D&D
2e Campaign 2
Erpetos
By Andrew d'Entremont
A
rider of dragons, taming the wild magick,
His sire met an end (Quite Tragic).
The intellects keen, the mind is strong,
A good friend to have, when the road is long.
A
man of the woods, and silvan setting.
Hobbies include bear petting.
Powerful muscles, as a living Hercules,
A calm as liquid as mercury
A
noble savage, religious man,
from the trees, he has fled from his own clan.
Wise as the bear, and as strong a will.
A good man before, a good man still.
A
rogueish charm, agile fingers,
The deed is done, never linger.
Watch your coffer, indeed, watch your fief;
Ah! 'Tis the life of a thief!
A
killer, murderous, killing fool;
Willing to torture, victimize, be cruel.
Still, a fine fighter; deft with his hands.
Master of stealth: air, sea, and land.
The
five, the serpents, Erpertos too;
We give the evil, the heinous, their due.
Hundred's of orcs, we've sent to death's door;
Trolls, liches, shadows and more. Death to the ogres!
Dragons we've felled! Killing the dead, and demons from hell!
More and more glory, with more and more slain,
Villainous beings, never rise again.
We battle those evils that wish to kill life,
Promoting chaos, disorder, and strife.
So fear us not! We of the Light Brigade!
We wait for the glory of fortune's made,
We know that in to your songs you will let us,
For we are the serpents...ERPETOS!
The
Gray Queen
Characters
Participating:
Joseph the Dark
Lorius the Healer
Sengir
Ragnar the Silent
This
following section I did not actually experience, but the memory was
retained from Josephs memory during the switching.
We were under the mountain of dread, raiding its cavernous halls to
be free of the filth that inhabit it. We enter a large room, in the
middle is a stylized symbol that is glowing slightly. Not knowing we
step into the middle of it, and find our selves in the middle of a field.
Walking down the nearest trail we soon came to a broken down carrige,
next to it was a man, obviously a priest, looking quite angry. We greeted
him, and he greeted us back. He explained to us that he was part of
a caravan bringing a sacred helm that grants extrordinary powers, until
the helm was stolen. If we were to find it, and return it to him he
would pay us handsomely, and we would be on very good terms with the
head of his church, the High Priestess Thona. We quickly agreed to this
for three reasons.
One:
We need all the money we can get
Two: Being on good terms with someone in this strange new realm is good
Three: We're adventurers, thats what we do.
The
priest point in a direction and says he saw the thieves go. We set out
after them. After a few hours of traveling through thick brush we came
across a dead man, with a smashed crate around him, one fragment of
the crate says 'For delivery to the High Priestess Thona' This must
have been what the helm was stored in.
Looking around we saw that we were in a small glade in a mountainous
rocky region. On the far side of the glade there was an cave opening.
We made our way towards it. Ventureing deeper inside the cavern we soonc
ame upon rows and rows and mushrooms. It soon became obvious that there
were a few of them following us! We continued onward, still wary of
the shrooms following us, but they didn't seem to mean any harm. It
soon became apparent that they were, in actuality escorting us through
the cave. After a short hike he came to a huge colony of mushrooms.
The home of the myconids. A sometimes peacful race, they are quick to
anger. It was clear from the looks on their...uhm.....faces, that they
were in peril.
Two of the larger creatures came up to us and seemed like they were
about to rip us apart. I, being the kind person I am began asking if
I could assist them with anything, if there was anything we could do
to help them. They responded with spraying with a cloud of spores. In
a flash of realization, everything came to me.
A group of adventurers broke into the colony, and fought their way into
the heart of the myconid dwellings. Looting and pillaging as they went,
until finally only one of the adventurers remained to face the mushroom
king. Both died in an epic struggle. The king, with his dying breath,
coughed out a cloud of spores, in order to create a new king. The spores
of the Myconid king intermixed with the blood, and body of the Adventurer,
and the Gray Queen was formed. Half Myconid, Half Human. Completely
Evil. The Queen was utterly insane, and imparted the insaness onto the
entire myconid colony. Some were able to resist her coersions, and began
a resistance group. "Help us" the voice pleaded from inside my head.
When I regained a sense of my surroundings I took to action at once.
We had to help these poor creatures, and quickly. The Erpetos set to
work. Hacking our way into the middle of the colony I fought in a blind
rage. Casting spells as we went along, we soon came to the "throne room",
where the evil Queen,clad in the helm we sought, was guarded by two
massive creatures that stood in vigilance. Ragnar snuck as best he could
to observe their tactics. He wasn't quiet enough. They saw him and the
Queen hissed orders to her massive guardians. We fell back to a more
secure position, and pulled out our bows, arrows, dart, and whatever
other missile weapons we had, and began the attack. Before the enemy
was upon us we downed one of the giant mushrooms, and the other was
burning down to a stump (Thanks to quick thinking on my part, and Ragnar's
skill with a bow). Before long all that was left is the queen herself.
Who soon fell to our relentless onslaught. We were victorius.
On
our way out of the cave the Myconids regarded us with quiet thanks,
but did not openly thank us, nothing was expected because it was a group
of adventurers, very much like ourselves, that caused this whole event
in the first place. Taking the helm back to the caravan master, he,
and our group made our way to the city that the high Priestess Thona
lived. She greeted us, and bestowed upon us the Faith of Firehair. A
medal only given to the higher ranking, and esteemed adventurers. She
bade us welcome to stay in the church for a time,and we accepted. Recovering
from our wounds, and becoming stronger.
Dragon's
Den
I
had been experimenting with wild magic for some time, and new the risks,
but this spell seemed harmless. I tried it out, and when I looked around
me again I was in what obviously seemed a temple. Memories flooded to
me, and I realized that I had exchanged bodies with someone stronger
than I. No problem, this was great for me. Taking advantage of the situation
I walked out into the hallway and looked around for something to eat.
The only thing I remember is that I was slammed into a wall, and held
a knifepoint until I explained what had happened. It seemed that the
Erpetos, the group of which this body belonged to, did not believe I
came here by accident. I was saved though, by the High Priestess Thona,
a priestess of which I've had dealings with in the past. She happened
to be wandering the halls, and saved me from certain death at the hands
of one vile thief, who I would later learn was named Ragnar the Silent.
They quickly accepted me into their group, and we set off in search
of work. Wandering the town we saw a poster that read...I find it hard
to recall in my old age, but I believe it said something to the means
of
"Adventureres wanted for Dragon Slaying, Wealth and Fame rewarded."
We went to the location that the poster said, and quickly signed up.
On our way out we met a very shadowy figure in search of work. His name,
as he told it was FurrowFoot the Nimble, known to many (but not for
long) as the Five O'clock Shadow, one of the more deadly assasins in
Sembia. We accepted him into our group, and set out on our quest. To
slay a black dragon from the nearby swamp.
We reached the area cavern of the great beast about mid-day, and looked
around for some means of entry. The first way in, out of four, was blocked
by a large boulder. The second Was under the swamp water. The third
was near a large Lizard man encampment. The fourth was guarded by vicious
snakes. We chose the snakes and entered. Lorius, being the brash and
foolish immediately smashed his mace on the floor, and was weaponless.
We very quickly dispatched the enemies in the room and continued onward.
In little under an hour we tore through the dwelling of the massive
beast, and soon found our way through to his lair. Obviously he was
tipped off by some 1/2 slain lizard person, for he was prepared for
us. As soon as we entered he sent his broodlings to tear us apart before
we could get to him. We showed him quite wrong, for we put an arrow
through the head of the lead one, and cast a powerful sleeping spell
on the other. This left the main Dragon. Fearing for the life of her
hatchlings she pleaded with us to spare the other, surving infant. We
convened a short council. That was one of the stupidist thing I've ever
done, trusting a dragon like that. Taking us by suprise it spewed a
massive fan of acid, and reduced Lorius, and our new ninja ally to a
puddle of goop. We did not take kindly to this. I managed to cast a
sleep spell powerful enough to put out the massive beast, driving a
blade through its brain. Putting it out of its misery. We made our way
back to the town, and were greeted with great celebration and praise.
We returned to the Church. Had what was left of furrowfoot ressurected,
and waited to go out on our next adventure.
Wyrmhaven
Characters
Participating
Ronar Dragonrider
Sengir
Ragnar the Silent
Furrowfoot the Nimble - The 5 O'clock shadow
Tholdel Thoreu
This quest by comparison was one of the harder I have yet faced. Though
this time around we were far more well prepared for it. The high priestess
Thona was kind enough to ressurect Furrowfoot (for a price), and she
gave us a cleric to help us in our journey. Suprisingly, this new cleric
had the same mannerisms as Lorius did. Grudgingly we accepted him into
the group, but he proved to be a valuable ally. When we got him talking
he explained to us that he had a personal vendetta against dragons of
all sorts. The village that he was from was destroyed by a flight of
Reds, one of the most fearsome type of dragon.
Once we had acquainted ourselves with the surroundings we set out to
get our briefing for the Baliff Wartley. When we arrived he had all
of our things ready. Much the same stuff as the previous quest. When
he finished handing out our belongings his secretary, Sascia came in
and filled us in on the rest of the mission. She explained that along
the hills where the Dallow Keep stands there a many limestone caves.
One of which a massive green dragon has taken up residence. Shortly
after the dragon moved in a colony of trogs moved in as well, serving
the dragon in return for a few magical items. She bade us good luck
and we set off. Two days later we arrived at the cave that the dragon
inhabited, and we set off immediately, after a short rest. Sascia's
information proved to be correct for in the first chamber we encountered
a group of six trogs were waiting. Four of them ran towords a door on
the far side of the room. Tholdel (The cleric that was given to our
cause) quickly called upon the power of his god, and cast a ethereal
barrier over the wall, barring their path. It went on as such as we
stormed through the cavernous caverns, and laid waste to all sorts of
Trogs, collecting magically cursed items as we went (and giving them
graciously to Tholdel).
Before long we entered a room covered in spider webs. Near the roof
a child-shaped form hung wrapped in webs. We cut it down, and a camatose
body of a half-ling rolled out. He had two puncture marks on his neck
that looked remarkably like spider bites. We used a scroll of Poison
antitode on him. When he revived he thanked us profusely, and offered
to have us stay with him any time we wanted. We escorted him back to
his house, back him goodbye, and returned back to the room full of webs.
We cautiously inched our way through it slicing webs and looking for
more treasure. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere a massive spider dropped
down almost on top of Sengir. Having his sword of quickness out already
he quickly diced it up. We burst into the next room and prepared to
lay waste to whatever foes lay in waiting. We all stopped abruptly as
a ghostly appartition stood before us holding a glowing green skull,
which it quickly lobbed at us. The skull exploded in a flash of green
light, blinding all of us. When we could again see we set out to destroy
the evil wraith. I cast spells at it, Sengir tried to hack it, Tholdel
tried to turn it. All of which were of no use. When it didnt even move
we knew something was wrong. After another minute or so it just vanished.
It was only an illusion meant to delay us. Donning our water helms we
rushed into the lair of the dragon to find....darkness. Absolte total
darkness. Pulling out our gems of continual light we quickly ward the
darkness away. There, staring back at us was not one, not two, but three
green dragons. Obviously our intelligence data had been wrong. Simultaneously
all three of them began to breath a cloud of chlorine gas, mean to destroy
our lungs, but, with our helms, it had no effect. We had the final laugh
in that.....at least until it began to attack us physically. Not giving
it the chance to attack us we quickly put arrows through two of them.
They instantly vanished and it was then that I realized that they were
only illusions, meant to scare us out of our wits. It had worked, and
I needed to wash my cloak. Enraged at out deception he began attacking.
Sengir, blade darting and dodging the claws and teeth of the massive
green managed to shred its wing to tatters. In a last ditch effort to
save itself the dragon lifted as high as it could in its cave and came
down aimed right at Furrowfoot. Our deft Ninja got the better of him,
dodging the hulk, and attack further. Taking initiative I quickly made
preperations to cast my 'Mighty Magic Mushroom' spell. With mutterings
of acrane words, and odd contortion the mushroom shaped energy streaked
from my hands and struck home. The dragon fell over in a heap. As did
we, but from exhaustion rather than death. Seemingly as soon as we were
down a group of armed, female Troglodytes ran into the room. I tried
to cast a spell, but it only ended in a wild surge. The troglodytes
are still lusting after me. I must learn a remove curse spell. Searching
the room we found the usual dragon hoard treasure, but then, purely
by accident I found a treasure worth more than any gold. A dragon egg.
League of the Red Serpents
Characters participating:
Ronar Dragonrider
Sengir
Tholdel Thoreau
Ragnar the Point
Furrowfoot the Nimble -The 5 O'clock Shadow
The
job was almost over. The town of Daerlun was almost rid of the Dragons
in the surrounding hills and swamps. We went to talk to Wartley for
information on the final quest. When we arrived at his office he was
there waiting for us. He informed us that this time we would be going
up against the most feared of all dragons. The red. Though we soon found
that there was more to this adventure than merely slaying a creature.
He began like so "The rolling limestone uplands along the Iron River
basin are orc country. The region is rugged, but the land is good. When
cleared of Monsters it should be excellent for farmland."
he then paused for a second and continued in a little more factual tone.
"The barbaric humanoid tribes of the region are organized in a loose
confederation - 'The league of the Red Serpents' in Common. I've long
suspected that the League has secret dealing with the Black Prince,
but charges, but bringing charges of treason against March Lord Draven
- who is Overmasters Elduth Yarnmaster's cousin - without irrefutable
evidence would be foolish."
He took a seat and signaled for us to do the same before continueing,
we each took a seat with the exception of Furrowfoot who was too untrustful
of anyone to do that. When almost all of us were seated he continued
once more.
"I have planted a spy in the League, a loyal agent of mine who has been
polymorphed into a bugbear. Gorol, or Dregdack as he is now known, is
a guard in the Leagues headquarters. The headquarters, by the way, are
a former Dwarven fortress."
We all knew that this would be difficult to get into, the dwarves are
known for their stoneworking skills. Wartley handed us a map and continued.
"Gorol has sent us this map and the following information: An envoy
from the Black Prince currently resides at the stronghold. Rumor suggests
that that the Black Prince and the League are trying to come to terms
on some plot."
Wartley turned to Sasica, his secretary to speak. "The Three major races
represented in the league - Orcs, Bugbears, and wererats are openly
hostile towards each other. They are only held together by the ambitious
schemes and commanding personaly of Lizhar the orc lord, the ostensible
dictator of the League. Luzagar is only a figureheadm however, possible
charmed or impersonated in polymorphed form. The real power in the league
, according to Gorol, is a red dragon. Possibly the same Red dragon
raiding farm settlements around Hooknose Crag. Gorol says it's a small
red, no more than fifty years old, but almsot certaintly a spellcaster.
"Gorol will arrange to be captured by you and will assist you in your
quest. You will recognize him by the red cap he wears. be careful not
to slay him. Thats all." Sascia finished If the stories we had heard
about the Reds were true were going to need all the help we could get.
We would be very careful not to slay him. After a few days journeying
we were outside of the Dwarven hall. We then reviewed our objectives.
·
1) Seek out, capture and get a report from Goral ·
2)Get evidence of ANY cooperation between the League and the Black Prince
·
3) Slay or subdue the Red Dragon.
Our
objectives clear we slowly snuck into the darkened hall. Once inside
we say immediately in front of us, a stone wall with arrow slits in
it. Looking through it we saw 4 bugbears, and we could hear the snoring
of others not too far away. One of the creatures was wearing a red cap.
Walking forward to the slits Tholdel and I took care of them. I cast
a sleep spell on the entire group, while Tholdel cast a silence spell
to keep them quiet while we snuck around. To our horror, the four waking
bugbears fell in a circle, a red hat between all four of them. Before
we could reach the room that we silenced/slept earlier we encountered
another room with seven orcs. Lukily for us three of them were alseep.
After "taking care" of the orc problem and piling them up on one of
them beds we proceeded to the next room over, that contained that Bugbears.
Before they could fully awaken we tied them up and a gagged them. Once
fully awake we took each one individually out, and questioned them to
see if they really were a polymorphed human. Only the last one was.
We had a great pile of orcs and bugbears by the time we were done. Once
ungaged Gorol gave us the report on the fortress.
"The Black prince's envoy, Lord Gonzaga is in the room just up ahead,
marked Location #7 on that map I made. He's nobodies fool, but he doesn't
look like a fighter. Location #16-20 are for the bosses only - No underlings
permitted. A gaint and a Harpy guard these rooms, I head. There are
some human and demi-human prisoners in Location #15. Dont know anything
about them. Lots of Wererats, and rats in the western corridiors, it
could be dangerous. Orc, bugbear, and troll raiders in the east corridors.
Bad-tempered and vicious. Got a shaman too, so watch out. Doors are
locked if there;s a fuss. Needs two seperate keys but the keys work
for all the doors. Watch out for patrolls, they come every 10-20 minutes"
We began forward again, one of our objectives completed, still two left.
We went back the way we came, then down a corridor we previously passed.
We soon came to a door, and Rangar opened it carefully and silently
and looked in......to see the eye of a troll staring back. The troll
burst through the door and was about to attack us. I managed to throw
one of my missiles from the necklace around into the room behind the
troll, which was packed full of orcs, harpies, wererats, rats, and even
a giant. The explosion was huge, luckily the troll was there to shield
the blast from us. The troll got knocked out from the explosion, so
Sengir simply chopped off his head. Going back into the room we saw
bodies littered everywhere. three orcs, a giant, and part of a wererat
still remained. We disposed of them with much trouble. As we were about
to continue on our way we heard a noise behind us and Tholdel was knocked
for a loop. The Troll has regenerated. I quickly put it down permanantly
with a burning hands spell.
Again as we were about to leave that room Ragnar noticed a something
amiss on the wall. I tried using a knock scroll and the wall swung open,
revealing a nicely furnished room. At a table sat a smartly dressed
noble looking man in a linen tunic, and rich, brightly colored cape.
He opened up a snuff box, places it in his nose, and sniffs sharply,
then takes a handkerchief and pats his nose. We began to question him,
and search the room.
Taking affront to this he challenged one of us to a duel. Sengir accepted,
and made short work of him. We tied him up to get on the way back out.
This was obviously Lord Gonzaga. The rest of the hall seemed empty,
obviously we disposed of everyone in that fight. So we soon found our
way to the Dragons lair. Using on a knock spell on his door we rushed
in and spread out.....into total darkness.
We removed the continual light gems from our packs and soon we could
see the rest of the room which contained.....absolutely nothing. Pulling
out a scroll of Dispel Magic I read the words contained on it, and in
the corner of the room a Red Dragon appeared, looking very suprised
that we could see him. He didn't remained shocked for long as he spewed
flame from his belly striking Sengir and Rangar. Knocking the latter
out cold (Well, as cold as you can get when your on fire) Not wasting
any time either I fired off an ice missile freezing it where it stood.
We then went to work on it. and it was down in a matter of minutes.
By this time we had Dragon slaying down to a science. We gathered up
the dragon hoard, picked up Lord Gonzaga, and reported back to Wartley.
The Week of Hell
Characters
Participating:
Ronar Dragonrider
Sengir
Ragnar the Point
Tholdel Thoreau
Furrowfoot the Nimble-The Five O'Clock Shadow
The
month of Kythorn had drawn to a close, and the month of Flamerule has
just begun when we arrived in a small down on the Road the Suzail. From
the outside look this seemed like a quiet town, one major structure
building inside the walled city with many shops and the like, and few
outlying farms, and a medium sized castle in the rear of the city. It
was pleasant with a fountain containing statues of old men feeding ducks,
and trees, not the sort of place you would expect vile creatures to
hang out, but they do.....I think.
We got into the town late one night and put up at the only inn in town,
that was when things started getting weird. We awoke to voices the next
morning and looked out the window. The old men in the pond WERE feeding
ducks! They soon noticed the lot of us leaning out the window and started
talking.
They said: "Hey there sonny ye'd better get out of there before that
whale hits" and he pointed up. From the sky a great behemoth of a whale
was descending rapidly straight for Flat 40-B where we were staying.
To avoid death at the uh...flippers of a whale we evacuated the room
as quickly as possible.
Tholdel, Furrowfoot, and Ragnar out the window, I went through the door,
and Sengir went straight through the floor, landing in the arms of the
innkeeper. As we ran outside to avoid the blubbery carnage the whale
thudding down harmlessly on a roast mutton stand. When we got to the
fountain we began questioning the stone men about what had just happened,
between their complaints about their arthritis and being regaled with
stories about 'back in the day' we managed to get some information out
of them. It seemed that a small blueish creature, the same type that
is summoned by one of my lesser spells, has been running around town
stealing items from people left and right. He calls himself Sammy the
Squip. We thanked the kind statue-man for warning us about this squip,
and went about exploring the town on our own. Far off down the main
street of the town we saw a band of orcs. We should have drawn out arms,
but instead we laughed. The marauding band was covered head to toe in
junk and was asking people if they had any junk of their own as they
moved down the street. They soon came to us, and we kindly (sort of)
told them to just move along. With much grumbling they complied. Much
later that day an elderly woman came to us and begged us for help. Evidenrly
she had misplaced her chickens in the town activities center, and she
could not find them. We agreed to find her six chickens and moved in
prepared for anything. Suddenly the door slammed shut and we were locking
in. An odd clucking noise echoed through the hall, and on the far the
side we found the womans 7 chickens. We then gathered them up and herded
them towards the door, hopeing our thief could pick it open. This was
an oddly menial task for a ground of semi-seasoned adventurers such
as ouselves. I spoke too soon. The seventh, and most deadly of chickens
suddely morphed and changed still retaining its white color but becoming
giant and serpentine, as we stared in awe the vicious chicken morphed
itself into a fearsome white dragon, spewing its frost towards our ground.
Diving out of the way we all managed to avoid a chilled death at the
hands of the icy fiend.
Taking no time at all Sengir had pulled out his mighty blade and was
upon the dragon in a flash. Furrowfoot, and Ragnar loosed their arrows
upon it, and searing flames shot forth from my hands reducing the dragon
to slag in under a minute. We had that dragon slaying stuff down to
a science. Alas, most of the quest is lost to me, my rebirth left many
gaps. I will convey all that I remember therafter. I do remember, that
on the final day of this adventure we discovered that the castle in
town was open, and we proceeded to investigate.
We intended to ask the owner WHY he was shooting whales at our inn.
An action that made us quite perterved. Walking across the drawbridge
we entered the first floor of the castle. Directly in from of us was
a large stairwell, to our left and right was a door. We began with the
left door and found ourselves in a kitchen. We began laughing histerically,
barging into a kitchen, of all things, with our weapons drawn, preparing
for combat. Four gnolls cooking some sort of food turned their heads
to look at us. We apologized and began backing out. This was when they
grabbed large cleavers and ran at us screaming. Shortly later them were
reduced to slag. We decided to try the door on the right. As we cautiously
peeked in the door a we were shocked. A wereboar, and werewolf were
shoving food down their throat eating like pigs, and as ravenous as
a wolves. Sengir, having his family and town all killed and destroyed
by werewolves became enraged at the sight, and rushed in. He alone could've
taken them both in his rage. Shortly later both were dead, and we were
going up the stairs. The second floor looked much like the first, but,
instead of checking out the rooms we ran straight up the stairs and
onto the roof, where two towers stood up above us. We ran into the first
and were confronted with a puzzle. Three ropes lead upward, one, we
knew would bring us to the roof, the other our deaths. We thought back
a trip to the barber shop of this town, and a poster he had up. Three
ropes, the middle green, the other red. We thought it as good a guess
as any, and we climbed the middle rope. Shortly later we found ourselves
on the roof, and facing off with Donny the Drake, a gangster, just under
the one who had been firing whales at the Inn. The drake proved an easy
target and quickly fell to our onslaught. Looking across to the other
tower, we found our ultimate goal. Using grappling hooks we swung over
to the tower and immediately had to dive out of the way as Mr. Bad,
a lawyer (whatever that is) fired a ballista right at us (we found out
his name later) we all avoided the bolt, but Sengir who was hit and
began falling off the castle. Acting quickly I used a feather fall spell
on him. He would be out of it for a while. The remaining four of us
took it to him, he aparently did not want to discuss why he was launching
whales at us, so we had to. We dodged most of the shots from him,though
falling prey to the occasional briefcase thwap, or slap spell. Shortly
therafter we took him out. Suddenly......we all woke up.
D&D
3e Campaign 1
A
Mossed Cause (Adventure 1)
Location in Game: Suzail, Cormyr
DMed By: Ragavin
Characters Participating: Ragavin Dragonrider, Lo Kanthor, Jare'l,
Tholandür, 'Underhill'
Location of Game: Tholandür's
Monsters Felled:
Goblins x10
Badgers x3
Human Fighter
Zalamander x2
Cerberus
Hell Hounds x2
Gelatinous Cube x2
Half-Orc Barbarians x2(Krusk & Kruskina)
Wild Boar (Who soon became boar jerky)
Summary:
The Head wizard of Cormyr, Vanderghast is in need of Adventurers to
retrieve some rare moss found in the nearby Hullack forest. He contracts
each adventurer individually to retrieve the moss. With a two day journey
the PCs arrive at the forest, dispatch a group of wandering goblins,
murder a hunter in cold blood, solve intricate riddles, survive traps,
and defeat multi-headed dogs to find the moss, and bring it back to
Vanderghast.
The
Gray eyed stranger.... (Adventure 2)
Location in Game: Suzail, Cormyr.
The StormHorn Mtns. and the area in between.
DMed By: Ragavin
Characters Participating: Ragavin Dragonrider,
Lo Kanthor, Jare'l, Tholandür, 'Underhill'
Location of Game: Tholandür's
Monsters Felled:
Orc Fighters x8
Orc Fire Shaman
Orc Ice Shaman
Orc Plant Shaman
Orc Lightning Shaman
'Frosties' x4
Blackguard
Summary:
A beautiful wandering magic item merchant with gray eyes,
going by the name of Danielle contracts the PCs to retrieve a rare magical
item called 'The Great Bag of Holding in the Sky'
The bag is in a massive temple to the Orc god Gruumsh. The PCs raid
the temple, dispel each energy barrier, defeat the champion of Gruumsh
and seize the bag. When the PCs returned to Suzail, Danielle was gone,
and no one had remembered seeing her.
Playing
With Fire (Adventure 3)
Location in Game: Suzail, Cormyr. The road to
the town of Asylum
Characters Participating: Ragavin Dragonrider, Lo Kanthor, Jare'l,
Tholandür, 'Underhill' , Radalf
DMed By: Lo Kanthor
Location of Game: Tholandür's
Monsters Felled:
Summary:
Azers x5
Grimlocks x7
Fire Mephits x3
Med. Fire Elemental
Sm. Fire Elemental x2
King Azound V, king of Cormyr contracts the PCs to track down the head
of a group of Assassins currently rampaging the country. With a little
bit of checking the PCs found the Assassins were holding up in a disused
town by the name of 'Asylum' they immediately set out. While en route
they run into an Inn with an old legend of fire demons, and a brigands
who befriended them for a plundering spree. Intrigued the PCs experiment
with mice (don't ask) and seek out the now sealed lair of the fire brigands.
Gaining access to the secret lair using an arcane pass phrase (Speak
'friend' and enter) the, over the course of a few days dispatched the
remaining brigands, then continued down the road towards 'Asylum'
The
Martial Arena (Adventure 4)
Location in Game: The road to 'Asylum'
DMed By: Lo Kanthor
Characters Participating: Ragavin Dragonrider, Lo Kanthor, Jare'l,
Tholandür, 'Underhill' , Radalf
Location of Game: Jare'l's
Monsters Felled:
Level 1 Warriors x16
Lions x3
Gnoll Rgr
Level 1 Fighter x8
Troll
Manticore
Level 6 Fighter
Summary:
Continuing down the road the Asylum the PCs come across a young half-elven
girl with gray eyes fleeing a massive group of armed men. It seems that
the PCs had come across a city of incredible bigots. After giving the
girl their only horse to escape, the PCs were subdued and arrested.
They managed to pop their cell door off its hinges, and take down every
guard in the corridor in an escape attempt. Their captors finally agreed
to give them better accommodations if their fought in the Arena. The
PCs agreed, and through a series of private talks they were convinced
that the other PCs were out to get the them. On the third day of the
Arena havoc broke out when Lo Kanthor tried to punch Ragavin, Ragavin
in turn was about to cast a powerful spell on him, but the paladin hit
him with a sleeping poison before he could cast it. Underhill BANG!ed
the paladin, Radalf took out the monk, Underhill then revived Ragavin
and together they pulled a Bigby's Smack Down
on Tholandür, dropping him below 0 HP. The fighting was stopped
and combatants were ushered to their respective rooms.
The
Week of Hell 2 (Adventure 5)
Location in Game: 'Asylum'
DMed By: Ragavin
Characters Participating: Ragavin Dragonrider, Lo Kanthor, Jare'l,
Tholandür, 'Underhill' , Radalf
Location of Game: Thalandür's
Monsters Felled:
Trolls x2
Chimera
Assassins x5
Dire Hamster
Evil Therapist
Gamers (ourselves) x6
1/2 Human 1/2 Myconid
Black Dragon
Green Dragon
Red Dragon
Lawyer
Gargoyles x2
Tiefling
Umber Hulk
Dire Wolverine
Summary:
Prior to leaving the town that they were forced to fight in, the PCs
receive noticed from King Azound V saying the his daughter, the princess
had been killed by the Assassins that they were sent out to eliminate.
The king was sending an army, headed by Vanderghast after them. If they
did not destroy the Assassins before the army caught up with them, they
would be brought back to Suzail and executed. Wasting no time all put
Lo Kanthor jumped into GBoHitS . Kanthor, armed with a wand of cure
light wounds, ran like hell with the bag towards that town of asylum
and made the two day trek in about 7 hours. The PC spend one day in
the town of Asylum before dispatching the Assasins....it was at this
point that they noticed something was really wrong....
Perhaps it was the animated statues of old men, perhaps the whales falling
from the sky, maybe the evil therapist, or the homicidal lawyer, maybe
the 40 foot tall hamster terrorizing the city tipped them off, but by
the end of the week, when Athena appeared and ushered them through a
portal to who-knows-where in an effort to escape a vortex destroying
the town, the PCs were quite certain, that the town of Asylum would
not be on their future travel arrangements.
Welcome
to Karynx (Adventure 6)
Location in Game: South of Narshe, Phyrexia, Karynx
DMed By: Ragavin
Characters Participating: Ragavin Dragonrider, Jare'l, Tholandür,
'Underhill' , Radalf
Location of Game: Thalandür's
Monsters Felled:
Scouts x14
Generals x3
Nobles x6
Clerics x7
Soldiers x25
Summary:
After their brief meeting with Athena, Goddess of war,
the PCs fall flat on their face out of a portal into the center of an
army encampment . Mr. Underhill is invited into the command pavilion
tent because he 'looked important' (this time he was not arrested for
it). Upon finding out the Mr. Underhill was not actually important,
the army command simply hired the PCs on as Mercenaries. While taking
a moment to account for everyone the PCs found that Lo Kanthor was missing,
replaced by a young thieving girl, armed with tonfas, and a killer secret
handshake (as Jare'l now knows quite well). She quickly fell in step
with Underhill and became almost like a cohort to him. Early the next
morning the PCs were called back into the command tent and given a task.
As it seems the enemy army greatly outnumbered their own, and the enemy
had to be slowed down until reinforcements could arrive. This was the
PCs job. Setting out almost immediately the PCs came to the enemy camp.
Radalph and Underhill snuck in using a cloak of elvenkind, and an invisibility
ring, and assassinated one of their generals. Delighted with the success
of their first plan the PCs decided to split up. Underhill and Radalph
went to one enemy camp, while the rest of the PCs and their respective
cohorts went to another. Underhill and Radalph's plan almost went off
without a hitch except two servants escaped. Guards stormed the pavilion
tent and captured Radalph (Underhill was invisible) Meanwhile the other
PCs had ambushed a patrol, donned their clothes, and hauled in Ragavin,
who, with the aid of some minor illusionary spells looked pretty mangled.
Once hauled before the general Ragavin "woke up" and quickly
disposed of all the guards, while sending the General back to the brig
in the good camp via the GBoHitS. Using newly
acquired mental communicators the PCs dressed in guard dress received
word that Radalph had been captured. With a forged order they managed
to get Radalph out of the jail cell. With only one camp left, and not
a lot of time, the PCs entrenched themselves and began lobbing magic
missiles, fireballs, flasks of alchemists fire, acid, and thunderstones
at the final enemy camp before everyone but Underhill and Jare'l jumped
into the GBoHitS. Those who remained got hit
with a flame strike, and had to be hauled away. The final camp decimated,
the PCs rushed back to their camp in the ancient and ruined town of
Asylum.
'Enter:
The Chosen' (Adventure 6b)
Location in Game: Ex-Temple of Athena, Talga Plains,
Phyrexia, Karynx
DMed By: Ragavin
Characters Participating: Lo Kanthor
Location of Game: Over the phone
Monsters Felled:
Skeletons, Large x4
Shadow x1
Zombies x4
Morgh x1
NightWalker (mini) x1
Summary: Lo Kanthor, upon entering the portal that
took the PCs to the world of Karynx felt that he was getting separated
from the rest of the group, the next thing he knew he was surrounded
by skeletons of dead clerics in a defiled temple to the Goddess Athena.
After quickly disposing of the skeletons Kanthor went a key Easter egg
hunt, searching for key's and matching them to the appropriate doors.
After a short while (4 hours) Kanthor had finally gained access to the
catacombs where, if it wasn't for his sunrods, would be drained of all
energy in a matter of seconds. He had several encounters with Zombies
and soon came to what look like a skeleton, but with a long purple tongue
coiled throughout its body. This, with a couple charges of the healing
wand to Kanthor was soon dispatched. Upon investigating the catacombs
further Kanthor met up with a young, and slightly cocky NightWalker,
who wailed on him, before Athena intervened. Seeing that Kanthor was
risking his life to safe her temple she took him on as one of her chosen,
granting him the powerful 'Ki Blast' with his newfound powers Kanthor
quickly dispatched the Nighstalker and was transported
to a room with a large jewel covered in grime. When the grime was cleared
away the light that issued forth purged the temple of its foul taint.
Kanthor exited the temple a hero only to realize that he was reallyreally
lost. Trudging through the dense woods Kanthor soon came to the
edge and saw far off in the distance massive towers, running towards
them Kanthor came to a hard packed dirt road full of merchants and wary
travelers. This road lead to the massive city of Narshe. Kanthor
paid his road tax and went in. Realizing that he did not fit the image
of the chosen of a god with his horribly misshapen face Kanthor found
himself in front of the largest temple to Athena on the planet. Spending
a large sum of money the monk had his face re-shapen into something
a little more pleasing to the eye (It almost took a miracle spell).
Learning that an army was camped to the south Kanthor proceeded out
the Ma-Thuin gate to see if could lend his services.....
'Welcome to Karynx' Part II (Adventure 7)
Location in Game: Talga Plains & Cursed Point,
Karynx
DMed By: Ragavin
Characters Participating: Ragavin Dragonrider, Lo Kanthor, Jare'l,
Tholandür, 'Underhill'
Location of Game: Jare'l's
Monsters Felled:
Level 15 Aristocrat
Level 5 Clerics x2
Level 2 Clerics x2
Level 2 Fighters x5
Level 10 Necromancer
Lazar x4
Sheet Phantoms x2
Summary:
Having freed Radalf, and cooked the nobility camp to a crisp the PCs
set off with al due speed back for their camp. Upon arrival they met
the new, improved, Lo Kanthor. In a few days the PCs were instructed
by the Lord General to race around to the back of the enemy army during
the attack and take out the rest of their command force. Upon reaching
the point the enemy commanded from the PCs found them severely guarded
and were forced to take everyone down. Thalandür and Kanthor in
their brashness were about to rush off and attack 10,000 of the enemy
army, but were dissuaded when a large number of them (300) began to
charge to their position. Retreating back to the Phyrexian camp, several
of the PCs took command of troops of moved out into the fight.
A bit later it was all over, and the Phyrexians had won!
The PCs were brought in an audience before the king, and, in exchange
for continued service were given a tower on a rock out in the Karynx
Bay. Problem was this tower was current occupied by someone practicing
the profane arts.
All the PCs but Thalandür (who went by Griffin) charted boat passage
out to the small island. Thalandür who arrived far earlier than
the rest zipped back quickly when two Lazar circling the tower broke
off and came after him. His Griffin was given a beating and left in
the cargo hold on the ship while the PCs wiped out the Lazar (though
with difficulty)
Upon arriving on the Island the PCs were set upon by sheet phantoms
who grappled Jare'l and Thalandür who had the audacity to walk
into the tower without watching their step. The phantoms attempted to
suffocate the two while the rest of the PCs tried to get them off without
hurting the PCs underneath too much.
Once the sheet Phantoms were dealt with the PCs preceded to scour the
tower eventually coming to the roof. Upon the roof they were attacked
by the remaining two Lazar. In an unexpected, calculated hit Thalandür's
insides were spread all over the top of the tower, scratch one Paladin.
Once the remaining PCs dealt with the Lazar, the Necromancer made an
appearance, and, with a bit of evil speeches and maniacal laughter attempted
to wipe out the PCs. With powerful spells. Ragavin almost suffered a
chilled death with hit with a cone of cold. Shortly afterwards the Necromancer
was defeated and tower had been taken in the name of the Unforgiven.
And so ended the exploits of the Unforgiven. They had reached the peak
of their careers. They had explored two worlds, plane-hopped, befriended
goddesses, and now Thalandür was dead and they had an elegant tower
with a nice view all to themselves, what more could the ask for!?
D&D
3e Campaign 2
The
Color of Ambition (Adventure 0a)
Location in Game: Eveningstar and surrounding
area
DMed By: Corwyn
Characters Participating: Roland Brightblade, Corwyn Brightblade,
Thalandür
Location of Game: Rolands/Thalandürs
Monsters Felled:
still tabulating......
Roland,
Corwyn and Thalandür were sitting in their favoite pub when they
overheard some of the patrons speaking of some friends of theirs gone
missing, when questioned the told the PCs that two friends of theirs
Adam and Douglas had gone missing two days ago and had last been seen
in the company of a dark haired woman, and that the mayor of Eveningstar
was offering a 150g.p. reward for their safe return. The PCs quickly
set out. Ragavin went to question the family, Thalandür went to
question the mayor of Corwyn followed he boys trail.
The Mayor knew very little, and even less about the two young men. He
did direct the PCs however to their parents, and with haste the two
brothers and the elf set out for their house on the outskirts of eveningstar.
When their arrived the PCs got the lowdown. The two young men were around
20, the oldest of 12 kids in the family. They were blonde burly young
men in trades suitable to the region such as logging or blacksmithing.
They were seen leaving out of the north gate two days prior with a black
haired woman.
Corwyn tracked them to a red wizard encampment, but did no further investigation.
When all had reconvened they decided on a course of action and set out
to the the encampment to question them. When they arrived the red wizards
were decidedly less than forthcoming and only agree to have their grounds
inpected when a small......donation.....way paid to them. As the PCs
were lead around on tour they came to one of the mages quarters there
lying in their bound gagged were the two young men who worked in trades
suitable to the region such as logging or blacksmithing, and lying next
to that was a black wig and a red wizard with black eyebrows. Being
caught and backed into a corner she quickly summoned her guardians....three
zombies.
Galvanized into action Roland threw a bed against them and held them
back against the wall. The summoner of the zombies leapt through an
open window, her 5 charmed warriors following close behind with Corwyn
racing after them, leaving Thalandür and Roland to deal with everyone
else.
While Roland was busy holding the zombies at bay with a bed Thalandür
was confronted by a powerful looking wizard, but the closed quarters
evened the battle signigantly. Still not enough though as Thalandür
was almost killed by a jet of flame. When things were looking bad for
the elf, Roland abandoned his struggle, and seizing his hammer brought
it crashing into the wizard sending him flyinf back in a crumpled heap.
The damage was done though the entire building was going up in flames.
Seizing the initiative the two PCs rushed into the hallway attempting
to escape a flaming death. Roland ran right into the blade of an oncoming
guard and slumped down unconscious. Soon (with the help of Corwyn who
had only just returned from his tracking) those guards were dispatched,
Roland was revived, an escape route was needed. The only exits were
consumed in flames. So Roland created a new one. Sadly though the buliding
was surrounded by 5 levels of fighters an equal amount of wizards. Roland
was quickly downed with a sleep spell leaving the other two to take
on everything by themselves. Soon Thalandür was knocked out, but
by that time Roland had revived and proceeded to clean up. Soon afterword
everyone was gone, and the PCs raced after the remaining fighters and
the wizard that started this all.....absolutely forgetting the blond
burly young men in trades suitable to the region such as logging or
blacksmithing who were stuck in the burning building and by now, quite
crispy.
The tracks lead in a steep ravine and then down a flight of stairs into
darkness. As the three decided what to do, two more showed people showed
up.
The
House of Thieves(Adventure 0b) (WARNING: Not suitable
to be viewed by anyone)
Location in Game: Suzail
DMed By: Roland
Characters Participating: 'The Talented Mr. Underhill', Jarvien
Location of Game:Thalandürs
Monsters Felled:
Level 1 Human Fighters x6
DISCLAIMER:
The actions of the PCs in the sub-quest are in no way representitive
of the D&D game as a whole, and not my fault! The may prove disturbing
to anyone reading them and therefore should not be read by anyone, that
being said I'm sure you are now that much more eager to read this. Enjoy.
Underhill
and Jarvien laid out the plans months before the actual deal went down.
As the night they would strike approached they put the house under heavy
surveilance and began rounding up their equipment. The night before
the strike they were up late in the room they had taken in the inn across
from the house they were going to steal from. B0rt had just returned
from a surveilance mission when the innkeeper Aselra Dualane opened
the door bringing in their dinner they had ordered far earlier, caught
sighted of b0rt and panicked. Luckily the two were able to convince
her it was the light of venus reflecting off of swamp gas.
The next night the began their heist by putting b0rt on alert and sending
hanky up to attack the gate guard who died in a loud and gruesome manner.
In the chaos this created the two thieves attempted to get through but
were spotted, and help was yelled for. All the guards in the house were
dispatched with the help of b0rt who sacrificed himself for three points
of subdual damage!
When everyone was taken care of they slipped in the back door and to
the main room. With much searching they soon found a secret door built
into the floor. Going down inside of it they soon found themselves face
to face with a row of scything blades. Using a sword taken off of one
of the bodies Jarvien shoved one of the blade so it rammed a wall shattering
and sending shrapnel everywhere, including into himself. The pain being
too much for the rogue to bear, he passed out, but was still losing
some blood. Underhill made a rudimentry heal check then ran out to find
an all night temple to mask where he could pick up some healing potions.
It was two AM when underhill returned with the potions and everyone
was back on their feet and going. Something was needed to shield themselves
from the shards of metal that would result from the destruction of the
blades. Underhill found the solution. Dead Bodies. Soon they had a pile
of dead bodies in the entrance room to the secret area and each of the
thieves was using one of them as a (forgive the pun) body shield. Before
long all the blades were destroyed and the bodies were close to being
hamburger.
Venturing further down the hallway they found three more secret doors.
Jarvein ventured into the first, first throwing in a dead body to check
for traps, as soon as he walked in, the floor dropped out below him,
the door slammed shut and the room began to rapidly filly with water.
Underhill managed to haul him out before he drowned. Though things were
begining to fill with water themselves. In the second room they found
a hidden alcove containg a large, heavy chest (No, it isn't lara croft)
they pulled it back into the hallway and then threw a dead body into
the remaining room, nothing happened so Jarvien went in. The door again
slammed shut and the walls began to close in on him rapidly. Underhill
opened the door but it had split in half, half of it sticking with the
moving wall. Jarvien tried all he could and at the last minute managed
to break down the door and escape. The water by this time was rather
high up, so grabbing the chest and a dead body they surfed out the hidden
exit they had earlier found. Upon opening the chest they found a very
large amount of silver pieces and a map leading north.
The two thieves deposited the gold then followed the map to a ravine
near Eveningstar. They soon came to a ledge leading down a flight of
stairs into darkness. Though there was already someone there.
The
Sunless Citadel (Adventure 1)
Location in Game: Evening Star and the surrounding
area
DMed By: Corwyn/Roland (we did switch DMs about 2 hours into it
then switched back for the final few hours)
Characters Participating: Roland Brightblade, Corwyn
Brightblade, Thalandür, 'The Talented Mr. Underhill', Jarvien,
Xanatos
Location of Game:Thalandürs, Jarviens, Park
Monsters Felled:
InComplete
As
the two thieves mentioned above got to the ledge, they saw that it was
already occupied by three others. The elf of the group spotted one of
them and called them out. Introductions were exchanged and while both
sides were not exactly at peace with each other they decided to work
together to better both of their causes. As these introductions were
taking place a dark elf was spotted spying on them up above. While the
5 adventurers couldn't just let him go, they couldn't wait around, daylight
was burning. So they decided to take the elf (who was introduced as
Xanatos) with them down into the darkness.
After several minutes of decent all natural light was extinguished,
this was not a problem for two reasons, Underhill and Xanatos could
see perfectly well in the dark, and Roland's weapon served as a torch
for the remainder of the group. At the bottom of the stairs the group
was set upon by a 'guard dog' of sorts, in the guise of a displacer
beast. Everyone was getting worked until the dark elf Xanatos hit the
real creature with a fairy fire spell allowing for more accurate hits,
before long it was dispatch and what was vauable was salvaged. Further
the group went through this ruined temple. After a short time they came
across a kobold aparently incapacitated for he was on thr ground crying
next to a large cage with a large hole in the side. When asked what
the problem was the kobold looked started, introduced himself as Meepo
and a very gansterish manner explained that their pet white dragon Calcryx
had been taken by the goblins. When further questioned he would speak
no more until some article of good faith was shown. Roland being a blacksmith
by trade, opted to fix the cage for them. Before too long trust was
earned and Meeps offered to take them to see the queen. When they arrived
at the queen small pleasantries were exchanged but the real focus of
the conversation was on a key just above the throne of the queen that
bore a resembelance to a door that they had seen earlier. While the
PCs spoke to each other in private Thalandür walked down the hallway
and attempted to gain access to the room where the women and children
lived, trying every password he could think of. Meanwhile I plan was
concocted. Drinks would be served and in the queens drink a love potion
would be administered. While the queen was busy with one of the PCs
another one would take the key, replace it with a bit of key shaped
wire and run. The queen drank the potion and her first sight was Thalandür
at the end of the hall. She stood up regally and began to waft towards
him........just as he tried to break down the door leading to the living
quarters. The queen and all of the guards rushed down to stop him, Jarvien,
Underhill, and Xanatos grabbed the key and ran while the brothers rushed
to help Thalandür should he need help. As the first barrage of
spears impacted into Thalandür it was clear that help was needed.
The fantabulous duo rushed into action taking out two Kobolds before
Roland accidentally knocked out his own brother on a critical miss with
maximum damage dealt. It was at this point that the remaining kobold
forces went back to Thalandür to escort him to his holding cell.
Meanwhile back with the three key thieves: They had gotten to the door
without evident and opened it. After a short walk down a darkened hallway
they reached a room with a giant statue of a dragon. In front of the
dragon was a stylized seal on the floor. As the PCs entered and stepped
on the seal a booming voice issued from the dragon statue:
"We
come at night without being fetched,
We disappear by day without being stolen."
The
PCs gave the quick reactionary answer of "Vampires" the dragons
mouth opened and they were roasted by a jet of flame. After some thinking
about it they answered "Stars". A hidden door opened on the
far side of the room. Inside the room was a large pit before a doorway
with greenish light trickling out of it,. Jarvein used his 11' pole
to get across the 10' gap and was immediately pushed into the pit by
an imp. After taking a severe beating and 12d4 points of dex damage
between the three of them they ran out of the door slamming it and locking
it behind them.
After a short time the two groups had met up and convinved the kobolds
that the actions of the paladin were not indicitve of the rest of the
group. They allowed the PCs safe passage and a place to rest for a few
days if they would get the white dragon back. Thalandür who was
locked in the cage repaired by Roland thought he should be able to go
with a bent the bars of the cage in an attempt to escape. In order to
keep of the visade of being nice to the kobolds Jarvien prompted knocked
out Thalandür. The remaining PCs set out through the goblin areas
of the fortress dispatching goblins and hobgoblins alike as they went.
Before long they came to the audience chamber of the goblin king who
apparently was just a stoogie for the big boss named 'Belak' the PCs
easily convinced the stupid king that they were close personal friends
of Belak and should be admitted down to his room. After a long climb
the PCs confronted Belak who saw them for they were, Usurpers of his
tree that the PCs previously knew nothing about and like all bad guys
proceeded to rattle off a detailed personal history from the time he
was two. After an arduous battle with Belak and his twiggy minions Roland
connected a hit with Belak sending him flying into the tree, the tree
seethed with evil power short dark light out from huge cracks opening
in it incinerating the remaining twig things then condensed itself into
a single apple swirled with black and white.
Gathering their wits about them the PCs climbed back up the vine laden
hole into the room full of the goblins. Not trusting the PCs when they
said that it was an 'industrial accident' the leader of the goblins
sent a scout down to see if Belak was all right. Well, quite obviously
it was not. The PCs sprung into action before the opposition could react.
Almost as soon as the combat started Underhill cast a scare spell and
caused five hobgoblins down the hole in fear, allowing the PCs to slice,
dice, and bash those remaining enemies. With barely any life left the
leader's advisor fled for a door screaming all the way. Underhill zapped
a hole through his chest, but it was too late. Many more hobgoblins
came through a far door, while at the same time the 5 who fled previously
climbed back up into the fray. Underhill bolted for the door, two hobgoblins
following him. Jarvein went down from the multitude of attacks on him
leaving the brothers to fend for themselves, and they did quite well.
With three hobgoblins left an army of fully armed kobolds led by Underhill
came through the door and shredded the remaining opposition.
The PCs, and the army of Kobolds went back into the throne room to discuss
what they were going to do now. After a short time Meepo slid through
the door, Kramer style. He said that he had tracked the goblin that
door the white dragon then overheard him talking about where they were
taking it. Aparently they were going to the lair of a white dragon far
to the north. The queen (now Underhill's girlfriend) implored them to
retrieve the dragon. She also agreed to having the entire kobold colony
go with them. So plans were made, Thalandür was released, and Corwyn,
Roland, and Thalandür went into town to buy supplies for their
coming warband march across half the world. Meanwhile Jarvein and Underhill
went to take care of the quasit that had formerly kicked their butts.
While
in Eveningstar purchasing supplies Corwyn and Roland heard tell the
purple dragon force that was after Underhill and Jarvein, and quickly
went back to came to alert them. When they arrived, thay found that
Underhill and Jarvein had once more gotten tromped by that quasit. This
was quickly forgotten at the news of their enemies arrival. As the ambush
was set up in a heavily wooded area, Thalandür said that he was
going to 'scout' ahead. His defection was no suprise. So when he had
left the group moved their ambush a few hundred feet up the road. This
was enough to fool the enemies. They didn't know what was happening
until they were right in the middle of the ambush. Their wizard died
in the first wave and all were disoriented. The remaining purple dragons
were nearly thrown from their mounts but managed to dismount with little
harm, save their sight and hearing. They put up a valiant fight, managing
to completely kill one of our kobold army who was mostly hidden behind
a large shield. But in the end all were slain. (The Purple Dragon/Ranger
ended up with -72 hp) The next few days were spent sorting through the
equipment, healing, and reflecting on our experiences. Through careful
study Underhill initiated himself in the Lore of the Pale Masters. With
their newfound strength the entire group (excluding Thalandür of
course) went back into the Citadel and dispatched the Quasit that had
been troubling them for some time. When they went to inspect what was
being guarded they found a large tomb. Within the tomb was an incredibly
tall creature. Seemingly dead, with many jewels about the bottom of
the tomb. When they were about to be collected the creature awoke, and
was not happy. Fortunauntly Roland had prepared some fire-base spells
and the thing was taken out without too much trouble, with it's treasure
laid bare.
Shortly therafter the war band set off down the road towards eveningstar,
and their escape from Cormyr. After a short while, someone was spotted
on a ridge. He quickly took off. Most of the PCs pursued him into a
wooded area where a huge roar was heard. When they found the spy he
was pinned down by a large cat. Roland attempted to approach the cat,
but he didn't take too kindly to the approach and a brief skirmish ensued
in which the cat came out ahead. During this time the spy had escaped,
with Jarvein and Cormwyn hot on his heels.
After a brief chase the two came upon a pitched battle between some
guards of eveningstar, and an unknown band. Naturually they sided with
the unknown band. With much loses on both sides the guards dispersed,
and the unknown army, under the command on a person clad in black was
invited back to the PCs camp to heal up, and tell their tale.
There
was more that is currently unwritten, but the campaign ended before
that finished.
The
Artificial Adventure
DMed By: Ralthos
ELEINT
14, 1372 THE YEAR OF WILD MAGIC
Our minds awoke to the bustle of stomach-height dwarfs milling about,
punctuated by human and elven traders. As our senses were returned to
us, it became evident where we were; Underhome, the dwarven market.
Following this line of revelation, it became clear that we had a package
to deliver, then under the purveyance of one Melikae of Evermeet, evoker
extraordinaire. It was then that the rest our acquaintances were remet:
an elven paladin of empirical strength and size and lordly might by
the name of Thalandur Liadon; a giant of a man with a savage lupus of
equally immense size, known as Langrath accompanied by his friend Velfe
the wolf; and last but not least, another man of the woods, expert archer,
and expert cook, Rjonein. The item we were to deliver was wrapped in
unmarked brown paper, so we wouldn't have known who to deliver it too
if not for our instructions from our employer, good Lord Orem Silverhorn.
The package was for a dwarf, who was not to be found in Underhome. So
to the land of light did our feet carry us, and into the Gem of the
North - Silverymoon. There we found the dwarf whose package we were
carrying and delivered unto him our burden. Following this, Langrath
purchased arrows for his own bow, and we went to find our lord. Upon
speaking with Lord Orem, we were sent back to our inn of residence and
told to return the next day.
ELEINT
15
Not so early, but beautifully bright, the next day found us back at
the manor of our lord, who sent us with another package, intended for
an instructor at the University of Magic in the New City by the name
Rhomtal. The Moonbridge that seems to be a bridge made of nothing caught
off-guard those not familiar with the sights and splendors of Silverymoon.
The faintest shimmer of that structure made of force can be discerned
by the alert, but rare is the foreigner who is not taken aback by that
display of wizardly might! We found Rhomtal in his class, lecturing
on astrology. Following the tedious, though enlightening, lesson, we
approached and delivered the package. He tore into it, while shielding
its contents from view. Apparently fully satisfied, the teacher sent
us back to Orem with a letter, bearing his own personal seal, cooled
in a way that only a wizard could accomplish - with a ray of frost.
Returning to Orem his letter, we found ourselves retired for the remainder
of the day, but told that a new task would be ready for us on the morrow.
Melikae returned to the University to bend his mind to the task of uncovering
the mystic secrets of a new spell, while Langarth decided that he would
feel more comfortable in the woods outside of Silverymoon. So the druid
and his wolf ventured outdoors to better take in the natural scene surrounding
the most beautiful city in the north. Unfortunately for Langarth and
Velfe, Silverymoon's protection has waned slightly outside of its walls
in the past few years, and the pair was surprised by a troll who looked
entirely large and mean enough to tear into the both of them. Langarth
would have been more than capable of dealing with this threat alone
had he had the foresight to prepare spells of battle. As it was, he
was able to run to fight another day using his druidic powers to summon
an ally of nature to distract and delay the troll while he shapechanged
into a bird to fly away. Velfe was signaled to run and return to the
inn. And so the pair was able to avoid the perilously long clutches
of the troll.
ELEINT 16
A busy day indeed! We were met by Lord Orem's friend and advisor, the
mage Bhennarth. We were asked to recover a variety of components for
a new spell that he was working on. One hundred moons were given to
us to help us in our task, as it was certain that the components would
not come free. Our first stop was at the Bright Blade Brandished, where
we found a dwarf by the name of Steam Darkaxe. The poor creature, for
he was poor literally, was drunken and could scarce afford to maintain
his drunken state. We remedied this situation for him in return for
an athame, a ceremonial dagger, which was one of the components that
Bhennarth requested we obtain. Next, the group was split, as Thalandur
headed to the Hammer and the Helm to await the arrival of the bard Daeron,
from whom we were to obtain a harpstring. The rest of us headed to Treant's
Hall, where Melikae purchased a gallon (a gallon!) of silvermilk from
the tavern keeper, and Rjonein procured an acorn that would be required
in the spell. Langarth spent some time considering the rumors of the
giant oak in the center of the tavern was an actual treant. He didn't
get an answer, as it was time to return to the paladin's side at the
Hammer and the Helm. Deron began his performance at around six o'clock
with a horrendous collection of the worst jokes ever to befoul these
fair realms. While his music was lovely and most enchanting, the taint
of his stand-up routine marred the rest of his performance. After he
completed his sets, he turned to the bar and awaited the rest of the
nights entertainment. It was at this time that Melikae stepped up and
buttered him up a bit, followed by a request to purchase his wondrous
harp. While the asking price of five hundred gold was rather too steep,
the offer to purchase a single string was far more reasonable. For the
price of ten gold and a replacement string, one of the magical harps
nine strings would be ours, and thus, Bhennarth's. So the group headed
over to Wyndfinder's Wondrous Wynds, where Melikae conducted business
with the gnomish caretaker in his native language. Following the exhausting
conversation, the group returned to the Hammer and obtained the harp
string. From there, thanks to a slight miscalculation of hours and risk,
we headed to Beggar's Ally around eight at night. We were to retrieve
a magical coin purse from a certain someone named Legor. His home, when
we found it, was occupied by what we presume to be his mother - a nervous
and neurotic creature to say the least. After some discussing, we were
allowed into her home, a tiny shanty made of just one room. The sound
of locks opening seemed to stretch on for some minutes before the door
opened to allow us entrance. After some brief and awkward conversation,
we saw Legor stumbling around down the street towards the shack. Unfortunately,
he didn't get halfway there before three cutthroats jumped out from
the shadows and brought him down. Bursting from the house, we converged
on the scene of the crime, Legor, and his assailants. Melikae cast a
spell allowing him to fly at great speed, and sped swiftly before the
running robbers, sending them to a screeching stunned stop at his feet.
Rjonein stopped to aid the injured Legor, who was still conscious and
well, though perhaps still not sober. Langarth and Thalandur rushed
to Melikae's aid, which he surely needed! Following their shock, the
robbers recovered quickly, attacking the wizard with shortswords. Demonstrating
at least mild competence, Melikae managed to score one over the ribs
with his longsword, but was sorely pressed from two sides. The last
thief was rather more occupied with Thalandur and his immense greatsword,
crackling with magical electrical energy. Velfe, Langarth's wolf, was
speeding along towards one of the two thieves attacking Melikae. Said
wizard decides that's enough melee for one wizard, who uses a spell
to turn invisible and fly away. The two rogues confusedly turn only
to meet the might of an angry paladin, a very large wolf, and a polymorphed
badger. The goodly trio quickly dispatch the unlawful one, and return
to Legor. Impressed and thankful, the drunk hands us the coin purse,
with some compensation (it is magical, after all). Finally, the last
task was the easiest, as all it took to accomplish it was to scoop up
some water from the River Rauvin in a special canister at midnight during
the full moon, which happened to be this night. After obtaining all
the required components, we returned to Bhennarth at that late hour
the items that he had requested. The mage was awake, and appreciative
to our efforts...though he did ask for his change back.
ELEINT
17
Returning the next day at one o'clock as so instructed the previous
night by Bhennarth, we found the mage and Lord Orem in something of
a tizzy. The mage was highly distraught over the absence of the last
spell component, the one that was to arrive this morning at eight but
is now mysteriously absent. Agitatedly requesting our aid in looking
for it, Bhennarth sends us out with a pair of healing potions, in case
we encountered the reason for the caravans delay and it turned out to
be unfriendly. Which it was. But first, an account of how we found the
brigands. Following the road north, we found the site of the caravans
destruction. The wagon had been burned, and broken arrows were fare
too common. Everything of value had been stripped from the cart, but
the tracks were clear. Thanks to Rjonein's tracking skills, we were
able to trace the outlaws to their rocky cave lair. Once inside, we
used a clever mixture of spell cunning and weapon mastery to defeat
the outlaws, who were well armed and outfitted for battle. They were
accompanied by a mage of some small power, who made things a touch more
interesting for Melikae. In the end, of course, the heroes were victorious.
Retrieving the three immense and immensely heavy crates was perhaps
harder than defeating their thieves, and so we spent the night beneath
the stars. Rjonein cooked a meal of beef stew for us, though it was
perhaps a bit too stringy and tough. No fault of his own, but it could've
been far worse.
ELEINT
18
We returned to Silverymoon, following the merchant wagons that helped
haul the cargo out of the woods. Bhennarth and Orem were most relieved
to have their supplies back, though we were all perplexed and bothered
by the discovery that Bhennarth's final spell component, a large gem,
was mysteriously missing. The crates had shown no sign of being tampered
with, and the gem was hidden deep within an immense square block of
stone that only magic could have opened. At any rate, we were invited
to a nobles party to celebrate the return of the son of one Lord Isbros.
Since neither weapons nor bodyguards were to be allowed at this party,
we were signed on as "distant cousins from the Dalelands." Indeed. From
this time to the start of the party on Eleint 21, the autumn equinox,
Melikae completed research on a spell for restricting the movements
of any human or humanoid. Also, we were outfitted with dress suitable
for a nobleman's party, which made Langarth and Rjonein exceedingly
uncomfortable.
ELEINT
21, THE AUTUMN EQUINOX
The night of the party, many things occurred that would change our current
way of life drastically. To give a brief account of the events and our
encounters that night is kindest, as the some of the proliferate conversation
we had that night would likely bore any reader. Nobles can be so stiff.
Though Thalandur nearly got himself into a duel with one of the minor
nobility. Minor or not, it's best not to upset lords nor lady's, if
one likes their head firmly attached to their neck. One further small
note though, it's amazing how many distant cousins of other nobles from
the Dalelands were in attendance that night. The party was going well
until a jewel was stolen. We were immediately under suspicion, as well
as another distant cousin of another noble, for we were new and unknown
to the nobles. However, we managed to deflect suspicion onto the other,
who admitted to being a thief...but not THE thief. It was then that
things started getting interesting. The candelabra's began to dance,
well, attack the panicky nobles. Being skittish they all ran out to
the main ballroom and huddled on one side, that being the one furthest
from the candles as possible. Lord Isbros senior, his Lady, and his
son all took up position at the great stairs leading upwards, to the
side, opposite the main doors and to the left of the huddling group
of nobles. Since we were the only ones not terrified, we were at least
somewhat ready when all the nobles' jewels and jewelry started floating
toward the Isbros family, and the golems attacked. A great ice swan
carving that had been in the main ballroom became a frozen monstrosity,
and the brass carving of a giant-sized man thinking stood up to confront
us. Melikae melted the swan with one swift fire spell, while Thalandur
began dealing with the candlesticks and Langrath began work on the brass
golem. Rjonein began casting defensive magics on himself and the fighters.
Langrath summoned Velfe to his side, and the great wolf leapt through
one of the windows to his masters aid, cutting himself slightly on the
glass shards. The pair began attacking the brass golem, but made little
headway. Melikae aided by sending a bolt of lightning into the golem,
which tore large chunks of it out. Obviously, this was not a standard
brass golem, and had it been, we would surely have fallen. Thalandur
then sent an empathic call out to his war-horse in the stables to come
to his aid. Rjonein continued in his support roll by adding valuable
defensive shields to those battling in melee. Also, he drew his dagger
and rushed at the Isbros family, which had by now turned into a mockery
of humanity. Lord and Lady Isbros had revealed their true form, that
we now know to be dopplegangers, and the son revealed himself as an
evil wizard of extraordinary power. The dopplegangers halted Rjonein's
charge before he could reach the evil master, and knocked him to the
floor. Melikae then sent a trio of magic bolts of energy at the monsters.
The two targeting the dopplegangers scored minor hits, while the one
sent against the new Lord Isbros reflected off a spell mantle and back
towards its caster. Meanwhile, Thalandur continued sweeping the candlesticks
away, and the brass golem sent powerful blows to Langrath. Deciding
those few hits was more than enough, the gigantic druid decided to withdraw
and allow his animal companion to do the rest of the in-close fighting.
Velfe's teeth didn't do very well against the rock hard skin of the
golem. Things looked bleak, especially after the evil wizard Isbros
sent a bead of fire floating towards the nobles - a bead that exploded
in a fireball of heat and death. The inferno killed most of the nobles,
with only Lord Orem still alive after the first blast. Rjonein righted
himself and ran to help his employer. He sent healing energy into his
lord, but it seemed to do little but ease the burned and dying man's
pain. It was then that Thalandur's steed burst through the front door,
bringing with it all of the weapons we were not allowed to bring to
the party. Swiftly grabbing his greatsword, Thalandur made to give aid
to Velfe, who was looking the worse for his battle against the golem.
Melikae, having seen the arcane might of Isbros, created a magical escape
hole into an extradimensional space for the party, and jumped up into
it himself. Rjonein burst another window with his elbow and gently lowered
Lord Orem's dying body to the ground outside, then charged headlong
towards the golem. Unfortunately, he didn't realize his own speed and
strength and jumped completely over the golem, landing on the horse
of Thalandur. Deciding to make the most of the situation, he decided
to retrieve his longbow. Meanwhile, the powerful paladin hammered blows
onto the golem. Noticing a glowing crystal set in the golem's back,
he smashed at it, delivering a crushing blow to the delicate gem. Apparently,
the gem was the source of the golem's power, for immediately after,
it stopped in mid-punch, frozen. That was the end of the battle, and
despite our best healing efforts, our Lord Orem died of his heinous
wounds. His last request was one for justice, that we might find the
mass murderer, Lord Isbros and end his mad murdering methods forever.
ELEINT
21, 1372 THE YEAR OF WILD MAGIC
I suppose, following the disaster that had fallen upon the nobility
of Silverymoon, that anyone left standing at the home of Lord Isbros
would be brought in by the Knights in Silver for questioning. While
admittedly the necessity is understandable, as a respected member of
the magical community hear in Silverymoon, I find the entire process
most insulting. Nevertheless, after listening to my compatriots bumble
about attempting to explain themselves, I was able to step in (figuratively
speaking, since we were all locked in separate cells) and straighten
the matter out. Despite my clear and thorough recollection of the night,
we were still kept overnight - an insult!
ELEINT
22
We were released however, an directed towards the Church of Helm. Who
might have wished to speak to us there, I know not, but upon arrival,
we were greated by an impressive priest by the name of Garagin Snowtower.
He directed us to the back where the church was caring for one of the
"distant cousins from the Dales" from the party who had managed to survive
the fireball by the name of Ralthos. What influence or power he might
have is questionable, but he provided us with some information towards
the capture of Isbros. First off, we were told to head to the Vagabond's
Vault, a somewhat unsavory institution, but useful nonetheless. There,
we received a gift to aid us in our journey's - healing potions. On
our way to Isbros' estate to continue our investigation, Geragin asked
to join our party. He seemed a formidable and competent fellow, so we
agreed to let him add his strengths to our own. Besides, it never hurts
to have the powers of the gods behind you, and we had been missing a
holy healer until this point. From there, we headed back over to the
estate of Lord Isbros. On the way in, we encountered a most peculiar
guard who spoke very quickly, and stated that he hadn't slept in three
years. Most unusual. At any rate, inside the home, we found little of
interest. Most of the rooms were uninteresting and yielded no clues,
but three provided some food for thought. The first was the room of
the junior Isbros. All the books in his private bookcase were missing.
No mage takes all his books anywhere unless he means to leave the place
forever. In Lord Isbros seniors bedchambers, we found evidence of theft.
There were no small aluables, gems or jewelry, or gold, to be found
anywhere. To the list of crimes committed by Lord Isbros can be added
theft. The last door was locked, and we had no means of opening the
door without destroying it, so we left to return the next day.
ELEINT
23 First thing we did was return to the manor, encountering that
same guard. I don't think he slept that night. Peculiar. Anyway, upon
opening the final door, we were presented with a grisly scene. Numerous
corpses, stacked atop one another, including the Lord and Lady Isbros,
were stacked upon each other before the door. When Rjonein moved to
deal with the bodies, a magical trap was sprung, and the corpses went
up in flames. Moving quickly, Langrath and Rjonein casts spells of water
summoning that quenched the flames before the house could burn. We could
then dispose of the bodies honorably, and properly. After this, we began
to investigate Lord Isbross holdings. We discovered that he controlled
numerous mines that mined metals necessary for the creation of golems.
From there, we hit a slow spot, and could not decide what to do next.
Suddenly, inspiration struck, and I remembered seeing him at the Academy.
Deciding to try to root out what sort of mage this man was, we headed
over to the New City and the Academy. There, we discovered from Isbros'
former teachers that he was very intelligent and learned quickly - a
spellcasting prodigy, much like myself - but that he delved to closely
to the darker aspects of metamagic. Also, he was a transmuter, and had
a fiery temper. His interests ran along mechanical lines, and he studied
a great deal about constructs, as well as about artifice. Surely a man
to be reckoned with. But our newly acquired knowledge of the enemy brought
us little in the ways of furthering out pursuit. We might have despaired
had no a young priest of Oghma by the name of Yadros approached us with
information of a dire sort. He informed us of an immensely powerful
magic artifact and its connection to Isbros; also, he presented us with
a tracking device that allowed us to find the item, and thus, Lord Isbros.
ELEINT
25
Seizing the opportunity, we snatched up Yadros and went on our way.
Unfortunately, we were delayed by one day, as Yadros had to make arrangements.
The cleric lead us north some ways from the city. All was well until
the trolls ambushed us. The battle was long and difficult. I had not
though to prepare as many fire spells as I found I needed, and Yadros
was nearly the death of us all with his ridiculous staff of wonder.
Where he procurred such an item, and how he learned to use it (or didn't
learn to use it, as it were), I've no idea. Garagin saved us all with
his healing spells, and Langrath and Rjonein especially owe him their
lives. Without his aid, it's possible that I might have had to return
to the city just with Thalandur and two bodies. As if he hadn't done
enough already, Yadros further demonstrate his incompetence by turning
the tracking device upside down and sheepishly telling us that we have
been travelling in the wrong direction. The temptation for violence
in me was a powerful one at this point, but I had run out of battle
spells, and he still had that accursed staff, so I let the matter be.
ELEINT
26
Heading south this time (grr) we found our way towards a small village
set in the hills and the land itself. Immediately, I knew that we were
in gnome territory, and was soon proven correct. Making our needs known
to the little people was simple - obtaining them was rather more difficult.
Cajoled and blackmailed, we were told that to obtain the information
we needed, we would have to defeat the town's best dizzy-boff player
at dizzy-boff. What in the Nine Hells is dizzy-boff?!? Well we soon
found out, much to our dismay. Rjonein was the first to fall, followed
by Thalandur (a quick match!). Langrath was next to lose. Even I lost
the game, though I am hardly made for such sweaty pursuits. I lost money
on bets up to this point, when I suddenly wizened up and put my money
on the gnomish hero. Garagin's attempt nearly had me doubting the wisdom
of this, but in the end, he fell from the wheel, and I fell into a large
sum of money. But, since according to the gnome's we were good sports,
we were shown the way to the ruins that we were searching for. At the
door to the small, sunken room, a voice shouted out an ancient riddle,
to which I immediately shouted back the answer. The door swung open,
and we were allowed entrance. In the first room, we were attacked by
two Thayan golems. What they were doing here, and presumably under Lord
Isbross command, I know not. After dispatching our adversaries, Yadros
pointed us to the next room, and to the end of the first step of our
quest.
E-mail
Interlude #1
--Dungeon
Master--
Sunlight filters in through the cracked roof of the ruins, you once
again find yourself staring at the strange magical device. It's large
center gem, suspended in the magical field is pulsing slowly. You all
can feel an aura of magical energy coming from it. Yadros hands the
Melikae, Snowtower, and Rjonein a small magical device.
--Yadros--
"The three of you, put the devices on each of the spikes. Good. Now,
we need to activate them at exactly the same time. Ready? 3...2....1....NOW!"
--dungeon Master-- A tenseness pervades the room as seemingly nothing
happen. Suddenly the elves of the group look around wildly, as the hear
a deep tone, far below the spectrum of the other races. The tone gets
higher and higher, eventually passing above the range of everyones hearing.
The large gem makes a loud popping noise as a hairline fracture appears
on it. The fracture widens until the entire gem shatters sending shards
everywhere. The field dissipates now that the gem is no longer an issue.
You sense a dark force gathering in the distance. Seemingly angry
.--Thalandür--
"Well, thats settled. What wrongs shall we right now!"
--Yadros--
"Well, its not quite that simple. *sniff* I had hestiated to tell you
this before because I wasn't sure, but now it cannot be denied. What
we just destroyed was one of many. It supplies a power field to a much
larger, darker artifact that, given enough time and souls, and raw materials
can create constructs at no pain to the user. It's been lost for centuries
but obviously it's been found again. There are, however a couple of
drawbacks to the artifact. The constructs created by it need to stay
within a magical field, like the one created by that artifact we just
destroyed. The power is recieved by expensive gems set somewhere in
the golems body, destroy the gem and the golem loses all of its power."
--Dungeons
Master--
Does anyone want to ask any questions of Yadros before returning to
town?
--Melikae--
Now then Yadros, answer me well for the information you provide will
make the difference between success and failure. Knowledge is our greatest
resource now. What is tha nature of the central artifact? Please try
to recall any information about it you can. How many power centers such
as the one we have just destroyed are there? What is the pattern to
their placement? An important one now, where is the next closest one?
What is the exact process of their destruction? Should you be rendered
incapable of performing the rituals necessary, it behooves us to have
someone else capable of understanding the arcane processes. What is
the size of the energy field provided? I realize this is a lot to ask
at once, so take your time, but do not dwell overlong. We know not how
quickly the enemy may move, and must prepare for the worst.
--Dungeon Master--
Yadros blanches as you roll off your questions, he seems a bit unsure
of himself, but before long sets his face. Its clear hes trying to recall
your information.
--Yadros--
"The central artifact creates these constructs out of raw materials
and a sizable amount of sacrifices. It by itself generates one of these
power fields, records indicate its somewhere between 8 and 10 miles
in diameter. I believe the the power generators have range of between
4 and 6 miles, the texts aren't exactly clear on it. The central artifact
can also create the power generators, though a rather expensive faceted
gem is required for it. My tracking device doesn't seem to be able to
be picking up any more of them, but i'm unsure of its range. To destroy
them you need four maximized, empowered, shatter spells set off at the
exact same time at an equal distance from the gem, so that their harmonics
converge at the same time. Those things we just used were one time use
magic items doing just that. I have to go back to tend the artifacts
room, and I can't let you have the located. That is, unless, you were
to compensate the school in some way. A favour to be requested later,
perhaps.
--Dungeon
Master--
Yadros is wringing his hands and looking very nervous.
--Yadros--
"Either way I think that we should flee this area, lest we be overrun
by Isbros troops."
ELEINT
26, 1372 THE YEAR OF WILD MAGIC
After destroying the item of power, we decided to head back to the gnomish
village to heal and prepare ourselves for the next step in our quest.
Garagin remembered some pressing business or some such and had to return
to Silverymoon immediately, so we would be without his services for
the time. Just after retuning from the short ways back to the village,
we noticed a number of men, dressed in black coats and armed with maces
and crossbows, make their way to the ruins. Shortly after entering the
building, they stepped back out and made their way towards the village.
Disliking the look and feel of these men, we made our way to intercept
them, as they were headed towards the town hall (a small, cottage-like
building - not very hallish if you ask me). We intended to stop whatever
plans they might have had, as they looked like men of violence. I must
say I nearly laughed at our ineptitude when they simply brushed by us
on their way in, though I was laughing in triumph moments later when
we chased them down within the halls of the building and rescued the
mayor after dispatching our antagonists. Afterwards, we stayed for the
night, telling tales of our exploits to the delited gnomes. We even
helped to fix the holes that our little fight created in the walls of
the hall.
ELEINT
27
We returned to Silverymoon and the University this day, in order to
obtain the tracking device used by Yadros that allowed us to locate
the power centers. Also, we were given eight shatter gems as used in
the ritual to destroy Isbros unholy power sources. However, the price
we payed for these items may be no small amount, as unknown favors tend
to be larger returning then given.
ELEINT
28
After making arangements with the innkeeper for our next months stay
(mental note: Rjonein, Thalandur, and Langrath each owe me 25 gold pieces,
at fifteen percent interest, calculated monthly, starting on this day,
eleint 28, year of wild magic), and while making our morning meal, we
received a message from Ralthos, delivered by a most interesting gofer.
Judging by the pin on the boys collar, it was evident that he was a
member of that pseudo-secret band of do-gooders known as the Harpers.
By association, it would seem that our friend and informant Ralthos
is also a member of the organization. Good to know. At any rate, here
is the letter in its brief entirety;
And
so we made our way to the temple where we found Garagin, who's pressing
business obviously had done little to take him away from his doorman
duties at the church of Helm. After speaking with Ralthos, we followed
his direction and sped to those dark and dangerous swamps, the Evermoors.
On the way there, our tracking device began to lead us more precisely
to the edge of the swamps. We had hardly met the border to the perilous
landmark when we were ambushed in the mist by more of Isbros well-attired
henchmen, this time accompanied by a golem of some new sort, made of
a type of sandstone that I'm not familiar with in golem construction.
The fight was difficult, but made easier by an invigorating bardic song
coming from somewhere within the mists. After we had vanquished our
foes, we met our unknown helper. Thus, we met Lord Byron, a pale and
stately fellow of impecable dress and precision. He exhuded that air
of power and confidence that would not be amiss among nobility. It seemed
odd that what appeared to be a nobleman would have skills in a profession
so common as that of the bard, but I was not about to complain. I have
always enjoyed a gift horse. Byron led us out the confusing and permeating
mists and to a cave where we could rest before our assault on the power
center that our magical tracking device was pointing us towards. During
the day when Byron was nowhere to be found, I cam to the conclusion
that our helper and informant seemed to be a vampire. Running down the
checklist, I found all evidences to be in order; aversion to sun, stark
pale complexion, pointy canines. Circumstantial it may be, but powerful
evidence nonetheless. Also, good to know, though I would certainly not
hold his undead status against him. Contrary to popular myth, not all
vampires are chaotic, untrustworthy, evil, malicious creatures. I must
also believe that he is likewise a member of the Harpers, which might
explain his bardic talents. But I digress.
ELEINT
29
After preparing the previous day for our battle this eve, I expected
the fight to be short. I was wrong. Despite taking the defenders of
the golem power source by surprise, and their less than spectacular
combat sense, the sheer toughness of both man and metal were surprising,
and the I feared that the battle might be our last. The two golems,
more examples of the sandstone warriors we encountered earlier, were
especially dangerous, dealing tremendous destruction with their stony
fists. I myself was rendered unconcious by my wounds, though, through
the healing power of Langrath, was able to return to full life no worse
for the wear. It is not, however a trip I should be taking, and similarly,
not one I'd care to repeat. Were it not for Byron and his fangs, I'm
not sure we would have survived that battle. But we did, and legends
are not borne of maybe's and what-might-have-beens. We then completed
our original objective by using our purchased spell gems to destroy
the power matrix, though not before the buffonery of Thalandur and Langrath
managed to waste the arcance power of two of our eight gems. I cannot
believe the idiocy it takes to bungle such a simple magical process.
It could hardly even be called a ritual, no more than a couple simple
steps, and still the muscle-brained twits screw things up. We now only
have two gems remaining, where we need four to destroy a power center.
Which means we must return for to Silverymoon for at least two more.
Won't that be a fun conversation. But I digress. So we move on, this
time led by Byron to another subterranean building. The stairs led downwards
into a chamber of power. In the square room were three paintings on
separate walls, and three alters before each painting. The depictions
showed a warrior human standing without his blade, a dwarven fighter
without his warhammer, and an elven archer without his bow and arrows.
As we stepped fully into the room, we were confronted with each of these
depicted warriors who came alive in the painting themselves, seeming
very animated.. They accused of 'Taking the constructor without going
through the tests' we quickly defended ourselves, explaining about the
misdeeds of Isbros, and that we were here to find a way to stop him.
They pondered on this for a moment and came up with something. They
challenged us to a battle of brain and brawn, with the brain coming
first. Accepting, we were sent to three separate realms by stepping
through portals before each alter to each spirit. In the first plane,
we were confronted with a sun riddle in the middle of a vast plain that,
through some trial-and-error and some flashes of understanding, I was
able to puzzle out. After solving the puzzle, we received our prize,
an obviously magical greatsword. The second realm, that before the dwarven
painting, was a simple word riddle which proved to be no problem at
all. After solving that riddle, we received a dwarven warhammer to carry.
Finally, the elven realms was one of tall, mighty trees, and crisp,
natural leaves. It was a pleasant experience, being in a place so plainly
elven. Far too much time has passed since I was home on Evermeet with
my family, and I fear that this brief exposure may be the closest I
get to a home coming. A plainly elven riddle was presented to us, concerning
leaves of different seasons, that we solved fairly quickly. Our prize
was a set of bow and arrows, as well as a separate group of arrows that,
through my scrolls of identify, were, strangely enough, arrows of healing.
A being shot by such arrows would be healed of their wounds. Returning
to the chamber, we realized that we were to return our newly acquired
weapons to their rightful owners. After doing so (the greatsword to
the human, the warhammer to the dwarf, and the bow and arrows to the
elf), the images leapt from their paintings in the form on long-dead
spirits, and commenced to attack us. Battling the ghosts was, in its
own way, more difficult than our previous battle, and I was already
low on spells. It took a moment to realize that we had to time our strikes
for when the spirits materialized in our realm from the Ethereal Plane.
Even then, our efforts were not strong and swift enough to prevent the
passing of Rjonein, who fell from a mighty attack from the dwarven warrior.
In the end, though we were victorious, the dead outnumbered the living
(especially since we still had Byron with us). After defeating our ghostly
challengers, a mighty weapon appeared before us, named the Deconstructor.
It's purpose seems to be to destroy magical constructs, which would
make it uniquely suited to our current plight.
E-mail
Interlude #2
--Dungeon
Master--
Dust settles in the ancient chambers. The guardians of
the constructor have been returned to the paintings, weapons in hand.
You sense that they will not trouble you further. You think you have
completed all of the tests, but no reward as yet come to you. All of
you begin to get a bit perterved with going through all of that for
nothing. All of you, that is, except Rjonein. He lies unmoving on the
eastern side of the room. From your angle you can see no rise and fall
of his chest. Rushing to his side you see that is too late. His chest
is not only not moving, but has been completely caved in from the ghost
dwarf's massive hammer. Further surverying the room to account for all
of your party you spot Langrath's pet wolverine comotose on the opposite
side of the room. The wolvering however, is still alive just depleted.
He will need healing soon if you wish him to live. Even Byron seems
affected by the losses of your comrades. Tear of blood slide down his
face. As you sit and mourn your dead you hear the sound of moving stone.
A depression in the shape of the portal triangles appearsm facing to
the south. A pedestal raises from it. Set upon it is a long hafted war
hammer inscribed with runes both elven and dwarven.
--Melikae--
Lowering my hands from their arcane pose, I breath a heavy sigh of relief
- one that becomes choked with regret as my eyes find the body of Rjonein.
The room is splattered with the blood of my friends, and all we have
to show for it is an old mallet. It had better have been worth it. Immediately
I turn to Byron, in time to see a light red smear being wiped fom his
cheek.
"Byron. Is there anything you can do for Rjonein?"
--Byron--
"Sadly there is naught that I can do for your fallen comrade but give
a requiem. We must get him to a priest before his body decays beyond
recognition. Luckily its cold out."
--Melikae--
"Not so Byron, for the powers of the God's include the ability to recreate
a body for the immortal soul. All that is required is to find a priest
of sufficient faith nad Rjonein shall be restored regardless." "But,
no time like the present. We had best leave here as swiftly as possible."
--Byron--
"True, but I was also thinking of your coffers. I understand
from my friends of mine that your entire group had to borrow funds to
pay for their Inn stay. I'm sure after selling your looted gear you
should be able to afford it. Plus with my funds, and my har- err....my
friends we could pull in some contacts. That is, if his spirit wants
to return. Anyway, back to the task at hand."
--Dungeons
Master--
All eyes turn towards the massive hammer. You all seem
lost in a trance, and those of you who are chaotic good feel compelled
to reach out and claim it. Melikae breaks the silence.
--Melikae--
"Who will bear our prize?" Resisting the urge to reach out
for the mighty relic, I instead provide what is likely the most optimal
use of the weapon.
"Thalandur, I think it may be best if your holy hand were to weild the
Hammer. A warrior of your skills would make best use of it, and the
divine shields that Torm grants you will aid you should the weapon be
posessed of some overwhelming magical sentience."
Stunned, I watch as Thalandur shakes his head.
"No, I will not wield it. Such arcane power is not meant for my hands.
I shall resist the temptation to take up the weapon lest I fall to its
corrupting power. Best perhaps if the wiser keep it till a more suitable
master could be found."
Nodding sagely, I accept his wise words.
"Then unless another feels he is worthy, I shall keep it until another
master, more formidable in martial matters, can be found."
Inspiration strikes and I turn to Byron in the hopes that his immortal
wisdom might find a better path.
Melikae turns away from the apparently unworthy Thalandür,
focusing his attention on Byron.
"Byron, what advice do you have? Would you take up the hammer till its
true wielder might be found?"
--Byron--
"This is not a decision to be taken lightly. I get the sense
that whomsoever picks up this artifact will be bound to it until the
hammers' task is complete. I however, am dead, and have been for some
time now. I don't think it will adhere itself to me. I shall hold it
until the need arises and one of you feels the need to step forward
and accept this. I would myself wield it but this is your battle. I
have instructions not to interfere too much on your quest."
Byron slowly steps forward, hands out to the sides of the hammer. He
takes a deep breathe, and slowly brings his hands around the hilt. The
hammer looks incredibly heavy, but Byron seems to pick it up with ease.
As he has it he seems lost in though. Suddenly his eyes open quickly,
he pivots towards the rest of you. "Quickly, gather your slain
and injured. I can sense the thoughts of this weapon, though it apparently
cannot sense me. It has great need to go to Silverymoon. With all haste
friends! We must depart!"
Eleint
29, 1372 The Year of Wild Magic
The
day was fairly uneventful as it was generally occupied with returning
to our home city of Silverymoon. We stopped on the way for a simple
meal of bread, berries, and a ration of meat made tolerable by Rjonein's
culinary skill, dried and leftover as it is. Too bad he's dead. I look
forward to his cooking when we find the magic necessary to return him
to life. Just delightful. Though I yearn for a proper elven, Evermeetian
meal at some point. Is it really too much to ask?
ELEINT
30
Before
the day's travel could begin we had to wait out the day to allow Byron
to accompany us. Being a Master of the Night has its advantages, but
there are assuredly inconveniences. At any rate, when we began moving,
The Deconstructor in hand, night had fallen and we moved swiftly and
quietly. As we crested a hill, we found to our infinite horor that Isbross'
plans were moving forward at a frightening pace, as was clearly evidenced
by the sheer mass of metallic monstrousoties maliciously marauding my
marvelous mighty marble walls of Silverymoon (woo!). The walls were
under attack by golems of all kinds; iron, clay, sandstone, wood…even
warriors of human flesh and blood. Flying wooden golems were prying
defenders from the walls and dropping them from great heights, sending
the brave masters of sword and magic to their deaths, while the more
brutishly inclined beasts crushed their giant hands into the fortifications.
Thalandur
is nearly overcome by the mental overtures of the Deconstructor, but
manages to resist sending himself to his doom by hurtling down into
the mass of constructed warriors. On the way past and around the siege,
I spotted a glow near the outskirts of the army, little realizing its
signifigance.
We
hurried towards the rulers of Silverymoon, with some carrying the important
package of our falen companion Rjonein to the temples of Torm. Byron
and Langrath rush to defend the falling walls, while I swiftly report
to Taern Hornblade. There, a revelation occurs and I find myself cursing
at my stupidity. The glow seen previous was the power source for the
golems of the army! All that's needed to halt the destruction of Silverymoon
is to destroy the crystals.
At
a speed made capable only through powerful magic, I flew over the city
towards where the glowing green light that indicated the power source
was. Unfortunately, in my haste, I was seen by one of the flying wodden
golems. Fortunately, it contented itself with a simple single fly-by-shot.
Painful as it was, I was fully capable of continuing my desperate flight.
A
small guard of Isbros's human troopers were guarding the power cell,
which, though it galls me to say it, I was unable to defeat alone. Indeed,
while my magics were deadly efficient, I simply did not have the defensive
magics to counter their crossbows. Alone, I would have failed in saving
the city. Luckily, being a part of a team allows me to depend on others
as demonstrated by Thalandur's heoric, if dramatic, ride to the rescue
of the city. Galloping hard on his steed, he swiftly aided in dispatching
the few remaining troopers, and together, we were able to destroy the
crystals, robbing the constructs of their energy, and saving the city.
Isbros's human forces fled, and luckily for them, because just as the
remaining troopers withdrew we saw the marching battle lines of a dwarven
army sent from Mithril Hall.
Meanwhile,
Langrath had taken injuries, and Rjonein had not yet been resurected,
so our victory did not come without losses. Unable to do more, my magics
spent, I returned to the inn and fell swiftly to trance.
HIGH
HARVESTIDE
Happily
for me, my small loans to Langrath, Rjonein, and Thalandur compounded
to day. I stand to make fifteen percent over my original loan. Money.
The second most powerful force in the world.
After
oversleeping by some few moments, I was awoken by a page sent from the
High Mage Hornblade. The lad was remarkable in likely any number of
traits, the least of which was a scar running down his face and the
pin afixed to his livery naming him a member of the meddling band known
as the Harpers. Curious.
Keeping
my encounter to myself, I gather the rest of my comrades and head to
Hornblades offices to discover his wishes. Best not to keep a high mage
waiting. When we arrive we are informed that a large load of mithril
has been purloined from the Mithril Halls that our dwarven rescuers
were sent from. Supposedly, magical tracking aides have shown the mithril
to be teleported to a location in the Evermoors. Naturally, we were
sent to retrieve it. Unfortunately, since the urgency of the situation
demanded speed, we couldn't wait for Byron, which would leave us perhaps
slightly short of full strength. I have already discovered that I cannot
do everything myself, and in that knowle4dge grows a seed of wisdom.
Surely we would need some help.
Luckily,
aid had already arrived. A few moments previously, I had noticed a small
glinting coming from behind Taern's throne chair, but dismissed it.
Now, I discover4ed it to be the metallic replacement arm for our informer
and friend Ralthos, who had finally recovered from his injuries at Isbross
hands. He offered to come along and bring another sword arm (and a magical
metal one, at that).
The
trip to the Evermoors was uneventful, and surprisingly swift. If I hadn't
known any better, I might have guessed that we walked through a portal
unknowingly along the way. Be that as it may, we arrived at the outer
edges of the vast and dangerous swamps of the Evermoors within hours.
On a mild uprising in the land, we spotted a dock of sorts in the heavily
flooded areas of the swamp, where several humans garbed in typical Isbros-henchmen
fashion were accompanied by a large, mutable golem. Altogether, they
were loading several crates onto a skiff of some kind. In typical heroic
fashion, we stormed the group of ill-do'ers, and, after a protracted
battle both on the docks and on the raft, defeated both humans and golem.
By the time the construct's structural integrity had collapsed, the
craft had already begun moving at a fair pace through the swamps to
some pre-arranged destination. Said destination could be said to be
"looming on the horizon."
We
might have thought to look at the control system and attempt to alter
the ships instructions, but we were…distracted by a swarm of mechanical
biteme's. While they had little strength or ability to injure, they
were nonetheless effective in their purpose of swarming and arresting
the party in its progress. Destroying the tiny creatures one by one
was taking far too long so I had to risk an area effect electrical spell
and hope that my friends would be able to yell at me later for it. As
it is, the gamble paid off, and we dispatched the last of the flies
only moments after the craft reached the outside of its destination.
We
had been zooming through an immense tunnel at breathtaking speeds, but
so distracted were we by the flies that nobody had a chance to maneuver
too the controls to slow the raft down. By the time I thought of it,
it was too late. We had reached the end of the line. A brick wall sped
towards my field of vision, and death seemed to swim in my eyes. Thinking
of my survival, and that at least one person had to live to carry the
bodies back in failure, I leapt from the hurtling craft, my flight spell
intact. Too my surprise, Ralthos too leapt from the craft, but not to
his projectile demise. Instead, a set of magical feathered wings unfolded
from his back, supporting him in the air, and allowing him to hover
safely. Pookie simply cannonballed into the water, skipping for several
meters before settling and sinking in the waist deep water. Rjonein
attempted to ski bahind the speeding craft, but found the velocity too
much for his feet, and let go before death overtook him again. Thalandur
and his steed hung desperately on the craft, refusing to jump. Which
was a shame because when the craft hurtled through the brick wall, sending
dense crates of mithril about and shrapnel everywhere, only Thalandur
would walk away. His steed, unfortunately, would not,
When
we regroup after the disasterous encounter, we find ourselves in an
expansive circular room, a tower. Unfortunately, at this time, we are
somewaht bereft of fighting capability, and so must rest and recuperate.
The answer of how we can do that safely is answered when Ralthos pulls
forth a pouch filled with components for a powerful defensive magic
that would allow us to recuperate for the night without worry of attack,
for an intangible barrier of force would protect us on all sides.
MARPENOTH
1
This
morning, after sleeping under the protective dome of the magical dust,
we discover ourselves surrounded by more of Isbors troopers. They didn't
know what they were dealing with. Spell and steel eliminated such troublesome
irritants swiftly, and we investigated the rest of the room we were
in. It was obviously only a part of a much larger complex, and we discovered
various other room surrounding the larger interior one. They included
simple barracks, storage areas, and groups of slaves. Thalandur had
a noble minded intent in attempting to free the prisoners from their
cells, first punching the door, then kicking the door, then punching
and kicking the door in conjunction, and finally deciding to use the
key.
The
control room of the floor we were on held slots for two ovoid gems.
Luckily, we had scavenged two such gems from the bodies of our assailants.
The first slot, when filled with a gem, opened up the ceiling of the
room to the immense aria of the night sky. The second gem dropped the
bottom from us, literally. Well, not me, as I gently floated down, but
those incapable of flight had to make ungainly arrangements to descend
safely. Unfortunately, while my descent went more than safely, my landing
did not.
The instant I touched down, I was transported to a darkened room, seated
in a chair in the light, facing another chair, fiulled by none other
than the arch-mage himself., Isbross had me in his capture. How wonderfoul
<intentional misspelling, ironical, eh?>.
Curiously,
he did nothing to harm me, even after I let loose with a multilingual
blast of profanities that would make a drunken sailor swallow his tongue
in horror. Indeed, perhaps even more perplexingly, he offered me the
hand of partnership, ready to ally himself with me. Well, I go to far.
He offered me an apprenticeship at his side, and I admit, I was tempted
to take his offer and study from such a learned Artist. But my conscience
would net let me, and I declined, in clipped, yet inquisitive tones.
We questioned each other briefly, and engaged in a shortened moral debate
over magic, its uses, and the morals behind such uses. Naturally, I
knew this would get me nowhere, but it is within my nature to expound
truth, or at least my version of it.
Even
given my proclivity towards argumentation, I was allowed to go free
within moments of my capture, his only wish to converse with what I
presume he found the most capable enemy facing him. Likely, he was unimpressed,
though I cannot say the same concerning him. Seemingly, he was only
concerned with that trait that defines the thinking beast; the need
to be understood.
At this point the writer got too lazy to continue with the final part
of the adventure *cough* lazy bum *cough* and we have nothing more on
that. In a nut shell we fought our way down the lowest level of Isbros's
Inverted Tower, and with much loss to ourselves took him out. As he
'died' he fell into the constructor itself. Starting the final process
of awakening the giant mithral golem. Due to Isbros's extreme power,
he was able to transfer his soul into the golem from his dying body.
Seeing an opening in the golems foot those of us still around rushed
in, just as Isbros transported himself near the walls of Silverymoon.
We rushed to the heart of the giant construct and destroyed its generator
just as its foot was lowering onto the walls of the city. The construct
remains with the image of Isbros's face upon it, looking over the city.
The
entire party was killed shortly after this and no journals could be
recovered to tell the tale. However it has been let out that the party
was after a devourer that ate the soul of a local paladin. Coming upon
a room choked full of 80+ monsters the entire party except Ralthos and
Melikae were killed. Taking the bodies of their fallen comrades and
began fleeing back to town (not before taking over over 100 CR worth of baddies), they made a shocking discovery that the town up
above was in fact, and I quote 'EEEEEEEVIL!!'. So ends the adventures of this group. Time
to roll up new characters.
