Session Date: 10/05/09
Level 1
I grew up on a small trading post that my parents own in the katapesh desert. We were visited by many clerics and paladins of Sarenrae on their way to the various towns. I began supplementing the family income by hiring out as a caravan guide or guard depending on the situation. Each town I visited I would always make it a point to stop into the local temple of Sarenrae and reacquaint myself with all the clerics and paladins that passed through our trading post for so many years. I decided to dedicate my sword to Sarenrae and protect those who evil creatures and evil people preyed upon.
I had just finished escorting a caravan to Solku, when the head of the local Sarenrae temple came over to me with a burly looking man. The man was introduced as Garavel who was putting a party together to escort a caravan to reclaim Kelmarane. The old cleric added that they would like to reestablish the monastery and temple in Kelmarane, but would like it to be cleared of gnolls and anyone else who does not seek redemption for their evil ways. I quickly sign on for Garavel’s band.
Days 1 – 7
The uneventful days past quickly and I get to know my traveling companions. There is major-domo Garavel, who hired us for this adventure. There is Ella who seems to have a penchant for gab; Abbas, a fellow worshipper of Sarenrae; Nolan, who doesn’t seem to like gnolls, and finally last, but not least, Aemon, who always seems to be studying this big book he always seems to be carrying. Garavel tells us that tomorrow we should be meeting up with Merchant-Princess Almah, who has been tasked by the pactmasters to lead this expedition. The pactmasters want her to reopen the Battle Market in Kelmarane. Interesting name – Battle Market.
Day 8
As we near our destination, and approach a rise. We see a craggy tree also known as the Sultan’s Claw, a landmark of some renown. We see a half dozen wagons and livestock and we quickly notice that one of the wagons is on fire! Aemon and I decide to join the bucket brigade which is quickly forming. Abbas goes to the injured and helps a red-hatted halfling. Ella and Nolan help round up the animals. Abbas quickly stabilizes the wounded with a healing burst, and begins to cast water on the fire. Harrow cards spew out of the burning wagon and a singed card hits Aemon in the chest, but does not even burn his tunic. The card depicts a cyclone. With Abbas’ water the fire is soon out. Almah gives Garavel a little bit of a tongue-lashing at being a bit tardy- a tongue-lashing that doesn’t seem to be completely in jest. The wagon guards pull out a corpse from the smoldering remains of the wagon, and it is identified as Eloais, who is Almah’s personal fortune teller. Almah motions us over and asks us to investigate the cause of the fire. Ella asks if Eloais’ readings were grim recently, Almah confirms, that yes, his readings were grim and only recently he mentioned the cyclone card and said it has to do with death by fire. In fact, the town of Kelmarane is a small part of what he called the “Legacy of Fire”. When Aemon states that it was the cyclone card that had flew out and hit him, we all try to hide the superstitious feeling of dread that comes over all of us. Aemon tries to downplay it and quickly points out that Dashki, the gnoll expert traveling with the caravan, is watching us from a distance. Ella disappears. I am not sure at this point if it was by magical means or by stealth, but in either case, she is gone.
Abbas decides to begin the investigation by asking his fellow healer, the halfling, if he saw what started the fire, but the halfling was reading a book and didn’t see anything. Next we go speak to the mercenaries and they tell us that they were finishing dinner when the fire started. They said that the fortune teller was a weakling, and that he spent a lot of time with Almah. After a few lewd suggestions on what Allmah and Eloais were doing they mention that Dashki, seemed a bit jealous, and that maybe he started the fire himself. Sounds like a lead to us. We decide to find Dashki and see what he knows. He says he was finishing dinner and he didn’t see anything. Abbas thinks that he is lying and presses him further. He deflects blame to something called pugwampis-creatures that worship gnolls, but gnolls don’t like them as they are terribly unlucky. When we ask Nolan, our resident gnoll expert, he states he had never heard of pugwampis – interesting. In fact, none of us had ever heard of a pugwampi. We figure either Dashki has a great imagination, or he is crazy. We ask Garavel what he thinks of Dashki and he says that he has his suspicions and he doesn’t trust Dashki. The mercenaries don’t like Dashki, Garavel doesn’t like him and he seems to have a problem with the truth. If we can just prove that he is the guilty party our first task can be completed, but so far we have no solid proof – only suspicions. Abbas decides to ask the camel drivers what they know. The camel drivers are very excitable and even finish each other’s sentences. They were the ones that first noticed the fire. Hadred, the male driver, is also upset that his goat went missing in all the confusion. In fact, I think that he is more upset over the missing goat than the corpse that is still smoking. The other camel driver says that they knew Dashki before this and that Dashki, wasn’t trusted by many that he had taken hunting. That leaves the caravan guards as the only group we had not spoken to, a situation we quickly remedy. The guards saw Dashki trying to look into Almah’s tent just before the fire, which was too far from the fire for him to have started it. We tell the Princess that we can’t prove that anyone started the fire, but we have our suspicions about Dashki. She asks us if we believe Dashki’s story about pugwampis. We say we are unsure as none of us had actually seen a pugwampis or had even heard of them before tonight. She said that if his story is true, there should be plenty of pugwampis in the surrounding hills and we should take Dashki and find one – Dead or Alive.
Ella looks around the burned-out wagon and finds some small tracks leading out into the desert. Nolan picks up the trail and we are off. After about 700 feet, we start getting a bad feeling. We hear a cry, almost like a small child. Nolan thinks it sounds like the missing goat. We find a dense thicket of cacti and the bleating seems to be coming from within. The goat seems tethered and we all think it is a trap. Nolan and I pick our way through the cacti and get fairly bruised in the process. I try to cut the rope tethering the goat and I accidentally nick Nolan in the process while I trip and fall to the ground. At this point, a pugwampi runs out and wiggles his fingers at my sword shattering it. He then stabs me with a tiny dagger. I ask him to surrender and redeem himself, but he just laughs evilly. I am thinking pugwampis in general do not want to redeem their evil ways. Daski shoots an arrow at the pugwampi and hits the creature. Nolan tries to hit the pugwampi with his scimitar but misses. Abbas tries to hit it with a fire bolt but also misses. Ella breaks through the cacti and grabs the goat before it can run off. The pugwampi tries to flee, but I manage to stab it with my dagger and put it falls to the ground bleeding. Abbas stabilizes the little scamp and we secure it so it can no longer cause mayhem. We take the goat and the pugwampi back to camp. As my shattered longsword jingles in my backpack Aemon says that tomorrow he can make my sword whole again.
We take the pugwampi to Almah, who orders Garavel to “take care of it”. We ask why she wanted it alive if she was going to have it executed. She responds that she doesn’t want the unlucky beast in her camp. Smelling the odor of burning wood still thick in the air, it is a decision we can’t argue with.
Session Date: 10/12/09
Level 1
Day 8
A few moments later Garavel with the pugwampi leaves camp with Dashki. After a short time later they come back, only this time Dashki has the dead Pugwampi tied in a noose around his belt. We are all a little repulsed, well, Nolan not so much. Aemon pulls Dashki aside and tries to appeal to Dashki’s vanity and says that he might not be popular with the ladies with a corpse around his belt. Dashki says he has no problem with that and Aemon leaves it at that.
Almah asks us why we decided to join her caravan. I tell her of my mission to reestablish the monastery to Serenrae. Almah tells us that the monastery is about a mile away. She also says that the first task she had in mind was to re-take the Monastery, since it has a great vantage point and, more importantly, some sort of a roof to provide shelter. She offers us 200 gold pieces each to be paid after Kelmarane is liberated and the Battle Market reestablished. She asks us if that is satisfactory and we all agree that it is more than generous. After our busy night tangling with the pugwampi, we decide to camp for the night.
Day 9
The morning comes and Aemon starts to magically repair my sword. We decide to start to the Monastery which is dedicated to St. Vardishal, a saint of Serenrae. A few decades ago a cult from Kelmarane came and killed all the monks of the monastery. We are unsure if the cult was human or it could have been made up of gnolls.
Nolan decides to take point with me leading the group a few feet behind. As we approach the monastery, we spend a few moments looking at the windows to see if there is any sort of life. We don’t see anything and we start heading to one of the openings in the wall. We see no sign of life so we head across the hall to the opening on the opposite side of the wall. We see a huge statue of Serenrae that has been weathered through the years. We slowly walk down the hallway looking into each room. As I look into the kitchen I see three pugwampis who shriek in joy when they see me. Ella steps behind me and shoots her shortbow, but misses. I step up to one of the pugwampis, swing my sword, but miss. Nolan steps up to next me swings his scimitar and a puwampi goes down. The pugwampis shriek and laugh and point at our swords. Our swords vibrate but they don’t shatter. Abbas casts a spell, but nothing happens. Ella shoots an arrow but misses. I hit the one in front of me and that one goes down. Nolan puts the other one down shortly after.
As soon as the battle ends, we hear primate sounds behind a door that looks like it will soon fall apart. We lay one of the dead pugwampis in front of the door. In a matter of moments, the door bursts open and we see a huge baboon. The baboon takes the dead pugwampi and starts chomping on it. Nolan moves to the baboon and starts making primate noises. We see three more baboons behind him. Nolan asks if we can move out of the way so he can shoo them out to the hills. We readily comply. He manages to convince them to leave the monastery and we are all glad that it is a battle we will not have to fight. After a few more rooms, we come to room with a door that takes both Nolan and I to force open. We see some green fungus, which Nolan can’t identify and he doesn’t think is growing naturally. It looks like the source is a set of stairs going down. We decide to leave the stairs and mold for now.
We come to what once the library and find a book called “Courts of Stone and Flame”. It looks to be a book about genies. By quickly scanning the book, we notice such things as the Templars of the Five Winds and the City of Brass-which is on the elemental plane of fire. Both topics we plan to read further around a campfire. Aemon thinks that this is a very well-made book, which caused it to survive when the other books in the library were ruined. We come to the courtyard and on the walls encircling it we see various depictions of evil and good and I think the depictions of good are of St. Vardishal. Along with St. Vardishal, we see four other goodly type men. Could these be the Templers of the Five Winds? We see one wall depicting the history of the monastery up to about 30 years ago-probably about the time the monastery was overrun.
It is my hope, that the history of this proud monastery might someday again be recorded.
Session Date: 10/19/09
Day 9
Level 1
We continue to explore the monastery and come to one room that was probably used as a meeting room at some point long ago. Three huge mosquito-looking things attack Nolan and I. Nolan confirms that these are stirges. Ella fires an arrow and hits one. Two of the three attach themselves to Nolan, who tries to get them off of him, but can’t seem to do it. The blood-suckers then begin their feeding. Aemon casts ray of frost at one of the ones on Nolan, but misses. I try to hit it as well but miss. Ella drops her bow and uses her short sword but misses. The one flying around me misses me. Abbas hits one with his scimitar, killing it. I swing again and miss. Ella swings her short sword, but misses again. These little critters are sure hard to hit. The remaining stirge on Nolan finishes its feeding and starts to fly away, we all try to hit it, and only Nolan succeeds, killing it. He is so angry, that he swings at the other one and it too falls to the floor-dead.
In a room with a weathered statue of St. Vardishal we find a secret door with stairs heading down. Since there is no mold on these stairs, we decide that these will be the stairs we will use to head down later.
In the main chapel, we see broken benches and what appears to be a “nest”. Nolan and I feel the same way that we felt when we first encountered the pugwampis. We see movement in the nest and decide maybe it will be best to burn them out. We do not want them to sit on the rafters, point at our weapons and shatter them. We head back to the caravan to get supplies to burn the little creatures out. Garavel is most gracious in getting us what we need. As we step back into the nave we see six puwampis heading our way. Nolan lets fly an arrow but misses. Nolan shoots another arrow and hits one, killing it. The remaining pugwampis advance and shoot their little crossbows and three arrows slam into me. Those bolts may be small, but they hurt! Aemon casts sleep and three quickly fall asleep. Abbas shoots at one of the remaining pugwampis and kills it. Ella shoots another arrow and wounds one. I shoot an arrow and miss. Nolan finishes off the last one. Nolan and Ella soon make the sleeping pugwampi’s sleep permanent.
Ella sneaks up to the chapel to see how the other pugwampis in the nest are doing. She hears some laughter where we didn’t hear any before. We decide to put out original plan in motion. We soak the rags and sneak up to the doorway. Nolan starts the battle by launching a fiery arrow. We each shoot about three arrows when the pugwampis start evacuating the nest. Nolan shoots an arrow and drops one coming down a rope. The remaining seven pugwampis drop to the floor and start running towards us. We notice a slightly larger one start to climb down from the nest. Aemon casts sleep at a group of four. I shoot my longbow at the closest one and miss. Abbas shoots the larger one but misses. Ella shoots an arrow and misses. Nolan shoots the larger one and scores a hit! They get within 20 feet of us and start laughing pointing at our bows. My bow shatters. Darn you pugwampis – first my sword and now my bow! Aemon shoots a magic missile at the chief pugwampi. I swing my longsword at one of the three pugwampis that surround me, but miss. Abbas also misses as he shoots an arrow at the chief. Ella also misses the chief. Nolan misses the chief. We might be in dire straits with all these misses, if the pugwampis were having better luck. Luckily they are missing us as well. The chief points his finger at Nolan’s bow. It vibrates, but doesn’t shatter. The chief runs up right in front of Nolan, pulling a small hammer from his belt. I swing my sword but miss yet again. Abbas swings his scimitar but misses. Ella gets behind the chief and tries to stab him but misses. Nolan drops his bow, pulls his scimitar, but misses. The three surrounding me try to hit me but miss. Aemon casts another ray of frost at him, but misses. It seems a deadly duel in which neither side is getting an advantage. Ella, Abbas and I both miss in our attacks, but Nolan doesn’t. All the pugwamis surrounding me miss. Aemon casts a spell but misses. I hit one of them with my Longsword and do some damage. Abbas kills one. Ella misses the chief. Nolan hits the chief again and it seems to be a private conflict between them. One of the pugwampis hits me. The chief hits Nolan. Aemon misses with a spell. I miss with my longsword. Abbas casts a healing burst and I feel better. Nolan misses. One of the three that surround me stabs me with their dagger. Aemon casts a spell but misses. I miss with my longsword. Abbas and Ella both do a coup de grậce on the sleeping pugwampis. The three attacking me miss me. Aemon kills the king with a ray, and I kill one of the three attacking me. We surround the two remaining pugwampis and they quickly go down.
Ella finds a chest which she opens and there is a smaller box with a scroll. Abbas reads the scroll and determines that it is a religious text to Serenrae. We spend the rest of the day clearing out the chapel from the abuse that it suffered under the pugwampis. Aemon repairs my bow in a few hours. Exhausted, we head back to the caravan to spend the night. Abbas asks the Halfling healer, Zastoran, if he knows what the box with the scroll is. He identifies it as a phylactery of faithfulness for Serenrae which will let the wearer know if Serenrae approves of your actions before you do it. I readily volunteer to wear the item as I try my best to follow Serenrae’s path. We quickly fall asleep after a long day.
Day 10
Level 2
We eat a hasty breakfast knowing that we have a busy day ahead of us. We reach the monastery and decide to clear the center of the courtyard of its overgrowth. As we reach the center of the courtyard, we find a nest with three eggs the size of watermelons. Nolan identifies these as Geier eggs. We decide to leave them alone for the time being.
It is now onto the dark, moldy basement of the monastery!
Session Date: 10/26/09
Day 10
Level 2
I start to descend the stairs and I see an Ankh carved into some wood. This must mean we are heading in the right direction. We come to a wide corridor and find we are in the catacombs. We find some items that assist us in our quest to rid this monastery of its current, foul, inhabitants. We come to an alchemical lab. I enter the room and some green mold launches at me from a drain and totally engulfs me. I start to feel sick, but it passes. Nolan attacks the mold (and me in the process) and I feel hurt, but hopefully the mold feels it more. We see another mold start to rise up from a drain in the floor. Abbas casts a healing burst and I feel better. Aemon casts a spell at the mold, but misses. I drop my longsword and beat on the mold with my fist. The thing falls to the floor where Ella puts the foul mold out of its misery. Nolan rushes up to the mold that is still rising and cuts it down before it can it hurt us. I see a dove on the back of my hand and know that she is trying to tell me something. I also have an inexplicable urge to dig in an area around the geier nest. I convince the others to go with me and I start to dig in the dirt where I feel the urge is leading me to. I find a really well made longsword about 3 feet down. The longsword is finely made with a dove etched on the handle. The sword also has a strong magical aura.
After we check the catacombs for any secret perils and find none, we head back to the caravan and lead them to the monastery. The caravan starts to move into the monastery cleaning and performing minor repairs. After consulting with Almah we decide that the next day we should investigate the shrine to Nethys, a god of magic, which overlooks the town. We decide to take some of the watches, while the rest of us sleeps.
Day 11
Level 2
During the night, I hear a yelp and then an answer yelp some ways away. Nolan tells me that it is a signal to the Carrion King in his base in the Pale Mountains. Almah gathers all of us together that morning. She tells us not to fight our way into the battlemarket because that is where her intelligence tells her is a heavily-fortified gnoll base. We decide to start off to the shrine and deal with the battlemarket at a later time. The shrine is very old – older than the monastery. We search a bunch of rooms but only find a wand and some gold. We were expecting gnolls, but we will take the quiet. We head down to the lower level of the shrine and find statutes of lesser known spirits of destructive magic in service to Nethys. I walk through the room and lead the party down a narrow corridor to a small room. Ella, after a quick search, finds a secret door. We enter through the secret door a see a chamber with three tubs. Abbas finds three potions under one of the tubs. He identifies it as a potion of bless, while Aemon identifies one of the other potions as a cure light. They are unable to identify the other potion.
Hopefully it is items such as these is what all we find in the shrine.
Session Date: 11/09/09
Day 11
Level 2
We enter a room that at one point must have held all scrolls. As we step into the room, Nolan sees bat-like creatures fly out of each of the three alcoves. The cloaker in front of us bites Nolan, while the cloaker in back starts moaning. Nolan retaliates with a swing of his scimitar. Ella and Abbas are panicked and flee the scene. My longsword penetrates deep inside the cloaker attacking Nolan. Nolan also hits the thing really hurting it. Aemon hits one of the bat-like creatures with his staff and does a little damage. The cloaker in front of us tries to engulf Nolan, but fails. Nolan and I both hit the cloaker and it is in a lot of pain. Aemon tries to hit the thing again and misses. The cloaker engulfs Nolan and also bites him. It also hits me with its tail. I whack the cloaker and kill it. The cloaker falls to the floor freeing Nolan. The second cloaker moves up for punishment. Aemon misses with his staff again. Ella and Abbas rejoin the fight. Nolan hits the cloaker and the cloaker hits Nolan back. I miss with my longsword. Aemon hits it with his staff. Ella lets an arrow fly but misses. Abbas casts a healing burst and Nolan and I feel better. Nolan drinks his potion of cure light since he has been taken a beating. The cloaker misses Nolan while he drinks the potion with his first bite, but connects on its second. I miss again with my longsword. Aemon hits the cloaker with his staff. Ella hits it with an arrow. Nolan hits with both his weapons-he seems to be the only one of us that is hitting it. Abbas does another healing burst. The cloaker tries to engulf Nolan, but can’t; however, it does manage to hit me with his tail. Ella, Aemon and I all miss. Abbas does another healing burst which keeps Nolan and me in the fight. Nolan hits the thing with his schimitar with a killing blow. The third cloaker moves up and I can’t seem to hit this one any better-but Nolan can. Aemon cast sleep, but it doesn’t work. Ella misses with another arrow. Abbas cast divine fire and singes the creature. Nolan hits again. The cloaker hits me with both a bite and its tail. I drop my shield, lay my hands on myself for some healing power, and hit the beast. Aemon hits it again with his staff. Ella misses with an arrow. Abbas casts a spell. Nolan hits it again and kills this one as well. He is definitely our cloaker-killer. We search the room and find six potions and a secret door.
We decide to scout out some of the outlying buildings of town and see if we can find some gnolls since we are running low on spells and don’t think we can fight any more cloakers. Ella scouts out the area and sees a patrol of four gnolls. She also finds a good ambush position. We decide to ambush a patrol by having Aemon put some to sleep, and charm the others. We get into position, and after some time a patrol of gnolls come by. Aemon puts one to sleep and the rest start looking around trying to figure out what made his friend so sleepy. Ella, Abbas, and Nolan start our barrage of arrows by missing each and every single gnoll. The gnolls retaliate by throwing their spears, one of which hits Nolan. I drop my bow, draw my longsword and attack. Ella finishes the one that I had just badly hurt with a well placed arrow. Nolan finishes off another one. Abbas casts burning hands at the remaining, awake gnoll, damaging it. The beast retaliates by hitting Abbas with its spear. Aemon casts ray of frost at the lone gnoll but misses. I quickly finish it off with a chop of my longsword. We hide the recently deceased gnoll bodies while Aemon tries to charm the sleeping gnoll. We ask him how many are there of his kind and he says lots. He says there is a “hell thingy” in his camp. No one will ever mistake this gnoll for a scolar! We ask him about the hell thingy and he describes a beast with horns and is a good fighter. His also tells us that his chief is human and carries a big ax. He killed the previous gnoll chief and took his place. We ask them if there are any other humans in the town and he says that they run things in the market. He says there are people, bug bears, and ogres all in the town. He tells us that there is a big boar in one of the building and a big snake in another of the buildings. We decide to leave those buildings alone for the time being. There is also a creature in church graveyard- a dead human creature. The gnolls can’t open the church, which by the way, is dedicated to Serenrae. AS if I needed another reason to follow my deity! We ask him about the Carrion King and he proceeds to tell us what a great king he is and that he leads all gnolls. He had united all the gnoll tribes and currently lives in the mountains. Our new friend has never seen him. After we finishing questioning the gnoll, Nolan gives him a fighting chance, but the gnoll is no match. We hide his body with his friends and head back to the monastery.
I guess he never will meet the Carrion King – but I have a feeling we will!
No Session: 11/16/2009 & 11/23/2009
Session Date: 11/30/2009
(Saharan missed this meeting. DM posting)
Day 11
Made it back to the monastery. Nothing happened over night.
Day 12
Took off to the old temple. Explored more. Met Haidar, a Nex village chieftain. He seemed a bit balmy. Attacked us, and then turned into a leopard! Brought him down, but not dead. Stabilized him, tied him up and brought him back to the monastery. After interrogating him, we think it is the magical punching dagger that created his condition.
Saw a band of six gnolls dragging a human out into the fields between us and Kelmarane. Quickly mounted camels and charged into the fray! They were ripping his guts out with a hot iron poker and did not notice us till we were almost upon them. Dismounted and attacked.
Damn that Nolan. He hates gnolls so much that he just charged in. After exchanging sword blows with the gnolls several times, he was dead on the ground. We managed to kill off the gnolls, Ella put an arrow shot right through one of the gnolls eye!, and managed to save the life of the captive.
The captive, Santrin, is, well was, a member of the Lions of Senara, an adventuring group that was captured and tortured while checking out Kelmarane. He thinks that one other in the group, their bard named Felliped, might be alive as he escaped. All the others are dead.
Back to the monastery. We buried Nolan, outfitted Santrin with armor and a bastard sword donated by Almah, gave him Nolan's longbow and rested the night.
-- david
Papa.DRB
Session Date: 12/07/09
Day 13
Level 3
We wake up and when we don’t see Nolan at his usual place by the cook fire, we fully realize our loss. After downing a hasty breakfast, Aemon wants to see if he can read the glyphs in the “magical” room. Try as he might, he is unable although he would like to try again at some later date. Ella volunteers to climb on the two stone structures outside the temple, but all she finds is solid rock. We decide to head to the temple of Serenrae, and see what is keeping the gnolls out. As we approach the church a man with a holy symbol of Serenrae on his breastplate greets us. As he smiles and welcomes us to his “church” he turns into an evil-looking, undead, huecuva. He moves up to me and tries to smack me, but misses. Ella shoots an arrow at it and hits it, but he doesn’t seem to feel it. I call out to Serenrae and slash it with my sword in an attempt to smite it. I really hurt the creature, but it is still standing. Abbas casts a healing burst which also really hurts it. The creature hits me with both his claws, and I am grateful to Serenrae that I am immune to its disease. I swing at it again, but miss. Santrin takes a chunk out of the beast. Aemon casts a fire ball and singes him. Abbas casts a healing burst knowing that it would be harmful to the undead creature. He swipes at me with his claws, but only one smacks me. I swing at him again, but miss. Ella misses with another arrow. Aemon’s fireball singes him again. He hits me with one of his claws and I am hurting. Ella hits with an arrow. Santrin takes another chunk out of him and he crumples to the ground. Abbas recommends that we should treat the undead creature, as he was in life, and not what he was in death. We treat the former cleric and his possessions respectfully. We enter the temple and see signs of a long ago battle. There are several skeletons littering the ground. We clean out the temple, laying out the skeletal remains in the same respectful manner that we treated the body of the undead cleric.
Since it is still early in the day, we decide to head to the old fort outside of Kelmarane and clear that of any gnolls that might be residing there. We see two hyenas chained next to the path to the courtyard. We throw some rocks close to the hyenas to see what comes out. Finally after a few minutes of yapping, two gnolls come out and cuff the hyenas and walk back into the courtyard. After a few times of throwing rocks at the hyenas with the gnolls repeating their routine, the gnolls get aggravated and don’t come out. We decide now is the time to permanently silence the hyenas.
We shoot some arrows until the hyenas finally go down. Unfortunately, their yelps alert the gnolls who, when they see us, begin to raise an alarm. We decide to wait for the gnolls to come to us which they, obviously being more intelligent than we give them credit for, don’t. We decide to bring the battle to them. As we advance, two arrows hit us and we see two gnoll archers in the tower. They shoot two more arrows at us, but miss. Abbas casts a flame spell at them. Aemon follows suite by casting a fire sphere at the archers shooting at us. One of the archers falls off the battlement on fire. We reach the gate and see the two gnolls in the courtyard waiting for us. I swing my longsword at one but miss. Santrin hits the gnoll that is facing off against him. Ellas hits a gnoll with an arrow. Aemon’s fireball takes out the other archer. I take a chunk out of the gnoll that is in front of me. Santrin puts the gnoll down in front of him and he cleaves the gnoll in front of me ending the battle.
Santrin is sure proving himself a worthy successor to Nolan!
Session Date: 12/14/09
Day 13
Level 3
Abbas checks out the well in the courtyard and sees an opening 10 feet down before the water at the bottom. It is either a passageway or a room which we decide to leave alone for now. As Ella is checking the bodies, one of the doors in the courtyard opens up and a flind runs out followed by Dashki! We are all surprised to see Dashki, especially since he is running at us with swords drawn yelling that we killed his brothers! All we have killed so far are gnolls so we are a little unsure of his meaning. Abbas casts burning hands at the flind while Ella shoots an arrow at him but misses. The flind and Dashki attacks Santrin but only one actually hits him. I run up to the flind in order to be ready to attack. Santrin strikes both the gnoll and Dashki with his sword. Aemon casts a spell on his staff which flies out and misses the gnoll. Abbas casts a spell at Dashki, but his spell misses the mark. Ella misses with another arrow. The flind hits Santrin, and Dashki misses. Santrin and I both miss the flind. Aemon hits the gnoll with his staff. Abbas misses the gnoll, but Ella doesn’t with an arrow. The gnoll and Dashki swing at Santrin with only Dashki connecting. I hit the gnoll and he felt it a little. Santrin hits both the gnoll and Dashki. Aemon misses the flind with his staff. Abbas misses with his schimitar. Ella shoots at the gnoll but misses. The flind hits Santrin, and I retaliate by killing the flind. Unfortunately, despite our pleas for him to surrender, Dashki is killed in the heat of battle.
We decide to explore the fort to make sure there are no other flinds about. In one of the rooms inside we find rotting meat and praises to Rovagug, who gnolls like to worship, scrawled on the walls. Ella searches the room and finds nothing. We walk down the hallway and Ella finds a hidden door and behind the door, we see stairs heading down. We see a room with sunlight and we think that this is the opening for the well. As we walk into the well room, a stirge flies down and attacks me. Abbas shouts that the stirge is undead. The stirge tries to attack me again, but misses. Aemon casts a ray of frost, but misses. Santrin moves up and swats the stirge while Ella puts an arrow into it. I smack the stirge with my sword. Abbas misses with a bolt of fire. The stirge misses me. Aemon casts a ray of frost but there doesn’t seem to be any damage to the flying stirge. Santrin, Ella, Abbas, and I all miss. Luckily the stirge misses as well. Aemon misses with his staff. Santrin really hits the stirge and it looks weakened. Ella hits it again with an arrow. I also hit it and I do some damage. The stirge bites me and I feel a little stiff for a brief moment and shrug it off. Aemon hits it with its staff. Ella and I both miss. Abbas swings at it, but misses. The stirge tries to smite me and I feel only a little hurt. Aemon shoots a magic missile it hurts is hurting. Ella shoots an arrow and hits it. I hit it again and the stirge can barely keep itself airborne. The stirge misses me and Santrin finishes it off. Abbas, upon examining the stirge, states that it was also part ghoul.
Since it is getting close to the end of the day, we decide to go gather up Dashki’s body and head back to the temple of Nethys to see if Aemon can read the magic in the “magical” room. He determines that these are spells which he identifies as
Day 14
Level 3
We decide to head back to the fort and explore some more. We enter an unnaturally gloomy barracks with a pile of gold at the end. As we enter the room, a hooded and robed figure comes floating out of the wall. Abbas casts a spell to disrupt the undead being. Santrin’s weapon goes right through it and he wishes he had his own bastard sword. I shout Serenrae’s name and hit the nasty apparition. Ella misses with an arrow. Abbas misses with his scimitar Aemon casts a fireball and the apparition takes some damage. The specter strikes at Abbas again and he seems to be affected by the attack. I miss horribly at the specter, but Ella doesn’t miss with an arrow. Abbas damages the apparition again while Aemon’s fireball causes the specter to dissipate.
There seems to be more dead creatures in this fort than live ones!
Session Date: 12/21/09
Day 14
Level 3
We continue to explore the lower level of the fort, finding a room with mold. When Ella throws a copper piece into the room, the mold starts to shriek. The shrieking stops after a few seconds, and we are worried that our element of surprise might be lost. We decide to leave this room for now and check around the corner. As we round the corner, we smell an odor that Aemon says is the smell is undead. As we step into the dungeon, as ghast steps out of one of the cells. The ghast shambles up to me and attacks, causing me some pain. Santrin steps up and smacks the ghast. Ella guards our backs, while I smack it with my longsword. Abbas and Aemon both miss with ranged spell. The ghast slashes at me with its claws. Santrin misses with a swing. I take another chunk out of it. Abbas casts a bolt of fire at the ghast, while Aemon misses with his spell. The ghast really hits me and I freeze in place unable to move. Santrin misses with his bastard sword. Ella shoots an arrow at the ghast, but misses. The ghast misses me even though I can’t move. Aemon casts a spell that damages the ghast. The ghast draws blood from me again. Santrin takes a chunk out of the beast and it “dies”.
We come to another room that at one time was a chapel, now instead of pews; it has a long table with severed human heads on plates. Two ghouls come shambling towards us. I hear a voice in front of me that tells me they are not part of the war anymore and have forsaken Jhavhul. I then feel a bite, but I can’t see what bit me. Aemon casts a fireball at the area in front of me. Ella also shoots an arrow at the area in front of me. Abbas casts a spell on Santrin’s sword and he hits something that is in front of me. Two more ghouls join the fray. I try to swing in front of me hoping to hit whatever is attacking me-but I miss. Something tries to hit me, but only hits my armor. Aemon’s fireball does more damage at the unseen assailant. Abbas tries to turn the undead in the room. Santrin “kills” one of the ghasts. I drink a potion to cure some of my wounds. Santrin also feels a bite. Aemon’s fireball does more damage. Ella shoots an arrow but misses. Abbas casts a healing burst. Santrin puts down another ghast. I swing at the space in front of me and my sword connects. Santrin gets a nasty wound from the invisible opponent. Aemon casts another fireball. Ella misses with another arrow. Abbas tries to turn the undead again. Santrin drinks a curing potion to heal some of his wounds. I try to smite the invisible ghoul, but miss. Santrin takes another wound, while one of Aemon’s spell casting takes down the last visible ghoul. Abbas cures Santrin who misses the invisible ghoul. The invisible ghoul now turns visible, and my sword finds its mark. The ghoul crumbles to the ground. We decide to bury the body parts and head back to the monastery.
Day 15
Level 3
At breakfast we discuss the best way to start chipping away at the Battle Market.
We know between Kardswann, an Ogre, demon, some bug bears and an unknown number of gnolls, we are going to have a busy day!
Session Date: 01/04/10
Day 15
Level 4
Before we make our way to the Battle Market, we first decide to check the Temple of Nethys just to make sure we didn’t miss anything. After confirming that we didn’t, we next decide to take care of the boar and possibly a feeding patrol. We do not want a dire boar wandering around Kelmarane! We all feel it is best to take care of the boar first, and then take care of any feeding patrols that come by. Santrin moves into the boar’s building and the boar immediately attacks. I move right next to Santrin and we form a line. Santrin smacks the boar and the boar returns his “affections”. I also smack the boar. Abbas heals Santrin and the freshly healed Santrin smacks the boar again. I miss with my sword. Abbas cures Santrin again. Santrin, tired of being hurt by the boar, kills it.
We decide to wait until the next patrol comes to ambush it, but instead of a feeding patrol, Ella spots the demon coming around the corner instead. We quickly form the line while Ella lets fly an errant arrow. The demon charges the line while Aemon tries to grease the foul creature’s halberd but he keeps his grasp on the cruel weapon. I ask Serenrae to aid me in smiting the foul creature and I really gash him with my sword. Abbas channels some positive energy at the beast and he doesn’t seem to like it at all. Ella shoots an arrow and wounds the demon. Aemon casts a flaming sphere at the outsider but he dodges it. The demon hits me with his halberd. I again severely gash the beast. Abbas gives me some healing since the demon is hurting me just as much as I am hurting him. Ella scores another hit with another arrow. Aemon casts a magic missile at him, but the beast absorbs it. The demon hits me again as I thrust my sword through its ribs. The demon falls over dead. We discover that it was a schier.
We decide to start clearing the buildings on the outskirts of town. We just find empty buildings until we come to what once was a mill. Ella hears some noises in the building that don’t sound like your normal “mill noises”. After making sure the door is not trapped, I open the door. We enter the building and see a huge nest in the back. We are wondering if it is pugwamis again. Abbas says that there are magic items within the nest, but I do not detect evil. Suddenly a creature flies down from the roofless building, lands right in front of me and attacks. It hurts me a little bit. Ella fires an arrow at it. Santrin misses with a mighty swing of his bastard sword. I smite it and my longsword easily penetrates its hide. Aemon says that the beast is a Peryton and it is best to hit it with magic weapons. He also tells us not to get gored by the thing. Abbas casts a bolt of fire and burns the beast. The peryton hits me again. Ella misses with an arrow. Santrin misses, but I hit it well. Abbas casts another bolt which causes the beast to drop to the ground dead.
We go to the building next door, and see what once a tannery where we find a harpy. She is surrounded by several boiling cauldrons and greets us warmly. We tell her that we are here to rid Kelmarane of the gnolls of the Kulldis tribe. She is a font of information upon hearing that. She tells us that her and Kardswann were once lovers, but he has been cruel to her recently. She tells us that she went with him to the church of Serenrae in town and that Kardswann was able walk through the magical door in the basement of the church, but she was not able to walk through the door herself. She said he was gone for about 30 minutes and when he came back, he was “changed”. She thinks he is under the control of an evil creature. She also tells us there are about 30 gnolls in the Battle Market along with Kardswann, a flind, a woman fighter, an ogre, 3 bug bears, 3 human smugglers, Gorundal, Kalyex (a female), Juluce and a cowardly gnoll bartender. Because Kardswann treated her badly, she wants him dead. She will give us a key to the Battle Market’s back door and a key that will open the cells in the dungeon if we bring her the head of the giant snake in town. The woman and the ogre live in the dungeon with a few prisoners. She also warns us that Kardswann knows something is up and he will probably come searching for us in about a day. She said he will most likely start at the monastery since the pugwampis that lived there haven’t been around in a while. She tells us that the demon was bound to protect the town and showed up soon after Kardswann was “controlled”. We ask her about Santrin’s party and she confirms that one member of the party escaped. She also confirms that Santrin was slated to be disemboweled and eaten while another of his compatriot was fed to the boar and the rest were beaten to death in the Battle Market. She is brewing potions that don’t make people feel too good. We tell Undrella that we will be back tomorrow with the head of the snake. She is happy since she said that she can use the poisonous head for her “potions”.
We will try to redeem her tomorrow after we get the keys turn her away from her poison-brewing and set her on the path of righteousness. The path of Serenrae is never easy.
Session Date: 01/11/10
Day 16
Level 4
Almah gathers us together and urges us to assault the Battle Market. She had a restless night after we told her that Kardswann and his band of gnolls might be going on the offensive very soon. We head to the building where the snake resides and we go through the front door. The snake coils up in anticipation as I move up and whack it with my sword. Ella hits it with one of her arrows, but Abbas misses with his crossbow. Santrin hits the reptile with his sword. The snake misses me with its bite as I miss it with my sword. Ella hits with another arrow, but Abbas misses again with his crossbow. Santrin hits again and the snake is dead. Abbas finds a wand of fireball in the snake’s nest, and gives it to Aemon who is absolutely thrilled with the discovery. We cut the head of the snake so we can bring it to Undrella.
She accepts the head and as promised, gives us the keys to the cells and all the gates to the Battle Market. We convince her that she should look into brewing other things, which she reluctantly agrees to. She also promises not to sell any poison to the gnolls. After all, we don’t want to be on the receiving end of any poison-tipped gnoll weapons.
We decide to finally start our assault on the Battle Market. Ella wants to see if her long-lost sister, Haleen is the same woman who is fighting in the Battle Market. We decide the best bet is to pose as traders interested in selling our wares and walk right into the main gate. As we enter into the heart of Kelmarane we are greeted by Jank, a goblin jester. He wants us to go on the stage so that the “Mouthpiece of the Carrion king”, Kardswann can see us and we can greet him. We gracefully decline saying that we are weary from our “long travels”. We tell him that we want to have an audience with Haleen before we freshen up. He points us in the direction of the cells and tells us that we need a key to enter. We ignore him as Ella quickly uses our key from Undrella to open the door. The first cell we come to Ella softly knocks and asks if anyone is there. A voice responds “Who is it?” Ella recognizes the voice as belonging to Haleen! The door opens and it is Haleen! She says that she owes a Father Jackal money and was fighting in the Battle Market to make it. She didn’t want Ella to worry about her and that is why she left without saying a word. Ella compliments Haleen on winning the fight with the Ogre. Haleen has been here for a year and has made only half of what she needs. She recognizes Santrin from his captivity and says that obviously Kardswann is not happy he got away. Santrin asks if there is any news on the escaped member of his party and Haleen confirms that he has not been recaptured. She also tells us that the flind’s name is Ugruk. We decide to take out the gnolls in the last cell that is guarding Santrin’s sword (along with other treasures), take out the ogre then walk back out the South door. Abbas casts silence on me and Santrin opens the door to the gnoll’s cell and we burst through. Santrin hits both of the gnolls and they fall to the floor dead. Santrin must really want that sword back! We quickly head to the Ogre’s cell so we can take advantage of the silence. Again we burst through the door and attack. Abbas casts a fire bolt. I call out to Serenrae for her aid in helping me smite this evil creature and I take a chunk out of him. Santrin misses and the Ogre misses me. Aemon casts grease on the ogre’s weapon. Abbas casts another fire bolt but misses. Serenrae is really with me as I thrust my sword through him the ogre and he falls to the floor. We hope that Jank did not hear the commotion and Haleen says that if Jank knows that we are here, then Kardswann also knows we are here. So as not to tip off Kardswann that we have keys to the gates we decide to head out the same gate we entered. We open the door to the cells and we don’t see Jank, and luckily, we don’t see Kardswann either. We quickly leave Kelmarane and the battle market.
Session Date: 01/18/10
Day 17
Level 4
We finish breakfast and formulate our battle plan. We decide to go through the west door and up the stairs to get to Kardswann as soon as possible. Abbas has some Protection form Evil spells prepared just in case Kardswann is possessed. We enter through the door without difficulty-even the annoying Jank is nowhere to be seen. We reach the top of the stairs and Ella uses her slippers of spider climbing to walk on the ceiling of the breezeway. She sees a few gnolls across the way, oblivious to our presence. Kardswann calls down to Jank to see if the “intruders” have come back, which Jank affirms they have not. We start heading towards the gnolls. Haleen says there are gnolls coming up the stairs behind us. A few seconds later, Abbas says that there are more gnolls coming up the opposite stairs. It looks like we are about to be surrounded as the gnolls across the balcony advance on Santrin and I. The gnolls that are attacking Abbas and Haleen miss in their initial attack. Haleen doesn’t though and she proves why she was so deadly in the arena. Aemon casts a fireball at two more gnolls that appeared on the opposite balcony. I advance on a gnoll and miss with a swing of my longsword. Santrin doesn’t miss and slays the unfortunate creature. Ella puts the one in front of Santrin down with a well placed arrow shot. Haleen and Abbas both miss the gnolls they are facing and are lucky that those same gnolls miss them. Aemon casts a small fire sphere at the one in front of Haleen. I stab the gnoll in front of me as Santrin kills it. Abbas misses, but Haleen gets one. Aemon moves the fire sphere to the gnoll facing Abbas. Ella kills a gnoll and she is a fine shot tonight. The gnolls miss Haleen. Aemon moves his fire sphere over and singes another gnoll. Santrin puts a gnoll down as Ella kills the last one.
Kardswann, who didn’t miss the commotion, tells us he will be coming right down. He comes toward us with the flind in tow. Four gnolls appear in front of Haleen and Abbas from the stairs. The gnolls waste no time and Abbas gets the full brunt of their attack. Aemon casts a flaming sphere and begins singing gnolls again. Ella fires off an arrow at Kardswann, but he proves harder to hit than gnolls. Abbas hits the gnoll that had hit him. Santrin moves up to the flind and attacks. The flind returns the favor. Kardswann misses me. I suddenly feel the need to identify myself as Vardishal and rebuke Kardswann for his evil ways. The gnolls miss Haleen and Abbas. Kardswann tells me he won’t be taken alive. Aemon casts grease on Kardswann’s ax, but he keeps his grasp on the huge weapon. Ella fires an arrow at Kardswann and this time hits him. Abbas hits the gnoll in front of him and the gnoll drops dead. Haleen drops another gnoll. I take a huge chunk out of Kardswann as I call out to Serenrae for her aid. The flind hits Santrin. Kardswann takes two swings at me and hurts me really bad. Aemon moves his fire onto one of the last remaining gnolls, killing it. He then casts a fireball on the flind. Ella misses with an arrow. Abbas casts some cures on me and I’m still in the fight. Haleen hits with another arrow. I drop my shield, lay hands on myself and take another chunk out of Kardswann. Santrin hits the flind and takes a chunk out of Kardswann. The flind hits Santrin as Kardswann hits me again. The gnoll misses Haleen. Aemon’s flaming sphere puts the last remaining gnoll down. The flind doesn’t take any damage from Santrin. Aemon casts glitterdust on the flind and Kardswann. Ella shoots an arrow at Kardswann as I take another chunk out of him. Santrin hits both the flind and Kardswann. The flind misses Santrin and Kardswann misses me so we assume they are blinded from the glitterdust. Aemon moves his fire over to Kardswann and fires a magic missile at him. Ella fires off an arrow at Kardswann. I chop off Kardswann’s head and the “Mouthpiece of the Carrion King” is no more. The flind falls shortly after. Any remaining gnolls and bug bears soon flee the Battle Market along with a certain goblin jester. Kurellak, the gnoll bartender and opportunist, offers us drinks and assures us he is no threat. The three human smugglers also ask if they can stay. That is up to the Pactmastgers to decide. As we search the last remaining buildings in Kalmarane still standing we find the bard from Santrin’s party. He had been hiding out in the ruins avoiding the gnoll patrols. He has no interest in further adventuring, but will sing songs about us when we tell him of our future adventures. Santrin says that he will stay with our party, especially now that he has his gear back.
When we report that the Battle Market is cleared, Almah is well pleased. She sends a currier to Katapesh to start sending the settlers and merchants. She also pays us the 200 gold that she promised to us for clearing Kalmarane. To our surprise, she also produces a key to the door in the temple’s basement. I am eager to clear this area since I don’t like the idea that Kardswann and his evilness was able to pass through the door with no problem. She also grants Abbas his freedom and I think Abbas is very grateful. On a side note she tells us that the geier came back to its nest at the monastery and has not bothered with anyone. We decide our next adventure will be the basement of the temple.
Day 18
Level 5
Abbas and Aemon want to spend this day to see if they can read the runes on the door of the basement. Try as they might, they are unable to do so. Abbas also tries to communicate with the recently deceased Kardswann. Not surprisingly, he refuses to answer.
We now prepare ourselves for whatever evil lurks in the basement.
Session Date: 01/25/10
Day 19
Level 5
As we get ready to for the basement/crypt of the church, Almah tells us that about 20 years ago, the local priest came under the control of an evil being and as a result of that control, he went mad which then spread throughout the town. Pactmaster soldiers arrived and pacified the town but since they could not destroy it, they locked the evil being in the crypt in the basement of the church. They could not save the priest, Halrun, who died from his madness. It turns out that Halrun was the undead being we fought in church’s cemetery.
The door is still glowing red when we arrive. As we put the key in a slot in the door the key begins to meld into the door and the red glow disappears. We come to a room with a well, a gong and a door that Santrin and I try to push on – it doesn’t budge. Ella climbs down to the bottom of the well where she sees that the floor can move. She can’t see how to activate it, only that the floor can move. The only other object in the room is the gong. We all position ourselves in the room, expecting everything-or nothing. I hit the gong with the hilt of my sword. Pinkish vapor comes out of the well and the “fake” door slides open. Three fire elementals appear that I detect are not evil. Abbas tells them to leave and they stop moving. I present my shield which has my holy symbol and that also seems to affect them. Aemon asks them, in the language of fire elementals of course, what they are doing here and they respond that they are here to protect the tombs of the priests. They sensed the evil below but were in stasis until we summoned them with the gong. They said that the most direct route to the creature is through the well, but they will not aid us in our quest. We check out the tombs behind the fake wall to make sure nothing is disturbed and then go down 90ft to the bottom of the well.
We pass by many catacombs containing shrouded corpses of priests long ago dead. Our progress is stopped as a re-animated corpse blocks our path. Two other undead creatures shamble their way to the rear of the party. Abbas does selective channeling on one of three undead and it didn’t like it. Ella misses with an arrow. I also cannel some positive energy which causes them to look a bit beat up. Santrin hits the two in front. The one in front of me goes down as Aemon casts disrupt undead. Abbas channels another healing burst, and the fight is over. Abbas states that these were coffer corpses. We take a few moments and put the bodies back into their places.
We next come to a cavern with a huge Kardswann seated on a throne. I disbelieve and the cavern disappears and it is now a chamber instead of a cavern, but Kardswann is still on the throne. He tells us about his captivity and now he is free to corrupt the world thanks to us. We tell him in no uncertain terms that we came to destroy him, not free him. He then changes from Kardswann to a creature none of us had ever seen. Abbas casts bless as Ella shoots an arrow. I call on my celestial spirit and my longsword glows. As we advance, Santrin uncharacteristically seems confused. Abbas casts silence on me, but the demon casts a spell, and now I feel confused. Ella shakes Santrin to wake him from his confused state. Aemon casts a fireball at the demon, but he shakes it off. Santrin, now with a purpose rushes up to the fiend, but misses. The creature doesn’t and Santrin looks hurt. Abbas casts a targeted dispel at the fiend to rid any of his protection spells. I am still confused until Ella shakes me out of it. I run up and take a chunk out of the beast. Aemon casts glitterdust in an effort to blind the creature. Santrin misses again, and again Santrin gets hit. Abbas dismisses the silence. Ella misses with an arrow as I take another chunk out of him. Aemon casts a magic missile which, unlike the fireball, the demon feels. Santrin misses again and takes a step back for healing. The creature turns his attention to me and hits me hard. Abbas casts a healing burst to keep Santrin and me in the fight. Ella hits with an arrow as I gash him badly. Aemon casts another magic missile. Santrin drinks a healing potion. The creature severely wounds me. Abbas casts another healing burst. Ella misses, but I finally kill the thing - Glomeray Xulthus was its name.
We remove the foul corpse, say goodbye to the fire elementals who go back into stasis until summoned again and report to Almah.
Session Date: 02/01/10
Day 20-49
Level 5
I spend the days working at the church. The repairing of the church is back-breaking work, but I am rewarded spiritually. Ella is also there to lend a hand, and she has used her new-found wealth to buy some pink accessories. Santrin is busy training the newly-arrived militia. Abbas and Aemon spend their days perfecting their spells. It seems now Abbas can cast fireballs!
Day 50
Level 5
As I head to the church for my daily work, I receive word that Almah has sent for us and we are to meet her at the entrance to the tavern. After we all arrive at the entrance, she tells us that there is a big, 7ft bald, adventurer that wants to meet the heroes of Kelmarane. We introduce ourselves and he wastes no time in getting to business. He tells us that he is a traveler of the sand and scrub and he brings bad news. He offers us drinks which I think is more to ease the bad news than an act of hospitality. He continues by telling us that he follows Serenrae, but does not belong to a single church. He travels all over the land open to what Serenrae has to show him. He tells he recently discovered that the Carrion King had heard about our success and is gathering all the gnoll tribes together to take back Kelmarane. He recommends that we strike him before he begins his march. He will not aid us with our quest as he does not believe in the folly of war. He doesn’t tell us his name, and is immediately on his feet and on his way out of town. He refuses any all offers of food or lodging and is gone from the town as swiftly as he arrived.
Almah asserts that the Pactmasters will not take any action until an invading force is present. It looks like it is up to us, the “Heroes of Kelmarane” to defeat this threat alone. Ella asks the recently-arrived priest of the church if he had ever heard of the mysterious stranger. He had not, and it is odd, but not unusual, that he did not stop at the church before he left town.
We make our preparations to leave the next morning.
Day 51
Level 5
We make our way to the Pale Mountain make sure we avoid any patrols that will give away our element of surprise.
Day 52
Level 5
We decide this morning to do a little intel gathering. As we approach the base of the mountain we see a large clearing. Ella sees six gnolls coming into view. We get into position for an ambush as 6 gnolls (2 of them are bigger than the others pass by). When they reach the designated spot, Santrin and I step out as Abbas casts a fireball which engulfs four of the gnolls and poor Santrin who is none to happy about it. Ella downs one of the gnolls with an arrow. Santrin cleaves the gnoll in front of him in half. The two gnolls behind me cast a spell and start glowing. The huge gnoll in front of me misses, while the other gnoll misses Santrin. Aemon casts deep slumber and the gnoll in front of Santrin falls asleep. I hit the one in front of me. Abbas misses with his crossbow and Ella misses with her bow. Santrin hits the large gnoll in front of him who seems to be foaming at the mouth. One of the gnolls behind me misses, but the other one really hurts me. Aemon casts a flaming sphere on the gnoll in front of me which is good because I miss him. Abbas hits the big gnoll with a bolt from his crossbow. Ella also hits him. Santrin also hits the big guy and he falls to the ground dead. Aemon moves the flaming sphere to one of the gnolls and he casts a magic missile. I turn around and really hit the gnoll who had hit me. Santrin cleaves the other in half. Ella kills the large sleeping gnoll so silently, he never even woke up.
We quickly hide the bodies as Aemon casts a charm spell at one of the bleeding, unconscious gnolls and Abbas heals him. Santrin and I stay out of sight as the gnoll gains consciousness and begins looking for the big fighter that had put him is such a sorry state. Aemon bluffs and tells the gnoll he will give him some more healing, but instead reads his mind to see if the charm worked. Satisfied that it did, Aemon pumps him for information. The gnoll says that he came with the unchosen, which we assume means the two recently-deceased barbarian gnolls. He says that shamans make the unchosen bigger and fight better. He was on a routine patrol until he came across the big fighter. He is a follower of the Carrion King as well as all the other gnolls. He tells us that the Carrion King is a great fighter and uses big ax. Unable to provide us with any additional information, he soon joins his deceased brethren.
Looks like another bad guy with a big ax!
Session Date: 02/08/10
Day 53
Level 5
We warily camp for the night and this morning we finally come to the temple – The House of the Beast. It looks like it was probably built by efretti or djinni for Rovagug. We see two gnolls mounted on hyaenodons on guard duty. We sneak up to the wall attempting to ambush one of the guards as they are making their rounds. We form the line and the gnolls form their own lines and open up on the party with arrows. One of the gnoll arrows finds a hole in my armor and buries itself in me. Ella shoots an arrow and hits one of the gnolls. Abbas misses with a crossbow. The gnolls fire two arrows but miss. Ella misses with an arrow. Abbas hits with a crossbow bolt. The gnolls miss with two more arrows. Ella misses with another arrow. Tired of being a target for the gnoll’s missiles, Santrin runs up and slices one of the gnolls in half with his sword and hits the other gnoll. Abbas misses again with a crossbow. The hyaenodons and the lone gnoll all miss Santrin. Ella hits with an arrow. I step up and smack the hyaenodon. Santrin kills the gnoll and really smacks the hyaenodon. The hyaenodons both chomp Santrin. Ella shoots an arrow at the wounded hyaenodon and hits it. I miss the hyaenodon, but Santrin doesn’t. Abbas cures Santrin, and lucky for him, the Hyaenodons miss. Ella hits the wounded hyaenodon and kills it. Santrin and I both hit the other hyaenodon. Abbas heals Santrin again to keep him in the fight. The Hyaenodon misses Santrin, but Ella and I both hit it. Santrin finally kills the beast and now we can explore the rest of the buildings.
We enter one building that has a huge snake in it. The snake grabs Abbas and starts to constrict him. Abbas tries to free himself from the snake’s death embrace but can’t. Ella shoots it with an arrow. I go up and try to hit it but I miss. Abbas cures himself, and I cure Abbas. Aemon shoots a magic missile and Santrin misses. Abbas casts a healing burst. Ella hits it again, but I miss again. Aemon hits it again with a magic missile. Santrin hits the reptile as the snake squeezes more of the life out of Abbas. Ella shoots an arrow which finally brings the snake down. Between the Hyaenodon and the snake, Ella is a regular sharpshooter!
We come across another building where the door has been wedged in. Aemon detects about five intelligent beings and a couple of unintelligent creatures.
Looks like we have another fight on our hands.
Session Date: 02/22/10
Day 53
Level 5
We see four lizard-looking creatures, troglodytes, playing with scorpions. They ask angrily if we are with the gnolls and Aemon tells them we are most certainly not. We ask them who they worship and they tell us to go ask Grundmoch, their shaman. Aemon asks them about their game and they explain how they play. They tie several scorpions to a stake, drop a rodent, and see if their scorpion is the first one that stings it. One of them boasts that he is the winner so far. They say that the gnolls are in the big temple and they barricade them out. One of the troglodytes goes to get Grundmock so that Aemon can converse with him. A few moments later he comes back with a big troglodyte in armor wielding a big ax – of course a big ax! Aemon tells him that we don’t like gnolls and Grundmock readily agrees with that sentiment. Aemon asks him what is in the other buildings. He tells us that in one of the buildings there are flying stone creatures, which we assume to be gargoyles. He also tells us that there is a large spider in one of the minarets. He confirms that the Carrion King is in the big temple. He tells us that his tribe and the gnolls moved in at the same time. He had a friend who was a gnoll and then the Carrion King killed him which set off a feud that continues to this day. He said the Carrion King does not worship Rovagug but rather Lamashtu and that he and the other troglodytes worship Rovagug. Aemon negotiates future passage for us but with a catch-the troglodytes will barricade the passage behind us. We replace the troglodyte’s original barricade and proceed to one of the buildings that he thought was unoccupied. We are hoping to find another way in so as not to have gnolls in front of us and troglodytes behind us.
Surprisingly it is occupied. Aemon detects the thoughts of five humanoids. One of them is thinking that we can help them escape. When we do enter the building, there are five humans who escaped during a battle between the gnolls and troglodytes. He said there are about 10 – 15 captives still back in the temple. We give them some food and water and tell them to stay put and we will be back soon. They warn us to be back before dark as that is when the spider goes “hunting”.
We decide to attack the gargoyles and as we approach the tower we see four of them fly down to us. Apparently, they decided to attack us before we attacked them! Aemon and Abbas both respond by casting fireballs. Ella shoots an arrow at one that was damaged by a fireball. Santrin swings, but misses. One lands in front of me and I miss it. Abbas hits the one that landed in front of Aemon. Aemon cast a lighting bolt on the one that was in front of him as Ella shoots it with an arrow. Santrin hits both gargoyles in front of him. The gargoyles miss both Santrin and I, but the one in front of Aemon hits him and he looks hurt. I hit the one in front of me, but Abbas misses. Aemon casts flaming sphere on the one that keeps following him as he tries desperately to get away from it, but there doesn’t seem to be any affect. Ella scores a hit with an arrow. Santrin hits both gargoyles in front of him. Aemon gets hit again as I miss the two gargoyles in front of me. Abbas heals Aemon who casts another fireball. Ella hits the gargoyle again. Santrin puts both gargoyles in front of him down. The gargoyle gores Aemon as I miss again. Abbas casts a healing burst to cure some of Aemon’s troubles. Aemon’s fireball causes the gargoyle to fall to the ground dead. Ella and Santrin both hit the one in front of me. I finally put it down.
We go to the “gargoyle” tower and see stairs leading up. As Santrin and I step into the tower, two gargoyles fly down to us and two fly in front of Ella. She steps back and fires, but misses. Abbas cast blindness on the two who were in front of Ella, but they still seem to be able to see just fine. Aemon moves behind Ella and casts a fireball. I hit the one in front of me. Santrin retreats so he can attack the ones threatening the rear of the party. Both gargoyles miss me, but Santrin gets hit. Ella misses again. Abbas casts a spiritual hammer to “chip” away at the gargoyles. Aemon casts a spell that damages both gargoyles. Santrin puts one of the gargoyles down. As the two gargoyles in front of me hit me, Ella misses again. Abbas hits with the spiritual hammer and casts a holy bolt at one of the stone creatures. Aemon casts a magic missile. I hit the one in front of me. Santrin puts the other one down and moves back next to me. Our combined attacks are no match for the two remaining gargoyles and they soon go down.
We take the five refugees to our cave to camp the night as we plot our entrance to the temple.
Session Date: 03/01/10
Day 54
Level 6
We head up the stairs of the temple to attack the gnoll guards. Santrin and I quickly trigger a trap and the step we are on crumbles revealing poisoned caltrops which Santrin accidentally steps on. Abbas casts detect poison and detects it on every other step. Santrin suddenly feels weaker from the poison and Abbas casts a lesser restoration. We continue up the stairs and see six gnolls with two unchosen gnolls and two hyaenodons. The hyaenodons run up to Santrin and I to attack, and I miss the one that comes up to me. Three spears come at Santrin and three come at me with only one of the spears hitting Santrin. Santrin and I both hit the hyaenodons that are attacking us. Abbas casts a fireball and burns four of the gnolls to death. Aemon casts a flaming sphere on the hyaenodon attacking Santrin as Ella shoots an arrow at the same hyaenodon. The hyaenodon bites me severely and tries to trip me but fails. An unchosen comes up to attack me but misses. Santrin hits the hyaenodon that is on him I attack the unchosen and do a little damage. Abbas casts a divine bolt. Aemon casts a fireball which fries the gnoll that was trying to escape to sound the alarm. Ella hits one of the remaining regular gnolls. The hyaenodon bites me again. The unchosen hits Satrin and the other unchosen hits me. Santrin hits both unchosen. Another regular gnoll disappears through the doors of the temple to again sound an alarm. I hit the unchosen in front of me again. Aemon casts a fireball through the open doors and we hear a scream. Ella shoots the unchosen in front of Santrin and kills it. The unchosen misses me, but I slay it. Abbas misses with a swing his scimitar. Aemon’s fire sphere kills the last hyaenodon.
We enter the temple and see a corridor that seems to go around an inner temple. We also see scorch marks and a crispy gnoll carcass courtesy of Aemon. We do a quick perimeter and find stairs going down. We decide to enter the inner temple and then head down the stairs. We see a huge scorpion which comes up and attacks me but misses. I hit the scorpion and so does Santrin. Aemon casts haste and we all feel a lot quicker. Ella fires two arrows and hits with one. Abbas fires his crossbow but misses, but I hit the thing again. Santrin also hits it again. The scorpion really hurts Santrin as Aemon casts a lightning bolt at the scorpion. Ella hits with two arrows. Abbas casts a healing burst and I hit the thing again. Santrin brings the scorpion down. It looks like the gnolls threw people into the room, let the scorpion poison the unfortunate victim and then drag the body back to harvest the poison.
Serenrae believes in redemption, but I really don’t think it is possible to redeem such evil creatures!
Session Date: 03/08/10
Day 54
Level 6
We come down the stairs and see three hyenadons and five gnolls. Santrin and I move up for the attack. Ella fires off an arrow and hits one of the hyenadons. Aemon casts a fire sphere at one of the gnolls. The gnolls throw five short spears at me, but all miss. I get down to the bottom of the stairs and smack one of the gnolls. Santrin hits the hyenadon in front of him, but Ella misses with an arrow. Aemon’s fire sphere kills the gnoll it was burning and he casts a ray at frost at one of the hyenadons. Abbas shoots a crossbow bolt but misses. I smack the hyenadon, but miss the gnoll. Santrin hits the same hyenadon and it goes down. Ella scores a hit with an arrow. Aemon’s fire sphere moves to one of the hynadons and burns it, while he casts another ray of frost. One of the gnoll throws a spear at Ella and it grazes her leg drawing blood. The three gnolls on me miss, but one of them hits Santrin. Abbas kills one with a crossbow bolt. I hit the two gnolls in front of me. Santrin smashes the skull of the hyenadon, while Ella damages the other one. Aemon’s fireball moves to the hyenadon, but there is no affect. The gnolls miss Santrin and I and I miss one of the gnolls, but hit the other one. Santrin kills the remaining hyenadon. Ella hits the last remaining gnoll with an arrow as Aemon’s fire sphere burns it. The gnoll decides things don’t look good, and decides to flee. Aemon casts a magic missile at it which causes it to stop dead in it’s tracks-literally.
As Ella and I look down the hallway we see an air elemental. It comes right up to Ella and I and the force of its wind hurts. Ella hits it with an arrow, but as she steps back, the air elemental hits her. I swing at it, but miss it. Abbas hits it with a spiritual hammer. Aemon casts a fire sphere at it which burns it. The elemental hits me again. Ella hits it again with an arrow. Santrin and I both hit the thing. Abbas’ spiritual hammer hits again and he also casts a healing burst. Aemon’s flaming sphere damages it again as the elemental hits me again. Ella and Santrin both score hits on the elemental as I miss in my attack. Abbas’ spiritual hammer finally dissipates it.
We stabilize a few of the gnolls and interrogate them. They tell us that there were some slaves that revolted and escaped (which we assume are our friends in the cave). The others are working behind a wooden barricade that we had seen. They also tells us that there are some guards stationed from where the Air Elemental came from. We ask them where the Carrion King is and they tell us that he and his priest are downstairs. They also mention someone or something named Whispering Death and they assume that “it” left. They had never seen it, but it hasn’t attacked any gnolls in about a week. It had been attacking regularly for a month. Could this be a potential ally?
We go back downstairs to the barricade in order to free the slaves that are behind it. Ella checks it for any traps while Abbas casts detect poison. Since it is not trapped or poisoned, Santrin and I proceed to dismantle the barricade. We walk down a hallway until we come to a chamber where the slaves are working with two gnoll guards. I go right up to one of the gnoll guards and slash it with Tempest. Ella shoots an arrow and hits the same gnoll. Santrin moves up and both gnolls miss us. Abbas casts a sacred bolt but it misses. Aemon casts dancing lights up the other corridor to make sure we don’t have any unexpected visitors. I put the gnoll down in front of me, while Santrin puts the other gnoll down. The slaves tell us that they are the last prisoners left, and that there are just unchosen gnolls up ahead. There is also a really big slave that is fighting the gnolls, but the prisoners say that he is just as mean as the gnolls. Could this be another potential ally? We have saved eleven prisoners total and they would rather wait for us to escort them back to Kelmarane.
Day 55
Level 6
We make sure the prisoners are all right before we leave and head to where we were the previous day. As we near the chamber that the prisoners were working, we see an unchosen being prodded by a gnoll coming down each hallway. Ella opens the battle by hitting one of the unchosen with an arrow. An unchosen steps up to Santrin and I and claws me. I try to return the favor, but I miss. Santrin hits it though and the huge gnoll is in pain. Aemon casts a fire sphere at it and the thing burns. Abbas commands the unchosen to drop to try and put it in a prone position, but it doesn’t work. Ella hits it with another arrow. The thing hits me again, this time I am able to return the favor by really wounding it. Santrin deals it a killing blow. The other unchosen steps up to us and dodges Aemon’s fireball. Abbas commands it again, but no effect. Ella misses with an arrow. It hits me, and I am in pain. Six gnolls appear at the rear of the party and attack Abbas, but luckily miss him. Santrin and I both smack the unchosen in front of us. Aemon’s fire sphere singes it. Aemon casts a fireball at the six attacking gnolls and four gnolls go down. Abbas misses the singed gnoll that survived Aemon’s fireball. Ella hits a gnoll and kills it. I kill the unchosen that is in front of me. Santrin steps up and kills one of the regular gnolls as Aemon’s sphere kills the other one. Ella kills the last gnoll.
It looks like we will now search for our potential allies.
Session Date: 03/29/10
Day 55
Level 6
We come to a room that has three corpses in it that look like they were recently torn apart. The room has a door in it which we assume that whatever tore these poor, human slaves apart might be behind. We decide to open the door to see what we can see. As we open the door, we find a room that has a crude throne in it. In the throne is a huge figure by the name of Lazrul. We assume he is the ex-slave that has been killing the gnolls. He offers us employment as his slaves. We kindly refuse his generous offer. He tells us that we must die then, and proceeds to get up and grab his huge club. So much for him being a potential ally! As he rises to his full height we observe that he might have some ogre in him. Ella opens the battle by a well placed arrow. He heads over to us, and both Santrin and I advance to meet him. We both swing at him with our weapons, and we both miss him. Aemon casts a fire sphere on him and he is singed. Ella hits again with an arrow. He misses me as I plunge Tempest into his heart.
We decide to seek out the Carrion King and put an end to his evil ways. We head down the stairs to where we were told that he is and come to a huge hall. The Carrion King is sitting on a throne jutting out over a huge pit filled with decaying flesh. Now we know how he got the name Carrion King! He bids us to throw ourselves into the pit and “make it easier” on ourselves. Abbas shoots a crossbow in reply, but misses. That causes the Carrion King to rise from the throne lift his huge ax and come after us. Again with an Ax – Could there be some sympolism here? Ella fires off an arrow and hits the king solidly. I call on my Cestrial Spirt, initiate a smite, and move right up to the Carrion King. Abbas hits him with a firebolt. Santrin moves right next to me but misses the Carrion King with a savage swing of his sword. The Carrion King slashes me with his ax and I feel more than physical damage. Ella hits with an arrow. I slash back at the Carrion King with Tempest. Abbas casts a restoration on me and I feel a little better. Santrin also hits the Carrion King. The Carrion King misses me and roars. We all fell a little panicked, but it passes. Ella hits him again with an arrow. Aemon casts grease on the Ax, but the Carrion King retains his grip. I miss with Tempest and Santrin misses. Abbas casts another restore. The Carrion King slashes me and I fall to the ground dead. Ella misses with another arrow. Aemon casts another grease and the ax clangs to the ground. Abbas casts a fireball. Santrin hits nicely with a well placed shot. The Carrion King steps up to Abbas ready to launch an attack as Ella hits again with an arrow. Aemon casts a fireball and the Carrion King goes down.
Day 56
Level 6
Abbas wakes with a feeling that we should check out the throne-kind of like the feelings I used to get. The party makes it to the throne room and discovers that without the Carrion King to unite them, many of the gnolls have left. Ella searches and finds a trigger-possibly causing something to spring open. On examining the throne, Abbas and Aemon both conclude that it was used by Rovagug to create the Carrion King. As Santrin clicks the lever, the throne moves and reveals a stairway. Ella leads the party down the stairs to a treasure room! Abbas and Aemon try to detect magic, but not sensing any, they disbelieve the illusion. The room is filled with water with lots of creepy crawlers in it. There are pillars that serve as stepping stones to traverse the room. We cross the room by the “stepping stones” to get to the door on the other side of the room. Aemon detects thoughts behind the door. Santrin opens the door, and the sand-filled room appears empty. Ella notices something strange with the sand in the middle of the chamber. Abbas summons a wolf in the middle of the room and a huge sand kraken appears out of the sand. Its tentacles grasp the wolf, as its maw bites it, and drags it beneath the sand. Aemon casts a flaming sphere on where the creature disappeared. The creature tentacles rise out of the sand and close the door. How unwelcoming! Santrin opens the door again, and Aemon moves the sphere again to where the creature is. The creature closes the doors again. After a few times of this back and forth, Santrin opens the door again and Aemon casts a fireball and Abbas casts a fire bolt into the room. That finishes the creature! We cross the room and go to another door. Ella does a quick check of the door and deems it safe. Santrin opens the door and in the room contains a tomb decorated with a nine-legged spider that looks like the same spider we saw depicted in the Carrion King’s throne room – the symbol of Rovogug. As Santrin removes the lid, he feels extremely cold. The party sees the remains of ancient gnoll priestess of Rovogug. Aemon thinks she has been dead for about 1,000 years. With the remains the party finds
The Party feels it is best at this point to return to Kelmarane with the freed slaves and my corpse.
Session Date: 04/05/2010
Day 56
Level 7
Before the party takes up the road, they destroy the throne. We don’t want Rovogug to create any more Carrion Kings! The party arrives at the cave with my corpse and preparations are made to leave for Kelmarane the next morning. The ex-slaves are only too happy to leave the place of their servitude.
Day 57
Level 7
The day begins with a hasty breakfast, and then the party starts what turns out to be an uneventful day of traveling.
Day 58
Level 7
After another uneventful day of traveling, the party arrives at Kelmarane. The party takes my body to the church of Serenrae. The priest tells the party that he needs the night to prepare a raise dead spell spell. When the party meets with Almah immediately after, she graciously offers to pay for the raise dead spell. The party decides not to tell Almah about the scroll just yet. At dinner that night Ella confirms something that she has been mulling over the last few days. She is worried about Haleen and would like to travel to Ketapesh to check on her. She assures us that once she knows that Haleen is safe, she will rejoin the party. Santrin offers to escort her on the dangerous road. The party lets Santrin know that he, like Ella, will always have a place in the party.
Aemon believes that if he was under the influence of some mind-altering substances he can better read the scroll. He decides to see Undrella since she knows a thing or two about brewing things. Undrella tells Aemon that she doesn’t need to brew anything – he just go out to the pesh fields. Since it is getting late in the day, Aemon decides to try this “experiment” tomorrow.
Day 59
Level 7
I am with my deity along with others who, in life, faithfully served her. I hear a distant call from the land of the living. I look at Serenrae, who seems to know my thoughts. “You have served me well and can stay if you like, or you can go back.” she says. I stammer for a few moments and tell her that I feel that there is still a lot of evil to redeem, and I have a feeling this templar business still is not finished. She gives an amused smile at that last part. “Then it sounds like you mind is made up. Go forth and fight evil in my name!” She commands. I see a light and wake to find my friends gathered around me along with the priest of the temple. He looks exhausted, and before I can even speak, Abbas begins a restoration spell. After he is finished, he tells me that I will have to wait a week for another one before I am back to the way I was before. I thank everyone for bringing me back- both literally and spiritually. They quickly fill me in on the scroll and ask if I want come along while Aemon tries his “experiment” in the pesh fields. I agree even though I am not sure why he needs to be under the influence of pesh. Arcane magic – I’ll never understand it!
Before we head to the pesh fields, Ella & Santrin bid their farewells, pack some trail rations and depart to Ketapesh. Even though it has been two months, and in Santrin’s case, a little less, it will seem strange taking the trail without those two.
Surprisingly, Aemon can gather some information on the scroll, in his high state. He says that it tells of a realm that was created by someone named Nex who was a wizard-king as some sort of hide-out and storage area. Among the items that is said to be there is something called the “Firebleeder” which could either be a fiery falchion or a spell of mastery over fire. Also stored in this realm is great treasure. This scroll is said to be a map to it. After Aemon has garnered all the information he can in his mind-atlered state, we decide to tell Almah and see if she might know anything more about it. We ask her about it in a round about way, and she tells us that if we have what she thinks we have, then we should go see someone named Rayhan in Ketapesh. We decide that tomorrow we will take the same road Ella and Santrin took earlier today. For some reason I feel that I should keep an eye on the scroll at all times.
Since we are a little short on party members we decide to go to the tavern and do a little recruiting. No sooner do we sit down when we are visited by a man named Hoss. It seems like another man named Achmed sent him to find other followers of Nethys. While Aemon does not seem to be overly religious, it seems that if he was, he would follow Nethys. He will be Aemon’s bodyguard if we will have him and we readily agree. We don’t want Aemon to be distracted when he is casting those fireballs! We ask Hoss if there are any other adventurers and he tells us that he knows of two – James and Brandan. He says that James is not up to the task, but Brandan would be a good candidate. We approach Brandan who is somewhat surprised to see me since he was aware that I was carried into town as a corpse just the other day. He agrees to join our band and we start discussing our travel plans for the morning. As we are discussing our plans, Achmed comes down for lunch. He also really wants to meet Aemon. He is here to re-open the temple of Nethys. He leaves when his lunch is ready and we get back to making our preparations.
Day 60
Level 7
We depart for Ketapesh with Garavel and four guards. Gravel is going there to provide an update to the Pactmasters and readily accepts our company. We make it to the first oasis and camp the night without incident.
Day 61
Level 7
As we approach the second oasis, Abbas notices some vultures circling the sky about a mile out. As we are about 100 yards from the oasis we see mangled gnoll bodies. Abbas notices the glint of something in the distance and we wonder if that is what killed these gnolls. We also see coils of rope that have been snapped apart by acid and electricity. The gnolls meanwhile look like they were killed by claws and teeth. As we get ready to pursue the distant glint, a 30 foot long worm springs from under the sand. He spits lightning and hits Hoss. I slice the thing with Tempest. Abbas casts a fireball at the worm. The worm tries to bite me but misses. Brandan enters the fray, but he too misses. Hoss heals himself from the damage he took earlier. Aemon casts a fireball and singes the worm. I hit the worm again. Abbas summons a wolf to flank with Brandan. The worm takes a chunk out of me and I feel acid from its maw. Brandon slashes it with his ax. Hoss casts a healing burst and I feel better. Aemon casts another fireball. I plunge Tempest into the beast and it feels pain. Abbas’s wolf now appears which should help Brandan out. Abbas comes up and heals me. As Abbas heals me, the worm bites him and as the worm retracts its head, it bites me again. Brandan hits the thing and kills it. Finally a man with an ax that actually is helping us instead of hurting us! Aemon studies the worm and tells us that it was a death worm. Someone makes the joke that it is now a dead worm. Since darkness is falling, we decide not to pursue the strange glint that we saw earlier, especially now that we know that whatever it was, it didn’t kill the gnolls. Perhaps it was another group of travelers.
Day 62-63
Level 7
These travel days are uneventful.
Day 64
Level 7
That evening as we are making camp, we notice an ominous cloud of dust approaching. The dust turns out to be six gnolls and they come charging towards us. Aemon summons two hound archons to protect our flanks. Aemon casts haste and the battle is on. I stab the gnoll in front of me with Tempest. Brandan also scores a hit. Hoss protects Aemon from any gnolls that think the unarmored mage would make a good target. The gnolls surround the party and miss everyone except me. The hounds each put a gnoll down. Aemon casts a magic missile at the one that I and Brandan attacked and kills the one Brandan hit. Abbas hits a gnoll next to him. I slay the one in front of me and stab the one next to me. Brandon kills the one next to him. The gnolls miss in their counter attack. We see eight more gnolls and four hyenadons crest the hill. The hounds each kill a gnoll. Aemon casts a fireball at the gnolls cresting the hill and some of them fall to the ground-smoking. Abbas casts another fireball following in Aemon’s footstops. I hit the one next to me. Hoss finishes off the one that I just hit. One Hyenadon attacks each archon. One of the hounds finishes off a hyenadon. Abbas casts a spiritual hammer and hits a hyenadon. I finish off the hyenadon that was in front of me. A third wave appears over the crest of the hill made up of an ettin, two hyenadons and two gnoll mages. One of the gnoll mages slams Aemon with magic missiles. The other one reduces Brandan to halfling size. The hounds attack each hyenadon that is attacking them. Aemon casts magic missiles at the mage that hit him. Abbas casts a spiritual hammer at the same mage and casts a wall of fire along the hyenadon and ettin line. I really stab the ettin in front of me and he howls in pain. Brandon hits the same ettin. The ettin hits me with his flails. The hyenadons miss in their attacks. The two mages fly over Abbas’ wall of fire. The hounds both finish off their hyenadons. Aemon casts a magic missile at the one he hit before. Abbas’ spitual hammer hits the same mage. The ettin disappears in the wall of fire. I drop my sword and shield and pull out my longbow and hit one of the flying mages. Brandon hits the same mage and she falls to the ground and dies on impact. Hoss hits the other flying mage. It turns into the bald-headed traveler that had sent us on the quest to stop the Carrion King and he says that they are not the only ones who want the scroll, but they will get it.
I don’t know if I’m angrier that he had sent us on a quest for his own gain, or he did it as a representative of Serenrae!
Session Date: 05/10/2010
Day 65
Level 7
After a day of traveling, we arrive in Katapesh. Garavel recommends the Cliffside Tavern to stay since it is close to Rayhan. He will be leaving the next day as soon as he gets more supplies. Abbas and I go an offer a prayer to Serenrae and Aemaon goes to “pray” to Nethys. He asks the priest there if he knows of our evil, bald-headed friend. He has not heard of him, but offers to a divination for a price. Aemon thanks him, but since he is short on cash, he declines. We quickly sell our loot before the markets close, and go see Rayhan at his villa.
We knock at the door to his villa and in a few moments, Rayhan appears. We give him the letter of introduction we got from Almah. Abbas explains why we are here and shows him the scroll. He is unimpressed until he actually starts to “read” the scroll. After a few moments of perusing the scroll he looks at us and says,
“The legend of Kakishon falls into increasing obscurity after Nex’s war with Geb began. All signs point to the strong possibility that Nex had grown dissatisfied with Kakishon
and had lost interest. When he vanished from the face of Garund in 576 ar, he left the Scroll of Kakishon behind. Eventually, it was stolen from his castle and the scroll passed
through many hands. Some used it as a prison for their
enemies, others as a place to impress allies or as a vault for their treasures, the stories say. The closer to the present day we get, the more obscure the rumors grow—no sign of
the Scroll of Kakishon seems to have surfaced over the past several hundred years.
“The last person to own the scroll, I believe, was a Keleshite wizard named Andrathi. The accounts of his life are vague and fragmentary, but it would appear that he was the lover of a genie named Nefeshti, the leader of a group known as the Templars of the Five Winds. Legend holds that the Templars fought somewhere in the mountains against a cruel efreeti warlord named Jhavhul, and that while the Templars of the Five Winds
managed to capture Jhavhul inside of Kakishon, the defeat was shadowed in loss. No sign of Andrathi or the Scroll of Kakishon remained after the battle. No sign… until today.
“This is an important find. If you will let me, I would very much like to look into this matter, to research this scroll and decipher some of the writings upon it. And if this is indeed the Scroll of Kakishon, there are protections placed upon it to
prevent undesirables from being able to open it and travel to the world within. Yet in time, I feel that I will be able to decipher these writings. You see, before he vanished, the wizard Andrathi went through the same process—yet he obviously managed to discover the way to open the scroll, even if it meant his doom. Some of his writings have survived to this day, and as it happens, I own copies of these writings. By building upon the foundation he lays in his writings, I am sure that I will be able to duplicate his
research and refine it. It may take days, even weeks, but if this is indeed the Scroll of Kakishon, I will find the key to open it.“But once it is open, I will need your aid, should you be willing to provide it. The legends speak of great treasures kept safe in Kakishon, the greatest of which was Jhavhul’s own weapon, the legendary Firebleeder, said by some to be a falchion and others a living flame. Sadly, my adventuring days are behind me, but if I find the way, I would be honored to accompany you into Kakishon
to find the truth!”
We readily agree that he can accompany us, if nothing else; it will give Aemon someone to converse with on our trip to the planes. He tells us that he will need three days just to prepare before he even looks at the scroll again. He will then need the scroll for most of the morning on the fourth day, and then an hour daily after that. This man is serious business.
He invites us to stay at the villa. We ask him if it is secure since we know our bald-headed friend is still out there. He says it is just him and his manservant. We all think there might be some magical protections, but we don’t want to pry.
Day 66
Level 7
At the middle of the day, a gentleman and two bodyguards show up at Rayhan’s door. Marzuk is his name and he represents the Mas'ud merchant family. They want to buy the scroll for 55,000 gold pieces. I neither confirm nor deny that we have the scroll. He looks at me with a look to say that he knows that we have it anyway. I consult with Rayhan and he tells us that in a week he should know if the scroll is the real deal. He says that we should host a dinner at that time and invite a who’s who of Katapesh. He says that we should provide the entertainment and beverages. I tell Marzuk that in a week some of his questions will be answered and bid him good day. Rayhan says that the Mas'ud family would probably keep the scroll more for a status symbol than anything else.
Day 67
Level 7
A young lady with two bodyguards knocks on Rayhan’s door. Her name is Badra and she will pay us 5,000 more gold than Marzuk. Apparently not only is word going around that we might have the scroll, but word is also going around on who is already making offers. I give her the same non committal answers I gave Marzuk and send her on her way. Rayhan tells us that she was formerly with a mercenary company and that she will most likely auction off the scroll if she gets it.
Day 68
Level 7
A lone Halfling knocks on Rayhan’s door this morning. He tells me is name is Tamir and he is also interested in acquiring the scroll. He represents the One Source Merchants Guild. He asks a lot more questions concerning the scroll than his predecessors. I give him the same non committal answers I give his rivals, but he actually calls me out on it. He also recognizes that Aemon tried to read his thoughts and calls him out on that as well. Seeing that he will not get a lot more information from me, he takes his leave. Rayhan says later that the One Source Merchants tend to toe the line with the Pactmasters. Looks like we might have to keep our eye on Tamir.
Day 69
Level 7
There are no knocks on the door today and we are all greatly relieved. Rayhan tells me that all his prep work has been completed and he needs the scroll tomorrow. I tell him I would like to be in the room which he reluctantly agrees to. I promise to keep out of his way.
Day 70
Level 7
Rayhan spends the morning studying the scroll. He quits about mid day and he is exhausted. He gathers us all together and tells us that he believes the scroll is real. He feels that we should have the dinner in about three days and reveal that information to all interested parties.
Day 71
Level 7
Rayhan studies the scroll for about an hour and I, of course, am present. Abbas goes into town and buys some really good wine and hires a bard who, in Rayhan’s words, should provide “adequate” entertainment for the feast.
Day 72
It is the day of the feast! The three interested parties show up along with Kazim, a cleric of Abadar and the Pactmasters chosen representive. Kazim commands respect and/or fear out of the guests and I relax just a little bit as with her here, there should not be any trouble. Everyone is polite to Tamir, but not warm, and considering the rebukes that Aemon and I got during his visit, I can see why. Marzuk flirts with Badra and we are unsure if it is on a personal level or just strictly business. She is not having any of it. Marzuk quickly looks like he is going to try his charms on Kazim, but quickly thinks better of it. After some strained conversation during dinner, Rayhan addresses the group. He confirms that he believes that the scroll is genuine. Kazim looks interested. Perhaps the thought of Nex’s fabled treasure flowing through Katapesh’s market is very pleasing to the Pactmasters. Tamir not surprisingly is unreadable. Badra and Marzuk, however, are both very excited and start sizing each other up.
Rayhan is correct. The bard does provide adequate entertainment and the guests depart. I am sure most of their minds were occupied on other matters. As we prepare for the night we all know that we will have to be extra careful. If word got around quickly that a potential genuine scroll had been recovered, we can just imagine who will come when word gets out that it is genuine.
We know that our bald friend is still out there and we settle in for the night as if we are deep in orc country. Somehow I have the nagging feeling that sleeping in orc country might be a bit safer!
Session Date: 05/17/10
Day 72
Level 7
During the night, Abbas hears the horses in the barn whinny. He wakes up the party then heads upstairs to check on Rayhan. As he reaches the top of the stairs, two dire apes break down the front door. I cast bless and move up to block the door. Aemon summons a lion behind the apes. Brandan pushes me out of the way and swings his ax at the ape at the door. The ape retaliates with an attack of his own. Abbas reaches Rayhan and tells him that his villa is under attack. I move and attack the ape that is coming through a window. Aemon’s lion appears and starts attacking the ape in front of him. Aemon casts a fire sphere at the ape coming into the window, but he easily dodges out of the way. Brandan hits the ape in front of him and the ape does not look too good. The one that I am attacking comes through the window and bites me. Abbas is suddenly frozen in place and sees six assailants and a halfling throw Rayhan into a bag of holding. I hit the ape in front of me again. Aemon’s sphere singes the ape, who doesn’t dodge as easily this time. Brandon, in a skillful attack, kills both apes. The halfling, who Abbas recognizes as Tamir, disappears as soon as Rayhan is completely engulfed in the bag. His six friends remain to attack the frozen Abbas. After one quick attack, they turn to flee. Abbas is now able to move and immediately casts fireball at the ropes that the assailants are making their escape on. Two of them die immediately, while one is badly hurt. Their three companions still manage to climb out. I hear the fireball go off and quickly head up the stairs. Abbas keeps the one of intruder alive while the rest of us search in vain for the three escaped thugs and more importantly, Tamir with the bag holding Rayhan.
As the adrenaline wears off Abbas, he realizes that there is a dagger stuck in his back. The dagger has a note on which is written:
alive again, you will agree to my price. I want the Scroll
of Kakishon—you would surely agree that a life is more
than fair a trade for such a treasure, yes? Place the scroll
in a box, weight the box with stones, place a light spell on
the box, and throw the box into the sea from Rayhan’s
villa tomorrow at sunset. When I have the map, your friend
will be returned unharmed. If I do not receive the map by
sunset, your friend’s blood is on your hands.
—Father Jackal
We quickly remember that it was Father Jackal that Haleen was indebted to. We resolve to immediately seek out Kazim to report all this to her.
As I get the last of my armor on, Kazim actually shows up. This will save us a lot of time! She quickly strides to the center of the parlor and says,
worst of men’s natures to rise. What we have seen here tonight is proof of that.
“While the city respects the value of an individual’s property, and theft violates the highest laws of the land, inciting riots and disrupting trade is equally offensive to our codes, and you currently walk a fine line in that regard.
“Know that several parties have come to the Pactmasters and demanded that the city force you to relinquish control of the Scroll of Kakishon to the highest bidder. Specifically, the One Source Merchants’ Guild is threatening a trade embargo if they are not allowed the opportunity to bid for the map. Though you are the rightful owner and cannot be forced to sell, they therefore ask you to choose a buyer within the next day or else leave the city. It is one thing to hold out on a trade for the best price, but another to hold out so long that our merchants lose sight of their civility.
“You have but one other option. If you can find out who perpetrated this crime against you and the master of this house, and if you can bring me proof that the situation has been resolved before the time limit elapses, both the church and the Pactmasters will be appreciative of your efforts and turn deaf ears to the complaints of a few jealous merchants.”
Even after we show her the note and the prisoner, she is still indifferent. She departs just as hastily as she came. It seems our options are to leave town, sell the scroll, or solve the crime. We decide to solve the crime. Since she wanted no part of our prisoner we decide to interrogate him, in other words, Aemon will read his thoughts. We mention Father Jackal and his thoughts tell us that Father Jackal is the leader of the One Source Guild and they operate out of a warehouse downtown. He also tells us there is a trap door in the office that leads down. Maybe to the lair that was mentioned in the note? The thug is not part of the inner circle and does not provide any further information. We quickly make up our plans. We will rest the remainder of the night. Aemon will spend the morning learning a new spell that will help us tackle Father Jackal’s lair which we will hit about noon tomorrow.
We each fall fitfully to sleep, knowing that the fate of Kakishon and possibly all of Katapesh rest in our hands.
A legacy of fire campaign journal! Yey.
I read until the part you met Xulthos and enjoyed it a lot.
One question:
How hard did the battle with Xulthos seem? I am kinda worried about him tpking my players. Its seems that Ella removed yours and Santrins confusion by shaking you up. This makes me believe that maybe I should help my players someway when they face him.
Two nitpicks:
Its kinda funny you fought cloackers instead of chokers in the shrine of Nethys, cause they kinda sound the same :P. I suppose chokers would have been kinda easy and since the weretiger was captured there should be sth more challenging.
DM posting here,
Searok, aka Briccone, aka real name = Rich, is the person playing Saharan in the campaign.
To answer your questions however,
Xulthos opened the combat with Hypnotic Pattern (not confusion), which "Fascinates" the character, but per the PRD "A fascinated creature's ally may shake it free of the spell as a standard action." (*1)
If Ella had not broken Santrin and Saharan out of the Fascinate it would possibly have been a TPK.
Cloakers vs chokers, I sometimes change stuff in the module to fit my idea of what it should be, especially in the added set pieces, and this set piece I modified a lot.
-- david
Papa.DRB
(*1) To help your players, be descriptive. I said something like, "you are fascinated by the patterns that the creature is emitting". One of my players, Bob, who only plays spellcasters, picked up on this and told Ella to shake them out of it.
A legacy of fire campaign journal! Yey.
I read until the part you met Xulthos and enjoyed it a lot.
One question:
How hard did the battle with Xulthos seem? I am kinda worried about him tpking my players. Its seems that Ella removed yours and Santrins confusion by shaking you up. This makes me believe that maybe I should help my players someway when they face him.Two nitpicks:
Its kinda funny you fought cloackers instead of chokers in the shrine of Nethys, cause they kinda sound the same :P. I suppose chokers would have been kinda easy and since the weretiger was captured there should be sth more challenging.
Makes sense, I had no idea that you could remove fascination this way (I also had never looked at the hypnotic pattern spell so I had no idea they were fascinated).
That said in the description it seems that Santrin failed his will save against the drone aura and then Saharan his against the hypnotic pattern.
And hypnotic pattern is one of Xulthos abilities I am not worried about. I am mostly worried about his full attack and the drone aura, which are quite dangerous in 3.5.
Also, are you planning on running the Jackals Price added set piece? It seems pretty interesting...
That session was 4 months ago, man I'm lucky if I remember my name from day to day... ( lol ).
The campaign is near the end of Chapter 3. If you have questions, email me at: papa_drb@yahoo.com and we can discuss it. I'd like to keep this thread for Saharan's Journals.
Session Date: 05/24/10
Day 73
Level 8
We awake to discover that Brandan has decided to leave town instead of taking on the One Source Merchants. It is a pity since he seemed to have some potential. As much as we would like to find a replacement for Brandan, we realize that time is of the essence. First thing in the morning, Aemon speaks to Rayhan’s familiar. The raven tells Aemon that he no longer has a link to Rayhan. Aemon asks the bird if he would like to accompany us to the warehouse to see if the link can be reestablished. We don’t want to barge into one of the most powerful merchant’s guild headquarters without some sort of confirmation that Rayhan is being held captive inside. After Aemon prepares all his spells, we depart for the warehouse. We first stop off at the temple of Serenrae to offer a quick prayer and drop our prisoner off to begin his redemption. As we approach the warehouse, Rayhan’s familiar tells Aemon that Rayhan is sleeping somewhere close by. We think that it is magically induced spell. That is about as close to the warehouse as the raven wants to get and he returns home.
Scouting out the warehouse, we see slaves unloading wagons in the front of the building. We also see someone watching the slaves with a scowl on his face. I detect an evil aura on the guards, but not on the guy watching the guards. We continue to look for any entryway that will lead us to Maysom Fajr’s office, since that is the office that our prisoner indicated has the trap door under a rug. We find a door we believe is to the offices, however, it is locked. Knocking on the door brings no response. We are strategizing on how to open the door when the scowling stranger suddenly appears. He tells us that he could not help but overhear about our plans to enter the building. This is a surprise to us since we never saw him approach us and, we didn’t think we were speaking that loud. He asks if we are going to free the slaves. Abbas tells him that Serenrae’s justice will be meted out to all who do evil to others and we are sympathetic since we have a friend being held inside against his will. The stranger tells us that he is interested in freeing someone he knows who he believes to be a slave. Since it looks like we share a common goal and have a common enemy, He offers to open the door if we are interested. Since our only option was to break the door down and let all of the guild know that we are here, we readily accept his offer. He introduces himself as Blueheart and quickly gets to work. In mere seconds the door is unlocked. He hears a woman behind the door tell her unseen companions to keep a sharp lookout as the ones that Father Jackal told them about were just seen outside. Looks like our arrival did not go undetected. Aemon detects thoughts behind the door as well and confirms there are several life forms behind it. As we open the door, the room is empty however, so we go to the next one. After several empty rooms, and with Aemon using his detect thoughts to guide us, we reach a room with occupants.
We see a woman and two cockatrices. She says that we must be the ones that the Father told us about. She looks at her creatures and simply says, “Attack!”. The Cockatrices attack me, but miss. I hit the cockatrice in front of me telling the woman to surrender and seek redemption or face death. Aemon tries to charm the woman but is unsuccessful. Abbas shoots a fire bolt but misses. Blueheart hits the same cockatrice that I had hit, wounding it some more. The cockatrice bites me, but luckily, I don’t turn to stone. The woman tries to blind me but fails. Blueheart yells for me to flank, which I do. I kill the now distracted cockatrice and step up to the woman. Abbas casts silence into the room, so that should put an end to her spellcasting. Blueheart moves adroitly next to the lady. The cockatrice snaps at Blueheart but misses. The woman, who we assume to be Maysom Fajr holds something out and begins casting a spell. She suddenly turns gaseous and disappears down into the floor. I really slash the remaining cockatrice with Tempest and Blueheart finishes it off.
We see a rug in this room and sure enough, under the rug is a trapdoor. Looks like we found the entrance to Father Jackal’s lair! We come to a room with three gargoyles prostrated in front of a huge statue. I cautiously approach the gargoyles expecting any moment that they will come “alive”. Sure enough as we get closer they do. Abbas goes up to one takes a swing, but misses. I score a hit on one of the gargoyles. Abbas is hit by the gargoyle he missed. Blueheart also hits the one that I hit. Abbas and I both score hits on our opponents. One of the gargoyles hits Blueheart and the other hits me. Blueheart scores a hit in return. Abbas damages the gargoyle he is facing off with. I put one down, just as Blueheart gets hit by one. Blueheart tumbles behind the one that I am attacking but misses. Abbas begins to flank, but he also misses. I hit the one Blueheart and I are flanking and causes it some pain. Blueheart takes another hit, but retaliates with a hit of his own. That causes the gargoyle to fall to the ground in pieces. Abbas casts a healing burst and we all feel better. I smack the remaining gargoyle with Tempest. The gargoyle misses Blueheart and he retaliates by killing it.
Looks like we have met the first of Father’s Jackal’s defenses!
Session Date: 05/31/10
Day 73
Level 8
We come to one room with an open sarcophagi and no corpse. There is an inscription which Aemon translates as “Nubkaura Inyotef VII, the Faithful Father”. We begin to wonder if Father Jackal and Nubkaura are one in the same.
We come to a room that open up to the shores of an underground lake. Blueheart spots a Sahuagin’s head poking out of the water. It quickly disappears and after a few tense moments no other heads pop up. We quickly traverse the shore without incident.
We come to a door where Aemon detects eleven separate thoughts behind. We open the door and sure enough, there are eleven beings in the room: three ghouls, six human cultist/henchmen. One human in full plate holding, not surprisingly, a big ax, and our “friend” Tamir! The fighter-cleric casts a paralyzing spell on Blueheart and he doesn’t seem to be moving. I cast bless and charge to the ghouls. Abbas casts a burst of positive energy which the ghouls really do not like. Tamir orders me to freeze, but due to the spell immunity spell that Abbas casted on me earlier, I am not affected. Hoss moves up and also channels positive energy which causes two of the ghouls to fall to the floor. The cultist-henchmen surround me and begin an attack. Only one of them hits me, however, but it is a little less than a scratch. One of the henchmen really hits the frozen Blueheart. The fighter-cleric, Khair al Din by name, casts a spell and a huge ax appears next to me. The ax slashes viciously across me. I take out the last remaining ghoul, and attack one of the henchmen. Abbas casts a remove paralysis on Blueheart. Tamir takes a wand and casts a fire spell at me, luckily I have my ring and it does not burn me as much as it should. Blueheart can now move and attacks the cultist in front of him. Aemon casts charm person on one of the cultists, but it looks like he is not affected. All of the henchmen swing at me but all of them miss. The floating ax attacks again and I am hurt. Khair moves up and hurts me with his actual ax. I retaliate by smiting him and I take a huge chunk out of him. Abbas casts a fireball near me. Since he cast a spell immunity against fireballs on me, I am immune from the flames. Luckily the henchmen-cultists are not as lucky. Blueheart flanks with me and kills the henchman between us. Aemon casts a fireball to complement Abbas’ one. He kills all the henchmen that Abbas’ didn’t kill-including Khair. I lay hands on myself to heal some of my wounds and I start heading to Tamir. Hoss kills the last remaining henchman leaving Tamir as the last bad guy still standing. Abbas casts dimensional anchor on Tamir. The little guy won’t get away this time! Tamir casts a spell but loses it. Blueheart really stabs Tamir and he falls to the floor dead.
We cross a bridge and Blueheart notices a glowing sword in the water. Abbas detects an illusion aura on it. Believing it is a trap, and not wanting to use resources battling Sahuagin who might have put it down there, we ignore it and move on. We come to a locked room and Aemon detects sleeping thoughts. We assume that since Rayhan’s familiar told us Rayhan is sleeping that this is Rayhan’s prison. Blueheart makes quick work of the locks only to come to another locked room. Again these locks are not difficult to Blueheart and in a jiffy, the door opens. There are three grates in the floor with Rayhan locked under one. Blueheart opens the grate with little difficulty. We help Rayhan out and he is barely alive. Abbas goes to work with his healing magic and soon Rayhan is able to stand. He tells us that Father Jackal intends to sell the scroll to the captain of the Sunset, which is a ship that comes to Katapesh every seven years comes from the Leng plane. Rayhan asks for a component pouch to join in the fray. We gladly offer the pouch of the late Tamir and are on our way.
The only thing left to do is find Father Jackal before the Pactmaster’s deadline runs out!
Session Date: 06/07/10
Day 73
Level 8
Rayhan tells us that there is a room that leads to a temple in the south that has three doors, one that leads to living quarters, another that leads to the temple, and he is unsure where the last one leads to. We open the door to the room and see four statues of jackals. We step into the room and nothing moves. We keep a wary eye on the statues as we move to the door to the living quarters.
We open the door and see a being who looks like he is asleep. As we step into the room, his eyes open and he says to us in a deep voice,
Scroll of Kakishon to him? What do you imagine the jackal would do if he were to learn that what I truly wanted was his humiliation and defeat—that I gave to him two impossible tasks so that when I returned he would be ruined with the shame? You fleshy fools are so much more useful to me when your own minds break your spirits before I tend to more… visceral pursuits.”
He also tells us that he is the Captain of the Sunset, and he will gladly take Father Jackal, alive or dead, with him to the Leng plane along with something called the Rough Seed. He says that the Rough Seed will greatly aid in our fight with Father Jackal, who he indicates is a werejackal. He has a potion that will turn the Seed to our side if we agree. I detect evil on the Captain, but I know that Father Jackal running around Katapesh is more of a danger to the city. After obtaining a promise from the Captain that once he has Father Jackal and the Seed he will leave for his own plane, we reluctantly agree to his terms. The Captain hands Abbas the vial and tells us that Father Jackal is in the temple and the seed is in the opposite room.
We re-cross the room to the opposite door and after opening it, we enter a cavern. We proceed about 40 feet until we see a creature floating in the air. After Aemon tries unsuccessfully to use his mage hand spell to deliver the vial to the creature, Blueheart casts true strike and throws the vial. He scores a direct hit and the vial shatters. The seed shudders and reverses course.
We follow it to the temple area. There awaiting us is Father Jackal in his werejackal form, the woman we fought earlier, Maysom Fajr, and a mummy, who we assume is Nubkaura . The seed stops right in front of Father Jackal. I start a smite against Father Jackal and follow the seed. Father Jackal and the mummy attack the seed but miss. Abbas casts a spiritual hammer. Rayhan and Aemon both summon lions to appear shortly. The seed totally engulfs Father Jackal taking him out of the fight. I smite the mummy and move right up to it. Blueheart casts a disrupt undead on the mummy and causes the mummy some discomfort. The mummy takes a swing at me and I am hurt. Maysom casts a spell on Blueheart and says that I am the enemy. Abbas channels positive energy at the mummy and hits Maysom with the spiritual hammer. Two lions appear, however, both lions are afraid of the mummy and retreat. Aemon casts a fire sphere on Maysom burning her. I slice the mummy in half and it crumples to the floor. Blueheart stabs me in the back, but luckily it is nothing more than a scratch. She casts a spell and tells me to fall down laughing which I feel compelled to do. Abbas casts a dispel magic on Blueheart and the murderous look in his eyes change from me to Maysom. Rayhan casts magic missile out of his wand to target Maysom. Since the mummy is dead, Rayhan’s lions charge Maysom and rip her apart. The seed is still digesting Father Jackal, regurgitating all indigestible items.
At this time the Captain strides into the temple and looks around. He gives Abbas a red pouch and says,
He touches the seed and disappears. I for one am glad to be out of his evil presence.
We have not forgotten Blueheart’s friend and upon reaching the main floor of the warehouse, we discover that most of the guards have fled and the slaves are confused. Rayhan informs us that the slaves will revert to the city. We offer to buy the freedom of any who want it. Some accept our offer, but others, having no other alternatives in their lives, decide the city would be acceptable masters. Blueheart’s friend is one who accepts our offer. With his objective complete, we ask Blueheart if he would like to accompany us to Kakishon. Seeing the amount of loot we just accumulated, he readily agrees.
We gather our loot and head immediately to see Kazim since our deadline is fast approaching. She seems pleased with the outcome and tells us that we can stay in town. She also cautions us that if we have no intention of selling the scroll to let the other interested parties know. We also tell her about the Sahuagin and she immediately orders the city guard to take care of the problem. Apparently the One Source Guild was suspected of smuggling and the Sahuagin is the last piece of the puzzle. Can’t have anything affect trade unfairly after all.
Day 74 – 76
Level 9
We spend the time in town selling our loot and outfitting ourselves for Kakishon. Aemon spends some time with Rayhan learning spells that will helpful in our future endeavor.
We know that once Rayhan has figured out how to enter Kakishon, our time in the material plane might be short and infrequent for the foreseeable future.
Session Date: 06/14/10
Day 76
Level 9
Rayhan finally figures out the scroll before we all turn in for the night. He says that we will have to gather around the scroll. He will then cast a couple of spells and name all the islands on the scroll. As he names the islands, we will start to be transported to Kakishon. He also identified the ruby tuning fork that the Captain had given to Abbas. He said that the tuning fork is tuned to the material plane, however, he cautions only the scroll can be used to get in and out of Kakishon. We turn in for what will be for all of us a fitful night of sleep.
Day 77
Level 9
We gather around the scroll and Rayhan starts to name the islands. We are engulfed in fire and feel horrible pain. Fiery figures mock us as we fall in a vortex of fire, especially a huge, horned efreet who seems to be traveling up as we continue down. We think it is Jhavhul and he bows mockingly as we pass him. We arrive at a sandy beach with no sign of the fiery vortex. We quickly notice that Rayhan and the scroll are both missing and realize now we are going to be here for awhile. We see a pier and hut on the beach, but other than that this place looks deserted. Hoss summons an eagle and it doesn’t stay as long as it should and it was more difficult to summon. We wonder what other spells might be affected on this plane.
Aemon reminds us that the efreet army tried to capture the region of Katapash, but was defeated by the Five Templars. Aemon makes the wry observation that we probably let Jhavhul out of whatever prison contained him and that prison was this plane.
Suddenly a six-headed hydra rises out of the water and starts moving towards the group. I move to the shore and await the attack. The creature tries to bite me with all its heads, but misses. Abbas uses his bag of tricks to summon a tiger, but it doesn’t seem to work. Aemon casts a fireball on the hydra and it is singed. I stab the Hydra with Tempest while Blueheart also stabs the beast. Three of the heads miss me, but the other three heads tear into Blueheart. Abbas casts a firebolt at the creature but misses. Aemon’s fireball continues to burn it as I shove Tempest into its heart.
We make our way to the hut and on our way, he see a huge turtle coming towards us. Aemon detects that this is an intelligent creature. Aemon greets it and the turtle looks at all of us then coughs up a scroll tube and a small blue egg with brown speckles and returns to the water. Aemon takes a parchment and reads it:
Greetings and welcome, brave hunters, to the Serpent Isles. Here you will find a hunt to satisfy your thirst for challenge, danger, and adventure, a tale to be told as you relax at the Pleasure Palace. Your task is simple: you must hunt down the Golden Ram and take its horn. There are many challenges to be faced on these islands, but only by sounding the ram’s horn can you call back the ship that will bear thee hence. Do not think to cheat the hunt, as the Golden Ram is under my protection; this is a test of skill and skill alone, of courage and cunning, not raw power. One ram’s horn you must sound and present to the boatman to gain passage. The other horn is yours to keep, as a trophy and reward for your daring. May Fate smile upon you and guide your aim.” The Imprisoner is gone now. But his world remains. A world we created. You have only just arrived but we must know if you are ally or enemy, capable or inept. Complete the Imprisoner’s task and we shall have a greater one for you, one to help fulfill your heart’s desire. Give this egg to the boatman, and he will bring you directly to us. We have much to discuss.”
We walk up to the stone hut and notice that the end of the pier looks like it has been burned away, maybe by one of the fire beings or by Jhavhul himself. There are three basins in the hut, one will create water, the other for food, and the last creates items. As Abbas operates the last basin, a bedroll appears.
We decide to walk up the beach looking for ram tracks, and we really wish we knew a ranger right about now. After a couple of hours we come to some broken down huts. As we get closer we see that they are occupied by gnolls. Realizing that we might need allies, we try to see if they would like to parlay. As they get closer, we see that they are in poor shape. Their armor is dented and their weapons are old-looking. They ask us where the fire things are and we tell them that the fire beings are far away thanks to us. They look at us with respect. We ask them about a golden ram, and they tell us it is a huge shiny thing that breaths smoke. They have not been able catch it, although they have tried for a long time. They tell us there are hydras, big snakes, and strange things like the fire beings but not quite on the island. We tell them we have already taken care of a hydra and the respect grows. The bad fire beings used them and their ancestors as servants, but not any longer. Could they be descendants of the remnants of Jhavhul’s army? They do not worship any deity, and I do not detect evil. Abbas and I both think we might have found converts to Serenrae! They lend us two of the best trackers Oswy and Osfrid, and we continue the hunt. We explore a little longer and our gnoll trackers find a track. The gnolls tell us it looks like the ram had been here about a week previous. We make camp and rest for the night.
Day 78 – 84
We track the ram and feel like we are closing the gap. Abbas casts some mending spells on the arms and armor telling them that Serenrae grants him such power. Each day the gnolls become more interested in Serenrae and Abbas fulfills his priestly duties with instruction in her glorious ways. One day our gnoll guides discover they can cast spells – ranger spells! They find some fresh tracks as a large ram stumbles out of the underbrush 60 feet in front of us. Abbas tries to call out a greeting, while Aemon casts fly on himself. The ram stampedes Oswy and then turns around. Abbas casts a healing burst to heal our gnoll friend. Aemon casts some black tentacles but the ram doesn’t seem to be hindered. The ram breaths a 60 foot cone that causes Osfrid, Hoss and Aemon to turn to gold! The Oswy regains his footing and charges up to the ram. I and Blueheart both hit the ram with our weapons while Abbas casts a fireball on it. The ram tries to gore me but misses, and I in turn hit it with Tempest. The Oswy misses with his attack. Blueheart gets behind the ram and delivers a severe slice across its flank. Abbas casts a flame strike on the creature which causes to fall over and dissipate into golden dust, plates with magic writing on them and two golden horns. After a few moments our golden comrades return to their living form and we laugh on how we were thinking of selling them in the market of Katapash.
All joking aside, we know that we must find a way to leave this plane and undo any damage we have done by freeing Jhavhul.
Session Date: 06/21/10
Day 85-86
Level 9
We spend these days traveling back to the gnoll village. Aemon figures the horn has two purposes. One purpose creates stone skin to whoever drinks out of it. The other purpose is if it is poured over or drank from by someone under an enchantment it will break the enchantment. It has five charges of each spell remaining.
Day 87
Level 9
We reach the gnoll village late in the afternoon. All the other gnolls are impressed with Oswy and Osfrid’s “new” armor. With the game we have hunted in the past few days, we have enough to have quite a feast. We rest for the night at the gnoll camp knowing at first light we will head out for the pier.
Day 88
Level 9
At mid-afternoon we reach the pier. We blow the horn and wait about an hour and a half until we see a boat approach. A large construct is standing where the helmsmen would normally be and we assume that this is the boatsman. We present the egg to him which he absorbs into himself and he turns the boat to the open sea. The oars are rowing, but there is no one rowing them. The construct says nary a word to any of us and his face is without features. Since we will not be able to get any information or conversation from him, we all rest on the top deck. About four hours later it is late afternoon and since we seem to be no closer to our destination, we turn in for the night.
Day 89
Level 9
This morning when we awake, the ambient light is distorted as if there was a veil of darkness filtering it out and sound becomes muted. The ship is picking up speed and the sea is rougher. We quickly tie ourselves to the rails. A few moments later the water ends and the boat teeters on an edge of a waterfall. As the boat goes over the waterfall, we are bounced around quite a bit receiving some bruising. We finally come to rest in a small lake of mist. After about thirty minutes of easy travel the boat comes to a rest in a small cove. As step onto the ground, it is spongy and difficult to traverse. We assume that we are to head to the only thing we see in the immediate area - a cave. We feel as we approach the cave like a spell has been cast at us, but we are unsure of what it is. The interior of this cave is dizzying and Aemon is affected.
As we travel on, we hear a female voice bidding us to come forward to speak. We do not see the source of the voice so we continue. We finally come to a large chamber with a large green pool in the middle. We see a male elf and a female elf. The female elf looks at us and says,
much for conversation but watches over my safety. Come, let us sit together. We have so
much to discuss.”
We assume that Chinoy is the male elf that continues to glare at us. We take a seat at table as she continues speaking. She says that she and her band are proteans which are extra-planar shape changers who are chaotic in nature. They were enslaved by Nex to create this area and instead of releasing them, he imprisoned them. A wizard from our world, Andrathi, imprisoned the efreet here as well. The imprisonment of the efreet weakened the protean’s prison but not enough to free them and caused their leader, Thaiyanathan to go insane. They keep Thaiyanathan in a closed cave on this island, the island of Not. The successor, a protean by the name of Magiyawalla was captured by a shaitan named Obherak. Obherak is holding Magiyawalla on Khandelwal Island. She would like us to save him.
The proteans also want to leave this plane and return to their own plane. She says that she will also get us back to our plane as well. The only thing is that if they leave this plane, the plane will most likely be destroyed. We ask her if we can take our new gnoll friends with us when we leave, and she says they will take as many as they can. We are not too happy about that, but it sounds good for now until we can figure out a way to save all of them. In order to be able to leave, we must kill as many shaitan as possible since the shaitan want to rule this plane and do not want to leave. Again this part of the plan makes us uncomfortable, but until we can come up with a better one, this is all we have.
She tells us the pool will transport us back to a pier and a hut, called a way station, on Kakishon. Each island has a pier and a hut and from there we can call the galley using a charm that she gives us. We can then go to any of the islands.
She tells us how the wizard Andrathi trapped Jhaval on this plane. Jhaval found him and killed him on the island now known as the Isle of the Dead. Lahapraset tells us we might find more information there along with Andrathi’s ghost. She also says that we might find out even more information by visiting the ruins of the pleasure palace. There is a band of shaitan there under the leadership of Dilix Mahad.
We ask how we can contact Lahapraset and she says that they can only transport out of the cave for only a few moments at a time, but she will try to keep track of our progress. We step into the pool and in an instant we are at the way station. We see plumes of smoke to the north and assume that is where the ruins of the pleasure palace are. We set off in the direction of the smoke.
Day 90 – 91
Level 9
We trek to the smoke without encountering any Hydras or golden rams.
Day 92
Level 9
We arrive at the ruins of the pleasure palace at the end of the night. All that remains is a huge brass dome. We see a woman and four genies approach us. She asks if we want to see her master. We tell her that if her leader is Dilix Mahad then of course. We enter the dome and are introduced to Dilix Mahad. She says she has been tracking our progress. It seems like everyone is tracking our progress! We ask her about Obherak and she says she doesn’t like him and while she wouldn’t mind ruling the plane, but she doesn’t want to be ruled by Obherak. She also wouldn’t mind returning to the earth plane either.
We ask her what she thinks Jhavhul’s plans are on the material plane. She says he wants to awaken Xotani the fire bleeder as it is the spawn of Rovagug. Before she continues she wants a magic item. We give her a ring of protection and that seems to satisfy her for now. She continues by saying she was Jhavhul’s servant on the material plane. She was a guard at the House of the Beast and Jhavhul was looking for something called Xotani’s grave. We ask her where the grave is and she says how much she likes the ring. We give her a brooch of shielding and she really likes that. She continues by saying it is not in the House of the Beast, but it is nearby. Jhavhul was obsessed with becoming the most powerful efreet in the city of brass and Xotani would help him achieve that end. He was getting close to finding it before being imprisoned. He wants to become one with Xotani. Once he is one with it, he will destroy most of the region. She said the scroll that we had would have been taken to his home plane and stored in his palace. If Jhavhul materialized when we disappeared, then that might not have boded well for Rayhan.
She recommends that we seek out Artel, the azer smith, on the island of Salenax. Artel is not a friend of Jhavhul and might give us advice or a gift if we give him some flint from the top of the Black Spire in Khosravi.
She also recommends visiting the Isle of the Dead and see if we might communicate with the spirit of Andrathi. He might be able to help us find a way to escape Kakishon on our own. If Andrathi can tell us how to escape with our all of our gnoll friends that might prove to be the better way than Lahapraset’s plan. She cautions that the proteans are chaotic and they will have no problem destroying this plane. She makes the last comment in my direction and I feel the heavy weight of conscience. If Jhavhul becomes one with the spawn, then the material plane is at risk, but if our haste to leave this plane causes its destruction to it and its inhabitants then are we any better? She gives me a charm which allows us to call upon her aid only once. We ask if we can camp the night and are accommodated.
We know that we have some big decisions to make in the morning.
Session Date: 07/19/10
Day 93
Level 9
We wake up in the morning and decide to go to the Isle of the Dead to see Andrathi, then go get the Crystal from the Black Spire on Khosravi to give it to Artel the Azer smith on Salenax, then finally see Obherak. We spend an uneventful day traveling. During the day Aemon and Abbas summon fire elementals to tell them about Jhavul’s plan to take over the City of Brass. They greet the news with a mixture of contempt and apathy.
Day 94
Level 9
We arrive at the way station late in the day and figure we can sleep for the night on the boat. We use our charm to summon the boat, tell the construct where we want to go and settle in for the night.
Day 95-96
Level 9
We spend a few uneventful days on the boat. Aemon and Abbas continue to summon fire elementals, and get the same reactions.
Day 97
Level 9
This morning we awake after having strange dreams, actually all except Blueheart who slept right through the night. In my dream I am wandering around dead trees. The others had the same dream, only they noticed a cat. The cat jumped on a tombstone and continued to jump from tombstone to tombstone until they came to a sinking mausoleum. We figure this must be an indication that we are close to the Isle of the Dead, and our suspicions prove correct as we shortly make landfall. We bid our silent pilot farewell and disembark.
We start to explore the island and come to an area of dead trees-an area that looks eerily like our dreams. Sure enough we see a cat that starts to run as we approach it. We decide to follow it and sure enough, we come to a mausoleum that is sinking in the ground.
The doors to the mausoleum are ajar, and our cat-guide enters, but as we approach, they slam shut. There is a humanoid skeleton that seems to be melded to the door. Feelings of dread and despair wash over to us. A cloud-like figure materializes and asks us what we seek. I answer we seek aid in defeating Jhavhul, Aemon states we seek knowledge, and Blueheart says we want to defeat Nex’s enemies. Abbas remains silent. The cloud figure states that mine and Blueheart’s goals are worthy, but possibly unattainable. To Aemon, he cautions seeking knowledge. He then presents us a riddle in order to enter the mausoleum, which Abbas deducts. The cloud figure disappears along with the feeling of dread and despair, and the doors of the mausoleum swing open.
We enter and see the cat sitting on a sarcophagus. The cat stares at us intently as a huge, ghostly, dragon skull appears. The skull says,
died, and in his rage to be gone from this place, Jhavhul did not linger, and thus I survive to continue my duties. And Andrathi lingers here as well—he is but a memory and a shade, though, his soul having long passed on from here. Yet enough lingers to
advise me, and what lingers is curious—as am I. How is it you have come to be in Kakishon?”
We tell him the whole story and he recommends we see Artel, the azer smith, as he was creating a weapon specifically to defeat Jhavhul. He tells us that the cat is Andrathi’s familiar. We ask how the cat can still be alive, and the dragon asks us, “What makes you think it is still alive?” He confirms that the bones that are melded into the door are Andrathi’s and when we ask if they should be buried, we are told that it is not necessary. We also ask if we should aid the proteans or the shaitan. He says it does not matter. If we aid the proteans and the plane is destroyed, he will exist in the chaos until Nex creates the plane again. If we aid the shaitans then the plane might not be destroyed, but their way of leaving it might be more risky. We thank the dragon head, who Aemon suggests might be the spirit of Nex’s famed dragon mount, and make our way to the wharf. Time to get the crystal for Artel.
We summon the boat and begin our journey.
Day 98
Level 9
We spend this uneventful day traveling on the water. Aemon and Abbas summon their fire elementals and get the same response.
Day 99
Level 9
We arrive at an island with a huge black spire in the middle of it. As we get closer to the spire we notice a group of ghouls. Aemon and Abbas quickly cast fireballs which make short work of them. As we climb the spire, I notice that Tempest’s glow goes out. We seem to have entered an anti-magic area. Luckily we reach the top without incident and see six crystals embedded in the ground. We cannot extract them with our bare hands and we end up chipping them out of the ground. We leave the summit and as we pass the spot where we entered the anti-magic area, we notice that we have our magic back. Start traveling to the azer smith.
Day 100
Level 9
We trek uneventfully to the volcano where we assume Artel has made his home.
Day 101
Level 9
We reach the active volcano. Lava and ash gush forth from the opening at regular intervals. It seems the azer smith doesn’t mind the heat! We cross a bridge and come to a cavern. The heat is extreme and some of us do not take it as well. We see a huge forge in the center with a man with fiery hair working in it. He is surrounded by several fire elementals. A magma mephit familiar by the name of Farid notices us and flies over. He asks what we want from his master and we say we would like to offer him a business proposition. He is unimpressed until we show him the crystals. He immediately flies off and in a moment we face Artel, the azer smith. He is very impatient until we mention that we are going after Jhavhul. He excuses himself and returns with a fine rapier that he presents to Blueheart. He crafted this weapon specifically to defeat Jhavhul as it is a bane to outsiders. We present him with the six crystals and he says that he can make some fine weapons with it. He was unable to retrieve them himself because of the anti-magic field that surrounded them. We ask him about which side he thinks we should help out, and he is just as apathetic as Nex’s mount. Whether we help the proteans or the shaitans, he will be just fine.
We must now go to Obherak and see what his plan is to escape this plane and save our own!
Session Date: 07/26/10
Day 101-102
Level 10
We leave Artel and trek to the way-station and call the boat. The boat arrives and our guide, not surprisingly, remains silent. We tell him our destination, Magiyawalla, and away we go.
Day 103-106
Level 10
We spend the next few days sailing and like before, the trip is uneventful. We reach the island and since it is late, we camp at the way station.
Day 107-108
Level 10
We were told by Artel that Obherak lives in a dust bowl in the middle of the island. So after a quick breakfast, we trek to said dust bowl.
Day 109
Level 10
Late this night we reach the dust bowl. We camp for the night.
Day 110
Level 10
From the ridge that we camped on for the night, we see a small covered landing and a set of stairs leading down into a bowl of fine sand. We go down to the bowl and we skirt the edge heading to the platform. As we get close to the platform, a sphinx steps out from the covered platform. She says that her name is Zulfiqar and she is the queen of the place. She has an “arrangement” with Obherak. She presents us with the following riddle:
I answer correctly sand and she says we may enter.
Zulfiqar thanks Blueheart for sticking up for her. We ask the Sphinx who was that and she replies it is Iqilma, Obherak’s right-hand “man”. Obbherak does not like people and would prefer Zulifiqar keep all visitors out. We ask her if she knows Obherak’s way to leave the plane and she says it has something to do with an earth seed and only the shaitan can activate it. We also ask what the purpose of the sand bowl is for and she says it was Nex’s creation, and she doesn’t know its purpose. We ask her where Obherak is and she says there is area of the platform with a plug init that Iqilma unplugs casts a spell on the layer of earth under it and let air in. She says it is through this plug that we will find Obherak. She says it is one hundred and twenty feet to the floor. In sixty feet, we will come to a pyramid shaped opening with five foot corridors leading out of each side. There is another plug on the bottom of the floor which she says leads to Obherak. She warns us to be careful of the stone golems. Zulfiqar says that they know we are coming now as there is no doubt that Iqilma is spreading the word. Aemon casts an arcane eye down the shaft and sees a protean form embedded in a 20 by 20 block in the center of the pyramid. We know that shaitans can bull rush someone and embed them into stone. It looks like this unfortunate protean was a victim of one such attack.
Looks like we have found the missing Magiyawalla, now the question is, how do we get him out of the stone without killing him!
Session Date: 08/02/10
Day 111
Level 10
We all decide to descend into the hole except for Hoss who will remain above ground and serve as a look out. After casting a mixture of flies and levitates we head to the rock in which Magiyawalla is “entombed”. Aemon detects intelligence, but no thoughts. As we approach the rock, we see two large stone golems. Blueheart and I fly to one of the golems and engage it in combat. The golem hits Blueheart with his massive stone fists. Abbas casts a cure on the trapped protean and Aemon now detects thoughts. Blueheart swings his rapier at the golem and scores a good hit, but thinks the damage is less than what he expected. I swing with Tempest but only scratch the golem. The golem smacks Blueheart again and he looks hurt. The protean somehow gets expelled from the stone. Abbas casts a healing burst to heal Bluehearts and Magiyawalla’s wounds. Aemon casts a fly spell on the protean so he doesn’t fall to the bottom of the cavern. I chip the golem with Tempest as it hits Blueheart again. Magiyawalla disappears without saying a word. Abbas calls for a retreat, and seeing how just one golem has been seriously mauling Blueheart with only getting scratches from us; it seems like a good idea. Aemon casts a fireball at the other golem steadily approaching Blueheart and me and starts to fly up out of the cavern. Blueheart retreats and I fly after him casting a healing burst for his severe wounds as several spikes fly towards us from the golems. Four proteans appear and one of them is Lapherset! I cover the retreat by flying towards the top of the cavern. The proteans engage the golems. Abbas casts a spiritual hammer and smacks one of the golems. As we are flying out of the cavern, we see that the proteans also leave. As we are flying from the area we look behind and see several shaitan emerge from the ground shaking their fists in anger.
After we feel we have put a safe distance between us and the shaitans, we decide to make camp and call the proteans. After a few moments Lapherset appears. She thanks us for freeing Magiyawalla and that she aided us in our battle with the golems as a way of thanks. We ask if she can now return us back to our plane, but in order to do that, we will need to go back to their home on the island of Not. Her time at our location comes to an end and she disappears. We sleep uneasily on the ground half expecting shaitans to rise up under us.
Day 112
Level 10
We arrive at the pier call our silent pilot and settle in for the sailing to the Island of Not.
Day 113
Level 10
We spend an uneventful day sailing.
Day 114
Level 10
We arrive at the Island where we see Magiyawalla. He thanks us for freeing him from is stone prison and tells us that he was kept unconscious the whole time. As soon as Abbas healed him he gained consciousness and was forced from the stone. The proteans ask us to let them know when we are ready to begin the process of sending us to about where the scroll is presently located. We are a little disappointed when we realize that the scroll might not be on our home plane, but in the City of Brass. We also wonder what will happen to the gnolls we take with us when we materialize in the City of Brass.
We tell the proteans that we have much to discuss and decide before they begin the process.
|
It's good to read this, as we're about to start the End of Eternity.
I have a question for you, I hope you can help me. It's about the riddle of the sphinx.
I don't get it... How does sand tear down mountains and make blind eyes see?
-- david
Papa.DRB
DM for this campaign
ps. Been on vacation for two weeks and we missed 3 sessions. Will continue Monday 08/30/2010.
Session Date: 08/30/10
Day 115
Level 10
We prepare our spells as if we were heading to the City of Brass, just in case that is where the scroll is. We nod to the proteans that we are ready and we step into the pool. Lapherset waves her hands and we feel a vortex rush upon us, the same type of vortex we saw when we came to this plane. The proteans start laughing, and we are unsure if it is laughing with joy or if they are mocking us. We see a dwarf also in the vortex and we are unsure where he came from.
We come to rest in a room made of brass - looks like we found the City of Brass. The dwarf is just as confused as are we by his sudden appearance. He tells us that he was on his way to visiting Rayhan in Katapesh when suddenly he found himself on an island. He had been wandering the island ever since. We quickly introduce ourselves and he tells us his name is Grysingoth. We see the Scroll of Kakishon quickly consume itself in fire and is ash before we can put the fire out. Abbas gently brushes the ashes into a bag. Aemon says that we are in the city of brass and in some palace which we assume belongs to Jhavhul. We are distressed that we do not see our gnoll friends and wonder if we had been deceived by the proteans. There are four doors of fire numbered one through four and a riddle on the ceiling. The riddle is as follows:
We think it is door number one. I walk through the door and I take some magical type damage, but because of the spells that were placed on me, I do not feel the fire. The first room had a picture of a lizard with the riddle, and this room has a vulture and it also has four fire doors numbered one through four. Door one aligns with door one of the previous room. Since we still cannot figure out the riddle we decide to keep trying doors. As we go through the rooms I have a feeling we are in Bayt al-Bazan which is Jhavhul’s palace. I also have a urge to continue exploring the palace as I believe there are clues on how to defeat Jhavhul hidden about. I also feel that there is a marid trapped above us and she can become a powerful ally if we can free her. It is good to feel Serenrae’s presence once again! In a room with a scorpion on the ceiling, we see a torch with no visible source of fuel. Abbas believes it is a “fire” key. After seven rooms and much painful damage, we leave the maze of rooms. The animals on each of the seven rooms are as follows: Lizard, Vulture, Scorpion, Salamander, Dragon, Snake, and Jackal.
We come to a corridor that is forty feet long. At the end we see five azer warriors formed in a battle line. They do not charge only stand at the ready. They say their captain told them to guard against all comers. We ask them if their Captain is Jhavhul and they respond that they do not know who Jhavhul is. They answer only to their captain, Groveth. Since we seem to not be getting anywhere, we ask to see this Groveth. One of the guards scurries off to find him. A few minutes later, Groveth comes over. He is not an azer like the others and he is wearing a veil across his face. As soon as I mention that I am a Paladin of Serenrae, he pulls off his veil and gives me an “evil eye”. Serenrae is with me and I am able to shrug off the affects. I initiate a smite and head towards Groveth. Blueheart casts disrupt undead, and hurts Groveth. Abbas casts Holy Smite as Aemon starts a summons. I really hit him full the power of Serenrae flowing through me. The bogard staggers as the Dwarf finishes his miserable existence the dwarf puts him down. The azer guards do not feel the need to avenge their Captain, and become most helpful. They say that Sammadar is the head boss and he is upstairs. Sammadar is an efreet. We tell the azers they are free, but they respond they would rather wait until we defeat Sammadar. They will be hiding in a wall of fire until we return.
It’s now time to head upstairs, defeat the efreet and free the marid!
Session Date: 09/06/10
Day 115
Level 11
We climb the stairs and see an insect-like creature climb up the shaft that the stairs surround. It bites Blueheart and he is hurt. Hoss hits the creature in retaliation. Abbas casts a blade barrier across the shaft and surprisingly it does not cut the beast. Grysingoth bashes the monster with his shield and also damages the beast. I hit the creature with Tempest. Blueheart misses with his attack. Aemon casts a wall of fire, but the creature does not feel the fire. The beast stings me with its tail and it hurts. It looks like the monster is healing itself, and our only hope is that we can do more damage than it can heal. Almost to answer that, Hoss damages it again. Abbas casts a spiritual Hammer but it misses the beast. Grysingoth does a little bit of damage. I smack it again with Tempest. Blueheart starts a flanking attack but misses the overgrown insect again. Aemon casts a cone of cold at the beast, getting smacked by it in the process. It does not take any damage from the cone. The creature really smacks me again. Abbas casts a healing burst and I feel better. Grysingoth and I both hit the beast again. Blueheart is really mad that this creature has kept hitting him, and now that he is flanking, slays the Get of Iblis. Aemon casts an Arcane eye down the hundred feet to where the corpse fell and finds some magic items. His arcane eye spots a door at the top of the stairs. Since we have exhausted a lot of resources, we decide to rest for the night.
Day 116
Level 11
We wake in the morning and head up the stairs to the door that Aemon’s arcane eye saw previously. We come to a corridor with six alcoves and the body of an efreet hanging from the ceiling by its ankles. We assume that this might be the missing Sammadar. We proceed down the corridor and as we pass the alcoves we see six pedestals with empty, open treasure chests on top of them. As we approach the dead efreet, Abbas confirms that the creature is indeed dead, and was most likely bludgeoned to death. We pass by the corpse and proceed to the next room.
As soon as enter the room, we see six fire elementals closing in behind us. Apparently they were hiding in the alcoves. One of them attacks Hoss. Blueheart readies an action to attack if an elemental approaches him. Aemon casts an ice storm at the elementals, and four of them are caught in it. Grysingoth and I move into position as Abbas and Hoss both step back. Blueheart keeps an eye on our backs and thinks he sees the Marid in the next room. Grysingoth bashes the elemental with his shield slaying it. Two more elementals open a door we didn’t see and come into the room. Abbas casts a blade barrier at the elementals that are still trying to get into the room. I smack the lead elemental with Tempest. One of the newly arrived elementals hits Blueheart, and Blueheart retaliates with a withering attack that causes the elemental to “flame out”. Aemon casts a cone of cold at an elemental. Hoss tries to finish off the same elemental, but doesn’t succeed. Grysingoth puts the lead elemental down. Abbas’ blade barrier slays a few more and Abbas finishes off the last remaining elemental in the room that Hoss was unable to finish. The remaining elementals flee as I slay the last foolishly brave elemental.
We quickly heal ourselves in case the Marid is not alone and we are being set up for an ambush.
Session Date: 09/13/10
Day 116
Level 11
We decide to make sure that there is nothing following us so we check the alcoves for any secret doors. We find them and a quick check reveals nothing threatening in the rooms. We head to where Blueheart thought he saw the Marid. As we enter the room, a blue-skinned woman rises out of the fountain in the center of the room. Shazathared is her name which Aemon recognizes as one of the greatest genie story tellers who has been missing for a thousand years. There is a book called Songs of Shazathared which is attributed to her. I ask what we can do to free her and she says:
“While I know little of this palace of brass, I do know that somewhere within it lies a source of immeasurable power—a potent artifact hidden somewhere in the palace above our heads whose theft has brought down the curse that traps us all here. What it is I cannot say, other than that its presence feels like a malignant, choking algae on the surface of a spring pool. Find this source and either destroy it or have it taken from this place, and I feel that the curse upon this realm will be lifted. And with it, my prison shall be weakened. Free me, and you shall be richly rewarded and gain the eternal friendship of the Marid Court.”
We ask if the elementals gave her any trouble and she says that they actually worship her as some sort of goddess. Apparently the other elementals thought that Sammadar had gotten out of line, and was punished for it by being beaten to death. She says we can rest here at night and she can provide minor healing. She also says that she would grant me a wish. I have never been offered a wish before, so I tell her that I will think on it before I answer. We ask her if she will be alright if Jhavhul shows up, and she assures us that she will be fine. A condition of her imprisonment is that she must tell Jhavul about ten thousand tales. She still has about two thousand more to go. She tells us that in order to go up, we must go back through the maze room – a proposition none of us are looking forward to. We bid her farewell and assure her we will return hopefully shortly.
We decide to thoroughly search the rooms off of the alcoves. We go to the south room, and find not elementals, but a few items. We go to the north room and there is nothing. Looks like we have procrastinated going to the maze rooms long enough. We have to go to the treasure room and go out the other entrance. We are not looking forward to going through the maze of rooms. We painfully stumble through the maze taking much heat damage until we reach the other entrance and find a landing that overlooks a river of lava with a whirlpool in the middle. The lava enters and exits the cavern through two tunnels. We wonder how we are going to traverse the lava when Blueheart notices a brass, humanoid face in the wall. The face tells us:
We assume that this refers to the “fire” key that Abbas has been carrying. We place it in the waiting post and feel a low rumble. Ten minutes later, a large barge comes out of the lava tunnel and stops at the platform. Unlike the boat in Kakishon, this boat does not have a construct pilot. In fact, there is no one on the boat. We take the fire key out of the post and put it in the prow and the boat moves forward.
About nine minutes later, we see that we are headed to cascading waves of fire. We take shelter under the covering, but there was no need as the wall of fire splits and we safely passed through. We come into another huge chamber and come to rest at a platform. We decide to take the fire key with us and we head up some stairs. A few of us hear a rumbling in the wall. No sooner do they make their observations known when the wall moves forward. It is a gargantuan brass juggernaut! I hit the thing with tempest but it doesn’t seem to do any damage. Blueheart also hits it and he also doesn’t seem to do any damage. Grysingoth puts some scratches on it though. Hoss misses with his attack. Aemon dim doors to a place a few feet away from the beast in order to get out of the way. Abbas casts a spiritual hammer to hit the juggernaut as it continues to push Blueheart and Hoss to the edge. I cast a healing burst as Blueheart jumbles out of the way of the unrelenting thing. Grysingoth scratches it again as Hoss also moves out of the way. Aemon casts a maximized lightning bolt at it and there appears to be some damage. When the thing reaches the end of the ledge, it reverses direction and charges back to the wall. We all move out of the way with Grysingoth getting out of the way just as the juggernaut melds back into the wall. Aemon casts a parting lightning bolt at it, damaging it further. As Hoss crosses to where we all are, the wall starts to rumble again. The rumbling stops as soon as Hoss is no longer in front of it.
We come to the end of the passageway at a river of lava. There is a grate across the flow of lava. We see no ledges across from the grates and no obvious way across. Aemon casts detect secret doors and does not seem to find any. At this point we are unsure what to do. Aemon casts numerous spells at the area of the juggernaut in the wall and continues to damage it. We think there might be a secret door behind it. In the mean time, Abbas casts a bunch of protection spells on Blueheart to see if he can inspect the grates to see if the lava flow can be stemmed. He doesn’t find a way to stem the flow of the lava, but he does find a secret door on the other side, which was out of range of Aemon’s detect secret door spell. He decides to scout it out and he comes to a room with a grate in the ceiling. He does not see or hear anything. Grysingoth, standing aside the juggernaut, continues to smash it with his shield until he finally breaks it into tiny brass fragments. There is no door, secret or otherwise, behind it.
Looks like there is just one way available to us-across!
Session Date: 09/20/10
Day 117
Level 11
After resting for the night in the treasure room, we decide to cross the river of lava and explore the other side. Abbas turns us into a gaseous form so we can float across the river. Aemon casts a fly spell, and he and Hoss fly over to the other side. We open the grate and enter the room. Finding nothing, we continue on until we find a set of stairs. As we climb the stairs, a brass face appears and says:
Aemon says the Grand Sultan is the same Sultan that rules over the City of Brass and that the Impossible Eye can see across the planes. We come to a large cavern where we see a large fire. As we focus on the fire a huge boulder comes flying out and hits the wall next to us. The bolder was thrown by a fire giant. He is there with two compatriots and some hell hounds. Grysingoth insults the giant and throws a boulder-headed mace at two of the hell hounds. I move to engage one of the fire giants. The giants really don’t like Grysingoth and insult him right back. Blueheart engages one of the hell hounds as Abbas shoots a crossbow at one of the giants scoring a solid hit. Grysingoth bashes a hell hound with his shield and the hound yelps in pain. I call on Serenrae’s aid to smite one of these evil giants and really hit the foul beast with Tempest. The giants surround me and the hell hounds attack Blueheart and Grysingoth. One of the giants hits me, but the one I am smiting does not. Blueheart steps up and finishes the hell hound both him and Grysingoth have been beating on. Aemon’s bralani arrives and attacks the fire giant I am smiting. Aemon also casts chain lightning on the giants and hell hounds killing one of the hounds. Abbas casts a holy smite killing another of the hell hounds. Grysingoth moves to attack another of the giants and smashes his kneecap with his shield. I slay the giant that I was smiting and miss the giant standing next to him. The giants attack both Grysingoth and I hitting us hard. Blueheart kills the last remaining hell hound but the Bralani misses the giant. Abbas does a healing burst to help Grysingoth and me out. Grysingoth smashes the giant with his shield. I swing with Tempest but miss. The giant badly beats me into sub-consciousness while the other really hurts Grysingoth. Blueheart tumbles behind the giant and really stabs him hard in the lower part of his back. The Bralani hits the giant that knocked me down. Aemon casts a cone of cold at the giants which kills them.
After I’m healed, we begin to search the cavern. The cavern opens up to a courtyard where we see a statue of a bull on a pyramid that is bellowing and smoking. Aemon says that the statue is probably a representation of apis which is from ancient genie mythology. Aemon detects insane thoughts within the statue, and I detect evil. Blueheart finds a secret door at the bottom of the statue. An efreet drops out of the statue. He looks at me and swings hitting me. Blueheart quickly stabs the efreet and he falls to the ground dead. There is no more smoke or bellowing from the statue now. As I enter the statue, searing pain inflicts me. I quickly retreat, as we decide to leave the exploration of the statue to another time.
Abbas tries to wind walk to see if we are also trapped here. As he nears ninety feet, he suddenly finds himself down to fifty feet as if he was teleported down.
Looks like we, like all the other creatures are trapped here.
Session Date: 09/27/10
Day 118
Level 12
During the night on my watch, the wall turns into a familiar face and says,
Before I can ask him what his story is or what or who he is, the face disappears. Maybe next time he appears he will tell us. That morning I tell the group what I saw and heard and we make preparations to continue our exploration of the palace.
Abbas found a secret door the day before so we decide to see what is behind it. We see a big room with alcoves. As we are half way into the room, the ceiling starts dripping a hot liquid, burning most of us. We also don’t feel as well. We quickly exit the room and the dripping stops and the ceiling appears normal again. Abbas uses the wand of restoration and we feel better and once our burns are healed we feel back to normal. Aemon casts arcane eye and detect secret doors and sends the eye in the room where it sees a secret door. As the eye goes into the center of the room the ceiling starts dripping again. Blueheart feels that there must be a trigger that can disable it, and after a few seconds finds it. He disables the trap and we cautiously enter the room. We make it to the secret door without incident. The door opens up into a storage room, with crates that have been recently placed there. Aemon detects some magic in a crate, and it is a flask of endless water amid flasks of holy water. Aemon says that this being a fire plane, both of these items would be illegal by decree of the Grand Sultan. We spend a few minutes pondering the significance of the recently placed contraband and decide it is a question for later.
We come across three kobolds in a room and they ask if we are members of the Flickering Candle. We ask what the Flickering Candle does and they tell us they kill people. Surprisingly, I don’t detect evil even with an answer like that. They are slaves and Kabaness is their master. We ask if they are hungry and they respond that they are starving. The rags they are dressed in and the poor condition of their equipment leaves little doubt that it is true. As Hoss feeds the Kobolds a door opens and a barbed devil steps in which the kobolds recognize as “Master”. The devil runs up to me and hits me with one of his barbs and grapples me. Grysingoth runs up and bashes him with his shield. Blueheart flanks the devil taking some damage from the barbs. Abbas casts holy smite at the devil which hurts the devil and kills the kobolds. I call on Serenrae’s power to smite this evil creature and stab him with Tempest. Hoss heals himself. The devil pulls me deeper into his barbs and really hurts me. Grysingoth bashes him again with his shield. Blueheart hits him again as Abbas casts a healing spell on me and I feel better. I hit him again with Tempest. Another barbed devil blinks in. Grysingoth bashes him again while Aemon summons a dire tiger that attacks the newest devil. Blueheart stabs the devil again in a really well placed hit and the creature dies.
So much for getting more information from the Kobolds!
Session Date: 10/04/10
Day 118
Level 12
We check the room that the devil came out of to see if it had any other kobold slaves or more importantly, other devils. We see nothing but torture devices. We go to a room with bars and see a Djinn imprisoned within. Abbas speaks a greeting, but the Djinn does not respond. Aemon speaks to it in the air language but it still does not respond. Aemon tries to detect thoughts and only discerns thoughts less than an animal’s. Aemon thinks that the djinn is under the influence of the feeblemind spell. As soon as Abbas casts a heal spell the djinn seems to become coherent. Abbas repeats his greeting again, and this time the djinn responds. He says he has been here a long time although he can’t say for how long. He was with a band of djinni tracking an inter-planetary group of assassins called the flickering candle when the tables were turned. The last thing he remembers was the barbed devil coming towards him. We do not see the four other djinn he was here with, so he must be the sole survivor. We say that we are trapped on this plane and he tries to plane shift to see if he is likewise affected and realizes the truth of our statement. He says that he will accompany us as we search for the Impossible Eye.
We come to a room with an alchemy lab and see a salamander tending the simmering chemicals. He is angry that we are interrupting. Grysingoth charges up and hits the salamander with his shield knocking it prone. As the salamander gets back up, Grysingoth smacks it again. The salamander uses its spear but misses. Abbas casts divine favor on himself as Blueheart rushes up and hits the salamander. I get into position for the attack, but it is all for naught as Grysingoth again bashes the salamander and it collapses to the floor dead. We find a key on the body but we are not sure where it goes. We keep it for now just in case we find the lock later.
We explore some more and come to a room with four efreet and four kobolds cowering in the corner. I announce that I am a Paladain of Serenrae and they tell us to prepare to die. The efreet advance and strike Grysingoth and Blueheart. Abbas casts a holy smite on all four efreet. I hit the one in front of me with Tempest and Grysingoth hits the same one. Aemon casts a freezing sphere. The efreet that Grysingoth and I have been beating on falls to the ground dead, and the others are badly hurt. Two of the efreet retaliate against Aemon by each sending three scorching rays in his direction. An efreet hits Blueheart as Blueheart hits again the one that he has been attacking. That efreet is killed, however, when Abbas casts a burst against evil outsiders. I run up and plunge Tempest into the heart of one of the remaining two efreets slaying it as Grysingoth rushes up and slays the last one.
The kobolds approach us and call us masters. They tell us that those efreet were members of the flickering candle. They say that there is a big bad man in the other room and he is called Bursar. We think we already took care of Bursar upstairs, because we think he was the salamander. They say there are other efreets in another room. From their child-like descriptions we conclude that there are four efreets, three azurs and five mephitis in the room. We come to the closed door of the room that the kobolds told us the efreet group was behind. Assuming that these azurs are like their brethren we previously met and likewise want no part of this war, the djinn tries to communicate them telepathically telling them to take cover. I cast bless weapon and call on my celestial spirit as Abbas and Aemon divvy out fire protection spells. We open the door and Abbas immediately casts a blade barrier across two of the efreet. The mephitis all cast scorching rays on me. The efreets, not stupid creatures hold position instead of rushing up to where Grysingoth and I are waiting. All of them cast scorching rays on me and I can feel my fire protection spells quickly wearing off. Abbas casts a freezing sphere which kills off four of the mephitis. Hoss gives me another protection from fire since my last one wore off from all the scorching rays that have been aimed my way. Abbas also casts some fire protection on me. Aemon casts a cone of cold at the efreet and they don’t like that! They cast scorching rays at Grysingoth since they can’t seem to put me down. Abbas casts command to halt, which the efreet ignore. Aemon casts his last remaining area spell-chain lightning which kills three of the efreet. We charge the last remaining efreet and kill him.
We don’t know how many members are in this flickering candle group, but we seem to be reducing their numbers hourly.
(10/11/2010 - DM canceled)
(10/18/2010 - Saharan aka Searok aka Richie was on vacation)
Session Date: 10/18/2010
Day 118
We find treasure in the last room, but it consists of large items. Will come back when we have found the Eye and are ready to leave.
Went back upstairs since this is another dead end, stopped at the outlook into the city and saw that red dragon again. He was circling the citadel and seemed to not have a problem with the magic field that has kept us all prisoner here. We then went up to the level with the open air and ziggurat. Explored a few rooms till we ran into a barricaded door. Grysingoth and Blueheart managed to break it open, and as soon as that happened, it was raining stones, wood, and debris on us. All of us took a lot of damage.
We fought a creature that Aemon later identified as a Sepid Div, an evil outsider. He really didn't like me, and was constantly attacking me. That is ok, Saranrae protects her chosen. After a few rounds, I put a large hurt on him and he teleported out. He has to be somewhere in the citadel, but that is for another day. Searching the room we found the deed to the citadel. Aemon is seeing GP signs in his eyes, the rest of us are not sure what we will do with it.
We are low on spells, so we made our way back to the room we camped in last night and rest and recovered all spells. Back up to the ziggurat level and on to the next door.
Session Date: 10/25/2010
Day 119
Level 12
After a night’s rest, we enter a large pavilion where a darnoc sits on a throne; he looks at us and commands us to bow before the dark master of the haunted palace! I tell him I am a paladin of Sarenrae and I bow to no one except her. He says we will die then! Grysingoth and I march into the room as Blueheart and Abbas bow. He bades them to enter and calls them servents. As we are halfway through the room, Grysingoth throws a lightning bolt javelin at the darnoc, which doesn’t faze the creature at all. Aemon launches a few magic missiles but it also does not affect it. The darnoc casts a spell and a symbol appears in the air. Grysingoth starts to blame me for getting him into this and Blueheart turns and attacks Abbas. I move up to the darnoc. I feel a little shaken as I approach, but I feel Sarenrae’s guidance and move on. Grysingoth is now mad at Blueheart and charges him smacking him with his shield. Aemon, Hoss, and Abbas try to dispel the symbol, but are unable to. Blueheart shakes his fog, and moves towards the darnoc. I move up and really hit him with Tempest. The creature reaches out and tries to touch me and hurts a little. As Grysingoth comes closer to the creature, he becomes shaken. Aemon casts black tentacles at the darnoc. Abbas casts a greater dispel in order to eliminate the symbol that has affected Grysingoth and Blueheart. It must have worked since Blueheart really stabs the darnoc. I follow-up with a really good hit withTempest and it is hurt! The darnoc moves towards the corner of the room to flee our withering attacks. Grysingoth hits him with his ram ring. Aemon casts another black tentacles at the darnoc in order to keep him in place. Abbas casts a holy smite on him., as Blueheart and I move into position to attack him. He reaches out and hurts Blueheart, and as he rushes past Blueheart to escape again, Blueheart thrusts his weapon into him. Grysingoth uses a bolder-headed mace against him which causes the darnoc to dissipitate. Qilzar Agha Bagoas was the darnoc’s name.
We try to heal up, but we notice that our normal healing spells do not work against the damage we got from the darnoc. Maybe it is from a curse. We are still in the process of figuring it out when the creature appears again on the throne! He again commands us to bow before the dark master. Abbas, Aemon, Hoss and Blueheart bow down. Grysingoth and I look at him with contempt and attack him again. Grysingoth knocks him prone. Blueheart stops bowing and rushes up and attacks him. Abbas goes up and casts heal at the creature, which for undead, is most harmful. I start another smite and really stab him with Tempest. As the darnoc stands up, Blueheart, Grysingoth and I all hit him and he dissipates again. I take Tempest and start hacking away at the throne and Grysingoth prepares an action to attack anything that materializes on the throne. I hit the throne a couple of times, but I don’t see any damage. Aemon casts a lighting bolt at it and that seems to damage it. Seeing the throne damaged, Aemon casts a flaming sphere on it and the throne is destroyed. Hopefully we have seen the last of the darnoc!
A few moments later, in the spot where the throne was, the creature re-appears. Grysingoth was ready for it in case it did re-appear, and smacks it good. Abbas and Grysingoth both hit it and I start another smite against it with Tempest. The darnoc reaches out and hurts Grysingoth. Aemon tries to see what is causing this thing to reappear. Blueheart scores a solid attack and the undead creature again dissipitates.
Aemon believes that if we show the thing the deed to the palace, we should cause it to dissipitate without attacking it or having it attack us, since we are now the masters of this dark place. Sure enough as soon as the darnoc appears, Aemon shows it the deed, and sure enough, it dissipitates without trouble.
Blueheart looks behind the curtains in the room and sees three efreet deep in prayer. I walk into the room announce that I am a paladin of Sarenrae and my friends and I are the owners of the palace. They continue their prayers and after a few moments, they start laughing manically, and charge us. We quickly slay them.
We sure expended a lot of time and effort fighting the darnoc and all we have to show for our trouble are wounds that will not heal.
Session Date: 11/01/2010
Day 119
Level 12
We come to a corrider that ends in a deck overlooking a wooded area dominated by a huge tree. We head down some stairs and start making our way to the large tree when Aemon detects thoughts. Before he can shout a warning two dire tigers spring out of the brush. Grysingoth charges them and in an instant, both tigers are on him. Both of them grab hold of him and start mauling him with their claws. One of them actually grapples him with its paws. Abbas casts spiritual hammer and it hits one of the tigers. Blueheart and I get into position as Aemon starts a summons of one of his own tigers. Grysingoth tries to break free of the grapple, but is unable to and gets hit with the tiger’s claws again. The other tiger swipes at me with its claws and I feel sore where the huge claws hit my armor. Abbas’ spiritual hammer hits the tiger again twice, and Abbas casts a healing burst. Blueheart and I both really stab the tiger and it falls to the ground dead. Aemon’s tiger appears, and starts biting the other tiger, grappling it. Grysingoth cannot break free of the grapple and is really hurt by the tiger’s bite. Abbas’s spiritual hammer hits the tiger again. Abbas casts a breath of life to cure some of Grysingoth’s wounds. Blueheart and I go up and stab the tiger and we both finish it off like its companion.
We go see the princess, and she also tells us the about the dragon. She would like to find out how he is able to come and go as he pleases, but she cannot contact it. She asks if I have made a decision on my wish, and I tell her I would like to be hardier and no sooner do I speak the words and I do, in fact, feel hardier.
Day 120
Level 12
This morning Abbas casts remove curse and our bruises from the darnoc starts to heal when he casts his healing spells. We scout some empty rooms, and Aemon asks for some time to prepare some spells. He casts an arcane eye and a clairvoyance spell. He sends his arcane eye to the highest point of the palace and it sees a shimmering flicker of magic with a strong transmutation aura. Could this be the Impossible Eye? We decide to finish up the level we are on before we head to that level.
After a few empty rooms, we see stairs going down that eventually leads us to street level. We see other beings, but they pay us no heed. As we take a few steps out to the street, we are suddenly teleported back inside. Before we were magically herded back indoors, Aemon sees the red dragon. We quickly head up to one of higher levels, and luckily for Aemon, the dragon is still flying. He sends it a flattering greeting. The dragon does not repond to his entreaty. Aemon asks how we can also leave this area like the dragon. He responds curtly, “Return what was stolen!” then without another word, flies away. We assume that he means the impossible eye. Since we feel that there is nothing on the lower levels we need to worry about, we decide to head up to the higher levels.
We decide to take a short diversion to a ziggurat that we have passed by a few times. We enter it and see the walls covered with prayers to Ymeri, Jhavhul’s beloved. After a few minutes, Blueheart finds a secret door. As we ponder how to open it, our familiar wall face appears and says,
In an instant, the face disappears. It sounds like we might need the blood of a sacrifice to open the door. Aemon remembers that he has a wand of knock and after a few trigger words, the door slides open. We head down some stairs and see a head sized crystal orb. Aemon detects a strong evocation aura.
We are unsure if we have found the Impossible Eye, or something that will help us get it, but we know we have undoubtedly found something very interesting.
Session Date: 11/15/2010
Day 120
Level 12
We head up to the top level of the palace and come to a room with chairs around the shimmering field Aemon’s arcane eye saw earlier. Aemon casts a see invisible spell, but he doesn’t see any unseen occupants. As Abbas walks into the room with the orb it starts to radiate heat. Aemon does not feel the heat, since he had casted fire resistance spells on all of us a few moments before. As he continues to walk to the shimmering air, the orb and the air fuse together and lighting courses through the room. One of the bolts strike Abbas, and as he is recovering, he sees a hole in reality with a brass object in the center. Abbas reaches in and grabs the brass object. Suddenly the area where he grabbed the object from collapses. The familiar face appears and says,
“At last the prize is found. Give the glass ablutions in a dozen and one sacred draughts. While it is still wet, one must place his palms against the pane and wish for the imprisoned to be released. Then shall I be freed to remove us from this accursed place. But hurry, the window of opportunity closes quickly; the eyes of the grand vizier search you out even now.”
We think that the holy water that we found earlier will fulfil this need. Abbas casts a few protection spell, pours the holy water over the object and wishes everyone trapped in the palace to be free. As he does that the face becomes a being and demands the object. I detect evil and let the party know he is an evil being. He snorts, “Does that matter?” He looks at me and says “Weak!” and I feel a bit weaker. I also take some damage from what appears to be a magic missile. Abbas casts a dimensional anchor on him so he won’t be able to escape. Grysingoth steps up and bashes him really good. Aemon casts haste so we move a bit faster. Blueheart hits him with his rapier in a vital area. I give him a good whack with Tempest and our attacks are taking its toll. At this time the red dragon lands near the battle and says, “Ezer! Return what was stolen!” He then breaths fire on Ezer, Blueheart and Grysingoth, apparently considering Blueheart and Grysingoth collateral damage. The being slashes me with his great ax a couple of times. Abbas tries to cast a heal on me, but he is distracted before he can discharge his spell. Grysingoth hits the Ezer again. Aemon casts chain lightning, but it doesn’t seem to hurt Ezer. Blueheart again really stabs Ezer with his rapier causing him much discomfort. I cast defensivly to cure my wounds and ask Serenrae to give an Aura of Justice to my allies. The red dragon comes up and attacks Ezer again and with blood pouring from Blueheart’s wounds, Ezer collapses to the ground dead. Abbas quickly casts a heal and I feel better as we turn our attention to the dragon.
The dragon growls and says “Return what was stolen!” I tell the dragon that we want to free the captives of the palace and we were told that the impossible eye can achieve that end. He says that if we give him the object, he can present our request to the Vizier and see what he can do. We ask if he can take us to the Vizier, and he responds that he is the only one that can present the object to the Vizier as he is the only one that can come and go as he pleases. Seeing that we are out of options we hand over the object that we assume is the impossible eye. He tells us to wait here and flys away. We wonder if we have made a monumental mistake like when we freed Jhavhul. Ten minutes later we see the area around the palace start to shimmer. We see the marid appear and announce that she can now leave and she can return us to our home plane if we would like. Our djinn companion also feels that he can leave and he also offers to return us to our plane. We see the dragon returning and the marid and the djinn turn to us and ask if we are ready. We want to see what the dragon wants with us so we politely decline their offer. Not wanting to wait around in case the dragon changes his mind, the marid and djinn hastily depart. The dragon is almost surprised to see that we are still here. Blueheart reminds the dragon, Aberzjerax, that he requested we stay. He nods approvingly. He says that the Vizier is most grateful for our assistance and wanted to see what he can do for us. We ask if he knew Jhavhul and he says that he is not welcomed on this plane. We tell him what we know of Jhavhul’s plan and that once Jhavhul conquers our plane, this plane would most likely be in danger. He asks if we have the deed to the palace and we nod our assent. He tells us that it is unlawful for outsiders to own a palace on this plane. He says that the Vizer will compensate us accordingly from his treasury and return us to our plane the next day.
Hopefully we will find some items in the Vizier’s treasury to aid in our inevitable battle with Jhavhul.
Session Date: 12/06/2010
Day 121
Level 13
The next day as we try on our new gear courtesy of the Vizier’s treasury, Aberzjerax the dragon, arrives accompanied by a couple of efreet. He asks us if we will be using our own spells or do we want them to use their spells to return us to our native plane. Looks like we have worn out our welcome. We request that they use their spells to get us as close to Kelmarane as possible. Before we leave, Abbas casts wind walking, just in case we find ourselves over a body of water. Without so much as a goodbye, the efreet begin casting and in an instant we arrive back on our own plane. We figure we are about 255 miles from Kelmarane. Since we are closer to Katapesh, and are wind walking we decide to head to Katapesh and see if we can find Rayhan.
As we are wind walking to Katapesh, Tempest begins to communicate with me telepathically. It tells me that its one mission in life is to destroy Jhavhul. It will protect me from fire just like my ring currently does and will heal my most serious wounds. It will also cast bless on the party. It says that it can give other aid when we come across Jhavhul and his allies. It imparts to me that Kelmarane has fallen, but we will find an ally in Sarenrae’s monastery.
We arrive at the location where Rayhan’s house used to be, but only find a crater. We see some of Rayhan’s neighbors and they tell us that some thing took Rayhan and destroyed his compound. They believe that the Pactmasters made a deal with the thing which caused it to leave. They can not provide any additional information on what the thing was or what the Pactmaster’s deal was. We decide to talk to the Pactmasters after we do a little shopping in the marketplace. While we are in the marketplace, we are met by some clerics of Abadar. They tell us that our old friend Kazim would like to speak to us. They take us to the church and escourt us in. Kazim greets us and tells us that we freed Jhavhul and it was he that destroyed Rayhan’s complex. The Pactmasters were not happy, and made a deal for him to leave. She tells us that Jhavhul has taken over Kelmarane. The Pactmasters have written off the settlement again, but if we can reclaim the settlement, they will be pleased. Almah has either been taken prisoner or killed, and Rayhan has been taken captive. She tells us that if we decide to reclaim Kelmarane, there is a djinni princess, Nefeshti, in the monastery that will help us. This confirmed what Tempest had telepathically imparted to me. Knowing that time is growing short to thrawt Jhavhul’s plans to join with Xotani the fire bleeder and the spawn of Rovagug, we begin wind walking to Kelmarane.
As we fly over Kelamarane, we see mostly jann and gnolls in the Kelmarane. As we alit at the monastery, four veiled and impassive jann greet us. They usher us in to meet Nefeshti. We introduce ourselves as the ones who had liberated Kelmarane so many months ago. She looks in the general direction of the town and says solemnly,
recovered my wits, only to find that treacherous Davashuum has named himself Amir of Kelmarane and is now general of Jhavhul’s powerful janni army.”
“The time of the Templars of the Five Winds has passed. This is clear to me now. Yet I will not let its legacy live on in mockery and corruption. If my time is to pass, so must Davashuum. He must fall, and his master must be defeated before I can let my legacy go. I have gathered a few dozen jann to my side, and they are loyal to me, but Davashuum’s troops still greatly outnumber us. I need an advantage, something to turn the tide of battle in our favor and make up for our lack of numbers. Your arrival is a fortuitous answer to my prayers, for you have as much reason, if not more, to avenge yourselves against Jhavhul. If you would free Kelmarane and defeat Jhavhul, I would help. Do you accept my aid?”
We readily reply in the affirmative and ask if she knows the whereabouts of Rayhan and Almah. She replies that she believes Rayhan in the center tower, and Almah is being held by Jhavhul. My old friend Undrella is one of Nefeshti’s spies and is keeping an eye on Jhavhul. She said she believes Kelmarane is occupied by several hundred gnolls and several jann with janni captains. She says that in order for Jhavhul to complete the bonding, he needs a thousand wishes. He has been trading wishes and is real close to his goal. Because of all the wish magic in the area, her wishes don’t always work as expected, and that is why she is afraid to use her wishes against Jhavhul. I decide to offer some prayers to Serenrae while Aemon and Hoss decide to visit the shrine of Nethys. As they wind walk over the shrine they see that it too is occupied by Jhavhul’s army. We ask her what she thinks would be a good plan of attack and she recommends that we attack four areas all on the same day. She feels this will disrupt Jhavhul’s patrols. She cannot stress enough that unless we do all on the same day, then our chance of success decreases. She feels that it is best if defeat the garrison of the North Bridge first as this will not allow Jhavhul to send reinforcements into the town on the most direct route. She tells us that there are spider-like retrievers in one of the other locations and jann and efreet in the other. The Sarenrae’s’ temple will be the last target. Her and her allies will engage the gnolls outside, while we take care of the gnoll war-priest inside.
Looks like we tomorrow we will fight the second battle of Kelmarane.
Session Date: 12/13/2010
Day 122
Level 13
We awake and quickly down breakfast. We know we must be victorious in all four battles on the same day so we have a lot of work to do. Nefeshti casts wind walk on us and we are off. We approach the guardpost and see a jann in the watchtower. Aemon had sent his arcane eye last night to do some scouting and had seen him and four of his companions stationed at the post. Aemon begins summoning an Archon to aid us in our upcoming battle. As he is casting, Aemon and Abbas hear voices from behind the door-looks like the janni are aware of our presence. Blueheart opens the door as Grysingoth steps in and smacks the jann that was about to open the door. One of the jann misses Grysingoth, but the other one really slices him with his scimitar. Abbas casts holy smite from one of his prayer beads. I strike one of the jann with Tempest. Aemon casts haste and his archon races to the other entrance of the guard post. Blueheart, following the archon, runs through the door and attacks a jann, really stabbing him with his rapier. Grysingoth pushes the jann that we both have been attacking back. As he falls pass me, I hit him with Tempest. Grysingoth continues to smack the other jann with a combination of his shield and kukri. The jann surround Grysingoth again and attack him with their scimitars. Abbas casts another holy smite. Tempest and I take out two jann relieving some pressure off of Grysingoth. Blueheart flanks with Grysingoth and really stabs a jann with his rapier putting another jann down. Grysingoth not to be outdone, slays two jann.
We do a quick search of the tower, and finding nothing, we wind walk to our next location. Aemon’s eye had seen two retrievers at this location the night before. Aemon summons a dire lion and casts haste. The cat pounces on a retriever and mauls it a little as both retrievers attack and quickly slay the lion. I run up and stab one of them with Tempest. Abbas casts a holy smite which seems to hurt them a little bit. Grysingoth runs up and bashes the other retriever. Blueheart moves into position. Aemon starts summoning another ally to replace the vanished dire lion. The retriever attacks me, but is having a hard time since it was blinded by Abbas holy smite attack. Even blinded it really hurts me. The other retriever, also blinded, slashes Grysingoth. I stab one of the retrievers with Tempest. Abbas casts a fireball which burns the retrievers. Grysingoth hits the one that I have been hitting and brings it to the ground. Blueheart strikes the remaining retriever. Another dire lion appears and adds in the attack of the retriever. Aemon casts a flaming sphere on the retriever, burning it a little. The retriever retailiates and another vanquished lion joins his kin. I rush up to the retriever and stab it with Tempest. Abbas casts spiritual hammer, but misses. Grysingoth gets revenge for the lions by killing the retriever.
We wind walk to the next location where Aemon’s eye told us there are five janni and an efreet. Grysingoth summons an earth elemental to attack the jann that is keeping watch on the roof of a stable. We hope that it draws the other janni out and we can surprise them. Aemon starts a summons and casts haste. The alarm is raised by the jann stationed on the roof of the building we are getting ready to storm. Grysingoth, Blueheart, Abbas, and I get into position. The bralani that Aemon summoned casts a lightning bolt which the jann on the roof easily evades. Grysingoth’s elemental battles the jann on the roof of the stable but seems to be getting the worst of the battle. Grysingoth opens the door and enters the room. The jann on the roof launches a couple of arrows at the bralani wounding him. The three janni cast spells at Grysingoth but he quickly shakes it off. Blueheart comes into the room and attacks a jann. Abbas goes to the door and commands the janni to “halt!”. I get into position and try to attack with Tempest but misses. Grysingoth moves up but misses. The earth elemental pounds the efreet on the roof of the stables, but is quickly attacked in return. Blueheart gets into flanking position and slices the jann with his rapier. Abbas casts a spell that the outsiders do not like. I plunge Tempest into one of the jann and it crumbles to the floor. Aemon casts a cone of cold at the efreet who flew next to him. The bralani fires an arrow at the wounded efreet. Hoss steps up and hits the efreet in an effort to protect Aemon. The efreet savagely slams Hoss in retaliation and fires some scorching rays at him. Grysingoth slays one of the jann, and attacks another. Blueheart flanks the jann and successfully slices him with his rapier. Abbas casts a burst against evil outsiders against the efreet. I hit a jann for a little bit of damage. Aemon and Hoss dimension door out of the range of the efreet. The efreet turns his full attention to Abbas. Grysingoth kills the last jann in the room as his elemental kills the jann that it had been batteling on the stable roof. Blueheart races to the roof of the building we are fighting in, to take out the jann sniper positioned there. I rush out and slay the efreet. A few moments later, a jann body falls from the roof and a smiling Blueheart peers over the side.
Three down and one to go!
Session Date: 12/20/2010
Day 122
Level 13
We wind walk to the temple and Aemon summons a lillend and casts haste. Since we know we are going against an evil cleric, I cast death ward on myself. We open the door and four javelins coming flying at Grysingoth and I. Grysingoth uses his bolder-headed mace to try to knock down the wall of gnolls facing us. Two gnolls are crushed, but two others remain standing. Two flamestrikes hit everyone but Grysingoth and I. Abbas casts destruction on the evil cleric which really hurts him. I announce that I will smite the evil cleric when I get to him, but first I will take care of his gnoll henchman. Hoss casts a healing burst on those that were hurt by the flamestrike. Aemon casts grasping hand on the evil cleric to keep him from his spell casting. Blueheart moves into flanking position. The gnolls swing at me but miss. The spiders come up, force the gnolls out of the way and attack me. Luckily only one of them hits me. Grysingoth advances and strikes one of the spiders. The gnoll cleric strikes the lillend, really hurting it. Abbas casts holy word which slys the two remaining gnolls. I hit the spider that Grysingoth has been batteling. Aemon casts another grasping hand since the first one failed to grapple. The lillend strikes at the cleric, but misses. Blueheart flanks with me, and really slices the spider with his rapier. One of the spiders miss me, but the other hits Grysingoth. Grysingoth really pounds the spider that we both have been attacking and slays it. The gnoll cleric kills the lillend. Abbas casts a healing burst, and it is very much welcomed. I hit the spider that I am flanking with Blueheart on. Aemon casts a freezing spere on the cleric and it freezes him a little. Blueheart plunges his rapier into the belly of the spider and it falls dead to the floor. Grysingoth moves into position next to the cleric. The cleric casts a healing spell and all his wounds disappear. Abbas casts a targeted dispel at the gnoll cleric. I move next to Grysingoth ready to strike a blow against the gnoll cleric as Aemon casts chain lightning on the cleric. Blueheart gets into position, ready for a flank. Grysingoth strikes the cleric with his shield and kukri, slaying him. As I set about destroying the repugnant alter to Rovugug in the goddesses temple, Grysingoth finds a room with Rayhan, Almah & Helene.
They tell us that they were to be sacrificed by the templar in the tower. As we are conversing with them, a bloodied Nefeshti enters the temple and relays the news that her troops were victorious. We ask the former hostages what we will find in the tower, and they tell us that there are some jann and a brass golem there with Davashuum. Aemon sends his arcane eye and sees the brass golem along with four flesh golems, eighteen janni captains, two fire elementals, a stone golem and two efreet also with Davashuum.
Tomorrow we will send him to join his fellow Templar, Kardswann!