Golden Earring

November 15th - 16th, Albanus 1

At first glance, the situation seemed dire.  They were someplace -- the Gods knew where -- in the Fallen Lands.  They had some idea of where the trod gate-head should be (about 5 miles north-west of Tell Barrak).  But the flickering sky overhead gave no clues as to direction.  And Gaius could see footprints in the gritty soil.  Orcs -- a lot of them -- had passed through here recently.

Marius, however, still sensed the status and location of Danita, Gaius' mother.  By assuming that she was to the north-north-east, the band determined that they were about 2 miles north-west of Tell-Barrak.  With this piece of information, it became clear that luck (or the Gods) had favored them.  The woods that concealed them from the dragons overhead didn't stretch as far as the gatehead;  had they held to the path, as they'd intended, they would have entered the Fallen Lands in the the open, with nothing to hide them from the creatures above.

Regina scouted the woods and found that they were full of bands of orcs -- most accompanied by some minor demon that they treated with great reverence.  Gaius, invisible and wind-walking, managed to locate the remains of the seven trees that formed the gatehead;  they lay near the base of the mountain, open and exposed.

So they could escape.  But did they want to?

If they went back to Invictus for the senior paladins, they would have to enter the Fallen Lands brazenly.  But the woods they were in now stretched down to the remnants of Tell Barrak, where there were ruins which offered more cover from the dragons.  From here, they might be able to reach the black tower without being seen.  From the gatehead, there was no chance.  Titus argued that the Gods had given them this chance to save Theodosius' soul;  they had to strike now, rather than return for assistance.  Even Severus had to agree... which was either a sign that Titus' plan was a good one, or that the world was ending.

And so, the Surrexi crept down the hillside, avoiding orcs and demons, and through the ruins of Tell Barrak.  Goblins -- even more pathetic than orcs -- clustered in the shattered buildings.  However they offered no attacks and did nothing noisy that might draw the attention of bigger predators.  In fact, whenever the party stopped to scout their next move, the nearby goblins would scuttle close and give tenative bows.  Clearly, they were on the look-out for some powerful leader or "god" to protect them.  Corvina, who spoke Dark-Speech, told them to run -- which they did.

Eventually they picked their way down to the shores of the lake from which the black tower rose.  Corvina then went invisible and (staying 60' feet above the waters, so that no aquatic dragons could see her) wind-walked out to the tower's roof.  As she approached, she spotted a tiny black whelping at the tower's base.  The tiny creature had a golden chalice nearly as large as it was, and it was frantically trying to shove the cup into a small crack in the tower wall.  As Corvina watched, it lost its grip on the cup, which toppled into the lake and disappeared.  The baby dragon wailed in dismay and dove after it.  Corvina ignored the creature and flew for the roof quickly, before anything large popped up.

Examining the tower, she could find no cracks or crevices that would allow entry.  No windows, either.  The "windows" of the upper floor were walls of force, and she could not see through the thick flames that filled the room to see what lay within.  The was a strange magic on the roof that she could not identify.

Using shade-sight, the sorceress sent her gaze down into the water at the tower's base.  The tower doors lay on the ground, covered by silt.  However the entrance was NOT empty.  Two adult dragons lay on the lake floor, facing the doorway.  Inside she could see a dozen skum (rotted orc-like humanoids) and four tentacled, enormous fish.  Aboleths, no doubt -- malign aberations who used psionics and illusion to control their minions.  In fact, as she watched, the "baby dragon" returned to the surface with its cup... and began to repeat its actions.  It was an illusion, apparently meant to lure things (dragons?) into the water.

Looking beyond the aboleths, Corvina was able to scout two more floors.  One was full of armored skeletons lying in concentric circles.  The second was only partially underwater -- and there were wet footprints passing up and down the steps.  Someone in armor had been here, within the last several hours.  Unfortunately lights burned in the next floor up, dispelling the shadows the sorceress needed to see further.

When Corvina rejoined the party, Marius cast true seeing and spoke to Severillia.  The ailing lillendi knew that the fire wyrd, which dwelled in the top floor, could permit people to enter through the roof.  Other than that, you needed to go up through the tower, filled with skeletons, skeletal warriors, wraiths, and whatever fallen paladins were with Theodosius at the time.  Theodosius' body lay in the room just below the wyrd's chamber.

After much discussion, the band decided to hide in the city for the night -- to give the spell-casters time to memorize more appropriate spells.  In the morning they would go to the roof and attempt to convince the fire wyrd to let them enter the building, thus allowing them to save their teleports and dimensional doors for escape.