As for the brave and valiant young gnome hero Kymbul... he uhh well, after witnessing the aftermath in the tiny little thorp he decided that the story of the "creepy crawly man hands" need to be past to the little burrowing animals in the near by mountains and so, being the only one in the group capable of chatting with the little fellows Kymbul wanders off to find one and have a nice long sit down chat with the little ones... He will of course eventually become board with this and hopefully find his friends again...
Or in other words, Stanley will be back from Idaho in a couple weeks ;)
Here, then is the recounting of our last session (May 27) according to Maccabee the Paladin of Heironeous...
Through the Eyes of a Paladin: 11
Leaving Kymble behind at the thorp Goats’ Steps, the adventurers traveled to Raker Asylum for the Mad, enjoying the pristine view of the cool, high mountains and the valley below. Reflecting back on the past few days, Maccabee thought of the carnage in the little community, knowing that it could have been avoided. After all, the retired wizard left the note behind, warning about the dangers of the box. Had the deceased mage’s nephew heeded the warning, the box containing the demonic construct would have remained safe in the cellar. “Curiosity killed the cat,” thought the Paladin.
The skies darkened, threatening a downpour. As the adventures traveled on, a menacing voice demanded a highway toll. “Gnolls,” Maccabee thought out loud, paying the few gold pieces, not wanting to be bothered with these creatures. Moving on, the group sought shelter from the coming rain up a trail that a nearby sign pointed toward. It read “Kinneth’s Rock Garden, Bestiary, and Jerky.”
Traveling up a winding steep trail the group made their way into an old dwarven fortress. Greeted by the guards, the group entered the keep, which had been converted to a pub of sorts. Not really meant to serve as an in, the accommodations were humble, but the owner, a stout dwarf known as Halgood Kinneth, greeted the adventurers with enthusiasm. The group sat with Halgood, sharing a few mugs of ale and stories of past adventures. Padril meanwhile, slipped away, and investigated the lay out of the fortress. Finding nothing of great importance he stealthily returned to the group.
The adventurers paid the fee to see the Bestiary – several large white hares, goats, a ram, a war pony once owned by a famous dwarven warrior, and the highlight of the tour: two white Owl Bears and an aged Chimera. Returning to the pub/keep, Halgood bragged of making the best jerky around. Challenged by the sales pitch, Maccabee decided to try the spiciest jerky he made, one called “The Hand of Asmodeus.” A crowd of dwarves and mountain men gathered around, curious at the Paladin’s reaction to this local delicacy. Maccabee, armed with two pitchers of cold ale to quench the fire of the spices, stood firm, as the locals applauded and patted him on the back. The sound of falling rain on the rooftop of the keep was deafening now. They bought a couple pounds of the spicy jerky and made their way to the lower parts of the keep to retire for the night.
At early light the adventures left Kinneth’s establishment and headed for the asylum. The group trekked west under the drizzling, gray sky. Once at the asylum, Padril knocked on the great door of this apparently ancient building. The door opened and a surprised Doctor Asworth led the adventurers in to the nearby kitchen where he had been supping on stew. The early evening sky let loose with a show of lightning and thunder and the group was happy to be indoors once again. After some pleasantries the adventurers inquired about Wohin’s father and brother. Dr. Asworth’s response was helpful and concerned on the surface, but everything he said rang false to most of the group, rousing suspicions as to the doctor’s true agenda.
Maccabee and Padril asked to be excused to relieve themselves and each went into separate sleeping chambers that the doctor offered for their use where they could find chamber pots. They used the excuse to search for any clues about the missing men. Their search was fruitless, aside from Maccabee noticing a stale piece of bread wedged between the bed and wall. Upon Padril’s and Maccabee’s return, the group decided to remain for the night. Brandon, evidently enjoying the company of the doctor stayed behind to chat, while the rest of the party went into the two vacant staff rooms to unpack and plan for the next day. Maccabee, wary of the good doctor’s shifty manner, slept next to the door, protecting him, Mira Luna, and Brandon from any would-be assassins. Bastion and Padril slept in the adjacent room.
The night passed uneventfully and in the morning the group looked around the asylum, unable to find Dr. Asworth. Brandon seemed hung-over, after drinking Asworth’s tea the night before. Apparantly he had slipped something in it. Maccabee looked in the holding area of the asylum and found it empty. Padril found a journal with its pages ripped out, but found a couple pages that must have been missed. He read them aloud to the party. In the journal entries someone wrote about a strange experiment and a mysterious creature. The adventurers gathered up their gear and left the asylum in search of Dr. Asworth. Padril’s tracking skills allowed them to follow faint tracks left by the doctor and several people taveling with him. Climbing trails and switchbacks, the group ascended higher and higher into the Rakers and finally reached a small plateau overlooking a broad glacier with a massive black tower surrounded by steam at its center. An ice mephit surprised the group and swooped down upon Padril and Brandon, spewing a cone of ice on them. Mira Luna quickly cast her mage armor spell. Padril shot an arrow into the creature’s side, as Bastion moved in to strike down the creature. Mira Luna’s “magic missiles” ultimately felled the creature.
The group set camp for that night on the plateau, huddling close to keep from freezing to death. The next morning the group descended the 500-foot cliff using a switchback trail that someone had staked guide ropes into the wall every dozen feet or so. They managed to get to the bottom of the cliff safely and set out across the massive plane of ice. Padril scouted ahead, guiding the party around hidden crevasses, which could have proved detrimental or even fatal.
Making their way through the mist they stood before an ancient tower unlike any seen on Oerth. An ice ramp led up to a huge doorway into the tower. Inside, a mammoth spiral ramp led down deeper into the tower and the glacier. After a long descent, the adventurers found themselves in an enormous, ice-encased city of antiquity. It was the city from Mira Luna’s and Maccabee’s dreams. “This is an omen,” Padril remarked. Brandon, Mira Luna, and Maccabee could see campfires up ahead but were drawn to a huge Temple giving them a sense of deja vu.
As they walked towards the Temple, several crazed people came out from behind a nearby building carrying long, exotic spears. Quickly the party positioned themselves to engage this threat. Behind the people loomed a large being with a tentacled head on its amphibian body, reminding them of the mysterious creature from Asworth’s journal. No eyes could be seen in its alien tentacle covered face. The creature kept at a safe distance using the demented people as a shield. Brandon yelled out, “These must be the missing inmates from the asylum.” Brandon, on full defense, easily deflected all attacks directed against him and progressively drew the crazed inmates towards him. This gave the rest of the party a chance to whittle down their numbers. Bastion and Maccabee prepared for the onslaught of inmates side by side. As Bastion dealt the commoners several nonlethal blows, Maccabee dealt minimal lethal damage on two of the inmates using his Cleave ability. Brandon disposed of the last crazed woman and Maccabee “laid hands” on the two he hit to stabilize their condition. Brandon was outraged that Maccabee had used deadly force, but the Paladin saw no error in his tactics.
While Bastion, Maccabee, and Brandon were taking on the seven inmates, Mira Luna and Padril were working on the strange monster. Padril pierced the creature with his arrows and Mira Luna blasted it with magic missiles. Then another creature came out from the temple blowing on a strange wind instrument. Padril’s arrows ripped through the air along with Mira Luna’s magic as Bastion set for the final blow upon the alien being.
Entering into the Temple two more of the peculiar creatures stood waiting for the group, retreating back into the dark, to avoid the bright light from the dancing lights spell Mira Luna had cast into the dark chamber. Now that the group had a chance to clearly see the creatures, Padril pierced the monsters with his arrows. Bastion lunged at one only to be caught by the creature’s tentacles and held in its slimy embrace. Mira Luna cast more magic missiles upon the creature furthest away. Maccabee delivered a devastating blow as Padril hammered the one with his arrows until it stopped moving. When the other turned to engage the adventurers, it too, was overcome by the group’s efforts.
Maccabee and Bastion curiously approached the ancient obelisk standing in the center of the Temple, hoping to learn more about it. Once near the raised dais, both warriors were compelled to touch the alien stone and a surge of unseen energy shot forth, enslaving their minds and forcing them to take up arms against their comrades so as to further some mind boggling agenda. Bastion turned his rage upon Brandon, trying to kill him with his “Chopper.” Bastion charged across the icy floor, but Padril with his bow and Mira Luna with her magic fatally wounded the already torn and bleeding barbarian before he could reach Brandon. Bastion was dead.
Behind Bastion followed Maccabee with the same crazed look upon his face. The onslaught of arrows and “magic missiles” struck Maccabee down as well, but the wounds were not fatal. The Paladin fell unconscious before he could cause harm to his fellow adventurers.
While Maccabee was unconscious on the ice, he was stabilized until he could be fully tended to. The rest of the adventurers noticed a large group of more crazed people led by Doctor Asworth approaching from the south. Brandon taking point once again drew the people to him using his martial arts to stand like an invincible pillar of iron against their futile attacks. One by one, the enemies were dropped by Padril’s arrows, but luckily only two fatally.
Taking stock of the situation, Mira Luna cast magic missiles at the alien obelisk. At first there was no noticeable change, but gradually the glow of the obelisk’s strange runes began to fade. After Mira Luna’s constant barrage of magic missiles upon the obelisk, it broke into three large chunks and then into dust.
The inmates were all incapacitated and some of them dying. Brandon hurriedly stabilized the wounded mental patients as Padril assisted. Now that the obelisk was destroyed, Dr. Asworth and everyone else that had been under its influence regained their senses. Quickly, Padril forced a healing potion down Maccabee's throat to revive him from his comatose state. Regrettably, one of the mental patients that was revived reacted badly to regaining his normal faculties and began screaming about fanged mouths covering everything and clawing at his flesh. Maccabee instinctively cold-cocked him and the poor fellow lapsed back into unconsciousness.
It took two days to transport everyone back to the asylum. The loss of Bastion took a heavy toll on the group. His body lay lifeless on the back of a pack mule. Realizing they had to return to this alien city to complete their destined task sent chills down the adventures’ spines. At the asylum, preparations were made for the trek back to Marner. A funeral pyre was built for the body of Bastion the deceased barbarian. The somber adventurers watched in silence as their friend’s body was engulfed in flames and slowly turned to ash.
June 3. We're still short a player. Stanley is in Idaho and won't be back until the 17th so Kymble the gnome bard is off doing his own thing as the adventures continue.
12 Flocktime, 592 cy
The group departs Raker Asylum for the Mad and head back to Marner, capitol of Ratik. The weather is warming a bit, but still cold by most standards - still in the low 60's here.
14 Flocktime, 592 cy
When the adventurers return out of the mountains, thier journey brings them back through the decimated thorp called Goats' Steps. However, a couple dozen armed soldiers are now occupying the town. They wear the coat of arms of the Archbarony of Ratik. They are questioned brusquely by Captain Ash about the massacre here when one of the adventurers starts telling the soldiers that they were here recently and know what happened.
Captain Ash and Padril the elven scout nearly come to blows during the interrogation. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and Captain Ash was calmed. Padril glowered in the back of the empty chapel the Captain chose to question them in, upset over the huge chunk taken out of his prized longbow by Ash's sword.
Satisfied with the explanation of the events that took place here in Goats' Steps, the Captain gave the adventurers thier leave to go and they did.
15 Flocktime, 592 cy
The rescued Mason family members, Jacob and Larion, are finally returned to their home in the furthest suburb of Marner. After the teary reunion and many thanks, the adventurers continue their journey back to the city and arrive there early the following morning.
16 Flocktime - 15 Wealsun, 592 cy
The group enters town and reports to Brother Arthur at the Temple of Pelor about what happened out in the mountains near Raker Asylum for the Mad. He is concerned and can see that the fate of the adventurers is tied to the frozen alien city under the glacier.
Next, they are summoned to meet with Osworth, Captain of the City Watch. They were referred to him by Captain Ash. They explain what happened out at Goats' Steps and are much more impressed with this man than Cpt. Ash. He arranges an audience with the Archbaroness where they can be properly rewarded for thier actions. The rest of the time in the city is spent training, selling loot, repairing damaged gear, and purchasing new items.
On the 26th of Wealsun, Waterday, the adventurers have their audience with Archbaroness Evaleigh. They purchase courtier's outfits for the occasion, most of them, and enter the palace audience chamber where numerous nobles, craftsmen, merchants, lawmen, and criminals, are milling about, waiting for their turn to receive the Archbaroness's attention.
The heroes are a bit disappointed at how quickly the ruler of Ratik deals with them, but they leave the palace with decorative silvered, ceremonial weapons (a masterwork, decorative quarterstaff, in Brandon's case), the honorary titles (or actual, should they choose to pursue it) of Protectorates of Goats' Steps, and deeds to cottages in the thorp for each of them.
Brandon has swore a vow of poverty and elects to donate his rewards as well as his cut of the loot from thier latest adventures to the Temple of Pelor (he had hoped to find a church of Rao here, but there was none). Brother Arthur is very impressed with Brandon and promises the blessings of the sun upon him and his friends (i.e. church credit).
16 Wealsun, 592 cy
The weather has warmed considerably. Still only in the 70's, this is warmer than usual for Ratik. The group has completed thier various errands and decides to seek out some adventure in the city by exploring a local haunted house, the old Willington Mansion ("Nuchar's Tomb" from Libris Mortis). A pair of adventurers in the pub where they discuss this overhears and both express interest in joining them. One is a human female named Sheel, a fighter type by the look of her, and a dwarven male named Dixon, maybe a fighter, but more likely a rogue type. The group chooses Dixon to join, but are able to purchase a treasure map from Sheel to a place called the "Temple of the Frozen Winds." She is disgusted with the group for thier poor choice and storms off after taking their 400 gp for her map.
Searching through the old mansion later in the day, it looks like nothing more than an abandoned house - grafitti, signs of being camped in, etc. But Dixon and Padril find a secret passage down to a flooded basement. Exploring this area means wading through 3 ft. of stagnant water, which they reluctantly do. They encounter a pair of vicious little tomb motes, an owl bear skeleton, a trapped iron door, and finally have to call it quits when they draw attacks from an ettin skeleton that nearly killed half of the party and did actually kill Padril by caving his head in with one of its massive morningstars.
They managed to get a little bit of treasure before having to stop and make an emergency dash to the Temple of Pelor. Fortunately for the group, Brandon has built up favors on their behalf and Brother Arthur was called upon to raise Padril from the dead. In the meantime, acolytes healed the rest of the wounded party up and in short time Padril was back with them again.
There was still enough time in the day to return, so they did. They found a bit more loot and had to fight a pair of skin kites. The vicious creatures managed to strip the top layers of skin off of Padril and Maccabee (6 and 4 points of Charisma damage, respectively) before they were destroyed and at this point the group returned upstairs to rest and heal back lost abilty scores.
17-18 Wealsun, 592 cy
Resting inside the empty mansion to heal wounds and ability damage. However, the second day of rest, Brandon realizes that he is seriously sick from one of the wounds he took. His skin is turning a sick hue of green, is puffy, and very warm to the tough. He loses 5 points of Strength. A tomb mote infected him with Corpse Bloat.
And that is where we ended for the night. Maccabee can share a more personal account of these events in his next "Through the Eyes..." to be posted soon.
A detailed account from our resident Paladin of our session for June 3.
Through the Eyes of a Paladin: 12
Hypnotized by the flames of the funeral pyre, Maccabee reflected on the past few days’ events leading up to Bastion’s death. Facing the dark night of the soul, the Paladin gravely weighted questions of afterlife: Brandon served his god faithfully, yet ended up in a cold, foreboding place when he tasted death at the hand of the Ghouls. Then what of the previous owner of the Reaver; what of the god he served? Did he die right along with those who worshiped him? If someone is mortal, surely he can’t be divine. The icy alien city gave the Paladin the shivers as he reflected on the glacier’s icy burn. “Fire and ice, both burn” the paradox of life’s meaning filled his mind as he watched the flames consume the remains of his companion.
The next morning the weary adventurers had begun the trek back to Marner with Jacob and Larion riding on their two horses. The day soon turned to night and the group encamped with the lights of Marner still a couple days away. The following morning the group made their way into Goats’ Steps where several armed men (soldiers) approached and greeted them. As they talked, Maccabee described the slaughter of the villagers from just a week ago. The leader of the armed guard, a Captain Ash, was suspicious of the adventurers and questioned them inside the nearby chapel of Pelor. His manner was impatient and disrespectful. Padril, irritated by the Captain’s lack of social graces, immediately took offense to the man’s arrogance and drew his bow. Maccabee rolled back his eyes knowing that nothing good was going to come from Padril’s hostile actions. The guards moved in to encircle the party as the captain drew his weapon and hacked a chunk out of Padril’s bow, nearly destroying it. Padril tensed for dealing death, but before blood could be spilled Brandon intervened and handled things with diplomacy before it got out of control. With everyone more at ease, the questioning continued, with the armed guards finally satisfied as to the party’s benign motives. Captain Ash gave the adventurers a parchment to pass on to a Captain Osworth of the City Watch, once they arrived in Marner.
They left Goats’ Steps and made their way to Wohin’s family home, where they were met with great elation. After a tearful sendoff the adventurers left the grateful family and entered into Marner proper. The group returned to the Temple of Pelor and gave an account of the situation developing in the Rakers. Brandon filled in Brother Arthur with Maccabee attentively listening to the story. The story was interrupted by a knock on the door; a young runner came searching for the adventurers on Captain Osworth’s behalf. They gathered their gear and headed for Captain Osworth’s quarters. Let in by several servants the group entered a room where an imposing man introduced himself as Osworth, Captain of the City Watch of Marner. After some preliminary intros they were invited to an epicurean feast at the Captain’s table. The food was delectably gourmet, outstandingly presented, and the adventurers were all too happy to indulge. After the leisurely meal, Osworth and the group sat back to discuss the tragedy at Goats’ Steps. Maccabee’s explanation of how the heartbreak could have been avoided held Osworth’s interest. Brandon passed on the note from Captain Ash, Osworth’s demeanor quickly changed. He invited the adventurers to attend a meeting with Her Valorous Prominence, Evaleigh, the Lady Baroness. The appointment was a couple weeks away but the group needed some time for training. Maccabee, curious about the Baroness and her Court, thought it prudent to learn about nobility before their appointment.
The group, outfitting themselves with apparel fitting the occasion, met at the royal palace. The royal court was filled with people of all walks and the group was greeted with great pomp and circumstance. The adventures were directed to approach the Archbaroness’s throne, where they knelt some 30 feet from the dais it sat upon. They were each given a token silver mantle and the deed to a cottage in Goats’ Steps. Dismissed, the grateful party returned back to the Inn and began preparations for the next adventure into a local haunted mansion.
Brandon donated his deed to the Temple of Pelor. Brother Arthur and other acolytes gratefully accepted the gift, already thankful for Brandon’s previous gift of 1,000 gold pieces. While at the Inn the adventurers were approached by Dixon, a young dwarf carrying a crossbow and short sword. A likable fellow, the group agreed to add Dixon to the party.
As the group trained in Marner, Maccabee spent time at the small Temple of Heironeous along with his fellow believers hoping to make sense of the many questions he pondered upon. Although the Temple of Heronious was not as welcoming as the one of Pelor, it was peaceful enough to allow for Maccabee’s reflective mood. In past months adventures, his will was taken over by a dark force, and the loss of control left Maccabee agitated. After hours of meditation, Maccabee left the Temple to join with his companions for their exploration of the Willington Estate.
Inside the estate, the group with their new companion, Dixon, searched until they found a moveable stone in the floor of the empty great room. Padril and Maccabee used a crowbar and removed the large stone; underneath there was a stairway leading down. They descended the stairs with the young Dwarf checking for traps, and Padril scouting ahead. The stairs led into a large room under 3 feet of murky stagnant water.
Wading into the water, they felt things crackling underfoot. Reaching under the murky water to check, Maccabee pulled out shards of pottery and glass. Falling back, Maccabee watched Padril make his way to a round iron door. Searching for traps, Padril touched a valve that triggered a burst of magical flame that engulfed the room. Padril, miraculously not even singed, forced the door open with Maccabee’s help.
Further ahead they found another chamber, also filled with water. Cautiously, Padril entered as Maccabee remained by the door. Suddenly, the bones of an owl bear arose from the water and attacked. Padril immediately withdrew from the room as Maccabee made an attempt to turn the undead creature. Having no affect, Maccabee drew out his morning star and affectively hit the monster. Mira Luna, watching by the steps hit the creature with a barrage of Magic Missiles. Once again Maccabee hit the monster as Brandon moved into its range of attack. With a flurry of blows the combined force of all the adventurers downed the skeletal monster. Maccabee healed Brandon’s damage and the Paladin resorted to healing his own hurts with Padril’s potions of healing.
The party moved towards a second set of doors and forced it opened. Behind it was a wide hall surrounding a central column of stonework. Doors could be seen to each side of the group. Maccabee peered in and detected no sign of evil as Padril continued to scout ahead. Walking ahead, Padril stumbled upon an iron chest under the water. It seemed to be a great find at first, until two clumps of hair, bones, and teeth called Tomb Motes attacked Padril and Maccabee. Failing to turn these small undead, Maccabee withdrew to higher ground trying to expose the tiny creatures but they continued their attack. Brandon took a deep breath and ducked under the water to strike the tiny creatures. Maccabee also went under with his light source and was able to hit the tiny creatures with his sword. Those looking from above could only see frothing, swirling water. Meanwhile, Padril retrieved the small chest and made for the stairs. Finishing off the Tomb Motes, Maccabee and the rest of the party followed close behind Padril. Upon opening the chest they uncovered a disappointingly small amount of treasure.
Returning to the flooded basement, the group approached the next closest door. With Dixon’s portable ram they broke the door open and entered a large chamber. In the room there was a metal cabinet and a large table with beakers and old bones on it. As Padril entered, a large skeletal Ettin stood up from the water. The powerful hits of the monster were overwhelming for the adventurers causing severe damage. Maccabee stood his ground, but Padril crumpled under the heavy blows. Dixon pulled Padril’s body out of the melee with Brandon moving in to cover the lost ground. Dixon managed to bring Padril back to consciousness and heal a little bit of his wounds with a potion. As Mira Luna sent forth an onslaught of Magic Missiles, Maccabee caused some damage to the huge Ettin, only to fall in the next round. Padril, back on the offensive, reached out to take hold of Maccabee’s comatose body and sustained a powerful blow from the creature. This time Padril was fatally wounded and fell into the murky water. Mira Luna struck the creature with an onslaught of more Magic Missiles, finally finishing it off. As Maccabee regained consciousness he saw his companion Padril lying dead in the water.
Carrying his bloody body back to the Temple of Pelor, the group received a boon to raise Padril back from the dead. Relieved at seeing Padril well again, the adventurers were cheered by their good fortune and welcomed him back. Several devotees of Pelor came into the knave presenting the adventurers with a handful of vials filled with holy water. Brother Arthur and the acolytes wished the adventurers a warm “farewell” the group returned back to the Willington Mansion. Maccabee was troubled by his inability to rebuke the smallest of undead. He mulled this in his mind, along with the other troubling questions. He thought about the people in the Temple of Heironeous, standoffish compared to those in the Temple of Pelor. He was bothered by this worshiping of a god out of tradition more than of reverence.
With the light of the sun still in the sky, the adventurers went down to the lower parts of the mansion again moving on to the next set of rooms with Padril leading. Looking over Padril’s shoulder Maccabee could see a pile of skin on a dry patch of stones along the far wall. The Paladin hastily detected for evil and immediately sensed that the skins were indeed evil. The skins suddenly flapped into the air and flew at Padril and Maccabee. Mira Luna was able to cast several Magic Missiles. The creatures known as Skin Kites were able to fasten themselves around the Paladin and Scout, tearing off their skin. Maccabee was able to pull one off as Padril continued to struggle with the other attacking him. After several attacks with the Magic Missiles and Maccabee’s strikes both the creatures dropped motionless into the murky water. Maccabee had to heal himself and Padril using his abilities to limit the amount of their stinging pain, but both of their bodies were a glistening red source of pain.
Returning back to the upper parts of the Mansion they settled in to spend the next few days to recover from their wounds using one of Maccabee’s spells that would restore the special kind of wounds the Skin Kites had inflicted. As they rested, Maccabee decided that he would follow Brandon’s lead and donate his deed to the Temple of Heironeous at the next opportunity. However, this resolution could do nothing to firm Maccabee’s shaky faith and so passed the first night in the haunted mansion of the Willington Estate. The words lingered in Maccabee’s mind, “Fire and ice – different yet similar,” as he fell in to a peaceful night’s rest.
June 3. The whole merry group was in attendance. Stanley returned a week early. Yay! This evening we had politics, intrigue, and some grueling combat.
Night of 18 Wealsun, Godsday.
After fighting the nasty things down in the basement of the Willington Mansion, the group has been resting to heal ability damage and hit points within the mansion itself. Maccabee and Kymble are on watch when suddenly they are attacked by 4 rogues that crept into the mansion. Once the entire party is awake, the rogues are dealt with - 2 dead and 2 incapacitated and stabilized. Brandon had a good old fashioned monk duel with their leader in the other room, a blonde-haired woman with a thick accent and dressed in black monk attire. She was taken down and stabilized.
Maccabee and Kymble leave with the body of the monk woman to contact a member of the city watch. When they do, the city watch acts real funny about it and seem to recognize the woman. They return to the mansion with the adventures and collect the rest of the group along with the 4 rogues, then escort them to the nearest city watch station.
Long story short, the group is detained and can overhear the soldiers discussing something about an ambassador. Eventually, Captain Osworth enters the holding cell the PCs are in questions them about what they were doing in the Haunted Mansion. When he hears their side of things, he explains that the woman monk is a political ambassador from the Scarlet Brotherhood. She claims she was meeting a merchant she was working out a deal with there and hired some muscle to escort her because she didn't trust him. Her and her henchmen mistook the adventurers as a sign of treachery on the part of the merchant and attacked. All in all, there are politics involved that complicate the whole matter. The ambassador has been calling for their heads, but since the whole thing seemed to be a misunderstanding and neither party had any business wandering around there, the Captain has cut a deal for both parties in which the city of Marner will overlook the whole thing and allow both groups to simply walk away so long as both agree to stay away from the mansion.
With this agreed upon, the characters return to their rooms at the Rumbling Hedgehog in the wee hours of the morning and sleep until late in the afternoon of the following day.
Late afternoon 19 Wealsun.
The party splits up the loot they took from the rogues and the ambassador (which the Captain allowed them to keep). The ambassador is most likely very upset about this! They split up the treasure and afterward Dixon the dwarf slips away. They don't see him again.
20 Wealsun
Maccabee decides to donate his deed for the property in Goats' Steps to the small brotherhood of followers of Heironeous in Marner. They give him a valuable antique holy symbol made of platinum to show their appreciation.
Brandon visits the Temple of Pelor and donates all of his share of treasure to them. Brother Arthur gives him a silver sunburst that he calls a "benediction." Since the group is preparing to leave Marner, he says that the benediction may be used for clerical services at other Pelorian temples, church's, and such. Also, Elhonna, the Archdeaconess takes him to a sacred chamber and he is given a very sacred gift. Brandon has not spoke of it, so I'll stay silent on the matter...
The rest of the party purchases some last minute items and sells a few things. They plan to travel to the Temple of the Frozen Wind, which they bought a map to. It is deep in the Rakers and will probably require a great deal of climbing to get to, so they purchased some mountain climbing gear.
21 Wealsun
The party has left Marner for good. They stop in Goats' Steps late in the day as they head into the Rakers and Mira Luna, Kymble, and Padril make arrangements for tenents to occupy their cottages and tend the property for them. The soldiers occupying the thorp warn them htat deep within the pass they will be traveling along, there is a site of an ancient battle said to be haunted by wraiths of the warring Warlords that perished there. Sometimes, the restless spirits wander into the pass.
22-23 Wealsun
Traveling through the mountain pass. Though cool still, the weather has warmed considerably since the last time they were here. These days pass peacefully.
24 Wealsun
A bloodied figure approaches from up the road and turns out to be a caravan guard that has survived a gnoll ambush several miles further up the road. The man's name is Vance. The rest of his group has been taken prisoner along with the wagon they were escorting and have fled north into the mountains. The party swears to rescue Vance's fellow caravan guards and the merchant. They double-time it up the road and find the site of the ambush and begin tracking the large band of gnolls into the mountains.
Late in the afternoon they find the wagon, which has broken a wheel. It is being looted of the last of its contents by 4 gnolls. The horses have been butchered.
The gnolls are attacked and slain and the group continues following the tracks that are now a little more difficult to follow, but still no problem for Padril.
4 miles later, they spy a gnoll sentry hidden in the rocks below a ridge. Beyond the ridge, a ruined tower rises up and sounds of drums and gnoll banter can be heard from what is most likely a small valley on the other side of the ridge.
The gnoll and his fellow sentries spot the PCs and begin firing arrows. The group tries to take out all of the gnolls before they can alert the others down in the valley, but are unsuccessful. About the time the group has slain the last of the hidden gnoll sentries, the rest of the 16 gnolls come swarming up the other side of the ridge.
Brandon proves invulnerable to volley after volley of arrows from the gnolls, but is eventually grappled to the ground and incapacitated. Padril takes numerous arrows and falls, but is revived by Mira Luna with a healing potion. Kymble is also dropped by the huge greataxe of one of the gnolls. However, his vicious riding dog defends his comatose body and manages to kill the gnoll that downed his master. He stands guard over his body while Maccabee manages to burst free from a ring of gnolls tyring to wrestle him to the ground and slowly backs his way toward the gnome to lay hands on him. The gnolls keep after Maccabee trying to once again grapple him to the ground, but every attempt is met with fatal blows from the Reaver and those that do manage to get their hands on him are violently shaken off. Maccabee will simply not be restrained. However, a well placed arrow by the gnoll leader finally puts the paladin on the ground.
During this whole battle, Mira Luna has peppered the gnolls with magic missiles and reduced their numbers while maintaining enough distance from them that they cannot close with her to get their hands on her.
Before Maccabee was taken down, he managed to heal Kymble enough to bring him back to consciousness. After the gnome healed himself up a bit more with his wand, he did the same for Maccabee, which, as it turned out, saved him from dying by the arrow from the gnoll ranger's bow. Kymble had tried in vain to effect the creatures with his bardic magic and failed, but when it mattered the most, his magic came through when he cast a Tasha's hideous laughter spell on the viciuos gnoll ranger. With only one gnoll left to deal with now, Kyble made his way over the Maccabee and healed him back to consciousness. Discussion about what to do with the gnoll leader was short-lived. Kymble viciously stabbed the gnoll through the heart.
The party was victorious! They had faced a band of 22 gnolls and, though things looked bleak for a while, they had all come out of it alive.
During the battle, Padril had seen the main body of gnolls leading a group of human captives down into a hole (probably with stairs) a bit past the ruined tower. Now that the battle was over, the group scrambled down the other side of the ridge and went to investigate. They found a still funcional well, a set of weathered stairs leading down into darkness about 150 ft. southwest of the ruined tower, and the tower itself was filled with tons and tons of rubble.
There was also a heap of loot taken from the merchant's wagon within the makeshift camp of the gnolls along with horse meat sizzling over a fire. The group decided to carry the loot into the ruined tower where it would be safe from possible scavengers while they investigated the underground area.
And that is where we stopped for the night...
Will be having through the eyes done soon to be posted; although yours was pretty complete Steve, I don't have much to add. Good game though.
Will be having through the eyes done soon to be posted; although yours was pretty complete Steve, I don't have much to add. Good game though.
Sorry, Paul. I guess I didn't leave much out. I only intended to give a bare-bones account, but when I started in on the battle with the gnolls, I got a little carried away ;)
'Rumbling Hedgehog'...I love it.
Rich
'Rumbling Hedgehog'...I love it.
Rich
That, my friend, is an ode to you and Muffin's Honor ;) Glad you caught it.
That, my friend, is an ode to you and Muffin's Honor ;) Glad you caught it.
I'm honoured Steve, and as destiny would have it (aha), I'm just working on something similar to Devil Box featuring a pantomime, a talking badger and a rabbit that is 'dynamite'.
My post for our last session should have been dated June 10 - not the 3rd.
I'm honoured Steve, and as destiny would have it (aha), I'm just working on something similar to Devil Box featuring a pantomime, a talking badger and a rabbit that is 'dynamite'.
Sweet! Are we talking Monte Python "dynamite?" As in "We can't risk another frontal assault. That rabbit is dynamite!"
Speaking of rabbits and other wildlife, keep an eye on this thread a month or so from now. I have an interesting one involving this topic, I think you'll find amusing. I'd tell you more, but my players read this ;)
Through the Eyes of a Paladin: 13
Setting up watch in the early part of the night Maccabee stood at the ready while bringing Kymble up to speed on the past few week’s events. Maccabee held a tangle foot bag at the ready for any would-be assailants to during his watch. Caltrops placed at both doors gave a sense of security that would painfully slow intruders down. A fire was enjoyed as the remaining group slept by the nearby hearth. But unlike any night, several strangers at the doors of the den disturbed this night where the group was resting. Maccabee threw his tanglefoot bag at one of the hooded assassins covering him with sticking goo, but it only slowed him, which was fine. Kymble’s yelp of pain from an assassins’ arrow sticking in him awakened the remaining group from their slumber. Four rogues entered the room hooded under dark, black cowls. Dixon was abruptly awoken from his sleep as one of the assailants’ short swords stabbed into his rotund dwarven gut. Padril’s arrows and Mira Luna’s magic missiles made short work of the intruders. Brandon ran through the nearby hallway seeking to face off with the leader of the group. It was apparent that the woman was familiar with the martial arts. She hastily took to fighting Brandon, the young monk of Rao. After moments of melee the woman was down by the systematic blows from Brandon, Mira Luna’s magic missiles, and Padril’s arrows. Regrettably, none of the caltrops had wounded their perspective targets, instead injuring the party as they chased down the female monk.
Once settled, Maccabee sought out the city watch carrying the unconscious woman upon his shoulders as Kymble strode at his side. In a brief deliberation Maccabee had placed the woman soundly upon the ground before the night patrol. It appeared the woman was a familiar face to the group of soldiers because their demeanor was filled with suspicion and confusion. Assisting the good Paladin the men of the watch followed to gather up the remainder of the assassins and take them back watch station. After a short inquisition, the adventures were asked to follow after them. Once inside the watch station, the group was escorted into a holding cell. There, they waited for the Captain of the Watch to arrive. Conversation was overheard from beyond the thick wooden cell door; the fate of the adventurers seemed to be the topic.
It appeared the woman in question turned out to be a local ambassador from the Scarlet Brotherhood. She was somehow revived from her unconscious state and vehemently wanted the heads of the party members as punishment for the audacity of causing harm to her. Maccabee took little note of the woman’s pleas knowing in his mind he was in the right and that somehow righteousness would prevail. The discussion was becoming heated between a man in authority known as Captain Fitz and the woman whose name was apparently Ambassador Nellayne. The exploits of the group were known throughout Marner; it appeared that the good Archbaroness held them in high regard. This was the break the group needed to get through this ordeal. The politics in Marner was apparently more complicated than the party members had thought. After several hours in the cell the group was released on terms of secrecy. The good Captain Fitz along with Captain Osworth asked that the matter never be mentioned again. The group was more than happy to acquiesce with the men in authority and were more than too ready to leave Marner.
Maccabee sought out the local fellowship of Heironeous to donate his deed to the land in Goats’ Step awarded by the Arch Baroness to them. One of the retired Paladins of the fellowship was pleased with Maccabee’s gift and in return gave him a splendid platinum holy symbol. Grateful for the gift, Maccabee turned to the road out of Marner. Traveling through Goats’ Steps, the party settled some business with their newfound homes and away the travelers went.
Traveling through the foothills of the Rakers the group stumbled upon a man in serious need of assistance. A fellow named Vance was badly injured. Padril assisted the man to his feet as the party was made aware of merchant’s wagon that was recently besieged by Gnolls. With utmost determination the group followed the trail into a maze of narrow canyons. Padril’s great tracking skills made it easy to stay hot on the creatures’ trail as well as finding the captured merchant and caravan guards who were taken by the Gnolls. Eventually the group happened upon four Gnolls who had hung back and were attempting to empty out the remains of the merchant’s broken wagon. Padril pierced the retched creatures to death with arrows as Brandon drew attacks that were unable to penetrate his defenses. The group removed the wagon out of the narrow canyon using Maccabee’s summoned warhorse. Pleased by their ingenuity, the group moved on. Padril continued to track the creatures up to a split in the canyon. One leading off deeper into the mountain pass and the other with footsteps of humans mixed in with the gnolls. The trail was obvious.
The group continued on till they met with an ambush of sorts. Padril struck the despising monsters with the sharpness of his arrows, as Brandon moved to the front to draw fire from the Gnolls, giving Padril the chance to neutralize the creatures one at a time. Mira Lunam, making her way to the front was able to assist Padril as Maccabee awaited for the now invisible Kymble to mouny up behind him on his warhorse. The Paladin drank a potion of shield of faith and began his ride through the mountain pass. One after the other the Gnolls numbers was dwindled. Maccabee, using his warhorse to mow down the unclean creatures, was happily giving the steed its head, which in turn seemed to be relishing stomping their heads into the rocks. The battle moved up a slope and up to the top of a ridge, as Maccabee charged into a group of 14 more Gnolls that had been swarming up the other side. The good and faithful Kymble jumped off the horse and one Gnoll after another was destroyed. Regrettably the stout warhorse was killed in the midst of battle and Maccabee stood there alone amidst the snarling creatures. The hideous Gnolls had also surrounded Brandon. The tides of battle had changed… for the worse.
Padril was no where in sight; apparently the barrage of arrows felled him and Mira Luna was trying desperately to hold back the advancing enemies. Kymble was also nowhere to be seen and from the looks of things Maccabee was soon to meet his death. It appeared that Brandon already had. He disappeared under a swarm of gnolls and no longer moved. Foremost in Maccabee’s mind was his hatred of Gnolls. It fanned the flames burning in his soul that were being smothered by these seemingly insurmountable odds and gave him the strength to persevere; Gnolls were falling from the thunderous strikes of the Reaver. Kymble could now be seen as he was stricken down by the Gnolls’ attacks. Fortunately, because of the ferocity of his faithful riding dog, Scout, his body could not be molested.
Maccabee made his way to the comatose Gnome and was able to lay hands upon him, thus spurring vitality back into his dying little body. The fight was still on until the heavy toll of battle finally caught up to the Paladin and brought him to his knees and then crumpled into a heap; unconscious. Moments seemed like hours. Revived again, the remaining Gnolls were dispatched and blessed Kymble brought vitality back into Maccabee’s body with his wand of healing. These craven dogs, scourges of the Rakers, were defeated, but finding and rescuing the missing merchant and his guards was still an urgent priority.
Great editing work Steve, I am now even more excited about the up an coming game.
Great editing work Steve, I am now even more excited about the up an coming game.
I just reread it and I guess I missed a bunch of little type-o's and stuff, but I'm glad you're happy with it.
The next session should be sweet!
I just reread it and I guess I missed a bunch of little type-o's and stuff, but I'm glad you're happy with it.
I saw that, but heck mine probably wasn't much better. Good job anyway. Do you think we have a book in the making for publishing? :)
I'm not reading enough Mira Luna in there. What is this the Dark Ages? Oh, wait... It kind of is, isn't it? More Mira Luna! More Mira Luna!
I'm honoured Steve, and as destiny would have it (aha), I'm just working on something similar to Devil Box featuring a pantomime, a talking badger and a rabbit that is 'dynamite'.Sweet! Are we talking Monte Python "dynamite?" As in "We can't risk another frontal assault. That rabbit is dynamite!"
Speaking of rabbits and other wildlife, keep an eye on this thread a month or so from now. I have an interesting one involving this topic, I think you'll find amusing. I'd tell you more, but my players read this ;)
Might be...
Looking forward to that one Steve, I'll keep my eyes on the posts, any hints or would it give the game away?
Rich
Might be...
Looking forward to that one Steve, I'll keep my eyes on the posts, any hints or would it give the game away?
Rich
It probably would. But it has to do with some very pissed off wild life and a town whose economy is mainly supported by pelts, furs, and other things they hunt and trap for in the woods. Let's just say I'll be pulling some interesting dire animals out of my hat ;)
I doubt our ideas are very similar, but I can't wait to see what you have brewing if it makes it to print.
I'm not reading enough Mira Luna in there. What is this the Dark Ages? Oh, wait... It kind of is, isn't it? More Mira Luna! More Mira Luna!
Like the hair due Mira Luna in your pic. You can't be serious? :p
Friday June 17.
Dayton not with us tonight, but the rest of the crew here and ready to game.
Late afternoon of 24 Wealsun, 592 cy.
The dead gnolls lay scattered across the rocky slope and the party hustled down to see if they could find what has become of the human prisoners. They move the loot taken from the merchant inside the ruined tower and Padril climbs up to a spot where he can keep an eye out for danger while the party explores the nearby well.
They lower Brandon down on a rope and he is nearly eaten alive by a swarm of fish when he swims beneath the water to examine a tunnel that exits the well. It is blocked by iron bars.
The party then explores the hole in the earth a short distance away. Stairs descend to a corridor that turns a corner and ends at a massive stone door. Words in Gnoll read, "Here is honored the Pact of Hennekar," which is read aloud by Kymble. When he says it in Gnoll, an audible sigh can be heard from the door; some kind of release of pressure. It takes them a couple minutes working together, but they finally manage to push the massive slab open.
Down a long corridor, they enter a circular chamber... glowing star engraved on the floor, three stone pillars, 5 exits out of the room, blood spilled on the floor.
One exit leads down a smooth, slope into darkness where water can be heard splashing, another to an open door, the next leads off into darkness, and the last leads to a closed door.
They head off into the darkened corridor, following what they assume is the trail left by another splash of blood, but the trail goes cold. However, they have found three other interesting rooms that they choose to delay exploring.
The group returns to the glowing star room and heads down the corridor ending at an open door.
Entering, they find a large chamber that was once a storeroom. There are still barrels and crates that have been looted. Hiding in the wooden beams supporting the ceiling is an advanced choker. It grabs Brandon by the neck and hurls him deeper into the room. The creature then has its way with the party for nearly a minute, choking and hurling adventurers around the room. Kymble dies and it appears that the others will be soon to follow. So Brandon decides to use the powerful boon given him within the sacred chambers of the Temple of Pelor in Marner.
Opening his palm, the silvery fire flickers. He wills it to activate and suddenly the room is filled with blinding silver light. Suddenly the events of the past round begin to.... REWIND. Knowing everything that just happened, the party has been given a once in a life-time opportunity to learn from their mistakes and maybe change what happened.
Maccabee lifts from the ground, slides up the wall he had been hurled into, flies through the air, and is back in the choking grasp of the creature hanging from the rafters of the ceiling like a monkey. Then suddenly the silver light is gone and events begin to move forward once more.
Brandon slumps back into unconsciousness since the healing potion Mira Luna revived him with has not happened yet.
Things look desperate again even with this second chance, but the party manages to finally slay the creature.
They are bewildered by what happened. Only Mira Luna saw the silver flame in Brandon's palm and realizes that Brandon is repsonsible. Eventually, the group is told that Pelor blessed Brandon with a mighty boon that he could use in the most direst of circumstances. He deemed this fight to qualify for such a moment. They give him heartfelt thanks and decide to hole up in here after getting rid of the choker carcass and the half-eaten body of one of the merchant's guards that they found stuffed in a nearby barrel.
Morning 25 Wealsun, 592 cy
Rested and healed. The group returns to the glowing star room and heads north into the corridor ending in a closed door. They have to bash it open and it takes numerous tries. Once it is open they find a room dominated by a cistern surrounded by phosphorescent fungi and a man covered in fuzzy growths standing near the cistern staring at them with deep, shadowed eyes. The figure holds a longsword.
Brandon attempted a friendly greeting met only with a salute with its blade as it moved up to attack while describing the foul things it was going to do to them.
Maccabee declared that it was evil and Kymble cast a divinatory spell, which prompted the gnome to declare that it was also undead. Brandon answered both with, "Then it must be destroyed."
When the creature was within 5 ft. Brandon unleashed a flurry of blows that did noting to affect the enemy. With its approach, Brandon, Maccabee, Kymble, and even Scout the ferocious riding dog, were suddenly struck by a wave of cold that seemed to suck the warmth right out of them. Kymble chose to get the heck out of there, but was slashed with the creature's gleaming blade and fell unconscious as scout carried him away from the undead thing. However, Maccabee, Brandon, and Mira Luna destroyed it and retreated back from the bitter cold that continued even after destroying the the undead thing.
Kymble and Brandon both had suffered wounds and were healed. The party was then left to quander what this creature was and the source of the blood chilling cold effect. One clue was the blade lying on the ground next to the creature. Kymble could just make out from a distance that it had Infernal inscriptions on it that read "Soul Shiver."
And that was the end of our session...
Paul and I ran very parallel with our session notes this week. But here's his latest installment. Enjoy!
Through the Eyes of a Paladin: 14
Padril stood watch from a high point of the ruins of the tower as the remaining party members searched the surroundings for any other possible access into the dungeon in which the captives were taken. Finding a still functional well, the group decided to check it out. Brandon was lowered by Maccabee with his rope. Leaving the rope, Brandon swam down below the water of the well, to search deeper below. Mira Luna sent several magical orbs of light down to help Brandon see. The water was about 30 feet deep. Ten feet beneath the top of the water was some form of opening going further into the bowls of the earth, but it was blocked by a metal grate. Regrettably, the fish that were in the well saw Brandon’s presence there as the signal for their afternoon meal. Needless to say, thousands of tiny fish swarmed around Brandon, making it difficult for him to find his way back to the surface. From up above all that could be seen was foaming, churning water. The rest of the group were uncertain about Brandon’s state and began to grow alarmed.
Finally Brandon broke the surface of the water and lunged for the rope surrounded by the thousands of tiny, hungry fish that continued to bite chunks of his clothes and flesh from him. Maccabee tugged on the rope, pulling Brandon free of the dangerous waters and up out of the well. His injuries, though tiny in size, were numerous. But, Kymble was able to heal the Monk to full health in moments. This little aquatic adventure made it clear that this was not the route they would be taking to enter the subterranean area that the captives had been taken down to.
Choosing the old stone steps in the gaping hole in the earth a little ways from the well, the group descended only to find a heavy stone door hermetically sealed barring entrance. It was fortunate that Kymble was able to read Gnoll (and nearly every other known language). Writing on the door represented some kind of secret Gnoll password. The door opened slightly once Kymble spoke the words in the dog like language and the door remained ajar for a short time. Even with the magical seal temporarily removed, the group had a terrible time opening it. Several minutes passed as the group tested their collective strength against the door. They finally resorted to using a crowbar from Kymble’s haversack. Maccabee, Brandon, Kymble and Mira Luna tugged away. Red of face and sweating, they all struggled to open the large door until finally the door scraped open heavily just wide enough for them to squeeze passed. Clearly there was no means of keeping the door open. Sadly, it swung closed again once they all entered the dungeon.
Slowly, they all made their way up a long tunnel, Brandon taking the lead, Maccabee right behind him, followed by Mira Luna and Kymble the Gnome mounted on his faithful riding dog, Scout. Bloodstains could be seen on the floor of the first chamber, a large circular room with a glowing five-pointed star etched into the floor. The air was still and close as the adventurers moved into one corridor and onto the next. A steep, sloping tunnel led down to some darkened area where water gushed down into unknown depths. It was apparent someone had fallen down the slope recently from the smeared dust on the ground and most likely they had not survived. As the group traveled further, they still found no sign of life. The silence in the air was frightening even to these veteran adventures. Eventually the group came upon two statues with fires burning in the recesses of their eyes. They were there as an obvious deterrent to go any further. Playing it safe, the group doubled back to check the side rooms they had skipped. Again there was no sign of the merchant and his guards.
They approached an open door they had skipped earlier. Brandon peeked in and saw a simple storeroom. But when he took his first step in, he was grabbed by a strange creature hanging from the ceiling rafters; it was a Choker. Brandon could not free himself from the creature’s choking grasp, though he squirmed and fought and used every trick he knew to overpower the creature. Finally, he was tossed across the room as Maccabee waited for an opportune moment to strike a deadly blow to the creature. Shouting a battle oath rarely used, the Paladin struck a mighty blow combined with his ability to smite evil. But the blow he thought would fell the creature was a mere annoyance as the thing then lifted him up into the air by his throat to then be thrown to the ground across the room like a rag doll. Mira Luna struck it with Magic Missiles from her wand, but it was still not enough to stop the creature. Brandon decided to try a tactic that had worked well in the past. He went on full defense and tried to distract the creature into attacking him depending on his superior dodging skills. His tactic worked for a moment, giving the remaining party members a chance to act. Regrettably, Mira Luna was also snatched from the ground and pulled up into the rafters with the creature where she was fiercely choked. Doing the only thing she could think of, she played dead and the creature bought it. It dropped her to the floor and chose another target. Brandon leaped into the air and was able to land a solid bare-knuckle punch upside the things head. Maccabee, meanwhile, was at the ready to hack the thing when it next tried to grab him. Kymble and Scout raced across the room where the Gnome sent a small crossbow bolt into the Choker’s thick grey hide. Then the creature went after Maccabee. This time the Paladin was waiting for it, and was able to inflict more damage than before. But still the creature continued attacking relentlessly, unhindered by the wounds it had suffered.
Mira Luna was able to strike the creature again with a volley of Magic Missiles. But then Brandon was grabbed and lifted into the air. The Choker shook him violently back and forth and then tossed him into a corner where he lay motionless. Dead or alive, nobody could tell. Mira Luna took desperate measures. Casting an invisibility spell, she hurried over to Brandon with a healing potion. By that time Kymble was now also laying motionless on the floor from the vicious attacks of the Choker. Mira Luna made the decision to heal the little Gnome first and hustled over to his body. Maccabee was again attacking the monster; his damage was just not enough to stop the creature. The Choker yanked him from the ground and began strangling the Paladin while Kymble, now conscious, was using his healing wand to keep the Paladin clinging to life. To no avail, the Paladin was hurled across the room and slammed into a wall to slide to the floor unconscious. It was now Kymble that was the focus of the foul beast’s vicious attacks.
In the meantime, Mira Luna finally revived Brandon. What happened next astonished everyone! Apparently Brandon acquired a powerful magical gift that could turn back time for a brief moment. The situation in the room began to change as people and their actions against the beast started reversing. This time Maccabee was once again being throttled in the air by the Choker, but knowing his and the rest of the party’s possible fate, he punched the creature as hard as he could. The Choker then threw the Paladin across the room, but with much less force than previously and much less damage as well. The events had changed for the best! Mira Luna struck again with a barrage of Magic Missiles. At which point the creature swung across the ceiling, brachiating like a monkey to attack the sorceress. Snatching her up once again, she looked to be close to death. But this time Maccabee was able to deal a blow that dropped the creature. It and Mira Luna collapsed to the ground. Maccabee stood over the foul creature, rasping raggedly, and cleaved in twain with the Reaver.
It was finally safe… Kymble went around the room healing the party until everyone was restored to full health. And it was there that the adventures were forced to stop and rest for the night, hoping that there would still be time in the morning to rescue the captives whose whereabouts was still a mystery. Discovering the body of a recently killed woman warrior in a nearby barrel gave little hope for the rest of the ill fated merchant and his guards. The body of the Choker and the woman were carried over to a pool the party had encountered earlier and dropped in. Perhaps, if nothing else, the fish would eat so well that they would have no appetite if the group was forced to enter the waters. One could only hope.
The next day came without incident during the night. Entering a different corridor, the group came upon yet another difficult door to open. The party forced it open and Brandon stepped inside onto a platform overlooking an odd shaped room where a creature with lifeless eyes held a finely crafted long sword as if ready to use it with very little provocation. Maccabee instinctively reached out to mentally probe its aura for the taint of evil and found that it was, indeed, evil. Kymble quickly used magic of his own and informed the group that it was undead. Brandon moved in feeling a cold chill right down to his bones. The undead monster advanced on the group as Brandon stood at the ready to attack it. Striking the monster with his bare hands, the chill in the air began to injure those nearby it. Mira Luna was able to strike it with her Magic Missiles from a safe distance down the corridor. Maccabee pulverized it with the Reaver at the same moment Brandon struck it down with his fist. But all had to leave the area to avoid further injury from the bone numbing cold. The group determined that it was not the undead creature that was creating the cold, but the sword which it was wielding. While the group speculated on what the creature was and the effect of the sword, they took that moment to heal their wounds. They were left feeling uncomfortably curious about the next moments to come.
Friday, June 24
Folks, pull up a seat because this one is long. But, man, is this worth reading! What an exciting night!
We still were without Dayton. But, we get him back next week along with Todd who rejoins the fold.
Morning of 25 Wealsun, 592 cy (inside the star chamber)
The party deliberated on what to do about the unnatural cold and what exactly was causing it. They all believed that it was coming form the sword, which was engraved with Infernal glyphs naming it “Soul Shiver.” Maccabee approached the undead carcass and the sword and felt the coldness getting stronger. So, Kymble and Maccabee used a grappling hook and rope to snare the sword and drag it away and down another hallway to close it up in an out-of-the-way room. However, they soon learned that it was not the sword, but the fuzzy growths on the dead creature that were causing the heat draining chill.
Kymble used the waterskins full of oil he’d been lugging around ever since finding the merchant’s broken wagon to spill out a gallon of oil onto the floor and then Maccabee used the grappling hook and rope again to tug the fuzz-covered corpse into the puddle, which was promptly ignited by the little gnome.
WHOOSH!!!
The flames erupted and suddenly the fuzzy growths reproduced like mad! They now covered most of the hall, walls, and ceiling, and even reached out into the large pentagram room they have been using as a safe spot for their planning and strategizing. They were forced to step away or have the warmth sucked right out of them.
Kymble now realized that the fuzzy stuff was a patch of brown mold on the dead guy. Doh! (hand slapping forehead) Until they can kill it with cold magic, getting through this particular corridor is out of the question.
The party then explored the nearby shaft angling down into darkness by lowering Brandon down with rope. It opened into a round cylindrical shaft about 10-ft. in diameter. Water splashed down from a narrow opening barred by a metal grate and cascaded down to another much larger grate 30 feet below. They found a human body down there, which the party retrieved. It was one of the merchant guards. Apparently, the old salt & pepper haired warrior took a fall that killed him. He still clutched a dagger in his clenched fist, blue eyes staring lifelessly. Brandon reverently brushed his eyelids closed.
The group left the body there in the large circular room and moved on to areas only given a perfunctory glance the night before. Back at the room with the 2 statues standing in menacing poses in front of another corridor, Brandon discovered a pit trap that he dexterously avoided falling into. The group used the fish-eaten corpse of the choker retrieved from the pool to locate a second trap. Mentally marking their locations, they moved past the statues into the corridor beyond. It opened into a shaft with stairs leading down to another level. Bloodstains on the steps indicated that they were on the right track.
At the bottom of the stairs they moved down a corridor that turned a corner and led into a large hall. Something munched and crunched on a meal somewhere in the darkness of the room. While Macabee and Brandon focused on the noise, Kymble’s dog scout found something interesting to sniff at on a portion of the nearby wall. This led Mira Luna and Kymble to locate a secret door there. Opening it, they saw a hall beyond it. It turned a corner after 30 feet and standing at the corner was a tall iron statue of a minotaur with a greataxe in one hand and a lit torch in the other. A moment later the secret door slid shut.
Leaving the secret door for later, Kymble investigated the hall up ahead since he sees better than the rest of the party. As he moved up, Brandon noticed the munching and crunching cease. Suddenly a carrion crawler scuttled out of the dark to attack Kymble. The gnome ran back toward the rest of the party with creature following. It was able to slap Brandon and Maccabee a couple of time with its tentacles, but to no effect and it was soon dead.
Just as the party had killed the carrion crawler, Scout suddenly began barking hysterically and ran back to the stairs, still barking furiously. From the corridor leading to the carrion crawler’s dining area a wave of darkness moved toward the group.
Without much debate (well, actually the players talked this over for a good while!), the party fled to the stairs with the darkness close on their heels. Mira Luna managed to get to the stairs, but Kymble & Scout, Maccabee, and Brandon were caught in the area of some wicked spell that caused sharp, jagged, spikes to emerge from the ground, slashing and piercing them as they tried to continue fleeing. Kymble and Scout managed to get up the stairs, though wounded and slowed. Brandon made an extraordinary leap to get onto the stairs, but was also wounded and slowed. Maccabee was too slow in his heavy armor and numerous wounds to keep up. He never made it to the stairs and as the rest of the group ran for their lives, they heard a strangled scream from Maccabee suddenly cut off.
With enough room between them and the creature, the remaining adventurers stopped in the 150-ft. long corridor leading to the statue room adjacent to the stairs. Here, they struggled with their decision to leave Maccabee and readied actions should they again see the darkness approach. Kymble prepared a large pool of oil using another oil-filled waterskin. He hoped to burn the thing if it came after them again.
Sure enough, the darkness approached a couple moments later. Mira Luna used dancing lights to illuminate the darkened hall to get a look at what it was. What they saw was a horrifying creature like a cross between a scorpion and a large hairy spider. It was bigger than a horse and moved with amazing speed. Mira Luna sent a volley of magic missiles at it and fled. Brandon followed a second later before it could get to him, but Kymble was too slow to retreat after tossing a flask of alchemist’s fire onto the oily puddle.
The creature stepped into the oil and it suddenly ignited, burning the thing, but reaching from the flames, it grabbed Kymble and yanked him off of Scout as he began to flee. A second later it ripped the little gnome apart. Scout followed Brandon and Mira Luna, but glanced back uncertainly the whole time.
Brandon had formed a quick plan to circle around behind the creature using some connecting halls. Mira Luna and Scout followed. They were forced to leap 15 ft. over the recessed pool they had dumped the choker in the night before and Brandon made it look easy. Even Scout made it across, but Mira Luna plunged down into the water. But, it’s amazing what adrenalin can do when you’re running for your life. She quickly swam out and ran up the stairs that descended into the water and caught up to Brandon & Scout.
Their plan worked. The creature must have extinguished itself and then chased after them. As they disappeared around a corner, they could see it approaching the pool.
They entered the long corridor where the oil had now burned itself out and Kymble’s two halves lay in bloody pools. Mira Luna and Brandon fled up the long corridor to the statue room and the stairs down, but Scout stopped and licked at his master’s face, whining.
Brandon and Mira Luna ran around the corner with Mira Luna screaming for Scout to come, but the loyal riding dog wouldn’t budge form its master’s side. The last they heard of Scout was furious snarls and barks, a pain-filled yelp, and then silence.
Brandon threw all caution to the wind in his flight as he made it to the stairs again, literally leaping over the edge rather than waste time on the steps. It cost him some bruises as he landed in a heap 30 feet below. However, upon gaining his feet he could see Maccabee laying nearby and miraculously still alive, but unconscious. When Mira Luna caught up, she cast a web spell to block the corridor behind her and descended to where Brandon stood over Maccabee’s body. While she fed a second healing potion to him, Brandon sprinted to the secret door they had found and opened it. Maccabee and Mira Luna followed a moment later and made it inside before the door slid closed.
They rested, deliberated, strategized, and mourned over Kybmle’s and Scout’s deaths. They were filled with foreboding should they have to face that creature again. They rested all that day and through the night, not bothering to post a watch.
Morning of 26 Wealsun, 592 cy (holed up in the secret corridor)
The next morning they returned to discussing their plans. More and more, Maccabee felt that saving the merchant and his guards was a lost cause and they needed to save their own skins, if that was even possible now. Brandon argued that until they knew that those people were dead, they had to do what they came here for. Mira Luna had no strong convictions either way, but seemed to side with Brandon, though with little passion.
Suddenly the secret door slid open and a surprised looking half-orc carrying a great axe regarded the party. Brandon made a quick assessment of the stranger and grabbed him by the shoulders asking him quickly, “Friend or foe?!” The half-orc stammered a confused reply as Brandon yanked him into the secret corridor. A moment later the secret door slid closed again, thankfully with the hulking scorpion/spider creature nowhere in sight.
They soon learned that this half-orc was named Rowthk. He had been with Underdark bounty hunters when he entered this dungeon from below and became separated from them. He saw the creature they described to him as well as two weakened humans in its lair that were still alive the last time he saw them. He had been searching for another way out of the dungeon since losing his party and stumbled upon this secret door. The party learned as much as they could about him and saw his presence as a much needed addition to their dwindling numbers. Padril’s skill with the bow could really be used right now, but the last they had seen him, he was keeping watch from within the ruined tower up above. Rowthk agreed to help as well as he could, though reluctant to commit to much, especially when it came to saving the humans in the creature’s lair.
The group decided to find out what else was here in this secret area. Mira Luna started up the corridor and rounding the corner the minotaur statue suddenly swung its axe at her and sent her sprawling with a massive bleeding wound. She was healed as well as could be done with the nearly depleted healing potions they had left and then the party decided to run past the trap together with Brandon in the lead. Luckily, this time nobody was hit.
At the end of this bend of the corridor they found a closed door, which Rowthk had to demolish in order to get past. A room beyond it apparently was some kind of shrine to the Elder Elemental Eye, a god once worshipped in the Temple of Elemental Evil near Hommlet far to the southwest some years ago. A stone door led into a recessed room with a pedestal at its center supporting a pulsating glass sphere of cloudy yellow light.
They also found a secret door leading into another room. This one had a black triangle painted on the floor with a second sphere floating above it at its center. Rowthk walked into the secret room and boldly crossed the lines of the painted triangle and grabbed up the floating sphere. This triggered a summoning spell, which brought a fire and ice mephit into the room to attack. The mephitis didn’t last long and the party moved back out into the adjoining corridor to study the sphere. Rowthk was convinced to give it to Mira Luna to study. The sphere was filled with alternating energies – lightning, fire, cold, and earth – as if it held a tiny little storm composed of all elements within it. Arcane symbols etched into 4 opposing sides of the sphere appeared to be command words to trigger whatever magic powers it had.
The group now wanted to investigate the other room, which prompted me to remark in an offhand way, “Nah, you don’t want to go in there. It’s just a big trap.” He he he. He’s joking, they thought.
Maccabee and Rowthk now descended the stairs to the next room to investigate the other sphere. A thick slab of stone suddenly dropped to seal the exit when Rowthk touched the glowing yellow sphere. And the sound of water rushing down from above could be heard.
Mira Luna and Brandon could do little to help from the other side of the slab, but working together, Rowthk and Maccabee soon reduced the slab to a pile of rubble with their furious weapon blows. Fleeing out of the room that was now filling rapidly with water, Maccabee closed the stone door and they all fled into the outer corridor…
Wow Steve, after looking back at last weeks game its incredible what we all went through. Hope this gives more of a personal insight of what my character felt. I remember how I've always wanted to face incredible odds, this venture diffinately put it to the test.
Through the Eyes of a Paladin: 15
Maccabee looked at the undead creature with its deadly Long Sword lying not to far off on the floor of the dungeon. Considering the sword as a threat Kymble tossed the grappling hook and knocked the sword out of harm’s way. Maccabee thought how overwhelming the feeling was of wanting to get out of this god-forsaken dungeon. He felt that this place was nothing more than a tomb. Reflecting back at finding the dead woman who was stuffed into a barrel gave way for little chance of finding other survivors in this dismal place.
Once the Sword was moved out of the way it turned out the Soul Shiver was neither evil itself nor emanating the debilitating cold. Pulling away the undead from the room with the grappling hook, Maccabee thought it a good idea to burn the rotting creature. In fact, it turned out to be a bad idea; the brown mold on the monster turned out to have an ability to multiply copiously around the entryway to one of the branches of the dungeon when exposed to fire. Maccabee rolled his eyes back overhearing Kymble as he forgot to mention that about the mold. Maccabee wasn’t amused as Kymble continually repeated that he would not last the day down in this dungeon. This feeling hung over the group as they went in deeper...
Searching down a sloping corridor Maccabee used the rope with grappling hook to lower Brandon down to the tunnel into a cylindrical cavern. Brandon happened to find a dead body of one of the caravan guards at the bottom of the hole. Maccabee scowled but refrained from voicing his concerns for the sake of the party’s morale. They lifted out the dead body and Brandon without difficulty. The group, saddened by the fate of the guard, searched his personal belongings and put it aside for any possible survivors.
Moving further into the dungeon the group faced two large humanoid shaped stone pillars miming a warning not to pass. Brandon was able to activate two pit traps making the way clear for the rest of the party. Maccabee thought Brandon’s tactics were a little unorthodox. He took the remains of the Choker and threw its wet dead body in front of him activating the traps. Maccabee grimaced at the sight; moments ago the dead monster was floating in a pool of swarming fish which had partially eaten its carcass.
Further on, they went down a descending spiral staircase leading to a corridor with a secret panel Mira Luna and Kymble had found. The wall slid opened as Brandon and Maccabee stood facing a large chamber with the sounds of something eating not too far off in the darkness. They both stood at the ready and finally out from the darkness came a carrion crawler. The fight broke out with both Brandon and Maccabee getting their shots in on the disgusting creature. With the assistance of Mira Luna and Kymble the creature was quickly overcome. Maccabee’s moment of elation was dampened with dread. Something bigger was coming towards them out of the darkness and the group stood at the ready. Brandon called out to everyone, as darkness seemed to expand towards the group. Kymble’s dog Scout began barking loudly, ending their attempts to proceed silently through the Dungeon. Everyone rushed to the stairs, Maccabee cursing at each step as his legs were being torn to shreds by some mysterious force. Everyone else was able to escape to the upper level as the darkness grew around Maccabee. A tremendous force knocked the Paladin into unconsciousness, his last thoughts were “my comrades have left me here to die.”
It was a long while before Maccabee was brought back to his senses with Brandon pouring a healing potion down his throat for the second time. Maccabee was able to lay hands upon himself and with Brandon urging him on the Paladin found the secret door leading to a place of safety. Kymble was dead and by the brief story describing the events so was his dog Scout. Maccabee stood there in shock, able only to utter, “I hate Gnolls!” That is all the Paladin could think about, those damn Gnolls, if it wasn’t for them they would not be down in this dreadful place which reeked of death. Nor would anyone else be dead for their efforts to try to do what’s right, the Paladin thought to himself.
They rested for a day in the small corridor that was now closed off by the secret door. Fortunately, Maccabee was able to use his abilities and the remaining potions to heal everyone in the party that was left. He kept thinking about the grotesque spider scorpion described to him by Brandon and Mira Luna. Maccabee was far from being out of the fight. Already he was thinking of a means to end this creature’s life even if it meant sacrificing his own life in the end.
Suddenly at the opening of the secret door stood a huge Half Orc named Rowthk. Brandon quickly pulled the puzzled giant half-man into the secret passage. He seemed to be another vulnerable adventurer stuck in the lair of the Scorpion Spider Monster. Maccabee was relieved to see a formidable fighter in their ranks. It brought little solace for the loss of Kymble and each time Maccabee thought of losing the little gnome it fueled his anger.
They crossed into the next passageway and Brandon activated a trap which earlier caused much harm to Mira Luna. The party was able to break down the door impeding them; it opened up to a kind of evil sanctuary dedicated to some foul elemental god. Maccabee was able to find a secret passage and pushed on the rotating door. The room led into a secret chamber where a crystal sphere hovered over an elemental triangle on the floor. Although he detected no evil from it, Maccabee didn’t want to have anything to do with the obviously powerful magical item. The large Half Orc plucked the sphere off its pedestal and suddenly two creatures appeared that at first Maccabee thought were Imps, but were in fact Mephitis. Maccabee, remembering the effect Imps had on him before, made short work of both Ice Mephit and Fire Mephit. The disposing of the Elemental Mephits encouraged Maccabee and he was pleased to see that the Half Orc could hold his own. Regrettably, this mood was short-lived as both investigated a second room, which turned out to be trapped. Maccabee and the Half Orc using brute force broke through the stone that blocked their way. The room behind them began filling with water as the group quickly evacuated. Maccabee closed the nearby door to limit the amount of water spilling out to the remaining rooms and chambers. At this point a plan was formulating in Maccabee’s mind, to defeat the Scorpion Spider creature once and for all. Maccabee’s face took on the “thousand mile stare” as he silently plotted every detail of the next battle.
Padril watched his companions bumble around the well several dozen feet below him from the high ledge he had climbed up to in the ruined tower. Most of the stonework was dangerously unstable, but this spot would hold his weight indefinitely if he so chose.
Brandon was in some kind of trouble at the bottom of the well judging from the way Maccabee, Kymble, and Mira Luna were acting. They pulled him up after a moment, gasping, and bleeding from dozens of tiny wounds. Padril would have chuckled at their buffoonery if he had a sense of humor. Instead he turned his head and continued surveying the area. Nothing but dead gnolls. Good…
The others called out to him that they were going to check the hole Padril had seen the gnolls take the prisoners down. He nodded and they descended the stairs that they found there. He could here them struggling for several minutes with something barring their way. Then one of them popped their head up and called out that there was a dungeon down there that they were going to check out. Padril gave a wave of acknowledgement and they rest of the party began exploring it.
Padril stood silent vigil there the remainder of the evening with no sight or sound from his companions. He wasn’t too worried when nightfall came and they had not returned, figuring they probably chose to rest down below. Besides, he liked the solititude… and the quiet. He waited another day and still they had not come up. He decided that if by the following morning they were still gone, he would go down to see what was happening.
The next morning there was still no sign of his companions. Padril clambered down from his perch and suddenly found himself eying a massive sword leveled at him when he reached the ground. He followed the blade to the man holding it. A tall human in full plate armor with cold blue eyes regarding him from the shadows of his helm. He briefly assayed his foe, figuring what his chances would be of pulling his bow and getting a shot off before the man struck him. He decided talking might be the best way to go, though it wasn’t one of his strong suits.
It turned out that this human was a man named Girt. He was also heading through the mountain pass when he found signs of a recent ambush on the road. It looked like a merchant wagon had been stolen. He followed the tracks to see if he could help the unfortunate people that had been attacked since no bodies had been left behind. Following a trail of dead gnolls and tracks had led him here. He wandered into this little valley after dark and found the loot stashed in the ruins of the tower. He slept in a niche nearby hoping to catch the brigands or whoever had put the loot here when they returned.
Padril explained the experience on the road with the merchant guard Lance and how they had tracked the gnolls here and had a bloody battle with them, narrowly coming out of it alive. Finally, Girt lowered his blade and offered his hand in friendship as well as his assistance. Padril reluctantly shook it and wiped his hand on his pants afterward when Girt wasn’t looking.
Together they went down the stairs the rest of the party had gone down yesterday evening. There they found a massive stone door that they could not seem to get open no matter how hard they pushed. Girt tried hacking at it with his massive sword, but it wasn’t doing a thing to it. Now Padril understood all the sounds of exertion his friends had made before. It must have taken every one of them (even the little gnome) pushing on the door to get it opened.
So, they ascended the stairs and decided to see what was down the well, though Padril figured it wasn’t worth even trying if his companions had already investigated it. He and Girt tied a rope around a nearby granite block from the tower ruins and after Girt had removed his layers and layers of metal armor, they shimmied down. A tunnel below the well water looked like it led into the dungeon, though it meant prying the iron grate open so they could squeeze through. They plunged below the water and worked together until they finally bent a pair of the bars enough for them to squeeze through. As they did, dozens of little fish nipped at them, but were little more than an irritant. When they squeezed through they found another pair of bars that they would have to pry open. They were forced to swim back into the well and go up for air. They swam back again and managed to get the bars open enough to get through. They emerged in a pool of sorts with stairs adorned with a fish motif ascending out of it. A human body reduced to little more than bones by the fish in the water bobbed at the water’s surface. Fortunately, Padril could see that it wasn’t one of his companions. Most likely one of the people they were here to rescue.
Corridors led north and south from this pool. They flipped a silver piece and decided to go north. Up ahead the corridor widened and turned to the west, entering a rubble-filled room. Girt and Padril suddenly froze as they heard strange scuttling sounds echoing up the corridor. Girt covered his everburning torch and they waited. Soon the sounds faded and the two picked their way through the rocks.
A pair of steps led up to the tower above, but rubble completely blocked that exit. In the shadows in a corridor running north and south from this room, they could see large swaths of blood on the ground and walls. Moving up cautiously, they found bits of leather, buckles, and… Kymble’s wand of cure light wounds. This was a bad sign…
Padril cautiously followed the large insectile tracks made by stepping through the puddle of blood for as far as they lasted up the corridor to the north, rounded a corner into a room lit by flames flickering in large statues at the far end of another room. A corridor continued on past the statues. They moved on into the corridor eying the statues nervously. Beyond them the corridor led to a winding staircase down to a lower level.
When Girt and Padril reached the bottom, they found more drops of blood. They proceeded down a new corridor that turned to the south. But when they reached the bend, Padril sensed something hidden on the back wall to his right. Moving over to it he could see the outline of a secret door. Probing along the surface, he triggered a pressure point that caused the whole 8-ft.-by-5-ft. section there to drop down into the ground. And there stood Maccabee, Mira Luna, Brandon, and some big, ugly half-orc with a great axe.
Padril watched his companions bumble around the well several dozen feet below him from the high ledge he had climbed up to in the ruined tower.
Great Side story Steve and Dayton nice hook.
Friday, July 1
Stanley is in Idaho again and Todd postponed his return for 2 more weeks (because he’s a weenie!).
Midmorning, 26 Wealsun, 592 cy
Maccabee, Brandon, Mira Luna, and Rowthk debate their next course of action and noticed water pooling around the stone door blocking the flooded room the two fighters barely escaped from. Moving past the executioner statue, it swings and misses. As they continue their conference, the secret door slides open and Padril is standing there with a human warrior in full plate carrying a great sword.
Padril and Girt enter and the secret door closes. A great bit of luck brings the companions together once more. Introductions are made. Girt is a fighter that has newly taken up the faith of Farlanghn. His wooden holy symbol depicts a crescent moon on the horizon. He offers to help rescue the captured merchant and his guards. The party accepts and also learns how Padril and Girt met and entered the dungeon (see Padril’s previous post).
The group leaves the secret room and heads south down the corridor from where the big spider/scorpion thing came from. It’s a large hall with a patchy tiled mosaic on the ceiling with four slender pillars and a total of 4 exits. It’s filled with bones and detritus. Mira Luna casts dancing lights and sends them to the southern exit.
Padril spots the nasty creature lurking in the shadows of the western exit. As the group makes tactical movement, they suffer injuries from the spike stones that the creature – a cildabrin from Lords of Madness – had cast the previous round. They realize they need to stay rooted in place or get shredded to ribbons from the sharp protrusions from the floor.
Mira Luna uses the magical sphere to cast a fireball into the western corridor, engulfing the creature in flames. It moves back into the darkness. When Mira Luna moves her dancing lights to that area, they are suddenly dispelled.
For the next couple minutes, the creature plays a cat & mouse game with the adventurers. But in the end, Mira Luna’s fireballs and a couple of devastating blows from an enlarged Maccabee proved too much for the creature, even with its 143 hit points.
Of note, during the battle Padril performed an amazing acrobatic feat. Shimmying up one of the slender 15-ft. tall pillars, he sprang 20-ft. across the room to the eastern exit where he hoped to be out of the spike stones effect. It didn’t work, but it was quite impressive.
Blooper: Mira Luna wanted to use the sphere of elements to create icy spheres to pelt the cildabrin with. Instead, she activated the item’s ice storm power. She injured the cildabrin, but she also caught Maccabee and Brandon in the area of effect. Ouch!
After the combat, the group cast healing spells and proceeded to the southern exit. It turned a corner and headed off to the west with a branching corridor in the south with stairs leading down. The group looked around a bit more before going down. They found the next room in shambles as if a battle had been fought there. Another corridor led to a second set of stairs leading down, so the group went back to the first ones and found the cildabrin’s lair, a large vaulted hall with a dais and overturned iron chair. Bones and debris littered the hall and among these, Oscar Templeton the merchant. His guards were all dead now. The last of them had been devoured this morning.
The group did their best to heal Mr. Templeton and assisted him out of the dungeon. They dragged the massive iron chair from the room and used it as a makeshift battering ram to force open the big stone door blocking the exit from the dungeon.
27 Wealsun, 592 cy
In the morning, Maccabee and Girt prayed to their respective gods for lesser restoration spells and returned Oscar Templeton close to his normal strength after numerous poisonings by the cildabrin. Maccabee now has the ability to summon a new paladin mount from the heavens and he did so, naming it Neon. They built an A-frame and loaded most of Mr. Templeton’s merchandise onto it. Some of the stuff had to be left behind. The A-frame is attached to Neon and dragged through the mountains out to the pass. From there, the party escorted Oscar Templeton and his salvaged merchandise to Raker Asylum for the Mad, the closest place of safety from here.
Before leaving Oscar Templeton with Dr. Asworth, the merchant rewarded the adventurers with a letter of recommendation to several associates in towns to the west. This would allow them to have certain items made for them at half the normal cost. A nice reward the group was appreciative to receive. From there it was back to the dungeon to explore the rest of it.
28 Wealsun, 592 cy
After resting for the night in the ruins of the tower, the party again forced the massive stone door open and explored the rest of the dungeon. A huge pooled chamber on the first level is the source of the water in the dungeon – a magical decanter held in the grip of a tall stone statue. Padril wanted to take it, but when Mira Luna scanned it for magic, she found that not only was the decanter enchanted, so was the stone statue, which she recognized as a stone golem. “No thanks!” was the general opinion of the party and Padril disappointedly acquiesced to their wishes.
Back in the lower level, the party found a secret chamber with a minotaur zombie. The creature only landed one blow, fortunately. That single blow dealt 23 points of damage to Maccabee! Half his total hit points! Aside from this single vicious wound, the battle was very one sided and soon the thing was just a pile of rotting skin and bones.
The adjacent chamber held prison cells and a dead ettercap slain during Rowthk’s and his Underdark companions’ entry into the dungeon a couple days prior. There was supposedly a second ettercap, but it was not here. They found some loot in one of the open cells and checked all of the others, but found nothing more.
Around the corner they found a tunnel created by an umber hulk. This is where Rowthk had entered the dungeon. Beyond this, another door led to a torture chamber. Lots of chains and manacles there… When they stirred as if in a phantom breeze that nobody felt, the party declared, “Close the door!” Padril did and they left the area.
A side note here, Ben sagely advised the rest of the players around the table, “I’ve been playing with Steve long enough to know that big chains in spooky rooms is bad news.” I’m paraphrasing, of course. And he’s right, damn him! Foiled again!
Lastly, the group broke into a door at the end of a short alcove in the eastern exit of the large hall they had battled the cildabrin in. They found an emptied library… two long bookcases, 2 reading tables and chairs, and green stone statues depicting small winged trolls with magical flames burning atop their heads. When Padril searched the room, he found a secret passage, which caused the statues to animate and attack. They landed a couple nasty blows on Brandon and Girt, but were dealt with quickly.
Inside the secret door, a 5-ft. wide tunnel opened into a secret study. When Padril stepped in, he saw a man-sized iron statue depicting a demonic entity with clawed hands held out threateningly that said, “You have entered a room you have no business being in. For mercy’s sake you have 10 seconds to exit… One… two…” Padril exited the room and the party could here the thing continue counting to ten and then there was silence.
After a minute or two, the party decided to hazard another peek in. The statue was still there, but had not moved. Maccabee tried detect evil on it, but found no evil aura. When he stepped inside, the statue did nothing. Soon everybody entered and surmised this was just a trick to scare them off. They searched the room and found a rotating wall – the one where the statue was standing – that flipped around to reveal a stand with an iron spellbook on it. They took the spellbook and left the dungeon.
And so “Escape from the Tower of Fangs” has ended. I’m proud of my players. They did very well. This one was very tough.
The group is trying to decide on their next course of action since they need some training. They have a treasure map that leads further into the mountains to the Temple of the Frozen Winds. There is also a reward that’s been offered by the merchants of Arndulanth on the southern fringes of the Gamboge Forest to the west for destroying a demonic tree. And, of course, the pervasive pull to the southwest to find the mysterious Destiny Stone.
Through the eyes of the Paladin #16
Maccabee stood away from the rest of the adventurers and stared off in the distance. He reflected on the group’s willingness to go in harms way to kill the Scorpion Monster. Although the Paladin’s plan was practical, he went along with
theirs for the party’s sake. They gathered in the large chamber, taking their places for the battle. Maccabee seeing flaws in the group’s strategy positioned himself out of the creature’s field of vision in a location designed to inflict massive amount of damage upon the Monster. As expected, the monster casted its first spell causing the floors of the dungeon to become sharp spikes. Maccabee watched on as the group suffered from the creature’s first strike upon them. Maccabee stood confidently in his spot readied with protection from evil as well as enlarged potion Shank had once passed on to him. Paladin heard a still subconscious voice "stand" and so
Maccabee held his position.
Mira Luna was doing all she could to keep the creature occupied with her light spells and with a quick gesture from the magical orb was able to send forth a fireball. Maccabee continued to stand. Anticipation mounted as moments passed, then the creature came around the other hall and started grabbing for Brandon. Maccabee was in the perfect place he quickly struck the creature with great force and greatly enjoyed
nearly cutting the oversized bug in half. Mira Luna sent forth an Ice Storm upon the monster but it affected Maccabee as well. Determined, the Paladin hit the creature once again. Padril's bow was having little effect upon the Monster’s hide. Brandon
stood in full defense, while. Girt trapped by the spikes could only cast Bless upon the party. The creature withdrew once again after Mira Luna sent forth another volley of Fireball. Enough time passed for many of the members of the group to heal up. Then, once again the creature emerged in hopes to grab Maccabee but Mira Luna was readied with a Fireball and this time the creature fell engulfed in flames.
Tired, but elated the party moved on. They found the missing merchant, healed him and brought him to safety at the Rakers Asylum. Maccabee felt whole once again, he was able to summon his warhorse. The group cleared out the dungeon of all its creeping things and left with no additional loss of life. The nightmarish Monster was dead and Maccabee felt somehow liberated. Saddened by the death of Kymble Maccabee gave one more prayer of thanks to Heironeous and prepared for the next adventure.
This is BHTizzle back like a vertebrae. My new come-back character is Sharrif- pronounced like sherriff, kinda like how Sean is pronounced like Shawn- Anyway, he's a human cleric of Pelor. Hopefully he stays around awhile, so long as Brandon doesn't whack him:
Sharrif had worked long and hard. He spent 16 hours a day studying, learning, and becoming closer to the Sun god and his teachings. He had hoped, from the day he left his home, to become one of the fabled Radiant Servants. Even as a child, he could feel Pelor's radiant light give him strength. As his time at the temple progressed, he felt Pelor's light suffuse him, even more than his brother priests. When the time came to turn his focus to becoming a Radiant Servant, Sharrif was eager to prove his worth. He was faced with many tests - and he excelled at all of them. Tests were mainly to involve focusing Pelor's strength, and abilities in healing - two areas in which Sharrif surpassed his fellow clerics - and more rudimentary tests in old religious texts and non-magical healing. After passing each test with flying colors, Sharrif was brought before the high
cleric of the temple, Solaris, “Why do you seek the power and prestige of becoming one of the Sun God's true servants?"
Sharrif answered without hesitation: "I seek to become humble in the life-giving light of the Truth." "That is a textbook answer. Do you feel that you are ready to be as one with Pelor's light? That you are more worthy than your fellow clerics?"
Sharrif smiled proudly, "I did not want to say so, but I do. I have learned and become stronger in the light than my fellows; I am ready."
The Chief Cleric frowned distastfully, "We shall see if Pelor agrees with your assessment of yourself."
With this, Solaris removed a large tarp from over a clear glass window in the shape of the sun. As the magnified rays of the sun fell upon Sharrif, he knew that his time had finally come. The light first felt warm and pleasant, then hot, and finally burning. As he stood there, he thought, “This is my final test, to stand in Pelor’s full glory and not fall! I shall not fail, my lord!”
The light burned and seared Sharrif's flesh. He could feel his hair and beard smoke and finally catch flame. The skin on his upturned face burned and cracked, and he saw a blinding flash of yellow light as his eyelids burned and the viscous humor boiled him to blindness. The pain was intolerable, and finally Sharrif fell to the ground and slinked away from the punishing light. As he finally lost consciousness, he heard “You have been Measured… and found Wanting.”
When he awoke, he was stunned to see that he was in the same room. He realized that he had only been out for a moment, and that he was fully healed. The High Priest was standing over him- and he realized the pain was all in his mind.
“Your pride has made you weak, and drawn you closer to the shadow and further from the light. Pelor's strength is not in might or power, but in love and compassion. Your pride has replaced your compassion, you must get it back in order for you to truly embrace the light.”
Sharrif realized his great mistake was in placing himself higher than his peers, and even his instructors. He had learned that he needed to find modesty and humbleness in the light of his lord. As he walked to his cell, he pulled off the rich white cleric robes he wore, he then walked into his cell and put on his initiate robes - the home-spun grey robes he received when he first joined petitioned the church. He took off his gold and platinum holy symbol and replaced it with a cloth and wooden one that was hanging on his wall. His younger brother had made it for him when he was accepted as a priest. I was worn and old, Sharrif used to clutch it to his chest when he felt his home sickness overcoming him. He now placed it around his neck. He dressed only in his old robes, worn leather sandals, and a simple holy symbol gracing his neck. As he finished dressing, he looked to the window in his cell, seeking the afternoon sun to warm him.
He realized that to become what he wished to be, he must gain some humbling life experiences. By chance a young man came into the temple, speaking of a party that needed a healer.
With some equipment supplied by his church and family, and a trusted warhorse from his own stables, thus does Sharrif's journey begin...........
.....Timmi!
Friday, July 8
Tonight Paul and Ben couldn’t join us, so no Maccabee or Brandon. But we finally have Todd back with us after a short hiatus.
28 Wealsun – 7 Reaping, 592 cy
After rescuing Oscar Templteton the merchant and finishing their exploration of the dungeon beneath the ruined tower, the adventurers decided to hole up at the old dwarven stronghold that is now Kinneth’s Rock Garden, Bestiary, and Jerky. The old dwarf agreed to put them up for a couple weeks (for a bit of coin) while they honed their new skills and worked on some newly developing abilities (character training).
During their break, a human man named Sherriff arrived and began inquiring the locals about them. This led to him meeting the group and offering his services as an expert in the healing arts and spiritual guide in the ways of Pelor, god of the sun. The adventurers agreed that it would be good to have him along, so Sherriff was brought into the fold.
At the end of their break, the group began planning for their trip into the Griff Mountains to the peak called Rime Fang. They were warned by Kinneth the dwarf of all sorts of dangers out there from avalanches to yetis. But most important to the adventurers was having enough food. They scoured Kinneth’s place for every available loaf of bread, wheel of cheese, jerked meat, and anything else they could find. They even resorted to buying rations off of fellow travelers until they were literally bursting at the seams with provisions to keep them from going hungry up in the mountains.
8 Reaping – 10 Reaping, 592 cy
With a cool breeze in the air and a pleasant temperature in the mountain pass in the low 70’s, the group set out following the directions on their treasure map that would eventually lead them to the Temple of the Frozen Wind. The first two days on the mountain pass road were uneventful.
11 Reaping, 592 cy
As the party came to a landmark that meant setting off north from the road and entering the trackless mountain range they were hailed by a man on a mule named Jurl. He seemed a suspicious type. He wanted to sell them “papers” that they would need if they planned on entering the Theocracy of the Pale at the other end of the mountain pass. According to him, visitors that practiced religions of what the Pale called heretical if they were not Pholtus worshippers, needed to buy permission to cross their lands. The same with practitioners of sorcery, and a variety of other things, too.
The party was not interested, though Sherriff bought one of these “papers” that was supposed to give him permission to practice his belief in Pelor while in the Pale. However, the party was doubtful that they were legal or legitimate.
The remainder of the day was spent climbing through a narrow fissure in the rocks heading north and away from the road.
12 Reaping, 592 cy
The party continued climbing through the narrow fissure and suddenly found themselves face to face with a pair of ogres. One of them managed to whack Rowthk the half-orc barbarian pretty good, but the group all contributed to take them down quickly – Rowthk with his heavy greataxe, Gurt with his greatsword and spiritual weapon spell, Sherriff with a well-placed sonic burst, Mira Luna a volley of magic missiles, and Padril with an arrow through the eye of one of the giants.
Leaving the fissure finally, the group came out in the open and began climbing a steep ridge in their path. As they reached the top, they found another two ogres camped out on the shelf there at the top having a meal. The ogres scrambled to their feet upon spotting Rowthk climbing up to their camp and began attacking the party as they struggled to reach the top. Again, they vanquished the giants, but during this battle Rowthk took some pretty damaging blows that required a good bit of healing magic from the two clerics in the party – Girt and Sherriff. The spent the night here as it was already late in the day and they still needed to climb down the other side of the steep ridge.
As Padril was on watch that night, and old man in furs entered their camp and ingratiated himself into their company. He called himself Kelvin and claimed to have lived in these mountains all his life. He spoke in a raspy whisper and his skin was wrinkled and leathery from age and exposure to these harsh elements. He offered to guide the party through the safest areas between here and Rime Fang peak and seeing no reason to refuse his help, the party accepted his offer.
The following day as the group faced crossing a huge ice field, Kelvin warned them against it and led them through a nearby canyon that would lead them around to the opposite end of the ice field. However, as they found themselves trekking across an iced over pond, Kelvin announced that this area was sacred to the gods of Old Faith and required some kind of offering to appease them. He laid a morsel of food from his pockets in a depression within a rocky protrusion jutting up from the ice and waited for the party to offer something as well. Magic potions, coins, and holy water were placed in the depression and the group began to move across the ice again.
Suddenly a large centipede made of ice broke through the ice to their left, sending cracks radiating out from the hole it had emerged from. Kelvin cried out, “You have angered the gods with your cheap offerings!”
As Girt, Rowthk, and Mira Luna went to deal with the icy vermin, Kelvin formed a magical sphere of ice and sent it rolling at Mira Luna who it struck and caused cold damage to. Mira Luna had already cast Burning Hands on the icy centipede with devastating results. Padril let fly an arrow at the traitorous old man. The arrow sunk deeply into his body, but no blood was evidenced. Nor was there any blood from the wound that Rowthk next dealt him with his greataxe and the party now surmised that Kelvin was some kind of undead creature (he is an icegaunt from Frostburn).
At this point the cracks in the ice were beginning to have an ill effect. Girt lost his balance as the ice beneath him began to break apart and fell into the icy water beneath. He managed to hand onto the edge of the ice, though.
Rowthk had taken the fight to the icegaunt, but suddenly found himself sprawling through the air backward to avoid a huge icy column suddenly spring 25 feet up from the ice. As he attempted to regain his feet and move around this huge thing that now stood between him and his enemy he fell through the ice, crawled out, fell through again, crawled out again, and finally was able to get around the column, dripping and freezing cold.
At this point, Sherriff had made two attempts to turn the undead creature, but could not accomplish the task. Meanwhile, Girt was helped out, but Mira Luna suddenly disappeared below the icy water as the ice broke apart beneath her feet. When Padril tried to help her, he also went under.
Rowthk and Girt finally slew the icegaunt and the party focused its attention on getting their companions out of the icy water and crossing the dangerous ice. The deed was accomplished, but now all of them except Sharriff was feeling the effects of hypothermia. So Padril located a cave they could shelter in and even located some dry wood. The rest of the day they crowded around the fire to get warm and passed the night.
13 Reaping, 592 cy
The next morning the party backtracked to the ice field the icegaunt had led them away from and crossed it. Padril’s survival skills and the aid of Girt and Rowthk helped to avoid a massive crevasse hidden under the snow that surely would have caused problems.
As they climbed the side of another mountain to reach a draw dipping down to the other side, Padril suddenly cried out “Avalanche!” and pointed to a massive wall of powder about 1,000 feet up the slope descending down on them. Mira Luna abandoned her precarious spot on the side of the mountain, flinging herself down the slope to roll, slide, and tumble several hundred feet to the bottom where she lay bruised and battered, but out of the direct path of the avalanche. The others hunkered down and hoped to resist the effects of nature. As the snow swept over them, they found themselves tumbled head over heels and lost all track of up from down as they were carried away in the snow.
As the snow finally came to a stop, Rowthk and Sherriff burst out of the snow, but Girt and Padril were nowhere in sight. Mira Luna was several hundred feet below them, but seemed fine, only pummeled slightly in the slide zone. She began trudging up the snow moving as fast as she could to help Rowthk and Sherriff as they began calling out for Padril and Girt and digging feverishly through the snow.
After a couple minutes they finally found Padril and then Girt a moment later. Both appeared to be fine, if a bit shaken and gasping for air. If not for a healing spell that lasted for over a minute that Sharriff had cast on the group right before the avalanche struck, they might actually be dead.
And there is where we stopped for the night…
You just had to use the word hiatus, didn't you?
An Icegaunt?!!!!!!! How could you guys possibly allow such a hideous evil creature in your ranks unless none of you can detect evil. I'm sorry it appears I missed a great game. Looking forward to being there next week. For blood and glory!!!
Maccabee
An Icegaunt?!!!!!!! How could you guys possibly allow such a hideous evil creature in your ranks unless none of you can detect evil. I'm sorry it appears I missed a great game. Looking forward to being there next week. For blood and glory!!!
Maccabee
I wondered this same thing myself. Perhaps they enjoyed the role-playing and his entertaining personality. He he.
Or maybe they just wanted to see where this encounter was going. Of course, the encounter would have been very short, indeed, had the words "Steve, I detect evil on the old guy" been spoken ;)
July 15
The whole group was in attendance tonight and Stanley made us some more of his awesome lasagna. It was great.
14 Reaping, 592 cy
After gathering their composure in the aftermath of the avalanche, the group climbed the rest of the way up to the draw and looking at the long descent down the other side, decided to camp there in the shadows of the cliffs that continued to rise above them.
Midmorning of 15 Reaping, 592
The party had climbed about ¼ of the way down the other side of the mountain when the snow around them suddenly erupted and ice toads the size of horses sprang out and attacked. Mira Luna and Padril were wrapped up tight in the long tongues of two of the 4 creatures. The others were unsuccessful in grabbing Rowthk.
Mira Luna and Padril were both dragged into the mouths of the ice toads that had grabbed them and were bitten repeatedly, though fortunately they were too large for the creatures to swallow whole. Mira Luna slumped in to unconsciousness as Maccabee and Girt chopped at the creature holding her. Brandon came to the aid of Padril, punching and kicking the ice toad holding him, but not inflicting much damage. Padril was able to wriggle free, though, and moved to a safe distance from where he sunk a couple of arrows into it that finally killed it.
Rowthk was being attacked by 2 of the creatures. An icy aura they exuded was causing freezing cold damage to him, but the half-orc quickly split the creatures in two with his greataxe “Bob.”
The party finally reached the bottom and began skirting around the base of the last mountain standing between them and Rime Fang. Eventually, the sun descended in the west and they found a small cave to camp in for the night.
16 Reaping, 592 cy
Towards noon the party finally reached the base of Rime Fang. A switchback trail appeared to wind back and forth up to the top several thousand feet above them. There, near the top, they could see a sparkling structure that they assumed was the Temple of the Frozen Wind.
They began hiking up the trail and after about 3 hours, they spied a group of giants covered in thick white furs and carrying massive long bows. The 3 of them were looting the bodies of several frozen travelers buried in a snow drift on the trail. The snapping sound of frozen limbs being broken off of the bodies echoed loudly.
Maccabee had taken the time to learn the language of giants a long time ago and overheard one of them say, “Look! More humans and more treasure.” Brandon wanted to get past them peacefully and tried to show them he meant no harm and didn’t want to fight them. The giants answered his gesture with a volley of arrows the size of javelins that he dexterously avoided.
The party advanced on the giants as they sent another volley of arrows that all missed their targets. They put up their bows and grabbed their clubs. However, they never had a chance to use them as Mira Luna engulfed them in two consecutive fireballs.
The group heaved the ogres over the side of the cliff and investigated the bodies they had been looting – 2 men and a woman. There were a few things that might be helpful to them, but they remembered the words uttered by Sheel, the woman that sold them their treasure map… “If you loot the bodies of my companions up there, I curse you!” So they decided not to tempt fate and left their remains the way they had found them, though they covered them over with snow.
17 Reaping, 592 cy
About ¾ of the way up Rime Fang the party spied a wide fissure in the side of the mountain up ahead and several deep snowdrifts on the trail. They approached it with caution, but it wasn’t enough to avoid a shower of large rocks from above pushed down by a great big yeti. Maccabbee and Rowthk sustained injuries from the rockfall and the yeti dropped down onto Maccabee trying to grab him. However, the paladin slipped its grasp and prepared to engage it.
A second yeti sprang from one of the snowdrifts up ahead and hurled a large rock at Rowthk, but missed. The party worked together to kill the creatures and decided to explore the fissure after pushing the yetis’ bodies over the edge of the cliff. They found a deep cave that was suitable for making a decent camp for the night. A cascade of water gushed down through a shaft at the back of the cave and Padril discovered a frozen traveler curled up in the fetal position inside his bedroll. At first he thought it was just a boulder, but when he went to sit on it, Padril realized what it really was.
The elven ranger chipped away at the ice covering the frozen man and eventually peeled away the frozen bedroll. The man inside had apparently froze to death in his sleep. He was clutching a greatsword named “Mammoth,” which Padril pulled free. He tried to be as delicate as possible, but when he snapped the man’s arm off, Sherriff was indignant and a debate over the desecration of the dead man’s body ensued. Eventually Sherriff was appeased and the party settled in for the night after building a cairn for the dead traveler.
18 Reaping, 592 cy
The party finally reached a broad shelf at the top of the mountain. It was easily 300 feet across and covered with patches of ice and wind howling across it. Despite the wind, the top of the mountain was covered in clouds. Rime Fang continue to rise for another few hundred feet. Abutting the portion of the mountain that continued to climb skyward was a huge domed building topped by an icy spire. Large statues of winter beasts were spread out across this broad shelf – a white dragon, a frost giant, a smilodan (sabretooth tiger), a winter wolf.
The party was concerned about the statues, thinking they might animate and attack them. Mira Luna had a chance to cast detect magic and scan one of the statues and find that it was non-magical before a keening sound interrupted their conversation about it.
Suddenly a 40-ft. high twister of supernatural appearance shot toward them from the temple. It moved with lightning speed through the party pelting them with debris and stinging ice chips. But worst of all, Girt, Sherriff, Brandon, and Rowthk were caught up in it and hurled over the side of the cliff. They slammed into the side of the mountain, bouncing, and tumbling down its side until they came to rest on a wide ledge 100 feet below. Miraculously, they survived the fall, though just barely.
While Sherriff healed himself and his companions, Mira Luna, Maccabee, and Padril had to fight the air elemental by themselves. Their combined skills eventually destroyed the creature and they went to the edge of the cliff to see what had become of the others. Just as they got there, Rowthk, a very skilled climber, crawled up over the edge of the cliff. They could see that the others were alive, but in need of help getting back up. They were none of them very good climbers like Rowthk.
Maccabee summoned his magical warhorse Neon and fastened a long rope to his saddle. Holding onto the rope down below, the 3 remaining party members were pulled up by Neon one by one. They spent a few minutes healing their wounds and then approached the temple.
A pair of ice-covered gargoyles flanked a massive wood and iron door. Long icicles hung from a protrusion above the doorway. When Rowthk stepped up to the door, the icicles suddenly broke free and stabbed into him. The half-orc took his wounds in stride and after several attempts, managed to force the door open.
Inside, the group found a huge circular room of ice with a curious sculpture at its center, rising up to the ceiling 30 feet above. It depicted an icy vortex sprouting wolf heads and humanoid claws. However fierce the sculpture looked, the room felt cozy and dry and radiated a feeling of goodness. A pair of stairs at the opposite end of the chamber climbed to an alcove exiting the room.
The party searched the area and found nothing of note. They closed the door after Sherriff created water around the door that he hoped would freeze and seal the door once again in case there were other things like the air elemental outside.
They decided to rest here and plan out what they would do next.
Mammoth??? Oh you mean Bob 2 yeah, he swings pretty good, and looks old. What more can a person ask for in a new, old, sword. Well I think he swings ok, for I have not got the opportunity to swing him much, why, I will tell you why, I Rowthk have not had much chance to kill anything... a couple of toads.... ohhh... yeah... After being picked up, the second go round, by a twister and thrown over the side, I climb up as fast a possible and find that it has been defeated, do I even get a thanks for hurrying back, no... just a don't worry we got it... I mean, I could have fallen, but just because I didn't doesn't mean I didn't risk my life by working without ropes or a safety net. And then I was denied the pleasure of breaking through a stuck door... "don't bust it to pieces, we might need it..." And all of this after being told I couldn't skin our kills, I think I would look good in yeti cloak, but no, it is a thinking creature, you can't take its skin... I point at my leather armor and say "but this is ok?" how do we know cows thinking creatures? Here I am packing around this mammoth weapons.. (he he) and I don't even get to use them... Hmmm, I forsee some problems coming in the future when I won't be able to stop the feelings of needing to just destroy people or things... But alas that is a worry for another day... I just hope in this temple, which I have been told I cannot destroy in anyway, because it is good, but if it was evil then I could, which I find wrong some how... because there should be a balance of both good and evil, right, for with out both neither would exsist, but following this logic any futher than this just makes my head hurt. Any way, if I have to find a way to keep the balance that my new "friends" don't need to know about then that is what I will do... For now I am just hoping to test out both Bob and Bob 2 to see what they can do.
Through the Eyes of a Paladin: 17
Maccabee sat down to put some thoughts on parchment after their long and difficult journey to the top of the world here in the Temple of Frozen Wind. His new friend in Marner, the old Paladin that had given him his antique holy symbol, had made a deep impression on him and he longed to speak to him again about things his companions around him couldn’t possibly understand…
An unmailed letter to Gaerth of Marner, retired paladin of Heironeous –
Dear Gaerth,
It was perhaps by no coincidence that you and I have met. I have been for some time going through a crisis of faith of sorts. Being on the road adventuring has given me some insight into some things and yet has brought forth a lot of questions. I want to thank you again for your token of kindness by giving me such a splendid holy symbol. On occasion I find myself from time to time rubbing it as if it was some form of good luck charm.
I am writing this letter to you in hopes you will pass it along to my mentor who should presently be in Rel Mord. This letter will come in parts since my travels are going to take some time before I return to some form of civilization. My mentor if you will is Sir Gareth of Callistor overseer of the watch of the Duchy of Korenflass. It is he who had set me on this path of adventure. In his wisdom he felt my destiny had lied further to the north at a place known as Bastro, a cold wintry place in Stonehold. I wasn’t but a week there when I was introduced to an old fellow known as The Seer. The Seer had put us on a quest to find something known as the Destiny Stone which by strange coincidence lies somewhere around the Abbor-Alz mountain range. The quest in and of itself has become some form of conundrum, having to go north to find my destiny only the need to go south by my home to complete it.
We have lost some of the original members of my group after some terrible battles. It is by some miracle that the original surviving group is Mira Luna the Sorceress, a Monk of Rao known as Brandon, and yours truly. Since then we have acquired others that have passed on, but presently there is Rowthk a Half Orc Barbarian who has measures up well in a fight. He is not the brightest of fighters but between the half breeding as well as barbaric intellect it is no surprise. Then there is Padril, originally I had a bad case of attitude at the first of my adventuring, but Padril beats me by far. A self-loathing elf marred physically and emotionally, who hides his features behind a cloth mask so others may not behold his deformities. He is known as a Scout. His skills with a bow have been very lethal to our enemies. Recently his skills and prowess has reduced. Instead of taking the far point scouting ahead he has fallen to the rear. I suppose fear has overtaken him after so many close calls.
With us now is a Priest of Pelor known as Sherriff. He is a peculiar chap, his body language and darting eyes seems more filled with paranoia than a stride of determination, plus he sure does talk a lot. I found myself distracted by his constant talking making it difficult for the remainder of the party to concentrate on possible threats. He has managed to help in the healing of the party members and he is a good sort although a bit confused. Then there is the Fighter Cleric of Farlanghn named Girt. A well-traveled man who, like his deity is obsessed with seeing the world in his adventuring and shows a great deal of wisdom while facing off with a monster or two. Cool heads usually prevail and Girt by far has displayed a good amount of calm reasoning. Brandon has been perhaps one of the most outspoken of the group, I suppose with his zeal for piety has earned him that glow that surrounds him but his taste for blood is lacking and makes me wonder if he truly has the stuff of an adventurer. He has been able to hold his own in a scarp and has sacrificed much to protect the rest of the party. He is a very peculiar sort.
Then there is Mira Luna of the bewitching beauty. Her gift for the arcane arts has greatly improved, although she still seems unsure of her powers. Recently she has learned how to create huge fireballs with deadly effects. Brandon is always at her side counseling her in her abilities. I find strength in that knowledge since I fear she may accidentally loose one of those spells on me, although come to think of it she did hit me with an ice storm spell while engaging a hideous creature recently. I’m probably going to have to find a way to resist her kind of magic.
In the meantime we are atop of Rime Fang in the temple of the Frozen Winds. We managed to overcome some Frost Toads, Ogres, Yetis, and a Large Wind Elemental. The temple is not like I pictured in my mind. It is both serene and peaceful. I am uncertain whether I should bow my head out of reverence or anticipate the worst for wear. Either way, recovering after dealing with the elemental, we are bedding down here for the night. More to come...
Sharrif woke to see the false dawn beginning to brighten over the translucent ice dome of the Temple of Frozen Winds. He straightened his cloak, strode toward the eastern side of the room, and positioned himself for his morning rituals. As the sun broke the horizon, he felt his power swell. ‘Now I am ready, I’ve humbled myself in the eyes of my lord and am now ready to receive his light!’ As the sun’s light passed through the domed ceiling it dazzled and bounced throughout the room. Opening his eyes, Sharrif realized he was still in shadow. As the light flowed and played around him, Sharrif knew that he had not fulfilled his god’s requirements. It would take more time, more spiritual strength to reach the point of the prestigious Radiant Servant. As he lay back down on the warm, calming ice of the temple’s inner chamber, Sharrif felt reassured. He had not attained that which he wished to achieve, but he was closer…
19 Reaping, 592 cy
Oh what testosterone that I am surrounded by! About six days ago - Earthday - we found ourselves trudging endlessly up the side of a steep incline. Suddenly we heard a rumbling from above. My companions and myself all froze with fear of the knowledge that an avalanche was about to crush us. Quick nervous glances were exchanged as each of us frantically searched for an answer of how to respond to our current situation.
I abandoned my position and tumbled down the mountain realizing that I did not have company, for my burley friends stood were I left them stubbornly holding their ground. I question how they can flirt with the dangers of nature without thinking twice. Was it to prove their masculinity? I’ll never understand them.
Oh well what do you do? Adventure with burley men or sit around the fire knitting with pansy women? I guess I'll take the burley men ;)
My companions and myself all froze with fear of the knowledge that an avalanche was about to crush us. Quick nervous glances were exchanged as each of us frantically searched for an answer of how to respond to our current situation.I abandoned my position and tumbled down the mountain realizing that I did not have company
Personaly: I would have thought Madd Mardigans idea would have been a good idea. Hop on the nearest shield and ride it down the slope. Hey! It worked for Willow. Well when my character is there next time I will have to try that. :)
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Sorry all, Rowthk wanted to write his own recounting of the adventure, and well as you can see he is no good at it. So being the nice guy that I am I told him I would relay it for him, so as soon as I can make sense of what he is trying to tell me, I shall let you all know.
Heh! Rowthk the illiterate barbarian tried his hand at typing, eh. Interesting.
July 22
All players in attendance and ready to do some temple raiding.
20 Reaping, 592 cy
After passing a pleasant night of rest in the knave of the temple with the blue flame within the icy sculpture casting its soft, cool glow over the room, reflected and refracted by the ice blocks and odd shape of the sculpture itself, the party wakes the next morning well rested and anxious to see what lies beyond the alcove at the top of the icy stairs.
With Padril leading the way, the group passed through the alcove into a large rectangular room with exits to left and right of them. An odd snow drift along the back wall caught the elf’s curiosity, “How the hell did a snowdrift get in here?” he said out loud as he approached it. Then it suddenly quivered with life and slid toward him, lashing out with a snowy pseudopod that slammed into him painfully. The proximity of the thing was enough to set his teeth chattering as well; a painfully chill aura surrounded it.
Padril quickly retreated from the vicious assault to send a couple of arrows into it from a safe distance as Brandon, Rowthk, and Maccabee moved up to destroy it with melee attacks. The ooze was pretty easy to land a good blow against, but it suddenly split into 3 identical entities after the monk landed a pair of satisfying blows to the original. Though it damaged Rowthk a bit, the half-orc annihilated 2 of them while Macabee, aided by Mira Luna’s magic missiles, destroyed the other.
Padril gave the room a close inspection, but found nothing hidden there. The west exit (left) was shaped like a huge snowflake and words carved into the lintel read, “Sacred Domes of Ice – Right,” “Dining Hall – Left.” A small room beyond it contained a staircase descending to a lower level. The other exit became a hallway that turned a corner heading north (left). The party decided to see where the hallway led.
Sounds of creature grunting to themselves and crunching on meaty bones echoed down the hallway from a room beyond another corner in the hallway, again to the left. The party inched forward and Brandon moved up to peer around the corner. Two big yetis crouched on an icy floor munching on god’s knew what and peered up at him with red-rimmed eyes and snarled.
Mira Luna had worked fiery devastation on the previous yetis the party encountered on their way up Rime Fang and when Brandon quickly alerted the others that yetis were here, she hurried up the corridor to stand beside Brandon and cast a fireball into the room. When the flames cleared, all that was left of them was a pair of charred mounds.
A staircase rose from an opening in the north wall and a frost-covered wooden door exited in the west. After Padril searched the room, Rowthk pushed past the wooden door and reported back that a hallway led north and appeared to join with another. They shut the door and climbed the stairs. A domed room held 4 niches, each of which was occupied by crystalline figurines about 3 feet tall and weighing around 50 pounds each. Magical blue flames in the niches lit the room in blue light. There was a debate over the moral implications of taking these items, which in Brandon’s opinion were iconic figures important to this temple. The group decided to leave them there… for now.
A frosted over door stood ajar in the east wall. Beyond, a long rectangular chamber had all the appearance of some kind of lounge. It appeared to have been blasted with frost originating from the open door. Several human men sitting at one of 2 tables in the room were completely encased in ice and appeared to have been there for a long time. Nothing else of interest here, the group left and climbed back down the stairs in the adjacent room.
The party went through the wooden door in the west wall and proceeded up the hallway. It merged with a wider corridor that ended at a half-open door from which flickering light could be seen. A set of 3 stone pillars lined each side of the corridor.
In the opposite direction, the corridor narrowed and ended at an open alcove.
Padril moved up the corridor to sneak a peak through the open door with Rowthk and Maccabee a few steps behind him. As he neared the door the pillar to his right suddenly transformed into a life sized woman of stone covered in silks brandishing a massive bastard sword. He retreated back behind his burly companions before the thing could hit him with that big blade. A moment later it pursued him, but stopped at Rowthk and as the half-orc brought his greataxe up, the stone woman’s sword came down hard and severed his axe in twain.
Two more times during this fight the stone woman tried to destroy the fighters’ weapons, but luckily it only got Rowthk’s axe. When the statue began using its blade on flesh instead of metal blades or wooden hafts, Rowthk took a vicious wound that sprayed blood all over the walls and nearby pillars. The group then pressed their attacks in earnest after that display of what this thing could do and soon the statue lay in broken chunks on the ground and the wounded were being tended to.
Rowthk was quite upset about "Bob" being hacked in two so Mira Luna cast a mending spell to rejoin the 2 parts, though it wasn't magical anymore. It was enough to make the half-orc a little less sad, though.
The open door at the end of the corridor opened into a room covered entirely in archaic runes and glyphs. Though Mira Luna recognized words using the Draconic alphabet and Padril recognized numerous Elven letters, neither one of them could make heads or tails of this language (Auran and Aquan). Padril searched the room in earnest while the others had lunch and chatted amongst themselves. As Girt discussed his conversion to the faith of Farlanghn with Maccabee and Brandon, the two were pleasantly surprised to discover that Girt had heard of the Destiny Stone, though he knew it as Turakk Mythras, which wasn’t exactly the same thing. It meant something like “Valley of the Stone.” He had actually seen this valley as well as this mystical stone and was more than willing to travel with them to the Abbor-Alz mountains to Turakk Mythras.
Padril had now finished his search. The flickering light in the room came from a discarded everburning torch on the floor that burned with a blue flame. Padril picked up the torch and examined it, but found nothing out of the ordinary except the blue flame. When he was about to stow it, Rowthk stepped up and said, “Hey… Um, I don’t have one of those.” So Padil handed it over to the half-orc and pronounced that he couldn’t find anything else of note here.
The group traveled back down the corridor and took the branching hallway to the open alcove. A room on the other side contained a half cylinder shaped depression in the north wall with a round stone protruson in front of it raised a couple of inches above the rest of the floor. Padril took a look at it for a moment then stepped on it, but when nothing immediate happened, he stepped off and started searching the room. Rowthk became curious and also stepped onto the stone protrusion, but remained there. When everyone seemed to be getting taller all of a sudden, he asked, “Um… Why are you guys getting bigger?” The group responded something like, “We aren't, you dummy. You’re sinking into the floor.”
Rowthk watched in fascination as the stone he stood on descended slowly into a round shaft 10 ft. in diameter. About the same time and at the same speed, a slab of stone that was part of the west wall rose up revealing a corridor on the other side. Padril got down on his belly to get a look at what was in there and saw a tunnel heading north and a metal lever protruding from the wall about 15 ft. up the tunnel.
When he had descended to the point that only his head was peaking out of the shaft, Rowthk clambered out and the stone continued to descend while the slab continue to rise.
The group entered the secret corridor and found a door at the end opening into a round domed chamber about 50 feet across. A wide pedestal at the center was ringed with slender pillars and standing in the center, a large icy statue depicting a stern-faced bearded warrior in animal furs. Small gemstones protruded from the statue that must have been worth a fortune. Mira Luna cast detect magic and advised the group that the thing was magical and had several functioning spells active.
The party discussed what they would do and quickly agreed to rest until tomorrow back in the knave. In the morning Girt would pray for a spell that would allow him to read the language in the room with all of the glyphs and runes. Then they would come back to this chamber and see about dealing with the magical ice statue.
21 Reaping, 592 cy (About this time Todd arrived and we popped Sherriff into play)
The night was peaceful again. In the morning the party returned to the rune-covered chamber and Girt cast his spell. The runes described the dogma of Vatun, god of cold, the northern barbarians, winter, and arctic beasts: winter is a time for culling the weak so that the strong may survive… snow shall cover cowards and they shall be forgotten by all… etc, etc. Curiously, a good portion of the runes condemned a similar god named Telchur, though he seemed to encompass darker and bleaker aspects of winter and the cold. There was no doubt that Vatun’s worshippers hated those of Telchur and would go to great lengths to slaughter them. Apparently, Vatun is imprisoned somewhere and his followers suspect Telchur of being involved.
Counting themselves a bit wiser about this temple and its former occupants, the party exited this room and triggered the secret door to the room with the ice statue again. They moved up to the entrance and made preparations to battle the thing if it animated. As Rowthk stepped into the room nothing happened and the group let out a collectively held breath. However, when Rowthk stepped up onto the icy dais, the statue suddenly animated and attacked.
When the warriors moved in to surround the big ice man, they soon realized that this would be a long battle as Mira Luna’s magic missiles failed to effect it and their weapon blows did little more than take small chunks from it, if even that. The thing shuddered and suddenly the air was filled with sharp icy shards that sunk into the flesh of those closest to the construct and blinded Rowthk.
Repeatedly during the battle, the construct sent shards of ice shooting out from its body and slammed its enemies with its massive fists. When it landed a blow it would then pick its foe up in a crushing grip only to drop its enemy the next moment and do the same to one of the others. Rowthk and Maccabee spent more than their share of time in its icy grasp (or the “penalty box,” as I called it).
Sherriff’s healing spells truly paid off with dividends during this fight. His mass lesser vigor spells kept the warriors’ most involved in the fight from falling to the construct’s devastating fists. When Sherriff underestimated the construct’s long reach, he was slammed by its fist and caught up in its icy grip. However, Mira Luna moved around the room invisibly and revived the priest of Pelor when the construct dropped his suddenly motionless form and turned its attention to its other enemies.
Casting an invisibility spell on the priest, Mira Luna concealed the priest from further attention by the construct, and Sherriff navigated the room unseen thereafter.
Late in the fight, Maccabee took a chance and switched out the Reaver for his ordinary morningstar and discovered that it was much more effective against the icy construct and called out to the others to use bludgeoning weapons against it.
Mira Luna passed a mace to Rowthk who then began wailing away with great effect.
Finally, with Rowthk near death and wielding the mace that looked like a child’s toy in his big meaty hands, he dealt the final blow to the construct while struggling in its grasp. The thing broke into thousands of ice shards and chunks of ice. The party breathed a sigh of relief and began healing up and plucking gemstones free of the thing’s icy body.
Sherriff and Padril both agreed that this was indeed a fortune in precious gems; around 10,000 gp worth of stones by their estimation.
And that’s where we stopped until next week…
Through the eyes of a Paladin: 18
Midmorning of 21 Reaping, 592 cy after a major battle in the temple, the group has returned to the knave to rest and Maccabee sits down to continue his letter to Gaerth in Marner.
…in continuation, my friend, we resumed our search of the remains of this old temple. We had to dispatch a snow ooze with a little bit of effort. As we continued in we heard the sounds of something eating. After close inspection it turned out to be a couple of Yetis. Mira Luna for the first time sprung out to attack the abominable critters and with a swift cast of her famous fireball spell the only thing left of them was ashes. The room was riddled with bones of some long gone humanoid creatures. Further, we discovered a room with four frozen over acolytes who appeared startled from their eating by a cone of cold spell; frozen in place. There was little to do but leave them to their icy slumber.
Rowthk was beginning to get edgy and was wanting to release some tension so I invited him to release his anger on some tables and chairs as well as a wooden door, which held no tactical importance. There was some discussion about the Destiny Stone with Girt who apparently hailed originally from Marner. Coincidently he was drawn to a place not but a year ago where he believes is where the Stone is being kept. I would like to share with you some of these travels since we are still not far from Marner and perhaps others may want to follow after our progression.
Eventually we stumbled on a room that said more about the local Deity in which this temple was originally erected for. It turns out to be Vaten, a Suel god who as you probably know is popular among the Barbarians of the icy north. It was apparent he was perhaps no more than a high level adventurer who fell into bad times. Learning of his dogma I felt little remorse “desecrating” this ancient ruin, as Brandon seems to imply. This god is no god at all only a man. Well, we stumbled upon a place where there stood an Ice Golem. It was perhaps one of the most trying battles thus far. Regrettably, by Rowthk’s prompting I ended up hitting him while he was in the arms of the golem. It was perhaps the most damage I have ever laid upon a living creature. Rowthk took it like a champ and fortunately the Ice Golem was finally dispatched soon after.
Brandon and Sherriff the Cleric of Pelor ended up fussing over the moral ramifications. While the rest of us took little notice, I guess they don’t seem to understand the greater good. Anyway, Girt had taken me by surprise the other day, asking how I received my calling, after I began reflecting on home.
I miss the comfort of my family. I am the second child of my birth mother Astringia. She gave birth to my sister Dilyanna who is four years older than me. At last account, Dilyanna was working in Woodwych as the local healer and apothecary. My stepmother who I consider my mom is named Aritha May. She is a kind and gentlewoman who always had good things to say about everyone. She is very beautiful and I have never known any malice in her. She reared me from birth as my parents’ midwife since my mother had died during my birth. It is apparent my father soon after his grieving married my current mother. Soon after, they too had a son. His name is Mattawn-El, most people call him Matt. He hates that. He is a year younger than me and at last account was squire for Sir Gareth of Callistor overseer of the Watch of the Duchy of Korenflass. I suppose it was my Father’s disappearance that spurred me on this quest.
Once leaving the academy from Rel Mord, while walking the northern road the strangest thing occurred. I somehow had missed time, because the next thing I knew I was lying upon a bed in a tavern in Bastro. I’m sorry I have been rambling on. We are resting for the day before we enter the lower parts of the temple, I will continue this some time at the end of the next day or so. I believe after this letter I will make it a point to start writing to my family and friends in person. More to come…
Ah, finally, I got to break something, a table, a door, and some chairs. I don't think the people "using" them will have any problems either, after all, they are frozen people sticks. It is a good thing I got to destroy them too, I was getting extremely frustrated, I had just been denied the chance to swing Bob, or Bob 2 in combat against some yetis... Mira Luna used here firey magics to dispatch them before I even knew what was going on... I guess I will just hafta get faster... I most admit though, she is really good with those, and other magics as well, I will hafta remember not to ever get on her bad side, or if I do, stand close real close.
I got to do something today I have never done before, I got to fight a big rock woman, which was quite fun, well that was untill she destroyed Bob, that really pissed me off, lucky I had Bob 2 handy, or I might have done something really stupid. Anyway after she was nothing more than a pile of rubble we went into a room filled with lots and lots of "words" they were almost jumbled enough that I could read them... almost... We did find something in there though, a stick with a blue glowing flame... it makes a purple flame when added to the flame of the paladins burning stick. Shortly after that we found a big ice statue, and well, I admit, he kinda of scared me a little, he reminded me some what of my father... so I made a suggestion that we rest and let those who needed them regain thier spells, I wanted everything we had to take on this, this thing.
The battle proved as hard as I thought it would, in fact I almost died, I was a close as I ever thought I would be, in fact barely into the battle my rage ended and I was extremely fatigued, if not for my friend, Sheriff, I would have been feeling the effects of putting myself fully into the battle. In the end it was not a "mammoth" of a sword that brought down the ice man, but a puny little light mace, I must remember that, it is not always the size of you weapon but how you swing it... hmmmm....
July 29
If I had to entitle this session, perhaps ‘My Faith is Stronger Than Yours!’ would be fitting. Or “I’m Rubber, You’re Glue!”
22 Reaping, 592 cy
The party rested the remainder of the day after their battle with the ice golem. Everyone was healed of their wounds if needed. As the sun began shining down through the icy dome over the temple knave, the party had a meal of trail rations, strapped on their armor & other gear, and headed back to the inner temple with plans to descend to the lower areas.
Padril crept down the stairs and came to a landing with more steps branching off to the left and right. The way to the left (south) was completely blocked by huge chunks of stone. The steps descending to the right (north) opened into a huge vaulted chamber of ice lit by flickering blue torches cupped in the hands of icy gargoyles perched on posts at either end of a ice bride arching over a frozen stream splitting the room in half. Loud snores echoed off the walls from 3 sleeping yetis. The one on the far side of the room was the biggest Padril had ever seen, easily twice as big as the other 2 and snoring the loudest.
The elven scout quietly climbed back up the steps and informed the party of what he had seen. There was a debate over whether or not it was right to attack the creatures as they slept. Brandon was against it causing Girt, the fighter/cleric of Farlanghn to murmur “You can never judge a book by its cover. They may not be evil.” But he sounded very doubtful about the last.
So, Maccabee climbed down the steps to use his powers to detect evil. Not nearly as quiet and dexterous as the elf, and clad in plate armor, he clang-clang-clanged down the steps waking the creatures in the process. He determined that they were indeed evil, but now they were awake and getting to their feet with murder in their eyes. Someone had delivered breakfast!
The group hastily tried to set up a tactical formation on the stairs, but not everyone had the same plan in mind and those further up the steps couldn’t get a clear view of what was inside the room. As the two smaller yetis (if things bigger than Clydedales can be called small!) moved up near the staircase entrance, Maccabee held his ground on the last step, Brandon tumbled past the monsters, and Rowthk bravely trudged right past them to engage the bigger one, which was awkwardly crossing the ice bride. How the bridge stood up to the huge creature’s immense girth upon it was puzzling. As Rowthk neared the creature, it lashed out with one long arm and grabbed the burley half-orc up like a rag doll.
Girt blessed the party with Farlanghn’s grace and Mira Luna tried to get a good look at their enemies, but couldn’t see enough to do anything; too many big bodies in the way. Padril tried to tumble into the room like Brandon had, but was snatched up by one of the yetis. Brandon leaped over the iced over stream to see if he could somehow aid Rowthk. The half-orc was being squeezed by the big abominable yeti; his bones popped loudly as he struggled to get free. Maccabee struck at the nearest yeti using all of his combat prowess to inflict the most damage possible.
The yeti grappling Padril shuffled over to the edge of the iced over stream and hurled him against the ice. The frozen crust shattered and Padril sunk into the fast-moving frigid water. Luckily, he caught on to part of the ice covering the stream and kept himself from being swept away. Meanwhile, Girt cast spiritual weapon; a glowing quarterstaff appeared above the yeti crowding the bottom of the stairs that began striking the creature’s head. Mira Luna turned herself invisible and snuck past the yeti at the bottom of the stairs. Maccabee dealt the killing blow to the yeti in front him allowing Sherriff the priest of Pelor to move past and into the chamber.
Rowthk continued to be crushed in the iron grip of the abominable yeti on the bridge, squirming to get free with no success. Many bones in his body were now broken and blood seeped out of him. Brandon struck at the creature but accidentally struck the half-orc barbarian instead.
Mira Luna suddenly appeared in the room as a glowing ray of magic leapt from her fingertip and struck the yeti towering over Padril who was struggling to get out of the icy water. The yeti snarled as the ray drained strength from it. Girt switched his glowing quarterstaff to the same yeti and clocked the creature soundly. Maccabee also focused his attention on the same creature, killing it with a heavy blow from The Reaver.
Brandon struck the abominable yeti with his fists again, this time striking true. Sherriff and Mira Luna both cast rays of magic at the creature as well. The sorceress drained strength from the beast while Sherriff burned it with a ray of white hot light. Uperturbed, the creature continued to squeeze the life out of Rowthk, whose attempts to wriggle free were growing weaker and weaker.
Maccabee and Girt stepped up to the ice bridge to attack the huge yeti. Girt lost his footing and couldn’t seem to get back to his feet on the slippery surface. Maccabee put everything he had into a swing he intended to kill the evil monster with. The creature jerked to the side at the last moment and Rowthk suddenly was in the way. The paladin tried to pull up on his swing, but it was too late. He struck Rowthk with a tremendous blow, but miraculously the barbarian was still alive.
The abominable yeti seemed undauntedly focused on crushing the half-orc barbarian. As blood seeped from Rowthk and his bones grinded together, the huge monster engulfed the half-orc’s head in its mouth and sank his fangs into flesh. There was a sickening pop and the barbarian’s body jerked spasmodically a moment and then moved no more. When the huge yeti dropped the barbarian’s headless body to the ground and moved away from its attackers, the party threw every spell and attack at it they had.
Brandon stood at the best possible place to strike the huge creature and focused on the creature’s huge, furry testes. He performed the Rising Fist of Vengeance kata and struck the creature squarely in the scrotum, stunning the huge beast. In that moment, the rest of the party sent a barrage of attacks against it that finally slew the beast.
After the battle, the group mourned the loss of Rowthk for the remainder of the day. Maccabee did his best to skin the yetis and wrapped the half-orc in their hides. It was what he thought Rowthk would have wanted.
When they carried his body out to the knave, they found a man bundled in cold weather attire curiously examining the icy sculpture at the center of the chamber.
The group learned that he had been part of another adventuring party. They had bought a map from a woman named Sheel back in Marner that led to this place where there was supposed to be all kinds of forgotten treasure. This was the same woman that had sold the group THEIR map as well. Party division and lethal encounters had left only Andrew as the survivor. Since he was nearly to the top of Rime Fang when his last remaining companion plummeted over the edge of the switchback trail in the clutches of a yeti, he decided he might as well finish the journey.
The party decided to have him tag along sensing nothing evil or shifty about him.
23 Reaping, 592 cy
The party found two branching corridors on the other side of the ice bridge where they had fought the yetis. One led to a chamber where a priest stood frozen holding an ornate torch with a blue flame. He looked surprised and the rest of the room was coated with a layer of frost as if a cone of ice had swept into the chamber, which appeared to be his sleeping quarters. When the group entered, a spectre of the dead priest emerged from the frozen body and struck Brandon. The monk was visibly drained from the attack, but in the next moment Sherriff was there calling upon Pelor to destroy the undead creature. In a blinding flash of light the creature was sent shrieking into the void. All that remained of the spectre after the brilliant flash was a wisp of black smoke that quickly dissipated.
Brandon was feeling the affect of the life draining touch of the spectre, though, and there was nothing either one of the priests could do for him at the moment. Sherriff promised that in the morning, he would pray for a spell from Pelor that would remove the creature’s taint.
Continuing down the hall, the party found a room full of small priest cells with simple furnishing. An adjacent room contained a large depression at its center and an iron lever in the far wall. Under a layer of transparent iron at the bottom of the depression, a large fire elemental was identified by Sherriff. A moral debate ensued over whether the creature should be freed or not. The party members most religiously inclined debated over this while Andrew curiously examined the lever and pulled down on it.
Chill water suddenly spewed from a cleverly concealed opening in the side of the depression and steam filled the room as the water spilled over the hot iron. Andrew hastily raised the lever again and the water flow ceased. This was obviously used as a bathing chamber in the temple’s hey day.
Finally, the group left the bath chamber still in disagreement over who’s moral outlook was correct.
Doubling back to the huge chamber with the ice bridge, the group entered the other corridor branching from it and descended a long flight of stairs ending at a huge domed chamber with several other small domed rooms adjacent to it. Water cascaded down from a hole in the ceiling and into a large hole in the center of the floor. The sound was deafening.
Andrew and Brandon entered to look around. When they did, large humanoid looking creatures made of ice emerged from the adjacent rooms. Andrew crept back to rejoin the others waiting at the stairs while Brandon tried to befriend the creatures.
The ice men greeted the PCs with voices like grinding stone and rushing air. They seemed to be asking something, but nobody understood their strange language. Suddenly, one of them extended a long arm ending in sharp, icicle-like claws toward Brandon. The monk stood unflinching and the arm lowered to the ice-coated floor and carved a wavy line with a half circle connecting to it into the surface.
The party had seen this symbol elsewhere in the temple. It was the holy symbol of Vatun. Brandon responded by carving as best he could the symbol of Rao – a heart – into the ice. This was not the response the creatures were looking for and they suddenly grew hostile. Brandon retreated from the room as the creatures pursued. Before they could get far, Mira Luna cast a fireball at two of them, but they kept coming.
Padril, Maccabee, and Andrew took wounds from the creature’s sharp claws and the chilling effect they had on any metal items they were carrying. However, Brandon and Mira Luna abandoned the attack and retreated back up to the chambers above. Girt stood confused halfway between the split in the party.
Maccabee cursed the others for cowards and wanted to press the attack. Girt was ready to join, but seeing the layer of frost covering the paladin’s armor and sword and Maccabee’s teeth chattering from the cold, he persuaded him and the others to break off the attack and replan their tactics since a party divided in the midst of what looked like a major battle was a bad sign and could bring no good from it.
Maccabee and Padril eyed Brandon and Mira Luna angrily as they emerged from the staircase. The paladin was obviously exasperated. It was a dangerous time for the party.
Girt talked to the paladin aside from the others and seemed to calm him, but he was still behaving unlike himself and far from finished with this situation. Brandon tried to convince the others that attacking the ice creatures was a senseless act of violence. They were obviously guarding a site that was holy to them. Mira Luna could only explain her fireball spell as a mistake. Someone called out that Brandon was under attack and she was trying to defend him. When he was no longer in danger, she felt that it was an unnecessary fight. However, Maccabee and Padril were still upset. They felt that they had been abandoned in the middle of a fight and weren’t in a forgiving mood.
Suddenly Andrew cried out, “Guys, guys! This is exactly what happened to my other adventuring party. I don’t want to see the same thing happen to a new group of friends.”
The party was able to agree that this temple was creating havoc among them and decided to take what treasures they had gained and leave. They returned to the knave to rest for the remainder of the day and depart early the following day - Sunday. Two days later they were again at the base of Rime Fang, but still had a week long trek back to the pass and from there east to the Theocracy of the Pale to continue their journey to find the Destiny Stone.
Sharrif eyed each of his party members as they lay down for their final night in the temple. He remembered Rowthk, who died as he had lived- hard, fast, and painfully.
It seemed that each of them had lost they're true calling. Knowing the Invincible God's doctrine from his studies, Sharrif could see the great paladin's slow descent away from grace. The Scout Padril had become more warmongering and bloodthirsty than anyone except for the late barbarian. Even the pure, innocent, holy monk of Rao- who was usually the voice of consciensce and reason for the party- seemed to be a little perturbed by the temple's series of events. Perhaps during this journey the only one true to their virtue was Rowthk, who never disguised his true intentions or beliefs.
Even he was beginning to question what was and wasn't correct in their course of action. The image of the frosted paladin came to his mind during the flight from the Ice elementals. He remembered that they had all thought they were fighting golems again. Sharrif had stopped for a second and looked at the blue-tinged paladin and said amidst the flurry of movement, "Wait a second- golems can't speak..l." to which Macabee replied, "I don't care!"
As he lay his head down, he contemplated his morning prayers, and sought a way to ask for Pelor's guidance in this time of moral Sharrif eyed each of his party members as they lay down for their final night in the temple. He remembered Rowthk, who died as he had lived- hard, fast, and painfully.
It seemed that each of them had lost they're true calling. Knowing the Invincible God's doctrine from his studies, Sharrif could see the great paladin's slow descent away from grace. The Scout Padril had become more warmongering and bloodthirsty than anyone except for the late barbarian. Even the pure, innocent, holy monk of Rao- who was usually the voice of consciensce and reason for the party- seemed to be a little perturbed by the temple's series of events. Perhaps during this journey the only one true to their virtue was Rowthk, who never disguised his true intentions or beliefs.
Even he was beginning to question what was and wasn't correct in their course of action. The image of the frosted paladin came to his mind during the flight from the Ice elementals. He remembered that they had all thought they were fighting golems again. Sharrif had stopped for a second and looked at the blue-tinged paladin and said amidst the flurry of movement, "Wait a second- golems can't speak..l." to which Macabee replied, "I don't care!"
As he lay his head down, he contemplated his morning prayers, and sought a way to ask for Pelor's guidance in this time of moral distress.
Maccabee's continuing letter to his friend Gaerth from the temple of Heironeous in Marnar
Dear Sir,
Well, there has been a turn of events that I must say has placed a knot in my stomach. The wretch of Rao has become a viper in our midst. There have been some signs along the way but it didn't become evident until today, when I got a glimpse of his true nature. Such a person hides behind a mask of pretense, assuming that they are in control as others respond to their manipulating and breaking down of boundaries. They relate to others in a peculiar way, from outside in, thinking that they know what the other is thinking and planning. Parasitical in nature, they try on and then steal other people's thoughts and ideas never for a moment respecting the others privacy or spiritual, emotional and physical boundaries. Void of their own original ideas, and being basically lazy, they circle the others, preying on their substance and inspiration. Cowardly in nature, they go behind the scenes, stealthily pulling the strings and manipulating, thinking that the chaos they have evoked is actually them controlling the events. Many give in to their devices, unawares or having a weakness for their peculiar way of backward relating , thru cunning and deceit.
We had dispatched three Yettis, including one which was apparently abominable. Regretfully, Rowthk left the protection of the party and took on the brunt of the creature's wrath, and the brave adventurer died. On this day he is in the afterlife. I liked Rowthk although our time together was too short. I did all I could to tend to his burial: I had skinned the hides of the Yetis and wrapped Rowthk in it. I must confess my skinning skills are not adequate by any means, but the sentiment was there. Soon after the Yettis we disposed of a Wraith as well. Thanks to the skills of the Pelorian priest he turned the undead into oblivion. Had seen a fire elemental enslaved in a pit, which brought about more moral conflicts amongst the group in which Sherriff the priest of Pelor, and again Brandon the monk of Rao discussed its moral implications. It has become apparent that half of the party, namely Brandon,Mira Luna & Sherrrif have no stomach for war, nor the stamina to endure to the end.
I must confess my blood lust, yet in the midst of battle I am not one to neither shy away from a good fight nor leave a campaign when the group of the party may suffer. For months now I have seen Brandon wiggle his way into the hearts of some of our comrades especially the Witch Mira Luna. It has become more and more evident that his intentions are to divide the party. He's subtle and has displayed kindness, but it is the ends that puts in question his character.
Perhaps I should share with you the killing blow of this party's Jezebel.The objective was rather clear to me, to simply rid this world of the denizens of this false god of Valan. The spoils of war were certainly within our reach. We had
entered the inner most sanctum of this temple. As we all slowly trickled in, three large ice creatures made themselves known to our stealthy friends, Padril and Andrew the newcomer. Brandon quickly ran to the front to make resolute the situation in order to pass without confrontation. The ice creatures spoke in a foreign tongue,which made the deliberation a lot harder. Things soured quickly. Mira Luna sent forth a fireball across the domed area weeding down the freezing cold monsters. For certain the battle was readily at hand when in light of my own icy dilemma due to some hate filled spell sent in my direction all began to flee because of moral ramifications. Mira Luna left the battlefield chasing behind the impish Monk of Rao. And as the Priest of Pelor also left, the words came to mind,"A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." The expression on Padril's face pretty much summed up the demoralizing effect of the party's splitting. Padril's face was filled with distain and loathing. It was apparent the viper had made his nest and drew his victims in. Brandon had succeeded in drawing in Mira Luna and Sherriff, seducing those weak in resolution. Brandon for all accounts is that Jezebel.
I am uncertain what my next move will be. I have reserved myself to drawing further to the rear of this party rather than the lead, for not only the partys safety but as for my own. From the rear I can watch those party members who have
made this quest a bit tedious. We are more than likely heading to Kinnith's fortress,there I will determine by Heironeous what I am to do. Depending on the nature of this groups resolve I may have to quest on my own, or with those who are willing to follow. As for the alliance between Brandon and myself it is for all practicle purposes in question.
All actions have consequences.
By all that is Righteous,your friend in arms,
Maccabee.
Sunday, 23 Reaping, 592
Dear Diary,
I was never in need to have a journal. I lived a simple life, all my years spent in Bastro. Any concerns or problems I would share with my older brother Marcelo, who raised me. He always knew just the right words to say to soothe my frustrations and would never be judgmental of my thoughts. Before he passed away, he gave me this journal as a substitute for his ear to prattle away at. After he passed away I couldn’t bare to stay in Bastro for it was not the same without his presence. I decided I needed to expand my knowledge of the world around me and I would do so by traveling with a group of adventurers. I managed to find a group of overall-good-natured people. But recently with the experiences that have been unveiled, I’ve come to realize how much I miss having him to talk to. I now need some sort of way to unleash my thoughts. So today, I write my first entry in this diary. I hope you are listening, Marcelo.
I would love to give a history of the encounters I have had up to this point, and perhaps some day I will. As of right now I just want to write about what currently torments my mind.
We were exploring an abandoned temple called the Temple of the Frozen Wind, basically looking for treasure to help us in our traveling needs. We were confronted with these “ice men” who seemed to be trying to communicate with us. By the looks of it, they were guards of some sort. Brandon was attempting to have a peaceful meeting with them. Unfortunately when they realized Brandon was from another faith, they seemed to get angry. It appeared as if they were about to attack Brandon, and I quickly responded by casting a fireball behind them, to try and protect my comrade. But as the party continued to attack, from the pit of my stomach I knew it was wrong. Why were we attacking these creatures that were only here to protect their temple? Were we not the intruders? Brandon made it quite clear that we had no reason to attack them and wanted no part of it. As Sherriff was trying to make sense of things, he questioned the paladin regarding the rightness of our actions. His response was that they do not believe in a true god, therefore they need to die. At this point, in disgust at his response, I turned and left to follow Brandon who at the time was the only one thinking wisely.
Now let me tell you something about Brandon. Brandon never needs nor wants anything. All that he owns are the clothes on his back. He donates every copper and only carries what he needs to survive. He would help a stranger even if it meant putting his own life at risk. Brandon is the person people look at and admire because they know his way of life is how we should all live, but in reality very few have the inner strength to accomplish it. On many occasions he has caused me to bleed from biting my tongue so hard in frustration at his stubbornness and unwillingness to compromise his principles. Many times he wants to make peace with beasts that want to have us as their meals. But this time, I completely agreed with Brandon about not harming these ice men….and I couldn’t understand why the paladin who should be by far more forgiving was so ready to draw blood. Or ice. The reason for it? In the words of the Paladin: “Because they believe in a false god.” Does that mean that the rest of the group also deserves to die because we don’t believe in Heironeous? Maybe we should all start watching our backs since in his eyes we must all be evil. I’ve heard of fallen paladins before. Is this the beginning of his fall?
After the ordeal the Paladin had the nerve to call us cowards. COWARDS! Brandon is the first to run and face danger, nor was I too concerned about facing these ice creatures when I had many fire spells up my sleeves. We did not flee out of fear, we left out of disgust. Cowards? No. Just people who have hearts. It’s a shame that I can’t say the same for our bloodthirsty, self proclaimed righteous “paladin.” Afterwards he suggested making Brandon our new leader. I ask myself this: since when was Maccabee our leader? No one in our group is the “leader,” no one commands me to do anything. We are all free willed and usually come to a group consensus. And now because he is mad at our decision he tells Brandon to be the leader. To prove what? As for Padril who also seemed very bitter about our change of heart, that did not surprise me much considering he usually thinks of himself before others. But Padril’s hard edges are slowly softening. He even attempted to save my life not so long ago when I fell into an icy pond, putting himself at great risk, considering he is as bad a swimmer as I.
Till next time, when I need to vent. Gods I wish you were here now, Marcelo.
Sherrif hates Padril. He smells bad, and that is a direct insult to Pelor’s wondrous smelling light. I believe he is a demon in disguise. Or maybe a devil. Or, it could be a Ha’Naga! Yeah, that’s it. He’s a Ha’naga in disguise and he’s going to take us all to the plane of shadow to be sodomized by Bolomar in the Shadow Keep! BEWARE! Watch your planar bung holes! None are safe!
There seems to be more player commentary than character commentary within these last few posts. I wonder why? Perhaps game concerns have crossed over to the real world. This all reminds me of when I whacked a certain someone’s character. Remember, if my character pees on your character’s leg- your jeans are still dry.
Come on guys, this is a damn game! Relax, have a beer- or the personal equivalent- and remember that we’re all just here to have a good time.
Love you all, just like Jesus. --BHT
Now, that's going a ways back! Bolomar, the Shadow Keep... ahhh, good times ;)