Operation Astralgate
Evelais (Saints' Day), Martenin 11th, 838 ID
Private Rumpridge meets up with Longjohns at the Armory Square, after being paddled all night across the Udders Well by one of Blake's local fishermen at Tarndim. Turns out, the two know one another, and they await the arrival of Mudgol, who after his prior night's teleportation, is being patched up at the Cathedral of Blades. Once the three are joined together, the soldiers badger Mudgol about their destination, and he's just not much help. The half-orc unsuccessfully attempts to find out where the Flabbergast Manor is located, but then the trio spies Zipper, Mistlethroe's hummingbird familiar, who leads them to the Manor's current location down a dark, stinking alley. Once inside, Mistlethroe debriefs the PCs and Longjohns on their course of action. Schnoo has employed a merchant vessel on the astral plane that can transport them to the githyanki citadel where the Arkana Arkiva are being held, and after that, they are on their own to find a means to spring any of the surviving staff. Seeking more manpower, Mistlethroe has made a bargain with two of the resident gargoyles, Earl the tea parlor attendant, and Theo the bath attendant (the 'gaygoyle'), that they will be freed if they help. The gnome takes Mudgol and Rumpridge aside, though, and tells them that the two gargoyles are very much expendable and that he may not be able to plane shift them back.
Rumpridge and Longjohns are in disbelief about meeting gargoyles, but even more so about traveling to another 'plane of existence', and it takes some convincing once the Flabbergast Manor is shift to its astral location. In the Manor's tea parlor, open to the sky, they are given their first exposure, and very slowly come around to the fact that they're not in Kansas anymore. After a lengthy wait, a dark-lacquered galleon of alien woodwork begins to approach the Manor through the astral, and Mistlethroe and Theo head up there to finalize their transport details and pay off their 'host'. The rest of the group learns the troubles of astral subjective gravity, almost losing Longjohns until the crew of this strange vessel saves him by firing a scorpion bolt he can catch on to. Once aboard, they are met by a group of small, thickly cowled and robed humanoids which talk in grunts, but are later revealed to be capable of psychic communication. The owner of the boat, Bezza E Kooth, introduces herself as a mercane trader and takes Mudgol, Misthlethroe, and Rumpridge into her dining parlor, where they sit about comfortable pillow sofas and are given a strange but sweet refreshment. She tells the heroes what she knows of the bazaar, including the 12-hour window they have to do their business, and the githzerai 'double agent' T'kalat who might be able to help them find their missing staff. They also convince her to lend them use of her personal mirror, since Mudgol wants to scry his instructor Slurrow and perhaps get a clue where they'd be in the githyanki citadel. The scry spell fails...
After an indeterminate amount of time, Bezza's vessel approaches the githyanki citadel of Tashek're, and moors itself to the bazaar level, where a guarded promontory welcomes traffic. A few dozen vessels of many strange shapes are docked here, and a pair of dragons, one rainbow-hued, and the other a red dragon strapped with wooden/steel cages with Mistlethroe identifies as the one that took off the Arkana Arkiva instructors when Flabbergast Manor was compromised by the Score and their githyanki mercenaries. Bezza tells the PCs she doesn't plan to wait around for them, and they must find their own means of escape, and then the PCs are ushered off the vessel, though not before they can grab some robes and veils as a disguise (though Rumpridge and Longjohns are fine looking like normal bodyguards). Within the bazaar, they find a few dozens stalls and merchants, including a small slave market and an inn known as the Dragon's Slipper, which rents out rooms for short durations (likely for naps or fornication). The group decides to split up and seek out T'kalat, while doing some shopping. Rumpridge turns down an offer by a jewel-veiled githyanki peddler for an alien cuttlefish, and then he and Mudgol head over to another merchant (a mercane) who is selling exotic clothing. Both buy glittering red dragon masks and matching robes, which they use to better 'fit in' to the alien crowd at the bazaar. Most of the crowd consists of githyanki, mercane, githzerai slaves, and the strangely covered 'blue' goblins that were staffing Bezza's vessel, but there are a handful of humans, elves and other familiar species.
After looking about outside, Rumpridge and Mudgol venture inside the Dragon's Slipper, where they are shocked to find a beholder bartender serving drinks with its telekinetic eye stock. The bartender, Brusto fills them in that T'kalat is also present, so the pair approaches the shadowy githzerai's table. They learn that he's a sort of 'double agent', leaking false info to the githyanki about his peoples' movements through the Astral, and then explains to the PCs that normal teleport spells don't work within the citadel, that there are specifically tuned psychic portal devices that are required to access the dungeon levels proper. It just so happens that one of T'kalat's deceased contacts, a githzerai slave once stole one of these devices and hid it out in the bazaar's waste caves, accessed by a nearby grate. The PCs decide they will need a distraction to be able to access these caves, and consider purchasing some slaves from another merchant in the inn and then ordering them to cause a ruckuss. They part ways with T'kalat after he beseeches them to free or put out of misery any of his kind they find in the prison dungeon, and they also give him information about the Flabbergast Manor and Floivin Province, should the githzerai desire refuge.
After the PCs exit the Dragon's Slipper, they meet up with Mistlethroe, Longjohns and the two disguise gargoyles to discuss their options. Ultimately, they decide a magical distraction would work out the best, so they decide that Mudgol and Mistlethroe will summon up a pair of demons, and then Mudgol will evoke a stinking cloud to cover their access to the waste grates. Meanwhile, Mistlethroe will use gaseous form to enter the grate, solidify on the far side when he finds the means to open it, and the rest of the party will hurry inside before their summoned creatures finish one another off. Amazingly, against all odds, the distraction works, and the patrons of the bazaar and githyanki sentries are occupied long enough that our heroes can slip down the waste chute. Longjohns, entering last, manages to close the grate behind them, before his own 40' plummet down a slide of offal and leftovers into a massive refuse heap below. The waste disposal area is quite dark, but before long our heroes discover the actual 'means' of disposal, for the caves are the home of numerous, horrific aberration creatures who quickly surmise that the PCs are themselves rubbish and must be dealt with. A brief battle ensues, but the otyughs and intellect devourers in the caves are simply not up to the challenge of astrally enhanced wizards and gargoyle wrecking machines...
After claiming some valuables from the refuse in the caves, our heroes come across the abandoned psychic portation pad, which Mudgol activates by reading magic and learning the key. He sends through all his companions first, then steps upon the pad himself, and vanishes. They all end up in a more structured system of narrow corridors and chambers that represents the prison proper, and note that it's a one way trip for all they know, since they land on a marked floorspace, rather than another of the devices. They being to explore the prison level, encountering a lot of locked doors which Rumpridge must crack. He does so, and they find several rec rooms for guards, and potentially sitting areas for prisoners. They also find a torture chamber, and within it an Arkana Arkiva ring. Mistlethroe and Mudgol fear that they might have arrived too late, but inevitably come across a magically glyphed door, which Mudgol dispels so that Rumpridge can pick the normal lock. It's tough, but he eventually gets through, and they find the 'Magica' ward of the prison, in which five of their sought after wizards have been locked into magically screened, silenced cells. They also notice a bunch of the portation markings on the floors, and several balconies on an upper level, and come to the realization that they may be in for a fight...Rumpridge locks the door to prevent attackers form behind, and then one of the cell screens is triggered.
Sure enough, after the PCs prepare briefly for an ambush, a squadron of githyanki soldiers and gish sorceresses 'port into the area, led by a captain, and instantly begin attacking our heroes. The fight is brutal and in very tight quarters, and the accelerated magic of the astral is flung around by Mudgol, Mistlethroe and the enemy gish. Thanks to a minor globe of invulnerability, most of the gish' spells are ineffective against the PCs, but are hardly needed with the captain slicing through the opposition. Though they put up a mighty struggle, and manage to damage most of the githyanki soldiers, both gargoyles are destroyed: earl being smashed up into rocky bits against a wall by the captain, and Theo inevitably finished off my friendly fire from Mudgol's desperate use of the minor circlet of blasting. The locked door is opened by another pair of soldiers, and eventually so many spells have been thrown about that Mudgol and Mistlethroe are out of nearly everything, even the gnome's heals! At one point, Mistlethroe is even fighting with a punching dagger while the half-orc fires off crossbow bolts...when sadly, a hasted githyanki soldier takes down a very bloody, very angry Longjohns who has been fighting with his throwing axe. But despite their heavy losses, the PCs at last come out on top.
After their victory, while Rumpridge gathers up magical rings, breastplates and other implements from the enemy, the others try to figure out how to get the instructors free. Mistlethroe uses one of his final spells, dispel magic to break out Slurrow the diviner, who informs them that the captain should have a crystal key that shorts out the magical cell screens. They free the other mages: Thulthoon, Furblas, Valkenna and Koss Karn, and then Mistlethroe uses plane shift to take the eight survivors back to Floivin Province. Alas, they end up about a hundred miles off course, in a desert near Sothos Karr, but Mudgol can therefore activate a teleport spell to bring several of the companions back home. The following day, he returns to the others, and through a combination of teleports and a fly spell the Arkana Arkiva staff are all returned. They learn that the githyanki queen was using a psychic device to drain the wizards' of their magic each day, thus keeping them alive until such a time as they became easily dispensed with. All of their personal defensive items had been acquired, and one of the instructors, the dwarf transmuter Dargyar, wound up getting himself killed in defiance.
PCs: Mudgol, Rumpridge
New Race Unlocked: Githzerai (level adjustment +2)
New Class Unlocked: Shadow Mage
Bezza E Kooth (mercane female): A 9’ tall, lanky blue humanoid clothed in the finest, exotic robes and is adorned with sparkling jewelry, including a jeweled veil which hangs down over her sharp face. Her hands are thin and spidery, each finger with an extra joint in it, and she stares at you with curious, misshaped, frightening eyes. She's a merchant and ship owner of the 'mercane' species, known to ply her wares in the Astral Plane, and she's hired on by Schnoo the Sorcerous to take Mistlethroe's team into the githyanki stronghold of Tashek're, where the queen has taken several Arkana Arkiva instructors hostage.
Brusto (beholder male): This creature floats before you, a bulbous body with a central, unblinking eye, and a large maw filled with daggerlike teeth. Smaller eyes, attached to wriggling stalks, sprout from the top of the orblike body. An indigo apron advertising the Dragon’s Slipper logo has been attached to the creature’s scales, and trails beneath it. Brusto is the barkeep of the Dragon's Slipper, and one of only a few choice individuals allowed permanent residence at the Tashek're Bazaar. It speaks with a bloody gurgle and uses its telekinetic eye rays to pour and serve drinks.
Furblas (halfling male): A stern-faced halfling with a five-o-clock shadow and numerous bands twisting his hair into braids. He’s wiry but possessed of a robust paunch for a belly, and wears a suit of dun colored cloth with various leather straps used to store bottles and phials on his person. Furblas is the abjuration and alchemist professor of the Arkana Arkiva, and one of several individuals rescued by Mudgol, Rumpridge and Mistlethroe from the dungeons of Tashek're.
Koss Karn (human male): A skeletal thin man cowled in crimson and gray-tinged robes, he’s got strong cheekbones that contribute to his corpse-like visage, and stares out at you with grayish-green eyes. He smells of smoke and blackberries. Karn is the necromancy and shadow magic instructor of the Arkana Arkiva, one of several individuals rescued by Mudgol, Rumpridge and Mistlethroe from the dungeons of Tashek're.
Slurrow (human male): A gaunt man with striking blue eyes that dominate his hollow cheeks and tight chin, Slurrow is clothed in a forest green cloak and robe with intricate designs. His hair is greased up into large black and gray spikes that detract attention from his receding hairline. Slurrow's the divination instructor at the Arkana Arkiva, and Mudgol's original teacher as an apprentice. He, along with several companions, was rescued by the PCs from the dungeon of the githyanki queen at Tashek're.
T’kalat (githzerai male): Every inch of this individual’s body is clothed in leather and a gray linen cloak, save the yellow-tinged skin, speckled skin of its gaunt face, and the reddish-black eyes which stare out at you like murder itself. Its brow is slightly ridged, and an unusually shaped blade is stuck through a sash around its cloak. T'kalat is purportedly a 'double agent' of the githzerai, who feeds the githyanki of Tashek're false information about his peoples' movements in the local region of the Astral Plane. He gives the PCs some crucial information on how they can use a stolen psycho-port device to enter the dungeons below the astral citadel, asking in return that they free any of his people enslaved there, or at least put them out of their misery. Mudgol offers T'kalat's kind sanctuary in Floivin Province, and he seems interested, taking down directions on how to seek out that particular Prime Material Plane.
Thulthoon (human male): Bald and heavily tattooed, this human is extremely thin to the point that a strong wind might sweep him away. One of his eyes is green, the other brown, and he is swathed in a white robe with tatters and stains, and a gold pattern etched into the shoulders. Thulthoon is the conjuration professor at the Arkana Arkiva, and was one of several specialist mages rescued by Mudgol and Rumpridge from the githyanki's astral citadel at Tashek're.
Valkenna (human female): A beautiful, middle aged woman with blue-dyed, raven dark hair, she wears a tight leather fitted outfit that is hiked up on her black lace stockings. A shapely chest peers out from beneath a long, graceful neck. Her hands are tattooed and she has a bone piercing through her left nostril. Mudgol seems quite smitten with Valkenna after rescuing her and the other Arkana Arkiva professors from the githyanki dungeon at Tashek're. She's the invocation professor at Flabbergast Manor.
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