chapter 1: the Yuan-ti manipulations.......
prelude: leading up to current events !!!!!!
The pc´s learned that yuan-ti´s are infiltrating the proud City of Sundabar in the silver marches and rides towards it to warn them.
In the city thet contact a helmite priest, Ruthard who inforns them that sundabar is preparing for war and don´t have the resources to unravel this foul mystery. But he offers church-money if the characters will do it. Being the heroes they are they off course accept.
They start by seeking out a known informant. This gnome is special. He has an eye on a tentacle growing on his forehead and a mind flayer-arm instead of his own. His familiar is a skinless transparent ape and has psoudopods growing on its back. He tells them a certain young woman took offense to yuan-ti parts being sold in his shop(he is a seller of bodyparts and custom made clocks)
They get her name and the two cloistered clerics, Talon and Wythmord, actually know something about her(bardic knowledge rolls) They know her as Tiirana Mirrorshield, daughter of Mendar Mirrorshield a powerful merchant in Sundabar and learn she is betrothed to Baragon Extaminos a noble from the southern city of Hlondeth.
They rest at an inn and plan ahead.
The next day one of the dwarves, Tealgar the gold dwarf paladin, seeks employment as a guard in house mirrorshield and is hired on.Later the second dwarf, Runegar the wizard, also seeks employment thinking house Mirrorshield could use a house wizards. It just happens that Tiirana Mirrorshield ia an appentice wizard and he is hired on as mentor for 2 hours every second day starting that very same day. He toturs her and doesn´t find anything strange but at the end manages to gleam a note lying in her bedroom: "The shipment has arrived at the false warehouse inforrm B"
Meanwhile Talon and Wythmord have sought out Baragon Extaminos but was sent off by his guards. They know very little of this Baragon Extaminos(poor bardic knowledge rolls)
That night the kobold Talon( dragon wrought) hides outside house mirrorshield and sees Tiirana pass a scroll to a courier. He follows the courier to a house of a guildmember of the guild of waterworkers, strange he thinks...
The next day Tealgar, now guarding Mendar mirrorshield, overhears the strict merchant-lord saying something about a Mirrorshield warehouse on windsong street he doesn´t know about. Mendar also says that he will look into it when he comes back from a business trip. He then leaves town.
The group then conclude that this warehouse must be that in the note in Tiirana mirroshields room and there is something wrong when the stern and strict Mendar mirrorshield doesn´t know about it.
Before going up there they seek out Ruthard the Helmite priest who say they must delve deeper themselves but his church will behind them if foul play is at work.
At night they venture to windsong street and finds a secluded walled warehouse belonging to house Mirrorshield and a couble of dwarven guards. Not sure whether the guards are badguys or not Runegar, the dwarf wizard,casts a sleep spell and the guards fail their save and fall a sleep. The party drag the guards with them and opens the gate . Behind the wall they are surprised to find foul scaled horrors lurking, they recognize them(again the knowleable clerics) as Broodguards, once humanoids now turned to evil scaled nearly mindless beasts. A fierce battle follow but the Broodguards are to weak to put up much of a fight, but the battle has awakened something from within the warehouse and the party hear a terrible hissing sound. They open the door and are met by more broodguards and their leader; a green-scaled humanoid with the head of a cobra(a half-blooded Yuan-ti). The yuan-ti leader draws a scimitar and envelops his mouth with acid and bellows that this city will fall to scaled supremacy and all apes(non-scaled creatures) will be bestroyed in the fury of the chosen ones. Then the fighting begins and spells and steel is exchanged. The broodguards are quickly dispatched. The Yuan-ti leader, Razz-Kar, proves difficult and the dwarven paladin Tealgar is hit by a mighty swipe of a scimitar and is dropped below 0 and is rendered unconcious. The cleric Wythmord fears greatly for his dwarven friend and spends several rounds casting healing spells to stave of the certain death of his friend. As the melee intensifies the wizard Runegar attacks yhe Yuan-ti again and again with fire( reserve feat: Fiery Burst) and when Tealgar gets back up again he manages to kill the evil creature with a great swipe of his dwarven waraxe. They then found a note on Razz-Karr from "mother" telling the Yuan-ti to seek out the Temple of Scaled Honour after Sundabar.
After the battle they interrogate one of the sleeping guards and learn that Tiirana mirrorshield has rented the warehouse in her fathers name ,probaly using his signet-ring, and without him knowing. In the warehouse they find thousends of vials with a poisen that will turn a humanoid into a scaled creature under the control of the yuan-ti. They also learn that a yuan-ti disguised as a guildmember(probaly the same that received the message from Tiirana) comes every night to collect a few of the vials. It seems the Yuan-ti are plotting to poisen hundres of innocents in Sundabar, but how????
They prepare an ambush for the disguised guildmenber (Barazz is his name as in B in the message seen in Tiiranas room) but when he arrives they are clueless to the password phrases( and don´t speak the correct language) and he tries to escape by conjuring darkness to sneak away in. It fails and he is beaten unconsious by Runegar the dwarven wizard. He wears the badge of a guildmember of the guild of waterworkers and the group correctly assume he is the receiver of Tiirana´s message.
Tealgar then decide to seek out their employer, the priest of Helm Ruthard, thinking that he can wrest more info from their captive. He then slings the captive on his shoulder and marches through the streets. Bad choise, Sundabar is heavily guarded and the group is arrested for beating down a known guildmenber (it didn´t help that when accused Runegar threatens the city-guards and verbally assults the sergeant) Only the kobold Talon( dragon hehe) slips away in the shadows thinking one of them must warn the helmite priest.
They are jailed and while in the slammer the cityguards, not wanting to antagonize the powerful guild, throws a cure light potion in the "guildmember" and sends him off. The priest of helm is terrified when Talon brings him the news of the party´s discovery. The guild of waterworkers are responsible for getting fresh water to the citizens and it is kept in smaller reservoirs below the city and the yuan-ti had enough poisen to at least poisen 1 or 2 of the smaller reservoirs potentionally turning thousends of innocent into foul scaled creatures, creating utter chaos. He sends him off with a note to the guard to release the party.
Once released the party is severely angry with the guard sergeant and they find nothing in his abandoned guildmenber house. They head back to catch some sleep.
The next day Tealgar guards the Mirrorshield manor gate, Runegar, the dark mysterious wizard, joins Tiirana in the Mirrorshield manor to school her in the way of magic. But appearently the false guildmenber has tipped her off and she know Runegar is one of those trying to stop her beloved friends and their grand plan for Sundabar. She assults Runegar with spells, revealing she is more adept than people think. The surprised dwarf only manages to scream for help through the window, but alas Tealgar can´t hear him( bad perception/listen roll), then he is knocked out..
Tealgar sees Tiirana leaving the manor before time in her carriage. With her was a Dwarf-sized trunk(hehe). He later asks about "The wizard" and is told he teleported away to impress Tiirana. He then knows something is wrong because Runegar is not capable of casting that spell( lvl. 5 at this time)
The above took roughly 9 hours of playing time, or 3 days and leads up to the weekly reports
(20/5-08 New session)DR: 10 Elient 1372:The battle of many misses and the rescue of Runegar
At this session Andre´/Talon was writing his bachelor and was not present.
Runegar found himself at 0 hp in the Tower of Baragon Extaminos (a cure light wounds) bound and gagged. A hissing voice told him a great snake(hee also hears hissing) would attack him if he moved an inch and he was awakened to experience the terror of knowing he was to be sacrificed at midnight, in the name of Sseth. Outside Tealgar and Wythmord scouted the tower and saw Tiiranas carriage and decided to fake their way inside. Tealger donned the tabard identifying him as a guard of house Mirrorshield and said they had an important message for Lady Mirrorshield( the bluff succeded due to the -.4 circumstance-bonus the guards had on the sense motive check because the dwarf wore a tabard from house Mirrorshield where he worked to infiltrate them) They waited for ten minutes( a long time they thought) and were shown to a small throneroom. On a throne of intertwined iron snakes a young blond man sat, Baragon Extaminos. Behond him stood Tiirana, a small smile on her lips(they had succesfully fooled the guards but when hearing the description of the group the foul pair realized it immediately) They stood before them and small-talked for a while unsure of what to say. Then Wythmord, the brash and straight-forward cleric of Lathander, exploded in accusations and demanded their surrender. Baragon threw aside his disguise and revealed slittet pupils and a forked tongue .A fight erupted and the party was lucky that Tiirana had Exhausted most of her offensive spells for the two of them couldn´t hit anything that day( bad bad bad rolls) but in the end Tealgar slew Tiirana and finished of her foul snake af a Fiance` Baragon Extaminos. The battle had attacted attention( a guard kicked in the door from outside) and cityguards and prists of the temple of Helm arrived. They were led by Ruathard, their sponsor, who eventually told them that the city lord had heard of it and were grateful for their actions to save the city from yuan-ti infections. They rescued Runegar from the cellar, looted the tower(a granted privelidge)and walked with Ruathard to Helms church where he called them true heroes of the North and it was heroes like them that helped create Sundabar in bygone days. They were rewarded with a larger amount og gold and given limited access to the church treasury(could buy lesser items) They also swore an oath not to reveal anything to the general populace because it would cause much uprest and perhaps chaos if they were to learn how easily the Yuan-ti had infiltrated their safe society, especially when Sundabar is preparing for war( the Nesme liberation-war).
this session took 3 hours and the party is lvl 5. Next time: Clues to a gem....
Talon is level 5 cloistered cleric, and Dragonwrought kobold
Wythmord is level 3 cloistered cleric/ level 2 church inquisitor, and human
Tealgar is level 5 paladin, and gold dwarf
Runegar is level 5 wizard, and shield dwarf
New session(27/5-08):DR 13 Elient 1372:Clues to a Gem
Studying the loot they took from Baragon Extaminos tower they discovered a note which said that he should seek to The Gem( probaly Silverymoon which is called the Gem of the North) when Sundabar has fallen. Again signed "mother". Full of high hopes they left Sundabar to travel through the Nether Mountains to reach Silverymoon. Once they sighted the mountains they crossed paths with a caravan bound for Sundabar and a guard yelled: Watch out for the Tuskers(orcs) Tealgar and Runegar, the two dwarves, knew that when orcs have been attacking caravans this early in the season it is going to be a long hard winter fighting the orc tribes of the mountains. They gripped their weapons even harder and continued further into the mountains.
The fury of the Tuskers
At night, on the 3rd day, the Dwarf paladin Tealgar was standing guard as his friends slept. Then his keen dwarven senses heard the sound of footsteps in the snow some 80 yards away on some cliffs. He woke the party and Talon heard it as well. Then out of the night charged 17 orcs, led by a giant scarred orc wielding a heavy flail. The orcs bellowed their hatred for the dwarves and threw themselves off the cliff!!! to get down to the party. The mountains echoed with feral screams as the orcish warparty descended on the party!! Recognizing the strenght of the melee-oriented orcs Runegar cast a spell and changed shape to that of an avarial-elf(winged elf) and fled to the relative safety of the air. Talon chanted and his muscles vibrated with yellow power now knowing that his spear would inflict greater damage on foes larger than himself( Fell the greatest foe-spell). Then the orcs closed on the group quickly and surrounded Tealgar and the energetic Wythmord trading blows as they came closer. The leader of the orc went around the fray not able to get at his ancestral foes, the battlepreacher Tealgar and the wizard Runegar ,both dwarves. The first rounds was in the orcs favor and they scored several hits and crits on the party while Wythmord unsuccesfully tried to alter the tide of battle with his spells. The orc leader taunted Tealgar and attacked Talon seriously damaging the frail kobold(dragon), 2 orcs went for the flying Runegar attacking him with javelins, both scoring taxing hits on the beleaguared dwarf wizard. Then things changed; Wythmord chanted a prayer that aided his friends, the orc leader turned away from Talon, not afraid of a kobold(dragon sure sure), Talon silently thanked the stupid creature by casting hold person on him ,and the orc-leader froze rage in his eyes. Then Tealgar stomped his feet and sang a famous Queen song: another orc bites the dust!!! chopping the arm of an orc killing the tusker instantly. Then the battle changed, wythmord began crushing his foes with mighty swipes of his heavy mace, Runegar first shielded himself with arcane armor(mage armor) then blasted his foes with a well placed fire-spell. Talon attacked the HELD orc leader and plunged his spear into its back and out of its chest killing the greenskin almost instantly(coup de grace). The orcs fought on but 3 round later the last fleeing orc was taken out by the dwarf wizards spell, the Lawbringers prevailed and traveled further into the Nether mountains...
Two-headed trouble
Traveling on the fifth day through a rocky terrain Wythmord sharp insticts saw a massive figure hiding behind a large rock. It spotted them as well and lumbered closer to attack the party. It had almost orcish features but two heads and was covered in stinking furs and wielded two small trees as clubs. The beast closed and attacked Runegar, hitting him and causing serious damage. Wythmord prayed to his god and they were rewarded with a shining light washing over them all. It helped them in combat while hindering the beast(prayer) Talon had heard of these beasts before(knowledge nature) and told the group that it was an evil creature called an Ettin. Tealgar attacked with a smiting attack severe injuring the foul beast. Runegar threw spells at it and brave Talon, seeing Tealgar standing alone with the beast, closed to melee. The battle ended when Runegar,a dwarf fighter1/wizard4, drew a dwarven waraxe and charged the monstrosity(narrowly avoiding an attack of opportunity ). The mighty weapon entered its massive chest with a shower of gore and it lay still, dead. Again the minions of evil was crushed by the Lawbringers. They again traveled deeper into the dangerous montains determined to reach Silverymoon.
this session took 3 hours and the party is still level 5 Next time: Silverymoon and snakes afar....
(New session3/6-08):19 Elient 1372 : Silverymoon and snakes afar
The righteous party ventured further and further into the Nether Mountains. The climate changed and it became freezing in a matter of a few hours. The group donned the cold-weather outfits they took from the orcs that foolishly attacked the group in the mountains. Later the weather took a turn for the worse and a great snowstorm began brewing, but before it worsened they saw a great stone building surrounded by a strong wall. The building bore the banner of the Silver Marches and when they approached they were welcomed to stay at Hawk´s nest, a caravan-stop protected by the the army of the silver marches. They ventured inside and talked Hawklym Rhamos, a knight in silver, and were given permision to stay at the inn at Hawk´s nest, the Cockatrice, where they stayed for a few days buying supplies and relaxing....
the wolf
They continued for a few days battling heavy snow and bad weather. Then on day 9 at six ó clock in the morning, the cloistered cleric Wythmord stood watch.He was waiting for the first rays of blessed sunlight( his god in Lathander is the god of dawn) but then he heard steps in the snow. Suddenly he saw a pack of wolves led by three black dire wolves creeeping closer, They howled and attacked, fighting their way through the heavy snow to get at the party. They were fast and closed on the just-awakened Runegar who were bitten several times by a dire wolf and commen wolves , spilling his blood in the snow. Other pack-wolves attacked the horses eager to dine on varm flesh. The battle was furious, Tealgar missed the wolf chewing up poor Runegar, and Runegar himself unleased volley after volley of magic missiles at the beast. Talon created an axe out of pure ice to combat an approaching Dire wolf while Wythmord chanted and gave the group the helping power of his potent god( bless and prayer spells) Hmm things started to look grim; Runegar was almost down, Talon was in distress, fighting a foul beast-wolf and Tealgar was missing most attacks. But help came from unexpected friends: Their warhorses!!!! they bit and kicked at the attacking wolves, killing the one that was battling Runegar and Tealgar as well as several other wolves, turning the tide of battle, Then Tealgar started killing of the wolves while Runegar caused 2 to fall a sleep, the two surviving wolves fled into the night, again the group was victorious and they continued after a rest. Two days later they left behind the dangerous Nether Mountains and Silverymoon was close..
silverymoon
They came to mighty Silverymoon on the 12th day and entered it by the The Sundabar gate. They were awe-struck by its beauty, the temperature was cool but comfortable, the sounds were muffled and never too loud, there were an equal amount of trees and buildings in the city, in fact several neighbourhoods were built high in the canopies of stout oak trees. The architecture was filled with curves and grand stone carvings vaguely resembling the majestic cities of the south, and great balconies were presents on every major building. The diversity of races were great, halflings, gnomes(talon doesn`t trust them and so he says everytime he sees one), Elves, Half-elves, Humans, dwarves and several other less seen races. The city had a warm feeling to it, and felt right with all the different cultures mixed into one city. On their travels they had heard of the magical shops present in Silverymoon and spent the rest of the day buying lesser items and spells, exept Tealgar who found a dwarven-run inn and entered quite a few drinking contests, at the same time....
this session took 3 hours. The party gained a level and the party is level 6 Next time: Snakes afar....
Talon is level 6 cloistered cleric, and Dragonwrought kobold
Wythmord is level 3 cloistered cleric/ level 3 church inquisitor, and human
Tealgar is level 6 paladin, and gold dwarf
Runegar is level 4 wizard/ 1fighter/1 runesmith, and shield dwarf
(New session 10/6-08) 1 marpenoth 1372:snakes afar
When the group finished buying stuff in Sulverymoon they went to the temple fortress of the god Helm; The House invicible to deliver a note from the helm piest Ruathard in sundabar. They were admitted to the courtyard of the temple where a giant ageing red-haired cleric,warmaster Pheldon, was drilling 60 aspirant-soldiers for the forthcoming Nesme´-campaign. They deliver the note to Pheldon and short the note said that Yuan-ti had infiltrated Sundabar and were planning to do the same in Silverymoon. The warmaster then said that a plot had been twarted by knights in silver and spellguard-mages some 14 days ago. He then told them that the leader of the spellguard, Taern Hornblade, had wrested information from a yuan-ti before its execution and had learned that they were sent to infiltrate Silverymoon by the Temple Of Scaled Honour. The very same temple that had orchistrated the incidents in Sundabar. Warmaster Pheldon mentioned that the city of Silverymoon will reward a group of adventurers with 20000 gold if they succeed in destroying the Temple of Scaled honour. They thank the warmaster and walk to the guild of adventurers to sign up for the job.
They pay the scribe at the guild of adventurers 20 gp to join the guild and are given a map leading to the Lady´s Hand monestary. The only thing they are told is that the temple of scaled honour is located close to the monestary and they should seek help in the monestary to learn the correct whereabouts of the Temple of the foul Yuan-ti. They leave the city and travel southwards towards Everlund, the monestary is located on the way. They are given a guide, a young polite man called Bharron, which leads the way.
the Lady´s hand monestary
5 uneventful days later they reach a mining camp. They see a lot of people working a quarry and chiseling stone. Bharron, their giude, has told them that the monestary has recently been at war with a clan of blue dragons, the moroume, but they were victorious and pushed the dragons and their hobgoblin servants from the area, and the small army of workers are repairing the monestary for the approaching winter months. They are also told that the monestary is a temple of the goddess of pain, Loviatar. The see the monestary from a distance; a tall crooked black tower streching high in the sky like a black withered finger, the only way to the gate is a sturdy robe-bridge across a deep chasm. They venture closer crossing the rope-bridge and stand before the foul tower.
Close up they see wicked spikes on the rough black walls, hundreds of them and each of them impaling a rotting hobgobling head. The gate is made of bone and over the gate sits the polished skull of a blue dragon glaring down at them with empty sockets. After a short dicussion with the guards(they refuse the group entry and the party suspects them(knowledge local: the north) from being from Luskan, a city famed for it´s hatred of anything not human) they are met by a black-haired female monk(with visible lash-marks and a deep bruise on her head) who scolds the guards. She is named Katarinna and leads them inside the black tower.
Inside they see more guards and the only lightsource is small candles . They hear crying and the sound of lashing whips from arond them as they walk up a spiral staircase on the inside of the tower. But that is not the only thing they hear; As they pass filthy cell doors on their way up they hear terrible whispering prayers "bless my body with pain"", "Loviatar, receive my offering in pain" "the pain liberates and sets you free", the foul muttering are followed by the cracking of whips and gisps of pleasure. At last they stand before a great door Katarinna slips inside and a half hour later she reappears. She tells them that whipmistress Lorthalae has agreed to see them the day after if they accept her hospitality, it is late and the group is tired so they accept(Tealgar is the only one speaking against it)...They are lead to the tower entrance where a heavy stone-slab is lifted free from the floor and they follow Katarinna down under the tower.
Below they pass half naked male guards wearing leather masks as they walk along winding corridors filled with cells and from the ceiling they see chains carrying dessicated hobgoblin corpses. Katarinna tells them that the corpses are the remains of their enemies and the rest of the prisoners are condemmed hoblins awaiting the legal(looking at Wythmord the priest of Lathander) death sentence. As they pass cells they hear shouts of anger and whimpering crying voices(they don´t understand the goblin tongue so the meaning is lost to them) but finally they are given a cell and for their own "safety" the door is locked. They rest,but they are awakened several times during the night as they hear cries for help, the cracking of whips and screams of victims. They console their noble hearts with the fact that the screams are from condemmed prisoners being dragged away and not the innocent.
whipmistress Lorthalae
Next day Katarinna wakes them and the see blood staines outside their door. They gather their gear and is taken through the tower again( agaín hearing the foul prayers and realizing that the tower has no windows and it is as black as at night). They are taken to a room filled with torture equipment and on a raised stone cirkel in the floor stands whipmistress Lorthalae; She is wearing a leather butcers-apron filled with scalpels and neddles(some are still bloody) her upper body is naked but her left breast has been crudely cut off and the right one has been pierced at least 50 times. Her head is bald and the top of her head has been cut open and the skin drawn down to her ears and hammered to her head with rusty nails. She is missing her lips and her teeth are filed shard and her body tremples in joy as 2 men are whipping her across her back with bloody whips. She greets them and tells them the only reason mankind is blessed with a body is because it can transfer pain to the soul. The group thinks her mad but talks to her. At first she is aggresive and wants them to stop acting stupid as they are lying to herbut all of a sudden she becomes very polite, almost friendly( another streak of madness the group thinks) She claims that she doesn´t know of a nearby temple, but if the group accepts her hospitality for one more night her spy network and senior priests will try to learn the location of the temple. Reluctantly the group agrees.
At night they again hear strange sounds, a key in the door, steel banging against stone, and wytmord discovers Tealgar caught in a terrible nightmare actualle sweating blood(nightmare spell and 7 damage hehe) wythmord was also assulted but his mental power was too strong( good will save) Wythmord doesn´t want to take any chance with his friends around and turns undead in the room seeing if it has any effect, it doesn´t
They are awakened again by Katarinna who smiles strangely at Tealgar and asks if they sleept allright last night( At this point the group ,of course, suspects the clergy of the tower of being responsible for their nightly troubles.
They again stand before the hidious Larthalae, Whipmistress of Loviatar who wants to know if her hospitality was satisfactory, the two dwarves allmost explodes but manages to quell their anger and demands answers about the temple of scaled honour. The evil pristess smiles and says they they have learned of the location of the temple of Scaled Honour but since she has used HER clerics and they had been granted HER hospitality they must do a thing for her to earn the information. This time the group as a whole starts arguing with her, claiming she attacked wythmord and Tealgar with foul spells in the night and that their stay in the monestary has been filled with bad experiences. She denied the charges and finally the group accepted her terms;destroy a hobgoblin war-camp!!! it appearsthat a group of hobgoblins is moving closer and one of her auguments is that they would have to destroy the beasts to save the lives of the innocent workers, whose camp is closer to the greenskins. The Party accept her terms and sets forth.
a clash of titans
They leave the tower of the foul goddess Loviatar and set forth towards the hobgoblin war-camp, but when they pass the worker tent-town they are met by their guide Bharron who says that he has sent severel messages to the party, but appearently the clergy haven´t passed them on. He also says that several workers have been found killed by black arrows(in the direction of the hobgoblin war-camp) and appearently Bharron has done some investigation himself!!! He has asked around the camp about the Temple of Scaled Honour and a dwarven foreman, Furin, knows something about it. They go down to the camp to talk to Furin.
They find the gruff dwarf at the quarry and he tells them that one of his kinsmen, living in an underdark city called Delvers Town, has told him rumours of snake worshippers near the town and of a jungle growing in the lightless caverns of the Underdark where such a thing shouldn´t grow. They thank him and sets forth towards the hobgoblin camp using a map given to them by whipmistress Lorthalae.
The dragon-wrought kobold Talon has been granted the gift of stealth by his god Kurtulmak( kobold domain: move silently+hide as class skills, now converted to the new STEALTH-skill) and acts as scout moving 60 ft ahead of the noisy dwarves. 6 hours later the perceptive kobold spots a goblin-sentry hiding behind a rock. Sneaking back to the group he consults with the group and snaek towards the goblin determined to slay it, silently... He casts invisibility on himself(+ 10 to stealth skill as well as 50% miss) and sneaks undetected close to the goblin. He attacks it with his spear and hits, but the brave kobold does only 1 in damage, the next round he wins initiative and determined to kill it before it blows a horn around its neck, he attacks it again, and again doing only 1 damage. The goblin graps its horn and provokes attack of opportunity, Talon attacks it and........ hits it with a critical hit spearing through its neck and ending the goblins miserable life.. He is congratulated by the party on his amazing kill and they trek onwards.
They come to some cliffs where they look upon a small valley and in the valley they see a asortment of tents. One small tent is guarded by goblins the next one is made of hides and is guarded by large bugbears. A third is guarded by hobgoblins and in the center of the camp stand a large royal blue tent flying a banner depicting 2 dragons. Several large campfires burn and they estimate at least 40 goblinoids are present at the camp. They start planning their assult...
This session took 3 hours and they are still level 6 Next time: Battle and jungle in the depths
(New session 16/6-08) 4 marpenoth 1372: battle
The party of heroes was overlooking the hobgoblin war-camp and they saw only a single trail leading up to them and decided that it was there the battle was going to be won or lost. Talon the dragonwrought kobold crept closer while the group cast buff spells .But a goblin sentry saw something( a natural 20) and advanced not sure what it saw. When it got closer Runegar whispered arcane syllables and a group of goblins fell a sleep, Talon fired his crossbow at a goblin but to no avail, the goblin shouted in its strange language and the message was clear: Alarm!!! the camp came alive with shouts and movement from the 4 tents. The group advanced wanting to get to the trail and stop the goblinoids there well knowing it will be on that path the fate of the battle will be decided
spotted
Soon the camp was moving, from the skin tent burst 8 hulking bugbears roaring challenges at the group, from a smaller tent sprang 15 goblins and behind them a goblin shaman and an armor clad goblin hero wielding a handaxe. From the military tent 9 hoblingoblins advanced orderly brandishing gleaming weapons and strong armors. The Lawbringers took a stand on the elevated trail with Tealgar, the dwarven paladin, at the forefront shouting:I AM TEALGAR !!! at the goblinoids. Meanwhile Wythmord drew on his spells, bolstering his friends with mighty prayer( yes the prayer spell and bless)
The goblinoids shouted in glory as their champion Terruc, a blue-scaled half-dragon wielding a bastard sword in two strong hands, advanced from one tent followed by a hobgoblin in a red robe carrying a runecovered staff, Ustavan was his name. Spells flew at random ,magic missiles streaked at the party injuring several of the party, a fireball ,cast by Runegar, incinerated a group of bugbears their smoldering corpses littering the battlefield. The goblinoids were bolstered by the red robed hobgoblin invoking an ability that will shield the goblinoids from enemy magic ( monster manuel 5-hobgoblin warcaster) The foul goblinoids rejoiced and advanced to the trail, fierce determination visible on their faces.
The trail was packed !!!! gobling and hoblins advaced swinging at random at the heroes(missing mostly though) and soon a fierce battle had begun. Wythmord, the young energetic cleric, continued to pray to Lathander healing the injured and protecting them from enemy blows( feat: that gives tempoary hp equal to wythmords level when he heals a person cool cool feat)
Talon saw the mass of enemies and chanted to his god and created a downpour affecting a large area. His friends did not suffer any ill effects from the rain but his enemies felt like being burned with acid!!! 13 enemies died screaming in the following few seconds.
Terruc, hobgoblin Half-dragon(blue) (dis)charges
A roar was heard, Terruc the hobgoblin half-dragon shoved his underlings aside and came closer. His mouth brimmed with electricity and when he got within range he unleashed his breath weapon hitting all of them save Talon. several failed their saves and were hit hard. Things got even worse as Ustavan in the next round threw a fireball at them immolating them all in raw flame. Again several missed their saves. Terruc laughed and closed with Tealgar swinging his fell bastard sword against the gold dwarf. Luckily Tealgar was protected by his dwarven battle plate and wythmords spells and most attacks missed. Talon and wythmord managed to heal the worst-off party members and Wythmord even engulfed Tealgars weapon in flames adding to the allready fearsome damage of the dwarf paladin. But the gods of luck was against the dwarf and attack after attack missed the foul leader of the goblin warband. Terruc on the other hand scored some visciuos hits on the dwarf and only the spells of Wythmord and Talon kept him going.
But the group was well prepared, each protected by spells and heavy armor, Runegar had even altered his form to that of a troglodyte to gain the protection of its massive hide(+6 natural armor), and the battle was taking its toll on the enemy. Every round bugbear and hobgoblins were falling to the spells and weapons of the Lawbringers and with one mighty sweep of his dwarven waraxe Tealgar decapitated Terruc. Ustavan the hobgoblin warcaster had been silenced by Talons spell but was fearlessly directing 2 Flaming Spheres against the party(double move).That changed When he saw the headless form of his leader fall to the ground and he lost his willl to fight and ran. He fled the wrath of the Lawbringers. Again the enemy had fallen to the mighty heroes....
This session took 3 hours and they are still level 6 Next time: LIES!!! and jungle in the depths
(New session 23/6-08) 4 marpenoth 1372: LIES!!!!!!
After the gigantic battle the group looted the war-camp but finding only little of value. They decided to force-march back to the vicinity of the Loviataren monestary..
They came back and spent the rest of the evening bragging about their battle with "hundreds" of hobgoblins to the workers in the camp not far from the monestary.They were saluted as heroes by the workers and they tokk advantage of the situation and boasted of their exploits.
The next day they went to the Lady´s Hand monestary where they were met by impressed guards, the very same guards that have been giving them angry remarks. Appearently they were not expected to survive so unscathed. A guard gave them a letter form the foul leader of the monestary, whipmistress Lorthalae. It said that she ahd made and error and there were not any snake-men temple in the mountains. They had been used and lied to but the group had almost expected that and decide to follow up on their lead from the dwarf Furin whose kinsman had talked about a jungle growing in the underdark where such a thing should not grow. Their scout Bharren had even secured a map to delver´s town where his kinsman Karragh lived. Bharren asks the group if they were okay with him going home because he was not thrilled by the prospect of going to the underdark, the group said yes and thanked him for his help. Then they studied the map learning that it would take 4 days to reach Delver´s town, 2 on the surface and two in the underdark....
Rat things
after two days the party makes their way into the dangerous underdark!! They walk, crawl, squeeze and climb their way forward for one day in the lightless realms setting camp in a snaking pathway. Suddenly Runegar hears something!!! It sounds like the squaking of rats, he moves to get a better look arond a corner and sees a mass of 300 rats moving forward!! The swarm is follower by white rats the size of dogs. Hoping to destroy them before they get too close he throws a mighty fireball at them but alas!!! the flames does not seem to affect them and the white rats actually seem to grow larger from the flames. The swarm of rats moves forward covering poor Wythmord in biting bloodsucking rats (doing damage and draining 1 con !!!). He is even affected by their bite and their puncture wounds becomed infected with diseased and more so their distaction ability cause him to throw up and can´t do anythins save move. The white rats moves forward when a maddening shriek is heard!!
From behind the white rats emerge fat dirty red rats with a mad look on their faces.Their screams seem to bolster the white rats, infecting them with froothing madness, they charge forward eager to slay the group. Tealgar moves into position to position himself between the rats and his friends. 6 white rats charge forward attacking at random when suddenly a white rat lets loose a mad laughter!! it affect the minds of the group causing confusion in Tealgars head! On his next round he provokes several attacks of oppuntunity as his confused mind sends him towards the rat that did that to him moving closer to the red leader-rats... Runegar succeeds on his knowledge checks recognizing them as Rylkars, dangerous rat-creatures who share a hive-mind and they are mostly immune to fire. Then he attacks the swarm of rylkars devourering Wythmord( 2d6 pr. round+1con) but to no effect there is just to many rats for his magic missiles to hit them properly. Talon tries to learn something about them but can´t remember anything( a natural 1 on knowledge-check) but tries his luck: He prays to the great kobold in the sky ( Kurtulmak) and sends down rain covering most of the rats. The rain is imbued with the power of lawfulness(axiomatic storm) and he hopes they are CE... There are not and the rain only wet their hides. Meanwhile Telgar is fighting the two fat red rats, Rylkar Tormentors they are called, and once more he is unlucly only hitting them 2 times the next 5 rounds. The Rylkar Tormentors on the other hand has him flanked and is hitting him several times each round making his blood flow...The white rats are called Rylkar Madclaws and they live up to their name and assult every party-member biting and clawing ( their "mad"-claws actually draining 1 con each time they hit )
Runegar them casts deeper slumber causing two madclaws to fall asleep, but even so the party is pressed!! Runegar is soon fighting two Rylkar Madclaws and Talon and the sick Wythmord is assulted by two more. Tealgar is hit again and again drawing blood each time. Wythmord then moves away to aid the battered Tealgar and to escape the Rylkar swarm and the swarm, mindless as it is, assults Talon covering him with biting rats and draining his blood(1 con dmg. each round)
Runegar is pressed the rats are hitting him frequently and moves away and alters his body to that of a troglodyte( +6 nat. armor) while Talon prays to his god encircling him with a wall of flying force-daggers(ring of blades) which hits several foul Rylkars. But so far no Rylkars, save the two sleeping, have been defeated. Wythmord heals Tealgar and Tealgar heals Wythmord, both almost on the brink of death and both more concerned with the lives of their friend than with their own( yes both are LG ). Talon also manages to cause the area around him to freeze making their breaths visible as fog (corona of cold) and damaging the Rylkar Swarm even more..
Runegar fires magic missiles at his foes and suddenly lady luck is with them!! Two Rylkar Madclaws fall to Talons Ring of blades and his cold aura while another is blasted by the dwarf wizard Runegar. Wythmord summons a storm of holy might and its rain drops feels like acid on the rat-beasts and one dissolves like being bathed in pure acid. It wakes the two sleeping madclaws which hit Wythmord several times with their claws ( draining 1 con each time). The madclaw fighting Talon and Runegar is killed and the Runegar begins attacking the Tormentors which is hitting poor unlucky Tealgar. Then something strange happens!! Tealgar begins hitting his foes!! His mighty waraxe cleaving the skull of a tormentor while Wythmords heavy mace cracks the skull of a Rylkar Madclaw. The group finishes off the remaining Tormentor and Madclaw when suddenly Talon tumbles to the floor, his small body covered with hundreds of bite marks and almost draned completely of blood( - 6 hp). But the small Dragon(dragonwrought kobold) has chosen his spells wisely. While the corona of cold disappears when he enters unconsiousness, his ring of blades does not!!! It tears the Rylkar Swarm to shreds, killing it ( the party swears that they can see a small smile on the unconsious kobolds reptilian lips). Once more they are victorious and they heal up (several restoration-spells yes) and guards the camp through the night. Nothing happens and the next day they press forward.
Delver´s Town
On the final day of travel they come to a large cave with stalactites hanging from the ceiling. They see 20-30 buildings and several flying banners from the buildings. All of the buildings are built sturdy and solid. The buildings are centered around a busy market-place and they see large grey pack lizards, pack mules and human and dwarves trading in the market. They see strange bald, grey gnomes as well recognizing them as Deep Gnomes or Svirfneblin as they are known in the underdark.....
this session took 3 hours. The party gained a level and the party is level 7 Next time: jungle in the depths and dwarven clan-hold...
Talon is level 7 cloistered cleric, and Dragonwrought kobold
Wythmord is 3 cloistered cleric/ 3 church inquisitor/ 1 Radient servant of Pelor(Lathander), and human
Tealgar is 6 paladin/ 1 Fist of Raziel, and gold dwarf
Runegar is 4 wizard/ 1fighter/2 runesmith, and shield dwarf
(New session 30/6-08) 8 marpenoth 1372: Delver´s town
André who is playing Talon is at Roskilde and is therefore not present
The noble Lawbringers find themselves in Delver´s Town a trade-town in the underdark. They know that Furin lived here and one of his kin knew something about the jungle in the depths. They see some dwarves selling weapons at the market and seek them out (perhaps they have magic items Wythmord suggested, they did not). The dwarves don´t know Furin and tells them that a lot of smaller dwarven clans come here to sell their items. They then ask if they know someone in the city that might know about Furin´s kinsmen... The dwarves suggest several options but point at two persons down at the market, a dashing halfling mounted on a st. bernard riding dog and a brutal looking half-orc.
The party introduce themselves to the pair and their introduce themselves as Pahlo, halfling Paladin af Yondalla(who has an annoying habit of stating talking just when the characters begin talking) and Brecht, Half-orc Barbarian. The pair tells the group that they are menbers of the Red Sentinels the adventuring group that founded this trade-town. The Party asks them if they know something about a jungle in the Underdark?? Pahlo says no and Brecht tells them to seek out the Red Sentinels wizard, a crazy fellow named Ygrun tells Pahlo. The party find the Red Sentinels 2-story home( and see that is really gaudy, countless banners and flags and red/pink coloured skulls. (Brecht told them Pahlo was the decorator and he went a bit overboard).
They knock on the door and a manservant opens and fetches Ygrun the wizard. An extremely old man with a long pointy hat appears. He is almost deaf( good actor and testing if they are patient enough to be bothered with) and several minutes of fun pass ( he constantly hears the wrong thing and babble about the wrong heard subjects hehe) In the end ( and a listening tube to help the feeble wizard ) he tells them that he overheard 2 dwarves (probaly Furin and his Kinsman) talking about a jungle in the dephts over at the shrine to Moradin. They thank him and go to the shrine of Moradin...
At the shrine they meet a young dwarf, the residing Cleric Rarrukh which asks a lot of questions to Tealgar and about the gold dwarves that participated in the liberation of citadel Fellbarr. They answer him and in turn he tells them that the two dwarves was Furin and Karragh and tells them thay are members of the guild of free miners ( he does not know where Karragh live).
They come to the guild of free miners, a small house where a fat dwarf sleeps in his chair. They see a bunk and the place is a mess. He wakes and disturbs some bottles. He knows Karragh but wants gold for the info ( typical dwarf). The reluctantly pay him and he gives them a map to Clan Grimfist, Karraghs home..
The party thinks ahead and hire a scout( their survival-specialist Talon is not there hehe). The scout is a very close mouthed dwarf, but he tells them the bought map is wrong (after he tears it to pieces). They set out seeking Clan Grimfist...
Bettle-monkey ????
On the second day of traveling in the fierce underdark thay encounter trouble. Suddenly the wall crumble revealing a foul beast. It lokks like the cross between an ape and a giant beetle with long arms and rending mandibles, an Umber Hulk. It surges forward and strike poor Runegar with heavy blows rending his flesh. The group moves in position and Runegar moves away from the monster. Tealgar bellows a warcry and charges forward connecting with the creature nearly slicing its arm off (charging smite is a cool thing). It counters and look at Tealgar with strange confusing eyes. He falters for a moment but his willpower is immense and he looks away. Runegar assults the beast with fire spells scorhing huge holes in its hide and Wythmord summons a cloud that rains acid on evil beings while the scout attacks it at range witl crossbow-bolts. The umber Hulk is pressed againts the might of the Lawbringers and a round later the foul creature lay dead on the ground and the group ventures onwards...
Clan Grimfist
At the end of the second day the scout indicates that the grimfist clanhold is up ahead. The quiet scout leaves the party signaling that the entrence is up ahead.
The party round a bend and stand before a great stone gate, an anvil is depicted on it and a mountain of skulls stand before it. The skull-mountain is topped by a huge deep dragon-skull ( knowledge arcana ) and beside the gate stands a long horn. The blow in it sending a long wail through the corridors. 30 minutes pass when a peep-hole is opened and fierce eyes stare down at them. " Who dares come to the mines of clan Grimskull" a strong voice says. The group explains their business saying they are looking for a dwarf named Karragh..
The doors begin to open, but they open slowly and dust is whirled up screwing up their sight. When the dust settles they see 25-30 dwarven guards in halfplates lead by a burly black haired dwarf whose hair is braided into his long hair. He wears an ornate full-plate and wields a crackling warhammer." You have found him" the dwarven leader says revealing himself as Karragh. The group tells him that they have been sent by Furin and the dwarven leader´s mood change.... Appearently Karragh and Furin are very close and Karragh is suddenly best friends with the party inviting them to his home. Furins friend is also his friends. He send them to his house and he will join them shortly. As they walk to his house they see the enormity of the cave, it´s huge with countless mineheads dotting the walls and apx. 50 buildings. The hear the noise of the many foundries and smiths working in the city as they knock on the door.
A sturdy dwarven female opens and after a short introduction they are warmly welcomed inside. The woman and her 9 children ( 4 pairs of twins hehe) caters for them and they small talk about severel different sucjects: Have gold dwarf women beards , Tealgar said yes so appearently they have), do gold dwarf female bathe themselves in smelling-water (perfume and again yes) and is Runegar single because she has an unmarried sister hehe.. Karragh comes home and they spend a nice evening talking about the Silver Marches and the characters (he is surprised to find a gold dwarf this far north ect.) and so on. Tealgar even manages to impress the children with his tale of the 103 gold dwarves that helped liberate Citadel Feelbarr (he is one of them of course tjeck his background ). They ask him about a jungle in the Underdark and after a frindly warning he gives them a map. Next morning they leave after thanking the family...
not doe but ....
After the first day they make camp relaxing by the fire... Out of nowhere a black arrows streaks towards Wythmord hitting him in the neck!!!! ( doing 21 dmg on a crit) but the party can´t see the attacker. They are surprised when 2 black-skinned female elves break their cover and advances. Wythmord retreats behind cover after being hit again by an arrow, Runegar alters his body to that of a foul Troglodyte +6 nat. armor) , Tealgar ignores the difficult terrain ( boots of the mountain king) and charges one of the females shouting a loud war-cry... He smites evil and almost takes her arm off spaying himself and the drow in gore!!!! ( YES YES this is the second encounter in a row where Tealgar hits something hehe) Fear is displayed on the females face. Wythmord Bless the party increasing their chances to hit. Then the two females turn invisible and moves into position (ninja Ki maneauver) striking at Tealgar. He is hit hard but ignores the poisen on their blades. The Sniper appears, a male drow with a sneer on his face, and shoots Tealgar in the back. Then the dwarf wizard Runegar lets loose and orb of acid at a drow female... It takes her injured arm clean off and even eats away most of her face!!!! killing her painfully... Wythmord prays to the morninglord and covers the area in rain, but again it feels like acid on evil creatures, severely injuring them. The drow sniper storms across the battlefield and stops 10 ft. from Wythmord "foul human" he says in badly spoken commen and hits Wythmord square in the chest ( this time 19 dmg.). The single remaining drow female fears greatly for her life and flees under the cover of invisibility. The group gangs up on the sniper but he evapes them and try to flee ( avoids hits :mobility) that changes when Tealgar charges through the cave wielding his mighty war axe and cleaves it down through his back, cutting loose his backbone, and sending a gush of blood high in the air. He dies with a startled look on his face...
this session took 3,5 hours and the party is still level 7 next time: Jungle in the Dephts
(New session 7-8/7-08) 14 marpenoth 1372: Jungle below
The party trecks through the dangerous underdark and begin to see vines and trees growing. As they continue the scattered vines and trees become more frequent and soon they find themselves trecking through a jungle. A jungle where such a thing should not exist. Talon recognize the plant life as insidious to the jungles of Chult to the fra south ( knowledge nature ). They continue through heavy undergrowth and biting insects and suddenly they hear a whooping sound, an alarm has been sounded ( bad perception rolls ) and they hear noise up ahead. A fat brown snakeman, an ophidian, creeps closer but only a couple of the group notice him. Wythmord, perhaps thinking more are coming, cast holy storm and the rain burns the ophidian like acid. Tealgar did not notice the enemy but when Wythmord cast an offensive spell he rolls perception spotting the ophidian standing right beside him. He attacks and slays the foul creature...
The group advances slowly (each square counts as 4 move ) through the bushes, exept Tealgar who is unhindered because of his boots of the mountain-king. They see a huge cave where the jungle have been cut away clearing an area in the middle which is occupied by 3 straw-huts. They also see a hole in the ground. The village is moving, more ophidians are creeping closer and dwarven and human cultist are screaming obscene curses at them swinging weapons.. Tealgar charges and severely hurts an ophidian. They counter and attack the gold dwarf paladin with weapons and vials filled with burning stuff (alchemist fire ) injuring the stout dwarf. Runegar is meanwhile invisible and in trog-form (alter self as troglydyte) but attacks the enemy killing one and breaks invisibility but he manages to cast haste boosting their attack power. Wythmord the healer stands back and cast greater status which keeps him informed of the characters hit point and allow him to heal his friends at range.
Talon takes a chance, he can´t remember the alignment of the ophidians ( bad knowledge nature rolls ) and cast axiomatic storm over the large group of attackers. It is imbued with the strong power of lawfullness and only affects chaotic opponents. To his joy they are burned by his spell killing several. and it even releases a lightning bolt killing one more, cool coll spell. Runegar is struck deaf by an opponents thunderstone ( again an alchemical thing ) and talks a bit loud hehe.
Then disaster strikes!!! a medium dinosaur with a circle of flame around it and wearing a scale mail made of bone comes closer ( a druid). It looks at Talon and he is struck with freezing cold. He fails his save and takes 32 in damage. auch. But luckily wythmord almost heals almost all of it and even grants 8 tempory hp shielding the hurt Kobold ( yes yes dragon)
Tealgar seeing his frind hurt retaliates and again and again his waraxe bites through flesh and bone. In 1 round he slays 3 enemies and the others move away from the fierce dwarf. Again Talon is stuck hard by the dinosaur again doing 32 in damage but again Wythmord keeps his friend alive, healing wounds and mending bones. The dinosaur-druid seeing most of his alies dead or fleeing tries to dispel the wards around the characters by casting dispel magic. He strips away some effects but soon after Wythmord does the same but this time targetting the dinosaur-druid!! (But the druid did not have Wythmord prestige-class: Church Inquisitor which grants +4 to dispel checks) and Wythmord strips away almost everyone of his defenses severely lowering his Ac and dispelling his flame-aura.
The group eneters melee, even Runegar attacks in melee, but in the end Talon invokes a spell giving him an axe of Ice that merely needs to touch the target and touches the druid twice freezing his blood and turning him blue covered in frost. His dead frozen body splinters in a thousend pieces when it hits the ground. It is the form of a dwarf covered in black scale-tatoos with a wild brown hair.
2 Ophidians managed to flee but the group is victorious over the forces of EVIL and they continue onwards towards thier target the: temple of scaled honour!!!!!!!!
this session took 1,5 hours (due to 4,0 taking half the evening) and the party is still level 7 next time: Temple of Scaled Honour
(New session 14-8/7-08) 14 marpenoth 1372: Jungle below
After the battle the Lawbringers heal and loot when suddenly they hear whimpering from a hole in the camp. Inside they find 6 persons two of them beginning to resemble the browm-scaled ophidians. They learn (succesful knowledge nature) that they have been bitten by the ophidians and are transforming to ophidians themselves due to a curse carried by the Ophidians bite attack. Among the prisoners are two dwarves from Clan Grimfist ( they are told they have been here for almost a year) and that they are eager to return home and ask the lawbringers if they are willing to help them home Being the heroes they are they of course accept the deed. The dwarves are thankful and will assist them with information regarding the temple of scaled honour.....
Otyugh yes that is a word...
On the second day they pass through a cavern containins a few stalactites and a rotten corpse of a fell drake ( good arcana check ) when 5 bloated sphrical monsters walking on three legs appear. Half their body is a teeth -filled mouth and 2 tentacles wave from their bodies as they move closer drooling as they walk.
The party prepares for battle Wythmord casts greater status ( can heal at range and monitor pc´s HP) while Runegar assumes Troglodyte-form. Tealgar move closer and casts divine sacrifice ( +5d6 dmg. on first hit each round but in turn takes 10 dmg. each turn he attacks) Talon chants the holy texts of his god (recitiation spell) and they group is bolstered.
The Otyugh ( yes they recognize them) force advancing attacking the pc´s scored a single hit on Talon but it is weak and does almost no damage. Runegar casts haste and Tealgar moves claser scoring a heavy wound on the beast. Wythmord summons holy storm but appearently the monsters are not evil, merely hungry and the storm just wet their filthy hides. More Otyughs move closer attacking Talon and Tealgar but they are protected by spells and the power of goodness ( Tealgar:Fist of Raziel ) and the foul creatures miss.
Then Tealgar connects with a beast and kills it easily. The pc´s recognize that the monsters perhaps are not that dangerous and hold back with their spells. Talons attacks with his spear scoring minor hits and Runegar drews on his reserve feat. Fiery Burst and attacks them with small fireballs hehe.
Then Tealgar, impovered by his Divine sacrifice, attacks on Otyugh and slays the monster with one blow spaying himself with diseased puss-filled blood and continues his mayhem attacking another otyugh severely injuring it.
The battle is soon over as Runegar slays 2 Otyugh with his Fiery Burst and Tealgar kills of the last of the attackers. The group will be awarded an additional 300 xp reward as they protected the prisoners and were true to their alignments...
Grimfist welcome
They return to clan Grimfist and are welcomed as heroes. the clan is grateful for the rescue of two kinsmen and tears of joy fill the dwarven clan. A feast is held at night in the honour of the brave Lawbringers. They drink and party and the clan tells them that the dwarven skjalds will record their bravery on the wall of heroes where only 1 non-dwarf have been recorded. They ask who and they are told that it is Elminster. Tealgar even tells an epic story of the rescue and the battles and the skjalds takes notes to use in heroic poems. The dwarven also nicknamed Tealgar "Storyteller" ( he asked the Dm permission if it was allright and of course i accepted the cool idea)
They next day they say a tearful farewell, even Tealgar shed a single tear ( only one mind you !!!!) and the party continues onwards.
Hunger, Hunger.....
The party is trekking through the underdark and have made camp in s winding cavern. Runegar is standing watch over his sleeping friends when suddenly a terrible beast approaches. It is a swirwling mass of necrotic energy filled with sinew, bone and human hands, an all-comsuming Hunger!!! It moves nearer and enter the groups square dealing 16 in damage as the life is drained from them.
The group wakes but alas the armored mage Runegar is stuck by the terrible fear the beast surround itself with and flees sreaming in terror!!! Tealgar stands up and invokes the fierce power of a paladin, he smites the beast, carving a huge hole in its ungodly form. But to his fear it ignores it and the necrotic energy fills the gaping wound. wythmord and Talon cannot recognize it ( unsuccesful religion roll ) and moves away from it. It follows the pair enveloping them in its energy dealing damage and distracts them causing them to loose their dinner ( throws up) and they can only make single moves.
Tealgar attacks again but again they see it is unaffected. Talon moves away and hides from the beast. Wythmord too moves away not wanting to be affected by its "throw up" ability and perhaps realizing that this battle must be won by spell not weapon. Talons takes a chance and summons axiomatic storm a drizzling cloud filled with the power of lawfullness. It sears the beast and a lightning bolt follows ( cool spell no save no spell resis. and 7d6 in dmg each round hehe) burning it.
Wythmord them summons holy storm which also hurts the beast. The creature is mindless and Talon hides from it so it continues to attack Tealgar. but the group is on to it they stay scattered and lets their combined storms finish it off and tealgar pumps healing energy into it hurting it too. It dies and it evaporates only leaving behind a stench of rotten flesh. They eventually find Runegar who had been runnng away for 6 rounds hehe but they are victorious....
The death of heroes...
The group advences through the pale jungle and find themselves wading through the same cavern they battled the Ophidians and the evil dwarven druid when suddenly a door opend and they recognize the two Ophidians that have fled from the battle. They are followed by two more and a red-scaled snakeman wtih a humanoid upper body.It is a yuan-ti holy guardian and it hisses " I will let you apes live if you surrender to slavedom" and then it readies a standard action...
The group of course decline the despicable offer and start to act but where interrupted by the holy guardian´s readied action!!!!! green tentacles filled with small snapping mouths appear grappling the entire party. They are hurt by its crushing tentacles and when hurt they save versus poisen. Several are crippled by its venom. The ophidians dance around them laughing at them and praising the holy guardian and Sseth, their snake-like god....
Runegar activates his wand of magic missile in the following rounds and hurts the Yuan-ti severely, Talon tries to break free but is unsuccesful, Wythmord uses his close wounds smartly by quickly healing his wounds when he is hurt by the tentacles poisen. Tealgar shake off most of the poisen damage ( good saves) but fails to break the bonds that ensnare him.
the Yuan-ti mentally attacks Runegar and suddenly Runegars form begin to become scaled, his head elongates and his tongue starts splitting...With a mighty burst of fortitude he forces his body to revert to his own handsome self. He responds with a volley of magic missiles hurting it again.
But luck is not on their side Talon is hurt every round and does not make a single save and his con. falls and falls. Runegar has provoked the wrath of the Yuan-ti and is hit by its composite long bow bringing his Hp down to a dangerous level. He tries a last ditch attempt his Slide spell which will slide the Yuan-ti into his own tentacled spell perhaps killing him off. I ask the dc of the spell and it is 17. I inform the players that his modifier is +10 and roll my d20 openly!!!! It comes up a 7, the Yuan-ti just makes it and avoids being pushed into "certain" death. The Holy Guardian do not respond kindly and attacks with his bow hitting the almost dead wizard.
As the Ophidians taunt and laugh at the group ( severly angering several players characters ) they see Talons small frail poisened body is crushed by the tentacles, he dies... Then Runegars stout body gives up against the huge amount of damage inflicted upon it. He also dies with a popping sound as his head is crushed spilling brain-matter on the tentacles. A small smile appears on the Yuan-ti lips...
Then with a mighty feat of strenght Tealgar brakes free and with his waraxe in hand he approahes the Yuan-ti shouting curses at the snakeman condemning him to death by axe...
The Holy guardian recognizes the threat and tries to control his mind ( suggestion ) but fails... Chop!!!! the Yuan-ti´s head falls to the ground, the killings of Talon and Runegar have been avenged!!! Almost at least for the taunting ophidians are attacking seeking to avenge their fallen leader....
May you burn in HELL.....
May you burn in HELL... Those were the snarling words uttered by Claus as his character Wythmord charged and drove his holy mace into the skull of the last Ophidian killing him instantly.
The pic. is Claus repeating the words so that i could photograph it with my cell-phone hehe... A praise to Henrik and Claus who actually appeared angry at the remaining Ophidians..
The party is victorious but this time victory came with a price-tag on it... 2 dead...
this session took 4 hours. The party gained a level and the party is level 8 Next time: The dead shall rise ???????
Talon is dead
Wythmord is 3 cloistered cleric/ 3 church inquisitor/ 2 Radient servant of Pelor(Lathander), and human
Tealgar is 6 paladin/ 2 Fist of Raziel, and gold dwarf
Runegar is dead
(New session 21-8/7-08) 26 marpenoth 1372: Lurkers lurk, and a flying grey dwarf head
Peter is in Italy and is therefore not present
The party looks around and loot the evil Yuan-ti holy guardian and picks up the lifeless corpses of Talon and Runegar. They decide to venture back to clan grimfist hoping their priests are powerful enough to raise their comrades. They set out trecking once again towards the dwarven clanhold when suddenly two stonelike flet creatures descend from the ceiling surprising them. Lurkers!!! The first attack wythmord enveloping him in its foul shape damaging him. Tealgar suceed in resisting its grapple and it hovers above him.
Wythmord tries to break free but fails. Runegar attacks the one enveloping wythmord and damages both the Lurker and Wythmord ( 50% to each) twice. The Lurkers attack and miss Tealgar but continues to damage poor grappled Wythmord. Then Wythmord cast close wounds healing himself and covering himself in an aura of health (temp. Hp.)
Tealgar then attacks the other lurkers ( he heard wythmords scream of pain ) severely injuring it. The Lurkers attacks again and again only injuring Wythmord. Wythmord tries to break free but does not succeed.
Next round something amazing happens, Wythmord breakes free from his attacker and moves away while Tealagar kills of the other Lurker. The remaining lurker attacks wildly but is soon dead again a minion of evil has fallen by the strong arm of the dwarf paladin and the divine faith of the human cleric of Lathander....
The party is victorious and continues....
Raise ??????
The pary is welcomes "home" at clan grimfist and they are shocked to see Runegars mangled corpse ( talon is in the bag of holding ) and fetches Karragh their friend at the clanhold and leader of the warshields ( the army ). He too is shocked at the news of the two dead and sends for Borin, High priest of Moradin. An old greybearded dwarf in a white cloak with Moradins embroidered symbol on arrives, Borin. He thanks them first for saving two clan members (in the Yuan-ti camp) and tells them that it has come to his attention that 2 of the heroes have fallen. He says that the church will return the favor the party has done to the clan. They will raise the dead at no cost to the party. The party gladly accept and Tealgar swear that if they ever need help he will be there for them. Around Borin a group of acolytes stand and they put the dead on silver shields and carries them off. They are told that next sunrise, if the gods are willing, they are brought back to life.
The party is settled in a townhouse and Karragh joins them bringing food from the mrs. They small talk when a knock on the door is heard. It is an acolyte who summons them to Hammers Hall, the Tempel of Moradin it is urgent.
They arrive at the tempel, a building made up of 7-8 large smithes and they see countless acolyte working with hammer and anvil producing iron-goods. The acolyte tells them that life is hard working in the tempel but some of the clans best smiths have labored here during the years.
They are taken to an open courtyard in the middle of the tempel. In the center is a large silver anvil with Moradins symbol on it. Around it is hundreds of scattered broken anvils. Borin approaches and informs them that the anvils are a tribute to the Lord of the dwarven race, Moradin the great Smith and the countless man-hours put into the anvils by generations of grimfists is a tribute in itself to the creator-god. But he has not summoned them without reason. He gives them a pouch and they unwrap it. It contains Talons holy symbol and Borin explains that it is the symbol of an evil god and even if Talon is neutral, his church-dogma forbids the raising of a follower of an evil deity. They are told to remove the blasphemous symbol and Talon from the tempel but they will still raise Runegar for free. They asks if there is anyone else in the clanhold that could help. He reluctantly say the name Ghedregg ( some acolyte turn their heads at the name being mentioned) they thank him and leave.
Outside they ask Karragh about Ghedregg and he says thay Ghedregg is the self-proclaimed High priest of Abbathor (dwarven god of greed) and lives in an abadoned mineshaft at the edge of the cavern. They seek him out.
They come to an old mineshaft and the entreance is flanked by 2 statues of foul dwarven rogues. They enter and on the walls they see plaspemous texts of Abbathors trickery and houndreds of trap-plans. They come to a place where a rusting shield and hammed is suspended from the ceiling. They hit it and almost immediately a dark creature steps out form the shadows. It is dwarven but walks, from the knee down, on a silver leg. Its face has been severy corroded and is an ugly mass of beard-tuffs, skin and flesh. Its nose has also been replaced by a silver replacement. "yes ????" the dwarf-creature says. They ask him if he is Ghedregg and it nods slowly. He ask if they are the mighty Lawbringers and they nod. Then he ask why they bring their dead on his doorsteps, and not to the Hammers Hall, Moradins Tempel. They tells him that they have refused to raise him because he prays to an evil god. Ghedregg says that luckily HIS god is more understanding of such obscure things as peoples choice in alignments. He offer to raise Talon for 5000 gp+ the 5000 gp cost in diamonds. 10.000 !!! goldpieces total he is indeed worthy of abbathors notice. The group is reluctant to pay so much but he cannot be bargained with but has another proposal: He has heard that they are going to the tempel of Scaled Honour and if they bring back the head of the tempels jailermaster, a duergar named Deawan, he will raise Talon for only the 5000 in diamonds as the spell require in components. They agree ( Tealgar being the first and the reason is probaly that dwarfs are greedy hehe) and Ghedregg gives them an amulet in onyx and tells them that this is a slavers amulet from the temple of scaled honour and it will help them bypass the guards at the tempel. They leave Talon with the cleric and exit the mineshaft.
Outside they talk to Karragh and he insists on talking to the Elder-council perhaps they can help.They spend a day in the clanhold and sets out the following morning
Down at the gate two dwarves stand, Karragh and a red-haired filthy dwarf wielding a greataxe. Karragh tells them that the family of one of the rescued dwarves has answered their call for help.( this is a npc that andre´will play until his character is raised and thereby helping in his own charaters survival and all xp will still go to his Talon character) The group welcomes the gruff Barbarian/Battlerager/Bear warrior and leaves clan grimfist...
Temple of scaled honour
The party diguises themselves as slavers and bodyguard and again comes to the jungle below, walking through the thick pale jungle devoid of colour. They pass easily a guardpost ( Wythmord bluff their way through it ) and soon come to a great cavern. A waterfall falls directly from the ceiling into a huge black lake. Vines and jungle fills the cavern but paths are cut through the undergrowth and they advance to a city in the middle of the enourmous cavern.
It is a mixture of huts and stone buildings and filled with Yuan-ti and ophidians. They see several slavemarkets and see drow and duargar slavers selling their human cargo to fierce-looking yuan-ti abominations. The city is dwarfed by a mighty Ziggurat (mayan-style pyramid) covered in unholy texts and in Sseth holy dogma, The Temple of Scaled Honour. The guardians are Ophidians and Yuan-ti Holy guardians (like the one that killed Talon and Runegar) They approach and a Yuan-ti tells them that the slave entreance is around back. They easily enter the tempels slave-entreance( the guards ignores them because of the onyx-necklace) and they find themselves inside the temple where roots and vines cover the dirt-walls.
Jailmaster
They encounter and talk their way through an ophidian guard-post who takes them to the jail. They stand in a corridor before them stand 2 ophidians more and on a chair sits a fat dwarf with ash-grey skin he wears a leather and in his belt hangs manacles, a whip and a light mace that also doubles as a branding iron. Wythmord steps forward and says that he is here to buy slaves and the Duergar jailmaster ask who sent them ?? because they only buy slaves here.... "who sent you ???" he demands and then all hell breaks loose...Initiative is rolled
Wythmord steps forward and casts greater status enabling him to monitor the characters Hp. and can heal them at range. He also cast stabilize and gives them DR 3/evil thanks to a cool feat, Tealgar charges an ophidian and slays him outright cleving him from groin to head. Thundarr (played by andre´) rages and also charges and kills an ophidian and cleaves right through it killing the other as well (cleave feat.) in an example of brute strenght. The duargar curses them and shouts "this is my dungeon, I AM DAEWAN!!!) and turns invisible and moves silently closer(but they do not know that).
Wythmord summons the burning holy rain and covers the area in an evil-damaging shover. Tealgar kills off the remaining Ophidian and Thundarr moves closer trying to get a fix on the elusive Duergar. Then the duergar jail-master becomes visible right beside wythmord with his mace held high!! he hits with his sneak attack doing 28 in dmg. severely damaging the cleric.
The two dwarves attack the grey dwarf but inflict only moderate damage. Wythmord cast cure moderate wounds and heal an impressive 26 hp (radient servant empower the spell freely). The grey dwarf feint wythmord causing him to loose balance and again sneak-attacks him doing 29 in damage to wythmord.
In the following round the two dwarves press the attack and the grey dwarf in hit again and again bringing his hp. dangerous low. He moves away and intones a spell. A sickly green ray springs from his hand but unfortunately it fizzles as he has taken too much damage to contain the spell. He fears from his life as the party again hits him and he flees to the door opening it and screams "HELP their killing me!!!!" Tealgar "the storyteller" charges and kicks the dwarf on his knee bringing him to kneeling position. Then ,with a mighty sweep of his axe, he decapitates the grey dwarf sending his screaming head flying high in the air. Tealgar drops his axe and catches the head by the beard raising it high in the air...
The party is victorious....
this session took 3,5 hours. The party is still level 8
Talon is dead
Wythmord is 3 cloistered cleric/ 3 church inquisitor/ 2 Radient servant of Pelor(Lathander), and human
Tealgar is 6 paladin/ 2 Fist of Raziel, and gold dwarf
Runegar is dead
(New session 28-8/7-08) 28 marpenoth 1372: Treachery, saved and an offer.
The party find themselves in the jail-section of the Temple of scaled honour and the grey dwarf jailmaster had screamed "their killing me" just before he was slain. They hear voices in draconic shouting that the prisoners are riotting. The Dwarves bar the door while Wythmord release some prisoners. He releases 2 ogres which grap some weapons and lumber forward itching to fight their captors. The door is knocked down and they see a large group of human cultists and ophidians. They are led by a female Yuan-ti in a brestplate wielding a scimitar. Her head is cobra-like and an old man follows her . He is tattoed and fierce looking and seems to be the leader of the cultists.
The Yuan-ti Favored soul looks at them and sees the onyx slaver-medaljon." Leave us slavers"she screams as the ogres they freed moves forward. Wythmord also released 2 duargar also wanting to fight they team up with the ogres. The group pass the snakemen-horde and battle erupts ogres attacking anything within reach and ophidians and cultist striking at them.
The Lawbringers sees an opportunity and treacherously attack the yuan-ti horde from behind slaying a Yuan-ti pureblood in the first round.
Wythmord prays over the group and their attacks are bolstered. Thundarr rages and moves forward carving a road through the army of snakemen.Tealgar soon follows and the beasts scream as they are cut down by the fury of dwarves. The Yuan-ti favored soul protects herself with shield of faith well knowing that the dwarves are strong opponents.Her minions attacks and manages to kill one of the ogres. The fierce looking cultist leader chants and unleashes a fireball which only damage Tealgar and Thundarr searing their bodies in flame.
Then wythmord moves away to get away from the spellcaster and cast bless again bolstering his friends offensive capabilities. The cultist leader again sears the dwarves with flame sevely damaging them. They in turn cut through his minions and even hits him almost cutting off his right arm. He tries to move away but is hit by Tealgars axe and dies horribly. The Favored soul prays to the great serpent in the sky and manages to hold Thundarr motionless by her foul spell. She laughs manically at the strugling dwarf while the remaining ogre and duargar kills 3 cultist. But alas they are in turn killed by the many attackers.
Wythmords spell :greater status informs him that his ally is held and he casts a spell giving Thundarr a new save. He breakes free and hits the snake-woman hurting her severely. Tealgar attacks her but her shield of faith repels the attacks. Seeing the dwarves as the main problems she curses Thundarr which miss his save and every round thereafter he has 50% chance of doing nothing.
Next round Thundarr does nothing hehe due to him being cursed. Wythmord again casts a spell through the greater status spell and heals the cursed dwarf. Tealgar attacks the snakewoman and hits her twice almost killing her. She scream to Sseth and tries to chant a spell, she fails and is soon cut down. Her minions fearlessly attack the party but they are no match for the savagery of the dwarves attacks and the might of Wythmords faith. The party is victorious.
Temple site
The Lawbringers see a secret door that has been opened and moves onwards (of course looting the fallen and tjecking doors). But before they continue they open for the remaining prisoners who arm themselves and prepare to fight for their freedom. Wythmord have allready established that they all are evil but at least this way they have a fighting chance.
They pass a small idol of Sseth that Tealgar crushes and passing a couple vacant rooms they come to a temple site. A natural cavern with a huge iron statue of sseth in the center. Around it are dozens of skulls and cakes of dried blood fills the floor. Braziers burn terrible-smelling incense and they move across the room to get at a door. Luckely the party saves versus poisen as the incense was Ossra-smoke holy smoke which boosts the Yuan-ti but is devastating to mammals ( as the group hehe). They find a small room only slightly furnished and overcoming a trap they fing a gem resembling the eye of a great snake (succesfull appraise and history informs them that it is the eye of Sseth a rare diamond that is holy to the follewers of Sseth) They quickly conclude that this room is too small to be the seat of power. Wythmord confirms it when he finds a secret corridoor on the wall.
Saved
The party moves upwards and upwards coming to a natural cave. Suddenly Tealgar is forced to make a will save, he misses but nothing happens.
They hear bats screeching and see that the floor of the cave is filled with writhing snakes. A stone bridge leads across the chasm and they can see a corridor up ahead. When they come to the middle of the bridge they smell brimstone and a door of flame opens and a foul beast steps out. Half man half vulture, a Vrock itching for a fight. The group more than welcomes the chance to slay a true evil being!!!!
The dwarves attack it but it is well protected. Only Tealgar hits the demon but what a hit!!! Wythmord had once cast sacred Item on Tealgars axe and when it hits an evil outsider it deals an additional 8D4 in damage and the Vrock cries out in terrible pain, It responds with a feral screech that stuns wythmord and suddenly thorned vines starts growing inside the dwarves bodies!!!!
The dwarves assult the fiend but manages only, over the next few rounds, to scrath the iron-like hide of the the demon. It responds with furius assults severly damaging Tealgar. It also creates duplicates of itself and hovers out of the dwarves reach. The party is hard pressed against the minion of evil.
Then the ever resourcefull Wythmord has a bright idea. He casts Turn Anathema which enables him to turn outsiders with the evil subtype ( has has learned that is has the evil subtype via a know. the planes roll) He also cast a spell that gives him +3 to turn and a holy light washes from him trying to turn the demon. He fails ( a 3 on his die)
The demon responds immidiately and teleports close to Wythmord and his body convulses as spines start to grow within him) The dwarves move closer but cannot hit the hovering demon. It laughs at them but Wythmord tries again and this time the holy cleric of Lathander turns the demon and it flees, terror in its eyes !!!
Them they hear a clapping sound and a huge bloated Yuan-ti in full plate wielding a blood-dripping scimitar steps onto the bridge and behind it comes 2 large snake-demons wtih 6 arms, Mariliths.
"well done" the mighty Yuan-ti says "I am Demetrios Extaminos and you have entered Sseth holiest place. For that transgression you will pay in blood and souls!!! sisters of Sseth attack"
The Mariliths moved closer when suddenly a grey bearded elderly man appears. The next thing they see is a wall of stone barring the way to the party. "quickly young ones my spells will only hold them for a few seconds" he says. Realizing that the enemy is too powerful they move near him and he intones a greater teleport and whisks them away. They are saved by the wizard who scryed them a minute ago.( Tealgars Will failed save)
an offer
They find themselves in a summoning room with glowing sigils on the walls. The wizard touches a cople of them and they flare up "don´t want them demons dropping in" he says. He introduces himself as High mage of Silverymoon Tearn Hornblade.
He has heard of their bravery in Sundabar and by chance he learned that the same heroes had picked up the adventuring-charter that sent them to the Temple of Scaled Honour. He had talked to Ruathard in Sundabar who had insured him that the group was worth saving. Thinking the Silver Marches owed a dept to the group for helping Sundabar he had scryed them and in the last second were able to help. " That dept has been settled now" he says.
He has a proposition for them. They have proven themselves true heroes of the North and the city of Silverymoon could use such heroes. He offers them a chance to become Knight-errants of Silverymoon!!!! Adventurers who allways are working for the good of the Silver Marches and Silverymoon. He cannot offer them much exept the honour of knowing they are doing the right thing and protecting the commen man of the marches.
He then asks them where the Dragon and the dwarven wizard are??? They tell him that they must return to clan Grimfist to help them come back to life. After a description he teleports them outside the gate and informs them that he will be here again in 24 hours and they must have an answer for him regarding the Knight-offer. But regardless of their answer he will take them back to Silverymoon. They thank him and enter their second home, Grimfist clanhold...
Raise???
Inside they meet Karragh who welcomes them back and after a hearty welcome he leads them too The Hand of Gold, temple of Abbathor dwarven god of greed. They wander inside the old mineshaft, wander past blasphemous dwarven texts and bang the rusty shield. The old disfigured dwarven cleric steps out of the shadows. They present the head to him and he giggles in joy almost dropping his prostetic silver nose. But he proves not only a true miser but a manipulative bastard as well. He promised omly the characters wiyh the oppurtunity to raise their friend and presents them with a scroll of raise dead. They expected as much and leave the old dwarf to his filthy hole-in-the-ground.
They learned that Runegar had been raised by the dwarven priests of Moradin and is alive...
At this point i asked the group whether or not they would accept Taern Hornblades offer of knighthood. After a strange discussion they accept. I asked them because it would have an impact on my preparations. They are also awarded quest xp because they concluded the chapter the best they could. They were never meant to purge the temple of scaled honour completely that was too much for them but they learned a lot and perhaps on a higher level they would return to crush the Yuan-ti menace.
This session took 3 hours and the party is level 8.
This concludes chapter 1 Next time: Expedition to the Demonweb pits ( yes that is strangely a name of a super-adventure by WotC that i allways wanted to try out hehe)
Talon is still dead
Wythmord is 3 cloistered cleric/ 3 church inquisitor/ 2 Radient servant of Pelor(Lathander), and human
Tealgar is 6 paladin/ 2 Fist of Raziel, and gold dwarf
Runegar is 4 wizard/ 1fighter/3 runesmith, and shield dwarf