"Talk to me when you're about to celebrate 40 years of playing. Then you can gripe."
At least 1 has his 40 yr pin, I would say 2-3 are rapidly approaching it. I have been throwing dice since '82. The others are closer to my timeline than the 40 crowd except for Vexariuos. He's the young pup...runt of the litter. We corrupted him at a very young age...more like we inflicted a ripping, torn, ugly, discolored scar on his fragile psyche (giggle)! You know, the kind of life long, haunting injury Lancelot received in Excalibur, an old wound, that never REALLY heals! And the fun part is we all celebrate it as a job well done! Oh the joys of being a "responsible adult" in the presence of anothers hatchling...(giggle!) Sorry LINT!!...NOT!! 8)
I started with AD&D when in Boyscout Camp. I think I was eight at the time, which would mean I've been gaming since 1978 though for the first decade it was just me alone with gaming books and only a couple of games. :/
Rikert Krupt – Paladin of Iomedae
Following the events at the Runeforge where we enchanted our weapons and battled the animated statue of Karzoug, Xandu and Mother Not were able to find a way to magically transport us out of the Runeforge and back to Sandpoint. This required using spells which allowed us to slip through the very planes in order to escape. The end result after several magical hops was a joyous reunion with our beloved Moxie, who had found her own way through the planes and back to Sandpoint.
Our reunion was made even better by the chance to bathe, change into new clothes thoughtfully provided by Moxie, eat, and rest in a real bed. Our time in Sandpoint was shorter than we would have liked, as our duty to the quest to stop Karzoug required us to return again to the Runeforge in search of additional clues or items that may help us defeat him.
We made quick arrangements to resupply some of the smaller items that were available in Sandpoint, and then teleported back to retrieve the dragon hoard, which we brought back and stored under the glassworks with the permission of Ameiko.
We then returned again to the Runeforge to investigate the final areas that we have not explored.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
OMG OMG OMG!!! They're about to move on to Book 6!!! *squeee!!!*
And while I can admit to playing D&D in its first form in 1974 or 1975, it was only because my friend's father was an avid gamer and picked up anything "new and different", so he ran us in barely-rememebered sessions where I had no idea what I was doing.
But yeah, that picture of the boxed set is definitely what we played, and I remember how excited we were when Greyhawk and Blackmoor came out, so it's definitely around 1975.
My favorite memory is the pre-monster manual monsters that came out on colored binder paper. I had hundreds of pages of those things!
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sorry for the late post, been a smidge busy.
So they finished out the halls of greed the other evening. We started off with Grrannie stepping into G7 while in dust form and seeing a rather large demon that she instantly knew what it was.
We did a fair amount of role-play here as Zuvuzeg started off offering vast amounts of wealth and knowledge. Surprisingly the group played along although they all were waiting for Rikert to mess it up and "banish it the old fashioned way."
It took several attempts from both Friedrich and Grrannie before they succeeded on a DC 31 Dispel. Of course this was not before Xandu Dimension Hopped past the room into the hall beyond. At which point Zuvuzeg raised a clawed hand and said if hes not back in the room in a few seconds he was going to start killing people. Xandu complied. He even told them flat out if anyone attempted to go past this room into the halls beyond he was bound to prevent that from happening and he would kill everyone.
In the end he gave his second chuckle to Grrannie and told her that the great knowledge learned was the fact that he was indifferent to their actions and that great wealth laid in the room beyond. The best part was the smug look he gave Rikert as he passed by into the hall. Rikert made the Sense Motive check and was able to learn that the demon was absolutely loving the fact that the paladin was walking by and not attacking. More of a "walk of shame."
They then entered into G8 and in 1.5 rounds dropped the Mithral Mage. Not before he did an AoE Greater Dispel and dropped that damn bubble from Rikert. :) As well as spells on 3 others. Davok naming him "giant" and getting his racial bonus sealed his fate in 1 volley of arrows.
The pool though nobody really messed with except Xandu. Only Grrrannie and Davok were affected by the proximity to the pool. Grrrannie losing 5 INT, 3 WIS, and 6 CHA. Davok loosing 4, 2, and 1 respectively. Xandu on the other hand continued to make his saves, so long as he didn't roll a 1 he was good. He did, once, but rerolled from his Luck domain.
They only dipped the mithral staff once, a wand of cure something wounds twice and a wand of lighting once.
From here they did the super loot routine and then surprised me by deciding to finish out Runeforge and went into the halls of sloth.
They all shifted into gaseous form from Wind Walk and took the left side of the map up into J2 where they were then attacked by 4 "sludge critters" (name withheld to avoid meta gaming). Only Davok and Friedrich had shifted into a corporeal form and were on the ledge with the levers with most of the group while Xandu and Koriel were off checking the opposite side of the room. Following their tactics they attacked at this point. Since they were in gaseous form they opened with a Acid Fog cloud on both the platform and where Xandu and Koriel were. Acid still hurts them in this form. The remaining two jumped Davok and Friedrich. Even though Friedrich was under the effect of Fluid Form (or some such spell) it doesn't say that you are immune to grapple and so both were easily grabbed.
Eventually Friedrich went into dust form (I believe, cant remember off hand but he escaped the grapple) and got away. Davok on the other hand melted. Being in the cloud and taking constant acid damage from the slams sealed him in. The rest were taking their 5 rounds to shift out of Wind Walk to help. We ended about 4 rounds into the fight when the other two critters also unleashed their Acid Fog spells on the other platforms where the group was congregating.
This pure win of the gross factor from this wing is just awesome. The descriptions of the rooms as they entered them is just to good.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
From the diary of Kori’el Shalani, 7 Abadius:
After the silver-skinned wizard vanished, Mother Not (in dust form) moved through the door in front of us. She didn’t return immediately, so Davok stepped up and opened the door. Mother Not stood just on the other side conversing with a huge demon which I realized must be a Nalfeshnee. It was immense and horrifying, and its voice in our minds was…unsettling to say the least. It wanted out, but was bound to defend the corridor from intruders. I glanced at Rikert, assumed conflict was immanent, stepped back and cast a spell to help us in combat (Tactical Accumen). Mother Not attempted a dispel which failed, and Freiderich followed, also failing to end the spell which bound the demon in the room. Mother Not grimaced and tried again, and to everyone’s surprise (not least the demon’s), the binding ended. The demon then bowed, and gesturing at the corridor beyond the room said, “untold riches await you down that corridor.” We headed on without molestation, but I could feel Rikert’s barely controlled rage as we crossed the room.
At the far end of the corridor, we entered a room containing a pool crackling and groaning with magickal energy, and the silver mage stood on the far side. Davok entered and began shooting at him, and he responded with a dispel that affected most of us and ended a portion of our protective magicks. Mother Not moved in, and something about the pool seemed to be attempting to feed on her essence; she looked to be in considerable distress and I quickly decided not to follow. Freiderich was braver (or more foolhardy), and stepped in to throw a bomb which ended the mage’s existence.
We determined that the pool was a means of charging magickal devices, and of course Xandu had to play with it. Davok had retrieved the mage’s body, and we eventually returned to the laboratory and Freiderich and I dissected the library. Mother Not appropriated the wizard’s staff of Mithral Might, and I his Pearl of Power. We elected to rest and regain spells before we entered the Halls of Sloth, when we could have ended our involvement with this place.
I believe we are now regretting that decision. Deep in the filth-encrusted tunnels of Sloth, we have been beset by fluid creatures that seem to be made of sludge. Xandu had cast Wind Walk on us to better navigate the foul passages, but that spell is now a hindrance as we cannot cast spells to affect our attackers. They are engulfing us in clouds of acid fog; I have only caught a single glimpse of an attacker, Davok and Freiderich are stuck in a cloud at the far end of the room, though the sounds of violence there seem to have subsided…
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Rikert Krupt – Paladin of Iomedae
I followed the others in pursuit of the Mithral Mage until our progress was stopped at a large door farther into the area. Mother Not turned into a swirling dust form similar to Freidrich and moved through the crack under the door.
She was gone for longer than expected, so we opened the door. We saw her standing in front of yet another huge demon. I immediately prepared for a fight, but it seemed they were just talking. I cautiously looked at the others and found that they were all listening instead of moving to attack. I held my own attack and waited for the inevitable betrayal and sneak attack from the demon.
It never happened.
It seems that the demon only wanted to be free of this place (don't we all!) to return to its home in the planes.
They eventually reached some type of arrangement, and Mother Not was able to magically release the demon from the binding spell that held it trapped in this room. I was dubious of the entire process, but the creature kept its word and allowed us to pass unmolested. I kept my eyes on it as we moved through, and thought that I could feel its underlying contempt for me as a follower of Iomedaae.
Farther down the corridor, the lead members of the group had found the mage trapped in a room with a large pool that contained some type of magical liquid. I called on Iomedae's power to transform into the aspect of one of her angels, only to have the blessing ripped away almost instantly from me by some spell cast by the mage.
The fight ended shortly after as the mage was already wounded from our previous encounter. Xandu and some of the others began to explore the pool, but several of them quickly fled the area as something in the room seemed to rip at their very souls. Only Xandu seemed unaffected, and he spent several moments placing enchanted items in the water of the pool with mixed results.
We rested again after this encounter, and Kori'el and Freidrich spent time exploring the library and its contents.
We then chose to explore the tunnels of Sloth, and quickly found ourselves trudging through what appeared to be sewers filled with unimaginable foulness. Xandu used his powers to once again give us the ability to walk above the ground and pass through gates and other barriers in the form of mist.
As we entered a larger chamber with several levers protruding from the far wall, Davok and Freidrich moved to investigate and were soon attacked by water creatures which rose from the vile sewers and used magic and physical means to engage in combat.
Several of us were still in mist form when this happened, and spent the next moments switching back to our solid forms so we could enter the battle.
LOL. Wind Walk is a double-edged sword -- My party had 3 near-TPKS over the course of the AP: The goblin dogs in the thistle tunnels, the wing of Lust, and when they were in mist form in Book 6 and nearly walked into an extremely nasty BBEG by mistake while still in that form. 5 rounds to get back to material form while in combat is an eternity! (They got lucky and their scout rolled a higher PER than the BBEG, so they stopped before getting TPK'ed and ran away forthwith.)
Looking forward to seeing how things go tonight!
Sorry, Davok! There are costs associated with fast movement!
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
They did Wind Walk not for fast movement, but because they didn't want to get the "sewage" on them. Pheh. Some adventurers. Did Indiana Jones care about some funk, oil and bugs? Hell no! Armed with a torch he moved on, in nice shoes! Buch of divas. :)
But yes, the fact that only Richert and Davok were in "material mode" when the demons attacked is the reason for Davok's death. That aside, they are untouchable in that or in any non-corporeal form. The only they they had was Acid Fog that would hurt them. So they waited until the group split up, form included, and then made their attacks.
Koriel when she was finally in a non gaseous form was able to move forward into the acid fog, find Davoks body and dimension door back to the central runeforge area. Xandu had tried to move up and help Davok as well but was immediately grappled by one of the creatures and took a stupid amount of damage before he also blipped back to the first chamber with his Dimensional Hop. Grrrannie almost died to one when she ran off in a separate chamber and as soon as she became corporeal it attacked from the slime. I took her to 1 HP when the dust form Friedrich arrived so the creature did a Stinking Cloud. As it turns out my copy of the Core Rule Book doesn't list that as a Poison effect and Freidrich's did which he was more than happy to point out. So even though Grrrannie failed that save and was nauseated Friedrich wasn't. He then while in dust form beat the crap out of it with Force bombs until it retreated.
They managed to get away with only killing 1 of the demons, with the help from the elder water elemental. Which was a fight for the ages (/insert sarcasm here). 4 demons would average 5-10 points of damage per turn to the elemental and the elemental was doing 4d10 damage to one demon.
Rikert had turned into his über angel and went into smite mode and was unhappy when he learned he couldn't crit them. Unfortunately for me, he was also immune to acid in this form. So even though he was flying they could only do a ranged attack that would entangle and do 1d6 damage if they hit. Thankfully they were Evil so it got past Rikert's DR.
Sheldor had turned into a water elemental as well and swam up to the group to help but was prevented from entering into the main chamber and switching into a Huge water elemental. I limited him to medium moving through the waterways as a whole. His attacks couldn't get passed the general DR of the creatures and the demons retreated when they learned they were just going to die. Plenty of areas in there to hide and attack later.
Rikert tried to command the "elder" water elemental to seek out and destroy the demons. Generally not the first thing you'd want to say to a elder elemental, but it responded with, "You have no control over me," and began cleaning, futilely.
Rikert and Sheldor then thought about scouring the tunnels looking for the demons to which my inner evil GM squealed with delight. J4 would not have gone well for them. In the end they all regrouped back at J1 and said "eff this hall."
Instead they went to rest to replenish spells and cast Divination to determine if the portal in the Halls of Wrath would get them out or send them someplace bad. I came up with a quick rhyme that I thought conveyed that it was safe to use and they hemmed and hawed before using it.
At this point they will have 3 weeks downtime as they sell loot, restore lost levels with restoration, buy gear and research their trek to Xin Shalast. We are also not running the next week. Hooray for vacation!
|
|
From the diary of Kori'el Shalani:
...I felt so useless. I couldn't affect these things, whatever they were; they wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get a decent look at them, and our gaseous form from Wind Walk wasn't helping matters. I asked where Davok was, and someone shouted that he was at the end of the room near the levers. I spent the last few seconds before the spell ended getting there, and found Davok's remains in a horrific state; gathering up what I could, I Dimension Doored to the Runewell to drop him off and ran back toward the Halls of Sloth.
Back at the first chamber, I met Xandu once again. He told me that the rest were still in the main chamber, and I told him about Davok and we split up again. I did some protective spells (I did NOT want to get hit by the sludge monsters) and flew back to help however I could. Before I got to the main chamber, I found a dazed and nearly dead Mother Not at the edge of a stinking cloud, gathered her up and retreated back to the Runewell. Davok was just sitting up when we all arrived, and decided to cut our losses. Now it's back to Sandpoint to consolidate and try to locate Xin-Shalast before Karzoug completes his plan and ends our world.
Note- for the record, there was a slight error in description of the Halls of Sloth; indeed, we didn't want to get in the "poo", but we also thought that the cages at the walkway intersections blocked our path. But yes, we were almost completely hosed by our choice of transport spells.
They did Wind Walk not for fast movement, but because they didn't want to get the "sewage" on them.
And Prestidigitation is a cantrip. Shame it's not on the witch or alchemist lists... For his next Discovery, I suggest that Friedrich learn to make soap. Or Kori'el can use Prestidigitation as her unique role in the party!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Finally!!
Prior to our departure I felt a sudden urge to continue the journal I had started during my voyage to the Stone Ladies palace, only now to catalog the Rune Forge. As I am unsure whether I will be afforded another visit to the wretched ancient place I thought it prudent to make record of our endeavor and show its many dangerous beauties. I purchased a book and stylus, pigment, ink, and charcoals to better express the terrible, foreboding, awe striking ancient structures. With my knowledge of spelunking and the bits learned from local carpenters, boatwrights, and stone and metal crafters of Sandpoint over the years, I can discern dimensions and perspective in decent fashion. When all had assembled for the return trip Xandu whisked us to the standing stones at the base of the mountain with that unnerving, and thankfully accurate popping sensation. We made quick passage to the entrance and though I wished to speak with the great stone guardians at the cave mouth about their duty and to whom it was sworn I deferred to the troupe and we entered swiftly. Therein we set upon the hoard of Freezemaw…there are no words sufficient to encompass the vast enormity of the accumulated wealth of a dragon! However in said hoard is a piece or two of ancient jewelry of remarkable craftsmanship I intend to retain for myself!
We gained entry to the Rune Forge and now I can understand the similarity and difference of this travel and that experienced at the hand of the undead tailor. While this is a gentle and specific route to a destination, my experience was considerably more forceful and random…interesting! Inquiring of the Rune Forge operation the reagents required were produced. Meanwhile the troupe desired to finish the Hall we had been working to clear. I told them to continue without me and call if my presence was required. I had no worries as few truly heinous creatures lurked and those remaining we had come to agreement with. Others in the troupe questioned the soundness of my wisdom but I insisted they proceed. There is a difference of philosophy when it comes to the relationship between the troupe and their possessions and me with mine. The only one who comes close to “understanding” my connection would be Duh’rock…maybe Kori, as I have heard one sided conversations of brief nature with her black blade. But considering Kori’el’s blade is a spirit blade it goes without saying a relationship would exist!?! I have come to know the connection between a weapon and its wielder must be steadfast, respectful, and deeply emotional. I have kept this devotion a private personal matter and wish it to remain as such and that is why I insisted the troupe continue without me while I performed the Rune Forge ritual.
When the troupe had departed I removed my gear and winter garb. I disassembled, inspected, cleaned and repaired my musket named affectionately after former troupe member Annie. Then knelt upon the floor and prayed to Shelyn clutching my rose, asking for wisdom and guidance in my choice to come. I sat quietly, looking at the disassembled pieces. That is when my eyes were drawn to the scrollwork etched into the barrel, locke and butt plates and patch box of my Annie. It was a motif of twisted vines with rose blossoms, leaves and thorns. I focused on the multitude of thorns upon the etched vines and found the validation for my choice. I have heard it said that those unwilling to chance the thorn are unworthy of the blossom. I have dared the thorns and wholly embraced my Rose. I choose Annie to be my thorn! I reassembled her with care and precision wiping her clean once again. I prepared the Rune forge and presented Annie to it and watched in amazement as wisps of ancient arcane magic wove around every inch emitting flashes, sparks and bubbles of brilliant colors. After retrieving her from the Forge the magical waters beaded from Annie as thoroughly as quicksilver, and returned to the pool. She was dry and ready to receive her next charge. I replaced the bore spider, loaded and fired her without the ball. The report was sound and all her mechanical functions were in perfect working order. Once the spider had completed its cleaning cycle I prepared a full charge and stepped away from the Forge honoring its promise with a full bow and a sincere word of thanks.
I returned to my belongings, however instead of pursuing the troupe I pulled my journal from my pack and began to sketch and catalog the Rune Forge, entrances to the individual Halls and their respective statues with as much accuracy as my talent afforded. I recounted the events of each hall as best my memory could recall. I even attempted to reconstruct the Karzoug statue in its former glory from memory as it now lay in pieces about the Rune Forge. I also tried to capture the ruins of the gluttony statue Freezemaw had bashed to bits. Then pausing to reflect on the cost and time spent in this ancient wretched place I began to wax sentimental. With the names, events and structures of this place accounted for I began to sketch and anecdote the troupe to include those fallen- Barus, Lucien, Ramad, Uther, Annie, Flak, Simon and Eilarolyn and our wayward Druid friend and bird lover Haytham.
Twice during my furious attempt to record the troupe and this place I found myself in an unusual circumstance of being less than honest with the troupe. They came to check on me after they had cleared the Hall of greed, then again when they had decided to call for a rest period and informed me to come with them for safety sake. Both times I told them Annie had misfired and I was having extreme difficulty clearing the barrel. I doubt they believed me the second time but I wished to finish my work uninterrupted and lingered for longer then they probably appreciated. But after a decent period of rest there was no ill will.
The last Hall, representing the sin of sloth proved to be a truly foreboding and more sinister then any of the others from the very outset. As we advanced the degree of filth and foulness of the air screamed of disease and wretchedness as yet unimagined. I found myself lagging behind, from an unwillingness to proceed, an intuition of impending doom and violations most heinous. My fortitude was finally spent. Even at the offer of wondrous flight in cloud form I could not bring myself to acquiesce to enter further. In a fearful shame, for the first time not having been affected by some arcane assault, I found myself unable to assist the troupe. After some time had passed, as I sat in remorse for my inability to engage, praying for forgiveness, I found myself scrambling for cover from an instantaneous travel affect discharged at the edge of the Forge. I peeked from cover to see Kori’el dash from a steaming body back toward the Hall calling for assistance. I leaped from my hiding spot and scampered to the unmoving body, the smell was awful as was the sight! I approached what appeared to be the dissolving corpse of Duh’rock (EGADS!! Tongue GAG!!) He was not moving and was filling the room with an acrid stench of melting flesh. I ran from the scene to a defensible redoubt waiting for the troupe to come back in one of Xandu’s disturbing transporting divinations. But he came out alone and began to work on Duh’rock though I feared he was lost in such a desperate state. Finally the rest of the troupe exited the Hall with GrAnnie in tow, and on deaths door. She was quickly revived and shortly thereafter Duh’rock while not in a significant state of mobility sat up with some help and looked much better than last I had seen him! My fears validated I no longer suffered and lent a hand with Duh’rock. Retiring to a less vulnerable position the troupe quickly came to the realization that discretion, being the better part of valor, mandated our withdrawal from this horrible place before we lost any more troupe mates. Though the idea of leaving our Lynn unavenged pains my heart, I fear we have come as far in this place as we can hope to achieve. His loss will be the fire with which Karzoug will burn. Now to a safe harbor to set the plans for Karzoug’s doom in motion.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So last night the gang started Book 6 and we spent a majority of the evening with the players spending their 84,000 gold each. There is a metric butt ton of loot in the Runeforge and the players found a large chunk of it. I gave the players 3 weeks of downtime to rest and heal up, most of that being Restoration weeks. Few players died with 1 negative level on them already.
But every player essentially did something on their own, either researching Xin-Shalast or the area around it. Flora and Fauna etc. Did personal shopping, talking with individuals in the know etc.
Davok went to the Pathfinder Society in Magnimar and used their library for a few days researching the area round the Kodar Mountains. I charged him 50g per day of use with the last day free when Sheila Heidmarch made a visit to him, with Davok not knowing who she was. He agreed to bring back maps and an accounting of the area and in return was offered a place to rest his feet when in Magnimar.
Moxie spent time with Rikert and the Krupt family moving actual Thassilonian jewelry in Magnimar. I gave a 140% bonus to the listed value of said jewelry as the fluff talks about nobles wearing this jewelry to enhance their status. Also because some believe they have alzanti blood in their family line and the jewelry enforces that. So using the Krupt patriarch as an in with nobles (some with Korvosan roots) they sold jewelry. Moxie also returned to Sandpoint to find a new puppy from Das Korvus. Something Moxie had wanted since the Swallowtail festival.
Koriel and Friedrich did a lot of the initial legwork on finding out where to go, or at least where to start. They spent time in the library under Jorgenfist and eventually met with Brodert Quink to learn about the dwarves.
Sheldor was just having a great time in Sandpoint enjoying the cold winter weather being a Snow Elf.
Xandu played chauffeur for Koriel and Friedrich and spent time at the Habes Sanitarium and the tiefling brothers.
Grrrannie spent most of her time transcribing scrolls into her old wrinkled brain and shopping in Magnimar.
Once this was all done they used Shadow Walk to reach the Kazaron River after a emphatic Grrrrannie said that Wind Walk was useless and "slow." Lot of waving of her arms and a little poorly disguised contempt at spending half a minute reforming from gaseous form.
They arrived at the lower level of the dwarves base of operations with the howl of some planar beast on the wind. Next week they look about the dwarves old home camp.
Heh. I must admit I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to handle down-time in the game. I might try to do it entirely via e-mail and the like... but I have to admit, letting the players do stuff during the game instead might be enjoyable as well.
It seems like your players enjoyed it at least. And not every game has to be die-rolling and the like! :)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I know you read my stuff, Tangent101, so you know that:
(1) I have the luxury of a reliable weekly game, so session time isn't as "critical value" to us as it is to others,
(2) Our absolute BEST sessions are the ones where we sit around for 8 hours and I say, "OK, you spend 2-3 hours doing that. Now it's mid-afternoon and you're wandering Magnimar. What would you like to do next?"
Vast opportunities for character development, team-building, and just plain goofing off.
Since Useplanb's group is a fairly reliable weekly group, I think they can definitely afford some down time.
But yeah, our once-per-month-if-we're-lucky Second Darkness group sure as heck doesn't want to spend precious session time shopping. For groups that are less than once-a-week, I'd go the e-mail route.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
From the diary of Kori’el Shalani, 30 Abadius:
…both Xandu and Moxie looked at me as if I’d grown a second head when I asked if they thought the group would let me keep hanging around. Then Xandu joked about some sort of “initiation”, and Moxie told me that anyone who was willing to bleed alongside her was welcome to stay. That made me feel pretty good, and backs up what Calypso has been telling me. Coupled with them handing me a gigantic pile of treasure (I chose coin and Spellbooks as my share, having an idea that Prof. Farnsworth in Magnimar would buy them for the college. I also found out that Moxie is very fond of antique jewelry), and letting me keep the items I’d picked up in the Runeforge, I believe that we will be allowed to see this through.
I spent most of the last three weeks transcribing spells; both Mother Not and I added extensively to our respective repertoirs. After completing that substantial task, I spent a day shopping to prepare for the next phase of the quest, and then Xandu took Friederich and I to a vast underground library at a place they called Jorgenfist. Three days of research turned up the fact that a previous patron had carefully excised any references to the location and nature of Xin-Shalast. Our last hope was an antiquarian in Sandpoint named Bodert Quink, whom Freiderich seemed to be acquainted with. The man was quite hospitable, and we were able to enlist his aid by allowing him access to some of the material we had accumulated in the Runeforge. He showed us a copy of a book with a personal inscription from the author which referred to a pair of Dwarvish brothers who had claimed to have found Xin-Shalast, built a base on the Kazaron river, and then absconded with their investors’ money. Our map clearly showed the river in question flowing from the most remote section of the Kodar Mountains (which we knew to hold the Mhar Massif where Xin-Shalast once stood), so we told the others that we had a likely area to search.
We gathered up our gear (equipped now for an extended stay in the wintry mountains), and set out the next morning via Shadow Walk courtesy of Mother Not. We camped well short of the foothills in a grove that Sheldor summoned for us; the next morning we tempted fate by proceeding via Wind Walk at a low altitude and fairly slow speed, searching for signs that might indicate the dwarf brothers’ base. Xandu and Davok spotted a structure at about the same time, and we descended and coalesced to investigate closer…
|
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
So last night the gang proceeded to check out the old mining buildings.
They entered from the south and proceeded up near the tree and the cast off from the mining process. Sheldor cast Detect Poison on the tree which I thought was interesting and I described that he was sensing poison, as that *is* what killed the treant in the first place but nothing else. Xandu grabbed Moxie and Davok and teleported to the top of the cliff (they were rather surprised when the green door didn't open up and instead the percentile dice came out for scatter. As it turns out this was rather annoying and funny at the same time. The Horror Tree specifically says it senses Druids (Sheldor), Rangers (Davok) and Gnomes (Moxie) and anyone else with a nature background. Sooooo the tree activated and stepped forward and attacked Sheldor (with its obscene reach). It did a Power Attack/Vital Strike and did damage in the 60s range. The Horror Tree was also set to Advanced and with max health. It had an average Initiative and we then proceeded with the group charging up and moving around with only Friedrich doing damage to the tree with fire bombs. Friedrich wanted to do a check to determine what it was and I said either a great Kn. Religion or really good Kn. Nature. He went nature and learned that it was in fact (at one time) a treant, but was now undead. Beyond this he knew nothing. Unique creatures like this should always be that way in my book.
So the next round the tree punched the druid and took him negative. He then rolled a 19 on Friedrich. Then I read that it has Improved Critical with Slams. So I made the bitter beer face and rolled to confirm and did so. I did somewhere around 75 damage with one punch. Next round the tree followed up his first crit with another 19 on Friedrich and again confirmed, doing 71 damage this time and dropping Friedrich into the negatives. Its last punch went into Rikert before the group downed the tree entirely. Fire bombs, arrows and a good hit from Koriel helped.
At this point the group did the best thing ever and split up. Those on the cliff went into the building from the top while the rest worked their way up from the bottom. Each group would clear a room or two and then I would swap back to the other group. This helped out greatly since I didn't double the size of the structure like I normally do for our army of players.
In the end, I really played up the Haunts and had a lot of fun with them. The haunted chain didn't do much but was a fun surprise for the lower group. We laughed at the "concealed" earth breaker. Xandu lost about 80% of his life to the Haunt in B15 and the previous Haunt in B14 had Davok looking at Xandu and Moxie in a creepy way. I made the subsequent Will save and did not try to actually eat Xandu or Moxie.
We ended the evening with the group discovering the secret room B13 as the sounds of someone knocking at the lower doors to get in and the snowfall increased.
Next week we should be able to complete Part Two and begin Part Three.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I am joyful to read that at least one party doesn't greet every lone tree in the wilderness with a torrent of fireballs.
Of course, now they will...
|
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
From the diary of Kori’el Shalani:
We slowly approached a wooden(?) structure built out from the cliff. It was so encrusted with lichen and ice that it might well have been some rock formation, but the pile of mine tailings and the regular structure gave the lie to that. A single dead tree leaned drunkenly against the cliff near the refuse pile. I must confess that I was a bit distracted; Friederich had mentioned that there was a howl of an extraplanar creature like the scream of a dying elk, and I was wracking my brain as to what it might be and coming up blank. Xandu took Davok and Moxie away on a scouting mission, presumably to the cliff-top as Sheldor mumbled something about poison, and then the “tree” straightened, stepped forward and smashed Sheldor into next week.
I had just finished casting Stoneskin, and had been feeling a little paranoid; now I felt quite a bit better about my precautionary casting. Friederich took a step back and tossed a fire-bomb; since the “tree” was right up in my face at this point, I wasn’t very happy with him for it. The tree responded by making Sheldor (just to my right and a step behind) into a tent-peg, and then attempting the same with Friederich. I cast Mirror Image and powered Calypso (+5, Defending, Flaming Burst), and went full defensive; as hard as this thing was hitting, I wanted no part of it, Stoneskin notwithstanding!
Rikert stepped forward, and shouted that we could all smite it now, and I felt a surge of unaccustomed power course through me. The tree clobbered Friederich again, and then Rikert (Sheldor being little more than a red smear on the snow at this point), and I cast Force Punch and switched to offense; we (Calypso and I) hit the tree harder than we had ever hit anything before (crit and confirmed, near max damage with the sword and flaming burst, about average on the Force Punch, so about 120 points done in all); I didn’t REALLY expect such a large creature to go flying, but was still a little disappointed when it didn’t. Rikert stepped forward to engage, and laid it low, just as Sheldor sat back up. It seems that Xandu had rejoined us invisibly, and had been on the job the whole time.
The mine refuse turned out to be arsenic; no wonder the tree had died. Rikert, Sheldor, Friederich and I elected to explore the lower portion of the building, and the others went through the top. Mining equipment, wheelbarrows, a cot—there was nothing really remarkable until we met the dwarf wolfing gold dust. He offered it to us, and Friederich stepped forward and ate some, the fool! It’s certainly a good thing that as an alchemist he is immune to poison, because the “gold” turned out to be more arsenic. The dwarf then sunk in on himself and imploded; I had just experienced my first Haunt.
We next entered the tower structure, and began making our way laboriously to the top. When we were nearly there, a chain and bucket hanging down the center of the shaft came alive and attacked Friederich. I thought to run to the top and wind the chain up on whatever winch or windlass had to be there but Rikert and Friederich destroyed it before I could implement my plan. Men. Nothing much of interest at the top, and we soon met the others exploring the cabin; they had news of other haunts; Xandu was nearly killed by one, and Davok seemed intent on starting a fire in the fireplace, while looking at Moxie with a strange gleam in his eyes.
Moxie soon discovered a hidden office with a considerable amount of gold and a ledger book; she inventoried the gold while I perused the ledger. It was mostly accounts and a listing of mining locations and assays; I thought to look for references to Xin-Shalast, but there were pages missing. Damn it all, had Mocmurian been here too?
Heh. I love the bit about the alchemist wolfing down arsenic but being immune because of his experiments! ^^
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Rikert Krupt – Paladin of Iomedae
Following our weeks of rest and resupplying in Magnimar and Sandpoint, we finally determined the rough location of our next part of the journey and made arrangements to travel there using magical means. Mother Not convinced us that traveling through the shadows, rather than using the mist form from our previous journeys, was more efficient and allowed us to instantly act in the real world without waiting.
Our first stop on the road to Xin Shalast was an abandoned mining camp that had been founded by dwarves farther north in the mountains where we had fought the giants.
Upon arriving, we found the camp to be little more than a ramshackle wooden hut perched on the side of a small but steep cliff along with a few other outbuildings. The weather was cold, and snow covered most of the ground as we stepped out from shadow form and made our way closer to the lichen-covered stones and wood of the camp.
A large pile of debris from the previous mining efforts stood in front of the hut, along with a bent, gnarled tree of some type. Sheldor and some of the others seemed interested in the tree itself, and I soon learned why as the entire thing uprooted itself from the snowy ground and advanced on us. Xandu teleported himself, Davok, and Moxie to the top of the cliff to escape its attacks which focused on poor Sheldor. The enormous branches of the tree pounded him again and again until he was bleeding and unconscious on the ground.
Friedrich threw fire bombs which burst and damaged the old wooden body of the creature, while Kori'el and myself moved up to attack it. I called upon Iomedae to grant her power to my companions, and saw Kori'el strike the living tree harder than anything I have ever seen her do previously. The enormous creature was shaken somewhat by the ferocity of her attack, and myself and the others moved quickly to take advantage of the situation. It didn't take long for our combined efforts to fell this foe.
Xandu reappeared and quickly came to Sheldor's aid. It seems the snow elf's time to rejoin nature had not yet come.
After everyone had bandaged their wounds, we split into two groups to enter and search the mining buildings. My group entered from the ground level while the other started above and worked their way down.
We encountered several haunts similar to those in the abandoned cliff house near Sandpoint. Iomedae's hand protects me from the worst of their effects, but my companions are not so blessed. Friedrich found himself following a haunt's offer to try eating gold dust, which turned out to be arsenic, a poison created in the mining process. Luckily, his odd metabolism resulting from his use of alchemical potions rendered him immune to its effects.
We moved up a narrow staircase around the edge of the wooden building that connected the ground level hut with the buildings up on the cliff above us. Another haunt caused an iron chain and the bucket attached to it to animate and attack us. It seemed odd to attack a normally inanimate object, but that turned out to be the solution, and the chain dropped back into its normal, lifeless form.
At the top of the stairs, we entered into the mining buildings and ran directly in to the other group which had just cleared the upper levels, finding only small items and other haunts which had managed to seriously injure Xandu.
We regrouped here, and then moved to investigate the next area where Moxie or someone had found a hidden doorway. At the same time, we heard what sounded like someone knocking on the lower doors in the hut area from where we had just ascended.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
So Rikert reports, "...other haunts which had managed to seriously injure Xandu," and Kori'el asks, "WHAT HAVE I DONE?!"
I sense a story that we are all eagerly anticipating...
|
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Oh story it is. Somebody killed Moxie. But lets go back to the beginning shall we . . .
We started the evening as the group had dispersed into the house to look for anything of value, loading the bags of gold dust into portable holes, starting the fire in the fireplace to possible cook party members, looking through ledgers and trying to find the missing pages when the knocking below began.
At this point we went into an Initiative order as I tried to play up the 11 rounds of Haunt activity for this part of the story. I would like to say I thought I did this rather well. But I'll let the player's stories tell that.
The first three rounds of knocking brought the group either dropping to the ground level with Feather Fall and creeping forward towards the door in the lower part of the structure. Or they just moved down the stairs and a brisk pace. Some even remained up in the gathering room as they didn't hear the knocking sounds.
About the time they reached the door, the knocking stopped. Paranoia sets in and everyone is moving about, eventually opening the door and realizing that the snow is now coming down harder and their earlier tracks are starting to fill in. Then the whole places begins the thunderous banging and shaking. Only 1 person fell to the ground I believe, with a couple people having to remain stationary. The rest continued their movements to try and reach the door.
I had great fun describing the ghosts at the edge of their vision and the sudden hot flash and nausea that can be brought on by hunger and the feeling of a hole in their stomach, but all of the players made their Fort saves for this part of the haunt. The next round though did succeed on one character. I enjoyed describing the visions that they thought they saw now coming into reality and moving towards them individually. Those that were flying encountered visions of hungry dwarves falling from the upper levels as they dove out of windows to try and reach the players that could not be touched by the ground. Koriel became possessed.
I allowed Koriel to unknowingly play her own actions out with guidance that after the near experience of the creature leaving her cold to the bone as if she was flung into an icy river naked. The only warm spot that she knew of being near the fireplace above. Because she was still acting as the player wanted, she had grabbed up Moxie to protect her from the ghosts and the constant and terrible shaking of the ground. Moxie was the only one to notice that there was no dust falling from the wooden timbers as the building shook but really had no time to voice that observation. Koriel decided to fly up the main shaft of the building to eventually reach the fire, shivering and saying she knew where it was warmer. Moxie relented and went along.
Meanwhile Xandu had layed down a circle of protection outside and I described the shaking as slowly fading while they remained in the circle. The rest of the group quickly joined the others in the circle and Xandu and Rikert decided to end the haunt by channeling positive energy.
At this time Koriel was flying up the shaft and was 20 feet off the ground when I had her make a Bluff check versus Moxies Sense Motive. Koriel won out and drew Calypso out and slit Moxies throat from ear to ear. The sudden wash of blood over her body warming her and relieving the cold. The next round she took a bite out of Moxies neck. It was at this point when the channels stopped the haunt and Koriel snapped out of it. She immediately realized something was wrong when she began hearing Calypso screaming at her, yelling "what have you done?" and then seeing a very bloody Moxie in her arms and warm sticky blood running down her face and throat.
The others outside were alerted to the incident when Koriel's sanity snapped and screamed out in anguish. The others arrived and some good RP happened as they "fixed" the problem. One Resurrection and Restoration later, as well as a Heal for Koriel and everyone was back on board. Good times RP here for a bit.
Then the vision of the dwarven brother arrived and told his story. The group was ready to charge out and find the body but the realization that the storm was going to made it beyond difficult. So they rested for the night and left in the morning. I had every player roll a d20 and the lowest roll was the target of the Wendigo's Nightmare. I enjoyed describing this nightmare and played it up a little as Xandu was the target and failed the Will save versus the effect. His fitful dreams of seeing his dear friends ripped out throat and Koriel having done the deed morphing in his mind over and over until it was Xandu that had done the biting.
In the morning, Xandu was a little tired and down some Wisdom (unknowingly) from the previous nights nightmares. But they left in a slight snow to find the dwarven brothers remains. They arrived and the fight here went stupid fast, even with max health, advanced template Frost Worm and Ghost. Friedrich did the most damage in the game when he killed the Worm with two bombs, dropping his last on the ghost and the Worm then exploding and damn near killing a few members of the group, Koriel and Grrrannie being the closest to death.
Once they discovered the body, from Moxie after walking through the stone using the gift from the Earth Elemental, they teleported back into the cabin. Friedrich realized that the cry of he Wendigo was in fact, a Wendigo right as they teleported. Soon after arriving in the cabin the ghosts formed and began their "fight" when the door and part of the wall was ripped from the cabin from the Wendigo. Next week - Initiative!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Wow.
Wow... I just re-read that section. Beautifully (and tragically) done!
I'm going to point my bard's player to this post. The moment the cabin started shaking his immediate response was, "I Bard's Escape the entire party to 40' away from the cabin."
Kind of ruined my fun... but wow! What stories we will see here!
EDIT: And the worm breath/exploding worm didn't get anyone? That was our sorcerer's first death. Breath/explosion/corrupting touch. AND the bard made up for his genius tactics in the cabin with his wonderful, "Who knew they exploded?" moment.
EDIT 2: Oops! Carp! BEWARE THAT LINK! STOP when they start reading Vekker's journal. There's a spoiler for Useplanb's players at the very end of it.
Just stop at the 08-Calistril-4708 tag and you'll be fine... or wait until you reach the ice fens (that's NOT a spoiler) and you'll be caught up with that post.
|
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
From the diary of Kori’el Shalani:
I can’t… I just… I’M SORRY!
I don’t know what happened to me. I was looking over the ledger, and had realized that the pages that likely described the location of Xin-Shalast were missing, when everyone else left. I desperately searched the desk in an effort to locate them to no avail, so I stepped out of the little secret “office” to see where the others had gone. The cabin was silent, except for a pounding knock coming from downstairs, so I cast “Fly”, and descended the shaft just as the whole world started shaking violently. I flew to the outside door just as it was flung open, and we saw that the storm had become stronger, but there was no one who could have been knocking. Fearing that the entire structure would collapse on us, we all headed out as best we could. It occurred to me that the previous haunt that I had been told about had been due to something awful underground at the Foxglove Manor, and I thought that a likely place for a hidden chamber was somewhere in the cliff face, probably within the shaft itself. I had seen some apparitions out the corners of my eyes as we were exiting the building, but hadn’t thought much about them; as the previous haunts had gone, these seemed harmless. But I thought I noticed another one, and glancing up saw an emaciated dwarf (who seemed to be mostly open mouth and teeth) falling at me through the storm; I flinched as he struck me and a wave of cold washed over me and my belly cramped with sudden hunger. I’ve never felt that cold; maybe it had done something like disenchant my Winterland Boots. I flew down to Moxie, and told her about my surmise, and she agreed to help me look; she even cast a small warming spell on me, for which I was very grateful. But as we flew back into the structure, all I could think of was the fire that Davok had started in the cabin above and how I could warm myself… and then the building stopped shaking and Calypso was screaming at me, and I was warm and wet with something salty in my mouth and I looked at Moxie, and oh my god Moxie what’s wrong what happened I can’t I spit a piece of her out and started screaming oh god all the blood and Rikert is shouting at me, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!” Stay away from me don’t touch her she’s going to be okay “XANDU HELP ME!!” Moxie I’m sorry, oh god I’m so sorry DON’T TOUCH ME!
Xandu did something (to me), and then went to work on Moxie. I’m COVERED in her blood, it’s splashed on the walls… how can someone that small have so much blood in them? I cast Prestidigitation, and cleaned her up and then myself as Xandu was working. He kept whispering her name, and soon her wounds closed, her color came back (so pale she was so pale and small and she was just GRAY and Calypso cautions me to keep it together) and her eyelids fluttered and she was back. And then there was a dwarf talking about a city of greed and he would tell us how to get there if we brought his brother’s body to him and I want to go NOW! I want to be out in the storm in the clean and cold where there is no memory of being covered (bathed) in her blood and no salty taste of her blood in my mouth. I hate this place and I don’t want to stay here another second.
We stayed overnight, Davok said the storm was too dangerous.
There was a map in the ledger that matched with the haunt’s description, and we slogged off through the snow to get the body. I can’t bear their eyes on me; Rikert is sternly accusing me without saying a word, and Moxie is as far away from me as she can get, and Mother Not looks at me and smirks and cackles to herself; even Friederich won’t talk to me good I don’t want to talk anyway and I HAD A PIECE OF HER IN MY MOUTH…
I’m happy when the Worm erupts from the ice and it breathes cold on us but I don’t even get to stab it once before Freiderich throws his bombs and the dwarf’s ghost is moaning at us and the Worm explodes and I’m bathed in viscera again and it hurts I think I’m dying but it’s cold this time and MOXIE says, “the body’s over here” and we gather beside it and the Wendigo screams just as Xandu teleports us back to the cabin and the two ghosts are fighting and the side is ripped off the building and it’s here…
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
Isn’t it funny how we all perceive the same events in such differing ways. That’s what makes us so unique.
The troupe was so against wind walk when it was time to embark on our next trek that GrAnnie had to cast shadow walk in order for everyone to agree on heading out. I think they all just got used to a soft bed and hot wonderful food. Not to mention the drinking and laughing.
Our three weeks in Sandpoint and Magnimar went way to fast. I divided my time teleporting members around and making scrolls. I was also able to find my orphaned child of Magnimar and introduced him to the temple of Desna and it’s priests. What ever happens with that happens, you can lead a camel to water they say. I also gave the owner of the tavern that looks after him more funds. I can only hope the boy receives a decent share. The owner however does seem pleased with him and commented that he brings new paying customers often and is very polite. And doesn’t make a nuisance of himself.
Back in Sandpoint I spent most of my time at the asylum. Making scrolls and praying and a good time playing with the two tieflings that call it home. They have started teaching me some new languages but nothing I’ve mastered yet. I’m sure that some of the sounds can only be made if you have a forked tongue. Their friendship, I treasure.
I bought Moxie a whole basket full of perfumed soaps but I’m afraid I delivered them to late, as we left the same morning they were to arrive at her room. A nice gift for when we return, I guess.
After traveling for a day Sheldor made a grove out of nothing and we camped in relative peace for the night.
In the morning, figuring we were getting close, the troupe reluctantly agreed to wind walk so we could keep a closer eye on the surroundings. Davok and I both made out what could be the Darven mining camp so the troupe and I reformed to our normal state while Davok stayed in cloud form and made a fly by, then back to the troupe. There was a couple of wooden buildings ahead of us one on the same level as us and the other was on top of a ridge about 60 feet above, connected by a tall shaft. We entered from the South according to my compass.
We heard a cry of some sort, it sounded like a wounded beast but Friedrich didn’t think so. We were approaching the camp and something startled us and I instantly teleported Moxie and Davok to the top of the ridge so they would be able to use their range weapons. They weren’t very happy that I just used teleport but I don’t understand the hesitation. I mean it’s been a long time since I messed one up but they lever let me forget that I have made errors in the past.
Leaving them to complain to my double (casting mislead), I flew down to help the rest as I could. Which turned out to be a good thing. What was thought to be a diseased tree turned out to be an undead Treant. The Treant started bashing party members into the ground like smashing ripe apples. I healed as fast as it smashed and kept ahead of it’s destruction, barely. The troupe cut the undead thing down. I felt Sheldor’s shame and pity that he couldn’t help the Treant in any other way. I flew back to Davok and Moxie after healing everyone on the lower level.
Figuring that the two structures would somehow connect the three of us started our search from above while the others came from below. Davok and especially Moxie were in a hurry to get into the cabin. I was more interested in what I thought I kept seeing off in the distance, just hidden from me by the snow falling and blowing. I asked Davok to look too because sometimes he sees things before me but he said it was just the snow. We were on the porch when all of a sudden an emaciated Dwarf came running at us screaming don’t let them eat me, eat you….then he was gone. Wow. Did that just happen? The first door was shut tight and we moved to the next. Moxie of course was checking the doors for all manner of nasties after that encounter with the spirit Dwarf. Finding none she moved aside to allow Davok to work his magic. You know bashing!
We moved into the cabin and started searching for clues. We moved about, Moxie in the lead finding levers and other trappy things and bypassing them. She’s so cute. Always allowing us to move ahead after she’s disarmed what ever was going to foil us and not making any fuss about it. The others came up via some stairs in the shaft part. Announcing that they were attacked by some kind of haunt. And another that had Friedrich eating something he shouldn’t but he said he was immune to anyway so no harm no foul.??
Haunt…oh ..that’s probably what we had encountered outside. I tightened my precious red scarf. Thoughts of Uther and his almost unfortunate demise at the hands of the Haunts of the Foxglove Manor. As a full troupe we started to search the rest of the cabin. I felt a pain as if I hadn’t eaten in days but it passed. Davok on the other hand looked at Moxie and I as if we were tender morsels. He went as far as to start a fire in what must have been the kitchen.
Moxie was checking some paintings and I was opening the portable hole I had bought to place them in. It was fun not to have to cut up the paintings in order to carry them out. I folded up the hole while Moxie checked a door near me and Rikert checked one behind me. I moved into the room that Moxie had opened and saw bones on the ground. I moved closer and was attacked by hungry angry Dwarves, ripping and tearing and biting me to pieces. As soon as it started it was gone but I had real bites and parts missing. Ouch Time to heal up. Desna answered generously. All was fine until I handed Davok some rations and he grabbed my arm. I thought he was going to take a bite but he just went back to making the fire. Whew!!!!
Moxie and Kori’el had found a secret room and needed some portable hole action so I went there to assist.
As I was folding up the hole again there came a knocking from below. Kori’el was still going through the desk looking for lost pages from a manuscript??? What? Boom, Boom, Boom, came the knocking. I needed to heal Friedrich but he went down the stairs. I followed and healed him as we went to check out who was knocking. Kori’el passed us flying and Moxie just dropped from the top. Crazy girls. A little jealous maybe.
Anyway by the time we reached the bottom the whole place started shaking and I thought it was coming down on us so we ran for the door and the safety of the outdoors. Unfortunately the rumbling did not subside when we reached the snow. I made a magic circle allowing Desna’s power to protect me and those that could get to me. The tremors subsided somewhat and I spotted Rikert flying down from the ridge. I called for him to come and told him he and I needed to channel positive energy into the area to suppress the haunts. When we did the building groaned so we did it again and it stopped.
A scream of horror…no…anguish came from inside. Kori’el had just let out a noise I will never forget. The whole troupe heard it and each ran into the building even as I was still channeling energy to stop the haunts.
I was last. As I ran to the stairs the first floor was already packed with the troupe. Surrounding Kori’el. Kori’el was covered in blood, tears made clean streaks down her frail and scared face. She barred her teath at anyone that came close to her. Get away from me and don't touch me she screamed. Get Xandu, he’ll fix it. The tears, the blood, the pitiful look in her eyes. What had happened to her? I couldn’t think of what could make her lash out at the others like this. Then I saw.
Kori’el sat on the ground in the center of the shaft, holding… no…cradling the lifeless body of Moxie. No one got any closer to her and while she was yelling at Friedrich to get away, I touched her.
I firmly placed my hand on her shoulder drawing her eyes to mine, I let Desna’s love flow right through me. All of it meant for Kori’el alone. Heal
“You’re alright.” I said. “Sit right here while I bring our girl back.”
I sat down with Kori’el and stroked Moxie’s brow. I looked at the troupe and said “This will take a moment don’t let anything happen.” Then I closed my tearing eyes and let Desna’s power coalesce around me. Mentally I reached out, I drew from it and once again asked permission to escort one of my most beloved troupe mates from the Great Shadow. There was no smile from my Mother Moon. Desna was there, her power filled me, I burned, I was a star, but there was more. I could sense Desna as always but this was different, more, another…something strong…something beautiful. Shelyn! Shelyn stood with or beside Desna, I don’t know why. But they were both there, that's all I can tell you. And I beamed. My light Sang. I moved to the darkness and I bowed to the Great Shadow and it swept it’s return bow. Then it allowed me to receive Moxie’s perfect light. She was with me. We swiftly moved through the nothing back to our bodies. I was aware of the others and thankfully Kori’el had cleaned the three of us up while I was bringing our troupe mate home.I whispered to Moxie "Dawn is coming so open your eyes."
Kori’el was back! Moxie was back! We were BACK!!!! Praise be to Desna! Praise be to Shelyn! And Praise to the Great Shadow! Thank you ever kind, Desna, Tender of Dreams.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
The Beginning of The End
The City of Magnimar… how I do love it! The troupe scattered to the four winds, some to Sandpoint others here but none together, for now. I took a healthy portion of my cut of the troupe haul in the ancient Thassalonian jewelry. I figure to use the “nobles” desire, arrogance, and selfishness for profit. However the only connection to that community that would lend credibility in the attempt would be Rikert’s father. So I arrived unannounced, met with Rikert and his father and he agreed to assist in movement of jewelry. Over the course of a few days we managed to squeeze a significant amount from the nobles. I provided a gratuity for Rikert, his father, left one of the most beautiful pieces with a note for Lady Krupt, and kept the most fascinating pieces of my size for my own!! Then it was time to SHOP…..HUZZAH!!
Frequenting the Bizarre of Sails by day and the quality entertainment by night, I spent the rest of the week in a blissful state of happiness. I found all the tools and toys I hoped would help make a difference in the days to come. I found some finely crafted clothes of my size whose taste and fit matched me too! We all returned to Sandpoint in our own time and all had enough rest and recuperation over the three week period we took to get back into a healthy state. Upon my return I found the most wonderful surprise! The mastiff “puppy” I had asked the master of the smithy to acquire some time ago! “AAAAAAAAAAA!!!” I screamed as I walked into my room where Lady Ameiko had been playing with him. What a handsome, strong, big footed rascal he is, he should grow to be every bit as big as the Smiths! After the informal introductions and house rules on animals were laid I took a moment to speak with him in earnest to which we found common ground. Food, fun, and lovins for loyal obedience….huh!? If only the men folk were that easy! We braved the cold for a collar, a knotted rope, and some meat treats for good behavior. We returned and so began the house training to include acceptable behavior in public. His name….???....is Max! Actually Maximus, which he became intimately familiar with while we were training. But he is cute and sweet and tries his best to be a good puppy. He was introduced to the troupe and while not all were appreciative of his affections, he lavished them all with his adoration. At the end of the night after a chilly potty walk we retired to our room where he stomped a comfy spot in the bed and curled up at my feet. For the remainder of the two week rest Max and I worked on specific things mostly obedience and acceptable house behavior/training. We played in the snow and I introduced him to the raft. Initially the reaction was extreme hesitance, but as the days advanced the playfulness of the raft and the puppy took over and they made a wonderful mess of themselves! They would retreat to ice or water to which Max would slide onto uncontrolled or splash into. I swear they were laughing at him, but he didn’t care. The response was always a tough puppy “WOOF!” On the last occasion during the customary feeding when I tell them of my future travels and absence Max was sprawled by the fire and the raft lay on or about him, as they “listened” and ate their fish. I am comfortable they have come to regard one another as peers but I will supervise the interaction until Max has reaches majority to be safe.
Some evenings I would perform but my time was limited as I promised Lady Ameiko to be attentive to Max’s needs and respect the house rules. Then the time drew near when the troupe began to talk and prepare for the trek to Xin Shalast. That is when I began to talk with Max about my absence in the same manner as I do the raft. He voiced his displeasure quite vocally. But as the departure time drew closer his dissatisfaction was less pronounced. I arranged lodging for him at the stables and someone to provide him with walks and exercise, both of which he was familiarized with before we left. That was a difficult separation for me, I think that made it easier for Max, but only just as he bayed at our leaving him with the stable master(tearful…hard swallow!)
GrAnnie made quick work of our travel method in an arcane application that took us into a spooky smoke like, wispy shadow realm and though we travelled incredibly fast I found it mildly uncomfortable and disconcerting. Can’t we just walk or ride like the old days? I have yet to experience a non-creepy way to travel in an arcane manner! We camped for a night and rested quite comfortably considering the cold weather. The next morning we assumed cloud form and flew for a while until we reconnoitered what we hoped to be the Vekkor Brothers mine. At our arrival a disturbing “wild” call that somewhat resembled a bugling elk was heard from a distance determined to close for my comfort considering all who heard it identified it as “elk-like.”Half the troupe approached the mine and Xandu suggested Duh’rock and I take the high ground for a better field of fire. Brilliant, little did I know that was to be followed by the risky popping transport Xandu uses regularly…@%!&#!!! “DAMMIT… STOP THAT!” We three found ourselves at the top of a sixty foot cliff watching the troupe round the mine looking for and entrance. Suddenly the leaning half dead tree south of the buildings began to assault the troupe and before I could prepare to engage the fight was over and three of the troupe were soundly beaten, some lay prone coloring the snow in a dark crimson stain….EGADS! Thankfully all were revived quickly and not too worse for wear.
They, the lower troupe continued on their search for an entry, while we the upper troupe, attempted to make entry to the cabin that sat atop the cliff attached to the back of the tall mine building. Two doors were found on the porch, one completely frozen shut the other locked tight. I was required to layout my full set of tools to achieve success at unlocking this door. As I packed my tools a frightening apparition rushed the stairs. A dwarf of gaunt features pleaded us to run for our lives and then he, himself ran out into the increasing blinding heavy snow. That was weird! Upon entry we found smaller rooms than the longshanx were accustomed to…giggle! Mostly just a living space is all that was found, manly, grubby, dwarven, and unkempt but far from nasty. Then as I entered the kitchen I and others became HUNGRY! Many of our stummies called out in impatient growls. All save Duh’rock who gave me a wide eyed look, went on to other areas to search about and that is when Xandu was attacked by a host of bity ghosts that nearly took him from us in a permanent fashion! Now my neck hairs stood on end and I felt quite uneasy about this place as it resembled to closely the haunted Foxglove Manor! Then as I surveyed the area for help I noticed Duh’rock starting a fire on the stove taking sideways glances at me in an all too lustful and salivating maner. All of a sudden the atmosphere had changed from creepy to OH SWEET SHELYN PROTECT ME, I felt the need to remove myself from his presence and gain the rest of troupes company, just in case! As we checked the bunk room Xandu made contact with the lower troupe…yea, the cavalry had arrived!
At the reunion of the troupe I felt a touch of relief but found they had experienced haunts in the lower buildings too. My intuition told me there was more to come and they seemed more intense than we had experienced before. As the troupe shared their experience I looked about and found a concealed room that appeared to be the mine office. Then came the knocking from the lower sections and the troupe scurried back down the stairs towards the sound. I leapt from the cabin landing and lit upon the floor below. I advanced to the sound of the knocks with the troupe on my heels. I hid in a lower chamber with a curtain and prepared to employ Annie from cover. Suddenly the world began to tremble and quake violently I made for the door while I still could and was spooked by the momentary glimpse of a gaunt faced dwarf at the very edge of my sight that disappeared as I turned my head to focus on it. Exiting the building lent no relief from the shaking ground as I waited near the door taking count of the troupe as they exited. The snow fall had intensified, almost with the severity of the haunt and tremors.
GrAnnie and Kori’el flew from the building and all I could think was we are in the wrong spot if this quake shakes these buildings from their foundation. The wind and noise made meaningful communication difficult and when Kori’el came to me suggesting we try to stop the haunt and check the stone face inside the stair cased building I felt it worth a try, I could find it and together we could fight off a foe until we were reinforced by the rest of the troupe. I willingly jumped into her grasp, only to see another image of a gaunt dwarf falling from great heights through the heavy snow right at me….only to have it disappear mere feet from me. I happily embraced Kori’el and off we flew into the building. She was frightfully chilled and seemed to be suffering from the cold so I warmed her cloak and clothes as I had my bedding, or my packed provisions to provide her some comfort and relief from its bitter grasp. I noticed the cessation of the shaking while in flight and as we went through the rooms and started up the open center of the stairway….I noticed this old place had shaken no dust free…this wasn’t quite what we were being led to believe!?!? Then Kori’el quickly drew her black blade and gave it a flourish pointing higher in the shaft, it had come uncomfortably close to my face and I gave a quick retort asking for a bit more care in the handling of her spirit blade as I looked up to see what she was trying to point out. We did not advance…I saw no sign of danger! Then another quick motion of the black blade. There was a sudden sting across my throat, a popping sound followed by a rushing both of which repeated as I saw my lifes blood spray the stairs and stone cliff, and felt it flowing heavily over my breasts and stummy. I arched my back to attempt an escape in a panic and felt my spirit begin to diminish. I felt myself try to gasp for air, only to choke and violently expel a warm mouthful of my own blood. My vision quickly blurred as images were mixed. I had slumped in Kori’el’s arms and the cold was swiftly engulfing me as I lay trying to focus upside down on what I believe were the stairs. Darkness wrapped swiftly about me I felt a floating sensation not unlike I had with Grig-nak but with no point of physical contact….
I recall an unpleasantness where I was until Xandu’s voice was heard calling out to me from the ether…he asked if I wished to come back…and I pleaded with him to come collect me and remove me from this awful place!
I awoke with the troupe standing about wide eyed. I quickly searched the room visually and found Kori’el in an extremely troubled state, the quaking had stopped and I felt renewed of body, but the spirit was not yet whole. Slowly I sat up as questions and explanations were exchanged. I offered my forgiveness in earnest knowing Kori’el to be fragile in her self-confidence; however I am sure it came across in an unintended manner that cast doubts in her mind, I was simply incapable of more at that point. Yet another haunt presented itself promising assistance, however I did not linger for the terms and removed myself by way of the stairs. After it dematerialized I found myself amidst a ghastly scene of a blood spattered staircase and rivulets of my blood dripping into a large stain on the floor. Xandu and Kori’el had evidence of me on them, I had been cleaned up but there was still a bit to be resolved so when the troupe decided not to brave the weather I excused myself and finished the job….in private.
After a disconcerting rest and a bountiful breakfast, provided by Xandu, we trekked off into the snow in search of the other brother Vekkor’s bones. I trailed behind to reflect for a while on what had happened. I felt that I was now on borrowed time. “Finish the job” is what I always came back to. Then a thunderous crack and a grievous noise came from the front of the troupe. An enormous beast crawled from the snow and ice and engaged the troupe. I loosed a two shot volley on the critter, then out from a fog bank came another ghostly apparition at which point I used my Rose for the first time in an attempt to achieve escape and advantage. Alas the critter had exploded prior to my exit from the stone. I exited the stone face near the emaciated corpse of a dwarf and with Annie at the ready I advanced only to be nearly electrified by one of the troupes lightning bolts. I returned to cover and called for the troupe with a graveled voice and let them know of my where abouts and the dwarven corpse. No sooner than we all gather and had collected the corpse Xandu pulled that damned popping travel trick again and we were all in the kitchen (?) of the cabin. A disturbing display between the spirits of the two brothers was unceremoniously interrupted by an enormous creature that tore away the wall of the cabin while emitting a elkish bugle….”AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!” A scream with a chest full of mountain air was all I managed to muster!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
You know, considering the number of Raise Dead and Restorations he has to cast, I'm just imagining Xandu all done up like Liberace with diamond spangles all over his outfit. Someone dies? He plucks a few diamonds off his sleeve, says a few words, pats them on the head, and says, "There ya go, darlin'."
Something like that.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
You know, considering the number of Raise Dead and Restorations he has to cast, I'm just imagining Xandu all done up like Liberace with diamond spangles all over his outfit. Someone dies? He plucks a few diamonds off his sleeve, says a few words, pats them on the head, and says, "There ya go, darlin'."
Something like that.
Whew! Liberace!(Wincing from stummy cramps caused by extreme fits of laughter!!!)His ultimate goal...YES!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I was curious how Moxie was going to write that up. Well done. :)
And I must admit I rather enjoy how Kori'el's player is writing her up as slowly losing her mind with each additional twist.
My own horde is ages from this, unfortunately. (Hideous Laughter on the Ogre leader in the Keep. Admittedly he'd been whittled down to 45 hit points at that point... but a natural 1 for a save just killed the combat. We joked that Lady Sasha had unleashed the Killing Joke and wrapped it up; a prone ogre next to a half-orc barbarian and an arcane trickster isn't going to last long enough to get back up.) But it should be most interesting to see how this plays out with my group (which is just about as big as Useplanbs' - four players, a GMPC, and two Cohorts), and I must admit seeing these journals does help me get some ideas as to how to prepare for the future.
Thank you for the journals, once more. :)
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Oh. As a brief aside... I must apologize in advance.
You see, quite a few of us have had our hearts stolen by Moxie. And given that she does have several levels of Rogue...
Does that mean that Kori’el... took a bite out of crime? =^-^=
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
(creeper smile, faux laugh) Tee...hee...hee....(Cough!)
(hoarse voice, serious face) NOT FUNNY!
(hoarse voice) And you need a hair treatment!
(Arms folded, stuck out tongue)
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Actually, my group saved the bunnies so I've plenty of hares. ;)
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As the player, I have a feeling that Kori'el is coming to the conclusion (or will soon, if the stressors continue) that she wants to die; unfortunately for her, Xandu and the rest of the group (as well as Calypso's purpose) can't let her. She feels like she's the weak link, while in reality her insecurity is what drives her to be right up there with Rikert and Freiderich as the top damage dealer (and she's WAY harder to hit than either of them).
My image of Xandu is less Liberace, and much more the outrageous gypsy clothes-horse -- everything colorful, everything clashing. Tons of junk jewelry, but all the valuable stuff tucked out of sight.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Kori'el is just trying to get on my good side. She just needs to spend some time at the asylum with the brothers to entertain her and it wouldn't take long before she understood she was fine.
We all enjoy this AP.
|
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Haunts have become my favorite mechanic of the Pathfinder system. I don't remember if they had it in 3.5, if they did I didn't know about it.
One of the greatest difficulties as a GM is getting the story across to the players. Not that the players (and I am not directing this to my players but players in general) are ignorant but they do not see the big picture or the interwoven stories that make up the whole thing. Only the GM understands the big picture (usually) and its left up to the GM to get that across to the players in some fashion. Haunts have become one of the best mechanics for getting that across. On top of all that, Haunts help to reinforce the characters class.
All to many times players will look at a NPC and either think or say, "Why don't you take care of the problem? Why are you asking me to?" As a GM I have seen it all to often. Players forget that they are the "hero/anti-hero" the "adventurer" and their character class allows them to excel at tasks that most NPC's can't do. The Haunt allows a player to see how the NPCs inexperience in situations, that may be 'normal' to PCs, has affected them. They then have to experience that pain/trauma (because they are equipped to do so) and then figure out how to fix the Haunt. Its a perfect story enforcing mechanic.
I understand that not everyone is 'that' involved with the story, and sometimes that story is fairly straight forward and simple. Such as there is a really bad person doing really bad things to innocent people and we need to stop them. Most of those non-story interested players cram the story into that simple example and base their reactions/actions to that, which is fine. But every so often the story is hugely important as to help reinforce why the hero is doing these things.
Granted in the big scheme, this 'story' is a tiny little bump that is just used to point the characters in the right direction and could easily be left out of the adventure path. But I rather enjoyed it, and I enjoyed playing it up. I don't always get as invested in the story as I should, real life being real and all that, my time isn't always funneled into the game.
I just hope the Haunt mechanic can be utilized more often because I feel it strongly pushes any story, even if its a small one like this was. Character death aside, they can be mean though.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I have to agree with you: I *loved* the Vekker cabin and the Misgivings for their opportunity to tell stories of how ordinary people succumbed to extraordinary circumstances.
While there were areas in some books that just felt "tacked on to get the players to the next step" (the Scribbler's lair was the big one for me), the haunted areas just feel right.
The next two sessions of yours promise to be amazing. Looking forward to the writeups!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Rikert Krupt – Paladin of Iomedae
Our brief reunion with the other members of the party was short-lived. The knocking continued and then suddenly the entire building shook and rattled as if there was an earthquake. Everyone scattered as they moved away in an attempt to avoid the relentless shaking. I chose to exit onto the upper porch and into the snow rather than stay inside the building in case it should crumble and fall off of the cliff.
Even outside the structure, the surface shook and I was thrown to the ground. I saw what seemed to be a thin dwarf trying to crawl out from under the foundation of the building. The vision quickly faded as I called upon Iomedae's gift to fly up off of the ground on angels wings. I surveyed the area around the mine building, but could see little because of the heavy snowfall.
I flew over the edge of the cliff and saw Xandu below me, standing away from the lower entrance. He saw me and beckoned for me to join him, so I flew down and entered into the circle of protective magic that surrounded him. He said we needed to call upon our link to the gods and end the haunt by channeling energy into the building. It took two tries before the building finally settled back to normal. During this time, several other party members had arrived outside in the snow, but I didn't see Moxie or Kori'el. Just as I realized this, I heard a shriek of agony from inside the building.
I flew quickly into the doorway and through the entry room to the stairwell that led up to the top level. It was here that I came upon Kori'el, carrying the lifeless and bloodied body of Moxie. To my horror, I saw that Kori'el had fresh blood upon her face, and was in the process of spitting out a chunk of flesh that matched the bite mark on Moxie's neck.
"What have you done??!!" I yelled as I moved closer.
Kori'el turned, and seemed to be in shock as she babbled about not meaning to do it, and that everything was going to be fine. She wouldn't let me examine the body, and pulled away on the verge of madness as the other party members arrived on the scene. It took Xandu's reassurance and healing power to calm Kori'el. He then turned his full attention to trying to revive Moxie. I know how much he cares for us all, but Moxie is his favorite and I could tell that this was incredibly difficult for him.
In the end, Moxie was restored and we rested the duration of the storm in the building. The next morning, we moved out to try and find the bones from one of the dwarves that had died near here, and was evidently part of the problem causing the haunt activity.
We moved into a large, open area near where the mechanical elevator led deep into the mines. It was here that we encountered a great, wormlike creature that burst up from the ground and breathed a freezing mist over us. At nearly the same time, a ghostly, dwarven figure rose from the fog and also moved to attack. The huge worm was quickly blown to bits (literally) by Friedrich's bombs. Following that, the ghostly figure also fell to our combined efforts. Moxie had found the missing bones during the fight, and we returned by magic to the upper room of the mine building to lay the bones to rest and end the haunt. The ghostly figures of two dwarves appeared and seemed to argue with each other, when suddenly the wall of the room crashed in and an enormous, horned creature that walked upright surprised us with its quick and ferocious attack.
So, if I'm reading this correctly, the wendigo just burst into a room with a fully-rested paladin.
Sorry, Useplanb! My wendigo did nearly the same thing. It doesn't go well...
I must admit some slight disappointment, MG, that you didn't go into more detail of Rikert's thoughts about Kori'el's attempted gnomabalism. I'd think there'd be more horror, or even sympathy at realizing what had happened. Or even guilt that he'd not used Channel Energy soon enough to have saved Moxie.
Just my thoughts as a writer. ^^;;
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Wasn't Iomedae's 13th act to dine on roast gnome with orange glaze and peacock feathers?
Xandu would know...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
That doesn't happen yet. It's what happens when the gnome druidess interrupts her during Wrath of the Righteous.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So the group completed part 2 of book 6 last night and began working on part 3. We will be taking a hiatus the next week as Xandu (their only dedicated healer) and Friedrich will be heading out of town to see family.
The fight began with the cinematic explosion of wall leaving everyone in a small state of shock as the Wendigo had the high roll on initiative. For this fight the Wendigo was max health and advanced. Sooooo by the numbers a CR 17 monster with advanced template added against 7 level 14 PCs. Observations about the fight are this. If you want a mob to live, Flyby attack is the ONLY feat you should do.
That being said the fight began with the Wendigo following the tactics of attacking the weakest looking party member first. Because of placement, that meant the Wendigo had to choose from Davok, Koriel and Xandu, with Koriel being the closest. So the Wendigo bit and grabbed Koriel, and dual clawed and rended Xandu then stepped 5 feet back so that any melee engagement meant an attack of opportunity for the Wendigo.
Most of the party did quick buff spells, heals in the case of Xandu as he was almost dead from the opening attack and Dimension Door from Koriel to get away from the grapple.
Its next round it did a flyby attack on Davok and moved off around the building dipping below the cliff face. The grapple didn't work on Davok because he still had Freedom of Movement up. So the list of characters the Wendigo was going to try its tactic of grab, fly and drop was being checked off, one by one.
Each round after this it would do its flyby attack and grab testing out who it could take with it. The only one that went was Sheldor who shape changed into a Wooly Mammoth. The Wendigo let go because it sure as hell wasn't going to be able to continue that grapple. As it turns out they were at the edge of the cliff. So Sheldor fell taking out the southern half of the lower building when he crashed through its roof.
Eventually it got in range of Rikert who charged and, of course, crit. 100 damage and 3 points of fire later (no regeneration now) the Wendigo spun and did an all out attack on just the Paladin. To its credit it did a fair amount of damage and took off 4 Charisma, but the next round the group reduced it to roughly 50 health and then Koriel got off a Slow on the creature so it couldn't escape with Wind Walk. It did turn use the ability hoping that it would live but Xandu got off a Banishment and being an outsider went poof. I let Xandu roll the 20% chance that it doesn't go back to its native plane (which to be honest I have no idea what that would be) and rolled a 19%.
So they then learned of where they needed to go by getting the missing ledger pages and leveled to 15. This took some while as they did this and rousing stories of dentists visits and the many pain medications taken took a chunk of the evening.
From here they then used Wind Walk to move up the river to the Fen of the Icemists. Sadly no Moxie this evening so she missed out on the nymph appearing to them in otter form. So we did some RP with Svevenka as she realized who Moxie and Xandu were as they were the ones that put her sister nymph to rest. They also learned that they had just over two weeks before there was a full moon and began setting up camp. A very 'lively' discussion of waiting in Magnimar (Rikert) and staying the mountains (everyone else) was had, with much laughter. Then Grrrrannie got sick (altitude sickness) by failing her Fortitude save and loosing 1 point from all stats before they decided to Wind Walk back to Vekkers cabin, and do what they could to repair the damage and wait there. This gives each character two weeks to start their acclimation to the higher altitude.
We finished off the evening by having Xandu make his Will saves versus the Nightmare Psychosis and he made his 3 consecutive saves to rid himself of the curse. No one made the Kn Planes check to know anything about the Wendigo so the idea of being cursed never entered their minds.
In two weeks we will finish Part 3 and begin Part 4. Thanks for reading. :)
Aww! Moxie missed the otter? Her player must be disappointed! ^^