Chapter 14: Things From Another World

[jemmus]

Mungo rouses himself, rises to his short height and says in his irritable 70-year-old moleman voice, By Verne and Wells! Whom I just met in my sleep! What are all of carrying on about now! I haven't had a worse night's sleep since the night in the Sleestak "guest house," when you all went exploring for secret doors and discovering Ambrose and co-cell monsters and such! All of that could have waited, don't you think.

The other one was when the cave worms got onto the ledge with us.

I'm very sorry friends, I'm grumpy when I'm wakened. Tomorrow, the power of Verne and Wells will be shown! You will see! Defend the camp.... zzzzz.

[SilverBen]

Finver abruptly puts his deeply personal conference with Connack on hold. He is astonished by Ko-Nan stumbling down from the northern steps into the wider cavern opening in a dazed state.

Ko-nan: “This can not be the way. Let us return to the cave and find another!”

He palms his forehead and winces his eyes in frustration with his barbarian comrade. "Nah! Nah! Nah! Ya got it all wrong, Ko-Nan! Tha only other exit is down. I've been sayin' and sayin' we gotta keep goin' up. No fallin' star is gonna be down steps when we're already underground.

He concludes in a tone of concern." And, hey, what's with tha funny stagger. Ya look like yer drunk but I know ya'd never do somethin' like that now. Ya feelin' okay, big guy?"

[Urson]

Maskelyn
Maskelyn follows Feifo, his mouth open in wonder at the lights and images he sees.

[ravenn4544]

Ko-nan shakes his head. “Not that way! Only sorcerous tricks that way!”

Save vs poison (13) [1d20+4]=13+4=17

[ChubbyPixie]

"Eh... Who are you, lady?..." says Fiefo to the psychedelic woman god.

[SilverBen]

"Eh... Who are you, lady?..." says Fiefo to the psychedelic woman god.

Finver overhears Fiefo's voice but does not see him. Finver backtracks on Ko-Nan's path, curious as to what befell the barbarian

When he finds Fiefo, he sees none of the psychedlic visions. He puts his hands on his hips and observes Fiefo with a growing look of confusion. "Ya all act like yer hangin' around a Dwarven brewery too much... what's tha sorcery Ko-Nan 's talkin' about here?"

[redwarrior]

Connak follows behind Finver, looking curiously at his other companions. Don't you think it best we return to the sleeping area? he asks, not understanding what they are doing.

[Inferno]

Caveman Dwelling near the Starfall, Island of Xygax the Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Night. Friday, April 13th, 912 CY





While Draupadi and Mungo try to sleep, Finver and Connak are alarmed by Ko-Nan's dire condition and urgently act to locate and rescue Fiefo and Maskelyn, of whom there is no sign!

By the dwarf's flickering torch, they race northeast across the quiet battlefield and discover a vast cave that must have been the lost tribe's place of worship.



From darkness to the north, Connak and Finver hear the echoing voices of their comrades, in a similar state of delirium as the barbarian!

The smell of incense is thick here and suddenly, their perception vibrates and the painted herd stampedes around them on the cavern walls!




Actions?!





Meanwhile, within that darkness to the north, Maskelyn has joined Fiefo on his vision quest before the ever-shifting cosmic goddess.



Awestruck, Fiefo asks who or what she is.

The shimmering thing from another world replies, "I was once the shaman of this tribe."

Suddenly, she is stricken by an unseen malady!




She changes, transforming into an abomination of the Void Slime!




Then she crumbles away into dust!

A chill wind blows and, from somewhere far behind them, Fiefo and Maskelyn can hear Connak and Finver calling out to them!


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter area is visible. All else is from memory.





PC Status:

Connak: Cat-Man Fighter/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 20/24
Draupadi: Human Cleric 5: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 41/41, Spells: 4/5 1st lvl, 4/5 2nd lvl, 0/2 3rd lvl, Infested
Fiefo LeBratt: Rat-Man Fighter 4: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 29/29
Finver Karstlander: Dwarven Fighter 4: Move 6", AC: 2(1), HP: 35/35, Infested, Torch
Ko-Nan: Human Barbarian 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 44/51
Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: 18/18, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl, 1/2 2nd lvl
Mungo: Mole-Man Cleric 5: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: 39/39, Spells: 0/5 1st lvl, 5/5 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl, Lantern

PC Magic:

None currently.

Player Resources:

End of the World (game description)
Strange New World (maps and realms)
Memory Tapes (the story so far)
Viewscreen (the story so far in images)

[Urson]

Maskelyn
Holy Wow, Doc! We gotta help her!
Maskelyn runs forward a few steps, then stops- no more sure how to rescue the Shaman than his friends.

[ChubbyPixie]

Fiefo steps forward as the vision disappears, then turns to Maskelyn.

"Are you getting this?" he says. "Was that a ghost? Maybe she's trying to point us to something. Ghosts are like that."

When the others enter they find the rat-man scouring the cave for clues, secret passages, hidden compartments, gourds containing nearly completed cures for slime-disease...

[Urson]

Maskelyn
Yeah, Doc- I saw her, but I dunno what she was up to...

[jemmus]

Mungo
zzzz His eyelids twitch a little, but he's getting better at sleeping through a commotion.

[Inferno]

Caveman Dwelling near the Starfall, Island of Xygax the Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Night. Friday, April 13th, 912 CY





While Mungo sleeps, Fiefo and Maskelyn dream.



In their dreamlike vision quest, Fiefo and Maskelyn encounter a guardian spirit, a cosmic goddess, the once-shaman of the tribe. Invaded by the Void Slime, she is horrifically transformed, consumed and destroyed by the insidious green death!

At Fiefo's urging, the two psychic voyagers scour the phantasmagorical mindscape.




There, they find a celestial pool of stars.





On the scintillating surface of the heavenly body of water, the reflection of the shaman-goddess appears, restored to her former self!




But of that which casts the reflection, there is no sign.

The rippling likeness says, "Submerse and be clean, heroes. This will protect you from the evil spirit of the Void Slime... even as we know that It is not the true enemy that makes war upon us."


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter area is visible. All else is from memory.





PC Status:

Connak: Cat-Man Fighter/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 20/24
Draupadi: Human Cleric 5: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 41/41, Spells: 4/5 1st lvl, 4/5 2nd lvl, 0/2 3rd lvl, Infested
Fiefo LeBratt: Rat-Man Fighter 4: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 29/29
Finver Karstlander: Dwarven Fighter 4: Move 6", AC: 2(1), HP: 35/35, Infested, Torch
Ko-Nan: Human Barbarian 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 44/51
Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: 18/18, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl, 1/2 2nd lvl
Mungo: Mole-Man Cleric 5: Move: 9", AC: 7, HP: 39/39, Spells: 0/5 1st lvl, 5/5 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl, Lantern

PC Magic:

None currently.

Player Resources:

End of the World (game description)
Strange New World (maps and realms)
Memory Tapes (the story so far)
Viewscreen (the story so far in images)

[SilverBen]

From darkness to the north, Connak and Finver hear the echoing voices of their comrades, in a similar state of delirium as the barbarian!

The smell of incense is thick here and suddenly, their perception vibrates and the painted herd stampedes around them on the cavern walls!

Connak follows behind Finver, looking curiously at his other companions. Don't you think it best we return to the sleeping area? he asks, not understanding what they are doing.

Finver blinks in astonished disbelief. He asks in an unsure, inquiring tone, doubting his own sanity, "Uh, Connak? Did ya just see those cave paintings move on tha walls? Or was it just my eyes playin' tricks on me?" Finver will track the moving cave paintings and follow the direction of their lead.

[jemmus]

Mungo in his sleep dreams and communes great deity The Professor, through his intermediaries. O! Verne and Wells! Your sacred power and brilliant wit are needed cure a previously unknown malady. To wit, a slime that gloms onto a person's body, and is hypothesized to transfer him or her into a slime-covered skeleton! (The slime is not affected by fire, we have already tried that). Lend us your power and your intellect to affect a cure before it's too late, o! great Wells and Verne!

[redwarrior]

Connak looks curiously at Finver. This is beyond my understanding ! I Have. never seen such a thing in the past. Is it not best to return to the group and proceed with our full strength, if we are to proceed? This is…not normal. If Finver continues, Connak will as well, quietly trying to get him to turn back.

[Rex]

Draupadi

Draupadi sleeps along side Mungo.

[ravenn4544]

Ko-Nan hangs back with axe in hand. But how does one do battle with sorceries in the mind!?! "Curse this filth!"

[ChubbyPixie]

"Ok, lady," says Fiefo. He gets in the mind pool and does a few laps. It's the first bath he's had in... well, ever.

"We should tell the guys with the slime on them about this," he says.

[Urson]

Maskelyn
Thanks, Doc..tress. He submerges in the pool, then floats on his back.

You're right, Doc. Let's go get 'em... But Maskelyn doesn't seem to be in any hurry, watching the light show around them.