Saturday, May 19, 2007

The Shackled City, Day 31 (2007-05-04, 6:30 PM), Chapter 10: Thirteen Cages

Players (Characters)
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber -- and her hippogriff Redtail)
Tony (Roland -- and his familiar Sam and shield guardian Percy)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)

The party headed to the south, into a massive cavern with a huge lava pool and islands in the middle. A huge and ornate tapestry hung on the northeast wall. Roland's wand provided Grokk and Horkina with the ability to fly, while Rain and Garlen used their armor's magical flight ability. As the party headed for a large segment of land near the tapestry, a huge pyroclastic dragon emerged from underneath the lava. His voice boomed out "who are you, and why are you in my lair?" Roland explained that we were here looking for the Cagewrights. Rain peeked behind the tapestry and saw the dragon's hoard, but the dragon was perceptive enough to notice Rain's actions, and responded by breathing a disintegration ray. (Jeremy's response: "I must compliment you on having found the most efficient way to start the fight.")

Rain and Garlen tumbled up to the dragon and began stabbing it in all its sensitive places, and Horkina flew in and smashed it with her axe. The dragon was very displeased with Rain, biting and clawing him until he fell. It finished him off with a swing of the tail. Amber used a pair of Moon Bolts to weaken the dragon to make it less dangerous in melee, and Roland used a spell to make it dizzy. After Grokk hit it with a powerful blow, it breathed a blast of disintegration that destroyed both Amber and Redtail. A few more stabs from Garlen and a round of hailstones from Roland finally dropped the foe, but this was a costly victory.

Roland decided to use his wish to resurrect Amber so that she could resurrect Rain. Amber swept up the remaining ashes from Redtail and mourned his passing, and also mourned the likely demise of Cauldron now that Roland's wish had been used up. Rain was fairly upset and started moving recklessly in combat. The party approached a group of Haraknin to the south and Rain charged right into the fray, leaping up onto a stone table in the middle of the group. Horkina and Grokk's axes did most of the slaying, but Rain's stabs provided him with much needed outlet.

The party found one room with a lava pool and several stepping stones at the entrance. A shady-looking human wielding a rapier was training with a tiefling woman covered in tattoos. Amber used Hold Person to freeze the man, and Rain stabbed him multiple times. Grokk and Horkina surrounded the woman and attacked her, but she stepped away and became invisible. Amber tried to dispel her invisibility, but the woman attacked and interrupted her spell. Grokk bashed the woman with his axe and Roland fired a magic missile, but it was Horkina's bow that dealt the death blow.

Moving onward and eastward, the party found several demodands. Garlen and Grokk killed a farastu while Amber used her Light of Venya to wound another. Roland's magic missile and Percy and Rain's flanking made a big Shator demodand cry out in pain, but it was Garlen's string of critical hits that brought the vile creature to its end. Rain and Horkina searched out another farastu that had gone invisible, dropping it with a pair of well-placed blows.

To the east was the Tree of Shackled Souls. A big Shator demodand named Dyr'ryd stood alongside it as it continued to supply energy to form the portal. Its main face asked the party "what are you doing here" while its smaller, cancerous face cackled. Rain didn't want to give this Cagewright any more time, so he charged in with rapier ready. Dyr'ryd stepped back and cut into Rain with his heavily enchanted guisarme. Grokk moved to flank and Amber gave the party a powerful magical protection, but Roland's maximized disintegrate spell provided the party with all the protection they needed by destroying the enemy. Percy placed the dispersal collar around the tree and it began to release its energy, and the party stood guard (looking away to avoid going blind) until the Tree of Shackled Souls finally released the last of its energy.

The party moved north to try to find the remaining Cagewrights, to be sure the ritual would not be restarted. A cleric of Adimarchus and another Shator demodand stood near a small altar and attempted to put up a fight, but a Holy Word from Amber banished the outsider, and a critical blow from Grokk ended the cleric's miserable existance. Further to the north, the party encountered a Vecna-worshipping cleric hiding in a strange garden of rock-and-lava statues, but she didn't live long enough to inflict any serious injuries on any of the party members. To the north and east, the party found a quasit and a man wearing robes. Rain attacked the man while Garlen engaged in one of his favorite activities, attacking the evil outsider. The quasit responded with a Cone of Cold, which was trumped by Amber's Lucent Lance. The man flew upward through the ceiling, so Horkina, still able to fly from before, followed. She found the man laying in a small chamber beyond an illusory ceiling, and a blow from her axe ended the man's existance.

Further to the west, the party found the area where the Haraknin and their leader, Ti'irok Coalfire, were staged. The party lined up and yelled out insults, hoping to draw the enemies into the open. As nearly a dozen Haraknin came into view, Amber dropped a Sunburst in their midst, blinding several of them. Grokk, Horkina, Rain, and Garlen fired off a string of arrows, thinning the Haraknin ranks. A fire giant stepped into the middle of the Haraknin pack and stood ready to fight any who approached. Roland used chain frost to further weaken the giant and his guardians, and Garlen's bow and Amber's sunbeam took out the front line. Rain and Horkina moved to flank and attack the giant, wounding him severely, while Grokk continued cutting through the Haraknin. Ti'irok managed to land a decent blow with his greatsword, but an iceball from Roland, a Holy Smite from Amber, and kidney surgery from Rain finished off the big giant.

Amber and Rain reached level 16 again. The rest of the party reached level 17.

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