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Cordwin Ironbeard is shorter than most dwarfs which makes him really small to a human. He is also not as thick as a normal dwarf. When young Cordwin started arms training like every good dwarf should he found that he could barely swing his warhammer! He was only mildly better with his crossbow. Obviously winning glory in combat against orcs and giants was not in the future for young Cordwin. But what young Cordwin did excel in was knowledge. He could recite long, detailed stories with ease. This along with his easy-going manner made Cordwin a natural to join the bards of Clan Ironbeard. Cordwin excelled and soon could recite the history of 300 Ironbeard kings with the best of them. But young Cordwin wanted to learn more! Sure, the Ironbeard clan had more than enough history to keep him busy, but he knew there was a whole world outside and above his library that he wanted to explore. He did not want to be the old bard that was trotted out on feast days to remind the citizenry of the significance of the date all the while being jeered by that same citizenry who wished he would “hurry the dern up! The ale is a getting warm!”.
One day when he was memorizing the details of a drow invasion that occurred 250 years ago, the famed Pathfinder Eando Kline visited Clan Ironbeard and sought answers from the bards about a question of a long-forgotten Duergar city that according to lore the Ironbeard dwarves once warred against many ages ago. Cordwin was fascinated with the breadth of knowledge Kline had accumulated. Seeing the youth’s (by a dwarf’s standard) enthusiasm. Kline told him about the Pathfinders and wrote him out a letter of introduction for the Magnimar lodge on the spot.
It was with a heavy heart that Cordwin left Clan Ironbeard, but he knew he must find his own path (no pun intended). He was relieved when his brother Balak decided to join him. As Balak put it, “Someone needs to protect ye! What are ye gonna fight orcs with - a derned pen?” Although not interested in the history aspect of the Pathfinders, Balak yearned for the adventure. And so the two set off on their first Pathfinder expedition as probationary agents– The “brains” and the “brawn”.
Session Date: 01/06/2013
Erastus 1 4713
Level 1
We head to Heidmarch Manor, the first and only Pathfinder lodge in existence here in Magnimar. The door is answered by a snooty butler who looks down on us (figuratively and literally) because we are dwarves. When I tell him I have a letter of introduction, he dismissively says that “I don’t believe we sent any letters to dwarves!” He won’t admit me until I give him my letter of introduction, which I refuse to do. I tell him that I will only give the letter to his mistress and at this point he says “Very well” and slams the door in me face. I knock harder and he again opens the door. After I refuse to give him the letter a second time he again slams the door in me face. Balak just stands there amused by this whole situation. Now I consider myself sociable, but I will be derned if I conduct me business with some snooty butler who looks down on me kin. I pound even harder and the butler answers with a bored, “We can do this all day.” If I punch him in his smug mouth, I can probably forget joining the Pathfinders so I reluctantly hand over me letter from Eando Kline. He glances at it and ushers us into a waiting room. I purposely do not wipe me feet when I enter. Hope he has fun cleaning me boot marks from his floor.
There are three other people in the room and we quickly make introductions. There is a human warrior named Firenia. A cat-looking person named Furrnando. He says he deals in the ‘life force’. Sounds like a cleric to me but I know that these surface dwellers are a little strange in their interpretations of things. There is another human dressed in robes that goes by the name Bluestone. Looks like he is the mage in this shindig. They admire Balak’s armor and weapons and then ask me what skills I bring to the table. I tell them about all of the variety of knowledge I have accumulated during my time with the bards and how I can recite the deeds of the last 300 Ironbeard kings. Firenia is not impressed and says that knowledge might not be a big help adventuring. Bluestone is not impressed with the deeds of the 300 Ironbeard kings, even if it is knowledge that spans thousands of years. Between the butler and these three, I am know starting to doubt the wisdom of leaving me clan and learning the knowledge of these surface dwellers – or maybe they all need a punch in the mouth (I am a dwarf after all!).
Two women finally come into the room breaking this uncomfortable interrogation. Shelia Heidmarch, a deep voiced human and Koriah Azmeren a half-elf ranger. She greets us and mentions that even though me brother and I were not officially invited, because of Eando Kline’s recommendation, we are most certainly welcome. She next presents an ancient Thassilonian vessel – a Paradox box. It was found by Koriah and she had just started to do some research on it. She would like to see if we can open the box, even though she thinks it is empty. She confirms in our suspicious eyes that yes, this is a test. She leaves the box on the table along with Koriah’s research and tells us that they will be back in ½ hour. I detect magic on the box, and I believe that magic has to do with the locking mechanism. There are runes on the box which I quickly identify as Thassilonian, which I happen to speak. Some of the runes spell ‘CRUEL’. These runes can be moved around and after twenty minutes I remember a Thassilonian word – LUCRE. Sure enough moving the letters around to spell it opens the box. It is almost empty with just a few gems, a ring and a dagger. I no sooner turn to Firenia and boast how my knowledge came in handy when two pugwampis appear. One attacks an empty chair and one- to me absolute horror, attacks Koriah’s notes! Furrnando quickly casts guidance on Firenia, who just as quickly cuts a pugwampi in half. Balak, not to show that he is lacking in the warrior department, cuts the other in half. Shelia returns and is most grateful and is not too worried about her ruined chair. I can’t say the same about Koriah as she looks over her ruined notes. Shelia glances around at each of us and says:
“First, allow me to apologize for that unpleasantness regarding the gremlins—but it does provide an excellent object lesson. The life of an adventurer is not one for the weak-hearted. That you not only took care of the gremlins but also got the box open in the first place is all the confirmation I need that my gut was
right—you’re the perfect group for the job I have in mind. “You see—I’ve recently had trouble with one of my informants here in Magnimar, Natalya Vancaskerkin. She’s a half-Varisian who recently approached the Pathfinder Society with an offer to serve as a street informant. She runs with the Sczarni—I’m not sure with which group. A week ago, Natalya sent me a cryptic hint that her gang was on the verge of uncovering an item that would be of great interest to the Society. Since the Sczarnis’ methods of uncovering something often involves an armed robbery or breaking into somebody’s personal chambers, we thought it prudent not to press for further details and instead wait to see what it would produce. Suffice it to say, she hinted strongly that it pertained to Thassilon, and promised to meet with me to discuss this find three days ago.”
“She never kept that promise—instead, she seems to have simply vanished. Initially, I assumed that the acquisition of this item was simply taking longer than expected, but now I’m hearing rumors that the Sczarni are looking for her as well. “It seems likely that Natalya has absconded with this item she’s discovered. And this is where you enter, my friends. I want to know what it was that Natalya and the Sczarni found. In fact, I’m more interested in that than in what happened to
Natalya herself. For now, I’d like to keep all of this quiet—if you can find out what happened to Natalya without letting a lot of people know she was also working for me as an informant, that would be preferable—that’s a big part of why I’m coming to you, as new members of the Pathfinder Society, with this task. You don’t yet have a reputation in Magnimar, and as such, the lowlifes and criminals you are likely to encounter may be more likely to talk.”
“So... go out there and look for Natalya. Find out what happened to her, and to this item she and her gang discovered. If you can secure the item, all the better—bring it back to me and I’ll have a reward of 500 gold pieces for you. And if you can bring Natalya back alive for me to speak to, I’ll double that!”
Natalya came to her through an old fortune teller on Washer’s Row named Amazing Zograthy. We get directions from the snooty butler for Washer’s Row and off we go.
It takes us an hour to get to Washer’s Row and we enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of busy Magnimar. On Washer’s Row we see many carnival-like attractions set up. There are many games of skill where I suspect skill or luck has nothing to do with the outcome. We search for the Amazing Zograthy but can’t seem to find him. Firenia stops a street urchin and asks him where we can find him all the while flipping a silver piece in her hand. The boy does not take his eyes off the coin as he points out a modest tent. There he tells us we can find Uncle Zog. As we enter the tent we are greeted by an aged, bald man who announces that he can tell us our fortune by saying, “The Amazing Zograthy sees all and knows all. A double fist of silver for a turn of the cards or a vision in the crystal; a treble fist of gold for the secrets of the multiverse.” We graciously decline his dubious offer and we tell him we want to know the whereabouts of Natalya. He replies that he would gladly impart that information for 50gp. Firenia and Furrnando both balk at this with Furrnando stating he will take that information to his grave. Uncle Zog asks if he has just been threatened and Furrnando replies in the negative, he was just stating an eventual fact. In an attempt to diffuse the situation, I offer him 10gp for his information. He counters with 40gp. I counter with 20gp, and he is no match for the negotiating skills of a dwarf. I offer him 10gp now and the final 10gp after he has earned it. He says that she has disappeared and that many people have disappeared lately. Rumor has it that it might be the work of slavers kidnapping their victims and selling them in foreign lands. He also tells us that she was once a part of a group of cat burglars within the Sczarni called the Tower Girls. At the words cat burglars Furrnando picks up his ears. I don’t think he has anything to worry about from these cat burglars unless they are a different type of slavers! He tells us that Natalya went ‘mad’ before her disappearance. He also tells us that she and the Tower Girls used to live in rooms let out by a man with the happy moniker of Fenster the Blight. He gives us directions and we all agree that he earned his remaining 10gp. We ask him to keep his eyes and ears open for we will return in a few days to see if he has learned anything new. The aged man agrees and we are off to find this Fenster character.
We come to a partially collapsed warehouse on the shoreline. There is a note on the door: “Leev A Gift and wate outsid”. By the door on the ground is a beat up tin pan. Firenia, seeing how a silver piece worked with the street urchin, drops one into the pan. After a few moments a one-eyed, human walks out, looks at the silver piece, harrumphs and walks back inside – I guess he is more particular than a common street urchin. We replace the silver piece with a gold piece and again the ‘man’ shambles out, looks at the gold piece, harrumphs again and walks back inside. I am having a flashback with the snooty butler at this point. We replace the gold piece with one of the gems that was in the Paradox Box and when Fenster the Blight sees the gem he is sold. We ask him where the Tower Girls are now calling home and he says he doesn’t know. We are thinking that we overpaid for this creature’s company when he says, “Yep I doon know whar they is now, I only know whar one of ‘em is. ‘er name is Natalya.” We look incredulously at the man and almost in unison say, “You know where Natalya is?” He replies in the affirmative and points a crooked finger at a warehouse just as dilapidated as his. “She is in thar!” We ask if the Tower Girls left anything behind and he responds in the negative. I am sure if the Tower Girls did leave anything behind, it has seen the inside of a pawn shop by now. We thank the man and cannot believe our good fortune and head to where the crooked finger pointed.
As we near the warehouse, two thugs step out of an attached shack and tell us in not the politest terms to scram. We say that we would like to speak to Natalya and they only get louder in their recommendations on where we can go. Seeing the situation getting out of hand and not wanting to cause undue harm to these poor souls I try to cast sleep on them. They resist me spell and are now angrier. They draw weapons and rapidly approach us. They both focus their attacks on Firenia, but Balak hits one. Bluestone hits the same one with a ray of frost but I miss with my crossbow. A strike from Firenia and the wounded thug falls to the ground bleeding. His partner, not big on loyalty, flees. We quickly secure his abandoned comrade and Furrnando casts a healing burst. He is now more agreeable and says that Natalya lives in the rafters of the building with her rats from the sewer, but they are not ordinary rats as they throw bags filled with foul smelling ‘things’ that would make you sickened. He says that Natalia is making plans to take over the Sczarni and does not believe she will fail at all especially with some piece of metal she has. It sounds like Natalya has become a little power hungry recently. We let our new-found ally go, and tell him that we will leave his weapons by the door after we have spoken to Natalya. He points us the door that leads into the warehouse and quickly departs.
We open the door and find a room that has a floor that has collapsed into a pool of sewage. The smell is almost unbearable. There is a ladder that leads up to the rafters and a plank that spans the pool. There are also two pipes that spew sewage into the room. I examine the ladder and my knowledge of engineering allows me to believe that it will not hold anyone’s weight. Firenia, to prove my point, grabs hold of the ladder and yanks. With a loud snapping sound the ladder separates from the wall and splashes down into the murky, smelly pool. I next check the board and determine if it is safe to cross. Though decrepit and rotting, I determine that it can hold only one of us at a time. Since it ends in a door, I offer to go first. I am halfway across when three small sewer goblins emerge from the pipe. Each one throws a bag at me, but only one makes contact. The smell is overpowering and I think I will spew the ale I drunk a few hours ago. As the old saying goes, “When a dwarf feels the need to vomit the mead, Ye can bet an orc’s head that he should be sick in bed!” Even in my sickened condition I am able to cast sleep and one of the goblins falls back into the pipe sound asleep. Bluestone casts an acid ray and another goblin falls back into the pipe. Unlike his slumbering companion, this one is as dead a troll’s heart. Firenia fires an arrow and the third joins its newly deceased brethren. Another well placed arrow shot causes the slumbering goblin to join them.
I open the door and I am extremely disappointed to see a room that mirrors the previous room. This one actually has a ledge that one can use to go around the pool. There are no pipes in this room, but on the far side there are stacks of crates. I am halfway around the ledge when a goblin pops up from behind a crate with a huge (for it) crossbow. It launches a bolt at me but misses. Balak dashes into another room in an attempt to get behind the smelly beasts, but it is all for naught as by the time he reaches them the goblins are dead. One was slain by a ray from Bluestone and the other from one of my crossbow bolts with an assist from Firenia with some well placed arrow shots.
When we see Balak, however; he is covered in sludge and all feel that we are not going to like this next room. Sure enough the only way to get across it is by wading across the sludge pool. We hold our noses and go right in. There is a landing with a ladder on the far side of the room and as I inspect this ladder I determine that this will hold. As Firenia grasps the ladder she suddenly finds it greasy where it hadn’t been a moment before. She briefly sees a woman looking down on her from the rafters before the woman draws her head back. I shout out that we have come to seek knowledge from the greatest, most important person in Magnimar. I wait a few moments to see if my fib was accepted and surprisingly a woman’s voice calls down that the grease should dissipate in a few moments. At that time I climb the ladder with Firenia close behind me. I bow deeply and Firenia asks if the rest of our companions can come up. She guardingly agrees and asks us what we want. I say we are here to offer our services to her noble cause. The flattery seems to be working! She says that she can use our specific talents to take over the Sczarni. She says her first task for us is to ‘take care’ of Fenster, since if he told us where she was, he might tell others. We try to argue that it was difficult for us to find her, and therefore Fenster would be of no threat. She is becoming agitated with our reluctance to put an end to Fenster’s existence until with a wink in my direction Firenia agrees. Bluestone asks if Natalya has any magic items that will help us destroy Fenster the Nemesis when she angrily demands what he knows of her magic item. In spite of Bluestone’s instance that he had no such designs on whatever magic items she may or may not possess, she yells for him to get out of her sight. She orders me to escort Bluestone out, and I whisper him to stay close but out of sight. Balak and Firenia then leave to eliminate the troublesome Fenster while Furrnando and I feign interest in Natalya’s life story which she is more than willing to share for her official biography. Bluestone decides to accompany Firenia and Balak leaving us alone with the mad, power-hungry woman. This almost proves disastrous as about 10 minutes later a thug pokes his head up and shouts, “Hey boss! They up here!” and a female voice from below yells in reply, “Kill them all and take the shard!”
As the thug climbs up to the rafter, Natalya wiggles her fingers and asks the man if he wants to be her friend. As his companion comes up the ladder he is smacked by Furrnando. I launch a bolt at him from my crossbow and it hits. Natalya also hits him with a bolt and the man collapses on the rafters. His companion is just standing idly by not wanting to hurt his new ‘friend’. A woman emerges from the ladder, looks at Natalya and says, “Give it back B@*#+!” I launch a bolt at her and miss. Natalya tries to hit the angry woman with her short sword and misses. Furrnando smacks the woman good with his mace and the sound of bone breaking is heard. “She says she will be back for the shard and quickly flees the room. The remaining thug looks at us blankly and he would probably not catch the fleeing woman. Natalya recognizes the woman as Terisha Skiloni, a Tower Girl. We ask the man where we can find Terisha and he replies that he and his dead companion owed Terisha a favor and she found them. He has no idea where she is. We decide to keep him around until Firenia, Balak and Bluestone get back for further protection.
In the meantime, Firenia, Balak, and Bluestone reach Fenster’s dilapidated abode. They bang his tin pan and when he emerges they tell him that Natalya sent them to kill him. Firenia says that it would be best if Fenster hides out in the country for a few days. Surprisingly the man readily agrees and leaves, taking his few, shoddy possessions with him. Comfortable in the knowledge that the plan is in place the rest of our party returns to us.
When they return and see the thug body, Balak is madder than a wet orc. I don’t know if he was mad because he did not do his duty of protecting me or that he missed a fight. I suspect it was the later more so than the former. Furrnando suggests that this place might not be the best place for Natalya. Considering the smell, it isn’t the best place for any rational being. I earnestly suggest Heidmarch Manor and hold my breath to see if she takes the bait. She responds in anger and tries to cast a charm on me. Silly lady trying to use charm magic on a dwarf! She yells why I would suggest such a place. In me most diplomatic and sincere voice I tell her that we had heard it was the nicest place in town and would make a splendid place for her to put her plans of conquest into action. Natalya asks if we are working for ‘her’ and I respond that we had just arrived in town and don’t know who ‘her’ is. We did, however; hear that Heidmarch Manor was stately and opulent and I thought it would make a fitting abode to one as intelligent and powerful as she is. Her anger subsides and a few seconds later the idea of using the manor begins to appeal to her. We tell her that we will accompany her to make sure she is not harassed by anymore filth like the hired thugs. It is at this point that Firenia tells Natalya what a big help Bluestone was in ‘taking care’ of Fenster and that he is truly sorry at any offense his magic item query brought and that he would make a welcome addition to her entourage. She thinks for a second and says, “Yes. Let him join us and we will all show the Sczarni who they are dealing with”. She dismisses the thug that had been standing idly by telling him that she will remember him when she rules this city.
We set off for Heidmarch Manor and Firenia graciously offers to go ahead and ‘scout’ out the manor while I try to distract Natalya with how bard’s will sing of her for centuries and I hope she doesn’t notice this crazy scheme unfolding! What Firenia actually does is go quickly to the manor and relay to the snooty butler what is going on. He quickly retrieves Shelia Heidmarch and Firenia again relays the events. At the mention of a shard Shelia’s ears pick up and she says she will be right back. She returns with an ioun stone and tells Firenia that if it is the shard that she is thinking of then she must convince Natalya to put this stone into a slot on her shard. This will break the enchantment that the shard has on her, but only if she does it willingly and she can’t be forced. Shelia tells us that she will hide and the butler will summon her after the ioun stone is in place.
Firenia grabs the stone and heads outside just in time to meet us as we are approaching the manor. She pats her weapon and announces “All clear!” We reach the door and it is answered by the snooty butler. “Show me lady to her quarters!” I bellow. And the snooty butler leads us to a sitting room. “Get me lady refreshments and food ya scalawag!” I order the Butler. I can see is face turning a nice shade of red. Firenia turns to Natalya and says that while she was ‘cleaning out’ the manor she came across this ioun stone and wondered if it would make her shard even more powerful. Natalya notices that the stone would fit nicely in her shard and smiles a wicked smile and says, “Yes, I think it will! Fear me all Sczarni!” She places the stone in the slot and collapses.
The snooty butler is quickly summoned who in turn summons Shelia. Shelia takes a look at the unconscious Natalya and tells us that she will be all right in a few minutes. Upon noticing the shard on the floor, Shelia’s eyes open wide and she says:
“What you have found, my friends, is nothing short of a miracle. Varisia has seen its share of miracles of late—the discovery of Xin-Shalast and the defeat of Runelord Karzoug, or Korvosa’s release from mad Ileosa’s rule come to mind—but this discovery will soon be remembered as an equal to those events. This is a powerful Thassilonian artifact, a fragment of horacalcum and a portion of the Shattered Star of Xin: to be precise, the Shard of Pride. I suspect that the shard’s current carrier already knows more about it than I do, in fact...”
She catches her breath before continuing on:
“The Shard of Pride is made of coppery horacalcum which is the rarest of the known skymetals, this dull, coppery substance warps time around it, making things seem to speed up or slow down. Horacalcum is associated with illusion magic, humility, and pride. But without the ioun stone the shard is cursed. The owner suffers delusions of grandeur, and is sickened whenever she must serve another creature as a subordinate of any sort for as long as that arrangement persists. She cannot gain the benefit of the aid another action, nor can she take the aid another action. The curse is stopped when the Scarlet and blue sphere ioun stone is in the shard, like now.”
The room is silent as we take in all that she said. I remember reading about this and between Shelia and I, we fill the others in on the history:
“In Azlant, tradition held that rulers of nations must abide by the “seven virtues of rule”—seven qualities a leader must engender in his people and personify himself, lest his state collapse and fall into ruin. In practice, this philosophy never quite lived up to its promise. No ruler and no nation of Azlant ever managed to excel at all seven virtues, and more than a few failed to uphold even a single one. The seven virtues of rule (charity, generosity, humility, kindness, love, temperance, and zeal) appealed greatly to Xin, but in a more intellectual manner than an emotional one. Xin believed that the seven Azlanti schools of magic f lowed from these virtues (the school of divination stood outside the rest in Azlant arcane society, viewed as a “universal” school that no wizard should ignore).
Drawing upon yet another mystical septimal unity—the seven skymetals—Xin fashioned a powerful artifact in the shape of the Sihedron. A different skymetal formed each of its arms, and each one symbolized and bolstered a separate school of Thassilonian magic and philosophy. Not only had Xin created an artifact that proved his theories, but he also provided Thassilon’s first truly enduring magical legacy. With the Sihedron floating behind his head like a halo, the artifact served as a constant reminder of his power.”
Looks like we retrieved a major Thassilonian artifact and brought in someone who can provide more information on where it was found. Not bad for our first Pathfinder expedition!
DM dot....
Dotting for future updates. I really like your writing style, it's easy to read and very personal. Hopefully you can keep this journal updated. ^^
Session Date: 01/20/2013
Erastus 1 4713
Level 2
It is about this time that we notice Natalya. She is sitting up from the divan she was laying on. She is staring at us with emotionless eyes. “How are you feeling Natalya?” Shelia asks her. Natalya shifts her head ever so slightly in Shelia’s direction. “I guess I am not going to rule the world” came Natalya’s solemn response. We tried everything to cheer Natalya up from the mostly inspirational to the mostly corny. Furrnando even tries to purr in her ear, but she is having none of that. I guess she is a dog person. We ask her where she found the shard and she says that she found it in a secret room off of Ayala’s room. Ayala is the leader of the Tower Girls. She tells us that the Tower Girls now reside in the Crow. Apparently the Tower Girls tried to take over another group in the Sczarni and failed and have been hiding out in the crow ever since. I’ll say one thing about these Tower Girls, they sure are an ambitious lot. She thinks that Ayala did not even know that the shard was there, and Natalya had almost snuck out of the Crow with it but was discovered. She also tells us that Ayala is a wererat and has given several of her lieutenants “the gift”. Finally we ask her if there is some significance to the name “Tower Girls” and she says that if there is she does not know it. We ask her where she is going to go now, and she despondently says that she has nowhere to go now. Shelia bristles at the idea and tells Natalya she is more than welcome to use one of her guest rooms. She has the Snooty Butler show her to her room and I can see a disapproving look in the butler’s eyes. I am sure if he looks down on having dwarves in his domain, he must really hate the idea of a cat burglar. I think he will be hiding the silver tonight instead of polishing it.
I concentrate on the shard since it is supposed to tell us where the next shard is and I see a piling in what looks like a harbor. When I relay me vision to the group, Shelia says that it sounds like the next shard is also in the Crow. We look at her quizzically and she tells us that the Crow is a piling from the old Irespan. The Irespan was an ancient bridge that has since crumbled into the sea, but several pilings still exist. There are many rooms and many floors in the Crow and it is about a half mile from shore. This does not sound like it will be easy.
Since we have some time before dinner and know we will be facing wererats, we decide to see if we can buy some silver weapons. Me brother gets a nice, sharp silver ax, I get some silver-tipped bolts and Firenia has the silver dagger we found in the Paradox box – bring on the wererats!
That night at dinner we meet Shelia’s husband, Sir Canayven Heidmarch. He announces that he is an expert on all things Thassilonian. Between him and Shelia, I like the Heidmarches. He says that he will pay us 500 gp if w can report back to him in writing on anything related to the Thassilon Empire. I start to tell him that I would do it for free but Balak jams his elbow into me gut. Canayven says if we can provide illustrations it would be even better. I reply I ain’t much of a drawer, but I will see what I can do. Natalya is quiet during dinner and I am sure she is thinking about what she would be eating if she ruled the world. The Snooty Butler ‘accidentally’ pours hot soup in me lap and I am thinking of ‘accidentally’ punching him in the nose. We turn in since we have a date with the Tower Girls in the morning, Balak and I are excited about our date but then we remember that the Tower Girls probably do not have beards like any attractive dwarven maiden should.
Erastus 2, 4713
Level 2
We wake bright and early for our adventure. We hastily eat breakfast and I make sure I drop some crumbs on the floor for the Snooty Butler. Natalya does not come down for breakfast so the Snooty Butler carries her up a plate. Shelia says that the Lord-Mayor, Haldmeer Grobas, will pay 500gp for each missing person that is recovered. We remember Uncle Zog telling us about that. We might have to pay him a visit in the next couple of days and see if he really does “see all”. Apparently some have come back but can’t remember what happened to them. I guess they ain’t dwarves because we remember everything! We head to the dock and as we pass through the poorer area by the docks we see many people looking at us with envy, but our fightin’ demeanor keeps ‘em at bay. We don’t see anyone following us either so that is a good thing.
There are several individuals that rent out boats, and we find one that looks ‘reputable’. He tells us it will be 5gp for the rental and 25gp for a deposit since he knows what happens when adventurers rent his boats. I try to negotiate him to 3gp for the rental and 15gp for the deposit. He is having none of that and is firm on his price. I tell him that his negotiating skills would make a dwarf proud and he looks at me like I have insulted him. I tell him that it was a compliment. Don’t these silly humans know that being compared to a dwarf is a compliment! We figure we would row out to the Crow while we still have the morning fog in order to conceal our arrival. That was the plan anyway until Balak started bellyaching about being in a boat. I am sure he woke up half of Magnimar so any element of surprise was gone.
We row up to a landing where three other boats are tied up. Furrnando thinks a dozen people might have used this entrance way within the last few days. Both Balak and Firenia smell the pleasant odor of decomposition. We follow the smell to a room that looks like it was used as a privy. The source of the decomp was a small dog. Me thinks Furrnando is glad it wasn’t a cat. We next come to a room with three boxes that look like they might have been trapped with some sort of yellow dust. What was ever in these boxes has been looted. We come to a larger room and Balak and I notice a big rat in the corner. The rat starts shrieking and despite our best effort including a crossbow bolt from Furrnando and a ray off frost from Bluestone scampers under our feet and heads up the stairs. We follow in pursuit making sure we all stay together.
We run up several floors until we come to a room with three women taking cover behind an overturned table. Two of the women look like normal humans, but the third has a rat-like appearance to her. They tell us to throw down our weapons and live. Furrnando tells them to throw down THEIR weapons and live. Bluestone asks if he should cast a fireball at them. The two human women look nervous but the rat-faced woman says that he is bluffing. I then use the shard of pride to cast a major image of a fireball in Bluestone’s hand. This is all too much for the human women and despite the protest of the rat-woman telling them it is false, they take off. I yell to the rat-women that we have plenty of silver weapons with us, and seeing that she no longer has back-up, and the sharpness of me brothers silver ax, the rat-woman hastily follows her fleeing comrades. The chase is now on again.
We come to a room where there is a huge rat being cooked. Either some of the Tower Girls are cannibals or that cat burglar gig isn’t paying too well. We continue on until we come to a ledge that overlooks the harbor. We can see our boat down below and we notice what looks like a trapdoor in the overhang above. There is a swinging platform in front of us and underneath the trapdoor. Firenia begins to suggest “drawf-tossing” but is quickly shot a venomous look by Balak. Furrnando says that he will make the jump and he does make a successful albeit shaky landing on the platform. He pushes up the trapdoor and a rope ladder unrolls from it. He sways the rope ladder to where we all are waiting and we secure it. Balak says, “See! No reason to toss a dwarf!” We climb all climb off and continue on. Firenia and Balak stumble on a tripwire and a bell starts ringing. If the Tower Girls thought we were no longer in pursuit, they know better now. We continue on and come to a Tower Girl sleeping soundly in spite of the racket of the ringing bell. I knock her out and bind her and we take her weapons. Some lookout she is, but luckily it is in our favor!
Along the way we come to a room in which I see out of the corner of my eye a fresco. The fresco depicts a tall, redheaded woman with a ranseur standing over a short, hunch-backed man—the ranseur is impaled in the man’s belly, and his twisted demonic hands clutch at the shaft as black smoke wafts up from his face and wounds. The woman I recognize as the Runelord Alaznist. Seeing that this dates to the Thassilonian Empire and depicts a Runelord, I am sure Sir Canayven would be most interested in this discovery. I keep studying the fresco until Balak forcefully pulls my arm and yells, “Look later you dern fool! We got ‘em on the run!” I make a promise to come back here before we leave and make a sketch of the fresco.
We come to a big room in which our arrival is greatly anticipated. We see the same rat-woman we saw before and her two scared compatriots along with another rat-faced woman, several other women, and some large rats called donkey rats. The new wererat orders us to turn back or die. Her fellow wererat did not have much luck with a similar warning. I try to reason with her, but she is having no part of it. She just screams “Attack!” and launches a bolt from a crossbolt at Firenia. We found out later that her name is Karisa. The wererat that we had met earlier, Sasha, also shoots a bolt at Firenia. Bluestone retaliates with an acid ray at Karisa. He shouts maybe he will use a fireball, and the two women that had fled at such a proclamation earlier, now drop their weapons and cower against the wall. The rest of the Tower Girls shoot bolts at Balak and Firenia. I cast sleep and a few of the girls fall asleep. Balak runs up and attacks Karisa with his shining silver ax. The donkey rats swarm around Balak and Firenia. Firenia kills one of the huge rats. Bluestone casts another acid ray on Karisa. Firenia gets a nasty gash. I cast daze on a tower girl and she stands there dumbfounded. Balak and Karisa trade blows. Firenia hits Sasha. Me Brother gets hit by Karisa. Bluestone misses with another ray and I miss with my crossbow. Our luck seems to turn for the worse as Balak and Furrnando both miss in their attacks. Bluestone starts to reverse our misfortune when a ray from him kills Karisa. I cast sleep at another of the Tower Girls. Sasha now becomes the target of our attacks with Balak scoring a blow and Bluestone launching another ray. Firenia misses; however in her attack. I cast sleep on another two Tower Girls. Balak misses Sasha, but Firenia delivers the killing blow. We quickly kill the remaining donkey rats and the rest of the tower girls surrender.
The two that were scared are the only two who are not sleeping or badly battered. I tell them that we have no interest in The Crow, and I suggest that if they leave us alone for a week, they can return. We are here to discover the shard and other artifacts and not shake up the guilds of Magnimar. They respond that they have nowhere to go and I recommend Natalya’s old inhabitance. Sure it is smelly and disgusting, but vacant. They seem to accept this proposal and how can they not when they see the bloody mess that used to be Karisa and Sasha. With a warning not to tell others of our presence, the remaining Tower Girls leave and we feel that we are too spent to continue exploring much longer. I make a sketch of the fresco and we return to Heidmarch Manor. Sir Canayven is really excited about our discovery and can’t wait to see it for himself after we have secured The Crow.
Not bad for a day’s work.
Session Date: 02/10/2013
Erastus 3 4713
Level 2
Balak wakes this morning and is not feeling well. We know this because he forgoes his pint of ale in the morning. Despite this, he wants to continue on. After a hearty breakfast and the snooty butler’s comments about how we were going to eat the Heidmarch’s out of hearth and home, we make our way to the Crow. For the second day in a row we see no one following us. We retrace our steps to where we fought the big battle with the Tower Girls and continue on. We come to a room with a couple of smaller doors but I am more interested in the shiny, metallic doors with Thassilonian runes on them. One says “Listen” and the other says “The Eyes”. I go up to the door that says listen put me ear to the door and get a burned ear for the trouble. Balak thinks this is funny and I tell him to come closer to the door. I am just glad I didn’t put me eyes to the eye door. I try and look for the trap that I know is there but I can’t find it – on either door no less. The rest of the party is getting restless with Furrnando pacing the floor like a cat stalking a mouse, and since we are fighting wererats, I guess he is stalking a rodent. I put me ear to the other doors and luckily I don’t get burned. I hear only silence at all the doors except one. Behind that door I hear a squeak – a rat squeak. We open the door and see a curtain. I go up to the curtain to see if I hear anything behind it. As I put me ear to the curtain, it is drawn back and there is a donkey rat with a wererat standing behind it. I have to stop putting me ear to things! There is another donkey rat coming around the corner and the battle is on! The wererat that we assume is Ayala shoots an arrow at me and I am hit. Firenia charges the rat coming around the corner and slays it with a chop of her longsword. I take a step back and cast sleep, but it has no affect. The rat tries to bite me but luckily misses me. Ayala launches another arrow at me and it finds its mark. Bluestone casts an acid ray at Ayala and she is not happy. Furrnando casts bless and we feel his divine spell upon us. Balak runs up to Ayala and misses her. Firenia also comes up to the rat but unlike Balak, her strike is true and the donkey rat is slain. I miss with a bolt from my crossbow. Bluestone misses with a ray of frost. Balak finally hits Ayala with his silver ax and she howls in pain. She retaliates by swinging her bladed scarf at him, giving him some slices for his trouble. Firenia joins in the attack on Ayala but misses with the silver mace she borrowed from Furrnando. Bluestone and I both miss with our ranged attacks. Furrnando, seeing how bad everyone is missing casts guidance. Balak and Ayala trade blows. Firenia misses with the mace. I cast daze and it seems to have no affect on Ayala. Bluestone casts shocking grasp on Ayala. Furrnando casts a healing spell on Balak. Balak misses with a swipe of his ax. Ayala decides she has had enough and deftly moves through us. We all take off in pursuit but as she passes the door, she throws some sticky goo on the floor and our pursuit is halted.
We search through Ayala’s quarters, but what we are really looking for is the secret door that Natalya had told us about. We find it and also find the skeleton that Natalya mentioned. We don’t find another shard but we do find a pendant around he skeleton’s neck. We take the pendant to see if we can find out who it belonged to and what it does. The only thing we find of note in Ayala’s quarters is a journal about her life. Apparently Ayala Javeski was born a wererat in Riddleport. After a civil war within her Sczarni clan she left Riddleport and came here to Magnimar. She joined the Wreckwash Blades and became acquainted with a cat burglar who she later repaid with a knife to the back. She then founded the Tower Girls. The Tower Girls thrived until Ayala set her sights on her old crew-The Wreckwash Blades. Battered and bruised the Tower Girls were forced to flee until they finally ended up in the Crow. Ayala hoped to use the fortune that they found in the Crow to re-establish themselves in Magniamar’s underworld. With Natalya’s disappearance it seems like Ayala was going to use the wealth to track down and slay the treacherous Natalya. We know that the other shard is here and therefore it seems we must go through the shiny, rtrapped doors. We spend the rest of the day going through each of the rooms that we have been in just to make sure we missed nothing of importance or any secret doors and we find nothing. Before we row back to Magnimar, we circle the Crow in our rowboat to see if there were any other entrances. Balak does not like spending more time in the boat than necessary and is quite vocal about it. Furrnando tells him to pretend its beer we are sailing on and not water. Balak shoots him a nasty look and running his fingers down the blade of his ax says there is more than one way to skin a cat. Furrnando gulps visibly.
We return to the Amazing Zograthy to see if he has any more information on the people that have disappeared. He starts into his “The Amazing Zograthy sees all and knows all. A double fist”. I stop him right there. I tell him that we don’t need the spiel, just any information that he has. He looks insulted and says that he does really see and know all. That he has a gift and is not some common charlatan. I tell him we are interested in the information that he has gathered through the gift of his ears and not some mumbo jumbo crystal ball. He angrily protests again about his gift. I know I should be easy on the old coot but it has been a long day, and when we dwarfs barter we speak plainly and not in a bunch of flowery language about flips of cards and such. After about a minute of him trying to prove to us that he has the gift of prophecy, he finally tells us that the Nidalese slavers that are behind the kidnappings will be picking up slaves tonight at a closed tavern called the Puffy Pelican. Since it is near dark, we decide to go to this Puffy Pelican and wait.
We head to the puffy pelican and it truly looks abandoned. The only reason that we know it is the Puffy Pelican is that it has a faded sign with a bloated pelican on it swinging softly in the sea air. Surprisingly the door is not locked and we open it easily. The building is dilapidated, but habitable. After a quick look around we find places to hide. Around midnight someone walks into the building and we see through the cracks of the rooms that we are hiding in a dancing lights spell-so one of the slavers must be a mage. We wait and nothing happens. We don’t know if this guy is a slaver or is waiting for the slavers. After about five minutes I step out of the room I was hiding in and see-nothing. I decide to inspect the room. About this time Furrnando leaves the room that he was hiding in and blocks the exit. As I approach the dusty, dirty bar a man pops up from behind it and I see many colors a second before I collapse on the floor. “A spellcaster got Cordwin!” Furrnando yells as the rest of the party emerge from their hiding spots. Furrnando throws a tanglefoot bag and the spellcaster is caught. Bluestone casts an acid ray on the entangled spellcaster. The spellcaster is not that helpless and another vivid, colored light display fills the room. Balak and Firenia both collapse to the floor. Furrnando rushes up and hits the spellcaster as Bluestone hits him with another acid ray. The spellcaster tries to flee but as he does, Furrnando hits him again. He goes down seriously wounded. Furrnando starts to heal him as Bluestone disarms and secures him. They ask him about slavers and he just laughs at them and says, “I ain’t tellin’ both of ye nuttin’”. After a few moments Balak, Firenia and I come to. It takes another few moments before we can see from the blindness. I rub my eyes and look at the prisoner. Surprisingly I recognize him! I saw his face on a wanted poster at the tavern when Balak and I first arrived in Magnimar. Our prisoner’s name is Plutivarch Dremis and he is wanted by the city watch. They are offering a reward of 100 GP for his head. We ask him again where the slavers are and he just scowls and says that we are just going to kill him any way. Bluestone says that we aren’t going to kill him but we will turn him over to the city watch. Seeing an opportunity I reply that it is just as easily to secure him with weights and dump him into the water out back. Bluestone counters with wouldn’t he prefer to be in the custody of the city watch. It makes no difference to us, I add, city watch or having him take a ‘swim’ matter not to us. He looks at us and buys the bluff. Bluestone and I played that little exchange rather well! He is now most talkative. He tells us that there was no such thing as Nidalese slavers; it was just a rumor he started to trap us. He was planning on getting on the Aspis Consortium’s good graces by capturing some Pathfinders and bringing them to the Bronze House. Apparently he felt that this would secure him a job. We ask him if he knows anything about the people that have disappeared and he said that he had heard that ‘blue dwarvies’ had something to do with it. That term sounds familiar to me, but I can’t seem to remember where I heard it. “Maybe they are cold-weather Dwarfs?” Furrnando offers. Balak just gives him a look. How can a cat-person know what type of dwarfs might or might not live in the cold? It looks like the mystery of the missing people is not yet solved. We decide to bring Plutivarch to the city guard and get on the city guard’s good graces!
We arrive at the bewildered city guards with our prisoner in tow. They quickly summon their superior, a woman by the name of Kasadei. Kasadei is a little surprised at our gift of Plutivarch. We tell her the story and we can’t tell if she is relieved or hopeful that the rumor of Nidalese slavers is false. As she is paying our 100 GP reward, we ask her about the disappearances. She says that there is not much to tell. Most of the people have returned, but they can’t remember what happened to them. It seems like their investigation is at a standstill but if we can uncover any more information she will be generous as she nods to the bag of coin in Furrnando’s hands or is it his paws, I can never remember which it is. she says slyly, “Ten times more generous”. 1,000 GP will sure motivate us to find an answer! I ask her about ‘blue dwarvies’ and she hasn’t heard of them either. If we find out anything more about it, she will be interested in hearing about it. It is now late and we are tired so it is time to head ‘home’.
We arrive back at Heidmarch Manor late in the evening and from the sleepy look on the Snooty Butler’s face it is clear that he hoped we had found some hole to spend the night in. Even though it is late we are joined by Shelia and Sir Canayven. We tell Sir Canayven about the doors and he is really interested in what the doors are made of. He asks me many questions on their texture and appearance. He then consults a book and after flipping through many pages, he shouts “Eureka!” He says it sounds like the door is made of siccatite. Siccatite is one of the seven sky metals that the ancient Thassilonians associated with the seven virtues and seven sins. Siccatite is associated with wrath and kindness. He looks at my singed ear and says, “Siccatite could either be hot or cold. Looking at your ear, I see you found the hot version!” No wonder I couldn’t find the trap – The whole darned door was the trap! I explain to him the runes and Sir Canayven says it sounds like the same concept of the paradox box. He and I sit for a few moments with a pen scrambling the letters around until we discover the letters on the listen door can be rearranged to form the ancient Thassilonian word ‘silent’. The other door, ‘the eyes’ can be rearranged to form the words ‘They see’. Sir Canayven recommends we bring wooden stick to rearrange the letters. “Make sure they are long enough so they don’t burn down to your hands!” he guffaws. I like Sir Canayven. I ask if either of them had heard of the term ‘blue dwarvies’ and neither of them had. We also tell them that the Aspis consortium might be planning an attack on the manor and we relay our experience with Plutivarch. Shelia and her husband both exchange glances. “Well the Aspis Consortium would probably have given Plutivarch a one way ticket out of town!” Shelia says, “Sure, we don’t like the consortium much, and they don’t like us much either, but we have a truce.” “Breaking the truce would not be in the Consortium’s best interest and instead of rewarding Plutivarch; they would have punished him severely!” Sir Canayven interjects. We then tell them of the pendant we found on the skeleton and Shelia says it looks like it is the pendant that belonged to Nazir Kalmeralm. His pendant was known as the pendant of the souk. Nazir was the first Prince of the Market in Magnimar’s Bazaar of Sails. Nazir disappeared 28 years ago and his disappearance has been the cause of much speculation in Magnimar ever since. His daughter Sabriyya is the current Princess of The Market. Furrnando suggests we bring Nazir’s body and the pendant back to her. With full bellies, courtesy of the put-upon Snooty Butler, we head off to bed.
Erastus 4 4713
Level 2
Balak feels better this morning and has two pints of ale to make up for the pint that he didn’t have yesterday. Natalya is at breakfast and is looking a little better, but it will take awhile – she did have visions of ruling the world after all! Sir Canayven relates that Shelia and he had a visitor late last night. Since we all went to bed late it must have been really late. He won’t tell us the visitor’s name-only that he was interested in Thassalonian sin spawns and would like three of their heads for a sum of 300 GP. I am not sure what he wants to do with their heads but to each his own. We soon set off in case we have another busy day like yesterday. Even though we have made this trip several times in the boat, Balak is still as boisterous as ever. We all just grin and bear it, lest we find ourselves in Magnimar’s harbor.
We retrace our steps keeping an eye out for Ayala. We are sure that she probably spent some night in a hole healing from the punishment we dealt her. We are able to reach the double doors without incident and I use my sticks to rearrange the letters to ‘silent’ and ‘they see’. After that the doors easily open and unlike the paradox box, there are no pugwampis. We come to a room with green pool. I should have learned from the yesterday, but I step close to the water to see if I can see anything in it. Two huge amoebas suddenly appear out of the water. Balak hits one and Bluestone hits it again with a ray of frost. Furrnando misses, but Firenia hits with her longsword. I miss with my hammer. One hits Balak and the other hits me. Balak slays his and Bluestone casts a ray of frost at the one in front of me. Furrnando and Firenia both hit the remaining amoeba with Firenia delivering the killing blow. There is nothing else in the water but the remains of bats. Funny, we don’t look like bats. Seems to me these amoebas got a little ambitious.
We come to a room with hundreds of bats clinging to the ceiling. We now know where the amoebas get their supply of bats. We do not want to disturb their sleep, but we don’t want to ignore the room in case this is the room with the shard. Furrnando slips into the room real cat-like (naturally!) and casts detect magic. He does not detect any so it is safe to assume that the shard is not in this room. We continue on.
We come to some steps where we see a mite looking forlornly down the steps. Even though our races have had some differences, I try to greet it in undercommon. It takes a look back and sees Balak and I and then proceeds to run down the stairs screaming. So much for a parlay. Furrnando says, “I wonder if these are the ‘Blue Dwarvies’ everyone is talking about. I don’t think so, but then I remember a possible derro connection and I file it away in my brain for further investigation. I file it away in my brain as we follow the fleeing mite. As he is running after the mite, Bluestone asks if I know anything about them. I reply that some weapons do not hurt them like they should and they even have some spell-like abilities. “Yeah! And they are really small!” shouts Firenia stating the obvious.
We step into some catacombs and see five huge dirt mounds. A huge ant steps from behind one of the mounds and he does not look friendly. Bluestone casts an acid ray at the ant as Balak runs up and hits it with his ax. Firenia misses it with her longsword. From the other mounds more ants appear. One tries to bite Balak and the other misses Firenia. I cast sleep, but only one of the ants falls asleep. Bluestone hits one with a ray of frost. Balak misses as Firenia kills one. Balak and Furrnando both get bit by ants but one misses Firenia. Furrnando does a healing burst and our injured party members look better. I miss with a bolt from my crossbow, but luckily Bluestone hits with a ray. Both Balak and Firenia miss and fortunately the ants miss them. Bluestone and I repeat our performance – me missing and him hitting with a ray. Balak hits with his ax as Firenia and the ants miss in their attacks. Furrnando casts bless, but it does me no good since I miss with a bolt. Bluestone scores a hit with an acid ray. Balak and Firenia both slay the ants they are contesting. Firenia gets bit by the last remaining ant. Furrnando casts a healing burst. I miss again with a bolt but it is a ray from Bluestone that kills the remaining ant. These are definitely ants you do not want to come to your picnic!
We next come to a room and we see six mites that start screaming and run away and I didn’t even greet them yet. I am starting to take this personally! We follow them until we come to a corridor that ends. We don’t believe that six mites somehow got around us so I search the end of the corridor for secret doors and find one! We open the door and see a big spider. She bites Balak and Balak returns the favor with his ax. Firenia misses with a swing of her sword. Bluestone, proving his deadly casting skills, hits the spider with an acid ray. Furrnando casts bless. The spider and I both miss in our attacks, but luckily Firenia and Balak don’t miss with theirs. Bluestone, switching it up, casts a ray of frost. Furrnando hits the spider as the spider hits Balak. Balak hits, but I am having no luck with my crossbow. Firenia also misses. Bluestone casts a ray of frost and kills the spider. Since we are all pretty much used up we decide to call it a day. We also decide not to tell anyone that we got used up fighting amoebas, ants and a spider. Some adventurers we are! We decide to return Nazir Kalmeralm’s remains to his daughter, Sabriyya.
The Magnimar market is a busy place, but luckily everyone knows who the Princess of the market is. Some want to sell us this information, but we find others who happily tell us where she is, and adding an invitation to stop by their stall when we are finished and check out their wares. We find her in short order and present her with her father’s remains and pendant. She is sadden on hearing the news and was always hoping that the adventuring bug had bit him and he might be in some far off land establishing a new market in some wild frontier town. She sighs wistfully and says that we can keep the pendant as a reward for bringing her father home. She also throws in 1,000 GP as a bonus. She tells us that if she hears of anyone needing help, she will send them our way. We leave the princess with her father’s bones as she mutters a prayer to Abadar.
We made two more important contacts within the past two days. It losoks like we are definitely moving up in this large city.
Session Date: 02/24/2013
Erastus 4 4713
Level 2
We awake and begin our normal routine of a hearty breakfast while we tell Shelia and Sir Canayven all about our discoveries in the Crow. The Snooty Butler mutters under his breath that if we like the Crow so much perhaps we should move there. I hear him and I say, “At least the rats in the Crow are cleaner than how you keep this manor!” I can see him bristle as he walks out of the room. We waste little time and are soon back at the Crow. We retrace our steps keeping an eye out for Ayala since we know she is out here somewhere. Surprisingly we find the room where we fought the spider without incident and after several rooms and some secret doors we come to a big room.
We are not alone in this big room however, for there are fifteen mites and two spiders. Two of the mites jump on the spiders and charge us. I cast sleep, but it does not seem like it worked. It seems like that spell is working less and less! Firenia shoots an arrow at one of the charging mites but they are too fast for her and the arrow harmlessly sails over their heads. Since we are still in a corridor, Balak decides to hold the line. We do not want fifteen mites and two spiders surrounding us after all. Furrnando shoots a bolt from his crossbow and unlike Firenia, he hits his target. Must be those cat-like reflexes! As the spiders approach Balak his steadiness comes into play as a mighty swing of his ax connects with the spider. Firenia is not as lucky as the other spider approaches her and chomps on her arm with its maw. With Balak swinging his mighty ax, the spider with the mite are unable to connect with their weapons. I miss with a bolt from my crossbow as I hear various mites yell how they will kill us for the king! Firenia is unable to hit her spider, but Balak’s deadly ax cuts a deep gash into the spider. Bluestone misses with a ray, but it is all right since the spiders and mites also miss in their attack. Some of the mites in the back row start wiggling their fingers and Balak shakes off their spell and feels nothing, but Firenia seems to be a bit weakened. Firenia and I both miss, but Balak decides to put the spider out of its misery and buys his ax in its hairy body. Furrnando casts a shield of faith to protect Balak from being bothered by the finger-wiggling mites. Bluestone, in an effort to soften up the back ranks, casts a ray of frost on one particular hapless mite. Firenia gets stabbed by the mite riding on the spider in front of her. Some more of the mites start wiggling their fingers in Balak’s direction, the rest throw small darts but fall short of us. Seeing the mites wiggle their fingers gives me an idea. I use the shard to create an image of the biggest dern dwarf the mites have ever seen. In a booming voice the image bellows in the mite’s tongue “STOMP THE MITES!” Firenia is finally able to slay the spider in front of her while Balak slashes the mite that had rolled off his dead spider. Furrnando and Bluestone both miss in their ranged attacks. Me angry-dwarf image is too much for four of the mites who quickly take off and screaming at the top of their lungs. The rest of the mites stand their ground and toss darts in Balak’s direction, but only two find their mark. Firenia and Balak both slay the mite’s in front of them. Furrnando tosses a tanglefoot bag at the mites, but they deftly move aside of it. Bluestone misses with a ray as I have my giant dwarf-image start coming towards the remaining mites. Seeing that their front line has collapsed and seeing an angry, giant dwarf approaching them, the remaining mites flee trying their best to catch up to their fleeing comrades. We take off in guarded pursuit.
We go from room to room and find nothing. Those mites sure can be fleet of foot when they want to be. We come to one room and are set upon by two crab spiders. Immediately they are joined by two others who miss Balak and Firenia with their clicking mandibles. With a swing of her sword, a swing of his mace and a swing of his ax; Firenia, Furrnando and Balak all hit spiders. Unfortunately, I am not as skillful and I miss with a bolt from my crossbow. Bluestone casts shocking grasp and a spider collapses to the floor. The spiders miss Balak and Furrnando as Firenia delivers another well placed blow. Balak also hits, but this time Furrnando misses. I am still luckless as a bolt from my crossbow skitters aimlessly between one spider’s legs. Using his staff, Bluestone seems to have no problem hitting the hairy vermin. Furrnando and Balak both get bit, but unlike Furrnando, Balak feels weaker. Firenia skewers a spider and it is dead. My aim seems to be rubbing off on Furrnando as both our attacks miss. Even in his weakened state, Balak’s ax is true. Bluestone hits again with his staff and both spiders must sense that their end is near as both offer a feeble attack and miss. Firenia and Furrnando both deliver punishing blows on a hapless spider. Balak tired from being weakened and tired of this combat kills the spider he has been fighting. I miss the remaining spider but it makes no difference as Bluestone kills it. We find the bodies of the first four mites that ran away and it looks like the crab spiders were enjoying them as a meal when we rudely interrupted them.
We come to a room with a mite sitting on a throne. It is obvious that this is the mite king or would it be king mite. It is also obvious that this mite king has heard about our ‘disagreements’ with his subjects. I like to pride myself on not always doing the obvious so I greet the king in undercommon. Surprisingly the king does not run away like his subjects when I greeted them. In fact, he does the opposite and returns my greeting. He says that he is King Zuuga and wants us to complete a task for him. If this means we won’t have to fight any more mites as we look for the shard, I’m all for it. He wants us to go find his pet Clickylegs because it wandered off with his spare crown. Apparently he placed his spare crown in a sack and tied it to one of Clickylegs’ legs and he is surprised it wandered off. I can’t say that mites are the smartest creatures in the world! He promises us great wealth if we do this task for him. Looking around his squalid throne room and even the fact that his throne looks like an inverted orc’s skull, I am seriously doubting that this king has any great wealth, but the dwarf in me can’t refuse the opportunity. I ask if he will call off his subjects so we can complete his task as they seem to think killing us would make him happy. King Zuuga says he won’t and if they die fighting us so be it. I am sure that the king is also thinking that if we die fighting them, so be it as well. Some king this joker is, if he was a dwarven king he would be forced to dress like an orc and hastily sent out a tunnel leading towards the underdark! We agree to his quest and set off to find this Clickylegs which we assume to be a spider.
After going through many rooms, we come to a room with lots of spider webs. If old Clickylegs would be anywhere then a room full of webbing would definitely fit the bill. Suddenly webbing shoots out at us and we see four large spiders coming towards us. Unfortunately from what we see, none of them has a sack tied to its leg. Firenia breaks free but Balak and I are unable to, much to the shame of our dwarven ancestors. The spiders try to hit Balak and Firenia but the miss heinously. The free Firenia hits one of the spiders with a slash of her longsword. The shame of our dwarven ancestors deepen as Balak and I still cannot break free of the webs that entangle us. Bluestone misses one of the spiders. Since she is free, Firenia deftly dances from the spider’s bite, but entangled Balak cannot and is bitten by the spider. Firenia plunges her sword into the spider in front of her and the hairy creature is dead. I am still entangled but with a mighty bellow, Balak breaks free. Bluestone, Firenia, and Balak both slay a spider leaving Furrnando and I claiming none.
Onward we continue into rooms that all seem to look alike until we come to a large room that might have been a banquet room of some sort many years ago. We see a statue of a woman wielding a ranseur. This seems to be another depiction of the Runelord Alaznist. As I am admiring the statue we are charged by a cave fisher. Firenia feels that it is rude to interrupt this moment of culture and hits the spider with her sword. It is a good thing she did for Balak and Bluestone both miss as the spider chomps Balak. Surprisingly a bolt from my crossbow hits true. Firenia and Bluestone both miss as the spider tries to bite Balak again but only manages to bite air. Balak is tired of this dance and promptly buries his ax in the spider’s head. We notice a sack tied to one of the cave fisher’s legs and sure enough it looks like the same crown that King Zuuga was wearing. I am hoping that King Zuuga did not want his pet returned to him alive. Bluestone identifies the crown as not a crown at all but one of a pair of bracers of armor. I am beginning to think this is all the treasure this king seems to have. We figure we will explore some more before we bring the king his crown and see if we can find the shard which is our original purpose here after all.
We continue our exploration and come to a room with cells. Most of these cell’s inhabitants have long since perished with only their bones remaining-all except for one cell. As we open the door we see a sinspawn munching on two mite corpses that look fresh. It appears that in their haste to get away from my dwarven illusion the mites ran into real dangers. It also appears that this sinspawn wants to add us to his dinner course. Firenia refuses this ‘invitation’ and promptly stabs the creature. The sinspawn is surprised that we are not as easy as mites and misses in a follow-up attack. Bluestone casts a disrupt undead but his ray goes amiss. Furrnando casts a healing burst but it does not seem to harm the creature. Balak, trusting in steel rather than spells opens a huge gash on the sinspawn. I cast resistance on Balak, but it is not needed as Firenia runs the creature through with her sword. I inform the rest of the party that this is indeed a sinspawn, and if we get it head along with two other’s we will fulfill the Heidmarch’s mysterious guest’s quest. Without a word or ado, Balak decapitates the creature and says, “One down an’ two to go!”
Now that we know that this place does in fact have sinspawns we are a little more cautious. We come to a room with a clear pool in it. It is only a few inches deep and Furrnando detects magic on it. He feels that the pool has healing magic and encourages Balak to drink even though “it isn’t ale.” Balak scoops some into his hand, smells it, and cautiously drinks it. In seconds his few remaining wounds are healed. We fill a canteen with the water but Furrnando does not think its healing properties will last once it’s removed from this area, or won’t last long if it is. I figure this might be a Thassalonian object of interest for Sir Canayven and make a quick – and very rough sketch of it. We feel that it is time to call it a day, but before we go, we want to give King Zuuga back his crown and give him the bad news about his pet.
“Greetings King Zuuga! We have found your crown!” We say as we approach him. He looks at us bewilderedly and asks who we are. That’s strange. “We are the ones that you sent out to get your spare crown,” I respond. “You are intruders! Guards! Seize them and cut off their heads!” We laugh at him and I respond, “You have no guards! For we have killed them all!” “Then I will take your heads myself!” King Zuuga roared.
It was the last words he ever spoke.
Session Date: 03/10/2013
Erastus 4 4713
Level 3
Since it is still relatively early in the day, we decide to continue our adventure. We head downstairs and we begin to wonder just how deep the Crow goes. The stairs end in an open room with another statue of Alaznist in it. We can’t even appreciate the statue for behind it is a hideous worm-like creature. It sees us as its next meal and slowly starts to crawl to us. We later find out that this beast is an abyssal larva, and it is as disgusting as its name sounds. Firenia raises her sword in preparation as Furrnando casts bless. Balak also hoists his ax in readiness. This thing spews maggots at Firenia and she shrieks in horror. Bluestone enlarges Balak and I almost chuckle on seeing this huge version off me brother. I step into the room and shoot a crossbow at it scoring a hit. Firenia rushes right up to the creature. Furrnando also scores a hit with his crossbow. Balak steps up and slices the creature with his ax. The creature retaliates by biting Balak. Bluestone casts magic missile at the larva and it is wounded. I move in order to get a better shot at it. Firenia takes out her bow and moves into a better position also. Furrnando misses with a bolt and Balak’s ax slices nothing but air. Luckily the larva also misses in its attack as Bluestone casts shocking grasp and the beast bellows in a mixture of pain and rage. I miss with a bolt but Firenia hits with an arrow. Furrnando and Balk both miss in their attacks, but the creature, sensing its end near, bites Balak. Firenia and I both score direct hits and the creature is dead. Now I can get to what is more important and look at this statue. The craftsmanship makes it something that I think Sir Canayven would be interested in. Firenia notices that the ranseur is actually a real ranseur and not a stone carving and begins to yank it out of the statue’s hand! I strongly caution her not to break the statue, but she proceeds with her yanking. To my great relief she is able to free the ranseur from the statue’s grasp without any damage. “See! Piece of cake!” she says with a smile. I just shake me head and can’t believe an ancient artifact has been abused so badly. Bluestone thinks the statue is magical and might have been used to see around the room. We don’t know if anyone is currently using it to scry on us currently, but I am glad Alaznist can’t see how we plundered her statue.
We next come to a room with a circle of runes in Thassalonian that at one time we think was is a circle against lawful summoned creatures. The circle covers almost the whole floor so there is no way to get around it. As Balak steps into the circle two fire elementals appear. Firenia steps up and hits one of the fire elementals. Furrnando misses with a bolt and Balak misses with a swipe of his ax. I shoot a crossbow and actually hit one of the elementals. Bluestone follows up my hit with an acid ray of his own. Firenia also scores a hit. Furrnando moves into position. Balak delivers with a nice swipe of his ax. I miss an elemental but the other slams me. The elemental I missed must have been distracted because it misses Firenia. Bluestone misses with ray of frost and it is too bad because I am sure the elemental would have felt that! Firenia kills the elemental in front of her and we are down to one. Furrnando misses but it is no big deal as Balak kills the elemental. Balak turns to me sternly and says, “I thought ye said that lawful summoned creatures could not enter! Do I look summoned to ye!” I just shrug and say, “Lawful summoned creatures cannot enter; it said nothing that lawful, non-summoned creatures that enter can’t be attacked.” He harrumphs and walks out of the room.
We come to a door and I put me ear up to it. Surprisingly I hear a language I do not know and I know a lot of languages. I cast open on the door and the door swings open to reveal – a rusty curtain. I cast open on the curtain and it is drawn aside to reveal two lemures. Firenia wastes no time and runs up to one of the devils and stabs it with her sword. One of the devils misses with its claws, but the other devil rakes Firenia. Furrnando and I both shoot bolts, mine hits but Furrnando’s misses. Balak swipes one with his ax, but surprisingly the creature looks unscathed. Firenia misses with a swipe of her sword. The devils are not having any better luck as one misses Firenia and the other misses Furrnando. Our attention is focused on the devils but we all hear clapping and hollering although our few furtive glances do not reveal the source. Furrnando and I both miss, but Balak and Firenia both hit. The next is a comedy of errors as the lemuers, me, Bluestone and Firenia all miss in our attacks. Only Balak hits and from somewhere in the back we hear someone or something mocking both us and the lemures in the common tongue. The unseen voice’s disdain grows as all of including the lemures do a deadly dance in which not any of us are able to damage each other. One of the lemurs rakes Balak with his claw and the unseen voice is happy again. I miss with a bolt as Balak’s ax delivers a killing blow. We now here the sound of clapping! Again the deadly dance begins again with the one remaining lemure with no one meting out damage, but not taking any either. Finally Firenia and I both hit the grievously wounded creature with Balak delivering another killing blow.
We look around the empty room trying to find out the source of all the whooping and hollering and we see nothing. We must all look silly standing there slack-jawed when we here a voice yell out “Congratulations! You have passed the first test!” If we passed the test, I am assuming that the lemures failed? “Who’s there?” we all shout in unison. “Why it is I of course! The Suzerain of Little Erebus!” comes the reply. Furrnando asks the voice if he will show himself and he replies that he rather not. Bluestone asks, “If that was the first test then what is the second one?” The disembodied voice chuckles and says that the next test is to kill Lord Baz. This conversation is starting to feel tedious and a little one-sided if you ask me. We ask him why he wants to kill Lord Baz and he says it is because Lord Baz has two of his pet lemures. I am thinking that his logic seems a little convoluted. We just killed two of his lemures to prove that we are worthy to rescue two other lemures? If you ask me, he could have kept these two, forget about the other two and it seems like everyone comes out ahead! We ask him why he won’t show himself and he says that he feels it is better to negotiate this way. Between King Zuuga not caring if we kill his mites and this joker not caring that we killed two of his lemures I can’t see how these idiots have any followers or pets. We ask him what we get for returning his lemures and, he quickly adds, killing Lord Baz and he says we will give treasure and he will show himself to us. I remember the ‘treasure’ that we got from King Zuuga and I don’t have high hopes. We agree to his request for we still have not found the shard and mostly likely this Lord Baz character will be just as welcoming as every other faction, creature or person that we’ve met in this Torag-forgotten place so why not. Maybe this guy actually has the treasure to back up his claim – I am a dwarf after all. I ask him if he has ever heard of blue dwarfs and he says no but there are other creatures downstairs from the underdark and he believes they can travel from here to the city without going through all the layers of The Crow. You mean this place has another layer. We ask him what type of creature is this Lord Baz and he says that Lord Baz is an accuser devil who has other devils that follow him. We ask him if he is an accuser devil and we hear derision in his voice as he says that he an imp but we can call him The Suzerain. “How will your lemures know not to attack us?” I ask. “Just say my name and they won’t attack you” comes the reply. “That’s it?” I ask. “That’s it” comes the reply. I figure at this point why not go for broke. I reveal the shard and ask if he has seen anything like it. After a pause he replies that he has not. I am sure his eyes opened a little wider when he saw it. It was worth a shot, if he had the shard we can let Lord Baz have all the dang lemures he wants! We decide to rest up before taking on Lord Baz and after getting directions from The Suzerain we head back to the room with the circle as that will keep out The Suzerain and his pet lemures. Balak cautiously steps into the circle half expecting to be assaulted by fire elementals but none come. We spend a restless night in the creepy Crow, and I am sure that somewhere the Snooty Butler is laughing.
Erastus 5 4713
Level 3
We start following the directions that our incorporeal friend gave us. We come to a cross-road and Furrnando smells devils in the opposite direction from where we have been instructed to go. Firenia laughs and says, “I think there are devils everywhere on this floor! I don’t think it matters which way we go so we might as go the way we were told!” We leave the devils that Furrnando smelt to a later time and follow our directions. We come to a room with a balcony with two imps on it. They seem to be betting against two nupperibos fighting below them. When they see us they order their nupperibos to attack us! To add insult to injury they are betting against us! I am not normally a betting dwarf, but I would have liked to make a bet in our favor with those two imps! Firenia shouts “Let ‘em come!” and she holds the line. The stupid nupperibos walk up to her and one is dealt a sword-strike for his efforts. They both retaliate by hitting Firenia with their spears. Balak, who is more prone to betting than me steps up and slices a nupperibo in half. “How are ye odds now imps!” he bellows! The imps do not seem to be enjoying this combat as much as they did before. Furrnando casts a guidance as I skewer the remaining nupperibo with a bolt. Firenia, not to be outshone by Balak, almost decapitates the last nupperibo and the poor creature drops to the floor. The two imps, with a look of horror as they see their playthings slain so easily stop laughing and disappear. Furrnando tries to smell their scent but this area reeks of the smell of devils and from the look on Furrnando’s face, they don’t smell pretty!
We start looking around some of the rooms near the balcony and one contains two lemurs. “The Suzerain of Little Erebus sent us to free you!” I shout. They look at us with the most hateful stare imaginable and their muscles begin to tense. Seeing how this is going to go down I quickly shut the door. “Let the imp free his own dang lemurs!” Balak spits. The Suzerain better have some good treasure for sending us to rescue some creatures that don’t seem like they want rescuing!
Since we can’t free the lemurs, we decide to see if we can find Lord Baz. We open a door and see our gambling imps with another two nupperibos. Behind them is a short, stout, winged creature which we assume must be Lord Baz. As soon as he sees us his lordship turns invisible. Furrnando and Firenia quickly take out the nupperibos. “Try betting on that!” Balak bellows as he gets in position. I try to shoot one of the imps with a bolt and miss heinously which allows him to attack Balak. Suddenly the floor becomes greasy and slippery and some of us lose our footing. Furrnando tries to stand up and move but falls on his face. Firenia is able to stand and seeing how trying to move cased Furrnando to falter decides to stand in place. Balak, as sure-footed a dwarf if there ever was one, keeps his footing and was able to slice an imp with his ax. I did not fall but a lot of good it does me as a bolt from my crossbow sails harmlessly through the air. The imp hits Balak with an attack. Bluestone launches magic missiles at a now visible Lord Baz who quickly turns invisible. Balak trades another blow with the imp. “Who are you betting on now imp! Me gold is on me!” He roars over the din of battle. Lord Baz, seeing how his minions are being slaughtered by us appears in front of Balak, wounds him and again quickly disappears. Balak misses the imp, but the imp hits him. “Still wanting to bet on yourself dwarf?” the imp sneers. I miss with another bolt but Bluestone has no trouble hitting Lord Baz with his magic missiles. Furrnando tries to strike the imp in front of Firenia but misses; however Firenia has better luck as she hits the imp with her sword. Balak and I both miss the imp that Balak is fighting and the imp’s glee is unmistaken as he hits Balak. Bluestone keeps up his steady barrage of magic missiles against Lord Baz who this time attacks Firenia. Furrnando misses Lord Baz, Firenia’s longsword strikes true. Balak is finally able to connect with the imp he is fighting and a look of fear passes over the imp’s face. I am actually able to hit Lord Baz with a bolt. The fearful imp strikes back at Balak hoping to keep Balak from hurting him again. Bluestone again hits Lord Baz with magic missiles. I do not know how many of them he has, but I’m glad he has them! Furrnando, Firenia and Balak all miss the imps that they are fighting. The only person hitting the imps is me as another bolt pierces the imp’s skin. Furrnando again misses the imp but Firenia does not. Balak says with a snarl as his ax delivers a killing blow, “You should have bet on me you silly imp!” Thinking my marksmanship has improved, I launch a bolt at Lord Baz but alas, it was not to be. Bluestone must be out of magic missiles as he casts shocking grasp on Lord Baz. It is all right; however, as it is the shocking grasp that spells Lord Baz’ doom. Furrnando casts guidance on Firenia; however Firenia misses in her attack as I do also. Balak, fresh from killing his imp, delivers a devastating blow on Firenia’s imp. The imp, eyeing Balak as a huge threat since it was Balak that killed his betting partner, attacks Balak. Bluestone misses the remaining imp with an acid ray. Furrnando, Firenia, and Balak all miss, but my aim is true with a bolt. The imp does not miss on an attack on Balak. Bluestone misses with another acid ray, as does Furrnando. Firenia, tired of this combat, slays the remaining imp and Lord Baz’s fiefdom is no more!
After a quick search we stomp back to the Suzerain of Little Erebus. We arrive at the ‘empty’ room and beckon Suzie. The unseen voice responds with a relaxed greeting. It asks us if we have slain Lord Baz and freed his lemuers. I can see the ire rising in Balak’s face and before he says something that will start another fight I quickly say that for some reason his lemures wanted to bite our heads off when we mentioned his name. The voice starts to chuckle, “Well they are lemures after all!” Balak starts to say something and I elbow him in the ribs. Bluestone says that since we fulfilled our end of the bargain, he should now fulfill his. He voice says “As promised” and an imp appears. He is a little bit larger than Lord Baz’s imps. “You wanted to see me, so here I am!” Bluestone adds, “I seem to remember something about treasure?” “Ah yes” the Suzerain says. He hands us a bag that contains 117 silver pieces and a scroll of animate dead. That’s it? We risked our lives for this? The Suzerain seems pleased with our reward and seems a little shocked in our disappointment. “You can have free access to my kingdom as well!” he adds. We tell him that we intend to take full advantage of that last part and we WILL be continuing our explorations of this layer. As we stomp away from Suzie Balak whispers to me, “I think we should use the scroll to animate Lord Baz and have him fight it out with the Suzerain!’ I couldn’t agree more!
Erastus 5 4713
Level 3
We leave the Suzerain, and continue to explore this level. We find six sinspawn and three rooms that Sir Canayven will want notes on. We find a rift siphon and destroy it, bringing back one of the plates to Sir Canayven. We found a room that allowed us to exit and enter the Crow by coming in from teh sea, and we discover a brooch in a sunken fishing ship. We also find a set of stairs heading down, deeper into the Crow. We decide to head back to town for the night, and turn in the sinspawn heads for the reward. Found the brooch owner, and give it to her. Heading to the town HQ, Firenia has them give the widow 100 gp to help support her.
Session Date: 05/05/2013
Erastus 6 4713
Level 4
We wake early the next morning eager to continue our exploration. We must be getting close to the missing shard because this dern Crow can’t have too many more levels! We arrive at the spot we left off at the day before unmolested. We use our water walking magic to cross the pool and come to a room with three exits and we have to cross a trough of dark, smelly water to get to all the exits except one. We spend a few moments trying to determine the depth of the trough and determine that we might still have some time left on our water walk, but we don’t we don’t want to fall into the water – it smells nasty! Our only option is to continue to the exit that we don’t have to cross the water to get to. We come to a flight of stairs and I stop the group. I hear singing in a language that I don’t understand – and I understand a lot of them! A believe that the language is necril – the language of the dead. I studied it a few times but I am far from proficient in it. Some Bard’s in the clan use it quite frequently to speak to those that have long-ago passed to add to their knowledge, but I never took the time to become a great speaker. A choice I am now regretting. We draw weapons and continue on. We come to a bridge and as we approach a voice in common calls out, “I know somethin’ you don’t know!” “Oh yeah? What’s that?” I reply. “To find out, you need to do something for me.” At this point I am recalling the tasks that we did for King Zuuga and the Suzerain and the pittance we got as a reward and I am about to tell the disembodied voice what he can do with his quest when I think better of it. “What do we have to do?” I ask. “Return a locket to my wife” is the reply. This is too easy for we did just that very thing yesterday if this is Lockerbie Brast we are speaking to. Furrnando tells him that we already did it and Balak and I shoot him angry glances. We should have negotiated a price first you fool is what we are both thinking. Never send a non-Dwarf to negotiate! Lockerbie is skeptical and asks us some questions – Who was the woman: Liza Jane – What was the name of the ship: also Liza Jane. Satisfied that we have done what we said we did, we can here relief in his voice. We tell him that Liza Jane misses him something fierce and we will gladly take him to her. After a pause, the voice responds that he cannot, for he is now something that goodly people would not tolerate, Furrnando mouths the word “Lacedon?” and we all nod in agreement. Enough of this chit chat it is now time to get back to business! “Now tell us what we don’t know so now we be aknowing” Balak barks. Lockerbie tells us that our best course is to head south, but beware-there are critters there. He also says that south are five blue dwarvies – otherwise known as derro and he has seen them drag townsfolk down here and do experiments on them. They use an exit to the east to access Magnimar’s sewers and that is how they were able to kidnap and return their victims. We bid our leave of the Captain under the bridge and as we are walking away, we hear a song in necril. “Probably an old sea chantey that the Captain knew in better days” Firenia observes.
We find two skeletons which we assume to be townspeople but they are really old. Perhaps they were earlier experiments of the Derro, or they could have been thrill seekers who met their match. We will have to bring them up when we return to the surface. We continue on feeling that our journey will soon be at an end-hopefully a better end than these two found.
We come to a room that has a bridge going from north to south and from east to west over water. We feel that this is the perfect place to be ambushed by critters. As if to read my mind, two brownish eels come from under the bridge and attack. Firenia slashes at one of the eels but misses. The eels try to bite us but both miss. Bluestone launches a ray of frost and the eel is chilled. Balak slices the eel with his ax and I, not surprisingly, miss with my hammer. Furrnando casts guidance on me to help improve my swing. Firenia hits an eel with her longsword. The eels again miss in their attacks. Bluestone launches another ray of frost but the eel that he is targeting deftly moves out of the way. Balak scores another hit with his ax. Even with Furrnando’s guidance, I miss with my warhammer. Furrnando, not to be discouraged, casts another guidance on me. Firenia again slashes an eel with her sword. We must be tougher mettle than the eels are used to for they again miss with their attacks. One of the eels is not so evasive and gets chilled again with a ray of frost from Bluestone. Balak’s ax cuts an eel in half. I again miss with my warhammer. Furrnando gives up casting guidance on me. Firenia again slashes an eel with her sword. The remaining eel misses and a second later it is dead, a victim of one of Bluestone’s ray of frost.
We continue on until I hear three voices – two male and one female. They are arguing in Aklo, which I do not fully understand but it is close to undercommon. Between these three and Captain Lockerbie, I realize that there are a lot of languages I still don’t know yet. I hear the Undercommon word for Intruders and we prepare for battle! We find ourselves standing on a balcony and we see three derro and launch some arrows their way. I manage to hit one with a crossbow bolt. The derro are no fools and quickly cast darkness. We realize that the derro are not stupid enough to come to us or allow us to plug them with arrows so we begin to climb down. As I reach the lower level I feel that a spell has been cast on me and I am frozen in place. It doesn’t last long and I take cover in a hallway where the rest of the party has taken refuge. After a few moments we wonder if the derro are gone and leave our hallway shelter. As we move cautiously to the darkness we are the target of a barrage of crossbow bolts. Luckily they sail harmlessly by us. We press on and another barrage sails by us. Thinking that the derro are bad shots we continue on. This time the barrage finds a target in Balak and Firenia. We hear a door open and close in the darkness and sure enough we find ourselves in an empty room. I feel an overwhelming desire to search a wall. Balak yells at me that the derro are getting away and to stop playing with the wall! I find a secret door and remember that Natalya said she found her shard behind a secret door. I am about to open it when Balak forcefully grabs my arm and pulls me in pursuit of the derro. I am disappointed and reluctant but realize that this is the best course of action. “I will be back for you!” I say to the secret door and wonder what ancient treasures we will discover along with hopefully a shard.
Balak steps through the door and gets hit with a crossbow bolt while the other two bolts miss. It appears we did not have to go far to find them. We rush into the room. Firenia attacks a derro skewering it with her longsword. Balak also rushes up to a derro but his ax misses within inches. I launch a bolt at the one Firenia is attacking and miss. Furrnando casts silence so there will be no more of their spells cast at us – especially that spell that freezes us in place. A darkmantle flutters from the ceiling but does not land on any of us. Bluestone casts a scorching ray and the creature shrieks in pain. The derro in front of Balak misses him and his companion misses Firenia. The third derro launches a bolt and hits nothing. Balak again misses with his ax, but Firenia’s longsword again finds its mark. I launch another bolt at the one attacking Firenia and again I miss. Furrnando rushes up to the derro not engaged in melee combat and engages him. The darkmantle flutters up to the ceiling and Bluestone casts a magic missile at the derro Firenia has been severely wounding. The derros miss both Balak and Firenia but the third derro skewers Furrnando with a spear. Balak again misses and lets out a good dwarven curse. Firenia finally finishes off her opponent with a vicious stab of her sword. A bolt from my crossbow hits the one on Balak and I can see the jealousy in me brother’s eyes. The darkmantle flutters down again and tries to attack Firenia but misses. Bluestone tries to cast a ray at it but also misses. Furrnando hits the derro that he is facing in armed combat and that adds further to Balak’s jealousy. The derro facing Balak is distracted over his comrade’s demise and misses Balak. His companion facing Furrnando has no such distraction and skewers Furrnando again with a spear. Balak again misses and the venom in the curses that he is spewing at the derro should be enough to kill him. A bolt from my crossbow again hits true and it looks like the derro is thinking he is fighting the wrong dwarf! Firenia tries to stab the derro that has been skewering Furrnando but misses. The darkmantle flutters back up to the ceiling and Bluestone prepares a spell if it floats back down. The derros miss in their attacks. Balak, Firenia and I all miss in our attacks. As the darkmantle floats down, Bluestone releases his readied spell and scorches the darkmanle with a ray. Furrnando misses but the derro he is fighting hits him. Balak’s derro fails to score a hit. Balak finally hits the derro in front of him, but it is Firenia that delivers the killing blow. I cast suggestion on the remaining derro and suggest she surrender which she promptly ignores. Furrnando and Bluestone finish off the darkmantle, Furrnando with his weapon and Bluestone with an acidic ray. Balak and Firenia both beat the remaining derro so that she is barely alive and the battle is ours!
We secure our prisoner and bring her around. She looks at us hatefully and says in undercommon that if we had wanted information then we should have killed her because she is not telling us anything! I tell her that we dwarves are insulted that any member of her race would even be compared to dwarves with the moniker ‘blue dwarvies’. She harrumphs and sneers, “YOU’RE insulted! You got it mixed up rockhead! Being compared to derro is a compliment that your rock-scratching kin can’t even begin to comprehend!” I try to remember if there is anything about derro that I can use to frighten her into giving us information. As much as I rack my brains I come up empty. The derro sees me thinking and snarls “Are you trying to understand that you’ve just been insulted, or did that go, uh, over your head!” She laughs at her little joke. The rest of the party does not understand undercommon and wants to know what she is saying and if she is giving us information. “Go on Dwarf! Tell them how compared to derro, your race is made out of mental lightweights.” I look at the party and tell them that she is not giving us anything and she is trying to act big and bad now that she knows she is doomed. I suggest we take her up to Kasadei, maybe she can get information from her and mete out justice for the townspeople that the derro experimented on. Bluestone thinks it won’t do any good and maybe we should just kill her and mete out our own justice. She looks at me and says, “Are you going to be the one that does it dwarf” I point to Balak and his sharp ax and tell her, “If it is to be done him and his ax will do it!” She says dismissively, “That’s what I thought – coward!” At this point I am ready to get Balak’s ax and show her who’s a coward, but I believe I am more civilized than that. “Think what ye want – I’m not the one tied up and a prisoner!” Since we are low on resources and know that there are still two more derro lurking about we decide to follow the sewer tunnel back to town and deliver our prisoner to Kasadei.
Kasadei is surprised to see us and even more surprised to see our prisoner. We quickly give her a rundown on what the derro have done to their townspeople and you can see Kasadei getting angrier by the second. The female derro says in undercommon all the experiments they should have done on the townspeople while this is going on. It is a good thing Kasadei does not speak undercommon! We tell Kasadei about the sewer tunnel that leads directly into the city and she says that she will post some guards and brick it up when we are done with our exploration. She then calls over some city guards and they begin to drag the derro away. Before she leaves, however, she sneers and says, “Magister Khrysm will perform experiments on us and it won’t be pretty! She will eat you alive!” I can’t remember if derros eat humans and dwarves. I will have to look that up later.
We return to Heidmarch Manor and we are greeted by the Snooty Butler, but he is not snooty. He excitedly says that Lady Shelia and Sir Canayven want to see us immediately. He ushers us into a room and we see the agitated couple. “Natalya is gone!” they say almost in unison. They have not seen Natalya since last night and this morning thought she had just overslept. When the Snooty Butler went in to wake her, he discovered her room in shambles and her missing. We don’t know if Ayala and the Tower Girls took her or if this Magister Khrysm is responsible. We decide to wait until tomorrow and when we have our full arsenal of spells, go back to the crow, defeat this magister and see if she has Natalya. If she does not we will track down the Tower Girls. We spend the rest of the day prepping for battle.
Erastus 7 4713
Level 4
We eat a hasty breakfast and depart for the Crow. We come to the room where we first encountered the derro and we find the eviscerated bodies of Natalya and Fenster the Blight. It is ironic, a few weeks ago Natalya was in this very structure planning to take over the world and now she is lying here dead. We feel a pang of regret that we should have continued on yesterday but we were in a weakened state and if we had, it might have been us lying on this floor. We search this level and we find a hastily abandoned laboratory, looks like we missed Magister Khrysm. We find no other derro on this floor. We can now explore the rooms behind the secret door and find the other shard. We come to a room with a star-shaped alter with indentations which would fit a shard perfectly. We are admiring the altar when we are attacked by two shriezyx. They shoot webs at Balak and I and Balak starts moving slowly. Even moving slowly, Balak is able to get in position with Firenia. I shoot an arrow at one of the shriezyx but miss. A slowed Balak gets bit and struck with two claws. Firenia gets bit by the shriezyx she is attacking. Balak clumsily raises his ax and misses a shriezyx, but Firenia hits hers. Furrnando gets into the fray and hits one of the shriezyx. Bluestone casts true strike. I miss with another bolt. Firenia and Balak both miss in their attacks. Balak and Firenia miss with their follow up attacks. Under the affects of his true strike, Bluestone casts a scorching ray and the shriezyx is burned. They don’t particularly seem to like that! I am able to hit one with a bolt. Firenia and Balak both get attacked with some claws. Balak hits the one in front of him, but Firenia misses. Bluestone hits one with an acidic ray. I actually slay one with a well aimed crossbow bolt. The surviving shriezyx hits Firenia as Balak moves to attack it. Firenia really hits her opponent in an attempt to slay it before Balak can take credit for it. The shriezyx is not done yet and retaliates against Firenia. I miss again with a crossbolt as Firenia gets bit again. It is Bluestone with a magic missile that kills the creature.
Now without any distractions we go back to the altar when we notice that one of the indentations actually has a shard in it! After much trial and tribulations we have found the shard. Shelia believed that this would be the Shard of Greed and she gave us what she thinks is the appropriate ioun stone to counteract the negative influences on the wielder. We place the ioun stone in it and since this shard would be good for warriors, we decide Firenia should wield it. She takes a hold of it and sees a vision of the next shard – the shard of lust and its location. Through her description it sounds like the shard is in a monolithic Thasssilonian ruin known as the Lady’s Light. It looks like we are leaving the Crow for the Light.
That night before I return to Heidmarch Manor, I visit the derro we captured the previous day. She glares at me through the bars of her cell. She looks more bruised than she did when brought her here so I assume that her interrogation has begun. “We went to meet Magister Khrysm but it looks like she ran away like a kobold!” “Don’t worry Dwarf! When you meet her you will be sorry.” I shake my head in the negative. “After we meet her she will either be dead or sitting in that cell beside you enjoying the hospitality of Magnimar. I turn and leave the dungeon laughing all the way.
Session Date: 08/04/2013
Erastus 7 4713
Level 5
When I return, we start making our plans to reach the Lady’s Light. Between Shelia, Sir Canayven and I, we know the following about the Lady’s Light history. We know that it is a towering statue of Sorshen is among Varisia’s most famous and most iconic Thassilonian monuments. The statue stands at the southwestern most point of the region, its glowing scepter raised high against the night. Originally built in –6060 ar, over 750 years before Earthfall, the Lady’s Light still stands today, towering nearly 200 feet tall and bearing a torch of blue flame that originally proclaimed the Runelord’s power but today serves to warn sea captains away from the hazardous reefs.
Now that we know a little about the history, we must decide on the best way to get there. It will take us about three days to get there using overland travel or a day by boat. On hearing the word boat, Balak pipes up, “What’s our hurry? And besides fare on a ship might be prohibitive for our meager means.” Shelia chuckles, “Good Dwarf, if it is the price of fare you are worried about then worry not! I know a captain that owes me a favor. I will arrange your passage.” “Dern!” Balak replies, “Me wishin’ there weren’t so many people that owed ye favors!” Therefore it is settled-we will leave by boat in the morning. Furrnando wants to go into town to buy a healing wand and the rest of us pack up our few belongings. The Snooty Butler can hardly contain his glee and I caught him dancing a jig more than once throughout the afternoon.
Erastus 8 4713
Level 5
We arrive at the docks the next morning bright and early and see our home for the next day – the merchant vessel Wanton Ways. Furrnando makes a joke on how we it seems appropriate that we are going to retrieve the Shard of Lust on a ship called Wanton Ways. The ship’s captain is named Captain Yarnelle Fessender and her crew of about thirty hard-looking sailors. Her first mate has the unfortunate moniker of Pockeye Sewel. His equally fantastically named brother, Chebby Sewel, is his right-hand-man. I am top-side just before we set sail taking in the vista of Magnimar from the water when I see a woman running to the gangplank. She begins to argue with the sailors who are scrambling to disengage it when the commotion catches the eye of Captain Fessender. It looks like she exchanges some sharp words with the woman until I spot the woman pass a bulging pouch into the captain’s hand. With that transaction, the captain’s attitude changes and it seems like she is welcoming the tardy woman on to the ship. This whole situation seems strange to me and I mean to investigate it further.
Soon after we set sail, I manage to ‘Accidentally’ bump into our mysterious passenger. I try to make small talk but she is having none of it. She tells me curtly that she would rather be left alone and for me to take my stories and snooping elsewhere! As a bard, ‘snooping’ sounds so base for what we do. I feel insulted and as gruff as we dwarves are – that is quite an accomplishment! I can tell that she is varisian, but that is no big find. Furrnando walks by and notices that besides her armor and dagger, there is nothing to indicate rank, faction or religious proclivity. She is as much of a mystery as when she boarded. She retreats to her room where we don’t see her until dinner time.
Knowing that sea captains are always good for a few tales, I go see Captain Fessender. When she hears that our destination is The Lady’s Light, she tells me that there are foul creatures around it in the Mushfens. So foul, in fact, that she will not risk her ship to get close to the shore to drop us off. “I will have a rowboat manned by two of me strongest crew to row ye out!” she says. She tells me some tales, but does not want to hear any of my tales in return. I guess that is why a lot of bard’s do not become sailors. When I ask her about the tardy passenger, she shrugs and tells me that she had not booked passage and was not even going to be let on, but quite a bit of gold had changed the Captain’s mind. All she knows about the passenger is that her name is Dialla and she is bound for Korvosa.
Needless to say, it is a quiet supper. Dialla responds in one-word answers to any questions posted to her. As soon as we spend the minimum amount of time that etiquette allows, we all escape to our cabins. We do not trust Dahlia at all so we set up a watch schedule. During me and me brother’s watch we hear a muffled cry from above deck. We wake up Firenia and Furrnando and the two of us race as fast as our legs can go to the deck. We see Dialla holding a dagger behind Chebby. His throat is cut from ear to ear and Dialla’s dagger is bright with blood. She quickly pushes the lifeless body overboard. I yell out “Man overboard!” as Dahlia turns to face us. “I have no quarrel with you: I am Dialla Marteme, of the Balconies of Bis in Kaer Maga. That offal you saw me kill is responsible for the death of my niece. She was only thirteen years old, friend, and the damned Ardocs bought the alibi Chebby’s pig-of-a-brother provided. My sister deserved justice Kaer Maga’s “society” failed to provide, and so that task fell to me. I’ve been tracking Chebby for going on seventeen months, and now the deed is done. Yet I have no wish to taste the captain’s justice. I ask only for your silence—I have a plan to assume Chebby’s appearance for the rest of the voyage. I was going to cut loose a rowboat to make it look like I’d left the ship, pose as Chebby, then leave and return home to Kaer Maga once we reach Korvosa. If you remain silent and let me go, I’ll give you my dagger and this ring in thanks. What say you?” Firenia reaches us and hears the most of Dialla’s tale. She nods her assent and says, “Your secret will be safe with us sister.” Well if this isn’t a kobold’s kiss in the mouth! All we have is Dialla’s word and as I hear commotion from the lower decks I have seconds to make up my mind. Balak just shrugs and gives me a look as to say that it does not matter to him. I will have to spend time in Torag’s furnance when I die for what I am about to do. I shout “Woman overboard!” as Dialla tugs on her hat and takes the visage of Chebby. Seconds later the Captain is on deck with some of her crew. “What in the name of merfolk happened here!” she roars. “I was in my cabin when I heard a woman’s scream. I rushed here to see Dialla fall overboard. Chebby here also came and we scanned the water but saw no sign of her. She must surely be drowned!” I reply. “Good thing she paid ahead of time!” Captain Fessender shouts to the guffaws of her crew. “Everyone back to bed!” I can’t even look at Dialla /Chebby as I skulk back to our cabin. I just hope Dialla wasn’t telling me a sea tale!
Erastus 9 4713
Level 5
The next morning I am in no mood for breakfast and for a dwarf that is saying something! The Captain selects some of her crew to man the rowboats and one of them is Dialla /Chebby. The Captain tells us that she won’t be back around to these parts for another twenty days. “Enjoy the trogs!” one of her crew shouts as the boat is lowered and I want to punch him in the nose. Fake Chebby struggles with the oars but if the other crew members seem to notice, they don’t say anything. We land on the beach and start making our way to the Lady’s Light, Fake Chebby excuses himself or is it herself and approaches us. “Don’t be getting kilt!” Chebby says in a loud voice, as Furrnando sees her slip something into me pack. Chebby quickly rejoins the other sailors as I search my pack. In it I find a ring and a dagger. The same dagger that ended real Chebby’s life. Firenia calls it a nice gift; I call it a murder weapon. Regardless it is a nice dagger and I am a dwarf after all so I figure a little of Torag’s punishment will be worth it.
We see the Lady’s light in a small harbor, but then we realize that we don’t have a boat. We decide to do some exploring in the hopes that we can find a boat, but I think Balak hopes that we don’t. We see a small island and a rope bridge that leads to it. The bridge is decorated with small, humanoid skulls with various warnings written on them in draconic and a language I later learn is boggard. In fact looking at the skulls, they look like troglodyte and boggard skulls. Across the bridge we see a small hut with smoke wafting from a chimney, so we know this island in inhabited. We cross the bridge and I shout out a hail in draconic. An unsmiling, half-orc woman emerges from the hut. She asks us what we want in a most unfriendly manner. We say we are explorers and would like to traverse her island to get to the Lady’s Light. Of course I throw in many superlatives on her hunting prowess. As much as she hates to admit to herself, she is impressed with the flowery flattery. She says that she will help us out if we go to a smaller island that we can see in the distance and gather some kelpie hair for her stew. It grows around an old shipwreck. Furrnando wants to know what the catch is, considering the tasks we have been given seem to be more risk heavy and not reward heavy. She chuckles and says “nothing to worry about, just some dead things!” Dead things – wonderful! We agree to her terms and head to the small island. We have to wait to the tide goes out which it does in an hour.
We easily spot the wreck of the ship Impdrake which was a Chelish merchant vessel. We easily find the kelpie hair and start gathering it. Furrnando looks around and says, “this seems a little too easy!” No sooner does he speak the words then eight skeletons rise out of the tall vegetation. One seems a bit larger than the others and we wonder if he was the captain of the Impdrake in life. Firenia casts haste on herself using her shard and quickly closes the distance. Furrnando is not far behind. Bluestone casts mage armor on himself. Firenia is quickly surrounded by the bony creatures and gets a hit for her troubles. Balak swings at a skeleton and misses. I am right beside my brother. Firenia delivers a vicious whack against the ‘captain’. Furrnando casts a healing bust and seven of the skeletons crumble in the good energy. Bluestone casts a magic missile at the ‘captain’, who alone continues the fight. We quickly gang up on him and he soon joins his fallen comrades.
We finish gathering our kelpie hair and return to the cottage. The half-orc woman intraduces herself as Maroux. She feeds us some horrible tasting stew which we lie and say tastes scrumptious. Maroux tells us her tale:
“The xulgaths (who you city folk know better as troglodytes) and boggards have bickered over control of the Lady’s Cape for years. They’re pretty evenly matched if you ask me. I’ve bloodied their noses when they’ve stuck them in my business, so for the most part they’ve let me be—that’s what the skulls and artwork on my bridge are for.
“But then, a few months back, we had some new visitors. A troop of women knights or something, clad in plate and wearing red-plumed helms. Their leader was a woman named Oriana—pretty enough, at least till she took her helmet off and showed off her scars. She sat down to dinner with me just like you did, only she gave me a fine magic wand as a bribe, so I didn’t feel the need to send her off to gather seaweed. Anyway. She told me she and her sisters were from Korvosa, soldiers of the rightful queen who’d been tumbled off the throne a few years back. They’d had to flee the city once their queen wasn’t in charge, and fell into mercenary work until Oriana got the idea to plunder the Lady’s Light for the treasure they think’s hidden inside of it. Made me chuckle a bit, since I’ve heard there’s secret rooms in the Lady filled with treasure too. I’ve tried to find a way into the place before—there’s caves under the area that are supposed to connect to the chambers below the Light, but those caves belong to the trogs and frogs and bigger critters. I didn’t get far, and since then I’ve steered clear of the Light—the thing gives me the willies, anyway. Some powerful magic going on in there.
“Anyway, Oriana was intent on getting under the Lady’s skirts, and she asked me if I knew a way in. I told her about the caves and warned her of the trogs ’n frogs, but that didn’t seem to bother her. Unlike me, she had herself a whole group of ironclad soldiers to back her up, after all. So off she goes, and damned if she and her mercenaries don’t make friendly with the frogs! Got them some better weapons, gave them some fighting tips, and then helped them launch an attack on the trogs. In return, the frogs gave her permission to use their tunnels.
“But here’s the kicker. Oriana found a way inside the Lady—or at least she says so. She came my way ten days ago with a story that she’d found none other than the Runelord of Lust herself in there, and that the runelord had recruited Oriana to help her reclaim her lands and rebuild her kingdom! Oriana asked me to join their crusade! I politely refused and wished her well and she went on her way. Gods above an’ below, I couldn’t get her out of my hut quick enough!
“The way I see it, there’s three possibilities. First, Oriana is lying, for whatever reason. The second, Oriana, sad child, is off her nut. And the third, someone or something in there is masquerading as Sorshen the Grand Whore of Thassilon and has tricked Oriana into being her minion. Well, I suppose there’s a fourth possibility—that Sorshen really is alive and well in the Lady’s Light, but if you believe that claptrap, there’s a bridge across the Straits of Aroden I’d like to sell ya!”
I try and tell her some tales I know about half-orcs and her one good eye glazes over. After a few minutes she turns to me and says, “Sonny, there’s a reason I live alone!” Doesn’t anyone appreciate a good story anymore! She says we can rest the night on her floor and if we need some healing in the future we are always welcome. “It sure won’t be for ye cooking!” Balak says under his breath.
Erastus 10 4713
Level 5
So our choice is to make friends with the troglodytes or boggards. Since the boggards seem to be getting help from the mysterious woman, maybe the troglodytes will be more receptive. Plus it helps that I speak the troglodyte’s language of draconic, and I can’t speak boggard. We head to the cave that Maroux indicated was an entrance to their lair. In Draconic, I shout:
“Greetings noble troglodytes!”
“Go away!”
“We wish to traverse your lands to get to the Lady’s Light.”
“You give us weapons?”
“We don’t have any to spare, but I am sure after we explore the Lady’s Light we will have some to give you!”
“Then go away!”
“Our word is good. You let us through we will give you weapons on our return!”
In response a javelin comes flying out of the cave mouth and lands a foot from me. If they throw their weapons at those that want to parlay, I can see why they need more!
“Come now, don’t be cross! We understand your rivals, the boggards, are being aided. Perhaps we can aid you?”
Another javelin comes flying out and this one hits me. I am about to show them the fine art of dwarven cussing, but remember to keep my cool.
“This is your last chance. There must be something besides giving you arms that will allow us to traverse your lands?”
A third javelin comes flying out and misses. I give a few choice hand signals to the direction of the cave and walk back to the others. Seeing me blood they don’t have to ask how the negotiations went. If they won’t let us traverse their lands, maybe the boggards will.
We continue on this land called the Lady’s Cape until we come to a cave that Maroux told us a critter lived in. Perhaps the cave that the creature lives in has some tunnels that will get us to the Lady’s Light. We approach carefully with the hope that maybe the creature is out hunting when we are suddenly charged by the beast. It is a pyrohydra. It runs right up to Balak and bites him. Bluestone quickly casts a scorching ray at it as Firenia attacks one of the heads. Furrnando casts a shield of faith on Balak. I fire a bolt at it and my aim is true. Balak also swings his ax and connects with a head. The creature retaliates by breathing fire on Balak and he is badly burned. The other two heads breathe fire on Firenia and she is also scorched. Bluestone hits it with a couple of magic missiles as another one of my bolts hit true. Firenia and Balak launch coordinated attacks and the creature quickly dies from its wounds. There are no tunnels in the cave only the putrid remains of some troglodytes and boggards. Some much for a short cut!
I have me brother chop off a head and we go back to the troglodyte cave. I heave the head into the cave and shout in draconic, “See! We know that this beast was an enemy of yours and we have slain it! Are you sure you do not want to reach an agreement?” I brace myself for the expected javelin, but none comes. Instead, in draconic I hear “Traitors!” shouted and then an agonizing scream. Then a voice calls out “You kill Uggilo, you can go through tunnels.”
“Depends. What is a Uggilo?”
“Uggilo not what but who. He is our shaman, but he makes us worship demonic, ugly things. Our tribe gets sick so maybe demon god does not like us. We don’t like that – or Uggilo! You kill him, you go through tunnels.”
Maybe I am confident because we just slew a five headed beast, or maybe it’s that I’m tired of talking to these foolish troglodytes, but I agree to the terms. We enter the cave mouth and we see two live troglodytes and one very dead one. On noticing us looking at the body one of the trogs says, “That was Holc. He liked the shaman very much. We like him not so very much. You go around the bend and you see Uggilo. He is probably worshipping his demon god with his big alligator. We wait here to see if you live or not.” At this point I think we all want to be done with these trogs so we are gratefully for the hasty dismissal.
We turn the corner and I see Uggilo along with two acolytes and an enormous alligator in front of a demonic looking statue. I suddenly get an idea. Using the shard I make it seem that the statue is coming to life! We hear the flames and smell the smoke and we see Ugillo and the acolytes fall on their knees in supplication. “Uggilo, my faithful servant! I have been pleased with your efforts so far. Show me your devotion and offer up your alligator as sacrifice!” Uggilo looks mortified at the prospect. I assume him and the gator are close. “DO IT!” I have my image command. Uggilo takes out his heavy mace and the acolytes arm themselves with javelins. When Uggilo lands the first blow against the gator, the gator recalls in shock. It is prodded by the acolytes from further retreat. The gator, now trapped between the acolytes with their javelins and Uggilo with his mace fights back with all the fury a trapped animal has. It is over in a few minutes and the alligator is dead. Luckily Uggilo is also badly bruised. I decide to keep pressing my luck. “Well done Uggilo, but in order to be my vessel, I require more sacrifice. Kill your acolytes!” The acolytes exchange confused, frightened glances as Uggilo moves in for the kill. As one of the acolytes moves, Uggilo has a clear view at us. He is momentarily confused by our presence. “Lord Master!” he exclaims, “I will offer you the lives of these intruders instead! They seem more worthy than my acolytes.” “No! The acolytes first then the intruders!” My fake deity commands. Maybe it is the fact that Uggilo is questioning why his god wants him to kill his allies, or maybe I am not that good of a ventriloquist, but Uggilo shouts, “Kill the intruders!” Just to mess with him, I have the image say, “Pity! You would have made a fine vessel! I will find another more worthy!” Uggilo stops and looks at the disappearing image and that gives us a few necessary seconds to prepare for battle!
An arrow from Firenia is the opening salvo and it is a good opening as it slays an acolyte. Furrnando casts bless on the party. Bluestone casts an acid arrow at Uggilo. I move up into position. Balak runs up to Uggilo and gets right in his face and gets attacked by both acolytes. Firenia runs up and joins the fray. Bluestone uses his wand for an acid ray against Uggilo. I make a suggestion to the remaining acolyte to run away since he was seconds from being sacrificed. The spell doesn’t work and the fool stays in place. Balak launches a vicious attack against Uggilo and gets a vicious attack in return. Firenia kills Uggilo with a well-placed thrust of her sword and Furrnando kills the dedicated acolyte.
Our friends from the cave approach when they hear the din of battle die down. They look at the lifeless body of Uggilo and turn to us matter-of-factly and say, “You have fulfilled your side of the bargain, we will fulfill ours. You may have access to our tunnels. Furrnando asks if he can see those that are ill and we are led to the sick chamber. He is able to help heal some but he cannot figure out the cause of the illness. They seem grateful that he tried and as strange as it seems, we might have made some friends.
Now it is time to head to the Lady’s Light and find this missing shard!
Session Date: 08/25/2013
Erastus 10 4713
Level 5
Before we depart to the tunnel we ask the trogs if there is anything to be aware of. They tell us that they have sent scouting parties through the tunnels that have never returned so they don’t go in the tunnels. We can’t fault their logic, but when did adventures ever follow logic! As we enter the tunnel, they thank us for all our help and bid us farewell like we won’t be returning either! Our stroll through the tunnels proves uneventful until we come to an area where it seems all the tunnels come together. Here we find a lower half of a statue. From the statue’s garb I think it depicts Sorshen especially after I see that the rune of lust and enchantment is on its base. This lady sure liked statues of herself. There are many albino insects crawling all over the statue and the cavern. As we enter, three creatures seem to emerge from the wall and attack-one on Balak, one on Firenia, and one on me. Firenia quickly engages the one that attacked her with a swing of her sword. I launch a bolt at the one that is closing with me but miss. Balak hits his and shouts “Hold him off brother! I will be there shortly!” Bluestone casts a ray of frost at one but his ray misses. The cave solifugid in front of me misses, but the two that are fighting Balak and Firenia are more successful. Firenia, Furrnando and I both miss in our attacks; only Balak connects with his axe. Bluestone casts shocking grasp, but misses. All three cave solifugids connect and Firenia, Balak and I are all hurting. Our counter-attack works for Firenia and Balak, but I am unsuccessful again. Bluestone again misses with a shocking grasp. Balak is able to parry his cave solifugid’s blows, but Firenia and I are unsuccessful. Firenia slices the cave solifugid in front of her as Furrnando does a healing burst. Balak slays his foe. Bluestone’s shocking grasp finds its target. Both Firenia and I get hurt, but Firenia quickly follows up with a killing blow. Since I am badly injured and know that Balak and Firenia are both freed up, I retreat. Balak and Firenia both deliver severe blows to the lone cave solifugid as it bites Balak. Bluestone casts a magic missile at it. I launch a bolt at it from my position of safety and the cave solifugid lets out an agonizing scream and dies. “So there!” I yell at the lifeless corpse as Furrnando heals my own life-threatening wounds. After, I approach the statue and determine that this damage to it had happened in the last couple of months – probably around the time Maroux told us Oriana and her band came through here. It also looks like the statue exploded from the inside. What were these women up to! Since we are down resources, we decide to rest for the night.
Erastus 11 4713
Level 5
We sleep restlessly throughout the night as every insect we see might be a harbinger of more cave solifugids. None come and when morning comes, we set off down the tunnel that we think leads to the Lady’s Light. We come to a room with several statues surround a dark shaft in the floor. Even with our darkvision me brother and I cannot see more than a couple of inches inside of it. I am admiring the exquisite statues as Balak and Firenia approach the shaft to get a better look. As they approach four of the statues come alive! Firenia casts haste on herself as Balak hits a statue. He doesn’t do the damage that he thinks he should do and he considers using his flail. Bluestone casts a scorching ray and the statue looks unaffected. The statues swing at Balak and Firenia, but both miss. I launch a bolt and it bounces harmlessly off a statue. Furrnando and Firenia both hit a statue but Balak misses. Bluestone casts a magic missile and it appears to do no damage. Balak and Firenia both get hit by their stony opponents. I hand my warhammer to Firenia to see if she can have more luck damaging these things with a blunt weapon. Furrnando misses but both Firenia and Balak hit. Even though they are using blunt weapons, they feel they are not damaging the statues like they should. Bluestone casts an acid arrow out of a wand and it looks like the statue is really damaged. The statues again miss Balak and Firenia. I miss with another bolt. Furrnando hits the statue but it does not seem to take any damage. Firenia hits and she comes to the conclusion that no matter what weapon she uses, she cannot damage it like she should. Balak misses but luckily the statue that he is fighting also misses. Furrnado misses, but Balak & Firenia both hit. Bluestone casts an acid arrow and the statue really does not like it. Firenia gets missed, but Balak is not so lucky and is hurt by his opponent. Since I can do no harm against these statues, I call upon my vast knowledge to figure out how we triggered this deadly trap and if we are we in danger from the other statues in the room. Furrnando misses again, But both Firenia and Balak deliver blows that send their stone foes crumbling to the ground. Bluestone casts another acid arrow at one of the remaining statues. The statues both miss Balak and Firenia. I think that the trap was set off when we approached the shaft. Furrnando does a healing burst to keep Balak and Firenia in the fight. Balak finishes off the last of his opponents. Bluestone, having found great success with the acid arrows casts another one. Firenia finishes her opponent and the statues are done. I tell the group confidently that I do not think any of the other statues will come alive so we are free to approach the shaft.
The shaft is really dark so Bluestone casts some dancing lights down into it. The lights quickly blink out. Balak courageously volunteers to be lowered into the shaft. We tie some rope to a statue and lower him down. We lower him down the full fifty feet of rope and not only do we not see him but we don’t hear him as well – and we always hear Balak. We decide to pull the rope up. Balak told us he could not hear anything nor could he see the bottom. We get more rope and repeat the process. We tell Balak if he reaches the bottom to tug the rope twice and we will pull him up. Down he goes again, and again we neither see nor hear him. At about a depth of sixty feet we feel a tug of the rope and we again pull him up. He said once he reached the bottom he could see and hear as normal so it was just the shaft itself. We all climb down through the shaft.
After we all descend to the bottom of the shaft we see a dais on top of which we see a sarcophagus. The sarcophagus is surrounded by pillars which are carved into the likeness of Sorshen. As we approach the sarcophagus we see that the lid is painted with an image of Sorshen in peaceful death. Now I know I should leave the sarcophagus alone. But Maroux had told us that Oriana told her that Sorshen was still very much alive. So either Sorshen is alive and this tomb should be empty, or this tomb is occupied and there is something else going on with an imposter Runelord. Besides, how many budding archeologist can say they gazed upon the corpse of a Runelord? How can I not open it! Much to Firenia’s misgivings, Balak and I push the lid open a little bit and see – the perfectly preserved body of an azlanti woman. She looks like all the images we have seen so far of Sorshen. She is bedecked in jewels and gems. Satisfied that Sorshen is very much dead and not being a grave robber, Balak and I start moving the heavy lid in place. All of a sudden, I feel as if my very soul is being ripped from my body.
I open my eyes and I see the lid of the sarcophagus-only I am not looking down at the lid, but looking up at it. I yell out for my brother who looks like he is still trying to close the lid. I don’t know if it is the echo inside of the sarcophagus or my panic but my voice does not sound the same. After a few moments of my screaming, the lid comes off. I sit up and say, “Don’t know how I got in there!” I look around and everyone is staring at me open-mouthed. Me brother is just as equally stunned and just mutters, “Me brother?” I then notice my body slumped beside the sarcophagus. “If me body is there, who’s body am I in?” I look down and notice that I am wearing the same dress as Sorshen’s corpse. “It might be a trick!” Firenia shouts as Balak picks up his axe. “What did ye do to me brother, witch!” He says menacingly. “Balak it is me! Remember that time when we were younger and we snuck out to find things at the abandoned gnome camp and we almost got eaten by the gibbering mouther? We never told anyone about that!” He looks at me with stunned disbelief. It is then that I notice my reflection in the blade of his ax. “What in Torag’s furnace?” as I see Sorshen looking back at me, “How did I get in here?” Furrnando and Bluestone both think that the body we saw was a clone of Sorshen and was kept preserved by a permanent gentle repose spell. There was a trap on the tomb that would trigger a phantasmal killer spell, but somehow my soul transferred to the clone. “That’s all well and good!” I shout, “Now do something to get me back in my body!” Bluestone and Furrnando both exchange sorrowful glances and I have my answer before they say almost in unison, “We don’t have the experience or the knowledge to undo such a spell.” For the first time in my life I am speechless. I don’t know the first thing about Azlanti women, and one that is so unattractive at that! Who can consider a woman without a beard attractive? A few moments of silence pass until finally Firenia looks at me asks what I want to do. I shrug my shoulders not fully understanding the question. She says that we can abort the mission and return to Maroux’s cabin and see if she knows a way to bring me back or we can continue on our quest. “I don’t detect any magic on the sarcapacus so the permanent gentle repose spell seems to be no longer in place.” Bluestone says. I am still in shock and not fully understanding his meaning. “If we place your body in the tomb, it will rot.” He says plainly. “If we go back to Maroux’s we will have to explain to her and the trog’s why a woman that looks just like the light house in the harbor is accompanying us. They might not be understanding.” Firenia adds. I begin to weigh the pros and cons. Walking around the Lady’s Light looking like the lady might be really helpful, but I love being a dwarf. “Well I wanted to learn about ancient civilizations, I guess being an azlanti woman is a really good way to start!” I announce. Let’s put me in the tomb, and hopefully we can find a way to get me back quickly. Besides I have a feeling we would have a better shot finding the answer down here than in a half-Orc hermit’s cabin. “Maybe when we find Sorshen we can ask her?” Furrnando states trying to bring some levity into the situation. Instead it brought home the fact that if this was a clone-an unused clone at that, then the Lady Sorshen could be out there and very much alive!
We decide to press on and as my body is lowered into the tomb, I can’t help but get an eerie feeling. I turn my back and decide I won’t look back. I take a couple of unsteady strides as I am not used to these long legs. Firenia takes one look and asks if I am going to go around looking like a bedazzled noble. I remember all the gem and jewels I am wearing and my powder-blue dress. She rummages through her pack and hands me some adventuring appropriate garb. I duck behind a pillar and emerge a mismatched adventurer. “When we get back to town, you and I will go shopping!” A bemused Firenia states. We decide to head to the sound of the water and come to a balcony. Balak looks at the flowing water and says that if we expect him to swim, then we are all bonkers! We see a beach with some boats in the distance and we agree to see if we can reach those. We clarify that we will try overland to reach them as the nervous anger starts to rise in Balak.
We come to a reddish door where there are several scenes of me…err…Sorshen in some kind of magical trance with all sorts of winged creatures. We think this is another one of those Thassilonian puzzles that we have encountered before. We look to see if there is some sort of order to the panels but there does not seem to be any as all the creatures are different. Everyone looks at me as if I now have some insight on which panel to push. I may now look like the lady in the panels, but I don’t have her memories. I decide to push the center panel for no other reason than it looks interesting. It depicts Sorshen, a winged creature, and the scepter of the Lady’s Light. That is where we want to go after all. I push in the panel, it glows and in Thassilonian words appear saying:
“Ayandamahla is bound to the light for all ages.”
The door swings open. I have heard it said that no one really knows what causes the Lady’s scepter to continue to provide light after all these years, maybe this Ayandamahla person has something to do with it. We see the beach that we saw before and the boats. While Balak was glad he didn’t have to swim, the sight of the boats unnerve him just as much!
We look to see if there are any footprints and we see a couple that might be a couple of weeks old. Interestingly, they are heading towards the boats and not away from them. We detect that the boats are magical and might either guide themselves in the river or return to this spot. We cast off into the river and the boat just floats. It looks like we will have to get to wherever we are going on our own power. We don’t get very far before we see an island with docks in front of us and a beach that ends in a door to the right of us. There is no dock on the beach only a shield that bears the sign of the Gray Maidens. This puts us in a quandary. Do we go to the island with the dock or do we land at the beach. Some of us feel we should land at the beach, while others think that there is a reason that the island has a dock and something bad will happen if we land on the beach. We hear the sound of falls ahead of us and realize we have to make a decision quickly. The dock people win out and we steer towards the island.
Standing on top of the island is a glass figure that looks like it is about to jump into the water. As we step on to the island the statue comes alive and says in Thassilonian “Greetings mistress! I am glad you have returned. How may I serve you?” apparently this is one of those cases where looking like Sorshen has its advantages! In Thassilonian I reply, “I would like to get to that beach over there.” The statue looks puzzled and says,
“Why all you have to do is row over there.”
“What will we find over there?”
“Don’t you remember? You created this fortress. Why don’t you remember?”
At this point the statue’s demeanor seems to become more aggressive.
“Fool! Can you even begin to comprehend the trials and struggles I have fought these past millenniums to return! This area was not my top concern and it will do you well to mind your tone!”
“Sorry mistress, please accept my apologies.”
“I see a strange shield bearing a symbol I do not recognize. What is it doing on MY beach?”
“They were a group that traveled here recently and I destroyed the trespassers as you commanded me to.”
Not all for Oriana still lives, I think to myself.
“You have done well! How many other of my guardians still exist?”
“I do not know Mistress. I only know this area which you have commanded me to watch over.”
“As you should! I am pleased. Continue your duties until I give you further instructions.”
“Yes Mistress!”
With that the statue resumes its original form of looking like it is about to dive into the water. I quickly explain the gist of the conversation to my comrades and we prepare to sail to the island. “I’d hate to see what would have happened if you didn’t look like Sorshen!” Bluestone remarks.
Session Date: 09/15/2013
Erastus 10 4713
Level 6
We sail uneventfully to the beach and we see the two graves of the gray maidens. It was so nice of the glass golem to bury them after she killed them. We try to detect magic on the graves because the glass golem might not need magic items, but we do. We open the door at the end of the beach and we see fantastic murals with many odd creatures depicted in the room. I study the creatures and don’t recognize them as having any basis in reality. It must have been the artist’s fanciful rendition. Speaking of the artist I search to see if I can see any clues to his identity and I actually spot his signature: Amivadeus Yasrin. I remember that he was a famous artist about the time of the runelords and he disappeared without a trace. We see that the mural stops suddenly in mid brush stroke. It seems we might find the remains of Amivades and find out what happened to him. As an archeologist, I thrill at the prospect of solving a mystery that is thousands of years old. “Maybe we won’t find his remains, but an undead version of him!” Furrnando says half in jest and half in seriousness.
We continue on until we come to a portcullis. We are looking at a way to open it when a humanoid man appears. He is carrying a rapier and has a longbow strapped across his back. He says in a calm manner:
“Greetings, friends or foes, which be you? I’ll open the gate for you myself if you be the former, but fear I must prevent your passage if you be the latter. Would you speak the pass phrase for me?”
I figure I got this. I step forward and demand, “Guardian! It is I! Open the gate!” He says, “Mistress, who are these people you are traveling with?” I say in a bored fashion, “They are my personal bodyguard,” He looks me over and says, “Mistress, you do not seem yourself?!” I figure I will use the same spiel I used on the glass golem. “Fool! It has been thousands of years since you have seen me! How do you remember what I may seem or may not seem! I have been busy and a lot has changed since last we met!” His befuddlement turns to anger as he says, “Thousands of years? It has only been two days since I last saw you. You are not my mistress and you must be foes! I will stop you!” With that he ducks behind a column in the room and we hear him casting spells.
Balak and Firenia both attack the portcullis furiously and after a few seconds it falls with a loud crash. They stalk to the column where our gatekeeper disappeared behind and see nothing. Bluestone casts a see invisibility spell and just as he does our invisible foe appears and his rapier stabs Bluestone. Bluestone quickly withdraws from the well-armed opponent. Firenia, Furrnando, and I both miss as we attack the foe for he has some sort of displacement spell on him. Balak, however, has no problem discerning the foe and cuts him with his ax. He retaliates on Furrnando though. Bluestone, Firenia and I still can’t get past the displacement. Balak again has no problem with the displacement and almost cleaves the foe in half. We look at the body and determine that it was a dhampir. “Looks like you’re not the only Sorshen running around this place!” Bluestone remarks.
We continue on when suddenly Balak shouts, “Stop Firenia! It’s a trap!” It is too late as the floor beneath Firenia collapses and she falls about 40 feet-just missing the spikes on the bottom. Furrnando peeks over the side and casts levitate and Firenia gently rises back to us. I take a look at the trap and think I have disabled it. Since Firenia still has the levitate spell on, she again steps on the trap floor and it again gives way. Firenia just levitates and says, “Try again, dwarf!” I get back to work and when I think I finally have it all figured out, we again invite Firenia to step on it. She does and this time the floor holds. We swiftly walk across one-by-one.
We next come to a room that is splashed with blood. An incubus stands motionless in the middle of the room. I figure now that we know another Sorshen has been by recently, I should be able to bluff my way through this encounter. I move out from the group and say in thassilonian, “Guardian, have you taken care of the intruders?” He looks confused and says,
“You should know! You helped me take care of them!”
“Of course I did. I wanted to see if any more of them came this way.”
“Which intruders are you referring to?”
“The human warriors, of course.”
“Those that you did not slaughter, you took under your command!”
“Yes, but are there any more?”
“Something’s not right! You are not my Mistress!”
He runs up and attacks me badly and I am reeling. I step back and use the shard to create a bigger image of my new self and say, “Remember your place guardian and kneel or be destroyed!” Bluestone casts a magic missile at him as both Balak and Firenia take a piece of him with a swing of their blades. The incubus is momentarily confused by the image and does not attack me. The whole time he is muttering, “This is not right, this is not right.” Bluestone casts a scorching ray at the demon. Both Balak and Firenia hit. Furrnando, Bluestone and I all miss with our attacks but both Firenia and Balak score hits but only Balak’s hit seems to do any damage. The incubus launches another vicious attack against me and I crumble to the floor. He just keeps yelling “Death to the imposter!” Furrnando scores a hit but like Firenia’s attack, he doesn’t seem to hurt the incubus. Both Balak and Firenia connect. With me down, the incubus next focuses on Firenia. He wounds her severely. Furrnando then delivers a killing blow and the incubus falls. He quickly heals me before I go and greet Torag in this alien body. Since we have used up a lot of resources we decide to rest for the night. What is the use of looking like Sorshen, if none of her guardians believe that you are her!
Erastus 11 4713
Level 6
We wake and quickly go to where we left off. We next enter a room that has a fire pit in the middle of the room on a platform that is three steps high. The fire that is burning in the pit is a gray color. On one wall there is a sconce with an unlit torch. There are two rooms off of this room. Both the fire pit and the torch give off an aura of magic. We get the body of the incubus and heave him between the fire pit and the torch-nothing happens. We then carefully walk around the perimeter of the room careful not to step between the fire pit and the flame. I then step up to the second tier-nothing happens. I then step up to the third tier-the same tier that the fire pit is on. I am suddenly attacked by four cacodaemons. Firenia rushes to my aid, but misses one. I am able to score a hit with my rapier. Two of them bite me and it hurts! Furrnando casts shield of faith on me so I am a lot harder to hit. Bluestone casts a magic missile and hits one. Firenia cuts one in half. Two of them bite me again. Playing a hunch, Balak grabs the torch with an eye towards throwing it in the fire pit. Furrnando misses as he swings at one. Bluestone casts magic missile at another one. Firenia hits another one and I miss. One of them bites me. Balak drops the torch into the fire pit-nothing happens. Furrnando misses as a magic missile from Bluestone kills one. Firenia and I both hit one, but only her attack seems to do damage. The remaining two try to bite me, but miss. Balak hits one, and so does Furrnando, although it seems like Furrnando’s attack caused no damage. Firenia slays a cacodaemon, and Balak kills the last one. We still have the puzzle of this room; however, and we decide to take the torch out of the fire, put it out and then relight it. Once it is lit we put it back in the sconce-nothing happens. I think we need to light the torch with the gray flame from the fire pit and then put it in the sconce. As we do that the ‘wall’ slides open and we see stairs descending down. Since the shard indicates that the next shard is down, we feel that this is where we need to go. We are about to descend down the stairs when Bluestone suggests we take a quick look at the doors that are in the corridor leading out.
I believe that the first door we come to is trapped. Bluestone casts resist fire on me, and Furrnando casts a guidance. I try to disable the trap and I think I was close. Furrnando casts another guidance and again I think I am real close to disabling it. I try a third time and a flash of white fills the area as we are hit with an icy blast. Bluestone and I are the only ones not hurt by it. Everyone looks at me angrily. Firenia shakes her head and says, “Close eh?”
The rest of the rooms are inscribed with “Thou wouldst enter? Then thou must touch!” in thassilonian. How can I not touch it! All the doors open easily with a touch and all seem to be some sort of sleeping quarters. Strangely, all have a floral scent about them. The corridor ends in a wall; however, the wall also has the same inscription on it. I touch the ‘wall’ and it opens up into a huge bedroom. The erotic frescos on the wall leave no doubt whose bedroom this was-Sorshen. We continue on and the next room has frescoes that are more erotic than the ones in the bedroom. It takes a lot to make a dwarf blush, but Balak and I both turned a shade redder. The next room had water running through it. The water was magical, but at this point, we were all a little uneasy with the kinkiness of these rooms and decided to save them for later. We decided to continue on with our original plan and descend down the stairs.
We descend down stairs which end in a wall. On the wall is an image of Sorshen and is inscribed with “Prostrate thyself and demonstrate proper devotion, my sweet slave, if you wish to enter my domain” in thassilonian. Furrnando bows down but nothing happens. He then gets down on his knees and places his forehead on the ground. Again nothing happens, so he kisses or licks the image’s feet and disappears. Either Furrnando has gone to his deity’s home or he is on another level of this statue. We all kiss the image’s feet and disappear.
We find ourselves on another level of the Lady’s Light and hopefully another step closer to the shard!
Erastus 11 4713
Teleported to a platform overlooking a large underground lake. There were rowboats so we took two and went to the platform on the other side. Red door, pressed the center panel. Went thru and there was a cave giant, which we had to kill. Also, rested here for the night since every one was low on spells.
Erastus 12 4713
Took the rowboats around the lake and I decided to try and strip down and jump in the water. Balak stopped me. We also fought off some undead ghoul type creatures. They brought me to shore and I kept on trying to get to a spot in the wall, which they let me. After they opened the secret door, the compulsion to dive in the water stopped. Went thru, killed some Gray Maidens that didn't believe that I was Sorshen, then went on. Found another teleport device and went deeper into the dungeon. Killed some sin spawn, then moved on. There was a large room with an illusion that Furrnando and Firenia thought was real about Sorshen and a party going on. Turns out only a really evil sin spawn was there which we finally killed. As there did not appear to be any other exit, cast detect secret doors and found a secret door leading out of the room.
Session Date: 10/06/2013
Erastus 12 4713
Level 7
We come to a room with a serpent motif and Furrnando detects abjuration throughout the room. I see no traps in front of the door so I step in. There is a door on the other side so instead of crossing the room, we decide to hug the wall and traverse the room that way. We reach the door without incident and without encountering some guardian that I am going to have to convince that I am Sorshen. We open the door and see a Gray Maiden. My bluff hasn’t worked too well up to this point but I figure it would be worth a try. She sees me and bows.
“Greeting Mistress!”
“Greeting faithful servant!”
“How may I assist you?”
“Keep an eye out for intruders!”
“Intruders? There is no one here but us loyal servants.”
She says this skeptically and I know this is where I get in trouble.
“Yes! There are intruders here that are trying to disrupt my master plan. I will not go into details, but know you will be richly rewarded for your loyal service!”
A few uncomfortable seconds pass as I give her my best haughty, commanding stare. She bows again.
“Certainly Mistress. Do you want me to go out and scout for these intruders?”
“No stay here and continue your duties. I will let you know when I need you.”
Now there are several doors in the room and a staircase. It cannot seem that I do not know what I am doing or where I am going, but neither do I want to keep opening doors without knowing what is behind them. So I shout “Follow me servants!” I stroll confidentially to the staircase and ascend it. Once I am out of the Gray Maiden’s questioning gaze I breathe a sigh of relief.
At the top of the stairs, there are eight alcoves. All of the alcoves but one has a statue in it. I look at the statues and determine that they depict the seven Runelords. Curiously the empty alcove is directly across from Sorshen’s statue. Next to Sorshen statue is a man offering a golden rose, which I find as strange since I identify him as the Runelord of greed. Why would someone who is greedy be offering someone something? This puzzle is cleared up when I see there is writing on the floor in Thassilonian: “She who desires to ascend the Lady’s Light must first deign to embrace the Lady and the Lie”. It is obvious that the Lady is Sorshen. Firenia looks at the statue of Karzoug, the Runelord of greed, offering his rose and says, “He’s the lie – he is acting out of character!” I go over and hug the statue of Sorshen, and given my current appearance, must look funny indeed! The floor of the empty alcove glows. I then go over and hug the statue of Karzoug and a golden mist fills the empty alcove. “Here goes nothing!” I shout as I step into the mist.
I find myself in a room alone for a few minutes until Balak appears. “Where are the others?” I ask. “I dunno, they were right behind me!” he replies. Before we open the door we hear a female voice saying, “Who are you? Sorshen’s latest plythings? Let me welcome you to this cursed place with all you deserve!” We then hear Firenia shout, “You got it all wrong! We are not Sorshen’s pets. We wish you no harm!” We then hear what sounds like metal on metal as Firenia tries to push the enraged warrior away with her shield. Bluestone casts a ray of enfeeblement but it does not seem to slow the angry warrior down at all. Furrnando tries to grapple the woman, but she slips out of his grasp easily. By this time, Balak and I open the door and see the contest. As Balak runs to join the fray, I cast grease on the woman’s longsword, but she has it gripped too tightly. Firenia, Balak and Furrnando all trying to pull their attacks so they don’t needlessly hurt the woman, all misss. The Gray Maiden is not holding back and slashes Firenia with her sword. I cast Good Hope to help everyone out. Firenia and Balak both hit the woman with the flat of their blades. Bluestone casts message telling her to trust us. She hesitates as Furrnando tells her to throw down her arms and that we will not harm her, on the contrary, we will try to help her. She is about ready to drop her longsword until she sees-me. She roars, “It’s a trap! Why must you torture me so!” and rushes to me. She strikes me with her sword as I stand there with my arms at my side. “You think you had it rough? Look what she did to me! She is so vain, she changed me to look just like her! I am really a dwarf. That lad with the ax is my brother!’ The Gray Maiden raises her sword for another strike, but just can’t seem to follow through with it. Her arm trembles from the strain. “It’s true!” Firenia interjects, “He is a dwarf and we have been trying to find a way to return him to normal!” “I want nothing better than to return to my appearance! I am much better looking!” I say. “Look at his clothes. See how they don’t fit?” Furrnando asks, “I am sure Sorshen is a better dresser!” With that the woman’s sword falls to the ground with a loud clang and she collapses on the floor.
Furrnando heals her wounds as she comes to. We introduce ourselves and she in turn introduces herself as Oriana. Firenia asked if she was out of the Lady’s Light, why did she come back. Oriana explains that she followed Sorshen because Sorshen told her that she would return Queen Ileosa to Korvosa’s throne. She began to suspect that Sorshen was using some sort of enchantment on her and her fellow Gray Maidens and had no intention in helping their cause. She looks down and says embarrassingly, “It seems like the only cause Sorshen was interested in was making us her playthings. I seemed to have gotten the worst.” She stifles a sniffle and looks at us and asks what we are doing here. I tell her that I am actually an archeologist and we are looking for items that would be of historical importance. We leave out the bit about the shard. She wants to know how I came to look like that ‘temptress’ and I tell my tale about the sarcophagus and how I wanted to see who was in it. She says to me scornfully, “Yeah, we say the tomb, but weren’t dumb enough to open it!” I have to concede that point. We ask her how do we get back down to the lower level and she replies that this is a teleporting chamber and she does not know how to transport down, only up to ‘where she is’. Since we are used up on spells, we decide to rest the night. Oriana looks at me and says that she would rather sleep in one of the rooms alone.
Erastus 13 4713
Level 7
This morning we prepare for our encounter with the real or fake Sorshen. There are so many Sorshens running around this place I don’t know who’s real and who isn’t! We wake Oriana and she trembles when she first sees me. It takes her a few seconds and then she mutters, “Oh yeah, the curious dwarf.” She starts to work the teleportation device which consists of aligning the head of a snake protruding from the floor with that of another snake also protruding from the floor. One thing it seemed that Sorshen loved more than herself was snakes. We align the snakes and find ourselves in a bedroom. We do not see Sorshen but rather an alu-demon. She sees Oriana and coyly asks, “Oriana, my love, this is unexpected. Am I to take your return to my boudoir as indication you’ve had a change of heart after our previous... conversation?” Oriana is struck with fear and we quickly realize it is not an alu-demon she sees, but rather a vision of Sorshen. It is about this time that the alu-demon notices me. I look at her and confidently say, “You have been masquerading as me long enough! Bend your knee imposter and I might let you live!” This clearly rattles the alu-demon. Furrnando adds, “You better listen to her, she’s the real Sorshen!” This is a great plan, but we forgot to clue Oriana into it. She looks at me and says, “I knew it was a lie! Vile Temptress!” The alu-demon is as confused as Oriana and Firenia takes advantage of the demon’s confused state and rushes up to her. She slashes with her sword, but the alu-demon, even though distracted, easily sidesteps the blow. Bluestone casts fly on Balak as the alu-demon screams at Oriana, “Oriana! My Pet! Kill the imposter!” and casts a confusion spell. In my confused state, I attack Bluestone who does not take kindly to the effort. Luckily I have no more luck hitting him than I do the majority of my foes. Furrnando casts silence in the area occupied by the alu-demon. Balak flies up and his ax tastes the flesh of the alu-demon. I do not know if Oriana is under the effects of the confusion spell or wants to kill me because I look like one of the Sorshens in the room, but she slashes me deeply with her longsword. Firenia misses with a swipe of her sword at the demon. Bluestone casts dispel magic on Oriana, hoping to break her of the confusion spell – if she is magically confused. I want to move and do something, but I just stand there babbling incoherently. Balak hits the demon again. Oriana again attacks me and I still do not know if she is under the spell or not. Firenia again misses the demon. It seems that Balak is the only one that can hit her. Bluestone tries to cast a scorching ray at the demon, but the ray just misses her. The demon slices Firenia with her guisarme. I feel an overwhelming desire to just hit something and since Oriana is the closest thing to me, I try to stab her with my rapier and miss. Furrnando does a healing burst to cure Firenia and me of our wounds. Balak scores another hit. Oriana now advances to the demon, but misses as she swings her longsword. Firenia is finally able connect with the demon. A scorching ray from Bluestone finds its mark. The demon casts a spell on Firenia, but it doesn’t work. I stand there babbling to myself. Furrnando casts prayer, unfortunately Balak, who had seemed to be acting normal, attacks Firenia! Oriana then attacks Balak! The demon smiles as she sees the effect of her confusion spell. That smile disappears as Firenia stabs her with her sword. Bluestone casts an acid arrow at the demon but it seems to not damage her at all. She casts a fireball and the room is awash with blinding light. Suddenly she is next to me and I try to stab her, but I miss. Furrnando does a healing burst. Balak and Oriana are now standing there babbling. Firenia again stabs the demon. Bluestone casts resist fire on himself in case she casts another fireball. She slices me with her sharp weapon and for some reason I decide to stab myself. Furrnando does another burst. Balak continues to babble. Oriana misses the demon with her longsword, but Firenia again hits her. The demon thrusts her guisarme through me and all I see is darkness. Furrnando does another burst as a combined effort between Firenia and Balak bring the demon down.
I thought Torag’s Furnace would have been brighter! Then I realize that I am not dead and it is dark because of a sarcophagus – the sarcophagus? I feel my chin and feel my thick beard. I’m back in me own body! Then I realize that I am in the same sarcophagus we closed the lid on when we placed my body into it. I start to panic then I realize that I am using up oxygen. I spend a few moments thinking about my predicament until an idea comes to me. I cast grease along the lid of the sarcophagus and then push up with all the strength of me dwarven legs. I almost feel that I don’t have enough strength when suddenly the lid slides off and crashes to the floor. I sit in the sarcophagus enjoying the familiarity of me own body when after some time me companions appear. They have defeated the alu-demon and reclaimed the shard. I am assuming that they haven’t told Oriana about the shard. I am sure she still wants to put her queen back on the throne and having a shard will be a powerful weapon to achieve that end.
Erastus 13 – Erastus 29 4713
Level 8
We spend the next couple of days fully exploring the Lady’s Light. I make sure I record in my journal all the wonderful, ancient Thassilonian artifacts we encounter. We visit our Trog allies and Furrnando helps heal some of their sick. As promised, we give them some of our mundane weapons that we liberated from those that wished to do us harm just liked we promised them. We also spend time with Maroux, although her stew still tastes terrible and she still makes us sleep outside. She is not too happy to hear that we cleaned out the Lady’s Light. “I hope it doesn’t bring a bunch of tourists lollygagging around! I like my privacy!” is all that she keeps muttering. Like clockwork, on the twentieth day we have spent on the island, the Impdrake appears. Captain Fessender is not too happy. She is on the lookout for the ‘skulking coward Chebby’. Apparently he jumped ship in the next port after we were dropped off. Firenia and I exchange knowing looks.
As we near Magnimar, Oriana and the remaining off her small troop try to convince us to join her cause. “Queen Ileosa will richly reward you!” she says. I think to myself how everyone offers us a reward, but the risk is always greater than the actual payment – King Zuuga and The Suzerain of Little Erebus come to mind. We politely decline –there are more shards to find after all!
Session Date: 10/27/2013
Erastus 30 4713
Level 8
We arrive ‘home' and as soon as the snooty butler opens the door his face is a display of shocked horror. "Get the Heidmarches, Mr. Happy and make it snappy!" I am not one to speak in rhymes but I see that it needles the butler that much more. In a few moments we are in Shelia's study with her and Sir Canayven. They listen with rapt attention as we tell our tale. The both laugh heartily when I tell them of my transformation into Lady Sorshen. Shelia comes to the same conclusion that we do about the clones. If Lady Sorshen had all of these clones, is she truly dead? After our tale, it is now time to find out where we have to go in our journey. Furrnando grasps the shard and concentrates, after a few moments he stutters, "Kaer Maga! Dark Mansion!". Looks like we need to go to Kaer Maga!
Shelia, Canayven and I quickly fill the group in on Kaer Maga. It is a place where everyone is welcome and trolls can walk the street openly. "They won't be walking openly after I cut ‘em off at the knees!" Balak spits. We all wonder how long it will be before Balak ends up being arrested by the city watch! We all feel that we are heading to a dangerous place, but probably no more so than The Crow or The Lady's Light. "We can go overland to get there?" Balak asks hopefully. "You can," Shelia answers, "but it will be quicker by boat. I will arrange passage." On that, Balak's countenance falls. We spend the rest of the day getting supplies as Shelia makes the arrangements.
Arodus 1 4713
Level 8
The next morning we board the Lucky Jenny. It's captain is a halfling named Othlo Janke. He seems just as disciplined as Captain Fessender, but friendlier. "Who is Jenny and why is she lucky?" Bluestone asks. Captain Janke laughs heartily. "It is not a who, but a what. Jennys are donkeys that pull the barges up river, but since this boat can go on her own power, she is the ‘Jenny' and the lucky part is because I won her in a card game! I can get you in Kaer Maga in two weeks instead of two months like others!" It is true; the Lucky Jenny has some sort of magical paddlewheel that keeps a good pace. No wonder all Captain Janke needs in his crew are three other halflings. All the humans in the party feel cramped in the Halfling-sized rooms, but Balak and I feel just a tad less uncomfortable. We dwarves might not be cramped by the height, but we are by the width! He gives us a lot of information on Kaer Magna. He tells us that there are two ways in – the Halflight Path which is a tunnel and a steep trail up the side of the cliff. The tunnel is shorter he tells us. "If the tunnel is shorter, why would anyone take the path up the cliff?" Firenia asks. "Well some people do not like to be underground for that long" The good captain replies. Balak and I look at each other like that was the most ridiculous thing either one of us had ever heard.
The captain does not believe we should spend the two weeks lollygagging so he insists that we spend time guarding the boat as we pull into the riverbank at night. Balak is all for the duty as that means he will be on dry land. He flies into a rage when he is told that we stay on the boat and it is only tied up to the land!
Arodus 3 4714
Level 8
Between the gentle currents and a few days of nothing happening, we are almost lulled into complacency when on this night; four boggards try and board the ship. It is during Furrnando's watch and unfortunately, he is on watch alone. He see a boggard further out casting spells with a huge dragonfly. Furrnando casts a spell and moves, but the boggards are ready and easily connect with their attacks. Two boggards croak loudly trying to shake Furrnando, but all it does is wake the rest of us up. Furrnando swings at a boggard and he is successful. A boggard and the dragonfly both attack me. The shaman is busy praying to his deity. Bluestone casts a fireball killing a boggard and the shaman. Balak chops another boggard in half as Firenia hits the dragonfly. Furrnando swings as the remaining boggards feel they have had enough of this fight and the Lucky Jenny will not be easy pickings. They take their dragonfly with them. Seconds later, Captain Janke and his crew appear. They tell us that they were just about to join the fray, but I have a feeling they were hiding to see if we were victorious!
Arodus 14 4714
Level 8
The next eleven days pass uneventfully and we are no longer bothered by boggards trying to get free passage on the Lucky Jenny. This morning Kaer Maga- The Asylum Stone comes into view. It is built on top of a tall cliff and is most impressive. I have not traveled far in my young (for a dwarf) life, but Kaer Maga is one of the most impressive sights I have seen! It is a six-sided fortress built on top of an 80 foot-high stone cliff. The city is older than the Thassilon Empire and my archeologist mind is dizzy with what ancient artifacts it holds! It was also discovered by the runelord of greed-Karzoug. It would have been better if the runelord was that of gluttony-Zutha since it is his shard we are after.
We disembark the boat and a man in a uniform tells us to line up. He does a cursory examination of all the traders, but he seems to linger a few moments on us. He then shouts, "I'll take these adventuring types." He then looks at us and says, "Assuming you can handle yourself in a fight!" What is this all about? We next proceed to something called the twisted door with a merchant and his wagon. His name is Bolgar Grumm and he has his two sons, Tuggus and Marl with him. The man that was looking us over announces himself as Abra Lopati and he is a duskwarden. He then explains that duskwardens serve as guides and guards for those traveling the Halflight path. "Guards?" Furrnando asks. He explains that yes, guards are needed because there are many dangers along the path. Apparently there are ancient tunnels and homes that have been boarded up and have been claimed by monsters. That is why he was so interested in us, because with adventures with him, other duskwardens are free to take additional parties. First we were expected to take watches on the Lucky Jenny and now we are expected to guard caravans. I didn't think being a hero was this much work! Duskwarden Abra gives us each something he calls a halflight charm. It is a glowing crystal that provides torchlight. "Bah!" Balak spits, "I don't need no dern light!" Abra explains that in addition to being a light-for those that need it, The wearer can clutch it and it will issue a mental call for help that will be heard by the three closest duskwardens within a mile. "If you are needin' help and the closest ally is a mile away, by the time they reach ya, ya won't be needin' the help any longer!" Balak spits. He is about to hand back his halflight charm but a stern look from Abra and an elbow in the ribs from me causes Balak to think otherwise. He charges us 2 gp and merchant Grumm is charged 30 gp. Grumm starts to object but then Abra reminds him that the halflight path will reach Kaer Maga in a day, while the path up the cliff will take two weeks. Eyeing his wagon full of goods waiting to be sold, Grumm pays the thirty.
We travel in silence because Abra insists on it. I am thinking this all makes for a good show when we pass a poorly bricked-up passage. Abra looks at the brick work and mutters "This isn't right." When suddenly the barricade explodes as two seuathis breakthrough! Firenia quickly hits one. One of the oversized worms cast confusion. After our recent run in with the succubus in the Lady's Light, this could bode badly for us. I hit Furrnando and Furrnando quickly hits himself. A seuathis bites Bluestone as he casts a magic missile at it. Balak hits himself. Abra and Firenia both attack a seuathis. A seuathis misses Firenia but Abra gets bit. I cast good hope. Furrnando hits the seuathis, but Bluestone hits me. Balak misses a seuathis as Abra slays one. Firenia starts babbling as the seuathis' mouth barely misses her. I shoot two arrows at the seuathis, but miss. Furrnando hits a seuathis, but there seems to be no damage done. Bluestone misses with a ray and luckily Balak and Abra miss Firenia. Firenia continues to babble. The seuathis bites Firenia and now I am babbling. Furrnando hits Balak, but it is Bluestone who kills the seuathis with an acid arrow. Everything I was thinking about all the ‘dangers' being an unneeded precaution – I take back!
At the end of the day we reach a stone bunker – the end of the trail! Abra praises us for our combat prowess, but can't seem to keep his eyes off of Firenia. He collects the halflight charms from everyone, but to Firenia he gives something called a greater halflight charm. "This will make you see in the dark like your dwarven companions and once per year, if you clutch it I will be teleported right to your side!" "I bet he will!" Balak bellows in a cheeky tone. "If you plan on staying in the city, I suggest you get a guide-most street urchins will be glad to serve as one" Abra suggests. We bid our farewells to the duskwarden. "I hope to see you again" he shouts, but there is no doubt in any of our minds on who he wishes to see again. "I cut that seuathis a couple of times while the rest of you dolts were either babbling, hitting each other, or hitting yourselves!" Firenia offers as justification for the gift. "It was my ray that killed the darn thing and I didn't get anything!" Bluestone points out to which Firenia blushes.
As we enter the gate we are surrounded by street urchins that offer to be our guide. We are in the process of choosing one when the crowd of street urchins part to make way for a human youth of about sixteen years. He hails us as Pathfinders tells us his name is Gav Nahli and agrees to be our guide for 5gp per day. Which is strange because we never offered him the job! Furrnando tries to bargain him down to 3gp, but he holds firm at 5gp. Never send a cat to broker a deal when two dwarves will do! "If you won't take 3gp, maybe one of these other youths will!" Furrnando threatens. Gav gives a look at the mob of youths and none of them dare to accept Furrnando's offer. There are mutterings of "Gav's the best guide" as the mob melts into the busy city street. Furrnando, seeing that his offer is not going to be accepted agrees with the 5gp. "I expect to be paid at the beginning of the day for me services!" Gav says as he holds out his palm, "In case you ain't alive by lunch, I can get a meal!" Furrnando flips the youth 5gp and he bites each one to make sure it is legit. The coins quickly disappear and I have no idea where he put them. I unconsciously reach down to confirm that my money pouch is still with me. "Where to first? A tavern for a meal? An inn for a bed? Some uh companionship?" He looks over at Firenia, "That includes you too honey!" I like this kid! Knowing that we are after the shard of gluttony, I say that we want to go to the tavern that has the best food, because I am sure that if anyone might be under the curse of the shard, that person might be there. "Why did you select us?" Bluestone asks as we make our way to "The Sorry Excuse" ("Don't let the name fool ya", Gav said). "Because you are adventurers and not only do adventurers have gold, they spend it more freely and they are usually in town until either they are arrested by the city guard or end up dead! Most of these merchants that travel to sell their wares in the city, hold on to their profit and are usually quick to get out of town in order to make their next run." Did I mention I like this kid? "I assume that our business will not be reported to others!" I say in a stern voice. "For the most part, your business is your business ... .but I still have to eat!" he replies. "Me brother would knock the teeth out of your head if you said otherwise!" I chuckle. "Do us a courtesy and if anyone is paying you for our secrets, come to us first, we will pay you more!" He looks at me as a kindred spirit and heartily nods his assent as he holds out his hand. That is how you negotiate Furrnando!
We eat a delicious meal, but we don't encounter anyone gluttonous. I tell Gav that I am an archeologist and as one, where would I find out information on very old things. He tells me that there are two places- the great library called the Therassic Spire and the Augurs, who are troll oracles. "You mean we will be seein' trolls for help?" Balak says menacingly. "I am not fond of them either, but the most important thing is to find the shard," I remind him. I would love to visit the library, but realize that the trolls would be our most expedient course. "We will go see these Augurs tomorrow." We tell young Gav and he suddenly disappears into the crowd. Again I unconsciously feel for my money pouch and take comfort in the fact that it is still there.
Arodus 14 4714
Level 8
The next morning Gav is at the inn at the crack of dawn. "First things first!" he announces with his palm open. Again Furrnando flips him 5gp and just as quickly they disappear. Even though Gav offers to take us other places, we are adamant on seeing the Augurs. "First a dern boat ride and now having tea with trolls! I'll never be able to show me face to the clan!" Balak mutters. Gav then explains that the trolls read their own entrails. Of course their regeneration helps. "I'll give them their entrails to read!" Balak announces while thumbing the blade of his axe.
We go to the Augurs and Gav bows low to an ugly-looking troll female (can any troll be called attractive?) who he introduces as Vargun. He looks over to us from the corner of his eye while he is still bowing and starts clearing his throat. It takes us a few moments to realize we are supposed to bow as well. Balak starts to say, "I ain't bo ... " but a hearty slap on his back from me forces him in a bow. "Just wait until we get out of here brother!" he mutters under his breath. After a few moments of bowing we stand up straight. Vargun looks us over and asks what we want to know. I say we want to know where we will come in contact with something from the time of Xin. I figure this is an around about way of indicating the shard without naming it. The troll leans back in her chair and closes her eyes. "This is a bunch of bull ... " Balak starts to say before I elbow him in the ribs. After what seems an eternity the troll opens her eyes and says,
"I presume the boy has already explained the nature of our organization. While it's something of an open secret that many of our divinations are,
shall we say, more logical than magical, this is not always the case. There are those among us who still retain the old gifts."
"My brother Augustille is gifted. His visions are unique and frequently unmarketable, which is why he rarely leaves the temple. Yet someone wants to
harness that ability."
"The Ardoc brothers are artificers and golem crafters—the most powerful family in Bis. They run everything in that district, and we have long-standing relationships between our factions that must be maintained. Yet one of their younger members—an arrogant little tinkerer named Berkanin—has gone off on his own and arranged the kidnapping of Augustille from the very foot of the temple steps, and holds him hostage even as we speak, ‘studying' my brother like one of his machines."
"The Ardocs have ignored our requests to rein in their rogue brother. We cannot engage them within their own territory, nor can any of our usual agents. But you are different. Bring back my brother, and we will bring you the information you seek."
So let me get this straight, we have only been in the city for a day, and our task is to start a war with one of the most powerful families? I begin to think back on all the other people who have offered us ‘great rewards' for doing a task for them only to be cheated and I start to wonder if this is one of those times. We reluctantly agree, but if we don't get any answers to the questions we seek, I might just turn Balak loose on the Augurs.
Gav takes us to the Hanging Manse where Berkanin lives and works. He declines to accompany us and just says, "Remember what I said about adventurers and lunch?" He assures us that he will be there if we return. "You mean when" Bluestone interjects. "Yeah, that" Gav replies.
The Manse is forty feet off the ground and there are two ways to get in - either by ascending a stone staircase or by some contraption with ropes and pulleys that goes up to a balcony. Gav says that there are mechanical things that are on the balcony.
Now we must decide which way in. "Don't forget about the harpy in there!" Gav shouts as he seamlessly melts into the crowd. "Harpy? Wonderful!" I mutter.
Session Date: 11/10/2013
Erastus 14 4713
Level 8
We spend a few moments trying to decide on how to get into this place. Neither the stairs nor the elevator are great options. Since we do not feel like splitting up, we decide to take the stairs. We cautiously head up the stairs and as we near the entrance of the stairs dozens of lines carved into an archway twist and snap open, revealing blankly staring eyes of the same gray stone. A chorus of high, discordant voices calls out: “No solicitors, petitioners, inquisitors, or social calls! This is your only warning.” With a sound like shuffling cards, all of the eyes swivel to focus on the closest figure. A single tiny voice then sings out, “This means yooo-oou...” Well we are adventurers and not solicitors, petitioners or inquisitors and this most likely will not be a social call so I think we are all set to proceed! The eyes do nothing but follow us up the stairs and they do not respond to any questions we ask them so we ignore them and wonder if the manse’s occupants know that we are here.
At the top of the stairs we find an arch that leads into a garden. The arch has a magical aura about it. We don’t want any more welcoming committees so we go around the arch. That will show them! We walk around the garden and even though we see several entrances into the manse, we decide to keep moving. As we stop and peer in one of the windows we are almost grabbed by two tendriculoses. Firenia retaliates with a swing of her sword. Surprisingly, the tendriculos starts to heal itself. Furrnando uses his wand of magic missiles on one of the tendriculos. Balak takes a piece out of it with his ax as I hit it with a bolt. Bluestone casts a scorching ray and one of the tendriculos goes down. Firenia strikes the other with her longsword. The tendriculos misses Firenia with its tentacle. Furrnando hits with a magic missile, I hit with a bolt and Balak takes a piece of it with his ax. Bluestone hits it with a scorching ray and the thing begins to wilt. Firenia, tired of fighting it delivers the killing blow.
We see a gazebo and Furrnando detects magic inside of it. He enters to sift through the piles of gears and miscellaneous parts when he is grabbed by a lurker. The lurker envelops him as Firenia and I both miss with our attacks. Balak is able to hit the lurker as we begin to wonder how long Furrnando can hold his breath. Bluestone misses with a scorching ray, but I am able to shoot two arrows into it. Balak hits it again as Bluestone launches another scorching ray at it. The lurker seems unaffected by the ray. Firenia and I both hit the creature – her with her sword and me with my bolts. With that the lurker dies and we quickly cut Furrnando out. He is gasping for air, but besides some bruises from the creature constricting him, he is no worse for the wear. More determined he searches the pile of junk and finds some magical rod. I think all this junk might be of worth to someone, but I am not sure who would want it.
We see a pile of what looks like kitchen scraps, but since we didn’t detect any magic, we determine that there is no sense scrounging through what was left of breakfast. Since we see nothing more of interest outside, we decide to head indoors. After confirming that the doors are not locked, I cast open on them. The double doors swing open and we are confronted by two multi-armed clockwork soldiers. Balak wastes no time in striking one of them with his ax. One of the constructs gives a blow back to Balak with his halberd, but the other construct misses Firenia. Firenia and Balak both score nice hits with their weapons, but in return, both are struck by their opponents. Firenia delivers a blow so fierce; her clockwork opponent collapses in a pile of gears and broken parts. Furrnando casts a healing spell to heal Balak and Firenia of their wounds. I miss with a bolt and as I move my hand to my quiver, something claws and bites me! Balak again hits his construct foe, but it in turn, hits him. Firenia now turns her attention on Balak’s construct and delivers a vicious swing of her longsword. Furrnando tries to swing at the boney tupilaq that bit me, but he misses. I swing my warhammer at the tupilaq and I miss. Bluestone casts a magic missile and the tupilaq cannot evade that. Balak and Firenia both hit the clockwork soldiers, but it is Firenia’s blow which is the killing blow. Furrnando again misses the tupilaq, and since it has been biting and clawing me, I decide to withdraw. Bluestone again launches magic missiles at the tupilaq as the boney creature now focuses on Furrnando. Balak, frustrated at not putting down a clockwork soldier, rushes over and smashes the tupilaq into pieces.
I search the room where the tupilaq was and I find some schematics. Again I feel that these would be useful to someone, but I am not sure who. We quickly look at the rooms that are off of this room and all we find is a privy and a storage room. There is one room off of this room that looks like a greenhouse. We have had our fill of attacking plants and decide to leave this room be for now. We go down a hallway until we come to a library. This is my kind of place! The books here are incredibly old and fragile. I know I would enjoy perusing them, but this might be our ticket into the Therassic Spire library should we not find the brother alive. After quickly glancing around and seeing nothing of note in the kitchen and pantry, we decide to head upstairs.
At the top of the stairs we find a shrine to the goddess Brigh – the whisperer in the Bronze. She is the goddess of inventors and constructs. It seems that she would be right up Berkanin’s alley which is why it is surprising when we see the shrine defaced. Could it be that someone else is controlling Berkanin? We next come to a bedroom with what appears to be a nest with feathers scattered about the floor. We are wondering what sort of creature might inhabit this room when I remember Gav’s warning about the harpy. Maybe it was her that defaced the shrine to Brigh and maybe she is controlling Berkanin. We next come to a small office. We are not sure if it is Berkanin’s office or that of the harpy. We see a magic mirror and decide we will come back for it.
We step out on a catwalk which is perfect (purrrfect?) for Furrnando. We are about halfway across when the rails fall to the side and the catwalk becomes extremely wobbly. As we are trying to keep our footing an arrow strikes Firenia. We look up and see the harpy circling above, bow at the ready. I try to see if there is some sort of lever that will stabilize the platform. Balak loses his footing and falls prone on the catwalk. As If the harpy wasn’t enough, we now have arrows being fired on us from a cat-looking woman. If she wasn’t in the process of killing us, Furrnando might make a love connection. An arrow from the female catfolk and an arrow from the harpy again find a target in Firenia. Firenia returns fire hitting the harpy. Bluestone casts fly on Balak and while he is not fond of flying, he likes gripping the catwalk even less. I cast good hope. Balak flies up to the harpy and the harpy hits him. Despite pleadings from Furrnando that we do not wish her any harm, the catfolk woman shoots an arrow at Bluestone grievously wounding him. Bluestone casts fly on Firenia and now both of our fighters are airborne. Furrnando casts prayer. I cast displacement on Firenia. Balak hits the harpy and she flees. Seeing her ally abandon her, the catfolk woman surrenders.
Firenia takes her weapons as her and Furrnando converse in the language of their race. I do not understand what they are saying but it is clear Furrnando is trying hard to impress her. I offer to cast a spell so we all can understand each other but Furrnando says she wants no part of it. After a few more minutes of them conversing, Furrnando tells Firenia to give Kanya back her weapons because she will leave the manse immediately. Firenia looks at him incredulously, points to the still wounded Bluestone and says, “After she did that!?” Furrnando assures her that Kanya won’t do any more harm to us. Balak looks at Furrnando and snarls, “If she does, it is on you, cat!” Bluestone suggests that we let her go – he is more interested in getting healing at this point and that is not going to happen while the smitten Furrnando is conversing with ‘her’. Firenia holds out the weapons which are quickly snatched by catfolk woman and she starts to quickly depart. She does not say anything to Furrnando, but that doesn’t matter to Furrnando as he is still babbling in his native tongue. I think I hear him mention the Sorry Excuse. Just wonderful! He thinks she will come to have a romantic meal with him – I think she will slit our throats in the middle of the night!
Furrnando found out that Berkanin is on the other end of the catwalk and then upstairs. Those of us that are not flying or who have not already made it across the catwalk do so now. Furrnando heals up Bluestone and we are on our way. We come to the stairs and Firenia and Furrnando lead the charge. As we reach the top of the stairs we hear a disembodied voice say, “Ah, more toys! Let’s take you apart and see how you work.” We also see a troll secured to the wall in some sort of torture device. There are also two clockwork soldiers and a metal looking dragon. Balak swings but misses a clockwork soldier while I cast blur on him. Both of the clockwork soldiers swing at Balak but only one of them hits. Firenia hits a clockwork soldier though. Suddenly Balak, Firenia, and I are enveloped in black tentacles as a human man appears-Berkanin. “Look Petey! These are most interesting toys!” he says to the dragon. Furrnando, still on the stairs and unable to come up due to the tentacles, tries to dispel them but can’t. Bluestone casts see invisibility on himself. Balak and I both try to escape the wriggling tentacles but we are unable to. Petey breathes acid on Balak and he lets out a dwarven curse! Firenia is likewise unable to escape the hold of the tentacles. Berkanin casts a fireball and not only are we trapped, but singed too. Furrnando and Bluestone both try to dispel the tentacles and both are unable to. With a grunt, Balak is able to free himself from the tentacles. I am still trapped by them however. Both of the clockwork soldiers hit Firenia as Petey misses with his maw on Balak. Firenia is also still grappled as Berkanin casts another Fireball! There is nothing worse than being a sitting duck! Furrnando is finally able to dispel the tentacles and now we are back in the fight. Bluestone casts an enervation ray against the wizard, but he misses. Balak hits one of the clockwork soldiers. I cast a healing spell on Firenia since she has been badly burned by the multiple fireballs. Both clockwork soldiers focus their attacks on Balak as Berkanin casts a scorching ray at Bluestone. Furrnando does a healing burst to keep us in the fight. Balak hits a clockwork soldier and I miss with two bolts at Berkanin. One of the constructs cuts Balak so badly that Balak falls down unconscious and bleeding. That only leaves Firenia as our melee fighter and she is still not fully healed from the wounds she received from the fireball. Firenia is able to cut Berkanin, but he is still able to cast magic missiles at Bluestone, who luckily had cast shield on himself. Furrnando now casts a shield as Bluestone casts an acid arrow at Berkanin. I don’t have the same aim as my two bolts easily miss Berkanin. One of the clockwork soldiers hits me and the other hits Furrnando. Firenia does a running charge right at Berkanin and stabs him with her sword. The timing of it couldn’t have been better as the stab caused him to lose concentration of the spell he was casting. Furrnando does another healing burst. An acid arrow from Bluestone misses Berkanin. I want to cast a spell, but I just can’t seem to concentrate. One of the clockwork soldiers hit Furrnando as Firenia stabs its comrade. Berkanin and Petey try to flee but a spear of purity from Furrnando kills the errant wizard. With their master dead, the clockwork soldiers power down. I free Augustille from his torture as Furrnando does healing on our badly bruised party. Augustille does not even seem to register that we saved him, but a restoration from Furrnando brings him back to his senses. We spend the rest of the day exploring the rest of the manse and I try and figure out how to get all these books to the Therassic Spire.
Session Date: 11/17/2013
Erastus 14 4713
Level 9
We clear out the rest of the mansion to make sure we did not miss any treasure. I carefully pack up the books, as Augustille points to some papers on a desk and says that those are his prophecies and he would like to have them. I am not one to feel sorry for a troll, but considering that this poor creature has been tortured daily for the last few weeks, giving him back his papers is the least we could do. We go down the stairs and Gav seemingly appears from the crowd. “I am so glad you are back! I was concerned for your safety!” We all gave him a look that said that his concern for our safety ended when he received his payment that morning. Seeing we are on to him, Gav gives us a big grin, “Sure I was concerned! I expect you all to provide employment to me for at least a week!” We decide to head back to the Augars so that Augustille can heal fully both in mind and spirit.
We arrive at Augustille’s home and Vargun comes out to meet us and help Augustille inside. He no sooner crosses the threshold before his eyes roll back into his head and he faints to the floor. He says in a strange voice:
The owl will seek but will not find,
but spire of knowledge pays in kind
in secret kept in secret keep
in forest dark and cavern deep.
The abbey of the glutton moon
will flow with blood, the wind in tune
to finish that begun before
and open wide the doomsday door.
The shattered star with seven shards
for seven lords with seven swords
the queen of blue in distant skies
will kindle new the ancient wars.
The seas will rise and men will drown
And what was lost shall claim the crown.
I take out my writing instruments and quickly write it down. Vargun says that if I was unable to remember all that, they could help because they have great memories. Great memories? Does she know who she is talking to? I can recite the history of 300 Ironbeard kings! Since there didn’t seem to be any disparaging meaning to her words, I don’t say anything. At this time Augustille comes to and doesn’t remember anything he had just said. Great memories – Bah! I sulk until she says that our next stop should be the Therassic Spire. The idea of going to a library that predates Thassilon causes me to burst with anticipation. I am sure after we find the shard, we will not tarry long in Kaer Maga, but this library will be on my places to come back to and spend more time at. Unfortunately, Vargun tells us that the library is closed and has been closed for a few weeks now. The only people that seem to be concerned about it are the scholars even though the library closing has never happened before. We ask who would have closed it and she tells us that the council of truth would have as they run it. She offers to accompany us to the library, but we are still hurting from our fight with Berkanin and tell her that we need a few days to heal ourselves first. I think she is hoping that she will learn some things that will eventually find its way into a prophesy. We head back to the Sorry Excuse. I think Furrnando waits the evening to see if a certain catfolk woman calls on him, but no one does.
Erastus 15 4713
Level 9
We spend the day resting and healing. We also listen for any gossip about our adventures at the manse. We hear a lot of people who cannot believe the audacity someone had in invading the manse and killing Berkanin; but in the same breath say that Berkanin had it coming “especially with what he did to the troll.” I ask Gav to take me to the Therassic Spire and he promptly holds out his hand. I pay the waif and we are off. I do not see any signs of life inside the library and I do not see any comings or goings. All I see is a sign that says closed in several languages – some I don’t even know! I definitely want to make their acquantince. We determine to start bright and early for the Therassic Spire tomorrow.
Erastus 16 4713
Level 9
The next morning, bright and early, young Gav arrives at the Sorry Excuse, but this time he is accompanied by Vargun. After dispersing the usual funds to Gav we set off to the Therassic Spire. We bang loudly at the door until a side panel opens up and an elderly, female voice says, “If you can’t read the sign, then there is nothing in here for you anyway!” I tell her that we have some ancient tomes that we might be interested in selling. While the woman is curious, the door to the library remains closed. It is only after we mention the Council of Truth does the library’s door opens. We sell the books and the librarian, whose name is Koifa, is ready to usher us out. We ask if she has any information about artifacts from the time of Xin. She is surprised, but guarded. “What are you asking about specifically?” she asks. We do a verbal dance for a few moments, each side not wanting to tip their hand too much. We finally say that we are looking for the shard of gluttony. At that Koifa looks relieved. She turns to Vargun and says that she must speak to these young adventurers alone. Vargun loiters, sensing that this would be a great bit of information for her prophesies, but after a few moments of uncomfortable silence, she departs. She then tells us that the librarians in the past have made telepathic contact with a race of beings called the caulborn. This race is so old that at one point they served the runelords themselves! They were driven underground because of Earthfall and have remained there ever since in a subterranean realm called Vavoraxs. They contacted the librarians to tell them that an ancient artifact from Xin’s sihedron was preventing them from traveling to a plane they wanted to study, and asked if the librarians wanted to retrieve it. Of course the librarians wanted it! What scholar wouldn’t? So the librarians recruited a party of adventures and sent them down a tunnel that was connected to their library. They didn’t even know that the tunnel was there until the Caulborn told them about it. It was only supposed to take the adventurers a few days to retrieve the item, but that was two weeks ago – about the time the library closed. The adventurer’s did not reach the caulborn (or so they say) and now all the librarians want to do is clean this mess up. She tells us that whatever we find down there we can keep - including the shard. Like the old saying goes, if something is too good to be true. I really doubt that we will be able to keep the shard from the caulborn or the librarians, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it. She tells us that the party included a halfling who likes to collect things, a monk whose order sews their mouths shut, a gnome and, strangely, a naga. “If they sew their mouths shut, how do they eat?” Furrnando asks. Koifa looks at him dumbfoundedly and shrugs her shoulders. “With all the vast knowledge here” she says with a sweep of her arms, “we have more important questions we seek answers to instead of THAT!” We say we will take the job and confirm that we can keep the shard. She then shows us the tunnel and we are on our way!
We go hundreds of feet in a five-foot passage until we come to a secret door. We open it and come to a room with a chair and a pulsing, purple blob. A pleasant female voice asks in Thassilonian, “What is your query?” I say that we are seeking the Clarborn. The blob transforms itself into an arcane rune and many of us, including me, feel weaker. I then realize it asked what my question was so I rephrase my answer to “Which way to the caulborne when I am asked what my query is again. I then feel an overwhelming sense of fear and if I wasn’t so weak, I would have ran away. Firenia is tired of this nonsense and walks across the room and opens a door. I am dragged out of the room. “Some scholar you are!” Firenia harrumphs as Furrnando casts some lesser restorations so we are not as weak. “Maybe I should have sat in the chair” I state. Firenia just lets out a “Bah!”
I listen at a door and I hear weeping – maybe we have found some of the adventuring party? We open a door and see the disembodied head of what appears to be a couatl floating in the air. It is crying multi-colored tears. It introduces itself as Tsikinal and warns us that if we enter the room it will be forced to attack and kill us. We ask if it knows if there is a way to free him and he states if we press a Thassilonian artifact against the summoning circle on the floor and say “By the power of Thassilon, I release you!” then he will be freed. But if it is to be done, it must be done quickly for as soon as someone enters the room, Tsikinal will manifest and attack- even though it does not want to. Since I know that the shard I carry is a Thassilonian artifact, I pull it out and run as fast as my little, dwarven legs can to the circle. I can see Tsikinal starting to materialize out of my peripheral vision. I press the shard to the circle and utter the command words. Tsikinal fully materializes and – thanks me for freeing him. He had been imprisoned by Runelord Karzoug 10,000 years ago. We ask if he has seen any other adventures in the last few weeks and he said that there was a group with a naga. The naga just laughed at him and closed the door. He is now free to return to his native plane and he thanks us by giving us two feathers. Once we are capable of casting the planar ally spell we can use the feathers to summon him to our side. So sometime in the future we can summon a duskwarden and a couatl-not too shabby!
We next come to a room with what looks like many torture devices. Between the imprisoned couatl and this room, we come to the conclusion that Karzoug was one sick son of an ogre! A cursory glance shows nothing of note so we leave the room for later and continue on. The next room that we come to is a circular room with some spheres near the ceiling. I am sure that if I studied it more, I can determine what it represents, but since there does not seem to be anything much of note, we decide to come back to it. The next room that we come to looks like it is open to the night sky. We know that isn’t the case. Since we see nothing with a quick glance, we decide to save this room for later as well.
The next room is also circular. As Balak, Firenia and I enter the room, we see a fat gnome standing on a dais in front of many gears and levers. We are glad at finding one of the missing adventuring party and begin to hail him. He raises his hand in a gesture of silence and intones, “I am Luonim the Great and Vast!” Balak says in aside, “he got the second part right!” Luonim pays him no mind and continues, “I control Golarion’s rotation! Bow before me or witness my might!” I don’t think Torag will mind too much if I bow down as we try to reason with this mad gnome. We all bow before the gnome as he says, “You lack faith! Behold a demonstration of my power!” Before we can protest that no demonstration is necessary, Luonim pulls a lever and the room starts to spin. The spinning room blocks the exit cutting us off from Furrnando and Bluestone waiting outside. The force of the room causes Balak to go flying against the wall and become pinned. As we continue to try and entreat him to stop, the gnome casts a fireball at us! We know we must get to the lever so Firenia and Balak start moving to the dais (after Balak managed to push himself off the wall). I hit the gnome with a well-placed crossbow bolt. Firenia is quickly on the gnome and stabs him. He is flying so he flys away from the dais and casts a cone of cold at us. I hit him with another bolt as Firenia, who now has the dais all to herself, pulls a lever. The room stops spinning as the gnome, flushed with anger says, “Fools! What have you done?” He follows this up with another fireball. Firenia goes down and is badly scorched and frozen. Balak hits Luonim, but I miss with a bolt. Furrnano casts a much needed healing spell. Bluestone casts a scorching ray as Balak cleaves the gnome in two. “Search him for the shard of gluttony,” Balak says as he looks at the body, “He is big enough for it!”
We next come to a room and see a woman with her mouth sewn shut standing over the body of a halfling. She looks at us and attacks! She is about as crazy as Luonim the Vast! She misses Firenia as I hit her with a bolt. Bluestone casts magic missile as Firenia stabs her with her sword. Balak finishes off the monk with a cruel cut of his ax. He turns to Furrnando and says, “Looks like ye won’t be knowing how she ate!” The Halfling is quite dead and by our calculation, that leaves the naga as the sole survivor of this party.
The next room we find not a naga but a fish trapped in a cage. It tells Furrnando in Sylvan, which I surprisingly do not speak, that it has also been trapped here for thousands of years, and like the couatl, will attack us if we enter the room, and also like the couatl, it would be against its will. I cast open on the cage from outside the room and the door of the cage swings open. The fish thanks us and jumps into the water that flows into the room. That was easy!
We continue on until we find a room with a naga in it. We expect the naga to attack us like her compatriots did, but she doesn’t. She introduces herself as Silasni and asks if we are the reinforcements. We find this odd because it did not seem like the library was actively recruiting a party of reinforcements and seemed just as happy to never have heard of this group. “What are you doing still down here and why didn’t you go back to the library?” Firenia asks incredulously. “I did not want to go through the room with the purple blob again. I have a stronger mind unlike my fellow adventurers and didn’t fall prey to the madness spell it inflicted on us, but still I don’t want to risk a second go-around. Have you seen the others?” “Yep!” Balak says with a glance down at his ax, “And they are not ones for seeing anymore!” The naga looks at us dispassionately and shrugs, “It matters not to me.” I really don’t like this one! “So why didn’t you continue on? It seems if you couldn’t move backwards, you should have at least moved forwards!” Firenia asks. “I would if I could open this door!” She motions to a door over her shoulder, “Not only is it locked, but trapped as well!” We see Xin’s Sihedron with the runes for each of the runelords at each point. There is an onyx disc in the center of the star. She tells us that for each wrong try, the disc shoots out lightning bolts. Bluestone casts some electricity protection spells on Firenia and she tries to open the door, first by pressing the runes and then pressing the disc and then the runes. She is zapped many times before she gives up and I give it a try. I too try several combinations and sometimes I get zapped but most of the time, I am able to leap out of the way. I stand there studying it and realize that I can draw shapes on the disc with my finger. I draw the rune of greed which is on the top of the star and the door opens. “After you” I say to Silasni because I definitely don’t want that one behind my back.
With the naga with us we go thru the rune door. There is a underground river running with a small bridge over it. As we approach, two daemons come out of the stream and the fight is on. The first thing they do is summon two large water elementals. While we fight and kill everything, the naga zips thru the room. After we finish, we head on and come to a small cavern where two of the caulborn are and they tell us that the naga went ahead, and they could send us thru the portal to the demiplane. We spend the night healing up, and leave first thing in the morning.
The demiplane is dimly lit but we see the Dark Keep and push towards it. At the door, we see pieces of the naga. Something got her. Entering the room, we start exploring. A bat winged top half of a woman attacks us and we kill it. We enter what looks like a stable. A skeletal cowboy tells us that we stole his horse, and attacks. After quite a battle we kill it and move on (1). Entering another room a part horse - part woman attacks us, and we kill her also.
As we are significantly down in spells, we head back to black stone and go back to the caulborn to rest the night.
Session Date: 12/01/2013
Erastus 18 4713
Level 10
We decide that since there is going to be something that attacks us each day we will run from the post to the manse on the demiplane. We materialize and we start running for all we are worth. We see giant grubs materialize but we ignore them and move on. We reach the door and close it. Those grubs won’t be eating today! We decide to hold off exploring the bird’s lair, since we saw what it did to the naga. Furrnando has a feeling that one of the rooms we were in yesterday might have had a secret door. We search and sure enough find one. It might have been a closet at some point but now looks like a shrine to the legend called the Dark Rider – one of Varisia’s most horrifying legends. There is a black longsword that Firenia volunteers to take up but promises Furrnando and Bluestone that she will skewer them if she turns into the dark rider. “It will be on your heads!” she says menacingly. “Well, if you turn into the Dark Rider” Furrnando says as he looks at the pictures of the headless horseman, “It would probably be YOUR head.” She gives him a look that could kill. She picks up the longsword and does not change into something other-worldly, and more importantly, keeps her head. While turning into Sorshen was no picnic, I think turning into a headless horseman would be worse!
The next room we come to is filled with books. I am so enamored with the books; I almost forget to notice the severed woman’s body slumped in a chair. It is only the lower half and we think that we saw the other half on a horse. Unfortunately, that is not all that is in the room. We also see a pukwudgie. “Ah! Who disturbs me? No matter, you won’t be here long!” the little creature says, “get them my pets!” With that, six wraiths materialize out of the books and attack. Bluestone decides to wait and does nothing. Easy for him to do as he is the only one without a wraith staring at him in the face. Firenia scores two hits and her new longsword seems to really hurt them. Furrnando does a healing burst which is harmful to the wraiths and one of the ones that was on Firenia dissipates. I hit one with my rapier which I know is particularly harmful to undead. Balak hits one, but the incorporeal nature of the spirit causes it to look fairly unscathed. The two on Balak return the favor and for a moment Balak almost feels weaker from their touch. Furrnando also gets touched, but the ones attacking Firenia and I grasp nothing but air. Two quills from the pukwudgie come flying out to Firenia. Bluestone casts a magic missile on my opponent. Firenia and her new sword slay the one in front of her. Furrnando does another healing burst and the one in front of me and one of the ones facing Balak both let out a scream as they fade away. I try to hit the one in front of Furrnando, but he proves more elusive. Balak hits the wraith in front of him, but it still only seems to scratch the wraith. The one in front of Furrnando again misses him as a magic missile from Bluestone causes it to disappear. Balak is able to overcome his foe and the pukwudgie, not liking how the battle turned against him, becomes invisible. Balak and Firenia guard the door to the room, but it is in vain as we hear the double doors open from the hallway that we came from and close again. We will find that pukwudgie! I do a quick glance at the books and see many interesting titles. I make a note to stop by here on our way out to pick up several interesting titles.
The next room that we come to is a small room that looks like it is a combination workshop and study. Seated on a chair is a corpse who suddenly comes alive as we enter the room. It says in Thaassilonian, “So you’re the intruders. Well, Come, come – sit down. I suspect we have much to discuss. You may call me Maligast of Eox.” Since he seems to be a fellow intellectual, and he does not seem to wish us harm, I sit down. He speaks several languages and is delighted that I speak most of them. Unfortunately for everyone else, they have no clue what we are talking about. I find out that he is a simulacrum, and that he has been waiting for his master to return for thousands of years. I ask him if this was before or after Earthfall and he has no idea what I am talking about. I explain to him what Earthfall was and give him a brief history of everything that happened after. I thought it was brief but the bored expressions of my companions let me know that I might have gone on for too long. He tells us that the Dark Rider is undead and rides a horse that breathes fire. If he kills us we will become one of his shadow mastiffs. We ask what else is in the manse, and Maligast becomes grave, “My friend, please do not continue on your exploration. My orders are to slay anyone who attempts to do so, and since we have become friends, I wouldn’t want to do that.” He says that it was his master that gave him the order. I point out that his master probably died in Earthfall. He cannot argue the logic, but is bound to follow them until released by his master. I ask if his orders included the tower where we think that the bird-like creature that killed the naga lived. He said that there were two of them, one was slain by the naga and the other was grievously wounded and has not been back, and yes, we can explore it. We head out to the tower and I am hoping my new friend stays in his room where we can sneak by him. After all, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him – or us. Unfortunately, he follows us out of his room and takes position in front of the double doors. Furrnando finds some things of interest in the tower, but alas, no shard. We approach Maligast and I appeal to some logical solution but after a few minutes of negotiations we seem to be going in circles. Maligast finally sighs and says sadly, “I apologize for your imminent deaths, but as creatures of intellect yourselves, I’m sure you understand the necessity.”
Maligast begins casting and a xill appears. Firenia wastes no time and rushes up to cut Maligast with her longsword. He tries to retaliate by casting a spell on Firenia, but she is able to shake it off. The xill is able to hit Firenia, however. I cast displacement on Balak as Balak hits Maligast. Bluestone casts haste. Firenia hits him again, but she is not able to damage him. The xill hits Firenia again as Maligast casts enervation and some magic missiles at Firenia. I cast good hope as Balak takes a huge cut out of him with his ax. Bluestone casts a scorching ray. A lion that Furrnando had summoned appears and pounces on Maligast, but Maligast easily deflects the lion’s paws and maw. Furrnando heals the badly wounded Firenia. Firenia, Maligast and the xill all exchange blows as I hit the xill with a bolt. Maligast should have been paying attention to Balak, because Balak delivers a withering blow. As Maligast begins to crumble, I say, “I apologize for your imminent death. I hope you understand.”
Now it is time to go through these double doors that everyone has been trying to keep us out of. We open the door and what once must have been the dining room, now seems to serve as a kennel for six shadow mastiffs. They seem to be enjoying a meal, if it can be called that, when we walk in. As the doors open, they all stop ingesting their meal, turn and look at us, bray and attack. The braying unnerves me and I take off running. Firenia misses one of the canine foes as Bluestone casts a fireball singing many of them. Balak misses one of the fast-moving mastiffs. Furrnando casts bless in an attempt to remedy the situation. Luckily the canines have about as much luck hitting Balak and Firenia as they had in hitting them. The bless must have helped because Firenia slays one as Bluestione casts another fireball. Balak finishes off two of the badly-burned dogs and a holy smite from Furrnando finishes the rest.
After a few moments, my inexplicable fear fades and I start to run back to my companions. I no sooner reach them and see the aftermath of the battle when the doors opposite from where we are standing burst open. We see a headless rider on a nightmarish steed. He has three humanoid heads tied to his belt and he takes one off and throws it at us. The head explodes when it hit hits the ground releasing negative energy. Firenia and Balak both charge the man and his mount. Bluestone casts haste and I think we are going to need it for this battle. Balak delivers a blow from his ax as Furrnando casts a holy smite. Both the rider and the horse deliver crushing blows at Balak. Firenia delivers a blow of her own against the Dark Rider. I miss with a bolt and Bluestone misses with a scorching ray. Balak again hits the rider. Furrnando tries to cast a spell, but is just unable to do so. Again the rider and his horse attack Balak. Firenia delivers a blow against the rider as I cast displacement on Balak. Bluestone once again cannot hit the rider with a scorching ray. Balak again hits the rider as Furrnando casts a healing spell to bind up Balak’s bleeding wounds. Even with displacement and Furrnando’s healing spell the rider and steed attack Balak so ferociously that he falls to the ground dead and with his head detached from his body! Suddenly, the Balak’s head appears on the rider’s belt – that fiend! Firenia, screams out in anger and hits the rider. I am tempted to rush the rider in vengeance but realize that our best chance for revenge is to keep Firenia in the fight. I cast greater invisibility on her to do just that. Bluestone casts a fireball, but it seems to have no effect. Furrnando misses in his attack. The dark rider scoops up Balak’s head and throws it at us. It explodes releasing negative energy at us and I am extremely angry that my brother’s head was abused in such fashion. Firenia, still enraged, delivers a devastating blow against the rider and he disintegrates taking his hellish steed to whatever awaits him in his final death. My grief is almost overwhelming and at this point all I want to do is find the shard and leave this plane forever.
We look around the room that the Rider emerged from and all we see is a magical pool. We are not sure what it does, but we figure we can determine that later. We put Balak’s headless body into the bag of holding and continue on. This shard has to be close by. There are two side chambers that contain some sort of engines. Normally this would interest me beyond belief, but with Balak’s death I could care less what they do. I do notice a loose stone and behind them are two scrolls. Bluestone and Furrnando both look them over and determine them to be scrolls of plane shift. “We might not need the caulborn after all!” Furrnando says. Anything to get us off of this plane is all right with me! The next room we come to is bizarre. There is a pillar with three angel-looking creatures that seem to have melded to the pillar. They look like they died in agony and floating above the pillar is the shard. Furrnando casts a spell that allows him to retrieve the shard without any of us climbing the horrifying pillar. As soon as the shard leaves the pillar, the celestial beings quickly decay and the whole manse starts to shake. We place the ioun stone in the shard and since it looks like this plane is collapsing we decide to use one of the scrolls of plane shift to get us back to our home plane. This way we can also avoid the caulborn. Even though they said we can keep the shard, none of us buy that for a second.
Bluestone finishes the spell and we find ourselves back in our home plane, but it is not in Kaer Maga, Magnimar, or any other place where we have been to. Everyone looks around and then at me. “Well, where are we knowledge boy?” Firenia says what everyone else is thinking.
Session Date: 01/12/2014
Arodus 18 4713
Level 10
I look around and take in all of the landscape while everyone waits impatiently. When I am fairly certain, I announce that we are in the Cinderlands and if we head south we will reach the river that Kaer Maga is on. We use the gluttony shard to focus on the location of the next shard and we see a building that looks like Windsong Abbey. I say looks like because the building that we see is in ruins and as far as we know, the abbey was intact recently. We know that we will have a lot of traveling to do. The irony that we are not traveling by boat to Kaer Maga is not lost on me. Balak sure hated water travel. We walk the whole day and then make camp for the night, and it seems awfully quiet on watch duty without boisterous Balak to keep me company.
Arodus 19 4713
Level 10
We are walking our way back to Kaer Maga wishing we had some horses when suddenly two gnome-looking things with red caps, and a blue dragon carrying a true gnome appears. The gnome being carried by the dragon shouts, “There they are! Kill them and take the shards!” Firenia quickly moves into position as Furrnando casts resistance to electricity. I move up and cast displacement on Firenia. Bluestone casts greater invisibility on himself. The redcaps attack Firenia and luckily the displacement helps because most of their swings are wild with only one connecting. The dragon opens his maw and a torrent of electricity spews forth which I am able to quickly step out of the way from. Unfortunately for me, the gnome being carried by the dragon commands me to sleep and I suddenly feel extremely tired. Firenia smacks a redcap, but it does not look like it takes the damage it should. Furrnando casts a holy smite as Bluestone casts an acid arrow at the dragon-carried gnome. The two redcaps again swing wildly at Firenia and miss in all of their attacks. The displacement is really helping her. Unfortunately, the gnome being carried by the blue dragon also tells Firenia to sleep and she joins me on the ground in a state of repose. The dragon tries to bite Furrnando but it misses. Furrnando kicks me awake, and as he does so, the dragon bites him. Now awake, I shake Firenia awake and get attacked by the redcaps for my trouble. Bluestone casts a scorching ray at the gnome being held by the dragon and kills him. The now-awake Firenia gets hit by a redcap as the dragon bites me. Firenia stands up and she is able to deftly avoid the swings from the redcaps. Firenia launches into a vicious attack on a redcap, but the redcap seems only a little hurt by the affair. Furrnando casts a spear of purity, as I try to cast a spell, but can’t seem to concentrate on it. Bluestone casts a magic missile at the dragon as the dragon bites me. Firenia kills a redcap as Furrnando casts another holy smite. I cast discordant blast as Bluestone casts a scorching ray at the dragon killing it. Firenia kills the last redcap. We look at the cap that the redcaps wear and note how blood-red it is – perhaps because it has been soaked in blood! I seem to recall some fact about how these creatures dip their caps in the blood of their slain enemies, I can’t remember why though. In searching the body of the gnome that was being carried by the dragon, we find a note “Kill them and take the shards!” it reads and it is signed by the letter ‘C’. We don’t recall having dealings with a name that begins with C. Is this a new enemy that is out there?
Arodus 20-23 4713
No other dragons, redcaps or any other note-carrying enemies appear to harass our journey to Kaer Maga.
Arodus 23 4713
Late on this day we arrive back in Kaer Maga. Because of our run-in with the redcaps and blue dragon and since we do not trust the caulborn or the Council of Truth, we decide to keep a low profile therefore we sneak into the city. We are surprised to see Gav waiting for us at the Sorry Excuse. He smiles at us and says, “I was surprised to hear that you were coming from outside the city since last time I saw you, it was in the Therassic Spire.” We toss him an extra gold piece and tell him we would like to keep our presence here a secret. He gives us a smile and tells us no problem. Funny, but I am not reassured by it. We bring our food up to our rooms and keep a watch just like we would in the wilds. The night passes without any word from the caulborn, the Council of Truth or the mysterious ‘C’.
Arodus 24 4713
We pay our tab and make our way to the docks. Before we enter in the Halflight path, we toss Gav another gold piece and bid him goodbye. As he melts into the crowd he says that if we ever come back to Kaer Magna, he would be more than happy to serve as our guide again. “Don’t worry, I’ll find you” he says. Somehow I have no doubt that he would. We find a sturdy vessel heading to Magnimar loaded with trade goods. We book our passage and set sail.
Arodus 24-29 4713
Unlike our previous sailing, no boggards harass us.
Arodus 29
We arrive back in Magnimar and head straight to Heidmarch Manor. I am in no mood for the Snooty Butler and tell him about as much when he answers the door. Shelia and Sir Canayven are summoned and as soon as Shelia enters the room and looks at us, she notices something is wrong.
“Where is your brother Balak?” she asks. I am unable to answer so Furrnando answers for me.
“He’s dead.”
“I see. Sir Canayven and I are sorry for your loss.”
“He’s here”
“Who’s here?”
“Balak! We have him in the bag of holding.”
Shelia looks none too happy to have a corpse in her parlor.
“I see. I can make arrangements to send him back to your clan so he can rest among your noble dead.”
“He ain’t got no head!”
Furrnando quickly relays our adventures in Kaer Maga and our encounter with the Dark Rider. “That son-of-an-orc won’t be bothering anyone ever again!” I add. Shelia does not look as certain. “I’m afraid that another will take his place and hopefully it will not be your name he calls in the dark of night! I am afraid that if I send your brother back to your clan without his head, my emissaries will not make it out alive. Unless you can write a letter telling what happened?” I nod and quickly write out the letter. When I am finished, Shelia summons the Snooty Butler and whispers in his ear. From the expression on his face, it seemed like he is no happier of having a corpse in the parlor as Shelia is. He leaves and in a few moments he returns with the gardener and a stable hand. They remove Balak’s body from the bag of holding and before they carry his body out of the room. I bid farewell to Balak using the tongue of our people.
After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Shelia asks, “So where is the next shard?” Firenia replies, “That is the strange part! It indicates Windsong Abbey, but Windsong Abbey was in ruins.” Shelia nods, “Recently the abbey was destroyed with an earthquake-like force and now is being overrun by giants. I perk up when I hear the word giants. Balak sure would have liked to tussle with some giants! Shelia suggests that we speak to a gypsy woman named Pilla Linuvshi. She was one of the first travelers that passed by the ruins and made an interesting discovery before she was chased away by the giants. She can be found in Sandpoint which, fortunately for us, is on the way to the Abbey.
We mention our run-in with the redcaps and the blue dragon and tell Shelia and Sir Canayven that they should be careful. She chuckles at that and says that her and Sir Canayven were adventurers in their youth and are no strangers to danger. “We will add some guards, but we’ll be fine.”
We decide that tomorrow we should do some shopping, especially getting weapons that the redcaps will fully feel.
Arodus 30
We spend the day shopping and getting our gear ready for our trip to Windsong Abbey.
Arodus 31
We spend an uneventful day of travel on our way to Sandpoint and Windsong Abbey. We see a few travelers but not much else.
Torawsh 1
We arrive in Sandpoint and ask where we can find this Pilla Linuvshi. We are told that she spend most of her days at the Rusty Dragon trying to get travelers to buy a fortune telling. We walk in and she is pointed out to us. When she sees us approach her table, she smiles wide and says, “Ah! Might ye be needing your fortune told? Only five gold!” Between the Amazing Zograthy and the Augurs in Kaer Maga, I have had my fill of fortune tellers! “We don’t want our fortunes, we seek information” I tell her bluntly. “Whether it be fortune or information, the price be the same” she says as she holds out her hand. We pay her and she relates her tale of passing the newly ruined Abbey when she saw smoke. As she stopped to investigate, she found the body of a gnome-like creature and a red cap – soaked in blood. She says she still has it and starts to rummage in her bag for it. We tell her that we have seen them, so she can keep hers. She shrugs and continues her tale. As she was investigating the cap, a boulder ‘the size of a horse’ falls near her. It is then that she sees two giants and another one with two heads. Not wanting to be crushed she left in a hurry. Bluestone asks if she happened to see a blue dragon. “Good heavens no!” She responds, “The giants were enough to keep me from staying!” She also mentions that there was a tower in the middle of the ruins that only priests can go in and it looked like it was unscathed and it also looked like there might have been a light on. While the presence of giants wasn’t news, the red cap and the tower is. We are glad we upgraded some of our weapons in Magnimar. We eat a meal and get lodgings for the night. We will continue on to the Abbey in the morning.
Torawsh 2
We continue our trek to Windsong Abbey. We also notice that there are fewer travelers. I guess sightings of giants would do that.
Torawsh 3
As we approach the abbey, we see burned-out farms with burned-out buildings. Vultures fill the sky and the stench of decay pervades the air. We come across a sleeping giant. Furrnando casts a spell, I launch a bolt at it and Bluestone casts lightning at it. This rouses the badly-bruised sleeping giant and he yells out, “Hey! Wakes up! Der are intruders here!” Firenia rushes up and slashes the giant with her sword. From over the ruins we see two more giants pop up along with two more ettins. The giant tries to stomp Firenia but misses, as an ettin quickly closes with me and solidly connects with his club. The dire lion that Furrnando had summoned appears and pounces on one of the ettins. Furrnando casts a holy smite. I cast a discordant blast. Bluestone casts lightning and kills an ettin as Firenia slays a giant. A giant strikes the summoned dire lion and the lion claws the giant. Furrnando casts spear of purity. I hit the giant that Firenia is fighting with a bolt. Bluestone casts more lightning which kills another ettin. The giant swings his club at the lion and it crumbles to the ground. Furrnando and I both score hits on giants. There are five giants coming down the road and Bluestone casts a fireball at them. Firenia hits the giant she has been battling with her longsword. Furrnando casts another smite evil and I cast another discordant blast. Bluestone casts a greater invisibility on himself. Firenia brings down her giant opponent with her longsword. Furrnando casts a holy smite on three of the giants. I hit one with my rapier as Bluestone hits the same one with a magic missile. Firenia and a giant exchange blows. I get hit by a giant as Furrnando casts a spear of purity at it slaying it. Bluestone casts a scorching ray at the lone giant and kills it.
Hopefully that is the last of the giants and we can make our way to the Abbey unimpeded.
Session Date: 02/02/2014
Torawsh 3 4713
Level 11
After a few moments of not hearing anymore giants rise from their slumber, we decide to head to the side gate. We think we are being careful, but we set off a trap that causes a huge noise, so huge that anyone still left in the abbey knows that we are here. We come to a courtyard and decide to walk around it before we enter the tower. We see one interesting door with a metal plate on it that has an image of a skull. I recognize it as the holy (unholy?) symbol of Groetus – the god of the end of times. I remember Augustille’s prediction and wonder if this could be the Doomsday Door? Before we try to open the door or enter the tower, we decide to explore more of the courtyard.
We open a door and see four ettins arguing over the corpse of a slain cow. They stop arguing just a Bluestone casts a fireball at them. A fireball will do that to most arguments! Firenia runs up, deftly dodging an ettin’s blow, but Firenia does not miss with her longsword. I score a hit with both my bolts as the ettins advance swinging their weapons but not hitting anything. Two things come floating into the room. Bluestone casts another fireball and two of the ettins go down. Furrnando attacks one of the floating creatures. I am able to score another two hits at an ettin. Bluestone casts a scorching ray at one of the flying creatures as Firenia strikes another ettin. My luck with my aim ends as the bolts sail harmlessly past an ettin. As an ettin moves to attack Bluestone, Firenia hits it. One of the flying creatures attack Furrnando. The ettins all miss Firenia as Furrnando strikes one of the flying creatures which I later determine are nyogoth qlippoths. Bluestone moves and gets smacked by an ettin for his trouble. Firenia slays an ettin and strikes the last one. My luck returns as I hit the ettin with two bolts. Firenia finishes off the remaining ettin. A nyogoth qlippoth strikes Furrnando and Furrnando casts breath of life. Firenia slices a nyogoth qlippoth with her longsword. I cast displacement on Firenia. The nyogoth qlippoths attack Firenia. Furrnando casts a magic missile as Bluestone casts a resist acid on himself. Firenia strikes a nyogoth qlippoth. I cast a cure moderate wounds on Furrnando. A nyogoth qlippoth hits Firenia. Furrnando switches to a weapon that he feels will damage the nyogoth qlippoths more. Bluestone casts a magic missile at the nyogoth qlippoth in front of Furrnando. Firenia hits a nyogoth qlippoth but her blow does not seem to damage the creature. One nyogoth qlippoth hits Firenia, while the other one strikes Furrnando. Bluestone casts a magic missile at the nyogoth qlippoth that Furrnando is battling. Furrnando strikes a nyogoth qlippoth as I cast reviving finale. The nyogoth qlippoths hit both Firenia and Furrnando. Furrnando misses his opponent as Bluestone casts a lightning spell on it. Firenia hits a nyogoth qlippoths but does no damage to it. The nyogoth qlippoths are again successful on their attacks on Firenia and Furrnando. Furrnando does a healing burst. Bluestone casts another Lightning spell on the one in front of Furrnando. Firenia strikes a nyogoth qlippoth. I figure as I cast a cure moderate wounds on Furrnando that some lawfully-aligned weapons would sure come in handy. The nyogoth qlippoths are again successful in their attacks on Firenia and Furrnando. Furrnando casts a spear of purity which slays one of the nyogoth qlippoths. Bluestone casts lightning on the remaining nyogoth qlippoths as Firenia strikes it. I cast a cure moderate on Firenia and with the surge of healing power coursing through her; she slays the last nyogoth qlippoths. I think someone summoned the nyogoth qlippoths so we are definitely not alone in this abbey and facing something more intelligent than stupid giants and ettins.
Since we are low on spells and a little bruised, we decide to camp the night outside the abbey wall.
Torawsh 4 4713
Level 11
Our rest last night was not disturbed by either ettins or nyogoth qlippoths. We had seen a staircase in the room where we fought the ettins but we were so low on resources, we did not think it was prudent to explore it until now. We head to the room with the staircase and admire how grand it is. We notice a veil draped over one of the banisters. The veil is attached to a headband which Furrnando identifies as a headband of mental prowess. Bluestone claims it and as he dons the headband and the veil I can’t help but chuckle at how odd the veil looks with his adventuring garb! We go up the stairs a see a rotting-smelling chair facing out the window. It has a nice view of the sea. Luckily it is unoccupied. We go to the next room and I see bookcases! Unfortunately for my inquisitive mind, they are mostly empty with just a few tomes written with a demonic flair. I toss them in the bag of holding and will peruse them by the campfire tonight. As I am putting the books in the bag, I notice another book sitting on a small table. It is just like the other books except there is something written in the back cover:
Two to left for annis hag.
Three to right for banshee nag.
One to west for greenie crone.
Two to east for spinster lone.
Two to dusk for wife in tears.
Three to dawn for witch’s leers.
Could this be a way to open the doomsday door? I will study it some more when we are ready to open it.
We next come to a huge room. There are chairs around the room with each deity of Golarion carved on the back. I start looking for Torag’s when three mummies and some creature that looks like an undead bugbear appear. One of the mummies swipe Firenia with its claws and she is paralyzed. Furrnando casts a holy smite. Bluestone and I get paralyzed as the mummies attack us and another one attacks Firenia. Two of the mummies attack me but a now unfrozen Firenia scores a hit. Furrnando cast remove paralysis on Bluestone and I and we are back in the fight! Bluestone casts slow on the mummies as I withdraw to tend to my wounds. One of the mummies is rude enough to follow me and attacks me! So much for me healing my wounds! The bugbear hits Firenia and as he does so, curiously says “Can’t feel anything”. Firenia strikes a mummy and destroys it. Furrnando hits the mummy that is harassing me. Bluestone casts lightning arc on the two remaining mummies. I hit one of the mummies with my rapier. A mummy strikes me as the bugbear strikes Firenia and says “numb”. Firenia returns the favor with a swing of her longsword. Furrnando channels good energy and the remaining mummies and bugbear are defeated.
Now to find Torag’s chair!
Session Date: 02/16/2014
Torawsh 4 4713
Level 11
I sit in Torag’s chair, nothing happens. As fun as it was to look like a Runelord for some time, looking like Torag would be even more fun! Firenia opens the door to exit and I fall in line with everyone else. We see two vrocks sitting in a hallway with each one having a mirror image spell on it. Firenia runs up and hits an image. Both vrocks hit Firenia. Furrnando casts dismissal and the vrock in front of Firenia goes away. I cast discordant blast wounding one. Bluestone casts dispel magic on the remaining vrock but we don’t think it dismissed anything. Firenia takes a five foot step and hits the vrock. The vrock tries to cast a spell but can’t. Furrnando, seeing how well it worked the last time, casts another dismissal and the vrock joins its companion on its home plane.
We come to a room that has a pool in the middle of the floor with a giant and a redcap standing next to it. There is also a life-sized statue in the room. I immediately cast blur on Firenia who then goes up and hits the giant. I launch a bolt at the giant and hit my mark. Bluestone casts a scorching ray at the redcap and the little thing is singed. The redcap, angry about being burned, hits Bluestone. The giant misses Firenia. We then hear a soft voice and the giant’s wounds seem to heal. Furrnando casts invisibility purge, but we still don’t see anything. Firenia again slices the giant with her longsword and I score another hit with my crossbow. Bluestone casts another scorching ray and he again gets hit by the severely burned redcap. The giant, who probably hates me as much as I hate him, comes over and attacks me. We finally see the source of the voice as a medusa named Sufestra comes around a partition. She gazes at Furrnando, but luckily Furrnando is not turned to stone. Furrnando kills the redcap, which is good because we still have a giant and a medusa to worry about. Speaking of the giant, Firenia delivers another vicious blow with her longsword. I am able to hit the giant with two bolts. Bluestone casts a magic missile at the giant as he really hurts me. Medusa casts a spell on Firenia, but it looks like she does not fall under it. Furrnando casts silence on the half of the room that Sufestra is in as a slash of Firenia’s longsword slays the giant. I cast reviving finale to heal me and my allies. Bluestone casts a fireball at the back wall hoping to engulf Sufestra. Sufestra, not wanting to be caught in the silence with fireballs being tossed her way, moves out of the silence and tries to cast another spell on Firenia. Furrnando starts casting a spell as Firenia hits Sufestra. I stay out of the effective range of her gaze spell and try to hit Sufestra with a bolt but miss. Bluestone, also out of the effective range of the medusa’s glare hits her with a scorching ray. The dire lion that Furrnando summoned appears and attacks Sufestra. Furrnando also casts a holy smite on her. Firenia hits herself with her longsword and we know that Sufestra had casted confusion on her. I miss with another two bolts. Bluestone casts a lightning arc between Sufestra and a pillar. Sufestra heals her wounds as the dire lion attacks again. Furrnando casts a dispel magic on Sufestra. Firenia again hits herself and I again miss with two bolts. Bluestone casts feeblemind, however it looks like there is no affect on Sufestra. She tries to cast suggestion on Bluestone but fails. Firenia in a moment of clarity strikes Sufestra but it looks like her blow caused no damage. I too am able to hit with a bolt, and like Firenia, there is no damage done to the medusa. Sufestra casts unholy energy on us. The lion again attacks Sufestra as Furrnando casts another dispel magic. Firenia scores a hit as I cast a cure critical on myself. Bluestone casts a magic missile on Sufestra as she casts a suggestion on Firenia. Furrnando’s lion hits Sufestra as Furrnando casts another dispel magic at her. Firenia again is able to hit and damage the medusa, so whatever spells the medusa has on her that Furrnando is dispelling is definitely working. I know this because I am able to hit her with a bolt and do some damage. Bluestone casts a magic missile at Sufestra as she tries to glance at Firenia to no effect. Furrnando casts a spear of purity and with it slays Sufestra.
We examine the statue in the room and recognize it as Koriah Azmeren the half-elf ranger we met at Heidmarch Manor a few months ago. We luckily find a stone Salve among Sufestra’s loot and use it to restore Koriah. We also find a key with a skull on it and it looks like it belongs to the doomsday door. She tells us that her father Casamir Azmeren is holed up in the tower. Since we wanted to go to the tower before we were sidetracked, we decide to head there now. After a few moments of banging on the door with Koriah yelling for her father, the door opens. Casamir ushers us into the tower and weepingly hugs his daughter. Apparently he saw Sufestra turn her into stone and has been worried sick about her ever since. We come to find out that he is the keeper of this tower, which also serves as a lighthouse. We ask him what happened to the abbey and he tells us that about a month ago an elven cleric named Ardathanatus stormed the abbey with some giants, ettins, and redcaps. The invaders began slaughtering all they could find, and Casamir, instead of joining their fate fled to the tower. The tower has magical wards to keep out evil and he knew he would be safe here. It seems like that decision has taken a toll on the man since he says he can still hear the screams at night. We ask who this Ardathanatus is and he tells us that he used to be a cleric of Pharasma but he is no longer of that faith. Casamir tells us that Ardathanatus had with him an artifact of what seemed like great power. From his description, we deduct that this is the shard. Most likely Ardathanatus is under its curse. We ask him what the deal is with the doomsday doors and he tells us that many years ago the abbey was a temple to Groetus. When the priests converted the abbey from the temple they found a key that would open the doomsday door but decided I should remain closed and the key was kept by the head abbot. For 500 years no one has bothered with the door until Ardathanatus came and murdered the abbot. He opened the doomsday door, gave the key to Sufestra and walked through the door. Casamir has not seen him since. Now that we have the key and the combination we decide the next step is to unlock the doomsday door. We finish our search around the abbey and satisfied there are no more creatures about we decide to call it a night. Casamir offeres his tower and tells us the password to bypass the magical wards. We sleep soundly that night knowing no evil can get to us.
Torawsh 5 4713
Level 11
The next morning we arrive at the door and with my instructions that I found in the book and the key we got from Sufestra I am ready to open the door. Even though the instructions say to turn the key left, I absentmindedly turn the key to the right. I find myself in a maze for a few minutes and then I am returned to door. By that time Furrnando had turned the key the correct way and they had already opened the door. My cheeks were red from embarrassment. They notice that my time in the maze caused me to not be my normal, wonderful self so Furrnando casts a restoration and a lesser restoration and that does the trick. We come into a room with broken casks and I would be really upset if they were filled with ale. As we are admiring this travesty a clockwork golem enters the room. Bluestone casts a magic missile but it seems to have no affect. Furrnando casts a spell as the golem comes up and attacks him. Luckily for Furrnando the golem attack goes wide. I hit it with a bolt, and like Bluestone’s magic missile, it does not harm the golem. Firenia runs up to the golem and gets a smack for her efforts. The smack causes Firenia to lose her concentration and she is unable to connect with her longsword. Bluestone decides to change tactics and launches an acid arrow at the golem. Furrnando misses as he tries to attack the golem as the golem hits Firenia. Six shadow beings which we later find out are pallid path cultists appear. They all have bows and they all shoot arrows at Firenia with only four finding their mark. Since the cultists seem to be focusing on Firenia, I cast displacement on her. Firenia hits the golem as Bluestone casts a fireball at the cultists. Furrnando casts breath of life to heal his wounds. The golem starts to grind and doesn’t do anything. I guess all this year’s of inactivity was hard on the thing. The displacement helps as only one arrow from the cultists find their mark. I hit one of the cultists with two bolts. Firenia again hits the golem as Bluestone casts another fireball. Furrnando casts a breath of life on Firenia to keep her in the fight, but as he does, the clockwork golem slams him. Seeing that Firenia is proving to be an elusive target, the cultist next turn their bows on Furrnando. Furrnando is struck by four arrows out of six. I am able to wound one of the shadows with a bolt from my crossbow. Firenia hits the clockwork golem as Bluestone casts black tentacles at the cultists. Furrnando moves so he can attack the cultist I had hit with a bolt, while the golem continues to pummel Firenia. The cultists all train their bows at Furrnando, but only one arrow hits. I am able to hit another cultist with a bolt. Firenia hits the golem again as Bluestone blasts it with an acid arrow. Furrnando attacks the one that I have been hitting with my bolts. The golem misses Firenia with a wide-attack. Yep! It is definitely malfunctioning. A cultist hits Furrnando with an arrow as I cure him of his wounds. Firenia hits the golem, as Furrnando, needing more healing, casts breath of life on himself. The clockwork golem seizes up and gives Firenia a break. A cultist tries to hit Furrnando again with an arrow, but the arrow sails harmlessly by him. I hit a cultist with two bolts. Firenia again hits the clockwork golem and it seems like those two are exchanging blows. Bluestone casts a scorching ray at a cultist as Furrnando casts a holy smite at three cultists killing one. The cultists don’t like that and they begin to pepper Furrnando with arrows. I again am able to hit one with two bolts. Firenia again hits the clockwork golem. Sooner or later this thing must fall! Bluestone again uses a scorching ray on the cultist he used it on before. The golem misses Firenia and it will be good if she is able to keep hitting it – and it keeps missing her! Another barrage of arrows is aimed at Furrnando, and only one hits its mark. I again hit a cultist with two bolts as Firenia again strikes the golem. Furrnando casts another holy smite on three cultists. The golem seizes up again and it is not looking too good. Two arrows hit Furrnando, and I am able to slay a cultist with two bolts. Firenia finishes off the golem as a scorching ray from Bluestone finishes up a cultist. Furrnando casts a healing burst mainly to help heal Firenia and himself. Two of the cultists hit Furrnando with arrows as one turns to flee – perhaps to warn someone or something of our presence? My aim is not true as both my bolts miss. Firenia now that the golem is finished turns her attention on a cultist, striking him with her longsword. Bluestone casts a scorching ray and Furrnando casts a magic missile at the same cultist. He and his companion don’t last long in this world.
We have lost the element of surprise, but that hasn’t stopped us before.
Session Date: 03/02/2014
Torawsh 5 4713
Level 11
We continue down the corridor and come to a room with tools. I think that it has been used recently to make golems and traps. I would like to study this room further. Between this room and the whole Hanging Manse, I could become a golem constructing fool! Since we have already lost the element of surprise, there is no time to tarry. We next come to a room and see six cultists. Bluestone sees them and launches a scorching ray as three arrows miss Firenia and three arrows hit Furrnando. Firenia advances and attacks one. Furrnando casts blessing of fever and advances. The cultists move away from Firenia and Furrnando and continue to shoot arrows at them. I shoot three bolts at a cultist. Bluestone casts a fireball but the cultists sideswipe it easily. Firenia follows her cultist that has been hitting her with arrows and hits him. Furrnando also pursues his foe and hits him. At this time a giant appears from the hallway and three cultists launch arrows at Firenia with some scoring hits and three launch arrows at Furrnando also with some scoring hits. I cast discordant blast at the giant and a cultist. Bluestone casts a lightning arc between two cultists, killing one. The giant advances on Bluestone and hits him with a spear. Firenia moves to flank and hits the giant. Furrnando casts a holy smite on four cultists and a giant. I try to hit the giant with my rapier and miss. Two cultists try to hit Firenia with two arrows while two others are rubbing their eyes – they must be blinded from Furrnando’s holy smite. Since Bluestone is invisible, the giant delivers a devastating blow against me as Firenia hits the giant. Furrnando casts another holy smite on three cultists. I step away from the giant and cast greater invisibility on myself so I will be able to pluck her with bolts since I can do better with my bolts than my rapier. Bluestone casts another lightning arc killing two more cultists. One cultist hits Firenia and another cultist hits Furrnando. The giant, no longer being able to see me, hits Firenia. Firenia returns the favor. I miss with a bolt. Bluestone casts lightning arc and kills the giant and another cultist. The other cultist must be a true believer because he stays and fights and dies shortly after.
These fights with the cultists have left us bruised and battered so we decide to head back to the tower and rest up. We retrace our steps with no problems and Casamir is glad to see us. As we relate our adventures a look of hope passes over his face. “Perhaps you are the perfect ones to rid this abbey of the evil that has infested it. Sleep well noble adventurers.”
Torawsh 6 4713
Level 11
The next morning we awake and Casamir feeds us a quick breakfast. We eat hastily and immediately set out for the tower. We again retrace our steps and begin exploring. We continue on until we come to a room with another Doomsday lock. We walk over to the lock but as we do, seven cultists seem to appear from the walls. One of them seems wounded and we wonder if it is the cultist that escaped yesterday. Three shoot arrows at Firenia, and four shoot arrows at Furrnando. Many miss, but some score hits. Firenia advances on a cultist and slices him with her longsword. Furrnando casts a holy smite on all the cultists except the one that Firenia is fighting. Five of the six cultists seem blinded. Firenia gets struck by a cultist. Bluestone casts a lightning arc that captures three cultists in its path killing one. I hit a cultist with a bolt as Firenia strikes one with her sword. Furrnando casts another holy smite killing another cultist. All the cultists are blinded except one and he shoots an arrow at Furrnando. Bluestone casts another lightning arc killing two cultists. I hit a cultist with a bolt as Firenia hits the same cultist. Furrnando casts another holy smite and all three of the remaining cultists die.
Now that we got those pesky cultists out of the way we can examine the door. I learned my lesson from the first time I opened the door so I open this one correctly. Luckily for me, it uses the same combination as he first door. In this room we see a floating blue ball. We almost think it is the same kind of blue ball that kept asking us questions beneath the Therassic Spire. I then seem to remember that that this was something that the priests of Groteus used to look through and see things. Furrnando thinks that since he is of the divine persuasion that maybe the ball would work for him. As he approaches the ball, it starts glowing and Furrnando sees nothing. “I guess you also have to be of the Groteus persuasion!” I tell him.
Since this blue sphere is not going to tell us where Ardathanatus and the shard are, so it looks like we will have to keep looking.
Session Date: 03/16/2014
Torawsh 6 4713
Level 12
We come to a room that has faded frescos that depict a line of people that ends at an old man. Furrnando looks at the frescoe and just can’t seem to figure it out. I enjoy watching him struggle for a few moments before I tell him that the old man is an archaic presentation of a priest of Groteus until that same man became his herald. This room also has a doomsday door and as much as I want to go through it. We decide to explore the other corridors that are leading out of it.
We continue on until we find a room that would seem to be a cathedral, but we see through the illusion. As we step into the room a gongorinan appears and it looks like it wants to do us harm. Firenia advances on the creature and hits it, but it does not seem to take full damage. The gongorinan is so ugly that Firenia and Bluestone are confused. The gongorinan hits Firenia and she looks serverely battered. Furrnando advances and casts divine favor on himself. A confused Bluestone attacks me and I quickly move out of the way, shooting a bolt at the gongorinan in the process. Firenia is still confused but since the gongorinan hurt her last time, she returns the favor damaging the gongorinan. The gongorinan strikes Firenia again, insuring that even if she is still confused, she will keep attacking him. Furrnando hits the creature as Bluestone smacks himself in the head. I hit the creature with a bolt but it does not seem to damage the gongorinan. Firenia again strikes the creature as the gongorinan hits Firenia. Furrnando casts good alignment on his weapon so he can possibly hurt the gongorinan. Bluestone babbles while I cast displacement on Firenia. Firenia hits the gongorinan and instead of hitting her in reprisal, the gongorinan casts a spell on Furrnando and Furrnando turns into a small bunny who then hops to Bluestone. Bluestone, not being able to help Furrnando out of his perdictiment, casts a scorching ray at the gongorinan. I cast a cure critical wounds on Firenia and Firenia and the gongorinan exchange blows. Furrnando hops around excitedly knowing that a small rabbit wiould not last long in this temple. Bluestone casts a lightning arc between two pillars with the gongorinan in the middle. The creature seems to have some resistance to electric and Bluestone’s lightning arc fails to hurt the creature. I cast a cure moderate wounds spell on Firenia as Firenia hits the gongorinan again. For the first time the gongorinan misses with all its attacks on Firenia. Furrnando continues to hop around; frustrated that he seems to be ignored. Bluestone tries to cast a spell but can’t. I cast discordant blast at the creature. Firenia hits the creature again but the gongorinan takes no damage. The gongorinan however hits Firenia with a multitude of blows. Bluestone casts a vampiric touch on the gongorinan and it keels over dead.
Since no one has the spells necessary to revert Furrnando back to his cat-like self, we decide that maybe Casamir can. On the way to Casamir’s, Furrnando suffers many jokes made on his behalf. I suggest that it was a good thing he was not turned into a dog. I am sure catfolk consider that a great insult! Firenia offers to feed him carrots, and bluestone mentions something about palor tricks with a top hat. I do not know for sure what a rabbit looks like angry but I do know that Furrnando’s nose was sure twitching! Casamir does not have the spell prepared to turn Furrnando back, but he will have it tomorrow.
It looks like our adventuring day is done with.
Torawsh 7 4713
Level 12
The next morning after some carrots, Furrnando is once again turned back into his cat-like self. Now that he has his voice back, he smilingly berates us for laughing at his misfortune. Casimir looks at the exchange with an amused experession and I am sure he is thinking back to his adventuring days. We retrace our steps without issue until we come to a room with a huge rock in the middle. Firenia throws a coin at the rock and nothing it happens. The rock gives off an aura of evocation. Firenia goes over and touches the rock and another gongorinan appears. She is so turned off by its ugliness that she is confused. The gongorinan hits Firenia and because the creature hit her, Firenia hits the creature back. I cast displacement of FIrenia as Furrnando casts bestow grace on himself. Bluestone casts dismissal and the creature disappears. We let out a collective sigh of relief and give Bluestone some pats on the backs since we remember how tough the gongorinan was yesterday. “Plus I’m not a rabbit!” a relieved Furrnando adds.
We come to a room with a statue that I think was at one time of Desna. By the statue we see a chernobue qlippoth. Furrnando casts align weapon good just in case his weapon has a hard time hitting it. Bluestone casts dismissal but the chernobue is still there. It looks like this won’t be as easy as the last gongorian. I cast displacement on Firenia. Firenia hits the creature, but there’s no damage. The chernobue casts confusion on us. Furrnando casts divine favor on himself as Bluestone tries another dismissal. The creature stays, obviously enjoying itself. I am confused so I hit myself in the head. Firenia hits it again, but it seems to take no damage. The chernobue casts a spell on Firenia and Furrnando. Furrnando takes a step up and hits the chernobue, but like Firenia, his attack shows no sign of damage. Bluestone casts another dismissal, but the creature stubbonley stays here. I cast a discordant blast at the creature as Firenia hits it again, but still no damage. The chernobue hits Furrnando and we start to relealize that unless we can damage this creature, then we are done for. Furrnando casts dispel magic on Firenia and she is no longer confused. Bluestone tries another dismissal but can’t seem to send the creature back to its realm. I am so confused, I start babbling. Firenia hits the chernobue as the chernobue misses Furrnando. Furrnando casts a spell immunity for confusion but unfortunately I am not helped by it as I hit myself. Bluestone becomes invisible as Firenia hits the chernobue. The chernobue returns the favor and hits Firenia. Furrnando casts a spell as Bluestone casts enervation. I continue to hit myself. Firenia hits the chernobue. The chernobue must not think she is too much of a threat because it continues to attack Furrnando. Furrnando casts a curing spell as his dire lion appears. Bluestone casts bestow curse but that has no affect. I continue to babble incoherently. Firenia really hurts the chernobue. The chernobue turns his rage on Furrnando’s bear and kills it in one savage attack. Furrnando tries to cast dispel magic on me but I am still confused. Bluestone casts bestow curse again and again it fails. I continue to babble. Firenia hits and damages the chernobue again. The chernobue, feeling flush with its victory over Furrnando’s bear, turns on Firenia, just barely missing her. Furrnando casts dispel magic on my confusion. Bluestone casts another enervation. Feeling normal, I cast greater invisibility on Furrnando in thanks for making me clear-headed again. Firenia slays the chernobue. We find a secret compartment in the base of the statue containing items which are best descriped as a cleric’s first-aid kit.
We heal up and continue on our quest.
Session Date: 03/30/2014
Torawsh 6 4713
Level 12
We come to a long corridor that ends in a door. I hear voices behind the door and what sounds like a scuffle. I cast displacement of Firenia just before we open the door. As we open it, we see two shoggti qlippoths and it looks like they are commanding werebears to fight for their amusement. One of the shoggti commands Furrnando and Firenia to fall. Luckily for us they don’t. Firenia reluctantly hits the werebear in front of her since we know they are being forced to do this against their will. Furrnando casts break enchantment on all four werebears. Bluestone, who notices that the werebears did a slight shake of their heads, casts a fireball at the two shoggti but it does not seem that they take as much damage as he would have thought. I cast discordant blast at one of the shoggti. One of the werebears says, “Brothers! We are free. Get them!” For a moment we don’t know who the ‘them’ is and are relieved when they turn and face the shoggti. The shoggti cast a spell, which we shake off but our werebear companions are not so lucky and again looked dazed. In an effort to shut the shoggti up, Furrnando casts silence on their half of the room. Bluestone casts magic missile and I cast discordant blast at one of the shoggti in an attempt to bring one down. The shoggti, no longer able to cast spells or give commands to the enthralled werebears, advance and hit Furrnando. Firenia hits the shoggti in front of her as Furrnando smacks the shoggti in front of him. Bluestone casts shocking grasp at a shoggti but it seems to take little damage. I cast displacement on Furrnando. The shoggti hit both Firenia and Furrnando but luckily the displacement seemed to help them as some of their attacks missed. Firenia hits the shoggti in front of her and Furrnando hits the shoggti in front of him. Bluestone casts magic missile at the one we have been wounding. I shoot a bolt at it but it seems to take no damage. The shoggti hurt both Firenia and Furrnando a little. Firenia hits the shoggti in front of her killing it while Furrnando misses the shoggti he has been battling. Bluestone casts a magic missile at it and slays it.
With their captors dead, the werebears show a spark of independence. We are wary, especially with them in their werebear form. Instead they turn to us and greet us heartily. They thank us for rescuing them and tell us how they were captured on the road outside the abbey, forced to change into their werebear form and fight for the shoggti’s amusement. They ask if we cleared the upper areas and we answer in the affirmative. They turn into their human form and leave. After they go we breathe a sigh of relief since we are glad we won’t be fighting werebears.
We next find a temple of Sarenrae and Furrnando offers a prayer to the Dawnflower, who he considers a like-minded deity to his own. After exploring the rest of this level we rest in the temple of Sarenrae. That night, we all have a dream where we see Ardathanatus and feel the pain he wrought to Windsong Abbey in his brutal rampage. We also feel Sarenrae’s presence and she feels Ardathanatus could be redeemed and that there is an ember of Pharasma still inside of him and in order to redeem him, we cannot kill him. That last part makes us uneasy as we doubt Ardathanatus will let us revive that amber deep within him.
Torawsh 7 4713
Level 12
We awake and eat some hasty trail rations. It had been nice having Casamir fix us breakfast each morning. We go down the stairs and see what appears to be a blue lamp. We spend a few moments studying the lamp until we determine that it is just a blue lamp. I suggest that is Bluestone ever gets a tower for himself, that lamp would be perfect. We toss it in the bag of holding for Bluestone.
We come to a door and I hear the sounds of a smithy. It is music to my ears and I can almost picture myself back among my kin. I at once hope that it is another dwarf working the smithy, but then I hope not since what would any dwarf worth his name be working in this place. We open the door and instead of a dwarf, we see a female efreeti with a couple of salamanders. She introduces herself as Beshka and asks abruptly what we want. Hoping not to start a fight, we ask if she has seen Ardathanatus and she says she has and asks what we want with him. Still not sure if she is friend or foe, we say that we were tasked by our superiors to conduct business with him only. I complement her on her skill at a forge and she mentions that once she finishes this task, she can go home. Seeing an opportunity and hoping she is being held against her will, we ask if she would like to go home earlier and we can see the eagerness in her eyes. Before we send her home, we ask for some information. We ask her what task she needs to complete and she says she is finishing up this armor for Ardathanatus. He is expecting it tomorrow. She seems to have been so fully devoted to her task, that she does not seem to have any more information to tell us. She will leave the armor however, and I know of some of my kin who are amour smiths of some renown. I am sure they can finish it. With that Furrnando casts dismissal and the efreeti disappears.
At the next door, I hear cackling behind it. Great! A witch! We open the door and see not a witch but several jars with blue mist coming pouring out of them. Our relief at this seemingly empty room quickly vanishes when a witch, Gathuspia by name, does appear and tells us to be gone. We ask if she is a prisoner and she just keeps telling us to be gone. I ask the others do we really want to fight her and she says “Oh! A fight you want? A fight you get”. She then cackles uncontrollably. Before I can clarify that we don’t want a fight, she casts a spell. Firenia and Bluestone start babbling as Furrnando casts break enchantment. I cast displacement on Furrnando, but Gathuspia casts another spell and Furrnando goes to sleep. FIrenia is babbling, Furrnando is sleeping and Bluestone attacks me. Seeing how this fight is quickly going very badly for us, I kick Furrnando in an attempt to wake him up. The witch casts a lightning bolt as Firenia smacks herself in the jaw. Furrnando casts silence, hoping to put an end to the witch’s spells. Bluestone hits himself instead of me. I decide to become invisible. Gathuspia flies out of the room or, more importantly, out of Furrnando’s silence. She casts sleep on me and I fall to the floor asleep. Firenia smacks herself in the face. Furrnando casts break enchantment and Bluestone and Firenia are no longer confused. Bluestone casts feeblemind at Gathuspia. I continue to sleep. Gathuspia attacks Bluestone as Firenia and Furrnando both miss her. Bluestone tries to cast another enervation but it fails. I am still sleeping. Gathuspia misses Furrnando, but Firenia scores a hit. Furrnando misses as Bluestone casts dispel magic and cold ice strike but it doesn’t work. I am still sleeping. Gathuspia hits Firenia and Firenia returns the favor. Trying to make the witch easier to hit, Furrnando casts dispel magic. Bluestone tries to cast a spell but can’t. I am still sleeping. Gathuspia misses Firenia, but Firenia’s next blow kills her. While I am still sleeping everyone heals up, searches Gathuspia’s body and starts to examine the jars with the blue smoke. Not being able to make heads or tails of the jars, the rest of the party finally decides to wake me up. When I find out that the only reason they woke me up was for me to tell them what I think the jars are, I am almost tempted not to tell them! I finally relent and tell them that there are souls in the jar. We break them open and free Gathuspia’s victims.
The next creature we come across is a baregara. I cast discordant blast at it and Furrnando casts prayer. The baregara attacks Furrnando as Firenia attacks the baregara. Bluestone casts dismissal but the creature stays. I hit the creature with a bolt but do no damage. Firenia damages the creature with her sword as Bluestone casts enevation. Seeing that Furrnando is getting badly bruised since he is being grappled by the baregara, I cast reviving finale. The baregara continues to attack Furrnando. Firenia scores a hit but no damage is done to the baregara. Bluestone casts an enervation and I cast greater invisibility. Furrnando does a healing burst to help his wounds. Bluestone casts a dismissal and the creature vanishes, leaving a badly bruised Furrnando behind.
“How did you know that when you casted dismissal that I wouldn’t go with the creature?” Furrnando asks. With a smile, Bluestone answers, “I didn’t”
Richie, aka Cordwin is on vacation and missed tonight session.
Torawsh 7 4713
Level 12
We search the rest of this level, and while we find it empty, we still feel uneasy. There are two sets of stairs down, but Furnando wants to go down the stairs that have sounds of the sea. Why, as a cat he wants this, is beyond me but ok. We head down and are in a grotto and notice a chest on a shelf about 30 feet away.. Furnando casts a spell and brings the chest to him and it contains coins, gems and a magical ring and amulet.
We go back upstairs and down the other stairs to a room with another of the Doomsday locks on it. As I open it, there is a sonic boom and we all take some damage. Just as Furnando heals us up, 4 greater shadows attack, and we eventually defeat them. We continue on, fighting our way the other undead till we run into 12 mummies. While we probably could take them out, we here a voice down the hall speaking in Thassilonian, so I have to translate, that tells the mummies to back off and let us come thru.
We proceed down the hall and there is what only can be described as the head mummy. He speaks in Thassalonian and says his name is Kandamereus. He asks us 7 questions which we answer, and at the end he seems convinced of our intentions since he dismisses the other mummies and they fall to dust. He then asks if we will let him maintain his stewardship over the Doomsday Doors after the battle with Ardathanatus, and we say yes, so he tells us to come back fully rested and ready for battle on the morrow and he will allow us to enter the final tomb.
Session Date: 05/04/2014
Torawsh 8 4713
Level 13
The next morning we go see the mummy. Furrnando uses one of the feathers to summon the couatl, Tsikinal, who we freed from his prison under the Therassic Spire. We ask the mummy if he knows what is after the door and he says that he does not know. We ask if there is any aid he can provide to us and he says no. “You will have to prove yourselves worthy to Groteus and me!” He declares. I am thinking that we could have used a couple of the mummies he turned to dust the day before! Seeing that he will not get any more information or aid from this one, we cast some protective spells and open the door.
We see two golems guarding the room. One is made of stone and the other one iron. One of them breathes on Firenia and me. I feel fine but Firenia seems to be moving very slowly. Firenia swings at the iron one and hits it. I try to hit the stone golem but I miss, my warhammer bouncing harmlessly off of it. Furrnando casts a spell on his weapon as Bluestone casts stone call on the two golems. The archon that the Tsikinal summoned appears and casts a light ray at the iron golem as Tsikinal casts another summoning spell. Firenia uses her shard to cast haste to counter the golem’s slow attack. The golems both hit Firenia. The stone golem slams me and I am hurt. I miss again with my warhammer. Bluestone casts an acid arrow at the iron golem but his ray misses. The archons use their light rays and the golems are not happy. Firenia misses as the stone golem hits me again. The iron golem hits Firenia. I take a step back and cast greater invisibility on Furrnando. Furrnando, unseen by the golems, rushes up and heals Firenia. Bluestone casts a spell that damages the iron golem. The archons hit the iron golem with their light spells. Tsikinal casts a healing spell on me. Firenia misses in her attacks. The golem really slams her and she is in trouble once again. I cast displacement on Firenia in order to help her out. Furrnando casts a heal on Firenia so she can stay in the fight. Bluestone casts acid arrow and the archons use their light spells on the golems. Tsikinal, not able to reach Firenia, heals me again. Firenia strikes with her sword but there is no damage to the golem. The stone one misses but the iron golem slams her. I cast a cure critical on Firenia as it seems like she has become the focus if the golems slams. Furrnando casts righteous might while Bluestone casts another stone call. The archons use their light spells and Tsikinal uses a cure spell on Firenia. The golems, luckily, miss Firenia as I cast haste. Furrnando swings and hits a golem. Bluestone casts a spell and damages both the iron and stone golems. The archons again use their light rays to damage the golems. Firenia hits a golem but does not seem to do much damage. These golems are sure hard to harm. Bluestone hands me an acid arrow wand and I cast it on the iron golem. Bluestone also uses an acid arrow wand on the iron one, since it seems that the acid arrows bypass any protection these golems have. The archons use their light attacks to damage both golems. Firenia hits the stone golem and does little damage. The golems miss Firenia and I use the wand of acid arrow on the iron golem. Furrnando’s dinosaur appears and hits the stone golem. Bluestone tries to dispel Firenia’s slowness so she can take advantage of the haste. Bluestone uses his wand and the iron golem falls. The archons light rays hit the stone golem as Firenia does some damage. The golem misses Firenia. I use the acid arrow wand but it is Furrnando puts the stone golem down.
Now that the guardians have been defeated it is now time to find Ardathanatus and collect the shard. There are two doors, but I believe that the one on the right should be the door that Ardathanatus is behind based on what I saw through the crack the other day. We open the door and see an elf in armor and surrounded by two gongorinans and four sinspawns. He points to us and says, “Destroy them!” Furrnando wastes no time and casts blessing fervor. I look at Firenia and say, “You want a piece of Ardathanatus?” When she nods excitedly, I dimension door us right to him. The minions advance and Bluestone gets hit. Forsaking the rest of the party, the gongorinans come and attack us. One hits Firenia as Firenia hits Ardathanatus with no apparent affect. Ardathanatus casts a spell just before Furrnando casts silence in the area Ardathanatus is standing in. Bluestone, not wanting to get hit again, casts greater invisibility. Furrnando swings at the sinspawn in front of him. I miss Ardathanatus, but Firenia hits him. The sinspawns surround Furrnando and Tsikinal and both get hurt. Ardathanatus casts a blade barrier that separates me from Firenia. Tsikinal casts dismissal at the gongorinan near me so that leaves one more. I cast discondent blast on the remaining gongorinan which then crosses the blade barrier and gets cut for his trouble. Ardathanatus casts a spell that makes us weaker. Tsikinal casts a scorching ray on a sinspawn. Bluestone casts a lightning arc on the sinspawns. Furrnando tries to dispel the gongorinan. I cast displacement on myself to keep me in the fight longer. Firenia hits Ardathanatus as the sinspawns shoot arrows at me. The gongorinan hits Firenia and Ardathanatus channels negative energy. Tsikinal casts a scorching ray and destroys a sinspawn. Bluestone casts acidic spray and kills another one. Bluestone also casts cold ice strike. Furrnando casts a healing burst. Using my shard, I create an avatar of Pharasma telling Ardathanatus to repent. This causes Ardathanatus to seem a little confused. Firenia hits Ardathanatus but does no damage. I get hit from an arrow from a sinspawn. Ardathanatus channels more negative energy. Tsikinal casts scorching ray at the gongorinan. Bluestone casts lightning bolt at the sinspawn as Furrnando casts holy smite against the gongorinan. I keep having the image try to convert Ardathanatus, but any confusion or doubt has been dispelled. Firenia hits Ardathanatus again. The sinspawn hits me again with an arrow. Ardathanatus and the gongorinan gang up on Firenia and she goes down. Tsikinal casts a scorching ray at the sinspawn killing it. Bluestone dismisses the gongorinan and I see a look of relief on Firenia’s face. Furrnando casts both a healing burst and a dispel magic on Ardathanatus. I still try convince him to repent, but he is having none of it. “Be gone you false lie!” he shouts. Maybe I didn’t get the avatar quite right. Firenia, back on her feet from Furrnando’s healing spell, also tries to convince him to repent, but it also doesn’t work, in fact it seems to be making his resolve harder. Tsikinal heals Firenia since she is still grievously wounded. Bluestone casts enervation on Ardathanatus to make him less of a threat. I cast a reviving finale so we can all stay in the fight. Firenia hits Ardathanatus and Ardathanatus hits her. Tsikinal heals Firenia. Bluestone casts enervation again but it doesn’t work. The battle rages on for a few moments until Ardathanatus falls mortally wounded. We are about to secure him in order to heal him, since Serenrae seemed to want him redeemed when suddenly the doomsday door behind him opens up and I see Yamasoth, the qlippoth lord himself! His tentacles grab a hold of the body of Ardathanatus and start to pull him through the door to whatever plane Yamasoth calls home. Furrnando tries to dimension door with the body of Ardathanatus but Yamasoth’s hold is too strong and the spell fails. After Yamasoth drags Ardathanatus through the door, we close it. Ardathanatus was a tough fight and we are in no condition to take on a god-like being. “Well! There goes the shard!” Firenia says. We then look at the place where Ardathanatus fell and we see the shard. “He must have dropped it when he fell” Furrnando observes. We gather up the shard with the correct ioun stone and what little loot we find and leave this place.
We arrive back in the room with Kandamereus, the mummy. “We defeated Ardathanatus. What say we leave you to await the end of days, and we will make sure that you are not bothered by anyone until then?” The mummy nods his ancient head in approval. We do not tarry long as we don’t trust this being and we are in no position to fight him as well. We agree with the old clerics of Windsong Abbey-this place is better off sealed. As we go through we close all the doomsday doors behind us. We gather up Koriah Azmeren and her father Casamir Azmeren and head back to Magnimar.
Now that the evil has been defeated, perhaps the clerics can reclaim the Abbey.
Session Date: 06/01/2014
In Magnimar we go back to Sheila's, and she provides us with the last two ioun stones. She also tells us that sages have figured out how to put the sihedron star back together and that the altar with the star pattern in the bottom of the Crow is being brought up for the ceremony. Also, high level Pathfinders will be there to help us and meet us. It seems like we are famous.
We head out to Guiltspur and when we get to the Kodar mountains, we see a 20 foot high stockade, with a 50 foot high building behind it, and the Guiltspur behind that rising several hundred feet into the air. As we admire it, two rocks come from the guard towers in the stockade, but miss us. Bluestone dimension doors all of us to behind the stockade, next to the building. We walk around the building and when we get to the front door, a fire giant and three hill giants come out and the battle is on. We dispatch them, but some elephants with hill giant riders come back from the gate and we have to defeat them.
We enter the building, but the giant crowded room just stands there and calls for their General. We make a deal with her. We kill Chief Jubbek and she and her fellow giants leave. We ask if we can rest for the night as it was getting late in the day and she told us ok, go to the guard tower by the gate, but come back tomorrow and fulfill the contract.
After a good nights rest, we head down the stairs. In the first room, there are three fire giant guards who insist on taking us to Chief Jubbek, but they are too impatient, and when we don't immediately answer they attack and are killed. We head east, thru a room with a granite column, then into a side room that heads north. We open a door on the side and see dead trolls, ettins and some dead and a few live giants, who have had their hands cut off, so they cannot crawl up the greased shoot that is the exit from the room. One of them provides a lot of information and we promise to let him and his fellow giants go after we kill Jubbek. We also find out that a blue dragon actually gave what we think is the sixth shard to Jubbek because a more powerful shard was deeper in the mountain. We head towards where Jubbek is, bypassing some traps that the giant told us about and get ready to enter and kill the crazed hill giant.
Session Date: 06/08/2014
Torawsh 10 4713
Level 14
We come to the room that holds Chief Jubbek. He sits on a throne with a huge tiger on one side of him and a fire giant on the other side. Behind him stands a female giant and I am reminded of the phrase, ‘behind every throne…’. He has four hill giants in front of him. Firenia, not wasting any time on pleasantries rushes into the room directly to the hill giants. Furrnando steps into the room and casts holy smite. Bluestone disappears as he casts greater invisibility on himself. A hill giant throws a rock at Furrnando thinking him an easy target. I easily hit one of the hill giants with a crossbow bolt. Firenia launches herself into a furious assault against a hill giant. In order to bring himself up to the giant’s eye level, Furrnando enlarges himself. Bluestone casts a lightning arc killing a hill giant. I continue to hit one with my crossbow. The giant orders his concubine to fill the place where the fallen hill giant once stood and she gets cut by Firenia for her effort. Furrnando hits the hill giant that I have been hitting with my crossbow. Bluestone casts another chain lightning killing four of the giants. Chief Jubbek barks out a request for aid and three more concubines step from a back room and fill the ranks. Seeing that we are faced with reinforcements, I cast haste. Firenia and Furrnando both attack a concubine, but only Firenia scores a hit. Bluestone, seeing how effective they are, casts another lightning arc. Firenia gets hit by a giant as Chief Jubbek’s tiger pounces on Furrnando and rakes him with its claws. It is not often that I can contribute martially to a battle, so I am enjoying using my crossbow as I hit another giant. Firenia kills a giant. Furrnando tries to break the grapple from the tiger but can’t. Bluestone casts another lightning arc hoping to slay more of the giants. Feeling confident, I try to hit the chief with a bolt but can’t. I guess my streak is at an end. Firenia attacks the tiger and kills it, freeing Furrnando. Furrnando, newly freed, attacks the fire giant but misses, as Bluestone casts a lightning bolt at the nicely aligned giants. The chief rushes over and hits me, I guess he hates me just as much as I hate him! I move out of reach of the chief and cast greater heroism on the party. Firenia hits the chief as Furrnando casts heal. Bluestone casts lightning bolt and slays the concubine and the fire giant. Chief Jubbek hits Firenia as I cast a curing spell. Firenia hits the chief as Furrnando casts heal. Bluestone casts a lightning bolt and kills the chief. I waste no time in cutting the ugly brute’s head off as we need to bring it to General Stom.
We bring the head to General Stom who says we have a visitor. We don’t know if she is being facetious or we have another enemy. We grip our weapons tightly when a mephit appears carrying a sword. We recognize the mephit as Gogorog, who was with Beshka, the efreeti we freed from the Windsong Abbey. Gogoro tells us that Beshka had not forgotten our aid in getting her back to her home plane and in appreciation the mephit presents me with an ornate sword. General Stom and the rest of the giants are amused by this exchange. The mephit, fulfilling its obligation and without further ado disappears to its home plane. General Stom and the rest of the giants also see no need to tarry and fulfill their obligation and depart. The room looks so much smaller without all these giants in here.
Torawsh 11 4713
Level 14
The next day we go down free the maimed giants in the pits. They are grateful, and not that we are appreciative, but we try our best to encourage them to join their departed kin quickly.
We continue on until we come to a drop. We tie some rope to Firenia and down she goes. Halfway down she enters into a fog. In the fog, Firenia sees a library, but it was destroyed because people should not have knowledge in it. As she reaches the floor, she finds herself in a ruined library. Since she sees no immediate danger, she gives the all clear and we follow her down. The ruined library is enough to break my heart especially after Firenia relates her tale that it was ruined so people would not have the knowledge that it contained. Whoever heard of anything as ridiculous as that! We find some magic scrolls inscribed on plates, but any books this library once held have all rotted away.
We open a door and see a construct that looks like it was made out of bone and resembles a scorpion. Firenia hits the construct as I miss with two of my bolts. Bluestone casts an acid arrow as Furrnando casts divine favor and steps up. Firenia hits it just as I cast blur on her. Another construct appears and for some reason both Firenia & Furrnando flee. Bluestone casts acoustic eruption and I cast Ki Shout. Both constructs attack me and I know I am in trouble. Bluestone casts a cold strike and turns invisible. Furrnando comes back to the fight. I cast greater invisibility on myself so I will no longer be an easy target for the constructs. Since they can’t see me, both attack Furrnando instead. Bluestone casts another acoustic eruption. Furrnando casts a heal. Firenia is still scared and is still stays away from the fight. I cast greater heroism on Furrnando. The constructs both hit Furrnando. Bluestone casts an acidic ray. Furrnando hits with his hammer as Firenia continues to run and flee. I hit it with my warhammer but unlike Furrnando, no damage is done. The construct hits Furrnando, but Bluestone brings it down. We all, except Firenia, gang up on the last remaining construct and bring it down.
Session Date: 06/22/2014
Torawsh 11 4713
Level 14
We open another door and suddenly there is a ghost behind us casting glitterdust. How he knew that we as a party favored invisibility spells is beyond me. Firenia and I are blinded from the glitterdust. Bluestone casts a scorching ray as Furrnando casts heal on the ghost which is harmful to undead. I miss with my undead bane rapier. The undead curator points to me and says “rabbit”. Luckily I am still my handsome self. As Firenia passes by him to hit him he reaches inside of her and causes her great pain which causes her to miss in her attack. Bluestone casts magic missile at him. Furrnando hits the ghost and I really hit the ghost with my undead bane weapon and he glares at me. He looks at Bluestone and says “rabbit” and unfortunately for Bluestone, he turns into a rabbit. Firenia hits the curator. Bluestone, still able to cast spells in his rabbit form, casts an acid ray at the ghost. Furrnando casts break enchantment so Bluestone is no longer a rabbit. Bluestone looks at the ghost hatefully and I know that the mage is thinking of some way to get revenge. I hit the ghost again with my rapier. A rainbow colored cone springs from the ghost’s fingers. Furrnando and I both take damage and Bluestone and I are turned into stone. Firenia hits the curator as Furrnando turns Bluestone back from stone. Firenia hits the curator again. The back-to-flesh Bluestone casts chain lightning at the apparition which causes the ghost to dissipate. Furrnando uses a scroll of break enchantment to turn me back from stone. I am just glad they did not leave me as a statue!
We come to a room with eight alcoves with statues and four, large, glass containers. One of the containers contains a silver dragon, another a roper, the third – a aurumvorax and the last a deformed phase spider. The door on the other end is considered magical and I disable the trap. As we step into the opposite room, two huge water elementals appear. Firenia attacks one of the elementals scoring a hit as Bluestone turns invisible. Furrnando casts dismissal on one of the elementals and it disappears. The remaining one attacks Firenia and Firenia backs up as Bluestone also casts dismissal sending the elemental back to its home plane.
I know we should continue on, but I can’t help feel that we should somehow free the silver dragon. From the doorway I shoot some bolts at the glass container entrapping the dragon. After a few hits, it shatters and the dragon is freed. It looks at us with a crazed look and uses its breath weapon shattering all the jars. We quickly close the door. Furrnando says that he has a way to cure the dragon of its madness. Bluestone casts greater invisibility on Furrnando and I cast it on myself. I then dimension door Furrnando and I into the room. We must have tarried a bit too long in formulating our plans and casting our spells for a terrifying scene greets us. We figured that the deformed phase spider was already dead in its container but now we behold the crushed body of the aurumvorax and the dead body of the silver dragon. The roper is also in its death throes and we finish it off quite mercifully. As we do, from the silver dragon’s head we see an intellect devourer emerge and flee. Furrnando shrugs and says, “With that thing in his head, we probably couldn’t have done much for the dragon any way.” Disappointed, we continue on.
We come to a room with spheres of water containing figures. As we look into the spheres we notice they contain the bodies of aboleths. There is also a mural on the wall that shows humans above being manipulated by aboleths below. Apparently the Thassalonians killed these aboleths and entombed them. We see no reason to disturb their eternal slumber so we continue on.
We next find a temple dedicated to the outer gods and the Great Old Ones. Apparently it was used by travelers from Leng. Finding ourselves low on resources, we spend the night.
Torawsh 12 4713
Level 14
We come to a great hall with hundreds of columns each with a carving of a faceless angel. Statues we have seen before in the room with the silver dragon. I look at one of the statues and tell the group that these angels are in service to Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos. That god is not served by angels and this is a blasphemy. Maybe that is why they have no faces. As we walk down the hall, two statues come alive. Bluestone becomes invisible as I get hit by an angel and am really hurt. Firenia also gets hit by an angel. Furrnando casts haste on himself and does some damage on the angel-construct. I cast Ki Shout but it has no effect. Firenia hits the Angel as Bluestone casts slow on the angels. One angel attacks Firenia as the other one attacks Furrnando. Furrnando attacks and hits the angel he is dueling. I turn invisible. Firenia scores some hits. Bluestone casts haste on the party. Firenia and Furrnando both get hit. Furrnando casts a healing burst so Firenia and he can stay in the fight. I cast displacement on Furrnando. Firenia hits her angel as Bluestone casts acid arrow on the other one. Firenia gets hit by an angel. Furrnando casts divine favor on himself and I cast displacement on Firenia. Firenia scores some more hits. Bluestone casts another acid arrow. Because of the protection spells, the angels do little damage to Furrnando and Firenia. Furrnando hits the angel and I miss with the wand of acid arrow that I had borrowed from Bluestone. Firenia again hits her opponent. Bluestone scores a direct shot with an acid arrow. Firenia and Furrnando both take damage from their opponents. Furrnando does another healing burst. I cast acid arrow out of the wand as Firenia chips more pieces away from the construct. Bluestone does another acid arrow. Firenia and Furrnando both get hit. I cast another acid arrow out of the wand. Firenia hits and kills the construct she has been attacking. After a few more minutes, the other construct falls as well.
Session Date: 07/20/2014
Torawsh 12 4713
Level 14
We continue on through the room and luckily for us, no other statues come alive. We proceed on until we come to a huge underground lake. It looks at some point there was a bridge that spanned this lake, but it has long since crumbled into ruin. We see an island in the lake and decide to windwalk over to it to see if there is anything there of note. The island is small and there is nothing of note except that there are many rocks arranged in such a way that if a powerful spell caster spent several weeks, he or she could open a portal to the abyss. As we are looking at the rocks, two nagas appear. Both nagas waste no time in shooting lightning bolts at us, and then follow that up by shooting two more. Furrnando wisely casts protection from energy electricity. Firenia charges the nearest naga. I shoot two bolts at them and miss. Bluestone casts acidic splash on both nagas. One of the nagas tries to do another lightning bolt but Furrnando’s protection helps and the naga growls in rage. The other naga tries to bite and sting Firenia, but misses in its attack. Furrnando casts blessing of fervor. Firenia hits the naga with multiple swings of her longsword. Unlike last time, I hit the naga with three crossbow bolts. Bluestone casts another acidic spray. Firenia gets hit with a scorching ray from both nagas. Furrnando hits one with his mace. Firenia kills one of the nagas and goes helps Furrnando with the naga he is battling. I hit the naga with a bolt. Bluestone’s acid from his previous acid splash kills the last naga. Looking at the bodies of the nagas we determine that they were the clerics that were trying to open the portal to the abyss.
We see another island in the distance and decide to explore that island as well. We windwalk to the island and as we are walking about, Furrnando all of a sudden starts to fall through a pit, but luckily he has a ring of feather fall which slows his descent. We did not see the shaft that he fell into due to some illusionary affect. He feels that it is taking too long to reach the bottom of the pit so he takes out his wand of fly and flies to the bottom. He sees a short hallway that ends in two metal doors that depict a vast mountain range under a night sky and a huge castle. He flies up and lets us know what he found and we all make our way to the bottom of the shaft. I recognize the castle as Kadath of Leng, which is one of the palaces of Nyarlathotep. I believe the doors are trapped and I set about disabling the trap and then proceed to pick the lock and open the door. We feel that we should explore the other areas around the lake and leave this area for another time. I close the door and we return to the top of the shaft.
We decide to explore the shore line and as we do, two giant purple worms appear from tunnels in the ground. Bluestone casts acidic spray at both worms. Furrnando casts blade barrier and one is hurt. Firenia hits one of the worms and I hit the other one with two bolts. One worm attacks Firenia and the other attacks me and I am grappled in its mouth. Bluestone casts magic missile at the one grappling me. Furrnando casts another blade barrier. Firenia slays the worm she is fighting and I feebly stab the worm grappling me with my dagger. The worm then proceeds to swallow me whole. Bluestone casts chain lightning and cold ice strike and kills the worm. Firenia cuts me out and Furrnando uses the wand of restoration since I am weakened with my ordeal with the worm’s mouth.
We go to the opposite shore line and we are surprised to see a female drow standing atop of a tower. Surprisingly she does not attack but tells us to stay where we are. We are pondering this strange request when suddenly the door to the tower opens and another female drow exits. She looks at Firenia and asks what we are doing here. Furrnando starts to reply and the drow gives him a look that silences him. She then turns back to Firenia and says, “You let your males speak for you?” Firenia, quickly sizing up the situation says, “I do not let them speak for me, but I do let them speak. Most of the time they say the most amusing things and I enjoy when they entertain me.” The drow gives a wry smiling of understanding and Firenia continues. “I seek the counsel from a blue dragon.” The drow closes her eyes as if she is silently communicating with someone else and after a few moments, she opens her eyes and announces that her mistress proposes an alliance. She will help us in our task; she only requests that she be allowed to use the item for one day then it is ours. This puzzles us because we had mentioned nothing about seeking an item only seeking a blue dragon. Firenia stares hard at the drow. “How do we know that we are talking about the same item?” The drow smiles and says “You mean the shard? Yes my mistress knows all about it and can help you achieve it, but just needs to use it.” This can’t be good. Firenia asks, “How can I be sure that your mistress will not use it to wreck havoc on the surface world?” “You have our word, female to female” comes the reply. I personally don’t trust this drow or her mistress and looking around at everyone else, it is clear that no one else in the party does either. “Does your mistress know that the item is cursed and needs an ioun stone to overcome the curse?” The drow closes her eyes and again starts her silent communication. Seconds pass before she opens them again and says. “Yes, she is well aware.” “By the way, what is your mistresses’ name?” Firenia asks. The drow announces with some flourish “The most glorious mistress, Lady Xaivanshee of Zura, third daughter of House Rasivrein!” I can’t help but feel sorry for the first and second daughter once Xaivanshee gets a hold of the shard. We tell them that we need to rest the night and will continue our search in the morning. The drow again starts her communication and at this point I am wishing that Lady Xaivanshee will just come out already! When the silent communication is done she says that is fine. The mistress and her three hunt mistresses will follow us tomorrow.
We make camp far from the tower and make sure we set up watches. We don’t trust those drow for a minute!
Torawsh 13 4713
Level 14
The next morning we awake and are relieved that we did not have any drow visitors overnight. We can’t help but think we are being watched so we keep our conversations about them muted. We decide to go back to the two metallic doors we had found the previous day.
We enter into a huge cathedral lit by blue lights. I believe that this cathedral is dedicated to the faceless sphinx of Leng. As we cross the middle of the cathedral all but Firenia slow and start heading to a statue of a sphinx at the end of the cathedral in a wind that suddenly picked up. Furrnando tries to dispel the compulsion effect but we are still being drawn to the statue as if being blown by the wind. Suddenly a flying polyp appears and three tentacles lash out at Furrnando and grapple him. Bluestone casts haste to counteract the slow affect. Three tentacles come out and grapple me. Firenia, not affected by the slow and taking full advantage of the haste, goes up and hits the flying polyp. Grappled, I can’t seem to cut a tentacle with my dagger. Bluestone casts a lightning arc. Two tentacles try to hit and grapple Firenia, but they are unsuccessful. Firenia tries to cut the tentacle that is grappling Furrnando with her longsword, but is unable to cut through it. I still can’t cut free with my dagger. Bluestone does another lightning arc but this time, it has no affect on the creature. Two tentacles again try to hit Firenia but luckily, again, she is not grappled. Firenia again tries to hit a tentacle that is grappling Furrnando, and again she is unable to slice through it. I continue to fail cutting through the tentacle with my dagger. Furrnando casts a healing burst. Bluestone does another lightning arc. Two tentacles miss Firenia as Firenia slays the polyp. When it dies the wind also dies and so does our strange compulsion.
Session Date: 07/27/2014
Torawsh 13 4713
Level 14
We do a search of the cathedral and after finding nothing of note, we are glad to leave it behind. The next room that we come to has a floating pool of silver fog in the middle. We keep a wary eye on the fog as we go to one of the doors leading out of the room. The only interesting feature in this room is ovoid, six-foot-long tan stone that floats two feet in the air. It looks like some sort of key can be inserted into the stone. Not having the key, we decide to try the door at the opposite end. Inside we find a large chamber dominated by two large facial carvings. The mouths of the carvings seem large enough for a humanoid creature to enter. One of the faces grins and the other scowls. Furrnando detects magic and detects an aura of abjuration. He thinks these are some sort of portals. There is also a green curtain that bisects the room. I go and peek behind the curtain and I see a gem-encrusted skull resting on a pile of dust on a throne. Of course I want to know who this throne belongs to so I see if there is anything in the pile of dust to help identify that individual. As I do, the skull begins to levitate and shouts, “So you want to rob me! It is the last thing you will do!” Firenia, not wasting any time, rushes up and hits the skull with a swing of her longsword but there seems to be no damage done to it. Bluestone casts a magic missile at the skull and that has no effect either. Furrnando casts blessing of fervor. The skull looks at Firenia and one of the gems on the skull starts to glow and it looks like Firenia’s essence starts to disappear, but it comes back. I hit the skull with my undead bane rapier but it has no affect. Firenia hits the skull again but again, there is no damage. Bluestone casts acid arrow and does some damage to it. Furrnando hits the skull with his holy mace and does damage so he hands the mace to Firenia. The skull lets out an ear-splitting wail and while everyone else is hurt, I fall to the ground bleeding profusely. Firenia hits the skull and now is able to damage it. Bluestone casts false life on himself. Furrnando casts heal on me and I feel a lot better. Another wail like that and I will be joining Balak by Torag’s forge! It looks like we are in dire straits when suddenly the green curtain is ripped down by our drow allies. We hope that they are our allies and will not take this moment to stab us in the back. We soon have our answer as one of the drow, Lady Xaivanshee perhaps, casts a spell and the skull looks like it is close to crumbling. The skull starts to wail again, but a smack from Firenia’s mace stops it. I wisely withdraw. Another smack from Firenia’s mace finishes what the drow started and shatters the skull. The drow ask Firenia if she is all right and then looking at how badly bruised we all are I am sure they are beginning to wonder about their choice of allies. They tell Firenia that they will continue to monitor our progress and just as suddenly as they appeared, they seem to suddenly disappear. We heal ourselves and when I continue to poke through the dust I find an object that looks like it will fit in the floating stone in the room across the way. There is also another one of those facial sculptures in the back of the room. This one wears a look of fear. Furrnando wants to try the portals. He tries the ‘happy’ one first and after experiencing excruciating pain, he is thrown back through. He heals himself and tries the ‘scowling’ one in case the ‘happy’ one was a trick. He again experiences excruciating pain and again is thrown back through. He again heals himself and tries the ‘fear’ one. He meets the same results. If the drow are still monitoring us, they probably do not doubt Firenia’s previous statement that her males amuse her!
We go to the room with the floating stone and when I insert the key, I get a mental picture of people casting protection from evil on themselves and then jumping into the fog as hideous creatures fly out. Unfortunately for us Furrnando does not have this spell. We doubt our drow ‘allies’ would have protection from evil spells, but we figure it couldn’t hurt to ask. Firenia calls out for the drow, and after a few moments one appears. It is the same hunt mistress we spoke to at the tower. I tell her that I had a vision when I inserted the key and she is shocked. “You had a vision! Why did you gain the knowledge and not your mistress?” Thinking quickly, I reply that I did not know if the object was trapped or not and I did not want my mistress to be injured. She seems to buy my explanation and if they witnessed Furrnando’s painful experiences with the portals, how could they not? She holds out her hand and I give her the key. She walks over inserts the key and it looks like she is receiving a vision as well. When it is done, she turns to me and says, “You are correct male, only my vision had them casting protection from good spells. My mistress would never cast a vile spell like protection from evil, but tomorrow she will have enough protection from good spells for everyone. We agree that is our best course of action and since we cannot go further, we rest for the day and night.
We again keep a vigilant watch in case our ‘allies’ come during the night instead of the morning.
Torawsh 14 4713
Level 14
First thing the next morning, the drow appear. They do not make small talk and instead start casting their spells. Once the spells have been cast, Furrnando casts fly on us non-drow and the drow begin to levitate and we all enter the mist. We soon find ourselves on a forty-foot platform that ends in double doors. I don’t know if the protection from good spell helped us or not, but I will assume that it did and that is the reason we did not see any flying creatures. We open the doors and there is a corridor. The drow again tell us that they will monitor our progress. The corridor ends in two more doors and I hear chewing behind them. We open the door and see eight creatures gnawing bones. These are leng ghouls. One tells us to leave or we will be their next meal. I tell them all we want is safe passage. The ghoul stares at us with his soulless eyes and I get the feeling that they would rather not fight us. They agree on the condition that if we die they can eat our corpses. I agree with the sincere hope that opportunity will not arise for these undead beings. When they hear that we are going to see the dragon, they seem a little less anxious on eating our corpses since they do not want to be in close proximity to the dragon. They seem unable or, more likely, unwilling to provide us with any other information on the dragon – possibly still holding out for our corpses. We continue on and leave them to their meal.
Behind the next double doors I hear moaning in aklo. We open the door and we see four moon-beasts and one shoggoth restrained in a pit. Seeing how we were able to negotiate our way past the leng ghouls, maybe diplomacy will work here as well. Instead I hear in my mind that our corpses will be fed to the shoggoth so that it will grow even faster! So the shoggoth is not a captive but a pet or, more likely, a weapon! Firenia, who must have gotten the same mental message that I did shoots two arrows into a moon-beast. One of the moon-beasts roars up and strikes me as I cast displacement on Firenia. Furrnando casts align weapon on Firenia’s sword as Bluestone casts haste. Firenia, with her good-aligned weapon scores some hits. I get hit again by the moon-beast as I cast discordant blast at another one. Furrnando casts a fireball and Bluestone casts a lightning arc. Multiple moon-beasts are hurt by these spells. Firenia again slices the moon-beast but gets hit in return for her trouble. Furrnando also gets struck by a moon-beast. I try to convince one of the moon-beasts that the shoggoth needs attending with a suggestion spell, but it refuses with the mental reply that it is attending to it – by getting its dinner! Furrnando hits a moon-beast as Bluestone casts acidic spray and kills one. Firenia hits and slays another one. Firenia gets missed by a moon-beast and I miss with all my bolts. Furrnando hits one, but it is Firenia that puts it down. Firenia and Furrnando combine their efforts to put the last one down. Firenia walks over and slays the restrained shoggoth.
Funny how the leng ghouls never mentioned the moon-beasts or the shoggoth!
Session Date: 08/23/2014
Torawsh 14 4713
Level 15
We come to a large cavern and see a blue dragon sitting in a nest. It says that we must be the ones that it has been dreaming of and if we give up the shards, she will help us make our departure quickly. I do not know if she means us physically leaving the cavern or our demise, but I am assuming it is our demise. Anyway, I quickly cast greater Invisibility on Firenia. Seeing how the dragon is a blue dragon, Furrnando casts communal protection against electricity. Even though he is casting spells, the presence of the dragon causes Furrnando to be shaken, but the rest of us are fine. Maybe the dragon looked more terrifying than he thought it would. The dragon casts glitterdust on us. So much for the invisibility spell I had cast on Firenia and I am blinded to boot! It is about this time that our drow allies show up and not a moment too soon! Bluestone casts haste, but since he is a male, our drow allies want no part of it. I cast greater heroism and Furrnando casts fly on Firenia. Cadrilkasta breathes and we are the worse for wear. Firenia flies up to Cadrilkasta and the dragon promptly bites her. Firenia tries to swing at the lumbering dragon, but misses. Bluestone casts an acid spray while I cast greater heroism on Furrnando. Furrnando casts dispel magic on the glitterdust on Firenia and now Firenia is invisible. Cadrilkasta breathes again and both Firenia and Bluestone are caught in its wake. Lady Xaivanshee appears and the other drow get into fighting position. An invisible Firenia swings and slices the dragon. Bluestone tries enervation but his ray misses its mark. I try to use the shard to dispel any magic on her but it doesn’t work either. Furrnando casts a spell that will summon archons. Cadrilkasta continues to use her breath weapon for devastating effect. One of the drow mistresses hits with her hand crossbow. Firenia really slices Cadrilkasta with her sword as I move to Bluestone. Furrnando’s summoned Archons appear and all four shoot two rays at the dragon. Furrnando tries to cast dispel magic at Cadrilkasta to get rid of some of her protection spells. Again Cadrilkasta breathes causing much distress. Lady Xaivanshee casts a blade barrier in an attempt to cut the dragon in half. Bluestone, tired of being hurt by the dragon’s breath weapon, casts protection from electricity. I cast greater heroism on Bluestone as the archons hit Cadrilkasta with more rays. Furrnando summons more archons. Cadrilkasta flies over to Furrnando. Lady Xaivanshee and Firenia both stab the dragon. Bluestone also casts dispel magic on Cadrilkasta in an attempt to weaken the deadly foe. I cast stone call on the dragon. Furrnando’s other archons appear and they shoot rays with the other archons. Cadrilkasta suddenly disappears, reappears, and attacks Furrnando. Lady Xaivanshee casts destruction and the dragon is no more.
The dust has not settled on Cadrilkasta when Lady Xaivanshee turns to us with outstretched hand and says simply, “Our agreement.” We hand over the shard and she begins to huddle with her hunt mistresses. The rest of the party begins to heal up and search for the dragon’s treasure. Now maybe it is because of my dwarven heritage, but I don’t trust drow. I REALLY don’t trust drow. I watch them huddle together and I know that nothing good is going to come of this despite Lady Xaivanshee reassurances. I stealthily take out my luck blade which still has the one wish that was granted by Beshka, the efreeti we freed from the Windsong Abbey. Holding it I say, “I wish that us pathfinders and the seven shards were back at Heidmarch Manor. Smoke suddenly swirls around us and we soon find ourselves back at the manor with the shard of sloth and without Lady Xaivanshee. The Snooty Butler was dusting the room that we appeared in and we almost gave the poor soul a heart attack! He starts to admonish us for scaring him so, but we tell him that we have no time for such foolishness and that Shelia and Sir Canayven need to be summoned immediately. Grudgingly the Snooty Butler does what he is told and a few minutes later both Shelia and Sir Canayven appear. We present them with all seven shards and the look of excitement, pride, and perhaps a little envy appear on both of their faces. They tell us that visitors from all over Golarion are making their way to Magnimar to witness the reconstruction of the star. “Ye might be getting a few unwanted visitors!” I add and I quickly tell the couple about our arrangement and betrayal of the drow. “I am sure this Lady Xaivanshee would have betrayed you all and it is good that the completed star not fall into the drow’s hands. I will make sure to add extra guards.”
I do not think my companions are happy with me for our escape before we could claim the dragon’s horde, but me personally, I’d rather be a few gold pieces short then end up in a hunt mistress’s trophy room!
Session Date: 09/15/2014
Torawsh 14 4713
Level 15
Shelia announces that we should get some rest as tomorrow she will be calling the first meeting of the Sihedron Council – and we are its newest members. It is hard to believe that just a few short months ago we were pathfinder initiates and now we are members of a council giving our council. I go to sleep that night one happy dwarf!
Torawsh 15 4713
Level 15
The next morning I wake up extra early. The excitement of being part of the Sihedron Council has me so excited that not even the Snooty Butler can get me down! As the appointed time draws near, the council members begin to arrive. They are mostly wizards since apparently wizards are needed to infuse the shards with magical energies. Once everyone is gathered, Shelia stands up, clears her throat and announces:
“Greetings, friends and associates, and thank you for agreeing to join the Sihedron Council. In two weeks we will gather atop the Irespan to perform the Ritual of Reforging. I’ll give a short speech to introduce the council members, in particular the heroes who braved certain death to gather the shards of the Shattered Star, and then they’ll have a chance to regale the gathered crowd with tales of their adventures. Next, all seven shards will be brought together and placed in the Sihedron Shrine I’ve had my people haul up out of the dungeons under the Crow. We’ll need several spellcasters to help siphon magical energy into the shards. My research has indicated that once the Sihedron is reformed, there’ll be some flashy lights and sounds, but that there should not be a dangerous discharge of magic—all the energies will be absorbed by the Sihedron itself in the process of reforging. I’d like the heroes themselves not to be involved in channeling magic into the Shattered Star, though, since if something does go wrong, they’re our best option to handle whatever develops. And once the Sihedron is reformed, I see no better option than appointing them the artifact’s new keepers! And now, if there’s nothing more, I thank you again and I’ll see you in two weeks upon the Irespan!”
I ask that before Shelia adjourns the council, I would like to offer a few words. She nods in the affirmative and I stand and recount our adventures in collecting the shards. I must have got carried away because my few words turned into two hours. There are some yawns from the group, and I decide to wrap it up. As the council members are filing out, I manage to overhear one of the wizards say to another wizard, “I hope they don’t let that guy speak at the rejoining ceremony!” My face turns a bright crimson and when I write my memoirs, that wizard’s name will be conveniently forgotten!
Torawsh 15-27 4713
We spend the next two weeks buying items and enjoying our fame! Everywhere we go, crowds gather. I have even heard it said that there are one or two babies named Cordwin in my honor, but I haven’t confirmed that yet.
Torawsh 28 4713
Level 15
On the morning of the Rejoining Ceremony we give our shards back to Shelia. She will then give it to the corresponding wizard. We decide to get to the Rejoining Ceremony on the Irespan a bit early and we are surprised of the carnival-like affair that greets us. Delicious, exotic food stuff is being sold from carts, souvenirs are being sold. I believe that there were a few vendors selling dolls in our likeness, but I haven’t confirmed that yet. Some enterprising youngsters were trying to sell litters of kittens as ‘Furrnando Kittens’! Presently it is time for the ceremony to begin. Shelia gives a short speech but the Lord Mayor gives a long speech. He takes credit for the expedition and makes it sound like he was our patron. We had never even met the Lord Mayor until the Sihedron Council! After all the speeches are given, and I am hurt that I was not asked to speak by the way, seven wizards step forward each holding a shard. The shards are placed in the Sihedron Shrine and then the wizards begin casting into it. After a few moments they are bathed in a multi-colored light and we can hear what sounds like the buzzing of a thousand bees. The crowd starts to become anxious and a few begin to panic when suddenly the buzzing stops and a light is emitted from the shrine straight up into the sky. The now complete star rises from the shrine and floats in the air. The wizards are exhausted and need help to walk away from the shrine where I am sure they will get some much needed rest. I am too curious and go over and touch the star. It then suddenly floats behind my head. I am intuned to all that it can do and it is a powerful artifact in deed. At the completion of the ceremony the crowd erupts in applause and music from several different bards begin to play in a jumbled cacophony.
Shelia walks over to us and says, “That went better than I....” Before she can complete her sentence she gazes out into the distance and a look of shock overcomes her face. We follow her gaze and from way out in the sea, we see ominous, dark, storm clouds. No sooner do we see the clouds than the ground starts to shake. It takes all we can do to keep our footing. The townspeople of Magnimar start to flee, leaving their souvenirs and half-eaten fair food in their wake. Suddenly from the ground, a shriezyx appears and climbs out and looks right at us. I cast greater invisibility on Firenia and Firenia goes up to attack and hits the overgrown spider. Furrnando charges the spider and also scores a hit. The shriezyx spits a web at Bluestone and he is slowed. Even though this spider is huge, I miss with three bolts. Firenia also misses in all of her attacks, but Furrnando is able to hit the shriezyx. The shriezyx believes that Firenia poses the bigger threat and focuses all of its attacks on her. Bluestone uses a wand of dimension door to escape the web. I cast discordant blast on the shriezyx as Firenia and Furrnando both hit the creature. The shriezyx bites and claws Furrnando as Bluestone casts enervation at the spider. I cast good hope on Firenia and Furrnando. Firenia really slices the spider as Furrnando scores a hit of his own. The shriezyx bites Furrnando as Bluestone casts chain lighting and cold strike. Firenia stabs the shriezyx and kills it.
We are about to rest on our laurels when we notice a twenty-five foot wave heading to the city. Furrnando casts fly out of the wand and we start to fly. We are warning people to flee when we see three constructs chasing and trampling people. Furrnando casts reverse gravity on the lead construct and it goes 40 feet up in the air. Bluestone casts caustic eruption on the other two and their days of trampling people are over! The one that Furrnando had cast reverse gravity on falls to the ground and falls apart.
We wonder if this nightmare is finally at an end when from the water rises a scylla. She looks at me and announces, “Xin’s trinket brought this doom upon you—its wards cannot stand before the wrath of the runelords themselves!” Suddenly a charybdis appears. I cast deafening song bolt at the scylla. Bluestone tries to dismiss the charybdis she summoned but is unable to. Firenia slices the charybdis with her sword. Furrnando casts holy smite on the scylla. The charybdis bites and claws Firenia and grapples her. I cast good hope on everyone. Bluestone casts chain lightning on the scylla and the charybdis. Firenia tries to break free from the charybdis’ grapple but can’t. The scylla casts black tentacles at us. Furrnando casts freedom of movement on himself so he is not impeded by the tentacles. Firenia is swallowed whole by the charybdis! I grab a hold of Bluestone and cast dimension door so we are out of the tentacles. Bluestone tries to disbelieve that the scylla is actually there and he believes his assumption is correct. “She is not really there!” he yells over the din of battle. Firenia, finding herself in the stomach of the charybdis tries to cut her way out. Furrnando tries to disbelieve that charybdis is also not there, but he believes it is. The scylla tries to cast insanity on Furrnando but fails. Somewhere in the back of our minds we are all thinking the same thing, ‘he is already insane!’ Since it seems like everyone else thinks that the scylla is not really there, I try to disbelieve her also but the way she is casting spells and is causing us much distress, she seems real enough to me! Bluestone casts dismissal and charybdis disappears leaving behind a very wet Firenia. Furrnando takes Bluestone’s advice and also disbelieves the scylla. “Bluestone is right! She’s not there!” he shouts. I think Furrnando and Bluestone are crazy! Of course she’s there! She’s casting spells at us. Firenia drinks a healing potion. Another scylla appears and I cast a deafening song bolt at this newest foe. I suppose Bluestone and Furrnando are going to tell me this one isn’t there either! Bluestone, in arm’s reach of the new Scylla, quickly disappears. Firenia, still dripping with charybdis stomach acid, attacks the new scylla. Furrnando casts dispel magic on the new scylla. The new scylla attacks Firenia. I cast haste on everyone. Bluestone casts caustic eruption on the new scylla as Firenia slices her with her sword. Furrnando casts heal on Firenia and she is as good as new. Furrnando’s good deed does not go unnoticed or unpunished by the scylla. I cast ice storm on the scylla as Bluestone tries to cast enervation but his ray easily misses his target. Firenia continues her attacks on the new scylla as Furrnando casts good alignment on her sword. I cast greater invisibility on Furrnando so he will be less of a target. Bluestone tries to cast enervation again but his ray again misses his target. Firenia scores some hits as Furrnando does a healing burst. The new scylla really pounds Firenia. I cast deafening song bolt at the scylla as Bluestone again misses with an enervation ray. Between Firenia taking pieces of the scylla and Furrnando keeping her in the fight, it is not long before we finally wear her and her image down.
We brace ourselves for the next calamity, which thankfully does not come. We spend the rest of the day treating the wounded and looking for survivors.
Session Date: 09/29/2014
Torawsh 29 4713 – Lamashan 6 4713
Level 16
We spend the week healing the wounding, rescuing the trapped, and rebuilding where we are able. It seems the people admire us for rolling up our sleeves and lending a hand. We feel it is the least we can do. Luckily during the week nothing else rises from the water, but there are still the dark clouds on the horizon.
Lamashan 7 4713
Level 16
We are summoned to Heidmarch Manor. All the other members of the Sihedron Council stand up and applaud. We are grateful for the adulation but humbled by the devastation. Shelia announces that the Pathfinder Society would like to award us each a Wayfinder of Endless Doorways inscribed with our names on it. She says that in light of all that we have accomplished and our actions since the tsunami; this award seems ‘almost inadequate’. At this time Toth Bhreacher stands up and noting the constructs that attacked the city says,
“All of the runelords had varying degrees of mastery over the crafting of constructs, but as far as I’ve been able to deduce from writings recently recovered from the Therassic Library below Jorgenfist, it was their original leader, First King Xin, who was the most talented of them at this art. His entire city of Xin
was supposedly protected by an army of golems and constructs, all commanded by one man—Xin himself. As he grew old, Xin apparently sought a way to achieve immortality by transferring his soul to a sort of clockwork reliquary, but before he managed to complete this task, the treacherous runelords sent a rune giant assassin to end his life. That was when the seven shards of the Sihedron were scattered, each claimed by one of the seven runelords. And there, information about Xin grows sparse—the empire left the city to fall into ruin, and rumors that Xin’s ghost haunted the site persisted until the end. Now, the thing that worries me is this—those destroyed constructs that washed ashore with the tsunami, along with the clockwork monsters that yet lived, all bore the unmistakable flourish of Xin’s touch. Because of this fact, combined with the ominous storm clouds on the horizon, I fear that the activation of the Sihedron may have activated much more than a single artifact. I fear that the island city of Xin itself has awakened!”
Shelia suggests that we sail out the next day to investigate the dark clouds and we are more than eager to go. If it is Xin’s island resurfacing, we have a strong desire to deliver some payback for all those that were loss and to make sure it does not happen again. Shelia says that she can arrange a boat to take us out in the morning. I seem to recall that Xin’s island was served by many clockwork creatures, iron golems and outsiders. Sounds like we are in for a fun time!
Lamashan 8 4713
Level 16
As we get closer to the dark clouds, we see that they do indeed hover over an island-the island of Xin we presume. The boat captain does not want to get too close to the creepy island with the dark storm clouds so we row to shore in one of the lifeboats. He says that he will return for us and we hope that he is good for his word. The island of Xin is actually a cluster of islands with a large edifice on the central island. We believe this to be Xin’s fabled Crystal Palace but the exterior looks to be a tad dull.
There are no windows in the Crystal Palace and there is only one door. The door does not have any hinges or knobs. I try and speak phrases in Thassilonian like ‘open’ etc. but the door does not open. I finally decide to just push on the door and it opens. We step into a foyer that at one time might have been bright and welcoming, but now looks dull and foreboding. There are incredibly life-like but cracked crystal statues in the foyer. We are studying them when from the floor three gobs rise up and take the shape of three human females. They exchange pleasantries with us and we are thinking this might not be so bad after all. That is until they come to the part where they will not aid us or let us pass further into the palace. We lie to them and tell them that we are trying to give Xin back his star but they don’t acquiescence. We did not come all this way to stay in some derned foyer, so we try to pass. All three try to cast hold person on Firenia which has no affect as Firenia goes up to hit one of the axiomites of Xin and does. Furrnando determines they are not undead and he moves up into position. Bluestone casts polar ray at one of the axiomites as I cast haste. Two axiomites flank Firenia and beat on her. One of the axiomites hits Bluestone as Firenia and Furrnando both deliver attacks. Bluestone casts Ice Strike on the axiomites as I cast greater invisibility on Firenia. The axiomites continue to flank Firenia and deliver devastating destruction upon her. The other hits Bluestone and turns into dust. We look at Bluestone to find out what he did to defeat such a formidable foe and he just shrugs his shoulders. He is just as puzzled as we are. Firenia scores a hit as Furrnando casts dispel magic on one. Bluestone casts chain lighting on the two remaining axiomites, but it seems to have no affect on them. I hit one of the axiomites but do no damage to the creature. The two axiomites flank me and put me down, but luckily the star resurrects me. They look at me with surprise, but I know the star can only do that once per day and if they do that again, I’m in trouble. Firenia scores another hit as Furrnando casts plane shift. Bluestone casts acid splash and cold ice strike at the same time hoping to put another of these creatures down. I stand up and wisely withdrawal from the combat. Since they don’t have me to flank any more, the axiomites both flank Furrnando and really hurt him. Firenia tries to come to Furrnando’s aid by striking one of the axiomites. Furrnando casts heal. Bluestone does another acidic spray and cold ice strike and an axiomite turns to dust. Bluestone is really turning out to be the bane of these things! I hit the last one with a deafening song bolt. Suddenly another axiomite appears right in front of me. Is this a new foe or one that had previously turned to dust? Furrnando and I are both struck by an axiomite. Firenia strikes one and turns to dust. Furrnando casts mass heal. Bluestone casts polar ray on the one in front of me as I step back and hit it with deafening song bolt. It follows me and attacks me. Luckily, Firenia charges it and nicks it. Furrnando and Bluestone both cast spells and the axiomites turn to dust. Furrnando believes that they are really dead this time and will not reform and come back to life.
We open the door see a row of constructs lining the room. In the center of the room sits a throne. Upon the throne rests a corpse of a man that has had his arms and legs burned off. As we approach, we realize that it is not a corpse at all, or quite possible an undead, since its eyes open and it says, “What strangeness disturbs my well-deserved rest? Another assassin?” This..uh..thing resembles all the images I have seen of Xin, but if it is Xin, then he has seen better days. His eyes settle on the Sihedron and he asks me to hand it over. We do not think it is wise to hand over this powerful artifact to something that might or might not be really Xin and might or might not be evil. We hesitate which causes Xin to grow impatient and more demanding. We then tell him that we need the star to seek out the traitorous runelords and eliminate them for him. He seems satisfied with this explanation and says we can pass.
Hopefully this has bought us some time – time we need to find some answers.
Session Date: 10/20/2014
Lamashan 8 4713
Level 16
Now that we don’t have to worry about being attacked by Xin, we survey the room and see a couple of doors. We ask Xin which door his treacherous runelords are behind. He says for us to take the stairs up. We look around the room again and we do not see any stairs. We ask him which door has the stairs. He says none of them. For someone that wants us to destroy his enemies, he is not making this easy! Bluestone asks how we find the stairs. He tells us to step on the block of black quartz that is in the center of the room. We all do and Furrnando and I hear a message in Thassilonian saying we can will the quartz to create stairs up or down. As we look down we see that the stairs are flooded and we see several thousand constructs. We wisely decide not to go downstairs. We decide to explore this level before we go upstairs. We tell this to Xin and he just looks at us with soulless eyes. You would think after 10,000 years he would be more of a conversationalist! I do not hear anything behind the doors except for one. Behind that that door I hear humming. We figure we might as well open the door with something behind it. We open the door and see copper spheres spinning. These are the source of the humming noise. We also see a podium with spider-like legs holding a shining crystal. As we step into the room, to our horror, the spider-like podium comes alive. It is a thulgant qlippoth. It blinks next to Furrnando and I and stings Furrnando badly. Firenia hits the qlippoth but does less damage than she thought she should do. Bluestone casts acid arrow at the qlippoth but it does no damage to it. Furrnando casts align weapon on Firenia’s sword to make it good aligned and takes a step back out of the range of the qlippoth. The qlippoth stings Firenia and hits her with a tentacle. I take a five foot step back and cast displacement on Firenia and also transfer the star to her. Firenia tries to hit the qlippoth but her sword misses the qlippoth easily. Bluestone tries to cast enervation but his ray misses. He then tries to cast ice strike but the qlippoth takes no damage. Bluestone shakes his head in frustration. Furrnando casts restoration as the tentacles had made Firenia weaker. The qlippoth stings Furrnando and hits him with the tentacles and he does not seem as charismatic as he did a moment ago. Hoping to help Furrnando, I cast greater invisibility on him. Firenia hits the qlippoth, but again does no damage to the foul creature. Bluestone finally hits it with an enervation ray. Furrnando uses his wand of restoration to get all his charisma back. The qlippoth stings Furrnando and its tentacles hit him-so much for my greater invisibility spell! I cast haste. Firenia transfers the star to Furrnando and then finally strikes the qlippoth. Bluestone casts another enervation and scores a hit. Furrnando casts heal. The qlippoth blinks to Bluestone and attacks him. I cast good hope. Firenia moves to attack the qlippoth. Furrnando transfers the star to Bluestone and casts a heal on him. Bluestone casts enervation but his ray misses the qlippoth. The qlippoth hits Furrnando and I miss the qlippoth with a deafening song bolt. Firenia misses in her attacks and so does Bluestone who misses with an enervation ray. Furrnando casts holy word. The qlippoth casts a spell and I am stunned. Firenia strikes the qlippoth, but we all realize that the battle is going badly for us. Bluestone, in an effort to save everyone, casts dimension door and we are all suddenly on an island outside of the Crystal Palace. We spend the rest of the day healing up and formulating a battle plan for the qlippoth for tomorrow!
Lamashan 9 4713
Level 16
In the morning we finalize our plans and decide which spells we will cast to give us an advantage in combat. We decide to dimension door in and we almost appear right on top of the qlippoth. I start off the combat by casting deafening song bolt. The qlippoth immediately attacks Furrnando. Bluestone casts dimensional anchor so we won’t have to worry about the qlippoth blinking around the room. Furrnando casts destruction and although the qlippoth is hurt, he is not destroyed. The qlippoth tries to cast a spell but we are not affected. Firenia hits the qlippoth once. I miss with another deafening song bolt. Bluestone misses with an enervation ray. Furrnando does another destruction and again hurts the qlippoth but does not destroy it. The qlippoth casts another spell and Firenia doesn’t have the wisdom she once did. The qlippoth misses Firenia, but Firenia strikes the qlippoth. I miss with another deafening song bolt. Bluestone hits with a ray of enervation and Furrnando casts restoration on Firenia. The qlippoth continues its attacks on Furrnando. I finally hit with a deafening song bolt. Bluestone casts true strike. Furrnando casts another destruction. He just can’t seem to destroy the qlippoth, but the qlippoth looks worse each time he casts it. The qlippoth hits Furrnando while Firenia hits the qlippoth. I cast cure critical wounds on Furrnando to keep him in the fight. Even with his true strike spell, Bluestone misses with an enervation ray. I get hit by the qlippoth and I am barely standing. Firenia misses in her attacks. I wisely withdraw from combat. Bluestone hits with an enervation ray while Furrnando casts heal on me. The qlippoth, not liking the enervation rays, attacks Bluestone while Firenia attacks the qlippoth. I miss with my luck blade. Bluestone casts dismissal and the qlippoth disappears. Firenia turns to Bluestone and asks, “Why didn’t you do that yesterday!”
Session Date: 11/23/2014
Lamashan 8 4713
Level 16
We search the rest of this room and find some scrolls. We decide to keep searching this level.
We come to a room with a large table. This room looks like it was used as a banquet room. There is room enough for eighteen guests. Surprisingly, it looks like about a dozen of the chairs are occupied by mechanical beings. What would mechanical beings eat at a banquet? I have no idea. Perhaps when I see Xin again, I’ll ask him. The mechanical beings seem to take no notice of us, so we decide to keep it that way and close the door.
The next room we come to has seven, crystal pillars in which are encased desiccated humans dressed in Thassilonian finery. Two of these pillars pulse with an orange light. After much discussion, I decide to touch one of the pillars. Maybe I can free one of the souls so it can be at rest, or maybe ancient Thassilonian knowledge might be imparted to me. Unfortunately what we free are two dread wraiths. Bluestone tries to dismiss one but it doesn’t work. Now Bluestone has made himself a target as one goes up to him and touches him with its deadly fingers. The other one touches me and I fall to the ground dead. Firenia goes up and gets attacked for her trouble. Firenia returns the favor. Furrnando casts deathward on himself and heal on the creature. Bluestone casts lightning arc destroying one. The wraith and Firenia exchange blows. Furrnando casts mass heal and the wraith dissipates.
Bluestone teleports everyone, including my body, back to Heidmarch Manor where Shelia says she can find someone to cast a true resurrection spell in the morning.
Lamashan 9 4713
Level 16
I am being chewed out in Torag’s furnace by me brother Balak for touching the pillars when I hear a call in the distance. Balak sees me far away expression and says, “Don’t ye do it, ye dolt!” But I have to go back; there is too much knowledge for me to learn not to go back! I open me eyes and I see Shelia and the rest of me companions standing around me. Bluestone teleports us back to Xin’s Island where we continue our exploration.
The next room we come to has a chair with a weblike pattern and a floating disc in front of the chair. I volunteer to go sit in the chair, but after what happened yesterday, no one will let me! We close the door and save this room for another time.
We come to a room and we see a statue of Lissala. It looks at one time this might have been a temple to her. In her hands she holds a robe and has a silver helmet on her head. We don’t want to risk entering the room and dealing with a herald of Lissala or worse, Lissala herself, so Furrnando uses a telekinesis spell to retrieve the robe. He tries to retrieve the helmet as well but he is unable to do so. It appears that the silver helmet is one with the statue. Furrnando identifies the robe as a Robe of the Archmagi. Bluestone looks like he is salivating at such a wondrous prize, but Furrnando cautions that since Lissala is an evil deity, it might not be what it seems. We decide to keep the robe and have the pathfinders study it to see if it is cursed.
Since there is nothing left to do on this level, we decide to go up the stairs. There we see lots of constructs. Some of these look like they were made by more than one person. This does not alarm us as Xin was known to have apprentices. We go through a door and see symbol of Sorshen. Just like in the room below, there is a chair and a disc. I did not touch anything in the downstairs room, but this room I have to investigate. It’s Sorshen! How can I not? I’ve felt a connection to the Runelord since I walked in her skin for a time. I touch the disc and I sit in the chair and to my great disappointment, nothing happens. “At least you didn’t get dead again!” Firenia observes.
We see crystal forming over an archway and can barely see the chamber on the other side. Bluestone teleports us in and we confront a marilith demon waving six longswords in our direction. She does not seem like she wants to talk and starts moving menacingly towards us. Furrnando casts dismissal but nothing happens. She casts blade barrier on Bluestone and I and we both take some cuts. I cast haste on the party. Firenia hits the creature but doesn’t do as much damage as she thought she should. Bluestone casts dismissal and the demon lets out a howl and disappears. “I could have probably used some of those longswords!” Firenia observes.
We open a door and see a clockwork dragon. The dragon quickly breathes fire on us. Firenia closes the door but the clockwork dragon wants a fight and easily breaks down the door. Furrnando casts communal protection from fire energy. Bluestone casts freezing sphere and cold ice strike on the dragon. I cast displacement on Firenia. Despite its size, Firenia misses the dragon. The dragon attacks Furrnando and he falls to the ground bleeding. Bluestone casts another freezing sphere and another cold ice strike. I cast greater invisibility on Furrnando so the dragon hopefully will not see him to finish him off. Firenia strikes the dragon and it falls to pieces.
Session Date: 12/14/2014
Lamashan 9 4713
Level 17
We come to a room that looks like a great struggle took place in. The walls are blackenened and we see the body of a giant. We wonder if this was the runelord’s assassin that they sent after Xin. We don’t have time to examine the body for as we enter the room; he stands up and swings his longsword at Firenia. Telling the giant that we are no friends of Xin does not slow his attack. Furrnando casts communal resist fire and ice cold strike. Bluestone casts scorching ray but it has no affect on the giant. I cast greater invisibility on Firenia but it does no good as he slices Firenia with his longsword. She falls down bleeding profusely and we know we are in trouble. Bluestone transfers the star and Firenia regains her footing. We decide to retreat from this battle and luckily the giant does not follow us down the stairs. No wonder Xin had a hard time with this assassin!
We decide to heal up and wait until the next morning before we face the giant again. We spend the rest of the day formulating our battle plans.
Lamashan 10 4713
Level 17
We decide the best way to fight the giant is not to fight him. There does not seem to be much more of this structure that we haven’t explored and we feel that we will find the answer to what caused this island to resurface after so many centuries beyond the giant. We can waste a lot of resources battling him: resources that we might need when we finally confront this mystery. We know that it takes a few moments to activate the stone to produce the stairs so we need to buy a few moments. Furrnando suggests that he cast reverse gravity on the giant. The giant won’t be stuck to the ceiling long but it might be long enough for us to activate the stairs. We take the stairs up and unfortunately for us, the giant is not lying prone on the ground like he was yesterday but standing next to the stone that activates the steps to the next level! Firenia misses as she runs past the giant and the giant misses her. Furrnando casts his reverse gravity and as the giant starts to rise, we all reach the stairs. It takes a moment for the stunned giant to realize that he is falling up and when he does, he starts to float back down. It makes no difference for the stairs are activated and we leave the angry giant behind!
At the top of the stairs we see a clockwork contraption that contains a skeleton. The contraption says in thassilonian that it is Xin and we should bow down to him or be destroyed. I translate for my fellow adventures and I guess this thing thinks I am taking to long because he orders his three axiomites and two elder crystallises to destroy us! In everything that I have read I never read anything about Xin being so impatient or vindictive. Bluestone, wasting no time, casts chain lightning on Xin. Two orbs on Xin’s reliquary open up revealing abysium rods and suddenly we don’t feel as hardy. Xin, also in answer to Bluestone, casts chain lightning. Furrnando casts blade barrier and cold ice strike but it has no affect. Firenia misses with a swipe of her longsword. The axiomites, who were caught on the other side of Furrnando’s blade barrier, decide to risk getting cut up and run through the blade barrier to help Xin. The elder crystallises miss in attacking Firenia. Bluestone casts control construct on Xin’s reliquary but while a noble effort, does not seem to work. Xin casts chain lightning on us and hits Firenia with his claws. Furrnando casts mass heal on us and plane shift on one of the elder crystallises and it disappears. Firenia scores a hit on Xin while the axiomites fly in to attack Furrnando, Bluestone and I. I take a five-foot step back and cast eyebite the axiomite that is attacking me. Bluestone casts banishment and an axiomite disappears. Xin casts mage’s disjunction and most of our magic items are worthless. Suddenly this fght just got a whole lot tougher. Furrnando casts blessing of fevor as a small counterbalance. Firenia misses Xin as I get attacked by the axiomite. I cast greater heroism of Firenia as an elder crystallises hits her. Bluestone casts banishment on the last axiomite and it disappears while Xin casts chain lightning again.
Furrnando starts a summoning as Firenia hits Xin again. Using all my knowledge, I try to study Xin for any weaknesses we can exploit. I believe that he might be vulnerable to positive energy and I let Furrnando know. The elder crystallises hits Firenia. Bluestone casts cold ice strike as Xin’s orbs open up again revealing the abysium rods. We again feel less hardy. Xin casts chain lightning and Furrnando casts a mass heal including Xin which seems to finally significantly damage the former king. Furrnando’s summoned archons miss, but Firenia scores a hit on Xin. I cast mass heroic fortune as Firenia again gets hit by an elder crystallises. Bluestone casts enervation, but there is no effect on Xin. The two orbs open again but none of us are affected as Xin misses Firenia. Furrnando casts heal on Firenia and Xin. While the heal helps Firenia, it really hurts Xin. Firenia scores some hits while I cast two deafening song bolts on Xin.
The elder crystallises hits Firenia. Bluestone casts caustic eruption which causes both Xin and the elder crystallises to explode. Xin is dead-again. Unfortunately the ground beneath us starts to quake and we realize that we don’t want to spend eternity at the bottom of the sea, so Bluestone transports us back to Magnimar.
That for the most part is the end of my tale. Needless to say we became world-famous Pathfinders, and I did wander around seeking knowledge, but all of our other adventures paled in comparison. After all, how many Pathfinders can say they rebuilt an ancient artifact and fought Xin himself!
Thanks for the extended campaign journal. This is quite helpful for my own campaign, which is just starting now. Too bad Ogonthunn didn't appear in the last module, but seeing Xaivanshee in action was quite helpful.
Very good storytelling from you as well. Very much appreciated. :)