Players (Characters)
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
The party awoke and began moving methodically through the complex. Before leaving the caves, Rain noticed the sound of a creature flying. Some glitterdust revealed a quasit, who fell quickly. The party recovered a wand from his corpse. To the south, the complex became more regular -- rooms, rather than caves. Several of the rooms were filled with thugs engaged in everyday tasks -- eating a meal, sharpening weapons, playing cards, and the like. The party cut through half a dozen rooms like this, interrogating a couple of quick-to-surrender thugs and leaving them tied up.
Rain searched a revolving door and found a small switch hidden on the upper lip. The switch disarmed a set of blades that would otherwise cut anyone who passed through the door. The party moved through the door as quickly as possible, and encountered the infamous Triel Eldurast. She attacked Horkina with her flail, causing significant pain, but she couldn't withstand the level of damage the party dealt. As she crumpled to the ground, Amber stepped forward to stabilize her -- the government of Cauldron would want to interrogate her and punish her for her past crimes. The party recovered three more wands of water control, as well as several other wands, from Triel's stash.
Rain discovered a secret door leading to a small chamber behind some arrow slits. Several thugs stood ready to fire arrows into an adjacent hallway, but they were unprepared for melee combat. The group decided to search for an entrance to a similar chamber on the opposite side of the hallway before walking through the hallway itself. Moving through a barracks and some storage rooms, the party eventually found the opposite chamber, and the battle played out much the same way, with the thugs falling to a series of axe and sword blows.
A secret passageway led into a large room in the west. The walls curved in a strange pattern, almost as if the room had been formed by a series of bubbles growing into each other. A mud slaad stood in the shadows at the far end of the room. As the party moved to surround it, it screeched loudly, causing serious injury to the group. Grokk and Horkina bashed it with their axes while Rain and Garlen poked holes in it, and it fell to the ground. Amber healed the party while Rain gave the thing an extra stab to make sure it stayed down. Underneath a nearby table, several gems and coins were wrapped in a magical cloak (later identified as a cloak of Arachnidia; Garlen went on to wear it through several adventures.) Roland could tell this room had been used to construct magic items involving conjuration, abjuration, and necromancy.
The rooms to the south led into a web-filled cavern. Several spiders and ettercaps fought within the webs. Roland spent several minutes in Hell Hound form, biting through the webs and cutting paths for the rest of the party to follow. In the farthest cave, a bald halfling stood ready for battle alongside a harpoon spider. Amber cast a spell of silence on the halfling while Horkina cut through the webs and attacked the spider. The halfling tried to attack with his dagger, but Grokk and Rain brought him down. Amber stabilized him while the party finished off the remaining spiders and gathered bits of treasure, including his keys and two more wands. His keys allowed access to his spellbook (which Roland borrowed) and the seventh wand. The party discovered the final wand in a pit full of bloodbloater oozes, which died to several potions of alchemists fire.
The party returned to Cauldron with all eight wands and two prisoners. The floodwaters were beginning to rise, but Amber, Jenya, and a few clerics from the temples of Kord and Pelor used the wands to bring the floodwaters down. Triel Eldurast and the halfling, Skaven Umbermead, were executed in town square the next morning.
Shortly thereafter, the party recieved a set of invitations to the Demonskar Ball, a party hosted by the Aslaxins at the upscale Coy Nixie. Grokk's invitation showed a crater with a claw coming out of it, which indicated he should dress as the famous demon Nabthatoron. During the reenactment of the famous battle, Zachary Aslaxin, dressed as Surabar Spellmason, smashed "Nabthatoron" with a glowing stick that represented the famous weapon "Alakast". Many drinks and fun stories were shared by all.
The party reached level 7.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
The Shackled City, Day 11 (2006-11-17, 6:30 PM) Chapter 3: Flood Season
Players (Characters)
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
The next morning, Shensen arrived at the Rubble Rousers' doorstep. She had a pair of boots of striding and springing, the party's reward for rescuing her. Garlen accepted them, and explored his newfound abilities by jumping all over the guild hall. A messenger from the church of St. Cuthbert stopped by to let the party know Sarcem's body was en route to Sasserine, where he'd be reincarnated. The party was to continue searching for the wands of water control.
The party had a few leads to follow up on. The werebaboon, tongueeater, had an unholy symbol that combined the symbols of Vecna, Hextor, and Erythnul. Roland recognized this as the symbol of the Ebon Triad, a strange cult that believed the three evil gods could be combined somehow. Shensen said the baboon had been taking orders from a red-haired woman who wore the symbol of Hextor. Jenya used the star of justice to cast a divination asking where the party should go to find the wands. The response was "there is an art to gathering information, and an Artus may have what you seek. Fences make good neighbors." Garlen asked around about local fences, and was pointed to a man named Artus Shemwick, a cook at the Tipped Tankard.
The party asked Artus what he might know about the missing wands, and he offered to sell the information for 300 gp. Artus shared that the party should research a woman named Triel Eldurast, and that she has been seen on the northeastern slope a short distance down from the wall. She planned to ransom the wands back to the city to finance the Ebon Triad's plans. Research uncovered that Triel Eldurast had been in Cauldron's town guard. She murdered several of her fellow guards and fled about ten years ago.
That night, half of the party waited just outside the city wall while the other half moved quietly through the undergrowth a few hundred yards down the hill. Rain spotted a red-haired woman and followed her to a tunnel entrance, and then had Amber signal the rest of the group with a flare. Garlen followed the woman's footsteps down the lava tube until reaching a small overlook. There was a massive cavern below, with a small city that looked like it had been built by dwarves and then slightly melted. A glowing lake, seventy feet below the overlook, stretched to near the edge of the ruins. A rickety-looking cage hung on a pair of ropes strung across the lake. The ropes attached to a small structure resting on the overlook. Rain quietly opened the door and saw a winch inside. Another door led to a pair of thugs who were playing cards. The party dealt them a losing hand: straight damage.
Grokk operated the winch while Garlen, Roland and Horkina rode across. Garlen entered the structure on the opposite end and managed to collapse a wall on himself, but Horkina was able to pass by and operate the winch to bring the rest of the party safely down. There were six doors leading into the ruin. The party entered through the northernmost door, where four thugs waited on a ledge above. A few bow shots finished them off, and Rain still had the presence of mind to notice the floor was trapped. Given enough weight, the floor would sink slightly to reveal small spikes. Rain jammed some rubble through a few small cracks in the floor and stabilized it.
The party headed to the north and west, where they came face to face with the skeleton of a tyrannosaurus. Garlen tumbled behind the monster, but couldn't damage it with his swords. Grokk and Horkina pounded on it with their axes while it swiped at them with its claws. It withstood a massive amount of punishment, and Horkina had to retreat to be healed. Eventually, a fire spell from Roland and a healing spell from Amber caused the beast to collapse into a pile of bones.
The group continued clearing the northern caverns, using ranged attacks to kill a pair of Spawn of Kyuss and melee attacks to finish off a room full of zombies. An undead gnoll wielding a spiked chain and a symbol of Erythnul attacked the party in the rearmost cave, but he fell to a few quick strikes. The party set a watch and used the rearmost cave to rest.
Grokk and Rain reached level 6.
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
The next morning, Shensen arrived at the Rubble Rousers' doorstep. She had a pair of boots of striding and springing, the party's reward for rescuing her. Garlen accepted them, and explored his newfound abilities by jumping all over the guild hall. A messenger from the church of St. Cuthbert stopped by to let the party know Sarcem's body was en route to Sasserine, where he'd be reincarnated. The party was to continue searching for the wands of water control.
The party had a few leads to follow up on. The werebaboon, tongueeater, had an unholy symbol that combined the symbols of Vecna, Hextor, and Erythnul. Roland recognized this as the symbol of the Ebon Triad, a strange cult that believed the three evil gods could be combined somehow. Shensen said the baboon had been taking orders from a red-haired woman who wore the symbol of Hextor. Jenya used the star of justice to cast a divination asking where the party should go to find the wands. The response was "there is an art to gathering information, and an Artus may have what you seek. Fences make good neighbors." Garlen asked around about local fences, and was pointed to a man named Artus Shemwick, a cook at the Tipped Tankard.
The party asked Artus what he might know about the missing wands, and he offered to sell the information for 300 gp. Artus shared that the party should research a woman named Triel Eldurast, and that she has been seen on the northeastern slope a short distance down from the wall. She planned to ransom the wands back to the city to finance the Ebon Triad's plans. Research uncovered that Triel Eldurast had been in Cauldron's town guard. She murdered several of her fellow guards and fled about ten years ago.
That night, half of the party waited just outside the city wall while the other half moved quietly through the undergrowth a few hundred yards down the hill. Rain spotted a red-haired woman and followed her to a tunnel entrance, and then had Amber signal the rest of the group with a flare. Garlen followed the woman's footsteps down the lava tube until reaching a small overlook. There was a massive cavern below, with a small city that looked like it had been built by dwarves and then slightly melted. A glowing lake, seventy feet below the overlook, stretched to near the edge of the ruins. A rickety-looking cage hung on a pair of ropes strung across the lake. The ropes attached to a small structure resting on the overlook. Rain quietly opened the door and saw a winch inside. Another door led to a pair of thugs who were playing cards. The party dealt them a losing hand: straight damage.
Grokk operated the winch while Garlen, Roland and Horkina rode across. Garlen entered the structure on the opposite end and managed to collapse a wall on himself, but Horkina was able to pass by and operate the winch to bring the rest of the party safely down. There were six doors leading into the ruin. The party entered through the northernmost door, where four thugs waited on a ledge above. A few bow shots finished them off, and Rain still had the presence of mind to notice the floor was trapped. Given enough weight, the floor would sink slightly to reveal small spikes. Rain jammed some rubble through a few small cracks in the floor and stabilized it.
The party headed to the north and west, where they came face to face with the skeleton of a tyrannosaurus. Garlen tumbled behind the monster, but couldn't damage it with his swords. Grokk and Horkina pounded on it with their axes while it swiped at them with its claws. It withstood a massive amount of punishment, and Horkina had to retreat to be healed. Eventually, a fire spell from Roland and a healing spell from Amber caused the beast to collapse into a pile of bones.
The group continued clearing the northern caverns, using ranged attacks to kill a pair of Spawn of Kyuss and melee attacks to finish off a room full of zombies. An undead gnoll wielding a spiked chain and a symbol of Erythnul attacked the party in the rearmost cave, but he fell to a few quick strikes. The party set a watch and used the rearmost cave to rest.
Grokk and Rain reached level 6.
The Shackled City, Day 10 (2006-11-10, 6:30 PM) Chapter 3: Flood Season
Players (Characters)
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
The talk around the town began to focus more and more on the upcoming flood festival. Skie and other merchants began to cut prices, street performances and carnival games filled the busier parts of town, and the signup sheet for the "drink down the flood" drinking contest was posted at the Tipped Tankard. Grokk, Rain, Garlen, and Horkina all entered. Rain was matched up against a surly looking human who held his liquor very well, eliminating the elf on the first day. Horkina and Garlen passed out on day three, but Grokk's angry rages gave him a strong resistance to the alcohol. Spells from Amber helped Grokk drink his final opponent, a stocky dwarf, under the table. As was tradition, Lord Vhalantru challenged Grokk to a one-on-one drinkoff for the next day, with a 500 gp prize for besting him. Despite the party's best efforts, and Roland's dispel magic attempt (Vhalantru suggested that was a bad idea), Grokk passed out after 15 drinks.
After Grokk regained consciousness, the party sat down to have some water and shake off the alcohol. Another group of adventurers, the Stormblades, who were children of the local nobility, started making negative comments. "Are you guys the trash diggers? Sure smells like it!" "No, guys, it's the Rubble Rousers. They're big heroes, they fought some goblins!" "Goblins? I've been fighting goblins since I was like, ten. These guys are considered heroes for it?" Grokk gripped his axe tightly, but decided he didn't want the legal trouble that would come with flattening a bunch of rich kids. Todd, one of the Stormblades, pointed at Grokk and said "where'd you get this thing? Looks almost... trained!" His friend Zachary shot back "he still dresses better than you, Todd." After a few more insults, the Stormblades walked away, saying "these losers are a waste of time."
The party headed over to Skie's to pick up some gear, and found Ruphus Laro waiting for them. Ruphus led them to the temple, where Jenya had an urgent message. Sarcem, head priest of the church of St. Cuthbert, had been on a mission to secure some wands of water control for the flood festival. He'd sent a message to Jenya saying he was at the Lucky Monkey, where he'd been attacked by bandits led by an apeman, and was seriously wounded. The party rented some horses and set out at once, pushing their horses to their maximum limit and giving them minor healing potions to keep them functional.
The party set out for the Lucky Monkey, about eight hours ride from Cauldron, and got there just after sundown. The inn showed signs of battle -- broken windows, uprooted plants, and even splatters of blood. Riding around to the back door, everyone but Amber noticed a pair of small dinosaurs feeding on a small pile of corpses. Rain unlocked the back door, where the party decided to enter, thinking this would provide the shortest route to the basement. Immediately inside were four baboons, one of which looked to be somewhat more powerful than the rest. The powerful baboon was looking at a tongueless human head, probably recently severed. A flurry of axes and swords took the baboons down with a minimum of effort. A thug came down the stairs at the sound of battle and saw the dead baboons. She ran away, saying "oh crap, they killed tongueeater." The party chased her down and agreed to let her go, but took her stuff first.
Rain found the stairs that led down to the basement, and immediately headed down with Horkina and Roland. The three smashed a small group of bandits who were standing over a headless body. Based on the equipment he carried, the party determined this was Sarcem, high priest of Cauldron's temple of St. Cuthbert. At the end of the hall, hiding in a frozen room was a young dark-skinned woman named Shensen. She said she was friends with Fario and Fellian, a pair of elves the party had met before, and worked for a powerful wizard named Meerthan. She requested protection and escort back to town. The party agreed to heal her and take her to Cauldron, but decided to clear the rest of the inn first. Amber, Grokk, and Rain cleared out the main floor while Garlen, Roland, Horkina and Shensen took the top floor. The drunken bandits offered little resistance.
The group headed back to Cauldron with Sarcem's body and head, and reported to Jenya immediately.
Everyone but Grokk and Rain reached level 6.
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
The talk around the town began to focus more and more on the upcoming flood festival. Skie and other merchants began to cut prices, street performances and carnival games filled the busier parts of town, and the signup sheet for the "drink down the flood" drinking contest was posted at the Tipped Tankard. Grokk, Rain, Garlen, and Horkina all entered. Rain was matched up against a surly looking human who held his liquor very well, eliminating the elf on the first day. Horkina and Garlen passed out on day three, but Grokk's angry rages gave him a strong resistance to the alcohol. Spells from Amber helped Grokk drink his final opponent, a stocky dwarf, under the table. As was tradition, Lord Vhalantru challenged Grokk to a one-on-one drinkoff for the next day, with a 500 gp prize for besting him. Despite the party's best efforts, and Roland's dispel magic attempt (Vhalantru suggested that was a bad idea), Grokk passed out after 15 drinks.
After Grokk regained consciousness, the party sat down to have some water and shake off the alcohol. Another group of adventurers, the Stormblades, who were children of the local nobility, started making negative comments. "Are you guys the trash diggers? Sure smells like it!" "No, guys, it's the Rubble Rousers. They're big heroes, they fought some goblins!" "Goblins? I've been fighting goblins since I was like, ten. These guys are considered heroes for it?" Grokk gripped his axe tightly, but decided he didn't want the legal trouble that would come with flattening a bunch of rich kids. Todd, one of the Stormblades, pointed at Grokk and said "where'd you get this thing? Looks almost... trained!" His friend Zachary shot back "he still dresses better than you, Todd." After a few more insults, the Stormblades walked away, saying "these losers are a waste of time."
The party headed over to Skie's to pick up some gear, and found Ruphus Laro waiting for them. Ruphus led them to the temple, where Jenya had an urgent message. Sarcem, head priest of the church of St. Cuthbert, had been on a mission to secure some wands of water control for the flood festival. He'd sent a message to Jenya saying he was at the Lucky Monkey, where he'd been attacked by bandits led by an apeman, and was seriously wounded. The party rented some horses and set out at once, pushing their horses to their maximum limit and giving them minor healing potions to keep them functional.
The party set out for the Lucky Monkey, about eight hours ride from Cauldron, and got there just after sundown. The inn showed signs of battle -- broken windows, uprooted plants, and even splatters of blood. Riding around to the back door, everyone but Amber noticed a pair of small dinosaurs feeding on a small pile of corpses. Rain unlocked the back door, where the party decided to enter, thinking this would provide the shortest route to the basement. Immediately inside were four baboons, one of which looked to be somewhat more powerful than the rest. The powerful baboon was looking at a tongueless human head, probably recently severed. A flurry of axes and swords took the baboons down with a minimum of effort. A thug came down the stairs at the sound of battle and saw the dead baboons. She ran away, saying "oh crap, they killed tongueeater." The party chased her down and agreed to let her go, but took her stuff first.
Rain found the stairs that led down to the basement, and immediately headed down with Horkina and Roland. The three smashed a small group of bandits who were standing over a headless body. Based on the equipment he carried, the party determined this was Sarcem, high priest of Cauldron's temple of St. Cuthbert. At the end of the hall, hiding in a frozen room was a young dark-skinned woman named Shensen. She said she was friends with Fario and Fellian, a pair of elves the party had met before, and worked for a powerful wizard named Meerthan. She requested protection and escort back to town. The party agreed to heal her and take her to Cauldron, but decided to clear the rest of the inn first. Amber, Grokk, and Rain cleared out the main floor while Garlen, Roland, Horkina and Shensen took the top floor. The drunken bandits offered little resistance.
The group headed back to Cauldron with Sarcem's body and head, and reported to Jenya immediately.
Everyone but Grokk and Rain reached level 6.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
The Shackled City, Day 9 (2006-11-03, 6:30 PM) Chapter 2: Drakthar's Way
Players (Characters)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland and Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
By morning, Grokk's hangover had subsided, so he was up and ready to go. Unfortunately, Rain drank enough for himself and Grokk combined, and passed out on the floor of the Tipped Tankard. Horkina dragged him to the guild hall and left him on the floor. The rest of the party headed back to Orak's bathhouse and cleared out a few small groups of goblins that had moved into the previously cleared areas.
The group returned to where they'd previously fought Drakthar. Garlen noticed a ladder in the back of the alcove, leading up to a small ledge and a door. In a room down the next hallway, two mercenaries sat idly by. Rain quietly opened the door leading into their room, and the party got the drop on them. Both were reduced to near-death before they had a chance to react. The male, Chorlyndyr, surrendered immediately, while the female, Kallev, had to be threatened extensively despite the damage already done to her. When asked if they were allied with the goblins, Chorlyndyr admitted they had been hired by an Ogre Mage called the "Blue Duke" to oversee smuggling of half-orc mercenaries into Cauldron. He had no particular attachment to the goblins or their leader. The party tied the two up and dragged them back to Cauldron, leaving them in the custody of the Town Guard.
The party returned to the ledge and climbed up. A short hallway led to a fragile rope bridge, which the party reinforced with their own length of rope before crossing one-by-one. Garlen spotted three goblins around the next corner, crouched down on a ledge overlooking a vast cavern to the west. He charged right up to the goblins, killing one with a blow to the head. As Amber stepped around the corner, she noticed a room Garlen had completely ignored in his moment of bloodlust -- Drakthar's throne room! The Vampire had seen Garlen pass and was preparing to attack. Amber cast a magic circle against evil and stepped under cover, and then Roland cast a spell of Hold Undead. Drakthar and his bizarre undead throne were unable to move due to the powerful magic. A stake to the heart incapacitated Drakthar further, and Grokk and Horkina smashed his throne into pieces. The vampire was simply no match for the Rubble Rousers now that they were prepared.
Behind Drakthar's throne room was a small cavern where a dire bat had taken up residence. The bat put up a decent fight before it was subdued by Horkina's famous axe. A ladder on the far side of the cavern led to a room with secret chamber in the floor. The chamber was filled with earth, with an indentation the right size and shape to serve as a bugbear coffin. The party defiled the coffin with holy water and then hefted Drakthar's corpse into it. To finish off Drakthar, the party used Orak's decanter to run water over Drakthar's corpse, disintegrating it entirely.
The group determined that the goblin menace had been defeated, but decided it would be prudent to finish clearing out this area. Just south of Drakthar's throne room, they fought a pair of shocker lizards and a goblin spellcaster. In the main cavern beyond, Garlen noticed a drawing on the wall -- a goblin symbol warning of the presence of a vampire. This warning came a bit late to be useful, but was appreciated nonetheless. As Garlen led the way further through the cave, he stepped underneath some green slime and was quickly covered by it. Orak's decanter, used on maximum setting, cleared most of the slime away.
Up ahead, Garlen noticed a goblin on a high-up ledge. The goblin was looking off the opposite side of the ledge. Garlen threw a shortsword at the goblin, which missed badly, but Horkina and Grokk took it out with their bows before it could raise the alarm. Still, the sound of the goblin falling off the ledge drew the attention of a group of half-orcs and a dwarf who had been conversing near the end of the tunnel. They began chattering with one another, but were interrupted by a fireball from Roland and a burst of sound from Amber. Horkina, Grokk, and Garlen ran to join the fray, and the half-orcs were all dead in a matter of seconds. Xoden, the Dwarven mercenary, surrendered and submitted to interrogation. He was a part of the Blue Duke's smuggling team, and confirmed Chorlyndyr's earlier statements.
The party returned to Cauldron and reported their findings to captain Skellerang.
Grokk reached level 5.
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland and Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
By morning, Grokk's hangover had subsided, so he was up and ready to go. Unfortunately, Rain drank enough for himself and Grokk combined, and passed out on the floor of the Tipped Tankard. Horkina dragged him to the guild hall and left him on the floor. The rest of the party headed back to Orak's bathhouse and cleared out a few small groups of goblins that had moved into the previously cleared areas.
The group returned to where they'd previously fought Drakthar. Garlen noticed a ladder in the back of the alcove, leading up to a small ledge and a door. In a room down the next hallway, two mercenaries sat idly by. Rain quietly opened the door leading into their room, and the party got the drop on them. Both were reduced to near-death before they had a chance to react. The male, Chorlyndyr, surrendered immediately, while the female, Kallev, had to be threatened extensively despite the damage already done to her. When asked if they were allied with the goblins, Chorlyndyr admitted they had been hired by an Ogre Mage called the "Blue Duke" to oversee smuggling of half-orc mercenaries into Cauldron. He had no particular attachment to the goblins or their leader. The party tied the two up and dragged them back to Cauldron, leaving them in the custody of the Town Guard.
The party returned to the ledge and climbed up. A short hallway led to a fragile rope bridge, which the party reinforced with their own length of rope before crossing one-by-one. Garlen spotted three goblins around the next corner, crouched down on a ledge overlooking a vast cavern to the west. He charged right up to the goblins, killing one with a blow to the head. As Amber stepped around the corner, she noticed a room Garlen had completely ignored in his moment of bloodlust -- Drakthar's throne room! The Vampire had seen Garlen pass and was preparing to attack. Amber cast a magic circle against evil and stepped under cover, and then Roland cast a spell of Hold Undead. Drakthar and his bizarre undead throne were unable to move due to the powerful magic. A stake to the heart incapacitated Drakthar further, and Grokk and Horkina smashed his throne into pieces. The vampire was simply no match for the Rubble Rousers now that they were prepared.
Behind Drakthar's throne room was a small cavern where a dire bat had taken up residence. The bat put up a decent fight before it was subdued by Horkina's famous axe. A ladder on the far side of the cavern led to a room with secret chamber in the floor. The chamber was filled with earth, with an indentation the right size and shape to serve as a bugbear coffin. The party defiled the coffin with holy water and then hefted Drakthar's corpse into it. To finish off Drakthar, the party used Orak's decanter to run water over Drakthar's corpse, disintegrating it entirely.
The group determined that the goblin menace had been defeated, but decided it would be prudent to finish clearing out this area. Just south of Drakthar's throne room, they fought a pair of shocker lizards and a goblin spellcaster. In the main cavern beyond, Garlen noticed a drawing on the wall -- a goblin symbol warning of the presence of a vampire. This warning came a bit late to be useful, but was appreciated nonetheless. As Garlen led the way further through the cave, he stepped underneath some green slime and was quickly covered by it. Orak's decanter, used on maximum setting, cleared most of the slime away.
Up ahead, Garlen noticed a goblin on a high-up ledge. The goblin was looking off the opposite side of the ledge. Garlen threw a shortsword at the goblin, which missed badly, but Horkina and Grokk took it out with their bows before it could raise the alarm. Still, the sound of the goblin falling off the ledge drew the attention of a group of half-orcs and a dwarf who had been conversing near the end of the tunnel. They began chattering with one another, but were interrupted by a fireball from Roland and a burst of sound from Amber. Horkina, Grokk, and Garlen ran to join the fray, and the half-orcs were all dead in a matter of seconds. Xoden, the Dwarven mercenary, surrendered and submitted to interrogation. He was a part of the Blue Duke's smuggling team, and confirmed Chorlyndyr's earlier statements.
The party returned to Cauldron and reported their findings to captain Skellerang.
Grokk reached level 5.
The Shackled City, Day 8 (2006-10-27, 6:30 PM) Chapter 2: Drakthar's Way
Players (Characters)
Scott (Rain)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
Most of the party awoke the next morning, refreshed and ready to fight goblins, but Grokk was nowhere to be found. He stumbled in extremely drunk just after breakfast, and passed out halfway to his bunk. The party opted to leave him there. Roland made a quick trip to the library to research vampires and lycanthropes, and then briefed the party on the basics: both types resist damage unless it's from silver weapons, and vampires can mentally dominate someone unless they're magically protected. Amber picked up a scroll of magic circle against evil to provide that magical protection.
The guards posted at the bathhouse said a small group of goblins had approached from behind a locked door the night before, but they just left the door locked and stayed quiet until the goblins left. The party unlocked the door and climbed down a ladder beyond it. Across from the base of the ladder, scribbled in blood, was a sentence in goblin: "Drakthar is Dead! Long live Drakthar!" This meant it was very likely Drakthar was a vampire.
The party fought and killed several goblins, including some spellcasters, in a small Dwarf-constructed complex. One room had previously been a temple to the dwarf god Moradin, but the statue of Moradin was missing its head, and goblins had covered the walls with graffiti and poo. Horkina headed upstairs to find Orak's decanter of endless water, and used it to spray the filth off of the walls and floor and out the door. She also found the statue's head nearby and placed it back where it belonged.
The Dwarf-constructed complex opened into a large cave. Two goblins mounted on worgs began to attack. One worg tripped Rain, but neither the goblins nor the worgs were able to do significant damage before they were brought down. A goblin sentry tried to run away, and Roland threw a tanglefoot bag at him. Roland overthrew his target, but the fleeing goblin reacted too slowly to avoid becoming entangled. He, too, was quickly dispatched.
In the next cave, Rain noticed some of the stalactites hanging from the ceiling didn't look quite right. He fired an arrow at one and it began to move. Horkina and Roland shot at it as well, bringing it down. It was a darkmantle, a predator that creates utter darkness and then swoops down to devour its prey. Moving slowly and looking carefully, Rain noticed two more darkmantles, and they were brought down with similar ease.
As the party approached a fork in the cavern, Rain and Garlen heard the sounds of more goblins. Some were up on a ledge to the east, while others were in a small alcove to the northwest. Horkina climbed up to the ledge and killed a pair of goblins with a cleaving blow from her axe. Garlen moved into the alcove and started stabbing, while Amber threw a thunderstone at a goblin trying to cast a spell. A couple of crossbow bolts ruined the goblin adept's day. The goblins were quickly routed, and the party gathered together to pick up the treasure.
Two swarms of bats began to attack the party, while a bugbear with bloodshot eyes arrived at the ledge -- this must be Drakthar. The bugbear told Horkina to tie her shoes, but she shook off the powerful suggestion. Amber moved away from the bat swarm and cast Magic Circle against Evil to protect Horkina from domination. Horkina and Rain fired several arrows at Drakthar, but to no effect. Roland, Garlen, and Rain regrouped around the nearest corner and used several vials of alchemists fire to slay the bats. Amber used a spell to fill Drakthar with a sense of doom, and Horkina again resisted a magical command to tie her shoe. She and Amber moved into formation with the rest of the party. When Drakthar followed, the party surrounded him and attacked. He shrugged off most of their blows, so everyone worked to distract him and make it easier for Horkina to hit. She landed a single, powerful blow that forced the bugbear to turn into a mist and retreat. After this difficult battle, the party headed back to town to rest and re-equip.
The present members of the party reached level 5.
Scott (Rain)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
Most of the party awoke the next morning, refreshed and ready to fight goblins, but Grokk was nowhere to be found. He stumbled in extremely drunk just after breakfast, and passed out halfway to his bunk. The party opted to leave him there. Roland made a quick trip to the library to research vampires and lycanthropes, and then briefed the party on the basics: both types resist damage unless it's from silver weapons, and vampires can mentally dominate someone unless they're magically protected. Amber picked up a scroll of magic circle against evil to provide that magical protection.
The guards posted at the bathhouse said a small group of goblins had approached from behind a locked door the night before, but they just left the door locked and stayed quiet until the goblins left. The party unlocked the door and climbed down a ladder beyond it. Across from the base of the ladder, scribbled in blood, was a sentence in goblin: "Drakthar is Dead! Long live Drakthar!" This meant it was very likely Drakthar was a vampire.
The party fought and killed several goblins, including some spellcasters, in a small Dwarf-constructed complex. One room had previously been a temple to the dwarf god Moradin, but the statue of Moradin was missing its head, and goblins had covered the walls with graffiti and poo. Horkina headed upstairs to find Orak's decanter of endless water, and used it to spray the filth off of the walls and floor and out the door. She also found the statue's head nearby and placed it back where it belonged.
The Dwarf-constructed complex opened into a large cave. Two goblins mounted on worgs began to attack. One worg tripped Rain, but neither the goblins nor the worgs were able to do significant damage before they were brought down. A goblin sentry tried to run away, and Roland threw a tanglefoot bag at him. Roland overthrew his target, but the fleeing goblin reacted too slowly to avoid becoming entangled. He, too, was quickly dispatched.
In the next cave, Rain noticed some of the stalactites hanging from the ceiling didn't look quite right. He fired an arrow at one and it began to move. Horkina and Roland shot at it as well, bringing it down. It was a darkmantle, a predator that creates utter darkness and then swoops down to devour its prey. Moving slowly and looking carefully, Rain noticed two more darkmantles, and they were brought down with similar ease.
As the party approached a fork in the cavern, Rain and Garlen heard the sounds of more goblins. Some were up on a ledge to the east, while others were in a small alcove to the northwest. Horkina climbed up to the ledge and killed a pair of goblins with a cleaving blow from her axe. Garlen moved into the alcove and started stabbing, while Amber threw a thunderstone at a goblin trying to cast a spell. A couple of crossbow bolts ruined the goblin adept's day. The goblins were quickly routed, and the party gathered together to pick up the treasure.
Two swarms of bats began to attack the party, while a bugbear with bloodshot eyes arrived at the ledge -- this must be Drakthar. The bugbear told Horkina to tie her shoes, but she shook off the powerful suggestion. Amber moved away from the bat swarm and cast Magic Circle against Evil to protect Horkina from domination. Horkina and Rain fired several arrows at Drakthar, but to no effect. Roland, Garlen, and Rain regrouped around the nearest corner and used several vials of alchemists fire to slay the bats. Amber used a spell to fill Drakthar with a sense of doom, and Horkina again resisted a magical command to tie her shoe. She and Amber moved into formation with the rest of the party. When Drakthar followed, the party surrounded him and attacked. He shrugged off most of their blows, so everyone worked to distract him and make it easier for Horkina to hit. She landed a single, powerful blow that forced the bugbear to turn into a mist and retreat. After this difficult battle, the party headed back to town to rest and re-equip.
The present members of the party reached level 5.
The Shackled City, Day 7 (2006-10-20, 6:30 PM) Chapter 2: Drakthar's Way
Players (Characters)
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
With the reward from the temple and the proceeds from selling various treasures, the party went on a spending spree, acquiring a guild hall in the western part of town as well as several new pieces of equipment. Amber checked to see how each of the rescued prisoners was doing and gave them each a little bit of gold to help them get back on their feet. Horkina, Grokk, and Rain spent the next week drinking in celebration of the completed mission. Roland spoke with Jasper Drundlesput, one of the rescued prisoners and a professor at Bluecrater Academy, and was able to gain access to Bluecrater's libraries. After about a week, Garlen showed up one evening with shiny but slightly bloodstained armor. With a huge smile, he said "this is brand new armor, and I've already got goblin blood on it!"
The next morning, a messenger delivered a summons. The party was to meet with Tereson Skellerang, the captain of the town guard. Tereson said that the town had been having trouble with goblins vandalizing the town for the past several nights, and Jenya suggested the Rubble Rousers were up to the task of tracking them down. They agreed, and decided to set a watch overnight. They caught a small group of goblins scrawling graffiti on a wall, capturing one and killing the others. The graffiti referred to "Drakthar", apparently the goblin leader, who "hunts... as a wolf". Roland charmed the goblin, who revealed that the "red-eyed dwarf" guarded the way to the goblin lair. Roland recalled an ex-adventuring dwarf, Orak Stonehaven, had an eyepatch with a red gem and was sometimes referred to by that moniker. Sensing the goblin had outlived its usefulness, Garlen backstabbed it.
Orak ran a bathhouse on Lava Avenue, so the party decided to watch the bathhouse the next night. Sure enough, a small group of goblins approached the door and the dwarf allowed them passage. Rain noticed another group of characters, wearing blue cloaks, were also watching the bathhouse. Rain snuck up on them, but they attacked, and the rest of the party joined the fray. The cloaked figures turned out to be wererats, who resisted the attacks made by non-silver weapons. Eventually, three of the four were killed and the remaining one was captured and charmed. He revealed that he'd been hired by "Gaelen Trodor", a name Roland recognized as belonging to one of Cauldron's founders hundreds of years ago. It was obviously a pseudonym, but his physical description led the party to suspect Tereson Skellerang. Roland approached Tereson and asked him to "come look at something" outside, and the wererat, watching from afar, signaled this was not his employer. A clever bluff by Roland was enough to get the wererat to let down his guard, and Skellerang quickly took him into custody.
With solid evidence that the goblins were based out of Orak's bathhouse, Skellerang sent a group of guards to go along with the party. The guards told Orak they'd spotted some thieves prowling about, and wanted to take a quick look inside to make sure they hadn't damaged any of his property. Orak opened the door and let the whole group inside. Rain snooped around and discovered some nice magical items in Orak's desk, including a decanter of endless water. After a few minutes chatting, Roland began to suspect Orak was under some form of mind control. Amber cast protection from evil on him, which temporarily suppressed the effect and left the dwarf wondering where he was. A quick explanation from the party and the group of guards was enough to convince Orak to drop his weapon and be put into manacles, and head towards the nearest temple.
Partway to the temple, the protection from evil wore off and the now-dominated Orak began questioning why he was being led off in manacles. Rain convinced him he'd been involved in a brawl, and the town guard just wanted to question him, but first they had to stop by the temple of Kord to pick up someone else who'd been involved in the fight. A messenger ran inside the temple and explained the situation, and several clerics rushed out to tackle Orak. A few spells later, the domination was broken. Orak handed over the keys to his bathhouse and decided he'd sleep elsewhere until the goblin problem was taken care of.
Skellerang set a watch inside the bathhouse overnight, and the party rested with the intent of invading the goblin lair in the morning. They spent some time discussing what the goblin leader might be, suspecting possibly a werewolf or vampire.
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
With the reward from the temple and the proceeds from selling various treasures, the party went on a spending spree, acquiring a guild hall in the western part of town as well as several new pieces of equipment. Amber checked to see how each of the rescued prisoners was doing and gave them each a little bit of gold to help them get back on their feet. Horkina, Grokk, and Rain spent the next week drinking in celebration of the completed mission. Roland spoke with Jasper Drundlesput, one of the rescued prisoners and a professor at Bluecrater Academy, and was able to gain access to Bluecrater's libraries. After about a week, Garlen showed up one evening with shiny but slightly bloodstained armor. With a huge smile, he said "this is brand new armor, and I've already got goblin blood on it!"
The next morning, a messenger delivered a summons. The party was to meet with Tereson Skellerang, the captain of the town guard. Tereson said that the town had been having trouble with goblins vandalizing the town for the past several nights, and Jenya suggested the Rubble Rousers were up to the task of tracking them down. They agreed, and decided to set a watch overnight. They caught a small group of goblins scrawling graffiti on a wall, capturing one and killing the others. The graffiti referred to "Drakthar", apparently the goblin leader, who "hunts... as a wolf". Roland charmed the goblin, who revealed that the "red-eyed dwarf" guarded the way to the goblin lair. Roland recalled an ex-adventuring dwarf, Orak Stonehaven, had an eyepatch with a red gem and was sometimes referred to by that moniker. Sensing the goblin had outlived its usefulness, Garlen backstabbed it.
Orak ran a bathhouse on Lava Avenue, so the party decided to watch the bathhouse the next night. Sure enough, a small group of goblins approached the door and the dwarf allowed them passage. Rain noticed another group of characters, wearing blue cloaks, were also watching the bathhouse. Rain snuck up on them, but they attacked, and the rest of the party joined the fray. The cloaked figures turned out to be wererats, who resisted the attacks made by non-silver weapons. Eventually, three of the four were killed and the remaining one was captured and charmed. He revealed that he'd been hired by "Gaelen Trodor", a name Roland recognized as belonging to one of Cauldron's founders hundreds of years ago. It was obviously a pseudonym, but his physical description led the party to suspect Tereson Skellerang. Roland approached Tereson and asked him to "come look at something" outside, and the wererat, watching from afar, signaled this was not his employer. A clever bluff by Roland was enough to get the wererat to let down his guard, and Skellerang quickly took him into custody.
With solid evidence that the goblins were based out of Orak's bathhouse, Skellerang sent a group of guards to go along with the party. The guards told Orak they'd spotted some thieves prowling about, and wanted to take a quick look inside to make sure they hadn't damaged any of his property. Orak opened the door and let the whole group inside. Rain snooped around and discovered some nice magical items in Orak's desk, including a decanter of endless water. After a few minutes chatting, Roland began to suspect Orak was under some form of mind control. Amber cast protection from evil on him, which temporarily suppressed the effect and left the dwarf wondering where he was. A quick explanation from the party and the group of guards was enough to convince Orak to drop his weapon and be put into manacles, and head towards the nearest temple.
Partway to the temple, the protection from evil wore off and the now-dominated Orak began questioning why he was being led off in manacles. Rain convinced him he'd been involved in a brawl, and the town guard just wanted to question him, but first they had to stop by the temple of Kord to pick up someone else who'd been involved in the fight. A messenger ran inside the temple and explained the situation, and several clerics rushed out to tackle Orak. A few spells later, the domination was broken. Orak handed over the keys to his bathhouse and decided he'd sleep elsewhere until the goblin problem was taken care of.
Skellerang set a watch inside the bathhouse overnight, and the party rested with the intent of invading the goblin lair in the morning. They spent some time discussing what the goblin leader might be, suspecting possibly a werewolf or vampire.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
The Shackled City, Day 6 (2006-10-13, 6:30 PM) Chapter 1: Life's Bazaar
Players (Characters)
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
The next morning, the party headed back into the Malachite Stronghold. Using Maple's map and the information she gave, they decided to clear out the eastern areas first. To the southeast was the kitchen, where a pair of goblins watched over a chained human man. One goblin was killed instantly, while the other surrendered. Rain tried to intimidate it into submission, but it laughed in his face. A few moments later the goblin lay dead on the floor.
Rain very quietly opened the door leading to the next room. Inside the grand chamber, three children stood chained to a pillar, while a fourth was being held by a halfbreed dwarf-troll in black armor. A short humanoid (a durgazon named Pyllrak) negotiated with Kazmojen, the dwarf-troll slaver, trying to bring down the price for the children. A small dog-like beast called a howler stood to one side, and a pair of hobgoblins guarded the main door.
Rain and Garlen stepped quietly into the room and jabbed Pyllrak with several well-placed blows from their swords. The rest of the group burst into the room and surrounded Pyllrak, who turned invisible and attempted to flee. The rest of the party alertly struck as he turned invisible, and several blows landed that left him unconscious.
The howler Prickles began wailing loudly, and Amber clubbed it with her mace. Roland cast a fire spell at Kazmojen while the others surrounded him and attempted to bring him down. A bright spray of colors from one of Roland's spells stunned Rain and Kazmojen, and a pair of blows from Grokk and Horkina sent the half-troll to the ground, but his wounds continued to regenerate. Hobgoblins began pouring in through the north door, but Roland put most of them to sleep and Amber fought with those that stayed standing. More hobgoblins appeared at the west door, so Garlen and Horkina moved to stop them while Grokk kept Kazmojen unconscious. Roland turned his attention to the slaver, burning him with potions and even a coil of rope. Grokk moved to help Amber cover the north door, and the pair slew many hobgoblins.
Rain grabbed a set of keys off of Kazmojen's corpse and released the children from their chains. A few moments later, a strange flying creature with over a dozen eyes appeared, demanding to take the child Terrem back to the orphanage. Roland knew this creature was a beholder, and should not be trifled with. A woman's voice chanted out a spell, and the beholder and Terrem disappeared. The party returned the other three children to the orphanage, where Terrem was already waiting.
The party moved through the rest of the fortress, most of which had emptied of occupants during the prior battle. When the group located a major treasure hoard, they recalled the warning from the mimic upstairs: there was another mimic guarding treasure somewhere on this level. Rain called out "shoot the loot" and fired an arrow at a treasure chest. The others followed suit. When Amber slung at a large gong at the side of the room, her bullet made only a faint sound and stuck to a layer of goo. Many arrows and spells later, the mimic succumbed to the might of the Rubble Rousers, who packed up the gold, gems, and other treasure for easy transport back to town.
The party found another five prisoners in jail cells and torture chambers. These five were escorted back to town, to bring the total number rescued to 12.
The party reached level 4.
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
The next morning, the party headed back into the Malachite Stronghold. Using Maple's map and the information she gave, they decided to clear out the eastern areas first. To the southeast was the kitchen, where a pair of goblins watched over a chained human man. One goblin was killed instantly, while the other surrendered. Rain tried to intimidate it into submission, but it laughed in his face. A few moments later the goblin lay dead on the floor.
Rain very quietly opened the door leading to the next room. Inside the grand chamber, three children stood chained to a pillar, while a fourth was being held by a halfbreed dwarf-troll in black armor. A short humanoid (a durgazon named Pyllrak) negotiated with Kazmojen, the dwarf-troll slaver, trying to bring down the price for the children. A small dog-like beast called a howler stood to one side, and a pair of hobgoblins guarded the main door.
Rain and Garlen stepped quietly into the room and jabbed Pyllrak with several well-placed blows from their swords. The rest of the group burst into the room and surrounded Pyllrak, who turned invisible and attempted to flee. The rest of the party alertly struck as he turned invisible, and several blows landed that left him unconscious.
The howler Prickles began wailing loudly, and Amber clubbed it with her mace. Roland cast a fire spell at Kazmojen while the others surrounded him and attempted to bring him down. A bright spray of colors from one of Roland's spells stunned Rain and Kazmojen, and a pair of blows from Grokk and Horkina sent the half-troll to the ground, but his wounds continued to regenerate. Hobgoblins began pouring in through the north door, but Roland put most of them to sleep and Amber fought with those that stayed standing. More hobgoblins appeared at the west door, so Garlen and Horkina moved to stop them while Grokk kept Kazmojen unconscious. Roland turned his attention to the slaver, burning him with potions and even a coil of rope. Grokk moved to help Amber cover the north door, and the pair slew many hobgoblins.
Rain grabbed a set of keys off of Kazmojen's corpse and released the children from their chains. A few moments later, a strange flying creature with over a dozen eyes appeared, demanding to take the child Terrem back to the orphanage. Roland knew this creature was a beholder, and should not be trifled with. A woman's voice chanted out a spell, and the beholder and Terrem disappeared. The party returned the other three children to the orphanage, where Terrem was already waiting.
The party moved through the rest of the fortress, most of which had emptied of occupants during the prior battle. When the group located a major treasure hoard, they recalled the warning from the mimic upstairs: there was another mimic guarding treasure somewhere on this level. Rain called out "shoot the loot" and fired an arrow at a treasure chest. The others followed suit. When Amber slung at a large gong at the side of the room, her bullet made only a faint sound and stuck to a layer of goo. Many arrows and spells later, the mimic succumbed to the might of the Rubble Rousers, who packed up the gold, gems, and other treasure for easy transport back to town.
The party found another five prisoners in jail cells and torture chambers. These five were escorted back to town, to bring the total number rescued to 12.
The party reached level 4.
The Shackled City, Day 5 (2006-10-06, 6:30 PM) Chapter 1: Life's Bazaar
Players (Characters)
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
Back in Cauldron, the party searched out shops where they could sell their goods, especially the unusual automaton. Having already spent a good deal of time and money at Skie's Treasury, and knowing she dealt in unusual magical items, that was the first stop. Skie wanted to know more about this strange group of adventurers who kept bringing her such odd items. "What do you call yourselves?", she asked. Several names were suggested, and after a few minutes of discussion, the party settled on "Rubble Rousers". "Very well, then, Rubble Rousers", Skie responded, "you've been such loyal customers that you are now eligible for my special Adventurers discount." She then bought the automaton and several other items.
After getting a bit of rest, the Rubble Rousers returned to Jzadirune in search of rubble. They discovered a small nursery filled with toys, including a beautiful rocking unicorn, which they graciously donated to the Lantern Street orphanage.
The party headed back to the factory room in the north, and then searched to the east. An old forge held the key to the "I" doors in Jzadirune. A short humanoid creature with hooves, called a Dark Creeper, laired in a woodshop nearby. This was one of the "short ones" Keygan Ghelve had warned about. It proved to be only a minor threat. In a glassblowing workshop not too far away, a more powerful Dark Creeper named Yuathyb attempted to hide. He was infected with the Vanishing, which made him somewhat harder to locate, but Rain spotted him and he was quickly dropped in combat.
Yuathyb's treasury held a suit of armor. Roland suspected it might be a construct of some sort, so the party approached cautiously. The suit of armor collapsed when touched, spilling thousands of silver coins on the ground. A few clay urns held thousands more coins and a few pieces of jewelry, including a bracelet engraved in Dwarven: "To Sondor, my deepest love. Lorthan". In a secret vault behind this treasury, there was another suit of armor standing over a treasure chest. When the chest was disturbed, the suit of armor began to attack, provoking a hearty laugh from Roland. Grokk and Horkina handled the construct easily, and Rain retrieved a wooden chess set and other treasures from the chest.
The rest of Jzadirune was fairly uneventful. The party discovered another Pulverizer Automaton hidden by an invisibility effect, a room with an illusory forest, and a few more dark creepers and assorted vermin, but nothing particularly dangerous. With a full collection of Jzadirune keys in hand, the Rubble Rousers searched through the few rooms that had thus far remained locked. Jzadirune was now secure, so the party headed for the elevator to the Malachite Stronghold.
A new earth elemental occupied the space where the party had narrowly averted death four days before. Roland and Amber shot at it from range, and then Grokk and Horkina smashed it into bits with their axes. A few moments later an angry and very filthy ogre stepped into the room, swinging a foul-smelling sword encrusted with all manner of gross. He was quickly surrounded and dropped, and Amber provided healing for those who'd been struck by his powerful blows.
Rain discovered a secret passage that led to a room with an active forge. Two halflings and a dwarf were enslaved here, while several goblins and hobgoblins watched over them. Garlen angrily attacked the goblinoids while screaming epithets in their native tongue, and the rest of the party followed suit, but with less swearing. After the goblins and hobgoblins fell, the party took the prisoners up to Cauldron. One of the prisoners, a halfling woman named Maple, thanked the party for freeing her. She sketched out a simple map of the area and told the party of the stronghold's defenses. The dwarf introduced herself as Sondor, and Garlen recalled the inscription from the bracelet found earlier. Sondor was reduced to tears when Rain returned her bracelet. The town was ecstatic as word got out that three of the kidnapping victims had been rescued.
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
Back in Cauldron, the party searched out shops where they could sell their goods, especially the unusual automaton. Having already spent a good deal of time and money at Skie's Treasury, and knowing she dealt in unusual magical items, that was the first stop. Skie wanted to know more about this strange group of adventurers who kept bringing her such odd items. "What do you call yourselves?", she asked. Several names were suggested, and after a few minutes of discussion, the party settled on "Rubble Rousers". "Very well, then, Rubble Rousers", Skie responded, "you've been such loyal customers that you are now eligible for my special Adventurers discount." She then bought the automaton and several other items.
After getting a bit of rest, the Rubble Rousers returned to Jzadirune in search of rubble. They discovered a small nursery filled with toys, including a beautiful rocking unicorn, which they graciously donated to the Lantern Street orphanage.
The party headed back to the factory room in the north, and then searched to the east. An old forge held the key to the "I" doors in Jzadirune. A short humanoid creature with hooves, called a Dark Creeper, laired in a woodshop nearby. This was one of the "short ones" Keygan Ghelve had warned about. It proved to be only a minor threat. In a glassblowing workshop not too far away, a more powerful Dark Creeper named Yuathyb attempted to hide. He was infected with the Vanishing, which made him somewhat harder to locate, but Rain spotted him and he was quickly dropped in combat.
Yuathyb's treasury held a suit of armor. Roland suspected it might be a construct of some sort, so the party approached cautiously. The suit of armor collapsed when touched, spilling thousands of silver coins on the ground. A few clay urns held thousands more coins and a few pieces of jewelry, including a bracelet engraved in Dwarven: "To Sondor, my deepest love. Lorthan". In a secret vault behind this treasury, there was another suit of armor standing over a treasure chest. When the chest was disturbed, the suit of armor began to attack, provoking a hearty laugh from Roland. Grokk and Horkina handled the construct easily, and Rain retrieved a wooden chess set and other treasures from the chest.
The rest of Jzadirune was fairly uneventful. The party discovered another Pulverizer Automaton hidden by an invisibility effect, a room with an illusory forest, and a few more dark creepers and assorted vermin, but nothing particularly dangerous. With a full collection of Jzadirune keys in hand, the Rubble Rousers searched through the few rooms that had thus far remained locked. Jzadirune was now secure, so the party headed for the elevator to the Malachite Stronghold.
A new earth elemental occupied the space where the party had narrowly averted death four days before. Roland and Amber shot at it from range, and then Grokk and Horkina smashed it into bits with their axes. A few moments later an angry and very filthy ogre stepped into the room, swinging a foul-smelling sword encrusted with all manner of gross. He was quickly surrounded and dropped, and Amber provided healing for those who'd been struck by his powerful blows.
Rain discovered a secret passage that led to a room with an active forge. Two halflings and a dwarf were enslaved here, while several goblins and hobgoblins watched over them. Garlen angrily attacked the goblinoids while screaming epithets in their native tongue, and the rest of the party followed suit, but with less swearing. After the goblins and hobgoblins fell, the party took the prisoners up to Cauldron. One of the prisoners, a halfling woman named Maple, thanked the party for freeing her. She sketched out a simple map of the area and told the party of the stronghold's defenses. The dwarf introduced herself as Sondor, and Garlen recalled the inscription from the bracelet found earlier. Sondor was reduced to tears when Rain returned her bracelet. The town was ecstatic as word got out that three of the kidnapping victims had been rescued.
The Shackled City, Day 4 (2006-09-29, 6:30 PM) Chapter 1: Life's Bazaar
Players (Characters)
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
Rain spent the next day at the temple of St. Cuthbert, recovering from the poison he'd encountered the night before. Elsewhere in the temple, Jenya discovered that "Remove Disease" cured Slick of his ailment, and Garlen suggested Slick might be capable of janitorial work while attempting to redeem himself. Roland took the opportunity to learn a few new spells. Horkina, having nothing better to do, headed for a local tavern, where a pickpocket found himself on the business end of her fist. Another customer, a half-orc named Grokk, came to her aid, and thus, the party was expanded due to a barfight.
Returning to Jzadirune, the party headed north through a secret passage and found a massive factory room. After a few moments searching, a strange creature that looked like a floating brain with tentacles appeared and attempted to grab Horkina. The Grell got a firm hold on her, but she resisted the effects of its poison. Grokk, Garlen, and Rain moved onto the balconies so they could reach the Grell with their weapons, while Roland shot it with his crossbow. Amber caused it to feel a sense of impending doom, which made it struggle to hit Horkina with its next few attacks. It did strike Horkina with a few of its tentacles, narrowly missing with others, but she shrugged off the effects of the poison. A few blows from the group massed on the balcony were enough to kill it, and its corpse fell softly on Horkina's head.
As the party began exploring to the west, someone pointed out the characters on the various doors spelled out JZADIRUNE. In a small scroll storage chamber, an illusion appeared, saying "I am Emirystul, librarian of Jzadirune. The scrolls you seek have been destroyed to keep you and others from fading into nothingness. The curse of the Vanishing began here, in these mystic halls, and here it will remain. Be careful what you find, and mind whatever magic was wrought here." Though the disease could be cured, it was expensive, and nobody wanted to take the risk of using a magic item that might have been infected.
Further to the west, the party uncovered a strange metal device with four legs and two long, spiked arms. Written on the side of the machine were two gnomish words: "thrymbryl", meaning activate, and "myglym", meaning deactivate. The machine began to move, but Roland called out "myglym" and it stopped. It was likely that this machine had carved out many of the round tunnels through Jzadirune. The party decided to leave this Pulverizer Automaton behind for now.
Through a tunnel to the south and east was an old Alchemy lab. What looked like a small pile of rags lying in the middle of the room turned out to be a Raggamoffyn, a strange magical construct that attempts to wrap itself around a creature and control its mind. Luckily, the party was able to destroy it before it got a firm hold on anyone. In the next room, the party found another Raggamoffyn that had captured a skulk, and shredded it with a series of attacks from axes and swords.
In the far western part of the map was an impressive throne room divided into three levels, with a sleeping (but illusory) king sitting in the throne at the top. A gnomish visage overlooking the middle level spoke out: "If you wish an audience with the king, place your finest coin in my mouth." Rain slipped a gold coin in its mouth, and the coin disappeared. A thorough search of the throne revealed a secret compartment with keys to the N and E doors and a few assorted coins, including the one Rain had just given up.
After a bit more searching, the party concluded that the western half of Jzadirune was clear. They returned to the surface with the Pulverizer Automaton, several paintings that had been hidden by an illusion, and various other treasures.
The party reached level 3.
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
Rain spent the next day at the temple of St. Cuthbert, recovering from the poison he'd encountered the night before. Elsewhere in the temple, Jenya discovered that "Remove Disease" cured Slick of his ailment, and Garlen suggested Slick might be capable of janitorial work while attempting to redeem himself. Roland took the opportunity to learn a few new spells. Horkina, having nothing better to do, headed for a local tavern, where a pickpocket found himself on the business end of her fist. Another customer, a half-orc named Grokk, came to her aid, and thus, the party was expanded due to a barfight.
Returning to Jzadirune, the party headed north through a secret passage and found a massive factory room. After a few moments searching, a strange creature that looked like a floating brain with tentacles appeared and attempted to grab Horkina. The Grell got a firm hold on her, but she resisted the effects of its poison. Grokk, Garlen, and Rain moved onto the balconies so they could reach the Grell with their weapons, while Roland shot it with his crossbow. Amber caused it to feel a sense of impending doom, which made it struggle to hit Horkina with its next few attacks. It did strike Horkina with a few of its tentacles, narrowly missing with others, but she shrugged off the effects of the poison. A few blows from the group massed on the balcony were enough to kill it, and its corpse fell softly on Horkina's head.
As the party began exploring to the west, someone pointed out the characters on the various doors spelled out JZADIRUNE. In a small scroll storage chamber, an illusion appeared, saying "I am Emirystul, librarian of Jzadirune. The scrolls you seek have been destroyed to keep you and others from fading into nothingness. The curse of the Vanishing began here, in these mystic halls, and here it will remain. Be careful what you find, and mind whatever magic was wrought here." Though the disease could be cured, it was expensive, and nobody wanted to take the risk of using a magic item that might have been infected.
Further to the west, the party uncovered a strange metal device with four legs and two long, spiked arms. Written on the side of the machine were two gnomish words: "thrymbryl", meaning activate, and "myglym", meaning deactivate. The machine began to move, but Roland called out "myglym" and it stopped. It was likely that this machine had carved out many of the round tunnels through Jzadirune. The party decided to leave this Pulverizer Automaton behind for now.
Through a tunnel to the south and east was an old Alchemy lab. What looked like a small pile of rags lying in the middle of the room turned out to be a Raggamoffyn, a strange magical construct that attempts to wrap itself around a creature and control its mind. Luckily, the party was able to destroy it before it got a firm hold on anyone. In the next room, the party found another Raggamoffyn that had captured a skulk, and shredded it with a series of attacks from axes and swords.
In the far western part of the map was an impressive throne room divided into three levels, with a sleeping (but illusory) king sitting in the throne at the top. A gnomish visage overlooking the middle level spoke out: "If you wish an audience with the king, place your finest coin in my mouth." Rain slipped a gold coin in its mouth, and the coin disappeared. A thorough search of the throne revealed a secret compartment with keys to the N and E doors and a few assorted coins, including the one Rain had just given up.
After a bit more searching, the party concluded that the western half of Jzadirune was clear. They returned to the surface with the Pulverizer Automaton, several paintings that had been hidden by an illusion, and various other treasures.
The party reached level 3.
The Shackled City, Day 3 (2006-09-22, 6:30 PM) Chapter 1: Life's Bazaar
Players (Characters)
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy observed while rolling up a character
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
The party returned to Jzadirune, deciding to clear the upper level before taking the elevator again. A strange giggling sound came from the room at the bottom of the stairs. The walls there were covered with copper masks that were magically making laughing sounds. One mask spoke when approached: "Welcome to Jzadirune, behold the wonder! But beware, ye who seek to plunder. Traps abound and guardians peer beyond every portal, behind every gear." Two round doors with gnomish glyphs (the letters J and A) were set into the south wall. One door was jammed partway open, and a faint light shone from inside. Rain stepped through the door and was attacked by two more skulks, but the group retaliated and finished off the skulks easily. Round tunnels were carved into the south and east walls of this room, and small piles of rubble were left over from their construction.
To the south and east was a small room where a skulk waited to ambush the party. He was quickly dispatched, and rain discovered a secret door behind him. In the next room, a silver cage rested atop a large chest between doors marked R and N. Inside the cage was a rat that perked up at the name "Starbrow". Before the party approached, the chest spoke out in a language Horkina knew as Undercommon. She was able to negotiate with this mimic, convincing it to trade the rat and cage for some rations. The mimic warned that there was another like it, but mean, and it had been taken to guard a treasure hoard. The party returned Starbrow to Keygan's shop and then headed back to the south tunnel.
To the south was a large, majestic hall with lights dancing along its length. As the party walked through the room, a pair of skulks jumped out from behind the southernmost pillars. One threw a thunderstone at Roland while another stabbed at Garlen. They were quickly taken down. Doors leading out of this room were marked R, U, and E, and two hallways led both east and west. Roland discovered a small music box in a pile of rubble to the south beside another round tunnel. This tunnel led to a small room with an assortment of treasure, including ten chain shirts, some coins, and a pair of scrolls, all inside a small chest hidden in the corpse of a carrion crawler.
To the west was a theater where a set of illusions performed a short play about Willowbough the dryad and Silverarrow, her beloved ranger companion, and their fight with Moontusk, the ranger's bitter wereboar nemesis. Rain and Garlen searched the stage and found a small trapdoor. When they opened it, an arm reached out and grabbed Rain, dragging him into the pit. Horkina and Garlen jumped in, fighting the foul Choker and eventually dropping it. In the pit was a small metal rod with a J glyph on the end. Experimentation showed this to be a key to the door marked J.
A small tunnel to the north led to a room with a partly invisible skulk. It was dealt a painful blow and quickly surrounded, leading it to cower in the corner and cry out in surrender. Rain moved to kill it, but Amber stepped in his way. Eventually the party accepted the skulk's surrender and gathered some information from it regarding the layout of the dungeon. This skulk, called 'Slick', had apparently been infected with the Vanishing, so he was taken to the church of St. Cuthbert.
The party returned to Jzadirune and discovered that they'd secured both sides of the same door, so Rain experimented to see if he could disable the potent trap on the door. Unfortunately, all he managed to do was trigger some poison gas that reduced his Dexterity. The party returned to Cauldron to report their findings, rest, and recover.
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy observed while rolling up a character
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
The party returned to Jzadirune, deciding to clear the upper level before taking the elevator again. A strange giggling sound came from the room at the bottom of the stairs. The walls there were covered with copper masks that were magically making laughing sounds. One mask spoke when approached: "Welcome to Jzadirune, behold the wonder! But beware, ye who seek to plunder. Traps abound and guardians peer beyond every portal, behind every gear." Two round doors with gnomish glyphs (the letters J and A) were set into the south wall. One door was jammed partway open, and a faint light shone from inside. Rain stepped through the door and was attacked by two more skulks, but the group retaliated and finished off the skulks easily. Round tunnels were carved into the south and east walls of this room, and small piles of rubble were left over from their construction.
To the south and east was a small room where a skulk waited to ambush the party. He was quickly dispatched, and rain discovered a secret door behind him. In the next room, a silver cage rested atop a large chest between doors marked R and N. Inside the cage was a rat that perked up at the name "Starbrow". Before the party approached, the chest spoke out in a language Horkina knew as Undercommon. She was able to negotiate with this mimic, convincing it to trade the rat and cage for some rations. The mimic warned that there was another like it, but mean, and it had been taken to guard a treasure hoard. The party returned Starbrow to Keygan's shop and then headed back to the south tunnel.
To the south was a large, majestic hall with lights dancing along its length. As the party walked through the room, a pair of skulks jumped out from behind the southernmost pillars. One threw a thunderstone at Roland while another stabbed at Garlen. They were quickly taken down. Doors leading out of this room were marked R, U, and E, and two hallways led both east and west. Roland discovered a small music box in a pile of rubble to the south beside another round tunnel. This tunnel led to a small room with an assortment of treasure, including ten chain shirts, some coins, and a pair of scrolls, all inside a small chest hidden in the corpse of a carrion crawler.
To the west was a theater where a set of illusions performed a short play about Willowbough the dryad and Silverarrow, her beloved ranger companion, and their fight with Moontusk, the ranger's bitter wereboar nemesis. Rain and Garlen searched the stage and found a small trapdoor. When they opened it, an arm reached out and grabbed Rain, dragging him into the pit. Horkina and Garlen jumped in, fighting the foul Choker and eventually dropping it. In the pit was a small metal rod with a J glyph on the end. Experimentation showed this to be a key to the door marked J.
A small tunnel to the north led to a room with a partly invisible skulk. It was dealt a painful blow and quickly surrounded, leading it to cower in the corner and cry out in surrender. Rain moved to kill it, but Amber stepped in his way. Eventually the party accepted the skulk's surrender and gathered some information from it regarding the layout of the dungeon. This skulk, called 'Slick', had apparently been infected with the Vanishing, so he was taken to the church of St. Cuthbert.
The party returned to Jzadirune and discovered that they'd secured both sides of the same door, so Rain experimented to see if he could disable the potent trap on the door. Unfortunately, all he managed to do was trigger some poison gas that reduced his Dexterity. The party returned to Cauldron to report their findings, rest, and recover.
The Shackled City, Day 2 (2006-09-15, 6:30 PM) Chapter 1: Life's Bazaar
Players (Characters)
Scott (Rain)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
Amber, Garlen, and Rain spent the next day exploring the city together, browsing shops and upgrading their equipment. A heavy rain doused the city just before nightfall, and the group headed for shelter. On their way to the Drunken Morkoth Inn, they heard a cry for help from a nearby alleyway and moved to investigate, along with a dwarven female and a human male who were nearby. In the alley were three men with their faces painted half white and half black. Two of the men were beating on a younger man wearing chain mail and a purple robe, telling him to "stay away from the orphanage." The third man drew a short sword and told everyone to "bugger off". Rain recognized the face paint as the symbol of the Last Laugh, a local theives guild. Amber, Garlen, Rain, and the dwarf woman moved forward to subdue the thugs, while the human male cast spells in support. When the thugs went down, Garlen and Rain tied them up while Amber stabilized them. The Dwarven woman introduced herself as Horkina, a fighter looking for action, and the human male introduced himself as Roland, a scholarly Wizard looking to research anything and everything he could. Moments later a guard patrol arrived, and one of them recognized the thugs as off-duty city guards.
The man in purple introduced himself as Ruphus Laro, a cleric from the temple of St. Cuthbert at the north end of town. He requested escort back to his temple, and the group agreed. On the way, he explained that he had been investigating a string of local disappearances -- about 25 people had gone missing over the last 3 months, including four orphans just a few nights ago. The church had publicly vowed to solve the mystery, but apparently the Last Laugh was opposed to that.
Once inside the temple, Ruphus invited the party to stay by the fire while he stepped out to find the head cleric. Other acolytes brought snacks and warm blankets. A few minutes later, a woman wearing a brown robe with golden trim and a symbol of St. Cuthbert hanging from her neck stepped into the room and introduced herself as Jenya Urikas, acting high priestess. She informed the group of the current situation -- four children named Deakon, Evelyn, Lucinda, and Terrem disappeared from the Lantern Street Orphanage three days ago, the most recent victims of a string of strange disappearences. Their rooms were locked with barred windows, and there were no obvious signs of forced entry. A church artifact mace called the Star of Justice was used to cast a divination to locate the children. The response was a cryptic poem: "The locks are key to finding them. Look beyond the curtain, below the cauldron. Beware the doors with teeth. Descend into the malachite 'hold, where precious life is bought with gold. Half a dwarf binds them, but not for long." Jenya handed each party member a healing potion and promised a reward of 2500 gp total if the children were recovered.
The group headed out to the orphanage and knocked on the door. A halfling woman, Gretchyn, peeked out and asked "who sent you?" "The church of St. Cuthbert." "Can you prove it?" Rain held up one of the healing potions with the symbol of St. Cuthbert on the side, and Gretchyn let them in to investigate. Rain set to work looking at the locks, and found them all to be high quality and of consistant manufacture, with no signs of tampering. Roland looked for magic auras but did not find any. All of the windows were barred. Gretchyn kept the only key with her at all times. Asked what she'd do if she lost the key, she responded that she'd have to contact the locksmith who made all of the locks.
The party decided to investigate the locksmith, Keygan Ghelve, in the morning. His small shop was on Lava Avenue. Roland asked him about purchasing locks while Rain sneaked closer to a curtain on the side of the showroom, remembering "look beyond the curtain" from the divination. Ghelve told the party to stay away from that curtain, which made them more curious. When Rain stepped up to the curtain, Keygan pointed up and signalled "danger". A strange humanoid with chameleon-like skin, called a "skulk", jumped down from the upper floor and attacked the party, but was felled with one swing of Horkina's axe.
Keygan fell to his knees crying, and explained the situation: his shop was built atop the entrance to an abandoned gnomish stronghold named Jzadirune. Strange creatures, including skulks and shorter humanoids, had recently come into his shop and kidnapped his familiar, a rat named Starbrow. They threatened to kill the rat unless Keygan made them master keys to the city's locks and kept quiet. Keygan also warned of a strange magical disease that befell Jzadirune, leading to it being abandoned 75 years ago. "The Vanishing" made those who were infected slowly fade away. Finally, Keygan handed the group an old map of Jzadirune and showed them the secret entrance beneath his staircase.
Rain and Garlen led the way down the stairs. Rain noticed that one of the empty sconces on the wall was mounted in an unusual way. Upon further inspection, it was clearly the trigger mechanism for a secret door. Rain twisted the sconce, and the floor tilted up, throwing him down the stairs. He walked back up and twisted the sconce the opposite direction. The wall opened up to reveal a short hallway. Rain noticed unusual cracks on the floor, suggesting the presence of a pit trap of some sort, so he jammed one half of the pit closed. Horkina forced open the door on the other end of the hallway. In the next room were a pair of hobgoblins who did not live long enough to inflict much damage. The wooden floor of the room was attached to large chains, and there was a lever on the wall. Pulling the lever revealed the room to be an elevator, which descended to a deeper level of the dungeon.
The room adjacent to the elevator had what looked like a strange stone statue in the middle. Roland recognized it as some sort of earth elemental, and warned that it would be difficult to deal with. Several group members fired their bows and then moved to surround the strange elemental. Garlen did his best to give Horkina an easier time hitting it, and Rain stepped away after taking a nasty hit. Horkina was dropped by a critical strike from the elemental, but was able to get back up and keep fighting after a healing spell from Amber. A magic missile from Roland and a few strikes from Horkina nearly destroyed it, but it continued fighting until Rain threw some alchemists fire on it, dropping it as well as a party member. Amber made sure everyone was stable, and the group retreated to the temple of St. Cuthbert to rest.
The party reached level 2.
Scott (Rain)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
Amber, Garlen, and Rain spent the next day exploring the city together, browsing shops and upgrading their equipment. A heavy rain doused the city just before nightfall, and the group headed for shelter. On their way to the Drunken Morkoth Inn, they heard a cry for help from a nearby alleyway and moved to investigate, along with a dwarven female and a human male who were nearby. In the alley were three men with their faces painted half white and half black. Two of the men were beating on a younger man wearing chain mail and a purple robe, telling him to "stay away from the orphanage." The third man drew a short sword and told everyone to "bugger off". Rain recognized the face paint as the symbol of the Last Laugh, a local theives guild. Amber, Garlen, Rain, and the dwarf woman moved forward to subdue the thugs, while the human male cast spells in support. When the thugs went down, Garlen and Rain tied them up while Amber stabilized them. The Dwarven woman introduced herself as Horkina, a fighter looking for action, and the human male introduced himself as Roland, a scholarly Wizard looking to research anything and everything he could. Moments later a guard patrol arrived, and one of them recognized the thugs as off-duty city guards.
The man in purple introduced himself as Ruphus Laro, a cleric from the temple of St. Cuthbert at the north end of town. He requested escort back to his temple, and the group agreed. On the way, he explained that he had been investigating a string of local disappearances -- about 25 people had gone missing over the last 3 months, including four orphans just a few nights ago. The church had publicly vowed to solve the mystery, but apparently the Last Laugh was opposed to that.
Once inside the temple, Ruphus invited the party to stay by the fire while he stepped out to find the head cleric. Other acolytes brought snacks and warm blankets. A few minutes later, a woman wearing a brown robe with golden trim and a symbol of St. Cuthbert hanging from her neck stepped into the room and introduced herself as Jenya Urikas, acting high priestess. She informed the group of the current situation -- four children named Deakon, Evelyn, Lucinda, and Terrem disappeared from the Lantern Street Orphanage three days ago, the most recent victims of a string of strange disappearences. Their rooms were locked with barred windows, and there were no obvious signs of forced entry. A church artifact mace called the Star of Justice was used to cast a divination to locate the children. The response was a cryptic poem: "The locks are key to finding them. Look beyond the curtain, below the cauldron. Beware the doors with teeth. Descend into the malachite 'hold, where precious life is bought with gold. Half a dwarf binds them, but not for long." Jenya handed each party member a healing potion and promised a reward of 2500 gp total if the children were recovered.
The group headed out to the orphanage and knocked on the door. A halfling woman, Gretchyn, peeked out and asked "who sent you?" "The church of St. Cuthbert." "Can you prove it?" Rain held up one of the healing potions with the symbol of St. Cuthbert on the side, and Gretchyn let them in to investigate. Rain set to work looking at the locks, and found them all to be high quality and of consistant manufacture, with no signs of tampering. Roland looked for magic auras but did not find any. All of the windows were barred. Gretchyn kept the only key with her at all times. Asked what she'd do if she lost the key, she responded that she'd have to contact the locksmith who made all of the locks.
The party decided to investigate the locksmith, Keygan Ghelve, in the morning. His small shop was on Lava Avenue. Roland asked him about purchasing locks while Rain sneaked closer to a curtain on the side of the showroom, remembering "look beyond the curtain" from the divination. Ghelve told the party to stay away from that curtain, which made them more curious. When Rain stepped up to the curtain, Keygan pointed up and signalled "danger". A strange humanoid with chameleon-like skin, called a "skulk", jumped down from the upper floor and attacked the party, but was felled with one swing of Horkina's axe.
Keygan fell to his knees crying, and explained the situation: his shop was built atop the entrance to an abandoned gnomish stronghold named Jzadirune. Strange creatures, including skulks and shorter humanoids, had recently come into his shop and kidnapped his familiar, a rat named Starbrow. They threatened to kill the rat unless Keygan made them master keys to the city's locks and kept quiet. Keygan also warned of a strange magical disease that befell Jzadirune, leading to it being abandoned 75 years ago. "The Vanishing" made those who were infected slowly fade away. Finally, Keygan handed the group an old map of Jzadirune and showed them the secret entrance beneath his staircase.
Rain and Garlen led the way down the stairs. Rain noticed that one of the empty sconces on the wall was mounted in an unusual way. Upon further inspection, it was clearly the trigger mechanism for a secret door. Rain twisted the sconce, and the floor tilted up, throwing him down the stairs. He walked back up and twisted the sconce the opposite direction. The wall opened up to reveal a short hallway. Rain noticed unusual cracks on the floor, suggesting the presence of a pit trap of some sort, so he jammed one half of the pit closed. Horkina forced open the door on the other end of the hallway. In the next room were a pair of hobgoblins who did not live long enough to inflict much damage. The wooden floor of the room was attached to large chains, and there was a lever on the wall. Pulling the lever revealed the room to be an elevator, which descended to a deeper level of the dungeon.
The room adjacent to the elevator had what looked like a strange stone statue in the middle. Roland recognized it as some sort of earth elemental, and warned that it would be difficult to deal with. Several group members fired their bows and then moved to surround the strange elemental. Garlen did his best to give Horkina an easier time hitting it, and Rain stepped away after taking a nasty hit. Horkina was dropped by a critical strike from the elemental, but was able to get back up and keep fighting after a healing spell from Amber. A magic missile from Roland and a few strikes from Horkina nearly destroyed it, but it continued fighting until Rain threw some alchemists fire on it, dropping it as well as a party member. Amber made sure everyone was stable, and the group retreated to the temple of St. Cuthbert to rest.
The party reached level 2.
The Shackled City, Day 1 (2006-09-08, 6:30 PM) Chapter 0: Swearing in Orcish
Players (Characters):
Scott (Rain)
Catherine (Amber)
DM: Tom (Garlen Fartravel)
We begin at the Happy Monkey Tavern, about 20 miles west of Cauldron (not to be confused with the Lucky Monkey Inn, a fair distance beyond.) To call the Happy Monkey a "wide spot in the road" would be to give it too much credit. The bartender and a few bored patrons sat idly by. Amber, a halfling cleric of Ehlonna, approached the bar and introduced herself to Rain, an Elven Rogue, who offered her an ale. She politely declined, much to his amusement; he drank the ale on his own and they continued to chat. Both had plans to head to Cauldron in the morning.
A few minutes later, a halfling poked his head in the door and excitedly yelled out "there are some goblins approaching through the forest. Anyone want to help me kill them?" Amber invoked Ehlonna's blessing on all present and then approached the door as fast as she could manage in her heavy armor. Garlen, the halfling ranger, engaged one of the goblins in melee combat, killing it with a few solid stabs of his rapier. Rain moved outside and quickly fired an arrow at the other goblin, yelling out an Orcish insult as the arrow struck. The goblin closed to melee and swung wildly at Amber. Rain, still yelling in Orcish, drew his longsword and stabbed the goblin in the back, killing it instantly with a critical blow. Rain spotted another goblin approaching the side of the tavern, while Garlen spotted two more in the woods. Amber continued to gawk at the dead goblin in front of her until Garlen's shouts drew her attention and she moved to assist him. She and Garlen surrounded and easily dispatched the two goblins. The goblin by the tavern broke a window and turned to attack Rain, dealing him a significant blow. Garlen finished off the goblin while Amber tended to Rain. The group made a small donation to replace the broken window, and spent the night at the Happy Monkey before setting off for Cauldron.
Just before reaching the edge of the forest, the group was approached by a dwarf, who yelled "run away! Orcs!" and ran past them. A hundred feet behind was a group of four Orcs. Rain fired a pair of arrows at Zubdub, the lead Orc, killing him while insulting the others in their native tongue. Amber stood valiantly in the middle of the road, while Garlen failed miserably at his attempt to hide behind a small bush. The dwarf, encouraged by the party's initial success, turned around and stood combat-ready next to Amber. The next two Orcs were surrounded and quickly fell, but the final one dropped Garlen as he tried to get behind it. The dwarf slew the Orc with a mighty blow, and Amber revived Garlen by the power of Ehlonna. The dwarf continued on his way to the West with hardly any thanks, while Amber, Rain, and Garlen made their way into Cauldron, where they spent the night at the Drunken Morkoth Inn.
Scott (Rain)
Catherine (Amber)
DM: Tom (Garlen Fartravel)
We begin at the Happy Monkey Tavern, about 20 miles west of Cauldron (not to be confused with the Lucky Monkey Inn, a fair distance beyond.) To call the Happy Monkey a "wide spot in the road" would be to give it too much credit. The bartender and a few bored patrons sat idly by. Amber, a halfling cleric of Ehlonna, approached the bar and introduced herself to Rain, an Elven Rogue, who offered her an ale. She politely declined, much to his amusement; he drank the ale on his own and they continued to chat. Both had plans to head to Cauldron in the morning.
A few minutes later, a halfling poked his head in the door and excitedly yelled out "there are some goblins approaching through the forest. Anyone want to help me kill them?" Amber invoked Ehlonna's blessing on all present and then approached the door as fast as she could manage in her heavy armor. Garlen, the halfling ranger, engaged one of the goblins in melee combat, killing it with a few solid stabs of his rapier. Rain moved outside and quickly fired an arrow at the other goblin, yelling out an Orcish insult as the arrow struck. The goblin closed to melee and swung wildly at Amber. Rain, still yelling in Orcish, drew his longsword and stabbed the goblin in the back, killing it instantly with a critical blow. Rain spotted another goblin approaching the side of the tavern, while Garlen spotted two more in the woods. Amber continued to gawk at the dead goblin in front of her until Garlen's shouts drew her attention and she moved to assist him. She and Garlen surrounded and easily dispatched the two goblins. The goblin by the tavern broke a window and turned to attack Rain, dealing him a significant blow. Garlen finished off the goblin while Amber tended to Rain. The group made a small donation to replace the broken window, and spent the night at the Happy Monkey before setting off for Cauldron.
Just before reaching the edge of the forest, the group was approached by a dwarf, who yelled "run away! Orcs!" and ran past them. A hundred feet behind was a group of four Orcs. Rain fired a pair of arrows at Zubdub, the lead Orc, killing him while insulting the others in their native tongue. Amber stood valiantly in the middle of the road, while Garlen failed miserably at his attempt to hide behind a small bush. The dwarf, encouraged by the party's initial success, turned around and stood combat-ready next to Amber. The next two Orcs were surrounded and quickly fell, but the final one dropped Garlen as he tried to get behind it. The dwarf slew the Orc with a mighty blow, and Amber revived Garlen by the power of Ehlonna. The dwarf continued on his way to the West with hardly any thanks, while Amber, Rain, and Garlen made their way into Cauldron, where they spent the night at the Drunken Morkoth Inn.
The Shackled City, Character Creation Info
Generate character stats using the standard stat-rolling method from the players handbook: roll 4d6 and total up the highest 3 dice a total of 6 times to generate six stats. Repeat the process twice more to generate three sets of stats, and pick whichever of the three you think is best. Shift up to 3 points around and then assign the stats.
Begin with maximum hitpoints, and take either average or rolled-for starting wealth. At each level, when rolling hitpoints, you may choose to take a single reroll, but must keep the result even if it's worse.
Also, each character should pick one skill that has role-playing potential and is not stereotypical for their character class to spend ranks in. This is your specialty or your hobby. It's treated as class skill with max ranks, but you don't have to actuall spend skill points for it.
Specialty skills selected:
Roland - Sleight of Hand (magic tricks)
Garlen - Tumble (gymnastics)
Rain - Spellcraft (time spent in elven villages watching spellcasters at work)
Amber - Ride (as she travelled in service to Ehlonna)
Horkina - Balance
Grokk - Perform (Percussion)
Begin with maximum hitpoints, and take either average or rolled-for starting wealth. At each level, when rolling hitpoints, you may choose to take a single reroll, but must keep the result even if it's worse.
Also, each character should pick one skill that has role-playing potential and is not stereotypical for their character class to spend ranks in. This is your specialty or your hobby. It's treated as class skill with max ranks, but you don't have to actuall spend skill points for it.
Specialty skills selected:
Roland - Sleight of Hand (magic tricks)
Garlen - Tumble (gymnastics)
Rain - Spellcraft (time spent in elven villages watching spellcasters at work)
Amber - Ride (as she travelled in service to Ehlonna)
Horkina - Balance
Grokk - Perform (Percussion)
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