THE FUNNY THINGS:
Ken, singing (guess the tune): Let's roll initiative again!
Cathy and Katy, about the adversary's initiative roll: He got a zero! - That means he doesn't get to go, right?
Cathy, Katy, and Ken, about an adversary the party faced: I don't know why I think it's a her. - It is. You have deemed it a her. - You have DM'ed it a her.
Ken, after his character had scored a critical hit: Oh yeah! Who's the dwarf? Who's the dwarf?
THE ADVENTURE:
As they gathered up the loot and prepared to head back to Montrill, the party chatted with the Dwarves who had come to their aid. They learned that the group was a local militia unit led by a Dwarf named Ethan Allan; they called their unit the Silver Mountain Dwarves. The band was well known to King Reginald and aided him whenever he had work in the mountains. They had been glad to answer his call this time, too. Allan and his soldiers were a friendly, merry bunch and the adventurers enjoyed getting to know them as they worked. When they were ready, the whole group headed out on the return to Montrill. As they walked, Ethan Allan asked them what had happened, so Anaka, Asteriskes, and Felan told him the story of their adventures.
"Vegepygmies, eh? You know, there's a guy who's been in Montrill asking all sorts of questions about unusual creatures...he'd really be interested in that."
"What guy?" Anaka asked the Dwarf.
"Oh, I don't know, he came from Woodside and he's really interested in odd creatures that have never been seen before. He's been in town for a while."
"Probably the curator of the museum," Asteriskes told the thief, sotto voce.
After two uneventful days of travel, Ethan Allan and the group parted ways amicably at the Mayor's house. The servants welcomed them back and showed them to their original rooms. Anaka, Asteriskes, and Felan were thrilled to see clean clothes, warm baths, and large comfortable beds waiting for them. Shortly after they'd had time to clean up, each of the adventurers was roused by a servant informing them that the king would like them to come and dine with him.
"I must hear about your adventure! Were you able to catch the thief?" King Reginald asked eagerly, shaking their hands and greeting them warmly.
Anaka spun a wonderful tale incorporating all the events and alluding to the fact that they had Cyvorak's head.
King Reginald was also very interested in the Vegepygmies. "Mr. Peabody, the curator of the Woodside Museum is in town. I know that he is interested in these sorts of creatures."
"Are you asking us to bring him a specimen?" Asteriskes asked.
"No, no, no. I don't know what he needs specifically, but it so happens that he is meeting with me tomorrow morning. Will you please come and join us?" The king invited.
The adventurers agreed readily.
"By the way, don't worry about the sceptre. The most important thing is that I got it back. Besides, you rid the country of that thief -- and from what you've told me, he was attempting to become more than just a two-bit thief and could have become quite an annoyance to not just myself but the entire country. You have done me a great service. In return, my sorcerer will gladly identify any items you need identified. You need only supply him with the material components of the spell. There are two jewelers in town who can help -- Jasper Cutter and Jules Bijoux."
The rest of the evening was filled with friendly conversation and delectable foods. After a few hours, King Reginald returned to his home and the party went up to bed. They woke rested and delighted to see that the household staff had brought trays of breakfast up to each room. They ate and refreshed themselves before going to meet the king.
King Reginald and a Mr. Peabody -- a skinny, elderly man with gray hair -- were glad to see them and introductions were made.
"I understand you ran across some creatures that you had not seen before." said the curator.
"Yes," Felan replied.
"And you are familiar with the museum at Woodside and you don't recall seeing them in that museum?"
"Yes."
"Sire, I think you should send someone to get some specimens for me, if you could sir. I could use them for the museum," Mr. Peabody said, turning his attention to King Reginald.
"That's a good idea. I'll ask Ethan and his unit to work on it." The monarch replied.
"You seem to be able to take care of yourself in circumstances where you are unsure of what you're dealing with. I've been looking for someone to perform a service for the museum...and the country. There are tunnels and caverns in these mountains which contain odd creatures. We have descriptions of them, their abilities, and drawings of them, but we don't have actual specimens. I know they have been reported in these particular caverns to the west of Montrill. I'll give you the information that we have -- if you are willing to go after these creatures. You will be paid 5000gp for each creature -- dead or alive -- that you bring back." Mr. Peabody said to the adventurers.
As the group nodded in agreement, the curator handed out some parchments. " I will also loan you two of the largest bags of holding the museum has -- to transport the specimens -- the bags are property of the museum, so I would expect you to return them upon completion of the task, of course."
Accepting the assignment, the group bid farewell to Mr. Peabody. As they were leaving, King Reginald said to them, "If you go and get those pearls, my sorcerer is available this afternoon."
The party headed up the street. Jasper Cutter's shop was nearest, so they stopped in and bought enough pearls to get each magic item identified. Later that afternoon, they returned to King Reginald's place and met with the sorcerer. He went over the items and when he reached the broken sword hilt with some of its gems missing, he started back and clutched his throat.
"What's the matter?" asked Anaka
"This is the Blood Conciliator! This is a very dangerous item." said the jeweler.
"What should we do with it?"
"I think you should give it to the king."
"Does that mean we don't get any money for it?" muttered Asteriskes.
"I think you should give it to the king." The jeweler repeated.
The sorcerer identified the rest of their items and the group thanked him before leaving to discuss who got what. Asteriskes took the gauntlets of ogre power and the bracers of armor. Anaka took the daggers, the potions of Cure Light Wounds, one of the holy symbols of Xhitigal, the 3 remaining oil flask/bombs, and the 14 short spears she'd been using since they snagged them out of the cave complex. Felan also kept the short spears he'd been using from the stash he'd split with Anaka.
At dinner that evening, they presented the hilt of the Blood Conciliator to King Reginald. He was very pleased and told them of his intention to place it in the treasury with the rest of the crown jewels, since it was a weapon of legendary status.
"By the way, I never gave you the rest of your payment. I had promised you an additional amount upon completion of your task." He then handed them each a small purse containing 20,000gp. "You've done most excellently well and you have my thanks."
After another delightful evening of good food and conversation, the party returned to their rooms for another restful night as the mayor's guests. They woke to another filling breakfast awaiting them. They ate their fill and then headed into town to get supplies for the quest Mr. Peabody had set them on. They passed the day happily shopping, investigating various options, and eventually stocked themselves up. Then they returned to the mayor's house for another restful night followed by a yummy breakfast. They had packed up the night before, so after eating, they consulted the map Mr. Peabody had given them, bid their farewells to the mayor and his staff, and headed out.
Anaka led the way followed by Asteriskes, Felan, and Admiral Barky. Anaka deftly jumped out of the way just as the ground in front of her burst apart, making way for the creature that was clambering out of the ground.
An Ankheg! gasped Asteriskes and Felan simultaneously as Anaka landed safely to the side of the creature.
Felan closed and punched the creature, hitting for 7; Anaka stabbed with her dagger, hitting for 7; Admiral Barky came up behind Felan, growling protectively; Ankheg attacked Asteriskes, but missed; Asteriskes retaliated, hitting for 17 and killing it.
After briefly admiring the excellent tunnel-work of the Ankheg, the party got back on the road, knowing they had about 3 days to go before reaching the area specified by Mr. Peabody. The rest of the day passed uneventfully. They made camp in a nice grove. The druid caught some small woodland creatures and prepared a nice meal for his companions before everyone settled down for the night. Asteriskes took the first watch, with Admiral Barky keeping him company. Felan took the next watch. Anaka joined him for the last watch. They heard a crashing coming toward them through the underbrush. Felan cast Dawn, which immediately awoke Asteriskes and Admiral Barky. An ogre broke through the trees, charging for the party.
Anaka closed and attacked, hitting for 7; Admiral Barky flanked the Ogre and attacked, hitting for 10; Asteriskes closed and attacked, hitting for 15; Felan flanked and attacked, hitting for 3; Ogre roared angrily and attacked Anaka, but missed.
Anaka retaliated, hitting critically for 13 and taking the Ogre down.
As the sun was rising, the group decided to break camp. Felan scrounged around the area and gathered enough to make a hearty breakfast. They then resumed their marching order and headed back out. The day passed uneventfully.
Near evening they began to see pink veins in some of the rock faces. Mr P had told them this was an indication that they were reaching the area he was interested in. They made camp. The night passed calmly. In the morning, the druid again prepared a breakfast for his friends. Then they broke camp and resumed their march.
A little black furry critter crossed the path, stopped in front of the party - startled - and cried out in a loud and frightened voice.
"We should get away from here as quickly as possible before Mama Bear comes," said Felan knowingly.
"Can we get by it?" asked Anaka.
"Let me help," Felan replied. The druid came up beside her, used his Handle Animal skills to calm the cub enough for the party to skirt by it safely.
Not too much later, around noontime, they reached the mouth of a cave which looked distinctly like the site indicated to them by Mr. Peabody. Anaka searched the entryway, but found no traps. They entered the cave, which became a tunnel that led them underground.
The tunnel led to a cavern with a high ceiling rising perhaps four or five dozen feet above the ground. Short stalagmites rose from the guano-covered floor. The flapping of hundreds of wings echoed throughout the cave and an overwhelming stench of animals hung in the air. The cave was literally overwhelmed by bats. As the bats were not bothering them, the party advanced, avoiding the area where the majority of the bats were gathered. They reached a fork in the tunnel and chose to go to the right.
Apart from the high ceiling and the notable absence of any stalactites or stalagmites, there was nothing out of the ordinary in this chamber. The adventurers carefully entered the room. They had barely entered the room when a Neuronea charged at them.
Admiral Barky entered the room; Neuronea cast Deep Sleep - Felan failed and fell asleep, Asteriskes Saved; Felan snored loudly; Anaka threw a spear, hitting for 4; Asteriskes drew his bow, but missed his shot.
Admiral Barky closed and attacked, hitting for 9; Neuronea retaliated against Admiral Barky, hitting for 7, and Admiral Barky failed his Save and fell asleep; Felan was still sleeping; Anaka threw a spear, but missed; Asteriskes targeted Neuronea with his bow, hitting for 14.
Admiral Barky growled lightly in his sleep; Neuronea closed and attacked Asteriskes, hitting for 10, but Asteriskes made his Save against the sleep; Felan continued sleeping; Anaka threw another spear, hitting for 5; Asteriskes drew his great sword and attacked, hitting for 20 and taking her out, the Dwarf then performed a coup de gras.
Asteriskes and Admiral Barky gathered up the body and stuffed it into one of the bags of holding Mr. Peabody had provided. Anaka retrieved her spears. Then they searched the room and found what was probably the Neuronea's stash: 60 gp, 3 gold rings, and a pearl necklace. By the time they had finished, Felan and Admiral Barky had woken up. When they were ready, the group retraced its steps and headed down the other fork in the tunnel.
The battered body of a dark-skinned, white-haired humanoid -- slain by some unknown creature -- was sprawled on the uneven cave floor. Long stalactites hung from the ceiling. Four large bats dived at the party with a loud screeching.
Asteriskes swung his sword at the nearest Sonic Bat, hitting critically for a total of 66, chopping the bat into unrecognizable pieces which could not be taken back to the museum; Admiral Barky jumped at the bat near him and attacked, but missed; Felan attacked the Sonic Bat near him, hitting for 6; Anaka struck at the Sonic Bat near her, but missed; Sonic Bat-2 let out a potent sound wave, doing 5 points of Sonic Damage to everyone, but they all Saved against being stunned; Sonic Bat-3 attacked Admiral Barky, but missed; Sonic Bat-4 attacked Felan, but missed.
Asteriskes closed with Sonic Bat-2, hitting for 14 points of subdual damage, knocking the creature, unconscious, to the ground; Admiral Barky jumped at Sonic Bat-3 and attacked, hitting for 9 and taking it out; Felan attacked Sonic Bat-4, hitting for 7 points of subdual damage and taking his rival down.
They gathered up the two Sonic Bat corpses that were salvageable for the museum's use and put them in the other bag of holding. Felan identified the dead body in the room as a male Drow. They found a very interesting note as well as some money and other valuable items on his body.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Yeah, "20-Lots" Hits
THE FUNNY THINGS:
Cathy and Ken, when Ken decided to move his character past two others in combat: Your friends goose you as you go by. - I clang.
Cathy, paraphrasing the module when the group noticed what was most likely a trap icon on the map square: A natural pool filled with unnatural stars....
Ken, as the party tried to figure out how to cross a pond: Water, very dangerous, you go first.
Katy and Cathy, as the party searched a room relying on clues from a previous room: Do we see any 4's? - What, are you playing Go Fish?
Cathy, about Bruce's roll: Yeah, 20-lots hits.
Cathy and Katy, after Bruce's animal companion (a dog) missed its attack: Magic Dentures of Biting + 3 - In this case, -3
Katy and Cathy, about the Dwarven zealot the party had defeated: Does he have a masterwork loincloth? - No, but he's got a masterwork something else!
THE ADVENTURE:
The party decided to explore the tunnel whence the Yellow Musk Zombies had entered. They followed it into the undying garden. Other than the footprints left by the meandering Yellow Musk Zombies, there was nothing in the room. Next they continued into the adjoining chamber (3-8).
Three Vegepygmies were working away at digging through the wall. They noticed the adventurers arrival, dropped their picks, grabbed their longspears, and took up aggressive stances.
"What are you doing? We rescued some of your companions from the Violent Fungus?" Felan said, bewildered.
"Stay away from tunnel!" replied one of the Vegepygmies in broken Common.
Admiral Barky held his action; Anaka moved in closer and threw a spear, hitting Vegepygmy-1 for 6; Vegepygmy-1 closed and retaliated against Anaka, but missed; Asteriskes closed with Vegepygmy-1 and attacked, but missed; Vegepygmy-2 charged Anaka and attacked, but missed; under F's guidance, Admiral Barky closed with Vegepygmy-1 and attacked, but missed, then F himself charged and attacked Vegepygmy-2, punching him for 7; Vegepygmy-3 closed and attacked F, but missed.
Anaka drew her dagger and slashed Vegepygmy-1 for 7, taking him down; Asteriskes closed with Vegepygmy-2, but missed; Vegepygmy-2 retaliated against Asteriskes, but missed; Admiral Barky moved to flank and attacked Vegepygmy-2, hitting for 10 and taking him out; Felan moved to flank Vegepygmy-3 and attacked, hitting for 2; Vegepygmy-3 attacked Admiral Barky, but missed.
Anaka closed with Vegepygmy-3, but missed; Asteriskes closed with Vegepygmy-3, hitting for 16 and taking him out.
Knowing that they had now finished exploring the area, and that their cleric was injured, the group decided to head back to the secret passageway to rest. They made it safely there and secured the area. Felan healed himself, then he laid down for a nap. Two hours later, he woke up, memorized some new spells, cast Lesser Restoration on himself, and then the companions were ready to go on. They left the secret passage, headed through the mushroom village room, and eventually reached the tunnel which they had determined led further into the cave complex.
A natural pool filled with inky black water sat prominently in the center of the cavern. Rising above the dark waters in the center of the pool was a tall marble stature of a draconian archer. The archer's bow pointed toward the cavern ceiling.
Looking where the statue pointed, no one noticed anything specific, the Dragon's bow simply seemed to be pointed towards an arch in the ceiling. After a few moments, however, Anaka suddenly said, "Oh, it's JUST a bow! WE have the arrow!" And realization dawned on the party practically in unison.
"Well, how are we going to get across the water, does anyone have any way of testing how deep it is?" Felan asked.
"I have a 50' rope, if I attach my grappling hook, it will sink..." Anaka suggested.
"Good idea," Asteriskes approved.
Standing at the edge, the thief did her test, the water turned out to be 2' deep there. After some discussion, Anaka said, "Do you want me to just go?"
"Yeah, that sounds good! After all, I'm the only one who can heal so I definitely should stay behind." Felan answered.
"OK, hang on, I've got an idea. I'll tie my rope around my waist, and you guys can hold the other end. That way if the pond is suddenly deeper, you can pull me back in if needed." As her companions nodded, Anaka untied her grappling hook and affixed the rope around her waist. They navigated around the pond to the lip that was closest to the statue and the thief headed in. The water turned out to be 2 feet deep all the way across. She carefully climbed up the statue and fitted the arrow into the bow. A low ominous rumbling sound started coming from the statue. Anaka climbed back down into the water at the base of the pedestal.
There was a low, ominous rumbling sound. Suddenly images of numerals formed all around the perimeter of the pool. The archer aimed his bow at four different numbers -- 4, 7, 9, 2 -- with careful deliberation. After a moment, he did it again, before resuming his original pose with his bow aimed back at the ceiling. Anaka climbed up to retrieve the arrow, but it was now solidly attached to the bow. She climbed back down and rejoined her friends. After removing the rope from Anaka's waist, they party headed out the tunnel nearest them.
This enormous cavern had been transformed by hammer and chisel into a wondrous work of art. Elaborately carved murals of Dragons and Dwarves engaged in an epic struggle covered the walls. Faded, tattered tapestries of Dragonkin warriors flanked each of the five exits. A large, natural column of stone rose from the floor to the ceiling in the southeast corner. Standing vigilant by this column were two armored Dwarves holding crossbows that were cocked and loaded.
Anaka moved into the room and threw a spear at the closest Duregar, hitting for 4; Admiral Barky charged and attacked Duregar-1, hitting for 7; Asteriskes moved into the room and shot with his bow, but missed; Duregar-1 attacked Admiral Barky, but missed; Duregar-2 closed with Admiral Barky, and missed; F moved into the room.
Anaka moved and threw another spear, but missed; Admiral Barky continued battling Duregar-1, hitting for 6 and taking him down; Asteriskes moved in closer and shot at Duregar-2, but missed; Duregar-2 attacked Admiral Barky, but missed; Felan closed with Duregar-2 and attacked, hitting for 3.
Anaka threw a spear at Duregar-2, hitting for 5; Admiral Barky retaliated against Duregar-2, hitting for 10, and taking him down.
They headed out the tunnel immediately on their left. They hadn't gone too far when they were faced with two large black birds, flying towards them. (Fiendish Ravens)
Anaka moved in closer and threw a spear, hitting for 3 and knocking the Fiendish Raven down; Asteriskes moved in and shot at the remaining Fiendish Raven, but missed; Admiral Barky ran into the room; Fiendish Raven-2 flew towards Anaka; Felan charged and attacked Fiendish Raven-2, hitting for 1.
Anaka closed and slashed the Fiendish Raven with her dagger, taking him down; Two Duregar came around the corner; Asteriskes stepped forward and targeted one of the Duregar's, hitting for 4; Admiral Barky closed Duregar-1 and attacked, hitting for 5; Felan charged and attacked Duregar-1, hitting for 4 and taking him down; Duregar-2 attacked Admiral Barky, but missed.
Anaka moved up closer and threw another spear, but missed; Asteriskes charged and closed with Duregar-2, hitting for 8; Admiral Barky attacked Duregar-2, but missed; Felan attacked Duregar-2, but missed; Duregar-2 retaliated against Asteriskes, but missed.
Anaka threw another spear, hitting for 8 and taking out Duregar-2, she then retrieved her spears, including nipping back into the outer chamber to pick up the 2 spears she'd forgotten to grab from before.
Towering above them were piles of massive bones, some looming taller than a fire giant. The bones appeared to be quite brittle. A thick layer of fine white powder completely blanketed the entire floor. Toward the southern end of the gargantuan section of the caverns they could also see small clouds of white dust billowing between the piles.
As the group stood discussing their options, 4 Kobold Skeletons came charging out from behind the various piles of bones, heading straight for the party.
Kobold Skeleton-4 charged attacked Felan, hitting for 3; Anaka came up and flanked Kobold Skeleton-4, striking critically for 10; Kobold Skeleton-1 charged and attacked Asteriskes, but missed; Felan attacked Kobold Skeleton-4, hitting for 4, and taking him out; Admiral Barky moved to flank Kobold Skeleton-1 and attacked, hitting for 5; Asteriskes retaliated against Kobold Skeleton-1, but missed; Kobold Skeleton-2 charged and attacked Anaka, but missed; Kobold Skeleton-3 charged and attacked Anaka, but missed.
Anaka attacked Kobold Skeleton-3, hitting for 8; Kobold Skeleton-1 continued his combat with Asteriskes, but missed; Felan attacked Kobold Skeleton-1, hitting for 8 and taking him out; Admiral Barky flanked Kobold Skeleton-2 and attacked, hitting for 10; Asteriskes closed with Kobold Skeleton-2, hitting for 14 and taking him out; Kobold Skeleton-3 attacked Anaka, but missed.
Anaka attacked Kobold Skeleton-3, hitting for 7; Felan closed with Kobold Skeleton-3 and attacked, but missed; Admiral Barky closed with Kobold Skeleton-3 and attacked, but missed; Asteriskes flanked Kobold Skeleton-3 and attacked, but missed; Kobold Skeleton-3 attacked Anaka, but missed.
Anaka attacked Kobold Skeleton-3, hitting critically for 21 points and taking him out.
Searching the room determined that the bones were those of long dead Dragons, which had been so picked over or so long aged that they were no longer of any use for spell components or of any other value. The room was a dead-end, so the adventurers returned to the outer chamber and followed the center tunnel out of it. They reached a fork, one of which ended in a door, and chose to go down the open passageway, away from the door.
Signs of ancient battles filled the area and broken bones and shattered blades were strewn about the floor. A sickly yellowish-white powder covered the floor. The powder was vaguely moist and stuck to the adventurers shoes.
They returned to the path that ended in a door. Felan listened at the door, but heard nothing. Anaka searched the door for traps and found none, it was also unlocked.
As they stepped through the doorway, they realized that had indeed left the wilds of the caverns and entered the remnants of an ancient civilization. The rough, craggy cavern walls gave way to smooth, worked walls of white marble engraved with a myriad of ornate, cryptic symbols and numerals. The northwest corner of the room was filled with a large pile of rubble comprised of white marble and rough stone. It appeared that the recent cave-ins caused part of the ceiling to collapse. A Dwarven warrior stood between the pile of the rubble and a door along the western wall. He was carefully examining the cryptic symbols, but he stopped upon noticing the group's entrance, turning to face them with his sword drawn.
Admiral Barky closed and attacked, but missed; Felan closed and attacked, hitting for 1; Asteriskes moved closer and fired his bow, but missed; Anaka moved a little closer and threw a spear, but missed; D scrambled up on the rubble to gain some height and attacked Felan, but missed.
Admiral Barky closed and attacked, hitting for 8; Felan attacked, hitting for 6; Anaka threw a spear, hitting for 7; Asteriskes closed and attacked, hitting for 13; D attacked Felan, hitting for 4.
Admiral Barky attacked, but missed; Felan attacked, but missed; Anaka threw a spear, but missed; Asteriskes attacked, but missed; D attacked Asteriskes, hitting for 8.
Admiral Barky attacked, but missed; Felan attacked, but missed; Anaka missed; Asteriskes hit for 21 and took him out.
Next the companions began investigating the runes the Dwarf had been so avidly studying. They easily picked out the Roman numerals the statue had indicated to them, but no one was sure what the symbols interspersed therein might indicate. Felan asked Anaka for a piece of the parchment they'd taken from the bedroom they'd camped in a few days ago. When she handed it to him, along with a quill, he hastily scratched down a copy of the carvings on the wall for future reference.
Felan listened at the door heading west, but heard nothing. Anaka searched it for traps and found nothing. It opened into a small hallway that led to another door. Felan listened, and heard very faint rhythmic thwupping sounds. Anaka searched and found no traps. Asteriskes drew his bow and took a defensive stance, Anaka opened the door.
A large, garish stone statue of a red dragon sat against the southern wall. Piles of rock and debris flanked both sides of the statue. Its gigantic wings spanned well over 40 feet. Kneeling in front of the statue was a grizzled, muscular Dwarf clad only in a loincloth. His back was scarred and the source of those old wounds was obviously the bloody flail he wielded, striking himself forcefully as he continued his murmured prayers.
Admiral Barky charged the D, hitting for 7; Anaka threw a spear, hitting for 6; Felan charged, hitting for 7; Asteriskes moved into the room and shot, but missed; D turned around, "Smite heretic!" and attacked Felan, hitting for 12.
Admiral Barky attacked, hitting for 10 and taking him out.
They turned their attention to the runes behind the statue. Almost simultaneously they came to the conclusion that this was a sort of religious graffiti. Felan cast Lesser Vigor on himself. Anaka searched the room, but found nothing else of interest.
They moved to the other door in the room and Felan listened. He heard nothing. Anaka searched the door for traps and found none. She opened the door.
A macabre collection of skulls lined the walls. Strange symbols were crudely scrawled on some of the skulls. Most appeared to be humanoid, although a few larger ones were as tall as a Dwarven warrior -- these skulls were actually forming an archway around the doorway of the room. The party realized immediate that this was a burial chamber for priests of Xhitigal.
The group retraced their steps back to the room with the runes, where they'd fought the Dwarf on the pile of rubble. While Felan was listening at the door on the eastern wall, Anaka retrieved the spears she'd thrown in that battle and forgotten to pick up. The druid opened the door to reveal a hallway with a door at the far end. As he led the way, the party advanced. Felan listened at the door and heard nothing. Anaka searched for traps and found none, so she opened the door. Another hallway lay beyond. At the far end was a door with a pile of rubble in front of it. Anaka searched the rubble and found nothing. Felan listened at the door and heard nothing. Anaka searched for traps and didn't find any. She opened the door. They were faced with yet another hallway with a door at the end. Felan heard nothing and Anaka found no traps. They opened the door.
Most of the large room was empty and barren. The exception was a statue of a dragonkin archer, similar to the one back in the pool in the room they'd found earlier. However, this one was not alone -- it was being examined by a living, breathing Dragonkin warrior clad in red scales and leather armor. A jeweled rapier hung from his belt. The warrior was staring with great fascination at the statue's bow as if trying to unlock its secrets with his gaze alone.
Anaka stepped into the room and threw a spear, but missed; Admiral Barky attacked Cyvorak, but missed; Cyvorak used his breath weapon to blow a cone of fire at the party, only Anaka and Admiral Barky were in range, Admiral Barky Evaded and Anaka Saved for half; Asteriskes entered the room and shot, hitting for 6; Felan charged and punched, hitting for 1, plus a point of Dex damage.
Anaka moved into range and cast Ray of Frost, hitting for 2 points of Cold Damage; Admiral Barky attacked with Smite Evil, but missed; Cyvorak drew his rapier and targeted Felan, hitting for 11; Asteriskes closed and attacked, hitting for 20 and taking him out.
Asteriskes examined the statue. It appeared to be a duplicate of the statue in the pool. Among the items found on Cyvorak's body was a silver scroll case. It was empty. There were no runes or any symbols anywhere in the room.
Felan listened at the far door. He heard nothing. Anaka searched for traps and found none. The door was unlocked so she opened it.
The stone face of a dragon peered forth from the ruined northern wall of the chamber -- it was contorted in rage and anger. Although quite life-like and nearly the size of a man, it was quickly obvious that this was a carving by master stoneworkers rather than the macabre remains of a once-living great wyrm. Apart from the large face there was nothing else of note in the chamber.
Anaka searched the room. On her first pass, she found nothing, but she was sure there was something. Going back over things more thoroughly, she touched walls, floor, and the dragon head with exploring fingers. When she touched the dragon head, a cloud of gas billowed out of its mouth with an ominous hiss. Everyone Saved and avoided the Sleeping Gas which wafted away on the air. There was nothing else in the room.
The group returned to the room where they'd fought Cyvorak. They cut off his head and stuffed it into one of their Handy Haversacks so they could prove his demise to King Reginald. Anaka retrieved the spear she'd thrown in battle. Then they headed back to the room with the runes. Anaka pressed 4, 7, 9, and 2 and was heading back to repeat the sequence when a door opened revealing a short corridor leading to a chamber full of glittering treasures. Platinum, gold, and silver completely covered the room, obscuring the floor. Twin silk tapestries, each depicting a red Dragon rising triumphantly in flight, covered most of the southern and western walls and stretched from floor to ceiling. In the center of the room was a large wooden chest, its led flung wide open. A smaller, closed wooden chest was just a few feet away from the larger one.
Suspicious, Anaka continued the sequence, pushing the numbers again in the order the statue had indicated. Nothing changed and the secret door remained open. Anaka used the spikes they'd picked up from one of their victims and wedge the door open. Felan did a visual search from the doorway, but saw nothing.
"You know, "Asteriskes said, "Cyvorak supposedly stole King Reginald's gem, but it seemed like he was trying to figure out how to get in here. I'm guessing the gem is not in here."
"You're probably right," replied Felan, as he prepared to cast some spells. After a moment, he cast Lesser Vigor on himself and each of his companions. "This is going to take a bit," the druid said, "I suggest we wait here for a few minutes."
Anaka entered and performed a meticulous search. There were no traps or secret doors, even the small box (which was locked) was not trapped. In the big chest was a parchment. "Oh, geez!" Anaka moaned.
"What?" said Felan and Asteriskes in unison. The thief proceeded to read the practically sarcastic letter to her friends. When she had finished, and they had also groaned in frustration, she moved across the room. "I'm gonna check out this little locked box now, just to be sure."
Inside were 3 bottles of liquid and the jewel encrusted hilt of a broken longsword -- a few of the large settings were empty. As they were counting the coins and trying figure out what to take and how to take it, they heard the sounds of knocking and digging coming from just beyond the pile of rubble in the rune room. Several creatures of some sort were obviously trying to dig their way in. Just then, the wall broke apart and about 20 Dwarves came through -- they were all wearing the chartreuse sashes of the king.
"Stand by in the name of King Reginald of Othia!" bellowed the first guard.
When the adventurers stood up, the guards recognized them, "Oh, good, you're all right. His majesty sent us to find you - he didn't think an earthquake would defeat you, but he didn't want to leave it to chance. Well, that's quite a horde. I think we have enough extra hands to help carry it."
"Look what we found in one of the caved-in rooms back there," said another guard, brandishing the Royal Sceptre with its sparkling peridots.
"Wonder if the king is going to ask for his advance back?" whispered Asteriskes to his companions, as they all began to gather up the items in preparation for returning to Montrill.
Cathy and Ken, when Ken decided to move his character past two others in combat: Your friends goose you as you go by. - I clang.
Cathy, paraphrasing the module when the group noticed what was most likely a trap icon on the map square: A natural pool filled with unnatural stars....
Ken, as the party tried to figure out how to cross a pond: Water, very dangerous, you go first.
Katy and Cathy, as the party searched a room relying on clues from a previous room: Do we see any 4's? - What, are you playing Go Fish?
Cathy, about Bruce's roll: Yeah, 20-lots hits.
Cathy and Katy, after Bruce's animal companion (a dog) missed its attack: Magic Dentures of Biting + 3 - In this case, -3
Katy and Cathy, about the Dwarven zealot the party had defeated: Does he have a masterwork loincloth? - No, but he's got a masterwork something else!
THE ADVENTURE:
The party decided to explore the tunnel whence the Yellow Musk Zombies had entered. They followed it into the undying garden. Other than the footprints left by the meandering Yellow Musk Zombies, there was nothing in the room. Next they continued into the adjoining chamber (3-8).
Three Vegepygmies were working away at digging through the wall. They noticed the adventurers arrival, dropped their picks, grabbed their longspears, and took up aggressive stances.
"What are you doing? We rescued some of your companions from the Violent Fungus?" Felan said, bewildered.
"Stay away from tunnel!" replied one of the Vegepygmies in broken Common.
Admiral Barky held his action; Anaka moved in closer and threw a spear, hitting Vegepygmy-1 for 6; Vegepygmy-1 closed and retaliated against Anaka, but missed; Asteriskes closed with Vegepygmy-1 and attacked, but missed; Vegepygmy-2 charged Anaka and attacked, but missed; under F's guidance, Admiral Barky closed with Vegepygmy-1 and attacked, but missed, then F himself charged and attacked Vegepygmy-2, punching him for 7; Vegepygmy-3 closed and attacked F, but missed.
Anaka drew her dagger and slashed Vegepygmy-1 for 7, taking him down; Asteriskes closed with Vegepygmy-2, but missed; Vegepygmy-2 retaliated against Asteriskes, but missed; Admiral Barky moved to flank and attacked Vegepygmy-2, hitting for 10 and taking him out; Felan moved to flank Vegepygmy-3 and attacked, hitting for 2; Vegepygmy-3 attacked Admiral Barky, but missed.
Anaka closed with Vegepygmy-3, but missed; Asteriskes closed with Vegepygmy-3, hitting for 16 and taking him out.
Knowing that they had now finished exploring the area, and that their cleric was injured, the group decided to head back to the secret passageway to rest. They made it safely there and secured the area. Felan healed himself, then he laid down for a nap. Two hours later, he woke up, memorized some new spells, cast Lesser Restoration on himself, and then the companions were ready to go on. They left the secret passage, headed through the mushroom village room, and eventually reached the tunnel which they had determined led further into the cave complex.
A natural pool filled with inky black water sat prominently in the center of the cavern. Rising above the dark waters in the center of the pool was a tall marble stature of a draconian archer. The archer's bow pointed toward the cavern ceiling.
Looking where the statue pointed, no one noticed anything specific, the Dragon's bow simply seemed to be pointed towards an arch in the ceiling. After a few moments, however, Anaka suddenly said, "Oh, it's JUST a bow! WE have the arrow!" And realization dawned on the party practically in unison.
"Well, how are we going to get across the water, does anyone have any way of testing how deep it is?" Felan asked.
"I have a 50' rope, if I attach my grappling hook, it will sink..." Anaka suggested.
"Good idea," Asteriskes approved.
Standing at the edge, the thief did her test, the water turned out to be 2' deep there. After some discussion, Anaka said, "Do you want me to just go?"
"Yeah, that sounds good! After all, I'm the only one who can heal so I definitely should stay behind." Felan answered.
"OK, hang on, I've got an idea. I'll tie my rope around my waist, and you guys can hold the other end. That way if the pond is suddenly deeper, you can pull me back in if needed." As her companions nodded, Anaka untied her grappling hook and affixed the rope around her waist. They navigated around the pond to the lip that was closest to the statue and the thief headed in. The water turned out to be 2 feet deep all the way across. She carefully climbed up the statue and fitted the arrow into the bow. A low ominous rumbling sound started coming from the statue. Anaka climbed back down into the water at the base of the pedestal.
There was a low, ominous rumbling sound. Suddenly images of numerals formed all around the perimeter of the pool. The archer aimed his bow at four different numbers -- 4, 7, 9, 2 -- with careful deliberation. After a moment, he did it again, before resuming his original pose with his bow aimed back at the ceiling. Anaka climbed up to retrieve the arrow, but it was now solidly attached to the bow. She climbed back down and rejoined her friends. After removing the rope from Anaka's waist, they party headed out the tunnel nearest them.
This enormous cavern had been transformed by hammer and chisel into a wondrous work of art. Elaborately carved murals of Dragons and Dwarves engaged in an epic struggle covered the walls. Faded, tattered tapestries of Dragonkin warriors flanked each of the five exits. A large, natural column of stone rose from the floor to the ceiling in the southeast corner. Standing vigilant by this column were two armored Dwarves holding crossbows that were cocked and loaded.
Anaka moved into the room and threw a spear at the closest Duregar, hitting for 4; Admiral Barky charged and attacked Duregar-1, hitting for 7; Asteriskes moved into the room and shot with his bow, but missed; Duregar-1 attacked Admiral Barky, but missed; Duregar-2 closed with Admiral Barky, and missed; F moved into the room.
Anaka moved and threw another spear, but missed; Admiral Barky continued battling Duregar-1, hitting for 6 and taking him down; Asteriskes moved in closer and shot at Duregar-2, but missed; Duregar-2 attacked Admiral Barky, but missed; Felan closed with Duregar-2 and attacked, hitting for 3.
Anaka threw a spear at Duregar-2, hitting for 5; Admiral Barky retaliated against Duregar-2, hitting for 10, and taking him down.
They headed out the tunnel immediately on their left. They hadn't gone too far when they were faced with two large black birds, flying towards them. (Fiendish Ravens)
Anaka moved in closer and threw a spear, hitting for 3 and knocking the Fiendish Raven down; Asteriskes moved in and shot at the remaining Fiendish Raven, but missed; Admiral Barky ran into the room; Fiendish Raven-2 flew towards Anaka; Felan charged and attacked Fiendish Raven-2, hitting for 1.
Anaka closed and slashed the Fiendish Raven with her dagger, taking him down; Two Duregar came around the corner; Asteriskes stepped forward and targeted one of the Duregar's, hitting for 4; Admiral Barky closed Duregar-1 and attacked, hitting for 5; Felan charged and attacked Duregar-1, hitting for 4 and taking him down; Duregar-2 attacked Admiral Barky, but missed.
Anaka moved up closer and threw another spear, but missed; Asteriskes charged and closed with Duregar-2, hitting for 8; Admiral Barky attacked Duregar-2, but missed; Felan attacked Duregar-2, but missed; Duregar-2 retaliated against Asteriskes, but missed.
Anaka threw another spear, hitting for 8 and taking out Duregar-2, she then retrieved her spears, including nipping back into the outer chamber to pick up the 2 spears she'd forgotten to grab from before.
Towering above them were piles of massive bones, some looming taller than a fire giant. The bones appeared to be quite brittle. A thick layer of fine white powder completely blanketed the entire floor. Toward the southern end of the gargantuan section of the caverns they could also see small clouds of white dust billowing between the piles.
As the group stood discussing their options, 4 Kobold Skeletons came charging out from behind the various piles of bones, heading straight for the party.
Kobold Skeleton-4 charged attacked Felan, hitting for 3; Anaka came up and flanked Kobold Skeleton-4, striking critically for 10; Kobold Skeleton-1 charged and attacked Asteriskes, but missed; Felan attacked Kobold Skeleton-4, hitting for 4, and taking him out; Admiral Barky moved to flank Kobold Skeleton-1 and attacked, hitting for 5; Asteriskes retaliated against Kobold Skeleton-1, but missed; Kobold Skeleton-2 charged and attacked Anaka, but missed; Kobold Skeleton-3 charged and attacked Anaka, but missed.
Anaka attacked Kobold Skeleton-3, hitting for 8; Kobold Skeleton-1 continued his combat with Asteriskes, but missed; Felan attacked Kobold Skeleton-1, hitting for 8 and taking him out; Admiral Barky flanked Kobold Skeleton-2 and attacked, hitting for 10; Asteriskes closed with Kobold Skeleton-2, hitting for 14 and taking him out; Kobold Skeleton-3 attacked Anaka, but missed.
Anaka attacked Kobold Skeleton-3, hitting for 7; Felan closed with Kobold Skeleton-3 and attacked, but missed; Admiral Barky closed with Kobold Skeleton-3 and attacked, but missed; Asteriskes flanked Kobold Skeleton-3 and attacked, but missed; Kobold Skeleton-3 attacked Anaka, but missed.
Anaka attacked Kobold Skeleton-3, hitting critically for 21 points and taking him out.
Searching the room determined that the bones were those of long dead Dragons, which had been so picked over or so long aged that they were no longer of any use for spell components or of any other value. The room was a dead-end, so the adventurers returned to the outer chamber and followed the center tunnel out of it. They reached a fork, one of which ended in a door, and chose to go down the open passageway, away from the door.
Signs of ancient battles filled the area and broken bones and shattered blades were strewn about the floor. A sickly yellowish-white powder covered the floor. The powder was vaguely moist and stuck to the adventurers shoes.
They returned to the path that ended in a door. Felan listened at the door, but heard nothing. Anaka searched the door for traps and found none, it was also unlocked.
As they stepped through the doorway, they realized that had indeed left the wilds of the caverns and entered the remnants of an ancient civilization. The rough, craggy cavern walls gave way to smooth, worked walls of white marble engraved with a myriad of ornate, cryptic symbols and numerals. The northwest corner of the room was filled with a large pile of rubble comprised of white marble and rough stone. It appeared that the recent cave-ins caused part of the ceiling to collapse. A Dwarven warrior stood between the pile of the rubble and a door along the western wall. He was carefully examining the cryptic symbols, but he stopped upon noticing the group's entrance, turning to face them with his sword drawn.
Admiral Barky closed and attacked, but missed; Felan closed and attacked, hitting for 1; Asteriskes moved closer and fired his bow, but missed; Anaka moved a little closer and threw a spear, but missed; D scrambled up on the rubble to gain some height and attacked Felan, but missed.
Admiral Barky closed and attacked, hitting for 8; Felan attacked, hitting for 6; Anaka threw a spear, hitting for 7; Asteriskes closed and attacked, hitting for 13; D attacked Felan, hitting for 4.
Admiral Barky attacked, but missed; Felan attacked, but missed; Anaka threw a spear, but missed; Asteriskes attacked, but missed; D attacked Asteriskes, hitting for 8.
Admiral Barky attacked, but missed; Felan attacked, but missed; Anaka missed; Asteriskes hit for 21 and took him out.
Next the companions began investigating the runes the Dwarf had been so avidly studying. They easily picked out the Roman numerals the statue had indicated to them, but no one was sure what the symbols interspersed therein might indicate. Felan asked Anaka for a piece of the parchment they'd taken from the bedroom they'd camped in a few days ago. When she handed it to him, along with a quill, he hastily scratched down a copy of the carvings on the wall for future reference.
Felan listened at the door heading west, but heard nothing. Anaka searched it for traps and found nothing. It opened into a small hallway that led to another door. Felan listened, and heard very faint rhythmic thwupping sounds. Anaka searched and found no traps. Asteriskes drew his bow and took a defensive stance, Anaka opened the door.
A large, garish stone statue of a red dragon sat against the southern wall. Piles of rock and debris flanked both sides of the statue. Its gigantic wings spanned well over 40 feet. Kneeling in front of the statue was a grizzled, muscular Dwarf clad only in a loincloth. His back was scarred and the source of those old wounds was obviously the bloody flail he wielded, striking himself forcefully as he continued his murmured prayers.
Admiral Barky charged the D, hitting for 7; Anaka threw a spear, hitting for 6; Felan charged, hitting for 7; Asteriskes moved into the room and shot, but missed; D turned around, "Smite heretic!" and attacked Felan, hitting for 12.
Admiral Barky attacked, hitting for 10 and taking him out.
They turned their attention to the runes behind the statue. Almost simultaneously they came to the conclusion that this was a sort of religious graffiti. Felan cast Lesser Vigor on himself. Anaka searched the room, but found nothing else of interest.
They moved to the other door in the room and Felan listened. He heard nothing. Anaka searched the door for traps and found none. She opened the door.
A macabre collection of skulls lined the walls. Strange symbols were crudely scrawled on some of the skulls. Most appeared to be humanoid, although a few larger ones were as tall as a Dwarven warrior -- these skulls were actually forming an archway around the doorway of the room. The party realized immediate that this was a burial chamber for priests of Xhitigal.
The group retraced their steps back to the room with the runes, where they'd fought the Dwarf on the pile of rubble. While Felan was listening at the door on the eastern wall, Anaka retrieved the spears she'd thrown in that battle and forgotten to pick up. The druid opened the door to reveal a hallway with a door at the far end. As he led the way, the party advanced. Felan listened at the door and heard nothing. Anaka searched for traps and found none, so she opened the door. Another hallway lay beyond. At the far end was a door with a pile of rubble in front of it. Anaka searched the rubble and found nothing. Felan listened at the door and heard nothing. Anaka searched for traps and didn't find any. She opened the door. They were faced with yet another hallway with a door at the end. Felan heard nothing and Anaka found no traps. They opened the door.
Most of the large room was empty and barren. The exception was a statue of a dragonkin archer, similar to the one back in the pool in the room they'd found earlier. However, this one was not alone -- it was being examined by a living, breathing Dragonkin warrior clad in red scales and leather armor. A jeweled rapier hung from his belt. The warrior was staring with great fascination at the statue's bow as if trying to unlock its secrets with his gaze alone.
Anaka stepped into the room and threw a spear, but missed; Admiral Barky attacked Cyvorak, but missed; Cyvorak used his breath weapon to blow a cone of fire at the party, only Anaka and Admiral Barky were in range, Admiral Barky Evaded and Anaka Saved for half; Asteriskes entered the room and shot, hitting for 6; Felan charged and punched, hitting for 1, plus a point of Dex damage.
Anaka moved into range and cast Ray of Frost, hitting for 2 points of Cold Damage; Admiral Barky attacked with Smite Evil, but missed; Cyvorak drew his rapier and targeted Felan, hitting for 11; Asteriskes closed and attacked, hitting for 20 and taking him out.
Asteriskes examined the statue. It appeared to be a duplicate of the statue in the pool. Among the items found on Cyvorak's body was a silver scroll case. It was empty. There were no runes or any symbols anywhere in the room.
Felan listened at the far door. He heard nothing. Anaka searched for traps and found none. The door was unlocked so she opened it.
The stone face of a dragon peered forth from the ruined northern wall of the chamber -- it was contorted in rage and anger. Although quite life-like and nearly the size of a man, it was quickly obvious that this was a carving by master stoneworkers rather than the macabre remains of a once-living great wyrm. Apart from the large face there was nothing else of note in the chamber.
Anaka searched the room. On her first pass, she found nothing, but she was sure there was something. Going back over things more thoroughly, she touched walls, floor, and the dragon head with exploring fingers. When she touched the dragon head, a cloud of gas billowed out of its mouth with an ominous hiss. Everyone Saved and avoided the Sleeping Gas which wafted away on the air. There was nothing else in the room.
The group returned to the room where they'd fought Cyvorak. They cut off his head and stuffed it into one of their Handy Haversacks so they could prove his demise to King Reginald. Anaka retrieved the spear she'd thrown in battle. Then they headed back to the room with the runes. Anaka pressed 4, 7, 9, and 2 and was heading back to repeat the sequence when a door opened revealing a short corridor leading to a chamber full of glittering treasures. Platinum, gold, and silver completely covered the room, obscuring the floor. Twin silk tapestries, each depicting a red Dragon rising triumphantly in flight, covered most of the southern and western walls and stretched from floor to ceiling. In the center of the room was a large wooden chest, its led flung wide open. A smaller, closed wooden chest was just a few feet away from the larger one.
Suspicious, Anaka continued the sequence, pushing the numbers again in the order the statue had indicated. Nothing changed and the secret door remained open. Anaka used the spikes they'd picked up from one of their victims and wedge the door open. Felan did a visual search from the doorway, but saw nothing.
"You know, "Asteriskes said, "Cyvorak supposedly stole King Reginald's gem, but it seemed like he was trying to figure out how to get in here. I'm guessing the gem is not in here."
"You're probably right," replied Felan, as he prepared to cast some spells. After a moment, he cast Lesser Vigor on himself and each of his companions. "This is going to take a bit," the druid said, "I suggest we wait here for a few minutes."
Anaka entered and performed a meticulous search. There were no traps or secret doors, even the small box (which was locked) was not trapped. In the big chest was a parchment. "Oh, geez!" Anaka moaned.
"What?" said Felan and Asteriskes in unison. The thief proceeded to read the practically sarcastic letter to her friends. When she had finished, and they had also groaned in frustration, she moved across the room. "I'm gonna check out this little locked box now, just to be sure."
Inside were 3 bottles of liquid and the jewel encrusted hilt of a broken longsword -- a few of the large settings were empty. As they were counting the coins and trying figure out what to take and how to take it, they heard the sounds of knocking and digging coming from just beyond the pile of rubble in the rune room. Several creatures of some sort were obviously trying to dig their way in. Just then, the wall broke apart and about 20 Dwarves came through -- they were all wearing the chartreuse sashes of the king.
"Stand by in the name of King Reginald of Othia!" bellowed the first guard.
When the adventurers stood up, the guards recognized them, "Oh, good, you're all right. His majesty sent us to find you - he didn't think an earthquake would defeat you, but he didn't want to leave it to chance. Well, that's quite a horde. I think we have enough extra hands to help carry it."
"Look what we found in one of the caved-in rooms back there," said another guard, brandishing the Royal Sceptre with its sparkling peridots.
"Wonder if the king is going to ask for his advance back?" whispered Asteriskes to his companions, as they all began to gather up the items in preparation for returning to Montrill.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
The Guy Attacking Me...IS ON FIRE!
THE FUNNY THINGS:
Bruce, about some of the adversaries the party faced: Vege-pygmies?! Are they going to attack us with asparagus spears?
Bruce and Ken, deciding what to do about adversaries: I'm a Druid...kill the plants! -- Grr...argh!
Bruce: I'm not so sure we should take the Vegepygmie Threat lightly.
Ken: We're going to die *laughing,* that's what's up with this level!
Katy and Bruce, about what the party should do next: Well, maybe if we keep pursuing them, we'll eventually round them all up into one area and kill them, and then it will be just a quick cakewalk back through the dungeon to loot! -- Yeah, that's a thought.
Ken: Let's save the pygmies! Lawful Goodness, yay!
Bruce, after they faced yet another monster they'd never heard of: This dungeon should be renamed the Dungeon of Obscurity! It's filled with creatures that are not in any of the books!
Ken, about what Bruce's druid's familiar should do: Perform a coup de bark.
Katy and Cathy, when Katy suggested burning the room full of fungus: Burn, baby, burn...disco inferno! - I can just see you guys, 'ha, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive!' - Yeah, that'd be us, dancing in the doorway.
Katy and Ken, about how the party should proceed when faced with a tough adversary: Well, wait a minute, there are obviously parts of the dungeon we haven't explored yet, maybe we should go back around and finish those out and come back here later. Because maybe we can gain enough experience between now and then to level up! - I like the way you think!
Katy, during combat: OK, so I have a simple question..um, the guy attacking me...IS ON FIRE!
THE ADVENTURE:
The adventurers stood in the round room and looked around. Anaka searched the room and all the doors, but found no traps. Felan went to the left-most door and listened, but heard nothing. The door was unlocked so they decided to open it -- beyond lay a passageway bearing slightly southwest before angling back up northwest. The party walked along, glad of the bright glow from the purple lichen on the walls as it made the caverns almost as bright as a spring afternoon.
Tall, grassy stalks of golden, glowing lichens and fungi rose from the cavern floor - transforming what would ordinarily have been a dark, dank cave into a surreal pasture of underground marvels. In the center of this field were two small, strange greenish humanoid creatures. They were harvesting the fungi as a farmer would harvest wheat or corn. The fruits of their labors could plainly be seen toward the northwest corner of the cavern where piles of the cultivated golden stalks were neatly stacked. Upon seeing the adventurers, the Vegepygmies stopped their work and eyed them warily.
The group began making their way along the outer wall, heading towards the northern tunnel. The Vegepygmies fled out the other tunnel. After a quick discussion, Anaka, Asteriskes, Felan, & Admiral Barky went in pursuit.
They entered a section of the caverns where giant red mushrooms stood nearly as tall as trees -- some extended all the way to the ceiling above. A cornucopia of pink and lavender mosses surrounded the towering mushrooms, creating a grand underground garden that was truly a wonder to behold. Toward the northern end of the cavern they spotted three more of the Vegepygmies, diligently chopping down one of the giant mushrooms. Several other mushrooms had already been felled and were lying where they'd been cut, ready to be gathered up.
As the two Vegepygmies entered the chamber and approached their comrades, they must have somehow communicated their situation because the other three looked up and saw the party. They dropped their tools and turned with their friends and began running towards the passage heading northeast. Anaka, Felan, and Admiral Barky, with Asteriskes a little ways behind, continued the chase.
Countless fluorescent pink and purple lichens and plants hung from the ceiling of this extensive cavern covering the room in a glowing, garish hue. Partially buried in the ostentatious flora was a lone humanoid skeleton lying near the entrance to a northward-leading tunnel. The Vegepygmies were still heading north, screaming in a squeaky way as they went.
Violet Fungus in the middle of the room was catching and eating the Vegepygmies.
Anaka threw a spear at Violet Fungus, and hit for 6; Admiral Barky guarded Felan, barking protectively; Asteriskes shot at Violet Fungus, but missed; Violet Fungus continued its combat with the Vegepygmies, one of the Vegepygmies managed to break free and fled out of the room; Felan stepped forward and threw a spear, but missed.
Anaka threw a spear at Violet Fungus, but missed; Admiral Barky continued to guard Felan; Asteriskes charged the Violet Fungus and attacked with his great-axe, hitting for 17 and killing the Violet Fungus, as it fell its tentacles released the Vegepygmies who proceeded to flee out of the room.
Anaka and Felan retrieved their spears.
While they didn't find much more than colorful fungus in the room, Anaka did find a scrap of parchment on the skeleton at the base of the Violet Fungus. The page matched the one the group had found back in the bedroom where they'd spent the previous night. Next they retraced their steps and returned to search the rooms they'd previously only run through.
In the room full of mushrooms, hidden by the pile of edible mushrooms the Vegepygmies had been harvesting, Anaka found a secret door in the southeast corner. The door opened into a passageway which reached a dead-end. While Anaka and Asteriskes fumbled about, Felan found the secret door at the far end.
Drawn on the western wall of the long cavern was a gigantic image of a bright, glowing sun. Just beneath that image of the sun were the jet-black outlines of three humanoid figures which appeared to be either pointing at the sun or worshiping it. The rest of the cavern was pretty much empty except for some scattered rocks and a few broken stalactites. Anaka realized the mural was important and related to the pages from the history books. As they stood there, Felan heard something moving behind them and alerted his companions discreetly. They turned around, but saw nothing.
Anaka saw the dust moving on the ground just in front of her, she grabbed the improvised bomb she'd made downstairs, but hadn't used, lit it, and threw it at the moving dust, while she hit the spot and the oil canister broke and shattered, the wick didn't not burn strongly enough to catch the oil afire, however, Anaka did manage to get droplets of oil on the previously-invisible creature, which now shimmered in the air in a vaguely discernible shape; Asteriskes swung his great-axe, but missed; Admiral Barky attacked and hit for 10; Felan attempted to flank and punch the invisible creature, but missed; Invisible Creature retaliated against Felan, but missed.
Anaka moved to flank, struck critically with her dagger, for 14 points, and the droplets that the group could see fell in a soundless clump to the ground; Asteriskes scooped up some dirt and threw it over the area, outlining the creature's form a little better, revealing a medium-sized plant-looking creature; Admiral Barky held his action, yipping beside the druid; Felan was now able to tell beyond a doubt that they had fought a Phantom Fungus, which became visible only when dead, so the druid punched the shape, attempting a coup de gras, hitting for 10, but the creature was still invisible; Invisible Creature lay on the ground attempting to stabilize.
Anaka stabbed the prone creature for 15, but it was still invisible; Asteriskes struck with his axe, doing 47 points, but not revealing the creature; Admiral Barky wandered away and began sniffing at things in the room; Felan suddenly remembered that the creature would not become visible *immediately* after it was dead and that they had probably successfully killed it already, so he suggested this to his friends and they all stepped back to wait. Eventually the ugly creature appeared.
Felan searched the room, but found nothing. Asteriskes said that the floor seemed to be solid stone and it was unlikely that anything, much less the rumored Vault Key, could be buried in it. While most of the signs in the note were present in this mural, they were not in an "undying garden" so the adventurers agreed to move on. They headed down the southwestern passage, knowing it would take them back towards the round room they had first entered. They reached the door at its end. Felan didn't hear anything and Anaka didn't find any traps so she opened the door; sure enough, it opened into the round room with the three doors.
The party retraced their steps and entered the room where they had first met the Vegepygmies. Anaka searched the room and found nothing other than the Vegepygmy-sized scythes that the small creatures had been using to harvest the fungus. Next the party headed to the northwest tunnel -- the one they had originally intended to follow before they decided to chase the Vegepygmies.
Bright yellow lichens and mosses filled the cavern. The bright fungi completely covered the walls and floors, transforming the cave into a veritable garden of golden splendor. Amid the beauty, however, a few broken skulls were easily visible scattered throughout the unending fields of moss. In the center of the grand morass was a large yellow plant, a flower towering nearly as tall as an ogre. Even surrounded by the other yellow mosses and lichens, this plant seemed to glow almost as brightly as the sun.
The group hastily discussed their options. Although they were quite suspicious that this was the "gleaming yellow sun" beneath which the vault key was probably buried, the odds did not look good. Anaka suggested retracing their steps and exploring areas they had not yet been -- where the Vegepygmies fled to, for instance -- in case they would find something helpful. They all agreed and quickly headed back the way they'd come. They had almost reached the mushroom village when a swarm of bats attacked them.
Asteriskes swung his axe, but missed; Admiral Barky barked at the bats, but held his action being unable to jump high enough to reach them; the bats attacked Anaka, but missed; Anaka cast Light of Lunia and began to glow; Felan punched the bat swarm, hitting for 8.
Asteriskes again swung his axe, hitting for 11; Admiral Barky continued to hold his action, growling; the bats retaliated against Felan, but missed; Anaka used the Light of Lunia to shoot a ray at the swarm, she missed with her first, but struck with the second and took out the swarm. With combat over, they continued along the tunnel, reaching the mushroom village room safely. Then they headed north, into a passage they had not previously investigated.
Hanging curtains of glowing yellow fungi hung from the stalactites in this jagged cavern and filled this part of the subterranean gardens with an eerie golden light. Carpets of golden moss covered parts of the floor as well. A 20-foot wide column of stone rose from floor to ceiling toward the western end of the cavern. They could faintly see a pair of humanoid creatures shambling around behind the column, but they seemed confined to the shadows and were difficult to identify.
The adventurers realized that part of the reason they were so frustrated was surely that they were also quite fatigued. Up until this moment, they hadn't really been aware of the passage of time, but now it occurred to them that it was actually quite late. They talked things over and decided that the safest place to rest would be the secret passage out of the mushroom village. They made it safely back there and shut themselves in. Felan healed himself and Anaka. Then they sorted through the loot they were carrying and laid out anything they thought might be valuable. The druid looked at all of it to see if it was magical. Other than the gauntlets and the torch, which they already had determined to be magical, the objects were all normal, everyday items. Next Felan looked at the scrolls with read magic to determine what they were: Scroll of Cause Fear, Scroll of Jump, and Scroll of Cure Minor Wounds.
Asteriskes began the watches, with Admiral Barky keeping him company. 2 hours later Felan woke up and Admiral Barky and Asteriskes went to sleep. Three medium monstrous centipedes crawled toward the group; the druid shouted to wake his companions and took an offensive stance.
Felan moved to protect his companions as they awoke, and attacked the nearest Centipede, hitting for 1; Centipede-1 retaliated, attacking Felan, but missing; Centipede-2 closed with Felan and missed; Centipede-3 also closed with Felan, and missed.
Anaka threw a spear at Centipede-2, but missed; Admiral Barky moved up beside Felan and attacked Centipede-1, hitting for 8 and killing it; Felan attacked Centipede-3, hitting for 6; Centipede-2 attacked Felan, and missed; Asteriskes closed with Centipede-2, and hit for 17, killing it; Centipede-3 attacked Admiral Barky, but missed.
Anaka threw a spear at Centipede-3, but missed; Admiral Barky attacked Centipede-3, hitting for 8 and killing it.
Then Asteriskes, Anaka, and Admiral Barky went back to bed. Since Felan only needed two hours of sleep, he watched the rest of the night alone so the others could get enough rest. The remainder of the night passed uneventfully. They let Anaka sleep a little longer to regain her spell. When she woke, Asteriskes was sharpening his weapons and Felan was meditating to memorize some spells. Anaka began assembling improvised bombs from a few of the oil casks they'd looted out of the supply room a few days ago. When the druid was ready, they discussed their options and decided they should probably explore the rest of the area before re-entering the room with the Yellow Musk Creeper.
Along the northern wall of the spacious area were four more of the Vegepygmies -- this group was hacking away at the cavern wall with sharp, gleaming picks. Immense piles of rubble and ruin surrounded the creatures as they toiled away, obviously determined to find something important.
As the Vegepygmies had not noticed them, the party headed back towards the mushroom village, intending to go through it and up the path that led to the room with the Yellow Musk Creeper. They had almost reached the mushroom room when 4 fiendish dire rats appeared in the passage ahead of them.
Anaka moved and threw a dagger at the nearest Dire Rat-1, hitting for 3; Admiral Barky charged Dire Rat-1, but missed; Felan charged and punched Dire Rat-2, hitting for 6; Asteriskes moved into range and targeted Dire Rat-1, hitting and killing it; a Dire Rat attacked Felan, hitting for 2 but Saving versus the infected bite; another Dire Rat attacked Felan, but missed; the last Dire Rat moved up and attacked Admiral Barky, but missed.
Anaka threw a dagger at Dire Rat-4, but missed; Admiral Barky retaliated against Dire Rat-4, but missed; Felan attacked Dire Rat-2, hitting for 2 and killing it; Asteriskes shot Dire Rat-4, hitting for 6; Dire Rat-3 attacked Felan, but missed; Dire Rat-4 attacked Felan, but missed.
Anaka threw a dagger at Dire Rat-4, hitting for 6 and killing it; Admiral Barky attacked Dire Rat-3, hitting for 9 and killing it.
Anaka retrieved her daggers. The group proceeded along the path. Suddenly Felan stumbled as the rat's bite began to effect him. "I'm fine, I'm fine...." he said, shrugging off assistance from his worried companions. A few minutes walk brought them to the entrance of the chamber with the Yellow Musk Creeper. They knew they wanted to stay far enough away to avoid the plant's deadly pollen, so they took up strategic poses as safely as they could.
Anaka lit a bomb and threw it, she missed the Yellow Musk Creeper and did not successfully catch fire, although it did splash the creature with oil; Admiral Barky, having been told to guard by Felan, remained in a defensive position by his master; Felan cast Flaming Sphere, targeting the Yellow Musk Creeper, doing 6 points, which the plant successfully Evaded, although the oil on the floor caught fire; Asteriskes threw one of the bombs, but missed and the oil did not catch fire, although he did manage to get more oil on the plant.
Anaka lit a bomb and threw it, she hit the plant and this time the wick held and the fire caught, also engaging the oil already on the plant, doing a total of 7 points; Admiral Barky continued to guard his master; Felan moved the Flaming Sphere, this time the plant did not Evade and took 9 points; Asteriskes threw a bomb, hitting the plant and doing 5 points.
The two Yellow Musk Zombies entered the room from the tunnel behind the Yellow Musk Creeper.
As the Yellow Musk Creeper began putting out tendrils (because it was continuing to take damage from the flames), Anaka threw another lit bomb, hitting for 4; Admiral Barky growled as he guarded Felan; Felan held the Flaming Sphere in place, which the plant Evaded, so the druid cast a 2nd Flaming Sphere which the plant also avoided; Asteriskes threw a bomb, which missed, but caught fire as it burst open on the ground at the Yellow Musk Creeper's base; the Yellow Musk Zombies reached the Yellow Musk Creeper and began to try to make their way towards the party.
As Anaka prepared her next bomb, the Yellow Musk Creeper shriveled up, having burned from the damage it was suffering already from all the bombs, so Anaka moved into range and threw the bomb she held at one of the Yellow Musk Zombies, she hit him, but it didn't catch so she only managed to get oil on them; Admiral Barky moved up next to Anaka; Felan moved his Flaming Sphere into range of the oil-splashed Yellow Musk Zombies, succeeding in catching the nearest Yellow Musk Zombie afire doing a total of 11 points between the Flaming Sphere and the oil already on the zombie; Asteriskes moved into the room and shot, but missed; Flaming Yellow Musk Zombie closed with Anaka and attacked, but missed; Yellow Musk Zombie attacked Asteriskes, hitting for 24.
Anaka moved a little ways away from the Flaming Yellow Musk Zombie and attacked him, she threw a dagger at him, but missed; Admiral Barky closed with the Yellow Musk Zombie attacking Asteriskes, but missed; as Flaming Yellow Musk Zombie fell under the damage of his flames, Felan moved the Flaming Sphere over Yellow Musk Zombie, who failed to Evade and took 2 points before the Flaming Sphere burned out; Asteriskes swung his great-axe, but missed; Yellow Musk Zombie attacked Asteriskes, hitting for 2.
Anaka moved into ranged and swiped at Yellow Musk Zombie with her dagger, but missed; Admiral Barky attacked Yellow Musk Zombie, hitting for 7; Felan closed and cast Lesser Vigor on Asteriskes; Asteriskes again swung his axe at Yellow Musk Zombie, but missed; Yellow Musk Zombie attacked Asteriskes, but missed.
Anaka attacked Yellow Musk Zombie, hitting for 6 and taking him out.
With combat over, the druid cast Lesser Vigor on the dwarf again. Anaka searched the room. Right where the Yellow Musk Creeper used to be, under the smoldering moss, she found a patch of ground that looked different, so she called Asteriskes over. He confirmed it looked to have been dug up and filled back in. Improvising by using the Yellow Musk Zombies charred shields, the group was able to dig in the area and found a silver box engraved with the figures of flying dragons. Anaka searched it for traps and found none, it was not locked, so she opened it. Inside was a glittering, golden arrow sitting on a bed of black velvet. The arrow glowed faintly. It appeared to be the work of master craftsmen. Feathers of purple exotic birds served as its fletching and small bits of blue gemstones were embedded in the golden arrrowhead.
Bruce, about some of the adversaries the party faced: Vege-pygmies?! Are they going to attack us with asparagus spears?
Bruce and Ken, deciding what to do about adversaries: I'm a Druid...kill the plants! -- Grr...argh!
Bruce: I'm not so sure we should take the Vegepygmie Threat lightly.
Ken: We're going to die *laughing,* that's what's up with this level!
Katy and Bruce, about what the party should do next: Well, maybe if we keep pursuing them, we'll eventually round them all up into one area and kill them, and then it will be just a quick cakewalk back through the dungeon to loot! -- Yeah, that's a thought.
Ken: Let's save the pygmies! Lawful Goodness, yay!
Bruce, after they faced yet another monster they'd never heard of: This dungeon should be renamed the Dungeon of Obscurity! It's filled with creatures that are not in any of the books!
Ken, about what Bruce's druid's familiar should do: Perform a coup de bark.
Katy and Cathy, when Katy suggested burning the room full of fungus: Burn, baby, burn...disco inferno! - I can just see you guys, 'ha, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive!' - Yeah, that'd be us, dancing in the doorway.
Katy and Ken, about how the party should proceed when faced with a tough adversary: Well, wait a minute, there are obviously parts of the dungeon we haven't explored yet, maybe we should go back around and finish those out and come back here later. Because maybe we can gain enough experience between now and then to level up! - I like the way you think!
Katy, during combat: OK, so I have a simple question..um, the guy attacking me...IS ON FIRE!
THE ADVENTURE:
The adventurers stood in the round room and looked around. Anaka searched the room and all the doors, but found no traps. Felan went to the left-most door and listened, but heard nothing. The door was unlocked so they decided to open it -- beyond lay a passageway bearing slightly southwest before angling back up northwest. The party walked along, glad of the bright glow from the purple lichen on the walls as it made the caverns almost as bright as a spring afternoon.
Tall, grassy stalks of golden, glowing lichens and fungi rose from the cavern floor - transforming what would ordinarily have been a dark, dank cave into a surreal pasture of underground marvels. In the center of this field were two small, strange greenish humanoid creatures. They were harvesting the fungi as a farmer would harvest wheat or corn. The fruits of their labors could plainly be seen toward the northwest corner of the cavern where piles of the cultivated golden stalks were neatly stacked. Upon seeing the adventurers, the Vegepygmies stopped their work and eyed them warily.
The group began making their way along the outer wall, heading towards the northern tunnel. The Vegepygmies fled out the other tunnel. After a quick discussion, Anaka, Asteriskes, Felan, & Admiral Barky went in pursuit.
They entered a section of the caverns where giant red mushrooms stood nearly as tall as trees -- some extended all the way to the ceiling above. A cornucopia of pink and lavender mosses surrounded the towering mushrooms, creating a grand underground garden that was truly a wonder to behold. Toward the northern end of the cavern they spotted three more of the Vegepygmies, diligently chopping down one of the giant mushrooms. Several other mushrooms had already been felled and were lying where they'd been cut, ready to be gathered up.
As the two Vegepygmies entered the chamber and approached their comrades, they must have somehow communicated their situation because the other three looked up and saw the party. They dropped their tools and turned with their friends and began running towards the passage heading northeast. Anaka, Felan, and Admiral Barky, with Asteriskes a little ways behind, continued the chase.
Countless fluorescent pink and purple lichens and plants hung from the ceiling of this extensive cavern covering the room in a glowing, garish hue. Partially buried in the ostentatious flora was a lone humanoid skeleton lying near the entrance to a northward-leading tunnel. The Vegepygmies were still heading north, screaming in a squeaky way as they went.
Violet Fungus in the middle of the room was catching and eating the Vegepygmies.
Anaka threw a spear at Violet Fungus, and hit for 6; Admiral Barky guarded Felan, barking protectively; Asteriskes shot at Violet Fungus, but missed; Violet Fungus continued its combat with the Vegepygmies, one of the Vegepygmies managed to break free and fled out of the room; Felan stepped forward and threw a spear, but missed.
Anaka threw a spear at Violet Fungus, but missed; Admiral Barky continued to guard Felan; Asteriskes charged the Violet Fungus and attacked with his great-axe, hitting for 17 and killing the Violet Fungus, as it fell its tentacles released the Vegepygmies who proceeded to flee out of the room.
Anaka and Felan retrieved their spears.
While they didn't find much more than colorful fungus in the room, Anaka did find a scrap of parchment on the skeleton at the base of the Violet Fungus. The page matched the one the group had found back in the bedroom where they'd spent the previous night. Next they retraced their steps and returned to search the rooms they'd previously only run through.
In the room full of mushrooms, hidden by the pile of edible mushrooms the Vegepygmies had been harvesting, Anaka found a secret door in the southeast corner. The door opened into a passageway which reached a dead-end. While Anaka and Asteriskes fumbled about, Felan found the secret door at the far end.
Drawn on the western wall of the long cavern was a gigantic image of a bright, glowing sun. Just beneath that image of the sun were the jet-black outlines of three humanoid figures which appeared to be either pointing at the sun or worshiping it. The rest of the cavern was pretty much empty except for some scattered rocks and a few broken stalactites. Anaka realized the mural was important and related to the pages from the history books. As they stood there, Felan heard something moving behind them and alerted his companions discreetly. They turned around, but saw nothing.
Anaka saw the dust moving on the ground just in front of her, she grabbed the improvised bomb she'd made downstairs, but hadn't used, lit it, and threw it at the moving dust, while she hit the spot and the oil canister broke and shattered, the wick didn't not burn strongly enough to catch the oil afire, however, Anaka did manage to get droplets of oil on the previously-invisible creature, which now shimmered in the air in a vaguely discernible shape; Asteriskes swung his great-axe, but missed; Admiral Barky attacked and hit for 10; Felan attempted to flank and punch the invisible creature, but missed; Invisible Creature retaliated against Felan, but missed.
Anaka moved to flank, struck critically with her dagger, for 14 points, and the droplets that the group could see fell in a soundless clump to the ground; Asteriskes scooped up some dirt and threw it over the area, outlining the creature's form a little better, revealing a medium-sized plant-looking creature; Admiral Barky held his action, yipping beside the druid; Felan was now able to tell beyond a doubt that they had fought a Phantom Fungus, which became visible only when dead, so the druid punched the shape, attempting a coup de gras, hitting for 10, but the creature was still invisible; Invisible Creature lay on the ground attempting to stabilize.
Anaka stabbed the prone creature for 15, but it was still invisible; Asteriskes struck with his axe, doing 47 points, but not revealing the creature; Admiral Barky wandered away and began sniffing at things in the room; Felan suddenly remembered that the creature would not become visible *immediately* after it was dead and that they had probably successfully killed it already, so he suggested this to his friends and they all stepped back to wait. Eventually the ugly creature appeared.
Felan searched the room, but found nothing. Asteriskes said that the floor seemed to be solid stone and it was unlikely that anything, much less the rumored Vault Key, could be buried in it. While most of the signs in the note were present in this mural, they were not in an "undying garden" so the adventurers agreed to move on. They headed down the southwestern passage, knowing it would take them back towards the round room they had first entered. They reached the door at its end. Felan didn't hear anything and Anaka didn't find any traps so she opened the door; sure enough, it opened into the round room with the three doors.
The party retraced their steps and entered the room where they had first met the Vegepygmies. Anaka searched the room and found nothing other than the Vegepygmy-sized scythes that the small creatures had been using to harvest the fungus. Next the party headed to the northwest tunnel -- the one they had originally intended to follow before they decided to chase the Vegepygmies.
Bright yellow lichens and mosses filled the cavern. The bright fungi completely covered the walls and floors, transforming the cave into a veritable garden of golden splendor. Amid the beauty, however, a few broken skulls were easily visible scattered throughout the unending fields of moss. In the center of the grand morass was a large yellow plant, a flower towering nearly as tall as an ogre. Even surrounded by the other yellow mosses and lichens, this plant seemed to glow almost as brightly as the sun.
The group hastily discussed their options. Although they were quite suspicious that this was the "gleaming yellow sun" beneath which the vault key was probably buried, the odds did not look good. Anaka suggested retracing their steps and exploring areas they had not yet been -- where the Vegepygmies fled to, for instance -- in case they would find something helpful. They all agreed and quickly headed back the way they'd come. They had almost reached the mushroom village when a swarm of bats attacked them.
Asteriskes swung his axe, but missed; Admiral Barky barked at the bats, but held his action being unable to jump high enough to reach them; the bats attacked Anaka, but missed; Anaka cast Light of Lunia and began to glow; Felan punched the bat swarm, hitting for 8.
Asteriskes again swung his axe, hitting for 11; Admiral Barky continued to hold his action, growling; the bats retaliated against Felan, but missed; Anaka used the Light of Lunia to shoot a ray at the swarm, she missed with her first, but struck with the second and took out the swarm. With combat over, they continued along the tunnel, reaching the mushroom village room safely. Then they headed north, into a passage they had not previously investigated.
Hanging curtains of glowing yellow fungi hung from the stalactites in this jagged cavern and filled this part of the subterranean gardens with an eerie golden light. Carpets of golden moss covered parts of the floor as well. A 20-foot wide column of stone rose from floor to ceiling toward the western end of the cavern. They could faintly see a pair of humanoid creatures shambling around behind the column, but they seemed confined to the shadows and were difficult to identify.
The adventurers realized that part of the reason they were so frustrated was surely that they were also quite fatigued. Up until this moment, they hadn't really been aware of the passage of time, but now it occurred to them that it was actually quite late. They talked things over and decided that the safest place to rest would be the secret passage out of the mushroom village. They made it safely back there and shut themselves in. Felan healed himself and Anaka. Then they sorted through the loot they were carrying and laid out anything they thought might be valuable. The druid looked at all of it to see if it was magical. Other than the gauntlets and the torch, which they already had determined to be magical, the objects were all normal, everyday items. Next Felan looked at the scrolls with read magic to determine what they were: Scroll of Cause Fear, Scroll of Jump, and Scroll of Cure Minor Wounds.
Asteriskes began the watches, with Admiral Barky keeping him company. 2 hours later Felan woke up and Admiral Barky and Asteriskes went to sleep. Three medium monstrous centipedes crawled toward the group; the druid shouted to wake his companions and took an offensive stance.
Felan moved to protect his companions as they awoke, and attacked the nearest Centipede, hitting for 1; Centipede-1 retaliated, attacking Felan, but missing; Centipede-2 closed with Felan and missed; Centipede-3 also closed with Felan, and missed.
Anaka threw a spear at Centipede-2, but missed; Admiral Barky moved up beside Felan and attacked Centipede-1, hitting for 8 and killing it; Felan attacked Centipede-3, hitting for 6; Centipede-2 attacked Felan, and missed; Asteriskes closed with Centipede-2, and hit for 17, killing it; Centipede-3 attacked Admiral Barky, but missed.
Anaka threw a spear at Centipede-3, but missed; Admiral Barky attacked Centipede-3, hitting for 8 and killing it.
Then Asteriskes, Anaka, and Admiral Barky went back to bed. Since Felan only needed two hours of sleep, he watched the rest of the night alone so the others could get enough rest. The remainder of the night passed uneventfully. They let Anaka sleep a little longer to regain her spell. When she woke, Asteriskes was sharpening his weapons and Felan was meditating to memorize some spells. Anaka began assembling improvised bombs from a few of the oil casks they'd looted out of the supply room a few days ago. When the druid was ready, they discussed their options and decided they should probably explore the rest of the area before re-entering the room with the Yellow Musk Creeper.
Along the northern wall of the spacious area were four more of the Vegepygmies -- this group was hacking away at the cavern wall with sharp, gleaming picks. Immense piles of rubble and ruin surrounded the creatures as they toiled away, obviously determined to find something important.
As the Vegepygmies had not noticed them, the party headed back towards the mushroom village, intending to go through it and up the path that led to the room with the Yellow Musk Creeper. They had almost reached the mushroom room when 4 fiendish dire rats appeared in the passage ahead of them.
Anaka moved and threw a dagger at the nearest Dire Rat-1, hitting for 3; Admiral Barky charged Dire Rat-1, but missed; Felan charged and punched Dire Rat-2, hitting for 6; Asteriskes moved into range and targeted Dire Rat-1, hitting and killing it; a Dire Rat attacked Felan, hitting for 2 but Saving versus the infected bite; another Dire Rat attacked Felan, but missed; the last Dire Rat moved up and attacked Admiral Barky, but missed.
Anaka threw a dagger at Dire Rat-4, but missed; Admiral Barky retaliated against Dire Rat-4, but missed; Felan attacked Dire Rat-2, hitting for 2 and killing it; Asteriskes shot Dire Rat-4, hitting for 6; Dire Rat-3 attacked Felan, but missed; Dire Rat-4 attacked Felan, but missed.
Anaka threw a dagger at Dire Rat-4, hitting for 6 and killing it; Admiral Barky attacked Dire Rat-3, hitting for 9 and killing it.
Anaka retrieved her daggers. The group proceeded along the path. Suddenly Felan stumbled as the rat's bite began to effect him. "I'm fine, I'm fine...." he said, shrugging off assistance from his worried companions. A few minutes walk brought them to the entrance of the chamber with the Yellow Musk Creeper. They knew they wanted to stay far enough away to avoid the plant's deadly pollen, so they took up strategic poses as safely as they could.
Anaka lit a bomb and threw it, she missed the Yellow Musk Creeper and did not successfully catch fire, although it did splash the creature with oil; Admiral Barky, having been told to guard by Felan, remained in a defensive position by his master; Felan cast Flaming Sphere, targeting the Yellow Musk Creeper, doing 6 points, which the plant successfully Evaded, although the oil on the floor caught fire; Asteriskes threw one of the bombs, but missed and the oil did not catch fire, although he did manage to get more oil on the plant.
Anaka lit a bomb and threw it, she hit the plant and this time the wick held and the fire caught, also engaging the oil already on the plant, doing a total of 7 points; Admiral Barky continued to guard his master; Felan moved the Flaming Sphere, this time the plant did not Evade and took 9 points; Asteriskes threw a bomb, hitting the plant and doing 5 points.
The two Yellow Musk Zombies entered the room from the tunnel behind the Yellow Musk Creeper.
As the Yellow Musk Creeper began putting out tendrils (because it was continuing to take damage from the flames), Anaka threw another lit bomb, hitting for 4; Admiral Barky growled as he guarded Felan; Felan held the Flaming Sphere in place, which the plant Evaded, so the druid cast a 2nd Flaming Sphere which the plant also avoided; Asteriskes threw a bomb, which missed, but caught fire as it burst open on the ground at the Yellow Musk Creeper's base; the Yellow Musk Zombies reached the Yellow Musk Creeper and began to try to make their way towards the party.
As Anaka prepared her next bomb, the Yellow Musk Creeper shriveled up, having burned from the damage it was suffering already from all the bombs, so Anaka moved into range and threw the bomb she held at one of the Yellow Musk Zombies, she hit him, but it didn't catch so she only managed to get oil on them; Admiral Barky moved up next to Anaka; Felan moved his Flaming Sphere into range of the oil-splashed Yellow Musk Zombies, succeeding in catching the nearest Yellow Musk Zombie afire doing a total of 11 points between the Flaming Sphere and the oil already on the zombie; Asteriskes moved into the room and shot, but missed; Flaming Yellow Musk Zombie closed with Anaka and attacked, but missed; Yellow Musk Zombie attacked Asteriskes, hitting for 24.
Anaka moved a little ways away from the Flaming Yellow Musk Zombie and attacked him, she threw a dagger at him, but missed; Admiral Barky closed with the Yellow Musk Zombie attacking Asteriskes, but missed; as Flaming Yellow Musk Zombie fell under the damage of his flames, Felan moved the Flaming Sphere over Yellow Musk Zombie, who failed to Evade and took 2 points before the Flaming Sphere burned out; Asteriskes swung his great-axe, but missed; Yellow Musk Zombie attacked Asteriskes, hitting for 2.
Anaka moved into ranged and swiped at Yellow Musk Zombie with her dagger, but missed; Admiral Barky attacked Yellow Musk Zombie, hitting for 7; Felan closed and cast Lesser Vigor on Asteriskes; Asteriskes again swung his axe at Yellow Musk Zombie, but missed; Yellow Musk Zombie attacked Asteriskes, but missed.
Anaka attacked Yellow Musk Zombie, hitting for 6 and taking him out.
With combat over, the druid cast Lesser Vigor on the dwarf again. Anaka searched the room. Right where the Yellow Musk Creeper used to be, under the smoldering moss, she found a patch of ground that looked different, so she called Asteriskes over. He confirmed it looked to have been dug up and filled back in. Improvising by using the Yellow Musk Zombies charred shields, the group was able to dig in the area and found a silver box engraved with the figures of flying dragons. Anaka searched it for traps and found none, it was not locked, so she opened it. Inside was a glittering, golden arrow sitting on a bed of black velvet. The arrow glowed faintly. It appeared to be the work of master craftsmen. Feathers of purple exotic birds served as its fletching and small bits of blue gemstones were embedded in the golden arrrowhead.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
I'm Doomed! I Said I'd Take the First Watch and She Immediately Got Out the Monster Manual!
THE FUNNY THINGS:
Ken, Bruce, Katy, & Cathy, when Ken discovered how much damage he had taken in the last run: Well, apparently I'm down 23. - OK, I guess I'll use my 4 points on you then. - Oh, yeah, 'you have a gaping wound, allow me to put a tiny circle band-aid on it!' - Allow me to pour alcohol into it!
Katy, as play began: I'm doomed! I said I'd take the first watch and she immediately got out the Monster Manual!
Cathy and Ken, during combat: You missed. - He sucks!
Ken, when Katy suggested no one in the party besides her was stealthy enough to sneak through a room: Nope, they don't call me Brassclanger for nothing!
Bruce, Ken, and Cathy: Felan will attempt to touch Asteriskes, you aren't going to try to get away are you? - Depends on how you touch me. - Right on your brass clanger! - Hang on a minute! - You want him to hold on!?!
Bruce and Cathy: Admiral Barky holds his action. - With both hands?
Ken, describing Cathy when she got slap-happy after the run was over: She's got random I-don't-know-what disease, that certain je ne sais quois disease.
THE ADVENTURE:
Once the room was secured, the party began their preparations for the night. Asteriskes drank a healing potion and also received additional healing from Felan. Then they set watches. Anaka took the first watch. Felan took the second. Asteriskes rounded out the night, which passed uneventfully. In the morning they talked things over and decided to go in the direction they had not yet been. They exited their sheltered sleeping room and passed the corpse of the dead, bound Drow. They turned to their left and followed the tunnel which branched off to the east.
As they entered this part of the cavern, they realized that the evil Dwarves they'd found were indeed mining or tunneling somewhere in the vast, unending caverns. This particular part seemed to be a staging area for the mining work -- large amounts of picks and digging tools were propped along the northern wall. A bizarre, vaguely frog-like creature with stony skin leaned against that wall -- right next to a tunnel entrance heading northward. The creature was only as tall as a gnome and had multiple arms and legs, its mouth was on the top of its head.
"Greetings, cretins!" The creature said in Common, as it ripped a hunk of iron ore out of the wall and began eating it as one would eat a piece of fruit. "What brings you to this part of the neighborhood?"
"We're just exploring. What are YOU doing here?" Felan replied.
"I've been helping dig the tunnel to Montrill, but all the earthquakes and stuff....not much for me to do right now. I'm just hanging out. Old Cyvorak...gosh...I don't know what he's doing."
When the adventures did not respond, he supplied, "I know these caverns quite well. If you're lost, I can lead you back out of here for, say...200gp."
"We are not trying to leave. We're actually here after Cyvorak." The druid said.
"Oh, I could help you find him! He's always hanging around here somewhere."
"That's going to cost us, isn't it?" Asteriskes put in.
"Well, it would have cost you 200 to get out, it'll cost another 200 to find Cyvorak."
"400!"
"Yeah, finding the way out is easy, Cyvorak's a different matter. He moves around.... You know, I don't know if you ran into that Drow prisoner, but Cyvorak was holding him for ransom. He was trying to get information out of him, something about that sword, that Blood Conciliator that Cyvorak wants. I don't think he really knows what he's doing. I don't think he has any idea what kind of stuff there is around here."
"What do you mean? What kind of "stuff" is around here." Anaka asked.
"Oh, treasure and what not. I think Cyvorak has tunnel vision. All he can think of is getting to Montrill. He kinda wants to know what's in these caverns, but mainly it's all about Montrill." The Xorn replied, casually continuing to munch on bits of metal.
"What's so important about getting to Montrill?"
"He figures once he gets there he can conquer it, but most of his people have been shut out by all these cave-ins. I think he's being foolish. He's nothing more than a cheap thief, but he thinks he's some kind of a ruler just because he's a distant relation to a king from way back when. I'm kinda thirsty...you got anything to drink?"
"Yeah, we have wine." Felan answered.
"Could I have some?"
"Sure." Felan, since he was not wearing any metal armor, proceeded forward and handed the Xorn one of the bottles of wine that they'd taken from the room in which they'd spent the previous night.
The Xorn attacked Felan, hitting for 12.
Admiral Barky attacked Xorn, but missed; Xorn attacked Felan, but missed; Felan took a strategic position and cast Lesser Vigor on himself; Anaka moved and threw a short spear, but missed; Asteriskes moved and drew his bow, shot, and missed.
Admiral Barky attacked Xorn, but missed; Xorn closed with Felan, attacked, hitting for 3; Felan took a strategic position and punched, hitting for 5; Anaka threw another spear, which hit and seemed to stick out of the Xorn's side; Asteriskes closed and drew his sword, but missed.
Admiral Barky attacked and missed; Xorn attacked Felan, hitting for 5; Felan attacked the Xorn, but missed; Anaka threw another spear and missed; Asteriskes swung and missed.
Admiral Barky attacked, hitting for 9; Xorn sank into the floor, provoking Attacks of Opportunity from everyone in melee: Asteriskes missed, Admiral Barky missed, and Felan hit for 2.
After a quick search of the room yielded nothing, and assuming that the retreating Xorn was in the process of alerting others to their presence, the party opted to move on. They quickly headed up the northward tunnel.
They reached an incredibly large cavern with a small side cave located just to the west. A campfire burned brightly in front of the mouth to that cave. Two Dwarves with long, braided gray beards stood near the fire -- one held his hands to the flames, turning them occasionally, while the other rubbed his folded arms and jockeyed himself closer to the blaze's warmth. A dusty pile of folded cloth was on the ground near the grizzled Dwarves.
Admiral Barky charged into the room and attacked the nearest Drow Guard, hitting for 6; Anaka moved into the room, threw a spear and missed; Asteriskes moved into the room and shot the Drow Guard not engaged in combat with Admiral Barky, hitting critically and taking him out; Drow Guard-1, seeing his companion taken out, turned to flee, provoking an Attack of Opportunity from Admiral Barky, who hit for 9 and took him down.
6 old and worn tapestries depicting the dragon Xhitigal in battle. Although no one was certain, everyone thought they were probably valuable. Asteriskes looked over the warhammers, but was not able to determine much about their quality or value. Neither were Felan and Anaka. When they were done looking things over, the adventurers decided to continue north.
A statue of an immense dragon carved from white and red marble sat at the southern end of this cavern. Its massive wings stretched nearly 40 feet from tip to tip, and its mighty forearms reached upward toward the heavens. Kneeling in front of the statue were two armored Dwarves muttering prayers. They reached for their flails as the party approached.
Drow Cleric-1 charged the party and attacked Asteriskes with his flail, hitting for 6; Drow Cleric-2 charged and attacked Anaka, but missed; Admiral Barky moved to a flanking position and attacked Drow Cleric-1, hitting for 10 and taking him down; Felan cast Lesser Vigor on Asteriskes; Anaka attacked Drow Cleric-2 with her dagger, hitting for 6; Asteriskes attacked Drow Cleric-2, hitting for 16 points and taking him out.
Anaka went to search the statue. It was very old, well-crafted. Engraved on the base was "Xhitigal - Demigod." A beautiful piece of marblework, but nothing more. After checking the rest of the room and finding nothing, the group retraced their steps up the entry tunnel and resume their northward trek.
Clouds of crushed rock and the furious sounds of shattering stone greeted them as they entered the area. In the northeast corner of the cavern were piles of rubble on either side of a rickety, wooden platform with huge wooden wheels. The platform was approximately 18 feet high. A gleaming cavalcade of gears and levers sat atop the platform. There was also a long, sharp metallic drill bit, which appeared to be well over 5 feet in diameter and 20 feet long. The turning drill bit ripped into the eastern wall of the cavern with a roaring sound. Bits of rock and ore sprayed out onto the floor. The drill suddenly slowed and stopped and a Dwarven warrior, covered in sweat and wearing dusty gauntlets, climbed out of the maze of gears and levers to glower down at the adventurers
Felan quickly asked, "Do you know where Cyvorak is?"
After pulling his crossbow out of hiding the Duregar replied, "Wouldn't you like to know?" before shooting at the druid and missing.
Anaka threw a dagger, hitting the Duregar for 6; Duregar attacked Felan, but missed; Admiral Barky held his action, growling in his throat as he stayed by Felan's feet; Asteriskes targeted the Duregar with his bow, but missed; Felan drew his sling and attacked the Duregar, but missed.
Anaka got into her haversack and retrieved one of the flasks of oil she'd filched from the supply cavern yesterday, she then began fitting it out with a wick; Duregar the mining platform to search the body. When she finished searching him, and pocketing the trail rations he'd set aside for his lunch, Anaka turned her attention to the mining platform and disabled the drill.
Asteriskes realized that the drilling was to enlarge a tunnel. The old tunnel had been blocked by a cave-in and the Dwarves were at work creating a new, alternate tunnel. With their searches done, the adventurers headed westward, out of the cavern.
They were back in the huge cavern with the pounding waterfall. This time, however, they were at ground level instead of looking down from one of the ledges above. As they looked over the room from their new vantage point they saw that there were crossbow quarrels sticking out of the cliff face. Felan saw that a Derro was lying atop the ledge with a crossbow trained on the entrance whence they had come. The druid alerted his companions, sotto voce. They continued to scope out the chamber and the walkway, discussing their options in hushed voices.
Carefully, the group began to make their way across the walkway. They had barely begun when a bolt whizzed out of the air, striking the ground near Admiral Barky. They continued to traverse the walkway. When they were slightly more than halfway across, another bolt shot out, this time hitting Asteriskes, who Saved versus the poison on the bolt's tip.
Admiral Barky continued along the path, going through the waterfall, and reached the door first of the party. Felan took a strategic position, drew his sling, and targeted the Derro on the ledge, but missed. Anaka followed Admiral Barky and reached the door. Asteriskes caught up to Felan. Derro shot at Felan, but missed.
The Derro continued to target Felan, but missed. Anaka searched the door for traps and picked the lock, then she opened the door. Admiral Barky waited for Felan to catch up. Asteriskes, having received the vial of anti-toxin that Felan handed him, continued down the path and reached the door. Felan joined them in the doorway and cast Heal on Asteriskes.
As the Derro swore behind them, the adventurers stepped into the room.
As they made their way past the torrents of water tumbling from the waterfall they eventually found themselves in a large, circular room about 60 feet in diameter. The room was apparently carved from the natural stone walls and featured three large stone doors -- each leading northward. The walls of the room were covered with images of red dragons.
Ken, Bruce, Katy, & Cathy, when Ken discovered how much damage he had taken in the last run: Well, apparently I'm down 23. - OK, I guess I'll use my 4 points on you then. - Oh, yeah, 'you have a gaping wound, allow me to put a tiny circle band-aid on it!' - Allow me to pour alcohol into it!
Katy, as play began: I'm doomed! I said I'd take the first watch and she immediately got out the Monster Manual!
Cathy and Ken, during combat: You missed. - He sucks!
Ken, when Katy suggested no one in the party besides her was stealthy enough to sneak through a room: Nope, they don't call me Brassclanger for nothing!
Bruce, Ken, and Cathy: Felan will attempt to touch Asteriskes, you aren't going to try to get away are you? - Depends on how you touch me. - Right on your brass clanger! - Hang on a minute! - You want him to hold on!?!
Bruce and Cathy: Admiral Barky holds his action. - With both hands?
Ken, describing Cathy when she got slap-happy after the run was over: She's got random I-don't-know-what disease, that certain je ne sais quois disease.
THE ADVENTURE:
Once the room was secured, the party began their preparations for the night. Asteriskes drank a healing potion and also received additional healing from Felan. Then they set watches. Anaka took the first watch. Felan took the second. Asteriskes rounded out the night, which passed uneventfully. In the morning they talked things over and decided to go in the direction they had not yet been. They exited their sheltered sleeping room and passed the corpse of the dead, bound Drow. They turned to their left and followed the tunnel which branched off to the east.
As they entered this part of the cavern, they realized that the evil Dwarves they'd found were indeed mining or tunneling somewhere in the vast, unending caverns. This particular part seemed to be a staging area for the mining work -- large amounts of picks and digging tools were propped along the northern wall. A bizarre, vaguely frog-like creature with stony skin leaned against that wall -- right next to a tunnel entrance heading northward. The creature was only as tall as a gnome and had multiple arms and legs, its mouth was on the top of its head.
"Greetings, cretins!" The creature said in Common, as it ripped a hunk of iron ore out of the wall and began eating it as one would eat a piece of fruit. "What brings you to this part of the neighborhood?"
"We're just exploring. What are YOU doing here?" Felan replied.
"I've been helping dig the tunnel to Montrill, but all the earthquakes and stuff....not much for me to do right now. I'm just hanging out. Old Cyvorak...gosh...I don't know what he's doing."
When the adventures did not respond, he supplied, "I know these caverns quite well. If you're lost, I can lead you back out of here for, say...200gp."
"We are not trying to leave. We're actually here after Cyvorak." The druid said.
"Oh, I could help you find him! He's always hanging around here somewhere."
"That's going to cost us, isn't it?" Asteriskes put in.
"Well, it would have cost you 200 to get out, it'll cost another 200 to find Cyvorak."
"400!"
"Yeah, finding the way out is easy, Cyvorak's a different matter. He moves around.... You know, I don't know if you ran into that Drow prisoner, but Cyvorak was holding him for ransom. He was trying to get information out of him, something about that sword, that Blood Conciliator that Cyvorak wants. I don't think he really knows what he's doing. I don't think he has any idea what kind of stuff there is around here."
"What do you mean? What kind of "stuff" is around here." Anaka asked.
"Oh, treasure and what not. I think Cyvorak has tunnel vision. All he can think of is getting to Montrill. He kinda wants to know what's in these caverns, but mainly it's all about Montrill." The Xorn replied, casually continuing to munch on bits of metal.
"What's so important about getting to Montrill?"
"He figures once he gets there he can conquer it, but most of his people have been shut out by all these cave-ins. I think he's being foolish. He's nothing more than a cheap thief, but he thinks he's some kind of a ruler just because he's a distant relation to a king from way back when. I'm kinda thirsty...you got anything to drink?"
"Yeah, we have wine." Felan answered.
"Could I have some?"
"Sure." Felan, since he was not wearing any metal armor, proceeded forward and handed the Xorn one of the bottles of wine that they'd taken from the room in which they'd spent the previous night.
The Xorn attacked Felan, hitting for 12.
Admiral Barky attacked Xorn, but missed; Xorn attacked Felan, but missed; Felan took a strategic position and cast Lesser Vigor on himself; Anaka moved and threw a short spear, but missed; Asteriskes moved and drew his bow, shot, and missed.
Admiral Barky attacked Xorn, but missed; Xorn closed with Felan, attacked, hitting for 3; Felan took a strategic position and punched, hitting for 5; Anaka threw another spear, which hit and seemed to stick out of the Xorn's side; Asteriskes closed and drew his sword, but missed.
Admiral Barky attacked and missed; Xorn attacked Felan, hitting for 5; Felan attacked the Xorn, but missed; Anaka threw another spear and missed; Asteriskes swung and missed.
Admiral Barky attacked, hitting for 9; Xorn sank into the floor, provoking Attacks of Opportunity from everyone in melee: Asteriskes missed, Admiral Barky missed, and Felan hit for 2.
After a quick search of the room yielded nothing, and assuming that the retreating Xorn was in the process of alerting others to their presence, the party opted to move on. They quickly headed up the northward tunnel.
They reached an incredibly large cavern with a small side cave located just to the west. A campfire burned brightly in front of the mouth to that cave. Two Dwarves with long, braided gray beards stood near the fire -- one held his hands to the flames, turning them occasionally, while the other rubbed his folded arms and jockeyed himself closer to the blaze's warmth. A dusty pile of folded cloth was on the ground near the grizzled Dwarves.
Admiral Barky charged into the room and attacked the nearest Drow Guard, hitting for 6; Anaka moved into the room, threw a spear and missed; Asteriskes moved into the room and shot the Drow Guard not engaged in combat with Admiral Barky, hitting critically and taking him out; Drow Guard-1, seeing his companion taken out, turned to flee, provoking an Attack of Opportunity from Admiral Barky, who hit for 9 and took him down.
6 old and worn tapestries depicting the dragon Xhitigal in battle. Although no one was certain, everyone thought they were probably valuable. Asteriskes looked over the warhammers, but was not able to determine much about their quality or value. Neither were Felan and Anaka. When they were done looking things over, the adventurers decided to continue north.
A statue of an immense dragon carved from white and red marble sat at the southern end of this cavern. Its massive wings stretched nearly 40 feet from tip to tip, and its mighty forearms reached upward toward the heavens. Kneeling in front of the statue were two armored Dwarves muttering prayers. They reached for their flails as the party approached.
Drow Cleric-1 charged the party and attacked Asteriskes with his flail, hitting for 6; Drow Cleric-2 charged and attacked Anaka, but missed; Admiral Barky moved to a flanking position and attacked Drow Cleric-1, hitting for 10 and taking him down; Felan cast Lesser Vigor on Asteriskes; Anaka attacked Drow Cleric-2 with her dagger, hitting for 6; Asteriskes attacked Drow Cleric-2, hitting for 16 points and taking him out.
Anaka went to search the statue. It was very old, well-crafted. Engraved on the base was "Xhitigal - Demigod." A beautiful piece of marblework, but nothing more. After checking the rest of the room and finding nothing, the group retraced their steps up the entry tunnel and resume their northward trek.
Clouds of crushed rock and the furious sounds of shattering stone greeted them as they entered the area. In the northeast corner of the cavern were piles of rubble on either side of a rickety, wooden platform with huge wooden wheels. The platform was approximately 18 feet high. A gleaming cavalcade of gears and levers sat atop the platform. There was also a long, sharp metallic drill bit, which appeared to be well over 5 feet in diameter and 20 feet long. The turning drill bit ripped into the eastern wall of the cavern with a roaring sound. Bits of rock and ore sprayed out onto the floor. The drill suddenly slowed and stopped and a Dwarven warrior, covered in sweat and wearing dusty gauntlets, climbed out of the maze of gears and levers to glower down at the adventurers
Felan quickly asked, "Do you know where Cyvorak is?"
After pulling his crossbow out of hiding the Duregar replied, "Wouldn't you like to know?" before shooting at the druid and missing.
Anaka threw a dagger, hitting the Duregar for 6; Duregar attacked Felan, but missed; Admiral Barky held his action, growling in his throat as he stayed by Felan's feet; Asteriskes targeted the Duregar with his bow, but missed; Felan drew his sling and attacked the Duregar, but missed.
Anaka got into her haversack and retrieved one of the flasks of oil she'd filched from the supply cavern yesterday, she then began fitting it out with a wick; Duregar the mining platform to search the body. When she finished searching him, and pocketing the trail rations he'd set aside for his lunch, Anaka turned her attention to the mining platform and disabled the drill.
Asteriskes realized that the drilling was to enlarge a tunnel. The old tunnel had been blocked by a cave-in and the Dwarves were at work creating a new, alternate tunnel. With their searches done, the adventurers headed westward, out of the cavern.
They were back in the huge cavern with the pounding waterfall. This time, however, they were at ground level instead of looking down from one of the ledges above. As they looked over the room from their new vantage point they saw that there were crossbow quarrels sticking out of the cliff face. Felan saw that a Derro was lying atop the ledge with a crossbow trained on the entrance whence they had come. The druid alerted his companions, sotto voce. They continued to scope out the chamber and the walkway, discussing their options in hushed voices.
Carefully, the group began to make their way across the walkway. They had barely begun when a bolt whizzed out of the air, striking the ground near Admiral Barky. They continued to traverse the walkway. When they were slightly more than halfway across, another bolt shot out, this time hitting Asteriskes, who Saved versus the poison on the bolt's tip.
Admiral Barky continued along the path, going through the waterfall, and reached the door first of the party. Felan took a strategic position, drew his sling, and targeted the Derro on the ledge, but missed. Anaka followed Admiral Barky and reached the door. Asteriskes caught up to Felan. Derro shot at Felan, but missed.
The Derro continued to target Felan, but missed. Anaka searched the door for traps and picked the lock, then she opened the door. Admiral Barky waited for Felan to catch up. Asteriskes, having received the vial of anti-toxin that Felan handed him, continued down the path and reached the door. Felan joined them in the doorway and cast Heal on Asteriskes.
As the Derro swore behind them, the adventurers stepped into the room.
As they made their way past the torrents of water tumbling from the waterfall they eventually found themselves in a large, circular room about 60 feet in diameter. The room was apparently carved from the natural stone walls and featured three large stone doors -- each leading northward. The walls of the room were covered with images of red dragons.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Happy Birthday, Derek!
Today is our nephew's third birthday. There was a big party in Toledo yesterday. Although we couldn't be there, we sent a gift -- we got Derek his very own lightsaber (the Yoda model). He likes it very much. He told us so when we talked to him today.
Happy birthday, dear nephew, we love you!
Happy birthday, dear nephew, we love you!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Our Dwarven Friend is Lawful Stupid!
THE FUNNY THINGS:
Katy and Ken, about their characters stats: Unfortunately, you can't change those numbers. - Watch me!
Cathy, describing the basics of the dungeon: It's unworked stone, simple wooden doors, blah blah blah.
Katy, about where they were on the area map: Where are we now? Area 51?
Bruce, after the party discussed their alignments: Our Dwarven friend is Lawful Stupid!
Bruce and Katy, as the party entered a difficult space: The trap doors close on both ends! Poison fills the chamber! We all die! - Great! Let's have dessert!
Ken, singing about his roll: I think I missed, tra-la-la la-la.
THE ADVENTURE:
Anaka looked over the bloody dagger she'd picked off the first Derro they encountered and realized it was a masterwork dagger. She saw Asteriskes looking over the axe he'd picked up and peeked over his shoulder. "That's a masterwork piece, too," she told him. When they'd finished sorting through the loot they'd been toting about, the adventurers discussed where to go next. They decided to explore the tunnel opposite the one the Derro had been guarding, as this would allow them to cover a portion of the complex they realized they had inadvertantly missed previously.
As they entered the long and narrow section of the cavern, they were met with the glittering of silver and a horrible odor. They immediately saw the desiccated corpse of a Duregar warrior, badly mauled, sitting propped up against the cavern wall at the end of the elongated tunnel. Next to the body was a small, shiny pile of silver coins.
Anaka rushed towards the pile of coins with Asteriskes close behind. "Don't go any closer to the body! Look up!" called Felan, stopping in his tracks with Admiral Barky beside him. Above them the party saw a spider swarm skittering about the ceiling. The spiders retreated into the darkness of the cavern's ceiling.
When they were gone, the thief resumed her pursuit of the money. The spiders did not move. Searching for traps revealed nothing, so she pocketed the 18 sp. She didn't find anything on the body although she could tell that it was wearing studded leather armor. Taking the armor, and with the spiders cowering along the ceiling, the group decided to head further up the corridor.
In this part of the cavern was a body of a humanoid creature hanging from a rope, wrapped in in tatters of bloody cloth. The body was swaying from side to side, just a few feet from the cavern floor. The frayed rope suspending it ascended from the body toward the darkness of the ceiling above, where it was securely tied to an immense stalactite. Just past the body was an entrance to a long, winding tunnel, heading northeast.
Searching for traps, Anaka realized that the body was a dummy with fragile jars of stuff in it. When she told her companions they all quickly looked around. Felan noticed the trip-wires and pulley system attached to the body. The druid counseled retreat to avoid the trap and suggested they see what was back on the far side of the room where they'd met the singing Derro.
This cavern showed signs of frequent use. Scores of footprints crisscrossed the dusty floor, going from the tunnel entrances to a pile of crates against the western wall and back again. A burning brazier in the southwest corner provided the cavern with dim light; several of the footprints led to and from it as well.
Felan looked more closely at the tracks and realized that many of them were recent. He moved a little closer into the room and looked into the alcove next to him, he saw a large boulder, but couldn't see past it to see what else might be in the room. Anaka searched the alcove and the rock started to roll towards her, but she moved quickly and tumbled out of the way. The boulder rolled into the main cavern and bumped to a stop against the column in the center of the room.
Anaka went to the next nearest alcove and looked over the crates. Picking the locks, she revealed a weapons cache. Felan eagerly grabbed the 24 short spears.
In the next alcove, none of the crates were trapped and they were all unlocked. These were supplies. Asteriskes and Anaka each took the opportunity to replenish their rations, while Felan was willing to rely on his hunting skills.
Realizing they'd reached a dead end, the party returned to the room with the hanging dummy. The thief was able to disable the trap. There was nothing else in the room. They crossed the cavern and entered the winding tunnel heading north.
Anaka scouted ahead. The narrow, winding tunnels finally opened into a wide cavern filled with a myriad of long, needle-like stalactites and stalagmites - each no more than a few inches in diameter. Fragments of the stone formations were scattered all over the cavern floor. They were extremely brittle and shattered easily. The thief returned to tell her companions what she'd seen. They devised a plan and set out to take strategic positions in the shadows, waiting to strike the guards when they came out from behind the column.
Dwarf Sentry-1 saw the adventurers, drew his crossbow, and targeted Asteriskes, hitting for 6; Admiral Barky rushed up to Dwarf Sentry-1, but missed with his bite; Asteriskes drew his longbow and targeted Dwarf Sentry-2, but missed; Anaka moved into range, and attacked Dwarf Sentry-2, hitting for 5; Dwarf Sentry-2 retreated behind the column for protection, then targeted Felan with his bow, but missed; Felan closed with Dwarf Sentry-1 and attacked, hitting for 1, although the Sentry Saved against his Touch of Golden Ice.
Dwarf Sentry-1 retreated the other way around the column, provoking attacks of opportunity from Admiral Barky, who hit for 5, and Felan, who missed, when he reached cover, Dwarf Sentry-1 shot Asteriskes, hitting for 8; Admiral Barky ran behind the column and attacked Dwarf Sentry-2, biting for 9, and taking the guard down; Asteriskes closed with Dwarf Sentry-1 and attacked, but missed; Anaka closed with Dwarf Sentry-1, hitting for 8 points and taking him out.
Asteriskes performed coups de gras on both sentries. Then the party looted the bodies.
Anaka scouted east and saw a large spacious cavern, which was empty except for a wooden door in the north and a bound and gagged humanoid figure lying by the door. She returned and told her friends what she found. They decided to go check out the room, especially since they bound figure might need aid.
They entered the room and checked the body. It moved a bit during Anaka's search. It was male Drow. Anaka removed his gag.
"Thank you so much for freeing me. I could be a great service to you. I know these caverns like the back of my hand, I could be a guide, I could really help you. I know all about the treasures hidden here. I know all about the leader of the group, Cyvorak. There's a weapon he's looking for -- it's called the Blood Conciliator -- it's hidden around here somewhere, but he doesn't know where it is. This guy, Cyvorak, is trying to drill a tunnel towards Montrill to take over the Silver Mountain region." the Drow said in all in a rush.
"Why'd they just tie you up and leave you here?" Felan asked.
"This half-Dragon is half mad. Who knows why he does anything?" the Drow replied.
Felan Sensed the Drow's Motive was to get free and that he was holding back, not telling the real reason why he was let live. "What can you tell us about this Blood Conciliator?"
"It's a longsword that belonged to the legendary Duregar warriors. The gems in the hilt are what give it its magical power," replied the captive.
"Well, he's given us some information, if we let him go he's going to betray us...aren't you?" Felan asked, leadingly.
"No! I'd never do that!" said the Drow.
The druid's Sense Motive showed that the captive was not exactly lying, but that he certainly wouldn't be above stealing their stuff while they were otherwise occupied. Anaka searched him, and found nothing on him other than his clothes. Meanwhile, Felan listened at the door in front of which the captive lay. He heard nothing. The thief re-gagged the Drow, who tried to bite her. When she attempted to knock him out by hitting him with the pommel of her dagger, he wiggled so much that she missed and whopped herself severely in the leg. Her second effort did the trick.
They opened the door and peered through. The small cave had been hewn into crude living quarters. Piles of rubble and rock filled the northwest corner, possibly covering a doorway or tunnel exiting the room. A pair of bookshelves lined the eastern wall, filled with dusty books. Four dusty bottles of wine sat on a small table. A spartan cot, looking most unused, was next to the northern wall and a wooden chest sat in the center of the room. Above the chest there was a small black area on the ceiling, sort of shiny and leathery looking, about 1 foot square.
Asteriskes shot at the spot, hitting it for 5.
Anaka threw a dagger at it and hit for 6, knocking it to the ground. When she retrieved her dagger, she performed a coup de gras. The dead creature was an Executioner's Hood. "Oh-ho! 'Hood hates nasty purple wine!'" said Asteriskes, remembering the note they'd found on one of the dead Derros they'd come across upon entering this complex.
Meanwhile, the thief headed over to check out the chest. It opened easily revealing 4 ivory scroll tubes containing various scrolls and a note. Felan was able to determine that one of the scrolls was a Jump spell. The note talked about the "mighty citadel of Cyvorak" and made reference to the Blood Conciliator, the weapon supposedly being sought by the gang of thieves inhabiting the complex, as well as talking about legendary battles and a secret vault.
Searching the bookshelves revealed 4 exceeding rare books: The Ascension of Xhitigal, Draconis Rex, The Hammer of Twilight, and The Iron Laws of C'Bogyg Cyvorak. Nobody could figure out the value of the bottles of wine. Lastly, Anaka found a false panel in the floor behind the chest. She told her friends who agreed that she should lift it out. Below the panel was a crawl space heading west.
Lead by Asteriskes, the party crawled slowly through the small tunnel. Suddenly, the Dwarf came face to face with a rat. "Hey, druid! Come talk to this rat!" Asteriskes called.
Rat attacked, but missed; Asteriskes drew his dagger and retaliated, hitting for 4.
Rat responded, but missed again; Asteriskes struck back and also missed.
Rat attacked, hitting for 3; Asteriskes hit the rat, doing 3 points.
Rat attacked, but missed; Asteriskes hit for 4, killing the rat.
The adventurers continued through and reached the far end of the crawl space, emerging into a hallway just beyond the rubble. Felan checked the area and noticed a net on the ceiling above, about 10 feet away. Anaka had to work at it, but was finally able to disarm the trap. The rest of the hallway had rubble scattered about, but not enough to impede passage.
The wide, roughly circular cavern was approximately 50 feet in diameter. Broken blocks of white marble were scattered across the cavern floor and pieces of ordinary rubble tumbled out of the mouth of tunnel whence the party had come. This had obviously once been a workshop for stone masonry. "An 'undying garden' could be a sculpture garden," said Felan, referring to another clue left in the note they'd found in the scroll cases.
Searching the room yielded nothing other than the blocks of marble. After a quick discussion, Anaka was dispatched to return and close the door next to the Drow captive, thus covering their tracks. She snuck quietly around the longer passage, rather than returning through the crawl space. When she got there, the Drow was still unconscious so she slit his throat with her dagger before closing the door and returning to her friends.
They continued north. The walls of the next cavern were lined with crude wooden bunks and iron chests. Mundane items such as pots, pans, and bedrolls were strewn carelessly about the bunks. The remnants of a large campfire still burned in the center of the room, the embers still glowing a bright orange as wisps of smoke drifted toward the cavern ceiling.
Felan did not see any signs of danger. Anaka headed straight for the chests and searched through them, finding 200sp and 2 daggers, which turned out to be masterwork items. A search of the rest of the room revealed a secret passage. Felan heard nothing so the party formed up to go on.
They came out of the passage at the top of a cliff, nearly 100 feet above a relentless cascade of dark water splashing into a gigantic pool which filled most of the cavern, flanked by towering stone cliffs. A black marble pathway led to the base of the thundering waterfall. The path cut directly across the pool and was elevated just a few feet above the water's surface.
There was a Derro on the ledge next to them, with his crossbow drawn.
Admiral Barky attacked the Derro, but missed; Asteriskes attacked and missed; Felan pulled a short spear out of his haversack and threw it at the Derro, but missed; Anaka threw a dagger, hitting for 5; Derro drew his short sword and attacked Asteriskes, but missed.
Admiral Barky attacked, but missed; Asteriskes attacked and hit for 17, taking the Derro down; a crossbow bolt flew across the pond and struck Asteriskes for 6; Felan retreated into the tunnel; Anaka searched the Derro's body.
Admiral Barky followed Felan into the tunnel; Asteriskes retreated into the tunnel; a bolt whizzed by Anaka and bounced off the cavern wall; Anaka retreated into the tunnel.
Realizing how late it was, the adventurers held a quick conference and decided to find a safe place to rest for the night. They decided that the safest room would be where they had fought the Executioner's Hood, since they could close themselves in. They were able to reach the room without meeting any adversaries, and quickly settled themselves in for the night.
Katy and Ken, about their characters stats: Unfortunately, you can't change those numbers. - Watch me!
Cathy, describing the basics of the dungeon: It's unworked stone, simple wooden doors, blah blah blah.
Katy, about where they were on the area map: Where are we now? Area 51?
Bruce, after the party discussed their alignments: Our Dwarven friend is Lawful Stupid!
Bruce and Katy, as the party entered a difficult space: The trap doors close on both ends! Poison fills the chamber! We all die! - Great! Let's have dessert!
Ken, singing about his roll: I think I missed, tra-la-la la-la.
THE ADVENTURE:
Anaka looked over the bloody dagger she'd picked off the first Derro they encountered and realized it was a masterwork dagger. She saw Asteriskes looking over the axe he'd picked up and peeked over his shoulder. "That's a masterwork piece, too," she told him. When they'd finished sorting through the loot they'd been toting about, the adventurers discussed where to go next. They decided to explore the tunnel opposite the one the Derro had been guarding, as this would allow them to cover a portion of the complex they realized they had inadvertantly missed previously.
As they entered the long and narrow section of the cavern, they were met with the glittering of silver and a horrible odor. They immediately saw the desiccated corpse of a Duregar warrior, badly mauled, sitting propped up against the cavern wall at the end of the elongated tunnel. Next to the body was a small, shiny pile of silver coins.
Anaka rushed towards the pile of coins with Asteriskes close behind. "Don't go any closer to the body! Look up!" called Felan, stopping in his tracks with Admiral Barky beside him. Above them the party saw a spider swarm skittering about the ceiling. The spiders retreated into the darkness of the cavern's ceiling.
When they were gone, the thief resumed her pursuit of the money. The spiders did not move. Searching for traps revealed nothing, so she pocketed the 18 sp. She didn't find anything on the body although she could tell that it was wearing studded leather armor. Taking the armor, and with the spiders cowering along the ceiling, the group decided to head further up the corridor.
In this part of the cavern was a body of a humanoid creature hanging from a rope, wrapped in in tatters of bloody cloth. The body was swaying from side to side, just a few feet from the cavern floor. The frayed rope suspending it ascended from the body toward the darkness of the ceiling above, where it was securely tied to an immense stalactite. Just past the body was an entrance to a long, winding tunnel, heading northeast.
Searching for traps, Anaka realized that the body was a dummy with fragile jars of stuff in it. When she told her companions they all quickly looked around. Felan noticed the trip-wires and pulley system attached to the body. The druid counseled retreat to avoid the trap and suggested they see what was back on the far side of the room where they'd met the singing Derro.
This cavern showed signs of frequent use. Scores of footprints crisscrossed the dusty floor, going from the tunnel entrances to a pile of crates against the western wall and back again. A burning brazier in the southwest corner provided the cavern with dim light; several of the footprints led to and from it as well.
Felan looked more closely at the tracks and realized that many of them were recent. He moved a little closer into the room and looked into the alcove next to him, he saw a large boulder, but couldn't see past it to see what else might be in the room. Anaka searched the alcove and the rock started to roll towards her, but she moved quickly and tumbled out of the way. The boulder rolled into the main cavern and bumped to a stop against the column in the center of the room.
Anaka went to the next nearest alcove and looked over the crates. Picking the locks, she revealed a weapons cache. Felan eagerly grabbed the 24 short spears.
In the next alcove, none of the crates were trapped and they were all unlocked. These were supplies. Asteriskes and Anaka each took the opportunity to replenish their rations, while Felan was willing to rely on his hunting skills.
Realizing they'd reached a dead end, the party returned to the room with the hanging dummy. The thief was able to disable the trap. There was nothing else in the room. They crossed the cavern and entered the winding tunnel heading north.
Anaka scouted ahead. The narrow, winding tunnels finally opened into a wide cavern filled with a myriad of long, needle-like stalactites and stalagmites - each no more than a few inches in diameter. Fragments of the stone formations were scattered all over the cavern floor. They were extremely brittle and shattered easily. The thief returned to tell her companions what she'd seen. They devised a plan and set out to take strategic positions in the shadows, waiting to strike the guards when they came out from behind the column.
Dwarf Sentry-1 saw the adventurers, drew his crossbow, and targeted Asteriskes, hitting for 6; Admiral Barky rushed up to Dwarf Sentry-1, but missed with his bite; Asteriskes drew his longbow and targeted Dwarf Sentry-2, but missed; Anaka moved into range, and attacked Dwarf Sentry-2, hitting for 5; Dwarf Sentry-2 retreated behind the column for protection, then targeted Felan with his bow, but missed; Felan closed with Dwarf Sentry-1 and attacked, hitting for 1, although the Sentry Saved against his Touch of Golden Ice.
Dwarf Sentry-1 retreated the other way around the column, provoking attacks of opportunity from Admiral Barky, who hit for 5, and Felan, who missed, when he reached cover, Dwarf Sentry-1 shot Asteriskes, hitting for 8; Admiral Barky ran behind the column and attacked Dwarf Sentry-2, biting for 9, and taking the guard down; Asteriskes closed with Dwarf Sentry-1 and attacked, but missed; Anaka closed with Dwarf Sentry-1, hitting for 8 points and taking him out.
Asteriskes performed coups de gras on both sentries. Then the party looted the bodies.
Anaka scouted east and saw a large spacious cavern, which was empty except for a wooden door in the north and a bound and gagged humanoid figure lying by the door. She returned and told her friends what she found. They decided to go check out the room, especially since they bound figure might need aid.
They entered the room and checked the body. It moved a bit during Anaka's search. It was male Drow. Anaka removed his gag.
"Thank you so much for freeing me. I could be a great service to you. I know these caverns like the back of my hand, I could be a guide, I could really help you. I know all about the treasures hidden here. I know all about the leader of the group, Cyvorak. There's a weapon he's looking for -- it's called the Blood Conciliator -- it's hidden around here somewhere, but he doesn't know where it is. This guy, Cyvorak, is trying to drill a tunnel towards Montrill to take over the Silver Mountain region." the Drow said in all in a rush.
"Why'd they just tie you up and leave you here?" Felan asked.
"This half-Dragon is half mad. Who knows why he does anything?" the Drow replied.
Felan Sensed the Drow's Motive was to get free and that he was holding back, not telling the real reason why he was let live. "What can you tell us about this Blood Conciliator?"
"It's a longsword that belonged to the legendary Duregar warriors. The gems in the hilt are what give it its magical power," replied the captive.
"Well, he's given us some information, if we let him go he's going to betray us...aren't you?" Felan asked, leadingly.
"No! I'd never do that!" said the Drow.
The druid's Sense Motive showed that the captive was not exactly lying, but that he certainly wouldn't be above stealing their stuff while they were otherwise occupied. Anaka searched him, and found nothing on him other than his clothes. Meanwhile, Felan listened at the door in front of which the captive lay. He heard nothing. The thief re-gagged the Drow, who tried to bite her. When she attempted to knock him out by hitting him with the pommel of her dagger, he wiggled so much that she missed and whopped herself severely in the leg. Her second effort did the trick.
They opened the door and peered through. The small cave had been hewn into crude living quarters. Piles of rubble and rock filled the northwest corner, possibly covering a doorway or tunnel exiting the room. A pair of bookshelves lined the eastern wall, filled with dusty books. Four dusty bottles of wine sat on a small table. A spartan cot, looking most unused, was next to the northern wall and a wooden chest sat in the center of the room. Above the chest there was a small black area on the ceiling, sort of shiny and leathery looking, about 1 foot square.
Asteriskes shot at the spot, hitting it for 5.
Anaka threw a dagger at it and hit for 6, knocking it to the ground. When she retrieved her dagger, she performed a coup de gras. The dead creature was an Executioner's Hood. "Oh-ho! 'Hood hates nasty purple wine!'" said Asteriskes, remembering the note they'd found on one of the dead Derros they'd come across upon entering this complex.
Meanwhile, the thief headed over to check out the chest. It opened easily revealing 4 ivory scroll tubes containing various scrolls and a note. Felan was able to determine that one of the scrolls was a Jump spell. The note talked about the "mighty citadel of Cyvorak" and made reference to the Blood Conciliator, the weapon supposedly being sought by the gang of thieves inhabiting the complex, as well as talking about legendary battles and a secret vault.
Searching the bookshelves revealed 4 exceeding rare books: The Ascension of Xhitigal, Draconis Rex, The Hammer of Twilight, and The Iron Laws of C'Bogyg Cyvorak. Nobody could figure out the value of the bottles of wine. Lastly, Anaka found a false panel in the floor behind the chest. She told her friends who agreed that she should lift it out. Below the panel was a crawl space heading west.
Lead by Asteriskes, the party crawled slowly through the small tunnel. Suddenly, the Dwarf came face to face with a rat. "Hey, druid! Come talk to this rat!" Asteriskes called.
Rat attacked, but missed; Asteriskes drew his dagger and retaliated, hitting for 4.
Rat responded, but missed again; Asteriskes struck back and also missed.
Rat attacked, hitting for 3; Asteriskes hit the rat, doing 3 points.
Rat attacked, but missed; Asteriskes hit for 4, killing the rat.
The adventurers continued through and reached the far end of the crawl space, emerging into a hallway just beyond the rubble. Felan checked the area and noticed a net on the ceiling above, about 10 feet away. Anaka had to work at it, but was finally able to disarm the trap. The rest of the hallway had rubble scattered about, but not enough to impede passage.
The wide, roughly circular cavern was approximately 50 feet in diameter. Broken blocks of white marble were scattered across the cavern floor and pieces of ordinary rubble tumbled out of the mouth of tunnel whence the party had come. This had obviously once been a workshop for stone masonry. "An 'undying garden' could be a sculpture garden," said Felan, referring to another clue left in the note they'd found in the scroll cases.
Searching the room yielded nothing other than the blocks of marble. After a quick discussion, Anaka was dispatched to return and close the door next to the Drow captive, thus covering their tracks. She snuck quietly around the longer passage, rather than returning through the crawl space. When she got there, the Drow was still unconscious so she slit his throat with her dagger before closing the door and returning to her friends.
They continued north. The walls of the next cavern were lined with crude wooden bunks and iron chests. Mundane items such as pots, pans, and bedrolls were strewn carelessly about the bunks. The remnants of a large campfire still burned in the center of the room, the embers still glowing a bright orange as wisps of smoke drifted toward the cavern ceiling.
Felan did not see any signs of danger. Anaka headed straight for the chests and searched through them, finding 200sp and 2 daggers, which turned out to be masterwork items. A search of the rest of the room revealed a secret passage. Felan heard nothing so the party formed up to go on.
They came out of the passage at the top of a cliff, nearly 100 feet above a relentless cascade of dark water splashing into a gigantic pool which filled most of the cavern, flanked by towering stone cliffs. A black marble pathway led to the base of the thundering waterfall. The path cut directly across the pool and was elevated just a few feet above the water's surface.
There was a Derro on the ledge next to them, with his crossbow drawn.
Admiral Barky attacked the Derro, but missed; Asteriskes attacked and missed; Felan pulled a short spear out of his haversack and threw it at the Derro, but missed; Anaka threw a dagger, hitting for 5; Derro drew his short sword and attacked Asteriskes, but missed.
Admiral Barky attacked, but missed; Asteriskes attacked and hit for 17, taking the Derro down; a crossbow bolt flew across the pond and struck Asteriskes for 6; Felan retreated into the tunnel; Anaka searched the Derro's body.
Admiral Barky followed Felan into the tunnel; Asteriskes retreated into the tunnel; a bolt whizzed by Anaka and bounced off the cavern wall; Anaka retreated into the tunnel.
Realizing how late it was, the adventurers held a quick conference and decided to find a safe place to rest for the night. They decided that the safest room would be where they had fought the Executioner's Hood, since they could close themselves in. They were able to reach the room without meeting any adversaries, and quickly settled themselves in for the night.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
What's Your Marching Order? - In Place!
So here begins the new campaign! This time, Cathy is our DM and Bruce is playing. Katy is actually NOT playing an Elf or a ranger character. Ken is NOT playing a magic user character. It's fun to change things up now and then.
THE FUNNY THINGS:
Ken and Cathy, about the king: Oh, no the king is asking us to come into his parlor! - He's not a spider. - Do we know that?
Cathy, Katy, Bruce, and Ken, about the party's adversary: He's a half-dragon. - He's only got one wing. - He flies around in circles. - That's why they're always able to catch him!
Cathy and Ken, about a particular of gameplay: What's your marching order? - In place!
Cathy and Bruce, as the party reached a fork in the road: Do you want to stop here or go on? - Let us stop here ... and die!
Bruce, about the search rolls the party made: I thought I was searching the body, but actually I just tripped over it.
Cathy and Ken, about the difficult terrain: Well, I didn't let you charge. - Nope, cash only.
THE ADVENTURE:
The party had previously come to the attention of the king and he was most pleased with them. So it wasn't too surprising when King Reginald sent a summons to the threesome asking them to come to Montrill where he was picking up his annual addition to the Crown Jewels. The newest royal scepter - masterwork of platinum studded with peridots and diamonds - had been stolen. The suspect was a well-known jewel thief named Robie, a Half-Dragon who lived in the mountains north of Montrill. He tended to stash stolen goods in caves and come back for them later. He never wandered far from Montrill and was a master of disguise as well as the use of poison. He was spotted near a cave three days from Montrill; it was not known whether he had followers or accomplices.
The king's messenger handed the adventurers each a small purse containing 30,000gp for supplies. His majesty's letter promised additional payment when the scepter was returned. It closed with, "Don't delay, but make every effort to arrive here unharmed." His task completed, the royal messenger bowed to the group, remounted his horse, and rode away.
The adventurers knew that the road they would have to travel was plagued by a large band of highwaymen. These renegades attacked travelers going between the capitol city of Nodnol and Woodside, whence the party would embark. However, there was also a caravan which traveled the same route the group must take. It followed a routine, continuous circuit from Nodnol to Montrill and back again, stopping at each city along the way. Anyone was welcome to book passage with the caravan (free, including board) as long as they also served as guards. Thus the caravan was very safe. It was also currently in Woodside.
So, Asteriskes Brassclanger the Dwarven fighter, Anaka Smythe the Human thief, and Felan Darragh the Human druid headed up the street to get supplies. When they were satisfied with their purchases they went to meet up with the caravan leader to book passage to Montrill. They were welcomed by the caravan leader who told them to return at dawn the next day when they would get on the road to Westhaven. It was an easy day's ride and they arrived safely, making camp just outside the fortress-town's walls. The caravan spent 6 days encamped. It was rather like a summer faire, with booths of wares and performers at every turn. Anaka spent an afternoon fulfilling her familial obligations by visiting her parents.
Eventually, its business concluded, the caravan got on the road to Montrill. Ten days of travel, with all the group members taking their turns on guard duty, passed uneventfully. They had barely arrived in town when a servant of the king sought them out. "Come with me to the mayor's house. His Majesty intends to meet you there."
When they reached the mayor's house, the messenger showed them in to chambers which had been prepared for them. "These rooms are reserved for you, please make yourself comfortable. His Honor the Mayor is expecting you and deems you his guests. Dinner is at 7, the mayor will join you then." With that, King Reginald's servant left and shortly thereafter a household servant knocked an entered to inform the adventurers that the bathhouse was at their disposal. They were also encouraged to exchange their traveling clothes for the dinner dress outfits set out for them. The party readily took advantage of the opportunity to clean up after long days on the road, and were also happy to know that the mayor's laundress would willingly wash their clothes.
At 7pm they were escorted to the dining hall where a sumptuous feast was laid. King Reginald rose from his seat at the head of the table to welcome the adventurers. Anaka curtsied while Felan and Asteriskes bowed. The king waved such formalities aside and beckoned the group to their seats, where he greeted them warmly. After a delightful meal accompanied by casual conversation, King Reginald got down to business.
"We have learned that the thief, Robie, is really named Itharnos Cyvorak. It also happens that he has a group of fanatical followers. Under his leadership, they hope to gain control of the Silver Mountains and its riches," the king said. "We don't believe that he, and they, can do this, but he could be a nuisance and could possibly disrupt our mining operations. We can give you directions to his last known location. We want to nip this in the bud."
When the party nodded, King Reginald went on to say that he would send a guide to them in the morning to lead them to a good starting point in their search.
After an uneventful and relaxing night, the party woke, breakfasted, and were greeted by the king's servant who lead them towards the mines. As they left town, they saw King Reginald himself riding off in the other direction on an early-morning hunt. The rest of their ride was easy and they reached the base of the mine area just about noon. They paused to eat. After their quick meal, the royal servant gave them directions to the last-known siting of the thief Robie, then headed back to town.
The group made some progress before making camp for the night. Felan took the first watch. It passed uneventfully. As did both Asteriskes' and Anaka's. Morning arrived and the adventurers broke their fast. Then they continued along the path, encountering nothing, until nightfall. Establishing camp once again. Felan used his Survival skills and caught enough "food" to make a meal for the whole group.
The next morning they again set out, paying close attention to their surroundings as they knew they were near the cave the king had mentioned. Asteriskes was in the lead, followed by Felan, and Anaka. Just as the Dwarf noticed the ground shaking, but before he could mention a possible earthquake to the others, a tremor shook the entire path. The adventurers lost their footing and fell as the ground beneath them collapsed, sending them tumbling into an underground cave.
When the deafening noise subsided and the dust cleared, they saw that they were in a rather desperate situation. Unending piles of gigantic boulders walled off both the path ahead of and behind them, effectively trapping them in an underground tomb. With few options left, they began to dig. After hours of excavation, however, they managed to uncover the entrance to a small, narrow tunnel. A faint, flickering light shone somewhere at the tunnel's end. The party carefully picked their way towards the light.
Eventually, they reached the source of the glow - a still-burning torch, lying at the feet of a dead, dwarf-like creature, partially covered by rubble. The creature had a thick, black, tangled beard and wore studded leather armor. He had apparently died horribly just prior to the cave-in, judging from the many bloody wounds on his chest and face. He still held his blood-stained axe. Approximately 20 feet away from this corpse was another one. Like its companion, this dwarf-like being apparently died in battle just before the cave-in. He also still clutched his weapon - a bloody dagger.
The Dwarf recognized the bodies as Derros -- insane, distant relatives of Dwarves. They were degenerate creatures of the underground, created from Dwarf and Human stock by some nameless deity of darkness and madness. Incredibly cruel and mercilessly insane, Derros enjoyed taking slaves and torturing surface-dwellers to death. It was probably good for the group that these two were already dead. The cavern itself was massive. Roughly circular in shape, it measured approximately 90 feet in diameter with a 20 foot wide column of stone rising from floor to ceiling in the center. There were two tunnels, besides the one which had collapsed on the party, exiting the room. Other than the dagger and the axe the Derros were holding, the adventurers did not find anything of interest in their search of the area. They took the weapons and then threw the bodies into the collapsed walkway through which they themselves had entered the room. As they were moving the bodies, a note fell out of one of the corpses' pockets.
"Don't forget! Gortug sez - hood hate nasty purple wine! Makes hood drinkz purple wine if hood gets mad. Otherwise derro turn purple too!! And DIE!! SO!!! DON'T FORGET!!!"
Looking for "purple wine," Anaka searched that corpse more closely and found 6gp in a pocket. She searched the other one, but found nothing. Felan checked that corpse, too, and found 6 more gp. They searched the room more closely and found nothing but rubble.
Felan headed to the nearest path out of the room and listened, but heard nothing. He went to the next one and listened, still hearing nothing. At the last branch, he also heard nothing. After a brief discussion, the party decided to continue on, looking for a safer place to camp. They chose the first tunnel, which branched off due west, primarily from a decision to follow the left-hand wall.
Thousands of razor-sharp stalactites hung from the ceiling of the immense cavern, which was at least 60 feet wide and 80 feet long. As they entered the room, they heard the sound of boots scraping against the stone and saw a Dwarven warrior staring angrily at them. He was clad in rusted, worn chainmail armor. He lifted his warhammer above his head and, with a sharp cry, charged the party.
Anaka entered the room and closed with the adversary, she threw her dagger, but missed; Admiral Barky, Felan's animal companion, rushed into the room and barked loudly; Asteriskes drew his longbow and shot, but missed; Dwarf Sentry closed with Anaka, missing his attack; Felan closed with Dwarf Sentry and attacked, but missed.
Anaka struck Dwarf Sentry, hitting for 4; Admiral Barky flanked Dwarf Sentry, but missed; Asteriskes closed and attacked, hitting for 20 points, knocking the Dwarf Sentry down, and subsequently covering him in frost; Felan performed the coup de gras with a bare-handed twist of the Dwarf Sentry's neck.
After looting the body, they proceeded to search the cavern. They came across a smaller cavern, in which they found an unlocked chest. Anaka checked it for traps and found none, so they opened it. Realizing it was late, and weary from their travails, the group decided to settle in for the night, sheltering in the closet-like cave. They dragged the sentry's body into the cave to cover their tracks, and then set up camp. As they hid the body in the cave, Asteriskes mentioned that the sentry was a Duregar. When they were ready, Felan took the first watch, followed by Asteriskes, and Anaka. The night passed uneventfully.
In the morning they headed out into the main cave and continued following the left wall. They were now heading north.
As they entered this part of the caverns, they immediately saw a large, shallow pool of water, roughly 20 feet wide and 40 feet long. Although the water appeared clear and cool, the ground immediately surround the pool was muddy and smelled awful. Toward the south, they saw what appeared to be a small, natural alcove - which was filled with bones and refuse.
Felan deduced that the mud was comprised of bat and scorpion droppings, which accounted for the smell. Anaka searched the room, but found nothing. She looked at the pile of bones, but couldn't figure out what they were about, so Felan came to search them. Two small, monstrous Scorpions, disturbed by the Druid's poking, came out of the pile of bones which was their lair.
Asteriskes attacked a Scorpion, hitting and taking it out; Anaka moved 5 feet, and threw her dagger, striking the other Scorpion and killing it. After retrieving her dagger, she searched the area, but found nothing.
Looking about the room again, and thinking about the portion of the complex they'd explored so far, the party decided to forego following the left wall and take the path which lead them more into the center. This would allow them to see what they may have missed, simply by skirting by it before. After a bit of walking they ended up in.
This V-shaped section of the cavern was covered with many short, sharp stalagmites -- which glinted with flecks of silver and gold, making the room look like a sweeping field of stone and sparkling metals. At the northwest end of the chamber was a dour-looking Dwarf, dressed in a gray cloak and chainmail armor. He had a crossbow at the ready as he stood by one of the tunnels which exited the room.
Asteriskes drew his bow, but missed; Anaka moved 30' into the room and threw her dagger, hitting for 6; Dwarf Sentry targeted Felan, but missed; Felan moved 30' into the room, drew his sling, and attacked, but missed; Admiral Barky moved up next to Felan.
Asteriskes moved 20' into the room and shot, but missed; Anaka moved 30' further and threw another dagger, but missed; Dwarf Sentry targeted Felan, hitting for 2; Felan advanced another 30' feet and again swung his sling, scoring a critical hit for 6 and taking him down.
With combat over, Anaka went to the sentry and slit his throat. She fumbled through his clothes, but didn't find anything. Felan and Asteriskes both came over and searched the corpse and found quite a bit of stuff. Next they turned their attention to the flecks in the stalagmites and stalactites. The Dwarf's keen knowledge of such things told him it was only pyrite. Looking over the rest of the room yielded nothing.
Retracing their steps a bit, the group headed into what they estimated to be the center of the complex. This part of the cavern had several dirty straw mattresses lying near the eastern cavern wall. They were dangerously close to the dying embers of a campfire. A wooden chest, reinforced with steel bands, sat atop a small pile of rubble to the north.
Anaka headed straight for the chest. It was not trapped, it was locked, however, so she picked the lock. Inside were 50 bolts, 2 short swords, a bullseye lantern, some flasks of oil, parchment, and quills -- in short, a supply chest for whoever camped here. Next Anaka turned her attention to the rubble on which the chest sat, she found a trap therein and went to work on it immediately. While at work on it, she discovered that it would be set off by lifting the chest off the pile. She continued to work at it until she was able to disarm it. As she worked, Felan and Asteriskes searched the area around the campfire, but found nothing.
They left the room and continued north. The tunnel lead them to a vast, open cavern which stretched well over 60 feet long and 100 feet wide. They heard the odd sound of singing. "Hey, ho, don't you know, please don't eat the yellow...." Standing near a tunnel entrance in the northern portion of the cavern was an extremely short Dwarf with a long, tangled beard. He twirled his gleaming short sword , deftly, in one hand. In between spins, he admired his reflection in the shiny blade. He had a crossbow strapped to his back. "Well, hello, my lovelies! Come for a spot of tea? ... Or blood?!" Cackled the Derro, spotting the adventurers.
The Derro whipped his crossbow over his shoulder and fired upon the party, targeting Asteriskes, but missing.
Anaka moved up and threw a dagger, but missed; Felan closed and punched the Derro, but missed; Admiral Barky flanked and attacked, biting for 8; Asteriskes moved into melee range; Derro drew his scimitar and attacked Felan, but missed.
Anaka closed and attacked, but missed; Felan punched the Derro, hitting critically for 12 and knocking him down.
THE FUNNY THINGS:
Ken and Cathy, about the king: Oh, no the king is asking us to come into his parlor! - He's not a spider. - Do we know that?
Cathy, Katy, Bruce, and Ken, about the party's adversary: He's a half-dragon. - He's only got one wing. - He flies around in circles. - That's why they're always able to catch him!
Cathy and Ken, about a particular of gameplay: What's your marching order? - In place!
Cathy and Bruce, as the party reached a fork in the road: Do you want to stop here or go on? - Let us stop here ... and die!
Bruce, about the search rolls the party made: I thought I was searching the body, but actually I just tripped over it.
Cathy and Ken, about the difficult terrain: Well, I didn't let you charge. - Nope, cash only.
THE ADVENTURE:
The party had previously come to the attention of the king and he was most pleased with them. So it wasn't too surprising when King Reginald sent a summons to the threesome asking them to come to Montrill where he was picking up his annual addition to the Crown Jewels. The newest royal scepter - masterwork of platinum studded with peridots and diamonds - had been stolen. The suspect was a well-known jewel thief named Robie, a Half-Dragon who lived in the mountains north of Montrill. He tended to stash stolen goods in caves and come back for them later. He never wandered far from Montrill and was a master of disguise as well as the use of poison. He was spotted near a cave three days from Montrill; it was not known whether he had followers or accomplices.
The king's messenger handed the adventurers each a small purse containing 30,000gp for supplies. His majesty's letter promised additional payment when the scepter was returned. It closed with, "Don't delay, but make every effort to arrive here unharmed." His task completed, the royal messenger bowed to the group, remounted his horse, and rode away.
The adventurers knew that the road they would have to travel was plagued by a large band of highwaymen. These renegades attacked travelers going between the capitol city of Nodnol and Woodside, whence the party would embark. However, there was also a caravan which traveled the same route the group must take. It followed a routine, continuous circuit from Nodnol to Montrill and back again, stopping at each city along the way. Anyone was welcome to book passage with the caravan (free, including board) as long as they also served as guards. Thus the caravan was very safe. It was also currently in Woodside.
So, Asteriskes Brassclanger the Dwarven fighter, Anaka Smythe the Human thief, and Felan Darragh the Human druid headed up the street to get supplies. When they were satisfied with their purchases they went to meet up with the caravan leader to book passage to Montrill. They were welcomed by the caravan leader who told them to return at dawn the next day when they would get on the road to Westhaven. It was an easy day's ride and they arrived safely, making camp just outside the fortress-town's walls. The caravan spent 6 days encamped. It was rather like a summer faire, with booths of wares and performers at every turn. Anaka spent an afternoon fulfilling her familial obligations by visiting her parents.
Eventually, its business concluded, the caravan got on the road to Montrill. Ten days of travel, with all the group members taking their turns on guard duty, passed uneventfully. They had barely arrived in town when a servant of the king sought them out. "Come with me to the mayor's house. His Majesty intends to meet you there."
When they reached the mayor's house, the messenger showed them in to chambers which had been prepared for them. "These rooms are reserved for you, please make yourself comfortable. His Honor the Mayor is expecting you and deems you his guests. Dinner is at 7, the mayor will join you then." With that, King Reginald's servant left and shortly thereafter a household servant knocked an entered to inform the adventurers that the bathhouse was at their disposal. They were also encouraged to exchange their traveling clothes for the dinner dress outfits set out for them. The party readily took advantage of the opportunity to clean up after long days on the road, and were also happy to know that the mayor's laundress would willingly wash their clothes.
At 7pm they were escorted to the dining hall where a sumptuous feast was laid. King Reginald rose from his seat at the head of the table to welcome the adventurers. Anaka curtsied while Felan and Asteriskes bowed. The king waved such formalities aside and beckoned the group to their seats, where he greeted them warmly. After a delightful meal accompanied by casual conversation, King Reginald got down to business.
"We have learned that the thief, Robie, is really named Itharnos Cyvorak. It also happens that he has a group of fanatical followers. Under his leadership, they hope to gain control of the Silver Mountains and its riches," the king said. "We don't believe that he, and they, can do this, but he could be a nuisance and could possibly disrupt our mining operations. We can give you directions to his last known location. We want to nip this in the bud."
When the party nodded, King Reginald went on to say that he would send a guide to them in the morning to lead them to a good starting point in their search.
After an uneventful and relaxing night, the party woke, breakfasted, and were greeted by the king's servant who lead them towards the mines. As they left town, they saw King Reginald himself riding off in the other direction on an early-morning hunt. The rest of their ride was easy and they reached the base of the mine area just about noon. They paused to eat. After their quick meal, the royal servant gave them directions to the last-known siting of the thief Robie, then headed back to town.
The group made some progress before making camp for the night. Felan took the first watch. It passed uneventfully. As did both Asteriskes' and Anaka's. Morning arrived and the adventurers broke their fast. Then they continued along the path, encountering nothing, until nightfall. Establishing camp once again. Felan used his Survival skills and caught enough "food" to make a meal for the whole group.
The next morning they again set out, paying close attention to their surroundings as they knew they were near the cave the king had mentioned. Asteriskes was in the lead, followed by Felan, and Anaka. Just as the Dwarf noticed the ground shaking, but before he could mention a possible earthquake to the others, a tremor shook the entire path. The adventurers lost their footing and fell as the ground beneath them collapsed, sending them tumbling into an underground cave.
When the deafening noise subsided and the dust cleared, they saw that they were in a rather desperate situation. Unending piles of gigantic boulders walled off both the path ahead of and behind them, effectively trapping them in an underground tomb. With few options left, they began to dig. After hours of excavation, however, they managed to uncover the entrance to a small, narrow tunnel. A faint, flickering light shone somewhere at the tunnel's end. The party carefully picked their way towards the light.
Eventually, they reached the source of the glow - a still-burning torch, lying at the feet of a dead, dwarf-like creature, partially covered by rubble. The creature had a thick, black, tangled beard and wore studded leather armor. He had apparently died horribly just prior to the cave-in, judging from the many bloody wounds on his chest and face. He still held his blood-stained axe. Approximately 20 feet away from this corpse was another one. Like its companion, this dwarf-like being apparently died in battle just before the cave-in. He also still clutched his weapon - a bloody dagger.
The Dwarf recognized the bodies as Derros -- insane, distant relatives of Dwarves. They were degenerate creatures of the underground, created from Dwarf and Human stock by some nameless deity of darkness and madness. Incredibly cruel and mercilessly insane, Derros enjoyed taking slaves and torturing surface-dwellers to death. It was probably good for the group that these two were already dead. The cavern itself was massive. Roughly circular in shape, it measured approximately 90 feet in diameter with a 20 foot wide column of stone rising from floor to ceiling in the center. There were two tunnels, besides the one which had collapsed on the party, exiting the room. Other than the dagger and the axe the Derros were holding, the adventurers did not find anything of interest in their search of the area. They took the weapons and then threw the bodies into the collapsed walkway through which they themselves had entered the room. As they were moving the bodies, a note fell out of one of the corpses' pockets.
"Don't forget! Gortug sez - hood hate nasty purple wine! Makes hood drinkz purple wine if hood gets mad. Otherwise derro turn purple too!! And DIE!! SO!!! DON'T FORGET!!!"
Looking for "purple wine," Anaka searched that corpse more closely and found 6gp in a pocket. She searched the other one, but found nothing. Felan checked that corpse, too, and found 6 more gp. They searched the room more closely and found nothing but rubble.
Felan headed to the nearest path out of the room and listened, but heard nothing. He went to the next one and listened, still hearing nothing. At the last branch, he also heard nothing. After a brief discussion, the party decided to continue on, looking for a safer place to camp. They chose the first tunnel, which branched off due west, primarily from a decision to follow the left-hand wall.
Thousands of razor-sharp stalactites hung from the ceiling of the immense cavern, which was at least 60 feet wide and 80 feet long. As they entered the room, they heard the sound of boots scraping against the stone and saw a Dwarven warrior staring angrily at them. He was clad in rusted, worn chainmail armor. He lifted his warhammer above his head and, with a sharp cry, charged the party.
Anaka entered the room and closed with the adversary, she threw her dagger, but missed; Admiral Barky, Felan's animal companion, rushed into the room and barked loudly; Asteriskes drew his longbow and shot, but missed; Dwarf Sentry closed with Anaka, missing his attack; Felan closed with Dwarf Sentry and attacked, but missed.
Anaka struck Dwarf Sentry, hitting for 4; Admiral Barky flanked Dwarf Sentry, but missed; Asteriskes closed and attacked, hitting for 20 points, knocking the Dwarf Sentry down, and subsequently covering him in frost; Felan performed the coup de gras with a bare-handed twist of the Dwarf Sentry's neck.
After looting the body, they proceeded to search the cavern. They came across a smaller cavern, in which they found an unlocked chest. Anaka checked it for traps and found none, so they opened it. Realizing it was late, and weary from their travails, the group decided to settle in for the night, sheltering in the closet-like cave. They dragged the sentry's body into the cave to cover their tracks, and then set up camp. As they hid the body in the cave, Asteriskes mentioned that the sentry was a Duregar. When they were ready, Felan took the first watch, followed by Asteriskes, and Anaka. The night passed uneventfully.
In the morning they headed out into the main cave and continued following the left wall. They were now heading north.
As they entered this part of the caverns, they immediately saw a large, shallow pool of water, roughly 20 feet wide and 40 feet long. Although the water appeared clear and cool, the ground immediately surround the pool was muddy and smelled awful. Toward the south, they saw what appeared to be a small, natural alcove - which was filled with bones and refuse.
Felan deduced that the mud was comprised of bat and scorpion droppings, which accounted for the smell. Anaka searched the room, but found nothing. She looked at the pile of bones, but couldn't figure out what they were about, so Felan came to search them. Two small, monstrous Scorpions, disturbed by the Druid's poking, came out of the pile of bones which was their lair.
Asteriskes attacked a Scorpion, hitting and taking it out; Anaka moved 5 feet, and threw her dagger, striking the other Scorpion and killing it. After retrieving her dagger, she searched the area, but found nothing.
Looking about the room again, and thinking about the portion of the complex they'd explored so far, the party decided to forego following the left wall and take the path which lead them more into the center. This would allow them to see what they may have missed, simply by skirting by it before. After a bit of walking they ended up in.
This V-shaped section of the cavern was covered with many short, sharp stalagmites -- which glinted with flecks of silver and gold, making the room look like a sweeping field of stone and sparkling metals. At the northwest end of the chamber was a dour-looking Dwarf, dressed in a gray cloak and chainmail armor. He had a crossbow at the ready as he stood by one of the tunnels which exited the room.
Asteriskes drew his bow, but missed; Anaka moved 30' into the room and threw her dagger, hitting for 6; Dwarf Sentry targeted Felan, but missed; Felan moved 30' into the room, drew his sling, and attacked, but missed; Admiral Barky moved up next to Felan.
Asteriskes moved 20' into the room and shot, but missed; Anaka moved 30' further and threw another dagger, but missed; Dwarf Sentry targeted Felan, hitting for 2; Felan advanced another 30' feet and again swung his sling, scoring a critical hit for 6 and taking him down.
With combat over, Anaka went to the sentry and slit his throat. She fumbled through his clothes, but didn't find anything. Felan and Asteriskes both came over and searched the corpse and found quite a bit of stuff. Next they turned their attention to the flecks in the stalagmites and stalactites. The Dwarf's keen knowledge of such things told him it was only pyrite. Looking over the rest of the room yielded nothing.
Retracing their steps a bit, the group headed into what they estimated to be the center of the complex. This part of the cavern had several dirty straw mattresses lying near the eastern cavern wall. They were dangerously close to the dying embers of a campfire. A wooden chest, reinforced with steel bands, sat atop a small pile of rubble to the north.
Anaka headed straight for the chest. It was not trapped, it was locked, however, so she picked the lock. Inside were 50 bolts, 2 short swords, a bullseye lantern, some flasks of oil, parchment, and quills -- in short, a supply chest for whoever camped here. Next Anaka turned her attention to the rubble on which the chest sat, she found a trap therein and went to work on it immediately. While at work on it, she discovered that it would be set off by lifting the chest off the pile. She continued to work at it until she was able to disarm it. As she worked, Felan and Asteriskes searched the area around the campfire, but found nothing.
They left the room and continued north. The tunnel lead them to a vast, open cavern which stretched well over 60 feet long and 100 feet wide. They heard the odd sound of singing. "Hey, ho, don't you know, please don't eat the yellow...." Standing near a tunnel entrance in the northern portion of the cavern was an extremely short Dwarf with a long, tangled beard. He twirled his gleaming short sword , deftly, in one hand. In between spins, he admired his reflection in the shiny blade. He had a crossbow strapped to his back. "Well, hello, my lovelies! Come for a spot of tea? ... Or blood?!" Cackled the Derro, spotting the adventurers.
The Derro whipped his crossbow over his shoulder and fired upon the party, targeting Asteriskes, but missing.
Anaka moved up and threw a dagger, but missed; Felan closed and punched the Derro, but missed; Admiral Barky flanked and attacked, biting for 8; Asteriskes moved into melee range; Derro drew his scimitar and attacked Felan, but missed.
Anaka closed and attacked, but missed; Felan punched the Derro, hitting critically for 12 and knocking him down.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
D&D Back-Tracking
Our friend Ana has been posting the story of her group's gaming runs. It is such a fascinating -- and well told! -- adventure that I didn't even realize it was a gaming run until she mentioned it in a different post on her blog. That was also when I realized that I needed to get caught up on posting the adventures of our group...especially since we're about to start a new campaign! So, for those regular readers who follow our escapades, look for stuff labeled D and D or search back through the older posts because I am going to back-date the adventures to the dates we actually played. After I go read what Ana's group has been up to, that is!
UPDATE (as of September 19): I have posted the last four runs of the Adventures of Fnord, Hagbarde, Maeve, and Friends. They can be read here, here, here, and here. Our new campaign (with new characters!) hits the road tomorrow.
UPDATE (as of September 19): I have posted the last four runs of the Adventures of Fnord, Hagbarde, Maeve, and Friends. They can be read here, here, here, and here. Our new campaign (with new characters!) hits the road tomorrow.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Meeting An Idol
As anyone who knows me, reads this blog, or maybe even has just met me in the street knows -- Styx is my all-time favorite band. For those one or two people who might have missed it, I have been a fan since I was 13 years old and first saw them on the newly-launched (at that time) MTV. I immediately went out and spent my allowance and baby-sitting money to buy their albums and continued my pursuit over the years until I owned them all. I have the entire original run on vinyl as well as CD and am still collecting, having acquired the new releases, too. My favorite song is "Come Sail Away," preferably the live version, my favorite album is Cornerstone, and I could go on to tell which song is my favorite on which album, but that's not really the point.
The point is that my station ran the concert The Music of Styx - Live with Symphony Orchestra this past Monday night...and Dennis DeYoung (lead singer, founding member) was live in our studio pledging with our staff! Can you imagine what a moment this was for me?! For 27 years they have been my favorite band, I still listen to their music, I have a Styx-specific playlist in iTunes and a Styx channel on Pandora; I still love the stuff, the songs have held up really well and are still just awesome jams.
So, even though I work the day shift, I stuck around late on Monday -- wearing my Return to the Paradise Theatre 1996 tour t-shirt -- just to meet Dennis DeYoung. Shannon, my anchorwoman, who is about my age, was just as excited as I was; we talked about what a big deal this concert is for folks of our generation. When Dennis had arrived, had make-up, and was settled in the green room to prep for the night, Shannon pulled me in and introduced me. Dennis in turn introduced me to his wife, Suzanne, who was here with him. They are both incredibly nice, down-home, fun people.
Amazingly, I managed to speak coherently, too! I told Dennis how I have been a fan for 27 years and counting, and thanked him for all that his music has meant to me. He noted my tour t-shirt, and I said that I had also seen him in Dayton in 2002. He remembered that show right away -- the second half got rained out -- and I got to share how that is one of my favorite memories, being among the several hundred folks who stuck it out through the storm and stood under blankets in the pouring rain singing "Come Sail Away" at the top of our lungs (miss you, Al and Tom!) before they decided they had to cancel the rest of the show. Shortly after that, prep for the live studio segments began in earnest so I had to get out of the way, but my friends on the crew insisted that I stick around a little longer.
After the first live studio segment was finished, one of my coworkers and I headed down to the studio and I was able to get my picture taken with Dennis and Suzanne. Dennis also noticed that I had brought in one of my albums (Pieces of Eight, pressed on gold vinyl no less -- thanks, Patrick!) and asked me if I'd like him to sign it. I said I would love that and handed him the Sharpie off my ID lanyard (don't all directors carry Sharpies?). I also took the opportunity to show him that the album was on gold vinyl. He joked that it had "yellowed over the years" and I replied that I keep it in the basement (of course, I don't really!). Anyway, he signed my album and I thanked him again for everything. Then I went home and watched the last half of the concert on TV. It was awesome and so was he -- definitely a wonderful moment in my life, one I will remember for a long, long time.
The point is that my station ran the concert The Music of Styx - Live with Symphony Orchestra this past Monday night...and Dennis DeYoung (lead singer, founding member) was live in our studio pledging with our staff! Can you imagine what a moment this was for me?! For 27 years they have been my favorite band, I still listen to their music, I have a Styx-specific playlist in iTunes and a Styx channel on Pandora; I still love the stuff, the songs have held up really well and are still just awesome jams.
So, even though I work the day shift, I stuck around late on Monday -- wearing my Return to the Paradise Theatre 1996 tour t-shirt -- just to meet Dennis DeYoung. Shannon, my anchorwoman, who is about my age, was just as excited as I was; we talked about what a big deal this concert is for folks of our generation. When Dennis had arrived, had make-up, and was settled in the green room to prep for the night, Shannon pulled me in and introduced me. Dennis in turn introduced me to his wife, Suzanne, who was here with him. They are both incredibly nice, down-home, fun people.
Amazingly, I managed to speak coherently, too! I told Dennis how I have been a fan for 27 years and counting, and thanked him for all that his music has meant to me. He noted my tour t-shirt, and I said that I had also seen him in Dayton in 2002. He remembered that show right away -- the second half got rained out -- and I got to share how that is one of my favorite memories, being among the several hundred folks who stuck it out through the storm and stood under blankets in the pouring rain singing "Come Sail Away" at the top of our lungs (miss you, Al and Tom!) before they decided they had to cancel the rest of the show. Shortly after that, prep for the live studio segments began in earnest so I had to get out of the way, but my friends on the crew insisted that I stick around a little longer.
After the first live studio segment was finished, one of my coworkers and I headed down to the studio and I was able to get my picture taken with Dennis and Suzanne. Dennis also noticed that I had brought in one of my albums (Pieces of Eight, pressed on gold vinyl no less -- thanks, Patrick!) and asked me if I'd like him to sign it. I said I would love that and handed him the Sharpie off my ID lanyard (don't all directors carry Sharpies?). I also took the opportunity to show him that the album was on gold vinyl. He joked that it had "yellowed over the years" and I replied that I keep it in the basement (of course, I don't really!). Anyway, he signed my album and I thanked him again for everything. Then I went home and watched the last half of the concert on TV. It was awesome and so was he -- definitely a wonderful moment in my life, one I will remember for a long, long time.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Happy Toy No Food
A couple of weeks ago we took in Star Wars: The Clone Wars -- of course we did, you can't keep us away from a Star Wars film! It's not bad, as long as you realize that it's a kids' movie, and a cartoon at that. Only three of the original voice talents perform in this movie which is set in between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. The plot is very basic, and the acting is just okay, but it was fun overall.
Afterward, we headed to McDonald's because there's a cross-promotion going on and we wanted to get in on it. The clerk told us they wouldn't have any of the Happy Meal toys until the next day. So, we ended up having double cheeseburgers several times that weekend -- you don't have to buy Happy Meals to get the toys, you just have to buy them. We've got 4 of the toys -- three pull-back racers and the talking Vader. The title of this post is what was printed on our receipt, sounds sort of like a Star Wars Fortune cookie, doesn't it?
Afterward, we headed to McDonald's because there's a cross-promotion going on and we wanted to get in on it. The clerk told us they wouldn't have any of the Happy Meal toys until the next day. So, we ended up having double cheeseburgers several times that weekend -- you don't have to buy Happy Meals to get the toys, you just have to buy them. We've got 4 of the toys -- three pull-back racers and the talking Vader. The title of this post is what was printed on our receipt, sounds sort of like a Star Wars Fortune cookie, doesn't it?
Monday, September 1, 2008
Franglais
As regular readers are already aware, I am bilingual, speaking both English and French. My mother, a language teacher, began speaking French with me earlier than I can even remember and we have been speaking it together ever since. I lived and studied in France for six months during my junior term overseas. I have not kept up my French as much as I would like, but you will still catch me speaking it -- in fact, there are some things I say more automatically in French than in English! Such as:
Quelle heure est? -- What time is it?
Qu'est-ce que c'est? -- What is that?
Qu'est-ce qui ce passe? -- What's happening?
Quel jour! -- What a day!
On y va! -- Off we go! (or, often when I am in heavy traffic: let's GO!)
Quelle heure est? -- What time is it?
Qu'est-ce que c'est? -- What is that?
Qu'est-ce qui ce passe? -- What's happening?
Quel jour! -- What a day!
On y va! -- Off we go! (or, often when I am in heavy traffic: let's GO!)
Friday, August 22, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Twelve-ish Days in Ohio
As readers have probably gleaned from the previous post, we recently experienced a family tragedy in the loss of my paternal grandmother. It was a difficult time for us, but the entire family was able to make it to town and be there together -- for each other and for GG. This would not have been possible without the tremendous help of our coworkers here in NC, who willingly picked up extra shifts and wrangled crazy vacation schedules to cover both Bruce and me. Nor would it have been possible without the love and support of our friends and extended family who blessed us with everything from kind emails at just the right time to dinners out away from the stressful times to extra beds in their homes and so much more. It was so important to both of us that we be in Toledo with our family. We are very thankful to everyone who made that possible.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Elephant
My cousins are on the sofa --
firsts & removeds alike --
my aunts are in the kitchen,
parents, too, I think,
my uncle is on the porch -- grilling --
there is food everywhere
& booze, too
everyone is laughing
because no one wants to cry
this is grandma's house,
but grandma isn't here.
For days we've sat by her hospital bed --
sometimes talking, sometimes not --
nurses have gone back & forth
on the patio, in the lobby
plans have been made & unmade,
questions asked & things left unsaid
everyone is hugging
because no one wants to cry
we're at grandma's house,
but grandma isn't here.
-- kml 7/30/08
firsts & removeds alike --
my aunts are in the kitchen,
parents, too, I think,
my uncle is on the porch -- grilling --
there is food everywhere
& booze, too
everyone is laughing
because no one wants to cry
this is grandma's house,
but grandma isn't here.
For days we've sat by her hospital bed --
sometimes talking, sometimes not --
nurses have gone back & forth
on the patio, in the lobby
plans have been made & unmade,
questions asked & things left unsaid
everyone is hugging
because no one wants to cry
we're at grandma's house,
but grandma isn't here.
-- kml 7/30/08
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