Enola Yarn – blogpost 3

We are back in the room with the two portals facing each other. Farryn decides he wants to open the black door that leads to the treasure of the dwarven king. He believes the crystal crown he found can open it. We enter a great hall and see the black door on our left hand. A couple of dead Duergarr lie around an altar; one seems to be crushed in front of the door. In a split second, we have to decide how we’re going to play this. Smoke wants to wear the crown Farryn found to open the door, because: ‘I am royal anyways.’ Waving royally, he approaches the Duergarr inspecting the door. The Duergarr allow us to approach the door and see the crown, but tell us that won’t be enough: they’ve sent another party to retrieve the hand of the King. Smoke doesn’t pay attention to their doubts and says: ‘I AM the dwarven king!’. He is allowed to walk past and open the door.

The second his paw touches the handle, a spectral hand appears and smashes down on Smoke. Aiden casts dispel magic and the hand disappears as fast as it appeared. It certainly looks like Smoke is NOT the king of the dwarves, I smirk in thought. We decide to go after the party that searches for the hand of the king. Smoke is asked to scout for us by Farryn and runs off. When he passes a wall on his way, it bursts open! An Umber Hulk steps through the just-made opening in the wall. We fight it!!

After traveling through some other rooms, we stumble upon a Xorn. He wants to digest the crown Smoke still wears on his head. In a couple of strikes, the Xorn drops dead. Xorns eat gems, so Farryn checks if there are some gems left. There are many piles with stones, that are kind of wet, in the room, but without any gems. We think the Xorn was starving.

We walk back a bit and enter another room. There is a portal there. Farryn holds a statue in his hand to activate it: there is a sign of a mountain with a sun on the portal. The statue is of a sun-elf. The portal opens and we can see a swamp. I decide I don’t want to go through it, as Smoke suddenly walks through and disappears; but not before he triggers a group of giant spiders and a Drider. I want to find the Hand of the King to open the treasure chamber! Not following a fast, curious Tabaxi! Everyone else stays on ‘our’ side of the portal, but we worry for Smoke. I am calculating how fast I can run after Smoke and if that would be enough to dodge the spiders without getting hurt. My answer is ‘no, not a chance’. Aiden thinks we eventually need to go after Smoke, but first, we need to clear this first space of the spiders and Drider. I feel I need to support him because Valentine and I made a deal with him to go to the wizard academy.

Aiden steps through the portal, Farryn, Valentine and I stay behind, but support with ranged cantrips and spells. I throw a fireball and burn all spiders and their webs. The Drider grabs his bow, and shoots Aiden; followed by three more arrows! Something is invisible there! Aiden casts wall of fire to keep the Driders at a distance. Suddenly, instead of seeing the fiery blazes, I can only see darkness on the other side of the portal.

A couple of seconds later, I can see the wall of fire again. Smoke is back and kills the Drider, I can see him standing in the back of the room. In the meantime, Farryn stepped through the portal too. Only Valentine and I are still at the other end of the portal, in the non-swamp area. I try to detect thoughts to find the invisible creature. I suddenly hear a voice inside my head – that is not from a Drider…

“Who dears to use telepathy in MY domain?!

A low demonic voice says to me.

I can see Smoke climbing on the wall and hear a thud. Smoke points to a space in front of him: “here it is!!”. I carefully cast fireball: I don’t want to fry Smoke too… Smoke confirms the Drider is dead, and when I decide it is safe enough to join my party on the other side of the portal… it closes, with Valentine and myself on the one side, and the rest of our party at the other.