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ieri
Staj
(3/25/04 8:11 pm)
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Ieri's RttToEE Campaign Log
If you're interested in what has come before, see this thread <warning, Sunless Citadel spoilers>
pub247.ezboard.com/fokayy...3483.topic
Cast of characters:
Leon Grey, LG Human, Paladin 5 of Pelor
Kale Welm, CN Half-Elf, Ranger 5 of Ehlonna
Jack, N Human Wizard 4 of Wee Jas
Vash, CN Half-orc Barbarian 4 - no stated diety
Diedrich Cohen, LG Human Cleric 4 of Pelor
So, without further ado, the story...
Edited by: ieri at: 3/26/04 3:50 am
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ieri
Staj
(3/25/04 8:13 pm)
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Session 7
After dealing with Belak and the Gulthias tree, our band of adventurers found themselves back in Verbobonc. It was pleasant for Kale, Jack and Leon, seeing the town they call home, though to Vash it was just another city. But, they could not stay long. There were too many loose ends, and it seemed Hommlet was the place to tie them up.
As they were leaving for Hommlet, they met with a caravan heading their direction. It seems their ship had been lost, and they were forced to travel overland to Stonehelm. Their trail would take them relatively near Hommlet, though they were not planning to stop there. After a bit of discussion, it was decided that they would travel together. The caravan master offered food and company for what part of the journey they shared, in exchange for whatever protection the four adventurers could provide.
The caravan was well defended, and as is usually the case when you look strong, nothing bothered them. Leon, Kale, Jack and Vash parted ways with the caravan in the early evening, and arrived in Hommlet at a late hour.
They headed straight into town, and found temples to the dieties of both Kale and Leon. First they visited the church of Pelor, where an alcolyte by the name of Nerris greeted them. After showing him the letter they found on Belak, and learning he did not recognize the strange triangular symbol, Nerris bid them return in the morning (an hour after sunrise) to speak with Yether about the matter. The one bit of information they did gain was when they mentioned where they found the letter. Nerris suggested they speak to Jaroo, a name they recognized from Belak's ramblings about the druidic circle. They decided it wise to seek Jaroo out as soon as possible.
Their conversation with Jennithar Rhengold, the half-elf cleric of Ehlonna, was similarly uninformative. But, she did strongly urge Kale to attend her next service, and he left with the impression that she was somehow attracted to him (an impression none of his comrades believed to be true).
They travelled further through town, and finally ended up at the Inn of the Welcome Wench. There, they spoke with the barmaid, Maridosen, with a drunken servant of Pelor who called himself Xaod the Slayer, and with an unsavory character by the name of Chatrillion. <Chat saw them speaking with Maridosen, listened in, then snuck out and used his scroll of undetectable alignment. Leon, always predictable, detected evil on him when he approached them... and found he wasn't evil> It seemed everyone else had already turned in for the night. After much conversation, which included showing the symbol on the letter to Maridosen - she said it reminded her of a family crest she had seen in Furondy - they sought out Jaroo.
Upon telling their tale to Jaroo, he was both surprised and relieved. Surprised that Belak had, until recently, still lived, and relieved that this situation had been resolved. Jaroo explained that he had led the movement within the druid circle that resulted in Belak being outcast. And the V. on the letter no doubt referred to an old ally of Belak by the name of Victor. Victor had conspired with Belak to kill Jaroo, but himself was killed by Jaroo's bear companion. Jaroo believed the letter to be one written many years ago by Victor, in reference to their plan to take Jaroo's life.
They thought all these things over as they rested for the night at the Welcome Wench. The next morning, as they broke fast, Leon was approached by a young girl. She said her name was Renne, and her father, Spugnoir, was missing. She knew he liked to poke around the old moathouse, and believed something had befallen him there.
Chatrillion, who had already spoken to them of the dangers of the ruins of the old Temple of Elemental Evil (there was a band of hobgoblins living there) called the girl foolish, and said that if he was lost anywhere, it would be at that ruined temple. He had been to the moathouse himself a week ago, and there was no danger there. After much discussion, they decided to check out the moathouse first (as it was closer to town), and if they found nothing, move on to the ruins. Chatrillion offered to join them, asking only for an equal share of the loot. In the end, he accepted a half share, and Leon sacrificed half of his own share, deciding any help in finding this poor girl's father was worth more than whatever treasure he may find.
They went back to the temple of Pelor, and showed the letter to Yether the Keen, but not until after Yether had thoroughly embarassed Leon, calling him "little Lee-lee." Until a few years ago, Yether had served at the temple to Pelor in Verbobonc, where Leon grew up. Lee-lee was Yether's nickname for Leon as a child. <the rest of the party had a blast with that one... and I'm sure will continue to tease him>
The letter disturbed Yether, or rather, the symbol on it did. He identified it as the symbol used by the cult of elemental evil. Then he sent for someone else who was staying at the temple, a cleric by the name of Diedrich Cohen. Diedrich was passing through the area a week ago, and told the tale of some people on the road east of town. They wore ochre-colored robes and had a disturbing presence. The robes, like the triangle symbol, were associated with the old cult. Yether thought it unlikely that they were actually members of that cult, which was destroyed many years ago - more likely they were some small cult trying to gain followers through the infamy of the famous evil of Emridy Meadows. Still, he asked that, should they go to the moathouse, they report back to him and to Elmo, the captain of the guard. Diedrich decided to join them... he had felt like Pelor had led him to Hommlet, and now he believed he knew why.
So the six of them set out. Along the path they met a crazed trapper who was known to Chatrillion as Ol' Del. He told a story of strange people around the moathouse, a dragon living in the moathouse, and offered, many times, to sell them pelts. They dismissed him as the senile old man he seemed, and continued on. Other than a short encounter with a giant frog, the rest of their journey to the moathouse was uneventful.
When they arrived, they found Ol' Del's stories were not as far fetched as they seemed. They fought off a young blue dragon, but only after being seriously wounded. The dragon flew away before they could finish it, so they decided to rest in the ruins of what was once a lookout tower. Chatrillion offered to take a watch, but Diedrich would not trust him, and that lack of trust saved their lives. While Kale was on watch, Chat woke. Kale noticed his eyes open, and the two spoke. Chat claimed to hear something, and asked Kale to go with him to check what it was. Kale, trusting his ears more than his companion, agreed, but on his way out, nudged Jack awake. Once Chat realized others were waking, he attacked. But in close quarters, with no room to maneuver and no element of surprise, he was quickly dispatched. <I goofed. I completely forgot about the wand, or I would've played that entirely differently>
After taking Chat's belongings, they finished resting and then headed further into the moathouse. Soon they found stairs down. Leon led the way, and was jumped by two gnolls. However, he quickly drew his mace and slew them both. The group headed down a hall nearby (ignoring the two doors off of the chamber they had entered) and encountered three undead creatures. Diedrich called on the power granted him by the Sun God, obliterating three of them by channeling the bright might of Pelor. The fourth was dispatched with little trouble.
They travelled further into the dungeon, encountering a cleric and three skeletons. These they also killed, taking the artifacts she was guarding. Then Kale found a secret door in the corner of the room. The followed it deeper below ground. After fighting six more gnolls, they tried to open another door only to learn it was a decoy, and that a portcullis had fallen, blocking the passage they had taken down. Now, they had no choice but to press on.
While they were examining the room with the fake door, Vash decided to see what was down another passage. He found an iron box, locked, and a few beds, along with some bags full of worthless personal belongings. He dumped the contents of the bags, and kept the bags themselves. Then he attempted to open the chest. When he found it locked, he tried to break it open with his orcish double axe. Then tried throwing it against the wall. Finally, he gave up and took it back to Jack, in hopes his magic could open it. All of this, of course, alerted the Gnoll Garrik, who, as soon as Vash left, ran off to warn the clerics.
Jack was also unable to open the chest, but the five pushed on. Kale noticed the tracks left by Garrik. They followed the tracks and were ambushed by a ghast. After defeating it, Kale, Diedrich and Jack thought it wise to find a safe place to rest. But Leon wanted to see what was down the hall the ghast had come from, and Vash wanted to see what was in a side passage. While Jack, Kale and Diedrich headed back to the room where Vash found the iron chest, Vash and Leon each headed in their own directions... though Vash moved very cautiously. Soon, Leon was ambushed by a human, a troglodyte and a gnoll. He fought a slowly moving battle down a narrow corridor, backing himself towards his comrades.
Alerted by the sounds of combat, Vash came back down the side passage, meeting Leon and his foes. Garrik, the Gnoll, faced off against Vash, while the troglodyte lead off against Leon, with the human behind. Garrik and Vash fought a pitched battle, back down the tunnel Vash had began to explore. It looked bad for Vash, as he was near death and had not yet struck his foe, when Leon, with the aid of some spells from Jack and a timely heat metal from Diedrich, finally felled the troglodyte. The human was quickly dispatched once he had no allies to hide behind, and Vash's comrades ran to his aid, defeating Garrik before he could finish Vash off.
Then they decided it was time to rest. <If anyone's keeping score, the only enemies left are the ghouls in the tomb area, which Vash nearly stumbled upon before he turned back to help Leon... but they wouldn't wander too far from their home, so there's nothing to disturb the party's rest> They made camp in the room where the six gnolls had been staying, and slept the night undisturbed.
Then they decided to bow to Vash's curiosity and explore the passage he had started up. They encountered more undead in what looked to be some sort of tomb, but these creatures were no real challenge for them. Kale began searching the area, and eventually found a hidden passage. It was a 3 foot high round tunnel. He wiggled his way up, and Leon followed (though he was told not to). They found themselves back in the room where they first encountered undead - and now they had a way past that portcullis.
Since they were there, they decided to check the two rooms they had left behind. In one, they found Spugnoir. Spugnoir explained that he was a wizard, but his spells were nearly spent (and he didn't have his spell book with him) because he had attempted to fight the dragon (which arrived after he was already in the moathouse). He could not defeat it, and was forced to flee down here, where he had been hiding from the Gnolls and cultists ever since. Once they explained the dragon wasn't dead, Kale and Leon decided that Spugnoir should join them until they were all ready to head back up. The three began crawling back down the tunnel...
And there we leave them. Their objective is complete - they have found Spugnoir, but now their curiosity is aroused, and they are not likely to leave until it is quenched.
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PerfectParabola7
Human
(3/27/04 11:45 pm)
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Re: Session 7
I enjoyed that. I will look forward to more updates.
My Realm
Ramblings of a Sleepwalking Man |
ieri
Staj
(3/28/04 2:25 pm)
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Session 8A
This session went from 5:30 PM to 5:00 AM. And besides that, it was a VERY active session. So, I'm splitting the summary into two halves. Here's the first half:
Now things get interesting...
After travelling back down, and making introductions, Spugnoir asked if he could borrow Jack's spellbook. Jack reluctantly agreed, and Spugnoir prepared himself as best he could, though he was force to rely completely on mage armor, magic missile and flaming sphere, as these were the only useful spells they had in common. They all decided to rest while Spugnoir poured over the book, and after a good many hours, they pressed on. They explored the rough passage heading out of the crypt. It led to a very confusion set of passages that double back on themselves often, but the walls were soft earth, so Spugnoir used his dagger to carve arrows as they passed, making it easy for them to avoid getting lost. Eventually, they found an opening into a large chamber.
Within the chamber was a dark altar and a four sided pillar. On each side of the pillar was carved the image of a man - each one radically different from the next. Each was a different color as well, and Diedrich theorized that, based on the history of this Moathouse, it was some kind of shrine to the elements - each side portraying a different element. Kale began to search the altar, but when he touched it the altar began to change color. Soon it was translucent, with a cloudy center. Kale reached out and touched it again, but upon touching it he had a very uneasy feeling, and decided it was best to leave it alone.
Then, Kale examined the statue. On one side he found a secret compartment which held a drum, the top of which seemed to be made of skin, possibly from a humanoid. As soon as he found this, Diedrich, Vash and Jack each searched another side of the statue. Diedrich found a set of silver chimes. Jack found another small black sphere which he recognized as a bead of force. Vash was still examining his side when Kale came over, looked at it closely, and reached past Vash to push on a concealed button. This released the secret compartment, from which Vash pulled a brass brazier and some incense.
Vash began playing the chimes, and Kale tried to play the drum, assuming they'd have some effect here. When nothing happened, they decided it was time to go back to the hole they had found.
Outside the hole they found a small statue that was a miniature replica of the four sided pillar. Kale checked it for any hidden compartments, but there were none. They discussed the obvious at length, as usual. By that I mean they debated for a long time how best to use the platform - on which they could all fit at once, and which had an obvious method for lowering it - to reach the bottom together. Eventually, they decided to all ride it down, with Leon manning the rope.
As they descended just over 60 feet to a large, convex surface. It was black, with purple veins running through it. Water was pouring down from an opening above and striking this surface. However, the edges did not come close to meeting the walls of this cavern, and the water ran off the side and down to an unknown depth. At the edge of the black surface there was another platform on another rope and pully system.
Again they began discussing what to do next, so Diedrich simply stepped off onto this black surface. Immediately the purple veins began to writhe and move towards his feet. Diedrich jumped back onto the platform. Kale attempted to detect if there was any evil below him, and found himself somewhat dazed by the strong aura directly below. It was too overwhelming for him to concentrate on, so he had only a vague impression of something very evil below them.
At this point some of the brave adventurers began to discuss turning back. Leon was quite determined to avoid this place, but Diedrich was set on moving further. Diedrich called Leon a coward, unfit for the paladinhood their god had bestowed on him, if he was unwilling to face and vanquish whatever evil he could sense below them. Leon said he too was afraid of this place, and had jumped back on the platform as soon as the purple veins began to move. So, Diedrich stepped back off the platform, and stood resolute when the tentacles again moved towards him. Leon threw a rope around his friend, so that he could pull him back if something fell were to happen. It was a good thing that he did, for Diedrich collapsed, so much of his strength was drained from him that he could not hold up the weight of the armor he wore. Leon pulled him back onto the platform and helped him out of the armor. When Spugnoir's opinion was asked, he said that there seemed to be nothing to fear, as they could easily jog to the other platform in much less time than it took those purple veins to drain Diedrich's strength. When others doubted this, Spugnoir proved it by jogging there and back. At that, they finally decided (reluctantly in some cases) to move on.
Again Leon manned the rope. But as they began to descend, a tentacle reached out for him. Though his mobility was limited by the needs of keeping a firm grip on the only thing between them and a long fall to their deaths, Leon managed to avoid this first strike from a creature that was descending upon them. Soon, a full ten tentacles were striking amongst them, and wounds were severe. Diedrich went limp, paralyzed by some unnatural power in this creature's tentacles. Spugnoir and Jack each protected themselves with mage armor, while Leon called upon Pelor to protect him from evil. Kale, got off one shot with his bow before the creature was close enough to strike with sword and dagger. Things looked bad, for their foe was hard to hit, and Leon, the strongest arm amongst them, was unable to lend his mace to the fray. Vash and Kale tried to swing past the tentacles at the large mass that was this thing's body, while Jack hurled two magic missiles at it. Then, Spugnoir cast magic missile, and everyone gasped in amazement as not two, not even three, but four missiles flew from his fingertips. Obviously, they had underestimated the man they came to rescue. It took only a few more swings to fell the beast.
They reached the bottom to discover the black surface above was the top of a VERY high obelisk. The obelisk came to a point, which seemed to rest on a small pillar of stone, impossibly balanced. On the floor were two symbols. And inverted ziggurat, much like the one they had found around the neck of one of the cultists they had killed earlier, and a black sun, which looked to Leon and Diedrich like nothing so much as a vile corruption of the symbol of Pelor. In one corner there was a pool, collecting water that fell from above. Their usual level of teamwork shown forth, as each began to investigate something different.
Diedrich examined the inverted ziggurat. While when he stood upon it, he felt uneasy, there seemed to be nothing else notable about the symbol, so he moved on. Spugnoir waited on the platform, taking his lead from his would be saviors. He made it clear that he would follow them, because by himself he could not defeat the dragon that they all believed waited above, since they did not slay it.
Vash examined the stone pillar. When he got closer, he saw that the obelisk did not actually touch the pillar. There was a very small gap between the two. He reached out to swing his hand between the two, and just before it reached the point that they nearly met, he found himself elsewhere.
Everyone else saw him swing his arm and disappear.
Vash was in a circular room which seemed to be made of the same black stone with purple veins that the obelisk was constructed of. He heard a low hollow voice booming, "Seek the heart of each of the four moons. Together, they can sunder the walls of my prison. For now, eat of my fruit and be blessed." At that, a lustrous black fruit appeared in his hands. Without hesitation, Vash bit into the fruit, just as he reappeared beside the pillar. Only a few moments had passed, but his companions had gathered around the spot he had disappeared from.
The fruit was sweet, with an odd yet pleasant flavor. And as he ate it, he felt a new strength flow through his body. He told the others, and Jack pulled out the torch they had found earlier. Able to reveal hidden things related to the dark god, he thought it may reveal something here. Once he began burning one of the incense cones in it, he saw a purple gem between the top of the pillar and the bottom of the obelisk. Jack touched the gem, and went through the same thing that had happened to Diedrich, though when he was transported, the torch was left behind. When Jack ate his fruit, he felt more aware of all matter of things <increased wisdom>. Soon, everyone but Leon had touched the gem and eaten a fruit. Spugnoir grew stronger. Kale and Diedrich each felt their minds sharpen.
Leon refused to eat the fruit. It's source was obviously evil, tied to some dark god, and he would not taint himself with it. But Diedrich was lulled by it's power. This marked the beginning of something for Diedrich that would soon lead to a great loss for him.
Vash decided that if one fruit made him stronger, two would be even more beneficial. So he touched the gem again. Again he disappeared, heard the same words from the same voice, and had another fruit. But when he ate this one, it tasted much different. Bitter and unnatural, it seemed to drain his natural dexterity.
The others learned from Vash's mistake, and did not eat another fruit. But, Kale still touched the gem again. He wanted fruit not for himself, but for Wookie. Wookie, trusting his master, bit into the fruit. But he did not gain power as the others had, instead he grew weaker. Still, Kale was not willing to give up so easily, so he tried a second time to feed Wookie. This time, Wookie became slower, much as Vash had after biting into a second fruit.
Finally, they decided to explore the rest of this cavern. Leon refused to participate. There seemed to be no foe to vanquish here, only the artifacts of an evil diety - things better left alone. Unable to sway his companions' curiosity, he returned to the platform, sat down, and waited for them.
Vash went to explore the dark sun. Even looking on it left him with an uneasy feeling, but as he stood on it it seemed as if some force was tearing at his very sanity - with some success. For once he realized discretion was the better part of valor, and moved on.
Kale and Diedrich examined the archway. Beyond it was a wall of solid blackness. Kale began to search it, looking for any hidden compartment or doorway. But as soon as he touched it, a tentacle reached out of the black wall and lashed at him. Soon, another of those strange tentacled creatures came through this solid wall and attacked. Leon realized he was too far off to aid his companions... by the time he traversed the distance they would likely be dead. So he drew his bow, firing as he ran. But, Leon is much more skilled with his mace than his bow, and his arrows struck far from their mark.
Spugnoir and Jack, however, didn't mind the distance at all as they hurled magic missiles at the creature. A tentacle paralyzed Diedrich again, and soon the creature ripped him apart, leaving only a lifeless husk. Kale felt panic overtake him, as the full might of this beast fell upon him. But, between his swords and the damage done to this beast by Jack and Spugnoir, he managed to fell it. The price of curiosity was high. Diedrich was dead, but the price he paid was not the highest that would be paid this day. Kale took Diedrich's corpse and bundled it into the bag of holding, removing the only thing that it was carrying - their money (and thus was born the term, bodybag of holding).
Vash approached the pool. I do not know what compelled him. Surely it was not thirst, for they had ample water (in fact, Kale still carried an everful waterskin), but whatever the reason, Vash filled his hands with that water, then he drank. <I made the player make a fort save when he touched the water - which he passed. Then I asked him if he still wanted to drink it. But, he said yes.>
His body was racked with pain as the water went down his throat. He felt weak, and seemed visably smaller, though he was no shorter. This was the last straw for Vash, and all of his companions, so they turned to go.
However, before he could take a step, he heard the end of a chant from the shadows, and was frozed by some magic. Both Leon and Kale rushed to his friend's aid, shooting arrows as they ran. Jack and Spugnoir each summoned a flaming sphere to strike this newly revealed foe. Their enemy was a lone human. It took only moments to strike this man down. But before they did, he cast another dark magic, this time upon Kale, and Kale found himself befuddled, not able to tell friend from foe. One of his arrows pierced the skin of Vash, but even in his weakened state, his friend did not die. As quickly as it had begun, the effect ended, both on Kale and Vash. Vash was a bit angry at his friend, but assumed that it was a mistake. It was not the first time an arrow had struck other than its intended target.
They searched the corpse of this foe and found a note. It read, "The Water Temple will soon make its move against the forces of Fire. Return quickly, Festrath, for we need your aid. Together, we shall win the favor of the doomdreamers and the Triad itself."
With this information, the began the long ascent upon the platforms. But as the neared the top, Vash was racked with pain yet again <I delayed the secondary effect of the water, a bit of dues ex machina to make it a much more exciting fight. And THEY didn't know how long the water should take to have full effect>. He became even more gaunt, and his armor fell off of his sunken skin. He dropped the double-axe that he almost always had at the ready, and struck at Leon. It took a moment for his companions to realize their friend had been transformed into a creature much like the ghouls and ghasts they had fought in the crypt and elsewhere in this dungeon.
Though it pained them to do so, they soon destroyed the creature that had once been their friend and ally. His body was corrupted, and they could tell he was beyond any power they could call on, so they stripped the corpse of any belongings and dumped it off the side of the platform.
When they reached the top again, they returned to the place they had rested before, and spent time recuperating. Everyone felt spent after all that had happened in that evil place. Finally, the time had come to face the dragon. Kale scouted ahead.
The dragon was nowhere to be seen. But Kale heard voices. Apparently someone was meeting here, and they were late. Kale went back below to report. They decided to stay holed up, and hope the meeting would end and whoever it was would leave without coming into the dungeon. After about an hour's time, Kale went aboveground again. This time there was someone in the outer courtyard, examining the bodies that had been left there. He heard them say that Chatrillion was dead, and it was obvious they knew who must be responsible. Kale quickly returned to his companions, and they set up an ambush at the bottom of the stairs - much as the gnolls had when Leon first stepped down into this dark place.
Leon and Kale stood on either side of the stairway. Spugnoir stood behind Kale and Jack stood behind Leon, ready to strike with their magics as Leon and Kale struck with their weapons. Wookie was standing next to Kale, safe, but ready to assist if Kale was forced to fall back.
Someone stumbled down the stairs... it was Chatrillion! Or rather, it had once been Chatrillion. Apparently their foes had no qualms about using their own friends' corpses. Three zombies were trundling down the stairs towards them. It took almost no effort for Leon and Kale to destroy the zombie of Chatrillion, and they likely would have made equally short work of the other two, if something else hadn't done that for them.
A small, black sphere flew down the stairwell, and exploded. It was another bead of force, and all of our heroes were within ten feet of the point of impact. Luckily, it was not powerful enough to kill any of them, but Jack was imprisoned in the sphere, and both the remaining zombies were obliterated. Then their true foe began to come down.
The first down the steps was a human, who took the full brunt of the four magic missiles Spugnoir had prepared to cast. They were enough to kill him outright.
Then a half-orc and a human woman ran down, the woman they recognized as Maridosen, the half-elf bartender at the Welcome Wench. As they were fighting these two, another woman appeared, floating in midair above and behind Spugnoir. She struck him with magic missiles, and nearly killed the already wounded wizard. But, Kale took him down with one well-placed arrow. Then one other enemy appeared. A human, who cast a spell upon Kale, convincing him that he was a friend and Leon was his enemy. But Leon managed to finish this last enemy off before Kale, in his befuddled state, could do much damage.
After examining and looting the bodies of their foes, they left the moathouse, to see a wagon disappearing into the distance.
There was no thought of following it - they were weak, and had a dead comrade to see to. They returned to Hommlet.
-Ieri
I have to go to church now, I'll try to post the second half tomorrow.
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ieri
Staj
(3/29/04 9:33 am)
Reply
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Session 8B
Upon arriving in Homlett, they pulled their money and went to visit Jaroo. Kale handed him a bag containing 1000 gold, and asked if he could possibly use this money to have Diedrich reincarnated. Jaroo told them he would be happy to help, but he would have to collect the necessary spell components first. It would take him two days to visit another member of the druidic circle and gather everything he needed. So, they left Diedrich's body with him, and went to speak to Yether at the church of Pelor.
After explaining what had happened, and what had been done with Diedrich's body, Yether looked at the note. After a moment, an expression of shock crossed his face, and he turned to Leon. "Have you acted on this yet? Karlun and his wife may be in danger." Leon, Kale and Jack all seemed confused, until they reread the note and finally noticed the reference to the mill. They headed there immediately, while Yether sent Nerris to alert Elmo.
They arrived to find the millhouse deserted. Kale noticed the cellar door and headed down into an unlit room. Once light was shed on it, they found two bodies, those of the mill's owner and his wife. Otherwise, the entire place was empty. However, when they took the bodies out of the cellar, a small, bloodstained note was buried under one of them. It was from someone named Naquent to one Master Dunrat, and outlined Dunrat's mission: to set up a secret base in Hommlet and uncover the ancient shrine in the moathouse. He was then to collect whatever treasures he could from this shrine, seal it again, and bring the objects back to a place called the Temple of All Consumption. The end of the message read, "A wagon can be obtained from Tal Chammish in the nearby village of Rastor to haul whatever you find back to the crater."
It was decided that they should head to Rastor, as soon as Jaroo brought Diedrich back to them. Kale went to visit the Temple to Ehlonna, mostly to make (unsuccessful) passes at Jennithar Rhengold. After his futile attempts (which he believes went well), Kale went back to the Welcome Wench and got thoroughly drunk - figuring it was his last chance to do so for quite a while.
The next morning a still inebriated Kale (who stayed up the whole night in the taproom) was met by Jack and Leon for breakfast. While they were eating, a halfling walked in and introduced himself as Diedrich. Kale astutely commented that he was shorter, and asked him, if he really was Diedrich, how Vash died. Diedrich's response was something along the lines of "Vash died?" Of course, Diedrich died first, so he was unaware of what happened since.
After they were convined of Diedrich's identity, they filled him in on what happened after his death. Diedirch explained that he had finally abandoned Pelor - for any god who would let him die in such a terrible place was no god at all, in his eyes. Though Leon, at least, was sure the situation was more of the reverse - after how Diedrich had been acting of late, it was likely Pelor abandoned him. Then they all headed to Verbobonc to resupply before heading to Rastor.
In Verbobonc, they sold what loot they felt ready to part with, including the jewel encrusted scepter they had found in the moathouse - which fetched quite a high price, and purchased new full plate and a heavy mace for Diedrich, since none of his old equipment fit him any longer. And Kale went to visit his sister, Marie, who was a member of the militia. He learned that she had finished her tour (she had worked as a sort of soldier/spy), and he invited her to join. Thus, the five of them set out for Rastor.
While they were on the road, Kale and Marie both spotted some hobgoblins in the distance. Their foes, realizing they were seen, abandoned their hidden positions and charged, as one of them yelled out in Goblin "They're the ones. Get them!"
In all there were well over 30 hobgoblins. Kale called on Ehlonna to use the very grasses of the fields to entangle their enemies, slowing or stopping the charge of the majority of their enemies. Leon called on Pelor for aid, and a mighty warhorse appeared alongside him. Meanwhile, everyone was drawing bow or crossbow to try to do as much damage as they could before they were fully engaged.
The battle was going fairly well, a few of their foes had already fallen, and no one had taken major damage, when they spotted a blue form high in the sky. Out of nowhere the dragon they had fought at the moathouse swooped down, striking Kale, Wookie, Leon and his warhorse with a bolt of lightning from it's gaping maw.
This is where things started to get bad. Wookie lost consciousness from the blast, and the warhorse was badly wounded. Kale and Leon were also hurt, but still had strength to go on. In the ensuing moments, Kale fell, and Leon sent his warhorse back to the astral plane from whence it came, not wanting it to fall in battle. Then he took the wand from Kale's belt and used it to cure his wounds. (by this point he had already used all the healing power Pelor granted him this day)
While this was happening, a large hobgoblin bore down on Jack, then another, who had disappeared at the start of battle reappeared directly behind Jack. Jack grabbed his wand of invisibility and beat a hasty retreat. These two, seeing their quarry disappear, turned on Marie, who was also forced to withdraw. Luckily, their attention then turned to Diedrich, who was much more prepared for their onslaught.
Meanwhile, the dragon attacked Leon with claw and tooth, but Leon escaped with only minor scratches. Then, everyone stepped back as Kale, restored to minimal health by Leon, threw a bead of force at the dragon. Ehlonna was smiling upon him yet again, for the dragon failed to escape the sphere of force that the bead unleashed, and was trapped, an unwilling spectator in this fight.
Things quickly turned around. Jack drank his potion of fly and began to rain down magic missiles, and then crossbow bolts, on the hobgoblins from above. Marie circled the fray, firing at whatever targets of opportunity arose. And Kale, after quaffing a potion and using the wand to heal himself, joined Leon and Diedrich in a toe to toe fight against the still superior numbers of hobgoblins.
But, skill soon overpowered numbers, and the hobgoblins began to flee. Two escaped, while Kale, Marie and Jack took the rest out with bow and crossbow. Then there was only the dragon left. The sphere that encapsulated him also protected him from any attack they had available to them. But there were only minutes before the dragon would be free again. Their magics were mostly spent, though Jack had saved a few of his most powerful spells for the wyrm. And their potions and wand were quickly dwindling, but they had little choice except to heal what wounds they could and prepare themselves to face the wrath of a dragon who had just watched, helpless, as his army was decimated.
<DM Notes: Jaroo, of course, didn't reincarnate Diedrich, since he's not really a druid. As you may have guessed, Jaroo buried the corpse and took Diedrich's place. We rolled for reincarnate normally, and Diedrich's player is running Jaroo (he knows this fact) as Diedrich. Honestly, I couldn't have designed a better scenario for Jaroo to take out these meddlesome foes who know too much. Next session Jaroo/Diedrich will be watching for a "comrade" to fall, and will take the opportunity to finish him off, feigning a heal check to stabalize him, but only if he thinks they'll still defeat the dragon - after all, he doesn't want to die to the dragon either.>
-Ieri
Edited: Wookie didn't die, he went to -5.
Edited by: ieri at: 4/17/04 7:02 am
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Knowe Remorse 
Staj
(4/17/04 10:22 am)
Reply
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Re: Session 8B
Love what you did with Jaroo....
How is the player fooling them that he is a cleric? He can't heal, and probably is doing things like morning prayers differently. Especially with a Paladin of the same deity in their midst, he has a good chance of noticing differences in daily prayer routines, etc. Jaroo better strike fast or his jig is up!
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of All Who Threaten it. |
DestyNova1
(4/17/04 11:34 pm)
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Uh-oh
I sense impending TPK. Although, it's very puzzling why the character messed themselves over like that.
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 Infiniti2000
Night Beast
(4/18/04 6:03 pm)
Reply
ezSupporter
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Re: Uh-oh
That's great with Jaroo! I wouldn't say it's a TPK because a doppelganger is not that powerful. It doesn't bode well, though. I suggest you play it out, but make sure you give the party every chance to detect the doppleganger. People do not like getting made to be the fool, and trust me when I tell you that they will scrutinize every die roll in their mind's eye if Jaroo becomes successful. Besides, you don't really want Jaroo to be successful. He's accomplished his mission and the finale is for the party to discover him. It would be really fun if the player playing Jaroo didn't even know he was discovered. Is there anyway to get the other players together without alerting him?
Lots of unbelievable awesome RP potential here if you can swing it! Good luck and I look forward to reading about it! 
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ieri
Staj
(4/20/04 2:47 am)
Reply
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Re: Uh-oh
Actually, the player abandoned his diety, so he no longer has any spells. He was planning this BEFORE he died, so it worked out perfectly for Jaroo.
-Ieri
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LordTenser
Human
(4/20/04 9:40 am)
Reply
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Re: Uh-oh
Wow, was the player switching dieties or something? That's a pretty amazing coincidence and will definitely put the party at a disadvantage in trying to detect the doppleganger. If a friend of mine abdandoned his diety, died, and was reincarnated I'd EXPECT him to act a little different.
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ieri
Staj
(4/20/04 5:58 pm)
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Re: Uh-oh
Yes, that's exactly what he was doing. But, he hadn't gotten a new diety yet (I would require some extreme circumstances to let someone just switch. You can't drop one diety and expect to just pick up another like a new hat, after all).
Yes, it made things so much easier. It was a huge coincidence, and a very favorable one for "Jaroo."
We had another session on Friday, but I'll leave details until I can get the summary written (hopefully soon).
-Ieri
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