s the walls of the Tomb dissolved before
his eyes, Haer felt an unwelcome tugging at the corners of his mind. During
the interminable time travelling from one plane to the next the presence grew
stronger and more forceful. As the misty sky of Moil coalesced into view the tugging had become a
rending, tearing Haer's consciousness from his body. While the party examined
Acerak's poem, a different consciousness
was taking stock of its new body.
Ferranifer vowed that the desecrators of the Tomb would pay dearly for their sacrilege.
This halfling Haer Gronagin had been a thief, apparently a good one. Ferranifer spent several days reacquainting herself with the failings and foibles of a living body, made doubly strange because the body was male. She went through the motions of being an adventuring thief. Centuries had passed since her own adventuring days, and her skills were a bit rusty. Awakening the Winter Wight was a surprise: in her vampiric form she would have sensed its nature from a distance. This halfling form had to rely on wits and intuition rather than preternatural senses.
The wight was surprising for another reason: its use of Black Fire. Many years ago Ferranifer had been given a sample of Black Fire by Drake, an instructor at the Black Academy. Drake had not revealed the source of the sample, though Ferranifer suspected she had now discovered it. Unbeknownst to Drake, Ferranifer had conducted extensive study of the sample and had even developed a new spell to recreate it: Black Fire Bolt. The Fire sapped the constitution of living beings. Strangely, Kurik was suffering additional burning damage from the Black Fire of this Wight. The human slaves she had exposed to her own sample of had simply weakened until they died, and had not been burned by it.
The desecrators of the Tomb must pay.
That thought kept repeating through Ferranifer's mind, even as she learned to tame the awkwardness of this new halfling body.
The desecrators of the Tomb must pay.
Even as she discovered that those short, pudgy fingers she now despised were extremely dextrous, with a sense of touch approaching that of her former vampiric body, the thirst for vengeance against those who had dared defy Acerak gnawed at her.
The desecrators of the Tomb must pay.
Ferranifer had even attempted to catalog the contents of the voluminous Bag of Holding. She ceased the effort after some of the thiefly equipment it contained proved dangerous, slashing her hand badly. Kahlen healed the damage with only a quizzical look.
The desecrators of the Tomb must pay.
The satchel at the base of the stairs in the Casino tower bore the mark of the Black Academy. It also bore Drake's mark. Revealing nothing of the rage boiling within her, she carefully placed the bottle of "Corpse dust, Acerak" in the Bag of Holding, that she might restore it to its rightful place on her return to the Prime. Drake's ashes, by contrast, would be scattered to the winds.
The desecrators of the Tomb must pay.
Her first chance to exact revenge came at the tower of the emerald spiders. Ferranifer still possessed the knowledge of her previous incarnation as a necromancer and vampire, including spells to manipulate and control the undead. Taking control of five spiders, she directed them in a coordinated attack against Rosvenir. Unfortunately the spiders were too weak to be of much use, and were easily defeated by the infidels.
The desecrators of the Tomb must pay.
However, the battle with the spiders proved useful in another way, for it provided the final clue to the mystery of Kurik's condition. None of the other party members seemed to notice, but Ferranifer knew the signs. He had been damaged by the Black Fire. Kahlen's spells of healing were becoming less effective on him. During the battle Rosvenir activated the Wand of Days, bathing the spiders and the immobilized Kurik in bright sunlight. Ferranifer instinctively cringed back, fearful of the damage which her vampiric body would have sustained. Perhaps that is why she noticed it: Kurik was smoldering. The burn damage he suffered was not from the spiders. Kurik was a vampire, and the Wand would have destroyed him had he not escaped its radius.
Ferranifer did not know that Kurik had disappeared during the party's trek through the Great Swamp, nor of his sudden reappearance at the Black Academy. However, she did know that Blaesing, a vampire and instructor at the Academy, had disappeared several days before her own defeat. She could therefore only guess that Blaesing had captured Kurik, Embraced him as a vampire, then been destroyed by the paladin. Though it is extremely rare for an elder vampire to be defeated by newly created spawn, such is not unknown. The elder's control of the newly created is by no means absolute.
The desecrators of the Tomb must pay.
Ferranifer did not understand how Kurik still held the favor of Pandeos. He was able to Repel the wight in the library, and his spells of blessing and protection were as strong as ever. This meant he was still functioning as a Paladin, even in his vampiric state. This was unique in Ferranifer's experience, and would require caution.
The desecrators of the Tomb must pay.
For the first time since taking over this hairy body, things were looking up. The beginning of a plan was taking shape. She could gain the favor of Acerak, her deity, by destroying this group of interlopers. She could become a vampire again with Kurik's help, willing or no, or could take advantage of his condition in some other way. Things were definitely looking up.
When the party made camp that night, Ferranifer cast Dream III. She was searching for a means to take revenge on these interlopers, and sought more opportunities to guide powerful Undead against them.
Ferranifer's Dream
You are in the original Tomb of Horrors, stepping through the mouth of
the Sign of the Devourer. As you pass through to the city of Moil, you notice
that the portal closes behind you. Just as it is shutting completely, a scroll
falls out and into your hand. It is a powerful rune of planar long door,
inscribed with Drake's insignia. You read it, but instead of reading a long
door rune, it is one of undead mastery. You cast the spell into the darkness,
but it finds no target. The sounds of scurrying feet seem to mock you. In
terror, you run away from the darkness, towards light. The light is coming
from an image of the rising sun on the back of the throne. You sit in it,
exhausted, hungry, and wounded. You sense the throne trying to alleviate these
needs, but something is missing. You are unfulfilled.
The Darkweaver was not, in fact, Undead, but some sort of intelligent arachnid. It was fortunate that the sling, the favored weapon of the departed Haer Gronagin, had also been Ferranifer's weapon of choice. Her attacks were powerfully launched and reasonably effective against the creature.
Following the defeat of the giant arachnid when the party made camp in a fortified room, Ferranifer cast Dream III. Still formulating her plan to deal with the infidels, she needed to learn more about her goals and guard against contingencies.
Ferranifer's Dream
You begin your dream where your previous one ended: unfulfilled at the
Throne of Healing. Dissatisfied, you get up and wander through the tower. You
come upon a room you vaguely remember. There is a corpse lying on the ground,
frozen to the stone. It turns its head to you and you see that it is wearing a
headband with a metal disc on it. You look closer, and a design on the disc
seems to jump out at you. It is a carving of the rising sun, and as your
vision blurs it morphs into the carving of the rising sun on the back of the
throne. The carving glows brighter and brighter, and seems to morph again,
although its hard to tell because it is so bright. It seems to be shaping
itself into a multi-faceted crystal. In each section of the crystal, you see a
face screaming in pain and torment. You briefly think you recognize one of the
faces, but the feeling passes. Suddenly a darkness fills the air. The
brightness of the crystal is swallowed by a dark cloud. The cloud is darker
than any blackness you have ever known. Suddenly you realize that you are in
the presence of the Devourer, and you fall down on your knees in tearful joy
at simply being close to your deity. The darkness seems to regard you for a
moment, and suddenly envelops you. You are not scared, rather you feel at
peace. Inside the darkness you see the crystal dissolving, and the faces
within being subsumed into the cloud. As this happens the cloud gets stronger,
and it breaks out of its existence to blanket the entire world. You are pushed
to the edge of the cloud, and your mouth opens, spewing out darkness to cover
distant lands. You are well pleased.
The Devourer had need of powerful adventurers as part of His grand plan. Of this, Ferranifer was certain. Why else would He have sent the Amulet of the Void out into the world if not to lure those with the mettle to face His challenges?
Therefore, Ferranifer made it her mission to deliver this party of infidels to Acerak intact. She began to provide active assistance. She continued the role in which Haer Gronagin had served, dutifully checking for traps and hidden secrets, though her skills in such matters were so poor that it amounted more to wishful thinking than effective thieving. In the dreaming room she was unable to unlock a simple cabinet, but the party accepted her explanation that it was actually a devilishly clever lock.
Though confident bluffing could cover her lack of thieving skills, her inability to cast Dabbler spells was more problematic. It would seem that Haer had regularly cast Stonesight in the Tomb of Horrors, and these adventurers expected their thief to continue the practice in Moil. To cover her inability to cast it, Ferranifer merely claimed that the Stonesight was unable to penetrate the towers of Moil. Ferranifer expected the deception would be discovered when Meilu joined the party and successfully cast numerous such spells, but luck was with her.
Her skills as a High Sorcerer could be employed to better effect to move these foolish mortals towards their final destiny, though not openly as to risk discovery. During the battle with the Doom Mist Ferranifer cast several powerful Greater Vacuum spells within the room, greatly weakening the creature. The infidels who accompanied her attributed these loud retorts to the misty creature itself.
Kurik would be a key element of her revenge. Of this, Ferranifer was certain. The irony was simply too delicious to waste: a paladin of Pandeos, destroyer of Undead, Embraced as a vampire. Ferranifer knew that Kurik had not had enough time to become familiar with his new powers and weaknesses. Indeed, he had probably destroyed Blaesing almost immediately, and therefore had no opportunity to learn. His undead body could be destroyed by the Wand of Days, as the incident with the emerald spiders had very nearly demonstrated. Ferranifer's earlier explorations of the Bag of Holding proved worthwhile as she "happened upon" the Ring of Light Resistance, and offhandedly gave it to Kurik. The ring would help protect him from further exposure to the Wand, so that he might survive to perform his role in Ferranifer's scheme.
Ferranifer's next dream focussed on avoiding detection until such time as she could wreak her revenge. Rosvenir, a powerful spellcaster of the Mentalism realm, was most dangerous in this respect. It would take only a simple mindreading, or even Detect Evil, to unmask her true identify.
Ferranifer's Dream
You see a giant cage which is made of glass. Somehow you know that
the glass is quite strong and impervious to usual breakage. The cage is so
tall that you can barely see the top of it. Inside you sense magical power
so intense that you feel that you might be blinded if you were to look at it
directly, yet you cannot turn away. Slowly you direct your vision towards
the middle of the cage, and as you do you feel that power shrinking down
into a small spot of flame on the floor. You look at that spot, and written
in flames is the word: Tarnhem.
The fire letters combine and merge into a wall. You can see images in the flames, as if in a vision, and reflected back in the vision to you is the hairy, disgusting flesh form you are currently forced to wear. The form is all sunshine and light, but then a dark film covers him, similar to the effect of the sun passing behind a cloud on an otherwise clear day. He turns, and next to him you can see the form of that smug high elf Rosvenir. The film extends a tendril along the top of the high elf's head and gently brushes it. As it comes in contact with Rosvenir, it melts away as if it were ice submerged in hot water. Rosvenir does not seem to notice. Frustrated, the dark film sends out another tendril, and this one slides across Rosvenir's head with a little more force. The high elf turns and looks around, but the tendril is gone, and the halfling lump is smiling like an idiot. Rosvenir's eyes narrow, but then his face brightens as he smiles back. However, he rubs his head as he walks away.
The Devourer had chosen a fitting punishment for Desatysso, deprived of sight and sense for all eternity. Ferranifer took secret pleasure when Zem inherited the curse from Desatysso. It served him right for daring to interfere with the workings of the Devourer.
When Ferranifer saw the misty archway, so similar to those in the Tomb she knew so well, she felt her chance must be near. Her dream when the party made camp in front of the gateway focussed on timing and opportunity.
Ferranifer's Dream
You see yourself as a child. Not what the squat, hairy body you now
occupy was like as a child, but Ferranifer. A lovely, dark-haired girl with
rosy cheeks and warm blood running through your veins. Back when you were
human, and enjoyed life and the sun. You had almost forgotten about such
times. You are outside, playing hide-and-go-seek with your friends. At
least, you think they are your friends, but you cannot remember their names.
At the moment then, they are simply playmates. No matter where you hide,
they find you. You see a large building nearby and run into it, hoping to
hide. It is the Fortress of Conclusion. You run around, trying to find a
good spot, but your playmates always seem to find you. You enter a room you
haven't seen before. Inside the room is a large, clear container. It is so
much taller than you that you cannot see its top. Inside is a terrible
demon. You sense that this demon could be of great help to you, but it would
have to be convinced. Your playmates enter the room and cry with delight at
finding you again. In desperation, you pick up a nearby sword and smash the
container with it. It shatters, throwing large pieces everywhere, some of
which cause deep wounds in your playmates.
"But we just wanted to play with the crystal!" they sob as blood runs down their faces.
"You shall never have the crystal!" snarls the now freed demon, and he opens his palm to show the phylactery within his fingers. He grabs the sword and begins to hack away at the other children. One of the children at the back (who strangely enough has a long grey beard and the look of one familiar with the stars) pulls the Wand of Days out of his pocket and begins to cast its magic. As the magical light leaves the wand, you instinctively react and throw out a net of darkness to meet it. The darkness meets the light and both are stopped, wrestling for dominance.
"What a good little girl." chuckles the demon as he pats you on the head. His mouth snarls in a parody of a smile.
[Editor's note: The next evening when Rosvenir cast Dream, it also took the form of a scene from his childhood. The universe apparently enjoys these little ironies.]
At last the moment had arrived. The moment of her revenge. The moment when these infidels would pay for their sacrilege with their miserable lives. Even as Zem swung the great lightning blade to free Tarnhem, Ferranifer ran back down the hallway and out of sight. As the demon stretched and summoned his sword to his hands, Ferranifer began to rain down the full might of her sorcery upon the infidels, so that the mighty Balor could more easily destroy them.
A curse of the Beauty of Arrear on Endira came first, sowing discord amongst the males of the hated adventurers. This was followed by Mass Fire Nerves, to weaken their resolve. The party proved stronger than expected and only the healer Kahlen succumbed to the pain. The Greater Vacuum had better result, flinging both Rosvenir and Kahlen hard against the stone walls. [Editor's note: It would have killed the both had they not used Fate points to reroll]
Strangely, the Balor had not begun his attack. Ferranifer looked up from her workings to determine why. What she saw sent a chill through her malignant soul. The blade of the mighty demon was descending, not upon the accursed adventurers, but upon an Undead mage. In horrifying realization as the wight crumpled and died, she knew it had been the Lord Acerak. She had failed. Somehow, through some horrible miscalculation, the Balor she had allowed to be freed had turned against the Devourer.
The unthinkable had happened. The undead mage crumpled to the ground, destroyed. The dread Lord Acerak had been killed by Tarnhem, the Balor. Ferranifer didn't know what to do, but knew she had to get away from this place. Casting Utterdark to cover her escape, she headed for the gate and returned to the relative safety of the Fortress of Conclusion.
Ferranifer had a number of hours before anyone pursued. The hatred building all the while, Ferranifer destroyed the floor in the black tiled room with a Sorcerers spell and released the four demons from the paintings in which they had been bound in hopes that they might give the infidels trouble. Hoping to return to Moil, Ferranifer instead found the Phantom Flyer completely unresponsive.
After several hours, a plan began to form. Ferranifer knew she must complete Acerak's grand plan, though she knew not precisely what it was. Summoning and binding a Vrock demon to service, Ferranifer through it learned of the actions and movements of the adventurers. When the party made camp for the night Ferranifer too was able to get some much needed sleep. She cast Dream III to plan her next actions.
Ferranifer's Dream
You dream of the pentagonal room. Your heart cries out at the pile of
bones in the corner. They once belonged to the Unholy one, and you cannot bear
to look upon them. Yet you must continue on, if only to prove your worthiness
(albeit belatedly) to your God.
You open the door on the other side of the pentagonal room and are suddenly blinded by light. It is not the pure, white light of which puerile paladins seem so fond, but rather a sickly light that seems to invade your mind like a disease. As your eyes become accustomed to it, you see the Phylactery, and you know that it is the device with which Acerak will culminate his achievements. It is a multi-faceted crystal of impossible size. You see hundreds, no, thousands of tiny facets on its surface. In each facet is a screaming face, from which emanates the hideous light.
Your view shifts, and you see the top of the crystal. On the very pinnacle of it there are three facets which are empty. There is no light coming from here. As you contemplate this, a voice speaks.
"You have done well, and I am fortunate to have such a devoted worshipper. You do not have what I need, or you might yourself have the honor of helping complete my Apotheosis. However your.... companions.... do. Bring them to me and you will receive the ultimate reward. When all power is mine, you may serve me at my left-hand side. Bring them to me and we will destroy them together!"
Another vision appears, and you see the party in front of the Phylactery. They are battling the Balor Tarnhem. One by one, their bodies moulder and turn to dust, as their pure essences are drained into the phylactery. When the three remaining facets are filled, the phylactery explodes with a glorious, evil light.
Overjoyed at the knowledge that Acerak had not been destroyed, Ferranifer made hurried preparations. She penned a note revealing Kurik as a vampire and blaming him for Haer's strange behavior. She ordered the Vrock to attack Rosvenir and Mystical when they reached the trap door, then cast a spell of Invisibility and teleported to the gate room behind them. Pausing long enough to place a Waiting Illusion to stir up further confusion, she crossed through the gate to the other side. The rest of the party was waiting at the gate for the return of their companions. Kahlen sat behind the rest, deep in thought. The invisible Ferranifer carefully dropped the note in her lap. Lost in reminiscence about Haer, it took several minutes for Kahlen to notice it.
Ferranifer flew through the laboratories and across the W.O.S.M.U. to the closed door. On the other side was an empty grey room, with another door opposite. The Lord Acerak was nearby, of this she was certain. She had become a vampire centuries ago to better serve the Lord Acerak. She had dedicated her life to His service. Now, she was about to come face to face with her deity, incarnate. She regretted only that she did so in this misshapen, hairy body instead of the graceful vampire she had once been. Yet even in this reduced state she could still be of service to The Devourer.
Ferranifer opened the door.
Beyond was a large, domed chamber, dominated by a huge, faceted crystal some twenty feet across. This was unmistakeably the Phylactery of the Devourer. The light of the room caressed the facets of the emerald, reflecting ominously against the red-splashed walls. Glimpses of shadowy faces could be seen within the crystal, evidence of the multitude of souls stored within. The Phylactery rested on a black metal tripod, which held it steady ten feet above a circular hole in the floor. The hole exposed the oily blackness of the Final Void, and was larger in diameter than the crystal.
Along one wall stood Tarnhem, Balor and demonic father of Acerak. Near the top of the domed chamber was a blood red gem, which slowly descended from the ceiling. As it drew near Ferranifer realized that the gem was secreted in the eyesocket of a floating skull. The other eyesocket was occupied by a similar, though less brilliant gemstone, while the teeth had been replaced by six marquis cut diamonds.
Realizing that she looked now upon the face of her God, Ferranifer fell to the floor and knelt in an obsequious show of subservience. Acerak acknowledged her presence, in a voice that sounded like bone rubbing on granite, and commanded her assistance in the battle to come. Acerak needed only three more souls to complete the Apotheosis, his transformation to merge with the Final Void and become all powerful. Ferranifer's soul was not suitable for this purpose, but the souls of the adventurers were.
Acerak ordered her to relate everything she knew about her erstwhile companions. Ferranifer told her God everything. She told of the unnatural status of the undead paladin of Pandeos, of the Kaydian prince and the unquenchable thirst of his mighty sword, of the half-demon with her raging hatred for Orcus and all who would follow him, of the bard whose sweet voice can sing songs of true death, of the elves who traveled through multiple dimensions at great risk just to defeat the Devourer, and of the healer who has fought him for decades. Lastly she told of the ancient astrologer with his itchy trigger finger on the Wand of Days.
Acerak took note of the power of the Wand, for such could pose a threat to the Phylactery. Ferranifer basked in the attention of her God. She had been deemed worthy, at least for the moment. She told of her observations in the tower of the Darkweaver, where the power of the Wand had been muted by a powerful Utterdark. She suggested that the Utterdark be put into place and Darkvision spells be employed before the arrival of the adventurers. The Devourer agreed, casting the first spell himself, and bade Ferranifer and Tarnhem make ready. It would take a short time to fully absorb each of the three souls he required, during which time it would be up to the two of them to "entertain" the rest of the adventurers.
Ferranifer stationed herself along one side of the room, surrounded by the illusion of a cage. She hoped to avoid being attacked for the first few moments, while the party might still believe she was their friend Haer Gronagin.
It would be the task of Ferranifer and Tarnhem to neutralize the power of the Wand of Days. Ferranifer prepared the Urulic Eye, a powerful curse, and would use it on Rosvenir the moment she saw him. The curse removes the target's hands. When the wand fell Tarnhem would use Telekineses to guide his fearsome whip to retrieve it. The Wand would be flung into the Final Void, from which the pathetic adventurers had no chance of retrieval.
The mighty Acerak concentrated on absorbing the souls of the adventurers. Ferranifer rejoiced as first Mystical, then Zem submitted to the power of the Phylactery. Only one more, and the great work would be complete! Ferranifer concentrated on disorganizing and disrupting the remaining party members. She began with a Major Vacuum in the entry chamber, attempting to disrupt Endira's Controlling Song. In this she was unsuccessful, though the attack wounded several of the other adventurers.
With Kurik out of the action, only Zem stood a chance of standing toe to toe with the Balor. Another application of the Urulic Eye took away Zem's sword, allowing Tarnhem to choose another target.
The attunement of the mage Fineas to the Wand of Days was unexpected. Ferranifer had fled the previous day, and did not know what had transpired since. When Kurik returned with the Wand, the mage became far more dangerous. Ferranifer first attempted a Finger of Sart to paralyze the elf, but it was negated by the absorption stone he carried. Fineas then managed to fend off the power of the Phylactery, and his soul remained stubbornly inside his body. Ferranifer hurt the mage with Wounding XV, but not enough to stop him. Finally, a second Finger of Sart knocked him unconscious before he could activate the Wand.
Ferranifer revelled in the conflict. These pathetic creatures were falling one by one, and were too stupid to realize that it was not Acerak raining down magic retribution upon them but His loyal servant. Not one of them had spared a glance at the caged halfling since the battle began. Her proximity to her deity meant that Ferranifer could cast spells easily, and did not need to chant or make elaborate gestures. A whisper and deft flick of a finger were sufficient, entirely unnoticeable amidst the din of battle. The Devourer had nearly completed the great task, and Ferranifer dared spend a moment to bask in the glory of the event.
That is when the unthinkable happened. Rosvenir dove desperately towards the prone Fineas. The Wand of Days flared to life, finally overcoming the powerful Utterdark cast by her lord and master. The chamber was bathed in a brilliant light, fully as bright as the Sun. A terrible shattering issued immediately from the Phylactery, cracking each facet in turn. Ferranifer watched it all in a daze: the release of the souls from their containment, the bright flames of the Vampire Kurik, the defeat of her God. Her soul wept, and clung only weakly to its halfling body. The true soul of Haer Gronagin ejected hers easily, and Ferranifer knew no more.
portions of this Chronicle written by Helen Brubeck