|
The End of the Whispering Cairn
My players finished off the Whispering Cairn last night after five fun sesssions.
Having slain Filge last session, the heroes returned the bones of the Land family and puzzled out their owners as best they could to bury them. With Allastor laid to rest, they made their way across the ball pit and into the True Tomb.
The Wind Warriors were almost too much for them. 3 of the party fell and lay dying during the fight but at the last, one Wind Warrior fell to the cleric's mace and an acid orb while another to the war mage's spells. The True Tomb was theirs.
Having puzzled out the runes, Zosiel's name was spoken and the treasure looted. Returning to "the smartest man in Diamond Lake", the heroes waited for news on the mysterious pewter box covered in shifting runes that could not be opened. The sage's interest was very peaked now and he promised to puzzle out the box's secrets.
The problem of the Ebon Triad and the worm in the vial were more troublesome. The sage said he would send word to a friend in the Free City and another to an associate in the swamp near Blackwall Keep. One of them would know more about the worm, surely.
The heroes returned to their now newly renovated home in the Old Mining Office to consider how best to gain entrance to the Dourstone mine to see about this cult...
It was then, in the dead of night as the PCs lay asleep in their beds - basking in victory - that "the fruits of mercy and murder" came calling.
The war mage and the rogue awoke from their second floor bedrooms to the sounds of a horse whickering softly outside in the night. A small light flared behind the garden wall by the tree and the war mage spied two men between a pair of horses, one holding an open lantern, while the other kindled a flaming arrow from it.
The heroes were about to be burned out of their new home! Kullen and his thugs from the Feral Dog had shown up to even the score for the murder of Filge.
The warmage cast a spell and a rain of stones fell from the sky on Rastophan, his horse and the fire arrow. The horse spooked and the arrow shot wide.
The rogue grabbed his magic short sword and dropped out the upper story window to the ground below in naught but his skivies.
From the shadows behind the garden wall, Kullen, in a rage, emerged to charge the rogue with his great axe, swinging.
So. We have a rogue with 12 hit points and a sprained ankle standing beside the wall of a house in nothing but a loincloth looking up to see an enraged barbarian half-orc with a magic great-axe charging. The rogue player looked across the table and softly shook his head. This was not going to have a happy ending.
There is a reason a prudent 3.5 DM does not arm all his bad guys with GreatAxes. It's because of moments like the one that was about to follow...
SW: "The half-orc swings." *rolls d20*
Mark: *20* "ooooh - THREAT!!"
SW: *Rolls again* *silence at the table as the result is plain for all to see*
Mark: "Heh-heh. You know there's an optional rule where you roll again on a second natural 20..."
SW: *reaches for the D12s* "How many hit points do you have?"
Kevin the Rogue: *snorts* "Don't even bother rolling damage. I have 12 hits points after the jump down to the ground. I'm dead. Just... dead."
SW: *Pained look and rolls the damage*
Well yes, there was lots of large numbers on those d12s and lots of strength to be added on too. By the time that was sorted out, the rogue had a greataxe planted in his sternum and his life was snuffed out in one blow. His blood curdling death scream pierced the night and thankfully awoke the rest of the party.
The rest of the fight unfurled as the PCs - all wearing nothing but their smallcothes - battled the armored thugs of Balabar Smenk in the lantern light. A single swing from a greatsword took down Kullen to return the favor. The PCs ended up keeping Merovinn Bask alive and slew the others without mercy. The warmage dumped their bodies in the pit of the true tomb the next day to conceal the evidence.
As it so happened, they ended up releasing Bask to try and make peace with Smenk. The heroes left town on a coach for the Free City to sell off magic items and have the rogue raised from the dead.
It turned out to be a great segue way into the Three Faces of Evil. We left it with players returning from Greyhawk expecting to meet with Smenk in Lazarre's to negotiate some way out the mess they were now in.
As the last page was turned on the The Whispering Cairn, it seems it would not go down without a fight.
|
|
Hmmm. Kullen hated Filge...why return to avenge him? My players let Filge get away, where he promptly put 2 and 2 togehter and he and Smenk killed off the half orc as an example, where filge turned him into a zombie. Then Filge took control of the band and they ambushed the group when they left the Cairn after a tough wind warrior fight...once Filge died though, Kullen's band decided to let by gones be bygones 9having no reason to trounce the PCs or die), and they left the PC's and daimon lake behind.
Your game sounds like a lot of fun. Goodtimes.