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Zagig
Here for a while
(3/13/03 4:32 pm)
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Re: lol
Anyone know what happend to Shadowcat?
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SSShadowcat7
Here for a while
(3/13/03 5:56 pm)
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Re: lol
I'm still here, just haven't updated my log in a great while. I guess I'm being too lazy.
Since you've gone to the trouble of finding my log and then actually posting on it to see if there's more I will do my best to provide a synopsis of what has befallen the group. 
In short they have now cleared the Outer Fane for the most part and are deciding on where to go next. Either the Black Spike or the Recovered Temple.
Maybe tonight or tomorrow I'll start adding updates again. Sorry for my laziness. And thanks for the interest. It's always nice to know I'm not writing this in vain, even if it has been a while.
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SSShadowcat7
Here for a while
(3/14/03 8:49 am)
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Update
Awright...doing this on memory, so it may be brief.
The party retreated to the dwarven temple for a quick bit of rest after raiding Hedrack's quarters. But they were not to get it.
Shortly after sundown two of the guards who were on duty at the main entrance to the temple approach the party who is in a council with the dwarven temple priests. The guards say they have been instructed by a tall human male in old, black armor to tell the party to meet him in 1 hour at the entrance to the Fire Bridge.
The guards are put under a protection from evil spell and questioned thoroughly. It seems that the mysterious man simply appeared out of mist inside the doors they were guarding and gave them the message. They were not harmed in any way, though they were intimidated a great deal.
The party determines that the guards were not dominated, but advise that they be watched anyway. They get themselves together and head out to the meeting with the vampire.
They are on time for the stand-off...err, meeting. A thick fog hs shrouded the Stalagos reducing visibility. As they stare out across the Fire Bridge a form materializes in front of them on the bridge.
A tense stand-off occurs, with Torque grasping the box and threatening to drop it into the still waters below the bridge. For his part Thrommel was amused with the party, especially the paladin, but retained a strong bargaining position. He "let slip" that he had even more information that would be of use to them as well as the knowledge of who had been aiding them in secret.
The knowledge part tipped the balance, and Revel gave in for the party and let Thrommel have the box back. Torque was understandably miffed at this, but kept his grumbling to himself.
Thrommel led them across the bridge, through the vacant dragon's lair (her treasure was all hidden below since she was gone), and straight to Varachan's room. Once this was done he disappeared back down the corridor and out of the game. He may show up at some later point, but it will be long after the module has been completed. Revel has made a point of wanting to track him down and destroy him.
Varachan greeted them and there followed a period of introductions and hard-core information sharing. For the most part what Varachan had to tell them was merely confirmations of what they suspected, but he had many details they were interested to hear.
Finally, after learning that Hedrack was gone, but would be back soon, they decided to take out Naquent that very evening.
So they set out with a decent map of the Fane heading to Naquent's room. I rolled percentage dice to see where she was and groaned inside when I determined she was in her quarters. Then I checked to see if there was a chance in hell that she might have some warning of the party coming and rejoiced when the fabled 01 came up! I decided (on the spot) that both the drow were also with her. Dirass was preparing to scry on the party for her as they had so far eluded her and Maracla was enjoying herself teasing Naquent's spectre servant while waiting for information from Dirass.
So they had about a minute's warning that the party was coming for them when Dirass successfully scried them and discovered them to be just down the hall.
The party easily bluffed/intimidated the ogre guards in their way and charged straight on to Naquent's chamber.
It was a good fight, but the party was prepared and the bad guys were rather surprised. In the end all three opponents fell to the fully buffed and determined group.
Afterwards the party gave the bodies to the ogre guards, relying on their CE alignments, and told them to leave, never come back, and take these bodies with you for a snack along the way. The ogres agreed, realizing in their dim brains that if this group could take that lot out then the ogres would stand little chance.
Then the party retired to a side chamber Varachan opened for them and set up for a quick camp. Hedrack would be returning soon, most likely this very night according to Varachan, and the morning would be interesting indeed.
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SSShadowcat7
Here for a while
(3/17/03 6:09 pm)
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Fight with Hedrack
After a brief rest the group had a quick meeting with Varachan. He told them that Hedrack had indeed returned just a few hours before and was hell-bent on their destruction. Hedrack had ordered Varachan to find them via scrying and had then gone to fortify his defenses.
Behind the scenes Hedrack also paid Satauu a visit to see what his oracle could tell him. He was informed that the next few hours would see major upheaval, but the outcome was uncertain.
So Hedrack got the few remaining guards together that he could quickly find and set up a temporary base of operations at his chambers with a quick path of escape into the temple nearby. He was able to gather up the minotaur barbarians and Daagra, the Annis jailor. He told his oracle to stay near in case he could be of use. Bethe also was still around. She would stay hidden and attempt death attacks.
Satauu, of course, planned only to grab a tasty morsel if the oportunity presented itself.
Chymon was stationed outside the Fane on a flying patrol route to try and spot the intruders when they tried to attack again. Hedrack made the error of assuming that they were not still inside the Fane.
So the party gets a quick briefing by Varachan and decides to hit Hedrack immediately. They head North and then East around the Fane to approach his chambers from that direction.
The minotaurs see them coming and start bellowing out warnings, prompting Hedrack to begin his power up suite. His longer lasting spells were already in place.
Cavan quickly cuts off one minotaur and Daagra from the fight with a well placed wall of force. The fighters engage the minotaurs and Bethe begins studying Torque. Revel decides to see what's down the passage leading to the temple as the fight seems to be well in hand and discovers the flesh golems. A hasty dimension door gets him out of there.
Meanwhile Bethe has made her death attack against Torque, but he failed to be killed. Hedrack finally appears from his room and lets loose with a word of chaos, stunning most of those near him.
The barbarian charges him and nearly knocks him down with one hit. (Note: Power Lunge combined with Rhino Hide is just wrong, wrong, wrong!) He steps back and word of recalls away.
Cavan humiliates Bethe by taking her out with a polymorph other spell.
They quickly regroup and head for the temple, figuring that's where Hedrack went. The flesh golems are merely a speedbump.
Satauu appears levitating near the ceiling and mind blasts the majority of the group, but stuns only Dorak and the barbarian. Torque, under the effects of a fly spell quickly negates the illithid threat by using his smite evil ability and getting a successful critical hit all at the same time.
Then they waste a spectacular amount of time gaining entrance to the temple. Once the doors were opened and they could only see blackness beyond it was quite funny to watch them try to decide who should go in first or what they should do.
All the while Hedrack was buffing himself even more and healing himself in the temple. He also bolstered the two ghouls who used to be Remus and Moloch, fallen party members whose bodies were never rescued. (Thanks for the template Monte! )
Finally, after a few unsuccessful dispelling attempts against the darkness, they slowly moved into the darkness. By this time Hedrack was waiting for them with a true seeing going, so the darkness bothered him not at all.
A blade barrier separated the barbarian and Zephyr (ranger/cleric) from the rest of the group. They got stuck out in the hall where the flesh golems were.
Torque and Dorak entered the "lit" center area and engaged the two ghouls. Lycos changed to bat form with his Cloak of the Bat and went in search of Hedrack. Revel also moved into the room.
Then Hedrack let loose with his destruction spell against Revel. Man, I felt pretty guilty about that. Revel, of course, went up in a pyre of unholy fire. Gone without a trace.
The Hedrack attempted to disintegrate Dorak, who was in melee with a ghoul. He missed, did not take the -4 for a called shot, and actually hit the ghoul instead.
One ghoul down.
Torque finished off the other one and both he and Dorak began the search in the dark for the high priest. Lycos finally found him and changed back to human form. Unfortunately he couldn't see in the dark so was unable to make any sneak attacks.
A quick melee ensued during which Lycos actually succeeded at a bull rush to push Hedrack out into the center area where he could be seen. Dorak and Torque surrounded him and began to beat on him.
Even then I wasn't too worried as I thought he could still get away and teleport to the Inner Fane. But then Torque pulled out not 1, not 2, but 3 critical hits and dropped Hedrack like a stone.
That paladin felt like a paladin at that moment.
Meanwhile Daagra had finally made it around the entire Outer Fane and returned to the initial combat area. There she found the barbarian and the ranger/cleric trying to figure out how to get past the blade barrier.
Happy for something to do they both advanced upon her.
The ranger/cleric was the first to fall. She grabbed ahold of him and tore him to shreds with hardly any effort at all. The barbarian got a scared look in his eyes and tried to get away, but her Reach prevented that. He, too, was dropped, but he was only in negs, where the other PC was utterly dead.
She took both bodies and dragged them to the prison complex after realizing the barbarian was still alive and stabalizing him. She's a jailor, after all. She needs her prisoners alive to feed to the machine.
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 Infiniti2000
Still here? Wow.
(3/18/03 8:11 am)
Reply
ezSupporter
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Re: Fight with Hedrack
Wow! Thanks for the update Shadowcat! I hope your group still enjoyed the combat (I bet the paladin did, who critted Satau and Hedrack in the same night!). That destruction is naaaaasty...I can't wait till I get to use it on my group. 
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SSShadowcat7
Here for a while
(3/18/03 9:07 am)
Reply
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Re: Fight with Hedrack
Yah, destruction is a killer! Pun intended.
They all had a good time, though. Even those who had characters die. They know how deadly this module can be.
It seems, though, that the further in they get the higher the body count gets. I don't know if that's me playing the bad guys better or just the relative power level increasing so much.
Before the Outer Fane there were 2 deaths.
Since they've breached the Outer Fane and continued on there have been 6 deaths. (One of them I haven't gotten to in my updates yet.)
I'm not sure what that means, or if it means anything. But at least we're all still having fun. That's what counts.
Thanks for reading.
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Infiniti2000
Still here? Wow.
(3/18/03 10:26 am)
Reply
ezSupporter
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Re: Fight with Hedrack
I think for most groups it means that the players are learning how to better play high level characters. You will probably see the number of deaths drop by the time they reach the inner fane and/or recovered temple. As a DM, you've been reading through the module and studying the bad guys along with all their tactics, so it is only natural for you to have the advantage at this point. The party is used to the unorganized CRM and were not probably not too well prepared for such a powerful organized force arrayed against them. After the outer fane they will be ready for anything, however, and they and you will be far better for it.
At the very least, everyone will have a healthy respect for high level clerics.
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SSShadowcat7
Here for a while
(3/18/03 9:37 pm)
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Alternate FR Campaign
With Hedrack dead the remaining party members breathed a collective sigh of relief. They searched through the temple area, avoided the tentacle railings and managed to not look too much at the leering demon statues. The paladin took a fair amount of damage from the cold as he stayed in the room and channeled holy power into the alter attempting to destroy it.
It didn't appear greatly fazed, however, and Dorak suggested he stop as he seemed to remember Varachan saying they may need the alter for something. Grumbling under his breath, Torque left the temple and they went in search of the rest of the group.
Once past the blade barrier still blocking the passage (man, that spell lasts forever!) they came upon a large amount of blood splattered all over the walls and floor and a large blood smear leading back into the Fane. This was, of course, Daagra dragging her two bodies back to the prison with her.
They followed the trail of blood and surprised her in the prison complex. She quickly cast a fog cloud around the entrance to the prison and used the teleporter to transport herself down to the holding cells.
The group quickly followed, deducing the use of the dial and lever, and teleported after her. A minor battle ensued, but she was handilt defeated. They managed to recover the barbarian's still living body and heal him enough to have him regain consciousness. Zephyr was, unfortunately, dead.
They freed the few prisoners they found. One was a mighty celestial being...a lammasu. Once he was freed of his cage and the effects of the drugs used on him he thanked his rescuers and promised to aid them if he could. He told them he must leave, however, to report his findings to his superiors.
They trooped back to Varachan with heavy hearts. Hedrack and the Outer Fane was defeated, but at what cost? They had lost 5 party members in the past few days, Revel among them. It is not easy to lose a founding member of the group who has been around for so long.
They told Varachan of their victory and he informed them that the Doomdreamers of the Black Spike were still most likely oblivious to their activities, but would not remain so. He also reiterated his information on what he knew about the excavations at the Recovered Temple.
The group set about sorting through the loot they had recovered and attempting to ID it. But with Revel not around it seemed like a daunting task. Even more daunting was the decision that lay before them. Should they continue on to the Inner Fane or head to the Recovered Temple? Again, without Revel, their valued thinker, the choice was difficult.
They spent the afternoon in rest, discussion and talk and figured that they would think more on it tomorrow.
The next morning Phallaax, cleric of Torm, prayed for guidance and cast a commune spell. Instead of asking questions and receiving short answers, though, something a little different happened.
A thin white line appeared in the air, opened into a gate of some sort, and out stepped a tall, regal looking elf-like creature with bright, feathered white wings. A Solar.
Torque dropped to his knees in reverence. The being radiated good and benevolence and addressed the party. It told them that a dear friend of his had just yesterday returned to his company and reported on events transpiring in this area of this plane. (The lammasu had powerful friends indeed! )
The Solar took a short leave of absence from his duties and personally journeyed to the characters location to thank them for the release of his friend. He was also under instructions from "on high" to aid them in some small manner due to the import of their activities. As he said this he gazed about at the party members and said that he could read in their eyes and hearts something that could be done.
With hardly an action he murmered some soft words and Revel materialized out of thin air in front of him, whole and unharmed.
The party was indeed awed, but the Solar merely smiled and motioned to the pile of treasure they had accumulated but not figured out what it was yet. He glanced at each item and said what it did, mentioning that the boots they found in Naquent's chamber should probably be destroyed (the boots of dancing).
But that was not all. After the party sorted through the items and claimed what they wanted, he took what remained and transferred the essence of the magic into their items, increasing the power level of what they already possessed.
Once he was finished he turned grave and spoke to them. He said that all divinations and visions of the future had become cloudy of late. Anything past The Feast of the Moon (a holiday 30 days away) was difficult to read, with wildly conflicting results. He told them that this foretold of some major event happening on that day, but what would come after was still undecided.
And with that he left.
Varachan told them about the Talisman of Pure Good located in the Inner Fane and mentioned that it would probably take only a few days to clear out the entire Black Spike if they so chose.
Glad to have Revel back they conferred and decided to try to get the Talisman at the very least before heading to the excavations at the Recovered temple.
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SSShadowcat7
Here for a while
(3/18/03 9:39 pm)
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Alternate FR Campaign
stupid double postings.
Edited by: SSShadowcat7 at: 3/18/03 9:43:24 pm
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SSShadowcat7
Here for a while
(3/30/03 5:36 pm)
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Re: Alternate FR Campaign
Once again, a run down of the PCs present:
Torque--Paladin/Cleric/Divine Hammer of Torm
Dorak--Fighter/Weapon Master
Cavan--Sorcerer/Incantatrix
Lycos--Rogue/Guild Thief/Shadowdancer
Revel--Wizard/Loremaster
Phaalax--Cleric of Torm
Frodo--Barbarian/Fighter
All are around 10th-11th character level.
The group rested and celebrated their victory over the Outer Fane for one night after the Solar departed and reunited them with Revel. They laid their plans for the morning as well as the near future.
During this time Torque, Revel and Lycos conferred with Varachan. They went to the temple where Hedrack had been killed and Lycos crossed into the Black Cyst and retrieved the Orb of Silver Death. It was then a relatively simple matter (with Varachan's information) to destroy the artifact using the alter. Torque made clear his intent to return and see the alter destroyed.
In the morning they left the Outer Fane and entered the Blasted Courtyard by way of the walls of force leading out of the temple area. They were quickly set upon by the Dark Wight packs roaming the courtyard, but they were handily defeated with only a couple negative levels on Phaalax and Frodo to show for it.
They then advanced upon the bridge, forewarned that the door was an intelligent guardian unto itself. Revel brandished the Master Key he still possessed and forced the door to open.
**DM Note**I made it so that the door opened automatically to someone holding a Master Key, although it was granted a Will save (DC 20) to resist if it felt that the holder of the Key was untrustworthy.
As the door opened they could all hear the loud roaring from within. The door had warned the T-Rexes of the group's arrival.
One of the hybrid dinosaurs thrust it's head out of the doorway and snapped Revel out of the air. The other let loose with a breath weapon and the battle was on.
Tychon became involved as well, but was unable to do much as he had not had much warning of the group's arrival.
In the end both of the T-Rexes lay dead along with Tychon. Frodo had charged him and killed him where he stood with one mighty blow.
Alas, Cavan also was dead, eaten and swallowed by one of the half-dragons. And the rest of the group was hurting badly. Revel had cast a wall of stone to block the stairs leading up so no reinforcements could get through.
They know that the Talisman of Pure Good lies below them, as well as how to work the wall studs to transport themselves. Which leads to a question. Can only one person be transported by those wall studs at a time?
Next time we will see if the party falls back or if they regroup and continue. Cavan's body is recoverable, and I know they have access to raise dead, so I'm not sure how that will go.
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msherman
Here for a while
(3/30/03 7:10 pm)
Reply
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Re: Alternate FR Campaign
I loved that scene with the Solar. If a similar opportunity presents itself (casting commune or a similar spell after releasing the Lamasu), I'm definitely going to use it.
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Infiniti2000
Still here? Wow.
(3/31/03 10:23 am)
Reply
ezSupporter
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Re: Alternate FR Campaign
"Can only one person be transported by those wall studs at a time?"
I'd say so. It should just be the person touching the stud. However, you could easily argue that it transports the person touching the stud and all willing targets touching the person.
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SSShadowcat7
Here for a while
(3/31/03 12:05 pm)
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Re: Alternate FR Campaign
Quote:
I loved that scene with the Solar. If a similar opportunity presents itself (casting commune or a similar spell after releasing the Lamasu), I'm definitely going to use it.
Thanks. I tried to come up with something not too far-fetched that was believable but also kept the party in the Fanes and eager to continue. And they needed a decent break after all the death and destruction of the past few sessions.
Just as a note, when I had the Solar transfer the magical energies from the pile of loot to enhance their existing items I used the GP equivalent of the loot pile to figure out how much enhancing I could do. And I did not use it all. In the end they got about 3/4 value out of everything. More than if they sold it, but not too much choice in what form it came. They were happy with the exchange.
And thanks for reading!
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SSShadowcat7
Here for a while
(4/13/03 6:14 pm)
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Re: Alternate FR Campaign
Update time. Not a huge amount of progress, but progress none-the-less.
Note--the player of Cavan has recently moved about 1 1/2 hours away so I don't know if he will continue playing or not. He did not show up for today's session, but who knows. I guess it's rather convenient that his PC just died.
Anyway. The group quickly gathered themselves together, healed up, and decided to continue to the lower levels of the Black Spike. They knew that on the 4th level down the prize they were seeking awaited; the Talisman of Pure Good.
They located the teleporting wall studs, and I ruled that if they were all linked together that they could all teleport at once. They arrived in the torture chamber, took a quick glance around, saw the torture master plying his trade on some poor person, attacked quickly, and killed Yrthuk in a matter of seconds.
Freeing the prisoner they learned he was Jac, a traveling cleric of Shandaukal (much like Zephyr who had died not long ago) who had been recently captured and brought here. Many of his items were carried by his torturer, which he reclaimed. He then offered to join the group in their travels, and they accepted after Torque determined he was not evilly aligned. This PC is played by the player who lost Zephyr.
They continued to the next level which housed the map on the floor, awakened the stone golem guardian, and destroyed it. They spent a bit of time puzzling over the map and poles, but decided to press on and come back to investigate further.
Revel had a hard time passing through the next level...the library, but the rest almost physically dragged him to the teleport studs in the wall and went down yet again.
There followed an inordinate amount of time spent trying to figure out how to get the Talisman out of the bowl of negative energy. After numerous different attempts Torque finally thrust his hand into the stuff and pulled it out. He received the 2 negative levels for his efforts, but since he had cast and held a pretty strong curing spell just as he put his hand into the bowl I ruled that he avoided being stunned.
Torque claimed the Talisman. Nobody voiced a dissenting opinion about that.
They then took a bit of time to loot the library. Revel was going nowhere without those books. He discovered the Book of Vile Darkness, took a bit of damage from it and made his save. Torque then took it for safe-keeping, and there followed much furious reading by me as there is nothing written in the item's description that harms a good aligned divine caster from merely handling it. Anyone who is not a divine caster gets damaged just by touching the thing, but a lawful good Paladin/Cleric is not harmed one iota by grabbing it. Only if he reads it does it do anything to him.
Well, that just irked me, but I couldn't in good conscience rule against the written page on the spot like that. I did tell him, though, that he felt utterly dirty and contaminated by being in contact with it. He wisely gave it over to Revel for safe-keeping, making sure it was stored in an extra-dimensional space.
They then explored the map room. Revel, with the help of Jac (just another cleric), determined the function of the poles and map. They took two of their torches of revealing, lit them with the special incense, and watched as an image of the ruined Temple of Elemental Evil appeared before them.
They moved the poles slightly so that the image was of the forest just outside of Nulb, and then stepped through.
And I just realized that that means they left behind both of those torches. Duh!
They trekked a short distance from where they arrived, realizing that any pursuit would be able to determine exactly where they had transported themselves to since the map showed the precise spot.
And it was only lunchtime by then. They found a good campsite and rested for the rest of the day & night. Revel looked through the books he had found, Torque and the fighters cleaned their armor & weapons, etc. Everyone prepared for the coming days in their own way.
The next morning Phalaax realized that he only had one component for the restoration spell, and three of them were sporting negative levels. Phalaax & Frodo from the Dark Wights outside the Black Spike, and Torque from the liquid negative energy.
Revel teleported to their dwarf friends early in the morning, purchased a small supply of diamond dust, and teleported back in time for Phalaax to memorize his spells & then cast 3 restorations. No levels lost. Everyone happy. That's good.
Revel then identified most of the items they had recovered off Tychon & Yrthuks' bodies and they divvied everything up. They did not, however, determine that the heavy mace they have is +4. sigh
And then they traveled to the outskirts of the ruined temple. Their plan is to scout out the surroundings and get an idea of the land, then investigate the remnants of the hobgobling tribe still living there, and then maybe find a way down.
And that was the end of the session.
Edited by: SSShadowcat7 at: 4/13/03 6:19:31 pm
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SSShadowcat7
Here for a while
(4/27/03 7:13 pm)
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Re: Alternate FR Campaign
Having arrived in the area of the ruined Temple of Elemental Evil near dusk the party decided to set up camp and wait for morning to scout the area. Phallax used a scroll of raise dead on Cavan, reviving him, albeit 1 level lower.
The night passed uneventfully except for Revel experimenting with fire for a bit. He discovered that sometimes fires were much more powerful than expected. **I have given a chance for any fires in the area of the Recovered Temple to be treated as Empowered as well as having their areas increased. This does not happen all the time, though.**
In the morning they took a bit of time to explore the environs of the ruined temple's above ground structures. They had never been here before. They discovered that the remnants of a hobgoblin tribe lived there. Mostly just women and children. And they were in dire straits. The hobgoblins appeared pitifully emaciated, dirty and scared. The party learned, through speaking with them, that not long ago ogres, giants and humans had come and either captured or killed most of the tribe and taken them below. They knew the location of the entrance to the lower levels (an abandoned farmstead about a mile away), but nothing more.
The party left some food for the poor creatures as well as Torque curing what disease he could, and then left for the entrance to the lower levels.
They easily found the farmhouse. Jac has the Track feat which helped a lot. I had the succubus laired in a room on the 2nd floor of the old farmhouse watching the area. As soon as she spotted the group she teleported away to warn the cult leaders of their arrival. A few of the party members (determined randomly) got to make Spot checks to notice movement from her room, but none succeeded.
They mucked about the area for a bit before discovering the entrance. I changed how the module went here. In the module it states that the well is the only way in. Well, then how the heck did all those giants and other really big creatures get in there? So IMC there was a pretty large tunnel from inside the barn leading down. They tripped a greater glyph of greater dispelling on their way down, but re-buffed themselves before moving further.
A short ways down they found the mutilated, headless corpse of what they determined to be a hound archon crucified in the middle of the passage. This was the agent that Cannoness Y'Dey sent in to get information. They paused to take the body down and give it last rites before pressing on.
The ogre guards had been forewarned by the succubus, so were ready. The fight was relatively short, with Frodo the only one getting wounded in any bad way. One of the ogres made it to the stairwell leading to the trap door before falling to arrows. It had warned the guards upstairs, though, and that was enough.
Dorak was rudely grabbed by the earth elemental and dragged up into the circular room, sustaining much damage in the process. The battle with the earth elemental was tough (I don't know how it's justified as CR 9!), but they finally prevailed with no casualties.
We ended the session with the stone giant fleeing down the passage and the party taking a moment to heal up before heading after it.
Edited by: SSShadowcat7 at: 4/27/03 7:16:47 pm
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SSShadowcat7
Here for a while
(5/11/03 12:49 pm)
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Re: Alternate FR Campaign
No game today what with Mother's Day and all. Two more weeks before we play again.
Just wanted to keep the thread alive.
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SSShadowcat7
Faen
(6/20/03 8:34 am)
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Re: Alternate FR Campaign
OK, so it's been over a month since I updated this log. Sorry. And this one promises to be a short update at that.
The PCs, after taking a moment to heal up after the fight with the earth elemental, forged ahead after the fleeing stone giant. They followed it into the ogre's den, easily killed off most of the ogres, and were surprised to find Kella in disguise.
She warned them of what lay ahead, not only in the stone giant lair but further below in the temple areas. She also agreed to stick around for an hour or so before she headed back to Hommlet to report to the town leaders there.
The group entered the cavern of the stone giants and almost immediately fell under attack. The use of unholy aura by Dein slowed them somewhat, but in the end they triumphed. The deadly combination of blade barrier, wall of force and spike stones really tore the giants up.
Once they were done there they did a quick search of the bodies and area and retreated to rest. They are currently holed up in room #4 of the Recovered Temple, the secret room off of the ogre's guard chamber.
I must now think of some good defenses that the Doomdreamers will put into place. The game is nearly up, and both sides know it.
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SSShadowcat7
Faen
(7/5/03 8:46 pm)
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Re: Alternate FR Campaign
The group successfully rested and rememorized their spells. Sometime during the night I had Falrinth & Smigmal pass by their hidden campsite speaking to each other. The two villians were out inspecting the battle sites for their own knowledge, not believing what they had been told by the clerics below. Revel overheard a small snippet of their conversation and deduced that the upper levels would be abandoned and all cult members would be pulled to the lower levels to make a stand should that become necessary.
Once everyone was ready the PCs quickly explored the rest of the upper level. They found it empty. Everyone had gone below it seemed.
Following the stairs to the lower level they found the passage down blocked by what Revel deduced to be a wall of stone. They all got ready (read: cast buffing spells) and Revel used a scroll of passwall. They all marched through the opening and entered the lower level of the Recovered Temple.
The ropers did not cause much trouble, though I did get a few spells out of the mages to fizzle against their high SR. The group could hear the dull pounding of drums from deeper in the complex and pressed on.
They engaged the iron golems and noticed the advancing ogres. Backing the golems is Falrinth, Dugart and Smigmal, who have not yet joined the fray except for Falrinth tossing a fireball into the golem fight to cause a little damage and heal them up a bit.
We ended the session on round 6 of the fight for the lower level. One golem has been destroyed and the other is badly damaged. The eastern area 19 is blocked off by a web spell that also somehow managed to tangle Falrinth up in it. He is flying and improved invisible up near the ceiling, but still managed to be trapped in the sticky strands. Smigmal is also improved invisible as well as has nondetection on her. She is spider climbing on the wall above Torque studying him for a Death Attack. So far she has remained hidden and no one has spotted her...even the mages with see invisibility going.
The Rakshasas are hanging back to see what happens. They'll pick off a straggler if they see the opportunity, but may just escape while they have the chance.
Cavan has blocked off the passage leading towards the temple with a wall of force. The group seems to want to see this fight through before pressing on or allowing further resistance to come to them.
For the cult's side the rest of them are in the temple conducting ceremonies. They are all buffed due to the attack, but should the PCs threaten them Lareth will retreat to the Fire Node and bring Imix back so they can attempt to bring the Dark Lord forth.
I expect the party to cause some serious casualties within the cult but ultimately have to retreat. I may be wrong, but I'd be surprised if they bulled forward and managed to defeat the entire cult and Imix all in the same fight.
But we'll see. Tomorrow afternoon is the next session.
Edited by: SSShadowcat7 at: 7/5/03 8:49 pm
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SSShadowcat7
Faen
(7/6/03 6:36 pm)
Reply
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Re: Alternate FR Campaign
And now tomorrow afternoon has come and gone.
The first full scale battle for the world lasted a grand total of 14 rounds.
The first 6 rounds I described above. We began today at the top of round 7.
Torque and Frodo beat on the remaining iron golem while the rest concentrated on the ogre fighters. Cavan was having a blast with his new spell, ball lightning, found in Magic of Faerun. It helped against the golem, that's for sure.
They managed to destroy the last golem finally, though the ogres were causing more throuble than they had expected. Falrinth, cursing to himself, had been caught in Revel's web spell. He drank his potion of gaseous form and flowed along the wall and outside of the web's area. He reformed in the air close by Revel.
Torque, meanwhile, had moved into the western room 19 and finished off the ogres in there. Smigmal, improved invisible and happily carrying a nondetection spell, finished studying him and moved in to attack. The sneak attack worked. The death attack failed and Torque made the save against the poison she had smeared on her assassin's dagger. But he could not locate her and she had hurt him badly.
Dugart had cast damning darkness from the BoVD on himself, enveloping a good portion of the party in the painful blackness. His true seeing spell allowed him to see clearly, of course. He also had the spell spider legs from the same book active, so he was literally climbing the walls. He cast confusion and both Dorak and Frodo failed the save. Cavan tossed in 2 area of effect dispel magics, both to try to get rid of the darkness as well as the confusion. He didn't get the darkness, but he did get the confusion off of Dorak as well as the true seeing off of Dugart. Cursing, Dugart dismissed his darkness spell as he couldn't see in it anymore.
Revel, noticing Falrinth appear close to him, blasted the enemy mage with a lightning bolt and then a cone of cold. Falrinth made both his saves and responded with his Quickened lightning bolt that got both Revel and Frodo down below, and then followed it up with finger of death against Revel. Revel failed the save and died.
The 2 Rakshasas had, meanwhile, engaged Torque, Dorak and Cavan in the chamber next door. Smigmal also pounded on Torque and Dorak. Neither could see her. Torque finally managed to read a scroll of invisibility purge which revealed the deadly assassin. She took a bit of damage from Dorak before stepping away. She and Falrinth were only around to see what would happen next and she had no desire to die for a cause that was not her own. She called out to Falrinth that she was leaving, smiled at Dorak and told him she hoped they met again, and read her scroll of dimension door and disappeared.
Falrinth moved away from Revel's dead body and let loose with a cone of cold, catching Jac and Frodo. Frodo failed the save and took too much damage to live. He also fell, lifeless to the floor. Falrinth nodded to Torque, thanked him for killing Hedrack, and teleported away.
Dugart was the recipient of a targeted dispel magic from Cavan which took away many things, including his endurance spell and his spider legs spell that was keeping him attached to the ceiling. He fell. But not only did he fall, he fell through the threat range of Jac who was flying next to him and weilding his magic greatsword. Jac's AoO was a 20, and of course so was his confirmation roll. With the loss of his endurance spell and the resulting hit points and then the crit from Jac's greatsword, Dugart was dead before he hit the floor.
It was short work to mop up the 2 Rakshasas after that, as well as the remaining ogre. Unfortunately Phalaax finally fell to the secondary effects of the iron golem's breath weapon and died.
With 3 dead party members the group gathered up what they could and retreated.
Edited by: SSShadowcat7 at: 7/6/03 6:42 pm
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DestyNova1
Faen
(7/6/03 11:43 pm)
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Ow...
Wonder how they can get past this. I doubt Lareth and Co, are going to sit on their hands waiting for the party to regroup. I wouldn't be surprised if Imix is coming out of the node.
Perhaps Varachan could help out. Having him show up with Heal and Ressurection scrolls could take the sting out of the deaths. Problem is, balancing things out so it doesn't get to a 'Deus ex machina' level of cheese
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