THE SPEAKER IN DREAMS

GAME 1

NOVEMBER 27, 2001

Craig absent, Curtis plays Casartes

To His Excellence, the Sultan of Kofeh, Caliphate of Ekbir.

My Gracious Lord,

Three days ago I arrived in the city of Brindinford for the Brindinford Faire. The streets are bustling with merchants and revelers from all over the East. I have found lodging at an inn called The Broken Arrow.

I have decided the best way to learn about the East's customs and history is to seek out a party of adventurers and follow their exploits. I was hoping to find the Winnefred's Warriors Company that my friend Mr. Stormfinger told me about.

Today I did.

I was playing among the street performers outside the East Gate when I noticed an adventuring party who gave a beggar woman two pieces of gold. My playing got their attention and an elf, a Griffon Shadowhawk, asked me to help broker the sale of some magic arms.

We negotiated our business deal at The Broken Arrow over a meal and a smoke and then headed to the shop of the dwarven blacksmith Shuma. On the way we came upon a riot.

There was a gang terrorizing the merchants set up at an intersection, and I tell you the truth, they were nothing less than rat-men, working in concert with rats. Each of these adventurers charged into the fray and had at the devils with a fury I have never seen. An elvish monk, Casartes, used some strange empty-handed fighting style, and slew one of the monsters using only his bare hands. Another elf, a ranger named Taliesan decapited another using two swords at once. The Qadi Abdul-Gamal also assisted them, and I lent my talents by rallying the heroes, and pulling one halfing fellow from the clutches of certain doom at the claws of one of these man-rats.

One of the devils escaped, but the adventurers prevailed. The barbarian girl, Winnefred, and Mr. Shadowhawk were bitten and the Qadi seemed very concerned because, when the beasts died, they actually changed back into the forms of men. He said "lycanthrope," a word I later discovered means they were wererats.

The lieutenant of the guard conveyed their appreciation for our good deeds, and promised us an audience with the Baron of Brindinford.

We then negotiated the sale of the party's wares with the dwarf Shuma. It was when they told the tale of the item's rescue from the mythical Khundrukar that I realized that these men must be the same adventurers I have been looking for!

I was able to barter myself a new sword and some enchanted armor.

Then to the temple of Pelor where the priests informed us that the barbarian girl was infected with the lycanthropy curse. She offered a gem and was cured, but there was no treatment of the other men's wounds, which the Qadi told me he was worried about.

I am researching this lycanthropy curse, and will soon have valuable information. Hopefully, I will get to speak to this Baron and convey your greetings.

May it Please Al-Akbar.

I remain obediently yours,

Kaliq al-Ramiz

THE SPEAKER IN DREAMS

GAMES 2-6

November 2001 - January, 2002

We try to find out why the wererats are terrorizing their neighborhood, maybe capture and interrogate them.

Basically, we spend most of our time in a short, vicious battle in the bell tower. We slay many wererats and Turvin the bellringer. Squim the wererat leader gets away.

Kaliq achieves 4^th level, everyone else gets to 6^th. Curtis drops out and Winnefred goes to live with the halflings.

THE SPEAKER IN DREAMS

GAME 7

JANUARY 26, 2002

Curtis drops out.

Craig absent, Ben plays by speaker phone part of the time.

Bob plays Casartes, Anthony plays Griffon.

First game at 6^th level.

We found some gold in the bell tower. Kaliq tells Lt. Shella that all the wererats but Squim are dead and that Turvin was a hero in the fight.

The Pelor priests give us the good news that the level drains on Andrinor and Abdul-Gamal are temporary. We have a big party at the Broken Arrow and go to investigate the hauntings in West Hill. Kaliq breaks another heart.

Mage, "Oz," conjures "Sluggo," 25-foot worm from the cover of the module. It grabs Taliesan but Griffon slays it with maxed out critical arrow shot.

We follow the Oz to a Heironeus temple surrounded by mist and controled by more mages. We do away with two of them, but the rest get away. Girl paladin points us to book shop, epicenter of strange goings on in West Hill.

THE SPEAKER IN DREAMS

GAME 8

MARCH 2, 2002

Everyone present

To His Excellence, the Sultan of Kofeh, Caliphate of Ekbir

My Gracious Lord,

On my sixth day in Brindinford the party and I began our search for the infidel paladin Aelen. Torea pointed us to a bookshop called Reality Wrinkle which was the center of much trouble in this West Hill quarter of the city.

My plan was to infiltrate the ranks of our enemies and work to destroy them from within. In the guise of a powerful vizier from the West I myself interviewed the proprietor, one Jelek. I employed the ruse that I was searching for the summoner who was said to have perished and whose ghost is said to be haunting the neighborhood. Jelek is a man long parted from his senses, and the very structure itself seemed to be endeavoring to part me from mine. As soon as I stepped over the threshold I experienced vertigo and disorientation. The architecture looked to be impossible-could this building be larger on the inside than on the outside? I then spoke to a sorcerer named Flajem who loaned me a tome he said would answer my questions. I made an appointment with him for the next day and returned to the infidel temple of Hieroneus.

My barbarian companions, not satisfied with the slow of my plan, decided to attack the bookstore. Quadi Abdul-Gamal, Torea, and myself remained in the temple poring over the book which appeared to be a recruiting tool for the evil cult.

Using a vulgar ruse of their own, the elf, Griffon Shadowhawk pretended to be a drunkard on a rampage. In the guise of helping the proprietor to control him, the infidel priest Andrinor, the ranger Taliesan and the monk Casartes pushed their way through the building where they fought a gibbering mouther, Flajem, two cabalists, our old enemy, Squim, and a woman referred to as The Blessed. When the battle when against them, the party summoned us through Griffon's familiar, Shadowhawk.

When we arrived, the Quadi and the Sister went up to the third floor to assist the party and I played a war song on my sitar, using the stairway to carry the magic to the fight. The cultists had summoned a vile, alien creature called a wyste, identical to the one we slew earlier in the day. It almost killed Taliesan and Torea, but returned to its own plane before.

We held The Blessed, and cornered Squim who taunted us: "Once again it is I versus all six of you. Excellent!" Then Andrinor held him and we were able to finally capture our old nemesis. In a strategic blunder sure to hinder our progress, Griffon slew The Blessed before we could interrogate her. We claimed a magic sword, a wand and some magic slippers, and then began our interrogation of the rat-man Squim…

May it Please Al-Akbar.

I remain obediently yours,

Kaliq al-Ramiz

THE SPEAKER IN DREAMS

GAME 9

MARCH 16, 2002

Anthony absent, Bob plays Talesian. Curtis drops by.

The cellar is even more distorted than the upstairs and then a second mouther greets us with its yammering and some exploding spit. Griffon and Abdul get confused and Torea gets blinded. It guards two cabalists, Jelek and Alein the paladin of Heironeus we were looking for. We slay a cabalist quickly, But the mother grabs Andrinor and Torea. Kaliq keeps the mouther's gibberish under control with his countersong, Torea is a great help once her sight returns, and Griffon attacks from the ceiling with The Blessed's slippers finally slaying the mouther. The wizards threaten us with talk of opening gates to other worlds and letting chaos through. Andrinor's bless helps us, and Casartes knocks out Jelek and the second cabalist so we can question them.

Upstairs, Lt. Shella shows up with a crowd. We turn over the prisoners to her and Kaliq revs up the townspeople to counter whatever evil is trying to take over the city. We find some of the cabalists' books and divide up quite a bit of loot, including bracers, rings and wands. Kaliq reads a message sent by Shooma: we're invited to a banquet at the Stoney Gaze Inn thrown by the merchants.

Griffon and Andrinor negotiate with Shooma to get the loot identified for a reduced rate and Kaliq warns her not to celebrate too soon.

THE SPEAKER IN DREAMS

GAME 10

MARCH 30, 2002

Everyone present.

We rest and recuperate, looking forward to the Brindinford Merchants' party. It turns out we were all infected by lycanthropy by Squim through his rapier. Thanks to the Temple of Pelor we are all cured. We all rest and recover spells and head to the party.

The Baron was supposed to be there, but he sends his sister instead who conveys his thanks. The town believes we have defeated the Cabal, but we keep looking for information. Our only lead: the Reality Wrinkle.

We play, drink and dance until late when we are lead outside by a thug. It turns out to be an ambush by the not-yet-defeated Cabal.

We battle wizards, poison-wielding assassins and an ogre mage with a huge sword and a potion of gaseous form. When we finally do win, our single prisoner yields no information.

That night we are all visited by our own speaker in our dreams. A hissing figure tells us: "The bells toll, the gate sings wide!"

THE SPEAKER IN DREAMS

GAME 11

APRIL 13, 2002

Everyone present.

He's gone completely nuts. He brands the party and the Church of Pelor outlaws and cancels the fair. Then he sends out the town guard, backed up by some kind of skeleton-devils, to bash heads in the crowd.

Figuring we owe the Church of Pelor some help, he head over there only to find the temple dome cracked open by a column of fire shooting up from a pit to Hell! That must be what the Speaker meant in our dreams: "…the gate swings wide."

Inside, we find a devil desecrating the temple. We surround it and it summons a twin. We defeat the twin, but the first one teleports away and returns with evil clerics and hellhounds. They use poison and magic to good effect, but we defeat them. The first devil gets away again. Abdul-Gamal, Taliesan and Griffon almost die.

Just as we regroup another hellhound bounds through the front door.

THE SPEAKER IN DREAMS

FINAL GAME 12

APRIL 27, 2002

Everyone present.

With almost everyone invisible, we make our way down the Old Ford Road only to be attacked by a hellcat, which we make a fighting retreat from.

Once safely in the bell tower, we rest, heal and plan. We'll use Andrinor's levitating shield to go over the Baron's Keep wall. The halflings, lead by Winnefred, promise to create a diversion while we take the manor house and rescue the Baron. Kaliq will use the pipes of the sewers he found to cause more chaos in the manor house by summoning rats. Finally, Shooma sends us magic arrows to use in the fighting.

The next day, we make our way back to Temple Pelor unnoticed by the guards. We attempt to close the gate again, but fail, so we wait until noon to start the assault.

The halflings mass on the wall of the keep and riot. When we hear the guards deploy, we cast our fortifying magic. One by one, Andrinor flies us over the wall to the manor house. Kaliq stays on the wall directing his rats. Abdul-Gamal, disguised as a Hextor priest, leads Casartes up to the main door and they fight their way into the manor house. Taliesan, Andrinor and Griffon fight their way in from the roof.

We all meet on the second floor and slay Squim (finally!) and Felga, the ogre mage. Kaliq and two bargests arrive and he holds them at bay on the spiral stairs.

Then the Speaker in Dreams arrives.

To our horror, he is a mind flayer.

Emerging from the next room, he uses his mind blast to stun Griffon and Abdul. Then he draws Andrinor, Taliesan and Casartes into the next room where Baron Euphemes is being held. Next, he magically compels Taliesan to flee. Finally, after a short melee, the mind flayer retreats to the next room and chooses a victim.

Still stunned, the cleric makes an easy target. Before we can come to his aid, The Speaker in Dreams draws out Qadi Abdul-Gamal al-Mufid's brain and slays him.

The party regroups, and as our minds clear, we all surround and defeat the bargests and The Speaker in Dreams. Casartes makes the final killing blow.

Kaliq bolts from the stairway, finds the Baron, and breaks The Speaker's spell. Embracing him, Kaliq declares to Euphemes "we return your city to you, Baron, this long nightmare is over."

We have finished The Speaker in Dreams. With our session running way over, we plan to tie up the loose ends of the adventure at the beginning of The Standing Stone.