SESSION FIVE
A'Reth, holding himself at arms against the rest of the party, maneuvered himself into position to block anyone who attempted to leave the throne room and escape to another portion of the complex. He tripped Lazarus when he attempted to run by and disregarded orders to stand down, prompting Shariss to attack. Meanwhile, Yasumoto noticed strange noises coming from the back room, and when he went to investigate found Tavey had broken free of the restraints inside the chest and was now standing, with a strange red glow to his eyes. Reanimated as an undead crypt thing, the boy attempted to teleport the party away, scattering them across the ruins, but the adventurers managed to resist the magical impulse and put the boy once more out of his misery. The issue solved, for the time being, A'Reth ceased his attempts to attack Yasumoto and the journey through the ruins resumed.
After returning the second iron paw to the monkey statues, the doors opened into a long hallway lined with more ape statues. A'Reth, disregarding any possible threat, strode down the hall without hesitation, Lazarus and Gene close behind; as each passed in front of a pair of statues they unleashed deafening howls, filling the entire temple with cacophony. Yasumoto was able to disable them after a few moments of work, but not without a few more accidental trippings. The copper doors at the end of the hall opened into a grand temple shrine, with four more such statues and one gargantuan carving of Demogorgon himself standing atop a dais on the far side of the room. Urol Forol, the missing gnome from the Sea Wyvern's crew, dangled from a chain held by a winch above the center of the room, where a raised pit filled with hot coals awaited sacrifices.
Yasumoto saw the chain connected to a winch on the west side of the room, but when he went to investigate two Bar-Lguras pounced on him out of invisibility and brutally tore into him; at the same time a third - a much larger, darker-furred Bar-Lgura: Olangru, the temple's master - launched himself over the pit and straight into A'Reth, badly injuring the warforged as well. The demonic apes ported away and vanished as the group moved into the shrine, before returning and charging while concealed once again. The group was badly injured, though Lazarus was able to mend their wounds enough to keep everyone on their feet, and one vicious pounce by Olangru even destroyed Jewel outright, banishing the Eidolon back to her home plane before she had a chance to inflict the damage she had in prior battles.
Eventually Shariss got a lucky strike and decapitated one of the smaller Bar-Lguras - who still bore the scar from where she had slit its throat in the prior battle - and cornered the other two up on the dais. Olangru and his remaining mate ported to the room's entrance, where Gene had been left on his own. The group quickly rallied to come to his defense as he conjured a celestial creature for aid; the remaining mate grabbed him and ported him back onto the dais but Gene managed to keep his spell and the summoned Hound Archon destroyed the fiend in a single swift blow of its greatsword.
Olangru attempted to beguile the rest of the group, but only A'Reth and Lazarus were affected. He then attempted to draw the group apart again, but a vicious combined attack from Yasumoto and A'Reth finished the lead Bar-Lgura off for good.
Investigating the shrine after defeating its keeper, A'Reth went up to the dais to destroy the statue of Demogorgon; however, the statue was in reality a Lemorian Golem, a construct crafted by the Prince of Demons' forges in the Abyss, and when the warforged attempted to attack it the golem lashed out in retaliation. The monstrous carving's tentacles bore a deadly rotting effect, and both Shariss and Gene felt the full sting of its touch; though A'Reth attempted as best he could to defend them, the Golem learned swiftly that his mechanical body was resistant to its corruptive touch and chose to focus on the enemies it could decay more easily. After several close calls saved by Lazarus's healing hand, the group - armed not with their weapons, A'Reth relying on his adamantine fists and Shariss on her Skarn arm-spines - struck the foul creation down, Shariss tearing off both its heads in a single decisive strike.
As the golem crumbled, the mist in the air began to fade, signaling the end of Demogorgon's fell influence in the land of Fogmire. The group collected Urol and returned to the shrine room where A'Reth's horse, Amalla, and the cursed wo/man were waiting, and made their way out of the temple. Shariss was exhausted by the battle and A'Reth and Lazarus refused to leave without destroying the entrance to the temple and defacing Demogorgon's images there, so their departure was delayed by an hour spent watching the crusader smashing the entrances to the temple into rubble with his bare adamantine hands.
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The final battle with Olangru, his two remaining mates, and the Lemorian Golem was nothing short of epic. Leaping pouncing monkeys, charging crusaders, whirling dervish barbarians, acrobatic backstabbing ninjas... well, the casters (Lazarus and Gene) had it pretty poor, it was mostly the meleers who had the action tonight.
Olangru nearly killed A'Reth in his first attack (he would have if one of his claws hadn't missed, I'm sure), and did destroy that annoying Eidolon in a single shot. (Pounce+Skirmish+Sneak Attack is NASTY, if only she'd been Beguiled so he could have gotten Deceptive Attack as well.) He had lots of opportunities to give people nasty grins after doing something particularly painful or annoying and took every single one of them.
A'Reth using Iron Guard's Glare to defend his allies was slightly troublesome with the Bar-Lguras but more of a major pain with the Golem, as the warforged was right in its face most of the battle. Thankfully it was nasty enough that it still hit more than half the time. Mwahahahahahah.
Next time, trip back to Farshore and the end of Chapter Four.
Only one quote got caught tonight:
Epic Maneuver:
Shariss: "I attack it [Lemorian Golem] with my spines. One's a critical."
DM: *reading from Crit Deck* "Blown Back: Double damage and target is knocked prone. You catch it with your spines in a vicious uppercut."
Shariss: "88 total - three attacks, doesn't pierce DR."
DM: "You knock it back on its back, because your spines catch below its jaws and rip off its heads. There's a dull thud as both heads land on either side of you. They howl once more and their eyes close as its body goes still."
A'Reth-OOC: "SHORYUKEN!"
SESSION SIX
Returning from Fogmire, the group traveled directly along the route south, easily finding their way back to the major trails and retracing their steps back to the village of Tanaroa. There, four days after departing the ruins of Demogorgon's temple, the party stopped and Lazarus approached Mvendi, the "zombie master" priest of the Olmans in Tanaroa, and informed him of the end of Fogmire's curse. The Olmans were exceptionally enthused about this development, and provided the party with lodging for the night then sent them south to Mora the next day with the news. In response, the Mora Olmans offered to give the party oarsmen to help them make the journey back to Farshore.
Upon reaching the colony, however, tragedy was afoot: Farshore was in flames, and a ship bearing the red Jolly Roger of the Crimson Fleet was moored in its port. The party leaped to the attack, Gene hasting the others then flying ahead on his summon, and the group divided to begin rescuing the afflicted colonists. Lazarus and Shariss broke into one burning building to rescue an unconscious woman, while A'Reth charged to the south to cease a pirate pursuing another woman by impaling him into a wall on his lance. He and Yasumoto then continued on to the chapel, where Avander, Skald, Rowyn Kellani, Faelyn, and Churtle had set up a barricade against a large group of pirates, protecting villagers who had hidden inside the chapel while Avander and Rowyn made short work of the pirates outside. Yasumoto and A'Reth arrived in time to finish off the last few pirates, then continued on to the city center; sure their charges were safe, the ex-adventurers moved on to the burning library and assisted the colonists who had gathered there attempting to put the flames out.
Gene sent Jewel and a summoned Pterodactyl into the center of the city where several pirates armed with pistols and the pirate "leader", Slipknot Peet, had gathered and already killed a handful of colonists who had attempted to fight them off; the pirates killed the Pterodactyl before it could grab one of them and fly away, but Jewel was able to cow all of them except Peet with a vicious roar. By this time A'Reth and Yasumoto had arrived, with the ninja cutting down Peet's henchmen one by one while A'Reth engaged the pirate himself.
Shariss and Lazarus arrived moments later, leaving the injured woman from the burning house in Gene's care, and Lazarus unleashed a fireball into the midst of Peet's followers, killing half of them. A'Reth severely injured Peet with a well-aimed charge, and the pirate returned the favor by striking the warforged with a blow from his rapier that seemed to pass straight through his armor. He retreated to behind the well in the center of town to prevent being charged again, but Shariss leaped around and attacked from the other side, even more gravely wounding the pirate; Lazarus finished the battle with twin lances of fire aimed at Peet and his one remaining henchwoman, knocking the leader unconscious and severely injuring the woman. Seeing herself alone, the final pirate dropped her weapons and surrendered.
As the group assessed the situation and bound the two captives, they finally caught sight of Lavinia, Sneaks, Ramelia Diamondback, the Jade Ravens, and an unfamiliar gentleman approaching from the south, also with the appearance of having just been in a vicious battle. The unfamiliar man and Kaskus Kiel were dragging "Lefty", yet another pirate, between them bound in chains.
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I moved this engagement from Chapter Five to Chapter Four, as I thought it made more sense to have the chapter officially end after the party had stabilized things in Farshore.
There wasn't as much RP tonight as usual for our group due to the long and involving combat, but there were several very cinematic moments, especially involving Shariss leaping through a window, Yasumoto being awesomely ninja-y, Gene summoning a Pterodactyl to swoop down and carry a pirate away (too bad it died after establishing a grapple, Rogues with pistols = dead lizard), Lazarus finally blowing stuff up, and A'Reth getting to use insane Charge maneuvers.
Also only one quote tonight:
He tastes like Chicken!:
DM: *describing the NPCs battling in front of the chapel* "... AND Rusty is chowing down on the fallen pirates' gear."
A'Reth-OOC: "Woot! Go Rusty... oh S#!% I'm made of metal!"
SESSION ONE
Meeting with Lavinia and the Farshore Council after taking prisoner Slipknot Peet and another pirate named Carmen, the party gathered in the chapel to interrogate these two along with another pirate named Lefty, taken prisoner by the Jade Ravens. Yasumoto and Shariss called in Faelyn to charm Lefty and convinced him to part with information regarding the attack. Apparently, the Crimson Fleet had sent word to Peet's crew of thugs at Rat's End, and persuaded them to scout out Farshore in preparation for a Fleet attack. Peet had gotten greedy after reporting his findings and chose to attack, and let slip that they had two months to loot the village before the Fleet arrived.
Armed with this knowledge, the party determined that the first order of business would be to pursue and overtake the other fleeing ship and recover the villagers taken captive. With the aid of the council, they rallied what villagers were capable of manning a ship and set out the next morning in the Nightshark, overcoming the fleeing pirates within a few hours and laying waste to their crew. The few survivors, including one taken conscious named Annah, were taken prisoner while A'Reth released the prisoners taken from the village as well as a few more in the ship's brig that looked to have been there longer. When the nobleman Nurn was discovered to be missing, A'Reth and Shariss questioned the captives; when the man's name was mentioned the crowd flew into a rage, claiming the captain had come and released Nurn shortly after they departed and after speaking with the captain for a short time simply vanished into thin air. Annah didn't know what the nobleman's purpose or relationship to the captain had been, but the party was swift to determine that Nurn had somehow betrayed Farshore.
After returning to Farshore - and seeing Carmen and Slipknot Peet's bodies hanging from the tree at the coast - the group returned to the temple and spoke with Vesserin Catherly about possibly using Speak From Dead on the other captain, and gave him directions to where the body was being held on the Nightshark so as to use Gentle Repose until the group was ready. They then made their way to Lavinia's and reported on the situation with Nurn, then turned their attentions to the many other tasks awaiting them in preparing the village for the upcoming assault.
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This was a turn I wasn't expecting... I was guessing the party would write off the escaping ship as out of their reach, but instead quickly set up their ship and went to the chase, and at the calculations were able to overtake and capture the ship in under a day. Now they have another ship, rescued some people and found some more, and know that Nurn's working for the enemy. Depending on the questions they ask the other captain, they might learn more.
Ah well, won't stop Nurn from completing his plans....
Nice move by the players, I tip my hat to them.
SESSION TWO
The group met early the next morning - after regrouping, speaking with Catherly and Lavinia, and opening the chest they found in the Mother-of-All's lair the night before - and made their plans for where they would move first: they decided to speak with the Olman leaders at Tanaroa and try to convince them to come to Farshore's aid. Shariss heartily suggested trying to win the Olmans' admiration and respect by challenging the Infamous Seven - the most powerful of the legendary beasts dwelling on the Isle of Dread - and in particular seemed most interested in challenging Xiureksor, a great dragon. Though they hadn't yet decided on a final destination, the group did leave for Tanaroa later that morning and arrived that evening.
As the group reached the village they discovered the Tanaroans participating in a ritual in honor of one of their deities: Zotzilaha, the god of bats and fire, known also as Camazotz in other places. During the ritual the graven image of the Great Bat suddenly came to life and shouted threats and warnings at the Olmans, demanding the return of something stolen and summoning Firebats to attack them. The group intervened and fought down the bats, keeping them occupied and even killing one of them before Lazarus dismissed the whole group by dispelling the summoning spell that had conjured them. The Olmans thanked the group profusely, but told them they could not repay the debt and give them warriors to aid Farshore until Zotzilaha's wrath was sated.
The group quickly determined that the bat idol they'd found in Tamoachan was the missing object in question; they backtracked to Farshore and convinced Avander to part with the statue so that it could be returned to its proper resting place. The group then made the trek to the volcano shrine where the idol was said to once have rested, avoiding Tanaroa on the way back as much as possible to avoid having to explain to the Olmans why the stolen statue was in their possession. They entered the volcano and reached the bottom of the shrine - after passing several small side caverns filled with smaller sacrifices and offerings to the wrathful god - and placed the idol in the waiting arms of a massive carved bat in the volcano's heart.
Mere moments later, another Aspect of Zotzilaha with yet more Firebats appeared, but after seeing the idol back in its proper place dismissed the Firebats and thanked the group for returning its stolen property. In return, it offered them a choice of treasure from the vault. Shariss claimed a suit of magical mithral breastplate; Gene took a ring of invisibility; Lazarus chose a stone of good luck; A'Reth selected an amulet of natural armor; and Yasumoto decided on a flametongue scimitar when his first choice - a strangely shaped fang wrapped in a leather sleeve - the Aspect deemed not part of Zotzilaha's hoard and allowed the ninja to keep for himself aside from his reward. The group later determined that this was the tooth of Ahazu, one of the teeth of Dahlver-Nar: an ancient relic associated with occult practitioners known as Binders.
As the group made ready to leave, Zotzilaha's aspect suddenly pointed out Lazarus and demanded he step forward. The Aspect then revealed that Lazarus had cursed the gods in his anger over the events of the past few weeks and in return been stripped of his divine powers as an Oracle. It instructed him to travel north, to "the place where the Dusklings fell and the Great Plague ravaged", where he would be able to seek new powers to replace those he lost. It then departed into the mouth of the volcano, cackling and bursting into another horde of Firebats and flying away.
The group returned to Tanaroa and reported of the events in the volcano, and during the night some of them attempted to play around with their rewards from the Sargasso chest. A'Reth discovered his short sword could change shape into a shortbow, battleaxe, or heavy mace depending on the arrangement of the jewels in its hilt. Gene discovered that by pulling a patch off his robe a coil of rope appeared and theorized that more such useful objects would likely be hidden under the many other patches. Lazarus reached into his bag and withdrew a magical steel shield emblazed with a snowflake symbol.
Come morning, the group started to head north, but quickly determined they had no idea which way lay the temple Zotzilaha had mentioned other than "north". After some discussion, they decided to return to Farshore and inquire of Avander, the only Duskling any of them knew. Avander revealed the general theorized location of the Temple of the Jaguar: an ancient Duskling village and shrine that was lost long ago when one of the Duskling tribes went mad and assaulted the others, scattering the race to the far corners of the Isle of Dread. Armed with this information, the group set off towards the recommended location and, thanks to Avander's help and Shariss and Yasumoto's tracking skills, found the hidden Temple within only three days of leaving Tanaroa again.
As the group attempted to enter the temple, an emerald anaconda who had made its resting place just above the temple entrance attempted to attack Shariss; while its bite wounded her gravely, the flaming cloak of Incarnum she wore caused the creature to rethink its intent to make a meal of her; Shariss then leaped up onto the wall and wounded the creature further, quickly persuading it to make itself scarce and seek food elsewhere. It retreated to the far side of the inside of the temple, where it watched the adventurers with wary eyes; as it was no longer actively hostile, the group decided to let it be with its relatively-minor injuries.
Gene and Lazarus quickly determined that the grand platform and many statues in the center of the room were illusions; as the rest of the group attempted to follow their lead while Lazarus led them to a ladder down into the shaft the illusion was hiding, A'Reth took one corner too sharply and fell through the illusion and down into the murky water at the bottom of the shaft. Thankfully, as a construct, the rancid water did no harm to him, and his recently-acquired boots of levitation allowed him to escape the pit with little trouble.
The group ventured forth into a tunnel at the bottom of the pit, and discovered a hidden shrine; Lazarus and Gene quickly determined that the torches here were magically lit and that something invisible was in the middle of the room; meanwhile that invisible something prodded into Shariss and A'Reth's minds and attempted (and failed) to read Lazarus' and Gene's. Gene cast see invisibility and was able to perceive the hidden Couatl, and seeing its disguise broken the outsider decided to reveal itself to all of the group. It began to question their reasons for coming and became very angry when Lazarus mentioned Zotzilaha, but the group was able to calm it and all but Yasumoto allowed it to read their minds and determine the truth behind their reason for coming and for Lazarus' seeking new power.
Its anger and curiosity sated, the Couatl eventually deemed their presence and goals worthy and triggered a hidden switch on the far side of the pedestal, causing it to rise out of the floor and reveal a hidden downward stairway. According to the Couatl, down below led to a place where Lazarus would be tested against the powers of the Wild, the fey world from whence the Dusklings came; survival and victory would allow him to be reborn infused with the strength of the Wild, while failure would result in his soul being scattered to the farthest reaches. The winged serpent requested who would accompany Lazarus on his test, and the entire party stepped forward; it then moved aside and allowed them all to descend into the hidden chambers below.
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The chest the group got from the Mother-of-All was a magic item that shows up in nearly all of our games, which we refer to as the Bag of Fate. Every player creates a magic item, then draws randomly and receives another player's item - but only the appearance, without knowing the stats or how it works (command words, enhancements, powers, etc.). One of my players observed, "It started out as 'hey let's give everyone else something fun and cool to play with'... now sometimes it seems more like 'let's see how badly I can mess with everyone else, mwahahahah'." Which is fairly accurate, though the items are all (mostly) useful. The two that didn't get mentioned here are Shariss (who got a tin can looking thing with a hatch on one end) and Yasumoto (who got a brooch with an Ouroboros on one side and a gossamer-winged dragon on the other).
Next session begins with Lazarus' rebuild quest. Sadly due to him being sick last week he missed out on the chance to really play up the whole "fallen" process, which was something he'd been looking forward to, but rolled pretty well with it this week all things considered.
If it seems like we're blazing through an otherwise slow and somewhat RP-heavy chapter surprisingly quickly, it's probably because we are: A'Reth's player deploys to Afghanistan sometime in mid-June and we want to get to the big shebang battle for Farshore at the end of Chapter Five before he goes. It's an excellent cutoff point for someone unfortunate enough to have to (possibly, his internet situation once he deploys is unknown) leave the campaign halfway through.
Sounds like a good session and I hope you manage to get to the confrontation in time.
The Bag of Fate....I like it, mind it if I swipe it? I know my players would have blast with it. If you don't mind we could even start a thread where people put up stats and descriptions for items that have been put in it. GMs who like stuff on it could include it in their Bags of Fate. You could end up with items from a plyer you've never met....
Sounds like a good session and I hope you manage to get to the confrontation in time.
Will keep you posted. I've got just under a month to work with and I plan on getting as close as possible even if it means several more marathon 7-9 hour sessions. ;)
The Bag of Fate....I like it, mind it if I swipe it? I know my players would have blast with it. If you don't mind we could even start a thread where people put up stats and descriptions for items that have been put in it. GMs who like stuff on it could include it in their Bags of Fate. You could end up with items from a plyer you've never met....
It's fine with me. The Bag of Fate wasn't even originally my idea, I think it originated with one of our group's old DMs (they had two who had left before I started gaming with them) and I don't know if they made it up or got the inspiration somewhere. We've just kept the tradition going. ;)
The thread idea also sounds like a blast. Post a link if you do :)
SESSION THREE
Descending into the tunnels below, the group immediately found themselves under assault by a flock - for no other word was truly appropriate - of strangely-mutant Deinonychus adorned with fur, feathers, or insectoid chitin and matching wings. The first group of these were easily dispatched despite the aura of frigid, numbing cold that accompanied their arrival, but the second group heralded the arrival of the beasts' masters: the dark fey, Shadar-Kai, who had long since been trapped in these tunnels seeking their secrets. Three Shadar-Kai shadowcasters attacked the group but were swiftly dispatched, leaving behind some of their belongings when they and their pets died and evaporated into black smoke as the call of the Shadow Plane absorbed them.
The group forged ahead and discovered a large audience chamber filled with glittering, shining tiny fey known as Shimmerlings; a pair of lurking Shadar-Kai slammed shut the doors to the chamber as the group entered, trapping them inside as the Shimmerlings began to swarm, seeking both companionship from the visitors and to attack those who had imprisoned them in these stone walls. The group quickly disabled and dispatched the Shadar-Kai and Lazarus and Shariss were able to calm the Shimmerlings, holding off their attack and persuading them to allow the adventurers to deal with "the shadow" that had trapped them; the Shimmerlings agreed to wait in their chamber until the group had completed their mission and could break whatever hold this place had on them.
Further investigations found yet more of the unseelie dinosaurs standing sentinel at the end of one hall; rather than disturb them, the group decided to investigate another room, which turned out to be a large dead-foliage-draped chamber with a massive wooden construct - a Blackroot Marauder - in its center. When Shariss and A'Reth closed to engage the defender, hidden Redcap assassins leaped from their hiding places beneath the roots and yet more Shadar-Kai emerged from one of the side rooms, assaulting the group with steel and spell. After a vicious and taxing battle, two of the Shadar-Kai were gravely injured and the other two, along with the Redcaps and the Marauder, destroyed.
One of the surviving fey, Salzar, was unconscious due to a severed spine; the other, Aunzyss, had lost several fingers and had her other hand rendered mostly useless by a deep gash. Surprised by the group's refusal to torture or execute her, Aunzyss was eventually persuaded to explain why the Shadar-Kai had set up their forces in this shrine: at the heart of the tunnels was a powerful artifact which the Shadar-Kai believed could be used to break the Curse of Shadow that had plagued their race for eons. Unfortunately, despite being trapped here and many years of attempts, the Shadar-Kai had never been able to bypass the shrine's guardian and reach the artifact for themselves. Aunzyss convinced the other Shadar-Kai to allow the group to attempt to battle the guardian, on the agreement that if they defeated it the fey could use the artifact after Lazarus had completed whatever task he had come here for. The group agreed, camped for the night, and made preparations to enter the shrine and engage the guardian in the morning.
The shrine contained only a statue of Huehueteotl, Olman god of Fire and Time, and an enormous pit filled with a roaring, blazing, white fire. However, when the group passed the first few yards into the room, a booming voice commanded them to stop and the statue before them began to shift, twist, and reform itself. Stone split apart to reveal glass beneath, with glowing green sand flowing through as if replacing blood, and the face cracked apart to reveal a large hourglass inside the construct's head: Lazarus was able to identify the creature as a Quarut, an Inevitable construct designed with the protectorate of Time. The Quarut, known as the Keeper of Time, raised a barricade around the flames and ordered the group to depart from the "temporal anomaly" or be destroyed; after arguing with it for some time A'Reth finally provoked it enough to initiate an attack. The group surrounded the construct and engaged it; a few powerful blows from A'Reth and Gene's eidolon drove it back further than its armored body and regenerative capabilities could compete with and after failing to exterminate Yasumoto with a death spell the ninja destroyed the machine in a fierce ruby slash.
After Lazarus dismissed the magic the Keeper had put on A'Reth and the wall around the flames collapsed, the group spent a few moments trying to decide what to do. Lazarus deciphered the inscription on the pit's edge:
Cuezaltzin
He who grasps into the flames
Finds his flesh by time unscarred
He who leaps into the blaze
Writes his tale anew unmarred
To test, the group instructed A'Reth to stick his arm into the flames; when he did so, all the damage done to the construct was suddenly undone, as if time had been reversed around those wounds, mending them back in reverse. Assured now of the inscription's meaning Lazarus leaped boldly into the heart of the flame, vanishing from sight, and a few minutes later jumped back out again: physically nothing had changed, but his soul had been repaired and his faith restored. The Shadar-Kai had come to investigate in the time he'd been gone, and as soon as they saw him jump back out of the fire began bringing first their wounded then the rest of the present troops into the shrine to be the next to jump into the fire. Salzar, still with his spine destroyed, was the first.
Before the other Shadar-Kai could make the leap, though, Gene decided to jump in as well, with his Eidolon not far behind; however, he emerged alone. While the other Shadar-Kai were gone, Salzar approached the group and attempted to express his thanks; however, as fey the Shadar-Kai could not leave such a grand debt unpaid, and by giving them access to Cuezaltzin the party had effectively destroyed the Curse of Shadow for good. After some discussion the group eventually revealed that they were in need of warriors for the defense of Farshore; Aunzyss and Salzar led the group to a hidden armory the Shadar-Kai had discovered years ago but had little use for which was stocked full of masterwork weapons, as well as three powerful magic items. Meanwhile A'Reth returned to the shrine and attempted to use the white flame to reincarnate the Quarut; however, either the flames do not work on the dead or destroyed or the Quarut simply chose not to return, as nothing leaped forth reborn from the inferno. The group then charged the shadow fey with coming to aid Farshore in the coming conflict and gave them directions to reach the colony before returning to the Temple of the Jaguar, then informed the Shimmerlings that the way out of the temple was open and set the mischievous little fey free.
There the couatl, Tonatiuh, asked the group to relay the tale of the events that occurred below - and all were surprised by the sudden eloquence that Lazarus displayed in retelling the tale. The couatl explained that the group has done a great good for the universe by paving the way for the redemption of the Shadar-Kai, and he can only pray that their good intentions and the fey folk's joy at being freed of their eons-long curse belay any foul results from this act of immense generosity. He then gave Lazarus three of his tail feathers, claiming that should the group need his aid in the future these would allow them to call upon him without sacrifice, then departed to atone for his many failures.
The group then exited the shrine, stopping only to deal with the ever-hungry emerald anaconda, which had returned to its lurking place above the shrine entrance; knowing that if left there it would attack the Shadar-Kai when they attempted to leave, the party decided they would need to deal with it by driving it away or killing it. Lazarus, however, was able to magically dominate the creature and convince it to follow them; through his magic and the combined animal-handling skills of he and A'Reth, they were able to take the beast back to Farshore along with the Duskling weapons and the promise of the Shadar-Kai aid to add to the defense of the colony against the impending pirate assault.
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Even if the party fails in the ultimate events of the Savage Tide, or even falls against the pirate attack, their legacy will live on forever in the fact that they have now given the Shadar-Kai - a race known over the entire planescape for being associated with evil and darkness - a chance at redemption by eliminating their Curse. Whether the shadow fey will embrace this chance or abuse their newfound freedom is yet to be seen, but Aunzyss and the rest of the group from the shrine of Huehueteotl will pay their debt in full and be there to reinforce the Farshore Militia come the end of two months.
Quotes:
Freudian Slip:
Yasumoto-OOC: "I attack with Shadow Garrotte... Shadow Grope! That's what the spell should be!"
Shariss-OOC: "NO! You're not playing Jiraya!"
Who let the fey out?:
Lazarus-OOC: "Faeries! RUN! I DON"T BELIEVE IN FAERIES!"
A'Reth-OOC: "It's an entire swarm of tiny kender!"
Shimmerlings: "PLAY WITH US!!"
A'Reth: "So... who brought cards?"
Logic Failure:
A'Reth-OOC: "So... we took a demon's advice, and we came back with a storyteller, an army of fey, and a giant snake. Does anyone think our cause and effect looks more like a roll on the rod of wonder?"
I see fish?:
A'Reth-OOC: "It's sad but true. I saw more enemies coming when I was blind."
More than meets the eye?:
*the statue of Huehueteotl begins shapeshifting into the Quarut Keeper of Time*
Shariss-OOC: "Transformers!"
Gene-OOC: "That's what I was thinking."
Yasumoto-OOC: "Golems in disquise!"
A'Reth-OOC: "Autobots, TRANSFORM!"
I believe in miracles:
DM: "The Shadar-Kai bring in the man with a broken back on a cot between them. Do you guys stop them?"
A'Reth: "No, they're just lucky they didn't have to lower him through a hole in the roof."
Regarding the flames of rebirth:
A'Reth-OOC: "It's the revolving door of existence."
Yasumoto-OOC: "The experiment is nearing its conclusion. The Enrichment Center is required to remind you that you will be baked, and then there will be cake."
Why does it have to be snakes?:
A'Reth-OOC: *as Lazarus post-rebuild* "I cast speak with animals!"
A'Reth-OOC: *as the Emerald Anaconda* "I'm hungry. *chomp!*"
SESSION FOUR
Alliances secured with the Olman and Shadar-Kai, the party decided to take a few days to rest, become accustomed to their new abilities, and begin their hunt for the Infamous Seven, starting with the eldest Tyrannosaur lurking in the tar pits beyond Tanaroa, Temauhti-Tecuani. The group made the journey north to the Olman village and beyond to the pits, where moments after their arrival the chittering of fleeing creatures - racoon-like humanoids called Phanatons - and a deafening roar announced the arrival of Temauhti-Tecuani. Though the vicious old T-Rex was far more powerful and resilient than its lesser cousins, and inflicted grievous wounds on all who came within reach - nearly felling Shariss and A'Reth and actually devouring Lazarus - it eventually fell to the relentless assault of steel and spell.
The Phanatons, unspeakably grateful to the party for defeating Temauhti-Tecuani, ushered the party into the jungle and led them to their village, where Lazarus regaled the creatures with repeated tales of the battle with the great beast. A massive feast was prepared for the group, and the chief Teketek agreed to send some of his hunters to aid Farshore against the impending attack at Lazarus's request. The group then persuaded the Phanatons to transport Temauhti-Tecuani's head to Farshore as proof of their victory and set off north, headed for the area known as the Valley of Madness to hunt Chakaranka the bull ankylosaur.
The journey to the Valley took another four days, but on arrival A'Reth and Yasumoto's scouting discovered the beast and two of its mates lurking not far from the borders; Lazarus began casting spell preparations, but the chanting caught the attention of the two mates and lured them away from Chakaranka. The group engaged them as they drew near, and the frightened mates bellowed drawing the bull into the battle. The two lesser creatures went down fairly swiftly, but the bigger Chakaranka inflicted some significant harm on the party before at last it was brought down.
Two newfound trophies under their belt and just under forty days remaining until the arrival of the pirates, the group made the trek once more back to Farshore, already making plans for where next they would attempt to stake their fame.
------
Group is very close to level 9 - deciding to hunt the Infamous Seven has caught them up on the XP they were missing out on due to the roundabout way they got to Fogmire. At the rate they're going they plan to engage at least one or two more of the I7 (Baaragrath the Dragon Eel seems to be the current plan, though they have also considered Emraag) and head up to fix the Sea Wyvern, then when they get about a week before the invasion to stop traveling and stay in Farshore preparing defenses (magical and mundane traps, siege weapons, alchemy, trained animals, etc.). They've also mentioned checking out some of the "local" troubles Farshore has been having, but the eagerness of the adventuresome types - especially Kordite Shariss - to track down and conquer the I7 has kind of put those on the back-burner.
Quotes:
Advancing to the rear?:
*A'Reth withdraws, frightened*
Lazarus: "Where are you going!?!"
A'reth-OOC: "There better be a mate back there for me to kill."
Lazarus-OOC: "I start looking around to see what monster is coming to attack from behind."
Translation please:
Gene: "Does anybody speak flying monkey?"
A'Reth: "Statement: I'm sorry. I do not speak monkey."
A boy named Sue:
*After killing the legendary T-Rex...*
A'Reth-OOC: "Now all we need is a necromancer and I could really do some mounted combat."
So, it's loot, pillage, burn... munchies?:
Lazarus-OOC: "We should gather up a bunch of weed and share it with the pirates. We'll all have a good time!"
Knowing your place:
Lazarus: "It would help if we had... like... a cannon, or something."
Shariss: "We have Gene."
Gene: "Wait, what?"
He's not really here...:
*upon bickering between Shariss and Yasumoto OOC*
Lazarus-OOC: "Don't worry, it's all [Gene]'s fault. It's always his fault."
Shariss-OOC: "Dang it, [Gene] stay out of my marriage!"
Gene-OOC: "What? I'm sorry, I wasn't listening. I was busy wrecking a marriage."
A'Reth-OOC: "Now we know why you're fleeing the continent."
Hit location?:
*A'reth does AoO to stop movement, then Chakaranka uses breath attack*
Shariss: "Gee, thanks for burping him."
SESSION FIVE
As the final leg of their travels, the group decided to head first to Scorpion Island to challenge Cerattakatha the scorpion broodmother then to turn northwards to Blackfen Swamp to hunt down Burbalarg, the elder shambling mound. As planned the journey would take a little over a week, after which they intended to return to Farshore, send Yasumoto and a team of workers to repair and retrieve the Sea Wyvern, and focus their efforts on the fortification of the colony.
Upon reaching Scorpion Isle, the group noted that the ashy grey-black rock that composed most of the island was strewn with glittering semitransparent stones that Lazarus identified as uncut diamonds; the party ended up collecting quite a few of these that they found or pried loose, and planned to send miners to work the island once the pirate threat was dealt with. Most of the island's denizens were common, smaller scorpions that fled before the intruders; however, in the lower tunnels much larger and more aggressive variants awaited. Cerattakatha was indeed the greatest and largest of these beasts - the broodmother was surely massive, and the enormous mound of swarming spawn that moved over and around her at all times only increased the size she appeared to inhabit. Though she and her kin fought and in some cases viciously harmed the intruding humanoids (though, thanks to a combination of luck, strength, and magic, no one succumbed to the virulent toxins of the arachnids) in the end they like Chakaranka and Temauhti-Tecuani before them fell in time. Diamonds, trophies, and treasures were gathered and the group returned to the ship and set off to their next destination.
After reaching Blackfen Swamp Shariss was able to navigate through the mire, following the sparse trails left by its Bullywug inhabitants, to what appeared to be a long-abandoned Olman ruin. There several Bullywugs were gathered in what appeared to be some sort of religious ceremony. Lazarus and A'Reth interrupted and demanded to "speak" with Burbalarg, but the Bullywug leader - a powerful druid - refused and used magic to lure the massive plant beast towards the party's location while the rest of his tribe scattered. Shariss charged and slew the spellcaster but not before his magic had empowered Burbalarg well beyond the shambler's normal immense capacity. In time this Infamous Beast too fell, but not without cost: shortly before its own demise Burbalarg snatched up Yasumoto with one deft tendril and crushed the life from the ninja's body. After finishing the creature off Lazarus used magic to inquire of Yasumoto whether he wished to be raised, and he rather rudely declined; a strange, alluring feminine voice also offered Yasumoto a second chance, which with equal and no less unpleasant fervor refused.
One ally short, the group tossed Yasumoto into a watery grave (as he'd rather bluntly claimed to not want to be buried near Farshore) and returned to their home to continue their preparations, the last of Lavinia's original employees no longer in her service. Amusingly, before dying Yasumoto had commissioned a blade from the Shadar-Kai on funds loaned from Lavinia; the weapon was turned over to her in return.
The next few weeks were full of activity. Gene went in Yasumoto's place to supervise the repair and return of the Sea Wyvern and spent time with Professor Aldwattle working on alchemic weaponry. Lazarus and A'Reth began taming and training local animal life, including Lazarus taking a young Tyrannosaur as a companion, to aid in the colony's defense; A'Reth also gave his aid to the construction of siege weaponry, primarily catapults placed just beyond the village border and aimed out into the harbor, intending to hurl boulders or great nets filled with Alchemist's Fire at incoming ships. Lazarus gave his oratory aid to Lavinia in the upcoming election, and many of the villagers were swayed by his words, winning Lady Vanderboren the position of Farshore's Lord Mayor; he also prepared several Glyphs of Warding and strew them along the beach, all the while training the villagers and defenders to use the deactivation password "Pelor" to avoid being injured by the magical traps. Shariss focused her attentions on helping train the villagers, the Olman warriors, the Phanaton rangers, and the Shadar-Kai knights to work as a cohesive militia alongside commanders such as Ulvar Kabbanja, Aunzyss, and others.
When at last the day arrived, Aunzyss ordered a young Shadar-Kai fistfighter named Kuro Ryuken to fight at the group's side, while Lazarus made specific instruction to the Jade Ravens to keep Lavinia in sight and safe at all times. When the attack finally began and the first waves of pirates disembarked and attempted to charge onto shore, a massive deafening thunder signaled the tripping of the Glyphs of Warding and many of the charges were stopped cold in their tracks; Lazarus conjured insect swarms along the docks to further slow the assault, while his T-Rex companion, A'Reth, Shariss, Kuro, and Gene engaged the first small group of pirates who made it through the traps unscathed or barely so. The pirates went down quickly enough, but the sudden assault of fireballs from one of the ships, the Stygian Shark, signaled the arrival of V'sesslin, a Yuan-Ti Pureblood psionicist who was happily bombarding villager and building alike with her own powers and the aid of a well-charged dorje. Gene returned fire with blasts of cold, and though the serpentfolk's magical resistances spared them some injury V'sesslin's three Halfblood bodyguards fell within the first few bursts. V'sesslin attempted to put an end to Gene's interference by summoning an Ectoplasmic Swarm to attack him, and kept the rest of the party busy with a quartet of Flesh Golems she had dropped into the bay before beginning her fiery assault.
Shortly after dispatching the Golems, Lazarus turned his attention to putting out the fires V'sesslin had caused and the rest of the group's attention was drawn to the center of town when a trio of Vrocks teleported in and immediately began performing their Dance of Ruin. Lazarus instructed Gene to turn his spells on the Vrocks, and A'Reth, Kuro, and Shariss charged towards the town center to try and interfere; however the Vrocks were able to resist or ignore Gene's assaults until A'Reth arrived, just before the Dance was completed, and leaped into the group propelled by his horse and his Boots of Levitate to tackle one of the trio out of the sky. Kuro was able to pull a second down with a well-aimed Shadow Garrote, and the third was so infuriated by the interruption that it came down to attack Shariss and A'Reth as well. The group was able to dispatch the birdlike fiends fairly quickly, while Gene attempted to finish V'sesslin off and Lazarus directed the catapults to attack the Stygian Shark. V'sesslin was able to resist Gene's final psionic assault, but seeing her ship damaged the Yuan-Ti decided that discretion might well be the better part of valor and turned into a snake as she jumped off the ship and slipped into the bay.
There was a thunderous boom from the south, followed by cheering; the group could see that four of the attacking vessels had been damaged beyond recovery without intensive work and the wrecks trapped the fifth, The Hag, in the harbor with no way to escape. Lavinia arrived moments later, cheering in victory, but her celebration was short-lived as mere seconds later the heroes caught sight of yet another teleporting arrival. This time the intruder was none other than Nurn, the traitorous foreign nobleman who had vanished from the initial attack. He greeted the group cordially and expressed only minor irritation at the failure of the attacking force to succeed at its task, but insisted that as much as he would like to handle the group personally that attacking the village and Lavinia especially was a "personal affair" not his own. Before the party could attack anyway their attention was diverted by an unearthly screech from the sky above, and Nurn took advantage of the distraction to make his escape, drawing a dorje from within his coat and teleporting away to from whence he came.
The scream belonged to none other than Lavinia's villainous brother Vanthus, whom none of the heroes had met but Lavinia recognized immediately; somehow the once-human nobleman had been twisted into the form of a Lemorian half-fiend. Garbed in bones and wielding a wicked-looking bladed heavy flail, Vanthus mocked his opponents and laughed at the threats they directed his way, welcoming the challenge of battle they threw at him. Though the battle was vicious - with even Lavinia, the fruits of her training by Yasumoto quite obvious now, participating - it seemed that no matter how much injury was inflicted on Vanthus he simply still kept moving. He delivered blows that nearly crushed Shariss and A'Reth in a single strike each and only barely missed entrapping Gene in a Sarcophagus of Stone after the psion blasted him one too many times.
Yet eventually whatever dark force was keeping this twisted echo of something once human alive began to come to an end, and Vanthus seeing his life drawing to a close chose to try to take all of Farshore with him if he must die; he pulled a deep, perfectly black pearl the size of a man's fist from his pack and was planning on slamming it into the ground, smashing it and - if the stories Gene and Lavinia had heard from Yasumoto, Faelyn, and Sneaks were accurate - bathing the island of Temute in the chaos of the Savage Tide. Acting with inhuman reflex, Shariss snatched the pearl from Vanthus's palm, and as the fiendish crusader attempted to grab it back his hands, and soon after the rest of his body, returned to the dust from whence they came, his Delay Death spell finally expiring its magic.
Lavinia stood shocked and dumbstruck over the pile of equipment and powder that had once been her brother and likely would have stood there staring all day had Shariss not escorted her away from the battlefield while the others gathered up Vanthus's belongings for study. Yet in the end victory - or more accurately, overwhelming triumph - for Farshore was gained and the safety of the isle assured. Yet the presence of the shadow pearl and its being in Vanthus's, and therefore the Crimson Fleet's, possession and Nurn's cryptic commentary bring unusual and potentially dangerous questions to light.
------
A marathon TEN HOUR session (with a few breaks, but still an exhausting and thoroughly LONG session) served as a sendoff for the player of Dresylaer/A'Reth Guar'Dian, who deploys for Afghanistan with the US Army this week. We don't know what his Internet situation will be like but he hopes to be able to play with us again within a couple of weeks; we wish him good luck and hope all goes well and that he will be back to the dice with us soon.
So... it seems this party's bane is plant monsters. The Mother-of-All ate Dresylaer and Burbalarg squashed Yasumoto. Amusingly, both Draco (Druid|Barb) and Faelyn (Healer|Spirit Shaman, SS casts from the Druid list) could have had excellent spells for dealing with plants, but got swapped out for different characters. I thoroughly expect that should another character die and not want to be rezzed - especially if it's A'Reth - to have a Druid in the party once more just so this doesn't happen again.
In the meantime, Yasumoto has been replaced by Kuro Ryuken: NG VoP Shadar-Kai Rogue/Fighter|Swordsage/Shadow Sun Ninja. Yes, we've already had the conversation: eventually he will have to uppercut someone while shouting his own name.
Quotes for the Big Showdown:
On his High Horse:
DM: *after describing the tunnels on Scorpion Isle* "Do you descend?"
A'Reth-OOC: "No, I condescend."
The merits of the Adventurous lifestyle:
*on discovering diamonds on Scorpion Isle*
A'Reth-OOC: "So, we're going to slaughter the native inhabitants, crush an entire ecosystem, just for some pretty rocks."
Lazarus-OOC: "Don't worry A'Reth, we'll put some on your armor and BeDazzle you."
If the Pegleg fits...:
Shariss: "Gene, keep up. Those who fall behind, stay behind."
A'Reth-OOC: "I know we're keeping ships, but are we following the pirate's code now?"
Burbalarg, Lord of Laundry:
A'Reth-OOC: "Yep, we're hunting the deity of frogs in panties."
Not the Face!:
*Bullywug druid is slain by a face-slashing, Cha-damaging critical*
A'Reth-OOC: "Talk about death by ugly."
Shariss-OOC: "It was not a pretty death."
Well, he IS from the East:
Yasumoto-OOC: "He [Burbalarg] just can't keep his tentacles off me."
A'Reth-OOC: "You probably shouldn't say tentacles."
Yasumoto-OOC: "It had the desired effect."
A'Reth-OOC: "Keep that up, buddy, and your nickname will be Nature Lover."
Logic is on Strike:
DM-OOC: *as Burbalarg* "Metal thing is annoying. He attacks metal thing."
A'Reth-OOC: "Good! Metal thing has spent half his rounds chasing after the PLANT! I should not be outrun by something the size of a HOUSE!"
Vrock'n'Roll!:
*DM reveals three Vrock tokens, labeled "Vrock Star", "Vrock Band", and "Vrock Music"*
All Players-OOC: "GROOOOAAAAAAAAAAN!!"
A'Reth-OOC: "Terrible, man."
Shariss-OOC: "That's awful."
Lazarus-OOC: "Ahahahahahahahah!!"
Gene-OOC: "Wooooooooow."
Kuro-OOC: "That's just wrong."
A'Reth-OOC: "Yeah, and I still wish I'd thought of it first."
Shariss-OOC: *sheepishly* "Me too..."
Hard Vrock Landing:
*upon grounding a Vrock*
A'Reth-OOC: "Statement: System down. Error 4d4: Vrock not found."
The Return of the Revenge of Verbal Dyslexia:
Shariss-OOC: "I need to check my mouth before I type next time."
Make Your Time:
Nurn: "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen."
A'Reth: "Statement: Good evening gentleman. All your boats are belong to us."
Landmines:
DM: "Lavinia draws her blade and steps into..."
Shariss-OOC: "EW, Laz, we told you to clean up after the T-Rex!"
Never trust a mortal to do the job right. I provided fiendish assistance and everything, yeeessss. What a hassle. A waste of two perfectly good months I could have spent doing something else. Something productive, yeeessss. And he lost the blasted pearl to boot.
The things I do and the people I must put up with to do my job. *shakes head ruefully*
CHAPTER SIX - SESSION ONE
Following the chaos of the attempted invasion, Lazarus approached Shariss and requested to be given the shadow pearl taken from Vanthus at the end of the battle. When Shariss inquired why he wanted it, Lazarus explained the power of the Savage Tide and the necessity of destroying the object, for fear that Nurn or someone else could retrieve or steal it and activate it. The two of them and A'Reth traveled out to one of the small islands beyond Temute and smashed the pearl after washing it in the ocean, then collected the now-nonmagical shards to be sold after returning to Farshore.
Once there, they met with Kuro, Gene, and Lavinia to discuss the events of the day before. On the group's request, Lavinia explained some of her history with Vanthus, though she could not explain how or why he had become the monster he was when they fought. Lazarus explained to the group the threat of the shadow pearls and the Savage Tide, to which Lavinia responded by retrieving a ledger that had been recovered from one of the attacking Crimson Fleet ships, the Brine Harlot, written in Vanthus's hand. In it, he claimed to have received the shadow pearl from some troglodytes located in tunnels beyond Gallivant Cove, a gulf known for the infamous dragon turtle Emraag the Glutton holding it as his territory. Vanthus mentioned the Crimson Fleet bribing Emraag for passage, as well. The group - especially Lazarus and Shariss - came to the conclusion that slaying Emraag was the most appropriate solution to their dilemma: removing the dragon turtle would not only spare Lavinia and Farshore from having to bribe the monster, but prevent him from sinking any trade ships bound for Farshore in the future.
Following the meeting with Lavinia (and Lazarus proposing a dinner date with her, which Lavinia accepted) the group met a few hours later with Vesserin Catherly, who revealed himself as a member of the Church of the Whirling Fury and invited the group to join its ranks; Shariss, Lazarus, and Kuro accepted after some discussion. The Church was primarily an anti-demonic organization, and Catherly had originally come to the Isle of Dread to investigate the fell influence there; however, the group proved far more adept at such tasks and Catherly was needed more in the village than abroad, and thus sought their aid and support.
The next day the group set off on the five-day sea journey around the Isle of Dread to Gallivant Cove; they left the Nightshark just outside the cove and went in further by skiff, before stopping some distance from their ship and playing an Olman instrument known as a sea skirl to attract Emraag's attention. Empowered with magical protections and well-informed of their foe's capabilities, the group defeated the Glutton with little difficulty; Lazarus was even able to use speak with dead successfully to force Emraag to reveal the location of his hoard.
The party then returned to the ship, recovered Emraag's head and a trophy for Shariss to be taken back to Farshore, and rested while journeying the rest of the way into Gallivant Cove. Upon the next morning, the party disembarked on a pier apparently constructed of driftwood and spare bones; the sight so disturbed and horrified the crew that they made arrangements for Gene to send up a magical "flare" when the party was ready and departed, traveling back out into the middle of the cove and dropping anchor to wait. The group proceeded forward, Lazarus and Shariss putting out the grisly green fires that burned within the skulls lining the bony pier, before reaching a small cavern with passage further in barred by a lowered iron grate. When Kuro attempted to approach, his scent caught the attention of a dimetrodon chained up as a guardian on the other side; when he moved too close to investigate the creature began snarling and barking and clawing at the gate until a troglodyte appeared to pull it away and open the door.
The trogs of Gallivant Cove were a miserable lot, they and their dinosaur pet infected by the painful and deteriorating Vile Rigidity. Shariss and Lazarus were able to bluff their way in by claiming they were Crimson Fleet sailors sent by Vanthus to retrieve another shadow pearl; the trogs replied that they'd already told the Fleet that more pearls would not be available for several months. At this, Lazarus dropped the group's cover, and the trogs and their guard dinosaur were slain with little difficulty; two of the creatures attempted to beg for mercy, but Shariss was able to determine that they were as cold and cruel as mortal evil could be and the group decided it would be best to simply finish them off.
The tunnels below await....
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Good to be back at a normal, not-too-quickly-paced game. Think that's all that really needs to be said. :)
Ah the assualt on Farshore. Fun memories. That was our groups most crushing victory of the game really. The only ones who made it to shore were the golems and since we had been making alchemist fire by the gallon....
Your players have done a most excellent job defending their lands. It will be interesting to see what happens to them from here.
Your players have done a most excellent job defending their lands. It will be interesting to see what happens to them from here.
Shariss is interested in killing dragons and demons for Kord. She'll likely want to track down the last two remaining members of the I7 before leaving the Isle of Dread.
Lazarus is trying to woo Lavinia, after being her primary "campaign manager" during the election. A'Reth remains working as his bodyguard.
Kuro is mostly concerned with helping the other Shadar-Kai adapt to their new life free of the Shadow Curse. At the moment his main focus is on the threat presented by the Savage Tide. After that, he doesn't seem to have any straightforward goals.
Gene is the hardest. He has nothing planned beyond the immediate, and the character is pretty much a blank slate. I'll probably have to toss something at him.
Glad Shariss chose a worthwhile god rather than one of those pantywastes.
SESSION TWO
Before descending further into the tunnels, Lazarus noticed a cart filled with strange black rocks which he identified as Bilestone, cursed creations of the Elder Evils, beings of madness from beyond the known realities which degenerate races like the troglodytes and their kin worshiped as fell gods. Knowing the mind-shattering powers Bilestone can produce in large quantities he ordered A'Reth to destroy the stones in the cart and explained its danger to the rest of the group, with the possibility that its presence might be linked to the creation of the shadow pearls here.
The tunnels leading deeper into the troglodyte lair were strewn with discarded body parts, disemboweled organs, and sickening wall paintings depicting reptilian monstrosities of the most disgusting sort. At the bottom of this first tunnel was yet another iron gate, which Kuro was able to move out of the way without further alerting the resident troglodytes; he then moved out into the cave beyond and discovered several stone huts with diseased, meditating trogs lurking within. In the center of the cavern was a massive charnel pit filled with the troglodyte dead; at the south end of this pit were two cages with yet more corpses within, as well as one remaining living prisoner in each - in one a scrawny troglodyte who seemed to have not yet succumbed to vile rigidity but was plagued with some sort of rotting disease, and in the other a long-diseased and unconscious Olman warrior covered in tattoos.
Kuro spoke with the troglodyte, who promised to lead the group through the tunnels below and to the source of the shadow pearls if they would free him. Agreeing to the terms, Kuro told the prisoner to wait until the rest of the trogs were dealt with then returned to the group to share his findings. After some discussion, the group buckled down at the cavern's tunnel entrance just in front of the open gate and Lazarus commanded his tyrannosaur companion to roar, stirring the trogs from their meditations and encouraging them to swarm towards the group en-masse. Gathered all in one place and constantly blinded by flashes of bright light conjured by Kuro's touch, it was easy enough for him, A'Reth, Shariss, and the tyrannosaur to hold them at bay while Gene blasted them with fireball after fireball.
The group removed the two prisoners from their cages; Lazarus and Shariss identified the Olman's tattoos marking him as a Demonslayer, and cured his infection with a potion; they could not yet, however, mend the damage that had been done to his mind: the man had been feebleminded by something or someone, and until the damage could be undone there would be no way to communicate with him. Shariss carried him reverently back to the pier at the entrance and left him in the care of A'Reth's horse until the group was finished in the caves, after which they could seek appropriate help if their own skills would not suffice.
As for the troglodyte, he identified himself as Irgzid Uzeye and claimed that the "old ones" from the "darkness below" had corrupted his people, cursing them with the disease they bore and twisting their worship of Laogzed, their racial deity. Though evil, he seemed honest in his intents to show the group the way, and provided information on the twisted visage of Laogzed that had been erected in the little trog town - a second, froglike face had been carved into its stomach, which Irgzid claimed was an abomination and caused by the "old ones" below. He showed the group to a pulley and lift that could be used to reach down into the lower tunnels, but warned them that A'Reth and Lazarus's tyrannosaur would likely be too heavy for the lift to hold. A'Reth descended with the aid of his boots of levitation; the dinosaur was ordered to remain behind and guard against more intruders, such as returning pirates, and Lazarus periodically checked on its status via the magical collar it wore.
Descending into the tunnels, the group first passed through an area filled with acidic pools; however, Kuro quickly identified one of the pools as actually being a black pudding, and mere moments later the ooze surged to attack, almost devouring Kuro and A'Reth with its acidic touch before being blasted into oblivion by Gene. The group hurried past the pools, attempting on Irgzid's recommendation to avoid breathing the toxic air that hung about the area, and moved on to the tunnels beyond. A deep chasm lined by a narrow ledge awaited them; Irgzid claimed this was the only way to reach the bottom, and to be on the lookout as the "stone beast" lurked in the area and would normally require a victim from the troglodytes before letting them pass. From the description of the creature Lazarus identified it as a Roper. When the group drew near to where Irgzid thought it was lairing A'Reth went ahead to try and lure it out, and the Roper sprung from hiding to attack with its tendrils. The group attacked in force in return, with Shariss channeling divine wrath and cleaving the creature in twain before the battle could grow longer than a few moments.
As the group continued their descent, they reached an area Irgzid referred to as the Cerulean Curtain: a shimmering wall of blue light, in which flickered and floated ancient spirits of Olman warriors. He could not explain the source, but claimed whatever the magic had been made to hold back would not bar their attempt to pass or harm them in any way. Gene studied the effect for a few moments, and could only determine that either he was looking at magic crafted by the most epic of spellcasters... or the work of gods themselves.
Shortly beyond the Cerulean Curtain the tunnels divided, one heavily traveled path branching away from the larger main tunnel. Irgzid claimed this side path led to a place or person called Barbas, and recommended that the group visit and inquire - though he knew the pearls came from below, he knew nothing of the particulars of that dark place and hoped that Barbas would know better. The tunnel in question led into an area Irgzid referred to as The Maze: a rocky, debris-strewn, mold-choked labyrinth of stone and darkness. Thankfully, Shariss was able to navigate the group through the narrow path between the mold traps and pass through the maze without risking harm.
Beyond the maze was a wide cavern that ended in a set of wooden walls. Standing before these were six Hook Horrors: nine-foot-tall subterranean aberrations with vicious claws and rending beaks. The creatures screeched and cawed and banged their claws about, making a show and a ruckus, but did not actually charge or attack. A'Reth moved as if to charge, but Kuro and Lazarus were able to spot movement and humanoid figures atop the wall; Lazarus called out and someone answered back in Olman. Lazarus was able to convince the person at the gate that the group had come seeking only information and meant no harm, and the gatekeeper opened the doors of Barbas and warded the Horrors aside to allow the party entrance, though he expressly forbid Irgzid from coming inside the city walls. On closer inspection the group quickly determined the gatekeeper - with his twisted visage, strangely mixed appearance, and uncanny ability to perfectly mimic Lazarus's voice - was actually a Mongrelfolk, a race of degenerate humanoids descended from a random mixture of racial progenitors.
After allowing them into Barbas - and greeting them along with a crowd of wonder-struck, staring, but obviously fearful Mongrelfolk citizens - the gatekeeper informed them that they were welcome in town as long as they didn't cause trouble. Lazarus inquired if there was a place they could stay; the gatekeeper told him that the "headman" would arrive shortly and they could ask her for lodging. Lazarus explained that he didn't need a house or inn but simply an open field, so the gatekeeper pointed him slightly south to a grassy expanse a few yards beyond the entrance gate. There Lazarus conjured a magical cottage, and the group took their rest after a long day of travel and combat.
------
My group calls Irgzid "Igor", mainly due to the way I do his voice. This amuses me.
Quoteables:
Amadeus:
DM-OOC: *The trogs swarm the group at the entrance to the room* "This is what INT 8 looks like."
Shariss-OOC: "Well, this IS why we choked the path, so Gene can get an AOE."
Gene-OOC: "Honey, where's my C4?"
Lazarus-OOC: "It's a mosh pit, rock their world Gene."
Eeeeeeeek!!:
Shariss-OOC: "Gimme a fiend from the lowest pits of hell and I'll charge in no fear. Have me risk losing the really nice mithril breastplate, and I'm scrambling like a girl."
DM-OOC: "Don't worry, most players are like that."
Every Group Needs Them:
Lazarus-OOC: *to Shariss* "It's like I'm the good cop and you're the bad cop."
SESSION THREE
The group awoke after their first "night" in Barbas, the Mongrelfolk city in the deep caverns of the Isle of Dread. Outside the villagers had gathered, a fair-sized crowd milling about thirty feet from the outside of the conjured hut. Only one had ventured closer: a tall albino woman with stark red eyes and bleached hair who might have been mistaken for human save her missing ear and lipless mouth. When the group at last emerged, she stepped forward to ask, speaking in Olman who was the leader of the group; when Lazarus responded, she introduced herself as Vertram, the headman of Barbas. She soon displayed that she had a rudimentary understanding of Common, and offered to show the group around the village before taking them for a feast where she could answer their questions. Seeing the group pose no threat, Vertram allowed the children of Barbas to approach the group, which they did with great enthusiasm; Shariss, Lazarus, and A'Reth took to the youngsters eagerly while Kuro and Gene did what they could to avoid too much interaction with them.
Vertram led the group around Barbas, showing them a temple - where a statue of the Olman god of death stood, but the rites were apparently of the Mongrelfolk's own creation - and an artificial lake and stream created by the priests where once a natural flow had been which had since gone dry. She explained that the people of Barbas were reclusive and uninterested in fighting, and that with the increased aggression of the Troglodytes the addition of the Hook Horrors and the preparation of defenses had been a necessity. She explained to the group, after serving them a dinner of bland mushrooms and salty meat with some sort of lichen mead, that their presence in Barbas could not be an accident; she and the priests had forseen dreams and visions of "visitors from the realms of light" and the arrival of the group investigating the shadow pearls was suspiciously coincidental.
Lazarus and Shariss were intrigued by this, although they both expressed worry and resent over what seemed to be a vague prophecy pointed in their direction. Regardless, they inquired of Vertram about the lands below, which the headman explained were haunted by creatures called the Lords of Dread: great fishlike beasts with the faces of men and tearing claws on wicked tails. Lazarus was able to identify these creatures as kopru, feral aquatic demihumans with a fascination for the insane. Vertram also explained that long before Barbas existed as it did today, their Olman ancestors had battled the demonic creatures who ruled below before the Lords of Dread came, and had banished them with a tear from the gods. She then suddenly and eagerly asked if they wished to see one of the demons themselves, ensuring them that it was unable to harm them in return - she claimed it had been turned to stone.
She led them to a small cavern off the side of Barbas, wherein the edge of the Cerulean Curtain could be seen, holding back what appeared to be immense volumes of water; in the middle of the chamber rested a great form shaped like a petrified fish. Lazarus quickly identified this as an Aboleth, an evil aberration predating even the gods, deep in a state of hibernation but still quite alive. He attempted to explain to Vertram that this thing was not a demon, but the Mongrel woman did not seem to comprehend his explanation; he then simply asked her to leave while it was destroyed, which she complied to, claiming that if they "cut it open" they might learn something of what awaited them below where the Lords of Dread now reigned. Petrified and paralyzed, the Aboleth was completely incapable of fighting back as Shariss, Lazarus, and Gene destroyed it.
When the group emerged - A'Reth having remained outside at the meeting hall, entertaining the children - they noticed that most of the citizens of Barbas were moving about and gathering belongings as if packing for a journey; when they questioned Vertram she explained that the arrival of the surfacers heralded the end of Barbas's days as a town, and that once the group was on their way the Mongrelfolk would be heading in the opposite direction, moving into the higher tunnels - now mostly cleared of the Troglodytes and their monstrous accomplices - or perhaps even one day returning to the surface world. The group stayed one further night, made their preparations, and then bid their farewells to the citizens of Barbas before exiting, retrieving Irgzid outside the gates, and making their way back through the Maze to the Crossroads.
There, Irgzid led them down the other tunnel, which wound on for several miles. The further they went, the more agitated and excited Irgzid became, and at last Lazarus called a halt to rest and questioned the Troglodyte about his anxiety. Irgzid simply claimed that they were getting quite close to their destination and he was eager to show them, but eventually calmed after further discussion. When at last they reached the bottom of the tunnel, there they found the stone walls give way to an ancient Olman temple, carved long ago. There Irgzid ran ahead of the group and announced their arrival aloud before prostrating himself on the ruined rubble bridge; in response, a spectral entity materialized on the platforms to the east. Though at first glance it resembled the ghost of a Troglodyte priest, Lazarus and Gene quickly identified it as an illusion. It introduced itself as N'glothnoru, and claimed to be the representative of the ancient spirits trapped in this place eons ago. Lazarus inquired of it regarding the tunnels below, and it explained that the kopru dwelling there - the Lords of Dread - were indeed the creators of the shadow pearls and regularly came this way to give them to its "wayward kin". It once accidentally referred to the Troglodytes as "his kind" (referring to Irgzid) rather than "our kind", though it swiftly corrected itself; this misstep was not lost on Lazarus, but he chose not to press it further.
The group learned from N'glothnoru that beyond the ruined temple lay the kopru city of Golismorga, where horrors walk and the shadow pearls are made. They also learned that it would take a great disruption to destroy the methods by which the pearls were made; N'glothnoru spoke of an ancient magic that protected the horrid city, and directed the group that if they could find the anchor of this magic and destroy it, it would bring calamity down on the kopru and bring ruin to their efforts to create the pearls. After some discussion the group decided to take the advice in stride and move on, leaving Irgzid behind with N'glothnoru.
As they traveled down further tunnels, they finally came to a wide chamber with three passages over a 40-feet deep chasm; at the bottom were several more petrified Aboleths, covered in something that made the ground appear to move, which A'Reth and Kuro quickly perceived to be swarms upon swarms of insects and arachnids. Yet these minor vermin were not the true threat in the room; Kuro spotted three larger vermin, massively-jawed spiders easily the size of a horse, crawling up the walls and preparing to pounce; these were identified as Rhagodessas, not unlike the great spiders the first group encountered in Sasserine, but much, much larger. The group attacked at range, provoking the Rhagodessas to charge, and managed to slay two before a fourth appeared - larger than the other three, and seeping some kind of vile black smoke out of its body. The group quickly finished off the third and engaged this fourth monstrosity, which not only clouded the nostrils and eyes of those who neared it with the rancid mist but also attacked at long range with several whipping tentacles and proved remarkably resistant to spell and steel. When at last the creature was felled, Lazarus was able to identify the constantly-shifting chitin - moving even in death - along with aberrant extra eyes and whiplike tentacles as the markings of a Farspawn: a creature tainted by the foul essence of the Far Plane, a place so far removed from the Material Plane's reality that the laws of existence no longer truly applied normally.
With this foul omen, the group presses onward... toward Golismorga, the horror below.
------
Yeah, I made Vertram female. I found an awesome picture of an albino woman (actually an Eberron Changeling, I think) who was still freaky enough to work as a "Mongrelfolk who could pass for human" so I changed him to a her.
And thank Turin the Mad for the amped-up Rhagodessas, the Bilegas one was particularly fun.
Le Quotes:
And Zoidberg:
A'Reth-OOC: "I can understand timidity. We've got Robocop, Gandalf, Conan Warrior Princess, and Riddick... and the other guy."
Hungry Hungry Kordite:
*Kuro watches Shariss devour the mongrelfolk feast*
Lazarus: "Don't worry Kuro. One day when you grow up you'll be able to eat that much too."
Always a Bigger Fish:
Lazarus: "Why can't it be mermaids. It's always gotta be some horrific monster. One of these days I just wanna go up against... I dunno, a caterpillar."
Shariss: "With our luck it will be a fiendish caterpillar."
Lazarus: "Now don't jinx us."
A'Reth-OOC: "Great, now you're doomed us all to a TPK against a house-eating slug."
Only one? :) I'm glad the bilegas deathbug did well.
Although to be REALLY nasty one could, say, Awaken an AA Deathbug, *then* pile on a few templates...
Only one? :)
Along with three of the Blackfangs, yeah. More later ;) The players did not like him making attacks while still grappling. Nasty nasty.
Only one? :)Along with three of the Blackfangs, yeah. More later ;) The players did not like him making attacks while still grappling. Nasty nasty.
Heh heh ... I would add an anti-magic aura to any future mutations of those malicious bugs ... wouldn't add more than 1 or 2 to the CR ...
Heh heh ... I would add an anti-magic aura to any future mutations of those malicious bugs ... wouldn't add more than 1 or 2 to the CR ...Only one? :)Along with three of the Blackfangs, yeah. More later ;) The players did not like him making attacks while still grappling. Nasty nasty.
SESSION FOUR
Continuing down into the depths, the group paused a moment before leaving the chamber where the rhagodessae had laired to scan the area for any treasure that might have been left by the arachnids' prior meals. Lazarus caught sight of a bit of magic, which Shariss identified as being on a buried skeleton. Gene used a bit of magic to animate the skeleton - as a puppet, not as an undead creature - and had it walk over to the area below the platform the party stood on to show them what it had - a coral ring of evasion on one finger was all that remained of the long-dead kuo-toa's possessions. Lazarus claimed this with mage hand and gave it to Shariss.
As the group moved on to the next lower catacombs, a side chamber near their path suddenly sputtered and sparked loudly before bursting into a column of green flame, inside which writhing inhumanoid forms and grinning skull-like faces could be seen and maniacal laughter heard mixed among the roar of the fire. Lazarus determined these to be magical flames that burned cold enough to obliterate anyone caught within their radiance out of existence entirely, created by the aboleth in dedication to Tulzscha, the Green Flame, one of the Elder Evils that they worshiped. He warned the group of their capabilities to destroy anyone caught within them and advised them to avoid the fires as much as possible.
Once they had finally navigated their way about the pillars of unnatural flame, the group at last came upon an opening that revealed to them the expanse of Golismorga, the horrible city below, a nightmare realm of unnatural lights and living buildings. The descent from the opening was a sheer drop, but thanks to Gene's magic the group was able to make the distance in little more than a second without harm. Their landing placed them in a 30-feet deep rent in the ground, with fleshy walls covered in fuzzy cilia. At one point Lazarus stumbled and fell into one of these walls; in response the cilia retracted out of sight and the wall literally growled back. Past this point the group was presented with a three-way fork; Shariss attempted first to go down the widest passage but that eventually forked into two narrower tunnels as well, at which point the group backtracked and took the passage to their right.
Amidst more fleshy walls the group discovered a puckered hole in the ground exuding some sort of ooze, a fuzzy ball-shaped something that attempted to approach A'Reth and divided into three smaller versions of itself when the warforged reflexively stomped on it, and a towering cilia-covered dome with long whipping tendrils wrapped around its base. As A'Reth continued on, he stopped just as he was rounding a corner and spotted something moving up ahead: a pair of troglodytes carrying a stretcher-like platform, on top of which rested a fishlike humanoid with a three-barbed tail in place of legs and a tentacle-strewn mouth. This thing matched the information Lazarus had gotten from Vertram back in Barbas, identifying the monstrosity as a Kopru. The group staged an ambush, and destroyed the Kopru and its two attendants in a single fireball from Gene; this attracted the attention of three more Kopru and their paired troglodytes a piece, but between another fireball and Shariss and Kuro's charging into the front lines, they were quickly dealt with.
After searching the bodies of the slain - and finding only coral unholy symbols of Demogorgon on each of the Kopru - the group moved on into the next chamber, pausing at the entrance as a massive lung suddenly inflated and shuddered loudly as Shariss walked by. Further in the room, a massive tongue lay against a row of man-sized teeth jutting out of the ground, until suddenly it leaped up at a bulging red orb sticking out of the wall behind it fifty feet up and lashed saliva over it then returned to its resting position. To the north of this the group found a small set of winding tunnels that the Kopru and Trologdytes had obviously been using as a campsite. The group decided to investigate the massive tongue thing, Lazarus and A'Reth moving dangerously close to try and see if it was magical in origin. A'Reth decided to try to kill the thing and shot at a bulging uvula sticking out of the ground at the tongue's base; in response the tongue whipped out and grabbed the warforged, and dropped him into its fang-filled maw. The group assaulted the tongue, and after a quick beating were able to force it to regurgitate A'Reth, spewing black ooze over the entire group save Gene who was too far back. Seeing nothing further truly profitable about poking and prodding at the thing, the group moved on.
A'Reth attempted to lead them down a corridor beyond the tongue, but as the group neared its entrance Shariss, Lazarus, and Gene became suddenly sick to their stomachs; when Shariss and A'Reth got close enough to see down the tunnel they saw only a massive roiling wall of green flame and chose to backtrack to another tunnel on the northeast corner of the chamber. There the path forked yet once more, one path going north and the other southeast; the group chose north and found themselves in a small room with several stone pillars and statues, partially flooded with water that Lazarus noted was somehow unnatural. When he got too close attempting to examine one of the statues - a devotion, he claimed, to the Elder Evil Azathoth, the Blind Idiot God who the aboleth claimed would one day wake and devour the entire universe - the pool of water suddenly animated and attacked, barely missing him and extruding several tentacled pseudopods as it went on the offensive.
Lazarus and Gene quickly identified the attacking pool as a Shaboath Golem created by the aboleth; A'Reth and Kuro closed to engage the thing but before Shariss could follow the pool on the other side of the room animated similarly and erected a wall of ice, blocking the barbarian off from the fight, then closed towards Gene and Lazarus. A'Reth was engulfed by the first Shaboath, which then went after Kuro. Shariss, furious at the creature preventing her from getting to the fight, shattered the ice wall in a single blow. The second Shaboath moved and engulfed Lazarus, then attempted to attack Gene for surrounding it in walls of flame, but by this point Shariss had been viciously pounding on it and A'Reth and Kuro had destroyed the first and it was quickly decimated before it could do the psion any harm.
The group has come thus far and seen so much that is wrong in this unnatural place, and yet so much more of Golismorga awaits....
------
I lost count of how many "Eeeeeeewwwwwwwww"s and "Uuuuuugh!"s and other hilarious grossed-out expressions I got for my descriptions of Golismorga. I love this place.
Quotables:
That's No Moon...:
DM: "The walls are lined with a furry fungus... no, rather, it's some kind of cilia. And it's very much alive."
A'Reth-OOC: "Chewie, get back in the ship, this isn't a cave!"
Tactics? We don't need no stinkin' Tactics:
Shariss: "Dammit, if I stay here I'm not going to get to kill ANYTHING!" *runs forward, kills a Kopru*
AReth-OOC: "...and the Kordite runs out of patience, big surprise."
Lazarus: "Why does she always do this??" *runs after Shariss* "Move up A'Reth!"
A'Reth-OOC: "Dude! Yay, first you pass the chokepoint, then you announce my presence to my enemies. It's a good thing you aren't a gnome...."
The World may Never Know:
DM: "The gargantuan tongue suddenly lashes out, clambering over the teeth to lick over a bulging red orb sticking out of the top of the wall, then returning to its coiled resting position."
A'Reth-OOC: "Mr. Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?"
SESSION FIVE
Before continuing on, Lazarus ordered A'Reth to smash the statues of Azathoth that had decorated the room where the Shaboath golems had been resting. Once that task was complete, the group turned their attentions to the alternate path. This opened up into a wide room festooned with countless toothy mouths on the walls and filled with a quiet whispering as the millions of maws continually babbled inanely at nothing in eldritch tongues best left forgotten. But the continuing strangeness of the architecture of Golismorga was not the only thing awaiting them in this chamber: hovering against the far wall was a thirteen-foot tall humanoid in ragged robes. When Kuro attempted to sneak by the figure turned, somehow catching sight of the stealthy Shadar-Kai despite his skill; seen from the front the creature was obviously undead, with pale ragged skin stretched taut over bone and a gaping hole in its chest where its rib cage extended outward, holding prisoner a swirling mist containing tormented faces. Shariss and Lazarus were quickly able to discern the creature as a Devourer - a powerful undead created from fiends or spellcasters who traveled too far into the madness of the planes and returned twisted.
The Devourer did not attack, but rather attempted to make conversation with the shocked Kuro; when Lazarus moved forward he quickly took control of the conversation however, and the Devourer, who introduced himself as Rakis-Ka, seemed quite pleased to make scholarly talk of the city about them. He inquired of the reason for the group's visit; A'Reth and Lazarus informed him that they planned to destroy Golismorga and its inhabitants and to cease the production of the shadow pearls. Rakis-Ka spoke a moment with A'Reth, inquiring of the warforged in Infernal regarding his presence and asked if "The Reth still wage war"; A'Reth replied in the affirmative, also in Infernal, but gave no further explanation. Rakis-Ka then congratulated their ambition but warned them that the Kopru stronghold to the southeast was fiercely guarded, estimating a force upwards of four hundred defenders, and recommended a distraction or division of some sort be arranged. The group seemed unfazed by this discovery, and Shariss and Lazarus casually spoke of destroying the Devourer before pressing on. Rakis-Ka, grinning all the while, seemed unfazed by this announcement and promptly unleashed a spell on the group, blasting A'Reth and Gene with a momentary wave of madness before flying up and out of attacking range of the group.
Shariss and Kuro attempted to attack at range at first, while Lazarus wove a spell to attempt to drive away the compulsion; he managed to free Gene from the confusion but not A'Reth. Rakis-Ka countered by striking Shariss with a ray, weakening her, before the barbarian and Kuro leaped to attack him in the air and Gene assaulted from the ground with his own spells. Seeing the group able to bypass his defenses and resist his magic significantly, Rakis-Ka flew across to drop behind Gene and attempted to snatch at least one soul before retreating, but Gene was able to resist the greater force of the Devourer's touch and Shariss took the opportunity to cleave the grounded monstrosity in half, slaying Rakis-Ka and freeing the souls that remained trapped in his body.
While the undead horror was destroyed, the battle was not yet over; A'Reth's confusion remained, and Kuro nearly felt the warforged's wrath firsthand as his delusions turned violent against someone other than himself. The group retreated, Kuro vanishing into the shadows while the others fled back around the corner to the Shaboath room or the room with the tongue during a spare moment of clarity, and did not return until A'Reth had regained himself. The way ahead is clear, but will the group acknowledge Rakis-Ka's advice or seek to storm their enemy with full force?
------
A short session: Shariss and Kuro's internet connection is on the fritz and kept dropping out, so after the battle and the resolution of Confused A'Reth we called it.
Rakis-Ka was fun, I love the "Scholarly Devourer" concept. I did my best to give him an Alfred Hitchcock accent and play him off as cordial yet still hungry for souls and unsurprised that after pleasantries would be exchanged there would be weapons drawn and spells flung. Even better that I rolled really high for his initiative when things did come to blows.
Also, I really don't know if my group is going to march straight on to the Ziggurat or look around for a "distraction" first. We'll see.
A pretty decent selection of quotes, too, given the shortness of the session:
Memeism Part III:
Lazarus-OOC: "I look for a burrito."
DM-OOC: "Uh... are you sure you want any food from down here? I mean, I guess you can find a burrito... like... thing. But I can't promise it won't have eyes in it."
A'Reth-OOC: "In Soviet underground, burrito eats YOU!"
Gamer Crossover Syndrome:
Shariss-OOC: "No [Shariss], right clicking and examining enemies only works in NWN..."
Fun with Confusion:
DM: "Gene is confused... he spends the round babbling incoherently.
A'Reth-OOC: "So, in other words, he acts normally."
DM-OOC: "Yeah, except this time after the babbling nothing blows up."
*half a round later...*
DM: "A'Reth is also confused... and he also spends the round babbling incoherently."
Shariss-OOC: "So he's spewing zeroes and ones."
A'Reth-OOC: "0101001010101110101010100110010101001101010001 BINARY SOLO!"
So which version of him did you use, Orthos ?
I ran him out of the PF Bestiary, with a slight retool - max HP, some buffs active (Golismorga is dangerous after all), some reworked skills (gave him Acrobatics for example, actually came in useful and annoyed the warforged), and some SC spells on his SLA list. He lasted about as long as I expected him to (Four and a half rounds) and between outright dealing damage and his ray of enfeeblement on Shariss plus the Confusion on A'Reth he's left a bit of an impact. Wasn't meant to be a big fight, otherwise I probably would have amped him up more or given him class levels.
The group made it quite clear they weren't planning on leaving the room without killing him, and spoke so casually within earshot of him, so it amused me somewhat.
SESSION SIX
After dealing with Rakis-Ka and the lingering affects of his confusion spell on A'Reth, the group began making preparations to resume their trek forward. Gene however paused, intrigued by the whispering mouths filling the room and used his psicrystal's Telepathy ability to attempt to communicate with them. A moment of maddening thoughts and pure insanity filled his and the crystal's consciousness, rendering them as confused as the spell had done A'Reth; however, Lazarus was able to erect a ward to restore Gene's mind once more.
The group moved on into the next chamber, where a massive Purple Worm had been pinned by a fang-filled portion of one of the walls. The group skirted wide around the room to avoid both the possible hunger of the wall itself and the wrathful teeth and stinger of the Worm. The chamber beyond that brought them close once more to the column of Green Flame, but the group was able to skirt around it and reach the chamber beyond unlike the last time it had blocked their path. There, the wall closed and grabbed Shariss, but released her when her cloak of flame lashed out at it; it stayed quiet and unmoving until it healed, after which point it grabbed A'Reth when he attempted to pass through last of the group. With no retributive ability, the wall did not release the warforged, and a portion of the ground opened to reveal a three-lipped toothy maw which attempted to eat him. Kuro punched the wall with his blessed touch and it recoiled, spitting out and releasing A'Reth into the room.
This new room was dome-roofed, slick-walled, and fleshy, dripping some sort of dark semi-clear liquid, and the only other exit was a puckered hole in the far wall; Lazarus was able to determine this was some sort of digestive organ. He suggested the group backtrack and find another way around, but A'Reth attacked the wall near the opposite hole with a flaming arrow which caused the room to close the entrance and begin convulsing, tossing Gene to the ground and rolling him, Lazarus, and A'Reth closer to the puckered exit, which had opened wide to reveal a slime-strewn descending corridor. With their other exit cut off, the group reluctantly explored this new, grime-lined passage. A'Reth and Gene used levitation to avoid getting in the muck, but the others were forced to slog through.
This corridor opened to a short crevasse which the group was able to get over without any incident and reach a platform with two descending ramps, one headed east and one south. A'Reth led the group down the south path, which led eventually into another ravine heading southeastward with several more puckered abscesses along the south wall. The single opening on the north wall was a massive wound not unlike a gargantuan ulcer, which opened into a room constructed of black and red scar tissue. Lazarus was able to determine that the city's living portions were numb to this location due to the scarring, and declared this a "safe" area, if any such place in Golismorga could be called such.
Beyond this was a massive crater lined in seething mold, seeping slime, and ancient fungi; in the center of the fifty-foot deep pit in the middle of this great hole in the ground was the giant stone head of Tlaloc, Olman god of rain, long ravaged and weathered by the cruelty of time and the rages of Golismorga's unnatural ecology. The decapitated head was not the only thing in the crater though - an infant Neh-thalggu or Brain Collector, a one-time resident and native of the unspeakable Far Plane (the same incomprehensible cosmology that had corrupted the gas-spewing tentacled Rhagodessa in the tunnels just before the group reached the city), had apparently made this place its lair and went on the attack as soon as the group attempted to enter. Though the creature's magic was fierce and in its defensive fury it managed to even kill Gene, weakening the psion with blasts of cold and dispelling his levitation causing him to fall into a toxic mold, it was eventually driven back and slain by Shariss with well-placed arrow as it attempted to retreat. Lazarus was able to revive Gene before his soul had a chance to move far, returning the wilder to life with a touch and a word of divine power.
Using the scar tissue as a ward against the city detecting their presence, Lazarus summoned a Secure Shelter in the area for the group to recuperate from the battle with the Brain Collector and their long march from Barbas and through Golismorga. A'Reth, though, made ample use of his Boots of Levitation and sailed skyward, first surveying all of Golismorga - and spotting the massive defensive force surrounding a stone tower some distance to the southeast - then upward further, discovering an ascending shaft in the stone above. He followed this up through nearly two miles of darkness until at last he reached a stone barricade; the warforged first used his adamantine fists to create footholds in the walls then attempted to lift the stone out of his way. Finding his strength insufficient, he instead settled for breaking off small portions of the stone, battering it with his adamantine fists and relying on his construct nature to stave off the exhaustion that such effort would have caused a humanoid, until enough of a gap had been created to allow him to squeeze through and survey where on the surface he had found himself.
A'Reth was now atop an ancient Olman pyramid, a long-forgotten temple the location of which he did not know, in the middle of the jungle. Ascending higher, the crusader was able to determine that he was somewhere in the middle of the Isle of Dread, likely in one of the unmapped areas of the jungle wilderness. He did not stop his climb until he was well in the clouds, where using his shapeshifting blade and constantly swapping between its bow of flame and shortsword of cold he was able - or simply because nature found the time to be appropriate, impossible to say for sure - to incite a small rainstorm in the area, washing the grime from his body and (he hoped) dropping at least a few drops of rain onto the long-forgotten head at the bottom of the shaft.
As A'Reth descended he found the temple pyramid no longer unoccupied: drawn by the warforged's arrival, four human-like figures wearing demonic lion skins now lurked about the shaft's opening, seemingly attempting to discern what had emerged from the depths below and where it had gone. Using his aerial position and the fact that for the moment he seemed unnoticed to his advantage, A'Reth made preparations to strike....
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Yeah... did NOT see that coming. Called the session early because I didn't have the Skinwalkers statted or maps made for Thanaclan/Taboo Temple/etc. yet!
Brain Collector was a fun fight. If he could have hung on one round longer Gene might not have gotten back to life so easily. Ah well, always next time. I predict the final battle(s) of this chapter - presuming A'Reth's sidetrip doesn't completely bungle things - will claim their share of lives. Mwahahahah.
Only one quote tonight:
Location, location, location:
*inside the gizzard room*
Gene: "A'Reth, shouldn't you be up front?"
Lazarus: "No, he's rear guard."
Kuro: "... then shouldn't he be on the other side of the room?"