My first campaign in a long, long time began last night with a four-person party in Cauldron. The PCs are:
Ulf Vanderboren, NG human priest of Pelor,
Rusk, LG half-orc paladin of St. Cuthbert,
Jack Michelats, N Human rogue,
Julian Radavec, 10-year old CG human sorcerer, played by my 10-year old son in his first-ever non-computerized D&D game.
I'm sure most people here are familiar with the Shackled City campaign, so I won't go into details of the set-up for the first adventure. The more perceptive (and ridiculously detail-oriented) readers will recognize the name Radavec as being one of the kidnap victims; Julian's little sister, Evelyn. So, Ruphus Laro was returning to the Cuthbertian Church with Julian in tow, to see Jenya. Ulf, whose family owns and operates the Lantern Street Orphanage, was doing his rounds in the area; Rusk was patrolling, unaware of his priestly superior nearby; Jack was 'window shopping' in the neighbourhood. They all heard the scuffle in the alley and rushed in. Only Ulf spotted the young boy huddling in a doorway while the three muggers did a number on Rufus. Rusk immediately charged to the rescue, but Jack, recognizing the Last Laugh (and not being on particularly good terms with them), went for the backstab on the nearest thug.
To the group's surprise, however, the first blow of the battle came from that huddling boy, who fired off a magical blast at the man holding Ruphus. The party made short work of the three, and agreed to accompany Ruphus and the boy to the church. They turned the muggers over to the first patrol they saw, led by Corporal Skylar Krewis, then went on their way.
The meeting with Jenya went pretty much by the book; Ulf and Jack agreed to help find the missing children (Jack being interested in the 2500 gp reward), while Rusk's participation was expected and ordered. Julian had no intention of being left behind, but his objections were overruled by the rest of the group. They then returned Julian to the Orphanage and spoke with Gretchen, who was pleased to see his safe return. Interestingly, three of the characters were connected with the orphanage: Julian, who lived there; Rusk, who used to live there (and was friends with Patch), and Ulf, whose family owned it. That necessitated a few changes in the setup of the encounter, but there was little difficulty with that.
The next morning the group reconvened at the Orphanage, and once again Julian insisted on coming along. Finally, he simply stated that he was going to find his sister; the others could help HIM if they chose. Not wanting a precocious 10-year old with arcane power running around the city on his own, the others reluctantly agreed to let him accompany them, on condition that he was to return home if things got too dangerous.
Their investigations led them to Keygan Ghelve, who did his best to answer their questions about his locks and deflect any suspicions they might have. Unfortunately for him, the party was very intrigued by the combination of 'locks' and 'curtain' in his shop, and a distraction from the adults allowed Julian to become a ninja and slip in unnoticed (natural 20 on a Move Silently roll) behind the curtain. He started going toward the second floor, but was surprised by a sudden thumping noise beside him. His cry of surprise got the rest of the group's attention, and his scream of pain after being stabbed by a rapier had them all running. Rusk grabbed Keygan by the scruff of his neck while Jack vaulted the counter and Ulf ran around and through the curtain. Ulf saw Julian backing away, the glow of magic around his hands as he called upon his power to defend himself. Seeing the rapier (but barely seeing the wielder), he swung his morning star and smashed the creature with a single blow, sending it flying into the wall.
Keygan now spilled his guts (not literally, despite Jack's suggestion) and told them everything he knew about the kidnappers and why he had been forced to help them. He produced the map of Jzadirune and showed them the secret entrance. They turned him over to the city guard where he confessed his complicity in the crimes. Ulf suggested leniency, but Rusk was more inclined to stern punishment because of the missing children. They then returned to the locksmith's shop and went through the secret door and down the stairs.
Being wary of the 'doors with teeth,' the party investigated the wedged door, with Jack taking the lead. He was rewarded with a rapier in the side as the two nearly-invisible inhabitants struck. One of them was killed in retaliation, but the second fled through the tunnels. After a quick assessment of his wounds, Ulf healed the rogue and they left, taking the glowing sunrod and some thunderstones with them.
Leaving the entrance chamber, they explored the corridor to the north, noting the runes on all the doors, then headed south and found more rune doors. They also found the tilt-a-pit trap. Jack's spider-sense went off, and his Reflex save of 27 ensured his safety. Rusk was not so fortunate, and found that being a 6'9", 200+ pound half-orc with armor on has its disadvantages as he plunged into the pit. The door then slammed shut and he found himself impaled on one of the wooden spikes.
While Julian kept an eye out, Ulf and Jack tried to free the half-orc. When the pit righted itself after tilting, they shoved the door open and used the sunrod to jam the gears, buying time for Ulf to cast Enlarge Person on Rusk, allowing him to climb out. They took note of the body that was in the pit, noticing its resemblance to the creatures they had fought (although this one was much easier to see, being very dead), and the session ended at that point.
All in all, a very successful and eventful first session with a group of players who don't know each other very well as of yet. The role-playing chemistry is there, and even my son (winner of Barrie's Shyest Child award for the past few years running) got into the spirit with some gentle prodding from the rest of the group. He had a great time, and can't wait to play again. We'll be meeting again in two weeks time, since the DM has company coming next weekend which definitely takes priority.
So...back for more. After a single week's hiatus due to DM commitments, the group reconvened for a second excursion into Jzadirune. When last we met...
Well, you can read the first post for that part. So after the half-orc was pulled out of the pit, and before the enlarge person spell wore off, he carted everyone across the tilt-a-pit, which had been jammed open. The rogue then began examining the two gear doors at the end of the corridor, while young Julian saw something odd about the wall. The map showed no wall, but there was a wall. "Maybe it's an illusion!' he said, and stuck his hand through it. Sure enough... So the party fond two more gear doors in the map room, both trapped, of course. Jack tried the eastern door, but although he knew there was a trap he found himself unable to disarm it. So instead he tried to disarm the western door, and was rewarded with jets of flame singing him. So he tried again, and learned that one of Jzadirune's charms is that the trapped doors always reset. After a second singing, he decided that discretion was the better part of survival.
Returning to the hallway, they tried the eastern door. This one dropped rats on them when he tried to open it, but the party was able to swiftly dispose of them. Finally Jack found some success with the western door, disarming the trap but finding the lock beyond his abilities.
Over Julian's objections, the party decided to return to the surface for two reasons: to rest up and regroup, and to try to figure out the runes on the doors. They also decided that they needed the help of the one person in Cauldron who might be able to help them figure out those locks: Keygan Ghelve. The problem now was the gaping pit, which afforded only a narrow walkway on either side for ten feet. Julian's first attempt to cross nearly saw him fall into the pit, catching himself on the pit's edge at the last second. So Jack crossed with a rope and tied it to one of the doors, while Rusk did the same at the other side. Using the rope as a guide, the party crossed safely and returned to the surface.
The party split up; Ulf and Jack went to the Pelorian temple to get the rogue fully healed, while Rusk and Julian went to Skie's Treasury, the only other gnome they knew of in Cauldron. Skie welcomed them and told them it was a simple alphabetical script, translating the runes they had and noting that all the letters in 'Jazdirune' were present except 'U,' which the party had not yet come across.
After relating the story to Skie, the paladin and his ward went to the town hall barracks to speak with Terseon Skellerang and try to convince him to release Keygan Ghelve into their custody. Despite Julian's heartfelt pleas for the sake of his sister, and Rusk's solemn word as a paladin, Terseon would not release the gnome without a condition: one of the city guards would accompany them, responsible for the safe return of Keygan Ghelve.
[OOC: This was an opportunity to introduce a new PC, as a new player was joining up.]
Over the strenuous objections of Keygan, the party, with the addition of Private Jester Reed, gathered again at Ghelve's Locks. Keygan was permitted to study his spellbook, the better to help ensure his survival. Now six strong, the group descended back into the gnome enclave. Keygan's first attempt was the door that Jack had successfully disarmed, which after much grumbling and muttering he was able to open. Entering the now-empty room, they saw two more of the new tunnels in the walls. They also found a secret door, which led to a long-abandoned and dust-filled closet. After an unfruitful search, the party elected to risk the tunnels. They took the northern tunnel, ending up in a short corridor ending in two more gear doors. Jack tried the western one, which nearly froze him as no fewer than six rays of frost shot out. He then let Keygan try to unlock the door, and once again everyone was informed that the Jzadirune traps reset. Keygan escaped harm, but both Rusk and Jester were struck by cold rays. Keygan then announced that Jack was a lousy trapfinder and wanted no more to do with any of the doors.
Meanwhile, Ulf had located a secret door in the northern wall, which led to a chamber with a tunnel and some chests. Searching the chests, they found a strange gray bag which Rusk took. Inside he found a small fuzzy ball, which, when thrown, turned into a rat. This impressed him enough that he kept the bag.
The party proceeded down the next tunnel, which led them to a room with an unfinished metal construct. As they approached, a strange creature that appeared to be a mummy ran off to the tunnel in the north wall. Jack got a crossbow bolt off, but no one else reacted quickly enough to stop the creature. They elected not to risk the tunnel in chasing it, and explored the room instead. Without any treasure to be found, they returned to the room with the three chests and tried the other tunnel there.
This tunnel took them far to the south, where they eventually came out in a gnomish theater. When the stage erupted into an illusionary show (which again Julian identified as illusory before anyone else did), Rusk began detecting evil, just in case. He was rewarded with the revelation of something evil underneath the stage. Forewarned, the party prepared for a fight. Rusk opened the trapdoor on the stage, and immediately had to fend off a very long arm that attempted to strangle him. Julian was quickest off the mark, firing a magic missile at the thing, forcing it back down. Jack threw a thunderstone into the crawlspace, then went down with his dagger drawn, enhanced by Ulf's magical prayer. The creature didn't hear him coming, and Jack killed it with a precise strike before it was aware of him.
Searching beneath the stage, Jack found some treasure, the first treasure the group had discovered so far. Keeping the cloak for himself, he returned with a locked book, a wand, and what appeared to be a key for some of the gear doors. Keygan confirmed that the book was a spellbook, and Jack claimed it for himself. Keygan also identified the wand as magical, and it was given to Julian for safekeeping, in hopes of finding its command word.
The party continued on, entering a hall with floating lights near the ceiling. They also found two more of the nearly-invisible kidnapping creatures, and after a brief battle slew them both, but not before Rusk took a nasty stab from a rapier.
Avoiding the gear doors (none of them matched the rune they had), they entered a tunnel to the north. This one led to the room with the open-gear door they had first encountered the day before. It also led to another part of the complex, where the tunnel suddenly turned straight up. Rusk climbed out first, but was met with yet another rapier. He suffered two blows before getting out, drew his sword and attacked. Julian followed, clambering up atop Jack's shoulders and pulling himself out of the whole. Spotting the creature despite its camouflage, he fired another bolt of magic into it. Jack stood on Jester's shoulders and fired a crossbow bolt right into the creature's skull, ending the battle.
While Ulf attended to Rusk's wounds, Jack found the catch to open the not-so-secret door on the eastern wall. Opening it, they found a chest with a cage on top of it containing a rat. Both the rat and Keygan became overly excited, and it was only Rusk's stern warning of silence that kept Keygan from shouting with joy as he was reunited with his companion. But then the chest suddenly grew a toothy grin and spoke to them. Keygan was fortunately able to translate, and the party learned that the creatures they had fought were called 'skulks.' They also learned that their goal was behind the door on the other side of the room: the elevator to the Malachite Fortress.
Unfortunately, it was a gear door, and they did not have the correct key. Jack recognized the door as the kind that summoned rats, and Keygan refused to try it without the proper key. At an impasse, the party decided to rest for the night. Using the key they had found, the entered the barracks room through the door in the mask room. Keygan wanted to return to the surface immediately now that he had Starbrow back, but the rest of the party refused, especially Julian.
In the morning, they awoke to a shock: Jack was somewhat transparent. Keygan went ballistic, screaming about the Vanishing. Plans to continue their explorations were abruptly altered, and they headed back up to the Church of St. Cuthbert. Jester took Keygan back to the town barracks, where Terseon ordered him to continue working with the adventurers, with Keygan in tow, until the children were safely returned and the kidnappers identified.
At the Church, Jenya was unfortunately unable to cure Jack of his condition, her power simply not strong enough to overcome the strange disease. She agreed to cover the expense of receiving treatment from the Cathedral of Wee Jas, with the money deducted from the promised reward. Jack agreed, and the party went to the Cathedral.
Here they met the high priestess Embril and her underling, Ike Iverson. Embril gravely assessed Jack's condition, and calling upon her divinely-granted powers, successfully removed the taint of the Vanishing. With a stern reminder that he owed his life to the Lady, she wished them the blessings of her deity in finding the missing children.
The group then went to Skie's once again, hoping to identify the items they had procured. Realizing that the items were from Jzadirune, Skie told them in no uncertain terms that she wanted nothing to do with them, especially after finding that Jack had contracted the Vanishing. Rusk attempted to demonstrate the bag's ability to summon a rat, but she ordered the entire party out, saying only that the bag was obviously a 'bag of tricks,' and that if they wanted any more information they could seek it elsewhere. So they took the wand to the Shrien of Pelor, leaving it in Kristof's hands to identify for them.
The party returned to Jzadirune, again with Keygan in tow (with Starbrow safely upstairs). They returned to the room with the dancing lights, then took the stairs. They found what appeared to be a bathing pool. Again Julian declared it to be an illusion. They saw a webbed husk on the ceiling, and in an attempt to cut it down they were attacked by a huge spider that was in the (illusory) water. After Rusk was poisoned, the spider was quickly killed by Jester and Jack. Then Jester attempted to cut down the webbed corpse, only to be attacked by two more spiders. Thinking quickly, Ulf threw a flask of oil at the webs, and Julian sent a spark of flame into them, frying the spiders and clearing the webs entirely.
The body was that of a skulk drained by the spiders. They found a bag of gems, which Rusk kept with him. The gear door in this room was opened by the key they had found, and they entered a long hallway with even more doors and a couple of archways. Through the southern archway they found still more doors. Jack disarmed one of them successfully, and with much prodding Keygan was able to open it.
Inside they discovered a long-dead carrion crawler and some discarded armor and shields. While the rest of the party left the stench-filled room, Rusk took it upon himself to search the rotting corpse, and was rewarded with two filth-encrusted wooden coffers. He took them out, and inside the party found a great deal of coin and some other treasures, including a pair of scrolls in a copper tube.
Heading north through the hallway again, they came to a room that was very outdoorsy, filled with trees and singing birds, etc. Julian sagely advised them that it was yet another illusion, to which Keygan replied, 'DUH!' Eschewing the northern staircase in favor of another tunnel, the party emerged in an abandoned kitchen. Here they fought two halfling-sized creatures that Keygan identified as the 'other' kidnappers. After the brief but intense battle, Rusk inspected the cabinet, which promptly fell on him. Amid the broken pottery within, they discovered a second key to the doors of Jzadirune.
At this point the session ended, ready to resume next Friday.
Here we go again. The party had just finished brushing pottery shards of the paladin, and elected to head north through the foresty room. Up the stairs they encountered an empty room, but before they could search it they head the clanking and hissing of something unseen. Suddenly a metallic appendage swung out and smacked the rogue, staggering him backwards. An automaton appeared out of thin air, and the party went into action. Unfortunately they found their weapons were largely ineffective against the mechanical monstrosity before them. Then it let out a piercing scream that stunned the cleric and the gnome locksmith. The town guardsman went to flank the thing, and disappeared himself. He was still there, however, just invisible. He struck a mighty blow with his greatsword that nearly rent the creature's arm off. The damage seemed to affect the thing's mechanisms, and it did a couple of stutters and stops, until the cleric finally found a weak point and smashed a hole in its body, breaking some important parts and causing it to shut down entirely.
After a search of the room, the party found that there was nothing of value, except for the gem and 'A' key inside the monster. They bandaged their wounded and continued on, determined to find the key they needed to reach the Malachite Fortress.
They came to a room filled with broken shards of glass and the like, with furniture arranged haphazardly around. Seeing a door with an 'A' on it, they went to it, but not before the rogue noticed a secret door in the corner behind a table. Ignoring the secret door for the moment, the party opened the gear door and found a dusty office. Searching, the rogue found yet another key, this one with the 'R' they had been searching for! A brief celebration ensued, and Julian insisted that they immediately head down the elevator. Surprisingly, Ulf agreed, since they had no idea how much time they had before the 'not for long' in the divination was up.
But first, they went to the secret door. Jack, the rogue, started to look for a catch, but he was interrupted by the short sword that sprouted from his spleen. Only Julian had any time to react to the tall, shadowy creature that had very nearly killed Jack (-9 hp on the sneak attack). Ulf immediately cast a curing spell to stabilize him, while the rest of the party went on the attack. Julian's magic proved only slightly effective against the creature, while the rest of the party found the cloaking darkness a frustrating challenge. Jester, the town guardsman, got a good hit in, but it was returned with interest, and he went down as well. As Ulf stepped forward to the attack (Rusk was using his crossbow due to his reduced strength from the spider poison in the last session), two more creatures, shorter versions of their current opponent, came in and beelined for the cleric. At this point a TPK was imminent, as the rogue and fighter were down, the paladin managed to break the crossbow (natural 1, his third of the session already), and Julian was nearly out of magic. The tall creature took advantage of an opportunity and attacked the boy, striking him with his blade. Julian avoided the deathblow, but cried out in pain from the thrust.
Then, to everyone's surprise, Keygan showed his own magical talent, summoning a celestial dog to assist. He barked a command (no pun intended), and the dog went straight for the tall figure's throat. One natural 20 later, the creature went down with the dog's teeth firmly clamped on its neck. This evened the odds somewhat, and the paladin and cleric were able to defeat the two smaller creatures with the able assistance of Keygan's dog.
Using the last of his healing magic, Ulf brought the guardsman back to a modicum of health, but he was forced to force-feed Jack his Cuthbertian potion. This brought the rogue back to full health, and he eagerly assisted in looting the bodies. They found still another key, this one with a 'D', around the creature's neck, along with a fair amount of coin and a couple of unknown potions.
Now they went back to the secret door and found the latch. Opening it, they found what appeared to be unguarded treasure. Suspecting a trap, they elected to leave it for the moment, and headed back to the surface for a chance to rest up. Keygan was returned to the guardhouse, while Jester accompanied Jack and Ulf to the Shrine of Pelor. Rusk and Julian were in charge of Keygan, then after reporting to Terseon they went to the Church of St. Cuthbert. There Julian was given a sleeping draught and healed of his injuries, as was Rusk. Jester, being a town guardsman, had his healing subsidized by the town (no wonder taxes keep going up), whereas Jack paid 50 gp to have Ulf healed up to full health.
After resting, the party met up again that night at Keygan's, this time without the cantankerous gnome. Jester was still with them, however, assigned to find the missing children with them. They went straight to the mimic's room, and opened the 'R' door with the key. To their dismay, there was another door behind that one, but fortunately they had the 'D' key required.
Opening the door, they were surprised to see two hobgoblins standing in the octagonal room. The battle was brief, however, as the hobgoblins were no match for the eager adventurers. They descended in the elevator to the Malachite Fortress, ready for whatever awaited them. Except, of course, for the total lack of a lever to raise the elevator...
They moved on, hoping to find either the lever or another way out. Entering the first hallway, they approached the strange statue in the center of the room. To the surprise of none, it attacked them, sliding across the floor and striking them with its crystal growths. The paladin took a hard blow but withstood it, and the battle seemed to be in their favor. That's when the southern door slammed open and the gangly ogre appeared. With an evil leer and a welcoming 'More carrion for my larder!' it attacked with its filthy falchion.
Julian popped it with a bolt of magic, but the ogre shrugged off the blow. Jester dropped his bow and drew his greatsword, charging to the fight. His blow narrowly missed, but the ogre replied with a horrifying slash that nearly eviscerated the brave guardsman (dropping him from his full 20 hp to -8).
While Ulf worked to save the guardsman's life, Rusk and Jack fought to keep the statue and the ogre at bay. The statue fell to Rusk's sword, while Jack nimbly dodged the ogre's wild slashes with the falchion. Ulf took a page from Keygan's book and summoned a dog of his own. The dog lasted only a very short time, as the ogre struck it down with a single blow. As the dog vanished back into the ether, Rusk, Jack and Julian hammered away, trying desperately to kill the snarling giant.
Finally, Jack got in behind it and stabbed the ogre in the back, dropping it to its knees. Rusk finished it off, beheading the beast.
I have to head out, but I'll continue the recap when I return; there's still lots more fun stuff to describe.
Okay...so after the fight with the ogre, the party searched his room, which bore a strong resemblance to the bedroom of a typical teenager, except it was slightly cleaner and smelled a bit better. Inside this filthy pesthole they found a large iron chest, which was conveniently opened by one of the keys they looted from the body. Inside they found enough copper and silver to keep even the rogue happy for a while.
Since there were no more obvious exits, they looked for the inobvious ones, and found one at the opposite end of the hall. Stepping through, they encountered a majestic statue of a dwarven warrior standing guard, draped with chains. They stayed away from the statue, instead investigating the barred doors to the northwest. This proved unfruitful, as there was nothing but a bridge and some mysteriously black water beneath.
So they headed down to the southeastern doors instead, where they entered another hallway. This one was occupied by hobgoblins, who shouted a warning and started shooting arrows. They were fairly quickly dispatched, but not before one of them pulled a lever, opening a trap beneath the half-orc. Again his god protected him, as he avoided the nasty spikes at the bottom and merely took light falling damage. More hobgoblins appeared during this time, but a sleep spell from Julian put them out of the fight. As the party was pulling the paladin out of the pit, yet another pair of hobgoblins came at them, but once again Julian saved the day with a dazzling flare spell in the face of one, who promptly tripped and knocked his partner down, where they were easily dispatched by the rest of the party.
Tracking back the last pair of hobgoblins, the party found a forge, where three prisoners toiled away under the guard of four hobgoblins and three goblins. The battle was hardly worth describing, as the paladin and sorcerer merely stood guard while the other three dismantled the enemy in a few short rounds. Only one of the prisoners seemed lively enough to attempt to aid them, a halfling named Maple who borrowed a pick from the rogue and picked her own manacles open. With the party feeling a sense of urgency, and not having a ready way to get the prisoners to the safety of the surface, they searched out a place to keep them hidden until they had accomplished their mission. Opening a door in the hall they had previously been in, they found a bedroom guarded by two nasty-looking fleshy creatures. The battle was likewise brief, although the party found that their weapons had little effect on the horrible creatures. Still, after the battle they gave Maple a couple of weapons and left her to guard the other two prisoners while they continued on their way.
Passing through the forge and into a dining room, they saw an open door where noises could be made out. Jack snuck to the door and looked in, where he saw a very large dwarf speaking with a smaller, pointy-eared dwarf. The larger one held the chain of one of the missing children, whom Julian was able to identify as Terrem. The other children were likewise present, and it was all the party could do to stop Julian from charging in.
The party planned their assault carefully, consuming most of their remaining healing magic to give themselves as much of a chance as possible. Jack snuck in, unnoticed by the arguing pair of dwarves. He threw a couple of thunderstones into their midst, deafening them both as well as the children and the bizarre creature that looked like a cross between a dog and a porcupine. This creature began howling like a banshee, while the party stormed in ready to fight. The smaller dwarf disappeared even as Ulf enlarged the town guardsman. The battle was on!
Jester was met by the charging dog-upine, while Jack used his crossbow to surprising effect on the huge dwarf. The paladin rushed in, while Julian tried to blind him with another flare. It was unsuccessful, and the paladin found himself on the business end of a dwarven urgrosh, nearly taking him right out of the battle in its opening moments. The battle raged, but the party's lack of magic was severely hampering them. Jester went down from a thrown handaxe that got him in a vulnerable spot, Jack was alreaedy wounded, Ulf took a blow from the urgrosh, and the paladin was barely on his feet.
Suddenly, help arrived as two half-elves ran into the room with drawn bows. One arrow felled the dog-upine, while the other struck the dwarf. With renewed hope, the party fought on. One of the half-elves healed Jester back into the fight, while the other kept shooting arrows. Ulf and Rusk closed for melee again, and without the help of his pet, the dwarf was finally no match for the party, despite healing some of his wounds almost as fast as they were inflicted. With a blow from his sword, Rusk drove the villain to his knees, and Ulf finished him with a crushing blow from his morning star.
Exhausted, the party turned to inquire about their unexpected allies, but before they could do anything, a group of hobgoblins burst into the room with drawn weapons, ready to avenge their fallen master. Wounded, drained of their magic, the party grimly prepared themselves for the final battle.
Then the beholder appeared.
To be continued...