Session 14: wherein an outpost, a spellsink manual, and a Ghern commander are captured, and Rojin is defeated
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
As the hobgoblins retreated, they lit up a set of smokesticks to obscure their exit. Nathaniel cast a ghost sound into the hallway to try to distract the spellsinks and Ike killed the unconscious troll with a well-aimed arrow. Lotus cast Wind Tunnel on Ike, which allowed him to disperse the smoke in the hallway and get a clear view of the two portcullises surrounding a puddle on the floor. Ike fired several arrows at a hobgoblin soldier in the room beyond, nearly paralyzing the enemy. Flynn began singing about the arrival of the Chord of Doom. Nathaniel's attempt to Phantasmal Killer a hobgoblin engineer was dispelled, but Lotus' flamestrike succeeded. The hobgoblins retreated into the smokier parts of their room as Jakob threw a stone door into the puddle between the portcullises. Ike's blowing smoke revealed a hobgoblin foot, which he shot precisely in the most damaging spot with a poisoned arrow. Flynn again hasted the party, and Nate fired his crossbow, thinking it had a higher chance of success than spells did.
Lotus summoned a large air elemental as the hobgoblins continued to cower. Jakob tried to tear another stone door away from its hinges, but it barely held in place. Ike stepped forward and killed a spellsink and an engineer. Nathaniel's Great Thunderclap was blocked by another unseen enemy, but Lotus' air elemental blew the last of the smoke away to reveal the remaining engineer and spellsinks. The elemental tried to toss a spellsink in front of Ike, but the spellsink's magical defenses proved too potent. A few hobgoblin soldiers made feeble attempts to hurt the elemental, but its physical defenses proved the same. Ike fired a few more shots at a hobgoblin soldier while Nate created an illusory air elemental and Lotus summoned a dire wolf.
A spellsink stepped forward and tried to dispel Nathaniel's illusion, but failed. Jakob propped one portcullis open with the stone door he'd finally managed to tear down, and noted that the puddle was highly flammable oil. Ike shot at the spellsink who'd stepped into sight, but it was Nate's crossbow bolt that dealt the killing blow. The air elemental brought the other spellsink into view, and Lotus' dire wolf tripped the largest remaining soldier. The wolf also held the spellsink down, proving far more effective than the spell Lotus tried to cast. The hobgoblin soldiers focused their attacks on the pair of summons, bringing both near their ends. As Jakob stepped forward to lift the second portcullis, a hiding hobgoblin lit the oil on fire. Ike blasted the last spellsink and then fired a pair of arrows through the small slit in the wall, killing the hidden hobgoblin. Flynn fired some arrows at the remaining enemies, and Nate confused the pack before backing around the corner.
The elemental and the wolf kept pounding away as Lotus dehydrated the leading soldier, killing him. The confused hobgoblins started running and attacking each other, though one managed to kill the wolf before it fell to its confused ally. Jakob lifted the final portcullis and propped it open, giving Ike a clear shot to kill a hobgoblin engineer. Nate held another entineer while Lotus, Jakob, Ike, and the air elemental moved forward to finish off the remaining live enemies. The enemies tried to focus their last, desperate attacks on Flynn, but couldn't get into the hallway past Jakob. The party quickly dropped the remaining enemies, keeping one soldier and one engineer alive but unconscious. Jakob picked up valuable and useful-looking gear and broke the remaining weapons in the armory, thinking it important to leave future hobgoblins less able to fight.
The party moved down a hallway and opened the nearest door. Two hobgoblins inside the room fired a catapult full of flaming metal at the door, narrowly missing Jakob and barely injuring the somewhat fire-resistant Ike. Two others operated a metal dinosaur-like machine of the right size and shape to have carved out most of the complex. Ike shot one of the engineers in the face while Nate confused the other three. Flynn began singing, and Jakob killed the unconfused enginner. One of the confused engineers drove the dinosaur into a wall while the others stood babbling. Ike took out the engineer standing outside and Jakob popped the top of the dinosaur open, punching and killing one of the engineers. The other tried to draw his bow and attack, giving Jakob an opening to strike him dead.
Nate hopped in the dinosaur and tried to get it working, but couldn't figure out the complex machinery. The party piled all sorts of treasure into the dinosaur and Jakob dragged it outside, and Ike gladly burned other items in the outpost. Lotus took a few minutes to focus on some new spells while Nate chatted with an orc who had been cooking dinner, deciding to leave the civilian alive despite its questionable allegiances. In a room near the end of the complex, the party found an elf who had been a spellcaster but had been somehow neutralized by the spellsinks. The elf was tending to a library full of hobgoblin training manuals, including one that described the spellsink training process.
The party headed for the final door within the complex, with Flynn casting haste and singing on approach. Jakob kicked the door open to reveal a room full of ashes and burning paper and a single hobgoblin. Ike shot the hobgoblin, who charged at Jakob and found himself quickly on the ground. Jakob punched the hobgoblin unconscious, and Nate set about scouring the room for unburned papers. Only one held any tidbit of useful information: some group was apparently "ready for the legion of Ghern". Disappointed in the lack of written information, the party teleported the unconscious hobgoblin leader, the previously-captured soldier and engineer, and the dinosaur full of treasure back to Kinari, where the elves took over interrogation.
Early the next morning, the Ninja Mongoose Rockstars headed back into the outpost and stepped behind the door marked with the skull and crossbones. This led to a deep and dark shaft with a staircase circling downward. Lotus cast daylight on a stone and dropped it, revealing a stone inscription at the bottom of the shaft: "Here lies Rojin. Death awaits the unworthy." The party headed downward, discovering four doors marked with different symbols and a single tomb with four slits. Rojin's ghost materialized and matter-of-factly detailed the scenario: there were four tests ahead, each of which was necessary for a true ninja to pass. These were the tests of silence, darkness, numbers, and speed, each of which would wield a dagger that could be used as a key to the test.
Ike opted to approach the test of silence. Nate cast silent portal to quiet the door. Inside was a wall of greater dispelling and a room with several spouts hanging from the ceiling. Skeletons lay scattered on the floor. Flynn sang a song to inspire Ike and then quieted down, and Ike stepped quietly across the room, triggering some minor dexterity-draining poison when he breathed a little too loudly. Eventually Ike reached the far side of the room and grabbed a dagger, sneaking carefully back.
Jakob stepped into the test of speed. The door led to a long hallway with a dagger at the end. Jakob ran to the far end of the hallway, grabbed the dagger, and ran back, easily outrunning the spikes that started emerging from the floor.
Ike attempted the test of darkness. The door led to a pitch-black room with a narrow walkway and magical eyes above arrow slits. Jakob tied a rope to Ike and to himself in case retrieval became necessary. Ike stepped carefully around the room, using darkvision to guide him, but found he couldn't reach the dagger because a piece of the walkway had collapsed. He came out and Jakob took his place, easily reaching the dagger. Curious as to what would have happened, Nate threw a flaming bit of paper into the room after everyone had left, and a series of arrows shot through the paper.
Jakob and Ike moved into the test of numbers together. The door led to a room surrounded by 19 more doors and a dagger in the middle. Nate created webs around the room's perimeter and Flynn sang an inspirational song, and then Ike grabbed the dagger. The main door snapped shut the other 19 opened, revealing 19 beginning (summoned) ninjas who immediately became stuck in the webs. The ninjas threw shurikens at Ike, though only a pair managed to hit him. Ike started shooting back, dropping one ninja per arrow. Nate cast dimension door to bring himself, Lotus, and Flynn into the center of the room, saying "a box full of ninjas isn't dangerous; the more ninjas there are, the easier the fight." Flynn hasted the party and Lotus created a dinosaur stampede along the eastern half of the room. Jakob stepped toward one corner and punched one of the weak ninjas. A new group of 19 ninjas appeared, wielding a pair of swords each and finding themselves immediately stuck in the webs. Flynn shot three on the western half of the room, Jakob punched one, and Lotus' dinosaurs and some arc lightning dropped several more. A new group arrived, armed with bows. Nate stunned several, leaving only ten to fire at Ike, and three of those drew attacks from Jakob for their efforts. Ike used some minor healing on himself as the dinosaurs, Jakob, Flynn, and Nate kept dropping individual ninjas. Lotus created a vortex of teeth to cover the parts of the room her dinosaurs weren't already occupying, and the final group of ninjas arrived to find themselves in an ugly spot. A few of them managed to toss some poison at Ike, but he easily resisted and shot the few that Lotus' spells didn't kill. With that, the main door popped open.
With the fourth dagger in place, the ghost spoke: "to win the prize, you must face Rojin himself. Whoever dares, stand here on the floor. All others, step aside." Ike, Lotus, and Jakob stood at the center of the room while Nathaniel and Flynn moved aside. The floor sank a hundred feet downward and a pair of stone slabs closed above the newly-formed pit. Rojin's ghost suddenly disappeared. Ike used his headband to grant himself True Seeing, which revealed Rojin now standing upside down on the ceiling. Jakob began climbing as the ghost cast Find the Gap. Lotus cast wind tunnel on Ike, whose four arrows found their mark and killed the ghost. With that, the floor rose up and Rojin's corpse appeared, with Fox's Bite in hand. Ike spit on the corpse and grabbed the bow, wondering why Nathaniel and Flynn had been so cowardly as to stay out. Nate replied "I didn't get to be 187 years old by climbing into a box with one ninja."
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Session 13, 2007-12-08: The Chord of Doom is Here
Session 13: wherein a spellsink is captured and an outpost is besieged
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob; Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
Curious about the spellsinks, Nate teleported to Lonely Sparrow. He described the spellsinks to Minellin, who asked that one be captured for further study. Nate agreed, and Lotus set out in eagle form to locate one that could be captured. She soon found a group with two gargoyles, six soldiers, and a single spellsink. The party hid about 200 feet away (with Nate, Flynn, and Lotus all rolling natural 20's on their hide checks.) Lotus' opening volley was Ice Flowers, and Nate's followup Great Thunderclap left many enemies stunned, deaf, or half-dead. Jakob approached as Ike took down both gargoyles. Jakob then found his target and quickly knocked the spellsink unconscious. Nate fired a crossbow bolt into the dirt next to one of the stunned enemies, so Ike showed him how it's done, killing the largest soldier with a string of arrows. Ike and Lotus walked around killing the remaining soldiers while Minellin teleported in to study the spellsink's spell resistance and spell duration reduction effect. After Minellin left, Ike killed the spellsink and called Jakob a wuss for not doing it himself.
The party returned to Thameor's outpost, where a group of Ivani had arrived just before. The elves delievered a message: the Ninja Mongoose Rockstars were wanted in Kinari. One of the elves guided the party's teleport to the northeast, and then began dancing, which summoned a gate to Kinari. Inside the city, an Ivani commander requested the party gather information behind enemy lines, possibly striking at a Ghern outpost deep within their territory. Ike found an archery shop whose shopkeeper was very interested in Ike's mask. He told the story of William the Fox, whose sacrifice in William's Gambit had not gone unnoticed by the gods, and whose gear was granted great power in response to his sacrifice. Ike wore William's mask, but William's bow was an even greater prize. A ninja named Rojin had claimed the bow many years ago, and swore that it would never fall into the hands of a lesser ninja; that lair was now said to be guarded by Rojin's ghost, deep inside Ghern territory. This would be a perfect opportunity to complete the Ivani's request, so the party teleported to the area.
The lair's entrance was up on a hillside, and four hobgoblin soldiers and a spellsink stood guard. The road, heading eastbound, was heavily trafficked. The party snuck into a good position to strike, and Flynn began singing and playing his lute. Nathaniel filled the cave mouth with webs and Jakob ran in a blur of fur. Ike dropped the spellsink with a series of arrows while the soldiers yelled and struggled against the webs. Lotus' arc lightning and Jakob's shadow garrotte combined to bring a soldier down and wound the others. Flynn filled the tunnel behind with light, revealing a wide room with pillars and a fleeing troll.
Hobgoblin voices grew louder within the tunnel, and they soon began to shout "the Chord of Doom!" The party moved into the cave mouth, and Nathaniel created an illusory Jakob to try to bait enemies into combat. Flynn cast invisibility on the real Jakob, but the illusory Jakob fizzled away before the deception could be completed. Jakob moved forward and toward the center of the room, while Nathaniel used ghost sound to replicate Flynn's singing next to a door to the left marked with a skull and crossbones. Ike moved to the right and saw a large group of enemies approaching, so he fired a poisoned arrow at the largest target he saw. Jakob and Lotus joined back up with the party, and Lotus tried to impale another troll with a sudden stalagmite. Flynn cast haste and Ike backed up the group while firing more arrows. With the group all together, Nate was able to use dimension door to create some range.
The mass of enemies split as they entered the large room, with one group approaching the fake Flynn sounds and the other approaching the real party. A spellsink removed Jakob's invisibility and a troll moved to attack, but Jakob was able to trip it and knock it unconscious with a series of carefully-placed strikes. Lotus' Ice Flowers ripped through the pack of enemies, though a spellsink had tried to disrupt the spell. Flynn shot at the spellsink using his Bow of Songs, and Ike's critical hit helped finish the spellsink off. Nathaniel pulled the acid crystal from his crossbow and handed it to Ike, and prepared a Phantasmal Killer for the still-standing troll. A pack of soldiers found themselves in reach of Jakob, which led swiftly to their deaths as Jakob pummelled them and the unconscious troll (taking it to -160 hp with a pair of critical hits.) Jakob yelled out "come on! Come face the Chord of Doom!" Nate's Phantasmal Killer was ineffective against the troll, and a spellsink dispelled Lotus' tremor. Jakob tripped and pummelled the remaining troll and Ike took down a pair of spellsinks. Lotus' vortex of teeth ripped into most enemies, though the spellsinks seemed unaffected -- but Nathaniel's second, and more successful, Phantasmal Killer destroyed the healthier troll and sent the remaining enemies fleeing.
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob; Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
Curious about the spellsinks, Nate teleported to Lonely Sparrow. He described the spellsinks to Minellin, who asked that one be captured for further study. Nate agreed, and Lotus set out in eagle form to locate one that could be captured. She soon found a group with two gargoyles, six soldiers, and a single spellsink. The party hid about 200 feet away (with Nate, Flynn, and Lotus all rolling natural 20's on their hide checks.) Lotus' opening volley was Ice Flowers, and Nate's followup Great Thunderclap left many enemies stunned, deaf, or half-dead. Jakob approached as Ike took down both gargoyles. Jakob then found his target and quickly knocked the spellsink unconscious. Nate fired a crossbow bolt into the dirt next to one of the stunned enemies, so Ike showed him how it's done, killing the largest soldier with a string of arrows. Ike and Lotus walked around killing the remaining soldiers while Minellin teleported in to study the spellsink's spell resistance and spell duration reduction effect. After Minellin left, Ike killed the spellsink and called Jakob a wuss for not doing it himself.
The party returned to Thameor's outpost, where a group of Ivani had arrived just before. The elves delievered a message: the Ninja Mongoose Rockstars were wanted in Kinari. One of the elves guided the party's teleport to the northeast, and then began dancing, which summoned a gate to Kinari. Inside the city, an Ivani commander requested the party gather information behind enemy lines, possibly striking at a Ghern outpost deep within their territory. Ike found an archery shop whose shopkeeper was very interested in Ike's mask. He told the story of William the Fox, whose sacrifice in William's Gambit had not gone unnoticed by the gods, and whose gear was granted great power in response to his sacrifice. Ike wore William's mask, but William's bow was an even greater prize. A ninja named Rojin had claimed the bow many years ago, and swore that it would never fall into the hands of a lesser ninja; that lair was now said to be guarded by Rojin's ghost, deep inside Ghern territory. This would be a perfect opportunity to complete the Ivani's request, so the party teleported to the area.
The lair's entrance was up on a hillside, and four hobgoblin soldiers and a spellsink stood guard. The road, heading eastbound, was heavily trafficked. The party snuck into a good position to strike, and Flynn began singing and playing his lute. Nathaniel filled the cave mouth with webs and Jakob ran in a blur of fur. Ike dropped the spellsink with a series of arrows while the soldiers yelled and struggled against the webs. Lotus' arc lightning and Jakob's shadow garrotte combined to bring a soldier down and wound the others. Flynn filled the tunnel behind with light, revealing a wide room with pillars and a fleeing troll.
Hobgoblin voices grew louder within the tunnel, and they soon began to shout "the Chord of Doom!" The party moved into the cave mouth, and Nathaniel created an illusory Jakob to try to bait enemies into combat. Flynn cast invisibility on the real Jakob, but the illusory Jakob fizzled away before the deception could be completed. Jakob moved forward and toward the center of the room, while Nathaniel used ghost sound to replicate Flynn's singing next to a door to the left marked with a skull and crossbones. Ike moved to the right and saw a large group of enemies approaching, so he fired a poisoned arrow at the largest target he saw. Jakob and Lotus joined back up with the party, and Lotus tried to impale another troll with a sudden stalagmite. Flynn cast haste and Ike backed up the group while firing more arrows. With the group all together, Nate was able to use dimension door to create some range.
The mass of enemies split as they entered the large room, with one group approaching the fake Flynn sounds and the other approaching the real party. A spellsink removed Jakob's invisibility and a troll moved to attack, but Jakob was able to trip it and knock it unconscious with a series of carefully-placed strikes. Lotus' Ice Flowers ripped through the pack of enemies, though a spellsink had tried to disrupt the spell. Flynn shot at the spellsink using his Bow of Songs, and Ike's critical hit helped finish the spellsink off. Nathaniel pulled the acid crystal from his crossbow and handed it to Ike, and prepared a Phantasmal Killer for the still-standing troll. A pack of soldiers found themselves in reach of Jakob, which led swiftly to their deaths as Jakob pummelled them and the unconscious troll (taking it to -160 hp with a pair of critical hits.) Jakob yelled out "come on! Come face the Chord of Doom!" Nate's Phantasmal Killer was ineffective against the troll, and a spellsink dispelled Lotus' tremor. Jakob tripped and pummelled the remaining troll and Ike took down a pair of spellsinks. Lotus' vortex of teeth ripped into most enemies, though the spellsinks seemed unaffected -- but Nathaniel's second, and more successful, Phantasmal Killer destroyed the healthier troll and sent the remaining enemies fleeing.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Session 12, 2007-12-01: We're Going to See the Elves!
Session 12: wherein an archery contest winner gets a trophy, and arrows beat antimagic
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
Minellin gave Nathaniel a freshly-crafted Runestaff of Construct Control and then sent the party on their first "special ops" mission, northward to the Ivani-Ghern border. Gindralen gave Nate the teleportation coordinates and, after teleporting, led the party to a huge tree that was hidden by illusions as if it was just an average tree. Nate began studying the illusions, noticing they gave off no aura whatsoever. Jakob climbed the tree while Lotus licked the bark, noting its texture and flavor. Ike moved to shave some bark off the tree for use as a cooking ingredient, but the party held him back. Soon, everyone climbed the tree and stepped into the outpost high in its branches.
The outpost's director, Thameor, called out "hey, Nate! Did you get it yet?" Alas, neither of the two companions had returned to the Dancing Bear tavern since the fall of Jezrel 155 years ago, so neither had won the bet they'd made shortly after the war. Now that the Hobgoblins controlled the city, it would take a monumental effort to reach the tavern. The two old friends babbled on and on about life back when they were young, boring the rest of the party.
Soon, Lotus and Ike spotted a gargoyle flying about a thousand feet away from the tree. Thameor said it was a scout from the hobgoblins. Ike wasted no time, nailing it with a pair of arrows. Thameor fired his own pair of arrows but missed with both. Ike taunted Thameor as Flynn began singing, and Ike's next three poisoned arrows both killed and paralyzed the gargoyle (6-6-6 dex.) When the gargoyle hit the ground, it broke in half from the force. Jakob hopped out of the outpost, swinging and tumbling to the ground, and then ran to the gargoyle corpse. Some of the gold the gargoyle carried ended up wedged into nearby trees, but Jakob was able to pull the coins out of where they'd gotten stuck. He brought back the coins and the gargoyle's head, which Ike mounted with the inscription "Ike wuz heer."
About an hour later, the party noticed a golem walking around punching trees, obviously searching for fakes. Nathaniel used his staff to cast "hide from constructs" on the party, and they moved to surround the golem. Flynn began singing and Nate placed grease under the golem's feet, making it slip and fall. Jakob and Ike each hit the golem once, while Thameor's arrow bounced off of the golem. Ike shot several more arrows and even Nate got in on the action with an acid-covered crossbow bolt, but it was Jakob's flurry of fists and feet that ended the golem's existence. Ike and Thameor covered the golem's tracks and destroyed evidence of the party's involvement in killing it, and Jakob buried the golem itself.
Another hour passed and Ike spotted a group of hobgoblins moving around with a large wagon that had a large flaming bowl at its center. The Ninja Mongoose Rockstars moved to engage the hobgoblins. Ike fired a series of arrows at the lead hobgoblin and Jakob charged him. Lotus' Ice Flowers extinguished the flame and injured all of the others. Flynn began singing about how stupid hobgoblins were and how they'd look good in coffins. One of the hobgoblins, with a symbol of a triangle with a line balanced at its tip on his armor, relit the flame, which billowed thick obscuring smoke. Several others, with sword symbols on their armor, moved toward Jakob. Nate's Great Thunderclap stunned a pair of hobgoblins and knocked another pair over. Jakob waited for two hobgoblins to approach him from the smoke, and when their attacks swung wide, he took the opportunity to knock both over and kill them. Lotus' vortex of teeth killed all but two of the remaining hobgoblins. Ike and Nate finished off the one with a circle and X on his equipment (Ike said the symbol made a nice target), and Jakob grabbed the final one with the balance, wrestling him to the ground and unconscious. Nate discovered none of the hobgoblins had magical equipment, and in fact, one of them (the one with the "target") had an aura that looked to be anti-magical on his body.
Lotus put out the fire and then experimented with the wagon. She found that one lever released thousands of gallons of oil and tipped the fire bowl over, which likely would have charred acres of forest if the fire had been actively burning. Jakob destroyed the cart and began overturning soil to get the oil off of the surface quickly. Nate disguised himself as one of the "target" hobgoblins (the party later learned these were called "spellsinks"). He tried to interrogate the "balance" hobgoblin (an engineer), but the engineer refused to take orders from a spellsink, and tried to attack Nate. Ike's bow put a quick end to that drama and the party headed back to the outpost.
Lotus took eagle form and flew over the hobgoblin outpost. It was on top of a hill, and the forest had been burned away for several hundred yards around. Two dozen of the hobgoblin soldiers were practicing with their swords, and the outpost had at least one trebuchet. Rather than making a frontal assault, the party decided to destroy an inbound supply wagon. Lotus and Jakob stood near the road out in front of the wagon, Ike and Flynn took up positions off to the side, and Nate snuck behind the wagon as it passed. Nate's Great Thunderclap, Lotus' Entangle, and Flynn's Inspirational Boost all took longer to cast than expected. Jakob threw the wagon's driver aside, and Ike fired an arrow right through where the driver had just been a moment before.
Flynn began singing and Ike made up for his missed shot by putting three arrows right through the driver's body. A troll stepped from inside the wagon and attacked Jakob. Jakob was unable to trip the troll, but it was able to daze him. The spellsink dispelled Nate's mage armor and his spellsink disguise, but Nate's Great Thunderclap finally went off, knocking down the troll and horses. The spellsink was completely immune. Nate, upset that his spells seemed to be failing, shot the spellsink right in the throat. Lotus began casting Flamestrike, which again took longer than expected, and Flynn cast Rage on Jakob. Jakob and the troll each tried their same tricks, but the troll kept its feet and Jakob kept his composure. Jakob pulled the sides of the wagon down on top of the troll and the spellsink and then ran for help. Ike fired some arrows at the smaller lump in the wagon, killing the spellsink with a second shot to the throat. Nate cast unluck on the troll, and Lotus' flamestrike and dehydration hurt it and drained away its health. Flynn missed with a pair of arrows and the troll began to flee. Ike's pair of poisoned arrows made the troll significantly less agile, and Nate's phantasmal assailants paralyzed it. Jakob used the Touch of the Shadow Sun to heal himself and drain the troll. Once Jakob was fully healed, Lotus told Nate the troll would only die from acid, so Nate used his acidic crossbow to fire a shot right at the troll's heart. The unlucky troll died from the wound, and the party retrieved many supplies.
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
Minellin gave Nathaniel a freshly-crafted Runestaff of Construct Control and then sent the party on their first "special ops" mission, northward to the Ivani-Ghern border. Gindralen gave Nate the teleportation coordinates and, after teleporting, led the party to a huge tree that was hidden by illusions as if it was just an average tree. Nate began studying the illusions, noticing they gave off no aura whatsoever. Jakob climbed the tree while Lotus licked the bark, noting its texture and flavor. Ike moved to shave some bark off the tree for use as a cooking ingredient, but the party held him back. Soon, everyone climbed the tree and stepped into the outpost high in its branches.
The outpost's director, Thameor, called out "hey, Nate! Did you get it yet?" Alas, neither of the two companions had returned to the Dancing Bear tavern since the fall of Jezrel 155 years ago, so neither had won the bet they'd made shortly after the war. Now that the Hobgoblins controlled the city, it would take a monumental effort to reach the tavern. The two old friends babbled on and on about life back when they were young, boring the rest of the party.
Soon, Lotus and Ike spotted a gargoyle flying about a thousand feet away from the tree. Thameor said it was a scout from the hobgoblins. Ike wasted no time, nailing it with a pair of arrows. Thameor fired his own pair of arrows but missed with both. Ike taunted Thameor as Flynn began singing, and Ike's next three poisoned arrows both killed and paralyzed the gargoyle (6-6-6 dex.) When the gargoyle hit the ground, it broke in half from the force. Jakob hopped out of the outpost, swinging and tumbling to the ground, and then ran to the gargoyle corpse. Some of the gold the gargoyle carried ended up wedged into nearby trees, but Jakob was able to pull the coins out of where they'd gotten stuck. He brought back the coins and the gargoyle's head, which Ike mounted with the inscription "Ike wuz heer."
About an hour later, the party noticed a golem walking around punching trees, obviously searching for fakes. Nathaniel used his staff to cast "hide from constructs" on the party, and they moved to surround the golem. Flynn began singing and Nate placed grease under the golem's feet, making it slip and fall. Jakob and Ike each hit the golem once, while Thameor's arrow bounced off of the golem. Ike shot several more arrows and even Nate got in on the action with an acid-covered crossbow bolt, but it was Jakob's flurry of fists and feet that ended the golem's existence. Ike and Thameor covered the golem's tracks and destroyed evidence of the party's involvement in killing it, and Jakob buried the golem itself.
Another hour passed and Ike spotted a group of hobgoblins moving around with a large wagon that had a large flaming bowl at its center. The Ninja Mongoose Rockstars moved to engage the hobgoblins. Ike fired a series of arrows at the lead hobgoblin and Jakob charged him. Lotus' Ice Flowers extinguished the flame and injured all of the others. Flynn began singing about how stupid hobgoblins were and how they'd look good in coffins. One of the hobgoblins, with a symbol of a triangle with a line balanced at its tip on his armor, relit the flame, which billowed thick obscuring smoke. Several others, with sword symbols on their armor, moved toward Jakob. Nate's Great Thunderclap stunned a pair of hobgoblins and knocked another pair over. Jakob waited for two hobgoblins to approach him from the smoke, and when their attacks swung wide, he took the opportunity to knock both over and kill them. Lotus' vortex of teeth killed all but two of the remaining hobgoblins. Ike and Nate finished off the one with a circle and X on his equipment (Ike said the symbol made a nice target), and Jakob grabbed the final one with the balance, wrestling him to the ground and unconscious. Nate discovered none of the hobgoblins had magical equipment, and in fact, one of them (the one with the "target") had an aura that looked to be anti-magical on his body.
Lotus put out the fire and then experimented with the wagon. She found that one lever released thousands of gallons of oil and tipped the fire bowl over, which likely would have charred acres of forest if the fire had been actively burning. Jakob destroyed the cart and began overturning soil to get the oil off of the surface quickly. Nate disguised himself as one of the "target" hobgoblins (the party later learned these were called "spellsinks"). He tried to interrogate the "balance" hobgoblin (an engineer), but the engineer refused to take orders from a spellsink, and tried to attack Nate. Ike's bow put a quick end to that drama and the party headed back to the outpost.
Lotus took eagle form and flew over the hobgoblin outpost. It was on top of a hill, and the forest had been burned away for several hundred yards around. Two dozen of the hobgoblin soldiers were practicing with their swords, and the outpost had at least one trebuchet. Rather than making a frontal assault, the party decided to destroy an inbound supply wagon. Lotus and Jakob stood near the road out in front of the wagon, Ike and Flynn took up positions off to the side, and Nate snuck behind the wagon as it passed. Nate's Great Thunderclap, Lotus' Entangle, and Flynn's Inspirational Boost all took longer to cast than expected. Jakob threw the wagon's driver aside, and Ike fired an arrow right through where the driver had just been a moment before.
Flynn began singing and Ike made up for his missed shot by putting three arrows right through the driver's body. A troll stepped from inside the wagon and attacked Jakob. Jakob was unable to trip the troll, but it was able to daze him. The spellsink dispelled Nate's mage armor and his spellsink disguise, but Nate's Great Thunderclap finally went off, knocking down the troll and horses. The spellsink was completely immune. Nate, upset that his spells seemed to be failing, shot the spellsink right in the throat. Lotus began casting Flamestrike, which again took longer than expected, and Flynn cast Rage on Jakob. Jakob and the troll each tried their same tricks, but the troll kept its feet and Jakob kept his composure. Jakob pulled the sides of the wagon down on top of the troll and the spellsink and then ran for help. Ike fired some arrows at the smaller lump in the wagon, killing the spellsink with a second shot to the throat. Nate cast unluck on the troll, and Lotus' flamestrike and dehydration hurt it and drained away its health. Flynn missed with a pair of arrows and the troll began to flee. Ike's pair of poisoned arrows made the troll significantly less agile, and Nate's phantasmal assailants paralyzed it. Jakob used the Touch of the Shadow Sun to heal himself and drain the troll. Once Jakob was fully healed, Lotus told Nate the troll would only die from acid, so Nate used his acidic crossbow to fire a shot right at the troll's heart. The unlucky troll died from the wound, and the party retrieved many supplies.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Session 11, 2007-09-29: Killing Her Dog Is Secondary
Session 11: wherein the big picture comes into focus, and a dead dog isn't the worst part of Kelzun's day
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
As guests continued to arrive at Lonely Sparrow, Minellin asked Lotus to look at a nearby lake from on top of the tower. In the distance, she spotted a familiar-looking flying dog, as well as its companions. Without discussion, Minellin headed downstairs to meet with all of the guests, who described the state of affairs in the world.
Gindralen, an Ivani elf, spoke of the local hobgoblins causing trouble, as well as golems approaching from the north. Jason, a noble from Tindell, described mud critters attacking from the local bog and dinosaurs acting uncharacteristically hostile. Sir Reynald said the yuan-ti kingdom of Serpenti had spied and dealt treacherously with Westlay, and had now declared open war. Mary of Waecleft described many goblin attacks, saying King Edward was too foolish and too rigid to fight back, but had instead chosen to close the city to the outside. Enigma, a doppelganger, said the goblins were planning a direct assault on Waecleft and that Serpenti had gone through a serious drought. Sir Reynald noted Westlay's summer had been hot as well. Serpenti and marruspawn spies had been around various kingdoms for months, gathering information about water sources and assassinating wise clerics.
Reynald also spoke of the Thirsting, caused by the black sand, which was causing serious problems across Westlay. Mary had discovered the sand consumed both blood and water. Flynn recited the poetic riddle spoken by the living tree: "the thirsty blight knows of life but a part. His greatest foe lies in the woods heart." NMR also spoke of the dragon with the marruspawn rider, and of Kelzun. Minellin knew Kelzun had been summoned by goblins, and that she was now in the area. Phineas, from the northern woods, said both riders had gathered with others at a lake in the north, turned it to sand, and heated the whole area. A single skeleton was found in the center of the sand. Gindralen and other champions had saved another woman from the same fate only a few days ago, when Kelzun was delayed due to her dog dying. Finally, Minellin voiced his suspicions: all of the actions of the goblins, yuan-ti, hostile animals, and so on are simply distractions to allow these enemies to attack the lakes unhindered and to allow the marruspawn to continue massing in the south. Fighting back may turn the tide, but only if it's done quickly. Mary suspected Waecleft would not get involved.
After the meeting, Minellin called the Ninja Mongoose Rockstars for a second meeting. The party would become a special operations group, targeting important objectives including those behind enemy lines. For tonight, the objective was Kelzun herself. Minellin had intercepted a sending spell that made it known Kelzun would be alone for the night, and that the others would join her in the morning. Because Kelzun was a dry lich, water was very dangerous to her, and Lotus could be very effective in making the attack. The party spent some time preparing for the midnight assault.
Lotus gave the party mass camoflage and cast swim on Jakob. Minellin protected himself from spells. Flynn hasted the party, and everyone teleported to just a short distance away from Kelzun's campsite. Minellin cast analyze dweomer so he could make out spell effects on Kelzun. He then fired off an antimagic ray, which deflected off of her magical armor. Nathaniel created an illusory party off to one side, trying to distract the enemies. Ike fired a shot and Jakob tried unsuccessfully to grab Kelzun. Lotus raised the water level, covering Jakob and Kelzun. Lotus' kelp strand then started to hold Kelzun in place. Jakob tried to hit her but couldn't connect. Flynn turned Minellin invisible, and Minellin dispelled Kelzun's death throes. Kelzun teleported out of the water and tried to find Minellin, but he had stepped slightly off to one side. Ike fired some arrows and connected with one, and Nate's buzzing bee began following Kelzun. Several lesser enemies began to flee, including a quasit that Jakob killed, and a flying dog.
Jakob tried to throw Kelzun back into the water, but again, she evaded his grasp. Lotus again raised the water level. Flynn shot at one of the weaker enemies and Minellin fired another antimagic ray at Kelzun, which she easily resisted. She again teleported out of the water. Ike hit her with another arrow and Nate tried unsuccessfully to turn luck against her. Jakob missed Kelzun with yet another attempt to trip her. One of the enemies took a swing at Jakob, but he wheeled around and crushed it. A rushing wave from Lotus grabbed Kelzun and dragged her back past Jakob and into the water, and Minellin finally dispelled her boosted armor. Flynn kept shooting at lesser enemies. Kelzun tried to cast Blasphemy but Minellin counterspelled her cast. Ike fired several more shots, this time connecting and slaying the dry lich. The dog stumbled over to the dust pile and began sniffing it, and Nathaniel summon its worst fears to destroy it. The remaining enemies surrendered, and the woman Kelzun had planned to sacrifice was rescued.
This concludes Chapter 1: Troubled Times.
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
As guests continued to arrive at Lonely Sparrow, Minellin asked Lotus to look at a nearby lake from on top of the tower. In the distance, she spotted a familiar-looking flying dog, as well as its companions. Without discussion, Minellin headed downstairs to meet with all of the guests, who described the state of affairs in the world.
Gindralen, an Ivani elf, spoke of the local hobgoblins causing trouble, as well as golems approaching from the north. Jason, a noble from Tindell, described mud critters attacking from the local bog and dinosaurs acting uncharacteristically hostile. Sir Reynald said the yuan-ti kingdom of Serpenti had spied and dealt treacherously with Westlay, and had now declared open war. Mary of Waecleft described many goblin attacks, saying King Edward was too foolish and too rigid to fight back, but had instead chosen to close the city to the outside. Enigma, a doppelganger, said the goblins were planning a direct assault on Waecleft and that Serpenti had gone through a serious drought. Sir Reynald noted Westlay's summer had been hot as well. Serpenti and marruspawn spies had been around various kingdoms for months, gathering information about water sources and assassinating wise clerics.
Reynald also spoke of the Thirsting, caused by the black sand, which was causing serious problems across Westlay. Mary had discovered the sand consumed both blood and water. Flynn recited the poetic riddle spoken by the living tree: "the thirsty blight knows of life but a part. His greatest foe lies in the woods heart." NMR also spoke of the dragon with the marruspawn rider, and of Kelzun. Minellin knew Kelzun had been summoned by goblins, and that she was now in the area. Phineas, from the northern woods, said both riders had gathered with others at a lake in the north, turned it to sand, and heated the whole area. A single skeleton was found in the center of the sand. Gindralen and other champions had saved another woman from the same fate only a few days ago, when Kelzun was delayed due to her dog dying. Finally, Minellin voiced his suspicions: all of the actions of the goblins, yuan-ti, hostile animals, and so on are simply distractions to allow these enemies to attack the lakes unhindered and to allow the marruspawn to continue massing in the south. Fighting back may turn the tide, but only if it's done quickly. Mary suspected Waecleft would not get involved.
After the meeting, Minellin called the Ninja Mongoose Rockstars for a second meeting. The party would become a special operations group, targeting important objectives including those behind enemy lines. For tonight, the objective was Kelzun herself. Minellin had intercepted a sending spell that made it known Kelzun would be alone for the night, and that the others would join her in the morning. Because Kelzun was a dry lich, water was very dangerous to her, and Lotus could be very effective in making the attack. The party spent some time preparing for the midnight assault.
Lotus gave the party mass camoflage and cast swim on Jakob. Minellin protected himself from spells. Flynn hasted the party, and everyone teleported to just a short distance away from Kelzun's campsite. Minellin cast analyze dweomer so he could make out spell effects on Kelzun. He then fired off an antimagic ray, which deflected off of her magical armor. Nathaniel created an illusory party off to one side, trying to distract the enemies. Ike fired a shot and Jakob tried unsuccessfully to grab Kelzun. Lotus raised the water level, covering Jakob and Kelzun. Lotus' kelp strand then started to hold Kelzun in place. Jakob tried to hit her but couldn't connect. Flynn turned Minellin invisible, and Minellin dispelled Kelzun's death throes. Kelzun teleported out of the water and tried to find Minellin, but he had stepped slightly off to one side. Ike fired some arrows and connected with one, and Nate's buzzing bee began following Kelzun. Several lesser enemies began to flee, including a quasit that Jakob killed, and a flying dog.
Jakob tried to throw Kelzun back into the water, but again, she evaded his grasp. Lotus again raised the water level. Flynn shot at one of the weaker enemies and Minellin fired another antimagic ray at Kelzun, which she easily resisted. She again teleported out of the water. Ike hit her with another arrow and Nate tried unsuccessfully to turn luck against her. Jakob missed Kelzun with yet another attempt to trip her. One of the enemies took a swing at Jakob, but he wheeled around and crushed it. A rushing wave from Lotus grabbed Kelzun and dragged her back past Jakob and into the water, and Minellin finally dispelled her boosted armor. Flynn kept shooting at lesser enemies. Kelzun tried to cast Blasphemy but Minellin counterspelled her cast. Ike fired several more shots, this time connecting and slaying the dry lich. The dog stumbled over to the dust pile and began sniffing it, and Nathaniel summon its worst fears to destroy it. The remaining enemies surrendered, and the woman Kelzun had planned to sacrifice was rescued.
This concludes Chapter 1: Troubled Times.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Session 10, 2007-09-22: Encounter with an Unlucky Dragon
Session 10: wherein specialized gear helps the NMR make short work of dinosaurs and dragons
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
[NOTE: this session marked the one year anniversary of the first session with the whole group]
In the morning, Minellin and all the residents and guests of Lonely Sparrow met with the party in the Hall of the Ten Kings. Minellin announced the great deeds of the Ninja Mongoose Rockstars, including the slaying of Kelzun's dog. He handed out a set of custom items:
Sir Reynald, a noble from the southern part of Westlay, told the party of life in Flynn's old neighborhood -- particularly, the effects of a black-sand induced plague. He also mentioned losing a part of his own party on his journey here, due to a red dragon to the east. NMR agreed to slay the red dragon, so Lotus put the winds at their backs and the party headed out.
On the open plains, a group of six raptors approached. Jakob stood in his Roots of the Mountain stance while Flynn cast haste. Nathaniel's phantasm was unsuccessful at killing a raptor, and Ike's arrows weren't quite sufficient. Lotus entangled four of the raptors but the remaining two charged at the party. Flynn started singing a song about dying dinosaurs and Nate retreated while enfeebling the nearest beast. Ike's arrows dropped one dinosaur while Lotus' vortex of teeth took down another. Jakob stunned the nearest dino, and Flynn, Nate, and Ike fired away at the dinosaurs that were struggling through the entangling vines. Jakob tripped the first raptor to come out of the vortex and Ike landed the final shots to finish off the pack.
As the party approached the mountain where the red dragon lived, Lotus gave everyone fire resistance. Soon, the dragon came into view. Flynn cast haste and started singing while Nathaniel created a pack of illusory archers spread across the ground. Ike hit the dragon with eight of his first nine shots, and some of the poison had a minor effect. Nate had his illusions call out "that was my shot! I totally nailed that dragon!" Once the dragon got into range, Lotus cast downdraft, but it stayed aloft. Nathaniel heightened an unluck spell, and the dragon was unable to resist as fate turned against him. Ike fired off several more arrows and Flynn tried to blind the dragon with glitterdust. The dragon responded by breathing fire on those nearest to it. Lotus' earthbind spell brought the unlucky dragon to the ground, where Jakob punched it and Ike hit it with four more arrows, ending its menacing ways.
The next morning, Lotus used a spider climb spell to allow the party access to the dragon's hoard. Lotus charmed a nearby rhino, which helped Jakob tow the dragon corpse back to Lonely Sparrow. A few foolish raptors tried to take the dragon for themselves, but found Jakob was too strong for them. Back at Lonely Sparrow, Minellin crafted a set of Red Dragon breastplate for Lotus.
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
[NOTE: this session marked the one year anniversary of the first session with the whole group]
In the morning, Minellin and all the residents and guests of Lonely Sparrow met with the party in the Hall of the Ten Kings. Minellin announced the great deeds of the Ninja Mongoose Rockstars, including the slaying of Kelzun's dog. He handed out a set of custom items:
- Flynn - the Bow of Songs (+1 shortbow, spend bardic music for +CHA to attack and damage for one attack)
- Ike - Mask of the Fox (bonuses to sight, including activation for true seeing; set piece from William the Fox)
- Nathaniel - Spellshard Talisman: Heighten Unluck (+4 levels)
- Jakob - ki straps (can be enchanted by donating money to orphanages, monestaries, and the like. Enchantments only function for the person who made the donations.)
- Lotus - Nature's Fury (rod of empower spell, functions only on spells that fit the local environment.)
Sir Reynald, a noble from the southern part of Westlay, told the party of life in Flynn's old neighborhood -- particularly, the effects of a black-sand induced plague. He also mentioned losing a part of his own party on his journey here, due to a red dragon to the east. NMR agreed to slay the red dragon, so Lotus put the winds at their backs and the party headed out.
On the open plains, a group of six raptors approached. Jakob stood in his Roots of the Mountain stance while Flynn cast haste. Nathaniel's phantasm was unsuccessful at killing a raptor, and Ike's arrows weren't quite sufficient. Lotus entangled four of the raptors but the remaining two charged at the party. Flynn started singing a song about dying dinosaurs and Nate retreated while enfeebling the nearest beast. Ike's arrows dropped one dinosaur while Lotus' vortex of teeth took down another. Jakob stunned the nearest dino, and Flynn, Nate, and Ike fired away at the dinosaurs that were struggling through the entangling vines. Jakob tripped the first raptor to come out of the vortex and Ike landed the final shots to finish off the pack.
As the party approached the mountain where the red dragon lived, Lotus gave everyone fire resistance. Soon, the dragon came into view. Flynn cast haste and started singing while Nathaniel created a pack of illusory archers spread across the ground. Ike hit the dragon with eight of his first nine shots, and some of the poison had a minor effect. Nate had his illusions call out "that was my shot! I totally nailed that dragon!" Once the dragon got into range, Lotus cast downdraft, but it stayed aloft. Nathaniel heightened an unluck spell, and the dragon was unable to resist as fate turned against him. Ike fired off several more arrows and Flynn tried to blind the dragon with glitterdust. The dragon responded by breathing fire on those nearest to it. Lotus' earthbind spell brought the unlucky dragon to the ground, where Jakob punched it and Ike hit it with four more arrows, ending its menacing ways.
The next morning, Lotus used a spider climb spell to allow the party access to the dragon's hoard. Lotus charmed a nearby rhino, which helped Jakob tow the dragon corpse back to Lonely Sparrow. A few foolish raptors tried to take the dragon for themselves, but found Jakob was too strong for them. Back at Lonely Sparrow, Minellin crafted a set of Red Dragon breastplate for Lotus.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Session 9, 2007-09-15: An overrun outpost is again overrun
Session 9: wherein an escape from one outpost leads to the retaking of a second and the arrival at a third
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
The Ninja Mongoose Rockstars now had two captives: a goblin and a yuan-ti. Interrogating the goblin was fruitless, though Ike quickly learned his answer to "is your armor any good?" was a negative. Nathaniel used a charm spell on the unconscious yuan-ti and took up an appropriate disguise, and then had Lotus wake him. Nate asked "how can we join your organization?" The yuan-ti captive said to report to Sissineth in the goblin city near Waecleft and gave detailed directions on finding it. He also said the marruspawn were in charge of the overall operation. Ike again ended the interview with the question "what's your AC?"
The party headed for the main door of the outpost. Again, Baern broke down the door, surprising the pack of goblins outside. Nathaniel cast confusion on a pack of hobgoblins riding wargs, Flynn started singing about the death of goblins, and Lotus entangled the entire group of enemies. A poisoned arrow from Ike injured a hobgoblin leader, and Jakob tripped another. Ike kept working on his hobgoblin while Baern stepped forward and cut through a pair of goblins. Flynn fired a pair of arrows and dropped a goblin, and even Nathaniel landed a hit with a crossbow he'd just picked up. Aaron and Jakob both missed the goblins they were swinging at, but Jakob reacted quickly and managed to take one down as he taunted a large snake. Lotus' vortex of teeth left several goblins bleeding and killed one snake while Jakob caught another one as it slithered away, and Rogar whined "leave the snakes alone!" Obviously his disease had progressed somewhat.
The goblins, not accustomed to being attacked from within their own fortress, and not really wanting to take on a giant with considerable backup, tried to flee. Two of the confused goblins attacked their own warg mounts, while the wargs howled incessantly. Ike, sensing the battle was already won, turned around and fired several arrows between his legs, dropping a fleeing hobgoblin and two other goblins. Baern and Aaron moved around the force pirahnas to block off escape, and Flynn, Nate, and Jakob took out the goblins they could hit. The vortex finished off the remaining goblins and wargs.
Baern strapped the not-entirely-trustworthy Rogar to his back and the party kept moving toward Rogar's former outpost. Lotus took up eagle form, which allowed her to see Rogar standing at the outpost's gate from half a mile away. A second look showed the creature was a look-alike and that there were yuan-ti inside the outpost. The party approached quietly and Flynn cast haste on everyone, then he began singing an inspirational song. Nathaniel cast confusion above the outpost, which affected two of the yuan-ti guards. Ike, Tara, Jakob, and Baern focused on taking out the fake Rogar, who died to their series of attacks. Jakob pulled the outpost door open and tripped one of the yuan-ti, and Nate tried to kill it with a phantasm but failed. Ike fired a series of arrows at a spellcaster, leaving it seriously wounded. One of the confused yuan-ti bit Jakob, and another attacked him, leaving him nearly dead. Two others cast darkness, but Lotus and Flynn dispelled the effects with daylight spells. Baern killed the yuan-ti standing next to Jakob and used a maneuver to channel healing energy to the big half-ogre, who drank a potion for an added boost. Nate distracted an enemy with a buzzing bee while Ike took it out with arrows, and Tara tripped the remaining enemy. That confused yuan-ti stood and tried to bite Jakob again, but Tara, Baern, Jakob, and Aaron landed their attacks first, taking her to the ground.
Jakob stepped into a tent where he found another yuan-ti interrogating a group of humans. He tripped the snake-like enemy and Lotus impaled it on a stalagmite. A flurry of attacks from Jakob finished off this foe, though a few snakes bit him in the process. Nathaniel handed off his last antitoxin to allow Jakob to resist the poison, and Aaron and Lotus provided him with restoration. The captured kingsmen thanked the party for rescuing them and agreed to stay at the outpost with Aaron, and the party got some rest.
In the morning, the party headed toward Lonely Sparrow with the wind at their backs, courtesy of Lotus. On the plains south of Rogar's, various creatures could be seen hunting prey for miles around. At one point, Lotus spotted a yellow dragon flying in the distance. After a long day, the party reached Lonely Sparrow, where a monk greeted them and headed inside to wake Minellin. The powerful wizard removed the diseases from both Rogar and Flynn, and the party got some much-needed rest.
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
The Ninja Mongoose Rockstars now had two captives: a goblin and a yuan-ti. Interrogating the goblin was fruitless, though Ike quickly learned his answer to "is your armor any good?" was a negative. Nathaniel used a charm spell on the unconscious yuan-ti and took up an appropriate disguise, and then had Lotus wake him. Nate asked "how can we join your organization?" The yuan-ti captive said to report to Sissineth in the goblin city near Waecleft and gave detailed directions on finding it. He also said the marruspawn were in charge of the overall operation. Ike again ended the interview with the question "what's your AC?"
The party headed for the main door of the outpost. Again, Baern broke down the door, surprising the pack of goblins outside. Nathaniel cast confusion on a pack of hobgoblins riding wargs, Flynn started singing about the death of goblins, and Lotus entangled the entire group of enemies. A poisoned arrow from Ike injured a hobgoblin leader, and Jakob tripped another. Ike kept working on his hobgoblin while Baern stepped forward and cut through a pair of goblins. Flynn fired a pair of arrows and dropped a goblin, and even Nathaniel landed a hit with a crossbow he'd just picked up. Aaron and Jakob both missed the goblins they were swinging at, but Jakob reacted quickly and managed to take one down as he taunted a large snake. Lotus' vortex of teeth left several goblins bleeding and killed one snake while Jakob caught another one as it slithered away, and Rogar whined "leave the snakes alone!" Obviously his disease had progressed somewhat.
The goblins, not accustomed to being attacked from within their own fortress, and not really wanting to take on a giant with considerable backup, tried to flee. Two of the confused goblins attacked their own warg mounts, while the wargs howled incessantly. Ike, sensing the battle was already won, turned around and fired several arrows between his legs, dropping a fleeing hobgoblin and two other goblins. Baern and Aaron moved around the force pirahnas to block off escape, and Flynn, Nate, and Jakob took out the goblins they could hit. The vortex finished off the remaining goblins and wargs.
Baern strapped the not-entirely-trustworthy Rogar to his back and the party kept moving toward Rogar's former outpost. Lotus took up eagle form, which allowed her to see Rogar standing at the outpost's gate from half a mile away. A second look showed the creature was a look-alike and that there were yuan-ti inside the outpost. The party approached quietly and Flynn cast haste on everyone, then he began singing an inspirational song. Nathaniel cast confusion above the outpost, which affected two of the yuan-ti guards. Ike, Tara, Jakob, and Baern focused on taking out the fake Rogar, who died to their series of attacks. Jakob pulled the outpost door open and tripped one of the yuan-ti, and Nate tried to kill it with a phantasm but failed. Ike fired a series of arrows at a spellcaster, leaving it seriously wounded. One of the confused yuan-ti bit Jakob, and another attacked him, leaving him nearly dead. Two others cast darkness, but Lotus and Flynn dispelled the effects with daylight spells. Baern killed the yuan-ti standing next to Jakob and used a maneuver to channel healing energy to the big half-ogre, who drank a potion for an added boost. Nate distracted an enemy with a buzzing bee while Ike took it out with arrows, and Tara tripped the remaining enemy. That confused yuan-ti stood and tried to bite Jakob again, but Tara, Baern, Jakob, and Aaron landed their attacks first, taking her to the ground.
Jakob stepped into a tent where he found another yuan-ti interrogating a group of humans. He tripped the snake-like enemy and Lotus impaled it on a stalagmite. A flurry of attacks from Jakob finished off this foe, though a few snakes bit him in the process. Nathaniel handed off his last antitoxin to allow Jakob to resist the poison, and Aaron and Lotus provided him with restoration. The captured kingsmen thanked the party for rescuing them and agreed to stay at the outpost with Aaron, and the party got some rest.
In the morning, the party headed toward Lonely Sparrow with the wind at their backs, courtesy of Lotus. On the plains south of Rogar's, various creatures could be seen hunting prey for miles around. At one point, Lotus spotted a yellow dragon flying in the distance. After a long day, the party reached Lonely Sparrow, where a monk greeted them and headed inside to wake Minellin. The powerful wizard removed the diseases from both Rogar and Flynn, and the party got some much-needed rest.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Session 8, 2007-09-08: Captured in Myriad Ways
Session 8: wherein an arms race leads to blended goblins, a salty giant, and a dead dog
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
The party continued toward Lonely Sparrow with Baern and the paladins. Lotus, in eagle form, spotted four spellcasters and footprints from four invisible archers on a nearby hill. Jakob ran up to one caster and threw him into the middle of his group of friends, and Ike shot at another with poisoned arrows. Nate disguised himself as Garlen and then cast phantasmal killer on a goblin, leading him to exclaim "oh no, The Garlen is real!" Bearn trampled the pack of casters while Flynn and Lotus used glitterdust and faerie fire to reveal the archers. Tara bit one of the archers, which fled along with two others. Jakob chased one of the invisible archers, whose panicked screams gave away his location. Ike fired a pair of arrows to kill and paralyze one of the glowing archers while Nate yelled out "your doom is near!" Bearn, Jakob, and the paladins clobbered the remaining goblins.
A few hours later, Lotus spotted a large ambush gathered ahead. A dozen goblin archers stood atop one cliff, with four on another cliff, and a dozen more on an outcropping behind. Four sword-wielding hobgoblins stood in the valley between, with a human wiggling on the ground at their feet. Nathaniel handed Jakob and Lotus some antitoxins to help protect against poisoned arrows. Flynn hasted the party and then blew his horn, inspiring everyone for the upcoming battle. Nate used an illusion to block sight for the small group of archers to the south, and Lotus' vortex of teeth began to chew up the archers to the north. Ike's arrows injured some of the goblins in the vortex. The hobgoblins backed up to an area with more cover and formed up.
Jakob charged into the pack of hobgoblins and clobbered one with a stone bones strike, allowing him to shrug off some punishment. The archers behind Nate's illusion fired ineffectively, while those in the vortex tried to flee. The group in the back focused their attacks on Jakob, but did no damage. Ike's arrows, Nate's phantasmal killer, and Lotus' murderous mist combined with the vortex to drop most of the northern archer pack. Baern and the paladins moved into formation with Jakob. The hobgoblins approached, and Jakob tripped three while Baern and the final hobgoblin exchanged blows. A pack of goblins riding wargs approached Baern. Jakob moved into a small cave where goblin spellcasters had been hiding, and he killed one with a swift kick to the head. The "human" dismissed his alternate form and tried to cast a spell on Jakob, while the others tried to flee and were tripped. The remaining archers continued fleeing as Ike, Lotus, and Nathaniel picked them off. Bearn and the paladins kept attacking the remaining hobgoblins.
Suddenly, a huge flying dog approached. On its back rode a woman wearing red armor. Lotus noticed her face was shriveled and her eyes glowed green. She shouted at the hobgoblin leader "why do you always get in over your head?" and turned Baern into a pillar of salt. The wargs charged up and attacked the paladins while Jakob killed the remaining spellcasters. Ike fired four shots from his bow, including one perfectly aimed between the dog's eyes, and killed the flying dog. ("I can't believe you killed her dog!") The woman, a dry lich named Kelzun, floated gently to the ground and prepared to cast another spell.
Tara and the paladins continued fighting the wargs while Lotus prepared a flamestrike to interrupt Kelzun's next spell. Kelzun resisted the flamestrike and punched the ground, killing all vegetation within a quarter-mile radius and weakening everyone in the area. Jakob, Tara, and the paladins took out the last few casters and kept working on the wargs, while Nate's phantasmal killer and Lotus' dehydrate failed to overcome Kelzun's resistance. A pair of arrows from Ike caught her attention, though, so she cast greater visage of the deity to take on a massive demonic form. Flynn cast glitterdust to try to blind her, and Nathaniel created an illusion of several Ike lookalikes, but neither were effective. Ike kept shooting until Kelzun turned him to salt. Kelzun's summoned vrocks brought Flynn and Lotus down, and she cast insanity on Jakob and then allowed the archers to paralyze him. Nathaniel sent a message to Mary describing what had just happened, and tried to sneak away disguised as a goblin. When the vrocks surrounded him, he allowed himself to be captured, since he had no recourse. Kelzun removed Jakob's insanity, and he awoke to overhear her speaking to others. She found the quasit she'd had following Nathaniel and sent it on to other tasks. She also angrily cursed Ike for killing her dog, and refused to accept a ride from a strange hybrid blue dragon friend.
The rest of the party awoke to find themselves inside of cells in a stone dungeon, along with Baern, Aaron, and Rogar. A group of goblin guards sorted through the party's equipment. Soon, a yuan-ti stepped into the room and sent the goblins away, leaving only a golem guarding the door. Nathaniel tried to kill him with a phantasm, but it failed and the yuan-ti responded by silencing Nate. The strange snake-like creature then cast a spell on Ike and telepathically asked if there was any amount of money they could pay him to work for them. The same question was asked of each other party member, except for Flynn, who was infected with a disease that would slowly turn him into a yuan-ti. Rogar was already a couple days ahead in this process.
After the yuan-ti guard left, another came in and suddenly changed forms, revealing herself as a doppelganger. She began unlocking the cells and asked the party to wait a few minutes before they broke out so that her position wouldn't be compromised. Nathaniel froze the golem with one of his scrolls, allowing the party to move freely. Lotus tried to cure Rogar's disease but was not powerful enough. After a few minutes of waiting and re-equiping, the party headed out of the room, discovering they were in the basement of an ancient castle. Up the stairs, a group of goblins had their card game interrupted as Baern trampled them. Baern kicked open the next door, revealing a huge chamber full of goblins. Lotus dropped a flaming sphere at the far end of the room while Ike started shooting and Jakob and Tara charged into the fray. Nate and Bearn moved around an outer hallway to try to stop any fleeing goblins, and Flynn sang an inspirational song about Garlen the Goblin-slayer. Within seconds, all but two of the goblins were dead, and Jakob knocked the remaining two unconscious as they cowered and cried for mercy.
Baern led the way up to one of the castle's two towers. He smashed the door leading into the top room, and Jakob and Ike each landed a solid attack on the yuan-ti inside. Creeping cold from Lotus, a bite from Tara, and a powerful blow from Baern were enough to bring him to his end. Baern broke open a safe and pulled out some papers, specifically orders from a "Tem Hep'na" about capturing kingsmen and from "Ish Ni'seth" about meeting at a place called Death Rock. Baern led the way into the second tower, but this time he and Jakob pulled their punches in order to capture the yuan-ti who had been inside.
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
The party continued toward Lonely Sparrow with Baern and the paladins. Lotus, in eagle form, spotted four spellcasters and footprints from four invisible archers on a nearby hill. Jakob ran up to one caster and threw him into the middle of his group of friends, and Ike shot at another with poisoned arrows. Nate disguised himself as Garlen and then cast phantasmal killer on a goblin, leading him to exclaim "oh no, The Garlen is real!" Bearn trampled the pack of casters while Flynn and Lotus used glitterdust and faerie fire to reveal the archers. Tara bit one of the archers, which fled along with two others. Jakob chased one of the invisible archers, whose panicked screams gave away his location. Ike fired a pair of arrows to kill and paralyze one of the glowing archers while Nate yelled out "your doom is near!" Bearn, Jakob, and the paladins clobbered the remaining goblins.
A few hours later, Lotus spotted a large ambush gathered ahead. A dozen goblin archers stood atop one cliff, with four on another cliff, and a dozen more on an outcropping behind. Four sword-wielding hobgoblins stood in the valley between, with a human wiggling on the ground at their feet. Nathaniel handed Jakob and Lotus some antitoxins to help protect against poisoned arrows. Flynn hasted the party and then blew his horn, inspiring everyone for the upcoming battle. Nate used an illusion to block sight for the small group of archers to the south, and Lotus' vortex of teeth began to chew up the archers to the north. Ike's arrows injured some of the goblins in the vortex. The hobgoblins backed up to an area with more cover and formed up.
Jakob charged into the pack of hobgoblins and clobbered one with a stone bones strike, allowing him to shrug off some punishment. The archers behind Nate's illusion fired ineffectively, while those in the vortex tried to flee. The group in the back focused their attacks on Jakob, but did no damage. Ike's arrows, Nate's phantasmal killer, and Lotus' murderous mist combined with the vortex to drop most of the northern archer pack. Baern and the paladins moved into formation with Jakob. The hobgoblins approached, and Jakob tripped three while Baern and the final hobgoblin exchanged blows. A pack of goblins riding wargs approached Baern. Jakob moved into a small cave where goblin spellcasters had been hiding, and he killed one with a swift kick to the head. The "human" dismissed his alternate form and tried to cast a spell on Jakob, while the others tried to flee and were tripped. The remaining archers continued fleeing as Ike, Lotus, and Nathaniel picked them off. Bearn and the paladins kept attacking the remaining hobgoblins.
Suddenly, a huge flying dog approached. On its back rode a woman wearing red armor. Lotus noticed her face was shriveled and her eyes glowed green. She shouted at the hobgoblin leader "why do you always get in over your head?" and turned Baern into a pillar of salt. The wargs charged up and attacked the paladins while Jakob killed the remaining spellcasters. Ike fired four shots from his bow, including one perfectly aimed between the dog's eyes, and killed the flying dog. ("I can't believe you killed her dog!") The woman, a dry lich named Kelzun, floated gently to the ground and prepared to cast another spell.
Tara and the paladins continued fighting the wargs while Lotus prepared a flamestrike to interrupt Kelzun's next spell. Kelzun resisted the flamestrike and punched the ground, killing all vegetation within a quarter-mile radius and weakening everyone in the area. Jakob, Tara, and the paladins took out the last few casters and kept working on the wargs, while Nate's phantasmal killer and Lotus' dehydrate failed to overcome Kelzun's resistance. A pair of arrows from Ike caught her attention, though, so she cast greater visage of the deity to take on a massive demonic form. Flynn cast glitterdust to try to blind her, and Nathaniel created an illusion of several Ike lookalikes, but neither were effective. Ike kept shooting until Kelzun turned him to salt. Kelzun's summoned vrocks brought Flynn and Lotus down, and she cast insanity on Jakob and then allowed the archers to paralyze him. Nathaniel sent a message to Mary describing what had just happened, and tried to sneak away disguised as a goblin. When the vrocks surrounded him, he allowed himself to be captured, since he had no recourse. Kelzun removed Jakob's insanity, and he awoke to overhear her speaking to others. She found the quasit she'd had following Nathaniel and sent it on to other tasks. She also angrily cursed Ike for killing her dog, and refused to accept a ride from a strange hybrid blue dragon friend.
The rest of the party awoke to find themselves inside of cells in a stone dungeon, along with Baern, Aaron, and Rogar. A group of goblin guards sorted through the party's equipment. Soon, a yuan-ti stepped into the room and sent the goblins away, leaving only a golem guarding the door. Nathaniel tried to kill him with a phantasm, but it failed and the yuan-ti responded by silencing Nate. The strange snake-like creature then cast a spell on Ike and telepathically asked if there was any amount of money they could pay him to work for them. The same question was asked of each other party member, except for Flynn, who was infected with a disease that would slowly turn him into a yuan-ti. Rogar was already a couple days ahead in this process.
After the yuan-ti guard left, another came in and suddenly changed forms, revealing herself as a doppelganger. She began unlocking the cells and asked the party to wait a few minutes before they broke out so that her position wouldn't be compromised. Nathaniel froze the golem with one of his scrolls, allowing the party to move freely. Lotus tried to cure Rogar's disease but was not powerful enough. After a few minutes of waiting and re-equiping, the party headed out of the room, discovering they were in the basement of an ancient castle. Up the stairs, a group of goblins had their card game interrupted as Baern trampled them. Baern kicked open the next door, revealing a huge chamber full of goblins. Lotus dropped a flaming sphere at the far end of the room while Ike started shooting and Jakob and Tara charged into the fray. Nate and Bearn moved around an outer hallway to try to stop any fleeing goblins, and Flynn sang an inspirational song about Garlen the Goblin-slayer. Within seconds, all but two of the goblins were dead, and Jakob knocked the remaining two unconscious as they cowered and cried for mercy.
Baern led the way up to one of the castle's two towers. He smashed the door leading into the top room, and Jakob and Ike each landed a solid attack on the yuan-ti inside. Creeping cold from Lotus, a bite from Tara, and a powerful blow from Baern were enough to bring him to his end. Baern broke open a safe and pulled out some papers, specifically orders from a "Tem Hep'na" about capturing kingsmen and from "Ish Ni'seth" about meeting at a place called Death Rock. Baern led the way into the second tower, but this time he and Jakob pulled their punches in order to capture the yuan-ti who had been inside.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Session 7, 2007-09-01: An expedition to Lonely Sparrow goes south
Session 7: wherein organized goblins bring about chaos
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
The party met together to discuss what name they might take. Having spent a lot of time sneakily killing snakes with the help of a bard, the name "Ninja Mongoose Rockstars" seemed appropriate. The Ninja Mongoose Rockstars then met with Mary, who wanted them to deliver some scrolls to the Lonely Sparrow monestary, as well as providing Jakob with escort since he wanted to make a donation there. NMR spent some time buying or upgrading equipment and then set out to the south.
Three hours outside of Waecleft, the party came upon a pair of slain messengers who had been returning to Waecleft. Lotus took up Eagle form and located a nearby goblin camp. As the party headed that direction, the ground trembled and a Land Shark popped up. Tara bit at it, and Flynn started singing an inspiring song. Ike fired a series of arrows and Jakob crushed its skull, killing it.
Lotus cast mass camoflage to allow the party to approach the goblin camp more stealthily. Most of the party set up to the northeast, with Ike on a hill to the south. Lotus cast entangle to block off the western exit. Nathaniel's phantasmal killer destroyed one goblin, while Jakob and Tara took another one down with claws and fists. Flynn's song provided everyone some inspiration. Lotus cast vortex of teeth, and the force-pirahnas shredded the camp. Ike, Tara, and Jakob continued dropping goblins as a pair turned themselves invisible. Flynn's glitterdust revealed one of the invisible goblins, who Nathaniel killed with a phantasm. Ike disabled the hobgoblin boss while Lotus and Tara searched for the remaining invisible goblin. The hobgoblin tried to hide using a smokestick, but Jakob grabbed him and threatened him. Nathaniel tried to fool the hobgoblin using various illusions and enchantments, claiming Selenshe had sent the party. The deception was ineffective, so Jakob knocked the hobgoblin out and killed him painlessly. Ike tracked down the remaining invisible goblin, and the party grabbed a "wanted" poster with crude drawings of themselves from the camp.
The party headed back on the road. During the early afternoon, a tree started moving. This wooden druid spoke of recognizing the party from a vision. In this vision, there was a black sand blighting a forest, a city being cleaned out, and people chasing the party away due to Ike. She spoke a riddle: "the thirsty blight knows of life but apart. His greatest foe lies in the woods heart." She then handed the party a gift -- a Raptor Arrow -- and departed.
That night, during the third watch, Lotus noticed the sound of crickets stopped suddenly to one side of camp. She shouted out a warning as four silenced goblin spellcasters became visible. Three tried to cast Hold Person on Lotus while the fourth swarmed her with centipedes. Ike fired off his bow while Lotus blinded several casters with murderous mist. The now-blinded goblins tried to flee, but Jakob and Ike finished three of them off, and a flaming sphere from Lotus cooked the centipedes to a crisp, with some help from Nate's grease spell. Jakob grabbed the remaining goblin and dragged him back to camp, where he offered up little information except to say that a goblin druid had helped him.
In the morning, the party sent word to Mary, who warned that other groups of Kingsmen had been attacked. As the party moved along the road, with Lotus in eagle form, a pack of invisible goblin archers peppered Nathaniel with dexterity-draining poisoned arrows. Ike fired back, but not in time to keep Nathaniel ffrom being incapacitated. Lotus spotted several more and quickly returned to her normal form. Flynn took cover and began singing while Jakob swung just over one goblin's head. The archers turned on Lotus, also paralyzing her. Jakob, Tara, and Ike each brought an archer down, and Flynn wounded one with his new Raptor Arrow. The archers now turned on Ike, but he proved far more resistant to their poison. Tara, Jakob, and Ike finished off the goblins while Flynn tried to heal Nathaniel. Jakob sent word to Mary about the paralysis, and she told the party that help was on the way.
Soon, Baern, one of the champion giants of Waecleft, rode up on the back of a triceratops. With him was Aaron and three other paladins from the Order of the Narrow Way. Using potions and spells of lesser restoration, they brought Nathaniel and Lotus back to their feet. Aaron explained that the goblins had grown powerful and targeted several groups of Kingsmen in the area, and that Waecleft's king was unwilling to send out the military to deal with the goblin threat. Only Waecleft's paladins were willing to help, but they were not numerous enough to completely destroy the goblin menace. The party rested in a cave with Baern blocking the entrance.
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
The party met together to discuss what name they might take. Having spent a lot of time sneakily killing snakes with the help of a bard, the name "Ninja Mongoose Rockstars" seemed appropriate. The Ninja Mongoose Rockstars then met with Mary, who wanted them to deliver some scrolls to the Lonely Sparrow monestary, as well as providing Jakob with escort since he wanted to make a donation there. NMR spent some time buying or upgrading equipment and then set out to the south.
Three hours outside of Waecleft, the party came upon a pair of slain messengers who had been returning to Waecleft. Lotus took up Eagle form and located a nearby goblin camp. As the party headed that direction, the ground trembled and a Land Shark popped up. Tara bit at it, and Flynn started singing an inspiring song. Ike fired a series of arrows and Jakob crushed its skull, killing it.
Lotus cast mass camoflage to allow the party to approach the goblin camp more stealthily. Most of the party set up to the northeast, with Ike on a hill to the south. Lotus cast entangle to block off the western exit. Nathaniel's phantasmal killer destroyed one goblin, while Jakob and Tara took another one down with claws and fists. Flynn's song provided everyone some inspiration. Lotus cast vortex of teeth, and the force-pirahnas shredded the camp. Ike, Tara, and Jakob continued dropping goblins as a pair turned themselves invisible. Flynn's glitterdust revealed one of the invisible goblins, who Nathaniel killed with a phantasm. Ike disabled the hobgoblin boss while Lotus and Tara searched for the remaining invisible goblin. The hobgoblin tried to hide using a smokestick, but Jakob grabbed him and threatened him. Nathaniel tried to fool the hobgoblin using various illusions and enchantments, claiming Selenshe had sent the party. The deception was ineffective, so Jakob knocked the hobgoblin out and killed him painlessly. Ike tracked down the remaining invisible goblin, and the party grabbed a "wanted" poster with crude drawings of themselves from the camp.
The party headed back on the road. During the early afternoon, a tree started moving. This wooden druid spoke of recognizing the party from a vision. In this vision, there was a black sand blighting a forest, a city being cleaned out, and people chasing the party away due to Ike. She spoke a riddle: "the thirsty blight knows of life but apart. His greatest foe lies in the woods heart." She then handed the party a gift -- a Raptor Arrow -- and departed.
That night, during the third watch, Lotus noticed the sound of crickets stopped suddenly to one side of camp. She shouted out a warning as four silenced goblin spellcasters became visible. Three tried to cast Hold Person on Lotus while the fourth swarmed her with centipedes. Ike fired off his bow while Lotus blinded several casters with murderous mist. The now-blinded goblins tried to flee, but Jakob and Ike finished three of them off, and a flaming sphere from Lotus cooked the centipedes to a crisp, with some help from Nate's grease spell. Jakob grabbed the remaining goblin and dragged him back to camp, where he offered up little information except to say that a goblin druid had helped him.
In the morning, the party sent word to Mary, who warned that other groups of Kingsmen had been attacked. As the party moved along the road, with Lotus in eagle form, a pack of invisible goblin archers peppered Nathaniel with dexterity-draining poisoned arrows. Ike fired back, but not in time to keep Nathaniel ffrom being incapacitated. Lotus spotted several more and quickly returned to her normal form. Flynn took cover and began singing while Jakob swung just over one goblin's head. The archers turned on Lotus, also paralyzing her. Jakob, Tara, and Ike each brought an archer down, and Flynn wounded one with his new Raptor Arrow. The archers now turned on Ike, but he proved far more resistant to their poison. Tara, Jakob, and Ike finished off the goblins while Flynn tried to heal Nathaniel. Jakob sent word to Mary about the paralysis, and she told the party that help was on the way.
Soon, Baern, one of the champion giants of Waecleft, rode up on the back of a triceratops. With him was Aaron and three other paladins from the Order of the Narrow Way. Using potions and spells of lesser restoration, they brought Nathaniel and Lotus back to their feet. Aaron explained that the goblins had grown powerful and targeted several groups of Kingsmen in the area, and that Waecleft's king was unwilling to send out the military to deal with the goblin threat. Only Waecleft's paladins were willing to help, but they were not numerous enough to completely destroy the goblin menace. The party rested in a cave with Baern blocking the entrance.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
The Thirsting
The Thirsting
The thirsting is a vile disease spread by contact with the black sands. Victims experience increasing thirst and symptoms of dehydration as their bodies are dessicated into sand. It is known to originate from a region of the Great Waste so hostile to water and life that it actively consumes them.
Transmission: Inhaled or Ingested. Extremely contagious, the disease can be caught from a single grain of sand. Any time black sand is handled or moved in its dry form, the disease can be caught.
Save: Fort DC 20 initial and daily. As usual for sickness, an initial save wards off the disease entirely. Thereafter, two successful saves in a row are required to fight off the disease.
Incubation: 1 day.
Effects: Daily save or take 1d4 Con damage. In addition, drink 2n quarts of water above and beyond your daily requirement (where n is the number of days since infection) or suffer the effects of dehydration. Dehydration in this instance:
- Fatigue (-2 Strength and Dexterity, unable to run or charge).
- Vulnerability to heat and fire based effects (1.5x damage).
- After six hours, take 1d6 nonlethal damage per hour.
- If unconscious, take 1d6 lethal damage per hour.
In addition, a victim who has taken any Con damage from the Thirsting periodically coughs out black sand.
A victim who dies from the disease--either through dehydration damage or blood loss--is rapidly consumed by the sand, leaving behind only bones and sand.
Due to the supernatural nature of black sand, this disease is considered magical.
[Further notes obscured due to continuing campaign relevance.]
Session 6, 2007-08-25: Cat and Mouse
Session 6: wherein Serpenti spies spread sands, and sneaky singers and sorcerers slaughter snakes.
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
Mary met with the party and some other Kingsmen, outlining the current threat and planned response. "We have learned more about the spies in Waecleft. One of their meeting houses is owned by an old woman named Aleisha. She is old and poor -- and needs the money, so they pay her for silence. With frequent divinations, they would know if she told anyone they met there. Alicia's nephew Jonathan lives with her. She has not told him about the secret midnight meetings, but we gave him a clairaudience device and asked him to spy for us. He has agreed. Based on his information, we know there are three major spies in the city, directing other minor ones. We have identified all three. Their plans are to begin spreading something called 'the thirsting' in Waecleft before departing. The time to strike is now. Tomorrow night, Sarahain will be doing this outside town on farms. We must strike him. Another, James, an ambitious cleric of heironius who recently turned reclusive, will be doing it in the city. He will be a harder target. The third, Sannis, we plan to lure outside." The Kingsmen planned to simultaneously assassinate all three major spies right at midnight, to give them the least opportunity to warn each other of danger. One group of kingsmen would take out Sarahain, while our party would strike James and Sannis.
Nathaniel disguised himself as a yuan-ti operative, and, along with a bard named Eron, met with Sannis. Eron claimed to have important information that he wanted to share on a particular field at midnight. Sannis, who had a spell that would allow him to detect lies, asked Nathaniel "do you trust this guy?" Nathaniel's response was "absolutely." Sannis asked "can I trust him?" and Nathaniel responded "I've never had problems with him." This was enough to convince Sannis to meet with Eron at midnight. Unfortunately for Sannis, Eron brought Jakob, Flynn, Lotus, and Nathaniel to the meeting, and the "information" he had promised was quite painfully administered. Flynn began singing a highly inspirational song while Jakob and Tara dragged Sannis to the ground. Nathaniel rendered Sannis completely helpless, and he was easily slain.
Ike volunteered for the more dangerous mission -- an assassination within Waecleft. This would certainly lead to his exile if he survived, but since he didn't much like the city anyway, this wasn't a great threat to him. He and a paladin named Aaron positioned themselves to attack James. To begin the fight, Aaron tossed an exploding bead over the top of a nearby building, which distracted the local guards. He then stepped forward and stabbed at James, while Ike fired his bow from the shadows. James responded by casting Destruction on Aaron, which killed him but was not enough to destroy his remains. Ike's final few arrows were enough to bring James down, and he carefully snuck away as the guards began to filter in. One of the kingsmen-friendly guards sneakily poured an oil of lingering soul on Aaron's body to allow him to be raised later.
The Waecleftian guard cast a divination to determine Ike's involvement in the assassination, and gave their guards standing orders to arrest him. Aaron's remains were quickly buried outside of town, and he was secretly raised within the hour, though unable to return to Waecleft due to the town's strict laws regarding murder.
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
Mary met with the party and some other Kingsmen, outlining the current threat and planned response. "We have learned more about the spies in Waecleft. One of their meeting houses is owned by an old woman named Aleisha. She is old and poor -- and needs the money, so they pay her for silence. With frequent divinations, they would know if she told anyone they met there. Alicia's nephew Jonathan lives with her. She has not told him about the secret midnight meetings, but we gave him a clairaudience device and asked him to spy for us. He has agreed. Based on his information, we know there are three major spies in the city, directing other minor ones. We have identified all three. Their plans are to begin spreading something called 'the thirsting' in Waecleft before departing. The time to strike is now. Tomorrow night, Sarahain will be doing this outside town on farms. We must strike him. Another, James, an ambitious cleric of heironius who recently turned reclusive, will be doing it in the city. He will be a harder target. The third, Sannis, we plan to lure outside." The Kingsmen planned to simultaneously assassinate all three major spies right at midnight, to give them the least opportunity to warn each other of danger. One group of kingsmen would take out Sarahain, while our party would strike James and Sannis.
Nathaniel disguised himself as a yuan-ti operative, and, along with a bard named Eron, met with Sannis. Eron claimed to have important information that he wanted to share on a particular field at midnight. Sannis, who had a spell that would allow him to detect lies, asked Nathaniel "do you trust this guy?" Nathaniel's response was "absolutely." Sannis asked "can I trust him?" and Nathaniel responded "I've never had problems with him." This was enough to convince Sannis to meet with Eron at midnight. Unfortunately for Sannis, Eron brought Jakob, Flynn, Lotus, and Nathaniel to the meeting, and the "information" he had promised was quite painfully administered. Flynn began singing a highly inspirational song while Jakob and Tara dragged Sannis to the ground. Nathaniel rendered Sannis completely helpless, and he was easily slain.
Ike volunteered for the more dangerous mission -- an assassination within Waecleft. This would certainly lead to his exile if he survived, but since he didn't much like the city anyway, this wasn't a great threat to him. He and a paladin named Aaron positioned themselves to attack James. To begin the fight, Aaron tossed an exploding bead over the top of a nearby building, which distracted the local guards. He then stepped forward and stabbed at James, while Ike fired his bow from the shadows. James responded by casting Destruction on Aaron, which killed him but was not enough to destroy his remains. Ike's final few arrows were enough to bring James down, and he carefully snuck away as the guards began to filter in. One of the kingsmen-friendly guards sneakily poured an oil of lingering soul on Aaron's body to allow him to be raised later.
The Waecleftian guard cast a divination to determine Ike's involvement in the assassination, and gave their guards standing orders to arrest him. Aaron's remains were quickly buried outside of town, and he was secretly raised within the hour, though unable to return to Waecleft due to the town's strict laws regarding murder.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Session 5, 2007-08-18: Expedition to Nestull's Lair
Session 5: wherein Jakob acquires a pen, a bottle of wine, and an inactive golem.
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
A local elven wizard named Kelialin summoned the party to his tower, and offered to pay them a moderate sum of money to retrieve a clay golem manual from a cottage outside Nestull's lair. Mary agreed this would be a worthwhile expedition, particularly if the party could retrieve any of Nestull's spells for controlling constructs. The party set off on the road, and quickly encountered a swarm of tiny needletooth dinosaurs. Ike fired several arrows into the pack, skewering dozens of little dinos while Flynn encouraged him. Lotus destroyed the remaining beasts with a quick blast of lightning, and the party continued onward. A green dragon passed overhead, and Ike nearly drew its attention with a flurry of arrows, but Nate managed to distract him with something shiny.
When the party stopped for a quick meal, Ike began cooking his freshly skewered dinosaur snacks. Soon, a pack of wolves approached, and one tried to steal one of the roasted dinos. Ike screamed out "bitch, get off my food", and soon had a wolf to go with his dinosaurs. Jakob broke another wolf's neck, and the rest quickly scattered, recognizing this group would not make easy prey. As the party continued on, they encountered a small group of forest trolls. Lotus cast a spell of Entangle, and Ike began picking off the helpless trolls one by one. The party retrieved a few construct-related scrolls from the corpses.
The next morning, the party approached Nestull's lair. A swarm of animated books charged toward the party, intent on bludgeoning everyone. Jakob grabbed one and broke its spine, while Ike pinned several others to nearby trees. Lotus burned a few more to end the threat. A short distance beyond, the party came upon a pit. Suddenly, a dinosaur skeleton leaped out of the pit and attacked. Jakob began pummeling it while Lotus hit it with various elemental effects. Nate and Ike sat back and watched, virtually useless in such a combat. Flynn's inspiration gave Jakob the strength he needed to crush the dino's bones.
The party's next encounter was with a manifestation of magic -- a living spell. The sphere of magical energy flew up to Jakob and dispelled his mage armor. Luckily, the spell was physically weak and easily dissipated. Shortly thereafter, the party encountered a living spell of suppress command, which was chasing after a clay golem. Soon, the golem was completely inactive, and the spell wandered away. Jakob began dragging the inactive golem behind him, hoping it would be of some value to Kelialin.
The door of the cottage outlying Nestull's stronghold was guarded by a massive and powerful stone golem. Not wanting to face it directly, Nathaniel used a scroll of hide from constructs to make the party invisible, and then distracted the golem with an illusion of a man passing by the cottage. Inside the cottage, most of the furniture appeared to be animated, including a hat rack that was dancing around in the main room. The party moved carefully between rooms, making sure to close doors behind them to limit the number of constructs that could attack if Nathaniel's spell ended. When the party opened a bedroom door, a tapestry flew past and attached itself to a nearby wall. Jakob narrowly avoided contact with the tapestry, which likely would have resulted in every construct in the room becoming aggressive. One supply room held only a single animated pen, which Jakob captured under a barrel and then dropped into his bag. The party easily retrieved a clay golem manual and several scrolls from the supply room, and then snuck past the stone golem guardian with yet another illusion. Heading back home, the party encountered a swarm of wine bottles. As the bottles attacked, Jakob caught and smashed each one in succession, until he simply caught and captured the final one. Nathaniel would reprogram the pen and the bottle when he had the opportunity.
The next morning, the party encountered a few more forest trolls, which were easily defeated. Mary sent a message for the party to hurry back, but didn't give any specific details. Once the party reached the main road, they were able to move more quickly. Soon, they noticed a cow standing by the side of the road drinking extremely large amounts of water. Flynn and Nathaniel spoke with the farmer who owned the cow, and found that both he and the cow had been feeling somewhat ill and drinking excess amounts of water. Both had encountered a strange black sand earlier in the week. Lotus cast remove disease to cure the farmer of this "thirsting" disease, and the party killed and buried the cow to keep it from spreading the disease, paying the farmer a few gold pieces to cover his loss.
Back in Waecleft, Kelialin paid the party generously for both the golem manual and the inactive golem. Mary promised the party a runestaff with each of the spells they'd retrieved for controlling constructs.
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
A local elven wizard named Kelialin summoned the party to his tower, and offered to pay them a moderate sum of money to retrieve a clay golem manual from a cottage outside Nestull's lair. Mary agreed this would be a worthwhile expedition, particularly if the party could retrieve any of Nestull's spells for controlling constructs. The party set off on the road, and quickly encountered a swarm of tiny needletooth dinosaurs. Ike fired several arrows into the pack, skewering dozens of little dinos while Flynn encouraged him. Lotus destroyed the remaining beasts with a quick blast of lightning, and the party continued onward. A green dragon passed overhead, and Ike nearly drew its attention with a flurry of arrows, but Nate managed to distract him with something shiny.
When the party stopped for a quick meal, Ike began cooking his freshly skewered dinosaur snacks. Soon, a pack of wolves approached, and one tried to steal one of the roasted dinos. Ike screamed out "bitch, get off my food", and soon had a wolf to go with his dinosaurs. Jakob broke another wolf's neck, and the rest quickly scattered, recognizing this group would not make easy prey. As the party continued on, they encountered a small group of forest trolls. Lotus cast a spell of Entangle, and Ike began picking off the helpless trolls one by one. The party retrieved a few construct-related scrolls from the corpses.
The next morning, the party approached Nestull's lair. A swarm of animated books charged toward the party, intent on bludgeoning everyone. Jakob grabbed one and broke its spine, while Ike pinned several others to nearby trees. Lotus burned a few more to end the threat. A short distance beyond, the party came upon a pit. Suddenly, a dinosaur skeleton leaped out of the pit and attacked. Jakob began pummeling it while Lotus hit it with various elemental effects. Nate and Ike sat back and watched, virtually useless in such a combat. Flynn's inspiration gave Jakob the strength he needed to crush the dino's bones.
The party's next encounter was with a manifestation of magic -- a living spell. The sphere of magical energy flew up to Jakob and dispelled his mage armor. Luckily, the spell was physically weak and easily dissipated. Shortly thereafter, the party encountered a living spell of suppress command, which was chasing after a clay golem. Soon, the golem was completely inactive, and the spell wandered away. Jakob began dragging the inactive golem behind him, hoping it would be of some value to Kelialin.
The door of the cottage outlying Nestull's stronghold was guarded by a massive and powerful stone golem. Not wanting to face it directly, Nathaniel used a scroll of hide from constructs to make the party invisible, and then distracted the golem with an illusion of a man passing by the cottage. Inside the cottage, most of the furniture appeared to be animated, including a hat rack that was dancing around in the main room. The party moved carefully between rooms, making sure to close doors behind them to limit the number of constructs that could attack if Nathaniel's spell ended. When the party opened a bedroom door, a tapestry flew past and attached itself to a nearby wall. Jakob narrowly avoided contact with the tapestry, which likely would have resulted in every construct in the room becoming aggressive. One supply room held only a single animated pen, which Jakob captured under a barrel and then dropped into his bag. The party easily retrieved a clay golem manual and several scrolls from the supply room, and then snuck past the stone golem guardian with yet another illusion. Heading back home, the party encountered a swarm of wine bottles. As the bottles attacked, Jakob caught and smashed each one in succession, until he simply caught and captured the final one. Nathaniel would reprogram the pen and the bottle when he had the opportunity.
The next morning, the party encountered a few more forest trolls, which were easily defeated. Mary sent a message for the party to hurry back, but didn't give any specific details. Once the party reached the main road, they were able to move more quickly. Soon, they noticed a cow standing by the side of the road drinking extremely large amounts of water. Flynn and Nathaniel spoke with the farmer who owned the cow, and found that both he and the cow had been feeling somewhat ill and drinking excess amounts of water. Both had encountered a strange black sand earlier in the week. Lotus cast remove disease to cure the farmer of this "thirsting" disease, and the party killed and buried the cow to keep it from spreading the disease, paying the farmer a few gold pieces to cover his loss.
Back in Waecleft, Kelialin paid the party generously for both the golem manual and the inactive golem. Mary promised the party a runestaff with each of the spells they'd retrieved for controlling constructs.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Session 4, 2007-08-04: Destruction of a Yuan-ti outpost
Session 4: wherein a messenger gets ninja'd, and an outpost does too
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
Lotus found a rat nearby and used Speak with Animals to convince it to walk through the outpost. She then cast Chain of Eyes, and watched the world through the eyes of the rat scout. From this and outside observation, the party guessed there were about half a dozen yuan-ti inside, along with a marruspawn. The party sent word to Mary that they'd located a major outpost. Mary responded to hang tight and wait for help, that Kasvim was en route. The party decided not to attack any of the enemies unless they were clearly leaving the outpost -- those who stepped out to urinate were left alone. When the original messenger left, the party tailed him and killed him a short distance away from the outpost, quickly returning to their observation point.
Soon, a yuan-ti messenger approached the camp from the north. Nathaniel disguised himself as a half-blood yuan-ti and called out "halt!" The messenger seemed confused -- "who are you and what are you doing here? I wasn't expecting anyone." "What kind of crap intel do you guys run out north? You didn't get the memo? Get inside and read over the new security protocols." As the messenger rounded the corner of the rock, his face came into contact with Jakob's stunning fist. Nate successfully cast Hold Person to freeze him. Ike fired an arrow from atop the rocky outcropping and directly through the messenger's head, and thus, he was neutralized in three different ways.
When Kasvim the Silver Dragon arrived (in human guise), Nate used one of the recently acquired scrolls to scan the golem's programming:
1. Remain within thirty feet of the cave mouth.
2. Remain at ease while peaceful Yuan-Ti are present.
3. Destroy all living creatures.
4. Sound the alarm if attacking or being attacked.
Nate immediately took on the persona of Nessun Grisseth, a yuan-ti warrior. The party walked right past the stone golem and into the main room of the outpost. One of the yuan-ti clerics saw the party approached and asked "what's going on here? What is this?" Immediately, Flynn, who was standing invisibly in the entry tunnel, began singing of the demise of the yuan-ti. Jakob and Tara ran at the enemies and started tripping them, while Kasvim took dragon form and bit the marruspawn. Nate, Lotus, and the remaining yuan-ti traded a few spells while Ike steadily cut them down with several arrows. Icy breath from Kasvim killed the marruspawn he held in his mouth and seriously wounded the remaining yuan-ti, who proved to be only a minor challenge.
Nate ran to grab the important-looking papers that sat on a table off to the side, not thinking to check for defenses. A fireball ignited, burning the papers and seriously injuring Nate. A search of the camp revealed an eternal wand of mage hand, which would have proven useful for moving papers onto and off of the table without setting off the fireball. Disappointed with his mistake, Nate brooded as the party headed back toward Waecleft, wondering about the strange vial of black sand they'd found on one of the spies.
As the party headed home, they noticed a dead troll covered in red flowers. Flynn recognized the flowers as dread blossoms, calling out a warning as they began to attack. Lotus lit the flowers on fire while Jakob stomped all over them, quickly subduing the evil flowers. As the party neared the road, a great thunderstorm started up, leading them to seek shelter in a small cave. As the storm was letting up, Lotus heard a group of trolls approaching from on top of the cave. Jakob reached out and pulled one of the trolls down, and Ike and Tara brought it down. Jakob and Tara held their ground against the other three trolls while Flynn sang, Ike fired his bow, and Lotus unleashed the fury of mother nature.
Back at Mary's outpost, Flynn attempted to magically identify the black sand. The identification failed. Nate opened up the container and accidentally inhaled a tiny bit of the sand. The party poured it into a bucket and poured some water on top of it, and found that it fizzed and bubbled and increased in volume. Several speculations as to the nature of the sand were made, but none proved to be as bad as the reality the party would later learn.
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
Lotus found a rat nearby and used Speak with Animals to convince it to walk through the outpost. She then cast Chain of Eyes, and watched the world through the eyes of the rat scout. From this and outside observation, the party guessed there were about half a dozen yuan-ti inside, along with a marruspawn. The party sent word to Mary that they'd located a major outpost. Mary responded to hang tight and wait for help, that Kasvim was en route. The party decided not to attack any of the enemies unless they were clearly leaving the outpost -- those who stepped out to urinate were left alone. When the original messenger left, the party tailed him and killed him a short distance away from the outpost, quickly returning to their observation point.
Soon, a yuan-ti messenger approached the camp from the north. Nathaniel disguised himself as a half-blood yuan-ti and called out "halt!" The messenger seemed confused -- "who are you and what are you doing here? I wasn't expecting anyone." "What kind of crap intel do you guys run out north? You didn't get the memo? Get inside and read over the new security protocols." As the messenger rounded the corner of the rock, his face came into contact with Jakob's stunning fist. Nate successfully cast Hold Person to freeze him. Ike fired an arrow from atop the rocky outcropping and directly through the messenger's head, and thus, he was neutralized in three different ways.
When Kasvim the Silver Dragon arrived (in human guise), Nate used one of the recently acquired scrolls to scan the golem's programming:
1. Remain within thirty feet of the cave mouth.
2. Remain at ease while peaceful Yuan-Ti are present.
3. Destroy all living creatures.
4. Sound the alarm if attacking or being attacked.
Nate immediately took on the persona of Nessun Grisseth, a yuan-ti warrior. The party walked right past the stone golem and into the main room of the outpost. One of the yuan-ti clerics saw the party approached and asked "what's going on here? What is this?" Immediately, Flynn, who was standing invisibly in the entry tunnel, began singing of the demise of the yuan-ti. Jakob and Tara ran at the enemies and started tripping them, while Kasvim took dragon form and bit the marruspawn. Nate, Lotus, and the remaining yuan-ti traded a few spells while Ike steadily cut them down with several arrows. Icy breath from Kasvim killed the marruspawn he held in his mouth and seriously wounded the remaining yuan-ti, who proved to be only a minor challenge.
Nate ran to grab the important-looking papers that sat on a table off to the side, not thinking to check for defenses. A fireball ignited, burning the papers and seriously injuring Nate. A search of the camp revealed an eternal wand of mage hand, which would have proven useful for moving papers onto and off of the table without setting off the fireball. Disappointed with his mistake, Nate brooded as the party headed back toward Waecleft, wondering about the strange vial of black sand they'd found on one of the spies.
As the party headed home, they noticed a dead troll covered in red flowers. Flynn recognized the flowers as dread blossoms, calling out a warning as they began to attack. Lotus lit the flowers on fire while Jakob stomped all over them, quickly subduing the evil flowers. As the party neared the road, a great thunderstorm started up, leading them to seek shelter in a small cave. As the storm was letting up, Lotus heard a group of trolls approaching from on top of the cave. Jakob reached out and pulled one of the trolls down, and Ike and Tara brought it down. Jakob and Tara held their ground against the other three trolls while Flynn sang, Ike fired his bow, and Lotus unleashed the fury of mother nature.
Back at Mary's outpost, Flynn attempted to magically identify the black sand. The identification failed. Nate opened up the container and accidentally inhaled a tiny bit of the sand. The party poured it into a bucket and poured some water on top of it, and found that it fizzed and bubbled and increased in volume. Several speculations as to the nature of the sand were made, but none proved to be as bad as the reality the party would later learn.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Session 3, 2007-07-28: Tracing Yuan-ti Spies
Session 3: wherein Flynn wears a manly pink badge, a fork attacks, and spies get jacked
Players (Characters)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob; Filthy Ike)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
Mary gave the party a new mission: track some yuan-ti spies to their outpost. It was known that yuan-ti were intercepting tactical messages and copying them, so the party would give a yuan-ti spy access to a fake message and then track the spy using a custom Ranger's Compass. The drop would be made at a gate to the inner city, where only people with special access could approach. Mary also warned the party of the extremely strict laws inside Waecleft, and the danger of breaking them.
Nathaniel and Flynn went into town, but because Flynn was carrying a weapon, he was given a manly pink badge to signify he was allowed to be armed. Flynn pretended to be a poor minstrel while Nathaniel disguised himself as the very stuck-up "Nathaniel Garbanzo". The guards denied Mr. Garbanzo entry into the inner part of town, despite his insistence that he was important and his cries of "don't you know who I am?" Soon, the suspected spy Sirenza approached and said she'd be able to deliver a message to anyone inside. Nathaniel insisted "this message is very important" and said it needed to go to Aaron inside. While this was going on, Flynn tugged on Sirenza's cloak and activated the Ranger's Compass, while saying "pardon me, can you spare a few coppers for a poor musician?" Sirenza looked at him in disgust and then headed straight across the inner city to the opposite gate. Nate changed his disguise and he and Flynn circled around, following at a distance.
Sirenza went inside a nearby house. Nate knocked on the door, and when someone answered, he asked "is this where the card game is?" He glanced back to see Sirenza messing with the magically-encoded message as the doorman yelled "no, go away!" and slammed the door in his face. About an hour later, Sirenza left that house and delivered the original message to Aaron. Flynn followed her to her own house and then informed Mary and Aaron of the two locations the spies used. Mary gave the party a set of sending stones keyed to send to her, and said to follow Sirenza when she set out. Ike walked in to the outpost with several rats skewered on an arrow, asking where he could roast them. Luckily, Sirenza started moving a few minutes later. The party followed and discovered she'd turned around about a half-hour outside of town, so set up an ambush to take her out.
Nathaniel tried to charm Sirenza, and when that failed, also tried to make her laugh hideously. Ike jumped out from behind a tree and fired a pair of arrows. One hit the tree and the other hit Sirenza. Flynn started singing and Tara charged, but couldn't drag Sirenza down. She cast Darkness and hid. Jakob again ran through the darkness, which Lotus dispelled. Ike fired a pair of shots to drop her, and then Jakob stabilized her and picked her up. The party moved on to where she'd turned around and discovered a recently snuffed campfire. Careful placement of her body and modification of her wounds made it look like she'd been killed in a fight at this campsite. Ike began following a set of tracks and Lotus went into eagle form to try to find the next messenger. She discovered the cobra-headed man about an hour to the east, and the party pursued until he stopped near midnight. Ike snuck in to his camp to check on him a couple hours later, and the party easily handled a group of wolves that attacked while Jakob and Nate were on watch.
The next morning, Ike returned and led the party in tracking about a tenth of a mile behind the enemy, with Lotus tracking from the air. As they were walking, a troll came running at the party and poisoned Nathaniel. Nate put grease under the troll's feet to no effect. Jakob threw the troll in the air, and Lotus flew back to the party. Tara and Ike both failed to hit the troll. Flynn started singing. The troll stood up and got smacked by Jakob, missing him with its claw as he turned to hit it again. Tara finally dragged it to the ground and killed it, and Ike shot it an extra time just to make sure. Nathaniel barely resisted the secondary effects of the poison, mostly due to his rat Beauregard.
A short distance later, some wolves approached. Nate's hypnotic pattern froze two in place, Flynn sang, and Ike fired off two shots. Jakob threw one aside and hit another with a stone-bones strike. The two stepped forward to attack him and he whacked them again. Tara clawed one, and Nate's grease sent one to the ground. Ike shot one while Flynn cast Rage on Jakob. The fallen wolf stood and got clawed by Tara, while the others attacked and tripped Jakob. He rolled to his feet and smacked one, and Nate's grease brought two more to the ground. Ike's arrows killed one and Tara's bite wounded another. Flynn's glitterdust was ineffective, but the wolves panicked and fled. Tara and Jakob killed one as it stood, and Jakob chased down the one that had fled the farthest while Lotus killed the nearest one. Ike attacked the one Nate had hypnotized, and Jakob threw it to the ground to kill it.
As the party kept moving, Flynn realized we'd be passing by Nestull's Lair, a former hideout of a mage who built a lot of constructs. Soon, an animated chair came running past. At nightfall, Ike came across a recently vacated camp. Nate took hobgoblin form, Lotus spotted the snake-headed man hiding, and the party stepped away pretending not to have seen him. After the yuan-ti was sleeping, Flynn turned Ike invisible, and Ike snuck into the camp and activated the Ranger's Compass. The party rested, and those on watch noticed the occasional group of Wyverns in the night sky. Lotus noticed an animated fork approaching. Nate tried to distract it with some rations, but it ran right past and stabbed Lotus. She missed it with her scimitar and Nate's feeble kick completely missed. Flynn woke up, grabbed the fork, and handed it to Jakob, who snapped it in half.
The next morning, Nate disguised himself as a yuan-ti warrior. The tracking compass soon indicated that the messenger had turned around. Flynn turned Ike invisible and the party backed away. Ike saw the yuan-ti being chased by a clay golem, which eventually lost track of him and started pounding on a random tree. Once the golem wandered off, the party began tracking the yuan-ti again, not stopping to bother with the animated hat rack that ran past.
That afternoon, Lotus spotted a troll off in the distance, and heard its roar. Flynn started singing and Ike started shooting. Lotus entangled the troll, and Nathaniel tried to start a betting pool on how many arrows Ike would need for the kill. As the troll struggled through the entangling plants, Ike hit it with nine of his ten shots to finally kill it. It had been walking around with two scrolls of "scan golem". The night was mostly uneventful, though Nate finally recovered from his last bout with poison, and Ike reset the compass.
On the fourth day of travel, the party finally left the area where the constructs were roaming. A giant dire bear passed by in the distance, and Nate kept Ike distracted so he wouldn't provoke it. As the forest thinned out and the land became more hilly, Nate spotted a wyvern inbound. It swooped in and swung at Ike. Nate created a herd of illusory horses and Ike withdrew. Lotus cast Creeping Cold and Jakob unsuccessfully tried to throw the wyvern on the ground. Flynn's glitterdust didn't affect it, but it tried to attack one of the horses. Ike shot an arrow at it and Lotus added lightning to the cold. Flynn's glitterdust blinded the wyvern the second time, and Jakob jumped up and stunned it. The dead wyvern tumbled across the ground.
The party approached the rocky maze of Roakshi Kama. The yuan-ti messenger entered a cave that had a stone golem guarding its entrance and several tracks leading in and out. The party found a smaller cave nearby where they could set up camp and watch the yuan-ti outpost.
Players (Characters)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob; Filthy Ike)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
Mary gave the party a new mission: track some yuan-ti spies to their outpost. It was known that yuan-ti were intercepting tactical messages and copying them, so the party would give a yuan-ti spy access to a fake message and then track the spy using a custom Ranger's Compass. The drop would be made at a gate to the inner city, where only people with special access could approach. Mary also warned the party of the extremely strict laws inside Waecleft, and the danger of breaking them.
Nathaniel and Flynn went into town, but because Flynn was carrying a weapon, he was given a manly pink badge to signify he was allowed to be armed. Flynn pretended to be a poor minstrel while Nathaniel disguised himself as the very stuck-up "Nathaniel Garbanzo". The guards denied Mr. Garbanzo entry into the inner part of town, despite his insistence that he was important and his cries of "don't you know who I am?" Soon, the suspected spy Sirenza approached and said she'd be able to deliver a message to anyone inside. Nathaniel insisted "this message is very important" and said it needed to go to Aaron inside. While this was going on, Flynn tugged on Sirenza's cloak and activated the Ranger's Compass, while saying "pardon me, can you spare a few coppers for a poor musician?" Sirenza looked at him in disgust and then headed straight across the inner city to the opposite gate. Nate changed his disguise and he and Flynn circled around, following at a distance.
Sirenza went inside a nearby house. Nate knocked on the door, and when someone answered, he asked "is this where the card game is?" He glanced back to see Sirenza messing with the magically-encoded message as the doorman yelled "no, go away!" and slammed the door in his face. About an hour later, Sirenza left that house and delivered the original message to Aaron. Flynn followed her to her own house and then informed Mary and Aaron of the two locations the spies used. Mary gave the party a set of sending stones keyed to send to her, and said to follow Sirenza when she set out. Ike walked in to the outpost with several rats skewered on an arrow, asking where he could roast them. Luckily, Sirenza started moving a few minutes later. The party followed and discovered she'd turned around about a half-hour outside of town, so set up an ambush to take her out.
Nathaniel tried to charm Sirenza, and when that failed, also tried to make her laugh hideously. Ike jumped out from behind a tree and fired a pair of arrows. One hit the tree and the other hit Sirenza. Flynn started singing and Tara charged, but couldn't drag Sirenza down. She cast Darkness and hid. Jakob again ran through the darkness, which Lotus dispelled. Ike fired a pair of shots to drop her, and then Jakob stabilized her and picked her up. The party moved on to where she'd turned around and discovered a recently snuffed campfire. Careful placement of her body and modification of her wounds made it look like she'd been killed in a fight at this campsite. Ike began following a set of tracks and Lotus went into eagle form to try to find the next messenger. She discovered the cobra-headed man about an hour to the east, and the party pursued until he stopped near midnight. Ike snuck in to his camp to check on him a couple hours later, and the party easily handled a group of wolves that attacked while Jakob and Nate were on watch.
The next morning, Ike returned and led the party in tracking about a tenth of a mile behind the enemy, with Lotus tracking from the air. As they were walking, a troll came running at the party and poisoned Nathaniel. Nate put grease under the troll's feet to no effect. Jakob threw the troll in the air, and Lotus flew back to the party. Tara and Ike both failed to hit the troll. Flynn started singing. The troll stood up and got smacked by Jakob, missing him with its claw as he turned to hit it again. Tara finally dragged it to the ground and killed it, and Ike shot it an extra time just to make sure. Nathaniel barely resisted the secondary effects of the poison, mostly due to his rat Beauregard.
A short distance later, some wolves approached. Nate's hypnotic pattern froze two in place, Flynn sang, and Ike fired off two shots. Jakob threw one aside and hit another with a stone-bones strike. The two stepped forward to attack him and he whacked them again. Tara clawed one, and Nate's grease sent one to the ground. Ike shot one while Flynn cast Rage on Jakob. The fallen wolf stood and got clawed by Tara, while the others attacked and tripped Jakob. He rolled to his feet and smacked one, and Nate's grease brought two more to the ground. Ike's arrows killed one and Tara's bite wounded another. Flynn's glitterdust was ineffective, but the wolves panicked and fled. Tara and Jakob killed one as it stood, and Jakob chased down the one that had fled the farthest while Lotus killed the nearest one. Ike attacked the one Nate had hypnotized, and Jakob threw it to the ground to kill it.
As the party kept moving, Flynn realized we'd be passing by Nestull's Lair, a former hideout of a mage who built a lot of constructs. Soon, an animated chair came running past. At nightfall, Ike came across a recently vacated camp. Nate took hobgoblin form, Lotus spotted the snake-headed man hiding, and the party stepped away pretending not to have seen him. After the yuan-ti was sleeping, Flynn turned Ike invisible, and Ike snuck into the camp and activated the Ranger's Compass. The party rested, and those on watch noticed the occasional group of Wyverns in the night sky. Lotus noticed an animated fork approaching. Nate tried to distract it with some rations, but it ran right past and stabbed Lotus. She missed it with her scimitar and Nate's feeble kick completely missed. Flynn woke up, grabbed the fork, and handed it to Jakob, who snapped it in half.
The next morning, Nate disguised himself as a yuan-ti warrior. The tracking compass soon indicated that the messenger had turned around. Flynn turned Ike invisible and the party backed away. Ike saw the yuan-ti being chased by a clay golem, which eventually lost track of him and started pounding on a random tree. Once the golem wandered off, the party began tracking the yuan-ti again, not stopping to bother with the animated hat rack that ran past.
That afternoon, Lotus spotted a troll off in the distance, and heard its roar. Flynn started singing and Ike started shooting. Lotus entangled the troll, and Nathaniel tried to start a betting pool on how many arrows Ike would need for the kill. As the troll struggled through the entangling plants, Ike hit it with nine of his ten shots to finally kill it. It had been walking around with two scrolls of "scan golem". The night was mostly uneventful, though Nate finally recovered from his last bout with poison, and Ike reset the compass.
On the fourth day of travel, the party finally left the area where the constructs were roaming. A giant dire bear passed by in the distance, and Nate kept Ike distracted so he wouldn't provoke it. As the forest thinned out and the land became more hilly, Nate spotted a wyvern inbound. It swooped in and swung at Ike. Nate created a herd of illusory horses and Ike withdrew. Lotus cast Creeping Cold and Jakob unsuccessfully tried to throw the wyvern on the ground. Flynn's glitterdust didn't affect it, but it tried to attack one of the horses. Ike shot an arrow at it and Lotus added lightning to the cold. Flynn's glitterdust blinded the wyvern the second time, and Jakob jumped up and stunned it. The dead wyvern tumbled across the ground.
The party approached the rocky maze of Roakshi Kama. The yuan-ti messenger entered a cave that had a stone golem guarding its entrance and several tracks leading in and out. The party found a smaller cave nearby where they could set up camp and watch the yuan-ti outpost.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Session 2, 2007-07-21: Dangerous Roads and Goblins
Session 2: wherein Ike makes jerky out of Lotus' little friend, and an ambush doesn't go according to plan
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
After repeated unsuccessful attempts to wake Ike, the party decided to leave him behind, figuring the ranger would have no trouble tracking them. Arabella received a summons to join another party that needed her services more urgently, so she headed back toward the crossroads. Jakob led the way, with Nathaniel and Flynn just behind, and Lotus and Tara bringing up the rear. Soon, the party heard a very large creature approaching along the road. Lotus could see that it was a giant mounted on a triceratops, with two armored horsemen and a nobleman behind. All of their shields had a symbol of a mountain split in two. The party quickly looked for cover, hiding behind bushes along the road. As the giant approached, he noticed Flynn, and boomed out "who are you hiding in the trees like a bandit?" Flynn responded "I'm just a traveling minstrel, looking to meet Mary in Waecleft." The giant introduced himself as Jearn, the champion of Waecleft, and said he'd been out clearing the roads and that they were now safe. Flynn responded "we've encountered goblin bandits along this road. Perhaps they're smart enough not to attack you, but they are out there." Jearn thanked us and continued on his way.
Two hours later, Jakob noticed a pair of goblin scouts along the road. He ran up to "hug" them, leading them to try to run away. One tried to cast "hold person" on Jakob, but failed. Flynn began singing an inspirational song, and Jakob swung his huge fist just over the head of the spellcaster. Tara bit the caster and dragged him to the ground. Nate laughed at the goblins as one of them continued to flee. The caster tried to stand to flee, taking hits from Jakob and Tara. Jakob tried to pick him up and throw him, but his hands slipped. Tara again dragged the caster to the ground, and again mauled him as he stood up, killing him. Jakob said "good kitty, pet the kitty" as he accidentally knocked Tara over. He then chased down and killed the fleeing goblin.
Further on, the party found the remains of a wagon. Jakob picked it up to look underneath it and found an amulet with the same cleft mountain symbol as Jearn's shield had. Lotus cast Speak with Animals to ask the birds and squirrels what they'd witnessed. Most of them just wanted some food, but one said some bad guys had gone up the road. Lotus thanked the squirrels and asked Jakob not to pet them. A short distance later, Lotus started talking about a strange blue dragon and rider with yellow robes, and wondered why the rest of the party was so confused. "It just flew overhead and we were all talking about it. What happened?" Jakob climbed a tree and looked out to the west, and then described the dragon, and its jackal-headed, black-skinned rider. When Jakob reached the bottom of the tree again, he'd forgotten what he saw. The dragon likely had a "modify memory" spell of some sort active on it.
Soon, Ike caught up to the party. He said he'd followed the tracks from the wagon, and that it had been wrecked for several days by now. He offered the party squirrel kebobs, which angered and disgusted Lotus. The party rested for the night without incident.
In the morning, the party came upon a goblin who was attacking a woman. Nate created lion sounds to try to scare the goblin. Jakob ran up next to it, and Tara positioned herself between the goblin and the woman. Ike shot the goblin, who took off running and took a nasty swipe from Jakob in the process. Nathaniel, in his "Nate the Great" persona, told the woman "don't worry, I'll save you" as Ike's arrow finished off the goblin. Jakob went to pick up the corpse while Nate talked to the vaguely snake-like woman. She introduced herself as Anna, and said she'd been traveling. Nate, sensing deception, charmed her. She introduced herself as Selenshe, in charge of intelligence for the goblin camp, and told the party to check in with the leaders. Suddenly she realized the party's hostility toward goblins (and, by extension, toward her), and ran. Ike fired a pair of arrows. Selenshe cast Darkness and hid somewhere inside it. Jakob ran through but didn't run into her, so Lotus dispelled the darkness. Tara jumped on Selenshe and dragged her to the ground, and Flynn began singing inspiring songs. Nate caused Selenshe to fall to the ground laughing hideously, and Jakob crushed her and took the cloak from her dead body.
The party suspected an ambush was waiting around the corner. Lotus turned into eagle form and flew up above, noticing seven goblins already in position on a pair of hills, and four bigger hobgoblins approaching from the north. Lotus landed and the party began their own ambush. She began summoning a bear to the south, and Nate created a second illusory bear to the north. Jakob, Ike, and Flynn moved onto the south hill behind the waiting goblins. Jakob attacked and killed one, and Ike shot another, wounding it grievously. Flynn used glitterdust to blind several goblins across the road. Nate made his bear roar loudly. One of the goblins turned to flee while two others shot at Nate's illusory bear, leading one to figure out the illusion. The fourth fired a shot that narrowly missed Jakob. The two remaining on the south hill tried to get some distance, but Jakob killed one and made the other lose the spell he was trying to cast, and Lotus' bear finished off the south hill.
Tara and Jakob crossed over to the northern hill and Lotus dropped a flaming sphere on one of the goblins. Ike shot and killed one and injured another. Flynn turned himself invisible, and Nathaniel made himself look like a hobgoblin and began climbing uphill. The three remaining goblins tried to flee, and Jakob dropped two of them easily. Jakob, Lotus, Tara, and the summoned bear climbed the hill to intercept the inbound hobgoblins, who came charging down at Jakob. Jakob tossed the largest one aside, while two others hit him and one hit the bear. Flynn cast Rage on Jakob, who used a Stone Bones strike on one, while Ike fired more arrows into the enemies. Nathaniel laid some grease beneath two hobgoblins, and Lotus' flaming sphere lit the grease on fire. Tara and the bear dragged one hobgoblin to the ground. Two hobgoblins again attacked Jakob, but one missed and one failed to penetrate his damage reduction. The biggest hobgoblin swung and missed, and Jakob's counterstrike clobbered him solidly. Jakob pummelled him to death while Tara kept another on the ground. Ike fired an arrow into the hillside and then took out the last goblin with another shot. Lotus' fire and lightning and Tara's attack finished off two hobgoblins, and the final one fled, but Jakob chased him down and killed him.
Nathaniel disguised himself to look like the hobgoblin leader and approached the camp. Two goblins stood around a fire, so Nate used a hypnotic pattern on them. Jakob threw one in the fire while Tara dragged the other to the ground. Lotus' lightning and Jakob's fists finished them off, and Ike exclaimed "we'll have goblin for dinner!" Nate watched in fascination as Ike cooked up some goblin stew. Jakob smashed open the locked chests around the camp and found a note from Tindell to Waecleft requesting Jearn's aid in killing off some dinosaurs. Ike kept asking "don't you guys eat? Are you sure you don't want any?" as the party tried to ignore the smell of cooked goblin. On the way out, the party set fire to the remnants of the camp.
The remaining two days of travel were mostly uneventful. The party approached the city of Waecleft, at the center of a split mountain. Nathaniel led the way to Mary's outpost just outside of town, and described the dragon, the goblins, and the found message.
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
After repeated unsuccessful attempts to wake Ike, the party decided to leave him behind, figuring the ranger would have no trouble tracking them. Arabella received a summons to join another party that needed her services more urgently, so she headed back toward the crossroads. Jakob led the way, with Nathaniel and Flynn just behind, and Lotus and Tara bringing up the rear. Soon, the party heard a very large creature approaching along the road. Lotus could see that it was a giant mounted on a triceratops, with two armored horsemen and a nobleman behind. All of their shields had a symbol of a mountain split in two. The party quickly looked for cover, hiding behind bushes along the road. As the giant approached, he noticed Flynn, and boomed out "who are you hiding in the trees like a bandit?" Flynn responded "I'm just a traveling minstrel, looking to meet Mary in Waecleft." The giant introduced himself as Jearn, the champion of Waecleft, and said he'd been out clearing the roads and that they were now safe. Flynn responded "we've encountered goblin bandits along this road. Perhaps they're smart enough not to attack you, but they are out there." Jearn thanked us and continued on his way.
Two hours later, Jakob noticed a pair of goblin scouts along the road. He ran up to "hug" them, leading them to try to run away. One tried to cast "hold person" on Jakob, but failed. Flynn began singing an inspirational song, and Jakob swung his huge fist just over the head of the spellcaster. Tara bit the caster and dragged him to the ground. Nate laughed at the goblins as one of them continued to flee. The caster tried to stand to flee, taking hits from Jakob and Tara. Jakob tried to pick him up and throw him, but his hands slipped. Tara again dragged the caster to the ground, and again mauled him as he stood up, killing him. Jakob said "good kitty, pet the kitty" as he accidentally knocked Tara over. He then chased down and killed the fleeing goblin.
Further on, the party found the remains of a wagon. Jakob picked it up to look underneath it and found an amulet with the same cleft mountain symbol as Jearn's shield had. Lotus cast Speak with Animals to ask the birds and squirrels what they'd witnessed. Most of them just wanted some food, but one said some bad guys had gone up the road. Lotus thanked the squirrels and asked Jakob not to pet them. A short distance later, Lotus started talking about a strange blue dragon and rider with yellow robes, and wondered why the rest of the party was so confused. "It just flew overhead and we were all talking about it. What happened?" Jakob climbed a tree and looked out to the west, and then described the dragon, and its jackal-headed, black-skinned rider. When Jakob reached the bottom of the tree again, he'd forgotten what he saw. The dragon likely had a "modify memory" spell of some sort active on it.
Soon, Ike caught up to the party. He said he'd followed the tracks from the wagon, and that it had been wrecked for several days by now. He offered the party squirrel kebobs, which angered and disgusted Lotus. The party rested for the night without incident.
In the morning, the party came upon a goblin who was attacking a woman. Nate created lion sounds to try to scare the goblin. Jakob ran up next to it, and Tara positioned herself between the goblin and the woman. Ike shot the goblin, who took off running and took a nasty swipe from Jakob in the process. Nathaniel, in his "Nate the Great" persona, told the woman "don't worry, I'll save you" as Ike's arrow finished off the goblin. Jakob went to pick up the corpse while Nate talked to the vaguely snake-like woman. She introduced herself as Anna, and said she'd been traveling. Nate, sensing deception, charmed her. She introduced herself as Selenshe, in charge of intelligence for the goblin camp, and told the party to check in with the leaders. Suddenly she realized the party's hostility toward goblins (and, by extension, toward her), and ran. Ike fired a pair of arrows. Selenshe cast Darkness and hid somewhere inside it. Jakob ran through but didn't run into her, so Lotus dispelled the darkness. Tara jumped on Selenshe and dragged her to the ground, and Flynn began singing inspiring songs. Nate caused Selenshe to fall to the ground laughing hideously, and Jakob crushed her and took the cloak from her dead body.
The party suspected an ambush was waiting around the corner. Lotus turned into eagle form and flew up above, noticing seven goblins already in position on a pair of hills, and four bigger hobgoblins approaching from the north. Lotus landed and the party began their own ambush. She began summoning a bear to the south, and Nate created a second illusory bear to the north. Jakob, Ike, and Flynn moved onto the south hill behind the waiting goblins. Jakob attacked and killed one, and Ike shot another, wounding it grievously. Flynn used glitterdust to blind several goblins across the road. Nate made his bear roar loudly. One of the goblins turned to flee while two others shot at Nate's illusory bear, leading one to figure out the illusion. The fourth fired a shot that narrowly missed Jakob. The two remaining on the south hill tried to get some distance, but Jakob killed one and made the other lose the spell he was trying to cast, and Lotus' bear finished off the south hill.
Tara and Jakob crossed over to the northern hill and Lotus dropped a flaming sphere on one of the goblins. Ike shot and killed one and injured another. Flynn turned himself invisible, and Nathaniel made himself look like a hobgoblin and began climbing uphill. The three remaining goblins tried to flee, and Jakob dropped two of them easily. Jakob, Lotus, Tara, and the summoned bear climbed the hill to intercept the inbound hobgoblins, who came charging down at Jakob. Jakob tossed the largest one aside, while two others hit him and one hit the bear. Flynn cast Rage on Jakob, who used a Stone Bones strike on one, while Ike fired more arrows into the enemies. Nathaniel laid some grease beneath two hobgoblins, and Lotus' flaming sphere lit the grease on fire. Tara and the bear dragged one hobgoblin to the ground. Two hobgoblins again attacked Jakob, but one missed and one failed to penetrate his damage reduction. The biggest hobgoblin swung and missed, and Jakob's counterstrike clobbered him solidly. Jakob pummelled him to death while Tara kept another on the ground. Ike fired an arrow into the hillside and then took out the last goblin with another shot. Lotus' fire and lightning and Tara's attack finished off two hobgoblins, and the final one fled, but Jakob chased him down and killed him.
Nathaniel disguised himself to look like the hobgoblin leader and approached the camp. Two goblins stood around a fire, so Nate used a hypnotic pattern on them. Jakob threw one in the fire while Tara dragged the other to the ground. Lotus' lightning and Jakob's fists finished them off, and Ike exclaimed "we'll have goblin for dinner!" Nate watched in fascination as Ike cooked up some goblin stew. Jakob smashed open the locked chests around the camp and found a note from Tindell to Waecleft requesting Jearn's aid in killing off some dinosaurs. Ike kept asking "don't you guys eat? Are you sure you don't want any?" as the party tried to ignore the smell of cooked goblin. On the way out, the party set fire to the remnants of the camp.
The remaining two days of travel were mostly uneventful. The party approached the city of Waecleft, at the center of a split mountain. Nathaniel led the way to Mary's outpost just outside of town, and described the dragon, the goblins, and the found message.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Basic Character Information
The Characters:
We begin the game with a 32-point point buy build at level 6. Explicitly allowed are a sundry of non-standard races and classes. We end up with:
Filthy Ike: A tiefling ranger/Order of the Bow Initiate [Complete Warrior]. Ike is a skilled sharpshooter. He grew up in the great waste, and is used to life in the wild. An avid hunter, he kills and eats for survival by habit. However, he has a strong aversion to water and an even stronger aversion to civilization. This works out all right, though, as civilization genrally has a strong aversion to him. (Played by Scott)
Flin Flam: A human bard. Fochlyan lyricist. Flin Flam is responsible for the joyful music we listen to along the road, and occasionally serves as a Knower of Things. (Played by Jeremy)
Nathaniel Graythorne: Nethanial introduced himself as Nate the Great, a mighty warrior. Standing before us in shining armor, with scores of defeated enemies marked on his shield, he remarked, "I win the battle in the enemy's mind." While we all were puzzling over this, he dismissed the illusion and stood before us in sorcerer's robes. Nethanial is an Asimar sorcerer focusing on enchantment and illusion spells. A professional gambler, Nate usually twists luck to his own ends. A master of disguise and illusion, he has more aliases than his allies can keep track of. Owing to his race, Nethanial is ancient on human terms--he fought behind enemy lines in the War of the Ten Kings. (Played by Tom)
Arabella: A half-celestial cleric focusing on archery and known for goodness and loyalty. And smiting things. (Played by Kate)
Lotus: An asimar druid, Lotus prefers civilization in its looser forms. Child and lover of nature, she grew up on a hippie commune, and loved life there. Disaster struck and her home was destroyed, forcing her out into the wild--where she seems comfortable enough. Lotus is accompanied by a faithful cheetah named Tara. (Played by Rachel)
Brother Jakob: A half-ogre Monk/Swordsage [Tome of Battle], with a psionic ability or two, Brother Jakob is deeply unique. Despite a monsterous appearence, Jakob's orderly character becomes quickly evident with a second look at his neatly clipped whiskers, polished large teeth, and simple monk's robes as he practices his morning katas. He was taken in as a baby by a monastery emphasizing tolerance. Being raised in a cloister has given him a degree of innocence about the world at large. This usually works out okay, as he is so physically imposing most things do not want to threaten him. (Played by Tony)
Some crunchy notes:
We begin the game with a 32-point point buy build at level 6. Explicitly allowed are a sundry of non-standard races and classes. We end up with:
Filthy Ike: A tiefling ranger/Order of the Bow Initiate [Complete Warrior]. Ike is a skilled sharpshooter. He grew up in the great waste, and is used to life in the wild. An avid hunter, he kills and eats for survival by habit. However, he has a strong aversion to water and an even stronger aversion to civilization. This works out all right, though, as civilization genrally has a strong aversion to him. (Played by Scott)
Flin Flam: A human bard. Fochlyan lyricist. Flin Flam is responsible for the joyful music we listen to along the road, and occasionally serves as a Knower of Things. (Played by Jeremy)
Nathaniel Graythorne: Nethanial introduced himself as Nate the Great, a mighty warrior. Standing before us in shining armor, with scores of defeated enemies marked on his shield, he remarked, "I win the battle in the enemy's mind." While we all were puzzling over this, he dismissed the illusion and stood before us in sorcerer's robes. Nethanial is an Asimar sorcerer focusing on enchantment and illusion spells. A professional gambler, Nate usually twists luck to his own ends. A master of disguise and illusion, he has more aliases than his allies can keep track of. Owing to his race, Nethanial is ancient on human terms--he fought behind enemy lines in the War of the Ten Kings. (Played by Tom)
Arabella: A half-celestial cleric focusing on archery and known for goodness and loyalty. And smiting things. (Played by Kate)
Lotus: An asimar druid, Lotus prefers civilization in its looser forms. Child and lover of nature, she grew up on a hippie commune, and loved life there. Disaster struck and her home was destroyed, forcing her out into the wild--where she seems comfortable enough. Lotus is accompanied by a faithful cheetah named Tara. (Played by Rachel)
Brother Jakob: A half-ogre Monk/Swordsage [Tome of Battle], with a psionic ability or two, Brother Jakob is deeply unique. Despite a monsterous appearence, Jakob's orderly character becomes quickly evident with a second look at his neatly clipped whiskers, polished large teeth, and simple monk's robes as he practices his morning katas. He was taken in as a baby by a monastery emphasizing tolerance. Being raised in a cloister has given him a degree of innocence about the world at large. This usually works out okay, as he is so physically imposing most things do not want to threaten him. (Played by Tony)
Some crunchy notes:
- Half-ogre has been modified to have a level adjustment of 2.
- Swordsage has been declared similar enough to monk to allow free multiclassing between them. (Usually monks cannot return after taking another class).
- Druid wild-shape has been modified to replace your racial modifiers with the animals for the purpose of determining physical abilities. (Usually the animal's stats replace your own).
- Druid wild casting has been changed to a metamagic feat with a cost of 1 spell level.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Session 1, 2007-07-14: An Introduction
Session 1: wherein six diverse adventurers set out on a road trip and share many odd foods
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Kate (Arabella)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
At the little crossroads just south of Waecleft, in the western part of Semferia, six distinctive figures approached, each holding a card pointing them to the outpost. Most distinctive was Brother Jakob, the tall half-ogre with carefully groomed tusks and fangs, standing tall, proud, and ready to react to anything. In contrast, the bow-wielding tiefling Filthy Ike looked and smelled like the sort who considers bathing a foreign concept. Flynn Flamm, a human man dressed in fine purple clothing and carrying a lute, displayed his friendly and outgoing nature as he socialized with anyone who came near. The winged half-celestial Arabella flew a few feet off the ground, looking around as she kept her bow close at hand. A tall and well-armored aasimar, with long golden hair, golden eyes, and a polished shield that read "Nate the Great" and displayed body counts for many types of monsters, boasted of his many victories. Lotus, an aasimar woman whose puffy hair held all sorts of twigs and berries, whispered silently to her pet cheetah, Tara.
As the six reached the gate to the outpost at the crossroads, a large dwarf wielding two throwing axes stepped out to greet them. "I am Rogar, representative of the Ten Kings' Men", he said. "During the great war, many kings fell to the frost giant menace, and no one kingdom could withstand it. But an alliance was born, with representatives from each kingdom banding together to do what they could not do alone. Though the war is long done and many of the kings have passed on, the Kingsmen still remain as a memory of past alliances, vigilantly protecting the land. Each of you have been called here because you've displayed some ability which is useful to us, especially skills relating to tracking, scouting, and gathering information. If you accept our terms, you'll be paid as a group for tasks you complete, as long as you report whatever you learn and you continue working for the greater good. Step inside if you accept our offer." With that, Rogar stepped inside the gate.
Each of the six followed. "Good, I was hoping you'd all come together. You should make a great team. The first step is to introduce yourselves." Flynn, a noble from the great kingdom of Westlay, had grown sick of the aristocratic lifestyle and was seeking to inspire people to do great things. "I'm just here for the bow", the tiefling said as he fired an arrow through a tiny ring on the wall. "Name's Ike. Where's the armory?" Rogar pointed to the racks of weapons all around the group, and the forge a few yards away. Arabella was known far and wide as good and loyal, and a capable archer. Brother Jakob had been left at a monestary at a young age, and learned tolerance and discipline from the monks who raised him. Lotus was not quite sure why she'd come to this place, only that she had nowhere else to go since her commune was burned down. Nate spoke about the many foes he'd defeated "by striking them at their weakest point: in their minds." With that, his armor, shield, and sword faded away and his muscles appeared to shrink, and he was revealed as an old man wearing plain red robes. "I've defeated every foe marked on my shield, but not with the sword. Misdirection, trickery, and charm are my specialties."
Rogar gave the party the task of clearing the road between the outpost and Waecleft, with orders to check in with Mary once they reached the far end. Ike asked if he could get his bow enchanted. Nathaniel reached out his hand and touched the bow, and a small flame started burning on the bow and on each arrow Ike fired. As the party set out, Jakob walked alongside Tara, petting the "pretty kitty". Flynn sang a funny song, which Lotus identified as "totally the music that's in my head!" Ike walked several yards in front of the others, with Nate and Flynn at the back and Arabella flying a few yards overhead.
Ike noticed some movement on a slope alongside the road -- a pair of goblins, waiting in ambush. He fired an arrow that glanced off of a tree and fell harmlessly away. One of the goblins cast Hold Person, but Ike resisted. The other shot him with an arrow, and he started cussing it out in the goblin tongue. Arabella flew a bit higher and fired, hitting one of the goblins squarely in the chest. Nathaniel cast grease under the pair, causing them to slide down the hill and into the open. Ike fired an arrow at the spellcaster, landing a solid hit, and Lotus conjured some flame in her hand. Jakob jumped up on top of a rock and swung his big fist down on the goblin cleric's head, killing it. Flynn began singing an inspirational song and Arabella shot the remaining goblin, leaving him barely conscious. Nate called out "don't kill him, just capture him", so Lotus had Tara latch on to the goblin's leg. Nate called out to the goblin "why did you shoot? We're your allies." The goblin said he was sorry for the mistake and told the party where to find the camp where they'd be expected to check in. Ike said "OK, let's go attack the goblin camp", and the goblin screamed as he realized he'd been tricked. Jakob cracked the goblin's head and the party started walking again.
Arabella asked if the party could stop to have lunch. Lotus said "I make this great snack, it's called Wheat Nuts." Ike responded "your Wheat Nuts are crap! They're like particle-board flavored cardboard." Not wanting to waste daylight, the party kept moving. Ike and Lotus noticed a wolf was tailing the party at a distance, so Ike fired a warning shot over the wolf's head. Nate created an illusion of a hut around the wolf, leaving a "door" where there was actually a tree, and the wolf didn't emerge for several minutes. A while later, two wolves began tailing the party. Nate used Ghost Sound to scare one off, and Ike fired a parting shot at it. Ike then fired a pair of shots at the other wolf, and Lotus hit it with a flare. Arabella fired another shot and Tara ran and clawed the wolf. Flynn began singing an inspirational song. The wolf tried to run, but Tara bit it and Jakob outran it, pummeling it. Jakob took a few minutes to skin it, and Ike picked out some meat to make jerky.
At nightfall, the party set up camp. Lotus and Tara kept watch while Nate played cards and the others slept. Soon, a pack of five wolves approached. Lotus placed Spike Growth in front of the pack, which wounded their legs and slowed their approach. Nate's Ghost Sound created the growl of an angry bear. Arabella woke up and fired an arrow. Flynn cast Rage on Jakob. Lotus placed a Flaming Sphere on the lead wolf, and Tara bit another. Jakob moved between a pair of wolves. Two of the wolves turned to flee the sound of the bear, and Tara's swipe killed one of them while Jakob nearly killed another. Two others bit Tara. Nate created an illusory wall to try to slow the wolves down further, and Arabella shot right into the heart of the nearest wolf. Flynn began singing and playing his horn, and Lotus called lightning, but only a weak burst hit one of the wolves. Jakob punched one of the wolves with a Psionic Fist, killing it, and stunned another. Ike rolled over, grabbed his bow, shot a wolf right in the eye to kill it, and went back to sleep. The final wolf made its way past the illusory wall, but Arabella brought it down with another well-placed arrow. She healed Tara's wounds, and then the party got back to the important business of resting. When it was time to wake Ike, Nate used Ghost Sound to create a loud ringing bell.
Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Kate (Arabella)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine
At the little crossroads just south of Waecleft, in the western part of Semferia, six distinctive figures approached, each holding a card pointing them to the outpost. Most distinctive was Brother Jakob, the tall half-ogre with carefully groomed tusks and fangs, standing tall, proud, and ready to react to anything. In contrast, the bow-wielding tiefling Filthy Ike looked and smelled like the sort who considers bathing a foreign concept. Flynn Flamm, a human man dressed in fine purple clothing and carrying a lute, displayed his friendly and outgoing nature as he socialized with anyone who came near. The winged half-celestial Arabella flew a few feet off the ground, looking around as she kept her bow close at hand. A tall and well-armored aasimar, with long golden hair, golden eyes, and a polished shield that read "Nate the Great" and displayed body counts for many types of monsters, boasted of his many victories. Lotus, an aasimar woman whose puffy hair held all sorts of twigs and berries, whispered silently to her pet cheetah, Tara.
As the six reached the gate to the outpost at the crossroads, a large dwarf wielding two throwing axes stepped out to greet them. "I am Rogar, representative of the Ten Kings' Men", he said. "During the great war, many kings fell to the frost giant menace, and no one kingdom could withstand it. But an alliance was born, with representatives from each kingdom banding together to do what they could not do alone. Though the war is long done and many of the kings have passed on, the Kingsmen still remain as a memory of past alliances, vigilantly protecting the land. Each of you have been called here because you've displayed some ability which is useful to us, especially skills relating to tracking, scouting, and gathering information. If you accept our terms, you'll be paid as a group for tasks you complete, as long as you report whatever you learn and you continue working for the greater good. Step inside if you accept our offer." With that, Rogar stepped inside the gate.
Each of the six followed. "Good, I was hoping you'd all come together. You should make a great team. The first step is to introduce yourselves." Flynn, a noble from the great kingdom of Westlay, had grown sick of the aristocratic lifestyle and was seeking to inspire people to do great things. "I'm just here for the bow", the tiefling said as he fired an arrow through a tiny ring on the wall. "Name's Ike. Where's the armory?" Rogar pointed to the racks of weapons all around the group, and the forge a few yards away. Arabella was known far and wide as good and loyal, and a capable archer. Brother Jakob had been left at a monestary at a young age, and learned tolerance and discipline from the monks who raised him. Lotus was not quite sure why she'd come to this place, only that she had nowhere else to go since her commune was burned down. Nate spoke about the many foes he'd defeated "by striking them at their weakest point: in their minds." With that, his armor, shield, and sword faded away and his muscles appeared to shrink, and he was revealed as an old man wearing plain red robes. "I've defeated every foe marked on my shield, but not with the sword. Misdirection, trickery, and charm are my specialties."
Rogar gave the party the task of clearing the road between the outpost and Waecleft, with orders to check in with Mary once they reached the far end. Ike asked if he could get his bow enchanted. Nathaniel reached out his hand and touched the bow, and a small flame started burning on the bow and on each arrow Ike fired. As the party set out, Jakob walked alongside Tara, petting the "pretty kitty". Flynn sang a funny song, which Lotus identified as "totally the music that's in my head!" Ike walked several yards in front of the others, with Nate and Flynn at the back and Arabella flying a few yards overhead.
Ike noticed some movement on a slope alongside the road -- a pair of goblins, waiting in ambush. He fired an arrow that glanced off of a tree and fell harmlessly away. One of the goblins cast Hold Person, but Ike resisted. The other shot him with an arrow, and he started cussing it out in the goblin tongue. Arabella flew a bit higher and fired, hitting one of the goblins squarely in the chest. Nathaniel cast grease under the pair, causing them to slide down the hill and into the open. Ike fired an arrow at the spellcaster, landing a solid hit, and Lotus conjured some flame in her hand. Jakob jumped up on top of a rock and swung his big fist down on the goblin cleric's head, killing it. Flynn began singing an inspirational song and Arabella shot the remaining goblin, leaving him barely conscious. Nate called out "don't kill him, just capture him", so Lotus had Tara latch on to the goblin's leg. Nate called out to the goblin "why did you shoot? We're your allies." The goblin said he was sorry for the mistake and told the party where to find the camp where they'd be expected to check in. Ike said "OK, let's go attack the goblin camp", and the goblin screamed as he realized he'd been tricked. Jakob cracked the goblin's head and the party started walking again.
Arabella asked if the party could stop to have lunch. Lotus said "I make this great snack, it's called Wheat Nuts." Ike responded "your Wheat Nuts are crap! They're like particle-board flavored cardboard." Not wanting to waste daylight, the party kept moving. Ike and Lotus noticed a wolf was tailing the party at a distance, so Ike fired a warning shot over the wolf's head. Nate created an illusion of a hut around the wolf, leaving a "door" where there was actually a tree, and the wolf didn't emerge for several minutes. A while later, two wolves began tailing the party. Nate used Ghost Sound to scare one off, and Ike fired a parting shot at it. Ike then fired a pair of shots at the other wolf, and Lotus hit it with a flare. Arabella fired another shot and Tara ran and clawed the wolf. Flynn began singing an inspirational song. The wolf tried to run, but Tara bit it and Jakob outran it, pummeling it. Jakob took a few minutes to skin it, and Ike picked out some meat to make jerky.
At nightfall, the party set up camp. Lotus and Tara kept watch while Nate played cards and the others slept. Soon, a pack of five wolves approached. Lotus placed Spike Growth in front of the pack, which wounded their legs and slowed their approach. Nate's Ghost Sound created the growl of an angry bear. Arabella woke up and fired an arrow. Flynn cast Rage on Jakob. Lotus placed a Flaming Sphere on the lead wolf, and Tara bit another. Jakob moved between a pair of wolves. Two of the wolves turned to flee the sound of the bear, and Tara's swipe killed one of them while Jakob nearly killed another. Two others bit Tara. Nate created an illusory wall to try to slow the wolves down further, and Arabella shot right into the heart of the nearest wolf. Flynn began singing and playing his horn, and Lotus called lightning, but only a weak burst hit one of the wolves. Jakob punched one of the wolves with a Psionic Fist, killing it, and stunned another. Ike rolled over, grabbed his bow, shot a wolf right in the eye to kill it, and went back to sleep. The final wolf made its way past the illusory wall, but Arabella brought it down with another well-placed arrow. She healed Tara's wounds, and then the party got back to the important business of resting. When it was time to wake Ike, Nate used Ghost Sound to create a loud ringing bell.
World Background
The World:
Semferia is the medieval frontier. Peoples huddle together in tiny cities, walled and fortified against the terrors of the wild. Travel is dangerous, and news is scarce. Inside city walls or guarded mine entrances, isolated civilization develops. Outside them, bandits, rogues, wild magical forces and herds of beasts reign supreme.
Semferia may be thought of geographically in four parts. East of the Stonetower Mountains lie the greater civilzations--the mighty human kingdom of Westlay in the forested north, and the equally mighty and vile Yuan-Ti kingdom of Serpenti in the plains to the south. The far eastern forest is ruled by a mysterious clan of druids.
West of the Stonetower Mountains lie the lesser civilizations. Two small fortified human cities--Waeceft nearer to the mountains, and Tindell on the coast. The enchanted forest to the north is ruled by the elven clan of The Lost in Waiting, who are at bitter war with the Ghern--a hobgoblin tribe inhabiting the ruin of Jezrel.
The north of Semferia is referred to only as "The Icy North." It forbids all life but that which freezes easily. To the south, fully half of the land, is a desert known as "The Great Waste." Uncharted and unwelcoming, tales tell of supernaturally hostile regions which hate all living things.
In the War of the Ten Kings, Frost Giants invaded from The Icy North. With white dragons and massive wooly beasts, they crushed all resistance to them. At the time, there were ten civilized kings on the land, and none alone could withstand the onslaught. One by one, the northern cities fell, six to the west of StoneTower, and one to the east. Refugees fled south. In a last desperate alliance, the peoples of Westlay, Waecleft, and Tindell came together, with all that remained of the people of the seven northern kings. On the Field of Ten Kings, in a long and bloody battle, the giants were at last repulsed.
It is now late July, the one hundred and fifty-fifth year since the War of Ten Kings. The seven northern cities still lay in ruins, inhabited by wild beasts, opportunistic tribes, and silent ghosts of the past. The land is much as it once was--alliances distant, and news scarce.
At the end of the war, The Last Watch of the Ten Kings was founded. Elite soldiers from each of the kingdoms came together and vowed to watch the land, deliver news, and serve good peoples. They are a memory of ancient alliance should it be needed again. The Kingsmen patrol the land from east to west, from the coasts at Tindell to the forbidding mountans east of Westlay.
Semferia is the medieval frontier. Peoples huddle together in tiny cities, walled and fortified against the terrors of the wild. Travel is dangerous, and news is scarce. Inside city walls or guarded mine entrances, isolated civilization develops. Outside them, bandits, rogues, wild magical forces and herds of beasts reign supreme.
Semferia may be thought of geographically in four parts. East of the Stonetower Mountains lie the greater civilzations--the mighty human kingdom of Westlay in the forested north, and the equally mighty and vile Yuan-Ti kingdom of Serpenti in the plains to the south. The far eastern forest is ruled by a mysterious clan of druids.
West of the Stonetower Mountains lie the lesser civilizations. Two small fortified human cities--Waeceft nearer to the mountains, and Tindell on the coast. The enchanted forest to the north is ruled by the elven clan of The Lost in Waiting, who are at bitter war with the Ghern--a hobgoblin tribe inhabiting the ruin of Jezrel.
The north of Semferia is referred to only as "The Icy North." It forbids all life but that which freezes easily. To the south, fully half of the land, is a desert known as "The Great Waste." Uncharted and unwelcoming, tales tell of supernaturally hostile regions which hate all living things.
In the War of the Ten Kings, Frost Giants invaded from The Icy North. With white dragons and massive wooly beasts, they crushed all resistance to them. At the time, there were ten civilized kings on the land, and none alone could withstand the onslaught. One by one, the northern cities fell, six to the west of StoneTower, and one to the east. Refugees fled south. In a last desperate alliance, the peoples of Westlay, Waecleft, and Tindell came together, with all that remained of the people of the seven northern kings. On the Field of Ten Kings, in a long and bloody battle, the giants were at last repulsed.
It is now late July, the one hundred and fifty-fifth year since the War of Ten Kings. The seven northern cities still lay in ruins, inhabited by wild beasts, opportunistic tribes, and silent ghosts of the past. The land is much as it once was--alliances distant, and news scarce.
At the end of the war, The Last Watch of the Ten Kings was founded. Elite soldiers from each of the kingdoms came together and vowed to watch the land, deliver news, and serve good peoples. They are a memory of ancient alliance should it be needed again. The Kingsmen patrol the land from east to west, from the coasts at Tindell to the forbidding mountans east of Westlay.
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