Return to Greybank

  Present

• Cody Dieback. Human Male Wizard from Highport – Andrew
• Jack "Blocker" Jones. Human Male Temple Fighter of Aquamarina from Porn City – Jamie
• Tom Eade. Human Male Fighter from Porn City – Jeff
• Esmeralda "Ezme" Abernathy. Human Female Temple Fighter of Soixante Neuf from Scabport – Shane

  

  Cody Dieback
  (Reimagined)

• Ardern. Human Female Priestess of Mr Quail from Porn City – Kevin
• Rock Hammer. Human Male Barbarian from Central Plains – Steven
• Willow. Half-elf Male Caribou Gorn Priest from Porn City - Chris
• Lois Price. Human Female Wizard of Porn City – Ian
• Munch Ease. Human Male Thief from Porn City – Darryl

by Cody

Downstream with Dogs and Gnomes

"We're going back to Porn City," Lois declared, packing her inherited cottage's silverware into a sack. "Mother needs to know about Wilbur."

"And I need to not be in Le Brun," I added, watching Willow coax his three charmed hounds onto the barge. The dogs—now our official mascots—took up most of the deck space. "Also, we're giving away the horses."

The horses, left over from Julius's stable, were distributed to grateful Le Brun locals who didn't ask too many questions about why we were fleeing in such haste. 

Downstream travel proved blessedly uneventful. We passed through Amyst (staying at the Bicep and Torso), survived the Dead Falls without any undead aquatic incidents, and collected Fillet Homeshoe, the gnome stoner, who was waiting on the riverbank looking for passage to Brokenmouth. 

That evening we reached Vesper and stayed at the Wyvern and Husk.

Gnolls vs Flame Strike

The next morning, gnolls attacked from the riverbank. Our barge bristled with spellcasters—myself, Willow, Ardern, Jack, Esme, and Lois all cast Protection from Normal Missiles. We needn't have bothered; Fillet waved us off and obliterated the poor bastards with what looked like Flame Strike, but it stank of arcane. The gnolls never stood a chance.

Cynic (Gnome Cravat inn), then Sloth (Random Broadbean), then finally Brokenmouth and the Emancipated Siren. We bid farewell to Fillet, who wandered off muttering about "finding his center" or possibly "finding more weed," and caught a coastal tramp ship to Porn City.

Reporting to Sal

Sally "Sal" Price

We stayed at Swallow's Demise—a name that always struck me as unnecessarily final—and Lois dragged me to the Wizards' Guild to meet her mother, Sally "Sal" Price.

Sal listened to our report about the Methuselah cult, Ugly-Unt, and the spy Wilbur infiltrating the Throak guard. She didn't blink.

"Go to Greybank," she ordered. "Find Thackery. Kill him. And see if there's another metal sphere there."

"Just like that?" I asked.

"Just like that. Lowest Price Guaranteed."

Lois and I stayed at the Guild that night. Tom collected his new chainmail—three points of armor, shiny and un-bloodied for now. 

Esme checked on our hidden communication device at Soixante Neuf; still there, still blinking.

Upstream Again

We rented another barge (and heavy horses) for upstream travel, and passed through Bodkin, Pestard, Wittenburg, and Thrumming Brook without incident. Seven weeks after our first visit, we found the same little creek where we'd hidden before, two or three hours' walk from the Shi estate.

"Wizard Eye," I muttered, casting. The cultists' clearing (where the egg hung last time) looked deserted—abandoned, even. The same devastation was still there when the creature hatched and ran amok. The Shi mansion sat in the distance, brooding.

Munch, Willow, and the three dogs went forward to scout.

Unfortunate horses

The Shi mansion's door was smashed inwards by something big and strong. The barn was even worse. That night, we explored as a group.

Several horses lay in the barn, ripped open and six weeks dead. Inside the house, something violent had rampaged through: doors smashed, furniture destroyed, a trail of chaos ending in the kitchen. We found an old woman's body in pieces—Horatio Shi's wife, perhaps?—likewise six weeks decayed.

In a trapped study desk (needle trap detected, Munch's thumb poisoned, Neutralize Poison potion consumed, magic detected), we found a bag of coins, two healing potions, and another communication device.

The Tunnel and the Creature

The kitchen cellar led to a wine rack, then a secret door, then a meat cellar with rotten provisions. Beyond that, a narrow tunnel—too narrow for the tentacled creatures, thank Real.

We camped there, rested, then pressed on. The tunnel ran 120 meters with alcoves containing gargoyle statues. Noises ahead. At 40 meters, it opened into a room.

In the floor: a three-meter pipe descending into darkness, and a banging from below. On the far side, a heavy door smashed inward from outside.

Then it hit us—literally. Another mind-flayer type creature, tentacles flailing, psychic scream building.

I hit it with Cone of Cold. The fighters charged. It screamed.

Everyone dropped except Munch, Lois, Ardern, and Rock. We were outclassed, outmatched, and about to be dinner. Ardern managed to rouse Tom with a healing spell, but the creature turned back toward us—until Munch pulled out his metal wand-prong, the one that had withered his arm.

The creature recoiled. It knew what that thing could do. It scurried away down the pipe like a frightened rat.

Round Two

We recovered for a day, licking our wounds. 

The second fight went better—Willow cast a Bless on us beforehand. Tom and Rock led the charge. Jack fired the strange "crossbow" gun. I hit it with another Cone of Cold.

The creature dropped mighty Tom in one savage blow, then screamed—dropping only me this time. Apparently it can only manage one scream per combat, or perhaps one per day.

Round Two

Then Willow did something brilliant. He pointed the glass scanner device at Tom. Not only did Tom wake up, but he was on full points and undamaged.

Ardern tried to get me up with Cure Major Wounds and fumbled spectacularly, collapsing into a terrified ball. 

Rock went down too, but the Scanner brought him back.

With all fighters engaged, we finally brought the beast down. Decapitation followed, then the standard precaution of pulping the remains.

The Third Sphere

Down the hydro-slide tunnel (as we're calling it), we found another metal sphere. This one had an 8-digit code: 1 2 4 7 1 _ 2 9 _ 6. We tried 6 and 7 .

It worked.

Metal eggs

Inside: lights on, web-snot present but manageable, and treasure. Munch found another wand-prong—this one with two buttons. A communication device. And some strange metal eggs, chook-sized, with levers and rings.

The communication devices showed four names: Unt, Julius, Thackery, and Mayiar.

Cody and the one-way portal

Unlike the other spheres, this one had a floor hatch. Beneath it: a cloudy portal, pinkish-hued, one-way. Cody pushed a stick through—easy enough—but couldn't pull it back.

The priests analyzed blood on the inside of the hatch. Fresh. Dried, but only two days old.

Thackery—or someone—had been here. And recently.

Next time: Do we follow through the pink portal? Do we hunt Thackery? And who the hell is Mayiar?