The Whispering Cairn (Inactive)

Game Master Death-Lok

Vug doesn't have a melee weapon in hand, generally.

Vug throws a barrage of force bombs at the doom tree.

with rapid shot and Heroism:
1d20 + 18 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (18) + 18 + 2 - 2 = 368d4 + 7 ⇒ (3, 4, 3, 2, 3, 1, 2, 1) + 7 = 26
1d20 + 18 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (14) + 18 + 2 - 2 = 328d4 + 7 ⇒ (4, 1, 2, 3, 1, 4, 2, 4) + 7 = 28
1d20 + 13 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (9) + 13 + 2 - 2 = 228d4 + 7 ⇒ (2, 1, 4, 2, 3, 3, 4, 1) + 7 = 27
1d20 + 8 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (5) + 8 + 2 - 2 = 138d4 + 7 ⇒ (1, 1, 4, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4) + 7 = 29

Ref DC 24 or be knocked prone, sticky bombs do 15 damage on the round following a direct hit

Vug: Even with range increments included all 4 of those hit it's touch AC. 110 force damage! I had a feeling that if she were to get free this would be over quickly :)

The now free alchemist throws bottle after bottle that explode upon the tree. The first, shatters several of the supporting legs causing the thing to topple onto it's side. Tree's Reflex save: 23 The second, rips a huge hole in the side of the trunk while the third blows apart where any normal spider's head should have been. The last, lands in the hole created in the trunk and finishes blowing the entire tree in half! Lightning arcs between the two halves as if trying to pull them back together for a moment before the whole thing explodes in a brilliant flash that sends shards flying in all directions. It surely would have annihilated anyone unfortunate enough to be caught directly in the blast...

Combat over. Well done. Experience reward of 76,800!

Vug Vang: please roll a will save at this point.

Bublaka: Do you still want to make that knowledge check?

Grrrrr....Site crashed and ate my edit of the above post. Not much changed except Bublaka actually finished off it's last 10 hitpoints and has to make the will save instead of Vug. I initially forgot to include it's CON as negative hitpoints. Description remains the same except Bublaka follows up her bombs with 160 sonic damage making sure the halves of the tree never rejoin! Soooo....

Bublaka: Make a will save please (it is not sonic or song related).

Vug: Ignore above request to make save.

Everyone: I believe that's enough xp to level up. Go ahead :)

Will Save: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (8) + 14 = 22

If necessary, he will end his performance with a flourish, ala the Saving Finale spell, and attempt the save again.

Will Save retry: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (17) + 14 = 31

[dice=Will Save]1d20 + 14

If necessary, he will end his performance with a flourish, ala the Saving Finale spell, and attempt the save again.

[dice=Will Save retry]1d20 + 14

Hmmmm, not sure how that would work. You did miss initially. There is no obvious effect on missing the save, so would you cast a spell to reroll? The effect is a curse type thing, like killing a linnorm. The choice is yours.

I thought it was kind of metagamey when I wrote it, but I wanted it out there first. If you don't think he's going to realize he's been affected by something, no, he won't cast the spell.

No problem. Some of these things are sort of grey areas. Definitely worth asking. Taking their limited description a bit further I would say the feeling of dread that lifts with the death of the tree for everyone else, stays with you.

Nicely done people! Taking down a CR20 creature! That puts us at 654K xp and 16th level!

Valgrim gets up from prone and realizes he does not need to charge, so he rests for 4 rounds, while the fatigue passes. Then we search the area for any treasure the tree may have left (Detect Magic, Spellcraft, etc...the usual!). "One trial down! At least we rid the plane of this horror. Let's rest here for the night. Great challenges loom on the horizon. And Darl and his crew are still out there. If we silenced the tree, how are they going to accomplish that trial? Hmmm..."

Nothing of value is found in this barren glade. Do you take any precautions when resting? Where to next?

My bad, GM. This is our routine any time we rest: Valgrim uses his +21 survival skill to find most defensible area and then stays up all night guarding camp with his +27 Perception, watching for dangers. In the morning, Friar casts lesser restoration on him to cure fatigue. I am hoping the other predators on island gave the tree's territory respect and leave it alone.

Valgrim: Everyone sets camp in the usual manner and all is quiet for some time into the night. You do notice that far off sounds from the forest have returned. Bublaka seems to be having a rough time of it tonight and wakes up with a yell at least once...

...later from the darkness you hear a bellow that sounds like a challenge in your direction followed by the drumming of fists upon chest or the ground. You can hear the snapping of trees or branches from the edge of the clearing. Sometimes the bellows are a little closer, sometimes a bit further. There are thumps of large objects hitting the ground but they seem to stay at the edge of the clearing...for now... You strongly suspect that it is an apex predator that, having sensed a change in the forest, is testing the waters. Whether it'll be brave enough to approach or not remains to be seen.

Valgrim wakes the party up. "Guys, it sounds like one of those over-sized girallons may be approaching. We need to be ready for a fight. Friar, ready your Shield spell. Vug, you got anymore barkskin potions? Bub, maybe your frightening tune may scare it off, if it gets close?"

Valgrim casts Lead Blades on his falchion.

"It will have to be quite close, but yes, I can try." *yawn*

Assuming from your post that your holding your ground.

For the next hour bellowing, tree snapping, and chest thumping occurs.

Are you going to do anything else? You can do something earlier in the hour if you didn't want to wait that long either.

Roll for Girallon: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

"I used my Barkskin elixir and you used yours, but F-feres, Bub and Vulcan still have theirs, as f-far as I know." Vug replies to Valgrim's query.

Vug drinks her mutagen (which she presumably brewed once they set up camp).

Bublaka hands his barkskin potion to the warrior.

I did not realize I had one, to be honest.

"One of you can use mine since I have no intention of being within reach." the sorceror sorceror says handing his potion to Vug and rising 10 feet into the air.

Valgrim drinks potion and waits to listen if the creature approaches the campsite.

After about an hour the bellows and antics fade as the over-sized ape looses its nerve and disappears back into the forest. The rest of the evening passes uneventfully. Where to now? The map of the island is at the top of this page as well as under the Campaign tab. I'll only keep the current active links at the top of this page and they'll be retired to the campaign tab as we move on.

Friar's spells for the day:
Domain: Shield of Faith, Bless Weapon, Searing Light, Holy Smite, Flamestrike, Undeath to Death, Sunbeam, Sunburst
1st level: Bless, Detect Evil, Liberating Command, Remove Fear, Shield of Faith (x2)
2nd level: Bull's Strength, Grace, Lesser Restoration (cast on Valgrim in the morning), Make Whole, Protection from Evil (Communal), Status
3rd level: Invisibility purge, Magic Vestment +4 (cast on Valgrim's armor), Remove Curse (if aware of Bubba's issue) (if not, Remove Disease), Resist Energy: Communal, Searing Light
4th level: Blessing of Fervor (x2), Death Ward, Freedom of Movement, Magic Weapon (Greater)(cast on Valgrim's falchion)
5th level: Breath of Life, Cleanse, Flame Strike, Forbid Action (Greater), Spell Resistance
6th level: Cold Ice Strike, Heal, Heal, Wind Walk (cast on party in the morning)
7th level: Destruction, Quickened Prayer, Waves of Ecstasy
8th level: Spell Immunity (Greater), Stormbolts

Bublaka wakes up groggily in the morning. Even after he's on his feet, he doesn't look like he's really awake yet and he's lethargic.

"Sorry, I didn't sleep well. That tree's presence, I'm sure."

Friar does a Heal check on the bard to determine what is wrong with him.
Heal: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14

Valgrim's spells today:
1st level - Lead Blades x2, Resist Energy x2
2nd level - Bloodhound, Cat's Grace, Hunter's Eye
3rd level - Burst of Speed, Instant Enemy
4th level - Freedom of Movement

"You okay to continue, Bub? You don't look so hot." If the bard says yes..."I think the next obvious area to explore is the mountain, the likeliest home for the roc king. I'll see if I can spot droppings or other signs of bird activity. Let's be prepared for battle and with a little magic from Friar, we'll be there in no time."

When we're ready to proceed, Valgrim casts Bloodhound (duration 13 hours) and drinks Vug's potions of barkskin and heroism (duration 160 mins for both).
Current AC: 36

Friar Ferez: Don't forget to update your character to level 16.

Friar Ferez: You think Bublaka is suffering from little more than fatigue from not getting a good night's sleep.

You think it will probably take you an hour of flight time to get to the mountain. The mountain rises 10,000 feet, how will you be approaching and where will you be landing?

Any other preparatory spells being cast?

Thanks. Friar is updated. Also GM, Friar did not cast Heroes' Feast today; memorized another Heal instead. Also, in the morning before praying for his spells, instead of Status, Friar memorized another Lesser Restoration and cast it on the fatigued bard.

Friar has no other buffs other than Wind Walk so he is ready to go.

Valgrim's plan is to fly around, starting with the summit and working down, to see if he can spot with his keen eyesight a big enough cave/nest for a bird the size of a roc. If spotted, then we'll land and reform. "Bubba, can you communicate with a roc? Can you speak animal or bird? Maybe there is a diplomatic way to get the living feather."

As you make your preparations in the morning you can see several full trees have been toppled or thrown into the clearing by whatever paid a visit last night. The pungent smells of the creature having marked it's territory reach Valgrim's magically increased senses. Becoming vaporous once more you speed toward the distant mountain over the now peacefully still forest canopy.

You find that you can never fly more than a mile above the land below, so it isn't until you get close to the mountain that you are able to ascend to it's summit. Upon reaching the top an immense nest becomes apparent to all. Next to the nest is the majestic form of what can only be described as the King of all Raptors, or the Roc King, lying unmoving in a shallow lake of it's own blood. The beautiful feathers ruffle as strong gusts of wind pick up every once in awhile...

We land and reform. Valgrim can hardly contain his anger and sadness at seeing such a majestic creature dead lying on the ground. Through clenched teeth he speaks, "Can we tell what killed this regal creature? I am sure Darl and his crew beat us here. Who else would harm this beast?! I am sure it had no natural predators." Valgrim slams the wall with his fist. He kneels next to the beast. "I swear to you, your Majesty, that I will avenge your death and bury my sword in the chest of that wretched priest of Norgorber! I swear it!" The dwarf composes himself and stands and looks at the party. "The cleric and his crew have the living feather we need. We're going to have to go kill them all now, if we wish to get the knowledge we need to destroy Dragotha."

Sorry for the emotional display, but Valgrim is a ranger after all.

Heal check on Roc to determine cause of death: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30

"If you're this pissed, Valgrim, imagine how angry the druids will be with Darl and his band. I am sure they asked for a living feather exactly because they did not want the creature to be killed."

"True, Friar."

GM, in post 5658, BT gave Bublaka the following information, which he in turn shared with us regarding Darl and his crew: The red-skinned man is an efreeti while the bird-lady is a tengu. The horned pair are tieflings. Darl is obviously a powerful cleric of Norgorber and he has bonded with an ancient evil artifact, the Hand of Vecna, powerful enough to give Lashonna pause, which is capable of casting Blasphemy, which is what killed Heskin.

It's time to discuss strategy, team. The female tengu rogue is dead, so that leaves the efreeti, 2 tieflings, and Darl. Bub, can you use Loremaster (auto 20 on knowledge (planes) skill roll to tell us everything there is to know about efreeti. Also, assuming is Darl is higher level than us, how are we going to defend against a Blasphemy spell, other than spell resistance and Greater spell immunity, assuming Darl starts off combat with that? We have no clue about the tieflings but it would be good to at least know their basis resistances - party members with appropriate skills, make your rolls. Any other thoughts?

Knowledge (planes) about tieflings: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

Bublaka perks up with Ferez' spell. "Thank you, Friar. That was some dream."

Loremaster check on efreeti yields a 38.

Spellcraft check about Blasphemy: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (20) + 23 = 43

Knowledge (planes) re: Tieflings: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (7) + 18 = 25

What would be the appropriate knowledge check regarding the Hand of Vecna?

Yeah, one of the reasons I chose Greater Spell Immunity was because of the Blasphemy spell and other scary high level spells, like Destruction, disintegrate, and slay living. It has a good duration (160 mins), but we have to know where he is or when he's going to attack in order for it to be useful. If I am active and someone fails the save, the best I can do is Heal, which would cure the dazed and paralyzed conditions as well as the ability damage.

Bublaka: I would say that your knowledges of arcana, religion, and history would apply to the Hand of Vecna. Go ahead and make rolls for each but specifically it is arcana that will give you an idea about it's powers.

Bublaka's Blasphemy spellcraft: Go ahead and read the Blasphemy spell entry. You pretty much know everything about the power.

Valgrim: You've heard lot's of wild speculation about tieflings but give none of it very much credence.

Friar Ferez: You estimate it was killed 3 or 4 days ago. A number of various wounds can be seen on the colossal 200' foot wingspan bird. Deep cuts that appear to have been instantly cauterized by fire, areas of flesh that have imprints of human sized fists that have bruised out into areas 5' feet across, terrible tearing wounds from a spiked chain that have necrotic damage of the flesh around them, deep spike punctures that even now still ooze blood, and a massive amount of damage to the roc's chest area that seems to start from a single point that erupted in deep magically created wounds across a 20' section of the avian.

"We definitely have trouble. Darl and his band have been here at least for 3-4 days, much time before we even arrived on the isle. We had no chance to save this poor creature. Who knows how they have progressed with the Titan or the Thornvale nightmare?" Friar shares his knowledge of the creature's wounds.
Fire wounds - efreet
Human sized fists - monk? - tieflings?
spiked chain - ? - one of the tieflings? undead maybe, bc of necrotic energy?
spike punctures - ? - spiked chain wielder?
magic wounds - Darl?
There may be more in the Darl's crew than we thought.

Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (17) + 19 = 36

Knowledge (History): 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (14) + 20 = 34

Knowledge (Religion): 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (15) + 20 = 35

Deep spike punctures don't sound like spiked chain to me. Perhaps a spell effect of some kind? I'm thinking monk and spiked chain would be the tieflings and the immediately-cauterized wounds would be appropriate for an efreeti. I have information to share on that subject when I have time to formulate my response.

Nice series of rolls.

Once the left hand of the arch-lich, Vecna, the Hand, and its sister artifact, the Eye of Vecna, were all that remained of the lich-king after his battle with his renegade lieutenant, Kas the Bloody-Handed.

Both the Hand and the Eye fell into possession of a warlord known as Halmadar the Cruel. Halmadar was defeated only after being drugged and interred alive in a tomb the Kron Hills.

Later, Halmadar escaped with the help of Vecna himself, who had by this time become a god, and sought to become even more powerful with the aid of the artifacts, which he reclaimed after destroying Halmadar. Vecna's plans were thwarted by adventurers, and the artifacts once more became separated from his body, vanishing.

The Hand again resurfaced in the possession of a man named Darl Quethos, a powerful cleric of the Whispered One who used the artifact to take control of a Vecnan cult known as the Disciples of Darkness.

To use the hand, one must declare that he has touched it to the stump of his left forearm; most must chop off their own left hand to do so. The hand magically grafts itself to the stump, and from then on can be used as a normal hand, though it retains its charred and rotting appearance. It can never be removed short of death.

A touch from the hand does negative energy damage and paralysis like the touch of a lich. The hand has been known to be able to drain the strength, speed, vitality, intelligence, wisdom, or charisma from those it touches, bestowing the stolen power upon the wielder permanently. You already know that it has the blasphemy ability.

Vug prepares by drinking a mutagen and formulae of Spell Resistance, Heroism and Barkskin.

EDIT: and See Invisibility

Love the 1st edition history, GM, especially since I was a player in the Vecna Lives module (a dwarf as well, lol), so it brought back memories. Yeah, so blasphemy is nasty. Darl has to be within 40' of us, so we may want to be spread out. I've boosted up Perception to the max to avoid getting surprised. Maybe even invisible, I can smell the burning efreeti. Vug, how many SR potions can you brew? Just to know. We should each have one readily accessible, if Vug can spare them. I think in combat, the efreeti is the main target or one of the top 2. If he can grant wishes, he can bring back dead members of their crew or mass heal, etc., so we need to take him out quick. Those are my thoughts.

After the strategy talk..."One of the creatures is known as the Thornvale nightmare, right? So it follows logically that there must be a Vale of Thorns on this island. That shouldn't be too hard to find, right? It sounds pretty unique. And in gaseous form, the thorns, if there are any, should not hurt us. Unless they're enchanted, of course. I say we scout the island to the north for a Vale of Thorns. A vale suggests a valley and maybe mountains. The island looks tropical to the south."

Mysterious GM Roll: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

Since it seems as if you are done here, we'll move on. If there is anything else you wanted to do on the peak feel free to retcon it.

You leave the windswept peak behind and begin to fly across the islands northern reaches searching for this Vale of Thorns. After several hours of searching you gradually make your way back south to search the rest of the mountain chain and the Tilagos Highlands. That's when you come across a valley nestled between two dark peaks approximately fifteen miles southwest of the roc's nest. It teems with wild underbrush bedecked with vicious irony thorns growing as long as six inches each. The thorns grow to a height of ten feet in the vale and no trail or tracks lead through them.
A single cave opening looms thirty feet above the top of the thorns on the northern cliffs. Clouds of steam constantly vent up from the cave opening, making it easy to spot even from a distance.

A total of six hours have passed since you woke up this morning. Several of your spell effects have expired.

Valgrim: Nice rp, you will gain a hero point when/if you avenge the roc.

GM, perhaps I misspoke. I was speaking north and west from the end of the red arrow on the Tilagos map. I did not calculate from the mountain, which I now see jutting up. I meant the mountainous area west (to the left) of the mountain, not the green patch up north. As I stated, I expected a valley to be near the mountainous area. Also, is 6 hours correct? Do not forget that we travel at 60 mph. For example, to get up to the top of that 10,000 ft high mountain took us 2 minutes from the base. If I am being dense and applying real world calculations to a magic world, let me know and I will shut up. LOL! I am not being difficult. If it took 6 hours, that's fine with me.

How big is that cave entrance??? Bear-size, hopefully? LOL!

Ah, no problem. I thought it was a bit strange but maybe you were just being thorough. It'll still take you a couple of hours wending through mountains and valleys to find the place. When your searching I assume an average of 30 mph because your not making a beeline anywhere. You got the full 60 mph speed to make it to the mountain which was around 45 miles from your camp site. So let's say 3 1/2 hours instead from when you started this morning. That will include the 30 minutes or so you spent on the mountain top discussing and examining the roc. Sound fair? The cave entrance is a 50-60 foot wide opening.

EDIT: I like a certain amount of verisimilitude in my games so feel free to point out anything you feel doesn't quite work. Obviously, we don't want to get too far into the weeds but in general its welcome :) I make mistakes and with complex high level play those mistakes (as demonstrated with me trying to critical your weapon with a sunder) become more frequent, so again all of your input and insights are welcome. It's a communally driven story after all.

Sounds good. Thanks.

Valgrim looks up at the entrance. "50-60' is not good. This Nightmare is a big, big boy. Since I used up my barkskin potion, can I use someone else's, since I most likely will be going into melee with it. Also, that steam vent tells me it might be hot inside so prepare yourselves."

Valgrim casts Freedom of Movement, Resist Energy: Fire, and Cat's Grace on himself and drinks someone's barkskin potion, if offered.

Where do you land to prepare and discuss strategy? Somewhere away from the cave I am assuming. If so, how are you planning to get to the cave? Wind walk and reform there?

Friar casts Shield of Faith on himself and Valgrim and Communal Resist Energy: Fire on the rest of the party (not Valgrim) and Communal Protection from Evil on all. Finally, he casts Bull's Strength on the dwarf. Buffs done!

Yes, we land on the closest cliff face with steady ground and buff (don't want to land on ground and attract predators). How close is that to the entrance? If far, we then go back into Wind Walk form and reform at cave mouth.

You land on a high cliff ridge to cast spells and converse. There is a natural ledge close to the cave entrance that you think you can wind walk to and reform at out of direct sight of the cave (say 30' feet off to one side). It would be a DC 15 climb check to reach the cave.

"Vug, care to share your elixir of arcane eye and we use it to look in and see what horrors await us?"

If you didn't use my barkskin earlier, you are welcome to it now. Bublaka will wait to bring haste and inspire up until we see the whites of their eyes, so to speak.