This is just a quick reference to all of the other postings here.
LAST UPDATE: September 29 , added day 38 and Postmortem
Character Creation and Backstories:
Character Creation Info
Amber's backstory
Rain's backstory
Garlen's backstory
Grokk's backstory
Horkina's backstory
Roland's backstory
Session Logs
Chapter 0: Swearing in Orcish, wherein an ugly elf shows off his ugly vocabulary in an ugly language.
Day 1: Rain gets to feel tall and many goblins and orcs get to feel dead.
Chapter 1: Life's Bazaar, wherein an overzealous merchant from deep below harvests too aggressively from a local orphanage, and overstays his welcome in the foundations below.
Day 2: we track the kidnappers to Jzadirune and nearly get killed by delving too deep.
Day 3: we decide to clear Jzadirune. Rain has his first unfortunate run-in with poison.
Day 4: we recover a pulverizer, and much other treasure.
Day 5: we clear the rest of Jzadirune and find the earth elemental is much easier to deal with.
Day 6: we light a troll on fire, put a bunch of goblins to sleep, and send a child home with a beholder.
Chapter 2: Drakthar's Way, wherein a tribe of goblins attracts too much attention and brings unwelcome guests to its master's den.
Day 7: Garlen kills lots of goblins, and we find Orak has been enchanted.
Day 8: we miss Grokk's contributions as we struggle to fend off a vampire.
Day 9: we miss Rain's contributions as we kill a vampire and several mercenaries.
Chapter 3: Flood Season, wherein a solid plan to ransom captured wands turns sour for three friends and their employees, and a local luminary loses his tongue.
Day 10: our first encounter with the rollerblades. We break the boss fight at the lucky monkey.
Day 11: we follow a redhead underground, and barely kill a dinosaur that should've stayed dead the first time.
Day 12: we kill lots of thugs and capture two evil cultists. Garlen gets his cloak of arachnidia.
Chapter 4: Zenith Trajectory, wherein a tribe of the Sea Mother's children suffer for sparing the life of a mad prisoner they probably should have eaten.
Day 13: Grokk tells the frog story, stealing the funny crown from Crazy Jared, and we kill a dragon.
Day 14: lots of kuo-toans die, and Grokk gets a cool flaming bow from a demon.
Day 15: we kill a dragon before it acts, Horkina eats the purple mushrooms, and we capture a crazy dwarf.
Chapter 5: The Demonskar Legacy, wherein three sisters, an exiled demon, a twelve-foot-tall smith, and a man made of mirrors meet grisly ends
Day 16: we stop a riot cold, and the blue duke stops some fires even colder.
Day 17: Garlen gets swallowed, we get a warning, and some giants get surprised by a very strong half-orc.
Day 18: the twelve-foot-tall smith, three sisters, a man made of mirrors, and an exiled demon meet grisly ends in that order.
Chapter 5.5: Blackrock Mountain, wherein an ancient artifact proves easier to get than anybody expects.
Day 19: Horkina continues her proud tradition of landing critical hits on giants.
Chapter 6: The Test of the Smoking Eye, wherein a sorcerer's attempt to claim a land for his own ends in sudden betrayal at the hands of his allies.
Day 20: we head for a plane full of rubble, to meet our destinies.
Day 21: we pass two tests, and Roland's electric loop finally works, but Tony misses it.
Day 22: Horkina grabs the master key to any lock, and we argue for hours about the fate of a double-crosser.
Chapter 7: Secrets of the Soul Pillars, wherein the local clergy makes the terrible mistake of not hiring enough assassins for the job.
Day 23: we kill a lich and a lot of summons. Amber narrowly survives an attempt on her life.
Day 24: we take revenge on the Veiled Lady, and discover our first clues about the Cagewrights.
Day 25: the denizens of an icy ruin are killed, some for the second time. Rain complains about treasure, and Amber prophesies about a dracolich.
Chapter 8: Lords of Oblivion, wherein a charming local noble woman's party comes to a sudden and gruesome end.
Day 26: we decide walls are no big deal, and leave several holes in a Last Laugh safehouse. Amber knows exactly how to respond to a room full of evil.
Day 27: we start to suspect a beholder is involved, and start stealing his stuff.
Day 28: Amber gets stoned, Vhalantru gets owned, and the mayoral office gets chowned.
Chapter 9: Foundation of Flame, wherein the weather takes a turn for the worse.
Day 29: We evacuate the whole city, Grokk learns to fly, and a dragon regrets not picking on foes his own size.
Chapter 10: Thirteen Cages, wherein a group of diverse and talented allies learns the folly of not working together against a common foe.
Day 30: we sneak into the Cagewrights' inner sanctum and gain a wish.
Day 31: we wish the dragon wasn't so nasty. Horkina flies, evil dies.
Chapter 10.5: Two Wrongs, wherein two dreams are fulfilled, and an elite criminal is outclassed.
Day 32: Rain is reduced to tears. Several walls are reduced to dust. Some thieves of reduced stature get torn up.
Day 33: Garlen gets mauled for looking like a spellcaster, the party gets split up twice, and Rain satisfied himself and a ghost all in one swing.
Chapter 11: Strike on Shatterhorn, wherein the last fragments of a once-powerful organization are finally reduced to ruin.
Day 34: The party solves two sliding block puzzles in very different ways, Percy proves that being alive isn't always ideal, and a Cagewright sees Grokk from a new direction.
Day 35: Amber takes an unexpected shower, Garlen's voice changes, an old acquaintance looks us up, and we discover we don't need no stinking badgers.
Chapter 11.5: Test Results, Wherein a simple security breach leads to competing claims of Lordship, and old grudges are given new life
Day 36: A dancing dragon, some smelly six-legged beasts, a bloated beholder, and three gaunt giants fall before the Rubble Rousers.
Chapter 12: Asylum, wherein a trip to the other side results in an unforseen adjustment to a prisoner's cage.
Day 37: wherein information is gained through magic, bribery, and friendship, and having six of the same kind of limb shows surprising correlation to bad consequences.
Day 38: wherein a very dangerous enemy falls to good planning and superior firepower, and all of Cauldron celebrates
Postmortem, wherein we discuss the previous 38 sessions and prepare for the Black Sands campaign
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Shackled City Postmortem
Comments on the book:
- The campaign remained fun for most players all the way through, but could have gotten old. It was fun to play all the way from level 1 to 20, but Catherine got bored mid-game due to the poor narrative flow and the abrupt transitions. It would help to have a random bard give prophecies to tie the adventures together into a coherent whole.
- The best parts were: deciding on what to do about the smoking eye at the end of chapter 6, the vorpal sword quest as a whole, some of the puzzles (the fire room in the vorpal sword quest; the mirror in chapter 5), the great dungeon crawl that was Jzadirune, the chapter 1 boss fight where the mooks just kept coming, the assassination of the rakshasa near the end of chapter 6, and allowing Kate to play the session she attended.
- The worst parts were: some of the boss fights were lame, especially the Adimarchus fight. Bosses needed more assistants, like in the Kaurophon fight at the end of chapter 11. There wasn't enough tailoring to individual characters' backgrounds or enough individualized sidequests. Not enough cool and special items (like the Maul of the Titans). Enemies didn't always use intelligent enough tactics, so certain characters were rarely threatened as the game went on.
- Book NPC's: There weren't enough friendly wizards. There weren't enough recurring villains -- some were resurrected, and some appeared a couple times, but by the time we found out the Cagewrights were a problem, we were already busy killing them off. Would have been better to have the Stormblades play a more recurring role, and also to have the Blue Duke, the Cagewrights, and the Last Laugh meddling in our affairs for a while before we wiped them all out in chapter 8. There were too many NPC's to keep straight, and only a few of them really stood out (but Crazy Jared was cool.)
Comments on Tom as DM:
- The game was too easy. The DM could have made harder encounters and made enemies fight harder/smarter/more clever. For the most part, the enemies just let us come to them and attack on our terms. Garlen made the party even more powerful.
- Some players followed the storyline OK while others were totally lost. It was a challenge, but could have been done better.
- The DM gave new players a big leg up in terms of making good character choices. Tony was also a big help.
- Garlen was cool to have along. Provided a fun level of interaction with the DM.
- Use more immersion -- speak in voices, hand out props, dim the lights, play background music, etc.
- Let Scott roll more. It doesn't matter if it's a DC 20 check and he has a +35, just say "roll a die" and then say "you found..."
Comments on Catherine as DM:
- Her sections were better laid out. The dungeons were more sensible/logical and the bad guys followed better algorithms.
- Tom was better at keeping Scott involved and building up the party, while Catherine was better at building encounters and pacing them well.
Comments on the players:
- Tony was very helpful in terms of party strategy and character development.
- The party worked together very well as a whole. There wasn't any lame/pointless rivalry. Everyone was willing to share. The party made good choices overall.
- Tony was good at breaking fights.
- Scott and Jeremy were very good at the "role-playing" parts of the game. Their characters had great personality.
- Having been through the game once, everyone feels inspired to develop neat characters for Black Sands. Now that we know how to be mechanically effective and play the game from start to finish, it'll be easier to work toward good character concepts.
- The campaign remained fun for most players all the way through, but could have gotten old. It was fun to play all the way from level 1 to 20, but Catherine got bored mid-game due to the poor narrative flow and the abrupt transitions. It would help to have a random bard give prophecies to tie the adventures together into a coherent whole.
- The best parts were: deciding on what to do about the smoking eye at the end of chapter 6, the vorpal sword quest as a whole, some of the puzzles (the fire room in the vorpal sword quest; the mirror in chapter 5), the great dungeon crawl that was Jzadirune, the chapter 1 boss fight where the mooks just kept coming, the assassination of the rakshasa near the end of chapter 6, and allowing Kate to play the session she attended.
- The worst parts were: some of the boss fights were lame, especially the Adimarchus fight. Bosses needed more assistants, like in the Kaurophon fight at the end of chapter 11. There wasn't enough tailoring to individual characters' backgrounds or enough individualized sidequests. Not enough cool and special items (like the Maul of the Titans). Enemies didn't always use intelligent enough tactics, so certain characters were rarely threatened as the game went on.
- Book NPC's: There weren't enough friendly wizards. There weren't enough recurring villains -- some were resurrected, and some appeared a couple times, but by the time we found out the Cagewrights were a problem, we were already busy killing them off. Would have been better to have the Stormblades play a more recurring role, and also to have the Blue Duke, the Cagewrights, and the Last Laugh meddling in our affairs for a while before we wiped them all out in chapter 8. There were too many NPC's to keep straight, and only a few of them really stood out (but Crazy Jared was cool.)
Comments on Tom as DM:
- The game was too easy. The DM could have made harder encounters and made enemies fight harder/smarter/more clever. For the most part, the enemies just let us come to them and attack on our terms. Garlen made the party even more powerful.
- Some players followed the storyline OK while others were totally lost. It was a challenge, but could have been done better.
- The DM gave new players a big leg up in terms of making good character choices. Tony was also a big help.
- Garlen was cool to have along. Provided a fun level of interaction with the DM.
- Use more immersion -- speak in voices, hand out props, dim the lights, play background music, etc.
- Let Scott roll more. It doesn't matter if it's a DC 20 check and he has a +35, just say "roll a die" and then say "you found..."
Comments on Catherine as DM:
- Her sections were better laid out. The dungeons were more sensible/logical and the bad guys followed better algorithms.
- Tom was better at keeping Scott involved and building up the party, while Catherine was better at building encounters and pacing them well.
Comments on the players:
- Tony was very helpful in terms of party strategy and character development.
- The party worked together very well as a whole. There wasn't any lame/pointless rivalry. Everyone was willing to share. The party made good choices overall.
- Tony was good at breaking fights.
- Scott and Jeremy were very good at the "role-playing" parts of the game. Their characters had great personality.
- Having been through the game once, everyone feels inspired to develop neat characters for Black Sands. Now that we know how to be mechanically effective and play the game from start to finish, it'll be easier to work toward good character concepts.
The Shackled City, Day 38 (2007-06-30, 6:30 PM), Chapter 12: Asylum
Players (Characters)
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber; Nidrama)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
Standing in the central room at the base of Skullrot, Amber cast light on an arrow which Rain shot straight up into the darkness, revealing the general structure of the tower. Rain, Roland, Nidrama and Amber flew upward and discovered a strange hag-like creature flanked by a pair of huge flesh golems. Rain moved into position and Amber set off the fire seeds he was holding, severely damaging one of the golems in the blast. Dragon Breath from Sam and some powerful sounds from Roland destroyed the Annis. Nidrama slashed into a golem, and Horkina came up the stairs and chopped the golem in half. Amber missed the remaining golem with her sling, but Sam and Nidrama finished it off. Rain's constant blabbering about his sword got so annoying that Roland cast fly on Percy to allow him to escape.
The party gathered together and moved to the top of the tower. At the center of the tower was a huge cage with a pitiful-looking Adimarchus inside. Guarding the cage was a massive skeleton with bony wings, a red robe, and a massive black scythe. This lichfiend, along with a demonflesh golem, prepared to attack. Rain poked and prodded the lichfiend while Grokk tore pieces out of the golem. Horkina resisted a Destruction spell (fort save 51) while Roland and Sam scorched the enemies with dragon's breath. Amber countered the lichfiend's Wail of the Banshee. Horkina finished off the golem, and Grokk and Garlen dealt several blows to the lichfiend. Roland used Bigby's Crushing Hand to hold it in place, but it still managed to Blaspheme and paralyze Redtail. Horkina crushed its bones with the Maul of the Titans, and Amber cast a Miracle to keep its life essence from escaping back to Grazz't, its patron.
Admiarchus looked to be secure in his cage, so the party headed for the basement and slaughtered a pair of flesh golems, with Horkina landing an impressive blow that cut through one and into the other. They smashed up some golem-building equipment and then stepped into the next room. There, a fly-like Chasme Demon awaited. Roland tried to destroy it with a finger of death, but it shrugged off the attack. It was not so lucky against Rain's swords or Grokk's axe, and soon lay dead on the floor. Sitting in the center of the next room was an iron flask which Roland surmised held some sort of nasty enemy. Rain tumbled into the room and the flask released a massive Devourer. Garlen poked it several times while Amber cast Mass Heal. Sam, in Marut form, blinded the beast, but Roland's disintegrate spell was ineffective. Grokk stepped forward to land the killing blow, and the party headed back to the top of the tower to face Adimarchus.
Amber reshaped the stone around the demon prince's cage in order to create a stable platform for the party to fight on. Roland, as ruler of Occipitus, could see that his power could shatter the cage easily, so he stood ready to break it open as the rest of the party positioned themselves to attack. Horkina reacted to the broken cage first, cutting deep into Adimarchus (184 damage). Garlen, in his Centaur form, stood opposite from Rain as the two timed their attacks for maximum effectiveness (326 damage; 111 damage and -6 strength). Adimarchus' demon form was slain, and Grokk began to smash into his angel form (105 damage). Adimarchus tried to implode Garlen with his claw, but the demon-hating ranger resisted. Amber's pair of moon bolts weakened Adimarchus (-20 strength). A ray of fire from Roland and a strike from Percy (135 damage) left the demon prince reeling, but he managed to avoid being crushed by another Bigby spell. Horkina and Garlen landed the last few blows (153 and 136 damage), slaying Adimarchus.
His body disappeared a few minutes later, and Roland realized he'd likely appear on Occipitus in the center of the skull. The party headed there and found Adimarchus' body was just beginning to reform. The unconscious demon was unable to defend against the flurry of strikes that finally destroyed him. As Adimarchus died, a massive earthquake shook Occipitus and broke the skull mountain in two. Deep within the mountain was a vault filled with Adimarchus' most prized treasures.
Over the next few months, the city of Cauldron continued to rebuild under the leadership of Lord Vanderboren, with help from the temples of St. Cuthbert and Ehlonna. The Drunken Morkoth Inn added a new decoration -- a painting of the famed Morkoth fighting with the Rubble Rousers. In the painting, Rain and Garlen were firing arrows at its loins, Amber and Roland were blasting it with magical rays, Grokk was mid-leap swinging his Holy Cow Axe, and Horkina was wrestling a massive beer mug away from the lake monster. Many other businesses in Cauldron gave their own small tributes to the Rubble Rousers, and even the Stormblades sent them congratulations. The Stormblades went on to map and clear out most of the tunnels beneath the city. The Rubble Rousers donated their guild hall to Meerthan as they each headed their own way.
Rain took control of the remaining half of House Rhivaldi, turning it into "Rain's Whore Arena". Horkina built "Horkina's Rain", a brewery and bar across the street. Roland finished his paired towers on Occipitus and in southeast Cauldron, and went on many demon-slaying quests across his plane. Grokk went back to the steppe and founded his own tribe, wandering around with a large herd and telling stories about the many things he'd slain. Amber left her temple to James and went to the north, founding a new temple and smiting various evil things. Garlen followed Roland and Amber around whenever they had demons or undead to fight, and would occasionally walk through the woods with Amber wearing fancy clothes and baiting foolish bandits into attacking. And this is how they remained, until a great evil descended onto the land... (To be continued!)
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber; Nidrama)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
Standing in the central room at the base of Skullrot, Amber cast light on an arrow which Rain shot straight up into the darkness, revealing the general structure of the tower. Rain, Roland, Nidrama and Amber flew upward and discovered a strange hag-like creature flanked by a pair of huge flesh golems. Rain moved into position and Amber set off the fire seeds he was holding, severely damaging one of the golems in the blast. Dragon Breath from Sam and some powerful sounds from Roland destroyed the Annis. Nidrama slashed into a golem, and Horkina came up the stairs and chopped the golem in half. Amber missed the remaining golem with her sling, but Sam and Nidrama finished it off. Rain's constant blabbering about his sword got so annoying that Roland cast fly on Percy to allow him to escape.
The party gathered together and moved to the top of the tower. At the center of the tower was a huge cage with a pitiful-looking Adimarchus inside. Guarding the cage was a massive skeleton with bony wings, a red robe, and a massive black scythe. This lichfiend, along with a demonflesh golem, prepared to attack. Rain poked and prodded the lichfiend while Grokk tore pieces out of the golem. Horkina resisted a Destruction spell (fort save 51) while Roland and Sam scorched the enemies with dragon's breath. Amber countered the lichfiend's Wail of the Banshee. Horkina finished off the golem, and Grokk and Garlen dealt several blows to the lichfiend. Roland used Bigby's Crushing Hand to hold it in place, but it still managed to Blaspheme and paralyze Redtail. Horkina crushed its bones with the Maul of the Titans, and Amber cast a Miracle to keep its life essence from escaping back to Grazz't, its patron.
Admiarchus looked to be secure in his cage, so the party headed for the basement and slaughtered a pair of flesh golems, with Horkina landing an impressive blow that cut through one and into the other. They smashed up some golem-building equipment and then stepped into the next room. There, a fly-like Chasme Demon awaited. Roland tried to destroy it with a finger of death, but it shrugged off the attack. It was not so lucky against Rain's swords or Grokk's axe, and soon lay dead on the floor. Sitting in the center of the next room was an iron flask which Roland surmised held some sort of nasty enemy. Rain tumbled into the room and the flask released a massive Devourer. Garlen poked it several times while Amber cast Mass Heal. Sam, in Marut form, blinded the beast, but Roland's disintegrate spell was ineffective. Grokk stepped forward to land the killing blow, and the party headed back to the top of the tower to face Adimarchus.
Amber reshaped the stone around the demon prince's cage in order to create a stable platform for the party to fight on. Roland, as ruler of Occipitus, could see that his power could shatter the cage easily, so he stood ready to break it open as the rest of the party positioned themselves to attack. Horkina reacted to the broken cage first, cutting deep into Adimarchus (184 damage). Garlen, in his Centaur form, stood opposite from Rain as the two timed their attacks for maximum effectiveness (326 damage; 111 damage and -6 strength). Adimarchus' demon form was slain, and Grokk began to smash into his angel form (105 damage). Adimarchus tried to implode Garlen with his claw, but the demon-hating ranger resisted. Amber's pair of moon bolts weakened Adimarchus (-20 strength). A ray of fire from Roland and a strike from Percy (135 damage) left the demon prince reeling, but he managed to avoid being crushed by another Bigby spell. Horkina and Garlen landed the last few blows (153 and 136 damage), slaying Adimarchus.
His body disappeared a few minutes later, and Roland realized he'd likely appear on Occipitus in the center of the skull. The party headed there and found Adimarchus' body was just beginning to reform. The unconscious demon was unable to defend against the flurry of strikes that finally destroyed him. As Adimarchus died, a massive earthquake shook Occipitus and broke the skull mountain in two. Deep within the mountain was a vault filled with Adimarchus' most prized treasures.
Over the next few months, the city of Cauldron continued to rebuild under the leadership of Lord Vanderboren, with help from the temples of St. Cuthbert and Ehlonna. The Drunken Morkoth Inn added a new decoration -- a painting of the famed Morkoth fighting with the Rubble Rousers. In the painting, Rain and Garlen were firing arrows at its loins, Amber and Roland were blasting it with magical rays, Grokk was mid-leap swinging his Holy Cow Axe, and Horkina was wrestling a massive beer mug away from the lake monster. Many other businesses in Cauldron gave their own small tributes to the Rubble Rousers, and even the Stormblades sent them congratulations. The Stormblades went on to map and clear out most of the tunnels beneath the city. The Rubble Rousers donated their guild hall to Meerthan as they each headed their own way.
Rain took control of the remaining half of House Rhivaldi, turning it into "Rain's Whore Arena". Horkina built "Horkina's Rain", a brewery and bar across the street. Roland finished his paired towers on Occipitus and in southeast Cauldron, and went on many demon-slaying quests across his plane. Grokk went back to the steppe and founded his own tribe, wandering around with a large herd and telling stories about the many things he'd slain. Amber left her temple to James and went to the north, founding a new temple and smiting various evil things. Garlen followed Roland and Amber around whenever they had demons or undead to fight, and would occasionally walk through the woods with Amber wearing fancy clothes and baiting foolish bandits into attacking. And this is how they remained, until a great evil descended onto the land... (To be continued!)
Saturday, June 30, 2007
The Shackled City, Day 37 (2007-06-23, 6:30 PM), Chapter 12: Asylum
Players (Characters)
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
Kate (Nidrama)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
Roland used another pair of Legend Lore spells, with these results:
Legend Lore: Occipitus
On planeshifting, the party encountered a large group of demodands wearing matching squadron logos. One of them had an unconscious celestial stuck to his slimy exterior. Rain and Garlen stabbed at a pair of farastus while Amber's Sunburst injured and blinded the pack. Nidrama, Horkina, and Grokk focused their attacks on the big Shator and Roland dropped a Cone of Cold that wiped out most of the pack. The one remaining farastu turned invisible and ran away, while Amber stepped forward and healed the injured celestial. He introduced himself as Kharidian, a paladin who'd been assaulting single farastus when a group managed to capture him. He promised to be more careful in his future adventures.
Roland conjured up a floating disk for the party to ride on, due to the unpleasant nature and unpredictable depth of the swampy parts of Orthys. As the party flew toward Harrowfell, a group of Slaadi set upon them. Garlen blasted the most dangerous looking one with arrows while Rain poked holes in it with his rapier. The Death Slaad responded with a Finger of Death, which failed mightily. Amber's Lucent Lance and Horkina's axe smashed this enemy while a pair of Gray Slaad tried to stun various party members. Nidrama and Grokk smashed a Green Slaad, and Roland fired off Arc Lightning, dropping most of the group. The party quickly surrounded and destroyed the remaining Slaad.
The party approached Harrowfell on board the floating disk, keeping slightly below the top of the tower. Roland chatted with Byakala, the Marilith with the smoking eye, who was surrounded by her Babau and Hezrou minions. She mentioned being a former deputy of Adimarchus, captured by Grazz't's forces and imprisoned on Carceri. Roland guided the floating disk upward during the conversation, and Horkina jumped over the wall to begin the assault. Byakala made ten strikes on Horkina, seriously wounding her. Amber flew up to the pack and released a Holy Word, killing all of the minions and paralyzing Byakala. Grokk hopped up over the wall and carefully aimed his strike to drop the demoness. (The Coup de Grace damage was 340!)
When the party reached the Bastion of Lost Hope, Garlen, Nidrama, and Amber opted to remain outside, certain there would be trouble if they entered a place filled with demons, demodands, and the like. Rain and Roland asked around and offered bits of gold and treasure to anyone who could give them the location of Skullrot. Eventually a merchant traded the information for an anarchic sword taken from Byakala. Skullrot was located about 1200 miles to the east and a short distance to the north, along a tall mountain range. The party teleported to the mountain range, where they ran into a group of Tieflings mounted on Nightmares. Grokk made a flying leap at one of the tieflings, but got distracted by a frog hopping past. Nidrama, Horkina, Garlen and Rain all landed their blows, and the tieflings made a series of feeble and ineffective strikes. Amber's Holy Smite blinded most of the enemies and Roland's blast of electricity brought the group down.
As the party approached Skullrot, it became evident many demodands had been gathered here a short time ago. The reeds had been trampled, and vast tracks cut across the swamps and through every gap in the mountains. Soon, the party came upon a slaughter -- thousands of demodands lay dead and decaying, killed in a massive brawl sparked by the collapse of the portal from the Tree of Shackled Souls. A colossal Thunder Beast, far larger than the ones on Occipitus, grazed near the tower of Skullrot. Roland nailed it with a maximally effective Meteor Swarm and Amber silenced it, fearing the power of its roar. The rest of the party moved into position to attack, but the beast's stench was overwhelming. It trampled over the party as they keeled over. Percy had no trouble with the smell and was able to strike at the beast, and a Mass Heal from Amber brought the party back to their feet. Grokk took a solid swing at the beast, while Rain cut deep into its hide over and over again, bringing it down.
The tower of Skullrot was formed out of fiendish skulls that had been resined together. The dull red glow of Orthys' sky penetrated through the walls, giving them an eerie glow but not really lighting the interior. Howls and shrieks came periodically from the creatures imprisoned therein. Rain examined the front door and decided Horkina should open it. A startled group of farastus looked up from the slime-covered entryway, to be met with a hail of arrows from Garlen and Rain that left four of their number dead. Horkina spider-climbed along a wall and killed another, while Sam took full dragon form and breathed to bring two to near-death, and Grokk leaped over the slimy floor to drop yet another. An acidic fog formed in the room and an acid arrow struck Rain, both cast by a six-armed kelubar demodand who stood singing at the top of the stairs. The acid fog destroyed a couple of the farastus, and Nidrama struck one of the few who still stood. Their strikes proved ineffective, and Garlen left them behind, flying up the stairs to attack the bigger threat. Amber's Light of Venya struck true, and Roland shocked the singing fiend with an Orb of Electricity. Those still in the lower room finished off the last of the farastus while Rain and Garlen stabbed every vital organ in the mutant kelubar's body.
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
Kate (Nidrama)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
Roland used another pair of Legend Lore spells, with these results:
Legend Lore: Occipitus
Once a part of the Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia, Occipitus became the 507th layer of the Abyss when it was occupied by a demon army and cast off by the heavenly host. Adimarchus, a fallen celestial and leader of the demonic army, became the ruler of this plane when he incorporated the celestial rubble with the raw stuff of the Abyss. For many years, he waged war against his rival demon prince Grazz't, using Occipitus as his base of operations. He worked with another fallen celestial named Saureya to set up the Test of the Smoking Eye, providing a way to select a successor. The plane was without a ruler for fifty years, between Adimarchus' disappearance and the archmage Roland's passing the test. Three other would-be successors were recently slain by Roland and the Rubble Rousers. The Sign of the Smoking Eye is the symbol of authority on Occipitus, granted to its ruler and often to deputy rulers.Legend Lore: Adimarchus
Adimarchus, a fallen celestial, led a demonic army on an invasion of Celestia. The army was repulsed when the heavenly host broke away the demonic-infested area, but in this defeat, Adimarchus knew success. He incorporated the celestial rubble with the raw stuff of the Abyss, creating the plane of Occipitus and becoming its ruler and a demon prince. He ruled the plane ruthlessly, leaving no rivals or enemies alive, save for a resolute Aasimar paladin named Athux who he could not bring himself to kill. While Adimarchus waged war against Grazz't, Grazz't's minions captured Athux and imprisoned him in a place called Skullrot, which is on Orthys, the first layer of Carceri. Adimarchus traded his freedom for the release of Athux and has been imprisoned ever since. He has grown more insane over his years of imprisonment and torment, and his insanity caused the Cagewrights to plot his release. Their limited success weakened the restraints that bind him, and his insanity now leaks onto his one-time lair of Occipitus, where it continues to seek a method for his release and revenge on his enemies.Roland also stopped by several libraries to research Orthys, trying to find information on Skullrot. He was able to find mention of two key locations: the Bastion of Lost Hope, where information could be bought and sold, and a tower named Harrowfell, currently in the possession of a Marilith demon with a burning left eye. As the party was formulating a plan to visit these locations, a familiar being appeared. Nidrama, a celestial who had been charged with guarding this area long ago, wanted to speak to the party. "What you are doing for this region is so important, I'm prepared to offer anything I can. The celestial host will not be happy with me for interfering in mortal affairs, but I must do it. You have my services, such as they are, for your assault on Adimarchus." The party treated Nidrama to a Heroes Feast and then planeshifted onto Orthys.
On planeshifting, the party encountered a large group of demodands wearing matching squadron logos. One of them had an unconscious celestial stuck to his slimy exterior. Rain and Garlen stabbed at a pair of farastus while Amber's Sunburst injured and blinded the pack. Nidrama, Horkina, and Grokk focused their attacks on the big Shator and Roland dropped a Cone of Cold that wiped out most of the pack. The one remaining farastu turned invisible and ran away, while Amber stepped forward and healed the injured celestial. He introduced himself as Kharidian, a paladin who'd been assaulting single farastus when a group managed to capture him. He promised to be more careful in his future adventures.
Roland conjured up a floating disk for the party to ride on, due to the unpleasant nature and unpredictable depth of the swampy parts of Orthys. As the party flew toward Harrowfell, a group of Slaadi set upon them. Garlen blasted the most dangerous looking one with arrows while Rain poked holes in it with his rapier. The Death Slaad responded with a Finger of Death, which failed mightily. Amber's Lucent Lance and Horkina's axe smashed this enemy while a pair of Gray Slaad tried to stun various party members. Nidrama and Grokk smashed a Green Slaad, and Roland fired off Arc Lightning, dropping most of the group. The party quickly surrounded and destroyed the remaining Slaad.
The party approached Harrowfell on board the floating disk, keeping slightly below the top of the tower. Roland chatted with Byakala, the Marilith with the smoking eye, who was surrounded by her Babau and Hezrou minions. She mentioned being a former deputy of Adimarchus, captured by Grazz't's forces and imprisoned on Carceri. Roland guided the floating disk upward during the conversation, and Horkina jumped over the wall to begin the assault. Byakala made ten strikes on Horkina, seriously wounding her. Amber flew up to the pack and released a Holy Word, killing all of the minions and paralyzing Byakala. Grokk hopped up over the wall and carefully aimed his strike to drop the demoness. (The Coup de Grace damage was 340!)
When the party reached the Bastion of Lost Hope, Garlen, Nidrama, and Amber opted to remain outside, certain there would be trouble if they entered a place filled with demons, demodands, and the like. Rain and Roland asked around and offered bits of gold and treasure to anyone who could give them the location of Skullrot. Eventually a merchant traded the information for an anarchic sword taken from Byakala. Skullrot was located about 1200 miles to the east and a short distance to the north, along a tall mountain range. The party teleported to the mountain range, where they ran into a group of Tieflings mounted on Nightmares. Grokk made a flying leap at one of the tieflings, but got distracted by a frog hopping past. Nidrama, Horkina, Garlen and Rain all landed their blows, and the tieflings made a series of feeble and ineffective strikes. Amber's Holy Smite blinded most of the enemies and Roland's blast of electricity brought the group down.
As the party approached Skullrot, it became evident many demodands had been gathered here a short time ago. The reeds had been trampled, and vast tracks cut across the swamps and through every gap in the mountains. Soon, the party came upon a slaughter -- thousands of demodands lay dead and decaying, killed in a massive brawl sparked by the collapse of the portal from the Tree of Shackled Souls. A colossal Thunder Beast, far larger than the ones on Occipitus, grazed near the tower of Skullrot. Roland nailed it with a maximally effective Meteor Swarm and Amber silenced it, fearing the power of its roar. The rest of the party moved into position to attack, but the beast's stench was overwhelming. It trampled over the party as they keeled over. Percy had no trouble with the smell and was able to strike at the beast, and a Mass Heal from Amber brought the party back to their feet. Grokk took a solid swing at the beast, while Rain cut deep into its hide over and over again, bringing it down.
The tower of Skullrot was formed out of fiendish skulls that had been resined together. The dull red glow of Orthys' sky penetrated through the walls, giving them an eerie glow but not really lighting the interior. Howls and shrieks came periodically from the creatures imprisoned therein. Rain examined the front door and decided Horkina should open it. A startled group of farastus looked up from the slime-covered entryway, to be met with a hail of arrows from Garlen and Rain that left four of their number dead. Horkina spider-climbed along a wall and killed another, while Sam took full dragon form and breathed to bring two to near-death, and Grokk leaped over the slimy floor to drop yet another. An acidic fog formed in the room and an acid arrow struck Rain, both cast by a six-armed kelubar demodand who stood singing at the top of the stairs. The acid fog destroyed a couple of the farastus, and Nidrama struck one of the few who still stood. Their strikes proved ineffective, and Garlen left them behind, flying up the stairs to attack the bigger threat. Amber's Light of Venya struck true, and Roland shocked the singing fiend with an Orb of Electricity. Those still in the lower room finished off the last of the farastus while Rain and Garlen stabbed every vital organ in the mutant kelubar's body.
Horkina's Backstory
I grew up a large village called Klavdiya under some mountains. My father was a dwarf who ran a tavern in called the Stumbling Monk. He was a lifelong bachelor entering into late middle-age when my mother came to town. She was a young adventurer, far from home for the first time. They immediately hit it off. They married quickly and I came soon afterwards. After raising me for a few years, the desire to continue adventuring took hold of my mother and she started going on short quests outside of our village. My father loved her and wanted her to stay home, but he knew her nature and never tried to stop her from going on these journeys. One of these journeys ended badly and my mother ended up dying from a dose of poison.
My father was heartbroken by my mother’s death. He could see in me the same wanderlust and swore that I would not meet the same fate. As a child I did not know exactly what he meant by that, but I did notice that after my mother’s demise the things I ate had a certain twang to them. Sometimes the stews I ate for dinner had strange purple mushrooms in them. Or my morning gruel contained tiny red flecks that burned my throat as I swallowed. I later came to realize that he was feeding me low levels of poison to build my resistance to it.
So I grew up in the Stumbling Monk. When I was old enough I started serving drinks. I learned many things in that tavern. I learned good balance from carrying many pints of ale through crowds of drunken dwarves, how to start a good old fashioned barfight, drinking songs from across the continent, and jokes so bawdy they make even the most seasoned of barflies blush.
My father eventually passed away. I tried to take over the bar on my own, but it was not the same without him. I sold the Stumbling Monk and used the profits to fund a trip touring the taverns and inns of the countryside. I spent many months on this trip and saw the bottom of many glasses. As a side benefit, I also had many barroom brawls and some more serious scuffles in the alleys outside of these bars.
I ended up in Cauldron while trying to visit all the taverns in the well-known “Monkey Chain”. I had already been to the “Tippling Monkey”, the “Monkey See, Monkey Drink”, and the “Brass Monkey”. The last two on the list were the “Lucky Monkey” and the “Happy Monkey” outside of Cauldron.
My father was heartbroken by my mother’s death. He could see in me the same wanderlust and swore that I would not meet the same fate. As a child I did not know exactly what he meant by that, but I did notice that after my mother’s demise the things I ate had a certain twang to them. Sometimes the stews I ate for dinner had strange purple mushrooms in them. Or my morning gruel contained tiny red flecks that burned my throat as I swallowed. I later came to realize that he was feeding me low levels of poison to build my resistance to it.
So I grew up in the Stumbling Monk. When I was old enough I started serving drinks. I learned many things in that tavern. I learned good balance from carrying many pints of ale through crowds of drunken dwarves, how to start a good old fashioned barfight, drinking songs from across the continent, and jokes so bawdy they make even the most seasoned of barflies blush.
My father eventually passed away. I tried to take over the bar on my own, but it was not the same without him. I sold the Stumbling Monk and used the profits to fund a trip touring the taverns and inns of the countryside. I spent many months on this trip and saw the bottom of many glasses. As a side benefit, I also had many barroom brawls and some more serious scuffles in the alleys outside of these bars.
I ended up in Cauldron while trying to visit all the taverns in the well-known “Monkey Chain”. I had already been to the “Tippling Monkey”, the “Monkey See, Monkey Drink”, and the “Brass Monkey”. The last two on the list were the “Lucky Monkey” and the “Happy Monkey” outside of Cauldron.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
The Shackled City, Day 36 (2007-06-09, 6:30 PM), Chapter 11.5: Test Results
Players (Characters)
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
Roland acquired a few scrolls of permanency and used them on the party's Telepathic Bond. Rain spent the night drinking and passed out in the morning, so Garlen lent him ioun stones to allow him to go without air or food, and Grokk stuffed him in a portable hole for easy transportation. The party then headed for Occipitus to try to unravel the latest mystery.
The party materialized in the middle of a group of large, six-legged, foul-smelling Thunderbeasts. Horkina and Grokk charged and attacked the two largest beasts, with Percy and Garlen providing additional attacks. Roland's Chain Lightning frightened one of the smaller ones into running, but one of the larger ones bellowed out a roar that stunned Grokk and Garlen. Amber managed to remove Garlen's paralysis, but Grokk was still frozen in place. Another beast attacked Percy, chomping through his armor before realizing the Shield Guardian was not very tasty. Roland responded by disintegrating the beast, and Garlen and Horkina dropped the two largest ones. The remnant of the pack quickly fled, and Roland noticed one dead beast looked like it had been chewed on by a fairly large creature.
Roland checked the Portable Hole and found Rain had finally woken up, so Grokk pulled him out and set him on the ground. Rain's eyes were immediately fixed on the approaching black dragon with a smoking left eye. Roland gave the party acid resistance and then fired a Ray of Dizziness at the dragon, to no effect. The rest of the party spread out, firing arrows and a pair of Moon Bolts that dealt minor damage and some strength drain to the dragon. It ignored the party and headed right toward Roland, as if it had a grudge to settle. Rain took a shot at its belly as it flew overhead, but the dragon kept going, grabbing Roland in his mouth and preparing to swallow. Roland responded with a spell of Otto's Irresistable Dance, and the rest of the party quickly surrounded the dancing dragon, stabbing and slashing through its thick hide. Rain particularly enjoyed stabbing into various vital organs as the beast tapped its feet and swung its tail. Amber cast Freedom of Movement to allow Roland to escape, and the dragon was soon slain.
As the party headed up the tunnels into the skull mountain, they came upon the strange black fire again. This time, two tall, gaunt giants stood next to the fire, and one of them held Saureya above it, saying "tell us the secret of the smoking eye!" Garlen ducked under the legs of the nearest giant, distracting it as Rain stabbed it repeatedly. Grokk leaped at the giant, but his axe glanced off of its armor. Amber created a cube of stone encasing the dangerous black fire, and the giants began their attack. One swung fiercely right over Garlen's head, and another swung feebly at Rain as his muscles refused to cooperate. A third stepped out from the shadows and hit Horkina with his massive morningstar. Roland responded with a Wrathful Castigation and then burned the near-dead giant. The party quickly surrounded the last standing giant and cut into it mightily, while Saureya cast Invisibility on Rain. The giant managed to hit Garlen with a powerful blow, but the party quickly prevailed.
In the room of the Test of Sacrifice, the party discovered two bodies -- those of Kaurophon and the black dragon Vorkaire. Saureya told of a third creature, a floating beast with several eyes that the party immediately suspected was a beholder. Amber especially suspected this because her Wall of Stone had been carefully disintegrated, and beholders are capable of such actions. Saureya pointed the party toward where he'd last seen the creature, and they headed off to find a long vertical tunnel. Amber surrounded herself with an Antimagic Field as the party descended into the lair. Garlen spotted a Glabrezu in a spherical chamber, and used Lion's Charge to attack and slay it (dealing 226 damage.) Rain and Horkina moved next to Garlen as a trio of Vrocks moved to attack, striking unsuccessfully. A bolt of lightning from Roland and some attacks from Rain, Horkina, Grokk, and Garlen left the Vrocks lying in a heap on the floor.
The party descended another level, where they encountered a pair of Blood Fiends. Grokk and Garlen stood ready as the first one approached, and they worked with Rain to bring it down quickly. Horkina charged the second, smashing into it with her holy axe and leaving it vulnerable as Roland blasted it. A notebook in this room detailed a careful plot to planeshift near the party, charm Grokk and Horkina with a pair of Blood Fiends, and kill Roland. This had clearly been Kaurophon's doing, but the details in the notebook suggested a more recent familiarity with the party. Suspicion turned to Lord Orbius Vhalantru -- if Kaurophon could be remade, why not the party's beholder nemesis? Down the next tunnel, the party encountered a Nalfeshnee that proved not to be a challenge.
The group moved into a large donut-shaped room with a rough rocky plateau in the middle and two shafts rising out of the ceiling. Two golems that looked like they were made of demon flesh stood ready to defend the area. Grokk, Horkina, Rain, and Garlen surrounded one and beat on it, while Amber experimented to see if her Antimagic Field would have any effect on the other. Roland's Ray of Deanimation and Horkina's Axe dropped the first, while the second took a couple of swings at Amber. Rain made an acrobatic dive to get behind the remaining golem, and then Roland transposed him with Horkina to allow her to attack it. Grokk jumped and smashed right through the golem's back with his axe, reducing it to a pile of worthless demon flesh.
Roland floated beneath one of the tunnels and discovered Vhalantru -- reborn and much larger than before, with a flaming central eye -- approaching from above. He used one of Bigby's famous Hand spells to grab the floating beast. Vhalantru responded by disintegrating the hand and descending into the room, putting Grokk to sleep, turning Garlen to stone, and slowing Rain. His attempts to charm and kill Roland were unsuccessful, in large part due to Roland's Rod of Absorption. Rain jumped on Grokk to wake him up and Horkina climbed onto the roof to attack. Grokk leaped up and cut deep into the beholder's flesh, and then Roland brought it to the ground with Earthbind. Vhalantru's Finger of Death killed Horkina, but his attempts to disintegrate and disarm Grokk failed. Rain and Grokk pounded on the Beholder, and Roland dropped a volley of Acid Stones, slaying Vhalantru once more. Amber dismissed her Antimagic Field and used True Resurrection on Horkina while Roland used Break Enchantment to restore Garlen. Within a few minutes, Vhalantru's corpse disappeared.
The party headed back to the room of the final test, where Vhalantru's body lay alongside Kaurophon and Vorkaire. Roland used a pair of Legend Lore spells to gain information on the Test of the Smoking Eye, determining that these three were his only current rivals and that they would no longer be raised if the geyser was disjoined. He disjoined both the geyser and the dark fire in the room below.
The party reached level 19.
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
Roland acquired a few scrolls of permanency and used them on the party's Telepathic Bond. Rain spent the night drinking and passed out in the morning, so Garlen lent him ioun stones to allow him to go without air or food, and Grokk stuffed him in a portable hole for easy transportation. The party then headed for Occipitus to try to unravel the latest mystery.
The party materialized in the middle of a group of large, six-legged, foul-smelling Thunderbeasts. Horkina and Grokk charged and attacked the two largest beasts, with Percy and Garlen providing additional attacks. Roland's Chain Lightning frightened one of the smaller ones into running, but one of the larger ones bellowed out a roar that stunned Grokk and Garlen. Amber managed to remove Garlen's paralysis, but Grokk was still frozen in place. Another beast attacked Percy, chomping through his armor before realizing the Shield Guardian was not very tasty. Roland responded by disintegrating the beast, and Garlen and Horkina dropped the two largest ones. The remnant of the pack quickly fled, and Roland noticed one dead beast looked like it had been chewed on by a fairly large creature.
Roland checked the Portable Hole and found Rain had finally woken up, so Grokk pulled him out and set him on the ground. Rain's eyes were immediately fixed on the approaching black dragon with a smoking left eye. Roland gave the party acid resistance and then fired a Ray of Dizziness at the dragon, to no effect. The rest of the party spread out, firing arrows and a pair of Moon Bolts that dealt minor damage and some strength drain to the dragon. It ignored the party and headed right toward Roland, as if it had a grudge to settle. Rain took a shot at its belly as it flew overhead, but the dragon kept going, grabbing Roland in his mouth and preparing to swallow. Roland responded with a spell of Otto's Irresistable Dance, and the rest of the party quickly surrounded the dancing dragon, stabbing and slashing through its thick hide. Rain particularly enjoyed stabbing into various vital organs as the beast tapped its feet and swung its tail. Amber cast Freedom of Movement to allow Roland to escape, and the dragon was soon slain.
As the party headed up the tunnels into the skull mountain, they came upon the strange black fire again. This time, two tall, gaunt giants stood next to the fire, and one of them held Saureya above it, saying "tell us the secret of the smoking eye!" Garlen ducked under the legs of the nearest giant, distracting it as Rain stabbed it repeatedly. Grokk leaped at the giant, but his axe glanced off of its armor. Amber created a cube of stone encasing the dangerous black fire, and the giants began their attack. One swung fiercely right over Garlen's head, and another swung feebly at Rain as his muscles refused to cooperate. A third stepped out from the shadows and hit Horkina with his massive morningstar. Roland responded with a Wrathful Castigation and then burned the near-dead giant. The party quickly surrounded the last standing giant and cut into it mightily, while Saureya cast Invisibility on Rain. The giant managed to hit Garlen with a powerful blow, but the party quickly prevailed.
In the room of the Test of Sacrifice, the party discovered two bodies -- those of Kaurophon and the black dragon Vorkaire. Saureya told of a third creature, a floating beast with several eyes that the party immediately suspected was a beholder. Amber especially suspected this because her Wall of Stone had been carefully disintegrated, and beholders are capable of such actions. Saureya pointed the party toward where he'd last seen the creature, and they headed off to find a long vertical tunnel. Amber surrounded herself with an Antimagic Field as the party descended into the lair. Garlen spotted a Glabrezu in a spherical chamber, and used Lion's Charge to attack and slay it (dealing 226 damage.) Rain and Horkina moved next to Garlen as a trio of Vrocks moved to attack, striking unsuccessfully. A bolt of lightning from Roland and some attacks from Rain, Horkina, Grokk, and Garlen left the Vrocks lying in a heap on the floor.
The party descended another level, where they encountered a pair of Blood Fiends. Grokk and Garlen stood ready as the first one approached, and they worked with Rain to bring it down quickly. Horkina charged the second, smashing into it with her holy axe and leaving it vulnerable as Roland blasted it. A notebook in this room detailed a careful plot to planeshift near the party, charm Grokk and Horkina with a pair of Blood Fiends, and kill Roland. This had clearly been Kaurophon's doing, but the details in the notebook suggested a more recent familiarity with the party. Suspicion turned to Lord Orbius Vhalantru -- if Kaurophon could be remade, why not the party's beholder nemesis? Down the next tunnel, the party encountered a Nalfeshnee that proved not to be a challenge.
The group moved into a large donut-shaped room with a rough rocky plateau in the middle and two shafts rising out of the ceiling. Two golems that looked like they were made of demon flesh stood ready to defend the area. Grokk, Horkina, Rain, and Garlen surrounded one and beat on it, while Amber experimented to see if her Antimagic Field would have any effect on the other. Roland's Ray of Deanimation and Horkina's Axe dropped the first, while the second took a couple of swings at Amber. Rain made an acrobatic dive to get behind the remaining golem, and then Roland transposed him with Horkina to allow her to attack it. Grokk jumped and smashed right through the golem's back with his axe, reducing it to a pile of worthless demon flesh.
Roland floated beneath one of the tunnels and discovered Vhalantru -- reborn and much larger than before, with a flaming central eye -- approaching from above. He used one of Bigby's famous Hand spells to grab the floating beast. Vhalantru responded by disintegrating the hand and descending into the room, putting Grokk to sleep, turning Garlen to stone, and slowing Rain. His attempts to charm and kill Roland were unsuccessful, in large part due to Roland's Rod of Absorption. Rain jumped on Grokk to wake him up and Horkina climbed onto the roof to attack. Grokk leaped up and cut deep into the beholder's flesh, and then Roland brought it to the ground with Earthbind. Vhalantru's Finger of Death killed Horkina, but his attempts to disintegrate and disarm Grokk failed. Rain and Grokk pounded on the Beholder, and Roland dropped a volley of Acid Stones, slaying Vhalantru once more. Amber dismissed her Antimagic Field and used True Resurrection on Horkina while Roland used Break Enchantment to restore Garlen. Within a few minutes, Vhalantru's corpse disappeared.
The party headed back to the room of the final test, where Vhalantru's body lay alongside Kaurophon and Vorkaire. Roland used a pair of Legend Lore spells to gain information on the Test of the Smoking Eye, determining that these three were his only current rivals and that they would no longer be raised if the geyser was disjoined. He disjoined both the geyser and the dark fire in the room below.
The party reached level 19.
Monday, June 4, 2007
The Shackled City, Day 35 (2007-06-02, 6:30 PM), Chapter 11: Strike on Shatterhorn
Players (Characters)
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
Amber examined the rune-covered stone egg and discovered it was linked to the power of Merrshaulk, the yuan-ti deity of poison and somnolence. Roland noted that the runes had spell effects built into them, including certain energy resistances and a teleportation effect. The party briefly wondered if the egg could be salvaged, but a closer examination revealed it was made of unobtainium, a highly volatile type of stone. Amber cast a spell of Stone Shape to put a large crack in the center of the egg, and was rewarded with a shower of acid that had been contained inside the massive structure.
The party headed to the east, discovering a pair of iron portullises and a long hallway filled with yuan-ti murals. Three murals in a small room off to the side had magical auras on them. Grokk discovered one of them provided healing, so he touched it until his wounds were healed. Rain used another mural's magic to turn invisible and began to explore a room with several pillars. Roland, also invisible, flew a short distance behind, while Garlen used a spell to morph into Centaur form and followed the two. Rain's presence set off a hissing snake illusion, probably set up as a sentinel to warn the occupants of a nearby room. As Garlen approached one of the pillars, an axe swung at him from inside it. He realized the pillar was an illusion, and a strange iron-plated orc (a half-iron golem) stood inside. Garlen smacked the golem with his swords and Grokk broke through its armor plating with his axe. Roland used a ray of deanimation to destroy it, and found himself under attack from another golem inside another illusory pillar. Grokk's axe kept bouncing off of the golem's iron plating, and the golem landed several more strikes on Roland. Finally, Grokk and Horkina combined to break the golem into little pieces of metal and orc.
Roland discovered a magical portal created by a spell of Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion, and suspected a Cagewright wizard was resting in the interdimensional space therein. Grokk, Horkina, Rain, and Garlen piled into the room near the portal, while Roland and Amber stood outside with a clear line of sight into the room. Roland dispelled the mansion, and a Shadar-kai and two Death Slaadi appeared in the room. Garlen, in his bulky modified form, landed a series of highly effective blows, killing the Shadar-kai and a Slaad. Grokk smacked the other Slaad once and Amber used a Holy Smite to injure it further. In the chaos, the Slaad didn't realize Rain was invisible and standing right behind it, ready to strike at its vital organs with a series of carefully aimed stabs. Needless to say, the battle was quickly ended.
Rain regained invisibility from the previous mural and led the party onward. He noticed a large statue of a long-dead yuan-ti prophet, and also noticed the statue was on a rotating base. Grokk grabbed the statue and spun it around, which caused a segment of wall to lift upward revealing a Crystal Snake that glowed with a radiant light. Rain slipped behind the snake, but found his weapons couldn't break through its tough skin. Grokk began pounding on it as the rest of the party spread out, heeding Roland's warning that such a construct would likely explode when destroyed. The snake began resonating with loud vibrations and released a beam of light at Grokk, and moments later, a badger charged at Roland from the opposite room and tried to bite him. A strange man wearing a cloak made of human skin stepped from behind a pillar and attacked Percy, yelling out threats against Roland and saying that "Occipitus is mine!" Rain made his way across the battlefield, while Grokk absorbed a minor snakebite as he moved to a more advantageous position. Grokk and Horkina pounded away at the snake while Percy, Rain, and Sam (in Marut form) struck at the crazy Cagewright from all directions. ("Who cares about the badger?" "Badgers? We don't need no stinking badgers!" - Scott "To be fair, they are rather musky..." - Jeremy) Roland destroyed his challenger with a highly enhanced orb of fire. The snake continued to shoot beams of light at Grokk and the badger kept biting at Roland. Grokk's next blow destroyed the snake, which exploded in a burst of light that injured him and Horkina. Rain, Percy, and Sam finished off the badger quickly.
As Roland looked away from the Badger, he noticed a scrying sensor appearing next to Horkina. Within moments, five figures faded into view. Four of them were large, purple-skinned four-armed beasts -- Blood Fiends, a sort of vampire-demon mix. The party immediately recognized the fifth figure, Kaurophon. His left eye now carried the same sort of flame as Roland's, and he called out "the eye sees your doom, oh most impotent pretender to the throne of Occipitus!" Two Blood Fiends surrounded Roland and began attacking him, draining his energy (one negative level). The other two attempted to dominate Grokk and Horkina, without any success. Grokk attacked the one nearest to him, cutting it down with several strong blows, while Horkina destroyed the one next to her, Amber, and Roland. Roland set off a Contingency spell that would allow him to disrupt Kaurophon's next cast, and summoned a huge hand to grab and crush the enemy sorcerer. Garlen jumped and rolled behind one of the Blood Fiends, stabbing at it as he passed. Amber's Mass Heal spell restored the party to full health and left the two remaining fiends nearly dead. Rain's Holy Rapier finished one off, while Grokk resisted the drain attempts from the other and finished it off with a swing of his axe. Percy, Sam, Rain, and Roland combined to make Kaurophon die yet again, and Amber restored Grokk's constitution and Roland's level with the help of some diamond powder Horkina had procured via the "smash" method.
The party searched the rest of the complex and was preparing to transport Kaurophon's corpse back to Cauldron for magical interrogation when the body disappeared. Roland was able to Scry on it, and found that Kaurophon's body was now in the "eye" chamber in the skull-shaped mountain on Occipitus. The stone barrier that had sealed off the chamber had been disintegrated from the inside. The party made a quick stop by an interplanar store to re-equip, and Amber used a Divination to try to determine what had been behind Kaurophon's return. The answer was thus:
Scott (Rain)
Jeremy (Grokk)
Catherine (Amber)
Tony (Roland)
Rachel (Horkina)
DM: Tom (Garlen)
Amber examined the rune-covered stone egg and discovered it was linked to the power of Merrshaulk, the yuan-ti deity of poison and somnolence. Roland noted that the runes had spell effects built into them, including certain energy resistances and a teleportation effect. The party briefly wondered if the egg could be salvaged, but a closer examination revealed it was made of unobtainium, a highly volatile type of stone. Amber cast a spell of Stone Shape to put a large crack in the center of the egg, and was rewarded with a shower of acid that had been contained inside the massive structure.
The party headed to the east, discovering a pair of iron portullises and a long hallway filled with yuan-ti murals. Three murals in a small room off to the side had magical auras on them. Grokk discovered one of them provided healing, so he touched it until his wounds were healed. Rain used another mural's magic to turn invisible and began to explore a room with several pillars. Roland, also invisible, flew a short distance behind, while Garlen used a spell to morph into Centaur form and followed the two. Rain's presence set off a hissing snake illusion, probably set up as a sentinel to warn the occupants of a nearby room. As Garlen approached one of the pillars, an axe swung at him from inside it. He realized the pillar was an illusion, and a strange iron-plated orc (a half-iron golem) stood inside. Garlen smacked the golem with his swords and Grokk broke through its armor plating with his axe. Roland used a ray of deanimation to destroy it, and found himself under attack from another golem inside another illusory pillar. Grokk's axe kept bouncing off of the golem's iron plating, and the golem landed several more strikes on Roland. Finally, Grokk and Horkina combined to break the golem into little pieces of metal and orc.
Roland discovered a magical portal created by a spell of Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion, and suspected a Cagewright wizard was resting in the interdimensional space therein. Grokk, Horkina, Rain, and Garlen piled into the room near the portal, while Roland and Amber stood outside with a clear line of sight into the room. Roland dispelled the mansion, and a Shadar-kai and two Death Slaadi appeared in the room. Garlen, in his bulky modified form, landed a series of highly effective blows, killing the Shadar-kai and a Slaad. Grokk smacked the other Slaad once and Amber used a Holy Smite to injure it further. In the chaos, the Slaad didn't realize Rain was invisible and standing right behind it, ready to strike at its vital organs with a series of carefully aimed stabs. Needless to say, the battle was quickly ended.
Rain regained invisibility from the previous mural and led the party onward. He noticed a large statue of a long-dead yuan-ti prophet, and also noticed the statue was on a rotating base. Grokk grabbed the statue and spun it around, which caused a segment of wall to lift upward revealing a Crystal Snake that glowed with a radiant light. Rain slipped behind the snake, but found his weapons couldn't break through its tough skin. Grokk began pounding on it as the rest of the party spread out, heeding Roland's warning that such a construct would likely explode when destroyed. The snake began resonating with loud vibrations and released a beam of light at Grokk, and moments later, a badger charged at Roland from the opposite room and tried to bite him. A strange man wearing a cloak made of human skin stepped from behind a pillar and attacked Percy, yelling out threats against Roland and saying that "Occipitus is mine!" Rain made his way across the battlefield, while Grokk absorbed a minor snakebite as he moved to a more advantageous position. Grokk and Horkina pounded away at the snake while Percy, Rain, and Sam (in Marut form) struck at the crazy Cagewright from all directions. ("Who cares about the badger?" "Badgers? We don't need no stinking badgers!" - Scott "To be fair, they are rather musky..." - Jeremy) Roland destroyed his challenger with a highly enhanced orb of fire. The snake continued to shoot beams of light at Grokk and the badger kept biting at Roland. Grokk's next blow destroyed the snake, which exploded in a burst of light that injured him and Horkina. Rain, Percy, and Sam finished off the badger quickly.
As Roland looked away from the Badger, he noticed a scrying sensor appearing next to Horkina. Within moments, five figures faded into view. Four of them were large, purple-skinned four-armed beasts -- Blood Fiends, a sort of vampire-demon mix. The party immediately recognized the fifth figure, Kaurophon. His left eye now carried the same sort of flame as Roland's, and he called out "the eye sees your doom, oh most impotent pretender to the throne of Occipitus!" Two Blood Fiends surrounded Roland and began attacking him, draining his energy (one negative level). The other two attempted to dominate Grokk and Horkina, without any success. Grokk attacked the one nearest to him, cutting it down with several strong blows, while Horkina destroyed the one next to her, Amber, and Roland. Roland set off a Contingency spell that would allow him to disrupt Kaurophon's next cast, and summoned a huge hand to grab and crush the enemy sorcerer. Garlen jumped and rolled behind one of the Blood Fiends, stabbing at it as he passed. Amber's Mass Heal spell restored the party to full health and left the two remaining fiends nearly dead. Rain's Holy Rapier finished one off, while Grokk resisted the drain attempts from the other and finished it off with a swing of his axe. Percy, Sam, Rain, and Roland combined to make Kaurophon die yet again, and Amber restored Grokk's constitution and Roland's level with the help of some diamond powder Horkina had procured via the "smash" method.
The party searched the rest of the complex and was preparing to transport Kaurophon's corpse back to Cauldron for magical interrogation when the body disappeared. Roland was able to Scry on it, and found that Kaurophon's body was now in the "eye" chamber in the skull-shaped mountain on Occipitus. The stone barrier that had sealed off the chamber had been disintegrated from the inside. The party made a quick stop by an interplanar store to re-equip, and Amber used a Divination to try to determine what had been behind Kaurophon's return. The answer was thus:
Broken cages cracked the cage
Madness seeks its freedom
Broken plans renewed by madness
'til madness' flame is doused
Madness seeks its freedom
Broken plans renewed by madness
'til madness' flame is doused
Amber and Rain reached level 18.
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