Stranger in a Strange Land
| Stranger in a Strange Land | |
|---|---|
| Storyteller | Tire |
| Tier | Master |
| Player Characters | Sanguine, Radari, Vliegen the Windborne, Rowyn Lloch |
| Rewards | 300xp, Energy-Absorbing (Fire) Rune, Transmuting Ingots (Adamantine) x2, 261pp |
| Result | Success |
| Author | Sanguine (Dag) |
| Downtime | 20 |
Associates ascend an imperceptible mountain to gain knowledge from an ancient cyclops.
Log
If I did not know I had the gods’ favor, I might have thought that this party was some kind of divine punishment. Still, I have to commend the tengu for winning the heart of a Phistophilus, despite his chaotic disposition. Lictor Radari as well remains reliable, despite his flaws. In the leshy, however, I have found no redeeming qualities. I was fortunate to have brought with me more than enough reading material to pass the time during our ten days of travel.
We met the Jotunborn Groth, and he informed us of our quarry: an ancient cyclops ally of the Jotunborn named Anei-Ra, whom he hoped will hold the secrets to traversing the planes back to his home in the “Fray”. The cyclops' powers of divination were once unmatched, except by the Bearded Lord, but over the centuries their powers have dwindled significantly, especially since the unforeseen downfall of their own society.
The mountain on which Anei-Ra was said to reside was nowhere to be seen, nor sensed. Fortunately, it was no issue for the Atlas Arcane, which led us to its base. There seemed to be a magical barrier keeping out any light from the sun, moon, and stars. On the mountain, however, was a trail of lanterns leading up a trail to a monastery. With our goal of diplomacy in mind, we made our way up the path properly, rather than using the tengu's gift of flight. Some long-forgotten undead guards sought to stop our ascent, and we were able to avoid an obvious haunt- until the leshy triggered it, making everyone else’s lives that much more difficult. Moreover, it seemed that I was the only one with half a brain to be able to disable it, which I did with ease.
After we dispatched the undead, I suggested that Groth lead our ascent, to avoid further aggression. We encountered nothing more until we reach the monastery. Stepping inside, we were met with Soul Skelms, fiends created on the Material Plane. Valena, in her weakness, succumbed to their power, making her undetectable to all but myself, and I summoned a foot soldier of Hell to pick up the slack. And indeed she did, crushing the skelms beneath her hooves with ease.
Once the skelms were dealt with, we made our way through the rest of the building, encountering only Shadow Guardians who seemed not to care about our presence.
Seeing nothing in this building, we crossed a bridge to another structure. A papery cyclops claimed himself to be Anei-Ra, but denied any knowledge of Jotunborn. Alongside him were Sakhil, fiends who delight in causing fear in mortals. The combat was routine, though Lictor Radari saw fit to abandon our group near the end and pursue a Dracolisk outside using the tengu’s powers of flight. The tengu investigated the body of the cyclops, and pocketed the red gem of its eye as a gift for his beloved. We were able to determine that the cyclops we encountered was not a true cyclops, but instead a golem in the shape of the cyclops lich.
Radari returned, disappointed in his inability to catch the Dracolisk.
The real Anei-Ra entered from the bridge, by all accounts appearing as though he had just awoken from a deep slumber. Indeed, by his telling he had been asleep for long enough to be unaware of the current methods of marking the years. This Anei-Ra was familiar with Jotunborn, and greeted Groth warmly. We informed him of the ongoing events regarding the Four Horsemen, and despite his survival through countless calamities this still seemed to cause him concern. He offered to grant us knowledge, as though out of obligation. It is unknown what knowledge was conferred.
Fortunately for Groth, this Anei-Ra did seem to be able to aid him, so our mission was not in vain. Evidently, there is a group of Tooth Fairies who have the knowledge to create portals to any plane, including those not thought possible, such as “Spider”.
We are granted some platinum pieces and esoterica for our troubles, and suffer another long journey home.