Sarenith 27, 4712, continued
Landing at the bottom of the last level of the Spire, the Coopers suddenly realize that two of their numbers are missing. Both Thorne and Omok must have accidentally hit the Spire with travel tokens on their way down and disappeared back to the surface! The rest of them immediately find themselves surrounded by the root of the Emerald Spire, stretching in all direction. They barely have time to examine their surroundings before they hear otherworldly screams. Two towering menaces climb over the roots on either side of the base of the Spire and close in.
Upon seeing this threat, Olifrit hides behind Kazmauk and covers herself with his cloak. Unfortunately Kazmauk immediately leaves his spot and charges the Gug on the left side, landing a successful blow. Darelle uses the lichen and other mosses present on the floor to entangle the right side Gug, managing to stop it in its tracks as it struggles to break free. Daryle loosen arrow upon arrow. Kazmauk lands two great blows against his opponent but ends up caught in the entanglement. Olifrit casts deep slumber on one of the Gug. It appears to work for a moment, but it shakes it off. Kazmauk continues to land blows and finally manages to slay his opponent before turning his anger on the remaining one. Olifrit taunts the last Gug with rude gestures. While entangled the Gug cannot move, but his long arms still reach and rend both Darelle and Kazmauk, before Darelle uses her wand of magic missile and kills it.
Taking a breather, the Coopers heal themselves. They debate whether they should return to Fort Inevitable to rearm and re-equip with healing potions and other magical items, but in the end they decide to continue exploring the level, at least for now. Darelle and Daryle climb one of the roots, and finally see the rest of this large room. They notice a door in the southwest wall, as well as a root that crosses a river of lava onto another section of the cave. Kazmauk heads towards the door at the southwest corner.
Darelle makes her way across the rift and discovers a large pillar of stone. Though it doesn't have a mouth, the pillar begins to talk in an incomprehensible language, but thanks to a nifty magical item Darelle is able to understand it. Daryle merely shakes her head but observes the conversation from afar, her bow at the read. The creature identifies itself as Oorivoon, a philosopher and a guard. The two of them have a very productive conversation about life and the soul. The ranger questions Oorivoon about its purpose here. It replies that it was appointed as guardian to this room. It further explains to Darelle that a Vault Keeper dwells here, but that unfathomably powerful creature has gone insane in the eons that it has hidden at the base of the Spire, and it has not come to talk to Oorivoon in many centuries. When Darelle asks what the Vault Builders are, Oorivoon shares his knowledge of them and their roles as primordial beings. Oorivoon then explains that it is particularly hungry, and insists on eating Darelle. The ranger is caught off guard, but Daryle, who had remained behind, comes to her rescue. In the resulting altercation, Darelle proposes to Oorivoon some of the Gug meat to satiate its hunger, and Ooviroon readily agrees.
Meanwhile, Kazmauk enters what appears to be a very large alchemical laboratory. He quickly discovers that it is occupied by three vivisectionist Ropers, who are clearly intent on adding the dwarf to their collections of body parts. Kazmauk attempts to fight them off, but they prove too powerful for him, so he flees the room, but not before noticing there are several body parts of opponents the Coopers have encountered throughout their trip within the Spire, including the two mechanical legs that once belonged to Klarkosh, and the hideous head of the Mistress of Thornes.
Back in the main room, Kazmauk deals some damage to the Ropers, but they are vicious creatures and drive him back. While Daryle and Darelle find themselves chopping off pieces of the Gugs, Kazmauk crosses the path over the lava and hides behind the stone pillar known to the other Coopers as Oorivoon. Closely followed by the Ropers, Kazmauk strikes a powerful blow, and then is surprised to see two of the Ropers tangle with Oorivoon, who quickly devours one of them.
Hearing the commotion, the Coopers return to the area carrying piles of meat, and join the fray. Olifrit attempts to slap and headbutt the Roper, but misses. Daryle launches several arrows. One of the Ropers becomes invisible and ambushes the sisters from behind. Eventually, the Coopers are able to successfully conclude the battle, but they now realize that they are hopelessly outclassed without both more magical healing and items and the rest of their party. They decide to immediately transport back to the Splinterden level and trek back to Fort Inevitable before returning to the Spire for one last (one hopes) glorious mission!
Showing posts with label Mistress of Thorns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mistress of Thorns. Show all posts
Friday, September 1, 2017
Friday, April 28, 2017
The prodigal son returns, and now everyone is about to die
Sarenith 18, 4712
With the magical doors now closed, the Coopers minus Thorne are reunited again , but they find themselves once again locked in a hostile dungeon. As there appears not to be any exits except for the closed door, Darelle searches for secret doors. She quickly discovers that the statue next the west wall features a spot for a key in a similar shape to the leviathan's eye. She retrieves the crystal eye, and inserts in the statue. The entire statue and its pedestal slides silently over, revealing a secret passage.
The party enters the hallway, followed by the four Azlants. Daryle listens to the southern door, and hears nothing. At the other door, Roscoe can hear some chanting drifting from the other side. It appears more than four people are conducting some sort of ritual. Omok barges through the door. Twelve knights of the ioun star in their ancient garbs have been brought back to life in a hideous mockery of what they fought for millenia ago. Armed with their battle axes, the undead knights attack. Gerald fireballs the dead knights, which Roscoe and Omok follows up with a channel positive energy. A rain of acid falls on the Coopers. Daryle and her sister Darelle drop a stream of arrows on the knights, and Roscoe and Omok unleash another channel positive energy, which drops all of the knights.
The room appears to be an ancient chapel. The stone furniture was not affected by Gerald's fireball, but the drapery hung on the north wall burned to ashes, revealing a flight of stairs and another door heading north. Roscoe successfully avoids a magical trap located on the top stair, but the prismatic spray hits Omok instead. Roscoe opens the door, and he finds a platform heading to the middle of a cylindrical room with no visible ceiling or floor. The howling winds shake the paladin. Roscoe ties a rope around a stone pew and around himself, then heads out on the platform. In a stroke of bad luck, the rope unties but Roscoe remains standing and reaches the center of the room.
He is greeted by an eerily voice that introduces itself as a devil. Ten thousand years ago, Nhur Athemon swore fealty to this devil, but as he grew powerful he forgot where his loyalties laid. Now the devil wants its revenge on the Azlanti who became a lich. He offers a wish to Roscoe in exchange for the lich's head and his phylactery. Roscoe questions where the phylactery could be found. The devil identifies it as the mechanical heart inside the leviathan. Roscoe motions to Omok to join him on the platform. With the winds having abated, the hobgoblin reaches the edge of the platform. Roscoe tells the devil they already have the heart, and after a short discussion Omok agrees to throw the Heart of Nhur Athemon into the abyss. The deal made, the platform pivots and reaches a hidden door in the East wall. Roscoe and Omok go through the door.
Meanwhile, the triplets and their Azlanti allies returns to the main room, looking for another path. Darelle places the other eye in the other statue's base, and it slides open, revealing another passage. The party enters a workshop filled with clockwork parts. As they carefully search among the wreckage for anything of value, they are attacked by animated parts. The Coopers quickly defeat the constructs. Gerald finds scrolls of expeditious retreat and of obscuring mist. Darelle discovers an alchemical silver dagger +2, while Daryle lays her hands on a headband of vast intellect +2 made of fine pink feathers and featuring a bouncing wooden flamingo mounted on springs on either side.
As Roscoe and Omok enter the room, they realize they have stumbled upon Nhur Athemon's throne room. Standing on a balcony, they see Nhur Athemon in full undead splendor, sitting on a throne carved into the Emerald Spire, facing away from them. Eight undead nobles stand before him. His throne slowly pivots and soon the two Hellknights are face to face with the lich. Athemon welcomes them, and tells them he has been following their exploits. Seeking new servants to lead his armies to defeat and enslave the outside world, he offers them a bargain. In exchange for them swearing fealty in a ritual, he will provide them with enhanced abilities. Roscoe and Omok debate the pros and cons of accepting such an offer, but eventually agree that this is the wisest course of action, firstly because they are unlikely to be able to defeat the lich by themselves, and secondly because they would enjoy being more powerful. Roscoe hopes that his deity will forgive him his trespass.
Roscoe is the first to participate in the ritual. A noble brings Roscoe a blade of pure silver. The Hellknight pricks his finger, and a drop of blood falls onto the Spire. Immediately tendrils of green smoke rise, and bind Roscoe as he swears fealty. He suddenly feels stronger and more nimble on his feet, as well as incredibly blessed with fast healing [+2 temporary modifier to Strength, +2 temporary modifier to natural AC, temporary +10 fast healing per round]. Omok follows suit. The hobgoblin also bargains for the ability to read the Book of the Damned he found a while back. Athemon grants him this ability, and soon Omok becomes smarter and embued with the ability to control some undead. Unfortunately, this is accompanied with a slide into insanity. Both Roscoe and Omok also experience an alignment shift of one step towards evil.
As a rewards for his loyalty, Athemon summons the Mistress of Thorns, who appears next to his throne. He paralyzes her, and offers her head to Roscoe. Roscoe swings his sword and with one mighty blow decapitates the Mistress of Thorns. Thus ends her hold on his soul, something that had weight heavily on the paladin.
This is the exact moment that Daryle opens the door from the workshop into the throne room. She sees Nhur Athemon sitting on his throne, surrounded by his undead nobles, with Roscoe holding the Mistress of Thorns' head in his hand and a weapon in the other, while Omok looks bemused. She wisely closes the door and reports to Darelle and Gerald. Roscoe and Omok soon come through the door, and the paladin has some explaining to do. He attempts to justify himself to his siblings, telling them that he has found a way to save Fort Inevitable from the menaces that threaten the town,
but soon the sisters decide to leave their brother, and they pursue their exploration of the dungeon.
Daryle and Darelle return to the stone chapel, and decide to investigate the door in the opposite hallway. They barely get it opened that a nightmarish vision stands in front of them. Undead yet animated by evil, a humanoid very much resembling the statue of the Lady Estrekan of Almorain Blue, Knight Commandant of the Western Star that they discovered in the hallway, immediately attacks. This fearsome vision scares Darelle out of her wits, and she runs away, only to fall victim to the prismatic spray trap in the stone chapel. Luckily, she is transported back home, right at the foot of her bed. Daryle, meanwhile, is not so lucky and suffers a crippling hit that drops her down. Her last vision before passing out is that of the Lady Estrekan methodically walking away from her.
Back with the remaining Coopers, Gerald decides to pursue his exploration, and he stumbles upon a room in a circular shape with white walls. There he meets a strange bird-like creature. In an extremely condescending tone, the jyoti informs Gerald that he is here to fulfill one of his requests. Gerald asks it to find his sisters. The jyoti departs, and returns a few minutes later with the corpse ... of a female knight previously encountered and killed in the stone chapel. Gerald takes greater care to describe his sisters. The jyoti rolls its eyes, but leaves again. It returns a few minutes later with Daryle, and tells Gerald that trouble is coming before he vanishes. Gerald heals his sister just as Lady Estrekan steps in the room. Daryle pretends to be still dead, and Gerald is swiftly defeated.
The Lady departs, and Daryle heals her brother. Meanwhile, the Lady Estrekan enters the other room, and confronts Omok and Roscoe. Omok suffers the same fate as Darelle and runs away in an irrational fear. Roscoe confronts the fell knight, but he too bites the dust in a combat quickly concluded. Fortunately for him, he heals quickly and returns to the world of the living a few minutes later.
Daryle and Gerald discover their brother, and they decide they have had enough. Gerald casts dimension door, and the party leaves the level.
Omok eventually recovers his wits, only to discover that he has been abandoned by the Coopers. Fortunately Gerald returns once more, and with Omok they depart. The Coopers return to Fort Inevitable, where they are reunited with Darelle.
With the magical doors now closed, the Coopers minus Thorne are reunited again , but they find themselves once again locked in a hostile dungeon. As there appears not to be any exits except for the closed door, Darelle searches for secret doors. She quickly discovers that the statue next the west wall features a spot for a key in a similar shape to the leviathan's eye. She retrieves the crystal eye, and inserts in the statue. The entire statue and its pedestal slides silently over, revealing a secret passage.
The party enters the hallway, followed by the four Azlants. Daryle listens to the southern door, and hears nothing. At the other door, Roscoe can hear some chanting drifting from the other side. It appears more than four people are conducting some sort of ritual. Omok barges through the door. Twelve knights of the ioun star in their ancient garbs have been brought back to life in a hideous mockery of what they fought for millenia ago. Armed with their battle axes, the undead knights attack. Gerald fireballs the dead knights, which Roscoe and Omok follows up with a channel positive energy. A rain of acid falls on the Coopers. Daryle and her sister Darelle drop a stream of arrows on the knights, and Roscoe and Omok unleash another channel positive energy, which drops all of the knights.
The room appears to be an ancient chapel. The stone furniture was not affected by Gerald's fireball, but the drapery hung on the north wall burned to ashes, revealing a flight of stairs and another door heading north. Roscoe successfully avoids a magical trap located on the top stair, but the prismatic spray hits Omok instead. Roscoe opens the door, and he finds a platform heading to the middle of a cylindrical room with no visible ceiling or floor. The howling winds shake the paladin. Roscoe ties a rope around a stone pew and around himself, then heads out on the platform. In a stroke of bad luck, the rope unties but Roscoe remains standing and reaches the center of the room.
He is greeted by an eerily voice that introduces itself as a devil. Ten thousand years ago, Nhur Athemon swore fealty to this devil, but as he grew powerful he forgot where his loyalties laid. Now the devil wants its revenge on the Azlanti who became a lich. He offers a wish to Roscoe in exchange for the lich's head and his phylactery. Roscoe questions where the phylactery could be found. The devil identifies it as the mechanical heart inside the leviathan. Roscoe motions to Omok to join him on the platform. With the winds having abated, the hobgoblin reaches the edge of the platform. Roscoe tells the devil they already have the heart, and after a short discussion Omok agrees to throw the Heart of Nhur Athemon into the abyss. The deal made, the platform pivots and reaches a hidden door in the East wall. Roscoe and Omok go through the door.
Meanwhile, the triplets and their Azlanti allies returns to the main room, looking for another path. Darelle places the other eye in the other statue's base, and it slides open, revealing another passage. The party enters a workshop filled with clockwork parts. As they carefully search among the wreckage for anything of value, they are attacked by animated parts. The Coopers quickly defeat the constructs. Gerald finds scrolls of expeditious retreat and of obscuring mist. Darelle discovers an alchemical silver dagger +2, while Daryle lays her hands on a headband of vast intellect +2 made of fine pink feathers and featuring a bouncing wooden flamingo mounted on springs on either side.
As Roscoe and Omok enter the room, they realize they have stumbled upon Nhur Athemon's throne room. Standing on a balcony, they see Nhur Athemon in full undead splendor, sitting on a throne carved into the Emerald Spire, facing away from them. Eight undead nobles stand before him. His throne slowly pivots and soon the two Hellknights are face to face with the lich. Athemon welcomes them, and tells them he has been following their exploits. Seeking new servants to lead his armies to defeat and enslave the outside world, he offers them a bargain. In exchange for them swearing fealty in a ritual, he will provide them with enhanced abilities. Roscoe and Omok debate the pros and cons of accepting such an offer, but eventually agree that this is the wisest course of action, firstly because they are unlikely to be able to defeat the lich by themselves, and secondly because they would enjoy being more powerful. Roscoe hopes that his deity will forgive him his trespass.
Roscoe is the first to participate in the ritual. A noble brings Roscoe a blade of pure silver. The Hellknight pricks his finger, and a drop of blood falls onto the Spire. Immediately tendrils of green smoke rise, and bind Roscoe as he swears fealty. He suddenly feels stronger and more nimble on his feet, as well as incredibly blessed with fast healing [+2 temporary modifier to Strength, +2 temporary modifier to natural AC, temporary +10 fast healing per round]. Omok follows suit. The hobgoblin also bargains for the ability to read the Book of the Damned he found a while back. Athemon grants him this ability, and soon Omok becomes smarter and embued with the ability to control some undead. Unfortunately, this is accompanied with a slide into insanity. Both Roscoe and Omok also experience an alignment shift of one step towards evil.
As a rewards for his loyalty, Athemon summons the Mistress of Thorns, who appears next to his throne. He paralyzes her, and offers her head to Roscoe. Roscoe swings his sword and with one mighty blow decapitates the Mistress of Thorns. Thus ends her hold on his soul, something that had weight heavily on the paladin.
This is the exact moment that Daryle opens the door from the workshop into the throne room. She sees Nhur Athemon sitting on his throne, surrounded by his undead nobles, with Roscoe holding the Mistress of Thorns' head in his hand and a weapon in the other, while Omok looks bemused. She wisely closes the door and reports to Darelle and Gerald. Roscoe and Omok soon come through the door, and the paladin has some explaining to do. He attempts to justify himself to his siblings, telling them that he has found a way to save Fort Inevitable from the menaces that threaten the town,
but soon the sisters decide to leave their brother, and they pursue their exploration of the dungeon.
Daryle and Darelle return to the stone chapel, and decide to investigate the door in the opposite hallway. They barely get it opened that a nightmarish vision stands in front of them. Undead yet animated by evil, a humanoid very much resembling the statue of the Lady Estrekan of Almorain Blue, Knight Commandant of the Western Star that they discovered in the hallway, immediately attacks. This fearsome vision scares Darelle out of her wits, and she runs away, only to fall victim to the prismatic spray trap in the stone chapel. Luckily, she is transported back home, right at the foot of her bed. Daryle, meanwhile, is not so lucky and suffers a crippling hit that drops her down. Her last vision before passing out is that of the Lady Estrekan methodically walking away from her.
Back with the remaining Coopers, Gerald decides to pursue his exploration, and he stumbles upon a room in a circular shape with white walls. There he meets a strange bird-like creature. In an extremely condescending tone, the jyoti informs Gerald that he is here to fulfill one of his requests. Gerald asks it to find his sisters. The jyoti departs, and returns a few minutes later with the corpse ... of a female knight previously encountered and killed in the stone chapel. Gerald takes greater care to describe his sisters. The jyoti rolls its eyes, but leaves again. It returns a few minutes later with Daryle, and tells Gerald that trouble is coming before he vanishes. Gerald heals his sister just as Lady Estrekan steps in the room. Daryle pretends to be still dead, and Gerald is swiftly defeated.
The Lady departs, and Daryle heals her brother. Meanwhile, the Lady Estrekan enters the other room, and confronts Omok and Roscoe. Omok suffers the same fate as Darelle and runs away in an irrational fear. Roscoe confronts the fell knight, but he too bites the dust in a combat quickly concluded. Fortunately for him, he heals quickly and returns to the world of the living a few minutes later.
Daryle and Gerald discover their brother, and they decide they have had enough. Gerald casts dimension door, and the party leaves the level.
Omok eventually recovers his wits, only to discover that he has been abandoned by the Coopers. Fortunately Gerald returns once more, and with Omok they depart. The Coopers return to Fort Inevitable, where they are reunited with Darelle.
Friday, January 27, 2017
A visit to the Pleasure Gardens
Gozran 2, 4712
Returning from the Emerald Spire, Omok reports to Roscoe that he met the Mistress of Thorns. He explains to him what "deal" he made with her. Roscoe philosophically ponders whether he should suffer death, then be resurrected, and whether by doing so the Mistress would be able to claim his soul. He questions Omok as a priest, and Omok replies that his god would not allow Roscoe's soul to be claimed.
Roscoe decides to seek a second opinion. He reflects on what he learned as a paladin and he clearly remembers missing that specific lesson in paladin school due to a heavy bout of drinking the night before.
Seeking answers to his questions, Roscoe and the Cooper sisters visits Abernard Royst. There he finds the old wizard hard at work with Gerald. He questions Abernard on devil lore and how one can remove a tether from one's soul to the devil. Abernard reports that there are several options, including contact an infernal lawyer friend of his in Daggermark to find a loop hole in the contract that binds the soul. Another option is to invoke the little known right to annul the contract by single combat.
Roscoe then asks Abernard about creating a phylactery and placing his soul in it. Abernard informs him that in theory one should be able to do so and avoid a devil's claim. However, he says, there is a risk that the ritual required to effect this change could go wrong, causing the individual to transform into a lich. Roscoe is intrigued, but decides not to pursue this possibility at this time. Daryle reveals to Roscoe the history of the Shadowborn and the family curse as well as the fact that demon blood runs in their veins.
Faced with Omok's treachery and the tense situation in Fort Inevitable, the Coopers decide to head back to the Emerald Spire. Along the way Daryle tells them that if they come to doors with runes, they should prop them to keep them open. The Coopers enter the tunnel leading to the third level, then use the Spire transport token to travel down to the twelfth. They ride the elevator from the automaton factory and come out in a small room on the thirteenth level. Daryle spots a symbol of a skull head with a crown on a set of doors inscribed with runes in Azlant. She takes her spikes out of her bag. Omok translates the runes to a warning that an enemy of the Azlants has been sealed behind this door.
There are two armored statues in this room, and after careful examination Darelle notices their eyes are shifting and following their actions. The Coopers tie their legs and remove their weapons. They then place them on the dais by the elevator. Darelle looks for traps but finds none. Daryle then opens the doors. The statues do not move from their pedestals, and there isn't a monster right behind the doors. Daryle spikes the doors open.
The room beyond is a large cavern filled with exotic and strange plants. Darelle has never seen any of these. She begins picking up samples. Daryle finds tracks of creatures through the ground cover. Omok decides to explore the building to the south of the cavern. He opens the doors and steps into a theater. An imp appears, and soon a demonic orchestra begins to play. The music is absolutely terrifying, but because Omok's hearing is bad, he doesn't mind. Darelle follows the music, and closes the door, then returns to tell Roscoe and Daryle about the music room.
The group breaks up and begin to explore on their own. Roscoe goes to the bathhouse across a bridge over a swift flowing current. He finds two beautiful women, one nude in a bathtub filled with steam and bubbles, while the other washes her hair. There are two other tubs in this room. One is filled with mud, while the other one is empty and appears dirty. They begin to talk to Roscoe. He resists their charms and he manages to leave the bathhouse.
Darelle grabs more plant samples. Omok tires of the concert when nothing but bad music occurs, and he rejoins the party in the cavern. Stepping into a section of the cave from two different angles, both Daryle and Omok transform into a stone. Realizing this, Darelle and Roscoe manage to pull her out by using a rope. Looking for help, Darelle goes to the bathhouse. Two beautiful men are busy oiling their finely toned muscles. Darelle asks them for help, and after many tergiversations they finally agree to help the ranger.
Roscoe chisels the Orb of Command out of Omok's statue, and uses it. The Orb indicates that placing a stone statue in one of the tubs will transform it back. Roscoe relays the information to his sister and they manhandle Daryle's statue into the sweet scented tub and the statue begins to sink in the bubbles. Darelle and Roscoe make increasingly painful small talk with the men/women, while waiting for Daryle to return to life. They decide to speed up the process and they go retrieve Omok from the room. They place him in the empty tub for now, and they notice that he begins turning back to flesh. Confused, Darelle grabs Daryle by the legs and pulls her out of the tub. Unfortunately she only manages to get the legs out. Everything else has disappeared in the bath of acid!
Using the wand of resurrection's last charge, Roscoe brings Daryle back, and with Omok regaining consciousness they attack the succubus. They slay one of them, but the other one manages to escape. Since Omok got out early, however, he retains a certain amount of stone on his body, which increases his protection but slows him down.
Roscoe enters the cave where Omok and Daryle were turned to stone, and he spots an eye totem an instant before he's turned to stone. The sisters retrieve him, place him in the empty tub, and eventually Roscoe returns to flesh. Everyone returns to the room, and, carefully avoiding gazing at the eye totem, they destroy it. Darelle harvests a piece of the rainbow star flower, and feels an immediate connection with her deity. For once, she feels at peace in the world...
Returning from the Emerald Spire, Omok reports to Roscoe that he met the Mistress of Thorns. He explains to him what "deal" he made with her. Roscoe philosophically ponders whether he should suffer death, then be resurrected, and whether by doing so the Mistress would be able to claim his soul. He questions Omok as a priest, and Omok replies that his god would not allow Roscoe's soul to be claimed.
Roscoe decides to seek a second opinion. He reflects on what he learned as a paladin and he clearly remembers missing that specific lesson in paladin school due to a heavy bout of drinking the night before.
Seeking answers to his questions, Roscoe and the Cooper sisters visits Abernard Royst. There he finds the old wizard hard at work with Gerald. He questions Abernard on devil lore and how one can remove a tether from one's soul to the devil. Abernard reports that there are several options, including contact an infernal lawyer friend of his in Daggermark to find a loop hole in the contract that binds the soul. Another option is to invoke the little known right to annul the contract by single combat.
Roscoe then asks Abernard about creating a phylactery and placing his soul in it. Abernard informs him that in theory one should be able to do so and avoid a devil's claim. However, he says, there is a risk that the ritual required to effect this change could go wrong, causing the individual to transform into a lich. Roscoe is intrigued, but decides not to pursue this possibility at this time. Daryle reveals to Roscoe the history of the Shadowborn and the family curse as well as the fact that demon blood runs in their veins.
Faced with Omok's treachery and the tense situation in Fort Inevitable, the Coopers decide to head back to the Emerald Spire. Along the way Daryle tells them that if they come to doors with runes, they should prop them to keep them open. The Coopers enter the tunnel leading to the third level, then use the Spire transport token to travel down to the twelfth. They ride the elevator from the automaton factory and come out in a small room on the thirteenth level. Daryle spots a symbol of a skull head with a crown on a set of doors inscribed with runes in Azlant. She takes her spikes out of her bag. Omok translates the runes to a warning that an enemy of the Azlants has been sealed behind this door.
There are two armored statues in this room, and after careful examination Darelle notices their eyes are shifting and following their actions. The Coopers tie their legs and remove their weapons. They then place them on the dais by the elevator. Darelle looks for traps but finds none. Daryle then opens the doors. The statues do not move from their pedestals, and there isn't a monster right behind the doors. Daryle spikes the doors open.
The room beyond is a large cavern filled with exotic and strange plants. Darelle has never seen any of these. She begins picking up samples. Daryle finds tracks of creatures through the ground cover. Omok decides to explore the building to the south of the cavern. He opens the doors and steps into a theater. An imp appears, and soon a demonic orchestra begins to play. The music is absolutely terrifying, but because Omok's hearing is bad, he doesn't mind. Darelle follows the music, and closes the door, then returns to tell Roscoe and Daryle about the music room.
The group breaks up and begin to explore on their own. Roscoe goes to the bathhouse across a bridge over a swift flowing current. He finds two beautiful women, one nude in a bathtub filled with steam and bubbles, while the other washes her hair. There are two other tubs in this room. One is filled with mud, while the other one is empty and appears dirty. They begin to talk to Roscoe. He resists their charms and he manages to leave the bathhouse.
Darelle grabs more plant samples. Omok tires of the concert when nothing but bad music occurs, and he rejoins the party in the cavern. Stepping into a section of the cave from two different angles, both Daryle and Omok transform into a stone. Realizing this, Darelle and Roscoe manage to pull her out by using a rope. Looking for help, Darelle goes to the bathhouse. Two beautiful men are busy oiling their finely toned muscles. Darelle asks them for help, and after many tergiversations they finally agree to help the ranger.
Roscoe chisels the Orb of Command out of Omok's statue, and uses it. The Orb indicates that placing a stone statue in one of the tubs will transform it back. Roscoe relays the information to his sister and they manhandle Daryle's statue into the sweet scented tub and the statue begins to sink in the bubbles. Darelle and Roscoe make increasingly painful small talk with the men/women, while waiting for Daryle to return to life. They decide to speed up the process and they go retrieve Omok from the room. They place him in the empty tub for now, and they notice that he begins turning back to flesh. Confused, Darelle grabs Daryle by the legs and pulls her out of the tub. Unfortunately she only manages to get the legs out. Everything else has disappeared in the bath of acid!
Using the wand of resurrection's last charge, Roscoe brings Daryle back, and with Omok regaining consciousness they attack the succubus. They slay one of them, but the other one manages to escape. Since Omok got out early, however, he retains a certain amount of stone on his body, which increases his protection but slows him down.
Roscoe enters the cave where Omok and Daryle were turned to stone, and he spots an eye totem an instant before he's turned to stone. The sisters retrieve him, place him in the empty tub, and eventually Roscoe returns to flesh. Everyone returns to the room, and, carefully avoiding gazing at the eye totem, they destroy it. Darelle harvests a piece of the rainbow star flower, and feels an immediate connection with her deity. For once, she feels at peace in the world...
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Are the Coopers responding to chaos, or are they the cause?
Pharast 30, 4712
It's been twelve days since the Coopers have returned to Fort Inevitable following their confrontation with the automatons. They spend time replenishing their equipment, selling gems and other trinkets, and preparing a return to the Emerald Spire. Unfortunately, events conspire to prevent them from heading back today.
Roscoe is bruskly awakened by Maralictor Wirt early in the morning. She reports that the entire night guard at the Juliver Gate has been slaughtered between the 4th and 5th hour of the watch. No sound was heard, though there seems to have been several attempts at raising the alarm. As Roscoe rushes to dress, the Hellknight's Chancellor intercepts him and tells him that the treasury is empty. It will not be possible to meet the Hellknight payroll in two days' time. Finally, a representative of the civilian town council catches the Hellknight commander as he exits the Citadel and notifies him that all of the town water wells have either run dry overnight or have been contaminated by a strange waxy substance, making the water unfit for drinking purposes. Finally, as Roscoe meets his siblings along the way to the Juliver Gate, he notices that there are many newcomers in town who appear to not be doing very much. The arrival of over 2,000 workers to rebuild Fort Inevitable following a devastating fire has caused the population to swell, but now that most of the housing stock has been rebuilt, these newcomers seem to have become a nuisance.
Roscoe questions Thorne on the number of workers should stay and how many should go. Thorne answers that he's discovered a plot. His network of people reports that the laborers, who are not the most skilled, are actually part of a force looking to spread chaos throughout Fort Inevitable. They were sent here by enemies from Daggermark. He proposes mandatory conscription to attack the hill giants. Roscoe says that this is a genius move, but what would prevent the workers from just walking away or turning on the Hellknights? Thorne replies that if they acted switfly, this problem would disappear.
Daryle contacts the Hellknight Spymaster and requests information on this plot. The spymaster advises her that Thorne was responsible for hiring and paying the workers, and he selected the dredges of Daggermark. The spymaster has no proof, but he believes that Thorne was hoping to overthrow the Hellknights. Daryle informs Roscoe of her findings. Thorne points out that Roscoe and the Coopers were often gone in the last few months, yet the workers did not strike. Those must be rumors planned by enemies of Fort Inevitable.
Roscoe asks about the fighting value of these men. Hellknight officers report that all of them are of fighting age and seem to have some experience. Against the full contingent of Hellknights these men would not stand a chance, but if allied with another group, like an army of giants, a victory would not be assured.
While this conversation is taking place, Darelle obtains a leather armor +3 from the Hellknight armory but it will identify her as a Hellknight. She paints it to hide the colors but the symbols are still visible to the perceptive eye. Gerald, meanwhile, requests that a helmet be made to make his new horn appear to be part of this helmet and not his head. He shines it and sharpens it so it can be used as a weapon.
Tired of the discussion taking place in the Citadel, Omok storms off and decides to investigate the murders at the gate. The guards were clearly slaughtered with a piercing weapon and in order, one tower then the next. They appeared to have defended themselves, but neighbors and members of the night watch confirmed they heard nothing. Omok returns to the Citadel and reports this new information to Roscoe. The Hellknight and his entourage head back to Juliver Gate and investigate. Darelle does not find any new information on the town side of the gate, but on the outside Daryle finds a set of tracks that belong to an individual about 140 pounds. The cuts and trusts from the dead bodies indicate that the person who attacked the dead Hellknights was about 5'9'. Darelle uses her ranger abilities and speaks with the towers' resident pigeons. They confirm that the attacker was one humanoid, came from inside the town, slaughtered everyone on that side before jumping the wall and attacking the sentries outside. The person then climbed the wall. The birds also tell her that the person was very agile, almost like a cat.
Roscoe questions Maralictor Wirt as to whom inside the wall would have the skills necessary for accomplishing such a feat. Wirt replies that she doesn't know of anyone agile enough to successfully drop from the wall and then climb it back up again without the aid of magic, but as far as the manner of killing, Karlyle the Butcher certainly would be able to pull this off if he were so inclined. Roscoe decides to confront Karlyle, so the Coopers head to his shop. Even this early in the morning, the doors are opened and Karlyle stands inside, processing cuts of beef from this morning's slaughter. Roscoe and Omok stroll in and begin questioning the butcher. Omok successfully intimidates the man, who backs off towards a corner of the shop.
Just as Roscoe accuses Karlyle of killing the Hellknights at the Juliver Gate, a volley of arrows slam against all three inside the butcher's shop. Surprised, the other Coopers draw their weapons. The assault is coming from the roof of the third story building across the street from the butcher. Currently in construction, scaffolding surrounds the building on two sides. Roscoe throws himself against Karlyle to protect him. Gerald becomes invisible and flies upwards. Daryle fires off a volley of her own. Rowen uses his sleep spell and manages to incapacitate one of the attackers. More arrows fly down to the Coopers. Omok uses his ring of ram and collapses the building, while Gerald incinerates the ruins with a fireball. The surrounding buildings catch on fire but Darelle is able to put the fire out with a wall of wind. Roscoe uses his paladin's abilities to heal everyone in the group.
In the rubble of the building the Coopers find one of the attackers. The other two are missing. Roscoe interrogates the survivor, and quickly discovers that it is a demon. He decides to cart it off to the temple. Unfortunately, High Mother Sarise Dremagne informs the Hellknight Commander that she can't guarantee that the demon won't escape. Roscoe decides to keep custody of the demon in the prison of the Citadel under triple guard.
Darelle tells Dr. Mordel about what has happened around town in the last ten hours. He does not seem surprised. He tells her that the tensions are high in town with the foreign workers, and could boil over at any time.
The search for the missing two demons continue, but is fruitless.
Back at the Citadel, Thorne proposes a bold scheme for getting rid of the foreign worker problem. The Coopers will plant a fake map indicating that there is gold in the hills north of the Emerald Spire. Rowen will be sent in the hills, and return to Fort Inevitable the next day with a bag full of gold and the map. With a change in personality, Rowen will not remember that this is a set up and will be able to sell this idea to the ruffians. Ideally, all of them will depart Fort Inevitable. They may encounter the giants that are mustering in the hills, or at least act as a buffer between the two sides.
Roscoe approves the plan, and the wheels begin to turn.
Pharast 31, 4712
It's the end of the quarter, and several of the Coopers have set up businesses or work for other people. These are their statements for tax purposes:
All tax payments are made today, and there is enough money in the coffers to meet Hellknight payroll. Somehow Thorne has come through and located enough money to pay the troops. How did he do it? He returned to the Emerald Spire the day before and met with the Mistress of Thorns. In exchange for the gold he needed to replenish the Hellknights's coffers, he traded her the magical name of each level of the Spire. Then, he swore fealty to her and declared that henceforth he would become her agent within Fort Inevitable in exchange for a cloak of invisibility. He also promised her the souls of the Daggermark workers he so cleverly attracted to a deserted location.
Thorne's network also spreads the rumor among the guards and the public that Thorne was responsible for the rebuilding of the city. There wasn't enough money to pay wages, but somehow Thorne intervened and secured enough funds. He hopes this will buy him some goodwill in the city.
Omok departs Fort Inevitable for the Emerald Spire.
Gozran 1, 4712
In the morning, Thorne, disguised as a ruffian, rides into Fort Inevitable with another report that more gold was found. The remaining ruffians depart, along with several citizens. With the foreign threat now gone, Roscoe orders that all patrols be doubled. Orders are sent out to bring in as much food from surrounding areas while collecting as much water as possible. In two days' time Fort Inevitable's gates will be closed. The Hellknights are also now required to keep a record of who comes and goes, and only taxpayers are allowed to enter Fort Inevitable.
Omok enters the Emerald Spire and meets with the Mistress of Thorns. In exchange for information on the assassin he will perform a service for her. Omok reveals to him that the individual behind the attack is Nagal Imban, someone of considerable means since he or she was able to take control of three demons and order them. The Mistress of Thorns reveals that she knows of Nagal Imban but has nothing to add at this time. In exchange for this, she requires that Omok assassinate Roscoe within the next two weeks. Omok agrees to commit the dastardly deed.
It's been twelve days since the Coopers have returned to Fort Inevitable following their confrontation with the automatons. They spend time replenishing their equipment, selling gems and other trinkets, and preparing a return to the Emerald Spire. Unfortunately, events conspire to prevent them from heading back today.
Roscoe is bruskly awakened by Maralictor Wirt early in the morning. She reports that the entire night guard at the Juliver Gate has been slaughtered between the 4th and 5th hour of the watch. No sound was heard, though there seems to have been several attempts at raising the alarm. As Roscoe rushes to dress, the Hellknight's Chancellor intercepts him and tells him that the treasury is empty. It will not be possible to meet the Hellknight payroll in two days' time. Finally, a representative of the civilian town council catches the Hellknight commander as he exits the Citadel and notifies him that all of the town water wells have either run dry overnight or have been contaminated by a strange waxy substance, making the water unfit for drinking purposes. Finally, as Roscoe meets his siblings along the way to the Juliver Gate, he notices that there are many newcomers in town who appear to not be doing very much. The arrival of over 2,000 workers to rebuild Fort Inevitable following a devastating fire has caused the population to swell, but now that most of the housing stock has been rebuilt, these newcomers seem to have become a nuisance.
Roscoe questions Thorne on the number of workers should stay and how many should go. Thorne answers that he's discovered a plot. His network of people reports that the laborers, who are not the most skilled, are actually part of a force looking to spread chaos throughout Fort Inevitable. They were sent here by enemies from Daggermark. He proposes mandatory conscription to attack the hill giants. Roscoe says that this is a genius move, but what would prevent the workers from just walking away or turning on the Hellknights? Thorne replies that if they acted switfly, this problem would disappear.
Daryle contacts the Hellknight Spymaster and requests information on this plot. The spymaster advises her that Thorne was responsible for hiring and paying the workers, and he selected the dredges of Daggermark. The spymaster has no proof, but he believes that Thorne was hoping to overthrow the Hellknights. Daryle informs Roscoe of her findings. Thorne points out that Roscoe and the Coopers were often gone in the last few months, yet the workers did not strike. Those must be rumors planned by enemies of Fort Inevitable.
Roscoe asks about the fighting value of these men. Hellknight officers report that all of them are of fighting age and seem to have some experience. Against the full contingent of Hellknights these men would not stand a chance, but if allied with another group, like an army of giants, a victory would not be assured.
While this conversation is taking place, Darelle obtains a leather armor +3 from the Hellknight armory but it will identify her as a Hellknight. She paints it to hide the colors but the symbols are still visible to the perceptive eye. Gerald, meanwhile, requests that a helmet be made to make his new horn appear to be part of this helmet and not his head. He shines it and sharpens it so it can be used as a weapon.
Tired of the discussion taking place in the Citadel, Omok storms off and decides to investigate the murders at the gate. The guards were clearly slaughtered with a piercing weapon and in order, one tower then the next. They appeared to have defended themselves, but neighbors and members of the night watch confirmed they heard nothing. Omok returns to the Citadel and reports this new information to Roscoe. The Hellknight and his entourage head back to Juliver Gate and investigate. Darelle does not find any new information on the town side of the gate, but on the outside Daryle finds a set of tracks that belong to an individual about 140 pounds. The cuts and trusts from the dead bodies indicate that the person who attacked the dead Hellknights was about 5'9'. Darelle uses her ranger abilities and speaks with the towers' resident pigeons. They confirm that the attacker was one humanoid, came from inside the town, slaughtered everyone on that side before jumping the wall and attacking the sentries outside. The person then climbed the wall. The birds also tell her that the person was very agile, almost like a cat.
Roscoe questions Maralictor Wirt as to whom inside the wall would have the skills necessary for accomplishing such a feat. Wirt replies that she doesn't know of anyone agile enough to successfully drop from the wall and then climb it back up again without the aid of magic, but as far as the manner of killing, Karlyle the Butcher certainly would be able to pull this off if he were so inclined. Roscoe decides to confront Karlyle, so the Coopers head to his shop. Even this early in the morning, the doors are opened and Karlyle stands inside, processing cuts of beef from this morning's slaughter. Roscoe and Omok stroll in and begin questioning the butcher. Omok successfully intimidates the man, who backs off towards a corner of the shop.
Just as Roscoe accuses Karlyle of killing the Hellknights at the Juliver Gate, a volley of arrows slam against all three inside the butcher's shop. Surprised, the other Coopers draw their weapons. The assault is coming from the roof of the third story building across the street from the butcher. Currently in construction, scaffolding surrounds the building on two sides. Roscoe throws himself against Karlyle to protect him. Gerald becomes invisible and flies upwards. Daryle fires off a volley of her own. Rowen uses his sleep spell and manages to incapacitate one of the attackers. More arrows fly down to the Coopers. Omok uses his ring of ram and collapses the building, while Gerald incinerates the ruins with a fireball. The surrounding buildings catch on fire but Darelle is able to put the fire out with a wall of wind. Roscoe uses his paladin's abilities to heal everyone in the group.
In the rubble of the building the Coopers find one of the attackers. The other two are missing. Roscoe interrogates the survivor, and quickly discovers that it is a demon. He decides to cart it off to the temple. Unfortunately, High Mother Sarise Dremagne informs the Hellknight Commander that she can't guarantee that the demon won't escape. Roscoe decides to keep custody of the demon in the prison of the Citadel under triple guard.
Darelle tells Dr. Mordel about what has happened around town in the last ten hours. He does not seem surprised. He tells her that the tensions are high in town with the foreign workers, and could boil over at any time.
The search for the missing two demons continue, but is fruitless.
Back at the Citadel, Thorne proposes a bold scheme for getting rid of the foreign worker problem. The Coopers will plant a fake map indicating that there is gold in the hills north of the Emerald Spire. Rowen will be sent in the hills, and return to Fort Inevitable the next day with a bag full of gold and the map. With a change in personality, Rowen will not remember that this is a set up and will be able to sell this idea to the ruffians. Ideally, all of them will depart Fort Inevitable. They may encounter the giants that are mustering in the hills, or at least act as a buffer between the two sides.
Roscoe approves the plan, and the wheels begin to turn.
Pharast 31, 4712
It's the end of the quarter, and several of the Coopers have set up businesses or work for other people. These are their statements for tax purposes:
- Gerald's message delivery business and his Hellknight wages earned him 62 crowns after expenses.
- Daryle's hunting has earned her 43 crowns after expenses.
- Darelle's employment with Dr. Mordel and Mother Holworth, as well as her herb business earned her 51 crowns after expenses.
- Thorne's general store earned him 139 crowns after expenses.
- Roscoe earned 1,200 crowns as Hellknight Commander.
All tax payments are made today, and there is enough money in the coffers to meet Hellknight payroll. Somehow Thorne has come through and located enough money to pay the troops. How did he do it? He returned to the Emerald Spire the day before and met with the Mistress of Thorns. In exchange for the gold he needed to replenish the Hellknights's coffers, he traded her the magical name of each level of the Spire. Then, he swore fealty to her and declared that henceforth he would become her agent within Fort Inevitable in exchange for a cloak of invisibility. He also promised her the souls of the Daggermark workers he so cleverly attracted to a deserted location.
Thorne's network also spreads the rumor among the guards and the public that Thorne was responsible for the rebuilding of the city. There wasn't enough money to pay wages, but somehow Thorne intervened and secured enough funds. He hopes this will buy him some goodwill in the city.
Omok departs Fort Inevitable for the Emerald Spire.
Gozran 1, 4712
In the morning, Thorne, disguised as a ruffian, rides into Fort Inevitable with another report that more gold was found. The remaining ruffians depart, along with several citizens. With the foreign threat now gone, Roscoe orders that all patrols be doubled. Orders are sent out to bring in as much food from surrounding areas while collecting as much water as possible. In two days' time Fort Inevitable's gates will be closed. The Hellknights are also now required to keep a record of who comes and goes, and only taxpayers are allowed to enter Fort Inevitable.
Omok enters the Emerald Spire and meets with the Mistress of Thorns. In exchange for information on the assassin he will perform a service for her. Omok reveals to him that the individual behind the attack is Nagal Imban, someone of considerable means since he or she was able to take control of three demons and order them. The Mistress of Thorns reveals that she knows of Nagal Imban but has nothing to add at this time. In exchange for this, she requires that Omok assassinate Roscoe within the next two weeks. Omok agrees to commit the dastardly deed.
Friday, October 14, 2016
If you ain't got your health ...
Pharast 4, 4712
Following their fight with Yarrix, the Coopers and their henchmen spent the night waiting for Rowen, as he surely will come out of the temporal trap. Eventually, in the early hours of what they think is the morning, Rowen returns, exhausted from all the running.
Roscoe advises the rest of the party that he will remain behind with Omok and Iomane to consecrate this space. They will remain in this room while the Coopers continue exploring.
Entering in the next room, Thorne opens the door and discovers that the whole room itself is a giant trap designed to drop oil and ignite the room, and its occupants, when the far door is opened. Clearly it was thought that attackers would come from the east. Gerald suggests they open the door to set off the trap by hooking a rope to the door and then pulling it open. Thorne retorts it would be better to cast knock. Gerald says he has both knock and open, so he will cast a spell. Unfortunately for him, he steps back in Yarrix's sarcophagus room to protect himself and casts open, forgetting that any spell cast in the room also takes place there. The door opens, the trap triggers and the oil catches on fire. Gerald is flattened not by the explosion in the next room, but by the sarcophagus' lid, which opens up and smashes him.
After the Coopers dig Gerald from under the ruined stone pieces, Darelle, Gerald and Rowen decide to go through the exploded room and check out the door they just opened. Daryle and Thorne, for their part, head back into the main room with the fountain and begin looking for secret doors, suspecting that this room should connect with the area currently being explored by the other members of the party.
Gerald discovers that the next room is a large circular hole, with hand and feet holes strategically placed around the curving wall to allow a person to carefully climb across. The sorcerer begins to move on the northern wall, but then he stirs up some type of cave birds. Gerald backs up and lets a fireball loose in the room. Stepping back into the room, they see that the birds have been vaporized. Gerald begins crossing the room again. In one of the hand holes he discovers a pair of gauntlets. As he reached to grab them, a large bebilith, unnoticed by the party, slitters from higher in the room and silently drops on the sorcerer. Her sting immediately paralyses him and he is unable to scream and let his sister and Rowen know he's being attacked. Darelle, for her part, is looking at the pit and wondering how deep it goes, while Rowen is busy examining the mechanism that triggered the trap in the other room.
While this is happening, Thorne and Daryle check for secrets doors, and the rogue finds one. Entering the room, they discover there are two mummies and an emerald automaton who engage. Upon departing the room, however, they all stop fighting and return to their positions. The Coopers devise a clever strategy to start a series of fire and are eventually able to destroy the creatures and disable the automaton.
Back in the room with the hole, the spider continues to attack Gerald who, even in his misfortune manages to hang on to the wall and the gloves as he passes out, surely due to being fully rigid. Rowen notices Gerald and the large spider munching on him, and he immediately attacks. Darelle follow Rowen and begins to help her brother. The fighting is hard, but eventually the Coopers triumph over the spider. Its corpse drops down in the pit, then drops again from the ceiling. As it continues to drop, it becomes progressively more crushed. If Gerald had fallen, he would have died. Rowen casts fly, and he gently retrieves Gerald's unconscious body from the hand holds. He sees the sorcerer clutching the gauntlets, so he retrieves them and places them in his own bag.
Thorne and Daryle follow the path and enter the pit room from the other side. They carefully cross over the pit. Daryle heals Gerald. Coming back to life, the sorcerer notices that his gauntlets are missing. Rowen and Gerald almost come to blows, but eventually Gerald recuperates the gauntlets.
Exploring the holes, Darelle finds 150 crowns as well as two emerald teeth of fine craftmanship. These coins appear to be Azlanti in origin.
The party returns to see Roscoe. Gerald announces he's got a great plan. Having suffered a catastrophic drop in Constitution, he will kill himself and Roscoe can use the wand of resurrection to bring him back to life. Roscoe says no, he can't abide such a decision. Gerald will have to find a different solution to his problem.
The Coopers decide to return to Fort Inevitable to help Gerald recuperate. Having defeated Yarrix, the seals to the outside doors have been broken, and they are able to leave. Gerald gives Darelle the wand of shield (22 charges), and the party treks back to Fort Inevitable.
Pharast 5, 4712
After a good night's rest, the Coopers go about their various activities. Gerald meets Cassandra on the road to town and she pointedly ignores him.Thorne was successful in acquiring the devil's caravan, and he puts out the word among the upper echelons of the Hellknights that the Mistress of Thorns have failed to provide the food she promised. He also spreads the rumor that the Hellknights have failed to provide the food but he will. The plan is to borrow more money and increase taxes at tax time but food will be on the table tomorrow.
Rowen meets Dr. Mordel and discusses his current phobia.The good doctor tells him that there isn't much he can do for him, as the wizard would be better off with a mental health specialist. He will need to learn how to deal with his own issues. Darelle visit Falandra Nolm and gets news from Abernard. The old man sent her a letter recently stating he had found the rare flower he was seeking in Belfroy and he was on his way back. She also consults the book seller on the emerald teeth. Falandra tells Darelle that these are genuine, and worth much to the right collector.
Seeking a solution to his problems, Gerald visits the temple, where he is not so kindly turned away. He also visits Falandra and offers her mummy wrapping for spell components. He then hobbles to Dr. Mordel, hoping the good doctor will be able to help him. Unfortunately, Mordel also tells him he wants nothing to do with this activity. But assuming that he would participate, Mordel outlines how he would go about removing the aberration in Gerald's chest.
Armed with this knowledge, Gerald gets the wand of resurrection back and makes a deal with Rowen to meet him at the wizard's cottage where Rowen will operate on him. On his way there, Gerald runs into Cassandra again, but this time she seems happy to see him. She asks him if she can come with him, but he declines.
Gerald heads with Rowen to the latter's cottage and they go in the basement. In a very gruesome procedure, Rowen cuts a strange slimy green creature from Gerald's chest while he's still alive, then he kills him. For a few moments Rowen toys with the idea of not bringing Gerald back, but in the end he uses the wand of resurrection and brings Gerald back. Now healthy again, Gerald brings the aberration to Dr. Mordel, but he also keeps several samples for his own personal use. Over the next few weeks Gerald plans on studying this creature with the good doctor.
Pharast 6, 4712
A caravan of four wagons arrive in Fort Inevitable. The simple food stuff is distributed to the starving people, but all of the best food is visibly delivered to the Citadel, per Thorne's orders. The people grumble.
Gerald presents himself at the Temple of the Golden Key to conduct a banishment ritual. He lays down on comfortable bed and for twelve hours the priestess and her disciples sing a lyrical prayer. Upon the conclusion of the ritual, Gerald's creature is banished.
Pharast 9, 4712
Daryle and Darelle get their seeds ready for the garden at Shadowborn Manor. Spring should be coming any day now...
Following their fight with Yarrix, the Coopers and their henchmen spent the night waiting for Rowen, as he surely will come out of the temporal trap. Eventually, in the early hours of what they think is the morning, Rowen returns, exhausted from all the running.
Roscoe advises the rest of the party that he will remain behind with Omok and Iomane to consecrate this space. They will remain in this room while the Coopers continue exploring.
Entering in the next room, Thorne opens the door and discovers that the whole room itself is a giant trap designed to drop oil and ignite the room, and its occupants, when the far door is opened. Clearly it was thought that attackers would come from the east. Gerald suggests they open the door to set off the trap by hooking a rope to the door and then pulling it open. Thorne retorts it would be better to cast knock. Gerald says he has both knock and open, so he will cast a spell. Unfortunately for him, he steps back in Yarrix's sarcophagus room to protect himself and casts open, forgetting that any spell cast in the room also takes place there. The door opens, the trap triggers and the oil catches on fire. Gerald is flattened not by the explosion in the next room, but by the sarcophagus' lid, which opens up and smashes him.
After the Coopers dig Gerald from under the ruined stone pieces, Darelle, Gerald and Rowen decide to go through the exploded room and check out the door they just opened. Daryle and Thorne, for their part, head back into the main room with the fountain and begin looking for secret doors, suspecting that this room should connect with the area currently being explored by the other members of the party.
Gerald discovers that the next room is a large circular hole, with hand and feet holes strategically placed around the curving wall to allow a person to carefully climb across. The sorcerer begins to move on the northern wall, but then he stirs up some type of cave birds. Gerald backs up and lets a fireball loose in the room. Stepping back into the room, they see that the birds have been vaporized. Gerald begins crossing the room again. In one of the hand holes he discovers a pair of gauntlets. As he reached to grab them, a large bebilith, unnoticed by the party, slitters from higher in the room and silently drops on the sorcerer. Her sting immediately paralyses him and he is unable to scream and let his sister and Rowen know he's being attacked. Darelle, for her part, is looking at the pit and wondering how deep it goes, while Rowen is busy examining the mechanism that triggered the trap in the other room.
While this is happening, Thorne and Daryle check for secrets doors, and the rogue finds one. Entering the room, they discover there are two mummies and an emerald automaton who engage. Upon departing the room, however, they all stop fighting and return to their positions. The Coopers devise a clever strategy to start a series of fire and are eventually able to destroy the creatures and disable the automaton.
Back in the room with the hole, the spider continues to attack Gerald who, even in his misfortune manages to hang on to the wall and the gloves as he passes out, surely due to being fully rigid. Rowen notices Gerald and the large spider munching on him, and he immediately attacks. Darelle follow Rowen and begins to help her brother. The fighting is hard, but eventually the Coopers triumph over the spider. Its corpse drops down in the pit, then drops again from the ceiling. As it continues to drop, it becomes progressively more crushed. If Gerald had fallen, he would have died. Rowen casts fly, and he gently retrieves Gerald's unconscious body from the hand holds. He sees the sorcerer clutching the gauntlets, so he retrieves them and places them in his own bag.
Thorne and Daryle follow the path and enter the pit room from the other side. They carefully cross over the pit. Daryle heals Gerald. Coming back to life, the sorcerer notices that his gauntlets are missing. Rowen and Gerald almost come to blows, but eventually Gerald recuperates the gauntlets.
Exploring the holes, Darelle finds 150 crowns as well as two emerald teeth of fine craftmanship. These coins appear to be Azlanti in origin.
The party returns to see Roscoe. Gerald announces he's got a great plan. Having suffered a catastrophic drop in Constitution, he will kill himself and Roscoe can use the wand of resurrection to bring him back to life. Roscoe says no, he can't abide such a decision. Gerald will have to find a different solution to his problem.
The Coopers decide to return to Fort Inevitable to help Gerald recuperate. Having defeated Yarrix, the seals to the outside doors have been broken, and they are able to leave. Gerald gives Darelle the wand of shield (22 charges), and the party treks back to Fort Inevitable.
Pharast 5, 4712
After a good night's rest, the Coopers go about their various activities. Gerald meets Cassandra on the road to town and she pointedly ignores him.Thorne was successful in acquiring the devil's caravan, and he puts out the word among the upper echelons of the Hellknights that the Mistress of Thorns have failed to provide the food she promised. He also spreads the rumor that the Hellknights have failed to provide the food but he will. The plan is to borrow more money and increase taxes at tax time but food will be on the table tomorrow.
Rowen meets Dr. Mordel and discusses his current phobia.The good doctor tells him that there isn't much he can do for him, as the wizard would be better off with a mental health specialist. He will need to learn how to deal with his own issues. Darelle visit Falandra Nolm and gets news from Abernard. The old man sent her a letter recently stating he had found the rare flower he was seeking in Belfroy and he was on his way back. She also consults the book seller on the emerald teeth. Falandra tells Darelle that these are genuine, and worth much to the right collector.
Seeking a solution to his problems, Gerald visits the temple, where he is not so kindly turned away. He also visits Falandra and offers her mummy wrapping for spell components. He then hobbles to Dr. Mordel, hoping the good doctor will be able to help him. Unfortunately, Mordel also tells him he wants nothing to do with this activity. But assuming that he would participate, Mordel outlines how he would go about removing the aberration in Gerald's chest.
Armed with this knowledge, Gerald gets the wand of resurrection back and makes a deal with Rowen to meet him at the wizard's cottage where Rowen will operate on him. On his way there, Gerald runs into Cassandra again, but this time she seems happy to see him. She asks him if she can come with him, but he declines.
Gerald heads with Rowen to the latter's cottage and they go in the basement. In a very gruesome procedure, Rowen cuts a strange slimy green creature from Gerald's chest while he's still alive, then he kills him. For a few moments Rowen toys with the idea of not bringing Gerald back, but in the end he uses the wand of resurrection and brings Gerald back. Now healthy again, Gerald brings the aberration to Dr. Mordel, but he also keeps several samples for his own personal use. Over the next few weeks Gerald plans on studying this creature with the good doctor.
Pharast 6, 4712
A caravan of four wagons arrive in Fort Inevitable. The simple food stuff is distributed to the starving people, but all of the best food is visibly delivered to the Citadel, per Thorne's orders. The people grumble.
Gerald presents himself at the Temple of the Golden Key to conduct a banishment ritual. He lays down on comfortable bed and for twelve hours the priestess and her disciples sing a lyrical prayer. Upon the conclusion of the ritual, Gerald's creature is banished.
Pharast 9, 4712
Daryle and Darelle get their seeds ready for the garden at Shadowborn Manor. Spring should be coming any day now...
Friday, August 5, 2016
Thorne, dragon slayer!
Calistril 28, 4712
It has been two days since most of Fort Inevitable was destroyed in a magical fire. The town is still reeling with the lack of shelter and food, and plummeting temperatures. Emergency actions taken by Roscoe and his officers have managed to house most of the residents in the remaining housing stock, but many citizens have been sent to surrounding localities, including Dimsdale, and about three hundred people are camped in the fields outside the Fort.
Roscoe hosts a leadership meeting with his officers when the door to the Council Chamber opens. The Mistress of Thorns steps and advises Roscoe on what steps must be taken to rectify the situation following the fire in Fort Inevitable. Specifically, she is concerned with three issues: the lack of wood for rebuilding, the lack of food, and the critical shortage of housing stock. On the first, she recommends that Roscoe orders the harvesting of as much quality lumber as possible to speed up the rebuilding of the town. He agrees and orders that it be so. On the second issue, she tells the Hellknights that she has organized a caravan that will arrive within a month carrying much needed supplies to alleviate the worst of the famine. This caravan will be accompanied by a small party of devils to assure security. Roscoe agrees to this as well. Finally, on the third issue, the Mistress recommends that buildings should fit more dwellings to allow the relocation of all people who lost their lodgings during the fire. On this topic, Maralictor Wirt tells Roscoe that she has already begun working on a new urban plan that will redesign roads and services. Roscoe tells her to pursue this goal.
Finally, the Mistress of Thorns addresses Roscoe again. Mentioning that she has heard of his troubles dealing with the magma dragons, she offers him tools to deal with them. First, she presents him with four bolts of dragon slaying +10. These must be fired with a man portable ballista, which she offers to Roscoe as well. With this equipment, Roscoe and his siblings should be able to deal with the threats of the dragons.
When news filters down to Thorne about the food convoy, he begins to plan and organize a task force to defeat the devils and capture the food on its way to Fort Inevitable. On a completely unrelated issue to the fire, Thorne had acquired six months' worth of hard tack biscuits he meant to send to the front in the Mendev crusades. They arrived about a month ago, and have been stored in a farm owned by associates. He now sees an opportunity to save the town from starvation and make a tidy profit at the same time.
Due to the housing crisis, Gerald has been forced to welcome three large families to his house. This interrupts his studies, so he becomes very adept at writing scrolls of sleep. He also sends a message to Abernard through Cassandra requesting advice on possible magical remodeling of his house, much like the old wizard had done himself. He also locks up all of his magical supplies to ensure they don't inadvertently end up in a dish and consumed by the new residents.
Rowen, a wizard recently arrived in Fort Inevitable, offers his services to the Hellknights in the wake of the disaster. Roscoe interviews him and agrees to let him join the reconstruction effort on a interim basis.
Having discovered that Cassandra and Nissa have not in fact perished in the explosion that destroyed Abernard's house but were rather at an acquaintance's house in the countryside, Roscoe decides to meet with them to discuss the source of the explosion. The two have been relocated to the camp on the training fields, and Roscoe finds them there. He interrogates Cassandra on her whereabouts and determines that she is truthful when she mentions that both herself and her daughter were not involved in the house's destruction. When he asks her whether she might have been the target of the destruction, Cassandra appears to be genuinely puzzled. Who would want to harm her?
Thorne's arrests papers having disappeared, the thief decides to find his brother and become Fort Inevitable's hero by solving the food crisis with his warehoused merchandise. He looks up Roscoe in the tent city, and they negotiate a deal. Thorne is made quartermaster of Fort Inevitable. He is granted access to the treasury so he can secure quick payment for the food. There are about 125,000 crowns in the treasury at this time. Roscoe also mandates Thorne to hire masons, timber wrights, carpenters, and other builders to rebuild the town. Thorne says he can find these people but this will be costly. Thorne plans on heading to Daggermark and secure workers from their prisons and bring them back.
Daryle finds Maralictor Wirt and organizes a hunting party. Darelle joins the party, but they don't travel near the Fort. They are unable to find any prey, and the forest is filled with traps, most of which will not catch anything they are so poorly designed. It's only been two days since the catastrophe that wiped three fourths of the town, and already the people are hungry!
With the affairs of state now in order, the Coopers return to the Emerald Spire and descend to the Magma level equipped with the Mistress of Thorns's new gear. Their plan is simple. They will come down to the third level, then will use the spire transport to land on the tenth level. They will cross over the lava lake, set up the ballista, and lure the young magma dragons out to their demise.
Rowen and Thorne appear by the Spire first. Thorne checks the rope they had previously strung, and it is still standing. It appears to be secure. Thorne crawls the rope and makes it across. Rowen then teleports across. Daryle, Roscoe and Darelle then come in using the second transport token. Daryle crosses the magma lake using the cable. Darelle and Roscoe also make it. Thorne sets up a trip wire at the back of the room to prevent an ambush from the rear. They arrange themselves in a line. Rowen casts invisibility on each member of the party, then true strike. He will handle the firing of the weapon, while Thorne will reload between rounds.
The party throws stones into the lava lake, and makes a lot of noise. Nothing happens on the first or second attempt, but on the third attempt the female and dominant magma dragon emerges from the lava and climbs up in the air. The battle is on. Rowen looses the first bolt, which successfully hits the female, but not before she's able to breathe on the party, causing considerable damage. Her brother emerges from the lava as well, and he joins the attack. He also breathes on the party. Everyone successfully attack the dragons but the situation is dire. Rowen manages to fire the second bolt, hitting the female who crashes on the ground near them. The male sees where the bolts are coming from, so on his second pass he grabs Rowen and almost throws him in the lava.
Darelle summons a blue pegasus and heads up for the dragon. She lands a mighty blow on the beast, but he in turn inflicts enough damage to her magical construct to destroy it. Falling to the ground, Darelle barely manages to grab the cable. She climbs back to the Spire ledge.
As the magma dragon comes for one more pass, Rowen releases another bolt, hitting him square in the chest. Thorne also takes a shot with his small bow, and he is amazed that his arrow is true. The dragon is hit in his one functional eye, and arrow penetrating deep in his brain. He crashes into the lava, and quickly sinks out of view. The Coopers have defeated the magma dragons!
It has been two days since most of Fort Inevitable was destroyed in a magical fire. The town is still reeling with the lack of shelter and food, and plummeting temperatures. Emergency actions taken by Roscoe and his officers have managed to house most of the residents in the remaining housing stock, but many citizens have been sent to surrounding localities, including Dimsdale, and about three hundred people are camped in the fields outside the Fort.
Roscoe hosts a leadership meeting with his officers when the door to the Council Chamber opens. The Mistress of Thorns steps and advises Roscoe on what steps must be taken to rectify the situation following the fire in Fort Inevitable. Specifically, she is concerned with three issues: the lack of wood for rebuilding, the lack of food, and the critical shortage of housing stock. On the first, she recommends that Roscoe orders the harvesting of as much quality lumber as possible to speed up the rebuilding of the town. He agrees and orders that it be so. On the second issue, she tells the Hellknights that she has organized a caravan that will arrive within a month carrying much needed supplies to alleviate the worst of the famine. This caravan will be accompanied by a small party of devils to assure security. Roscoe agrees to this as well. Finally, on the third issue, the Mistress recommends that buildings should fit more dwellings to allow the relocation of all people who lost their lodgings during the fire. On this topic, Maralictor Wirt tells Roscoe that she has already begun working on a new urban plan that will redesign roads and services. Roscoe tells her to pursue this goal.
Finally, the Mistress of Thorns addresses Roscoe again. Mentioning that she has heard of his troubles dealing with the magma dragons, she offers him tools to deal with them. First, she presents him with four bolts of dragon slaying +10. These must be fired with a man portable ballista, which she offers to Roscoe as well. With this equipment, Roscoe and his siblings should be able to deal with the threats of the dragons.
When news filters down to Thorne about the food convoy, he begins to plan and organize a task force to defeat the devils and capture the food on its way to Fort Inevitable. On a completely unrelated issue to the fire, Thorne had acquired six months' worth of hard tack biscuits he meant to send to the front in the Mendev crusades. They arrived about a month ago, and have been stored in a farm owned by associates. He now sees an opportunity to save the town from starvation and make a tidy profit at the same time.
Due to the housing crisis, Gerald has been forced to welcome three large families to his house. This interrupts his studies, so he becomes very adept at writing scrolls of sleep. He also sends a message to Abernard through Cassandra requesting advice on possible magical remodeling of his house, much like the old wizard had done himself. He also locks up all of his magical supplies to ensure they don't inadvertently end up in a dish and consumed by the new residents.
Rowen, a wizard recently arrived in Fort Inevitable, offers his services to the Hellknights in the wake of the disaster. Roscoe interviews him and agrees to let him join the reconstruction effort on a interim basis.
Having discovered that Cassandra and Nissa have not in fact perished in the explosion that destroyed Abernard's house but were rather at an acquaintance's house in the countryside, Roscoe decides to meet with them to discuss the source of the explosion. The two have been relocated to the camp on the training fields, and Roscoe finds them there. He interrogates Cassandra on her whereabouts and determines that she is truthful when she mentions that both herself and her daughter were not involved in the house's destruction. When he asks her whether she might have been the target of the destruction, Cassandra appears to be genuinely puzzled. Who would want to harm her?
Thorne's arrests papers having disappeared, the thief decides to find his brother and become Fort Inevitable's hero by solving the food crisis with his warehoused merchandise. He looks up Roscoe in the tent city, and they negotiate a deal. Thorne is made quartermaster of Fort Inevitable. He is granted access to the treasury so he can secure quick payment for the food. There are about 125,000 crowns in the treasury at this time. Roscoe also mandates Thorne to hire masons, timber wrights, carpenters, and other builders to rebuild the town. Thorne says he can find these people but this will be costly. Thorne plans on heading to Daggermark and secure workers from their prisons and bring them back.
Daryle finds Maralictor Wirt and organizes a hunting party. Darelle joins the party, but they don't travel near the Fort. They are unable to find any prey, and the forest is filled with traps, most of which will not catch anything they are so poorly designed. It's only been two days since the catastrophe that wiped three fourths of the town, and already the people are hungry!
With the affairs of state now in order, the Coopers return to the Emerald Spire and descend to the Magma level equipped with the Mistress of Thorns's new gear. Their plan is simple. They will come down to the third level, then will use the spire transport to land on the tenth level. They will cross over the lava lake, set up the ballista, and lure the young magma dragons out to their demise.
Rowen and Thorne appear by the Spire first. Thorne checks the rope they had previously strung, and it is still standing. It appears to be secure. Thorne crawls the rope and makes it across. Rowen then teleports across. Daryle, Roscoe and Darelle then come in using the second transport token. Daryle crosses the magma lake using the cable. Darelle and Roscoe also make it. Thorne sets up a trip wire at the back of the room to prevent an ambush from the rear. They arrange themselves in a line. Rowen casts invisibility on each member of the party, then true strike. He will handle the firing of the weapon, while Thorne will reload between rounds.
The party throws stones into the lava lake, and makes a lot of noise. Nothing happens on the first or second attempt, but on the third attempt the female and dominant magma dragon emerges from the lava and climbs up in the air. The battle is on. Rowen looses the first bolt, which successfully hits the female, but not before she's able to breathe on the party, causing considerable damage. Her brother emerges from the lava as well, and he joins the attack. He also breathes on the party. Everyone successfully attack the dragons but the situation is dire. Rowen manages to fire the second bolt, hitting the female who crashes on the ground near them. The male sees where the bolts are coming from, so on his second pass he grabs Rowen and almost throws him in the lava.
Darelle summons a blue pegasus and heads up for the dragon. She lands a mighty blow on the beast, but he in turn inflicts enough damage to her magical construct to destroy it. Falling to the ground, Darelle barely manages to grab the cable. She climbs back to the Spire ledge.
As the magma dragon comes for one more pass, Rowen releases another bolt, hitting him square in the chest. Thorne also takes a shot with his small bow, and he is amazed that his arrow is true. The dragon is hit in his one functional eye, and arrow penetrating deep in his brain. He crashes into the lava, and quickly sinks out of view. The Coopers have defeated the magma dragons!
Friday, June 10, 2016
Magma dragons, they're so cute! Wait, that really hurts!
Abadius 21, 4712, part 3
Having discovered the body of the Hellknight commander, the Coopers stand around and discuss what to do about Chaid DiViri. Roscoe took the armor and now proudly wears it, but Aoz indicates that the body should be brought back to Fort Inevitable.
Daryle states that their options are rather limited. They can either go back up one level to the Lady of Thorns' domain, or they can continue to scout and find the Spire on this level. With access to the Spire, they could use one of the Spire token to bypass the Mistress and her minions.
Roscoe, Daryle and Thorne cross the bridge once at a time, while Darelle and Gerald, accompanied by their two Hellknight soldiers, remain behind. Thorne notices that there are three strange unnatural smoke floating near the cavern's ceiling. He tells his siblings to backtrack, and they carefully walk across the bridge.
After some observations, the Coopers notice that the creatures remain in their area. Gerald converses with Aoz, and they determine that the entities flying seem to be protecting something. A Hellknight is sent to the stairs, and he is not attacked. He returns, and he still is not attacked. The Coopers decide to explore and not walk back under the creatures.
Thorne walks ahead of Daryle and squeezes through a tunnel. The fumes are thick here and he almost chokes on them. Coming out of the small tunnel, he stumbles upon a pile of metallic slag. He fires an arrow at it, and when it moves towards him he moves back through the tunnel and reports. Roscoe listens to the description, then tells the rest of the party that it's probably some sort of metallic ooze.
Roscoe removes the armor, and squeezes through the tunnel, emerging on the other side. He also has difficulty breathing, and he tells the others. Daryle places a wet cloth on her mouth, and walks through the tunnel, followed in a similar fashion by Darelle and Gerald. Thorne remains behind with the Hellknight soldiers. The Coopers attack the ooze, which burrows into the ground and emerges between the Coopers, thus providing three different angles of attack. The fight is intense, and as they are hit they find themselves covered by metallic slag which immediately cauterizes the wound but causes burn damage.
Thorne, meanwhile, hears the sounds of battle. Suddenly a large creature bursts through the wall and attack. Tall and heavy, this monster charges the first Hellknight and bites his head off. Thorne runs away back towards the bridge. He knows he can't fight it off, but maybe he can trick it. The second Hellknight puts a valiant fight, but he is also overcome by the monster. He taunts it, then runs across the bridge. The monster leaps to the other side, but Thorne dives under it and emerges back on the bridge. As the monster turns around, it is attacked by the caustic stalkers. The combat is swift, and the grey render dies a horrible death. They do not cross the magma river, however. Thorne heads back to the tunnel.
Roscoe lands several impressive blows, while Daryle and Darelle attack them from their side. Gerald casts several rays of frost, which severely injure the ooze. Darelle manages the killing blow, and the metallic slag slowly begins to drain back into the magma. Within the remains of the ooze Thorne discovers a mighty bow, as well as a strange rune in the floor in the shape of a T, along with an arrow pointed to the southern ledge.
The party continues and enters a larger cavern. A large pool of lava is smoldering fifty feet below the floor of the cave, and a cliff leads down to the lava. Across the pool is a small island where the Spire is located, glowing eerily green in the reddish light of the cave. Gerald bends down and examines the cliff' surface. He finds that it would be sheer madness to attempt to climb down. Through much effort and many attempts, Thorne and Roscoe manage to secure a rope to the Spire so they can crawl across. and leave this level. Gerald, however, has other ideas. The sorcerer uses dimension door and takes Darelle and Roscoe with him to the stone platform by the Spire. Roscoe immediately senses that something is wrong. Suddenly two young magma dragons emerge from the magma and attack the Hellknight. Gerald returns to the cliff side and manages to bring Thorne and Roscoe with him, while the sisters fire arrows at the dragons.
Roscoe and Darelle use a spire token and they are the first ones back to the Splinterdeen level. The dragons continue attack Thorne and Daryle, while Gerald delays and launches another magic missile. Daryle falls prey to the female dragon and suffers a grievous wound but still manages to transport out with Thorne. Gerald grabs Aoz but cuts himself, falling unconscious. In the process, though he touches with his own spire transport the Spire and managed to arrive back on the 3rd level.
Abadius 22, 4712
Bloodied and bruised, the Coopers emerge early in the morning and begin the trek back to Fort Inevitable to heal and recuperate.
Having discovered the body of the Hellknight commander, the Coopers stand around and discuss what to do about Chaid DiViri. Roscoe took the armor and now proudly wears it, but Aoz indicates that the body should be brought back to Fort Inevitable.
Daryle states that their options are rather limited. They can either go back up one level to the Lady of Thorns' domain, or they can continue to scout and find the Spire on this level. With access to the Spire, they could use one of the Spire token to bypass the Mistress and her minions.
Roscoe, Daryle and Thorne cross the bridge once at a time, while Darelle and Gerald, accompanied by their two Hellknight soldiers, remain behind. Thorne notices that there are three strange unnatural smoke floating near the cavern's ceiling. He tells his siblings to backtrack, and they carefully walk across the bridge.
After some observations, the Coopers notice that the creatures remain in their area. Gerald converses with Aoz, and they determine that the entities flying seem to be protecting something. A Hellknight is sent to the stairs, and he is not attacked. He returns, and he still is not attacked. The Coopers decide to explore and not walk back under the creatures.
Thorne walks ahead of Daryle and squeezes through a tunnel. The fumes are thick here and he almost chokes on them. Coming out of the small tunnel, he stumbles upon a pile of metallic slag. He fires an arrow at it, and when it moves towards him he moves back through the tunnel and reports. Roscoe listens to the description, then tells the rest of the party that it's probably some sort of metallic ooze.
Roscoe removes the armor, and squeezes through the tunnel, emerging on the other side. He also has difficulty breathing, and he tells the others. Daryle places a wet cloth on her mouth, and walks through the tunnel, followed in a similar fashion by Darelle and Gerald. Thorne remains behind with the Hellknight soldiers. The Coopers attack the ooze, which burrows into the ground and emerges between the Coopers, thus providing three different angles of attack. The fight is intense, and as they are hit they find themselves covered by metallic slag which immediately cauterizes the wound but causes burn damage.
Thorne, meanwhile, hears the sounds of battle. Suddenly a large creature bursts through the wall and attack. Tall and heavy, this monster charges the first Hellknight and bites his head off. Thorne runs away back towards the bridge. He knows he can't fight it off, but maybe he can trick it. The second Hellknight puts a valiant fight, but he is also overcome by the monster. He taunts it, then runs across the bridge. The monster leaps to the other side, but Thorne dives under it and emerges back on the bridge. As the monster turns around, it is attacked by the caustic stalkers. The combat is swift, and the grey render dies a horrible death. They do not cross the magma river, however. Thorne heads back to the tunnel.
Roscoe lands several impressive blows, while Daryle and Darelle attack them from their side. Gerald casts several rays of frost, which severely injure the ooze. Darelle manages the killing blow, and the metallic slag slowly begins to drain back into the magma. Within the remains of the ooze Thorne discovers a mighty bow, as well as a strange rune in the floor in the shape of a T, along with an arrow pointed to the southern ledge.
The party continues and enters a larger cavern. A large pool of lava is smoldering fifty feet below the floor of the cave, and a cliff leads down to the lava. Across the pool is a small island where the Spire is located, glowing eerily green in the reddish light of the cave. Gerald bends down and examines the cliff' surface. He finds that it would be sheer madness to attempt to climb down. Through much effort and many attempts, Thorne and Roscoe manage to secure a rope to the Spire so they can crawl across. and leave this level. Gerald, however, has other ideas. The sorcerer uses dimension door and takes Darelle and Roscoe with him to the stone platform by the Spire. Roscoe immediately senses that something is wrong. Suddenly two young magma dragons emerge from the magma and attack the Hellknight. Gerald returns to the cliff side and manages to bring Thorne and Roscoe with him, while the sisters fire arrows at the dragons.
Roscoe and Darelle use a spire token and they are the first ones back to the Splinterdeen level. The dragons continue attack Thorne and Daryle, while Gerald delays and launches another magic missile. Daryle falls prey to the female dragon and suffers a grievous wound but still manages to transport out with Thorne. Gerald grabs Aoz but cuts himself, falling unconscious. In the process, though he touches with his own spire transport the Spire and managed to arrive back on the 3rd level.
Abadius 22, 4712
Bloodied and bruised, the Coopers emerge early in the morning and begin the trek back to Fort Inevitable to heal and recuperate.
Friday, May 20, 2016
So that's what happened to the last Hellknight expedition
Abadius 21, 4712, part 2
As the Coopers proceed in the small hallway, the floor collapses. Daryle jumps out of the way, but the remaining Coopers and their two Hellknight soldiers fall in the pit along with the floor rubble. Most of them are lightly injured by the fall and by the spikes at the bottom of the pit, but Gerald's fall lands him straight on four spikes, skewering him. They find themselves ten feet below the floor.
With Daryle on one side of the room and the remaining members of the party in the pit, the Mistress of Thorns teleports in a flash of purple lightning. Finding them in quite a predicament, she cackles and launches two attacks on the Coopers. Thorne is the first one to regain his wits, and he begins to negotiate a solution with the devil. She really wants the spire tokens, but the Coopers will not exchange them. After much discussion, the Mistress agrees to arm the Coopers, and provide them with valuable information on the level below in exchange for Roscoe's soul as well as the right to come to Fort Inevitable and provide advisory services to the Hellknight Commander and his Council. She provides the Coopers with rings of protection against heat, as well as weapons. She informs them that the level below is called the Magma Vault and is ruled by two dragons with very hostile intentions.
The Coopers thus continue down to the Magma Vault. Reaching the floor, they discover that this is a very active volcanic environment. There are marks of recent lava flows. Walking through the first room, they discover a scene of ancient carnage. Heavily armored bodies lie about the room, pierced by thousands of crystal shards. More than three dozen Hellknights perished here some time ago. The Coopers carefully search the bodies, and discover that the crystals are in fact crystaline creatures from the outer planes. Their equipment is rendered and useless. Roscoe analyzes the situation and determines that the Hellknights were ambushed and perished here.
The Coopers are suddenly startled when one of these crystaline creatures floats in the room, chased by a strange floating ball of flesh sporting one eye and several blades sticking out in all directions. Gerald recognizes the creature as being an augur kyton. The augur kyton attacks the crystaline creature and kills it before the Coopers react. Roscoe recognizes the armor worn by the augur kyton as being Hellknight in origin and he even spots the insigna of the Order of the Pike. Wearily, both parties manage to establish a level of trust as it becomes clear that Aoz, the augur kyton, was part of the Hellknight expedition. Unable to speak, Aoz nevertheless manages to communicate that he wants the Coopers to follow him.
As Aoz floats ahead, Roscoe and the rest of the party follow. They arrive in a room cut in half by a lava flow. A small earthen bridge joins the two sides of the room. Aoz floats easily across, but Roscoe is weary of the quality of the bridge. The Coopers examine it and guess that it probably will support the weight of one person at a time, but since none of them are experts they are wont to take the chance.
Gerald eventually decides to mend the bridge. At least, this will provide a modicum of strength to the structure. Carefully, the Coopers cross one at a time along with the remaining Hellknight soldiers, and despite a few scares they all manage to safely cross the obstacle. Aoz floats down a corridor, and leads the group straight to a dead end. There, they find the body of three more Hellknights as well as that of Chaid DiViri, who has been missing. She appears to have been partially fused to the edge of the wall. Darelle and Daryle work together to pry her off the wall, and eventually they manage to take her out of her armor. She has partially burned in it, but somehow her body has not deteriorated any further. Aoz appears upset, and through much effort he manages to communicate to Gerald that he wishes that her body be taken back to Fort Inevitable. In her gear Roscoe discovers her journal, in which she relates her intent to continue exploring this level of the Emerald Spire and continue downward.
Gerald carefully wraps the body and the Coopers are now faced with a decision. They can head back to Fort Inevitable by climbing back one level, but that puts them back in the clutches of the Mistress of Thorns. Or they can forge ahead and hope to locate the Spire on this level. Aoz indicates that dangers lay in the direction of the Spire, but he can take them close. However, he does not wish to do so. What will the Coopers do?
As the Coopers proceed in the small hallway, the floor collapses. Daryle jumps out of the way, but the remaining Coopers and their two Hellknight soldiers fall in the pit along with the floor rubble. Most of them are lightly injured by the fall and by the spikes at the bottom of the pit, but Gerald's fall lands him straight on four spikes, skewering him. They find themselves ten feet below the floor.
With Daryle on one side of the room and the remaining members of the party in the pit, the Mistress of Thorns teleports in a flash of purple lightning. Finding them in quite a predicament, she cackles and launches two attacks on the Coopers. Thorne is the first one to regain his wits, and he begins to negotiate a solution with the devil. She really wants the spire tokens, but the Coopers will not exchange them. After much discussion, the Mistress agrees to arm the Coopers, and provide them with valuable information on the level below in exchange for Roscoe's soul as well as the right to come to Fort Inevitable and provide advisory services to the Hellknight Commander and his Council. She provides the Coopers with rings of protection against heat, as well as weapons. She informs them that the level below is called the Magma Vault and is ruled by two dragons with very hostile intentions.
The Coopers thus continue down to the Magma Vault. Reaching the floor, they discover that this is a very active volcanic environment. There are marks of recent lava flows. Walking through the first room, they discover a scene of ancient carnage. Heavily armored bodies lie about the room, pierced by thousands of crystal shards. More than three dozen Hellknights perished here some time ago. The Coopers carefully search the bodies, and discover that the crystals are in fact crystaline creatures from the outer planes. Their equipment is rendered and useless. Roscoe analyzes the situation and determines that the Hellknights were ambushed and perished here.
The Coopers are suddenly startled when one of these crystaline creatures floats in the room, chased by a strange floating ball of flesh sporting one eye and several blades sticking out in all directions. Gerald recognizes the creature as being an augur kyton. The augur kyton attacks the crystaline creature and kills it before the Coopers react. Roscoe recognizes the armor worn by the augur kyton as being Hellknight in origin and he even spots the insigna of the Order of the Pike. Wearily, both parties manage to establish a level of trust as it becomes clear that Aoz, the augur kyton, was part of the Hellknight expedition. Unable to speak, Aoz nevertheless manages to communicate that he wants the Coopers to follow him.
As Aoz floats ahead, Roscoe and the rest of the party follow. They arrive in a room cut in half by a lava flow. A small earthen bridge joins the two sides of the room. Aoz floats easily across, but Roscoe is weary of the quality of the bridge. The Coopers examine it and guess that it probably will support the weight of one person at a time, but since none of them are experts they are wont to take the chance.
Gerald eventually decides to mend the bridge. At least, this will provide a modicum of strength to the structure. Carefully, the Coopers cross one at a time along with the remaining Hellknight soldiers, and despite a few scares they all manage to safely cross the obstacle. Aoz floats down a corridor, and leads the group straight to a dead end. There, they find the body of three more Hellknights as well as that of Chaid DiViri, who has been missing. She appears to have been partially fused to the edge of the wall. Darelle and Daryle work together to pry her off the wall, and eventually they manage to take her out of her armor. She has partially burned in it, but somehow her body has not deteriorated any further. Aoz appears upset, and through much effort he manages to communicate to Gerald that he wishes that her body be taken back to Fort Inevitable. In her gear Roscoe discovers her journal, in which she relates her intent to continue exploring this level of the Emerald Spire and continue downward.
Gerald carefully wraps the body and the Coopers are now faced with a decision. They can head back to Fort Inevitable by climbing back one level, but that puts them back in the clutches of the Mistress of Thorns. Or they can forge ahead and hope to locate the Spire on this level. Aoz indicates that dangers lay in the direction of the Spire, but he can take them close. However, he does not wish to do so. What will the Coopers do?
Friday, April 15, 2016
Meeting the Mistress of Thorns
Abadius 20, 4712, part 3
Tired and bloodied from their battle against the raging morlock, the Coopers withdraw back to the room where they left Gerald, Thorne and the two remaining Hellknight soldiers. After bandaging their wounds, they decide to rest and heal.
Abadius 21, 4712, part 1
After an uneventful night, the Coopers and their guards continue to explore this level of the Emerald Spire. Returning to the scene of last night's battle, they begin clearing some of the debris piled around the room. One of the Hellknights discover a door buried in the rubble. Since it is locked, Thorne attempts to disable the lock, but fails miserably. Gerald uses knock and the door opens. Behind it is a hallway stretching north and south. A quick peek reveals another door in the north wall around a bend. The Coopers decide to check it out.
Of course that door is also locked, but this time Thorne's skills open it. The Coopers enter a virtual chamber of horrors. There are cages hung from the ceiling, and a large table in the back corner is covered with entrails and torture implements. Only one of the five cages is currently occupied by a barely alive male nephilim. Darelle heals him and eventually discovers that his name is Jherao. Both Thorne and Darelle attempt to pick the lock, but they fail. Jherao reveals that the Mistress of Thorns, who rules this level, captures creatures and executes them in strange and cruel rituals. The Coopers decide they will remain here and they will ambush the Mistress of Thorns when she comes in to claim Jherao. Roscoe hides behind the door, while Daryle, Darelle and the Hellknights stand in the next room with their bows drawn. Gerald hides under the torture table, and Thorne stand behind the cage.
They wait, and wait, and wait some more. Getting restless, the Coopers wonder how long they will have to stand here. Jherao tells them that the Mistress doesn't come in regularly. Suddenly they hear noises in the hallway outside. Three morlocks dressed in disgusting priestly garbs enter the room and head toward Jherao's cage. The Coopers jump into action and the priests are swiftly dispatched.
Gerald clads himself in the nasty garments of the priest. He plans on surprising the Mistress when she comes to investigates what happened to her priests. The rest of the group returns to their positions and the waiting begins again.
A few hours slowly pass. No noise can be heard in the hallway outside the door. Suddenly, a shimmering purple globe appears nears Jherao's cage and out steps a large devil, about seven and a half feet tall and over three hundred pounds with barbs protuding from her shoulders and back. With a wicked smile, the Mistress of Thorns steps forward and looks at the captive.
The Coopers spring into action, and the battle begins. They are able to score a few hits, but the Mistress' violent attack forces Roscoe back. Then something stops her counter attack. She seems pleasantly surprised to see a Hellknight in her abode. With everyone holding their attack, she tells Roscoe that it's a pleasure to once again have a Hellknight visit her. It turns out that she has encountered Hellknights before, and has the utmost respect for the work they do. She tells them she's researching how to retrieve the morlock chief who has been imprisoned in the Emerald Spire, and she seeks more tokens. Darelle reveals that they have one in their possession, but they are not willing to give it to her at this point. The Mistress replies she understands, and she hopes that when they are done exploring they'll reconsider. She suddenly opens the cage, grabs Jherao, and disappears in a purple shimmering.
Surprised at this turn of events, the Coopers decide to continue their exploration but will stir clear of the Mistress. Gerald removes his stinky garb, and the party proceeds down the hall. They come upon a large room featuring the green glow of the Spire. There, the Mistress appears to be conducting some sort of ritual with Jherao's dead body, surrounded with dozens of morlocks. The Coopers wisely decide to avoid this room.
They eventually discover a short hallway that leads to the staircase heading down. This hallway looks and feels similar to several others they encountered on this level, with large debris piles lined on either side. Gerald casts flaming sphere and clears the hallway. If there was a trap, the morlocks are now dead. The Coopers enter the hallway and head for the staircase ...
Tired and bloodied from their battle against the raging morlock, the Coopers withdraw back to the room where they left Gerald, Thorne and the two remaining Hellknight soldiers. After bandaging their wounds, they decide to rest and heal.
Abadius 21, 4712, part 1
After an uneventful night, the Coopers and their guards continue to explore this level of the Emerald Spire. Returning to the scene of last night's battle, they begin clearing some of the debris piled around the room. One of the Hellknights discover a door buried in the rubble. Since it is locked, Thorne attempts to disable the lock, but fails miserably. Gerald uses knock and the door opens. Behind it is a hallway stretching north and south. A quick peek reveals another door in the north wall around a bend. The Coopers decide to check it out.
Of course that door is also locked, but this time Thorne's skills open it. The Coopers enter a virtual chamber of horrors. There are cages hung from the ceiling, and a large table in the back corner is covered with entrails and torture implements. Only one of the five cages is currently occupied by a barely alive male nephilim. Darelle heals him and eventually discovers that his name is Jherao. Both Thorne and Darelle attempt to pick the lock, but they fail. Jherao reveals that the Mistress of Thorns, who rules this level, captures creatures and executes them in strange and cruel rituals. The Coopers decide they will remain here and they will ambush the Mistress of Thorns when she comes in to claim Jherao. Roscoe hides behind the door, while Daryle, Darelle and the Hellknights stand in the next room with their bows drawn. Gerald hides under the torture table, and Thorne stand behind the cage.
They wait, and wait, and wait some more. Getting restless, the Coopers wonder how long they will have to stand here. Jherao tells them that the Mistress doesn't come in regularly. Suddenly they hear noises in the hallway outside. Three morlocks dressed in disgusting priestly garbs enter the room and head toward Jherao's cage. The Coopers jump into action and the priests are swiftly dispatched.
Gerald clads himself in the nasty garments of the priest. He plans on surprising the Mistress when she comes to investigates what happened to her priests. The rest of the group returns to their positions and the waiting begins again.
A few hours slowly pass. No noise can be heard in the hallway outside the door. Suddenly, a shimmering purple globe appears nears Jherao's cage and out steps a large devil, about seven and a half feet tall and over three hundred pounds with barbs protuding from her shoulders and back. With a wicked smile, the Mistress of Thorns steps forward and looks at the captive.
The Coopers spring into action, and the battle begins. They are able to score a few hits, but the Mistress' violent attack forces Roscoe back. Then something stops her counter attack. She seems pleasantly surprised to see a Hellknight in her abode. With everyone holding their attack, she tells Roscoe that it's a pleasure to once again have a Hellknight visit her. It turns out that she has encountered Hellknights before, and has the utmost respect for the work they do. She tells them she's researching how to retrieve the morlock chief who has been imprisoned in the Emerald Spire, and she seeks more tokens. Darelle reveals that they have one in their possession, but they are not willing to give it to her at this point. The Mistress replies she understands, and she hopes that when they are done exploring they'll reconsider. She suddenly opens the cage, grabs Jherao, and disappears in a purple shimmering.
Surprised at this turn of events, the Coopers decide to continue their exploration but will stir clear of the Mistress. Gerald removes his stinky garb, and the party proceeds down the hall. They come upon a large room featuring the green glow of the Spire. There, the Mistress appears to be conducting some sort of ritual with Jherao's dead body, surrounded with dozens of morlocks. The Coopers wisely decide to avoid this room.
They eventually discover a short hallway that leads to the staircase heading down. This hallway looks and feels similar to several others they encountered on this level, with large debris piles lined on either side. Gerald casts flaming sphere and clears the hallway. If there was a trap, the morlocks are now dead. The Coopers enter the hallway and head for the staircase ...
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