The Drow of Xen'drik (part 6)

These posts are copies of the summary emails I write for our DnD group. The current mini-adventure is an Eberron tale, set in the jungles of Xen'drik, where the party are taking the roles of drow (and one dwarf). Whilst I take great effort to follow Eberron canon, there are undoubtedly bits where my story strays or contradicts stuff. I'm aware, this is my story, and we're not playing to create new canon, but to have fun. So, read on and enjoy!

 

The Plateau

The journey was simple and fast - just like any good teleportation trip should be.  The party arrived on the plateau they had seen from the Azure Tower, and thanks to their invisibility, had some time to look about themselves.  The large plateau stretching out before them was carved out of the mountainside.  It's formation was not natural - it had been cut into the mountain, the displaced rubble tossed down the ravine to fall many miles below.  With a sharp cliff dropping away to their east, and the rest of the mountain towering overhead to the west, they were left with but one other feature: a large, twisting path spiralling up to a peak some hundred and fifty feet above their heads.  Nearly a hundred feet up the path was a large door, leading into the thin, twisted tower, but they couldn't get to the door immediately. 

Between the tower and drow were two groups of five individuals.  Standing around rune circles, arms held high, they muttered strange words, the wind carrying the indecipherable blabber carelessly across the mountainside.  In the middle of them, a lone crystal stood, about five feet wide and nearly twice that tall.  It pulsated with hues of purple and orange magic, and was clearly the focus of their ritualistic chanting.  Other, similarly focused groups were standing around the tower; with his newly enhanced vision, Quayanorl counted five in total.

None of them noticed the invisible drow approaching; not, that is, until Brenna decided that it was best to leap straight to the point.  Fire flew from her outstretched hands, even as her party members ran and scattered, wanting to put as much distance between themselves and the now-visible sorceress.  But even as she regained her visible form, those she attacked winced, but continued with their chanting. 

The Seekers

Quay naturally saw him first, as the shadows held no power over his sight, but he had never met the Umbragen seeker before, and so didn't know the relevance of his presence until Curra's snarling voice came from behind him.  "Ek'ann!"

Ek'ann Torkak looked at her with a nasty smile. "Yes, my dear", he responds, "Delightful to have you join us at last."  As he speaks, two more drow, similar in dress to those they had fought in the giant's ruins (right down to their lacking of legs), appear from the shadows and trail along behind him.  "I do hope you are here to help us, yes?"

It was never really an option for the group to side with Ek'ann, no matter what nonsense he spilled before them.  D'Jhudi'it knew this best of all, but also wanted to know just what was at foot, and so tried to play along.  "We are here to open the portal to Dal Quor, the Region of Dreams, of course...hasn't Curra told you this?  That was, after all, the purpose of our visions!"  The assassin told them of their plans, eagerly enough, though even he suspected their ultimate decision.  "The arrival of the Quori is inevitable...but if we aid them, if we open the door and welcome them in, we will have such power as to make all of the Sulatar's magic seem like mere children's tricks!"

None were convinced - at least, not enough to make them join his side.  In a last ditch effort at persuasion, Ek'ann asked "Curra, you know that the vision we shared showed the Quori's inevitable arrival and victory, and great power to those who would help quicken their coming.  Why fight what has to happen? Why play for the losing side?"  But still, they chose to fight.

The Portal Opens

Ryltar in particular took a beating that day, his body being knocked to the ground time after time, only to be raised up by whatever strange spirits Kami kept whispering to.  At times, it might have seemed that the pirate was playing out some sick desire of hers to watch the scorrow suffer so much pain, not letting him ever quite slip away into Dolurrh's cold embrace.  But Kami, just like everyone else, was fighting for her life.

At first, the party seemed to be winning, taking down Ek'ann's lackeys quickly, and disrupting the rituals at the same time.  but when they though they had the assassin beaten, he showed his final play.  For just as each of the individuals chanting around the crystals was inhabited by a quori spirit (which was released upon the vessel's death), so too did Ek'ann have an other-worldly visitor sharing his physical body.  With a final cry of defiance, he raised his arms and shouted, "Minharath, take me now!".  As blood poured from his wounds, a dark presence seeped from his very body.  A shadow formed, surrounding him and towering over the others, as the quori beast found a way into this realm.

Around the battlefield, some rituals were faltering, whilst others seemed to be working as intended.  Two of the crystals grew dark, as more of the shadow-portals ripped open above them, and more figures stepped through.  Eladrin with blades of mist stood before the crystals to offer defence, even as Brenna destroyed the first crystal, in a backlash that killed the remaining vessels attached to it via the ritual.  But still, a dark loud was forming atop the tower.

The Quori General

It was Bel'Tarayne who took off around the tower, moving solo in order to take out the crystals and cut off the connection to Dal Quor.  Sure, the others had suggested as much, directed him to move that way, but ultimately, the decision was his.  If only they had sent another to aid him, the party's losses might not have been as steep.

As it was, whilst Kami and Ryltar worked at sending Minharath's incorporeal form back to the Region of Dreams, Bel' took down another crystal.  The unleashed quori were too much for him, though, and he fell to the ground, hard.  D'Jhudi'it moved carefully to his side, but despite her best efforts, the mage could only be stabilised, not woken.  And then, as the fourth crystal erupted under deluges of fire and lightning, the creature known as Tras'nhilya broke through realities.

The creature flew swiftly into battle, a nightmarish mass of limbs, tentacles, and teeth, and brought great pain to those nearby.  All those who experienced its attacks would have visions of it disrupting their sleep for years to come, and many of the wounds it caused would never heal properly.  Still, together they stood, trying not to defeat, but simply survive, the monster's attacks. 

It was Brenna who started the battle, with her frantic and spontaneous attack; but in many ways, it was Brenna who ended it, too.  Sneaking around the tower, she faced a wave of quori, and fought through them to destroy the final crystal.  As it shattered, it cut off Eberron's connection to Dal Quor, closing the portals, and trapping the quori in their home plane. But what had passed through did not instantly return.

Tras'nhilya cried out in anguish, not yet fully manifested, and clawed frantically at the fabric of reality.  Its form wavered, losing the structure and substance it once had, but even as a wispy shadow creature, it was still dangerous.  Once more, it moved to rip through them, but this time, with the encouragement from the portal's closure, they fought back with vengeance.  Even as D'Jhudi'it's mind succumbed to the overlapping nightmares from countless quori attacks, Quayanorl and the others moved forward, and destroyed the general's last remaining hold on their realm.  With relief, they watched his dream-like form dissipate into the air.

The Aftermath

Ek'ann was dead, the quori threat defeated and repelled, and none of the vessels left to restart the ritual.  For now, Eberron was safe, though some truth of the fallen Seeker's promise still lingered.  In time, the quori would try to break through once again.  The cost still weighed on the party - D'Jhudi'it was dead, something that Ryltar felt more than the others; Bel'Tarayne's mind had as many scars as Ryltar's body, and would probably never get another restful night's sleep; and they all shared in the horror of the events that had happened.  They had won, but they were weary, injured, and barely able to point the direction to their home, let alone make the trek there.  But, they kept telling themselves, Xen'drik was no longer under an immediate risk of invasion.  At least, not from Dal Quor, and not in any time soon.  Surely, that was something to savour and celebrate.

The Drow of Xen'drik (part 5)

These posts are copies of the summary emails I write for our DnD group. The current mini-adventure is an Eberron tale, set in the jungles of Xen'drik, where the party are taking the roles of drow (and one dwarf). Whilst I take great effort to follow Eberron canon, there are undoubtedly bits where my story strays or contradicts stuff. I'm aware, this is my story, and we're not playing to create new canon, but to have fun. So, read on and enjoy!

 

Preparations

"Well, that's all of it, I guess," said Curra with an air of disappointment, as she glanced around the ransacked laboratory for a fourth time.  She had, together with Quayanorl and Bel'Tarayne spent the last few hours searching the room guarded by the iron golem for any scrolls that could prove useful.  So far, they had five.

The plan was simple.  They needed to get to the mountainside with haste, and interrupt whatever was going on, before the visions Curra and the other seekers had been plagued with come to fruition.  They had rested, for what little time they could spare, but now their moment of luxury was at an end.  Preparations needed to be made, plans created, and this Azure tower left.  Anything that needed doing, needed doing now.

"This one is the real blessing," she commented, touching the temporal portal ritual.  The giants had far better ability to step through the realms than mages today, and it was little surprise that such a scroll was found here.  It was a shame that it had to be used, instead of studied further, but there was no other way of getting across the distance in time.  Even if they could call the dragons back, whatever foul preparations were underway at the distant mountain would be finished before they could interfere.  "But the invisibility will come in useful as well." 

Ryltar and D'Jhudi'it might not mind charging into battle, but for Brenna and the others, the cover of magic would give them precious moments to get up to speed and work out what needed to be done - and to find cover, if needed.  Curra wasn't as excited with the other scrolls, but left the on the table for the others to peruse and use, if they so wished.
After examining one of the scrolls for a time, Quayanorl gathered the arcane experts together. “As we all know, the Quori were experts of the mind, masters of dreams and illusions. Although my ancient giantish is lacking, this scroll appears to record the experiments of a giant wizard in penetrating illusions to reveal underlying truths… which may be useful where we are headed… or so it seems to me.”

The ritual did indeed look powerful, promising to give the reader sight that surpassed all others, just as the giants' civilisation had once surpassed all others.  Quayanorl, should he finish the ritual, would be able to see all things clearly, no matter what illusions were put before him, or what darkness came across his path.  He wouldn't be able to see through objects, but this was surely the next best thing! 

As far as Curra could determine, the effects would last about an hour, so Quay would be best off triggering the ritual immediately before they used the teleportation spell.  Curra also passed the second scroll across to Kami.  The drunk dwarf still didn't quite fit into the group, but she had stood by them, healing as much as her connection with the spirits allowed.  The scroll would help that intention, providing an additional boost to the magical healings on offer.

The time was then upon them; final preparations were made, sight was given to Quay, and the cloak of invisibility was spread over everyone.  And then, the teleportation circle was finalised, and the party was whisked across to their final battle...

The Drow of Xen'drik (part 4)

These posts are copies of the summary emails I write for our DnD group. The current mini-adventure is an Eberron tale, set in the jungles of Xen'drik, where the party are taking the roles of drow (and one dwarf). Whilst I take great effort to follow Eberron canon, there are undoubtedly bits where my story strays or contradicts stuff. I'm aware, this is my story, and we're not playing to create new canon, but to have fun. So, read on and enjoy!

 

The Ancient City

The ancient white dragon (it was still going nameless, not deeming the party as worthy of sharing its name with) flew the group across many miles of jungle, and deposited them on the outskirts of the city.  It refused to go nearer than the tree-line, haunted memories of their war with the giants keeping it at bay.  Still, it nodded to Ryltar, and bid them good fortune on their quest.  Then, it took to the air, and went to collect the Curra, Kami and the others.

D'Jhudi'it took the lead, as usual, as they moved into the ruined city.  The buildings, ranging from mud and stone huts to more extravagant structures, were all old and untouched for many years, if not centuries.  The jungle had slowly encroached on the land, but the giants' magic still held much of it at bay - as it held many of the structures in as good a condition as when they had been inhabited, 40,000 years ago.  The main structure - the Azure Tower, which rose 1,000 feet above the ground - was an example of their ability with magic.

But first, they had to travel through the outer huts, many of which were barely large enough to fit Ryltar within.  Many millennia ago, their ancestors may have lived in such dwellings.  As slaves, they would have been forced to dwell in them.  But at the moment, they were empty.  Apart, unfortunately, from the mind flayer, and his troops.

Shadows within Shadows

The first of the shadow-infused quicklings leapt forward and struck at Quayanorl and Ryltar.  The beasts were barely the size of goblins, but they seemed to meld with the shadows, darting forth to flank and bring great pain, before withdrawing again into cover.  Along with Ryltar's controlling presence, the combined elemental might of Quay, Brenna and Bel'Tarayne held back the tide.  That was, until the two assassins showed. 

Much like the party, the drow assassins had ebony skin, sharp eyes, and a tendency for clouds of darkness.  However, what they didn't have was a set of legs.  Where most of the others had two legs, they had a vaporous mass of smoke, which drifted and merged with the shadows about them.  They moved easily over the ground, barely bobbing as their torsos floated unnaturally towards their prey. 

Bel' and Quay had heard rumours of this before - Umbragen drow who had given themselves so deeply over to the shadowy presence they followed that parts of their body had actually become shadows.  Usually, such words were dismissed as folklore, but after seeing it themselves, they could no longer doubt.  Brenna especially found their foe to be a nasty enemy, as their poison spread and infected her very vision, causing her eyes themselves to go dark.  She eventually overcame the blindness, but not before Ryltar faced, and was temporarily dominated by, a mind flayer. 

Cleaning Crew and Observation Deck

Further search into the city brought mixed results.  The large canals cut through the streets proved a minor inconvenience, allowing Quay to reveal another of his abilities.  The ancient gelatinous cubes that were bred to clean the canals tried to collect the party, but they decided to leave them be, and continued on to the observation deck.

The platform hovered roughly 300 feet above the ground, supported purely by magic.  Three large metal discs reacted to weight, and rose from the ground to the platform.  However, not all the magic was still intact.  The platform slanted at almost 45 degrees, making movement most difficult.  Ryltar skittered about the area, but it was D'Jhudi'it who recognised the pattern of crystal stones in the floor as matching constellations in the sky above.  Sadly, the sights once given from the platform were no longer viewable, due to its deterioration and dangerous slope.

The Azure Tower

The Azure Tower itself was a mighty structure, with walls thicker than some of the mud huts, and rooms large enough to fit an entire house inside.  Four lifts sat in the eastern wall, though three had fallen, their magic waning over the years, and each in turn crashing to the basement below.  The final lift was till working, and was strangely cheerful.  Happy to have people to converse with after so long alone, the lift carried them through the various levels of the tower, pointing out the interesting locations, such as the observation deck and dining hall; the workshop; and the conservatory. 

The dining hall's security system was still active, so the party first needed to find a crystal card to allow them access past the enchantments.  The first guess was the workshop, but the only thing there, aside from a number of old rituals and giant books, was an angry Iron Golem sentry.  So to the conservatory they travelled!

There, overrunning the entire floor and creeping into those above and below, was an overly large intelligent vine - and it was hungry for meat.  D'Jhudi'it and Ryltar came close to being snacked upon, whilst Bel' and Quay fought off swarms of stirges who sought out their scrumptious skin.  Once the gardening was complete, the vines parted, and some back-burning performed, the ancient skeleton of one of the botanists was found.  His crystalline pass-card was retrieved, and the group finally made it into the top floor.

A View of the Finale

Aside from the ancient kitchen, and tables scattered to allow patrons to enjoy the impressive view, there were stands complete with far-seeing divination spells, allowing for intense scrutiny of distant locations.  Some were free to move and roam about the jungle or the eastern coast, others were set up to look at areas of the distant mountainside.  One of these was aimed at another tower, on a small plateau over halfway up a mountain.  The tower was a strange, twisting display of stone and earth, quite alien to the designs of both the drow and giants of old.  Unlike most of the other locations, there was activity here, a dozen or so individuals scurrying about and performing some sort of preparations.

When the site was shown to Curra, she gasped.  The seeker recognised the site only too well, for it was the tower of her dreams.  It was not an eladrin fey spire, as previously though, but rather, a thing of Quori origin.  This tower was left over from when the Quori had invaded Eberron so many millenia ago.  And it looked like someone intended to start that invasion over again...

The Drow of Xen'drik (part 3)

These posts are copies of the summary emails I write for our DnD group. The current mini-adventure is an Eberron tale, set in the jungles of Xen'drik, where the party are taking the roles of drow (and one dwarf). Whilst I take great effort to follow Eberron canon, there are undoubtedly bits where my story strays or contradicts stuff. I'm aware, this is my story, and we're not playing to create new canon, but to have fun. So, read on and enjoy!

 

The Downed Airship

The crashing, and subsequently burning, airship was of interest, but Curra was not eager to race ahead for it.  This area needed to be searched, and failing to do that was a failure of the mission.  Ultimately, it was decided that three of the party - Kami, who was not expected to be terribly helpful with their searching (and who was starting to grumble about not having any rum); along with Brenna, whose exact role in the team had not yet been decided, were both deemed 'expendable' to the current search parameters.  Though it made her feel uncomfortable, Curra agreed that Ryltar was the best option to head the side-trek.  His speed allowed for greater retreat should things go wrong, and his loyalty meant that the trio would return, should they still be alive.

The trek to the ship took another two days, but the trails of smoke (both from the burning ship and the surrounding trees) made it easy to navigate the unfamiliar forests.  When they arrived, the partially destroyed shipwreck was silent. There were bodies, some killed in the explosion, others dead from injuries suffered in the crash.  Some bodies were thrown clear, only to be impaled on trees, or broken against the ground...or savaged by wild animals.  Only later was it determined as to just what these animals were.

Kami noted that a number of the bodies wore clothes and jewellery familiar with her home province - the Lhazaar Principalities, though like all who hail from the far eastern coast of Khorvaire, they held no allegiance.  Others were clearly Valenar elves, vicious mercenaries for hire, who had annexed a large section of land from Cyre, the nation who had hired them during the Last War. 

The cargo instantly identified the ship as smugglers, even if Kami hadn't been there to offer the same information.  Various treasures, including tapestries, jewellery, and chests of rare (and quite old) coins sat alongside armour, weapons, and other trinkets.  Kami found a shield, whilst Brenna recovered three dragonshards, and pocketed them for further use.

Towards the back of the cargo area, two more disturbing crates of goods were found.  The first were dragon eggs, showing that the smugglers had little concern for their own lives (for stealing from dragons was always a foolish thing, but stealing their eggs was simple suicide).  The second were full suits of armour that, instead of being hollow and ready for wearing, had bodies within them made from wood, metal, stone, and leather.  Kami was again able to offer information the drow did not have - "warforged" was what they were called, a living construct created and used in the Last War.  These all were damaged, however, and none of them responded to anything...but for one. 

Whilst examining them, Kami touched, and felt the cold metal shudder.  It rose, and then seemed intent on following her.  It did not seem to have a mind of its own, like the ones used in the War, but instead was a much simpler construct, set to follow her orders and do as she commanded.  There was little time to test its capabilities out, as the owners of the stolen goods returned.

Angered Dragons

A thunderous earthquake dragon, along with a unit of savage Argonnessen-tribe-barbarians, approached the ship from the forest.  Without waiting, Brenna moved to the top of the ship, and sent gouts of flame to consume some of the barbarians, and the battle was on.  A second dragon, green in colour, circled around overhead with a dragonborn sorcerer on its back.  The two caused great destruction, almost collapsing the ship, and taking down Brenna whilst Ryltar and the brown dragon struggled with each other outside.  Their match ended with the scorrow strangling the dragon, crushing the creature's scaled neck enough to knock it out.  It would have died, too, had not the colossal form of a white dragon brought a swift end to the battle.  Demanding that everyone stop fighting, it berated the drow for their attack on the dragons, it reminded them that it was they, the dragons, that saved the drow civilisation.  Back when the giants were going to quell the slave uprising, when they were going to turn the terrible magics that had stopped the Dal Quor invaders, it was the dragons of Argonnessen who had swept in and ended things, and so saved Eberron from being ripped apart.

There were more pressing matters, too.  The ancient white dragon brought with it news of two more airships searching for their missing vessel, and they were closing in.  The dragon could take down one, but asked for the drow's help (along with the remnants of the Green and Brown dragon's tribesmen) to handle the second.  Agreeing to this, an uneasy truce was formed, and the group waited as the ships rolled in over the trees from the east. 

The Elves Attack

It was only a matter of time before the ancient white dragon defeated the third airship.  The green, along with its rider, flew to the second, leaving the rest to take on the ground troops.  A small skiff detached from the side of the vessel as it moved closer, depositing six Valenar soldiers on the ground.  Outnumbered 2-1, the elves moved in without fear, and set to work on evening those odds.

The remaining barbarians fell before the swift double-scimitars favoured by the Aerenal elven fighting style, and had it not been for Ryltar's fierce control of the battlefield, Kami and Brenna would surely have followed.  But the elves were not expecting fierce and powerful warriors - dragons, or tribesmen, they could have handled.  The drow, and Kami with her restocked rum bottles, proved far more ferocious.

As a second ship fell, its crew being picked off by the hungry dragons, the third tried to escape its inevitable fate and fled to the coast.  It would not get far - it had been badly damaged, and would not last another day in the air, let alone the week-long journey back to Khorvaire.

To the Tower

Once they had seen to their wounds, the party was ready to head out once again.  The white dragon had promised to take them towards a city that had a "tall tower", matching descriptions of the one they were searching, and the green dragon was going to find Curra and the others, and point them in the right direction.

Could their quest be nearing an end?  Had their searching finally brought them to the tower of Curra's dreams?

The Drow of Xen'drik (part 2)

These posts are copies of the summary emails I write for our DnD group. The current mini-adventure is an Eberron tale, set in the jungles of Xen'drik, where the party are taking the roles of drow (and one dwarf). Whilst I take great effort to follow Eberron canon, there are undoubtedly bits where my story strays or contradicts stuff. I'm aware, this is my story, and we're not playing to create new canon, but to have fun. So, read on and enjoy!

 

Woodland Ambush

After the giant ruins that had claimed so much of Quayanorl and Bel'Tarayne's team, the group had not come across anything else of the lost civilisation for almost a week.  That in itself was rare - though the giant civilisation fell roughly 40,000 years ago when they repelled the Dal Quar invasion, they had been around for many thousands of years beforehand.

The first ruin D'Jhudi'it found was not even of giant origin.  Instead, it was an old statue dedicated to the now largely unknown gods of the feykind.  That in itself was enough to put most drow on edge - though they shared a common ancestry with other fey folk, the drow no longer see themselves that way.  Other elves are weaker, and the fey folk are simple creatures.  The animosity is mutual, and so when the large treant sighted the drow, it was quick to attack.

The two nymphs were not enough to guard the treant; even when an ancient satyr protector was called to help, it only succeeded in withdrawing Kami from the rest of the group.  Ultimately, with those who had called it now dead, the Satyr retreated and left.   Its parting words, later translated from its native tongue, spoke of others that it hoped would provide some sort of "mutual annihilation".  This wish was only half fulfilled.

The Dolgrim Slaughter

Within the marshlands, D'Jhudi'it found two all-but-ruined huts, with an alarming number of voices coming from them.  The voices were mostly from a tribe of Dolgrim warriors (with each of the mutant beasts having two mouths, they accounted for quite a bit of noise!).  Lead by a bugbear, and accompanied by a troll, they would have been quite deadly without the addition of the Sulatar drow, whose fire and lightning kept the critters at bay whilst Ryltar joined D'Jhidi'it, and helped take down the troll.

Curra watched the battle with concern.  When the last of the Khyber-beasts was certain to be dead, she moved in for a closer look.  That spawn had crept out from the realm below was bad enough, but these foulspawn had more than just Khyber magic about them.  As each had died, it had gifted a shadow-like barrier around its brethren, making them more sturdy.  Sure, it had not changed the course of the battle, but the implications were disturbing.  Could there be an active daelkyr in the vicinity?  Was there another plague of foulspawn preparing to rise and ravage their homeland?  The daelkyr had arrived approximately nine thousand years ago, breaking through from Xoriat, the Realm of Madness.  They brought about the destruction of the Dhakaani Empire on the Khorvaire continent, allowing for humans and other humanoid races to take over.  But they had left Xen'drik mostly alone.

Her concerns only briefly shared, Curra retreated to study one of the dead more, to read through her notes on Xoriat, and to send messages to others she thought could help.  There were fouler forces at play than just mutated goblins and other monstrous humanoids.  For now, they simply continued their search.

A Giant Defeat

As the sun began to rise, and their night-vision advantage lessened, the dull thumping of running giants was heard behind them.  Curra stiffened, feeling a presence focusing on her, and then through the trees came four giants, wreathed in flames.  A fifth figure, larger than the others, but bearing no solid form, was attached to the giants by lashes of flame, and through these, guided their stampeding actions.  The fire elemental, now sure its prey was near, caused the giants to howl (in rage, or in pain?) and charge forward.  Kami was quick, drawing the others nearby to envelope them in her protective roots, but the protection was not enough to withstand the area of intense flames that leapt about them.  Four individuals in such close proximity was too tempting an opportunity to look past, and so it was that explosion after explosion erupted about them, as the forgecallers distracted the drow, and the flamedancers moved in for the kill.

At first, the elemental seemed all but invulnerable, but as the giants linked to it fell, so did its resistance.  With Bel becoming immune to the flames himself, the creature was subdued...and as the flames died down, Brenna was found within.  Her body now crumpled on the ground, the thick golden collar she wore clicked open, and released her body from the curse she took upon herself.

The drow rested, dealing with burns and cuts as Brenna was stabilised and cared for.  After the busy night they had experienced, they hoped for a quiet day of rest and recuperation.  They continued to hope, right up until the airship crashed.

Signs in the Sky

Kami was the first to recognise it - after all, she was the only one who had experience with the flying vessels used by House Lyrandar.  The tell-tale fire elemental ring glowed brightly in the dawn sky, but Kami instantly knew there was something wrong.  If that ship had been in the sea, instead of floating through the air, it would be taking on a whole lot  of water.  Before she had time to attempt any explanation, there was an explosion, and the ship dropped behind the distant treetops.  Moments later, a second explosion issued forth through the jungle, as fire leapt high, and smoke poured into the morning sky.  Flocks of birds swarmed and cried out as they flew to escape the noise, but for now, nothing further was seen or heard.

The Drow of Xen'drik (part 1)

These posts are copies of the summary emails I write for our DnD group. The current mini-adventure is an Eberron tale, set in the jungles of Xen'drik, where the party are taking the roles of drow (and one dwarf). Whilst I take great effort to follow Eberron canon, there are undoubtedly bits where my story strays or contradicts stuff. I'm aware, this is my story, and we're not playing to create new canon, but to have fun. So, read on and enjoy!

Two Years Ago

A dream came to the minds of three prominent figures in three different tribes of the drow of Xen'drik: Xen'kar Gen'thac of the Sulatar drow; Ek'ann Torkak from the Umbragen; and, Curra Xar'cha who led the Vulkoori. Each dream showed a tower, through which a great threat to the drow would arrive. The three who shared the dream - known as "seekers" by the wise ones, priests, and other leaders of each tribe - quickly convinced their tribes to search out this threat, and deal with it before it became too great.

The City of Silver and Bone

It was believed that the dreams referenced Shae Tirias Tolai, an ancient and long-ruined fey-spyre lost deep within the jungles. The fey-spire had been the home of the drow's distant relatives, the eladrin. The spires would flutter between the feywild and the material planes, allowing the eladrin soldiers within to break forth and take what they needed, before vanishing for many years more. However, back in the Age of Giants, the spire had its last jaunt - besieged by the powerful forces of the giant nation at its peak, the spire fell, and all the eladrin were killed or taken captive. Since then, it has stood, empty and forgotten; a hollow shell, testimony to the power of the giants of old.
It was decided that the eladrin spire should be found once more. Now known as the "City of Silver and Bone", the mysterious location was sought after by many parties from each of the three main tribes, each wanting to win favour and renown for their families by making the discovery. But as often happens when folk wandered too long in the Xen'drik jungles, the parties slowly died off, or became too weak to continue alone. Some groups merged with other surviving hunters they came across, others vanished without a trace. Yet others dared return without success, and their humility will remain with their clans for generations to come.

The Hunting Parties

One of the Vulkoori parties was doubly blessed in their number - not only did they have one of the three seekers herself (Curra), but they also had a divine avatar of Vulkoor - the scorrow Ryltar. Membership into this party was sought after, but Curra and Ryltar had the last say, bringing in those they knew and had worked with before, such as the druid scout, D'Jhudi'it. After working together to scour the eastern coast of the continent, they picked up their strange dwarven companion, Kami (a long way removed from her home amongst the Lhazaar Principalities), on their way to the Marsh of Desolation. Their numbers were seven now, with the inclusion of the dwarf, almost half of what they had started with when they had set out from home three moons ago.

The Sulatar seeker, Xen'kar, did not join a search party, and instead ran the structured grid by grid search of the surrounding jungles from his library. He connected to each of his students elected to run the teams via camp fires. Through his powerful magic, he could reach out and give instructions to dozens of such teams throughout the jungle at once. The same ritual allowed him to hear reports and check on the progress of all those who would be his eyes and ears. And being hard-working, eager to please drow, they all wanted to fall into line. Because of this, when a campfire was missing, he knew something was wrong.

The night before the two parties met, Curra and her followers had seen great gouts of fire pouring into the night sky, threatening to take over the surrounding forests, and burn everything in their paths. Fearing another Argonnessen raiding party (it was the season for dragons to scour the forests), they watched and waited, everyone ready for attack or flight, depending on the outcome. But the forest didn't burn, and the silhouettes of dragons against the starry sky were not seen. What was seen were three drow bodies, their skin singed and cut, their clothing bloodied from battle. One did not live to see the rising sun, so great were her wounds, but the other two, who gave their names as Quayanorl and Bel'Tarayne, were able to tell of their deadly encounter.

The First Defeat

They were ten in number: four who were trying to win leadership; five who followed, well aware of their powers; and one who outclassed them all. Not enough to truly be feared, but just enough to be the clear leader...until he was taken down a peg. They had come across some ruins - giant in origin, as most ruins in Xen'drik were. Kas'asar declared that they should be searched, and led the exploration into their depths. She claimed to feel the power hidden within, power of the giants of old, power that would aid them on their mission, or at least give rise to their status in the tribe. What they found, however, was an enclave of giants. They, like all other giants throughout the land, lacked the power and magical abilities of their ancestors, but they had numbers on their side. Over two dozen of the creatures flooded out of the ruins, and half the drow were killed within minutes. The remainder fought back hard, but quickly realised that this was not a fight they could win - not this time, anyway. Thoughts turned to retreat, and another of their number, Brenna, held off three giants with her magical flames whilst allowing the few survivors to escape. Only three did, and now, they were only two.

That meeting was almost a week ago, and though Quayanorl and Bel'Tarayne had hoped to find remnants of their former group elsewhere in the forest, none of them had been seen since. The giants still moved around the ruins, making the search for survivors or captives most dangerous. There were mutterings within the group of the need to move on, and though 'Tarayne felt his heart twinge at the thought of leaving any trace of Brenna behind, he realised that by himself, he would not be able to avenge her, let alone have any hope of finding her again.

Our First Foray into Gamma World

The Game

It started a month ago. A robot rolled down from the foothills to the village edge. The Ancient device buzzed and blinked, then blew up. The same thing happened the next day, and the next, and almost every day since. However, on at least four occasions, a robot succeeded in reaching the village periphery, buzzed, blinked, and fired a rocket at the wall - though, the rocket blast had little effect. The whole village was wondering: What the heck is going on up in the foothills

- Intro to "Steading of the Iron King",  found in the Gamma World Rulebook, p139.

And so it was that four unusual folk came together: Penniflotation, the fungoid hawkoid; his partner-in-many-conman-affairs, Fairult, the exploding hyper-cognitive; Fairult's uncle, Polecat the magnetic felinoid; and José, the gelatinous cockroach, who knew Polecat throguh a secret society.  Funnily enough, José and Penniflotation had fought together in the war.

Together, they ventured into the hills, following the tracks of the robots back until they found a steading in the hills.  Approaching the guards (a couple of badders and two porker marauders), it quickly became apparent that they were not going to let them past.  Not without a fight, anyway.  José had already crept part of the way up, making the most of his invisibility, whilst the flying mushroom hovered above the battlefield.  The porkers were roasted quickly - not surprisingly, for hired mercenaries seldom perform their tasks well. 

The remaining badder saw he was done for, and quickly burrowed deep into the ground, as the doors to he steading opened, and out came two more of the guards, prodding a fearsome yexil mauler in front of them!  With no snappy garments to distract the laser-eyed lion-beast, the party was quickly defeated, and all answers as to the strange robots seemed to die with them...

Fortunately, there was one other band of apparent misfits.  Krawler, the plant rat swarm, and his old friend Oakroad (a reanimated nightmare bounty hunter) teamed up with Oakroad's old (and failed) mark, Mentos, a shape-shifter mind-breaker.  Mentos brought with him Heavy Thought, a mind coercer gravity controller, with whom he had been fighting (mentally, of course) over a particular lass in the village.  Mentos had won.

The new team arrived on the scene only moments after the yexil had finished consuming the last party, and with decisive action (and a well-placed hand grenade), quelled the beast and its guards.  Finally, they made it inside the steading.  The immediate entry had little more than a large, noisy machine, set up to recognise and heal the badder guards.  Not wanting that to happen, Oakroad took it upon himself to slowly break it (for his body healed up any injuries he might have otherwise sustained). 

Pushing further into the complex, the team came across a rather nasty nest - amidst a patch of glowing purple-blue moss, two blaashes (radioactive moths the size of a large dog) and three blood birds had set up home.  Krawler was the first in, and had not his latest alpha mutation cruelly backfired, may have lasted more than mere seconds.  Instead, he fell quickly, as the blood birds swarmed him and sucked each individual part of his swarm dry.  Behind him, the others managed to fell a few of the birds, but the moths radioactive beams were too strong; before long, it was only Heavy Thought left standing, and like many folks do when the tables are so badly turned against them, he turned and ran.

The gamma moths made short work of the unconscious would-be heroes, and despite his dash for safety, Heavy Thought never managed to pry the blood bird from his shoulder.  Before he had made it back to the front door, it had clipped his jugular, and managed to have a hearty feed. 

Reflections

Our group had a change of campaigns, and since I had all three Gamma World sets sitting on my shelf, unplayed, since they were released, I put forth the option to run a one-shot game.  After a few folks were busy or sick, we had four players and myself, and I ran through the first half of the adventure in the Gamma World rulebook.  None of us had played Gama World (in any of its iterations) before, but were all familiar with DnD 4e, and so only had to remember the few differences in the game (second winds as minor actions, the lack of surges, and the craziness of character creation).  We used the character half-sheet origins found here, and found them great.  Instead of having to roll between three books, work out who was using what book, and worrying about getting doubles, I printed off each of the sheets, cut them up, and shuffled them into one large deck.  We also used the great Junkulator to give the characters some amusing (though ultimately, not used) starting gear, and ideas from Fiasco: The Fallout to build relationships.  

The combat was fast and hectic...and lethal, as you would have read above.  The lethality was partly due to our own unfamiliarity with the game (a number of alpha mutations were used that backfired spectacularly), and partly because we went in one man down.  But it was still a fun event, and something that I'd be willing to visit again.

Lessons

Things were definitely learned on both sides of the DM screen: I discovered that the monsters were definitely up to par as far as damage output goes.  There was no need to modify them further, which is always a nice thing.  The players learnt that just because you can attempt an overcharge, it doesn't mean that you should attempt it.  I found out that, although fun, random items (that is, the junkulator, not Omega cards) didn't really add much.  In a proper campaign, I would ensure that at least some of them had further purpose, or a larger role to play.  And I'd encourage the players to think up further uses for them.  The players discovered that character creation doesn't take too long, once you know what you are doing.  And we all quickly agreed that the official sheets are not quite as nice as others.  We ended up using this, but it is only for level 1.  Still, there are many more out there, should you wish to search for them!

Long Term Play?

One concern raised was how would a Gamma World campaign work.  Would we ever be able to build proper relationships if our characters died roughly twice a night?  Well, I don't think that a campaign would run with that sort of death rate, but if we were playing a campaign, not only would we learn to understand our characters better, but the DM would be more keen to pull some punches for the story's sake, and players would be more careful with their characters.  I think that, with some preliminary work (creating the setting and better fleshing out the characters), the game could run for a short campaign.  The randomness of Alpha mutations and Omega gear might be a bit problematic, but could still be made to work.  I'd like to see how characters and monsters ran at higher levels, and if the simplified 4e-power-structure gave enough opportunities, whilst keeping the game simple.

Further Thoughts

The only other thing to say after the experience is that it is a shame this isn't where "DnD Next", or 5e, went.  There is a great simplicity in taking a class and race and meshing them together (and plenty of possibility to add in the third leg of backgrounds / themes there), simplicity in how actions are made, what items really are, and how powers work.  But even with all that simplicity, there is plenty of room to make things more complex, yet still balanced.  It is also interesting to see that where it is not needed, the rules allow even more simplicity: items are not overly specified, but instead have general stats for various types, allowing the player to describe what exactly they are.  What has been shown in Gamma World confirms that a "simpler" base edition of DnD could have been made, whilst still carrying forward all the advancements of 4e.  It is a shame that WotC did not go this way.