Session #11, Part #1 (The Skinshaw Murders, into the Shadow Clock)
Characters: Theddeus Voke (human, male inquisitor 6), Ronak (dwarf, monk 6), Tonzay (gnome, bard 6), Brutus (half orc, wizard 6), Kovak (half orc, cleric 6)
With Cho’Chok dead a pall of sadness falls over the party. Tonzay in particular is feeling greatly saddened by the death of his close friend.
The watch arrives on the scene of the fire and carnage at Justice Ironbriar’s home. The adventurers are escorted by the watch to the Arvensoar, and there they are relieved of their gear and put into holding cells where they are questioned one at a time by the Lord of the Tower, Commander Odinburge. They recount the details of the fight at Ironbriar’s manor truthfully, and after several hours, Odinburge summons them all into his office, and they discuss what has happened and what is to be done next. Odinburge explains that the two guards they pulled out of Ironbriar’s house were not actually members of the watch. They have been found via magical compulsion to be employees of the Seven’s Sawmill and murderous cultists serving Ironbriar.
He also tells them that the remains of the construct matches the description of a creature from a local urban myth known as the Scarecrow, a murderous monster said to lair somewhere in the Underbridge district that comes out at nights when its urge to kill can no longer be suppressed. Stories of the scarecrow have been around since Odinburge was a boy. He even recites a nursery rhyme about the horror.
It is decided that Odinburge will lead a large contingent of the watch to the Sawmill to arrest all of the employees and bring them in for an intensive interrogation. The adventurers opt to go to the Pediment Building to investigate Ironbriar’s offices.
Before they set out, Odinburge introduces them to a man named Theoddus Voke. Voke is an inquisitor of Abadar who has long served both the city and the church by helping to defend Magnimar from threats within, but also by protecting its outlying holdings from monstrous incursions. Voke has only recently arrived back in Magnimar, having been on an extended trip to the distant city of Absolom where he completed his training at the city’s great Temple of Abadar. Odinburge entrusts Theoddus with documents that will grant the adventurers access to the Ironbriar’s offices within the Pediment Building.
Ironbriar’s office yields a couple of clues. Many of his effects are out of place, and recent bloodstains and boot scuff marks on the floor suggest signs of struggle. In his personal quarters, Kovak notes that there are markings on the floor in front of a his bed that indicate there may been a large rectangular object like a trunk there, which is now missing.
Upon questioning some of the guards at the Pediment Building, they learn that Ironbriar met with Captain Acacia the previous afternoon and the two of them dragged a trunk out of his office. The trunk was then carried by Stonehearts working at the Pediment building to a large dark coach and loaded onto it. Ironbriar and Acacia left in the coach.
The heroes are not entirely sure of what to make of all this, so they decide to head to Underbridge, Magnimar’s worst slum, so named because it is built entirely beneath the remains of the mighty Irespan. There they bribe a local urchin named Opy to tell them if he knows anything about the “Scarecrow.” Opy has lived his whole life in the perpetual shadow of the district, and he tells them of the Shadow Clock. He has heard that it is where the Scarecrow devours those he kills. He has also seen a strange serpent-like creature crawl out of a hole near top of the clock and slither down the side of it. Opy is clearly terrified of the place and advises they avoid it.
Instead of heeding his advice they make their way straight for the clock tower. Unfortunately, Brutus used his fly spell earlier in the day, so flying up to the top of the tower to investigate is not an option for him. Instead they decide to go in through the front doors. They find the ground level of the tower to be empty and devoid of useful clues, but a treacherous staircase winds its way up to the top of the crumbling clock tower.
Pathfinder. It gets a bit ugly though.
I realize that Xanesha got a bit of downgrade in the pathfinder version, but she's still pretty damn dangerous
Session #11, Part #2 (Skinshaw murders- for whom the bells toll)
One by one, while leaving space between one another, the adventurers start the long climb up to the top of the tower. They are about half way up when it occurs to Brutus to send his raven familiar to fly up and scout. The raven flies up towards the bells and as he approaches one of the big, bronze bells suddenly comes plummeting down the through the clock tower’s hollow interior, crashing against the walls and damaging sections of stair. It catches Brutus as it slams into the wall beside him. The impact of the massive bronze bell severely injures the half orc and knocks him off the stairs. He hurtles towards the floor far below. Fortunately, he has a featherfall spell memorized, which he triggers to save himself. After floating to the ground, he starts to make his way back up the stairs to catch up with his companions and hopefully get some healing from Kovak.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party strains to see up to the remaining bells high above. They spot a hideous aberration (faceless stalker) clinging to the rafters and reaching down to cut the ropes holding another of the great bells. Theoddus and Kovak both attempt pot shots with crossbows, but the cover from the bells and rafters makes their enemy difficult to hit, and before they can land a shot another bell is cut loose. This one nearly takes out Tonzay and Theoddus, but both of them manage to catch onto the stairs and pull themselves back up.
At this point Ronak takes advantage of his mystical athleticism and starts bounding up the stairs, heedless of their poor condition. Steps crumble and break under him, and he bounds over small gaps, but he doesn’t fall, and soon he reaches the top. There he finds not one, but two of the faceless stalkers working away to sever a third bell. The dwarf scurries across one of the rafter beams towards the aberrations, hoping to prevent them from releasing another bell down on his companions. One of the faceless stalkers rises and moves along the beam to intercept the dwarf. The other moves on to one of the remaining two bells and sets to work at cutting the ropes suspending it.
Ronak draws his kama, remembering how his fists sunk into the last faceless stalker he faced early in the morning at Ironbriar’s home. The two clash for several seconds, each trying to cause the other to fall off the beam. By this time Theoddus has taken cover in an alcove formed by a hole in the exterior wall of the tower. Tonzay and Kovak have crossed the large gap formed from where the second bell destroyed a section of the stairs, and they start making their way up to help Ronak. Brutus has climbed back up to the point where he fell, and with his darkvision he can see Ronak and the Faceless Stalker fighting up above. He immediately begins a magic missile barrage against his enemy, and soon he and Ronak send it plummeting off the beam to the floor far, far below.
By the time Ronak has dealt with the first of the pair, the second one has nearly severed the third bell. The dwarf hurries across the beams to kill the thing, but he doesn’t get to it before it cuts loose the bell. With a thunderous cacophony it clatters its way downward. This time Kovak is the victim. Fortunately, the cleric avoids being completely crushed, and though he is knocked off the stairs, he catches onto one and prevents a deadly fall.
Through a combination of magic missiles, arrow, bolts and Ronak’s melee skills, the heroes swiftly dispatch the second of the faceless stalkers. They then climb to join Ronak at the top of the stairs and Kovak begin the process of healing the wounded. Only one bell remains, and the already run down tower has sustained some serious structural damage from the falling bells. It groans in agony and bricks start to steadily rain down from the damaged walls. Ronak has a feeling that they don’t have too much longer before the whole thing comes crashing down.
Session #11, Part #3, Skinshaw murders- finale
At the top of the stairs there is a hole in the exterior wall of the clock tower. A makeshift wooden ramp extends out from the hole and curves its way along the outside of the tower up to the next level where the gears that operate the clock can be found. Before they can head up, and before Kovak can finish healing Brutus, Ronak, who is standing closest to the ramp, suddenly yowls in agony as he is stabbed in the side. His attacker, who had been invisible, appears behind him. It is Justice Ironbriar. Theoddus draws his greatsword and steps up beside Ronak and slashes at the murderous elf. Ironbriar is incredibly agile and easily evades Theoddus’s skillful sword swings. Kovak moves in to help as well, but his help comes first in the form of needed healing magic. As the half orc warpriest readies to engage Ironbriar, the elf utters a command spell and forces Kovak to hurl his falchion off the edge of the stairs, sending it falling down to the floor far, far below. Tonzay tries to make himself useful by casting Hideous laughter spells at the killer, but elves are naturally resistant to enchantment magic, and Ironbriar is a strong willed cuss; he manages to resist all the gnome’s attempts to break him. Brutus has a little more success, and he dispels a cat’s grace spell that was boosting Ironbriar’s agility. This weakens his defenses slightly, and the elf realizes that now that he has lost the element of surprise the numbers are not in his favor. He channels unholy power through his blade and lands a couple of more strikes against Theoddus and Ronak; then he turns to retreat back up the ramp. As he does so, Ronak hooks his kama under the elf’s shin and trips him. Both the dwarf and the Inquisitor then take advantage of his prone state and start pummeling him mercilessly. Ironbriar desperately tries to defend himself, but it is to no avail, and soon the heroes land a killing blow.
After looting Ironbriar’s corpse they make their way up the rickety ramp to the next level of the tower. This is the level that houses the gears and mechanisms that once operated the clock. A small room at the top of the ramp contains a cabinet with a messenger raven as well as trunk, and in the trunk they find the hacked up remains of Captain Acacia.
They press forward into the next room with Kovak taking the lead. Before he can get far a spear thrust from out of no-where impales him. A creature that has the lower body of a giant constrictor snake and the upper body of a woman wields the weapon and suddenly appears in front of Kovak. She must have been invisible and waiting for the heroes. The single spear thrust nearly kills Kovak, and the adventurers decide that they are currently ill prepared to face such a dangerous opponent. They decide to retreat, but retreat is difficult, for they have little choice but to once again navigate back down the treacherous stairs. Ronak finds this easiest; he uses his monk talents to jump off the stairs and slow fall down to the stairs further down. Tonzay follows his lead and attempts the same technique- albeit less skillfully and successfully, resulting in minor injuries along the way. Theoddus and Kovak are slower about making their way down. They are significantly heavier than Tonzay, and they know that if they follow his lead they will likely break right through any stairs they leap onto, which may well result in long fall to their deaths. Thus they have little choice but to use stairs as they were intended to be used. Brutus is the slowest, for as he climbs down he also attempts to hold off the pursuing snake woman with spells, which keeps him from moving at his maximum speed. He manages to inflict some damage on her, but she is resistant to magic. Things take a deadly turn for the wizard when she leaps from the stairs, and instead of plummeting she utters a word of magic and floats gracefully down to land in front the mage (go featherfall). She unleashes her hate and malice on him by driving her weapon through his chest and then his throat, leaving the half orc wizard dead on the stairs. She then leaps off them and casts another featherfall spell. She floats down to the bottom of the tower to land on the flag stone floor just ahead of Ronak. She slithers to the doors and puts herself in front of them, blocking the retreat of the heroes. They have little choice but to engage her. Ronak and Theoddus lead the attack, while Tonzay provides support with his bardic music and bow; Kovak recovers his falchion and does what he can to heal his companions. Theoddus sustains a nasty wound from her spear and is forced to fall back, but Ronak keeps stepping up within her reach, forcing her gradually backward so that she is soon out in the street. He taps into his ki strength to dodge a number of her spear thrusts, but still sustains wounds. It isn’t long before the snake woman and the heroes are all badly injured, and it looks like the fight could go either way. Then unexpected reinforcements arrive in the form of a rather strange heroine. Her name is Evlynn and she is an aasimar of “mixed” lineage (Brutus’s player’s replacement PC- an aasimar, paladin/sorcerer/dragon disciple- with demonic and draconic heritages). She happens to be in the area and sees the fight move out into the street. Using her ability to detect evil, she senses the vile nature of the snake woman and decides to aid the dwarf. Evlynn manifests a set of claws and moves in to smite her new found foe in the name of Iomedae. The snake woman shrieks and howls as the aasimar lunges at her, and Evlynn slashes her with a flurry of claws, inflicting enough damage to finally slay the snake woman.
The heroes breath a sigh of relief, but it is short lived, for the damage the bells inflicted on the already crumbling clock tower are enough to cause it to start to collapse. There is no time for recovering Brutus’s body or anything else from within. They barely have time to get themselves and the snakewoman’s corpse clear before the whole tower comes crashing down.
Thus ends the session and the Skinshaw murders.
Skinshaw Murders Epilogue
Skinshaw murders epilogue: In the days following the incident at the Shadowclock a number of events occur.
• There is a large funeral for Captain Acacia, though her remains are not recovered, as they were buried in the rubble of collapsed clock tower. Cho’chok and Brutus can each be interred as well.
• The monstrous body of the “woman” you fought is brought back to the Arvensoar in a cart. Scholars are able to establish that she is a rare monstrous creature called a lamia. Lamia’s have the upper bodies of slender and attractive women, though they have sharp fang like teeth and feline eyes. Most commonly they have the lower body of lioness, but sometimes they have lower bodies of other creatures, serpents being the second most common. They are race that was said to have been brought into existence long, long ago by a terrible divine curse. They are known as hateful and evil creatures that despise the gods and have supernatural powers. It is unknown how this creature ended up in Magnimar
• You are able to activate the glove of storing and you find that it contains another item, which you identify as a hat of disguise
• The magical items that you recovered from the lamia are also of interest:
Sihedron Amulet: is identical to the one you recovered from Nualia, both in terms of abilities and appearance.
Medusa Mask: This intricate mask is made of gold-plated iron. Writhing snake tails radiate from a gemstone upon the brow, almost as if they were medusalike hair. The mask grants a +4 bonus (untyped) on all saving throws against visual effects, including gaze attacks and sight-based illusions. Once per day as a standard action, the wearer can cause the central gemstone to glow with pale green light, at which point she may target any one creature within 30 feet. The targeted creature must succeed at a DC 15 Fortitude save or be petrified for 1 minute, as if by flesh to stone.
Impaler of Thorns: An impaler of thorns is a +1 longspear. Once per day as it strikes a foe, the wielder can cause it (as a free action) to unleash a 30-foot-radius burst of despair that affects all creatures not wielding an impaler of thorns. Creatures affected must succeed at DC 16 Will saves or become overwhelmed with sadness and despair, taking –2 penalties on attack rolls, saving throws, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls for 6 minutes. The target struck when this effect is triggered must also succeed at a second DC 16 Will save to resist becoming nauseated with despair for 1 round.
Note: Sholars suspect that the spear is a relic from ancient Thassilon, much like the amulet. The medusa mask might be as well, but of this they are less certain.
• All the employees that can be found at the Seven’s sawmill are arrested and extensive interrogations conducted. It is learned through both mundane means and magic (detect evils, discern lies, zone of truth etc…) that the men working the nightshift, as well as the mill’s manager were all murderers under the direction of Justice Ironbriar. They called themselves the Skinshaw Men. Some had been members of his cult longer than others, but those who have been members of the cult the longest have been committing ritual acts of murder for many years. Normally these killings happened to poor folk in the slums who would not be missed. They were all followers of Norgorber, the god of thieves, assassins and secrets. They worshipped him via one of his many personas- the one known as Father Skinshaw. Ironbriar was their high priest.
Only in the past few months had they really stepped up their murders and begun carving the Sihedron rune into their victims. This was at Ironbriar’s behest, but he was receiving orders from a woman they knew as Xanesha (they thought she was a woman). As far they knew Xanesha’s association with Ironbriar and the Skinshawmen only began about a year ago or so, and the new style of killings they were commanded to undertake only began within the past few months.
Some of the cultists thought that Ironbriar had been acting strange since his association with Xanesha began. A few believed that he was under magical influence.
None of the cultists had any idea what the purpose of carving the Sihedron rune into their victims was. They spent time stalking their victims, and they were ordered to kill specific individuals. The names of their intended victims were provided to them by Ironbriar. However they didn’t know anything about his selection process. Several of the cultists speculate that Xanesha was providing Ironbriar with the names. They were told it was very important to carve the Sihedron rune into their victims as part of the murder, and it had to happen within a moment or two of the victim’s death. The skinshaw men knew next to nothing about the Brothers of the Seven, except that Ironbriar was affiliated with them and they owned the Sawmill.
• The cultists are sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in the infamous, multi-level dungeon/prison known as the Hells, which is located beneath The Pediment building. In Magnimar treason is the only offence punishable by death. Ironbriar’s involvement in the affair is not made public as it would reflect badly on the magistrates and the city government. However, rumors get out none-the-less.
• With the cultists imprisoned and Ironbriar dead, the murders come to a stop.
Here's a fun player journal that introduces Brutus's replacement- Evelyne.
As I enter the Underbridge the dream once again flashes into my mind. An ominous tower shadowed in darkness. Then there are five people rushed into it by a terrible scarecrow with a scythe. I can see each clearly, a gnome, two half-orcs, a dwarf and a human. Once they are all inside the door slams shut on its own with a grim finality. In an eerie silence a giant snake emerges and wraps around the tower….and I can still hear their screams as the tower is crushed and the very walls begin oozing blood. I awoke this morning knowing that it was more than a just nightmare; it was a premonition…a message from my Lady, Iomadae.
As I made ready to search for these adventurers my own sister counselled me against it; saying that perhaps it was just a dream. She asked me why Iomadae would send me this dream, her own followers sent me back home on this assignment because they did not believe me a true follower. My paladin training was interrupted when sorcerous heritage emerged. They were so powerful and prominent that I started to nurture these abilities, even forsaking many of my duties of a paladin. The others felt because of this I lacked determination and wasn’t enough of a paladin to serve. They sent me back home, to Magnimar, to care for a minor shrine and get rid of me. This great shame did not deter me however. My brothers and sisters lacked foresight. My sorcerous abilities were strong, and seeing that they could only make me stronger I delved into the study of these gifts. My family does not lack for those gifted with magic, in fact I soon discovered that demonic as well as draconic heritage were the source of my abilities rather than celestial, which being an aasimar I believed it would be. The taint of demonic blood introduced doubt, maybe they were right, and maybe I was unworthy of my Lady. This dream however, so vivid and real, has washed it away. Iomadae still watches over me, her humble servant, and has tasked me with finding these adventurers. I will not disappoint her. This morning I ignored my sister’s warnings and left to discover the truth behind my vision.
It has taken me most of the day to find the trail of the adventurers that I describe from my dream, but once I have been brought to Underbridge I know where I need to go; the Shadow Clock. I walk among the unfortunate souls of the area. Many are curious to see a noble woman among them but avert their gaze as soon as I meet it. Many point and whisper to their peers, I do have a reputation in the city. Sadly, one group of desperate souls don’t know me and look to inconvenience me. They approach what appears to them a lone woman in armor, a noble woman who has lost her way. They chide me, but I have no time for them; a sense of urgency fills men telling me there is no time to waste. My mouth elongates and fills with razor sharp teeth and my hands become silver claws. Most of them run, but one in his terror gets in a lucky shot and is able to cut me with his knife. I ignore the wound and run off to the tower.
As I arrive I can hear the sounds of fighting and think for a panicked moment that I am too late. Then I see a half woman half snake slither out of the door fighting someone still inside and blocking their exit. There is no time to think. Running up I bare my fangs and extend my claws. Her surprise at my arrival is evident; it also does not last long. In seconds the beast is dead at my feet and my mouth is filled with the taste of her blood.
Looking down in the doorway I see the gnome from my dream looking up at me in terror. It is then that I realize; if my Lady had wanted me to join this group…this is probably not the best way to introduce myself.
After short introductions are made I offer them my ‘blade’. They accept, but I earn a nickname for my blunder. They call me Scary Lady (GM note: and “Evil Lynn”)
Session #12, Interlude, Journey to Fort Rannick
Characters: Tonzay (gnome, bard 7), Thaddeus (human, fighter1/inquisitor 6), Ronak (dwarf, monk 7), Evelynne (aasimar, paladin/sorcerer/dragon disciple 7)
On the request of Commander Odinburge, the heroes set out from Magnimar and head to Fort Rannick to support the Black Arrow rangers in defending the region against troublesome ogres. Given Ronak’s hatred of boats and water they decide to travel overland. Kovak still has his horse and wagon, which they use to store extra supplies for the long journey. It is the 16th of Neth when they set out, and the chill of the approaching winter is starting to set in.
The two day trip from Magnimar to Sandpoint is uneventful. In Sandpoint Ronak checks in with his parents; they report the events of their investigation in Magnimar to Mayor Deverin and Sheriff Hemlock, and they spend a restful night at the Rusty Dragon where they share drinks with Ameiko in honor of Cho Chok and Brutus- both of whom perished in Magnimar.
The heroes do not tarry in Sandpoint, and they continue their journey the next morning. The next leg of the trip involves traveling east on a trail that follows the Yondabakari river towards the town of Wartle. The roads are generally quiet, as it is late in the season and most of the merchants have taken refuge in the cities for the winter. On their first night out of Sandpoint trouble arises a wyvern attacks their tethered horse in the night. Ronak and Thaddeus try to save the steed by engaging the wyvern in melee, but the horse has already been stung, and though it gets away it succumbs to poison a few minutes later. Thaddeus also suffers a nasty sting from the wyvern’s tail, and if not for Kovak’s training as a combat medic the inquisitor might have shared the horse’s fate. The heroes manage to fight off the wyvern, and it flees up into the night, but Evelyn won’t let it escape, and she brings it down with a barrage of magic missiles.
They cut the head off the wyvern and load it into the wagon. They decide they will try to pull the wagon to Wartle themselves, which adds an extra day of travel onto this leg of the journey. The next day they encounter a lone woman named Ryanna travelling the road. She’s heading for Magnimar and claims to be duelist. She’s challenges Thaddeus to a friendly duel, but despite pressure and teasing from Tonzay he declines.
The next night they again have their rest disrupted. This time Evelyn and Tonzay are on watch duty when a band of bugbears manages to sneak up on them. Two bugbears jump each of them from behind, putting their big hands over their mouths and attempting to drag them off into the night. This gambit fails. Tonzay is a squirmy little cuss, and he manages to wriggle free, at which point he shouts out and wakes up the rest of his companions. And although Evelyn is a woman with a fairly slender build, she is far, far stronger than she appears thanks to the combination of celestial, demonic and draconic blood all coursing through her veins. She puts up enough of a fight to stop the bugbears from dragging her anywhere. She also manifests razor sharp claws and teeth that she uses to strike back at her assailants. Seconds after Tonzay calls out, Thaddeus, Ronak and Kovak are on their feet ready to aid Tonzay and Evelyn; at the same time, two more bugbears coming charging out of the darkness. A brief skirmish ensues, and although the bugbears are big, burly brutes, they are no match for the skillful and well armed adventurers. In seconds the goblinoids have been slaughtered.
By the time they reach Wartle, two days later, the weather has gotten unseasonably cold and even their warm cloaks aren’t keeping the chill away, though Evelyn doesn’t seem at all bothered by the frigid weather. As they near Wartle they run into a farmer and his son who are attempting to drag a wagon full of firewood out of a pothole. They are taking the wood to a local Inn called the Burned Hen. The heroes lend a helping hand and escort them the rest of the way to Wartle. The grateful Innkeeper gives them a free night’s lodging and Tonzay performs that night. Wartle is a town of trappers and swampers with only a single Inn. It’s hardly a nice place, but they end up spending a few days their procuring a new horse and waiting out the cold weather. Word spreads quickly that a bard is in town, and during their second night at the Burned Hen the place is packed with locals. Tonzay tries something new with his act this night. Instead of telling stories about his infamous uncle, he decides to go with a tale about his close friend Cho Chok. Unfortunately, the sting of Cho’s death is still too fresh in the sensitive gnome’s heart, and he breaks into tears towards the end of his story, leaving the crowd feeling a little awkward and depressed.
On the 26h of Neth, they set out from Wartle for the next leg of their journey, which involves travelling from Wartle to Whistledown. They have a new heavy draft horse to pull their wagon, and they leave the wyvern head behind as a gift to the Innkeeper to stuff and hang above his bar. During this next phase of the trip they have a number of encounters. One night they are ambushed by worgs, which they fight off with relative ease. During one of the days they run into a ranger named Mumford and his sons who are out hunting and patrolling, but by far the worst event of this portion of the trip is when their camp is attacked in the night by six scrags (river trolls). They don’t even attempt to fight the slathering fiends. Tonzay casts a haste spell on the heroes and they flee into the night, abandoning their camp, many of their supplies (including Kovak’s armor), new horse and wagon to the trolls. The day after their encounter with the trolls, they meet a pair of merchant wagons heading for Magnimar. The merchants sell Thaddeus a +2 cloak of resistance for about 25% off.
The adventurers arrive in Whistledown low on supplies and just ahead of an early snowstorm that leaves several inches of snow on the ground. As a result they spend an extra day in Whistledown during which they hire a grizzled ranger named Bayan to lead them north for the final leg of the trip. They fear travelling without a guide because the trail north is covered with snow, and there is a distinct possibility that they might get lost. Bayan agrees for the price of 5gp for day and the promise that they will treat him to a night of drinking, gambling and whoring at a pleasure barge in Turtleback Ferry called the Paradise.
They leave Whistledown on the 2nd of Kuthona, heading north. The trail is covered with snow, so having a guide proves to be a wise decision. The road is virtually unused at this time of the year, so they encounter no travellers. On their second night out from Whistledown they are attacked in the night by a pack of seven undead (wights). The heroes fight them off with relative ease. Bayan proves to be a capable archer, and Tonzay’s new haste spell is ever useful, as is Kovak’s ability to channel positive energy.
The session ends a day or so later as the heroes make camp on the edge of the Sanos forest. They have a couple days travel through the forest ahead of them and then they will be at Turtleback Ferry, which is fairly close to Fort Rannick.
This is a backstory one of my players wrote to explain his rather incongruous character build:
aasimar paladin/sorcerer/dragon disciple with draconic and abyssal heritage.
Evlynne Fairchild Character Background
Ya wanna know about the Fairchild’s? Thar is just one thing ya need to know. Thar ain’t anything on this world that a Fairchild hasn’t f@*&ed.
Powerful and old family they are. Legend has it that they have always been so beautiful that it has caught the attention of several powerful enti..peo..spiri…ah dammit THINGS over the generations. Now thar blood is so f+*!ed thay can’t be considered human anymore. Think thay care though? One thing I can tell you about a Fairchild is that thay love power. Doesn’t matter how they come by it or how good or bad thay are they all love it; and want it; and need it. Thar addicted to it. You catch my meaning? It doesn’t matter if thar good or evil, thar desire for power is the one common streak in the lot.
Mainly they be sorcerers. You know how sorcerers draw power from their blood or at least that is what I hear tell from people smarter than you and me. Usually a family will have just one thing from which to draw. Not the Fairchild’s. Some of them get magic that be from the dragons, spewing out ice from thar mouths, others be demons, growing claws of fire and still others gain their powers from the angels themselves.
Angels. I guess you were asking about ole’ Evlynne Fairchild specifically that you be wanting to know about. The Fairchild’s be human; but not all of tham have human children. Some of tham will spit out a teifling or, as in Evlynne’s case an Aasimar.
I be 10 years old when I first started working for the Fairchild’s as a kitchen boy and first set eyes on Evlynne. When I first saw her she looked to be about 2 years old. It wasn’t till later I found out that she was mah same age. Ya see Evlynne be both blessed and cursed with growing up slower then the rest of us ‘mere’ mortals. Even back then she was a sight to see. She had golden eyes like the sun and fine blonde hair and she radiated a kind of light. I watched her grow up I did; served their family all my life. You only realize she be aging over a long, long time. Growing up with her it hardly seemed she changed at all. She outgrew her parents she did. Then she was passed to her younger sister to start caring for her. Coming from a rich family though she never wanted for anything.
She’s the eldest or three; but you’d never know to look at her. She also had a brother that no one ever dares to talk about. Marcus Fairchild; was a wizard and was jealous of his sister’s immortality. Took the dark paths to obtain forbidden magics and became a lych. He was an evil bastard. Pissed off and double crossed both the evil and good sides of the family; made a lot of enemies and then disappeared. No one has seen him for many years; but he’s rumoured to still be around. Lyches are a tough lot to kill.
Now I be 70; served the Fairchild’s faithfully for me entire life. Evlynne looks to be just about 15 now. She’s been going up to the shrine of Iomedae for about the last 20 years, they wouldn’t take her at first cuz she looked to be about 10; she could barely lift a sword. Figure they’d take her now. Say what you might about the Fairchild’s, they be a stubborn lot. That little girl has decided that she’s going to be a soldier of Iomedae for whatever reason and I be thinking that thar may not be anything that can stop her.
Session #12, GM notes
I tried something a little different with this session. The PCs were a bit behind in XP, so I thought I'd flesh out the journey to Fort Rannick more extensively. I prepped a bunch of different random encounters, which is something I don't normally invest a lot of time in. It made for a nice change of pace from my end because I really had no idea which encounters would be rolled and what sort of numbers they would be dealing with for some of the encounters. They got a little scared when they rolled an encounter with 6 trolls, but Tonzay cast a haste spell on them and they fled. They might have been able to take them on, but I think there would have been a good chance of at least on PC death if they had.
In retrospect my probability of having encounters each day was a little on the high side, as there ended up being more encounters than I intended, but having the players take turns rolling for them kept them focused. Consequently we got through 5 combat encounters (well more like 4 since they fled the trolls) and about the same number of short rp encounters, which is really impressive for my group in a 4 hour session. Granted most of the combats only went a few rounds.
Session #13, Hook Mountain Massacre, Investigations in Turtleback Ferry, A visit to the Graul farmstead
[b]PCs: Kovak (half orc, cleric 7), Ronak (dwarf, monk 7), Evelyn (aasimar, paladin/sorcerer/dragon disciple 7), Tonzay (gnome, bard 7), Theodduss (human, inquisitor 7)
Session Notes: While travelling through the Sanos forest on their way to Turtleback Ferry and Fort Rannick, their guide, Bayan, has a few drinks one evening and starts blathering about the Paradise Barge and its gorgeous proprietor Lucrecia. During his reminiscing he shows the characters a tattoo on his lower back that Lucrecia gave him. He was told to keep it a secret, but the drink has loosened his tongue and caused him to ramble about things he shouldn’t, and he explains that it marks him as a preferred customer and gets him free drinks and chips for gambling. This wouldn’t be such a big deal except that the tattoo on his back is an image of the sihedron rune that the party has already encountered several times in their adventures. Thaddeus begins questioning Bayan, but the hunter can’t tell them much other than the tattoo was given to him Lucrecia herself after he’d visited the barge a few times. The tattoo does radiate enchantment magic, which is of some concern.
A few days later the heroes arrive in Turtleback Ferry. By this time the weather has changed. It has warmed up slightly and the snows have disappeared, replaced by a cold, continuous rain that has left the lands a soggy, muddy mess. They are miserable and soaking wet by the time they have ferried across the Skull River and reached the village.
Bayan leads them to the village’s sole inn, a place called the Turtle’s Parlor. Here they get dry and have hot meal. They learn, much to Bayan’s disappointment, that some three weeks earlier the Paradise Barge sunk into Claybottom Lake, and a score of villagers along with many visitors drowned. While at the inn they are introduced to mayor Sneed, who seeks them out after having received word of their arrival. He appears to be a follower of the god Erastil. They make introductions and agree to help investigate the sinking of the barge. They mention the tattoo and Sneed notes that he’s noticed that at least a few of the villagers seem to have it. Sneed also tells them that no rangers from Fort Rannick have been through town in over three weeks. This is highly unusual. Furthermore the hunting party he sent up to the fort to investigate has also not returned. Sneed fears the worst.
The next morning they hire a fisherman to take them out on the lake to where the barge sunk. Kovak casts a water breathing spell on the party and they swim down to investigate the sunken barge. Here they find that there are some forty-six bloated corpses caught in the barge and almost all of them bear the sihedron mark. There are signs to indicate that there was an explosion in the bilge that caused the barge to sink, suggesting that it might have been intentional. There is no sign of Lucrecia’s body and her private chambers have been cleared out. The heroes conclude that she had something to do with the barge sinking and that her intent was to somehow sacrifice those who had the tattoo.
They spend the rest of the day freeing the corpses and helping to bring them back to shore so that they may be claimed and properly buried. Upon talking with Sneed he wonders if there might be many more folk in town that bear the tattoo since many of the people that frequented the barge weren’t on it the night it sunk. Theoddus is quite concerned by this prospect, and the heroes discuss means by which they might remove the marks from the remaining townsfolk. They test one of the corpses by burning the mark with a hot brand, and they discover that doing so seems to disrupt the mark’s magic. Theoddus gains Sneed’s support, and they explain to the townsfolk the danger of the tattoos. Then Theoddus tells them that by the authority of Magnimar they must have the tattoos removed in order to save their souls from dark sorcery. Over the course of the remainder of the day all citizens bearing the mark are required to line up at the smithy and have their tattoo destroyed with a hot brand. As an inquisitor of Magnimar, Theoddus does the branding and relies on his companions to “convince” those citizens who refuse to have their tattoos removed of the necessity of doing so. To make it easier on the villagers Evelynn buys several kegs of ale from the local tavern and offers it to all those who have their marks destroyed. By noon the next day they have managed to purge the citizens of their tattoos.
With this task complete there is little left for them to do in Turtleback Ferry, so they set out towards Fort Rannick. The heroes follow the Skull River north along its eastern bank; the weather continues to be rainy and miserable. About five miles from the village they are required to cross the river on a rickety old wooden bridge. While crossing the river, they hear what sounds like an animal crying out in pain coming from the woods to the west. They investigate and discover a firepelt cougar with a leg trapped in a bear trap. They also hear the baying of hunting dogs approaching. Evelynn and Kovak work to free the cougar from the trap and tend to its wounded leg. Just as they finish removing the trap the dogs arrive with their master- a muscular, bare-chested, spear wielding, orgrekin. He threatens the heroes and tells them to be on their way before he sets his dogs on them, but this does nothing to cow the adventurers. The ogrekin makes good on his word, and his dogs rush forward to attack, but Ronak and Thaddeus make short work of them. The ogrekin joins the fray as well. Unfortunately for him, he is outnumbered, and though he would probably be a match for any single member of the party, he is no match for all five of them. They soon have him wounded, surrounded and at their mercy. Thaddeus casts a zone of truth spell and sets about interrogating their captive. The ogrekin seems to know little about Fort Rannick, but he does tell them that his family has captured a few of the rangers and has them imprisoned in their home, which is in the woods a couple of miles away. Upon hearing that the ogrekin has involved in the capture and confinement of members of the rangers, Thaddeus orders Evelynn to put him to death, which she does- by biting out his throat, much to the disgust of her companions.
The heroes set out into the woods to find the ogrekin’s home. The cougar leads them, and they realize that the cat is likely the animal companion of one of the captured rangers. They travel for a couple of miles through the soggy forest and steady rain until they come cleared area wherein sits a big, dilapidated old farmhouse and barn, as well as an expansive vegetable garden. A tall ogrekin with a head like a deformed pumpkin rambles around the garden area seemingly unbothered by the cold rain. With winter setting in, there is nothing of note still growing in the garden, but he seems to be enjoying poking at the remains of rotting squash with his ogre hook. The adventurers keep an eye on him for a moment, while Ronak sneaks around the perimeter of the farmstead using the woods for cover. He notices that the windows of the farmhouse are boarded over and there appear to be two different doors leading in. He also hears the muffled sounds of arguing voices coming from within. Unfortunately, during his circuit he steps in a hole that he hadn’t noticed and makes an undue amount of noise. This immediately gets the attention of the ogrekin in the garden who decides to move towards Ronak to investigate. Before he can get far, Thaddeus casts a command spell on him and orders him to move towards the inquisitor and the rest of the party (away from Ronak). The heroes then rush from their hiding places in the trees and attack. Ronak bolts out across the open area between the farmhouse and the barn to move in on him from behind. A short but brutal fight ensues, during which the ogrekin lands a lucky hit on Ronak with his ogrehook. The hook sinks deep into the dwarf’s chest, nearly killing him (critical hit for 57 damage); it forces him to stagger out of the melee to get healing from Kovak. Again the heroes have their foe outnumbered, and once they have him surrounded it isn’t long before they have the upper hand. He is soon severely wounded and attempts to flee towards the barn, shouting for help and calling for “mammy” as he goes; he has nearly reached the barn door when Evelynn brings him down with a magic missile barrage.
A moment later the big barn doors open and three more ogrekin emerge. The see Old Crowfood on the ground, snarl and rush towards the heroes with weapons in hand. More fighting occurs, but these ogrekin aren’t near as skillful as crowfood was, and the adventurers have soon cut them down. With these enemies defeated, they head to the barn and peer inside. They see several mangy sheep and goats, as well as a lot of filth. A wall with a large door set in it bisects the barn in half, preventing them from seeing what is in the back portion. Instead of going to investigate, they decide to head into the farmhouse and search for “mammy.”
The farmhouse is horrible place filled with all manner of ogrekin, hillbilly nastiness, including blankets made of human flesh, and a severed head being used as table centerpiece. It also has some traps rigged up, including swinging scythes that trigger when certain doors are opened. In one room they find a pair of full-grown ogrekin wearing filthy diapers and taking on the role of “babies in a nursery.” The heroes promptly slay these abominations. At the back end of the house they find mammy’s room. It consists of a dying bed where mammy’s crushing and disgusting bulk spends most of its time. Three of her “sons” attend her, but these lads have been dead some time and are now zombies. Mammy has sorcerous powers, and when the door to her room is opened, a spectral hand spell charged with a vampiric touch spell attacks (I can’t remember who it attacked). The heroes burst into the room. Mammy is protected by swirling mirror images, and her zombies shamble forward to defend her. The zombies aren’t much of a match for the heroes, and for the most part the adventurers casually fend off their clumsy attacks, focusing their energies on mammy, which soon dispels all the mirror images. She counters their haste spell with a slow spell, and then she channels negative energy to destroy them. They suffer a few injuries, but mammy is outnumbered, and soon she has taken terrible wounds. She tries to flee with magic, but can’t concentrate properly and loses her spell. She is then hacked down, and her zombies are destroyed. Her fat corpse is left on the bed, and the heroes loot the room and the folds in her flesh, uncovering a few magical wands. After this task has been complete they decide to go explore the rest of the house.
Session #13, GM Notes
This was a fun session for the players, but the opposition proved fairly easy. I had hoped mammy would have given them a bit more of a fight, but she is a bit screwed going solo against five heroes.
Anyhow, this journal is up to date now. Yeah.
Session #14, Hook Mountain Massacre, Finishing the Grauls, Scouting Fort Rannick
Characters: Ronak (dwarf, monk 7), Evelynn (assismar, dragon disciple 7), Tonzay (gnome, bard 7), Kovak (half orc, cleric 7), Thaddeus (human, inquisitor 7)
The characters stand in the midst of Mammy Graul’s disgusting chambers, her obscenely fat, dead corpse heaped on her bed nearby. All is fairly quiet now, but they still hope to find the captive rangers they were searching for, so they decide to explore the remainder of the house.
First they venture up the creaking stairs to the second level. Here they find an attic that is set up as a workshop, a place where the Grauls build and repair their various traps. They manage to find some flasks of acid and scrounge up several sets of thieves’ tools. In the second room they find a bedroom that must normally sleep most of the Graul boys. The room also contains a thick-walled, cedar chest. Evelynn decides to inspect the chest for traps. Unfortunately, she’s no rogue and not particularly perceptive. She finds no sign of any traps on the outside of the chest, and when she opens the lid nothing happens. Inside is a leather sack that contains coins. She lifts the sack out; there is a clicking sound and a war razor concealed inside the wall of the chest springs out and nearly slices off her hand (it scored a crit on her and did max damage; she ended up spending her only 2 hero chips to prevent her hand from being severed. I think her player was glad that he had the chips). Luckily Kovak is able to use healing magic re-attach the nearly severed appendage.
In the basement, they enter into a room with three dire rats that are nearly the size of donkeys. Ronak is the one who kicks in the door and he has the misfortune of being ambushed by Hucker Graul (a nasty ogrekin barbarian/rogue) who is waiting in hiding with an ogre hook. Hucker hits him with a sneak attack inflicting a nasty wound, and before Ronak or the party can react he strikes again. The rats also rush forward to savage the dwarf. He fends a couple of them, but one them chomps him good. After this Ronak is just clinging to consciousness (1 hp left). His companions hurry to his aid. Tonzay and Kovak both give him much needed healing magic, while Thaddeus bursts into the room to hack at one of the rats with his greatsword as Evelynn blasts it with a magic missile (neither could get a line on Hucker). Partially, healed the dwarf unleashes a flurry of strikes on Hucker. The body hits cause Hucker to buckle over, exposing a disgusting vestigial twin growing out of the back of his neck. Ronak takes advantage of this and rips the twin right out and throws the bloody thing on the ground where it flops about like a fish out of water (critical hit for Ronak). Hucker bellows in agony and rage and again comes at Ronak with his hook. It sinks deep in Ronak’s trapezius, tearing away muscle and flesh (critical hit). Once again the dwarf is nearly dead, and once again Tonzay and Kovak have to heal him. By this time Evelynn has also forced her way into the room, and she and Thaddeus have killed two of the three rats. Hucker sees he is outnumbered and outmatched. The heroes have the door blocked up, so he turns and barrels toward the back wall of the room. It is made of fairly flimsy wooden planks, and he hits it hard, crashing through. Unfortunately, he gets hung up on the broken planks and falls, unable to quite make it through the wall. Tonzay plunks several arrows into him and Thaddeus moves up to finish him with his greatsword, landing a blow that nearly kills him.
Suddenly a tendril of plant matter bursts through the hole in the wall from the room beyond and wraps itself around Thaddeus. Through the hole, the heroes glimpse a disgusting mass of animate vegetation (tendriculous). Tonzay fires through the hole with his bow. Evelynn tears apart the final rat with her claws and then begins bombarding it with magic missile barrages. Thaddeus attempts to escape the tendril with a burst bonds spell but fails. Luckily Kovak comes to his aid. The half orc casts a bestow curse spell and touches the tendril. He curses the creature to a lifetime of being indecisive, and the curse succeeds. The creature lets go of Thaddeus and it spends the next several seconds flailing around doing nothing useful. During all this someone kills Hucker (I forget which PC).
Tonzay and Evelynn continue to fire on it, but it is regenerating quickly, and they aren’t sure how effective their attacks truly are. Ronak decides that they need to find a way to put it down permanently so he ventures into a nearby storeroom and there he finds a sack of flour. This gives him an idea. He recalls a couple of accidents he heard about back in Janderhoff. One involved a storeroom of flour and another involved coal dust in a mine tunnel. Both resulted in big explosions. The adventurers come up with a plan. Evelynn prepares a spark cantrip, while Ronak barges through a set of doors into the room with the tendriculous. The sack of flour is slung over his shoulder and he cuts it open with his kama, but just as he is readying to disperse the flour into the air, the tendriculous regains some sense and attacks him with its tendrils crushing and grappling the dwarf. Ronak is forced to drop the four, but he fights free of the grapple. It then forgets what it is doing and stops attacking (thanks to Kovak’s curse). The dwarf takes advantage of the opportunity to grab the sack and disperse the flour. He then flees the room, and Evelynn launches her spark. There is a big explosion that rocks the farmhouse. Tonzay is a little too close to the blast and takes some damage from wood shrapnel. When the dust and debris settle there is nothing left of the plant monster and the ceiling above has caved in, causing the disgusting contents of mammy’s room to fall into the basement.
They conduct a search of the wreckage and find a great deal of armor and weapons that likely belonged to Black Arrow rangers. Much of it is damaged beyond repair due to the explosion, but there are several items that remain intact. The heroes gather up what they can salvage and take it outside. Next they venture into the barn to finish searching it. In the back room they find a cage that holds three rangers. All three are in horrible condition, but they still cling to life. Thaddeus notices that one of the three men has the sihedron rune tattooed on his lower back, just like the villagers back in Turtleback Ferry.
Kovak attends the wounded, using his clerical magic and training as a field medic, but even after his efforts they are still far from fighting form. The rangers thank them for their help and introduce themselves. The leader of the three is a man named Jakandros, and the other two are Vale and Kavin. Kavin is the one with the tattoo. The heroes learn that Kavin had been speaking to a local hunter and had heard a rumor that there was giant activity in the wider region. He had convinced commander Bayden at the fort that a patrol should be sent to investigate. Jakandros was given charge of the patrol. They had been out for several weeks, though they found no giants. On their return trip they were set on by a particularly horrific owlbear known as Treegouger. Several men were lost to Treegouger before they managed to escape. Then, in the Kreegwood, they were ambushed by a large band of ogrekin. More men were killed in this fight, and afterwards the Graul clan arrived and took the survivors captive. After this things get foggy, but Jakandros estimates that they have been away from the fort for nearly a month.
Thaddeus explains their business in the area, and informs him of the nature of the sihedron tattoo and the fact that Kavin has one. This angers Jakandros since the rangers are forbidden from visiting the Paradise Barge. Thaddeus applies a brand spell to Kavin’s back in order to temporarily suppress the magic in the tattoo until he can permanently brand him. The adventurers also return the rangers’ gear, so that they will be able to fight if necessary.
They rest the night in the barn after Evelynn uses numerous prestidigitation spells to clean the foul place up. The next day Kovak uses more healing magic to nurse the rangers back to health. Their wounds had become infected, and even after he is finished they still aren’t at their best, but they are capable of travelling and fighting if they must. Just before setting out for the fort they burn the farmhouse and barn to the ground along with the bodies of the dead Grauls.
Late that afternoon they reach Fort Rannick. Instead of approaching directly they climb a nearby hill, to gain a good vantage point of the fort. Carrion birds fly up above the place and beside a pool in front of its curtain wall they see the bodies of horses, giant eagles, humans and ogres. A little while later they see a pair of ogres emerge from a barracks building in the bailey, confirming their fears that the fort has been taken ogres.
Jakandros mentions a hidden entrance to the fort behind a small waterfall that cascades down the escarpment the fort abuts. He suggests they camp the night on the bluff since the rangers are still not as ready for combat as they would like to be. That night while Ronak and Thaddeus are on watch duty they hear sounds of ogres leaving the keep and making their way along the trail in the direction of Turtleback Ferry. The two wake the rest of the party, but when they do they discover that Kavin has disappeared.
Ronak and Jakandros make their way down the hill to get closer to the ogres and try to figure out how many there are. Altogether they count seven. Ronak thinks the heroes can take them, assuming they can get the drop on them, so Jakandros makes an owl call that informs the others to come down the hill. Ogres, not being the most perceptive lot, don’t hear them until it’s too late. The adventurers charge out of the woods as the ogres make their way along the trail. They move with supernatural speed thanks to Tonzay’s haste spell. Ronak leads the attack with Thaddeus, Kovak, Vale and Evelynn following just behind him. Jakandros and Tonzay cover them with arrow fire. Thaddeus and Vale take on the leader with the help of Jakandros and Tonzay while Evelynn, Kovak and Ronak take on the other ogres. The fighting is fierce but brief. The ogres land a few solid blows, but they are no match for the heroes and in seconds the fight is over. The sole remaining ogre drops his club and surrenders.
Jakandros interrogates him, as none of the heroes speak giant. He learns that the ogres have captured the keep and that the rangers are dead. This band was heading for Turtleback Ferry to do some scouting. A giant named Barl sent the ogres to attack the fort, but he is not in the fort, though their pappy Jargath is. The ogre doesn’t seem to know much more. At this point something odd happens. Thaddeus decides that he wants to learn more of ogre customs. He starts to remove his pants, and he challenges the ogre to a “wrestling” match. The rest of the party is shocked, bewildered, horrified, and confused, but before any pantsless ogre wrestling can take place Kovak caves the creature’s skull in with a morningstar.
With this business Thaddeus puts his pants back on, and they take care of they drag the bodies into the woods and return to their camp to rest the remainder of the night.
Session #15, Hook Mountain Massacre (Assault on Fort Rannick)
Characters: Ronak (dwarf, monk 8), Kovak (half orc, cleric/holy vindicator 8), Thaddeus (human, inquisitor 8), Evelyn (aasimar, paladin/sorcerer/dragon disciple 8), Tonzay (gnome, bard 8)
Guest Staring: Vale (human, fighter/ranger 6), Jakandros (human, ranger 8)
After resting a day and night, the heroes set out from their camp at dark to make a raid on the keep. They reach the waterfall undetected and find the secret entrance behind it that accesses the castle. Their first obstacle is a cave full of shocker lizards. The heroes try creep through without doing anything to set them off, for though the lizards are docile they are protective of their eggs. The little blue lizards crackle with lightning as the heroes enter their territory, but the adventurers move slowly and carefully one by one. Things are going as well as can be expected when Kovak’s clanking armor sets one off. It charges with lightning, drawing additional charge from its pack mates, and before the heroes can take action it unleashes a powerful blast that devastates the cleric (12d8 damage), leaving him horribly wounded. All the lizards then attack, intent on defending their eggs. A brief skirmish ensues, but the heroes move quick and cut the little creatures down before they can work together to trigger another big electrical blast.
After culling the shocker lizard population, they locate the secret door in the caves that leads into the guard chamber of the castle’s dungeon. Ronak enters first and immediately notes that the room doesn’t look how he’d expect a guardroom to look. The floor is covered with expensive rugs; silk curtains hang from the walls; the smell of exotic incense permeates the place. As the others start to enter, an attractive well-dressed woman with red hair greets the dwarf. “Lucrecia, I presume,” says Ronak. Other members of the party immediately begin to cast spells to prep for battle, and before any real parlay can take place, “Lucrecia” notices this and starts casting her own spell. Ronak rushes forward and tries to disrupt her, but he fails and she manages to teleport away, presumably uninterested in being outnumbered seven to one in a fight. There is some cursing among the heroes, for they are certain she will alert the ogres to their presence. They quickly search her lair for valuables, but find little beyond the bulky rugs. The dungeon cells are also empty, so they hurry up the stairs. They don’t bother with stealth, as they assume they have already lost the element of surprise, and they figure it is more important to hit the ogres quick and hard before they can organize themselves.
Once again, Ronak leads the attack with Eveleyn and Thaddeus right behind him. Kovak, Vale, Jakandros and Tonzay follow. At the top of the stairs Ronak literally catches an ogre with his dick in his hand, as it is in the midst of taking a loud, steamy piss. The ogre turns towards the dwarf as he bursts into the hall, raises its club and sprays some foul smelling urine at the monk. The monk snarls and in disgust and performs the infamous “monkey steals the peach” combat maneuver. The ogre howls, buckles over in pain, and the dwarf snaps its thick, flabby neck with a mighty and decisive twist. The voices of more ogres can be heard from a nearby room. Evelynn and Thaddeus rush past the dwarf and into that room. Here they spot two more ogres. One of them proves to be a fairly competent warrior, and he gives a decent fight with his ogre hook. The commotion attracts even more ogres who start filling into the hall from other rooms. Ronak and Kovak move to block off the hall. It is wide enough for the pair to fight side by side, but the ogres are forced to come in one at time. Jakandros and Tonzay take up positions behind Ronak and Kovak with their bows, though the gnome first casts a haste spell on the heroes and begins a bardic performance. Vale checks a couple of the closest rooms and keeps an eye on a set of stairs leading up to the next level. Soon the adventurers have slain a several more ogres, and their bulky corpses start to pile up in the hall, making moving and fighting in the hall all the more tricky. Here and their the heroes take wounds from ogre clubs and hooks, but in the confines of the hall the ogres can’t come at them en mass, and with the support of two skilled archers the melee fighters can deal with them almost one at a time. It isn’t long before there are about ten dead ogres in the hall and the remainder are routed and trying to escape out through the keep’s main entrance. A couple of the ogres manage to get the bar off the doors, and flee outside into the muddy courtyard where they begin shouting for help. The heroes cut them down, and then close and bar the doors before any additional ogres can arrive.
They hurry back through the carnage-ridden halls and head up the stairs to the keep’s next level. This time Evelyn leads the charge, calling upon her draconic lineage to turn her hands into claws and make her teeth sharp and deadly and using her sorcery to surround herself with a magical shield and swirling mirror images of her form. The stairs open into another hall, and at the end of the hall she sees an open door with a big ogre standing beyond it; a crude “jaw” made from metal has replaced the ogre’s lower jaw, giving him a particularly sinister look. Behind the ogre is another ogre. This one is an ugly female. To reach the ogre Evelyn passes a couple of other doors, including a partially open set of double doors through which she catches a glimpse of another big ogre.
Ronak and Kovak move through the double doors to deal with this ogre, preventing it from being able to leave the room and flank Evelynn in the hall. They find themselves in a chapel; the waiting ogre is the biggest one they have yet seen- pappy Jargaarth Kreeg. He raises his hook and a confident, evil grin crosses his ugly face. Before he can take a swing at Ronak or Kovak, Thaddeus comes to their aid, taking a dimensional step to materialize behind Jargaath and slash him across the back with his great sword. The hulking brute yowls in pain and surprise and spins around with his ogre hook. The weapon pulses with magical energy, for the hook itself seems to have a particular hatred for humans. With a couple of devastating swings he cuts the inquisitor down (Thaddeus was spared thanks to the spending of a couple of hero chips). Then Jargaath turns his attention towards Ronak and Kovak. Ronak and Kovak hit him hard, but he is too tough for them to bring down as quickly as they’d like. He targets the half orc next, for Kovak seems to have enough human blood in his veins for the hook’s magic to work on him. The cleric gets lucky and survives the onslaught, though he is badly wounded. He is forced to withdraw and apply much needed divine healing. Vale rushes in to fill the gap, dual wielding axes and eager to test himself against the pappy of the Kreeg clan. The test doesn’t go so well, and Jargaath cuts him down. Ronak stands alone before the wounded, raging pappy. Fortunately, Jakandros and Tonzay are behind him, providing support with their bows.
Meanwhile, Evelyn finds herself fighting on her own on another front. A door opens beside her, and she sees three more ogres. That leaves her to deal with five ogres while the rest of the party handles Jargaath. The dragon disciple is up to the task, though her mirror image spell saves her life. “Trap Jaw” gets one lucky hit on her, but after that the ogres find themselves wasting potential hits on illusionary images (which wink out after they are hit). The female ogre proves rather dangerous, for she is spell caster, and after hasting all the ogres Evelynn is facing, she starts blasting the hallway with lightning bolt spells. Luckily, Evelynn’s aasimar nature provides her some resistance to lightning, and though the spells soon start to take their toll on her, she withstands one bolt after the next. Unfortunately, Tonzay and Jakandros suffer their share of damage from the lightning bolts and force Kovak to keep wasting time dolling out healing magic. Evelyn tears into the ogres surrounding her with great fury, and although she is out numbered the cramped hall only allows a couple to come at her at once. Soon she has slaughtered all but the “mammy.”
Jargaath bellows with frustration and rage as he tries to sink his ogre hook into Ronak, but the dwarf is well trained at dodging away from bigger, clumsier foes like the ogre, and while avoiding the deadly hook he inflicts terrible wounds with his iron like fists. At the same time Jakandros and Tonzay sink arrow after arrow into Jargaath’s flesh. Finally, the tenacious ogre pappy succumbs to his wounds and collapses to the ground. Kovak hurries into the room to check on Thaddeus, Ronak and Vale. He quickly discovers that Vale can’t be saved, but Thaddeus still miraculously clings to life. Kovak uses his most potent healing magic on the inquisitor and saves his life. Tonzay and Jakandros turn their attentions on the lightning-hurling mammy, and they aid Evelyn in finishing her off. With their enemies defeated they listen for reinforcements, but none seem on the way. Jakandros stations himself at the top of the stairs with his bow ready to kill any ogre that tries to come up. The rest of the party busies themselves with tending to their wounds and searching for loot.
Session #15 Notes
This was the most combat intense session the party has seen in a long time. The first fight against the ogres wasn't overly challenging because even thought there were a fair number (including 2 of the ogre fighters), the ogres couldn't really come at them more than one or two at a time. Furthermore the heroes had two NPCs to help them, one of whom was a skilled archer. The fight against Jargaath was another story. Here Vale's sacrifice probably saved Kovak. Thaddeus survived only because of hero chips. Evelyn pulled through in a large part thanks to her mirror image spell, though she was down to 7 hp by the time it was all said and done.
The players seemed to enjoy the challenge, though the combat at times got a bit tiresome due to the numbers of circumstantial bonuses flying around. Plus I had the players running the two NPCs, which also slowed things down a bit since they weren't that familiar with their abilities. Overall I was pleased that they were able to take down pappy this session, which means they are well on their way to reclaiming the fort. Of course this adventure still has a few more challenges awaiting them, so they aren't quite out of the woods yet.
So I had a pretty nasty oven fire in my house a few weeks ago, and I've basically been homeless for the past three weeks while my home was being cleaned and repainted (though one week I was fortunate to be in an all-inclusive in Mexico for my brother's wedding). Consequently, all my gaming has been on a hiatus for the past few weeks. I'm back in my house now, though still unpacking, and gaming should resume to a regular schedule again this coming Friday.
Glad to hear that, P.H. Dungeon. And yes...there are those of us who do follow this, and are sorry to hear of your loss.
Well here's the story. My family and I are moving at the end of April, and we had been trying to reduce clutter for the people that were coming through to see the house. My wife had put our plastic dish drying rack inside the oven to hide it out of the way and "declutter". We had just closed the sale of the house the night before, but I hadn't realized the drying rack was in oven. She was out getting her hair cut with, and I was home with my (nearly) 2 year old daughter. I was preheating the oven to make dinner and was also trying to entertain a toddler. I noticed a weird smell and when I looked at the oven the inside was in flames. I opened it up and saw the dish rack fully melting inside the oven; at that point this nasty black smoke started spewing out. I grabbed my daughter who had come over to look and took her out of the house. I passed her off to a neighbour, grabbed a fire extinguisher and went back in. By this time the whole house (1 level townhouse) was filled with the smoke, and I couldn't really see anything except for the flames in the oven. I made it to the oven while trying to hold my breath, and I unloaded the fire extinguisher into the oven. Then I ran back out again. I wasn't even sure if I had put out the fire, but the fire department arrived shortly after and confirmed I had.
They contractors that did the painting first cleaned the walls, ceiling with special chemical sponges that take the soot off and they had an air scrubber unit running in the house for almost 3 weeks, so the smoke smell is gone. Fortunately a good chunk of our stuff (like most of my gaming books and board game collection) had been moved into a public storage locker to help with the staging of the house. The insurance cleaned the rest of the place out, but when they returned everything it was virtually all wrapped in packing paper or bubble wrap, which has made the unpacking process very slow (do you really need to wrap a tape dispenser in bubble wrap??).
Anyhow I'm looking forward to having my life back to normal, and I'm trying not to unpack too much stuff since we are moving at the end of April (even though it feels like I just moved).
I like stories that end in smiles. :) Everyone was safe, and you know it's a fun story to tell people for the rest of your life. Haha. Glad everyone is alright!
So it looks like our next session will be this Saturday. Finally...
We just finished Hook Mountain Massacre last week and will be starting Book 4 tomorrow night. I'm a player in that one. We'll finish that book and then take a break and finish up my Age of Worms campaign.
We'll be starting Prince of Redhand when we do and I'll probably post a journal for that one. Kind of cool that we're running campaings sort of in parallel.
I guess at that point you'll pass us in RoTRL and I'll have to wait until reading the rest of your journal. It's been great so far.
We may be taking a break from RotRL once we finish this adventure to run a bit of Dark Heresy or Mutant Chronicles as a change of pace from all the Pathfinder.
Great stuff! Sad to see the party attrition, but they gave as good as they got it seems. Thanks for writing this up!
Session #16, part #1, Hook Mountain Massacre, (Skull's Crossing)
Characters: Ronak (dwarf, monk 8), Kovak (half orc, cleric/holy vindicator 8), Thaddeus (human, inquisitor 8), Evelyn (aasimar, paladin/sorcerer/dragon disciple 8), Tonzay (gnome, bard 8)
Guest Starring: Jakandros (human, ranger 8)
Pappy Jargaath Kreeg and his wife/sister are dead at the hands of the heroes. Thaddeus and Kovak use their heavy blades to hack their heads off, and they take them up to the top of the fort’s great tower and hurl them into the muddy bailey down below. Ronak shouts out into the rain, directing his words towards any ogres still lurking in the outer portion of the fort, “If we did this to your pappy, imagine what we will do to you!”
Next they make their way back into the dungeons below, and take refuge in the secret caves that were home to the shocker lizards. They rest for many hours, and late the next day they go back up into the keep. They find that ogres have made no attempt to enter, and when Ronak scouts the bailey, he discovers the fresh corpses of a few more dead ogres, but no sign of any living ogres. It seems that any remaining ogres have vacated the fort. With the fort cleared of ogres, they set about the grisly work of gathering up all the ogre and ranger corpses and burning them. They make two separate pyres, one for rangers and one for ogres. The task takes the remainder of the day and into the night. They also search the keep and move what weapons and supplies they can salvage into the hidden armory cave. In their searching they discover a secret compartment in a wine cabinet that once belonging to Commander Bayden. Inside they recover a pair of boots of elvenkind and several love sonnets that the commander had written to a being known as Myrianda. They also discover a lock of silky, blonde hair in a silver locket that Tonzay suspects is the hair of some fey creature- possibly a nymph or dryad. Jakandros is surprised to see the sonnets, for he had no idea that his stern and taciturn commander had a poetic side. However, the poems and the possibility of tryst with a fey creature help to explain the three day, solitary communion walks that the commander would take each month. They find no sign of Bayden’s body among the dead, and Jakandros wonders if he was away from the keep on such a walk at the time when it was attacked. Perhaps he yet lives. Kovak contemplates the possibility of using a sending spell to contact Bayden, so he takes the poems and starts studying them to try to familiarize himself with the commander in order to be able to target him with the spell. He realizes that such a task will take a couple of days. In the meantime, they decide that their next move will be to return to Turtleback Ferry and explain the situation to the villagers and see if they can find out any more about Kavin abandoning them. Jakandros wishes to find Kavin, but he also thinks it’s important to travel to Magnimar and report the obliteration of the Black Arrows to the Lord Mayor. In addition, he still wants to know what the ogres have been up to in Hook Mountain. Clearly there is plenty to be done.
On their way back to Turtleback Ferry they discover that the trail along the Skull River has become swamped with water. The river has flooded its banks, and is running faster and higher than Jakandros has ever seen it. The water normally only gets high in the spring, but with the days and days of unnatural rains the whole region is turning into a swamp. Jakandros explains that there is a dam at the headwaters of the Skull River, called Skull’s Crossing. The dam has been there as long as anyone knows, and it is said to have been built by the ancients. It is known to have an automated floodgate mechanism that helps to prevent the Skull River from the flooding during the spring thaws. Jakandros suspects that something must be wrong at the dam for the water level to have gotten so high. He also explains that dam is known to be the domain of a clan of trolls called the Skulltakers. The rangers have had dealings with the trolls in the past, but have managed to divert their rage towards the Kreeg ogres, and the Skulltakers have an uneasy truce with the Black Arrows.
Though the heroes are concerned that Turtleback Ferry might be flooded, they decide to post pone their trip back to the village and head north upriver to investigate the dam. It is mid afternoon by the time they approach. When they first set eyes on the dam, they can see that it has been damaged. Water pours out through a big cleft in the top of the dam’s eastern half. Tonzay, who has some knowledge of engineering, notes that the floodgates are not open, and thus aren’t doing their job to gradually release the high waters of the Storval Deep. They also see that there is a group of large humanoids on the top of the western half of the dam. They are busy chipping away at the dam with picks. The heroes move through the woods to stay out of sight, and once they get closer they take another look. They are now close enough to make out six ogres chipping at the dam with picks. An ogre taskmaster oversees their work and a towering stone giant keeps a close watch on a building located in the middle of the top of the dam. A makeshift wall of ogre corpses has been built across the top of the dam, and it stands between the ogre workforce and the building. Jakandros is only a little surprised to see a stone giant with the ogres. Stone giants are not known in the Hook Mountain region, but his patrol had been sent out to investigate reports of giants in the area, and they had found some evidence to suggest that giants had recently come to the region.
The heroes decide that they should try to stop the ogres’ attempts to wreck the dam, so they creep through the woods and then break cover to race up a set of stairs carved into the ravine, which takes them into a small cave complex, which in turn leads to a tunnel that access the top of the dam. They do this as quickly and stealthily as possible, and they manage to make it without the giants or ogres noticing them. Inside the caves they prep for battle, casting various spells to aid their upcoming attack.
When they are ready they burst out of the tunnel onto the top of the dam. All the heroes are enhanced by a haste spell cast by Tonzay. Evelynn, Ronak, and Thaddeus lead the attack; Kovak comes next, and Jakandros and Tonzay hang back a little ways with their bows to provide archery support. The ogres are caught by surprise, and Eveylnn opens the fight by using her draconic powers to unleash a breath weapon attack in the form of a cone of magical frost. This causes the ogres much pain, though it doesn’t quite reach the stone giant. Ronak, Thaddeus and Kovak then attack the first of the injured and exhausted ogres, cutting a couple down quickly. The taskmaster is tougher, and he doesn’t go down so easily. Tonzay provides support by casting a grease spell that causes the remainder of the ogres to slip and fall, though they are lucky and don’t tumble off the side of the dam. The stone giant hurls a couple of rocks, but doesn’t land any hits, but one of the rocks winks out one of Elelynn’s mirror images. There is some quick, intense fighting as the heroes work their way through the ogres, generally pushing their dead bodies to fall off the edge of the dam so as not to clutter it up. The ogres are overwhelmed by the speed and ferocity of the attack. They slip and slide in the grease, and they are slaughtered before they can organize themselves to mount any real resistance. In seconds only the giant remains, and he looks frightened.
Suddenly a pack of five, slathering trolls burst out of the central building and start running towards the heroes and the giant. They begin clambering over the wall of ogre corpses, but it slows them down. The stone giant looks desperate, as he is caught between the heroes and the trolls. He decides to try to flee by going past the adventurers. Unfortunately, he slips on the grease and falls. Evelynn targets him with a smite evil and leaps on him. She tears into him, nearly killing him with her draconic claws and teeth. The rest of the group promptly finishes the giant. By then some of the trolls are over the corpse wall. They charge the heroes with wild-eyed glee. They are hungry and fearless with no real senses of tactics. They slip and fall in the grease as they try to close, but like the ogres they manage not to accidently fall over the edge of the dam. Still, they are prone, giving the melee fighters an advantage. Ronak leaps onto a troll, while it is down and starts pummeling it with his fists. Thaddeus Kovak and Evelynn engage them in melee as well, while Jakandros and Tonzay keep firing with their bows. The trolls spend their next action trying to get up, and one of them gets ahold of Ronak and manages to pick the dwarf up and throw him off the high side of the dam. The monk plummets some sixty feet down the waters of the Skull River. He manages to slow his fall by catching onto the dam as he descends. When he hits the water, he still hits hard, but sustains minimal damage. The water is swift, and the dwarf doesn’t like swimming, but he is natural athlete, and he finds the resolve to swim for the shore.
One of the other trolls sees the effectiveness of this tactic and accomplishes the same thing on Thaddeus. Luckily, Thaddeus is much closer to the Storval Deep side of the dam, so when he gets thrown into the water he doesn’t have any kind of fall to deal with. He does, however, have armor, and he is carrying a greatsword. The inquisitor hurls his sword back up onto the top of the dam to free up his hands, and he pulls himself out, while his allies cover him and fight off the trolls. It doesn’t take long to finish the trolls, even with Ronak missing from the last part of the fight. Once the trolls have been brought down, Thaddeus and Elvellyn burn them with fire and acid. They then push their bodies off the dam and into the river below.
All in all, the attack went very well for the heroes. They are all virtually unscathed, so they decide to go investigate the building in the middle of the dam that trolls came out of.
Session #16, part #2, Hook Mountain Massacre (Skull's Crossing)
The first level of the building has little of interest. It is evident that this was where the trolls had their lair. It appears that there were once more trolls living here, but perhaps the ogres killed them. The adventurers do find a set of double stone doors that accesses a wide set of stairs that leads down deeper into the dam. Written in giant on the doors in dried blood are the words, “Below dwells wet pappy Grazul. All hail wet pappy Grazul!”
The heroes decide to venture down with caution. At the bottom of the stairs they enter a fairly large room with a pool of water in the middle that is covered with a thick layer of algae. Four stone doors are built into the sidewalls, two on the left and two on the right. The far side of the room has a pile of polished skulls blocking access to a pair of stone double doors. Cautiously the heroes enter, keeping an eye on the pool in the middle of the room. Nothing immediately emerges from the pool, so they start opening some of the side doors. Kovak and Evelynn discover a chamber with a panel of several levers on its far side. Unfortunately, between them and the levers is a strange guardian construct. It resembles a giant scorpion made from skulls and bones, complete with stinger and deadly pincers. Thaddeus and Ronak enter the other side room, and they find another pool of water and the broken remains of a more humanoid construct. Suddenly they hear shouts from their friends, as the scorpion construct stabs at Kovak with its tail stinger, inflicting a nasty wound on the half orc. Suddenly, things get ugly as a hulking aquatic troll bursts out of the pool in the center room. It is armed with a deadly trident that clearly is not of troll manufacture. Tonzay is closest to it. It catches the gnome by surprise, driving its trident through his chest (critical hit + vital strike + power attack + viscious weapon= 97 damage). The troll then flicks the trident to get Tonzay off the end of it, sending the gnome’s body flying through the air end over end to splatter against the wall.
Things are suddenly looking grim. The heroes are divided, fighting a battle on two fronts, and not fully enhanced with their usual array of spells. Kovak backs out of the room with the Scorpion construct while Evelynn attempts to hold it off. Thaddeus and Ronak move in to fight the troll, but sustain nasty opportunity attacks from its trident. Fortunately, they land a couple of hits. Jakandros fires shocking arrows at the troll from point blank range, and inflicts some serious injuries to him. It swims forward a little, so that Jakandros is in reach of its trident, and it unleashes a full attack on him. The wounds are horrific, and the grizzled ranger collapses to the floor unconscious. At this point Ronak calls for a retreat. Kovak moves to the stairs and stabilizes Jakandros. Evelynn, flees the construct and scoops up Tonzay’s body. Ronak and Thaddeus hold off the troll and actually manage to do enough damage to it, that it drops beneath the water out of sight. The scorpion construct doesn’t leave the room it is guarding, so the adventurers take a moment to grab up Tonzay’s bow and then stagger upstairs where they start healing themselves. Miraculously Tonzay still clings to life (thanks to 2 hero chips), and Kovak is able to restore the tenacious gnome with his most powerful healing magic.
They spend the remainder of the day and night holed up in what once might have been a storeroom in the upper portion of the building. The rains start to let up a bit, and the next day they prepare for a rematch against papa Grazul. Evelynn moves into position in front of the pool, and they start taunting Grazul, trying to get him to show himself. The troll is drawn to their ruckus, eager to kill more adventurers. Evelynn is waiting for him when he bursts out of the algae covered water. She makes him the target of a holy smite, and she lunges at him, manifesting claws and fangs to slash and bite him. She also has a corrosive touch charged that she delivers with one of her hits (she manages around 100 damage with this full attack). The brutal assault leaves the shocked troll horribly wounded. Ronak comes in at him with a strike and Jakandros peppers him with a couple of arrows. By this time Grazul is so badly hurt that he forgoes retaliation and instead dives back under the water. Kovak casts a water breathing spell on his allies, and Evelynn leaps into the water to chase after the troll. Ronak joins her an instant later, and the two finish papa Grazul off before he can escape down a submerged shaft.
The pair recover his enchanted trident and exit the pool. The fight has gone well, and no one is really injured, so they decide to try to deal with the scorpion construct. They come up with a simple plan. Evelynn will enter the room and try to draw the thing to the door so that rest of the party will have line of sight to it and can target it with ranged attacks. Evelynn is protected with a mirror image spell and is counting on it to keep her safe. They attempt to execute the plan. Evelynn enters the room and sees the construct guarding the panel with the levers. She expels a blast of frost at it, which doesn’t do significant damage, but gets its attention. It is about to scuttle towards her to attack when Thaddeus comes into the room through the second entrance and shoots it with his crossbow. The bolt drives into its flank, and it turns towards the source of the attack. This isn’t part of the plan. The idea was for Evelynn to be the bait, but apparently Thaddeus wasn’t clear on this. The thing rushes Thaddeus and snaps him up in its pincers. He feels his ribs crack and break from their constricting force. Evelynn hurries to his aid, but doesn’t land any of her attacks. Tonzay and Jakandors follow Evelynn into the room and fire their bows, which inflict some damage. Kovak hurries to Thaddeus and casts a healing spell on him. The construct stings at Evelynn with its tail and continues to crush Thaddeus with its pincers. Thaddeus tries to escape, but its grip is far too strong, and blood gushes onto the floor from his wounds. His allies see he’s in trouble and unleash full attacks on the construct. Unfortunately, they can’t destroy it in time. Suddenly, the force of the pincers cause Thaddeus’s head to pop clean off his body. The construct drops what’s left of the inquisitor’s corpse and spins to engage Evelynn, but before it can try to grab her in its pincers Jakandros destroys it with a final barrage of arrows.
The session ends here with their opposition defeated but poor Thaddeus dead (his player didn’t have any hero left points to save him).
Session #16, GMs Notes
So this session was eventful- lots of ups and downs. The heroes handled the first encounter with great ease. Their team work was really effective, and they pretty much mowed through the ogres and trolls with hardly a scratch. Then things went downhill when they broke one of cardinal rules of adventuring- don't start opening doors until you have secured the room you are in. Things got ugly quick. Tonzay would have been dead were it not for hero points. Jakandros was KOed and only 1 hp away from death. Thaddeus was nearly killed as well. After that they wised up a bit, rested and handed Grazul's ass to him.
Thaddeus's player wasn't really paying attention during the strategy discussion on how to deal with the skull ripper, so he made the mistake of diverting its attention from Evelynn who was better protected since she had a mirror image spell active. It got him with the pincers and easily made its grapple check, allowing it to do constrict damage. The next round it made its pin attempt doing more constrict damage. This set it up to use its behead ability (along with more constrict damage), and that was the end of poor Thaddeus. He tried to escape, but couldn't manage it, and there was no one in the group with dimension door or any other teleport effect or freedom of movement spell that could help him escape. His player had spent all his chips earlier, so that was it for Thaddeus. Sadly this is the third character that player has lost in this campaign.
I think they enjoyed the fight on the dam. Everyone seemed to contribute well and the terrain allowed for some fun tactical options, and a little character death now and then keeps them on their toes.
Session #17, Part #1, Hook Mountain Massacre, Assault on Hook Mountain
Characters: Ronak (dwarf, monk 9), Kovak (half orc, cleric/holy vindicator 9), Corvo (human, swashbuckler 9), Evelyn (aasimar, paladin/sorcerer/dragon disciple 9), Tonzay (gnome, bard 9)
The heroes take Thaddeus’s decapitated corpse into the woods where they build a pyre and burn it, while Kovak makes a brief but poignant eulogy in his honour. Afterwards they return to the dam and start pulling levers in the control room. The ancient levers still function and the floodgates are opened. Next they explore the final chamber in the lower section of the dam. This room contains a pair of ancient, but still active summoning circles. In one is merely a pile of ashes, but in the other they discover a bound pit fiend. This mighty devil is only a shadow of itself. It barely lives, and they soon discover that the great gears that operate the dam have been magically draining its life force- the devil has essentially been acting as the power source for the dam. The fiend still has enough strength to telepathically communicate with the heroes, and it begs for them to release it. Evelynn convinces the party to take pity on the fiend, for though it is a creature of pure evil she can’t abide its unnecessary suffering. They rest the night and the next morning Kovak prays for a dismissal spell, which he uses to send the creature back to the Nine Hells.
They decide to return to Turtleback Ferry. On their way they discover that the bridge across the Skull River has been destroyed. They are forced to stay on the west bank of the river, and when they near the village they are ferried across. The village itself has been partially flooded and the church of Erastil has been burned to the ground. They gather with the villagers at the Inn and tell them the situation at the dam and the fort. The villagers in turn explain how Kavin arrived in the village a couple of mornings prior and told them that the fort had been taken by ogres and that he had been sent to bring word to Magnimar. Mayor Shreed gave him the village’s fastest horse and sent on his way with two hale local lads (also mounted). Jakandros is suspicious and suspects Kavin of treachery, as do the rest of the heroes. The villagers also inform them of another major event. The mythical lake monster known as Black Magga somehow made it over the dam and came down river from Storval Deep. It attacked the flooded church of Erastil while the mayor and some villagers were loading holy relics into a boat to take to dry land. The villagers were slaughtered and the temple was engulfed in flames and burnt to the ground. It is uncertain how the fire started. Now Black Magga is in Claybottom Lake, which is an absolutely terrifying thought to the villagers.
The folk of Turtleback Ferry are split into two factions. One group wants to stay despite all the threats they face. The other half believes they should pack up and head south to Ilsurian. The heroes recommend the latter choice, but then the local school mistress suggests a third solution. She suggests that they all head up to Fort Rannick and remain in the fort until Magnimar sends reinforcements or until spring comes and travel is easier. There is some discussion, but eventually all parties agree that this is a good compromise. A few days are spent helping the villagers gather supplies and prepare, and then the adventurers escort them north to the Fort. They spend another couple days helping them settle in. During this time Kovak casts a sending spell and informs commander Odinburge in Magnimar that ogres have sacked Fort Rannick and reinforcements are required. Once the villagers are safely settled in the heroes decide it’s time to make an expedition to nearby Hook Mountain to assess the remaining ogre threat and possibly strike another blow against the vile giantkin. For this mission Jakandros stays back at the Fort to help protect the villagers.
They arrive at the base of the craggy mountain near dusk and take cover in the woods. The mountain itself has long ago had its trees cleared by the ogres, and other than the odd bush, stump or boulder there is little cover to hide their approach. Thus they wait until dark and then make their way up the mountainside, following an ogre trail towards the entrance of the Kreeg clan hold- a big, gaping tunnel into the mountainside flanked by the rib bones of some long dead, giant monster. Ronak scouts ahead and discovers, the Kreegs have stationed a pair of ogre guards at the entrance and with them is dire wolf. The adventurers move up as close as they dare without risking alerting the guards. Then Ronak scales up a portion of the mountain’s peak, and he stealthily moves into position so that he is just above the entrance. Tonzay casts a silence spell on a rock and tosses it to land near the ogre guards. The ogres, suddenly thinking they are deaf, react immediately. One jams a finger in his ear and prods about, trying to figure out what’s wrong. Ronak leaps down from above and snatches a horn off of one of ogre guards. The rest of the heroes rush forward and a brief skirmish ensues. The two ogres are some of the clan’s better warriors, but they are no match for the heroes, and in short order they have fallen. Corvo proves to be competent swordsman and nearly single-handedly dispatches one of the ogres. Ronak, Evelyn and Kovak take down the other ogre and the wolf, and Tonzay provides his support with his bow.
The guards have been killed without sounding the alarm, and the adventurers have only suffered a few minor wounds. Ronak volunteers for more scouting, and he sneaks into the clan hold. He doesn’t venture too far before he discovers a crude but wide flight of stairs leading upward. He also finds a large alcove that is dominated by a deep pit some 20’ in diameter. Across the hall from the pit is a 40’ tall statue of a mighty, armored giant wielding an enormous glaive. The statue itself is highly realistic, almost as if the thing was once alive, but has since been petrified. It wears a massive sihedron amulet around its neck. The dwarf reports back to his companions. They decide that instead of venturing into the ogre lair they will blow the horn to lure out a group of reinforcements to ambush.
They hide behind the statue and the massive ribs and then Ronak blows the horn. Soon a group of five ogres led by a stone giant comes down the stairs and into the great entry tunnel. The ogres see their dead kin lying on the ground, and they cautiously move forward to investigate. They don’t notice the heroes hiding nearby, and they are caught by surprise when they leap out to attack. There is more fierce fighting. Evelynn uses flight magic to go straight for the stone giant. Corvo ends up in a fight with two skilled Kreeg warriors. Ronak and Kovak try to help him, but they have to fight their way through three lesser ogres to get to him. Tonzay hangs back behind Corvo and helps by casting a haste spell, using his bardic courage and providing Corvo support with his bow. Ronak and Kovak find their opponents fairly easy to deal with, but it still takes them a little time to work their way through them. Evelynn is protected by a mirror image spell, which is infuriating for the giant, as he keeps hitting her illusionary duplicates. She calls on her abyssal heritage to manifest fangs and claws. She hovers near his face and using her unnatural strength she tears through the giant’s tough hide, felling him before he can cause her any real pain. Things go less well for Corvo, as he finds two skilled ogre warriors a little much too handle. He holds his own very well, but by the end of the fight he’s taken some serious hits, and he is only barely standing (down to 1 hp). Fortunately, other than Corvo being badly wounded, the adventurers take down this wave of guards without anyone else suffering serious injuries. Kovak hurries to cast healing spells on Corvo, but he only manages to partially heal the battered swashbuckler before enemy reinforcements arrive.
Ronak is watching for trouble and spots them first. Three disgusting hags the size of trolls have reached the bottom of the stairs and look like they are about to start casting some kind of spell. It appears that all three hags need to work in unison to perform their sorcery, so Ronak bolts towards them with incredible speed, reaching them in time to disrupt their casting. Corvo doesn’t want the monk to have all the fun, so despite being injured he hurries after him. Evelynn is closer to the cave entrance, and she too is about to engage the hags when suddenly she is attacked from behind. Her assailant had been invisible, but she becomes visible right behind the dragon disciple when she attacks with a flurry of dagger strikes. Evelynn’s attacker is none other than Lucrecia, the mysterious red haired woman the heroes briefly met in the dungeons of Fort Rannick, and although her initial attacks fail to cause much harm, they do dispel the remainder of Evelynn’s mirror images. Kovak moves to Evelynn’s aid and sets up flanking position for her. However, Lucrecia is also protected by a mirror image spell. Evelynn decides to deal with it by stepping back and blasting her with barrage of magic missiles that wink out the images.
Meanwhile, Corvo finds himself in an awkward spot when one of the hags gets hold of him and crushes his face into her bosom. At the same time one her sisters claws at his back. Luckily he manages to slip free, and the hags retreat back several steps whereupon they cast a forcecage spell in an attempt to capture Ronak and Corvo. The dwarf and human are quick, and they jump aside as the cage materializes saving themselves from being trapped. Tonzay puts several arrows into the hags, and the sisters find themselves quite wounded with the swashbuckler and monk moving in for the kill. They beg for quarter, but none is given and the hags are slaughtered.
Lucrecia is enhanced with a haste spell and moves like viper. Dual her wielding daggers, she lands several strikes on Evelynn, but with Kovak attacking from behind, she decides that odds aren’t in her favor. She mouths the words to a spell and vanishes in poof of oily black smoke. Evelynn curses in frustration as her enemy escapes, but there is nothing she can do. She’s certain that it won’t be long before they clash again.
An exciting update!
How did Corvo join the party? Was it in Turtleback Ferry?
Corvo's basic backstory is that he's a Varisian, actually a the half varisan bastard of a Chelaxian noble in Korvosa. He grew up in Korovosa living with his mother in a varisian enclave. Although he was a bastard, his father actually liked him and his mother better than his "real" family, and daddy secretly pulled some strings to enrol Corvo in the in the Orisini Academy (the sword fighting school from Curse of the Crimson Throne). Corvo trained under Vencarlo Orisini and proved to be a true protege. However, he was never popular among the other students since they were mostly Chelaxian nobles who looked down on Varisians. Eventually, there was an incident when Corvo injured a young nobleman in a sparring match, leaving a nasty scar on the lad's face. Consequently, Corvo was forced to flee Korvosa to avoid retribution from a powerful family.
He sailed to Riddleport and spent a few years there. He was always looking for worthy opponents to test his blade against. After a star fell and caused a great wave that wiped out the city's harbour (see the Second Darkness AP) he decided to make his way to Magnimar. There he heard stories of the town of Ilsurisan, a town where lads are trained with swords from boyhood. He figured there would be worthy opponents in that town, so he travelled in that direction. Corvo passed through Sandpoint and learned of the recent troubles there, as well as the efforts of a capable band of heroes. In the town of Whistledown he learned the people of Ilsurian are more racist towards Varisians than most. He also heard of the troubles at Fort Rannick and rumours of Lamatar Bayden's swordsmanship (Lamatar being the commander of the fort). Finally, he heard tales of Lucrecia and her Paradise Barge in Turtleback Ferry. This convinced him to go north. His goal being to seek out the commander of Fort Rannick and challenge him to a duel as well as visit the legendary Paradise Barge.
The journey north through the Sanos wood was a bit of a disaster. Winter had set in and he ran afoul with an owl bear. Eventually he reached Turtleback Ferry. The day he arrived was the day after Black Magga attacked the village. He was in the village when the heroes returned, and seeing the plight of the villagers and the heroes he decided to help them.
Thanks for the explanation! :)
Session #17, Part #2
Kovak finishes administering healing, mainly to Corvo. Once this task is complete the heroes are ready to press into the lair. Ronak again volunteers for scouting. He makes his way up the stairs and finds an empty chamber at the top that has several tunnels branching off of it (5 in total including the one he entered from). From one tunnel he can smell forge smoke and hear the ringing sounds of hammers. The other tunnels are quiet. He first decides to investigate the quieter tunnels. He makes his way down the widest one and discovers that it doesn’t go far before opening into a big cave that clearly serves as a common room for ogres. The cave is too big to see in its entirety, but from what he can see there aren’t any ogres about. He goes back to the central room and ventures up a narrow flight of stairs where he finds what he can only assume was the lair of the three hags. He doesn’t poke about, for now is not the time for extensive searching. Next he explores up yet another set of crudely carved stairs that leads into cave that appears to serve as some sort of chapel for the ogres. It is not empty. Standing near the top of the stairs is man. At least it used to be a man. Now it is some sort of frost covered undead with hands that looked like icicles. It wears the garb of a black arrow ranger, and it is quite perceptive. It spots Ronak hiding near the top of the stairs, and it suddenly rushes forward, slashing at the dwarf with an icy claw. Ronak manages to dodge the attack, and instead of engaging the creature he retreats back down the stairs. The undead ranger seems uninterested in following him and remains in the chapel.
Seeing that the thing hasn’t pursued him, he decides to explore in the direction of the forge smoke. He heads down a crude flight of stairs, and he doesn’t have to go far before he sees another large cave with several mine tunnels branching off of it. This one is filled with activity. Here a dozen or so ogres toil away at forges and smelters under the supervision of a fire giant. The fire giant is vigilant, and now and then he glances in Ronak’s direction, but he doesn’t seem to notice the dwarf hiding against the tunnel wall. Ronak breaths a sigh of relief and creeps back to rendezvous with his companions.
The heroes discuss their next course of action. They contemplate an assault on the fire giant and his ogre smiths, but they fear that reinforcements might arrive from behind and pen them in. They instead decide they will repeat their previous tactic and try to lure more ogres out into an ambush at the entrance to the clanhold.
For a second time they take position in the entry tunnel behind the giant statue and the great rib bones. Once again Ronak blows the horn. A few minutes pass during which nothing happens. He continues to blow the horn. Finally the ogres come, and this time they come in force. A dozen of ogres are herded into the hall by the fire giant and a pair of stone giants. They are expecting the ambush, but being prepared doesn’t save them. Evelynn leaps out from hiding and breaths out a deadly cone of frost that causes much harm to several ogres. Kovak moves in and channels negative energy, which finishes off a couple of the more wounded brutes. Tonzay casts a haste spell, and Ronak and Corvo hurry up to support Kovak and finish the wounded front line of ogres. The giants in the back have rocks ready and start hurling them. The stone giants are particularly skilled at rock throwing. Several rocks are flung Ronak dodges one, Kovak deflects one with his shield and one grazes Corvo.
Evelynn is about to join her companions in melee when suddenly another stone giant appears out of thin air behind the heroes. It stands in the mouth of the cave and immediately starts casting a spell. A fireball explodes among the adventurers, causing much pain. Evelynn turns her attention toward this opponent, and she flies at him, surrounded by mirror images. She slashes him across the chest with a claw, which also channels and acidic touch spell into him. The giant bellows in pain and rage. He’s never had a puny little creature like Evelynn hurt him. The two face off. Although he seems to be a competent spell caster, the big giant is hasted and quite capable with his great maul. He decides to take her down the traditional giant way, and he takes several swings at the woman. One connects, and he dispels most of her images with the other blows. Evelynn snarls, partially in pain, but partially with the pleasure of knowing that she has finally found a worthy foe. The she realizes she’s in real trouble, for he is not alone. Lucrecia, is beside him. The sorceress had been invisible, but for a second time that night she engages Evelynn with her daggers, which causes the invisibility spell to end, thus revealing her location. The attacks dispel the dragon disciple’s last mirror image and inflict some minor wounds. Evelynn notes in frustration that once again Lucrecia has protected herself with a mirror image spell.
Tonzay isn’t entirely sure on which front to focus his efforts, but he is closer to the ogres, so he starts casting grease spells among them. The clumsy giantkin slip and fall, making them easy targets for the front line warriors. One of them even tumbles down the big pit that is nearby. Those ogres that still survive look like they are about to flee, but as they turn they remember the three giants behind them. The fire giant holds up his great warhammer and stares the ogres down. This is enough to give the ogres second thoughts, and they instead move in on the heroes, trying not to fall in the grease (with only minimal success). Yet the adventurers are hardly winning. The giants hammer them from behind the ogre lines with rocks, and Evelynn is in way over her head. After sustaining couple of brutal hits from the giant and more dagger slashes from Lucrecia, she makes a desperate attempt to fall back to join her allies and get healing from Kovak. The effort fails when the giant slams her in the back with his maul, knocking her unconscious (Barl scored a crit on an AoO that would have killed her if she hadn’t had two hero chips to spend).
Ronak is monitoring the fight closely, and he notices Evelynn drop. He quickly assesses the odds and then calls for a retreat. He rushes with godlike speed (hasted monks are very fast) towards the cavern entrance to reach Evelynn. Kovak follows him to provide healing. Unfortunately, the giant and Lucrecia are both there waiting, which makes helping their friend a challenge. The giant gleefully hammers at the pair with his maul, but he is most annoyed when they survive his onslaught. Corvo had been buying his allies some time by holding off the ogres with his dazzling swordsmanship, but he knows he doesn’t have the panache to survive much longer. After taking a couple of more wounds, he decides it’s every man for himself, and he makes a run for the tunnel’s exit shouting, “Well my friends, Corvo has had enough of the dance for one night.” He then disappears into the darkness, bounding down the mountainside.
Tonzay bolts after him, though the gnome is much more leery about abandoning his friends. The ogres and giants are too busy slipping and sliding in Tonzay’s grease spells to give immediate pursuit, but the stone giant sorcerer moves to cut off Tonzay’s escape. Tonzay takes a big hit from the maul that nearly kills him (5 hp left), but the quick little gnome’s heart is pumping, and it keeps him moving. Fear for his life has trumped loyalty to his friends, and he, like Corvo, flees into the night.
Meanwhile Ronak scoops up Evelynn and makes a run for it. He’s too fast for Lucrecia to chase him down, so she casts a spell. Force missiles slam into his back, and the monk collapses to the ground unconscious dropping Evelynn beside him. Kovak runs up to the dwarf. He’s just able to cast a healing spell before the giant leader sees what’s happening. The giant turns to his sorcery and fires a pair of scorching rays at the half orc cleric. The flames sear him, and the burns they cause are enough to kill Kovak, but by a miracle of the gods he clings to life (2 hero chips spent to save his crispy ass).
Lucrecia sees that Ronak has regained consciousness. She is about to move up to finish him when the giant calls out to her. “Lucrecia, come here and use your sorcery to heal this vile chest wound.” She hesitates for a moment, but then she strolls over to the giant and uses her magic to heal the wound Evelynn had inflicted on him. Ronak leaps to his feat and grabs Evelynn over one shoulder and Kovak over the other. Then he bounds down the mountainside as quick as he can manage with a body over each shoulder. Lucrecia looks to the giant, “Shall we go after them?” He glances down at her and replies, “Bah, there is no need to strain ourselves. If they are stupid enough to return we will finish them.”
“Very well Barl. But I assure you it wouldn’t be any strain.”
The giant smiles, “Patience Lucrecia. We have much to do.”
Session #17, GMs Notes
When the party decided to repeat the tactic of luring giants out to the slaughter I felt like they were literally begging for big trouble, so I decided to throw almost everything I had against them. Lucrecia had escaped; she knew what was going on, so the giants came up with a little plan of their own. The first part of the plan entailed sending in the ogres as fodder with a line of rock throwing giants behind them to make sure the ogres didn’t retreat and provide artillery support. The second part of the plan was having Lucrecia dimension door her and Barl in behind the heroes to cut off their retreat and hammer them with spells. This made for one nasty fight, but I felt like they were asking for it. 2 characters survived only because of hero chips; another was KOed and I could have killed him as well if I had made an effort. In fact if I had worked at a TPK was almost a certainty. In the end I cut them a bit of slack and had all the players who had hero chips left to hand me over another one each in exchange for letting them escape without the giants hunting them down and killing them. Thus there was a lot of hero points expended this session to stave off a TPK. Of course, this means that next session they have no hero chips left to help them, so it should be interesting.
I felt we were begging for big trouble too; but the party convinced me that taking on the entirety of the mountain in an area where we had an escape route was the best plan. I went along with it.
Minor note: Evlynne rarely used her demonic claws in battle. Her Bite/Claw combo is from her Silver Dragon heritage (her good side). Now that she has true dragon claws she in fact did not use her demonic claws at all this battle.
Awesome read PH, that sounds like a crazy battle. Your players seem to like to make things harder for themselves ooooh man!
Im running this as well right now, just starting the 4th book. My players HATE Lucrecia lol. She survived book 3 (3 different encounters) and will be alongside her sisters under jorgenfist--- should be interesting.
Thanks Jahvul, glad you enjoyed it.
I moved into a new house this past weekend, so there was no game. We're due for Age of Worms next weekend, and then we should be back to this the weekend after that.
Session #18, Part #1, Hook Mountain Massacre, Return to the Hook
Characters: Ronak (dwarf, monk 9), Kovak (half orc, cleric/holy vindicator 9), Corvo (human, swashbuckler 8), Evelyn (aasimar, paladin/sorcerer/dragon disciple 9), Tonzay (gnome, bard 9), Rho (elf, rogue 9)
Journal: After their harrowing first foray into Hook Mountain the heroes stagger back to Fort Rannick. They arrive in the early hours of the morning and spend the following day and night resting and recovering from their wounds.
The day after that they meet with Jakandros to debrief on their ill-fated foray into Hook Mountain. He introduces them to a recent arrival to the fort. The individual is an elf who calls himself Rho. Rho is a member of the Black Arrows who was among the band that Jakandros led in search of signs of giants in the region. Rho had survived the ambush by ogrekin that the rangers suffered while returning to the fort from their expedition, but unlike Jakandros, he wasn’t captured by the Grauls after the fight. He was captured by another band of depraved ogrekin where he was held prisoner for several days before he managed to escape. He travelled to Turtleback Ferry and found the village deserted. After that he headed for Fort Rannick and arrived while the heroes were recovering from their attack on the Kreeg clan.
A lengthy discussion ensues about how best to make another attack against the ogres. Rho offers his help, and the next day they venture back to Hook Mountain. They arrive at the base of the mountain early in the afternoon. This time they decide to explore around the backside of the mountain in search of an alternate entrance. Unfortunately the weather is not in their favour. It begins to snow, and it doesn’t take long for a full on snowstorm to ensue. Visibility is severely reduced, making it difficult to scan the mountainside for signs of any possible back entrance. Rho and Ronak, being the best climbers in the group, volunteer to climb up the steep north face of the mountain and do some searching. It is a treacherous climb that takes them a good amount of time, but eventually they locate a cave. They venture inside. It is unoccupied, but a large nest takes up much of the space. At the back of the cave they find a small fissure. It’s tight, but Ronak decides to crawl in and scout it out. Rho ties a rope to his leg in case he has to pull the dwarf out, and then he hides in the shadows at the back of the cave and keeps a lookout in case the resident returns. The fissure slopes downward, and is a tight fit for the broad shouldered dwarf. He makes it in about sixty feet before it gets too narrow for him, and he has to try to crawl back. He is nearly out of the fissure when Rho hears a sound coming from outside. The noise is getting closer.
The elf decides to dowse the nest with a flask of oil, planning to light it up to drive away whatever might be coming back. Ronak wiggles his way free and takes up a hiding place off to the side of the cave entrance. Rho struggles with his flint and steel, and can’t quite manage to get nest alight before he sees a large dark form flying through the snowstorm. Rho runs grabs up his bow and make a break for the wall to hide near Ronak. A big reptilian form lands in the cave entrance- a wyvern. It looks around the cave. Rho and Ronak aren’t far away. It spots the elf, and immediately attacks the trespasser. Rho manages to dodge its deadly stinger, but it also bites at him. He avoids its razor sharp teeth, but the thing’s big head collides with him and sends him reeling. Ronak leaps in from behind and slams an iron hard fist into its flank. Rho takes advantage of this; he draws his sword and plunges the blade into its neck. The wyvern howls, strikes again. This time the quick elf evades its attacks. Then Ronak unleashes a deadly flurry of blows that shatters bone and destroys vital internal organs. The wyvern falls to ground dead.
The pair conduct a search its nest. Inside they find bones, some tattered clothes, broken weapons and other worthless debris. However among the refuse they discover a sword and a signet ring that are both fully intact. The sword has draconic runes etched along the blade, and when Rho speaks the command word the blade sheaths itself in frost. They take both the ring and the sword and they climb down from mountainside to rejoin their companions. Tonzay and Evelynn analyze the ring, and discover that it is more than a mere signet ring. It is also a ring of feather falling.
With no luck finding a back entrance, the heroes decide to hike back around to the front side of Hook Mountain. The snow is still coming down hard, and by the time they arrive it is also near dark. They make their way up and find no sign of guards posted at the entrance. The heroes cautiously venture inside. It isn’t long before they discover that the clanhold has been abandoned. The only creature they find remaining is the undead frost wight guarding the chapel cave. Rho recognizes the wight. It was once Lamatar Bayden, the former commander of the Black Arrows. A fight ensues with the undead ranger, and given that the heroes have him outnumbered six to one, it doesn’t take them long to dispatch him, though he does manage to inflict wounds on Rho and Evelynn with his frost claws before they bring him down. The commander still wears its armor, which is a magical chain shirt resistant to cold. The heroes take the armor, and Rho puts it on for the time being, as it is better than his current armor.
There are some clues left behind that indicate what the ogres were up to. In the forge cave they find several weapon molds. Some are for crude ogre hooks, but there are other molds of better construction that could be used to fashion large spear tips or axe heads. It is pretty clear that the ogres were making a significant amount of weapons from the iron they mine.
Even though it is a little after dark by the time they finish their search, the party decides to venture out into the storm and search for any evidence of a trail they can follow. Rho is the only trained tracker in the group, and with his lowlight vision he does some searching and finds signs of the ogres. However the snow has covered their tracks, so tracking them will be much more difficult than it would otherwise be.
They decide to make camp for the night and plan to pick up the trail in the morning. Not wanting to camp in the clanhold in case of a trap, they decide to return to the northside of the mountain and make camp in the wyvern’s lair. It is an arduous climb in the snow and dark, and by the time they make it up into the cave they are eager for rest.
Session #18, Part #2, Hook Mountain Massacre/Fortress of the Stone Giants Interlude- On the trail of the Kreeg Clan; A bad random encounter roll
The next morning they set out on the trail of the ogres. The snowstorm has stopped, but it has deposited a good foot of snow on the ground, making things slow going. The snow has also served to cover the ogres’ tracks. Fortunately, an entire clan of ogres on the move leaves more than just tracks to mark its passing, and Rho is able to pick up on other signs to follow their trail. The ogres seem headed in a northerly direction, following the western coastline of the Storval Deep. At the end of their first day of travel, Evelynn uses a fly spell to take to the air and gain a better view. From her vantage she can see for miles, and she spots distant plumes of smoke about a league up the coastline. She suspects the smoke to be cooking fires. It seems that the party is likely on the right track, but they still have a lot of ground to make up if they wish to catch their quarry.
The night passes uneventfully, and the next day they continue the pursuit, but when Evelynn again scouts from the air it appears that they have made up little to no ground on the ogres. They realize they will need to begin doing some forced marches if they are going to stand a chance of catching up with their quarry.
On the third day trouble finds them (bad roll by a player on a random encounter table). It is around midday and they are still heading north along the shore of the Storval Deep. The lake is to the east, and to the west are the slopes of the Iron Peaks. Here and there grows the odd copse of trees, but for the most part the land is rocky and open, albeit blanketed with snow. They are marching in single file to pack a trail through the snow when a dragon swoops in on them from behind. Rho catches a glimpse of it as it flies over, low to the ground. It’s a white dragon, but it’s a big one (huge size category). The elf fires off an arrow, trying to hit its underbelly, which proves to be better protected than he anticipated, as the shot glances off. The beast lands in front of the party. It lets out a menacing roar and expels a deadly cone of frost. Half the party is consumed by the frigid assault, but they all survive. Ronak breaks away from the gorup. He moves with uncanny speed despite the snow, and he is able to circle around and come in at the dragon from behind. The dragon notices his approach and slaps him with its powerful tail. The dwarf rolls with the blow, but is still injured. Rho fires more arrows; Kovak blesses his companions; Tonzay looks for cover and starts one of his stories, while Corvo hurls a couple of darts (which do nothing to the dragon). Evelynn casts a spell to better protect her from cold and then closes in a little. She underestimates the dragon’s reach, and it tears into her with teeth, claws and wings. The assault is quick and brutal, and Evelynn falls to the ground on the verge of death. Ronak realizes this foe is beyond him, so he falls back towards a copse of trees. Kovak, seeing how easily Evelynn was taken down, makes a desperate attempt at diplomacy.
(I’m paraphrasing, as I don’t remember the exact wording of the conversation) “Great dragon, I beg you hold your attack. We are at your mercy. There must something we can offer you so that you stay your wrath.”
The dragon pauses. Its icy eyes glimmer with greed, hunger and rage. “You trespass on my lands. Give me one good reason why I should not kill you all here and take what I wish from your corpses.”
“Our deepest apologies. We did not know we were in the territory of mighty dragon such as yourself. Please, we mean no offence. We are on the trail of a clan of ogres and giants that passed this way. Perhaps I could offer you 1000 gp and a favor of your choosing in the future in exchange for free passage through your domain.”
“I can’t imagine what sort of favor worms such as you could offer one such as me that would possibly be of interest, and as for the thousand gold. If you have such coin your possession I can easily take it from you after I kill you. However, you intrigue me. It is a rare thing to see your kind in these parts, and I have seen the ogres and giants that you speak of. They passed this way a couple of days ago. I suppose it might be entertaining to watch you be slaughtered by them. Perhaps you might cause them some harm, and then it will be all the easier for me to kill the entire lot of you and add whatever treasure I find to my horde. However, you will be hard pressed to catch them.”
The heroes watch in awe as Kovak works his diplomacy, and they wisely hold their attacks.
“Great dragon. I beg you let us try.”
“Fine then; I am in generous mood today, and I could use some amusement. Give me the thousand gold you spoke of, and consider yourselves all in my debt. Go after the ogres and giants. I will keep a watch over you. After all, if I get bored of your antics, I can just kill you.”
Kovak throws the dragon a leather sack containing his gold. Then the dragon takes to the air and lands on a nearby mountainside where he watches the heroes heal Evelynn and be on their way. Later, the dragon flies off into the mountains for a time, but they catch sightings of it quite regularly, and it is clear that it is following them, though it is keeping its distance for the moment. Although this is distressing, they are thankful that they still live.
Session #18, Part #3, Hook Mountain Massacre/Fortress of the Stone Giants, The trail's end
The heroes begin making forced marches each day in an effort to make up ground on the ogres. It has been long enough since the snowstorm that ogre tracks can now be seen in the snow. Rho estimates that there are around 30 or so ogres, as well as a handful of giants. The tracks also indicate that they are pulling at least one sled, and that there is a single human sized creature among them; they presume this is Lucrecia. At the end of their fourth day of travel Evelynn again does some recon from high in the air. About a dozen miles up the coast she can see what looks like it could be a structure of some kind. Some campfire smoke plumes up from the vicinity of the structure. The night passes and the next morning they continue up the coast. As the day wears on and they get closer to the structure the dragon swoops down and lands before them. It makes a show of dominance with its wings and tail. Then settles down and is kind enough not to attack. “Up ahead is an ancient shrine built by giants long ago to one of their gods. The ogres are no longer there. They have moved west, and are making for a high pass that leads deep into the mountains. If you plan to catch them you should head for the pass.” The dragon has little else it wishes to discuss at the moment, and it takes to the air and flies towards the mountains.
There is some discussion about whether to cut inland and head northwest for the mountain pass or to press up the coast to the shrine. They decide that they can’t afford to waste time and risk angering the dragon, so they make for the pass. By nightfall they are into the pass. It is at a much higher altitude, and is significantly colder, so they huddle together for warmth when they make camp for the night. Only Rho, Evelynn and Kovak are resistant to the cold. Rho from his enchanted armor, Evelynn from her aasimar heritage and Kovak from an endure elements spell. The rest of the party is forced to huddle together for warmth.
On their sixth day of travel they follow the pass in westerly direction. It makes a winding route through the mountains. The trail descends into high mountain valleys and then back up through the saddles of the peaks. It is icy cold and the wind is often fierce. Tonzay, Corvo and Ronak pull their cloaks around them for warmth, but such measures aren’t enough and the cold starts to wear them down- particularly Tonzay. They again encounter snow, and late that afternoon misfortune strikes once more. A pair of massive winter wolves (huge size) emerge before them from the snow. The beasts are rare creatures known as Rhime Wolves, and they are found only in cold wilderness, such as northern reaches of Irrisen or the Lands of the Linorm Kings. The dragon swoops overhead and takes up position on the slope of the pass where it can get a view of the action. A brief but savage fight takes place. The wolves have deadly frost breath weapon that they use to deadly effect. Corvo takes the full brunt of a frost blast, and were it not for the blessings of the gods he would be frozen corpse (he failed a massive damage save and had no hero chips, but since that player had already lost 3 characters and only just brought Corvo in last session, I was merciful and allowed our new player to kick in two chips to give him a reroll). Rho and Tonzay manage to stay back out of range of the wolves send arrow after arrow into the beasts, while Ronak, Evelynn, Corvo, and Kovak engage them in melee. The melee heroes sustain injuries, but they soon bring down one of the beasts. The other one tries to flee, but Evelynn incinerates with a scorching ray spell before it can escape. Unfortunately the spells severely damages its hide, making it unsalvageable. The other hide they do skin, figuring they can fetch a good price for it. However, before they can make much use the enormous pelt, the dragon swoops down and demands it for his horde. They begrudgingly hand it over, as they are hardly in condition to fight the dragon at this point.
The heroes continue their journey. They travel for another day; by the end of the day they are well into the pass, but they aren’t certain how far they have left to go. At the end of this day of travel the dragon again confronts them. It informs them that though they have made up ground, the ogre band is still a day ahead of them, and it has descended down the pass into the lower lands. It appears to making its way towards a large fortress complex where an army of giants is currently gathering. The dragon explains that the area is the territory of a red dragon. He and the red seem to have reached some sort of agreement whereby they stay out of one another’s territory. Thus, the white doesn’t know much about the fortress except that the ancients built part of the complex, and giants have expanded it in recent years.
At this point the session ends. The adventurers seem interested in pressing on to investigate the giant army and their fortress, but they still have some negotiating to do with the dragon first.
Session #19, part #1, Fortress of the Stone Giants (Ambush along the river)
[b]Characters: Ronak (dwarf, monk 9), Kovak (half orc, cleric/holy vindicator 9), Corvo (human, swashbuckler 8), Evelyn (aasimar, paladin/sorcerer/dragon disciple 9), Tonzay (gnome, bard 9), Rho (elf, rogue 9)
Note: Tonzay and Corvo weren't present for this session, so they were presumed to be around, but busy being cold.
The heroes continue their pursuit of the Kreeg ogre clan, following their trail through the high pass of the Iron Peaks. Around mid morning the white dragon they had previously encountered returns. It lands before them and explains that the pass ends in a few miles. However there is a narrow cleft between the two approaching peaks that leads down out of the pass and can take them to a river. The dragon explains that if they follow the river it will take them to the giants’ fortress, which is where the ogres have gone.
The dragon also explains that the region around the fortress is the territory of red dragon named Longtooth, and that if the heroes want to pay the life debt they owe the dragon (i.e., the debt the dragon has decided they owe it for sparing their lives) they will find Longtooth’s lair and recover gems and any other valuables they can carry from Longtooth’s horde and bring them to him. The party spends a few moments contemplating the offer, and then they choose to accept the dragon’s proposal (as opposed to fighting it, and likely having multiple PC deaths). The dragon flies off, and they continue their journey through the pass.
A little after high sun they reach the end of the pass and locate the path that leads down to the river valley. It is a tricky descent that takes time, but by nightfall they have made it safely down to the river. Here they search for a camp site and make camp for the night. The next day they set out following the river. Eventually they reach a place where the river is fairly narrow but has also completely frozen over. Here there are tracks leading across the snow-covered ice, suggesting that this was the location where the ogres made their crossing. The adventurers venture forth and cross the frozen river without incident. They follow the river, and after a couple of hours of hiking they hear the sounds of wood axes up ahead. Ronak and Rho move ahead to scout the situation while the rest of the party hangs back. They are both quite stealthy and use the trees for cover. They soon spot a clearing just ahead of them. The clearing is the result of extensive logging, and the source of the logging is six stone giants hard at work. Three of the giants are busy attaching logs to a harness, which is strapped to a mighty mammoth. The other three giants are hewing at trees with their axes. A logging road begins in the clearing and follows the river towards where giants are said to have their fortress. Hundreds of tree stumps can be seen along the road, and it is clear that giants have been logging the river valley for some time.
Rho notices two of the giants that are cutting wood having a conversation, but he is too far away to make out what they are saying. He decides to try to sneak closer. Ronak holds back, and the elf moves up, darting from tree stump to tree stump until he is close enough to hear the giants. They are speaking in their native tongue, but it is a language Rho has taken it upon himself to learn during his years with the Black Arrow rangers. It seems they are discussing the recent return of a giant named Barl who is their chief. The giants are frustrated with the amount of manual labor Barl has been subjecting them to since his return. Once Rho’s heard enough of their whining he makes a move to get back into the woods. Unfortunately, his foot sinks through the snow into a sinkhole up to his knee. He falls forward, but he catches himself and gets free without difficulty. Unfortunately, one of the giants notices him. The giant shouts out to the rest of his kin, grabs his axe and strides forward after Rho. The elf makes a run for it and races into the woods. Ronak sees the giants coming in his direction and hides behind the biggest nearby tree he can find. The elf is quick and finds a new hiding spot in the trees with uncanny skill and speed.
The giants stop at the edge of the clearing and stare into the woods, but they are unable to see the elf or the dwarf. One of the giants orders two of the others to return to the fortress. Then the remaining four start attaching the remaining cut logs to the mammoth and prepare to depart. They keep a close watch on the woods while they work. Meanwhile Ronak and Rho hurry back to rejoin the rest of the party. The heroes discuss what to do next. They decide they will try to catch up with the four giants and the mammoth and ambush them as they return to their fortress.
It doesn’t take long for them to catch the giants leading the mammoth. They get as close as they can before revealing themselves and launching their attack, but the giants are wary and watching their backs, and the adventurers are unable to gain surprise. The heroes offer no parlay or quarter; they rush in with the intent to kill, and a fierce fight breaks out. There are four giants in total. Two on each side of the mammoth, which has several logs harnessed to it. Ronak’s uncanny speed allows him to close into melee before his companions. The giant he moves in on sees him coming and slashes at him with his giant sized wood axe before Ronak reaches him. The dwarf ducks the worst of the swing and takes only a minor wound; he then smashes the giant between the legs with a stunning fist. The giant buckles and drops his axe. Rho pops up from behind a nearby stump and fires an arrow that sticks in the giant’s neck. It wails in pain, and Evelynn follows this up by moving in and blasting it with a pair of scorching rays. A second giant steps up beside his wounded companion and they both take mighty swings at Ronak with their axes. The monk weaves and dodges, but another strike grazes him. The sudden fighting startles the mammoth, and it rears up and then blunders up the trail with its load of logs in tow. Kovak casts a buff spell, while the other two giants start hurling rocks, targeting both Kovak and Evelyn. One of the rocks deflects off Kovak’s magically enhanced shield, and two others miss Eveylnn and her mirror images.
The wounded giant calls for his companions to retreat back to Jorgenfist. He seems to realize he isn’t going to escape with his life, so he decides to die fighting. His ally continues to fight by his side, and the pair make a heroic last stand. The third giant throws more rocks, focusing on Evelynn and taking out a couple of her mirror images. The final giant turns and bolts up the logging trail. Ronak disengages and goes after him. Rho drops the wounded giant with another arrow, and then he and Evelynn focus their attention on his companion. Kovak charges the rock hurler and channels his divine power through his sword to inflict a nasty injury. Ronak easily catches the giant trying to escape but succumbs to another axe blow when he enters its reach. The monk slams a fist into him, but this time the giant is not stunned. The giant ignores the attacking dwarf and mounts the mammoth. He then starts to turn the great beast into position to trample the Ronak. Ronak, who is now hurting from multiple wounds, retreats to get healing from Kovak. By this time Evelynn and Rho have finished the second axe-wielding giant, and Evelynn starts hurling scorching rays at the one trying to escape on the mammoth. The fire startles the mammoth and it rears up, but the giant rider holds on. Rho fires a barrage of arrows from a distance tagging the rider, and Ronak and Kovak kill the third giant. A final pair of scorching rays finishes the last giant, and his charred corpse falls off the mammoth. The mammoth bolts and goes stampeding up the trail in the direction of the giants’ fortress, logs flying free of its harness as it goes.
After the fight the adventurers take some time to make it look somewhat like Longtooth the dragon might have been involved in the fight. Evelynn has already caused burn damage with her magic, and she uses her claws to inflict lacerations that could pass for those done by dragons. Rho carves a message on one of the giants’ chest in giant runes. It simply reads, “Leave.”
Session #19, part #2, Fortress of the Stone Giants, Recon
The adventurers next move away from the trail up into the mountains. Ronak makes an attempt to cover their trail behind them. They hike along the slope of the nearby peak, following it until it overlooks a valley. By this time it is after dark, and the heroes make camp. The next day they continue to rest and monitor the valley from the elevated position of their camp. In the valley below they see the fortress of the stone giants. The structure consists of a circular wall with a number of towers built into the wall. Within the wall is a courtyard with a couple of large buildings, as well as massive pit, and a great spire that reaches high into the sky. Several large camps of giants surround the fortress. It seems the dragon was right- there is an army of giants gathering.
During the morning they see hunting parties depart and head west, out of the mountains towards the nearby Storval Plateau. They also see a large group of giants head along the logging road towards the site of the ambush. They note a trio of wyverns fly up out of the river gorge and fly out towards the plateau, and later they see two massive raptor birds emerge from an opening half way up the tall spire in the fortress. These birds also fly out towards the plateau. Later they return and one of them has an elk in his talons. Around nightfall the hunting party and the logging party also return. One other thing they notice is the entrance to a large cave high up a cliff in the mountain they are camped on. The cave is inaccessible short of extensive climbing or flight magic, but the heroes suspect that such a cave could be the entrance to the red dragon’s lair.
The heroes decide that when night falls they will head down into the valley and investigate a lone stone watchtower they spotted near the mouth of the valley. The tower is fairly far removed from the camps and the fortress, and it looks as though it guards the main entry into the valley from the plateau. They decide their mission goal is to find a giant they can interrogate to gain more information.
Under the cover of darkness they successfully cross the valley to the tower, giving the giant camps and the fortress a wide berth. When they reach the tower, they find that it is made of stone and is some 50’ tall. It appears to be of giant construction. In front of the single study wooden door leading into the tower is a large pile of oil coated green wood- an unlit signal fire. There is not activity of note in the tower.
Tonzay and Corvo set about pulling apart the woodpile while Rho scales up the side of the tower. The elf crests the top and finds it deserted, but during his climb he hears a loud snoring sound drifting out from one of the arrow slits. A large wooden trap door in the floor of the tower’s roof provides access to the inside. Rho lowers a rope and waits for his companions to climb up. Tonzay and Corvo stay down below to keep an eye out for trouble.
Up above Ronak opens the trap door. He hears a single giant snoring in the dark room below. He and Rho quietly descend a ladder into the room, and in the darkness they see a massive giant sleeping in the corner under a blanket of furs. The room is sized for giants and has a ceiling over twenty feet tall. Another trap door in the floor of this room presumably leads down to the ground level. Kovak casts a silence spell, and he and Evelynn join Ronak and Rho in the room. Rho then creeps forward and slits the sleeping giant’s throat with his sword, killing it nearly instantly. They then descend into the ground floor chamber, where they find two more sleeping giants. Both giants are hill giants, and they both are covered with strange runic tattoos and scars. Kovak identifies the tattoos as being Thassilonian runes, which is certainly an odd thing to see on a pair of hill giants. These giants are not as large as the giant on the first floor was, but they still pose a threat. The heroes decide to keep one alive for interrogation and kill the other.
Evelynn is a woman of “mixed” blood- a woman with human, celestial, demonic and draconic blood all in her veins. Sometimes her demonic blood gets the best of her, and this is one of those occasions. She volunteers to kill one of the sleeping giants, and she manifests her fangs and bites out the giant’s throat. Upon completing the deed, she immediately feels her god Iomodae take notice of her action. As a woman who has trained as a paladin, Evelynn is expected to adhere to a strict code of conduct that requires her to treat her enemies with honour, and Iomodae does not approve of her divine followers killing foes in their sleep. The goddess expresses this displeasure by making Evelynn’s mithril armor and sword suddenly feel terribly heavy, and the paladin/dragon disciple immediately regrets her action. She realizes that some sort of atonement will be in order if she wishes to retain her status as one of Iomodae’s paladins.
A single giant remains alive. Rho moves up to it and puts the point of his blade at its throat. Kovak then dismisses the silence spell. Rho pushes the blade in far enough to draw a little blood and wake the creature up. They then begin an interrogation. The craven giant promises to answer their questions if they let him live. However, the giant is stupid and has difficulty with communication- not the ideal choice for gathering intel from. Still, he is able to tell the adventurers that there is indeed a dragon named Longtooth that is allied with Mokmorian (who is the leader of the giant army). He tells them that once more giant clans arrive Mokmorian plans to lead the army into the lowlands to retake them from the humans. He’s only been inside the giant fortress one time and all he can recall are vague memories of being put into an enormous cauldron. With the questioning complete they decide to leave him alive as promised, but Kovak does not want him talking about their visit, so he places a curse on him that further reduces the giant’s already low intellect and results in the giant collapsing into a coma (intelligence 4 reduced by 6 = comatose giant). The adventurers then leave the tower, and under the cover of darkness they return to their camp.
Session #19, GMs Notes
So far I'm really liking Fortress of the Stone Giants. It's a big, but somewhat contained area for the PCs to explore as they choose, so it feels pretty sandboxy. They can take a lot of different approaches, and the presence of the army forces them to think and plan. They can't count on being able to walk in the front door and fight their way through everything, which ImO is a really nice change from how most published adventures tend to function. There's also some possible political tensions among the giants that they can exploit, which makes for rp opportunities as well.
This session was an interesting one for Evelynn. There was quite a bit of post game discussion about her paladin status and the repercussions of killing a sleeping foe (not a particularly honourable action for a paladin, but maybe a necessary action for the party to take).
Session #20, Part #1, Fortress of the Stone Giants (On the run and exploring Longtooth's lair)
Characters: Ronak (dwarf, monk 10), Kovak (half orc, cleric/holy vindicator 10), Corvo (human, swashbuckler 10), Evelyn (aasimar, paladin/sorcerer/dragon disciple 10), Tonzay (gnome, bard 10), Rho (elf, rogue 10)
Note: Corvo and Kovak’s players were absent for this session
Having completed their first raid on the giants, the heroes successfully return to their camp. The remainder of the night passes uneventfully, and the next day they continue to rest, as well as monitor the army in the valley below. Late in the morning they spot a pair of giants leave one of the camps and head to the watchtower whereupon the giants certainly discover the dead giants left behind by the heroes. The two giants return to their camp and presumably report their discovery, for soon there is a flurry of activity. Several giants leave the camp and go the watchtower, while another band heads for the main fortress, enters, and then descends down the ramp into the massive pit in the center of the inner courtyard. Some time later more giants emerge from the pit and travel to the watchtower. There the giants assemble into a warband and start following the trail left in the snow by the adventurers. The giant party has ten giants, a dire bear, dire wolf and what appears to be female human, whom the characters suspect might be Lucrecia.
As the giants get closer they veer away from the party’s trail and go to the base of the cliff that leads up to what the heroes believe may be Longtooth’s cave. At this point the female and one of the giants vanishes. The heroes suspect this woman is Lucrecia using her magic, probably to teleport her and her giant companion up into Longtooth’s lair. Fifteen minutes pass and the pair appear back at the bottom of the cliff. Then the warband returns to the trail left by the heroes and continues the hunt. At this point the giants are getting close enough that they are can tell that Lucrecia is among them riding on the dire wolf. Barl is also present. In addition there is another powerful looking giant wearing metal armor and carrying a shield. This giant appears to be the leader, for he is riding a massive dire bear. The heroes briefly consider defending their camp and taking advantage of the steep mountain slope that the giants will need to climb to reach them, but they decide that this advantage won’t be near enough to defeat the war band, especially given that Barl and Lucrecia are present. Instead they decide to retreat further into the mountains and cut around behind Longtooth’s peak. They hope they might be able to find a cave or possibly back entrance to the dragon’s lair and escape or hide from the giants.
The heroes push themselves as hard as they can, but it is tough slogging through the snow and mountainous terrain. They are certain the giants are gaining on them, but they manage to make it around behind the peak before the giants get line of sight on them. Here they notice a recess high up the mountainside towards the peak. From their vantage point they can’t tell if it is a cave or not, and it would be a slow treacherous climb to reach it. Fortunately, Tonzay’s spellcasting abilities have recently improved, and he can now cast a dimension door spell. However, he can currently only take 3 others with him. He casts the spell, and he teleports himself, Corvo, Rho and Kovak up to the recess. Evelynn then casts a fly spell and carries Ronak up. They find that they are not in a cave as much as the shadows of a rock overhang, but there are several large boulders to hide among. At the back of the recess is a natural chimney that leads down into the mountain. While the others hide and watch for the giants, Evelyn uses a combination of featherfall and flight magic to descend down to the bottom of the deep shaft. There she finds a small cave with a pool of sulfurous water. A narrow, low tunnel exits the cave. Up above the rest of the party observe the giants following their trail down below. The giants become confounded when the trail comes to a sudden, inexplicable end. They mill about in the snow for a time, and then they turn back and presumably head back to the valley.
With the giants gone for the moment the heroes decide to explore down the shaft and into the cave complex in hopes of finding a rear entrance to Longtooth’s lair. Rho and Ronak do some scouting, and find a small, narrow tunnel that eventually leads to well-concealed exit not far from the main entrance to the dragon’s lair. A wider tunnel leads into the back end of the lair itself, but where it meets with Longtooth’s cave, the tunnel has been collapsed. Fortunately there is a small gap at the top of the piled rock filling the tunnel. The gap is big enough for Ronak to climb up and over. He does this as stealthily as he can, but it is hard to accomplish this because of all the loose rock. On the other side of tunnel collapse he discovers Longtooth’s lair and horde. Strangely there is no sign of the dragon.
The rest of the party is assembled, and they clear enough rock to make entering the lair easier. They spend time searching the cave for the dragon but find nothing. It appears Longtooth isn’t home. Next they set about looting his horde. There are hundreds of thousands of copper coins, as well as thousands of silver and gold pieces. Sifting through all the copper is an involved process that takes a good hour. They find just over 50 gems, and several silver statuettes. In addition, they recover a small sized magical shortbow, magical belt (mighty hurling +4), and pair of enchanted bracers (bracers of armor +4). The party (and players) finds it highly disturbing that they have managed to freely walk into the dragon’s lair and loot its horde unopposed. It seems far too easy.
Afterwards they head back through the tunnels and make camp in the cramped narrow tunnel that led to the hidden exit. They post one sentry at the exit to watch the valley and in particular keep a look out for the dragon. The remainder of the day passes and there is still no sign of the dragon. They stay in the tunnel for the night as well. By this time they have run out of rations, but the next morning Kovak prays for food and water, and uses his divine magic to create a bland but nourishing gruel that fills their empty bellies. They continue to monitor the giants, and in the morning they see a giant each mount one of the rocs and fly off. It appears that Lucrecia is also on one of the birds.
The heroes contemplate their next move. They consider trying to leave the area and meet with the white dragon to give him the gems from Longtooth’s horde so that they may pay their debt, but with the giants searching for them from the air they figure overland travel should be avoided during the day. They decide to instead make a bold move. Tonzay estimates that he can just reach the ramp that descends into the pit located in the heart of the giant fortress. However, since his magic is currently only powerful enough to take three, he leaves Kovak and Corvo in the tunnel to keep watch. Kovak has a sending spell ready to alert them if he sees anything they should be concerned about.
Thus, Tonzay, Evelynn, Ronak and Rho dimension door to the ramp at the top of the pit. Just prior to this, Tonzay casts multiple invisibility spells so that each of the heroes is concealed from sight.
Session #20, Part #2, Fortress of the Stone Giants (Into Jorgenfist)
Tonzay, Evelynn, Ronak and Rho dimension door to the ramp at the top of the pit. Just prior to this, Tonzay casts multiple invisibility spells so that each of the heroes is concealed from sight.
They follow the ramp down into the great pit, which is some 60’ in diameter and 80’ deep. Built into the side of the pit beside the ramp are a few small caves; each one is the den for a dire bear guardian. Fortunately, the dire bears are sleeping, and the heroes sneak past the bears without waking them. The bottom of the pit is littered with bones, including the decaying bodies of a pair of what must have been young dragons. An opening in the bottom of the pit leads into the cave complex below the fortress. To their left they see a sprawling room with a number of trestle tables. Four stone giants sit at one of the tables. Two of the giants are engaged in an arm wrestling contest, while the other two watch and cheer. The invisible characters easily sneak past the distracted giants and go deeper into their lair. Up ahead and slightly to the left they see a room with some sort of stone of altar. Their view of the altar is blocked by a female giant who has her back to them. The giantess is sobbing and appears to be in distress. To their right are two tunnels. One of the tunnels disappears off beyond their line of sight, but the second tunnel opens into another cave. This cave is home to not one, but two red dragons. The dragons aren’t overly big by red dragon standards, but they are still dragons. Fortunately, they are busy snarling and brawling with one another, and they don’t immediately notice the presence of the intruders. Once again the heroes effectively, use stealth to hurry into the long empty tunnel, thus avoiding both the dragons and the stone giantess.
This tunnel leads to a set of massive stone double doors. Each door is about five feet wide and twenty feet tall. In the center of each door is carved a large sihedron rune (the seven pointed star symbol of ancient Thassilon). Evelynn decides to try to push one of the doors open. It is very heavy but not locked. It takes all her strength, but she gets it open. The room beyond is rectangular in shape- 100’ long and 50’ wide. The vaulted ceiling is some 50’ high at its peak. There doesn’t appear to be any other exits out of the room. Oddly, the floor is covered with soil. Emerging from the soil are 7 wooden pillars. Each one is 20’ tall and has chains dangling from the top. At the bottom of each pillar is an iron brazier filled with smoldering coals. A brand leans against each pillar- the symbol of the sihedron rune is at the end of each brand. What appears to be a particularly massive hill giant is busy adding charcoal to one of the braziers. He stops this task as soon as the door opens and picks up his club. He seems confused when he doesn’t see anyone at the door. Evelynn senses evil in him, and she and Ronak take advantage of their invisibility to make a surprise attack. Ronak slams a fist into his knee, while Evelynn slashes an inner thigh with a claw. The attacks end the magic and they both turn visible. The giant bellows in pain and rage. Ronak shouts out for Tonzay and Rho to shut the door. They lack the strength of Evelynn and Ronak, and even working together they find the door difficult to shut. They move it a few inches before giving up and drawing their bows. The angry giant lands a crushing blow against Ronak; he parries the worst of it, but still suffers a minor injury. The giant is outnumbered, and together the heroes focus all their offensive energy against the thing. Ronak gives it a flurry of blows that causes it to drop its club and buckle in agony. Rho and Tonzay take advantage of this and fill it with arrows, while Evelynn continues to slash away with her draconic claws. An instant later if falls to the ground dead.
The heroes listen for reinforcements but hear nothing. They do a quick search of the room and find nothing of interest. With no sign of another exit they head back down the tunnel towards the dragons and giantess. This time they no longer have the advantage of being invisible. Rho moves quietly up ahead, and he risk peaking his head around the corner to see what the dragons are up to. They have stopped their fighting and are looking in his direction. He’s not sure if they spot him or not, but it doesn’t matter for suddenly the female giant steps into the tunnel and is staring right at them. She looks at the two dragons and shouts out, “Don’t worry I’ll go check it out.” She then steps forward out of view of the dragons and slowly raises a finger to her lips. Rho backpedals to his companions. Evelyn recognizes the face of this woman from a recent dream and senses no evil in her. She motions for the heroes to hold their attacks, and they quietly fall back to the branding chamber. The giant follows them, and a hushed conversation ensues.
She asks them who they are and how they got in. They give her a brief explanation, and then ask her about her role in the tribe and why she has chosen not to give them up. The giantess goes on to tell them that she is an elder- the only elder among the army. Her son is Mokmorian, whom she claims is the leader of the army. She is most concerned for him and claims that he has lost his way and has been possessed by a demon she believes was lurking in one of the ancient Thassilonian tomes he recovered and has been using to master the arcane arts. She begs that they seek him out and try to free him from his demonic possession and kill the lamias that she thinks are contributing to his corruption. She tells them that he can often be found in the great Thassilonian library below. Unfortunately, she knows little about the layout of this level, as she is not permitted to go there. Rho asks her if there is any other entrance to the complex, and she tells him that has heard there is a network of small tunnels that leads out to the river gorge.
The heroes are happy with the information they have garnered. They promise to do what they can to save Mokmorian, but explain that they may have to kill him. Tonzay then dimension doors the heroes out of the giants’ lair, and the session ends.
Session #20, GMs Notes
This was another fairly low combat session, as the characters continued to do recon and gather intel. However, that was fine by me. It's nice to take a break from the running combats and focus on other aspects of the game.
The players were particularly disturbed by being able to walk into Longtooth's lair and loot his horde. We'll see how well that works out in the long run. I was happy to see them manage to make contact with Conna and make a potential ally.
I'm not sure exactly what they'll get up to next session. There is some talk of returning to the meet location they had made with the white dragon and handing him over the gems they promised from Longtooth's horde. There was also some talk about seeking out the rumoured river gorge entrance to the dungeon complex and seeing where that takes them.
Was Longtooth otherwise engaged as per the standard start of Fortress of the Stone Giants?
Yep. Actually the PCs did learn that he joined a raiding party that was sent into the lowlands on a "special mission", but they don't know any details beyond that.
It will be interesting to see the results of the party's choices. Do you have any particular fall-out planned? :)