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| pukunui03-08-07, 10:54 PM | It is late spring in Elsir Vale and a strange foreboding seems to settle over the peaceful valley. Their thoughts cast forward to the lazy heat of summer, its inhabitants are oblivious to the almost imperceptible throbbing that carries across the still air like the beating of a heart ... Welcome to my brand new recap thread! Here I will recount the story of many brave adventurers as they set out to find their way in Elsir Vale and perhaps beyond. Our story will span several adventures published by WotC as well as some of my own material. My players have expressed an interest in reading this thread, so I would appreciate it if posters could exercise restraint and refrain from discussing events that have yet to come in any of the adventures I will be using (for your reference: SotHH, BotFK, and RHoD). I will endeavor only to discuss events that have already occurred in my campaign. I ask that other posters please respect my desire not to spoil anything for my players. If you do wish to discuss an upcoming event, please PM me. With that in mind, please be aware that this thread will nevertheless contain potential SPOILERS for other people. Viewer discretion is advised. NOTE FOR MY PLAYERS: Please do not read anything hidden by spoiler-blocks. Anyway, enough of that. On to the fun stuff! Enjoy! Jonny |
| pukunui03-08-07, 10:56 PM | Here is our cast of characters ... Dramatis Personae Note: I will update this list whenever the cast changes. Lestir Fye - LG male human wizard 5 Kane Swift - LN male human dragon shaman (bronze) 5 Izaikaiah (Iz) - CG male elan transmuter 1/egoist 4 Tara Pendragon - NG female aasimar cleric of Pelor 5 (NPC ally) Kelthor Altara - LG male aasimar paladin 5 Griff - CG male half-orc rogue 1/barbarian 1 *deceased* Lemig - N male tiefling scout 1 (ECL 2) *deceased* Edwyd Fye - CG male human ranger 3 *deceased* Dryfoot - NG male half-giant barbarian 1/psychic warrior 1 (ECL 3) *deceased* Brock Ludwick - LG male dwarf cleric 4 of Moradin *deceased* Backgrounds Lestir - Highly intelligent but lazy, Lestir is a scholar who recently graduated from Brindols wizard academy. He likes food and doesn't exercise much, preferring to spend most of his time indoors reading, so he has become slightly overweight. His father, a merchant, was recently attackd by goblins and his business suffered because of it. Lestir's younger brother, Edwyd, was angry because Lestir had done nothing to help their father. Kane - An only child, Kane grew up around Red Rock in the Giantshield Mountains. When he was little, his family found a bronze dragon egg. When the dragon wyrmling hatched, Kane helped to raise it until it got too big and dangerous. Later on in life, he met up with a more experienced dragon shaman who took him on as an apprentice for a while before letting him go off on his own. Kane is a smooth talker, prefering to avoid combat when he can, but he can certainly fight when he needs to do so. He recently joined Xeron's gang as a mercenary - not knowing exactly what he was getting himself into. He eventually found himself at the bottom of a big waterfall with an unfriendly guardian who kept knocking him back down every time he'd climbed back up again ... but he finally made it out and met up with the heroes following Xeron. Iz - As an apprentice transmuter, Iz followed his master and some other adventurers into the forgotten king's tomb complex north of Marthton. They got lost and separated in the magic maze and Iz found himself very much alone. He figured someone would come find him before long, but no one ever did. He sustained himself with his natural psionic talent, which eventually grew stronger. He also discovered a mouse that he adopted as his familiar. He started going a bit crazy after the first few decades. Then, several centuries later, he finally heard what he'd been waiting to hear ... footsteps and talking. He tried to follow it, but the magic of the maze kept confounding. Eventually he found his way out and stumbled along until he met up with a bunch of much younger people, including two females - all of whom were immediately revolted by his filthy, unwashed appearance and lingering odor ... Kelthor - Known as Kel-Al for short, Kelthor is a cousin of Tara Pendragon. He is the only other person in their extended family to have manifested their celestial ancestor's diluted blood. He spent a lot of his youth hanging out in the Blackfens swamp with the Tiri Kitor elves. He befriended the young elven warrior, Lanikar Nightshadow. The elven lifestyle had a great influence on him and Kel-Al came to revere Corellon Larethian. He recently returned to Brindol, where his mother asked him to find Tara and keep an eye on her to make sure she was all right ... Edwyd - Edwyd loves the outdoors. He has recently finished an apprenticeship with a master ranger. He is physically fit and quite strong and can't understand what is wrong with his lazy brother, Lestir. Their father, a merchant, was recently attacked by goblins. It took him quite some time to recover and his business suffered because of it. Both youths are quite angry about this and would like to somehow avenge their father. While Lestir continues to spend the majority of his time studying, Edwyd has hired himself out as a caravan guard on the Dawn Way. Lemig - The only child of a traveling tiefling bard and a human woman, Lemig grew up knowing he was different. The extra toe on each foot and an oddly-lingering odor of dust made sure of that. When Lemig was older, his mother finally spilled the beans and he set off in search of his enigmatic father. He soon began to wish that he had not - for his father revealed that the two of them were doomed to everlasting torment in the hells for having had a demonic or devilish ancestor. Lemig and his father eventually made a pact to find a way to become immortal. They set off in different directions to search for some sort of "fountain of youth", agreeing to meet up again in Elsir Vale. Upon Lemig's return (after an unsuccessful initial foray), he waited and waited but his father never arrived. Unsure of what to do next and out of money, Lemig has spent the last six months or so working for Eldremma Axenhaft as a caravan guard on the Dawn Way. Brock - Native of the Hammerfist Holds. His mother's wish was for him to become a cleric of Moradin, so he was sent to the temple in Dennovar. He passed the training, but his predilection for getting into tavern brawls was frowned upon by his superiors and he was eventually "excused" from all clerical duties. Brock returned to the Holds and tried his hand at blacksmithing but grew bored and, since his peers viewed him as "womanly" for having joined the clergy, he set off in search of adventure (although his mother believes he is doing "mission" work). For the past six months or so, he has been working as a caravan guard on the Dawn Way. He gets his jobs from Eldremma Axenhaft, a matronly dwarf woman who has taken Brock under her wing. He views her as something of an aunty. Dryfoot - Hailing from an isolated and primitive tribe of half-giants living on the outskirts of the Great Sand Sea, Dryfoot was singled out at birth by the tribal shaman as being destined for great things. In a fit of divine inspiration, the shaman delivered an ominous prophecy; Dryfoot has struggled with its portent ever since. Upon reaching adulthood, he felt called to go out into the world and figure out his destiny. Wherever he goes, there are always people who try to take advantage of his enormous strength and naivete. He has been slowly traveling west, following what little clues relating to his prophecy that he can find. He eventually ends up in Elsir Vale and makes it as far as Marthton before his destiny begins to unfold ... Griff - The gruff half-orc was partaking of a liquid breakfast in a tavern in Dennovar when a wizard took a strong disliking to him and teleported him away. A very bewildered Griff found himself in the magic maze. He was soon found by Kethra and her team of "archaeologists". ;) |
| themadlibrarian03-09-07, 01:27 PM | One of my players was interested in running a plane touched character. Where should I look ot find out the best info about this? I'm new to dming so my library is very small. |
| pukunui03-09-07, 02:37 PM | One of my players was interested in running a plane touched character. Where should I look ot find out the best info about this? I'm new to dming so my library is very small.See here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=11032459&postcount=16). |
| pukunui03-09-07, 03:00 PM | Eldremma Axenhaft, of Axenhaft Security, The Dawn Way, Brindol, shuffles around from behind the counter. She smiles at Brock, the young dwarf cleric she's taken to thinking of as the nephew she never had. "I've got a job for you ..." The tiny hamlet of Barrow's Edge, situated at the edge of the Giantshield foothills on a cart track between Brindol and Red Rock, is suffering from goblin raids. Eldremma has few specifics, but she's looking for four able-bodied people to answer a call for help. She approaches her three most promising mercenaries: Brock, Lemig the tiefling, and Edwyd. In passing, she tells Edwyd to drag along "that chubby brother of yours; he could use the exercise." Thus Lestir joins the team as well. The quartet cross the Elsir River and make their way north, spending the night at the crossroads before turning northeast towards the village. The total distance is about 30 miles. Shortly after lunch, as they walk through a lightly forested area, they hear the sounds of battle coming from the road ahead. As they draw closer, they see an overturned merchant's wagon and several goblins fighting a wild elf. Three more wild elves lie on the ground, surrounded by no less than five goblins. As the heroes move to engage the goblins, the last elf falls and the goblins turn their attention to the newcomers. Roll initiative! The heroes keep their distance at first, shooting arrows and bolts at the enemy, who spread out and ready their javelins. Finally Edwyd gets frustrated. He has a particular loathing for goblins and knows their weaknesses. He moves in and starts shooting at close range before dropping his bow and pulling out his rapier. His brother Lestir stays close behind him, firing his crossbow and letting loose his magic missile spell. Lemig sprints down the treeline and engages the goblin closest to him, while Brock hesitates, his desire for self-preservation apparently overcoming his love of fighting for the moment ... Edwyd is hit with two javelins and falls to 1 hp. He retreats to where Brock is and requests some healing. Brock begrudgingly gives him Moradin's blessing along with a scolding for being too hasty. After that, it does not take long for the heroes to down the three goblins, even though the last one beats a hasty retreat into the woods. Once the fighting has stopped, a female halfling merchant emerges from the upturned wagon. She introduces herself as Sten Goodseller and, amongst much nervous repetition, explains that she was on her way home to Barrow's Edge when her guards were surprised and overcome by 8 goblin raiders. The heroes explain that they are on their way to Barrow's Edge to answer a call for help to deal with these very same goblins. Sten indicates that when she left Barrow's Edge over a month ago, the goblins were not bothering the town. She has no idea why they have suddenly started attacking. The heroes turn their attention to the elves, only to find that all but one of them is dead. They stabilize the last one and put him on the newly-righted wagon. They agree to escort Sten the rest of the way to Barrow's Edge, which is now only a few hours' walk. Edwyd gathers up some of the goblins' equipment, hoping to sell it in town. Sten offers each of them a 100gp credit in her store in thanks for their assistance. They also pick up the dead bodies of the other elves, hoping that when the fourth elf comes round, he will tell them what to do with the bodies of his kinsmen. The party gets underway again, with Sten chattering away about her work and how much she misses her partner, Garret, and how she really had no idea that the goblins had turned sour. She mentions that they had even traded with the villagers occasionally. A short while later, as twilight approaches and the village is only a short distance away, the party hears a ferocious yell and a savage-looking goblin comes bounding out of the trees, a mangy wolf at his heels. In one hand, the goblin carries a spear, in the other, a roiling ball of flame! He wears hide armor and a necklace of animal teeth. He looks quite feral ... like he is a tribal witch doctor or druid or some such thing. Roll initiative! The goblin charges in at Lemig, who tries to shoot him at point blank range but misses. The goblin manages to hit Lemig with his flaming hand, but the tiefling's fire resistance means there's no damage done. The goblin's wolf, however, manages to bite him on the ankle. Brock gives the wolf a pounding, crushing his skull but not killing him outright, while Edwyd and Lestir come to the aid of Lemig. They make short work of the goblin and his companion. On his body they find a scroll, two wands, and a pouch containing 10pp and 10gp. |
| pukunui03-09-07, 04:18 PM | After surviving two goblin attacks on the road, the heroes make it the hamlet of Barrow's Edge without further incident. Sten suggests they seek out Mallie Marchess, one of the village's de facto leaders, at the Barrow's Edge Inn. Mallie turns out to be the proprietor of the inn. Shortly after she introduces herself, an old, surly dwarf marches into the inn. He takes one look at the adventurers and sniffs, saying "These will have to do." He is Arvel Durgedown, the hamlet's dour moneylender. Arvel and Mallie explain to our heroes that they will pay them 500gp to end the goblin raids by whatever means possible. They explain that the town has no militia of its own and has already lost too many able-bodied people to the raids. They need help. Furthermore, they request proof that the goblins will no longer cause trouble - proof such as the head of the goblins' leader. They explain that until a few weeks ago, the goblins were peaceful. They have no understanding why they have suddenly started attacking. Unfortunately, our heroes are not especially charismatic and thus do not make a terribly good impression on their would-be employers. Despite several awkward moments, however, Mallie and Arvel agree to hire them. Mallie suggests they start their inquiries with Tam, the village grocer, who traded goods for fresh meat from the goblin hunters in the past. After a decent meal, Brock heads over to the newly-built multi-faith temple across the street. There he encounters Listra, a kindly young human cleric of Pelor. She is busy tending to the wounded wild elf guard they brought with them. Brock asks if he can help, but Listra indicates she has everything under control, so he returns to the inn for another round of drinks. While nursing their drinks at the bar later in the evening, the heroes are approached by Mallie. She informs them that she has another reason for wanting to see the goblins dealt with - one that she was hesitant to bring up before. Approximately two months ago, her husband led a group of villagers to the talk to the goblins. He never came back. In fact, only two of the villagers did. One of them has since moved away, but the other, Shawn, went back to his farm. She would like to know what happened to her husband. The next day, the heroes wander about the town, taking advantage of Sten's offer of 100gp credit at her store and attempting to get the wands and the scroll identified (for some odd reason, Lestir doesn't think to use his read magic spell to identify the scroll). Although Lestir has identify in his spellbook, he does not have the requisite 100gp pearl. There is, however, an interesting shop in the town -- it is painted purple with bright stars and a sign above the door reads "Mysticality". Although Lemig quips that it looks like a cheap brothel, it turns out to be a fortune teller's shop. The fortune teller, Thamior, is an upstart young human wizard. For 1sp, he will tell someone's fortune. Edwyd agrees but all he gets is "You will receive great fortune but it will come at great cost". The heroes ask Thamior if he can identify the wands. He says yes but at the cost of 110gp. The heroes say maybe another time. They also return to the temple to see how the wild elf they rescued is getting on. They find him awake and praying in front of the shrine to Obad-Hai. He finishes his prayers and, spotting them, comes up to thank them for saving his life. He introduces himself as Lanikar*. They ask him what he and his fellows were doing. He explains that they had left the Tiri Kitor camps in the Blackfens to learn a bit more about the world. They had hired themselves out as caravan guards and were escorting the merchant, Sten Goodseller, back to Barrow's Edge when they were surprised and overwhelmed by eight goblins. The PCs invite Lanikar to accompany them, but he declines, saying that he would like to return to the Blackfens as soon as possible. To be continued ... This is the same Lanikar who gets eaten by a greenspawn razorfiend in RHoD. I wanted to add an emotional element to that scene. If/when the PCs ever make it to that encounter, I'm hoping that they'll recognize the name and feel a bit sad or something. I'm also hoping it will make them want to participate in the funeral proceedings considering how none of them are particularly charismatic and might otherwise choose not to get involved ... |
| Subversive03-09-07, 05:12 PM | Heya, Pukunui! I love hearing this recap so far. You're doing a great job getting the players involved in the fate and future of Elsir Vale! I can't wait to see how you tie these different events together in the upcoming adventures! -Steve |
| pukunui03-09-07, 05:17 PM | Heya, Pukunui! I love hearing this recap so far. You're doing a great job getting the players involved in the fate and future of Elsir Vale! I can't wait to see how you tie these different events together in the upcoming adventures! -Steve Thanks for removing the spoilers. :) |
| Prom03-09-07, 10:49 PM | Hi Subversive, I play Brock, please be careful with your comments. I like the idea of reading Pukunui's summary of the story so far, and would like to keep reading this thread as it develops. Thanks Prom:P |
| Subversive03-09-07, 11:42 PM | Sorry guys, I thought that with the general discussions and the warning about potential spoilers here that this was a safe enough comment to make. I will refrain for any more open spoilers from now on. -Steve |
| pukunui03-10-07, 12:03 AM | Sorry guys, I thought that with the general discussions and the warning about potential spoilers here that this was a safe enough comment to make. I will refrain for any more open spoilers from now on. -Steve It's all right. I really just don't want them to have any idea about what's coming up, either in the current adventure or in future ones. My warning about the potential spoilers is that as my group goes through the adventures and I post our recaps here, there will be spoilers for other groups who have yet to play those same adventures. However, I would like to keep this thread spoiler-free for my group -- that is, I would like people to avoid mentioning anything that could be considered a "future event" for my group. This includes making references to certain things such as the Red Hand. I hope that makes sense. If you must mention something, put it in a spoiler block and I'll have to trust my players not to read it. :D And please don't think I'm mad at you or anything, Steve. It's just better to be strict at the start and then we can ease up later on ... Cheers, Jonny |
| eblis123403-11-07, 04:18 AM | Hey good to see your campaign starting off again and with brand new players. Looking forward to see the tie ins you will create to the vale! |
| pukunui03-14-07, 06:44 PM | Hi guys. No session this Friday unfortunately ... the player who runs the Fye brothers is helping an old friend move down country over the weekend. Since that's half the PCs gone right there, I figured it would be better to leave it till the following week. However, I can give you a sneak peak at what's coming up. I'll spoiler-block it so my players won't read it. Next session, the PCs most likely will pay a visit to Tam the grocer in Barrow's Edge. This is a guy I invented on the fly because I had said that the goblins had occasionally traded with the villagers and my players wanted to know with whom exactly they had traded. Unfortunately, he won't have much useful information for them. He'll tell them that the goblins used to come to him, so he has no idea where they live or why they've started attacking the village. They will also be visiting a farm owned by a man named Shawn. This was another on-the-fly NPC who came about due to an inconsistency in the text. On p. 9 it states "None of the townsfolk know where the goblins are hiding." However, on p. 7 it says that the husband of Mallie, the innkeeper, led a group of villagers to meet with the goblins. It doesn't actually say whether they went to the goblins' lair (they might have met in a forest clearing or something), but it does say that "Mallie's husband and several of his companions never returned". This implies that some did, and when I mentioned this to the players, they immediately said, "Wait, why didn't you mention that before? You said no one knew where the goblins were." :( So I had Mallie explain that she was hesitant to mention it before because it's still a sensitive subject for her. She told the PCs that she would very much like to have her husband back if they can find him [sadly, the module does not elaborate on this - one can only assume that he and his companions were fed to the dragon or something]. My solution: I said that two villagers had returned after the rest were taken hostage in an ambush. One had since left the village while the other, Shawn, had returned to his farm to the north of the village. I have decided that the group of villagers wouldn't have gone directly to the lair. They would have met the goblins somewhere else (or, rather, the goblins would have come upon the villagers before they reached the lair and ambushed them), so Shawn won't have much useful information either. So anyway, what I'm thinking is that when they get to Shawn's farm, some goblins will attack. If they can take one alive, hopefully they'll be able to get the location of the lair from it. If not, hopefully Edwyd will be able to find the dead goblins' tracks and follow them back to the lair. I'm just explaining all this because it's not in the Scourge of the Howling Horde. This will be an improvised encounter. |
| snakeheadfish3303-15-07, 01:05 AM | P— I just finished reading through SotHH. I also just finished reading the latest entries in your recap. I think all the hassle and all your trials to get a game group together has payed off. The game just reads great so far. Really pumped for you. I also think the seeds you have planted and the quick improvised story elements were handeled with expertise. Looking forward to what's to come. I've got some questions I'll just PM you about so as to keep it away from players wandering eyes. |
| pukunui03-15-07, 01:42 AM | Hey, I'm pumped too. This is going to be great! I'll look out for your PM. |
| Sunai_Retsinis03-15-07, 07:51 AM | Hi Pukunui, Great to have you back in a campaign with new found players. They all seem very committed to the game, and they sound like the kind of players who like to do everything: roleplay, fight, investigate and interact with the rest of the world. I was really feeling bad for you when you had to stop the other campaign, so I am really very happy now that you have a new group together. I wish you the best in the campaign, and I will be following you closely. Sunai |
| pukunui03-15-07, 03:05 PM | Thanks, Sunai! I, too, think they're a great bunch of guys. If only I could find a 4th player ... but perhaps I will in due course. To be honest, I like the Brothers Fye, and since they're both played by one person, it could be difficult getting another player into the group. We'd either have to lose a brother, have the new guy play one of the brothers, or have 5 PCs (with one player still playing two PCs while everyone else plays only one). Anyway - I've been wanting to ask ... I get that "retsinis" is just "sinister" backwards, but what's "sunai"? |
| baron16203-15-07, 04:01 PM | maybe his name is Jan or Ian, then go latin on that, ianus, pronouncement on the a.. or Sinister Ian (from the) US |
| pukunui03-15-07, 04:07 PM | maybe his name is Jan or Ian, then go latin on that, ianus, pronouncement on the a.. or Sinister Ian (from the) US Good point, baron. To be honest, I was wondering if it was something a bit less wholesome than that ... :blush: |
| baron16203-15-07, 04:15 PM | hehe, i thought of that, too, but didn't want to post that :) the simplest, most banal explanation is what science is looking for :D |
| pukunui03-15-07, 05:18 PM | For those of you who are interested to know how I've tied together the various adventures I intend to use in this campaign, I have provided a summary in a spoiler-block below ... WARNING! The information below is intended for DMs only. Any players caught reading it will be hit with a hammer and the name "Steve" will be branded on their foreheads. (Did I get that right, guys?) This stuff is primarily background info that my players will probably never find out. I just wanted to have it there for my own sake, although I will always provide the possibility for my players to find something out ... 1) Scourge of the Howling Horde - Darax, the hobgoblin warrior who recently took over the leadership of the goblin tribe by force, is aware of the Kulkor Zhul but he is ambitious and suffers from delusions of grandeur. He feels that joining the Horde as a lowly grunt, which is what was offered to him, is beneath him. He wants nothing less than to be a Wyrmlord. This desire motivated him to take the opportunity of seizing control of the Howling Horde goblin tribe. He intends to turn them into a force to be reckoned with, thus proving his leadership capabilities and gaining him entry into the Horde as an officer. However, Wyrmlord Kharn is no doubt unimpressed with Darax's measly little goblin tribe. I may leave some crumpled up paper underneath Darax's bed for the PCs to find -- these would be failed attempts by the hobgoblin to write a letter requesting a Wyrmlord position, as well as some rejection letters from Kharn. I haven't yet decided whether or not the hobgoblin wizard (I forget her name) would know any of this. The adventure seems to indicate that she is Darax's lover, but it also says that he's just using her, so I don't know whether or not he would have told her of his grandiose plans. Snakeheadfish33 had suggested having the black dragon wyrmling Noak be the connection with the Horde, but I feel she is too young and immature for that level of involvement. She's too much of a selfish little child - she's only interested in amassing her own personal treasure horde - to have any ulterior motives for controlling the goblin tribe. 2) Barrow of the Forgotten King - I have now thought of a way to tie this adventure into RHoD. I'm going to have to rewrite the ending so that it really can be used as a stand-alone adventure. As it's written, it really leaves the PCs with little choice but to go straight into the sequel. So what I've come up with is this: the thieves make off with the king's bones and the other magic items (which I'm guessing are also meant to be legacy items), but their escape tunnel doesn't lead into the Underdark (which doesn't exist in my campaign world anyway) but back to the surface. Should the PCs choose to follow, they get out to the surface only to find the thieves long gone. However, they will have left a trail, and should the PCs desire to follow it, it will lead them west to Drellin's Ferry, where they will get sidetracked for a very, very long time (assuming they don't become obsessed with tracking down the thieves -- perhaps I'll just make the trail go cold at Drellin's Ferry). Anyway, this not only gives me a hook into RHoD, but it also gives me time for the next two DD adventures to come out so that I can, at the very least, find out what exactly the thieves stole from the forgotten king's tomb (aside from his bones) and then somehow work it into a new story, seeing as how the PCs will no doubt be too high level for the DD sequels by the time they finish RHoD. Another thought I had was that the hobgoblin cleric Krootad might be somehow involved with the Kulkor Zhul (he does appear to have his own agenda apart from assisting the yuan-ti guy). Perhaps he was hoping to knock off the yuan-ti and steal the treasure (including the legacy items) for the Horde. Perhaps a note on his person to that effect would do it - or something with the Red Hand symbol on could be found amongst his personal effects. I had considered making the "forgotten king" be the first king of Rhestilor, but I feel like RHoD makes it seem like the history of Rhestilor would be fairly commonly known in Elsir Vale, whereas BotFK makes it fairly clear that nobody has any idea who the king was. Kingsholm is also a pretty big town (bigger than Drellin's Ferry), so I'm hoping to avoid any awkward questions ("If it's so big, how come it's not on the map?"). I'm not really sure where to put it in Elsir Vale. I'm considering just using Marthton instead. It's about the right size and has some ancient barrows in the hills nearby. 3) "Use This Book Tonight" RHoD encounter - although I feel like this encounter could very easily steal the thunder from the initial "Marauder Attack" encounter if run immediately preceding the start of RHoD, I nevertheless feel that it could be a better "prelude" than what I had planned to do before. I'm still thinking about this one ... |
| Subversive03-15-07, 07:18 PM | For those of you who are interested to know how I've tied together the various adventures I intend to use in this campaign, I have provided a summary in a spoiler-block below ... WARNING! The information below is intended for DMs only. Any players caught reading it will be hit with a hammer and the name "Steve" will be branded on their foreheads. (Did I get that right, guys?) :allalone: |
| pukunui03-15-07, 07:23 PM | :allalone: Aww, I feel bad now. For some reason, I thought you were a fellow DM, Sub. If you don't think it'll ruin anything for you, go ahead and read what's in the spoiler-block. |
| Subversive03-15-07, 07:52 PM | Regarding one of the spoilers... some spoilers: The Greenspawn attack in the Rhest marshes always struck me as such a "what the hell is that thing??!?" moment, that it seems sort of a shame to dilute the shock of it. Also the general set up of your planned attack sounds sort of similar to the encounter (greenspawn defending a recent kill), and risks dampening the effect it will have on the players further. Not to mention the fact that the spawn have only recently been introduced into the area, and are just now starting to breed. I'd avoid using it as a tie in. -Steve |
| pukunui03-15-07, 08:17 PM | Yeah, I kind of started thinking along those same lines as I was writing it in the post. I feel the same way about the "Use This Book Tonight" tie-in. I dunno. Maybe I'll just use that one after all. |
| Subversive03-15-07, 10:30 PM | Aww, I feel bad now. For some reason, I thought you were a fellow DM, Sub. If you don't think it'll ruin anything for you, go ahead and read what's in the spoiler-block. I am a DM! But as you see, I sign my messages as 'Steve,' so I thought you were referring to me. :D -DM Steve Adventures in Arannus: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=785884 |
| pukunui03-15-07, 10:50 PM | Oh right ... duh! Sorry, the reference to "steve" was to do with munchkin players or something. There are a bunch of people on these boards who give DMs with troublesome players the advice to call said players "steve" and hit them over the head with some sort of hammer or something. BTW, I just thought of a way to tie in BotFK to RHoD ... and it solves the problem of having to do much rewriting of the ending! :w00t: I will amend my spoiler-blocked info above. |
| Subversive03-15-07, 11:47 PM | Oh right ... duh! Sorry, the reference to "steve" was to do with munchkin players or something. There are a bunch of people on these boards who give DMs with troublesome players the advice to call said players "steve" and hit them over the head with some sort of hammer or something. BTW, I just thought of a way to tie in BotFK to RHoD ... and it solves the problem of having to do much rewriting of the ending! :w00t: I will amend my spoiler-blocked info above. :schemes: sounds pretty good. One thing you might think about doing is tying the thieves into some of the existing material for the Elsir Vale setting. There are a few criminal bosses in Brindol, and that cleric to Erynthal in Drelin's Ferry that you could involve the characters in during their pursuit of the thieves. You could also have the hobgoblin cleric's notes make reference to Vraath Keep, which would certainly interest the group if you've dropped in the myths of treasure surrounding the place. |
| pukunui03-15-07, 11:54 PM | Precisely, Steve. We think alike, you and I. :plotting: I was also thinking of planting a map of Vraath Keep somewhere. I've got one that I did up as a prop as per the suggested method in the DMG (soaking it in tea and such to make it look old). It's pretty cool looking. Anyway, I could either plant it on Krootad or on the hob sergeant in the "Use This Book Tonight" encounter, if I decide to use it. As for what exactly I am going to do with the thieves, I think I will get rid of the whole Vanguard group or whatever they are and do something more "local". It's possible also that the PCs will find the thieves murdered and the loot taken by someone else -- in this case, Kulkor Zhul agents who have taken the stuff to the Horde (which ties in with Krootad's proposed agenda. The thing is - I need to find out what exactly it is that the thieves have made off with, and to do that, I've gotta wait for DD2: The Sinister Spire and possibly even DD3: Fortress of the Yuan-ti. Sigh ... Heh heh. All these secret discussions are kind of fun! :P |
| Subversive03-16-07, 12:35 AM | Precisely, Steve. We think alike, you and I. :plotting: I was also thinking of planting a map of Vraath Keep somewhere. I've got one that I did up as a prop as per the suggested method in the DMG (soaking it in tea and such to make it look old). It's pretty cool looking. Anyway, I could either plant it on Krootad or on the hob sergeant in the "Use This Book Tonight" encounter, if I decide to use it. As for what exactly I am going to do with the thieves, I think I will get rid of the whole Vanguard group or whatever they are and do something more "local". It's possible also that the PCs will find the thieves murdered and the loot taken by someone else -- in this case, Kulkor Zhul agents who have taken the stuff to the Horde (which ties in with Krootad's proposed agenda. The thing is - I need to find out what exactly it is that the thieves have made off with, and to do that, I've gotta wait for DD2: The Sinister Spire and possibly even DD3: Fortress of the Yuan-ti. Sigh ... Heh heh. All these secret discussions are kind of fun! :P Some things I'd mention about this: don't just give away the adventure area at Vraath Keep. A big part of the challenge there is figuring out where to go without alerting the inhabitants. Maybe you could give them an ancient map of the keep from before it was attacked and largely destroyed. This serves a few purposes. First, it gives them some information to work on. Second, it shows them how the keep used to look in case they decide to take possession of it, as suggested in the adventure. Third, it lets you actually mislead the group at key points, making you an evil bastard :devil:. I like the idea of more local thieves, though I wouldn't use Kulkor Zhul agents. At that stage, the characters should just have a hint that something is happening in the wings. If you stick with local thief bands, it will give the characters more of an attachment to the Vale, as they get involved in its local politics and people. Maybe at the very final stage you could do something, but you want to be careful about stringing the group along, chasing after these weapons from one person to the next with no payoff. As for the weapons... wait schmait! You can have them be whatever you want them to be. Make them some of the items found in the Red Hand's treasure horde. BTW, I've found that instant coffee works the best at aging paper. Makes it smell great too! Enjoy... :ayyyy!: |
| pukunui03-16-07, 12:43 AM | Firstly, what you've suggested re: the map is precisely what I did. We really do think the same way! Secondly, we don't drink coffee in this house, so tea will have to suffice. ;) I also baked it in the oven, crumpled it up, and then burned and blackened it with a candle. Looks great. Thirdly, I like the rest of what you had to say. Thanks. Finally, as fun as all these spoiler-blocks are, I wonder if it would be better to just PM stuff like this. Maybe not - because then none of the other DMs would be able to read it too. *shrug* |
| Moherajikuyx03-16-07, 07:26 AM | 3) "Use This Book Tonight" RHoD encounter - although I feel like this encounter could very easily steal the thunder from the initial "Marauder Attack" encounter if run immediately preceding the start of RHoD, I nevertheless feel that it could be a better "prelude" than what I had planned to do before. I'm still thinking about this one ... I did quite the same! I ran that encounter two sessions ago, then went on with a subquest to give them some more armor (and good one: I did mithral mines and the dwarves will be grateful, I even put the dwarf chief son as hostage: if they don't free him, there will be a good reason for the dwarves to stay neutral... ;) ) This or next session there will be marauder attack, so the use this book tonight encounter should not ruin any surprise! |
| Sunai_Retsinis03-16-07, 10:37 AM | To get back to you people about the my name: the retsinis is indeed sinister spelled backwards. Sunai itself is Ianus reversed. In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, and endings. His most apparent remnant in modern culture is his namesake, the month of January. Though he was usually depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions (Janus Geminus (twin Janus) or Bifrons), in some places he was Janus Quadrifrons (the four-faced). His two faces (originally, one was always bearded, one clean-shaven; later both bearded) originally represented the sun and the moon, and he was usually shown with a key. The two-faced image of Janus was often depicted on coins of the Roman Republic. Janus was frequently used to symbolize change and transitions such as the progression of past to future, of one condition to another, of one vision to another, the growing up of young people, and of one universe to another. It was originally designed as the name for a Lawful Neutral monk :monk: , who was balancing between doing good and following the rules of his learning. He sympathised with both, so was also looking in two ways. Besides that, I always liked the Roman and Greek world. As a DM, I am using Gallic/Celtic names for many people in my campaign, I have the roman army structure for the good guys and the disorganised barbarians in my campaign (goblins) are effectively Caesar's gauls in their organisation. It took several wars to become organised, but when they were, they indeed became dangerous. I even have a Murus Goblinus (a specific kind of fortification wall, check Wikipedia for the looks of the original Murus Gallicus) incorporated. Thats where the name came from. Now I have to get back to your threat, because this response interferred with my reading your great dispatches. Good luck in the campaign :dancin: Sunai |
| snakeheadfish3303-16-07, 11:40 AM | Not to distract the thread any but thanks Sunai for sharing all that. It was terribly fascinating. How you incorprated Greek/Roman mythology and fact, into your own game world is great and very inspired. |
| snakeheadfish3303-16-07, 11:44 AM | Secondly, we don't drink coffee in this house, so tea will have to suffice. ;) I also baked it in the oven, crumpled it up, and then burned and blackened it with a candle. Looks great. Pukunui and Subversive. Nice work on the player handout maps. They sound very cool. Any chance we could see how they came out? |
| Sunai_Retsinis03-16-07, 12:04 PM | Thanks Snake. I had a very good teacher in Latin in school, and my examinations were about translating some parts of the Bello Gallico, written by Gaius Iulius Caesar. I have been reading the Latin, English and Dutch version of this book (the Gallic War, just to translate). I could at one point tell half pages of the book in latin. Now, 6 years later, I have forgotten that, but I still know the main battles written in it. Army structure and fighting methods are a piece of cake to me, regarding the romans. I have also been reading a lot about his Civil War. Also some very interesting parts. All this makes it very easy to incorporate into DnD. Recently I had my players arriving at a scene which was a drill for a regiment: Advancing heavily armoured troops, covered by archery; cavalry coming in from the flanks, avoiding impacts from heavy magic artillery from the mages at the back who were peppering a several small enemy units, and all the while very large ballista's were peppering a fortification filled with dummies (straw puppets). My players were dumbstruck :eek: It was taking place at the border, and they thought the large fortress was under attack by my personal Red Hand of Doom (indeed a goblin army, but it is not the RHoD itself, I just make it up myself). It really scared the hell out of them. They were level 3 at the time, and they just couldn't grab the idea of my putting them into a warzone at that moment. One very rash halforc fighter (int 6) saw a large group of cavalry just racing by, and he joined them! This started a series of terrific roleplaying on his side, as he did some very advanced cavalry tactics with them (ride checks above 20 and 25 at that level :clap: ). Ultimately he screwed up, and I put him in jail for that (obstuction of the army) but I am going to reward him if he does some more horseback fighting (+1 on his ride skill). Sadly I am not much of a writer, and we play only once or twice a month, otherwise it would be very nice to start a threat myself. Maybe I will in the end, as I do keep notes. I will be lurking around these boards daily during the week, but less so in the weekends, so it may take me a while to answer. Greetings and enjoy the weekend. Sunai |
| pukunui03-16-07, 03:35 PM | Hey Sunai, Thanks for the lowdown on your name. I was thinking I should've just PMed you, but since snakeheadfish33 was so grateful for your little exposé, I'm glad I didn't. I took 4 years of Latin in high school. I don't remember much at this point, but my general knowledge of Roman history is still pretty sound. I know about the god Janus - it was very silly of me not to make that connection. Tsk tsk. That's cool that you've got a Roman/Celtic-themed campaign going. I remember back in 2e they put out those green historical campaign books. I had the Celtic one. Never had the Roman one though. |
| baron16203-16-07, 04:02 PM | thanks for the cool explanation of your name, sunai :) i want to give my players that dumbstruck feeling with the RHoD :D |
| pukunui03-16-07, 05:24 PM | Pukunui and Subversive. Nice work on the player handout maps. They sound very cool. Any chance we could see how they came out? I'll see what I can do. I was actually going to do a new version, so when I've done that, I'll see about posting it and the master copy (one that's not all burnt and crinkled and tea-stained) on my website. |
| Subversive03-16-07, 08:46 PM | That would be great, though I don't think I'll be using a map of Vraath Keep. It won't fit in as well with what I'm planning for them. -Steve |
| Subversive03-16-07, 08:54 PM | Firstly, what you've suggested re: the map is precisely what I did. We really do think the same way! Secondly, we don't drink coffee in this house, so tea will have to suffice. ;) I also baked it in the oven, crumpled it up, and then burned and blackened it with a candle. Looks great. Thirdly, I like the rest of what you had to say. Thanks. Finally, as fun as all these spoiler-blocks are, I wonder if it would be better to just PM stuff like this. Maybe not - because then none of the other DMs would be able to read it too. *shrug* You tea swillin former British colonies... I swear... I PM'd you, but I don't mind keeping it up here too. -Steve |
| pukunui03-16-07, 08:58 PM | You tea swillin former British colonies... I swear...This is totally off-topic, but something I find funny is that, despite the fact that New Zealand is much more "British" than America is, I remember there being a much broader selection of teas available back home in Philly than there is here in Auckland. |
| Subversive03-17-07, 12:17 AM | This is totally off-topic, but something I find funny is that, despite the fact that New Zealand is much more "British" than America is, I remember there being a much broader selection of teas available back home in Philly than there is here in Auckland. Heh, I live 5 minutes away from a chinese supermarket. I can get just about every kind of tea imaginable. Still like a good coffee from 7-11 or Quick Stop though. I actually used to work at Starbucks for like two or three years. I hate that swill. Can you get a good cup of joe over there? I'm from Central Jersey. What part of Philly are you from? -Steve |
| pukunui03-17-07, 12:26 AM | I wouldn't know. I don't drink coffee. But the rest of New Zealand likes to make fun of Aucklanders and their lattés ... unfortunately, they have got starbucks here, too. I'm from the suburbs northwest of Philly. |
| pukunui03-23-07, 05:09 PM | Session Time: 4.5 hours :dancin: Characters: Edwyd, Lestir, Lemig, Brock Locations: Barrow’s Edge and vicinity, the Howling Caverns After a successful, if somewhat prolonged, shopping trip the morning after arriving in Barrow’s Edge (:rolleyes:), our four heroes set off to find Shawn, the farmer who had escaped the goblins’ ambush about two months before. On their way out, they notice some villagers busily erecting a wooden palisade along the northern boundary of the town. A brisk ten-minute walk takes them to Shawn’s farm. He greets them kindly and they fill him in on their mission. They ask for more information about the ambush. He says that Mallie’s husband, Bruce, had led the group of villagers north towards the hills in hopes of finding the goblins. They had hoped to arrange a formal alliance with the goblins, but instead they were ambushed. Only Shawn and one other man escaped. He is unsure what happened to the rest. He doesn’t know why the goblins attacked them, either. The heroes thank him for his time and decide to head back into town to see if anyone has a map of the area. Unfortunately no map is forthcoming. After some humming and hawing, the group decides to turn right around and go back to Shawn’s farm and ask him if he’ll show them the ambush site. Somewhat bemused to see the four adventurers returning again so soon, Shawn reluctantly agrees to leave his duties for a few hours in order to escort them to the ambush site. However, after only about an hour and a half, they run into a trio of goblin raiders who surprise them in a copse of trees. The goblins rush at Shawn, but in their enthusiasm to attack they all miss and the frightened farmer immediately turns tail and runs headlong back the way he came. Roll initiative! The heroes make quick work of the goblins, cutting them to ribbons. They hope to catch Shawn so they can continue on to the ambush site but the farmer is long gone. Then one of them has the bright idea of healing a goblin and interrogating it. :lightbulb To this end, Brock gets out his healing kit and patches up one of the goblins (while leaving the other two to bleed to death). After a while the goblin comes around and is rather taken aback to find himself a prisoner. :bigeyes: Only the Fye brothers speak Goblin, but, unfortunately for the party, they let their past experiences with goblins get the better of them, Edwyd in particular. He repeatedly threatens the goblin but to no avail. :banghead: Frustrated and not understanding what’s being said, Lemig suggests magically healing the goblin and letting go so they can follow it. Lestir calls his brother off and takes over negotiations, but, upon hearing that it will be let go, the goblin just babbles repeatedly, “You let me go?! You let me go?! Let me go! Let me go!” Brock bends down and begins intoning a prayer to Moradin. The goblin cowers, fearing some horrible magic is about to be worked upon him. :gah: It is very surprised to find, instead, that it has been healed of all its wounds. After some more discussion as to what exactly they're going to do with the goblin, they finally agree to just let it go and then track it back to its lair. Untying the goblin, they all stand back. It takes one look at them and then darts off to the east. Edwyd leads the way, following the goblin's tracks with ease until they get into the hills, where he loses the trail. However, he manages to keep his bearings and has a pretty good idea of what direction the goblin was heading in, so he just plunges on into the hills and soon enough they spot a cave entrance in the side of a hill several hundred feet away. The entrance is flanked by two trees. Edwyd attempts to sneak up to the entrance, but when he is still 90 feet away, he is spotted by the goblins' guard dog, who starts barking ferociously. Edwyd sees movement in the shadows of the cave and halts. He cries out in Goblin, "Hey listen! We only want to talk to you! We're looking for Bruce. We want you to stop attacking the village! We mean you no harm!" :doh: As the adventurers creep closer, they become increasingly bewildered as their attempts to parlay go ignored. :banghead: The guard dog begins to get on Edwyd's nerves and in exasperation he shoots it in the throat. :shocked: It lets out a whimper and drops to the cave floor. A few moments later, a commotion is heard from deeper in the cave and more goblins come into view. One of them bends down to attend to the dog, then shouts at Edwyd in goblin, "You bastard!" :rant: Brock lets out a long, drawn-out sigh, grumbles "Oh what the hell", loads his crossbow, and takes aim at a goblin. Edwyd lights a torch and tosses it into the cave so he can see what's inside. Lemig, who is determined not to find out about his supposed eternal damnation after death just yet, hides behind a tree and shakes his head in disbelief as things rapidly spiral downhill. :nonono: He eventually gets his act together, after Brock calls him a good-for-nothing coward several times, and comes to the aid of his companions. Roll initiative! Combat ensues. :duel: The heroes, for some reason, bottle themselves up in the cave entrance, while the goblins throw javelins at them from the high ground further back. Most miss, but one goblin is lucky enough to hit Lestir in his fat belly, causing the wizard to run back out of the cave and hide behind the cleric, all the while begging him to help. :hides: :help: Two of the goblins are taken out at range. :elf: Another goblin appears through a door in the back of the cave and, together with the two remaining goblins, rush to engage the heroes in the cave entrance, hoping to keep them from coming in any further. Edwyd manages to score a critical hit on one goblin, killing it outright. :bravo: It doesn't take long for the heroes to wipe the floor with the rest of the goblins, although Edwyd is, once again, reduced to only 1 hit point. Moments after taking out the last goblin, the heroes are disturbed to see the massive bulk of a bugbear in finely-crafted leather armor and holding a wooden shield with the words "Big Bronk" scrawled on it step through the door at the back of the cavern. He spots the heroes and rushes forward, growling "Me fight you!" (:fight!:), but the heroes get the drop on him and cut him down before he even has a chance to take a swing at them. Lestir is very appreciative as it was fairly obvious the bugbear was headed straight for him. The heroes search the cavern and the bodies. They find a bit of loot, including Big Bronk's shield, which radiates a magical aura when Brock casts detect magic. Unfortunately, since Brock has no ranks in spellcraft (:nonono:), he is unable to determine anything more about the magical shield. |
| pukunui03-23-07, 05:10 PM | The heroes push on, entering the guard room behind the cave entrance. Torches on the walls provide plenty of illumination, and a table and four chairs are situated in the center of the room. A pile of coins and dice lie scattered on the table. :dice: :twocents: A thorough search of the room reveals some more coins and a pair of matched pewter bowls that obviously served as the guard dog's food and water dishes. Edwyd thinks they might be worth some gold, so he takes them and puts them in his backpack. While the others rest up in the guard room, Lemig takes to scouting ahead. :elf: He listens at the door on the other side of the room but hears nothing so quietly opens it. He sees a narrow corridor that extends for about 20ft before turning to the right. Sneaking down the passage, he finds that the corridor then continues 25ft to the south before opening up into a larger passage at a T-intersection. To the right (west), the corridor ends in rubble, but to the left (east), it continues on for 60ft. More passages branch off north and south about 15ft into the eastern passage. Lemig sneaks along and has a look up and down these passages. All is dark and quiet. To the south he sees two big wooden doors. To the north, the passage continues on beyond the range of his darkvision, but he can make out some more side passages. Lemig goes back to fetch Brock, but tells the Fye brothers to stay put in the guard room. Lemig instructs Brock to stand guard in the intersection while he goes to investigate the other passages. :teach: To the north, he finds two heavy stone doors, a passage that seems to go off to the northeast, and a little alcove hidden behind a curtain. Carefully peeking around the curtain, he sees what appears to be a witch doctor's room. The smell of incense and spell components hangs heavy in the air. Fetishes of bone and hair decorate the room. Finally, a skeleton and a zombie stand motionlessly opposite the doorway. Spooked, Lemig rushes back to Brock and whispers "Dead guys." The dwarf replies, "What kind?" Lemig shrugs and says, "The kind that walk." :rofl: The tiefling then scouts the eastern passageway (:elf:), finding a set of double doors partway down the northern wall and then a second set at the end of the passage on the southern side. He listens at each set of doors. At the first, he hears a bubbling sound. At the second, he hears goblin voices and movement. He reports back to Brock and then heads down the southern passage. As he comes close to the doors, he notices the words "Big Bronk's Room" written in crude letters on the door. He also notices some notches cut into the doorframe to the right of the door. After some discussion with Brock regarding Big Bronk's girlfriend and whether or not she would pose any threat, Lemig decides to investigate. He first fetches the Fye brothers and tells them to wait with Brock at the intersection. Lemig finds the doors unlocked. He then finds the room within empty, except for furniture and belongings, all of which have "Big Bronk" clearly written on them in the bugbear's big yet minimalistic style. While searching the room, he locates a secret door in the middle of the eastern wall. :detect: He pushes it open to reveal a narrow, dark passageway that extends 15ft and ends abruptly. He can feel a slight draft, so he moves on ahead and finds another secret door at the other end. Returning to the others, he informs him of the find and they all agree to go check it out, although they decide to leave Edwyd at the intersection as a guard. Brock takes the lead, pushing open the other secret door to reveal the goblin tribe's brightly-lit living area. Eight sets of triple-bunk beds line the walls. Directly opposite is a closed door. At the northern end of the room there is a larger open space with racks for cloaks and the like. To the northeast the room narrows to a passageway leading deeper into the cavern complex. There are also four goblin adults and as many goblin children in the room. As the door scrapes openly noisily, the goblins all whirl around in surprise. None of them had any idea there was a door there. :shocked: Everyone is sufficiently surprised so ... Roll initiative! The goblins angrily reach for their weapons. One of them, a female, yells out "No one hurts the whelps! as she rushes at the intruders. The goblin children scream and scatter, two of them rushing out through the double doors into the hall. As the light from the common room spills into the hall, Edwyd can see the children. Unfamiliar with any sort of tactics at all, the heroes remain in the narrow corridor with Brock at the front, taking the full brunt of the goblin onslaught while Lemig futilely attempts to shoot over Brock's head. Lestir sprints back out to where Edwyd is waiting. Edwyd then sprints into the secret passageway, stands at the back and attempts to through both Lemig and Brock. :uh-huh: Despite the fact that there is considerable firepower coming from such a narrow opening, none of it manages to damage the goblins. Brock gets a few hits in with his warhammer, and eventually Edwyd gets sick of it and pushes through his companions and then pushes the goblins back in order to end the bottleneck. Lestir, meanwhile, is smart enough to realize he ought to go around from the other side. As he approaches the two goblin children cowering in the hall, they scream and run back into the common room. He follows them and spots two rather flimsy-looking doors on the western wall. Feeling rather helpless with only a few crossbow bolts and no offensive spells left, he decides to investigate one of the doors. What he finds is not pleasant - the goblins' foul-smelling privy. :yuck: Unfortunately for Lestir, one of the female goblins spots him and thinks he's going to harm the children, so she breaks of her attack against the others and charges at him. Everyone thinks Lestir has had it but the goblin is unable to hit him. The other guys quickly finish off their goblins then come to Lestir's aid. The two goblin children, having witnessed their parents' slaughter, run screaming back into the hall and down the passageway. The adventurers then search the room, coming up with upwards of 400 cp. :twocents: Lemig says to leave it all behind since it's hardly worth anything, but Lestir and Edwyd are determined to lug it all around, along with everything else that they've found so far. They decide to see what's on the other side of the door that's opposite the secret passageway. |
| pukunui03-23-07, 07:56 PM | Lemig, finding the door opposite the secret passageway in the goblins' common room unlocked, decides to open it. He sees a well-lit square room full of benches and tables littered with beakers, candles, bottles, jars, scrolls, and various other arcane paraphernalia. A shimmering curtain separates an alcove to the southeast from the rest of the room, while a narrow tunnel to the northeast is guarded by a large mushroom. Upon hearing Lemig's description of the room, Lestir decides to make himself useful and pushes past the tiefling. Almost as soon as he reaches the middle of the room, a robed female hobgoblin steps out from behind the curtain and zaps the wizard with a readied color spray spell. :mage: Lestir fails miserably on his will save and drops to the floor, unconscious, blinded and stunned. The hobgoblin then withdraws behind the curtain again. Brock enters the room next, his intention to pick up the comatose wizard and carry him out of the room before he is killed. Before he can get back out, though, the hobgoblin reappears, this time holding a wand, which she points at Brock. A magic missile comes shooting out and hits the dwarf in the chest. Lemig's turn. He moves within sight of the hobgoblin, takes aim at a vital spot, and shoots her with an arrow, doing extra skirmish damage. The hobgoblin is disabled. She drops to her knees in pain, the wand falling harmlessly to the floor. She cries out in Goblin, "Stop! Don't hurt me!" :surrender Lemig doesn't understand her and intends to keep attacking, but Edwyd persuades him to stop so he can talk to her. The hobgoblin reveals that her name is Urrtarr. She is the tribe's wizard. She has not taken an active part in the recent raiding activity. She tells them that it's all the dragon's fault. Ever since Noak, a wyrmling black dragon, came and demanded that the goblins start bringing her treasure, that things have gotten bad for the tribe. Their shaman, Rutven, left in shame after the hobgoblin Darax used the dragon's arrival as an excuse to kill the old chief and take over. Urrtarr begs the adventurers to stop slaughtering the goblins and get rid of the dragon. She asks them specifically not to hurt Darax. Although wary of her, the group seems to believe what she's saying. Lemig moves forward and scoops up the fallen wand. He then demands that she help them, and Urrtarr reveals that she understands and speaks Common as well as Goblin. Edwyd is very pleased at this because it means he can stop translating. Urrtarr drinks a potion of cure light wounds and then agrees to help the party by brewing up two potions of resist energy (acid) to help against the dragon's acid breath. Lemig asks if she's got anything else. She starts to shake her head, but then she sees him eyeing up various bits and pieces lying around in her lab, including a pouch full of gems, and she decides to just let him take it all. She considers it worth it to lose those items if it means getting rid of the dragon and restoring peace to what's now left of the goblin tribe. Since the party is pretty much spent, they ask Urrtarr if there's anywhere they can rest. They also ask her to describe the rest of the cavern to them. She suggests they go rest in the shrine, which has sturdy stone doors that can be locked from the inside. While Lemig stays behind to watch Urrtarr as she brews the potions, the others go check out the shrine, which is over to the northwest, near the shaman's room with its undead guardians. Brock is astounded to discover that the shrine was once dedicated to Moradin but has since been defiled as a shrine for the goblin god, Maglubiyet. The once-fine altar at the far end is covered in fresh plaster with foul markings all over it. Brock casts detect magic on the altar and picks up a strong aura. After knocking off most of the plaster, Brock is able to discern pictures of industrious dwarves and the phrase "Moradin is mighty" in Dwarven carved into the original altar, along with Moradin's holy symbol. He also discovers a secret 2'x3' compartment at the back of the altar. Finding the latch, he pops it open and gets zapped by a shocking grasp spell trap (the origin of the magic aura). Feeling rather hurt, he nevertheless peruses the altar's contents. Aside from some ancient, crumbling scrolls hinting at the complex once being a dwarven stronghold built to guard something sinister, there is also a mithril holy symbol of Moradin, an ornate suit of masterwork half-plate, a masterwork heavy steel shield, a masterwork dwarven waraxe. Quite a find! Meanwhile, the Fye brothers discover a broken statue of a female dwarf in an alcove. A trickle of water is bubbling out of the statue's base. It looks clean and clear. The brother's take sips and are immediately healed as if by a cure light wounds spell. They call Brock over and he has a refreshing drink as well. :ayyyy!: To be continued next week ... |
| pukunui03-23-07, 08:26 PM | Whew! That was a long recap. I hope it wasn't too long. I split it into 3 pieces because I don't really like hugely long posts. Each post is also a fairly distinct chunk of the session ... It was a long session (4.5 hours) and we got a lot done. A lot more than I was expecting in fact. I didn't think they'd get much further than the guard room, so I wasn't all that prepared for some of the later encounters - plus it was getting pretty late, so our brains were all slowing down. I had some trouble thinking quickly on my feet at times, but it was still pretty fun. I think this initial adventure is possibly a little too easy. There's also very little opportunity to change the course of the adventure through diplomacy or other non-violent means (not that this low-CHA party would necessarily be able to accomplish much to that end anyway :rolleyes:). It seems to me to be a fairly amoral hack 'n' slasher ... "slaughter all the goblins for the win!" :P Oh well. As some of you know, I've got some better stuff coming up in the near future. I'll have to remember to take my camera along from now on so I can get some snaps of our minis doing battle. One of my players has some trees and buildings and things, so we can make things a little more 3D. It's great! Well, I hope you enjoyed that last recap. Anyway, that's enough from me! Bring on the comments and questions and whatever else you want to say!!! Just remember: If you want to talk about stuff that hasn't happened yet, either PM me or put it in an sblock. Cheers, Jonny |
| Prom03-23-07, 10:45 PM | Hi Pukunui, I have enjoyed your little story of last nights madness, reads like a Faulty Towers script :looloo: . I am surprised we didn't all get lost or killed. Friendly fire should have been an issue as everyone insisted on shot over another players shoulder. Diplomacy proved to be pointless as no-one rolled very well or had enough skill points. I think Brock's not up to shooting at all, as I hit very little with the crossbow :banghead: . The next thing I know the Dwarf Cleric Brock (me) is in the front line, protecting everyone from Bugbears to rooms full of goblins. Not listening to Lemig suggestions anymore, can't trust that guy :censored: . Looking back at last nights game I should not have opened up any of the doors that I did, almost got killed. Well the story is funny, nice job with the icons Pukunui. P.S. If the rest of you have not figured it out, I play the character Brock. Prom |
| Subversive03-24-07, 01:35 AM | Brock is right, it feels like this adventure is something out of the Venture Brothers... :bigeyes: Lots of fun to read, though! |
| pukunui03-28-07, 10:29 PM | Hi everyone, I'm going to post some more adventure tie-ins and hooks for my players. Remember - DMs only. 1) I'm thinking that when the PCs get back to Barrow's Edge, they'll find that Lanikar, the wild elf whose life they saved before, will still be hanging around town. He had originally told them he was going to find his own way back to the swamp., but he has instead decided that it would be smarter if he had some company, at least as far as Witchcross. He's going to ask the PCs to escort him to Witchcross so he can find the Keepers of Eth. He will then get one of Eth druids to escort him the rest of the way home. This way, the PCs can explore Witchcross a little bit and maybe meet Adranna the Younger*. They'll also get to know Lanikar a little bit better. *I'm thinking of making Adranna an elan rather than a human. I wanted to add some mystery (and a bit of irony what with her title of "the Younger") to her - "She looks like a human woman in her 20s but people say she's been around for centuries, perhaps even as far back as the kingdom of Rhestilor". What do you guys think? Got a better idea to achieve the same effect? 2) I'm going to substitute Marthton for Kingsholm, the default town described in Barrow of the Forgotten King. Marthton is the best fit in terms of population size and geography. Also, BotFK mentions that the town's leader is away when the PCs arrive. I can easily have Lord Erethal Rethrew (is it just me, or does this guy's name look like it should be some sort of anagram or something?) away on business so that his miserly attitude won't be an obstacle to paying the PCs to help. However, I'm going to leave the gp limit and assets described for Kingsholm (which were artificially low anyway) the same so as to represent the effect that Rethrew's heavy taxation and miserliness has had on the town (this also makes it so I don't have to worry about messing up the PCs' purchasing/selling power). 3) To get the PCs to go to Marthton, I'm going to have Kethra Tims, the half-elven historian mentioned in BotFK, hire the PCs to escort her from Brindol so she can study the statue and legend of the forgotten king (instead of having Kethra be in the town already). Either that, or I'll replace Kethra with the Fye brothers' mother, since she is apparently a history teacher in Dauth. 4) I'm going to plant my tea-stained, baked, crumpled, and burnt map of the original Vraath Keep layout on Krootad, the hobgoblin cleric of Hextor in BotFK. I'll allow the PCs to research the keep when they get back to Brindol. Hopefully it will be enough of a hook to get them heading towards Drellin's Ferry. 5) I'm considering planting something on Darax in SotHH to connect him with RHoD. I'm thinking maybe a crumpled up letter under his desk from one of General Kharn's concubines, Pash-Kari or Ruven, basically telling him that there's no chance he'll ever be granted Wyrmlord status. 6)On their way to Drellin's Ferry, I'm hoping they'll stop off in Talar, Nimon's Gap, and Terrelton. I don't know if I'll run any XP-worthy encounters in any of the towns - although Nimon Gap is an ideal location for the RHoD "Use This Book Tonight" encounter, should I choose to use it - but I'll at least give the PCs a chance to explore the towns and get to know some of the NPCs mentioned in the RHoD module. Next session is tomorrow night. :D |
| pukunui03-30-07, 08:56 AM | I need to go to bed now, but I just thought I'd give you all a teaser for my upcoming recap. We more or less plowed through the remaining encounters in SotHH tonight. Get this - all of the PCs at some point during the night had a near-death experience. They actually had more trouble with an inflict light wounds trap than they did with Noak the Tiny wyrmling black dragon. The dragon did very little damage to them before fleeing, while the trap managed to drop three of the PCs into the negative. I actually thought I was looking at a TPK there for a while. Lestir got to -8 hp before he finally self-stabilized. Lemig was the only one untouched, and I allowed him to reach in and attach a rope to his comrades and use STR checks to pull them off the trapped square without triggering it himself. Later on Lemig was dropped into the negative by a dire weasel that latched onto his throat. The PCs also ended up with more coins than they know what to do with ... but at least it means they'll now be able to afford to identify all their magic items! :D I'll update this tomorrow after I've gotten some rest. As it is, I'll be lucky to get 5 hours of sleep tonight (it's about 1am here and my daughter usually wakes us up around 6am ... sigh!!). Cheers, Jonny |
| snakeheadfish3303-30-07, 10:44 AM | sounds like a great session. can't wait to get a recap. now get some sleep. |
| pukunui03-30-07, 05:45 PM | They let me sleep in this morning, so I ended up getting about 8 hours after all ... :dancin: Will post a proper recap soon, I promise. Also, look out for a post by Prom. He's come up with some great prayers to Moradin for Brock to say, and I've asked him to post them here so others can read and enjoy. :D |
| pukunui03-30-07, 08:41 PM | Session Time: 4 hours :w00t: Characters: Edwyd, Lestir, Lemig, Brock Location: The Howling Caverns --------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: I'm switching to past tense for this one. I hope no one minds ... While Lemig kept a distrustful eye on Urr-tarr, first while she prepared the resist energy (acid) potions* and then while she slept, the Fye brothers and Brock rested in the shrine. During the night, Edwyd woke up and went and gave Lemig a chance to rest. :zzz: The next morning, Brock suggested exploring the rest of the cavern complex before taking on the dragon, but the others just wanted to get it over and done with ... After reciting his morning prayers in front of the altar, Brock got kitted out in the ornate dwarven half-plate and heavy steel shield (:fight!:) he'd found the previous day, but he passed on the mwk dwarven waraxe to Edwyd, the only one proficient with axes. This would prove to be a wise decision later on ... :devil: Not trusting Urr-tarr one bit, suspecting that the potions she'd made overnight were not what she claimed them to be, Brock demanded that the wizard prove she could be trusted. She offered to take a swig of one of the potions to prove it wasn't poison. Urr-tarr appeared to suffer no ill effects after a little sip, but Brock began to mutter something about her having built up an immunity to the poison (:shifty:) ... the others had had enough of the dwarf's paranoia, though, and told him to be quiet. Then a miserable-looking Urr-tarr agreed to try to talk to Darax as none of the PCs trusted him to let them through to the dragon without a fight. It was pretty obvious that Urr-tarr had feelings for Darax, though ... :love: Together with the hobgoblin wizard, the PCs entered Darax's guards' room. It appeared to be empty except for a table with some chairs in the middle of the room and a chest at the far end. A set of stairs in the north wall led down into another room lit from within by torchlight. The PCs could see nothing inside the lower room but they were able to hear what sounded like someone trying very hard to be quiet and not succeeding. :incog: The PCs pushed poor Urr-tarr down the stairs first, and as she reached the bottom, they heard someone yell out "Traitor!" in Goblin and two hobgoblins armed with longswords lunged at Urr-tarr from either side of the entry way. They sliced her open and left her bleeding on the floor. :eek: Roll Initiative! The heroes bravely charged into the room ... well, theoretically at least. They sort of went stumbling down the stairs, with Lemig failing a tumble check and so on. In addition to the two hobgoblins next to the entrance, a third hobgoblin, bedecked in banded mail, could be seen at the back of the room, aiming a longbow at the entrance. In no doubt that this was Darax, Brock wasted no time engaging him in melee. Meanwhile, Edwyd got a feel for his new toy - the mwk dwarven waraxe - using it to brutally slay the two hobgoblin guards! :cool: Lemig again tried to shoot through Brock (:elf:) but succeeded only in angering the dwarf. (I fear Brock is rapidly developing issues with Lemig's fear of dying ... :rolleyes:) Brock's initial attack failed and Darax retaliated by dropping his bow and whipping out his mwk battleaxe, giving the dwarf an injury he wouldn't forget. Fortunately, Brock was able to quickly step back out of Darax's reach and heal himself. At the behest of the others, Lemig in particular, Lestir hung back in the guard room for the duration of the fight, saving his spells for the dragon. However, as the fight moved further into the lower room, Lestir raced down the stairs and unsuccessfully attempted to stabilize Urr-tarr's wounds. As Edwyd and Lemig closed on Darax, a short but nasty battle ensued. :duel: The end result was Darax's death. After this, Brock went and staunched Urr-tarr's wounds, while Lemig made sure the hobgoblins wouldn't be recovering from theirs ... They left Urr-tarr unconscious on the floor while they searched the room. :detect: Brock looked under Darax's bed and found a locked chest and a crumpled-up note that read: Darax, Enough with your pointless sniveling. Kharn will never agree to make you a wyrmlord. Join the ranks or join the dead. - Pash-Kari Needless to say, the PCs helped Darax make up his mind and he has now gone to join the latter ... ;) In the chest, Brock found some coins, a map of the surrounding area, and two mystery potions that seemed vaguely cure light wounds-ish in nature. While searching the bodies, Lemig came across three more potions with the same sort of flavor. He also found a key on one of the hobgoblin guards. They decided to leave Darax in his banded mail. The PCs then went back up to the guard room and looked at the chest there. The key fit, so they used it to open the chest. Inside was a well-made suit of studded leather, a fancy-looking short sword, more coins, some silver arrows, and a whole lot of mundane equipment, including a cracked hourglass that Lemig thought might be something important. When he ascertained that it was nothing more than it appeared to be, he tossed it over his shoulder. Edwyd grabbed the armor and put it on while Lemig swiped the short sword. Then Brock and Edwyd downed the potions of resist energy (acid) that Urr-tarr had given them. Nothing bad seemed to happen, so they proceeded to the big barred double doors at the far end of Darax's room. What appeared to be a crude drawing of a dragon eating a goblin was scrawled on the left door, under which was written in Goblin: "Bad dragon ... acid ... eats goblins ... go away!" :mymy: Taking a collective deep breath, the PCs unbarred the doors and pushed them open. A wide staircase swept down into a natural cave. At the far end of the cave, which was less than 60ft long, Brock and Lemig were able to see piles of coins. To the right of the stairs yawned a gaping hole in the ground. The PCs pushed into the cave. Out of the darkness came the sound of something retching and a line of acidic spittle flew out and struck Edwyd. The human ranger, stumbling around in the dark, was unaffected, thanks to the potion he had drunk moments before. A shrill voice screamed out: "You think you are so big? Noak may be small, but Noak is more powerful than you can ever imagine!" Roll initiative! The dragon (:dragon:) managed to hide for a little while longer, but sadly, I rolled a 4 on her breath weapon recharge, so she had to give up her hiding spot and swooped into attack. She bit at Edwyd and then swooped away again. Edwyd lunged forward, stumbling in the dark, missing with the dwarven waraxe. Brock pursued the dragon, while Lemig took cover behind a corner and readied his bow (:elf:), promising the dwarf that he would wait for a clear shot. Tired of stumbling in the dark, Edwyd retreated and tossed Lestir his tinder box. The wizard then lit a torch and moved forward, tossing it into the center of the room so that everyone could see. Noak managed to score a hit on the dwarf, screaming out "Your puny armor cannot compare to Noak's exquisite scales! as she did so. Lestir then contributed to the fight by using the wand of magic missile confiscated from Urr-tarr. :mage: She screamed in anger as a magic missile slammed into her tiny body and dodged out of the way of the dwarf's next attack, screaming "Noak is too fast for you, puny dwarf!" Lemig finally got a clear shot and went into skirmish mode, hitting the dragon in a vital area. Reduced to less than 10 hp, Noak swept past the PCs and dove into the pit. :chicken: Continued below... *The adventure states that if the PCs are able to strike a deal with Urr-tarr, she offers to "prepare" two potions of resist energy (acid) for them. I noticed last night, as I was looking at the spell description, that it's a 2nd-lvl sor/wiz spell. Urr-tarr is, as far as I can tell, only a 1st-lvl wizard, so she shouldn't be able to cast that spell, let alone make potions of it. Whoops! :rolleyes: |
| pukunui03-30-07, 09:20 PM | After Noak disappeared into the pit, Edwyd was reminded of the smaller pit in the guard room above. He raced back up the stairs and paused at the edge of the pit to catch his breath. Lestir and Brock followed, but Lemig opted to stay in Noak's cavern and guard the bigger pit. The PCs waited for some time, but the dragon did not reappear. Edwyd eventually decided he was going down into the small pit. They tied a length of rope to him and lowered him in. He discovered a tunnel leading to the northwest. After 50ft, the tunnel kept going, so Edwyd backed out and they tied two lengths of rope together so he could keep going. After about 65ft, he came out into a natural cave in which the wind whispered and moaned. (a :cookie: for anyone who gets that reference ...) While the others were gone, Lemig got bored of staring down into the big pit, which stopped 20ft down and turned into what appeared to be another tunnel. The tiefling wandered over to the dragon's piles of treasure and proceeded to search for anything interesting. :detect: Amongst the coins, empty potion bottles and ripped up scrolls, he found an interesting-looking ring and a well-tailored cloak. He stuffed these away in discrete locations on his person and then went back to guarding the pit. :devil: Edwyd,Lestir, and Brock, meanwhile, struggled through the tunnel and climbed out into the windy cavern. Shortly afterwards, they were attacked by a big, ugly monstrous spider. It bit Brock twice but the tough-as-nails dwarf shrugged off the poison both times. Lestir got a hit in with his wand of magic missile before Brock covered the narrow passageway with spider guts. :yuck: They then wandered through the natural passageways until they came back to the hallway with the shrine and shaman's room. Edwyd went back into the shrine and drank from the magical fountain but nothing happened. :confused: The trio then went back and found Lemig, still standing guard at the big pit. The PCs decided that the dragon had skidaddled and wasn't coming back, so they went and searched through the treasure hoard. :detect: There were too many coins to count but nothing else of any interest (thanks to Lemig's previous search). They then agreed to lower Edwyd into the big pit so he could see where it went. 20ft down, the pit turned into a horizontal tunnel. 20ft after that, it turned back up and the ranger could see daylight streaming down from above. He couldn't be bothered climbing out, so he had the others pull him back up into the cavern. They then decided to have a go at the undead creatures guarding the shaman's room. This is where things got a bit hairy for the group ... :bigeyes: Lestir began the attack by casting disrupt undead against the zombie, but he only dealt the creature 1 point of damage. For some reason, he then stepped through the curtain into the narrow 5ft hallway leading into the shaman's room. He immediately felt an evil presence pressing in on him, trying to harm him. He managed to mentally resist and only took half damage from the inflict light wounds trap. The zombie moved forward and threw a punch at the wizard but somehow managed to miss. Unfortunately, the skeleton was wielding a longsword ... A horrible sword wound in his belly, Lestir dropped to the floor, dying at -5 hp! :eek: Brock was the next to step up to the plate, so to speak. He failed his will save against the trap but survived the damage. The dwarf reduced the skeleton to an inanimate pile of bones and dust with a mighty blow from his warhammer, but on the next round the zombie's fist had a similar effect on Brock's bones. :monk: The cleric fell at -1 hp. Edwyd, panicking, moved forward and got zapped by the inflict light wounds trap, falling at -5 hp. :mymy: By this time, Lestir was fast approaching death (:f:) but, miraculously, the blood stopped flowing from his belly wound and he self-stabilized at -8 hp!! :D Lemig could only watch on in disbelief (:blink:) as his companions ran like lemmings into what appeared to be a death trap - although the tiefling seemed convinced that it was not a trap he could find and disarm but some sort of malign force. He fashioned a sort of lasso from his *pink* silk rope and managed to get it around Edwyd's leg. He succeeded on a STR check to pull the dying ranger off the pile. Meanwhile, the zombie moved back to stand motionless against the far wall. Lemig then forced a cure light wounds potion down Edwyd's throat, stabilizing the ranger at -2 hp. Next the tiefling dragged the wizard into the corridor. Finally, he went for the dwarf, but he had some trouble trouble shifting Brock's dead weight ... Lemig rifled through the dwarf's belongings, finding the potions he'd picked up along the way. Unsure of what they all did, Lemig had a play around, finding some that appeared to be similar to the cure potions they'd already used. He used one on the dwarf, bringing him up from -6 to 2 hp. The two then proceeded to revive the Fye brothers and then the foursome retreated into the shrine and locked themselves inside it. Brock gave Lestir some long-term care for 8 hours, then they all took a much-needed rest. Around morning, they all tried the magic fountain again. This time it worked, completely healing the Fye brothers but only healing Brock 99%. Lemig, thus far, had managed to avoid being hit (mostly by using the dwarf as a shield) but his luck was about to run out ... :evillaugh Foolishly, it would seem, the heroes decided to check out the goblins' kitchen area after breakfast. They found the doors locked but Brock eventually managed to pick the lock and they opened the doors. They found an empty kitchen, with a pot of stew simmering over some hot coals and a pile of grain sacks and furs to the right of the door. A crudely-made table sat in the middle of the room, while water dripped from a rusty pipe into a stone cistern by the western wall. There were doors to the north and east. Lestir decided to cast detect magic and discovered that [B]Edwyd's/B] mwk studded leather radiated a faint magical aura, as did several items on Lemig's person. :smirk: Lemig then went to check out the east door. On the other side was a damp and moldy-smelling cavern full of carcasses and other foodstuffs. The floor was covered in water, as well. The tiefling quickly shut the door. Meanwhile, Edwyd went to check the other door, which was slightly ajar. He opened it to find a pantry and a very angry goblin cook wielding a meat cleaver. The goblin yelled "Get out of my kitchen!" and took a swing at the ranger, but missed, hitting the door instead. At that moment, a dire weasel exploded from the pile of furs and launched itself at Lemig, attaching itself to the tiefling's neck and knocking him down to -1 hp!! :gah: Brock took aim with his crossbow and fired at the weasel, hitting it in the back as it savaged Lemig. At the same moment, Edwyd lifted his newfound dwarven waraxe in anger and rolled a natural 20 then confirmed the x3 crit. He sliced the goblin cook in two ... Brock and Lestir both attacked the weasel, eventually killing it. Brock then healed Lemig, bringing him back to 6 hp. We decided to call it a night there. To be continued next week ... |
| Prom04-01-07, 01:00 AM | Hi all, Well the story did not unfold without pain, but we all made it out alive (I play Brock). There must be a few people thinking that Edwyd was a fool to enter the dark holes, and I agree :nonono:. It was like putting a worm on a hook and going fishing. I did try to suggest it was not a good idea, but Edwyd insisted so I tied a rope around Edwyd's leg. Now that Shaman room with the trap, had us all frecking out. All I can say is it was late and the brains' were running low on power :looloo:. Still all lessons are learn by making mistakes (three times). Here are the Cleric's prayers Brock used. Healing prayers: (1) Moradin allow your creative powers to flow into my healing hands. (2) Mighty Moradin fuse this broken bone and flesh, in your holy fires. Brock has the following prayer each day to regain his divine power. Glory to Moradin true and good, Almightly Father creator of Dwarfs, Protect your Dwarven children, Master of sciences and war, Keep the Earth pure and safe. It is a bit Nancy-boy in nature but I can come up with something better later. Prom |
| pukunui04-01-07, 01:12 AM | :ayyyy!: Awesome stuff. Thanks, mate. BTW, I don't think those prayers are really all that "nancy-boy"-ish. Besides, even if they were, it would fit with your character's background, seeing as how Brock's clan views him as something of a nancy-boy for becoming a cleric anyway. ;) So no one got me the Magic Item Compendium for my birthday (just got home from the celebrations), which means I'm free to get it myself. Hopefully I won't get a "wavey-page" copy from amazon like all those people complaining in the Future Releases forum. In other news - I've been in contact with a guy here in Auckland who wants to trade a Lord Soth mini for my extra medium green dragon mini (as well as a lizardfolk rogue for my duergar slaver). I've asked if he'd be interested in joining the group (as we still need a fourth player). He didn't say no - he just said we could "discuss the possibility". I'm gonna meet with him tomorrow. I'll let you know what happens. We could really use another player as our player who runs the Fye brothers is struggling a bit. I think he'd be happier with just one PC. Also, on Wednesday I've got an interview at a design school. I'm hoping to get into their Computer Graphic Design program. It's one year full-time. There's a slim chance I'll get in to the course starting on April 10th, but it's more likely I'll have to wait until their July intake. Even so, I'm fairly confident I'll be able to get in, so that's good ... but I don't think it will really effect anything here (I just won't be around as much - so maybe my average daily post count will drop below 8.5. I swear I don't make that many posts a day! :P) |
| Sunai_Retsinis04-02-07, 10:46 AM | Congratulations with your birthday! Great to have you on a roll again, Pukunui! Enjoy and good luck with your interview and a possible 4th player! Sunai |
| pukunui04-02-07, 03:20 PM | Congratulations with your birthday! Great to have you on a roll again, Pukunui! Enjoy and good luck with your interview and a possible 4th player! Sunai Cheers, mate! |
| Jezza04-06-07, 07:52 AM | Hi, it's the possible 4th player checking in here. Just read the thread, hoping to play some games with you guys soon. Must start my RHoD recap too, as we just had the first session of that tonight. Cheers, Jeremy |
| pukunui04-06-07, 07:59 AM | Session Time: 7 hours (includes 2 hours of "shopping" and 1 hour break for dinner) Characters: Edwyd, Lestir, Lemig, Brock, Lanikar (NPC), Kethra Tims (NPC) Locations: Barrow's Edge and vicinity, Brindol, Marthton, Marthton Graveyard and mausoleum --------------------------------------------- Lestir, Edwyd, and Brock all leveled up after last week's session. Please refer to Post #2 (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=11712173&postcount=2) for details. --------------------------------------------- Leaving Lemig behind to guard the treasure horde, the Fye brothers and Brock trudged back to Barrow's Edge to hire a wagon. Sten Goodseller agreed to let them borrow hers. They then returned to the Howling Caverns and piled up the coins and miscellaneous treasures. They had nearly 5,000 coins (mostly copper, then silver, with nearly 1,000gp plus a handful of platinum pieces) in total. Despite Lemig's protestations that the copper pieces should be left behind, the others insisted on taking them anyway. Back in Barrow's Edge by nightfall, the PCs succeeded in convincing Sten to open up shop for them so they could do some serious shopping. This took quite a while, as did the rest of the shopping the next day. (In fact, it took so long that the group unanimously resolved to confer with me via e-mail regarding any subsequent "shopping trips" so as to keep it away from the gaming table.) Lestir got some stuff identified: his two mystery wands were a wand of cure light wounds (20 charges) and a wand of longstrider (25 charges). Since no one could make use of the latter wand, Lestir sold it to Thamior, the resident wizard in Barrow's Edge for 180gp. He also had the magic shield identified. It turned out to be a +1 light wooden shield - completely functional, albeit with the words "Big Bronk" written on it ... :P (It was suggested to Brock, who decided to use the shield, that the change the "n" to a "c". ;)) They also informed Mallie the innkeeper that they had cleared out the goblin caves and driven away a dragon. She seemed a bit nervous about the dragon, but when they showed her "Big Bronk's" magic shield and explained that it had belonged to the tribe's champion, who was now deceased, she acquiesced and agreed to talk get the dwarf moneylender, Arvel, to pay them the promised 500gp. The other villagers present in the inn all filed past to give the heroes their thanks. Lemig went and hid in the corner, although most of the villagers were slightly put off by his dusty odor anyway. Mallie also agreed to find someone in the village who would be willing to donate a horse and cart to help them carry everything back to Brindol. Brock came over all secretive and paid the temple a visit in the night, informing Listra, the priestess of Pelor in charge of the multi-faith temple, that she would be receiving a large donation the next day. Well, Edwyd and Lestir beat him to it, buy Listra's 3 potions of cure light wounds off her using all the copper and silver coins. They told her to keep the change. Brock, after having another hour long prayer session, came over and congratulated them for doing the right thing. Needless to say, Listra was quite taken aback at the sheer number of coins given into her care. While at the temple, the PCs were approached by the wild elf, Lanikar, whom they had saved earlier in the adventure. He said he had a favor to ask of them. He had received word that things were getting dangerous out in the wilds and so he was hoping that the PCs would be willing to travel with him as far as Witchcross, where he would then seek out the Keepers of Eth to escort him the rest of the way to the Blackfens. Lemig wasn't interested in spending a day going to and from Witchcross, so he countered with offering to take Lanikar back to Brindol with them. The elf agreed. After meeting up with Arvel, receiving their payment, and then getting their horse and cart, the PCs set off with Lanikar for Brindol. The day's travel was uneventful. They made camp in a nice little copse of trees by the side of the road. That night, while Edwyd was on watch, a small green-scaled lizardy-looking creature dressed in leather and wielding two odd-shaped weapons leaped out of the trees and attacked. Despite surprising the ranger, the strange creature was unable to hit him. The others awoke to the sounds of battle and readied their weapons. The creature again missed Edwyd. Lestir hit it with a magic missile and then Edwyd downed it with his waraxe. This was a greenspawn sneak. It's supposed to be CR 2, so I thought it would be a decent challenge, especially considering that they would mostly be unarmored and unprepared. However, they killed it in two rounds without it ever hitting anything. I have two sneak minis, but I didn't want to use them both because I thought it would be too tough. As it turns out, it was a bit too easy. :rolleyes: Needless to say, there was absolutely none of the "What the hell was that?!" factor in this encounter. I think they all thought it was just some sort of lizardfolk thing. Upon returning to Brindol, the PCs took their loot back to their lodgings and then returned to Eldremma Axenhaft's office to see if she had any more work for them. She told them to come back in another couple of days. In the meantime, Lemig went to Red Magic & Sundries and had two of his three magic items identified. They turned out to be a ring of protection +1 and a cloak of resistance +1. He did not get his magic short sword identified. Edwyd got his armor identified as +1 studded leather. Brock bought a guard dog (although I think Prom forgot about it because he never mentioned it again for the rest of the session - I'll have to remember to ask him about it next session ...). A few days after returning to Brindol, the Fye brothers were approached by their mother Anne's friend and colleague, the historian and archaeologist Kethra Tims. A slim, nimble, middle-aged human woman, Kethra, requested the brothers' assistance for her next archaeological expedition. She informed them that she intended to travel to Marthton, situated between Brindol and Dennovar on the Dawn Way. There is a large graveyard the predates the town in the hills to the north and rumors abound of the tomb of a forgotten king buried somewhere beneath the graveyard. The only clue is a lone statue high up in the hills. A veteran of many a dangerous archaeological expedition in the past, Kethra informed the brothers that they should bring along some friends to help in case they uncover anything unsavory in the tombs. She made it quite clear that she couldn't pay them anything - although, should they find the tomb, there would certainly be a share of any treasure in it for anyone helping her do her research. After some consultation, the PCs all agreed to go with her to Marthton. The trip took 4 days by foot. As this part of the Dawn Way is quite heavily traveled, there is little danger and the trip was uneventful. However, they did talk to some merchants traveling in the same direction who said that the road further west was beginning to get dangerous. On the evening of the 4th day, the group arrived in Marthton and headed for the Coronet and Cabbage Inn. While they were eating their meal, they heard a commotion from the back room and then the innkeeper, Ian Turbrand, and a woman in uniform came striding up to the group. Ian indicated that the town needed their help immediately and that they would be amply rewarded. It seemed that a family from the town had gone up to the graveyard two days before to inter a deceased family member. When the family didn't return, Mia, the captain of the town's Sentinels (guards), sent up to her of her men to find out what had happened. They hadn't returned either. Ian and Mia, acting on behalf of the miserly Lord Erethal Rethrew, who conveniently happened to be out of town, asked the PCs to go up to the graveyard and find out what had happened. Ian offered them 50gp from the town's coffers plus 5 times that amount from his own pocket should they also solve the mystery. Ian went on to explain that the town's never had any trouble in the graveyard, of which they are quite fond, for as long as anyone can remember. The town is quite in shock because of it (and the fear was quite evident on the faces of many of the inn's regulars who happened to be eavesdropping on the conversation). The PCs agreed (with Kethra chiming in that it sounded quite exciting and could she come along too?) but asked if it would be all right if they slept first and then went up in the morning. Ian and Mia reluctantly agreed. Mia said she would meet them at the inn first thing in the morning to escort them to the graveyard. Edwyd stuck around the common room for a while and chatted with a dwarf named Gran Stoutbrace, who informed him that his clan had once mined silver in the mountains and that he remembered his father talking about a network of tunnels under the hills. He also learned that the town's resident cleric was a halfling follower of Olidammara named Hergon Hilltopple. While everyone was a bit wary of him, they nevertheless accepted his presence because of the aid he was able to give them. The next day they found Mia waiting at the bar downstairs. They commented that she hadn't said much during the meeting the night before. She informed them that the town only had 9 full-time Sentinels, and with two of them missing, that left only 7. Although hard-working, the Sentinels were not as competent as well-trained adventurers, and she dared not lose any others to the unknown threat in the graveyard. With that, they headed up into the hills. Mia left them at the gates, which she was disturbed to find were open (she informed the PCs that normally they close the gates behind them so as to keep any wild animals out of the well-tended cemetery grounds). Although the PCs would have no doubt preferred her to stay, she insisted that she needed to get back to town as she had duties to perform. She wished them the best of luck. The PCs initially searched the perimeter of the graveyard, then entered through the open gates. They were impressed with the manicured lawns, tended flowers, polished gravestones and statues, etc etc. It was quite obvious that, although the graveyard was older than the town, the locals nevertheless took great pride in keeping it clean, tidy, and pretty. As they approached the mausoleum at the back of the graveyard, Edwyd spotted some wolves lurking amongst the gravestones and behind two statues that flanked the entrance to the mausoleum. The PCs also spotted two dead bodies lying on the landing outside the mausoleum entrance. (We stopped for dinner here, so I'm going to stop my recap and start a new post. I don't know why, but I just don't like really really long posts. I prefer to break the recap up into several posts ... hope that's ok with everyone.) |
| pukunui04-06-07, 08:02 AM | Roll initiative! Our brave heroes moved in to engage the wolves. :fight!: Lemig fired at the one skulking further back in the graveyard but his shot went wide. Edwyd copied the tiefling, firing at one of the wolves behind the statues and missing. Lestir moved up alongside his brother and aimed his wand of magic missile (which he had previously discovered had only 6 charges left) at one of the wolves, the magical bolt doing 2 dmg. Next the wolves behind the statues charged at Lestir, leaping at him with their slavering jaws agape. One got nothing but wizard robes but the other found its mark, doing 3 dmg to Lestir. Brock retaliated by firing his crossbow and hitting one of the wolves for 9 dmg. :D Lemig shot and missed again. Edwyd lunged at one of the wolves attacking his brother but only managed to give it a haircut. Lestir then tagged a wolf with a shocking grasp spell, doing 7 dmg. :mage: The stench of sizzled flesh assailed the Fye brothers nostrils as the wolf howled in pain. In revenge, both wolves sunk their teeth deep into Lestir's flabby bulk, doing a massive 14 dmg and dropping the wizard to -7 hp! :eek: Brock fired and missed and then the third wolf charged him but its teeth found only metal. As it moved in, they heard someone snarl in Goblin, "You die now!" Brock thought it might have been the wolf attacking him and so was a bit unnerved. Lemig then moved in for the kill, striking the third wolf in a vital spot with his skirmish attack, dealing 13 dmg. This particular wolf proved to be particularly tough, although one of its companions then fell to a blow from Edwyd's mwk dwarven waraxe, which has thus far proven to be a real boon to the party (and to think that Edwyd was planning on leaving it behind in Brindol! Needless to say, he was quickly disabused of that idea. :P). Meanwhile, Lestir's lifeblood continued to soak the ground ... Edwyd tried to heal his brother, provoking an attack from the remaining wolf, but was unable to stop the flow of blood. Brock proceeded to smash in the skull of the wolf attacking him and then, on his next turn, moved over to Lestir's side and cast cure light wounds on the dying wizard, bringing him up from -9 to -4. Lestir was now stable but still unconscious. On its turn, the last remaining wolf tucked tail and fled into the recesses of the graveyard. Brock revived Lestir and then Edwyd insisted that his brother take a look at the wolf that had attacked the cleric. They were all of the mind that it had been the one who'd spoken earlier. Lestir succeeded on a Knowledge (arcana) check and determined that it was actually a young worg. Since worgs are more intelligent than regular wolves and have been known to speak, the wizard explained, it's entirely possible that this creature was what they heard. :teach: Kethra, who had been lingering behind the combatants, came up and remarked, "Well, that was all very exciting! Next time, though, Lestir, perhaps you should stay in the back with me." The group then proceeded up the steps and examined the two bodies lying in front of the open mausoleum doors. They were able to determine that the bodies were those of the two guards Mia had sent the day before. They looked like they'd been gnawed on by the wolves. The group then moved into the mausoleum. There was blood everywhere. Edwyd studied the room (:detect:) and decided that there had been a great duel (:duel:) in the room, ending with the death of the guards, whose bodies were later found by the wolves and dragged out onto the landing. He also found a footprint over by a door in the northern wall that looked rather skeletal in nature ... Lemig went over and searched the door for traps. He found none but he did find a key ring with 12 keys on it, one of which was inserted into the door's lock already. Pushing open the door, he could see a narrow staircase descending 15 ft into a room lit by flickering torchlight. The group headed down the stairs into the mausoleum's main burial chamber. 6 torches lining the walls provided enough illumination to keep the place brightly lit. Several stone slabs lined the walls, on which lay several bodies waiting to be interred in the vaults. Two of the stone slabs had been smashed into big piles of rubble that had then been strewn across the floor as a form of barrier. On the far northern wall, vaults 3 high lined the wall. Most had been opened and, by the look of it, looted, except for one in the northwest corner which was nailed shut with massive pitons. The crumpled and bludgeoned body of a middle-aged woman lay at the bottom of some wide steps leading into the room. The group established that this would have been one member of the family that had gone missing. Edwyd and Brock moved forward to examine the nailed-shut vault more closely. As they did so, they were able to turn and look down a side passage to the east. At the end of the passage were 3 skeletons with bows and arrows. Brock got the jump on them and whipped out his mithril holy symbol. (*Prom - you want to post your "turning" prayer when you come up with it? And that new morning prayer you came up with too please ...*) He rolled well on his turning check and utterly destroyed all three skeletons, the divine light radiating from his deity's symbol turning them into little piles of dust on the floor. Roll initiatve! Then the group heard some unearthly groaning. Two of the bodies on the stone slabs stood up. As Lemig by this time was closest, the zombies headed straight for him but missed. Lestir, hearing the sound of fighting, moved to the top of the stairs and fired a ray of frost at one of the zombies, doing all of 3 dmg. :mage: The tiefling then tumbled away and scrambled halfway up the narrow stairway. Brock and Edwyd moved to engage this new threat, the cleric unsuccessfully trying to turn the zombies. The ranger hit one with an arrow to little effect. The zombies then moved up the stairs and tried to slug Lemig again and again the tiefling tumbled away. This time he moved all the way up the stairs and shut the door. The zombies then turned their attention on Brock and Edwyd. One zombie was able to slug Brock for 3 dmg before it was cut in two by Edwyd, who had gotten out his dwarven waraxe. Lemig opened the door and came back down the stairs again, engaging the remaining zombie with his short sword. Both he and Brock, who attacked with his warhammer, were frustrated to find that their attacks had very little effect. In fact, the zombie seemed able to completely ignore Brock's hammer attack. It then biffed the cleric for 7 dmg. All the while wondering why he could hurt the zombies but the others couldn't really, Edwyd managed to cut up the second one, ending the fight. Brock then healed himself with his wand of cure light wounds. After the fight, Brock went back to examine the nailed-shut vault door. He could hear banging and someone yelling "Help! Let me out! Please!" He tried to get Lemig to examine the nailed-shut vault door for traps, but the tiefling only sort of glanced at it before deciding it was trap-free (:devil:). Feeling a bit guilty for that, Lemig offered to try to open it with the dwarf's crowbar. The tiefling soon regretted his offer, though, as he was unable to get it to budge. Brock then took his crowbar back and, taking 20 on a STR check, eventually managed to break open the vault door. Inside was a human girl of about 12. She said her name was Tyra Yurling. The group informed her that her family appeared to be dead but all she could think about was going home. :weep: Kethra offered to escort her back to Marthton. Our heroes then progressed down the rows of vaults to the east until they came to a locked door. Lemig cycled through his newfound keys until he found one that worked. Beyond the door, a passageway extended 60 ft into the darkness. At the end of the hall were more vaults like the ones in the main room. On the north wall were three alcoves with a statue of a woman flanked on either side by fountains bubbling with what appeared to be clean fresh water. Further along the wall was an archway and directly opposite the statue was a door. Brock lit a sunrod for the benefit of his human companions and then trudged down the corridor. First Lemig unlocked the door opposite the statue and peered inside. It appeared to be a private sanctuary containing a statue of a man holding a book and two stone sarcophagi. Everything in the room was very clean and polished. Lemig then shut the door and remarked, "Everything's very clean in there.[I]" Next they went and checked out the archway. They could see some stairs leading down to a landing, then another set of stairs that ended at a door. Lestir decided to cast [I]detect magic. The door at the bottom of the stairs radiated an illusion aura. He then turned his sight elsewhere and discovered that both fountains radiated conjuration auras. To see if the door was real or illusory, Lemig tossed a coin down the stairs. It rattled down and bounced of the door. So Lestir proceeded down and found this: beholder door (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/barrow_gallery/102706.jpg). At first the group thought it was a warning that a beholder (:behold:) awaited them beyond the door, so they got scared off. They went back to the private tomb and sent Lestir in first. The names of Verduun & Gola Mikolos, enscribed on the door, meant nothing to the wizard. Upon stepping foot into the tomb, Lestir was immediately attacked by four mechanical bee-like creatures (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mm4_gallery/98672.jpg). Their poisonous stings dealt the wizard 3 dmg and he failed his fortitude save, taking 2 temporary DEX dmg as well. :help: Roll initiatve! Both Brock and Edwyd moved to within striking distance of the hovering creatures and smashed one each to bits. Lestir retreated and took a sip from one of the fountains, hoping it would be magically healing water like that found in the desicrated shrine in the goblin caves. Nothing happened however. :( On his next turn, Brock smashed a third bee creature. The last one proved very difficult to hit. Three rounds of the PCs all slashing at the air where the creature had been momentarily before passed - during which time Brock got stung twice but resisted the poison both times - before Edwyd finally smashed the last one to bits. Brock and Lemig examined the tomb but found nothing interesting. Lemig was not strong enough to open the sarcophagi, so they gave up on that room and went back to the room with the beholder riddle on it. After some searching and attempting to find a secret "button" by pressing on various pictures, Brock eventually located a key hole. None of the keys on Lemig's acquired keyring worked, but the dwarf cleric was eventually able to pick the lock and the door swung open. |
| pukunui04-06-07, 11:31 PM | A magical white light sprang into life in the room on the other side of the door as the PCs looked in. They could see four chambers, each one roughly octagonal in shape. On the floor in the center of the chamber directly in front of them was a stylized eye. Wary that there might be a beholder (:behold:) lurking in the room somewhere, the PCs edged their way in. Lemig began acting very strangely, throwing out comments like "Fortune favors the bold" and striding seemingly unconcerned into the room. :looloo: He took a quick glance around in each chamber and then stood on the eye in the middle of the room. A magical glow surrounded him but nothing else seemed to happen. He then moved into the western chamber, where he could see four tiles on the floor, each with a symbol reminiscent of one of the beholder's eye symbols from the door riddle. He chose the one he thouht looked like the "Eye of Death" symbol (a sprawled figure) and boldly stepped onto it. A magical glow again sprang up and Lemig failed his save and fell to the floor unconscious. :doh: Brock ran forward and dragged the tiefling off the tile. Edwyd then wandered around, examining each tile closely to determine which one corresponded to which symbol on the door. He found that while most of the tiles were embedded in the floor, four of them were loose and could be picked up and moved. He took the one marked with the symbol he figured was "Charm Person" (two men shaking hands) and put it on the central eye. Nothing happened. He then picked it up and took it over to the tile he thought represented "Painful Wound" (a bleeding man). As he stepped onto the tile, a red glow surrounded him and his body was wracked with pain. I rolled maximum damage but fortunately Edwyd made his Will save and only took 13 dmg, which dropped him to 3 hp. If he had failed the save, he would have taken 26 dmg and would have been dead at -10 hp! :shocked: That was a very close call. Edwyd's player was sweating and started chuckling hysterically, considering that he'd very nearly lost Lestir earlier. He could have lost both of his PCs this session! :bigeyes: Anyway, the group then decided to drag the unconscious Lemig back to Marthton, heal up overnight, then get Kethra to come back with them to help them solve the puzzle. This is where we ended for the night. Fortunately, because it's a long weekend, we will be playing again on Monday afternoon! So expect another really long recap shortly! Lemig's player moved that the group adopt a new house rule - namely, if anyone is firing a ranged weapon into melee and they roll a natural 1, that means they've hit their comrade instead of either hitting the enemy or simply missing. This could get ugly, but the rest of the group agreed. They figured it would be more interesting considering that Lemig seems to enjoy trying to fire his bow through the dwarf, so why not give him a chance to actually hit the dwarf now and again ... :P ;) p.s. On a totally unrelated note: I got into the graphic design course for which I applied (I had my interview last Weds and they said they had "no hesitation" in offering me a place in the next intake). I'll be starting full-time in July. It will take a year. Check it out: www.natcoll.ac.nz. |
| Prom04-07-07, 02:10 AM | Hi All, Here is Brocks Turning Prayer. "Be ash and return to the earth unnatural creatures." Yet another prayer to regain divine power for Brock. Moradin Blacksmith of the Earth, Mighty Forger of metals, Thunder in the bowl of rock and stone, Deliver me from evil, Soul Forger. Creator of hammer and armour, Father of all fathers, Shield and protect your worshipers, Dwarven father re-new my holy powers. Prom |
| pukunui04-09-07, 03:30 AM | Easter Monday session recap coming soon! Summary: Interesting fight with two wolf skeletons and an ogre zombie followed by a BIG fight with a varag zombie and varag mated pair. Result = near TPK. Lemig is dead. Brock is stable but unconscious at -5 hp. Edwyd went into the negative, but was revived by his brother Lestir. The two of them saved the day. Will attempt to write a more condensed recap this time (the last one, I felt, was too detailed and wordy). I'm hoping either Prom or Jezza, who joined us this afternoon, will hop on here and describe the complicated rope tricks that the PCs performed to get themselves over a narrow chasm after the rope bridge collapsed. There was some disheartening talk at the end about giving up on this adventure. :surrender Hopefully my group will find the strength to go on - they just need to rest really. Come on guys, don't give up now! |
| pukunui04-09-07, 04:06 AM | Session Time: 5 hours Characters: Edwyd, Lestir, Lemig, Brock, Kethra Tims (NPC) Locations: Marthton, Marthton mausoleum, forgotten king's tomb complex --------------------------------------------- After returning to Marthton, the PCs found Kethra in the Coronet & Cabbage Inn and asked her to return with them to the mausoleum to help them solve the riddle of the Beholder Room (:behold:). They told her about the picture and riddle on the door, sketching a crude copy of it for her, and she was able to tell them what everything meant. They also inquired after Tyra and were told that she was in the care of some relatives. After depositing the unconscious Lemig in his room, Brock and the Fye brothers went and found Mia, the captain of the town guard, and filled her in on their findings regarding the missing family and the missing guards. She arranged to have two more of her guards accompany the PCs back to the mausoleum to attend to the bodies. The PCs then paid the local temple a visit, where they met Hergon Hilltopple, a halfling cleric of Olidammara. Brock had a chat with Hergon about undead, learning that slashing weapons were most effective against zombies (Brock either slept through most of his tutorials on the undead, and on other religious matters in general, or was too hungover to remember anything -- this explains why he has no ranks in Knowledge [religion] :P). He also bought the temple's three remaining flasks of holy water, while Lestir paid Hergon to heal him of his DEX damage. After this, they returned to the inn to find Lemig up and about. They asked him what he'd been thinking before and he explained that he'd been temporarily out of his senses and feeling unusually overconfident. The others didn't argue with that. So with Lemig back on his feet, the PCs + Kethra and Brock's pet guard dog, Bear, returned to the mausoleum and proceeded to solve the puzzle without further incident. They figured out that the moveable tiles were simply in the wrong order and switched them around until all the tiles were in the same order as shown on the picture on the door. This caused a green ray to shoot from the ceiling and strike the tile showing a man being disintegrated. The whole 5ft section disappeared, revealing a ladder descending 10ft into a small, dark room. *Switching to present tense ... er, I mean, action mode* Edwyd leads the way down, climbing down the ladder into the darkness. He lights a torch and goes down a short flight of stairs, turns a corner, then goes down a second flight of stairs, which are steeper than the first. He spots a pair of wolf skeletons lying in wait on the landing at the bottom. Roll initiative! A fight ensues (:fight!:) and Edwyd is badly hurt. Brock unsuccessfully tries to heal him while casting on the defensive. The PCs quickly confer and decide that the best strategy is for everyone to retreat back up the stairs so that only one wolf skeleton can attack at a time. The others all retreat so that Lemig ends up being the one facing the wolf skeleton coming up the stairs. He gets bitten and runs away, tumbling past his comrades and then scrambling back up the ladder into the beholder puzzle room (:behold:). With Edwyd staying out of harm's way, Brock and Lestir (ably manned by Jezza during this session :clap:) take on the skeletons. The dwarf is able to soften both of them up with some hefty blows from his warhammer and the wizard then finishes them off with magic missiles from his wand. The fighting over, Brock uses his wand to heal the wounded. Edwyd then proceeds back down into the darkness and this time discovers an ogre zombie waiting on the bottom-most landing. It appears to be guarding a door, but as the foolhardy ranger steps down onto the stairs (:nonono:), the zombie charges forward and slams into him, dropping him to 0 hp. :shocked: Roll initiative! Lemig reacts to this new threat by conjuring up a sphere of magical darkness, dropping it right on top of himself and his comrades. He then retreats back up the steep stairs and out of the area of effect, leaving the others to try to hit the zombie in the dark. Brock manages to heal Edwyd again, and the ranger scrambles back up the steps. The PCs hear the zombie shuffle back to its post in front of the door. Meanwhile Lestir consults his somewhat limited knowledge of planar lore and concludes that Lemig must be a tiefling (he has not yet admitted it to any of the other PCs). :teach: Lemig moves back into the sphere of darkness, muttering, "Is it dead yet?" The others reply, "Of course not, we can't even see the damn thing thanks to you!" :rolleyes: Lestir casts flare at the zombie, dazzling it, then Edwyd tries to hit it with one of Brock's flasks of holy water. Unfortunately, he misses, so Lemig takes the remaining two flasks and tosses them through the darkness after receiving some guidance from the cleric. The group can hear the creature's decaying flesh sizzle as the two flasks hit! "Way to go, Lemig! You're finally doing something useful!" :P The group then decides to stand around and wait until Lemig's darkness effect wears off. 10 minutes pass ... Lemig then decides he's going to fire all of his arrows at the zombie, despite the fact that they don't seem to do much. Brock urges Lemig to try the two orange-fletched arrows they found on a skeleton in the mausoleum, but the tiefling is reluctant to part with them. The dwarf kicks him in the shins and says, "Shoot the bloody things!", but still Lemig resists. :banghead: Lestir studies the arrows (:detect:) and concludes that they must have some sort of fire effect on them. The others renew their efforts to persuade the tiefling to use them, but he refuses until Edwyd offers him 75gp as a bribe! :rolleyes: Lemig shoots both arrows. They burst into flame as they fly straight and true, thudding into the zombie and burning it badly. :mage: Unfortunately, it isn't enough to drop the thing, so Lemig proceeds to empty his quiver, transforming the ogre zombie into a pincushion. :D After the tiefling runs out of arrows, Lestir uses his last magic missile charge and succeeds in taking out the zombie! Whew! *Dropping out of action mode* After searching the room and the ogre zombie's body, the PCs then approached the door. They found it locked, so Brock picked it and opened it to reveal a 30ft-long narrow chasm filled with water about 10ft below where he was standing. A rickety old rope bridge spanned the chasm, ending in a wider room at the other end. First Brock threw his grappling hook across the chasm and hooked it onto one of the bridge's support beams at the other end. He then secured it to a beam at his end and wrapped a loop of rope around Edwyd, who then started crossing the bridge. When he was 3/4 of the way across, the bridge collapsed under his weight, but the ranger managed to stay wrapped up in the rope. He then pulled himself the rest of the way across and made it into the far room. :cool: :clap: The next half hour of in-game time consisted of the PCs doing complicated maneuverings with their ropes in order to get them and Brock's armor, which he took off and tied up in a bundle, across the chasm. They also sent Kethra and Bear, the dog, back to Marthton. A disappointed Kethra (:() admonished the PCs as she departed the tomb complex for a second time: "Make sure you tell me all about it! After everyone was across, they investigated the room. There was a closed but unlocked door to the northwest, and a battered door propped up in its frame to the south. The stonework in the room resembled the older masonry work that had started in the corridor outside the puzzle room. The PCs were obviously now in a network of rooms and tunnels much older than the graveyard's mausoleum. Lemig decided to kick in the southern door and discovered a small, shattered room with a hole in the ceiling, out of which dangled a rope ladder. To the east, a shallow pool covered the floor. Dirt and debris littered the floor. Next the tiefling went and opened the other door but stepped aside to allow Edwyd to enter first. The next room appeared to be octagonal, although some support walls in the center of the room blocked his line of sight. Several statues of warriors and princesses could be seen standing in various places around the room, while frescoes of men and women carousing and dragons of different colors fighting marked the walls. Just then, a strange goblin-like creature with horns and studded leather armor lurched forward from behind one of the support walls. With a moan, it moved to attack Edwyd, slashing him with the scimitar it clutched in its decaying hand. Edwyd wracked his brains and was able to identify the creature as a varag, a sort of feral hobgoblin known for its lightning-fast movement. Varags are known for being silent but deadly, he concluded. :teach: "However, this one appears to be dead ... or, rather, un-dead ..." To be continued ... |
| Azar_of_Faerun04-09-07, 04:30 AM | Thanks for spamming my thread, Azar. No problemo. I was trying to be comedic, not hostile in my first post. |
| pukunui04-09-07, 04:33 AM | Roll initiative! (and switch to action mode!) Lemig reacts fastest, tumbling past Brock and into the room. He stabs at the zombie with his short sword, but the blow is deflected by the creature's armor. Brock moves in and manages to get a hit but the zombie appears to ignore any damage his hammer may have caused. The zombie focuses on Edwyd, slicing the ranger up with its scimitar until he falls to the ground at -3 hp! Two live varags, one bigger than the other and armed with a wicked-looking scimitar and short sword, come leaping out from behind one of the support walls and simultaneously attack Lemig before leaping away again. :eek: The tiefling drops to -4 hp, but he self-stabilizes the following round. Lestir puts the bigger varag (who happens to be male) to sleep with his magic, but his companion retreats back around the wall and reappears at his side a few rounds later, waking him up with a slap to the face. Brock uses his wand on Edwyd, bringing the ranger up to 0 hp. The zombie turns its attention to the dwarf, but has trouble finding a way through the ornate half-plate. Brock heals Edwyd again and then Lemig. Both PCs are back in the action. Lemig stands up, steps back, drinks his potion of bull's strength, then tumbles around behind the central partition, going after the smaller of the two varags (who happens to be female). He tries to attack her but misses. She hits him and drops him back down to 1 hp. He tumbles around her and hits her in a vital spot, dealing skirmish damage. It's not enough to kill her, though, and on the next round she retaliates, delivering a mighty blow that strikes the tiefling dead, reducing him to -13 hp! :OMG! Meanwhile, Brock takes to trying to "zap" the zombie with positive energy from his wand of cure light wounds. He backs out of the room and the zombie follows, crowding the doorway. His inability to hit the thing begins to get to him (:headexplo), but he eventually manages to zap it enough times and, with the last charge from the wand, it falls to pieces on the floor. His wand spent, the dwarf then proceeds back into the room and around the partition to attack the male varag, picking up his hammer from the floor as he does so. He is disheartened to find that the varags have healed themselves with potions (:bigeyes:) - the evidence of this being the empty bottles at their feet and the lack of wounds on their bodies. Lestir meanwhile has been alternately firing crossbow bolts at the zombie and the male varag, whenever the latter comes into view. When the varag leaps at Edwyd and gives him a nasty blow, knocking the ranger down to -1 hp, Lestir grabs a healing potion and rushes to pour it down his brother's throat. The varags go for broke ... I mean, Brock (;)). A desperate duel (:duel:) ensues, with both sides getting in some good hits, but then the cleric falls at -5 hp! :eek: Lestir gets the male varag's attention by crossing the room. The varag leaps after him, but Edwyd comes to his brother's rescue, standing in the way. He hacks at the varag with his trusty waraxe (... and to think he was going to leave it behind! :looloo:) then steps back, drops the axe, pulls out his bow, and sends the beast into the afterlife with a well-placed shot! :ayyyy!: The female varag howls in rage and leaps at Edwyd. Lestir then runs over to Brock, who by this time is at -7 hp, and gives him the party's last healing potion, stabilizing the dwarf at -5 hp again. The Fye brothers then turn their attention to the female varag, coordinating their attacks against her. They score enough hits to disable her on 0 hp then call for her to surrender. She just snarls at them, so they fire at her and Edwyd brings her down! --------------------------------------------- And so it ends ... for now. One PC is dead, another is badly wounded but stable, and the party has exhausted its healing abilities. Edwyd is injured as well. A long rest is needed ... but where can they go to get it? Is it safe to rest where they are, amongst all the frescoes of frolicking lads and lasses and ferocious dragons? Returning to Marthton is an option, but will it mean that whoever desecrated the mausoleum and killed the townspeople will get away? Will the PCs give up on their quest to bring these murderers and tomb robbers to justice? Stay tuned ... we will undoubtedly see some big changes during the next session, which will be on Friday as usual. We'll have a new PC; most likely some new strategies; plus, the survivors all earned enough XP to reach 3rd level ... what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? ;) That's all for now, folks. |
| pukunui04-09-07, 08:31 PM | OK - the recap for Easter Monday's session is finished now. Enjoy! Feedback is, as always, welcome. :) Cheers, Jonny |
| Rumple04-10-07, 12:32 AM | No! Lemigs mind wheezed, im not ready, take the dwarf.... ... Forty minutes earlier.... Lemig strode over to the dog relishing the attention. "Your a dog" he observed to beer, brocks dog. "Your a woman" he pointed out to Kethra who was nearby earning him a frown. "Your obese" he laughed at Lestir "and you, you, your a dwarf in heavy armor" he chuckled at Brock, eliciting a threatening stare. Still laughing at the others Lemig lightly skipped to the two ropes spanning the chasm. It was easy work for Lemig crossing with flair and no incident. It took the others some thirty five minutes of struggling to get across. Good times indeed. If only he left his bravado at the next doorway. One lone figure scuttled out of the darkness of the next room. Quick to show off in the face of underwhelming odds Lemig quicly joined the fray swinging his short sword with a flourish. Well and good until two more shadowy shapes appeared out of the corner of his eye cutting him down. Warm, wonderful healing called forth his mind opening his eyes to show the fray still in full swing. Lemig rolled back and pulled forth his strongest potion. His muscled coursed with new strength. Now to really show the others how its done. Now to show death it would not take him today. He would send forth souls in his place. Grinning to himself Lemig ran around the wall partition to see the lone female goblinoid standing by herself. All alone and a woman no less. Easy pickings. Lemig skipped into the fray easily cresting the foul bedding in his way. He continued to skip in and out of combat circling with his shortsword finally coming in with a brutal blow, all his skill and new found might behind it (Critical with 17 damage including skirmish!). Lemig laughed and fell back looking sideways for more enemies, expecting her to collapse from the stomach wound. It was not to be. A curved flash from her direction, close, closer, a searing second of shocked pain then nothing. Lemig slumped against the wall. His heart stopped. Blood unmoving. Awareness was dimming. He felt them rustle through his potions. It wasnt fair. He didnt deserve this. He remembered his fathers words and darkness fell. "We have a soul, but it is not ours. Our ancestor has a claim on it, there is no eternal rest for us, there is no hope Lemig, our best hope is life eternal. For when life ends, we will know pain eternal". ... Somewhere far away red eyes watched him fall. ... |
| Rumple04-10-07, 12:41 AM | :clap: In enjoyed playing Lemig, but am not at all worried by his death. Its all part of the story so its all good. Thanks all for the good times :tiphat: , see you on fri with a new pc. Who will it be? :incog: Nick |
| pukunui04-10-07, 01:23 AM | Good show, Nick! :clap: Thanks for that excellent little eulogy for Lemig! Who knows, maybe someday the others will be strong enough to descend into the hells and rescue Lemig from his fiery torments ... :devil: Thanks also for including that funny bit about "You're a dog, you're a woman" etc. I meant to include that but forgot. That had the whole group doing this: :rofl: Good stuff ... Can't wait to find out who your next PC will be! Keep up the good work. - Jonny |
| pukunui04-10-07, 02:41 AM | Here's a shot of the big fight with the varags ... http://farm1.static.flickr.com/239/453623467_9987b621ed.jpg Minis Key: Good Guys Lestir - white-robed wizard (metal) Brock - dwarf (w/ winged helmet) Lemig - blond-haired guy (w/ blue shirt) Edwyd - lion of talisid Bad Guys Male varag - bladebearer Female varag - hob warrior Varag zombie - hob impaler The other four minis on the map represented statues. |
| snakeheadfish3304-10-07, 11:05 AM | Pukumui, I have to say your recap is a breath of fresh air (there's a lot of Red Hand in the air right now, not that thats a bad thing). Seeing as how your thread has been covering games I've not played it's got me pretty interested and hooked. It's quickly becoming the thread I look forward to most. I also must commend your players for being as involved with the thread as they are. It's a nice touch and shows how into the game they are, which is great. Also, your new table rule about rolling a 1 while firing into melee with a ranged weapon: my friend uses the same rule at his table. Except they have to roll another attck to see if they hit their friend through their AC. I'm not saying that's how you should roll it but I thought you might like the info. |
| Caligula04-10-07, 02:34 PM | "Practice makes perfect", they say in the English language. "Övning ger färdighet" in Swedish. This is your best thread yet, Pukunui. ;) |
| pukunui04-10-07, 04:21 PM | Pukumui, I have to say your recap is a breath of fresh air (there's a lot of Red Hand in the air right now, not that thats a bad thing). Seeing as how your thread has been covering games I've not played it's got me pretty interested and hooked. It's quickly becoming the thread I look forward to most.:dancin: Thanks, shf33!! Although I am very much looking forward to the next adventure, I am also really enjoying being one of the only people doing a recap that isn't about RHoD. Soon, though ... I promise. I also must commend your players for being as involved with the thread as they are. It's a nice touch and shows how into the game they are, which is great.Yeah, it is really cool how involved they are - Caligula and I are both lucky to have players who like to get involved in the retelling of the story. :D Also, your new table rule about rolling a 1 while firing into melee with a ranged weapon: my friend uses the same rule at his table. Except they have to roll another attck to see if they hit their friend through their AC. I'm not saying that's how you should roll it but I thought you might like the info.Yeah, actually, we talked about that last session and that's what Nick (aka Rumple) was thinking when he originally suggested the idea. We actually had an instance of that occurring last session (whoops, guess I forgot to put it in the recap!). Lestir was standing behind Brock and tried to shoot his crossbow over the dwarf's head but ended up hitting him in the back of the head (rolled a natural 1). We then discussed what to do next, and Nick said he was thinking you'd roll again and if the second roll was good enough to beat the PC's AC, then you hit hard enough to do damage, otherwise you still hit but it just bounces off or whatever. So that's what happened. Brock got pinged on the back of the head. Thank goodness he was wearing that outlandish winged helmet of his ... ;) "Practice makes perfect", they say in the English language. "Övning ger färdighet" in Swedish. This is your best thread yet, Pukunui. ;):cheer: Cheers, mate! :cheer: I can't think of any higher praise than that coming from you! |
| Prom04-10-07, 07:39 PM | Hi All, Well "A bad day for all" by Pukunui was very exciting and amusing, here are some of the moments not mentioned. As you may have noticed this little party of adventurers appears to have no leader (madness). With the highest Charisma character being Lemig who is less than helpful most times. We have had some slow sections in the last threads, so Brock the cleric dwarf tryed to lead the charge on "A bad day for all" (sign). :uh-huh: The Beholder puzzle room Edwyd assumed the puzzle lock was very complex and got stung badly as you know (the guy who plays Edwyd is usually very good at solving puzzles). Lemig we found out lost his senses for a moment, or that's what he says (no one believes him):detect:. Dusty Lemig is foolish and stood on the eye of death (no wander we are always getting into trouble). Lestir (Jezza) and Brock proved that the solution was simple by copying the beholder door picture (just being systematic) :teach:. Zombie Orge Encounter Brock has been very tolerant of Lemig considering being shoot in the back of the head, a lack of support from Lemig and being used repeatedly as a shield. Any kind of relationship between Brock and Lemig crumbles away at this point. The Zombie encounter was just bizzare. Everyone worked out that the stair tile was a trigger when Edwyd stepped on and off it after being attacked and then healed :lightbulb. Lemig paniced and cast the darkness that was not at all helpful and hides (is this guy on our side?):hides:. Originally Posted by Pukunui, Lemig moves back into the sphere of darkness, muttering, "Is it dead yet?" The others reply, "Of course not, we can't even see the damn thing thanks to you!" Now we were all stuck, what to do? :thinks: No one was going to step on the staircase tile again. Then what do you know Lemig suggests throwing Brock's dog Bear on the tile as bait for the Zombie Orge. Brock is clearly angered by his suggestion, "No :censored: way are you doing that", shouts Brock. Lemig goes the extra mile by saying "how attached to Kethra are you?", with a snigger from Lemig :plotting: (in other words use Kethra as bait for the monster). Edwyd, Lestir and Brock are shocked :shocked: and Edwyd states "you are sick Lemig that is just wrong and evil". Lestir and Brock agree with Edwyd (I don't like Lemig, he is a nasty piece of work). Lestir casts Flare, someone is using their brain, but is negated by the darkness spell (Oops). What followed next was like a Carnival game, where you knock over the coconuts with a few balls. Then Lemig's ridiculous target practice with almost every arrow he had was very frustrating for Brock, so Brock got out a book on blacksmithing to read while he waited :waits:. The Zombie just did not come down fast at all. Even when the Zombie Orge fell, Edwyd jumped over the tile just incase. Edwyd and Brock insisted in cutting the Zombie Orges head off, just to be safe. The Chasm Encounter The chasm rope trick is not worth mentioning as it confused Pukunui and myself at times. I know Pukunui wanted me to say how we did it, but I think some of it was a scam :schemes: . Lemig made comments about throwing Brock's dog Bear into the water. Lemig insinuated that Brock was going to drown crossing the bridge, because of his heavy armour. Lemig was really annoying Brock now. More to follow..... Prom |
| Prom04-11-07, 10:38 PM | Hi all, Here is a break down of the last encounter "A bad day for all" by Pukunui. By the way I do not have any issues about Rumple who played Lemig, just a game. Varag Encounter Could I have kept Brock in the battle or done anything better? First thing to know is that Brock had two, level 1 spells left when he got to the Varag room and that was it. There were 15 charges in the cure light wounds wand. Edwyd and Lemig fall to the floor during combat very quickly. Brock hit the Zombie once, realized it was a Zombie, then shifted to the wand as a weapon and healing aid. Edwyd took time to heal up and he was getting hit a lot at the same time. As soon as Brock healed Lemig he took off into the room and got nailed again. Brock had to stay in the doorway to block Lestir from being taken out by the Varag and zombie. The AC on the Varag and Zombie was very high and would have matched Brock's and he had the toughest armour out of everyone. Brock suffered a lot of damage during the battle, Lestir's Crossbow hit just about nothing the whole time. Brock has the spell Sanctuary which would have given him 2 rounds of not getting attacked, if the zombie failed it's will save. This would have meant one less healing spell, if he had time between repairing everyone else and himself. The Domain Protection has a granted power that allows one person to get a single resistance bonus to a save throw, not very useful. Brock also has Magic stone, which would have done a lot of damage to the zombie if save throws failled and the stones hit the target. Lemig and Edwyd are the best range characters we have, both spent most of their time face down on the floor. Brock is rubbbish at range and Lestir was not much better from where he was standing (behind Brock). Magic stone may have worked better or it could have been worse. Brock discharge 11 shots to heal himself and his party. Four shots were used to take the Zombie down, near the end of Brock's fight. All two, level one spells were used to heal Brock. The mistake I made was getting Brock to fight inside the room and try and save Lemig, as I had only one spell left. Well it is all history now, big changes are ahead for Brock in this story, we hope. Thanks Prom :) |
| Rumple04-12-07, 01:15 AM | I can explain the rope trick. Imagine two ropes tied in a large loop. Loop around two posts. Cut one end so loop becomes one long rope. Pull rope around post back to self.:tie: And Lemig being an arse was just that. He had issues and took it out on the other pcs:devil: . Expect the next pc to be a bit nicer. :pile: And for the record i have no issues with Fred for playing a dwarf. |
| pukunui04-12-07, 05:58 PM | That's right, it's something like one of those clothes lines that gets put up between two buildings. You pull the line along as you peg the clothes on ... Anyway, we've got a game on tonight! Brock, still in a coma at -5 hp, is having a near-death experience ... Edwyd and Lestir are wondering what to do next and whether or not it's safe to rest in the tomb ... Lemig is, well, discovering whether or not his father was right ... Meanwhile, back in town, Kethra has found herself a bodyguard and plans to head back up into the hills and rejoin the PCs - she's determined to find out who this forgotten king was, so she's not going to let a few little monsters keep her away. She's faced worse than ogre zombies and ancient rope bridges before. Besides, she's not as helpless as she might look ... :angelhide The surviving PCs have improved to level 3 (see post #2 (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=11712173&postcount=2) for details). Cheers, Jonny p.s. I just got some temporary work for the next 6 weeks or so. It's full-time, so I won't be around at home as much. I don't think it will impact on my ability to DM, but it will certainly impact on the amount of time I can spend loitering around on the boards here ... :P |
| pukunui04-13-07, 09:57 AM | Just got home from the session. It's 2am so I'm not going to attempt to write a recap now. Just wanted to let you know that we had an awesome session. I finally got to use my 3D props (got a pic for you!). :w00t: I seem to be getting good at killing PCs. :devil: Edwyd died this time. That's two PCs in two sessions. The player hasn't decided yet whether he wants to roll up a new character because he's still got Lestir. We might be getting a permanent 4th player, so that'll mean a new character for him ... if Jezza shows up next Friday, we might need another character for him to play, too. Anyway, some exciting times. The highlight of the night was when both Brock and Edwyd fell 50ft into a foot of water. Brock managed to survive the fall all right, but Edwyd nearly died. He was at -9. It wasn't until later, when two fiendish dire weasels both got natural 20s and then confirmed the crit and did a total of 27 damage, taking Edwyd to -14 hp, that he actually died. Anyway, gotta get to bed. Will write the recap sometime over the weekend. Cheers, Jonny |
| Prom04-13-07, 10:23 AM | Hi All, Here is Brocks near death experience, after being cut down by the Varag. Originally Posted by Pukunui, The varags go for broke ... I mean, Brock. A desperate duel ensues, with both sides getting in some good hits, but then the cleric falls at -5 hp! Brock finds himself standing on the shoreline of a lake in a forest. A bright light from an old building shines brightly from across the shimmering water of the lake. He is drawn to the noise of clanging metal, and walks toward the building. As Brock gets closer to the building he realizes that it is a Smithy, he can also hear shouts from people behind the building. Brock finds himself standing at the door of the Smithy looking at a figure striking metal with a hammer. The metal sparks and bends over the anvil, the hammer strikes again. Then he notices the figure is a dwarf, older then he is but strong. He comes closer and the face of the dwarf is his father Chisum Ludwick :shocked:, bending and drawing out the metal with each hammer stock. Brock is not sure what to do next so he just stands and watches for while. Finally he moves forward and puts his hand on the shoulder of his father, but Chisum continues to work. Brock is unsettled by his fathers reluctance to stop working and pay attention to him. The sounds of shouting out the back of the Smithy get louder. Brock looks back at his father once more, but Chisum continues to pound the metal on the anvil. Slowly Brock puts his head out the door way and see's two dwarven men fighting with axe and hammer :duel: . He is shocked when he see's that it is his brothers, Mitch and Dorin. Mitch and Dorin weave and clash with force, with neither showing signs of stopping. Then Mitch catches the back of Dorin's Axe with his hammer and Dorin is thrown to the ground. Dorin looks up and sees Brock watching him, "what are you looking at", snaps Dorin to Brock. Mitch stops and notices Brock now, moves past Dorin to place his hammer on the side of the Smithy. Dorin rolls back to his feet and stretches his neck. Both dwarfs look Brock over while drinking from their flasks of water, they have picked up off the ground. "Well, what do you want Brock", asks Mitch. Brock does not know what to say at first, and both brothers look inpatient. "Father will not stop working", says Brock with confusion in his voice. "Why should he Brock", replies Mitch. "You became a Cleric of all things, and not a very good one at that", Mitch states as a fact. "Your comrade is dead and you couldn't even protect yourself, pathetic" scornes Dorin. "What you going to do now Brock, die!", mocks Mitch and looks him straight in the eye. Brock feels his body get heavy and light fades, then falls to the ground. At this point Brock wakes up in the company of the Fye brothers. More to follow from Pukunui. Prom |
| snakeheadfish3304-13-07, 11:12 AM | Nice touch Prom. That little story told so much and at the same time left so many unanswered questions. Like an episode of Lost. Look forward to the recap. The 50ft. fall sounds rough. Oh the life of an adventurer ... |
| pukunui04-13-07, 07:03 PM | Session Time: 6 hours (7:30pm - 1:30am) Characters: Edwyd, Lestir, Dryfoot, Brock, Kethra Tims (NPC) Locations: forgotten king's tomb complex --------------------------------------------- Varag Fight Aftermath Brock lay on the floor in a coma, having a near-death experience (see Prom's post above), while the Fye brothers explored the octagonal room. They took everything of worth off Lemig's body and left it slumped where it fell against the inner wall beneath an ancient fresco of men and women carousing in a tavern. Edwyd found a potion on the tiefling's corpse that turned out to be cure moderate wounds. He also took back the money with which he had bribed Lemig to shoot the fire arrows at the ogre zombie. :smirk: Edwyd then checked out the varags' chest, hoping there would be some potions or something in it, but unfortunately he found nothing but preserved meat. :( He took some as he was feeling a bit hungry and left the chest where it was. Together with his brother, he then dragged Brock out into the hall and then into the shattered room. The ranger peered up the shaft in the ceiling and saw a tiny pinprick of light far at the top but nothing else. Just as the brothers were getting ready to rest, however, Edwyd spotted a spindly creature with long, tentacle-like limbs crawling out of the shaft. It approached and Lestir recognized it as a choker. He was able to remember in time that chokers like shiny things, and so he offered it some food and 5gp. It took both and then crawled back into the shaft, leaving the brothers alone. They didn't see it again. Their rest went undisturbed until the following morning. Brock, who had recovered enough to reawaken, was just finishing his morning prayers when the rope ladder started to move and they could hear something coming down. :eek: The trio got scared and readied their weapons ... Then a massive humanoid man, dressed in a chain shirt and bristling with equally massive weaponry squeezed out of the shaft and landed on the ground with a mighty thud. :shocked: He was quickly followed by none other than Kethra. The PCs were very glad to see her. She introduced her new companion as a half-giant named Dryfoot. She went on to tease the PCs, saying, "You didn't really think I'd stay behind, did you? I came here to find the tomb of the forgotten king and that's what I jolly well intend to do! I'm not going to let some silly things like undead creatures and primitive hobgoblins keep me away! I've seen worse in my day." Kethra then spent an hour or two excitedly examining the frescoes and statues in the octagonal room, taking notes and drawing sketches, while the others stripped the varags of valuables and had Lestir cast detect magic on everything. In addition to some of the things they'd gotten from Lemig (a cloak, a ring, and a short sword), one of the varags' suits of armor radiated a magical aura. The group shuffled some equipment around and then headed over to the far doors in the octagonal room. They were locked and Brock had some difficulty getting them open. Kethra told him to stand aside, whipped out her own set of lockpicks, and proceeded to have the doors open in no time. On the other side was a short, 30ft long corridor that bent slightly to the south west about halfway down. At the far end were two doors separated by about a foot of solid rock wall. Followed by the torch-bearing Kethra, Edwyd padded silently down the hall ... unfortunately, there wasn't much point as the half-giant Dryfoot came thudding and clanking along behind him. He seemed somewhat embarrassed by this but was unable to move any quieter. Canal Room At the far end of the hall, they found that the northern-most door was unlocked but seemingly jammed shut, while the southern-most door opened easily. It opened onto a little corridor that ended in a 15ft drop. A ladder led down to another corridor that headed west. Brock went first and found himself in a cool, damp room with a sort of canal running through it. A balcony ran along the north wall. Statues of warriors with swords raised lined either side of the canal. A narrow bridge crossed it at the far end of the room, ending in a steep flight of stairs that went up to a closed door and the balcony. Two dead varags lay on the floor and two of the statues were smashed. The group proceeded into the room. Brock examined the bodies, determining that the varags had died of hypothermia. They were still quite wet. Edwyd searched the bodies, finding a potion on each. Taking investigatory sips, he found them to be cure light wounds potions. He also found some old jewelry that looked as if it might have been taken from the vaults in the mausoleum. Brock then headed for the bridge, his intention to cross, climb the stairs, and try out the far door. However, the moment he stepped on the bridge, a column of water rose up out of the canal to his left (think the watery alien thing from The Abyss). It bubbled at him: "More intruders. Go back the way you came. This is a place of rest." Brock backed up and the group prodded Lestir forward, since he now has the highest Diplomacy modifier at +2. :P Lestir explained that they weren't tomb robbers and that they didn't mean any harm. They just wanted to explore. This understandably did not impress the water creature. :nonono: It reiterated its demand that they leave. Edwyd tried to offer it the jewelry he had found on the bodies, but the creature replied saying that the jewelry had not been taken from this tomb and that it, personally, had no use for such things. So the group retreated. They went back out into the hallway and tried the jammed door. After some fiddling about, Dryfoot, aided by Brock and Edwyd for a total STR roll of 28, managed to shove the door open. They found a passage that led out onto the balcony overlooking the canal. Edwyd went first, trying to sneak along the balcony to the door, but the water creature spotted him and blasted him with cold water. Roll initiative! A fight ensued (:fight!:). Edwyd got blasted with cold several more times and retaliated by firing several arrows at the creature. Brock moved across the balcony and opened the door, finding a long, statue-filled hallway on the other side. Dryfoot sought guidance from Kethra, who told him to listen to the others in combat situations. The half-giant nodded in understanding and went to aid the others. He attacked the water creature with his large guisarme, "tripping" it and causing it to fall back into the water. He wacked at it again as it disappeared. For a moment, the PCs thought maybe it had gone. Lestir ran across the balcony and went into the hallway, as did Kethra. The creature then reappeared, blasting Dryfoot twice before Edwyd put another arrow into it, causing it to melt away into the water. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/220/458060411_c6a2f9ad31.jpg The Hall of the Honored Regretting the outcome of their encounter with the watery guardian, the PCs shuffled into the long hallway to examine the statues. Four statues lined the east wall, each one standing in front of a sealed vault. The first was of a female human wizard, the second a dwarf cleric of Moradin (Brock was excited about this), and the third and fourth twin elves, one wielding a bow and the other a sword and dagger. At the far end of the hall, two onyx statues of guards stood to either side of a closed door, their halberds crossing above it. Another door stood halfway along the western wall. Kethra studied the hallway and the statues and deduced that it was some kind of tomb for honored champions of the king or his guardians or some such thing. The PCs were a little unnerved - paranoid that the statues or the long-dead heroes might come to life and attack them for intruding. Brock went to the far door and found it was locked. He tried to pick the lock but was unable to do so. Kethra couldn't get it either. Stumped, they turned to the side door. It was unlocked. A narrow twisting corridor descended into a little room with a reinforced vault door and a statue of a man holding a book. Just as Brock descended to the bottom of the stairs, a tall, ratlike hobgoblin leaped out of the shadows and attacked him with a rapier. Roll initiative! Edwyd moved down to help Brock and the two of them exchanged blows with the hobgoblin. :duel: The ratlike hobgoblin feinted twice and both times Edwyd fell for it. He took hits in some vital areas and dropped to -1 hp. :rolleyes:. Brock, who had withdrawn up the stairs, sighed when he heard Edwyd squeal and trudged back down to heal him. Meanwhile, Dryfoot patiently readied an action at the top of the stairs. Once healed, Edwyd retreated up the stairs, leaving Brock to fend for himself. As the dwarf retreated as well, the hobgoblin followed him, attacking him the whole way. As he stepped out into the hallway, Dryfoot struck, knocking him to the ground and beating him. The half-giant was a bit bewildered when some of the wounds he had dealt seemed to heal almost immediately. The hob stood up, taking hits from everyone as he did so. Despite his ability to resist damage, he was nonetheless taken down to 1 hp, at which time he threw down his weapon and called for surrender in Common. :surrender The PCs talk with the hobgoblin for a bit. He reveals he is a wererat. He explains that the tomb robbers were being led by a human sorcerer named Xeron and a hobgoblin cleric named Krootad. There were several varags and hobgoblins in the group, as well as a halfling, a goblin, a half-elf, and another human. He explained that he had turned back after the others had entered a magic maze farther ahead. He refused to say anything more but begged to be let go. Although Dryfoot wasn't keen, and Edwyd wanted to tie him up and leave him in the hallway, Brock eventually saw reason and agreed to let the wererat hobgoblin go so long as he gave up all his stuff. He handed everything over, including a key to the locked door at the end of the hallway. After the hobgoblin scurried away towards the canal room, Brock descended back into the small room and had a look around. He noticed an inscription on the book held in the statue's hands. It read: "Two as one can win the day, The one with two shows the way, Brave the blade to break the seal, Twist the knife, it will reveal." The PCs puzzled over this riddle for a while and eventually came to the conclusion that it meant they should twist the dagger held in the dual-wielding elf statue's hand. Upon doing so, they heard a loud scraping sound coming from down in the little room. Brock headed back down and discovered that the vault door had opened. Inside was sarcophagus, the lid of which swung open easily to reveal a cache of goodies: a scroll, a partitioned quiver, some bracers, a rapier, and an ephod (a priestly vestment). When Lestir cast detect magic on everything, only the scroll failed to register as magical. The wizard took the scroll and read the following: "We who rest still long to serve. If you seek the same, take our goods and be blessed. If greed moved this stone and not a true heart, may our curse find you ere we awake." :eek: After the unidentified magic items had been distributed, Dryfoot thanked the dead and closed the sarcophagus. The PCs then headed back up into the hallway and went and unlocked the far door ... |
| pukunui04-14-07, 11:42 PM | Inner Vault Brock went and unlocked the door at the other end of the hall full of statues. On the other side was another hall, this one stretching east to west. At either end, iron ladders led down to further corridors. The group settled on the western corridor, a narrow hallway with scenes of battle displayed on the walls. When they rounded the corner at the end of the hall, they came across an opening into an oddly-shaped inner room. The most striking feature in the room was the large statue of a gold dragon crouched in front of a basin. Out of the statue's mouth came clear water. Directly between them and the statue lay the skeleton of a large horned creature. Beyond the statue lay four more skeletons. A hobgoblin dressed in black armor was just crouching in front of one, inserting a black gem in its eye. As the heroes watched, the hobgoblin then pulled out a scroll and animated the four skeletons! :eek: Roll initiative! Brock got the jump on the enemy cleric, presenting his holy symbol and calling down the wrath of his deity. For some reason he couldn't quite place, the dwarf cleric felt particularly empowered; as a result, all four skeletons were completely obliterated by the divine radiance emanating from his holy symbol. The hobgoblin maneuvered around behind the statue and placed a much larger gem in the horned skeleton's mouth. Before he could do anything else, however, Dryfoot decided to act. He came around the corner and expertly pulled the hobgoblin off his feet with his oversized guisarme. Before the evil cleric had even hit the ground, the others were on him, with Dryfoot, Brock, and Edwyd all getting in hits. In fact, Edwyd landed a particularly well-placed blow (with a confirmed natural 20), severing the cleric's spine and ending the combat encounter there and then. :clap: On the cleric they found a magical heavy pick, a holy symbol of Tiamat, and a note reading: "Krootad, Timing is everything! Don't let Xeron get away with the treasure. Kill him if you have to! Report back to me at Vraath Keep when your mission is complete. Remember - the penalty for failure is death! - Koth" To be continued ... Lestir read the note out loud. Kethra mulled over it for a while and then she remembered what sounded so familiar about it. :lightbulb She had an old map of Vraath Keep somewhere. She opened up her backpack and took it out, presenting it to the group. She explained that the keep was an old ruin somewhere out in the western part of the vale. It had quite a tragic history and there were rumors of treasure hidden in a secret vault beneath the castle somewhere ... but the PCs weren't interested in hearing any more at that point, so Kethra fell silent. Dark Islands In the north wall of the vault chamber, two doors lay smashed on the floor. Behind them, a crack in the floor led into a vast, impenetrable darkness. Someone had attached a rope to a spike and dropped it into the crevice. Brock peeked over the edge and could just make out a landing at the edge of his darkvision. He started down first but partway along, he slipped and started to fall. He managed to catch himself, though, and proceeded to tie his rope to the other rope and then lowered himself down that way. :rolleyes: When he got to the platform, he looked around and realized that the cavern was big. He could also heard the sound of rushing water coming from far below. The others followed without much difficulty. They found themselves on a small little platform with darkness falling away all around them. A knotted rope was attached to an iron spike at the far end and descended to another platform 50ft below the first. Edwyd decided to go first, clutching one of Brock's sunrods in his mouth so he could see where he was going. Almost as soon as the ranger had reached the next platform, a strange creature flew out of the darkness at him. It appeared to be a strand of muscle connecting two eyeballs (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mmiii_gallery/83056.jpg). As it neared, it aimed one of its eyeballs at Edwyd and caused him to go to sleep. It then lashed itself around his neck and started strangling him. The others heard Edwyd's strangled cry and wondered what had happened. Lestir peered through the darkness then conjured up an ice knife and chucked it down, hoping to strike the creature wrapped around his brother's neck. Unfortunately his aim was not true and he struck his brother instead, doing 9 cold dmg and 2 DEX dmg! :nonono: Unable to tell whether Edwyd was even still alive, the others nonetheless berated Lestir for his bad aim and then started down the knotted rope, Dryfoot in the lead. He got down in two rounds and grabbed hold of the strange creature, slipping into an angry rage before ripping it from Edwyd's throat and bashing it into unconsciousness. Just to be sure, he then ripped it apart and through the remains over the side of the platform. The group discovered that Edwyd had miraculously managed to resist suffocating and was thus still alive - despite his brother's and the strange creature's combined efforts to the contrary. ;) The next platform was 10ft away and 20ft down. Although there was another rope (unknotted) stretching between them, Dryfoot decided to show off and safely jumped across to the next platform. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/248/458056165_e3bdf5c7c2.jpg Brock decided to use the rope but halfway down he slipped ... and fell ... 50ft ... to the bottom of the cavern. He discovered that the cavern floor was covered in only about a foot of water. Talk about a belly flop. Ouch! Fortunately, the dwarf managed to survive (I rolled 5d6 and only got 13 :P). As he picked himself up, he noticed a pile of bones lying crumpled at the foot of the third pillar ... it looked like a long-dead beholder (:behold:). Brock suddenly got very worried, remembering the beholder puzzle room and wondering if there might be a live one floating around somewhere ... Next Kethra showed off as well, throwing a little strip of cloth over the rope and sliding down that way, landing gracefully at the end. Edwyd was impressed and attempted something similar, using his grappling hook instead of a strip of cloth. Unfortunately, he didn't get a good enough of a grip with the hook and he too fell ... all ... the ... way ... to ... the ... bottom. :rofl: Brock saw him coming and managed to get out of the way. :gah: The reckless ranger went straight through the water and smashed into the hard rock of the cavern floor with a sickening smack. Edwyd's battered and broken body (at -9 hp!) floated up on the water next to Brock, who healed him up to 2 hp. Lestir was the last to cross to the third pillar. He felt unusually bold and tried Kethra's method. Unlike his reckless but thin brother, the chubby wizard managed to get across without any problems, even managing to land on his feet at the end. The group still up on the platform discovered to their dismay that the rope connecting the third platform to what appeared to be the last had been cut. Lestir lowered his silk rope to Edwyd, who attached his grappling hook to it. He then swung it out and managed to hook it onto the steel post on the last platform. He then secured his end to another steel post. Dryfoot, Kethra, and Lestir all crossed the final 10ft gap without incident, while Brock and Edwyd sloshed through the water to the last platform, where they were hauled up the 20ft cliff together by the immensely strong Dryfoot (think Andre the Giant in Princess Bride). After collecting himself, Edwyd had speaks with his brother regarding the ice knife (:rant:) but the others eventually managed to get him to calm down so they could study their surroundings. The fourth platform ended in a wall and a rope ladder rising 30ft to an opening in the wall. Dryfoot went up first and tied a rope to the post at the top. He then threw the rope back down so the paranoid dwarf (having recently developed a severe distrust of pre-existing ropes and rope ladders :looloo:) could fasten it around himself before climbing up. The rest of the group scrambled up after him. They found themselves in a squarish room with magical runes all over the walls and the floor. Lestir cast detect magic, but the whole room radiated a strong aura and he was unable to distinguish any individual type of magic. The PCs chose the exit immediately opposite them and so entered the magic maze ... Magic Maze For the next little while, the PCs wandered seemingly aimlessly through room after room that appeared more or less the same (roughly square, with runes on the walls and floor, and a varying number of exits). Occasionally they encountered a room shaped slightly differently, but for the most part they could very well have been going around in circles and not have known it. Several times in their wanderings, the runes glowed brightly as they entered and various creatures appeared. The first time it was a pair of fiendish dire weasels ... Roll initiative! One attacked Brock and latched onto his neck while the other went for Dryfoot but somehow managed to miss (I rolled a natural 1). Although the one attached to Brock managed to drain 3 CON's worth of blood from the dwarf, it was quicky sent back to wherever it had come from by Edwyd. The group made short work of the second weasel and then proceeded deeper into the maze. The second time the runes flared, a glowing orb that Lestir identified as a lantern archon appeared. It spoke to them softly in Common, asking them to follow it through the right door, but upon entering the next room, it vanished. "Well, that wasn't very helpful"m, Brock grumbled. The third time the runes flared, a second pair of weasels appeared. Both won initiative and leaped straight for Edwyd's throat. I rolled confirmed natural 20s for both and then rolled 27 dmg. Edwyd fell to the ground, his throat torn out. Brock rushed in and confirmed that the ranger was dead before smashing one of the weasel's with his hammer. Lestir put the other one to sleep and Dryfoot crushed it with his huge maul. Lestir, in a state of shock, went over to Edwyd's body and started rifling through his brother's stuff, sorting out what he wanted to take with him and what he wanted to leave behind. The others could only stand and watch in dumbfounded silence ... :blink: :uh-huh: :bigeyes: And that, my dear readers, is where we ended at 1:30 in the morning. Look for next session's recap next weekend! Hope you enjoyed this one! :D |
| Efyegon04-15-07, 05:18 PM | So much for my indestructable ranger. For the record Edwyd had 14 int, this did NOT get reflected well in the way I played him, ah well the character I'm rolling up is a sorcerer with 18 CHAR and 6 INT. Think I can act that out pretty well. Still, Lestir's still alive for now. :D But first a brief recap of Edwyd's skill with Cheating death and teasing fate. :teach: I guess fate doesn't like being bullied. 1) It's your first encounter as an adventurer, be the man, ignore the fact that your shortbow has a range of 60ft, close to within 30ft and shoot repeatedly and miss horribly. Next, place your small supply of arrows above the value of your life and close for melee combat - Edwyd went straigt to 1hp the next round. :nonono: 2) Approach a dark and ominous cave with a barking dog at the front and a javelin weilding goblin behind it, shoot the dog and insist that you come in peace, when the message is not received, stand 30ft from the goblin, throw both hands up in the air unarmed and repeat the message. 3) Walk into a pitch black dragon cave without a lit torch and relying solely on a resist energy potion and blind luck to save you. :bigeyes: 4) Upon entering a graveyard and noticing two wolves, forget absolutely every bit of good sense you learnt as a ranger as well as the fact that you now have a range of 110 ft from a composite bow and close to 50ft. :thinks: Edwyd did ok here mainly because his brother (supposedly 18 INT) was even more stupid and stood next to him trying to get a clear shot despite the fact that he's a wizard and should know better. 5) Stand on a tile depicting a painful wound and hope it brings enlightment for solving a trap. :looloo: 6) See clearly a large undead ogre in the corner of a room, and stride in boldly only to get smacked for 16 dmg 7) Antagonise the big mean water elemental guarding the tomb you're trying to enter despite seeing what happened to the two varags who came before you. :crazy: 8) Do a fifty foot bellyflop into one foot of water. Dear oh dear, some people never learn. :doh: 9) While Walking through a magical maze, get fed up with the dwarf taking 20's on searching for traps and stride boldy into the room. "Ooops" just doesn't cover it here and two dire weasals appear and rip my throat out. :allalone: You wanted a Eulogy?! There once was a ranger from Dauth Who hated goblins with unrivaled passion Too quick to fight with armour so light Now he's clothed in a planar fashion. :ghosted: |
| pukunui04-20-07, 04:51 PM | Just a quick note to say that last night's session went pretty well. Nobody died. :w00t: They continued to stumble around in the maze a bit. At one point a half-orc rogue appeared. He joined them. They then found their way out and came to a room with a big pool. Then after that they found a half-elf bard woman in a pit. They hauled her out, healed her up, and interrogated her. She'd been part of the tomb robber gang but only reluctantly. They then went and fought some weird construct things and Brock delivered the final blow to all of them. Dryfoot fell in a pit and then almost died later on. The group decided to rest before continuing on. Will elaborate more when I get a chance. |
| Prom04-20-07, 05:48 PM | Hi All, Just to continue the story on from last time. Original post from Pukunui, Lestir, in a state of shock, went over to Edwyd's body and started rifling through his brother's stuff, sorting out what he wanted to take with him and what he wanted to leave behind. The others could only stand and watch in dumbfounded silence ... Brock pulled out of his pack a wooden holy symbol and placed it around Edywyds. He asks for silence and says, Here rests the body of Edwyd Fye , Brother of Lestir Fye , Colleague and friend to me, Edwyd was quick to assist his friends in need, His death was not expected, As he cheated death many times like a cat, A strong and tenacious fighter, Edwyd was not a person who gave up easily, Edwyd will be missed, Protect thee in the name of Moradin. The rest to follow from Pukunui. Prom |
| pukunui04-20-07, 06:06 PM | Session Time: 4.5 hours Characters: Lestir, Dryfoot, Brock, Griff, Kethra Tims (NPC), Leera (NPC) Locations: forgotten king's tomb complex --------------------------------------------- Griff is a new PC. See post #2 (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=11712173&postcount=2) for details. --------------------------------------------- The PCs said their goodbyes to Edwyd and then agreed that they should rest before continuing on through the maze. In what they presumed was the morning, they pushed on, looking for the way out of the maze. As they entered the next room, a bewildered-looking half-orc appeared in front of them. "Who are you?!" challenged a surprised Brock, who had been expecting more fiendish dire weasels, if not something worse. "I'm Griff," replied the half-orc, looking around. "How did you get here?" "I was sitting, having a drink in the Ten Bells in Dennovar. I insulted a wizard and he teleported me here," Griff answered. "What did you say to the wizard that made him do that?" asked Brock suspiciously. "Oh, I think it was because I called him 'shiteyes'," the half-orc responded, matter-of-factly. Brock wasn't buying it (:nonono:), but the half-orc appeared to be telling the truth. When the dwarf inquired as to whether or not Griff had any useful skills, the answer he got was "Oh, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. If you need a lock picked or a wall climbed, I'm your man!" Somewhat reluctantly, the PCs agreed to allow Griff to accompany them as they tried to find their way out of the maze. They stumbled along through the maze, taking each left-hand passage at Griff's suggesting and finding that whenever they tried to search a room, some sort of magic tried to mess with their minds and distract or confuse them. Then the runes in one room summoned up a Large fiendish monstrous scorpion! Yikes! :eek: Roll initiative! :fight!: Lestir unloaded all of his offensive spells at the scorpion, first trying sleep, which had no effect, before hitting it with an ice knife and two magic missiles. :mage: Griff, who had been the point man, kept tumbling around, trying to get hits in until he finally found a chink in the scorpion's carapace through which he was able to stab his rapier. With Brock providing a flanking bonus, Griff was able to get sneak attack damage as well. :ayyyy!: Dryfoot moved in, smacked the scorpion with his oversize maul, and then took the full brunt of the creature's next attack, getting cut up by its claws and stung by its tail. He failed his Fort save vs, poison and took 4 Con dmg. He was also reduced to -2 hit points! :eek: Brock hit the creature with his hammer but it shrugged off the damage. When Dryfoot fell, he turned and tried to defensively cast a cure moderate wounds spell in order to stabilize the half-giant but the scorpion proved too much of a distraction and he failed his Concentration check. The next turn he tried again and succeeded, stabilizing Dryfoot at -3 hp. He then turned, took out the magic pick he'd taken from Krootad and sank it deep into the scorpion's body, killing it instantly. :clap: Brock then healed Dryfoot more fully, bringing him back to the world of the living. "How are you doing, Mr Foot?" asked the dwarf. "I've seen better days," replied the taciturn half-giant. :rolleyes: About a minute later, Dryfoot felt weak again, losing another 1 Con to the scorpion's poison. The group came to the conclusion that they ought to be trying to find the way out by following the tomb robbers' tracks. They eventually located them, after a battle of wills against the magic of the maze, and succeeded in following the tracks out of the maze. They came to a big cavern where the maze's corridors had been eaten away by the flow of water. Three pillars of rock stood out in the middle of the cavern. Brock could make out more corridors on the far side. On both sides, cliffs dropped 20ft into the water, which Brock determined was 15ft deep by lowering his grappling hook into the depths. Fortunately, one cliff on each side dropped onto a rocky shore rather than straight into the water. Dryfoot lowered Griff down the cliff. The half-orc noted that the cliff was slick with moisture, as was the rough ground. As he progressed a little ways along the shore, he spotted more runes on the floor. He called back to the others to warn them. Brock went down next, followed by the others. Dryfoot then attempted to climb down himself but slipped on the wet cliff and fell, hitting the ground with a thud. :gah: Griff suggested entering the water and swimming along the edge in order to avoid the runes, as they came very close to the shore. As he entered the water, a roiling mass of miniscule crimson worms welled up out of the depths of the water. It started towards him and then a much bigger version, about the size of a human leg, appeared and attached itself to the half-orc's neck, draining a total of 2 Con's worth of blood from him! :eek: Dryfoot grabbed Griff and hauled him out of the water, then took hold of the worm and ripped it off the half-orc's neck. Although he wanted to rip it up, instead he just tossed it back into the water. Brock tried to shoot the swarm with a crossbow bolt, but it had no effect, while Lestir waved his rapier around, looking rather foolish. :rofl: The group then cautiously tread across the runes. When nothing happened, they raced across to the far side and waited for Dryfoot to climb up the slick cliff wall with the rope and then haul each of them up in turn. They then progressed down a 10ft wide passage heading west. After about 45ft, it turned north into a vaguely octagonal room with a triangular pillar in the middle. In the far northwest corner, they found a 30ft-deep pit with a half-elven woman lying face-down at the bottom. Brock was able to see that the woman was still breathing, although one of her legs was bent unnaturally. Dryfoot lowered Griff down and the half-orc tied the woman to the rope before the half-giant hauled her back up. He then helped the half-orc get back out. The group decided to keep the woman tied up in case she wasn't friendly and then Brock healed her up just enough to revive her. She was startled to find herself alive and tied up with a bunch of strangers towering over her. "Who are you? Why am I tied up?!" she demanded. "I don't think you're really in a position to be asking the questions," replied Brock. The PCs proceeded to interrogate the half-elf woman, who revealed that her name was Leera and that she was a bard of sorts. She had been travelling with the tomb robbers, but she professed to having been ignorant of their intentions when she originally joined them. Her friend, Teryl, had convinced her to join. She had only wanted to explore the tomb and find out more about the forgotten king. She told them that he had lived many centuries before, when the surrounding area had fallen on hard times. The forgotten king had united the area but had then been betrayed by one of his own knights. His wife, the queen, and many of his loyal supporters fell in the battle, as did the traitor. The survivors then built this tomb complex and cursed the traitor to guard the king's tomb for eternity. Leera also told them that the leader of the group was a spellcaster named Xeron. Although he looked human, there was something about him that wasn't quite right. He and the hobgoblin priest Krootad had quarrelled quite a bit. She claimed that the tomb robbers had lost quite a few of their number coming through the tomb so far and that the remaining members were some hobgoblins and varags, a halfling, and a nasty goblin woman. She also explained that she had not taken part in the looting but she admitted to being ashamed that she hadn't tried to stop it either - but she hadn't wanted to get killed. "How did you end up in the pit?" Brock asked. Leera explained that in the next room, Xeron had gotten fed up with a puzzle lock and had smashed it. Some metal statues had then spit forth some constructs that had attacked them. Xeron and his loyalists had ignored the constructs and smashed through the far doors. As soon as he'd disappeared, Leera had turn and run around the corner and straight into the pit. That's the last thing she remembered. The group asked her how long ago this was. She said she couldn't remember, so they asked her if she was hungry. She was a bit confused by that and said no, she wasn't, so they concluded that it couldn't have taken place that long ago. They were certainly catching up to the robbers now! Ignoring Lestir's jest about putting the half-elf on a leash, the group decided to untie her and let her accompany them. She professed to only want to get out of the tomb and offered to help them if she could. They went around the corner, and Leera showed them where another pit trap waited to be sprung. They also found a dead hobgoblin. Griff searched the body and found a bone amulet. Lestir was able to identify it as an amulet of natural armor +1. Nice! Griff strung it around his neck and felt his skin thicken slightly. (Earlier, he had also acquired Edwyd's suit of +1 studded leather from Dryfoot, who had been carrying it around ...) As they entered the room, the statues opened up and the constructs attacked! Two of them appeared to be made of smoke, while the others looked like a metal dog and a humanoid with spikes instead of hands and feet. The dog charged at Brock, giving him a nasty bite, while the spikey guy charged at Griff, spearing him with one of its sharp limbs. The smokey things never really attacked anything, instead trying to distract opponents and set up flanking maneuvers for the other constructs - although they never really succeeded at this. Roll initiative! :fight!: Brock took a swing at one of the smokey constructs, causing it to dissipate harmlessly. :D He then withdrew around the corner, attacking the spikey guy and smashing it to bits, and then later on smashing both of the remaining constructs. Meanwhile, Griff withdrew around the corner and readied an action until he got line of sight on one of the creatures. Later on, he pulled out his rapier and managed to score some hits on the dog construct. Lestir got in the way again and got bitten by the dog, dropping to 0 hp. :nonono: Leera contributed to the fight by singing an elven war song to bolster the PCs' morale. Dryfoot activated his force screen power, then tried to jump across the pit but failed miserably. He fell onto the trap door, which opened and sent him crashing to the bottom of the pit 30ft below (:eek:), taking 12 dmg in the process! He then went into a rage and flew up the pit's wall like Jackie Chan. :cool: He charged after the dog, which was all that was left by that point, and jumped on its back, grappling it. It escaped so he tried to bull rush it, but it bit him in a sensitive place and he fell to the ground, dying. He got lucky, though, and self-stabilized at -7 hp. Brock was the hero of the day in this fight, delivering the killing blow to each of the four constructs. :bravo: This is where we ended the session. The group will needs much rest. Brock and Lestir both need a bit of time to level up. Meanwhile, the tomb robbers will be increasing their lead, but that can't really be helped. There may yet be other dangers further into the tomb that will slow their progress and allow the PCs to catch up with them. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? Tune in next week for the next installment of Adventures In Elsir Vale! |
| Prom04-21-07, 09:08 PM | Hi All, May I point out that Brock did a lot of damage because he was surrounded during the last battle and was close to death :eek: (not much choice). OK here is the healing prayer I used during this game session, it was written by Lanoitakude. "Mighty All-Father, forge my ally anew in the fires of purity!" Prom |
| pukunui04-21-07, 09:24 PM | I'd just like to mention that I awarded Brock with 150 bonus xp for all the awesome prayers and such! Keep up the good work, Prom. I'm really enthused by all the effort you've put into making your character more than just a bunch of numbers (not that the others haven't been doing the same - but your efforts really stand out. Most people who play clerics just say, "OK, I heal him" or whatever. They don't bother to research and write their own healing prayers.) So thanks for making the game more interesting! :clap: |
| eblis123404-23-07, 04:13 AM | Hey Pukunui, definately been enjoying the posts of you and your group. It looks like you have a great group there (a silver lining after all the troubles you had previously). Did you get your 4th player (or is that coming up?). Anyway just wanted to say I have been enjoying your thread and the detail/time you (and the rest of your group) are putting into it. When we start our next campaign (a month or so's time) I will have to do a players view thread of Cormyr: Tearing of the Weave (I'm playing a N Rogue/Cleric of Mask- though the rest of the party think I worship Oghma) Keep it up! |
| pukunui04-23-07, 03:02 PM | No, we haven't gotten a permanent 4th player yet. Jezza will be coming and going - and when we start the next adventure, he'll be taking on the role of NPCs (because he's DMing it with his own group). The guy I was hoping would be our 4th player decided he couldn't commit to a weekly game after all and backed out. So we're still looking ... :rolleyes: |
| Caligula04-24-07, 09:19 AM | Patience is a virtue.... ;) |
| pukunui04-24-07, 03:58 PM | Patience is a virtue.... ;) You know, it's funny. Sometimes I can have all the patience in the world. Other times I have absolutely none whatsoever. I more often have no patience - it's usually when I know that there's nothing I can do to change a situation (like when I'm stuck in an airport waiting for my plane to start boarding or something) that I feel the calm waves of eternal patience wash over me ... Yeah, I'm a control freak. :P ;) |
| pukunui04-27-07, 02:55 AM | Sorry guys - no game tonight. Too tired. Not enough players. Etc. Hopefully next week. |
| pukunui05-04-07, 09:33 AM | This just in! Brock and Dryfoot slain by tomb spider! Lestir and Griff flee for their lives! Is this the end for our brave heroes? Will the Xeron and his robbers succeed in their nefarious quest to defile the forgotten king's tomb? Only time will tell! (More details in our weekend edition ...) ;) |
| Prom05-04-07, 09:34 AM | Hi All, The story continues from last time. Posted by Pukunui Brock was the hero of the day in this fight, delivering the killing blow to each of the four constructs. Brock looks around for a comfortable spot to rest after the hard fought battle. He pulls a few bottles of wine out of his backpack. Brock pops the cork on one bottle and takes a long swig. The red wine numbs some of the pain from his wounds and he sighs with relief. Brock looks over at Lestir and offers the bottle to him, then picks up the second bottle. "You know coming down into this tomb doesn't seem such a great idea anymore! Edywd and Lemig are dead, we are struggling to catch Xeron and his tomb robbers. I thought I was dead a few times now. I do not want to die down here in some undead infested hole in the ground." Brock sighs loudly, looking at the bottle of wine in his hand. "I never really thought about what I wanted for the future. I always seem to be living everyone elses plan. Dad would have wanted me to continue his trade as a blacksmith and weaponsmith like him. My brothers always considered a Dwarfs duty was to fight in the army, which they did." The dwarf pauses and looks at the wall. "My mother signed me up the Cleric-hood without telling me and now it is my trade. It's time I found my own dream, I just don't know what." Brock looks depressed for a time then looks to Lestir. "Lestir what do you plan to do now that Edwyd's dead", asks Brock. Lestir takes a drink from the wine bottle, then another. "I'm going to find the merchant who is running gangs of raiding goblins, who attacked my father. Then I plan to finish his life as Edywd would have wanted", Lestir states as fact. "I can't see myself going back to school or working in a Library now," Lestir say's, taking another long drink. Lestir is looking very drunk now, and sways on his feet. Dryfoot is still unconscious on the floor, so Brock looks Griff in the eye. "I guess you might be wanting to find that wizard that transported you into that magic maze, Griff," Brock smiles and bites the cork off the wine bottle in his hand. "I have no intention of every going back to the Tavern to found that wizard. I will just follow you guys out of this place," replies Griff. "Any plans for the future Kethra?" asks Brock. "Same old thing, more dungeon and ruin exploring," states Kethra. "I don't really care what the hell you do Leera, as long as you don't turn on use when we meet Xeron", states Brock with a bitting note. "I am not hanging around to meet Xeron again, so not worry about that," replies Leera. Brock drinks the whole bottle and sleeps. The party take turns standing guard while they wait for Dryfoot to wake up. When Dryfoot finally wakes up, Brock is praying over his body from time to time. "You alright Dryfoot," asks Brock. "I have seen better days, so not really but I will live," replies Dryfoot. "I have been meaning to ask you why you do what Kethra wants all the time," questions Brock bluntly. "Do you and Kethra have some thing going on," asks Brock. Dryfoot smiles and laughs, "No". Brock leaves Dryfoot alone and goes back to praying for Moradin to grant his divine powers to renew. Ok Pukunui continue with the story. Prom |
| pukunui05-04-07, 04:50 PM | "... I thought I was dead a few times now. I do not want to die down here in some undead infested hole in the ground ..."Alas, poor Brock. :weep: His soul was tainted, he accidentally killed Dryfoot while trying to heal him, and now he is tomb spider food. May his soul find redemption and peace in Moradin's Holy Forge. |
| pukunui05-04-07, 05:17 PM | OK, I don't have time at the moment to write really detailed recaps. This one will be a quick summary. My players can fill you all in on the details if they are so inclined. Cheers. Session Time: 5 hours Characters: Lestir, Dryfoot, Brock, Griff, Kethra Tims (NPC), Leera (NPC) Location: forgotten king's tomb complex --------------------------------------------- After their fight with the constructs, which occurred around midday, the group decided they couldn't go any further. Dryfoot was lying unconscious but stable on the floor, and Lestir and Griff were hurt pretty badly. The group decided to rest for a whopping 16 hours!! (:shocked:) During that time, Brock whinged and talked to the others about their plans for the future (see Prom's post above). Kethra told everyone about Dryfoot's prophecy. She also related some of the tragic tale of Vraath Keep, although she said she would have to consult her books back in Brindol for the full story. She also mentioned that someone had written a play about the keep's tragic tale and that sometimes the bards at Velorian's in Brindol would perform it ... Leera got bored and wandered back into the room where the constructs had attacked. She found the body of her friend Teryl and stripped him of a special magical belt. She knew what it did and offered it to the party in thanks for saving her life. She said it was a healing belt and that the three moonstones attached to the belt each held a charge that could be used to heal yourself or another. Anyone could use it, but she thought it would be of the most use to the cleric. She also mentioned that the charges renew themselves each day at dawn. Griff tried to convince Leera that the belt was his and that it had been stolen off him a while back, but she was having none of it. :uh-huh: When asked about her plans for the future, Leera just said she was planning on getting out of the tomb at the earliest possibility. There was no way she was going to confront Xeron! :nonono: The heroes talked about their plans for the future and the possibility of turning back. They decided not to, but they thought they might avoid Xeron and just let him get away with the forgotten king's treasure. Then Kethra raised the point that even if they continued, there was no guarantee that there would be another way out, so they'd probably meet Xeron coming the other way. This unsettled the group a bit, but they eventually decided to keep going forward. They progressed through the construct room and down a flight of stairs into a moist and misty room filled with natural light and the roar of a nearby waterfall. Some statues stood amidst some freshly spread hay on the floor. Griff silently entered the room and spied three varags sleeping in bedrolls around the western corner. The far west wall was where the waterfall came down from about 100ft above. Daylight filtered down the waterfall's shaft. The half-orc rogue spied weapons near each of the varags, so he snuck up on them (stepping on some caltrops hidden in the hay as he did so) and snatched up their scimitars and cut their bowstrings - although the string on the composite bow belonging to the middle varag resisted his attempts to cut it, so he took the bow instead. He then snuck back (stepping on more caltrops) and reported his findings. The rest of the group entered and crept up on the sleeping varags, but then Brock clanged in his armor and woke them up. A fight ensued. The middle varag still had his scimitar (it was sheathed, so not easy to remove) and managed to hit Dryfoot with it a few times before the big half-giant pinned him to the floor. The other varags were unarmed and tried to grapple Brock and were eventually slain. Griff tried calling for the last varag to surrender, but since it didn't understand either Orc or Common, the group attacked and killed it. A search of the room and the varag's bodies revealed a Heward's handy haversack (greedily snatched up by Lestir), a gold necklace, some potions (bull's strength and three cure moderate wounds) and some coins. A quick detect magic from Lestir revealed that the composite shortbow emanated a faint evocation aura. Next, they proceeded down a slick flight of stairs beside the waterfall and onto a very narrow ledge over which the falls spilled into a cavern that descended 50ft into a dark pool. Someone had attached a rope to some spikes in the rock wall behind the waterfall. Griff edged his way out first, followed by Brock, both secured to a rope held by Dryfoot at the top of the stairs. When Griff reached a point about halfway along where the rope had broken, a voice spoke to him from the waterfall. "So many visitors this day" said a ruggedly handsome man with silvery hair and silver finery on all his clothes and weapons. He stepped from the falls and continued, "Tell me, why came you here?" It was up to Griff, with 7 CHA and no ranks in Diplomacy, to talk to the guy. Fortunately, he rolled really well, and for some reason, the man seemed predisposed to being friendly. He warned them that evil ones had passed by already, but he wouldn't divulge any further information until someone accepted a friendly wager to wrestle in the waterfall with him. No one was willing to accept. He then went on to explain that the next room was the lair of an evil creature called a tomb spider. He hated the creature, but dared not risk his life trying to get rid of it since his duty to guarding the falls was more important. He also mentioned that "weapons touched by virtue" would be most effective against the spider. The man then offered to help everyone cross the ledge safely (thus saving the players from having to make many, many Balance checks ...). The man took a liking to Leera, and she stopped to talk to him. When the rest of the party saw she wasn't following, they looked back in time to see the man grab her around the waste and then effortlessly swim one-handed up the waterfall and over the edge at the top. He then returned without the half-elf bard and stood in the falls, watching them. They came to a narrow passageway with a glassy floor. The door at the end of the passage was shut, but the upper corner was missing, so Griff got up on tiptoes to have a peak through the hole. He saw a big room full of webs. A web-covered statue of a man sitting on a throne sat in the middle of the room. Brock got Dryfoot to hold him up and he tried tossing a lit candle into the room, hoping it would light the webs on fire, but the candle went out as it fell. Disgruntled, Brock opened the door and went in, lighting another candle and touching it to the webs. They caught fire and burned slowly ... and at that very moment, a swarm of tiny blood-red spiders came boiling out of the webs to the south and swarmed all over the dwarf, causing him to retch. Dryfoot entered the room as a horrible-looking mummy shuffled around from behind the statue. The half-giant attacked the mummy, but to his dismay, his weapons kept sticking to the creature. It hit him with slam attack, but he whipped out his flail and tripped it. He then tried to drop on top of it, but it pushed him away. Dryfoot got out his maul and smooshed the mummy, which burst apart, revealing another spider swarm. Now both Brock and Dryfoot were being swarmed by spiders. Despite the dwarf's natural resistance to poisons, he eventually was bitten so many times he could no longer resist and succumbed to the poison. He felt the energy around him shift somehow, but didn't know what it meant until a few moments later when he tried to cast a cure spell on himself and ended up hurting himself instead! :eek: Just then the tomb spider appeared, cutting its way through the webs on the south wall up near the ceiling and climbing down to bite at Brock. Everyone retreated out the door, and the swarms followed. They were both eventually reduced to nothing, but that allowed the tomb spider to squeeze through the door and attack. It sank its large mandibles into Lestir first, but he managed to resist the poison and then scrambled away back along the waterfall ledge towards the falls' guardian, who then called upon Obad-Hai to heal him of some of his wounds. Dryfoot was bitten next, the spider wounding him horribly and injecting a massive dose of poison. The half-giant felt his energies shifting too just before falling unconscious on the glassy floor. Brock, not realizing that the half-giant had also succumbed to the poison, cast cure moderate wounds on him ... and watched in horror as the positive energy flowing from his hands caused Dryfoot's body to spasm in pain. When the spell finished, the half-giant appeared to be dead! The spider then fired a web at Brock, rooting him in place. It then moved in for the kill. :gah: The others watched in horror as the creature slew the dwarf and then started wrapping his body up in sticky webs. They fired shot after shot at the creature, but were for the most part ineffective. Unfortunately, I neglected to mention during the session that the spider looked quite wounded already -- perhaps from a previous battle with the tomb robbers. Sorry guys. I don't know that it would have made much difference to your tactics anyway, though. A teary-eyed Kethra, frightened Griff and bewildered Lestir retreated back to the room where they had killed the varags to rest and figure out what to do next. They hoped that the spider would not follow them. Here is where we ended for the night. Who knows what will happen next? Things don't look so good for our heroes at the moment. Will they surrender? :surrender or will they continue on in hopes of catching Xeron before he can achieve his goal? Will they return to Marthton as heroes or as failures? Will they even return at all? You'll just have to wait until next time to find out! :evillaugh Once, long ago, when the Dark Queen came There was fire and darkness, death and pain A brave band of heroes sought her end And entered her temple, the darkness to rend Now the dragon's whelp does seek to claim That which was promised: her dark domain The time will come when the Black Knife bends And the Fivefold Evil will come once again The land cries out for heroes once more As loudly they bang the drums of war Yet they who are born to us this day Shall rise up in glory and the Evil One slay |
| pukunui05-04-07, 07:45 PM | I'd just like to add that, while I feel my players were very brave, their "stand still in and around doorways and narrow corridors, thus creating bottlenecks so that some PCs can't do anything while others get mauled" tactics have contributed heavily to the PC attrition rate. It's quite funny and frustrating at the same time. Prom wanted to come up with a name for the adventuring group, and some joke names were thrown out like "Big Brock's Bottleneckers". Sigh ... Anyway, it looks like the plan is to continue to follow Xeron. I suppose Lestir, at least, will want to avenge the deaths of all of his friends rather than crawl back to Brindol like a coward. Griff, though, has no emotional attachment to these adventurers, so probably wouldn't think twice about abandoning the quest. Kethra is feeling very troubled. She has faced dangers in ancient tombs before, but she wasn't counting on tomb robbers being in the ruins at the same time. She had been hoping they'd be able to progress at a fairly leisurely pace, rather than rushing headlong through the tomb, hoping to catch up with the robbers/murderers. She is now feeling very sorry because 4 of the people she has recruited to come down into the tomb with her have now died. This expedition has turned into something of a disaster for her. She wonders whether it would be better to return to Brindol and try again another year, but she is also worried that the robbers will desecrate the tomb and prevent her from learning anything useful about the king ... etc etc. |
| eblis123405-04-07, 10:32 PM | Great storytelling as always Pukunui. The poor party looks like its had a rough time. Ive always found those earlier levels the easiest to die in and arguably the least forgiving of mistakes (like placement), once you get to levels 5+ you normally have enough resources to run away if overpowered. Anyway tell the group to keep their chins up, watch out for each other and kick Xeron! |
| pukunui05-04-07, 11:02 PM | Great storytelling as always Pukunui. The poor party looks like its had a rough time. Ive always found those earlier levels the easiest to die in and arguably the least forgiving of mistakes (like placement), once you get to levels 5+ you normally have enough resources to run away if overpowered. Anyway tell the group to keep their chins up, watch out for each other and kick Xeron! Thanks. Yeah, it is easy to die at low level. The other thing, though, is that this adventure uses some very tough monsters in some very tricky environments. It also uses some monsters that ordinarily would be too powerful but because they are "wounded" already, this somehow makes them acceptable to use in a low-level adventure. :rolleyes: Couple all of that with my players' propensity to be overly-cautious (see my post above) and some of my house rules (like the spontaneous divine caster variant, which while eliminating Vancian casting also ends up nerfing the cleric and druid in terms of spellcasting) ... then you've got a recipe for some very tough fights. In retrospect, I think the tomb spider is way too hard for PCs of 2nd-4th level. It has a CR of 6, and even though the author reduced its hit points by having the tomb robbers "wound" it before the PCs get there, it's still a really tough creature with DR 5/good. Plus that tomb-tainted soul thing is literally a killer. The spider caused the deaths of both of the party's melee/tanks. The party now consists of a 4th level wannabe-illusionist wizard (read "few combat spells known") and a 2nd level rogue. The two new PCs are going to be 3rd level. One will be a dragon shaman. I'm not sure what the other one will be - probably a psion. So from my point of view, this will only end badly for everyone. I sure am glad I decided to get rid of the runehound. I think I should have gotten rid of the tomb spider as well. I should have just downgraded it to a regular monstrous spider. Even a Huge monstrous spider (of which there is a mini) would've been easier to kill than this tomb spider. As much as I like seeing rare monsters put into play, I think this one was a bit too much for the PCs. I've come away from this feeling that the whole "PCs can handle these overpowered monsters because they're 'wounded'" thing isn't so great. I'm not against throwing the PCs up against tough challenges. It's just that with the linear nature of this particular adventure - if they can't get past the tomb spider, they can't finish the adventure. And because there's a certain time element here, if they take too long resting, or can't figure out how to get past the spider, then the tomb robbers, by all rights, should get away and thus the PCs will fail in their task. This adventure is turning into one where the fights are over in a matter of seconds and the PCs spend hours and hours and hours doing nothing in hopes of recovering spells and hit points and whatever else. It's hours and hours of sheer boredom punctuated by a few seconds of abject terror every so often. However, my players seem determined to go on ... I just don't know that they'll be able to make any progress against the spider. I think there's a very real possibility that if they try to fight it again, they'll all die. For starters, they don't have any good-aligned weapons. The cleric is dead - not that he knew bless weapon anyway. The wizard is out of offensive spells, so he will have to rest for another day (during which time the tomb robbers should be able to get away). Sigh ... Does anyone have any advice for me? I would really appreciate another DM's point of view. What would you guys do here? What should I do? |
| Zarith05-05-07, 09:52 AM | A few possibilities... Knowing how tough some of these monsters are and how quickly a low level party will exhaust thier resources, I would allow them to rest as often as possible. When I run this I will create the illusion the Bad Guys are just ahead, maybe around the next corner, no matter how long they take, until they get to the end. I figure the Bad Guys need to fight, rest, break down doors, dig holes, etc, just like the heroes (except the doors are already broken for the heroes). Could they return to town and buy supplies (Oil of Bless Weapon, the guardian did warn them) (the maze might make that tough, obvious tracks or good memories to get back). You could also have the new characters have the oil with them. |
| Prom05-11-07, 02:34 AM | Hi All, Here are some of Brock's prayers before he died. The first two are from Lanoitakude, May the spirits of my clan, back to the Forge King himself, mend your wounds. Great Moradin, King of Kings, by your sovereign power I restore my ally to vigor once again. This one is mine. Knit the bone, blood and flesh of the fallen. Prom |
| pukunui05-11-07, 02:52 AM | We've got some new heroes. See post #2 for details. I had food poisoning earlier this week (:() so I'm still a little tired and weak. We'll probably play a shortened session tonight ... but we did a little roleplaying via e-mail to get the new PCs introduced to the old ones so that we can just start with everyone in one place tonight. Cheers, Jonny |
| Prom05-11-07, 02:55 AM | Hi All, Here is a continuation of what happens to Brock. Posted by Pukunui, The spider then fired a web at Brock, rooting him in place. It then moved in for the kill. The others watched in horror as the creature slew the dwarf and then started wrapping his body up in sticky webs. Brock and the afterlive: Brock found himself standing at a giant stone gate, laced with gold and gems. Huge Dwarf statues stood ethier side of the stone gate, one male and one female. As Brock stepped forward the gates opened and glowed with blue radiat energy. He walked through and found himself standing in a small underground town, with silver roofs and golden roads. All the buildings were stone with gems fixed into the walls. What an amazing place Brock thought to himself. Just infront of Brock was a Tavern with the name "Moradin Ale House", swinging from the roof overhang. He could not believe his luck he thought he was died, but everything looked real. Brock moved over to the door and tryed the golden door knob, it felt solid. He took a long breath and open the door, the sound and light hit in full in the face. There were Dwarfs drinking and singing by the Bar, lady Dwarfs dancing on the tables. Brock could smell roasting meat and beer, his heart was full of relief, he wasn't died. A pretty female Dwarven Bar-maid came over to Brock with a tray of beer jugs full to the top . She handed Brock a jug of beer smiling in a way that made Brock feel warm inside :drool: . "Hi Brock, welcome to the Moradin Ale House, my names Ilde Loderr," said the Barmaid. Now Brock was a bit confused, he had never met her before. "How did you know my name Ilde...", Brock didn't have time to finish asking Ilde before she responded. "I know everyone who works for your Lord Mordin, when they die. You did really well trying to stop that Tomb Spider, but now it's time to have a rest or some fun. Come in, shut the door and I will get you a meal," said Ilde. Brock was in shock, he closed the door slowly, so he was died. Ilde wisked off to get Brock a meal. As Brock walked around the Tavern and the shock wore away, he started to feel like the place was home. He could see a game of cards being played in the corner, and for some reason two of the Dwarfs were getting up from the table. One Dwarf was bald with an earing from his nose and wearing a green suit. The second Dwarf was tall with long black bradded hair a huge beard and tan leather armour on. The game had gone sour and the two Dwarfs started pushing each other then punches were thrown wildly. As more Dwarfs stepped in to stop the fight the whole Tavern turned into a brawling mess of bodies. "I can't believe that they are fighting in Moradin's Ale House", said Brock in disbelief. Ilde was standing behind Brock now with a steaming plate of roast meat. "It happens every night, besides no one gets hurt and the furniture does not break. If you want to be involved you better hurry, these brawls do not last long", states Ilde with a sweet smile. Brock could not believe his ears. A large Dwarf came charging into Brock, knocking him into a table. Brock slide to the side and slammed his fist into the Dwarfs chin, knocking him into someone else. Ilde dodged past everyone like they were moving in slow motion. Brock grinned as the past excitement of bar fights came back to him and looked for another target, now this was heaven. Prom |
| snakeheadfish3305-11-07, 11:18 AM | I raise a mug of ale to Brock. Heaven indeed! Brock, my lad, you shall be missed. |
| pukunui05-11-07, 03:32 PM | I raise a mug of ale to Prom. Heaven indeed! Prom, my lad, you shall be missed. Yeah, but a hot chick has taken his place. ;) (Think my new avatar sans the wings.) We had a long but slow and fairly harmless session last night. Will post more later when I have time. No one died, that's the main thing. Prom took the lead with the very charismatic Kane. He's a real charmer and has some strange abilities. Lestir's a bit wary of him. Rumple entertained, frustrated, confused, etc everyone with his batty old man, Iz. People wondered whether Iz could do anything other than provide comic relief. He did entangle some foes in ectoplasm, though, which was helpful - but he also kept volunteering to do things he didn't know how to do. :looloo: Jezza continued to use Griff's 7 CHA to his advantage. He blundered his way through all sorts of social situations but proved his worth in combat. Efyegon maintained a cautious connection to the past with Lestir, the only surviving member of the original party. Lestir has finally learned to play it safe ... or has he? He nearly got blown up at point blank range by a strangely bloated zombie thing when he jabbed it with his rapier ... Pukunui provided the backup and the backdrop (plus everything else). I also introduced Tara, an otherworldly beauty sent by Pelor to protect the bedraggled adventurers. She is a trained healer and the sworn enemy of any who would cause harm to the innocent. She has vowed to bring everyone out alive. Whether or not she can keep that promise remains to be seen. The party now consists of a half-orc and five people who, at the very least, appear human. Of those five, the young ones are all blond-haired and blue-eyed. It's an Aryan invasion! I honestly don't know how that happened. I guess you can tell we're all white guys playing in this group. :P ;) :rolleyes: |
| snakeheadfish3305-11-07, 05:03 PM | Yeah, but a hot chick has taken his place. ;) [size="1"](Think my new avatar sans the wings.)[/size (again I say...) HEAVEN INDEED! |
| pukunui05-11-07, 05:31 PM | (again I say...) HEAVEN INDEED! LOL |
| Prom05-11-07, 05:58 PM | Hi All, Well I parked here, but didn't need too. Pukunui is posting the e-mail roleplay the group had, joy, joy. Looks like the party needs to be rebuilt and it will. I wish I could forgot the Forgotten King adventure it's been tough with our little group, and slow going. Snakeheadfish33, I (Prom) am going nowhere it is Brock who is dead. Hope everyone enjoyed Brock's after-life. Prom |
| pukunui05-11-07, 06:07 PM | I (Prom) am going nowhere it is Brock who is dead.Whoops. I didn't catch that either. :embarrass |
| snakeheadfish3305-11-07, 07:52 PM | Hi All, Just parking here, will post something when I have time to talk to Pukunui and time to write it. Snakeheadfish33, I (Prom) am going nowhere it is Brock who is dead. Hope everyone enjoyed Brock's after-life. Prom Bah! The ale had gotten to me head. Sorry lad, my bad. I've fixed me earlier post, now that me mind has cleared somewhat. Now 'tis these Dwarven cigars that have me head foggy. |
| pukunui05-11-07, 08:40 PM | The following roleplaying was done via e-mail during the week prior to our last session. I'm posting it here in case anyone is interested in reading it - but I have to warn you that it's mostly dialogue. It was just an exercise to introduce all the new characters so we could start last session with everyone together already. After retreating to the varags' encampment on the other side of the waterfall, Griff, Lestir, and Kethra settle down in a haze of pain, grief, and fear, uncertain of what to do next ... After some moments, a teary Kethra breaks the silence: "This expedition has turned out to be one big disaster. I never counted on having to chase murderous tomb robbers. I thought we'd have all the time in the world to explore, study the architecture and the statues and such. Instead, we've lost four comrades chasing this bastard Xeron." She pauses to wipe away her tears and gather her strength. Then, in a stronger, more confident voice, she continues: "If I could take it all back, I would, but I can't, so I'll just say this: we must not allow their deaths to have been in vain. We must do our best to track down these murderers and make them pay for what they've done. If I have anything to say about it - this tomb shall become their tomb." With that, she falls into a brooding silence. What feels like hours pass before the group is roused from their reverie by the approach of a blond-haired and blue-eyed human man in banded mail. He is soaking wet and horribly bruised, suggesting that he had come from the waterfall. A wicked-looking battleaxe is stuck in his belt and a shield made of darkwood is strapped to his back. His hard, chiselled face, toned muscles, and tanned skin suggest a fighter of some sort; however, he moves forward cautiously, his open hands outstretched to show he means no harm. "Who are you?! Where did you come from?!" growls Kethra as the man comes closer. "Ah ... hi there, nice to meet you, the name's Kane Swift", replies the man with a disarming smile. Hoping that his nervousness is not showing, Kane continues: "Dear lady, I have just spent what seems like a lifetime trying to climb out of that dark pool of water back there. You can relax. I have no intention of hurting such an attractive and assertive woman or any of your friends. In fact, even if I wanted to, I am much too weary. I was wondering if it would be all right if I could rest here with you?" Holding his fingers crossed behind his back, he smiles as sweetly as he can and hopes that he will not have to fight the three of them. Still, he figures to himself, they can't be all that tough if a woman speaks for them. Seeing Kethra blush at being called an attractive woman (she is, after all, 40 and greying), Lestir pipes up: "Greetings Kane, I am Lestir, you've met Kethra there, and the large fellow over there is Griff. We've been escorting Kethra through the caverns to explore the tomb and found one bunch of tomb robbers or fiends after the next. The fact that you're dressed as a fighter tells me you were most likely part of the tomb robbing party. Perhaps you'd like to explain yourself a little further..." "Hi Lestir, I don't think that I am a tomb robber, replies Kane. "Have any of you removed items from the tombs during your journey?" "We've appropriated a few items from some dead varags. The only thing we took from a tomb were some items the guardians let us so long as we used them to fight enemies of the forgotten King." replies Lestir defensively. With a hurt look, he adds: "They left a note." Kane takes a deep breath and says, "Well, I have been travelling with archealogical expedition led by a sorcerer named Xeron. He leads a mad bunch of hobgoblins, a female goblin, and a hafling apprentice. The rest of the crew have been lost or killed in this tomb complex. It's dangerous down here - but I suppose you've already discovered that for yourselves. Xeron is following a map but seems to just keep pushing on and leaving people behind to fight the tomb guardians and traps. That is what happened to me: I fell into the pool trying to cross the waterfall and no-one stopped to help. Everytime I tried to climb out, that blasted waterfall guardian kept pushing me back in. So I kept climbing back out." "You can't be much cop then," remarks Griff bluntly. "Xeron seems like such a caring fellow. If you intend to join us and fight your employer, you will need to get past the waterman again. He seems to like us so perhaps he'll let you through in our company this time. I hope you like tomb spiders," comments Lestir. Kane looks a bit surprised. "I never said I wanted to join your party ... but I will think about it," he replies. "As for fighting Xeron, he is no pusher you realize. Who's the leader of your band anyway? Yes I do need to get past the water creature, but he really doesn't like me much. What is this about tomb spiders? Could you explain, please." "We're more of an anarcho-syndicalist commune," Griff jokes. "Leader? Ha ha! So that's what's wrong with our strategy!" rejoinds Lestir bitterly. "I am the last of a group recruited by Kethra to explore this tomb. We met Griff here in the maze. The tomb spider beyond the water is a fearsome beast, it can turn your insides backwards and make healing cause you harm. We tried to fight it but it struck our half-giant companion Dryfoot and he was healed to his grave. Our cleric Brock was killed as well. They've both been bundled in webbing. If we don't kill the spider they'll be digested instead of buried ... or worse, I suppose." Lestir makes a sickly expression at the thought of this. "As far as Xeron's power is concerned, whatever painful magicks I have left after fighting the spider will be poured into him. After that I'll be asking the waterman to take me to the surface. We saw he was kind enough to carry the half-elf woman out earlier." The conversation subsides, so Kane takes his weapons and places them some distance from the group before moving to the far wall and sitting down against it so he can face the others. He closes his eyes and tries to get some rest. The others are a bit wary, but Lestir and Griff are still hurting themselves, so they settle down too. Kethra finds herself keeping a lonely vigil, every now and again eyeing the strange man opposite her suspiciously. Some more time passes. Then, although the daylight is still streaming down into the cavern from the top of the waterfall, it seems to grow brighter, rousing them all. A radiant being appears before them - is it an angel? Lestir thinks he can see wings. The light flashes blindingly and, when it is gone, they see a human woman standing before them. She possesses an otherworldly beauty with golden hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. She is dressed in finely-crafted banded mail overlaid with a white tabard on which is emblazoned the stylized sun symbol of Pelor's church. The young woman wears a green cloak fastened with a clasp of silver and sparkling, star-shaped crystals. On her back is sheathed a huge, strangely shaped greatsword with a pale blue crystal attached to its pommel. She approaches slowly, a look of tenderness on her face. She speaks with a soothing, feminine voice: "Please do not be afraid. The Shining One has sent me. Rest now and when you awake you will feel much better." The young woman begins praying to Pelor to aid his "tired and suffering children". As she does so, a diffuse glow of golden light spreads from her hands and wraps around everyone in the room. Almost immediately, the stresses of the day are forgotten as a healing warmth flows through everyone's veins, relaxing tired muscles and so on. A drowsiness sweeps across the group, and before they know it, all are sleeping ... except for the golden-haired cleric, who keeps a watchful eye over her charges. The group sleeps until the following morning. When they awake, they all feel much better than they had in a long while. The young cleric is still with them. She introduces herself as Tara Pendragon. "It must be my lucky day, meeting two beautiful women in a dark little hole in the earth," says Kane with a grin. He takes Tara's hand and kisses it. "It is my honor to meet you, Tara Pendragon. I am Kane Swift, at your service." Kane does a little bow. What a bit of luck this is having a Cleric show up, he thinks to himself, and so hot too. "Well, I for one believe every word you have said", he says out loud. Griff interjects with a rude catcall that Tara wisely ignores. She politely waits for Kane to let go of her hand and then she smiles and replies: "It was not luck that brought me here but rather need." Turning to address everyone else, she continues, "The needs of everyone in this room. The Sun of Mercy has sent me here to protect you. I am a trained healer, yes, but I am also the enemy of all who would do harm to the innocent. By Pelor's grace and mercy, I will see that you make it out of this tomb alive!" Griff makes some more rude comments that go ignored. Lestir pipes up: "Thank you for your aid. So, Tara, how is it that a group of explorers chasing down tomb robbers have come to gain the attention of the Shining One? By the way, what have you learned of Xeron watching from the golden temple in the planes?" Tara raises an eyebrow and replies: "I do not know, Lestir. Pelor does not reveal all to his servants. He merely sends me where I am needed most. I have not been watching you - nor have I been watching this Xeron person. I know nothing about him. I am not from the heavens, as you seem to think. I was merely there briefly as a reward for my good service. It was there that I was taught to use this ..." She holds out her hand and the strange greatsword seems to leap into her hand. As it does so, the blue gem on its pommel flashes briefly. "It is called a jovar. It is the favored weapon of Pelor's angelic host." Lestir raises his own eyebrow, admiring the weapon in an entirely non-greedy way. At this point, people's stomachs start growling, so the group settles down to eat some breakfast. Not long after they have finished, a filthy, wild-looking old man, with a long disheveled white beard and unwashed, tattered robes, comes shambling around the corner from the direction of the magic maze. He looks surprised to see everyone. He immediately lets out a cry of joy and rushes forward surprisingly quickly. As he draws closer, the group is able to discern what looks like a mouse living in the old man's beard. The old man starts talking in a babble ... slowly he begins to speak coherently until he establishes that his name is Izaikaiah (Iz for short). He explains, in his somewhat eccentric manner, that he has been lost in the maze for goodness knows how long and do the others know how tasty fried ectoplasm is? "What the hell is that?! It doesn't look very clean!", cries Kane in surprise. "For a deserted tomb, there certainly are a lot of tourists." "E gad!! The bath is just ahead on your right. You'd better tie a rope around yourself before you get in." yelps Lestir. "Cripes, it's getting to be like the Dawn Way in here," quips Griff. "And you smell worse than my mother." Iz stares at the group as their babble washes over his ears. "Eh, a bath?" Iz lifts his arm and sniffs, making a great show. "I can't smell a thing, and what is more, good sir, this tomb is obviously not deserted for we are here. You cannot argue with logic like that. It is infallible and possibly inflatable as well. Of course that assumes we are real. We are real, aren't we?" Iz pauses for breath before coughing dryly. "I don't suppose anyone has a drink, do they? I'm feeling just a wee bit parched!" |
| pukunui05-12-07, 12:38 AM | Read on for a glimpse into Iz's tortured mind ... "Iz stumbled, shambled, and stomped his way onwards and upwards, then back down, around ... and around. This room looked familiar ... and so did this one and that one. One of those flashes from his dreams lit up the cavern. Oh pox and b*tches, what was it? A weasel! Iz ran like his life depended upon it. Again, onwards and upwards, then back down, around ... and around. Flash, flash, flash. Through the pain in his ribs, through the tiredness, Iz laughed. This was the most fun he had had in a very long time. All of a sudden the ground disappeared from under his feet. What? Free of the maze?! The water rushed up towards him as he tumbled head over heels towards the line between rock and water. At the last movement his legs were wrenched around and stomped onto the ground, the toe of his boot hanging over the water. Iz chuckled dryly. He stopped chuckling when something in the water snapped at his toe. Iz back away from the water, following the cliff wall around in a crescent shape. More water but above him another opening in the cliff face. Ah well, "onwards and upwards to greatness" as his late (late in more ways than one!) master used to say. Twenty feet and a breathless scramble later, Iz heard voices in the air. What where they saying? Who cares! People, real people! No more lonely nights, no more solo games of "I a-spy". Thump, thump-click. Thump thump-click. The noise of Iz walking on his stick. Almost there! Aha. Friends, comrades, dearest loves. PEOPLE. REAL PEOPLE. Oh, and they are looking at me. I must be real. I told you so, squeaker! A robed one with a belly (oh master, how I miss you!). Another large one in armor standing in a puddle (He'll get a cold!). And oh, oh, two real real women. How long had it been? Iz remembered his dusty manners. Had they eaten? Did he say that out loud? Did they know how tasty fried ectoplasm was? Did he say that out loud? Iz wasnt sure what to say or if he had said anything at all. He stood in his dusty, dirty, dreaded glory waiting for a reaction. Oh, it's good to be free." - by Rumple (edited by me) |
| Jezza05-12-07, 02:49 AM | Er, the commune was supposed to be out of character. Sorry, should have been clearer about that. |
| pukunui05-12-07, 04:28 AM | Er, the commune was supposed to be out of character. Sorry, should have been clearer about that. LOL. Oh well, it's even funnier that way. |
| Prom05-12-07, 07:07 AM | Hi Jezza and Pukunui, Posted by Pukunui and Jezza's response to an e-mail. "We're more of an anarcho-syndicalist commune," Griff jokes. That is just priceless! You realize I responded to that Jezza in character with Kane. Although Kane's response was not posted, I still have know idea what a anarcho-syndicalist commune is. Prom:heehee |
| pukunui05-12-07, 04:43 PM | I still have [no] idea what a anarcho-syndicalist commune is. Prom:heeheeI can help with that! And I quote: :teach: DENNIS: "I told you. We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week ..." ARTHUR: "Yes." DENNIS: "But all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special bi-weekly meeting ..." ARTHUR: "Yes, I see." DENNIS: "By a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs ..." ARTHUR: "Be quiet!" DENNIS: "But by a two-thirds majority in the case of more major--" ARTHUR: "Be quiet! I order you to be quiet!" |
| pukunui05-13-07, 04:08 AM | And now the post you've all been waiting for ... Session Time: 4.5 hours Characters: Lestir Fye, Griff, Izaikaiah (Iz), Kane Swift, Kethra Tims (NPC), Tara Pendragon (NPC) Location: forgotten king's tomb complex PC Deaths: none! --------------------------------------------- Once everyone got to know each other, the group settled down to discussing the plan. No mention was made of simply abandoning the tomb by climbing up the waterfall. Everyone agreed that the spider should be taken out and that they should continue pursuing Xeron. Much speculation was bandied about as to whether or not they would have to face Brock and Dryfoot as tomb spider mummies ... :( Eventually Kane decided on a plan: he would gather up all the hay, including the big bale that had been in the heward's handy haversack that Lestir found, and throw it into the spider's room and light it up in hopes that it would burn up all the webs and entice the spider out. :mage: First, though, they had to get past the waterfall guardian ... :bigeyes: Fortunately, since Lestir was willing to vouch for Kane's integrity (despite not knowing the guy for even a day), the guardian, who introduced himself as Sigur, allowed everyone to pass through his waterfall, even helping them along the way. Kethra stayed with him in the water, chatting away while the others took on their dangerous task. With Kane and Tara in front, the group carried out their plan. Kane spread out the straw, plus some of the varags' bedding, and then they closed the door and Tara tossed a burning rag through the crack in the upper right corner. They heard a woosh and stuff burned merrily away for a while. When they opened the door to see what they had done, they found they'd burned away a lot of the webbing but there was some fresh stuff that didn't seem to want to burn. :mad: A balcony was now visible along the southern side of the wall, though, which was a plus. The group entered the room, searching high and low for secret doors and such. They didn't find any, but they did find some stairs on the eastern edge of the balcony leading up to the next level. It looked like someone had cut through the webs there ... before anyone could stop him, crazy old Iz went charging up the stairs and got tangled up in some near-invisible fresh webbing. :nonono: The old man concentrated really hard and a little ray of fire burst from his hand and seared through some of the webbing. :mage: He still needed help getting completely free though. Kane discovered to his frustration that the new webbing was incredibly strong and resisted even the toughest of blows from his battleaxe ... :ahem: Iz got bored of waiting (:waiting) while everyone else tried to think up some way of getting through the webs. He climbed up on the statue of the forgotten king sitting on his throne (except that it may not have been him, because on close examination they discovered that the figure's arms and legs were shackled to the throne! Perhaps it was a statue of the Betrayer Leera had spoken about?) and proceeded to try to jump and grab hold of the balcony ledge. He failed but instead of falling flat on his face he somehow managed to land on his feet. He tried several more times, each time miraculously landing on his feet ... perhaps the bright blue, thick-soled boots he was wearing had something to do with it. ;) Finally, Iz climbed onto the statue and used greater mage hand to send his mouse familiar up to the top of the balcony wall. He then used benign transposition to switch places with the mouse. He used gmh again to bring his mouse familiar back up to his beard. Clever! :ayyyy!: The only problem was, Iz was now stuck in more fresh webbing. Hmm ... Again, he concentrated really hard, only this time everything around him was briefly covered in a gooey substance and his eyes flashed with silver fire as the webbing around him got hotter and hotter until it burst into flames and then burned away to nothing. There was now a big gap in the webbing. Huzzah! :clap: Iz turned around, holding aloft his everburning torch. He saw the spider ... :eek: It was up in the southwest corner of the room, seemingly ignoring him. He also spotted an open door to the southeast. Three cocooned bundles lay still on the floor amid a whole lot of debris and discarded equipment. Kane then attempted to toss his rope and grappling hook up to Iz, but he kept missing, so Griff stepped in and showed him how it was done. They then secured the other end to the statue and proceeded to climb up. Kane and Tara went first. When both of them had gotten onto the balcony, the spider began to move ... Iz tried to tangle the spider up with entangling ectoplasm in order to slow it down, but it was too big and there wasn't enough ectoplasm. :( It came down from the wall and fired a web at Kane, anchoring him in place. It then rushed him, sinking its fangs deep into the human. Kane felt a bit woozy. Something about his very soul seemed wrong ... Because he had activated his energy shield aura, the spider was zapped with electricity damage as it bit into the dragon shaman. Kane then switched to his vigor aura, giving himself Fast Healing 1. Tara tried to free Kane from the web entangling him, but she gave up when it became apparent that she wouldn't be able to free him very quickly. Having listened to the others speak about the effects of the tomb spider, she decided to try casting a cure light wounds spell on it. It seemed to have great effect, as the spider sizzled and tried to scramble away from the positive energy. She did it again, searing the spider painfully. Griff climbed up the rope and tumbled around the combatants, hoping to get into a flanking position. He eventually did and managed to find a chink in the spider's chitinous body through which he could stab his rapier to maximum effect, getting sneak attack damage. :w00t: The spider, enraged by the positive energy attacks, bit deep into Tara's flesh. She screamed in pain. She too felt her energies shift strangely and knew well enough what it meant from having listened to the others. She retaliated by attacking the creature with her jovar, which bit deep but part of the wound healed almost immediately. Finally, Kane struck the spider down. The rest of the group came up, Kane was freed from his web, and they all set about investigating the debris and the cocoons. First, they searched the room. They found a skull with an odd box tied to its head. Griff took it and put it on. There was also a satchel with some coins, two large diamonds, and a potion of cure moderate wounds. As they suspected, two of the cocoons held the bodies of Brock and Dryfoot. Neither seemed to have been animated as mummies yet. Kane wanted to cut the dwarf's body in half (talk about cutting all ties with your last PC! Pun intended.). Instead, they gutted the corpse, finding lots of spider egg sacs inside. Griff flew into a rage at the sight of this (manifesting his new level of barbarian) and did a body slam, crushing the eggs and everything else inside of Brock's body and spraying himself (and anyone else standing close enough) with blood and guts and such ... :eek: :OMG! Needless to say, the womenfolk were revolted and some of the others felt sick to their stomachs. Griff then took "his" healing belt off the dead dwarf. Kane was intrigued by the holy symbol of Tiamat on Brock's body and wanted to know where he'd gotten it ... when told it had come from Krootad, he seemed surprised. He also took Brock's own mithril holy symbol of Moradin, thinking he might be able to get a good bit of cash for it. Lestir took what turned out to be bracers of armor +1 from Dryfoot's body. Griff took the unidentified magical quiver and then repeated his body slam action in the half-giant's guts. The third body turned out to be that of one of Xeron's hobgoblins. It was dressed in a mithril breastplate which Griff decided was a perfect fit for himself. He once again slammed himself into the corpse, smooshing the egg sacs within it. While casting detect magic on their new loot, Lestir happened to glance through the open door. He was startled to find that the entire room on the other side of the doorway radiated an overwhelming illusion aura! However, before anyone could stop him, Iz went through the door. Suddenly the room lit up ... and the walls painted themselves with an idyllic scene of a meadow. A breeze was blowing, and a tall man in armor with dark hair stood before a blond man and a red-haired woman, each with crowns on their heads and sitting on thrones. The image faded, as did the light ... although the latter didn't go away completely. In the opposite corner of the room, a stairway wound down to another room. As they entered this room, the light sprang up again and this time the scene was of the same hill but the grass was brown. The dark-haired man, wielding two swords, fought off a legion of monsters as the blond-haired king, wielding a glowing black-bladed longsword, fought beside him. The red-haired queen stood behind them, holding aloft a staff that crackled with lightning, blasting the enemy. Again the image faded, leaving just a gloomy half-light in which the group could see another stair opposite them and two doors, both emblazoned with the image of a fiery skull. Tara recognized the image as an archaic version of the goddess Wee Jas's holy symbol. She presumed it meant that the rooms beyond the doors were tombs. The first door opened revealed a room with a giant mirror on the north wall. Four upright sarcophagi lined the walls, their lids carved with the tortured images of imprisoned people, their eyes made of rubies. Kane and Griff both entered the room but they couldn't budge open any of the lids. They both turned and looked into the mirror, wondering why it was there. Both of them were overwhelmed with a strange magic that forced them to relive the worst moments of their short lives ... leaving them shaken afterwards. :bigeyes: Iz thought that whatever was happening must be great fun, so he ran in and stared into the mirror. He, however, got a different response. He relived the happiest time of his life, which gave him a boost to his morale. He could also feel some healing magic being poured into him, but as he was already fully healed, any beneficial effects it might have had were wasted ... :P The others decided not to risk the mirror and stayed out of the room. Bored, Iz wandered over and opened the other door. Inside was a set of steep stairs leading down to another squarish room with two statues of angry-looking men holding spears pointed to the south, where four more upright sarcophagi stood. The two on either end depicted painfully tortured individuals, while the two in the middle were shattered. From the one on the right stepped a skeletal man in full plate armor and wielding a ceremonial sword. "Blood and vengeance", the creature whispered. From the other sarcophagi emerged a bloated and rotting corpse. Freaking, Iz conjured up some ectoplasm and threw it at the armored skeleton. It tangled around the creature's body. The old man then turned and fled out the door. Tara, who had been watching, raced in, holding her silver holy symbol aloft. Her eyes ablaze with righteous fire, she shouted, "Get ye back, foul spawn of Nerull! May you burn in the searing light of the sun!" As her holy symbol flashed with a radiance as bright as daylight, both undead creatures turned and fled into the corners, cowering in fear of the zealous cleric. :D The others rushed in and hacked and jabbed away at the unresisting undead creatures. They went for the bloated corpse first. Eventually, Lestir jabbed it in a particularly bulging spot with his rapier and it ... well, it just sort of went KA-BOOM! :eek: Everything and everyone in the room was showered in gore, pus, and putrid flesh. The stench was awful. Even the skeletal warrior in the far corner seemed to have been very badly hurt by the explosion. Recovering from their shock, the PCs went and took on the other undead creature. To their consternation, though, it seemed to be able to resist most of their attacks. Griff took up a chunk of broken coffin lid and tried to bash the thing to death, thinking that it might be resistant to forms of attack other than bludgeoning. Eventually the creature succumbed to the attacks, falling in a heap of bones and metal on the floor. :w00t: End of session. |
| Prom05-13-07, 04:12 PM | Hi Pukunui, Posted by Pukunui, Finally, someone struck the spider down (I don't remember who, sorry). If I remember correctly that darn spider shoot a web at Kane, fixed him to the floor, attacked. Kane got one or two hits on the spider, and he was the one that struck the killing blow. But that is hardy important as the combine power of the group brought that horrible critter down. Prom |
| pukunui05-13-07, 05:37 PM | Thanks Prom. I've fixed my recap. - Jonny p.s. nice sig. :D |
| pukunui05-14-07, 05:34 AM | Dear readers of my recap thread, I am in need of some advice again. You will find the information hidden in the spoiler-block below so that my players will not read it. Cheers. Assuming that no one dies between now and the end of Barrow of the Forgotten King, none of the PCs will earn enough XP to gain a level. That means that we'll end up with two 4th level characters, two 3rd level characters, and one 2nd level character who will leave the group once we start RHoD. However, with PC levels so low, I don't think that I can start RHoD any time soon! I'm thinking of having the group encounter Noak, the little black dragon from Scourge of the Howling Horde, again. That adventure talks about how she might seek the PCs out for revenge if she escapes their clutches. So if they were to fight her and defeat her once and for all, they might get enough XP to all level up, but that would still mean only two 5th level characters (one of whom is an NPC), two 4th level characters, and a 3rd level character. Again, this last character has to be left out of the RHoD equation. I'm just not sure what to do next ... and the problem is, the group is going to blunder straight into RHoD if I don't stop them because I've already given them the map of Vraath Keep and that's where they'll think they have to go next. I need something to distract them and fast ... or else I need to find lots of little things to slow them down on their journey from Brindol to Drellin's Ferry. I wasn't counting on losing so many PCs in the forgotten king's tomb. If more of them were 4th level now, then more of them would more easily be jumping up to 5th level with one or two "extra" encounters and then we could start RHoD ... but it's looking more and more like I'm going to have to throw another somewhat lengthy adventure in between this one and RHoD. Any thoughts? Also - I'm a bit distressed that no one in my group likes playing charismatic, diplomatic party leaders. This means that RHoD is going to be something of a hack 'n' slash and won't be nearly as fun for me as it would if at least one of the PCs was good at diplomacy. They're most likely going to miss out on recruiting Warklegnaw, the Tiri Kitor, etc. Also, if Lestir dies, that will mean that none of the original PCs are still around and all the "background" work I did to build up Elsir Vale (like having them meet Lanikar before he gets eaten by a razorfiend) will have been for naught ... Sigh! Your thoughts please. - Jonny |
| Prom05-14-07, 04:32 PM | Hi All, Here is a bit more information on Kane from the adventure. Posted by Pukunui, Kane and Griff both entered the room but they couldn't budge open any of the lids. They both turned and looked into the mirror, wondering why it was there. Both of them were overwhelmed with a strange magic that forced them to relive the worst moments of their short lives... Kane could see himself as a young boy shooting arrows into a tree behind his cottage in the woods. His father was out setting traps for wolves and rabbits. Kane had taken his fathers bow without permmision and was trying it out. Kane had not hit much of the tree, he missed a lot. Kane pulled back on the bow string and released the arrow, it missed the tree and disappeared into the forest. A few seconds later Kane heared a scream from the tree line, so got his mother to investigate. They both entered the forest with care and soon found Kane's father lying on the ground with an arrow through his leg. :OMG! Kane went white when he realized what he had done.... Prom |
| marthais05-14-07, 07:46 PM | :eek: this is what i am doing. players, if you don't know what the next part i the campaign is, don't look below! Edit: nevermind....i don't really know how to get them from SotHH to RHod... ________________________________________ ________________________ red hand of doom (correct?) and howling horde |
| pukunui05-14-07, 11:22 PM | Hi Marthais. Thanks for attempting to help. See the sblock for my response. Barrow of the Forgotten King would have been a fine bridge from Scourge of the Howling Horde to Red Hand of Doom except that too many of the original PCs have died in the tomb complex. The new PCs, because of our campaign rules about new characters, are lower level than the original PCs would be if they were still alive. Basically I need to find another adventure to stick in between Barrow of the Forgotten King and Red Hand of Doom. |
| Gerry05-15-07, 10:22 AM | Pukunui: over in the "need a good 3rd-5th module" thread: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=846788 I've just posted a suggestion about modifying the "Use this book tonight" scenario. Substitute Howling Horde Tribe for the other creature the RHoD are meeting... I'll leave out other spoiler details, just go look there. It won't get you the 2-3 levels you need, but it's a half level closer or so.... Gerry |
| pukunui05-15-07, 02:46 PM | Thanks Gerry. That's an interesting idea, but it wouldn't work for me for two reasons: 1) if you've read my recap, you'll know that my group pretty much slaughtered the entire Howling Horde tribe ... :( 2) I need something that doesn't rely on Diplomacy. No one in my group likes playing the charismatic leader type. Prom has attempted to do this with Kane, but since Diplomacy isn't a class skill for Dragon Shamans, he's not the best at it either ... Sigh ... |
| Gerry05-15-07, 07:07 PM | Thanks Gerry. That's an interesting idea, but it wouldn't work for me for two reasons: 1) if you've read my recap, you'll know that my group pretty much slaughtered the entire Howling Horde tribe ... :( 2) I need something that doesn't rely on Diplomacy. No one in my group likes playing the charismatic leader type. Prom has attempted to do this with Kane, but since Diplomacy isn't a class skill for Dragon Shamans, he's not the best at it either ... Sigh ... Fair enough. The module seemed to be a little light on defining how many goblins were out on patrol, so I always figured I could bring in about as many combatants as are actually present in the caves, if not more. So I figured that would hold for you to. However, I should have mentioned that. The diplomacy thing you had mentioned, and I failed to pay it enough attention. Sorry. You certainly will know your player's style better than I can hope to guess at. And the kind of manipulation I put there certainly requires being able to role-play and try and be diplomatic. Gerry |
| Sunai_Retsinis05-16-07, 04:48 AM | Hi Pukunui Maybe you can incorporate a micro-adventure to get your players up involving lizardfolk or other marshy creatures. May fit in nicely. Just design it to fit your needs, and establish the necessary connections with the rest you want to do. Greetings Sunai |
| pukunui05-17-07, 05:59 AM | Hey Sunai. Thanks for the tip. I'll throw it in with the various other ideas I've got. |
| pukunui05-18-07, 09:53 AM | As the heavily armored skeletal figure collapses in a heap on the floor, a stillness descends on the room. No one says anything for a few moments, and all that can be heard is Kane's and Griff's heavy breathing and the occasional "plop" caused by bits of rotting flesh and putrescence falling to the floor. Everything and everyone in the room is drenched in the foul stuff and a sickening stench pervades the room, overpowering the musty odor of ancient dust previously evident in the air. Tara slowly lowers her holy symbol and sheathes her sword. She closes her eyes, steadies her nerves, and then slowly and methodically begins to remove the filth from her person, all the while trying not to breathe too deeply. She looks like she is holding back a scream. Griff throws up and then starts examining his vomit. "Ooh, look! There's that carrot I had yesterday." He turns to the others. "Say, do you think the Forgotten King has a vomitorium?" Kane gags and puts his hand over his mouth and nose. He ignores Griff's comments as it would require breathing the air that smells of vomit and rotten flesh. He turns away from the vomit pool and waits for the air to clear. "That skeleton in the plate armor was a bugger to kill! Xeron doesn't look like he stopped in this room, he must have used the stairs and avoided the undead creatures," Kane states a little while later. He goes and stands over the pile of skeleton bones and armor. "Anyone want some plate armor?" he asks, looking at Tara, knowing already that she is the only other person who might be interested in it. "I bet Iz will want it," says Griff, wiping vomit and undead flesh from his chin. Tara pauses in her clean-up to look down at Kane. She glances at the armor then replies, "Thank you but no. I don't really want to lug around some heavy metal until I can find someone to knock it into a shape more becoming of my figure. I'll stick with what I've got for now, but you or anyone else is welcome to it ... I doubt that that poor soul will have any use for it any longer." At that moment, Iz moves into the room and stands beside Tara at the top of the stairs, surveying the carnage. "You know, back in my day the dead used to explode twice as much," he says matter-of-factly. He looks up just as a huge glob of zombie drops from the ceiling onto his face. He shrieks and runs round in circles a few times before falling over and trying to wipe it off. He then stands, acts like nothing happened and repeats... "You know, back in my day the dead used to explode twice as much." Noting Tara's distess, Iz lifts up his dirty great beard and begins to rub gore from her armor, working at a furious pace. "There there, young one, don't worry about the brains on your face. They'll wash right out with a little spittle ..." Iz spits into his beard and lifts it towards Tara's face.... Tara pulls away from Iz with a barely concealed grimace on her face. "No thank you, Iz. If it's all the same to you, I think I will go stand under the waterfall for a while." Without waiting for a response from anyone else, she leaves the room and heads back towards the falls, neglecting to take any light source with her ... Meanwhile, Kane, even though he should know better, tries to put on the full plate but soon realizes that it does not fit. "Damn! This armor doesn't fit! Thurgix darastrix frahr!" he curses, throwing the armor to the ground and kicking it. Iz pipes up: "Did you take the skeleton out first?" before looking at Tara as she walks away. Kane walks up to Iz and stands very close, looking the old man straight in the eyes. He smiles at Iz, then calmly replies, "Yes, I took the skeleton out first." Kane looks in the direction in which Tara has gone and then back at Iz. "You are so smooth with the women, Iz," he mocks, grinning. "Just remember, Iz, Tara is too young for you. She thinks you are a joke." Iz meets Kane's gaze with a befuddled look. "Who wants a joke now? Eh, what?" He then turns to Kethra, who is standing just out of the doorway, and says, "What a nice man he is, reminds me of a me ... what year is this anyway?" Lestir stands stunned and bewildered by all the goings on around him: people grabbing gear off dead bodies, others walking off back into the darkness. He starts trying to wipe off the goop that burned him. "Er, urghm, Kane, shouldn't we go after her? I don't want to lose our healer." Kane nods, picks up his javelins and torch, and heads back toward the waterfall to find the golden-haired cleric (secretly hoping she'll ask him to assist her in removing her armor ...). Griff dusts himself off and starts performing the ancient orc victory chant: "Who let the worgs out?" Lestir follows Kane and Tara to the waterfall after lighting a torch. "You know, I don't think our cleric is entirely human," he mumbles to no one in particular. "She just wandered off into the dark as though it didn't matter that she couldn't see ... unless, of course, she can see in the dark ..." |
| snakeheadfish3305-18-07, 10:53 AM | Nice ending. Great recap, I'm really enjoying it. What next lies ahead for this group of hardy adventurers? |
| pukunui05-18-07, 04:27 PM | Everyone seems to really enjoy the e-mail roleplaying. It's great for me because it gives me the time to actually construct thoughtful dialogue and actions for the NPCs instead of having to come up with stuff off the top of my head. As for what happens next, you'll find out shortly ... as soon as I get the chance to write up last night's session recap. It was a pretty exciting session, let me tell you! We lost Griff, although he died valiantly ... |
| pukunui05-20-07, 05:19 AM | Just a little announcement: My group has met to discuss some issues that were bothering some of the players. Namely, people were concerned with the "anti-party" behavior of some of the PCs. There were also concerns over a lack of party cohesion since the PCs were all strangers. A desire to stick to the basic fighter, wizard, cleric, rogue combo was also expressed. I am pleased to say that we were able to resolve all of these issues amicably. :) The group agreed to make sure all new PCs have a "pro-party", team-oriented attitude. They have also agreed to make new PCs have some sort of relationship to other PCs in order to improve on the party cohesion issue (although the occasional total stranger joining the group is ok -- I think the main problem was the group had ceased to exist and had turned into a party of total strangers, most of whom had no real reason to be where they were). Finally, I was able to convince the group of the merit of hirelings/cohorts/etc. People should feel free to play whatever combo of character classes/races that they wish and any missing roles can be filled by NPCs. Anyway, we've also decided to conclude "Act One" of this little adventure saga. We're going to fast forward the game clock six weeks and pick things up again after the current group of PCs have had a chance to get to know each other better. They will do their "shopping" by e-mail. My players are also going to be writing "what I did on my summer holiday" essays (;)) to explain what their PCs have been doing for the past six weeks. I'm also going to bump them all up to 5th level. Then we will begin "Act Two", which in my mind is the main event. I have warned my players that things are going to get tough (and they thought things were already tough ... :evillaugh) OK, now I'm going to get on with last session's recap. :D |
| pukunui05-20-07, 06:12 AM | Session Time: 5-6 hours (don't really remember exactly) Characters: Lestir Fye, Griff, Izaikaiah (Iz), Kane Swift, Kethra Tims (NPC), Tara Pendragon (NPC) Location: forgotten king's tomb complex PC Deaths: :ghosted: NB. I'm not going to highlight names anymore. Takes too much time. I will continue to italicize dialogue, though. --------------------------------------------- Tara heads back to the waterfall to clean herself off. Kane follows after her like a lovesick puppy. :smirk: As they wash themselves clean in the falls, they start chatting about dragons and Kane's love of them. Lestir shows up shortly after and gives himself a bath as well. Neither Griff nor Iz show up though, so the trio heads back to the room where the horrible undead creature exploded. They find Griff searching through the wreckage for loot (all he could find, though, were the rubies set in the eyes of the images etched on the sarcophagi lids - these he was able to pry loose without too much trouble. He found four more scattered amongst the wreckage on the floor.), with Iz just sort of standing there watching him. They collect the two errant PCs and head on to the next room. As they step into the room, the light flares up once again, and a third and final image paints itself on the walls. This time, the red-haired woman lies dying on the ground, and the blond king bends down to comfort her while the black-haired knight raises his sword to kill the king. All around them, snow is falling and hairy monsters are putting the countryside to the torch! It has become very obvious that the black-haired man is the Betrayer that Leera the bard had spoken of before. A door stood closed at the opposite end of the room. The PCs went and opened it and found a long corridor that stretched about 80 feet east before turning north. Kane and Tara went first. They found a flight of stairs leading down to another room. The far wall was covered in a painting of the dark-haired man sitting on a throne, a gold crown on his head and a dark frown on his face. Purple curtains hid passageways to the east and west of the painting. Kane chose to head through the western curtain first. He found a narrow corridor heading north to where a statue of a mounted warrior raising his sword stood. The corridor turned east at that point. Everything in the corridor looked clean and new, as though untouched by the passing of time. A soft light also lit the entire area from no particular source. Kane wandered down to the statue and tried to see if it had any interesting markings or anything, but he could see nothing. He then looked down the eastern passage and spotted a man sitting on a throne atop a dais at the head of a much larger room. Two iron coffers stood against the far wall. As he wandered down to the edge of the corridor, he spotted a second statue in the southeast corner of the big room that matched the one he had just passed. Griff came up behind Kane and decided to head into the room. As he got within 10 feet of the throne, the man opened his eyes and looked up. "Who dares disturb the rest of the king?" he asked in a booming voice. Griff freaked out and ran back around to the room with the curtains and the big painting. Kane rallied his courage, though, and decided to speak to the man. Although he seemed reasonable enough at first, he would not tell Kane his name and it quickly became apparent that he was stark-raving mad. :looloo: Iz came running into the room and prostrated himself in front of the man, who seemed pleased at the old man's actions. However, he soon grew tired of Kane's questions and drew his swords. As he stood up, his opulent throne changed into a plain stone seat. His own image shifted, his skin growing distended and horrific. His armor appeared to graft itself to his flesh in places. As he came towards Kane, he called on his knights to aid him. Both of the statues in the room transformed into skeletal warriors wielding mighty lances and mounted on skeletal horses. As Kane and the Betrayer rushed together, Griff charged at the southeastern skeletal warrior. He vigorously attacked it but was impaled on the warrior's lance! :eek: He bravely pulled himself forward on the lance so that he could strike the skeleton again, but then he was shaken off and a few moments later was finished off once and for all, dropping to -7. Unfortunately, Tara had her own problems and didn't even know Griff had fallen since they were separated by a big wall. In fact, Tara was facing a similar fate to Griff. The other skeletal warrior came down off its pedestal and ran its lance through her left shoulder, pinning her to the wall. She managed to get her holy symbol up (and she put her hand up near her back and her jovar leapt into her hand, the blue crystal on the pommel flashing brilliantly) and send forth a wave of positive energy that completely obliterated the skeletal warrior. :w00t: She then healed herself up and went to help Kane. The two of them battled the Betrayer fiercely. The vile man wielded a bastard sword in one hand and a short sword in the other. He used both of them to great effect against Kane. During one attack, he chose instead to smash Kane with his fist. Kane failed a Fortitude Save and took 1 point of Charisma damage as his skin began to melt and distend until he looked a little bit like the Betrayer ... http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/barrow_gallery/102712.jpg Lestir, meanwhile, fired ice knives at the skeletal warrior that had killed Griff. It took a lot of damage but continued to come for the wizard. Iz helped by entangling the skeletal horse with ectoplasm to prevent it from charging at the wizard ... who ran back through the curtain and up the stairs, but the skeletal warrior/horse combo continued to follow. Lestir attacked it with magic missiles and it finally fell to bits. :mage: Disturbingly, though, it slowly started to drift back down the stairs towards its pedestal ... :eek: Iz then entangled the Betrayer with ectoplasm before running into the far corner. He tried to use his backbiter spell on one of the Betrayer's weapons, but it made its Will save and resisted the spell. Iz then concentrated really hard and thrust his mind at the Betrayer, substantially damaging him. Tara, meanwhile, got a critical hit with her jovar, doing 4d6+6 dice of damage (I forget what I actually rolled, though). :w00t: It didn't take much longer to knock off the Betrayer. He had given Kane a run for his money, but between the dragon shaman's vigor aura and Tara's healing magic, he was able to stay in the fight. Iz cast detect magic and discovered that only the Betrayer's swords registered as magic (although a whole lot of stuff on each of the PCs came up as well as a sort of general background aura coming from the entire room). The group went over to check on Griff, but found that he was dead. They stripped him of all his wealth and put most of it in Lestir's handy haversack. Next they looked in the iron coffers, which held a whole lot of money and some jewelry but nothing else. However, as they were passing by a certain wall, they heard shouting and clanging. They guessed that there was a secret door there somewhere and after much searching they eventually located it. On the other side was a narrow stairway. Coming from below was the sound of metal clanging on stone and the words "Faster, you idiot! Faster! Why did I ever hire you, you stupid hobgoblin?!" hissed in Goblin. Although Kane couldn't understand the language, he recognized Xeron's voice. Kane crept down the twisting staircase with the others close behind him until he came out in a large, squarish room inhabited by four statues with a lifelike appearance. One was of a cleric of Heironeous. Another was of an elven female with a bow. The last two were of the red-haired queen and the blond-haired king. They each held a hand out towards each other. Open, looted sarcophagi lined the southern wall. As Kane ventured further into the room, he eventually spotted Xeron and a hobgoblin dressed in half-plate busily trying to widen a hole in the floor with a pickaxe. As the rest of the group entered the room, Xeron heard them and whipped around. "Fools, you'll ruin everything!" he hissed. Those who hadn't seen Xeron before were surprised to see that his eyes were yellow and his bald pate had reptilian scales on it. He leaned wearily on an ornate spear. Xeron's first action was to throw a little figurine at Kane. The statue shattered on the floor and immediately a horrible clawed snake-like figure with no eyes appeared and started attacking him. Xeron then cast cause fear on Kane, causing him to turn and run back up the stairs to the Betrayer's throne room. Lestir moved in amongst the statues and summoned up a celestial dog. Tara came down and started attacking the snake creature, but Xeron hit her with a ray of enfeeblement, which dropped her strength to 8. She retreated and started focusing on her magic instead. When Kane's fear wore off, he came running back down and stood behind Iz. Feeling rather hurt from his fight with the snake creature, Kane was grateful when the old man told him to take the healing potion from his belt and drink it. It turned out to be a cure moderate wounds potion. The hobgoblin dropped his pickaxe, pulled a greataxe off his back, and charged into the melee. He slaughtered Lestir's summoned dog, but then Iz used his dorje of matter agitation while Tara cast heat metal. Although the hobgoblin could drop his greataxe, he couldn't easily get out of his half-plate. He started burning up inside as the armor turned red hot. Kane pressed the attack and the hobgoblin eventually fell, his body smoldering in the super-heated armor. Meanwhile, Xeron attacked Lestir with Melf's acid arrow, but the wizard responded by drinking his last potion of resist energy (acid). Xeron then tried magic missiles. He hit Iz with some as the old man got too close. Kane moved in and trapped Xeron between two sarcophagi. It took some time, but between Lestir firing crossbow bolts and Kane attacking with his battleace, the group eventually succeeded in taking Xeron down! :clap: At that point, the image of the king moved forward out of the statue and addressed them. He told them his name was Theron and that two robbers had escaped with the weapons of his wife and champions. They had also stolen his bones. They had not, however, taken his precious black-bladed sword, which had been magically hidden beneath his sarcophagus. He took it out and gave it to the group, telling them that it's name was Merthuvial (which Tara said was Celestial for "kingmaker"). No one really wanted it, but Tara agreed to carry it as she was the only one who could use it proficiently (although she said she'd prefer to use her jovar). Then the image of the king faded, as did all the magic about them. The silence of the tomb descended upon them. They had a quick search of Xeron's body, taking his wand of magic missile and a strange gold monocle and ear piece, as well as some less interesting items. They then hacked away at the hole until was big enough for them and jumped down inside. They found a tunnel that went north and south. Kane opted to go south, but Kethra suggested the most likely way was north. So they went that way instead. They eventually came to a point where the tunnel dipped down and was flooded with water. Iz jumped in and amazingly managed to hold his breath long enough to swim all 120 feet of flooded tunnel. He emerged in a shelter cave in the bank of a big stream. At this point, it was very late and Kane's player had forgotten his character could breathe underwater but I very kindly reminded him. He had Kane walk down through the flooded section and meet up with Iz, then go back and drag everyone back along through. He helped them all out onto the riverbank. And that's where we ended the session. Hooray for my players for persevering through this very challenging dungeon crawl! Although I still think the overall story of this adventure is cool, I am disappointed that there are so many clearly overpowered monsters (and the terrain really favors them, which makes them even more overpowered). There were some very cool elements (like the room with the big pillars) and some annoying ones (like the magic maze). Still, the next adventure should be much, much better ... Soon, dear readers, very soon the main event will begin. There will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth. The son of the dragon will endeavor to fulfill his destiny. And only a few brave men and women will stand in his way. |
| Efyegon05-20-07, 07:07 PM | Tara managed to get her holy symbol up (and she put her hand up near her back and her jovar leapt into her hand, the blue crystal on the pommel flashing brilliantly) and send forth a wave of positive energy that completely obliterated the skeletal warrior. :w00t: Tara didn't actually take the undead knight down by herself. Lestir was in the same corridor and had top initiative for this fight. His first action was to put an ice knife into the undead knight next to tara before she finished it off gloriously. Next Lestir past through two huge sets of drapes into the main room and put an ice knife into the knight that had just skewered Griff (Griff was alive but shishkabobed when Lestir arrived in the main room), Lestir used his final ice knife after Griff was killed and then made an aggressive retreat back up the 80ft corridor. The magic missle that killed the knight was Lestir's last direct damage spell and if it hadn't got the kill, Lestir would have been a gonner. |
| pukunui05-20-07, 08:52 PM | Sorry, I couldn't remember whether or not Lestir had used ice knife on both of the skeletal warriors or just one of them. Thanks for clarifying things. I knew Tara hadn't done all the work herself ... just couldn't remember exactly what else had happened. |
| Rumple05-22-07, 08:31 PM | Gladdened to be out but saddened by just how much the world has changed Iz travels to the places of his youth. The hills and forests were much the same but the people and the towns were all different. The village where he was born and raised was no more. Beyond a few overgrown mounds that hid ancient stone walls there was no sign the village had ever existed. The hidden enclave far into the hills where Izaikaiah the young had been transformed psionicly becoming Elan was abondoned. It was completely cleared out as was required, again no sign of his former life. Everywhere Iz travelled it was changed. Towns and cities where there were meant to be none, overgrown trails and ruins where there were meant to be familiar places. It was wrong. He had spent almost a half millenia in that accursed mystical labyrinth, talking to himself, losing his mind. Plumbing the deapths of madness. For three days Iz sat on a hill top, sheltered somewhat by a tree that could have been as ancient as he. Gnarled bark held his back, soft moss cushioned his bony rump. His mind provided sustenance for his body and kept him from feeling the rain and chill. He revelled in the wind on his face, the drops that fell from the sky, and the sun that chased them both away. At the end of the third day Iz opened his eyes, restored. Whole in mind again if not in body. He owed a debt to those who had enabled his escape. He meant to see it through. Dilligent research in Brindol allowed Iz to find one fellow who shared a bastardised version of the former family name of Iz. Saving him in a timely manner from trouble of his own making Iz took the young man under his wing giving him coin enough for shelter, pleased at last to find some link to this strange new world. And perhaps more... Iz again meet with happiness Kane the brave battler, Tara the faith filled fighter, and Lestir whos head, hands, and heart held much magic. It was then, after one long month of being freed that Iz began to recognise the magical maze perhaps not as a cage, but as a cacoon. |
| Prom05-23-07, 07:00 PM | Hi Rumple, It's a great piece of work as usual Rumple. Iz may have provided a comic element before, in his old insane form. The New Iz may appear boring compared to the old Iz, but I know you will produce something surprising as you always do. Prom |
| Efyegon05-24-07, 05:51 PM | Here's what Lestir got up to since leaving the tomb. Lestir the separated the loot into everyone’s share and then the grief of Edwyd’s death final hit him in full leaving him feeling very empty and quickly sucking out the elation of finding all that treasure. Now he had two unpleasant duties to do today. Lestir shouldered his pack, grabbed the quiver and headed out the door before casting invisibility on the key hole and handle. Next stop, Axenhaft Security. Lestir found Eldremma and explained how they’d been contacted by Kethra and gone to Marthton to explore the tomb and everything that happened afterwards. Eldremma thanked Lestir for telling her about Brock and offered her condolences for Edwyd. 75 miles of walking later.... The sky was almost black and there was a thin rim of fire behind the western hills when Lestir arrived at his parents’ home in Dauth. Lestir’s father greeted him as he came to the door, “Good to see you son, I’m surprised you didn’t bring Edwyd with you. Are the two of you still arguing?” Lestir looked over his shoulder to see that his mother Anne had just finished cooking and put the last dish on the table. “Dad, you and mum had better take a seat” Lestir looked over to the sofa in the lounge” “Mum and Dad, you knew that Edwyd started working for Axencraft security right?” His parents nodded, concern starting to grow on their faces. Lestir paused, this would not be easy, He related the tale and his parents were shocked and grieved to learn it. Three days later Lestir met a wild-elf druid in Prosser. “My name is Dradis Nightshadow, you know my cousin Lanikar. Some of the Druid elders of the Blackfens have been seeing the same unsettling vision. We elves don’t venture out of our home too much and don’t know a lot of adventurers, when Lanikar mentioned you I left the town to find your party. I asked In Bri-.” About this time Lestir stopped him before the elf spent the next hour explaining his detective and tracking skills. “Relax, Dradis, you found me. What was the vision?” “They saw a dragon’s head, staring at them, it was surrounded by smoke and flame and for a moment they heard the sound of a large force marching. Then the vision ended.” “I see.” said Lestir, now drifting off remembering Dryfoot’s prophercy. “Ah, is there something I should know?” the druid asked sensing Lestir’s lack of attention. “What? Oh, it’s probably nothing. I just met a half-giant last week, whose birth prophecy mentioned something similar, about the son of a dragon queen rising up to claim the lands once conquered by his mother. Some friends of mine will be back from Dennovar next week. Perhaps you’d like to meet us at the Laughing Manticore for a drink. Now I’d better get home, if there is any truth to your tale I’ve got some scrolls to write.” |
| pukunui05-24-07, 08:08 PM | We've got a new PC joining the group. His name is Kelthor Altara (Kel-Al for short, apparently) and he is a 5th level aasimar paladin. He is related to Tara Pendragon on her mother's side. He is going to be played by loveNrockets. Kel-Al spent much of his youth hanging out in the swamp with the Tiri Kitor. He is a friend of Lanikar Nightshadow, the young wild elf that Lestir and co rescued from the goblins during their very first adventure! Lestir, Iz, Tara, and Kane have all been bumped up to level 5. I am fast-forwarding the campaign by six weeks. It is now midsummer in Elsir Vale. The days are very hot and dry and the nights are not a lot better. You'll notice that both Lestir's and Iz's players have posted their characters' "what I did on my summer holidays" essays. Fun stuff. My players have been doing their shopping via e-mail. The group has stocked up on scrolls and potions and have improved their gear where possible. Only time will tell if it's enough to keep them alive! (I think a major contributing factor to the high attrition rate in the last adventure was because the players hadn't thought to stock up on things like healing potions and arcane scrolls before entering the tomb - and the adventure itself didn't really allow for trips back to town ...) We will start this evening's session with everyone meeting up at the Laughing Manticore in Brindol. They are all hoping to attend a performance of The Tragedy of Vraath Keep at Velorian's. Once everyone is ready, I believe the plan is to head west to explore the ruins of Vraath Keep and hopefully get to the bottom of the cryptic note they found on Krootad, the hobgoblin cleric of Tiamat they encountered and killed in the forgotten king's tomb. The note was from someone or something named Koth and it instructed Krootad to take the king's treasure to Vraath Keep. The PCs are no doubt expecting to find it no longer deserted ... |
| Prom05-25-07, 10:14 AM | Hi Everyone, This is what Kane did over the summer holidays, after leaving the tomb of the forgotten king: Kane rests for a while on the bank of the river, tired from drag everyone through the underground river. He gets up and looks around for any signs of tracks left by the hafling and goblin. It has been so long since he tracked anything, his skills have grown rusty. He finds no tracks so returns to Marthton with everyone else and hands the loot to Lestir. Kane agree's to meet everyone back at the Laughing Manticore in a few weeks, for a drink. He asks Lestir for enough money to get him to Dennovar and back to Brindol, by then the treasure should have been sold and sorted. Kane heads off for Erin lake searching for any sign of a bronze dragon. On his way around the lake he meets starving a man who asks for money. Kane gives him 12 gold coind and asks for some information. He soon meets a wealth man who speaks Droconic his name is Morlin Thulsthyr. Morlin is also searching for a bronze dragon and they get to talking about a number of dragon related topics. Morlin takes Kane to dinner at Dennovar and they continue to talk and the topic of Tiamat is raised by Kane. Morlin warns Kane to be careful. Just as Kane is leaving for Brindol the following day, outside the city gates of Dennovar. He bumps into an old friend, Ivan Keel. Ivan has just finished his parole period after a year in prison for commiting manslaughter. They both go to the local pub and talk about old times and what has happen recently. Ivan teaches Kane the finer points of climbing on some rock formations near Erin lake. Both men soon find themselves employed hunting :detect: and fighting :duel: off a small raiding party of goblins attacking along the Dawn-way for the next week, from Dennovar to Brindol. When Kane finally arrives in Brindol at the Laughing Manticore to greet everyone, he realizes that this might be a major shift in his life. Besides it's hard not be feel happy around Tara Pendragon, she seems to bring out his good side more. Kane see's that Lestir has brought along a friend with him, the wizard seem's more mature even if he is young. Kane is surprised to see that Iz nolonger seems like an annoying clown, but wise and powerful. Iz also has a body guard that seems to stay very close to the old man. |
| pukunui05-25-07, 06:22 PM | Hi everyone, I was going to change the name of this thread to reflect the fact that we have finally embarked upon the main event of this campaign! :w00t: Unfortunately, it seems that at some time during the past few days, the thread reached the "too old" date and I can now no longer change the title (I tested changing it just the other day and it worked but I didn't want to do it prematurely ... but now it seems it is too late). :P On the plus side, it seems I'm one of the lucky few with the ability to search the forums ... :dancin: Oh well. What do people think: should I make a new thread or keep going with this one? We had a good session last night. The marauder attack went well. More details later. |
| pukunui05-25-07, 08:25 PM | Kane Makes A New Friend by pukunui and prom While Kane is out searching for his bronze dragon friend around Lake Ern, he comes across a poor peasant scrounging along the lakeshore, apparently searching for something. His skin is tanned from spending many hours in the sun but his clothes are dirty and torn in places. He looks very skinny and malnourished. He is barefoot. Kane is unable to determine the man's age, but he notes that his eyes appear youthful and lively. When the man spots Kane from a distance, he raises his hand in greeting and moves closer along the shoreline, calling out, "Hello there, kind sir!" Kane stops and says, "Hi, are you all right?" The man comes closer and Kane catches a whiff of the man's odor. "Please sir," says the man, "Can you spare a coin or two? My wife has been dead these two years. My children are starving and I can find nothing to feed them." Kane rubs his nose then smiles. "Yes, actually I can. I am sorry to hear that your wife is dead. How many children do you have?" "I have three children, Pelor bless them. How much coin can you spare?" The man holds out his hand expectantly. "Does ten gold sound all right?", asks Kane, testing the man's response. Kane pulls out ten gold and hands it to the man. The man's eyes pop open at the sight of the gold coins. His jaw drops and he looks up at Kane, "Blessed Pelor! You are most generous, kind sir! That's more money than I have ever had in my entire life! My children and I will live like kings for many years! Oh hallelujah! You must be a very wealthy man to be able to spare so much money to a complete stranger." "I'll give you two more gold coins for some information. I have heard there is a dragon in the Lake Ern area. I am looking for a bronze dragon. Have you seen one or heard anything?" Kane responds. The man eyes Kane's coin purse greedily. "Two more for some information, eh? It's funny you should ask about bronze dragons because you're the second person today to ask me about one. The other man was even richer than you! He was dressed in real fancy clothes and carried a walking stick. I met him farther up the lakeshore. Good day to you, sir!" With that, the man turns and hurries away, quickly disappearing from sight behind some trees. After Kane hands over the gold coins, he stares at the back of the man as he leaves. Kane wonders about the old man: did he just get conned or is something else going on? Kane is not concerned about the money if it is a con but the mention of another person looking for the very same type of dragon is strange. Kane thinks back to the holy symbol of Tiamat he found on the dwarf in the Tomb of the King. Tiamat is big trouble if her worshippers are on the move. What would this man with a walking stick want with a bronze dragon? Kane heads further up the lake to see if he can find this wealthy man with a walking stick. As Kane wanders up the shoreline, he doesn't find the other man. Rather, the other man finds him. The beggar did indeed speak the truth. The new stranger is immaculately dressed in rust-red velvet. He has a sharply-groomed goatee and slicked-back shoulder length hair. In his right hand, he wields a cane topped with a balled dragon's claw made of bronze. As he approaches, he calls out, "Darastrix maekrix! (Dragons are superior beings!)" He extends a strong, manicured hand in greeting. "I have been watching you for some time. You did well helping the poor beggar. Consider it a test. And you passed with flying colors, my friend!" He gives Kane a hearty slap on the shoulder and grins warmly, showing a mouth full of perfect teeth. He looks thoughtful for a moment and then says, "Oh, but where are my manners? My name is Morlin Thulsthyr. Please, be so kind as to take a turn with me along the shore of this beautiful lake." Kane smiles to disguise his puzzlement. "Ah, bensvelk kear (good day), Morlin Thulsthyr. I am Kane Swift, I understand you are looking for a bronze dragon," replies Kane, looking at the bronze claw on his cane. "I have time for a walk around the lake, so what can I do for you?" The hairs on his neck stand up and he has the feeling that this man is very powerful. Am I in danger or is this guy an ally? he wonders to himself. Morlin looks at Kane curiously, causing the younger man to wonder whether he was still being tested and had just said something wrong. Then Morlin laughs and slaps Kane on the shoulder again. "Come along, young man." The two men amble down the lakeshore in the direction of Dennovar. The lake is quite still and several fishing boats can be spotted trawling the waters. Morlin does most of the talking, revealing that his is as fascinated by bronze dragons as Kane is. He explains that he is originally from Florentine, a fabulous city on the coast far to the southeast of Elsir Vale. Kane, in turn, reveals that his family found a bronze dragon egg when he was young and raised it until it got too big and dangerous to keep. Morlin stops and stares out across the lake at the fishing boats. "You no doubt find it odd," he says finally, "that a female bronze dragon would have left an egg here in Elsir Vale, considering that it is so far from the sea. I have been seeking an answer to that question myself for quite some time. Perhaps you and I can help each other. What do you say to that?" "Yes, it is strange that a bronze dragon egg would be in Elsir Vale. I am interested in working together, Morlin. If you know there is a bronze dragon in Elsir Vale, have you seen or met him? We named him Rom," Kane replies. "Glad to hear it, Kane. You've made the right choice. To answer your question, though, I'm afraid I have not seen your dragon friend anywhere. However, I happen to know a thing or two about dragons, and if your friend is as old as you have indicated, then he has learned how to disguise himself. You may not have found him, but he may well have found you already. For all we know, that beggar you met earlier could have been Rom in disguise ... although I will tell you this: bronze dragons delight in disguising themselves as small animals. When they do take humanoid form, they tend to like to make themselves out to be great warriors. Warfare is one of their greatest delights. If you really want to find your friend, my advice would be to search amongst the local armies and city watch divisions. If he is not there, nor here by Lake Ern, then your only other choice would be Lake Rhestin, which I understand is substantially larger than this lake here. Come now, let us retire to my rented accommodation in Dennovar for a private meal. Do you fancy roast duck?" "Thanks. That sounds good. I am hungry from searching Lake Ern," replies Kane. He walks off with Morlin. While Kane is eating dinner with Morlin, he starts discussing his experiences in the Forgotten King's Tomb. "I was hired by a sorceror named Xeron, to explore the tomb under Marthton. I got left behind when I fell into a large pool of water. I finally got out and met up with another adventuring party, so I joined them in order to challenge Xeron. Xeron was looting the ruins and seemed to have no concern for anyone in his party. Xeron was working for someone but I don't know who. I finally caught up with him and he was killed with a lot of help from a beautiful cleric and two wizards. What really concerns me is that one of Xeron's party members had a holy symbol of Tiamat. What do you know about Tiamat and her followers, Morlin?" asks Kane. At the mention of Tiamat, Morlin goes very still. The color in his face drains a little bit. After a few moments, he recovers and says, "Tiamat, eh? I had my suspicions but this confirms it. For your own safety, I can tell you no more than this ..." He leans in close and, in a whisper, hisses: "Be afraid! Be very afraid!" He leans back and closes his eyes for a moment. When he opens them again, he says, "Let's talk no more of the Dragon Queen. Tell me - are you any good at three-dragon ante?" The end. |
| pukunui05-26-07, 12:38 AM | Session Time: 5 hours Players: 4 Characters: Lestir Fye, Izaikaiah (Iz), Kane Swift, Kelthor Altara (Kel-Al), Tara Pendragon (NPC) Location: Elsir Vale PC Deaths: none NB. I have updated the character section in post #2. Be sure to check it out. --------------------------------------------- A few weeks after parting ways in Marthton, the group meets up again at the Laughing Manticore in Brindol. Even over the span of just a few weeks, people have changed. Lestir is slimmer and fitter. Iz is saner and cleaner if also perhaps a bit sadder. Kane is more worried than he had been before. If anyone hasn't really changed, it's Tara. She's still as proud and stunningly beautiful as ever ... ;) However, Tara now has a companion: her cousin, Kelthor, who is every bit as stunningly beautiful as she is, only in a more masculine way, of course. Kethra is with them. She fills them in on what she was able to find out about King Theron and his magical sword, Merthuvial. It is revealed that Kethra and Tara gave the sword to Kelthor as they believed he would benefit the most from it. Sure enough, not long after accepting the weapon, he became attuned to its powers and gained the Least Legacy (Merthuvial) bonus feat and the ability to cast detect thoughts once per day (in addition to being able to wield the weapon as a +1 adamantine longsword and reroll one Diplomacy check per day before learning the results of the check). The PCs fill each other in on what they've been up to during the past few weeks. In the middle of their conversation, two walking walls of flesh and muscle approach their booth. "Mr Paln will see you now," one of them says, indicating Lestir. The young wizard is naturally taken aback as he had not asked to see Mr Paln, the owner of the Laughing Manticore. However, the big man who spoke before tells him that while Lestir may not want to see Mr Paln, Mr Paln wants to see him. Lestir gulps and asks Kane to come with him. The others stay behind. The bouncers lead the two into a dimly lit back room. Inside is a long table, at the far end of which sits a man shrouded in shadows. He greets Lestir and inquires as the identity of his companion. He then gets down to business: "Lestir, I understand that you have been making enquiries about a certain halfling and goblin who have in their possession certain items of interest." Lestir confirms this. "Let's just say that I may be able to be of some assistance. I can have my people make certain ...discreet enquiries on your behalf. Consider it a favor. However, as you know, a favor always begets a favor in return. There is something with which you can assist me." Lestir looks uneasy. "Um, ok? Why do you want to help us?" Paln leans forward and steeples his fingers together. "As you are no doubt well aware, I am in the business of protecting people." Kane tries hard not to make a sarcastic remark. "Lately, a person or organization by the name of 'Lady Dagger' has been causing trouble in the western end of the vale. To be more specific, this 'Lady Dagger' has been murdering people. A number of these people have been merchants under my protection. Certain people are beginning to ask awkward questions. I have been unable to ascertain enough information regarding this 'Lady Dagger'. The local brigands and highwaymen in the Drellin's Ferry and Terrelton areas appear loathe to discuss her, despite our best efforts at persuasion." Rillor Paln proceeds to explain that he would like Lestir to investigate this "Lady Dagger" person and put an end to the unsolved murders so that people under his "protection" will stop asking awkward questions. In return, he will endeavor to find out where the halfling and goblin tomb robbers are hiding and what they've done with the loot. Lestir and Kane agree to this request and return to their friends, filling them in on the conversation that transpired in the back room. **** Later on, the group (sans Iz, who apparently dislikes theater) goes to see a special performance of The Tragedy of Vraath Keep, a two act play chronicling the story of Amery Vraath and his downfall at the hands of the Twistusk forest giants. The play sets this drama against the backdrop of the final days of the Kingdom of Rhestilor and asks rhetorically whether or not Amery could have stopped the savage horde from sacking Rhest had he not foolishly attacked the forest giants (who had been set up by the hobgoblins in the first place). It also indicates that Amery's ghost may still haunt Vraath Keep, unable to find rest until he can right the wrong he commited against the people of Elsir Vale. **** Kane tells the group about his conversation with the wealthy Morlin Thulsthyr and about his concerns that the evil dragon goddess, Tiamat, may be trying to stir things up in Elsir Vale. He is very worried that something bad is going to happen, but he's not entirely sure what is going on. He hopes that a trip to Vraath Keep will answer at least some of his questions. He picks Tara's brain about Tiamat ... the beautiful aasimar maiden thinks back to her comparative religion classes at the Cathedral of Pelor and fills the group in on her general knowledge of the deity. **** Lestir is visited by Eldremma Axenhaft, who has heard that he's planning on going to Drellin's Ferry and is wondering whether he and his friends will do one last job for her. A shopkeeper in Drellin's Ferry named Jarett Nurth imports various goods including children's toys from Brindol and Dennovar. Because the road has become quite dangerous out west, she sent word to Eldremma that she would like her latest shipment to be sent well-guarded. Lestir and co agree to drag the cart along with them. Eldremma assures them that Jarett will reward them amply when they safely deliver her goods. Six weeks after the group emerged from the forgotten king's tomb, they are now a tight-knit unit ready to embark on their next adventure ... |
| pukunui05-26-07, 01:38 AM | The group now has a list of several tasks/jobs to perform: 1) Investigate Vraath Keep with the intention of finding out more about the Krootad-Koth note and the connection with the dragon deity Tiamat. 2) Deal with the murderer known only as "Lady Dagger". 3) Deliver Jarett Nurth's wagonload of sundries and children's toys to her shop in Drellin's Ferry. --------------------------------------------- One very hot and sunny morning, the group acquire some horses and set off along the Dawn Way via Brindol's west gate ... It takes them a day of hard riding to reach Talar by nightfall. The small town is pleasant enough, surrounded by farms and nestled up against the southern bank of the Elsir River. The spend an uneventful night there and then set off again the next day. Being midsummer, it is very hot, and soon those dressed in heavy armor begin to feel very uncomfortable. Another day's ride sees them enter the Nimon Hills. They arrive at the tiny hamlet of Nimon's Gap in time for dinner. They take rooms at the walled-in Cross-Eyed Beholder Inn. Kane wiles away the evening playing card games with some of the locals. The next morning Kelthor and Kane make a few inquiries around town, hoping to see if anyone knows anything about "Lady Dagger" and the recent unsolved murders. The locals are all quite cagey and say they know very little as "Lady Dagger" is Drellin's Ferry and Terrelton's problem. One kind soul, though, suggests they talk to a cleric of St Cuthbert name Leille. She is apparently trying to clean up Terrelton's bad reputation. The group then bids a fond farewell to Nimon's Gap, with its flocks of sheep wandering in the hills above the idyllic orchards and the gurgling stream that winds its way north to the Elsir River. The third day sees them arrive in the dry and dusty town of Terrelton. All but Iz are aware of the the town's bad reputation. The foul-smelling tanneries situated in the hills to the east of town do nothing to improve the aesthetics. The town is shot through with brigands and other unsavory types. The group tracks down Leille, who turns out to be a butch, jovial woman who struts about town like she owns the place, wearing full plate armor with her heavy mace in full view at her side. They question her about the "Lady Dagger" murders, but she is unable to give them much useful information other than that the closest murder occurred about a month ago just down the road in the direction of Drellin's Ferry. Lestir wants to know if she knows anything about a merchant using goblins as muscle. She says no but she'll look into it for him. She tells him to check with her on his way back through town. They leave Terrelton and head into the home stretch ... two more days of traveling should see them arrive in Drellin's Ferry. The first day passes uneventfully and Kane finds a suitable place for everyone to camp down for the night. By now, everyone has noticed that Tara sleeps in her heavy armor but doesn't seem to be fatigued the next day. Lestir mistakenly puts it down to her being an aasimar, but Kane confronts her and she admits that it is the crystal brooch attached to her armor that allows her to sleep comfortably in her armor. Continued in next post ... |
| pukunui05-27-07, 12:56 AM | Session Details: as above Timeline: Day 1 Note: I'm just going to summarize most of the battles from now on. Most of my readers are already intimately familiar with these battles, either from DMing them themselves or from reading the numerous other RHoD recap threads that have come before ... --------------------------------------------- On the afternoon of the fifth day, the band of heroes trudges through a dusty grove. An abandoned farmhouse is visible through the trees to the north. Kane feels something is wrong and peers sharply into the trees. He spots the glint of sunlight on metal just as half a dozen hobgoblins leap up and start firing arrows at the heroes ... http://farm1.static.flickr.com/195/514223012_cd71584560.jpg Key: The Royal Guard mini is Kane, the Aasimar Fighter w/ horse is Kel-Al, the Frenzied Berserker is Tara (:smirk:), the white-beareded wizard is Iz, and the white-robed wizard is Lestir Marauder Attack summary Although some of my players were a bit worried at times, they all made it through the battle alive. Lestir tossed two fireballs into the masses of hobgoblin warriors. I believe he incinerated 7 hobgoblins that way. :mage: One hobgoblin survived each fireball by making his Reflex save, although both were nevertheless horribly burnt. Needless to say, they didn't survive for long. Kel-Al had some real trouble since his mount is Large and therefore had little room to maneuver in the narrow road cutting. He took some serious damage from the main hobgoblin warrior, dropping to 1 hit point on two occasions. :gah: He had to use up all 20 points of his lay on hands healing. The hellhounds caused the paladin and his mount some trouble too. Iz helped out with his psionic powers quite a bit. His opening salvo was an energy push against a hobgoblin archer who was up a tree. The guy ended up on his back 10ft from the tree, barely alive. :clap: The hobgoblin cleric cast invisibility on himself and snuck up behind Lestir, hitting him with an inflict light wounds spell, but Lestir made his Will save and only took half damage. Tara came to his rescue and gave the enemy cleric some serious hits with her jovar. :fight!: The cleric retreated to heal himself but Kel-Al charged down the road and slew him with a critical hit. :w00t: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/213/514223018_ef6c6f58bf.jpg Key: The red d6 is a hellhound ... The rest of the surviving enemies all eventually fell as well, although they found one of the grunts still living. Kane tied him up and stabilized him, then Tara cast cure minor wounds on him to wake him up. Kane and Kel-Al tried to interrogate him, with Kel acting as the "good cop" and Kane as the "bad cop" (the roles were originally reversed, but I had quick word with Kel-Al's player to the effect that paladins aren't allowed to play "bad cop". This is his first time playing the class, so it's all good ... :rolleyes:). They weren't able to get much out of the hobbo, though, other than the veiled threat: "You stupid humans may have won this battle, but the Kulkor Zhul will win the war and destroy you all!" Lestir was able to translate "Kulkor Zhul" as "people of the dragon" in Goblin. This piqued the players' interest and had them a bit worried. :dragon: :bigeyes: While this was going on, Iz wandered off alone to see what was in the farmhouse. The others threw their prisoner on the back of Kane's mule, looted the bodies, burned them, then went to see what Iz had found in the farmhouse. There were the bodies of a merchant, her guards, and a farmer. These they buried. They also took a pouch with 355gp that was lying on the floor of the house. A few hours later, they were entering Drellin's Ferry. They were stopped by a gruff militia sergeant with a waxed moustache who wanted to know their business. They replied that they were delivering some goods to Jarett Nurth. They also stated that they had come to investigate some murders. They mentioned that they had been attacked by hobgoblins and had taken one prisoner and wanted to know where the jail was. They made such a good impression on the sergeant that he gave them directions around town and then quietly went and had a word with Captain Soranna later in the evening. The PCs headed straight for the old Toll House, where they met Captain Soranna for themselves. They handed over their prisoner for safekeeping in the town's jail and then talked to Soranna about "Lady Dagger" and the hobgoblin raids. The good captain revealed that the murders were always different but the murderer left a "calling card" of sorts in the form of a dagger. They asked if she had one and she said yes but asked them to give her a day to find it in the town guard's storeroom. The PCs then went and got rooms at the Old Bridge Inn. Kane took the horses to Dellora's Livery and washed them down, etc. Lestir delivered Jarett's wagon of goods. The dark-haired southerner was very gratefully and asked the wizard to come back the next day for a reward. As the PCs were settling in for a nice "debriefing", in walked Town Speaker Norro Wiston, followed by Captain Soranna. The Town Speaker appealed to the PCs to help him drive off the hobgoblin threat. The PCs said they would think about it and get back to him in the morning. After the pair had left, Kane challenged the inn's owner, Kellin Shadowbanks, to a game of three-dragon ante. But first Iz had a magic trick to do ... he cast mage hand on the deck and made it float up to the ceiling. He then asked Kane to try and catch it. At first Kane tried, but Iz kept making it shift around, so Kane eventually gave up and asked if Kellin had another deck of cards. They sat down to play and Kellin eventually won. Thus the first day ended with the PCs' safe and sound in Drellin's Ferry. --------------------------------------------- Note: we won't be playing next week because Lestir's player isn't available. This is advantageous actually because Kane's player is working on a model of Vraath Keep for me and he's a little bit behind. I had also asked him to make a model of "the bridge", but he hasn't even started that yet ... :( We also probably won't be playing in three weeks time because there's a concert my wife and I would like to go to that Friday night. This will also help slow things down for the model-making ... and hopefully the last lot of minis I ordered will arrive by then as there is a mini for an upcoming encounter in that box. |
| LoveNrockets05-27-07, 04:43 AM | I recall Kel-al pulling off an excellent impersonation of a sardine as the Hob-gob leader went to work with his +1 can openers.:weep: Luckily the +3 (moral) fruit bursts, in the top left corner of the pic, made the salty taste of one's own blood a little easier to swallow. In fact they must have had a 20ft area effect as the whole group seemed to perk up at their appearance :D |
| pukunui05-27-07, 04:47 AM | Luckily the +3 (morale) fruit bursts, in the top left corner of the pic, made the salty taste of one's own blood a little easier to swallow. In fact they must have had a 20ft area effect as the whole group seemed to perk up at their appearance :D :rofl: |
| Prom06-01-07, 05:25 PM | Hi All, The causalty rate of characters continues to climb, so now everyone has a back-up character. Ivan Keel was introduced by Kane Swift in the Laughing Manticore, when everyone met up after the summer holiday's. The following events carry on about half a day after the party of Kane, Kal-Al, Lestir, Tara and Iz leave for Drellin Ferry. Ivan Keel tapped his fingers on the table restlessly, and looked at his ale. The Thirsty Zombie was busy and it wasn't dark yet, Torgin Kuraki was serving a line of customers . Ivan took a swig from his cup and thought about what Kane had told him. Kane had said that Tiamat followers appeared to be on the move and he warned that Tiamat was trouble for everyone. Ivan had been glad to see his old friend after one year in the dungeons of Brindol. He had a gut feeling that Kane would need his help, so why didn't he go with Kane. He kick the leg of his table and got up, he knew what he wanted to do. Now who could he find to travel with him, a solo journey along the Dawn way was foolish. After a few hours talking to some of the patrons of the Thirsty Zombie, he heard that a merchant caravan was being escorted by the Axenhaft Security company to Terrelton. That would get him most of the way. In the morning Ivan packed his gear and saddled his horse, he met the caravan outside the city gates of Brindol. "Move out!" shouted the teamster and they were on their way. It took Ivan about five days to get to Drellin Ferry. He was hot and tired, the men he met at the guard posts didn't look like well trained soldiers. Ivan asked for directions to the local Inn and a stable. The guards told him that the Old Bridge Inn was were he could find something to eat and a comfortable bed. There was also a stable not far from the centre of town. After he had watered and cleaned down his horse he, went over the the Inn and had a cool drink. Ivan spent half an hour chasing people down to find out he had missed everyone, the party had left. No-one seem to have any idea when they would be back. Ivan had no choice but to wait, so he sat outside leaning his chair against a wall and sharpen his sword. Prom |
| pukunui06-01-07, 09:31 PM | Hi everyone, We ended up playing last night after all and Lestir's player even joined in later on towards the end of the session. Lestir more or less saved the day, but he was too late to save Kane Swift ... :( Anyway, I'm going to start a new thread since we're now officially into RHoD. I'll repost the initial encounter in the new thread and then continue to post in there. I'll stop posting in this thread. Here's the link to my new recap thread: Absolut Doom Redux (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?p=12581078#post12581078). Cheers, Jonny |