Session Date: 01/10/2011
Day 123
Level 14
Our plan of attack is to dimension door into the room where Davashuum is and take him out. We materialize in the room, and Davashuum uses a flurry of blows against me. I retaliate by smiting him and really causing him some pain. Blueheart really stabs him with his rapier in a venerable spot. Aemon casts a barrier on the door so he does not get any reinforcements. Grysingoth also smacks him and Davashuum falls to the floor dead.
As soon as he falls, we hear Nefeshti’s forces storm the tower. We join in the fight and after a bloody morning the tower, and with it, Kelmarane is liberated. Nefeshti will let us know where Undrella’s lair is, and she will tell us what the results of her spying are.
We teleport to Katapesh to pick up some last minute supplies and then teleport to Undrella’s. She greets us warmly (well me anyways). She tells us that she saw a blue-skinned lady wizard enter Jhavhul’s lair along with some fire giants and some efreet.
We found a key on Davashuum’s body will allow us entry into Jhavhul’s chamber. Hopefully we are not too late to stop him joining with Xotani.
Session Date: 01/17/2011
Day 124
Level 15
We wake in the morning and immediately start to plan our attack. We dimension door to get to the room where we can use the bone key. We insert the key and the walls begin to shimmer with fiery energy, 10 minutes later we feel a hot blast and see a corridor. As we walk down the corridor, we feel great heat and we also feel that we have been teleported to outside the room we had entered. We come to a door that can only be opened by a fire elemental, once he hears that, Blueheart puts his hand on the door muttering that he is a fire elemental. Surprisingly, the door opens. We come to a widening part of the corridor where we see Jhavhul. He mocks us and disappears. Aemon determines that it is a permanent image spell. We come to a river of lava that is twenty feet across. Since there is no easy way to cross, we decide to wind walk over the lava.
We continue on until four rocks come hurtling towards us. They miss Grysingoth and me, and we both figure that we have found the fire giants. We see four fire giants and two large fire elementals. The elementals come right up to Grysingoth and I, and one hits Grysingoth, but the other one misses me. Undrella shoots arrows at the elemental in front of me scoring some direct hits. Blueheart hits the elemental with his rapier and the elemental definitely felt it. Abbas casts a holy smite on the four fire giants and they are not pleased. Grysingoth attacks the elemental in front of him. I channel elemental energy on both elementals and they both look pained. The elemental smacks me but Grysingoth’s miss him. Undrella hits the elemental in front of me again with a volley of arrows. Blueheart misses the elemental he has been attacking. Aemon casts black tentacles on the elementals and two fire giants but it doesn’t seem that any of them are caught in the trap. As the giants surround us and attack the party, Blueheart hits one. One of the giants hits Abbas, who, not wanting to get hit again, casts greater command on the fire giants. Grysingoth hits the elemental in front of him. I channel some more energy and the elementals are again affected. Grysingoth gets smacked by both elementals and giants. Undrella hits the elemental in front of me with some well placed arrows. Blueheart tumbles behind the elemental and scores a hit. The only fire giant that is not under Abbas’ spell tries to hit Grysingoth but misses. Abbas and Grysingoth both hit the elementals in front of them. I channel energy again and one of the elementals vanishes. The remaining fire elemental hits me. Undrella hits it in retaliation. Blueheart moves to behind one of the fire giants and really stabs him with his rapier. Abbas hits the fire giant that is next to him. Grysingoth kills one of the giants and the elemental in one savage attack. The other fire giants, still under Abbas’s command spell are no match and quickly fall.
We continue down the hallway and we come to another of those doors which Blueheart again opens. We go down the tunnel until we come to where it bends. Aemon casts a spell that will allow him to see around the corner, and he sees a blue skinned woman gathering crystals outside of a crystal hut. This must be the wizard that Undrella told us about. I feel that she should be given the opportunity to be redeemed in case she is not evil. I decide to walk around the corner and see if she is in fact redeemable. Undrella decides to accompany me while everyone else gets in position in case I am mistaken. I don’t detect evil when I see her and I feel better about my decision. When she looks at me I tell her that I am a paladin of Serenrae and my companions and I are here to send Jhavhul back to his native plane. I ask if we can have safe passage through her area here. She is puzzled by my companion and asks where my other companions are. I tell her that they are around. She then asks if by defeating Jhavhul we would destroy him. I respond if that is what it takes. I again stress that we wish her no harm, only passage through the cavern. She asks us if we defeated the fire elementals and giants and I tell her they are no more. She thinks for a moment and asks permission to get some things, she goes into her house comes out, says a command and her house shrinks. She gathers up the house and then disappears.
That is one less obstacle we have to face before our fight with Jhavhul.
Session Date: 01/24/2011
Day 124
Level 15
We approach another bend and Aemon detects beings ahead. Before he can determine anything further, he is telepathically bribed by Jhavhul. Jhavhul offers him two additional wishes if he can have his one wish. Aemon looks like he considers the offer for just a moment, but turns it down. Knowing we are about to face Jhavhul, we quickly cast some spells and turn the corner. We see Jhavhul standing in a giant skull with three efreet and a human female. They are standing on the other side of a river of lava. Two of the efreet are flying and they throw some pearls that on impact try to entrap Aemon and Undrella. Aemon casts a freezing sphere at all the efreet which causes the human female to collapse to the ground. Jhavhul retaliates by casting hail of stones. Blueheart drinks a potion of fly and attempts to fly across the river of lava; however the flying efreet intercept him. I drink a potion of fly and move to attack the efreet. Aemon casts another freezing sphere. Undrella hits an efreet with an arrow. Abbas casts a holy smite and it looks like the efreet are harmed. Grysingoth drinks a potion of fly and flanks with Blueheart on an efreet. Jhavhul advances and attacks Grysingoth really hurting him. Blueheart finds a weak spot and really stabs one of the efreets. Grysingoth gets missed, but I get slammed by the efreet. The other efreet casts storm of hail putting are compatriots still on the ground in harm’s way. I really hit Jhavhul with Tempest. Aemon casts another freezing sphere and one of the efreets drops dead. Undrella hits an efreet with a volley of arrows. Abbas casts a dimensional anchor on Jhavhul, so we can be sure he is not going to get away. Grysingoth attacks Jhavhul doing a little damage as Jhavhul hits me. Blueheart misses Jhavhul with his rapier. Since Grysingoth, Blueheart and I are concentrating on Jhavhul, that leaves the other efreets to attack Abbas and Undrella. They both easily get hit by the efreet. I miss Jhavhul heinously. Hoss channels a healing burst. Undrella kills the efreet in front of her in an amazing display of marksmanship. Abbas casts destruction on the efreet in front of him. Grysingoth hits Jhavhul again as Jhavhul hits me again. Blueheart again misses and he realizes just how tough an opponent Jhavhul is. Tempest has little problem in getting through Jhavhul’s defenses and I score a good hit. Aemon summons an air elemental and casts chain lightning. Undrella only hits with one arrow. Grysingoth misses Jhavhul and again Jhavhul really hits me. Blueheart again misses. The last efreet seeing that the tide of battle is turning against Jhavhul and himself, plane shifts out. I really hit Jhavhul again with Tempest. Aemon casts another summoning. Abbas uses his wish for a heal on me and all my many wounds from Jhavhul disappear. It is a good thing too for Jhavhul launches a savage attack against me. Grysingoth hits Jhavhul again slowly taking small chunks from him. Blueheart, frustrated, misses again, but luckily Tempest and I slash at Jhavhul again. Aemon’s summoned Tiger appears but refuses to attack Jhavhul, but his summoned air elemental hits. Aemon casts a grasping hand, but it doesn’t work. Undrella misses with a volley of arrows. Abbas casts destruction and Jhavhul is worse for wear. Grysingoth hits Jhavhul and as he crumbles to the ground, he sneers at me and says, “I’ll be back!” I tell him that I will be here. The battle is over.
The human woman turned out to be Ella. Abbas quickly casts raise dead, and the spark of life returns to her eyes. We return to Kelmarane and bask in the glory of our victory and, more importantly, take a well deserved rest.
THE END
DM here. Final post to this thread...
The group defeated Jhavul and three of his "Janiserries" in a battle that was epic. The wizard was able to do some damage with freezing sphere, but the paladin was the only one who could hit Jhavul about half the time. The dwarven fighter and the human rogue missed consistently (>90%). If the cleric had not wished the paladin back to full health (he was down to about 30 hit points) I think the party would have been TPK'ed as Jhavul did 130 points of damage to the paladin in the next round and like I said, no one was really hitting him.
Campaign started with:
Saharan - human paladin
Aemon - human wizard
Abbas - human cleric
Ella - human rogue
Nolan - human ranger (DM NPC)
and ended with:
Saharan
Aemon
Abbas
Blueheart - human rogue (new player joined about 7th? level)
Grysingoth - dwarf fighter (new player joined about 12th level)
Ella's player dropped from the group because of work issues.
Took 16 months, October 2009 through January 2011.
Had a great time, next is Kingmaker (I DM) and Serpent's Skull (Searok DM) on alternate Monday nights.
-- david
Papa.DRB