THE HYDROMANCER DEBACLE |
February 27, 1999 GM: Jess Cyphers |
| WHAT HAS COME BEFORE |
| The Blackrazors have returned -- triumphantly -- to Blue. They have
successfully recovered the senior members of the guild, who had been taken over by ancient
Suel archmages and then mysteriously discarded. Under the leadership of Kalib Ironfist and
Tanevir Calywyn they have also succeeded in awakening the sleeping hero-god Krovis. The
god returned with them to Blue, and is helping to prepare an invasion of their home city. Upon their return -- on Reaping 11, CY 588 -- the Blackrazors learned that all was not well in Blue -- or in any of the lands neighboring the Azure Sea. The sea level had risen by nearly a foot, causing massive flooding in all of the coastal villages bordering the Azure. They’ve also learned of a possible origin point for these effects -- giant whirlpools located off the shore of the Olman Islands, near the Scarlet Brotherhood’s peninsula. |
| THE STORY |
Faced with a very strong, and unknown, magical foe, the Blackrazors
turned to their patron god, Trithereon, for answers thanks to a commune spell cast
by Kalib Ironfist via his holy sword Justiceseeker.
After Kalib’s spell ended, the Blackrazors were faced with a sobering realization -- things were much, much worse than they had imagined. * * * The Blackrazors teleported to the location they had scryed in the Olmans. They found several silent, but deadly, warriors waiting for them. They defeated these warriors, hacked their way through a jungle, and headed for a nearby coastal village called Coralton. There they found that most of the village had been smashed by tidal waves, and that it only had one large ship left. After much arguing -- and insulting comments -- the Blackrazors succeeded in strong-arming the ship's captain into helping them. * * * After several days at sea, the Blackrazors’ ship was attacked by a combination of sea devils and sharks, and a sea-zombie-manned war galley. They barely succeeded in fighting off their attackers, and realized as the galley was sinking that it was the same galley that they had sold to Obsidian Bay more than a year ago. After the fight the captain refused to continue the trip. Some of the Blackrazors wanted to magically coerce the captain into holding up his end of the bargain, but the independent-minded Kalib refused -- to do such a thing would be an affront to his beliefs and his god. So instead the Blackrazors "temporarily" commandeered the ship, incapacitating its leaders and compelling crew to carry them to their destination. Once they reached it, the Blackrazors plunged into the water, and the ship immediately began sailing for safer waters. * * * Below the surface, the Blackrazors found a large sunken temple atop a sea mount which was apparently the sea mage’s lair. They succeeded in finding a side entrance and broke into the temple. Once inside, the scope of their adventure -- and just how unprepared for it they were -- became apparent. Aside from Kalib -- who owned a helm of underwater action -- and a few of the clerics -- like Karaan, who could cast free action -- the Blackrazors were not ready for underwater combat. In their first encounter in the temple, they were attacked be a legion of fishmen. The sea devils were vanquished -- along with several Blackrazors -- when Kalib cast a lightning bolt under water. The blast of magical electricity fried their opponents and half of the guild members because Kalib had underestimated the radius of the lightning’s effects. After the battle, the Blackrazors realized that they would not be able to defeat the mage’s minions, let alone the powerful hyrdomancer himself. They attempted to teleport away, only to find themselves shunted to prisons somewhere else in the temple. With luck and skill, they were able to escape from the prisons and begin working their way through the temple’s submerged passages. One of these passages led to a huge cavern and halfway through it they encountered its guardians: several giant octopi (although some of the Blackrazors thought they were squid). The Blackrazors launched a running fight, battling back the octopi as they headed for the cavern’s exit. During the fighting Karaan, who had won a ring of storm giant strength during the Blackrazors' raids against the Scarlet Brotherhood, strood mightly into battle and activated the ring. His look of proud confidence drained with his strength as the ring's curse became active. He faltered, suddenly reduced to the strength of a small child. The fight continued and after several minutes Karaan's normal strength returned. It didn't save him. One of the octopi snared him with its many arms, dragged him to its maw and snapped off his head. The Blackrazors were barely able to strip him of his magical items before octopus swallowed the rest of the still-cooling corpse. They then fled the chamber, found the main entrance, and left the complex. Once on the surface, they teleported back to Blue, where they decided to send a contingent of Blackrazors to Swamphold. From there they would be able to get a message to the Circle of Five about the problem, asking them to handle it. They later learned that the powerful mages were already aware of the problem, and had left to take care of it. Several days later, on the 17th of Reaping CY 588, they learned that the Circle had managed -- barely -- to defeat the mage. |
This page was last edited on 07/25/99 -- The Griffin's Crier -- hosted by www.nuketown.com |