The Illusion of Pride

“The Illusion of Pride”
Rise of the Runelords episode
Episode no.	Episode 87
Date	2009
Game Master	Abbe
Characters	Honeypot Nathaniel Nell Velicia
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "The Ruin of Envy" "The Gates of Wrath"
Rise of the Runelords chapter list

In this chapter the heroes enter the pride part and encounter illusions and wizards.

The Illusion of Pride

Vraxeris.

Velicia wanted to go to pride next. She once more suggested that she would go in alone. I still thought that would be a bad idea, and Honeypot agreed, but Velicia went down the corridor and us others waited outside, looking after her to see if there were any traps. It seemed to go well, but she disappeared very quickly down the long corridor. It had the same weird distances we saw before below Sandpoint. As we lost sight of Velicia Honeypot grew impatient and followed her, disappearing as well. Nathaniel and I followed. It turned out to be a maze where we immediately lost each other. Velicia had walked straight through it and a little later Nathaniel told us, using the telepathy, that he had exited on the other side too. Soon after we heard that there was a fight where two more Nathaniels had attacked and it was near impossible for Velicia to tell who was who. I tried to hurry through the labyrinth but illusions was making me run in circles. We heard Nathaniel yelling out at Velicia for attacking him instead of the copies, causing deep wounds. He was also hurt that she couldn't see the difference between them.

I finally found a way out of the labyrinth and hurried down a corridor. I saw Nathaniel at the end of it fighting. Velicia screamed "Don't come out into this corridor." as I approached so I stopped and prepared to attack if anyone came close, warning Nathaniel via the telepathy. Still he came up to me and attacked another Nathaniel. I thought "I told you." and stabbed the one next to me. As Nathaniel didn't complain, I knew I had attacked a fake Nathaniel and felt very pleased with myself.

Velicia put up a big blanket in one end of the corridor using a ten foot pole and her mage hand. Against Velicia's advice I cartwheeled past the Nathaniels and on to the other end of the corridor. There was a mirror that was almost completely invisible unless you knew it was there, except for seeing yourself. Taking out my eternal chalk I drew big flowers on it. It looked like my drawing hung in mid air like a magical effect. While Nathaniel killed off the copies of himself Velicia took out a tent and started to hold it over my drawing. Even though it wasn't my best work, it wasn't so bad it had to be covered. She had trouble making it stick so I, who knows best about traps, took out a couple of wedges and hammered one in place in one corner and did the same in the other corner too. Only the two extra Nathaniels ever came out of the mirrors. We had succeeded in disabling the mirror trap. Honeypot had still not found her way through the illusionary maze but we waited until she did and Nathaniel needed the rest.

When we all were ready we continued on, Velicia still first with the illusion of being safe from being attacked. The corridor ended in a very big room with ebony floor and strange boxes of constantly changing illusions slowly floating through the room. Velicia stepped in and a wizard appeared. He spoke to her in some language I didn't know. Velicia said through the telepathy that it said that the wizard had told us not to disturb someone, but Nathaniel put it in another way. He said that it had said that we were puny and not worthy to disturb. I knew from their raiser voices that the situation was getting worse, so I tumbled out into the room and hid behind one of the illusions. It was obvious it was coming to a fight so I threw my dagger twice into a second wizard to my left and hid in another illusion. Honeypot stormed the first wizard we had seen and confused it with her magic. There were a total of four wizards casting spells on us, but I had hid so well they couldn't see me. Nathaniel on the other hand was slowed by their spells and although hurrying out into the room, couldn't reach any of the wizards. Myself, I threw my dagger hitting another wizard and slipped from illusion to illusion, timing my move to keep hidden all the time. No one could know where I was, but it didn't matter. The wizards burst out waves of magic changing reality and I was thrown around in illusions and reality like nothing I've ever heard of. We were all thrown around like leaves in the wind. Still feeling dazed, my attacks missed their intended targets. Honeypot had moved further in ahead of us, while Velicia, Nathaniel and I fought closer to each other. That was not that good as the wizards used bursts of magic that caught us all in every blast.

After quite some fighting Nathaniel finally killed one of them. It turned out to be a construct made of snow. A snowman. When one of them caught me in its blast yet another time I had had it with those wizards, thinking they can't be beaten. I used the magic of my cape of the Mountebank to teleport away to a place it was not prepared for and even though I was thrown around by the effects of the blast and dazed from its nauseating magic, I still attacked. In focused anger I threw my dagger straight into its throat killing it in an explosion of snow. It was a magnificent attack and with ease I slipped away into another illusion and hid. Nathaniel moved up to and hit another wizard, but it was me who once more killed it with a throw of my dagger into its throat. We continued with the successful tactic on the last wizard too. Nathaniel moved up to it and hit it and I threw my dagger into its throat killing the last construct.

With a deep sigh we all took a short breather. The room was empty except for lots of illusions and had no other ways than back where we came from. But the constructs had said that we shouldn't disturb someone. That meant that there must be a hidden door somewhere. I looked for it and soon found it on the opposite wall. There's not many things that can stay hidden from me. Inside was a cozy room with chairs, a table, shelves and lots of books. It was a study, but an unusually nice for a wizard. However there was a bad smell. Looking around we found a corpse in a corner of the room. It sat as if it had been writing when it died, quill still in its hand. In a book in front of it was written its last words. Velicia and Nathaniel got interested and took the book and started to read. I wasn't, but instead I looked for other things. I found a very nice mask. I knew it was magic and had interesting effects, but I would have to take a closer look later. Nathaniel had found something in the book so he read aloud.

Excerpts from Vraxeris’s Journal:
“The runeforge pool awoke! I first took this as a sign that Runelord Xanderghul had risen. When I arrived at the pool to investigate, it seemed that the others had come to the same conclusion. The foolish Wardens of Envy thought to disrupt the recrudescence, and with the aid of Kazaven, Ordikan, Athroxis, and that lovely creature Delvahine, we were able to defeat them utterly. Their Abjurant Halls lie in ruins. Our treaty was short-lived, though. Kazaven absconded with the bodies and that treacherous wench Athroxis nearly burned me to death before I made it back here.”
“I was mistaken. Runelord Xanderghul still slumbers. It is that monster Karzoug who quickens and nears rebirth. Damnation! He must not be allowed to precede Xanderghul into the world, for he would rebuild Thassilon in his own inferior image, a testament to his own greed rather than one of pride in the work. He must be delayed or defeated!”
“I have managed to escape this place, to a certain extent. By astral projection I can explore what the world outside has become. It is a brutish place, yet it pleases me to see Thassilon’s mark endures in the shape of our monuments. Still, the wilderness of the world vexes me. Gone is the empire I knew. Karzoug’s city of Xin-Shalast is now hidden high in the mountains, and when I finally discovered it, I found the spires where his body is hidden to be inaccessible, warded against astral travelers by the occlusion field around the peak of Mhar- Massif. As long as his runewell is active, I fear even a physical approach would be impossibly deadly. I must determine a way to pierce these wardings, and to send an agent in my place. No need to risk my own life before my clone is ready.”

Excerpts from Vraxeris’s Journal:
“I have taken steps toward an alliance with Delvahine. She may be able to escape this place, for she was not of the original blood. At the least, she can call upon agents from outside, and perhaps through them we can secure servants in the outer world. She seems uninterested in Sorshen’s return; all the better for Xanderghul, that.”
“The runeforge pool is the key. As I suspected, the occlusion field around Karzoug’s fortress in Xin-Shalast has a flaw. His lack of knowledge of the intricacies of Sorshen’s and my own lord Xanderghul’s powers have left an opening. My agents must use components infused with our lords’ virtues, extract the latent magic within these components, and then anoint their chosen weapons with this raw power. The runeforged pool seems to have enough reserves to enhance no more than half a dozen or so runeforged weapons, but those enhanced with enchantment and illusion magic will be most potent against Karzoug’s defenses. They may even be pivotal in his defeat. For my own part, fragments of any of the mirrors in the Peacock’s Hall should suffice for a component. Delvahine’s... equipment... should suffice for enchantment, although one might be wise to cleanse them before they are handled.”
“The search for an agent goes poorly. Delvahine seems more interested in her own lusts than aiding me. Worse, the lapses and fevers are increasing. I fear that I will be forced to see to Karzoug myself, in which event I will need to use the master circle I built into the Halls of Wrath to escape this place. Yet first, I must set aside my work on delaying Karzoug’s return and turn back to the final development of my 205th clone. I only hope I have time to finish before the dementia takes hold...”

We continued and found three more rooms, but the only thing worth mentioning was a huge pile of bones. From mentioning of clones in the book we concluded it was the clones of the same man that had been "buried" in there. As Velicia had used most of her magical energy we decided to rest for a while. I tried to sleep for a while, but i couldn't. That's unusual for me. I think there was something about the place that made it harder. Nathaniel offered me a book from his bag of holding to read and then, finally I got a little sleep, but not that much. Giving up on sleeping I played with the drifting illusions in the big room for a while. It was fun looking at them, often depicting scenes from a long time ago, but in the end I returned to Nathaniel's book. It turned out to be better than I first thought. It's actually quite catching.