Yuku free message boards

Leaving Enaborem, or Lareth, or whatever his name is, behind, the party makes its way down the road to the south. It is a relief to be away from the haunted town and soon there are breaks in the cloud cover and the chill gives way to the normal heat of a summer afternoon.

The countryside remains forboding, however. Weed choked scrub, gnarled trees and twisted vegetation line both sides of the road. The road itself is cracked, pot-holed and full of weeds itself. Clearly this section is not much used. Once, about an hour after leaving Nulb, Alex catches sight of something in the scrub by the side of the road. A glint of metal draws his eye to something white under the leaves. There is no motion or sound, though, and when he investigates he finds the bleached bones of some small, humanoid creature, the rusty metal tip of an arrowhead protruding from the skull's cheekbones.

Another hour later, the group gets its first glimpse of the old Temple of Elemental Evil in the distance. It's name befits its hideous appearance. The huge, charcoal-gray building, with its arched buttresses and obscene designs, stands a mute testament to the darker side of history. Every surface of the structure teems wtih leering faces and twisted froms of demons and monstrosities unlike anything previously imagined. Vermiculated growth, covered in dark thorns, twists amid rubble from what was once a high curtain wall surrounding the compound around the temple. Within and without the compound stand blackened trees whose branches claw at the air like desparate, dying men.

The road approaches the temple from the northwest heading toward the southern end of the compound. Apparently, the main entrance to the temple is either at the southern end of the grounds or on the opposite (east) side.

Tension is high among the group as the sun sets and darkness begins to envelop them. Rolf talks about setting up watches, but for Alex and Nadia it's hard to imagine getting much sleep at all tonight, anyway. They settle down into their camp as well as they can, picking at their trail rations without much appetite. Time drags slowly...


...Kella makes her way through the scrub and stunted, twisted trees. Some disturbances among the animals lead her towards a spot near the hobgoblin's temple where she hears the sounds of a campsite. It's a strange place for the hobgoblins to make a camp. Why would they send a party out here? And why make a camp so close to their lair?

She crawls forward cautiously towards the sounds to check things out. She takes cover in a low, dense patch of vegetation and peers out at the campsite. How curious! It's not hobgoblins at all, but a small band of humans and dwarves. What are they doing here? Did Hommlet send out a band to clear out the hobs again? She doesn't recognize anyone.

Kella watches for a while. The group seems nervous, on-edge. She guesses that they must be planning an assault on the hobgoblins. She grins. Might be fun to stick around and see what happens.

She creeps away, heading for a small cave nearby where she has a small stash of provisions. There are humans in the group, so they probably won't attack until daylight, when the hobgoblins won't have any darvision advantage. Plenty of time to rest up...


...Time drags on. The night is quiet and the watches are dull, except for the snapping of twigs once, which got everyone's attention (except for Eber, who was studying his magic). Grabbing up their weapons, they look in the direction of the sound and then all around. Rolf peers carefully into the gloom. But no one sees anything. Perhaps it was some small animal. A few minutes go by and nothing happens. They settle back down into their routine.

Hours go by. Rolf, Penelope and Eber trade off their watches, getting what rest they can. Alex and Nadia take their turns on lookout, dozing fitfully in between but waking up often. Around 1AM, Nadia wakes up from one of her dozes with a start, the remnants of a nightmare slipping away. Glowing green eyes. Hideously distorted mouths. Nadia falling towards them into the gaping maws.

Nadia sits up, her heart racing. She starts to tug nervously at her hair. For a moment she can only stare at her hand in mute, open mouthed silence, a large clump of hair pinched between her fingers.

Alex's hair still seems firmly imbedded in his scalp. He breathes a sigh of relief, although he still feels an edge of nausea. Maybe it's just nerves. He settles back down to try and catch some more rest.

Penelope is elated that she was able to nip Nadia's transformation in the bud. Nadia's hairdo may be a little lop-sided for a while, but that's a small price to pay. Penelope goes back to standing watch with Rolf while Nadia lies back down to get some much needed, untroubled rest.

It takes a few minutes, but Penelope suddenly realizes that something is different. She doesn't feel depleted after curing Nadia the way she normally does after using up her powers. She concentrates on the feeling of curing disease. The tingle is still there! She glances over at Alex with a renewed sense of hope. Maybe she won't have to resort to any drastic actions. She'll have to wait and see how her checks go on Alex.

Back to waiting and watching.

The next check goes by and Penelope still doesn't notice anything unusual. Another hour after that and it's time to change the watch. She'll check on Alex when she wakes him up.

She goes over to shake Alex's shoulder. His complexion is pasty and he's sweating profusely. He wakes up, groggy and disoriented. As he lifts his head off the ground, both he and Penelope are horrified to see that all the hair on the left side of his head is still lying on the ground.