"The Rage and the Mage" Chapter 10 of the Dwellers of the Forbidden City

The team allies with Kwairno to infiltrate the lair of the Ophidian Yuan-Ti, fight the immortal naga Explictica Defilus, discover a secret Yuan-Ti fortress, and free an sylvan princess!

The Group (in order of seniority):

• Aline, a Thaumaturge of half-Human/half-Sylvan* parentage (Wizard 8)
• Gravy, Human Priest of Thumina (Cleric 8)
• Lodar, Prairiefolk** Barbarian (Barbarian 7)
• Randalf Azul, Human Abjurer (Wizard 8)
• Sorjin, Human Adventurer, Bounty Hunter, ...Ladies Man (Fighter 5/Warlock 2)

Not Present this week:

• Inza, aka "The Shadow", Human Shadow-Warrior (Monk 7/Sorcerer 1)

* Elf
** Halfling
*** Half-Orc

Last week, the party defeated the wizard Horan and captured his female protege, Kwairno.

An Unlikely Ally
Back at their hideout, the party struck a deal with Kwairno. She had no love for or loyalty to the Yuan-Ti. Horan was only working form them so he could get access to the Seed of Anuran. She told Aline everything she wanted to know.

Aline then offered to set Kwairno free on the condition that she promise not to betray the party. Kwairno admitted that she was angry that the party killed her mentor, but her poor position made revenge unlikely. Aline freed the witch. Rubbing her wrists, Kwairno sheepishly said that she didn't feel like she would safely make it out of the city without help, so she made the party an offer. Kwairno said she would help the party defeat the yuan-ti in exchange for her life, her freedom, the return of her wand, her magic ring, and the rest of her belongings, and an escort back to Thither. The party agreed.

A Clever Ruse
Kwairno led the party to the Yuan-ti base, a green ziggurat near a ravine. Aline cast an illusion spell over the party so that they appeared to be bound slaves. Sorjin was made to resemble a reptile-man warrior. They rode on the back of a cart drawn by a giant monitor lizard up the boulevard to the Yuan-ti base.

When they arrived, they found that the bronze doors at the base of the ziggurat were unguarded. Kwairno said the doors were always guarded and that his was most strange.

The party warily opened the bronze doors to reveal a wide deep hall descending into the earth beneath the ziggurat. The ceiling was supported by four massive columns. Two deep pits were located between the columns. In the back of the room was another bronze door. In each corner was a cage containing human slaves huddling in fear. Two giant snakes advanced on the slaves menacingly!

The party charged in and attacked the snakes. Suddenly, the human slaves threw off their illusions, revealing themselves to be yuan-ti disguised by an illusion! The yuan-ti attacked from range with bows!

Lodar and Randalf took the left flank while Gravy and Sorjin went up the center. Aline took to the sky and threw a fireball. Kwairno stayed on the stairs and used her firebolt cantrip

Gravy was constricted by a giant snake. Sorjin was momentarily mind-controlled but was soon released by Randalf's counter-magics. Aline, too, was subjected to mind-control but released by a wave of Randalf magic-nullifying hand.

Lodar threw himself into a battle-frenzy, attacking snake and yuan-ti and allowing Randalf to finish them off. After the battle, Lodar commented to Randalf that they made a good team, calling their strategy, "The Rage and the Mage!"

DM Note- This got a good laugh!

The snakes and the yuan-ti were soon dispatched. Their bodies hurled to the bottoms of the pits.

Explictica Defilus
The party cautiously advanced. Kwairno indicated that the slaves were usually held in cages in the laboratory to the left. The party decided, however, to take the door to the right.

Behind the heavy bronze door was a massive coiled serpent with the face of a human! The serpent was flanked by two humanoid attendants with scaly skin.

The serpentine creature spoke in a shrill raspy voice, "Who dares disturb the abode of EXPLICTICA DEFILUS?!? You will die for your insolence!!"

Sorjin and Lodar rushed in, only to discover that the center of the room, an area marked by the symbol of Set, was cursed! They quickly adjusted their strategy and positioned themselves between the naga and one of its attendants.

Explictica Defilus opened its mouth and small glowing motes of electricity danced like fireflies in a tornado, suddenly a bolt of lightning shot out - only to be snuffed by a dismissive wave of Randalf's hand!

Explictica Defilus' rage did not last long as Sorjin spun around and cut the head off the coiled monstrosity in a single powerful stroke!

DM Note - Critical hit! Explictica Defilus did not last long!

As the body of the naga shriveled up, turned to dust, and evaporated before everyone's eyes, the sound of ethereal laughter echoed through the halls. "You can never defeat me! EXPLICTICA DEFILUS SHALL RETURN! HA HA HA!"

With the death of their master, the attendants were soon defeated.

A Secret Portal
Inside the room, the party found a small box of platinum taels a length of rope within which was woven strands of silvery material. On a hunch, Lodar played a tune on his piccolo and the rope magically reached into the air of its own accord! What's more, the rope passed through the ceiling!

Sorjin climbed the rope to scout around. He poked his head into the ceiling and discovered that it emerged on a desolate plain of broken shale under a massive black cliff. Built into the cliff was a dark fortress with two towers suspended beneath the massive overhang, like to great serpent fangs. The fortress was no doubt the home of the yuan-ti and this portal was how they entered into the forbidden city!

DM Note- The portal leads to the 3rd edition module The Fortress of the Yuan-Ti.

Lodar, hearing Sorjin's reports from atop the rope, stopped playing his piccolo and said, "I want to see!" and moved to climb the rope behind Sorjin, but as the music stopped the rope suddenly collapsed  and Sorjin fell to the floor with a painful thud!

Sorjin got up and rubbed his sore butt as he looked menacingly at Lodar. Lodar sheepishly responded, "Sorry!"

With the rope safely in their possession, Randalf figured that the yuan-ti would be unable to enter or exit the forbidden city. They popped in to Horan's laboratory to check on the captives then made sure the rest of the base was clear.

The Slaves
After ensuring the ruins were secure, they freed the captives. Among them were several human villagers captured by coastal slavers, a few feral bullywugs which were promptly put down, some strange humanoids that appeared to be patchwork amalgamations of various races, and a female sylvan.

Sorjin asked the sylvan several identifying questions and was eventually satisfied that this was the sylvan princess he was sent to rescue! Her name was Aratheas. She was travelling when her ship was attacked by pirates. She was captured and sold into slavery. She managed to escape and had been hiding with the mongrel-men for many weeks. She had even become their leader, in spite of her disgust for the wretched creatures. Then, last week, she was re-captured by the reptile-men and brought here. She said that if the party helped her escape Sinopia, she would reward them with one of her magical treasures that she kept hidden in ruins of the mongrel-men. The party agreed.

Before they freed the prisoners, the party checked on the rest of the underground ruins and passages beneath the ziggurat. It seemed that the Yuan-ti had abandoned this base, perhaps retreating to the fortress through the portal. The hoard of platinum they were expecting to find was probably taken back to the fortress. But that would be a quest for another day.

Escape From Sinopia
After freeing the slaves, the party, including Kwairno and Aratheas, made their way out of the city the way they came in. They faced no opposition and were soon back in the Crying Swamp. The guardians of the forbidden city, sensing that the Yuan-Ti had abandoned Sinopia with their naga god-king, were satisfied and allowed safe passage through the wall of thickets.

After several hours of slow travel through the swamps, often utilizing Aline's magical flying broom to cross river channels one passenger at a time, they arrived at the far bank of the Xanthus river, the city of Thither lay on the other shore. It was late afternoon and smoke arose from various buildings across the city, the sound of battle drifted across the muddy yellow water of the river.

Aline took Sorjin across the river and the pair observed the state of affairs from behind the screen of an illusion spell.

The city was in chaos. Battle clogged the streets as a slave revolt unfolded. Hundreds of free slaves ran wild in a riot of destruction and bloodshed. The city guard had abandoned their posts, leaving the protection of the aristocracy to the household guards of each wealthy family and foreign mercenaries. Many wealthy merchants and patricians were hung from towers and wall or impaled on spikes.

A woman was seen shouting orders, a woman seemed to be leading the revolt. In the chaos of battle, a man ran up to fight alongside her, side-by-side. The pair looked at each other and smiled, kissed passionately, and returned to fighting. The woman was Feisty of Flinch. The man was Bo-Mont Oacha, wealthy philanthropist of Thither.

TO BE CONTINUED...

MAYBE...

SOMEDAY

DM Note- I'm taking a break from running D&D for a few months. One of the other players will be running his new campaign world. After that, I'll run a few weeks of Exiled in Eris. I may return to this campaign and these characters, I may return to D&D with a different, more deliberate, campaign. Heck, I have an idea for an all-arcane 4th Edition campaign! We'll see. 

"Caught Monologuing!" - Chapter 8 of Dwellers of the Forbidden City

Sorjin

The team infiltrates the house of Horan and dispatch him in the middle of his villainous monologue. Then they must battle their way out against a horde of reptile-men mercenaries. As they escape, they find a mysterious object at the bottom of a pond and must defend themselves against its invisible defender.

The Group (in order of seniority):

• Aline, a Thaumaturge of half-Human/half-Sylvan* parentage (Wizard 8)
• Inza, aka "The Shadow", Human Shadow-Warrior (Monk 7/Sorcerer 1)
• Lodar, Prairiefolk** Barbarian (Barbarian 7)
• Randalf Azul, Human Abjurer (Wizard 8)
• Sorjin, Human Adventurer, Bounty Hunter, ...Ladies Man (Fighter 5/Something Else 2)

Not Present this week:

• Gravy, Human Priest of Thumina (Cleric 8)

* Elf
** Halfling
*** Half-Orc

Last week, the party learned that Indigo the blue imp was somehow connected to the Aline's crystal ball, and that the crystal ball was somehow opening a gate to hell and allowing devils to escape. Later, the team performed some reconnaissance of the House of Horan prior to planning their infiltration.

DM Note: I was really off my game this week. I was guilty of one major screw-up after another. I beat myself quite a bit after the session and regretted a lot of rulings I made and details I overlooked. I will try to identify them wherever possible. Luckily, I was able to salvage my screw-ups and the end battle I improvised turned out pretty entertaining, but it wasn't what I was hoping for.

The Infiltration
Under the cover of Aline's Major Illusion spell, the team stealthily move from their hiding place to the southeast corner of the wall surrounding Horan's compound. Thus magically hidden from view, they climbed over the wall and into a wooded garden of small cherry trees, bamboo, and reeds around a small pond covered in lily-pads.

Sticking together under the umbrella of the illusion, they made their way around the right of the house, stopping when they realized they would travel too near a guard barracks. They turned around and went to the left of the house where they saw an entrance.

Corridors of Confusion
The door was made of wooden slats and slid open sideways. The large room beyond contained a square sunken area in the center of the room which contained a small cooking fire. Tatami mats lined the raised floor around the fire pit. The walls were made of sliding shoji screens, rice paper framed in bamboo panels. Two of the panels, one to the left and one to the right of the corridor on the other side of the room, were illuminated from the rooms within. Various statues of fat gods were placed on pedestals around the otherwise empty room. They paused before entering. Nothing happened.

DM Note: The room was protected by magic mouth spells cast upon the statues. If any intruders entered the room, the statues were programmed to shout, "Help! Help! We're under attack!" but I ruled that the major illusion spell prevented their activation. 

 Screw-Up #1: I forgot to mention the shoji screen walls to the players. This will become important later.

They entered with caution and invisibly made their way to the far corridor. As soon as they stepped onto the brown lacquered wood of the corridor, the hallway filled with dense fog. No one could see beyond a few feet. Anyone walking into the corridor became dizzy and confused. The effect was illusory, all within the minds of the observer, so they made their way forward as best they could.

They went to what they hoped was the room to the left. They tried to open the sliding shoji screen door, but it was magically stuck. It took the magic users TWO dispel magic spells to deactivate the arcane lock spell placed upon the door. Luckily, the major image spell masked the sounds of the spell-casting.

DM Note: the house is protected by a spell called Guards and Wards. This causes anyone passing through an intersection to roll randomly to see which direction they actually go. Unbeknownst to the players, they rolled lucky and went in the desired direction.

Once through the door, they encountered another fog-filled hallway. They made their way forward and found another sliding door to the left. The room beyond was illuminated through the rice paper.

DM Note: Remember, I forgot to mention this detail to the players at the time, but I include it here as part of a more coherent narrative.

Inza tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge. Lodar was brought forth and he violently ripped it out of its track. The woman meditating in the room beyond was Kwairno, the female wizard they captured from the caravan two days previous! She leaped to her feet in confusion for the room beyond was empty. The door just silently and mysteriously ripped itself open!

DM Note: Aline's player wanted to make her major image spell preserve the illusion of the closed door. I ruled that since she couldn't see the other side of the door, she couldn't do that. 

The party used her confusion to rush in. Inza hit her with a few nerve strikes and caught her as she fell unconscious, gently lowering her back onto her bed.

DM Note: Yeah, that was pretty awesome.

They tied her up and gagged her and left her on her bed while they moved to the next room. The room was dark but once again Lodar was forced to rip the magically held door off its track. Inside they found the chamber of a wizard of advanced ability. A large spell-book rested on a silver pedestal carved to resemble a silver oriental dragon. This was surely the chamber of the wizard Horan, but he was nowhere to be found.

Randalf cast a Detect Magic spell. Besides everything in the room, he could detect something just beyond the wall in one corner of the room. He was momentarily confused, then he smacked his forehead when he realized it was Kwairno on her bed in her room. He ran over and found a magic ring on her finger, which he took.

DM Note: Dammit! He found her Ring of Free Movement which she was going to use to free herself when she woke up!

The party had barely started tearing the two rooms apart looking for loot when the front entrance erupted into several shrill voices screaming "Help! Help! We're being repressed!"

DM Note: Sorjin's player had just showed up, about an hour late. He walked in the front door and triggered the magic mouths.

Inza ran back to the hearth room see what was the matter.

DM Note: Luckily rolling the correct directions again.

Sorjin
There he saw Sorjin. The two quickly destroyed the statues when Sorjin was set upon by an invisible assailant! The invisible attack was like some kind of beast! It could not be attacked in return, yet its bite tore into Sorjin's flesh to cause grievous injury! Inza shouted for Randalf to come and dispel or banish the magical creature. Randalf, concerned about the dizzying fog, shouted back that he would try.

Randalf, who can see invisible creatures, ran into the room and quickly dispelled the invisible attacker.

Randalf, Inza, and Sorjin made their way back into the foggy corridor. Their plan was to turn right to explore the other corridor, but they became dizzy and took a wrong turn. Only Randalf took the correct corridor, and he was quickly set upon by another invisible dog-beast! The rest found their way back to Horan's chamber and were confused.

Inza and Sorjin, reunited with Lodar and Aline, but separated from Randalf, thought about how they might avoid the foggy corridor.

Then Sorjin said, "Wait, aren't the walls just made of like paper or something?"

Inza replied, "WHAT?"

DM Note: Remember when I said I forgot to mention this? This is where it came back to bite me. Sorjin's player had played the module before way way back in high school.

Although he didn't remember a lot about the NPC or encounters or challenges, he did remember the detail about the walls being shoji screens. 

Inza's player looked at me, "REALLY?" 

I admitted, "Uh, yeah. I may not have mentioned that."

Inza's player was pretty annoyed, "That would have been an important detail!"

Me, "Yeah. Sorry."

Inza and Lodar easily cut and burst through the shoji screen in Kwairno's room and the lot of them moved across the hearth room and cut through the wall into the room on the other side.

They were in a small room, some kind of secret study. On one of the walls was a silk painting depicting figures in positions of authority. No one paid much attention to it. No one but Aline.

Aline became overwhelmed with delusional feelings of paranoia. She began shouting at her friends, accusing them of betrayal and treason, of trying to usurp her authority. Sorjin tried to cover her mouth, telling her to shut up, but she only shouted, "I will NOT SHUT UP!"

Horan
Inza threw open a sliding panel to reveal a room covered with tatami mats and low futon cushions. Ot the other end of the room was an older man from the faraway land of Konoshima wearing the green and white silk robes of a wizard of those realms. He was the wizard Horan!

Horan was already on his feet, alerted to the intruders by his magical statues. He glared at Inza and saw Sorjin holding the furious Aline in the far room. He began laughing!

"I should have known! Such a failure! Such a worthless student! A waste of..."

Inza and Lodar ran across the room, interrupting Horan in the middle of his monologue. Inza incapacitated the wizard with a few nerve strikes, rendering Horan unconscious..

Screw-Up #2: I rolled initiative for Horan and rolled a 1. He went last. He went down like a chump. Less than two actions. I was so disappointed! I had been preparing for this fight all week. For TWO weeks really. I had his spells all written up. I knew what he wanted to do. I was all set to go!

My mistake was two-fold. One Horan should have prepared his action for when anyone came into his room. The second Inza opened that door, the spell should have gone off! 

My second mistake was not having any fighter protection. I ran the Horan encounter right out of the module. However, Horan was alerted to the presence of the party in the city, he even knew who they were. I increased the lizard-man guards on the outer wall. I should have had guards with him at all times to run interference. 

As it was, it was pretty funny. I really was in mid-monologue when they came in, and I really did roll a 1 on initiative. So it was at least genre appropriate. 

Afterwards, Sorjin set fire to the tapestry which ended its effect on Aline. Randalf magically extinguished the flames to prevent the entire house from evaporating into fire.

The Crazy-88
Suddenly,  the main entrance is thrown open and nearly two dozen reptile-men, two holding lithe cat-like reptiles, like komodo dragons with the bodies of greyhounds, on leashes. One red reptile-man with a dinosaur skull helmet led the pack and came to the front of the group.

DM Note: I described their entrance as being like when the Crazy-88's ran into the restaurant and formed up around Uma Thurman in Kill Bill.

Inza held Horan up in front of the assembled reptile-men and addressed their leader, "We have your leader. There is no need to fight. We will kill him if you attack us. Simply let us leave with him and you may have what you will from this house."

The reptile-man leader translated Inza's offer to the rest of the group in their own hissing language, they laughed in response. "He says he will kill the wizard. He wants us to let them go. He say we can have everything in house. I say if we're not going to be paid anyway, we let him kill wizard, then kill then, then take all their stuff, then take everything in the house!"

Unbeknownst to the reptile-man leader, Inza was able to understand the language of the reptile-men. Inza backed up slowly and dropped Horan to the ground.

The reptile-man leader responded in common, "We are mercenaries. We care not for him. Kill them all and take all the gold!"

The reptile-men attacked!

What followed was a grand melee in the hearth room as Inza, Sorjin, and Lodar fought off  a dozen reptile-men while Aline and Randalf destroyed another dozen with area effect spells. After a terrific battle, the remaining reptile-men fled into the night.

DM Note: This was an impromptu battle but it turned out to be pretty fun. Everyone got to do something, there were some actual moments of real concern on the part of the players, and the action was enjoyable. 

After the battle, the party found Horan's body lying in a puddle of his own blood. No one had attacked Horan during the battle. His throat was cleanly cut open and his arteries drained. Aline looked at Inza, who simply shrugged and said, "What? You didn't see nothing!"

DM Note: It's true. Inza's player passed me a note and made a very high sleight-of-hand skill check. Nobody saw nothing.

The Invisible Stalker
The party grabbed Kwairno and retraced their steps as they left the compound, leaving through the grove the way they came in. Sorjin saw the paving stones leading into the pond and stopped.

"There's treasure in that pond."

Everyone else said, "It's a trap, leave it. Let's just go."

Sorjin stared into the pond, "There's treasure in that pond. Or something. He's hiding something in that lake."

Lodar and Aline were already on top of the wall. They paused and waited. Inza and Randalf walked up to Sorjin. Sorjin met their eyes, then looked back into the pond, then waded in.

The center of the pond was about hip deep. At the bottom, he found a large rubbery mass about the shape, size, and consistency of a beach ball filled with meat. He looked back at Inza, confused.

Sorjin was suddenly attacked by an invisible force! It was like the wind itself was striking at him! Sorjin took a defensive stance while Inza rushed in and swung his magic spear wildly at the air. Randalf, who could see the invisible force attacking them, targeted the assailant with attack spells.

Between Inza's wild flailing and Randalf's spells, the invisible stalking force was eventually defeated.

Sorjin hauled the pliant mass up onto shore. It was a massive translucent egg containing a giant tadpole the size of a toddler.

Randalf knew immediately, it was an evil spawn of Anuran, perhaps a nascent demigod in its own right. It was obviously important to Horan and needed to be hidden from his allies. It was an aberration and needed to be destroyed. Inza pierced it with his magical spear and the god-egg died with a hideous ghostly scream.

The exhausted party climbed back over the wall with Kwairno in tow and returned to their hiding place.

Plots Made Plain
It was a few hours before dawn. The party planned to sleep during the next day. Before retiring, Aline donned her helm of telepathy and interrogated Kwairno. With her master dead, Kwairno offered no resistance and voluntarily divulged Horan's schemes.

Horan had been hired by the Yuan Ti to resurrect the long-lost naga race. They paid for his work with golden taels from their secret hoard. To accomplish his work, he needed two things: human test subjects and the "Seed of Anuran".

He obtained human test subjects by purchasing slaves from the slavers on the coast. He used to meet the slavers in the abandoned house near Saltmarsh, but has recently had to change their meeting location. He keeps his slaves in a building guarded by the Yuan-Ti.

He obtained the Seed of Anuran from the Bullywugs in exchange for artificially creating more bullywugs from slaves not used for the Yuan-Ti experiments. Thus the bullywugs could increase their number all year long without the need for Anuran to mate with a human offering from Thither at the spring equinox.

Horan had hired the reptile-men as mercenaries to serve as guards and protect him from both the Yuan-Ti and the Bullywugs.

Thus Horan's work provided benefit for everyone: for Horan, for the Yuan-Ti, for the Bullywugs, and even for the Reptile-Men mercenaries.

She said that Horan had succeeded in creating a hybrid naga egg, a creature that was part naga and part Anuran. The resulting off-spring would have been the most powerful naga that ever existed. Horan kept his result a secret in the koi pond, hoping to create another for the Yuan-Ti and keep this one for himself. That was what Sorjin had found in the pond and killed.

She also said that when they attacked her caravan the other day, she was leaving Sinopia to purchase more slaves.

Sorjin asked Kwairno about the slaves, was there an elven princess among them? He was looking for an elven princess.

Kwairno answered, "There was a female elf. I don't know about princess. I try not to talk to them. So, probably."

Sorjin looked determined, "Then we must rescue them!"

Aline looked doubtful. "I don't know."

Kwairno added, "The Yuan-Ti also have a stockpile of gold from which they've been buying the slaves."

Aline suddenly looked determined, "Then we must rescue them!"

TO BE CONTINUED!

"The Blue Imp" - Chapter 7.5 of the Dwellers of the Forbidden City

Inza the Shadow

Indigo lays it all on the line. As a result, Aline and Randalf are able to reach a compromise and move forward. Later, the team performs some reconnaissance on the wizard Horan's fortified compound.

The Group (in order of seniority):

• Aline, a Thaumaturge of half-Human/half-Sylvan* parentage (Wizard 7)
• Gravy, Human Priest of Thumina (Cleric 7)
• Inza, aka "The Shadow", Human Shadow-Warrior (Monk 6/Sorcerer 1)
• Lodar, Prairiefolk** Barbarian (Barbarian 7)
• Randalf Azul, Human Abjurer (Wizard 7)
• Sorjin, Human Adventurer, Bounty Hunter, ...Ladies Man (Fighter 5/Something Else 2)

* Elf
** Halfling
*** Half-Orc

Last week, the party learned that Indigo the blue imp was somehow connected to the Aline's crystal ball, and that the crystal ball was somehow opening a gate to hell and allowing devils to escape. Randalf had just confronted Aline with an ultimatum over Indigo, "Either he goes, you go, or I go!"

Breaking the Impasse
Indigo looked at Aline and sighed.

"Look, boss. You're not supposed to know this and I'll probably be busted back down to lemure, but you've been very good to me and I hate what my boss has in store for you so you deserve to know."

"The crystal ball is cursed."

DM Note -  DUH!. It is a crystal hypnosis ball.

"This particular crystal ball is a key that will open a gate to hell and free my bosses, the Baatezu, aka the Old Gods aka the Devils, from their imprisonment. For the past six months, you have been serving my true boss: Asmodeus, Arch-duke of the Baatezu. The gate was small at first. Only lesser baatezu could come through.  But the more you use it, the bigger the gate becomes. You've summoned a lot of baatezu, more than you know, and they've been serving as agents on this side, setting the stage for our return."

"You've also spent a lot of time doing some other leg-work for us, but you have no memory of this."

"I am SO busted for telling you this next part, so listen up! If you want to destroy the crystal ball, you've got to take it to the top of Nightflame Mountain and summon forth the lightning of Lorimes, the Lord of Ravens. If he finds your situation worthy, his lightning will melt the crystal ball, or explode it, I'm not quite sure which."

"If you just want to RID yourself of the crystal ball, just have someone cast a Remove Curse spell on you, and give the crystal ball to someone you trust."

"Since I was a gift from Asmodeus, transmitted through the crystal ball, I'm not sure what will happen to me. Either I'll no longer be your familiar, or I'll no longer be an imp, or I'll die. Who can say?"

Soon after saying that, Indigo had a seizure. "Oh shit!" he said, "Oh shit, I'm busted!"

He began painfully shape-changing through his forms: rat-spider-raven-rat-imp-raven-spider-raven

He eventually stopped at raven with blue feathers, lying on the ground with labored breath.

Indigo was now a blue raven.

"Ah..Ah..Ah.. I guess this is better than being a lemure? KAW!"

Randolf stroked his beard in thought, "Hmm.  Indigo, your kind are known for deceit," he paused to emphasize the next point, "and trickery.  So you will understand if I withhold my judgment on your trustworthiness.  However, if what you have told us has been on the up-and-up, it will be a very small first step towards a possible trust.”

"You have centuries of Baatezu history stacked against you and this…punishment”  he pointed at the Indigo Raven, "could just be another in a long line of trickery."

"We’ll go to Nightflame Mountain and summon forth the lightning of Lorimes, the Lord of Ravens and see what he says.”

With that, the impasse was broken. The rest of the night passed with no interruption.

The party spent the entirety of the next day resting and preparing and debating what to do next. Should they eliminate the remaining bullywugs? Should they change the focus of their attention towards the wizard Horan? What was Horan doing anyway? Or should they find and eliminate the nest of Yuan-Ti? After much debate, they decided to at least find out what the wizard Horan was up to.

Aline cast a spell of invisibility on herself and did an aerial fly-by of the compound, noting the two wooded enclosures in the southeast and southwest corners, the house and its porch, and the two sheds in the northeast and northwest corners.

Inza was then tasked to wait until nightfall and scout the wizard's compound.

The Soft Probe
That night, Inza watched the compound from a hiding place. The wall surrounding the compound was fifteen feet high. There were three gates, one each on the west, south, and east walls. Reptile-men patrolled the top of the wall or stood atop small turrets at each gate.

When there were no guards near the southeast corner, he darted across the street and leapt to the top of the wall in a single bound. He looked down and saw a pond in the park-like enclosure in the southeast corner. He looked around, saw no opposition in the enclosure, and decided this would be the best place for an assault. He left the compound to retrieve the rest of his team.

TO BE CONTINUED

We didn't play last Friday so this is technically the last half of the previous week.

the Problem with Indigo

Indigo was really becoming a source of intra-party conflict between Randalf and Aline. It's natural considering Randalf is a magical exorcist and Indigo is a literal devil from hell. 

The problem was mine, not Aline, or Aline's player. Several months ago, Aline came into possession of the "Crystal Ball". That treasure was described in that adventure as a Crystal Hypnosis Ball. At that time, I only had a vague sense of what I wanted to do with such a cursed item.

As time went on, I came on the idea that every time Aline uses the crystal ball, she would summon something. I don't know how I wound up with devil, probably just opened the Monster Manual and picked. Anyway, the first thing she summoned was an Imp. I was going to start small and work up the list. 

Aline's player really liked battling the imp and asked me later if she could have an imp as a familiar. Imps are Lawful Evil and only serve Lawful Evil characters and try to corrupt those that are not, so I said sure. 

Later, when she cast "Summon Familiar", I had the imp emerge from the crystal ball. Telegraphed? Naw!

Anyway, I role-played Indigo as an annoying but very useful member of the party. He was also rebellious, and always out doing his own thing and needing to be summoned back against his will.

Randalf hated Indigo the moment he saw him. I should point out, Randalf's player LOVES Indigo. RANDALF, on the other hand, hates him, and Randalf's player is an EXCELLENT role-player!

So when we had the show-down and Randalf issued an ultimatum, for a while we all thought "Um, dude, calm down. Are you REALLY angry or just pretending?"  

It turned out he was pretending, and doing a great job of it.

Anyway, Aline really likes Indigo because despite his being evil, he's very useful. Aline's PLAYER really likes Indigo and likes how I role-play him. Randalf's player really likes Indigo and how I role-play him. Randalf, however, hates Indigo.

So I worked out a compromise that allows Indigo to stay with the party:

1. Indigo spilled some beans and was actually honest with Randalf.
2. As punishment, Indigo was stripped of his Impishness. He's now a blue raven. 

This way he's no longer an Imp, so Randalf is satisfied, but he gets to stay with the party, so Aline is satisfied. 

Come back next week when the party takes on Horan the Transmogrifier! 

"The Ultimatum" - Chapter 7 of Dwellers of the Forbidden City

This week, the party is ambushed by a force of reptile men. Later, they meet a new ally. Then, as they camp out and figure out what to do next, Aline has a stunning revelation that leads to a super-tense confrontation within the group!

The Group:

• Inza, aka "The Shadow", Human Shadow-Warrior (Monk 6/Sorcerer 1)
• Randalf Azul, Human Abjurer (Wizard 7)
• Gravy, Human Priest of Thumina (Cleric 7)
• Aline, a Thaumaturge of half-Human/half-Sylvan* parentage (Wizard 7)
• Lodar, Prairiefolk** Barbarian (Barbarian 7)

Introducing:

• Sorjin, Human Adventurer, Bounty Hunter, ...Ladies Man (Fighter 6/Something Else 1)

* Elf

** Halfling
*** Half-Orc

Last week, the party defeated Anuran, the living god of the swamp, and were returning to their hide-out through the tall rushes.

Ambush of the Reptile Men
They emerged from the rushes and walked down one of the abandoned boulevards of the lost city of Sinopia. Aline and Randalf were carrying Gravy's unconscious body. Suddenly, they found their way blocked by eight reptile men, one of them mounted on a hadrosaur and carrying a long lance, and a giant crayfish monster called a chuul. They were further surprised when another eight, plus another lancer mounted on a hadrosaur, and another giant crayfish monster, emerged from the tall rushes behind them. The first lancer called out in hissing lisping common, "Where do you think yourrrrr going?"

The party paused to consider their options and to attempt to read the intentions of the reptile-men. Suddenly, the first lancer called out, "Thesssse are the invaderssss the miissstreessss told usssss about! Killllll themmmmm!!" and both forces closed in!

Aline took the unconscious Gravy, jumped on her broom, and zipped into the air, staying below the roof line of the surrounding twenty-foot-tall buildings. Inza jumped to the roof of an ancient craftsman's shop on the right. They were immediately swarmed by reptile-men warriors carrying shields made of turtle shells and embedded with shards of obsidian and wielding macuahuitl - clubs embedded with obsidian shards.

Aline drew her wand of wonder and aimed it at the reptile-men, calling out a warning to Randalf. Randalf immediately disappeared into a silvery puff, magically reappearing atop an ancient building rooftop to the right. Suddenly -  POOMPF! Aline's wand created a cloud of stinking gas that sent several of the scaly brutes into fits of retching.

Randalf called out to Aline, telling her that he had a goodberry and that he could rouse Gravy. Aline rolled her eyes, "You could have told me that about ten minutes ago!" She brought Gravy down and the priest of Thumina was brought back to consciousness.

Gravy looked around, disoriented and confused, "What's going on. Did we win?"

Gravy

"Shut up and pray for us!"

The cleric blinked and immediately prayed to the goddess of the moon. The goddess strengthened and reinvigorated Aline and Randalf, both of whom were still reeling from their recent battle with Anuran.

Inza jumped down from his building and engaged the mounted reptile man to the front. Aline cast a fireball spell at the group of reptile men to the rear.

Suddenly Lodar burst from a nearby side-alley, screaming and frothing at the mouth in a barbarian rage! The diminutive savage charged into a throng of the reptile-men menacing Inza. From whence he came, none could say. He simply caught up to the group and engaged their enemies in battle! For a short moment, Inza and Lodar fought back to back against an army of evil reptile-men!

Lodar Returns!

Having killed the lancer and his mount, Inza left Lodar to fight the remaining reptile-men and their chuul. Inza climbed to the roof of the building across the street in order to protect Randalf and Aline from the clawed fiends who had scaled the walls to attack the wizards.

What followed was a frenetic roof-top chase and battle as Aline, forced out of the air by nearby giant wasps, fled from Reptile-Men, Randalf fled from the giant cray-fish monster known as a chuul, and Inza followed behind engaging the villains that plagued them.

At one point, Gravy was pushed off the roof-top! Inza reacted quickly, casting a feather fall spell on the cleric, who drifted safely to the ground. Once on the ground, Gravy had to *GASP* draw his weapon and engage the enemy! This may have been the first time this had ever happened!

Inza the Shadow

Meanwhile, Lodar, alone, personally fought off and killed no fewer the eight or nine reptile men that surrounded him!

Eventually, the reptile men were defeated, though one managed to run away and escape. No doubt to report to his evil master, Horan.

Adventurer, Bounty Hunter, ...Ladies Man
The party found their way back to their retreat, a mezzanine around a central chamber in one of the ruined buildings. As they entered their hideout, they found an armored man looking through their things!

They called out a challenge to the stranger. He spun around and held up his hands!

"Whoah! Whoah! I'm a friend!"

"Who are you?" asked Aline.

Sorjin. So Dreamy!

"My name is Sorjin. I'm an adventurer, bounty hunter, ...ladies man." Sorjin grinned and winked.

DM Note - Winner of the best line of the night award! 

Aline pressed, "What are you doing here."

"Your highness, I'm here to rescue you!"

"WHAT?"

"Are you not the Silvan Princess, daughter of the King Verdurous?"

"No!"

"Dammit! I did it again! Um, have you seen her?"

The group exchanged notes, bringing Sorjin up to speed. Sorjin was WAY off base. He had mistook Aline for someone else and now his trail was cold. In the meantime, he figured he'd fall in with this group for safety in numbers.

DM Note - Trevor was unhappy with Duma, so he created Sorjin who already seems more fun to play.

Things Best Left Unknown
The group settled in to rest for the night. Aline decided to spend the time trying to interrogate Indigo again. She summoned him forth. The rebellious Imp whined, "What????"

She said, "It's time we had a talk." She put on the magical Helm of Telepathy.

Indigo the Imp

"No, boss, I told you. You don't want to do that! I'm WARNING you!"

Aline looked directly at her familiar, "Tell me who you work for!"

Indigo bared his fangs and rolled his head in frustration, then fixed a menacing stare directly at his mistress.

DM Note - I made Aline's player get up and leave the room for this part.

Aline's eyes rolled back into her head. She turned around and retrieved the crystal ball from her satchel. She held it in her hands and began chanting, reciting an evil spell.

Randalf and Inza noticed this. Inza jumped up and stunned Aline with a nerve strike to the shoulder. She fell limp, the ball rolled out of her hand.

DM Note - I called Aline's player back into the room.

Aline came awake, "What just happened?"

Aline

Inza told her. Randalf confirmed, she was casting an infernal gate spell, a magical incantation that would open a portal to the Nine Hells, domain of the fiendish Baatetzu.

Randalf shouted at Indigo, "That's it! You're done!"

Aline defended her imp, "No! He's not responsible! It's not his fault!"

Randalf strongly suggested to Aline that she relinquish the crystal ball. Aline, still shaken, concurred. She handed the ball to the elder wizard. Randalf took out a handkerchief to pick up the transparent sphere.

As soon as Randalf touched the crystal ball, he fell over. He was not breathing. His heart was not beating. Gravy jumped into action and resuscitated him.

DM Note - Zero hit points. No save. Bad mojo!

Sorjin stood up and took notice. He stared at the crystal ball. He seemed to recognize it. "It is a key. If left unchecked, it will open a gate that will free all the Baatetzu, who will storm heaven and kill the gods of the Aslak!"


He said quietly, almost whispering, "It must be destroyed." He took out his mace and struck the crystal ball with all his strength.

He fell over. Dying.

Gravy rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. "Knock it off!" and resuscitated the newcomer.

Randalf coughed and slowly stood up, glaring at the imp and bearing his teeth in anger.

Indigo jumped into Aline's arms, suddenly afraid.

Randalf confronted Aline and Indigo. "That's it. I've had it. Either he goes, you go, or I go!"

Aline and Randalf stared at each other in angry silence as the rest of the party awkwardly looked on.

Randalf confronts Aline about Indigo

TO BE CONTINUED!

DM Note - Not really. We actually role-played a bit after this and did some preliminary scouting for the next part of the adventure. We also did a lot of role-playing and discussion via e-mail. Spoiler Alert! We resolved the impasse but the players suggested I end this week's write-up here and leave it as a cliff-hanger "To boost ratings" they said.

This event really did create a tense moment in the party. One which we had to check later - was this all just role-playing or was there any player animosity going on here?  As I suspected, it was Randalf's player doing an amazing job role-playing and getting into character as always! 

Anyway, how did we resolve this conflict? Find out next time!

"Showdown with Anuran" - Chapter 6 of Dwellers of the Forbidden City

The Bullywug King

The party infiltrates the stockade of the bullywugs, defeats a metric boat-load of frog-men, and captures their king! Aline has a heart-to-heart with Indigo. Finally, the party takes on Anuran, the Demon-Lord of the Crying Swamp, in an epic final battle! Bonus, 5th edition stats for Anuran!

The Group:

• Inza, aka "The Shadow", Human Shadow-Warrior (Monk 6/Sorcerer 1)
• Randalf Azul, Human Abjurer (Wizard 7)
• Gravy, Human Priest of Thumina (Cleric 7)
• Aline, a Thaumaturge of half-Human/half-Sylvan* parentage (Wizard 7)

Not Present this week:

• Lodar, Prairiefolk** Barbarian (Barbarian 7)
• Duma, bestial jungle hunter of orcine*** parentage (Ranger 7)

* Elf
** Halfling
*** Half-Orc

Last week, the party had just defeated a caravan leaving the city. The caravan was filled with gold and jewels, like they were leaving to purchase something. They also captured and interrogated Kwairno, a young female wizard and apprentice to Horan the Flesh-Warper, former instructor and evil nemesis of Aline.

The group decided that they needed to pay Horan a visit, but first they would face Anuran, the reason they came to ruins of Sinopia in the first place.

A Stealthy Approach

It was mid-morning, a few days after the spring equinox. The air of the ancient city was warm and humid. The party carefully made they way down the abandoned boulevards past crumbling buildings covered in vines, creepers, and tall grasses. 

Inza the Shadow

They arrived at the edge of an area of the city where no buildings stood. It looked like this part of the city had been blasted outwards, leaving a massive crater. All that remained was a shallow marshy lake filled with black murky water. The entire lake was surrounded by hundreds of feet of muddy marsh and covered by swamp grass, as tall as a grown man. 

A raised path entered the tall grass. The path was formed from gravel and paving stones. The party followed the path into the tall grass. They took a route that would bring them close to the hill Aline saw in her invisible scouting expedition above the city. The hill was surrounded by a stockade of sharpened bamboo. The top of the hill had a bamboo platform with a gong. Several holes were dug into the side of the hill.

The grass had been cleared for a hundred feet around the hill, leaving only mud. The group observed the hill and the bamboo tower from the cover of the tall grass for about ten minutes. They saw only a lone bullywug stretch and return to hiding. Aline cast a spell of invisibility over the entire group. The group held a length of rope to stay together and moved forward towards the stockade. They moved unseen to the edge of the bamboo stockade. 

Aline had tied the rope to her magical flying broom. Still invisible, she ferried the party over the wall one at a time, following the rope back to the next person in line. 

The bullywug on the guard tower noticed something odd. Maybe it was the movement of mud. Maybe he heard something. Or maybe someone strayed outside the effect of Aline's spell for just a second. He looked closer, squinting his bulbous eyes. He saw nothing and returned to his rest.

Once ferried across, the party moved up to the tower. Inza climbed the tower and quickly dispatched the bullywug on duty. He then cut the ropes on the gong and let it fall with a thud into the mud at the base of the tower. 

Into the Lair of the Frog-Men

The party moved to the north side of the hill. The tunnel entrance was small for a full-sized human. They had to crouch or crawl in the mud. The tunnel was dug into the loose dirt and mud and was primitively shored with nothing more than twigs and branches. 

As they come to a split in the tunnel, Inza, who is in front, is set upon by two bullywug guards who were hidden in the mud. Two more accompany two giant frogs in a chamber just to the right. They fight the guards into the chamber where they are ambushed by four more hidden bullywugs. The bullywugs and guards are soon dispatched, even one that tried to flee to warn the others. One in the chambers surrenders.

Aline and Gravy interrogate the surviving guard. Aline dons a magical Helm of Telepathy, allowing her to read the surface thoughts of a target. Gravy puts on a magical Ring of Thought Sending, which allows him to communicate with a creature telepathically without regard to language barrier, but does not grant him access to hidden thoughts. Together, Gravy would ask the question and hear the answer, but Aline would be able to verify the true thoughts of the subject being interrogated.

They asked the guard whom he served. He served great King Groak, king of the bullywugs! An image flashed of a four-armed red frog-man carrying a rune-covered spear. 

When asked where they could find King Groak, he lied saying he did not know, but his thoughts indicated a great chamber just down the tunnel to the right. When asked if he would lead them to their king, he truthfully answered that he would never betray his king!

They asked the guard about Anuran. The frog-man's eyes widened with fear and reverence at the mention of the demon lord. His thoughts flashed images of the frog-god's emergence from the lake at the equinox, attended by his four high priests. The guard was proud that he was able to witness the holy event. When asked to provide more details, the lowly guard truthfully answered that he knew little of the holy mysteries of the great and powerful Anuran. 

They tied the guard up and left him behind. 

They crawled in single file down the winding muddy passage to the right. Inza emerged into a chamber forty feet wide and sixty feet long, shaped roughly like a kidney bean. The chamber had two exits, one on the far end and one to the right. The floor was filled with a dozen six-foot deep pits. In the chamber were twenty five bullywugs who noticed too late Inza's entrance through the small opening in the wall. 

Inza immediately killed the two nearest their tunnel then melted into shadow. He emerged near the far end of the chamber. He ran to the two near the far exit and killed them.

Meanwhile, Gravy, Randalf, and Aline scrambled over each other in the cramped tunnel. Aline emerged first, casting an explosive fireball spell into the center of the room. There was a bright flash and a deafening fiery explosion. Inza, Gravy, and Randalf shielded their eyes as they were buffeted by the heat and wind of the shock-wave. 

The entire room was cleared of all but a handful of bullywugs.

Those that remained tried to escape down the rear passage or side passage, but Inza cut them down before they could make it.

The King of the Frog-Men

The far tunnel was larger than the rest of the tunnels. One could see into the chamber that connected immediately beyond. The light of the dying fires illuminated eight larger bullywugs and a strange red bullywug with four arms and a spear covered in runes that gleamed brilliantly in the dark. It was King Groak, leader of the bullywugs!

The four-armed bullywug began calling out orders to his four guardians. The guardians started beating their spears on their shields and moved into formation in front of their king. 

Aline cast another fireball spell into the far chamber. The resulting explosion took out all but four of the bullywug guards. King Groak made his escape through another tunnel at the rear of his chamber. His retreat was covered by his four remaining bodyguards who followed behind him.

Inza climbed into the tunnel after him and was soon face to face with a bullywug royal guard. He killed him but saw that the way was blocked by the other guards, one after another. He disappeared into shadow and reappeared in front of King Groak, blocking his escape! 

Meanwhile, Aline and Gravy followed Inza into the tunnel while Randalf stayed behind to guard the rear and to search the king's chamber.

Aline and Gravy fought and killed the two remaining guards while Inza wrestled the king into the mud and took him prisoner. 

Afterwards, they noticed a side chamber. The entrance to the chamber was blocked by a large mushroom with  a fibrous purple head and growths that looked like antlers. A standing stone at the entrance proclaimed this chamber, according to Inza, as the "Children of Anuran".

Not taking any chances, Aline cast a small fire-bolt spell at the over-sized fungus, which burst into flame. Suddenly, eight bat-winged creatures swarmed out of the chamber, alarmed by the fire and the smoke. Four flew towards Inza and four towards Aline and Gravy. One even managed to attach itself to Aline. All were killed before they could really hurt anyone. 

After the smoke cleared in the chamber, they could see a pool filled with large wriggling tadpoles, each the size of a cantaloupe! 

Inza asked Aline to set fire to the abominations. Aline declined to destroy the innocent beasts.

They took the bound King Groak back to his chambers and interrogated him as they did the guard earlier. They wished to learn where they could find Anuran and how they could destroy him.

They learned that Anuran lives in a cavern in the lake where he sleeps through winter. He emerges each spring equinox to breed. By ancient pact, the city of Thither provides a sacrifice to be his bride. Anuran takes his bride back to the city, mates with her, and a new generation of bullywugs are born each summer!  

DM Note: At this point, Gravy's player realized what was going on and scrunched his face up in disbelieving horror, "Really? Really? No! Nooooo! Nooooooooo!Awwwww!!!" This made me happy! I said to him, "Yep, where do you THINK bullywugs come from?"

The party tried to coerce King Groak to lead them to Anuran's secret chamber or to help them defeat the god. King Groak, although confident that the demon-lord of the toads would easily defeat the infidel intruders, he was ultimately loyal to the powerful Anuran and would not assist them!

After searching the king's chamber, they found several barrels filled with gold, silver, and jewels, as well as King Groak's magic spear.

DM Note: +2 spear.

A Talk with Indigo

Indigo

After capturing King Groak, Gravy saw to the health and well being of everyone in the party. Indigo, Aline's blue-skinned imp familiar who had been hungrily chewing on charred bullywug legs, indicated that he needed help.

He stuck out his tongue and gestured to his mouth, "Mah mowpf hoords! I boned dah top ub mah mowpf!"

Gravy reached out to lay hands upon the fiendish familiar.

Indigo bit him!

"Ow!"

"Thowwy! Thowwy! Inthinct! I wearry did bone dah top ob mah mowpf dough. Gow ah-gen!"

Gravy reached out a second time.

Indigo bit him!

"Ow!"

This continue for several go-rounds. Gravy, you see, isn't all there and his memory isn't great, and Indigo was taking advantage of that fact.

Randalf angrily glared at the imp, "I really REALLY want to banish him! If he does that one more time, he's gone!"

Indigo fearfully reached out to Aline for protection. Aline took the frightened devil-kin into her arms and looked at Randalf, "No!"

Randalf declared, "I'm telling you, he's evil, and he's working against us. Haven't you noticed how he's always invisible until you call for him? How he always seems reluctant to return when you summon? He doesn't work for you. He's a servant of the Uuani! If you don't believe me, use the crown. Read his thoughts!"

DM Note: The Uuani are the devils of Agartha. The Uuani were the old gods who where overthrown by the Aslak and banished to the nine hells. Randalf's player didn't actually say Uuani, he said "devils", but I'm substituting the correct word here.

Aline held her imp in silence, considering the wizard's words of warning. She looked at Indigo suspiciously.

Eventually, she took Indigo aside and privately she asked, "Is this true? Are you betraying us?"

Indigo was appalled at the notion, "No! Of course not! I serve only you!"

Aline clarified, "Do not lie. I will put on the crown."

Indigo beetled his brow and replied, "DON'T- go there! You- may not- want to know what goes on in here."

Aline sighed and put on the crown.

"Who do you work for?"

Indigo's eyes got wide. He gritted his teeth and shut his eyes tight, squinting and scrunching his face in terrific effort.

"Nggggg- You. I work only for you!"

He thought of nothing but lemures, the wriggling maggot-like souls of hell. Lemures. All he could think of was lemures. Bloated, corpulent, lemures.

Aline, frustrated, took off the crown. Indigo let out his breath and nearly collapsed to the floor.

"Don't- betray us. Just don't." she said, and she got up and re-joined the party.

Indigo stared after her as she walked away.

DM Note: As long-time readers of my blog may recall, she got Indigo when she cast summon familiar. The imp appeared inside her magic crystal ball and forced his way out like a snake emerging from an egg. When she used the crown on Indigo, I gave him a wisdom saving throw vs. her spell save. He made it.

Retreat to Safety

The party took the bound King Groak out the way they came in, encountering no resistance as they left.

Upon leaving the warren, the group discussed what to do with King Groat. Aline felt uncomfortable executing the prisoner but made no effort to intervene when Inza silently got up, picked up the king's magical spear, took King Groat out into the tall grass, and came back alone.

 They retraced their steps to their hiding place in the old bath house. Unfortunately, as they approached they saw that their hideout was swarming with lizard-men. The lizard-men were searching the area, looking for them.

They took a different street and entered a two-story domed building. They found some stairs that led to a second-story mezzanine  under the dome. An oculus in the center in the dome allowed light and a few tropical birds flew away from the intruders.

They rested there for an hour to catch their breath and refocus. Afterwards, they decided it was time to take on Anuran.

They left their hiding place and returned to the lake. Looking across the lake, they could see a stone platform with four stone menhirs,  a match for the one in the guard's thoughts.

The party made their way east around the south bank of the lake until they realized the eastern cliff-face would prohibit access to the platform. They then backtracked and followed the north shore of the lake, passing the bullywug stockade.

Eventually the path ended and the route along the north shore of the lake became one of knee-deep mud and tall grass. They saw all manner of swamp beast. Massive frogs and lazy crocodiles lurked at the water's edge like floating logs. Insects buzzed everywhere. Snakes and frogs scurried away as they forced their way through the marsh.

After about an hour, they arrived at the stone platform.

Showdown with Anuran

The party approached the stone platform from the north. The platform was roughly 65 feet square with a 60 foot diameter raised round dais. Flat trapezoid-shapes radiated from the center of the dais. At each corner of the platform stood a fifteen foot stone menhir, each carved with eldritch runes of power.

At the center of the dais was a plinth, upon which was a giant obsidian frog's head with ruby eyes the size of grapefruits. The look of the stone head was evil and unwholesome.

Stairs led up the platform between each of the radiating trapezoid shapes. Aline, Gravy, and Randalf climbed the stairs and examined the platform. Inza stayed behind in the grass.

The party was immediately met by a booming croaking voice speaking to them telepathically.

"Who are you to defile my sacred fane? What brings you to my holy sanctuary?"

Randalf answered, "We are here to destroy you."

Randalf the Azure

The voice replied, "I recognize you. You are the mammal that inconvenienced me two days ago. You are a pest! You denied me my bride! You have broken the pact! The city on the river has provided me a human bride each year for hundreds of years. Such insolence. Know that after I kill you, I will destroy the city. You will be the catalyst for such death and destruction."

Randalf showed confidence in the face of the evil entity. He said defiantly, "Not if we kill you first."

The booming thought-voice laughed. The telepathic effect was like fingernails on a chalk-board.  "How will you do that, mammal?"

"Like this." Randalf pointed his staff at the stone frog's head, "SHATTER!" With an utterance of the arcane spell, the stone frog's head exploded into a thousand obsidian shards.

The telepathic voice of Anuran was replaced with a very loud, very audible scream.

At the edge of the platform appeared a humanoid, tall, armored, with clammy skin and ranine features. The humanoid figure crossed his arms and suddenly transformed into a gargantuan demon-frog!

The massive Anuran took a deep breath, inflating his ruby-read throat like a balloon, then issued a mighty croak! The croak blew across the party like a blast of steam, scalding everyone in its path, including Randalf, Gravy, and Aline. Gravy and Aline screamed in agony and fell unconscious to the ground. Randalf gritted his teeth and bore the blast.

Afterwards, Randalf ran to Gravy and poured a potion  of healing into the cleric's unconscious mouth. Gravy woke with a start. He immediately regained his senses, stood to his feet, and recited a prayer of healing. Everyone felt invigorated.

Aline immediately stood up and fired a lightning bolt at the gargantuan god. The bolt had little effect.

Meanwhile, Inza was at Anuran's flank, repeatedly stabbing him with the magical spear.

Anuran closed his eyes and summoned the beasts of the lake to his aid. Randalf attempted to counteract the spell but failed. Ten crocodiles and nine giant frogs began swimming towards the platform.

DM Note: Belated realization, I should have summoned beasts first and had them serve as interference.

Aline hopped onto her magicl broom and took to the air. She moved away from the platform but made sure to stay close to the ground to avoid the giant wasps.

Anuran opened his wide maw, revealing six writhing tongues, each ending in a bulbous tip. The tongues shot out at Gravy and Randalf. Gravy was ensnared and pulled into Anran's slimy mouth. Luckily, Gravy was soon able to break free and fell back to the platform.

The beasts, meanwhile, swarmed Randalf, Inza, and Gravy. Aline then cast a fireball spell onto the platform. Although the explosion did not affect Anuran, it destroyed all the frogs and most of the crocodiles. Gravy said another prayer of healing to provide succor to his companions.

Anuran closed his eyes again and his body became engulfed in a numbus of blue gaseous flame, threatening to burn anyone who stood too near or attacked the massive amphibian. 

Gravy the Masticated

He then took another deep breath and exhaled a second blast of scalding steam onto the platform. The blast once more incapacitated Gravy. 

Inza broke from combat and ran over to stabilize the dying cleric. 

Things were looking grim for the party. They came here to kill Anuran, but their spells and attacks were having little effect on the entity and by this time they knew that they would die before they killed the god of the swamp.

Desperate, Randalf executed the fall-back plan. He pointed his staff at Anuran and cast a spell of banishment. 

Anuran struggled against the spell. With all his might, he fought the banishment. He failed.

With an inrush of air, Anuran disappeared from our world, his screams of frustration echoing into the void.

DM Note: Anuran attempted a charisma save with advantage but failed. Charisma was his dump-stat, unfortunately. Is banished to the Overworld. 

Tired and bloody, the party retrieved the ruby eyes from the shattered idol and, with the desperately injured Gravy in tow, made their way back to the ruins.

On their way back, at the edge of the city ruins, they encountered a troop of lizard men who had observed the battle from across the lake. The leader of the lizard men calls out, "Where do you think YOU'RE going?"

TO BE CONTINUED!

Anuran
Gargantuan Celestial, Neutral Evil

Armor Class 20 (natural armor)
Hit Points 318 (16d20 + 112)
Speed 20 ft (leap 40 ft)

STR 21 (+5)
DEX 17 (+3)
CON 17 (+7)
INT 20 (+5)
WIS 19 (+4)
CHA 15 (+2)

Saving Throws Dex +8, Con +12, Wis +9
Skills Perception +12
Damage Vulnerabilities cold
Damage Resistances lightning, piercing and slashing from non-magical weapons
Damage Immunities fire, poison
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened
Senses truesight 60', passive perception 22
Languages all, telepathy 30'
Challenge 17

Amphibious. Anuran can breath air and water

Magic Resistance. Anuran has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Shapechanger. Anuran can use his action to polymorph into a Small or Medium humanoid he has seen, or back into its true form. His statistics, other than his size, are the same in each form. Any equipment he is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. He reverts to its true form if he dies.

Innate Spellcasting. Anuran's spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save 20).

At will: detect thoughts,
3/day each: dominate beast, invisibility
1/day: fire shield

Actions:
Multiattack. Anuran makes six attacks with his six tongues, uses Real, and makes one attack with his bite.

Tongue. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 30 ft, up to six targets. Hit: 9 (1d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 15). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained and the number of possible targets of the tongue attack is reduced by one.

Reel. Anuran pulls each creature grappled by him up to 30 ft straight towards him.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: If the target is grappled, automatic, otherwise +10 to hit, one target. Hit: 26 (3d12+5) piercing damage.

Deadly Croak (Recharge 5-6). Anuran exhales a scalding croak in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw, taking 52 (15d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Legendary Actions:
Anuran can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Anuran regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn.

Scaly Command. Once per day, Anuran can summon and control 6-60 (6d10) unintelligent beasts of the swamp (reptiles or fish). All creatures must be within a half-mile of Anuran to be commanded. Furthermore, no creatures of the above types will ever attack Anuran, whether controlled or not. The command power lasts 70 (2d6x10) minutes and cannot be dispelled. It has no saving throw.

Appropriate creatures include any combination of the following:

• Constrictor Snakes
• Crocodiles
• Giant Frogs
• Giant Lizards
• Insect Swarms
• Swarms of Poisonous Snakes
• Swarms of Quippers

Anuran is a composite of four creatures. He was one part Pan Lung from the original Fiend Folio (the original monster in the lake), one part Dragon Turtle, one part Ggorulluzg - god of the bullywugs from White Dwarf #39, and one part Yochol - handmaiden of Lolth. He was a tough fight, and the player characters had little chance of defeating him in a straight up fight. They were hoping to honestly defeat him, and Randalf was really holding onto Banish as a last resort. When things started going south, he pulled out Banish and they were able to call it a mostly victory.

More DM Notes: I tried to get into Anuran's head during the fight. Here's what I was thinking.

The first time he banished me, it was a fluke! I was caught off guard! I rolled poorly, and forgot I had Advantage on saves.

The next time, I will have Advantage. I will roll better! I will have initiative!

Ah shit! Did he just destroy my focus?? Well, now I will have to breathe steam on his ass! 

Dammit, he’s still alive. Nobody survives my steam breath!

What? He’s not trying to banish me? He must not be prepared with that spell today! THE FOOL! Now I will have my fun! 

Ah Shit! He DOES have Banish prepared, he was just holding onto it, hoping his friends would kill me first. THE FOOL! Well, at least I have Advantage on my saves! 

(two sucky rolls, and Charisma is my dump stat) Dammit! 

Curse you Randalf the Azure! You may have banished me again, but you have not killed me! I will return! Someday I will return, and I will have my revenge!!

"The Solution is Fireballs" - Chapter 5 of the Dwellers of the Forbidden City

Inza, the Shadow

The party defeats a force of tasloi with a fireball. The party encounter some tough Yuan-Ti. Aline is impaled by a giant wasp and almost dies. They finally get a chance to rest. The next morning, Aline does an aerial reconnaissance of the city while invisible and the party encounters a departing caravan. Fireballs ensue.


The Group:

• Inza, aka "The Shadow", Human Shadow-Warrior (Monk 6/Sorcerer 1)
• Randalf Azul, Human Abjurer (Wizard 7)
• Gravy, Human Priest of Thumina (Cleric 7)
• Aline, a Thaumaturge of half-Human/half-Sylvan* parentage (Wizard 7)
• Lodar, Prairiefolk** Barbarian (Barbarian 7)

Not Present this week:

• Duma, bestial jungle hunter of orcine*** parentage (Ranger 7)

* Elf

** Halfling
*** Half-Orc

An Unknown Encounter
Aline's eyes shot wide open as if waking from a nightmare.

She was sitting cross-legged in a cavern, her fingers joined in the complicated knot-work used to enter meditative trance. Indigo, her blue-skinned imp familiar, stood near her. He flapped his leathery wings and helped her stand.

She looked around. Lodar, the diminutive barbarian from the northern plains, stood panting and sweating with his back against the wall of the cave. He stared glassy eyed into the distance. He looked as if he'd stared fear itself in the eye. He calmed down and regained his senses.

"What just happened?" Aline asked.

"I.. I.. what?" replied Lodar as he blinked and looked around the cavern, as if only now conscious of his surroundings. "I.. how did I get here? What's going on?"

Aline looked at Indigo. The devilish creature merely shrugged.

Aline said to Lodar, "We should probably rejoin the others." She gathered up her things and the trio left through the only exit.

The Charge
In the wide corridor that served as the subterranean entrance into the Forbidden City of Sinopia, Inza, Randalf, and Gravy prepared to receive the oncoming charge of dozens of short hair humanoids, a primitive cross between chimpanzee and goblin, and their ophidian masters.

Duma had run off down a side passage on his own private quest. Suddenly, Aline and Lodar appeared from that same side passage. Aline asked Inza what was going on.

Inza answered, "Same as always."

"That bad, huh?" was Aline's response.

DM Note: Not really, but that line is just too awesome not to ret-con in. 

The charging mass had emerged from their hiding place four hundred feet down the passage and were running at top speed. When they were within a hundred feet, the first rank threw javelins that clattered harmlessly around the party.

Aline prepared a spell and launched a flaming orb into their midst. The orb exploded with fiery death, killing most of the hairy humanoids instantly.

Inza ran as fast as he could at the remaining force, then stepped into a shadow and appeared near the female spell-caster in the rear. Lodar charged off after him, screaming the bloodthirsty battle yell of his people. He engaged the remaining primitives and the serpentine warriors that accompanied them.

A short battle ensued but the entire oncoming force was soon defeated.

The Final Defense
After the battle, the party continued up the corridor, which made a 30-degree bend before climbing some stairs and opening to daylight. The party emerged from the corridor into a wide entrance covered in vines and foliage but whose entrance was kept clear. A ruined city stretched before them. Crumbling buildings, toppled monuments, cracked columns, walls with no roofs, and wide paved boulevards were encircled by a three-hundred foot wall of obsidian and stone. Massive trees rose in the distance.

It was late afternoon and the city seemed quiet, hushed. The only sound heard was that of the dozens of giant wasps, each the equal of a pony, that patrolled overhead.

The party cautiously emerged and crossed the stone platform to descend some ancient stairs to the boulevard below.

Suddenly, they were set upon by hidden attackers! Four hideous cross-breeds, part man and part serpent, attacked from hiding. Each was more hideous than the last. The first was human but covered in snake scales. The second was human with the head of snake. The third possessed two snakes for arms. The lower body of the fourth was replaced with the long sinewy tail of a giant snake!

Two engaged Lodar while a third fought Inza. The fourth remained disengaged and fired arrows from a bow. One looked deeply into Lodar's eyes as if trying to hypnotize the demi-man. Lodar ignored the stare, screamed his barbarian war-cry, and attacked with greater zeal!

Meanwhile, a fourth managed to mesmerize Inza, ordering him to kill Lodar. Inza then set his deadly sights on the tiny barbarian, using his knives to stap Lodar in several key pressure points, stunning him. Lodar was then grabbed by one of the serpent-men hybrids while two others attacked.

The fourth tried to cast a spell of darkness over the wizards of the party hoping to eliminate their spell-casting ability, an arcane stratagem which Randalf was quick to dispell.  The same serpent-man hybrid moved to engage Randalf and Gravy while Aline used her broom to fly up and out of the cave.

Aline cast an attack spell on the guard controlling Inza and managed to break the serpent-man's concentration. Inza shook off the effects of the beguilement and attacked, freeing Lodar from the constriction grip of the serpent-man with no legs. They soon made short work of the three they were fighting.

Meanwhile, Gravy engaged in hand-to-hand combat with their attacker, like some kind of myrmidon or something!

Impaled!
Soon all four of the serpent-men were killed. The party was just beginning to take stock of their situation when Aline's body jerked as if seized by a great spasm. She looked down to see the tip of the stinger of a giant wasp protruding through her torso! For just a moment, her brow furrowed in a quizzical expression of confusion, "Huh..."

She fell limp from the sky, landing on the cracked paving stoned with a wet thud.

DM Note: Failed Awareness check followed by a critical hit from the wasp stinger! BOOM! Aline was at -23 Hit Points and was very nearly dead-dead. It made for a fantastic scene, as I described it exactly like above!

There were two of the giant wasps. Gravy grabbed the silver medallion in the shape of a crescent moon he wore and prayed to Thumina, the lunar goddess of healing. Suddenly, everyone in the vicinity were healed of many of their wounds.

DM Note: And Gravy for the save. Good job Gravy!

As the party prepared to do battle, Aline, now restored to consciousness, raised herself on one arm and said, "No. They're mine!"

She extended a finger at the two wasps, who as it happened were in more or less a straight line, and a bolt of lightning crackled into the sky. The peal of thunder echoed from the great cliffs that encircled the city for some time as entire flocks of birds took wing from their hiding places in the crumbling buildings.

DM Note: Great comeback by Aline, but subtle she ain't.

The two wasps were killed.

If the party was hoping to make a covert entrance into the forbidden city, they had failed.

Uh, did I just save everybody?

Camp for the Night
The party explored the nearest boulevard, taking the first side street to the left. The party made camp in an abandoned structure, possibly an ancient bath-house, as the sun set beyond the high rim of the crater that surrounded them.

The night was filled with the sound of croaking frogs, roaring predators, tropical birds, and the occasional snippet of strange chanting far far away, but was otherwise uninterrupted.

The party talked about their goals and discussed their plans.

Indigo kept trying to talk Aline into donning the Crown of Urgence Evergreen, a suggestions he declined. Randalf, annoyed with the impudent fiend, offered to destroy the imp. To that offer Aline also declined.

Invisible Reconnaissance 
The next morning, Randalf gathered everyone and performed a magical ritual that endowed them all with the ability to breathe water for the rest of the day.

Aline then magically turned herself invisible, sat on her flying broom, and flew above the city, staying clear of any patrolling giant wasps.

She made a circuit of the city, noting the large marshy lake to the northeast, the hills surrounded by a bamboo palisade nearby, an area of town that appeared to be constructed of junk, a massive tree, what was once a city park now filled with jungle-like flora, and a wealthy manor house in good repair. She returned to report on the findings.

The party decided to check out the manor-house. They donned their gear and proceeded to walk down the wide open boulevard to their destination.

The Caravan
As they neared an intersection where another boulevard joined theirs at a 30-degree angle, the sound of a large caravan could be heard from around the corner. Gravy managed to find cover in an abandoned building but the rest were too slow and were caught out in the open as a large caravan came onto their street.

The caravan consisted of thirty frog-men, perhaps sixty of the primitive simian goblins, a handful of lizard-men, two bald women with skin like snake scales, and a human woman wearing wizard robes! The caravan included half-a-dozen carts pulled by giant lizards. The carts were laden with boxes and barrels and tarp-covered cargo. The entire procession was making its way to the gate from which the party emerged the afternoon before, on their way out of the city.

The snake-skinned women shouted orders and the frog-men began leaping towards the exposed party. Likewise, the simian goblins charged forward, hooting and screeching.

Aline cast a fireball spell at them. The center of the simian goblinoids exploded in fiery death, leaving their burning corpses littering the boulevard.

Lodar engaged the frog-men while Inza ran to engage the snake-women. Gravy emerged from his abortive hiding place and joined the fray. Even Randalf ran forward to be within range of the spell-casters.

Meanwhile, the lizard-men and non-engaged frog-men were ordered to save the cargo. They began retreating with the carts and grabbing what crates and barrels they could carry and leaping and running away.

Aline called out to Inza, "Capture some alive! We should question them!" Inza sighed and incapacitated the two snake-skinned women and the human wizard.

Lodar killed the remaining frog-men that guarded the retreat of their companions. The rest of the caravan managed to escape with most of the cargo.

The cargo that remained seemed to include several infant hybrid creatures of a magical nature in cages and crates. Also included were some containers of treasure: coin and jewels, as if intended for payment.

The Interrogation
The party took the three prisoners back to their hiding place in the ancient bath-house. The prisoners were blindfolded and gagged. Gravy used his ring of telepathy to read the thoughts of the prisoners as they were asked questions.

The two bald women with snake skin were not entirely helpful. They revealed that her people were called the Yuan-Ti. Their base lay in a ravine in the southwest of the city and that they wished to return the world to the control of the Nagina Samrajya, the empire of the great serpents! They had shape-changing agents in positions of power in various cities, plotting to overthrow the kingdoms of the mammals!

The human woman, they learned, was named Kwairno. She was a student of alchemy and transmutation, apprenticed to the wizard Horan.

Aline froze at the name. Horan was her teacher at the Wizard's College in Yon. Horan was a pompous jerk who made her life hell. She managed to have Horan expelled from the collegium when she learned that he was conducting forbidden experiments, a fact that she exposed only after barely escaping his secret laboratory where she, herself, as about to be transformed into a grotesque hybrid.

Kwairno explained that her master came here, where no one would interfere with his work. Also, he had a ready source of experimental subjects courtesy of Anuran, the god of the swamp.

Aline the Recently Impaled

TO BE CONTINUED!