Journal - Yarlug (the suicide mission)

Surprise Attack

We prepared ourselves for the attack and opened the portal. At once we rushed the two gith in the room, making sure we had stepped through the portal before attacking. I launched magic missiles, Rhion slashed with his swords, Takeda loosed arrows, and Baldir attempted to hit one. The closest gith fell quickly, but the second shouted an alarm, fending off Baldir's blow. Little, pale, dwarf-like people burst into the room from the doors to each side of us. Their skin was so pale it was almost icy, and they were certainly evil-looking. Their armour was leather with a copper-like metal studding it, and they were weilding a mix of polearms, swords, and crossbows.

I used dweomer to seal one of the doors, unfortunately just a little too late to stop a few of the creatures from getting through. They rushed me, landing several blows and forcing me back. Takeda killed the last gith, and then one of the new creatures (which we assumed were the Derro) with one arrow in the neck. The creatures kept coming from the door on the left, but the one I sealed was holding for now. I used my new ring of the ram, conjuring a phantasmal ram's head that butted an opponent clean off his feet and into the wall. I sent another to sleep, but there was still one on my side of the room and he slashed my side nastily. Rhion and Takeda were also hit. Takeda retaliated, killing one of the foe, then turned and dispatched the last foe facing me with a single arrow in his back. Baldir landed a hit, although the foe remained standing. Takeda killed another (they fell like chaff before his arrow fire), and I finished the winded one on the floor before he could attack again.

Takeda killed yet another, advancing towards the door, and managed to kill one before they even set foot in the room. Now that some of the Derro further back could see a target they began firing bolts into the room, but only succeeded in skewering one of their own people. Rhion cut down another, but they just kept coming! Takeda shot one down, Rhion opened the guts of another, but the gap was filled again. Rhion cut the next down too, but was hit in the process. I conjured a stinking cloud in the room beyond the open door, at least temporarily cutting off reinforcements. Takeda killed two more, and I moved in behind the others, getting away from the door I had held - the constant battering from the other side was threatening to burst it open at any moment.

Rhion slashed another Derro across the hamstrings, dropping him instantly, just before I hasted his movements to twice the normal speed. Takeda took another one down, but suffered a nasty gash to his shoulder. Baldir finished off the one he had been battling for some time, leaving just three in the room with us (well, four if you count the one asleep). Takeda ended another two with arrows, and Rhion cut the last one down. We were alone for a moment, although there was still battering on the weakening door I had held with dweomer.

I noticed some runes on the wall opposite where we had entered, although I did not recognise them, and Baldir began to inspect a mural behind where we had entered. We wanted to find a hidden way out before the foe were on us again. Takeda shut the door with the gas beyond, standing ready to fight, as Rhion tied the sleeping Derro up with strips of clothes from the dead. I started to shout a warning about the door, which I was sure would give way any moment, but then noticed that the mural Baldir was studying showed us at the glade pool! My words died as I stepped up to touch myself on the nose, but sadly I didn't feel anything.

Takeda jammed an arrow into the keyhole of the door he just closed, then turned his attention to the other door. It was just in time, as it crashed inwards with wood around the lock splintering. There seemed to be a narrow bridge beyond over a chasm of some kind. Two Derro and two Gith rushed in to attack, and I was only just able to dodge the blows aimed at me. Baldir and Rhion were moving towards the door, but too late to stop the charge, and only landed glancing blows on the foe. Takeda fared better, killing a Derro and putting an arrow into one of the Gith. I panicked, using a scroll to petrify one of the Gith as a desparate defence, but Takeda kept his fire up, downing the other two before they could do any serious damage.

Takeda held on to the other door, keeping it closed, although it was being tested from the other side. Rhion ran to the other door, also holding it closed. Baldir, at his shoulder, asked him to open it quickly and brought light to the other side; thankfully there were none of the enemy there for now. Takeda, though, definitely had the enemy on the other side of the door. He shifted it open slightly, then used his great strength to slam it open suddenly, at which there were a couple of screams as some Derro (possibly) fell to their deaths, and a similar narrow bridge could be seen as that before Baldir. There were two Gith on the bridge that had not been close enough to suffer from Takeda'a shove.

Baldir ran out onto the bridge, but in doing so activated a trap that caused it to start folding into the centre, with Baldir trapped inside. Thankfully it wasn't an instant movement, giving him a moment to consider a way out. I was focused on the Gith, summoning a web along the length of the bridge, but it did not affect them. Takeda was attacked, but dodged the blow. Meanwhile Baldir somehow manipulated the stone bridge so that it jammed the mechanism and stopped it from closing, causing a horrible grinding sound as it shuddered to a halt. Rhion threw Baldir a rope, which he caught, as Takeda weaved around putting arrows into the Gith, slaying one. Baldir climbed up to the top of the half-folded bridge and jumped down to join Rhion safely. Takeda took a nasty blow to his side, opening a bleeding gash, but managed to finish the last Gith off before I could assist. Rhion shut what was left of the door again, although I felt that it was a bit unnecessary given the mess that Baldir had made!

Baldir called on Odin's power and fully restored Takeda's health, quite the miracle considering the wounds he was suffering from. I quaffed a potion to restore my own health. Takeda read the poem I had spotted (but was unable to read) earlier opposite where we had entered from. There were, we deduced, four rooms like this one, arranged around what we believed to be the original gate room in some kind of sequence linked to the natural Astral gates. We also discovered some sigils on the floor by the doors; the one where Baldir had left said "darkness is life" which would explain why the trap activated after Baldir created light, and the one near Takeda said "light is death." We would not be able to summon light to aid Takeda's movements.

We roped up in case one of us should fall, and Rhion stepped out onto the bridge first. We waited to see what would happen before following. Rhion could just about make out some movement below, but it was too far to see any detail. There was a metal cage of some kind above us, which was ominous. On the bridge were repeated symbols: squares, triangles, circles, and pentagrams. Rhion followed the sequence we expected would reflect the order of rooms - triangle, pentagram, square, circle, and repeat. Rhion reached the other side safely, at which point the door there opened. There was a mirror on the far side of the room, and more poetry on the wall adjacent. There were Derro here, though, who attacked and did some damage to Rhion. I shouted for Baldir to go ahead, as I turned my attention to aiding Takeda.

I placed Takeda directly in front of me, with his feet on mine, and then started to slowly take the paces necessary to walk through the sequence, moving his legs with my own. Rhion killed one, was hit again, but killed the attacker in retaliation, leaving three more. He managed to kill another, but was hit several times and weakening. Worried for him, I used my boots to leap over his head and into the room to aid him, leaving Takeda blind on the bridge. Essere, a little surprised by the sudden movement, flew behind the door and peeked out at me. Rhion, a little confused, was cut again, but swiftly riposted and killed another Derro. I had landed awkwardly but intact, so I stood and dusted myself down before landing a solid blow on one of the Derro from behind. Rhion quickly finished him off.

Rhion was badly in need of healing, so I offered him some keotomes. He declined as he had some of his own, and I thought "well fuck you then"... or did I say it out loud? I can't remember! Takeda was stuck on the bridge, effectively blind, but Baldir could not carry him so decided it would be a good idea to strip him of his armour and weapons, throwing them to Rhion in the entrance to the room. Now Takeda was blind and weaponless, which didn't feel like much of an improvement! It was at this point that we were attacked from the other end of the room by more Gith and Derro.

Baldir called on Odin to allow him to deflect arrows and bolts, worried that he would be an easy target stuck on the bridge. Takeda then announced that he could be as light as a feather if that helped. Suddenly Baldir was able to lift him up with one hand and walk across the bridge! I used a scroll to send a spray of colour into the room, causing the Gith to collapse and the Derro to become confused. Rhion gave Takeda's weapons back to him, before applying keotomes liberally on himself. Baldir also stepped into the room, summoning light to aid Takeda. The act of creating light, though, triggered the trap behind us and the cage above the bridge slammed down, destroying the way back.

It seemed we had all had the same idea, as I conjured four lanterns in being, and they bobbed gently near the corners of the room, ensuring we were able to clearly see the walls. Baldir took the extra precaution of conjuring light onto Takeda's sword, making it glow brightly when unsheathed. Baldir approached the wall to our left, which had appeared to be a mirror from afar, seeing an empty room (not the one we stood in), that shortly later was entered by the White Council. The remaining Derro backed out of the room, shutting the door behind them, either setting a trap, going for reinforcements, or both I suspected.

Takeda started to collect weapons from the remaining enemy in case they came to and attacked. I approached the vision of the White Council and attempted to stick my hand through the wall to wave at them. It had some effect, as they recoiled and readied their weapons. Baldir tried putting his head through to talk to them, seeing spinning grey swirls around him but unable to overcome a pressure from within to reach the other side. I noticed that the roof of our room had a crescent moon, with the points directed at this mirror wall and a text on the opposite wall. We took a moment to agree on what we thought the shapes represented, the circle was the Efferendil, the square Maedus, the pentagon the Vikrain, and the triangle LockLastar.

Hidden Gateways

We were able to establish communications with the White Council, as we had done before, so we explained where we were and how we could see them. We were able to pass items through the portal here, but not pass through ourselves. After sharing information and receiving a few items to aid our quest, we bid them farewell and turned our attention to the text on the far side. We believed we were looking for a hidden way to enter the central room, which we had starting to circle around. The text warned us of various traps, although cryptically, and the first action was to get down on all fours with our heads bowed down whilst pressing a button hidden within the text. There was a horrible whirring sound above our heads (it felt as though the crescent moon itself had lowered and was scything through the air, then a flash of light, and then the wall in front of us lowered.

Ahead was a sheer drop, with a little less than 30 feet away a sort of tray of flowing water, which flowed towards us before dropping down into the depths below. The void all around was a deep indigo blue. Again, with clues taken from the verse, Takeda scattered dirt forwards, revealing an invisible bridge that reached out towards the waterfall. We crawled forward, and spiked balls swung above our head, intended to knock the unwary into the abyss below. A bright green gas started to billow around us, but forewarned we held our breath. Takeda reached the water, catching it in his helmet, causing the flow to stop. It was about another 25 feet along the tray where the water had been, and then statues lined the sides looking inwards towards each other.

Takeda seemed unsure of the next step, but with our breath held he couldn't hesitate too long. After what seemed like an age he managed to set fire to the "water" he had collected! The heads of the first pair of statues, which we could now see were jackel-headed, turned to look at him. He threw the flaming liquid forward into the tray, at which point all of the heads (of Anubis it was now clear) turned and a jet of flame rose in intensity between them, barring the path. A column of rock could just about be made out beyond the statues. We moved forward now, clear of the gas, and stood facing this new challenge.

Baldir called on Odin to reveal a narrow ledge leading around the back of the statues. Takeda carefully stepped onto it and made his way around to the far end. The column was beyond another gap and not easily reached. I used my mind to levitate and used the ledge as a handrail to guide me around to join Takeda. There was sand on top of the column, which was sloped, inside a slight lip. The verse we had read suggested that we should bring flame to it, so someone would have to jump across with a torch to touch the sand. I took out a torch, putting the end into the flames next to us to light it... but it turned to ash in the intense heat! I threw the stump away and borrowed Takeda's torch, lighting it with flint and tinder instead, then used my boots to spring across to the top of the column. As I touched the flame to it and held on to stop from slipping down, a wind started to buffet me as it swirled around the column obscuring my vision with sand. The flames stopped instantly and after a few seconds it was revealed that I was clinging to the tip of a great pyramid, the sun rising to touch it with its first rays of light. The stone got hot for a moment and then we were just standing in a room, about 40 feet square, on firm ground as if the challenge had never existed. Everyone was there, in the centre; we had passed the gnomish test.

This room looked odd, obviously very important (and we knew some of its history), but it had been more recently trashed with scratches and gouges all around the walls like something had been trapped here. The ceiling was domed with a circle that mirrored one on the floor, containing a triangle and then another, grey, circle within that. On the floor we stood within this shape, with jet symbols all around us depicting Egyptian Gods. Beyond that were semi-precious gems formed into the shape of a crescent, square, pentagon, and triangle.

Before we could study this in detail, four Gith appeared in the corners of the room, moving to attack. I slowed one with dweomer, as Rhion charged to attack with his swords cutting deep. Takeda took a hit, as Baldir called on Odin to protect him from the flames of their swords. Takeda retaliated, killing his attacked with point blank arrow fire. Rhion, who had been winning the fight, suddenly looked petrified and with a cry ran to the far corner of the room to cower in fear. This infection of his mind ended when Baldir struck down the Gith that Rhion had wounded. I knocked one back onto the floor with my ring of the ram, leaving only the slowed one attacking me. Takeda was ruthlessly efficient, killing the slowed Gith with two arrows, and the one struggling to get up with another.

Alone one more, Baldir started to contemplate the symbols and what they might mean as I documented the layout. Takeda collected arrows as Rhion studied the walls. I decided to give the floor a shove, as it seemed that a rotating mechanism would be needed for the gate to function, and sure enough the circle of gods could be rotated, and I stopped it with Thoth towards the crescent. Baldir stood on the image of Anubis and used the palantir to attempt a connection. A voice came from the artifact, challenging him and asking his intent... it was Anubis! Oops. Baldir offered a short explanation and apology before ending the connection, sweating slightly. He quickly moved over to Thoth's symbol, as the collector of all knowledge he should be able to help us. Whether he would be willing to was another matter.

Thoth responded similarly, and Baldir explained our purpose, seeking to locate and free Senforn, and offered his own brewing recipe in return. Thoth wasn't satisfied with the home brew alone, and demanded that we answered two riddles to prove our worth. Thankfully we were able to:

"I never was, am always to be, noone ever saw me or ever will, yet I am the confidence of all." Answer - the future

"Glittering points that downward thrust, sparkling spears that never rust." Answer - icicles

At the second correct answer, Senforn appeared in the centre of the room, clothed in Egyptian finery. The finest rapier we had ever seen lay next to him. This was great! What was not so great was that nine floating eye things also appeared, in a circle around us. Takeda and I lay down our weapons and kneeled, frozen into position against our will. Baldir used a ring to set off a blinding cascade of exploding lights in the room above our heads, causing seven of the eyes to disappear. Rhionne was paralysed next, but I recovered. I used my ring of the ram, causing another to disappear, but then was paralysed once more. Baldir sent the other one away with a swing of his morning star. We had taken injuries from whatever strange attacks the creatures used, so Baldir healed and some of us applied keotomes.

Takeda used his keotomes to heal Senforn, hoping to revive him. He awoke suddenly, grabbing the jar from Takeda, and sprang over his shoulder, clearly fearful. Takeda tried to calm him, saying that he was only trying to help. He asked for his sword, demanded it even, which was willingly returned. He started to whisper to it, clearly a little unhinged. Baldir called on Odin's power to heal him properly and some of the colour returned to his face. We explained that we wanted to get him out, but were unsure of how to work the gate here. He seemed surprised that we would come here without knowing how to get out again. He instructed us on the correct positioning to return to Yarlug, but in the room linked to the Vikrain. We had to cover some Gods with swords or robes from the Gith, and pile the bodies on Anubis as an offering. Baldir had to bless some water and poured it as an offering to Tefnut.

There was a brief shimmering around us and then the room appeared around us, with some Gith and Derro on alert that attacked as soon as we arrived. Senforn parried a blow and shattered the flaming blade of the Gith (to its horror), but did not strike back. I was a bit slow and had a gash opened up on my shoulder, but used my ring to knock the assailant back into the wall. Takeda quickly pinned him there with two arrows, and he sagged forward, lifeless. I conjured a rainbow pattern to mesmerise several of the foe, but Baldir took a hit that set his tabard on fire! I hasted Rhionne's movements, and he cut down a Gith before he could continue a mental assault we had been under since arriving. Takeda and Rhionne killed a Derro each, but Baldir's hit on a Gith was brushed off. Takeda finished him off for Baldir, but the last Gith dominated my mind and forced me to attack Senforn, ineffectually thankfully. More worryingly, Takeda was forced to fire an arrow at Baldir, causing him a great wound. Rhionne cut down the Gith before any more damage could be done.

Senforn disarmed me with a flick of his wrist, although I was not resisting and raised my hands apologising and begging forgiveness for the action was not my choice. Takeda killed another Derro, and Rhionne finished the last of them. Senforn warned me never to raise my hand against him again, but lowered his weapon. We spent a moment treating the worst of our wounds. We knew the song for the Efferendil, which is why we had come here, but Senforn only knew how to activate the exit from the LockLastar room, which was one removed from here.

The Escape

Takeda crossed to the door, but as he opened it ballistae bolts flew at him, and he was unable to dodge one of them fully. We crouched down to crawl onto the narrow bridge beyond, as Senforn warned of flames that would shoot above our head, and a murder hole on the right about halfway along. Takeda went first, but was not quick enough to dodge the murder hole, suffering another wound as he passed. He made it to the far end, though, opening the door to be immediately hit by the swing of a Gith's sword, and another stood behind him. I conjured a dweomer-formed sword into the room so that I could fight them and aid Takeda. Takeda fought like a demon, though, slaying both Gith even as Derro ran forward to support them.

Senforn and I jumped over the murder hole and reached the room beyond, with Baldir just behind. Takeda took another hit as we all moved into the room with him, and Senforn started singing. Takeda finally landed the blow needed to kill one Derro, and then seized the other in a headlock, chocking him into unconsciousness. While we were fighting, though, Senforn jumped into the portal and disappeared! Once we were done with the foe, we examined the room. There was a poem to our right with a moon-shaped button hidden within it, like that we had used in the crescent room to reach to astral gate room. I experimented with the mechanism in the floor, turning it to see what would happen. We saw on the wall to our left a vision of Lastar with Anubis at his judgement, and then an image of Senforn running back towards us. The vision suddenly became reality as he jumped out of the wall and back to where he had left a few moments ago. He was now clothed in armour (mithril!) with equipment secured to his clothing, ready for battle (longsword, short sword, knices, bow, as well as the rapier). He warned us that we could not stay here, then crossed the room and pressed a button to open a hidden door. Takeda dropped the unconscious Derro, saying "today is your lucky day" before joining us in moving quickly to follow Senforn.

Stairs rose in a spiral behind the door, and the entrance closed seamlessly once we were inside. Rhionne and Senforn scouted ahead silently, with the rest of us following cautiously at a distance. Takeda had fashioned a makeshift torch with a shirt wrapped around the tip of his katana soaked in oil, but the spiral kept the light from straying too far ahead. Senforn warned Rhionne of traps on some of the steps, and he waited until we reached the spot to point out the danger. He asked Takeda to extinguish the torch he had made the effort to light once we were past the danger.

Senforn rushed ahead as we approached the top of the stairs, beheading a lone Derro. He signalled that there was danger to our right, down one corridor, but that we would go left down another. He moved on as Rhionne joined him, dispatching another Derro noiselessly as they made their way down the passage. He stopped after a short distance, dropping to the floor, then crawled forward to press a hidden button. There was a loud boom and light flashed from the corridors in both directions, sending Derro running both ways. Senforn and Rhionne doubled back to join us to fight those that came our way.

Senforn killed one instantly and Rhionne stabbed the other. Shouts of alarm suggested that the other Derro had noticed the commotion and were coming back towards us. Senforn killed the other Derro in front of us, and then Baldir used a horn that Dafydd had gifted to him to collapse the corridor beyond so that we could no longer be reached. We moved on quickly to the next room, where Senforn had pressed the button before, and he warned us to wait at the corner. There was a Derro barracks to our far left, and we would need to defend Senforn as he manipulated a mechanism to open another door in the corner across the room from us.

Rhionne took a direct approach, running to attack the Derro near the barracks, which certainly provided a distraction. Senforn quickly moved to the corner and began tinkering with some tools he took from his belt. There were dragon gargoyles around the walls, which was ominous, and spikes in the ceiling which was even more so, as well as some weapon racks and shelves along the plain walls. Takeda joined the charge, whilst I hung back and sent some of the Derro to sleep with dweomer. Baldir, who seemed to be more willing to use the horn now, blew another blast that send the ceiling crashing down onto the Derro and blocking the barracks door, leaving only one standing. Rhionne finished the lone foe with quick strokes, despite the dust billowing out into the room.

Suddenly a number of portcullises dropped down from the ceiling, revealing the purpose of the spikes, sectioning it into strips cross-ways, and trapping Rhionne and Takeda. We tested the strength of the bars, and Baldir found a weaker one, bending it just enough for us to squeeze through. Senforn was able to lift one, getting us closer, and then I used dweomer to create a short corridor past two more, which was just enough to reach our trapped friends. We got back just before Senforn and Baldir dropped the portcullis they were holding, and moved back to the now open secret door. Looking to mislead any foe, I laid a false trail of slightly damp footprints back towards the corridor, then levitated myself back into the hidden doorway before Senforn closed it. Hoping that this would buy some time, we posted guards and rested to treat wounds, memorise spells, pray, and prepare for the next stage of our escape.

Senforn warned that there would be Gith ahead, which worried us as their mental attacks when in groups could be devastating. Baldir created light on Takeda's helmet, so that he would be able to see clearly (and making him a great target), and gave Rhionne the ability to deflect arrows with his arms. He finally blessed us before we opened the door to the hurt that would be beyond. Senforn opened it, and I used Milai's staff (another gift) to summon a devastating ice storm into the room. The Gith still came forward to attack Senforn, although he killed one and I knocked another one back with my ring. I moved forward, at some risk, but keen to get our friends into the fight, knocking another one back with my ring to make space.

We moved forward slowly, trying to give everyone room to engage safely. Senforn decapitated a Gith, then cut another one down. Takeda finished the knocked-down Gith with a single arrow, and then killed another that tried to close with him. I summoned a stinking cloud in an attempt to divide the enemy to give us more time. I then noticed a group of Derro moving from the corner of the room to our right towards the exit on the far wall, carrying a prisoner. The double doors they were heading for opened, but we had a little time before they escaped.

Takeda was slashed by a Gith, but Rhionne suffered more as a stab set fire to his cloak. Takeda killed another foe, although he was at the back, I mean not even close to us, so I'm not sure he was actually aiming at him. Baldir blew his horn again... but actually it was a different horn this time, and he was suddenly surrounded by a gang of Norse beserkers, who he quickly ordered to kill the Derro. That quickly turned into a stampede of barely clothed nutters foaming at the mouth forcing their way through the Gith, shrugging off blows, to charge at the Derro with the prisoner. I used dweomer to slow the movements of the Derro, which meant the beserkers were sure to intercept them before they could escape with the prisoner. Senforn and Takeda continued fighting, killing another two Gith each, but Takeda was also set on fire by a slash of a flaming sword.

I loosed magic missiles at a Derro, killing him, and freeing one arm of the prisoner in the process, and then the beserkers set upon his captors. They dropped their charge, fighting for their lives but suffering multiple blows. Baldir called on Odin to allow him to deflect arrows, and Takeda killed a Gith that was attacking Rhionne. Takeda was then dazed by a mental assault, unable to help for now. Baldir, following the path beaten by the beserkers, reached the prisoner, finding a high elf who was badly battered and bruised. He healed some of the high elf's wounds, allowing him to at least stand unaided. He thrust a long bow and a half dozen arrows into his hands, expecting him to fight if he wanted to escape!

Senforn and Rhionne continued their assault, killing another Gith each and leaving only one actually in the room with us. The beserkers finished off all the Derro in the room, streaked with blood but with their rage undimmed they charged towards the corner the Derro had come from, looking for more of the foe. The prisoner showed that he definitely knew how to use a long bow, felling the last Gith with confident shots. There was a howl of victory from the beserkers, who had found and killed a couple of Derro in a small prison room, and then they vanished as quickly as they had joined us.

Catching our breath now that the intense melee was over, we noticed Takeda dribbling slowly by the side door, staring into space. Senforn stepped up to him and healed his wounds and mind, bringing him back to us with a slightly shocked look on his face. His mind was permanently damaged, although not to any extent we could tell from his behaviour. Rhionne then noticed that the room beyond this side door contained a stash of treasure and valuable items.

Grabbing what valuable items we could from the significant hoard in the treasure room, we hurried to the gate beyond the next room. Senforn and Baldir activated the gate and ensured that we would return to the Efferendil. We took the precaution of covering his face, treating him as an important prisoner, knowing that he might be killed on sight by Malenwe’s people, having so recently betrayed them.