Beguiling Resources
New Beguiler's Handbook- By Nicholas the Paladin
Campaign Background
I entered this campaign with a Beguiler even knowing that undead, particularly the intelligent variety, play a key part in the campaign.
House rules/Variants
* Mordekainen's Disjuntion - Removed or Modified (probably the later)
* Shadow Series of spells can mimic metamagiced spells within the particular spells level limitations.
* Alternate Turn Undead: The damaging version
* Paizo's Critical Hit & Fumble Decks
* Beguiler can use the Eclectic Learning ACF from PHB2
* Three Creature Categories: Minions - Minimum HP worth 50% normal XP
Normal - Average (listed) HP worth 100% normal XP
Elite - Max HP worth 150% normal XP
* DM decided to allow Flaws but not Traits ( I took two)
Rest of the party
Tabitha Swiftblade - Whisper Gnome Rogue with a focus on Sneak Attack and feats and ACF that boost that
ability and give Sneaks on Undead.
Carthus - An Abrupt Jaunting Human Conjurer (banned Evok and Enchant)
[size=14pt]Rance An'aren, The Beguiler aka Draix
Name inspired by 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'
Show
Background Fluff Outline of past and personality that will likely be modified further in working with DM
Background Fluff Outline of past and personality that will likely be modified further in working with DM
Show
Personality
If any could/did know him well and was honest they would say he might be a bit of a sociopath. Rance has a developing knack for maneuvering and manipulating those around him to his advantage and in general he takes great pleasure in the challenge of doing just that.
He fashions himself as a bit of a businessman/merchant/diplomat and is ever looking for and working angles to take things in directions he finds favorable. He is very ambitious perhaps a bit too prideful. He appreciates and enjoys wealth but does not really put much stock in wealth itself. Wealth is but a means to an end.
He does not easily or often develop close (as in actual personal ties). Most people about him are no more valuable to him than any other tool though his smile and smooth words are likely to leave recipients with a far more friendly impression. But as any tradesman RANCE endeavors to take good care of his assets to maintain and cultivate value.
While few are worthy of his respect or regard but those that do will find a stalwart that puts a great deal of stock in trust and loyalty. Those he truly regards will find that he will put great expense and even take on great risk in their behalf, perhaps even risking death itself.
He is the sort that would consider it sport to debate a paladin and point out how the evilness of his raiding the goblin cave playing on words and emotions to the point of perhaps even making the paladin himself question his actions.
Tons more depth already there for his personality but could be written on but this very much gives the overview I think. What you think?
Rance enjoys playing people and experiencing life. He is an ambitious opportunist always on the look out for methods to profit and grow influence. While he can be quite deadly he really does avoid killing anyone he does not have too.
History
Background Bullets:
· Rance has risen from very common beginnings and has drug himself from being a houseless, homeless urchin to being what he is today.
· His earliest remembrances are of stalking the streets as a very young child surviving as best he could.
· Between struggling for necessities of survival and avoiding the many things (and people) of the city that lead to death he spent a great deal of time watching and learning how people acted and behaved most often without them being even aware of his young presence.
· As be became more confident in his understanding of others he began making himself available to various business interests around the market and spent a great deal of time among the foreign merchants of the city. There he learned a good deal about those races and the far off places they call home.
· In time one of the up and coming Merchant Clans took notice of Rance and took him into their fold seeing that he would be a valuable asset to be cultivated. Among the clan Rance formed his first real attachments to people as he learned how those bonds were one of the strengths that was making the Clan’s rise in power possible.
· Within a few years Rance was tested and sent to Sorcere for magical training for which he showed some aptitude and there he learned as much about intrigue as magic itself. In areas of illusions and Enchantments in particular he found great pleasure and satisfaction but in others he fell flat, as much due to disinterest as lack of ability. He also quickly learned that he could call upon his magics more frequently and on demand without dealing with the tedious preparation of most students.
· During his time at Sorcere his adoptive clan was destroyed by parties troubled by its rise in influence and power. Using connections and relationships he had formed at Sorcere Rance secured opportunities with House Draix, among others. While in that House he was called An’aren
· With his background and experiences Rance new that he would never gain any real influence within the system no matter how great his merit or societal station gained. Any real influence would have to be gained outside traditional channels.
· And so Rance began developing his plan. Gaining what he sought would not be easy and would likely get him killed by the establishment but if he could provide goods and services they found of value and in a way that did not stir alarms he may very well be able to develop a power base of influence and independence too valuable and useful for the great houses to consider destroying.
· The biggest of those dangers of course was the looming Test of Lloth of which he was expected to undertake within a few years. Favor within the house he found came with its own risks and dangers and he was not sure he could overcome the challenge of the Test.
·
· A large degree of Rance’s plan would depend on developing relationships within and without the city so when more trouble rose before him he manipulated his way into a surface raiding party both as a means to get to the surface and to dodge the dangers that were approaching in the city.
· The Amulet of An’aren, an item Rance received from his mother of whom he has only the vague childhood memories is a mysterious part of his past and heritage(unknown to him). These memories of his mother contrast greatly with what he learned within the Drow society at large. Upon the Amulet in an archaic elven script is “To my beloved Rance”.
If any could/did know him well and was honest they would say he might be a bit of a sociopath. Rance has a developing knack for maneuvering and manipulating those around him to his advantage and in general he takes great pleasure in the challenge of doing just that.
He fashions himself as a bit of a businessman/merchant/diplomat and is ever looking for and working angles to take things in directions he finds favorable. He is very ambitious perhaps a bit too prideful. He appreciates and enjoys wealth but does not really put much stock in wealth itself. Wealth is but a means to an end.
He does not easily or often develop close (as in actual personal ties). Most people about him are no more valuable to him than any other tool though his smile and smooth words are likely to leave recipients with a far more friendly impression. But as any tradesman RANCE endeavors to take good care of his assets to maintain and cultivate value.
While few are worthy of his respect or regard but those that do will find a stalwart that puts a great deal of stock in trust and loyalty. Those he truly regards will find that he will put great expense and even take on great risk in their behalf, perhaps even risking death itself.
He is the sort that would consider it sport to debate a paladin and point out how the evilness of his raiding the goblin cave playing on words and emotions to the point of perhaps even making the paladin himself question his actions.
Tons more depth already there for his personality but could be written on but this very much gives the overview I think. What you think?
Rance enjoys playing people and experiencing life. He is an ambitious opportunist always on the look out for methods to profit and grow influence. While he can be quite deadly he really does avoid killing anyone he does not have too.
History
Background Bullets:
· Rance has risen from very common beginnings and has drug himself from being a houseless, homeless urchin to being what he is today.
· His earliest remembrances are of stalking the streets as a very young child surviving as best he could.
· Between struggling for necessities of survival and avoiding the many things (and people) of the city that lead to death he spent a great deal of time watching and learning how people acted and behaved most often without them being even aware of his young presence.
· As be became more confident in his understanding of others he began making himself available to various business interests around the market and spent a great deal of time among the foreign merchants of the city. There he learned a good deal about those races and the far off places they call home.
· In time one of the up and coming Merchant Clans took notice of Rance and took him into their fold seeing that he would be a valuable asset to be cultivated. Among the clan Rance formed his first real attachments to people as he learned how those bonds were one of the strengths that was making the Clan’s rise in power possible.
· Within a few years Rance was tested and sent to Sorcere for magical training for which he showed some aptitude and there he learned as much about intrigue as magic itself. In areas of illusions and Enchantments in particular he found great pleasure and satisfaction but in others he fell flat, as much due to disinterest as lack of ability. He also quickly learned that he could call upon his magics more frequently and on demand without dealing with the tedious preparation of most students.
· During his time at Sorcere his adoptive clan was destroyed by parties troubled by its rise in influence and power. Using connections and relationships he had formed at Sorcere Rance secured opportunities with House Draix, among others. While in that House he was called An’aren
· With his background and experiences Rance new that he would never gain any real influence within the system no matter how great his merit or societal station gained. Any real influence would have to be gained outside traditional channels.
· And so Rance began developing his plan. Gaining what he sought would not be easy and would likely get him killed by the establishment but if he could provide goods and services they found of value and in a way that did not stir alarms he may very well be able to develop a power base of influence and independence too valuable and useful for the great houses to consider destroying.
· The biggest of those dangers of course was the looming Test of Lloth of which he was expected to undertake within a few years. Favor within the house he found came with its own risks and dangers and he was not sure he could overcome the challenge of the Test.
·
· A large degree of Rance’s plan would depend on developing relationships within and without the city so when more trouble rose before him he manipulated his way into a surface raiding party both as a means to get to the surface and to dodge the dangers that were approaching in the city.
· The Amulet of An’aren, an item Rance received from his mother of whom he has only the vague childhood memories is a mysterious part of his past and heritage(unknown to him). These memories of his mother contrast greatly with what he learned within the Drow society at large. Upon the Amulet in an archaic elven script is “To my beloved Rance”.
Show
· 8 Hours after our last battle we are met on the road as we approach Harrington by Lord Harrington himself who is looking for Lord Terrance (Peril Proliant's brother). I lead him to Terrance with the Caravan and we were lead into the city without challenge.
· Capt. Mathews informed us that we would likely be there for 2 days as he resupplied and found more guards for our trip on north to the Ice Peak Mountains. So I found I had 2 days for myself and my minions to tend to matters about this small town. Prime things we did was barter our loot (which was quite profitable as military/war related good were x2 price) and go see the Sarris the Sage about the "package" we were unable to deliver. During that two days I added Unlimited Mage Hand and Prestidigitation to my Amulet of An'Aren.
· Meeting Sarris was interesting and informative. His place was illuminated by Lantern Archons floating above and he seemed a congenial and forthcoming. We discussed the vials of blood that were in the package and the history/motivations behind some of the factions involved with it. We discussed the Conclave of Wizards, a group seeking to gain the power of the Vampire Lords of Ages past and the Vampire King of which the Lords served. In that age these powerful vampires ruled as tyrants and were able to even walk in the sun.
· We discussed how some of the Conclave were seeking to revive the Vampire King (though not all seem to be in favor of doing so). The Vampire King has a magically sealed tomb somewhere according to legends. There are 4 keys to the tomb made of indestructible magics; The Ankh of Antaris ( said to allow Vamps near walk in the light), the Eye of the Oracle, the Anchor of the Oceans, and the Heart of the Volcano. Definitely an elemental theme. Apparently the Vampire Lords had items of power as well, 13 of them, one of which is a sword that we saw Vlad Draconis received from Al the Apothecary.
· The Sage we learn is part of the Society of Cincinatus a group dedicated to basically preserving the global status quo (ie they are apposing efforts to revive the Vampire King and related tyranny). I don't know they are 'good' but they are opposed to the Conclave and allied with the Druids. I also probed for info on Prophecies but the Sage did not know much other than vague legends that at this time he discounts regarding an Oracle. Info regarding the oracle always seemed tied to Dogmen and Red Raving eyes he says.
· In discussing the Blood Vials and that they were takin by a Vampire (vlad) before we could deliver them the Sage lamented the missed opportunity and knowledge that could be gained. Through my regular use of Detect Thoughts even on my companions I was aware of Carthus' drinking the blood and having a vial with remnants within. After some discussion about doom and dying for those that drank such elixirs Carthus finally volunteered his. I was figuring I was going to have to Charm or otherwise manipulate him into giving it up at the rate we were going.
· The next day we were set to scout the northern road out of Harrington as traffic had recently closed (as with a more westerly road to the Spire. On the road north we discovered a sizable patrol of orcs (12) and Ogres (6). Carthus noted them coming first with their chanting marching tunes. We set up an ambush for the Orcs as at first we did not know of the Ogres. We spent 3 rounds buffing and prepping which let the orcs get just past us down the road. That is when we saw the Ogres coming some 100 or so feat behind.
· The battle was chaotic and intense with gloriousness on our part. Our opening move (Surprise round) was Carthus using a Sculpted Grease (line) causing all but 3 of the orcs to fall. I followed with Sleep on the lead 4 but only put 2 down, 2 that were already prone hehe. Over the next many rounds Carthus and Tabi began cutting and blasting (Fiery Burst Reserve feat) the Orcs to death.
· Seeing the Ogres coming I left the Orcs to them and did what I could to delay and confound. I lead with a Silent Image (noxious green wall 70 ft long) which did hold them up and get them thinking and asking how to handle it. When they finally decided to go around and they were all clumped up I dropped a glitterdust on them as I let the Image go down. 4 were blinded. The unblinded pulled the blinded back from the spot of the dangerous magical wall. Over the next round I glitterdusted the back 3 ogres again before they gained their vision back (I'm CL3) and then moved up to engage the lead three blasting them with Color Spray but the Leader of them having gained his vision back had already moved towards Carthus and Tabi. I left him for them to kill. Their OOAs missed me due to my Alter Self (trog). I also had 4 mirror images so was not overly worried and I blinded/stunned one of the two. The next round I did Blinding Color surge but that did not blind the other either. The Following round I let loose Obscuring Mist and moved back towards my companions.
· During the time I was playig the the ogres Tabi and Carthus had finished the Orcs and were finishing up the Lead Ogre, Carthus with his blasts and Tabi with her sneak attacks and Persistent Blade (from item for flanking help). The next big bit was that most my controls/blindness were wearing off and the Ogres were advancing again. Carthus stopped them cold with a Web spell. We engaged them for a few rounds even Draix plinking some with his S. bow before we decided to go ahead and withdraw with our info to Capt. Mathews (It was 20 til midnight and would have taken too long to continue/finish the fight).
· 8 Hours after our last battle we are met on the road as we approach Harrington by Lord Harrington himself who is looking for Lord Terrance (Peril Proliant's brother). I lead him to Terrance with the Caravan and we were lead into the city without challenge.
· Capt. Mathews informed us that we would likely be there for 2 days as he resupplied and found more guards for our trip on north to the Ice Peak Mountains. So I found I had 2 days for myself and my minions to tend to matters about this small town. Prime things we did was barter our loot (which was quite profitable as military/war related good were x2 price) and go see the Sarris the Sage about the "package" we were unable to deliver. During that two days I added Unlimited Mage Hand and Prestidigitation to my Amulet of An'Aren.
· Meeting Sarris was interesting and informative. His place was illuminated by Lantern Archons floating above and he seemed a congenial and forthcoming. We discussed the vials of blood that were in the package and the history/motivations behind some of the factions involved with it. We discussed the Conclave of Wizards, a group seeking to gain the power of the Vampire Lords of Ages past and the Vampire King of which the Lords served. In that age these powerful vampires ruled as tyrants and were able to even walk in the sun.
· We discussed how some of the Conclave were seeking to revive the Vampire King (though not all seem to be in favor of doing so). The Vampire King has a magically sealed tomb somewhere according to legends. There are 4 keys to the tomb made of indestructible magics; The Ankh of Antaris ( said to allow Vamps near walk in the light), the Eye of the Oracle, the Anchor of the Oceans, and the Heart of the Volcano. Definitely an elemental theme. Apparently the Vampire Lords had items of power as well, 13 of them, one of which is a sword that we saw Vlad Draconis received from Al the Apothecary.
· The Sage we learn is part of the Society of Cincinatus a group dedicated to basically preserving the global status quo (ie they are apposing efforts to revive the Vampire King and related tyranny). I don't know they are 'good' but they are opposed to the Conclave and allied with the Druids. I also probed for info on Prophecies but the Sage did not know much other than vague legends that at this time he discounts regarding an Oracle. Info regarding the oracle always seemed tied to Dogmen and Red Raving eyes he says.
· In discussing the Blood Vials and that they were takin by a Vampire (vlad) before we could deliver them the Sage lamented the missed opportunity and knowledge that could be gained. Through my regular use of Detect Thoughts even on my companions I was aware of Carthus' drinking the blood and having a vial with remnants within. After some discussion about doom and dying for those that drank such elixirs Carthus finally volunteered his. I was figuring I was going to have to Charm or otherwise manipulate him into giving it up at the rate we were going.
· The next day we were set to scout the northern road out of Harrington as traffic had recently closed (as with a more westerly road to the Spire. On the road north we discovered a sizable patrol of orcs (12) and Ogres (6). Carthus noted them coming first with their chanting marching tunes. We set up an ambush for the Orcs as at first we did not know of the Ogres. We spent 3 rounds buffing and prepping which let the orcs get just past us down the road. That is when we saw the Ogres coming some 100 or so feat behind.
· The battle was chaotic and intense with gloriousness on our part. Our opening move (Surprise round) was Carthus using a Sculpted Grease (line) causing all but 3 of the orcs to fall. I followed with Sleep on the lead 4 but only put 2 down, 2 that were already prone hehe. Over the next many rounds Carthus and Tabi began cutting and blasting (Fiery Burst Reserve feat) the Orcs to death.
· Seeing the Ogres coming I left the Orcs to them and did what I could to delay and confound. I lead with a Silent Image (noxious green wall 70 ft long) which did hold them up and get them thinking and asking how to handle it. When they finally decided to go around and they were all clumped up I dropped a glitterdust on them as I let the Image go down. 4 were blinded. The unblinded pulled the blinded back from the spot of the dangerous magical wall. Over the next round I glitterdusted the back 3 ogres again before they gained their vision back (I'm CL3) and then moved up to engage the lead three blasting them with Color Spray but the Leader of them having gained his vision back had already moved towards Carthus and Tabi. I left him for them to kill. Their OOAs missed me due to my Alter Self (trog). I also had 4 mirror images so was not overly worried and I blinded/stunned one of the two. The next round I did Blinding Color surge but that did not blind the other either. The Following round I let loose Obscuring Mist and moved back towards my companions.
· During the time I was playig the the ogres Tabi and Carthus had finished the Orcs and were finishing up the Lead Ogre, Carthus with his blasts and Tabi with her sneak attacks and Persistent Blade (from item for flanking help). The next big bit was that most my controls/blindness were wearing off and the Ogres were advancing again. Carthus stopped them cold with a Web spell. We engaged them for a few rounds even Draix plinking some with his S. bow before we decided to go ahead and withdraw with our info to Capt. Mathews (It was 20 til midnight and would have taken too long to continue/finish the fight).
Show
· We have a busy 3 days in the White Cloak camp. Generally I stay out of sight/mind as much as possible so as to avoid complications due to my nature. A great deal is accomplished in that time however. Carthus through various Divinations determines that under the city of Mourn there are 'Shadow runes' that are the source of power for these Marrow undead and we learn that at least one is under the old Temple of Pelor in the catacombs.
· Speaking with the White Cloak Lord Commander and clerics I convince them to produce and sell a bunch of scrolls to us at cost. Afterall, we are going to deal with their problem and I am not as yet sure that in character it is a concern of mine. During our three days they produce 30 scrolls for us. The benevolent minion master that I am I pay the portion for myself and my two PC companions who apparently are wastrels. Not really, they just had stuff that had previously demanded their money more than me like certain bits of magic gear. I don't mind paying as in character I see it as a double boon, it allows us better chance of survival and somewhat binds my two companions to me further. In the scrolls produced are 6 Hide from Undead, 6 Delay poison, 3 Neutralize Poison, 3 Restoration, 3 Freedom of Movement, 2 Undead Bane, 6 Lesser Vigor, 1 Mass Lessor Vigor.
· On the 4th day 8 of us head to Mourn with Brent the White Cloak Crusader leading us to our destination. As we approach I have the Cleric Sasha use a Delay Poison and Hide From Undead on us hoping to avoid poison and conflict as we can. It turns out the Temple of Pelor is actually at the edge of the city and so fairly easy for us to reach.
· Sneaking (hiding is what I do hehe), I peer into the temple and see what appears to be two Marrow Crusaders in the tattered remains of their White Cloaks standing guard. Tabby checks the doors for nastiness then steps in. As she does they seem to follow her visually but do not attack. I then step in to the other side stealthily and they do not seem to notice me. I share with the rest of the party what we see and how they are behaving. The party then proceeds in with the last in shutting the doors behind us so as to block line of sight from any undead outside.
· The mage Cain casts slow on them which sends them into charges against our front line, Brent and Captain Mathews. One of them is slowed but the other is not. In the first or second round Mathews goes down under a combo of blows one of which was the +8d8 Divine Surge strike. As he went down I Glitterdusted and Blinded the Marrow. Carthus started to use Halt Undead on them but being blinded and one slowed I convinced him to
hold onto that resource. Over the next two rounds the Marrow were cut down with a combo of blade and spell with some of that Blade coming from one of them Divine Surging themselves due to a fumble hehe.
· The fight ended we take steps to insure Mathews is not going to return as some form of undead... we chop him up some and put him in the bag of holding. Carthus pouts a bit at this as he wanted the body intact for his necromantic rites. Licking our wounds we reapply Hide from Undead and then head downstairs.
· At the bottom of the stairs we see that the place is lit with a green glow from various sources. Brent confirms that the place was not lit so before. Upon investigation we discover green glowing orbs of light floating above floating crystals. The light filtering through the crystals is casting shadowy runes in the air below. Seeing no immediate threats Tabby approaches one just around the corner 15ft away and takes her time seeing what she can do. 4 minutes and two take 20s later she has determined that she can disable it and simply cracks the Crystal with a little hammer tool bursting it to pieces causing the Shadow Rune to disappear.
· Then we saw shadowy forms stepping out from the two other Runes within view some 30 feet away in differing directions. These Shadows direct their attention to me asking "Why do you attack us brother?" to which I basically reply because these crystals are the source of what has been attacking me and mine. Then determining and declaring that I was not brother to them they attack. (Having Brent hear that is probably a good thing for relations with the White Cloaks hehe).
· Then the battle was on. Turns out there were 9-10 of these Shadow Runes throughout the catacombs and each is producing one shadow each round. Carthus used Shatter a few times from his Rune Staff to break 2. In this battle the cleric Sara finally gets to pull her weight with her much appreciated Turn Undeads of which she ended up using all 6. Tactically we generally tried to stay close enough to Sara for her to destroy the undead while we were smashing the crystals. Each time one broke it did a sonic burst for d6 damage. The Shadows of this place were able to determine exactly where we were located even through walls so they tended to take directs approaches to the nearest living targets.
· Over the course of the battle we were able to take out 5 of the Crystals while staying fairly close for mutual support. The main thing I did was make myself a target to keep Shadows off of Carthus and Tabby as they were moving away to crush crystals. Bardis (warrior) being brave and foolish went one direction on his own to deal with a crystal. Carthus being nearly as brave and foolish went another way following the green glow and was able to use Web to cover 2 which shut them down as he was hoping (another hope was that if it didn't the Web being transdimensional would hold the Shadows. That is not how it works though).
· Seeing how the Web stopped them Carthus called to me via previously cast Message saying to cover them with Darkness. (The DM quickly agreed with what should have been known as an evil grin that such would work hehe). So I use my SLA Darkness on one some 60 ft down the hall in the general direction of Bardis. The Crystal subsumes the darkness and pulsates with the green light turning to red. Then another Shadowy figure steps out, one different than the Shadows. Seeing Bardis and me this being decides to blast Bardis with 5 shadowy missiles. Poor Bardis at this point had just crushed a crystal while having 2 Shadows on him. It also should be noted that this Shadowy (also undead incorporeal) Casters spells seem to also do STR damage in addition to spells normal effects.
· Thankfully by this time others are moving in Bardis' direction and get there in time to see him go down from STR loss. I end up directing Sara to try and Restoration him as she was planning on doing more of a wait and see. She is out of Turns at this point but does manage to save Baridis' life. The fight has been ongoing and Haste cast by Cain back at the beginning has been a HUGE boon to getting to the crystals and smashing them and getting back together as a party. Poor Cathus had Abrupt Jaunted away from some Shadows and the Haste effect however so he had Expeditiously Retreated himself.
· As for my Beguiler I had cast Mage Armor right off for the Force protection, then Mirror Image, and eventually Blur. I used my movement to make myself a target to keep Shadows off others and to draw them into range of Sara's Turns. The round after putting Darkness on the Crystal however I used a Scroll of Lightning Bolt with UMD to blast it to smithereens.
· The battle was then joined around Bardis with the Shadow Mage blasting and draining STR and our mages blasting (including Transdimensional Fireballs from Carthus). With much of the party nearly dead from STR drain we finally finish up the Shadow Mage and the remaining few Shadows.
· We wrap up there considering going back to a Rope Trick Cain had cast at the stairs but probably we will poke around some then leave the city and Rope Trick somewhere in the distance for more security. Most importantly Draix (Beguiler) and Carthus (Conjurer) his 6th level.
· Speaking with the White Cloak Lord Commander and clerics I convince them to produce and sell a bunch of scrolls to us at cost. Afterall, we are going to deal with their problem and I am not as yet sure that in character it is a concern of mine. During our three days they produce 30 scrolls for us. The benevolent minion master that I am I pay the portion for myself and my two PC companions who apparently are wastrels. Not really, they just had stuff that had previously demanded their money more than me like certain bits of magic gear. I don't mind paying as in character I see it as a double boon, it allows us better chance of survival and somewhat binds my two companions to me further. In the scrolls produced are 6 Hide from Undead, 6 Delay poison, 3 Neutralize Poison, 3 Restoration, 3 Freedom of Movement, 2 Undead Bane, 6 Lesser Vigor, 1 Mass Lessor Vigor.
· On the 4th day 8 of us head to Mourn with Brent the White Cloak Crusader leading us to our destination. As we approach I have the Cleric Sasha use a Delay Poison and Hide From Undead on us hoping to avoid poison and conflict as we can. It turns out the Temple of Pelor is actually at the edge of the city and so fairly easy for us to reach.
· Sneaking (hiding is what I do hehe), I peer into the temple and see what appears to be two Marrow Crusaders in the tattered remains of their White Cloaks standing guard. Tabby checks the doors for nastiness then steps in. As she does they seem to follow her visually but do not attack. I then step in to the other side stealthily and they do not seem to notice me. I share with the rest of the party what we see and how they are behaving. The party then proceeds in with the last in shutting the doors behind us so as to block line of sight from any undead outside.
· The mage Cain casts slow on them which sends them into charges against our front line, Brent and Captain Mathews. One of them is slowed but the other is not. In the first or second round Mathews goes down under a combo of blows one of which was the +8d8 Divine Surge strike. As he went down I Glitterdusted and Blinded the Marrow. Carthus started to use Halt Undead on them but being blinded and one slowed I convinced him to
hold onto that resource. Over the next two rounds the Marrow were cut down with a combo of blade and spell with some of that Blade coming from one of them Divine Surging themselves due to a fumble hehe.
· The fight ended we take steps to insure Mathews is not going to return as some form of undead... we chop him up some and put him in the bag of holding. Carthus pouts a bit at this as he wanted the body intact for his necromantic rites. Licking our wounds we reapply Hide from Undead and then head downstairs.
· At the bottom of the stairs we see that the place is lit with a green glow from various sources. Brent confirms that the place was not lit so before. Upon investigation we discover green glowing orbs of light floating above floating crystals. The light filtering through the crystals is casting shadowy runes in the air below. Seeing no immediate threats Tabby approaches one just around the corner 15ft away and takes her time seeing what she can do. 4 minutes and two take 20s later she has determined that she can disable it and simply cracks the Crystal with a little hammer tool bursting it to pieces causing the Shadow Rune to disappear.
· Then we saw shadowy forms stepping out from the two other Runes within view some 30 feet away in differing directions. These Shadows direct their attention to me asking "Why do you attack us brother?" to which I basically reply because these crystals are the source of what has been attacking me and mine. Then determining and declaring that I was not brother to them they attack. (Having Brent hear that is probably a good thing for relations with the White Cloaks hehe).
· Then the battle was on. Turns out there were 9-10 of these Shadow Runes throughout the catacombs and each is producing one shadow each round. Carthus used Shatter a few times from his Rune Staff to break 2. In this battle the cleric Sara finally gets to pull her weight with her much appreciated Turn Undeads of which she ended up using all 6. Tactically we generally tried to stay close enough to Sara for her to destroy the undead while we were smashing the crystals. Each time one broke it did a sonic burst for d6 damage. The Shadows of this place were able to determine exactly where we were located even through walls so they tended to take directs approaches to the nearest living targets.
· Over the course of the battle we were able to take out 5 of the Crystals while staying fairly close for mutual support. The main thing I did was make myself a target to keep Shadows off of Carthus and Tabby as they were moving away to crush crystals. Bardis (warrior) being brave and foolish went one direction on his own to deal with a crystal. Carthus being nearly as brave and foolish went another way following the green glow and was able to use Web to cover 2 which shut them down as he was hoping (another hope was that if it didn't the Web being transdimensional would hold the Shadows. That is not how it works though).
· Seeing how the Web stopped them Carthus called to me via previously cast Message saying to cover them with Darkness. (The DM quickly agreed with what should have been known as an evil grin that such would work hehe). So I use my SLA Darkness on one some 60 ft down the hall in the general direction of Bardis. The Crystal subsumes the darkness and pulsates with the green light turning to red. Then another Shadowy figure steps out, one different than the Shadows. Seeing Bardis and me this being decides to blast Bardis with 5 shadowy missiles. Poor Bardis at this point had just crushed a crystal while having 2 Shadows on him. It also should be noted that this Shadowy (also undead incorporeal) Casters spells seem to also do STR damage in addition to spells normal effects.
· Thankfully by this time others are moving in Bardis' direction and get there in time to see him go down from STR loss. I end up directing Sara to try and Restoration him as she was planning on doing more of a wait and see. She is out of Turns at this point but does manage to save Baridis' life. The fight has been ongoing and Haste cast by Cain back at the beginning has been a HUGE boon to getting to the crystals and smashing them and getting back together as a party. Poor Cathus had Abrupt Jaunted away from some Shadows and the Haste effect however so he had Expeditiously Retreated himself.
· As for my Beguiler I had cast Mage Armor right off for the Force protection, then Mirror Image, and eventually Blur. I used my movement to make myself a target to keep Shadows off others and to draw them into range of Sara's Turns. The round after putting Darkness on the Crystal however I used a Scroll of Lightning Bolt with UMD to blast it to smithereens.
· The battle was then joined around Bardis with the Shadow Mage blasting and draining STR and our mages blasting (including Transdimensional Fireballs from Carthus). With much of the party nearly dead from STR drain we finally finish up the Shadow Mage and the remaining few Shadows.
· We wrap up there considering going back to a Rope Trick Cain had cast at the stairs but probably we will poke around some then leave the city and Rope Trick somewhere in the distance for more security. Most importantly Draix (Beguiler) and Carthus (Conjurer) his 6th level.
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· After much discussion the night before the following morning finds us further discussing our plans. We are looking to head to Callay (Major City) hoping to make use of our acquired wealth and hopefully work towards mobilizing the various church organizations against the Conclave (and its Vampires).
· Cain is only able to Teleport 4 of us at a time and into a dungeon(prison) as the location. Apparently it is a place he is VERY familiar with and others familiar spots around the city may have changed during his long absence. Carthus is very reluctant (understandably so) to Teleport into a prison. It is decided that Cain and Sara will Teleport on to Callay and see about setting wheels in motion against the Conclave. The rest of us will try to join them soon via Phantom Steed.
· Draix asks Carthus to check for scrying via Detect Scrying and well.... there are currently 3 scrying sensors. Yes, 3. I start to step away from the group to see if they follow me and they do. That is when I learn that the Ankh has an Anticipate Teleport effect as I know in the next next round there will be 4 shadowy foes teleporting in to surround my current position. I move out and put Glitterdust in place and Greater Mirror Image warning others of the impending threat. Balwer and Tabby move into position to strike outside the Glitterdust after Carthus casts Haste.
· They appear and 2 of the 4 are Blinded by the Glitterdust. Turns out it is drow, a Cleric, Fighter type, Wizard, and Rogue. The Wizard and Fighter are blinded. Carthus nails them with a readied Color Spray stunning the Rogue causing it to drop two short swords. Blinded the Fighter takes a swipe at Tabby with a readied action as she attacks from hiding/quiet. He hits her but she does a lot more damage with her sneaks.
The Cleric moved out of the Glitterdust. The wizard cast something defensively amd the Rogue stood there stunned.
· I seeing the Cleric as likely biggest threat decided to take a chance and cast Charm Monster on her. I drew upon the 'shadow power'/Action Point thing to boost the DC of my spell. I easily penetrated (rolled exactly what I needed 18) and found out the following round that the charm was successful as the priestess cast Recitation for us and came running up to me declaring the danger I was in and need to be away.
· Balwer and Tabby together made short work of the drow warrior. Balwer forced the Wizard to Stand Still when he tried to exit the Glitterdust. Not being able to move he cast Invisibility and the DM was having him disappear while in the Glitterdust (the dust on him would turn invisible with him). Being still in the glitterdust we convinced the DM he would just recoat for the -40 to hide. The drow rogue having picked up his swords then ran over to me saying stuff similar to what the Charmed priestess had in an effort to trick me. The rogue seemed sincere and I did not know if the Shadow point would have made the spell affect more or not.
· Not trusting that the Rogue was Charmed I moved away as a means to provoke and the Rogue took the swipe also revealing the horror at the attack on the Priestess' face confirming to me that she was charmed. I then successfully cast Hold Person on the rogue. Having spellcrafted the spells in affect and wanting to remove the blindness on himself the drow wizard moved in the general direction of the priestess, rogue and Draix then let loose with an area Dispel Magic bringing down the Recitation on Tabby and other buffs on others as well as dispelling my Charm Monster spell and Hold Person :/
· The next round found both the Priestess and the Rogue moving up on me in flanking positions and letting loose. The Rogue with Mage Slayer series of feats disregards my images and sneak attacks me a good bit. The Priestess smacked at me with her multi headed weapon but mostly got images and also fumbled getting herself with one of the heads. I hid in plain sight and moved out about 60 feet and let loose with a second Charm Monster powered with Shadow point. Once again it was successful but I did not know until the following round when she came running back up on me.
· The rogue also came charging my way but was just out of range to attack so I followed up with another successful Hold Person. During this time Carthus, Balwer, and Tabby are trying to handle the drow Wizard which has Greater Mirror Image and an AC in the upper 20's. Yeah, not so effective but seeing the Priestess and Rogue under control again he Dimension Doors away where he goes to Fireball us. Carthus however had a fireball readied himself so Counterspelled him. The Charmed Priestess then ordered the wizard to go back to base. Given the danger here he decided to follow her orders.
· After quickly looting the dead we move on hoping to make it slightly more difficult to get us. Of course it is largely futile as we still have freakin' 3 sensor eyes following me. From Zera (Charmed cleric) I learn that the Shadow Lords are gathering. The Shadow Lords are apparently Lloth's lieutenants and even the drow house leaders are showing signs of fear. The seals are on the move (of which I believe the Ankh is one) and they are seeking to retrieve the An'aren so that they can use it in a Ritual to allow one of the Shadow Lords to inhabit the body of a House Do'Urden servant.
· Feeling the futility of it all Draix lashes out at the sensors out of defiance and frustration by shooting at them with his bow. He knows it is an empty and infective action but at least it is a choice of his own. The DM however allowed the arrow that finally hit to actually damage and destroy the sensor however. Which triggered our next encounter some hours after the previous.
· With the destruction of the sensor Vlad Draconis ( High level wizard Vampire) and 4 vampire minions teleported to a spot in front of us and asked if I were ready to give over the Ankh into his protection since we were being attacked by the drow. Of note is that it is daytime and that the Ankh protects those within 120ft from the negative effects of Sunlight. I stated that I would prefer to keep it at which point he draws out his Bale Fire ( I hit you you die) sword and states that I choose unwisely. I point out that he intimated that I actually had a choice and that if I actually do not then just say so and that is another matter. (Freaking Epic level NPC!!!!) Given that Vlad has already tried to kill me previously I take off the item and toss it too him figuring I'm probably still dead anyways.
· As I toss the item and it is flying in the breeze towards Vlade several other foes appear. Peril, (Another very high level wizard and foe of Vlad's) and 5 drow who actually seem to be lined up to attack Peril. Carthus lets loose with Web on the drow and all the Vampire minions. He leaves Vlad out of the web as at the beginning of the encounter he was Charmed by Vlad. Carthus lets Tabby get the Druid Whistle to summon the druids to help us at my direction. My action is a desperate "calling" of the item back to me using a Shadow Point and freakin Hide and move away from my current location. Good thing too as Vlad let loose with a huge Glitterdust and I was just outside the area. Zera, Balwer, and Tabby were all caught in it.
· Balwer charged out of the Glitterdust and slew one of the Vampire minions at the edge of the Web. Carthus slew a vampire that gaseous formed out of the web and I think Tabby killed the other as it moved to engage. During this time the drow aside from the drow wizard (which is flying) are caught in the web. Tabby had summoned the Druids and they had appeared moments before swooping down as eagles to get the Ankh flying through the air but missed.
· The next round the Druids blasted Vlad with Sunbeam for like 80 points of damage and being the brave self serving Beguiler that I am... I ran. I cast Expeditious Retreat and bugged out making use of Hide in Plain Sight. Doing so I was able to put Vlad on the outside of my 120ft protection. Peril seeing Vlad's predicament cast Dimensional Anchor at Vlad to keep his likely Contingent Teleport from working. Vlad dyed under the Sun, his Balefire sword dropping and cutting whole into the earth we do not know how far. Carthus was then moving towards Vlads remains when Peril put Acid Fog out and ended up killing all the drow except my charmed priest. Well, Bal had just killed the wizard who had Lightning bolted him.
· Peril then swooped into the Acid Fog and gathered up all Vlad's gear and vanished with it. All the other foes gone the druids settled in on the ground with the gang waiting for me to show back up and give them the Ankh. I stayed hidden. The druids pretty much pointed out that we suck and can't hope to defend the Ankh and they have no more Whistles for us to use to summon them. They wished us well and headed out hoping to get the Ankh before the other bad guys. Of course even at this time there are STILL at least 2 scrying sensors watching us and that is where we wrap.
· After much discussion the night before the following morning finds us further discussing our plans. We are looking to head to Callay (Major City) hoping to make use of our acquired wealth and hopefully work towards mobilizing the various church organizations against the Conclave (and its Vampires).
· Cain is only able to Teleport 4 of us at a time and into a dungeon(prison) as the location. Apparently it is a place he is VERY familiar with and others familiar spots around the city may have changed during his long absence. Carthus is very reluctant (understandably so) to Teleport into a prison. It is decided that Cain and Sara will Teleport on to Callay and see about setting wheels in motion against the Conclave. The rest of us will try to join them soon via Phantom Steed.
· Draix asks Carthus to check for scrying via Detect Scrying and well.... there are currently 3 scrying sensors. Yes, 3. I start to step away from the group to see if they follow me and they do. That is when I learn that the Ankh has an Anticipate Teleport effect as I know in the next next round there will be 4 shadowy foes teleporting in to surround my current position. I move out and put Glitterdust in place and Greater Mirror Image warning others of the impending threat. Balwer and Tabby move into position to strike outside the Glitterdust after Carthus casts Haste.
· They appear and 2 of the 4 are Blinded by the Glitterdust. Turns out it is drow, a Cleric, Fighter type, Wizard, and Rogue. The Wizard and Fighter are blinded. Carthus nails them with a readied Color Spray stunning the Rogue causing it to drop two short swords. Blinded the Fighter takes a swipe at Tabby with a readied action as she attacks from hiding/quiet. He hits her but she does a lot more damage with her sneaks.
The Cleric moved out of the Glitterdust. The wizard cast something defensively amd the Rogue stood there stunned.
· I seeing the Cleric as likely biggest threat decided to take a chance and cast Charm Monster on her. I drew upon the 'shadow power'/Action Point thing to boost the DC of my spell. I easily penetrated (rolled exactly what I needed 18) and found out the following round that the charm was successful as the priestess cast Recitation for us and came running up to me declaring the danger I was in and need to be away.
· Balwer and Tabby together made short work of the drow warrior. Balwer forced the Wizard to Stand Still when he tried to exit the Glitterdust. Not being able to move he cast Invisibility and the DM was having him disappear while in the Glitterdust (the dust on him would turn invisible with him). Being still in the glitterdust we convinced the DM he would just recoat for the -40 to hide. The drow rogue having picked up his swords then ran over to me saying stuff similar to what the Charmed priestess had in an effort to trick me. The rogue seemed sincere and I did not know if the Shadow point would have made the spell affect more or not.
· Not trusting that the Rogue was Charmed I moved away as a means to provoke and the Rogue took the swipe also revealing the horror at the attack on the Priestess' face confirming to me that she was charmed. I then successfully cast Hold Person on the rogue. Having spellcrafted the spells in affect and wanting to remove the blindness on himself the drow wizard moved in the general direction of the priestess, rogue and Draix then let loose with an area Dispel Magic bringing down the Recitation on Tabby and other buffs on others as well as dispelling my Charm Monster spell and Hold Person :/
· The next round found both the Priestess and the Rogue moving up on me in flanking positions and letting loose. The Rogue with Mage Slayer series of feats disregards my images and sneak attacks me a good bit. The Priestess smacked at me with her multi headed weapon but mostly got images and also fumbled getting herself with one of the heads. I hid in plain sight and moved out about 60 feet and let loose with a second Charm Monster powered with Shadow point. Once again it was successful but I did not know until the following round when she came running back up on me.
· The rogue also came charging my way but was just out of range to attack so I followed up with another successful Hold Person. During this time Carthus, Balwer, and Tabby are trying to handle the drow Wizard which has Greater Mirror Image and an AC in the upper 20's. Yeah, not so effective but seeing the Priestess and Rogue under control again he Dimension Doors away where he goes to Fireball us. Carthus however had a fireball readied himself so Counterspelled him. The Charmed Priestess then ordered the wizard to go back to base. Given the danger here he decided to follow her orders.
· After quickly looting the dead we move on hoping to make it slightly more difficult to get us. Of course it is largely futile as we still have freakin' 3 sensor eyes following me. From Zera (Charmed cleric) I learn that the Shadow Lords are gathering. The Shadow Lords are apparently Lloth's lieutenants and even the drow house leaders are showing signs of fear. The seals are on the move (of which I believe the Ankh is one) and they are seeking to retrieve the An'aren so that they can use it in a Ritual to allow one of the Shadow Lords to inhabit the body of a House Do'Urden servant.
· Feeling the futility of it all Draix lashes out at the sensors out of defiance and frustration by shooting at them with his bow. He knows it is an empty and infective action but at least it is a choice of his own. The DM however allowed the arrow that finally hit to actually damage and destroy the sensor however. Which triggered our next encounter some hours after the previous.
· With the destruction of the sensor Vlad Draconis ( High level wizard Vampire) and 4 vampire minions teleported to a spot in front of us and asked if I were ready to give over the Ankh into his protection since we were being attacked by the drow. Of note is that it is daytime and that the Ankh protects those within 120ft from the negative effects of Sunlight. I stated that I would prefer to keep it at which point he draws out his Bale Fire ( I hit you you die) sword and states that I choose unwisely. I point out that he intimated that I actually had a choice and that if I actually do not then just say so and that is another matter. (Freaking Epic level NPC!!!!) Given that Vlad has already tried to kill me previously I take off the item and toss it too him figuring I'm probably still dead anyways.
· As I toss the item and it is flying in the breeze towards Vlade several other foes appear. Peril, (Another very high level wizard and foe of Vlad's) and 5 drow who actually seem to be lined up to attack Peril. Carthus lets loose with Web on the drow and all the Vampire minions. He leaves Vlad out of the web as at the beginning of the encounter he was Charmed by Vlad. Carthus lets Tabby get the Druid Whistle to summon the druids to help us at my direction. My action is a desperate "calling" of the item back to me using a Shadow Point and freakin Hide and move away from my current location. Good thing too as Vlad let loose with a huge Glitterdust and I was just outside the area. Zera, Balwer, and Tabby were all caught in it.
· Balwer charged out of the Glitterdust and slew one of the Vampire minions at the edge of the Web. Carthus slew a vampire that gaseous formed out of the web and I think Tabby killed the other as it moved to engage. During this time the drow aside from the drow wizard (which is flying) are caught in the web. Tabby had summoned the Druids and they had appeared moments before swooping down as eagles to get the Ankh flying through the air but missed.
· The next round the Druids blasted Vlad with Sunbeam for like 80 points of damage and being the brave self serving Beguiler that I am... I ran. I cast Expeditious Retreat and bugged out making use of Hide in Plain Sight. Doing so I was able to put Vlad on the outside of my 120ft protection. Peril seeing Vlad's predicament cast Dimensional Anchor at Vlad to keep his likely Contingent Teleport from working. Vlad dyed under the Sun, his Balefire sword dropping and cutting whole into the earth we do not know how far. Carthus was then moving towards Vlads remains when Peril put Acid Fog out and ended up killing all the drow except my charmed priest. Well, Bal had just killed the wizard who had Lightning bolted him.
· Peril then swooped into the Acid Fog and gathered up all Vlad's gear and vanished with it. All the other foes gone the druids settled in on the ground with the gang waiting for me to show back up and give them the Ankh. I stayed hidden. The druids pretty much pointed out that we suck and can't hope to defend the Ankh and they have no more Whistles for us to use to summon them. They wished us well and headed out hoping to get the Ankh before the other bad guys. Of course even at this time there are STILL at least 2 scrying sensors watching us and that is where we wrap.
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· We return and share what we learned regarding the gathered armies and those beyond the Telportation tent with Lord Black of Callay. He is impressed with how quickly we were able to gain so much information and is quite concerned about the info we gathered. It is very likely that without our intervention (both correcting their expectations of foes and eliminating some of the worst)they would have faced much heavier losses in the battle against the Vanguard. .
· Lord Black asks if we would be willing to use our apparent resourcefulness to destroy the Teleportation device and I agree in hopes of gaining some favor with with Black and the political structure of the city.
· We decide that disintegration may be our best bet to destroy the item and so travel to Callay via Phantom Steed for a Scroll of Disintegrate and then back. Carthus made use of my Fortifying Bedroll to replenish his spells to make it possible and we purchased the scroll from the Temple of Wee Jas. We returned to Lord Black by around 7 AM the next morning.
· That day we rest up and head out for our task that night. We approach the army very carefully and note that it is MUCH more alert and organized. Using of combo of Invisibility, Greater Invisibility, Haste, and Footsteps of the Gods Carthus and Sebban fly over the army to the tents and Carthus confirms the correct tent with Arcane Sight (notices that some Evocation and Necromancy has been added). From maximum range Carthus manages to disintegrate the tent causing a huge explosion which also sets near tents on fire. Carthus later uses divinations to confirm that we destroyed/disrupted the armies connections to the desert as we hoped.
· We then report back to Lord Black who pays us a whopping 2000gp for all we have done the past 24 hours. Draix goes along with a smile banking on influence/favor instead of gold and then we head back to Callay.
· Carthus begins retraining (becoming Swiftblade), while he does so I schmooze around the city both high and low trying to build connections, associations, and gather information.
· We understand that being in one place long is dangerous for us and so take reasonable measures for security... for us reasonable equals extreme due to our paranoia. ie burning spell resources and other to stay low on radar as well as keeping eyes open for approaching dangers.
· Deciding to try and earn more goodwill from the Society of Cincinnatis we go to Ebekenizer's Shop to Share some info about the Red Ice weapons as we identify them. I figured the society would be interested in it and could probably make use of knowing what sorts of weapons the Conclave was putting onto the field. I didn't even charge for the information
· I tried to drain the Shadow magic from one of the Red Ice items but was unable to do so while it was whole. I sunder the Dwarven Waraxe to cause the magics to leak and then absorb the Shadow magic. I had tried to do it while the item was whole but it would not work and previously when I had done so to the Shadowforged armor they were all damaged.
Red Ice Weapon Stats
· Lord Black asks if we would be willing to use our apparent resourcefulness to destroy the Teleportation device and I agree in hopes of gaining some favor with with Black and the political structure of the city.
· We decide that disintegration may be our best bet to destroy the item and so travel to Callay via Phantom Steed for a Scroll of Disintegrate and then back. Carthus made use of my Fortifying Bedroll to replenish his spells to make it possible and we purchased the scroll from the Temple of Wee Jas. We returned to Lord Black by around 7 AM the next morning.
· That day we rest up and head out for our task that night. We approach the army very carefully and note that it is MUCH more alert and organized. Using of combo of Invisibility, Greater Invisibility, Haste, and Footsteps of the Gods Carthus and Sebban fly over the army to the tents and Carthus confirms the correct tent with Arcane Sight (notices that some Evocation and Necromancy has been added). From maximum range Carthus manages to disintegrate the tent causing a huge explosion which also sets near tents on fire. Carthus later uses divinations to confirm that we destroyed/disrupted the armies connections to the desert as we hoped.
· We then report back to Lord Black who pays us a whopping 2000gp for all we have done the past 24 hours. Draix goes along with a smile banking on influence/favor instead of gold and then we head back to Callay.
· Carthus begins retraining (becoming Swiftblade), while he does so I schmooze around the city both high and low trying to build connections, associations, and gather information.
· We understand that being in one place long is dangerous for us and so take reasonable measures for security... for us reasonable equals extreme due to our paranoia. ie burning spell resources and other to stay low on radar as well as keeping eyes open for approaching dangers.
· Deciding to try and earn more goodwill from the Society of Cincinnatis we go to Ebekenizer's Shop to Share some info about the Red Ice weapons as we identify them. I figured the society would be interested in it and could probably make use of knowing what sorts of weapons the Conclave was putting onto the field. I didn't even charge for the information
· I tried to drain the Shadow magic from one of the Red Ice items but was unable to do so while it was whole. I sunder the Dwarven Waraxe to cause the magics to leak and then absorb the Shadow magic. I had tried to do it while the item was whole but it would not work and previously when I had done so to the Shadowforged armor they were all damaged.
Red Ice Weapon Stats
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Among the Red Ice weapons are a Longsword, shortsword, great axe, dwarven waraxe, and great sword. They are all +3 Vampiric Wounding with also a +5 Cold damage on hits. Wielder also takes 5 cold/round.
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· At the Temple of Wee Jas we paid to have Carthus resurrected and Sebban raised. During his death Carthus was given some info and IC motivation about why he was not done in the world. Basically, hey your job isn't done yet. Go get those items of power so that you can stop the Conclave, the Shadow Lords, and End Lloth's War. Yep, the not so brave and very reluctant hero Carthus loved all that
· So with the return of Carthus and Sebban we head out to do some soul searching. At least 3 of the 4 of us have been through VERY traumatic soul shaking events. Tabby, she's a soulless whisper gnome who will ussually sleep through the worst of events so she didn't mind much the trauma the rest had experienced hehe.
· So we find ourselves in a not too fancy place called Tong's Tavern. What, did you expect us to soul search in a temple? Anyways, we are not there too long before 4 elves come in asking the barkeep and others about us in Elven. Two in fullplate, one half plate, and one in breatplate. I've got Zone of Silence up to keep out conversation private while this is happening but one of the elves seems to think Tabby resembles the description of ... Tabby. Yep, going to have to disguise the evil gnome. Me, of course I do not look like myself as I change faces like clothes perhaps even more often hehe (that's what Prestidigitation is for) and Sebban and Carthus are not quite themselves either especially missing the mithril full plate and the Wee Jas banner.
· So after noticing Tabby they start to approach so I wave them on over to the table so that they would be within our Zone of Silence. By this time I had cast Detect Thoughts and was getting a small bit of info... basically just that they were looking for us. I was hoping for more but they were dedicated simple minds. We speak for a moment when I note that at least one is thinking about putting Faerie Fire on us. This chap didn't look like a druid and seems to be thinking of triggering along the lines of Spell Like so I called out "Drow in disguise to my companions" as I loosed a Glitterdust on them the one next to Tabby is blinded.
· Carthus grabs a sword from one of the elves sheath before he could react and Jaunted to the other side of the table with it. Apparently he chose well as this is "One Hell of a Blade", a Heron Marked.
Heron Marked blade abilities:+1 Bane (to everything!!!) Longsword that gives off a nice blue
light and +10 initiative!!!!!
· The next round Carthus Hastes, Greater Invisibility, and hides under the table while Tabby cuts down the Blinded elf mercilessly moving on to the one from which Carthus had stolen the sword. from my place of cover in the corner I then cast Confusion which ends up getting two of them (though I only knew that later).
· The swordless elf provokes from Tabby as he draws a blade from his dead companion on the ground. In her attack Tabby finds that she is "unlucky" (roll everything twice and take the worst) against him. The Elf then lets loose with a FULL ATTACK on Tabby slicing and dicing her to a great degree before he then jumps onto the table. (Yep, had to confirm with the DM that the extra actions were deliberate. Turns out he had a Belt of Battle). The second Elf then steps 5 ft towards tabby and proceeds to miss her 3 times (Dang you DM!!! Just realize the three attacks!!! BAB 11?). The third elf (breastplate) just Babbles. Last in the round Sebban grapples the Babbling elf.
· Carthus tries to tip the table over but fails to do so. He does however succeed in causing the first elf to loose balance and fall prone on the table top. He then Jaunts out and flees to hiding under a table some distance away. Tabby summons her Persistent blade and squares off against the elf in 1/2 plate and decapitates him with a flourish of her short sword (yes, head tumbled to the ground due to the crit she got and the crit card drawn. There was a Fort save). She then steps towards the table and proceeds to cut into the prone elf. Even with Unluck she places many severe wounds. I cast Slow but the prone elf makes his save. Dummy me forgot that it was not single target hehe. The previously Babbling elf gets and enraged look in his eye and breaks Sebban's grapple and moves to engage me. The elf prone on the table actually engages his comrade from prone but misses 3 times. (BAB 11?!!!! but hey, he is confused too). Sebban then moves to help with flanking (he can't do much, no gear and no helpful spells).
· Seeing the battle well in hand Carthus decides to engage the enemy. He Jaunts out from hiding again and charges into the previously babbling elf successfully bloodying him with his new blade. Tabby shifts her Persistent Blade to a flanking position and then repeatedly skewers the prone elf introducing him to death. Seeing the battle coming to a close Draix decides to put a personal end to the last elf and so draws and swings his Elven thinblade casting wraithstrike and taking two swings due to haste (and missing with both lol). During the attack he felt a reservoir of power in the blade, the power of the forest, and so he called it forth (activating Barkskin and Haste). Draix nimbly avoids the elfs strikes and then Carthus finishes him up.
· During this combat the Barkeep had a crossbow trained on us all and was calling for us to take it outside. After the fight I soothed him and his lost business (as patrons had left) with 50gp. We dealt with the bodies and then stayed to plan further as the barkeep went about cleaning up.
· With the need to regear we decide to revisit the Cave of Gems from our trek to recover the Ankh. Sebban prepares Stoneshapes and I go purchase a few scrolls of Teleport. The basic plan is just to go get the money for Carthus to be able to rescribe some spellbooks as there is no way in hell we want to go tangle with those kobolds and their dragon in their lair. We just are not that suicidal.
· Teleporting into the Cave things are changed a great deal... it is cleaned up and empty.... well, empty except for the Dwarves and Cain (old npc traveling companion) that seem to be working on the last spot of gems in the cave. We greet our old companion and let him know that we are here for our portion of the find. He demurs a bit but knowing that he has backstabbed us he looks to be about to try and run. Reading him I call out to the others and we surprise him with our speedy assault. I try to Feeblemind him and when that fails I try to cast Hesitate on him, that too fails. Carthus lets loose with an Orb of Fire, Celerity, and another Orb of fire. He could have done more but he forgot to use his Belt of Battle before using Celerity. Cain made those saves too (after the DM looked up and added Superior Resistance to his daily buffs lol :P) All that failing he and his dwarves got away. And so now, I will gut Cain for his betrayal. It is not the wealth that he stole but that he endeavored to cheat us that will bring this wrath. We still manage to get about 50k gp worth of gems even from the very little left over. Probably about all we was wanting to pull from the piggy bank but certainly drove home the degree of Cain's betrayal.
· That night after some divinations we learn that Carthus and Sebban's gear is being sold in Velmont and can be recovered there. At first I do a series of Sendings to the Thieves Guild Master acquiring his services but within moments due to another divination we learn exaclty where our stuff is so I call the Guild off. Al the Apothecary (whom we believe is Alfredious Velmont and head of the Conclave) has most of the stuff and will release it according to the divination.
· So, we go get more Scrolls of Teleportation and go to Velmont. WTF, We did WHAT???? Yeah, we went to Velmont. The last place we ever wanted to be and a place we planned on avoiding like the freakin plague as we considered it freakin suicide or worse. Basically what happened here is that we spent a good deal of table time discussing how to get Carthus some spell books. We had written off the lost gear and that notion was reinforced with the discovery that most of the stuff was ending up in Velmont. We had NO in character motivation to go to Velmont not even for shiney stuff but tons of in character reasons to avoid it. But seems that if we were to take the time to redo Carthus' spellbook the game may fall apart with the 'bad guys' winning. :notam And so not wanting to risk derailing the game we went to Velmont.
· We arrived in Velmont outside Al's shop just before he opened. There were several others waiting to include a troglodyte and a Kobold. As the shop opened we all went in and the Kobold produced a sword he wanted to sell to Al, Carthus' greatsword. After him telling us he got it from his cousin I informed him he could sell it to us for 1000gp or we would end up with it without him having 1000. He could take it up with his cousin who gave him stolen goods. The Kobold made the deal.
· We then proceeded to deal with Al as if all was right with the world. He sold us back much of our missing gear and simply gave back some that could be definitively IDed as ours.. ie Carthus spellbooks. I dealt very fairly with Al even paying him for things for which he did not require payment and intimated that we were appreciative for his return of our stuff. Our discussions touched on the Kobolds that were selling this stolen goods and I subtly encouraged Al to take action to reclaim his losses from them. I also pointed out that if we ran into them and where able we might take such action ourselves. It was during this conversation that Al offered Carthus a landed title within Velmont, taking Vlad Draconis place as a Lord of the city and an aid to Al. So in that he confirmed what we already knew. Al is one of the secret lords of the city. Due to events at hand, paranoia, and other things needing done Carthus politely turned down Al's offer.
· In mentioning looking for those that stole from us Al mentioned he had a map that could find them if we had a name. I said we had two and gave him the Dragon's name and then Cain's. We now have the likely location of the Dragons lair (if Al was honest) but Cain apparently had protective magics up that blocked the divination powers of the map. I will kill Cain.
· Also during our visit to Al's shop Suzzie the Midwife made an appearance and we politely made some small talk and she politely invited us to visit her. We then left Al's shop with our butts all kinds of puckered and started to head for a inn when we decided, "What the hell. Seems the gods are going to screw with us no matter so we might as well have fun. Your still Draconis' Apprentice, lets go to his place." We did indeed go and stay in the Draconis manor and that night Carthus and I began having deep discussions about our screwed up options and the possibility of actually taking Al up on his offer of Lordship.
· So with the return of Carthus and Sebban we head out to do some soul searching. At least 3 of the 4 of us have been through VERY traumatic soul shaking events. Tabby, she's a soulless whisper gnome who will ussually sleep through the worst of events so she didn't mind much the trauma the rest had experienced hehe.
· So we find ourselves in a not too fancy place called Tong's Tavern. What, did you expect us to soul search in a temple? Anyways, we are not there too long before 4 elves come in asking the barkeep and others about us in Elven. Two in fullplate, one half plate, and one in breatplate. I've got Zone of Silence up to keep out conversation private while this is happening but one of the elves seems to think Tabby resembles the description of ... Tabby. Yep, going to have to disguise the evil gnome. Me, of course I do not look like myself as I change faces like clothes perhaps even more often hehe (that's what Prestidigitation is for) and Sebban and Carthus are not quite themselves either especially missing the mithril full plate and the Wee Jas banner.
· So after noticing Tabby they start to approach so I wave them on over to the table so that they would be within our Zone of Silence. By this time I had cast Detect Thoughts and was getting a small bit of info... basically just that they were looking for us. I was hoping for more but they were dedicated simple minds
. We speak for a moment when I note that at least one is thinking about putting Faerie Fire on us. This chap didn't look like a druid and seems to be thinking of triggering along the lines of Spell Like so I called out "Drow in disguise to my companions" as I loosed a Glitterdust on them the one next to Tabby is blinded.· Carthus grabs a sword from one of the elves sheath before he could react and Jaunted to the other side of the table with it. Apparently he chose well as this is "One Hell of a Blade", a Heron Marked.
Heron Marked blade abilities:+1 Bane (to everything!!!) Longsword that gives off a nice blue
light and +10 initiative!!!!!
· The next round Carthus Hastes, Greater Invisibility, and hides under the table while Tabby cuts down the Blinded elf mercilessly moving on to the one from which Carthus had stolen the sword. from my place of cover in the corner I then cast Confusion which ends up getting two of them (though I only knew that later).
· The swordless elf provokes from Tabby as he draws a blade from his dead companion on the ground. In her attack Tabby finds that she is "unlucky" (roll everything twice and take the worst) against him. The Elf then lets loose with a FULL ATTACK on Tabby slicing and dicing her to a great degree before he then jumps onto the table. (Yep, had to confirm with the DM that the extra actions were deliberate. Turns out he had a Belt of Battle). The second Elf then steps 5 ft towards tabby and proceeds to miss her 3 times (Dang you DM!!! Just realize the three attacks!!! BAB 11?). The third elf (breastplate) just Babbles. Last in the round Sebban grapples the Babbling elf.
· Carthus tries to tip the table over but fails to do so. He does however succeed in causing the first elf to loose balance and fall prone on the table top. He then Jaunts out and flees to hiding under a table some distance away. Tabby summons her Persistent blade and squares off against the elf in 1/2 plate and decapitates him with a flourish of her short sword (yes, head tumbled to the ground due to the crit she got and the crit card drawn. There was a Fort save). She then steps towards the table and proceeds to cut into the prone elf. Even with Unluck she places many severe wounds. I cast Slow but the prone elf makes his save. Dummy me forgot that it was not single target hehe. The previously Babbling elf gets and enraged look in his eye and breaks Sebban's grapple and moves to engage me. The elf prone on the table actually engages his comrade from prone but misses 3 times. (BAB 11?!!!! but hey, he is confused too). Sebban then moves to help with flanking (he can't do much, no gear and no helpful spells).
· Seeing the battle well in hand Carthus decides to engage the enemy. He Jaunts out from hiding again and charges into the previously babbling elf successfully bloodying him with his new blade. Tabby shifts her Persistent Blade to a flanking position and then repeatedly skewers the prone elf introducing him to death. Seeing the battle coming to a close Draix decides to put a personal end to the last elf and so draws and swings his Elven thinblade casting wraithstrike and taking two swings due to haste (and missing with both lol). During the attack he felt a reservoir of power in the blade, the power of the forest, and so he called it forth (activating Barkskin and Haste). Draix nimbly avoids the elfs strikes and then Carthus finishes him up.
· During this combat the Barkeep had a crossbow trained on us all and was calling for us to take it outside. After the fight I soothed him and his lost business (as patrons had left) with 50gp. We dealt with the bodies and then stayed to plan further as the barkeep went about cleaning up.
· With the need to regear we decide to revisit the Cave of Gems from our trek to recover the Ankh. Sebban prepares Stoneshapes and I go purchase a few scrolls of Teleport. The basic plan is just to go get the money for Carthus to be able to rescribe some spellbooks as there is no way in hell we want to go tangle with those kobolds and their dragon in their lair. We just are not that suicidal.
· Teleporting into the Cave things are changed a great deal... it is cleaned up and empty.... well, empty except for the Dwarves and Cain (old npc traveling companion) that seem to be working on the last spot of gems in the cave. We greet our old companion and let him know that we are here for our portion of the find. He demurs a bit but knowing that he has backstabbed us he looks to be about to try and run. Reading him I call out to the others and we surprise him with our speedy assault. I try to Feeblemind him and when that fails I try to cast Hesitate on him, that too fails. Carthus lets loose with an Orb of Fire, Celerity, and another Orb of fire. He could have done more but he forgot to use his Belt of Battle before using Celerity. Cain made those saves too (after the DM looked up and added Superior Resistance to his daily buffs lol :P) All that failing he and his dwarves got away. And so now, I will gut Cain for his betrayal. It is not the wealth that he stole but that he endeavored to cheat us that will bring this wrath. We still manage to get about 50k gp worth of gems even from the very little left over. Probably about all we was wanting to pull from the piggy bank but certainly drove home the degree of Cain's betrayal.
· That night after some divinations we learn that Carthus and Sebban's gear is being sold in Velmont and can be recovered there. At first I do a series of Sendings to the Thieves Guild Master acquiring his services but within moments due to another divination we learn exaclty where our stuff is so I call the Guild off. Al the Apothecary (whom we believe is Alfredious Velmont and head of the Conclave) has most of the stuff and will release it according to the divination.
· So, we go get more Scrolls of Teleportation and go to Velmont. WTF, We did WHAT???? Yeah, we went to Velmont. The last place we ever wanted to be and a place we planned on avoiding like the freakin plague as we considered it freakin suicide or worse. Basically what happened here is that we spent a good deal of table time discussing how to get Carthus some spell books. We had written off the lost gear and that notion was reinforced with the discovery that most of the stuff was ending up in Velmont. We had NO in character motivation to go to Velmont not even for shiney stuff but tons of in character reasons to avoid it. But seems that if we were to take the time to redo Carthus' spellbook the game may fall apart with the 'bad guys' winning. :notam And so not wanting to risk derailing the game we went to Velmont.
· We arrived in Velmont outside Al's shop just before he opened. There were several others waiting to include a troglodyte and a Kobold. As the shop opened we all went in and the Kobold produced a sword he wanted to sell to Al, Carthus' greatsword. After him telling us he got it from his cousin I informed him he could sell it to us for 1000gp or we would end up with it without him having 1000. He could take it up with his cousin who gave him stolen goods. The Kobold made the deal.
· We then proceeded to deal with Al as if all was right with the world. He sold us back much of our missing gear and simply gave back some that could be definitively IDed as ours.. ie Carthus spellbooks. I dealt very fairly with Al even paying him for things for which he did not require payment and intimated that we were appreciative for his return of our stuff. Our discussions touched on the Kobolds that were selling this stolen goods and I subtly encouraged Al to take action to reclaim his losses from them. I also pointed out that if we ran into them and where able we might take such action ourselves. It was during this conversation that Al offered Carthus a landed title within Velmont, taking Vlad Draconis place as a Lord of the city and an aid to Al. So in that he confirmed what we already knew. Al is one of the secret lords of the city. Due to events at hand, paranoia, and other things needing done Carthus politely turned down Al's offer.
· In mentioning looking for those that stole from us Al mentioned he had a map that could find them if we had a name. I said we had two and gave him the Dragon's name and then Cain's. We now have the likely location of the Dragons lair (if Al was honest) but Cain apparently had protective magics up that blocked the divination powers of the map. I will kill Cain.
· Also during our visit to Al's shop Suzzie the Midwife made an appearance and we politely made some small talk and she politely invited us to visit her. We then left Al's shop with our butts all kinds of puckered and started to head for a inn when we decided, "What the hell. Seems the gods are going to screw with us no matter so we might as well have fun. Your still Draconis' Apprentice, lets go to his place." We did indeed go and stay in the Draconis manor and that night Carthus and I began having deep discussions about our screwed up options and the possibility of actually taking Al up on his offer of Lordship.
Also, below is a bonus bit of comedy fun.
A Tale from Carthus: The Truth of Our Leaving Callay
It was a dark and rainy night. The Streets of Callay were quite but in the seedy part of town at the Inn of the Red feather there were dark things afoot. Carthus stared Aghast at his drow Companion, "You CANNOT BE SERIOUS..." he signed furiously.
Yet the never to be sufficiently cursed Drow known as Draix laconically smirked as he signed back.."CARTHUS my all too excitable friend, of course I am serious. After all it is sheer genius...If I do sign so myself..."
"Well Draix this is one hair brained scheme of yours that I will not be a part of. I shall be waiting in the crowd 9.5 feet from the door ready pull your dark ass out of the fire when this goes oh so horribly awry" Carthus signed as he flounced away, yes flounced.....
Draix smiled as he watched Carthus' all too predictable though thoroughly enjoyable antics. Soon you will see my minio..err friend, soon.
Later that evening Draix stepped out on the stage and prepared to BEGUILE the crowd. He looked every inch the vagabond bard, after all he had just robbed one earlier that day for this very occasion. Draix bowed to the audience and began to sing.. Youtube of Draix Beguiling the Audience
And that my friends is the true story of why we were in such a hurry to get the hell out of CALLAY.
This truth segment brought to you by the twisted mind of the fellow playing Carthus.
Show
· After the big fight with Kalron and his minions we are pretty sure that we are not racing an immediate clock so we take some time to rest up and refresh our spells. I use my Fortifying Bedroll to get my spells back within two hours and then keep guard with while the others rest.
· After resting we buff up with many of our long term buffs. Sebban has persisted, Mass Lessor Vigor and Recitation on everyone (and Divine Power on himself) that ends up leaving him with 3 turn attempts for recharging maneuvers or... well, Turning. Probably the other buffs of note is See Invisibility that we put up. I even buff the rogue with it and it helps us some later.
· We cautiously head back down to the room from which the Antimagic field had radiated. it is 110ftx110 ft that I can see due to my drow darkvision. Sebban also puts Light inside about 30 ft. The center of the room is a large circular pool full of red liquid surrounded by 7 large Marulurk statues (which we later notice have chips and cracks like they have been beaten upon). The right wall has a Tapestry (showing ancient Marulurk battle) that radiates Conjuration (teleportation), Conjuration (healing), and Conjuration (summoning). Yeah, my butt was puckering already. The left wall was littered with multitudes of holes which shows "I'm gonna shoot you sucka" magics. Centered on the opposite wall was large Golden double doors with adamantine handles.
· After a good bit of consideration Tabby started leading us into the room looking for traps. We were quite (and rightfully) paranoid the whole trip across the room. Tabby was leading with everyone following in about 10 foot intervals (Marching Order: Tabby, Draix, Carthus, Sebban which is pretty standard for us). Things went wonderfully until we got to the far double doors. Our rogue is bad about not just Taking 10 (She just loves rolling) and so she sometimes fails when otherwise would not hehe. The door seems safe so she tries to open in and gets a nice 40+ point electrical shock for a lesson. The stone statures start radiating magic (Detect magic is up) and the holes in the wall start shooting Volleys of javelins across the room. The Javelins shoot across to the Tapestry which then resets them to fire again via teleportation magics.
· Carthus has a VERY good idea to stop the javelins, a nice 10ft high Wall of Force along the shooting wall but the DM says that it will not function because the various javelins in the air will count as disrupting the continuity of the wall as per the continuity clause in the spell. Yeah, I called foul but dropped it pretty quickly. (hey, I'm getting generally better about discussing rules at length during the game )
· With that not going to work we coordinate our actions so that we can all gather by the golden doors. I make Silent Image of a wall across the room between us and the now 7 stone golems. In the process of gathering Carthus gets a nice 40+ point critical smack. Then Carthus puts up his Wall of force parralel to the javelin flights to keep the Golems off in case the Silent Image does not work. During the next few rounds Tabby is working on the door disabling the traps and learning that it is a false door.
· Javelins are still zipping across the room in the section we are in but the damage is not severe (d6) though it will certainly add up if we do not figure something out. The Golems line up along the Silent Image posses to attack but do not try to come through. After a few rounds they return the the red pool, facing inwards this time and start shooting laser beams out of their eyes into the liquid somehow "opening" up its center allowing a large Beholder of some sort to rise up into the air. (this is a non-standard beast that has horns and only the central Eye and two tentacles with no other eyestalks). As it turns its antimagic field suppresses my Silent Image (so I stop concentrating on it) and the Golems start lining up along the Wall of Force but still unable to get through.
· Using Detect Secret Doors Sebban confirmed that there was no exits on our side of the Wall of Force. The Beholder had not answered Carthus as he called out to it so I summoned forth the "power of the sun" from my blade (not sure what it does yet other than make a big bright light...well, and suck power from the sun dimming it hehe) and call out "Damn it stop this senseless battle!!! We are here to speak with the Oracle show us how to get there." I got a total of 58 on my Bluff check (28 even before the Glibness). In a booming voice the Beholder calls the Golems to "Return to your places" and they do so. The Beholder then goes to a spot at the Tapestry and shows us a door behind it. Wary of a trap we none the less dismiss our Force Wall and head through the door we were shown.
· We follow the the small passage (we are slightly squeezed in traveling) and choose a path that end up taking us to a door on the other side of where the fake door was located (there was another branch in the passage we could have taken). Tabby makes short work of making sure the door is safe and opening it. Beyond is a long marble floored room where every 5 foot section is marked with runes of some sort. In studying we recognize 3 of them. They were the marks used by some of the Conclave Vampires, Vlad Draconis, Valori Darkmoon (Carthus original teacher), and Talmos. We decide to use Comprehend Language to try and read meanings and so Carthus duplicates the Draconis rune on some pyprus. As he completes the rune the matching rune in the floor flairs to life with some magic. Not sure if using wizard mark would keep that from happening I use Wizard mark to write the others. Basically we learn that the Runes match the numerics of 1-13 (like the 13 vampire lords of old) all the others are incomprehensible but the areas radiate various abjuration and transmutation magics.
· I decide to use my rod of Shadowblending to summon up some trap monkeys and set them to traveling across the room touching only squares containing one of the 13 runes. Well, Monkeys don't jump so well in D&D... go figure. Of the four one made it as far is halfway before being blasted by bolts of force. Oh yeah, at first when we were deciding wither or not just to fly over the DM remembered we had See Invisibility up and so was able so see a glowing ball of power in the center of the room. It is that Ball that was zapping my poor monkeys.
· Figuring just touching the squares containing the 13 Carthus heads on across. I wanted him to make sure and touch ALL 13 but on getting to the other side without doing so he pressed on stepping onto the descending stairs..... and got blasted! He quickly retreated down the stairs into the octagonal room below. After searching the room he found no other ways out but the door shut down behind him. When it opened he was seeing a different area. Waiting it out it did this 3 or four times before getting back to us. An elevator of sorts.
· I cast Haste on Tabby and Sebban to help with the jumping from square to square. Tabby too did not want to touch all the 13 squares and got zapped. I went 3rd touching all the squares and upon reaching the other side the Ball of Power calmed down and did not attack. Sebban followed in the same manner. A few moments later the Elevator opened back up and we see Carthus. Paranoid that I am I do not trust that it IS Carthus and so Detect Thoughts on him confirming his person (He should have got a save there but was one of those funny In Character bits so we just went with it). We then step into the Elevator and step off at the next exit.
· It leads us down a short hallway into a large circular room with a 100 ft deep pit. At the center of the pit is a column of stone and at the bottom of the pit is a door... and spikes. Some spiderclimbing, others using trollgut rope we make our way to the bottom. Once the door is safe we open and head through discovering basically a mostly perfect 3ft diameter circular passage. I use my Eternal Wand of Heroics to give Carthus and Sebban Tunnel Fighting Feat then we head out. Winding through the maze of passages I am using Wizard mark to keep track of our location. Eventually we find ourselves in a long straight stretch in which Carthus and Tabby hear something ahead..... a freakin huge ass worm that seems to be made of all teeth is coming around the bend a 100 ft or so down. I let the others know, Carthus looses a Fireball at it and Tabby several arrows. Both do damage but the beast seems mostly just angered. I ready Ray of Stupidity and do 3 points of INT damage when it is 55 feet out. My minions then make short work of it but we are at a dead end due to the corpse.
· We back track some and then take other passages and some time later find ourselves in a long passage that basically matches the one in which we encountered the Purple Worm. Moving down it we come across some doors and just beyond the doors the butt end of the worm. Opening the door it opens into a roughly 60ft circular room with another door on the far side. We recognize 8 Bodaks equidistant around the edges of the room and there is a large slightly rounded circular 15 foot diameter symbol of balance in the rooms center. Bravely Carthus steps into the room taking the onslaught of 8 Gaze attacks from the beasts. He his in Draconic Polymorph Cave Troll form at the time and makes all his saves. I move near the center of the room slightly on the Balance symbol and use a Turn Undead from the Ankh doing 12d6 damage. All of the Bodaks are destroyed.
· As the bodaks are destroyed the balance symbols starts to open and reveals an equal sized giant eye. We begin asking some questions and it seems to be responding with eye motions for yes or no and that it is the Oracle but that there is elsewhere that would be better to communicate. So, we go through the other doors in the room and find ourselves in a colossal cave with and equally colossal dragon blacker than black with its head and eye attached to the ceiling. We have found the Oracle.
· With a brief conversation I work out a deal with the Oracle. I will free it if he will aid us. The agreement was parsed in ways to not leave each other open to screw the other. On accepting the deal the dragons "truespeak" acceptance reverberated through reality. The method for freeing the Oracle which turns out to be a Shade Dragon is for one of his kind to give up what makes them what they are... ie my little bauble/marble of Shadeness. The deal made I toss the dark stone into the dragons maw. He swells with power and reality itself seems to bend a bit around him as he pulls himself free from his prison leaving his eye behind. Then with magics the dragon regenerates what is lost and we begin discussing matters of import.
· Due to some sort of time constraints (Dragon can give us 10 minutes) the DM is basically giving us 60 questions for the Oracle and has pointed out that they must be pretty specific. So now we are left to figure out what we need to ask.
· After resting we buff up with many of our long term buffs. Sebban has persisted, Mass Lessor Vigor and Recitation on everyone (and Divine Power on himself) that ends up leaving him with 3 turn attempts for recharging maneuvers or... well, Turning. Probably the other buffs of note is See Invisibility that we put up. I even buff the rogue with it and it helps us some later.
· We cautiously head back down to the room from which the Antimagic field had radiated. it is 110ftx110 ft that I can see due to my drow darkvision. Sebban also puts Light inside about 30 ft. The center of the room is a large circular pool full of red liquid surrounded by 7 large Marulurk statues (which we later notice have chips and cracks like they have been beaten upon). The right wall has a Tapestry (showing ancient Marulurk battle) that radiates Conjuration (teleportation), Conjuration (healing), and Conjuration (summoning). Yeah, my butt was puckering already. The left wall was littered with multitudes of holes which shows "I'm gonna shoot you sucka" magics. Centered on the opposite wall was large Golden double doors with adamantine handles.
· After a good bit of consideration Tabby started leading us into the room looking for traps. We were quite (and rightfully) paranoid the whole trip across the room. Tabby was leading with everyone following in about 10 foot intervals (Marching Order: Tabby, Draix, Carthus, Sebban which is pretty standard for us). Things went wonderfully until we got to the far double doors. Our rogue is bad about not just Taking 10 (She just loves rolling) and so she sometimes fails when otherwise would not hehe. The door seems safe so she tries to open in and gets a nice 40+ point electrical shock for a lesson. The stone statures start radiating magic (Detect magic is up) and the holes in the wall start shooting Volleys of javelins across the room. The Javelins shoot across to the Tapestry which then resets them to fire again via teleportation magics.
· Carthus has a VERY good idea to stop the javelins, a nice 10ft high Wall of Force along the shooting wall but the DM says that it will not function because the various javelins in the air will count as disrupting the continuity of the wall as per the continuity clause in the spell. Yeah, I called foul but dropped it pretty quickly. (hey, I'm getting generally better about discussing rules at length during the game
)· With that not going to work we coordinate our actions so that we can all gather by the golden doors. I make Silent Image of a wall across the room between us and the now 7 stone golems. In the process of gathering Carthus gets a nice 40+ point critical smack. Then Carthus puts up his Wall of force parralel to the javelin flights to keep the Golems off in case the Silent Image does not work. During the next few rounds Tabby is working on the door disabling the traps and learning that it is a false door.
· Javelins are still zipping across the room in the section we are in but the damage is not severe (d6) though it will certainly add up if we do not figure something out. The Golems line up along the Silent Image posses to attack but do not try to come through. After a few rounds they return the the red pool, facing inwards this time and start shooting laser beams out of their eyes into the liquid somehow "opening" up its center allowing a large Beholder of some sort to rise up into the air. (this is a non-standard beast that has horns and only the central Eye and two tentacles with no other eyestalks). As it turns its antimagic field suppresses my Silent Image (so I stop concentrating on it) and the Golems start lining up along the Wall of Force but still unable to get through.
· Using Detect Secret Doors Sebban confirmed that there was no exits on our side of the Wall of Force. The Beholder had not answered Carthus as he called out to it so I summoned forth the "power of the sun" from my blade (not sure what it does yet other than make a big bright light...well, and suck power from the sun dimming it hehe) and call out "Damn it stop this senseless battle!!! We are here to speak with the Oracle show us how to get there." I got a total of 58 on my Bluff check (28 even before the Glibness). In a booming voice the Beholder calls the Golems to "Return to your places" and they do so. The Beholder then goes to a spot at the Tapestry and shows us a door behind it. Wary of a trap we none the less dismiss our Force Wall and head through the door we were shown.
· We follow the the small passage (we are slightly squeezed in traveling) and choose a path that end up taking us to a door on the other side of where the fake door was located (there was another branch in the passage we could have taken). Tabby makes short work of making sure the door is safe and opening it. Beyond is a long marble floored room where every 5 foot section is marked with runes of some sort. In studying we recognize 3 of them. They were the marks used by some of the Conclave Vampires, Vlad Draconis, Valori Darkmoon (Carthus original teacher), and Talmos. We decide to use Comprehend Language to try and read meanings and so Carthus duplicates the Draconis rune on some pyprus. As he completes the rune the matching rune in the floor flairs to life with some magic. Not sure if using wizard mark would keep that from happening I use Wizard mark to write the others. Basically we learn that the Runes match the numerics of 1-13 (like the 13 vampire lords of old) all the others are incomprehensible but the areas radiate various abjuration and transmutation magics.
· I decide to use my rod of Shadowblending to summon up some trap monkeys and set them to traveling across the room touching only squares containing one of the 13 runes. Well, Monkeys don't jump so well in D&D... go figure. Of the four one made it as far is halfway before being blasted by bolts of force. Oh yeah, at first when we were deciding wither or not just to fly over the DM remembered we had See Invisibility up and so was able so see a glowing ball of power in the center of the room. It is that Ball that was zapping my poor monkeys.
· Figuring just touching the squares containing the 13 Carthus heads on across. I wanted him to make sure and touch ALL 13 but on getting to the other side without doing so he pressed on stepping onto the descending stairs..... and got blasted! He quickly retreated down the stairs into the octagonal room below. After searching the room he found no other ways out but the door shut down behind him. When it opened he was seeing a different area. Waiting it out it did this 3 or four times before getting back to us. An elevator of sorts.
· I cast Haste on Tabby and Sebban to help with the jumping from square to square. Tabby too did not want to touch all the 13 squares and got zapped. I went 3rd touching all the squares and upon reaching the other side the Ball of Power calmed down and did not attack. Sebban followed in the same manner. A few moments later the Elevator opened back up and we see Carthus. Paranoid that I am I do not trust that it IS Carthus and so Detect Thoughts on him confirming his person (He should have got a save there but was one of those funny In Character bits so we just went with it). We then step into the Elevator and step off at the next exit.
· It leads us down a short hallway into a large circular room with a 100 ft deep pit. At the center of the pit is a column of stone and at the bottom of the pit is a door... and spikes. Some spiderclimbing, others using trollgut rope we make our way to the bottom. Once the door is safe we open and head through discovering basically a mostly perfect 3ft diameter circular passage. I use my Eternal Wand of Heroics to give Carthus and Sebban Tunnel Fighting Feat then we head out. Winding through the maze of passages I am using Wizard mark to keep track of our location. Eventually we find ourselves in a long straight stretch in which Carthus and Tabby hear something ahead..... a freakin huge ass worm that seems to be made of all teeth is coming around the bend a 100 ft or so down. I let the others know, Carthus looses a Fireball at it and Tabby several arrows. Both do damage but the beast seems mostly just angered. I ready Ray of Stupidity and do 3 points of INT damage when it is 55 feet out. My minions then make short work of it but we are at a dead end due to the corpse.
· We back track some and then take other passages and some time later find ourselves in a long passage that basically matches the one in which we encountered the Purple Worm. Moving down it we come across some doors and just beyond the doors the butt end of the worm. Opening the door it opens into a roughly 60ft circular room with another door on the far side. We recognize 8 Bodaks equidistant around the edges of the room and there is a large slightly rounded circular 15 foot diameter symbol of balance in the rooms center. Bravely Carthus steps into the room taking the onslaught of 8 Gaze attacks from the beasts. He his in Draconic Polymorph Cave Troll form at the time and makes all his saves. I move near the center of the room slightly on the Balance symbol and use a Turn Undead from the Ankh doing 12d6 damage. All of the Bodaks are destroyed.
· As the bodaks are destroyed the balance symbols starts to open and reveals an equal sized giant eye. We begin asking some questions and it seems to be responding with eye motions for yes or no and that it is the Oracle but that there is elsewhere that would be better to communicate. So, we go through the other doors in the room and find ourselves in a colossal cave with and equally colossal dragon blacker than black with its head and eye attached to the ceiling. We have found the Oracle.
· With a brief conversation I work out a deal with the Oracle. I will free it if he will aid us. The agreement was parsed in ways to not leave each other open to screw the other. On accepting the deal the dragons "truespeak" acceptance reverberated through reality. The method for freeing the Oracle which turns out to be a Shade Dragon is for one of his kind to give up what makes them what they are... ie my little bauble/marble of Shadeness. The deal made I toss the dark stone into the dragons maw. He swells with power and reality itself seems to bend a bit around him as he pulls himself free from his prison leaving his eye behind. Then with magics the dragon regenerates what is lost and we begin discussing matters of import.
· Due to some sort of time constraints (Dragon can give us 10 minutes) the DM is basically giving us 60 questions for the Oracle and has pointed out that they must be pretty specific. So now we are left to figure out what we need to ask.
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Enjoy.