Tying this to that ...

An excerpt from “Heroification: How Adiles' Process of Magical Idealization Explains the Heroes of the Covenant”

Abstract:

Recent research by Underscrivener Arvos Adiles has given us insight into the efforts of certain extraplanar beings to capture or control what the Doorkeepers call our 'Crystal Sphere' – our universe, to the layman. Those efforts typically involve a process Ardiles calls 'Idealification,' which he describes as “a magical half-conversion through unknown processes which renders Everything Solid and Perceptible into a more palatable and digestible energy-form.” This process was most noticeable in the run-up to the so-called Devourer Invasion of two centuries ago, which was thwarted by the small group of adventurers known now as the Heroes of the Covenant.

This paper proposes a second process which is perhaps a corollary or side-effect of Adiles' Idealification. We call this process the Hero Process, and believe it is caused by the dwoemers which push local matter up the energy well (such as the ones Adiles identifies in his work). As the invader-being or beings prepare the matter of our universe for consumption, our universe seems to respond by empowering small groups of individuals to conform to the Ideal of the Hero. We see these effects in the rapid and unpredictable rise of Wyn A'rienh, Kerrick the All-Powerful, et al.

Furthermore, we wish to demonstrate, through some simple and repeatable experiments, that the process seems to be underway once again. We do not speculate as to causes or potential outcomes.

GONZO TEMPLE: Part the Second

The second session of GONZO TEMPLE, brought to you by Pho's 30 Listen check:

The party gathered in mid-morning to set out on Umber's quest; most seemed in good spirits, but Kedrin (Kelly's priest of Pelor) seemed less than well-rested. “Bad dreams,” he explained.

Initially, the group intended to purchase mounts before leaving. Pho – Sarah's rogue, now revealed to be part of the party – confessed that she fears horses and will not ride one, changing the plan slightly. Zeppo (Shaun's gnome druid) scared up a couple of reliable pack mules in town, and off they went to find the lost dwarven nobles.

{Hi there. I'm Sean Spence, the guy writing this, and the DM for the game. I didn't plan to have a talk-directly-to-the-reader section in this writeup initially, but all plans change upon contact with the players. I'm here to tell you about one of those changes.

{There's a cult rising in the area of Hommlet (shock, horror!), see, and the PCs have already met a couple of the cultists. I decided that the cultists would be a very out-of-the-way encounter for the PCs; I'd dropped clues they'd ignored, essentially, so they just weren't going to cross paths. The PCs were going to hie off to Rastor and basically skip the first fifth of the adventure – it's alright, it happens.

{For versimilitude, though, I needed to know what the cultists were doing. I went a little insane, cribbing things online, making up my own details. In short, the cultists were raping and killing their former hosts for a bit of fun before they packed up and got outta town. Hey, this is an adult storyline! I don't wanna hear it.

{So the cultists are getting their rapine on, but they're not completely defenseless – far from it. They have a sovereign eye outside the building; they have a multi-layered response prepared for any interlopers. If the PCs do stumble upon them, somehow (I anticipated), they won't forget the fight. Magical darkness, vile damage, two hidden casters – I had many an evil cackle over the nasty that awaited them. Or so I thought.

{Read on, gentlepersons, to see the wrack and ruin of my planned ambush, all thanks to one off-the-charts Listen check.}

So, leaving Hommlet is boring. And quiet. The group shuffles about five minutes along a bluffside road in town – looking down, to their right, was the river that ran through town. And on that river, below them, a mill, its waterwheel turning idly in the morning sun. From that direction, Pho hears something: “Anyone else hear that?” she asks, suddenly bristling, and then sprints in the direction of the mill.

{Yes, sprints. If Sarah had said almost anything else … sigh. Her Listen check was a 31 … in my mind, prior to rolling it, I thought “Gee, I guess maybe a 30 would hear something.”}

The rest of the group, spooked by the decisiveness of the newest member, follows without much more caution. The mules wander halfway down the bluff and decide now's a great time for snacking on these tender shoots here.

The cultists are literally caught with their pants down. Pho enters the basement to find a human man raping a woman who is chained across a chest; nearby a half-orc forces another human man to watch. In the corner, hanging naked from a series of hooks installed in the ceiling, is the leader, Master Dunrat. They have time to fashion looks of surprise and dismay before they get to work dying on the blades and fists of the PCs. Vig takes on the other half-orc, knocking him out before he can draw his weapon. The rest is a blur – Pho blocks the second, hidden caster from escaping, and Dunrat is subjected to the first gangland-style beatdown of the campaign.

Zeppo takes some awful wounds from a lance of Vile Darkness(tm) wielded by the good (very bad) Master, but the group wins the fight easily. Oddly, Kedrin's healing spells don't effect Zeppo's wounds; they later discover that the same spell cast in the temple of Pelor works wonders.

The group finds, among the phat lewtz in the chest, a note that indicates the cultists are hard at work trying to find something in the old moathouse. {And just like that, we're back on track; the stuff I thought we'd skipped is again in play. Cue scrambling for notes mid-session...}

So, the moathouse – its state of decay is palpable, although Zeppo notices plenty of signs that foot and cart traffic has frequented the area. Pho presses forward, searching for traps; finding none, she motions the party into the ruined courtyard of the place. The structure had a timbered second story, now collapsed, but the place has clearly been cleaned up in a rudimentary way to allow traffic.

Piles of shattered timbers and wall-stones lie here and there, and it was behind one of those piles that the inhabitant of the courtyard was slumbering. A body in ochre robes drew the interest of Kedrin and Zeppo; they were puzzling out the manner of the man's demise when a lightning bolt crackled through both of them, and the drums of war began pounding again, demanding Rolls for Initiative.

The blue dragon wasn't the largest – about the size of a pony, with a wingspan of maybe 8 or 10 feet – but it wasn't a fool, either. After his lightning-blast opener, he flew up about 15 feet and hovered, creating a localized wind-storm in the courtyard.

The party was nearly routed at this point. Staggering about blindly, they managed to find a corner room and barricade themselves against the wind – all but Vig, who ran the other way out and became the (overconfident) dragon's next target.

Vig, it must be said, is a pretty hard target. Whirling and feinting, the half-orc delivered blow after blow to the dragon, proving to be very difficult indeed. When, a few seconds later, the now-sighted group returned to pour damage on the beast, the blue realized that, absent his tactical lock-down, these folks were going to murder his ass. He streaked off into the sky and vanished, leaving the winded party alone in the courtyard.

This is where we find our heroes next time: In the courtyard of the moathouse, puzzling over a dead body in ochre robes, scanning the sky for signs of a returning, vengeful dragon, and trying to find a path down into the bowels of the place.