Sunday, October 18, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
A second prisoner saved
We decided to press on and rescue Mertala. Treble threw a dagger into the room where the cook was held, and came back bloodied with a report that he had killed the goblin. The rest of us went in, and despite several misses, were able to finish off the three giant rodents and two gnomes without too much trouble. Although the rats tried to go past me to attack my ranged allies, I managed to slow them down so that they never reached the rear of our ranks. Rhogar got himself in a bit of a tight situation, taking on a rat and the two gnomes himself. I went up, drew their attention, and got a few nasty hits on them. Before the end of the battle, the last gnome disappeared. Thanks to me, he had already been slowed, which let us narrow his location down a small area only about fifteen feet on each side. Elaira just attacked the whole area and finished him off.
During the battle, some of us had felt some trembling of the earth and heard a giant roar followed by some cheers, so we knew that we needed to hurry before we found ourselves in real trouble. I cut the bonds that were holding Mertala, and gave her food and water as Elaira played a song to try to calm her. She was almost catatonic, and we noticed that she was suffering from some kind of disease, probably as a result of the bites from the filthy rodents. Rhogar and Elaira healed her (well, to be fair, she seemed frightened of Rhogar, maybe because of his draconic appearance... he decided it would be best to stand guard with me at the door instead) while Treble and Horadric pried the amber eyes off of the displacer beast statues. Shamash, Elaira, and Sertanian talked to the cook and convinced her that we could take her to safety. Especially in our wearied state, with our concerns about the noises we were continuing to hear in the catacombs, we decided that we needed to save the live prisoners first and return for Kartenix later.
As we left the castle, some of us noticed big clawed footprints that made deep trenches in the earth. They were clearly fresh footprints from a young dragon's landing in this very spot, and it seemed likely that it was the source of the roar and the trembling. We headed for cover in the forest, as the bard chanted march songs to spur us on, so we could make camp a solid distance away. I scouted for an area where I felt we would be safe from predatory animals, and Horadric chanted a ritual that set us up a campsite. As we rested, Mertala told us that she knew where Sertanian was held, and from there she knew that Adronsias was being held upstairs, in a family crypt which she was able to identify as the von Jallach crypts. Her fever got worse, so the next morning we hurried to Brindol and left her at a Temple of the Silver Flame with the clerics there, who we told about the defaced altars. The priest we spoke to, however, didn't seem to be terribly knowledgeable about those particular crypts, so I am guessing they were abandoned many years ago and that the Silver Flame has not been there in quite some time.
Councilman Troyas was out, so we gathered rumors around town and shopped during the afternoon. Several townspeople were talking animatedly about the blue dragon they had seen flying the skies.... yet others were sure it was all nonsense. To me, then, putting it all together led me to believe that dragons are rare enough in this region that the source of the footprints must have been this same blue dragon. We went and had another amazing meal at Councilman Troyas' residence as we updated him on the status of our adventure. He had nothing new to report; no new attacks had been made against Brindol while we were gone. This meal might have been even better than the last; either that, or eating travelling rations for the previous few days made it seem as though it was.
We stopped by an artificer's shop afterwards, where several of my allies bought some potions from the proprietor, Derrick. He seemed like a nice enough fellow who was genuinely willing to help us out, which was great, but I still find something unnatural about arcane power. I didn't buy anything. I did, however, listen with interest to his discussion of dragon anatomy. In my village we have killed and skinned various different animals for food, so I am somewhat versed in this area; however, I have never seen a dragon before, so it was fascinating to hear about his experiences.
We headed back to the catacombs, and I urged that we head into the von Jallach crypts to rescue Adronsias, even if it meant facing the dragon head-on. This is exactly what happened. Although it was asleep when we arrived, that didn't last for long. It seems as though Treble woke him up when he opened the door, since the dragon shot a huge bolt of lightning through the door, blasting it from its hinges and hitting several of us. It was at that point that I could see the large blue dragon, reared up on its hind legs and roaring at us. Although it was clearly a young dragon, its massive size made me marvel at how big a full-grown dragon could possibly be. I reached into the power of Earth's Winter Guardian, while Rhogar set up a circle of protection near the doorway to the room, which was filled with various kinds of poisonous mushrooms. Together we all faced four hobgoblin grunts, one formerly-harp-playing soldier, the dragon, and two drakes. Keh'r and Rhogar took quite a few hits; and Shamash delivered a very solid one to the dragon. As for me, I took a few, ending the battle bloodied; but I definitely gave it out better than I got. In the middle of the battle, Keh'r teleported into the mushroom patch and . . . fell asleep. He wasn't much good to us after that and woke up when it was all over.
After talking with Derrick the artificer yesterday, I think the next order of business is to help the others harvest some of these wild mushrooms and possibly gather some elements from the dragon before heading through the door to the East to pursue Adronsias.
During the battle, some of us had felt some trembling of the earth and heard a giant roar followed by some cheers, so we knew that we needed to hurry before we found ourselves in real trouble. I cut the bonds that were holding Mertala, and gave her food and water as Elaira played a song to try to calm her. She was almost catatonic, and we noticed that she was suffering from some kind of disease, probably as a result of the bites from the filthy rodents. Rhogar and Elaira healed her (well, to be fair, she seemed frightened of Rhogar, maybe because of his draconic appearance... he decided it would be best to stand guard with me at the door instead) while Treble and Horadric pried the amber eyes off of the displacer beast statues. Shamash, Elaira, and Sertanian talked to the cook and convinced her that we could take her to safety. Especially in our wearied state, with our concerns about the noises we were continuing to hear in the catacombs, we decided that we needed to save the live prisoners first and return for Kartenix later.
As we left the castle, some of us noticed big clawed footprints that made deep trenches in the earth. They were clearly fresh footprints from a young dragon's landing in this very spot, and it seemed likely that it was the source of the roar and the trembling. We headed for cover in the forest, as the bard chanted march songs to spur us on, so we could make camp a solid distance away. I scouted for an area where I felt we would be safe from predatory animals, and Horadric chanted a ritual that set us up a campsite. As we rested, Mertala told us that she knew where Sertanian was held, and from there she knew that Adronsias was being held upstairs, in a family crypt which she was able to identify as the von Jallach crypts. Her fever got worse, so the next morning we hurried to Brindol and left her at a Temple of the Silver Flame with the clerics there, who we told about the defaced altars. The priest we spoke to, however, didn't seem to be terribly knowledgeable about those particular crypts, so I am guessing they were abandoned many years ago and that the Silver Flame has not been there in quite some time.
Councilman Troyas was out, so we gathered rumors around town and shopped during the afternoon. Several townspeople were talking animatedly about the blue dragon they had seen flying the skies.... yet others were sure it was all nonsense. To me, then, putting it all together led me to believe that dragons are rare enough in this region that the source of the footprints must have been this same blue dragon. We went and had another amazing meal at Councilman Troyas' residence as we updated him on the status of our adventure. He had nothing new to report; no new attacks had been made against Brindol while we were gone. This meal might have been even better than the last; either that, or eating travelling rations for the previous few days made it seem as though it was.
We stopped by an artificer's shop afterwards, where several of my allies bought some potions from the proprietor, Derrick. He seemed like a nice enough fellow who was genuinely willing to help us out, which was great, but I still find something unnatural about arcane power. I didn't buy anything. I did, however, listen with interest to his discussion of dragon anatomy. In my village we have killed and skinned various different animals for food, so I am somewhat versed in this area; however, I have never seen a dragon before, so it was fascinating to hear about his experiences.
We headed back to the catacombs, and I urged that we head into the von Jallach crypts to rescue Adronsias, even if it meant facing the dragon head-on. This is exactly what happened. Although it was asleep when we arrived, that didn't last for long. It seems as though Treble woke him up when he opened the door, since the dragon shot a huge bolt of lightning through the door, blasting it from its hinges and hitting several of us. It was at that point that I could see the large blue dragon, reared up on its hind legs and roaring at us. Although it was clearly a young dragon, its massive size made me marvel at how big a full-grown dragon could possibly be. I reached into the power of Earth's Winter Guardian, while Rhogar set up a circle of protection near the doorway to the room, which was filled with various kinds of poisonous mushrooms. Together we all faced four hobgoblin grunts, one formerly-harp-playing soldier, the dragon, and two drakes. Keh'r and Rhogar took quite a few hits; and Shamash delivered a very solid one to the dragon. As for me, I took a few, ending the battle bloodied; but I definitely gave it out better than I got. In the middle of the battle, Keh'r teleported into the mushroom patch and . . . fell asleep. He wasn't much good to us after that and woke up when it was all over.
After talking with Derrick the artificer yesterday, I think the next order of business is to help the others harvest some of these wild mushrooms and possibly gather some elements from the dragon before heading through the door to the East to pursue Adronsias.
Artificer's shop
Horadric leads the party to a small stall off of Market Street. "This is the place," he says, and you all step inside. Behind the counter, you see a middle-aged man calibrating some dials on a shiny artificer's rod. He is human, stocky, and broad-shouldered; his brown hair is receding on his head; and he has a short full beard on his round friendly face.
"Howdy there, fellas!" he says, nodding to Horadric, Rhogar, and Treble. "Don't tell me you're off adventuring for the Silver Flame again, eh?"
Treble says, "Nah, not for the Silver Flame. We're on a job, though, just one that doesn't pay as well."
"Ah, I see. Does that mean those rumors about the dragon are true?"
Horadric says, "Yes, they're true. We're going after the dragon."
"Aha, well good luck to ya. If anyone can get him, I'd put my wager on you lot. Well, let me know if there's anything I can do for ya. I've got some potions in stock that might come in handy, if you're looking for that sort of thing."
Treble says, "Yes, we'll definitely check out your stock and see what might be useful. Hey listen, Derrick, last time we met, you said something about being able to cut us a deal?"
Derrick smiles and says "Sure thing, mate. You know, I haven't met many folk who live here in Brindol, or travellers either, who would have the mettle to stick around that graveyard with all the things we saw there. Hell, the whole town guard ran away. You're solid people. Here's what I'll do." He pulls out some worn-looking books from behind the counter, and piles them on top. The books are obviously well-used. He says, "The rule of thumb in this business is to charge customers 20% over cost, to cover our operating expenses and give us a little bit of profit so that we can make a living. For you, I'm willing to sell you items at cost. If there's something you're interested in, you're welcome to look through the books so you can figure the expenses."
Treble nods with satisfaction.
"Of course, if you want something I don't have in stock, I'd have to make it for ya. I'm willing to do that, but obviously you'd have to give me a little bit of time."
Rhogar asks, "How long would it usually take?"
Derrick says, "Eh, an hour or two."
The group looks over Derrick's wares. Elaira asks diplomatically, "I think this Potion of Lightning Resistance could be useful. How much does it cost?"
Derrick looks at Horadric and asks, "These guys with you, then?"
Horadric says, "Yes, they are aiding us."
Treble adds, "For now," with a sideways glance at the bard.
Derrick looks at Elaira and says, "Okay, then, if these guys vouch for you, then you're okay by me too. I'll sell to you at cost as well." Elaira smiles. Derrick adds, "Besides, if you guys go and slay a dragon, you'll get a reputation around Brindol. And when people ask you where you got your nicely-crafted magic items, you can tell them where to find me, eh? Besides, maybe we can help each other. If you come across any formulae for alchemical items, bring 'em on over and I'll add 'em to my formula collection... once I know how to make it, I can make it when you need it."
Elaira says, "Of course."
Various potions are purchased and money exchanges hands. Derrick says, "You know, part of what drives the price up on all these things is the cost to get the components. If you come across any components when you're out... residuum, rare herbs, that kind of thing, bring 'em by and it'll reduce the cost. I can also disenchant magic items for you for free if you ever need some residuum. Hey, while we're at it, if you do manage to slay the dragon..."
Keh'r says, "Yes?"
Derrick continues, "Well, dragons are magical creatures, and there are a few parts of 'em that I can use in my work to create magic items for you. If you're interested, I can give you some tips on which parts ya need and how to find and get 'em."
Keh'r says, "We're definitely interested."
The party listens as Derrick describes the process of extracting alchemical items from dragons. Well, that is, the members who are interested in anatomy and magic rituals listen, while the others start browsing through Derrick's catalogs. After the description is finished, Derrick wishes the party good luck as they leave.
Game mechanics: At shops throughout the land, magic items are houseruled to cost 20% more than the prices listed in the game books. Derrick can sell you magic items at the cost listed in the books (which is the cost he has to pay to craft them). He can Disenchant Magic Item for free. Our DM will be in charge of deciding what is "in stock" on any given day, but Derrick is willing to craft for you a specific magic item if you're looking for one. He can create alchemical items of our level plus 3, and magic items (including potions) of our level plus his Intelligence bonus (which is currently 4). So at the current time, he can make alchemical items of level 5 or lower, and magic items of level 6 or lower. He levels up when we do, so as we grow in power, so will his abilities.
"Howdy there, fellas!" he says, nodding to Horadric, Rhogar, and Treble. "Don't tell me you're off adventuring for the Silver Flame again, eh?"
Treble says, "Nah, not for the Silver Flame. We're on a job, though, just one that doesn't pay as well."
"Ah, I see. Does that mean those rumors about the dragon are true?"
Horadric says, "Yes, they're true. We're going after the dragon."
"Aha, well good luck to ya. If anyone can get him, I'd put my wager on you lot. Well, let me know if there's anything I can do for ya. I've got some potions in stock that might come in handy, if you're looking for that sort of thing."
Treble says, "Yes, we'll definitely check out your stock and see what might be useful. Hey listen, Derrick, last time we met, you said something about being able to cut us a deal?"
Derrick smiles and says "Sure thing, mate. You know, I haven't met many folk who live here in Brindol, or travellers either, who would have the mettle to stick around that graveyard with all the things we saw there. Hell, the whole town guard ran away. You're solid people. Here's what I'll do." He pulls out some worn-looking books from behind the counter, and piles them on top. The books are obviously well-used. He says, "The rule of thumb in this business is to charge customers 20% over cost, to cover our operating expenses and give us a little bit of profit so that we can make a living. For you, I'm willing to sell you items at cost. If there's something you're interested in, you're welcome to look through the books so you can figure the expenses."
Treble nods with satisfaction.
"Of course, if you want something I don't have in stock, I'd have to make it for ya. I'm willing to do that, but obviously you'd have to give me a little bit of time."
Rhogar asks, "How long would it usually take?"
Derrick says, "Eh, an hour or two."
The group looks over Derrick's wares. Elaira asks diplomatically, "I think this Potion of Lightning Resistance could be useful. How much does it cost?"
Derrick looks at Horadric and asks, "These guys with you, then?"
Horadric says, "Yes, they are aiding us."
Treble adds, "For now," with a sideways glance at the bard.
Derrick looks at Elaira and says, "Okay, then, if these guys vouch for you, then you're okay by me too. I'll sell to you at cost as well." Elaira smiles. Derrick adds, "Besides, if you guys go and slay a dragon, you'll get a reputation around Brindol. And when people ask you where you got your nicely-crafted magic items, you can tell them where to find me, eh? Besides, maybe we can help each other. If you come across any formulae for alchemical items, bring 'em on over and I'll add 'em to my formula collection... once I know how to make it, I can make it when you need it."
Elaira says, "Of course."
Various potions are purchased and money exchanges hands. Derrick says, "You know, part of what drives the price up on all these things is the cost to get the components. If you come across any components when you're out... residuum, rare herbs, that kind of thing, bring 'em by and it'll reduce the cost. I can also disenchant magic items for you for free if you ever need some residuum. Hey, while we're at it, if you do manage to slay the dragon..."
Keh'r says, "Yes?"
Derrick continues, "Well, dragons are magical creatures, and there are a few parts of 'em that I can use in my work to create magic items for you. If you're interested, I can give you some tips on which parts ya need and how to find and get 'em."
Keh'r says, "We're definitely interested."
The party listens as Derrick describes the process of extracting alchemical items from dragons. Well, that is, the members who are interested in anatomy and magic rituals listen, while the others start browsing through Derrick's catalogs. After the description is finished, Derrick wishes the party good luck as they leave.
Game mechanics: At shops throughout the land, magic items are houseruled to cost 20% more than the prices listed in the game books. Derrick can sell you magic items at the cost listed in the books (which is the cost he has to pay to craft them). He can Disenchant Magic Item for free. Our DM will be in charge of deciding what is "in stock" on any given day, but Derrick is willing to craft for you a specific magic item if you're looking for one. He can create alchemical items of our level plus 3, and magic items (including potions) of our level plus his Intelligence bonus (which is currently 4). So at the current time, he can make alchemical items of level 5 or lower, and magic items of level 6 or lower. He levels up when we do, so as we grow in power, so will his abilities.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Second try's a charm
During our short rest, I asked Sertanian more about the gnomes' involvement in his capture. He said he had not seen them before, and did not know why they might be involved, aside from falling into Sinruth's widely-reported charisma. Not much help, really, but there you have it.
We prepared to press on into the dungeon and enter the next room--the one into which the Ettercap queen had escaped. Treble scouted ahead and threw a dagger into the room before retreating back up the steps, intending to lure the goblins he had seen up, so that we would be fighting a more even tactical battle. We waited several minutes, in which we tried various tactics to lure them up: first, Treble moaned and groaned loudly about his "broken leg," and then, Horadric conjured the sounds of battle near us to make the goblins below think that we were engaged in combat with their allies. All we heard in response was some mumbling. Our front line worked itself into position, and as we did so, several of us voiced our uncertainty... we really weren't in a good tactical position on the steps, which were narrow and steep. Keh'r was insistent about pressing on, so I headed into the room, and as I reached the bottom of the steps, I was attacked by four creatures. Fortunately, one missed, but I still took an arrow and a couple of energy orbs before I was immobilized and forcibly pushed back up the steps. Keh'r took one look at my bloodied body and decided that retreat was the best option. Maybe next time I should make him go first?
I healed my wounds and we retreated up the steps. Treble propped a battleaxe precariously on the steps, in the hopes that it would fall noisily if the goblins gave chase, and Keh'r used another axe handle to bar the doors behind us. Treble scouted up the stairs, and reported back that he found a doorway labelled "von Adrez" leading to a coffin and crypts. The doorway opened into a huge room, with doors on each side. He said the room was guarded: four hobgoblin guards and two drakes. We weren't really prepared to explore; our focus was to finish what we'd started and rescue the cook. So Treble rejoined us and Keh'r suggested that we circle around and see if we could access the cook's location from a different entrance.
We worked our way back to the hallway that had the two large pits in it. Treble crossed and fashioned a rope ladder for our less-agile members, while I got into position to leap across. He threw a dagger into the room and we all headed in. We found ourselves in the same room as before, though this time we weren't navigating a narrow staircase to get in, and the enemies weren't expecting us to approach from this direction. Rhogar, Keh'r, and I took the front lines, protecting our allies behind us. In all, there were about 10 goblin-types facing us, along with the Ettercap queen and a drake. The three of us took quite a few hits and also slaughtered our fair share of goblin-types. Rhogar spat acid into the room and hit about all of them, taking out several minions. Unfortunately for us, it was around this time that the Ettercap queen threw a web at us, immobilizing essentially all of us.
One of the magic-wielding goblins slid Horadric down into the pit, and slid Keh'r back. Fortunately for us, the immobilization did not hinder our party as much as it could have: those of us in the front line still had several enemies to battle against, and those in the back with ranged attacks were just as effective as before. Treble continued attacking the Ettercap queen, and eventually killed it. I had my hands full with the drake and a tough hobgoblin soldier, along with one or two of his minions. One of the goblins restrained me, which made it a little harder to fight, but I still was pretty effective in my attacks. Elaira saw me trading blows with a hobgoblin soldier, so she threw a blow at him which slid him forward and gave me the necessary opening to finish him off with my flail.
The more melee guys we finished off, the more necessary it became to whittle down their archers. Keh'r, although still immobilized, had teleported in that direction when the Ettercap queen taunted him; he eventually shrug off the immobilization and was starting to resemble a pincushion with all of the arrows he was taking. In the meantime, I was still restrained in place, but even from there I finished off the last hobgoblin minion. One of the goblin archers tried to walk wide around Keh'r to gain tactical advantage, and must not have thought of Elaira as much of a threat, because he deliberately walked right past her instead. She was more cunning than he must have realized, because she stuck out her foot and tripped him as he walked past. It didn't hurt him much, but he cursed under his breath as he stumbled. Even his allies couldn't help but snicker at him.
It was around this point that the battle really seemed to move into the endgame. Horadric harnessed some new and surprising arcane power of thunder that allowed him to attack two bowmen, slide them towards us melee fighters, and then used a followup attack to finish one off. Rhogar then expended some reserves of energy to finish off the goblin that was threatening Keh'r, who by this point was looking to be in pretty bad shape. The last goblin ran away.
We had been so busy in combat that it wasn't until now that we had a chance to look around the room. We saw several large sarcophagi, and a religious altar. Keh'r, Rhogar, and I accomplished the quite difficult task of removing the heavy stone sarcophagus lids and we found a few treasures for our trouble: a shiny suit of plate mail; a magic khopesh; two potions of healing; and 100 gp. Horadric found a lantern in the room, which he took. There was a fancy inscription around the wall near the ceiling, and religious markings on the altars. Rhogar, who knows more about religious markings than I, pointed out to us that the altars had been defaced; where it now is written about being devoted to Bel Shalor, it used to be devoted to the Silver Flame.
Against everyone's better advice, Treble was insistent upon climbing down into the trash compactor chute. He came out triumphantly brandishing a bent-up, blackened rod, which Shamash quickly snatched out of his hand, saying something about how only warlocks know how to properly harness its magic. Treble now smells significantly less pleasant to travel with. While we rested, Keh'r went to peek around the corner in the next hallway. He took an arrow to the cheek... looks like a nasty wound. He reported that he saw four statues of displacer beasts and also large ratlike creatures in the room antagonizing a terrified woman tied to an altar. His description of the woman matches the cook Mertala; so after he bandages his cheek, we will go in and rescue her before taking Mertala and Sertanian back to Brindol.
We prepared to press on into the dungeon and enter the next room--the one into which the Ettercap queen had escaped. Treble scouted ahead and threw a dagger into the room before retreating back up the steps, intending to lure the goblins he had seen up, so that we would be fighting a more even tactical battle. We waited several minutes, in which we tried various tactics to lure them up: first, Treble moaned and groaned loudly about his "broken leg," and then, Horadric conjured the sounds of battle near us to make the goblins below think that we were engaged in combat with their allies. All we heard in response was some mumbling. Our front line worked itself into position, and as we did so, several of us voiced our uncertainty... we really weren't in a good tactical position on the steps, which were narrow and steep. Keh'r was insistent about pressing on, so I headed into the room, and as I reached the bottom of the steps, I was attacked by four creatures. Fortunately, one missed, but I still took an arrow and a couple of energy orbs before I was immobilized and forcibly pushed back up the steps. Keh'r took one look at my bloodied body and decided that retreat was the best option. Maybe next time I should make him go first?
I healed my wounds and we retreated up the steps. Treble propped a battleaxe precariously on the steps, in the hopes that it would fall noisily if the goblins gave chase, and Keh'r used another axe handle to bar the doors behind us. Treble scouted up the stairs, and reported back that he found a doorway labelled "von Adrez" leading to a coffin and crypts. The doorway opened into a huge room, with doors on each side. He said the room was guarded: four hobgoblin guards and two drakes. We weren't really prepared to explore; our focus was to finish what we'd started and rescue the cook. So Treble rejoined us and Keh'r suggested that we circle around and see if we could access the cook's location from a different entrance.
We worked our way back to the hallway that had the two large pits in it. Treble crossed and fashioned a rope ladder for our less-agile members, while I got into position to leap across. He threw a dagger into the room and we all headed in. We found ourselves in the same room as before, though this time we weren't navigating a narrow staircase to get in, and the enemies weren't expecting us to approach from this direction. Rhogar, Keh'r, and I took the front lines, protecting our allies behind us. In all, there were about 10 goblin-types facing us, along with the Ettercap queen and a drake. The three of us took quite a few hits and also slaughtered our fair share of goblin-types. Rhogar spat acid into the room and hit about all of them, taking out several minions. Unfortunately for us, it was around this time that the Ettercap queen threw a web at us, immobilizing essentially all of us.
One of the magic-wielding goblins slid Horadric down into the pit, and slid Keh'r back. Fortunately for us, the immobilization did not hinder our party as much as it could have: those of us in the front line still had several enemies to battle against, and those in the back with ranged attacks were just as effective as before. Treble continued attacking the Ettercap queen, and eventually killed it. I had my hands full with the drake and a tough hobgoblin soldier, along with one or two of his minions. One of the goblins restrained me, which made it a little harder to fight, but I still was pretty effective in my attacks. Elaira saw me trading blows with a hobgoblin soldier, so she threw a blow at him which slid him forward and gave me the necessary opening to finish him off with my flail.
The more melee guys we finished off, the more necessary it became to whittle down their archers. Keh'r, although still immobilized, had teleported in that direction when the Ettercap queen taunted him; he eventually shrug off the immobilization and was starting to resemble a pincushion with all of the arrows he was taking. In the meantime, I was still restrained in place, but even from there I finished off the last hobgoblin minion. One of the goblin archers tried to walk wide around Keh'r to gain tactical advantage, and must not have thought of Elaira as much of a threat, because he deliberately walked right past her instead. She was more cunning than he must have realized, because she stuck out her foot and tripped him as he walked past. It didn't hurt him much, but he cursed under his breath as he stumbled. Even his allies couldn't help but snicker at him.
It was around this point that the battle really seemed to move into the endgame. Horadric harnessed some new and surprising arcane power of thunder that allowed him to attack two bowmen, slide them towards us melee fighters, and then used a followup attack to finish one off. Rhogar then expended some reserves of energy to finish off the goblin that was threatening Keh'r, who by this point was looking to be in pretty bad shape. The last goblin ran away.
We had been so busy in combat that it wasn't until now that we had a chance to look around the room. We saw several large sarcophagi, and a religious altar. Keh'r, Rhogar, and I accomplished the quite difficult task of removing the heavy stone sarcophagus lids and we found a few treasures for our trouble: a shiny suit of plate mail; a magic khopesh; two potions of healing; and 100 gp. Horadric found a lantern in the room, which he took. There was a fancy inscription around the wall near the ceiling, and religious markings on the altars. Rhogar, who knows more about religious markings than I, pointed out to us that the altars had been defaced; where it now is written about being devoted to Bel Shalor, it used to be devoted to the Silver Flame.
Against everyone's better advice, Treble was insistent upon climbing down into the trash compactor chute. He came out triumphantly brandishing a bent-up, blackened rod, which Shamash quickly snatched out of his hand, saying something about how only warlocks know how to properly harness its magic. Treble now smells significantly less pleasant to travel with. While we rested, Keh'r went to peek around the corner in the next hallway. He took an arrow to the cheek... looks like a nasty wound. He reported that he saw four statues of displacer beasts and also large ratlike creatures in the room antagonizing a terrified woman tied to an altar. His description of the woman matches the cook Mertala; so after he bandages his cheek, we will go in and rescue her before taking Mertala and Sertanian back to Brindol.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
A shot to the face
The goblin sprang from the darkness, its wicked grin illuminated by candlelight. It leveled its crossbow at the face peeking around the corner. Keh'r jerked back, but not fast enough, as the crossbow bolt scraped a deep wound across his face.
Keh'r retreated, face bloodied, and with that, the group decided to take a short rest.
While they rested, the party identified the treasure found in the sarcophagi, as well as the rod Treble picked out of the trash pit:
1. A suit of bronze and steel plate armor with engraved designs of dragons in battle. It is Battleforged Armor +1
2. A wickedly-curved blade with an ivory hilt carved with wings for hand guards. It is a Farbond Spellblade +1 (khopesh)
3. A misshapen wooden rod, covered with burned black whorls. It is a Rod of Corruption +1
4. 2 potion of healing
5. 100 gold pieces
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Webbed treasures
The party takes a momentary break. There is a discussion on whether to continue after the fled ettercap and hobgoblin, or to take a longer rest. While some argue that the party must press on, others urge caution.
Still others would rather ignore the discussion and instead drool over the magical items that have been found. Shamash and Horadric are two such members, and they inform the group that the following items have been found:
1. A set of mottled gray robes. The cloth of which they are woven is tough and durable, and has a pebbly feel to it. They are Stoneskin Robes (+1) (also known as Stoneskin Cloth Armor).
2. A flail fashioned of silver and lustrous dark wood. Its haft is worn but solid, and its silver chain still shiny, despite nicks and scratches that indicate its long history. The chain is attached to a heavy wooden ball fitted over a collection of vicious-looking stone barbs. It is a weapon known as the Maw of the Guardian (+1).
The silk bag that contained the flail (found under the web containing Kartenix's body) also contained 100 gold pieces worth of residuum.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
The recapture of Volkir
So this wizard-type stopped by the stall. Seemed reaI confused, puzzled look on his face and all. Don't know if he had one too many last night or what, but he was all "Where am I? What is this place?" and so forth. Weird. Anyway, I'm trying to show him some of my wares but he's looking around all confused when three guys approach on horseback and totally ruin any chance I had at a sale. One of them was a heavily armored guy, human; another was a dragonborn guy wearing light armor and carrying a wand; the third was a priestly-looking guy who was wearing light armor and looked a little odd. They go on about how they are hunting some criminal who escaped a prison and are trying to amass some kind of posse to go rout 'im out. All three guys have emblems on their chests that they say represent the Church of the Silver Flame, and offer us gold and goodwill of the church to go along with. They seem like they're telling the truth and they did just ruin the sale I was making, so I agree to come along. The guys say their names are Agathor Brightwind, Balthazar, and Colvin Shadowbane. They round everyone up in front of my stall a couple hours later. They got a bunch of guys together, like some guardsmen and some townspeople and this confused wizard guy who was shopping at the stall, some dragonborn paladin and Treble, a mercenary who I've seen 'round. He might have come by the stall sometime or maybe we had a couple drinks together at the tavern, can't say I really remember the circumstance but I do remember him to be a pretty okay type. Seems like the kind of guy who pays promptly. Anyway these Silver Flame guys go on about "On to destroy the undead beings!" and so on... sounded kind of creepy to some of us townsfolk type but money is money so off we go, walking two and a half days to some deserted-looking village.
We saw four figures in the distance: one in a robe, one hunched over and drooling, and two soldiers wearing green foresty clothing. The wizardy guy (I later learn that his name is Horadric) does actually seem to know something now and says he thinks they are unfriendly druids called of a sect called the Children of Winter, who are some kind of death cult who want to destroy the weak and promote famine and disease. I don't really get how they haven't died out already then, but there you have it. Treble snuck ahead and said that they were talking about an intruder messing around with their lands. He wasn't sure whether they meant us, or whether they meant the guy we're all chasing after, but the consensus was that either way, they probably wouldn't appreciate the lot of us tromping all around the place. Treble said he saw that the hunchback guy was a shifter... kind of a canine-looking face, werewolfy/animalistic-looking guy. Balthazar and a bunch of the guys start going on about how they want to just fight 'em but some of us weren't real keen on fighting battles that we didn't come out for. I mean we're getting paid to go get some criminal, not to risk our necks to clean all the scourge of the woods. I decide to see what I can do, and offer to "employ powerful magics" to bluff them to head another direction. We agree that I should try to talk them into heading north while we head 'round another direction, so I ask a bunch of questions and then hide behind a tree and do my best to look like that slavering shifter guy. I walk up from the north and tell 'em I saw some guys thataway that were intruding on our lands, and they buy it. That never gets old. Anyway, off they go and I hide behind a tree and do my thing and rejoin the party. While we're waiting around I augment Treble's dagger.
We came upon 3 stone crypts in a graveyard called Col Fen, approaching from the south. Agathor says that they followed the trail here so somewhere in here is our guy. We see one grave is open. Treble starts sneaking over the wall and all of a sudden an arm starts trying to dig out of the open grave. This skeleton and another one come out of a couple of graves and start going towards the entrance to the East. We wait for them to head off that way, and we head 'round to the west before hopping the wall. Treble scouted out and said he thinks our guy is in one of the crypt buildings. As we climbed over the wall, we couldn't help but notice the stench of the place and the chill in the air raised up the hairs on our arms. We heard a woman screaming and a baby crying... sounded like it was coming from the northern crypt. Treble scouted the crypt entrances and said that the southmost one was closed, the middle one had no door, and the door of the north one was ajar, and all were dark. Agathor told us the guy we were looking for was a half-elf with a scar on his left cheek and black ratty hair. He sent a reluctant and grumbling Balthazar to check on the Children of Winter and make sure that they weren't doubling back to find us.
When we went into the north crypt we saw a decayed zombie farmer, a four-foot high sarcophagus, two skeletons, and a ghost standing over a trench. We heard sobbing coming from the trench, and the woman and baby were in there. Colvin was talking inside of our heads and told us that we could do it too as long as he was with us. Horadric pushed the zombie aside. I took advantage of the opening he provided and went inside the room to attack the ghost before he was able to kill the woman and baby. The ghost became insubstantial, and he attacked me with his hair from ten feet away. Once I had him distracted, the woman took her baby and ran away. Along with her went about half the mob of guys we had brought with us... some of the younger ones just weren't ready to confront the horrors in the graveyard. Can't say I totally blame 'em, though they did leave the rest of us in a pretty tough spot. In the meantime, Balthazar came back to get recruits to go battle the Children of Winter, so Agathor and almost all of the remaining men went with him. Inside the crypt, Rhogar the paladin and Colvin were cursing the undead. Colvin killed the skeleton and Horadric finished off the zombie. The ghost disappeared through the wall and went into the middle crypt. Treble searched the room and found a map in the sarcophagus, which he gave to Horadric.
We headed into the next crypt; there were two half-eaten dead bodies just inside. A pretty gruesome scene. One was of an elderly man, looked like it'd been there about a day; the other was of a woman and looked like it'd been there about a week. We saw a door ajar in the back that headed downstairs, where we heard chanting at the bottom of the stairs. Treble checked over the door and noticed a bucket of acid resting atop; he carefully took it down and put it in the corner (several of the men were highly amused to see the ghost step into it later). Inside the downstairs room were two zombies, two ghouls, two skeletons, and the ghost, as well as a man chanting over something behind the sarcophagus. As soon as Colvin saw the man he shouted, "That's Volkir! He's our target!"
I headed in first and killed the zombie. However, Volkir raised it along with two skeletons for us to fend off who appeared behind our lines. I noticed that Volkir was holding some shriveled-up looking black monkey head thing or something. I didn't get a good look at it, but there were green flames in its eyes and also green flames in three braziers on the walls. Colvin came in and threw lightning bolts across the room, catching a skeleton and Volkir along with it, but Volkir laughed at him and Colvin cursed, saying that it seemed to have no effect on him. In the meantime, more and more undead minions kept appearing, just about finishing off Horadric in the anteroom. As Colvin went further into the downstairs room, he triggered some kind of spear trap and looked like he was in a very dire situation, surrounded by zombies, ghouls, and skeletons in the center of the room by himself. I did my best to heal Colvin and shield him as he and Treble put the fires out on the walls to diminish the power of Volkir's magic artifact. As the fires went out, the undead minions around began to crumble into dust. Horadric knocked the last torch down and we finished the fight, subduing Volkir. Horadric took the monkey head artifact thing out of his hands. Treble checked into the sarcophagus again and found a gold bowl, and a magical gold ring with an onyx stone. Colvin took Volkir's artifact and smashed it to bits, giving the fragments back to Horadric.
Agathor and Balthazar returned, and we noticed that Balthazar wasn't looking well. I guess he had some sort of disease. They said that they encountered the druids again and led 'em on a wild goose chase before defeating them. We took a quick look at the third crypt and found it to be in ruins, and not safe to enter. We started on the long trek back to Brindol, and Balthazar started looking better along the way. He spent a lot of time speaking the dragon's language with Rhogar on the walk back. Along the way, the Silver Flame guys were questioning Volkir, and pretty roughly at that. He mostly laughed at them and taunted them, saying something about the Shadow of the Flame and Bel Shalor. The Silver Flame folks told us that Bel Shalor was a dark god who had been trapped away by their order 200 years ago... this recounting only caused Volkir to laugh even more maniacally. They assured us that they would re-imprison him and do a better job at keeping him captured this time, and paid us twice what they had promised, so with my 400 gold and my share of the loot, I headed back to my stall in Brindol to craft more magic items to sell. I told the guys that if they ever needed anything, to come on by and I'd cut 'em a deal.
We saw four figures in the distance: one in a robe, one hunched over and drooling, and two soldiers wearing green foresty clothing. The wizardy guy (I later learn that his name is Horadric) does actually seem to know something now and says he thinks they are unfriendly druids called of a sect called the Children of Winter, who are some kind of death cult who want to destroy the weak and promote famine and disease. I don't really get how they haven't died out already then, but there you have it. Treble snuck ahead and said that they were talking about an intruder messing around with their lands. He wasn't sure whether they meant us, or whether they meant the guy we're all chasing after, but the consensus was that either way, they probably wouldn't appreciate the lot of us tromping all around the place. Treble said he saw that the hunchback guy was a shifter... kind of a canine-looking face, werewolfy/animalistic-looking guy. Balthazar and a bunch of the guys start going on about how they want to just fight 'em but some of us weren't real keen on fighting battles that we didn't come out for. I mean we're getting paid to go get some criminal, not to risk our necks to clean all the scourge of the woods. I decide to see what I can do, and offer to "employ powerful magics" to bluff them to head another direction. We agree that I should try to talk them into heading north while we head 'round another direction, so I ask a bunch of questions and then hide behind a tree and do my best to look like that slavering shifter guy. I walk up from the north and tell 'em I saw some guys thataway that were intruding on our lands, and they buy it. That never gets old. Anyway, off they go and I hide behind a tree and do my thing and rejoin the party. While we're waiting around I augment Treble's dagger.
We came upon 3 stone crypts in a graveyard called Col Fen, approaching from the south. Agathor says that they followed the trail here so somewhere in here is our guy. We see one grave is open. Treble starts sneaking over the wall and all of a sudden an arm starts trying to dig out of the open grave. This skeleton and another one come out of a couple of graves and start going towards the entrance to the East. We wait for them to head off that way, and we head 'round to the west before hopping the wall. Treble scouted out and said he thinks our guy is in one of the crypt buildings. As we climbed over the wall, we couldn't help but notice the stench of the place and the chill in the air raised up the hairs on our arms. We heard a woman screaming and a baby crying... sounded like it was coming from the northern crypt. Treble scouted the crypt entrances and said that the southmost one was closed, the middle one had no door, and the door of the north one was ajar, and all were dark. Agathor told us the guy we were looking for was a half-elf with a scar on his left cheek and black ratty hair. He sent a reluctant and grumbling Balthazar to check on the Children of Winter and make sure that they weren't doubling back to find us.
When we went into the north crypt we saw a decayed zombie farmer, a four-foot high sarcophagus, two skeletons, and a ghost standing over a trench. We heard sobbing coming from the trench, and the woman and baby were in there. Colvin was talking inside of our heads and told us that we could do it too as long as he was with us. Horadric pushed the zombie aside. I took advantage of the opening he provided and went inside the room to attack the ghost before he was able to kill the woman and baby. The ghost became insubstantial, and he attacked me with his hair from ten feet away. Once I had him distracted, the woman took her baby and ran away. Along with her went about half the mob of guys we had brought with us... some of the younger ones just weren't ready to confront the horrors in the graveyard. Can't say I totally blame 'em, though they did leave the rest of us in a pretty tough spot. In the meantime, Balthazar came back to get recruits to go battle the Children of Winter, so Agathor and almost all of the remaining men went with him. Inside the crypt, Rhogar the paladin and Colvin were cursing the undead. Colvin killed the skeleton and Horadric finished off the zombie. The ghost disappeared through the wall and went into the middle crypt. Treble searched the room and found a map in the sarcophagus, which he gave to Horadric.
We headed into the next crypt; there were two half-eaten dead bodies just inside. A pretty gruesome scene. One was of an elderly man, looked like it'd been there about a day; the other was of a woman and looked like it'd been there about a week. We saw a door ajar in the back that headed downstairs, where we heard chanting at the bottom of the stairs. Treble checked over the door and noticed a bucket of acid resting atop; he carefully took it down and put it in the corner (several of the men were highly amused to see the ghost step into it later). Inside the downstairs room were two zombies, two ghouls, two skeletons, and the ghost, as well as a man chanting over something behind the sarcophagus. As soon as Colvin saw the man he shouted, "That's Volkir! He's our target!"
I headed in first and killed the zombie. However, Volkir raised it along with two skeletons for us to fend off who appeared behind our lines. I noticed that Volkir was holding some shriveled-up looking black monkey head thing or something. I didn't get a good look at it, but there were green flames in its eyes and also green flames in three braziers on the walls. Colvin came in and threw lightning bolts across the room, catching a skeleton and Volkir along with it, but Volkir laughed at him and Colvin cursed, saying that it seemed to have no effect on him. In the meantime, more and more undead minions kept appearing, just about finishing off Horadric in the anteroom. As Colvin went further into the downstairs room, he triggered some kind of spear trap and looked like he was in a very dire situation, surrounded by zombies, ghouls, and skeletons in the center of the room by himself. I did my best to heal Colvin and shield him as he and Treble put the fires out on the walls to diminish the power of Volkir's magic artifact. As the fires went out, the undead minions around began to crumble into dust. Horadric knocked the last torch down and we finished the fight, subduing Volkir. Horadric took the monkey head artifact thing out of his hands. Treble checked into the sarcophagus again and found a gold bowl, and a magical gold ring with an onyx stone. Colvin took Volkir's artifact and smashed it to bits, giving the fragments back to Horadric.
Agathor and Balthazar returned, and we noticed that Balthazar wasn't looking well. I guess he had some sort of disease. They said that they encountered the druids again and led 'em on a wild goose chase before defeating them. We took a quick look at the third crypt and found it to be in ruins, and not safe to enter. We started on the long trek back to Brindol, and Balthazar started looking better along the way. He spent a lot of time speaking the dragon's language with Rhogar on the walk back. Along the way, the Silver Flame guys were questioning Volkir, and pretty roughly at that. He mostly laughed at them and taunted them, saying something about the Shadow of the Flame and Bel Shalor. The Silver Flame folks told us that Bel Shalor was a dark god who had been trapped away by their order 200 years ago... this recounting only caused Volkir to laugh even more maniacally. They assured us that they would re-imprison him and do a better job at keeping him captured this time, and paid us twice what they had promised, so with my 400 gold and my share of the loot, I headed back to my stall in Brindol to craft more magic items to sell. I told the guys that if they ever needed anything, to come on by and I'd cut 'em a deal.
One prisoner saved, one to lay to rest
We went into the room where the prisoner was being held. Before we had a chance to free him, the door opened and two Magma Claws and a Magma Hurler came into the room and started throwing fireballs at us. I took a hit, and then harnessed the power of thunder to push some of them back into the hallway so we had a chance to regroup. As Rhogar pierced one of the Magma Claws with his sword, Treble got hit in the back with a crossbow bolt. A gnome had appeared out of nowhere. Horadric attacked it and noticed that the gnome had a tattoo on his face, which I'm told is a dragonmark called the Mark of Scribing. There are a lot of political nuances here that I don't really follow, but from what I understand a dragonmark is a tattoo that grants its bearer some powers and generally indicates the bearer to be affiliated with a particular House. With these developments, it probably means that something further is going to unfold, but my only interest here lies in getting the hostages home safely and bringing down the thugs that are terrorizing the mountain trails, so I plan to engage them only as much as necessary to accomplish these goals.
Anyway, back to the battle: Keh'r killed one of the Magma Claws, after which I attacked the Magma Hurler and bloodied it. Rhogar breathed acid in the general direction of the gnomes, killing one and revealing another who promptly disappeared. We heard footsteps down the corridor as he ran away. Through the course of the battle, Treble had become bloodied, but as I took my second wind, everyone around seemed to feel invigorated to battle on. I finished off the Magma Hurler and the battle was done. We found a key on the gnome's corpse, which opened the jail cell that the prisoner was being held in. Now that I think about it, it's somewhat notable that the gnome had the cell key while we were told that the hostages were being held by goblins. I'll have to ask the Castellan about this during our next rest. He may know more about the role that the gnomes are playing in all of this.
The prisoner was in fact, Sertanian, the Castellan of the Hall of Great Valor. We freed him from his restraints and I gave him water and food, which seemed to help him regather some strength and composure. He was bruised but otherwise in decent shape. We didn't have a lot of time to talk to him about his ordeal--we tried for the most part to get the necessary information from him to find more prisoners. He told us that he used to be held in a room downstairs with a spiral staircase and frescoes on the walls, and that when they brought him upstairs, they put Mertala the cook in the downstairs room. He said that when they brought him upstairs, Kartenix was being held in one of the cells in this upstairs room, and that as a guard, Kartenix had had a plan to overpower the Ettercap guards and Sertanian had feared that the plan went awry and that Kartenix met a bad end.
Sertanian told us that he is willing to lead us to the downstairs room where he was formerly held, through the east door. Before we left, Shamash found a dusty set of robes in the corner of the room. Treble scouted the Magma Claw lair through the north door, which he said was empty. We followed Sertanian's direction through the east door, stepping gingerly over piles of sticky weblike substance as we went to confront the Ettercaps. Treble quickly found himself immobilized as the Ettercap queen threw a web on him, also immobilizing Horadric. Treble teleported out of the goo, but he and Horadric had a hard time shaking it off. One of the Ettercaps made the mistake of approaching our group and found himself the target of not one, but three readied attacks against him. He then attacked Keh'r with a greataxe. The other Ettercaps made their way toward us, and some skeletons joined in the fray, too. I admit that I was not at my best in this encounter: it was difficult to navigate through the narrow hallway over the web-filled terrain and my flail was not finding its targets. However, the others managed to take out most of the enemies before the Ettercap queen fled. We attempted to bring the fight after her, but she threw a web behind her, immobilizing Keh'r and making the ground too trecherous for us to be able to navigate quickly, so we decided to stay as Keh'r freed himself, Horadric burned away the sticky webs in the hallway, I guarded the stairs, and some of the others rested. We could hear the clatter of the goblins running away on the staircase, so it was as good a time as any to regroup our forces before continuing on to rescue Mertala. In the meantime, Treble searched the room and found Sertanian's fears to be well-founded: Kartenix's body was stuck to the wall in the corner. I am deeply saddened that this was his end, and we will be returning on our way out to bring his body back to Brindol for a proper burial. I hope that we will be able to find his son Thuran alive and well in this place, though I dread having to bring such tragic news to the boy, who has undoubtedly been through much already.
Treble found a few other things, too: some residuum (it just looked like sparkly silver dust to me, but as a mercenary, he judged it to be about 100gp worth) and a fancy-looking heavy flail which I hope to get a better look at soon. I am attached to the flail I have, which was handcrafted for me by Achai and it reminds me of home; however, it is starting to show some wear and I don't have the necessary skills to repair it by myself.
I think the plan for now is to continue through the staircase and rescue Mertala, and then escort her and Sertanian back to Brindol along with bringing Kartenix's body home. We are weary from such a long day of battles, but especially since the Ettercap queen went ahead and alerted the guards of our presence, most of us seem to feel like we need to press on and rescue her before she is moved again or before she meets the same end as Kartenix did.
Anyway, back to the battle: Keh'r killed one of the Magma Claws, after which I attacked the Magma Hurler and bloodied it. Rhogar breathed acid in the general direction of the gnomes, killing one and revealing another who promptly disappeared. We heard footsteps down the corridor as he ran away. Through the course of the battle, Treble had become bloodied, but as I took my second wind, everyone around seemed to feel invigorated to battle on. I finished off the Magma Hurler and the battle was done. We found a key on the gnome's corpse, which opened the jail cell that the prisoner was being held in. Now that I think about it, it's somewhat notable that the gnome had the cell key while we were told that the hostages were being held by goblins. I'll have to ask the Castellan about this during our next rest. He may know more about the role that the gnomes are playing in all of this.
The prisoner was in fact, Sertanian, the Castellan of the Hall of Great Valor. We freed him from his restraints and I gave him water and food, which seemed to help him regather some strength and composure. He was bruised but otherwise in decent shape. We didn't have a lot of time to talk to him about his ordeal--we tried for the most part to get the necessary information from him to find more prisoners. He told us that he used to be held in a room downstairs with a spiral staircase and frescoes on the walls, and that when they brought him upstairs, they put Mertala the cook in the downstairs room. He said that when they brought him upstairs, Kartenix was being held in one of the cells in this upstairs room, and that as a guard, Kartenix had had a plan to overpower the Ettercap guards and Sertanian had feared that the plan went awry and that Kartenix met a bad end.
Sertanian told us that he is willing to lead us to the downstairs room where he was formerly held, through the east door. Before we left, Shamash found a dusty set of robes in the corner of the room. Treble scouted the Magma Claw lair through the north door, which he said was empty. We followed Sertanian's direction through the east door, stepping gingerly over piles of sticky weblike substance as we went to confront the Ettercaps. Treble quickly found himself immobilized as the Ettercap queen threw a web on him, also immobilizing Horadric. Treble teleported out of the goo, but he and Horadric had a hard time shaking it off. One of the Ettercaps made the mistake of approaching our group and found himself the target of not one, but three readied attacks against him. He then attacked Keh'r with a greataxe. The other Ettercaps made their way toward us, and some skeletons joined in the fray, too. I admit that I was not at my best in this encounter: it was difficult to navigate through the narrow hallway over the web-filled terrain and my flail was not finding its targets. However, the others managed to take out most of the enemies before the Ettercap queen fled. We attempted to bring the fight after her, but she threw a web behind her, immobilizing Keh'r and making the ground too trecherous for us to be able to navigate quickly, so we decided to stay as Keh'r freed himself, Horadric burned away the sticky webs in the hallway, I guarded the stairs, and some of the others rested. We could hear the clatter of the goblins running away on the staircase, so it was as good a time as any to regroup our forces before continuing on to rescue Mertala. In the meantime, Treble searched the room and found Sertanian's fears to be well-founded: Kartenix's body was stuck to the wall in the corner. I am deeply saddened that this was his end, and we will be returning on our way out to bring his body back to Brindol for a proper burial. I hope that we will be able to find his son Thuran alive and well in this place, though I dread having to bring such tragic news to the boy, who has undoubtedly been through much already.
Treble found a few other things, too: some residuum (it just looked like sparkly silver dust to me, but as a mercenary, he judged it to be about 100gp worth) and a fancy-looking heavy flail which I hope to get a better look at soon. I am attached to the flail I have, which was handcrafted for me by Achai and it reminds me of home; however, it is starting to show some wear and I don't have the necessary skills to repair it by myself.
I think the plan for now is to continue through the staircase and rescue Mertala, and then escort her and Sertanian back to Brindol along with bringing Kartenix's body home. We are weary from such a long day of battles, but especially since the Ettercap queen went ahead and alerted the guards of our presence, most of us seem to feel like we need to press on and rescue her before she is moved again or before she meets the same end as Kartenix did.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
The trek back to Brindol
The party makes camp well away from the lands of the Children of Winter, walking a whole day to put some distance between them and the accursed place. After everyone has settled down around the fire, Colvin counts out 4 platinum pieces to each member of the party. He grins and says, "Doesn't look like much, does it," but you know that each silvery coin is worth 100 gold pieces. Among the bodies of the dead, the party also found 104 gold worth of gold teeth, petty jewelry, and coins. This pile of loot glistens by the fire, ready to be divided.
The party passes around the other items they have found, and each is identified as follows:
1. A gold ring with an inset onyx stone carved into the shape of a hand. It is a Ring of Parrying (equivalent to Parry Gauntlets, which have the following property: When you take the total defense or second wind actions, gain a +2 item bonus to all defenses until the beginning of your next turn.)
2. An old map. After comparing it to some of his own maps, Colvin says that the coastline depicted on it appears to match a portion of northeastern Xen'Drik that lies along the Thunder Sea. There are strange symbols on the map, but no words. Some of the symbols look like crude pictures of birds, men (some larger than others), dragons, and lightning-bolt shapes. Other symbols are indecipherable to the group, and Balthazar speculates that they may be representations of dragon marks. After examining the map, Horadric points excitedly at it and exclaims, "X marks the spot!" Well, it's more of an asterisk than an X, but sure enough, nestled among the symbols lies a clear marker of some sort.
3. Questions arise about the skull, and Colvin explains that it was an artifact of a long-dead evil. The skull now consists of 3 oddly-shaped shards of obsidian. "How much do you think it is worth?" asks Horadric. Colvin replies, "Oh, I'd say about 80 gold in total, now. It'd be best to sell the pieces to different merchants, though. We wouldn't want someone to get the bright idea to try to put it back together."
During the trip back to Brindol, Balthazar miraculously recovers from the disease inflicted upon him by the Children of Winter. Throughout most of the journey, he can be seen walking and talking with Rhogar. After two days of walking, the group arrives at the outskirts of Brindol.
Agathor, Balthazar, and Colvin regain their horses, and bid the group farewell. Agathor salutes you, and says, "'Twas a good hunt, and you have been valuable companions. You have earned my gratitude, and the gratitude of the Church. May the light of the Silver Flame guide and protect you." He then turns his horse about and slaps it on the flank with a, "Hyah!" The horse champs with a whinny, and the three ride out on the eastern road, a column of dust rising behind them.
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