Second meeting with the Green King

Here's a synopsis for what happened during yesterday's session:


The PCs decide that Oleg should travel in a carriage with Leonis and Rowan, while Kara and Kelis ride on the top with the driver. All of the PCs are disguised as guards. Accompanying the carriage is a wagon with supplies and a couple more guards, with Grabthar concealed inside it.

Linora d’Phiarlan keeps in touch with the PCs daily via sending, providing information from her agents inside House Thuranni. She narrows down the ambush to the fourth day out from Olegton, when they’ll be well past the areas where they have well-maintained roads.

On the fourth day out, during the early afternoon, the PCs are contacted via the far-speaking amulet by Youma about the fact that there were attacks on both her (at Varnhold) and Jhod Kavken (at Hunter’s Horn). Both attacks were safely repulsed by the Deneith bodyguards, two of whom were killed. There were half a dozen attackers in each case, many of whom were killed and the rest captured. They are clearly not Thuranni assassins, most not being elven. Youma has questioned a couple of who were captured and they were hired in Aundair to try and assassinate the chosen councilors. Apparently (Youma says sarcastically) in both cases they were hired by a hooded and cloaked man with a beard in an inn.

About an hour later, the PCs receive a sending from Linora, which says, “Ambush likely within two hours. Exact numbers unclear. Assassins, archers and arcanists present. They are expecting trap. Keep traveling or ambush canceled. Beware of shadows.”

The ambush occurs just over an hour later, when the carriage is passing through a largely wooded area. Kelis spots the ambushers, who are concealed in the shadows on the road and in the trees on either side, so she warns the others, turns invisible and flies into the trees. The ambushers seem interested in talking, but the PCs decide to save time and just attack. Kelis is able to see that there are about three dozen attackers, but just as the fight begins, about ten of them attack the others, revealing themselves as Phiarlan agents.

Rowan promptly teleports Oleg off to safety, leaving the rest to deal with the enemies. The fight is fairly one-sided, especially thanks to Kara intimidating a bunch of enemies (including the leaders) with Dazzling Display, which lets Grabthar panic them with a Terrifying Howl, causing them to run off. Kelis drops a couple of thunderbursts among the enemies and deafens one of the two sorcerers present, while Leonis uses a cloudkill (with Kara now immune to it) to damage a number of others. The only problems are when a couple of shadows attack Leonis and drop him to 4 Str and Kara finds herself fighting a pair of martial artists (all the Thuranni except for the sorcerers have some monk levels!) who disarm her of her axes, but these are dealt with easily enough.

Once the fight ends, the Phiarlans join the group, revealing that they are led by Linora, who says she normally wouldn’t be involved in something like this but the entertainment value was too high. The PCs let them take the majority of the loot but retain some for themselves. One of the captured enemies is sent back with a message that the PCs don’t really care if anyone tries to kill them, but if their councilors and other followers are threatened, next time they’ll really bring the pain.

Having dealt with the Thuranni issue, the next day the PCs (plus Grabthar’s griffin) travel to Lamannia. This time, instead of a forest, they arrive in the middle of a giant cavern, apparently somewhere underground. Trying to find their way to the surface, they stumble upon eight satyrs, which are tormenting two smaller creatures, which appear to be bipedal lizards of some sort with odd-looking, baggy skin.

They have a short discussion with the satyrs, which say that the PCs are within Great Ulas, the Mount That Walks (apparently the ambulatory mountain the PCs saw on their previous visit). The satyrs live on its surface and sometimes hunt creatures in the tunnels, including the skin lizards, as they call the smaller creatures. Hostilities commence quickly. And end as well, when four of the satyrs (the other four are busy trying to get out of a solid fog from Leonis) use their pipes. Grabthar, Kelis, Rowan and the griffin are affected by fear and run away, while Kara is affected by a charm person and walks over to the satyr that affected her. Luckily, Leonis isn’t, so he uses a quickened regroup to bring Kara next to him and dimension doors ahead of the others.

After the fear wears off, the PCs return for revenge, with a silence spell and a magic circle vs evil to protect against the pipes. The satyrs, having made the mistake of thinking them pushovers because of what just happened, are awaiting them and close in to melee. Which results in seven of them being dead a little later, with one captured. It begs to be allowed to live, promising to lead them to the surface.

This is the point when the two lizards (which had fled during the previous fight) return. They introduce themselves as “the skins of dead things”* and their odd-looking skin turns out to be stitched-together hides of various creatures, which they are wearing. They are thankful for having been saved and very friendly, offering to take the skins of the PCs and wear them to keep them immortal. The PCs pass on the offer but ask them for a way out and they lead the PCs downwards, into the bowels of the mountain, till they get to the bottom of it, where they can lower themselves onto the ground some six feet below the walking mountain, which appears to be carried along on a forest of vines.


* I stole the skin lizards from the amazingly funny and creative Ursula Vernon’s webcomic Digger (which I heartily recommend you check out). Mike might recognize them, since I believe he’s a fan.

Once out of the mountain, the PCs find themselves back in the sort of forest area they encountered during their original visit to Lamannia. Less than 5 minutes later, the Grim White Stag makes its appearance and leads them away. As before, when the Stag paces ahead of the PCs, the vegetation parts before it, before springing back. It leaves no tracks at all, though it did leave some when they encountered it in Khatovar and Varnhold. Somehow, though it is much larger than them and with a giant stride, nor does it seem to be moving slower, the PCs find themselves walking at its heels, whatever pace they walk at. The vegetation around them also seems to move by at a much faster pace than they are moving. Within 5 minutes of following the stag, the forest around them opens up to reveal a huge, crumbling tower. There is a thick outer wall with a giant arch in it, beyond which lies an open area with the tower in the center. It is actually a little reminiscent of the tower in the forest in Khatovar where the PCs fought the dancing lady, but much larger.

As the PCs approach and pass through the gateway in the wall, they see that a steady rain of debris falls from the battlements of the tower, littering the area around it. A large number of pale fey creatures of indeterminate species move around, evidently attempting to clear the place, showing no awareness of the PCs beyond a quick glance or two. However, the fallen detritus seems to diminish and disappear constantly, nor does the falling debris seem to affect the tower, which is apparently repairing itself at the same rate.

As the Stag reaches the tower, it stops and then steps to the side. After a second, it raises a giant hoof and stamps it in front of the entrance, an open archway leading into a wide corridor that leads to some crumbling stairs sixty feet away. Once all the PCs have stepped into the corridor, the tower around them seems to whirl around and, an instant later, they are standing inside a chamber with incredibly lavish decorations. Immediately before them are five chairs before a large throne made of stone so dark green that it is almost black. Seated on the throne is a figure dressed in richly colorful robes. He is the size of a tall human and has distinctly fey features. His green skin of so pale a hue that it is actually luminous, since a faint radiance wells from him. His eyes are of human size, albeit longer and more slanted than most human eyes. The iris of each is narrow, like a cat's, and green in color, while the pupil is a bright gold, flecks of which also appear in the iris around it. He frowns, causing all of the viewers to feel a surge of strong displeasure, and then says, “You are late. But all may not be lost yet. Be seated!” The voice is hard to define, possessing qualities which should be contradictory at once, being simultaneously strong and soft, deep and high-pitched.

As the PCs seat themselves, small side-tables appear beside them, bearing trays upon which crystal glasses full of liquid and plates of food appear. When they pick them up, the liquid or food turns out to be precisely what they'd most like to be having.

The Green King focuses first on Kelis, saying, “I expected you. You are welcome here.” He then switches his attention to the group as a while, saying peremptorily, “I needed you here for a vital reason. What I seek has been found. I sensed … a door open to it in your world and shut soon after. Now I know where it is hidden, so I can send you there and you can recover it for me. You must hurry! I cannot say who opened the door, but I suspect it was the Queen’s minions among your enemies. They have not recovered it yet, since I would know when it came into your world. You must hurry! Of course, I will provide you with additional gifts and power—as I did the last time we met.”*

As he speaks, a series of emotions flow over the PCs, including anger, worry, irritation and eager anticipation. As on the previous occasion, it seems that they feel the attendant emotions when the Green King speaks. Also, as before, the scene before the PCs blurs at the edges of their vision. The same thing happens if they look away from the Green King and only see him from the corners of their eyes. If so, they catch glimpses of the chamber as a ruin, covered in dust and cobwebs. Viewed in this way, the Green King’s shape appears to shift constantly and focusing is difficult when looking away and watching peripherally. Among the shapes which they glimpse are that of a hill-giant-sized naked man with the head of a stag; a perfectly androgynous humanoid; an incredibly beautiful woman who seems a cross between an elf, a nymph and a dryad, with incredibly green hair; and the same shape that he has now, except with gaunt, sunken features and long, dark hair hanging down over his face.


* In the interests of giving you something to plan for, once you leave (unless you manage to piss the Green King of, for some reason) you’ll all be 12th level.

OOC: the food is exactly what the PCs want? Leonis wants hot women

Leonis looks around, "Our apologies, we had mortal issues which needed to be taken care of so our mortal lives would still survive and that we may continue to help search for your treasure". Continuing, "Where did you locate your item, and do you have any information about the place, and potential hazards we may encounter there? Would you be able to teleport us there as this will make it faster for us to arrive?"


OOC: Do our abilities (stag lord stuff) increase also?

Leonis wrote:

Leonis looks around, "Our apologies, we had mortal issues which needed to be taken care of so our mortal lives would still survive and that we may continue to help search for your treasure". Continuing, "Where did you locate your item, and do you have any information about the place, and potential hazards we may encounter there? Would you be able to teleport us there as this will make it faster for us to arrive?"

The Green King replies, "It is in the mountains to the north of your lands, in the realm of the Irovetti. I was unable to pinpoint the location, since it was not open for long, but I can put you in the general area, after which you will have to find the door yourself. What lies on the other side of the door I cannot say, except that it leads to an extradimensional space. And is," he adds, the words accompanied by a surge of bitterness, "barred to the creatures of fey origin. All I can be certain of is that there is a doorway and that it has only been opened once - so whatever or whoever went through has not emerged again."

Quote :

OOC: Do our abilities (stag lord stuff) increase also?

Yup. I'll tell you what they become once I decide on the changes.

OOC: Does the group object if we go right now? Assuming the group does not

Smiling, "Let's rock n roll green dawg!"

Kelis looks down at the feast before her; spiced lamb kebabs, stuffed dates, night-black olives, and grilled flat bread. This is probably mud and leaves covered in a fae glamour. Oh well, when in Sharn. She tucks into her meal in the manner of her people during peace negotiations; eating with gusto meant to demonstrate neither the suspicion, nor fear of, being poisoned.

When Leonis suggests leaving immediately using the disrespectful slang of the young, Kelis says "Aye".

OOC: throughout the meeting with the Green King, Kelis practices her diplomacy by shutting up. She knows she's out of depth here, and she trusts her companions to do the right thing.

Kelis wrote:

and she trusts her companions to do the right thing.

Oh, the naitivity of the young mind. You will learn....oh yes you will

Leonis wrote:

Oh, the naitivity of the young mind. You will learn....oh yes you will

A big part of her concept is that she's a terrible judge of people! (even mechanically - she has zero ranks in Sense Motive).

Leonis wrote:

OOC: Does the group object if we go right now? Assuming the group does not

Smiling, "Let's rock n roll green dawg!"

OOC: One thing you might want to keep in mind is that your PCs know their last visit to Lamannia resulted in them returning to Khorvaire 2 weeks down the line. You've actually been here longer today, so you don't know how much time might have passed for your kingdom in the interim. Just thought I'd mention that before you go do something and come back to more time having passed than you'd like.

Kelis wrote:

A big part of her concept is that she's a terrible judge of people! (even mechanically - she has zero ranks in Sense Motive).

Plus, by this point, it's not as if the other PCs have got her into too much trouble, other than putting her in a few situations where she fell out of the sky.

Gotcha - OK, so let's get back to our village first, then we can teleport to Irroveti's kingdom.

As for Kelis - Yea we haven't had situations to get us or her into trouble yet

Leonis wrote:

Gotcha - OK, so let's get back to our village first, then we can teleport to Irroveti's kingdom.

The Green King remains silent for a few moments after being informed that the adventurers will head back to their territory and then to the area where he said the doorway can be found, a sense of thoughtful anticipation radiating off him. Then he says decisively, "I shall provide you with another token. It will indicate the general direction to the doorway. Once you find it, you will need to open the door and pass through."

He pauses again for a few moments and then continues, "As I said on our previous meeting, I do not know in what form you will find ... what I seek, but you will recognize it when you do. Everything that lies beyond the doorway will be centered around protecting it - and hindering those who attempt to gain it. Those who created that area are ... tricky," he says, emanating a sense of bitter and slightly grim amusement, "and there is no certainty what they placed there."

"Do you," he says finally, "have any questions?"

"Tricky huh?" Sighing, "Great that just means traps and poisons, so fellas we may need to acquire a wand to neutralize poison, scrolls/potions to neutralize negative life force draining and ability drains".

In response to the Green King's question, "Do you have any items like that? Also, when we find the item, will it give us any particular problem when we touch it, move it, etc? It won't harm us will it? Is it intelligent and will it try to command us? Does it have abilities we can use to help us get out of that location?"

Leonis wrote:

In response to the Green King's question, "Do you have any items like that?

When Leonis asks his question, the Green King says, "I can provide something, but I doubt poison will be something specific--or all--that you need to concern yourselves with. And you can," he addresses Kelis, "deal with poisons, I see."

Quote :

Also, when we find the item, will it give us any particular problem when we touch it, move it, etc? It won't harm us will it? Is it intelligent and will it try to command us? Does it have abilities we can use to help us get out of that location?"

There is a strong flash of frustration and incredibly strong desire at the question. "It is unlikely that it will be intelligent, but that ... might be a possibility. It should be portable, but I cannot, unfortunately, be certain of any abilities that it may have. It will certainly ... very likely have some and they may vary based on who is handling it. Whether it will harm you or try to control you, I cannot say, but that is a possibility too. Anything is possible. It is unique."

A sense of discomfort radiates off the Green King as he pauses again, before continuing, "The ... object was not made by me, nor have I seen it. But it is mine! The place you will find it was made to keep it from me!" Though the Green King's words and their delivery thus far have betokened little change in emotion, the waves of emotion his listeners feel communicate that the frustration now boil over into genuine rage. "I must have it! You must bring it to me - whatever the cost!"

A sudden sense of wariness washes over the group and, a moment later, the Green King straightens. He looks around and all of the emotions that have been emanating from him disappear. "I will, of course, reward you greatly for it - with power and valuable items now and even more after you bring it to me."

Admin wrote:

There is a strong flash of frustration and incredibly strong desire at the question. "No. The ... item is unique. It is unlikely that it will be intelligent, but that ... might be a possibility. It should be portable, but I cannot, unfortunately, be certain of any abilities that it may have. It will certainly ... very likely have some and they may vary based on who is handling it. Whether it will harm you or try to control you, I cannot say, but that is a possibility too."

OOC: On a side note by items I meant does he have neutralize poison type items. On an another side note I foresee us keeping the item and making the Green King our enemy.

Leonis wrote:

OOC: On a side note by items I meant does he have neutralize poison type items.

Ah, I see. I edited the above a bit accordingly.

Quote :

On an another side note I foresee us keeping the item and making the Green King our enemy.

I never, ever considered that possibility and have absolutely no plans in mind for what would happen in that case. Promise.

Admin wrote:

I never, ever considered that possibility and have absolutely no plans in mind for what would happen in that case. Promise.

We do like keeping you on your toes