Magic

Chapter 19

They ate and swam in their underwear. Kate had last swum by going skinny-dipping but didn't think that was a good idea this time.

They let the unseen servants clean their clothes while they slept. Everyone took a hot bath in the morning, ate some more, and left their lovely home bright and early just as the sun was coming up.
"You're going to have to do that spell again," Kate told her friend.

Aerial smiled. "I intend to," she assured her.
"Let's see if anyone arrived in the middle of the night. If not, then we guard this gate. Unless you want to move to another gate?" Rick asked them.

They voted to move to another gate and headed east along the wall.
"Would you look at that!" Kate exclaimed as she looked up. There was a floating tower that was all black. It seemed sheared off at its base when torn from its original location.

"WOW! I've never seen anything like it or even dreamed of anything like it," Kelby remarked.
"Me neither." Aerial looked up at it. "I wonder how you get up there? If you can get up there."

"Come on, let's move. Someone may already be trying to gain entrance to the city." Rick got them moving, but they all looked up while walking slowly toward the Gate.
When they reached it, there was no sign of any guards, and the Gate was wide open. There was no one at the moment. Hopefully, it would stay that way.

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"What is that thing?" Jim asked them as he looked outside past the gate.
"That is a Dire Bear," Kelby told him. "Correction, make that two Dire Bears."

"And who's that in the middle dressed all in black," Jim asked, and Kelby only shrugged and shook his head since he didn't know.
"But those Dire Bears are dangerous," Kelby told him. "Better go get the others."

Soon, he had everyone around him. "Back up out of sight. We'll try to take them by surprise," Rick told them, and they did.

Kate cast the Invisibility Sphere and got everyone inside it.

"You're going to eat well, my pets," the man in black crooned.

That was all Aerial needed to hear; she cast Disintegrate at him, and instead of watching him vanish, she did damage to him and became visible.

"Attack her, my pets. Eat her," the man in black commanded, and he cast a spell of an unknown type, but they didn't see anything come from it.

Rick cast Lightning Bolt which didn't do anywhere nearly as much damage as he thought it would. Still, it did do some damage to him.

Meanwhile, the Dire Bears charged Aerial, who cast Mirror Image just before they reached her. Kate decided to cast Prismatic Ray and watched as one Dire Bear turned to stone and the other vanished, never to be seen again, at least not on this plane of existence.

The man in black screamed at the loss of his pets. They were his friends, his Animal Companions. But now everyone could be seen, and he screamed again; the man was furious.
Kelby launched two arrows at him; one hit him but did no damage, while the other missed him completely.

Johanna cast Summon Natures Ally III and got a Lion, which attacked him immediately, but all of the big cat's attacks missed him.

Now, it was his turn. He cast Call Lightning Storm. A bolt came down from on high and struck Aerial, causing severe damage, and she screamed in agony.

Rick cast Magic Missile, and while the stars hit the man in black, they didn't seem to do any damage at all, which was strange even to him.

Kate cast Disintegrate and while he didn't disappear, it did damage him. Not quite enough to kill him, but he was hurting now.

Aerial recovered just barely enough to cast Disintegrate on him again. Again, he didn't disappear and didn't die, but he looked terrible now.

Another bolt of lightning came down and struck one of her images. That caused the man in black to scream his hatred of them all. He cast Summon Natures Alley VI and got a Dire Bear, which attacked Aerial immediately, except it hit another image of her.

After that, the man in black roared his outrage at them.
Kelby launched two more arrows at him, even though he was running low on arrows. But that man was trying to kill the woman he loved. Both arrows hit him but did no damage at all.

The Lion attacked but missed all of his attacks.

Rick was at a loss as to what to cast. So far, nothing seemed to work out all that well.

Kate cast Disintegrate again and didn't see him vanish, but he did die from the damage, causing the Dire Bear to up and vanish.

Rick came to Aerial and touched her four times with his Wand of Cure Light Wounds. He wished he could do better, but it was the best he could do.

"Wow, what's with this guy anyway?" Kate muttered. She cast Detect Magic on him and found that not only was his cloak magical, but his Scimatar, his bag, and a ring he wore were also magical. His backpack was magical as well.

"That's a lot of magical stuff," she stated while using all her Identify spells to determine what they all were. His Scimitar was a 3 weapon, his bag was a Bag of Holding, his backpack was a Heward's Handy Haversack, his cloak was a Cloak of Displacement Minor, and his ring was a Ring of Protection 2.
Johanna got the Scimatar, replacing her magical Scimatar. Everything else went to Kelby, who thanked them profusely. He never expected such generosity. Aerial kissed him while he made sure she was alright.

The Bag of Holding held 2,344 gold and 3,444 silver pieces. Kelby got all of it since he got the bag. They divided everything else evenly.
"I didn't know there was such a thing as an Evil Druid," Rick commented.

"Neither did I," Johanna said.
They moved the dead bodies out of the way, except for the Dire Bear, since it had been turned to stone and was too heavy to move. They returned to guarding the gate after that.

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Day two was over, and that was it for combat. They retreated into their Mansion that Aerial cast for them, and they ate, swam, and slept. Rick and Kate made love in their room, while Aerial and Kelby made love in theirs.

Come morning, they ate some more, exited, and moved to the other Gate to guard it for a change. They could no longer reach the South Gate since crossing the river was impossible.
They had stopped for lunch when they spotted something coming their way. There were four of them in front. They had dusty, metallic scales covering their entire bull-like body and had silver horns. They were walking at the moment.

"I've never seen anything like them before. They're unknown to me," Rick declared.
"Me as well," Kelby told them. "What I need is to find more arrows. I'm just about out."

"We'll go looking for some arrows after this. I think I see four more of them behind these four," Rick added.
"I say we give them a warm welcome," Kate declared, stealing Rick's line.

So Rick, Kate, and Aerial each cast Fireball and blew them up in the middle of the first four, killing them. That caused the four in the back to come running, and they were fast, like really fast.

Rick took out a potion just as Kate and Aerial cast Fireballs again. While they caused damage, they didn't kill any of them.

Rick, Jim, and Johanna each threw their potions, which blew up in a Fireball, killing all four.

"I wonder what they were," Kate mused.
"Let's take a look inside the gatehouse for your arrows. There's bound to be some there," Rick told Kelby, and they walked inside the Gate. "Bingo. Hundreds of arrows." Kelby took two already full quivers, put them over his shoulder, and refilled his own quiver.
They walked out and found Kate and Johanna looking over the bulls more closely. "I fail to see anything special about them. Other than their hides," Kate told her mother.
"Let's move to the other gate, shall we?" Rick asked them, and they did. They had lunch a little later, consisting of trail rations.

"That's it for day three. Just one or two days to go until help arrives. Though, I don't know how they'll get across the river," Rick said as he entered the Mansion where they ate, swam, and slept, all while unseen servants cleaned their clothes for them.
That morning, Johanna found out that she was now 8th level and that Jim was also 8th level. And Kelby learned that he was now 11th level. Kate, Aerial, and Rick were unchanged, though they were closer to going up a level now.

Johanna took a level as the Lion of Talisid, which meant she gained another Animal Companion. She also gained Lions Courage and a level in spell casting as well as another level of 3rd level spells and a 4th level of spells.

Jim gained a level in Slayer of Domiel. That meant he also attained a first-level spell. Also, he gained Death's Touch, 1 per day, Detect Evil, and the ability to do more damage from a sneak attack. They both gained skill points.

Kelby also gained Combat Style Mastery, meaning his ability to shoot the bow improved. In addition, he acquired a few skill points.

Jim chose Bless Weapon as his spell of choice, while Johanna chose Call Lightning and Cure Serious Wounds for her two spells.

"That's great, Mom and Dad. I'm so happy. But you're sure this is what you want to do?" Kate asked them.
"I'm sure," they both said at the same time.

They decided to stay at the Gate where they were for now.

They ate lunch consisting of trail rations. Johanna sighed. "I miss the food we got in the Mansion already."

"Me too, Mom, me, too," Kate told her.
"Make that three," Jim added.

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They spotted something flying their way. The closer it got, the uglier it got. It was naked, and its tits sagged on its bony body. It looked like an evil-faced old human with the lower body, legs, and wings of a reptilian monster. Its hair was a tangled, filthy, and bloody mess.
As it flew over them, it began to sing. Every man looked with vacant eyes and walked toward whatever it was.

"BABE, where are you going?" Kate asked him but got nothing back in return.
"BABE!" Aerial tried to stop Kelby, but he just kept walking.
Johanna looked at them grimly. "It's the song that thing is singing."
Then, the second one shot two arrows. Both arrows hit Johanna, who cried out in pain, getting whatever it was to cackle in glee.

"BITCH!" Aerial cast Disintegrate and watched the one who shot Johanna simply vanish, taking everything she had on her with her.

Kate did the same to the one doing the singing and watched it up and vanish, ending the singing. The guys, all three of them, snapped out of it a minute later.
"That was weird. I couldn't help myself. I wanted to go where it, or she, was," Rick said.
"It was like the Sirens song you hear about in sailing tales. You can't resist their song," Jim told them. "I wanted to be where she was."
"I wonder why only men?" Kate asked.

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It was getting late, and they were just about ready to call it a day when Kelby spotted something. "What is that?"
Kate was puzzled. "I don't see anything."
He pointed it out and described it. "It looks like a giant bug but with four arms, and it's coming this way slowly."
"I see it now. It's ugly and green. Why does it want to come here?" Kate wondered.
"Might be for the heat from the volcano, but not too hot," Kelby told her.

That made sense to her. It was just a tad warm, and since it was the dead of winter, that was saying something.
It got closer and closer until it was close enough to be a threat. It was 12 feet tall, without a doubt, making it close to the height of the Hill Giants, if not taller, and it had a mouth full of teeth.

"I say we give it a warm welcome," Kate offered, and she and Aerial cast Fireball with it at its center. Once the fire cleared, they spotted it, and it was still coming.

"It doesn't look like it was affected at all," Kate told them.

"Maybe it doesn't like electricity." Rick took a chance and cast Lightning Bolt. But that hit it and didn't seem to affect it any. "Oops."

Kelby fired two arrows and hit it with one while the other bounced off it. "Uh-oh."

"We need something other than fire and electricity," Rick decided.

"Disintegrate, maybe," Aerial suggested and cast that spell. That struck it but didn't seem to do any damage to it. It just kept on coming.

"Perhaps cold," Rick said and cast Polar Ray. He watched as the ray struck it, seeming to cause damage. They could see the damage.

"Back up, back up," Rick told them.

Kelby fired another two arrows, and he watched as both bounced off of it. "Oops." He backed up with the others.

"I've only got the one Polar Ray. I didn't think to make a potion of it," Rick admitted.

"Well, I'm going to try something." Kate cast Prismatic Spray. One of the rays struck it, and it turned to stone. "It worked!" She flung both arms skyward in celebration. They searched it and found 900 Platinum pieces, 12 gems worth 500 gold pieces each, Dust of Dryness, Ioun Stone, Clear Spindle, and Peripat of Health.

Clear Spindle would sustain a person without food or water, but nobody wanted it. They liked eating, especially when they had food in the Mansion. Johanna wanted the Peripat of Health, so she got it.

They entered the Mansion, making day three come to an end. "The people from Waterdeep might show up tomorrow. I still don't see how they'll get across to this side, though," Rick said.

"I can't help but wonder what we're missing on the south side," Kate mentioned.

Jim shook his head. "Doesn't matter, Katie. We can't get there."

They ate, swam, and made love to each other. This time, it included Jim and Johanna. They took a wonderfully hot bath, ate breakfast, and exited the Mansion just at sunrise.

"Do we go south to see if the Waterdeep people show up, stay where we are, or go to the other Gate?" Rick asked them. They decided to go to the other Gate. They would look for people from Waterdeep before they entered the Mansion.

Kate spotted something. "What are those?" She looked closer. "Two-headed...dogs? And they're running this way."

"I count a dozen of them," Rick told her.

Kate was determined and told them, "I got this," just as Bailey growled at them. She cast Fireball and killed all but one of them. Bailey took off after the last one; it was Dog versus Cat. Bailey whimpered from a bite, but he won. He slowly limped his way back to Johanna.

Rick pulled out his new wand, touched him, and healed Bailey's bite wound.

They took a break for lunch while Kelby kept watch, given he wasn't hungry. He had a large breakfast and wasn't interested in trail rations.

"What is that?" Kelby squinted to try and maybe see better. "Hey, Aerial! Something is coming this way, and I don't know what it is."

She and Kate got up from eating and took a look for themselves. "It's a snake, I think," Kate said.

Aerial could hardly believe what she saw. "A snake with six snakes for a head?"

"Hey, babe! You better come and see what I'm seeing. You're not going to believe this one," Kate called out to him. That got Rick, Jim, Johanna, and Bailey to show up.

"It's a snake about 25 feet long. That's unheard of. But it has six snakes for a head," Rick told them. The creature's scales ranged in several shades from deep maroon to midnight blue or violet-black, usually lighter on the torso and underbelly. Its twelve eyes glittered yellow with malice and intelligence. It had a musky odor about it that most mammals found unsettling.

"Whatever it is, I say we greet it," Rick said, and the three of them cast Fireballs at it. Once the fire cleared, they didn't see any damage. "Uh-oh." Rick didn't like that at all.

Kate and Aerial each cast Disintegrate, but it had no effect whatsoever. "Uh-oh is right." They had a problem. Kelby fired two arrows at it. They both hit it, but that thing pulled the arrows out of its body and healed the damage instantly.

"Uh-oh." Kelby didn't like that either. It continued to slither their way and was beginning to get closer now.

"Back up. I'm going to try something." Rick cast Polar Ray and watched as the ray hit it; it iced up briefly but recovered some of the damage. "It regenerates like a Troll. That's not good." Rick backed away from it.

Kate tried Prismatic Spray. One of the colors touched it, and it turned to stone. Kate and the others began breathing again.

"It's almost as if it's immune to lower-level spells," Rick told them and decided to try something. He cautiously approached it, fearful that it would regenerate from being turned to stone.

Rick found 1700 Platinum pieces on it. There were twenty-five gems worth 300 gold pieces each and Gloves of Dexterity 6 after Kate used Identify on it. They gave it to Jim and divided up everything else.

"What the hell is it?" Kate got close to it and looked it over, especially the six snakes for a head.

Rick shook his head. "I have no idea."
"I've got nothing," Aerial told them.

"Me, neither. It's interesting that the hands only have three fingers. Interesting that it has hands at all," Kelby commented.