Short Synopsis
The party is joined by Balor, one of the dwarves they had rescued from slavery to a drow. They head to the lair of a beholder in the Wormwrithings. Despite the party’s efforts at stealth, they are greeted by the servants of the beholder, led by the wizard Shedrak.
Karazikar the Beholder makes an appearance and the party attempts to parley with the beholder. Standing on a network of flimsy bridges over an abyss, the party realizes that no deal could be struck. Illuna attempts to throw Shedrak into the abyss, but the wizard manages to levitate to safety.
An all-out battle ensues. The party makes short work of Karazikar’s minions, but the beholder proves to formidable with his eye beams. Will the party be able to defeat Karazikar?
Long Synopsis
[Extensive artistic liberties were taken; this may or may not be an accurate account of Balor’s bad day]
Balor was a long way from his home in Adbar. He had been enslaved by the drow Zoll and taken into the dismal gloom of the Underdark. When hope was almost gone, Balor found himself liberated by a strange motley crew of mercenary adventurers who claimed to be on a quest to save the world from a demonic infestation. Grateful, curious and honor-bound, Balor pledged his axe in service of their cause. They seemed to be quite happy to have him, though maybe a little too happy for Balor’s comfort.
After a few days of traveling, Balor began to wonder if he had made a mistake by joining this band. These idiots were deliberately trying to find a beholder. Upon reaching the beholder’s domain, they beheld a vast underground crevasse crisscrossed with a network of poorly built bridges. Orogs and goblins guarded the entryway. A bald-headed wizard named Shedrak approached.
The adventurers must’ve been naïve or stupid, because they followed Shedrak onto the bridge to meet Karazikar the beholder. Did they realize that the orogs and goblins could’ve simply cut the rope bridge and sent them to the abyss? Balor wasn’t naïve or stupid, so he stayed back to guard the front of the bridge. He supposed that Baroj the assassin was smart enough to hang back as well, but he couldn’t see the sneaky drow.
Karazikar arrived and he was uglier than Abbathor’s hairy arse. He floated over the abyss to the bridge. For some reason, these nutters thought that they could negotiate with a beholder! It started with Iluna, Jax the half-elf and Boarstack the duergar. They gave up and came back to the entrance. Then the wacky gnome Warlan and the crazy dwarf Khazad had a go at it. Balor normally wouldn’t call other dwarves crazy, but Khazad was a *sea* dwarf who used *magic*. Their negotiations didn’t go well and Karazikar demanded that the party leave someone as payment for their visit.
Rust and ruin! Things turned slag. Illuna tried to drop Shedrak into the Abyss, but the darn wizard ended up levitating. Balor took the initiative and wiped out a group of orogs and goblins by himself (while hurting his ankle in the process). The remaining adventurers finished off the other minions on the main platform. Jax went running up into the darkness and made some seemingly impossible dodges of the beholder’s eye beams. Khazad disappeared and bolts of magic appeared from nowhere. Boarstack, that fishy duergar, went up the bridge. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, Balor followed him. Let’s just say that Balor’s trust was rewarded when Boarstack turned around and attacked Balor. Balor mentally cursed the duergar as a goblin-rutting, drow-shagging duergar born to a beardless mother!
Even after Karazikar’s minions were slain, the beholder fearlessly roamed its lair. It fired its eye beams at the party. Almost everyone seemed to get hit one way or another. Some of the adventurers became confused, paralyzed, immobilized or frightened. Balor was even hit with a slow spell that reduced him to an embarrassing crawl. Baroj almost stumbled into the Abyss, but misty stepped his way to safety. There was even the sound of a roaring dragon, but Balor couldn’t figure out what that was. The little gnome somehow fell asleep in the middle of the battle and was snoring louder than a dragon.
To sum up, it had been a bad day for Balor. He had taken up with insane adventurers, faced a beholder, twisted his ankle, been betrayed by a duergar and been hit by a beholder’s eyebeam. By Moradin’s beard, Balor prayed that things wouldn’t get worse!
NOTE(S):
Combat Order: Boarstack, Jax, Warlan, Illuna, Khazad, Balor, Baroj and Karazikar.
Madness: Balor and Iluna each suffered one level of madness.
