The Shadow Under Sandpoint


Campaign Journals

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Timitius wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
The best part? The fact that Ostog will likely be writing his OWN letter to the Pathfinder Forum after where the previous game ended, cliffhanger style, at an encounter yet to be summarized in Howell's excellent journals.
Yeah....he'll be tossing some salad reaaaaaaaaaal soon. Dressing. On the side.

Oh, by all the Gods of Golarion, I hope not... O.O

Sovereign Court Wayfinder, PaizoCon Founder

3 people marked this as a favorite.

Well, that encounter showed us that The Fungus Queen is not to be truffled with! She obviously had loose morels...all she had to do was pop a few of her button mushrooms, and Ostog was in deep shiitake!

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Timitius wrote:
Well, that encounter showed us that The Fungus Queen is not to be truffled with! She obviously had loose morels...all she had to do was pop a few of her button mushrooms, and Ostog was in deep shiitake!

Howell just attracted the attention of Treerazer. Just so you know.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Did someone mention DELICIOUS PALADIN? (licks toothy beak, puts on bib with paladin silhouette on it)


*laughs* Write up! Further mushroom puns!

Before Treerazer devours you!

Sovereign Court

Entry from the travel journal of Howell B. Talbot III, Servant of Abadar
12 – Pharast (evening)

Well, this day appears to be finally at an end. While I’d like to be in my own room at the Rusty Dragon, a new development prevents me from doing so, and I write this from the White Deer, a rustic little inn on the outskirts of town, run by a Shoanti man. It is...adequate.

But, to continue:

After enduring as much as we had, I had turned my mind towards town, seeking rest, recuperation, and a resupply of depleted items. Ostog would have none of it. I suspect others wanted to return to town as well, but after the series of insults I endured from Ostog, the others stayed silent, and we backtracked to the shrieking mold lair to explore the chambers beyond. Before continuing on, many of us stopped to arrange our gear while Ostog and Kirin scouted the passageway ahead. Apparently Kirin found his sense of self-preservation again, for he stopped short at the beginnings of a thick and continuous layer of shrieking mold. Ostog did not. No, he climbed the passage walls and made his way along until he gained a better view of the inner chamber.

The sudden shrieking of the mold told us all that he had failed. Between the shrill noise from the floor, and the hooting and chest-beating from the dozens of vegipygmies hanging from the walls, we could only guess that Ostog was up to his bare chest in trouble. Imagine my surprise, however, when I turned the corner to see...Ostog making out with a beautiful, pallid woman. Well, half-woman. The other half appeared to be a stalk growing out from one of the large pods in the chamber. My first impression was that Ostog was merely trying to outdo Velmarius in the “outrageous trysts” category, but I could see that her kiss was not as passionate as it was deadly; Ostog seemed to visible shrivel before us. Split-second urgency propelled us into action!

Hazel and Kirin ran forward to flanking positions around what we now term “the Fungus Queen”. Their solid hits were less than effective. Zandu’s shots were muted in effect, as well. Remembering our previous encounter with these plant creatures, I called upon the Justice of Abadar to dwell within my sword, and the light of a holy spirit blazed from its blade, and fire leapt up its length. With this I stepped up to attack. Behind us, Styrian began reciting an exciting and epic accounting of...er, something. Whatever he was babbling on about, he was quite inspiring!

Kirin’s continued stabs began to damage the queen somewhat, for she took notice of him, and paused from her embrace with Ostog to call a black resin to form upon her free hand. With this, she reached out a caressed Kirin’s face; the effect was immediate. As Kirin screamed with pain, the queen’s wounds closed. Her actions took her attention away from Ostog, and the brute suddenly came to his senses and attacked her. Velmarius and Imrijka let loose with their remaining spells as well. Kirin and Hazel repeated their coordinated attack. All had minimal effect. Even the flames from my sword did not harm this fungus queen. As the queen drained the life from Kirin once again, Vorn rushed up to heal the dying elf, and earned the gaze of the queen herself. She commanded him to come to her, but the priest put up quite a fight, and prevailed!

The battle continued on in a blur, with our attacks landing, but doing minimal damage. Just as our efforts started wear down the queen, she would touch Kirin to heal herself. Styrian ran up to heal Kirin, and was attacked by the tentacles rising from an adjacent mound. Every healing of Kirin was akin to filling a cup for the queen to partake! I eyed Imrijka looking for some way to attack, and recalled her frenzied savage attack against the serpentwoman. I called out to her, and dropped Thundergutter from my belt, hoping that she would see and retrieve it, to join us in the attack.

It was at this point that Velmarius did something very surprising: he...attacked. He ran forward and touched the queen, visibly disturbing her efforts. As the damage to the queen mounted once more, she split in half, and released a large cloud of poisonous spores that engulfed the party. I was able to initially resist the cloud, but the spores were too much, and I became sick and weak. Velmarius and Styrian staggered back to Zandu’s position, while the others continued their attacks. I stepped back and called for Abadar’s favor. As it was granted, the cloud of spores cleared, and I stepped forward to continue my attack.

The queen continued to suck the life from poor Kirin, who continued to be healed by Vorn. Kirin no longer even made the attempt to stand, and made his sharp stabs and slashes to queen as he lay there, continually dying. Velmarius returned to distract the queen with his strange touch attack, preventing the queen from calling the black life-stealing film to her hands again. This allowed Kirin to make further attempts with his blade as well. Solid blows from the entire party began to take their toll on the fungus queen, and with a final hack from Ostog, she was severed at her base...which then burst in a fountain of slime and ichor. In fact, the entire room burst in a mess of globs and slime. What is it with this place?? Fountains of blood, gore, and...other...unpleasant substances. Fortunately, Velmarius was able to clean both himself and me in no time at all!

The party searched through the slime and huge piles of undigested bones for valuable items, and we recovered a good deal of interesting items to be examined and divided later. And so began our long trek back to town...one that even Ostog grudgingly admitted should have taken place earlier. A kiss from an evil fungus queen apparently has the side-effect of humility. Interesting.

Upon our arrival to Sandpoint, the party split up. Some of us stopped in at the temple. Unfortunately the priest there was unable to restore our health or Ostog’s drained vigor. I inquired on the safety of Stoot’s vessel and the cursed dagger, which seem to be safe still. We left, and continued on to the inn, but strangely enough were beckoned into an alley by a very shaken Velmarius. He urged us not to go to the inn, as some individuals were there, looking for him. He even went as so far as to offer each of us 1 platinum to visit the local brothel, the Pixie’s ‘Kitty’. Ostog immediately accepted, and rushed off.

I attempted to get Velmarius to ‘come clean’ and tell us what kind of trouble he was in, but he neatly sidestepped the issue, told us he would meet us outside the town tomorrow, ran off down the alley. Vorn led the rest of us to the inn, where we were met by...a Hellknight. Apparently they have booked the entire inn for their own use. Typical, really. Those Chelaxian rent-a-thugs really have no concept of “justice for the good of all”. Closing the town’s social and economic center for their own selfish needs is yet another example of their narrow-minded approach. Vorn was the only one permitted inside to retrieve his items. I had a minimal amount inside, so I am content to leave it there…for now.

What in the blue blazes did Velmarius DO??

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Wow, very dramatic and tense. Who knew fungus could be so... sexy?

Also ROFLMAO @ This:

Quote:
He urged us not to go to the inn, as some individuals were there, looking for him. He even went as so far as to offer each of us 1 platinum to visit the local brothel, the Pixie’s ‘Kitty’. Ostog immediately accepted, and rushed off.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

That last session comes with special thanks to my pal Matthew Sernett, for his disgusting but delightful Fungal Creature template in Green Ronin's Advanced Bestiary. The Fungus Queen was probably the most exciting fight yet in the campaign! And certainly one of the deadliest villains the PCs met yet... although not the MOST dangerous one they'll eventually face under Devil's Platter...

For those interested in seeing what the PCs were exactly up against...

Spoiler:

THE FUNGUS QUEEN CR 8
XP 4,800
Female fungal succubus
CE Medium outsider (chaotic, demon, evil, extraplanar)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., detect good; Perception +22
DEFENSE
AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 18 (+3 armor, +3 Dex, +5 natural)
hp 100 (8d10+56)
Fort +9, Ref +5, Will +7
DR 10/cold iron or good; Immune electricity, fire, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10; SR 19
OFFENSE
Speed 5 ft.
Melee 2 claw +11 (1d6+3) and tentacle +6 (1d6+1 plus grab)
Special Attacks constrict 1d6+1, energy drain, profane gift, sporecloud
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th; concentration +19)
Constant—detect good, tongues
At Will—charm monster (DC 21), detect thoughts (DC 20), suggestion (DC 20), vampiric touch
1/day—dominate person (DC 21), summon (level 3, 1 babau 50%)
STATISTICS
Str 16, Dex 17, Con 25, Int 18, Wis 16, Cha 24
Base Atk +8; CMB +11; CMD 24
Feats Agile Maneuvers, Combat Reflexes, Iron Will, Weapon Finesse
Skills Bluff +26, Diplomacy +15, Disguise +15, Escape Artist +11, Fly +11, Intimidate +15, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +12, Perception +22, Sense Motive +14, Stealth +14
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Draconic; tongues, telepathy 100 ft.
SQ change self (alter self, Small or Medium humanoid)
Other Gear bracers of armor +3
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Sporecloud (Ex) 1/day; standard action; 15-foot radius spread of spores that lingers in the air for 1d4 rounds. Any creature in the area that doesn't hold its breath must make a DC 21 Fortitude save or take 1d2 points of Constitution damage and be staggered.


James Jacobs wrote:


For those interested in seeing what the PCs were exactly up against...
** spoiler omitted **...

What an awesome and twisted way to build that monster! I admit that while reading the Journal I did have the faintest clue as to what the Fungal Queen really was. Bravo! Extremely well done!


Here! Here!

I love this journal!

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
vagrant-poet wrote:
Here! Here! I love this journal!

I wish we could get a journal for Eric's "play-test" adventure but since it's going to be part of an AP it'd be a spoiler.


SirUrza wrote:
vagrant-poet wrote:
Here! Here! I love this journal!
I wish we could get a journal for Eric's "play-test" adventure but since it's going to be part of an AP it'd be a spoiler.

Oh, I thought that was him playtesting the Spire of Nex, replete with Shensen's and Josh-murder. Is that going to be in an AP or am I confused?


SirUrza wrote:
vagrant-poet wrote:
Here! Here! I love this journal!
I wish we could get a journal for Eric's "play-test" adventure but since it's going to be part of an AP it'd be a spoiler.

Erik's playtest was for a Pathfinder Society adventure. I'll ask him if I can post my journal of the events therein, but no guarantees... There's PFS spoilers in there for sure!

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
Shensen wrote:
Erik's playtest was for a Pathfinder Society adventure. I'll ask him if I can post my journal of the events therein, but no guarantees... There's PFS spoilers in there for sure!

Ahh, my confusion. I knew it was for something official. :)

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

Any word on the possibility of a campaign journal? :)


Howell Talbot III wrote:

Entry from the travel journal of Howell B. Talbot III, Servant of Abadar

12 – Pharast (evening)

Yes, the "fungus queen" was a difficult lass to fight, no question. I will say I enjoyed the intensity of the battle but did not quite understand why Ostog felt the need to be so near her! I definitely did not want to be that close! I was frustrated at the lack of damage my trusty maces did on this one. That was no reason to give up, which I definitely did not! Howell I know you don't like to get your hands dirty but a battle without you would just not be the same. So, I'll overlook your constant need to shine.

It was a good idea returning to town. We all needed some rest, and I for one did not want to sleep on a pile of fungus for the night! My reaction to the Hellknights are just that they're rude and not much to talk to. I applaud the way Vorn handled that for us even though I had nothing of value inside the inn. Velmarius is such a mystery to me now, although he has been since I joined with this party. I spend so much time in the front of the battles and he spends most of it in the very rear of the battle...we rarely talk. I would like to know what caused Hellknights to be looking for him! Why such a big deal?

Sovereign Court Wayfinder, PaizoCon Founder

Just to let folks know...we've had two really fun sessions now, but the action has been pretty constant, so there has been no logical break where Howell can sit down and write a journal entry.

So, you'll have to wait to hear more about Chad the Hellknight, and our newest ally, Rummytumtugger.

Paizo Employee Chief Creative Officer, Publisher

I don't want to post a journal of the playtest we did the other day, because it would be filled to bursting with MAJOR Pathfinder Society spoilers.

If James (or anyone else) wants to share a journal from that game after the scenario has seen its debut I'm totally cool with that (it was a GREAT game), but for right now I think it might do more harm than good.

Sovereign Court

Entry from the travel journal of Howell B. Talbot III, Servant of Abadar
13 – Pharast (afternoon)

Ah! It is good to be in the saddle again! I forced the group to take pause for a moment to sort out all our coins and items from the past few days. No one really took long enough to account for all we had found, and with Kirin whining about needing a magic sword, it seemed best. So, it is with this extra coinage that I bought myself a horse, with tack and harness, and one of those nifty saddles that you can actually sleep in!

Or write in, at least...I write this entry from horseback, as we make our way to Magnimar. As it turned out, this mysterious gentleman was merely looking for Velmarius. This had Velmarius extremely agitated, but we all decided to confront this fellow, Anton Ghanafini, at the Rusty Dragon. Vorn shouted his way past the Hellknight in the doorway, and Velmarius somehow made himself invisible and slipped inside with us. We came to find out that this Ghanafini was hired to find Velmarius, although he would not say who...until Velmarius suddenly appeared at the bar! Ghanafini was hired to bring him to see his mother, who was in Magnimar waiting for him. He insisted that they be off at once, and the rest of us insisted that we accompany Velmarius to Magnimar, to be sure of his safety. The Hellknights visibly bristled at this! HA!

Velmarius headed up to his room to collect his belongings, closely followed by one of the Hellknights. When they came back down, it appeared that he was now good friends with “Chad”. This happens to Velmarius quite often…and I don’t think it’s merely his “winning personality”. I say this because his “friend” has now exploded in display of rage and obscenities (quite unbefitting for a Hellknight, if I do say so), most focused on Velmarius. It was quite delightful!

However, I have had a disturbing revelation. As I looked within, to see if any evil sat in Chad’s being, I saw none. I took a moment, and opened my senses further...and there it was. Evil. Riding right ahead of us. Leading us to Magnimar.


Yay! I missed Howell's diary!

Sovereign Court

Entry from the travel journal of Howell B. Talbot III, Servant of Abadar
14 – Pharast (early morning)

At last, I have ample time to record the happenings of the past day. It has been noteworthy, indeed.

We rode into Magnimar in the early evening, escorted to the Blue Bunyip Inn by Ghanafini and his Hellknights, Chad and Nigel. First things first, Velmarius had Ghanafini dismiss the Hellknights. Chad was still seething from his humiliation, and I fear that Velmarius may be dealing with that one again. Ghanafini asked us to come inside for dinner, but Velmarius insisted that he see his mother immediately, requesting that the steward of the inn go to his mother and announce his arrival. The steward had no idea what Velmarius was talking about. At this point, Ghanafini admitted that he had lied…and then proceeded to lie to us further. Something about his father having died, or being ill. I must admit that I did not listen beyond this moment, so great was my desire to arrest him immediately. I did collect myself when I heard Velmarius accept whatever nonsense Ghanafini was spouting, and we began to file into a dining room set for our dinner. We all sat, but no one touched the food or wine, and Ghanafini started to get nervous. At this point, he “suddenly” became best friends with Velmarius, and proceeded to be VERY forecoming with his information.

We came to find that, though he was an acquaintance with Velmarius’s family, he was hired by Kaleb Valdemar to bring us to Magnimar. Our wine was drugged with the midnight milk substance I have found that Valdemar has been smuggling, with the plan that we would drink it, Valdemar’s associates would come and collect our bodies, and we would be delivered to Valdemar in a warehouse. With this information, we devised an ambush for the associates that would be coming shortly. Seeing a chance for Valdemar to be captured and his operations to be shut down completely, I suggested to the group that I should report to the Temple of Abadar to request reinforcements, and meet them at the warehouse. The others agreed, and with our plan in motion, I set off for the temple.

I arrived to a moderate disturbance at the temple. Apparently, some wizened gnome teleported into the temple during evening services, and he refused to leave without answers...and a meal. My task being urgent, I interjected myself into the commotion, hoping to make my report and requests to my supervisor, Proctor Imikar. Imikar was not concerned with anything I had to say, only that the troublesome gnome was interrupting his service. At this moment, who should arrive but Styrian, who had been following our party from Sandpoint, wanting to know where everyone was. How he knew I would be at the temple, I know not. His reply was something like, “Where else would you be?”

Sensing that I would not get an audience until the gnome situation was resolved, I immediately saddled Styrian with the little old gnome, accepting responsibility for him while he remained in Magnimar. This was fine with the gnome, who we came to find was named Balazar, as long as he got some food to eat. Styrian agreed to feed him, and I suggested he make haste to the Blue Bunyip to catch the others, as they may need his help. Upon the departing of Balazar, I was able to make my report to Imikar. He was dismissive of my report on Valdemar’s midnight milk smuggling, and his kidnapping and bodily sacrifices made in the pit of Devil’s Platter. I was about to face a long-winded lecturing on being “the burden from Taldor that I have to babysit” when I pleaded with the proctor that lives were at stake, and Valdemar would escape us to commit even more evil if we did not act swiftly! This seemed to shake him from his prejudiced track of thought, for he assigned me a number of guards to accompany me to the warehouse, with the firm statement that my career would depend upon the outcome of this exercise.

My men and I arrived at the warehouse ahead of the rest of the party, and I positioned them within striking distance at each of the warehouse entrances. Just as I was beginning to worry that the ambush did not go off as planned, a large and overburdened wagon approached. This turned out to be the rest of the party, and after a nod to each other, they proceeded to the front of the warehouse. A knock, and gruff words were exchanged, and the front doors were opened to let the wagon inside. At this I gave the signal for the guards to advance. When I made my way through the front, I saw one thug on the ground, and Styrian holding his hand in pain. “He saw through my disguise!” was his explanation. I was about to commend him for quick thinking, but at that moment Ostog threw off the cover and leapt from the wagon, exclaiming something about the stench of some demon. I then heard Balazar say something like, “I told you not to feed him cheese!” as I saw the biggest, purplish, horned, six-limbed badger I have never seen jump out of the wagon.

This...was Rummy-tum-tugger. Balazar’s pet that he apparently summoned out of thin air. “Hiya! You worship Abadar, too?” the badger asked me.

Wonderful. And it talks, too.

Sovereign Court

Entry from the travel journal of Howell B. Talbot III, Servant of Abadar
14 – Pharast (early morning) Continued...

Not to be distracted by the, uh, purple badger, we looked about the warehouse and found it...empty. My heart suddenly sank to my stomach, fearing that all my preparations would look like a wild goose chase. Our only chance was an office. As we tried the door, it exploded, peppering us with fire, glass, and wood splinters. Picking ourselves up, we examined the interior of the smoking office space, and found a hatchway in the floor, leading down to the sewers. I stationed the guards in the warehouse, with orders to arrest anyone entering the warehouse, or exiting the hatchway, and the rest of the party descended.

Adjusting our eyes to the dim lighting in the sewer tunnel, we advanced into a larger passageway, and were immediately accosted by a pack of wererats hiding in the alcoves. Many of our hits were not as effective as they should have been, but between the spells flying and blades cutting, plus Thundergutter’s mithral edge, and the purple blur of teeth and claws that is Rummy-tum-tugger, the wererats broke and ran. We pursued the last one to a pair of large wooden doors, where I ran to interrogate it, but found it spitted upon Gnarlfang, with Ostog nodding in satisfaction. So much for that.

With the rest of the party approaching, Ostog pulled on the double doors, letting out a noxious burst of smoke, and opening to a hazy den of midnight milk addicts. And there, at the head of the chamber, was Kaleb Valdemar, administering a dose of the poison to none other than our friend, Ghanafini, who uttered, “It’s not as bad as it looks” before lapsing into a drug-induced coma. Valdemar smiled and remarked that he had expected us sooner, and “in a more pliable state, but no matter”. At this he sent forth a number of undead to take us, along with some thugs who transformed into more of the wererats.

Velmarius immediately detonated a fireball behind Valdemar, which he avoided nearly entirely. The same could not be said for Ghanafini’s drugged form, however. As the party entered the den to attack Valdemar’s minions, Valdemar himself disappeared from view. Hazel quickly charged one of the wererats, and was surrounded by more. Styrian began to recite something truly inspiring, and Vorn blessed us all with prayer. I called upon Abadar to imbue Thundergutter with Holy Light and Justice, took one of the undead down, and was frantically looking for Valdemar, when Vorn stepped in and spoke forceful words of Gorum that purged the area of invisibility. Not only did Valdemar reappear, but so did Balazar, who suddenly found himself too close to one of the undead, and took a hit before scrambling back up the stairs and sending an orb of light forth to attack. Valdemar quickly retraced his steps to attack Hazel, carefully avoiding a grease spell cast underfoot. The rest of us moved up to finish the wererats and undead in an attempt to close with Valdemar. Valdemar focused on taking Hazel down, while Ostog and I moved up to take the fight to him instead. Hazel was able to step away from Valdemar, while Vorn, Zandu, and Velmarius cleared the room of wererats and undead. Balazar and Hazel were seemingly overcome by the smoke in the room, as Balazar started to caress and lick the wall, and Hazel looked dreamily around the room.

Ostog leapt over the grease to deal a death blow to Valdemar, but no sooner had his body sunk to the floor, it started to shake and shudder. Everyone around me exclaimed something about “another brain dog” or some such nonsense, or so thought until Valdemar’s head split open, and a brain with four clawed feet and whip-like appendage climbed out of it, and grew several times larger! It spoke in my head some terrible language, and went on the attack! There was no doubt in my mind of this thing’s evil, and so I called down the justice of Abadar to smite this unearthly being. The - OK, yes, it DID look like a brain dog – the brain dog quickly found itself surrounded, and between myself and Ostog, with Rummy-tum-tugger dispatching the remaining wererats, the brain dog took terrible damage. It apparently tried to take over Ostog’s mind, but Ostog resisted as usual. Then, the brain dog slipped in the grease, and Ostog pinned it through and through with Gnarlfang.

With the death of the terrible creature, which was explained to me to be the same type that attacked the party during their ambush at the Blue Bunyip, the bodies of all the drugged persons in the den also started to go into seizures. Each of their heads split and out fell dead and undeveloped brain dogs. With all enemies and threats eliminated, we examined the den further, finding more midnight milk samples, and a back entrance leading to the sewer tunnels. We followed this for a ways, to ensure that there were not more of Valdemar’s minions present, and then returned to the warehouse to call the guards down to remove the bodies, particularly the one of the brain dog, for evidence. Somehow, I doubted that Proctor Imikar would believe it unless he saw it.

One thing is for certain, though. The midnight milk is a seed for growing the brain dogs in peoples’ heads. To what purpose, I cannot say, only that it is an evil one.

When I made my report, Imikar voiced his great disbelief. But, he recognized that Valdemar was involved in something larger, so my next charge is to search his house for further evidence. The search warrants and permissions are being prepared this morning, and I am off to collect them and my companions shortly.

Shadow Lodge

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Needs more purple badger


Awesome! But jeez, 9 characters and you added a summoner! The management of that alone impresses me to no end.

Dark Archive

vagrant-poet wrote:
Awesome! But jeez, 9 characters and you added a summoner! The management of that alone impresses me to no end.

I think it works mainly because the party has become more of an adventuring company, than a true blue party. I'm sure there is a few "core" members of the team, but the supporting cast seems to switch in and out.

In that case, I'm betting that only about 6-7 are present at any given moment, and that these guys are good enough to their DM to let him know who's coming in advance.

If this is the case, its alot easier to manage than 9 PCs plus eidolon.


Brain dogs...wonderful

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Dissinger wrote:
vagrant-poet wrote:
Awesome! But jeez, 9 characters and you added a summoner! The management of that alone impresses me to no end.

I think it works mainly because the party has become more of an adventuring company, than a true blue party. I'm sure there is a few "core" members of the team, but the supporting cast seems to switch in and out.

In that case, I'm betting that only about 6-7 are present at any given moment, and that these guys are good enough to their DM to let him know who's coming in advance.

If this is the case, its alot easier to manage than 9 PCs plus eidolon.

Actually, we're pretty regularly running at 8 or 9 players at the game. There really isn't a "supporting cast" element at all to the game. And I let Rob add a summoner to the mix because I specifically wanted to see how adding a summoner to a HUGE group caused problems. So far, it SEEMS to be going well...

But it's also worth noting that this game's first purpose isn't to "finish a campaign in a month or even a year." It's an open-ended campaign whose primary purpose is to be a team-building exercise for the editorial department and a bi-weekly reminder that our jobs are to make games, and that the games we make are fun. The result is NOT a fast-paced game. Our sessions are usually only about 3 hours long, and that's usually time for only one fight and some pretty crazy roleplaying. And most of the players bring other things to the game, be they minis to paint or iPhones to browse the internet or whatever. That's fine with me for this game.

Sovereign Court

Entry from the travel journal of Howell B. Talbot III, Servant of Abadar
14 – Pharast (midday)

We make haste, back to Sandpoint! We leave in little under a quarter of the hour, so I thought it best to record these happenings, whilst they are fresh in my mind (what is left of it!).

I received the warrants allowing us full access to Valdemar’s townhouse, and I gathered my companions and set off. Upon our arrival, we were met at the door by Kirin, who had somehow found out our destination this morning by an inquiry at the temple of Abadar. His comment about "not trusting that Imikar guy" had me curious as to what THAT was about, but...to business!

A pale and emotionless butler answered the door, and tried to dismiss us, but upon seeing our warrants, grudgingly let us pass through. We gathered in the parlor to start our search, when I noticed that the housekeepers were acting strangely. Keeping my eye on the house staff, I suggested to the butler that no interference would be tolerated. I then pulled out a vial of the midnight milk, and asked if he knew anything about it.

I might as well have waved purse of gold pieces at a pack of paupers; a maid launched herself at me, clawing at my armor and shield. I simply thought her bewitched, and soundly smacked her upside the head with the flat of Thundergütter, but it did little good. A quick detection of evil let me know that all the staff were milk addicts, as good as dead. The party made quick work of them.

No sooner had we finished this gruesome task, but a stout fellow in a fancy robe came strutting down the stairwell to investigate. As he stopped in shock, Velmarius gave him one of those big “you are now my best friend” smiles, and said, “Pillbug Podicker...what an unexpected surprise! Come, join us!”

I quickly came to learn that this man was a resident of Sandpoint, and was sought out by my companions early in their investigations to identify the midnight milk. Instead, he became addicted to it, and was lured by Valdemar into his whole scheme. Podicker was here as Valdemar’s guest, and was awaiting his return. When we informed him that Valdemar would not be returning...ever...he paled, and said, “But, what about the-”

He was suddenly interrupted by something upstairs slamming itself against the door. Running upstairs to investigate, we saw a thin tentacle wriggling from under the doorway, searching. “It’s hungry again!!,” Podicker whimpered. We grabbed some of the milk zombie staffers, and tossed them up against the door, which the tentacles latched onto and pulled under the door, in bits. Then...all was quiet.

We took this opportunity to search the premises for answers. Answers to Valdemar’s plans. Answers as to what in the blue blazes was behind that door! Notes and some filling in from Podicker revealed that this creature was captured in the pit on the Devil’s Platter, and Valdemar had it brought back here for study. Unfortunately, this thing outgrew the space. It was noted that this was a creature from the Darklands.

After much discussion, most of it an argument on whether to burn the townhouse down or not, we proceeded to the door to kill the creature. At first, after we had opened the door to a dark room, it seemed that the creature was nowhere in sight. Then, it spoke to our minds. Velmarius was the only one who could make much sense of it at first, but it opened the gates a bit wider, and we learned its story. This was a seugathi, and servant to the neothilids of Denebrum, and an enemy to the intellect devourers, what we had been calling ‘brain dogs’. This seugathi was sent to spy on the intellect devourers. From what it had learned, this midnight milk was part of a plan to increase the fighting forces of the intellect devourers for their war with the seugathi.

The unseen creature asked to be let go, so that it could report to its masters. This seemed a bad request, and Ostog simply wanted to kill it for speaking in his mind. I, for whatever reason, saw a dim possibility to offset these intellect devourers by helping their enemy, as evil as it was. “The enemy of my enemy"...as it were. I found myself offering to accompany it to the nearest passageway to the Darklands, just to be sure it would not cause any harm to innocents. This caused Ostog to ask me, “Escort it to the Darklands?? Really, Howell? Is that what they are teaching you paladins these days??” Our ensuing argument was that last straw for the seugathi, and it reached out and grabbed Ostog’s mind.

Much of the battle was a confused mess, blurry at best, but for those of us who rushed in to slay the creature rushed into madness and confusion. Ostog attacked most of us at some point, and it took a concerted effort of the party to find the large, caterpillar-like creature clinging to the rafters, and bring it down, where I called upon the might of the Gold-Fisted one to smite the evil beast. Many blows were landed by me, Zandu, Vorn, Hazel, and Kirin, with the last by Ostog himself, as he freed himself from the mindhold, and brought down Gnarlfang.

With the seugathi dead, we completed our search and began reading through the notes and letters Valdemar left. As I directed the town guards in the collection of the seugathi, to be returned to the temple for examination, Styrian quickly called us together to show us a piece of correspondence; one that outlined a plan to slip midnight milk into the water supply of Sandpoint. The key to this plan? That we were safely out of the way, thanks to Anton Ghanafini.

I quickly rushed back to the temple, while the others made preparations for immediate travel to Sandpoint. Surprisingly, Ostog chose to accompany me to the temple so that I could make my report to Proctor Imikar. The proctor was immediately dismissive, complaining that I was littering his rooms with fantastical beasts, slaying townspeople, and so on. He even insinuated that Ostog and I were...well, intimate, thanks to some "dirty crazy bird elf". And so it went; that is, until Ostog started berating him for his lack of respect. Yes. Ostog. Came to my defense. The proctor was so stunned, that he politely asked us both to recount our investigation of Valdemar, Canker, the midnight milk, and the intellect devourers.

In the end, he took us seriously enough. He appointed me a ‘marshal of Abadar,’ with jurisdiction over the region of Sandpoint. It appears that it truly is up to us to save this town once again. And now, we ride for Sandpoint, and pray it is not too late!


Huzzah! Seugathi! Updated to PFRPG! Probably in the Bestiary II! I love Seugathi and Intellect Devourers.

Great read as always Timitius!


Your Proctor had better not ever talk to me like that.

Ever.

Unless he wants my mailed fist breaking most of his teeth.

Sovereign Court

Vorn, Servitor of Gorum wrote:

Your Proctor had better not ever talk to me like that.

Ever.

Unless he wants my mailed fist breaking most of his teeth.

Ah, excellent, deputy! Practicing the ol' "good constable, bad constable" bit, eh?

Um...what? Don't look at ME like that! OH. You're serious.

Yes...well, of course you are. Not worry, though. We'll just make sure your "bright and smiling" face never has to meet the Proctor, then, won't we?

Sovereign Court

Entry from the travel journal of Howell B. Talbot III, Servant of Abadar
15 – Pharast (morning)

After a harried midnight ride, we have made it to Sandpoint...and none too soon.

Our race here was not an easy one. Ostog and Styrian had to lag behind, due to their horse throwing a shoe. As for the rest of us, we were ambushed by more of the mothmen as we neared Sandpoint. At least, we thought there were several of them. As it turned out, many of the mothmen were false images. Rummy-tum-tugger was the first to notice this, and I began to focus my attentions upon the presence of evil in the area. The many became only one, but it turned out to be one capable of casting many images of itself, as well as becoming completely invisible while attacking us from seemingly every direction. Just as I would begin to pinpoint the attacker, it would fly up and away, leaving me no choice but to begin my detections once again.

The successive attacks from our unseen assailant began to seriously frustrate the group, as I am sure its only real purpose was to delay us long enough for the town to wake up and consume the tainted water supply. Balazar had been, up to this point, summoning all manner of creatures, and Zandu had been carefully tracking and firing at the attacker’s locations, but to no avail. Hazel and I simply tried to flank and box the invisible foe. Vorn became so disgusted with this, that he merely began to leave, rushing off towards Sandpoint. It was about this time that I was finally able to pinpoint the mothman. Balazar suddenly had an inspiration, and summoned a large celestial bat, which quickly located the pinned down the mothman. We all proceeded to surround the creature and kill it. Shortly thereafter, we discovered that this was actually a priestess of Pazuzu, by the garments and unholy symbol it possessed. Evil forces continue to gather against us, it would seem.

Quickly, we resumed our way to Sandpoint, and came upon the town near dawn. I immediately began to dump the water barrels I came upon, greatly agitating the townfolk from their homes. After warning the town about the suspected tainting, the priest from the temple was summoned to detect whether the water was indeed poisoned from the remaining barrels and supply, and those were purified. As we had feared, nearly half of the supply WAS tainted with midnight milk, especially those barrels near the guard barracks. Crisis averted!!

We took some time to explain the situation to Hemlock, and patrol the town for any more signs of unrest, and that is when we came upon Pillbug Podicker’s shop, door wide open. His shop was nearly empty, save for the dead guard laying inside; it was cleared out of all items, except for a lone bottle on a shelf labeled “antidote”. Could this actually be the antidote for midnight milk? I somewhat distrust this notion, but I reserve my judgment for now.

As I was hailing down the town guard, the others rushed inside further to search for any sign of Podicker. It was not long after that I heard shouts from Kirin about a metal snake or some such nonsense. Moments later, after a furious amount of commotion inside, Kirin and Hazel emerged with…a largish metallic snake. Now, I will admit that sometimes I chalk up Kirin to hysterics and “crazy talk”, but I find it increasingly uncomforting that he is beginning to make more sense as of lately.

We now await Ostog and Styrian to show up in town. Discussion amongst the group has us leaving for the Devil’s Platter to finish our purging of the caverns there, as well as a search for Canker and his headquarters therein.


Wow, great read! This sounds like such a fun campaign. Great job on updating the journal Tim. I look forward to reading more of the groups escapades. All sorts of good stuff here to mine for a RotRl campaign.

Sovereign Court

Entry from the travel journal of Howell B. Talbot III, Servant of Abadar
15 – Pharast (afternoon)
Ostog and Styrian have returned, and discussions have begun on our next step. Styrian has pulled out all sorts of maps, notes, books, and sketches, sprawling them across no less than 3 tables in the Rusty Dragon. The lovely Ms. Ameiko doesn’t seem to mind, though.

Ah, Styrian has come to some conclusion regarding the caverns and entrances up on the Devil’s Platter. He has identified the caverns we have cleared, and ones that remain...infested. Ghouls appear to be there, yes. What we think are those little spooky white freaks that throw the hooked sticks – ah, Xandu insists they are called ‘derro’. My, he says it with such hatred!

Well, yes, it appears that we are headed back up to the pit on the Platter, then. I had better get my things in order, check on the ghost’s vessel at the cathedral, and give the town a “once over” before heading out!

Sovereign Court

Entry from the travel journal of Howell B. Talbot III, Servant of Abadar
16 – Pharast (late morning?)

So, I concur with Xandu. I strongly dislike derro.

We started this day with a brisk hike to the Devil’s Platter, and then slowly worked our way down past the goblin caverns. Styrian pointed out that we had not quite explored every area in the goblin caves, so we backtracked and found the mystery room in short order: it was covered in a layer of yellowish mold. Everyone was a little hesistant about plodding through that, and discussion about whether to explore further or leave it began in earnest. That is, until Velmarius threw a fireball into the room, effectively ridding us of the mold problem. A bit of gold, including a gold skeleton of a mouse, some potions, and some healing tools were all we recovered. Velmarius was slightly annoyed.

We continued on, down to where we believed the next set of unexplored caverns awaited us. Making our way down the passageways, we came upon a small room with dark, rotten curtains. Kirin parted the curtains of the left side, and revealed another passageway lit with some bright blue mold. We began to move down to a large cavern within. Ostog, Hazel, and I were beginning to enter the larger room, which contained a large, flutey…plant-snake creature, when a disturbance broke out behind us. Shouts and cries of alarm went up as the passageway to our rear suddenly when completely dark, and those damned hooked sticks on ropes came whistling out at the party.

As the flutey plant-snake thing did not appear to be attacking us, I decided to return to my companions and assist them in dispatching the evil little derro-devils. Unfortunately, as I started moving in one direction, Ostog moved in the opposite direction, charging the strange creature! I took a quick moment to consider this, and looked to Hazel. She shrugged at me, and waved me back down the passageway to the others as she followed Ostog.

The others were holding, but the darkness was putting them at a significant disadvantage. I met them as they were backing up from the darkened area, with about eight derro leaping from it to engage us. Poor Kirin seemed to once again take a fair brunt of their ire, trying to flank, but being flanked in turn. Xandu found his bow to be a liability in this close-quarters fight, and pulled his sword to exact his revenge upon their damned hooked sticks. Velmarius effectively avoided most of the confrontations, but a female derro “took a liking to him”...in a “I’d like to stab you” kind of way. Velmarius reciprocated by trying to charm her, which she disliked. So, that relationship almost lasted as long as Velmarius’s last one!

The battle was fierce, and at times I feared for some of my friends’ safety. Well, mostly Kirin’s. He somehow got himself taken down and nearly dragged away as derro food at one point. Ostog’s guttural bellows of rage drifted up from the larger cavern during our own engagement, casting some doubt on my decision to leave him to his own fight.

In the end, though, all derros lay dead or retreating, and Ostog and Hazel killed the strange plant-snake creature. Ostog looked fairly bad off, so I offered him healing. As I did, he recounted how the creature was actually the many grafted and combined pieces of humanoid remains, grown together into this monstrosity. This made me dislike those derro fiends even more!

Well, our rest and reorganization period is at an end. We move on, deeper into the caverns, towards Kanker hopefully.

Sovereign Court

Apparently, Kirin was spying over my shoulder as I wrote this. He tells me that 1) he wasn't THAT bad off (yes...he was), and 2) It was Rummy-Tum-Tugger that the derro dragged off to eat, not him.

This....is true. It was the purple cheese-eater that was taken away. Say....he's not back her either! Could the derro have actually eaten him? I'd ask old Balazar, but he is quite out of it. Vorn has shaken his head and grumbled a lot over there. I'll just stay out of it for now. Looks like we have decided to backtrack and try the adjoining chamber, just as soon as Balazar is back up.

More later....

Shadow Lodge

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

O_o

Must... keep... waiting

Sovereign Court

Entry from the travel journal of Howell B. Talbot III, Servant of Abadar
16 – Pharast (evening)

I fear I am in an unpleasant mood this evening. I have not been as...effective as I had hoped to be against the evil that dwells down here under Sandpoint. I will explain by recounting the day’s events.

Shortly after Vorn revived Balazar from his injuries, we made our way to the other passage, which led to a larger chamber. Kirin crept up to investigate, and quickly returned to tell us that Kanker himself was there, along with derro and ghouls...including one that looked like – Styrian? Recalling that derro seem to like the despicable practice of poisoning their weapons, several of us drank our anti-toxin, and set ourselves to do battle, and rushed into the room.

Well, it wasn’t just a room, actually. I should clarify that the chamber was lined with examination tables, many which held bodies that were dissected. A sinister laboratory, no doubt, for the derro to study surface dwellers for the secret of living in the light.

Upon our entrance, Kanker ordered a derro female magister to kill us, and promptly vanished. The magister beckoned her derro followers to attack, along with the ghouls, and Velmarius lobbed a fireball at the end of the room that set many of the derro and ghouls aflame. Alas, the magister avoided the flames, and so we set to our grim task as Styrian began to recite some rather inspiring tale of some glorious past battle, but staying low and relatively hidden. As I moved forward to engage the magister, I was intercepted by some ghoul and derro. I cut them each down in short order, but not before the magister noticed Styrian, who turned nearly white as the snow. She seemed to recognize him, and called him “experiment number” something or other. Styrian was visibly shaken, but even more so when the ghoulish Styrian came forward to attack. It was also at this time that the magister summoned a dretch demon.

I moved forward to assist Kirin when the dretch belched a vile toxic cloud that filled the half the chamber. At some point someone ended that grotesque version of Styrian, for I saw the head rolling across the ground. Dispatching their opponents, Ostog and Hazel began to move forward towards the magister while I decided to move forward against the two dretch teaming up on Kirin. Vorn and I moved in, and Zandu kept downing derro and ghouls with much grim determination. I would venture to say that he might have been having fun. Balazar also took this time to summon not Rummy-Tum-Tugger, but a very large alligator that went after the dretch as well. Velmarius kept slinging spells about, and he may have been enjoying himself, too, as he hurled an equal amount of insults at the magister.

The dretch finally downed, I began to move forward to assist Ostog and Hazel in taking down the magister. I called upon the might of the Golden Fisted One against her, and equally felt the strength of Gorum gifted from Vorn, as I moved forward to round the table to attack…and saw Ostog leap upon the table and drive a massive strike that struck her dead. And the strength of the gods subsided from me, untested...unused.

We proceed to search the room, finding a small chamber seemingly for storage, and moved all the bodies into it. The decision was to make camp here, and move further down the Pit to find Kanker. It was pointed out, however, that we really should be sure that no secret passages existed in the chamber, so that the Pit’s denizens could pop on in and take us by surprise. Zandu inadvertently rubbed his head as this was mentioned. And so Kirin took up the search, and located...a secret passage!

Despite being exhausted, and depleted of our spells, Ostog challenged us all to move forward and investigate. And so we did. We followed the passage a good distance, and came upon a cavern of sorts, with a large pool. Someone mentioned how odd the water moved, and I made a cursory read of the water for evil. Which it was, of course. The water writhed and wiggled, as thousands of worms moved upwards into the form of a man. Styrian mumbled something about the “Worms that Walk”, and thus we met Zalavexus, the Emissary of Denebrum. This...thing, was the superior of that seugathi worm thing in Magnimar!

Zalavexus talked a great deal. Mostly to Ostog, since Ostog really doesn’t know better than to chat it up with an evil, corrosive being. There was some useful information that was gained, I will admit. We learned that Kanker could be found at the bottom of the Pit in a temple of sorts, and it was guarded by the Sandpoint Devil. We learned that Zalavexus was just as much an enemy of these brain dogs, which he called Intellect Devourers. He confirmed much of what we suspected. The midnight milk was there to subvert us surface dwellers into slaves to fight against Denebrum. He attempted to bargain with us, asking for some focusing lenses that Kanker possessed. Ostog assured the worm-man that we would look for such a thing. And, much to my relief, we left, and returned to the derro chamber. And here we are...to rest for tonight. Tomorrow we will discuss our next move.

Maybe tomorrow I will make the difference.


As it turns out, when your cleric tells you that you should take your antitoxin because you're going to fight poison-using derro, you actually should take your antitoxin.

But they don't listen. Like how they keep forgetting I'm in charge.

Sovereign Court

Well, in all honesty, Kirin and Ostog really are just walking vessels for poison. I think it makes Kirin...happy, in a way.

As for Ostog, it sort of explains why he won't wear clothes, doesn't it?


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"Bear-wearer" is acctually not such a bad name for a barbarian, afteral, Berserk comes from the habit of wearing a Serk (coat) made out of bear skin, called Ber in old Norse. Hence Berserkr which became Bearserk in English.
Haha,´keep it up.

Sovereign Court

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Entry from the travel journal of Howell B. Talbot III, Servant of Abadar
17– Pharast

This was not the day I had hoped it to be. Not. At. All. I overestimated my own abilities, and severely underestimated those of my enemies...and my companions.

That garners some explanation, I fear. I will recount this dramatic day:

Upon rising this morning, the group took another good look at Styrian’s strange spiral map of the Pit, trying to make sense of where we’d been, and what was left to clear. Now that we were all keenly aware of where Kanker was hiding out, no of us was in any real hurry to run down there, work our way past the Sandpoint Devil, and make a rush for Kanker. Well, Ostog was all for it. And Styrian was quite excited about this Sandpoint Devil creature, flipping through his notes, showing us his sketches, and so on. If the thing is as hideous as Styrian’s drawings are poor, then we have much to fear.

Instead, we refocused on the other areas we had not yet explored. Vorn and Hazel noted that we had completed missed a cavern on the upper level, apparently filled with horrible little blue men that Zandu called “jenkins.” Ah. Strange name, regardless.

So, we ascended the ladders to the upper levels, and travelled down a series of tunnels to an open cavern teeming with the foul little things. While there were a lot of them, it was really quite embarrassing to even engage them. Ostog took to it with a certain amount of glee, but quickly became bored, and instead took to coaching Styrian and Zandu on the art of insane sword waving. I tried to stay away from what was easily becoming a slaughter, but the damned little blue things kept trying to attack me. I at first tried smacking them with the flat of Thundergutter, but it kept discharging a shock of lightning that cooked the little devils. Using my shield to bash them was a bit more fair, but not by much. Velmarius somehow skipped out again on this, and I wish, once again, that I had enough sense to follow him…that is, if I entirely trusted him.

The Jenkins massacre yielded nothing but Ostog’s bellowing of disapproval, and how Styrian could “just leave this part out of the epic” and so forth. It was pointed out that the constable Hemlock would still have to pay us for clearing the cavern, and that cheered everyone up. Ah, By the Judge, monetary gains mark progress, indeed.

It was at this point that we consulted the map again, and it was decided that the group should travel back down and deal with the cavern with the spider people images drawn by it; this we took to be what Zalavexus referred to as the “Umberweb Emissary”.

And here is where things went wrong for me.
We entered the large, dark cavern, finding it filled with webbing, most of it over a vast chasm at the mid-point. Appearing upon ledges to the left and right were evil creatures, half dark male elf, half spider. At the far end was a larger, female dark elf/spider, which I can only assume was this Emissary. Several large spiders roamed about in the middle of the cavern. Vorn and Hazel rushed to take the one on the right ledge, whereas Ostog and I went straight up the middle to engage the spiders. The spiders went down fairly easy, although poison was a large concern, seeing that Ostog often succumbs to it. Also, great vents in the floor were spewing up noxious gases, and an inadvertent pass through this gas was enough to knock one out. Great care was taken to try and avoid that hazard!

All was going fairly well, until the males on the ledges got involved, casting spells down upon us. The female at the far end advanced, and then...disappeared. I had little time to consider this, as the remaining spiders were fighting fiercely, and the male to the left decided to come down and attack us. Rummy-Tum-Tugger rushed forward to fight it, but was tremendously outmatched fighting it alone. I moved forward to aid the….(sigh) purple badger, delivering my challenge to it, calling upon the Might of the Judge to serve it death.

Instead, two searing beams of fire tore out of the darkness, catching me full in the chest. I can only assume that it was the Emissary. All went dark....

I awoke to a horrific sight...the male spider creature I was attacking had my head grasped, and was preparing to rip my throat out! He was somewhat startled to find his meal awake and looking back, I suppose, as he dropped me and backed off. I looked over to find Balazar standing next to me with his wand, and...a dinosaur? This great armored beast had been summoned, and had been fighting Ostog, who had cleverly maneuvered it into one of the gas vents, causing it to pass out. The great beast was collapsing at the very moment I gained consciousness, and its huge club tail came crashing down next to the very spot I once laid, narrowly missing me! Thank the Judge!

Unfortunately, nearly dying two times over was too much of a distraction. I struggled to my feet, calling upon Abadar to heal my wounds as I rose, and turned to face the dark elf spider again. Instead, he unleashed a barrage of magic blasts at me. Once again, darkness closed in.

I awoke with Balazar standing over me, with his wand. Instantly I knew that Abadar’s might of justice had left me again, unfulfilled. I rose to see the battle ended, with the spiders and spider men dead, the dinosaur with Gnarlfang firmly embedded in its skull, and the Emissary gone. Zandu also took a bit of damage, and the fight on the right ledge had taken its toll on those that aided Vorn and Hazel. Vorn had been quite generous with his healing from Gorum, but I had been too far to benefit.

Our return trip, and the following hours we have spent in the derro laboratory chamber have been filled with the tales of Ostog felling a dinosaur in one blow. Really, every time he tells it, the dinosaur gets bigger and meaner. I would smile, if I did not find myself so useless at this very moment.


Yay!


Think of it this way, Howell: Every spell sent your way was one that would have killed Ostog outright. So he is alive because of your heroic sacrifice. There is no dishonor in your battle!

Sovereign Court

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Entry from the travel journal of Howell B. Talbot III, Servant of Abadar
18– Pharast

This day has fared better. Much evil has been met...and vanquished. Ah, sort of. I will explain in this entry, as we have paused in our travels down to the bottom of the pit to find Kanker and foil his plans.

Our morning started off with the decision to take the advice of Zalavexus, and use the “back way” to Kanker’s sanctum. Unfortunately, Mr. “Worms that Talk” was all too pleased to chat with us again, and it was all I could do to quickly move the party past the vile thing before Ostog started to agree to some slickly posed offer. We made our way down, down, down the passageway until we heard a rushing of water, and saw an eerie red-purple glow ahead.

The passageway opened into a dimly-lit cavern. At the entrance was a curious depression, with a pool of liquid settled in it. Further in, the rushing water was an underground river which had carved a wide, 10-foot deep path through the middle of the cavern. Ostog and I stood on the ledge above and peered down to the river below, and saw the reddish flow was emanating from a group of large crystals. At the center was a form of a dead person. Ostog spied some gear or something , for he jumped down to the river bank below, but failed to land successfully. He hit with a mighty thump, and revealed that the entire riverbank was covered in mold, which kicked up an alarming amount of spores in the process. Ostog began hacking and coughing and wheezing, while I quickly slipped off my pack, and pulled out the strange bottle of fresh air that I had found earlier with the head straps. Slipping this on, I returned to see that Ostog had stumbled over to the corpse in the crystals, but was shocked to hear Ostog cry out in recognition, “Girt Bear-Wearer!

At this the corpse pulled itself out of the crystals, and several undead rose from the waters of the underground river, lurching forward to take Ostog. I yelled to the others to come, but they had been surprised by an ooze that had risen from the strange pool at the entrance, and had seized Balazar for a small snack. Fortunately, Velmarius was not otherwise engaged, and he took the time from his busy schedule to finish his wine and come see what was the matter.

In the meantime, I leapt down to the riverbank, in an equally unsuccessful manner, to assist Ostog, by attacking his lost oarmates while he battled Girt. This was about the time that Velmarius had the brilliant idea to fireball the lot of us. Several of the undead dropped, and luckily Ostog and I remained standing. I paused and called for the justice of Abadar to flow out from me to purify the area. That wave of energy proceeded to drop more of the undead, and may have even angered Undead Girt a bit. I focused my attentions on the remaining undead oarsman, trusting that Ostog would remain Unslain, but Ostog was already weakened by the mold, and Girt was oddly different from other undead I am familiar with. I saw Ostog fall, and moved forward to engage Girt, calling to him that he forgot his axe as I buried it in his shoulder. Vorn came running to the ledge, to make his way down, and at this, the undead Girt retreated to the river, but not before Velmarius shot several magic missiles in his back. Girt splashed soundly into the water, and began to float downstream. I laid my hands upon Ostog to stabilize him for Vorn’s attentions, and turned to retrieve the floating body, but before I could do so, the body burst from the water, and the bellowing soul of Girt Bear-Wearer ripped itself from the corpse, and fled to the opposite side of the cavern, down a far passageway.

After all this, the party paused to heal up the injured (Balazar had come close to death TWICE it seems, and his farty, purple pal was nowhere to be seen), and those more nimble crossed the river and climbed the far bank...

and where immediately set upon by a large creature that dropped on them from the cavern ceiling. Poor Hazel was entirely enveloped by this lurker from above, and the thing crushed her to an inch of her life. Luckily Vorn and Ostog managed to wrest her free, and defeat the creature, but not before they too were given the none too friendly embrace themselves. Velmarius and I witnessed much of this as we were attempting to cross the river, and by the time we arrived to the other side, the battle was over. So, for now, we rest and regroup. Our next encounter may well be Kanker and minions...including the Sandpoint Devil!


Bear Pelts vs Sabertooth Pelts, howbout Sabertooth Bear Pelts ;)

Sovereign Court

Not to be accused of neglecting my journal entry duties, I did happen to write a stirring missive chronicling our defeat of a most foul beast.

I shall expand upon that day in due time.

SO IT IS JUDGED!

Paizo Employee Chief Creative Officer, Publisher

Howell Talbot III wrote:
Not to be accused of neglecting my journal entry duties

Now that three months have passed since you said that, is it ok to start accusing, yet? ;)


The Sandpoint Devil's foul breath appears to have traumatised him sufficiently that he is incapable of setting quill to parchment.
Or perhaps there are other explanations...

Sovereign Court

Entry from the travel journal of Howell B. Talbot III, Servant of Abadar
23– Pharast

Strange...I have not been able to locate this journal for DAYS, and then, there it was, at the bottom of my pack. Odd.

Regardless, MUCH has happened since my last, hastily scribed entry recording the defeat of the Sandpoint Devil. I shall attempt to recall our actions now....

After our triumph over the evil Devil, we collected ourselves, and began to make our way through the passageways, towards Kanker’s temple headquarters. That’s when Kirin showed up. Apparently the elf had been trapped by the Sandpoint Devil, and was held captive in its lair. He offered to show us the lair, and upon mentioning “treasure” could be found there, Ostog shouldered past us all bellowing about “seeing what the foul devil left me.” Kirin led us out a pair of large doors into an open area, which we soon discerned was the bottom of the pit on Devil’s Platter. We made our way across the bottom to a cave-like chamber on the other side, which was the Devil’s lair. The cave was lined with filth and bones. And a surprising amount of excrement. So much so, that it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that giant bats lived above, and took the opportunity to attack us shortly after we entered.

We dispatched the bats in short order, and proceeded to investigate the lair for the aforementioned “treasure”. Definitely treasure. I managed to pick out a full set of very well-made adamantine plate armor. Not a big fan of it being black, or with the large spikes adorning the shoulder plates. Cosmetically, I’ll need to change the color sometime soon to the standard gold befitting of a marshall of Abadar. It seemed that there were enough magical items and gear for each of us to take for use. The most curious items were found in a deep pool at the far end of the cavern. Magic of a strong nature was detected at the bottom of the pool, greater than 10 feet down. As I had the bottle of air, I fastened it to my face and walked down into the pool to investigate and retrieve the items. I did not detect evil upon the items, so I picked them up and brought them out to examine them with the others.

What I came up with was a star knife and a winged helm with symbols of butterflies worked into the design. Both items spoke of an affiliation with Desna, to be sure. The star knife was identified as a magically enhanced weapon, imbued with holy power, and capable of returning when thrown. It also seemed to possess some aspect that suggested intelligence, but that aspect was blocked somehow. The helm was far too difficult for the mages in our group to figure out, but putting the helm on filled the wearer with an overwhelming sense of loss and sadness that it was most unsettling. I resolved to bring these to a church of Desna to find out more.

We rounded up all the items we found, and after a discussion of what to do next, we resolved to return to Sandpoint to restock our supplies, and prepare better for the showdown with Kanker next.

The return journey to Sandpoint was eventless, unless of course you count Balazar summoning steeds to carry him for a short period of time...over and over and over. As it turns out, we would all regret his foolishness....

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