Death and Rebirth In the Belly of the Worm

Honorable Priestess of Melora,

When I last wrote you, we were on the icebreaker on our way to find the den of the Mad Mage. The journey there was slow, since we had to pause frequently to break the ice that had built up in front of the ship.

Finally, after a few days, we made our way to an icy shore. We got off the icebreakers with our supplies and followed Manos into the icy tundra.

We asked Manos about the road ahead. He told us that there was a trail with placemarkers that we would follow. Eventually, we would find ourselves in an area controlled by the Eladrin. (We were fortunately that our companion Ryn, the Eladrin Warlock, was with us for the journey.) Manos noted that the Eladrin did not trust strangers but would probably let us through because they were angry with the Gnolls that served the Mad Mage.

As we made our way across the icy tundra, we noticed that Tiny, our Dwarven Cleric, and Carlagnios, our Dragonborn Fighter, were both missing. The wise Mage Kale explained that they wandered into a -- pardon my translation, for there are no words in Elven for this -- dih-mensh-uh-nuhl-riffed. They had been transported through this dih-mensh-uh-nuhl-riffed to a foreign land known as Kaim-Bridge. The Mage Kale used a ritual called "The Scrying Eye of Tand-berg", which caused the air before us to shimmer. Suddenly, we could see Tiny's face, as though he were standing in front of a mirror. Unfortunately, he could not see us, and Kale cursed the quality of the magical channels that bridged our worlds (the legendary "series of tubes" that connect all things). Finally, after trying the ritual again a few times, we were able to see each other and converse briefly. Tiny explained that he had temporarily joined up with another party on an adventure in Kaim-Bridge. As we bade farewell to Tiny, we could hear the festive sounds of a bard in the background, playing a quite raucous instrument.

The walk across the tundra was long. Fortunately, Bran the Halfling Rogue had brought along his riding wolf (now named "Fluffy the Dire Wolf") to help him move speedily through the snow. Eventually, we reached what looked like a cave in the side of a hill. Manos walked into the mouth of the cave.

For a moment, we hesitated, for the stalactites that came down from the ceiling looked almost like sharp teeth. We examined them more closely and realized that they were indeed the teeth of some giant skeletal creature. The mouth of the cave was actually formed from the jawbone of something that was once a huge worm. As we followed Manos deeper into the cave, the ceiling of the cavern slowly disappeared, becoming something that was more of an arch. It became clear that this cavern was nothing more than the rib cage of the worm. Around these bones, the snow was more sparse and the bones radiated a strange warmth. The Mage Kale touched one of the bones and told us that he felt the presence of some arcane power. He had heard ancient legends of such giant worms, which were rumored to be the source of the oil sands. The worm was enormously long, and the path went for miles.

As we were following the path, we were suddenly ambushed by large creatures, which were hiding behind the rib bones. An angry Manticore shot at us with spike from its tail, and two brutal Ice Trolls battered us with their mauls. The Mage Kale warned us that the trolls could magically heal the wounds from the blows that we dealt them. Worse yet, whenever we were bloodied by their attacks, they somehow were able to strike us again with a second blow.

Honorable Priestess, Melora was not with me in that battle. I kept missing the Manticore with my arrows. I had tried to pierce its hide with an excruciating shot, but that had failed. I had tried to trap him and slow him as a hunter would trap a bear, but again, I badly missed the shot. Even my attack to fire the arrows like fangs from a snake failed to hit their target.

One of the Ice Trolls nearly killed Bran, but he and the Warlord Garg surrounded the Troll, and they (with the Paladin Firinne, Ryn, and Kale) were able to slay that Troll. While Firinne valiantly fought the second Troll, we turned our attention to the Manticore.

Suddenly, the first Troll -- the one that we slew -- rose up from the dead and began to strike us again! Kale killed the Troll again and set it on fire, and the Troll's body did not rise again.

We shot at the Manticore until it was bloodied and beaten, and it turned to fly away. Ryn, angered at being struck by its spikes, followed it and was able to finally finish it off.

The second Troll, which was bloodied from our earlier attacks, seemed to have healed unnaturally. Firinne kept striking the creature and healing her wounds from its attacks, but she did not have the same unnatural ability that the creature did. Bran joined the battle, as did the rest of the party, and we eventually beat down the Troll. Finally, Bran, Ryn, and Garg grabbed the Troll and -- through some effort -- were able to separate its head from its body. The gruesome head kept bouncing around and glaring at us.

After slaying these monsters, we tracked down the body of the Manticore. The creature had three rows of razor sharp teeth. We each decided to take a Manticore tooth with us.

We also found that they had a magical horn. Kale noted that this was the Horn of Summons, which allowed you to send a warning to your comrades of where you were, if you were hurt, and how badly you were hurt. The sound of the Horn could be heard by anyone from a mile away.

We continued to follow the path until there were no more bones to be found. (Perhaps we had reached the end of the worm.) It was there that Manos suggested that we wait for the Eladrin who rule this area.

I will write you again when we are greeted by them. As always, your faithful servant,

Aelar