat ensued. Finally, after a series of ineffectual strikes, Tom-Tom managed to pierce its back armor with a hurled, magical dagger. The blade struck deep, and the being roared that he had not been hurt so in centuries. He reached back and yanked out the dagger. The wound spurted flame!

The demon then proceeded to stalk Tom-Tom, teleporting after him around the clearing. Tom-Tom tumbled towards the fighters, but the demon followed and struck hard, wounding the halfling badly. Trying spells once more, Nolin and I both managed to hit with Magic Missiles. I followed that with a Pyrotechnics spell cast on the flaming wound in the demon’s back. It didn't like that! Tao and Velendo followed with quick strikes in the same location. The beast screamed and began to dissipate in a cloud of black smoke.

Just as we thought we were safe, Tom-Tom yelled that the demon was materializing behind me! I ran forward a few steps, turned, and cast Gust of Wind. At the same moment, Tom-Tom struck it with another dagger, and other party members’ arrows slammed into it. Behind the demon's wispy, smoking form a planar gate opened, and he was blown through it. It slammed shut behind him.

I restrained myself from asking him to give our best to Ghend....