DM Fflash's Shackled City Campaign
Game Master DM Fflash

"I also vote for resting now. Dalamus, I know what you are going through now must be terrifying and you must want to get to somewhere safe that you can be healed, but I feel that resting now would allow us the best chance to leave safely tomorrow and I promise, I will do whatever I can to restore your sight once we get back to the city." Malcolm will reach out a hand and squeeze Dalamus's shoulder "You are not alone, and on the brighter side, we have proof of Triel's death, you will be free once we return to the city!"

"If you are feeling up to it I can start to teach you undercommon, to help keep your mind off of things"

I think we should make our way out now. Cauldron is counting on us, and time is not to be frittered away while it is already raining outside. We can rest on the road back to Cauldron, but we should not waste time here while there's still daylight to use!"

Besides, resting now and then using wand to heal doesn't buy us much of anything. Use the wand now and lets go...

I am ok really either way, if the demon kills us I get to say I told you so to everyone :)

Can I use my engineering to see how the captain was able to blast his way out of the cell? Or a survival check to see if I can track where they went?

Engineering - 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

Survival - 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

I vote to leave now. We haven't completely cleared these ruins. If we rest here we're risking more combat. Best to use the wand and leave now.

I am ok really either way, if the demon kills us I get to say I told you so to everyone :)

Can I use my engineering to see how the captain was able to blast his way out of the cell? Or a survival check to see if I can track where they went?

Engineering - d20+6

Survival - d20+7

Tracking: The poor light and hard surface make it tough, but the large number of creatures in the party helps and you're able to track them out to the beach. You note the cable car is on the other side.

Resting: 2 votes for leaving, 1 for resting, and 1 noncommital. Magma/Dalamus ... your votes so we can move this game along?

2 votes for resting still, isn't it?

Tracking: The poor light and hard surface make it tough, but the large number of creatures in the party helps and you're able to track them out to the beach. You note the cable car is on the other side.

Oh, if we're at the cable car already then we're kind of past the point already.

Give me hitpoint totals and let me know how many charges you want. I've got 7 left (also keep in mind this is the extent of my in combat healing!).

"I don't mind sneaking out and getting the cable car moved back to our side of the cavern, pending of course that the kobolds did not damage it in and way and trapped us down here."

"I think we should save the wand charges for when we are in dire straights in combat or know that there is another fight around the corner that we can't avoid."

"I have 3 CLW left if we want to save charges on the wand, not sure how badly hurt everyone is though"

AC 22 HP 9

If we are at the beach all ready lets try and get back to the inn.

is there anything special about cold iron weapons?

Knowledge Arcana 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19

"Thanks Malcolm, I appreciate it. If you all recall, that demon thing didn't come out of the water until it was called. We should be able to get out of here without any issues. I say, we shall leave now."

How are we collecting the coins from the chest?

Bag of Holding/Haversack?

yes we gather the Coins but i want to make sure we don't over fill the bag we may need to use so sacks

Don't forget we have to bring Triel's body with us or i can just take her head off

There are 564 lbs of coins. Plus the 155 lb body of Triel. You should be able to use the bag, the haversack and distribute weight, as long as you all don't mind being medium encumbered, even Magma. To stay light, you'd need to shed about 150 lbs of equipment/coins/gear (BTW, I'm showing Nemoris and Epik to currently be medium encumbered already)

Anything else?

Once we start to head out, we can use the horses to carry some of the weight as well, well as long as the kobolds didn't steal them.

There are 564 lbs of coins. Plus the 155 lb body of Triel. You should be able to use the bag, the haversack and distribute weight, as long as you all don't mind being medium encumbered, even Magma. To stay light, you'd need to shed about 150 lbs of equipment/coins/gear (BTW, I'm showing Nemoris and Epik to currently be medium encumbered already)

Anything else?

I also have my trusty steed, so once we make it back up, we should be able to put a fair bit on him as well. I'd guess I can take 50lbs more and 400 on the horse to still stay within medium load... or, once we get up to the top I can put 150 or so on the horse and we'll both be light.

There are still several areas of the map that we haven't explored that I would like to check out before we leave. The blacked out area south of us and the blacked out area to the south east where there might be a cave. I would like to rest and go look at those. There might be more clues as to my sisters whereabouts. Anyone else want to go with?

Going to change my vote to a rest and explore.

That vote passes with 4 votes to leave already. Getting ready to write that portion ...

ahh..I am slow today

There are still several areas of the map that we haven't explored that I would like to check out before we leave. The blacked out area south of us and the blacked out area to the south east where there might be a cave. I would like to rest and go look at those. There might be more clues as to my sisters whereabouts. Anyone else want to go with?

Malcolm i will come back and finish exploring the cavern with you. i know Epik wants to come back and deal with the Lake monster

I pray that you are joking... let's get the @#$%& outta here!

Need to figure out heals if you intend to do any

Burdened with loot, the party packs up and heads out, nervously awaiting the return of the cable car which was thankfully not damaged. Coming off the top of the cliff and entering the water, the party notes a stream of water running from the tunnel and down over the edge of the cliff into the lake.

Slogging through the water all the way up, the heaviness of water in the air becomes more and more apparent as the torrential downpour from earlier has some how gotten stronger, combined with whipping winds.

Exiting the caverns, you find the horses. Slightly spooked, it takes Nemoris a couple moments to calm them down and begin to lead them out.

Pushing forward through the mud and the jungle, you don't encounter anything on the path to the Lucky Monkey, although a few lightning strikes and peals of thunder interrupt you trudge. It takes half again as long due to the difficult terrain and although the sun is blocked, you estimate it's mid afternoon by the time you arrive at the inn, a river of water crossing the road in front of it.

It's 20+ miles of road travel to Cauldron ... press or stay at the inn?

"Press on. We need to get back to Cauldron as soon as possible."

How far have we traveled to get tot he inn?

will we be fatigued again if we press on?

Dalamus: 6 miles from the cave.

Malcolm: after 24 hrs with no rest

Survival - 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

Are the large prints booted? Any way to tell what it is?

Survival - 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

"The rains have started and I don't think they are going to let up, I think we have to push on or the city could be lost."

"I agree Malcolm, we need to get the wands back to Cauldron as soon as possible to stop the flooding"

"My friends, the demon still lives in the water. Once we've returned the wands to the City I must part ways with you and return to slay this foul beast before it can escape and spread evil."

Brother i have your back. i will return with you.
let's press on we have have to hurry for my Aunt and the other of the city.

How many Horses do we have?

Put Dalamus on a Horse with the Elder and let's run

Fortitude Check
1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22

1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22

1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24

1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31

ooc :i did not know how many checks you needed so i gave you 4

Survival - d20+7

Are the large prints booted? Any way to tell what it is?

Survival - d20+7

"The rains have started and I don't think they are going to let up, I think we have to push on or the city could be lost."

Still a kobold just much bigger

anyway to judge how big based on size and depth of the print?

A few hundred pounds, possible 7-8 feet tall.

The Road Home

Gazing forlornly at the Lucky Monkey as they pass by, the party steels themselves, burdening the horses as much as they can with Dalamus and Nowzai riding.

Magma sets a hard pace, but the weather fights you the whole way, sheets of rain blasting in horizontal waves, the road has become half a torrent of water and the other half a muddy rocky mess. The going is cold and slow, but you forge ahead, cloaks and packs plastered to your side.

Leaning into the wind for most of the day, taking one sodden step at a time and fighting the horses every time a bolt of lightning flashes, the party slowly makes it back through the jungle. Night quickly drops as the slope increases and although the rain continues to come down hard, the wind begins to let up and you arrive at the Cauldron gates just after midnight.

The lines from earlier have disappeared as most of the merchants and far away travelers have either arrived or gave up on the road somewhere.

The gate tax is 1 sp per foreigner and 1 cp per citizen (Dalamus is the only one, I believe)

The caldera of the bowl does provide a bit of shelter from the wind although rivers of water run through the well-desgined guttersystem and empty into the central lake, which has risen up to lap on the edge of the lowest buildings.

Running quickly to the Temple of Iomedae, you find Jenya nervously pacing the aisles of the church. She sees you and visibly relaxes.

I'll give you guys a few real-time hours for comments/interaction before I continue with closing the adventure this evening

How many days have passed since we left for the Lucky monkey?

Bow before Jenya your wands are returned and we have avenge your brother.

In the morning i would like to bring Triel's body to the guard to let them know she has been punish for her crimes.

"Jenya, here are the wands as requested. We have all some sort of injury, none worse than Dalamus being blinded by an evil undead creature. Can your church assist in granting him his sight again?"

I will set out this evening to see if Tom is working the night guard or not and if so set up a time to connect with him the following day to present Triel's demise.

I also want to spend some time researching the curse that the halfling mentioned that they were under to stop them from talking about my sister and see if there is anyway to get a message to the captain to see about hiring him to assist in my search or to see if he has any information I am purchase. I will ask Jenya about it once she gets the weather under control, I know that is much more important.

Nowzai flops over onto a bench in the temple, exhausted from the hard journey, but happy to be out of the rain for a moment. "Are we too late?" he asks Jenya.

Jenya barks a couple quick orders and a trio of acolytes take off out the door, rain cloaks flapping, to fetch the other temples' priests.

"I'm not sure, but we need to get at it very soon. Hopefully the others meet their obligations and we can prevent any further damage to the low lying areas. You got them all, which should be immensely helpful. The storms are particularly bad this year. If we do weather this, I'll be petitioning the Lord Mayor to start making our own wands soon."

She wrings her hands, the strain of her new office still visible on her face. "I'll take care of your friend in the morning. I'll need to rest to get the spell. You all should rest here for the evening. No need to go back out in the storm until the flooding is under control."

Dalamus just collapses on the ground....unaware of his exact location or those in his presence.

"Rest for the evening, what time is it? Has the night fallen upon us yet? Jenya, do you think that my condition is curable, or will you not know until morning?"

I am going to go check on my aunt see you in the morning. How many days have passed since we talk to the guard about Triel? We should bring Triel body to the guard tomorrow.

ooc : the 1230xp does that include the spider and gnoll?

I will post the loot from the lucky monkey to the dungeon crawl by Wednesday. The lastest

Great, glad we made it back safely, and that we've got a safe place to rest.

I'll make sure my horse is stabled, if Jenya does not have someplace suitable then I'll go out in the city and take care of it.

After resting, I'm also going to start on creating more arrows, but I'm guessing that can wait until this part of the adventure sums up.

"It shouldn't be a problem, Dalamus. I've healed blindness many times before. Rest easy, now, and hopefully by the time you wake, your sight will be restored."

following this adventure, the party will get 40% off all healing services at the Temple of Iomedae

Within an hour, the old oracle of the Dawnflower, Kristoff Jurgenson, whom you visited shortly after your release from jail, comes to help. Following him is the leader of the Cayden Cailen Church, Asfelkir Hranleurt, a half-orc and two of his acolytes. No one from the Church of Pharasma responds as the last of her three acolytes return.

"That's it ... well, can't say I'm not disappointed. Nowzai, please aid us, we have an extra wand for use?" Not waiting for his reply, she passes out wands and gives out assignments and directions and the 7 clerics and the old wizard head out into the storm the stem the tide.

Through the rain and chill, the casters slowly lower the level of the lake, keeping the major flooding down until a balance is achieved between the drains and the influx. Roughly 80 charges from the wands and 4 hours later ... it is done.

END CHAPTER 3 FLOOD SEASON

Congratulations, the party receives 5,000 gp from the Temple for its efforts plus a 1,600gp bonus for finding all the wands in time. You each get a 1,500 xp adventure completion bonus

The Town Guard, thankful that Triel had been brought to justice but disheartened that she was brought in dead, gives you a 500gp reward and pardons every one. Work is plenty and guardsmen are scarce, you are offered permanent positions as investigators if you wish. If anyone is interested in joining the Town Guard let me know and we'll work out the faction details in the interlude.

@Nemoris: stables are outside the city, sorry that I forgot to mention that. Standard stabling rates (plus tax) apply.

@Magma: spider fight and undead fight had separate xp awards, both annotated at the time. Dig through the posts, you'll find them. Your aunt is healthy and happy to see you.

@Dalamus: Jenya heals you in the morning for free

Ill post the interlude and beginnings to Chapter 4 soon, but a few things to contemplate

• Cauldron is effectively cut off from the rest of the world for about 3 months ... so you'll have 3 months of down time for crafting/leveling etc.
• Skie's and a couple other stoors (Vortimax's for instance and the Temples) are your limit on magic item purchase in town ... although crafting isn't limited
• There is a merchant caravan to Osibu that arrives and departs at the beginning of each month and they have 2 available seats for 100gp each. If you take passage with them, you are gone for that month but can purchase nearly anything for core rulebook rates. First come, first serve

I am going to rest up, pay for a couple of heals to get back to full (need about 30hp after resting) buy some supplies and head out to look for the kobold tracks and see if I can track the captain down.

"I am glad we could save the city my friends, but I realized while doing this that my goals won't align with your goals in the future, my only focus is finding my sister, with the captain being able to escape, the killing of Triel, I realize, and understand, that it is not nearly as important to you all as it is to me and so I will part ways now and continue my search alone." Malcolm will make eye contact with everyone, "I consider you all friends, and if we meet in the future I hope I get to introduce you to my sister. Dalamus, I know that the halfling said you are somehow linked to this as well and that the cult might come looking for you too, keep yourself safe and I will try and reach you with any answers I may find."

With that, Malcolm heads off back towards the cave entrance and will try and track down the captain and continue his search.

Malcolm does leave the dagger and the gem behind, he was only carrying them in case we ran into a creature that needed magic to hit

END CHAPTER 3 FLOOD SEASON

Congratulations, the party receives 5,000 gp from the Temple for its efforts plus a 1,600gp bonus for finding all the wands in time. You each get a 1,500 xp adventure completion bonus

The Town Guard, thankful that Triel had been brought to justice but disheartened that she was brought in dead, gives you a 500gp reward and pardons every one. Work is plenty and guardsmen are scarce, you are offered permanent positions as investigators if you wish. If anyone is interested in joining the Town Guard let me know and we'll work out the faction details in the interlude.

@Nemoris: stables are outside the city, sorry that I forgot to mention that. Standard stabling rates (plus tax) apply.

@Magma: spider fight and undead fight had separate xp awards, both annotated at the time. Dig through the posts, you'll find them. Your aunt is healthy and happy to see you.

@Dalamus: Jenya heals you in the morning for free

Ill post the interlude and beginnings to Chapter 4 soon, but a few things to contemplate

• Cauldron is effectively cut off from the rest of the world for about 3 months ... so you'll have 3 months of down time for crafting/leveling etc.
• Skie's and a couple other stoors (Vortimax's for instance and the Temples) are your limit on magic item purchase in town ... although crafting isn't limited
• There is a merchant caravan to Osibu that arrives and departs at the beginning of each month and they have 2 available seats for 100gp each. If you take passage with them, you are gone for that month but can purchase nearly anything for core rulebook rates. First come, first serve

ooc: i am sorry Tike i can't find the posting for the spider xp

"Malcolm, I would ask you to reconsider. We are stronger as a group than individually. We will be more effective as a party finding your sister than you alone. I promise to do everything in my ability to find her and return her to safety."

Epik is interested in joining the city guard.

The merchant caravan also cannot enter or leave the city for three months, correct? If the merchant caravan does allow passage from the city during the three months, Epik will take it. Otherwise he will bide his time prior to returning to the caverns to confront the lake monster.

He posted this a little later in the posts after the combat.

And I forgot earlier, you all receive 1,800xp for the fight/traps plus 400 for negotiating with the Black Claws

Post # 1680 on 29 Sep:

And I forgot earlier, you all receive 1,800xp for the fight/traps plus 400 for negotiating with the Black Claws.