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Campaign Log: Tuesday, April 14th 2009.
Moonday, 10th of Readying, 591CY

The heroes arrived in the town of Hommlet. Gardner spoke with "Jaroo", who discovered that Yundi had called for them after Gardber failed his will save against Jaroo's detect thoughts ability. Chatrillion will likely dispose of the apprentice soon now that "Jaroo" knows that Yundi is suspicious of him. Yundi asks Gardner to search for any information regarding strange happenings in town. The Druid proceeds to the Inn of the Welcome Wench.

Ravandyr and Anselm went to Spugnoir's shop and were greated by his daughter, who told them that he had been missing for several days and was growing worried. The dwarf there (I forget his name) told her not to say anything, but she said that she thought the two could be trusted. She tells them about Spugnoir's journey to the moathouse. The wizard and duskblade retired to the Inn of the Welcome Wench. There, Ravandyr excuses himself to the bathroom (he actually had to go IRL) and Anselm finds out that, in spite of the name, the hostess at the Welcome Wench is not altogether welcoming.

Anselm takes a seat next to Sparhawk, whom is decked out in his armor and Furyondy garb. They begin chatting, and when Anselm mentions the moathouse, Chatrillion who just happened to be sitting nearby, drops in and pulls up a seat next to them. He tells him basically what was written in his entry in the module. After a while, Chat excuses himself, but continues to look over at the group. Sparhawk detects evil on him, and also picks up the bartender, too.

Ravandyr returns, and Gardner begins speaking with the three of them as well. He becomes interested in the Moathouse as well. Finally, Elmo brings Gruc over to the group and begins speaking with Sparhawk. Just then, Redithoor Halfmoon interrupts the tavern, much to the chagrin of most of the patrons, and begins singing. I read the Ballad of Emridy Meadows to the group (since I have no singing voice to speak of).

Elmo told Gardner and Gruc that "Jaroo" thought that Yundi was acting suspciously lately. Gardner sent his eagle animal companion to search for the apprentice but couldn't find him.

The group agreed to meet in the morning and venture to the moathouse. Setting out at first light, they encountered Ol'Del along the way, who warned them about the Dragon. He didn't mention what color it was (the PCs didn't ask), but Sparhawk gave him 5g for the info. He also warned that he saw holy men coming and going from there before the dragon showed up. Gardner (who had been following the group in Tree Form, wacky fun), considered killing Ol'Del because of his profession of trapping animals (Ol'Del made a comment about his lifestyle being alright, aside from avoiding the occasional band of druids with pointy sticks).

The party arrives at the Moathouse, proceeds to the gate. I told them that they could feel the hair on the back of their necks sticking up (static buildup). They went to the drawbridge of the moathouse and began arguing over a course of action. I rolled one or two listen checks for Utreshimon, who confronted the party at point blank range and got in a breathe attack before the party could react (not 100% by the rules, but the group was taking forever to get moving). Anslem was knocked from 30some HP all the way down to 3 then ran off, and has now earned the nickname of the Yellow Knight.

The rest of the group stayed and fought. They managed to knock Utreshimon down to 20hp before he began to fly away. He was about to get in one last breath attack when Gruc nailed him down to 5hp, so Utreshimon just flew off, swearing revenge, etc etc. The group rested for an hour while Gruc explored the upper level of the moathouse. He found the Grey Ooze but did not engage. He found the secret passage down to are 24ish in the dungeon. He looted the dead rogues and clerics up above and brought back the holy symbol that they were wearing. Ravandyr, putting his 18 in Int to good use, identified correctly identified it as the symbol of the Elder Elemental Eye (I think he rolled over 20 for his Knowledge: Religion check, damn wizards). That was about where we ended for the night.

Looking Forward:

All in all, the players blabbed too much about going to the moathouse, so Chatrillion will likely follow them there, killing Ol'Del along the way. Gardner will find some justice in that though. I haven't decided when or where Chat will jump them.

An interesting thought would be for him to try and jump them when the party is in the ghoul infested crypt. He could get overwhelmed by them and dragged back through the caves to the hidden shrine. The ghouls will kill him; he'll never be able to tell anyone about it. Still, I couldn't wait to see the look on the players' faces if he were paralyzed and then dragged into a hole in the wall. Chat is probably too smart to let this happen, though.

Questions:

How much does Jaroo believe in the cult of Elemental Evil? Will he fight to the death for it, or will he sell the others out in case his own life is threatened? What about Chatrillion? Would he die for the EEE?

How much do the cultists in Hommlet and in the Moathouse know about the EEE=Tharizdun? Do they know what the final goal of the cult is, or do they think that they're just exploiting the power of the EEE for their own personal gain? Geynor Ton's journal seems to indicate that he knows the cult's true plans, but he never refers to the Dark Lord's name directly.

What information exists on the religion of Elemental Evil? Is it simply a portfolio of exploiting the powers of the elements for personal gain? I was under the impression that the Elder Elemental Eye only existed to hide the true nature of Tharizdun and attract supporters who otherwise would never worship such a fearsome deity.

Basically, I'm trying to give my players some info on the EEE w/o linking it to Tharizdun. So far, I've just told them that the original Horde of Elemental Evil used the power of the EEE to unleash floods, earthquakes, tornades, etc, on surrounding areas. Is this sufficient, or is there more that I can add?

Thanks for your replies. The way I'm seeing this, the first time Tharizdun is mentioned in the campaign is the Obex in area 32A. The next time is when/if the party meets Lareth the Beautiful in Nulb. (I plan on doing this as an RP encounter, rather than just a fight). It then that Lareth reveals that the object of the temple's worship was Tharizdun. The PCs then will be able to research all available info on Tharizdun (very little exists, other than he's an imprisoned deity, and unbelievably powerful). If the PCs mention any word of Tharizdun in Hommlet, most of the inhabitants will not know anything about it, or of any relation between the Dark Lord and the EEE. The spy of Iuz will likely find that to be noteworthy. Otherwise, references to Tharizdun will probably be absent until the PCs reach the Outer Fane (months away... damn.)

Did Lareth ever know what the true plans of the cultists were at the original ToEE? I'm under the impression that he didn't, and will not until the Triad discovers that he is the Champion of Elemental Evil.

My group is meeting for a session tomorrow... I still have to figure out if I'll have Chat impersonates Spugnoir or if he tries to jump them in the ghoul caves, and then get dragged away. Chatrilion is probably too smart to let this happen, but what the hell, he's only a minor NPC.

3rd Session
April 28th, 2009
Godsday, 12th of Readying, 591CY

The group has explored the entire moathouse dungeon with the exception of areas 32, 37, 38, 39 and 36. They fought Garrik in area 29, Sparhawk killed him after he asked for parley. They rescued Spugnoir, who is currently hiding with a crossbow in a closet in area 30. Anselm broke the door into his original hiding spot and got blasted by the wizard who feared for his life. Gardner healed both the duskblade and Spugnoir.

Chatrillion jumped out and Death Attacked Ravandyr, but he made his Fortitude save. The assassin then used his Obscuring Mist spell and moved into the south hallway. Ravandyr successfully used Blindness on him, which caused Chatrillion to run along the southeastern wall until he hit the wall of stone at the end of the passageway. He was yelling a warning the entire time. The group then cornered him and knocked him to negative HP. Sparhawk healed and questioned Chatrillion, and eventually Anselm slit the assassin's throat when he refused to talk. The ghoul (ghast?) in area 31 then attacked them.

Meanwhile, Geynor and Ysslansh moved into area 33 and rallied the ghouls for an attack. The four ghouls bottlenecked the group, but were eventually defeated. Ysslansh used Obscuring Mist, and the two clerics escaped through the ghoul tunnels.

The group founded the secret passage north and explored areas 19 and 20 for the hell of it. They proceed back to area 33 Druc tracked the clerics through the ghoul caves. The PCs confronted them just after they discovered the altar to Big T. After taking a few shots from Druc, Geynor was willing to tell the group what the cult's plan was in exchange for his life. Ysslansh responded by bashing his skull open with his mace. After considerable difficulty, the group eventually killed Ysslansh (why was his AC 24?)

Probably due to drinking too much Killians, Sparhawk continued to attack the altar in the room and was eventually paralyzed. For similar reasons, Anselm tried doing the same thing after seeing the paladin freeze up. Both are now paralyzed for an hour. Idiots. At least they didn't spill anything this session. Maybe they'll be smart enough to leave the artifacts in the statue alone.

Reflections:
I might be playing the enemies a little too smart. Chatrillion should not necessarily have known that there were others in the room south of room 30. I reasoned that he examined the corpses in the previous rooms and determined that the other two clerics were still alive. Also, I presumed that Geynor and Ysslansh had explored the crpt before and knew about the ghouls. I had them stumble upon the hidden shrine because they were chased into the ghoul caves by the PCs. They came across it by accident (but mostly because I didn't want a long Scooby-Doo chase through that horrific maze). But since fighting Utreshimon, the PCs have had no problems getting through these encounters. Aside from the ghouls in the torture chamber, they've been in very, very few situations that have seriously threatened them. Maybe the Grell will change all that?

Looking forward: The group is really anxious to get out of the moathouse, but I really want them to explore area 32 entirely. Not sure yet how I'll pull this off. I don't really care if they skip the area past the stone in the wall.

I plan on having the PCs encounter Tanak on the way back. Need to remember this. If Gardner has Speak with Animals ready, he can find out what happened to Jaroo.

Tuesday, May 19th 2009
Waterday, 13th of Readying, 591CY

This session was almost entirely RP. I had mixed feelings about it, though things certainly went well overall. The session started in the secret room in the Inn of the Welcome Wench, with the PCs pouring over the various clues and journals that were found on the cultists in the Moathouse and flour mill. My group, if my earlier posts had not made this clear, has horrible ADD when they're all together. Eventually, Spugnoir told them to go to Todariche, the sage in Hommlet. He gave them as much info about the first and second rise of the ToEE as possible, as well as info on Mt. Stalagos and Rastor. He rolled a natural 1 on his knowledge (Religion) check, which I'm not sure if he even had to begin with, on Tharizdun. Druc stormed out of the house, calling Todariche an idiot. Druc's player has not yet realized that a 6 in Charisma does not equate to "treat everyone like crap." The ranger goes off on his own for a while.

After hearing a few things, Ravandwyr went to the stockade in the keep and bribed the guard to let him see the doppleganger. He then begins copious use of Shocking Grasp to torture the doppleganger into spilling what he knew about the cult. The doppleganger told Ravandwyr about the location of the bodies of the miller and his wife, the spy Maridosen, and that they came from Rastor, prattling on about some eye and some crater.

Gardner had come in, too, threatening the bribed guard that Elmo would find out about this if he didn't open the door for the Druid. Gardner held down the doppleganger while he was getting electrocuted by Ravandwyr's spells. Gardner actually punched him at one point, which is a pretty big deal for the Druid. Ravandwyr finally gave the doppleganger one last shock before knocking him unconscious and delivered the line, "Enjoy your nap, you bastard." Gardner begins heading towards the grove to find Jaroo's body while the wizard goes to meet his companions at the Inn of the Welcome Wench.

Camera cuts back to Sparhawk and Anselm enjoying a drink at the Inn. Maridosen is there serving them, still unaware of the events that transpired earlier that day. This was where I took some liberties with the campaign module. I had an old traveler, who goes by the name of Morten, speak with them for a few moments, asking about them, what their goals are. He eventually leans in and says "If you need more information about the cult of Elemental Evil, there's an old hermit who lives in Nulb who is willing to sell information for a price." He then takes his leave and begins walking towards the door. Anselm, wondering how the hell this man just read this thoughts, goes to catch up with him and asks who he is. The old man turns back and says "I've traveled theses lands for some time, seen many heroes rise and fall. If you're lucky, perhaps our paths will cross again." With that he teleports away.

This old man was, in fact, Mordenkainen. The group doesn't know this yet. I may play him as the mysterious traveler that they encounter from time to time who gives them advice on what to do next. If this campaign lasts to the very end, they'll find out what his true identity is.

At this point, Ravandwyr returns. He begins to tell them what he found out from the doppleganger. They spoke for about five minutes, during which time Todariche ambles into the Inn, saying hello and asking them to join him for a drink. I decided that he would mention to Maridosen that those adventurers had found that Jaroo had been replaced by a doppleganger. Maridosen, being smarter than the average bear (though not by much) says that she needs to go downstairs into the cellar to retrieve more ale, when in fact she runs out the back door behind the kitchen.

The PCs finally come inside and speak with Todariche, who is growing more and more impatient having to wait for his drink. They start asking him what they talked about when Todariche says that he mentioned that Jaroo was murdered by some cultists. All my group's jaws drop, and I struggled to conceal a rather large grin. They begin frantically searching the Inn, and find the back door unlocked.

Druc begins tracking her down. I decided that she would have tried to find the quickest way out of town. She had run to the logger's house (area 14 of Hommlet, it was the closest place), where she broke into the house, trying to find someone who had a horse. I guess I played this part kind of rashly, but I figured that she would have been in a panic in any case. She takes one of the children living their hostage. The PCs show up moments later to see, through a window, Maridosen with her rapier to a small girl's throat and her father brandishing a wood-cutting axe, but then putting it down. Ravandwyr creeps to the door and casts sleep on her. She fails her save, and has just enough HD to be affected by the spell (she had 3, the little girl had 1). I figured that the little girl would be hit by it too, so they both crumpled to the ground.

The logger grabs her daughter and begins cradling her as the PCs go to work on Maridosen. They tie her up and begin asking her about the cult, who she was, etc. She reveals that they came from a mountain near Rastor, and they hired her. I tried to play the "I was just in it for the money" angle, maybe to draw some sympathy from the group. It had the complete opposite effect.

Anselm, from being a little drunk in-game (and in real life too, probably) yells "I'm sick of you and all your puzzles!" and runs her through, in plain view of the little girl. This puts me in a bit of a bind. The father runs out and starts yelling for Elmo, who shows up shortly. I have no idea if the people of Hommlet would want to imprison Anselm for murdering someone, but I had Elmo reason that Maridosen had taken her life into her own hands and got what she deserved. Maybe this was too lenient from a legal perspective, but I didn't want the time in Hommlet to turn into some type of trial for Anselm.

Sparhawk, on the other hand, was not so lenient. After Maridosen's body was taken to the keep, Anselm begun going through his typical ritual of training. Sparhawk met him there, not wearing any armor but bearing his sword and shield. The paladin tells Anselm that his actions were at best, rash and at worst, evil. Sparhawk says that controlling your anger instead of letting it you is what makes you different from a brigand or monster.

This lead to another photo-moment from the campaign. The two of them began sparring with one another, while Liberi Fatali (the opening theme from Final Fantasy VIII) came on ye olde playlist. If you haven't heard this song, check it out on youtube or something. It was perfect for their battle. Their players came up with an ad-hoc battle system where they simply rolled one of each dice (a d20, a d6, a d12, until they hit the d100) and whomever rolled higher got the advantage. Somehow, they managed to trade hit for hit. It was a really cool moment to watch as a DM.

Sorry this is so out of order, I'm trying to get all this info in before I forget it. After Maridosen's body was brought to the keep, Elmo begins going towards the grove, where he finds Gardner praying over the spot where the doppleganger said that Jaroo lay. He eventually digs up the body and takes it into the woods for a proper burial.

Later, they met back at the Inn of the Welcome Wench. There, Rufus and Burne were sharing a drink with Elmo, who was filling them in on everything that the PCs had told him. The group got to hear Rufus and Burne's history regarding the ToEE, which I sort of think went right over my group's head. At one point, Calmer (Canoness Y'Dey's assistant) came in to request Elmo's presence at the church of St. Cuthbert. Elmo refused, telling Calmer that if she wants to speak with him, she can wait until the morning or go to his office and wait. Rufus and Burne continue their story. Eventually, Canoness Y'Dey shows up and begins laying into Elmo for not telling her about the cultists, what happened to Jaroo, etc. The two town elders excuse themselves. Y'Dey informs Elmo that she will be present in the morning when the bodies of the cultists are questioned. Elmo, seeing that Terjon (made him a cleric of Pelor by accident. Whoops) would be less likely to get information from Dunrat than Y'Dey, relents.

The group apparently thought that Y'Dey and Elmo were secretly in love with each other. I did as much as I could to convey that the two of them pretty much hate each other's guts. Anselm made the mistake of bringing up Otis (Elmo's slain brother whom Y'Dey could not Raise in time). Sparhawk, who never knows when he's gone too far, tried to reason with Elmo that it was not Y'Dey's fault that his brother died. Elmo told him that he didn't know what he was talking about and should learn to stay out of other people's lives. He stood up, knocking his chair over behind him, and stormed out of the Inn.

The group later received a message from Elmo that he was going to interrogate the bodies of the cultists in the morning, and wanted them to prepare any questions that they think would be important for their quest.

Reflections: I'm having trouble getting it through my players heads that I can't explain every little thing to them. I'll say one thing as an NPC, and then they'll ask me to interpret it to them, out of character (such as the Black Cyst). It's getting really frustrating. Midway through the session, one of my players asked me if they had enough information to figure out where to go next. I told him to look at the handouts that I gave them. At another point, speaking through Elmo, I literally told the group that their three options were to go to Verbobonc, Nulb and the ToEE, and/or Rastor. I then recommended that they go the Verbobonc to re-supply and perhaps find out information about the EEE and Big T while there. I hate spoon-feeding like this, but it just didn't look like they would figure it out on their own.

Anselm's player may be getting a job that would possibly require him to work during the time that we play DnD. It's a big opportunity for him, so he really can't turn it down if he's offered the job. There's a chance that this was his last session with us. It sucks that we might be losing him, but I can't blame him in the least bit for trying to get this job. If it works out for him, he'll be busy until the middle or end of July, which isn't a huge period of time, especially given our slow pace.

Looking forward: If Dunrat fails his will save against Y'Dey's speak with dead (which I may have him do for plot purposes), she will ask him who he works for, what god he serves, where are your men from, and what the goal of the moathouse expedition is. She'll only replace these questions if she gets better ones from the PCs. Terjon will interrogate all the cultists that Y'Dey does not have spell slots for. Speak with dead can only be cast on a target once per week.

No session this week due to the Stanley Cup Finals. I am still flipping out at how close Game 6 was. It's all coming down to a Game 7 in Mount Doom, err, Joe Louis Arena on Friday.

We'll be back next week with shenanigans from Verbobonc.