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Post by lordgersh on Aug 28, 2009 6:43:57 GMT -5
Chapter 1: The Rescue at Rivenroar
Session 1: 5-2-09
The adventure starts, as these adventures often do, in a tavern. A barkeep tends the bar, two barmaids bustle about, a trio of gamblers play in the corner, and some drunkard noisily celebrates his birthday. But there are three people of note in the bar: one of the regulars, a middle-aged man in chainmail sitting at the bar, a tiefling sitting near the fire, playing a harp, and one of the barmaids, who carried a streak of magic behind her eyes
The door opens to reveal a fourth person of note: a Paladin of Kord in full plate and carrying a large shield. He goes to the bar, orders a drink, then another, and then goes to strike up a conversation with the tiefling playing the harp. Then the doors suddenly burst open, revealing four hobgoblins, and they are not here for the ale. They shout "For Sinruth, for The Hand!!" and rush into the bar, killing those who get in their way. But the four persons of note fight back with magic and sword. More goblins and hobgoblins rush in, lighting the alcohol behind the bar on fire, killing nearly all of the civilians (including the birthday boy!) before they are summarily cut down by the four fighters.
But the establishment is on fire, and the bartender has summoned help. A bucket brigade has formed to douse the flames. The party of four lend assistance. Bloodied town guards rush by, saying Hobgoblins are attacking all over the city. A crowd of townsfolk scream in the distance and run down the street from the north, fleeing an ogre holding a lit cask of roofing pitch, pulling a cart with more casks and more hobgoblins. The ogre throws the cask, which detonates spectacularly outside the door of the tavern, killing another civilian and leaving another burning fire in its wake. Minutes later, the ogre is cut down by the Four (mostly due to the older man blowing up the remaining pitch casks with his divine wrath)
More guards come, summoning the Ogre-slayers to help defend the bridge, but by the time they arrive, the hobgoblins are in retreat. The remaining day and night is spent tending to the survivors and putting out the fires of the attack.
In the morning, word reaches town Councilman Eoffram Troyas about the four who slayed the ogre, and he summons them to the Town Hall to speak with them. All four come, and introduce themselves as:
Rupert Giles, Half-Elf Paladin of Kord Makaria, Tiefling Bard Sally Morgan, Half-Elf Sorceress Kylar, Human Invoker of Bahamut
With Councilman Troyas is Aleiks, a Razorclaw Shifter Druid.
Troyas informs the party about the events of the previous evening. The hobgoblins, it seems, came not to invade the town, but to steal things. Specifically, they stole relics from the War of the Red Hand from the Great Hall of Valor, and kidnapped several people. Reports are sketchy, but townsfolk have reported seeing at least one child being carted off, the Curator of the Hall of Valor is confirmed missing, and conflicted reports about old women, young soliders and more being among the captured. The stolen relics, however, are known and are the following:
-Ornate, gilded dragoncrest helm -Ceremonial platinum longsword; too heavy and blunt to be useful as a weapon -Three shields with the Red Hand insignia, each with a charred hole near the center -Set of iron gauntlets with extensive filigree -Heraldic battle standard depicting two hands clasped in a handshake
Troyas wants the five adventurers to rescue the people and recover the artifacts. While Aleiks, Sally and Kylar are agreeable to this, Makaria asks what's in it for her. Troyas informs the group that he has been authorized by the Council to pay a reward to the party if they are able to succeed. Troyas doesn't know where the Hobgoblins are based, but suggests the Party interrogate a Hobgoblin prisoner who was captured last night, and states that he has confidence in Aleiks' tracking skills.
The group goes to interrogate the Hobgoblin prisoner, and through intimidation, friendliness, and outright lies, convince him that if he helps them, they'll get him released. The party walks away with a crude map to the Hobgoblin fortress, and the Hobgoblin, still in the stocks, is under the impression that he'll be released tomorrow morning. No one, of course, has any intention of doing so.
After eight hours of travel, the party arrives at the steps of Rivenroar Castle, and find it isn't really that much of a castle. It's more of a two level keep (with a basement below). [ROOM 1] Upon entering, the party is attacked by a group of four goblinoid guards. After dispatching them, they have a choice of three doors: "To Von Urstadt", "To Rivenroar Family" and "To Von Jallach". They choose "Rivenroar Family".
[ROOM 11] Decending a long set of stairs they find themselves in a dank, dark room filled with rubble and glowing mushrooms. After a little investigation, they discover that the mushrooms are slightly magical and after experimenting around for a little while, start heading toward the door when they are intercepted by two Rage Drakes.
After a short, but bloody fight, the party heads through the door to discover an old woman trapped inside of a magic circle trap. [ROOM 12] After a long discussion, Aleiks finally attempts and succeeds at breaking through a gap in the circle and pushing the woman out, though at some injury to himself. As he rests, Sally asks the woman who she is. The woman is Zerriksa, and she is a bitter old woman (probably in her sixties or seventies). She confirms she was kidnapped from Brindol by those filthy damned Hobgoblins, but that she was able to protect herself by frightening them into thinking she was a witch. She is not, but the bluff worked to a point; the denizens of Rivenroar castle are trying to get her to switch sides and fight for them. In an attempt to intimidate her, they showed her the corpse of one of the prisoners, wrapped in webbing, and brought a small boy and threatened to slice his throat unless she switched sides. She says that they didn't kill the boy, but doesn't really seem to care. She wants to go back to Brindol, but refuses to be alone, and so grudgingly stays with the party.
The party, at a dead end, and curiously, without any evidence of the Rivenroar Family, head back up the stairs and decide to head west toward "Von Urstadt". [ROOM 2] Down a hall, they find themselves in a Hobgoblin living space, and dispatch the Hobgoblin residents there.
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Post by lordgersh on Aug 30, 2009 9:16:11 GMT -5
Session 2: 5-30-09
[ROOM 4] Taking a corridor out of the room, the party finds themselves in front of a shimmering image of a sinister castle in the middle of a swamp. Moving toward it, Kylar sees an Ooze moving its way along the image, and then suddenly slides out of the image and attacks. While the ooze itself poses little threat to the party, the two invisible specters who attack from behind proved more formidable. Following that fight, the party decides that an extended rest is in order and elects to return to the mushroom chamber in the basement, barricade the door, and rest there for the evening. Zeriksa of course complained, especially since they were resting in the room where she was previously held captive, but the party elected to stay anyway. [ROOM 12]
<RETCON> THE EVENING PASSED QUIETLY WITH ONE EXCEPTION. WHILE THE PARTY WAS EATING, IT BECAME GROSSLY APPARENT THAT WHILE ALL OF THE ADVENTURERS HAD PROVISIONS, ZERRIKSA DID NOT, AND SHE (ONCE AGAIN) COMPLAINED AS SUCH. AS A JOKE, RUPERT SUGGESTED SHE EAT SOME OF THE MUSHROOMS FROM THE AJOINING CHAMBER AND GOT HER ONE. ZERRIKSA COOLLY RESPONDED THAT HE SHOULD EAT ONE FIRST. AND RUPERT, AGAIN JOKINGLY, LICKED THE MUSHROOM, LAUGHED, AND TOSSED IT AWAY. </RETCON> (Zerriksa ended up eating provisions from Aleiks)
When Rupert woke up in the morning, he was very ill.
The party had little experience with poisoning or disease and exhaused their ideas on how to resolve the situation rather quickly. Makaria then had the idea to ask the old crone if she had ever seen anything like this. Zerriksa indicated that she had cured it in others. Sally managed, with difficulty to convince the bitter old woman to cure Rupert's ailment. Zerriksa indicated she would need a sample of the mushroom, and Makaria went to the chamber to retrieve it.
Makaria, walked into the mushroom chamber, closed the door behind her, and found a small hobgoblin inspecting the corpses of the drakes the party had left behind. He started to shout a warning, but Makaria, acting quickly, impaled him on her sword, never giving him a chance to shout.
<RETCON> ZERRIKSA, BORROWING A WATERSKIN FROM ALEIKS, AND A RITUAL COMPONENT FROM KYLAR, QUICKLY BREWED WHAT SHE DEEMED AS A "CRUDE" POTION TO CURE RUPERT AND TOLD HIM WITH SIGNIFICANT FORCE TO DRINK IT. RUPERT DRANK, VOMITED HORRIBLY, AND THEN STATED THAT HE FELT MUCH BETTER. </RETCON> After another moment or two gathering themselves together, the party moved on.
[ROOM 9] The party continues from where they were, move down a hallway and find themselves in a tomb with four stone sarcophagi and five hobgoblins. One of the hobgoblins, upon seeing the party, turns tail and run toward a spiral staircase in the corner of the room, screaming that there are intruders. As he is running up the stairs (and the fight is going on below) he is summarily trampled by an armored hobgoblin and a small drake running down the stairs to the fight. Following the battle, the party finds a few things of interest in the room. First, there are two religious altars devoted to bane, but Kylar notices that they were originally altars to Vecna and have been “rededicated”. Second, an inscription is carved into the wall near the ceiling, repeating the message, “Here lie the Rivenroars until the Day of the Black Sun. If you seek their monument, look at the lands around you.” There is also a pit in the corner of the room, and the stench coming out of it implies what’s in it.
There is also a door, in addition to the spiral staircase, and the party decides to go through it. [ROOM 10] The party finds themselves in a dimly-lit room adorned with statues of displacer beasts, but more importantly, there is a human female tied to an altar at the back of the room. There are also three very large rats between the party and the woman. In the course of the battle with the rats, the party is attacked from behind by gnome assassins, and it becomes quickly apparent that the bite of the rats causes some type of disease. Both Aleiks and Rupert are infected, and Rupert is hammered hard enough by the gnomes to fall unconscious in the course of the battle.
After the battle, there is the woman tied to the altar (an altar to the Raven Queen) to consider. She is initially terrified, and says nothing at first. She is obviously injured and sick, and Zerriksa says offhandedly that the woman, Rupert and Aleiks are infected with Filth Fever. Healing from Makaria and good constitution allow Rupert to shake off the effects of the fever, but Aleiks is frankly sick. Despite that, Aleiks is able to help the woman, who timidly identifies herself as Mirtala, using his first aid skills, tending to her injuries and suppressing the Filth Fever somewhat. Over the next several minutes, Sally and Makaria gradually coax Mirtala, who is quite plainly terrified, into talking to the party, and she dispenses valuable information.
Mirtala confirms that Andronsius, a dwarf, is alive (as of yesterday) and is being held in “a family crypt… the name started with a J”. She was briefly detained with Sertanian, the Castellan of the Great Hall of Valor, several days ago. She describes where that was as “up a spiral staircase, then around a bunch of corners and down two separate flights of stairs” from where she currently is. Along that route, she heard the voice of Kartenix, a man she recognized as a Captain in the Town Guard, and heard one of the hobgoblins say something about hiding gold in one of the sarcophagi. Upon hearing about Kartenix, Zerriksa carelessly mentions that she saw the corpse of a guard, and so she assumes that Kartenix is dead, and she doesn’t particularly care. Mirtala is highly distraught by the news, and Sally takes some effort to calm her down again.
This information confirms that at least six people were taken hostage by the dwarves:
• Zerriksa, recovered by the party from the magic circle • A small boy, whom the hobgoblins threatened to kill in front of Zerriksa • Kartenix, a Captain in the Guards, whose body was likely shown to Zerriksa as intimidation • Mirtala, rescued by the party in the statue chamber • Sertinian, the Castellan of the Great Hall, whose position is roughly known by Mirtala • Andronsius, a dwarf, being held in a Family Crypt that starts with a J (the party fairly quickly deduces it is the Von Jallach Crypt)
Level Up: 2
The party decides they want to head for Sertinian, as they have very specific directions there, but Zerriksa flatly states that if Mirtala does not get back to Brindol, her disease simply will not improve.
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Post by lordgersh on Aug 30, 2009 9:19:33 GMT -5
Session 3: 6/28/09
The party decides that Mirtala should head back to Brindol as quickly as possible, and since Zerriksa wants to leave Rivenroar quite badly, and Aleiks is infected with the disease as well, the party decides that Aleiks will escort Zerriksa and Mirtala back to Brindol, and meanwhile, the party will take an extended rest and explore a little more of the dungeon. On their way back to the front entrance, they do stop to look inside the sarcophagi in the Rivenroar crypt, following up on the lead from Mirtala that the hobgoblins hid some treasure inside. They do find treasure in the form of gold, a gem, and Dwarven Plate Armor +1, which Rupert equips.
Aleiks leaves, and the party rests.
After the rest, the party, decides they should investigate the Von Jallach crypt, since it is right next to the entrance anyway, so they head through the door and up a flight of stairs to find a dark room with blue glowing runes on the floor [ROOM 13]. Two swarms of Needlefang Drakes attack the party and in the course of the battle, one of the swarms is pushed onto one of the runes, which flashes a brilliant blue, and then incinerates the swarm. Another gnomish assassin attacks from the shadows, but the party dispatches the enemies with little difficulty. An odd thing the party notices, however, is that the alcoves where bodies are supposed to be entombed are suspiciously empty. There are no obvious signs of undead in the room, so the party cautiously continues.
In an adjoining room [ROOM 14], the party finds a dwarf, presumably Andronsius, chained to a wall. He’s badly injured and after the party gets him down, he states that he’s been beaten bloody by hobgoblins frequently. He saw Jelissa (a new name for the party) recently, and the two of them are friends… he states he won’t leave without her.
When the party asks where Jalissa is, he states that he was blindfolded and doesn’t exactly remember, and then proceeds to give exceptionally detailed directions.
The party is suitably impressed.
Heading back toward the entryway [ROOM 1], they run into Aleiks, who has returned from Brindol, and the party for the moment follows the directions of Andronsius, which brings them (finally) to the Von Urstadt [ROOM 5] crypt where they get the drop on two more gnome assassins and two firey elemental beasts. Once again, they find alcoves in the crypt that are supposed to house bodies, but instead they only find some gold, some silver, and some healing potions. The party is then is faced with an open door or an open hallway, and decide to head down the hall and around the corner, bringing them to a room full of spiderwebs [ROOM 7]
In this room are three Ettercaps, and the toughest fight the party has yet had. The fight is long and difficult, though miraculously, no one in the party nor Andronsius falls unconscious. Aleiks in particular avoided a beating by using a new ability: using Wild Shape to assume the form of a spider, allowing him to move through the webs with impunity.
Following the fight, the party sadly finds the body of Kartenix wrapped in webbing and shoved in a corner.
Before proceeding up the next set of stairs, the party decides to backtrack and check the door behind them, which leads to a jail with two cells [ROOM 6]. In one of them is the Sertinian, the Castellan of the Great Hall of Valor. As Rupert and Makaria begin to figure out how to break or bend the bars, Sertinian, with a smile, points out the key hanging on the wall behind them.
Contrary to the bitter Zerriksa, the terrified Mirtala, and the angry and determined Andronsius, Sertinian seems to have handled his captivity fairly well, and is quite pleased to be released. Sertinian asks the party if they know about the artifacts that have been stolen, and states that he must remain with them to identify the stolen relics. He states that the other jail cell here used to be occupied by Kartenix, who was going to try to overpower a guard and escape, and is curious as to what has happened to him. The party informs Sertinian of Kartenix’s death.
The party, following the brutal fight with the ettercaps wants to take a long rest, and Sertinian volunteers to help keep watch. Between his dismissive attitude toward his capture, his insistence to stay with the party, his nonchalance toward the death of Kartenix and is desire to keep watch, the party becomes very suspicious of this old man. The party decides that Makaria will take first watch and that Sertinian may join her if he’d like.
Carefully, Makaria probes Sertinian and he reveals that he’s a former soldier in the town guard, and fought the hobgoblins in the Red Hand invasion twenty years ago. Makaria thinks there may be a little more to the story than what he is saying, but with at least an excuse for the eagerness, she decides he probably won’t backstab the entire party in their sleep.
Following the rest, the party, having completely explored the bottom level of Rivenroar Castle, heads upstairs to find Jalissa.
At the top of the stairs, [ROOM 15] they find a force of four hobgoblin soldiers, two drakes and a goblin spellcaster waiting for them. The fight is long and intense, but the party manages to defeat the enemies without taking serious injury.
Andronsius leads the party through an adjacent door to a small crypt where Jalissa is chained to a wall. Rupert and Makaria together are sufficiently strong enough to rip the chains out of the wall and upon her being freed, Jalissa somewhat attaches herself to Rupert. Thanking him profusely for her rescue, fawning all over him, completely enthralled by him. The party is highly amused by this (Makaria perhaps a touch annoyed) and they offer no assistance to the bewildered Paladin. They do, however, loot the crypts, discovering a magical amulet.
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Post by lordgersh on Aug 30, 2009 9:21:50 GMT -5
Session 4: 8/2/09
Jalissa begs Rupert to rescue “the boy” as well, and the party correctly assumes she means Thurann. She says she knows he’s nearby, she heard him shouting earlier from not far away. With that piece of information in hand, the party leaves the crypts. Presented with two doors, they pick the one heading west and head down a hallway to a dark room [ROOM 20].
Stepping out of the shadows is a huge hobgoblin in spiked plate armor and a fight ensues. The battle, though long is far from viscious, as most blows on both sides end up glancing off of armor and shield. As this hobgoblin begins to realize he is outmatched and will be killed by the adventurers, Sally steps forward and threatens him with a fate worse than death if he doesn’t surrender. To the shock of everyone (including your DM), he drops his spiked chain and holds up his hands.
An interrogation at swordpoint ensues.
The hobgoblin identifies himself as Sinruth, the chieftain of the Hobgoblin tribes, and claims responsibility for the attack on Brindol along with the kidnappings and theft of items. Sertinian, who has (for safety) been a ways back from the action, steps forward upon hearing the voice of a hobgoblin and immediately demands that this one be “put to the sword” and stripped of the gauntlets he wears, which are one of the relics stolen from the Great Hall. The party largely ignores Sertinian (except for the gauntlets, which they forcibly remove), and instead ask the hobgoblin who his allies are. He states that he’s allied with evil gnomes and other hobgoblins, but Kylar suspects he is holding something back. More prodding (with the sword) gets him to say that the undead of the castle are allied with him, but Kylar still believes that he’s holding back.
A different line of questioning gets Sinruth to confirm that all of the stolen artifacts are within the castle, with one of them, a “big helmet”, just down the hall.
The party still tries to intimidate additional information out of Sinruth, but after repeated failures, Rupert has heard enough, and runs the big hobgoblin through with his sword. Sertinian immediately approves of the execution of the hobgoblin, while Sally and Kylar object just as strongly to the killing an unarmed prisoner. Even Makaria is somewhat annoyed… she wanted to be the one to execute Sinruth.
Sally and Kylar aren’t above searching the body, however, which yields a map of the area and a letter from “The Emissary”. The letter instructs Sinruth to attack “The Blight That is Brindol”, and specifically to steal artifacts from the Great Hall, and kidnap people to placate the Wight that lives in Rivenroar. The Emissary states that such a bold stroke will likely convince others to rally under Sinruth’s banner, increasing the size of his armies substantially. The party mulls this over with a combination of curiosity (regarding the Emissary) and fear (regarding the Wight), but decide to push on.
Down the hall is a great tomb with a large sarcophagus in it [ROOM 21]. The dragoncrest helm is sitting on top of the sarcophagus, and after being very careful and prepared for battle with a Wight, the party opens the tomb to discover that… nothing is really inside except a Songblade and Hedge Wizard’s Gloves.
With no sign of the boy, the party retraces their steps and heads north out of Von Adrez Crypt [ROOM 15]. Faced with a choice of three paths, the party, decides to head toward the sound of trickling water, to the east [ROOM 17], where they immediately see Thurann tied up next to a fountain at the far end of the room. The party rushes to free him, Jalissa among them, with Aleiks, Sertinian and Andronsius back nearer to the entrance of the room. Thurann is physically ok, but is mentally and emotionally very stressed; he wants to see his father, whom he identifies as Kartenix. Sally breaks the news and tries to comfort him, but then Sertinian shouts that he has a problem.
The problem is a pair of zombies and a pair of ghouls who have wandered into the room. Andronsius and Sertinian are closest to the door, and Aleiks is the only close member of the party. The ghouls move fast, flanking Aleiks as the Zombies attack the civilians. Makaria and Rupert rush to save the three of them while Sally and Kylar’s spells attempt to rearrange the impromptu battlefield more in the favor of the party. Andronsius carefully withdraws from the Zombie attacking him, but Sertinian pulls out a knife from his robes and tries to fight back, despite Aleiks and Makaria pleading with him to disengage. Sertinian takes a heavy hit from the zombies, and nearly falls unconscious. Makaria heals him with her arcane magic and as Rupert and Aleiks focus on the ghouls, Sertinian finally backs off, letting the Zombies fall from sustained spell fire. The combat mops up quickly after that.
Heading due West brings the party to a room with a sun carved into the floor [ROOM 19], but paradoxically, this enchanted room snuffs out light; the party’s sunrods are reduced to so much dimness as well. Andronsius accidentally discovers that this sun also zaps those standing on it with necrotic energy. Heading north and down a flight of stairs (after Makaria touching up Andronsius’ wound) the party finds a puddle of water on the ground in a humid room [ROOM 18] and after a little experimentation, the party discovers that the puddle is a scrying pool, allowing them to view multiple areas of the Castle… most of which they’ve already seen. There are two places they haven’t seen, however, one room with two thrones, in one of which sits an unidentified humanoid and in the other a skeleton, and a shrine with pews and an obelisk.
With little else to do, the party heads back to the room with the sunburst, and out the hallway heading north and find themselves in a shrine with pews and an obelisk [ROOM 23 ROOM 22 SKIPPED]. Also in the room are two wererats and another gnome; this one a spellcaster. The fight is short; the wererats don’t put up much of a fight and the gnome turns invisible and flees. The important thing is that the Red Hand Shields, the Platinum Sword and the Battle Standard are all in the room.
At this point, the party has accomplished their mission, but decide to explore the last room in the dungeon [ROOM 24]. There, they find the thrones, and the aforementioned Wight. The civilians stay out of this fight completely, which is good, else one of them may have died. The Wight raises five skeletons our from piles of rubble and bone at the beginning of the fight as the large skeleton moves to engage the party. Over the course of the battle, more small skeletons rise from their graves every several seconds, and the larger skeleton succeeds in severely injuring Makaria and Rupert, and knocks Aleiks unconscious. When the big skeleton falls, the Wight raises him a moment later, though the party knocks him down again. Finally, under an onslaught of magic from all members of the party (Rupert inclusive) the Wight falls and everything in the room stays dead. A search of the room reveals a pile of gold, a battle staff and a set of Chainmail.
With Castle Rivenroar cleared, all artifacts and people recovered, the party journeys back to Brindol, and arriving in the dead of night. The party splits up to tie up loose ends, but decides to meet back at the tavern where all of this started. Kylar and Sally return the body of Kartenix and Thurann to his home (and mother) who is simultaneously relieved that Thurann is back, and devastated by the loss of Kartenix. Makaria accompanies Sertinian back to the Great Hall of Valor, where he puts the artifacts back in their proper place, the platinum sword handled with especially great care. Rupert walks Jalissa back to the Temple of Ioun. Aleiks accompanies Andronsius back to his home.
The next morning, the party goes to see Councilman Troyas and claim their reward. Before they’ve gotten there, Troyas has heard from Sertinian, and has heard about Kartenix and Thurann through the town guard. He previously knew about Zerriksa’s and Mirtala’s return, and is pleased when the party tells him that Jalissa and Andronsius are back safe as well. He pays the party a sum of 400 gold, half for returning the kidnapped people, and half “compliments of Sertinian and the Great Hall.”
Suddenly, a knock at the door interrupts the party’s conversation. A beautiful woman in scale armor and a sword at her side comes in to the Councilman’s office and dumps a leather bag on his desk. Inside of that bad is a holy symbol of Bane, and the woman says that “the cultists have been eliminated per your request.” Troyas introduces the woman as Megan Swiftblade, and states she leads a party of adventurers, not unlike the group in his office, and that he had hired her group, the Freeriders, to clear out a group of cultists. He tosses her a silk bag of gold, and she smiles, thanks him, and leaves.
With that, Troyas says the party is free to go as well, except for Aleiks, who has to return to his regular duties.
Level Up: 3
End of Chapter 1.
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Post by lordgersh on Aug 30, 2009 9:24:07 GMT -5
Chapter 2: The Seige of Bordrin's Watch
Session 5: 8/29/09
Rupert Giles, Makaria, Sally Morgan, and Kylar Sturn all return to the tavern where the adventure that led to Rivenroar castle began. As they arrive, they see a sign posted on the door stating that Overlook, the largest city in Elsir Vale, is under siege by a legion of orcs, and has thus issued a call to arms to all adventurers to help defend the city, and makes note of a large CASH REWARD available to all of those who help. After a few moments of debate, all four decide to head to Overlook to defend the city.
Before they leave Brindol, Sally and Makaria (being female) do a bit of shopping, Sally buying fine clothing, potions, and climbing gear, and Makaria purchasing a disguise kit and an owl, whom she names Hermes. With that, the group sets out for Overlook, Makaria leading the way along the Old Dwarf Road, as she is originally from Overlook, using the Traveler’s Chant ritual to speed them along. Sally mentions that she is from Overlook as well, but doesn’t remember it… referring vaguely to some amnesia she suffered at a Wizard academy three months ago.
The journey takes the better part of a week and is uneventful except for two things. First, Makaria slowly teaches Hermes to perch on her shoulder and to come when called, and second, the party runs in to a party of orcs who are grunting and cheering about some looting and pillaging they just committed in the countryside.
The four get the drop on the orcs, and dispatch them without any injury at all. They are concerned about running into orcs so soon; they figured they wouldn’t see any until they were closer to Overlook, and decide to press on with haste.
The next day, around midday, the party arrives at Overlook, a massive city of some 25,000. Outside the walls of the city, and along the Old Dwarf Road is a despicable slum that the locals call Shantytown. Not truly a part of the city of Overlook, it instead clings outside the city walls like a festering boil. The buildings in Shantytown are not really buildings at all; mostly just tents and lean-tos, with exactly one stone structure: a gray and black tower that rises up in the north central part of Shantytown. Sally mentions that the gray tower seems familiar to her and she wants to check it out, but Makaria is insistent that the party be on their way as fast as possible through Shantytown. Somewhat unhappily, Sally (and the rest of the party) continue to and through the main gates of Overlook.
Curiously, Overlook does not seem to be under siege at all. No armies of orcs are readily apparent, inside or outside the city.
Unbeknownst to the party, a stone-faced female Drow noticed them in Shantytown, and intrigued, began to follow them.
Wanting to find a place to (temporarily at least) call home, the party enters a respectable inn just inside the city gates that calls itself The Mountain’s Hearth. The party purchases two rooms at a cost of fifteen silver pieces per room, per night, and then they head to the common room where food is being served. Rupert, ever interested in having a good drink, asks around in the common room where a bar is, and receives directions to the Pig and Bucket, five blocks north.
Makaria, who has seemed nervous her entire time in Overlook, excuses herself to go up to the room she is sharing with Sally. As Sally and Makaria head for the stairs, they literally run into Megan Swiftblade, the leader of the Freeriders, whom they met in Brindol in the office of Councilman Troyas. Megan greets the party cordially, and mentions that the Freeriders are staying at the Mountain’s Hearth as well, and wondered if both parties would like to have dinner together in the evening. Sally and Makaria agree and Kylar and Rupert, within earshot of the conversation, approve as well. With that, Megan departs.
Makaria and Sally return from their errand upstairs looking substantially different. Sally has donned fine clothing, and Makaria, under the use of a disguise kit, has transformed her face to be a mash of scars, hiding her true features. The men take little notice, but Makaria’s caution is substantial. Her and Sally are now pretending they are aristocrat and bodyguard, a workable disguise, meant to conceal Makaria’s identity from those in Overlook who would be interested in who she really is… (dun dun duuuuuuun).
With that, the party heads for the Pig and Bucket, a hole in the wall establishment packed wall to wall with wizards, mercenaries, thieves, and lowlifes… a perfect place for adventurers to hang out. The party (and especially Rupert) head to the bar and order drinks, while also keeping a very watchful eye on their surroundings. Rupert strikes up a conversation and learns that there are dozens of adventuring groups in town, all interested in the Call to Arms that the rulers of Overlook have put out. Over the last day alone, the barkeep and owner <RETCON>(A PLEASANT MAN BY THE NAME OF KYLE RESTER)</RETCON> has served members of nearly every race in the world, from Goliaths to Gnomes, Dragonborn to Tieflings. He also mentions that the call to arms is at high noon two days from now… giving the party some spare time to explore the city of Overlook. Kyle also mentions that if the party needs any equipment for their adventuring, they should check out the Dungeoneer’s Survival Emporium, just down the street.
Rupert also inquires if Kyle has ever heard of a man named Rolan or Peter, both apparently Half-Elves that Rupert is looking for. Kyle does not remember so, but it has been a busy few days.
After a few hours at the Pig and Bucket, the party heads back to the Mountain’s Hearth, for dinner with the Freeriders. The table is set for nine… there are five Freeriders, and the four members of the party. Over the course of the meal, the adventurers swap stories, and share a good deal of information, both about themselves and the adventure at hand.
<RETCON> (I should have given you a little more information on the Freeriders than I did, so I’m fixing that now. None of this is especially plot-critical… for now……………) MEGAN SWIFTBLADE IS THE LEADER OF THE FREERIDERS. SHE’S OBVIOUSLY A FIGHTER, WEARING SCALE ARMOR AND HER SWORD AND SHIELD EVEN AT DINNER. DURING THE WAR OF THE RED HAND, MEGAN’S FAMILY WAS KILLED BY GOBLIN RAIDERS, WHICH EVENTUALLY SET HER ON THE PATH TO ADVENTURING. RAGNUM DOURSTONE IS A VERY STEREOTYPICAL DWARF. HE’S A CLERIC OF MORADIN, THE HEART OF THE FREERIDERS, AND A NATIVE OF OVERLOOK (AND HE DOESN’T KNOW MAKARIA OR SALLY). SYLEN LEAFRUNNER IS AN ELF RANGER FROM THE FOREST SOUTHWEST OF BRINDOL (and both Rupert and Kylar discern over the course of the evening that he and Megan are somewhat involved). HE’S FRIENDLY, FAST, AND HIS EYES ARE AS SHARP AS HIS TONGUE. GHENA TENSON IS A HUMAN WIZARD, AND PREVIOUSLY APPRENTICED TO A WIZARD WHO DEFENDED BRINDOL IN THE WAR OF THE RED HAND. SHE IS CONFIDENT ALMOST TO THE POINT OF ARROGANCE, BUT DOES POSSESS THE POWER TO BACK THAT CLAIM UP. MADRICK IS A GNOME ROGUE WHO RECENTLY (AND ACCIDENTALLY) LEFT THE FEYWILD AND IS HANGING OUT WITH THE FREERIDERS FOR LACK OF MUCH BETTER TO DO. HE HAS A PET RACCOON, WHO HE TREATS AS A SIXTH MEMBER OF THE PARTY, WHICH THE REST OF THE FREERIDERS TOLERATE WITH AMUSEMENT. </RETCON>
The Freeriders arrived in Overlook about three days ago, and like the party, discovered that the Call to Arms wasn’t for a few days, so they’re doing very much what the party is doing: exploring Overlook and doing various random things to keep busy. Some members of the party are somewhat surprised that the Freeriders, who couldn’t have left Brindol much before them, made it to Overlook so fast. The Freeriders respond that they took the Ferry down the Elsir River and then hiked through the wilderness to Overlook. The party had walked the whole way. Makaria defty dodges the question about why THEY didn’t take the ferry too, and while Kylar knows she’s holding something back, he lets it slide.
Over their time here, the Freeriders have learned that, yes, Overlook is NOT under siege. West of Overlook is the Stonehome Mountains, and on the other side of that is Orc Country. The main pass through the mountains is blocked by an old (but still operational) Dwarven fort called Bordrin’s Watch, and the Orcs have laid siege to the fort, not the city. If Bordrin’s Watch falls, however, the city will be hard-pressed to defend itself against that army, and certainly the civilians living outside the city walls, in small towns in the wilderness, not to mention Shantytown, would be completely wiped out.
After the dinner and discussion is over, all of the adventurer’s head to sleep in the Mountain’s Hearth Inn.
The next morning, the party sets out, with entire day to kill ahead of them. Kylar, having acquired a Staff of Storms from the Rivenroar keep, is interested in getting his current staff disenchanted, such that he has the residuum for rituals in the future. Inquiring with the Mountain’s Hearth staff points the party in the direction of Tradetown, a district within the second set of walls in Overlook. Inquiring around Tradetown gets the party pointed in the direction of a shop called Merty’s, and as soon as Kylar enters, he regrets it. The store is fabulously gaudy, decorated in bright pinks and greens and yellows with statues of adventurers and monsters made out of papier mache. The store has a variety of items at inflated prices, but it seems they literally have just about anything magical an adventurer could ever ask for (up to a level 10 magic item). The party doesn’t have the money to do fabulous shopping, so Kylar goes to the center of the store “where deals are made” to talk to the proprietor. There he meets Riley Swifttoe, a Halfling businessman who unabashedly stands on a crate to get to eye level (or higher) with his customers. A brief negotiation with the Halfling ends with Kylar handing over his staff, and being promised 60gp worth of residuum in an hour. The party heads across the street to a café for coffee and to wait and plan their next move.
Sally still wants to see the gray tower in Shantytown, but Rupert and Makaria (especially Makaria) note that it is getting close to lunchtime, and they might as well get some good food whilst they are in Tradetown. Placated for the moment, Sally lets it drop. Asking around at the Coffee Shop (Astralbucks), the party hears about two places of note to eat in Tradetown. One is The Salty Mug, a dive run by a Hobgoblin, where prostitutes, thugs, murderers, and adventurers like to hang out, and the other is Belden’s Rest, a quiet inn with reasonable food. Shockingly, the party decides to head for Belden’s Rest.
But first, Kylar heads across the street to collect his residuum. While he’s waiting, an overly-friendly Half-Elf woman who is also waiting on a disenchant introduces herself. Kylar is not really much of a conversationalist, but the Half-Elf does enough talking for both of them. She says her name is Jen, and that she’s waiting on a rod to be disenchanted. She says that she’s an adventurer associated with a group called the Farstriders. Around this point, the residuum is delivered and Kylar and Jen head out of Merty’s. Jen, noticing the additional adventurers outside waiting for Kylar cheerfully waves and then departs.
The party heads for Belden’s Rest, where a host of strange happenings occur.
First is that the innkeeper at the front desk, upon asking if the party needs lodging, mentions after noticing Makaria that Tieflings stay for free at Belden’s Rest. That results in a collective raised eyebrow among the party, and Kylar for a moment, tries to convince the rest of the group that it would be cheaper to stay at Belden’s Rest than the Mountain’s Hearth, but the party quickly abandons the idea and heads to the common room to eat.
Makaria, perhaps strategically, immediately orders a stiff drink. The party is waited on by Rory Teng, one of the two owners of Belden’s Rest, an elderly man who informs the party that the inn is famous for its pressed duck. (Rory mentions that his wife Ruth is the other owner.) The party orders duck all around. At this point, Sally keeps insisting that they should check out the Gray Tower, that she thinks it is a clue to her past, and Makaria continues to insist equally loudly that they must avoid it, but does not give detail, because, frankly she doesn’t have any concrete reason why. All that Makaria knows is that when growing up in Overlook she was expressly told to never go anywhere near that tower. Every time Sally mentions it, Makaria drinks more, and a rift begins to form between the two women of magic, who were previously quite friendly toward each other.
Overhearing the increasingly loud conversation, Rory Teng asks why the party has any interest whatsoever in the Gray Tower and the Necromancer, Rufus Crumley, who lives there. He then thinks better of it and leaves, not wanting to know the answer. For Makaria, things click into place: her parents would obviously not want her playing anywhere near a necromancer’s tower, and she has even less desire to go there. For Sally, things are much more muddy: why would she remember and so strongly desire to return to the tower of a necromancer? She has much more desire to go there now. The argument redoubles.
Then, to make matters worse for Makaria, Ruth Teng says that Makaria looks familiar to her… like a young Tiefling woman she once knew named Makaria. Makaria flatly says she’s from Brindol, and her name is Alex. Sally, annoyed at Makaria, but loyal enough not to give her away, asks how Rory and Ruth knew Makaria. Ruth says that they knew the family, especially Makaria’s father. Sally further twists the knife by saying that they had heard of a Makaria in Brindol, and wondered if by chance they happened to run into her, if Ruth and Rory would like them to deliver a message. Ruth, with a smile says that Makaria’s father is looking for her, and she should go home. Makaria orders another drink.
Things then get even more complicated when Sally, appealing to the more mercenary Makaria, offers to pay the Tiefling to accompany her to the Gray Tower. Makaria refuses, but the humorless Drow who has been following the party for quite some time steps from the shadows and says that she will accompany Sally for a price.
This of course, induces yet more chaos.
Makaria at this point is very drunk, and Rupert is concerned about her, voicing that she is not in any shape to go much of anywhere… and likely should return to the Mountain’s Hearth. Sally and the Drow, who identifies herself as Alora Nightwalker, agree to head to the Gray Tower in Shantytown together, and Kylar, who trusts the Drow just about as far as he can throw her, sternly says that he will accompany. With that settled, and lunch long since eaten, the party (of five) returns to the Mountain’s Hearth, and then the threesome of Kylar, Sally, and Alora (a rogue) head out for the Gray Redoubt of Rufus Crumley.
On the way, with Sally leading the way, Kylar decides to (gently) interrogate Alora. Who are you? Where are you from? Why are you here? And the like. While Alora has a quick and silver tongue, Kylar catches her in every lie she tells. No, she was not just “passing through” an inn. No, she HAS heard of the party before. No, she was not “in the right place at the right time.” Kylar accepts that she is an outcasted Drow, but also accepts that there are some very large questions surrounding why she was watching and waiting for the party to pass through. He does, however, believe that she means the party no harm at all, and for that cautiously accepts her for the moment. She is obviously skilled and Kylar notes that her ability to sneak about and the knives that she carries points toward a rather violent profession.
The threesome reaches the Gray Redoubt. While most of Shantytown is very densely packed with shabby buildings, there is a fifty foot radius of absolutely nothing around the gray tower. Walking along the perimeter, the three eventually find a way in, but it is blocked by a man. The man is dressed in the clothes of a servant or a butler, and after a moments inspection, Kylar realizes that this man, is in fact dead! The zombie, however, is making no move to attack, is just merely standing there, blocking the door.
Sally is the first to try talking to it. The zombie, in a horrible, grating voice, states that the master is not in right now, but if you leave a corpse at the door, a proper payment will be delivered by bat when the master returns, which implies the sort of business Rufus is into. The party is still shocked silent for a moment. For approximately thirty minutes they try to find some way inside the tower, but are unsuccessful due to magical wards, and a very strong zombie who has no interest in moving. Finally, Sally leaves a message with the zombie (it said it could take messages) saying her name was Alex, she was from Brindol, and she would like to talk to Rufus when he gets in. With that, the three leave, and return to the Mountain’s Hearth as night is falling.
When they return, they find that Makaria is still sleeping off her afternoon, and the remainder of the party (including Rupert) decides food is in order. Reggen, the stout Dwarf woman who owns the Mountain’s Hearth, gladly accommodates them. An hour or so later, Makaria joins.
Just as Makaria comes staggering down the stairs, a knock sounds at the door of the inn and before anyone can respond, five gruff humans dart into the room. One is dressed in wizard’s robes, and the remaining four are wearing a hodgepodge of leather armor and carrying heavy clubs. Reggen seems startled but unafraid. The mage, who seems to be leading the group coldly says to Reggen that she hasn’t made her protection payment, to which Reggen quickly responds that she won’t make any payment while she’s breathing. The quintet of humans don’t see a problem with this and begin to be more threatening, but are checked when Kylar and Sally rise from their chairs, magic brimming on their fingertips.
Reggen, taking a step back says that these dogs are called the Lost Ones, and that they’re a gang that think they’re more important than they are. Threats fly between Sally and the mage leading the Lost Ones, until one of the bandits goes to beat Reggen with a club. At this point, Kylar has seen enough and his first spell takes down two of them. Sally’s magic seals the door behind the leader, blocking his escape, and a knife thrown from the shadows by Alora takes down a third.
Reggen, politely but firmly tells the party to let them go… to run back to their masters crying, and to tell them that she’s never paying, and certainly not while her establishment caters to adventurers. They run. <RETCON>REGGEN, THANKFUL TOWARD THE PARTY, GIVES THEM FREE FOOD AND DRINKS THE REMAINDER OF THE EVENING</RETCON>, which passes without incident.
In the morning, Makaria is recovered, and the party runs into the Freeriders in the common room of the inn, and Megan Swiftblade asks the party if they should all head out to Caer Overlook together. Everyone is in agreement, and the ten set out.
Journeying down the Old Dwarf Road brings the party, at long last, to the district of High Hall, the seat of government for the city of Overlook and surrounding lands, and at the center of the district, the capitol itself, Caer Overlook. A steady stream of adventuring parties is flowing in. The two parties wait in a line at the entrance to the Great Hall. Blocking their entrance is a stodgy Dwarf who absentmindedly passes a form to Megan Swiftblade and asks for the name of their party, and says they need to fill out the form to register for the call to arms. While Megan and the Freeriders are somewhat nonplussed by this, the other party somewhat panics as they try to rapidly think of a name to call their group. The party decides (eventually) on the Brindol Raiders and are ushered into the Great Hall.
There are a few minutes of dead time before the meeting begins. There are around two or three dozen adventuring groups present in the chamber, including the Freeriders and the Brindol Raiders, and Jen, of the Farstriders, waves a greeting to Kylar, but before she can come over to say hi, five dwarves file into the room. Three are male dwarves with extensive beards, two of those quite elderly. The two women and remaining male dwarf are all much younger, and all five are clad in stately robes. Clapping his hands for silence, the youngest male begins to speak. He says his name is Elder Cadrik, and welcomes the assembled adventurers to Overlook. He tells the assembled crowed much of what the Raiders already know: Orcs are poised for an invasion against Elsir Vale, and the only thing that stands in their way is Bordrin’s Watch. Underneath the mountains, however, is a network of tunnels, and contrary to previous orcish incursions, the orcs have begun to attack from those caverns. Nearly all of the assembled adventurers will go with Durkik Forgeheart (one of the older men on the council) and some of the city militia to reinforce Bordrin’s Watch. The Farstriders are tasked with taking out the orcs in the tunnels. One adventuring group is needed to evacuate a monastery to Moradin located deep in the mountains, as the priests there do not know there is an oncoming attack.
Cadrick asks for volunteers. Sally and Kylar immediately volunteer the Brindol Raiders as Rupert and Makaria simultaneously wish they hadn’t. They are about to object when a grizzled human steps forward and begins arguing with Cadrick about how such a dangerous mission should go to a much more experienced group rather than a rabble of ill-trained scum. Cadrick silences this human with a gesture and adjourns the meeting. Megan and Sylen stop to wish the Raiders good luck and then they begin to file out with the rest of the adventuring parties, except for the Farstriders. The leader of the Farstriders appears to be the gruff man that argued with Cadrick during the meeting and as the adventuring parties are leaving, Cadrick seems to be in another argument with the same man. Cadrick catches Sally’s eye and waves the Raiders over. As they approach, they catch the tail end of the argument between the two, and when Cadrick introduces the party to this angry man (Edgar Sommerfield, leader of the Farstriders), he simply storms off. Jen smiles weakly at the party, and then follows her leader.
Cadrick apologizes for Sommerfield’s behavior, and tells the party that they will be paid a fee of 500 gp upon their return to Overlook with the priests and monks from the Monastery of the Sundered Chain. With that, the party collects their gear and departs.
<RETCON> SKILL CHALLENGE REMOVED FROM MENTION, BECAUSE IT ROYALLY SUCKED. </RETCON>
After a day or so of travel, the party reaches the Monastery.
Opening the outer gates reveals a small courtyard in front of the main building, with a large handful of orcs mindlessly eating food that looks suspiciously like arms and legs. The party attacks the orcs full force and routs them very quickly. The fact that orcs were so relaxed outside implies that orcs have already entered the monastery, and the party heads into the monastery with haste.
Opening the main door, the party spies a orcish spellcaster in the middle of a huge room of worship, splattered with the blood of dwarves everywhere. Kylar rushes into the room, eager to eliminate the orc tainting the temple when he is shot from above by orcs wielding massive crossbows standing on a balcony behind him. Rupert and Alora rush the orcs on the balcony, Alora rapidly decapitating one and Rupert attacking the other, pushing him off the balcony and impaling him with his sword on the ground. Makaria and Sally rush to the center of the room firing arcane spells at the orc witch doctor as five orcs flow up from a trapdoor underneath an altar to Moradin. Kylar is engaged in melee as an orc sergeant directs the shock troops and Kylar nearly pays for his eagerness to slay the witch doctor with his life (he does succeed in that endeavor). The melee fighters, Makaria, Alora, and Rupert finally make it to the front line of the conflict and together take down the orcs.
Little of interest is in the room, save for the gore of slaughtered dwarves and some money collected off of the orc corpses, so the party travels down the trapdoor into the monastery proper below.
There, the Raiders find a hall that appears to be living quarters for the monks living in the monastery, and they find more dead dwarves, many of them in nightclothes and robes, none of them armed. They also find another party of orcs who rush the party and are quickly cut down. Three of the orcs hang back, form a shield wall and press forward, and once the party is engaged with them in melee, they realize that these aren’t just orcs… they are much bigger, stronger, and smarter… they are hideous half-orc, half-ogre combination: Orogs.
Despite the powerful orogs beating Rupert within an inch of unconsciousness, all of the orcs are eventually cut down. Leaving the hall, the party finds themselves at a great stair that angles down into the cavernous depths of the mountain. On the steps, rushing up to meet the party, are more orcs and an orog commanding them, and a drake that attacks from above.
The party has the advantage on this fight, due to height and range: Sally and Kylar pummel the steps and the crossbow wielding orcs on it with powerful magic, knocking some of them off the steps to their deaths. Rupert and Makaria wait for what orcs survive the barrage to come up the steps to them, and from there, focused fire of spell and sword bring down the orcish invaders. The Raiders descend the steps to find the source that the orcs are streaming from.
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Post by lordgersh on Oct 8, 2009 6:25:07 GMT -5
Session 6: 8/29/09
Heading through the tunnel at the bottom of the stairs, the party suddenly finds themselves in a large dead-end cavern filled with forges. A huge fire is raging, taking up nearly a third of the room, and the rest of the room is made up of orcs and one massive Orog who is beating a dwarf, somehow still alive, but battered and bloody. The orcs and orog move to meet the party and a titanic battle ensues. One of the orcs is a cleric, who constantly heals the orog and the orcs and the battle is a bloody stalemate slowly turning against the party. The tide begins to turn when Sally and Kylar, noticing the kindling for the forges is scattered on the floor work together to ignite the flammables and magically move the orcs into the blaze. After a gruesome fight, the party is victorious.
Quickly, they tend to the dwarf, who slowly regains consciousness. He identifies himself as Kalad, a paladin of Moradin, the only survivor the Monastery of the Sundered Chain. He states that beyond the fire is a tunnel that the orcs came from, and that he collapsed the tunnel to prevent more orcs from coming. He has gathered that the orcs now completely infest the tunnels under the mountains and that it is likely that if the tunnels are not completely sealed that the orcs will overrun the countryside and destroy overlook. He pleads with the party to go to the vents and seal the Nexus of the tunnels there. With nearly no convincing, the party agrees.
As a token of thanks, Kalad gives the party the treasures of the Monastery: a Lightning Longsword, Irrefutable Robes, and an Amulet of Physical Resolve.
Kalad, Alora, Makaria, Sally, Rupert, and Kylar set out for the Vents, where Kalad says the Nexus is located.
Three uneventful days later, the party arrives. The Vents are a geological marvel: a collection of some 15 geysers that continuously spray steam into the air, cracked and pitted with caves and crevasses. Near one of the largest cracks is a smothered campfire with five horses standing around. The party quickly surmises that these are the mounts of the Farstriders, whom are already here to accomplish this exact goal of sealing the Nexus. Kalad is not willing to task the job to merely one group of adventurers and so the party proceeds.
Things do not go as planned. The six have to navigate a network of tunnels and caves to reach the dwarven work below. While Kalad is fairly athletic, and Alora is fairly nimble, Sally, Rupert, Kylar, and Makaria are, despite their prowess in combat, not well suited to navigating tunnels, climbing rock faces and rappelling down cliffs. Sally, however, has a spell that lets her and one other fly for a short period of time, and elects to have Rupert, with his heavy armor, share much of the transit. Kylar and Makaria end up taking some minor injuries as they descend down, but the party is little worse for wear.
As the party nears the exit of the tunnels and the entrance to the dwarven keep underground, the party hears rough discussion in orcish, and Alora volunteers to scout ahead. She reports four orcs are just up ahead, and appear to be arguing. They’re mostly armed with battle axes, but one has a black sphere in his hand. Sally surmises that it is an orb for spellcasting and the party charges. When the orc with the sphere throws it into the middle of the party, they realize just a moment too late that it isn’t a spell-caster’s orb, but in fact is a bombardier’s grenade. Oops. Boom.
Despite that, the fight is over rather rapidly as the four orcs are little match for the six adventurers.
Proceeding around the corner and down a short set of stairs, the party encounters some of the dwarven guardians of the Nexus. Unfortunately, the guardians are not dwarves themselves, but instead automated contructs: two iron dogs and a crossbow with legs. In addition, the party triggers a trap that causes miniature ballistae to pop out of the walls and fire on them. Alora quickly accesses the control panel for the trap and attempts to disable it. She is mostly successful: half the trap gets turned off, and then the control panel explodes, knocking her unconscious. The fight mops up, and the party, more battered than they’d like, soldier on.
As the party walks into the next room they find themselves on a large platform overlooking a sunken floor, along with another collection of orcs and fire beetles, and with two massive iron pipes flanking the room. The fight is fairly straightforward, except when a short cloaked man emerges from the shadows to stab at Kalad. Fairly quickly, the party recognizes him as a Dark One, and dispatches him. Sally, believing the pipes may flood the lower portion of the room, spends most of the fight attempting to open valves with her magic, and when she does, while the party hears rushing water, no flood ensues.
After the fight, the party makes two discoveries: First is that on the body of the Dark One is a large brass key. The key is nonmagical, and Makaria hangs on to it. Second is that the decapitated body of Jen, the half-elf warlock of the Farstriders.
The party, suspecting the Farstriders were ahead of them, don’t look upon the death of Jen in sadness, but more in warning. They do relieve Jen of equipment she doesn’t need (her cloak and a healing potion) and soldier on.
Level Up: 4
Through the doors at the end of the Boiler Room, the party comes to an intersection, left, right, and straight. The party heads right and finds themselves in a small shrine. Pews face an large Anvil (an altar to Moradin) at the back of the room, flanked by statues of dwarf warriors. A large tapestry hangs on the opposite side of the room, but most importantly, the Raiders see a squad of orcs in the room, and one massive cave troll who is finishing off his meal of the remaining Farstriders. The party attacks, and makes short work of the troll and his escort.
Examining the room more closely (and relieving the Farstriders of their remaining gear) leads to little results, but the tapestry yields important information, namely, how to seal the Nexus. To do so, they need to open the valves in the Boiler Room (already done, thanks to Sally), then ascend to the apex of the nexus and then seal it. The party, embolded, moves to do just that. (Room V5, Dwarf Quarters, Skipped)
Finally, the party arrives at the Nexus, a massive stone chamber with a slowly ascending balcony around the perimeter eventually leading to what they can just barely see as a control panel at the very top. Six tunnels at various points around the walkway lead out to destinations unknown. Eagerly, the party begins to climb.
As they climb, they begin to hear the steps of orcs running TOWARD them, and they soon see the same, but as those two orcs run down, they are joined by another two orcs and two orogs at an adjacent side tunnel, and a battle on the stairs begins. Where everything takes a turn for the worse is when Tusk, the Orog Cheiftain, his Shadar-Kai advisor, Myrissa, and yet another pair of orcs attacks the party from behind.
Kalad barely holds the rear, defending Alora, Kylar and Sally, all are running close to exhaustion. Makaria and Rupert slowly hack their way through the orcs in front of them, Makaria pausing to heal, and rousing Kalad from unconsciousness when he falls to Tusk’s blade. But orcs keep pouring into the chamber every handful of seconds, never stopping. Finally, even after Sally, Kylar, and Kalad work together to cut down Tusk and Myrissa, and Makaria and Rupert have beaten their way through the Orogs in front of them, more orcs keep coming, and a running battle ensues, Makaria leading the way, and Kalad continuing to defend the rear.
Eventually, Sally and Alora make their way to the apex of the Nexus, with Rupert, Makaria, Kalad, and Kylar holding the tide of orcs away from the two women working with the control panel. After three or four tries, Sally and Alora manage to move the levers in the right combination, and boiling water begins to flood the chamber, with the side tunnels automatically being sealed off with heavy steel doors. The party climbs up a ladder that is heading to the surface, and once everyone is safely there and the nexus is filled, Kalad closes and seals the hatch.
At which point pretty much everyone collapses in exhaustion. The party of merely six adventurers engaged and defeated an army of over fifty orcs and orogs in the Nexus.
After a short rest, the party appropriates the tied up horses for themselves and ride back to Overlook.
A day later, the party arrives and heads straight to the High Hall to inform Elder Cadrick about the events that have taken place. The Elder is surprised and pleased that the Nexus was sealed, horrified at Kalad’s description of the carnage at the Monastery of the Sundered Chain, and grateful to the party in general. He pays them double the agreed-upon sum, 1000 gp (of which Kalad takes none), proclaims them the Heroes of Overlook, saying that all will know who they are and what they accomplished. Makaria is somewhat unhappy about that last part, but according to Elder Cadrick, she is Alex, from Brindol.
News comes a few days later about fighting at Bordrin’s Watch. The fighting is heavy and fierce, but the fort holds, and the city is saved, and the party relaxes at the inn Belden’s Rest (because it’s cheaper). Alora leaves fairly quickly, saying she needs to report to her bosses, with only Makaria knowing what her real mission with the party was.
A few days later, Rory and Ruth Teng, the owners of Belden’s Rest, sit down and tell Makaria they need to speak with her.
They address her as Makaria, not Alex…
End of Session 6.
End of Chapter 2.
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Post by lordgersh on Oct 11, 2009 18:26:18 GMT -5
Interlude at Belden’s Rest: 09-09-09
<RETCON> KALAD HAS RETURNED TO THE DWARVES TO BE DEBRIEFED REGARDING THE INCIDENTS AT THE MONASTERY AND THE VENTS, BUT WHILE HE IS SETTLING DOWN, HE INVITES RUPERT TO STAY WITH HIM IN HIGH HALL, THE CENTRAL DISTRICT IN OVERLOOK, SO THEY CAN DO SOME TRAINING TOGETHER. AT THE MOMENT THE FOLLOWING EXCHANGE TAKES PLACE, SALLY IS OTHERWISE OCCUPIED, SO ONLY KYLAR IS PRIVY TO THE EVENTS BELOW… BESIDES MAKARIA, OF COURSE </RETCON>
Makaria reflexively bluffs and asks why the Tengs think she’s someone named Makaria. Briefly, they outline why: she said she was Alex (or Aleiks) from Brindol, and they knew that Tiefling Bard named Makaria helped the town of Brindol shortly after the hobgoblins attacked it, and then suddenly, when Overlook is being threatened by orcs, a Tiefling Bard named “Alex” suddenly appears. It isn’t too hard to connect the dots.
Makaria, defeated, admits her true name.
Ruth outlines that Makaria needs to rejoin the “family” and while she doesn’t really say why, she is rather adamant about it. She says that Makaria’s father has been looking for her and very much wants to see her, but is also no longer in town. When the rumors of an invasion of orcs reached Overlook, Melech moved to the mountains north of Overlook. Upon being pressed about rejoining the cult (yeah, it’s a cult), and being asked why she had left, Makaria lies to her father’s friends: she says that she will be rejoining the cult soon, and bringing her friends that are staying at the inn as new initiates.
Kylar at this point knows Makaria well enough to know she is lying, and Ruth Teng is suspicious of this claim, but the possibility of members of such power joining the Cult of Asmodeus is too great to pass up. Rory gives Makaria a ritual scroll of Pathfinding, which will direct her easily to the mountains where the cult is.
Makaria, in truth, has zero motivation to ever return to the cult, and only showed as much interest as her bluff needed. She is, however, pleased, even happy, at the news that the cult is no longer in town (the only remaining members are the Tengs). It seems that if she can merely avoid Belden’s Rest, she is somewhat safe from the cult for now… especially given the heavily armed party she’s been travelling with.
<RETCON?> MAKARIA DOES, HOWEVER, MAKE SURE TO TELL KYLAR THAT SHE HAS NO INTENTION OF TURNING THE PARTY OVER TO A CULT. </RETCON>
End of Interlude
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Post by lordgersh on Nov 8, 2009 19:22:22 GMT -5
Session 7: 10-17-09
Rupert returns to the party a day or so later, and that night, Ruth Teng comes to the party, who are relaxing the in the Belden’s Rest common room with a letter for the party, saying it has just recently arrived. The letter is from Reggen of the Mountain’s Hearth Inn, saying she needs to see them immediately and to please come as fast as possible. Despite the fact night is falling, the party grabs their gear and heads for the Blister.
As they head through the streets toward the Mountain’s Hearth, a man in fairly shabby clothes appears the party saying that he has a message for Sally. The party is somewhat surprised, but Sally steps forward, and the man viciously strikes her with a large battle axe. Thugs suddenly appear from the shadows on all sides and the party is surrounded.
Despite not being prepared, the party fights back with impressive skill. A random horse tied up on the side of the street lends assistance as Kylar and Sally focus on pushing the enemies to where the horse can kick them savagely. A mage allied with the thugs rains spells on the party as well, but his threat is really minimal and he even surrenders once the rest of the ambushers are driven off.
The party duly interrogates the surviving mage, who they recognize as being one of the Lost Ones that harassed Reggen a couple weeks ago in the Mountain’s Hearth. While revenge is quite a motivation for the Lost Ones to come after the party, more interrogation shows that the brutes were hired by someone (around 600 gp of gold and gems are found on the would-be assassins). The mage has two sheets of paper on him, one is a letter ordering a hit on the party, signed by a “Modra”. The letter says that the included payment is an advance, and that anything on the party that they find is theirs to keep, except a heavy brass key (a picture of which is drawn on the other sheet of paper) which Modra wants. The picture of the key matches the key that Makaria picked up in the Vents off of the Dark Creeper the party fought there.
Upon learning that the mage sent the letter to Belden’s Rest to lure the party into the ambush gets Rupert and Makaria annoyed enough to kill the hapless mage. That angers Kylar quite a bit, and worse, the party hardly seems to notice, having dismissed the human’s bitterness.
He suggests in a grumbling tone that maybe they should check on Reggen at the Mountain’s Hearth to make sure she’s ok, and also, she’s had experience with the Lost Ones before, so perhaps she can give the party some useful information.
Reggen indeed does give the party good information; she knows the name Modra. He’s a Dark Creeper, who apparently has some shady connections. She recommends that they try the Pig and Bucket, the bar just up the road from her, where the party spent some time upon their arrival in Overlook, so the next evening they all head in that direction.
Keeping an ear out (and chatting with Kyle, the bartender) nets a little information on current events: though the Orc threat to Overlook has ended, there’s word from the countryside that there are more problems out there, other forces looking for conflict. Rupert and Makaria divide their time between a few drinks and chatting with Kyle, who has a little more information to share on Modra, but it will cost the party. The cost in this case, is the purchase (bribe?) of a full bottle of Dragonfire Ale… something Kyle had been saving for “just such an occasion”.
The bottle is poured into two tumblers and Makaria and Rupert are told to head to a booth in the corner and wait for Kyle to come by. Smiles all around, they comply.
Shortly after they get to the booth, a black-scaled dragonborn comes by and says to Rupert to come talk to him… once Rupert is sober again.
Kyle comes by shortly thereafter. He says that a few months ago, Modra was seen here, meeting with a Shadar-Kai and talking about some kind of deal with weapons. The Shadar-Kai woman didn’t look much like a fighter, though. The last time Modra came by here was just before the Orc raid on Bordrin’s Watch, and Kyle’s also heard that he’s been on the run. Oh, and lastly, he says that Dark Ones, like Modra, tend to hang around with the Lost Ones, like the gang that attacked both Reggen and tried to Assassinate the party. Makaria asks where she could find some of the lost ones, and Kyle says that a few of them drink here, late in the night. He promises to point out some of them to Sally and Makaria once they show up.
A little time passes, and Rupert feels sober enough to wave the black dragonborn over. The dragonborn proclaims his name is Vincent, and is a representative of the church of Kord. With that, he asks Rupert to take a knee and bestows upon him the title of “Orc-Slayer” in honor of his role in the Siege at Bordrin’s Watch. He also says that the church of Kord has assigned him to observe the party and report on their prowess to the temple of Kord.
Despite the pleasant introduction, Vincent quickly earns the ire of the entire party, with the possible exception of Rupert. He is invasive, annoying, overbearing, and quicker with his sword than his brain, leading to the death of one of the Lost Ones that Sally was interrogating later. The party acquires little more information on Modra, until Kyle waves Kylar over at the bar. He points to an elven woman at the end of the bar saying that she’s asking questions about Modra… maybe he should chat with her.
Kylar does chat with her, and she tells him in very clipped tones to meet her at the Mountain’s Hearth inn in one hour. With that she leaves… quickly.
Kylar waits, not telling the rest of the party anything about that exchange, and when he begins to leave the Pig and Bucket alone, he is stopped by Rupert, wanting to know where he’s going. Kylar and Rupert get into a nasty argument; Kylar says that he does not believe anyone in the party is actually on the side of good, and he’s quite pissed off about the whole killing-in-cold-blood thing, while Rupert is more of the opinion that Kylar should get used to the way the world works and the party works or get out of the party.
Kylar storms off.
Sally and Makaria work quickly to try to smooth things over with the two men, and are partly successful, but Kylar insists he doesn’t want Rupert, Vincent, or Makaria anywhere near him while he’s talking to the elf woman, and will put a Silence Ritual up around the room they are talking to ensure that. He doesn’t trust the party to not burst in and murder her.
When the party reaches the Mountain’s Hearth, Reggen is pleased, saying she had directed the elf woman to them, and that she’s waiting in a back room. The elf, as Kylar and Sally find out, is named Reniss. Her half-sister was a half-elf named Jen… the Warlock who was a member of the Farstriders. She possessed a sending stone and with her last breath sent a single word to Reniss: “Modra”. Looking for revenge, Reniss came to Overlook from the woods to the southeast, and from doing her own research, she has a lead: an almshouse in Tradetown called the Happy Beggar.
The Happy Beggar is not exactly what the party was expecting. It’s not so much a tavern… more of a rundown house turned into a temple to Pelor. When the party arrives, they are welcomed warmly and offered tea… no alcohol served here. Rupert groans.
The party deftly dodges the two owners of the Happy Beggar, husband and wife retired paladins of Pelor named Prashant and Ausma, and not-so-covertly search the house top to bottom. In the cellar, in a storeroom, Kylar uncovers a secret door set into the back wall. He asks Sally to gather the rest of the party while he waits. Sally rounds up the party, but before they can rejoin Kylar, they are waved over by an elderly man sitting in the corner.
His name is Brenat, and he says he’s a former adventurer, a “sellsword”. He has a rambling conversation with the party interspersed with a hacking cough… he’s obviously sick. But he does know of Modra. He tells the party Modra is viscious, and to kill him before he kills you.
Somewhat nonplussed by that little encounter, the party of six (Kylar, Rupert, Makaria, Sally, Vincent and Reniss) reunite with Kylar (somewhat confused by the delay) and they descend to a hidden tunnel underneath the Happy Beggar.
They have a run in with a handful of Shadowhunter bats, but make very short work of them. At the end of the next tunnel, they find a small room littered with crates and boxes. In the center of the room is an archway and a cage, and more importantly, two shadow hounds, three dark creepers and a Shadar-Kai witch. The battle is violent and rapid, Sally and Kylar work together to trap a Dark Creeper and one of the hounds in the transporting cage. Finding themselves in a strong negotiating position, Makaria questions the creeper. He doesn’t know much: the stone archway is a portal that leads to a warehouse. He is supposed to deliver some of the goods here (including the two hounds) there, and from there, he has no idea… but he’s transporting weapons from point A to B, and he gives the impression that that’s only a small link in the chain.
This suspicion is reinforced when Sally finds a crate which contains a pair of battle-staves: a Staff of Ruin, and a Staff of Force (+2). A manifest on the crate states that the staves are destined for “Fangren and his Githzerai”. No one in the party has heard of Fangren, and Githzerai are one of the races that the party has not run into yet. Vincent executes the Dark Creeper prisoner, again, to the annoyance of all present.
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Post by lordgersh on Nov 29, 2009 18:20:11 GMT -5
Session 8: 10-24-09
Entering the next room, the party of six finds another stone archway, and a Dark Creeper is standing before it, muttering, ostensibly trying to get the portal open. Upon hearing the door open behind him, he vanishes, and six wraiths boil out of the darkness, intent on killing the party. Shortly after the battle is joined, the Dark Creeper, ostensibly Modra, yells out to the party that if they give him the brass key, he will call off the wraiths.
For the first time in days, the party agrees on something, giving Modra a universal “hell no”.
Midway through the fight, the portal suddenly opens in a blast of black mist, and suddenly, things are much different. The white walls are black, the room has been rotated 180 degrees, instead of the room being dark, it is dimly lit by gray glass globes, but more importantly the room is empty except for the archway… the wraiths and Modra are gone.
Disoriented, and with little else to do, the party takes a short rest and heads out the door, but instead of the storeroom before them, they see a narrow tunnel, and dim light streaming in from the entrance above. Climbing out of the tunnel, the party finds to their dismay that they are surrounded by gray-green grass, a dim sun, and sickly trees. They have been transported to the Shadowfell.
Level Up: 5
From their vista, they can see before them a volcanic mountain to the west, lava spewing out forming a firey river, a large, dark fortress to the east, on the other side of that river, and between the two a small town or large camp. In the center of the camp, a large stone bridge arches over the lava flow. Near the fortress a, short squat building of similarly dark stone stands above the river of lava. With little other choice, the party heads down the path and toward the camp.
At the base of the hill, the group is challenged by a pair of Dark Creeper sentries, who mistakenly assume that the party is a band of mercenaries from the town and they are angrily ordered back to Umbraforge Camp. Taking that as a cue, Makaria and Sally disguise themselves to look a little grittier. Kylar, fortunately as an Invoker does not hold a holy symbol of Bahamut, and Rupert and Vincent assume their symbols of Kord will not be wholly out of place.
As they head into Umbraforge Camp, the ground beneath them shakes: an earthquake. The volcanic activity in the region makes the ground somewhat unstable, and earthquakes seem to hit fairly often… hardly anyone even seems to notice the quake when it hits. They all just grab on to something stable, wait a few moments, and then continue about their business.
The group decides to find a tavern, or at least something like it, and to poke around for some information. They easily find an open-air bar underneath a large tent, order some drinks and have a look around. The establishment is filled with a collection of races, mostly dark ones like Shadar-Kai, Dark Creepers, even an occasional Drow. But many are gruff-looking Humans, Tieflings, Dragonborn, Dwarves, even the occasional Goliath.
Listening in on a nearby conversation between a pair of Shadar-Kai, the party discovers that there are even more creatures passing through these camps, including “archons from the Elemental Chaos” and “Githzerai from the Astral Sea” (both the Chaos and the Sea are other planes). Intrigued, Sally jumps into the conversation, but doesn’t learn much. When she mentions she’s looking for Modra, the Shadar-Kai get quiet and nervous, stating Modra will be long gone from this town and this plane. Sarshan is out to kill him. She’s directed to some of the Dark Ones if she wants to know more, since Modra is a Dark One and they have been sympathetic to him.
With that, the Shadar-Kai leave.
The party easily seeks out and finds a Dark One that is somewhat out of the way running a disreputable potion shop… the kind of potions that in a better locale would be labeled as poisons. He’s also not really in the mood to talk about anything that isn’t his potion shop, though he does mention the “beautiful” foundry, the “jewel” of Sarshan’s operations. The heroes ignore this, believing he is evading the direct question of “where is Modra?” When pressed and threatened and threatened some more, he says that there is no way Modra would be anywhere near Umbraforge if he valued his life. He points the group toward some of the Training Grounds saying to look for a Shadar-Kai woman named Leena. He then darts off before some angry black dragonborn can stab him. Not that we’re naming names (Vincent…)
The party heads through the muddy encampment, and suddenly finds themselves confronted by a quartet of large ogres who want the six heroes to prove that they’re “tough enough to fight with the Bonecrusher clan”. The fight is short and brutal. Makaria, Vincent and Rupert spread out and engage three of the ogres in melee as Reniss, Sally, and Kylar fight from range. One of the ogres dies within seconds, and upon seeing his comrade fall, the chieftain tells his men to back off, saying he’s pleased to fight alongside such fierce warriors.
The party is a touch confused, but before they can fully recover, a Shadar-Kai woman applauds their defeat of the ogres and summons the party to her tent.
She is, of course, Leena.
Leena sees through their “disguise” as mercenaries rather rapidly and dismisses the party’s futile attempts to convince her otherwise. She knows that they’ve been asking questions about Modra… and she knows where he is. She and Modra used to work together, but after he went behind Sarshan’s back… well, she believes he deserves what fate is coming to him. Leena is loyal to Sarshan, and knows that Modra is planning to attack Sarshan this evening as mercenaries move out of Umbraforge camp. He is currently in the Foundry, which he plans to overload and destroy Umbraforge tower with.
With night falling, the party heads to the front door of the foundry…
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