UTM's Shattered Realms campaign

RSS
Email

0 Kudo

Author	Comment
Laguna	Black Cyst in the Moathouse?	#21	[-]
Posts: 107 (05/18/09 10:43:49) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	(Note that this may belong in its own separate thread. If this drags out, I'll make another thread. No sense in hijacking UTM's campaign log) Taxman66, are you sure that the gem underneath the Obelisk in area 32 of the Moathouse is not a Black Cyst as well? The bottom of the well is extremely cold, which usually marks the presence of Tharizdun. The Yeth Codex handout on the BotB indicates that there can be more than one Black Cyst (" It is believed that all of the Masters' greater temples had their own Cyst, which they each used for differing purposes"). The gem must be viewed in the light of a torch of revealing, similar to the levers in the Outer Fanes. Also, Tharizdun speaks to the characters who enter it. It is far less secure than the entrance to the Black Cyst in the OF (room 21, description of the Cyst is on 21A), but I still think that it matches all the characteristic of one. I just read the entry in the Moathouse for the scroll that contains the info about it. The scroll was there to foreshadow what the PCs will find later in the Outer Fanes, but I thought that this was a Black Cyst, too. Since my own PCs haven't figured it out yet, maybe it's better to leave the thing in the Moathouse ambiguous. Bumblebee Tuna!
Taxman66		#22	[-]
Posts: 849 (05/19/09 05:03:47) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I don't think it (the obelisk crystal support) was specifically designated as a Black Cyst... but there shouldn't be any issues doing so. Taxman "If Scientology can be rated a religion then Pythology ought to qualify under any decent tax system." - Eric Idle
Useless Trivia Man		#23	[-]
Posts: 55 (06/02/09 08:27:04) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	We finally got back into the action on Sunday night. The new guy couldn't make it due to a family emergency, but he told us to go ahead and game without him, so we had only (!) eight players. I'd expected them to go down into Area 32 (the obelisk room), but they changed their minds and opted to finish exploring this level first. They encountered the ghouls (and my added zombies) in the crypt, and as expected the cleric made short work of them. They found both the ghoul-warren tunnel and the secret door; they were particularly happy to discover an alternate way out, since they haven't even tried to raise the portcullis yet. Also, this fight garnered them just enough XP to reach 5th level, so we had to pause for the leveling-up. The spellcasters were happy to get 3rd-level spells, and the druid is now able to wild shape. She's gonna have fun with that, I think. Once the leveling-up was done, I had fun with them in the ghoul warrens - there was no mapping possible in those crawlways, so I made them choose left-right-forward at each intersection. They found the hidden altar pretty easily, though they wisely chose to leave it alone after a bit of experimentation. (Both the cleric and the dwarf barbarian struck it with weapons hoping to damage the altar, but both made their saves. Phooey.) At this point they decided it was time to head back to town for a good night's rest. They had the obex holy symbol to ask about, and there was discussion about whether or not to investigate the Mill. The rogue went straight to Y'dey with the obex, and she was the first to utter Big T's name when she identified the symbol. (I have to give kudos to Cordio's player - he dug up Big T's entry in my Realms guide. It was kinda hidden, but he found it almost immediately.) The party met up with Elmo at the Welcome Wench, and they immediately told him about Chatrilon. Elmo looked around the room and couldn't spot Vesta at the moment, so he asked Maridosen if she knew where Chatrilon was. She covered and said he'd left town a few hours ago, then immediately snuck out to warn him that the posse was about to come looking for him. She should have stuck around for more info - I decided to have her make this mistake - she left just before everyone started talking about the Mill. She escorted Chatrilon to inform Dunrat of the PCs' exploits, and both stayed the night in the Mill basement with the rest of the cultists. (Let's say that Chat and Maridosen had a Thang going on, just to make it simple.) The PCs showed up at the Mill first thing in the morning. I should probably explain at this point that I spent a lot of time prepping this particular battle. I added Nierithi Poscurian to the ranks of the cultists, and with both Chat and Maridosen there it would be a genuine challenge for the players. Every one of the bad guys received more levels. (Dunrat and Chat were both 7th level, Nierithi and Maridosen were bumped to 5th, Toridan and Vacra were 4th, and Chenashi/Grune were 3rd.) I carefully plotted out what spells would be cast if the bad guys were allowed time to buff up (they were), and I even drew out a battlemap of the Mill basement with markers/colored pencils. Did I mention that we had to wait three weeks between games?? I had a lot of time to twiddle my thumbs... It was a glorious fight, for the most part. The only real downer for the evening was something I didn't know about until it was too late - one of the guys brought a fifth of Captain Morgan to celebrate his birthday, and three players proceeded to get totally hammered on Captain & Cokes. I'm definitely not against drinking a few while we play, but I learned 20 years ago that gaming with a drunk person (or two, or three) is very un-fun for those who ain't drinking. Anyway, back to the fight. The cultists were ready and waiting when the PCs came down the stairs, and I nailed all but two of 'em with the bead of force damage. Two of the front-line tanks and the wizard failed their saves and were trapped in force bubbles. The cleric used her brand-new dispel magic (gotta love that new spell smell!) on the force bubbles, and things quickly turned into a bloodbath free-for-all. Dunrat got to use his vile lance, Vacra hit someone with a darkbolt, but Nierithi was unlucky. Even with mirror image and blur both running, Gulg the Mighty walked up and smacked the gnome two rounds in a row, sending the poor gnome spinning into the void... The (drunk) wizard kept wanting to use her brand-new fireball, but the other players repeatedly pointed out that the flour dust in the mill would ignite. In the end, Betty decided it was worth the risk and cast it anyway with the expected spectacular explosion. Her player got yelled at by the rest of the crew, but no one was killed. In the end, almost every PC was either down to single-digit hit points or on the ground bleeding, but they won. They took down the entire opposing force - none escaped. Dunrat and Chat were the last to fall, and they went down almost simultaneously. I used the suggested Dying Curse on Gulg the Mighty, and it was very satisfying to see the alarm on his player's face when I explained his blindness. Kitty was the only one to take any damage from the vile lance, and I think her player was even more alarmed that the damage wouldn't heal. At this point it was well past the normal quittin' time so we had to call it a night. They'll both have a week to consider their afflictions... A quick question though: I didn't see anything in the BoVD about a saving throw vs. a Dying Curse. Is there one, or does it automatically take effect with no save? The Sunday Night Slammers "The ground is a +5 Weapon."
Laguna		#24	[-]
Posts: 112 (06/03/09 11:35:02) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Useless Trivia Man wrote: - one of the guys brought a fifth of Captain Morgan to celebrate his birthday, and three players proceeded to get totally hammered on Captain & Cokes. I'm definitely not against drinking a few while we play, but I learned 20 years ago that gaming with a drunk person (or two, or three) is very un-fun for those who ain't drinking. To quote Roy Greenhilt; we've never met before, and yet I feel an odd kinship. (It's from Order of the Stick, which should be required reading material for any D&D enthusiast) The (drunk) wizard kept wanting to use her brand-new fireball, but the other players repeatedly pointed out that the flour dust in the mill would ignite. In the end, Betty decided it was worth the risk and cast it anyway with the expected spectacular explosion. Her player got yelled at by the rest of the crew, but no one was killed. I was trying to come up with a way for my own players to do the same. I had ruled that they needed to spend more than a night's rest leveling up (a rule I may relax, my players were complaining about it) so the party wizard did not have Fireball when they stormed the flour mill. I also thought about having Dunrat, when he was low on HP, light up a torch and toss it near one of the sacks of grain, but it didn't end up happening. Seeing as how your group is so big, have you considered splitting them up from each other and running separate sessions? Not right now, certainly, but later on it might make the CRM more manageable. Just a thought. Bumblebee Tuna!
Useless Trivia Man		#25	[-]
Posts: 56 (06/04/09 04:45:18) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Heh, I'm pretty sure that if I tried to run another D&D night I'd wind up wifeless. (I'll never find another wife this tolerant or this hott, so for the sake of her happiness I'd better pass.) We'll keep going with the big group - it's an entertaining challenge for me, and I'm actually having fun leveling up bad guys and finding more nasties to throw at 'em. Just yesterday I prepped for the Big Hobgoblin Fight; I nearly doubled the number of hobgoblin mooks/'elites', there'll be two dire apes, Krebbich gained a level, and Rarkus is gonna be a Fighter 6/Rogue 2 (three attacks/round plus evasion = mean!) ) I'm pretty comfortable with those adds, since the PCs have four front-line meat shields who are ready and willing to absorb a metric buttload of damage. Funny thing about the fiery explosion in the Mill: In both this campaign and my previous attempt, we had guys who work at a local grain processing plant. They've actually had safety training on dust explosions, and both times someone has cast a fire spell and blown the crap out of the place! Much ribbing ensued. Edited to add: Roy, Elan and the crew are very familiar to me 'n my players. I think there's an unwritten houserule at our table that someone has to crack an OotS punchline every game session. "I GOT A FOUR!" is probably the most common. Other required webcomic reading: Goblins by Tarol Hunt. "I declare my dodge on YOU!" and "Sonuvacrap!" are both also regularly shouted on Sundays at Jim's place. The Sunday Night Slammers "The ground is a +5 Weapon." Last Edited By: Useless Trivia Man 06/04/09 11:53:25. Edited 1 times.
Useless Trivia Man		#26	[-]
Posts: 58 (06/08/09 18:40:57) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	We had a GREAT session this week. The players took last week's drunken fiasco to heart, and no one showed up with any drinks stronger than Mountain Dew Throwback (which incidentally *rocks). Everyone was in it to Game this week, and it really showed. They managed to mop things up in the Mill cellar, then they brought Kitty and Gulg to Y'dey for some expert healing. Y'dey was able to identify Kitty's vile damage for what it was and explained the cure to the PCs, and she removed Gulg's blindness from the Dying Curse. Both players were visibly relieved that their beloved characters weren't permanently harmed. (I just love putting that kinda scare into new players!) Due to an oversight on my part, the PCs never found the miniature four-sided statue in Moathouse 32A (with Geynor Tonn and Ysslansh). I forgot to list it at that time, so I decided it had already made the trip back to Hommlet. They found it along with the chest in the Mill cellar, and were understandably freaked out a little when I told them their lights grew dim as they got close to the statue. Mei Ling tossed some holy water on the statue, but it just sizzled and boiled off immediately. The PCs recruited Y'dey again, and with a snap of her fingers she had a horse trough and all the town's holy water brought down to the cellar. The PCs refused to touch the statue directly so they wrapped it in a blanket and dropped it in the trough of holy water; the water immediately turned black and began to boil, but the holy water bath was enough to cause the statue to shatter with a loud crack. There was much rejoicing. They tried to pick Y'dey's brain for ideas on how to destroy the big altar and statue in the ghoul warrens, but she had no clue. They headed back to the moathouse since it was still pretty early in the day; Mei Ling had the foresight to memorize stone shape* and used it to get them past the wall of stone and into areas 36+. I added an extra cockatrice to spice things up, and sure enough I managed to turn Billie Badass (our amazon warrior) into a statue. Of course they had no means of restoring her, so they had to carry her back up 'n out, then they dragged her petrified body back to town! (Someone did have the bright idea to run ahead and fetch a cart so they wouldn't have to drag her the WHOLE way, but still.) This took all day, so it was just past dusk when they got back into town. In the morning Y'dey cast break enchantment and pretty much cleaned out the party's treasure cache with her "donation" demand. Billie has been a bit of a challenge for me - her player is new, and I've been trying for a while to get her to come out of her shell and do a bit of roleplaying. I finally succeeded last night, thanks to repeated flirtations by Spugnoir. The party has a pile of magic items to identify, and they realized that she could probably get him to "volunteer" his assistance if she took deep breaths and asked sweetly… It worked like a charm. We're gonna turn her into a roleplayer yet! They finally headed back into the moathouse to investigate the Obelisk Chamber, after finishing off "Lareth's" chamber and the emergency exit. I was initially intending to split them up until I reread the elevator description and realized they could all ride down together. They were suitably impressed by the cold (Spugnoir reminded them to bring heavy clothing before they left town), and got downright jumpy when they first saw the purple veins in the Obelisk start to move. After some unsuccessful experimentation, Mei Ling finally got brave and hustled over to the other elevator with no ill effects, which got the rest of the party moving. On the way down, I hit them with not one, but two full-strength Devourers of Mashaf (I used grell stats, but Large) who promptly paralyzed Gulg and Xian, wrapping them up in tentacles to fly away for a snack. The PCs were able to take down Gulg's grell quickly, before it could lift him in the air, but we weren't as lucky on Xian's. In the cramped quarters of the elevator there was little room to maneuver, let alone swing; Cordio couldn't reach and decided to spend a round tying off a rope between himself and Xian (then promptly got paralyzed with an AoO for his insolence). The PCs attacked frantically, but the grell got Xian off the ground and started to fly away… then got to the end of the rope. It paused just long enough for Betty to step up and hammer it with a scorching ray, and it began to fall. Xian was falling with it. Cordio was in the middle of the party and wasn't in any real danger, but I decided to have Cordio roll a Use Rope check to see how well he'd tied off the knot. Xian's player was in agony as Cordio rolled a nat 8 on his d20, making it a modified 11. I took my time pulling out the PHB to consult the Use Rope DC table; with a heavy sigh, I announced that the DC for tying a sturdy knot is a… (Xian muttered, "I'm dead") TEN. Players called me nasty names. Again. I loved every bit of it. They reached the bottom and were immediately set upon by Festrath and three more grells. Unfortunately, the grells didn't hold up nearly as well when the party could actually move around and do flanking maneuvers and such. Festrath really didn't offer much challenge either, but by the time he fell we were almost an hour over our normal quitting time. We called it a night before looting Festrath or exploring the bottom of the Obelisk Chamber - I'll hit 'em with that next time. I'm planning at this point for Y'dey to essentially order them to investigate the Temple Ruin before they head for Rastor; they could probably skip it, but I'd rather see them a little closer to 6th level before they assault the CRM. Besides, they've still gotta meet Lareth, and I'm gonna voice him as either Alan Rickman's Sheriff of Nottingham or Count Rugen from the Princess Bride… The Sunday Night Slammers "The ground is a +5 Weapon."
Useless Trivia Man		#27	[-]
Posts: 62 (06/15/09 10:53:39) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Another good session last night, and at least one Hard Lesson learned. Maybe. I was initially a little disappointed - the PCs managed to summon only one grell from the archway, and Mei Ling refused to eat her black fruit. They completely left alone the pool, made the one-and-only save against the black sun symbol, and though two PCs stood on the obex, neither was willing to say "Tharizdun" out loud like I'd hoped. After this minimal poking around, they chose to head back to Hommlet to report what they'd found. sigh I was really looking forward to some of that fun, too. Ah well - when and if they return, Festrath'll be a ghast and he'll have summoned a few more grells to make their lives very uncomfortable. They got back to town and sold off what they could; they're gonna have to go elsewhere to sell off the rest of their growing pile of mundane weapons, armor and other stuff. They spend two nights in town so they could identify all the magic they'd hauled in, and Xian took that opportunity to summon a new animal companion - a wolf this time - and he named it Felony. (I don't know why, and I don't think I'm gonna ask.) Y'dey and Elmo each requested that the PCs check out the temple ruins before heading out on some far-fetched quest to Rastor. They agreed, but decided to poke around Nulb first. They had a surprisingly easy time with Wat, even though I'd bumped his level. In the entire fight, I think only one PC missed due to etherealness, and even though Wat landed a pair of good hard strikes he only lasted two rounds of actual combat. Phooey. They were a bit more scared of the allip (the one channeling Poltergeist). Mei Ling successfully Turned her, but since she had nowhere to retreat she merely slammed the door and locked it again. That freaked 'em out a bit, and they chose to leave her alone for now. As they were about to leave town, Kitty spotted a barely-visible thread of smoke emanating from a chimney, and the PCs got to meet Lareth the Beautiful. I went with the smoking-a-pipe-on-his-front-porch scenario (though he'd already cast several long-running buff spells like protection from fire). I'd bumped Lareth to 10th level - the PCs had already breezed through several clerics who'd been a level or two higher than them, so I expected this to be a similar fight. Happily, I was mistaken. Lareth was an arrogant B****** to them, and Xian in particular took offense. Lareth did clue them in that somehow he knew Wat (when he'd been alive), and that he knew something of the original ToEE. At that point he decided he'd had enough of these meddling goody-two-shoes adventurers and told 'em to get off his property. They only did so after he went inside and shut the door, but Xian had to leave a parting remark - he climbed up to the roof and propped a spare shield on top of the chimney, blocking the smoke! They were leaving, but I wanted to pick a fight. Xian looked back over his shoulder and watched as Lareth scuttled up the side of the building (thanks to his cloak of arachnidia), tossed the shield to the ground, and flipped Xian the bird. Xian decided that - even though he'd instigated it - that was the last straw, and shot Lareth. For his insolence, Lareth hit him back with a flame strike, and now it was ON. Heh heh. They all took potshots as they started moving back towards the herb shop, and Lareth calmly climbed down the far side of the building and started casting buffs, including divine power... It got really ugly really fast from there. As soon as the two barbarians charged, Lareth responded by hitting Cordio with four attacks in one round, dropping the dwarf to -21 hit points! (In fact, I think he probably should have gotten an attack or two against Gulg... oh well.) Xian's player was berated by the rest of the group for picking the fight and getting someone killed. He chose at that point to expend a Fate Point, rewinding and backing up all the way to the point where he put the shield on the chimney and this time (wisely) chose to turn the other cheek and walk away, especially since Lareth had done nothing wrong except acting rude. All of them were a little freaked out by how powerful Lareth was (divine power rocks), and as we wrapped up for the night I was called names again. A lot. grin Sadly, we've got no game next weekend. I'll probably be going through withdrawals by the time we get around to the next one - I've already got the hobgoblin fight fully prepped, so I'll have to find something else to prep. Maybe Wormspike needs some more levels... The Sunday Night Slammers "The ground is a +5 Weapon."
Laguna		#28	[-]
Posts: 115 (06/16/09 09:12:26) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	...and though two PCs stood on the obex, neither was willing to say "Tharizdun" out loud like I'd hoped. After this minimal poking around, they chose to head back to Hommlet to report what they'd found. sigh I was really looking forward to some of that fun, too. Same thing happened in my game. I had literally spent all week rehearsing the lines from the module, and I was kinda bummed when the wizard IDed the symbol, but wasn't standing on it when he said Tharizdun outloud. In retrospect, maybe I should have just triggered the trap by standing on it for more than 1 round. They had a surprisingly easy time with Wat, even though I'd bumped his level. In the entire fight, I think only one PC missed due to etherealness, and even though Wat landed a pair of good hard strikes he only lasted two rounds of actual combat. Phooey. Really? He didn't even get a Death Attack in? I've got this fight coming on the horizon and I'm honestly expecting my group to be running out of the hostel screaming for their lives after being attacked by Wat, who's tactics involve Death Attacking and vanishing. If events play out this way, they may run into Lareth, who heard the ruckus and came over looking for a show. All of them were a little freaked out by how powerful Lareth was (divine power rocks), and as we wrapped up for the night I was called names again. A lot. grin I've been running some numbers for Lareth, and yeah, if he has a few rounds to buff (which isn't hard for him to pull off with his crowd control spells like Insanity, Web, and Sanctuary), his attacks are ridiculous. I think I had his attacks (at level 7) at around +20/+15 and 1d6+15 damage if he's given time to buff fully. He can only maintain those numbers for about five rounds, but that's more than enough time to put a few PCs into the character sheet graveyard. Bumblebee Tuna!
Useless Trivia Man		#29	[-]
Posts: 63 (06/17/09 03:50:10) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Wat tried the death attack twice and hit both times, but the PCs successfully saved. Both times, the PCs were able to counterattack ridiculously well and he was defeated in that second counterattack. :P S'okay though - next time they'll be tackling the hobgoblins at the ruined temple. The PCs're spoiling for a fight?? That one oughta grab 'em by the short 'n curlies... The Sunday Night Slammers "The ground is a +5 Weapon."
Useless Trivia Man		#30	[-]
Posts: 66 (06/29/09 08:38:42) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Last night the PCs found out what happens when you shove a stick into a hornet's nest. After using a Fate Point to rewind the clock and undo last session's folly, the PCs chose to walk away and leave Lareth alone for the time being. They left Nulb and briefly encountered Kella on their way to the Temple; they weren't too interested in her - once they determined she wasn't a foe - but she did let them know about the tribe of hobgoblins that had taken up residence in the temple ruin. Izzy transformed into an eagle and flew a reconnaissance mission to get an idea of the temple layout, and she was able to spot the hidden guards at the front gate. The PCs chose (poorly) to attempt a variant of the infamous Death Star bluff; Kitty snuck up invisibly, the barbarians were "tied up" as sacrificial prisoners, and everyone else put on ochre robes and walked right up to the hobgoblins and claimed to be escorting a prisoner transfer... (It'll work beautifully if they try it at the CRM, but of course since it failed this time they'll probably abandon this ploy.) The guards laughed at them and attacked. They died quickly. The door guards watched the entire battle/slaughter from a hundred yards away, sent for reinforcements, and waited for the PCs' charge. Everyone reached the front doors at about the same time - as the party approached, the first wave of hobgoblins threw open the great doors and the party got to see just what an angry horde looks like up close. They fought beautifully though, dagnabbit. Betty dropped a pair of fireballs that decimated the first two waves of guards, and for some reason Xian had taken hobgoblin as one of his favored enemies - he was particuarly deadly with his bow last night. I'd upped Rarkus to a Fighter 6/Rogue 2 and Krebbich to 7th level Adept, nearly doubled the number of regular hobgoblins, and added a second dire ape; they put up a decent fight, but were totally outmatched. The dire apes were closing fast, but Izzy nabbed one of 'em with a dominate animal spell and set it on its mate, attacking with total surprise and killing it in one round! I then set the dog pack on the traitorous ape, and the blankity-blankin' primate managed to pretty much wipe out the dogs before falling. One well-placed spell wiped out both apes and the entire dog pack. She then added insult to injury with a perfectly-timed knife spray that took out the last few dogs and every single one of the goblins. Stoopid druid... grumble grumble Krebbich did some damage with scorching rays, but wasn't able to do much else. Rarkus carved up Billie and both of the animal companion wolves, but Kitty managed to maneuver in for a wicked backstab while flanking him, and that was it for the great Rarkus. Krebbich watched his entire tribe get wiped out, decided to turn tail, and tried to cast invisibility to aid in his escape. Xian shot him mid-spell and ruined his concentration, and suddenly the shaman found himself surrounded by angry PCs. He had no more options, so he simply surrendered. Most of the evening was spent on this glorious brawl; it was past quitting time by this point, so we decided they'd interrogate Krebbich next session. I was very impressed with how well this group is now working together as a team, and I can see that I'm gonna be hard-pressed to keep coming up with decent challenges for them. We'll see how they handle Rastor next session... ------------------------------------------------ I'm still waiting for backgrounds on half the party; Kitty's player has told me about her back story, but hasn't actually written it out yet. She's the daughter of a Waterdhavian gutter harlot, and she actually briefly picked up her mother's trade (and robbed her johns in the process) before turning on her "manager" and killing him in her escape. She got out of the city just ahead of the Thieves' Guild hunters, who were asking dangerous questions about the death of one of its whoremasters. She left behind a good-sized stash of money hidden away in her haste to get out of town, but I'm pretty sure something's going to happen to that nest egg while she's away. I've given the rest of 'em notice - if they don't give me a back story soon, I'm gonna provide one for them... and I probably won't be nice about it. For example, I'm gonna totally swipe this from Infiniti2000: Izzy Baenre, the half-drow druid, can't remember her past. The first thing she can remember is being rescued from a blizzard by Adie, an old human woman who took her in, nursed her back to health, and taught her the ways of nature. All she can remember is her name - Izzy - and she took her last name from where it was carved in the back of the spider medallion she'd worn when Old Adie found her in the snow. She's actually Izzanthriel, a bastard child of house Baenre (though I haven't quite decided who her parent should be), and she's being actively sought by the drow of Menzoberranzan for some reason. When the PCs encounter Dirass and Maracla in the Outer Fane, the two drow will recognize her and call Izzy by her real name. It should open the door for some great role-playing, and I've got lots of time to iron out the details. The Sunday Night Slammers "The ground is a +5 Weapon."
Laguna		#31	[-]
Posts: 118 (06/29/09 20:19:08) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Useless Trivia Man wrote: The PCs chose (poorly) to attempt a variant of the infamous Death Star bluff; Kitty snuck up invisibly, the barbarians were "tied up" as sacrificial prisoners, and everyone else put on ochre robes and walked right up to the hobgoblins and claimed to be escorting a prisoner transfer... That is the funniest thing I've ever heard. Bumblebee Tuna!
Useless Trivia Man	Chapter 8: The Aftermath and the Return to Nulb (FYI: long post ahead!)	#32	[-]
Posts: 72 (07/09/09 20:15:48) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Billie, Gulg, Kitty and Xian were volunteered for the grisly task of looting the dead hobgoblins; in short order, the corpses were stacked against the side wall like cordwood, their armor and weapons in separate piles on the floor. Mei Ling nodded to herself, satisfied that the hobgoblin-hating ranger was sufficiently occupied, and turned toward Cordio and the captive shaman. "What's your name and why are you here?" Krebbich smirked as he answered the weak human's questions. What did it matter now if he gave away tribal secrets? The chieftain and all the warriors were dead now. The Broken Spears were no more, thanks to this powerful but stupid group of adventurers. Pfah! These morons only seems to care about some stupid symbols and some Old Eye. Idiots. They should have killed us all and taken everything, but no. They will let an enemy walk away to grow stronger and kill them later, like the weak-willed, soft fools they are. Krebbich relaxed on the floor with his hands lazily couched behind his head, ignoring the dwarf's blade at his throat. These weak fools were going to let him go, after he answered their stupid questions. He knew better than to fight back, even when they tied his hands, and barely held back derisive laughter when they asked about the tribe's magical treasures. He held his breath excitedly though when the human cleric casually suggested that Krebbich take the women and children with him. He couldn't care less about a pack of sniveling, whining whelps, but there were almost twenty female hobgoblins that were now without mates! Losing a fight to these adventurers just might end up being the best thing that had ever happened to him! Granted, they stripped him of his valuables, but he could find new baubles. He'd simply go out and find someone weaker and take his new valuables from them - this was the hobgoblin way. From the way that half-breed archer was staring, Krebbich guessed that this was a foe who understood the hobgoblin way; thankfully, the simpering, soft cleric seemed to be the leader of this band, or else Krebbich would probably be lying there like stacked deadwood with his former tribe mates. As she looked around the vast room, Mei Ling frowned. She was only slightly disturbed by the hideous carvings and frescoes that covered the walls of this ancient temple; somehow the dust and grime of decades made this place's evil somewhat less repulsive. But only a little bit. She was more disturbed by the possibility that they'd just done the cult of the Elder Elemental Eye a favor by clearing the hobgoblins out of their temple. Kitty shouted excitedly across the vast room that she'd found something in one of the smaller side chambers. Betty murmured to Mei Ling, "Judging by the distraught look on that hobgoblin's face, I'll bet you dinner that it's the shaman's quarters." "No bet," Mei Ling scoffed. She knew better. Aside from a small bag of coins and a healing potion stashed under Krebbich's pillow, the room was a bit of a disappointment for Kitty. She didn't even get to pick the lock on the chest; the key they'd found tied around the shaman's neck took care of that. She'd been paying attention during the interrogation of the shaman though, and she knew these hobgoblin raiders had a stash of goodies somewhere in the building… Gulg and Cordio stumbled upon something interesting while exploring; they poked their heads into a side chamber and spotted a scrawny human lad in filthy clothing. "What're ye fer?" barked Cordio, brandishing his massive axe. The boy's eyes bugged out in fear as he tried unsuccessfully to back away through the wall. Gulg chuckled at his antics and stepped forward. "We're not going to hurt you, boy. We killed the hobgoblins. You're free." Both barbarians smiled as they watched the vast range of emotion play across the young man's face on hearing this joyous news. "You're serious?? Oh thank you, my lords!" Unfortunately, Tianden the apprentice carpenter couldn't provide much information, aside from the facts that his home town was High Moon and he'd been taken during a caravan raid some weeks ago. Kitty let out a triumphant whoop. She'd found the loot! Apparently Rarkus, the now-dead hobgoblin chieftain, didn't really trust his tribesmen. His bedchamber held what appeared to be the entire tribe's loot in a huge, haphazard pile. Kitty contentedly counted coins while only half-listening to the friendly argument over who was going to drag that heavy bronze statue back to Hommlet. Cordio, Xian and Izzy stood at the bottom of the once-grand staircase that led down to a dead end, puzzling over what they saw. "It's pretty obvious that this is where the hobgoblins kept their pet apes," noted Izzy, gesturing toward the many dung piles littering the floor. Cordio answered, "Aye lass, but that's not what has me whiskers quiverin'. Ye see those bits o' rock an' rubble on the stairs there? Looks ta me like the whole durned dungeon collapsed underneath this place, but somebody dug these stairs out after it all fell in. They had ta be after somethin', but I'd say they didn't find it. I don't see no walls down here… this open space is just a wee bit of a larger room, I'd say. And there ain't no way ye'd get further in without a whole dwarf mining team and a lot o' overtime." Soon thereafter, the group reconvened near the center of the room to discuss what to do next. After everyone reported their discoveries, Mei Ling kicked off the debate. "There's no evidence that the cult has even been here. What if we just did them a favor by clearing the hobgoblin squatters out of their temple?" Xian quickly responded, "So be it. Those filthy hobgoblins were a menace to the entire region, and they needed to be removed." Gulg bluntly replied, "Of course they did. If the cult takes over, we'll just kill 'em all and take their treasure. So, what are we gonna do with my lil' buddy here?" Tianden's knees buckled as the half-orc clapped him on the shoulder, and he shrank under the sudden attention of the entire assembly. Izzy smiled and offered to send Scotty to find Kella. "We just did her a favor, so perhaps she'll watch young Tianden in return." "Good enough. So where do we go from here?" Gulg was ready to go find something else to kill. "There's still that tower in the northeast corner that looks promising. Let's go check it out." Krugnon wished something exciting would happen. The hobgoblin guard was staring out the arrow slit with his chin propped on his hand, bored out of his skull. He and his buddies had it good here in the guard tower, what with the goblin slaves to order around and the keg of ale they'd stolen from the tribe when they "split" from the Broken Spears last week. It seemed like a great idea at the time to run off with their spoils, but now that the ale was gone and everyone was sober, things were starting to be a bit less fun. Maybe it was time to start thinking about sneaking back and trying to rejoin the tribe. After all, there weren't even any women here, and you could only bugger goblins for so long before it got old… Krugnon's idle thoughts were interrupted by movement outside. "Oi! Wake up, we gots incoming!" he grunted to the rest. There was a scramble as the dozing hobgoblins jumped up, fumbling weapons and manning battle stations. "What's we got?" asked Trugg, as he drew an arrow and stepped up to peer out through one of the narrow slits at the intruders. Brukrog was making too much noise as he stomped into the back room to kick the goblin slaves awake, and Krugnon threw an empty mug to shush him. "There's 'bout ten of 'em, and they ain't no hobgoblins. They looks like adventurers!" Trugg looked sideways at him doubtfully. "There's as many of dem as there is of us, an four of us is wussy lil' goblins!" "Yeah, but we's in here and they's out there! Dey can't get in! Let's shoot 'em!" Krugnon nocked an arrow and aimed carefully. "Ready? Shoot!" He watched closely and was happy to see that his shot solidly connected with the elf outside, but sadly the other three archers' shots all failed to find their marks. Meanwhile, Brukrag and his no-good brother were herding the goblins up the stairs onto the roof. After firing, Trugg shouted out at the intruders. "Go 'way! Go play in da temple!" He smirked, thinking he'd been clever to send these unknown foes against the far greater numbers of the Broken Spears, but his smile was quickly replaced by fear when a towering human female with a really big sword stepped forward and responded that the Broken Spears were all dead. Krugnon could only respond with a flabbergasted "Huh?? You killed Rarkus??" Trugg followed it up with a quietly sincere, "Please don't kill us!" and Brukrag hissed up at the goblins, ordering them to hold their attack. The intruders ordered them to open the door and promised to spare their lives if they complied immediately. Thunderstruck by the revelation of the Broken Spears' annihilation, the six hobgoblins looked at each other in mute shock and awe as Krugnon trudged to the door and lifted off the locking beam. The door creaked open, revealing a half-dozen hobgoblin warriors with fearfully expectant faces. Billie chuckled to herself; they look like children caught with their hands in the cookie jar. It was the work of only moments to disarm all the defenders, and after a bit of discussion they decided to send these hobgoblins off to catch up with Krebbich and the remnants of the tribe. The hobgoblins ran out with what could only be described as astonished glee on their faces, though the goblin slaves were a bit less enthusiastic. Xian wasn't happy about the decision to let their opponents go, but he kept his objections to himself aside from a few disgusted mutterings. Two smaller back rooms were hidden behind doors; Kitty opened one while Betty took the other. Kitty's door opened on what had been the goblin slaves' quarters (a rather filthy room), but Betty found a truly disgusting chamber that had obviously been the latrine, complete with a pair of dire rats! Gulg happily jumped past the wizard to cleave the two enormous rats; a few smaller specimens scurried off to hide from all the commotion. "Well that's that," remarked Mei Ling. "We've defeated the hobgoblins, but we didn't find any more answers about the cult. What do we do now?" Betty answered, "I'm voting for a rest. I'm just about wiped out after all the fighting, and my spell repertoire is running awfully low." No one objected, so the group made camp right there in the tower (after securely closing the latrine door). As they did some minimal cleaning to make the space more bearable - hobgoblins are not good housekeepers - Kitty offered a suggestion. "Why don't we bring all of our loot back here so we can secure it until we can get a wagon or a cart to haul all this stuff back to town? Izzy could lock the door from the inside, and then she could climb down the outside of the tower after everyone leaves." It was a sound plan. "I think it's time to head back to Nulb," declared Mei Ling. "There's still that poltergeist upstairs in the tavern, and I want to take another look at the scarred guy. Something about him really bothered me." "You mean his sunny disposition?" asked Xian sarcastically. The ranger, despite his elven heritage (or perhaps because of it), seemed to have an occasional problem holding back his temper. "I'm all for questioning him again!" After stopping to visit once again with Kella to reassure her that they'd be back to collect up young Tianden, the adventurers trekked back to the ghost town. Nulb seemed to be unchanged since they'd explored yesterday, and Mei Ling steered the group past the old herb shop with the scarred man sitting once again on his front porch. She smirked to herself as they walked past without acknowledging the strange man's presence. Dad always called it 'showing the flag,' she thought to herself as they headed for the broken-down tavern. An idea struck Xian. "I wonder if there's an old wagon or cart we might be able to salvage?" "I doubt it. Anything of value would have certainly been scooped up years ago," replied Kitty. Xian was undeterred. "I'm going to go take a look around and see if I can find some kind of transport. I'll be back." "Suit yourself, but be careful." The tavern was no different than it had been the day before; Cordio walked over to the bar and noted, "Yup. Still cold over here." Everyone began carefully examining the bar once again, hoping to find the answer to the riddle of the cold spot. So diligent was their search that none of them noticed the translucent figure fade into visibility behind Betty… Xian and Felony stalked carefully through the ruined town, their senses attuned to the scarce sounds, sights and smells of the wilderness around them. The ranger didn't truly expect to find any transport; he'd really just wanted a chance to get out, just he and his wolf, so they could savor the feel of the wilds all around them. After a few minutes' walking, he noted with some small surprise that he'd actually found some transport, though it wasn't usable. A small river barge was beached on the riverbank, its deck tilted at a challenging angle by the boat's V-bottom and the sloping ground. Just as he was nearing the old boat, a woman's scream echoing through the town snapped his head around. That came from the tavern, he realized as he sprinted toward the sound… The faintly-glowing blade of the ghostly assassin jutted obscenely from between Betty's breasts as she shrieked in agony. Billie was the closest, and she caught the wizard as she slumped away from the offending sword. She forced a healing potion between Betty's lips, the bottle clinking hard against her teeth as the warrior upended the magical draught into her friend's mouth. "That's the same damned ghost we killed before!" Izzy shouted as she stepped forward to swing her blade ineffectually through the assassin. Mei Ling lifted her holy symbol and attempted to banish the fell undead, but it completely ignored her. Betty gritted her teeth against the remembered pain and turned to cast one of her deadly scorching ray spells at her attacker, grimacing as the ruby-red beam sliced straight through the ghost's body with no effect. The ghost vanished before anyone could hinder him; for a few seconds everyone stopped and stared around the room, hoping to catch a glimpse as the ghost reappeared for his next attack. Cordio and Gulg looked at each other, then at the accursed bar. The two barbarians turned, seemingly reading each other's mind as they raised their weapons high. They struck the bar almost simultaneously with a thunderous crash and kept swinging, incorrectly hoping that its destruction would prevent the ghost's return. Mei Ling held aloft her holy symbol. "By the power of Torm the True, be *healed!" she exclaimed as a familiar rush of holy energy coursed through her. I only pray to the True that my healing magic actually damaged it,* she thought. Wat studied his target carefully. The wizard will be the weakest. Wizards are always the weakest, he thought. Now was the time to strike, when all the hotbloods were looking away. Betty felt the icy blade rip through her once again, but this time all she could do was gasp as she saw, rather than felt, the floor rushing to meet her… They were ready this time. A pair of hits were scored as soon as the assassin reappeared, but the damage was done. Again and again, Mei Ling continued to send bursts of sacred energy through the area, bringing Betty back from the brink of death and attempting to injure the incorporeal killer in the process. Xian burst into the room just in time to see Betty fall to the ground in a heap as the ghost vanished a second time. He nocked an arrow, cursing himself for straying so far from his friends, watching and waiting for the inevitable reappearance. Wat was furious. The wizard managed to withstand his death attack AGAIN! He'd nearly slain the dangerous spellcaster, but that cursed cleric had called upon her thrice-cursed god again. It was time to do something about her; those waves of agonizing energy she was sending out were weakening him terribly. Ignoring the pain, he studied his new foe and prepared to strike his last blow… Mei Ling felt an icy numbness in her lower back and spun away before the blade could fully penetrate. "He is here!" she shouted as she swung her mace, ignoring the blazing pain of the fresh wound. This time everyone was ready; a hail of arrows and a flurry of blades struck the ghost, sending Wat back to the blackness of true death once more… Cordio and Gulg watched the ghost fade away, just as it had the last time they'd fought it. The two barbarians looked at each other and started in on the bar once more, quickly turning it into little more than splinters and kindling. "It's official. There ain't nothin' here that's keepin' the ghost around," declared Cordio a few minutes later as he picked splinters from his beard. He looked at Mei Ling expectantly. Xian rolled his eyes as the barbarians attacked the bar. The explorer in him wanted to poke around in that old boat, but he knew it would be foolish for him to go alone. Felony was a fine wolf, but if they happened to encounter more undead she wouldn't be much help. He caught Izzy's eye and cocked an eyebrow; a slight gesture toward the door was all the invitation she needed to join him outside. She nodded, and the two half-elves quietly stepped out into the fresh summer air. "I found an interesting old boat on the riverbank. Would you care to join me?" he asked. Izzy smiled. She'd noticed his eye on her for quite some time; she was actually a bit surprised it had taken this long for him to make an attempt for some quiet time together. But when it turned out he really did want to check out that old boat, she puzzled over her own disappointment. Why did this make her unhappy?? The ruined riverboat was perched on the shoreline, its stern actually underwater, and its cabin was easily accessible. Xian easily hopped up onto the deck and held a hand out for her to join him; Izzy chided herself for the tiny thrill she felt as she took his hand. For goodness' sake, he's not THAT handsome. The two picked their way carefully down the canted deck and stepped into the small cabin. The room's back half was submerged, and as they moved forward to investigate, a whine from one of the wolves was all the warning they received as a yellowish-brown tentacle exploded from the water to swing at Xian! He dodged the blow and backpedaled quickly; an ochre-colored amoebic blob flowed up and out of the water. In a flash, Xian drew and fired two arrows into the gelatinous mass, but to his horror and dismay the disgusting creature simply split into three smaller masses, all surging ahead to attack! Xian was alarmed, but still unworried about their ability to deal with the jelly-like creatures. He realized their true peril, however, when the figures of two ghostly pirates emerged from the back of the cabin and floated toward them. His shout for aid may have come out a bit higher-pitched than he intended, but that was only because one of the pirates reached out and touched his chest. He could feel the shockingly cold touch draining away his strength, his knees buckling and his vision narrowing alarmingly. Izzy began chanting a spell to combat the oozes, but the appearance of the two wraiths gave her pause. She was able to complete the spell and threw a ball of flame at one of the oozes with a satisfactory hiss as it burst into flame. She shrank back as a wraith reached for her, but was unable to avoid its touch as it wrapped a translucent hand around her throat. Its icy touch burned like fire, and she too felt her strength draining away. Kitty was the first to hear the cry for help. She did a quick headcount as she glanced around the tavern's main room and realized both half-elves and their wolves were missing. "They're in trouble!" she shouted as she bolted for the door. She trusted her companions enough to know they'd follow, and there probably wasn't time for explanations… Izzy and Xian realized they were in dire straits, and both opted to abandon ship. As they dove over the sides of the boat onto the shore, their wolves howled in impotent rage against the vile wraiths; thankfully, the animals knew to stay far clear of the foul undead. The wraiths followed the half-elves closely, hungering for the warmth of their preys' lifeforce. As fast as he could, Xian desperately fired arrow after arrow into the attacking wraith. Most seemed to find their mark, though a few obviously passed straight through the creature without any effect. Both adventurers were reeling from the repeated draining touches of the wraiths; they could hear the shouts of their companions getting closer, and both prayed that they could hold out long enough for help to arrive. Mei Ling ran for all she was worth. In the distance ahead, she could see Xian battling another translucent apparition on the riverbank; she could just barely see that Izzy was also fighting on the far side of a beached river barge. Also, something was moving on the boat's deck. She redoubled her efforts to reach them in time… Xian was becoming desperate. The wraith had touched him several times, and he could feel his strength waning. He gritted his teeth and concentrated, trying to continue the veritable stream of arrows into his foe. He breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the undead creature finally fade into nothingness at last, but realized that Izzy was still in trouble. He stumbled toward the druid, hoping to maintain consciousness long enough to assist… Mei Ling watched Xian dispatch the wraith just as she arrived to help; she veered around the ship's prow and raised her holy symbol at the undead beast that had Izzy on her heels. "The power of Torm compels you!" she shouted, drawing the attention of the wraith. As she felt the wondrous wave of divine energy rush through her, she caught sight of several yellowish pseudopods waving on the boat's deck as they reached out for Izzy. The wraith, unable to withstand the divine compulsion, retreated out over the water. Xian took a few parting shots, but was unable to destroy the undead before it moved out of range. Izzy, with the threat of the wraith removed, cast another quick spell. A flaming sphere should teach them a lesson, she thought to herself. As the large ball of flame appeared, she willed it to roll through the nearest slime and happily noted that the monstrous amoeba was consumed by the flames. The remaining oozes barely managed to find the ground before Izzy turned them into smoldering piles of gooey ash. Xian's shoulders slumped in disgust and exhaustion. Not only had he endangered himself with a rookie mistake, but he'd nearly gotten Izzy killed as well. He braced himself for the inevitable dressing-down from Mei Ling; she might be a bit preachy, but she certainly knew how to fight. He knew he'd screwed up, but she was going to make sure he knew it. He sighed in frustration; everyone else was probably furious, and he'd let Izzy down. He'd have to do better than this. Kitty chuckled to herself as she heard Mei Ling start into the half-elves for running off alone; the cleric definitely took her role as party leader seriously, and this kind of insubordination was sure to keep her yelling for a good ten minutes. The rogue hopped up onto the deck and peered into the cabin, wondering what the half-elves had been looking for. She watched the water's edge closely for any possible underwater movement, but nothing sprung out at her as she crept closer. Her trained eye spotted something interesting under the water's surface, and she shouted for Gulg to give her a hand. Together, the two of them were able to drag an ancient lock-box up from its watery resting place. Gulg's muscles strained, and the rusty box slowly creaked open to reveal the pirates' booty. Kitty's excited shout was enough to interrupt Mei Ling's ranting; everyone clambered up to see what the rogue had found. "I think we can forgive Xian," Kitty crowed. With everyone gathered around, she opened her hand to reveal a breathtakingly magnificent platinum ring, set with a dazzlingly huge black opal. "This beauty's worth more than the entire pile of hobgoblin treasure we found yesterday!" The Sunday Night Slammers "The ground is a +5 Weapon."
Useless Trivia Man	Chapter Nine: The Journey to Rastor and the Battle of the Front Door	#33	[-]
Posts: 82 (07/31/09 08:04:27) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Izzy stood with a ball of flame perched on her palm over the burning ochre jellies as they sizzled and popped, watching them closely for movement. Mei Ling walked up next to the druid, her nose wrinkling at the disgusting smell of burning ooze as she cast a healing spell on the half-drow. Mei Ling smiled as she glanced at Izzy's face; the druid had produced a lacy, frilly handkerchief from somewhere and had it tied around her nose and mouth. It was very unlike her, and she looked like a child playing at city guards and the thieves' guild... "So where do we go next?" inquired the druid, her eyes never straying from the burning piles of goo. "I want to get back to the tavern and deal with that thing in the upstairs room, but once that's done I think we'd better get back to Hommlet," Mei Ling replied. "We've taken wounds from these undead that are beyond my ability to heal right now. Besides, we've got to find some way to transport all that loot we stashed at the temple, and Xian seems to have his heart set on buying us a wagon." Izzy made a derisive noise. "A wagon would make travel impossible, should we need to leave the road." "True enough, but I think we're almost ready to move on from Hommlet anyway. We have more than we can sell here, and the city of Arabel is on the way to Rastor. If we can secure a wagon, or even a two-wheeled cart, we can haul everything to a big city and sell it all at once. I'd rather not just abandon that arsenal for some other bandits to find." Izzy stood in quiet thought for a moment. "I believe those pirates were actually spectres," she finally said, almost reluctantly. Mei Ling glanced at the druid concernedly. "Is it something from your memories again?" "Yes... I'm sure I've dealt with spectres before, but there's nothing there," lamented the half-elf. It had been four years since Izzy had been discovered in a snowbank by an old druid woman, barely alive, and upon nursing the strange young woman back to health, they learned that Izzy couldn't remember anything about who she was or where she'd come from. She knew her name was Izzy, and the odd spider medallion around her neck had provided her last name of Baenre. She wished she knew what a Baenre was... They found the tavern just as they'd left it. Mei Ling turned to the others. "I think it would be best if I went alone at first, but I'll need Kitty's help to unlock the door again. If this works, I'll call for you to come join me." No one objected. Kitty was able to easily pick the lock once again, and the door opened into the same swirling chaos they'd seen before. The ghostly woman floating near the ceiling shrieked and babbled incoherently as debris streaked past the doorway and cycloned around the room. Mei Ling tightly gripped her holy symbol and stepped forward into the storm. The remains of a chair immediately slammed into her, but she merely took a staggering step forward and shouted her prayer over the destructive cacophany. "THE POWER OF TORM COMPELS YOU!" The angry undead spirit reached out to touch the cleric, her insubstantial hand raking through Mei Ling's face. She gasped in agony, but stood firm. "THE POWER OF TORM COMPELS YOU!" The creature struck again. Mei Ling's vision blurred and her head felt like it would explode, but she took a step forward and continued. "THE POWER OF TORM COMPELS YOU!" Unable to withstand the continued onslaught of divine energy, the undead shrank away and retreated to the corner of the room. Mei Ling sighed in relief, then called out to her comrades. "It is done! Come quick, and bring your blades!" As the spirit faded into nothingness, the swirling storm faded and the room quieted at long last. A search of the room turned up a bag stuffed with gold coins tucked into the mattress. Everyone began filing out of the room when Izzy cried out in alarm. They turned to see her knee-deep in the floor, her foot having broken through a loose board. She gave a sheepish apology, but then a puzzled look crossed her face. She gingerly pulled her leg from the hole, then reached an arm down into the opening. A grin broke out as she triumphantly lifted out a small leather pouch, stiff with age and covered in detritus. She pulled a vial from the pouch, then shook out a pair of bejeweled earrings into her palm. "That's an interesting treasure-finding technique you've got there," joked Xian. Izzy smiled in return. "At least I found something!" Their return to Hommlet was uneventful. Tianden, weepingly thankful to be returned to civilization, promised to spread word of their good deeds throughout the lands. Xian, true to his word, bought a horse and cart while the others said their farewells, and after a last night's rest in Hommlet, they set out once more. Their cache in the temple's guard tower was undisturbed, and as soon as they'd loaded everything in the cart the eight of them (ten, with the wolves) set out on the road to Arabel. Arabel, third-largest city in the forest kingdom of Cormyr, was still rebuilding. The city had fallen during the Goblin War, and the occupying host of orcs and goblins held the city for a month before it could be retaken by Cormyrian forces. Much of the city had been damaged or destroyed, but the city's people were quick to help rebuild their home. Arabel's outer wall was a distant ant's nest of activity as they approached the city, workers scurrying to build up the sections damaged by war. Mei Ling chuckled to herself at the awed expressions on her companions' faces; most had never seen such a large city. Arabel wasn't even close to matching the size of her home city of Calimport, and she examined the city with a more casual interest. Izzy maintained her scowl of displeasure; she'd lobbied on and off for the last four days to skip visiting the city entirely, but her less and less casual objections had been shot down every time. They all knew the nature-loving half-drow tended to despise civilization. "So what do you know about Arabel?" Mei Ling asked aloud. Having grown up far south of here, she knew next to nothing about the Cormyrian city. Betty was quick to volunteer information. "It's mainly a merchant city, and the jewelry market here is really well-known. The royal college of the War Wizards is here, too. Let's see... the city's main church is the Lady's House, a big temple of Tyche, but there's also a church of Torm the True." Xian chimed in. "The World Serpent and the Dancing Dragon are the best inns in town. And because of all the jewel merchants and trading companies, there's always plenty of mercenaries for hire in Arabel." Billie corrected him. "The World Serpent got bought out. It's actually now called the Wild Goose, but most folk still call it the Serpent. The best inn in town is really the Pride of Arabel, but it's too rich for the likes of us. The War Wizard school has one of the largest libraries in the world, and anyone can use it but the fees are high." "How did the library survive the occupation?" wondered Cordio. "That'd be a likely target for marauding goblins to destroy." "The War Wizards sealed it before they left, and the goblins never found a way in," answered Billie. "Hey Betty, maybe you can try to find some information on Tharizdun or the Temple of Elemental Evil in there," suggested Mei Ling. Betty agreed to look into it as they approached the line of wagons at the city gate... Mei Ling ceremonially spat in her hand and shook with the armorer, completing the deal. As the dwarven craftsman went to fetch the agreed-upon coins, Billie chuckled at the smug look on the cleric's face. "Don't look so pleased. Betty probably would have gotten twice that out of him." "Only if she'd opened her robe and promised something I refuse to deliver," Mei Ling scoffed. "Especially not for a dwarf. Too hairy and too short." Billie surprised her. "Hairy's not so bad. You should have seen how fuzzy Spugnoir's..." "Oh gods, no!" interrupted the cleric good-naturedly. "No more sordid details about you and your potion-seller!" Billie bit back her response as the armorer returned. She was a bit surprised at how much she missed the wizard and his beautiful little girl... Betty sighed as she counted out even more gold pieces into the palm of the waiting clerk. They'd warned her that using the library would be expensive, but this was getting ridiculous! Separate fees for admission, translation, and guidance seemed very unnecessary, especially when she'd had to pay for all in advance... Betty was still cursing as they left Arabel. "After shelling out all that money, I still have to come back in two weeks to see if they could find anything! It's out and out robbery!" she complained. "Well, the rest of us didn't want to sit around and twiddle our swords while you spent that two weeks reading," Kitty pointed out. Again. Mei Ling steered the conversation to lighter topics as they rode west... The morning started out sunny and pleasant, but by midday clouds were gathering on the horizon and early in the afternoon the sky opened up with a total downpour. The companions trudged on through the rain for the next two days before finally spotting the little town of Rastor nestled into the side of the mountains ahead. The town was less than impressive at first glance, and only worsened as they drew nearer. Run-down, dreary, and dirty, the town held only twenty to thirty buildings, none of which displayed a single splash of color. The townsfolk were similarly drab and weary, and the few souls they could see as they rode into town were wary of the big, strange group of adventurers. Kitty turned on the charm and managed to learn from a passerby that the Gray Lodge was the town's only tavern, but it did have rooms available for travelers. The Lodge turned out to be aptly named; the stone and wooden building was as tired-looking as everything else in the hamlet. Its smoky interior held a dozen locals quietly drinking, and every one of them stopped to stare as the companions crowded in out of the rain. The bartender appeared to be completely unfazed as the big group filed in and took the largest table in the place. "Awful lot of ye, ain't there?" he drawled as he turned to spit a long brown stream toward the nearby spittoon. It took only a few moments to secure rooms from the un-talkative bartender, and the companions settled in to relax with a round of drinks. They'd barely begun the second round when Cordio, facing the door, suddenly stiffened in quiet alarm. Every head turned to watch the two orcs that had just walked in the room. The other patrons and the bartender seemed completely undisturbed, barely glancing at the humanoids before turning back to their boredom, and the companions looked at each other in shock but held their tongues and their weapons in check as the two orcs casually sat at the bar and ordered mugs of ale. The companions were still processing this odd occurrence when an elderly dwarf entered the taproom. He made a show of stomping and scraping the mud from his boots as he sized up the party, then with a nod to the bartender for a drink, he walked straight up and introduced himself with a wry smile. "Well met, strangers. Name's Rerrid Hammersong, and since I'm the oldest person in town I get to be the town elder. Heard there was an army of adventurers invading, so I had to come 'n see. What brings ye to Rastor?" Mei Ling leaned forward and spoke in a low voice, "We wonder if you might be able to tell us where we could find a man named Tal Chalmish?" Rerrid drew back in puzzled surprise. "Chalmish? He's just a hired hand... does some drover work once in a while. What you wantin' HIM for??" "We've got a message for him," Mei Ling said carefully. "Well, you may as well wait here. He comes in here drinkin' most nights. Ye can't miss him... he's the only person in town with red hair." Mei Ling nodded. "Well enough. Out of curiosity, have you ever heard of the Temple of Elemental Evil? Or Tharizdun?" "Thar-izz-what?? Nope, that don't mean nothin' to me." As Mei Ling began to explain, Rerrid interrupted. "Oh, you mean the temple up there in the mountains? Yeah, it's 'bout six miles up there. They ain't the most savory type, but then neither are we, most days. They're a quiet bunch though. They send people down here to town once in a while, but usually all we see of 'em are the merchant wagons passing through. You thinkin' about going up there? You should talk to Tymerian before ye do. She's been up there, an' she's seen some stuff that may change yer minds 'bout poking your noses into that place. She used ta be an adventurer like yerselves, but know that her party went up there about a month ago, an' she was the only one to crawl back outta that hole. She's took up residence here ever since. Good thing too... it's kinda handy to have a wizard 'round town, but this one tends to cry a lot." Rerrid paused to take a long drink. "So yer adventurers then. What kind of adventures have ye seen?" The gang took turns describing fantastic battles involving yellow musk zombies and mercenary half-dragon duergars. Right in the middle of a good part where Xian was hanging upside down by a thread above a yawning chasm, the tavern door banged open. A female dwarf hurried in, out of breath, but then tried to act casual as she sauntered over to their table. Rerrid chuckled aloud, and she realized how unsuccessful her act was and muttered a greeting to the elder. Rerrid introduced her as Thandie Deeperdark, the town's cobbler and leatherworker, and the red-faced woman joined the conversation. But just as they were getting back to poor Xian hanging there, a scruffy, red-headed man entered the room. As soon as he'd settled into a chair with an ale, Kitty casually walked over and sat down beside him. The redhead looked her up and down and gave her an oily smile as she leaned close. "How you doin'?" he purred. "My name's Tal. Who are you?" The rogue gave an impish smile in return. "I'm Kitty." His eyes were ready to fall out of his head when Mei Ling slid in on his other side, sandwiching him between the two women. The cleric leaned in close. "I understand you can get me in contact with Naquent," she whispered. His smile disappeared instantly. "You're from the temple?!" "Yes, and so are you." Tal's eyes widened. "I'm not part of the temple! I just help 'em out with stuff here in town sometimes!" "We need to talk to Naquent. Where can we find him?" Tal's eyes narrowed and he leaned back in his chair. "So you're friends of Naquent, and you're trying to find… him. Interesting. Now why don't you tell me what you really want Naquent for?" Mei Ling cursed herself for tripping up on such a simple error. How in the Nine Hells was she supposed to know that Naquent was a woman? She wasn't good at this bluffing game… time to try being truthful. "We've got a letter from Naquent, and it just happens to mention you by name. It says that someone from the temple can get help from you, and all they have to do is ask. We took this letter from the corpse of an evil cleric named Dunrat in the town of Hommlet. So who is Naquent, and what do you know about the temple?" Tal looked nervous, his charming veneer gone in a heartbeat. "Tell you what. Why don't we go someplace quiet where there aren't so many ears to overhear our conversation? Let's go to my place." His eyes widened when all eight companions stood together and began moving with him to the door. "Uh… I think I may need some more chairs." Everyone was crammed tightly into Tal's tiny house; he gave up trying to find enough chairs and offered drinks around the room. "I'm afraid all I have is tea," he said as he scrounged cups, mugs and glasses for everyone. The companions looked suspicious, and only Mei Ling and Cordio reached for the strange brew. Tal lifted his glass in toast to the two, and started to lift his cup to his lips. He paused. "So what exactly is your interest in the temple?" Mei Ling swallowed the bitter tea and set her cup down. "That place is a temple of Tharizdun, and we are going to destroy it." Tal's eyes drifted over to Cordio, and as the dwarf slugged down his mug of tea, the man's entire demeanor instantly changed. "And now, I think it's time I explain how things really work around here." Kitty realized something was suddenly very wrong here. Tal was now acting as though he'd just gained the upper hand, and her eyes locked on the mug still in the dwarf's hand as his deception became apparent. Gulg and Billie stepped forward menacingly, but Tal's confidently raised hand asked them to pause. "In truth, I'm the person who truly runs things here in Rastor, and now you're going to do exactly what I tell you to do." Mei Ling hadn't figured it out yet. "And why would we possibly do that?" Tal grinned. "Because if you don't, you'll die a very agonizing death tomorrow." He allowed his eyes to lower to the now-empty cup on the table. Mei Ling was unconvinced. "Poisoned tea?! Do you really think that's going to work?" "Oh, not at all. I didn't poison you... well, not exactly. You see, I've given you something called tanbrosh, and right about now it's starting to make you feel really good. But you'll need more of it tomorrow, and if you don't get it, you'll die." Cordio furiously raised his axe to strike. "Where's the antidote?" "There isn't one. The only way to prevent death is to continue taking the tanbrosh, just the same as everyone else. So if you strike me down, not only will YOU die, you'll also kill a lot of innocent townsfolk..." Mei Ling cursed loudly as they left Chalmish's hovel. She could feel the drug buzzing through her system, and she felt simultaneously twitchy and unable to concentrate well. Tal Chalmish had them over a barrel... or did he? She needed to consider ways to remove the drug from their systems, but right now she was simply too furious to think. They all wanted to turn the smarmy drug dealer into a bright red paste, but they apparently needed him alive. For now. But hopefully not for long... Tymerian was startled by the knock on her door. Who could possibly be calling at this hour of the night? She ran a quick hand over her head in a vain attempt to smooth her hair and cinched her belt tight as she hurried to the door. Her jaw dropped at the sight of the large group of strangers gathered around her front step, but as she tried to retreat back into her tiny home a robed woman stepped forward with a gentle smile. "Are you Tymerian?" The adventurers crowded themselves in yet another tiny home, but this time they all chose to decline when offered tea. Tymerian was alarmed to hear that they were going to the temple, but agreed to tell them her tragic tale… "I was part of an adventuring group. We called ourselves the Order of the Jade Fist... It was a joke really, between Erdso and Vister. Erdso was a disciple of the Jade Falcon, and Vister was a paladin of Torm, and they came up with the name one night while we were on the road, sitting around a campfire... There were six of us. Vister, Erdso, me, Jurrikath, Flan, and Brother Maynard. We'd heard the story about the old dwarven mines up there on Mount Stalagos, and how the clerics chased the dwarves from their home years ago. It sounded like a great adventure - Jurrikath kept singing songs about how we'd become rich and famous like the Band of the Hand or the Heroes of Hommlet, but... tears well up Sorry... it's still not easy for me to talk about it. We'd done pretty well adventuring, until we went up there. I had a flying carpet we could all ride... it gave us a really good look at the whole place before we went in. It was supposed to be easy. We bypassed the mines themselves and went straight for the center island. Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself." She sketched a quick map. "Mount Stalagos is a dead volcano with a lake in the crater. There were three bridges from the rim across the water to the middle island, and there were little towers all around the island that we didn't really notice at first. But in the middle of the island was this jet-black tower... Vister wanted to go straight for it, so I brought us in low. We barely cleared the crater's rim before the first lightning bolt hit us from one of those small towers. I managed to turn the carpet and avoid the worst of that one, but two more hit us cross-wise and I just couldn't get us out of the way. The carpet was falling apart. It was all I could do just to steer us onto one of the bridges rather than crashing in the lake. We barely survived the crash, but Brother Maynard healed everyone and Vister led the charge to the island. We made it all the way there without any more trouble, but there was a huge door at the end of the bridge. It wouldn't open. Maynard and I tried a few spells to open the door, but then Jurrikath spotted a whole bunch of guards - and hill giants - coming our way from the other end of the bridge. I think we could have beaten them if we were given the chance. The door opened. We thought we were ready for anything, but we didn't expect to see a RED DRAGON waiting for us! Flan and Vister charged it with their swords, but it breathed fire and Flan died right away. Vister was burning and he jumped in the lake, even with his armor on and everything. The dragon told the rest of us to surrender, and with both warriors dead we had to do it. We were trapped. The dragon reached down into the water and pulled Vister's body out. He wasn't dead, but he wasn't moving and he was hurt bad. The guards took us inside, and a big man in red and black armor was waiting for us there in the dragon's lair. He laughed at us and called us fools. He asked me questions about who had sent us and what we knew about the temple. I didn't have answers, so he came up close. It wasn't until he was staring me in the eyes that I realized he was a vampire. I saw his teeth. He didn't bite me, he only touched my cheek and I could feel him taking away my life energy. He did the same to Erdso and Jurrikath, but then Maynard tried to use his holy symbol and drive the vampire away. It just made him mad. The vampire bit out Maynard's throat and killed him... it let him bleed out onto the ground until he died. I was terrified. I didn't want to spend eternity as a vampire's undead slave... I knew my necklace would keep me alive underwater, so just before they closed the big door I ran out onto the bridge and jumped in before anyone could catch me. They didn't chase after me, and I hid underwater for a long time. By the time I came back to the surface to see what was happening everyone was gone and the door was shut again. I swam to the crater's rim and I was almost discovered by a patrol of fishmen, but I turned myself invisible and they swam right by me. I waited until nightfall, and then I climbed out of the crater and made my way back to Rastor. It took me two days. I didn't try to save my friends, I just turned and ran. They're still in there and I'm not... I hope they're all dead, and I feel horrible for thinking that. But they'd be better off dead than in that monster's hands. I still haven't ever regained the strength that vampire stole from me, and he only touched me. What has he done to the others?? They're all still in there!" "What do you think?" asked Betty as they sat down with their drinks back at the Gray Lodge. Tymerian had broken down inconsolably on finishing her sad story, and as they'd left Mei Ling had sworn they'd do whatever they could for the wizard's missing comrades. Mei Ling's tongue felt like it had sprouted fur, and she spoke carefully. "I wonder how many people in town are hooked on this stuff. Let's see if Rerrid knows anything." Cordio had been silent the entire time. While describing the temple, Tymerian had mentioned that the dormant volcano was known as Mount Stalagos. Somehow none of the others had noticed his strong reaction. Cordio was a member of Clan Hearthammer of Shieldgaard, but before that the remnants of his clan had been driven from their homes... in the Stalagos Mines. He'd never known the location of his clan's previous home, and he was astounded to learn that he'd stumbled upon it! His brain, befuddled by the tanbrosh, was trying to process the fact that he'd found his ancestral home... The dwarves seemed happy to share a table once more. Kitty watched their faces closely as Mei Ling asked about tanbrosh; Rerrid seemed to be genuinely unaware of the drug's hold on the town, but Thandie had noticeably stiffened in surprise the moment tanbrosh was mentioned. When confronted, Thandie broke down and admitted she was also caught in Tal Chalmish's web of drug users. Rerrid was utterly flabbergasted by the revelation and sat in silent, open-jawed shock as Thandie explained the dangers of tanbrosh withdrawal. After a day without the drug, they'd get the shakes. On the second day they'd fall into a coma, and three days without more tanbrosh would be inevitably deadly. As Thandie gave her confession, Mei Ling was remembering a lesson she'd received from Sister Fadom many years ago at the House of Truth. Servants of Calimport's unsavory pashas paid handsomely for magic that neutralized poisons, and she remembered that one of the myriad reasons was to counteract the highly addictive effects of the pleasantly mind-numbing drugs that were popular still today in the desert city. A whispered question to Izzy confirmed that the druid did have a spell to neutralize poison available to her, though it wasn't one she had available at the moment. Mei Ling smiled, sure that she'd found the way out of the drug dealer's trap... Sure enough, in the morning Cordio and Mei Ling could already feel the drug's savage hunger beginning to affect them. After the spellcasters had chosen their daily spells, Izzy's magic was able to remove the addiction from her companions. "We say nothing to the townsfolk of this," warned Mei Ling. "If they discover that we've found a cure, it could get back to Chalmish. We definitely want to surprise him with this." It took only about an hour to walk up the well-worn trail up to the temple. Xian suggested an aerial reconnaisance, and Izzy happily transformed herself once again into eagle form to scout the area. After a quick reminder to stay well clear of the island at the center of the volcanic crater, she was away. It turned out that Tymerian had had a good memory, and the druid found the mountaintop was just as described. Xian carefully examined the ground at the trail's fork. "This way," he indicated, "is used far more than the other fork." "Then let's take the road less traveled by," Betty offered. No one objected. The trail wound up the mountainside and ran straight into a large cave opening. The companions inspected it from afar and discussed their strategy, eventually deciding to try the prisoner-transfer ploy once again. They put on the ochre and black robes they'd collected, and once Betty used her wand to turn Kitty invisible, the rogue ran ahead to scout out the entrance. She found a pair of closed, massive double doors at the back of the cave, roughly forty feet in, and arrow slits in the walls to both sides. A large brass doorknocker was mounted to one door, and a humanoid skull was nailed to the other. No one was present, though she could hear occasional movement and quiet voices from within the defensive positions. Her pulse quickened with excitement as she listened closely to a bored-sounding voice casually calling out the number of approaching priests; the disguises seemed to be working! Kitty hurried back to the others to inform them of what was ahead, and the group marched right in. A series of powerful booms echoed through the cave as Gulg used the knocker. "Go on in," called out a sleepy voice. The adventurers, almost unbelieving their luck, opened the door and entered the Temple. A short, wide hallway, lit with torches, led to a four-way intersection. Straight ahead, they could see another huge set of double doors, and on the floor just ahead of them they could see four large mosaic symbols inlaid in the stone floor. A red diamond, a bluish-green square, a white circle, and a brown triangle were evenly spaced in a line across their path; they gingerly stepped across the symbols, but they seemed harmless. The intersection revealed a long hallway to the left with several side entrances, and to the right they could see a guard room with a group of bored-looking gnolls sitting around a table, playing some sort of dice game. The gnolls looked up at them, then turned away disinterestedly. Mei Ling marched right in. "Who here speaks the common tongue?" All of the gnolls looked at her expectantly. "We all does," responded the nearest gnoll. "Where can I find Naquent?" she demanded of him. The gnoll snorted in annoyance and waved his hand. "She prob'ly in the Outer Fane." The adventurers glanced at each other uncertainly, and Mei Ling tried again. "And how do we get to the Outer Fane?" The gnoll sighed in exasperation and turned from the game. "You goes that way to da bridge." He pointed down the far hallway. As the hyena-faced humanoid turned back he muttered, "If'n da Earth Temple lets ya by!" The other gnolls yapped laughter at the comment. Mei Ling spun the big beast around by the shoulder and used her Angry Evil Cleric Voice. "What did you say, you mangy, flea-ridden mongrel?" The gnolls bowed their heads and cowered in fear. "Nuffin', yer worship! We's just sayin' dat you might has to ask nice for da Earth Temple to lets you by!" Mei Ling acted slightly mollified by the deferential treatment. "And what if I chose not to go that direction?" The gnoll cocked its head in puzzlement. "Uh, den I guess you goes to da Fire Bridge, down dat way." He pointed in the opposite direction from the Earth Temple. "You goes t'roo da Wilds day way." Mei Ling scanned the room. There were two other doors, but both were closed. The gnolls were still unsuspecting, but that could quickly change if she said the wrong thing again. She looked meaningfully at Cordio, Billie and Gulg as she made a show of tightening her grip on her morningstar. "Then I guess we'll just have to take our chances. We can certainly handle any little surprises that jump us." The warriors leapt forward as one, whipping out their weapons and mowing through the unprepared guards. Not a single gnoll was able to shout out a warning, though the group winced collectively at the sounds of six bodies hitting the floor. They held their breath and waited in the sudden silence... Burk wondered what those stinking gnolls had gotten into this time as he heard several loud thuds and thumps from the outer guard room. The human guard sighed in exasperation and leaned forward and away from the wall, bringing his chair back to all four legs. "What the hell are you DOING in there?" he yelled. None of his fellow guards had even moved from their seats, and he sighed again. He stood and stretched his tired limbs, and walked to the door to yell again at the foul-smelling gnolls. As he reached for the door latch he thought, "They always stink like wet fur..." Gulg, Billie and Cordio waited next to the closed door with weapons poised to strike. They'd all heard the guard's call, and they quickly moved into position. Gulg barely had time to register the surprise on the guard's face as he and Billie swung simultaneously; the unlucky fellow fell to the floor in no less than four distinct pieces as Cordio charged past him into the room. A brief but violent fight broke out, but the companions' luck ran out as one of the last guards screamed for assistance before falling. Mei Ling and Xian looked at each other and turned back toward the wide intersection; they began to hear movement as the surrounding areas started to react to the cry for aid, and suddeny an unearthly howl echoed from somewhere in the distance. Mei Ling stopped in the middle of the intersection. "We hold here! If it comes to it, we fall back to the exit!" The howling sounded much nearer now, emanating from behind the double doors now off to their right. The companions all hurried to take their positions with the cleric and the ranger, but before they could all return to the crossroad, the huge double doors creaked open. Mei Ling had turned back to see how close the rest of her companions were when something very large and pointy whooshed past her head; wide-eyed, she whipped around to see a massive ballista now visible behind the doors! Its crew was already frantically working to crank the huge windlass back for a second shot. As guards began pouring through the open doors, Betty moved up to stand next to Mei Ling. "I guess it's time for me to start earning my keep, yes?" the wizard commented with a wry smile. Her fingers flew through the complex gestures of a spell, and Mei Ling recognized the sour odor of sulfur and bat guano just as Betty finished casting with a flourish. A huge ball of flame exploded in the doorway, catching both the ballista crew and the approaching guards in the blast. Mei Ling wiped her eyes and checked the powerful spell's aftermath; all of the guards were laid low, and the ballista was now a merrily-burning bonfire. Her attention was drawn by movement from her left, as more guards charged toward them from a side hall. Betty's fireball had been impressive, but it hadn't caught everyone behind the double doors; more guards charged past their comrades' smoldering bodies to attack. A deep roar drew everyone's attention as a huge, armored figure emerged. Cordio grinned and shouted, "Now that' more like it!" as he moved to intercept the ogre; Xian stood firm in the intersection and fired arrow after arrow into the approaching horde. Gulg and the wolves headed off the approaching guards from the other direction. As Betty prepared to cast another spell, the source of the unearthly howling finally appeared. A huge, emaciated catlike creature leapt into the hall, yard-long black and yellow quills bristling around its neck like a lion's mane and foot-long fangs littering its wide-open maw. It howled again, the horrid screech setting the wizard's teeth on edge. She reached into her belt pouch for another ball of sulfur and guano... Mereclar was furious. The half-elven ranger had been dozing at his desk when one of the guards called for aid, and now here he was, running into the heart of a major battle against unknown foes! He released the howler; none of the guards trusted the infernal beast, but his "pet" was a true killing machine. Just as he'd finished unlocking its chain, a massive ball of fire exploded in the entryway, knocking him flat. The howler, unfazed, leapt out to charge, but Mereclar was slow to regain his feet. Every one of his troops that had been caught in the blast lay unmoving on the floor, and worse, the ballistae had been hit as well. Both siege engines were on fire, their crews among the newly dead. He knew he had to take out that wizard. He paused just long enough to cast his expeditious retreat spell, boosting his speed as he ran out into the hall with both swords drawn... Xian saw the enemy commander appear, longsword and shortsword in hand, and drew a bead on the other half-elf. Betty's second fireball preempted his shot though, the wizard targeting the cluster of foes gatherering by the ogre and the howler. He smiled in grim satisfaction as the enemy commander was also caught in the fireball's blast, though he unfortunately covered up just in time to avoid the worst of the flames' damage. The ranger raced past the clustered melee where Cordio and Billie stood toe-to-toe with the ogre and the howler, moving with incredible speed toward Betty. Before either could even react, their half-elven enemy's blade scored a wicked hit. Both Xian and Betty fell back from the unexpected onslaught, and Xian drilled arrow after arrow into their fast-moving foe. Billie was hurting badly. The howler had gotten past her defenses and savagely bitten her; the bite itself was bad enough, but then its thrashing movements had also driven several of the needle-sharp quills into her as well, and the wounds were beginning to take a toll on her. She continued to slash at the demonic beast with her greatsword, laying open numerous wounds on the foul creature, and noted that Xian was doing his part behind her, as evidenced by the arrows buried in the beast's hide. Billie's frantic parrying against the bites of the howler provided an opening for the ogre, however, and it was quick to take full advantage as it slammed its massive warclub into the warrior's side. Billie realized she was lying on the floor and briefly wondered how she'd gotten there before succumbing to the darkness… Gulg was growing frustrated. These guards were better than he'd expected, and he was having a hard time getting past their defenses. He knew the main battle was behind him, down the other hallway, but he couldn't get in on that action until he took down the rest of these wimps. The half-orc grinned with satisfaction as another foe fell to the combined attacks of the two wolves; Xian and Izzy had sent their animals to help him defeat the guards, and now only a single, scared human remained. His grin disappeared when a group of oddly shuffling figures emerged from another side hall. He recognized the walking dead for what they were and briefly wondered why the zombies were joining the battle. The answer immediately appeared as a big troglodyte stepped out behind the zombies, chanting in its sibilant tongue and waving one of those obex holy symbols. Izzy sighed. Her rolling ball of fire had completely missed the fast-moving half-elf, though the blazing sphere was quite effective against the furry gnoll guards. She concentrated, willing the four-foot sphere to roll into the backside of yet another foe... Kitty cursed her ill fortune. She'd been perfectly positioned to strike down that half-elf with the swords as he'd charged Betty, but she'd misjudged how fast he was moving and her swing fell short. She'd dissipated her invisibility with absolutely nothing to show for it, damn the luck! She'd chased him down though and managed to land a distracting blow into his backside while Xian peppered him with arrows, but the foe was already down and she needed a new target. She turned just in time to see Billie take a bone-crushing blow from the ogre's huge warclub, sending her friend to the ground in a heap. She leapt forward as she dug through her pouch for a healing potion, praying that it wasn't too late... Mei Ling spotted the zombies closing on Gulg and the wolves and turned to deal with the hideous undead creatures. She raised her holy symbol and began the now-familiar chant. "THE POWER OF TORM COMPELS YOU!" She knew even as she spoke the words that she wouldn't have to repeat the Turning. The divine energy flowed strong through her, and she was satisfied to see all but one of the zombies crumbled to dust. The troglodyte hissed angrily at the destruction of its minions. The Tharizdunian cleric completed its spell, forming a shadowy black clawed hand and launching it toward the nearby half-orc barbarian. Mei Ling winced as she watched the awful claw rend and rip into Gulg, causing him to bellow in agony. She started toward him, mentally preparing her most powerful healing spell, but was stopped short as yet another group of gnoll guards burst into the hall and surrounded her. She sighed in frustration as she lifted her morningstar into a defensive posture and braced for their attacks... Cordio was having the time of his life. His axe felled human and gnoll guards left and right, and now he'd squared himself off against that accursed ogre. Sure, the big beastie had given him several good licks, but he could see that the ogre was hurting far worse. The dwarf ducked a wild swing of the massive warclub and launched himself toward the giant, burying his axe in the ogre's chest and riding the falling foe to the floor. He giggled in morbid glee and jumped up, ripping his waraxe free and scanning the area for something else to hit. Gulg grinned excitedly. He'd finally gotten a blow past the surprisingly good defenses of the last guard, and now nothing stood between him and the troglodyte. He noted the heavy armor on the stinking foe and the heavy mace firmly held in its paw as he took a step forward to engage the cleric in combat. The troglodyte had other ideas though, and it stepped backward, hurriedly casting a spell. Gulg paused; a sudden, paralyzing spasm of pain ripped through his chest, and the half-orc gasped in agony. The evil cleric merely smiled as it contemplated its now-helpless foe... Relief flooded through Xian as he watched the enemy commander finally fall. He began looking for his next victim, and his sharp eyes spotted the helpless Gulg. The last remaining zombie was slowly closing on him from the rear, and Xian aimed for the easy target. The arrow struck true, and the entire battle paused briefly as the damaged zombie unexpectedly detonated in an explosion of fire and bloody chunks! The archer's jaw dropped in shock, and he looked down at his bow in wonder. The explosion had a beneficial effect for Gulg, aside from the gory chunks now covering his back; he'd been standing just outside the fiery blast, and the troglodyte's concentration had been interrupted just enough for him to shake off the agonizing pain in his chest. He firmly gripped his greataxe and took a step forward, then another. He launched himself into a run at the evil priest, but then disaster struck. His foot slipped on a piece of zombie and the poor barbarian fell flat on his face, skidding to a stop right in front of the waiting troglodyte... Betty took careful aim at the evil cleric as she chanted her spell. The rest of their enemies were all on the ground, dead or dying, but this stubborn troglodyte had proven to be a challenging foe. She winced as Gulg fell, but then crowed victoriously as her scorching ray caught the troglodyte full in the chest. Its weapon fell from unfeeling fingers as it crumpled to the ground.... And just like that, the Battle of the Front Door was over... The Sunday Night Slammers "The ground is a +5 Weapon."
Laguna		#34	[-]
Posts: 126 (08/02/09 06:53:59) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	It's interesting how you've shifted from a normal "here's what my PCs did and how I reacted" log to an actual story. I wish I could do this for my campaign, but short of having a tape recorder out the whole night, I don't think I'd be able to pull it off. One of my players had been keeping a journal (written in character), but he's out for an undetermined amount of time. Until I read how you handled Tal Chammish and the tanbrosh, I was honestly thinking about skipping it entirely. I know that it's one of the few things that makes Rastor interesting, but I was having trouble coming up with a clever way to get the PCs to find out about it without it being a dull affair. Now that the grand dungeon crawl has begun, I'm interested to see how much of a balance your party strikes between making (temporary) allies with the elemental temple forces and destroying everything. Bumblebee Tuna!
Useless Trivia Man		#35	[-]
Posts: 83 (08/02/09 14:08:34) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Thanks! I'm trying to go back and write this up in full story form from the beginning, so that eventually it'll all make sense. Sort of. I was actually pretty surprised that I even managed to get two PCs to drink the tea - both only did so because they had good Fort saves (the metagaming fools)! They really want to stick it to Tal badly, and the only reason he's still breathing is because they don't want to summarily kill a bunch of townsfolk in Rastor. I seriously doubt that they'll make any deals or alliances with the various temples (though there will be offers). I could be wrong though - I was astounded that they let Krebbich and the hobgoblins go, and they might surprise me. Next game is a week away, so I've gotta make sure my Earth temple forces are ready for a fight! The Sunday Night Slammers "The ground is a +5 Weapon."
Useless Trivia Man		#36	[-]
Posts: 95 (08/11/09 07:41:57) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Gulg slowly stood, his chest still aching from the awful spell and his limbs shaking like a feeble old man's. He brought a trembling hand to his face, wiping away chunks of gore from the exploding zombie as he looked over the carnage all around. Cordio quickly ran from room to room with axe in hand, looking for something else to kill. Kitty, Billie and Betty chuckled at the dwarf's antics as they followed behind him, using their blades for the grisly task of ensuring that none of their foes were playing possum. Once that chore was finished, Mei Ling was free to begin her mass healings to repair her compatriots' wounds while the others searched bodies for valuables. The barbarians cracked gruesome jokes while they hauled the now-stripped corpses off to the southern guard room. That done, Mei Ling took careful inventory of what they'd found. A quick spell allowed her to pick out the choice magical items of power, and she set them aside for examination. She was a bit worried about the overall quality of the equipment they'd seized; every single one of the human guards had carried a masterwork blade. Whoever these enemies were, their organization was very well-funded. They'd get good money for these swords back in Arabel, but if the measly guards had such good arms, what would their masters be using?? The pillaging of the guards' quarters garnered them a bit more loot, a pair of divine scrolls, and several interesting letters. One was in the half-elven guard captain's room, addressed to "Mereclar," and offered instructions on recruiting more guards from the local orc village. It was signed by the mysterious Naquent. The other, retrieved from the troglodyte cleric's chamber, ordered "Terrenygit" to avoid "allying himself with his brethren in the Earth Temple." Next up on the agenda was exploration of the rest of the immediate area; the group found several rooms holding ancient dwarven mining equipment and machinery. The ore separation room held little of interest except a hole in the floor and a worm-eaten old book, written in dwarvish, that told of the last days of the Hearthammer clan and the abandonment of the Stalagos mines due to an invasion by evil clerics called "doomdreamers." Mei Ling dropped a torch down the hole in the floor; it fell fifty feet and splashed into the dark water below with a barely-heard hiss. The next chamber held an ore-crushing machine... and a spider - as big as a full-grown horse - that thought Kitty looked good enough to eat. She was able to keep out of the reach of its jaws long enough for her Meat Shield™ buddies to step up and turn the beast into a sticky paste. The next chamber held a trio of mining carts and two separate railways leading off down dark tunnels to the south. A brief argument ensued about whether or not to channel Indiana Jones and take the carts for a ride down the rails, but sounder minds prevailed and they left the mining carts where they'd lain for decades... A long walk down a very dark tunnel eventually led them to a widened chamber where rubble and abandoned mining tools lay scattered about the floor. As they moved in to explore, a brief rumble was the only warning given as a quartet of fiery worms burst out of the floor and attacked! Our heroes leapt into battle, and after a quick but brutal fight, all four worms lay dead on the ground. Billie, Mei Ling, and Scotty were all burned pretty badly in the process, but the cleric's magic healed the wounds as if they'd never existed. Continuing along the mine railway, the adventurers entered the upper portion of a large cavern. The far section of the chamber dropped into a lower room where the other set of tracks could be seen crossing on the floor below. The upper railway that they'd been following crossed this open area on a narrow bridge before disappearing into another tunnel. Two ladders allowed easy access from the upper to lower sections of the cavern, and the room was silently empty of any occupants. The next cavern, however, was not abandoned. They thought they were ready for anything; that belief was put to the test when they rounded a corner to see a green dragon waking from its nap! The dragon immediately launched itself into the air as they scattered, but it swooped in and sprayed half the group with its caustic poisonous breath. Betty managed to catch the drake in a fireball, though it seemed to mostly ignore the flames, and the group's warriors leapt forward to hack with their weapons. Xian used his longbow with deadly accuracy, a veritable stream of arrows pelting the dragon as it fought off the blows of the puny humanoids who dared attack it. Vranthis realized he was in real danger, especially after his flurry of attacks failed to bring down even one of these hard-hitting little humans. He took to the air once more, flying to the far end of the chamber and casting a quick spell to increase the toughness of his scaly, armored hide. As these adventurers closed, he'd hit them with his deadly breath once again, and if things continued to go against him he could always use his little summoning trap to bring in help... Cordio watched the foul beast land at the far end of the room, and before he could even register the movement he found himself running full-speed toward the dragon. He was only dimly aware that he was screaming in righteous rage as he charged, axe held high, and launched himself at the terrible drake's head. In slow motion, he watched as it slowly drew in a huge breath... it was about to unleash another devastating acidic cloud on his friends... He would not allow it. The dwarven waraxe swept across in a powerful blow, every bit of the battlerager's strength and skill and willpower focused for that one split-second... and the axe passed through, cleanly and neatly separating the dragon's head from its neck. Cordio stood atop the fallen dragon, axe held high as he poured his heart into a primal scream of sheer rage in defiance of his vanquished foe and its kin across the world, wherever they may be. The dwarf's companions paused, startled by his powerful display of emotion. Everyone stood stock-still for several drawn-out seconds, waiting and watching. Cordio stood panting, then the axe slowly lowered and he turned to look at his friends with a pained expression. "Fer me kinfolk," was all he offered in gruff explanation, as he hopped down from the dead dragon's body and wiped his eyes. "Now then… where's this beastie's hoard?" the dwarf grinned, breaking the solemnity of the moment. The dragon's nest held only a few coppers, but across the room a large iron cauldron was filled to overflowing with treasures. Kitty threw up a hand and warned the others to stay away; her keen eyes had spotted something amiss. A strange little pyramid-shaped object floated in midair right in front of the cauldron. On closer inspection, it appeared to be made of ceramic, but none of the companions had any clue about its purpose or origin. Xian spoke up. "What if I shoot it from across the room and see what happens?" No one had a better idea, so everyone retreated to the far end of the cavern and watched closely as he carefully lined up his shot and let fly… <<Game paused at this point, 'cuz it was already quitting time>> It was a rather rough night for me. I was a little under the weather, and apparently it affected my DMing abilities; I actually forgot the adventure at home and had to drive halfway across town to go get it, and then only after I returned to the gaming venue did I discover that I'd also forgotten all my carefully-prepared notes for the Earth Temple guys! We were already running almost an hour late, so I winged it somewhat. I confess, I did steer them away from the Earth Temple; they laughingly agreed, but they also promised that next time they were immediately turning around and going back to check it out. Vranthis should have been a tougher fight than I made him; I didn't remember to roll a Listen check and have him buff up before the fight started, and he also should have brought the girallon into the battle. Lesson learned: Unwell UTM can have trouble concentrating on details. Make sure everything's packed up and ready to go before sitting down to Sunday evening supper with Mrs UTM and UTM Jr. The Sunday Night Slammers "The ground is a +5 Weapon."
Useless Trivia Man		#37	[-]
Posts: 102 (08/26/09 06:48:40) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	...Xian's arrow streaked across the chamber and caromed off the floating pyramid. The pyramid flew backwards, smashing into tiny shards against the iron cauldron, and suddenly something appeared. The creature stood almost nine feet tall, and it appeared to be a gigantic four-armed gorilla with white hair, glowing red eyes, and a very unpleasant disposition. Since most of the group was hiding around the corner, only Xian got to see it actually appear; its ear-splitting roar of challenge was pretty unmistakable, though. Gulg led the charge to attack, and it met him halfway. The monstrous ape hit hard, though a series of very lucky shots managed to keep the beast reeling and unable to level its full attacks on anyone before Cordio brought it crashing to the ground, and we all watched as it disappeared in a puff of greenish smoke. The cauldron held plenty of coins and gems, and a single scroll with a couple of arcane spells. We decided that this would probably be a good place to rest up; if anyone in the area knew there was a dragon - which was likely - they'd almost certainly steer clear of its lair. This turned out to be a correct assumption (or maybe no one happened to come calling during our eight-hour rest), and as soon as new spells were selected we were ready to continue our exploration. After a brief argument over which way to go, we continued down the tracks to the end of the line. A raised platform with some kind of ore loading system turned out to be the rail line's terminus; there was nothing else in this large cavern to attract our interest aside from a narrow side tunnel. That passage brought us to a narrow ledge overlooking a long, wide water-filled tunnel. The water was stagnant and smelly, and there didn't seem to be any current. We could go left (back the way we came) or right; we chose left. We quickly found the end of the other rail line, where it inexplicably ran straight into the water! As we poked around there, we were surprised when a pair of those ochre-colored oozes came creeping out of the water to slam Gulg and Billie. A vicious but brief battle ensued - everyone remembered to use bludgeoning weapons this time, so no extra jellies were created - and no one got acid-burned too badly before we destroyed the two oozes. Mei Ling dispensed some healing, and on we went down this new set of tracks. A side cavern held a wide pool of fresh water, and we could see a small ledge high up the wall on the back side of the water. Izzy transformed into an eagle and flew up to investigate; she found several items of value, including a very nice battleaxe and heavy steel shield, and changed back to her elven form to send the items back down to her companions. We didn't see anything in the water - even with a light-ensorcelled stone tossed to the bottom of the pool - but Mei Ling decided to take a closer look anyway. Her instinct turned out to be accurate - three skeletons lay at the bottom of the small pond. A dwarven cleric of Moradin and a pair of human temple priests, heavily encrusted with mineral growths and silt deposits, provided us with a beautiful breastplate, a silver Moradin holy symbol, and a black egg-shaped thurible (incense-burning censer). Mei Ling acted smug for being thorough and finding some loot, and the others just rolled their eyes as they moved on into the tunnels. Our next discovery was the lower level of the two-level room where the two rail lines crossed; Cordio noted that the rail here were particularly rusted, right in front of the entrance to a smallish side cavern. The heavily-armored warriors immediately hustled to the rear of the party, and with our non-metal-wearing companions in the front of the group we started into the side cavern to scope things out. Xian and Izzy chose to let their wolves guard the north entrance to the chamber, but that turned out to be a bad call. We noted that the side room appeared to be a messy, stinking bedchamber of some kind, but before we could search anything we heard the wolves yelping in pain! We raced out to see both animals skewered by spears, apparently thrown from the northern passage. We moved up to attack, and were completely caught by surprise when an ettin and its two "pet" rust monsters suddenly appeared! A frantic battle broke out, with all the usual front-line troops hiding at the back of the formation, firing arrows and avoiding the rust monsters, while the lighter-armored party members found themselves up front, toe-to-toe with an angry ettin. Izzy cast a wall of hornets spell (from Relics & Rituals), hoping to trap the foes on the far side, but she cast it right on top of the armored rust monsters, who scuttled right through the wall to attack. Combined missile fire managed to eventually take down one of the rust monsters, but not before they destroyed Izzy's sickle and Billie's full plate armor. Billie retaliated with a truly impressive overhead chop that nearly took the rust monster's head clean off, and then the ettin stood alone on the far side of the hornet wall with Xian's wolf Felony. The fearless (but ridiculously overmatched) wolf leapt to the attack, and everyone else winced at the expected deathblow... Except Mei Ling. In a real display of heroic recklessness, she cast a divine might spell and charged right through the hornet wall to take on the ettin toe-to-toe, receiving a wicked smash from one of its huge clubs for her efforts. But then it was her turn. While the rest of the party sent a hail of arrows, crossbow bolts and sling stones through the wall, the cleric stepped up and smashed blow after blow into the giant's knees, thighs, groin and torso. Gulg and Billie looked at each other, realized they were getting showed up by the wussy cleric, and hurried through the wall to join the melee. The ettin fell quickly, and the wolf had been saved from almost certain death... The ettin's living quarters held a rancid pile of straw and hay that served as a bed; Betty dug through it to find a large burlap bag filled with gold coins, though she also discovered a host of lice, bedbugs and other vermin. We moved on. On our initial foray down the mine tunnels, we'd passed by several small, short tunnels that seemed to connect the two railways, though we hadn't actually investigated them. Mei Ling decided to check one out on the way back through, and she was paid back for her earlier smugness. Someone asked where she was going, and when she replied, "I don't know," she found herself covered in green slime! Everyone began laughing, until Mei Ling screamed, "Someone burn me!" Izzy hurriedly conjured a flaming sphere to burn away the deadly green slime. A quick healing spell regrew the cleric's hair and healed her injuries, and we continued on again. We knew we were nearing the end of the line; a small side passage seemed to be our last pit-stop before we returned to the front door complex. We were startled to find a statue partway down the rough-hewn tunnel; the statue depicted a very lifelike gnoll taking a drink from a bowl. We examined it carefully, but found nothing of interest. Continuing on, we nearly stumbled over yet another gnoll statue. This statue's leg was cleanly broken off and missing. We cautiously continued down the passage to find a small dead-end chamber with - you guessed it - a basilisk! We charged into battle with the eight-legged lizard, frantically hoping to kill it before it could use its petrifying gaze on us. Amazingly, we succeeded! (I really wanted to turn someone to stone, dammit.) The basilisk didn't have anything of value though, and we completed the loop of our search of the mines by returning to the original mine entry room just south of the front door. End of session. ----------------------------------------------------------------- We didn't get as far in this session as I'd hoped or expected; there were a lot of distractions (seven kids - all under the age of ten - running around the room will do that). We made do though; there were a couple of great moments during the fight with Marlgran and his pets. Billie's player baked a cake and brought it - that woman can cook, boys. Very yummy, that. Next time we'll (hopefully) finally reach the Earth Temple. The Sunday Night Slammers "The ground is a +5 Weapon."
Useless Trivia Man		#38	[-]
Posts: 112 (09/14/09 05:01:00) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	After yet another 2-week hiatus, we finally played again last night. We've gotten everyone's summer vacations out of the way, and we should get back into the regular three-Sundays-out-of-four schedule once more. It was a glorious fight against the Earth Temple forces, at long last. __________________________________________________________ As everyone was beginning to file out of the basilisk's cave, Mei Ling paused. An idea struck her, and she began rummaging in her pack. Cordio glanced over his shoulder and called for a halt, but was slightly startled as the cleric triumphantly held up a scroll and rushed past him down the passage. She stopped next to the intact gnoll statue, unfurled the scroll, and looked around at her companions. "Anyone have an objection?" No one spoke. Mei Ling wet her lips and began reading the tortuously difficult spell on the scroll; as she successfully completed reading, the gray stone of the gnoll statue faded and the creature was freed of the petrification enchantment! The cleric's companions scrambled to bring their weapons to bear on the humanoid, but it simply stood in bewildered shock at the gathered adventurers. "What year is it?" shouted Mei Ling, right in its hyena face. The gnoll, along with her companions, looked bewildered. With an unsure glance at the rest of the group, the gnoll slowly shrugged in response. They watched in cautious bemusement as the gnoll's expressive face meandered through a range of emotions; confusion gave way to thoughtful distraction as it tried to recall how it had gotten here. Suddenly its features wrinkled in a display of remembered terror. "Da big rock lizard!" it howled. Mei Ling was quick to respond. "The rock lizard - the basilisk - is dead. We killed it. It turned you to stone, and we just freed you." The gnoll's eyes widened in shock as it tried to absorb this revelation. It looked a bit closer at the party, noting their well-worn equipment and weapons. It finally spoke haltingly. "I was rock?" Mei Ling nodded. "You freed me?" At her second nod, its confusion returned. "Why you do dat fer me??" "We want information," the cleric responded. "How much do you know about the mines?" The gnoll looked slightly embarrassed. "Not much," it answered. It pointed in a generally southerly direction. "Dat way to da Wilds, and dat way to da Urff Temple." It waved its paw towards the north. "I was door guard. We was 'sploring da Wilds. We killed a coupla tentacle worms!" it proclaimed proudly. Mei Ling asked a few more questions to the gnoll, who declared his name to be 'Growf," and determined that he'd served under the half-elven ranger Mereclar. He didn't know much about the Earth Temple, but he'd only served as a guard for about a week before getting "volunteered" to explore the Wilds. After finishing up her questioning, Mei Ling told Growf that she'd lead him to the exit so he could go free. The gnoll immediately took on the look of a kicked puppy. "But I wanna go with YOU!" he whined. "We're going to kill your former bosses," explained Mei Ling. "Good! I help you! I fight good! Got big axe!" Growf held his battleaxe high. The cleric sighed in exasperation. "You can't come with us. I can't be worrying about protecting you in battle." Growf cocked his head in puzzlement. "You not protecting me, I protect YOU!" he declared. Reddening at the not-so-hidden smirks and chuckles from her companions, she threw up her hands in defeat. "All right! You can come with us!" Growf's face broke into a happily leering grin, and Mei Ling was shocked as she watched the gnoll's gaze unabashedly shift down a foot or so. "HEY! My eyes are up here!" The gnoll was puzzled again at her anger. "Whatzat hammer symbol mean?" He pointed at the holy symbol strung around her neck. Mei Ling groaned inwardly as a new round of giggles burst out around her. "That's the symbol of Torm the True, my patron god." "Him's powerful god?" "Yes." Growf considered this for a few moments. "Why you gets mad at me then?" She sighed. "I thought you were staring at my... uh, my breasts." Growf surprised everyone with a look of utter disgust. "Nuh uh! No thanks, you only gots two!" The laughter lasted much longer this time... Once order had finally been restored, the companions returned to the front door complex. After a quick detour so Billie could grab some replacement armor, they headed north toward the Earth Temple. The very first chamber, an apparent guard room, held a quartet of troglodytes and a very big earth elemental! As the companions readied themselves for battle, the ochre-robed leader of the trogs stepped forward with a hand held up in the universal gesture of peace. "Greetings, strong ones. I am Miikolak, servant of the Earth Temple. We wish to congratulate you on your victory over Captain Mereclar and his door guards. We are impressed by your strength, and we are curious. Perhaps we can work together, yes? Perhaps an alliance can be made?" Mei Ling stepped forward. "You are servants of the Earth Temple. You follow the Elder Elemental Eye?" At Miikolak's affirmation, she continued. "Since we're here to stop you from restoring the Temple of Elemental Evil, I don't think we can join your cause." The troglodyte tried a new tack. "Very well then. Perhaps a temporary alliance then? I believe our goals may be very similar." The disbelieving looks he received caused him to quickly continue. "We wish to see the Water Temple struck down. We will allow you passage through the Earth Temple without harm, if you will do this. Their leader Kelashein has become intolerable, and we want to see her destroyed. We could do this ourselves, but it could leave us vulnerable to attack from one of the other temples." Mei Ling pressed for more information. "How many temples are there? And if you're all servants of the Elder Eye, why are you fighting against each other?" "There are four elements, and each has its own temple. All of the temples fight for supremacy." "But what's the benefit for us if we should do this?" argued Mei Ling. "Why don't we just destroy you, then go wipe out the Water Temple too?" For the first time, the troglodyte allowed its anger to show through. "Then you will die here. The Earth Temple will destroy you." Mei Ling smiled as she stepped back, giving the front-line fighters room to move forward. "I guess we'll find out, won't we?" As soon as Gulg and Billie started forward, Miikolak turned tail and fled with an angry hiss. As he disappeared down the far tunnel, the elemental rumbled over and stood in front of that tunnel, utterly blocking the passage. The three troglodyte guards, understanding the situation, looked nervous but stood their ground. Billie quickly laid one of the troglodytes open from stem to stern, then turned and chopped at the elemental, only scoring a minor hit. The elemental answered with a pair of mighty swings, staggering the amazonian warrior. The other two troglodytes also fell quickly, and the group all turned their attention to the monstrous pile of rock. Their weapons had little success penetrating the elemental's rocky hide, and though its massive fists dealt numerous heavy blows, the adventurers stood firm and eventually brought the elemental down. The summoned creature had served its purpose, however; Miikolak was long gone. Mei Ling doled out some quick healing spells while they discussed the best course of action. Two unexplored tunnels led off into the darkness; after a brief debate they decided not to follow after the troglodyte, and headed down the other passage. They moved through an empty guard room and into an unoccupied bedchamber. A pair of crossed greatswords hung on the wall; as Kitty inspected them, an unseen assailant shot her with an arrow from a side passage! Resisting the temptation to charge blindly after the archer, the group chose to explore yet another side passage away from the probable ambush. The next wide cavern was empty, save for a large mosaic triangle in the floor in shades of brown. The adventurers carefully avoided stepping on the mosaic, but once again were fired upon by the hidden archer. After completing a loop that led them back to the rubbled remains of the defeated earth elemental, they decided to go hunting for trouble. They found it. The troglodyte cleric had gathered a large group of allies, all of whom were waiting together in a large cavern for the heretic interlopers to arrive. The companions were unsurprised to see Miikolak and a half-dozen guards; a massive black-skinned troglodyte wearing plate armor and easily wielding a greatsword wasn't quite as expected. The large creature at the rear - a conglomerate creature with a human face, a lion's body and bat wings - was a total shock, however. Recognizing the monster from the haze of her incomplete memories, Izzy shouted, "Manticore!" as the beast raised its spike-covered tail. The warriors of both groups readied their weapons to charge into battle, but before anyone else could react Mei Ling bellowed at the top of her lungs. "IN THE NAME OF TORM!" she screamed, briefly drawing the attention of all as she cast one of her newest and most powerful spells. A brilliantly dazzling cloak of bright energy covered her like a mantle, bolstering her allies and simultaneously blinding her foes! The manticore shook its head in frustrated rage, and Miikolak hurriedly cast a spell to remove the blindness that had overcome them both. His dispel was thankfully successful, and both the cleric and the manticore's vision cleared immediately. The black-skinned Swordmaster, proud wielder of the Sword of Earth, watched his foes carefully as he started forward. He knew these interlopers held powerful magics, based on the reports from the guards who'd watched Mereclar's demise. He spotted a robed human woman - a rather obvious arcanist - and as she started to writhe her fingers in spellcasting, the Swordmaster unleashed his sword's earth power upon her. A hail of stones, dirt and gravel pummeled the woman, injuring her and - more importantly - disrupting her spell! The Swordmaster grinned evilly as he moved to attack. Gulg, Billie and Cordio stepped forward to intercept him. The troglodyte guards joined in, as did Scotty and Felony, the wolves quickly moving around to flanking positions. The battle quickly degenerated into a brawl, both sides dishing out massive amounts of damage to each other. The manticore fired volley after volley of spikes from its tail into the exposed flesh of the adventurers. Betty's fireball exploded in the midst of the Earth Temple defenders, but did little damage. Miikolak began casting from the rear; both Mei Ling and Betty cringed as they recognized the now-familiar flesh ripper spell that tore into Gulg with its vile claw, wounding the half-orc badly. The Swordmaster, quick to exploit his enemy's weakened condition, landed a pair of mighty blows that very nearly decapitated Gulg. The barbarian sank to the floor, his lifesblood spurting from the garish wounds. Mei Ling rushed to her friend's aid, casting her most powerful healing spell to cease the blood flow and seal up the hideous wounds. Scotty was the next victim of the Swordmaster's wicked blade, and only a similar spell from Izzy kept the wolf alive. Xian finally realized that no one was doing anything to slow the continuous hail of spikes from the unbelievably accurate manticore, and began returning fire. Just as he shot the creature for the first time, an invisible spear struck him from behind! His armor thankfully absorbed the blow, and he whirled to see still another troglodyte fade into visibility with a frustrated hiss. It struck again with its longspear, seeking the half-elf's blood. Miikolak, having used up almost all of his spells, drew his mace and moved forward to join the bloody fray, but a now-invisible Betty caught him within the confines of a resilient sphere spell, taking him out of the fight completely! The Swordmaster realized his peril too late. He had been standing still for too long, trading blows with the dwarf and the big human woman whose greatsword abilities matched his own, and he suddenly found himself completely surrounded by enemies. His elite guards all lay dying on the ground, and he whirled in a vain effort to keep any of them from finding his skin. The tiny human female managed to catch him with his guard down, her blade burying in his lower back, and the painful strike fatally diverted his attention. The half-orc barbarian, now very much back in the fight, delivered the final blow. The manticore, having finally exhausted its supply of tail spikes, leapt into battle. It raked a wicked claw attack into Mei Ling, but before it could recover from the leaping charge it found itself the target of a flurry of axes, arrows, swords and morningstars from the gathered adventurers. It collapsed to the floor before the disbelief could even register on its eerily human face... The nimble troglodyte dodged several arrows from Xian, and then seemed to realize that the battle was lost. It stepped back and lifted a potion to its lips, fading quickly from sight. As the manticore fell to the floor, Xian shouted to Izzy for a faerie fire spell; the druid completed her spell just seconds too late, and the still-invisible wizard felt the unseen troglodyte brush past her on its way to the exit. She called out to her companions in warning, but it was too late. The companions turned toward the imprisoned Moolowik with angry faces... End of Session. Growf was a fun distraction. He's really just there for some comic relief, though Mei Ling's player is now apparently planning on taking Leadership as her next feat. There were lots of laughs; Growf sounds just like good ol' Scooby Doo, which just egged it on even worse. The Sunday Night Slammers "The ground is a +5 Weapon."
Useless Trivia Man	Campaign Journal, Chapter 13	#39	[-]
Posts: 114 (09/22/09 07:52:29) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	The heroes gathered around the bubble-encased troglodyte cleric. Gulg poked at the sphere with his sword. "Can I pop it so's we can kill him?" Betty shook her head. "No, but the spell will only last for a few minutes. Then he's all ours." Mei Ling raised a finger to interject. "We shouldn't kill him right away. Let's find out what he knows, first." Gulg shrugged. "Whatever. Just lemme know when I can take his stinkin' head off." Mei Ling nodded, then caught a movement across the room from the corner of her eye. She sighed in exasperation and shouted, "GROWF!" The gnoll looked around guiltily, a troglodyte's meaty thigh hanging from his mouth, and responded with a muffled, "Growf??" As the cleric explained why eating your enemies is generally frowned upon (even if they DO taste like chicken), Kitty, Betty and Izzy busily stripped the fallen troglodytes of their armor and weapons. The warriors stood around the force globe, waiting for their chance to repay the troglodyte for past sins... Miikolak had one more surprise left; the humans had ignored him once they'd trapped him in this gods-damned force bubble. He knew that the globe wouldn't last long - a few minutes at most - and when no one was looking, he cast his meld with stone spell. As soon as the sphere's duration ended he could simply vanish into the very rock where he landed, and if he was lucky the stupid humans would think he'd escaped! It almost worked. The sphere ended, the pasty-skinned female convinced the big half-orc to hold off his attack, and Miikolak disappeared into a nice, safe, unreachable hiding place. The humans cried out angrily, but their thrice-cursed wizard somehow recognized not only the spell, but knew its duration and limitations! All he could do was wait in his magical safehold and hope that something would come along to rescue him... Xian and Izzy moved into place to watch the exits, while the warriors stood around the spot where the Miikolak had vanished, weapons at the ready, to wait him out. Everyone was surprised - especially Xian - when a few minutes later a wickedly barbed javelin streaked from the nearest tunnel to strike the ranger! His shout turned heads, and his friends rushed to his aid. The sharp-eyed half-elf spotted the well-hidden troglodyte who had wounded him hiding in the entry tunnel, but his companions hadn't seet where the javelin had come from and milled about for a moment. Xian managed to fire a volley of arrows at the sneaky troglodyte, but only one penetrated its armor. As soon as it was wounded, the troglodyte sneak bravely ran away. As Mei Ling and Billie tended to the ranger's wound, he fumed. "That was the same trog that tried to backstab me earlier!" "The one that turned invisible and got away?" "Yes, damn him! I want that thing DEAD." Xian's mood didn't improve at all when they had to remove the barbed javelin head by cutting it out... "What if we set a tripwire in case our sneaky friend comes back?" Gulg suggested. "We could pay him back for the sneak attacks easy enough that way." Kitty looked doubtful, but agreed to set it up. She and Billie moved a short distance down the hallway, and the rogue quickly set the trap while her big friend kept watch. When they returned, Kitty had an uneasy look. "I wasn't able to do much without making a lot of noise. He may step right over it." A few minutes later, Xian was reintroduced to the pain of a javelin stuck into his torso as the trog rogue struck again from the shadows. He was understandably furious when it immediately turned tail and ran again, but his friends continued to hold back the hot-headed ranger. "I'm gonna turn him into a PAIR OF BOOTS!" he screamed as Billie removed the javelin head once more. Miikolak could hear the intruders above, and knew they were waiting for him to emerge from his earth-bound hiding place. He'd hoped they were unaware of the limitations of his spell. May the Dark Master rend the soul of that pasty, bloated wizard! He knew time was running out; he'd heard an earlier commotion, and he guessed that Greshta had returned to attack from the shadows. He hoped the rogue could entice these intruders to follow him into the Earth Temple itself, where Uskathoth would flay their soft skins from their bones! The humans didn't chase after Greshta though, much to Miikolak's disappointment. He knew his time was quickly running out, and when he heard the shouts from another wounded interloper echoed down to him, he decided to make a run for it. If he could somehow meet up with Greshta, they might be able to outrun these invading humans or at least lead them to Uskathoth. He took a deep breath and released the spell, rising up through the floor... Gulg grinned as the troglodyte cleric suddenly appeared on the floor in front of him, eager to repay the savage wounding he'd received from this evil priest's spells in the earlier battle. He happily brought his huge sword down in an overhead chop to hack deeply into the evil humanoid, gladdened by its hiss of pain. The adventurers swarmed on the reeling troglodyte, knocking it to the ground and viciously tearing into it with their weapons as it vainly tried to rise. It took only a few seconds, and with hardly a whimper Miikolak was dead. As they stripped Miikolak's corpse of its valuables, Mei Ling and Betty both strongly suggested that they go find somewhere to hole up and rest. The spellcasters were running perilously low, and they decided to backtrack to the skull-lined guard room to try to rest. Guards were posted, and for about an hour they were undisturbed... Greshta was having the time of her life. Aside from the fact that these interlopers had killed off several members of her Earth Temple tribe, she was thoroughly enjoying sneaking up on the unsuspecting, clueless idiot humans to snipe at them in hopes of drawing them into a running chase to the Earth Temple. She was supremely confident in her ability to sneak unnoticed through the familiar tunnels, scoffing at the childish attempt to catch her with a poorly-placed tripwire. Then, after they'd slaughtered poor Miikolak, they had the gall to hole up in the temple's southern guard room to rest! She wasn't about to let that happen. She snuck up again, choosing to strike the big human female with those ugly fat-filled bladders on her chest. She couldn't see how anyone could even walk with those top-heavy sacks hanging from their bodies, let alone run! But the humans actually gave chase this time, and there was a brief moment of panic when the humans' pet wolves actually outran her and blocked off her escape. The big half-orc was also a surprisingly fast runner, and he joined the wolves in blocking the tunnel that led straight into the Temple. With a sinuously deft move, she managed to slip past though, but to her supreme disappointment they once again refused to follow her. She circled back yet again, taking her time to carefully watch for any surprises that these wily opponents may have left in her path. Her good luck finally ran out though; just as she threw her last javelin, one of those cursed wolves started growling in warning. Her javelin missed its target this time, and she turned to make her escape once again from these predictable humans. She was astounded when the little female sprinted over and tackled her around the waist! Greshta hissed in anger and turned back to bite the insolent little human, but then realized the danger. She glanced up just in time to see the half-orc and the dwarf barreling in also, and knew she'd made a fatal mistake in underestimating this group as the others also piled on, grappling her to the ground... No quarter was asked, and none was given. Gulg did the deed, and the securely-pinned troglodyte stopped thrashing after only a few moments. They quickly looted its corpse, and the companions finally managed to settle in for some much-needed rest. Xian woke with a start, scrabbling for his sword. A huge, hulking figure towered over him, its foul breath nearly making him gag as it leaned in close. His sword was halfway out of its sheath before he realized it was Growf standing over him; the blade slid back into its scabbard, but his hand remained on the hilt. Growf hopped back in alarm. "Sorry Shin!" It was as close as Growf's tongue could produce. "Sorry to wake you! But Growf has present for you!" Xian looked doubtful. "Okaaay..." From behind his back, Growf produced a bloody mess and dropped it to the floor in front of the ranger. Xian's eyes widened; he glanced over to see the now-skinless troglodyte that the gnoll had dragged into the room, and looked back at the pile of troglodyte hide before him. Growf barked happily, "Now you can make boots!" In the morning they investigated some of the side passages. They quickly searched through a storeroom and found a decent cache of weapons and food, but in the next chamber Gulg and Billie were hit by a hail of poisoned darts when they stepped on a pressure plate in the floor. The dart trap was placed to protect what must have been Miikolak's bedchamber, and their thorough search produced some good results there. They then returned to the scene of their large battle earlier, where two unexplored passages waited. Billie nodded toward the left tunnel. "That trog really wanted us to go that way for some reason. Anyone else in the mood for a fight?" They went left. In a small chamber where three passages met, they encountered a pair of strange little creatures. They looked like nothing more than mostly-hairless gnomes with brownish skin and batlike wings sprouting from their shoulders. The two mephits charged, but both were dead on the ground before they could even attack. Gulg grinned at Cordio. "Friends of yours?" Moving on, the entire group began to feel a building sense of foreboding. They could hear a low noise from up ahead, the unmistakable sound of a beating drum and what seemed to be a chorus of low voices speaking in unison. They entered a large cavern and paused. A huge ziggurat of loose earth stood in the center of the chamber, atop which were a pair of robed troglodyte priests leading some vile ceremony. One was the drummer, while the other had obviously just completed the human sacrifice portion of the disgusting rite and held aloft a blood-drenched human heart. Their human victim lay at their feet, now forgotten; as the congregation of robed figures lining the base of the pyramid chanted in some unknown language, a familiar three-armed creature rose up from within the earthen pyramid to accept the sacrificial heart... The heroes immediately moved to attack the vile congregation... I'm going to stop here. The PCs fared VERY poorly against the combined Earth Temple forces... in fact, they got their cocky little butts kicked. I really wasn't trying for a TPK, but things quickly went that direction. Two characters died in the fight, and the rest were in dire straits when they declared they were going to use one of their precious Fate Points. They're backing up to just before they entered the Earth Temple, and next session they're going to try this fight again; I know this sounds like a video-gamer "resume from the last save point" trick, but I have my reasons for allowing this to happen. My players are all neophytes, when you get right down to it. None of them has been playing for more than a few years, and their grasp of D&D combat tactics is sorely lacking. This was glaringly obvious Sunday night in their awful performance against the troglodytes of the Earth Temple. By allowing them a "do-over," they get to spend this week discussing tactics and strategy, and they're probably going to do much better on their second attempt. I'm hoping this will hammer home the point that they need to work as a team if they're going to survive to the end of this adventure. I'm already seeing improvement; Sunday night the entire crew was thoroughly disheartened and unhappy about how things turned out. The party leader was rather vocal about how he was convinced that it was an unbeatable fight, but when we talked Monday morning he already had ideas on how - as a group - they could beat the Earth Temple. I can't wait to see what they do. The Sunday Night Slammers "The ground is a +5 Weapon." Last Edited By: Useless Trivia Man 09/22/09 08:04:24. Edited 1 times.
Laguna		#40	[-]
Posts: 135 (09/28/09 08:34:29) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	The thing about D&D that makes it such a challenge for a DM is how to create a tough encounter, where the players actually think that they're characters are going to die, without actually killing them. When your players don't employ sound tactics, a fight that was designed to be slightly challenging can turn fatal easily (as your party just encountered). If you have a group of gamers that aren't very hardcore (as you indicated, UTM) and they don't discuss abilities and tactics outside of the game night, it really limits how difficult you can design encounters to be, simply because the players probably don't know their abilities well enough to use them effectively. In games where you've built up a huge backstory to a PC, having him get killed and needing to create another PC with an intricate backstory gets to be a real let down if it happens continuously. Many groups don't have a problem with a PC getting killed every few sessions, but I know that in my campaign, a character dying would be a big deal, and if it happened in a crappy manner (even if it was the player's own fault), it'd be a detriment to the campaign. You know, if my campaign was still active. How many of these fate points does your party have, in total? Growf seems like a hoot, by the way. Bumblebee Tuna!

<< Previous Topic Next Topic >>

Yuku free message boards

UTM's Shattered Realms campaign

Quick Reply