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.