No flirting?
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Nice delay on this one, due to the wonders of school cancellations. Winter can leave now.
Sessions 4-6
The morning yielded quite a frightening thing: Laori was cooking breakfast. A few chose to brave this...others opted to go fish from the Jeggare instead. Once all were awake and fed, Laori led the questioning of Salvatore Scream. Scream shared with the party that he had had a sort of strange acquaintanceship with the missing seneschal, a fan of his work. The day of King Eodred's death, Neolandus had arrived on his doorstep, wild-eyed, terrified, and badly injured. Though Scream nursed him back to health, Neolandus divulged very little, citing Salvatore's safety and saying only that Ileosa had "grown worse" of late. Scream had taken him to the Arkonas for safekeeping a few days before the quarantine began, never thinking anything to be off until Vencarlo arrived to ask after him...and he had not seen him since. He begged them to find them and get them out of the city as it was not safe for them, for him, for anyone anymore. Laori questioned him further about his paintings...and then promised to escort him to the mainland. Echo was reticent about this, but Laori promised not to kill him - she wanted to see him paint more, and dead people don't paint, silly. At a loss for other options, they allowed the Priestess of Pain to take the artist away...but not before she promised they would meet again. This was met with mixed reactions.
Corbin stayed behind to tend Vencarlo's house while the rest set out for the Arkona home. Oddly, they did not immediately attempt diplomacy, letting Maril and Anaurok discuss the merits of sneaking in with dimension door while Tolo awkwardly coughed at the guards and ran away...before they remembered that lying was an option and bluffed their way in for an appointment. After a short wait, Glorio Arkona arrived to meet with them (and had refreshments brought), aaaaand Echo was instantly smitten by his "fabulous hair." Anaurok pressed the point rather heavily about wanting to know Arkona's position on Ileosa, growing increasingly frustrated with the man's evasive answers until Arkona dropped that "Ileosa was far more than she seemed." They hung on his every word, eagerly agreeing to his request that they "take care of Emperor Pilts" for him in exchange for more information. Back to the palace they went...
And they didn't kill the Emperor and burn down his entire holdings?
Things began predictably with Maril and Olivie sneaking inside and overhearing a heated debate about whether chokers have skeletons. Anaurok did not bother to sneak and immediately tried to join the conversation...as did Olivie, finding it legitimately a fun topic. Echo got bored and threw a bomb, clarifying that no, he was not using his precise bombs discovery. The wall of the rickety tower burst into flame, as did one of the guards. Fighting broke out. The flames continued to spread. The party ignored the flames and continued to fight. The flames continued to spread. The four guards were soon felled...and the fire had claimed half the room. Judging it beyond their ability to control, the party fled across the rickety bridge...and directly into Pilt's throne room.
The flames continued to spread.
The party now found themselves boxed in by the tiny barbarian Jabbyr and three guards...and the fire they had created themselves (except Maril, who acrobatics'd past them all to get into position behind Pilts). Pilts began to recite limericks. Jabbyr smashed. The party screamed. The flames continued to spread. The guards became all but ignored as it became a priority to stop Pilts' perfomance and drop the tiny wall of HP. Maril got off a nasty sneak attack on Pilts, knocking him quite low. In return, he confused her. Jabbyr continued to take chunks off of everyone within reach - Olivie, Toothless, and Anaurok took turns with this honor (and lots and lots of screaming).
The flames continued to spread....now completely cutting off the prior building and their most known avenue of escape. Pilts dimension doored through the wall to take a moment to recover. Jabbyr and the guards continued to make the party miserable. Tolo channeled to undo some of the damage. Maril, confused, stabbed Echo. Anaurok fired his flaming crossbow, responding to Olivie's admonition with an assertion that it wasn't like he could make the current fire worse. Tolo, Echo, and Anaurok finally put down the guards, finally allowing them to focus on the gnome...who crit Toothless, knocking away 3/4 of the eidolon's HP in a single blow. Olivie fired a full round of arrows into the tiny juggernaut, finally dropping it. The flames continued to spread. Maril managed to gain a moment of lucidity and fled for the nearest door...finding Pilts, partially recovered, standing just on the other side. She acrobatics'd behind him to flank with Tolo. Pilts attempted a hold person on Tolo, who promptly aced her save and crit him with her flaming battleaxe, ending his reign. They then set their top priority to looting the bodies before the fire claimed them...and dragging the still intermittently mad Maril outside to safety.
Notable Quotes
Laori: Group hug!!!!
Anaurok:
Tolo: Can I linger?
DM: I should roll to see if Laori did something while you slept...
Maril: ...I stay up all night.
DM: I never go to breakfast without my saves cloak.
DM: ...you do not punch the cat, but you do weird it out.
Glorio: Well, my good people, what can I do for you?
Echo: MARRY ME.
Olivie: Look, I have nothing wrong with killing people for no reason, but I was having a conversation.
DM: So, that's 4 damage, plus whatever poison you used.
Olivie: Chlorform!
Maril: I'll run through the fire when I'm sane again.
Anaurok: Oh, god, what can Toothless do?
Echo: Suffer.
Maril-OOC: See, you don't have to challenge us. We bring our own!
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And they didn't kill the Emperor and burn down his entire holdings?...The flames continued to spread....
...Pilts attempted a hold person on Tolo, who promptly aced her save and crit him with her flaming battleaxe, ending his reign...
Aaaaand... my work here is done!
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Sessions 7-10
The group decided to spend the night at Vencarlo's home, resting and recovering after lighting up the Emperor's rickety palace like so many Christmas trees. They returned to Arkona Manor the next morning to meet with Glorio, who had noticed their success well in advance due to the abundance of smoke, fire, and screaming about Old Korvosa. Glorio thanked and congratulated them and, as thanks, offered a ring of evasion to the party. Tolo eagerly claimed it. Anaurok pressed the point about Vencarlo and Neolandus, and Glorio confirmed that they had arrived...and were currently guests in the Labyrinth. When asked if he could bring them out, Glorio declined, instead instructing them on how to enter via the garden. With no other real alternative, they followed his instructions and descended into the depths below...
...and were promptly attacked by strange fungal creatures within the surprisingly beautiful garden, unable to put them down before one breathed its poisonous cloud. They continued on as swiftly and silently as they could, looting a bedroom before spying a hidden passage...and completely ignoring the ornate doors the other way.
They found before them another fancy door flanked by statues of what Echo and Tolo identified as rakshasa. Maril and Olivie noted strange grooves in the floor. Echo saw and pulled a lever, causing the room to shake...and turn to face an entirely different hallway. Olivie decided to drink from the suspicious pool of water...and made her fort save easily. Maril promptly fell victim to the symbol of fear, forcing the party to intervene until she recovered her wits. Entering another room yielded a series of chests which were immediately scrutinized by a very suspicious Maril. Anaurok detected magic...and discovered a source of divination on both the bloodstone tiger head on the wall and on the ring Tolo had received from Arkona, prompting immediate denial and outrage as the implications of this sank in. They proceeded onward, triggering a symbol of pain and encountering another hallway...where Olivie found a hidden switch and deactivated the iron maiden slope trap before it could catch them.
They had quite a shock in the next room, discovering a rather raggedy-looking Vencarlo. He asked what they were doing there; they responded looking for him. Maril, suspicious as always, wasn't buying it and began asking a series of pointed questions about her lessons with him. He evaded them. The rest began to grow wary but were unsure what to do until a frustrated Echo simply stabbed him...and as Vencarlo let out a howl of pain, his body shifted into that of a fox-headed female rakshasa. Echo reminded the group of the creatures' weaknesses, and Tolo cast align weapon and bless. The dice were not with either side, and the fight took a considerable while before she was finally brought down. Now worried about their friend, they pressed onward, recovering somewhat from the sonorous stone before finding a room filled with switches and spheres. They managed to prevent Tolo from touching everything. Maril pulled the downward switch upward, and Anaurok pulled the other to see what would happen...and they heard the now-familiar shifting of hallways.
Walking to investigate, they were confronted by a darksphinx. Another lengthy combat ensued before she fell, leaving the path clear to another room. Within, they found Vencarlo...again. Tolo immediately set to healing him. Maril immediately set to interrogating him. He commented on her armor, recognizing his costume. This satisfied the party, and they freed him, Maril lending him her old chain shirt and a spare rapier (I don't know how she walks with all the blades she keeps on her). Tolo and Olivie then made a point of touching every sphere in the other room, walking back as needed through the now-cleared halls. They eventually found themselves back at the entrance, this time heading down the stairs.
Two things immediately caught their attention: a man strapped to a rack...and a three-faced, six-armed woman with fangs, identified by Anaurok and Tolo as a type of asura. She moved to attack her new toys. Maril, Vencarlo, and Olivie got in some good hits...and then Anaurok revealed his prized possession: the rod of wonder recovered from Emperor Pilts. He waved the wand...and a burst of darkness enveloped the group, crippling all save Tolo and Toothless...and the asura, who gleefully pounded away on the eidolon. Tolo kept the bless coming while the others flailed in the darkness. Anaurok waved the wand again...turning purple. Echo, frustrated, tried to set the nearby table aflame in the hopes of seeing something. Anaurok's third attempt promptly created a brief downpour, putting out the fire. Echo was livid and used his infusion extract to spread communal darkvision to Maril, Corbin, Olivie, and himself, making a pointed note to exclude Anaurok. Toothless finally succumbed to the asura's assault, vanishing in a puff of smoke. Anaurok waved the wand again, hoping to avenge his companion...summoning a fireball. Unfortunately, the asura had evasion and didn't even notice the fire. The rest of the party...did. Fed up, Maril sneaked over and rolled an insane sleight of hand check to take the rod away from Anaurok and slipped over to the other side of the room. A lucky stab from Vencarlo whittled away the last of the asura's stamina, but the darkness remained.
The group moved back into the light and went to tend to the man on the rack. It took little effort to identify him as Neolandus Kalepopolis, the seneschal of Castle Korvosa. Tolo tended his wounds while Vencarlo freed him from his bonds. Anaurok wasted no time in confirming the party's hatred of Ileosa...only to be interrupted by a scorching ray. Glorio Arkona (having spied on the party long enough to notice his prisoner about to be liberated...this, naturally, Would Not Do) and a rakshasa stood on the edge of the still-lingering darkness. Arkona vanished before they could react, and the party focused their efforts on dropping the remaining foe, Vencarlo standing off to the side to guard Neolandus. Anaurok likewise turned invisible and bluffed to throw his voice to the door (on which Arkona gloriously bombed his sense motive). Once Arkona revealed himself to cast a lightning bolt at Maril and Corbin, Echo dropped a vomit swarm on him. Maril and Corbin got in another good hit before he vanished again...this time pursued by Anaurok's newly-summoned earth elemental, who promptly located him with tremorsense and bull rushed him right back into the swarm of angry wasps, where he died and reverted to his true form: a tiger-headed rakshasa.
All that remains now is to return unnoticed to the surface with two high-profile dissidents and fugitives. What could go wrong?
End Chapter 3
Notable Quotes
Olivie-OOC: I'm not sure I'm comfortable walking around with someone just loaded with explosives.
Maril-OOC: It's taken you nine levels to get there?! That was my first thought!
Echo-OOC: They're precise bombs...
Olivie: What happens if we eat the shroom guys?
DM: I need a fort save from Toothless...
Tolo-OOC: Zon-Kuthon's a dude, right?
Echo: Is [Arkona] a furry, too?!
DM: Rakshasa...
Maril: I sense motive on the lever.
DM: The lever, being nonsentient, seems to be trustworthy.
Maril:
DM: Hm...you sold that silver dagger, right.
Maril: No, I kept it.
DM: Did you now...
Maril: Yeah, it's in my offhand.
Echo-OOC: ...why are you smiling.
DM: Maril, your dagger turns into a snake and bites you.
Echo: WHAT. WHAT. WHAT IS THAT.
DM: Remember that check you made about rakshasas telling you about raktavarnas? The ones that disguise themselves as objects?
Echo: OH GOD.
Tolo: This is the right one, I feel it!
DM: You have literally said that about every one of them.
Tolo: Shh!
Anaurok: Go, Rod of Wonder!
DM:
Anaurok: WHAT
DM: ...you turn purple.
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OMG.
Maril: I sense motive on the lever.
DM: The lever, being nonsentient, seems to be trustworthy.
Maril:
Been there, done that. :-P
I'm surprised the fight with Glorio was that easy. He's typically a death machine. But then, alchemists and their, "Your DR doesn't matter to us" can make a huge difference, as can Align Weapon.
I'm rather proud that in my game Glorio survived and is now vying to be either King or Seneschal of all of Korvosa. The party knows who and what he is, and they don't think they can find anyone better!
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It was that stupid swarm. He kept provoking AoOs when he tried to cast to attack them/escape it, and they had him pinned in but good. Vomit swarm in tight hallways OP. Oh, and Olivie and Maril's piercing weapons were still aligned, so so much for his DR.
Glorio nearly survived. He'd gotten out of the swarm right before the elemental with tremorsense popped up unknowingly in the right position to bull rush him back into the wasps...
Anaurok's currently angling for King. Most of the party is against this. As is...pretty much everyone who's met him, given his utter inability to make a Diplomacy check without undermining himself. The rod of wonder debacle in front of Neolandus is...not going to help his case. At all.
Huh. Vomit swarm shouldn't do much in such fight. Spider wasp swarm damage is too low to penetrate rakshasa's DR, so there is no risk of distraction or poison taking effect, and swarms don't make AoOs. In fact it would be beneficial for rakshasa to sit inside one when facing melee opponents that might not be immune to swarm damage.
That was my screw-up, then. Oh well.
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GM note: Been behind on writeups due to projects being due. Also, the rod of wonder is my favorite thing.
Ch. 4 - Skeletons of Scarwall
The Harrowing
Maril - The Winged Serpent
Olivie - The Mute Hag
Corbin - The Publican
Tolo - The Owl
Echo - The Eclipse
Anaurok - The Lost
Sessions 1-5
As the party escorted Vencarlo and Neolandus to the safety of Harse, the degree of danger Korvosa was in really began to sink in. Yet something had followed them. After seeing the pair safely inside the gates, Olivie announced that she heard footsteps. Turning to investigate, the party saw none other than Laori Vaus and a stern-expressioned fellow priest whom she introduced as Sial. The Zon-Kuthonites then offered the party help in dealing with Ileosa, explaining the history of the Crown of Fangs. Anaurok asked what they intended to do with Korvosa; Sial bluntly stated that he didn't care about their little town and just wanted the artifact. Laori agreed, a bit too gleeful as she explained the rumored dangers of Scarwall, wherein the weapon they needed to defeat the Kazavon-possessed Ileosa lay.
The priests of pain led the party to Scarwall, a journey taking several days. Anaurok announced that he liked Sial "because he was quiet." The rest of the party ignored him, continuing to joke with Laori. Finally, they found themselves poised to enter the keep. Sial mused on their three options - land, water, or sea. After some discussion, Tolo and Anaurok decided on air. Sial, Laori, and Tolo cast air walk on everyone but Anaurok, who opted to reduce person and ride Toothless into battle.
Their approach soon alerted a flock of gargoyles, and Toothless, being able to move much more quickly than the air walking party, soon found himself ahead of the others and surrounded. Tolo moved forward to channel; Anaurok dimension doored away out of panic, far across the sky from the rest of the group. About half the gargoyles followed him, while the others focused on the now surroundable Tolo. Olivie kept to the back to full attack with arrows each round, Sial sticking with her. Maril and Echo stealthed amongst the clouds to reinforce the summoner, while Corbin and Laori moved to help Tolo. They took quite a beating from the gargoyles, continuing to let them separate and surround them, nearly killing Toothless, Anaurok, and Echo a few times, but they hung on, managing to down nine of the gargoyles.
And then Belshallam woke up. The umbral dragon rose from the tower with a roar, flying toward them and the remaining three gargoyles. Corbin beat down the one nearest to him, while Olivie and Maril took down the second. Belshallam then dropped silence on Toothless, seeing the mage-looking passenger as the most likely threat. Laori threw a flame strike at him before becoming the remaining gargoyle's new best friend. Belshallam then cast deeper darkness on himself as he flew closer. Maril and Echo bombed their saves against his frightful presence, becoming shaken. All but Laori turned their attention to the dragon...as best they could in the sphere of blackness. Anaurok, unable to cast, fell back on the rod of wonder, shooting forth a stream of butterflies...then summoning a rhinoceros, which plummeted to its immediate death. Maril moved to, based on what she could hear, get into a flanking position, getting smacked around with the dragon's tail in the process. Corbin likewise moved into melee range, getting bitten while he flailed with his scythe. Then Belshallam breathed, killing Corbin and Echo outright, though the alchemist's tumor took half of the damage for him, and Tolo managed to breath of life him back to the world of the living; he quickly drank a fly extract. Olivie continued to fire into the sphere from safety .
The silence wore off, and Anaurok attempted to dispel the darkness...failing the first time but succeeding the next round. His joy was short-lived as he thusly realized that he was literally right by the dragon's face...and he ordered Toothless to full attack. Naturally ticked off, Belshallam full attacked Toothless, desummoning the eidolon and causing Anaurok to fall. Echo flew to catch him before he could hit the water and slowly flew them back up to the fight. The summoner, low on spells, once again used the rod of wonder...creating more darkness. Sial and Olivie began moving closer to the party as Tolo desperately channeled to keep everyone else moving, while Laori finally stopped rolling below a 3 and killed the final gargoyle. Maril continued to harrass the dragon with her blades. Echo and Anaurok flew up to just below Tolo; Anaurok used the rod again, summoning a fireball...that he was not quite far enough away to avoid, knocking himself unconscious. Belshallam, now badly wounded, breathed one final time, killing Tolo, Echo, Anaurok, and Sial...who had just double-moved to catch up. Maril killed the beast with a crit the very next turn, sending it plummeting into the lake.
The airways now clear, Laori, Maril, and Olivie set to recovering their companions' bodies and returning them to the safe shore. Laori raised them (Sial is not expected to live this down), and they resolved to, once recovered, continue their assault on Scarwall through the now-clear skies.
Notable Quotes
Anaurok: Stop calling him "Pain Daddy."
Olivie: What kind of arrows can kill a ghost?
Tolo: Snap it in half. Then the arrow is dead, too.
Anaurok: Did you buy diamonds?
Tolo: Uhhhh...
Anaurok: DID YOU BUY DIAMONDS?!
Maril: Sial is failing his god!
DM: Well, Zon-Kuthon is actually probably pretty cool with you guys getting smacked around...
DM: Okay, top of the initiative.
Echo: There's gonna be, like, a dragon right below us.
DM:
Echo: DON'T DO THIS TO ME.
Olivie-OOC: No offense, but you're kind of the worst.
Tolo-OOC: Yeah...
Olivie: I'm putting "is the worst" in my character description.
Anaurok-OOC: Okay, everyone get your death songs ready.
DM-OOC: ...you're not dead.
Anaurok-OOC: Yet.
DM: And...the rod creates a sphere of darkness/
Maril: We just got rid of that!
Echo: ...I spit on Anaurok.
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Nope. Trying to get them through the story before the school year ends, and not enough time to get them through an extra chapter. As is, it's going to be a squeeze.
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I *do* love the term, "Priests of Pain". Absolutely needs to be a heavy metal band, if it isn't already. (Looks like it's a Judas Priest album, at least.)
And OMG the Rod of Wonder!
Do what I do: Gift him a Knucklebone of Fickle Fortune somewhere in the Scarwall loot...
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GM Note: Navigating Scarwall is a migraine, and I'm certain I screwed up multiple times trying to figure out what doors went where. I am so glad we're done with this place. It is, mercifully, looking like we're on track to wrap Crown of Fangs before school lets out.
Sessions 6-9
They made good time through the castle, putting down some of the weaker creatures that harrassed them as they passed through, coming across a skeleton with his head aflame. He was dispatched with little fanfare, and they continued their explorations, including the discovery of a room bearing a bejeweled skull that could only be a demilich, which was met with a collective look at each other before backing carefully out of the room with a decisive "Nope." This eventually led them to the top of the Star Tower and its strange seal of Zon-Kuthon's mark. This, however, led them nowhere. Laori piped up in her absent-minded valley girl tone that they should probably do something about the anchoring effect if they wanted to open it. Exasperation ensued.
With considerable frustration, they began backtracking throughout the castle, searching for rooms that seemed important enough to hold the spirit anchors...mostly going off the logic of "that door seems imposing." They first found the chained spirit Mithrodar and, despite the miss chance frequently hating them, put him and his spectres down fairly quickly. Briefly. The spirit soon began to stir, waving its two remaining chains at them, and they fled with a panicked scream. Sial offhandedly mentioned that this would likely happen until they had defeated the other two, which was met with a "thanks for mentioning this sooner" glare from the party. Out of ideas, they returned to the tried-and-true pastime of wandering aimlessly until something tried to kill them.
They found that quite easily in the form of a corpse orgy. Much screaming ensued as the ooze splorched toward them, and Toothless, Olivie, Corbin beat it quickly down with weapons while Echo lobbed explosives its way. Once it stopped moving, Maril begged for the chance to rest...but not in the gross corpse room. Anaurok sighed and walked into the next room, declaring it a good place to rest...just as a malevolent spirit rose up, screaming at them about being the only one who should wield Serithial. More weapons, explosives, and channeling ensued, and they barricaded the door to get a good night's sleep before continuing on.
The next morning, they poked around the nearby rooms, encountering a frightened halfling woman. Anaurok and Tolo spoke with her, but Maril and Anaurok immediately poked holes in her story, and the halfling changed into a fearsome hag. However, rather than attack, they brokered a deal - the hag witch would escort them to the third anchor (they explained they had slain the dragon and the skeletal warrior) - if she was permitted to have its soul. Anaurok began muttering in muted tones about backstabbing her the first chance they got, to which the party simply groaned. The hag led them up to a high tower where waited a judgment devil, and some lucky crits from Olivie and Corbin (holy scythe OP) made short work of the infernal anchor. Cackling, the hag ran off with her new prize before the party could finish celebrating. Their joy was short-lived as they realized there was an obvious candidate for the final anchoring soul...the demilich they had avoided like the plague.
A long, long discussion of tactics ensued, and they formulated a plan. However, this was immediately derailed as a familiar cackle sounded from nowhere, and a pit opened beneath them, dropping Corbin within. Maril, Anaurok, and Toothless moved to attack Rolth, while an invisible Jolistina harried them with her crossbow. Further adding to their panic, a wall of stone sprang into being just before the pit, leaving summoner and rogue alone with a mad necromancer...and the rest with an unseen sniper gleefully sneak attacking them at every opportunity. Sial summoned Asyra and directed her to work on beating down the wall. Fed up, Anaurok threw dispels at Rolth until he was certain he'd taken off everything preventing Toothless and Maril from murdering him, barely saving against Rolth's retaliatory finger of death. Maril sneak-critted the wizard to death a round later. Meanwhile, the dice finally turned the tide for Olivie (with a 19 vs Jolistina's 2), allowing her to spot the mad elf crouching on the courtyard stare. Laori blessed the group; Echo drank a fly extract and moved to retrieve Corbin. Sial charged the sniper, knocking her into negatives. After a brief argument, Echo coup de graced Jolistina.
Anaurok claimed a scroll of dispel law from Rolth's corpse and formulated a plan . He dismissed Toothless and summoned an air elemental, which he directed to travel with the group well away from the demilich. He then read off the scroll, feeling the snap of the final anchor...and immediately activated the spell, switching places with the elemental while they went to fight Mithrodar. With his chains and spectre minions gone, the spirit lasted about two rounds as his miss chance failed to protect him. With a pained scream, Mithrodar collapsed in on himself and vanished, and the darkness faded from Castle Scarwall. Another shade appeared (Tolo was about to channel on sheer principle and habit), this one speaking to them in gratitude for cleansing the castle of its taint and correcting his failure. With an ominous warning that not all had been cleansed, and this waited in the Star Tower, he faded.
The way now clear, they returned to the door of the tower, and Laori placed her hand upon the symbol, revealing the path inside. Their progress was halted, however, by an invisible voice speaking to them, seeking "one suited for the curate...and oh, it seems we have options..." It circled Sial and Laori, judging the pair...ultimately offering the duty to Sial. The group bid him farewell...and they could not tell if he was disappointed or relieved to be chosen. The rest pressed on, passing through the ominous mist into a room far beneath the surface.
They ventured along the path, Echo discovering a pit and dropping an alchemist's fire down the shaft before losing interest and rejoining the group. They emerged into a collection of stone huts, from which in turn emerged a group of gugs. After a short fight, these fell. Anaurok made himself invisible as he attempted to approach Serithial; however the party's mere presence alerted both weapon and guardian, and the aberration Kleestad broke the surface of the water, expelling a foul mix of acid and blood upon them. However, this did not prevent Corbin, Laori, and Toothless, and Olivie from scoring a number of lucky crits to overwhelm his DR and ultimately send him sinking back beneath the surface.
Thus was the way clear for them to claim the blade Serithial and return to Korvosa to see what had become of the place in the weeks of their absence...
End of Chapter
Notable Quotes
Olivie: Yay, I can use my holy longbow! This chain guy's evil, right?
DM: No, you just interrupted a girl scout meeting about selling cookies.
Olivie: Really?
DM: Of course he's evil!
Anaurok: Cookie season's over, anyway!
Echo:
Maril: Villain confirmed.
Echo: I'm evil!
Echo: Can we open the gate?
Anaurok: Why?
Echo: Cause it's there?
DM: ...it's like kids with the garage door opener.
Echo, Olivie, Anaurok: YES.
Anaurok: I go watch from a window!
Olivie-OOC: Why do you always go straight for the body horror alchemist stuff? I want a tumor! I wanna grow eyes on my arm!
Echo-OOC: I have an extract for that...
Olivie-OOC: OH MY GOD.
Maril: Did we rest?
Anaurok: No, because someone wanted this room!
Olivie: Yeah, you didn't want to sleep in the corpse room, ya baby!
Echo: No, my bombs are useless!
Olivie: You have Throw Anything. Throw the hag!
Tolo: I stabilize her.
Echo: I wanted to kill her!
Olivie: Are we resting?
Anaurok: With a crazy clown lady right there?
Echo: We can just kill her!
Anaurok: Fine, kill her!
Echo: YAY
Tolo: I just stabilized her!
Ildeverok: You...Laori Vaus...have become too attached to these heretics.
Echo, Maril: Hey!
Tolo: You can't call us that! I don't even know what that means!
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I didn't... Get... To give... The... Punchline.... ghhhuuuuhhhhb....
They... rested? In Scarwall?
No accounting for taste!
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Chapter 5: Crown of Fangs
Sessions 1-2
The Harrowing
Tolo: The Betrayal
Echo: The Empty Throne
Anaurok: The Courtesan
Maril: The Twin
Corbin: The Marriage
Olivie: The Liar
After drawing Serithial, which Anaurok eagerly claimed, and Zellara's deck, the group teleported back to their cottage in Korvosa. Immediately, they saw a change had come over the city in the several weeks they had been gone - the streets were eerily silent. Chasing rumors eventually led them to the Pharasman Cathedral, where Bishop D'Bear escorted them to the ossuary below, leaving them in nervous silence a moment before a rather worse for the wear but relieved Cressida Kroft greeted them, soon ushering in Vencarlo, Neolandus, and Trinia, who had returned to Korvosa shortly after the party departed Harse for Scarwall. They briefly recounted their adventures in Scarwall to the nascent rebellion, and Kroft caught them up on Ileosa's mad crackdown on the city and the severe blows to morale. Her hope was to, one day soon, reveal Neolandus' survival and formally depose Ileosa through the law. However, she gave the PCs a lengthy list of problems to solve - there was supposedly a black wyrm in the city, the castle was rumored to be infested with devils, Seneschal Togomor existed as a legal hurdle to overcome with extreme prejudice, and the Grey Maidens posed a threat and would be best dealt with by going through Sabina Merrin, but after all that, they could move forward. The party just stared at her for a long moment.
Soon made aware of the curfew, they decided the best way to get the Maidens' (and Merrin's) attention was to break it. Anaurok decided they would attack the Tower that Ileosa was stripping for her statues after dark. Tolo and Laori began to scream insults about the queen. This utter lack of stealth soon attracted the dragon-mounted Merrin, who...to their surprise, promptly landed the dragon in the middle of them and drew her blade. It took very little time for them to realize that she was deliberately hampering the dragon's movements, and the dragon realized as well...but a crit from Olivie, who happened to take dragons as her favored enemy after the last run-in with one, prevented it from following up on this information. Sabina promptly surrendered, and they took her back to the cottage, where she begged forgiveness for her cowardice in standing up to Ileosa's atrocities. Maril went to fetch seneschal and artist, and the three of them painted a fairly abstract outline of the three main floors - none of them having much detail on the dungeon or attics. They outlined a plan, and it was soon decided that they would compromise - Sabina's secret entrance in the armory was appreciated, so they would ignore the hidden door and teleport inside of it while Sabina went to rally the Maidens still patrolling the city, reasonably certain she could get through to those not brainwashed.
They found one of the Maidens' barracks and made short work of them, preventing them from raising the alarm. Next, they checked the banquet hall, seeing it as the next room to where Sabina had indicated Togomor resided. Here were three barbed devils, two of which they managed to kill due to an insane crit train before the third fled in terror from Serithial. This left the path clear to the wizard. Anaurok and Toothless, covered by greater invisibility, dimension doored inside...landing in a pile of moldy chicken, which Toothless immediately began sniffing at. They, however, could see no one. Maril opened the door, and the rest filed in, Echo dropping a paranoid vomit swarm in the center of the room.
Then, a golden cloud covered summoner and eidolon, outlining them. Angered, he cast see invisibility...and finally discovered the obese mage perched in the corner of the room's ceiling, having called upon spider climb and greater invisibility upon hearing their struggle in the hall. He sent Toothless to attack; Echo sent the swarm after, giving a half-hearted apology when it attacked the eidolon as well. Olivie, not bothering with the wizard, shot the rat in the corner until it died. The mage then aced his concentration check to dimension door out of the swarm...and presumably raise the alarm...
Notable Quotes
Tolo: What's the worst that could happen?
DM:
Tolo, Echo: NO.
DM: So, do you walk or teleport back to Korvosa?
Anaurok: We can walk.
Laori: Oh, I have so many marching songs! Ninety-nine bottles of blood on the wall
Maril: I want to pay a wizard to make me deaf.
Anaurok: I teleport. Now.
Tolo: Can I see if my pet rock is okay?
DM: It's not moving.
Tolo: Hide!
Laori: What are we yelling about?
Tolo: We're yelling profanities about the queen, and now we're hiding! Shh!
Laori: Oh! Um...that crown is secondhand!
All: OOOOOOOOOOOH!
DM: The dragon lands.
All: AAAAAAAAAAAAH!
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Well it is....
When is the next session?
We got a short session in yesterday, but not really enough to write up. It was a bad week for it.
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Sessions 3-5
With the wizard whisked off to parts unknown, Maril crept off to explore the castle, getting a pretty good idea of the layout of the second floor before reporting back, including finding a fairly detailed map leading to a place called the Sunken Queen. The rest of the party, meanwhile, was completely oblivious to the fact that she was gone at all as she spends most of her time in stealth with a score that none of their perceptions can beat and started doing some wandering of their own, encountering and dispatching another patrol of Grey Maidens with little trouble. Upon her return and subsequent catching up, Maril shared her findings - there was a weird wormlike shape in a bedroom, but she thought she'd seen it vanish...and the queen was waiting on the throne, almost looking bored. With their target so clearly in sight, there was only one thing to do: avoid her at all costs and check the third floor!
Maril spotted a Red Mantis lurking in a narrow corridor just past the stairs. He did not live long as they group fell upon him in as full-force as the hall would allow. They made their way into the open hall, soon beset by more assassins dropping from the silks about the ceiling with barely enough time for Olivie and Maril to shout a warning. Echo slipped inside the little room in the middle of the balcony, setting to the crucial task of raiding the liquor cabinet...only for a woman perched in the rafters to summon a giant mantis . Bombing soon ensued, drawing Maril's attention to aid the alchemist, but not before a swarm of the insects zeroed in on Echo. Anaurok set Toothless to the attack and drew the rod of wonder...soon covering the floor of the room in a fresh layer of spring grass. In winter. The assassins, now confused, fought on but were cut down.
Satisfied that the Mantises were taken care of and running out of ways to stall, they set off for the throne room, dispatching more Grey Maidens on the way. Lounging on the throne, Ileosa greeted them, thanking the party for their aid and suggesting that they depart Korvosa rather than be tried for treason. Corbin promptly bombed his save and began to walk off. Laori grabbed and dispelled him while the others set to the fight. Anaurok and Toothless laid into the Maidens flanking the door. Tolo blessed. Echo, Corbin, and Maril charged the queen. Suddenly, an invisible shape rippled, shooting forth a rainbow light. Maril dodged the blast of fire, but Corbin turned to stone. The Nessian warhounds aiding the Maidens took advantage of the clustered Tolo, Olivie, Anaurok, and Toothless in the doorway and both breathed their flames on them...catching the Maidens in the crossfire, killing them both. Maril then managed a critical vital strike on the queen, dealing enough damage to destroy the simulacrum.
As the "queen" melted into a puddle of blood, they stared in horror. Echo announced he didn't trust the blood and chucked a bomb at it. The blood went everywhere. Maril saved to not be covered in it, but he did not...and neither did a rather round shape in the corner. That plus Anaurok's see invisibility told them exactly where their retreating wizard had ended up, and they set to the attack. Maril attacked, then realized they could use him for information and tried to stop the party from following up. This did not stop Olivie from hitting him for all but 1 HP. Anaurok promptly drew Serithial. Tolo cast protection from evil on the mage, noting something was off. Togomor immediately begged for mercy - Anaurok begged for his stuff.
First, they determined that the wizard did not have a stone to flesh prepared. Anaurok grinned and drew the rod again, despite the party's strong objections. Vines soon covered the statue. He tried again and by some miracle got the desired result, restoring Corbin's body. Second, they determined that Ileosa had not been here for some days, the mage pathetically begging for his life as he explained that "the damned worm" had made him come here to begin with. He told them they could find what they needed in the study, explaining how to get there. At the mention of the crest, Echo scooped a signet ring from the pile of Ileosa. Thirdly, they learned that Ishani had indeed come here - he was now quite dead and artistically crucified on a construct Togomore had created. Anaurok then attempted to kill the mage. Maril parried it, declaring they would be no better than Ileosa. While they bickered, Tolo smacked Togomor with her axe, and he died with a peaceful smile. Maril screamed at Tolo, who sighed and immediately cast breath of life to restore the wizard...who begged them to not send him back there. The bickering continued for several OOC minutes before Maril declared she was escorting the mage outside.
That taken care of, they set off for the study. Finding the room too cramped to do much, Anaurok, Toothless, and Maril slipped inside, using the ring Echo had found. They scoured the room finding an ancient tome called Truths of the Sihedron detailing a ritual for eternal youth via blood sacrifice, as well as a scroll tube made of gold and studded with rubies. Anaurok promptly opened it and read it, and the group decided to burn the contract. It was at this point that Maril noted the gigantic worm on the ceiling. Screaming, she led the party back outside, where the creature soon followed via turning ethereal. The party prepared for a confrontation, and as soon as the creature revealed itself, Anaurok's readed action to activate the rod of wonder went off. The devil turned to stone and fell thirty feet to the grassy floor, shattering on impact.
With the knowledge of what Ileosa had planned now firmly in hand, the book more than enough to concern them in light of the "donations" collected by the Asmodeans on Ileosa's behalf, it was time to leave the castle. They discovered that the revolution had begun while they fought inside, started at the first alarms from within. With Kroft and Merrin's leadership, the city was well in-hand...so long as they could find Queen Ileosa before she ruined everything...
Notable Quotes
Maril: I take the wine.
Olivie: Bottle of whine! "But Maaaaariiiiiiil!"
Olivie: I have Infernal. Can I talk to it?
DM: You're going to make a deal with a devil?
Olivie: YES.
Anaurok: I leave.
Maril: I look for a violin.
Anaurok: I want everything on you. Then you can leave.
Togomor:
Echo, Tolo: NO
Anaurok: ...all your magic items. Not your shirt.
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Sessions 6-7
The group spent a bit of time on a shopping spree, making desperately-needed upgrades to armor and weaponry...as well as tracking down a second rod of wonder for Tolo. Anaurok's protests about this being a bad idea were summarily ignored. Armed with the map looted from Togomor's things, it was a simple matter to find the Sunken Queen. The winter chill lent little resistance from the locals as they approached.
After a bit of scouting around, Maril and Olivie discovered the entrance beneath the surface of the cold swamp water. Echo's air crystals and Tolo's air bubble sufficed to let them inside...where they promptly discovered an enormous devilfish who was both hungry and cranky from being so rudely awakened. Anaurok nailed it with a hold monster; it responded by promptly rolling a 2. Struggling to move through the water, they eventually made their way up to the next floor...Maril and Anaurok greedily eyeing the glass orb full of treasure with no visible way inside.
Upstairs, they promptly ran into a boggard guard. Anaurok attempted to speak to it...only to understand nothing it said. Tolo, however, could. This was soon remedied with communal tongues, and they had a brief and unproductive conversation. Anaurok's epic diplomatic overture to turn on the "Mother Queen" correctly presumed to be Ileosa was no match for the frogman's vast intelligence of 6 and blind zealotry. Bailing on this, Maril stealthed about the floor, getting a lay of the land and easily evading the notice of all posted guards, and easily managing to return to the group just as the boggard was finally alerted that something was wrong. Out came the rods of wonder. Anaurok triggered an enlarge effect; Tolo turned it purple. The boggard was too confused by this to raise an alarm and swiftly dispatched via sneak attack.
They found the third floor eerily quiet and decided to poke around. Tolo found the quartet of erinyes guards and cheerfully greeted them with a pick-up line. The good news: it succeeded in getting their attention. The bad news: it succeeded in getting their attention. The dwarven healer quickly found herself lassoed and crit into negatives. Anaurok and Toothless charged into the doorway to distract them, Toothless taking a fair bit of damage himself before the summoner was able to dimension door back across the hall to relative safety. Maril and Corbin poked into another room, hoping it would allow a backdoor into the fighting. The good news: it did. The better news: this room also held a very finely cut sapphire, which Maril noted bore an inscription of Anaurok's name. She checked for traps and, satisfied, stuffed it in her bag before joining Corbin in the fight. Olivie took up a position, as usual, clear across the room to shoot from safety.
Once the summoner and passengers rematerialized before her, Laori cured Tolo back up to positives and turned her attention to blessing and praying while the dwarf spent the rest of the fight channeling energy. The devils fanned into the room, now the door was unblocked, targeting the archer, summoner, and eidolon. Corbin and Maril managed to get into flanking positions, and the group eventually managed to put the furies down without further loss of life (though considerable loss of blood happened). Tolo and Laori patched them all up; Maril and Echo explored the remaining rooms. Discovering the half-formed simulacrum, Maril "screamed like a little girl." Echo bombed it.
They reconvened to discuss strategy, mostly consisting of Maril and Anaurok arguing. The rogue showed the group the sapphire, and Anaurok grinned, reaching for it. Echo slapped his hand away, calling him an idiot. They examined the magic surrounding it, identifying a trap the soul effect. Anaurok promptly withdrew his claim on the gem, further resolved to murder the queen. Echo drank an extract of thorn body, and they made their way upstairs.
The sight of the Everdawn Pool was disturbing: an amorphous and evershifting blob of blood suspended in the air, glass tubes sprouting from it. The shape of Korvosa appeared and crumbled, and they were soon alerted to the presence of three wraiths...and several simulacra just dropping from the pool. Laori blessed the group again, and the battle was on. One of the Ileosas began to sing, much to the consternation of the party. Anaurok and Toothless found themselves pinned in the corner by a wraith and clone; Maril ran near them to evade a wraith of her own. Echo bombed; Olivie shot; Tolo channeled.
Then Ileosa herself entered the fray, emerging from the Everdawn Pool dripping in blood, lovely face twisted in anger. She herself began to sing, weaving a suggestion for Corbin to bow before her. He aced the save and cast fly on himself, moving to meet her in combat. Olivie bombed against a confusion from an Ileosa clone, managing with surprising reliability to keep her wits and pummel the devil-queen with holy arrows . Upon seeing the queen (and after bringing down the last wraith with a combination of high explosives and positive energy), Tolo pulled forth the rod of wonder, first calling a swarm of pastel butterflies that went nowhere near Ileosa...then shrinking herself down to the size of a housecat. She then put the rod away. Corbin's assault pinned Ileosa near the wall, allowing Maril to use her wall run talent to flank and sneak.
Finally freeing himself from the corner, Anaurok cast eaglesoul...then geniekind as the DM reminded him that casting such as CN effectively negated most of the spell's bonus. He flew up to fight her...just as yet another crit from Corbin's holy scythe laughed at her regen, knocking her unconscious. Maril sneak attacked the corpse out of spite; Anaurok brought down Serithial for the coup de grace, canceling out her ability to heal from her wounds.
Anaurok pulled off the Crown of Fangs, which Laori promptly snatched away. They all sat to breathe a sigh of relief...and then noticed that the Everdawn Pool above them was pulsing. A draconic talon and skeletal wing began to emerge. Seeing the iron chains of the Midnight Lord's favor, Laori was pleased but seemed to be the only one who was. Maril threw knives, Echo threw a bomb, and Olivie shot at the shape...and then Anaurok remembered Serithial, using his magical flight to stab the pool with the holy scimitar. Everything went white as the pool exploded from within, sending blood and the touch of heaven itself everywhere. Maril bombed her save and stumbled blindly for a moment until Laori healed her eyes.
Battered and exhausted, they made their way back to Korvosa to be hailed as heroes. The newly crowned Queen Cressida Kroft welcomed them back with open arms, offering them positions on her royal council, and Laori departed, taking the Fangs of Kazavon far away from the city.
End of Campaign
Notable Quotes
Maril: Diplomacy the adults, murder the children!
Anaurok: Pull an Anakin!
Maril: Are there traps around the sapphire?
DM: Not that you see...but you do see a name inscribed.
Maril: ...okay?
DM: Anaurok.
Anaurok: I want it.
DM: And Ileosa emerges from the blood.
Echo, Tolo: WHOA
Tolo: She got hotter!
Anaurok, Maril:
Anaurok: I cast eaglesoul.
DM: In the distance, you hear an echo - Murica...
Echo: NO.
Olivie: Oh, right! I have a snake! I fire my snake at that one.
DM: ...Okay, roll-
Olivie: NO WAIT
DM: One of the Ileosas begins to sing.
Party: UGH.
Anaurok: Is she any good?
DM: She's got a +16.
Echo: I applaud.
Anaurok: Let me see the sapphire!
Maril: No, it's mine.
Anaurok: It has my name on it! I just wanna hold it and examine it!
Maril: I don't like this!
Anaurok:
Echo: NO.
DM:
Anaurok: ...do I detect magic?
Maril: Diplomacy the adults, murder the children!
Anaurok: Pull an Anakin!
Your kids are awesome!
This has been a lot of fun. I commend them all. I commend you for helping them through it, and get a DM-in-Training out of it as well!
Scint should reward it with bonus credit. It's a exercise in use of written English after all!
Yes and no. By the rules, most non-mundane fire damage - including spells and yes alchemist bombs - work fine underwater. However, all attacks that require an attack roll to strike a target except piercing-damage attacks take a fair stack of penalties for being used underwater unless the attacking character has various feats or spells active.
So the bomb could have worked, but it would have had a pretty decent chance of missing. And I'm not sure how the splash damage would have worked underwater, admittedly.
Welcome to the forums, though, and congratulations to all you kids on completing the campaign! It's been an insane blast to watch you run through - and a TON of fun doing my contributions with Rolth's voiceclips.
Yes and no. By the rules, most non-mundane fire damage - including spells and yes alchemist bombs - work fine underwater. However, all attacks that require an attack roll to strike a target except piercing-damage attacks take a fair stack of penalties for being used underwater unless the attacking character has various feats or spells active.
So the bomb could have worked, but it would have had a pretty decent chance of missing. And I'm not sure how the splash damage would have worked underwater, admittedly.
Welcome to the forums, though, and congratulations to all you kids on completing the campaign! It's been an insane blast to watch you run through - and a TON of fun doing my contributions with Rolth's voiceclips.
From the PRD:
Ranged Attacks Underwater: Thrown weapons are ineffective underwater, even when launched from land. Attacks with other ranged weapons take a –2 penalty on attack rolls for every 5 feet of water they pass through, in addition to the normal penalties for range.
As bombs are thrown, I ruled them ineffective. Fire was nothing to do with it.
Welcome to the forums, though, and congratulations to all you kids on completing the campaign! It's been an insane blast to watch you run through - and a TON of fun doing my contributions with Rolth's voiceclips.Thank you for the voice clips! They made Rolth all the more real. And let's not forget Harley, Jolistina, who stole the hearts of at least two of the rainbow with her cheery personality. (Honestly there was a lot of hesitation in killing her, but she probably couldn't live long without Rolth and we couldn't allow her to live, again, and let her take revenge on us in our slumber.) Rolth was, at least in my opinion, the best villain. Even though I was, and still am a little, irritated at Rolth for the whole "BAD TOUCH" incident. Additionally, the frustration at my inability to land a single sneak attack on him at our first meeting added to this as well. Finally, the cherry on top of the supper-villain sundae was their all-too-easy escape via dimension door. Their eventual defeat at our second meeting was very rewarding. The only other fight that came close was our battle with the umbral dragon. Even the fight with Ileosa was, somehow, less satisfying than these two.
*takes a bow*
Yes and no. By the rules, most non-mundane fire damage - including spells and yes alchemist bombs - work fine underwater. However, all attacks that require an attack roll to strike a target except piercing-damage attacks take a fair stack of penalties for being used underwater unless the attacking character has various feats or spells active.
So the bomb could have worked, but it would have had a pretty decent chance of missing. And I'm not sure how the splash damage would have worked underwater, admittedly.
Welcome to the forums, though, and congratulations to all you kids on completing the campaign! It's been an insane blast to watch you run through - and a TON of fun doing my contributions with Rolth's voiceclips.
From the PRD:
Ranged Attacks Underwater: Thrown weapons are ineffective underwater, even when launched from land. Attacks with other ranged weapons take a –2 penalty on attack rolls for every 5 feet of water they pass through, in addition to the normal penalties for range.As bombs are thrown, I ruled them ineffective. Fire was nothing to do with it.
Valid interpretation: when thrown from outside of water they could break on impact against water, treating it as a surface. When thrown by a submerge character they might be too slow to break on impact against anything.
Hello Maril.
Have you considered writing down your future hi-jinks next campaign and posting it here for our amusement to hone your writing skills?
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Have you considered writing down yourfuture hi-jinksnext campaign and posting it herefor our amusementto hone your writing skills?
I have considered this. Though, I am not sure how soon I would be able to post (if at all). So far we have not started our next campaign, yet.
As for writing skills I can't say that what I write will be amusing, as well written as GM Bookwyrm's accounts of our Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign, or that there will be any writing posted at all. Nonetheless, I will try to post our next adventure to the best of my ability (as long as the rest of the group is fine with what I write as well).