I'm creating the gameplay thread now so you can dot and delete. That way you can be notified of new posts. I'll clean up the player list after we start.
The basement of the Grand Lodge is completely silent, other than the echoing footsteps of a few over-eager scholars. The note was simple, “Meet me in storage room 34c at dawn. Bring coffee.” At the end of a long hallway, a door stands ajar and the smell of sulfur, saltpeter, and other chemicals wafts from it. Venture Captain Michael Schwartz peers out from behind a maddeningly intricate series of glass tubes and beakers, and wipes a bit of soot off his face. “Ah, good, good, glad you all managed to find my ‘office’. Sorry for the mess, I’m in the middle of prepping extracts.” His gravelly voice echoes down the empty hallway. He motions for you to approach before continuing. “Tell me, how many of you have heard of a town called Kassen?” Without waiting for an answer, he emerges from behind the alchemy lab, holding a stack of parchment. “Apparently it’s a minor village in northern Nirmathas, purely agrarian, mostly isolated, and completely uninteresting.” He grins. “Except, of course, for the one thing that’s interesting about it.”
“The town is less than two days travel from the resting place of the hero Kassen, a crypt that no one outside the village has set foot in since its creation. The locals call it the Crypt of the Everflame, named for a unique magical flame that was lit to honor the fallen hero. During the harvest they often send their best and brightest, in this case you, to retrieve the flame as a sort of coming of age ceremony.” He shrugs and cracks a smile. “Maybe they think it makes the crops grow bigger, I don’t know, and the Society doesn’t particularly care.”
“The flame is ultimately irrelevant, it just provides us with an in. Three months ago, one of our contacts reported seeing a small band of heavily armed individuals passing through the town, heading in the direction of the crypt. They’re what the Society cares about.”
“Your mission is to go to Kassen, participate in their ceremony, and enter the crypt. Once there, make note of anything historically significant, discover what the grave robbers were after, and retrieve the flame. It should go without saying, but avoid damaging the crypt or offending the locals, we’re guests in Kassen, and would like to be invited back in the future. Remember, the most important thing is to watch each others’ backs, and get out alive. The boat leaves in six hours, but do you have any questions?”
Dylph just nods, asking no questions, as he grew up on the streets of Kassen and knows of the ceremony...he wonders if he'll see any of his old compatriots on this mission...hopefully not...
Female Human Cleric (evangelist) of Chaldira Zuzaristan 5 | hp* 42 | AC 16 T 10 FF 16 | CMD 15 | F +6 R +1 W +10 (+2 v death) | Spd 30' | Init +0 | KnNat +4, KnPla +3, KnRel +3, Perc +4, SensM +4 | Luck 7/7 | Chan 5/5 | Perf 14/14 | wand clw 33/50 | *Fey Foundling |
GM Redelia wrote:
“The flame is ultimately irrelevant, it just provides us with an in. Three months ago, one of our contacts reported seeing a small band of heavily armed individuals passing through the town, heading in the direction of the crypt. They’re what the Society cares about.”
“Your mission is to go to Kassen, participate in their ceremony, and enter the crypt. Once there, make note of anything historically significant...."
Lauranna raises her hand and bouncing on her heels says: "Oo, oo, oo!" and then hand still raised waits impatiently to be called upon.
When she is at last called upon she says: "Like what I had for breakfast today?"
GM Redelia wrote:
"It should go without saying, but avoid damaging the crypt....”
Lauranna stealthily looks back and forth between her companions and slowly moves her earthshaker behind her back, scraping its huge steel head upon the stone floor as she does so. CRRRRRRR.
Dylph wrote:
Dylph just nods, asking no questions, as he grew up on the streets of Kassen and knows of the ceremony...he wonders if he'll see any of his old compatriots on this mission...hopefully not...
We get there, and find out that the entire community is all gnomes. ;)
"I worked in that area a couple of times." " It will almost be like going home." "I travel a lot for work." "Spending more than a few weeks somewhere is a luxury." "I am glad you picked me to help with this assignment."
"Not a particularly inquisitive lot, eh? I don’ blame you; it’s too early to do much thinking." He takes a slurp of coffee. "The town has assured us that the crypt is completely abandoned, and has been for centuries. Which means you can expect it to be anything but. Prepare for undead; holy water, holy weapon balm, and positive energy should be order of the day. I’d also prepare for swarms and traps. You should probably know a bit about the history. Ekat Kassen was a fairly successful mercenary working for Lastwall. When he got old, he got into politics, and founded a city in the middle of the Fangwood. Kassen’s Hold, as is became known was successful for years, before an old comrade of Kassen’s, a man named Asar, raised an army against him. The two fought for years, before finally killing each other. Later today, a boat will take you into Tamran. From there a river skiff is going to skirt the banks of Lake Encarthan, and head up the Tourondel River. It should take at least a week to arrive.”
"Yes, over time they shortened the town's name. Any shopping you want to do, you should do here, because you won't find much in a small town. If you have no more questions, I have work to get back to."
"I just finished shopping and am all shopped out. You all go ahead. I'll do some research on the area while you are gone."
Syllyn is not well versed in any particular knowledge skill but he gets to roll a +1 trained in most anything. He will take the advice seriously and visit the library and pore over knowledge EVERYTHING about the area.
You travel to Kassen, where you are provided with simple but adequate food and sleeping place.
The next day, it is time for the ceremony. The bells atop the Temple of Erastil toll their midday song, echoing throughout the quiet town of Kassen. As the peals begin to fade, the first of the townsfolk make their way into the square, dressed in black, as if attending a funeral. They slowly fill the square, moving quietly across the cold, hard ground, their eyes downcast and mournful. A!er a few moments, a murmur passes through the crowd as it slowly parts to let Mayor Uptal through. He leads the way with a tarnished silver lantern. Behind him, an old pony drags a cart laden with backpacks and supplies.
Once he reaches the center of the crowd, Mayor Uptal stops and calls out to the assembled townsfolk. “Once again the winter winds blow through the Fangwood, marking the end of another harvest. There are wolves in the woods, howling at our walls, and serpents in our shadows, waiting to strike. Just as it was one hundred and seventy-four years ago, when Kassen himself left these walls to protect us, so it is today. Where are the heroes? Where are the brave folk that will venture out to Kassen’s tomb and retrieve the flame to keep this community safe for another winter?”
Aerian looks at each of the others, then at Dylph... he follows suit and steps forward silently... Something tells me it should be local folks stepping up to this challenge, not us... but whatever works I guess. I'm game.
Thrilled at the prospect of participating in a human ritual, Syllyn steps forward, pounds his breastplate with his sword, and loudly proclaims, "I will go!", teeth and crest showing prominently.
"Lorqinor! Stop looking at all the pretty girls and volunteer already. This is your queue. Did you forget your lines or something? It's 'I'll go'."
All this Purnel says out of the corner of his mouth while still looking back at the crowd.
The mayor nods to you, and hands you a lantern to bring the fire back to Kassen. He then hands each of you a backpack that contains 5 days’ worth of rations, a small tent, a winter blanket, a full waterskin, and a piece of a map. In addition, your party is given 50 feet of hempen rope, a box containing tinder and three tindertwigs, a labeled potion of cure light wounds, three torches, a grappling hook, and a small bottle of local brandy.
The mayor once again speaks to the townsfolk. "I present to you the brave heroes who will follow in Kassen’s footsteps to retrieve the Everflame! Some of them may not return, but I say to you that their sacrifice shall not be forgotten. Go, brave heroes, and do not return until you have the eternal fire." With that, the mayor points to the south, the direction of Kassen’s tomb. The townsfolk begin waving goodbye with cold, solemn looks on most of their faces.
Aerian takes the items offered to him, and collects the bottle of brandy as well, letting others take the other items. He compares his piece of map with the others to see if they all got the same thing, or if they need to perhaps piece them together to make a whole map.
"Yes, good idea. Mine has a bridge on it. Do you suppose there were orcs or trolls when they first did this? I wish we had more time to hear the full story."
Your map pieces, when assembled, form the first map in the maps link at the top of the page. You follow the map successfully for the first two days. The narrow path winds through the raking claws of the trees,
now bere! of their leaves, which crunch loudly underfoot. Up
ahead, a fallen tree trunk blocks the path. Suddenly a trio of
snarling humanoids leaps up from behind the log, all greenish
skin and fearsome tusks, bellowing vulgar challenges.
Guys, for this encounter, I need all of you to roll a will save each turn. They might or might not do anything; it will all makes sense later. The map is set up at the map link. The adventure did not contain a map, so please forgive the poorly fitting map that was all I could find.
You see your arrow slam into the green enemy, clearly hurting him badly. Then you notice that he and his companions are illusions. You know that you give your companions a bonus on their will saves if you tell them these are illusions.
Everyone else sees Dylph'a arrow slam into one of the bad guys, who almost falls over.
Init +11; Senses low-light vision; Perception +14 ————— Defense ————— AC 20, touch 15, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +5 Dex) hp 38 (5d8+10) Fort +7, Ref +11, Will +3; +2 vs. enchantments Immune sleep
The half elf will search for what ever ambient water is in the vicinity and forming a globe in his hand shoots it at the orc in front of him
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Aerian steps back from the illusion and draws his short sword... He readies an action to swing at the phantom image if it comes at him again... more reflexive than necessary.
to hit:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12 dmg if hits:1d6 ⇒ 2
