The Madness of Bedla-Ra Concluded

SESSION 8 PART III

PCS

Talos Redwand, 4th level Conjurer

Kieren, 5th level Druid

Shaw Ashcroft, 4th level Ranger (Justifier)

Lutien, 4th level Fighter (Myrmidon)

Brendel, 4th level Half-Elven Fighter (Swashbuckler)

A Tale Told by Lady Carmella

Upon stepping through the door, the travelers found themselves on a small precipice, with an endless abyss before them. Dangling high above the floor, supported by thick webbing the width of a grown man's leg was a pale orange egg about twenty feet in diameter. The shades of lunacy informed the group that their power ended here and that they could go no further. The companions began the slow trek across the webs, careful not to lose their grip and fall into unending nothingness. Kieren used his magical cloak to fly alongside the group.

Spider Creature

As soon as they reached the halfway point between the precipice and the egg, sixteen spider-like creatures descended down the webbing from the ceiling and tried to knock the companions off of the web. They scored several telling blows against the group with their many arms, but the travelers continued on in an effort to reach the egg as soon as possible. Kieren tried to swipe at one of them with his sword, but as soon as he let go of the edge of his cloak he began to plummet into the abyss. Eventually, he regained control of his flight and made his way back up to the egg. More spider creatures swarmed towards the group, but they finally reached the egg and with two mighty blows, Lutein was able to crack it open. A yellowish puss issued forth almost causing several members of the group to lose their footing, but in the end they managed to crawl inside the egg.

Insane Aspect of
Carmella

What they found therein was not what they expected. They were in a vast chamber with darkened corners, In the centre of the room was a large, plush bed with carved bedposts. My broken mind reached out to the brutish warrior Lutein and I uncovered a deep guilt there within. Using this guilt, I manifested a creature resembling his lost beloved, yet twisted in my own fashion. She and I sat on the bed in front of the group half naked and seductive. I slid off the bed and made my way to the half-elf seeking to envelope him in an embrace. He recoiled at my touch however. Using my feminine wiles, I managed to charm him and forced him to attack his friends. Ilsa the vampire, my creation slunk off the bed as well and confronted Lutein, blaming him for her death and her existence as a vampire. Lutein stood protectively in front of the slip of a girl and warned his companions that if they attacked her, he would kill them all.

The Ranger Shaw strode forward to attack me, but I used my charmed servant Brendel to block his path and vicious stab him. The wizard tried to stop me from advancing upon the rest of the group by ensnaring me in a magical web, but I passed into the etheral plane and easily side-stepped the spell. I then strode toward the mage and used my wiles on him, forcing him to be my servant as well. Luck was against me however, as the druid Kieren cast a dispelling magic over the two charmed companions and they came to their senses.

Lutein fell to his knees before the manifestation of his guilt, offering his life up to her. His offered sacrifice made me lose control over my creation and she fell to the ground crying before crumbling to dust. I was not beaten however. I managed to pick the wizard up and flew into the air, sucking the very life out of him and gaining strength for myself. But as I felt life and power flow back into me, I was struck from behind by an arrow loosed by the ranger, sapping what power I had left. My shell of insanity cracked and broke and I was finally free. As I ascended from that plane of madness, I bade the travelers hurry, for my demesne began to crumble about them.

The sped through the crumbling chambers of my mind and emerged once again on the desolate plain of Bedla-Ra. My liberation cost them however; as St. Tisha had become aware of their presence. In the distance, thousands of Bone Bats and Gibberlings emerged from her manor and began closing in on the companions. As they made their way back to the cliffs of Othon, the passed the crazed gnome once again. The gnome told them to go to the rear of his cottage and look in the stables. There they found four nightmares to carry them back to the portal. Kieren, without a mount jumped on the back of Paltros the centaur.

The race was on. At first the companions seemed to be easily outdistancing their pursuers, but eventually the maddening horde reached them. Bone Bats slashed at them with their claws, trying to tear them from their mounts and paralyze them. Lutein had seen enough. He slew himself right away so that he could wake up again within the keep. The others continued on for another hundred yards or so. Kieren was torn from Paltros' back by the razored claw of a Bone Bat and though he fought off the paralyzing poison, he tumbled to the ashen ground. Gibberlings swarmed about him and threatened to overwhelm him. At that point, one by one, the companions slew themselves to prevent capture and each awoke within the musty confines of the tower which they had fallen asleep in.

That is how I came to be rescued from that dread realm and how the travelers made it back to the mortal realm, dear brother.