The Gathering Storm (4e)

Game Master Rev Rosey

The group deactivate the portal and return to the chamber containing the remnants of the constructs. Andrus places the wrapped wrathstone on the floor.

Urlag watches carefully for signs of 'life' from the wrathstone.

Perception +10

Who is attacking and who is providing the supporting skill check?

Wrathstone: 65hp

Kith and I can pair up for the first one, give it that old dwarven try, well i should ask can someone who attacks also help support with a skill someone else who attacks?

Yes, an attacker can do a supporting skill check to another attacker, but not on the same turn. So, if Tenja hits it and Kith does the skill support, you can swap around the next turn.

here is my attack that will be paired with Kith's endurance 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (11) + 12 = 23 vs ac, 1d10 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21, I will try and mark it if that is possible, and if i hit until the start of ny next turn all my defenses are +1 due to the hit

Tenja's hammer thuds down and the wrathstone pulses menacingly.

Waiting for Kith's paired skill check before resolving.

Regardless, wrathstone now on 44hp.

i got the next skill check, but endurance is not my thing.

Endurance: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23

As Tenja's blow lands, Kith interposes herself firmly between her friend and the wrathstone and their is a thwarted scream from the artifact.

Wrathstone on 44hp

Kith and Tenja can't act again until the rest have gone.
Andrus is lined up for a skill check, but needs an attacker.

"Urlag, smash this thing, will ya?" Andrus says as he concentrates on the stone.

divine favor +3 to check, Arcana= 16+9+3= 28

As Tenja's blow lands, Kith interposes herself firmly between her friend and the wrathstone and their is a thwarted scream from the artifact.

B%*#+%+s. One of my least favourite typos in all the world right there for all to see... Ahem. Apologies. Carry on, chaps.

Melee basic with Furious Assault if hits. 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 262d4 + 9 + 2d4 ⇒ (4, 4) + 9 + (4, 4) = 25

Urlag smash.

Just me and Kel, right? Arcana: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (12) + 14 = 26

"Should be able to warp the aether to redirect the blast away from us. Kel, ready when you are."

Urlag and Andrus work to break the wrathstone. The half-orc's attack makes a large crack in the amber, while Andrus's faith in his goddess provides a protective barrier against the screaming hatred of the occupant.

Zareth conjures arcane wards to protect himself and Kel and waits for the elf to attack.

Wrathstone on 19hp. Just need Kel.

Paging Kel.

Sorry for the delays everyone, I was gone for a while and now its hard getting back into the habit of checking my games everyday.

"Now where do you guys want these arrows?"

Kell fires 2 arrows at the Wrathstone.

1st arrow, attack vs ac, 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31, damage = 1d12 + 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (12) + (7) + 6 = 25
2nd arrow, attack vs ac, 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18, damage = 1d12 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

First arrow is a crit, damage = 2d12 + 26 ⇒ (2, 2) + 26 = 30 total damage for the one arrow.

"I like my new bow."

Combining their powers, the friends show their true worth. As the wrathstone crumbles under Kel's arrows, a violent spasm rocks through it, exploding outwards and attacking everyone in the room as hideous images blast through the minds of all those present.

Close Burst 10 v Will. Going to attack everyone in a room that size.
1d20+13=26 - v Andrus. Hits.
1d20+13=31 - v Kel. Hits.
1d20+13=32 - v Kith. Hits.
1d20+13=31 - v Tenja. Hits.
1d20+13=18 - v Urlag. Hits.
1d20+13=24 - v Zareth. Hits.
3d10=5=25
25 damage each.

As the thwarted screaming dies away, all that is left is a pile of amber fragments and some residual nightmares that will take a very long time to fade. Something, somewhere, will remember you.

Urlag brushes himself off, ignoring the blood. "Can't say that was unexpected," he grumbles.

"That was kinda cool, lets get another one."

Zareth wipes the blood from his face. "I wasn't expecting that to be so painful..."

Spending 2 surges to get back to 41/44 HP.

"At least.... we won't have to worry about one of us getting up in the middle of the night and trying to slay us all in our sleep." Andrus says with a whince. "Despite the pain, I feel....much better."

back to the city, then, unless there was some area we did not explore?

"Let head back to Winterhaven and collect out reward. The people should treat us better now that they know the 'Crows are dead and we finished them off. Well, we finished one of them off, anyway. And there is the mystery of Lord Padraig's son to consider. and unravel."

cutscene. unless there is something more to do here. collect the shards. Arcana to check if the taint is gone. Arcana= 12+9=21. If it isn't, scatter the remaining shards.

"That was kinda cool, lets get another one."

now, that was a Kel-ism.

Back to the city sounds fine. Two surges to be at full. Three surges remain.

Andrus has no idea whether the shards can be used as housing again, but he guesses that these fragments might be harder inhabit.

The group pick up their new belongings, make final checks to gear and head back out of the old Storm Tor. As you make your way through the myconid chamber, you see a small chest left in the doorway. It smells strongly of the mushroom people.

Check out the chest for traps and locks.
Perception = 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17
If locked or traped, theivery = 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16
"Oh goody preasents!"

The chest is locked and in his hurry, Kel muffs opening it. On the bonus side, it isn't trapped either, just rusty.

Aid Thievery for +4 on success 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22

"Slow down, there."

Urlag prods the chest with his huge fingers and the locks gives way in a shower of rust. Inside is a jade statuette of a dancing nymph, two potions of healing and four fire opals, all resting on a nest of silver and copper coins. Everything smells rather strongly of myconid.

"Dibs on the nymph!" Andrus quickly calls out. He then takes the silver and the copper and puts it in the bag of holding, carefully counting it as he does. "The fire opals and healing potions are to whoever wants them."

does the jade nymph statuette summon a real nymph like the opal carp figurine or ebony fly statue does? that would be cool. :) Once again, I am using the bag of holding as a group treasury and we only need to divy up the other treasures. if you don't like how the treasure has been split so far or anything like that, please speak up. i admit, i tend to jump at things i like or find interesting, whether or not someone else may like it. you all deserve this treasure as much as I do. if you want something I have claimed, we can devise a method of settling disputes. and merry x-mas!!

The fire opals are worth 115gp each, and the statuette doesn't appear to be anything other than attractive and valuable (worth 650gp). The coins total 660gp, but are in very bulky form.

Happy Christmas!

It's all well and good to give us the total, but I need the count if I am to split it up equally later. As for bulkiness, that is what a bag of holding is for. Thank you. Does anyone have anything else for us to do while at the Tor? And while I am at it, who wants to claim this place as our new base of operations? There are both pros and cons to claiming this place. One, it is very secure, and once we put up some new traps and stuff, we should be able to keep most people out. (I think we wrecked most of the old ones coming in, right, Rev?) But it is also remote. 3 days from civilization means needing to store food and portable water for a long time there. And the possibility that something will move in while we are gone. But it has lasted a long time, the mushroom guys will help defend it (at least their part of it), and it is a base. What do you think?

Why would you need to know how much each valuable thing we're going to sell is worth? We can just split the treasure after we've sold it for cold hard gold.

I got the mayor to agree to letting us take over the Tor when we took the mission, so it should hold up. We just need to use some of our reward for clearing the place out to change the locks and get supplies. Also, I think we can handle whoever decides to try moving in here during the next six days. (Also, I'm pretty sure the myconids decided to move out, since we just saw no myconids in the myconid den.)

no, I was talking about the silver and copper. if Rev is going to go thru the trouble of making our treasure some bulky denomination, that's fine, but I need an accurate count so I can split it later. otherwise, we have to pretend that we went to a moneychanger who didn't charge us a commission. So that's one vote for taking over the Tor. Who else thinks it is a good idea? I don't like the idea of a remote base. I prefer something in town. So that's one for, one against.

Well, the Storm Crows seemed to operate out of it just fine before they all went insane. (Also, three days from Fallcrest doesn't necessarily mean three days from civilization.)

Anyway, pros and cons:

• Pro: It's proven secure.
• Pro: It's still generally in habitable condition.
• Pro: I'm pretty sure I can convince the mayor to just hand over the deed as part of our payment.
• Con: It's far away from Fallcrest (And possibly everywhere else)
• Con: Storm Tor probably still has a bad reputation.
• Con: It's a fixer-upper, to put it politely.

Anyone else have anything to add to the list?

Pro: You have a small colony of myconids on team.

One of the reasons for giving you some hard cash in loose change was so you didn't have to faff about waving gold coins every place you went to. Nowhere is actually going to refuse to take it in whatever form you present it. You have 6000cp and 600sp.

Is there any nearer civilization of which we're aware?

You're not that close to anywhere, but you are very centrally positioned. As near as you can tell the nearest landmark is the old Temple of Yellow Skulls about a day's ride away. The King's Road (the main route in and out of the Nentir Vale) is within a comfortable half day's ride.

Zareth's fears (or hopes) that the myconid colony has departed are allayed when he looks into the natural caverns on either side of the chamber. The Sovereign Myconid is still there, merely lurking inconspicuously.

I really like the idea of having a nice fortified base of operations, even away form town. Also as mentioned if we keep that myconid colony happy we have some cheap guards

so, let's take a vote on the fortress question. Z is yes, I'm still a no, although if we decide to keep it, I won't be upset. Secure fortress is a pretty good reward. If we can clean it up and trick it out, it might be a cool place to live. Maybe in a level or too, Z or I could establish a permanent portal for us to get quickly to Winterhaven or somewhere else.

Urlag, Tenja, Kel, and Kith, your votes please.

Yes

Two for, one against.

Urlag, Kel, and Kith, I need your votes.

Rev

Keep the tower; it will make the coolest clubhouse.

Raise Dead costs 500gp to cast.

Andrus makes his way back to Agera's pseudo tomb and contemplates his fallen foe. What is left of her corpse is badly burned and she looks far older than her years, as though containing the possessing spirit had simply worn her out. Even so, the traces of the pride that marked her in life and must have helped her fight off the wrathstone for so long are still in evidence. It might be possible to raise her, but Andrus has to question whether that would truly be in Agera's own interests. During the last months of her earthly life at least, she made many enemies.

Andrus carefully wraps Agera's body in his now empty cloak as best as he can and then carries her into the mauseleum to bury her with her comrades. He carefully places her into one of the coffins and then gives her Avandra's last rite and prays for her soul. Then he looks up and prepares to leave.

vote total so far- 3 for, 1 against. Urlag or Kith, if one of you votes yes, then it is settled. Welcome to our new home. If both of you vote no, then we have an impass and we have to negoitate.

As the words of Avandra's rite finish, a distinctly happier air falls on the mausoleum. It seems now as if the occupants will journey the Shadowfell in search of whatever new adventure The Raven Queen has for them.

No. Urlag's not a 'base' kind of half-orc

Kitherra, what say you?

I'm fine with it being a base, and I'm fine with it not. So, Kith abstains.