|
Author
|
Comment
|
Knowe Remorse 
Tolling Bell Cultist
(2/17/04 4:23 pm)
Reply
|
Knowe's campaign log
I'm starting the RttToEE on the 21st, figured I would give a quick rundown of events and altered history. Many thanks to the many DM's in thisforum that have paved the way for a quick and easy 3.5 conversion.
Brief history: 22 years ago, a party of adventurers, seeking to destroy the rebuilding ToEE, investigated some old ruins not far from Nulb and released an ancient entity (named the Star-Eater, Destroyer of Worlds) by reading from a long buried text. The party, for-warned by the newly acquired avatar of this deity (the player who read from the book) about the world’s imminent destruction, escaped through a recently uncovered portal and went to a new realm, never to be heard from again. This new entity, sought to obtain the power within the ToEE, and after breaking the seals around the inner sanctums of the ToEE, battled with Zuggtmoy who was trapped within, and in this great battle, both deities were destroyed, along with the orb of golden death. A great cataclysm ensued, destroying the town of Nulb, and wreaking havoc upon the surrounding area.
20 years later, the temple has once again rebuilt, and is again becoming a threat. The brave heroes who "sacrificed themselves" and destroyed the original temple are sung about in songs of lore in Hommlet and even the surrounding cities.
DM’s note: With 3 returning players from the original ToEE, they are certainly wondering how the history will work, since they were so sure that the world was destroyed as they went through the portal. The world’s destruction was only partially true, however, and the deities dying certainly caused a large scale event, even though most of the destruction was underground.
The would-be heroes:
Jagden Ranulf - Male, Human Hexblade 4. Named after his adventurous uncle who disappeared fighting the great evil cult of elemental evil some 22 years before, “Jag” is asked by his dying grandfather to find his son’s remains for proper burial in the family mausoleum.
Fistandum Deedledum - Male, gnome Sorceror 4. Having recently received a letter from his estranged cousin Nierethi Poscurian promising a chance of well paid employment with a somewhat unscrupulous bunch around the town of Hommlet, Fistandum and his Pseudodragon familiar “Ixalbalit” (smirk, see below) head down from Verbobonc to see about a tryout for this group.
Ixalbalit – Male adolesecent Pseudodragon/Sorcerer 1 A former familiar that has grown to be able to cast spells on its own. Note: the Gnome is only an ensign expendable as per the show Star Trek. I plan on killing the gnome with my replacement for Big U to surprise the group, thus allowing the character to play the familiar with a weakened Pseudodragon template instead.
Thoren E’doran - Male Half-elf Ranger 2/Rogue 2 One of only a handful of humanoids with elven blood, Thoren is a scout with a horrible lack of remembering details. He has been recently ostracized by his father for leaving the old ways of honoring the forest, choosing instead to seek fortune and greed within the city. Thoren has made a living working small jobs for the thieves guild, as well as escorting goods along the major travel routes around Verbobonc, in an attempt to remain in good standing with his family. He is also a good friend of Jagden, and has agreed to help Jag on his journey south to find his uncle’s remains.
Kedryn Jastra - Male Human, Paladin 4, A champion of the god of fate, this noble knight is being dispatched to Hommlet from the great city of Verbobonc to help restore relations with another church. It seems the church of Moradin has dispatched a cleric to Hommlet, and the two churches, seeking to restore long shaky diplomatic ties, has teamed up the two in a guesture of good faith in order to help with renewing church relations. He's not a core paladin, he cant detect evil, smite evil, or even turn undead. He can alter the future by changing his die rolls, and has access to some divination spells instead of protection and typical "good-aligned" spells. Should be an interesting class to watch, though admittedly it is weaker than a typical paladin.
Noradun Stonefist - Male Dwarf, Cleric of Moradin 4 The church of Moradin recently gave Noradun an order to leave the small church of Moradin in Verbobonc, taking with him Rumble Graniteskin, a outspoken acolyte with him and establish a shrine in Hommlet. Further, after the building of the shrine is complete, he is to head to Rastor and find more information as to why the church is struggling as of late. He is heading from Verbobonc with Strytin Jastra as part of a way to further expand good ties between the churches.
There is a possible 6th player in the making with some scheduling changes.
More to come in 5 days.... I can't wait. 
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of All Who Threaten it. Edited by: Knowe Remorse at: 2/22/04 11:47 pm
|
Knowe Remorse
Tolling Bell Cultist
(2/22/04 11:33 pm)
Reply
|
Re: Knowe's campaign log
Session 1: 1/3
Completed the first session last night, kicked off with a BBQ, hot-dogs, chicken, tossed-salad, my home-made baked-beans, the works.
I gave everyone their brief histories, and started with all the group leaving from Verbobonc within 1-2 days of each other. The game began with Jagden and Thoren, leaving south to Hommlet to begin the search for Jag’s uncle’s remains, who had disappeared around 22 years before, fighting the scourge of the Temple.
They caught up with Kedryn and Noradun on the road, who were traveling together as part of their churches trying to renew diplomatic ties with each other. Noradun, was accompanied by a level 1 cleric apprentice, and also a handy amount of gold, in order to purchase a small plot of land in Hommlet and begin construction of a stone-work shrine to Moradin, for the small population of dwarves in the village.
After some formalities, and introductions, the 4 decided to travel to Hommlet together, and set up camp for the night. The next day, they continued south to the village, and encountered a strange gnome on a slow-moving burro, accompanied by an even stranger dragon-like familiar. After finding out this well armored group was heading to the same city he was, Fistandum asked the party if he could accompany them for protection for protection. The rest of the party agreed, though they were wary of the dragon.
They stopped off the road to make camp for the night, and while collecting firewood, Thoren stepped on the burrowed Ankheg, who quickly grappled him, and began dragging him into its burrow for its evening meal. Reacting to the rangers screams, (he was being chewed on rather efficiently and all) the pseudo-dragon flew nearby and quickly attempted a sleep spell, which unfortunately seemed to have no affect. Jagden raced over, arriving just as the ankheg began backing itself into its burrow, with the held ranger in its jaws. Casting his supernatural curse on the beast, Jag also gave the beast a good hit with its sword. The Dwarf and the Knight, both enclad in cases of iron and steel, were slow to react and could not quickly cover the distance enough to have influence on the event at this time. As the beast scampered further into its hole (dragging its meal), Jagden dropped his sword and grabbed onto Thoren, who only had his upper torso showing from the hole he was being pulled into.
Fortunately for the ranger, with Jag’s aid they Thoren was successful in breaking open the mandibles long enough to break free and roll away. Both the dwarf and the knight were able to enclose on the fight at this time, and the dwarf stopped and let go a mighty hit with his crossbow, (now that the ranger was not in the way) and the Ankheg retreated back into its domain, hoping for easier food at some other time.
(DM’s note: the ankheg dealt a lot of damage in two hits to Thoren, about 2/3 of his life in two hits, I was afraid I was going to lose a player on the very first encounter before they had even reached Hommlet.)
After a little debate, and reluctance on behalf of the knight to squeeze into a 3-4 foot tall hole after some insect, the group decided to break camp and move down the road another 15 minutes before settling down for the night.
The next day, the group reached Hommlet, (about 2 PM) stopping by the Inn of the Welcome Wench to get rooms and to stable their horses, as well as a bite to eat. Noradun and Kedryn both sought out the Lord of the town, wishing to announce their presence, and ask about acquiring a plot of land to build a shrine, while the rest of the group met with the inhabitants of the bar. Jagden struck up a brief conversation with the barkeep (Maridosen), seeking to know information about the old elemental cult that used to reside in the area. He explained he was looking for his uncle who disappeared 22 years ago fighting this cult. The barkeep said “All them’s stories is probly hogwash, just ways the old folks get to have their unruly children go to sleep at night’s. I nar’ know nuttin about it.”
Both Noradin and Kedryn, meet briefly with Rufus and Burne, and after showing a letter of merit and displaying an offer of gold for a small plot of land for a shrine, both are invited to a feast and offered to stay in the gentleman’s quarters, where lesser nobility who are passing by often reside.
Back at the inn, things starts stewing as the evening crowd rolls in and things begin to spice up. Chatrilon enters the facility, talks with the barkeep, and after ordering a drink, meanders next to the party’s table to overhear tidbits of conversation.
A bard climbs the stage and begins an attempt at a song, drawing the crowds boo’s and curses from Chatrilon and the offensive Questinn Himble, a rather rude Halfling. Jagden immediately takes a liking to Questinn, buying him round after round of ale, just to hear him yell at the barkeep “Hey woman! This gent’s bought me another round o’ ale…. But I ain’t see-in it yet!” After some conversation, Jagden and Thoren get around to talking about adventure, and Questinn offers his services and knowledge for a share of the loot, and they agree. Eventually, the bard is booed offstage, and Jagden offers him a gold to play at another bar, if there is one, in town.
Thoren strikes up a brief interlude with Chat, asks a few questions about the old cult, and Chat tells him it’s more of an old myth and long forgotten history than anything. Thoren asks where any good historians could be found to ask more, Chat thinks for a few moments, “Ya know, there’s an old druid on the edge of town who might know about this stuff. His name’s Jaroo.” He gives brief directions to the grove and the conversation ends with a thank you from Thoren.
(DM’s Note: The party hasn’t been as forward as I would have liked regarding the cult. Other than minor historical questions and descriptions of finding a long lost uncle to return for a proper burial, both Chat and Maridosen are unsure if this group poses much of a threat at this time. Perhaps Jaroo can find out more if a party member or two go talk to him.)
Kedryn returns to the bar, to relay to the party where he and the cleric will be staying (the keep) and bids them good night. The night life and long travel time on the road cuts the party’s episode short, and they curtly go off to bed.
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of All Who Threaten it. |
Knowe Remorse
Tolling Bell Cultist
(2/22/04 11:36 pm)
Reply
|
Re: Knowe's campaign log
Session 1: (2/3)
In the morning, Noradun is taken on a tour of the city by councilman appointed by Burne, in order to find a suitable plot of land for his shrine. Kedryn eats his breakfast of fruits, freshly squeeze orange juice and bread, and heads off to the inn.
While Kedryn was enjoying a fresh fruit platter at the keep, Jagden and Fistandum eat a breakfast of runny oatmeal at the inn, and Thoren leaves to go speak with Jaroo. He asks about the history of the old cult, and Jaroo gives him a low-key, it was bad back then, it’s all good now, speech. Jaroo explains that the cult was wiped out over 20 years ago, and that it has been non-existent since then. Thoren explains that they are looking for a man who fought the temple 20 years ago, and wonders where to begin searching. Jaroo explains that the original temple is all but collapsed from the original cataclysm that wiped out Nulb 20 years ago, and if the man they are seeking was one of the ones who was involved in bringing the temple down the last time, that he will probably never be found. Satisfied, Thoren thanks Jaroo for his time, and leaves.
(DM’s Note: I had Jaroo pause periodically, acting as if he was old and sheepish, trying to remember old memories. During these times, he was reading the thoughts of Thoren, trying to see what he was really looking for, if this was just some sort of cover. Thoren really wasn’t seeking much else, so I didn’t have Jaroo do anything brash).
The party meets up at the Inn, after a discussion of going to the original temple’s location to start looking for more information on finding the body, the group heads out with Questinn who agrees to lead them to the area near the temple, as long as they don’t go through Nulb. The party sets out, and meets with an old man in the forest, who seems to be collecting wood for making bows. When he asks the party what they are out so far outside of town for, and under such arms, they tell him they about looking for the old temple. He tells them that road is ruled by brigands now, he also warns them of seeing a dragon flying in the area not more than a few days ago. They scoff at the idea of a dragon lurking about, and figure this is a good spot to have lunch, and Questinn reminds them about the old Moathouse not far from here, which they decide to have a look at. As they are getting ready to leave for the MH, they hear hooves, and spot Chatrilon riding on the path, who also spots them and hails them. He says he is a seasoned veteran, and seeks to join the party in an adventure if they are seeking to go to the temple. Oddly, enough, they accept and journey on.
The Moathouse:
After a brief search, Thoren finds fairly recent boot prints, and even traces of wagon activity on the path leading to the moathouse. The party approaches with caution, but eventually gets bored and crosses the bridge, noting the newly constructed planks. The frog, went after the smallest and easiest targets, and grabs the gnome with its tongue. The gnome, (at the rear of the party) says something like, “Hey! Byaaaaaah…!” and disappears into the black murky water.
(DM’s note, the following events made up of one of the funniest sessions of D&D I have had in a while)
The party rolls for initiative, being surprised by seeing the gnome with a large long tongue wrapped around him, and a split second later disappear into the murky depths of the moat. The ranger reacts first, dropping his bow and taking off his backpack and quiver. The others rush up to the waters edge where they believe the gnome disappeared, and can’t seem to make up their minds what to do. Kedryn grabs a rope from his pack and secures it around himself. Noradun, seeing the knight tying the rope, grabs the other end, as if to hold on so the knight can go diving, but to the surprise of everyone, takes a jump into the moat. (He attempts to jump about 10’, but being in full plate armor, and not doing well with soft ground, plummets short into the water, and disappears.)
On the next turn, Thoren jumps into the water, and begins frantically searching for the gnome. With a splash, Jagden joins the now frothing ensemble in the moat. After many failed grapples on the slimy frog, and a few grapples of each other (“I’ve got it! I’ve got it! Ah crap it’s … it’s… you!” Player is holding another player’s character).
They finally get the frog, and extract Fistandum from its mouth, but not before he is already dead.
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of All Who Threaten it. |
Knowe Remorse
Tolling Bell Cultist
(2/22/04 11:42 pm)
Reply
|
Re: Knowe's campaign log
Session 1: 3/3 The dark shadow in the sky.
(DM’s note: I substituted Big U with a CR6 wyvern, and though I rolled and ruled it had spotted the activity below a couple rounds before, I decided a TPK was not the best way to start the first night of the adventure, and let them get out of the moat and gather themselves before the wyvern struck (from the sky).
The wyvern strikes fast. Swooping down out of the sky, with only Chatrilon and Fistandum’s familiar spotting the approaching shadow. Chatrilon dives into the moat, and the pseudo-dragon (now played by the player) screeches a warning. WHAM! The wyvern slams into Jagden, which stuns him and knocks him to the ground, and now stands over him.
On its next turn (The wyvern surprised the group and was on a high initiative…) it sticks Questinn with its tail, (Questinn fails his poison save, and loses 11 con) and attempts to stand on Jagden, who rolls and avoids being crushed. Noradun, takes a 5’ step back, and fires his crossbow, not realizing this creature has a 10’ reach, and receives a nasty bite in response, his own bolt bouncing harmlessly off the creatures tough hide. Questinn rages, and though staggering from poison, inflicts a great wound in the wyvern’s side.
Thoren, draws his bow, and begins pelting it with arrows from a safe distance away, the pseudodragon attempts to dazzle the wyvern with the spell flare, but fails. Kedryn, approaches cautiously and swings his longsword, and opens a wound in the creatures leg. Jagden recovers, and attempts to use his natural curse on the wyvern standing over him, but the creature resists.
The next round, the creature tries to bite and puncture Kedryn with its tail, but he brushes off the blow with his shield. Noradun, steps further back and begins reloading his crossbow, and Questinn again rips into the wyvern with his axe. Jagden, attempts to stand, and gets stuck with the creatures tail (also failing his save, and loses 9 constitution) Jagden sticks the wyvern with his sword, and at this point the battle starts turning. Chatrilon, seeing the battle being in the parties favor, climbs out of the moat and tosses a dagger at the wyvern, but can’t penetrate the hide.
The next round, the wyvern is dead, and the cleric is busy sucking out the poison in Jagden and Questinn, scoring above a 20 on both rolls, allowing the secondary damage to be reduced to 1d6 con damage rather than 2d6.
(DM’s note: I thought this encounter with the wyvern would be a little more believable for the party, I never use dragons, preferring them to be something truly awe-inspiring and absolutely feared, rather than trivialized. The Wyvern was very tough, considering a failed fort save results in 4d6 con damage (2d6 primary and 2d6 secondary) and I was certain that either Questinn or Jag would die from the poison if it couldn’t be sucked out or cured. The party had no cure poison potions, or any restorative cleric spells memorized, so it was definitely close).
The party finished up by searching the upstairs of the moathouse, looting the 2 bodies, and missed searching around in the room with the jelly long enough for it to attack. They found the stairs around area 13, but didn’t notice the secret door in the next room. (I think room 7?)
The party decides to head back to Hommlet, for a couple days of recuperation, and plans on dumping Chatrilon before their next return to the moathouse. (Can’t wait for them to tell him they won’t take him).
I’ve got a few ideas for the next session. I fully foresee the party foraging deeper into the moathouse, and Chatrilon knows this. There will be several days of R&R in Hommlet to recover lost constitution, and I’m wondering if this is a time for Chatrilon to gather some forces and try to wipe the party out (in town, at the inn, or out and about etc…) Any ideas? Or will Chatrilon warn Dunrat, and then warn the moathouse of the impending adventure group? The party has next to no knowledge of the cult, and haven’t portrayed themselves as anything other than a potential nuisance up to this point… but to the cultists, a nuisance can quickly become a threat.
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of All Who Threaten it. Edited by: Knowe Remorse at: 2/22/04 11:49 pm
|
Surfal2001
Tolling Bell Cultist
(2/23/04 6:09 am)
Reply
|
Re: Knowe's campaign log
The group might not be investigating the cult directly, but they are investigating the moathouse, and there's important cultist activity there that they could interfere with. Chat definitely needs to alert Dunrat.
However, if the groups just diddles around town for a few days, they'll likely miss the wagon. This might be a good thing, as they'll see the consequences of dilly-dallying early in the campaign; that's a lesson every group needs to learn. They could still catch up with the wagon, but at 4th level Dunrat and company will be a tough fight, so I'd give the group some opportunity for ambush.
If they do get back to the Moathouse within 72 hours, Dunrat will definitely have a surprise for them. He'd likely send Vacra or Gren to warn the clerics and reinforce them, and assign Chat to trail the party, intervening with a death attack if they engage the cultists in the moathouse.
|
 Infiniti2000
Brother of Venom
(2/23/04 9:42 am)
Reply
ezSupporter
|
Re: Knowe's campaign log
"...allowing the secondary damage to be reduced to 1d6 con damage rather than 2d6."
I'm not sure I follow this. If you make the save or heal check, you do not take the secondary damage at all.
"Any ideas? Or will Chatrilon warn Dunrat, and then warn the moathouse of the impending adventure group?"
Chat will definitely tell Dunrat, possibly through Maridosen, which the group might see or overhear. Dunrat should then order Chat to stall the PC's for an extra day so that the items will leave Hommlet. I'd then have Dunrat go with the items, taking Vacra with him (insert vile reasons), and leaving the rest to 'deal with the potential threat.' Dunrat will, of course, take his stalwart eye. If Chat cannot think of a way to stall them, they might get Jaroo to help by running up a big bar tab at the rowdy tavern. With Xaod there to say, "Oh yeah, I remember Noradin, he bought me lots of drinks, Thanks buddy!" It will make them deal with that for at least another day. This would give you a lot of room to maneuver, making any encounters as easy or as hard as you like. To make them easier, just assume that some of the cultists left with Dunrat. To make them harder, they stuck around to dispatch the threat. You could, in fact, clear out the moathouse from cultist and repopulate it with a few more gnolls. Now that the cultists are gone, Garrik is allowed to bring in his clan.
|
Knowe Remorse
Tolling Bell Cultist
(2/23/04 11:13 am)
Reply
|
Re: Knowe's campaign log
I didn't know about the heal check totally negating the secondary effects of the poison, haven't dealt with poison/heal checks in 3.5 at all. I will inform the PC's and restore his lost secondary con damage.
I like the idea of Jaroo, though he will probably have to do it at the welcome wench, where the PC's seem to want to stay. The only one of the players who stepped foot in the seedy bar is already dead.
The party will probably spend one day recovering, and will most definitely (unless stalled) leave the following day. It will be good for the party to miss a day, they havent explored much in town, they dont know about the potion shop or some other key areas, which will likely come up while they are waiting for spells to refresh. The extra day will allow more interaction with Elmo (other than the rough intro I gave them... "dont pull weapons in my town, no spell casting, yada yada").
Chat at this point doesnt know he's not welcome back in the party, but I'm sure he would have an idea, his performance with the group was less than decent. When the gnome got eaten and pulled into the moat, the party asked why he didnt help, he said there wasnt much he could do because he couldnt swim. When the Wyvern flew at the group, he jumped in the moat, and managed to get out and throw a single dagger at the beast when it looked like the group was winning.
I'm really going to start messing with them by having him demand his share of the treasure when they kick him out.
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of All Who Threaten it. |
Infiniti2000
Brother of Venom
(2/23/04 5:41 pm)
Reply
ezSupporter
|
Re: Knowe's campaign log
Actually, if you put yourself in Jaroo's shoes, he might run up the tab at the other place just because the party is always at the Welcome Wench. After all, he certainly doesn't want to appear at the same place as the person he's impersonating. Moreover, he should pick someone who's the most susceptible to detect thoughts and preferably with a secret. Then, sit in the bar and buy drinks for a lot of people, spilling the secret. This will provide a lot of evidence that that party member was there. Indeed, even his companions should start suspecting him, probably changing all their plans. With all the witnesses at the bar, it would cost less to pay off, say, a 50gp tab than to get Yether or even Y'Dey to verify his innocence (after all, the PC would have to pay for the zone of truth or whatever, as his own defense against 20 eye witnesses). As they leave for the moathouse, Elmo can stop them, "Hey, where d'ya think yer going without paying that huge tab?"
I love what your doing with Chat. I'm sure they already start hating him. Another thing that gets PC's blood boiling is when a tough NPC picks on a weak NPC. Dunno why. I bet if Chat starts really picking on Redithidoor (and I don't mean just yelling), the PC's will likely step in to help. This is especially true of Redithidoor begs to join, "Oh please let me come with you! Chat says I'm useless, let me prove him wrong, please?"
Just some ideas. I look forward to reading how it goes! 
|
Knowe Remorse
Tolling Bell Cultist
(2/23/04 6:21 pm)
Reply
|
Re: Knowe's campaign log
Heh, one of the players, Thoren, has been extremely paranoid and its going to be fun to play with him. He lays caltrops under his window in his room at nights, and he stores his custom built masterwork longbow (for strength) in the footlocker at the inn. Maridosen knows the bow is there, (he tipped her 5 gold to watch out for it) and Thoren has spoken with Jaroo, so he knows what he looks like.
Perhaps I should send in Jaroo to steal his bow by impersonating as Thoren, maybe running up a small tab at night when the party is asleep. Jaroo will even use the owner of the inn to retrieve the bow to reinforce the story that it isn't just a scam from a unfriendly barkeep.
I know they have been tethering their horses in the woods and walking into the moathouse to investigate, and Chat knows this since he was with them. I was thinking it would be a nice mean thing for Chat to bring someone with him.. maybe Grune or the low level cleric and have them steal the groups horses while Chat tails the party invisibly and waits for an opportunity to Death Attack a PC.
Rofl, the party is going to be pissed. They are already broke, I gave them 2000 gold apiece to buy equipment with, for some, the masterwork plate and a few standard items were all they could afford. So far they have recovered the items in the courtyard from the 2 dead cultists, and thats it. (heck, they even missed the small bag with gems on the thief corpse. They left the torn-up armor on the corpse, and I ruled the bag of gems was inside his tunic.
(Wrings his hands with glee) 
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of All Who Threaten it. |
Knowe Remorse
Staj
(3/6/04 5:04 am)
Reply
|
Re: Knowe's campaign log
Pretty fun session tonight. 1 party death, and was heading towards a TPK but some lucky rolls and some quick thinking from the party salvaged a really bad situation.
Session 2 (1/3) Into the darkness:
The party starts out at the moathouse, hoping to return to Hommlett with some wounded PC’s and NPC (Questinn) who suffer from Constitution loss from the Wyvern. They ride back into town and crash for the night, planning to purchase some clerical help in restoring the lost stats in the morning.
On the ride back, Chatrilon asks the party questions about who they are, about what kind of flying dragon-pet Ixalbalit is and whom he belongs to, and generally seems interested in the make-up and composition of the party. He cracks some jokes with them, and even apologizes for his lackluster combat skills at the last fight, promising them that indoors, there is no one better at scouting, and finding and disabling traps this side of Verbobonc.
(Last session the party was adamant about kicking Chat out of the group, but he was able sweet-talk his way back into their good graces and they allowed him to tag along again).
The party pays Yether at the temple of Pelor, and then seeks out Elmo to tell him of the Wyvern, perhaps to find out if some reward will be offered. Thoren meanwhile brings the Wyvern tail to Spugnoirs shop, to see if he can sell or make use of it, but finds that he is not in, and has been missing a couple days.
Later, the party meets up at the Welcome Wench, for an early lunch, and are glad to see Elmo walk in. (Chat, gets up and talks with Maridosen briefly at this point.) They chat with him briefly about the moathouse, and he tells them his sources tell him that it is picked clean of anything of value already, but wishes them well if they want to bother with it. They inform him of the Wyvern, and his eyebrows raise.
Eventually the Cannoness of Y’dey enters, looking for Elmo, perturbed that he hasn’t answered her summons. (Chat leaves the building quickly when she comes in). After a brief interlude, and a detect evil spell by the Cannoness, the party discusses their findings at the moathouse, the ochre robed body, and the symbol, along with the mace (that I had resonate evil, it emanated a conjuration/Darkness dweomer). The cannoness asks the party to come to her church for a more private discussion, and gives the party a detailed lesson of the cult history. The group ends up giving the Cannoness the symbol, and the mace (to be destroyed).
After some useful information sharing, and a powerful contact, the party departs, content and sell off some goodies for some badly needed cash. They tell Questinn and Chat to meet them at the Wench first thing in the morning, and head to bed.
(DM’s note, I was sad to see Thoren not store his bow or equipment in the storage locker, so I held off on Jaroo mimicking a PC to steal his stored possessions.)
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of All Who Threaten it. Edited by: Knowe Remorse at: 3/6/04 5:09 am
|
Knowe Remorse
Staj
(3/6/04 5:06 am)
Reply
|
Re: Knowe's campaign log
Session 2 (2/3)
The next morning, the party rises and heads out, minus Questinn who overslept. They hit the moathouse mid-morning, and head to the staircase. Despite great move silent and hide rolls by Thoren, the gnolls in area 18 are tipped off by the impatient chatter from the rest of the party. One howls a warning, while another runs to area 24 to warn Gren so she can rouse the skeletons.
The party decides after a few rounds that losing initiative and surprise is not a good thing, and decends into the darkness. After a brief discussion, the lantern is passed to Chatrilon since it appears fighting is not his forte. (hahaha, Chatrilon has been studying the cleric at this point.)
As the party decends, the remaining gnoll attempts to hit the first person down (Kedryn) but is quickly slain by a critical blow. The party filters down to the lower area without further ado. As the party nears area 21 (the ghouls and ghast) emerge from behind the pillars screaming “Flesh! Flesh! Eatses fresh fleshhhhhhhhh!” Kedryn and Jagden and Thoren move near the door in area 23 and engage the ghouls, and Ixalbalit attempts to fly overhead and scout further into room 21.
Noradun, followed by Chatrilon, advance further, Chatrilon carefully depositing the lantern close to the stairs. Noradun begins to call upon the powers of Moradin to be rid of the foul undead, causing 2 to flee. 1 Ghoul dies in the resulting AoO's. Raising his hands in celebration and giving a good cheer, Noradun suddenly feels a sharp pain in his in his upper back, and in shock see’s a pointy object protruding from the front of his chest. He gives one look of shock, gasps and dies, failing to make his Fortitude save against Chat’s death attack.
The remaining ghoul and ghast react better this time, paralyzing Thoren and getting some good hits on Jagden who fortunately makes his save. Kedryn, leaves the battle with the ghast, and shrugs off the AoO and slams into Chatrilon, wounding him deeply. Jagden curses Chatrilon with his supernatural ability, and battles with the ghast, delivering some good hits.
Ixalbalit fly’s over towards Chat, and attempts to cast dazzle on him, but his HD are too high and he resists the spell.
(DM’s note: at this point, things are looking rather grim for this party, and Chatrilon only wants to make it worse).
Chatrilon takes a 5 foot step away from Kedryn and Ixalbalit, draws his wand of invisibility, and disappears. On his turn, Kedryn swings at the spot where Chatrilon disappeared, and connects, using his blind-fighting skills to score another solid hit.
The ghast begins tearing into Jagden, who makes another save against paralysis, and the other ghoul begins pulling the helpless Thoren towards room 22, eating an AoO from Jagden in the process.
On his turn, Chatrilon, invisible and hurt, kicks over the lamp, knocking the fray into complete and utter darkness. (DM’s note, Jagden, Kedryn and Thoren are totally blind in darkness, and the dwarven cleric is dead. This could become really bad).
Ixalbalit reacts by casting light, saving the humans from a certain horrible death. Kedryn swings wildly around the area where he thinks Chatrilon may be, but can’t locate him. Thoren, awakes to a ghoul pulling him into the darkness, and stands up, and flee’s back to Jagden, being narrowly missed by the ghoul’s AoO.
Jagden fails a fort save against the ghast, and drops. Chatrilon who was planning on escape, reconsiders and carefully heads towards Jagden, hoping to pull off a CdG. Ixalbalit spots Jag’s chain coif being moved (he couldn’t move and CdG in the same round, so I had him remove the coif to slit his throat the next turn) and screams a warning telepathically to anyone in 60’. Kedryn, reacting, bullrushes over to Jag, forcing the invisible Chatrilon to dart out of the way and stop his action. Thoren, finishes off the last ghoul, and Kedryn makes his save as the Ghast bites him.
Chatrilon, decides that discretion is the better part of valor, and flees into area 24. The party finishes off the remaining ghast, and collects the body of Noradun and beats a hasty retreat out of the moathouse.
Dumping the dwarf’s body onto his pony, they ride out (with Chat’s horse and saddle bags) and high tail it back to town.
(DM’s note, I was merciful to the party somewhat, after Gren failed to bolster the skeletons in area 25 twice while the combat was going on, I elected to not have her send in the undead, sparing the party of facing a certain TPK or near TPK. Shhhh my party still thinks I’m evil).
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of All Who Threaten it. Edited by: Knowe Remorse at: 3/6/04 5:16 am
|
Knowe Remorse
Staj
(3/6/04 5:07 am)
Reply
|
Re: Knowe's campaign log
Session 2 (3/3)
The party has a few problems at this point. They have virtually no cash, and a dead cleric. They do some smoothtalking to Y’dey, who raises Noraden for future payment, cutting them a deal at 2500 gp. (They gave her the evil mace to destroy, so I had her compensate this in GP.)
The party tells Elmo about Chatrilon, and the undead and gnolls, and he seems perplexed that there is any activity in the moathouse at all. (I have told the party multiple times that Elmo insists the MH is free of any activity, because his trusted friend Jaroo has checked it out for him many times.
The party is freaked out about Chatrilon, and are paranoid about his wand of invisibility, so they head to the millers to buy some bags of flour. There they meet with Grune, who basically tells them to get lost, but eventually sells them a large bag to get them away.
The next day, the party returns to the MH, and engages Gren, the gnolls and the boosted Skeletons in room 24. The gnolls warn Gren as the party decends the stairs, and retreat to the safety of her room. Noradun blesses, and divine protections the group, and Jagden casts shield on himself. Kedryn kicks open the door to room 24, and is quickly beset upon by Grens bolstered skeletons. Noradun attempts to turn, but cannot beat the resistance given by Gren. Gren meanwhile, (I gave her a scroll of silence) attempts to silence this new threat, but Noradun makes his save. As the party attempts to push their way through the doorway, through the skeletons, the ghoul takes this opportunity to say hello, striking at the rear of the party as they stand in room 23, waiting for a chance to pour into room 24 (it became a bottle-neck and choke-point.) Thoren makes his save’s against the paralysis this time, and kills the ghoul quickly, while Noradun successfully turns a couple skeletons, making an opening and Kedryn and Jagden charge into the room, ignoring the AoO’s to make room for the others.
Gren meanwhile, sensing a opportunity to escape, picks up the white blanket with the artifacts and opens the secret door, preparing to run towards the other clerics in area 30.
Noradun successfully turns another bolstered skeleton, and Kedryn engages the Ogre-skeleton, while Jagden rushes up to Gren, critically hitting her for 28 points damage! (DM’s note: I use alternate rules for players and NPC’s when a character reaches 0 hp, they become exhausted, and begin losing -1 hp per round under any semi-strenuous activity. They are allowed ½ movement, and either a standard or move action but not both. (Undead do not get this, but I give them max HP’s) A character or NPC is unconscious at -10 hp and dies when they reach their negative constitution score.
Anyway, the blow to Gren kocked her to the ground, and she surrendered, being nearly knocked unconscious from that blow. Ixalabalit flew in, and put her to sleep with his tail. (The one point of damage also knocked her unconscious, and bleeding to death) The LG cleric Noradun didn’t hear this plea to surrender, and Jagden stuck her with his sword on his next turn. (Vicious players, hah, I was almost dreading them getting too much information out of this prisoner.)
The party struggles with the ogre skeleton for a while, but eventually destroy him just as 2 gnolls from area 27 come by trying to draw the party near the porticullis and cut them off. Ixalbalit puts one to sleep with his poison, and Kedryn cuts the other down before he can flee to his friends (drat). Out of spells, and still being hurt, they quickly loot the artifacts and Gren’s body, taking her armor and backpack.
We ended the session with the party heading upstairs, debating on high-tailing it back to town or to stay the night near the MH.
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of All Who Threaten it. |
|
Okay -- Your Turn
Email This To a Friend
Topic Commands
Click to receive email notification of replies 
Click to stop receiving email notification of replies