The Outlands Odyssey Part 4: Against the Clock

We picked up at peak, just before the long rest in Hamlet. M’narr became aware that his familiar had died, feeling an earth-shattering pain in his body. His screams attracted the attention of the locals – but Indeps aren’t known for their nosiness. Resummoning Hraparakk, the familiar told M’narr that he had been subdued by the Ironridge militia. Not a good sign. But they rested, all the same. 12-Bar traded a song (a decent one) for some more food with the local bariaur couple. 

Resting up for a night-time departure would mean a higher risk of ambush, but our heroes had no time to waste. M’narr relied on his squat, brown owl familiar to see. Cresting a wide ridge just before antipeak, 12-Bar was stopped by an odd rumbling sound. Before the party could decide on a course of action, a stampede of bison rushed over the ridge, threatening to trample the three. M’narr looked over the ridge and saw the stampede had been caused by a huge squadron of modrons, who’d killed and trampled a few bison that had got in their way. M’narr knew that it is a modron’s nature to destroy any rogue modron they should happen to meet, but time was scarce. Worse still, modrons cannot be fooled by illusions. Frantically, Ragados started casting rope trick on his 50 feet of rope. The rope extended upwards and created a pocket dimension at its tip where the three could hide. M’narr obliterated two duodrones with a thunder step, teleporting to the top of the rope in a flash. 12-bar cast fly and shot straight up into the hideaway, taking a few javelin hits on the way. All the higher-ranking modrons were in attacking range now, and a hail of arrows and javelins were taking their toll – it was lucky for the party that monodrones can only follow one instruction at a time. The quadrone leader chased the party into their hideout, but was shoved back out by 12-Bar, crushing a monodrone on the ground below. The swarm of modrons had now gathered below where the rope had been, and were sitting ducks for an area-of-effect spell. So Ragados did just that. 

A fun quirk of modrons is that lower ranks get instantly promoted and transformed when a higher rank dies. 90% of the swarm was cut down with that spell. With four modrons still alive, they were all high ranking. But ten seconds prior, they’d been lesser creatures. And lower ranked modrons don’t really understand ideas like rogue modrons, or pocket dimensions. So what did the newly promoted squadron leader, who could see a pocket dimension but no rogue modron, decide? He decided to continue the march. Everyone had been told to destroy something, and then the leader changed, and the new leader had been blindly following orders before their promotion.  So the modrons marched on. 

With the coast clear, our heroes continued on the trail. Ragados had had mixed feelings about massacring those modrons. Brought back memories. But they continued through the darkness, crossing a ford where all the the stones in the river had had faces. The trees nearby had faces too. Weird. Best not hang around here. The three marched on, even as the day broke and exhaustion slowed them down. 

They finally stopped at a small stone building. It looked like the khaasta had stopped here for a while, before heading on. It seemed a safe place for a rest. But safe in the shelter, an unusual door drew the characters’ attention.  

It was perfectly circular, with writing on in two languages. Ragados and 12-Bar translated the gnomish – “Peek in” – while M’narr scribed the other unknown language – “Peak in”. Check out the DM’s notes for the puzzle door. After some time battling the door’s illusory defences, Ragados figured out how to open it, and the party braced themselves for a dungeon delve.