Like most battles, the first few seconds set the tone for everything.
Grullik reacted first. The half-orc’s eyes bulged with the realization that something had been following them, unknown and unseen. He whirled into the doorway, both knives thrusting outwards after the psychic blast ended.
Neither knife found its mark. The thing on the other side of the doorway, tall and thin, with squid-like tentacles around its mouth, raised a hand, the flesh an alien, insane pigment, and a conjured disk of force blunted both weapons away. The thing leaned forward, its eyes promising an end to any that opposed it.
And the tentacles lashed into Grullik’s skull. The mustachioed half-orc barely had time to let out a gurgling scream before he fell backward.
Grullik’s skull was collapsed like an empty waterskin. His brain sucked out and gone.
The gnolls and orcs were staggered, stumbling like drunken sailors on a heaving deck. The psychic cone of energy had not gotten near Orphan, but he saw its effects. Even Delegado succumbed, his eyes glazed.
Orphan charged at the alien tentacle-headed thing, and lashed a kick that pushed through the conjured force screen, but barely bruised the creature. The warforged expected to at least crack a rib, but the thing’s hard flesh somehow resisted the blow.
The thing’s return attack was sudden pressure on Orphan’s mind. A black sea of water filled him perception, overwhelming his mind.
For a moment.
The mental training of the Balanced Palm was a singular hot flame that burned the black sea away, and freed Orphan’s mind from its grip. The monk spun and launched a flurry of fists and feet at the thing. His blows hit, if not as hard as they should, and the abomination backed up quickly into the entry chamber, away from the hidden temple.
Orphan felt something pass through the air, from the creature and then back into the room of stunned creatures. He advanced on the creature, swinging a high kick at its head.
Which did not connect. There was a ripple and the creature vanished. An inrushing crack of air told Orphan that it really had vanished, not just turned invisible.
Orphan turned, trying to listen for the creature. There was nothing.
The warforged spun and ran back into the temple area to help the fallen. Everyone was still staggered, except for K’gah.
K’gah was advancing on Orphan, with his sword drawn.
And his eyes were wrong.
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2 comments:
sweeet- mindflayers are so boss.
and drow- there better be some drow up ins soon charles- just saying.
Yeah, it still doesn't make sense to me, so i guess shall have to wait.
question- is any of the story based on past dnd campaigns you've had? A lot of it has that kind of dynamic game feeling.
heh, I love(d) drow, used them so much every adventuring party I had got sick of them. If I ever get the party to Xendrik tho...
Re based on campaigns, yes and no. I found your basic dungeon crawl to be boring after a while, and to spice it up, I would often have the PCs find out that their reason for the dungeon crawl wasn't what they thought it was.
Case in point here, Delegado and Orphan thought that with the hag gone, the temporary power vacuum would allow them to loot what seemed to be a forgotten underground chamber / dungeon. The reality is everyone was duped into going there by a mindflayer using its suggestion abilities.
The mindflayer actually traveled near the party the entire time, using certain magical items to remain undetected. Its detect thought ability worked on everyone except Orphan, so it first manipulated Orphan into feeling isolated emotionally, then set the best warrior (K'gah is a high-level fighter) against him.
What will the mindflayer do while K'gah keeps Orphan busy? And how will the mindflayer get past the many traps left by the original worshippers in this place? And what will the mindflayer do with all of his new thralls?
Yeah, you can guess what's coming...
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