Dungeons and Dragons: Tonio in the Temple of Shar

Tonio Mancuso,
Human Cleric/Rogue

"I suggest you all close your eyes and hold your breath."

That's the advice Jaycie Hart gave before finishing up a teleportation circle that would bring all six of the members of her adventuring party - and their guest - far away from this accursed dungeon.  Tonio Mancuso had tried to oblige, being one to generally follow orders, as long as they didn't directly contradict his well-being. But at some point during his seemingly interminable extra dimensional journey, something unexpected happened to Tonio: he got a plan. 

With an admittedly well below average intellect, logically formulating a strategy wasn't Tonio's strongpoint, but he did have a tremendously insightful mind. This particular insight came too late, as was the case with too many of Tonio's brainstorms. It was the solution to a little dungeoneering riddle, as it were: Tonio had wanted to release some dangerous demons that were being held captive in the hostile dungeon that he and his friends inhabited, hoping that they would wreak havoc on their evil captors, but if he opened their cages, the demons would most certainly have attack his friends first. It was a real head-scratcher...

A little explanation: Tonio and his five companions had just finished subduing the lesser noblemen and pesky guards protecting the inner sanctum of the temple of Shar, the evil goddess of death and loss, and they had their main antagonist entrapped in TWO different kinds of magical restraints. But just as our heroes were about to interrogate the powerful mind mage named Grayson Bailey about his master plans, he somehow teleported away. It was only a matter of time before he would return to the material plane and alert the rest of his forces to their presence. And the party still had the matter of the werewolf to deal with.

Felix Mancuso,
Human Fighter

You see, locked in a cell in this inner sanctum (several rooms away from the aforementioned demons' cells) was the feral hybrid form of one of this group's former allies, Isabella Cooper. Bella, as she liked to be called, had been trained by the grizzled, one-eyed elf named Cathan Evenwind, who had taken her defeat and capture the hardest out of anyone. As soon as their enemy had vanished, the group turned their attention to Bella's cell door. 

"Get behind me, brother!" suggested Tonio's brother Felix Mancuso. "I can try to wrestle down Señorita Cooper in case she attacks."

"Good idea, brother!" agreed Tonio as he racked his brain to remember the correct spell to prepare in this situation. Felix puffed out his armored chest and bravely awaited whatever might come through that door. Tonio admired his tougher brother, as strong and fearless as Tonio was quick and level-headed, and more logical to boot.

Alphonse Sapperstein III,
Half-Elf Bard

"Now, Jaycie, you have means to restrain that thing when it comes out of there, right?" queried the charming half elf Alphonse Sapperstein III, the self-proclaimed mouthpiece of the party - which is a polite way of saying he was absolutely useless in this particular situation.

"Don't worry," Jaycie responded with a flip of her hair. "I'm an abjurer, remember?"

"So Gentlemen, and lady, to clarify the plan," ventured Thelios Melekor, the fearsome horned Tiefling, in his signature guttural growl. "We slay this mongrel cur and then be on our way?"

"We will do NOTHING of the sort," decreed Cathan, his one good eye fixed monomaniacally on the cell door, behind which a fearsome snarling could be heard. "If there's any chance Bella is still in there, in that thing's head... I have to try and save her."

"Come now, Cathan," scolded Thelios. "Surely there's nothing left of what was once your friend than a bag of fur and rage. It's best we put the beast out of its misery."

"Not before I've looked into her eyes!" bellowed Cathan, as he threw open the door.

The hinges creaked.

The snarling fell silent.

But just for a moment.

In a blinding flash, a gray whirl of claws and teeth came hurtling out of the cell. Jaycie at once fired off one of her signature spells. But the verbal components of Otiluke's Resilient Sphere fell on deaf ears, as Bella deftly dodged away from the magic.

Cathan Evenwind, Elf Arcane Trickster

But then Cathan was there, at the opening of the cell, grappling with his former pupil.

"Cathan!" cried Jaycie. "Don't get bit!"

"Bella!" the elf shouted. "Bella, can you hear me? Are you in there?" If there was indeed a pang of recognition in her clouded eyes, it was not enough to soothe her savage mood.

"That's enough!" fumed Thelios. "I'm going to hit that thing with an Eldritch Blast if it comes any closer!" The Tiefling raised up his hand and began muttering.

"Will everyone please CALM THEIR EMOTIONS!?" shouted a triumphant Tonio, having remembered just the spell. Sometimes his insights came at exactly the right time.

Bella's nose twitched, her eyes blinked, her limbs relaxed in Cathan's grip somewhat, and she didn't seem to want to bite anyone's head off anymore. She also didn't seem to have much awareness of her situation except that she wanted to be free of that cell and continued to struggle against her former mentor.

"She'll only be soothed for a minute, amigos," Tonio explained. "I suggest someone come up with a plan!"

"Alright, I'll bring her with me," Cathan ventured. He pulled a length of rope from his pack and made it fast to a belt around Bella's waist, which still held the dual crossbows she once used while in human form. "I'll take her back to the cottage. None of you need accompany me, this is my burden."

Thelios Melekor, Tiefling Warlock

"EXCUSE ME!?" bellowed Thelios. "Your plan is to take a werewolf out onto the streets of Minos... on a leash... on a Monday morning... and bring it back to OUR house!?!? That is absolutely, one hundred percent not happening!"

"Well do you have a better idea!?" cried Cathan, almost in tears. "I will not just leave her!"

"You mean, leave her again?" taunted Thelios.

"Thirty seconds!" shouted a panicked Tonio. "So you should ándale too, brother. We might need you here."

"Understood, brother!" Felix and Alphonse were taking this opportunity to investigate the inner sanctum: they had already uncovered several valuable items and a relic that they had been seeking, which belonged to the temple of Tymora, Shar's rival deity. Felix was just now attempting to roll up a giant tapestry that covered up a hidden cache.

Jaycie Hart, Human Abjurer

"I can get us out of here," offered Jaycie, producing a shimmery pink liquid from her purse. "But Bella needs to drink this. And then she needs to look at you."

"What is it?" asked Cathan, in a daze.

"It contains the power of love..." declared Jaycie in a mystical tone. "It's our only chance to keep her from attacking us. Then you need to make sure nothing bothers me for a minute."

"Cathan, are you sure this is wise?" asked Thelios. "Are you ready to take on this... responsibility?"

Cathan flashed his companion a sad smile. "She was never not my responsibility," he said, as he uncorked the bottle and used prestidigitation to make its contents smell like day old meat. "Here, girl," Cathan sobbed. "Drink up."

Bella took the last sips of the elixir as Jaycie settled into the back corner of the room and started tracing lines on the floor with Thelios standing guard. Bella glanced down at Cathan, a look of loyalty and serenity falling across her canine features.

"If you don't mind me interrupting this tender moment," ventured Alphonse. "What is it you're doing over there, Jaycie?"

"Teleportation circle," the abjurer responded tersely in between incantations. "I'm bringing us all to the Elven city of Selk. Cathan's got people there who hopefully can help."

Thelios started. "Selk? But our mission is here in Minos!"

"Honey, in case you didn't notice, we just pissed off one of the most powerful people I've ever seen in Minos," huffed Jaycie. "AND he knows who we are, and where we live. So the farther we are from Minos the better." 

"In that case, brother," added Felix, "might it be wise to unlock the demon's cells we passed on the way in, to create some chaos to cover our departure?"

"Good idea, brother!" agreed Tonio. "I'll use my thieves' tools to unlock it and..."

"But don't forget, that door is trapped!" reminded Alphonse, recalling an earlier plot point. "And how will we prevent them from attacking us, or following us to Selk?"

"You'd better figure it out quick," called Jaycie. "We've got about six seconds to all jump through this portal, then it closes forever!"

"Ay, manda huevos! Forget it!" resigned Tonio. Although it would be gratifying to think of their own pet demons terrorizing the followers of this foul death goddess, thought Tonio to himself as he stepped across the threshold.

Then he got it.

Get the bard or the arcane trickster or maybe even the warlock to create a minor illusion of a closed cell door, obscuring the real door as Tonio bypassed the trap and picked the lock. Then right before they teleported away, drop the illusion, and they'd be long gone before the baddies noticed they were free.

It was a rare moment for Tonio. And in the shock of it, he gasped, and opened his eyes.

He saw things he couldn't describe. He felt like he was at once traveling infinitely fast and standing very still. He felt like his mind was beginning to unravel.

He saw his intuitive mind go first, the strongest part of him. He saw it float into the blind eternities. But then to his surprise, he saw something else begin to unravel, and it did not belong to him. It was his brother's staunch presence, his comforting hardiness, and as it joined with the tatters of his mind, it somehow felt like it was fortifying his soul.

Then a voice began to unravel and meld itself with the two other elements, and the voice was that of Alphonse. True it was screaming in abject horror at the experience of long-range teleportation, but the sound of it was strangely comforting all the same.

Then the teleportation itself began to unravel, but not so much the mode of conveyance, but the fact that it had originated from Jaycie's skill and knowledge. Tonio saw what was quite literally the brains of the party become deconstructed and subsequently become one with all the rest.

Thelios was next, and it was his strength that melted away, but not necessarily strength of arms, although the Tiefling wasn't lacking in that regard; rather the strength of his convictions that made him steadfastly pursue any course of action to the end. This strength joined with the others and made them all stronger.

Isabella Cooper, currently a werewolf

The last to go was Cathan's nimble grace, and he was using all of it at the moment to support Bella, the main goal of this quest, as she hurtled through an experience she could not begin to comprehend in her present state. It was because of Cathan that they were headed to Selk, in more ways than one, and he would certainly need all his quickness of limb to navigate the treacherous new terrain of the adventure upon which they were embarking.

But for now, Cathan's dexterity, Thelios's strength, Jaycie's intelligence, Alphonse's charisma, Felix's constitution, and Tonio's wisdom were all disembodied and joined together in a beautiful teleportation-induced hallucination. The younger Mancuso twin felt as though he was just beginning to understand where his group of adventurers fit in the grand scheme of the multiverse...

Then, with a sudden stop, they reached Selk.