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Chapter 11: The Parallax Reality

The City of the Sleestaks, Deep Beneath the Forbidden Zone
The Island of Xygax the Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Day Ten. Night? April 5th, 912 CY








Startling discoveries are made of another actuality behind the facade of the Sleestak city!

Through strange spectacle-lenses, Ambrose, Fiefo, Finver, Maskelyn and Yul stare in disbelief as they see one reptilian for what it really is!



Where stands a Sleestak in the eyes of Connak, Draupadi, Ko-Nan and Mungo exists an appalling countenance; a flayed, fleshless, corrupt atrocity!

Then everything happens at once! Maskelyn bolts east as Connak, Mungo and Draupadi close in, weapons bared!

Yul fires a hip-shot at point blank range from his handheld crossbow, grazing the counterfeit Sleestak, etching a line of crimson!

Ko-Nan's deadly cleaver cuts only air! Fiefo draws his scimitar and hisses as Finver charges in, dwarvish war hammer striking a glancing blow!

It lives! Wounded, the heinous creature brings its wrist to its mouth and speaks...



"Human invaders in sector two. Requesting immediate backup."


Actions?!



Map Detail:

One square = 10 feet. PCs are purple. Sleestaks are green. Altrusians are orange. Ambrose is brown. Blue = ???

Behind the DM Screen:



PC Status:
PC Magic:
Player Resources:

Finver warns the others not wearing the spectacles, "That's no Sleestak and more are coming! Protect our rear!" He will step back and charge at the horrid monster in the doorway in an attempt to knock it off its feet (swinging his war hammer low at the legs as he approaches.)

Finver's two handed war hammer attack: [1d20+2]=16+2=18, damage: [1d6+2]=5+2=7

Ko-Nan tries to fell the creature with a second blow.

Attack: THACO (18): [1d20+2]=10+2=12 / Damage: (S/M: [2d4+3]=4+3=7 / L: [3d4+3]=8+3=11)

The revelation that the creature is not as it seems throws Connak off his game, as his scimitar swings wide.

attack with scimitar THACO 19 [1d20+3]=1+3=4 Damage [1d8+4]=2+4=6

Draupadi

Draupadi advances on the creature and attacks with her mace. She makes sure she is out of the room so if the gate drops she can't be trapped.

Mace [1d20]=5 to hit [1d6+1]=3+1=4 damage

Mungo heeds Finver's warning and moves to watch the rear, forge hammer ready for pounding.

He moved to the north entrance.

Maskelyn
Finding a clear line-of-sight, Maskelyn casts Phantasmal Force (lightning bolt) Fulgur Illusio!

Sheriff Yul

Goes back to the secret tunnel entrance north of Ambrose to face any guards entering the fray from the throne room.

"Ambrose, find a weapon. You may need to defend yourself." he counsels.

Fiefo curses himself for not attacking before the thing could call his friends.

"Humans?!" he says in irritation as he springs forward and slashes with his notched scimitar:
Attack with Scimitar (THAC0 18): To Hit: [1d20+1]=19+1=20 Damage, s/M/L: [1d8]=4

The City of the Sleestaks, Deep Beneath the Forbidden Zone
The Island of Xygax the Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Day Ten. Night? April 5th, 912 CY








"Human invaders in sector two. Requesting immediate backup."

Ambrose, Fiefo, Finver, Maskelyn and Yul pierce the false world and perceive a repulsive creature that glares back at them in defiance, contempt and accusation!

"That's no Sleestak..." cries Finver.

The heinous affront speaks into its strange bracer again, "And these humans can see!"

"Humans?!" protests Fiefo.

"Yes, humans?!" repeats Ambrose with indignation.

Before it can act, the corpse-like atrocity falls beneath a brutal rain of merciless blows from Fiefo, Finver and Ko-Nan!

Maskelyn saves his spell as Yul and Mungo race to the northern entrance! "Ambrose, find a weapon. You may need to defend yourself," counsels the cybernetic sheriff.

"A weapon?!" asks Ambrose. "Oh dear."

Suddenly, from the secret passage to the north comes the sound of a gong signaling the end of the Hours of Mystery!

The Altrusian captive in the torture chamber rants, "You see?! The puppet-masters pull the strings, and reality falls in line!"


Actions?!



Map Detail:

One square = 10 feet. PCs are purple. Sleestaks are green. Altrusians are orange. Ambrose is brown. Blue = ???

Behind the DM Screen:



PC Status:
PC Magic:
Player Resources:

Oh no. I'm getting to old for the sh*t, Mungo says to himself, aloud. His mind races. "Too many sleestaks, less of us than them. No, fewer of us than them. Options-- Go through the south door and see what happens. Maybe we'll find a way to the lake, a way to drown them all, or something else. Or go back to the throne room, kill the guards and take the king thing hostage. No, we'd probably just end up in a long hostage negotiations/standoff situation. Giving elite sleestak forces a chance to move through sewers, air ducts, or secret passages and drop in/rise up/open doors and suddenly surprise the party and commando them down, each in slow motion. Smash up all of this fabulous magical machinery and see what happens. Get some of those spectacles."

There's no choice but to leave his post and dash to the drawer with the eyeglasses. He grabs a pair, and in one motion raises his thick-lenses goggles, dons the spectacles, and fits the goggles over them. Looks around. "Not bad at all," he thinks. He grits his teeth and arrives at a momentous decision. Everyone! Smash the machines! Smash the machines! They're the source of their power! Could be.... What do you think?

Sheriff Yul

Braces for the inevitable rush of guards down the corridor. He stays one side of the frame then steps out, triggers a bolt and steps back to reload.

Sheriff Yul. Handheld crossbow [1d20+3]=8+3=11 damage [1d6+2]=4+2=6

Not sure I can hold them off but a few pings might delay them running down at us.

Draupadi

"We need to find out where this door this dead one just came through leads."

She looks down the passage it came through.

Maskelyn
Maskelyn gestures at the Altrusian. Hoo Boy! Somebody let this poor slob loose! He's on our side!
He heads for the corpse, and will search it for valuables- especially whatever was on its wrist.

Mungo rushes to release the somewhat melodramatic Altrusian. Quick, sir, tell us what these machines do! What do they do for the Sleestaks? Well, the so-called Sleestaks.

Ko-nan curses at the sight of more wizard tricks. He advances towards the door and opens it to see what lays beyond.....

Fiefo will slink up to the south door as well, scimitar in hand, shield raised.

"I bet we all die. Like before," he says. "Just saying."

Rex wrote: ↑Thu Aug 26, 2021 4:39 am Draupadi

"We need to find out where this door this dead one just came through leads."

She looks down the passage it came through.

"Aye, Lady Draupadi, I'll follow Ko-nan! I'll show them creepy fellas there are more than humans who can see!" He bolts to follow behind Ko-nan with his war hammer ready for the reinforcements.

He overhears the Rat Man's anxious comment...

ChubbyPixie wrote: ↑Fri Aug 27, 2021 12:52 pm Fiefo will slink up to the south door as well, scimitar in hand, shield raised.

"I bet we all die. Like before," he says. "Just saying."

He stops at the threshold and calls back to Yul, "Sherrif, If we ain't back in two minutes, come ta check if we haven't been killed and we'll do the same fer all of ya." and releases a maniacal war cry following Ko-nan.

The City of the Sleestaks, Deep Beneath the Forbidden Zone
The Island of Xygax the Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Day Ten. Night? April 5th, 912 CY






Gongs sound the end of the Hours of Mystery as Maskelyn searches the dead fleshless atrocity and finds a bizarre golden bracelet on its wrist!



Above him, Finver and Ko-Nan burst through the southern door and discover a strange, alien bunkroom with four beds (room 46). Draupadi and Fiefo peer in behind them. No creature, neither Sleestak nor repulsive cadaverous doppelganger, meets their gaze.

Mungo dons a pair of the wondrous spectacles that allow him to see the real world and joins Connak in the torture chamber. The catman expertly picks the lock on the tormented prisoner's manacles as Mungo asks, "Quick, sir, tell us what these machines do!"

The freed Altrusian elder rants, "The chamber is a crystal ball. They can see all that transpires! And speak to others of their insidious kind!"

At the northern doorway, Yul regrips his crossbow, braces himself against the wall and peers into the secret passage as Sleestaks start to fill it!




Through his spectacle lenses, Yul sees them for what they really are!




And they see Maskelyn looting the bloody corpse of a slaughtered Sleestak!


Actions?!



Map Detail:

One square = 10 feet. PCs are purple. Sleestaks are green. Altrusians are orange. Ambrose is brown. Blue = ???

Behind the DM Screen:



PC Status:
PC Magic:
Player Resources:

Draupadi

Turning to her companions at the north entry way, "Hold them in the passage, don't let them into the room we don't have a way to retreat yet."

She moves to aid those at the northern entrance way.

If possible.
Mace [1d20]=2 to hit [1d6+1]=3+1=4 damage