Deranged Disciples 2

Deranged Disciples 2 is an encounter in the Madness & Magma mission hub. It comes after Deranged Disciples 1.
==Enemies==
*Insane Unbound Warrior (1170 Gold, 144 XP, 90 Energy, 8 HP Normal)
*Insane Unbound Cleric (1365 Gold, 168 XP, 105 Energy, 9 HP Normal)
==Transcript==
===Introduction===
Guilbert’s Journal, 11th of Shut Up, Sheep!
I was forced to destroy the other passengers on the ship, by unleashing a plague of jam on them. Or perhaps it was wasps… The two taste very similar.
The crew were unhappy with this course of action, which struck me as entirely ridiculous. After all, they had already paid for their passage, had they not? All I did was lighten the load and ensure a faster voyage up the river. But the stupid sailors refused to listen to reason, so I fed them to the sharks. Of course they were sharks! They had fins and teeth, didn’t they? Just because you’re a walrus doesn’t mean you know everything about the water!
I subsequently discovered that a ship needs its crew to work properly. Decidedly inconvenient. I was forced to abandon the vessel. But by this time Stromhamre was in sight – so I leapt from the deck into the river below. It was then that I learned that I couldn’t swim. So I commanded the walrus to drag me to safety.
The sheep I encountered on the shore have provided adequate fuel for my fire. I write this entry as my clothes dry. The shepherd was most disagreeable, but he’s now learning the error of his ways…
According to the book, Kyddin finally tacked Vivian down in these Stromhamren forests. The two of them fought, and the woman proved no match for Kyddin – who was perhaps the second best wizard who ever lived. Silence! What would a burning sheep know about such matters anyway? Bah… Thinking on paper again. What’s next? Writing on my brain? Does that work? If one writes on one’s brain, would the knowledge… No! Now isn’t the time for those experiments! They can wait till I’ve found Kwizkazak!
Vivian fled, and entered one of the goblin tunnels. Kyddin followed her into its depths, and confronted her once more deep underground. There he killed her. But the fool was so distraught at his former lover’s death that he couldn’t bear to take the wand. He created a tomb for her, and sealed both wand and corpse inside the rock. He must have been good at making tombs… Practice makes perfect…
The wand is down there somewhere. Waiting for me. And I may have some fun with Vivian’s bones as well…
Yes sheep! It’s an ellipsis! It makes my writing more dramatic and portentous. Now shut up and burn!
-- Guilbert the Mad
---
“One of the dragons was called Kalaxia,” you say. “It was her egg that hatched the Dragon-Rider’s mount.”
“The one he killed in the snow,” Hugh says. “Yeah, we’ve all heard that bit. It’s in all the songs. Even that stupid one that’s all done in rhyming quintuplets.”
“She had the gift of prophecy. Far-sight. The dragons were supposed to wake up at a time she foresaw when she believed they would be able to sweep all their enemies aside. But they were woken up early. By a madman searching for a spoon.”
“A spoon?”
“That’s what the story says. He was looking for a spoon of power-“
“Really? A spoon?”
“It was based on a drawing, okay? Pictographic evidence the Dragon-Rider found. It might not be quite right. That’s not the point. Guilbert came into this subterranean realm searching for his… artifact… And he-“
You break off with a sigh. Once more adventuring proves to be an impediment to storytelling.
Short, squat figures appear ahead of you. Each is no taller than a goblin, but their broad shoulders and powerful frames make them seem much more substantial than the greenskins. They wear robes and capes in the same style as the humans you encountered earlier, and bear identical purple gems on their brows – though some have chosen to supplement this attire with horned helmets.
“Stonebound dwarves?” Tessa asks. “I thought their kind was too strong-willed to fall prey to a cult.”
“Pah! Don’t use that word!” a female dwarf says.
“Cult?” Hugh asks.
“Stonebound!” She spits the word out as though it were poison in her mouth.
Her companions mimic the gesture. By the time they’re done expressing their displeasure, there’s quite a substantial amount of saliva moistening the dark stone at their feet.
“Our kin are wretched!” one of the horn-helmed warriors says. “Their minds and souls are bound to the stone, trapped in the rock and the ways of our ancestors. We have cast aside that prison!”
“Cast aside that prison!” the others chorus.
“We are no longer Stonebound!”
Another volley of spitting takes place – though this one seems rather lighter, their reserves of spittle deferring to the dictates of biology rather than oratory.
“We are-“
There’s a collective intake of breath from all the dwarves.
“Unbound!” they shout.
“Free from the rock!” a dwarf woman says.
“Free from our ancestors!” another shouts.
“Free from the cage of sanity!” a warrior cries.
“Unbound!” they chorus once more.
“That’s… great” you say. “But what exactly are you doing here?”
“Didn’t the others tell you?” a masked female asks. Only her eyes and the purple gem on her forehead protrude through the veil of grey and purple material. “They should have told you!”
She moves from side to side, as though trying to peer round your bodies.
“Where are the others, anyway? They shouldn’t have left their post!”
You can’t help smiling. The magma has concealed some of the evidence of your last battle, and the gentle gradient of this snaking peninsular hides the rest from her sight. Perhaps if she were a bit taller…
“They said something about running out of strawberry mushroom custard,” you reply. “I think they went to get some.”
“Oh.”
Tessa raises her eyebrow. You give a slight shrug. It was the least sane thing that came to mind.
“But they said you’d tell us everything we need to know,” you add.
“Very well! Guilda, our priestess…”
“Maiden of madness!” the other dwarves chant.
“…is preparing the ritual.” She gestures behind her. “Once Tibur returns with the sacred text, retrieved from the thieving deep gnomes-“
Another barrage of spittle.
“…we will summon him! Guilbert’s spirit will return to rule over us!” A broad grin splits her face, pushing apart the material draped there. “You’ve chosen a good time to join our ranks!”
“Yes,” you reply. “How fortuitous…”
===Conclusion===
Shouts and screams fill the air from the raised stretch of rock a little further ahead. Evidently the rest of the cult isn’t so enthralled with their deranged deeds that they’ve failed to heed the nearby noises of their brethren’s butchery.
You signal to the others before advancing. You’ve learned everything you needed to know. Now there’s just the killing.
Category:Madness & Magma