Many Facets Of Darkness- DM's Campaign log [Eberron, 3.5]

[Kol Korran]

(Edit: The Campaign is complete! No more long waiting between sessions needed)

Hi there play grounders. I have seen several Campaign logs on this site, and most have been an interesting read. I thought I'd share with you as well.

Most of this first post deals with general Campaign issues. If you're interested just in the story, read about the characters, and then flip over to the next post.

Links to the session entries:
Session 1: warehouse investigations (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9429517&postcount=2)
Session 2: The Fury, the argument, the party (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9448070&postcount=10)
Between sessions 2 & 3 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9455479&postcount=11)
Session 3: New members, Skull Reave Trials, Into Dur Martop (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9461686&postcount=12)
Session 4: Second floor of Dur Martop, the Medusa and the Husk, Debate over reward (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9520287&postcount=15)
Session 5: Fighting lost battles, Guerrilla Ipix, Red's tricks
(http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9621673&postcount=26)Session 6: Wyvern hunt, Wyvern negotiations, Welcome Tuulikki! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9845714&postcount=27)
Session 7: plans and improvisation, butchering a villain, the map (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10038670&postcount=31)
Session 8:The Road to Obsidian City- Stormreach, Harpy negotiation, undead, drow and riddles (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10226241&postcount=36)
Session 9:Besieged, Bridge Battle, Webs and constructs (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10530525&postcount=37)
Between Sessions 9 & 10 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10535745&postcount=39)
Session 10: New arrivals, the Betrayal, "Bring it on!" (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10580898&postcount=41)
Session 11: Showdown with the Keeper! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10797795&postcount=45)
Session 12: decisions, preparations, the shadow marches, the Dark Waters (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10856214&postcount=46)
Session 13: Google's bad luck, deeper into the Silent Halls, lightning rail ambush (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11057985&postcount=51)
Session 14: Into the Mournland, 6 ft. under (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11219233&postcount=53)
Session 15A: twisted beauty, hateful metal, the organ seller, god in the machine (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11386689&postcount=64)
Session 15B: The mines of Eston, raising it up a notch (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11400221&postcount=65)
Session 16: Memories, personalities, confusion and laughter (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11542112&postcount=72)
Session 17: events unfold, Flamekeep (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11714491&postcount=75)
Session 18: besieged, first two waves (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11741163&postcount=78)
Session 19: Battle of the Silver Flame, Desperate fight (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11911149&postcount=89)
Session 20A: Obsidian City and Stormreach. gearing up, research and allies (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11954561&postcount=91)
Session 20B: continued (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11954571&postcount=92)
Session 21: The Vault of Imasil Kumam, dungeon crawl (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12035311&postcount=101)
Session 22: Escaping the Vault, The Crimson ship (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12211389&postcount=104)
Session 23: the new Captain/s, Mines of Eston (again) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12295885&postcount=107)
Last level up updates (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12432484&postcount=109)
Session 24A: End Game, Battle at Thronehold (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12463993&postcount=111)
Session 24B: End Game, Battle at Thronehold (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12478754&postcount=112)
We are all in our 30's, but between work, kids and RL we usually manage to meet every 2-3 weeks for several hours of game. Due to our last DM needing a break, and myself wanting to get back to the DM seat (after a looooong time :smallwink:) with many ideas brewing, we made a change and started a brand new campaign!

A bit about the campaign: The initial inspiration came from SilverClawShift archives, the second campaign they ran with the hive mind (If you aren't familiar with SCS works, go to the stickies thread at the top of the forum's page. It's a worthy read. just please don't forget about me :smallfrown:). You do not need to be familiar with her campaign to read this log. I have however altered some concepts and added to them to create what I feel is my campaign.

I am a fan of Eberron, and as such have placed the campaign there. The players however barely know of it. Some read a little, some more. I hope to hook them in. However, as we aim to enjoy, I did not force down the history, customs and so on down their throats. A sort of "Eberron for beginners".

What to expect? the characters begin at 2nd level (or level 1 and LA +1 for some) 32 point but, 900 gp equipment. the campaign is supposed to reach abut 12th level. There are quite a few house rules, most of them minor, and you need not know them to read the log (A brief summary is below under a spoiler for the interested) this is not a sandbox, as there are villains with plans in motion, but it's not a railroad either. Player's action matters, and they can (and have, see session 2) changed the game significantly. I believe in choices- some that i give the players, and some that they create on their own. It doesn't mean that all choices are easy however...

As you may have noticed, I tend to be "wordy"... :smallconfused: I hope the quality won't be deterred by the quantity. Mostly the log will be written as a story, but from time to time I'll insert design notes or thoughts in spoilers.

My request of you: Read and enjoy, ask questions, whatever. I'm enjoying discussing the campaign and brainstorming. Any ideas to contribute are welcomed!

Players and Characters:
KashanaKashana (Red) (Better known as Red due to her long red hair): This Kalashtar sorceress (level 2)is an ex cyrian that was sent away (through diplomatic means) to Aundair during the last war, with several of her kind. As the mourning struck she became grief stricken and sought to learn more of what happened. Together With Layla her companion and her sister she has spent years trying to gather information and hypothesize about what happened. On an excursion to the border of the Mournland, the sister stepped in and disappeared.

Kashana admires beauty and seeks to embody it. This is mostly physical beauty, not internal. She practices the dance of shadows.

Older pic (The one she started the campaign withhttp://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/meir_8/Khashana.jpg

Newer pics (From about session 3, been adding up each session)
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/meir_8/2.jpghttp://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/meir_8/Kashana1.jpghttp://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/meir_8/kashanaRedMagic1.jpghttp://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/meir_8/kashanaRedFireWand.jpghttp://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/meir_8/Kashana4.jpg
Crunch: very high charisma and social skills. She is the face of the party (due to house rules all social skills are the same skill- influence), but prefers not to kill. i've worked with the player an adaptation to the Heartwarder PRC of the FR books, which will mainly allow him to increase the charisma even further.
spell choices for level 1: sleep and Mage armor. he also carries A LOT of scrolls.

Layla Donlo Layla Donlo: An elf cleric level 2 of her own belief between life and death. The player seeks to become a necromancer, but kept the turning option. This player worried me- he is a pure power player, and for some unexplained reason decided to choose this path. I felt some discontent from him, but he decided to try and play it.

Layla is also an ex cyrian, but she was captured by Darguun Goblinoids, where she saw harsh realities, and learned the importance of keeping every option open, no matter how objectionable. after escaping she sought some relatives that might be in Aundair, and hooked up with Red. The two are friends.

pic http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/meir_8/LaylaDonlo.jpg


Google Google: This half giant Psy War (level 1) wakes up in a prison cell in Aundair, with no memory whatsoever.

the player played the last campaign as an ineffective rogue, whose back story was much invested, and didn't come to light at all. So in this campaign the player wanted "to hit things, and hit them hard".

He became a sort of a conscience for the group.

pic http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/meir_8/Google.jpg

Crunch: Google uses a large Great Sword. low dexterity, quite vulnerable, but high damage dealer. to compensate he took "force screen" as his known power". his psionic feat (forgot the name) enables him to expend the psionic focus for 2d6 extra damage.

We have never played with psionics before. I decided I'll allow it, and see how it goes. I've already incorporated some Psionic elements into the campaign...

Danves Danves: A half elf who started his life as a rogue, but wanted to be something more. He joined the Arcane Swords of Aundair and became a Duskblade. In actual combat however he ran away, revealing the coward in him. He was captured by Thrane Forces and spent some time in jail, until Jaela Daarn (Keeper of the flame, a religious leader of great import. Also a child of 11 years old) called for him and told him that he has a role in great events to come. then she cursed/ Quested/ Enchanted him with a sort of a curse that demands he find Google (he didn't know his name then, just description), and then follow him on his cause, always proving to be just as Brave.

The player played the tank at the last campaign, and wanted to try something that will challenge him roleplay wise- the charming scoundrel who tries to avoid fights, but can be effective when he needs to be.

pic http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/meir_8/Danves.jpg

Crunch: Rogue 1/ Duskblade 1 (intending to go on mostly with duskblade), skills are just all over the place with his high intelligence. Spells: Color Spray, Ray of enfeeblement.

I have played with a duskblade once before and it was a bad experience. but i think this player won't abuse it.

I've created a special mechanic (with the player) to represent the curse. In each dangerous situation, every round Danves is measured to see how brave he is compared to Google. Then he get some sort of modifier. At the end of the battle, he rolls 2d10, and add the modifier. Low results means the curse punishes him for being a coward, (mainly limitations to action points, but also a general "bad" aura) high results do the opposite. These last until the end of the next encounter.

The mechanic is mainly there to add flavor, in a measured and realistic way.

Ipiks Ipiks: Poison dusk lizardfolk from Q'barra, where he was recruited by house Deneith. Due to his talent he is recruited to a special unit where he learns a unique way of fighting- Swordsage. he doesn't get to fight much before the war is over, and that frustrates him. He also develops his knack for poisons, and his ability to craft them. He dislikes the company of "warm bloods" , but he likes the opportunity for war.

In terms of character i can say one word- Belkar. he is very much like him, only he works better within the group.

pic (think axe and Kukris instead of bow) http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/meir_8/Ipix1.jpg

Crunch: we have never used tome of battle before as well, so decided to try it. Going over it I realized that making most melee types against the party martial adepts would be insane in terms of planning. I don't have much time for that. Instead I decided that the 3 new classes are relatively new and rare to Eberron. Most enemies with class levels will still be from the other books, but a few select ones will present a greater challenge.

Ipiks focuses on the tiger claw discipline, with some maneuvers from the shadow hand (forgot the names. sorry, i'm bad at this). We're still learning how these go.

also, the players like poisons and crafting them. I changed the crafting rules to make this option more viable. I still think plain magic items are better, but the player loves his poisons...


The following sections aren't really necessary for the log, but are here in case you're wondering:

DMing style:
My first concern comes to seeing people having a good time. in order to do so i follow some basic guidelines:

Know what makes it fun for the players, and try and incorporate something for everyone. especially try to combine several elements into the same encounter.
Choices choices choices... plan some ahead, but also prepare to react.
change of pace: Different types of encounters (roleplay, planning, battle, and more), use of monsters, terrain, traps, limitations and so on. Changing difficulty level, changing, type of adventure (site based, event based, and so on)
Preparation is key. this is mostly due to my mediocre (ore less) improvisation skills. One of my weak points.
Roll with the punches: When the unexpected will happen. (and it will), don't fight it- incorporate it into a new opportunity.
The game must flow- learn and prepare what rules you know are necessary, but make a quick judgment on the go if you can't find it.
Monsters, situations and more- I adjust/ tweak/ alter things. not too much as to make them unrecognizable (to keep player and character knowledge relevant), but enough to keep players on edge.
CRs: I usually Eyeball a lot of these. i don't find them fitting.
Treasure distribution: I go by a sort of a wealth by-level. a character is supposed to have a total gain worth her experience points. I try and make all kind of unique and quaint new magical items. Purchasing items is (usually) not problematic in big cities.


Main House rules:
There are quite a few, but here are the major ones:

Players throw most of the dice. instead of a monster attacking, the player rolls a defensive roll. instead the monster rolling a saving throw, the player rolls a "Spell roll". the result is similar except for two effects- i can't fudge for players, and they can use action points on monster's actions
Many skills have been grouped together (similar to 4E and PF), to have Thievery, stealth, perception, athletics, acrobatics, and influence to start with. the players can do more.
I don't grant XP for defeating monsters, but for making accomplishments. each adventure has some goals, and some side goals (some not known to the players). also, if someone does something impressive, the party may get extra XP
No XP cost for spells, rather an expensive component. No XP for crafting magic items, rather a spellcraft check of 15+ CL of item (however no character seem to want to craft)
Potions can reach 4th level


Ok, time to start writing the session itself.:smallsmile:

(Search word: Tomer)

[Kol Korran]

"And the Misplaced hand of hidden shades and light shall wash the twisted hand of darkness and secrecy. The struggle for brood, shard, key and lore will send a mighty clap that will echo across the land of the fleeting, and over the world. The turns of the prophecy rely on the (undeciphered words...)"
Part of the Draconic Prophecy

Meeting number 1 (yay! :smallbiggrin:), August 28 2010 - Warehouse Investigations...

In game date: Sypherus 7, 998YK (mid Autumn, month of the Shadow)
Note to those unfamiliar with Eberron (don't worry, my players aren't either!): from time to time i'll put into spoilers little explanations about stuff in the world.
12 is a big number in Eberron- 12 dragonmarked houses, 12 months, 12 moons, and so on. the months are named after the moons.

Chapter 1

Danves is worried about being back in Aundair. might people know of him? "low profile" he mumbles. now to find this huge man/ ogre/ something that the prophet talked about. Danves hears that someone fitting such a description is in one of the watch houses cells. he makes his way there.

The three Musketeers: The Big, the small, and the smiling
Danves is looking after someone of Google's description due to the terms of his curse, though he does so grudgingly. It is important to note that No one seems to know Google's race. most think he is some sort of half ogre or the like.

meanwhile Ipiks and Google are in cells at one of the watch houses of Fairhaven in Aundair. Google can't remember anything, but he is quiet about it. he remembers just three words: Cimdan, Auxelia, Obraskyr.but not what they mean. Ipiks in the meantime makes a whole "prisoner scene" including running his mug at the bars, and singing lewd songs about the guards mothers. As Google inquires to why he is here, the guard tells him they found him unconscious with Ipiks above him in an alley last night. "Stupid warm bloods! i was trying to help him. he was mugged! they took something bright and shiny from him. i knew i shouldn't have tried to do so!" Ipiks grin is a bit disturbing however.

that is when Danves arrives, just after the lieutenant. Danves tries to persuade the guards to release Google with his charms, but the lieutenant disturbs him, saying there is trouble in one of the Orien warehouses. they secured the building, but the Lady wants capable people to come. the big man and little lizard seemed capable. if they do this, maybe he can let this investigation go. Ipiks spits "just when i do nothing then i'm blamed?" but Danves agrees for all three of them. Google is mostly confused, but would like to help. the two are given their equipment, and they are escorted to the warehouses, Danves making polite conversation, carefully avoiding telling about himself.

Eberron stuff:In Eberron there are 12 economic powers called the dragonmarked houses. each of them controls some industry or services. House Orien controls all land transportation (including the famous lightning rail) and couriers.

Get out and get a job!
Meanwhile, at Wynarn University Kashana is bent over a book, and Layla is deep in thought. they come to the conclusion they could learn nothing more about the Mourning from books. they must explore it directly. but that is very costly, and they are broke.

Eberron stuff:
During the recent past, 4 years ago, one of the main 5 nations of the main continent was suddenly enveloped in a gray mist that killed everyone within it, and there after leaving it as a strange bizarre land with weird effects. think twilight zone enhanced. the destruction was called The Mourning, and the land of Cyre became known as the Mournland.

suddenly one of the other less pleasant scholars, one who taunted them consistently came "you're still here? this is Aundarian university, not a refuge for Cyrians. here, i heard there was some trouble at the Orien warehouse in the south of the city, why don't you go and maybe be usefull for a change, with your magic?" Layla almost jumps at him, but Layla calms her down, and they decide that it might be a good idea.

I know these weren't exactly great hooks, but they are a start, eh? :smallwink:

Negotiations
as the two groups near the warehouse, they see angry merchants held back by a lot of guards that surround the warehouse, to the side there is an elegant woman in finery, speaking quietly with what looks like a guard captain. the two groups arrive fairly close, and Red (Kashana) introduces herself and Layla. asking for the nature of the problem in the warehouses. she tells them that something has been causing trouble in the ware house. the people that ran away speak of some flying red devil?

the players don't like this. Red offers their magical talents to help solve the problem. "you're a wizard?" said the woman (called Lady Avandra d'Orien) "no, my powers are more... internal..." Ipiks laughs quietly "internal!". Lady Avandra seem skeptical "you too look so frail!" Google jumps in offering his power to work together with the two spell casters. Ipiks bawls out "work with them? but then less rewards! i need no "internal powers", i have my axe!" meanwhile Danves tries to persuade Google that the two seem like VERY capable spell casters, and they could probably take care of the problem alone, "we'll just get in the way, i'm sure"... Google however is adamant.

then negotiations begin. Red is very influential, but Avandra is a skilled negotiator herself (by the way, i'm using the Giant's rules for diplomacy. see the gaming section). Ipiks decides to try and help and tries (for some reason) to frighten the merchant. his attempt goes poorly "she's hiring a kobold?" yells an angry merchant. (he never seen one in his life) Ipiks is destined to be confused as a kobold further along the line.

just as the negotation seem to come to an end, a small group of 3 hobgoblins and a goblin come rushing in "don't take them, take us! we're stronger! Grumah and band!" Avandra seem to be considering, and decides that a duel would suffice, with a healer on stand bye. Google says it's unnecessary, with Danvas eagerly supporting him, but Layla and Ipiks draw their weapons, with some glee.

all for naught however, as Red cast sleep and takes down all but the leader, who turns around astounded. Avandra is impressed, (bonus to influence roll) which makes her increase payment. Ipiks is quite impressed as well "Internal eh? and more money? say, i think we started off on the wrong foot..." Red actually takes quite a liking to the little creature.

Eberron Stuff:
In Eberron Goblinoids are not monstrous races, but races with long histories. they once held great empires that since have fallen to ruin. in present day most goblinoids live as a sort of second class citizens in most countries. there is a new nation of goblinoids called Darguun, where things are different, but we'll get to that later.

Design note:
Grumah's band was quite weak. their purpose was some sort of a unifying factor, and maybe some potential for humor (as there was). the performance in the battle affected the negotiation. they did splendidly of course.

"Draw me a sheep":
The Party is suspicious. before they can make more investigations a guard commander comes and asks the party to look for a lieutenant called Ulrike and 2 soldiers that went into the warehouse but didn't return.

the party wants to interview survivors, but they only found a warforged called Bolt (i wasn't prepared for this, so i winged this conversation). Layla interrogated the repairing warforged- he is a simple worker at the place, and when he heard screams he turned and ran. he had no weapons here, and didn't plan to be a hero. he saw a red flying thing with bit teeth. "can you draw it?" now then, i tried my best. my players looked at my picture, and gave me an aggravated look "this looks like a batman symbol". i shrugged my shoulders and smiled. then they started guessing what it might be, and i smiled wider.

a Jorasco merchant offered the party a partially depleted wand of Lesser Vigor in exchange for part of the reward, and they were to enter the warehouse.

Eberron Stuff:
Jorasco is another of the dragonmarked houses. it is ruled by halflings, and deals with all kinds of healing, mundane and otherwise. often of great importance to adventurers.

Things that make me go Bzzzz:
I gave the party a map of the warehouse. basically it was a long corridor, with sections to it's sides, 6 sections on the whole, each one pertaining to different sort of merchandise (manufactured goods, stones, wood, liquid substances and so on). the party decided to explore the ore section first, as it was the closest (the party could enter the ware house from two locations, they chose this one). Danves seemed at some ease, suggesting stealth and exploration, but the party chose to stay together.

while investigating they were suddenly attacked by some sort of palm sized insects. but not normal insects, since they incorporated Eberron Dragon shards within their bodies, making them a bit tougher to hit. The bugs mandibles were sharp, but they also shot dazing needles, and at one point when the group clustered 3 of the bugs surrounded them and activated some sort of a mind blast over them! the first few bugs were easy to dispose however.

The players were confused. Red wished to investigate more about these. they found various bodies in the ware house, some with marks of mandibles, but some with big teeth marks, like a bear trap.

The party was attacks again, but this time one of the bugs was bigger, about 3 times bigger. a sleep spell got rid of the smaller bugs, but the big one suddenly shot shards from his body, wounding Red more severely. Though it was tougher than the smaller ones,, Google and his big sword soon made a splat out of him.

the party became a bit more paranoid. this is a good sign to a DM. :smallwink:

Design Note:In case you're wondering, these are creatures i made up, that may become major features in the campaign. sort of "psi-bugs" i gave them no name but my players call them "mind insects".

this first few encounters were to give the players a bit of a taste that things will most likely be different. also, this is the first mystery on their hands.

combat wise the small ones gain advantage in numbers (their psi blast gets stronger), while the larger ones have 3-4 first level pis powers (forgot at the moment).

The Red Flying "Demon" OR "warforged can draw!":
The party then found a small wagon with a severely beaten horse (the bigger jaws) they are then attacked from above by... an enraged dire bat with red fur! Google misses the quick bat, while Danves tries to weaken it with a ray of Enfeeblement. But Ipiks and his maneuvers win the day, wounding the flyer deeply, before he runs away. something odd that they all notice- the bat has a harness on him.

I thought to spring the bat later on them, but Ipiks will not be denied his kill! quickly he climbed the slab of ore beside him and searched for the bat. one perception check later, and he notice it hanging from the low ceiling some distance away, taking something out of the front of his harness. Hissing in triumph, the Little lizard man rushes forward, leaping from slab to slab (high athletics) while the party rushes from below after his noises.

as Ipiks gets closer he notice the bat drinks potions! he is fully healed and flies towards Ipiks. 2-3 rounds later, while google tries to climb the slab ipiks throws it's head from above. "come up, you need to see this!" says Ipiks. and then the player turns to me- "looting!"

Design note:To Tell the truth, i thought the bat would be harder to beat due to his impressive AC (25 i think). but oh well, this is it. i planned to spring the bat on them later, a sort of a looming threat. i said "oh well" already? the harness leads to the second mystery.

Lizard Chef:
When Ipiks loots he finds several empty potions and several full ones, i'm not a cruel DM) but he also find an object wrapped in cloth. as he undo it he finds an adorned ladle, but when he touches it the most bizarre things happen...

as the part reaches the slab they see Ipiks seemingly scared, and confused. "what is this place? it is so unclean! who are you people? please, i need to get back to my kitchen, this is so... unseemly" what follows is a hilarious conversation with Ipiks (who know calls him/herself Bertiya) who is sure she is the royal Aundarian cook. Ipiks/ Bertriya berates Danves for being unclean (Danves thinks Ipiks is sick in the head), and treat the lovely Red ever so kindly. but after about 5 minutes Bertriya suddenly loses her voice and Ipiks return, taking out a dead rat and chewing on it.

a quick detect magic finds a strong enchantment aura on the ladle, with traces of psychic energy. the party is further confused. Ipiks carries the ladle.

Design Note:
Fishy, if you're reading this- this was due to your idea. The Ladle is part of a series of magical items that have a special place in this campaign. each holds an imprint of a personality in it. the character rolls a saving throw- if she fails, the personality takes over. (i have handouts for players) but it also bestows some special skills or feats (in this case nothing much to worry about) if the character succeeds, her own personality dominates, and she gain lesser skills and feats. this stays one for 1d6x5 minutes.

these items have two purposes: first i hope they are interesting non standard, magical items to use, secondly they have a role in the campaign. not a necessary role, but a sort of a side quest.

Don't let your guard down:
The party recovers, and moves to investigate the food storage section, as they near it they notice a small defensive post with the missing guards there, two holding crossbows, and Ulrike with a halberd. "don't come closer, go back, we protect the little ones!". "They are charmed or mind controlled" says Layla's player. the party goes at the offensive, with Ipiks Charging ahead and Red yelling to him "Do not kill!"

but Ulrike has improved trip, and a ready action, and he trips and slices deeply into Ipiks, Red tries to cast sleep, but the two guards also have a ready action, and hit her severely. and to add to the fun, one of the bigger bugs descends from the top and fires more shards.

Again Google smash bug, Ipiks wavers and dodges, Danves and Layla Shoot arrows, And Red cast more sleep. a bit later, the battle is won. the guards are tied and led back outside to the cheering of the crowd "Did you find the menace?" asks Avandra. "Yes, but we're not through"

And the Plot Thickens:
The party enter gingerly into the food strorage area- basically a long corridor with loads of crates stacked at both sides. They find a dead elf with mandibles cuts, looking like a druid in front of a crate which side is open to reveal a mass of flesh.

"Found the hive as well? great! you're just in time to give me a hand!" speaks a voice from the top crate. they see a young looking half elf busy with,,, something. He presents himself as Tarius d'Medani, an investigator of house Medani. someone committed a murder in their conclave, so he couldn't get here till now. he was on the tracks of these insect smugglers for quite some time now, and now he finally got them. he has some blasting spheres (custom magic items, like a low grade explosive), with which he intends to take out all 6 crates with bugs in. the elf must have opened the crate and broke the cooling protection, which kept them dormant.

Eberron Stuff"
Medani is another dragonmarked house, responsible for investigations.
there are many "day to day" convenience magic item in Eberron. Cooling crates wouldn't be out of the ordinary.

The party, obviously was very suspicious. "why do you need us for?" asked Danves. "The blasting spheres take awhile to install. and the crate is empty. i'm no fighter, i won't be able to deal with any trouble. can you?" they debated, and decided to help him, for now. Tarius gets out his holding bag, opens it and out come two Warforged (lacking some plating) they assist him silently, obediently. the party ignores them.

Ipiks looted the elf's corpse (the Dire Bat's master) and found ID documents identifying him as Ilrien Gasepi, warden of the wood. he also found a ring, which also held a hidden personality- a blind scholar from breland, expert on history and the planes, but this time he withstood the effect (luckily for him, or he would have gone blind for the duration)

a bit of time later, and the new threat appeared- a swarm of tiny bugs (smaller than those they fought) and two large bugs. this fight was tough! the swarm covered Ipiks nearly instantly and took him to 0 hit points. they started using alchemist fire against it (with Ipiks escaping drinking a cure potion), but then one of the bug charmed Red, and they were seconds from a color spray (non violent way for her to protect her "little ones"), before Google Squashed the charming bug. the last bug ran away but Danves and Layla's bows got it.

The party healed, glad they survived the fight. Layla notices that the warforged barely reacted during the fight, just stood there...

Design Note:
I believe that each Session should have One tough fight, were things may stand on edge. there were 2-3 points during the battle where one or more could have died. without the risk of death, there can be no glory of victory.

Light a candle for me:
The party still didn't trust Tarius (players are a suspicious Bunch), and so some guarded for more trouble, and some guarded him. a few lousy perception rolls later, and only Danves notice Tarius secretly drinking potions. he yells a warning and shoots an arrow, while Tarius blows up for of the crates!

the party has some nice reflex saves. it seems they are up to a tough battle. but this session's confrontations will end as they began- with a single sleep spell. Tarius falls asleep, but even before he hit the crate he bursts into flames! the party is alarmed "another wizard!" calls Danves, searching, while the others rush to the burning figure. they didn't reach it in time, it burned completely. They got his holding bag, plus a big of magical gear that wasn't destroyed. (Ipiks even found a bit of poison). also they found several sets of IDs. Layla examines they remains "Changeling! what the hell?". detect magic find lingering fading evocation aura from braces he wore.

The party decides to blow one of the two remaining crates, but save another for research (which the university takes)- they figure out that "Tarius" might have been trying to get rid of evidence

Finishing it up
The Party get outside, and are welcomed by Avandra and the watch, who reward them. they ask of them to stay close by for further investigations. Red is deeply troubled, as is Google. Danves feels quite at unease, silently expressing dissatisfaction. Huzzah!

Thoughts for session summary:
(we've already played 3 session, but I'm writing what i thought at that time)
All in all i think this was a good start to the campaign. a nice short adventure, and many loose ends and clues. i am worried about the player of Layla. he was not in the game, didn't cast any spells (he said he chose wrong ones) and didn't seem to enjoy that much. i fear it is not the character for him.
i think the group is starting to develop a nice dynamic. Ipiks was a bit too dominating, but I've talked with the player and that won't return. much preparation for next meeting, there would be the first of their big choices.

So, what do you think?

[Kol Korran]

no one is interested? :smalleek:

[Greenish]

no one is interested? :smalleek:Keepin' an eye on it.

On other notes, members of House Jorasco are forbidden from providing any healing before being paid in gold. I'm not sure if the vows allow them to use healing or healing items as a payment for other services.

[Kol Korran]

at least one reader. yay!

as to the Jorasco representative- she made the arrangement with Avandra. I'm sure that qualifies... no? :smalltongue:

[Steveotep]

I am reading with interest.

[SilverClawShift]

This looks interesting. I'll be reading to see where it goes from here :)

[Human Paragon 3]

Just keep doing what you're doing! My Silver Hellstar Campaign Log (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145066)doesn't get many comments either, but people are reading.

[bravebonebook]

Keep on. Some of us enjoy reading even if we don't post much. :smallwink:

[Kol Korran]

Meeting number 2: September 11th, 2010 - The Fury, The Argument, The Party

In game date: Sypherus 9-11 998YK (mid Autumn, month of the Shadow)

To the Docks
The party stayed at "The Kobold, The Halfling, and The Blind Maiden" Inn, and saw a show of the same name. they conversed a bit, getting to know each other a bit more (With Danves faking being Verrry tired) and so on.

Early in the morning, as they were making their preparations the characters were interrupted by the Watch Commander, an elf named Sidius. He told them they interrogated the warehouse personal, and found that 2 were bribed to bring in the crates unchecked. further investigations led to the culprit- a dwarf merchant named Maruk, and his shifters band, called Saruk's pride. The guard was going to arrest them, and wanted the party' help, since they proved so effective the last night.

Eberron Stuff:
Shifters are a race of semi- lycanthropes, they can "shift" a limited number of times per day, when they get various abilities like toughened skin, more speed, claws, scent, bite and so on. they are usually fairly wild. they are a LA +0 race.

The party feared trouble (correctly) and tried to strategize (except for Danves who noted that there are many guards, and the party doesn't know their tactics, and will get in their way. Maruk is said to stay in an inn called "The Kraken" with his personal bodyguards. Red and Google thought to maybe walk in first, place themselves in key locations. they don't wear the guard uniform, do they?

As they approached the Kraken, in the cold early fog, they heard chanting, and saw 20+ shifters, led by some priestess cleric chanting enthusiastically. and for some reason, wearing armor and their weapons close by. Layla caught ear of the chants... chants for the Fury! "This does not bode well" the party decided to stay with the guards. Sididus send some of his men t block the shifters from going on their ship.

Eberron Stuff:
The Fury is one of the Dark Six gods- wild gods of nature and the uncivilized world. the common faith ("Sovereign Host") stands against it, but many secretly give sacrifices to the dark six as well, to appease their anger. The Fury is the patron of passion, instinct, rage, emotions and madness.

As they entered the Kraken, they saw some shifters, again armored and armed near the stairs. they went towards the stairs when they heard a deep voice whispering "I tell you, leaving now would only create suspicion" as Maruk came down, in fine furs, golden rings through his beard and so on, accompanied by one more elderly yet powerful looking shifter (we'll call him Gray) and another huge looking female shifter, with dodging eyes, and a great sword on her back.

Sidius tried to talk to the sly Maruk for a few seconds, while the party was ready for trouble (and Ipix snuck behind the counter). but at some moment the female lost it, drew her sword, and cut up a guard!

Start of the Battle with the Fury
One of the party members attacked Maruk, who turned a frightened face towards them, and ran for their protection. "why are you attacking me? save me! please!" he seemed utterly terrified of the female. meanwhile some of the shifters stayed, while the female growled at the gray one, who bowed and ran with some shifters through the side doors. a round later they heard him shout "3 fire teams, to the Balistas!" and it seemed as if all hell broke loose outside as well.

Meanwhile the shifters inside chanted at the female "Fury... Fury... light of the Fury..." apparently they worshiped HER. the party tried to focus their attacks on her, while she cut up Sidius quickly, but some of her wounds closed quickly (DR), Google's strikes were the only ones to get through with any real damage! Ipix hit as well, but not as strong, while the rest focused on the other shifters. Red used a scrolls to lock the door behind them, so no shifters from the outside (including Gray) could get to them. Maruk hammered on the door, bawling to get out.

than she shifted, and turned into a large were lioness! ("what the hell?!" croaked the players!) as well as flying into a frenzy. the players decided it was time to run. as they reached the door and Red opened it the Fury slung her sword im a stretching scabbard on her back and turned to a lioness.

Outside They saw a battle raging over access to the ship, with Gray directing the efforts, and the priestess healing the shifters with her wand. some shifters were bursting into flames as Tarius did, and the party realized that must be some magical item to prevent them falling captive. Danves and Ipiks saw some teams running to the Balista towers. but there was no time to think. to my surprise, the party decided to protect Maruk no matter what. Google positioned himself to delay the Fury, while Red caught up with the fleeing Maruk, and used a scroll of charm person "you stay with me, will you?" "sure will fine lady!" said Maruk. Ipiks decided to help the battle at the docks, through a smoke stick to block view and then got close, unleashing a Blistering Flourish. he then ventured back, but didn't get to the fight in time.

Danves unleashed ray of enfeeblement after ray of enfeeblement, while Layla used her summoned undead to block the fury for a round or two. she ran by Google (focused on Maruk), while he slashed her a bit more.... i should have really turned my attention to the players, but she had over half her hp.

Maruk and Red got out of the gates, and She took out another scroll of disguise (in my house rules all "range 0" spells are instead "touch") and made him look like a filthy goblin.

When Google Crits or "when DMs mess up"
Google was next to the Fury then, and he critted, in the confirmation he critted again, and he confirmed that... 9d6+18 damage. he rolled well, damaging her 49 hp (after damage reduction) not bad for a 2 ECL character! his sword caught her by the jaw, slashing by her neck breaking some limbs, spilling gushes of blood! the players cheered.

i was a bit surprised then, realizing she might die. The Fury was supposed to be one of a bunch of repeating villains, that level up as the party does. this was supposed to be her first performance. perhaps i should have focused on the characters as well? not just Maruk?

but as i mentioned, i improvise poorly. suddenly two tentacles erupted from the Fury's back, (again- "What the hell?") and attacked Layla and Google, without success. I decided for that round to keep her focus on Maruk, but due to Red's spell she failed to notice him, and panicked running back towards the ship (the guards were down). then Ipiks and Layla through alchemist fire, Google attacked again, and Danves kept to his rays. she Attacked Danves Google and Layla with Claws, Bite, and tentacles, and dropped two, But Layla (who has been expecting this!) took her down with the Death domain power, snuffing her life once and for all. (there goes my plan of stealing her body and resurrecting it)

Huzzah! the player rejoiced as the fight left the Shifters. (those on the ship still took sail, the Balistas ineffective now) and 3-4 of those left surrendered. they players healed, and there were high spirits at the table. i realized i'll have to change a few things in my campaign, but it was worth it for moments like this!

Some After thoughts and Design Notes
As you can guess, i planned/ assumed things would go differently. (the fury had 10 HD, most of them d10/d12, and quite a nice Con bonus). a few rounds of battle with the fury, then when they realized she's too much, focusing on other objectives- the balista crews, or taking down the healing priestess. there were quite a few minor goals (each with it's own effect). at the end Maruk was supposed to die, uttering or yelling something about "the log book". the party was then to rush to the dock master's house, where they would face Gray and some shifters, get the book, and see the shifters sail away.

I do plan a bit for the unlikely (such as XP and initial results- What Maruk can tell them) but this did surprise me. i turned the Fury into a lion cause she's less dangerous that way- her sword damage could kill (not just disable, but kill) both Google and Ipix in one hit, and seriously disable the others. maybe i should have chanced it, who knows. doesn't matter now. the game progresses...

Bad air at the gaming table.
Xp was given- party went up a level, and almost made it to the next. but then we got to the loot. i wasn't intending to shaft my players after such an accomplishment- Beast skin chain shirt (in my rules weapon and armor don't need the +1 for adding other qualities. weapons who don't have it however do not penetrate DR/ magic), ring of protection +2, and The Fury's sword- "Raging whisper"- sizing, continual wounds (2hp/round) and madness- 1d3 wis damage per hit (no save). each of my villains have some sort of unique magical items, that cannot be replicated by the known artificers.

The party thought to accommodate Google with the sword, but then Layla's players demanded it (and the ring) be sold and divided equally. this caused a huge argument at the table, that i could not believe we were having at these ages. in the end the party relented, but loaned Google a bit of money to commission a worthy sword.

All in all i think the decision was correct, for the long term (it would be harder to balance encounters to fit his powers and theirs) but it was done (i think) for the wrong reasons- the player, who is a textbook power player couldn't stand someone this much more powerful than him. This all had let a bad air to the gaming session, and ruined the elation we previously felt. most were pissed off with him.

Leveling up and items (for the crunch inclined

Red: took the Lesser orb of Acid spell (in my house rules it's an evocation spell, and subject to SR), and bought a lesser rod of extend, and many scrolls with her money.
Layla: bought another bag of holding for her undead. she bought a scroll of animate undead, and animated the fury (6 HD) as well as a bunch of shifter skeletons. I was still a bit dumbfounded when the player told me the plans. otherwise- no way that he could just buy a scroll of" animate dead", and the fury should have been taken to an autopsy
Google: took on the Extension power, and commissioned a +1 keen (he likes crits now) sword.
Danves: took on shocking grasp as a spell, and bough a +1 sword, and some potions.
Ipiks: i don't remember what maneuver he took (he hasn't used anything new this far). He took the Scent stance, wanting to make Ipiks more animalistic, more savage. he bought a +1 small great axe, and some components for poisons


Chapter 1 Complete, onwards to the Interlude

Maruk's Investigation
The Dwarf didn't realize why his new friend Red was waving him goodbye to the new guards that rushed to the scene. Again, the party was asked to hang around. Lady Avandra d'Orien found them, and told them she is holding a high class party for their bravery, and to raise fund for the guards' widows and orphans. it will take place in 3 days. meanwhile, Ipiks crafted poisons, Danves tried to jog Google's memory, and the party partially shunned Layla.

they were called to hear the details of Mark's story. the dwarf broke down easily. Apparently he was approached by the Fury about 2 years ago, just after the Treaty of Throne hold was signed. He was to be their face. they made non stopping journeys from within the towering wood in the Eldeen Reaches (4 days walk deep from the village of Narskind in the west of lake Galifar) where they got 6 crates of... something, over the lake, up the Lightning rail to Fairhaven (where they were now), and then a ship up the side of Thrane up to the Silver Carp village (eat of Arul Dusk), and from there the shifters took a shallow boat into the Mournland. Maruk is awreck, constantly sobbing, but strangely grateful "I wanted to get out, but i thought she would hunt me down! you don't know how fanatic her and her crew are!"

the party forgot about the shifter prisoners, but it doesn't matter, as all 4 kills themselves the next day.

Eberron Stuff: (quite a lot this time)

The Treaty of Throne hold brought the leaders of warring nations 2 years ago to sign a tentative peace between them. before that the continent was at a long, futile war. the Mourning was the catalsyst for this.
Eldeen Reaches- a wild country mostly covered by an ancient forest. whatever population there is, it is ruled kindly by 5 druid sects (wardens of the wood being the major one)
Narskind: a village i made up, on the west most point of lake Galifar.
Lightning rail- a sort of a train, powered by air elementals, run by Orien representatives. the fastest land transportaion.
Fairhaven: the capital of Aundair, where the characters are now.
Thrane- another of the five nations (like Aundair). ruled by a theocracy of the Silver Flame, a benevolent, if sometime zealoty faith.
Silver Carp: another village i made up, east of Aruldusk
Mournland- the bizzaro bizzaro land- wild magic, weird stuff, twilight zone. the land is what is left of Cyre nation, before it was destroyed. This is one of the most dangerous places in the continent of Khorvaire. Healing, divination and teleportaion magic don't work well there.


Party time! Lets boogey! OR "3 strangers, 3 proposals"
The players, expecting trouble (as players are known to) decide to come to the party in their combat gear. (sigh :smallsigh:) there is a little argument with the porter, but then lady Avandra arrives, and decides these are "ornamental finery".

the party rubs shoulders with the hob nobs. they seem to be impressed by Google (if a bit frightened), and puzzled by Ipiks (and yeah, still frightened). then Ipiks suddenly hears some mentions that the royal cook came to cook the meal- Bertiya Oolsmeld! didn't he have her personality within the magic ladle?! he goes to talk with her. there is a hilarious conversation between the clean freak cook and the strange looking Ipiks. apparently she recieved the ladle some time ago from a noble she can't remember, and took a great liking to it! but then, one day, it was gone! she missed it at times, and would like to have it back. "one moment please!" said the ever polite Ipiks, who returns to Red, whose advice he comes to appreciate.

But Red, and a few of the others are not there, they are entangled in their own conversations. Google is approached by a smart looking gentleman (think James Bond) whose names is Galwind Farshick. He represents interests of the crown (or so he says), and is concerned by the druids involvement in all of this (remember the dead druid Ilrien Gaspei?). he would like the party, being non Aundarian to explore where the Crates came from, and if there is any more, and who's making them. he offers a reward. "talk to your friends, including the one eying us suspiciously (Danves) and let me know tomorrow, i'll be at..." he gives Google an Address.

Red and Layla hear very similar proposals, just from different people, and to different places. Red is approached By Edmund, a fellow scholar from the university, representing someone who explores the draconic prophecy (or so he says). he feels Khorvaire may be in danger, and that the PCs may be key to stopping the fate that can come. he wishes the party to explore into the Mournland (with funding for various items they might need). again- meet me tomorrow at... one last thing- "beware who you befriend"

LaylA is approached by Lady AuresSia ir'Opal. a fairly elderly lady with a grumpy looking husband. both fought for Aundair, but now they sponsor adventurers on perilous tasks to get all kind of historical treasures around Khorvaire (or so she says). she too is a draconic prophecy researcher, and have heard about the insects. there is a mentioning of them in the prophecy, and how they would "Bring out old lore from and old tomb, and wield the weapon against the swarms long ago". AuresSia found out this Tomb, in Darguun, near the village of Skullreave. she believes only the party can find the tomb. she would like to have it (after the party reads of it). she offers a slightly larger reward, due to the chance of slavery. meet her at her flying ship- the Fiery Hope tomorrow.

Eberron Stuff:
the Draconic Prophecy is a huge series of omens and portents and signs that keep appearing all over the world, dragons, devils and sages have been trying to decipher it, and have at times found cross roads in the fates, thus enabling them to affect the future. it is very poorly understood by non dragons or fiends.

Darguun is the rising new land of Goblinoids. it's ruler tries to bring it to be accepted fully between the civilized nations, and is going to great lengths for it. many of the tribe lords however don't fully agree with him. slavery is a common practice in Darguun, (mostly are slaves from the war), even though the ruler tries to stem this practice out.

Design Note:
Yes, 3 options, all leading to altogether different adventures. i wonder what would you have chosen? :smallwink:

Finishing up
Meanwhile, Danves is suddenly thrust to a wall. "You!" yells some slightly drunk member of the Arcane Swords (an order Danves belongs to) "Where did you disappear to?! there have been rumors..." Danves successfully squirms and lies his way through this awkward conversation (people were staring) but his pursuer (Drake Wilhelm) promises to look after him.

At this point i notice the party isn't that much interested in the party no more, so i cut things shorter. all that is left is an appearance from Princess Porcia ir'wynarn! the 17 years old come to the flattering of everyone in the party, but she is drawn to the heroes. most are just polite with her, but Ipiks tries to shock her (which she likes, and to which she laughs. he doesn't trust her afterwards) and Danves tries to flirt, to which she slightly return, but only slightly. she spend some time talking with them, and then takes to her table.

the party is then led on a stage, Lady Avandra makes a small speech, as does the new head of the guard. they are presented with a reward (golden unicorn horn. not from a real unicorn!), and Avandra also gives them a year worth of traveling in the Lightning rail in luxury booths. this is where we stopped.

Thoughts for session summary:
Maybe i could have handled the Fury battle better (at least i should have made more detailed maps of the docks) but the players enjoyed the end results (as have I).
i'll need to deal with Layla's player. this may happen again, and then what? he's a good player however, i'd prefer not to take him out of the game.
The party was fairly lame, as they were still thinking about the argument, and also- maybe it's just not their thing.
the choices seem to have intrigued them. good. :smallsmile: i expected them to be already in one of the adventures by now. i have prepared far ahead. but it's good that they have stopped here, it gave me time to better prepare. :smallamused:

[Kol Korran]

]Between meetings 2 & 3

I was pondering what to do with Layla's player, when he contacted me. He apologized for how he reacted, and the ruining of everyone's fun. he suggested to leave the party. (he is the guy to resort to extremes unfortunately). I convinced him to try and talk things over with the group, which he did, and they all want him in the group, just to confirm to what the majority says, and be less of an ass.

I insisted he change character to something he actually likes, and feels good with. let me worry about the lack of healer (this in fact presented interesting opportunities. :smallamused:). He agreed, not liking the up and coming necromancer (even with the Fury's skeleton, which was more powerful than anyone in the group. :smalleek: phew!) what character? wait till the session.

Red's players continued investigations on the 3 patrons through emails with me. he couldn't find much info about the guy who approached Google (Eldeen Reaches job, "In service of the crown"). Red flirted with Edmund and got little more information, mostly the Edmund seemed sincere that his master (whomever it was) is concerned about Khorvaire's fate.As to Lady Auressia, Red pretty much confirmed what he heard, with the added tidbit that she was vocal in her opposition about Aundair's participation in the Last War, before she disappeared for awhile, just to return to her Adventurers funding venture.

Spoiler: the Party's choice. don't read if you want to be surprised.
The party had an interesting discussion over the Emails, which i was glad to see. But in the end it was fairly one sided. Google wanted to follow the Prophecy, he felt it was important. Danves thought that if they can get a weapon against the insects, it would be best to get it before exploring any of the other avenues (though i did warn the players they might not have time to explore all..:smallamused:) and Layla's player (true, his character wasn't in the discussion, but it affected him as well) preferred the mission to Darguun on the basis of: like goblinoids, hate druids, hate weird Mournland stuff.

Red wished to explore the Mournland, due to her personal reasons, and because she felt time was ticking, and the sooner the party learned what the bugs were for, the better. Ipix's player joined the discussion way too late and was just annoyed "the tomb? i hate undead! poison doesn't work on them! (various annoyed curses)"

So, off to Darguun. whatever could go wrong? :smallbiggrin:

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 3: September 25th, 2010- New Members, Skull Reave Trials, Into Dur Martop

In game date- 12-24 Sypherus 998YK (mid Autumn, month of the Shadow)

(Google's player was absent from the meeting, so there won't be much input from him.)

Chapter 2

The orc and the bard
Ipix returned the ladle to the cook, and Layla notified the party she has some things to think about, and would leave them tonight. she would leave tonight. she would leave them the party's holding bag and what is left of the Lesser Vigor wand. the next day they went to meet Auressia in her small airship- The Fiery Hope. the lady was delighted to see them, but disappointed that Layla wasn't with them. she seemed irritated at that "you are supposed to be five, according to the prophecy". as the party planned to stay 3 more days until Google's sword was ready, Red commented "If the Prophecy deems us to be 5, we shall be 5".

And low and behold, as the party descended the airship tower, a grey-green skinned figure, nearly as hulking as Google called for them "You! you are the one that killed the monster at the dock! you found my friend Ilrien. I'm coming with you! My name is Khork!"

Needless to say, Layla's player new character could have a better name. "Cork? hork? pork? and other jokes started around the table. the party didn't first accept this new member, but he seemed persistent, and honest, if somewhat blunt and... how shall i put it... dumb. They accepted him to join for the while, as they got to know him better. He explained that he was friend of Ilrien (the dead elf at the warehouse) but came to Fairhaven later than Ilrien did with his dire bat. he wished to continue on his friend's errand, and this seemed the best way.

Khork
Orc Dragon Shaman. i made a bit of a mix with Eberron Dragons, so he could pick whatever energy type, skills, and power. he chose fire cone, survival and two other skills i forget, and feather fall. he also has a ridiculous amount of hit points (now we're at 4th level, and he has a bit over 50!)
Mostly he uses a shock morningstar (not +1, as i explained earlier)

Eberron Stuff:
Orcs in Eberron are not the evil destructive savage race that they are on other worlds. they are in fact a spiritual shamanistic race, and have brought Druidism to the other races. they have fought with the goblinoid empire ages ago, but since then they have reclined and receded, and are now very much a dying race.

Next item on business- getting a healer. off to the Jorasco's house enclave. there the party tried to hire a healer to go along with them, but one the house heard they were going to Darguun, only one healer accepted to go- Mika d'Jorasco. but she entailed a bit of a fee indeed.

As the party thought this through, a young woman in chain shirt, quite pretty if plain came rushing towards them "there you are! glad i could find you. My name is Trisha Cail, and I'd like to join your party, if you'll have me." the party was of course, suspicious. "changeling!" hissed Ipiks, almost drawing his axe. from a short interrogation it seemed that Trisha was part of a band of traveling artisans, dancers and entertainers (not related to the house of shadow), and that she had learned their arts, but yearned for adventure. once she has heard of the battle at the docks, she knew she had found the right party.

Trisha is a bard (but is that all she is?), but a VERy inexperienced one. (never seen battle). however, she can heal a bit, and she can use a wand. to boot, she said she could acquire another wand. her fees were steep as well, even after Red got a reduction, but after a short debate the party preferred her over Mika. Ipiks was the only one that objected. and he's been keeping an eye on her ever since.

Journey to Darguun, to Skullreave
Ipiks continued crafting poisons, while the others used the rest of their money to acquire potions. mainly potions of lesser restoration, as none of them could heal ability damage. Trisha vanished to get her stuff, while Khork blabbered on and tried to impress Google and Danves of his fighting skills.
3 days later, early morning, the party climbed on top of The Fiery Hope, and started their journey to Darguun. the weather was ok on the most part, and Khork trained combat with Trisha (she was weak of arm), as Red and Google tried to talk about the prophecy with Auressia. All they could learn was that the tomb, or building, or whatever dates to the time of the Dhakanni Empire, when they fought with the Aberration masters known as the Daelkyr. for some reason some sort of research was done here. previous people who attempted to go in ("we're not the first?" asked Danves) were mauled by some sort of a stone statue at the entrance.

They passed by the gray mists of the Mournland, and Red's mood came down, until they reached Fort Kennrun, in western Breland, just north of Darguun. the party descended, as did Auresia. she called for a goblinoid honor guard, and gave the party a small tribute to give to the chief of the Skull Reave clan. (2 sword made of a special metal called Bysehk, and a sack of amethysts)

Under their honor guard they traveled. this part of Darguun was in fact Cyre once, and various buildings and it's building style could be seen from time to time. as were the slaves in the fields. The guard commander, a hobgoblin called Guud spoke "we're far from Lhesh Haruuc's rule (the ruler). some of these outlying tribes still practice the old traditions." he held his Sovereign Host symbol tightly, as if indicating he is an "Advanced" hobgoblin.

Trisha was appalled at this, but could do nothing. It was obvious that things were quite new to her. after several days of journey the party reached the outskirts of skull reave.

Creelog, Ipiks speech
The village was a martial one. almost all hobgoblins wore some sort of weapon, some sort of armor, while goblinoids tended to the more menial works, usually by forcing slaves to the jobs. the party's mood got darker. Guud led them to Creelog's abode, a sort of miniature palace he erected. inside were many goblinoids in council with their ruler. Creelog is a nasty looking hobgoblin, with a female goblin adviser called Sheelesh, and 3 bugbear guards. the party decided not to fight (though i did prepare for that option).

after they were pronounced, the party was given room to speak their lot. Red started to speak, but she saw the Hobgoblins whispered in discomfort, and realized this must be because of her being a woman. "But i am here to present my master, and our leader- Danves!" Danves spoke eloquently, giving the tribute, and asking permission to enter the ruins. "You wish to enter Dur Martop, and you pay the toll, but are you worthy?" the other hobgoblins seemed to like this, and the party grew worried "Do the gods find you worthy?" (all this was due to prompting from the adviser, which the party disliked from now on). "you shall face the 4 trials of our 4 gods- the Shadow, Mockery, Devourer and Keeper!" the party grumbled, except for Khork who thumped on his chest, calling them on.

Than suddenly Ipiks leaped forward, and called their attention- would the gods not choose if they were worthy or not in the tombs? would that not be a worthy trial? they have just vanquished a champion of the fury, should they do so again? the speech went on, and was quite good, and the player rolled 20, and added an action point! the Hobgoblins whispered amongst themselves, some wishing to see the trials, some fearing the rage of the gods. finally Creelog ruled. "you shall not face the 4 trials, you shall face 3!"

Design Note:
the trials are supposed to be some simple battles, to let roll some steam. 3 would suffice as well. besides they were supposed to show aspects of the dark gods.

Eberron Stuff:

Shadow: god of corrupted magic
Mockery: god of torture and self inflicted scarring, as well as war, betrayal and cruelty
Devourer: god of avenging nature- storms, floods, and hunger.
Keeper: god of the undeath.


the party spent the night at the despoiled temple of the Sovereign Host, Guud offering prayers to Dol Dorn and Dol Arrah. (the war gods) Trisha was nervous, and Khork and Red tried to comfort her. Ipiks too, in his way- he dug her a grave.

Google had headaches, he kept thinking on the fight with the Fury.

The Trials
Next morning, he party was led to a sort of a makeshift Arena, divided by 4, with Sheelesh and themselves in the middle. each part held one of the fights they were to fight. they chose the Shadow (fought a living fireball), the Keeper (Troll skeleton and a shadow), and finally the Mockery (Scarred Skull crusher Ogre MM3). the 3 fights were an utter MASSACRE! and the crowd went wild.

once they were victorious however, something went wrong- Google roared in agony, and there was a sort of a whisper around him "you killed me, now i kill you!" he suddenly attacked Danves, nearly dropping him. Danves quickly dropped him with a color spray, but the group was disturbed. That was the Fury's voice! she's back? Sheelesh said she had never seen something like this. a curse? a ghost? the party had not the time to find out.

They got some rewards, amongst them a partially charged wand of scorching ray (for defeating Shadow), and a sash that gave a weapon the Vicious ability (from Mockery), which Khork wound up his great axe (secondary weapon)

Leveling up (for the Crunch inclined)
Level 4 for most, level 3 for Ipiks and Google:

Red: took Tasha's hideous laughter as her spell
Khork: can now breath fire for 2d6 damage every 1d4 rounds.
Danves took Kelgor's fire bolt as a spell
Google didn't attend, so we didn't know what power he took.
Ipiks' player wasn't prepared (RL problems) so he hasn't decided on a power yet.


The ruins of Dur Martop
The party was taken in boats to a small flooded valley, where lay the ruins of the old goblinoid city. On the way they heard this was some sort of a research center. they were led to a Dais in front of one of the ziggurats. as they stepped on it they suddenly saw a wingless stone dragon, like the Chinese ones one the side of the ziggurat- gargoyle, and a strong looking one it seems.

Design Note:
Gargoyles (as other creatures in may campaigns) are a bit altered. Gargoyles are living constructs, with deep ties to a building or a place. they can come in many shapes and sizes. their signature power is "Fade out"- erasing their presence from your awareness (even if you're looking straight at them) This has made gargoyles somewhat of an unpredictable quantity. for more on my gargoyles, look at the second link on my sig.

The dragon asked them as to their purpose, and who was their leader. all in goblin. since he knew the language, Danves translated for Red, who said she was to retrieve the book to fight the swarms again, which was one of the answers that satisfied the dragon, he opened the stone gates to Dur Martop.

As the party entered they suddenly noticed that their skin, teeth, hair ,all were changing! they were becoming goblinoid looking (Khork and Google appeared as bugbears, Ipiks as a goblin, and the rest as Hobgoblins.) plus- the doors began to shut behind them! they ran till they reached the main hall. they were somewhat confused, somewhat frightened, and altogether worried. Red practically mourned the loss of her beautiful hair, Trisha seemed fascinated, and Ipiks pinched the skin in amazement.

Design note:
I stole this bit from somewhere. unfortunately i can't seem to remember from where. credit to whomever originally thought of this idea.

The hall was large, in the center of the Ziggurat. at two places it was collapsed into two holes that led to some watery level below. there was a statue at the end, of some Hobgoblin in fine robes holding a staff. Danves (who knew goblin) started to decipher the writings on the columns, when two strange creatures that looked like two goblins mashed together- 4 eyes, 2 mouths, one lumpy body, 4 arms, but two legs, came into the room puzzled. they screeched something in a strange language when Khork immediately breathed on them. they barely survived, turned tail and ran into a side corridor, screaming in their strange language. (for those who didn't recognize, these were Dolgrims, from the Eberron Campaign Setting(

the party prepared for combat, covering the 3corridors from that direction. a few rounds later they heard doors opening, and several dolgrims followed by lanky blind humanoids with tentacles from their shoulders (Dolgaunts) and one Dolgrim apparently shouting orders.

the first round or two things looked simple. the corridors were hampering to the twisted creatures. but that's when their master decided to make an appearance- from one of the holes at the back risen an orb, upon which were several eyes. it shot rays from it's eyes, burning Red, wounding Danves with negative energy, exhausting Trisha, and nearly disabling the rest! Red was at 0 hp.

Suddenly the focus of the battle changed. Ipiks used his powers to deeply wound the orb, while Google enlarged himself and drew near. the Dolgrim cleric at the back blocked him with his spiritual weapon. Red tried to make the orb laugh, but it just didn't see the humor. Khork for some reason focused on the Dolgrims still.

The orb paralyzed Ipiks, and wounded the rest, before it retreated to the water below. Trisha healed Red a bit, while the battle turned against the Cleric and his remaining minions. the cleric instilled the fear in Google and Khork who ran away, but thanks to a sleep spell and a color spray, the battle was one. and with captives!

Interrogation, a talk with an eye tyrant
the party tied up their prisoners, and tried to talk with the, (2 dolgrims, the doglrim cleric, and a dolgaunt) the cleric understood Goblin! "you speak the language of the old enemy! this is why you attack? how did you get in?!" long story short, it appears the Dolgrims and other aberrations followed Xorchial, the Gauth (lesser beholder) into the ruins from the under dark, in search after something that was theirs (the cleric knew not what) that their enemies held here. but the "snake woman" who turned some of them to stone, and her "blind minions" from above didn't let them get it! Xorchial was appearently doubly afraid of her (having many eyes).

yes, they are talking a medusa, but wait!

The cleric suggested he could get Xorchial to talk with them. he also gave enough description to draw a map of the first floor. apparently there was also a temple to the goblinoid gods, where some sort of fleshy creature lurked. they got their foods from replenishing barrels in the kitchens. the cleric just wished to be done with this mission. he has spend here years already. a possible room where Xorchial stays was also marked, though apparently it was blocked. the gauth used the under tunnels to move around.

the party set to meet Xorchial in the main room. after a few moment it rose cautiously from one of the hols (and fully healed! hmmmm?) it said it is attracted to something on the upper level, where the snake woman is, but also that his minions (those who survived) say there is something deeply wrong about her. as the party mentioned the book they are seeking, he said the above floor holds a library, and that from what he studied there is supposed to be a vault, that requires several orbs, or some things called "moons" (he never saw one) to open her opening mechanism. he had two of these orbs, and would exchange them for the death of the snake woman.

The party didn't like this, but they reluctantly agreed, Ipiks's player however, having read the Eberron Books wondered "Medusas are creations of the Daelkyr as well! why is she against them? also- aren't we helping the enemy here?"

"Gibber gabber!"
The party decided to explore the ruined temple of the Goblinoid gods. to there surprise they found that from what was left, it could be seen that the goblinoids worshiped the Sovereign Host and the Dark Six together, with no distinction! and also, there was a 16th god set apart in the middle, but it's statue was ruined beyond recognition.

religious studies will have to wait, as something dripped and slid over one statue, a mass of flesh, eyes, mouths and teeth, speaking incoherently. "Gibbering Mouther!" cried Danves "Lets get out of here!" the party went to go when the creature cried out for them "Wait!/ New people!/ New food? No!/Yes!/ Eat!/ Wait!/ talk! exchange!/ yes, we know, they feed!" the party became intrigued, and had a VERY hard conversation with the gibbering mass of flesh, who kept moving over the statues, making lewd and horrific imitations of them. In short, it had secrets, which it would sell for bodies. fresh bodies!

As Ipik's player said- "good luck Google isn't attending or we'd never have gotten away with it" they fed it a dolgrim and dolgaunt (dead ones, not the captives) which it devoured in the most horrific and disgusting way i could describe. but they asked for secrets of things they already pretty much knew. as to new information they learned that Xorchial has some magic item that heals him, that the medusa is "partly here, partly not", that the mechanism depicts the Eberron moons (12 in number) but that some are already in place. and that the Vault has another of the Dragon Stone Gargoyles. they also learned the gibbering mouther knows where are 2 more moons.

as they tried to feed him another Dolgrim, the creature refused. "New Flesh/ Tasty tasty/ More more/ different but not same/ new, yes?/ Hungry/ Hungry/ Hungry...."

Design Note:
I know gibbering mouthers are supposed to gibber incoherently, but i thought this would be a more interesting encounter!

The party decided to sleep in one of the rooms of the lower floor, before they head up to face the twisted Medusa.
------------------------------------------------------
Thoughts to sum up the session
All in all a good session I think! The start of it with all the preparation dragged on a bit, but was essential. I'm glad they chose Trisha, this will be of some importance later on.

the trials were the party's moment to shine, and the Gauth was their Moment to fear. everyone loved the conversation with the mouther at the end.

Next meeting, the not quite so ordinary Medusa, and a few more surprises... :smallwink:

[Kol Korran]

ok, i updated as far as we've played so far. next meeting is supposed to be on the following Saturday. i hope there are some responses to this. :smallsmile:.... pretty please?

[Tetrasodium]

Stumbled on this last night and have been enjoying reading, even more so since I rather like eberron :).

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 4: October 9th, 2010- Second floor of Dur Matrtop, the Medusa and the Husk, Debate over reward

In game date- 24th-25th Sypherus 998YK (mid autumn, month of the Shadow)

This was a shorter meeting than the previous ones. Red's player was a bit busy with his new born son (Hurray for Tom!), so his input may seem a bit lessened.

about the powers not yet chosen by 2 players:
-Ipiks chose Shadow jaunt (short distance teleporting power)
- Google chose the Offensive precognition Psy War power (+1 insight bonus to attack)

Of traps and roguesThe Party finished up resting, and headed towards the stairs of the second floor. as they climbed it, some heard a metalic grind, and the floors suddenly flattened and a pit opened behind them! but everyone succeeded not falling, and they climbed to the room above and easily dispatched of 2 Grimlocks, the Medusa's servants.

They had a few options of where to go, and chose to move clockwise. the first room they found used to be some sort of an alchemy workshop. Khork however was surprised at the entrance by two ambushing Grimlocks. Ipiks teleported into the room yet crashed into one of the tables, failing his stealth check. the others has some trouble entering the room due to Khork (wanting to avoid AoO), but all in all the battle was easy. it turned out that one of the Grimlocks was a rogue (sneak attacked Khork). A surprising turn of events came when Danves boldly entered the room, risking the AoO, and slashed with his sword. I do believe this is the first time for Danves sword to make an appearance!

the room contained little, other than a hidden Stone Salve in a niche in the fire place. This was given to Trisha to hold, as her role for the battle with the medusa was to sing and not look at her.

A spy in our midst? Next room held some sort of a prison and torture/ experiment chamber, that the party realized was used against aberrations. As Danves surveyed the room with his detect magic, he suddenyl caught glimpse of the sorrow stricken Trisha, who till now have avoided his sweeps. she practically gleamed with magic! her armor, necklace, ring, cloak. he became suspicious, and looked over her equipment a bit more closely while she talked to Red. he noticed the armor and weapons are probably of aundarian make (yes, he has relevant skills). he heard some higher ups in the army sometime get commissioned good gear. certainly a young woman such as this out of a "traveling company" won't be able to afford it.

Now this started a big debate, especially out of Ipiks' player who never liked her (digging her grave) and Khork's player who kind of did like her. Danves' player ended this by saying he does not yet tell the party about this. he thinks that "there is something fishy about her, but she does seem sincere and true about the way she acts and her loyalties. i don't think she works for our enemies, i think there is a 3rd party here...". To which Ipik's player retorted "Changlings always appear sincere and loyal".

In their searches in the room the party found a pair of goggles, which once identified proved to lessen the DC of gaze attack a bit, but they also imposed a penalty on perception and attack rolls, since they were all murky and stained by now. these were given to Red (lowest fortitude save) she bemoaned her new looks.

more floor investigations the next room on the circuit held a warning "room of the Husk, don't enter unless protected" the party opened the room to find that it is bizarre- they felt as if dimensions change there, distances shrink and enlarge, and Google noticed something made out of flesh and tied with tendrils to the walls in the midde of the room.

Um... right. the party closed the door. the got to another corridor, and another room which turned out to be the room of Uurd, the chief researcher here. they found his chest, went through his trap, and found one of the Moon orbs, and a part of his journal, depicting between crumbling pages his years of studies and research of abominations. he mentioned getting "part of the husk, a key to the Daelkyr. if only i could unlock it's secrets" and in the last few entries he says he may have found the solution to the swarm weapons, and that he locked the research book in the vault. the room also contained another door to the "room of the husk".

The next room the party found was a massive library. again, with most books as dust, the preservation magic failing somewhat. Danves quickly realized how the books were organized, and started to look amongst the books, findings first the "book of aberrations". (this book enables the player to get a result of 20 on knowledge checks. it cannot be used in battle) he checked it for the husk. It appeared this was the Daelkyr's major tool for creating and altering creatures, and that it draws it's power from the plane of Xoriat itself.

Ipik's player suddenly realized "this is what Xorchial is after! he want the husk!" the rest chimed in, thinking the gauth might be able to travel to Xoriat through the husk, like a portal.

um... yeah.

Design Note:The Husk of Many world is a minor artifact from the Magic of Eberron book (if i'm not mistaken). I have altered and changed it somewhat.

He also searched about Medusas and Gauths. the only thing of real interestst is that Medusas petrification is not instantaneous, but rather may take a few rounds. (i've made it still a threat, but not a "save or die") there were other books which he searched, about various subjects, but nothing he found was of note. (this took some time. the players were CURIOUS!)

Meanwhile, Ipiks searched the books for something shiny. thanks to Khork's "senses" aura, he found one of the books to be hallowed, containing another Moon. two rooms remained, the husk room, and the central room. and the party knew who was in the central room...

The Big Battle! The party stood at the door of the room, and started buffing themselves- Danves drank a potion of invisibility, Red used a scroll of mirror image. Google used his psy powers (other than extend), and Khork tied the Vicious Sash (see previous meeting, at the trials) to his morning star. ready? Charge!

they burst into a room which looked like a small planetarium, with an orrey of the moons in the middle, 4 moons in it, 8 missing. "The husk room!" they said in unison, and after a short debate, they rushed their, wanting to prevent their buffs from ending.

the room was much larger inside than outside. and the part of the husk hung in the middle of it. there were several walls in the room. the medusa was no where in sight. Khork moved forward into the room, looking for her, when he suddenly saw her, appearing and disappearing, here and not here! he met her gaze, but withstood the effect. she moved to try and catch him again in her gaze, yet he with stood it again, as did Google who saw her. She was hissing maddenly "I am it's guardian, go away, or die!"

The party' plan was that the two strong ones will focus on the part of the husk, while the rest will focus on the medusa. Ipiks hid behind a wall, Trish came next to him, straining her voice in song fearfully, while Red came and cast Tasha's hideous laughter on the Medusa. and thanks to a high action point, she succeeded!

Design NoteAs i mentioned in the first post, my players roll most of the dice, including spell rolls to overcome creatures "Magic AC" this enables them to add action points to magic.

So here my wonderfull MEdusa was going to laugh for 4 rounds from now. Thanlfully, her gaze is also a passive ability. As Khork and the enlarged Google closed on the Husk, they got into it's distorting field, and began to hurla and puke as it twisted and warped their bodies. Worse however, Khork didn't even scratched it with his weapons (really high DR) and Google did small amount of damage. and the field was continuing to affect them. they decided to abandon the Husk.

meanwhile Ipiks reached behind the Medusa, and Danves in an uncharacteristic show of courage stepped right next to her and channeled a shocking grasp right into her blinking body, nearly killing her! but he met her gaze, and was nearly turned to stone, growing slow and heavy! the next series of attacks by the party missed her, as she blinked out and in, but they all withstood further gazes from her (not even bothering to shelter their eyes). It was Google's sword that finished the poor maddened laughing creature's suffering.

Design Note I thought it was an interesting battle, though Red's spell surprised me. the medusa is a regular medusa, just with a permenant blink on her. and her gaze causes 2d6 dex damage, when reaching 0- becoming stone.
The husk piece is destroyable, it is just quite hard to do so. had the party done that, they'd have received a substantial grant of XP. not everything have to be tied to the immediate adventure. here it acted like a sort of a magical trap.

The party found a sack with 2 more moons in it, a bit of treasure, and Marvelous pigments. they drank a few potions of lesser restoration (not healing all damage. and got ready to tidy up.

Danves in a new light, finishing up As they walked out of the room, they noticed something strange, there was an odd scent in the room, a pleasant one, of flowers, and summer heat. it emanated from Danves, as did a soft slivery glow, and a shine in his eyes. he looked stronger, more confident. Trisha seemed stricken by him, but he acted as if this is nothing and the rest didn't pursue the matter. (truth be told, we had little time left to play, and the party wished to finish this up now, investigate the glow later)

Player's mechanics As mentioned in the players section in the first post, i have made a special mechanic to represent the player's curse/ blessing. it just now reaped for the first time- he rolled high on his chart, and i added him bonuses for bravery. in short, he is blessed by the silver flame for a short while- until the end of the next encounter his action points are d8, he gets one temporary action point, and he get a bit of buff to all kind of little things.

this could have gone the exact other way as well.

As i mentioned, we were in a bit of a hurry. the party took the bodies of a grimlock and the medusa with them. got to Xorchial, talked to him he thanked them and gave them 2 more moons, he went upstairs to the husk. they looted his room, and then went to the gibbering mouther, fed him the two corps, and got the locations of the last 2 moons. Ipiks then had an idea, and told it of the husk "lots of yummy flesh!". the mouther slid through holes and crevices. as the party climbed up to the orrey they found it tailing Xorchial who was moving the floating husk piece downwards, towards the opening to Khyber!

The party was worried about this "I think we might just have made a big mistake guys" Ipiks said. (Can you say "Sequel Campaign"?) but they didn't wish to waste time fighting it. they put the moons in place, and a staircase rose up to the last level. There they met another Dragon Gargoyle and 5 glass doors behind which were items of note, above the doors there were clues. in the middle was the book they searched for and some sort of big Syberis Crystal ("a weapon against our enemies"). in another was a diamond with runes floating over ("to come back again"), in another 3 wooden rings ("come back in a different chance"), in another a belt ("to protect and endure"), and in another two gems, one earthen, one looking airy ("to manipulate the elements").

The gargoyle spoke to them, saying that for the battle ahead they may take one more item, other than the book and the shard. now, Red had a spell on a scroll called "scholar's touch", which lets you memorize a whole book in one round (what wouldn't i do for such a spell for exams :smallwink:). she read the book instantly. it dealt with information about the insects, how they were created in the shadow marches, how they seek flesh, and their psionic powers. it also dealt with the building of this specific Syberis shard to tune it to be a sort of psionic disruptor for a large scale. but it is not complete. as may yet be, this use of the spell was VERY important. (see on next)

I thought that giving players options will be fun, but i forgot one thing- how bloody greedy they may be! various attempts at persuasion. (i went by the giant's diplomacy rules, they came to within 2 of succeeding) and thought to fight the gargoyle (a tough, but winnable fight, though perhaps with a casualty) in the end i relented and let them identify the stuff: diamond- raise dead that can be used by anyone. wooden rings- 3 reincarnations, usable by anyone. the belt- reduces ability damage by 3. the last two were elemental gems. the party (after another tiring debate) chose the rings over the diamond.

It was time to leave Dur Martop.

Welcoming party As the party went out the corridor, changing back from goblinoid to their old selves they saw that quite a few Goblinoids were gathered to meet them, about 50 in number, led by Creelog and Sheelesh, on the heightened platform near the ziggurat. And they were not the only ones- There was another obat coming, on it 4 mithral warforged, and tow odd creatures- one looked like a goblinoid but with thick bluish grey fur and feline contours. the other was an incredibly thin elf, looks like starving, but with a big belly, smiling alarmingly, making the party feel hungry all of a sudden.. between them stood Auresia! who quickly stepped on the platform, and drew closer to the party, smiling "our heroes!"

Google noticed that something wasn't right about her, and whispered to the party that. whomever it was heard it, and with a growl it's features changed to that of a tiger, a bastard sword at his hip, and armor on it. Trisha was the one to recognize it this time "This is getting worse! Rakshasa!"

"Indeed" the creature said. "now enough with the pleasantries- hand over the book!"

Thoughts to sum up the session
With that our session ended, and i'm pleased to say that the players are allready debating on their course of action. as Red's player summarized it:
"we can fight, we can parley, we can run" none of them looked like good ideas.

It was a fun meeting, though with very few fights (i prefer a few memorable ones, and a few fun and simple ones over a lot of fights). The players are about to learn of Trisha's real identity, which might prove to be quite interesting. Danves' character is also starting to evolve, which i heartily approve of.

I meant to do a sort of "individual visions" sort of thing in the Orrey, but forgot about it. oh well, i'll be able to do it some other time.

not much readers (if any) to this log. oh well. maybe i'll share this with the group once the campaign is done.

[Greenish]

not much readers (if any) to this log.We're here. :smallamused:

[zagan]

I've just discovered this thread and really like it so I subsribe I'll be following it.

[Kol Korran]

a little notice to whomever is following the thread. due to various RL issues, we're not sure when we'll have out next meeting. might be in two weeks, in three weeks, or if things turn out spectacularly well- next week.

So far their plans follow around: (none without flaws)
1) let Khork burn the book with his breath
2) let ipix take the book (it is currently on Danves) and dive and disappear into water. with his Stealth, he will be hard to track down
3) try to dupe the Rakshasa by giving the book about aberrations instead of the real book.
4) fighting has been agreed to be suicide. Khork still wish to give it a try.
5) the party has 2 fly potions, and Trisha and Ipix has gaseous form potions (from the Fury). IF Khork and Google will drink these potions, maybe they can grab some of the rest and fly away. (problem- the fly speed is only 40 ft, less than the boats, and some of the goblinoid and the elf have bows)
6) fight long enough to have Red run some distance and use her "rope trick" scroll, and then Ipiks will lead the enemies after him and hide, while the rest hide in the rope trick.

this is as much as i remember.

[akma]

Did you publish it anywhere in hebrew?

[Kol Korran]

hhhmmmmm... actually i haven't. the group has a wiki site for house rules, characters and such, but they have already stopped maintaining it. and anyway it's in English.

I chose English and not Hebrew for several reasons:
1) I thought of perhaps sharing our adventures/ site with others, and more people read English rather than Hebrew.
2) many of the books have never been translated into Hebrew (sword sage, psychic warrior) and though some can easily be translated, it would feel odd to me.
3) For some strange reason, I type much faster in English than in Hebrew.

Why do you ask Akma? if there is a worthy enough cause i might translate some or all of it.

[akma]

Why do you ask Akma? if there is a worthy enough cause i might translate some or all of it.

Hebrew is my native leanguage, so I rather read something in hebrew instead of english, and I didn`t want to read the whole thing just to find out that there is a hebrew version.
Anyways, I`ll start reading now.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Popping in to say that I am so jealeous of your group Kol... I really would love to play in such an awesome campaing.

Edit: I forgot to ask if you could post your poison rules, they seem really interesting and I like poisons ( I actually had an undead poison dusk lizardfolk character, sadly that pbp game died shortly)

[Kol Korran]

@ Akma: Are you an Israeli as well?

@ Dusk Eclipse: Thank you so much for the compliment! I'm glad you're enjoying the read. as to the poison crafting rules:

Poison Crafting rules
Reasoning
crafting stuff takes a LOT of time, especially the pricey ones. I played with Ipiks Player in another campaign by the Complete adventurer rules, and he got to craft 2 doses of poison over 4 levels. Knowing that this campaign will be even more fast paced (not the beginning, but we'll get there). i wanted to create rules that will enable him to craft and use poisons more freely. my players don't abuse the rules (well, mostly they don't), so i'm not worry of the abuse much.

The rules themselves
- buying metrials: always a 1/3 of the market price.

- you can't buy the materials for the following poisons: Dragon bile, purple worm, Wyvern. you can but wyvern poison itself, but not the other two.
(notice that i still allow the black lotus. it is mostly done out of flavor reasons)

- crafting poison: you roll for the poison's DC to create (different from the DC to resist!) if you reach the DC, you create 1/4 of the poison, for every 5 above it, you create 1/4 more. that way- it should take you on average 3-4 days to create a poison fairly reasonably. if you fail by less then 4- no progress, but no harm. if you fail by 5 or more- you ruin half the materials for the poison. notice that the cost of the poison doesn't matter in this! i hope this is a simple enough method, that would speed things up a bit.

- extracting poison from other sources: you make a craft check against the average between the resistance DC and crafting DC (i will tell you in advance every time). upon success you get enough material for 1d3 doses. every 5 checks above, you gain enough for 1d3 doses more (up to 3d3 doses max)

- there may be some special poisons or creatures in the campaign, you'll see.

- heal and knowledge nature synergy with the Craft Poison.

- Begin of play: since you have the craft skill, it can be argued that you crafted any poison who's craft DC is 15 using 1/2 it's cost in materials (this assumes sometimes you ruined some of the stuff).

[akma]

@ Akma: Are you an Israeli as well?


Yes.
And at first glance the poison crafting rules seems balanced.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Thanks... maybe I'll pass them to my DM to see if he is willing to let me use them...

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 5: October 23rd, 2010- Fighting lost battles, Guerrilla Ipix, Red's tricks

In game date- 25th-26th Sypherus, early morning, 998YK (mid Autumn, month of the Shadow)

So, i gave my players quite of time to think and prepare for the major battle that was looming over them as a cliff hanger at the end of the last meeting. they came up with quite a few plans. what came out of it... well, you'll see.

Important note: Red's player decided he wants to go for the Ultimate Magus PrC, (Complete Mage) because his current progression would make her too powerful. I don't think this is the case, but i went along with the player. in order to apply to the PrC he needed to remake his character as a 4th level wizard. "Poof!" appear the spell shard (Eberron's version of a spell book), spell component pouch and many new possible spells. new languages and skill points, but no ranks in influence... Red became far less persuasive. Danves' role as the party speaker got enhanced. Red's rod of lesser extend was traded for a head band of intellect (with a 1000 added gp).

So lets parley, shall we?Facing the Rakshasa, the sickly thin elf, the bluish grey furred hobgoblin, and The hobgoblin shief and many warriors Things didn't look good. Ipiks try to hide between the party members and prepare poisons, while red drew back with Trisha (the little that they could) while the other three gripped their weapons more tightly. the party decides to try and parley. Danves, the strange influence and light upon him still from the medusa battle, starts his speech aimed at the goblinoids. He tells them that they disrespect their own gods, to attack their champions, who won at the arena (check two sessions ago), and that were allowed to enter a sacred site of their empire and come out unharmed.

The arguments were good, but unfortunately there are some things Danves doesn't know about their religion. the chief, and then the others laughed "you know not the ways of the mockery- we have betrayed you, and take from your power to make us stronger! besides, these are the champions of the dark six!" he gestured towarss the Rakshasa and the two other enigmatic figures.

Danves intended to address the 3 then, but Khork lost his patience, and decided to drink a potion of fly. (a plan of the pary was that Khork and Google will both drink potions of fly, fly away carrying the rest, and hide at a rope trick behind the ziggurat) the Rakshasa and the others see this as a threat, and start to fight.

Design Note:Though it may not seem so, there were ways to get out of this with a smaller fight. Danves had a few more arguments in store, but we didn't get to them.

So far, so good The Blue Hobgoblin (I'll call her Blue) reaches to her fur with quick motions and draw a wand from it. Google's player grimaces saying "dispel magic", nailing it! (to my opinion the most important general spell) meanwhile the hungry elf comes closer. the chief's bugbears charged at Khork, Google and Danves.

Red surprises everyone with , telling Ipix "kill her" and casting Baleful Polymorph (spell compendium) on Ipix and a warforged behind blue, making them exchange places! The Rakshasa then uses some power, and comes close to google. The elf unleashes some strange power that send shudders of hunger and fear at the party's bellies, but they shake it off. the power affects the elf's allies as well though, as their spirits lifts

Eberron Note: The Rakshasa is an Ebrrron Rakshasa called Zakya, who is a sort of a martial version of the race, a tad weaker than the spell caster. they have a few SLA. the one used was True strike.

not too bad so far, eh?

going down hill The chief's adviser cast sleep and puts trisha to sleep. Google kills the warforged in their midst, while the rest strike at Bugbears, Khork with his fire breath. Blue pulls out another wand while stepping away, wave it, and suddenly dimension doors away! Ipiks curses and jumps to the water of the lake, disappearing underneath. the Rakshasa comes at Google, and with two mighty swings (max power attack with two hands) drops him to the negatives.

over the next round or two, the party tries to fight, Khork's restorative aura healing them slightly. he grabs Red and the unconscious Trisha, and starts to fly away, Red casting scorching ray from her wand on the elf as it start casting some thing she recognizes as a sort of a "nature's ally" spell, only with words and incantations calling on Mabar? the fire ruins it's concentration. but then Blue uses her dispel magic wand to bring the flight to a stop.

Eberron Note Mabar is the plane of Endless Night. think negative energy plane.

Meanwhile Ipix has been setting some of the boats on fire with alchemist's fire throw from water, while dodging javelins.

Meanwhile Danves puts a potion down Google's gullet but soon there after falls to the Rakshasa's strikes. the fiend hold his sword to the two fallen warrior, and call to Khork- "Grovel, or they die!"

Groveling, Khork style the orc doesn't like that word. while Red tries to persuade him to stop, The thick orc demands to discuss the terms, and when there are no terms, he decides to charge the fiend none the less.

when he was close to dying, Khork agreed to surrender. The rakshasa wanted them dead, but blue called to keep them alive "they have been to one of the ziggurat, like the Fury has. we should learn from them." "They are the other hand! they are the enemy! we should kill them now!" "and risk upsetting the prophecy?"

DM's oops! I messed up a bit here. i had planned on another reason for keeping the party alive- the fury coming out again and lashing wildly, and the champions of the dark six wanting to explore this, but i forgot about it. when i suddenly brought it in (telling Ipix player roll will against possession) it seemed out of place and forced. i made Trisha be possessed but it wasn't the same. oh well, mistakes happen.

Creelog (the hobgoblin chief) came grinning, Sheelesh his adviser besides him. "You will all make fine slaves! much power!" little did he know how he was going to regret this.

All this while Ipiks was submerged underwater, hidden.

The loot! NNoooooooo! and a... suprising... surprise.the party was stripped of all their gear, down to their bare clothes (except for the lizardman), the party bemoaned this, Khork's player especially unwilling to let it go. he got away with hiding a dagger on his person with a good thievery roll.

but when Trisha (who unconscious at the moment) lost her necklace the party was in shock- she changed shape, to Porcia, the Aundarian princess! "Oh F***!" went a bit around the table. The hobgoblins were puzzled, but Danves and Red persuaded them it's a residual magic effect from the ziggurat.they were put in manacles, and started to be led back to the town. they heard the elf and blue arguing, he former wishing to "taste them, feed on them", and blue saying they are "too important to the goal and our studies". the party guessed (correctly) that these two were part of the "dark six/ other hand" like the Fury was.

As Porcia came about (due to Khork's aura) she was startled, panicked. the others assured her by whispering that her secret is safe with them. Khork, not knowing who she was kept wondering, but trusted the party's instincts.

And behind the group a small lizard head was all that was seen above the water.

Getting Comfy The party traveled through the farms and outlying regions of Skull Reave once more, in a different state. night was descending, and they were being led to the lock up area, with it's cages of slaves. on the way Ipiks noticed Creelog calling and instructing some worgs, wolves and their riders to spread out (looking for him obviously). he started evasive maneuvers.

near the lock up, the party was split! Danves Google and Khork were being put in 3 cells, 2 large ones for beasts, and Danves in a common cell with other slaves. meanwhile Red and Porcia were being led through the village to Creelog's house! various hoots and calls came from the male population, and so on. near the house Creelog stopped, and awarded some of his lieutenants with spoils from the party's possessions. Red noted them. to great cheering and rude remarks of the crowd Porcia and Red were thrown inside the house, the grinning Creelog behind them. as the door closed the grin evaporated. "I don't like humans! you're disgusting and wrong! but my people think i do. so be it, until you can teach me your power, or i give you as a prize.

DM's Note Some things i agree to put in the play, some i don't. rape is a no no in my book. this led to a little discussion on the subject at the table, but we agreed to play it this way.

Red and Porcia were put in a little cage between Creelog and Sheelesh' rooms, with a bugbear guard watching.

all the party noticed the loud noise from the multiple forges working near the lock up where the three musketeers were. Google and Danves tried to talk to the prisoners (one of which was a Sovereign host priest) and learn some information- apparently each day the slaves are taken out for various works ("maybe you'll work in the mines?"), and were led back ate evening, except for some who were kept for night work. Khork in the meantime tried to break his manacles, without success.

Now you see me, now you die! Ipiks snuck towards the forges, using their smell and noise to mask his approach. so far he has been successful in evading pursuit. (he has very high stealth skills) he saw the compound, evaded the guards, and asked the prisoners to the whereabouts of the others. Google was easy to pin down. Ipiks snuck in, and used his shadow jaunt ability to teleport into Danves' cage! a quick hurried conversation and ipiks went looking for the keys- this meant taking down a patrol. he laid in wait in one of the cages,and then shadow jaunted outside, killed or silenced most of the patrol with his poisons, and looked for the keys. Unfortunately, one hobgoblin got away and raised the alarm! Ipiks got back and threw the keys to the party, and tried to get away to a safer place

a group of 2 worgs and 2 wolves caught his scent and followed him to the forges. loud enough to kill them silently enough (one worg and wofl ran away)

Escape or no escape? and who are you?!as the hobgoblins rushed to the area, the prisoners became frightened "they will punish us, you'll see! no good can come out of this!" talking to them a bit more, and meeting a few... "examples" the party learned the Hobgoblins punish severely for first attempt to run away, and the don't even bother with punishment the second time.

this surprisingly has dissuaded the escapees considerably (Except for Khork, who still wanted to go. they decided to try and use the keys, dagger and so on to "fix" their manacles so they could be opened quickly enough in need. a few disable device rolls later, and all had "sneak open manacles".

as they had just finished it all, in the middle of the mess another hobgoblin came between their cages, and called their attention. "how did you let yourself get caught! you should have been more careful than to fall to Aurasia's dupe! their interest in you might wane fast, you must escape soon! i may try to help you from the outside, but you need to tell me how!"

the party summarized this is some changeling, but inquiries just led to "an ally, so far". they asked for a spell component pouch, and maybe some thieves tools, and any healing supply it could manage. the hobgoblin said he would visit them the next night, and will try and do his best.

Red's Tricks Red talked a bit with Porcia. the princess was tired of the schooling and protection she received, she wanted to see the world as it is, face actual danger. while Red commented her determination, she also cautiously advised that this was a very foolish thing to do, and it puts quite more people in danger.

Then Red started looking for components, and thanks to the hygine she found a small cockroach.

Design Note: at this point i decided to allow "similar" components to those in the PHB. the cockroach for example replaces the cricket, cotton replaces wool, grains replaces corn and the like. sure, i could say no, but it would have been far less cool.

she calls for the bugbear and convinces it that they deserve food. as it brings the food she asks for "just one hand" to be free so that she could eat. some nice influence rolls, and one sleep spell later, and the dumb bugbear falls asleep. they quickly use his keys to get free, manacle him, gag him (why not kill? Red has ideals) and go listen by the door to Creelog's room. she hears him, Sheelesh, and the bugbears. both quickly sneak into Sheelesh's room, and Red casts one of her few remaining spells for the day- rope trick, the two climb up the rope, just as they hear all hell breaks loose when the captured bugbear is found.

Stables to burn, walls to climb Ipiks takes a different route, trying to wreck as much damage as he can. he finds a stable of horses, and then the player tells me of the way he soaks it to make it like a candle "cool! how many pints do you have?" "um, 2..." so Ipiks starts to burn the place, but the fire is quickly put out, while he get away to the surrounding woods, and hides.

Meanwhile, Red and Porcia watch down the window. after some initial clamoring, they suddenly see Sheelesh getting into the room. she prepares for bed, and sleeps. two stealth checks later, and Sheelesh dagger, and the adviser has her throat slit. Red takes some of their belongiongs back, plus a few bits more, and most importantly- she finds her spell book and a spell component pouch. they decide to get on the roof. the attempt goes horribly wrong, and while Red gets up the roof, Porcia falls down! she tries to escape, but gets caught. Red watches as the princess of Aundair is taken back into Creelog's house. seeing no stairs leading to the roof, Red decideds to sleep here.

Red Tricks, take 2As the morning comes the three musketeers and the rest of the slaves are awakened rudely. "one of you tried to escape last night! her wziard friend too! we will catch her, but first, we punish the insolent!" the slaves are starting to be brought towards the Arena where the party fought just a few days ago.
Menawhile Red has awoken, and has carefully chosen her spells. "i have a plan" the player tells me. Porcia is led out, held by Creelog, while Red watches them from above. then begin the spells:
- disguise self, As Creelog!
- Balefull teleport with Creelog! now Red iswhere he was, looking as he was! intending to catch them by surprise Red yells "Over there! the other slave!" Creelog is a bit surprised this round.
- Mount, getting Porcia and herself on it quickly, and starting to run away.
-while riding- Expeditious retreeat, for a little head start!

Creelog is furious and some of the bugbear guards start yelling orders. Usually Sheelesh would organize such a thing...

we make a few stamina check for the mount, but it rides far out of the city, at the speed of worgs/ wolves.

While the shepherd away...while the slaves and most of the warriors go to watch the punishment, Ipiks takes this opportunity to start and slaughter every hobgoblin smith he can find and the smithies.

Desperation The three amigos are chained to other prisoners. they are told they will see the punishment, and then will teach the lieutenants their powers and secrets. they are led to the arena, but Creelog arrives soon after, furious, he points at them, and motions to bring them. the party panics, they realize they are going to get whatever punishment there is

(the players meta gamed here a bit, they realized that:
- Sheelesh was killed.
- a patrol was killed.
- Porcia and Red escaped right under Creelog's nose.
- By Creelog's slight limp, getting down from the roof didn't improve his mood.
Someone is going to pay!)

So, while going by the lieutenants with their weapons, Danves creates a ghost sound, and call his friends to break free!the "sneak fix manacles" come off easily, and Google and Khork grab their weapons from the surprised lieutenants! Danves isn't so lucky though. he remained weapon less.

the battle from this point... wasn't pretty. melee without armor is brutal. first went Google and Danves, but Khork! again he was called to surrender, but Khork? in his words- "there are so many times when you can bend over" he fought, burning action point after action point, breathing fire and have even killed a lieutenant single handely, but Creelog and his bugbears cut him down.

Thoughts to Sum up session
And at this point we stopped. the three stuges know they should expect something (and in my case it's not just HP damage). Ipiks is slaughtering away, and Red is Fleeing with Porcia, though intending to let her go and go back to the group.

All in all a very fun meeting. other than the battle at the start, and the meeting with the ally, i had to improvise (though i came prepared) i think i gave quite a leeway to the players in this, and i think they enjoyed it.

The Trisha/ Porcia angle didn't really grip the party unfortunately, but what can you do.

I have prepared some possible punishments in case the party screws up, but after the havoc they've done, the punishment should be severe, memorable, and not make the player want to thrash out his character. carefull balance is required, i hope i make it right.

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 6: November 20th, 2010- Wyvern Hunt, Wyvern negotiations, Welcome Tuulikki!

In game date- 26th -28th Sypherus night (mid Autumn, month of the Shadow)

It's been a long time since i posted, and it has been a long time since we played... i started medicine school, and it's demands have put quite a constraint on our games. this is, to say the least, quite vexing. it looks like our schedule won't get better at least until the current semester's exam period will be over, which means a few more meetings.

two important notes before we go on to the meeting: first of all, concenring the predicament of the 3 captured prisoners. i have opened another thread to get the opinions of the play grounders as to what to do about the subject, and due to them i have decided to "take a detour" from the originally planned course of the adventure, which is what this meeting (and probably the next) is all about. if you want to check the lively discussion, it could be found in this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173327&highlight=tomer)

secondly, Red's player decided he wants a familiar for the ultimate magus, and after some discussions and tweaks i allowed it, (with her taking the appropriate feat). wait and see...

A choice As the 3 failed revolutionists awake, they find themselves strapped to a wooden holding. but they feel pain, great pain coursing through their bodies at every motion, even breathing. Creelog is there, but some distance away, one of his lieutenants, the powerful bugbear Groomesh stands before them, surrounded by the others, smiling. "Good, you're awake. the pain you are feeling is called "Mockery's Agony", an old art our skilled practitioners know well how to perform. it will subside momenterily, but as the days pass it will increase, and will slowly consume you and your health. but it is but a guarantee." Groomesh unfolds his arms, putting them at his hips. "you are powerful warriors, we might have another use for you. i offer you a deal- we need you to dispose of... someone, and in return you'll be freed of the Agony, and we'll let you go. you are too much of a trouble to keep." he looked back at the lieutenant's corpse Khork burned and beaten to death.

As Danves and Khork inquire, Groomesh tells them that several years ago a cunning "strange" Wyvern from the mountains have maid it's lair a few days ride from the village. she has been raiding the village at times, taking cattle and people. the village warriors tried to dispose of her, but failed.

Khork flatly refused "Wyverns are a sort fo dragon, right? I'm not going to kill any dragon!" but the players discussed that this would buy them time, and who knows, maybe they could make the wyvern take their side? they ended up agreeing. as they were freed they saw that Creelog was sulking, as he stormed out of the Arena. the party realized that not all was well between the leadership of the village.

a few persuasion attempts later, and they were returned their weapons, and given their free choice (other than full plate mail) of armor, and basic equipment, plus horses. they were given directions, and set to go, the pain in their nerves serving as a reminder

Design Note:
what is Mockery's agony? something between a curse and a surgical procedure (profession: torturer :smalltongue:) totally made up:

whenever a character suffers 10 hp or a partial amount, he suffers also 2 subdual damage. this adds up- if he takes 11 hp he suffers 4 subdual
each night he needs a fort 12 roll to get a good night sleep (regain hp and spells/ powers)
every 1d3 days he rolls a fort 17 roll or suffer 1d2 con drain
this can't be healed with remove disease or remove curse, just with heal, or a sufficient heal check. most likely house Jorasco is needed.
yes, i know this is kind of harsh, but it's better than what they would have gotten otherwise, and puts some time pressure on them

Looking for a lookout, making a discovery, reunions! meanwhile Red and Porcia finds a small stream and send the mount onwards, to belay any following wolves, they floow the stream close to the village, and find an abandoned barn to climb and take a lookout from. conveniently, it's north to the village, where the other party members will be heading.

meanwhile Ipiks has the same idea, and tries to finds the tallest building. he finds it, and it's guarded by the 4 mithral warforged... unable to resist temptation he sneaks inside, and finds on the second floor a small makeshift laboratory, with the great crystal they got from the ruins! Is this the Blue cat's place? unfortunately it's too big for him to carry. he does however find a book in code next to it and a large map of whole Khorvaire and part of northern Xenderinc there, with various markings and letters on it. not having the time to dwell on it, he stuff these to his pack and climbs to the roof.

both characters see the village starting to fill out after the failed spectacle at the arena, Ipiks tries to jump roof and use stealth to get out of the village, but fail at the last stretch, falling on some goblins teenage lovers in the field who scream in panic. as he runs Red spots him, and provides some diversion and message him to get to her. Ipiks rejoins her.

soon there after they spot the three horses with everyone on them, "traitors!" hisses Ipiks "i gave them the key and they would not escape, and now they got all their stuff back, and horses?!? traitors!" as they approach a comical exchange comes between them and the suspicious Ipiks, but after explanations all mount the three horses, and they move on.

Red's player surprised me then by saying "you know we have to obliterate this village when we get back, do you?" they all nodded. i didn't realize how much antagonism this situation evoked in them! (later the player told me he was referring to destroying the village so as to free all the slaves, but i think the others understood differently as well)


An "ally" on the road down the road they meet their Hobgoblin "ally" (/changling) from the night before. they suspect it to actually be the Blue Cat in disguise. it gives them their holding bag (within it several potions of healing, restoration, the scorching ray wand, one of the reincarnation rings and a few other stuff) it tells them that the lieutenants blame the escape, and death of warriors and more on Creelog. he insisted on the ritual, but they insisted on using the party differently, they need to watch their back when they return to the village, things could be to their advantage, or worse.

he also warned them to guard Porcia- if harm falls to her there could be war between the two countries (which the players cared little about), and also they would be lamed for her death (which the players cared greatly about).

when asked to his motivations the Ally said that so far his goals and the party's goals coincide. Ipiks wondered what ere his goal in the village, to which the ally laughed "i care little for the village, there are greater more important things". At that he rushed his own horse and left the party.

DM Oopsie!
I forgot to impart another important piece of information here. luckily there will be other times, and they won't need it now. sometimes it's hard to keep track of things :smallwink:

First Negotiations with dragons the party knew the Wyvern called "Big Red" resided in a small ruined outpost tower of the goblinoids 3 days ride from the village. the first two days imparted on them the hardship of The Agony, as Google failed to sleep (poor rolls), and the disease almost wracked havic on their health (all hail to good fort saves!).

the third day was in an open expanse, littered with trees here and there. then the party was ambushed from the back by 2 wyverns!! don't worry- young (medium sized) wyverns. though Khork tried his hand at convincing them to stop, they fought on and were taken down in 2 rounds due to Ipiks Driow poison (unconsciousness), and a Scorching ray crit. guessing they were Big Red's children, they were tied up, and then awakened by Khork's healing aura. they were parlied with, and asked to call Big Red. they were relaeased, and the party waited.

Soon there after a larger red shape got closer, and set on a tree, Red and Khork (who had to see the dragon) approached it, while the rest stayed back. some distance from it she asked them to stop. though Red conversed with the lizard eloquently, Khork boasted as to their strength and how they could have killed her children if they wanted to, but they spared her. this... did not sit well with her. i decided to give it another try. "did you bring tribute to me? or do you come to dragons empty handed?" while the party though of what to offer as a reward, Khork boasted that the life of her children was tribute enough.

that was enough for me, and Big Red launched from the tree. she tried to grip Khork but failed, and as the party tried to hit her she grabbed Ipiks and started rising in air, while Danves shoots arrows at her. guessing her intent, Red cast balefull polymorph between Ipiks and Khork. as Big Red dropped the orc, he activated his draconic power of feather fall and fell safely to the ground. having suffered some damage, Big Red retreat.

DM designFor thos who may wonder- Big Red is a fiendish Wyvern, with an extra 7 hp. the little wyverns i reduced to 5 HD, and lowered various numerics, including the strength of their poison.

i had sort of planned on the party to try and go kill Big Red, planned as a simple adventure with a monster boos at top. this was proving more interesting indeed...

Level Up!as the party reached the tower i awarded them XP for getting this far, and this allowed them to level up. they are currently level 5 (4 for Ipiks and Google) some major choices:

Google took some psionic power that lets him coat his weapon with an acid adding 4d6 to his weapon whenever he hits next! handy...
Khork took a level of... Barbarian! seeks to become a great damage dealer as Google? or a damage sponge? he has huge amounts of HP, I personally thinks it just fits his style.
Danves took another level of rogue, mainly to boost his Influence skill, and knowledge skills.
Ipiks had not many changes, he thinks to change his choice of Scent stance, since it doesn't really come into play.
Red took her first level as Ultimate Magus! (she didn't get her familiar yet, but wait...)


Ogres! the party continued to the tower and reached it at night, there were a few ogres and their pets on the first 2 floors, of which the party disposed of with great relish, even though they were brutally flanked by the chief and two others. at one point Khork recieved two massive blows that would have fallen some of the others, but he just stood up grinning.

they found an ogre's power belt on the chief ogre (my small joke), which Khork took so far.

A voice without a body?the next floor was occupied by remains of a library. as they searched the place, Red and then Khork heard a voice speaking to them in their heads, wondering why they are here, why do they want to kill big red? though Red conversed and explained their predicament, Khork just went uop and told the party "hey guys, there is a voice in my head telling me... (and the party just blinked at him after that).

i don't remember the whole conversation with it, but finally they convinced the little magical wyverling to appear. it was tiny, and flew straight to Red, liking her. it spoke telepathically, and asked the party if they could spare her siblings, and mother, even if she was a big meanie. when asked why she was so small Tuulikki (the Wyverling's name) said she was born "different". she would judge them by their actions, and she flew outside for now.

Enter Red's familiar! Tuulikki has all the stats of a pseudo dragon, only she's a "special" wyverling. the player seemed pleased (i hope)

Negotiations take 2, and prize for Khorkthe party went up the stairs, were attacked by the yong ones again, but persuaded them to stop. then they went and met with Big Red who was circling the tower in air. this time Red directed most of the talks, trying to forge a temporary alliance with the wyvern, so that together they could "wreak terrible havoc and vengeance" upon the village, so that they won't dare try a scheme like this again. this time the negotiations went smoother, and she landed, willing to talk plans.

Khork felt drawn to a part of the treasure. she recognized the dragon within him, and let him have it- a draconic helmet. he put it on his head, and it attached to his skin, granting him more power!

DM design the helmet is the first in a series of special tailored magical items for the characters. i have no idea of how to balance it, so i hope i'm doing this right. as to stats:

it allows him to activate 2 of his auras at a time
increases his breath weapon by 1d6 (not increasing his DC)
detect fiend (evil outsider) for 10 rounds per day, as if concentrated 3 rounds (this goes with Eberron's dragons' enemies being fiends)


And here we stopped. the players said they will make plans to attack the village with their new ally, and i can't wait to see. unfortunately, i'm not sure how much time i will have to prepare, but we'll see. this is all moving in unplanned directions.

and remember the map found by Ipiks? we'll get back to that yet...

i hope you enjoyed the read. if you are reading this, drop a line, it's always nice to know people are reading. :smallsmile:

[akma]

And here we stopped. the players said they will make plans to attack the village with their new ally, and i can't wait to see. unfortunately, i'm not sure how much time i will have to prepare, but we'll see. this is all moving in unplanned directions.


How much chance will they have to win?

[zagan]

Very interesting so far with lot of unplanned thing. i'm sorry to hear that you have less time to play but glad that you still do and even more so because you share it with us. Thanks.

[Kol Korran]

How much chance will they have to win?

how much of a chance? i don't know... mostly since:

i don't know what they are trying to achieve exactly. as far as i gather the main objective for now is to kill Creelog. regarding that i planned for them fighting him THE FIRST TIME THEY MET HIM in potential, he isn't that much (Ftr5, Brb1) he relied on the added protection of his lieutenents and personal bugbear body guards. maybe i'll nee to upgrade him to make him a threat?
i know not their plan yet. i think that in the mean time it focuses on having the Wyvern fly them and drop them on Creelog's roof, and then some sort of diversion. plans however, rarely work as... planned.
i don't know what happened in the village while they were gone. i have some ideas, but they are still unformed.

i want it to be tough, but winnable. i'll know more as the weeks go by and players email each other.

Nice to see you reading Akma, and Zagan.

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 7: December 18th, 2010- plans and improvisation, butchering a villain, the map

In game date- 28th Sypherus - 18 Aryth (late Autumn, month of Passage)

I had better write this before i forget. time passes quickly... A long time has passed since the last meeting. and though the players wanted to discuss plans against the village, but due to RL they didn't. this has taken up a long time at the beginning of the meeting, and from my point of view meant that i will have to improvise quite a bit, as i knew not what action they will take. in the end it... well, you'll see.

discussing plans
On the roof of the old tower the group discussed plans. Danves and Ipiks who participated in the war thought of the following: using the marvelous pigments they would create a few large flasks containing a large amount of alchemist fire, the wyvern will carry them and the flasks to the village at night (even dark vision has it's limits), the wyvern will drop the flasks at key spots, creating a diversion, and will land them on Creelog's house, where they will infiltrate, kill the chief, and maybe try and persuade his successor to deal with them (they thought that Groomesh, the bugbear lieutenant is on their side).

Big Red the Wyverb claimed she can't carry them all, but they realised she can Carry Google, Red, and Khork if he's hanging from her leg using his feather fall power (i ruled he weighs half the weight doing so). as they discussed what will happen with the other two, Khork and Ipiks suddenly noticed someone listening to them- The sickly elf was hanging by the tower's wall!

Forced into action
The elf somehow teleported down, and the party tried to give chase, they noticed he disappeared (a sort of invisibility), and his tracks turned into those of a great cat! at first they thought some sort of magical shapeshifter again, but a succesful knowledge check by Danves noticed this was in fact a Barghest variation!

DM design
The Barghest in my campaign are quite different from the MM ones, they can even be PRCs. for more on that check my monsters link

Ipiks and Tuulikki tried to follow it's trail, but they have lost it. but one thing was clear- the element of surprise was gone, and most likely their plan as well. They decided to head towards the village as fast as they can. the wyvern was not happy about this.

One more visit from the Ally, and a cryptic message
as they traveled to the village the three tortured companions had to roll a few more fort saves for the increasing pain, but they succeeded. as they got close to the village, the hobgoblin ally suddenly met them with fresh horses, news, and a gift.

he told them that the village is indeed prepared, and that the warriors are all on alert. he said that the blue and the sickly elf will surely notify "the hand", and therefor they will have to avoid their hunting attempts. for that he gave them necklaces of protection from scrying. the party was suspicious, but accepted the gift. (later they used identify on them but found nothing suspicious)

then the ally surprised them, sighing and seeming sad. he motioned towards the personality items the party had (just the ring at this point) "you had done well to find these. find the rest! find us! find me!" but he would elaborate no further, it seemed like a slip of the tongue. the ally said the situation has become quite more complicated than he liked, so he was departing. he may find the party later. "how will you find us if we're protected from scrying?" asked the suspicious Khork. the ally smiled. "by other, more traditional methods.

DM Note
I'm not sure i mentioned this, but the players suspect by now (and correctly so) that the "ally" is in fact the Blue cat, who is a changling. in one of the interactions i used female verbs (there is a distinction in Hebrew_ for describing the ally's actions, and that triggered them off. silly DM. the mistakes i make... a surprise down the runner.

new battle plans
the party neared the village, and then thought again of their plan (we concluded they had done so along the long ride) Big Red can't carry them all. also, Danves wasn't sure that killing Creelog without gaining Groomesh' blessing would do good for them. they decided to split forces- Danves under the guise of a disguise self spell from Red (in my house rules all "self" spells are now "touch" spells) will go and look for Groomesh, while the Big Red will carry Khork (dangling), Google and Red, and Ipiks will fly on one of the little wyverns.

As an escape plan for Danves, Tuulikki captured a small critter (forgot what it was) Red could use Baleful transportation to bring it next to them. it had a range of 140 feet. Ipiks painted 4 casks containing 25 alchemist fire's worth each, and as the night arrived, they flew up, as Danves the hobgoblin got close to the village. Princess Porcia stayed outside the village with the horses.

You really fell for that?
Danves had to lie a few times to get towards the center of the village, seeing various water and archers stations on the roofs, looking at the sky. news of their arrival have reached. luckily the fliers were flying quite high (i forgot at this point that Eberron has 12 moons (!!!). luckily for them. getting closer he saw a big tent in the middle of the road. from it arose nondescript arguing voices, amongst them Crelog and Groomesh. some of the fliers heard it too, and without a second thought told the wyverns- "drop all flask on the tent!"

2 of the casks missed, but two hit dead on!... on the illusion. Ipiks player's butted his head against the table and the others groaned. i was suprised such a trick worked. (a partying scroll from the blue to the leaders). immeidiatly an alarm sprang, and the place was in chaos. "the roof of the temple" whispered red, we'll regroup from there.

I'm really starting to dislike this spell. It's Marvelous!
Danves looked around, and saw Creelog rushing in on a worg as big as a horse, his body guards to the side, and archers around. Groomesh came from another building. the party saw this too from their perch on the temple. as they thought how to deal with the situation Red solved this simply- Balefull transportation on Creelog and the small critter!

suddenly the leader was "polymorphed" to a little animal, (or so his troops thought) and he appeared surprised on the roof. the rest was... simple and messy- surprise round, being flat footed, having 3 warriors around you and a wyvern, not to mention the poisons of the big and little lizard (ipiks), Creelog was taken down surprisingly fast. Ipiks then chopped off his head and waved it, daring the archers to shoot him (they did, many many shots, none hit. high AC got the little bugger)

as Danves saw this he cursed, and grabbed Groomehs the bugbear's shoulder. "i have an offer for you, a chance to become ruler of this village, if you listen to me fast and take control of the situation!" the bugbear saw through the illusion, shoved him against the wall, and they conversed quietly, and fast. Danves slick words work well indeed, and the warlord agreed to reverse the ritual done on them, and free them, if they solve the wyvern problem.

meanwhile the party looted (as players do even in these situation) Creelog's corpse. Google liked the MW full plate, and the party found a few other nicknacks, but also one of the Byeshk swords, and their remaining reincarnation rings.

DM design
I originally planned for various encounters in the village, with variosu squads, wogs, and small defensive contraptions. i intended the battle with Creelog to be tougher due to minions, his anhanced worg and maybe an adapt caster or two. to that i say "players happen"... :smallwink:

DM Note
Ok, some of you may cry "5th level characters or not, no way they could have beaten an entire village!" true. but that wasn't the point. i thought they have accomplished something impressive given the conditions, and so allowed this to come to this conclusion. these guys have become quite the terror of this village, i thought they would be glad to let them go. and hey, if Groomesh can win from the deal, why not?

finishing negotiations
to make a long story short, the party arranged that Big Red will recieve some tribute from the village, and in exchange will help them against enemies, and maybe other wyverns (some of the party suspected that Groomesh intended to kill her on one occasion or the other). they got some (not all) of their stuff back, and the ritual was (painfully reversed).

as to the slaves? have the party no heart? Red and Google tried to plea for the slaves. I said that Groomesh cannot act against the will of his people yet, but once he get firmer control, he will see what he can do. both players still intend to raze the village (and maybe Dargoon) after all of this is over. their personal mission (future campaign?)

"just when you thought it was over" OR "i can't believe this is happening to me again..." :smallfrown:
as the party rode towards Kennrun, Danves made a few passes at Porcia, which were not entirely refused. on the wya however Ipiks and Tuulikki sensed a presence- the elf have ambushed them!

now, this was supposed to be the end "boss fight" of this chapter. the guy is approximately CR 8-9 (hard to calculate since he's a druid 5/ Barghest 4- a PRC i invented, that DOES NOT MESH WELL apparently). the party got real close to it with their horses, and started pummeling it. as it tried to cast spells, they pummled it some more, as it Dimension leaped and tried to get away, i found horses are faster. as it tried to disappear, Tuulikki's senses and Khork's new helmet (i forgot Barghest meant he was an evil outsider) made finding him real easy. and as with the Fury, at the end Google came and critted the Devourer massively, obliterating it.

conclusion: so far i SUCK at villains. i may open a thread asking for help. this was a total butchery. as they looted it's corpse i noticed that once again forgot the fly potion it had on him. yay DM!

happy at another well deservd victory (the bastards! :smallwink:) the party reached Kennrun. safe port at last! Ipiks remembered this map he found...

End of Chapter 2! onwards to the Interlude

In retrospect, we should have taken YOUR offer...
As the party reached Kennrun, they met a small delagation coming their way- a strong presence looking noble, some dangerous looking woman behind him, two worforged, one of mithral one of adamantite, a pipe smoking gnome, and... Edmund? the scholar who offered they'd research the Mournland? what is he doing here?

long story (and conversations) short, this noble guy was Edmund's patron. he kept glancing at Google, seeming worried. he heard that they accepted Auresia's offer, and suspected a ruse, and so followed them here. unfortunately, he doesn't have an airship, so it took him a while longer. the man's name was Obraskyr (FR fans, i know i stole the name, i like it!) and he worked for the Aunderian queen, only as an unofficial concrned citizen. he was a long time scholar of the Draconic prophecy, and have tried to find the "hand of light and shadows" (see the quote at the beginning of this journal) for quite some time. now he is sure he has found them. he offered his help in their battle. he warned them that the "twisted hand" will be hard on thier trail now that they have killed one of their members ("um, two actually" chorused the party smiling. those bastards :smallwink:) and so they should stay hidden while they can.

Obraskyr had connection in Khorvaire and Beyond, he could help the party.
He provides them with a bit more of the prophecy- "The swarm that rises is not the swarm that was, pieces of earth (shards?) of mid and low dragon makes it anew. the shadow gives it new purpose". they decided to trust him. but where to next? Ipiks brought up the map he found at Blue's chamber's.

The map, next destination?
the map was an intircate map of Khorvaire and northern Xen'dric. it showed a few key points:

a small bug symbol near the Gloaming in the Eldeen reaches. it was crossed off however.
a symbol of the dark six in north western Mournland. Red idnetified it as the area around the mines of Eston, the famous Mithral and Admantite mines of house Orien that became unreachable after the Mourning. from there two lines emerged:
the first took towards the beach of the mournland, and from there it took the sea route acroos eastern Khorviare up to Q'barra, the jungle land of lizardmen and ancient ruins. there the line split. one part anchored on shore and entered the jungle up until somewhere called the Sun Spires. Ipiks, (who grew up in Q'barra) knew this was a place lizardmen were not allowed to go. it was said to hold demons. there was a sign of a dragon's mouth and some... shard? stone inside it? beside it were the letters T and F, but the F was stricken, and underneath it was added an M. the party guessed these were the initial of the dark six. which means the Traveler and Mockery are the ones mentioned. the other line...
the other line continued all the way down to StormReach on the north point of Xen'drick (land of ruined giant civilization, savage drow, and barbaric giants) . near it was the name "Obsidian City" and a question mark. near it were the letter K and D. which meant only the Keeper was left. however, the party heard from the goblinoids that he might be the dark six leader! he and the shadow... there was a sign of a snake encircling a key beside it. Google was troubled, the name Obsidian city arose images in his mind, this was a place he knew!
the other line originating from the Mournland went straight over Khorvaire up to the Shadow Marches, homeladn of the orc population (where Khork came from), it reached a place called "halls of silence" and there was a sign of an exclamation mark encircled by a... circle. next to it were the letters S and M but M was crossed out. so the shadow was alone. Red remembered from the Dhakanni book she memorised that the Halls of silence were once a stronghold of the Daelkyr...


in short there were many choices. the party could not decide whether the letters meant they were there, on their way, or had some sort of connection. The party debates between goin to Xen'dric first (a chance to catch their leader, and besides- Google thinks he knows the place. Obraskyr seems partial to Xen'dric as well, he says he has an acquaintance in the Obsidian City- a Naga called Auxellia), and the Mournland. the party guess correctly that this is their base of operation. might be nice to catch the nest unguarded?


Visions
as they started debating, Obraskyr brought a large stone tablet from his bag of holding. "this is a part of the prophecy. rumor tell that those who are mentioned in the prophecy, may try to recieve visions from it. would you like to try?

who wouldn't?

• Ipiks: you see yourself in the middle of a battle, Khork and Google are in front. one of them, you can't tell exactly who, is heavily injured. You knew this would come, and you're ready. you never would have thought you'd do something like this, but you have too. you hesitate for but a second, and then pull out the dagger with the.... "special poison", and stab your ally's back! (Ipiks keeps this to himself, troubled by the revelation)
• Khork: you're on some sort of a flying ship. you are all running from something, but you can't tell what. the situation is desperate. suddenly you feel a presence in the air, the presence of dragons! you turn around just to see a materializing...
• Red: you see the party and you assembled in a room whose features you can't really make. there is a changling there, in it's natural form, trying to assemble a big Syberis crystal from many small ones. the floor is littered with an odd assortment of objects. the crystal seems nearly complete, but still fractured. The changling smiles nervously at you, and motions you to come near... (the player seems pleased, and at the same time confused by this)
• Danves: Abject terror grips you. the entire party is running as fast as it can up from some twisted mine, with flesh mingled with metal (admantite) on the walls. something is chasing you. you reach the opening of the mine, and depression grips you as you remember where you are- The Mournland. (Danves doesn't like this vision at all!)
• Google: you see a figure clad in bone armor with great cat motifs. it holds the blackest longsword you have ever seen, and with it, it strikes down fellow half giants. a great cold grips you, as you know their souls suffered something worse than death. (he tells the party, and they guess corre3ctly this figure might be the Keeper)


due to these revalations, the party decides to head for Xen'dric, the land of giants! Obraskyr tells them they'll need to book passage from Sharn.


Rewards, the princess, and Google's revelations
we had very little time left on our hands for the meeting, which was a bit of a shame, perhaps weshall roleplay some of these bits next time, but i doubt it. the party (and their patron) boarded the nearest lightning rail towards Sharn. in the nearest big city the Princess departed, using an Orien service to teleport home, tellingthem to check the Sivis message stations for a message from her. Danves gave her some kiss kiss, some hug hug, some grope grope, and she... responded in kind. Ipiks gave her his "best wishes" :smalltongue:

Meanwhile on the train Obraskyr confided in Google- he knew his tirbe (called the Cimdan). they are a tribe of half giants who protect the Naga Auxellia in the Obsidian City. she in turn protected some sort of artifact from the giant era. their agreement was that she would send some of the half giants to contact him if she something was amiss. Obraskyr was concerned, really concerned, especially since only Google reached him, and even that without his memory. could he remember what was the message?

Google could not, and his worried face darkened. he was glad they were heading there. he just hoped it wasn't too late.

as i didn't want to delve into big cities, i described Sharn only briefly. (i know you Eberron fans will shoot me for this) the party stayed mostly at safe houses for the next couple of weeks, while their patron and retinue handled selling magic items and purchasing from artificers. Porcia sent them 40000 gp through a Khundarak bank, and Obraskyr could spare 10000 more. the party rejoiced, and started selling loot and buying stuff. the simple joys of players...

DM Design
the characters are quite beyond their Wealth By Level standards, but i figure they deserved it. the 50000 was originally intended to put them at their WBL, if they were all captured, and escaped "somehow" (as i imagined they would). but instead they had did quite a bit more. and so i let them have it. i'll try to adjust accordingly.

We ended the meeting here. the players haven't yet made all their buying-and-selling, that should be ready for next meeting i hope. there are a few problems that i see ahead:

first, my RL schedule ain't getting any better. i hope we can arrange reasonable meeting dates. this really irks everyone (me included) one of the players suggested DMing while i was away a different adventure. that might suit them i hope.
apperantly, i suck at designing villains. they are going to face the Keeper now. i really need this guy to survive, and to frighten them. maybe i'll ask the forum for help.
i have but sketches ofthe main ideas for the third chapter. but i think i have enough to build on. there are a few... surprises there :smallsmile: i just need the time to flesh things out. time time time... :smallannoyed:

i hope you all enjoyed the read. i'll be glad to hear what you think!
till next time,
Kol Korran.

[Kol Korran]

fewer and fewer readers.
anyway, i've opened up two new threads concerning my... concerns for the next meeting. feel free to chime in!

about building the keeper: "We can build him, we have the source books!" (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10042242#post10042242)

about Yuan Ti in Xen'dric: "what do you know of your friendly neghborhood snakeman?" (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=181170)

[Kol Korran]

our meeting was delayed to the end of next week. (saturday). meanwhile, one of the players (the one who plays Khork and once played Layla) desires yet once again to change character. i thought to try something a bit special with him this time, giving him options that aren't regular to our games.

he's chosen something... interesting i think. waiting to see how it will play out!

[akma]

What did he choose?

[Kol Korran]

i think i'd rather keep it as a surprise. (hopefully it WILL surprise someone)

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 8: Janauary 22nd, 2011- The Road to Obsidian City:Harpy negotiation, undead, drow and riddles

In game date- 18 Aryth- 4 Vult (late fall- early winter, month of Warding)

Long time since last meeting- 5 weeks! i do hope next semester is easier. i was afraid the party would liek to break up, but they seem to like the game, which is good! As This meeting meant a whole new chapter, i had a lot of work to do. plus, i had planned with Khork's player the arrival of his new character, but things have not gone exactly as planned (do they ever do?).

I have resigned to believe that few people read this campaign log, but hopefully it will be left for my party once (and if) we finish the campaign. or at least for me to learn from? for the few of you who do read this- thanks!

a quick reminder: may be in due- last meeting the party met their new patron- Obraskyr, who has been working to thwart the Dark six (now only 4... :smallfrown:) in their plans, by providing help and guidance to the party. the party had found a map detailing 4 destinations important to the dark six, and they chose to equip themselves and try and reach the Obsidian City down in Xen'dric. Google remember it has something to do with his memory, maybe it's his home?

Between meetings, preparations
The party had quite a loot. most bought protective armor and cloaks of resistance, but there are a few note worthy acquisitions:

Ipiks purchased and crafted many poisons, almost all of them Sasson Leaf. he is in love with it. he also purchased a partially depleted deck of illusions.
Red bought 2 pearls of power, enabling her to cast many low level spells. she's becoming quite the batwoman.
Google purchased boots of striding, improving his speed. also a magical full plate to make him far less vulnerable.


despite their considerable wealth, they remained nearly broke. PCs will be PCs. :smalltongue: however, they did have 5000 "spending acount" through a Khundarak bank by their patron.

Eberron Stuff:
Khundarak is the house of banking, and it keeps transdimensional vaults for his clients, that can be accessed from any branch of the bank. easier to carry large amount of loot.

Chapter 3

Another Prophecy bit, and a sea voyage
Bfore leaving the party met the troubled Obraskyr once more. he told them that he was searching the Porphecy for any clues, since they have done something that was deemed... unlikely (the bastards smiled smartly at that! :smallamused:) and he have been able to come up with this piece of the prophecy- an old flame that lighten a new, covered in metal, ally true except for Khork's player, they all looked quite confused.

DM note:
this was supposed to ease the joining of his character. however the party quite forgot about it till they met him

the moved through the dark streets and boarded a ship towards the city of Stormreach. i Have originally planned an encounter with Sahuagin here (starting as negotiation, might escalate to more), but decided it will be a waste of precious gaming time. perhaps i was wrong, perhaps right. anyway- we continued. after about 10 more days of sea voyage, the party reached the shores of Xen'dric

Gather Information in a strange City
This part was set to give the party a bit of the exotic feel of the strange City- the giant ruins, the heat, the different and strange races, and more. i was going for a "wild west in chicago" type of feel, since i had precious little info about the city, and that's how i imagined it. the party first visited an Inn (that for some reason that eludes me they decided (!) was called "The Energetic Flee") and started info gathering. soon they learned that there was such a place, but that most explorations of it either didn't return, or came back repoorting some sort of a "headache disturbance".

they headed for the Wayfounders enclave, and had a hilarious talk with the dwarf owner there, trying to persuade him that they are his new exploring team, asking him to equip them and more. Ipiks kept trying to get on his good side by "being small comaradery" which did not go well. at the end they purchased a fairly expensive map, being promised that if they bring back valuable information, the dwarf will be able to refund them, even buy the map back. he also told them of a half orc called Iliacus that been close to the place a few weeks ago.

Google started to remember- the City was indeed his home! he now remembered, looking at the map, traveling down the river that led from near the city to Stormreach alongside about a dozen other half giants, they were on a mission. but where are they now?

The half orc was found at a gambling hall. Khork and Ipiks sat down to play. Khork's "unsubtle" methods almost led to a whole battle, but Ipiks cleared the table (high dice roll), and won the Iliacus's respect. he was worried at Seeing Google, almost going for his weapon before he was calmed down.

the conversation yielded the following information- about 4 months ago a sickly looking elf (the party guessed correctly it to be the devourer) hired him and some other merceneries to get to the Obsidian City- they reached some sort of craters with pillars of Obsidian stone in it, upon which was the ruin of some giatn city, but they couldn't get in- when they tried some barriers caused them severe head aches. plus- there were the half giant and stone gianst guardians.

but the devourer would set ambushes outside the city, hunt those that got out and... interogated. the giant kin also retaliated, and one of their ambushes nearly got Iliacus killed. it sure did the others. but the elf was pleased, and headed back. Iliacus hated the place ever since. he also gave them the name of a good boat captain- Eirs and her sister Larrisa, that could take them close to the city.

The party went to sleep, not before Ipiks tried to find some Drow to converse with, without any success.


Boat and Ambush
next morn the party was contacted by Obraskyr through the personal sending stone they carried- he had procured the services of an adventuring Jorasco healer to join them- Jalo d'Jorasco. they found the merry and mischevious fellow, who followed them. they also took the opportunity to buy quite a lot of antidote and a few "delay poison" potions.

then they contacted Eris as she was supposed to pay taxes, and used that as a leverage to lower the boat price. there was some fierce haggling, as all expenses were now gone. Eris told them to get to her boat, she would come soon.

Design Note:
For those familiar with skills challenges from 4E, the entire "preperations stage" worked quite similar to that- gain a number of successes due to roleplaying and skill uses in various opportunities, before a certain number of failures. the party did succeed at the end, but not before they made enough noise to attract attention

near the boat i had all throw sense motive checks, and all but Red succeeded. the ambush was partially spoiled! there was a young hill giant (10 HD), Warblade 4, and Warmage 4. Ipiks was burnt by the mage, but shadow jaunted right beside him, the warblade was beset by Google and Khork, while Red (after recovering) made the giant fall with her Tasha's Hideous laughter spell.

DM rules note:
some of the "Save or suck" spells were a little changed (like Tasha's hideous laughter). the target can make a new save every 1d4 rounds. it weakens the spells somewhat, without making them obsolete. i still think it's a powerful spell)

the battle was quite one sided, and finished with Google (as usuall) making a hideous crit against the just about to rise giant, cutting off a limb. the party quickly investigated the warblade, who admitted he was a mercenery that was hired by a noble man with lots of Karrnathi skeletons and zombies (the Keeper) at his back to take down whomever asked "too many questions".

cue in "intimidation extremes" by the party. except for Danves, they all chimed in, THOROUGHLY convincing him to be their eyes and ears now. needless to say, he eagerly agreed. the party also found a wand of shield (which Red took) which proved quite useful later on.

Eris (and a few guards) came to investigate the commotion. she quickly motioned the party to get to her boat, "The Daring Venture" and get the hell out of here!


River Ride, "Deal" with harpies.
the boat is small, the crew as well, made up of 2 pilots/ captains, 4 deck hands, and 3 warforged guards, maintianed by a small and nerveous dwarf called Hrit. the voyage is quiet at first, except for Google not liking the waves, and Danves courting Larrisa. on night watches, he "watches" with her. which is just the situation that comes up when on the second night the boat (while anchoring), is beset by 6 harpies that land on deck! the warforged is prepared to attack, when their leader, not a terribly bad looking crone hawks "NO fight! not yet! we wish bargain! make deal! got pretty stones! yes?" Danves is intrigued "what deal?"

as the others wake up and get out (danves makes sure to stamp his foot and talk really loud!) he learns of the deal- the harpies need... mates. Their roost has been depleted ,and so they need more young to refill the wing.

DM note:
I may have mentioned it before, but i tweak quite a bit with the fluff of monsters. i prefered to leave harpies female only, taking male mates from other humanoid races).

now this has led to a most humorous discussion we had to date. they desired either Danves ("you look nice! real nice!", Khork ("big and so strong! strong chiks!") or Google ("one of giant kin?! yes! bigger and stronger! we like!") and the three parlied between them. Khork at first was amendable till he heard they also kill and eat sentient creatures, after which he just sought an opportunity to kill them.

finally it was Google who agreed! the leader was joined by two others. at this the party stopped "wait, all 3?" to which was replied "small wing, need many eggs. beside- 2 groom while we... yes..." And so Google and 3 of the harpies went down to the hold. amongst screeches and hawks the party talked to the others (and Danves calmed Larrisa) and learned that the roost was attacked by the Keeper and his troops some time ago, only they were followed by Drow.

2 stones were chosen from random 4, for a bit of loot, in exchange, before the harpies left.

DM note:
I think this was truly a different kind of encounter. true- it was mostly for laughs, but i also think it added a bit of depth to their character. i thought to skip this encounter as well (as with the sahuagin), but i'm glad i didn't.


Outskirts of Obsidian City. Battle at the way point.
The party reached "Ever Watchful", a huge statue looking over to the sea. this was the Daring Venture's stopping point. Erin agreed to waut for them for 10 days, after that she heads back. Googl'e memory was jolted by the statue's familiar look- he remembered the way to the Crater, but also the mental barriers. however, there was a way around it- some sort of... door? portal? way? through a building in the outer ruins.

He started leading the way there, until Ipiks who scouted ahead heard the sounds of 2 drow talking. he and Tuulikki (Red's pseudo-dragon familiar) found the building and noticed two drow talking amongst themselves, with some bows at the ready. they also heard some noises from further to the crater, what sounded like a little camp.

as Ipiks climbed the building and waited for the party to arrive, thye made their way. luckily the drow thought the noise they were making was that of forces from the camp, but as soon as they got close enough they noticed Google. "Giant Kin!" they shouted in giant "they got through! sound the alarm!"

Ipiks fell from the roof and cut one, and then the other quickly, but the forces inside the building allready heard. a round later two horsn were sound- the battle was against the clock now!

and what a strange battle it was- they rushed in, but Ipiks and Khork took cover behind a wall while Google enlarged himself and took point. he quickly got struck by a hail of arrows, taking down most of his hit points. 3 Karrnathi zombies made a choke point at the opening of the room, while several drow and Karrnathi skeleton from a height advantage were the artillery. beside, there were a low level drow wizard and drow cleric, mostly using buff spells and control spells.

There was another figure in the room- someone covered entirley by a full plate armor with a flame motif. he seemed to try and struggle against something.

DM note:
This is Khork's player next character! I shall from now on refer to him as Willie, as this is his name. He did not take control of him till the end of the meeting however. and the party barely interacted with him.

Google was replaced By Khork and Ipiks, while he healed, and struck from behind him. Ipik's numerous flasks of holy water proved useful, as did Khork's strikes, while Khork was absorbing most of the arrows with his many, many hi points. but the battle was taking long. finally they broke in, angry and tired of the mooks. Khork massacred the cleric, Red and Ipiks the wizzard (together with Willie), and Google approached the balcony the archers were on and started smashing them left and right. the battle was won.


Riddles and Keepers
In the middle of the room was an arcane circle, around which was some writing in giant, but it made no sense! Google remembered this was a portal, but it was protected by a riddle, which was encrypted itself. he might be able to figure it out, if he had time... the rest of the party went to buy him time, while Willie's movements seemed worried, and he would not leave the room. he says the Keeper tried to find out a way into the inner reaches of the Obsidian City, but he couldn't figure out the writing.

Red and Google make a few Decipher script and memory tests to try and figure it out, and google starts to remember, but not enough to decipher. Red leaves to help the others against the coming reinforcements.

and they come, in the image of a sole rider on a skeletal horse, covered in bone armor from head to toe. Ipiks' player guesses it- "The Keeper, we're screwed!"

Design Note:
I've used a bit of the advice given to me about how to build this guy, but it's mostly my own thing. he's a clr 4/ Ftr 1/ Bone Knight 7 (prestige class from Five Nations) except for his wealth, i stayed by the rules.

This battle was supposed to feature the death of Khork, by an agreement before game between the player and me. this turned out to work otherwise.

The Keeper opened up with a volley of a split ray enervation, knocking down Khork 3 levels, and Red 4! (she was now level 1). he dismounted as the party closed on him, and Google tried to remember. though he wielded a magical tower shield and full plate, they got a few blow, though not as many as with the other's of the dark six, While Red mostly used her wands, not shrieking away! meanwhile he continued to debuff them (he should have came buffed up from the ride, but i forgot about that). menawhile Danves, invisible sneaked up from behind him. Khork drank a potion of restoration.

As Danves struck him delivering a channeled shocking grasp, his stalwart pact came to be- dark energy enveloped him, fueling his power. (5th level spell, CoD). and then he stopped playing- Slay living on Khork! the orc rolled well, just as Google remembered the cipher, and found out the riddle "get back here!"

as they retreated, the keeper shot two enervation rays at Khork (I was confused a this point why he didn't "die as agreed") but he survived. the party, with Willie, got into the Circle and disappeared, with the shout of the frustrated Keeper in their heel.

They were then surrounded by about 20 Half giants, raising their swords and bows before a hand was raised. "Stop! Google, is that you?"
------------------------------------
This is where we stopped. next meeting (4-5 weeks) we'll continue with the defense of Obsidian City, Google's revelations, and a new intriguing character.

As to Khork's player- i talked with him after the meeting. he was too attached to Khork to let him die in "not as heroic" a situation, which i understand. i get a feeling he quite likes the fellow, so i came to think of a way to have Khork depart in a "not terminal" fashion next meeting, something i've talked with the player, which he really liked.

I'm trying to find a way to make my own RL schedule less hectic so i can fit more meetings. luckily, most of the material for next meeting is ready (i over prepared), so maybe it will be possible. a few more thoughts:

The skills challenge went well. i think this is due to two main factors mainly- a lexible and adjustable enough frmae to allow the party to explore where they want to. Annnnd- not telling the party it is a skill challange, and just leting them play it out.
i really liked the harpy encounter. i should try and think up other interesting ideas.
the battle with the mooks was suprisngly entertaining, and difficult for the party. they do not deal all that well with archers... this may prove a particular hindrance in the battles to come.


for any readers- thanks, and please share your thoughts!

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 9: February 26th, 2011- Besieged, Bridge Battle, Webs and constructs

In game date- 4-5 Vult (early winter, month of Warding)

Again a long time had passed since last we gamed, and last i wrote. but this may change as my schedule is a bit more free, so that means more frequent games! in fact we're playing this saturday (two days from now)- just two weeks after the last game. hopefully this will continue. :smallsmile:

Just before the meeting the player playing khork told me he's not coming. problems with the family and so on, but i felt there was something deeper to this. some of us tried to persuade him to come, but he refused. this had me worried at the beginning of the game, and a bit distracted through out. but as i'll detail in the next post, things may have changed for the better.

the player was supposed to take on a new character- the guy in armor who joined the group after the battle? it was supposed to be an undead "Karrnathi" (sort of) skeleton paladin of the silver flame, also a favored soul of it... yes, a bit bizarre, but i felt it could work. he intended to be always covered fully in his full plate armor, claiming he was some sort of an intelligent construct, similar to warforged.

Instead i decided he just didn't pass, and that's it. onwards towards the session!

Don't you remember me?
when the party appeared through the portal, they saw surrounding half giants (they all looked as big as google), some expanding, when they suddenly heard a feminine voice- "Google?" the player was a bit surprised when a tall dark haired green eyed woman half giant ran towards him, smiling, kissing him. "i Knew you'd be back! it has been so long! did you miss me? where are the others, who are these?" all in giant language. meanwhile the group was surrounded suspiciously, the hald giants pointing at Ipiks hissing "Yuan Ti!"

Google's player stammered for words, and opted for apologetic honesty, telling his story in short, as unbelievable as it sounded. he seemed to recognize some of the faces, though the names eluded him. the woman seemed scrutinizing "you say you don't remember, not even me? I'm Deest, you're betrothed. your mother? Auxellia? your father who went with you?"

DM's note
Google's player just got married. i thought to give him an in game bethrothed, in case his wife might join and they'd want to play together? slim chances i know, but still. besides- he's very happy that he's married, though to do a little twist on that.

I enjoyed toying with the clueless player, providing him a name or memory once in awhile, but in the end he was accpted, if not yet believed. "Let us go to Auxellia, she knows about memory" the party was escorted towards what looked like a massive temple with dragon heads (stone ones) protruding from it. as everything around here- the place was in shambles. as they reached the giant steps, another impressive half giant came from one of the temple's openings. Google recognized him as Nau, the son of the chief. only now he learned the chief died and Nau is in charge. this one looked brash, emotional, but strong. again Google was examined, and again he opted for the truth. this angered Nau, but he too agreed that Auxellia should be consulted, though he added bitterly "you and your father have brought this upon us!"

Unfelt by the others, Danves felt something stir within him as he entered the temple- some power rising within. the spark of... whatever the speaker of the flame put in him just grew a bit stronger

DM note
I decided to start playing with Danves' curse make it more prominent.

The Guardian, the relics, the siege of Obsidian City
as the party traveled inwards they saw the ruined splendors of the giant's temple. they saw that out of the 8 towers there remained 5 towers, one that they were climbing. they were joined by a not half giant, but rather an elderly Kalashtar whom Red knew from her old community at Cyre. "Ellesir? what are you doing here of all places?" thus began a short conversation where she learned the telepath/ artificer traveled to Xendric after the war, fascinated by the concept of giving sentience to constructs. "if Cannith can do it, i bet i could to! a dream of an old man!" he heard of the psychic barrier surrounding obsidian city, and decided to travel there to explore. the half giants welcomed him- he taught them the common language and made magic items for them, and they let him explore. "now i'm trapped here like the rest of you!"

DM design
I wanted to give the party the ability to craft and change magic items to a limited degree during the sige, so a low level artificer did the trick. there were other reasons to add him, which will be made clear. some more obvious, some less.

they reached a great open circular room, in the middle of it there was a humming obelisk. on it was a serpentine creature- the guardian naga Auxellia. the walls were covered with moving and shifting glyphs- parts of the draconic Prophecy.

The naga introduced herself, and welcomed Google. she seemed warm and kind, though very tired. She checked Google's memory by sinking her teeth to his back and concentrating. "Strange, it's not like you're memory was wiped, but rather that it was forcibly taken from you. it's trying to reconstruct itself." the player was disturbed by this, when Ipiks chimed in. "When i saved him, i saw his attackers taking something shining from him!"

DM design
Nagas in my world have some powers to extract and examine memory. for more info about Nagas check my "compendium for the maligned..." sig. it does however contain a spoiler of what is to come.

What followed next was a long conversation explaining the life and importance of The Obsidian City, and how it was protected, and who are the forces against them. i'll detail it in points:

Obsidian city was an ancient bastion against forces from the dream plane- Dal Quor. the obsidian was used to create a massive Psychic barrier, and thus a refuge and safe place for magical study.
in the cataclysm most of the city was turned into a crater, from which jutted up quite a few small obsidian islands.
the islands are mostly connected by large obsidian bridges. travel from island to island is through the bridges, or by flight.
the city drew the half giants to it, who lives there for quite some time, as well as a friendly tribe of stone giants.
in the middle of what was the obsidian city (now at it's edge) lies the temple of dragons. it houses 3 great artifacts- the Great Geode which the stone giant worship and holds power over rock, earth and stone (the party ignored this), the psychic generator that controls the psychic barrier of the city, which Auxellia operates. and the blood summoning pool, which is supposed to enable summoning of some vessel to travel nearly everywhere.
Auxelia hasn't been clear on this, but apparently Nagas from ancient times take residence here, guarding the artifacts against those who'd use them for ill.
at night the moons power the psychic generator so that on each bridge there are 3 barriers that prohibits passage of any sentient creature. at morning they cause damage to any sentient being passing through. at light they require maintenance by the Naga by the generator. they can be taken down by enough psychic energy applied to specific conducting stones near the bridges
the enemy forces are led by the Keeper, and are comprised by Karrnathi undead, regular undead, drow and Yuan ti. Auxellia does not know why they joined forces. they did choose their timing well however, when nearly all of the stone giant's tribe is on pilgrimage elsewhere. they have been using some strange psi bugs (!! remember them from the first session? i don't blame you if you don't. been a long time since) they apply their powers to take down the barriers, while the other forces harass any half giant who tries to energize the barriers.
the current battles is over 7 bridges, each 3 bridges away from the temple. 3 have drow, 3 have Yuan Ti, 1 have only undead. all have extra undead. the forces are outnumbered, but they try to hold off until the giants come back (Auxellia sent them a psychic message)
at night since the generator is powered by the moons, no fighting is possible. neither side seem to have flying capabilities.
many have died on both sides, but mostly on the half giants side. the enemy seems well prepared.


But what do they WANT? from what they've got, they are looking for some sort of "key". Auxellia was worried that it might be one of the artifacts, When ipiks said "no! i think the key is you!"... i tried to remain calm and not show anything, since of course in bloody hell he was right! but that was meant to be the surprise of the chapter. i know it's not that original, but i thought i could fool them for *a little* while. :smallannoyed: thankfully the others didn't seem to much notice and i diverted the conversation.

Um, so what do we do? some regular work, and some not-so-regular work
Well, the plan was to have the group protect be a reserve force- be called to any bridge where there was trouble. when most half giants left, Auxellia called upon the party for one more chat: "I'm afraid we're losing, and we may not be able to hold on till the giants come. we need something to improve our odds. i've thoughts of 3 ventures:

There is an old crumbling giant mage's laboratory still in our control. in the past those who explored it never returned. perhaps you can prove more usefull? Nau won't like it though.
the catacombs hold the grave of the mage i mentioned. maybe he holds some power there? you Google know however that your people consider this a holy site.
if you can pass through the portals to one of the sites of the smaller resonating stones- psychic stones that can amplify the resonator, perhaps i can make the barriers stronger. this may buy us time. however, whenever you use a portal, the other side is aware someone is coming. so beware.
Auxellia thought they could defend a bridge at morning, and explore a site at night. the party decided they'll explore the mage's laboratory tomorrow night. (they were still under the effects of fighting the previous day, including the enervation that brought Red to 1st level!)

DM design
I wanted the party to fill they need to choose their resources wisely, and choose when to use them. a bit of a feeling of being overwhelemed is also what i was going for.

lastly, i thought it could be an interesting variation- at morning fighting similar yet somewhat different battles (the bridges), and at night- unique mini dungeons/ missions


A few more things before bed time :smallwink:
As they were ready to depart, Auxellia called Khork over, who was in a sort of religious awe the entire time. in the end it was concluded that he will try to use some of his draconic power to help her power the psychich generator (the players rolled their eyes at me. "this is a PSYCHIC generator. Khork is really unlikely to be the one powering it... but i wanted to leave the player a way into his old character if need be).

Is there anything of use to have? well, Nau explained they distributed all useful stuff amongst the fighting forces, but Auxellia had a few mroe trinkets none of them liked. the party took a Troll Gut rope, and 2 parls of Brain Lock.

DM design
I'm introducing new items from the MIC which i just got. quite nice things they have there. however, most items i'm presenting are low magic. the party is WAY over the Wealth by level (killed two of the dark six) and so i'm trying to balance them a bit. a bit less magic items in the coming adventures.

Red went to talk to Ellesir, sharing intricities of their Kalashtar heritage (this is where i learned i've read about it far less than Red's player has... awkward! and we played a bit more with Google and Deest, who didn't lnew what to make of him. his mother, and knowing that his father went on the trip with them! (which Google can't remember). Google also met his Chimera! (which turned out to be a matted multi colored aging cat).

Ipiks enjoyed taunting the Half giants, and Danves, when going to sleep, had a dream.

Dreamyou start dreaming a strange dream, the clearest you've had in some time. you float back from this place, over the ocean, over the Sahuagin infested waters, back towards Aundair. you reach Fairhaven (the capitol), and descend near the warehouse where this all started. you hear a humming, and as you turn you see Auresia, your former... "employer", with a swarm of the psychic bugs on the floor around her.

"we've been searching for you", she says in a honeyed voice. her appearance is striking- she seems almost like a queen, or an empress. " but we've looked in the wrong places it seems" she smiles, and started walking towards the warehouse. "you've been following us all along."

you enter the warehouse, and find the corpse of the dead changeling that caught fire. she nods her head sadly. "we did hope we could transfer more of these back to our place, but we have enough, i assure you. more than enough for our plans." she laughs pleasantly "you must have thought you've succeeded greatly, haven't you? naughty children!" she walks further, into a mist that appears from somewhere, into the Skull Reave village. "and here as well, what a glorious victory!" she claps her hands poiltely "so we lost some allies. but those were weak, disorganized, and well, they were mostly meant to soften the enemy a bit, as mortals tend to do. such short lives..."

the mist surround her again, and you see the outskirts of Obsidian City. "but now you've got yourself in... a bit of a situation it seems. you've managed to defeat two of our members, but now you've met the strongest of us. and he is not alone, he got a whole army behind him. and as i understand- you are besieged?" Auresia turns to you with a sympathetic compassionate face. "I won't lie, there will be deaths, but mainly on one side. who'se side do you wish to side with? I have felt something, (and my feelings are rarely wrong) that says you Danves, might be more suited to our number, than to theirs. we have an... opening you might say, thanks to you, which can be filled with ones so connected to the prophecy...

Auresia starts to fade away, her arms open wide. "the future shall not be as the past. the offer stands for a short time. the lord of bones will be watching. choose wisely..."

with that the dream ends.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Bridge battle! round one!
I asked the players to roll a dice- this represented some of the progress the Keeper had made at deciphering the portal. (not that the player know what it means) average result. Without the company of Khork, the 4 stood as a reserve force. time went by, psy bugs tried to take down barriers, half giants tried to keep them up (i made it so that the process of taking down is long). at midday, i rolled to see- the enemy was making progress at the 7th bridge- the Yuan ti one, with the most vegetation.

as they reached there, 2 of the 3 barriers were up, but most of the half giants were lain down bleeding- the reason- skeletons of a stone giant and Ettin. behind the farther barrier were Karrnathi archer and zombies, and some yuan ti.

a desperate fight followed. Google is fragile, and easily hit. the gisnt skeleton's reach pommeled him quite quickly, but he was moved away through Red's teleportiaon magic. Ipiks used most of his maneuvers to bach the skeletons, when Google came back to action and helped bring the skelton's down, with some scorching rays from Red, and some meager help from Danves.

the sentient enemies proved to be fairly poor archers against Ipiks, who shined with his great AC, but they managed to hit Red quite a few times. Jalo, the Jorasco healer (the party forgot about him as Vaarsuvius forgets about Black wing) had his hands full.

And that is when the OTHER naga appeared, beside the Yuan Ti, casting a ball of acid at Red. the party seeked cover, avoiding missile fire while Jalo heals the otehr half giants, Red uses some of her spells back, and Google tried to bring the barrier back up.

Ipiks used his Shadow Jaunt to bypass one barrier, and prepared to rain alchemist fire on the enemy, but the Yuan Ti cast their fear on him, and made him run. (failed the 3rd saving throw). the battle could have ended much worse, if it wasn't for Google bringing the barrier back up.

DM design
the party was supposed to be tough, but perhaps this was a bit too tough.i'll need to see in other battles.

Ipiks shined through out the battle, mostly his nigh- unhitability, and massive damage at times.

Level up!
level 6 for Danves and Red, level 5 for Google and Ipiks.
Red just beacme an Ultimate Magus! (but still caps at 2nd level spells for now...)
Danves added a level of duskblade- rogue 2, duskblade 4
Ipik's new maneuver is a some ball of flame- touch attack 30 feet for 6d6 damage.
I wish i remembered what Google's new power is but i don't. :smallfrown: i'll ask him at the start of next meeting.

tangled web to begin with...
the party healed, and hear the news- 2 other bridges fell. with that on their mind they reached the obsidian island where the mage's laboratory lay. as they approached the gates Google's sharp sense caught sight of cobwebs in the yard. ever so cautious, they sent Ipiks to explore inwards. once he was inside enough, suddenly a phase spider materialized behind him, trying to bite, and the whole yard was way laid with it's web (i've gien the spider a new ability). Ipiks dodged him, and met also 2 ettercaps.

the battle was short, ipiks retreated, and after a carefull ready actions by Google, the phase spider was almost killed and retreated. Ipiks harvested poison glands, and they moved to what remained of the main building.

Tidying up
Inside there was an Obelisk partially humming, but more then that- there were neat piles of stuff organized all over the place, and a bit of static electricity. but there was not much time to think, as two obsidian warforged chargers charged at them. (nonintelligent versions, with 3 power points to use for 1-3 powers) this battle ended in 2 rounds. bloody joke. when examining the malfunctioning obelisk (which went through the roof to higher floors) Red realized it tries to organize things. the party found some stairs and went up.

and a tangled web to end with
the y found what looked like a huge workshop, with three huge tables upon which various parts of big warforged were assembled. but near the obelisk, in the middle of the room, hanging from a multitude of cobwebs was a hanging figure, and it lunged at them!

this was the "boss monster" of the complex- a web golem (MM3) it's immunity to SR magic meant it was imprevious to most powers by Danves and Red, which i didn't count on. they resorted to using Acid Splashes... Ipiks again shined, especially by burning the thing with lots of alchemist's fire, and jumping on ledges trying to escape it. Google's sword got stuck in the golem's webs, and it flew from him (i deemed that the webs enable it a sort of flight in the room) after Ipiks. it's regeneration kept it active for quite long. (i described it as cobwebs rushing towrds it and fixing it from the mass of webs above.)

but even hard and long battles end, and so did this one (by an acid splash from Red!) the party searched the place, and found some more magic items (a jewel linking to an armor making it a mind armor, and braces of arcane freedom), but most importantly, they found a nearly complete construct that looked like an early version of a warforged titan! they couldn't fix it, but perhaps Ellesir could?

with that news the party decided to head back. :smallsmile:
-------------------------------
this was a busy meeting, with 2 nearly fatal encounters. i may need to recheck the balance of my encounters, but this is a bit problematic. oh well- win some and lose some.

through out the meeting Ipiks shined. i think this is due to Khork not being there, and Google being a "hit me!" button. the palyer became concenred that he is overpowered for the group. i didn't think he was broken, but he made adjusting encounters more difficult.

i hope i am not railroading the party too much. i feel that to an extent i am, which troubles me. true, i am giving them options, but ONLY those options, unless they'll think of a clever idea.

we'll see how long the siege goes. this may prove to be interesting.
NEXT post: in between sessions- changes in the party! :smallwink:

[McSmack]

This is a good read and has inspired me to possibly make my own campaign log for my Eberron game. Keep posting and keep being awesome.

[Kol Korran]

Thanks McSmack. every little encouragement helps.

In Between Sessions- dealing with players and characters
the 10th session is tomorrow, but between the previous one and this one there have been a lot of phones and emails and so on, so i thought i should update. if you don't care about this, or don't want spoilers, just wait (or skip) to the next session.

First of all- Khork's player: his friend (Red's player) has talked him over, and he decided to go for the character he likes the most- blaster! (he just loves his fireballs this guy) so he has chosen to play a warmage dwarf (instead of the Karrnathi skeleton paladin/favored soul he first wanted). he played a VERY successful invoker wizard in a previous campaign, and i guess he missed that. His new character's name is BomBurrel starting level- 6

he's done very little background on the character, more just giving it a personality, which is the one of a battle enthusiastic blasting dwarf. i've allowed him to have an ever feeling ale-skin, and he used his money to get a lesser rod of empower, and some stat boosting items (con and cha). two of his feats went to overcome SR, the bane of the previous wizard invoker he played...

one note about the extra spells the warmage can take- i expanded it to more than just evocation. the player chose grease and dispel magic as his spell. i'm kind of relieved at that- dispel magic is a sorely needed spell for the party.
all in all- powerful character, (party wise), but i don't think it's game breaking. as to how it enters the game- you'll see next time

Secondly- Ipiks Player: he decided to change character! at first i was bummed about it, feeling that he is just doing this to preserve group balance, and doesn't really want to do it, but he informed me that he felt he had his fun with Ipix, but that the character roleplay isn't going to progress anywhere much. he wanted someone with more depth.

his character is a cleric woman Aasimar (playing as partially angelic sort of thing) who is a follower of the Soverign host... sort of. She looks like Tilda Swinton did in her role as the fallen Gabriel in the movie Constantin (minus the wings). a far cry from Ipixs!. the character has some dark secrets, and she comes from the ranks of the enemy with BomBurrel, but i'll keep those in check for now. don't want to spoil the surprise too soon. suffice to say he invested heavily in her personality, background (together with me. i like to cooperate when players want me to), and how it affects her mechanical aspects. she has chosen the name Savage for herself. starting level- 5

pics http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/meir_8/Savage1.jpg

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/meir_8/Savage2.jpg
the character will probably be refined up to the meeting itself tomorrow (we have precious little time to invest in such matters), but this is how it stands so far.

note worthy items? i don't remember it all, but she has some spectacles that help her scribe scrolls (i'm using modified pathfinder item creation rules- no XP, but you must roll a spell craft check of 15+CL), spider boots (refluffed slippers), and her full plate armor is glamored to represent her priestly robes, angelic looking. she fights with... a club, which the player hopes to enchant with the brambles spell (CoD), or it's 3rd level version (forgot the name)

this has the potential to be a fascinating character. i just hope i'll provide enough opportunities for her to roleplay with.

one question remains- what happens with Ipix? well, wait for the meeting for that to become clear. i integrated him in a position where he can return if Savage doesn't play out as fun.

Lastly- Danves' player: don't worry. he is not changing character. since i started playing with his curse, i realized that we may be pulling it in different direction. also- the dream i sent him- did he start using acid splashes because of it, or because of... being Danves? in short, i started to email with the player, and see where we stand.

i thought that he is a coward that comes out and becomes a hero, that the curse is a blessing in disguise. but as far as i understood (and i'm still not sure) that is not the case- he likes to play the character as an actual full fledged coward. Boy have i blinded myself to this! he would have liked to take on Auresia's offer, but felt that the group won't accept, and won't forgive that- and that he couldn't really play that.

to tell the truth i didn't quite plan on how to react to Danves reactions to the dream. i did it more so the group will feel that the enemy is trying to mess with their minds.

i feel i may be a bit at odds with the player, but i hope it works out well.

hope you enjoyed an update (those few of you who read this). i'll probably write up the next group's session next friday, a week from now.

and as always- tell me what you think! :smallsmile:

[Kol Korran]

didn't mean to post so soon, but this is about a different matter- i added pics to the characters at first, and to Savage (see previous post). i still need to find a pic for Khork, and there are pics of Red that i somehow need to convert into non-word-file images. (i suck at computers). hopefully there will be more soon.... enjoy! :smallwink:

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 10: march 12th, 2011- New arrivals, the Betrayal, "Bring it on!"

In game date- 5-6 Vult (early winter, month of Warding)

well, this last Saturday we had our 10th (yay!) meeting. and it was a BLAST! :smallbiggrin: it was serious fun though it posed a few future problems for me. but we all enjoyed immensely! Before the meeting Ipiks/ Savage's player told everyone he was changing character as well, and sent them the pics. as we started to set the game table, there was a discussion between some of the players- they were disappointed that Ipiks is leaving, they kind of liked him, but they were more worried about the new character. Red's player who got to know Ipiks player said that if he know him, the character will be intense, probably obsessed or possessed. he comes close to it.

but i'm stalling- to the meeting!

What to do with a broken warforged
through the connection with Auxellia, the party reported their success, and requested that Ellesir will join them. the telepath/ artificer came, marveling at their find. he explained this is no normal warforged like the Cannith ones, and that a simple repair spell won't fix it. but maybe the "order making obelisk" can help him.

Red suggested to help him, and help him with the morning Kalashtar ritual. he responded that he does not follow the Rituals any more, that he finds other forms of meditation. "how do you keep the nightmares in you quelled?"

DMs! read at least as your players do about their races and classes! i have read about the Kalashtar only a long time ago, and so missed on a good roleplay opportunity here. the player laughed about it, and we decided he is from another clan, whch follow different practices. the players however are now somewhat suspicious of him.

DM design and spoiler
As they should be. perhaps i should have hidden his "awekward nature" more. :smallsigh:

the party decided to let him work on the warforged titan. hopefully it could be activated soon enough.

new arrivals
the party got back to camp, chatted abit with Auxellia, Nau and Khork, and went to sleep. they were aroused from sleep and told that 2 new people came through the portal. as the party rushed there they saw Bomburrel the dwarf holding a light mace casually (his rod of empower), and a tall fair looking woman in slightly blood stained clerical vestments, with an odd holy symbol emblazoned upon it, similar to that of Dol Arrah, a goldn symbol of the sun with sharp angled protrusions

Eberron stuff and holy symbol explanation
One of the major pantheons in Eberron is that of the Sovereign host- gods of civilization. they are usually worshiped as a whole, but at times a person chooses to follow one specific god. one of their leaders is Dol Arrah- goddess of honor, sun, valor, and self sacrifice. Savage's player asked just before the game if he can belong to a religious order he invented- the Pretorian Order- focused on seeking evil actively and fighting it.

those who know Eberron would say this sounds like the Silver flame (which is Ironic because the player has issues with that faith), but i allowed it. a very "off beat" order :smallsmile:

the two seemed quite calm, but it was obvious they came from a fight. Nau asked Google to interrogate, since most of the half giants didn't speak common. they said that they were under the Keeper's hold, but that BomBurrel figured out the password to get through the portal, and they fought some skeletons and went through. the party was suspicious, but Savage agreed to undergo any examinations, but before that she wished to unload her supplies (she was carrying many sacks tied to her backpack, which she "liberated" from the Drow forces.

It was hilarious when Ipiks said "traitors! kill them!" to his own character, and responded as Savage with calm and ignoring him. BomBurrel's player stayed mostly silent through this, other than drinking form and offering his everfilling wineskin.

Nau told them that Auxellia could examine them through her memory- bite. they got to her, and she bit both, and confirmed they were speaking with true intentions, though she looked at Savage oddly, but didn't reveal her secrets. Google who trusted her judgement welcomed them to the defense.

the party discussed, got to know the new ones a bit better, and said they would try to hold of another bridge tomorrow, hopefully kill either the Naga or enemy wizard (which is in fact also a warmage like BomBurrel) and see the giant's catacombs at night...

Goodbye Ipiks, till we meet again
as they awoke, they saw that Ipiks was gone. On Red's lap was the dark six map, only there were some things written on it. And Danves woke to find a slayed rat next to his head. confused (yeah right!) the party started reading the farewell letter.

the letter was partly something the player wrote, and partly (a big part) things he improvised. thankfully for this log, we play in English (a bit of practice for all of us), and so the letter was in English as well, and added in the spoiler. the actual speech was about twice as long.

Ipiks' letter
For the… "hand of shadow and light" (said mockingly)

"dear friends (and Danves)… for the past two weeks I have enjoyed your company- we fought bugs, got exploded and betrayed. Fought a strange ball with eyes and a fleshy thing with eyes and mouth (both of which you didn't let me kill!). we got captured, I tried to save you, you didn't want to be saved, I understand… we went to kill a wyvern, and again you didn't let me kill it. We dropped fire from the sky (and wasted it! I blame Danves!) and killed a warchief. That I admit was fun! But again, you didn't let me kill the rest of the hobgoblins.

Then we go to another continent, fight giants, tanned elves and snakey people! Sounds like fun. But you see, through all of this there was something bothering me. I.. I.. I never liked you! (well, except for Red with her inner spells! She is smart!) Google that I always need to protect, Khork with his loud mouth, and can't the orc bathe? And Danves… hmmmm… you know Danves.

Tonight I received an offer. I'm joining up with the other hand. They promised me more money, more power, more killing! More fun! This is much more than any of you ever offered me! Bah!

It has been nice (no it hasn't). but I'm leaving. Just to show I'm a nice guy, I didn't kill you all in your sleep (thought the temptation with some was hard). I might kill you when we next meet in battle. No hard feelings, eh? Just business. Oh, and I'm leaving you the map. I'm not a total bastard.

With love, Ipiks.

At some point through it, i thought it might bore the players and asked him to shorten it (not a solo performance) which was my bad- the players hushed me as they wanted to hear it all. they loved it.

I must say, that hsi was one of the more satisfying conclusions to a character's involvement in a group that i met. i've talked to the player, and agreed that Ipiks won't come into direct conflict with the character in the near future, when the player can try and see how he likes the new character. if he doesn't, we can bring Ipiks back in several ways.

Design Note
Before knowing that Ipiks player was changing characters, i wanted to mess with the players' minds by sending two dreams- to Ipiks and to Google (Red doesn't dream) from "Obraskyr" (Auresia really) warning of an upcoming betrayal. i thought it might be interesting for them to mistrust each other. but with an actual betrayal it seemed like a waste. i'll save the dreams for another time.

Right! so now we're done with exchanging characters!

Ding! Ding! Ding! Bridge battle! round two! (also known as "the wipe out")
first things first- i let the players roll two things: Keeper's progression in breaking the riddle, and working on the warforged. Red or Danves could help fixing the warforged, but they didn't want to be left out of the fighting (as i expected) and so Ellesir was left alone). both rolls were fairly average.

Again the wait for a crisis, and again the party was called to a bridge- the half giants were fighting a few Harpy zombies, while Drow rangers, few Karrnathi skellies and zombies, and a low level cleric waited behind the barrier, shooting arrows.

now, i knew that suddenly the party had a blaster, but i couldn't really have a reason for radically altered tactics (yet). besides- the player has been DYING to blast something. i thought he should have the chance.

so. first round into the battle- some buffs, Google charges the harpies and progression. second round- empowered ice storm over all the ones in the back... enough to wipe out everyone but the skeletons (immune to cold), who were still seriously wounded (bludgeoning damage). such joy in the party! the previous bridge battle nearly wiped them out. the skeletons retreated, and all but 1 (who had 1 hp left) were wiped out. the harpy zombies proved to not be much of a threat, but big bags of hp, so to save some time we decided after a few rounds to cut the battle short, and just assume some hp loss (which the wand of lesser vigor took care for).

exhilarated from victory, the party thought- "what next?"

Pressing on!
Red mentioned the resounding stones- Auxellia can use them to strengthen the Psychik Generator. but they were in enemy territory. if they'll pass through a portal to it- the enemy will be alarmed. but what if they'll go over the bridge directly towards the stone? it's onl3 3 islands away!

to tell the truth, i never thought they'd press straight on. i prepared a battle at bouth resounding stone sites, but not on route. so i decided to wing it. the half giants lowered the barriers, and the party passed, but not before savage cast "hide from undead" upon the whole group. they ran to the site (not quite quietly), and Google's sharp senses noticed a flaming arrow shot from one of the roofs to the place.

as they reached the place they faced an 8 headed hydra skeleton (i made a bunch of skeletons the keeper could create to unleash on the defenders, i was winging it as i said). and 4 more drow archers on the roof. Savage commanded one to approach, and fall to his death, BomBurrel created a flaming sphere there. and Danves shot one, while Google buffed himself. the Hydra couldn't see them due to Savage's spell, or so i thought.

having gotten rid of most opposition (Red was summoning a giant bee to deal with the rest), when Danves player informed us, the undead don't see the party, until they make ANY attack. RAAWR snapped the skeleton hydra? Savage tried to turn it, while BomBurrel brought his flaming sphere upon her, and blasted her with an empowered fireball, and Red used her wand of scorching ray on her. Danves tried to get away, casting Disrupt undead.

Meanwhile a drow cleric and wizard appeared, casting silence and glitterdust. and Damn the players- they all succeeded! Google, who still haven't attacked anyone, and was therefor ingnored by the Hydra, Rushed past her, like a small hurling giant, attack once- crit, splat on the wall. cleave! another crit, splat on another wall. the party gave few cheers to Google!

They got the Hydra to single digits hp, when i decided to bring the major drow threat- the warmage. he succeeded in casting a lightning bolt, before the Savage cast confusion on him, effectively disabling him. (some players got confused looks at the spell. confusion is usually a 4th level wizard spell. what domain does Savage has? Passion) 2 more spells, and a sword swing of Google, and a thrid splat was added to the walls. the Karrnathi zombies who guard him fled.

the party looted as they could in a short time (they understtod more forces were underway)- they found a +1 mithral shirt of blurring,(BomBurrel) anklet of translocation (Red), and armbands that grants 5 fire resist and +1 resistance to will (Google). they took the resonating stone, and used the portal to get back.

small victory, yay!

but wait, there is more!
I thought they may wait till evening now, and go to the tomb, but they decided to press the advanatage and go to the second resonating stone, which was in Yuan Ti territory. only there were 2 main problems- first is that they'll have to go through the portal to get to it, which means they'll be expected (the portal gives warning of incoming travelers. it is not instantenious. it gives 3 rounds "heads up".)

the Second was Danves- he became ill, quite pale and sickly, and tried to persuade the party to avoid the battle (the player wanted to do it, the character didn't)- the curse kicked in as severe as it could. Savage whispered to the rest "the darkness is allready here, within us..." in an ominous manner.

but press the advantage they must, and so they did, not before casting various buffs and defenses. in the location they found themselves surrounded by 8 pure blood and 3 half blood yuan ti! the vegetation in the place has grown wild, everywhere.

to make matters worse, they encountered a glyph of warding, who blasted quite a few of the party, though not that seriously. the battle commenced with Google failing his saves (the player has the worst luck) against two suggestion spells from the half bloods ("approach closer to the bushes, they'll offer protection" and "lower your psionics- they interfere with the resonating stone") followed by arrows, and more.

the party sort of split to two- Red trying to help Google on one side, and Danves, BomBurrel and Savage trying to cast spells from the middle. then the naga appeared- crawling through the vines and roots of the ceiling, spitting poison from there (damn the players again! they kept making their saves!).

Red was besieged by two pure bloods, when she cast balefull transportation with another Yuan ti who was facing Google, thus bringing her to his reach, and him crashing from the ceiling down. another Empowered Ice storm from BomBurrel, cone of light (or whatever it was named. first level spell) from Red, waves of despair by savage, and sword swings from Google and the battle was won. it was tougher than the rest this day, but still managable (i could have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those meddling adventurers :smallmad:).

a bit more looting, the resonating stone, and back with the Naga's head in Savage's back pack.

a great victory, yay! the barrier were increased, LOTS of XP awarded this session. but still no level 7. the party was fairly depleted after all of this, so they decided no tomb tonight.
-----------------------------------------
and so the meeting ended. the players were exhilarated! so was i, but i was a bit worried. can i challenge them enough? also- how can i plan the next bridge battles? BomBurrel will just blast through them.

I have originally planned the chapter for the party i thought i had then, which included Ipiks and Khork- mostly a melee oriented party, with one "tricky" caster. now the party has a serious blaster, and a good buffer/debuffer. this makes the bridge battles fairly obselete. though perhaps not completely. i think i may need to change tactics. after the last success the party had, i think it's time to bring in the (readied and buffed) Keeper.

next meeting will probably be the end of this chapter, for better, or worse. :smallannoyed::smallwink:

if you have any suggetions, please share with me. i'd love to hear opinions of faithful readers.

[Kol Korran]

hey those who read the journal! i added a ask the playground's help with challenging my players, due to the last session.

this is the link. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10591847#post10591847)

[Kol Korran]

small update for any that may follow this log. Bomburrel's player (the one who played Khork) has quit the party, mainly due to the low frequency of the games- he would be in a game, get worked up in the week after, but then the wind would go out of his sails.

:smallfrown: this has been coming on for some time now. it has been anticipated, but it still makes me sad to see him go. he is a fun player (even though he irritates at times) and he will be missed. i just hope this doesn't spell the ending of the party as a whole... they seem pretty happy with the game as it is, but who knows?

also, another note: though we play tomorrow evening, i probably won't be able to update until around the 18th, since i have militery reserve duty and to study for a test.

yes, the frequencies are low in this log as well. no wonder no one is reading. :smallsigh:... alright, i'll get out of my self pity and go back to planning the meeting for tomorrow.

[Kol Korran]

saturday's meeting was a blast. i don't have enough time to update it right now, but i thought to put in here a few threads i've posted asking for help in various matters in the future. be warned though- all contain spoilers!

a most peculiar encounter in the Mournland (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192808&highlight=tomer)

about those personality shards (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195136)

Minions for an underwater dungeon (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195138)

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 11: april 9th, 2011- Showdown with the Keeper!

In game date- 6-11 Vult (early winter, month of Warding)

between meeting Savage's player talked to me about an idea he had. he has seen that Nau wasn't performing much as a leader for the tribe, and thought that perhaps Google should take his place. however, the half giant seemed subservient to his chief, and so Savage's player thought that Savage might be "a Gandlaf to his Aragorn"- maek a new "return of the king". he had made inquiries between sessions with me playing as Auxellia and a few tribe members.

Bomburrel's player has made up his mind (i'm waiting to see if he's adamant about it before revealing the thread to him) he had been having less and less fun over time. this was unfortunate. also it meant i'll have to find a way to get rid of his character in a reasonably believable way, which will remove most of his items as well. i think i came up with an ok explenation, which added a bit of tension i think.

This has been one of the most difficult and most satisfying sessions for me. it was mostly comprised of the longest battle i have ever played, an engaging and intensive one. i apologize in advance for not remembering what happened in it in great detail, just the basic jist of things. this has also threw a good chunk of my campaign plans down the drain, but i have other ideas... but i'm getting ahead of myself. time to tell the tale! :smallsmile:

Nightly assassination
Last we saw the party, they just returned from a full day of achievements against the invading force. they went to sleep with Bomburrel muttering that they should celebrate. all retired to sleep however.

they were awakened a few hours later, to voices of alarm from the tribe- assassination! as the party hurried to the place they were met by the corpses of 4 half giants and the poisoned Bomburrel (yes, i know dwarfs, high con, poison resistance and fort save, but still) appearently he fell to a strengthened dose of drow posion, that made him helpless before Ipiks (yes, they all knew it was him) slaughtered him he also killed a few other half giants before disappearing.

the half giants were panicked- they were sure the psychic barriers at night guarded them! what can they do? Nau, a bit lost called for all the half giants to crowd in the dragons' temple. it had only two exits, and they could watch those. they will stay there and guard the portal.

the party seemed strangely... disinterested. they thought up plans such as using alarm spells (Red knew the spell), conjoined with watchers, in order to put ambushes for Ipiks. they feared that he might go for Auxellia next. they talked various plans and ended up conceding to Nau's plan. Savage's player saw this as his opportunity, and tried to get Google to rise and take responsibility, take charge! but the Gentle giant said it was not his place to command the tribe, which surprised Savage. they decided to let it rest for now.

The party slept in Auxllia's room, with the tired naga, Khork and the humming psychic generator keeping them company. Ellesir had thankfully came to sleep with them for the night, but they had to think of ways of protecting him when morning came. he would surely be a target for Ipiks.



3rd day of the siege
As the party rose they faced a perplexed Naga- Khork was no more, instead of him was a reddish looking... medium sized egg! one of the player theorized he was turning into a dragon, which was close- a dragonborn. however, the party won't see him hatching.

the party forgot about Ellesir who forgo any massive protection "there are few half giants as they are"

once again the party stood on alert, Auxellia sending them mental reports that few to no draw and Yuan Ti are amongst the besiegers, rather more undead. soon aneough came the a strange call- one of the two twin bridges (two bridges bridging the same two islands) was attacked by undead, but also somehow a live cloud giant and Ettin appeared at their back.

DM design
I should have made it a lesser giant. cloud giant is too strong, and therefor the players smelled something was fishy

the players rushed to the place, and afer a bit of a bumble, discovered that those were illusions from Ipik's deck of cards. helping a bit against the troll skeletons, they knew another call would come quickly, and indeed it has- the second bridge was attacked!

DM Design- where is Ipiks?
i've decided to let Ipiks have a ring of invisibility from the resources of the invaders. i had further plans for him, and wouldn't yet risk him in combat with the players. he would gain levels, and a few other... adjustments, before he'll meet the party in person. for now he added terror and complication.

Show down with the keeper- Dark energy away!
The battle being close, the players cast a few spells and the like. most important was Red's protection from arrows, And Google's expansion and dissolving weapon powers. on the far side of the bridge were 4 Karrnathi zombies, and 4 Karrnathi skeletons who couldn't pass the barriers. the half giants themselves were attacked by 4 troll skeletons, led by the Keeper!

there were still 2 barriers of the 3 standing, but the Keeper's mind was strong for them, he didn't seem much injured.

this time he was partially boosted already- shield of faith, protection from energy (fire) and Spell resistance. he would cast more spells as the battle enfolds, as he didn't know when exactly he'll meet the PCs, and most of his spells are short lasting. immediately he started shooting split enervation rays at the party (split ray, decay domain for enervation, and domain spontaneity, combined with Lots of rebuke attempts). Red and Savage were hit for 1 negative energy, and google for 3. but a restoration potion fixed that. Savage and Google were also hit by a wave of despair, both fialing.

meanwhile the party was trying to get over the troll skeletons. Red tried a spell or two at the Keeper, but couldnt penetrate his SR. Danves was surprisingly courageous, right by Google's side, perhaps pushed on by the sickness the curse caused him the day before. Savage tried to turn the undead away, but they were bolstered by the Keeper, and that had failed. But Google and Danves strikes did away with the undead blocking access to their chief.

backing up, silence him up, buffing up
The keeper retreated behind a barrier, planning to buff up, but Savage cast silence near him, menawhile Red drank a potion of fly and took to the air, drawing fire from the archers. again the keeper retreated (Google would not pas the barriers, not willing to take up the damage), and this time Savage used another scroll. Red in the menawhile whilted at the Karrnathi archers with her scorching wand. the keeper backed again, and cast a dispel magic to eliminate the zones of silence. the alarmed Red quickly got back over solid ground.

The keeper started to buff up- divine power, recitation for himself and his troops, and lastly- divine might, rising up close to Google's size!

bash party
and so the Keeper charged (he might have suffered some little damage in a failed saving throw going through this barriers), he and Google locked swords- the one highly armored, mediocrealy hitting (1d12+1d6+8
) the other quite hittable, but dealing lots of damage (4d6+8 wihtout psionic focus and dissolving weapon) they started swapping hits, with Danves getting into a flanking position, and Savage and Jalo (remember him?) trying to heal the quickly dwindling giant.

meanwhile Red destroyed some of the archers, but their arrows took her protection downand shot her up. jalo went to her rescue, where she took cover. meanwhile Savage remembered she had two scrolls of dispel magic, and was able to take down two spells, one of which was the shield of faith...

suddenly Danves and Google hit more easily, and the Keeper flared in drak Energy (stalwart pact, from complete divine. yet another crit from google, (or was it a strike from Savage or Danves?) and he retreated back once more, trying to reheal and to rebuff himself. his major spells had but a few rounds to go (and this is a 10th levele caster!) he seeked to find a way to turn this.

Do we press on or retreat?
there was a moment there, where each side was beaten badly, but neither claimed defeated. the Savage and Jalo used their wands spells and scrolls to try and heal the party halfway, while the Keeper did the same. Savage fi8nally had luck uin turning the rest of the zombies away. Keeper's response- flame strike. but the party had lucky rolls for damage. (15 hp total :smallfrown:) meanwhile the party inquired- "where are some reinforcements?"

i never planned for this to happen, becuase i never though a battle might take too long. i have imagined the party would run far earlier than now! (about the stage of succesful full damage enervation rays :smalltongue:) but the party stayed. i looked over my notes and said "two wounded small stone giants are on their way" (9hd stone giants) but wait! why should one side only get reinforcements? the keeper blew his horn (i like horn signaling in my game)

the party said "we stay! we're finishing him! they called for AUxellia to take down the barrier on their mark, just when the giant came, and took the keeper by surprise! he wax nearly fully healed, and partially buffed (i don't remember which spells)

no one gets away from me!
As Google charged and missed, the party followed roaringly, with the 2 giants leading them. from the other side arrived 4 pure blood yuan ti and 2 half bloods. they made their suggestions, and one of the giants fled. meanwhile the keeper used inflict spells on Google, but he responded by trying to bull rush him off the bridge!

they have never, not in this campaign on the campaign before used any "special maneuvers" they remember now? :smalltongue: cool moment to do so!

The Keeper barely succeeded, and drank his potion of fly. i should have run then, but the Keeper still had a good chunk of hp, so he decided to fly over the side of the bridge, and deliver his attacks from there. Google was nearly down anyway!

"grapple him" said Danves player. Google extended is considered HUGE size! he easily grappled the confused Keeper, where the remaining giant and the grinning Danves struck at him again and again.

for several rounds he tried to do soemthing, anything, till at last he broke free, and flew away. but wait- Google was entitled an attakc of opportunity! and as happened on the second session, he delivered a massive crit, offing his head!

(by the way, REd was offing the Yuan Ti in the meantime).

with the death of their leaders, all spirit in the besiegers have left, and they fled.

going up a level & Loot, Loot, Loot!
this was a most engrossing fight, and the party functioned well in it. they used most of their potions, their spells (Danves was down to acid splashes!) and their scrolls. plus, they have finished the chapter, albeit in a very un-planned way! the XP from this rocketed them into 7th level.

Red has continued in Ultimate Magus. she has taken Improved mage armor and Deepe slumber as her wizard spells.

I don't remember what power Google took next. he is Psywar 6 now.

Danves took another level of Duskblade, and Savage of Cleric, with little changes.

the Keeper was loaded with magical equipment (and here i was working towards getting them to WBL :smallsigh: damn persistent players! still- they deserved it! :smallcool:

some of the things:
- +2 bone armor +2 tower shield, and evil "keeper's fang" sword: will be sold later.
- wand of dispel magic 8th level 18 charges (i should have used it against google at the beginning of the battle... silly me)
- boots of striding (for Savage)
- belt of health +4 (i think for Google)
- Periapt of wisdom +2 (Savage)
- teleportation stone (as the srcoll, jusst use activated)
- various amounts of spell components
- a map similar to theirs, but with various markings over thrane, Karrnath and Aundair.
- money of course, in coins and lots of Onyx..

finishing up and Celebrations! :smallbiggrin:
the battle took most of the meeting, so we may have rushed things a bit here, which is a bit of a shame, but people wanted to have things wrapped up.

as the news spread, and the enemy fled (we decided their equipment goes to the tribe) the party returned to the temple as heroes. Nau, Deest, Daku and Auxellia all called their praise. after taking care of the wounded, preperations (from what meager provisions were had) had started to take place.

Ellesir informed them that he'll have the warforged titan prepared by tomorrow, and that he'll teach the tribe how to operate it- it is susceptible to psionic commands. Ellesir had a talk with Red (Kashana), about how he had lost hope, lookd for a place away from his kind, away from the war, away from all that trouble. but now he saw that war follows, but his kinmen (and women) come to help. she had given him hope, and after helping the half giants, he would return from his self enforced exile.

the party still worried about Ipiks, but felt that at least for now the trouble is gone. "but what were they looking for, what is the key?" asked Auxellia quietly. the party was a bit stunned, for they indeed did not know. they thought to perhaps investigate the tombs, but Google put his foot down- "there is no need for that now. we shall desecrate the dead." Savage tried to figure out Google- "why wouldn't you try to lead your tribe? they need you, a leader who faces the enemey and takes responsebility, not like Nau!" but Google responded "I am not fit to lead, for my memory still lacks, and since i need to leave them. will i take leadership just to leave again? no. perhaps when this is all over, then we might have something to talk about." the party accepted that, though the players did want to search the tomb (for different reasons- magic items, spells of the wizard giant, and clues to what the key is).

but Savage wasn't satisfied, as the party took place, she went to the pool of blood's chamber- it was just a subterranean big pool of clear water. she tried to swim, explore and more but found nothing except for an inscription in fiendish (!!) "when in need..." frustrated she came to talk to Auxellia. "legends tell that in times of great need, a person can shed great blood, and some sort of transportation might arrive to help them. i do not know how this happens." they could find no more clues.

Savage's player regret
IN Savage's backstory she was captured and partially tortured, partially brain washed by the Keeper. this was a sketch of a story, and the player planned to develop it further and give it life between sessions. (we are all busy people and have little time)

however the suddenty of the Keeper's death came to soon, and he didn't know how to respond. this should have been a big deal for him, and he regrets not playing it right. yet, perhaps he can play is as shock/ not sinking in, and play it up next sessions.

There was also a tense moment between Deest and Google. she did not accept him living again, especially to face such unknown dangers. their departure did not go well with her. Google sighed, was sorry, but decided in his path. he shall return.

back to Stormreach
this was done very hastily. i didn't feel any other encounters (other than harpies flying overhead) would contribute. the party got to storm reach where they will sell loot and but stuff, and decide where they want to go.

at the end of the meeting they watched the map again, and decided to try and head towards the Silent Halls, where the Shadow went, deep in the Shadow Marches.

End of chapter 3!
------------------------------------------------------
and this is where we ended. all in all a very successful meeting. the players felt that they went through the wringer, and succeeded. i had a blast too!

but it did throw a wrench in my plans. i depended on the keeper to live (and level) up until near the end of the campaign (he is second in power only to the Shadow). also, i planned on him to SUCCEED in getting the key. (more on that soon). now that he didn't, what next?

perhaps it's due to the meeting, perhpas due to other things, but i had a burst of creativity as to what to do instead. some of these are things i thought vaguely before, some are brand new.

but i bet you're wondering- what did i plan for the chapter?
that day was supposed to focus on a battle with the keeper (short one, which they'll definitely run away from), and searching the tomb at night. the tomb ins a mini dungeon, in which they find a few magical items, some spell shards (Red's player was right) and the Sun Giant's Banner- a banner that gives special affects to giants, which would later could be used to produce a special magic item for Google.

Ipiks attacks again that night, poisoning their supply of water.

the next day, while they prepare, Auxellia tells them that the giants at the mage's laboratory (where Ellesir works) are under attack from Ipiks. when they arrive there however they find the obsidian warforged titan, in which Ellesir's soul now resides. the warforged destroyes the portal leading to it, and attack the characters- Ellesir was indeed a traitor in disguise.

as they fight they get an alarm that the portal in the temple's yard opens! the Keeper and his forces have figured this out, and are breaking through- the "Attack" by Ipiks is a diversion, and the warforged is keeping them in place while the real fight is taking place.

once the party returns they have different possiblities in the fight (take command seek out enemy leaders, use the magic banner and so on). but the real fight is in the Naga's chamber. Ipik's player was right by suggesting she was the key, and not the artifacts- the keeper and his forces arrive at her and beat her till she's dying, where he stabilizes her. a round or two fo fighting, and the keeper teleports with ipiks (who is still invisible) and her (due to the teleportation stone)back to stormreach, where he gets a ship to take them back, hops on the shadow's flying ship back to the mournland.

a lot of blood is spilt, and the party is in need, so the Crimson Ship (from Explorer's Handbook) arrives, andsuggests to take them somewhere. most of the tribe dead, water poisoned, enemies still on the loose they ask the party to help them relocate. the crimson ship takes them to their place of choice, for a price... End of Chapter 3

what to do without the Keeper? (SPOILER)
There was never any real need for a "dark six" gang, the Shadow has just used this to draw powerful individuals whom she uses as puppets. the Keeper was the strongest of them, and was supposed to lead some of her armies later on.

i think next time the party meet the dark six, it will either be with a fast means of escape (traveler) or all without the Shadow. she will become mighty powerful soon through homebrew adjustments, that it won't matter.

i may need to find a new force commander, but it won't be themed on the Keeper.


The Key?
If you have read SilverClawShift's campaign (mentioned in the first post) then Keeper=Priest & the naga=the angel. if you'll check my for the monster compendium you'll see the way i view nagas. most to the point- guardian nagas turn to Couatls (which all the party missed on their knowledge checks, and Auxellia didn't want to reveal). Couatls in Eberron are imbued with an energy called the silver flame. and the villains needed someone imbued with such energy for their purposes.

however, as i thought, i came upon 2 more beings that have some of the silver flame within them. one (which i may truly use) is the speaker of the flame herself. yet how to capture such a powerful caster?
the second is under your nose. can you guess?

this has been a long post, but might deserve it as a turning point in the campaign. what do you say? comments, critiques, encouragements are welcomed! :smallsmile:

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 12: april 23rd, 2011- decisions, preparations, the shadow marches, the Dark Waters

In game date- 7 Vult- 7 Zarathyr (early-mid winter, month of Storm)

Huh. i've just noticed i've listed all through the log that it was summer. odd. fixed that now.

this last meeting had been... a difficult one. in terms of preparation, game play and more. it has been one of those- "in between" places meetings. not sure i ran it that well, might need to think things over for when the party tries to venture to the Mournland. there are similarities here and there.

the session could be broadly divided to two parts: preparations for adventure and the long journey there, and the actual adventure. the first part includes all kind of small details about other possible routes and things that have happened in the world, but for those seeking the action, skip ahead.

i'm writing this close to when we played since it would be easy to forget details of this. i hope i'm not forgetting anything. oh well, here goes...

Loot Distribution and buying stuff
This part took place between sessions and atthe beginning of the session. not everyone bought magic items, how much to leave for the group fund wasn't decided, and what to do with some of the more special items from the keeper?

Red and Savage's player have been emailing a lot about magic items and spells to learn during these two weeks. the Magic Item Compendium has been received quite warmly in our group, as has the Spell compendium. Google's player didn't get a chance to view them, and tried to stick to simple choices. all in all the major changes are:

Red sold all her offensive staffs, the player trying to focus on neutrelizing affects. she bought a pearl of power level 3, quite a few spells, amongst them some ray that disallow full round actions (i'm worried of this spell), and added two chrocharms to items she has, to summon creatures faster.
Savage bought an item from the MIC that makes her immune to blindness and dazzle, and allows her 3 fireballs with her own CL, but a weak DC per day. we fashioned it as a golden veil she keeps over her face.
Google just bought an amulet of NA +1. he is saving his money for... something (i think he may want to improve his sword)
Danves bought quite a few potions. he likes potions.
both Google and Savage both armor crystal that enables them to sleep in heavy armor without being fatigued. this proved to be important.

there was still the question of what to do with the keeper's special items (not the obvious magical ones). most were sold, but Savage kept hold of his bone armor and weapons crafting tools (to the odd and worried looks of the party), and Red kept the teleportation stone. something of a last resort. they also kept the map, though they still didn't know what the markings on it held.

DM design:
i wasn't sure whether to give the party the teleportation stone or not. it was supposed to enable the Keeper to run away with Auxellia back to stormreach, but should the party get it? it entirely circumvents a big element of an encounter later on.

still i believe in playing fair. so i put it in.


Chapter 3a! further investigations...

why "3a"? aren't we at 4? well, not exactly. the way i planned the campaign, the party now has time to due some further investigation, seek yet another advantage, before things get more serious. their basic choices could be:
- go to one of the other locals the dark six went to (the Silent Halls in the Shadow Marches, or the Sun Spires in Q'barra). each holds a potential advantage.
- another quest that comes from a surprising source (which i'll detail soon)
- go straight to the Mournland (which starts chapter 4. however, they arrive early, and there are greater chances to succeed, and less resistance)

all of this meant i had a lot of preparations to do, but i think it adds to the game. plus- what can't be used now, can be recycled for later.

Stormreach- rumors, dreams, decisions
Last we stopped the party just reached at stormreach. the above mentioned selling and buying all took place off screen. during these, they hear two gnomes talking about some news in Darguun, and the name "Skull Reave" is mentioned. as they inquire, they learn that there has been a curious... development. just about after they left for Xen'dric, a small army unit of warforged went over the Breland- Darguun border and attacked the Skullreave village, decimating it, freeing the slaves and bringing them back to Breland. the Darguun overlords are furious, but it seems to be an act led not by a country, but by a couple- Lady Auressia and her husband, who are quioted to "have learned of the plight of these people, and done what they could with their wealth to free them". not much else is mentioned about the couple.

this has quite confused the party. some thought it a trick, some though that maybe there are two Auressias- the real good one, and a shapeshifter using her form. they decided not to dwell on this for now.

while they were there though Danves and Savage each had a dream coming to them.

Dream for Danves
: "in your dream you're in a hall of mirrors. most are the usual kind, some are enlarged, some small. some simple, some more elaborate. some are crashed... in the mirrors you see various faces, people, creatures, all looking at you. once they've got your attention, they begin to speak. "they have done it! you have done it! the keeper, dead! ha! who would have believed! success after success. but still so far away. we wish... they wish... (some bickering amongst the images) we'd like to try and trust you. we can help you, if you can help us. you've found some of us, some of ME! the items you hold, the personality shards we/ i crafted (there is some care and love when talking of the shards, but also pain and sadness) I.. we... us... me... go lost, separated, misplaced.... STOLEN (with anger!) she will not let us join. this hurts so much.
but we've listened, and learned. i gained clues. there is a chance- if we can get the rest, maybe we can become me... maybe not, perhaps it is lost anyway. will you try? (the various images look at you with hope). the unlikely champion, will you help an unlikely opponent?"
you see an image of a Khundarak bank, and you feel yourself going in. a dwarfbanker ask you "how may I help?" and you hear the voices answering. "I'd like to check my vault, Danves Stormwielder" with that the dream ends.


Dream for Savage
In your dream you see the Mournland again, the ever changing mines of Eston, your prison cell in the nearby encampment. you see the Keeper, powerfull as ever, intimidating as ever, cruel as... but suddenly his head falls down? the Shadow comes behind him, in her human form, that of a high born lady of some sort. "you have done it. finally done it. your captor is dead, you are free, you are good, and all that nonsense..." she looks at you with a face of mixed emotions- anger, disinterest, hatred, caring, compassion... pride? she undoes the locks on your cell, letting you out. the scenery changes to that of the siege. "why nonsense? because you and I know what lies within you don't we? the Keeper and I haven't created anything new, we just enabled it to blossom." she turns to you, and caresses your angelic face "ah yes... i can feel the rage, the anger in you. you want to strike back at me, don't you? strike! strike with all your might!" with anger, frustration and pain you unleash a dark enveloping fire to consume her. she partly yells in pain, partly laughs in thrill "yes, yes! you will have the power to tear down worlds my Savage, my brute, my raging wrath of the gods! your ancestors show themselves well in you, my angel of battle"
you start to take flight, over he seas, over Khorvaire. the land seems to crack, some malevolent light beams through "we shall battle again, this is quite sure. but that is less of a consequence. how does the battle within go oh Savage dear one? how does it TRULY go?" with that the dream fades.


Danves' dreams was meant to introduce the other quest- search for the personality shard, while Savage's dream was supposed to fuel the character's roleplay theme- between light and dark. however, the player took it quite differently- if Savage had dreams of the Shadow, that must mean that Danves is also contacted by her!

and Danves? he kept quiet, and at morning went to the bank (the players were really amused by an idea of a bank in a fantasy setting. still not used to the "luxury" of Eberron) he got clearance to his little documents vault, and peered inside. two scrolls, one magical, one not.

the not magical one had a list of clues, guessed locations and so on of Shards, or shard owners? 15 such clues. the magical scroll held two arcane spells- "detect shard" (level 1, same as other detect spells, just 10min/level, only for personality shards) and the other one was "shard compass"- could sense a "connected shard" (each shard was connected to another, in a long chain) for up to 100 miles/ level. Danves took them all, and got back to the party.

"Hey Red, i've been thinking about the strange personality items we have. last time we were here, i asked some... people i know, from my past, to prepare some spells that might help us. can you make use of these?" he wasn't going to tell them what it was about! their own little quest? Red and Google's players play their characters as somewhat naive and trusting, and so accepted this. but they were thinking of whether to notify Savage about this. this was the first time they talked about not trusting new members to the group immediately.

Google's player said he'd trust Savage, she healed him all through the battle with the Keeper and exchanged some blows with him as well, but Red and Danves were not as quick. Red just wanted to know the new (now veiled) preistess better, while Danves disliked the suspicious looks she was giving him.

meanwhile Google received a message through the sending stone from Obraskyr. he wanted to know what are their plans, and urged to search the Mournland now, while they can, while the dark six are away.. the party... didn't like the idea. they still desired to explore the Shadow Marches, the Silent halls. mostly i think they wanted to duel it out with the Shadow. :smallsmile:

Danves went about to other "errands" ("i'm looking out to see that Savage doesn't follow me") and returned with a list his "contacts" have made regarding the shards. this got their interest, but not for long. where i hoped they might think and ponder the various clues, the players gave it a cursory look of "that's nice. maybe some time we'll get to it". Danves and Savage both said that they must learn what these shards are about, but Red and Google both argued that they didn't give them any real benefit till, so why bother?

DM Design: what is the "search for the shards" quest?
i had plans for this quest for a long time, but only started to really build it in the past two weeks. the inspiration for it comes from Shadowrun- heavy on exploration and "leg work", with very few deadly battles. basically the party could have searched for the variosu shards 9there are many more than the listed ones, but we focused on them). with intriguing non standard challenges to get each, with a very real possibility not to find many of the shards at all. also there would be some competition by another shard collector, being tracked down by the Shadow's servants for a deadly fight (or two), and things going strange with some of the shards themselves...

this was all supposed to lead to an intriguing meeting with the traveler later on, and possibly gaining her as a powerfull ally (as well as one of the only artificers on the continent who could create high level items)

the party looked around and found a boat of house Tharash'ak that went straight to Zarash'ak in the marches. the journey would take 13 days.
oh! nearly forgot- Jalo the healer has left them finally.

Eberron Stuff
House Tharash'ak is one of the dragonmarked houses, specializes in finding people, stuff, and surveying lands. they originate from the shadow marches. the house is comprised mostly of human and half orcs, though orcs work for them as well.


Boat ride
the party used the boat ride to craft some scrolls (as to my adjusted rules, similar to the PF rules, only making failure to scribe an actual possibility), and also to... bond.

Red had her long talk with Savage, getting to know her, at least the little the Aasimar told her (The characters still think she is human). Savage told her that she believes strongly in the prophecy, and that Google is destined to great things (to which his Google responded groaning "so people keep telling me") but that as the darkness touched Ipiks, so she fears it now touches Danves. i was really amused by this exchange. while Danves' player lamented that every character the other player has tries to mix things up against Danves. this was all said in humor though. no real tension in the party.

two days into the journey they receive a message from Jul, a changeling working for Obraskyr "he got tired of waiting. he arranged a small expedition and went to the Mournland". the party looked at each other. "well, now we know our next destination"

the party tried to sense some of the shards through their "Shards compass", and they got a sensation from two. (the party holds 5 items so far... have i listed them in the log?), somewhere around Breland or Zialrgo or Darguun. i wondered if they'll ever have time to check it out...

and what did Google do? well, he meditated.


Zarash'ak
they reached the city of stilts, and gave a bit of atmosphere (not that good about it), and two commented "oh, a bit like Thailand", which from what i've heard of the place, may be close. it is then that i asked
"so, what are you gonna do now?"
"We go to the silent halls!"
"do you know where it is?"
"errrr"
"do you know what it is?"
"Errrr"
the party asked around in a few places, but didn't get much answers. then they went to the Tharash'ak enclave, and looked for trackers. upon questioning one seemed to be avoiding, afraid (I called this NPC orc Darek), but they persuaded him to tell them what he can. instead he took them to a druidess of his tribe. the exchange was humorous, as they tried to explain to her what they want.
"yes, yes, but WHO are you?"
"we are THE HAND OF LIGHT!"
"... um, that is a very nice name. uplfiting. but who are you?"
the conversation had all kinds of this problems, the druidess told them that the Silent Halls were a stronghold for one of the Daelkyr (horrible super powerfull masters of madness, flash warping and creating aberrations), who perished long ago, but that submerged his entire fortress in the depths of the swamp's underdark, underwater. she feared if they will know the location, others might as well.
long story short, after some more a bit more skilled talking, and some influence rolls, she agreed to let Darek guide them to and back from the place.

preparations for underwater travel
as the party understood what underwatertravel takes, they inquired what they would need, and how to make their life easier. they faced 3 major problems:
- Breathing: they needed either water breathing spells/ scrolls/ potions, or alternate forms. they invested heavily in this. each carries i think 2 potions of water bereathing, and they crafted several scrolls of 3rd level, and some of a 1st level spell ("deep breath?") that gives a short time solution. some also got alter self potions (for a locathah form)
- movement: especially a problem for Savage and Google with their heavy armor, but still a problem for everyone. i ruled that the 1/4 movement underwater will be translated to 10 feet, with full round movement 15 feet... this is if they made their swim checks. they bought quite a few elixirs of swimming, mainly for tough battles.
- fighting: grapple included a -2, ranged weapons are at -2 per 10 feet (the rules say for every 5, but that felt too much for me), and non piercing weapons (which no one had), sufferd -2 to attack and half damage. this looked like a serious business. the party acquired several melee weapons in the shops, and Google had to settle for a medium halberd.

the scroll writing took them a few days. meanwhile Danves enjoyed the city, and Google? he meditated.

Journey! fight! fight! what? so soon?
The party was on their way. i said they fought some monsters here, animals there, but steam rolled over it. the session was lagging as it is. they were on a small boat, with Darek leading them the way, always fearing the dangers of the swamps. on the 7th day they saw a deserted boat with some trees and spear holding it in place. Google noticed something moving towards them underwater, and what looked like tnetacles with eyes. (he got high perception). they all readied themselves...

suddenly a multitude of tentacles rose from the swamp, some bearing weapons! but Danves was quick, and slashed at them, channeling a schicking grasp. crit! massive crit! as the creature writhed in the assault, Savage unleashed a searing ray, and finished it off. it sank to the depths without ever attacking anyone.

you should have seen the grumpy look on Google's player face, but he said nothing. that i think is the fastest battle i've seen, other than the Ice Storm leashed on the bridge from BomBurrel. i really expected the battle to be fierce and fun. the party found a bit of treausure, and moved on.

DM Design
This was "dark tentacles" monster from MM3. it can do up to 12 attacks per turn! and also constrict, and hold monster! damn... :smallamused:it was supposed to strike a bit of terror into the party, draw some underwater and give them a taste of what it would be like. i guess they gave it a taste.

sleep deprevation
the party reached the shore on the 8th day. on the 9th night, while Red was watching over the sleeping party, orcs (and a half orc) attacked! first the druidess cast some spell that created force jaws that grasped at Red (from Monster compendium. 3rd level. i think "grasping jaws"). she used her anklet of translocation to get out of it's grasp, and for some reason, used her dimension door scroll (the only 4th level spell she had) to get into the swamp some distance away.

the 7 Brb3/Rgr1 (ranger for the stealth) charged and caught the party unprepared. Google managed to get his force screen up, but Darek got pommeled to unconsciousness, and Savage was pounded hard. Danves proved his power once again, with a color spray, taking out 3 of them, while Google attacked another. Savage unleashed a fireball, but it did little enough damage, she oculd not get to the bleeding guide.

but the druidess attacked with her spells, while the barbarians proved surprisingly (to both the party and me), usefull and powerful. Red started to make her way back, and tried to cause diversion using illusions. it looked pretty grim though. then Red heard the Druidess yell to the orcs in orcish- " kill the devils!" from then on they tried diplomacy, but succeeded poorly, until Savage threw her club down, surrendering, pleading to be heard.

now, if at the previous battle i judged the monster too strong, here i judged them too weak. i thought the battle was tough, but definitely winnable, gaining some amount of respect in their eyes, which would help later on.

but players and encounter planning will surprise you. they were taken as prisoners (after healing Darek enough), and marched on. they learned they were on the "Dark Waters" clan territory, who overlook the Silent Halls. they also learned that they were expected only as demons.

Dark Waters Clan
As they reached the Dark Waters, they were brought in front of the leader, and his strange green skin adviser Moita (the party guessed rightly it is a hag). again negotiations, but it seemed Moita was in their favor, and in the end they were released. they learned that "the great druid Hamat of he gatekeepers and his sorcery friends were here, and dwelt into the Silent Halls to strengthen the Seal. before they left in their flying ship they have warned us of 4 demons in these forms who might come" the party was allowed on some shaky terms to go into the Silent Halls ("the halls will test you!") but with no help of the tribe.

DM design
had the party won the previous fight they would have gotten some respect, and could trade some weapons and get potions and more from the tribe. i decided that due to that failure, they won't get any such help, and as to weapons- they may get them, but will have to pay a hefty price.

Moita came to them that night, to offer some advice and warnings. she did not trust Hamat and the other outsiders, but could not speak against them, for the tribe respected them. she did however offer some help to the party:

"the master of silence did not like any noise. in his realm there would be no sound. but this magic has weakened. i have been to the silent halls myself, and there are silent spreads every so often. be aware of that.
the place is filled with vile creatures. they and the place itself warp flesh and mind. be prepared to have magic that counters this. (the party inquired and learned that she suggests "Remove disease" this is in fact an important warning, that i think the party had forgotten entirely.
before the halls there is a lair of scrags. they are not hostile, but not friendly. you will have to deal with them.
the hags offered them a few +1 weapons the tribe keeps- long spear, short spear and trident. but since she was taking a risk, and since the party wasn't likely to get back (or so she believed), she demanded a hefty price for that. this caused quite a bit of haggling and resource management. at the end they offered her coin and equipment worth around 8500 gp. the party felt quite broke after this.
navigation in the caves i hard, as they also change and lead anywhere the druids have carved signs at he openings of caves, they use these to navigate somehow. she doesn't know their meaning however (the party would have learned 2-4 of the signs had they won the fight)


Savage's player came to the conclusion that Moita is in fact the Ally/ blue cat/ traveler that they met in Skull Reave! i love the way players jump to conclusions.the mood wasn't good. the party was irking for adventure. Google's player gave me a (don't know the word for this in english), a sort of a button you put on shirts with a slogan, one that he got at a fantasy convention. it read "actually, i want to slay the dragon!"... subtle hint. time for adventure.

The Descent, and the surprise.
Next morning, after memorizing spells (Savage took all of her 3rd level as Water Breathing) he party got onto a boat, and ito the waters. there was a darker patch there, about 40 ft wide. just before sinking Moita told them "i don't think that Hamat trusted only us to stop you..." the first water breathing spell is cast (3 hours for each. i'm counting time)

20 feet, 30 feet, 50 feet, the light from above was dim, and the continual light rod that Red held wasn't much comforting. 70 feet. they started to see a bottom, and also from a cave- two heads of scrags who quickly vanish. the party land at the cave, and walk/swim and meet the scrags and their leader, with his large great spear (exotic weapon from one of the books, reach, 2d6, was intended as a prize for Google for either haggling or killing the creatures).

the party talks a bit, learn that the caves are quite vast, and that there are some strange eel like creatures that are really fast. they try to haggle with the scrags, who mostly want tasty meat. Danves' player remembers the encounter with the gibbering mouther at Dur Martop, and suggest to bring them new meat for secret. Savage tries to haggle with her varied equipment and the head Scrag likes her mirror, and gives nothing back. the scrags excpet for the leader looks nervous (which non of the party picks up on), but they generally just rush the party on

a note from Red's player:
"Do you Raggae much?" apperantly i do trolls and scrags with that accent. i wonder where it came from. the old warcraft games? hmmmm...

The party reach the other descending opening. 10 feet, 30 feet, starting to get cold (forgot about cold dangers!), 50 feet, 70 feet. suddenly, there is some noise from... above. the players go "oh S**t" before i let them know the Scrags just put a boulder over them, sealing them down.

suddenly a wavering image appear in front of them, as a Locathah transforming into... Lady Auressia! she gives a small speech, at how naughty they were to go and kill the keeper, and how this serves as their watery grave, and their nightmares are coming and... the party was dozing off at this point.

as the programmed illusion fades, Red takes out the teleportation stone "worse case come, we still got this. now lets see what is so damn importent in this gods forsaken hole!"

I think... that way!
The party comes into a huge cave. the walls are slimy with some wost of weed, and there is an eerie glowfrom some floating pieces of statue in the middle, which proves to do nothing other than some... something to the water. as they begin a search, every few seconds, sometime a minute an enveloping silence spread, blocking all sound. usually for seconds, sometimes for more. after a search through it (ticking time on the water breathing) they notice five main exits and... a few dozens smaller ones. this will indeed be problematic.

Savage's player doesn't take it well. "We're F**ked" but the rest are more calm. Red's player likes it "interesting setting!" they decide to search the entrance of one of the tunnels, and find two markings: one is hard to explain here (i think they called it "the horn") and the other is like a horizontal and a vertical wave, crossing each other. (they didn't name it. their responses were "um. ok") theygo through the opening, and go into a labyrinth of twisting tunnels/ this is where i consult my tables and see where random going might lead them. they reach an opening into some sort of a built area. they find a marking above the entrance, a horizontal line, and three circles at differentiating heights above it. they call it "the smiley sign" (not my intention AT ALL). they search the place, it is comprised from several rooms, but other than the broken legs of an aberration statue, find nothing of import. i mark the cave as E1.

they go through one of the other openings once again through the tunnels (time is a ticking, silence unnerving) till they reach another built area, again with the smiley sign above it. this one is built like a 4 hall elevator shaft. they start to explore, but find nothing, and start to get worried. this is E2. they go through one more of the tunnels, and try to navigate it.

Meet the Dolsags
another room. another smiley... E19 this is some big open space, with some sort of pool/ hole in the middle. they move inwards a bit, when suddenly two spear like weapons are hurled from the darkness, trailing a small whirlpool behind them! one hits Google, but the other fails to penetrate Savage's armor.

but the party doesn't see anyone! thye try to move forward, and learn how debilitating those 10ft increments of movement are. after a few more spears (the party counts 4 throwers) some of the creatures come into the light- eel like pale creatures, who'se torso and arms is covered by thick powerful skin.

Deep slumber from Red almost put 3 to sleep, but only 1 failed his save. Savage unleashed a fireball (underwater? yes. i ruled that instantaneous effects work underwater, causing lots of steam, such as the dragon turtle's breath weapon. any fire that stays lit get put out) but again the DC is very low. i think the player may be regretting his purchase. Google inched forward, and Danves shot Kelgor's fire bolts.

upon coming close enough to one of the creatures, it's skin suddenly departed from the main body, as long stretches of leech like creatures! they tried to grapple google, but the half giant fought them off.

a few more rounds revealed that without the skin the creature is quite vulnerable, and that they are resistent to acid (resist 10 with the skin, 5 without). but all in all, that if they get cloe- they are fairly easy to kill. 2 of the creatures also got the idea, and ran away.

as the skin leeaches sank, they turned into something resembling stone, which further confused the party. they got their whirl-spears (exootic weapon) which don't get penalties in water. Danves took them, with the best "to hit" ratio.

DM design
the Dolsags are a new aberration i designed with the help of the people from this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195138&highlight=tomer), especially Akma. i needed some kind of underwater mook Aberration. they are 3 HD, but intelligent enough to use tools and tactics. this was a patrol group, or as some might say- a random encounter. lets see how the party deals with them later on.

and this got them no further still...

Acid, refuge.
The party was running out of time. true, Savage still had two spells, but... you get the idea. they tried to navigate somewhere else. there they found two more marks. one that they called "the sideways lightning" and underneath it what look like two horizontal lines, from the lower one two lines up, close to center, the same from the upper one only down. the party decided not to go in, and try to puzzle this out. when Danves' player asked if he can try and somehow navigate the caves somehow, going on the places they've been.

as i prepared for this i enabled navigation using the dungeoneering skill (i'm interpreting it more like 4E than 3.5E) this enabled him to try and navigate to a room he knows allready, or to try and "navigate to a place of import" (this can affect my 2d6/2d4 dice roll by 1 or 2) they decided to navigate "to a place of import", and got a pretty good roll. this led them to another room, above which were 3 signs. the sideways lightning, two partially overlapping triangles (not the shield of david), and some oval form with diamonds at it's side which they called "the egg".

the room had stranger plants, more abundent, but soon the party learned what they were secreting- acid. some fort saves, and acid damage, and they were ready to go

DM design
these rooms are the basis of the subterenean ecosystem. i know the party rarely thinks about these matters, but this setting involving druids, i thought they just might. few creature, especially the hydras and the scrags that inhabit these caves come to the room, relying on meet. the only creatures that harvest these places are the Dolsags. this makes these rooms quite important to provide safety locations.

the party navigated again. the acid rooms are the only rooms from which you can get to the refuges ("the egg"), and thanks to Danves' navigating, this is exactly where they've got. a small room with strange mushrooms and plants, with the appropriate druid sign on top. this eased the party a bit. but can they find their way back? Savage cast her second spell for today, and they headed searching again.

Scrags and questioning
I won't go through other blunderings. amongst other things they reached the main cavern again, and at some point reached another cavern, again with the sign of sideways lightning and 2 horizontal lines with 4 vertical lines coming from them. soon after they entered two scrags launched themselves at them. the battle was quite easy. the bouts of silence didn't hamper as much as i thought, mostly caused them to delay and change initiative. Danves who can now attack twice in a round came close to Google in damage dealing, and Savage's fireballs helped put the fear into the creatures. as they were heavily wounded and tried to run away, Savage commanded one to return, whence he was beaten down to unconsciousness, and manacled. (crazy adventurers carrying MW manacles)

i was quite confused about this. why did they capture a Scrag? when i learned of their work premise- they assumed he was one of the above scrags, sent to spy on them, which means he knows of a way up. they were quite disappointed to learn that this wasn't so, but could still try and milk him for info. they learned that some of the caves changed constantly, but slowly. but there were some other parts that stayed the same, to which the trolls don't go, "because it makes your head hurts. bad things there!" the trolls and other creature somehow navigate by scent, which carries farther in water. they convinced the troll to get them close to one of the stable places.


Abomination!
3 caves later the trolls stops and gives directions. Danves tries to navigate, when suddenly behind them appears an Aboleth (surprisingly, the players barely know this creature... good :smallamused:) Danves knows quite a few things about it from his knowledge check, and the fight begins! and after a few spells it ends- they find out it's an illusion! but who, or what, is trying to deceive them? the party is out of spells, and the troll's navigation have been long enough. the party is already on their 3rd water breathing spell. onwards!

Toss and turn
this time Danves' navigation fails them, and suddenly they are pulled forcefully into a cave. they come into a big room with several pillars floating in it, with arcane marks. but there is no time to examine, as the water pulls them and bashes them against the pillars. quite a few bad reflex saves later, and the party is wounded, they are pushed towards several of the exits, while others remain fairly calm. they do not muster the strength to get to those, and go where the water leads them. feeling drawn out, Danves leads the party successfully into the acid room ("ow! ow!") and then into the refuge. they had 20 minutes left before resorting to their potions. they intended to sleep, and investigate tomorrow.

-------------------------------------------------------
and this is where i stopped. the caves are not entirely random, there is some logic to them, and some method. but those are but a few of the surprises that await the party. someone is now aware of them, as the Aboleht illusion have proved, and may try to go against them.

note that the party doesn't get extra XP for monsters they defeat. i award for accomplishments, not just monsters, so they have incentive to try an avoid pointless ones. (to me their point is to reduce their resources, as well as a few other possible directions which the party may take).

all in all it was a very different session then the rest i've run. i was (and still a bit am) that the party doesn't like this, but they have said that they liked the change, and find it challenging, though somewhat frustrating. i believe it will prove interesting all in all. Google's player i think was a bit bummed. didn't get his "kill ratio" today.

i haven't detailed quite a few things here, do to limits of space, my time (this post has taken me a long time to write) and your interest. if anyone is interested, let me know and i'll explain more.

next time we play will be only on the 21st of may, unless the good god be willing to reduce my study load. sigh :smallsigh: another long pause.
Kol.

[akma]

I`m glad to see you used my idea :smallsmile:
When you said Google gave you something that had "Actully, I want to slay the dragon" written on it, I think the word you looked for was badge.
What didn`t you detail?

[Kol Korran]

hey akma! you're right. the word is "badge". sometimes English slips by me. :smallsmile:

i didn't detail all kind of stuff- the Dolsags' stats, the druid signs i'm using (15 or 16 i think), the caves mechanics and so on. i thought most of these aren't THAT necessery for the story.

i'm glad to see you reading. hope you're enjoying it! at least one reader... :smallamused:

i'm kinda bummed out that the next session will be in such a long time. and soon there are exams...:smallsigh: when were the times we played every other saturday?

[Kol Korran]

i realized i forgot a small matter- news about Darguun. i updated this in the session recap, but for any who might have allready read it, here is the segment. it took place while they were in Stormreach.

Last we stopped the party just reached at stormreach. the above mentioned selling and buying all took place off screen. during these, they hear two gnomes talking about some news in Darguun, and the name "Skull Reave" is mentioned. as they inquire, they learn that there has been a curious... development. just about after they left for Xen'dric, a small army unit of warforged went over the Breland- Darguun border and attacked the Skullreave village, decimating it, freeing the slaves and bringing them back to Breland. the Darguun overlords are furious, but it seems to be an act led not by a country, but by a couple- Lady Auressia and her husband, who are quioted to "have learned of the plight of these people, and done what they could with their wealth to free them". not much else is mentioned about the couple.

this has quite confused the party. some thought it a trick, some though that maybe there are two Auressias- the real good one, and a shapeshifter using her form. they decided not to dwell on this for now.

[Kol Korran]

( the following post deals with various events in RL that have... some (sometimes only a slight) connection to the game and to the experience of DMing this group and campaign. it has no actual info on the campaign itself, so if that doesn't interest you, feel free to skip thos post.)

gaming frequency
Two days till next meeting! :smallbiggrin: boy, this time's break was quite... making-you-draw-away-from-the-game (forgot the right word/ term). unofrtunatley, as the exam period is coming up, i don't see this improving. this bums me a bit. :smallsigh:

soon it will be a year since we started, and our gaming frequency is a bit worse than once every 3 weeks. this seems to fit the players nicely, i just wish we could play more.

Hanging out together and future campaigns
Red's player has noticed a little while ago that we barely know each other outside the game (Savage's player is my best friend, but other than that), and suggested a little get together. this led to anotehr, and was quite fun. Red's player and i discussed the campaign, and he finds it interesting, though i got a feeling he thinks the action points may be a bit too much. (in favor of the characters) i heard this from some of the other players as well, but they all said that for now they'd like to keep them.

Google's player asked how long the campaign is going to last. is said they are slightly over half the campaign, but that the second half is far more "free roaming". he is planning his next character allready. have they been playing the same characters for too long? has Savage's players changed because of this? hmmmm...

as to the next campaign. orignally it was planned that Red's player will DM the next campaign (he DMed our last), and we'll take turns. but he expressed a desire to continue playing Red to higher levels. i myself am having a few campaign ideas in mind, and i wish to implement lessons from this one, so we shall see. in any case i estimate about 6-8 months more of RL before we end the campaign.

Shadowrun on the side
i play as a player in a shadowrun game (where i need to invest far less planning) that Danves' player is running, with different people. Red's player joing us in the last meeting. however, looking forward towards exam period, i find only a few precious little "holes" in the schedule to play in. and most chances i won't be able to play both. i'm trying to work something out with the player since he wishes to play with no missing players. we'll see.

And if that wasn't enough
Khork's player (with whom i keep in touch) decided that if he can't play in a game that goes his way, he's going to create one! he decided to DM, in a campaign that includes lesser dragons as far more common creatures, and the main theme of the game. from what i gathered it's going to be intense, largly sandbox-ish, and quite lethal. he won't pull any punches. he wants me to play, but he also wants quite a frequent gaming schedule (once a week/ two weeks), and i can't do that. he is looking for a group. i hope he succeeds

Spell Compendium
we've recently (1 session ago?) decided to try out this book. about a week ago i got a LONG list of spells that Red would like to add to her spell book. that took some time checking, autherising and banning. i must say however- that book has some awesome spells! and some inspiring art work (submerge ship :smallwink:). it would mean i'll need to expand beyong my usuall spells for the opposition as well.
Savage's player realized he might reach 7th level next time, and so he's now going over cleric spells... of level 1-4... sigh. this will take some more time.

thanks for listening to my ramblings. next post will most likely be about the 13th meeting- deeper into the silent halls! :smallamused:

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 13: may 21st, 2011- Google's Bad Luck, deeper into the Silent Halls, Lighting Rail Ambush

In game date- 8 Zarathyr- 3 Olarune (mid- late winter, month of storm- sentinel)

This was a tough meeting for Google's player. he had the WORST luck with dice and other stuff. things that were supposed to be simple turned complicated. the old joke that "they keep google alive till he hits" came around once or twice.

the session was divided to two parts- first the Silent Halls, and then what followed. To my surprise, the second part was more intense.

I forgot the battle grid at home, and we used a makeshift one. this called for some improvisation which annoyed me a bit, but the players seemed to not mind it.

last thing: Savage's player has been feeling he's not expressed his character's duality enough (he hasn't) he kept trying to find opportunities for that. he found near the end.

onwards to the meeting:

through the mazes of the depths
waking in their refuge, the party noticed tiny boils and a thin membrane on their skin. they realized they may be transforming, but felt rest assured that Savage's remove disease spell might help them. she still memorized just "Breath water" as her 3rd level spells. this was my attmept to prepare them to the Aboleth's Slime ability, but it didn't work. Savage also memorized a lot of Divine Guidance (a 2nd level spell that increase skills) to help Danves navigate the caves. these proved useful. in order not to seek another refuge, Red memorized 2 rope trick spells.

the navigation wasn't that easy, they reached a cave with a Chuul, which they neutralized with rays of enfeeblement and clumsiness. it tan away, and came back when the party was searching the cave, only to duffer the treatment again. it was still capable of grappling Google, even with a strength of 1 (and Google with a strength of 21) he ran away none the less.

what followed was a bit of a tiresome navigation therough the cave by luck mostly- the players couldn't make head over heels of the druidic signs. they met more of the Dolsags, and their living net (at least they got more of their special spears from them), and illusions of two Chuuls. they understood someone was messing with them. they may have encountered more things, i don't really remember.

in some of the caves they saw natural rock invading, not with slime. this was supposed to be a bit of fluff on my part- the druidic powers enabling nature to take over, but the party thought this was some sort of clue, and spent some time searching for secret doors and what not. these appeared on a few other occasions, i won't detail them right from now on.

at one point they reached the huge main cavern again. this really bummed them out. they decided to spend a thorough long search over the caves, looking for signs. they found a few more interesting (yet bewildering) signs, but decided to focus on an entrance that showed 4 signs together. (good search role). thanks to the divine Guidance, they didn't lose their way.

Orcish?
they reached a big cavern, with what looked like make shift huts on the floor and walls. they sensed many figures moving in the background, and soon some Dolsags appeared, but not immediately hostile. one of them tried to converse with the party using some sort of sign language of his leaches. this didn't seem to work, and Red decided to try all her languages (she known a LOT) to sya they mean no harm, strangely enough- ORcish worked!

DM design
The Dolsags are orcs transformed to aquatic creatures, same as the dolgrim and dolgaunts. i was hoping the party might think this way sooner. oh well.

Red explained they mean no harm, that they seek where others like them went. the chief looked suspicious "the fish people? they go into the deep caves. we don't go to the deep caves- master of the deep might get angry!"
so the party had the name of the "boss". as they talked the party noticed a fleshy blob of euyes and teeth swims amongst the Dolsags- Gibbering Mouther. it seemed to coesxist with the other aberrations. they tried to inquire a bit more, but got no answer. after an especially successful convincing, the chief relented and showed them a cave that is supposed to lead there.

DM design.
this could have also gone the violent way. battle with 6 dolsags, 1 lvl 4 warlock (the elder) and the gibbering mouther. some loot the party didn't find, but it think they were happy to just "move along"

the party followed it, and again with some successful navigation, they reached a shaft that went deeper, and deeper. the silence periods grew longer, and more frequent. (unfortunately i completely forgot about the silence from this point)

the party reached another cavern, with Two Chuuls from the sides. the mutated crabs made clacks and shrills, a whole lot of noise, and attacked!
but after a round or two, it was evident that these were illusions as well. so the alarm has been sound, the party decided to crawl into a rope trick, learn spells and come back ready.

Battle of illusions
as the party descended the rest of the shaft, they came into a huge cave, and beneath them there was some sort of bizarre looking structure- the actual halls of silence, but through the structure's walls rose several creatures for them- 2 chuuls, 2 aboleths, 2 8 headed hydras, and one beholder-looking monster with 2 eyes and claws (eye of the deep), there were also some dolsags. the party knew that many of these were illusions, but who? i was kind of hoping they'd go for the beholder.

thankfully the players didn't play to their knowledge, but to their characters knowledge (2 of the more experienced ones guseed the true monster). it was a cofused battle- the illusions and real cratures surrouned them on all sides. they spent a few spells and strikes trying to obletirate them, and after severa (highly confused) rounds, the party faced the real threat- one of the aboleths, and several doslags (who were incapacitated by color spray from Red and Danves). Red tried to cast Deep Slumber on the creature, but it was immune to it's powers "he's powerfull guys, more than 10 HD!"

The Aboleth used mental powers till then (it had a few levels of Psion, and his enslave ability didn't work), but then he opted for the physical attack. he slammed his tentacle against Google, and the PSi war with 20 con failed his fort check- he was beginning to transform...

in the next 2 rounds the party focused their power on the creature, but hurt him just a little. it decided to retreat however (he had healing potions elsewhere). the party took a moment to breath, and noticed Google skin turning into a slimy translucent membrane. the player looked SOOO happy.

undead memoria
the party searched the wall, and founf the opening through the illusion, thene they entered another maze of tunnels and rooms. the groaning and bemoaning of the party was heavy. they tired of this. i decided to speed this along a bit.

they chose a path in random, and found a room with holes with shelves at it's floor. soon after starting to search the room, shadowy bits rushed off the halls over the characters- shadow bug swarms, resembling the bugs from their first adventure! as they swarmed over them, they tried to get through their eyes, ears, mouths... and of course they succeeded with Google!

who was able to throw them out with his will, and was taken over again, and out.

the battle was bad because the party had nearly no means to battle the swarm- only Savage had her weak fireballs magic item. but she ould however turn the undead, and that saved them. as the creatures fled, she healed the party with the last charges of the Lesser Vigor wand. from here on just potions and Savages' spell, the little she had.

as the bugs were soon to return, the party made haste through one of the caverns.

The Chasm to Below, and one domain spell
originally i planned for the character to search through more caves. there were 2 trap rooms, and a room with an actual 8 headed hydra, and one with eye of the deep (the aboleth had to take his illusions from somewhere). these were all dominated slaves. but i felt that the message had gotten through, time to bring this to a close.

the party reached al ong cavern, in the middle of it a big chasm to dark depths below. in the walls of the chasm were some sort of runes. arcana didn't reveal it's source. but there was a more pressing danger- at the far end the aboleth, and 4 dolsags with their spears.

this was supposed to be the big fight! as the oparty could only advance slowly, it gave the aboleth enough time to use his psionic powers, and perhaps his enslave abilty (it had 1 more try).

but Savage kept a spell for this occasion. she has the madness domain, and at it's 3rd level there is- Confusion... the abolthe and 1 of the dolsags started to babble, as the Danves and Google slowly started to make their way. Google would swim 10 feet, and buff himself, swim 10 feet more, and so on... Danves started throwing Kelgor's blots at the Aboleth, while Red tried unsuccessfuly to teleport the abomination closer. meanwhile, Savage found a usefull way of moving- meld into stone.

as Google moved over the half mark of the chasm, a great yellow eye appeared from below, but they all yelled- illusion! :smallsigh: good disbelief rolls.

the aboleth attacked and nearly killed one of the surprised Dolsags, and acted quite baffled... quite the "Horror of The Deep!" :smalltongue: Then Red remembered something- they had Swim Elixirs! suddenly they all closed the distance, and Google skwered the creature for 40+ more hp, and Danves finished him with his trident. the body sank to the chasm, and as it reached the runes it started to sizzle and decompose- the party has guessed that the runes were some sort of a druidic ward.

a bit of research, news, getting out, helping Google
from this point onwards i fast forwarded it, without the tunnel naviagations. the monster slaves escaped, and theparty looted some rooms, and came finally to a sort of research room. in it were shards, some projected a sort of "mental video log" to the brain, but most were damaged, quite a few were missing. the party found one shard about the acquiring of the bugs, and getting them to communicate with each other, a sort of a mind hive.

they took the shard and... forgot about it. :smallannoyed: the loot was more important. after some diligent searches they also found a cave that led to up above, to a hidden cavern in a hill. (for this i did let them throw navigation dice- they might have used their teleportation stone otherwise. though Savage said she has another idea. i think it's with her "melt to stone" spell) but the outside air hurt Google. they decided to rest there. A cure disease spell wouldn't help, so they gathered they must return to Zarash'ak. Google swam and stayed in water up to the village, but a great barrel of water was built for him for the travel back. they sold most of their "water purpose" equipment (kept a scroll and maybe a few potions) and headed back.

On the way Jul contacted them, said the hiedout was attacked, and that she now retreated to Arul Dusk. still no news from Obraskyr, she requests them to come to her, to forge a plan. "anyone surprised he got caught without us?" said Red's player. :smalltongue:

back at the big city a Jorasco healer cast heal on him for a fee, and they started to head to Sharn.

Level Up!
Major changes:
- Savage now has access to 4th level spells.
- Red has MANY more spells (she bought a bucket load of them) including surprisingly- a fireball. might be a little change from the usual non hurtful tactics?
- Google's new power is Hostile Empathic transfer, which enables him to make a touch attck to transfer up to 50+ damage to an enemy and get that healed. i'm a bit wary of this power. sound mighty powerful.
- Danves is Rogue 2, Duskblade 6 (i may have stated differently before, not sure). he got some new spell/s and seemed very happy about the level.
- Red and Danves' now throw 2 action dice instead of 1.

End of Chapter 3a, Start of Chapter 4- Into the Morunland

I've been waiting for SOOOOOOO long for this chapter! if you'll remember, the party had a chance to head to the Mournland twice before- once after the killed the Fury (WAY WAY back at level 3), when they would have been able to go very little indeed into the blasted place, but would have discovered some interesting things... and after getting back from Xen'dric (level 7) where they would have faced similar things, but with less hardship at the destination (but not less XP). regardless, i'm glad they chose this way.
time to get nasty... :smallamused:

Lightning Rail Ambush
the party spent a day buying and selling stuff in Sharn (mostly more scrolls for Red. the party decided to leave that to next meeting, they wanted to get ahead) and took the lightning rail thanks to their deal with Avandra d'Orien (first adventure) they took the luxury cabin, closest to the helm.

on the last night of travel, while the rest slept (restful crystals enable sleeping in armor. clever party) and Google meditated, they suddenly felt a sudden lurch in the train, and it speeding up...

quickly they got up, and headed to the helm. in the crew cabin they saw bodies strewn about. feeling urgency they rushed forward in the 5 ft wide corridor , when suddenly 2 people- some sort of warrior and some caster appeared in front of them (the warrior in front of the caster). "Tonight the hand of light and shadow dies at last!"

Google was head to toe with the warrior, Savage bhind him, then Red, and Danves. both had a shimmering skin about them, which worried the group. as Google struck, he did little damage past the creature's innate defenses.

and then 3 of the doors opened, to reveal rogues behind them, who struck heavily at Savage, and partly at Danves in the back.

Google couldn't expand, and he was locked in battle with the warrior, who easily hit him cutting into his flesh. Savage called on her god for a Recitation spell, while Red summoned... some creture to give a flank to Google and attack the mage. but the mage dispelled gboth spells, and Google's shield. the warrior started to power attack him.

As Danvas tried to deal with the rogue at the back, Red cast a fireball. in incinerated one of the rogues, but then they learned the warrior and mage also has a spell resistance. the warrior was hit, but the mage unscathed, he unleashed his own fiery rays in response.

all the while the lightning rail was speeding... a timed battle.

google was struck hard and fell down, Savage began trying to keep him up by healing, and he himself (once awake) tried the hostile empathic transfer on the rogue giving him his pain, healing in the meantime. from this point onwards Google starting using up action points like crazy, mostly to keep himself from being hit, which often didn't succeed (we have the PCs throw a defensive roll instead of the monster an attack roll).

suddenly the train lurched, most characters fell down, except surprisingly- the mage. Google and the warrior struggled to get up and avoid each other's swords, while Savage tried defensive spells on him, and urged him to move aside. Google couldn't penetrate the SR of the creature. and then they both revealed themselves for what they are- Rakshasas!

DM Design:
i think i mentioned this but the Eberron Campaign Setting gives another Rakshasa, a warrior one- the Zakya. the other one is a Normal Rakshasa.

this may look like a tough battle- confined space, powerful monsters (aided by the rogues that didn't do much), and it's timed. it's supposed to be tough- the opposition should have a say, no?

Google moved to one of the doorways, As Savage cast Divine Power and spikes on her club and waited for the villain. i saw the glint in the player's eyes- he had been waiting for this. "Ah Savage, long lost child. you dare betray us?!" the Rakshasa hit her with a full power attack true strike, but she could absorb the damage, and struck back. the normal damage was not much, but her club was also holy. further more, Savage, who usually looked calm, entered a horrible rage, one born out of great pain and frustration, helping her strike even more at the creature.

as they started to trade blows, Red teleported Danves to the mage (instead of her summoned... something), but he couldn't affect her due to DR and SR. meanwhile he kept firisng magic missiles and fiery rays. another lurch of the train, but people kept up, and finally Google and Savage combined efforts struck down the Zakya! he fell down and dissolved into ochery smoke. the Mage pulled out a dimansion door scroll, and vanished. the party was bloody wounded and had to rush things.

stopping the train
through jolts the party had rushed to the cabin, where the Air elemental was only barely tied to the Khyber Crystal holding him, moving the train faster and faster. there were a few failed attempts to control him or soothe him, but to no great effect (Red made him stop accelerating, but it was allready too late). without much choices, and with some heavy hearts, Red cast rope trick and the party climbed to it, 1-2 (don't remember) before the train crashed.
--------------------------------------------------------------

the train battle was intense, on a similar level to the battle with the keeper i believe. more importantly however- i think it gave the party their first real jolt of apprehension.

i didn't do the aboleth right- i wanted it to feel like a terrible abomination from ages past, but it turned out to be "just another monster", and a cowardly one at that. oh well, some thing work, some things not so much...

next meeting the party probably (unless they really surprise me) is going to enter the Mournland. quite a few of the encounters there don't depend on level at all. I aim for the feel of "What the hell just happened? can someone explain it to me?", "That was so cool!" and "I don't EVER want to get back there again" sort of experiences, if possible- all 3 together. :smallbiggrin:

i'm still working out some kinks, in the little free time i have.
as always- i'd love to hear your comments, thoughts, or just general encouragement.

[Kol Korran]

a little update- new pics of Red ( the player has been hoarding them for a long time), in her entry at the first post... enjoy! (Kashana if you've forgotten her actual name)

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 14: June 11st, 2011- Into the Mournland, 6 ft. under.

In game date- 3- 8 Olarune ( late winter, month of sentinel)

This wasn't such a good meeting. Red's player was coming back from a trip with his kids, and was to joining late. he gave Savage's player a character sheet to replace him in the meanwhile (i've talked with the player a bit before hand at what his character will know and so on). plus, players seemed less pleased. i learned some things from this meeting, but i'll get to that in the end.

lets get telling, shall we?

Burying the dead
After climbing down from the rope trick, the party hurried towards the wrecked train, it was blazing aflame. they tried to help any survivors, but found none. they waitied till morning, when the heat wore off a bit.

Google dug, Danves guarded (they were weary of the Rakshasa), and Savage performed last rights, both the Sovereign host rights, and the Silver flame. Red helped as she could. the party also searched the staff train-part (forgot how it's called), and was able to retrieve a bit of treasure from their assialants.

soon after a research team of houses Orien (who controls the lightning rail) and Medani (general investigators) came to research the absence of their lightning rail. they questioned the party, and Savage's player did an effort to play Red right, but couldn't. (Danves player kept saying "Red wouldn't say THAT!") it was a bit of a blunder, but due to their good efforts they were requested to await further investigations at Arul Dusk (which the party ignored). the news of fiend attacking the train were not received well by the thranes...

The Two Boars Inn
At Aruldusk the party started searching for Jul, their changeling contact, at the place she mentioned- The Two Boars Inn. the place catered for war veterans, but they soon found their contact, a burly strong man called Brian, who was the owner's son. in confidence Brian turned out to be Jul.

She told them that Obraskyr sensed that despite the party;s successes, the Twisted Hand was progressing fast, and so he ventured into the Mournland towards the Eston Mines. that was quite a while ago, and she heard nothing of him since. she gave the party some funds (and they sold some gear), and gave them the name of Holdfast, a dwarf adventurer and... um... profit maker of the Mournland. the party decided to see him next morning.

Holdfast's Emporium
the Dwarf's place was like a museum to Cyre, with various "souvenirs" hanging everywhere. (i wish Red' player was here. this might have been interesting). the conversation/ haggling went on quite humorously, with Savage and Danves doing most of the exchange. at the end they bought some Good Berry wine bottles, a warforged warrior (called Johnny 5 by Google's player from now on) and a repair wand.

Red stayed in ArulDusk to write some scrolls, whil Danves and Google went to the Grey Carp fishing village on Lake Arul to inquire on some boats.

DM design
For those who don't know Eberron, what does the Mournland mean? well, it is a land that was blasted by magic, and therefor everything weird can and WILL happen there. some types of magic don't work so well there, but different books and ideas are a bit conflicting. this is what i decided upon:

Healing (including restoration and posion healing and such)- the character toll 1d20, substracts 1d8, and adds CL. the result is on a table, but is usually not that friendly.
teleportation magic of any kind doesn't work. this means dimension door and anklet of translocation affects as well
any knowledge seeking spells about the nature of the mournland simply don't work.


A change of heart
before the meeting the Savage's player said he wanted to make a change with the character, and asked me to play along. Savage came to a temple of the silver flame, and asked for consultation of the priest. we had a long talk, about their journey so far, about the seemingly losing fight with the Rakshasa (the priest was very disturbed and asked Savage to notify Flame Keep, the center of the faith), but mostly about the disquiet that Savage was feeling, and her loss of faith in the power of the Sovereign Host.

the talk was "long" in game terms, (but not sufficient to the player he later told me), and in the end Savage asked for a conversion to the Silver Flame. she felt only this faith had what was needed to battle the fiends, and only that will grant her peace. the priest tried to tell her there is more to the faith than that, but he allowed the transition. a small ceremony later, a prayer book, and a new holy symbol, and she was on her way.

oh, one little thing- she renounced her nickname, that was given to her by the Keeper- No longer Savage, now simply Gabriel.

To The Mournland, finally!
the preparation took too much time. this is always the case. perhaps in the future i'll conduct this by email. the party hired a boat of a warforged couple called Mast and Box. as they crossed the mists to the Mournland i put on Some music i prepared (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10777656#post10777656). it was accepted quite nicely.

as the party saild they met the weeping, melancholy singing trees, rising from the water. they became slightly edgy, but not much.

next they were attacked from the side of the boat by a chilling fog (living cone of cold). that was the fastest battle i've ever seen, with Google and Red killing it in the surprise round. boring.

next some flying mithral fish flew over the ship, they helped the ones ho landed on deck over the side, not wanting to deal with them. finally, after many hours, they made shore... to a huge graveyard.

The Epitaths
It was by this point that Red's player notified us he won't be able to arrive. this was quite a bummer, as the game just felt missing without him. Danves arranged with Mast to come back in tow weeks, and then wait for a week. they figured out this will give them time enough. (according to Gabriel's telling that she has been to Eston, and that it takes 3-7 days each way. the land of the Mournland changes.) they saw a peculiar guesthouse with figures slumped all around. as they do in the Mournland- alive? dead? suspended? they do not rot however... Gabriel tried a spell to talk to the dead but it failed.

as the party took the road towards Eston, they crossed the Mournland, till they saw numerous white raves, with some black ones with ugly humanoid faces. shortly after the white raves attacked them. as Red won initiative, she cast a spell and suddenly fell to the floor, gazing at nothing, rigid, sweating. Gabriel confirmed she was holding her breath.

a black raven flew by and spoke a riddle. the party ralized they must find the right grave. they locked on the right area due to the riddle, and started searching. this is when i began handing Epitaphs from a little thread i started (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=201878&highlight=tomer). some were funny, some creepy, some just bizarre. this got... mixed results. the party set Johnny 5 to bash one of the head stones, while Daves was mortified to find his own name, with a date of death 3 days of now!

finally the party was able to find the right grave, and dug underneath to find a wrapped up figure- Red. as they freed her the "above ground" Red wilted and died. the party just... carried on. i'm sure if the player was here, the response would have been different.

Danves dug his own grave, and found a skeleton. his response? "does it has any loot?" players...:smalltongue:

onwards on the road
The rest was short- the party met some feral frightened, elf looking creatures with no face or arms, some horses partially entombed in stone and crazed. (they were mercifully killed), and finally some fight with An advanced Vastueth (MM3) and some Mourners (Five Nations) which were turned away by a strong turn undead check by Gabriel.

we cut the meeting short as Google's player didn't feel well.
------------------------------------------------------
:smallannoyed: so the meeting didn't go so well. part of it was due to Red's player not showing up (we consider not playing when someone's missing), but after some thoughts i think it's also due to the type of encounters and choices i'm presenting these last two adventures.

in a way, the silent halls and the graveyard are similar- an interesting puzzle, but that forces players to try and get into my head instead of finding meaningful creative ideas. it doesn't allow them enough interesting choices. a long walk through the mournland might prove the same, so i may need to find another idea.

another thing i vowed not to do when i started the campaign and yet here i do it, is to avoid meaningless battles- the bunch of undead at the end, the cone of cold living spell, the trolls and the like at the caves. true, they were meant to add atmosphere, but i fell they aren't even providing that. i need to create more meaningful battles before boss battles.

so... something to improve. i've emailed with Google's player after the end of the meeting, and got the feeling he is not as displeased as i though he is, so that's good. i already got some ideas for the Eston mines, hopefully they'll prove intriguing.

thanks for reading (the few of you who do! :smallsmile:) see you next time. suggestions for the Mournland or Eston are welcomed.

[Unseenmal]

Just so you know, I found this thread today and have been glued to my screen reading this. Great work!

[Kol Korran]

i'm glad you like it Unseenmal, just be aware that updates are precious few. we play about once a month, so updates are the same. if you really want to keep posted, i suggest subscribing to the thread, but it's your call. if you have questions and/or suggestions feel free to comment. :smallsmile:

glad to see you're enjoying the read!

[Unseenmal]

I have already subscribed. It's really a good story you have to play. I like it.:smallbiggrin:

[LansXero]

Haven't finished reading yet, will probably comment some more when Im done, but so far I've found your Design Notes very insightful and very useful, its really good to be able to see what was the intention behind some of the encounters and how the inter-player mechanics play out.

[Kol Korran]

i'd love to hear your thoughts! for better or worse- comments and discussion are welcome.

[Biotroll]

Found this just few days back, and I'm really enjoying the story. Good work. :smallwink:

I saw you have plans for mines, but I'm still going to suggest few things. :smallbiggrin:

On their way inside they might encounter fog, from which they will hear sounds of big battle. Shouting orders, clashing metal, explosions and such, but they wouldn't see anyone. If they come to the fog, they will find only dead bodies, but the sounds would go away. Should they dawdle in the fog for too long, send Carcass crab against them. (Maybe take few HDs away, so he isn't that deadly to your party.)


If I get it right, mines are rich on mithral and adamantine, so I'm going to suggest group of warforged miners, who are trying to get some resources for the Lord of Blades (he has working creation forge, so he should be needing some of those metals right?). They might be free and hostile, or they might be trapped there by some other inhabitants of the mines, or maybe they caused cave in and weren't able to get out on their own, being damaged and all that, thanking the PCs for freedom by not killing them. (They are lesser beings after all. They might taunt poor Johny 5 for following adventurers if they feel like it. :smalltongue:)


Don't know what else you plan to have inside, but maybe there can be a clan of grimlocks (or other humanoid monsters), who are people that survived mourning, but mutated heavily, not remembering who they were (or where they are). They just seek shelter from the cruel outside world, defending their teritory fiercely, but might stop attacking if someone talks to them. They don't have to help PCs, or even talk to them (forgot how or can't because of mutation, it just reminds them something they know they should know).

Also aberrations. Nothing screams Mourland more to me, than twisted lifeforms. Or maybe some plant type creatures (phantom fungus! :smallbiggrin:).


Ok, I think I rambled enough. I just love Eberron and don't have oportunity to play or DM it. Good luck with next sesion! :smallsmile:

[Kol Korran]

Found this just few days back, and I'm really enjoying the story. Good work. :smallwink:
thanks, i'm glad you do!


I saw you have plans for mines, but I'm still going to suggest few things. :smallbiggrin:
there is still a bit of a road through the Mournland to traverse before they reach the Eston mines. i may take some of your ideas for that instead. The mines are (mostly) figured out, and may be a turning point for the campaign, for better or worse.


On their way inside they might encounter fog, from which they will hear sounds of big battle. Shouting orders, clashing metal, explosions and such, but they wouldn't see anyone. If they come to the fog, they will find only dead bodies, but the sounds would go away. Should they dawdle in the fog for too long, send Carcass crab against them. (Maybe take few HDs away, so he isn't that deadly to your party.)
i like the idea for the road to the Mournland, i'll see if i can fir it in. i totally forgot about this monster. also- the party are level 8, and a bit strong for that. i don't think it would need any leveling down.



If I get it right, mines are rich on mithral and adamantine, so I'm going to suggest group of warforged miners, who are trying to get some resources for the Lord of Blades (he has working creation forge, so he should be needing some of those metals right?). They might be free and hostile, or they might be trapped there by some other inhabitants of the mines, or maybe they caused cave in and weren't able to get out on their own, being damaged and all that, thanking the PCs for freedom by not killing them. (They are lesser beings after all. They might taunt poor Johny 5 for following adventurers if they feel like it. :smalltongue:)

the party is already planned to meet followers of the lord of blades and have some interaction with them. but perhaps adding some slaves in the mines? hmmmm... that might fit the story well actually.


Don't know what else you plan to have inside, but maybe there can be a clan of grimlocks (or other humanoid monsters), who are people that survived mourning, but mutated heavily, not remembering who they were (or where they are). They just seek shelter from the cruel outside world, defending their teritory fiercely, but might stop attacking if someone talks to them. They don't have to help PCs, or even talk to them (forgot how or can't because of mutation, it just reminds them something they know they should know).

Also aberrations. Nothing screams Mourland more to me, than twisted lifeforms. Or maybe some plant type creatures (phantom fungus! :smallbiggrin:).

the mines don't have any more space for the "mutated people" though it's a valid idea. as i siad, there is enough going on there as it is. there are some twisted life forms on the way though, including plant creatures, but that's all i'm telling :smallsmile:


Ok, I think I rambled enough. I just love Eberron and don't have oportunity to play or DM it. Good luck with next session! :smallsmile:
ramble on! i ramble far more! thanks for your input and suggestion, next session is in a week and a half, updates are... infrequent, but i hope you'll enjoy.

[LansXero]

Well I just finished reading and boy was it an amazing campaign. Its too bad one player had to leave, but it seems all of them are putting in a lot of care and interest into the story, which is amazing. Dont lose heart, many people probably read and like it but are at a loss for words because of how nice the log is.

[Kol Korran]

:smallredface::smallredface: i'm real flattered. thanks! glad you like it. preparing for next session is going to be an effort. due to tests i won't have much time. hopefully i'll make it fine.

thanks for reading!

[Duskranger]

Read it liked it and subscribed to it.

Don't worry by the way about readers you have them for certain.

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 15A: July 9th, 2011- Twisted beauty, hateful metal, the organ seller, god in the machine

In game date- 9-10 Olarune ( late winter, month of sentinel)

Boy, has this session been a blast! surely one of the best sessions i ever had. it lasted 10 (!) hours. (i'll explain why later). the session was special due to a few things:

Google's player brought his new wife (which we know) to watch the game, he wants to bring her in on the hoby, she watched, but i believe she enjoyed it!
the players realy stepped up their roleplay. Red's player told me that he felt that Red was undergoing some changes, her peacefull tactics are not succeeding. and now the Trauma of being buried alive. it would affect her, he meant to show that.
Gabriel's player wanted to add something to his character, having been influenced by the group, she develops fond feelings towards them, but especially towards Red, feelings of a bit more... emotional and intimate nature. but he wanted it to be felt through action and roleplay.
it was my birthday! what a great way to celebrate!


you may have notcied that this post is session 15A- i'm dividing this into two post mainly due to the length, but also because it's tiring writing such long post. due to time restraints i won't have time to write the second half in the following week or so, but feel free to respond to this post as it is.

small rule change: we decided that if you declare you use an action point before the dice roll, you gain +3 to the roll

and now for the first half of the session... :smallbiggrin:

The twisted beauty
The party rested in their rope trick, Red seemed contemplative, brooding. Danves suddenly saw Tuulikki (Red's pseudodragon familiar) peeping through her sack- she looked different, more.. frightening- the change that Red undergone affected her familiar as well. the little creature wasn't so timid looking either...

the party was worried about healing in the Mournland. they were not sure their scrolls of rope trick would suffice. they had only 5... (1 Red had a long time ago, and 4 she scribed for the trip)

After the rest the party climbed down back to the Mournland, and continued their Journey. soon rain started to pour, after a bit a sound of crying could be heard, crying children, from above. the party was unsettled by this, especially Danves who asked when they are going to be out of this place, and Red, who commented "the cry of Cyre's children, they cry for their nation".

the party neared a stream, with a broken bridge over it, when mist started to gather. as they neared they heard a womanly voice originally beautiful, but croaked and broken at times. it said that war gets everywhere, even here, to her stream, but that they were few, and therefor they were going to pay. what will they pay to traverse? Red heard the location of the voice in the mist, and once the creature said that it's "her" land, she lost it, and cast a fireball.

the party was a bit surprised at the aggressiveness, but battle was joined. the seeming woman had shriked in some pain and cast a spell. suddenly a lightning strike (flame strike with energy substituion) hit the party, causing some damage, dropping Johnny 5 to the ground. but the spell suddenly twisted, and persisted- a column of dark lightning! "living spell? how did it happen? what is going on?" yelled Danves.

meanwhile two piles of plant debris and foliage (that were partially hit by the fireball as well) on he stream's bed rose as shambling mounds, and made their way towards the party, hiting Google nicely on the way. "first thing first! Google, if you please?" Danves struck the living spell, and Google finished it off, Fizzling down. meanwhile the fog dissipated and they saw the water creature. Danves gasped "A Nymph? here? evil?" but the fey looked twisted, mist trailing from her mouth hair and body, and her smile was sinister. she used some other power of hers, drawing on the essence of the Mournland, casting confusion on them! all succeeded except for Google who started to babble incoherently.

by arrow and spell the Nymph is wounded and dives into the water, Gabriel and danves join club and sword with Fire from Red to dispose of the two creature, though Savage takes some beating.

the battle seemed over, and suddenly Red collapsed on the ground in tears. Google, still under confusion started to run away but Gabriel dispelled the spell, soon after she got to Red knelt beside her and hugged her, comforting her. as she was comforted, Google decided to search for the Nymph. Gabriel joined him and wadded into water. suddenly the creature rose, her beauty beyond compare, shining bright, as if to blind them. but both withstood the awful glare, and with two powerful strikes killed the fey.

DM design
the Nymph is actually a Mistling Nymph, from "the forge of war"- a fey corrupted by the mournland, making it quite interesting, and amongst other things enabling it to make one living spell a day (that fades away after some hours). the living lightning strike was supposed to charge the shambling mounds' constitution, (they love electricty) but it died way too quick.

they found some pearls and two elemental gems, allowing them to summon a large water elemental once each. But something was... wrong with Danves- he looked sickly, almost Grey/ Green. Tuulikki hissed at him "unnatural. unclean!" Gabriel offered to heal him, but he shrugged her offer. "it was because i wasn't there to help Google, i should have done better" he looked suffering, but the others let him be. the party used a rope trick scroll in order to heal, got johnny 5 working again with a wand, and moved on.

Danves curse
As was mentioned before, i made a special mechanic for danves that can bring him a boon or a curse, depending on certain conditions, and a roll. this was the worst roll, other than some minuses he also lost an action point. the player took it in stride though, using it as a roleplay opportunity.

Hateful metal
the party soon reached what remained of a large Thrane army invasion force to Cyre, intent on blocking the road from Eston to the rest of the nation. there were unmolested fresh bodies everywhere- of horses, dogs, humans, dwarfs, Cyrian militia, and quite a few broken warforged as well. there were simple defenses littered across the landscape- trenches, barricades, even a ballista or few. a massive dead still battle ground...

but not so still, as from time to time they could here cries- "for the silver flame!", "for the crown of Cyre!", "cavalry charge" and voices of weapons hitting armor and more. the ghostly sound remains of a battle long fought and never ended kept appearing from time to time. (Credit for Biotroll for this, i chose not to use the carcass crab though. thanks! :smallwink:

Eberron Stuff
There was a great war between the major nations of Khorvaire, the main continent. they were not allowed to hurt the dragonmarked houses, but they could circumvent their effectiveness in other ways. in Eston masses of warforged were created, for all nations but mainly Cyre. Thrane wished to stop this source.

this again quite disturbed the Party. Gabriel wanted to stop and say a some last rites, Danves in his condition responded sarcastically, motioned his hand over them- "for all of them?" Red seemed even more withdrawn into herself, while Google looked sad, but in a stable way.

the fields were quite large, but after some walking Google heard a sound from a barricade near them, when 3 Mithral warforged rose and threw thunder stones at them! all except Google were deafened, and couldn't hear the cries of "death to the fleshlings, and the flesh lover!"

the 3 rose to run away to the defenses behind, but google was fast enough to smash one down immediately. the party tried to act in unison and seek cover and advance. from distant barricades 8 warforged archers started shooting arrows at them but other than Google, no one was hit (he always get hit.

the battlefield was large, and it took a few round for Google, Johnny and Gabriel to close on the assailant, in the middle they had to cross log over spiked trenches. as they got close to the barricades an enlarged warforged came out with a big axe, and a stinking cloud hit them. despite all that, Google falling to a trench, and Johnny 5 again taken down, the battle was quite one sided. Google kileld the big guy (from the trench), Red webbed some of the barricades and prevented the caster from escaping, and from then on it was easy picking.

they noticed a strange thing though- the 8 simple archers acted strangely, like the warforged they had seen with the Traveler, or in the warehouse at the beginning. Gabriel suggested to perhaps fix one and question it, but Red, who was in a very aggressive mood said "these are followers of the Lord of Blades, an enemy to Cyre and all of Khorvaire, we shall not bring them back!" to which the party (humbly) agreed.

Danves' conditioned worsened (another bad roll, he was staying out of reach most time) and he was miserable. the loot on the warforged proved nice to Red, who found a Spell shard (Eberron's spellbook) with some useful spells, and Johnny, who got awarded several oils of repair damage, mainly so he could keep on working.

Eberron Stuff
The lord of Blades is a powerful charismatic warforged leader/ prophet who resides somewhere in cyre, preaching and inspiring many warforged that this is their era, that the war isn't over, and that they shall carve a new empire by destroying the flesh races. some call him visionary, some call him mad, but his agents are sure a menace (think terrorism in a way) through out Khorvaire.

DM design
Why this encounter? first i think it's a fun encounter, some maneuvering on battlefield, cover, trenches and so on. second to bring the "empty minded" warforged again, as a reminder, and the flesh hating sect of Lord of Blades, the warforged have been trying to act against the dark six and claim Eston, and they had some info, and might be persuaded to assist as temporary allies through a very hard diplomatic effort. oh well.

Johnny 5 or not Johnny 5?
Johnny 5 became a bit of a discussion. it was obvious that his main usefulness is taking a few hits and than falling down. the party discussed (OOC) whether to keep him or not. Gabriel's player said to lose him (he dislikes sidekicks), while Danves' player wanted to keep him mainly so they won't need to pay the fine. Red and Google players however, the moral compass decided to keep and protect him.

May i interest you in a small purchase?
the party continued and left the battlefield, reaching a farming area. the y looked for a place to rest, and found an old temple dedicated to the Sovereign host, but mostly to Kol Korran (see my Avatar) :smallwink:. Danves still sickened, and the rest in a pissy state they climbed to a rope trick Red cast. Google's player's wife brought the cake while the players memorized spells and the like.

Eberron Stuff
Kol Korran is the god of trade, coin, deals, and wealth. i thought that the following encounter should have a link to this god.

when they awoke and wanted to climb down, they noticed that below wasn't the temple no more... just some ground. suddenly a strange creature- with the skin and ears of a goblin, nose, beard and hair of a gnome, and legs and hands of a kobold skittered below, looked up, and grinned a crooked teeth- missing grin. he yelled in a strange language to others, and skittered away fast.

Gabriel cast spikes, Red mage armor. panciky little lot. they climbed down and found themselves in a big tent, almost a circus tent. there was a big heavy table in the middle, and various canvas covered items near the "Walls", they could feel a tremor to the ground. a few of the creatured skittered here and there, grinning.

But then there was a voice behind them "ah! you're awake! good. my servants shall prepare a meal. a rare occurence here in the mournland, but then again- this is ALL a rare occurrence" a lean Ogre mage stepped out of the shadows, but he looked... not like an ogre magi. he had a suit, and old suit, covered with dust, while wearing a hat, and a monocle, carrying a cane. "how rude! i almost forgot to introduce myself. you can call me The Seller, or Grad" the last word was accentuated strangely, and Gabriel realized this comes from an ancient tongue, meaning "in between/ in the middle".

you should have seen the looks on their faces. :smallamused:

he offered them to join his meal, while they peppered him with questions. he would not reveal who is is, and siad that he had taken a LONG time to track them down. he was offering to sell them power, power of creatures of the world, in return for a bit of their... heroism. one of the oldest trades, and Heroic qualities are so hard to find... he seemed to know a bit about them, but considered their adventure quite trivial "a passing matter". when Gabriel wished to leave, he offered her the door. she looked outside, the entire tent was moving! though she could jump outside, she decided to stay. "i am doing you a little favor, taking you close to the destination, we still have some time, sit, eat, relax. this is a rare opportunity..."

DM design
Originally this encounter was supposed to be non moving. i realized that moving through more and more weird encounters of the Mournland gets boring fast, so this way i cut through the rest of the 'long road" encounters.

what are the particulars of the deals? "ah yes, a fine question. well, it must go by the old rules, so the procedure is thus- i'll show you a few creatures i have in my possession, some willingly, some not, all of a special quality. you may choose one creature to... exchange organs with. the process draws some of your heroism, and brings a certain shock to your health. then you gain some of the creature's essence, and with it it's powers. the porcess does contain some pain, but is not all that unpleasant.

you should have seen their faces!:smallbiggrin:

"Don't touch the food!" said Danvas, and everyone turned on a diet. they seemed to dislike the idea. "you can go back on the deal for an hour after the exchange, and return your health to normal, but i will keep your own precious essence." the party seemed to dislike the idea, and were contemplative. Gabriel seemed curious "you seem to know a lot about us, about our destination, maybe our foes. how about we trade you for info? we have things to sell!", "sorry, but know, i'm only interested in your heroic essence, and there is only one way that can happen..." She then argued and was able to persude him to add one thing more- a question answered for each of them, once they don't go back on the deal. he considered, but because i think this is a cool and interesting idea, he agreed. it was time to see the creatures...

Monster and organ Compendium
Grad went to the the side of the tent and showed the the creatures:

The Guardian: a petrified stone giant, gives the powers of defense. if you wish to take it's power, place your hands on his
Sleeping Beauty: a sleeping succubus, mistress of persuasion. if you wand her power, just give her a kiss. don't be alarmed, this one doesn't have the life draining powers of her kiss
The Eluder- a chained and restrained displacer beast. the ritual with her require cutting and exchanging swathes of skin from the back.
The Dying Angel- a sleeping enagel frozen in crystal- he has taken the suffering of others and now is seeking to die, but first to unloaden the burden. to get his heart, hug him, and your hearts will rip and change places.
The mistling Dryad- a creature similar to the twisted nymph. to get her powers you must kill her (she's restrained) and draw her last breath into yours, which will cause your lungs to blled and mist, spewing mist forth
The Starving undead: an unknown humanoid undead, resembling a wight. to get his power you need to cut your hand off at the elbow, and stich his on
the proud- a little dragon partially restrained as well. to get his powers you need to cut to his gut, and eat his elemental gland while he eats some of your liver

the party has so far realized that the cost is some permanent con damage (not to be retrieved in any way) and probably some action points, where if you go back on your deal you get back the con. the party was unease at this... GOOD!

Red decided to go first, she contemplated between dragon and succubus and chose the last. she kissed the fiend, when suddenly the kiss became more powerful, more demanding, with the lips glued together. but Red didn't flinch. she felt the long succubus tongue entering her mouth, and then suddenly slicing her tongue. blood started to flow from the kiss, Danves belched. the tongue then slid and exchanged places, and knit together. Red fel back, a new tongue in place, sensing new poers, but also some loss.

Red got SLA of suggestion 2/day, and +2 to influence (all conversation skills) but lost 2 con, and 2 action points. Grad then came, and ripped the tongue of the succubus (Red's) which now glowed fainlty, and tucked it into a satchel. the players were unsure if it's worth it, and contemplated.

Meanwhile Gabriel took her turn. she came to the angel, and hugged him. he hugged her back and said "thank you" as the hearts ripped from their places, chest ripped open and the bloody exchange was made. she gained 1/day lesser holy transformation (from spell compendium, turn to a lesser angel, with wings) and +2 planes. (same losses) Grad came to the angel, which offered him Gabriel's glowing heart, which he put into the satchel.

Google chose the stone giant, he held his hands, when the skin started to rip and turn from one to another. he gained stone skin 1/day (no material component), and +2 to athletics (all str based skills). Google didn't have any action points (due to the lightning rail fight at the beginning of the level, 2 sessions ago) so he now suffers -1 to all attacks till the end of the level. again, skin into satchel.

Grad looked at Danves, who squirmed at the horrific transformations of his party. "it seems to hurt so much. anything to take off the pain?" Grad had a soothing ointment, and using it enabled Danves to have his skin ripped and exchanged with the displacer beast. the purplish hue of the beast spread over Danves skin, but he could bring it up or down as he wished (no fur). Danves gained Displacement 2/dy, and +2 to stealth.

this took a little while, in which the party considered. and they decided not to go back on the deal.

DM design
This encounter has been a Loooong time coming, but has undergone a lot of changes some can be found inthe organ seller thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192808&highlight=tomer)
i decided that the fairest will be with 1/day 4th level spell or 2/ day 3rd level spell. (they come quite close in pricing if you consider minimal CL, but as the CL here increases, the 2/day could arguably be called "better"

Questions, Questions...
time for the questions:

Danves: how can i break off my curse? Grad seemed to think. "the way i see it there are 2 ways- you can either follow it through, or find a powerful enough Caster to break it for you. i know of 3 who are... somewhat accesible. first the one that gave you the curse, second the flesh weaver in Droaam, and third, though i'm not certain, the Druid oak Oaliam in the Eldeen reaches." the party were VERY intrigued by his curse.
Red: "i have died and was reborn again, in horrid conditions. i feel... wrong. can i find the meaning of life after this tragedy?" Grad thought some more "my answer may not be the one you seek, it sounds cliche, but it's all i can give. live life to the fullest, with every fiber of your being! and seek a worthy goal for your life, an achieveable one"
Google: "How can i get my memory?" Grad: "your memory lies where you are going, you may get it sill, in the hands of your enemies."
Gabriel: she had many questions, all shot at once (sneaky little bastard) but she settled on this- "can we find allies, an advantage in our quest?" Grad answered this quickly: "seek the assembly, the warforged worshiping the becoming god"


Grad was very pleased. "i assume the deal fits you well? this has been most enjoyable. until we meet again... or we won't.. or we have.. in another life." suddenly Gabriel asked him "wait, who are the heroic essence organs FOR?" Grad smiled. "i have answered your question it goes to a very specail collection. relax, in about two hours we arrive.

there were a few more minor conversation, Red checking her snakey tongue, Danves and Google their skins, and Gabriel trying to listen to her heart. some of the player decided to add subtle influences of the creatures' essences to them. there are still some sides to the deal they don't know about however...

Outskirts of Eston
The tent came to a stop, and the party jumped down to see it was based on a lump of earth, loaded on... HUGE centipedes. Grad waved them goodbye and turned his... carriage. Party gains XP for reaching Eston!

most of Eston and the hills sank, but some of eastern Eston still stood- on various small hills between streams were littered houses of the people who took care of Eston, and some construction yards and small creation forges, not working unfortunately. Gabriel told them the dark six have their forces mainly located at a small decorative fort where the ruler of this part of the city lived. he knows there are mines, adamantite mine,s but she didn't know much more. The Keeper kept her at the fort.

the party started making their way to the fort, when they met some strange looking warforged, with lots of bits and pieces attached to their plating, trying to disassemble some smithy, 3 ran, 1 drew a sword. Red tried to persuade him but he ran as well, they caught up with him, and Red used her (newly acquired) suggestion power to persuade him to listen to them carefully.

a bit more conversation revealed he was one of the Godforged, followers of the Becoming God. another skillful persuasion got him to lead them to the Assembley (the group of the warforged.

The Assmbley was composed of about 30-40 warforged from different types, all with the odd habit of "rekiting" themselves. some of them even had warforged components attached (battlefists, armblades and such) they met their leader, a warforged calling himself "the architect". they soon learned that was just his title. a lengthy and difficult conversation followed, where the party (Red with others helping) tried to gain some leverage and information from the stoic figure. the Godforged were partially aligned with their foes however, (only partially) so that became a problem. i don't remember the details of the conversation, but the party learned of the following:

there used to be many more forces here, mostly undead, but many left about 1.5 ago. their leader dead? (the party cheered at that. Keeper down!)
the "empty ones" warforged are results of an experiment of a traveler with a partialy working creation forge in the fort. she tries making real warforged. they help her with parts and skilled craftmenship in turn for learnings the secrets of the forge. the architect doesn't think the empty ones are "the sorceress' main project, only the traveler seems to be interested in them
the place used to have a lot of activity, but for awhile now things have been quiet. people inside the fort say they are working on some sort of grand ritual in the mines?
there are 4 entrances to these mines- a lift in the fort, and 3 minor entrances around it in a considerable distance in other creation forges.
the minor entrances are guarded: in one there is a blusih huge lizard with many legs (the party guessed right it's a Behir), in another some unded with a smaller mutated lizard, and the last one had some great undead guarding it, but since the Keeper was gone, it left. they don't know what is there.
The becoming God is believed to be the source of all warforged souls. now that they exist they must create him for this they scour the mournland looking for right materials to add to themselves, but mostly to their god. there are many architects.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: from what the traveler said, the ritual will be finished in a few hours! (time to put the time pressure on!) the party got all excited about this- climax coming in!


the party mainly got this information (which was very hard to get!) through pressing on the point of "if the forge gets working, they will enslve all of you again, maybe that is the purpose of the ritual!"

Eberron Stuff
the Godforged are not my invention, they appear in the "faiths of Eberron" book- seriously one of the best books about fantasy religion out there. i seriously recommend it.

the party decided to head for the Behir, once creature that can't run away and call for help.

At this point it was very close to out normal ending time, and there was a quick discussion about whether to go on or not. (one of us had a big test tomorrow). we decided just one more battle... :smallbiggrin:

Time to kill a Big Lizard!
-------------------------------------------------
and here is shall finish for now. this has taken me really long to write. the next half probably won't be up for at least a week i think. sorry, RL takes precedence.

hoping you enjoy it!

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 15B: July 9th, 2011- The mines of Eston, raising it up a notch

In game date- 9-10 Olarune ( late winter, month of sentinel)

So it seems i may have some time on my hands, i'll try to finish writing this in one sitting. at the end of the previous half the party just decided to head to the Mines of Eston (and not risk the fort) through the entrance guarded by a Behir. here goes!

The Behir
As they neared the non working Creation forge and it's courtyard, they cast some spells- Google activated his Stoneskin ability, looking grey, Gabriel cast Spikes (her favorite spell) and used an oil of Shillelagh on her holy club, making it a fearsome weapon, and Red just cast her defenses.

But at the entrance of the yard they could see no lizard, just some stocking rooms, various piles of ... crafting staff, and the forge with the door to it open. besides that there was a big hole in the ground, the entrance to the mine (the custom bigger tenser's floating disc was not present. and all around it were... the bugs, those with the eberron shards in them, from the first adventure! only these were a bit different- first, all were of the adult variation, no really tiny ones. second they looked sort of sedated. that may have been due to the fleshy texture and appearance of the earth they were slowly consuming. and third, most of them had another shard in hem, a tiny Khyber shard.

the party was surprised, and went towards the hole and the bugs to investigate, being careful. they were certain the Behir would come from the hole. but it was waiting hanging from the forge's ceiling, and dropped to surprise all of them, except Google with his keen senses!

Battle on! The Behir quickly grapples google and coil around him, Red casts haste, Danves, shocked by the creature's appearance uses his displacment ability, turning purple hued, and tries to maneuver behind the creature. Savage and johnny both charge the creature, hitting him hard, especially Savage. the creature rakes Google, and though he hits with nearly all six claws, he barely does damage due to the stone skinm infuriating him greatly.

Danves flanks the creature and sneak attacks him, while the rest hit the lizard with all they got, Savage's strikes really doing damage. frustrated the Behir relaeases Google, and bites at Savage, trying to capture her to swallow, but she barely escapes him (thanks to an action point), the freed Google ends things with two swifts slashes with his sword, cutting up the creature.

Again a discussion whether to go on. we turned to the one who had a test the next day (Danves' player) who motioned to move onwards.

The party decided not to look and hurry on (too bad, there was some loot here). they use a scroll of rope trick to heal themselves (3 left) and head to the mines.

Traumatic Echoes
Danves feels better now, the taint of the curse gone, but he is not pleased. he remembers his glimpse to the futre from the prophecy shard Obraskyr shown him- of himself running in terror from a mine made of flesh and metal, straight to the mournland. he knows this is the place. he speaks up his fears, but doesn't try to take the party back. he is just not happy about it.

but as the party starts to descend the hole a resistance from an unexpected source rises- Red. she pals and stop, sweating. "I can't go down there, i can't go underground once again" it takes Gabriel a little while (about which we joked) to understand that to Red- this brings up the memory of being in the grave again. She uses a Scroll of Remove fear, and tries to calm her down, promising her she will protect her from any harm, and be her guardian. Red was assured and followed Gabriel down to the mine, holding her hand. Gabriel was Soooo pleased!

First Caverns
The party descended about 75 feet to the mines, they found themselves in a big cavern, with the Magicla lift (not working) on the ground. there were bugs EVERYWHERE! they made their content noises and some looked at the party. they didn't like it. the bugs looked sedated, or numb for the most part.

another worrying aspect was that the mine was party adamantite, little rock, but mostly... meat... that pulsated.

suddenly a slight tremor hit the party, the whole mine shook. no, more correctly, it hummed. the bugs fuzzled at their places, but stayed content. the party felt that time is of the essence, they quickly moved.

the party took the major tunnels into the mine, it was 15 ft wide, and soon led to another Cavern, this one filled with boxes of two varieties. one filled with cold preserved food (magical boxes), the others, filled with Khyber shards! these were pretty expensive, and could be worth a real fortune, but why are they here? where did they get so many? usually these could only be found in Khyber- Eberron's underdark. the party briefly discussed filling the holding bag with them, but decided they didn't have the time.

Khyber's shards Source
Do you remember that there was a third Dark Six force to Q'barra? there was a small underground sacred city to which lizardmen over the centruries brought Khyber shards, to honor demons. the expedition there collected most of them. had the characters went there, they might have affected things differently. but then they couldn't go other places.

Sweat shop, Eberron style
The next cavern was filled with long tables, at which sat the Empty minded warforged. they were busy- some went and got bugs with only and Eberron Shard, and brought it to others who fitted it with a Khyber shard, then freeing them. over and over again, like a production line. they ignored the party.

the party was a bit disturbed at this, and tried to contemplate- what are the bugs for? the empty minded? are they tools? vessels? what? but they had no time, another tremor was felt, the party moved on.

Bearded Devils and Lemuuuuuuures!
the next cavern had bars at the walls, adamantite bars. the party saw and heard some figures behind them, but first they had to content with the long moving bearded orange skinned humanoids in front of them with glaives (they soon recognized these as bearded devils.)

Johnny quickly charged one who started to summon something. the other moved to block any further advance, google charged him and was hit by an AoO and his wound gave a sickly light and started to bleed (i ruled that bleeding is not countered by stone skin). the rest tried to stop the summning and failed.

i let my players roll the dice most times, and they made the success roll for the summon, and the number of creatures summoned. it summoned 17 lemures! the battelfield was suddenly crowded, with Google and Johnny surround by some and a bunch of the jello creatures stopping the rest.

the battle was a bit tedius, but also quite amusing. Google sliced his way to the Bearded Devils, but barely hit it (Google's luck) Johnny was quickly disabled, and pretended not to rise. Red tried many ranged attacks against the lemures, but kept missing, while Gabriel and Danves were at a Lemure-smashing contest.

and i was really amused, keeping portraying the movmements and sounds of the petty devils (they kept repeating their names in miserable sorrowful moans "Lemuuuuuurree" i got a kick out of it, and to a degree the party)

but as the little devils were slowly but methodically disposed off, Googl'es luck was getting serious. the Bearded devils kept on hitting him again and again, and he was accumulating bleeding wounds. as the Stone skin was depleted some half jokes/ half worries of "google's hittability" kept rising. he ended up using his Hostile empathic transfer to kill one of them, and finally killed the others as well (there were still enough lemures between him and the rest of the party for help). Red had an awful luck hitting with her lesser acid orb as well.

a swig from the Good Berry wine to stop the last bleeding wounds, and fixing up johnny again, and they were ready. the prisoners in the ceel cheered for them. there were... dozens? a hundred? more? from a brief question all seemed to have been kidnapped or lured into the Mournland and Here, mostly by Rakshasas and Auresia herself. they were kept quite ok, though starving, but other than that they had no idea what was planned. they said the keys are held by the black panther Rakshasa and "the powerful sorceres".. the party could not undo the locks, and moved on.

DM design
The battle lasted longer than expected. what was his purpose? mainly it was to give the involvement of Other planes creatures in this, and give the party a warning of the next encounter. i though it would be over in 4-6 rounds tops, but Googl'es luck and wanting to preserve resources did their thing.

Again a discussion whether to move on. i promised the party they were close to the climax of this adventure, but could tell them no more. with certain grunts, certain cheers they pressed on. it was getting late.

on the next cavern they met another oddity- in this one there were two neat piles- one of meat harvested from the mine, the other of tidbits of adamantine. on both were the bugs, eating.


Big bug, big arrows!
finally the party reached the main cavern- it was quite big, and from it there were 5 ways to go- 3 from the hidden entrances, one from above to the fort (though the lift was up, and the party didn't seek a way to activate it. there were no stairs here) and the last entrance to the south west, beckoning.

DM design
This is where all the options converge, from the 3 entrances, and the fort above. the fort would have been the most difficult, but there were hidden advantages to taking that root, though they would have come far more depleted to this room. the fort would have been the only choice had they not found out about the other entrances from the God forged.

there were again tables and warforged working at making two-shards bugs, but there was another bug here, a big one, holding a trident! and behind him, right at the other entrance a green looking humanoid, with two BIG bows and four arms (Mezzoloth and arrow demon, from the MM3). the battle commenced with the arrow demon firing 4 arrows at them, hitting some (Google Obviously) and they starting to close the gap. Red cast a Protection from Arrows on Google, while Gabriel decided it was time to call on divine might.

getting to the bug fiend was hard due to wall the warforged, the party tried to make it's way, when suddenly it unleashed a cloudkill on the party (except Red) Google of course didn't make his save, but it didn't faze the small giant much. meanwhile however the Arrow demon was making targat practice out of them, and his arrows and strangth (and strength bows) made persistent not negligible damage.

Google, Johnny and Danves closed on the Mezzoloth, but not before he dispelled Google's protection from arrows and force screen, fighting amid the working warforged the 3 began to combat. Danves used swift invisibility to launch a sneak attack on the creature, and hit nicely, while Google hit him with the big sword. but the creature had damage reduction, which they did not surpass, and shook off quite a bit.

meanwhile Red shot rays at the arrow demon, and Gabriel thought of how to reach him, there were many warforged in between. then she looked inside, and called on her angelic power to transform to a protectar angel, and flew to the demonm landing on the working table with grace, and smashing him with her enchanted club!

there were two groups- danves, johnny (who became disabled and used one more of the oils on himself), and google with the mezoloth, and Gabriel the angle against the arrow demon, with Red shooting rays from afar (not penetrating the spell resistance).

the mezzoloth unleashed another cloud kill, the opponents withdrew, and came back to him, flanking him this time. meanwhile though Gabriel landed good blows, the arrows took a heavy toll on the silver flame cleric. she was about to fall, and so broke one of the elemntal stone she had, letting the elemental fight the demon while she turned around a curner. therer she called on her faith (action point) to enhance her healing, and brought herself back considerably. with renewed power she flew to the demon again (who nearly killed the water elemental) and killed him just as the others killed the mezzoloth.

it was a hard battle indeed, with a bit of loot, mainly the large power bow for google. the party gained enough XP to put them close, but not beyond the threshold for 9th level.

they were depleted, (another rope trick scroll to heal, 2 left) Gabriel had but 3 spells left (not counting 0 level), Red about a third of her repertoire (Ultimate Magus have LOTS of spells), Google only 5Power points, and Danves blew a good chunk of his spells as well. Red was the only one with any action points left...

there was another tremor, stronger this one. the party felt they were close to the climax, and they decided to move on. people were getting tired, and some voiced that they might make serious mistakes due to that, but they couldn't stop now.

Friendly faces
The party moved downwards towards the tunnel, where they came to a split, but from the southern tunnel they could suddenly hear a heavy majestic voice "Google? Red? come here, i can't believe it!" they found some more smaller prison cells, but only two occupants- in one there was a dragon, and in the other... Olam- Google's father! (enter "luke, i am your father!" jokes)

the father and son talked briefly, how he thought he was dead, but that Obraskyr told him differently. "you met Obraskyr?" "yes, i am obraskyr"(Red was speechless) said the dragon as it changed shape to the form they knew. "i have been watching the prophecy for some time, but we might have failed here. though maybe your coming could mean another twist of fate!" the two were wounded and behind better locks, and another conversation began. basically what they found out:

"i thought you were dead, but he told me you lost your memory, i think they have it here somewhere"
"you cost them the key and the keeper in the obsidian city, but they have a new plan- they are after the child! the keeper of the flame! but that is just part of their plan. how they are going to accomplish that i don't know. you must find what you can and run!"
"you come at the crux of time, they are about to finish some sort of ritual, with information they got from some aberration lore. you may be able to defeat them, but i doubt it. run while you can!"

the party was adamant about freeing them (especially Red and Google) but try as they might they couldn't get Danves skill high enough to pick the lock (DC 40 here, DC 30 in the other prisons). when they realized they don't have to- they still had 2 potions of gaseous form!

DM design
I really tried to make the cells imprevious to burglary, but i forgot about the gaseous form potions (maybe a bit silly of me). players will surprise you. BUT, i took them getting the prisoners out into account as well later on. i'm glad they surprised me. it makes DMing worthwhile (that and cool moments of roleplay and more)

why didn't i just make the cells permanent anti magic? because i felt that would be pushing the enemies resources too make (and if they had such resources they wouldn't probably expend it on prison cells, the party have allready taken their toll on their resources by killing the Keeper.

Obraskyr is a CR12 dragon, he was supposed to be a future antagonist (in a way) due to certain... developments (those who read SCS log know what i'm talking about). he may still be.

Dragon and psi warrior came relieved and happy. the party used the second to last rope trick scrolls to heal them up (the dragon took a lot of charges from the wand), i informed Google of his father's powers (Psi war 5, some similar powers, some not). he still remembered little about his father, which bothered him "we'll have a long talk once we're out of here. IF we're out of here."

Aren't you forgetting something? LEVEL UP!
As i said, i award XP for acheivments, and freeing Olam and Obraskyr sure got them enough XP to level up. what changed:

Google got to level 8, can now attack twice, and has taken the lion pounce power.
Gabriel is also level 8, her wisdom grew, also two attacks
Danves is level 9. gained a level of rogue- duskblade 6/ rog 3. his feat i think is improved critical
Red is level 9, took a level of ultimate magus, that raises only her sorceress side this time. (about wis 6/ sorc 5but with +2/3 to cl) her feat is weapon focus ranged touch, which she uses a lot (under out rules you choose for the feat "weapon groups", and the bonus increases over time. she now has +2. all the characters have the feat
quite importently for the situation- replenished action points!


the party again discussed whether to continue or not, but pushed forward.

Fight or run?
the humming was much closer now, Olam told the party that soon south there is the ritual room. the party advanced and reached a small ante chamber. to the east and west were corridors that seemed to loop around the one to the south, a great cavern, lower level, in which a tear/ chasm/ wound to the adamantite was evident, probably made by the two big machines next to it. there were 4 figures humming- Auressia in her Rakshasa form behind the chasm, tendrils rising from it to her robes, and 3 other "normal" rakshasa in front of it, with their backs to the party.

next to Auressia stood 3 more figures- to her left was another Rakshasa, a black panther one, and next to him was Ipiks! only in black red scales and a pair of wings. to Auressia's right was the blue cat the party met at Darguun, which they guessed is their ally. the room had several entrances to it, in 4 stood four of the martial Rakshasa, with the bastard swords (Zakya)

the party withdrew to the ante chamber. a hushed discussion began- Gabriel and Danves (!) wanted to fight "did we come here just to run?" said Danves to the surprise of all, while Red and Google said they had no chance, even with Obrasky'r help. in the end the party decided to try and disrupt the ritual. how? focus fire on Auressia for one round, and then run away. Olam got a mage armor, and on of the bog bows, google another, danves with his own bow, red her last fireball, and Gabriel tremor on the group. they broke their second water elemental gem and had it guard their escape. Olam and Obraskyr followed their lead (Olam a bit reproachefully, Obraskyr bowing to "vessels of the prophecy".

i had to remain passive at this- this was their choice, their decision for better or worse.

That can't mean well...
go plan go!
Olam and Google's arrows hit Auresia, but didn't penetrate her damage reduction. Red's fireball didn't pass her spell resistance, (but burned the traveler and the black panther rakshasa, the Mockery) nicely. Danves wasn't lucky either. But Gabriel's tremor spell fell most of them down except for the mockery, one "regular" rakshasa, and 2 of the Zakya.

The mockery closed the distance in an amazing speed (monk) but didn't get to attack, at a word from Auressia however he stopped, the party began to run, with Gabriel unleashing her silence spell near the last Rakshasa standing. even that didn't stop the spell as the party ran, they heard Auressia laugh, and the humming get stronger. the bugs seemed to have noticed that too!

Did they have a chance?
A chance of winning the battle? probably not, though the party surprised me before. disrupting the ritual? that was possible, just hard. they need to kill 2 out of the 4 chanters (1 being Auressia). that is acheivable, though quite hard, and would have taken the campaign on a whole different route.

why build such an encounter? i have given some warnings (with obraskyr and more) that this was not a remotely easy fight, and that they should learn what they can and get away. remember the ante chamber had 2 corridors to the right and left? these would have gotten the characters to the rooms of the Dark six, where they could find some clues, have a difficult (but not so difficult) encounter, and due to further development, an interesting means of escape (that may yet come to bear)
near the exit suddenly the humming stopped, and then, a great sickly light shot forth through all the tunnels, fixing itslef on the bugs that glowed. "my vision coming true! whimpered Danves". some of the bugs swarmed, forming 2 swarms in front, and 1 at their back. the swarms spoke with Auressia's voice, taunting them. the battle was swift- Obraskyer's breath and Red's web behind let them make a run for it. the other bugs... the thousands (if not more) bugs were slowly awakening from their stupor.

As the sound of the swarms getting mass behind, the Party broke to the outside world...

what now?! :smallsigh: :smallwink:
---------------------------------------------------------
phew! so with that cliff hanger, we ended the session. the next one is hopefully 3 weeks away. I think Google's player's wife enjoyed this, though it was a very long session (10 hours!) i'm a bit conflicted about the ending, some of the players said they feel they... botched up. some still think they should have fought, some less. a few questions rose while we were cleaning up and while i drove a player back:
- we're in the mournland? with thoushand of rakshasa- bugs behind us? now what?
- what of Google's memory? we totally forgot about that! (and yep, that is one of the things they could find)
- wasn't the traveler with us?
- wasn't the traveler Grad?
- what would they want with the keeper of the flame?

this session didn't end up as i expected, which is cool! it challenges me! i'll need to deal with some interesting issues here...

i hope you enjoyed reading, feel free to ask, discuss, or just say hi!:smallsmile:

[LansXero]

Nice there; I guess you couldve let them delay the ritual or something as a freebie for trying, but that wouldve probably led them to try and keep fighting so maybe its for the best, as this way doesnt force your hand into a TPK. Very entertaining read, I hope no one got into trouble for staying so long at the game :D

[Duskranger]

I like this thread, hope one day I will be such an epic DM, but I am new at it (player for a long time) and my players are new to playing (and didn't even knew DnD before I DM'd) so it will take time before I can do something like this.

I like the story and hope to read a lot more from you.

Thumbs up from me.

[Kol Korran]

@Lansxero- hhmmm... delay the ritual. that's a thought, but by how much? till they get of the mine, till they they get out of Eston? more? i was afraid the momentum will be lost. but you may be right- perhaps i should have given them some "Win"

@ Duskranger- thanks for the praise, but the party is as responsible for this as i am. i learned a great deal from reading other campaign logs (especially SCS' logs) and reading various advice here on the forum. i war the choo-choo board the railroad train before that. (i still slip to it sometime, but i'm getting better. if you're open to improvement, the sky is the limit.

[Duskranger]

@Lansxero- hhmmm... delay the ritual. that's a thought, but by how much? till they get of the mine, till they they get out of Eston? more? i was afraid the momentum will be lost. but you may be right- perhaps i should have given them some "Win"

@ Duskranger- thanks for the praise, but the party is as responsible for this as i am. i learned a great deal from reading other campaign logs (especially SCS' logs) and reading various advice here on the forum. i war the choo-choo board the railroad train before that. (i still slip to it sometime, but i'm getting better. if you're open to improvement, the sky is the limit.

I think I will steal your idea for later in my campaign of the partsdealer. I like that part. My players need to grow first before they are able to get the idea, but I enjoy giving them a free hand. But I will not keep an campaignlog of this game :P. I don't think that would be a good idea.

[BillyBobJoe]

The bugs really reminded me of the Drifter from SCS' campaign. I love it. I just started reading today, and I must say I really love your campaign.

[Kol Korran]

welcome aboard BillyBobJoe! the campaign draws inspiration from the drifter's campaign of SCS. it's general theme follows the same line.

a little update. Red's player who can do photoshop magic has made an image to the request of Gabriel's player.
i give you Gabriel (manifesting wings) :smallwink:
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/meir_8/GabrielArmed.jpg

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 16: July 30th, 2011- Memories, personalities, confusion and laughter

In game date- 10 Olarune- ???

We had a bit of trouble setting up the meeting. due to RL players canceled, we decided to cancel, but then got back again. the group sticks on. the meeting was a bit shorter, but much much more hectic. where the previous meeting was tense and dramatic, this one was amusing and filled with laughter.

a small note that might gladden readers (at least it gladdens us)- it seems that due to my schedule clearing up considerably for 2-3 months, we'll play a bit more often.

now where were we? oh yes...

Somewhere to hide
so the party just got out of the mine entrance, the Behir corpse was covered with bugs, but they weren't eating it. no, the bugs were a bit numb, but coming alert quickly, some looking at the party. Gabriel called upon the exorcism powers she gained through her conversion (a domain in Eberron. the player chose it for spells, but serendipity works in mysterious ways) and tried to drive Auressia's presence from the bugs. Her faith was pure, her faith was strong, but not quite as strong as Auressia's power. the bugs turned her way.

"to the water!" they rushed to the near by streams of half sunken Eston, and dived in with Obraskyr the dragon and Olam Google's father joining them. Red cast a rope trick under water, and they climbed to it, hoping it won't be found out. Inside the character looked at each other, alarmed. they just bought themselves some time, but as one player said- "we're screwed. now what?"

plans and revelations
over the weeks before the meet, i tried urging the party to think and discuss plans. but the current rope trick plan was all they agreed upon. they decided they need more information to base their decision upon.

Enter the info dump, i mean Obraskyr and Olam. :smallwink: the party earned this, and they were listening intently. the dragon settled, and spoke in a grave majestic voice. he told them about being a part of a small number of young dragons who have decided to observe the fleeting races, and maybe guide the prophecy. they were mostly watchers, manipulators, though they acted personally when the need demanded it. the rest of Argonnesen's dragons preferred to stay out of the matters of Khorvaire.

Eberron Stuff:
In Eberron dragons are not (usually) solitary monsters, all working against each other, hoarding powers for themselves. instead the dragon made a continent wide "nation" of dragons in the far continent Argonnesen. there they grow, devise great magic and contemplate. few dragons however, act more directly with the world.

he has watched this particular part of the prophecy, and awaited the rise of the hand of light and shadow. however, while they finished their business in Xen'dric he viewed a new turn of the prophecy, one most dire, and so after hearing the party went to the Silent halls, decided to investigate himself. he was caught in an attempt to infiltrate and fought, but Aurresia's powerful magic brought him down and he was imprisoned, where he met Olam. they have listened to their captors, and sometime drew them to conversations to glean some information. and they have found out a few things:

The Shadow and her counter part the Mockery are probably Rakshasas seeking to free one of the great fiends of old times- the Rakshasa Rajahs. these were bound by dragons and their allies the Couatls in their great war eons ago. the red chasm the party viewed in the ritual chamber is probably a conduit to such a demon, as is the crack in Flame keep in Thrane

Ebrron Stuff
the Silver flame (to which Gabriel now belongs) main temple is Flame Keep in Thrane, it is based around a great crack in the earth from which the sliver flame rises like a great pyre. In the chasm the script say a great fiend, couatl and the saint Tira Myron are joined by the paladin's sword, in a great struggle. some theorize this is a source of good, some say it is corrupted, but the fiend within is contained.

Obraskyr heard what is "the key" the dark six looked for. it was the guardian naga Auxellia herself, and not any of the artifacts. he suspects this is because Guardian nagas may transcend and turn into Couatls. a rare event indeed, the creatures are on the verge of extinction. and couatl's have the essence of the silver flame.

DM sort of homebrew
I have quite a different take on all kinds of monsters and such to fit my world. this is mainly fluff, but some important fluff. if you wish to check it out look at the other link in my signature. you don't need it to read the log, i'll explain everything that needs to be know.

this seemed to Alert Gabriel the most. Obraskyr continued. "but they have a new target- Jaela Daarn, also known as the Keeper of the Flame, visionary child, prophet and spiritual leader of the nation and religion. she is the only other known power to hold the spark of the silver flame within her, or so i assume."

Eberron Stuff
Jaela Daarn is an 11 year old girl, who is clr 18 inside the chapel of the silver flame, and clr 3 outside it (though still very wise and charismatic). the council of cardinals prefer to keep her in the chapel, for her protection. she is a spiritual leader, though the cardinals deal with the day to day matters and politics of Thrane.

Then Obraskyr shaked his head. "however, i know little more. this does not make any sense! even with tens to hundreds of thousands of controlled bugs, the forces of the silver flame are stronger. there must be another stage to the plan."

at this point Olam spoke, seeming weary, sorrowful and slightly excited at the same time. he spoke to Google while adressing the party. "And indeed me and my fellows, and my son have found more. we... tracked that strange sickly elf when we got to Khorvaire, and was able to spy on him and his allies in Sharn. some of the stealthier in the group gained a map, which Google and I studied." he lowered his head "but we delayed too long, and were found out. some ran to bring the message to Obraskyr, while other... bought them time". the half giant seemed sorrowful. after a brief pasue he continued. "there was a lot on the map i didn't understand, but there were 4 marks as seals made prominent. two they knew- one was at Flamekeep, and the other was here at Eston. the other two were at Atur, the city of Night in Karrnath, and at Arcanix in Aundair. what is their meaning i don't know."

Eberron stuff
Arcanix is the abode of Aundair's wizards- towers floating in the ait on masses of earth. it holds amongst the greatest mages in Khorvaire. Red had studied there earlier. In atur there is the main temple to the blood of vol religion, and the center of their religion. it is full of worshipers and undead of various designs which are considered as small saints.

the party seemed to digest the info, but not knowing exactly what to do with it. they knew that each of the "seals" (if that is what they are) was in a powerful location. but all were quite capable of defending against bugs. free demons? why 4 locations? the party was quite more concerned about their escape.

which led to some discussions and questions of rumors and the like. i tried to initiate a conversation between Olam and Google, but other then some politeness and "We'll talk more when we're out of this mess". there had been nothing. the player seem uninterested in evolving this relationship. oh well.

possible plans: Obraskyr emphasized he needs to inform the silver flame ("under guise. it will be hard to persuade them. they don't trust dragons or shapeshifters much") but also he must alert his superiors. he seemed worried about that- "their response for a possibility of releasing a Rajah might not be good to the fleeting. our policy is quite... harsh" those with some knowledge in history remembered Xen'dric and nodded wearily. "i will try to buy you as much time as i can"

Eberron Stuff
When the great civilization of giants tried to use powerful magic in the past, the dragon nations utterly annihilated their civilization. and the dragons have zero tolerance for Rakshasa matters

can they ride Obraskyr? he can take one rider, maybe two. and he wasn't that stealthy to totally avoid recognition. he might fly out of the mournland, but not into Eston again.

By water? here the party had two ideas. the first is use a combination of water breathing and rope tricks to move on the bottom of the stream and river till they cross to the shores of Thrane. adavantages- quite safe and stealthy. disadvantages- agonizingly slow, and very boring. plus- very unheroic. this idea quite surprised me. i didn't think of it (i guess the Silent halls gave them the idea) but i was willing to allow it. i had one underwater encounter prepared (a steel kraken from Five Nations, a sort of underwater warforged titan equivalent) but that's it. thankfully i prepared for what happens in case they cleverly escape. however they quickly turned down this option.

the other water option came when Obraskyr mentioned that he heard there were quite a few boats to the west, which he deducted were going to be used soon after the ritual. this was risky. the party imagined there may be many forces there, but this might be the fastest route.

Another idea was to go by foot (or summoned many horses by Red, she has some spells. she always does.) to the boat that's supposed to pick them up. two problem- the road is long, and reuqires dealing with more crap of the Mournland. and plus- they could be tracked and engaged by Auressia's forces.

Danves suggested another quite surprising alternative. "we need to do what they'll least expect- we'll go deeper into the Mournland, hide a while and then see". i was befuddled of the idea. another alternative i didn't expect. but i liked it. it would require improvising, but some ideas were forming, maybe meet more Godforged or followers of the lord of blades, or a survival game through the Mournland. hhmmm... But the rest disliked the idea.

Gabriel's player, who had been deep in thought suggested another idea: "we should get back to the mines. THAT they wouldn't expect, and we have unfinished business there. this is an opportunity to find out more. we need it. The player has told me his frustration of how the last meeting ended. he felt they had missed greatly, failed in some way. he desired to fix that. the party however Really didn't like the idea- this is suicide. there was a little argument but they came to no conclusion.

I had actually made plans of what will happen if they got back to the mines. things have... changed. they could find things there, but it was VERY risky. my motto is "always a way, rarely easy". the party decided to sleep on this, memorize spells, and decide when they wake up. so far the idea was to try to get to the boat with Obraskyr or Tuulikki maybe providing Recon, and to try to blast their way through to a boat. (the stealthy approach won't probably work). the general feeling was still "we're SOOO screwed."

Obraskyr bowed his draconic head. "I shall need to live quickly, but i shall help you however i can while i'm here. you may still be the key out of this mess.

DM design
each of the possibilities had it's advantages, disadvantages, and effects for the long future. I needed to remove Obraskyr from the party's "belongings" because he is a too powerful NPC that might hog the spotlight. plus, he may have another role in the future, that needs him separated.


Another way, a matter of trust, the right spell at the right time
When they woke up Danves suddenly felt a Tingle, and heard a Sending from the Traveler "Your ally. if still alive, there is a way. In Fort. in working forge, a strange way. use stealth. heavily guarded, beware humanoids".

now this caused a stir. Danves was quite confused- "Wait, is she with us? against us? she was in the cave, but..." the party was confused. "a way out? from WITHIN the fort? teleportaion magic doesn't work in the Mournland" some looked at me, smiling. "this is another this the DM came up with" (with certain groans) how to get into the fort?

Here Gabriel offered a solution- she could use the spell "meld into stone" (most of the area was rocky) to enable them travel close to the surface, bypassing the troops! hhmmmm.. and i was hopping some illusion magic, distractions and sneaking in. damn players! :smallwink: it would take many of her 3rd level spells, but it's might be worth it. the players considered this, not knowing if they should trust or distrust the traveler. this was a wild bet, will they take it?

they decided to go for it. but a few more matters before they go. Gabriel decided that Obraskyr alerting the silver flame on his own was not enough. as a cleric of the flame she decided on a back up- she used a Sending to contact the priest who made her conversion in Aruldusk (before they entered the Mournland) alerting him of the danger to the Keeper, fiends and possessed massive swarms. I didn't tell that to the player, but that simple Sending might be important in the future. Obraskyr took Olam on his back, bid the party farewell, and left quickly to fly west. the party was on their own. 4 spells later and the party started to make their way in the rocky sides up the hill of the fort.

But things apparently changed a bit. there were many people, and creatures here- from the common racez, but also gnolls, orcs, the party seen a displacer beast and a wyvern aboe? and all were quite, unconcerned, but tesne. and there were quite a few bugs still, on surfaces and the people as well. as they moved further up they saw/ passed under bloated forms of meat/ distorted animals/ beasts, oozing liquid. as they reached the fort' wall and started skimming towards the gate Gabriel passed the cage where she was held by the Keeper. no time to contemplate, into the fort- Karrnathi undead, some adamantite warforged, and one warforged titan.

the party was glad they chose a stealthy approach! in the fort were barracks, a manor, and more facilities, including the one semi- active creation forge. edgy, weary of a trap the party slid under the doors to the hall of the forge.

Enigma
tools, warforged parts, metal and wood lay all around, as well as other artificery- stuff (small lab of many sorts) the six chambers of the forge were silent except one, that hummed. there were all kinds of small projects in various stages of completion here, and tables everywhere.

there were also 3 figures- 2 hoods figures near the chamber. the party could only see they had warforged hands from their position. and another one was near one of the table, dressed in utilitarian craftsman clothes, it's face hidden by the table and stuff.

There was something quite peculiar at the corner of the hall, there was a swirl of floating little Syberis shards, connectes to each other by thin silvery lines. they seemed to make a shape, of a a greater crystal? but there were many halls in the structure.

Still stealthy, the party wanted to discuss, but i reminded them that's impossible while stone melded. Danves emerged in shadows, while Gabreil rose by the two by the chamber and cast silence, while Red rose beside the 3rd figure (google waited to long).

but no combat yet, as the figure was indeed the traveler, in her natural form- pale milky skin, barely featured nose, white eyes. she was surprised, but then quickly motioned for silence. the two figures seemed frightened (they were indeed warforged, two of the Godforged who helped the traveler in exchange of learning) but yielded to the Traveler's will.

this is the first time they saw her up close in her true form. she smiled and them, and then was sad, then distant, then focused, a myriad of expressions on her face. "it's good you have come. i watned you to help me before, i sent you a message, but you didn't come. too bad, never mind, oh well. now it's a new trouble, no?"

it was clear that she was.. somewhat unhinged. "why do you help us?" Danves inquired. "i hoped you'd help me. besides- shadow dislikes, is disturbed by you. this means there may be hope, no?" then her expression changed "no, no there isn't. you came to late. you lost. we all lost". Gabriel interupted "we can help you!" " no you can't. you may have, but not any more. or maybe you can?" she laughed a strange low laugh "you don't really understand, and there is no time. there are so many".

Red was frustrated "allllright, so how can you help us, you said there was a "Strange way"?" at this the Traveler brightened, and led them towards the swirling shards at the corner. "i lost them, she sent them away, but i got some back. i wanted to use them to... find what i lost, but they are not enough. i asked you" (she looked in a strange look at Danves) "to help me find some others, key others, but now they are away. it won't be complete"

the party looked at each other. Danves' player reminded them of the weird list and shard finding spells he recieved while they were at stromreach, and they decided to go to the Silent halls. the traveler seem to talk to herself "I made it, and the spell. it is sort of like a net, of memories, expeirnces and people, but i think it may also be of distance ant time, they are all connected somehow, though some are lacking. I never tried it though" she said looking at the party. " i'm not sure of how it works, it requires an experiment, but it's all i can offer."

Google in the meanwhile, his gaze wandering suddenly became alert. he noticed a white rod with a claw hand at the end, in it was a red stone, demon stone. it rang in his vanished memory as something very important. the Travelr who caught his eye seemed to bow a little, and spoke in an appolagetic tone. "I'm so sorry. it was an old attempt, an old experiment. i didn't use it no more, but the shadow liked it." Google seemed tense "THIS is what took my memory?" "Yes, but not this stone. she keeps it, i'm not sure how much more you can use it." Google took the rod, silent but brooding.

Red in the meantime noticed something else. "the crystal from Dur Martop" (the adventure in Darguun) but... it's more whole now." "yes i fixed it. it's is some sort of a psychic barrier generator. i'ts not fully complete yet. Shadow cares little for it, she cared for the information in the book." another loot to the holding bag.

the party wasn't happy. but as Red' player said "we don't exactly have a choice, unless Gabriel has more stone meld spells. what do we do?" the traveler smiled wanely. "first give me the personality shard you've got" the party handed her the five items they collected (and forgot about). the Traveler then deftly found a secret compartment in each item in which was hidden syberis shard. "now your necklaces" the party grimaced and handed her the necklaces they got in Darguun from their "Ally" , again she recovered a syberis shard, but discarded Google's "that one won't work" (Gabriel also didn't have a necklace) she then placed them amongst the swirling crystal, delicately. the 7 shards found their place, and connected in silvery lines.

"now put your hands on it, and i'll cast the spell". Gabriel came to the traveler and suddenly hugged her strongly. "once this is over, i'll find a way to help you!" the traveler shrieked and jerked, fighting loose of the embrace, appaled and shocked "Don't EVER do this again, and we have allready lost... yet there is always the calculation you didn't expect, no?" reluctantly, the 4 heroes put their hands on the strange contraption and listened to the traveler reciting a spell from a scroll. suddenly the silvery lines shone, and they all swirled fast. the arms began to sink rapidly into the shining light, when the traveler suddenly turned with a strange look to the party, one of sudness, of being lost, but mainly of great anger and frustration. "I trusted you to find me, now feel how it is to be lost!" with that the party felt themselves vanish.

DM design- the Traveler
The traveler is Eberron's elusive mysterious god of trickery, deciet, possible boon, possible malice, inginuity and creative artifice. i love the potential in this deity, and wanted to portray it's aspects in a "villain". however there are two main differences between the god aspects and the changeling know as the traveler- first, she does not do trickery for trickery's sake, but as a necessity, and she's not that good at it. secondly, while the traveler god is usually the one to outsmarts his opponents/ followers and so on, the traveler woman has sort of been "tricked" by her own inginuity, a victim of her own genius , lost in her creation.

i didn't succeed (and i don't think i will) to share the traveler's full story and personality with the party, as they seem to rush or disregard things connected to her (such as the personality items). this is ok, not all things appeal to all people. she was between an enemy and an ally, and could be turned (and maybe will) to either side. so far the traveler is leaning more towards enemy, despite what seemed like a rescue.


DM design- the personalities maze design [a bit of a spoiler]
My players were as confused as well by the rest of the meeting they were indeed right that this was "something i made up", but it has been a long time coming. let me emphasize though that they could have chosen other options. the entire experience seemed to have been both frustrating and highly entertaining.

what is this "net of personalities" basically each shard contained the life experience of a single person the traveler was interested in (an experience voyeur if you may). they were connected to others. each "Scene" (will be explained later) contained personality items to other shards. these are sort of "corridors" in the maze, where the Scenes are rooms. the "dungeon" is built in circular tiers- each tier contains 4-5 "rooms" in a circle, and two also had "stairs" (corridor that felt "farther") up, and 2 down.

from tier 2 and up there would be "secret" rooms (harder to find the object, and it would feel a loooong way away) that contained special scenes with greater danger, and a way to enter back into the real world. this was one way of escape.

there were also sort of monsters that found their way into the maze that might be encountered while traveling "corridors". i'll explain their rationalizations later. there was a "boss monster" who tried to manipulate the fabric of the dungeon, defeating it would also enable escape from the dungeon.

lastly, there was a chance affected by the characters action in each scene to draw a memory piece of the Traveler herself. these would gain small insight to her personality, and with enough insight they would find a major revelation about her, that will also enable escape from the dungeon, with an important. boon.

it seemed simpler than the Silent halls and the druid codes to me. i thought i made it more organized. lets see what happened.

A feast fit for a queen!
. the party became insubstantial, and floated through a nebula. there was a sense of distance and time passingsuddenly however the gray haze around them started to materialize, and themselves as well. they rolled a 1d4, and it came out as Google! he rolled a will save (against what he didn't know) and succeeded. i gave him a handout that basically said he had become Bertriya the cook (remember Ipiks at the first adventure?) in the kitchen preparing a meal for the queen of Aundair and some dignitaries. the submersion was complete, unlike the regular shard- he WAS her for the scene!

the rest appeared as kitchen help and waiter, but they had kept their senses. all 4 players gave me a look of "wha..?" but some allready got into character- Gabriel's player (Wilma), started to bad talk Red' player (Greata) while Danves the waiter tried to get info from the guests, flirting with the ladies. Google's player however seemed out of his depth. this wasn't for him.

the party tried to search while keeping the scene, and found the gray haze was beyond the dining room and into the cellar. Danves however found something strange- a long thin Drow dagger on one ofthe dignitaries, who didn't seem to be aware of it. it seemed more real, and out of place.

before exploring it too much the jesting between wilma and greta became too audacious, which caused google to throw another saving throw, and as he failed the scene crashed, and the party was tossed.

Court at Flamekeep
again a sense of time and distance. This time Gabriel was merged as Lomak- a paladin of the silver flame (it was a coincidence) who was in the war once court due to his decision to go to Q'barra and help build new galifar. the rest were friends to arms who came to support his case before the cardinal judges. this went better in terms of roleplay, but the players felt lost. they found tow out-of-place objects- a warforged chest cavity and the cook's ladle. at some point the scene faded, but the objects remained.

they tried interacting them in various ways, till Gabriel touched the ladle and concentrated on it. they were again whisked into the distance, again a sense of great time and distance

Nightmare
suddenly on their way there was something.. wrong in the haze. Google's sharp senses noticed 4 horrific creatures emerging from the haze around them. 3 were a sort of a giant centipede, but with a wide torso, multicolored weird eyes, and two stumps o farms from which suddenly sprang pale shimmering blades. the fourth was like a snake with a torso, 6 small hands with vicious claws, two large arms with pincers, the same multicolored eyed, and a dangerous looking sting to the tail. he was the only one to notice them and prepare, when the snake one charged Red who looked at it with horror and recognition. "Quori!" she said.

Eberron Stuff
The Quori are ancient outsiders from the plane of dreams, Dal Quor. they have chased the spirits bound with the kalashtar a long time ago and hunt them still in more subtle means. they usually manifest psionic powers and have various fear/ mind affects. they are not supposed to have access to the material plane though, except by possession of willing subjects. i don't remember their correct names (asian sounding names) but the bigger ones appears in the ECS, and the others in the magic of eberron

the battle was quite swift- the quori continued to full attack red and got her close to death, Gabriel was mostly on healing duty, while Google and Danves mostly attacked the creatures Google used his cleave superbly gaining attack after attack. soon these were dead. the party noticed their small teleportation items and healing abilities function well. defineteley not in the Mournland

Wandering aimlessely
the following i don't quite remember. the party couldn't quite figure out what was importent, what not, how to navigate the place and so on. they descended mostly to funny (yet in character) roleplaying. they went up tiers, back to scenes, lost scenes and drifted and more. a few notable occasions:

once they got back to the paladin's memories, but this time to his memories in Q'barra. Danves failed his save, and lost 4 wisdom. this got him to 4 wisdom... and the player acted quite accordingly, hard of perception, understanding, and caution. this culminated one time playing as a warforged guardian to a changeling elite escort and rushing to the client- "GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!", or playing an incredibly dumb awakened dire wolf druid ("i'm my own companion?")
at one occasion they triggered a leading memory of the travelr (as a dwarf) giving the personality item owner his item. they tried to pursue her, but didn't have a name for the dwarf and called him/ her "Mobold, don't go!" this cracked the party up, and Mobold became a favorite cry
the party did get into one of the secret Traveler's memories, one of when she was a 5 year old they were her toys- 3 various homonuculi, and her magic doll that could change appearance (this was Danves). they played along for a little while, and learned that her parents are seperatted, that she lived in sharn, but was not allowed to go out of ther father's forge/ lab/ house (they think her father was from cannith, but don't know) Gabriel's character (a smoothed out iron defender) tried to ask her directly what is her real name, which quickly broke the scene (this was lost from the traveler, and is in the dreams, but not in the traveler herself. subconcious. sigh. i made this too difficult)
the party also found one of the "secret scenes" one which was a loooooong way off. it almost proved lethal, for the memory belonged to a warforged assasin, and red nearly killed Danves. they couldn't hold the scene much longer or get out to the real world (through the item owner- a dwarf on an atonement period) and were thrust back
the party were escorts, a scholar on an expedition and his aids, a warforged just created and the makers deciding his fate, a druid circle, and on a weird drow marriage ceremony, these are at least those i remember.
there was one or two more battles with the Quori, increasing slightly in CR, but which didn't prove to be much of a problem. characters were hurt, but not that bad. To my opinion the Quori are quite underwhelming


Bringing this to an end
i realized that if i'll let them figure this out, this will be long, tedious, and most importantly- not that fun. so the party "found" another of the Looooonnng away items, and followed it. Red turned to a Karrnathi leader before the attack on a village in Cyre, and the other his lieutenants, but the scene soon shook, as the memory looked back at them? the commander demanded to know ho they are, he seemed frightened, then as their persuasion attempts failed (they didn't quite know what to say really) he attacked. but with him were 5 more versions from different times of his life and undeath. Red was again wounded gravely, but mirror image and healing from Gabriel (the protecting angel) fixed her, and fireballs, Google's and Danves blades finished the thing quite quickly.

with that the haze vanished, the commander's helm burst, and they appeared on top of some battlements somewhere. oh, and there were quite a lot of Karrnathi zombies and necromances running towards them "they Killed Gur Sakal get them!"

had they time to look at the sky, something in the array of the moons would have certainly troubled them
----------------------------------------------------------------
with that the meeting ended. no great climax this time (the commander didn't prove as challenging as i imagined, maybe i should have had his aids coming to battle?) so this was an "on the way" meeting sort of. oh well.

a few notes about the puzzle dungeon:
- it would have been better if i gave more clues as to how to draw the traveler memories about, or the expected resolution of scenes.
- though i gave a detailed handout to the main character in each scene, maybe i should have provided more info about supporting characters.
- i should think long and hard before putting more dungeon puzzles in the game. they don't work.
- despite all this, the players enjoyed their "who's line is it anyway?" experience and provided quite good feed back, so this might be fun.

those who read SCS journals know what the bugs are for, and the mess that is going to follow. this may require a whole lot more improve on my part. it's not my best skill, but i try to compensate for it with "adjustable preparation". so we'll see. things might get quite interesting from here on.

one last thing- Google's player is planning on changing character, i'm not quite sure on the details yet, but we'll see. but there is another affected- Danves' curse is tied deeply to Google. perhaps it's time for Danves to grow?

i hope you enjoyed the read, next meeting is scheduled to the 13th (yay!). as always- any questions, quanderies and comments are welcomed

[LansXero]

Well the personalities trails seems interesting but it couldve been much more obvious. Still, some people like to immerse themselves like that and some dont and there isnt much that can be done about it. Awesome read as usual! Mind if I use the concept later on in my campaign? Hopefully Ill have better luck xD

[Kol Korran]

of course you can use the idea. glad you liked it. :smallwink:

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 17: August 13th, 2011- events unfold, Flamekeep

In game date- Eyre 26- Eyre 28 (Mid spring, Month of making)

It has taken me a some time to get to do this update, haven't been feeling well. next meeting is two days from now, so hopefully the next update will be soon. this meeting was somewhat shorter since Red's player moved south and we went to meet there, and got a bit lost on the way. also, for me personally it felt like not that good a meeting. at points i was not as prepared as i wanted to be, i didn't play characters well and in general i didn't feel well. this entire meeting feels like a preperation for next meting. still, maybe there are things to be learned from it.

one important note- Google's player has decided to try a new character. some of the party bemoaned this decision, as he was fun and also quite important to the party make up we'll get to that.

Chapter 5

right, on the top of a Karrnathi battlement.

"Seize them!" also- look at the sky...
so there were about 16 karrnathi zombies rushing at the party, with what look like army necromancers. the party have talked through emails to maybe use their teleportation stone (which they got from the keeper) but knew not where to go. so they tried to converse, and Red's persuasive words bought them some time, to be brought to the commander of the fort.

on the way down some looked at the evening sky, and were startled. the moons were not similar in location to when they entered the mournland. a quick caculation saw that about two and a half months passed since they entered the memories shard. Red confirmed that sometimes timeflows differently in dreams. Gabriel cursed "the traveler screwed us SO hard!"

they learned they were in Fort Zombie, one of the two main defensive forts of Karrnath against southern incursions. the Karrnathi thought they were spies, due to all the trouble in Aundair and Thrane. "what trouble?" "the commander will tell you".

a whole bunch of Eberron stuff
Karrnath's army as may have been mentioned is partly composed of the undead, and to support them- necromancers. they are not necesserily evil, but rather a sort of disliked necessity. the Karrnathi consider the undead soldiers as somewhat like saints or martyrs.

in Eberron there are 12 moons corresponding to the months. each moth a different moon is somehow more prominent (i don't know exactly how)

Karrnath lies on the eastern side of the Murnland (along with other countries not originally of the five nations), while Aundair, Thrane and Breland lies on the western side.

since you've been gone
the commander of the fort was a dwarf called Karak Tur (i'm certain i'vestolen the name from somewhere, i just don't know where) the party told him most of the story, to which he responded "you must have went to the Phiarlan storyteller school if you think i'll believe that fable!- cought and escaped Darguun, siege with psychic giants in Xen'dric, fighting demons on the lightning rail, and then that adventure in the mournland, to top everything that "you must have been drinking" stuff about the dream world? you're the lousiest spies i met yet!" the party insisted that BECAUSE what they told is ludicrous then it's true, and an interesting persuasion ensued, which at east put some doubt in Karak. he was concerned about Gabriel's warning about the temple of night at Atur. "a priestess of the flame warning the blood of Vol? now i've heard everything!" to which Gabriel responded on the lines of "This is bigger than flame or undeath".

Danves however was more concerned about the trouble that has transpired since they were gone. to which Karak Tur has sighed "we got some reports, but they broke off. they don't tell anything a fort commander you know. apparently some bug horror escaped the mournland, as was in your story and has been ravaging Thrane and Aundair. motly Thrane though. the bugs don't just kill however, they seem to take over people". "What does that mean?" "i don't quite know. that's what i heard. last report i heard say that many of these were converging on Flamekeep"

this was the point where Red's player surprised me a bit. "first thing we need to do is research how to break Auressia's hold. we can't fight her like this." which was, admittedly, the sensible thing to do. it's just that they haven't done ANY research about any of the clues they've found in the previous chapters. so far they held the (repaired) crystal they found (and which was stolen and retrieved) in Darguun, and the memory of an illithid researcher from the silent halls. i told them it would take some time to make head in this research, but Google and Gabriel wished to reach Thrane in a hurry.

getting to Flamekeep
the party convinced Karak Tur to let them go, and they decided to reach Karrlakton and get an Orien greater mark bearerto teleport them to Flamkeep. on the way Red learned a few more spells, and Gabriel sent a Sending to Obraskyr, wanting to know where he is, and any guidance. he told them he's under siege at Flamekeep and that they should get there quick. Danves was (rightfully) suspicous though- how would they know Obraskyr isn't possesed himself? they knew too little of the possession to really know.

They arrived Karrlakton at night, and found the Orien enclave. the mark bearer protested and refused, but Red used her succubus tongue to planta suggestion in his mind that persuaded him. he would teleport them to the Orien enclave in Flamekeep, but would return the next day. it's supposed to have been evacuated.

first meet with the possessed
as soon as the party teleported there, they met 4 soldiers of thrane, fairly capable by their ranks. but they turned on them and attacked. the battle was not hard, but was a bit alarming. the 4 soldiers worked in unison, and apparently had access to (most) of the abilities of the possessed, including magic. a few interesting discoveries in the battle though:

- A dispel magic was able to drive the bugs of one of the soldiers, though it was very hard (the party deducted Auressia's level by this- 14). the truth is that dispel magic shouldn't have worked as i planned (there were other ways, including exorcism), but i couldn't find my notes and forgot and so made a (maybe wrong) judgement call.

- sometime dead soldeirs released diminshed swarms of psi bugs, sometime not. the party don't yet know why.

- at some point in the battle, the gaze of the soldeirs suddenly focused more intensely, and Auressia spoke through them "you've arrived allready? i have been looking for you". at which point they realized she's directing more forces towards them. but it also meant that Aurresia didn't have her full attention on all her possesed the whole time. if they fought possesed and were quick, they might avoid her attention.

the battle ended, the poor mark bearer terrified, they rushed to find somewhere to hide.


an awkward exchange
as they were about to reach the street a figure burst into the enclave, it was a half orc with an impressive looking bow (with etchs of the silver flame) and a snake wrapped around his body. he scrutinized them for a moment, and motioned them to follow him quickly. he got asafe place. the party didn't like it, but followed him towards a demure and forgotten Sovereign host maoselum on the way they heard various screeches of creatures overhead, and Danves saw a small flock of wyverns.
in the maoselum Google's player introduced his new character- Grum the half orc ranger, hunter of the supernatural, who was guided here by his intelligent bow, to the aid of the flame.

the player exchanged glances. "you follow a bow?" "we're are partners, and i have sought a way in when i heard the battle you were in. Alissia says it leads into the church. a Cardinal of old used it for... various reasons". the party followed Grum. on the way below Google suddenly stopped, as if listening to something, and told them he must go (there was atunnel out of the city). he recieved a sending that might mean there is more than one way to battle Auressia. this is something he must do."

i hadn't really counted on the simple fact that this is exactly one thing that good wouldn't do- back down from a fight of those who need it. but we all suspended our disbelief and let it go. goodbyes were made, and the party rushed to the chappel.

DM design
so maybe there would have been better places for the exchange to take place, but i haven't thought of any. Google didn't just disappear, he has a chance of getting back later, with a... Surprise.

A test of faith
as they reached the secret door, they entered the catacombs of the chapel. they could see something was wrong. near what looked like a collapsed tunnel were the bodies of quite a few dead thrane soldiers, and bugs, they seemed to have suffered many small cuts, but also some big pummeling. the party suspected a trap, but also the big statue in the middle of the room. they guessed it was a Golem.

Gabriel, as a cleric of the flame tried to converse with the statue, but it got down and pummeled her HARD (massive crit), at which point she used her teleporting boots to retreat. meanwhile spinning adamantite shurikens came from hidden slits in the wall (shredstorms, MM3) and launched lightning on the rest. after healing Gabriel tried a different tactics, using the divine energy to turn undead. the golem recognized this and returned to place, as have the adamantite swarms. Danves noticed that they were showing signs of damage.

As the constructs returned to their places, the party heard rushing footsteps from the far side of the catacombs, where the stairs were/

Time to go to church
The party went on to meet the soldiers coming towards them. they were headed by a man in a black attire over his armor, which Danvas recognized immediatly "Cardinal Krozen, head cardinal of the silver flame!" he hissed. the group was a bit surprised Danves recognized him by look. the severe man seemed to recognize danves and frowned, but had other things on his mind "who are you? where did you come from?" a paladin steppedforward and seemed to... "scan" them/ "they are not possesed cardinal" the soldiers lowered their swords. "yes... she expected them... in a way"

they were escorted up, to the hall of the flame- a (mostly) circular hall with a circular depression in which there was a crack in the ground (similar to the one in the Eston Mines) from which a vivid powerful silvery flame roared silently. in front of it there was a small kneeling praying figure. it rose to great them- a young child of 11-12 years old, tanned with black curls, wearing a simple black robe, but radiating presence, awe, power, and undeniable good. the Keeper of the flame, Jaela Daran.

Gabriel bowed profoundly, and Grum and his bow also offered their great respect, but the child wished them to rise. Danves was a bit jittery, as she smiled her own smile for him. (the group were all guessing what the heell this meant) "you need not show reverence. you have come here, in our most dire of times. we are all equal in our fight against darkness, in our devotion to the flame (there were some coughs from Red's and Danves' players) the fiend that i could not find has gathered forces. many forces. from it's own, and from our people, and it has come to lay it's siege upon us, to gain access to the flame, to free it's lord."

what followed was a sort of a debriefing by Krozen and Jaela as to the situation. after Gabriel's warning was received, protection around Jaela was increased, but Auressia didn't go for the church immediately. instead her swarms harassed the countryside first, using the corpses of farmers and more to multiply, and possessing the bodies of elite soldiers, thus amassing a greater army. she also seemed to invade parts of Aundair, though she was in smaller presence there. also some monsters and creatures of savage Darguun, and various lesser fiends came to her from... somewhere.

and now they got their force here, at least ten times more than the soldiers of the flame. inside the church were about 200 low level soldiers, paladins and clerics, and a handfull of high level ones. they have used their spells to turn the entire church into stones, but that will not last long. also Jaela's prayer will help to hinder the invasion forces, but not entirely, and prevent teleoprting in. (a migitated form of miracle.). Jaela's divinations lead her to believe they have 1-2 days till the attack start.

there wasa depressive mood in the church. people lost their families, friends (some of which they were probably going to fight) and the future looked quite grim. they were veterans of the war, they knew losing odds when they saw them)

Stay or flee?
and at this point some of the player's said "ok, so we can't win this/ they need Jaela as the key, right? lets grab Jaela and teleport somewhere else." which is admittedly... the sensible thing to do. only it made me cringe. i worked quite hard on the battle, and thought it would be a great climactic piece, and a cool battle. but some other players, said they can't do that. they must at least try and save this place, these people. they can't just live them to their deathsand run off with their leader, with their only hope and inspiration! a slight debate developed, and they decidedto talk to jalea, try to persuade her.

"you wish me to leave my people? those who placed their faith in me? run away, which goes against all the edicts of the flame? abandon the silver flame, to which i am bount, which is a part of me, that i vowed to protect? i shall do no such thing!" it appeared to the party that trying to persuade the child will be quite hard, and even Red and Dnaves impressive skills will be hard pressed (i'm using thegiant's diplomacy rules, which rule that the DC is mostly decided by level (18 in this case), wisdom (highest cleric of the church, with divine spirit and superb magical items) and circumstances (yeah right).

as they came back thinking, Krozen approached them, looking first at Dnves with despise "you were always a coward, and always will be. for the flame i don't see what she sees in you, but she trusts you, so be it!" anyway, you seem like more reasonable folks. i have been to the war, i have seen evil, but not the likes of this. you need to somehow persuade her, she has asoft spot for those she see in her divinations to get us out of here! she can teloprt us anywhere she wants on Eberron, with her kind of faith." at the looks of the party he grunted "yes, we'll leave these people to die, but this is not about the best possible outcome, but about surviavl, so that we might rise again! Jaela is wise, but she is also naive. this is a time to run! persuade her, and don't forget about me!" Danves, though not liking Krozen, agreed with him, but the rest kind of balked from him, especially Gabriel "have you no faith? no conviction? no trust in the flame?" to which he turned away.

Eberron stuff, about Krozen
In the ECS and five nations Krozen is pictured as a sort of an evil grand vizier type of character. i know some of the players suspect he is a traitor. i decided to play him however as just a very practical if ruthless leader of the church. sure he is a bastard, sure he thinks of himself, but also about the church, in it's more "earthly" persuasion

time for magic items. special ones
as Jaela finished her prayer, she moved around the crowd, offering grace, soothing words and more to her people. she led the party towards where some provisions and supplies were held. "i've had some special things kept for you. i felt that you are to come. it is not much but perhaps it will help fight the tide.

she motioned Danves to her. "the curse or blessing wasn't meant for the giant man. it was meant for you. i felt that i may need a man of cunning, of guile in this struggle, but he needed to have bravery as well, he need to know when to fight and where to run. so i linked you to a fountain of courage, hoping you will drink of it's waters. i still see doubt in your eyes, and it is your decision to choose."

Design note
At first when we developed Danves curse, it was basically as this: Danves was judged at every battle as to how brave he was compared to Google (he couldn't leave google once he met him), which granted him some modifier on a 2d10 roll which was made after the battle, with high results giving beneficial things, an low giving bad things.

however, Google left, so we changed the curse so now Danves matured, and it was his own decision and actions he is measured against. the curse was mostly there to reinforce ROLEPLAYING desires, and so it could work like that as well. i had to twist the curse meaning a bit, but oh well...

Jaela reached and handed DDanves a very fine, this bladed long sword. "this here is sure thing, it lends it's power for precision attacks and making sure you hit. it once belonged to an... unorthodox hero of the flame. ("Sure Thing" is a +1 keen long sowrd, that increases to a +4 on sneak attacks. twice per day it can either ignore DR ans SR, or increase the spell DCs by 2

Jaela caleld Gabriel who knelt before her/ "guardian angel, so confused and consumed with anger and anguish. you seek to unleash your anger, to make those who hurt you suffer." she got a slightly glowing club. "this belonged to a primal protecting angle of the faith. i give you "vengence". the club is a holy club (no +1) who'se bonuses rise to +4 whenever one of the party is at 1/2 hp or less, and twice per day she can refect damage done to her to her assailant, (with a saving throw)

Jaela turned to Red. "a mind of beauty and aesthetics, yet witnessing horrors and violence find it must steel itself for the struggle to come. fight fire with fire. for you i have only got the remains of the robes of our of our great mages, hoping they would suit you, and that you would be honored in wearing the garments of our church. the robe of the silver purger grants a +4 deflection bonus, SR 18 and +2 to saves against magic and powers of evil creatures (meaning with the evil subtype), and twice per day she can turn her fire spell to silver fire, making them divine energy instead of fire, and gaining +4to overcome SR

and last is Grum "you come to us without having been part of the struggle, and yet you are willing to fight. high in the north west there are orcs and half orcs who do not recognize us, yet fight for their version of the silver flame, against fiends on a daily basis. we have recieved one of their armors "demon hunter" in their tongue. this is a mithral chain shirt +2, +4 against mind affecting magic and powers, detect fiend at will (as the appropriate detect spells), and 2/day "hunter"s sense- for 1 round all attacks are keen, and you can reroll one attack roll.

the players seemed to like their new possesions (though i'm notnot sure about Grum's player. i had something prepared for Google, and the exchange caught me a bit by surprise. the player didn't have his character ready till the meeting day, so i was a bit at a loss

DM design
so why these items? why now? don't they already have over WBL? well, there were a few reasons i did this:

first of all, the characters will probably won't get nearly no significant magic items from here till the campaign ends, as they will be on the run and fighting. minor magic items yes, but not major ones most likely. and unless they are imaginative, they won't get to trade their loot either.
i wanted to signify the upcoming battle more. make them feel that "this is it" and gaining special magic items help do that.
up until now the prty has been on mostly small adventures, which concerned mostly their immediate local. but now they are in the crux ofworld changing event,s, in what may be the fall of a nation and a major religon and force of good. thay are damn freaking heroes, and they deserve it!
despite having it's resources depleted, i wanted the church to somehow compensate and adequally equip those who were risking their lives to fight for it.
i thought it might be cool!


ready to fight? wait, before that...
the party started a tactical discussion, that got cut short by their decision to do some gurerilla fighting. i was totally surprised! i didn't think that with the swarm of enenmies outside someone would want to go OUT! so i improvised, and kind of badly i hink (not my strong suit). the party ended up trying to take one of the converted storage houses. there was quite fine stealthy work by Danves who LED the assault. the sore house was guarded by two possessed soldiers, and a manticore on it's roof. Danves quickly disabled theguards with the help of the others, while Grum and Redtried to take down the manticore. the beast shot some spikes at them and flew away, roaring a warning, while an ambush drake and two feral yowler burst from the ware house. all were butchered quite quickly, though the party used up her powerful spells in a hurry. they burnt the suppiles and used a dimension door spell to return to their tunnel unnoticed.

the battle let Danves and Red check out their new items, and they liked them! for me it enabled to test monsters ofthe first wave that is going to invade the church. hhmmmm... taking notes. the small victory boosted up moral a bit for the group, but as they said- "it's just a drop in the ocean"
------------------------------------------------------
so this was kind of a "meh" meeting. sort of a preparatory meeting for the next one. the party so far plans to try and fight the odds (they have surprised me before, and i made two possible options for that to happen, though they will be FAR harder than anything the group faced till now), and if the situation gets dire, to try and persuade Jaela, to spring them out of there. i encouraged them to read a bit more on Eberron to try and think where thy can go.

the next meeting is probably going to be EPIC (if i don't screw up as a DM, and if the players don't jump ship early), but very, very difficult to manage. quite the most complex thing i've tried so far.

they have been emailing each other (and me) about plans and ideas and so on, which i quite enjoy. perhaps if i'll get to it i'll post the main discussion point on later posts.

as always, questions, comments and the like are welcomed.

[Kol Korran]

preparing for the big battle
(the following post deals with plans between sessions, and not actual gaming time. if not interested, skip ahead)

It's good that players are kind enough to email the DM as well about their plans and questions. it helps me prepare better (or so i hope), and realize LITTLE things i forgot to do.

like make a decent square map of the church. i had it in my mind, but that a big help, isn't it. :smalltongue:

also it made me think about Auressia's tactics and the church guys tactics a bit more seriously. which means that know i have a battle plan and series of events for the game. of course the players will muck it all up, but i could improvise better that way.

i won't let my own plans be known yet so not to ruin the surprise, but suffice to say that Jaela's spell will mean the enemy will come in waves, with each wave with certain tactics and goals. the party assume they'll have 1-2 breaking points (they think they will burst the gates, and then it may be a withdrawing battle towards Jaela's position, while some forces will break in in her chamber. (at least some players think so, i haven't heard from all of them)
anyway, here are a few of the questions and plans they have:

1) how big is the church in terms of fighting grid? we use a grid of 19x28 squares (i think it's the default one). the party likened the church to a hammer shark/ the main hall (tail)could be about 2.5 grids, the long sitting hall (body) has the width of about 1.5 widths, and 1.5 lengths. the chamber of the flame (the head) is about a gird long, and two lengths wide. the church is kinda BIG, but managable. going from section to section will be a slight pain in the midst of battle

2) what forces are there for the church?
- Jaela, 18th level caster within the church, though some spell she can't cast (mostly those with XP requirement),she has quite a few protective items and a few other surprises, but she's not telling that to the party. she is closely guard by two hound archons.
- Krozen, a 12 level cleric, guarded by a hound archon. he is the one actually leading the forces in battle.
-2 more cardinals (9the level). their main job will be to lead the forces in the barracks and upper floor, and protect the catacombs. (if things go to plan, they will be mostly out of the battle till the 4th of 5th wave)
- Malik, a general of the silver flame, paladin 8, will lead the forces in the main hall, buying some time.
- about 130 warrior 3, regular soldiers, about 40 paladin 30, officers, and about 15 clerics of levels 3-5. as said, most of the elite forces were sent to deal with the disruption Auressia caused in the land, and were captured by her. nearly all of the possessed thrane forces are level 5-6.
- 2 mages of 7th level. one protects JAela directly, the other is directed by Krozen.
- there are few various craftsmen and the like (including Holdfast which the party met in Aruldusk), that may be put to some use.
- the catacombs have the stone golem and shredstorm, though both been injured greatly (sadly, the party doesn't remember they have a wand of repair damage)

3) any other resources? the party will receive a small amount of potions, mainly cure, fly and haste potions.

4) Gabriel plans on calling a hound archon of her own, maybe two. beside fighting their main task will be to get any fallen people of the team to Jaela for an escape.

5) Jaela's divinations have concluded that the attack will arrive in 1-2 days (give or take several hours)

6) Gabriel wishes to use the time to try and contact Obraskyr, ask him for help, or at least understand why the hell he isn't in the church!

7) they plan using "meld into stone" to do a little surveilence of the forces around them.

8) Gabriel fears that Ipiks will try and assasinate Jaela. Danves' player think that an 18th level cleric, who was is the leader ofthe nation has survived plenty of assasination attempts, and knows how to protect herself. he IS right, however Ipiks will come into play (if the party doesn't run fast enough), but in his own way.

9) if they have the time, one of the mages has calirvoyance/audiance, which they also wish to use for recon.

10) the flock of wyverns they saw worry them, and they guess there are other flying creatures. however, they couldn't find a solution except archers and web spells.

11) Red's player suggested to use some furniture and oil to booby trap susceptible break points. only no one really know how to make such traps. i have a feeling they'll come up with something.

12) Grum still thinks that they should use their time to locate and kill "quality" targets. still, how to locate them, how to get them and back may be a big problem.

those are the main plans so far. we meet tomorrow, there are still matters of what happens if they escape to deal with. this has such a potential... to be great, or to be a dud. :smalleek: we'll see.

the last battle for the silver flame, tomorrow... :smallamused:

[LansXero]

I do realize this is a lot of work to remember and type up, but do update us as soon as you can! :D

Ive resorted to using Warhammer rules when dealing with massive combats, as D&D breaks after a certain point, Since we dont have enough diverse minis, we make do with paper cutouts of the relevant units; for characters we use a conversion system that turns them into free very OP Independent Characters xD. Lets see how it goes using pure D&D though!.

Also, I did get to use your personality shard idea, although in a different way. I turned it into time-travelling through relevant campaign history points, both as a break in their characters and plot exposition hour. Worked surprisingly well, and my usually non-RPish characters took to their newfound personas (in every scene, I had them take the body of someone but gain none of their knowledge and retain all of their own) and to acting them out. Players are weird.

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 18: August 27th, 2011- Besieged, first two waves

In game date- Eyre 28- Dravago 1 (mid- Late spring, start of month of handling)

we met a little later than usual, since Red's player could only arrive that time. in the meantime the rest planned and prepared for the siege as well as they could.

planning this meeting was quite hard, as i had to take many people into account, and tried to plan things to be interesting. so far the siege hasn't ended, but i'm not sure these make good encounters- the pace crawls, people get confused, and way too much time is not spent on the PCs. also, it's a real hassle to deal with, especially what spells all the casters cast (i made a short list, but lost it with all the material i brought). it was a so-so meeting, so lets tell it: (forgive me if i miss on some details, this was a difficult meeting to run)

general plan and layout
i've made a big map of the church, in 5 ft squares, and presented it to the group. on the main floor there was the main hall (protected by Malik and some troops_), the sitting pews and "neck/ body" (Krozen and some troops) and the hall of the flame (Jaela and most troops). battle will take place in each of these 3 spaces. there were also the catacombs and upper floors, but these were protected by the minor cardinals and their troops. the troops were spread thin, as the church was big. running from one side to another for a light encumbrance character would take 3.5 rounds approx.

the characters discussed how to spread their allocated potions and where to locate themselves. Danves claimed they must stay close to Jaela, as the enemy will surely have special plans for her, but Gabriel (and Red when the player came) thought that the main hall should be the place, as it seems the enemy was focusing his forces on the great doors.

Gabriel prayed and called upon a hound archon (lesser planar binding) which agreed to help without any further payment (protecting the silver flame against a horde of fiends isn't enough?) now she was like one the head honchos in the church, only she planned to use the archon mostly to aid the troops with his powers. it was named Jakar (the player loves Bab5)

Gabriel also sent two Sending spells. the first to Obraskyr, wanting to know where the hell is he!?! he replied that the bugs stopped him from delivering the message, so he is bringing help. he asked the party to hold on till reinforcements arrive. some in the party believe him, some suspect him.

the second sending was to Google, relaying their desperate situation, asking for help. Google replied he is going for help, but of a different kind, they must try to do without him. (a bit out of character but i wasn't bringing him back now)

persuading the Keeper
before sleeping, (and when Red's player came) the party decided to speak with Jaela. the main talker was Red, while Danves and Gabriel tried to help (a sort of Aid another) Red took her aside, and repeated the importance of running away when the battle is lost, not letting the fiends fully win, being able to fight from another location and give hope to those who might still believe in the flame. "your responsibility is to make sure the locked fiend won't get out. you must run when you can".

Jaela listened. "but this raises three questions- when is the battle "lost", who do we take (she could take six more duplicating greater teleport with her miracle) and where do we run to? the party was a bit stumped at this. they haven't really thought this through. they could use their teleportation stone to take themselves away, but then they will be separated from Jaela, which Danves objected fiercely to. so them, and Krozen... one else? Grum's snake?
and where to? they discussed various option i gave them, amongest them go to the Druids in the Eldeen Reaches, (and the great druid Ooliam), maybe find an enclave of either Khundarka or Phiarlan and ask them to hide them, or maybe the Boneyard Obraskyr mentioned (i'm not sure iremembered to put it in previous session recaps). when Gabriel came up with an idea- why not Google's tribe in the obsidian city? it would give us some time, some allies, and maybe the naga could helpe as well! i was REALLY happy at this idea because it's one of the more interesting continuing places to follow on. didn't show it of course, but it was fine. also, unknown to them, this is where Google is heading anyway... the knots may be tied together. now to Danves and Gabriel's aiding attempts

Danves surprised Jaela, and me as well by saying "i've come to see some of the truth in the flame in my travels, and i believe it needs to survive. for this it mustn't be foolish. fighting against this odds? there is no chance. we must run to fight another day" (not his exact words but close enough). Jaela was kind of touched by this. "i bestowed the curse or gift on you since i felt that in time to come, you might be one of our only true champions, but you needed to learn courage, so i attached you to a fountain of daring. i'm glad to see that it... rubbed on you a little" Danves rolled his eyes and went back.

Gabriel who watched the conversation sensed something odd (sense motive)- though Jaela seemed calm, she was quite tense, and her eyes at times were not the eyes of a powerful deity linked super cleric, but rahter of a small child out of her depth. in an uncharacteristic motion, Gabriel knelt before her high priest, and hugged her, whispering "you may be a child, but you are still my mother". i... didn't quite know how to take it, so i decided Jaela didn't know as well. she got out of the embrace, perplexed, saying an odd and slightly shaken "thank you".

however, mostly due to a lousy roll and the difficulty of this persuasion (i'm using the giant diplomacy rules), the attempt failed. Jaela wasn't persuaded by the words. "i am bount to the flame, and the flame is bound to me. i cannot just run and abandon my people, this would go against all the flame stands for. it will protect me, us.... i shall not run"

dismayed the party returned to their doings, Krozen inquiring about the attempt. he smiled wearily. well, perhaps lost lives and spilled blood will convince her. Gabriel is really disliking him now!


Speech
the party rested, and memorized spells for the battle, when Jaela climbed her podium that oversees the church, and spoke clearly, brightly, powerfully to the church. now, Gabriel's player wanted to do something similar, but i discussed it with him, and he now intends to do it further down the line. when things might get more dire. i didn't want to do the speech (i learned a few things from DM of the rings), but i felt that in this case it was necessary. perhaps not the greatest speech in the world, but i think it would do.

"you fear death, you fear corruption, you fear the fiends here to besiege us. you want me to assure that it would end well, i cannot.
the fiend is clever. it seeks to break us even before the battle has begun, it seeks to bring fear into our heart, doubt into our minds, defeat into our souls.
but we shall not be easily fell! though we may feel the darkness around, we look with in and see the bright light, the burning flame, the unyielding fire that makes us soldiers of the silver flame!
shall we bow down to darkness? will we lick the Rakshasa's heel? will we lay down our sword and let the enemy run us through?
No! we shall fight! sword, mace, shield, spell, fire, and most importantly- spirit and soul!
it has taken our brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers from us. it will force us to fight them. and though it pains so, we shall. why?
my family, we fight for there is no other fight, no other time, no place to retreat. this is the place we make our stand, our last stand, and by the silver flame's holy vengeful fire, we shall make the devil pay and send it back to the hells where it came from!
Look around you my friends, my people, my children. see the images of saints, heroes, martyrs and holy men who walked before you. they are here with you now.
look at me, i am here with you now.
look at the flame behind me, a divine fire from the souls of all righteous heroes before. it is here with you now.
steel your heart, brace your souls, the fight is upon us, and we shall not fal!"

the players? they were busying themselves with other stuff. the bastards :smallwink:


First wave, we come a knocking
the party was in the main hall. most stood behind the statue of Tira Miron, while Gabriel and Jakar stood with Malik and the troops some distance of the gate. the party used the oil reserves of the churchs to plan some "oil traps" in front of the main doro, planning to light them as the enemies cross.

potions drank, spells cast they were ready. the thumps came again, this time with more vigor. four thumps on the gate, vibrating walls in the neck, and cracking and breaking stone glass images in the great dome.

suddenly the great doorslurch forwards, and fell full lengths to the floor of the church. behind which were two warforged titans who partially knelt, trying to hide or protect those behind them.

Red caught a glimpse of several creatures- some feral hounds and ambushs drakes they fought in their battle over the food storage and some... insectoid legs? no time to think, she unleashed a fireball upon them, scorching many, however the insectoid seemed to have spell resistance...

Grum started to target one of the titans but the arrows didn't pierce him. it was then that he heard much of the stone glass in the Flame's chamber crash, and decided to rush there, his snake following. Danves yelled "distraction!" and sprang towards Jalea as well. Ganriel however was worried at the monstrous troops at the gate, and cast a bless spell to help them.

Jaela promised them before the church had a few surprises, and here came the first- a shield of faith and lesser vigor for the rest of the battle. the troops felt encouraged, the players didn't really care.

before the soliders could charge, two noxious cloudkills envelops many of the troops, felling them immediately, while some of the higher level troops lost con. "Mezzoloth!" they yelled (the bug like demon they fought in the mines together with the arrow demon) about 3/4 of the front troops were dead. Malik got the rest from the cloud to close the door gap, dreading to face the Titans, when they... stepped away, never getting in. the mezzoloths also retreated. the party was confuesd. the feral hounds carged the troops, who then began a long engagment with them.

meanwhile, in the main hole the vibrating walls on both sides collapsed two more cloud kills enveloped Krozen troops felling all but 6 of them. the priest was enraged, and noticing one of the Mezzoloth dismissed him. (the spell), one less bug to worry about. but then some elite possesed troops rushed in trying to get at Krozen and his mage. the mage cast web over one of the gaps, slowing the troops. but there were still a fair number. Grum stopped his run towards Jaela and helped Krozen, killing first a sorcerer, and then helping kill a cleric and more.

Danves reached Jaela, and saw about 10 harpies occupying the troops while the wyvers tried to grab the mage. some were kileld (mostly by Jaela) as Danves lnd his bow.

meanwhile, at the door the feral hounds were joined by other possessed troops, though the small space didn't allow much of them to join the fray. this was the opportunity Red had been waiting for. hse drew her wand of Dispel magic, and cast it, using an action point to overcome Auressia's impressive possession abilty. 5 of the troops went on their side! (and these were level 5, not lvl 3). the panicked troops were rallied by Malik, while the two ambush drakes flew behind the line, and breathed a slow gas over the troops, affecting most. Gabriel and Jakar went to engage them, when Red noticed another danger.

DM folly/ design
as i mentioned in the previous meeting, i made the mistake of allowing dispel magic to break possesion, due to not finding my notes andthinking (badly) on my feet. this proves problematic because Red has a dispel magic wand of level 8 (though not many charges left). it allows her 9and some of the other casters) to gain forces quite rapidly.

why don't i just disallow it? because it would feel like a cop out. like i noticed a vulnerability and using my DM status to cover it up. no, instead i ened to find a way to deal with this.

the church's side wall suddenly "opened up" (pass wall) and 4 figures came running through. a serious looking hobgolin warrior, some Kalashtar in simple clothing, a human archer, and what seemed like an exceptionaly beautfiul elf in plat armor. Red's first thought- "a hired party of assassins to take us down!" one focused on Red, and she saw a different look in her eyes, Auressia's look, just before she cast a fireball at her! thanfully Red drank a potion of protection against fire before the battle, and withstood the blast. so Red used more dispel Magic, and indeed- these were possessed troops! 2 turned to their side, (the elf cleric and kalashtar psion) while the rest ran. the pass wall was dispelled as well.

DM Design
actually there are 4 such "parties" who's CR is about 9-10 each that are supposed to challenge the party. they are supposed to be more complex troops, interesting ones. however, after using one in the midst of this complex battle, i'm not sure they are a good idea. the tlepeaths powers and the cleric's spell were just additional headache. and now they are on the party's side!

Meanwhile Grum and Krozen were thinning the troops, while the mage took out those behind the web. one of the wyvern's snatched Jaela's mage, and tried to fly straight into the flame, in suicide, but Jaela cast "hold monster" on him, and Danves killed him as the harpies withdrew.

The first wave was over.

questioning, following tactics
"ha! they are just testing us so far. this was an... inquiring stab" said Krozen. the party was not pleased. they felt they just dealt with minor threats, and not the big ones. the titans worried them, as do the mezzoloths. "we mostly lost troops to the cloudkills, few were lost to the actual fighting" said Grum. Danves was quite worried that they are targeting the mages. "none of them even tried to touch the keeper..."

all said and done, they were not that much worse off. 34 of the troops died, but they gained 5 more experienced ones, and the cleric and the psion. who are they exactly? the Kalashtar was called maavakti, and she was a follower of the flame from near Thaliost, the city was overtaken by the swarms and she.... remembers little else, except horror. the cleric (which was dubbed the "vol guy" believed in the blood of vol, and served Karrnath. he was appaled to be her, as he was taken from near Karrlakton. Gabriel was quite worried about this and reported to Korzen. "hhmmm, we heard the swarms started attacking towards arcanix, but there were no reports of Karrnath. is Auressia on her way there as well?"

"Vol Guy" disliked the church, but agreed to fight, if just to survive. both additions weren't up to par, having used some of their spells/ powerpoints for previous protection. Gabriel's player who usually has darker intents asked me "does he happen to have animate dead? to even the odds?"

Krozzen took out two scrolls of stone wall, and closed the gaps at the neck. "that won't stop them for long though".wit hthe help of some troops they laid the broken doors as cover at the sides of Tira Miron's statue, and posted some archers behind it.

oh, nearly forgot- a Delver breached the catacombs wit some troops, but they were stopped.

Wave 2, the failed charges
Gabriel and Red decided to stay at the main hall. while Danves hid behind one of the pews, and Grum was more poised to fight... whatever might come.

but the second wave didn't come immediately. the enemies howled and wailed, more bashing on the stone glasses,more of the titans bashing on the walls, and here and there the wavering walls. time passed, and most importantly- some spells ended, which was the point.
then Red heard a noise- a loud buzzing. 6 great swarms flew high in the gap, though slowly, as if waiting something. Red didn't think more, and unleashed a fire ball on the swarms. but they were ready, and one cast a counter dispel magic (as auressia). but Red's power (and action point) withstood Auressia's spell, and burnt the bugs fiercely.

next charged 2 ogre crasher lieutenants and a bear hound, the three and the swarms were close together due to the gap, so Gabriel's Smite Evil spell caught them all, and using her action point, all swarms excpet one was destroyed, and the other chargers were either hurt, blinded or both. focused fire by archers and flanking by the remaining troops brought this to a hold. further troops who were supposed to enter didn't do so. this was a fast and fairly easy victory for the two casters, but they both felt as if they were just being drained of their spells.

meanwhile, in the neck Krozen's predictions came true- the titans shattered the stone walls, and once again troops stormed in. 11 bearded devils this time. the troops seemd outmatched, and so Grum once more rushed to Krozen help, who cast "divine power" and turned to a furious battle machine. his mage partially paralized some of the fiends, and Grum started to pick on them with his enchanted fiend hating bow.

Grum sensed something in the hall of the flame just before leaving. his ears picked up the sound of something like distant fires, not the burning of the flame itself, but he couldn't pin point it. another pass wall appeared in the side of the hall of the flame, and more possessed trained troops passed. Jalea began to cast a greater dispel magic to turn them and close the wall, when two efreeti appeared, one hitting her, the other targeting her wizard. the wizard was bashed harshly, and Jaela was hit too, but (dice roll willing) she cast her spell, closing the wall, and freeing 9 of the 12 soldiers. a round later the wizard was dead, but Jaela banished the efreeti with a cry of anger, as her troops surrounded and finally killed the possesed ones.

all characters went to fight the bearded devils. it was a slow fight, but in the end they all died without undue losses,. Jaela raised (raise dead spell) the wizard, who looked stricken. they all healed, and breathed. the second wave has passed.

---------------------------------------------------
we stopped here. running the waves takes alooooong time, and they are slow. the party burnt some of their spells, but not nearly as much as i thought, thought the "high ups" NPCs are coming out as planned.

i'm not sure if the player like this sort of game or not. they seemed to like being bad ass, but also think they aren't really challenged, and mostly worry- how many more waves are out there? is Obraskyr on his way with salvation, or is he toying with them?

the two waves didn't feel that different to me. i have a few more surprises and ideas on the way, but i want to make each wave feel special. we barely get to play, no time to mess around. still, if we just end up playing 2-3 waves next session with no development... meh, i don't want this to happen.

suggestions?

[LansXero]

for every problem, there is nothing that could go wrong by adding more Rakshasas to it.

Naztharunes are very very good at sneaking around, and if you give them an swordsage level or three they become even better (although that may catapult them out of the party's CR). Between Hide in Plain Sight, huge Hide/Move silently modifiers and their shadow jump, they would be ideal for sneaking on the unsuspecting Jaela; even if the room is warded they couldve gone in hidden amongst the two waves, bid their time, then attack. They would be invisible for to lvl 3 troops for all practical purposes, and you should really find a way to drag the PCs to small, focused action. Then thin the ranks of troops a bit to ease it on yourself.

Or go with one of the players idea: Next wave or the next after that one, Jaela divines a gap in the enemy leader's defense, probably due to sending his/her guards to die. Commando time go!

[Kol Korran]

Hello again LansXero. glad you used the personality maze idea. if you're players are enjoying it- all the better!

as to your ideas: (this may contain some spoilers)
- i have considered using the Naztharunes, but instead i have to other "assassins", which are slightly more known to the party- the mockery (a rakshasa who is a high level monk, with slight monk fixes) and... Ipiks! both can hide really well (the former has potions ofinvisibility, the latter a ring of invisibility). the mockery will probably go after Krozen, paralize him, and will try to coupe de grace him in the following round. Ipiks has his own... target (not Jaela)
Auressia isn't trying to kill Jaela, rather capture her.

for that she needs to make her enemies use their highest spells if possible, leaving her an opening. the great strategy is to wear the enemies down, though there are some more specific attempts and tactics at certain points.

thinning out the low level troops: i allready sort of handwave what happens to them, which the party is fine with. but there are other tactics. not all of the mezzoloths are dead, there are some added rakshasas on Auressia's side that can cast quite destructive spells and some other troops (some of them come allready at wave 3)

i understand i can add rakshasas and monsters and the like, but i choose not to. why?
- first, the party divination might tell them how much the enemy has, and i don't want to later fudge things.
- i want the party to feel (and i've told them so) that their actions matter. this was certainly true in the past with the death of others of the dark six, but even now- there is a certain amount of fiends of each kind, of constructs, of beasts and so on. the enemies resources, even one such as Auressia,. must be limited to feel real. i got that from the giant's villain making advice and Dust's "5L" villain creation thread (though i read it quite some time after starting the campaign, so i wasn't able to implement all)

as to taking the battle to the enemy, outside. i like the idea, only... what weakness? the way Auressia is built as a mass possessor, she has very few if any weaknesses at the moment. but perhaps i'll think of something. it's an interesting idea.

the battle CAN be won, but it will be far far harder than anything the party has faced so far (including the epic battle with the keeper). as i said- there is always an option, but i don't have to make it easy. however, my premise is that they'll try and persuade Jaela to teleoprt away after some considerable loss. they seem to think it will be in a lull between the waves, except for Danves' player who think that a major trick on Auressia's side is coming any time soon.
we'll see what happens.:smallsmile:

[LansXero]

I was mostly trying to advice zooming in to more PC-ish action if the waves are dragging on too long. And what is a mass posesor weakness? That it cant be everywhere at once. If he is manifesting into a bug to counter-spell or direct attacks or whatever... who is controlling the physical Auresia? (If she isnt present at the battlefield, since I got the gist that no one knows if she is or not, then by sheer distance to her actual physical presence she may need a conduit of some sort. Much more efficient than dispel-magicing everyone is to rush in and cut the head. The possessed will deprive the enemies of troops and provide a needed reinforcement, maybe even a second front for the fiends to deal with.

But then again you know what you got planned and I dont, and considering your past work Im sure it will come out allright :D

[Kol Korran]

first of all, thanks for the vote of confidence. i'm quite flattered, though i still consider myself ever learning. part of the reasone for the log is to ask advice and opinion from you readers. (though you may have remained the only one :smallfrown:)

the party has actually discussed the idea of finding Auressia quite hotly. there are a few snags with that:
1) the party has different opinions of whether Auressia has a physical form, and controls the swarms telepathically, or if she merged herself with the swarms, and that they (and the possessed by extension) are her body. Danves asked Jaela to feel where Auressia is through her connection to her (the keeper and the fiend seem to be linked) but she feels her all around them. this still can be interpreted many ways.

2) assuming she has a physical form- how do you find her? how do you reach her? this is from a DM's point of view not much of a problem- Jaela divines her location/ Krozen finds her somehow and so on. regarding your idea of some conduit helping her control so many bugs, i haven't really considered it, and it might be an interesting strategic point, but also adding vulnerabilites to the fiend's plans. i'll think of it.

3) in case they reach Auressia, how do they fight her? first, she might well be with other minions, or other members of the twisted hand, but also, the party have somehow concluded (through a spell DC or other) that she has 14th caster level. that is enough to wipe the floor with them most likely. and as the campaign's main villain (a bit meta gaming) won't she have other surprises?

so the party decided to stay and protect Jaela. though they look for strategic opportunities. from the siege at Obsidian City and their desire to strike at a supply storage, i gather this party doesn't like to "sit and wait" i'll need to see.

[Biotroll]

Oh, we are still here and reading (and approving your decisions :smalltongue:). I had a lot to read as I was away for some time and now I wish I was part of the party! :smallbiggrin:

Don't know if you missed or decided to not include Skaravojen (the flamekeeper's pet, stated in Five Nations). If you decide to use some kind of conduit, you can assign this little puppy to help PC's to find and destroy it. (It might look odd, that it just appears in the church in middle of combat though. Maybe it was sent by Jaela to search for the conduit?)

Also, my first thought when I saw possesion thing was, why aren't they using protection from evil? (Or magic circle against evil.) No possesion for the duration of the spell, save is Will (harmless), seems ideal for me. Every cleric or mage with bit of self-respect should know that it protects against possesion. :smalltongue: Should be standard issue for the defenders. Also it would help a bit in defense against demons.

If you don't want your PC's to fight Auressia yet, but you don't want them to spend another session in long battles in church, let the PC's to make diversion. Let one of the wizards cast Disguise Self or Alter Self to look like Jaela and make false retreat, trying to get at least some attention (and grabbing some of the forces, letting the defenders in church some rest). If they manage to escape long enough, they might meet Obraskyr with his reinforcements.

Dunno what else advice I can provide now. Still will be looking ahead for new updates though. :smallwink:

[LansXero]

1) the party has different opinions of whether Auressia has a physical form, and controls the swarms telepathically, or if she merged herself with the swarms, and that they (and the possessed by extension) are her body.

Well, you could do it like they do for some of the Elder Evils that are truly massive (i.e. Atropus): They may be all around you and their body may be a miriad entities, but there is still one may "projection" or "avatar" that is her.


2) assuming she has a physical form- how do you find her? how do you reach her?

That would be a bit difficult to balance, between making it sensibly hard and making it possible... you could make it so there is only a chance to do it for a short time, because of some reason.


3) in case they reach Auressia, how do they fight her?

As hard as they can. They need not beat her, they need to shake her focus and make her lose control of the posessed. Since the control can be dispel magic`d away (as you ruled, for better or worse) they really cant be entirely part of her, so there must be some sort of breakable magical link tying them together. If they hurt her enough or mess her up enough or read "krozen's distracting scroll of distraction" at her or something, she could begin to let go of posessed left and right. Then they flee before they get destroyed... I guess?

[Kol Korran]

Don't know if you missed or decided to not include Skaravojen (the flamekeeper's pet, stated in Five Nations). If you decide to use some kind of conduit, you can assign this little puppy to help PC's to find and destroy it. (It might look odd, that it just appears in the church in middle of combat though. Maybe it was sent by Jaela to search for the conduit?)

aaahhhh. Skaravjen... so someone noticed i didn't include it. well done! why haven't i included it? (though i quite like it). i wanted Auressia's forces to try and whether down the church forces, making them cast more and more spells. Skaravojen's breath weapon complicated this. it gave Jaela a powerful and renweable magic offense, ans the dragonhound as well is quite hard to take down. it doubled the "really hard" targets that hat to be dealt with (Korzen i may have a way of dealing with), and so decided to lower this.

beside, there were always Jaela, Krozen and Malik. the players attention sort of tops at 3 it seems. besides, it was one more to take the attnetion from the PCs. it was a hard decision, i really like the dragonhound, but decided to "not let it be"


Also, my first thought when I saw possession thing was, why aren't they using protection from evil? (Or magic circle against evil.) No possesion for the duration of the spell, save is Will (harmless), seems ideal for me. Every cleric or mage with bit of self-respect should know that it protects against possesion. :smalltongue: Should be standard issue for the defenders. Also it would help a bit in defense against demons.

oh, they are using the protection against evil, and spreading the archins as best as they can for constant protection. sorry i didn't mention this. not all troops are portected, but most of the main ones are. however, most spels are short lasting, compared to the wait between waves, costing more and more spells. and lets not forget that Auressia can cast dispel magic on some...


If you don't want your PC's to fight Auressia yet, but you don't want them to spend another session in long battles in church, let the PC's to make diversion. Let one of the wizards cast Disguise Self or Alter Self to look like Jaela and make false retreat, trying to get at least some attention (and grabbing some of the forces, letting the defenders in church some rest). If they manage to escape long enough, they might meet Obraskyr with his reinforcements.

an interesting proposal. they will need to find a way to mimic thelink to Jaela somehow, but they will still need to find a way to protect Jaela herself, while they research the clues they got.


originally by LansXero-
As hard as they can. They need not beat her, they need to shake her focus and make her lose control of the possessed. Since the control can be dispel magic`d away (as you ruled, for better or worse) they really cant be entirely part of her, so there must be some sort of breakable magical link tying them together. If they hurt her enough or mess her up enough or read "krozen's distracting scroll of distraction" at her or something, she could begin to let go of possessed left and right. Then they flee before they get destroyed... I guess?

that's a bit like what is planned for later actually, in a way, near the completion of the campaign... however maybe an altered version might work? this is also an interesting idea. thanks. i shall think about it.

some odds and bits about the campaign at this point, for those interested
- i think we have about 2-4 more meetings till the campaign ends, at least if the church battle runs moire smoothly and doesn't drag on.

- so far the party is at different opinions and is confused as to the part of Obraskyr and the Traveler. the former they don't know if they can trust, if he is one their side, Auressia's side, the dragons side, or his own side. the latter they... don't really know what to think of. some think she's somewhat deranged, some think she is playing a game, Gabriel's player (who has a mind for conspiracy) even suggested to me that she is in fact a master manipulator, the hand behind the strings, appeasing Auressia and using her for her own far more sinister things. what do you think?

- Red's player has sort of decided a contest of magical skill against the fiend, determined to beat her every move. so far she's succeeding! but so far Auressia only could cast 3rd level spells through her possessed. might it change?

- the players bemoan Google leaving. they kinda liked him, and relied on his damage output. they are still coming to terms with Grum (including Grum's player).

- i sort of came to the decision that action points are way too much, at least how they are done in Eberron. i mostly like how they use Hero points in PF.

- there are quite a few thoughts brewing for another campaign, which may continue with the same characters or some of them, to quite high levels (also a first for me), or some other campaign that i think are also quite fun, most are stolen from other places, at least key concepts. i'll get to that when i finish the log (Host willing)

- i started a new thread about the loss of mystery and wonder in RPGs (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213282), due to some frustrations i have. i love the campaign and having a great time, but this bugs me a bit. there are some interesting ideas there.

- not for the first time, i feel things would run smoother if i had more system mastery, especially concerning spells. but i won't have the time to invest in that.

that is all, thanks for the suggestions, i'll think about them and see if and how they fit.

[LansXero]

- i think we have about 2-4 more meetings till the campaign ends, at least if the church battle runs moire smoothly and doesn't drag on.

I wish I could end my campaigns. Not because I wanna stop playing, I just suck at making endings :(


- so far the party is at different opinions and is confused as to the part of Obraskyr and the Traveler.

The Traveler as portrayed so far can go either way honestly. Obraskyr seems like should be more loyal though. Id say get more of a feeling for what they think is the most obvious and either twist it to surprise them or, if that would seem to be happening too often, switch it again and make it so they were actually right this time. If they gloat though never let them be right ever again xD



- Red's player has sort of decided a contest of magical skill against the fiend, determined to beat her every move. so far she's succeeding! but so far Auressia only could cast 3rd level spells through her possessed. might it change?

Since Auressia is bound to have higher level spells than Red, let them come into play as out of frustration with Red's clever tactics. So even if Auressia wins it, Red's player can get the moral win of "you had to use higher level spells to beat meeee!!!!"


- the players bemoan Google leaving. they kinda liked him, and relied on his damage output. they are still coming to terms with Grum (including Grum's player).

Adding a new character to a well stablished party is tricky, let him have a few more spotlight moments for a while, to help him get stablished :D


- i sort of came to the decision that action points are way too much, at least how they are done in Eberron. i mostly like how they use Hero points in PF.

Too much in which way? :O


- there are quite a few thoughts brewing for another campaign, which may continue with the same characters or some of them, to quite high levels (also a first for me), or some other campaign that i think are also quite fun, most are stolen from other places, at least key concepts. i'll get to that when i finish the log (Host willing)

Please post the logs to whichever other endeavors occupy you, it should be fun to read them. High levels are a pain to prepare for, so if you arent too big on the free time department, stay away from them. You may revisit these characters on a high level campaign after a new, lowish level campaign during which you use the spare time to plan the high level stuff. Gives both a break to you and your players from the current story and characters and gives you time for the tedious planning of high level 3.5 D&D.



- not for the first time, i feel things would run smoother if i had more system mastery, especially concerning spells. but i won't have the time to invest in that.

Actually, it probably would be more convoluted. There is a lot of stuff to memorize and plan for, through, but as a human you only have so much attention. There is a good chance, Id say, that focusing more on the mechanics would detract from the currently neat storytelling. You just need to be more of an entertainer and not let them figure out when you are caught flat-footed. Working more on improvising would probably be more rewarding than working on system mastery.


that is all, thanks for the suggestions, i'll think about them and see if and how they fit.

Thank you for the log and an oportunity that, for me at least and I suspect for many others as well, doesnt come easily: to see another fellow DM at work and get a glimpse of how they run things and why they do the stuff they do and how it all turns out. It is valuable learning for those of us that are still trying to get the hang of it and trying to improve, so keep at it :D

[Krazzman]

Oh boy... this log is EPIC!

After reading this one I will start making one myself for the upcoming campaign I play with.

But! I seem to notice a few things that were , did your "optimizer" really left the group? Or did you kick him out? Will that Ipkis make a move in your Battle or will you have him somewhere else? Cause I think he would be there in the "frontlines".

Another thing that would interest me: The Class-progression. You mentioned what feats they took but not which class they have, that would something interresting, at least to me to know how they progressed. For Danves you sometimes did it by Mentioning how much Rogue levels he has, but the rest?

I hope you got to play in the near future to see what you did with this battle.

Have a nice Day,
Krazzman

[Kol Korran]

But! I seem to notice a few things that were , did your "optimizer" really left the group? Or did you kick him out? Will that Ipkis make a move in your Battle or will you have him somewhere else? Cause I think he would be there in the "frontlines".

the "optimizer" decided to leave the group. the low frequency in which we were meeting (and i also think the tense group dynamics) made him leave. we may have needed to make him leave later on if that didn't happen, or we might have found a way to get along. can't really say.

as to Ipiks, he is scheduled on making at least one appearance, if not more. he has underonge a transformation (last time the party saw him in the mournland he had black and red scales, and wings), and upgraded a few levels. however, in a straight fight the party would most likely still kick his ass. which just calls for an unfair fight. :smallsmile: not the fron tlines, but the sneaky lines...


Another thing that would interest me: The Class-progression. You mentioned what feats they took but not which class they have, that would something interresting, at least to me to know how they progressed. For Danves you sometimes did it by Mentioning how much Rogue levels he has, but the rest?

well, Ipiks Google and Gabriel/ savage progressed fairly straightforward- just their chosen class.

Red started as a sorceress, but after a meeting or two the player asked me to switch to wizard, since he wanted to go ultimate magus. he got to wiz 4/ sorc 1 (not sure at what order, but if i recall he got to wiz 3, than added sorc, then the last level of wiz) and after that just unltimate magus. combined with several pearls of power and the player REALLY knowing how to use the spells, he hasn't run out of spells yet (came close in the Mournland though)

Danves has started as Rogue 1/ dusk blade 1. he took 2 (or is it 3) levels of duskbklade before adding another level of rogue, mostly to improve his social skills (which the duskblade does poorly in). after that he took duskblade levels, and the last level (9th) is another rogue level (again, for social skills).

both Red and Danves have very high Influence (a combination of most social skills into one), but they often take different approaches- Red towards honor, duty, reason, and the greater good sort of thing, while Danves is a bit more underhanded, trying to appeal to self interest, "hard truths" and so on.

Gabriel also has quite a high Influence skill, but the player feels it is not really Gabriel's place, and not her role in the party.


I hope you got to play in the near future to see what you did with this battle.

well, due to some real life problems, we postponed the meeting to this saturday. still not entirely sure about things, but my general approach is as follows:
- cram "waves" into fewer shorter waves, with many more opponents, preferably stronger ones.
- have some effects that alter the battlefield/ conceptions of the battle (you will see in the game hopefully)
- some other... "Surprises".

basically i feel the players are not that interested, feeling that the battle is lost, and are just passing time till they can persuade Jaela to teleoport away. to a degree, they are right, so no reason to linger on unneceseriyly, despite what i envisioned for this battle.
still, as always, the players might surprise. i'm hoping they will- it makes the best of games!

glad you enjoy the reading Krazzman, hoping you'll like what follows. not much left... :smallwink:

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 19: September 25th, 2011- Battle of over the Silver Flame, Desperate fight

In game date- Dravago 1 (Late spring, month of handling)

hello again folks! 4 weeks have passed since the last meeting. i had some problems, and due to RL scheduling and so on this is the soonest we could play. i was worried that we lost momentum, but when i started of doing my usual "start of meeting recap" Red's surprised me by saying "no need. who can forget what happened last meeting, lets do this!"

damn, that warmed my heart. :smallbiggrin: the players seemed to be really expecting this, so i was glad. and as it turned out to be, i think it became one of the most intense meetings yet!

there has been a bit of a snarky humor going on and forth. as part of it i sent the party an e-motivator before the fight. (from the excellent threads in the main forum). Red's player, who is handy with the photo shop, took a few minutes out of his busy work day to send a reply.

"My oh My..."

origianl one
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/meir_8/rakshasas.jpg

the response :smallwink:
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/meir_8/Rakshasaguysresponse.jpg

snarky bastards!

a small note for those who don't read the posts between session logs- i realized that the party decided to evacuate, though they'll give it "a good fight". that combined with how hard it was to manage such large fights, multiple opponents, high level spells, effects, huge battlefield and so on, i decided to sort of shorten the ordeal. instead of many smaller waves of opponents (each with some of it's own quirks and so on) i condensed the waves to more massive intense battles, but ultimately shorter. i had my concern for this (which i'll discuss with any who'd be interested) but on the whole i think it worked splendidly well.

ok, so back in Thrane, in the besieged church of the silver flame, the heroes have just defeated yet another wave of Auressia forces. but the night was still going to be long... and bloody.

Status report
though the party gained some forces (amongst them Lareth the blood of vol priest, and a kalashtar psion) they still suffered casualties, though some they could bear. Krozan seemed pleased. he was impressed by the party's fighting skill, though he still remained cynical and resolute about their chances. "you mentioned you had some dragon ally coming?" the party exchanged glances. "we're not sure we should trust him."

Red spent some of her spells, but not much. Gabriel a bit more, but still in a good standing. Grum was able to convince some of the archers to give him some adamantite arrows (he was obvioulsy a superior archer) which proved to be a wise choice. the church however, despite stone wall spells, seemed still quit vulnerable- the main doors were down, through which the party could see figures outside. there was a breach in the eastern wall of the long section , and the other breach could be destroyed by the warforged titan (or whatever caused vibrations in the walls from time to time). and perhaps most importantly- about 6 big breaches in the dome of the flame.

The keeper of the flame however still seemed resolute, determined, and poised to battle. the party decided it was not yet the time to press the matter. Gabriel had an idea to move one of the giant stone door to block the eastern breach. gathering up some soldiers, they set to the task.

Knock Knock
as they were pushing the door between the statues over the breach, they suddenly heard the footsteps of the warforged titan, who immediately started banging on the obstacle. with great strength and belief Gabriel encouraged the soldier to keep the door aloft, not enable the war engine break in. meanwhile the second titan broke the thin stone wall on the other breach, though it did not come in.

Grum sharp senses (about +19 to perception) noticed some wavy figures in the air beyond the breach. he yelled a warning, just before the two of them unleashed fireballs on Krozan and his group. the mage, Kalahstar, Archon and few soldiers perished in the flame, while Krozan took some of the burn. luckily for the party, they weren't with him. as the two casters appeared, they seemed to be wearing some arcane robes. "They got the Wizards of Aundair?" wondered Red, before unleashing her own fireball on them.

Spell resistance and save after, one of the casters stood unscathed, while the other burned, his face turning to that of a tiger. "s**t! Rakshasa!" the party cursed. they still had bad bad memories from the lighting rail incident.

this seemed like it was going to be a tougher fight than the bearded demons.

not done yet!
Danves who stood close to Jaela (he took it upon himself to be her protector) noticed two figures appearinf floating in the opening of the dome- Mezzoloth demons, who immediately unleashed cloud kills on the soldiers, felling many of them. a third Mezzoloth appeared beyond the main entrance, unleashing more decimating vapors upon the soldiers there.

and then, with a great shriek a huge green beast with a horn on it's head soared into the doom, creating a lance of sound that burst the church floor around some soldier,s sending sharpnel around them. the party had little idea what it was (poor knowledge checks), but some players recognized it vaguely- a Yrthak.

not done yet friends! through the main door approched four heavy looking lizards on 8 legs, grumpy looking, but with sinister eyes- basilisks! the soldiers close to the door yelled in fear and turned away, but some allready to late. 8 statues were added to the churches collection of saints.

"oh crap" was the general consensus in the group. another saying that warms a DMs heart. :smallwink:

go! go! go!
things became fast moving from there. in the iddle section Krozan wove a protective spell, and went towards the Rakshasa, but they disappeared beyond the wall, perhaps not wishing to face Red's firepower. instead the warforged titan squeezed in. lovely.

Jaela called upon the protection of the church, spreading great light and the spirit of the silver flame upon all who fought in it. A recicitation effect was laid upon all (+2 to all attacks and saves, the opposite for opponents, +3 to followers of the flame- Gabriel and Grum). by the end of the meeting, this probably was considered the most loved spell by the party, and probably the most effective.

but why just one titan when you can have two? Gabriel let go of the door, spread her angelic wings and flew towards the basilisks. she felt they posed the greatest threat. with her gone, the titan broke through the door, scattering some of the soldiers, planning to go in. Grum who feared this, started pepering the titan Krozan was facing with Adamatine arrows, making him look a bit like a porcupine. Red moved to the main hallway, trying to decide who to assist. the Mezzoloth worried her greatly. after a spell or two she started making her way towards the flame chamber.

meanwhile Danves was weary of further surprises. the single Yrthak focused on the soldiers, who pepered it with arrows. while looking for other threats, he shot the beast as well.

but his suspicions were confirmed, as two more opponenets appeared in mid air, close to the keeper- two flying woman like fiends, with strange whip/ ropes coiling- Erinyes. they lashed at jaela, and one rope coild around the young child, binding her!

Gabriel, followed by her Archon ally Jakar went to face the threat from the entrance. a well placed Holy smite spell destroyed the basilisk (who were fiendish by the way), hurt the mezzoloth, and made him blind. the demon tried to ran away from the church, and fell just beyond it's entrance. the semi- celestial and the divine hound gave chase.

the party was split, two titans in their midst, and the keeper bound. things started to look interesting


the battle intensifies
One of the titans ran over the stalls and tried to trample Krozan and Grum. the cleric was trodden down hard, but the hunter dodged and rose to send more arrows into the metal and stone giant. the other tiatan turned and ran towards... Gabriel of all sorts! (i though that that front lacked challenge).

Red in the meantime tried to weave a spell over the entangling Erinyes, when suddenly another fireball hit her, as well as scorching rays! the 2 Rakshasa didn't retreat, they cast invisibility and got back in, focusingtheir effort on the caster, who proved to be a pain in Auressia's side. the fire nearly toppled Red, who wasn't expecting this, and the spell fizzled.

Danves dropped his bow, and ran with a giant leap and strcuk the Erinyes from beneath, unleashing a shocking grasp at the fiend, who screamed. Jaela's two archons tried to severe the mystic rope, but feailed, while her mage failed to penetrate their spell resistance with his spell. the remaining Erinyes tried to charm him, but failed as well.

but the one who captured jalea was folding back, dragging the keeper with her. if she could get her out of the confines of the church...

Power B***h!
But Jalea herself had a few more tricks down her sleeve- one word, holy word, made short work of the Erinyes. she fell and suffered some damage, but seemed ok. the party however was shocked. "that kind of power? damn!"

DM design
how did i deal with the demonstration of "way beyond the PC's capabilites" power? wouldn't i make them feel useless? outmatched? that i'm just wanting to "have some fun" myself? also, why shouldn't she solve all the problems herself? when i chose to set this in the church, i conciously put myself in this corner. why?

well, my thoughts are like this. first of all, though Jaela is the leader, it is obvious that the party has an essential role, and much more combat experience than she does. so they are necessary.

also, the amount of enemies, their power, and the entire action economy thing means that she is not all capable, and that she doesn't solve encounters all by herself, but rather contribute her part to the team effort. the party actually felt that she was helping, but not overshadowing them (or so i think). in each wave i've assigned "jaela monsters" (and also Krozan monsters) that they are to deal with, to show they are fighting just as hard, but not diminish the importance of players, or their contribution

also, unlike most common DMPC problems, this NPC is not going to be traveling with the PCs the whole time. she is a special feature in a special situation. the main idea beyond most "high magic" here is to give a sense of power of the silver flame, and the (hopefully) epicness of the battle. i think that was achieved quite well.

lastly, and this is quite important- i didn't made Jaela a jerk. sure, she can be a bit annoying in her refusal to leave and so on, but on the whole i think the party understands her, even sympathize with her a bit (when they are not making jokes about her. bastards. :smalltongue: and she does not partonize over the PCs. she respects them, treat them as equal allies to the cause, and respect their advice.

all in all it was arisk, but i think it paid off, especially due to what will follow on the next session. :smallsmile:


Gabriel and the archon reached the fallen Mezzoloth, and struck him hard. but just before he died he was able to dispel most of Gabriel's ongoing spells, including her favorite- spikes. this put a bit of a dampner on the aasimar, especially since it also drove back the angelic transformation, the wings retreating painfully into her body. but there was no time to worry, the second titan was coming up fast.

the first titan tried to strike krozan and Grum, and landed a few hits, while the demon hunter half orc Grum turned on his old enemies, his bow whistling as he first took one Rakshasa down, and wounded the other severly (his good aligned bow passes their damage reduction, and it's enchantments combined with his favored enemy makes him a deadly big evil nasty cat killer! :smallbiggrin: i think the player built Grum especially with this in mind, but it's cool). the wounded Rakshasa cursed, and retreated beyond the wall, despite Red's attempts to rid the world of him. Danves, seeing that the Erinyes have been dealt with, and the soldiers were close to bringing down the Yrthak, rushed back to help the others.

the two Mezzoloth sank beyond the wall, and as Jaela rushed to the wounded soldiers (those who lived) the remaining focus remained on the two titans.

Tiiiiiimber!
While Gabriel (now slower and with no wings) and Jakar the archon closed on the rushing Titan, the rest tried to take the close one down. the thing seem to be able to take quite a bit of damage. it gut frustrated with missing Grum, and trampled his way over Krozan (again) towards a softer target- Red. but Danves readied a surprise. after finally remembering to do a knowledge check, the party was deeply surprised that unlike other constructs, this one wasn't immune to kingdom come from all kinds of spell.

some of you perhaps remember the Chuul the partyfaced in the Silent halls? well this was a repeat performance. 3-4 ray's of enfeeblement later (Red and Danves) , and the huge construct could barely lift his own weight, and tried to run to the exit, the pesky, pesky Grum keeping putting arrow after arrow into him.

but Red was... well... pissed off. she wasn't going to let him escape- she cast some 2nd level spell which it's name i don't recall which is basically like flameable grease, which toppled the giant down. like hyenas to a carcass, the remaining combatants closed on the consturct, and hacked him down, as he tried to wave his hammer and axe at them. the titan was down.

Meanwhile, Gabrial and the Archon flanked the other titan, and exchanged a few ineffectual blows, till it decided to run away, with Gabriel moving aside.

quite remarkably, this wave was won.

Mix of XP, level up!
i haven't awarded any XP yet in the battle of the church, since i wanted to grant XP for each 3 waves as an accomplishment (there were supposed to be 12 quite smaller waves), so some things added up. not getting into details, the party was awarded quite a lot of XP.

however, in my records, i thought they were lacking about 3000 to gain a level, but apparently they only needed 1350! the Xp would have gotten them to the next level anyway, but now it took them a nice portion in.

Level up! under our rules everything gets added immediately, except for memorizing new spells (they are stuck with what they got till they rest), spells in spell book and such, and.. it think that is it.

a VERY crucial factor to remember at this point is that action points replenish... which they dearly needed as the session progressed.

what did they level in? lets see:

Danves: another level of Duskblade, can now use a heavy shield, also took a "dimension hop" spell, which also became crucial.
Red- another level of ultimate magus. 4th level spells as a wizard (not that she can use them right away)- assay resistence, and some ray that heavily damages constructs. also- 3rd level for sorcerer, which for red means one thing- a new supply of fireballs! (spontenous magic does level up immediately)
Grum- another level of ranger, new favored enemy, hasn't decided yet.
Gabriel- 9th level cleric, which is mostly one moree feat (not yet chosen), and 5th level spells! (can;t memorize them at the momet)


I think we need to talk...
though as a whole the 3rd wave was a success, there were heavy casualties amongst the soldiers, mainly due to cloudkills, a fire ball or two, and the Yrthak. the party was exhilerated, but they felt that their resources were diminishing. how many more waves?

Krozan exhcanged a few good words with Grum, impressed by his archery skills, and the general capability of the team. his good spirits, sarcastic nature and slight "i'm a bastard and i like it" attitude seemed to have likened him a bit to the party.

as the players were updating character sheets, Gabriel decided to have a talk with Jaela. she tried to persuade her to leave when there is no hope. to fight while she can, but understands that this battle may well be lost. and that if she is what Auressia is after, they must keep her away. they exchanged arguments about the teachings of Tira Miron, the meaning of courage, sacrifice, honor and the like. Jaela seemed resolute in her ways, and Danves came to try and help Gabriel, but something interfered..


a familiar face... or two
Even Grum couldn't har, when suddenly figures appeared, attacking int two small groups! near Gabriel appeared none other than the black panther Rakshasa, with the flayedskin and fur- the Mockery! it struck the cleric hard, but could not stun him. a rakshasa warrior also appeared, attacking Jaela in surprise, while a rakshasa sorcerer floated some distance away unleashing a fireball, burning some of them.

a similar warrior and caster appeared near the second target- Krozan with some soldiers who were trying to use the remains of a door to block an entrance. but with them was another- out of the air above appeared the winged lizarman, black and red scales, burying his axe with tremendous force in Krozan shoulder, hissing loudly "die warm blood!" as the posion took effect over Krozan, making him pale.

half smiles, half murmurs around the table... the return of Ipiks! i was trying to read Gabriel's player reaction (who originally played the little bastard), but couldn't much read.

the ambush has sprung.

to protect!
Danves and Gabriel were close to Jaela, as were the archons. however, the Mockery was insidiously hard to hit (high stats, abilities, NA, and some potions). but Danves called upon the powers of his sword, Sure thing, to land one nasty strike on him, imbued with touch of idiocity, reducing his wisdom (and thus his AC) by 5. the Mockery in turn tried to pummel Gabriel down, saying the usual villanous things ("i shall tear your wings, eat your heart" and so on.) to which the player responded with his own... um... witicism as his high AC blocked most attacks. but the fireballs from the sorcerer were not to be forgotten, as they endedup doing quite serious damage, even dropping Jakar.

meanwhile the warrior rakshasa and ipiks quickly cut Krozan a new hide (after ipiks used unholy blight to kill the soldiers helping) , and the priest nearly toppled, but a well placed heal brought him back. Grum rushed to his aid, and again his bow struck true against the little half fiend lizard. Ipiks turned hissing. "who are you? you shooting at me?" long hiss, and wave of axe "no worries! plenty of axe for everyone!"

the party started burning action points in this battle. meanehile the warrior rakshasa hit Jaela quit e well while the remaining archon tried to cut him. Jaela summoned the power of Harm, butfailed to hit the Rakshasa Zakya. the Mockery seemed quite dangerous, perhaps even more than ipiks...

i said "power B***h!"
Red was a bit away, and tried to get to the action, but the creature's SR failed her spells again and again. so she decided a different approach- a targeted dispel magic on the Mockery. spell after buffing spell fell, the magical auras gone. which is when the Mockery decided to move to Flank the Keeper, hitting her but failing to stun her.

so she struck back. with the harm spell. and crittedhim. that was the most unexpected and fast kill in the campaign, which caught the players by quite a surprise. Jaela however, for the first time killing a major fiend with her own hands, seemed elated, victorious, seething. she turned to Gabriel "see the power of the flame? trust in it's power and cause." the player kind of groaned...

The battle turned the fiends ran (they drank fly potions), while one Rakshasa Zakya was brought down by Grum's arrows, the rest escaped. and Ipiks? he made a small wave, and disappeared.

DM decision- what just happened?
okay, so this may have been bad. a powerful NPC ending a fight with a major villain one handedly, with the players having little to say in the matter. should i somehow "altered" the result? or chose another spell? or perhaps made Jaela attack the warrior?

have i stolen from the PCs a moment of glory? a possibly great moment?

well, first of all- yeah, i may have. and perhaps therewas an oportunity lost here. true, the Mockery wasn't such an emotional investment for the party, but he WAS part of the dark six.

that said, i think there is a slightly greater issue here. one of trust. the players need to know that i don't "fumble" or adjust results. i did that in the past, and it just ruins the game. let the dice fall where it falls. also, it's important to play the NPCs and monsters in a mostly believable way. and if one of the great demons is coming after her, she might as well use one of her strongest spells (especially if she cast it allready)

the players (particularly Red's player) think that without Red' dispel magic he wouldn't have been hit at all, though i'm not so sure.

strangely enough, this had an unexpected effect- the players treated Jaela a bit more (not much) as a bad ass, as "one of us". who would have known?


DM design- the ambush, Ipiks and Mockery
The Ambush has a few purposes. first- make the players a bit more jumpy. they could be attacked even between waves! and Ipiks can fly, disappear at will, and is very, very Stealthy.

Secondly, i wanted to bring the Rakshasa more to the fore, enhance their presence in the campaign. so a sort of "assasination squad" seemed a sneaky and devilish thing to do. a major threat after the lightning rail (at least in planning)

Third, to bring two of the Dark Six (Ipiks is one of them now) into play. this was supposed to signal the party that the assault is nearing it's climax. i'm not quite sure they got it though. originally the ambush was supposed to come between wave 9-10. but here it is.

lastly of course- the return of Ipiks as an enemy. went... so so. it was amusing, dangerous, but way too short to leave an actual impression.

The Mockery: this guy is probably the... least developed of all the Dark Six gang. originally i envisioned the final battle of the campaign between the party and Aurresia and him, one caster, one melee fighter. they were supposed to be very closely related Rakshasa, who shared the secrets of the real plot, and manipulated the rest of the dark six. but i just... never got a real feel of him...

As the campaign progressed it seemed quite clear that the party focused their attention on two figures in the Six- Aurresia and the Traveler. the rest were kinda secondary to them. and since this is how it went, i decided to change the focus as well. Auressia beacme somewhat stronger (higher level, plus a few more... tricks) and instead of her controling half the bugs and he the rest (different kind of bugs, the main reason why the bugs had two different kinds of shards in them), Aurresia controlled them all.

the Mockery was demoted to an interesting battle encounter (and it seems not even that). so now we have our joke villain (along with the Devourer) oh well.

for those interested the Mockery uses the base Zakya ability modifiers, has trained as monk 7 (instead of sorcerer or fighter), and has 3 extra monk levels- basically monk 10. it was considerably hard to hit, but not that much on attack options. nice, but not brilliant.

Ipiks: Ipiks' purpose is to both be amusing, to be stealthy and dangerous, and to be an unbalancing factor.

also, if i'll get to portray it (not much success yet) his "relationship" with Auressia who has given him power for turn of service might add a bit of flaire.

mechanically Ipiks is swordsage 8, half fiend. most maneuvers from shadow hand and stone dragon.


So, before we were interrupted (+ Plan B!)
Before i forget, some other results of the third wave, and the ambush: the cardinal in the catacombs and most of their force were decimated. Krozan uses the last scroll of stone wall to close the opening down. the upper store is also over run- mostly by soldiers brought there by wyverns. the cardinal and about 10 soldiers survived, and likwise closed the entrance from the flame chamber.

the wreckage of the warforged titan was heaved (with about 20 soldiers or more) and pushed against the western breach. quite an effective blockage! lastly, the mockery may be dead, but it's equipment isn't! various potions, but two major items- gloves of dexterity +4 (Grum) and vestment of flight (3/ day fly for 5 mintues. one use left currently) this for some reason wetn to.. Gabriel. (who can manifest wings?) oh well... i cringed a bit at this treasure getting to the party without really "working for it", but oh well. i guess with the lack of treasure from all the other creatures they killed it's only fair.

anyway, ambush beaten, a very severe guard was trying to look for Ipiks, but to no avail. the party decided to try and Convince Jaela again to leave if things become dire, and after some talk from all except Grum ("... um, what they said!") she agreed, she wasn't whole with the decision, but it had to do.

the party realized a possible flaw in the plan- they all had to be 5 ft from Jaela when she cast her spell. but they could easily be split up... they decided that if they do split, they would yell Jaela to go, and would use their teleportation stone (from the battle with the Keeper)to move.

but the stone has a range of 900 miles only. after a long discussion, they decided that if push comes to shove, they will teleport to Greenheart, the seat of power of the druids. not ideal, but better than nothing.

the entrance hall was empty by now, except for corpses of soldiers, and a few statues... blood and wreckage was seen everywhere in the church. the siege became intensive. the party decided to divide their strength. Red and Gabriel, the two casters on the sides of Krozan in the long hall (Oh, and Lareth beside them, partly amused, partly depressed, partly hysteric that he is going to find his death in the church ofthe silver flame from all places). Danves and Grum stood to guard Jaela with the last remaining archon and the rapidly depleting mage. the remaining soldiers (about 50-60 of them?) were on both sides of the chamber of flame, with the lower level cardinal ready to help.

"well, a fine day this is turning out to be, eh ladies?" joked Krozan.

"I am Coming"
the ruckus of the army and demons and beasts from outside subsided suddenly. "pissed that the Mockery is gone?" the party joked, but only half heartedly... suddenly a buzzing went through the walls of the church, and then a loud, sinister whisper- "I am Coming" wa Auressia's voice.

tension was building up. then, the party saw a movement, and two large creatures stepped through the entrance- large lizards, easily identified as rage drakes. (MM3 i think). above them buzzed 4of Auressia's swarms, and there were some figures behind them, one of the m quite bright....

"hmmmm... fall back, now!" the long haul group said, making a run for it, wanting to pelt the beast with some spells before they close the distance.
and perhaps in time, as the strange wall vibrations begans again- one at the blockading broken church door, the other at the... titan's body.

and of course, from the 6 openings in the flame chamber dome entered 6 more swarms, though they stayed at the opening.

Aurreisa was first. the party allready knew (though i think they forgot0 that she can cast through her possesed. but she could also cast through her swarms.

Chain lightning struck, first Jaela but then arching and hitting the others! most made their saves, but some damage was taken. the message was clear- don't stay too close.

Danves drank a potion of invisibility, Gabriel started buffing herself, Krozan as well, while Grum focused his fire on one of the drakes. the distance was great, but it didn't bother the master archer. arrow after easy arrow hit the beast, but it seemed to do it little damage, not stopping it at all.

Red had a theory- perhaps the drakes were possessed? she cast a dsipel, only to suddenly hear a buzzing as one of the swarms countered it! so Aurreisa could cast multiple times? and she was determined to stop them... this did not bode well...

DM design
one of Auressia's surprises is to act several times in a turn, and cast several spells. this however requires a concentration check, not necessarily and easy one. it was supposed to be a surprise for later, but i guess in a way this act as a "prelude" for further battles) there arelimits on that ability, only the players don't know them yet.

as the drake ran forward, the figures behindthem became clear- on two sides walked green demons, with 4 arms and 2 great bows- arrow demon such as they fought in the mines of Eston. the party cursed the "mini guns"...the demons crouched, and started loosing arrows at them, Gabriel and Krozan the main targets.

between the demons came a strange sight- a sort of displacer beat, only made of fire! and on it rode some figure in armor, imposing. the pary cursed again.

and then the broken door shatteered as in walked a strange abberation creature- on two legs, with two small arms, a blind head with a wide mouth, emiting strange sounds. Destrachan cursed Danves silently. a master of sonic attacks that can weaken any matter.

the party no longer cursed, they sighed and looked grim.

Talon, Bite, spell and sound and... wha..?
the battle was on! Auressia cast a confusion which made the archon move to protect, but the mage lost it, and ran from the swarms... straight to the jaws of a leaping drake, that tore him to bloody pieces.

Grum continued with his foucs fire, as the arrow demon continued on their part, hurting mostly Krozan. Danves mover silently forward, wanting to make his strike, as Gabriel kept buffing.

then suddenly theynoticed a new surprise. from the broken holesin the dome slithered and slumped two huge grey partly transparent masses, and fell to the floor. there seemd to be... parts moving in and out of focus in them, however they were still far from the main battle area.

Jaela took no risk, and unleashed a destruction spell on one of the creatures, annihilating it. one down, one to go.

the drake unoccupied with getting mage meat out of its teeth pounced on Krozan, wounding him severely. Danves snuck behindhim and struck a massive magic imbued blow! Gabriel closed the distance as well, but without her more potent magic, and the creature not being evil, she did little damage. Red turned towards the arrow demons, and unleashed a firball on them, but they were protected- lesser globe of invulnerabilty! the spell did hit two of the swarms above them and burned them well.

The blind sonic master had a hard time navigating the benches (difficult terrain) but it was closing. the seond drake charged Gabriel, but she blocked most of it's attacks. the titan crumbled enough to let the second Destrachan pass. meanwhile the armored figure on the flame displacer cast some spells- cleric. the divine might spell did notbring a smile to their faces.

the soldier menawhile divided arrow fire between the amorpheous beast, and the closer drake.


Turn up the heat
"Let me show you a glimpse, of what his world will become!" came Aurresisa's voice again. the swarms buzzed, as suddenly the floor, the walls, the air, started to getup and fast... forst save, failure meant a bit of non lethal damage. but the heat seemed to be increasing!

the arrow demons continued, trying in vain to pierce Gabriel's defenses, but finding Krozan a... convenient target. meanwhile the drake Danves hit got pissed, and ravged, hitting him with claws and bite, grabbing him and shaking him like a leaf in it's mouth. Danvas was at quite low hit points. most chances he wouldn't withstand another attack...

gabriel tried to block the other Drake, as it clawed and bitten her, though she managed not to be grabbed. the archon hit and hit, but the beasts could take some damage!

meanwhile the strange shifty blob advanced... and is it did- it started to heal. not wanting any more nasty surprises, Grum shifted his focus to it, plunging arrow after arrow into the form.

I don't quite remember what Red did at this point... sorry

suddenly Gabriel heard a voice in her head- Obraskyr! "hold still! i am coming! help is on the way!" the party quite doubted this. however.

highlights
the battle was kinda frantic, most time on the edge sort of thing. powerful brutes from one side, arrows from the back, spells from Auressia, and the strange beast coming. oh, and the cleric in the back on his flaming mount. i do not rmember the entire sequence of the battle, but some bulletpoints:

Danves grabs the Drakes tonuge, and uses his spell to teleport him a short distance, enough to clear him out of it's jaws. unfortunately the maddened drake chooses a target at random, and tears Krozan apart.
Auressia tries various control spells at first, one of them is dominate person over Red, a sort of "personal enemy". Red barely succeeds using an action point. the party rejoice! then i say that Auressia uses her action point... less rejoicing. however, the protection from eveil protects from actual control, but Auressia may use that in the future.
the heat keep rising, at first subdual damage, but it turns even to lethal daamge. the soldiers suffer greatly from this, as does Lareth. Jaela tries to reverse this spell (no actual rules, so i prepared some0. however there is an interuption- Ipiks, Fully healed drops on Jaela, wounding her deeply, disrupting her attempt.
the amorpheus beast (chaos beast upgraded) reaches Grum barely alive. it tires to hit hit but fails, so it attacks his snake, who becomes spngy and lacking form. the party is quite disturbed at this. with anger, the ranger kills the beast.
however, Auressia, not liking the skileld bowman, cast black tentacles, and captures him and the snake, lockign them down.
Danves decides to use this to his advantage. uncharectaristcly brave he launches at Ipiks, who tuns away saying "you!? i kill you Danves! hisssssss" but the duskblade hits him, andusing his magic (and more action pints) send the lizardman into the black tentacles.
the mounted cleric approaches fast. seeing Auressia's attention elswhere, Red dispels the magic on the rider. it is quite succesful, especially the resistence to fire, which makes the rider panic and quirm as his... well... crotch starts to burn. party laughs.
the battle with the drakes is brought to an end after arrows from the remainignsoldiers, spells from red and strikes from gabriel. the monstrosities left an impression- easy to hit, hard to kill.
auressia, angried by Red launches fireballs. msot succeed, but Red do not, and falls unconcious, dying, as theheat increases.
Gabriel on her last spells cast mass resist energy, granting some very much needed protection against the fiendish heat. this practically saves Lareth, that tries to help Red, looking for a potion.
Danves takes care ofone ofthe horrid sound beasties (they did some damage, mostly to Gabriel, who didnt' make her saves well)
jaela, between this spell andanother (forgot) moves to the center ofthe conflict, and casts mass cure moderate wounds. this revives the party a bit, and practically saves Red's life.
most monsters are defeated, but there are still some swarms, nearly all of the soldiers are dead, smoldering, and the cleric and fire displacer are still quite good. the party not so much


Rescue!
suddenly, as things look grim there is a great roar from outside, and Obraskyr perch in one of the openings. the party is suspicois though, and rightfully so. the dragon sort of smiles, and looks at them with the glint of Auressia in his eyes. "what do you think of my new pet?" and launches at them. the party,to tell the truth, kinda expected it. oh well, i tried. :smalltongue:

"we go! now! the party quickly gathered around Jaela. Danves wished to try and grab Krozan's corpse (at first i thought it was because they cared for him, but no- they wanted his loot!) but the rest objected. Auressia landed one more chain lighting on them before departing, nearly killing Jaela (4 hp left). the party+ Lareth -krozan -Grum's snake (which was still caught in the tentacles) gathered as Jaela called upon a miracle, to take them away (greater teleport), to Obsidian city.

... now what?
a moment passed. a long moment, and suddenly they appeared in the temple of dragons in Google's tribe. some half giants looekd at them startled, recognizing some, not the others. Jaela looked... different. the great grandeur of the flame, the spirit that was so powerfull in her was not to be seen. it was just a child, in a black robe, wounded and beaten, with the greatest look of loss on her face.

The Keeper of the flame collapsed. Auressia has won. The Cathedral of the silver flame is hers now.

End of Chapter 5
---------------------------------------------------
this seemed like a good place to stop, don't you think? this was one hell of a session! very hard to pull off (especially the balance of challenging vs. not TPKing) but i think it was worth it. definetly felt epic. the players had great fun, despite the long time to get totheir turn, and me being confused with all the notes ofthe various creatures, tactics, spells, ongoing effects and so on.

this for me was a unique challenge i wanted to try out, which quite worried me, but i'm glad it's done.

some things the players are thinking about/ discussing:
- they'll need to do some research until Auressia get to them. she has a link to Jaela, so she probably feels where they are. i plan to do at least the ground work forthis by email (so as not to bore those not participating) but i'll summerize things here.

- they need to get Red rid of Auressia's domination, but it should be easy enough- sleeping a rope trick, and then dispel evil by gabriel.

- they want to get Auxellia's (help the naga) little do they know what has transpired.

- unknown to them, i think this is the best choice of teleportation destination they could have chosen (except maybe the temple at Atur, but that is for different reasons). why? wait and read.

- Gabriel came to an odd conclusion- with the battle of the church over, she isthe highest ranking member of the Silver flame left. of course, most of the church consists of her and Jaela, so...

ok, this has been long,and i'm tired. till next time!

[Kol Korran]

a little surprising update: we're probably playing tomorrow! it's the beginning of the holy day season in Israel, and so there are some vacations and what not. the players (and me) decided to try and make use of it.

so it's a bit of a hurried organization, but we'll probably play down south, at Red' player house.

oh, i added some pics to the previous post, at the start, under a spoiler called "my oh my..."

i've sent the players an email concerning the research and the like to be done in Obsidian City, but it seems we'll just have to do it in session. luckily everything is already prepared. and for once i'm not changing it between sessions due to more... "hey! that's a nifty idea!"

the main things in the email are as follows:(not really essentail, and might have slight spoilers!)
some things that better be handled on emails before next meeting, so not to bore people, and not to waste time

Obsidian City: it's been a long time, glad you stopped by to visit. some things your characters remember: there is a tribe of half giants, including Google's family (imprtant figures- Deese, Google's bethroed, Daku, his mother and potion maker and Nau- the chief. there is also the kalashtar psion/ artificer (Ellesir) that worked on the ancient warforged titan, with which Red developed a slight raport. there is the Naga Auxellia, who acts as a sort of a guardian tot he artifacts here, and her new "self appointed" guardian and helper Khork (which i'd rather not deal with much)

- also there is supposed to be a small tribe of stone giants visiting the place from time to time

- the entire city was built by giants in the ancient giant civilization, before the dragons destroyed them. the city was built as a sort of psionic fort against the invading Quori- psionic monsters from the plane of dreams (you met some while you were tossed around between memories in the Traveler's "escape route") the giant that built the place was Called Imasil Kumam, obviously a mage of great power, possibly even had a talent for psionics as well

- the artifacts: there is the psionic generator, a sort of runic obelisk which keeps the psychic barriers over the bridges, and is powered by the the moons. directing it may take special practice or talents. there is the Central Geode, holy to the stone giants, a big crystaline rock that some of them can use for various stone effects. lastly there is the Blood pool[/B-] a regular large pool (not bloody), almost a little lake in a big stone chamber. you don't quite know what it does, but Auxellia said it's related to some long distance travel. she doesn't know how to activate it though. Gabriel tried to investigate it a bit on your last visit, and saw an inscription in fiendish- "when in need..." Auxellia said that she knows that the activating ritual requires quite a lot of blood.

there may be all kind of interactions. however, the place has some... changes to it.

[B]research: i assume that is the main goal? the research takes time, and since your main source is the Illlithid shard, there are slight complications... due to... certain choices, routes, successes and failures in the campaign, and the current location, some things may bemore available to you, some less.

i couldn't find a useful mechanic for research, so i made one up. basic rules:

- each day you try to sift from the multitude of memories of the mind flayer to gain some insight. the process is long, hard and taxing. it requires 8 hours, after which you roll 1d20+ caster level (i assume it will be wizard?) + int. the shard gives an extra +7 to the roll. you add the score up. each 30 "points" grant you a revelation, which may be used to further your research. (or not in some cases) one person can examine the shard at a time.

- fox cunning can't help with this, neither does Divine Insight (and the further research, below) action point might, and i'm open to hear other ideas.

- the minds of Aberration are a mad place to visit., each day the investigator makes two will saves, to avoid "side effects". owl wisdom can't help with this, but i'm open to other ideas. the DC will be revealed in the meeting. not that high, not that low.

- all these mechanics are mainly to measure how much time it takes, and the actual rolls will be made in the session, or if you can find an online dice roller that keeps results, that can be done too. as you gathered, Auressia will be on your trail, so your "vacation time" is limited.

- i assume you're going to look for all the "revelations", and since they are needed for future planning, i'll assume you've went all the way. so here they are:

the Mind Flayer's memories: (note- not all details are important, some are just for flavor)
- some angelic yet terrifying and "wrong" creatures with all kinds of living attachments to him (armor, whip and more) holds court before several Illithids, of considerable expertise. he describes a project. a swarm, intelligent, psionic. (Rev 1)
- a confused and quite detailed memory of trying to find the right bugs and mutating them to the purpose. (you see what seems like a much larger husk of worlds, a little part of you saw at Dur Martop in Droaam, in the blinking medusa room) this is quite long, it seems the bugs were finally collected from what feels like (in the strangeness of The mind flayer's brain), mid west Droaam? (Rev 2)
- experiments to give the bugs intelligence, psionic powers and some minimal sort of a hive mind. it seems quite a few psionic creatures died in the experiments, including quite a few mind flayers. then- a break though- mutating the creature while submerged int a pool of some giant swimming tentacled brain. (Rev 3)
- some time later you notice some experiments that seem to trouble the Mind flayers- weapons from the Dhakanni goblinoids. some crystals that disrupt the link between bugs. it seems temporary, but what if they are charged with enough psionic power? contempt from the mind flayer. the Dhakani are weak, they don't have enough psions... (Rev 4)
- rage of the Illithid at a successful infiltration and "sabotage" strike by Elite Dhakani team. They somehow got some psionic power stored, and unleashed it at the right place- the place the binding and psionic enabling of the swarm took place. The core of the psychic web. (Rev 5)
- there is nothing about possession however. it seems this is Auressia's doing. (this is not a rev, just a conclusion you come to on your own)

this may open some avenues for you. you can research "regular" spells, to aid in the fight, or "special ritual/ plot thingy" spells/ effects.this is fairly free form, though i have some guidelines that i follow, but that i'm not revealing. tell me your ideas, thoughts and so on. there may be other sources of info (the naga, and more) that may help further, but we had better have SOME direction or we'll waste a lot of time.

- again, time is a limiting factor.

Other Matters:

these will mostly be dealt in within the game, but a few things i suggest you think about:
- what's to be done with the Keeper of the Flame? she has far lesser powers now, and is far more vulnerable, and Auressia knows where she is. how do you protect her?

- where do you go from here? true, this will most probably be affected by the events of the research and a few other occurances in the meeting, but some general idea is nice.

- you teleported to a place that holds a low level artificer, and a potion maker. they may be able to create/ convert a few items for you. another option would be to trek to stormreach and try to sell things there. but through the jungle it may take some time and hardship.

ok, i think that's it. since we may all be using this email to comment on, comment in the text, and pick a color to stick with! (or do you have other ideas?) i'm staying black.

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 20A: September 29th, 2011- Obsidian City and Stormreach. gearing up, research and allies

In game date- Dravago 1-11 (Late spring, month of handling)

(for some reason i can't put the whole session in one post. maybe too long? i really don't think so. we played for about 7 hours, as usual. anyway, the session is divided to two posts, just so the system will accept it)

so, this session came up within a few days after the last one. as mentioned int he previous post, i tried to settle some things through email, but the short time wasn't enough, so we had to deal with things in the actual meeting.

which led to making most of this meeting about... preparation and arranging for the next legs in the campaign (the final ones). though the players on the whole enjoyed, some were bored part of the way (mostly Grum's player who didn't get his quota of "kill!" and Red's player who'se character was busy with boring research most of the time.)

so... this was not ideal. but i hope there were some good times. this time is the last time the party gets any time to organize and prepare themselves. plus, there were a few surprises and challenges here and there.

in many wasy this was Danves' meeting. heshined a few places here and there, giving us good moments,

one small leveling note: Red's player kept changing his mind about his 4th level spells as a wizard (weren't used yet). he chose assay resistance (to battle Rakshasas) and Dispelling screen (with slight modifications, to battle Auressia controlled swarms and possessed)

for those who are more interested in the action, i suggest to skip to the spoiler labeled "so what have we got?" (highlighted in the second post), but there are some funny parts in the middle. for those wanting to learn of the process, and the last days of (relative) quiet, read on...

Chapter 6

Welcome Home?
As the party appeared, battered, bleeding, burnt and more in the middle of the temple, some half giants drew arms, some cried out. there was some big stone giant, a heavily weathered one at the back who raised a boulder. but they all stopped once they saw who these were! (a smaller stone giant eased up the elder one). a cheer went upon them, and some half giants ran to call others. a babbling coccoon enveloped them, but made little sense... Google was the one who spoke giant.

And then Jaela screamed, and collapsed. Gabriel immediatley kneeled by her, try ing to see what happened. her closed eyes moved, face twitching, asif she was dreaming. she would not wake. Gabriel tried to heal her with her last spells, but though it healed her wounds, it did not heal her mind. "Auressia" said Danves grimly. "she got some hold on her".

"speaking of which" said Red with a slightly amused, slightly alarmed voice "i think she got some hold of me too. once the protection against Evil wears off, i'm not sure what will happen..." (the dominate person spell) the party could spare one more circle against evil for her, for a short time, at least till they get their bearing.

the party noticed a bit of change in the half giants armor and weapons- they were of karrnathi design, if a bit beaten. they smiled at this, realizing the half giants equipped themselves with the arms of the keeper's undead soldiers.

Nau (the leader) rushed to the party, and talked with them in Broken Common. he seemed to thank them, congratulate them, and so on, but he was mostly trying to figure out why they were here, and why were they so badly wounded...

Soon Deest and Daku arrived as well (Google's betrothed and mother respectfully) who could speak more. "where is Auxallia?" the party asked, to which she responded "come after me". a small procession went towards Auxallia's chamber, with the psionic generator. Ellesir, the Kalashtar psion/ artificer joined behind, speaking with Red in hushed tones.

oh, one more thing. i passed a note to Danves Player- "you feel a bit odd, and it takes you a while to figure it out- the curse. it's gone. completely..."
i couldn't read the player's response.


DM design
we were fast coming to the last part of the campaign. i felt that it was time Danves makes his own conscious decisions, without any "hovering threat" above him. also, it seemed appropriate with the fall of the silver flame's church. i'm not certain how the player took it though...

on the way to Auxallia's room Deest tried to ask the party as to Google's fate they told her he left them before thefight, but knew not where he is. she thanked them, but seemed troubled.


catching up
the chamber held it's surprises. first there was Khork! only now he had scales, and a more reptilian appearance (became a dragon born). he welcomed the party, except Grum whom he treated a bit suspiciously. at my request Khork wasn't dealt with, we had enough on our plate.

the second surprise- Auxallia was in some sort of a cocoon, silvery with all manner of rainbow colors. the party moaned at this, they kind of wanted her help. "when did this happen?" "a week ago she said she had an epiphany, that she knew what she must do. 2days later the cocoon was completed, we guard her since. "when is she coming out?". Deest raised her shoulders. "we don't know". yeah. the party LIKED that.

it was time catching up, the party told the highlights of their tale (with Deest translating to Nau, and Soom- the weathered stone giant elder). about Auressia, the bugs, her spreading power, and her focus on Jaela. Soom had trouble believing such a small creature heldsuch power, andthe party explained as well as they could. thenews troubled the small assembly greatly.

Nau then spoke, translated by Deest: "you came to our aid when hope was lost. you faced the undead horror, and risked your lives against their leader. our tribe would be gone if it wasn't for you." he then stood up. "and we shall repay our debt, and fight with our friends! the tribe joins your struggle, whatever you wish of us, we'll do!"

some in the party seemed a tad surprised at this. they sort of expected to havet o work for it. but after the success with the keeper, it seemed only reasonable. Soom too vowed his help, but with a less enthusiastic tone. Ellesir was also willing to craft for the party free of charge, provided they supply him with the resources, or magic items which he could draw power from. Daku offered her help with potions.

Basic Strategizing, and the small matter of spell components...
the party then tried to figure out their options, priorities and constraints. this was a jumbledup discussion, so i'll try to summarize it here in points:

The main constraint: TIME! Auressia obviously still had connection with Jaela, and it;s a matter of time till she'll make her way towards them. how long will that take? the party didn't know . Red suspected a month at least (mobilizing an army so large), gabriel was far more concerned, thinking that if she'll take Arcanix, the mages might offer a faster alternative. Danves also commented that she didn't need her whole army- they were fewer and weaker now. they needed some way to learn their time frame
which also led to the question- with Auressia spreading across Khorvaire, they need some way to fight her. ideally break her hold over subjects, or disrupt the hive mind, but some spell to fight the bugs might also work. research was a top priority, but unfortunately the only research material here was the Mind Flayer memories' shard from the Silent halls. Red will have to take this chore.
a more immediate matter: releasing Red from her dominate person spell. Red still had a rope trick spell, in which they'll sleep (and where Auressia can't exert her influence, and a dispel evil at morning will take care of that. at least one problem solved.
what About Jaela? Red suspected this was something to do with dreams/ nightmares (true). she asked me if there is any way to get in the dreams, or counter them. i said there is a special shard kalashtar sometimes use for that. and luckily Ellesir had one. however the older Kalashtar warned her that only one could go in, and then that one might face whatever nightmare or threat besieging Jaela. the party didn't like this, and tried to think of alternatives.
can they buy/ sell things in obsidian city? well, no, not other than very basic stuff. but Stormreach has a bustling market! however, since no ship is available, you'll have to trek it there, approximate it 5-6 days. the party hated this, since it might split the party, and the length of the trip there and back might mean they may leave the people of Obsidian city in trouble. they thought of using the teleport stone to shorten the time, but since this was a one use item, they decided to keep it. after much discussion, they decided that Red would stay for research, Gabriel will try and help Jaela (and do her own research), and Grum and Danves would trek to Stormreach (hoping Grum's survival skills will help shorten thet trip). Lareth (the blood of Vol cleric the party saved0 asked to join them! he could use some time in the city. the party suspected him, but agreed.
resources? the party, though they have quite a few items beyond WBL, were very poor on money. they needed to scrunch up some money. Nau and Soom were willing to give some of their tribes' loot, and the party decided to sell some additional stuff. still, not a lot. several thousands at most. Danves especially seemed displeased. he wanted to upgrade his armor, and enchant a heavy shield (which he can now wield), but Red and Gabriel wanted scrolls, many many scrolls. Khork would not agree to give any of Auxallia's treasure. it is for her to decide.
What about the warforged titan Elessir worked on the last time? well, apparently it is an obsidian psionic warforged titan! he thinks the giants wanted to use these as soldiers against the Quori. it functions similar to a regular titan, but has some psionic powers and reserve. however, though it follows some very basic command, in order to fight you need to transfer your soul to it, and after some time in it, it may drive you crazy.... yeah... lovely. the party chose NOT to use it.
what Else can Ellesir do? he could craft for them, but has a very low crafting reserve. the party gave him some of their items (mainly the ones they exchanged once they got the more powerful items from the church- Gabriel's holy club, Danves magic sword and Grum's magic armor to use for crafting. they'll give him assignments by the day. the first and foremost would be to try and charge Red's 8th level dispel magic wand (which they got from the Keeper). it got only 3 charges left.
Daku could also create some simple potions for the group. the party forgot about her till much later, when she produced some simple ones, i won't go into that)
information. the party needs information... Gabriel suggested she cast Commune, when i asked her if she has the incense required. (we exchange XP cost for 5 times the XP in materials) the player said he didn't. this prompted me to ask about various other spells of the 5th level which he just got. he lacked material components for most of the costly ones... (this is the first time of the player getting to such levels, and he thought he'll have time to purchase in time). revivify (1000 gp crushed diamonds) was a big issue. so some of the purchasing plans were changed for material components. Danves didn't like this. Info gathering will have to wait. (i didn't mention it, but Divination might have helped as well. still, not my job)
another problem was with Scrying- it needed a 100gp font. butGrum searched much of the night and found Gabriel a font with draconic motifs (the giants worshiped the draconic gods). will do.

DM design
some of goal of this chapter revolve around the preperation. so i wanted to give the party all kind of hard choices, from which they can either benefit or suffer. anotehr idea was to act on limited information. (there will be action in the chapter, but later on) some of this is reflected by the following:
- conversing with Soom might gain his displeasure or his help, which might give a HUGE benefit, if the party wil lbe smart enough to think about it, or lose the benefit if not. (some hints about this, and the party;s tries are following in the log).
- Jaela's special challenge can really help, and can really harm the party. it will be discussed more after the party... "deal with it".
- the unknown time limit, and the party's (current) inability to learn what it is. this especially affects the decision to split the party to Stormreach.
- the psionic obsidian warforged titan could be an asset, and a risk. the party didn't deserve a "free" titan to boost.
- i did know ahead of time that Gabriel's players doesn't have the component.s still- it's his fault. but we start reaching levels and options that require resources (he's looking at the pact spells for instance). these need to be inforced, but they put their demand on the party's resources.
- Lareth. he was a statistic block till the party rescued him, and i liked his antagonism of the silver flame. plus- a possible connection to Atur made him a character i could build on. and so i did. would you trust him or not?


Gabriel making friends
Gabriel's player is a strategist, and he tries to get any possible advantage out of a situation. and in hismind stood one fact- the party never went to the Catacombs of Imasil Kumam the last time they've been here. (the creator of obsidian city. the party could have gone to that place to serach for things to help in the battle, but they ended the battle before that, and Google wouldn't allow looting it). cheking, he understood the weathered elder stone giant was the one to ask.

she made her case to him, tried to say that this was the time to gather all resources, to fidn anything that might help to fight this demon. Soom replied that Imasil Kumam never fought demons, and the place was a holy one to his people, and must not be breached. there wasa further exchange of words, but Gabriel desperate need made her say some... realising this she tried to make up for it, asking to be escorted by Imasil or someone he trusted, to see they only take items of relevence. the persuasion roll was made, and came not so hot.

The elder refused the request, and said that he respect the party, what they did for his people and their allies, but he sees no really need to desecrate the thousands year rest. of his people. Gabriel then made some comment about the silver flame's faith and treating the dead, which was sort of against that of Soom. the negotiation ended poorly.

the party decided to rest. after the mournland and the tough fight at the church, they needed it. they climbed up to the rope trick, taking the still restless jaela and slept.

DM design
Soom is a tough nut to crack persuasion wise (HD, class levels and wisdom) but not nearly as was jaela in the church. so it's quite possible. The player's argument however was not quite well thought of (even some of the other party members winced).

what is in the catacombs? would i allow it? of course i'd allow it, but convincing needs to be done. i kep the catacombs as they are, though Soom knows the rites to overcome the obstacles (they would have faced them only if they decided to break in. which would be a breeze in their levels, but perhaps not to just one or tow, after separating, i wanted to avoid that, as it would leave the rest hanging for a long while.

the catacombs held nothing important to the cause, but a few magic items and some loot that might have been used. the most important maybe are fractured spell shards that Red could have learned (3-5 level spells)

Day 1, Obsidian City
i'm going to count the days of "the retreat" as it helps me keep count on things. the party awoke, memorized spells, and 1 Dispel Evil later, and Red was free. Grum, Danves and Lareth were going to Stormreach. gabriel, though not fully trusting Lareth, asked him to send a message to his superior at Atur when he gets to the city.

Red went to Auxallia's room, reached for the shard, and started to focus on the twisted mad memories of the mind flayer researcher of thousand of years ago.

DM design
the player responded poorly to the game mechanic i suggested for the shard research (see in the previous post) so i figure dout he can probalby get one "revelation" a day on average. we forgo the roll and use this.

on the whole, i am looking for a worthy mechanic of research- general, and spell research in particular (to which i'll get) especially something that will involve the player, since what i opted for got... somewhat boring.

Gabriel was conflicted whether to use Ellesir's Dream shard to try and help jaela. the other players adviced against it, fearing that she might get a grip on Gabriel as well, or learn of the party's strategy. Gabriel decided to try more Dispel Evil.

i wasn't prepared for this, but it seemed a viable option. still, i wanted to make it hard, so i called for a caster level check. the player failed, despite boosted caster level (through divine power feat), though using Action points.

failing that, Gabriel went to the blood Pool again. she tried researching however she could, but found nothing new. then as she went back, she met Soom. again she tried to gain his help and assistance. and the elder told her that the pool was used by the ancient giants to call some sort of fiend, that gave them "fast travel". not much help there.

again she tried to gain access to the catacombs(with Soom's relation one step down to neutral from friendly) and it seemed well, till she said he doesn't know what she sacrificed, and doesn't understand what needs to be sacrificed at this battle (maybe not these exact words, but on the same spirit), which made Soom narrow his eyes. "the keeper which you defeated and his sons killed two of my sons, and my tribe lost more than a third of his young. i do not know sacrifice?" another roll, and another failure. Soom turned and went, his feet echoing. this did not go well.

last thing, the player wanted to try and scry on some poeple. the first was Obraskyr, who failed his saving throw. he saw the dragon flying (whereto he couldn't tell, 10ft radius doesn't show much) and heard other wings accompanying, though he didn't know what creatures. no one was riding it, but that was all she learned.

the player had a spell he wanted to research, raising his Cleric level for a limited time for purposes of turning undead and exorcism, he started to pray (doing research)

Ellesir was tasked with charging the dispel magic wand. at the end of the say 2 charges were added.

at the end of the day Red came to the first revelation from the shard:
- some angelic yet terrifying and "wrong" creatures with all kinds of living attachments to him (armor, whip and more) holds court before several Illithids, of considerable expertise. he describes a project. a swarm, intelligent, psionic. (Rev 1)

yeah, not much help here... however, the research took it's toll on the wiardess' mind. saving two will throws she suffered some wis damage. Gabriel was told to prepare some lesser restoration for tomorrow.


Day 1, on the way to Stormreach
3 half giants joined them for added protection. they followed the river. and i mostly disregarded random encounter, as they served no real purpose (though the party suggested the harpies again! :smallwink:) Grum informed me that he decided to forgo another animal companion, and took the Distracting Shot feat from... PHB2? can't remember. on his request i allowed him to exchange his improved familiar feat for a homebrew feat called Marksmanship, which is basically a power attack ranged, but he adds the bonus onl once for bows, not twice. still- better than nothing.

on the way, while Grum was leading ahead, Lareth took up conversation with Danves. "i wish to talk to you if i may. i'm a bit concerned about our tactics. are we going to stay here, in this dump while the demon spread over Khorvaire? Gabriel is too focused and hang up on her faith, but the silver flame just DIED. and Red, well, i applaud her power, but does she really think she could find a power to undo all that! the swarms, the possessions? you felt that fiend's power!"

Danves seemed to think, a bit agitated and replied. "look, i know it looks grim, but it's the only choice we really got. Red will find the spell, and then we'll take the fight to it."

lareth seemed unconvinced. "take the fight to it? to the middle of ti's swarmsand ever increasing armies of posseased?" that sounds like suicide." he stopped a moment before adding "look, you guys said that she's searching for these "seals" right, and one is at Atur, the temple of night. lets get ourselves there with teleports by Orien and whatever, and make a stand there! she took the silver flame by surprise, but she won't take the temple that easily. and we got plenty of undead, which i'll bet she can't control. lets be with an army, with force, at a key location, not out here, alone!"

some of the party seem to think of the idea.. the rest thought that he might be possessed, or have some other interests at heart. Danves however replied to him "look, i know Red, and i trust her judgement. us few couldn't change the scale much at Atur, but we might be able to make a difference this way." lareth withdrew and moved away.

one of the players mentioned that Lareth might animate some dead to help, but Grum objected vehemently. one of his favored enemies were undead.

Day 2
lesser restoration on Red, and back to her research (which became most of what she did, which boredthe player. i needto avoid this or streamline this if possible)

Gabriel tried more Dispel evil on Jaela, to no avail. and she tried to Scry on the traveler, but couldn't pierce her save, which seemed quite high. she too returned to her research.

Ellesir was tasked to prepare a "spikes" scroll for Gabriel (though at 5th level). she didn't like it when the Mezzoloth in the church dispelled it. and cadded two more charges to the wand

Meanwhile Lareth tried to talk to Grum, but the half orc seemed filled with purpose and sense of destiny, and his bow disliked the persuasion attempts. Lareth became quiet soon enough.

at theend of the day- Research' revelation:
- a confused and quite detailed memory of trying to find the right bugs and mutating them to the purpose. (you see what seems like a much larger husk of worlds, a little part of you saw at Dur Martop in Droaam, in the blinking medusa room) this is quite long, it seems the bugs were finally collected from what feels like (in the strangeness of The mind flayer's brain), mid west Droaam? (Rev 2)

more mental damage, more lesser restoration.

DM design
the mid west Droaam comment was refering to an adventure the party might have gotten to if they'd taken a different path. i was worried the party might focus on it, deciding to go there, but they barely seemed to notice it.

Day 3, Auxellia emerges
as the party woke, and went on their morning routine, Deest came bursting- "quickly! come! Auxallia! she's back, and she's beautifull!" the party hurried to her room, where they found Auxallia on her treasure patch- her scales weremulticolored, andshe was feathered, including two wings. Gabriel immediately prostrated herself "a Couatl!"

Eberron stuff, and DM's "fluff homebrew" stuff
Couatls have been the opposition of the early fiends, especially the Rakshasa, and have fought with the dragons against them. in a great act of sacrifice, most of them died to unleash an energy that bound many of the powerful rakshasa and leaders. to this days very few remain, even dragons rever them.

one Couatl helped the Silver flame's first saint, Tira Miron to bind the fiend where the church of the silver flame now stands... they are considered sort of "high angels" for the worshipers of the flame"

but how does a Naga turn into a couatl? well, for the details you'll have to go into my other link (the compendium) and scroll down to the serpent lords. basically, nagas grow and can take 3 paths, one of them might lead towards turning to a Couatl, though they don't know it before hand)

Auxallia motioned them closer. they noticed her scales were shimmering and new. "i have returned. i am not fully who i was, but i share some memories of my kin, of the guardians that were here. i see you too have returned, here, to one of the focuses of the prophecy. the key players are gathering, events of great proportions are about to come. let us share our stories, friends, allies, prophecised ones, to battle the evil against us."

Gabriel makes a show of being awed, inspired and the like, while Red tell their tale once again. the Couatl agrees of their plans, but suggest one piece of information, and one advice.

She knows of the blood Pool! it takes a great need ("check!") and a spilling of some great blood ("will do") to usually summon it, but with a small chance of success. it is supposed to summon some fiend known only as "the captain", which can bring very fast traveling, but how she does not know. she does know that it was used to move many people at once. the pool of blood heighten the chance a great deal, with the correct ritual, which she knows. however, thereis mention of some price to the travel, which is... unclear.

also, she reminds the party of the Crystal the found (and lost) at Dur Marrtop, which the Traveler fixed, but not charged. couldn't Ellesir do something with it? the Artificer checks, and a bit later that day comes and tells them he can make it use activated, emitting a sort of "anti-psionic field" in a large radius (60-80 feet, he's not yet sure) which will remain active for 30-60 min (again, not sure). he can do a 2/day activation, or limited charges (7-12) but can be continuos, even all in one go. the party discuss this, and though Red prefers the latter option, the others prefer the former.

however, it would take him 10 (!!) days to make this, and most of the magical crafting energy they gave him. the party decides to go for it.

DM design
the shard will help greatly, but it's not a necessity. the party could use the energy to craft them items instead. again- a choice.

Gabreil, still hung up on the catacombs asked Auxallia to remember if there is something important there, but she said she could not remember. the player let it go after that. Gabriel Tried Dispel Evil on Jaela again, and the last attempt worked! suddenly her body floated, turned to gabriel with Auressia's eyes and sneer and hissed "don't mess with me! she's mine!" before falling to the ground, again unconcious, but the hold on her felt.. lessened. Gabriel was pleased (she burnt about 2-3 action points on this so far). soon...

Auxallia took Jaela to her embrace, trying to care and nurture the chil. another scry attempt on Traveler, again failed. she resumed her research, as Red resumed hers. but not before askinf Auxxalia to take from her treasure. the Couatl gave it all, though it was not much (4400. but what good would it do, now that the "shopping party" was gone?

A sending to Danves: "we're sending 4400 more with some half giants after you. persuade someone to let you buy with money coming (it was better phrased in Hebrew). we trust your skill Danves". the half elf grunted. how was he supposed to do that? quickly a small team of half giants were assembled to take the loot to Stormreach, two days behind...

Red's research took a heavy toll on her this day- 1 wisdom drain. tomorrow morning a restoration was cast on her.
Revelation: - experiments to give the bugs intelligence, psionic powers and some minimal sort of a hive mind. it seems quite a few psionic creatures died in the experiments, including quite a few mind flayers. then- a break though- mutating the creature while submerged int a pool of some giant swimming tentacled brain. (Rev 3)

this did spark some interest. tentacled brain in a pool? i don't know if the players really didn't know, or faked it, but they couldn't think what it is.
don't worry, i'm not going to face them with a 25 CR monster, more a flavor thing, but might supply some clue later on, an important clue.


Day 4- Obsidian City, Jaela
at morning, after memorizing spells, Gabreil tried her luck again freeing Jaela. this time she succeeded, and the child, Keeper of the flame seemed to sag, and ease her breaths. a little while latershe awoke, smiling. "there was the most awful dream- Auressia was there, trying to drive me mad. taunintg, whispering hard truth, easy lies, scouring my mind for the secrets of the flame. i was nearly gone, when you Gabriel, my Angel, have saved me!"

She looked at the Couatl with some awe, as both it and Gabriel took care of her. she was no longer filled with the power fo the flame, no longer the radiant high cleric of power. she was a girl- a smart and resourceful one, but yet just a girl.

Eberron Stuff
As was mentioned, the speaker of the flame turns into an 18th level cleric in the church, but outside it it relies on his/ her own powers and items. Jaela is an exceptional child, a 3rd level cleric, quite powerful protective magic items, and she has visions which are a plot tool.

in most Eberron games jaela is supposed to be a quest giver, and someone who can cast really high level spells if the party might need them. i decided to try and make her an actual character (the Five Nations book helped a lot). not sure i portrayed her well.the party half respects her half makes jokes about her. but that may be the lot of most NPCs...

she heard the plan, heard the strategy and problems. upon hearing about the lack of spell ingredients she stopped Gabriel. she reached to her robe, whispered some words and a pocket emerged, from which she took some stuff: a wand of Mass lesser vigor (party like!), 500 gp of crushed diamonds, and 2000 worth of incense. and lastly, two beautiful diamonds- these were enchanted with a resurrection spell, which anyone can use. the party liked that, but also a bit worried- "so high chance of death, eh?" the only other help she could offer was her visions, but they come unbidden and unexpected she could not control them.

DM design
so what was the point of this, it seemed quite anticliactic- just spam Dispel Evil and that's it?

well, the party did take a boring Route. i hoped one would go into Jaela's dreams. there they would be a contest over her mind ( a sort of a skill challenge, after each victory/ loss the character is pushed out, to come back the next day). the challenge was supposed to give mroe presence and lifeto Auresiia really, and the keeper second. thrwoing arguments instead of spells, over the keeper's soul looked like a fine idea on paper.

but the party didn't want to risk it, scaredy cats! i left them with a mechanic on the spot that should have made it hard (and maybe encourage going into dreams?) but it failed. the only thing the party didn't get from this challenge was the chanceto learn some of auressia's secrets (had she failed she would have lost some of her temper and "slipped" some thing out.), but that is the price for not risking your own secrets (which could have happened as well).

Jaela was supposed to survive for 5 days before going insane (and a liability), but the party finished before that.

Another failed Scrying attempt ("why is the Traveler so hard to scry?")
and back to research. a sending to the group told them about the ingredients, and lessened the demand considerably. Red, now acutely aware of her low saves, requested to buy her a belt of resistance (like cloak, just different slot). Danves growled- where to get the money?

at the end of the day Gabriel finished her research, so i let her role a religion check. she failed, so she had to research the spell some more (again, not that happy with the research mechanic invented here) the player was frustrated, since he put the minimum into religion to get the synergy (5 points) and that's it.

This night's revelation:
- some time later you notice some experiments that seem to trouble the Mind flayers- weapons from the Dhakanni goblinoids. some crystals that disrupt the link between bugs. it seems temporary, but what if they are charged with enough psionic power? contempt from the mind flayer. the Dhakani are weak, they don't have enough psions... (Rev 4)

Auxallia said she might have something, she needed to search her kin's memories. the party wondered if their shard from Dur Martop is enough, but after some consultation they realized it's not nearly enough.


Day 4- Stormreach, nightly investigations.
due to a succesful survival check, the en-route party arrived there at the night of the 4th day. "finally civilization! after the heat, humidity, insects, plants... ewww!" Danves exclaimed, while Grum seemed sad "civilization, after the quiet, ease, peace and trnquility of the wild. stuffed rooms, overcooked meals. ewwwww!"

the party decided to sleep the night, and buy things tomorrow. Danves, really needing some release after the Mournland and the bloody fight at the church, aid for two whores, while Grum meditated in his room. soon after the party started, Lareth knocked on Danves "i'm heading out, catch something to eat, relax".

Danves suspected him, so he dressed up casually, grabbed some coin, his potion belt an headed after Lareth. Grum heard this commotion, and headed after Danves. Lareth seemed to be in plain clothes, not his armor, but didn't seem to try and evade. Danves found a street urchin ("you know, a David Copperfield kina kid") and paid him some to keep tab on the priest, just in case.

they ended up seeinghim near a Sivis message station. he knocked on the door, and after a minute or so a blinking gnomish woman opened the door.she exchanged some words with him, and let him inside.

Eberron Stuff
House Sivis controlls amongst other things, the means for a fairly fast communication. their stations can communicate with one another, no matter the distance, and then a courier or someone else take the message to the person intended.

Danves came by and knocked on the doo. the gnome woman openedthe door grumbling "two at his hour? don;t you know ho late it is?" but Danves produced coin, so she let him in, just to meet Lareth in the waiting room. Danves wassurprised (to his credit,the player had no idea how these stations are handled) "oh! Lareth..." "Danves, what are you doing here?" "um, sending a message, and you?" "me too, Gabriel, deluded as she is, though it would be wise to warn the temple."

a few uncomfortable minutes later a gnome with the house' mark appeared, and Lareth went into the message stone room. Danves made sure the woman is dozing off, and drank a potion of gaseous form slipping into the room. disappointingly, he heardthe gnome sending the expected message to Atur: "bugs are possesed by a demon, they seek a seal protected by the temple, am at Xendric, trying to find solution, dispel magic effective." and so on. "i spent a gaseous form potion for THIS?"... then a thought followed "i left two whores for THIS?!?!" Danves returned to the room and resumed his form. he was invited in as Lareth left, fabricating a message and recipient (he had no idea at that point)

Meanwhile, Grum watched from outside, and saw Lareth leave, but instead of heading to the inn, Lareth took to side street. he followed the priest, and saw him trying to converse mostly with goblinoids, the dregs of Stormreach. his keen ears heard the phrase "Initiate and the saint" a few times, but he couldn't figure this out. then he reached near the docks, and Lareth knocked on the door of an unassuming building. the door was opened, lareht showed his holy symbol, and was ushered inside.

The player assumed this might be a blood of vol temple in disguise (they didn't have much friends in Stormreach, the Sovereign host was the dominant religion). after waiting a bit, Grum returned.

As Danves came out, an Urchin grabbed his sleeve, and led him on a similar route of Grum. suddenly the two met. "what are you doing?" asked Grum. "i'm following Lareth, what are you doing?" "i'm following you following Lareth". he told him of what he saw, and Danves recognized the phrase "Initiate and the saint"- it's a phrase of the blood of vol mentioning the followers of the faiths, and those who sacrificed themselves for it, becoming undead or "saints", to protect the others, and further the churhc's goals. they decided that further investigations won't help, and turned back.

DM improvisation
this wasn't planned, but i thought that the players on the "shopping trip" were a bit bored, and so thought a bit of subterfuge might be nice. and then they turned back, jsut as it got interesting... oh well.

As to Lareth, i decided to make him mostly an ok guy, with some differentiating views. i wanted to step a bit away from "blood of vol= evil necromancers" concept. if you happened to read about the religion in "faiths of Eberron", it is a fascinating one!

Day 5 Obsidian City- commune and final revelation
with ingredients in hand, Gabriel wanted to cast a commune spell. but due to the spell's "informative" answers, she wanted to build the questions wisely. another problem is that impose a 1 week minimum interval between commune spells (to be frank, this is due to a previous campaign, in which I spammed the DM with these) Gabriel was able to boost her level by 2, which meant 11 questions.

finally, the players had their questions, and they asked as following:

"Can Auressia open the seal in the church without Jaela?" the answer: "no". this gladened the party.
"Does Auressia needs Jalea ALIVE to open the seal?" answer: "yes". another bit of important infromation
"do the catacombs of Obsidian City holds anything that can help against Auressia?" answer: "unclear". the powers didn't know about the specific items in the catacombs.
"Did Obraskyr inform Argonessen about the threat of Auressia?" answer: "no". the party was conflicted about this- does it means he's a traitor, or that she caught him before he coulddo it?
"would the dragons join the fight?" answer: "soon". ok, to tell the truth, the answer was meant to freak the players just a bit (they know what thedragons did to Xen'dric)
"are there any spies or someone who helps Auressia in Obsidian City?" answer: "no". this was really important to the party. i know i know, it might have been more fun if she had, but there arelimits to her power. Danves' player wondered if the answer extends to Lareth, since he's not IN the obsidian city....
"can the Traveler be trusted?" answer: "unclear". c'mon, i mean you're asking about the traveler? but joking aside, there is a real reason why the answer was as it was. i wondered why they didn't aks this about Obraskyr
"was the seal in Arcanix taken by Auressia?" answer: "no".
"are two open seals enough for achieving Auressia's goals?" answer: a slight pause, and then "unclear". the party are uncertain if that's because they phrased the question wrong, or because it is unknown, or something else.
"Will Auressia or a force from her be here within a week?" answer: "no". i don't understand why they didn't start with this, and tried to then narrow it down, as time seemed to be the most important. also, this is day 5, so they aretalking about day 12. unknown to them, Auressia's "reclaiming force" intends to arrive on day 13...
they hesitated and started to think and discusss the last question. then i said that they dally to muchand the spell ends (as mentioend in it's description)


so, at least a week. that's something! Gabriel forsaken the scrying, and returned to her research, as did Red.

at night the final Revelation came.
- rage of the Illithid at a successful infiltration and "sabotage" strike by Elite Dhakani team. They somehow got some psionic power stored, and unleashed it at the right place- the place the binding and psionic enabling of the swarm took place. The core of the psychic web. (Rev 5)
- there is nothing about possession however. it seems this is Auressia's doing.

the party understood several things: "the place the binding and psionic enabling of the swarm took place."- this means the Morunland, the Eston mines, the place of the seal. as Auxallia heard this, she seemed to think, and then added an opinion: "if you're going there, might it be worth of you to try and close the seal? however, we do not know how... and the price, might be high. Now Gabriel knew EXACTLY what i was talking about, but the others were confused, so the player explained- the other seal, the one at the church was sealed that way by a sacrifice of a holy warrior of the flame (Tira Miron) and a couatl. at which point the party turned to Gabriel, who also indicated Grum's player "we have more than one holy silver flame warrior." the party decided not to think of this now.

they also learned that the possession is Auressia's thing, and might require divine research, but they had nothing to from from, unlike the Illithid Shard.

DM design
would i require them to sacrifice a character? require? no. enable if they want to? yes. this sacrifice will grant them a hefty advantage at the final battle, but it's not necessary at all. more than that, there is an alternate way of closing the seal, but it would require Soom's cooperation, and some clue deciphering.

why can't they affect the possessing? they could, if they had taken other routes in the campaign, such as sneaking around the seal's chamber and finding some of Auressia's writing in the rooms beyond, or taking up on the Traveler's first request of help, and so on. but then again, they might not have gotten the illithid shard that way.

choices, actions, and consequences.

Auxallia said she searched her guardian memories, and there might be an object to help them- the Psychic generator is charged by the moons, but the paranoid Imasil feared the Quori might find a way to block that, so he stored a large obsidian crystal in the hidden vaults of the city. he also placed quite a few defenses about them ("ok guys, we know where we're going next!") Auxallia knows how to reach them, but it would be better the giants don't know, hhmmmm?

que in the McGaffin.

continued on the next post...

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 20B: September 29th, 2011- Obsidian City and Stormreach. gearing up, research and allies

Day 5 Stormreach, shopping Spree, Danves' persuasions OR "armies of warforged titans coming your way!"
most of the things on the buying list were not hard to find- many scrolls for gabriel (up to 3rd level) few scrolls for Red to learn from(i mainly remember lightning bolt and... fly! i was she she had it by now!), magic ingredients, Danves found a magic armor and shield (better defense), and even Grum indulged himself by buying some more adamantite arrows (10? 15? the player doesn't seem to care at all about magic items. i think he dislikes the book keeping)

but then came the tougher to find stuff. as i may or may not have mentioned, i view Eberron as lousy with low level magic (up to 3rd), but very hard to find above that. red asked for 2 4th level scrolls (which Danves, due to poor gather info rolls) couldn't find. he did find quite easily the scroll of revivification Gabriel wanted (to free a slot space), but he needed to haggle for this.

now, the guy has learned acting, and when he wants to, it's beautiful to see him act. onwards come the high priest of the Sovereign host temple. "yes Vassal, how can i help you?"
"have you heard of what happened in Khorvaire lately?"
"we have little contact with them, but we have heard of some sot of supernatural plague, some insects who attack people and so on? some sort of army from the Mournland besieging Thran even! if you'de believe."
"oh, i belive, i've been there, i have been in the fights! and it's not just a plague, it's an ancient demon!"
"oh my, really?"
"yes, and the silver flame, it has fallen, i have been in the fight"
at this point the priest look skeptic "wait... you've been to Flamekeep, survived a battle with this ancient demon, and now you're here, in stormreach?"
Danves looked uncertain. "we teleported here"
"Orien's powers will not take you that far, how DID you get here?"
Danves did not wish to reveal the presence of Jaela, and decided another track. "look! it doesn't matter, the fact is i'm here, and i need your help, in order to fight and defeat this demon, we must all pull together!"
"then come to the temple dear Vassal, you and your.. commrades, the Sovereign will protect you from devilry!" the priest called an aid and Danves heard him whisper "call for a Jorasco healer, i think we have a case here"

Danves wasn't able to convince him he's not crazy, but he did convince hi to sell the scroll... for double the price.

but the party was nearly out of money, and still they needed some things, and so Danves sought a magic item merchant, and found a little shop owned by a gnome, with two warforged guards and a cat folk.

this time he tried to make up for the previous mess. he came to the gnome Jarmal, looking at his guards. "say there, these guards, how good are they?"
"why the best! veterans of the last war!"
"did they face a warforged titan?"
"wha... a titan?" the gnome looked surprised.
"yes, i come from the north... have you heard the rumors?"
"the rumors? theones about a sort of a plague?"
" a plague, and army. i've seen that army, and it ain't pretty. warforged! titan warforged! a whole bunch of them!"
the gnome looked panicky "what? but they were gone! no more forges!"
"it seems someone got a forge running again, in the Mournland, and now they aremaking them like crazy. first falls Thrane, soon Aundair, and you know.. pretty soon... they'll come here! a whole bunch of warforged titans! tens of them!"
the gnome looked panicky, but also a bit suspicious. "wait, how do you know this?"
"that doesn't matter! do you think i'll lie! you need to get yourself some adamantine weapons, the only thing that gets through their armor!" then heputthe Adamantine magic kama that belonged to the mockery on the shelf. he lifted it,following it's blade, waving it in slow archs, and making a show of it.
(small note: i didn't want to tell the player that adamantite is quite more common in Eberron, and that Grum just bought some Adamantine arrows. he was making a cool funny story, but laying it soooo seriously, and with so much investment, i just rolled with it)
jarmal (the gnome) said "well, it's a fine weapon you got there, but there are no monks, at least no monks with money in Stromreach! (which is a combination of a pirate town and old western town) who would i sell it to?"
Danves looked confused, but responded nicely. "when the titans come, trampling your people, crushing your houses, when no weapon works against them, it will be THIS!" he waved the kama and sank it smoothly into a table "that will save the warrior who wields it! people will pay a high price for it!"
at this place he rolled his influence roll, but rolled fairlypoorly, however, do tto the play i thought it should go that bad. "i'll buy it for 3500" siad the gnome (it costs 5000) at whci hdavnes started haggling with him some more until he got the prics to about 4250.

happy he got something, he went out of the shop. this is when the players remembered the 4400 gp on the way. grumbling, Danves returned to the shop, Grum following, the palyers (and myself) amused, wiating to see where it goes.
"ahh, so you come again? how can i help you?"
"you know, i've seen many merchants, and i was looking for someone i could trust, i thought maybe you can be the one."
"trust? what with?" the gnome looked curious, but suspicious.
"well, i work for... well, better think of us as "interested party" here in Stormreach, we are trying to affect the goings in Khorvaire from afar. that is why i knew abotu the titans."
bluff check went good.
"really? who do you work for? i know, the Brealnders, right! that's why they weren't attacked yet! i knew the peace couldn't last! tricky bunch the people in Sharn!"
Danves gave a conspiratorial, all knowing, can't tell look.
"or was it the Karrnathi? bloody heartless bloodless bastards! it would suit them to go after Thrane first! the karrns were always fond of surprise attacks!"
Danves looked around, as if checking if someone hears them.
"wait! there were a group of karrns here some months ago, going into the jungle they said, but never came back! some dealings wit hthe filthy Drow i heard!"
Danves gave a sly smile. "we are the reason they never came back"
"cool! what can i do for you?"
this is when Danves coughed a bit and became uneasy. "well, due to some operations of our... opposition, we came a little low of resources, as you might have gathered from our previous transaction. me and my fellows would appreciate it if you'd be willing to "help the cause", for which you will be repayed, only... i don't have the money on me now. it will arrive in 2-3 days."
the gnome's expression grew sour. "you want me to give you merchandise, for free? that you'll "later" pay for?"
there was some discussion when the gnome suddenly questioned "how do i even know your story is real" at which point Grum of all people came with a cool way for an "aid another" (sort to speak) help- he raised his bow, who started speaking in the commanding voice of hers, telling of their mission, holy duty and so on, with religious fervor.
that did the trick. the gnome agreed, providing they leave some ites as "insurance" which will be given to those who come with the money . they left Danves armbands of natural armor +1 (as teh amulet) and Grum's eye lens of perception.

all in all, this was a hilarious piece in the session. they got Red a belt of resistance +2 and a few other stuff. mission complete they retired for the night (all the searches took some time)


Days 6,7,8,9
not much happened these days. Red started a research about a spell that could connect the Psionic shard to the web and disrupt it, Gabriel coninuted researching her sepll, and the shopping group traveled back.

but they had to Face lareth's decision before leaving Storm Reach- the elf wished to leave them , to go back to Khorvaire, and seek teleportation up to Atur. he felt lost here, ineffective, and as if running from the real war.

This was the point where Danves made his speech. i don't remember the details, but the main points were as follows: "you may feel as if we're not participating, but we were part of this from when it began. we are the major thorn in Aurassia's side. and though you may not believe it, we may be the only hope all of us have. Red and Gabriel may seem suicidal, but they are not stupid. we got the one thing that might make a difference."

and then he turned more personal, and this was the first time i heard from him about the curse from the beginning of the session, when it was gone. "look, i have tried to evade my destiny, i tried to run away and evade these dangers, these horrors. but i learned that i could not. and morethan that- i believe that there is no place to run to anymore. if you think us cowards, know that we intend to bring the fight TO auressia. and even if i am a coward, i am going there as well, because in the long run- it's our best chance of survival." the speech was enough to convince Lareth, and he grudgingly joined the trek back.

Danves' player thoughts about losing the curse
i emailed to the player concerned about this, and this was his response:
"Danves have developed, but it's not he has left all his fear behind. He's tricky, and as you saw with the Bone Giants he rather be on ranged attacks while he can (as long as he's effective). Otherwise, while the enemy is not overwhelming scary (like those Golems) he might as well charge in screaming/shouting to encourage himself.

He trusts Red and Gabriel's self-sacrifying, so he knows they don't leave him like he might have left them once if needed. He also won't easily make a suicide battle - unless, like in the church- there was no better choice. More than he's coward he's smart (INT 20 with his headband), so he knew that he cannot hide too long from the enemy. Yet, he's not the bravest warrior..."


on day 8 Gabriel tried her religion roll once more and failed. i told the player he has one more chance. he grumbled a little but accepted.

on Day 9 Red completed her research. i asked the player in advance if he wants to brew the spell, but he prefered for me to go with a "default" spell for this one occasion. not much of an interest to the player. a successful arcana roll later and they had their spell:
4th level, Psion connection (researched)
Casting time: 10 min.
range: close
connect 2 psion powers, passes up to 1500 power points,.

that night the shopping party arrvied. the party exhanged info, Grum and Danves came to see Auxallia. the party decided to go to the vaults tomorrow. but before that...

red's player (who i think became a bit annoyed/ bored/ vexed) at the 9 days of research, decided to have a little fun. expanding on the Succubus tongue's aspect, Red came to Lareth, and started to flirt with him. she told him about her "being buried alive" Mournland experience, and pretended that she cared what he said in response. soon enough, they were in Red's cabin, doing what frustrated long hard studying scholars do after 9 says of continuous research- getting in touch with the bad boys!

this had some funny responses from the party: Gabriel (who had a thing for Red) came looking for her. "red! Red! we're gonna eat now, you coming?"
...huff muff and tuff... "i'm resting!"
"Red! Red! they are telling the most funny story! you coming to hear?"
...huff muff and tuff... "i'm studying!"
"Red! Red! they are..."
...huff muff and tuff... "i'm HAVING SEX! i'm not coming!"

Gabriel was a bit offended, but took it in stride, when she told the others though... Danves fumed "what?! i brought him back for THIS? so he could stab me in the back? i should have left him! i should have... <mumble mumble>

Day 10, surprise visit, surprise vision.
As the party prepared to descend to the vaults, suddenly they heard great many cries from the temple (they were resting in a cabin outside) as they rushed in they saw Google and Olam! the half giants greeted their hero, but Google responded stoically, conservatively, even with this words. Deest came rushing and hugged her husband fiercely, and Daku hugged Olam. after the initial excitement Google shared his story:

while they were under Flamekeep google received a Sending, from his father in Fairhaven. he was needed, another part of the prophecy was held by Obrasky'rs friend. but she would only give it to those mentioned in the prophecy, she didn't trust Olam. so he made his way there, and met this friend, an elven woman called Sairen, a fellow scholar of the prophecy, researching other parts of it. he got a transcription of what she had, and went to Porcia, the Princess. it was not easy to get to see her, since the country was at war against Auressia's forces, but the princess have seen him. she then acquired on of the few precious high level scrolls of greater teleport, and with some minor additional help, sent him back to the party.

"wait a moment, how did Olam end up there? wasn't he going with Obraskyr to Flamekeep?" at which point Olam answered "i was riding him, but her bugs were faster, so he told me of his friend, and dropped me to the water. i swam and hid and fought till i found her. it was not easy, i'm not accustomed to this land."

surprisingly enough no one asked about Sairen. "anyway" Google talked to Auxallia, impressed by her new looks "i brought you this. Sairen couldn't decipher this, but maybe you could." the Couatl took the writings. "'hmmm, a day or two would be required" and slithered to her place.

Google handed a sealed letter to Danves
"To my courageous warrior across the sea. it's strange to think that the adventure we've been through, the horrible imprisonment by those awful Daguuns was only the start of this whole mess. when the swarms and the Overtaken attacked, we we were confused, and attacked back. but they overtaken more and more, focusing their efforts on Arcanix. we did not know why, and tried to fight them, but it seemed only to strenghten them. slowly the magical wards fell, and terror gripped us- if the mages of arcanix fall, what shall be of Aundair?

then we heard of the fall of Flame Keep and the silver flame. don't get me wrong, we Aunderian hate the Thranes for what they did to us in the war, but... we did not wish this to happen. When your gentle friend Google told me you were there, with the rest of your comrades my heart sank (how is the delightful funny Ipiks? Google stayed silent on his subject.). i held to the memories of our adventure, as proof to the courage of us Khorvarian, of facing horrors, brutality and foul fiendish scheming, and coming victorious. but it seemed even you, my champions, and my special champion... were lost to the evil upon us.

with his news we understood a bit more of the danger against us, and we shall try to face it. Arcanix has fallen by now, many of it's mages have destroyed their labs and floating towers, and ran away (most of them to fair haven) but some of them were captured. including some of the most powerful ones. we face a deadly foe.

... Danves, we do not know what the next few days will bring, but i remember your rascal smile, your oh-look-i'm-so-charming words, and it brings a solace to my heart. Google was sure you have survived, and we divined your location. i've sent him and his father to you, with the meager help i could provide at this time. forgive me for not sending more, but they are needed for the fight. keep this sending stone, and may we remain in contact.

though the Queen relies on the mages and help of the Sovereign priests, my heart, my soul feels that the solution my be with you, with all of you. i keep the hope and faith that you will prevail, that this darkness shall pass, and that once more we might bask in the light of Dol Arrah. May the Sovereign protect you, Danves. all of you.

Princes Porcia ir'Wynarn, regal heir of Aundair."

Danves have told them about the fall of Arcanix (day 7) and commented on the "how is the delightful funny Ipiks?" line. Google also handed them a sending stone (with Porcia), and artificers crystals worth 2500 gp worth of magic items (IF they'll have the time to use them)

right. since Google might not agree to go to the vaults, the party prepared to go without him, when Jaela suddenly shook violently, spread her arms high, mimicking great wings flapping, then put her hands wide across, mimicking a great span, and then sat down, and just raised her ten fingers above her head.

the party realized the meaning of this vision fairly quickly: "the dragons are coming, from a great distance. we got 10 days. so begins the final countdown..."


"so what have we got?"
this spoiler is mostly for those who haven't read this far. but others might find it usefull to wrap things up before the action.
so....

Jaela woken from eternal nightmare, which enabled her visions, which told that the Argonessesn dragons will arrive at Khorvaire in 10 days since this point in time
also, two diamonds with a resurrection spell attached, and some clerical material ingredients
a new spell that can join a powerful psionic source (a great shard the party will now try to retrieve from the vaults), to the source of the bugs psionic web (which is supposed to be in the Mournland, the Eston mines. in a pull of a tentacled brain?
knowledge of the blood pool- it can summon a fiend called "the captain" that offers some swift transport, for a price
Auxallia is now a Couatl. to understand how check my "monster compendium" link under "serpent lords.
some new pieces of the prophecy, that Auxallia tries to figure out
Ellesir is charging the shard from Dur Martop (that the traveler later fixed), that is supposed to grant 2/ day, 30-60 min, 60-80 feet antipsionic field. still working on it, supposed to finish on day 12
a commune spell was cast on day 5, lots of ino, check the specific day out. note that since then and now Arcanix fell to Aurresia
the party got communication from princess Porica, and now have a Sending stone with her.
various other stuff: a scroll of revivify, many other scrolls for gabriel, a few new spells for Red, better defense for Danves
Google is back, but not with the party at the moment.
Red made out with Lareth :smallbiggrin:


Action time, to the vaults!
Auxallia opened the secret ways to the vaults, and the party descended into the depths. when they reached the first room they started to draw. yes, for once, i'm going to do a proper Dungeon! no strange druid signs, no moving between personalities. i kinda suck at dungeons, so decided to try this one up for size.

the first room looked like an entry room, of great size. as they stood at the opening they heard a loud intimidating royal voice speaking... in giant... which non of them understood. (originally the concept included Google here. i didn't change it because i think a party at this level should deal with this. the voice said ""who enters the vault of Imasil Kumam? turn back or face my anger!" the normal warning stuff.) but nothing happened, so they decided to headon, Grum with his sharp senses leading.

that's when they heard the voice again ("than feel the wrath of giant kin!") when suddenly 3 huge figures appeared in the chamber (dimension door trap from a sealed nearby room)- 2 cloud giants skeleton, and one... mummy undead? the mummy tired it's despair power, but all succeeded.

the giants however hit in their surprise round, and hit HARD. Red was smashed fiercely, dropping down to 6 hp, and as to Grum? he was critted (remember the players roll all the dice, he just have the WORST luck!)
he made his mass damage saving throw, but was in bad shape.

the battle was quick, as Gabriel spammed holy smite, Red withdraw, andthen blasted fireballs. As Grum tried to move he was AoO and went down to negatives, healed by... Lareth (Red: "hey! 6 hp here! no sex for you tonight!") while Danves shot his kelgor firebolts from the back, and Gabriel stepped forth to absorb attacks (which worked well, considering her Holy Smite caused the most damage) the battle took about 4 rounds, when the last bones crumbled to dust. they found a ring of minor fire resistance on the mummy (which did not help) which went to Red.

the party was not happy. this was the first fight in the vault, and 2 of them were already nearly dead? they healed up, and thought were to go. (if you imagine a page, they came from the bottom left corner) they could go east or north...

DM design
why a dungeon all of a sudden? it's not really related to the campaign much (thematically, of course there is the Shard, but they could get that anywhere) i wanted the dungeon for several reasons:
- it's a bit of a relaxing break from all excitement they have been through- Mournland, the church and so. something a bit more... mundane before getting to the big mess ahead. might be fun!

- the party has gained a few levels in a short time, and Grum's player is new to the ranger. this sort of "testing field" might help them get used to their new powers a bit without bit mishaps.

- it's somewhat of a different challenge than those they faced this far, and i like different challenges.

- i get to play in dungeon making! the dungeon isn't large, but i think it may be fun!

- and deadly.. very deadly as i hope was demonstrated by the firs encounter. the party has about 130-150% of WBL (Grum i think has considerably less, though i don't know why exactly. i think he just never much cared for magic items). the last two (short but deadly) chapters of the campaign won't be child's play, as you'd expect from the End Game. the party needs to up their game. this was hinted by the two resurrection gems as well, this is a more... vivid demonstration.

- it gives me a little chance to emphasize the giant culture a bit. but this is not a main concern.

---------------------------------------------------

and here we stopped. on the whole, quite a relaxed session roleplay heavy and info/ gear seeking. again returns the conclusion- organizing/ preparatory stuff is better handled in emails, however:
- we didn't have enough time between meetings.
- due to surprises (jaela, Auxallia, Lareth, Google) i doubt if we could have handled it WELL of screen

the remaining sessions will be confrontation heavy. this was to be the last time the party could take a serious rest.

after all- the countdown of dragons is on- 10 days. and in 3 days Auressia's "retrival team" might arrive. and who knowswhat schedule does Auressia works to? the pressure is on... :smallamused:

hope you enjoyed the read, and as always- i'd love to hear comments, ideas, questions, critic or praise. next game is probably in 2-3 weeks.

[Kol Korran]

hmmmm... something not entirely connected.

i was browsing through some art (to get inspired), when an idea struck me- some times i saw group paintings, that were done for gaming groups. so.... wouldn't it be cool if the group has an "end of the campaign" sort of portrait"?

the idea brewed a bit. the current group (which may make it to the end, though maybe not survive it), main past characters (Ipiks and Google. I don't think the other characters of Khork's player had such a campaign long impression), and perhaps some NPCs, some enemies, that sort of thing...

so i started doing some research, about what's the procedure commissioning a job, what do they need, you need and that sort.

so i posted a hob thread on DeviantArt job offers thread (http://forum.deviantart.com/jobs/offers/1650873/). i think my idea (18 figures, 3 of which may count as two) might be a bit big for my funds, but i hope! (i may need to get it down to 9-10)

if you have any artist friends, direct them to the job.
if you have any ideas about how it should be, who should be in it, what sort of poses and the like, i'd love to hear. "12 heads are better than one!" (says the hyrda)

also, i tried to ask the players subtly (i said it was for a not-gonna-screw-you encounter) to hear how their characters look better, noteworthy features and the like. only Gabriel's player answered so far. (however, Red's player supplied a lot of pics so far).

i hope this will work, could be really nice. something to remember, you know?

[Kol Korran]

about the portrait idea. i've been having some thoughts. i posted them on a more specific thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217838) would love to hear thoughts from those who read the campaign so far (as Krazzman did).

i really don't want to mess this up. advice is appreciated.

[LansXero]

I think instead of making them roll for research you could take their spellcraft/knowledge modifier, add 10, then compare it to a DC. Say, like 15+spell level or something. Then at exactly the DC it takes (however much you want), if they beat it, take a day off for every 5 or 2 or something it goes over the DC, and if they fail it takes a day longer for every same amount they fail it by.

That way they already know how much it will take, its not auto-win easy, and they can skip over it. As for crafting, are you using the craft-points variant (its in the SRD)? I find its way better than the regular way.

Pretty interesting setup youve been left with. What happens when the dragons get there btw? Instant WorldTPK? because even if they do fix everything, Eberron dragons are jerks most of the time.

[Kol Korran]

I think instead of making them roll for research you could take their spellcraft/knowledge modifier, add 10, then compare it to a DC. Say, like 15+spell level or something. Then at exactly the DC it takes (however much you want), if they beat it, take a day off for every 5 or 2 or something it goes over the DC, and if they fail it takes a day longer for every same amount they fail it by.

That way they already know how much it will take, its not auto-win easy, and they can skip over it.

i had a sort of mechanic for this.
basic research (the shard) depended on:
- their class level and Int.
- their resources (in this case just he Shard. they could have gained other sources in the campaign)
- their library (in this case none. Korranberg would have given the most advantage/ arcanix, thetwelve and Moregrave would have given less, but still good)
each "30 points" of research would have gained them a revelation. however, Red's player ddin't had much time to review this system and opted to stream line it, and assume avergae. so checking it would have taken about 4.5 days. alltogether.

as for the actual spell research (Either Red or Gabriel) my ruling was this:
- you have to settle the details of the spell before the game with me (which Gabriel's player did, and Red's player just opted for "what the DM tdecides, it's jut a plot based spell")
- the DC is 10+ (spell level x2)
- you roll for arcana/ religion/ nature (depending on the respective class) after (spell level) days (i wanted research to take time) to see if you succeeded. i'm actually thinking it should take (spell level squared) days, but there is no time for that in my campaign. if not you spend more days for it. you are allowed 3 tries. Gabriel's player failed 2 times (5 ranks only), Red rolled poorly and barely succeeded (19 total). i don't believe Gabrieal will have more time.

as i said, my machanics may leave more to be desired... perhaps i sahll use your ideas next time.


As for crafting, are you using the craft-points variant (its in the SRD)? I find its way better than the regular way.

hmmmm... i'm sort of using the pathfinder skill check system instead of XP (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/item-creation-feats) only my DC is 15+ CL. it discourages just "grabbing item creation feats to break the WBL system" but still allows an advantage, though not as great as the normal ones.

they only used the rules to scribe scrolls (mostly on the way to the Silent halls), but prefered to just buy items after that (precious time, and enough resources) there is also a "cursed item" mechanic i made, but i kind of forgotten to use it.

for "Artificing NPCs" (Such as Ellesir) i mostly assume they made the roll (artificer have enough bonuses in my campaign for that. they are nerfed in enough other areas) except for major works (such as the shard of Dur Martop) which they still have to roll for. we'll see if he makes it.


Pretty interesting setup you've been left with. What happens when the dragons get there btw? Instant WorldTPK? because even if they do fix everything, Eberron dragons are jerks most of the time.

ahhh... the dragons. there is something planned for that. you'll see. this is not the destruction of Xen'dric, at least not for the first force. suffice to say that if the PCs are able to stop Auressia's plans in time they'll have a sufficient chance to stop the unleashed wrath. if they don't succeed, well... then things get interesting but will probably mean TPK or a new campaign. current campaign ending at a fail)

on that subject, other than minor details (minor loot here or there) i've finished planning the campaign, mostly to not top myself before the campaign ends (i hope) and to be able to play without great intervals even when my schedule picks up considerably (in 2.5 weeks). i am worried about 3 encounters, one of them is the final battle that has a few stages. i am worried balancing, getting "really tough, on the brink" without it being "total TPK at the end game". hope i got it right. :smalleek:

[LansXero]

hmmmm... i'm sort of using the pathfinder skill check system instead of XP (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/item-creation-feats) only my DC is 15+ CL. it discourages just "grabbing item creation feats to break the WBL system" but still allows an advantage, though not as great as the normal ones.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/craftPoints.htm
It was made with campaigns such as yours (fast paced with very little downtime) in mind, so maybe its worth a look. Its "instantaneous" crafting with a limit, and I like it a lot.



On that subject, other than minor details (minor loot here or there) i've finished planning the campaign, mostly to not top myself before the campaign ends (i hope) and to be able to play without great intervals even when my schedule picks up considerably (in 2.5 weeks). i am worried about 3 encounters, one of them is the final battle that has a few stages. i am worried balancing, getting "really tough, on the brink" without it being "total TPK at the end game". hope i got it right. :smalleek:

Just try to not make it a glorified cinematic; I tend to do that a bit, making it so they dont actually have much of a chance to lose... so make them feel you really are willing to let it all end in death x__x. On the other hand, since its the end of everything, maybe overpower them to hell and back. Divine intervention or something, then make them face something equally terrifying. So they have a "normal" time facing it, but only because they "earned" the final boost in power, which is temporary...

[Kol Korran]

Just try to not make it a glorified cinematic; I tend to do that a bit, making it so they dont actually have much of a chance to lose... so make them feel you really are willing to let it all end in death x__x. On the other hand, since its the end of everything, maybe overpower them to hell and back. Divine intervention or something, then make them face something equally terrifying. So they have a "normal" time facing it, but only because they "earned" the final boost in power, which is temporary...

well, they still have the reincanate rings from Dur Martop, and the revivify Scroll Gabriel bought (plus her spells) and 2 "everyone can use" ressurection diamonds. i'm not holding anything in. i hope they'll have some left for the final battle, but even if not, too bad. i can't go easy on them. perhaps in the session before i'll make a "mock battle" on my own and see how it goes, though it's never the same.

i fully expect half or more of the party not to make it alive through the battle.
i just hope some will survive. we'll see.

[Kol Korran]

Small update: the Portrait idea (at least by a professional) has fallen. the party and me searched for someone who might be able to work with our meager funds, but the prices offered are just too much... which is a shame.

perhaps, as LansXero suggested on the thread i recently linked to, we might decide to do something on our own.

damn... :smallfrown: :smallfrown:

[Kol Korran]

a special encounter is tossing and turning in my head. most details are there, but one specific one isn't.

if you can help, please visit this thread- About Google's wedding present (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=12023038#post12023038) :smallwink:

it will be a bit of a spoiler, but i can use your help. thanks! :smallsmile:

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 21: October 15th, 2011- The Vault of Imasil Kumam, dungeon crawl

In game date- Dravago 11 (Late spring, month of handling)

Today's meeting revolved around continuing to dungeon crawl the vault. it was a tad grueling, but some good battles as well. not any major developments of plot.

Between meetings i made a little estimate of the wealth of PCs. by our WBL (equal to the XP) the players are a bit ahead. the began the meeting with about 53000 Xp, and each had about 62000 worth of equipment. after their victories over the Keeper and such they deserve it.

as i mentioned in the previous session log, this is a sort of experiment for me in creating a dungeon crawl (very simple one though) and also a bit of a warning that the difficulty is being upgraded. the latter part worked wonderfully, the former... well, you'll see in the description. the last encounter was just AWESOME!

the party didn't advance as far as i thought (i imagined them finishing the dungeon, perhaps getting to the interlude. But this is it.

last time the party just entered the vault, met some hge undead skeletons and a mummy, and Grum and Red nearly died. after this rough start, they healed and were ready to continue.

General layout
The dungeon's corridors are all 20 ft wide, and the rooms are 40 ft high. the dungeon is sort of build like a rectangled ring, with a central room, the references of rooms and such will be to the ring, where the entrance is from the south west.

Initial Exploration- the dragon heads
the party could go east or north, they chose north. they found doors leading to the inside of the ring, and doors in it's north west corner. they decided not to open anything. Grum who lead (Danves and Gabriel behind them, and Red and Lareth at the back) turned the corner and saw a corridor (the north corridor of the ring) stretchign east, but with great stone dragons heads on the sides.

the party suspected traps, and searched methodically. Danves found to his dismay that the search relies on perception and not thievery (we use a condensed skill system, similar to PF) win which he hasen't invested much.

still they found no traps. no one had any knowledge of Xen'dric, and thus they didn't know the importance of the dragons (though they've heard it a few times by now... the Giants befriended the dragons, and worshiped their gods. the statues were depictions of these gods). they saw 7 dragon heads. but found no trap. in the middle of the corridor there was a door to the center again, and a corridor to the north, with giant sacrophages to the sides. to the east the corridor ended in the middle of the ring.

"Riiiight. not going THAT way! we check the doors south..."

The work room, the obsidian board, and "Yum Yum!"
The room proved to be a big one, connecting to the doors in the western corridor as well, and to the south. near the doros the party noticed a huge board with... liquid Obsidian covering? other than that there was some sort of long table with tools, and what looked like a small forge and smithy. there was some writing on the board, so the party went to check it out.

as Grum approached a small trap erupted, but he withstood it. some small psychic power? the board has some sort of a secret code on it. using magic, arcana and deciphering skills they tried to understand the 4 messages, but they got only 1- something about a chamber under the vault, some sign of high magic and danger.

as they moved to the forge another trap erupted. still Grum saved, but then two strange dog like creatures with beaks and a scrawny look appeared, and tried to attack him. he felt a ping in his head as one touched him, losing 1 intelligence. he managed to kill one, but the other disappeared. soon 4 more appeared, targeting Red and Danves, devouring a bit of their mind power.

Danves recognized them- Thought Eaters (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/thoughtEater.htm), not that dangerous at their level, but the buggers go in and out of the Ether, and might be quite a pest.

the party find the forge could be activated with enough knowledge, and also some exquisitely made tools. they didn't know what to do with this though.

DM Design- the forge
the forge is exquisitely made, and might be used to help Ellesir craft faster. at this point in time it might save them a day. they need to think of this first though.

the party decided to go south, to the room in the middle south of the ring.


"Do something funny! Dance! Dance!"
the next room held a great pool of water, and was furnished as a sort of resting and refreshment room. there was also a group of mephits there. upon seeing the party they tried a few languages till Draconic caught "new guests! new guests! how much fun! what do you do/ where you from?" all with jubilant exuberance.

the party was confused, and tried to converse, but the Mephits wanted them to entertain them. Gabriel tried to haggle, but bored the creatures, while Red and Danves used their cantrips to make them laugh and cheer. Red even did a small dance (she has perform ranks) which surprised most ofthem, especially Lareth. the party tried to glean some information, but the Mephits weren't that helpful- the room had a portal to Lamania (plane of nature, air, earth and water. endless wild forests and wilderness) and the valut has many traps. when probed on the traps they refused to say, only implying they rely on one cryptically.

there was another set of doors to the easr (the south corridor) with a motif of great regal giants, and a wiritng in several languages " for the privliged only, others- beware!" most of the party thought- "ok, this is where we go" Danves was worried though...

(the room also connected to the initial room of the huge skeletons)

DM design- the Mpehit's room
it had several purposes. first a roleplay inside the dungeon, though the players didn't rise to it. it held a sort of a skill challenge to get the mephits to like them enough by entertaining them sufficiently. and then they might have shared more knowledge. (the party was1 success away) for some reason they didn't even tried dimplomacy on them, which the players often like.

the room also held a hidden danger. if the mephits were attacked (or angered) some would go into the portal, and activate the trap- shutting of all the doors, filling the room with water rapidly, and a huge elemental coming through the portal to help the Mephits. since i don't award XP for monsters beat but on accomplishments, doing the battle would have gained them nothing.

other than information, the Mephits would also offer a secure place to rest. but that didn't turn out to be a problem. i forgot a spell....

more traps, the Shard room
the party saw a corridor to the as Grum searched a head and found a concealed trapdoor pit trap. they navigated it and continued till the corridor curved north, and brought them to a big room, in it's north wall a big obsidian shard. but around it were runes.

the party suspected traps, and Danves the partial rogue disabled the runes. but they were still fearful to approach, trying to come up with different strategies, contingency plans, safety procedures and so on. i got frustrated, and blurted something like "at the church of the silver flame you faced hordes of superior opponents, and hear you can't cross disabled runes?"

Gabriel rose to the challenge (and later the player blamed me for goading him) and strode to the shard. this is when the invisible runes from above the crystal flared, and struck lightning down. Gabriel was hurt, but will survive.

and then strange mist came from hidden slits in the ceiling. everyone madetheir fort saves.

and then some psychic power was affecting them Red and Gabriel made their saves, and heard in Draconic "Quori! you think you know Nightmares?! let me show you nightmare!" but the rest- Grum, Danves and Lareht each saw Auressia's bugs coming from the walls, and taking controls of all the others!

Gabriel noticed something was off, and cast Dispel magic on the group, dispelling the effect on Danves and Grum, but not Lareth (she also brought down Red's mage armor, but not biggy). as inititaitve started, they Grum was able to shake Lareht's belief allowing him another will save, that he survived.

DM's oops!
i originally planned to have handouts to the affected players, hiding this effect from the rest, but i forgot to print it. so i had to tell everyone, which ruined the effect a bit.

And Again
grum tried to searc hthe shard for traps, while the others hid in the corridor, failing that Red came to try and study it from the arcane point of view. this gave time for the trap to reset. the lightning brought Red to -5, and she fell to the floor, Gabriel and LAreth rushing to her aid (and Gabriel launching seething glances at the elf)

the mist again failed to affect them, as does the mind effect (though Gabriel was close... very close) as they healed Red, two more Mind eaters appeared and nabbed adt Danves, they hit one but didn't kill it. Danves disabled the trigger (or so he thought) but as Red recuperated he surveyed the crystal, and found traces of illusion magic, well hid, makingthe Crystal appear to have psionic powers. they decided to leave it (they did suspect that it was a decoy, but wanted to explore.

DM design- the False shard
the idea was a nice complex trap- requiring reflex, fort (the mist) and will. i hoped people will fail more. it was also one of the main falsities about the place. andi needed there to be a decoy shard. why? will be explained later. (in the next session log)

going down. spells buffet!
another corridor went west, supposedly connecting to the rest of the north corridor, only there was a wall in the middle! the party saw 4 more dragon heads, but weren't worried. as they approached the wall though, they activated a trap- another pit trap!

Grum tried to hurl himself at the wall to grasp it, but instead going through it! (illusory wall). Red's ring of feather fall helped her, and she grabbed to the pit's wall. Gabriel who was in the middle of he pit, activated her ring of the four winds (MIC) and started to fall down slowly.

Danves and Lareth however, plumeted 100 feet, on spikes! they crashed down, Lareth skewering himself, and Danves also badly wounded. but the pit was open, to the north and south. to the north was some large room.

Suddenly Danves and Lareth felt a sort of a pool, they tried to resist it but failed, and suddenly, their highest level spell was sucked away! from the room came a slow moving oozing mass- a huge Ooze.

as Gabriel descended it took a spell form her as well. Danves and Lareth tried to get away, get some distance. Red realized there was trouble and let go of the wall, starting her descent, just as two though weaters appeared trying to nab at her. Grum realized the trouble as well, and starting climbing down, rushed.

as they grew closer, the Ooze sucked their high level spells, growing stronger and stronger. (temp hit points) Gabriel realized what's to happen and started casting her high level spells on her, turning her to a deadly fighting machine. Red tried to harm the creature, but couldn't penetrate it's spell resistance, and the spell got sucked to it. the creature was beaming with energy! she then tried a vulnerability spell on him (to reduce SR) but failed. Danves and Lareth (the last quite scared, nearly dead, and losing spells) tried to catch some distance.

as Grum was hurrying down, Gabriel try to close on the creature, which tried to slam and grab her, but failed do to her high high AC.Red the nsucceeded in her vulnerabilty but the creature allready had way too much Temp HP, and was continuing to drain them from spells. Gabriel started bludgeoning it, while Danves and Lareth shot from afar.

the Grum crashed (rolled really low) and hurt himself, though not badly. everyone down, Red cast haste on the three close ones. Gabriel was down to 2nd level spells (she started with 5th), Red lost half her thrid level (yay ultimate Magus) and LAreth was down to 1st. the ooze even startedto drai Grum!

but not being to heal more than the damage output, and Gabriel the tank blocking it's way, it was soon taken down. the party was exhausted, yet happy!

DM design
this is a sort of complicated trap, though perhaps i could have done it better. first of all there was the idea of splitting the party (a bit)- i expected some to succeed on the reflex, some to fail, and some to float. second the ooze was a resource taker, and initially nearly impossible to beat due to the high amount of temp hp it gained. i supposed it will prove a significant threat to the party, but Gabriel had a high to hit AC (even so she used 2 action points. the player feared it's slam and justly, not because of the damage, but because of the free grapple and constrict and pinning. perhaps i should have added a more combative threat, but it didn't seem to fit with the ooze.

The Ooze is a refitting of the Arcane ooze from the MM3, only affecting all spells, and a few more minor changes.

the ooze is a trap, the party could avoided it. i expected them to use fly options and get away. i forgot how much this party doesn't like to back from a fight... :smallamused:

Rest and a conversation
the party was haggared after this. thay had very very few spells left. they decided to rest, using a rope trick (the spell i forgot). in the rope trick Lareth seemed worried. Gabriel tired to ask why. "I fought battles in the war. some of the people there could be called monsters. but not this kind of monsters!" Gabriel tried to reassure "But the undead we fought, isn't that sort of Blood of Vol's... speciality?" Lareth Sighed "exactly! the mummy? that requires a powerful necromancer, one that can summon such an ooze and more. i think... i think this is out of my league. i'm no fighter like Danves or Grum, and no caster like you or Red..." the party tried (half mockingly) to reasure him and then went to sleep.

The laboratory of Mordor (Modo actually), the "Eggs".
The party remains held 2 adamantine giant sized weapons (long sword and long spear), but little else. found out that the chamber of the ooze led to 3 pit traps- the one they activated, the one they avoided before, and another one in the corridor with the sarcophagus (that led straight north from the northern corridor of the ring.

they climbed up using the troll's gut rope from the last visit to the Obsidian City, and decided to check out the north western room. opening it they saw sometables on the far end, but in the middleof the room they saw a rubbery creature, filled with red green liquid. they knew it was a golem, but which kind? the creature spoke one word- "Modo!"

the players mistook this for "Mordor" and a series of jokes began- "you do not simply walk to Mordor", "quick! look for mount doom! i have the +1 protection ring! my preeeecious!" and so on. after they calmed down however, they really didn't want to fight it so they left. it didn't follow.

then they had an idea- instead of fighting the Golem, why not sneak by it? an invisibility spell later, Grum snuck to the room and reached the tables. it seemed like some sort of laboratory/ alchemy shop. however, he didn't know exactly what to look for. lacking time, detect magic, relevant knowledge skills, and seeing in dark vision, he made his search roll. he found a few thins, minor expendable items and left.

the "Eggs"
then they decided to check out 2 doors from the central room to "center and a bit east". they found a little room, loaded with obsidian. a futher search by Grum found some strange spheres, with a sense of psionic to them. immediately the thought eaters started blinking in and out outside the room, shrieking. Grum who was tired with the things shot a few down, and they vanished. the party thought these were the creatures eggs, and decided to keep them.

Greed, making plans, and executing them
But the players felt they missed on the laboratory. there had to be more there that Grum didn't find! so they tried to devise a plan to destroy the Golem- Grum would take the flying vestment from Gabriel (from the Mockery)and would open the doors, launch an arrow at the Golem, draw it after him, beyond the illusory wall and into the pit trap! Red might cast greater Slide if that didn't work. meanwhile, the rest of the party would rush to the room, throw everything to the holding bags, and run away.

then they started arguing about the fine details of the plan, and tryingto find ways to make it better. this was frustrating. my exact thoughts in the next spoiler, not necessary for the story.

thoughts about static dungeons.
static dungeons, such as this assume basically that most monsters, and traps, just wait there... this gives a party (if not rushed for time) plenty of time to strategize, which can be painfully agonizing... it also makes many challenges obsolete, unless the conditions change dramatically. i avoided this for this exact reason till now. bow i remember why.

So the plan was set, all were in place, Grum opened the door, shot an adamantite arrow, hit it, and ran away. it followed, and closed the doors. he approached again ,and opened the doors, to be hit by a blast of Acid (Grum expected to be attacked) he ran again, but ift didn't pursue. it seems the Golem had orders.

"Wait? do we have another invisibility?" they did. so this time Danves snuck in (dancing lights above the room), and with his skills found the ret of stuff- an elixir of stealth, a potion or two, and aroma of dreams. not much, but nice. as the items were identified so were the eggs- they were flawed psionic magical items that gave out some renewing psionic power. this was the food source of the thought eaters. they wouldn't be attacked from now on.

The Crypt of Mabar, the slaves
nothing to do but to go in the corridor of sarcophagus. the party was weary of undead rising, but sometimes burial places are just that. they reached a major door, and heard the giant's voice in several languages, draconic amongst them " Quori! go back! neither you nor your legions will get the shard! it is ours!"

Eberron stuff
I think i mentioned this, but the Quori, creatures of the nightmare realm tired to attack the giants in ancient history. the entire Obsidian city is a sort of a defensive position against them.

"Riiiight. Ominous." at a bit of pressure, the door slid aside, and the party entered a room. a huge one- they couldn't see the sides of the room (except closest to them) and the walls were entirely black. there was a chill in the room, and a slight sense of evil.

but more there that- there were hundreds of slightly frozen bodies of elves in shackles in massive heaps topped on on the other at the sides of the main road, having expressions of extreme pain and suffering. those with the knowledge (especially Danves and Lareth) sensed the slight presence of Mabar, the plane of eternal night and darkness in the room. and as they entered- their lights grew dim.

"undead... lots of them..." the party didn't look happy. they advanced cautiously, trying to see but the light and even Dark vision not going far.

then they reached the middle of the room, when suddenly, a great numbers of deathly shrieks rose, and the walls sort of melted- they weren't black, they were just covered with shadows.. hundreds of shadows... coming towards them. the shadows were of shackled elves, andthey sort of ran over the bodies, not slide like regular shadows.

"Form around me!" Red shouted, and they took the 2 rounds for the Shadows to arrive to cast some preparatory spells. Gabriel cast magic circle against veil and ghost touch armor (from a scroll) which saved her life. Danves drank a potion and activated his displacement ability, Grum activated his Arrow mind (enables making attacks of opportunity and avoiding such attacksat mele rage), Red raised her defenses as well as 7 mirror images (which savedher life) and LAret cast his spells as well. this was going to be Tough!

Miniatures! lots and lots of miniatures! and a few bigger ones...
they were soon surrounded on all sides. as the door behind slid shut. "we need to fight and move ahead! must be some passage up north!" the party planned to make a fighting progress. they all coordinated their initiatives (delay). gabriel cast hide from undead. the shadows moved around them, some not seeing them, some did and attacked. most attacks were deflected however. a round or two of fighting showed little progress.

but then the party heard some strange croaking voices calling and intimidating in giant. on the verge of the light, they could see figures- giant ones, of hideous undead zombie like creatures, with long hands, and long claws (Bone claws with a few minor changes) holding dark as night whips.they whirled them about shouting at the shadows.

"slave masters- we need to take them down!" there were 5 of the beasties...
under another Haste, Grum started to unleash 4 arrows in a round. his blessed bow and hatred of undead meant large amounts of damage! but the slave masters had lots of hit points! next, Danves tried a dangerous move- he tumbled his way through ranks of shadows (few noticing him due to Gabriel's spell) and struck at the creature, channeling a chilled touch, but to no success. Red was worried "Danves, don't cut out from the team!"

Lareth raised his Symbol of the Blood of vol, and with a force of will took control over some, turning them against their masters. Red cast Life bolt on another slave master., as the Slave Masters tried to whip and claw at them (reach of 20 ft)

the shadow swarmed again taking down image after image of Red. Lareth was hit nicely, his strength fading, while Gabriel's ghost touched armor blocked most attacks, and Grum evaded the attacks on him with ease.

but not so with Danves. he was hit time after time, displacement none withstanding, and got down to Strength 3! he barely held himself. things started to look Grim


Getting worse
Red decided to get aerial and cast levitate. but one of the Slave Master noticed that, and whirled his whip around, when some of the shadows started flying towards her. Grum still hit the wounded Slave master, and a life bolt of Gabriel took it down. some shadows seemed confused. Danves cast swift invisibility, and drank a levitate potion, going up. Lareth' shadows struck two of the slave masters, damaging their strength.

but as the next shadows attacked the priest of the undead, he went down, body starting to twist into shadow. the shadows towards red reached her, and some passed the images, and hit her strength hard (she was down to 2!) Red, seeing Lareth' fate, panicked "Grum! take it down, take it down" she motioned towards the Slave master flying the shadows. she cast her empowered spell (ultimate magus) at him, and thankfuly with Grum's arrows, the Second Slave master was down. the shadows started to sink.

Gabriel was determined to take down the 3rd. she cast some NOva spell (5th level, like circle of death, only against undead). it didn't take that many shadows out, but cleared the path to the slave master. the shadows swarmed over Gabriel, who'se armor easily shook off their affects, but Grum, despite action points, got hit twice, his strength down to 8...


Taking them down, quick and fast.
Kelgor's fire bolt from Danves, empowered scorching rays from Red, and Gabriel's powerfull strikes took down the third. the shadows were more confused, more hard t ocontrol, which might have just saved Grum's life. he dodged one more blow with his last action point (the rest were using them freely by now as well). one of the remaining 2 tried to call some of the shadows to reach Red, seeing her spells as the most dangerous, while Gabriel used the confusion to close on the fifth.

again Grum's 4 blessed arrows and more spells from Red took the 4th down sending the hungry shadows down. Gabriel's angry and spells and arrows from Danves took the fifth down.

the shsdows stopped attacking. barely, just barely, the party survived the battle (Gabriel at 12 strength, Grum at 8, Danves at 3, Red at 2)

An ending of a sort
the shadows then turned to the party, and started to fade, saying soft grateful words, which they assumed meant "thank you.. thank you..." and faded. but there was another matter- the forming shadow. Gabriel without hesitation cast a dispel evil and ended it. "the least we could do".

the party first retrieved whatever spells, scrolls and potions of lesser restoration to try and get them a bit back to shape, though not by much. then came the matter of Lareth's remains, or more correctly- his equipment.

there was a lot of joking around about it- "we'll bury it, sure! in a shop!" or (by Red's player) "since i was the one who was in a relationship with him, shouldn't i get the... estate?" i didn't like it much, but i understand. just a game. they decided to take his stuff and try to get it to people of his faith (or just bury him if they can't)

DM design- Lareth
He was never supposed to be an NPC. he was just supposed to be a combatant at the battle of Flame Keep, but then the party saved him. i tried to play him, add some more flavor to the game, but i think the party saw him mostly as a butting joke.

i didn't kill him on purpose. by the dice as i say.

the only other piece of equipment worth mentioning was the whips, which seemed to be made of pure night (matter of Mabar) and some sort of an evil feel. these however (not like Lareth) they took seriously and destroyed, though Danves suggested to sell them.

did we find it?
the party was barely standing, and they knew they needed more rest. but they just wanted to see what's behind the door to the north. it opened to a fairly small room, looking majestic, radiant, and in the middle there was a shard, a nice big obsidian shard...
----------------------------------------------------------

and here we stopped. all in all, not a lot was done in this meeting, but the players had a blast in the battle with the ooze, and especially the battleof Mabar's edge.

the last battle nearly ended in a TPK though. i think i may have overstepped it a bit, with my desire to make things tough. two characters were a touch attack away from dying without chance of resurrection, and another 2 strikes (Grum). perhaps a bit too close (and i thought to upgrade it to 7 slave masters, thinking it was too easy...)

The party needs to rest, but they are worried they are burning time. they are at the middle of the 10th day. (and to remind you, at morning of the 13th day, Auressia's forces attack. not that they know)

the party is close to the end of the dungeon, but there are 2 more suprises on the way. hopefully in next meeting we'll already get to chapter 7.

thoughts? comments? ideas? questions? :smalltongue:

[Garwain]

I just read through your log, and what a delightful read! I read SCS campaign as well, and some elements made me smile, although in general there is a whole different feel to it.
I very much like the dreams and revelations you are offering, although I guess not all of them are revealed?
Anyway, I'm hooked. Keep posting.

[Kol Korran]

I just read through your log, and what a delightful read! I read SCS campaign as well, and some elements made me smile, although in general there is a whole different feel to it.
I very much like the dreams and revelations you are offering, although I guess not all of them are revealed?
Anyway, I'm hooked. Keep posting.

Glad you liked it! however, i am confused... what "dreams and revelations" are you talking about? the "DM Design- behind the scenes" sort of things? i say nearly all that's on my mind, perhaps i've missed a few things, but even fewer intentionally. when i did it was because they dealt with ideas i may yet want to use for other campaigns in the future, and i want this journal to be open to my players as well, when the time comes.

a slight warning: i suggest you sign up for this thread, since due to our frequency of playing (next time will hopefully be in 2.5 weeks :smallfrown:) my updates are far and between.

any questions or comments are welcomed. :smallsmile:

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 22: November 12th, 2011- Escaping the Vault, The Crimson ship

In game date- Dravago 11-13-...? (Late spring, month of handling)

four weeks since our last meeting. too long, too long. still- this meeting was lots of fun! action, roleplay, and a nice finish. it was a good meeting.

a few notes before we begin: i did a little Wealth check and found they were ahead of the curve in an average of 5500-7000 gp. which was good. they were surprisingly similar in terms of wealth, though optimization of said wealth is quite widely different, and the choices. (i'll discuss it if it interests anyone) this again brings me to realize how very similar each of the party members are, at least in terms of combat, though each has their strengths and downsides. This proved itself quite nicely in the meeting as well.

another thing- one of the FEW upsides of a long delay between meetings, is that you get to mull ideas in your mind (and the forums) and refine them over, and over again. this has been true to the previous ideas of the campaign, but especially to the two parts of this session, especially the second part. there iwll be special DM design spoilers for them.

one last thing- a small rule change: the only creatures immune to precision damage (mostly sneak attacks and criticals) are swarms and oozes. constructs and undead are free (this i will discuss as well if you wish). this proved important in the first part of the campaign.

last we left the party, they were after the near TPK battle with the shadows, and have just opened the door to the room where the shard they've been looking for was held.

The final challenge!
first thing first, the party used some of their resources to heal their strength (and slight hp loss) nearly to full, but enough to go on. scrolls and potions of lesser restoration were gone.

the room was only 60 ft wide (small to this dungeon's room) in it's middle a pedestle with the humming shard. on the walls there were glyphs and carvings of the giant civilizations, but at the far end... a stone chair, and on it propped a giant skeleton.

"lich!" Red said." he's not moving yet- we can prepare". the party cast some spells, while Danves searched for magic. he saw several auras from the skeleton's chair, but was weary. the party was prepped for a hard fight, when Gabriel strode closer to the lich, trying to discern it. to her- it looked like a dead skeleton.

and indeed it was... Gabriel lifted the shard, and lifted it up (it's quite big). the XP for completing this goal got the party to the next level.

Level up!
the party is level 11 now.
- Gabriel gained her 10th cleric level. more spells, but nothing new.
- Red gained another Ultimate magus level. and 2 more 4th level spells. i remember one of them is improved invisibility, not sure of the other. wiz 4/ sorc 1/ UM 6. she got plenty of spells, but her highest level of spells is 4th when she could have had 6th. she's powerful, but i worry of the last meetings.
- Grum is ranger 11, got another extra attack and improved precise shot.
- Danves got another Duskblade level, not sure of any significant changes. Rog 3/ DB 8

not THAT easy... :smallamused:
after the party finished updating their sheets, i let them know that around after Gabriel lifted the shard, the stone shaft in the skeleton's hand turned in it's socket in the floor, and suddenly the door began to close. Gabriel couldn't make it to the door, so the rest dove in. then the REAL noise began- from the dungeon beyond the sealed door.

"start counting rounds" i said, and the clock began. the party was slightly stressed, but not much. Gabriel and Grum went to the door trying to force it open, while Red and Danves thought it's the perfect time to... loot the skeleton. :smalltongue: they found a magical amulet, ring and ioun stone (+2 con)- wand of identify quickens things up nicely!

Grum's senses heard very faint stone rumblings, and saw some light coming from under the door. despite their efforts, they couldn't force the door. Gabriel used her scroll of meld into stone to slide under the door and seek the threat beyond. meanwhile Grum went to help Danves look for a an opening mechanism which turned out to be... turning the staff in it's socket again. not ingenious, but the idea was to buy time.

nevertheless, the tales of Danves "ingenious" method of lock picking were repeated through out the session. :smallwink:

about 6-7 rounds went by till the party opened the door, and now- they've throw initiative.


Light of the Sun
Gabriel in the meantime saw two glowing figures in the room where they fought the shadows- large ones. she approached them quickly (still in the floor) and noticed they were some sort of bizarre constructs, made out of.. light?

"If shadow won't defeat you defilers, than light will!" the party heard as they opened the door, the two beings moved incredibly fast towards the 3 in the room, suddenly shedding great light, but failing to blind the party. Red's fire and Grum's arrows proved useless. Danves under invisibility moved to a strategic location, and scroed a critical (see the rule change i mentioned at the start) and caused it serious damage. meanwhile Gabriel drew the other's attention, but it came only to 15 ft of her.

far enough, for their Consuming Brilliance power (a sort of 15 ft spread disintegration sphere). both Danves and Gabriel made the save, and the one on the next round (though Gabriel need an action point).

Grum in the meantime used Adamatite arrows that caused heavy damage, and with this arrows and the combined effort of the team, the creatures were destroyed.

DM Designthese were Quesars from Book of Exalted Deeds. their disintegration power might be devastating, but it's saving throw is quite low. they were supposed to be a simple "warm up the system" fight after the one month pause.

the party rushed to the doors at the far end, these two seems stuck. Grum heard some thing moving from the other side and some... slushing?

about 11 rounds have passed.

revisiting the Silent Halls?
Danves found some opening mechanism, but when the doors opened, the party was suddenly hit by gushing water, washing and dropping all but Danves, who faced the corridor of sarcophagi, 3 of which were open ,and cloud giant skeletons ready at them.

the water were about 2 feet deep now spread over the huge chamber. but the water was rising fast... "you don't scare us! it's not the first underwater dungeon we've explored!" said the players amused. the 3 giants shot or tried to hit the party, and Red was hit by an arrow, doing severe damage.

"Find the water source!" yelled Red to Danves as she got out of the water. Danves nodded and cast swift invisibility after the other, moving through the narrow gaps between the skeletons... the other 3 were left to face the skeleton giants.

dodging dragons
Danves came to the corridor of dragon heads, the ones that were dormant before, but were active now. he figured out the water portal to Lamania, where the Mephits resided must be the reason for this. he tried to go through the main room but found it block, when the dragon heads keep breathing on him random streams of cold, acid and electricity. he got hit some times, but evaded the most of it. he decided to change direction, and go the circumventing route, through the hall of the false shard and traps.

as the party battle the skeletons Danves drank an elixir of swimming which helped him a bit, but the last dragon's breath turned out to be a slow cone, affecting him. "great! just what i needed!" :smallamused:

wasn't there a trap door here?
meanwhile Gabreil tried to turn the undead, but they proved beyond her power. but enough fire power from the three brought the skellies down, though with some nice wounds to them. they remembered there was a trap door here (which lead to the spell ooze) and Gabriel tried to bash it open, with Red' searching for a trigger. Grum started making his way after Danves. it was becoming a real hassle now- 3-4 feet of water allready.

Lesson number one
Gabriel however, came right after, spread her wings and flew after them, quickly overtaking Danves, which was followed by Grum at some distance. the false shard however started emitting psionic rending power, the hit them... and a few rounds later again... and again..

aren't we forgetting something? yep.. Red was left behind. she tried trailing after the party but the breathing heads wounded her deeply, and sh drank most of her healing potions, and was still between dragons, and before the long corridor of mind blast. water was allready 5-6 feet, they were swimming, except to Gabriel how was still flying, and just reached the water portal's room.

DON"T SPLIT THE PARTY!

Happy fun time!
the Mephits were ecstatic! so much excitement! Gabriel tried to talk to them, persuade them to help, but as with Soom... this isn't exactly her strong side. the Mephits were unimpressed. as Danves came (swimming panicky with not a lot of HP to spare, he tried to persudae better, even trying to goad them to an acid throwing match at the blocked door to the vault's exit. but he too failed, but learned that they might be more interestedin the "big one- maybe it can help". Grum arrived a bit later, suffering another mind blast...

and Red?

thank the Sovereign for little potions
Red remembered she has a potion of meld into stone for emergencies. "i think this constitutes an emergency, don't you think?" she moved in the stone under the blocked door Danves couldn't open to the main room, and saw it flooded, and the Obisidan board shifitng, like some portal, but she saw a figure beyond a big one, getting into the water portal room

"An oceanic Dragon? in Africa?"
the figure was an eel like dragon from Lamania (Draconmicon) named Wijasi. it came through the water portal, and tried to inquire where he was, and who were these strange creatures. Danves managed to ensure some trade with it, and the party tried to barter and even bluff (which nearly started a battle if Danves hadn't bluffed better to cover it up!) but in the end the battle was avoided, and the dragon took some of their treasure (mainly adamantite giant sized weapons they found at the ooze and some trinkets from the Golem's room) the party were LOATHE to give these up, but they were in no good shape.

the dragon stashed the treasure, and then told them he think the obsidian board Red saw is a portal to "somewhere else on this plane" ... "wait! be we already knew that!" said Gabriel's player, but Wijasi took back to Lamania.

water at about 7-8 feet, with Red back, the party went through the portal to the outside of the Vault, which was now blocked entirely.

DM design- the dungeon trap (not related to the story)
in the last session before it ended i made the mistake of saying i think we'll need 1.5-2 hours for what is left of the vault. that was for my previous idea (i'll explain soon) but my previous idea relied on the fact that the party expects to find the shard and waltz out. since that was blown, i needed an idea of "not waltzing out", but that can still be fun and challenging.

i'm sure something similar has been done before. i rarely get really original ideas. i take existing ones and reskin them. i initially put all kind of features in the dungeon that were supposed to LOOK like traps, without being one (the portal room, the dragon heads, the sarcophagi) and so on. with the traps unexpected.

this last piece was a sort of culmination of that- the last room in itself is not a trap, and completley safe (despite the "lich") but the rest of the dungeon becomes one big long trap, with time of the essence.

not sure Wijasi the Oceanic dragon was interesting though. it felt like a bump.

the original idea? the idea was that the shard was ANOTHER false shard, shattering and unleashing a living psionic power of 7th level. it was supposed to look that the party triggered a trap/ wasn't fast enough and caused this, perhaps leading them to fill they have failed. but there were clues to the real shard, behind a secret door near the beginning, with a... special guard which i may want to keep for the future, so i'm not telling. :smalltongue:

i think this came out better! do you?

Prophecies and wedding plans(Day 11)
as the party got back quite exhausted (and wet) they saw excitement in the tribe, after some inquiery they were directed to Google, who told them that Deest and him decided to form a Union tonight! "dark times are coming, there may be no other opportunity" the party was called as guests of honor.

the party went to Auxallia, who welcomed their return, and healed them as best she could. she told them Elessir will finish his work tomorrow. however, she had been studying the pieces of the Prophecy Google brought from Obraskyr's friend, and would like them to see.

at this point i presented the party a sort of drawing of circles representing symbols and sign and their supposed interpretation. i made the mistake of making only one copy though, so it made it hard to all to view it at once. important lesson.

Danves and Grum' players checked it first, but made little headway. Red' player was a bit too tired, and Gabriel's player took it afterwards. it was passed around as we played. the party mostly was concerned with the allocation of the treasures from the last room.

weird treasure distribution (not really related to the story)
there were 3 main treasures from the last room (more in other places of the dungeon, but some were traded away with Wijasi). these included an amulet that enables a reroll of a save, a minor ring of spell storing (3 spell levels) and an ioun stone granting +2 con. they discussed things but somehow... gave it all to Danves.

the player wasn't greedy, or tried out of his way to persuade them. they just thought he should have them... odd. maybe because he is usually their wild card? i don't know. the player spent quite a bloody freaking time trying to figure out what spells to put in the ring. Jeesh!

The Prophecy
This is a bit of a puzzle, but not one essential to completing the campaign, but it can help. i've sent a literal description in an email to the party, so that they might try and figure it out. i put it hear as well (though it's more difficult to decipher this way.

the party hasn't made a lot of progress, i'll put their guesses in spoilers, so you could have a go at it if you wish):

TOP PART:
- chaos, blending hands, Khorvaire (the continent)

- three signs intertwined: The Keeper (god of undeath and stolen souls), Kol Korran (god of trade, merchants, buying and selling) and voyage/ travel

LEFT PART
- a sign Danves interpreted as a dragon claw.

- beneath it two signs of earth?/ land? joined with broken magic. that is surrounded by many signs of souls, and... giving something? making something? that is surrounded by a thin circle of water signs mixed with air.
(Red thinks the first part is the Mournland)

- beneath and to the left there are three intertwined signs: mind, arcane and... close? open? end?

- beneath that there are three "slashed/ torn/ broken intertwined signs: bug, fiend and net.

- beneath the big sign (the second) and to the right there is a complex series of signs: in the middle there is a greet fiend. from it three lines of adversity/ opposition: one leading to a Couatl. one to earth and one very unclear one to... belief? greatness? it's unclear. these last two signs (the earth and the unclear one) are also linked to each other, with choice?/ crossroad? in the middle.

- beneath the complex series of signs there is a sign of possibility/ uncertainty.

- beneath that a sign of anchor/ weaving/ threading rope. this sign is intertwined with a sign of earth and heaviness.

RIGHT PART
- again the dragon claw sign.

- beneath it a complex sign: a sign of a pit/ a hole/ depth, surrounded by a sign of grasping claws, surrounded by a sign of rulership/ command/ influence from this signs four line signs emerge: to the left- chain and air, to the left and bottom- chain and life, to the right and bottom- chain and earth, to the right- chain and death.
(Gabriel thinks this is Throne hold- the ancient seat of power for the empire. the chains are believed to be the seals- Arcanix, Flamekeep, Eston and Atur)

- beneath that there are strange obscure signs: web? net? linked chain? for some reason the mark of Deneith appears (Deneith is the dragon marked house of protection, law enforcers and body guards, known for their elite troops)

- beneath that two intertwined signs: one of 3 friends/ enemies (the sign means both, not one or the other) and... different paths?

- beneath that another confused sign: self? enemy? many? one? two hands blending.

- beneath that a sign of Crown, power, rulership, command, influence, Obedience.

BOTTOM PART
- another dragon claw mark.

- a very short sign, seem almost as if unfinished- fate? future? uncertainty?

The party was edging to move on at this point, and a bit tired (real life yay!). Google wed Deest, underSoom's and NAu's ceremony, and made a small speech, mostly emphasizing how he'll stay with Deest and the tribe now- that they were his duty. Danves told stories and reanacted googl'es bravery (the term "and Google killed" came back often) Red did one of her Dances, Gabriel tried to reconcicle her discord with Soom, and Danves even started trying to woe Red? and Red responded with "as long as you understand- it's just a fling!", "hey, fine by me!"at the end all retired to sleep...

day 12- shard of Dur Martop and decisions
not much happened- Red wrote spells in her book (she finally finished writing all the scrolls she bought for 3rd and 2nd level. i don't think she will finish till the end of the campaign). Gabriel prayed with Jaela and researched her spell, Grum and Danves sort of... hanged about.

at the evening Elessir finally came with the shard he worked on- 80 ft radius, for one hour, twice per day, no psionics inside. they wished him to help charage their dispel magic wand next. Daku procured a few minor healing potions, which the party dearly needed.

now that most resources were gathered- what next? the obvious plan was to get to Eston, through the pool of blood, and do the ritual there. "who will come?" asked Auxallia. the party were contradicted about this- they wanted Auxallia (since "Couatl" appeared in the prophecy, and Gabriel thought she may be needed to close the seal), but she was linked to Jaela, and after the experience with Lareth, they didn't want to bring her along.

Auxallia said she could take Jaela to another plane through Plane Shift, and keep her there, but then she will most likely won't be able to help further. or leaving her with the tribe seemed like a bad idea since Auressia sensed where she is. the party chose to have Jaela and Auxallia take this route. the party alone will go to Eston.

DM Design
again- choices and consequences- this helps the party in some ways, but limits their possibilities in others)



day 13-
7 more days till the disaster the dragons will bring (that Jaela perdicted). early morning, scouts sent a message: flying ship! many of them! soon to arrive! Nau and Google mobilized the tribe, bid farewell to the party, and went to the jungles. Auxallia came with the party to the Pool of blood, to help the party open the portal before leaving.

End of Chapter 6! on to the interlude

The Crimson Ship
they stood at the brim of the pool. Gabriel bled herself, as Auxallia whispered words in an ancient tongue. mist rose from the pool, nearly blinding, and the party could taste Gabriel's blood in the mist. suddenly- an Eerie sound was heard (http://www.youtube.com/user/kolkorran#grid/user/EA2C3523A8823DA1) (this did not have the effect i was hoping for...) and a ship with sails out of crusted blood, ancient and creaking rolled from the mist. a gangplank was lowered, and at it's top stood a humanoid shape, skin between brown and black, glaring yellow eyes, and no mouth.

they could hear it in their minds: "The Blood was spilled, the need was Met, The Crimson Ship heeds the call, as it had, as it will, as it does. who Seeks to pay a price?"

the party didn't like it. first Gabriel offered herself, but the Captain (as it presented itself) said that one price for all who travel. the party bid farewell to Jaela and Auxallia and boarded the ship.

it was big, quite big. the captain moved them towards the helm, as it continued to speak to their minds. "one voyage, anywhere where liquid touches. fast and sure. i am the captain of the crimson ship. in the middle of the boyage the fates will demand a price. the price you must pay. then i deliver you to your destination."

"what is the price?", "the price is of souls. you face an opponent, one specifically difficult for you. either it dies and soul forfeit, or yours. this is the price of the Crimson ship"

so... a tough fight, this they could handle. they were told that once they know of their opponent, they can rest and prepare. the ship also held a conqueror boar (similar to chess) only all the pieces were pions, and made of crusted blood. were there even sides? there were 4 other boards beside it. also, there was some sort of a divining pool with black liquid in it "to be used by the fates". the party were led to their rooms, where they settled a bit, as the ship started to glide. soon everything around it turned into mists. Danves guessed they were in the Astral now...

The Price
the party was ready to see what foe they are to face, the captain took them to the divining pool and spoke to their minds "the fates chooses your opponent, one difficult for you, but which must be paid. when you are ready to face it, i shall take you to it."

"at times the fates gives clues, signs as to what may come." with that he strode to the helm. looking to the pool the party saw 3 visions:
- a large coal some fire in heat, a bit glowing, a bit dimming. there are whispers in the background, inaudible and senseless.

- A high quality mirror with various carvings of platinum and silver. a face appears in it, that of a slightly ugly maid. she looks disapprovingly, with some agitation.

- a tasteful amulet of silver and some gems, there is an Amethyst in the center with a careful craving (into the gem?!?) saying "Here i remain. now and forever."

now this brought a lively debate between the party members. at the end they came to think that the ember is some creature of fire(and since the party partly relied on fire, they disliked this option). the mirror probably some creature using a gaze attack, and the last some sort of either construct or undead. so they chose it.

the image became more real growing and surrounding a neck (living one), under a leather armor, and belonging to... Deest- Google's wife.

DM design
i asked for help for the wedding gift for Deest. it's detailed in this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218719&highlight=tomer)

debate
the party did NOT like this. "we can't do this" said Red, with Grum's player conceding. they learned they might change a price at a "personal cost" (6 action points total) but they were still unsure. they decided to do some recon first.

they decided to sleep, with Gabriel memorizing Divination spells. they suspected that the other choices were of a similar nature and thought that the Ember might be Jaela, and the main in the posh mirror is Porcia. and the divination proved them right.

this brought another idea- why not try and take over the ship? but Danves identified the captain as a Yugoloth Ultraloth, (MM3) a powerful fiend general, and besides- suppose they do kill him... how do they navigate the ship through the astral? they used a divination to ask it it's even possible- it was possible, but hard, and entails a "heavy personal price".

Danves thought of another plan- they could trick the Captain, have them take them to one of their "foes" locations, and use the teleport stone to get to the Mournland. only Porcia was close enough, but the stone won't get them into the Mournland, and it will take them precious time. time they didn't have to get there on foot or boat. not to mention that Auressia's forces might still be on the loose.

this was a lively debate, and i can't remember all of it, but amongst things:
- Gabriel saying that this must be done. that it's "for the greater good", and that "we are crucial to the world, they are not" (though this was said by the player, not character)
- Red: "the end does not justify the cause" and "the road to the destination is as important as the destination itself" sort of lines of thoughts.
- Red was opposed to killing anyone, while Danves' player was mostly opposed to Porcia, Gabriel to Jaela, and Grum to Deest and Jaela.

in the end though a consensus was a greed upon- they are going to try and take over the ship! luckily for me, i prepared for such an option...

Sails of blood!
the party were in their rooms, and cast spells/ drank potions to prepare- they knew it will be a tough one! Gabriel was without her 4th level spells (all used on divination, one failed) but she still had a few buffs.

the element of surprise however, was of the captain. this was his ship, and he could see into minds. also- the sails had another surprise- Crimson death mists (MM2) came descending from the sails.

Red invisibility didn't help- the captain could see the invisible, and targeted Red with a quickened scorching ray (SLA). thanks to her ring of minor fire resistance, she wasn't burned) an enervation ray struck Gabriel, but didn't penetrate her spell resistance. the 2 Crimson deaths attacked Gabriel and Grum, one draining much blood of the ranger.

grum got away though, and started to pepper the captain with many arrows.they were surprised to find it wasn't even ("wait, isn't he a yoguloth?") but he had a high DR/ chaotic. thankfully to the party, Grum's intelligent bow was chaotic.

Red and Danves got to the deck, and both got mirror images on themselves (danves from the ring of spell storing) which helped keep them safe (along with Danves displacement) as the Captain continued firing rays and more at them. some hit, and as they bled, the captain healed a bit. they were hitting him, but not enough. Gabriel was busy with the Crimson Deaths while Danves and Grum flanked (thanks to an arrow mind spell)Red was hit with enervation and lost a few levels.

things were not looking well...

Many, many, many jaws.
As Red was hit badly, Gabriel finally rose on the deck, and tried to heal and protect her. Red decided to move on the offensive. vulnerability and assay resistance allowed her to pass the captain's spell resistance. this is when she tried a new spell- Many Jaws. empowered. followed by many Jaws. empowered. and together with the rest of the group' damage (though it paled in comparison), this was sufficient to bring the captain down.

now what?
the ship shook violently as the captain died, but then grew still, floating in the Astral. the party rejoiced in the Captain magic items (few but powerful), but... what now?

DM desing- the Crimson ship (not related to the story)
the idea of the crimson ship began way back in chapter 3, when the party first visited the Obsidian City. basically- it's a complete steal out of Eberron's Explorer's guidbook. only there, the price IS a battle, and this is where i started.

first i wanted to do a tough memorable battle, and started with the idea of a Kraken... then two Krakens. then a Kraken and some sea trolls.

then came the idea of perhaps doing something the party would be against- killing celestial or good outsiders. i couldn't decide on which, so i thought to have a choice...

but it still felt lacking- players won't really feel much against killing some "creature". but what if it's someone they knew? had a connection with? now this.. had a feeling of a price. (DoctorGlock if you're reading this i think it was inspired by one of your comments.)

but then came the question- what if the players don't agree? what if they fight back? well, i needed to make a fight. i took the basic monster, and prepared some changes to make it more of a challenge, but Red's player keep surprising me with more and more spells, albeit simple ones. he keeps changing tactics, which is good.

but that... is just a part of it. what it next? in the next session.

if you're interested, this contains much of the thought process (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217171&highlight=tomer) (minus the final idea though)
-----------------------------------------------------
so this is where we ended the session. next one- the Mournland (if they get there). i am still surprised to see how well they sometime work together (like the battle with the captain) and how disorganized they can be at other times (the escape from the vault)

i drove two of the players on the way back, and was quite delighted to hear them partially continuing the debate, though more jokingly ("we should have killed not only Deest, but Olam, Daku, NAu and Soom! then Google would have nothing more to lose, become a more terrifying warrior, stop pissing about and come fight already!" or "look, Porcia.. maybe. Deest.. maybe. but not a 12 year old girl who's whole world have fallen upon her" (or were these Red's player words?)

all in all i think it there is a chance (hoping not to jinx it) we might even play next week! if not, it may take some time.

ok, i'm tired. time to finish. as always- any questions, remarks or comments are welcomed! :smallamused:

[Kol Korran]

the players are trying to figure out how to get out of the astral. they think of trying to Call some creature (lesser planar ally) for help

a side note: upon questioning on the prophecy, Danves' player told me my prophecies are too complicated so far. the party seemed to give up on them. :smalleek::smallfrown:

damn, :smallannoyed:

we're playing tomorrow, i'm worried about the end encounter for the Mournland. an entirely custom one, but a tough one indeed.

oh well, we'll see tomorrow. :smallwink:

[LansXero]

Well, that does tend to happen a lot. Its not only that they cant think as you do and so have a hard time figuring out what it may be, but that also their idea of what it might mean has to fit with the rest of the party and all have to come to agree with it. Riddles, puzzles and the like are better on the easy side of things.

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 23: November 26th, 2011- the new Captain/s, Mines of Eston (again)

In game date- Dravago 14- 16 (Late spring, month of handling)

now this was a fun meeting! plenty of laughs, some shenanigens and some very close calls! we've gotten through quite a bit through this meeting, which is good, to save time for the next meeting- the last one... :smallamused:

a few things before delving in: first- the prophecy. the players either gave up or just plainly didn't have the time for it. so no attempt at solving it out of game was made. (see the previous two posts if you're interested)

second- Red's player requested a rebuild. Red hasn't used or played out her familiar- Tuulikki nearly at all since she got it (way back in the Darguun slavery chapter). so Tuulikki left Red back with the half giants, and i let Red rebuild her improved familiar feat according to our house rules. she chose to add the Widen Spell metamagic feat (which thanks to her UM levels, she'll be able to cast sort of spontaneously...) i think she chose it preparing to face many swarms... not sure.

one last thing- i think i made some bad DMing at the first part of this session (the Crimson ship part). i'll get to that and explain once it is done.

somewhere in the astral...

Captain?
the party was "lost at sea". they knew that getting out of this will be tricky, and so they were wary. searching it seemed that the source of the navigation was the ancient helm, but as Red touched it she felt an ancient presence in her mind... "Captain?" it seemed to ask, and Red withdrew her hand. Gabriel realized this must be the ship, and wanted to converse with it, offer a deal, but the ship seemed intent on it's captain, and would converse in very crude images. she withdrew her hand as well.

they wanted information, but Gabriel was out of divination spells. so they slept in a rope trick (the ship wouldn't let them sleep) and then Gabriel began. first of all she cast "speak with dead" with the captain. they learned that he wasn't always so, but he didn't remember what came before. Gabriel tried to bargain with him (i'll get to that after the ship part is done) but he said that the price is left to the fates, not to him or the ship. and they couldn't find a way to deal with the fates. they also learned that the captain can only be "dismissed" by dying.

lovely. :smallwink:

next came the divination spells. Gabriel's luck botched some of them but they learned that the ship will try and make a new captain, but the process is slow, but grows faster. the party interpreted this as having to disengage from "captainship" before it's too late...

but what if one will become captain? they feared to leave anyone here, and hoped they could kill the new captain, and then cast revivify on them. but a botched divination didn't allow finding this out.

all eyes turned to the helm. who will take the helm first?

quick rotations
they figured this must involve some test of will, and so Red stepped up(buffed with magical items). "Captain?" the ship asked. Red gritted her teeth. "yes, i'll be the captain".

suddenly the wood launched into Red's arm, to her meat, to her blood, fusing with it. and she could see through the mist to all kinds of points of light and images in the distance. this wasn't the astral, but a sort of place... between places... Red saw runes light up on the helm, and felt it try to resist. some of the runes glowed more strongly, and she figured these must be way point on the journey.

what followed was a sort of skill challenge to navigate the ship to it's destination, with the party alternating at roles.

the ship sailed on, and finally reached what looked like the shadow marches, with Dolaguants and Dolgrims in the shadows of trees. the party were confused- did they succeed or fail. Danves wanted to get out, but they realized that they won't have enough time, teleportation stone or not.

the ship tried to make herself a new captain. the first trial was one of body (a sort of fort save or gradual transformation). Red withstood this due to an action point, but wished to change- fort saves weren't her strong suit.

so she disengaged, and suffered massive damage, withstood her subsequent fort save as the ship ground to a still. Gabriel heelaed Red, as Grum have taken the helm (strong fort save)

again the ship sailed, but Grum lost concentration and they reached a big cave with various ant like creatures in burrows in it's walls- fomorians. "Daanvi?" said Danves "we're waaay off track. Grum withstood the bodily transformation attempt, but he too decided to give way to another captain, this time Danves, who has better concentration (the party decided not to use Gabriel, so she could heal and revivify if need to). Grum withstood the massive damage, and was healed by Gabriel.

Danves took the helm and started to navigate, Grum with his keen sight looking and identifying locations Red (who studied the runes on the helm) eluded to). with their help, Danves brought them to the mighty shores near Argonessen. Danves too withstood the save (they were throwing action points like no tomorrow).

Danves' new vocation
Danves stayed at them helm, but the next saving throw was a will save- struggle over his mind. i was slipping the captain notes of the ship conversing with them, mostly saying things like that they were weak, unworthy, unfocused and how she will make them better. Danves' player took to it and responded in his own, bantering with the ship!

battle of will was followed by battle of soul (will but with cha), and Gabriel lamented on how she was perfect for these trials, but Danves wouldn't let go of the helm! test after test, action point after action point he navigated the ship to the shore near Arcanix, seeing some of her fallen towers and the open seal in the sky, the magma rivers of Khyber, the shadow plane and more, with Red as his runes reader, Grum as his lookout, and Gabriel healing him.

finally though, the last rune was reached, and the ship sailed into the shallow gulf near the mines of Eston, in it's waters the party hid last time. as it neared one of the old forges, Danves could suddenly feel the ship confused- "captain? passanger?" and it's hold receding partially from his hand. "Passanger!" he thought quickly, and in the moment of confusion withdrew from the helm.

the party quickly lowered the gangplank, and descended ashore. Danves however, took the Captian's hat! :smallwink:

Bad DMing? (not related directly to the story)
before the meeting Gabriel's player came to me with an idea- what if Gabriel bargained with the ship/ captain so that they will drive them to their destination, and after this quest (defeating Auressia) is done, Gabriel will come back and willingly become the Captain of the ship.

the player has a dramatic and somewhat self sacrifice tendency (not for the sacrifice, but for the dramatic effect). and to tell the truth- it sounded quite cool. but for some reason i didn't allow it to happen. partially this is due to how i envisioned the rules of the Crimson ship, but that is a lame reason- those could be changed for the benefit of cool.

no, i think i may have been a bit too stuck upon my idea of "ship trying to transform a character into the captain" idea (which turned into no effect at all). that is not good DMing. i think that Gabriel's player's idea would have been more fun for him, and for the group, and would have given the story more a feel of a "price".

so i'm not proud of this, but this was some bad DMing/

earth worm
some atmospheric music i used (http://www.youtube.com/user/kolkorran#grid/user/7ECD8A2BB943B6B2)
the party were ashore, and they could see bugs all around, but no troops... the bugs weren't that interested in them, though some looked at them (the party didn't know this, but the magic of the Mournland meant that Auressia couldn't control the swarms here. but they were still intelligent and in masses). the fort (which held the main Karrnathi force before) seemed to be covered with... ice?

but first things first- Gabriel was nearly out of spells, so the party rope tricked again and rested. they were worried, as time was not on their side- the draconic invasion?

before exiting the rope trick Red cast 4 invisibility, and the party tried to make it's way between the earth bound swarms towards the hole entrance near the broken forge (the exact same approach as they did last time, where the Behir raked Google).

But Red stepped on some bugs, and Gabriel's armor made noise ("women" said Danves) and the bugs started getting excited. Danves decided to hurry it up and entered the court of the forge, to find the hole now had a sort of earth cone around it, but perhaps open on top? so he came to climb it when the cone stretched out to...

An earth elemental shaped like a purple worm! the battle music (http://www.youtube.com/user/kolkorran?feature=mhee#p/f/8/vSlNHi6wgQQ) the beastie picked up Danves ("wiat, don't i get a grapple bonus from being the captain?") in it's jaws, as the party started to try and blast it away, but not before it swallowed the half elf, starting to churn it.

as the party tried to fight the earth worm the swarms came from behind. the party thought to use the shard of Dur Martop, but for some reason they didn't. Danves in the mean time was churned badly, and readied a potion of gaseous form to escape, but the earth worm was killed before that and... petrified. Danves started to climb up, and the party towards it's maw to look for Danves.

somehow the party guessed that going into the worm is the way to go, and so climbed down the worm (with Gabriel bringing up the rear suffering heavy damage) till the party found out they were coming out of... another purple wom's mouth (??) into the mines. Gabriel used a scroll of shatter and closed the entrance behind them, as the party flopped into the mine.

one rope trick (to avoid the effects of the Mournland) and healing later, and even Danves who almost died were ready to go.

The Eston mines, revisited...
As before, the walls of the mines were made of stone, adamantite and flesh (discouraging Meld into Stone) but... there was something weird here- there were partly ghostly, partly flesh, partly stone hands and faces coming out of the walls. they were moaning, some were singing...
music for the mines (http://www.youtube.com/user/kolkorran#grid/user/A541805311B05F75)

the party thought that since the swarms saw them, this means Auressia knows they are here, so they must hurry. the walls tried to grab them, so they stayed away from them. something in them seemed familiar, but they couldn't remember.

most of the mines were sort of deserted- no bugs, no empty minded warforged, no tools or noises of working, no demon keepers... they met some strange earth mound who seemed like... elemental cattle? at one point Red remembered the faces- some were in the strange memories maze of the traveler- these were part of her lost personalities.

"so the traveler is in the middle of this..." but first the party had to deal with the middle of the dungeon.

earth and air
last time the party were in this huge room it was filled with warforged from side to side, and the party battled their first Mezzoloth and Arrow demons. this time however, they could barely see 15 feet to the room- there was mist all around. but they did see the walkways- towards the center and to the far end (their destination) or the circumference of the room. to the sides of the walkways was liquid earth (not magma! no fire). just pouring down to somewhere... beneath the walkways. Grum's eyes detected some motion high in the mist. unfortunately, the party forgot it as soon as it was said.

Grum took point and tried the circumference but soon met a huge earth elemental, that with one might blow have thrown him into the liquid earth. from his... "new vantage point" Grum could see to where it led- towards the center, to a grinding churning vortex. Danves came and tried to spar with the lemental, while Red took to the air and... was attacked by a lurking air alemental. Gabriel arrived and battled the elemental with Danves, but he was hit, and Red descended while Grum swam back up, the elemntal threw Danves as well, ("don't i get a swim bonus for being the captain?") but with spell and more the earth elemental was taken down. the air elemental did not pursue, staying in the mist.

the party was wounded, but decided to get to the other side before healing. this time it was Danves who was surprised by a larger earth elemental in the middle, who nearly killed him! this one was much tougher to take down, but Red's psells along with Gabriel's massive damage dealing broke it up (and the air elelmental that attacked Gabriel when she decided to fly.

3/4 of the party were down to singel digit hp at the end of the battle. another well needed rope trick, healing, and ready to continue. this was a CLOSE ONE.

DM design
i had no idea this battle would be so deadly. surprisingly what made it so deadly was the limited vision, which forced the party to get into the elementals' reach. also, the party was "supposed" (beware of supposition) to either go through the middle, or the sides, thus meeting just one earth elemental. but the party chose to meet them both... :smalltongue:


a matter of will
as the party reached another hall, they saw hands grasping from all sides. Gabriel wanted to try and turn them. THIS time i did allow this a bit more creative idea, and she was indeed able to turn/exorcise the apparitions to the walls.

half way through the corridor however, they heard a sort of tortured moan: "the place is mad, crumbling on itself, it will soon fall, you need not worry. soon all will be well, leave this place, never return, go back to normality, forget madness, forget ME." all but Grum recognized this was the Traveler's voice, and withstood her mass suggestion, but Grum thought she had a point, and turned to leave.

Red used her Tongue and woven her own suggestion on him, which he again found reasonable. Gabriel's player laughed- "just goes to show what sort of spine you have Grum!"

The jail, and some fun
the party reached the area of the Jail, where they released Obraskyr and Olam last time. this time, as guards/ jailors, were left two Rakshasa, who were half mad fro staying here so long. one was a caster and one a Zakya fighter. the caster was killed in one round by Grum, and the other soon followed. this battle was a breeze and the party seem to enjoy a bit of a relaxer after all the tough stuff.

before it died, the party recognized the caster rakshasa as the one from the lightning rail ambush! well avenged.

DM design
the first reason for the fight was indeed to give a fun "crush them!" fight. the second reason was sort of to give a perspective- the last time they ran with this Rakshasa they were nearly killed. this time however they creamed the cat fiends.

in one of the jail cells was the Architect! (the warforged leader of the godforged community that helped the party). they tried conversing with him, but he was clearly all mad. "they all went inside, we didn't meant for this to be! not like this! not out intent!" and "all cords! arcana, making and stone! all cords!" were the main pieces of info they were getting.

they were coming close, but first there was another obstacle.

The door
the corridor to the room with the seal and their objective was filled with cords of flesh and stone. there was a podium in front of it. as they got close an image of Auressia appeared "you come to the forbidden door, which was not to open. either you're an enemy, or something happened. if you are from mine, than place the gems to answer my riddle: "what is the correct order of ascention of the Dark Six? then place your hand in the glow."

oddly enough, the party then decided that THIS is what the prophecy was about. i was dumbfounded as they pulled out the Prophecy piece and tried to figure this out. this took some time, when Gabriel had surprisingly came to the (right) conclusion that this riddle is trying to mess them up, and that there is probably no right answer (which was almost correct. this was after Grum checked the podium and found 4 complex magical traps tied to it)

the party searched around and found 5 more lines on the floor between the podium and the corridor (thank Grum for his high high perception modifier). and Danves went to disable it, and with a bit of luck, opened the corridor up

DM design and execution
the correct answer was only "Auressia". but this was very difficult to find out. i did design a few more ways to beat this thing, but they too had their complications. the door was supposed to be another kind of test vs. Auressia and her wiles, but in game it seemed like it was complicating things, taking a lot of time and adding no fun... so i... um... simplified the opening of the door.

Last Battle of Eston
the party were nervous, and cast various spells of protection and more. the corridors to the left and right were gone, only the entrance to the main room. it too was filled with mist, except for the eerie glow of the opened seal. Grum heard some sort of warforged, or many warforged up front.

and then it came, from the mist- a collosal gigantic warforged made out of many others, with 8 legs, 4 huge arms, and two hulking heads! (i got a sor of a robot gorilla autobot from a friend of mine to represent it) from it towards the walls were stretched an astounding number of cords of power, adamtantite and stone, seeming alive or animated, moving of their own accord like a mass of snakes!

Final battle's music! (http://www.youtube.com/user/kolkorran#grid/user/490CCD518A27EB40)Danves managed to dodge him, and made way to the cords, Grum Dodged too And started pelting the collosus with his few remaining adamantine arrow. Gabriel swung fre, and cast Recitation. But Red was trampled down...

however, the creature's head swivled and shouted at Danves who barely made it not to start turning to stone (petrify under my rules cause dex damage, it's not instantaneous).

the party hit the creature with spell and arrow, when shtye suddenly heard a scream from within. "The Traveler" Red yelled "she's somehow inside!". Grum and Gabriel who came closer saw her from, nearly naked and bleeeding trapped within the machinery. is she activating it? is this a ruse? is she a victim? the party didn't quite know what to think...

and it was slowly repairing.

and the Traveler's madness followed suit. all who grew close had to save or become confused (though i forgot this once or twice. it was a complex battle) As Danves cut cords one at a time, Red called for Holy fire (thanks to the robes she got at Flamekkeep) and burnt some of the creatures cords, while Gabriel cast smite evil on others. together, the creature was staggered a bit, losing strength.

but just a bit. one of his heads turned to Red, and made the earth under her liquid flesh, as she was trapped in it, it closed on her and pummled her with all four hands.

they all made it through her defenses, including the mirror images.

it was too much, Red died... :smallfrown::smalleek:

To the Rescue?
this was bad, but the party reacted incredibly fast. Danves jumped to Gabriel and cast swift invisibility, and Grum cast swift haste. with that Gabriel flew under the creature's gaze towards Red. but the creature could see invisiblity and AoO the cleric, but not enough to down her. quickly enough a revivify spell was cast, and Red returned to life (without losing a level) but still unconcious. the creatures pummeling was then focused on Gabriel who withstood most of it to the surprise of the party, and me ("how much AC?") and the creature was still slowly repairing

but to heal her back to health, Gabriel couldn't risk another AoO (and under our rules casting defensively takes into account the opponent's BAB, which the party didn't want to risk. "get it's attention!" yelled Gabriel, and Danves went to do just that- he rushed towards him, and used a channeld combust spell, when they learned of another defense of the creature- it had spell turning!" Danves was burned by his own spell and pummeled by the creature's AoO. he was not in a good state. ("didn't my captain senses warn me about this? this is mutiny!")

but this was enough for Gabriel. knowing that healing in the Mournland is chancy, she nevertheless maximized her healing on Red. and thanks to lucky rolls, and a well placed action point, the spell was spread around, healing her as well! but also, partly, the construct.


more trouble
then the creature roared, and from it detached 6 adamantine warforged! the party groaned miserably. Red used this to get a lot of distance from the construct, and then holy burned more of it's cords, but to no effect, (they had evasion and could move on the walls) but he hurt the creature as well, and the screaming traveler within. Grum shot his last adamantine arrows and turned his attention on the smaller forged. Danves activated his displacer skin and flanked with Gabriel (under our rules you can SA and crit constructs) and his sword- Sure Thing enabled him to by pass the damage reduction, twice...

the battle was not going that well- the creature was wounded, but repairing, each of his blows hit (well, except maybe Gabriel who blocked some), his spell returning was giving trouble (Red have mistakingly cast force jaws on him) and all perhaps Gabriel had no more action points, and even she didn't have a lot.


on your knees
Gbriel then tried to get under the creature, towards the traveler and bash her out cold. the construct in return tried to cruch her, but she was able to get out just in time, she and Danves then got on the creature's back (by flying and climbing and tumbling) and started to thrash it (with SA damage for Danves since it was momenterily flat footed) as Red launched area spells from afar.

this party doesn't back down. ever. even when close to a TPK, and through consecrated effort they dealt it just enough damage, to make it fall down and crumble into disabled individual warforged, and the traveler within.

victory, just barely! :smallsmile:

DM design
like other experiments of mine in this campaign, this battle worried me greatly- this was an utterly new creature, and a complicated one (perhaps too complicated, i kept forgetting it's maddening aura, and calculating the cords was a real bugger). i wasn't worried about a death, as there are ways to return, but i was worried by a TPK.

what did this battle was supposed to gain? first, it was supposed to be an amplification of the traveler, and in a way- fighting her twisted genius (though it's not her alone) it was supposed to be a cool cinematic fight, and to test the limits of the party the meeting before the last.

it was also supposed to enhance the godforged religion (though the party never caught up to that)- this was a sort of "forged god". though "not as we intended. oh well...

actually, i was thinking it would be more deadly... :smallannoyed:

Closing ends
At his point some of us already had to leave, so we closed things up in a bit of a rushed way. The party found the hidden brain pool and Red cast her spell, breaking the web connecting all bugs! (yay!) the party gained enough XP to get to level 12 (11 for Gabriel), but we haven't done the statistics yet.

the party had no idea how to close the seal (though Gabriel suggested to sacrifice herself) they think it had to do with Auxallia (they are correct. it also needed Soom's help, or indeed a sacrifice).

the Traveler: they basically realized that Auressia was half pissed, half amused that she helped the party, and so decided to make the whole mines her prison, with the construct powered by her (the party could also kill the construct by killing the Traveler, but then they would miss on some things, including treasure and XP). more of her ramblings here:
"so you made it out of there? in my dreams? did you... did you happen to find me? was i there? anywhere? am i here? who am i?"

"Auressia... yes, the mean bitch! she found out we helped. she was amused- "only makes it better". but she needed all forces, so her magic, and my magic, we made this place. my place... my prison... my punishment..." (starts sobbing.)

"her ritaul? like us, we wanted to learn, to experience, to share how it is to be. but she doesn't share, she controls, takes by force, overcome. She says that Throne will approve..."

"the web? over there we think. beware the.. thing there. we don't like it. Auressia said it was necessary. like taking the one shard. like taking me. so many things are necessary. we wish they weren't so..." (nods to herself, muttering)

"taking over Khorvaire? breaking the seals? who's next?" sad laugh she doesn't need them, she is going for the Throne. she said that even one seal open is enough, but more are better. we heard her! talking to the black cat- she knows the winged ones are coming, she must act fast!"

"a way out? there is a way, we like making more ways. Auressia didn't find out... we think.. in our room here. the small one."

" She is looking for the Throne, the Kept Throne. all the seals guard it, hold it, but she plans on shaking that hold. like she shook me" (winces, mimics being slapped hard, taking out a gurgling scream) "only she plans to shake it harder, much harder..." (sobs)

"Obraskyr? the dragon? she has him now. she likes him very much. "my pet" she says. under special control. very strongly held. like i was. you don't get off her control, only by death... please kill me!" eyes watering. "please, please kill me, we can't take it anymore!"

"stop her? how? she has grown strong, maybe if you reach Throne before she does?" suddenly a deadly hatred, a hardened stare. "and kill her, kill her hard, make her bleed, make her suffer, give her pain. doesn't matter, just kill her" then another sad smile, and head shaking leaning. "won't matter, we are lost, too far gone... but perhaps, perhaps for others? and for... justice? vengeance? do they exist? doesn't matter... doesn't matter..."

"please, quiet, just quiet, so many of you talking, shouting, whispering, all at once! what do you want! what do we want? what..."

The Traveler also had a secret way out of the mine, and an interesting piece of treasure- her secret lab/ portable hole. only it was protected by a riddle. thread dealing with the riddles here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218448&highlight=tomer)
"No matter your guesses, it they are all the same."wrong Red figured it out immediately, and the party gaiend access to it, to the dedicated Wright inside, to a bottle of air and endless provisions, and also to Golden lions.

the hole also held the Traveler's last creations- Rod of the Mournland (a custom Rod of wonder activated by a memory of pain, regret or sorrow) also protected by a riddle. "I can be good, i can be bad, often shifting. i'm in every action, every trial, every venture, uncontrolled, but often deciding and controlign fates."
luck/ chance Grum guessed this one, though Danves is VERY weary of using the Rod. to tell the truth, i just though it would befit the Traveler to create such a device.

succesful, but greatly beaten, with the Traveler accompanying, the party used her exit to leave the mines...
----------------------------------------------------------
and this is where we stopped. spirits were elated around the table. it was a FUN meeting! the party really liked the captain (despite my bad DMing, though i haven't asked Gabriel's player on this)and the end battle. they were abit concerned at the increasing difficulty of the battles, but i say- "hey, we're coming to the end game! it better mean business!" :smallamused::smalltongue:

next meeting will be the last, towards Thronehold. it's supposed to be long (8-9 hours of play) and hopefully a good climax. i hope any readers will enjoy as well.

once i get the level up info from the group, i'll post about it. hopefully shouldn't be too long. this is an important level for them!

next meeting will probably be in about a month unfortunately. :smallsigh::smallfrown: as i have two tests quite soon. perhaps i'll be able to swing it sooner (i hope i can!) but i can't promise.

as always- comments, thoughts and anything are more than welcome!

[Kol Korran]

An update for anyone who might look forward to it- we finally settled on a date for the last game. it's on the Silvester (which isn't such a big deal in Israel). sorry for the long wait, couldn't be helped, believe me!

I still don't know all the level up choices, these will be up about a week (perhaps two?) before the actual game.

I'm making some slight alterations to the actual game, some ideas that sprang up, and due to some lessons from the past sessions "near deaths". if anyone has any ideas to add, i'd love to hear.

There are two major choices which i'm waiting to see... what will the party decide on.

sorry about blabbering, i'm just so excited about it!

also, if you can help with this small problem of mine- Ipiks' music (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224924)
thanks!

[Kol Korran]

Last level up updates
The game is this saturday, but i'm here for the level update. the players have made most of their choices, the crucial changes i'll list here.

Red: is now Wiz 4/ Sorc 1/ Ultimate magus 7... i had a discussion with the player whether it wouldn't be wiser to take another level of wizard instead of UM (which only upgraded the sorcerer part), but he likes it this way.

Currently Red is capable casting as an 8th level wizard, 8the level sorcerer.

her new feat is Alacritous Cogitation (complete mage) which enables her to prepare a spell on the fly in an unreadied wizard's slot.

Most notable spells:
4th level- assays spell resistance, stone skin, dispelling screen (SpC) greater invisibility and dimension door (sorc)
3rd level - many jaws, dispel, fireball (all sorc), spell vulnerability, dazzling ray, fly, haste (she got a bunch of other spell as well)

Grum: Ranger 12. only a new feat- improved favored enemy which grants +3 damage to them. so far they are: outsider (evil) +6, undead +2, dragons +2... all 3 will feature in the final chapter...

also the player just remembered he as a house ruled feat which is similar to power attack, just ranged. he totally forgot about it till now... oh deary me.

Danves: Rog 3/ Duskblade 9. he hasn't yet chosen his feat, but his 3rd level spell will be either vampiric touch, find the gap or spider poison (the last two from SpC). we use an expanded duskblade spell list suggested on these forums. i will know for certain only near the meeting itself.

the player thinks his spell will matter little compared to Red and Gabriel, which surprises me since all the players proved pivotal and quite equal through out the campaign, so i wonder what caused this...

Gabriel: Cleric 11 of the silver flame. no feat, but the player isn't complaining- 6th level spells! our rules say that the core spell are ok (with few exceptions), and spells from other sources are to be OKed by me. he hasn't sent any spells to ok so far (real life takes precedence), but i assume something will come up a day or two before the meeting.

it might worthy to say that this player has never played at these "high" levels, and is unfamiliar with this level of spells, so this might be interesting.

Most noteworthy spells:
- mostly self buffing spells (divine power, spikes on his club, Spell resistance, and so on), recitation, divination (a new favorite)

um, i think that's it. unless something goes wrong, this is going to be a bit longer session, and all so far already Oked to play as long as needed.

meanwhile, Auressia... :smallamused:

[LansXero]

I thought this was the final session update :( good luck! Im sure it will be awesome.

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 24A: December 31th, 2011- End Game, Battle at Thronehold!

In game date- Dravago 16- 17 (Late spring, month of handling)

So... I'm proud to declare the Campaign has ended, and in a blast! the expanded 9 hours meeting drew even longer to about 10.5 hours, but they were exhilarating! we were all kind of tense and ready for this, and the game was on.

You may notice that this post is session 24A. yes, again it's going to be two posts. (due to experience with session lengths and word limit per post). hopefully i'll be able to post the second post (which include the end battle) soon enough. in the meantime, i hope any who reads this will enjoy this as well. :smallsmile:

i have set to myself 3 objectives for this meeting:
1) create an intense and epic end battle.
2) put the spot light on the PCs and give them a chance to show what they've been through.
3) in some small ways to close loose ends and do a sort of recap to the campaign.

i think all were done fairly well! :smallwink:

2 small notes before i begin:
- i spent quite some time trying to bring music to the session, but on most accounts the players didn't much notice (bastards! :smallamused:) and i'll include music links. the thread dealing with this can be found on this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218807&highlight=tomer)
- i was conflicted whether to put in or not the "DM design" spoilers, as they might detract from the rush. i decided to do keep them in, i hope it won't hurt your enjoyment.

so.. .where were we? :smallbiggrin:
--------------------------------------------------------------


"And the Misplaced hand of hidden shades and light shall wash the twisted hand of darkness and secrecy. The struggle for brood, shard, key and lore will send a mighty clap that will echo across the land of the fleeting, and over the world. The turns of the prophecy rely on the (undeciphered words...)"
Part of the Draconic Prophecy

Chapter 8

for the opening music- if you're old enough you'll recognize this. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jK-NcRmVcw&feature=autoplay&list=PLB0D508124BB6541D&lf=autoplay&playnext=2)

Should i stay or should i go?
the party just got out of the Eston mines, depleted and tired, with the Traveler behind them. they did not know how much time they spent on the Crimson ship and the mines, but they had to rest. in Red's rope trick spell they started to discuss options. (i requested this be done before the session, but Real Life (TM) prevented much of that)

the first thought was that with the hive mind gone the right thing to do was to contact Jaela and try to take back the church of the silver flame. they knew they had to get to Thronehold to stop Auressia, but wanted any help and allies they could get before that.

problem was- they didn't quite know what is happening in the outside world. was the end of the hive mind also the end of possession? what about the fiend troops and others? what is the state in Aundair and Thrane? most importantly- how much time do they have before the dragons arrive, and what defenses does Auressia has?

with this the traveler could help a bit. (i repeated the info i hastily said at the last session, most importantly that she is trying to free the Held Thrown, The Crown Eternal). the Traveler knew that Thronehold was traditionally protected by an Elite force of the dragonmarked house of Deneith, also protected by some powerful magic, making them very hard to defeat. and that Auressia assumed to use the bugs to take care of that. the party wasn't sure about them- were they still controlled or not? they'll need some way to bypass them...

as the party talked i realized we were once again falling into the trap of a long planning stage, and that for some reason the party was EXTRA EXTRA cautious (later i learned they figured that since the battle with the construct was a near TPK, what comes next is going to be hell...)

they rested, and GAbriel spent a divination to learn how they could close the earth seal (they could not) and a long commune that yielded little info. mostly that the dragons would come in 3 days (but that was a bit misleading. you'll learn more as we go), that the possession was not entirely broken, that the Deneith Shield is MOSTLY dominated, Flamekeep still occupied by fiends and their ilk, and Fairhaven under siege.

the party decided to screw this, and to take a ship from the Eston mines rivulets' docks and sail straight to Thronehold.

Captain Gabriel
the party started sailing upstream, with Gabriel at the helm (untrained proffession check). she used about 2 Divine insigh spells and control water to help her, with the party providing as best help as they could. Danves contacted Porcia and tried to ask her to send some troops to Thronehold, but she could not. she asked where he is, but the sending ended. another Sending was sent to Auxallia, telling her to meet them at the Thronehold Docks.

Eberron Stuff
As i may have mentioned- Throne hold was sort of the symbolic seat of power for the 5 nations of Khorvaire. it was forgotten through out the war (except for care takers and guardians), but was used to sign the peace treaties- the Treaty of Thronehold.

DM design
why mess with sailing checks at this time? truth be told i assumed they would take some time to prepare... the Travelr and her dedicated Wright could craft some things for them. and i planned on Porcia teleporting to them with a royal mage and offering some other help... oh well.

the sailing DCs weren't that hard, and quite laughable with Gabriel's spells.

Thronehold docks
they reached the docks near midnight. as they disembarked a voice came from one of the docks Buildings "who goes there?" the party thought these were the ones not possessed, but tried to bluff them anyway, which kind of failed. a few arrows later Red grew tired of this and said they will surrender. they were brought to the leader of the unposses ed shield of deneith. as Gabriel helped heal (with skill and wand only) Red won the leader's ear, especially telling her that they broke the hive mind.

"some of us broke loose, and the mages broke the magic on others, but we were no longer part of the Shield..." the leader told them of the special magic binding small groups of the Shield on the island- a sort of magnified "shield other" (in effect it gave them one HP pool- all stand or all fall). the party did not like this. "tough battle... we can't afford many tough battles" said Danves.

other defenses included trained magebred dogs and griffons of house Vadalis, probably warding spells at entrances, and some of the sky space might be protected by Gargoyles, the shield didn't know (as to why you can look at my other link in my sig. gargoyles are quite different in my games). the troops included trained soldiers and some mages as well. They could not enter the palace itself (which was the province of the royal guard, no longer in effect) due to an ancient vow between the dragonmarked houses and the rulers of Galifar. they did however have some equipment to see the invisible. and there were far more possessed than not possessed.(though they didn't act as one no more)

3 main entrances were suggested: through the main gate with some deception, through windows by dealing with gargoyles, or through the tallest tower- the Spear of Galifar, where there is less defense, but little chance of subterfuge...

Eberron Stuff
Galifar was the first Emperor of the empire. i decided he fought with a spear and that the tower is a representation of that.

the party started to discuss options. Red liked the gargoyles, Danves desired deception through sneaking somehow, Grum favored the spear. But then someone came in...

A secret weapon?
inside came Jaela and Auxallia slithering behind her. the Shield members were impressed and awed. after greetings and such they both revealed to the party that there might be something they could help with. in case the fiend that Auressia tries to free is freed (and there were mechanics for that to happen or not), it will try to take form in this world. if that form could be bound, then it might be easier than beating it down. that could be done with the Silver Flame which Auxallia could provide, but to build this Link each will have to give a bit of their heroic essence, and more will be needed to activate the link. however- the form must be beaten down substantially before the link can have any chance of subduing it.

the party agreed, Danves reluctantly and Auxallia wrapped herself around nad a soft but harsh light sprang into their bodies feeling themwith a sense of great good. "thank you, and goodbye" whispered the couatl before dissipating into nothing. some were alarmed "wait, did she just die for this?"
they were not that familiar with Eberron's history

Eberron stuff
in past times the Couatls have sacrificed most of their numbers to bind many great fiends with silver fire, ther Silver Flame's faith venerate them in their sacrifice.

mechanics of the Link
it took 1 action point from each, and for each it gained 150 hp. each time a party member was wounded, the link was wounded too. BUT- the link could not be healed in any way...

Jaela said a prayer and looked at the party. "so, what do you choose to do?"

a back entrance, of sorts.
at this point the session was dragging a bit, as they argued over possible entry routes. when suddenly someone asked Red "don't you have dimension door?" she did, and after finding the "no tleportation limits they searched the provided map and found a secluded place in a reasonable distance to go into the palace!

i know, there should have been protections against this, but i just blocked long distance and very close distance effects. i decided to allow it to let the game move on. they said goodbye from the Traveler and Jaela, and went on their way. there was a short discussion whether these soldiers could provide diversion, but they decided against it. Jaela sang this song as they went on their way. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8Eay5AzbmA&list=PL77AF0A41A2604806&context=C3489e4dADOEgsToPDskLzIC3DCXc1TQjTx6JfKgRt )

under cover of night, with Red and Gabriel in the portable hole with the bottle of air (both from the Traveler, see last session) Danves and Grum reached the spot. (the two have stealth way high!) Red got out, and dimension doored themselves inside.

everybody changes...
The party made their way in the palce according to Jaela's directions (she has been here before) till they reached the Hall of Galifar- a sort of an inside garden, with some ornate trees and a large pool from which a towring massive intricate statue of the first Emperor itself rose.

suddenly, a booming majestic voice echoed from it "you have come far heroes! the time of the prophecy has come! your enemy is powerful, strong beyond measure! kneel before me, and let me give you my blessing, heroes of Khorviare!" but to Red keen senses something felt fishy about this. "come forth! your reward awaits in front of the pool!" they approached wearily till they saw four sacks, but would advance no further.

a few tense moments passed when the statue spoke in a new voice, well familiar to some "oh well! i tried! thought it would be fun, no?" Danves grew ready at the elusive voice of Ipiks. "ventriloquism!" Red cast see invisible, but could not find the hiding lizard man. Ipiks' theme music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_q6vIHzqKg&list=PLAE7B0EE41A3378E4&index=1&feature=plpp_video)

"I wish not to fight, at least not if you wish to... we have come far, haven't we. i know- you say i changed, but i was at the church, in the great battle, invisible, listening, watching, and i must ask- am i the only one who has changed?"

"RED, my friend, with the internal powers. i remember you from before, spells carefully chosen not to kill, but to trick, change, subdue. i remember your shocked expression on the roof of Skull Reave, when we all gleefully killed the chief. and i remember your much more hardened expression at the church, hurling fire and spell to kill your enemies. you didn't even twitch. you were more fearsome, more powerful, more elegant in your new dance of destruction than most of the fiends i have seen. will you win here? remains to be seen. but i think that in a way, you may have already lost..."

Red answered calmly "sometime you need to be more ruthless to shorten the suffering. i did what i did out of necessity"

Ipiks' voice turned to Gabriel "And you, the one i changed places with, i knew you as Savage, but then i hear you have a new name! a new religion! a new you, is it? but... i think your old name was chosen wisely. i saw you wield that club of yours, bring your fury upon your enemies. if at all, these new name and holy symbol are but feeble masks. you are more violent, frenzied, more of a savage than you have ever been! the Keeper would have been so proud of you!"

"i've grown more fierce, more violent, more determined for one cause, and one cause only- to fight evil better!" answered Gabriel with a feverish belief.

"And the new one, the one with painful arrows, ha! i heard you and your bow talk... great destiny, great fate she leads you to. does she? does she really? Auressia knows her name, she has defeated this Paladin in a bow of yours, made her seek vengeance. and you follow her unquestioningly... like the good pawn that you are. do you really know her goals? what about yours? are you truly doing this for "the greater good" or just to raise your own horn, like a glorified fame hound?"

Grum was nonplussed "i follow my way and owe no explanation to you, who have chosen the path of evil and betrayal".

"And Danves, i haven't forgotten about you. a coward, how i despised you at first. but in the church? leaping into dragons mouths? fighting front line? have you gone through a change as well? but then you left Krozen on the floor, and ran... and i'm not fooled- it was you who suggested the escape plan in the first place, you only fought because you had no choice.
do your friends know? your secret? how you left your unit behind and ran while they were slaughtered? because believe me, you'll face overwhelming odds here as well. are your friends ready for you to run on them at the crucial moment? ehhhh Danves? a coward remains a coward."

Danves was amused and cynic "well, I really miss my old self - I am not this way without you, you should come back to us... so i can STAB you with my sword!"

then something odd happened, they could hear Ipiks growling, saying "get out of my head!" and the like until he hissed loudly. "good! away with you! nasty stuff!" the party was perplexed at this, but Ipiks continued. he explained (still hiding) that the Throne (which he called "the Big Bad") was trying to get into his mind. "not fun, not fun! first there were easy kills, then challenging kills, but now it's not fun, even too risky! not even one rat in the entire place!"

Ipiks explained his deal- he wanted to get away, and they were to provide a diversion, yes? the party was skeptic, but he said he'll help- the opening to the Throne is in the Throne room (duh!) but it is protected by the dragon, and the one chewed by a dragon! (the party could get no more info out of him on that, he thought it's a funny riddle). further more- it is opened by dragon's blood and fiend's blood. but he wanted to trade hsi blood ("half fiend template) for something, something cool!

the party thought what to offer when Red suddenly suggested "Ipiks! a lock, a lock of my hair!" he thought about it, but then "agreed! but a long lock! something to... remember you by..." Red put her lock on one side, and the party then went to the other, Ipiks grabbed the lock and told the location of a vial of his blood near the rim of the pool.

and thus Ipiks left.

DM design
wasn't there supposed to be a fight?! well i think not, for several reasons:
1) Ipiks would get his ass kicked (despite gaining a few levels) and i don't think he would go into such a battle.
2) i thought to use this opportunity to portray changes in the characters, and the best candidate for this was Ipiks.
3) it was also a way to start putting the Throne's presence into effect.
and that required more talking than fighting.
4) this character was loved by the party, i felt it would be a bit bad to kill it. the player changed characters not because he wanted to betray the party, but because he thought it was unbalanced. i felt he still had sympathy for it, i thought it would be a bad end.



The Dragon and the Knight
As the party made their way towards the Throne room they suddenly felt a probing interfering presence in their mind. not that strong yet, but enough to make the party partly distractd ( some minuses in the next fight)

shortly after the party reached the Trhone room, with the majestic columns and the 5 chairs for the five nations. near them stood the still controlled Obaraskyr and... Krozen! now an undead knight!

the battle was joined, (with this playlist to accompany (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEB2B42E88553E55A&feature=plcp)) but as Krozen tried to approach Gabriel cast a bolt on glory on him, (6th level spell from SpC) which shot him down instantly. but... the knight cast Death thores on himself (all the better to catch unwary PCs with) which ended up hurting Obraskyr and destroying the few wight minions.

talk about DM disappointment. :smallannoyed: but all for the best! :smallwink:

the party spread trying to not be caught in the breath weapon, but Danves fell for less- Obraskyr's frightful presence. he ran faster than could be caught, so the other 3 were left to face the dragon. it launched on Gabriel, tearing her strongly. as Grum shot him again and again Gabriel tried to penetrate the defenses but didn't cuase lots of damage. Red dispelled it's abjurations, and Gabriel fought back.

Obraskyr chose Red as a target due to some dangerous spells, but she evaded it with a few minor teleportation spells. meanwhile Grum steadily continued to shoot the beast. but it got to Red and wounded her greatly, which is when Gabriel commanded it (through use of action points) to fall down. together with more offensive spells, arrows and club the dragon was knocked unconscious.

which is when a really big strange bug came crawling out. quickly dispatched they went to heal Obraskyr. their former employer thanked them, but requested they let him talk to the dragons, they will most probably send a spear point to their invasion.

Danves' player was a bit disappointed at being absent from the battles (he always ran away from dragons in a previous campaign as well)

there were some wounds, but smaller than for a battle with a dragon. but every wound counts... as the Link doesn't heal.

Suddenly a deep powerful ancient voice in their mind "more come... more guests? enemies? i grow restless, it has been a long time. soon..." Ipiks' blood and Obraskyr's blood they revealed some sort of pattern in the floor before the Thrones, and the earth receded to reveal ancient stairs for down below down to the unfathomable depths... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcwQoOsQQJ8&list=FLOeNTNgfVgWBh3VtPMgRgLA&index=17&feature=plpp_video)

The Ancient halls
the effect they felt before grew stronger, but this time all withstood it, except for Danves, who seemed seriously distracted... (this was not his day!) they reached ancient halls. they looked man made, but old. old Galifar style. the columns depict the thrones above gaining sort of power from a shackled sphere below, and many people bowing. there were some of Auressia's swarms here, but quite restive.

Throne spoke to them again. "Interesting, isn't it? quite a strange little innovation. she did well, my liberator. but is it well enough? they have their faults, but i will make them better. so much better. but they are obedient..."

and suddenly there was darkness.

"What is the Arithmetic of your soul?"
The Throne spoke again. "who is it that comes to me? why do you come to me? are you strong enough? whole enough? who are your allies? who are your enemies? who are YOU?"

When the light returned the party saw themselves at a strange room- basically one large over mirror wall. but more disturbing were themselves! they all looked like changelings! from the mirror wall were many figures, some more familiar to most, some less. theysaw the image of the traveler (better clothed) as if moving behind them, talking in a rich subtle but direct voice. "Many experiences, many influences, many tribulations, conflicts, faces that we rememeber, faces that we wear... what is the arithmetic of your soul?" then she held her hand- 4 fingers.

the party realized each one had to choose 4 figures that represent themselves. at first the players panicked- they thought it was one more of my inexplicable puzzles, but i assured them it was no puzzle...

some seemed to be in clusters, some seemed apart:
- behind them were figures connected to the past- Red before she was entombed in the Mournland grave, a gentler Red. Danves before he was cursed, Savage who still followed the Sovereign host, and Alicia- the paladin spirit in Grum's bow. however, each character could only see (and choose) her own past self.

- in front of them were themselves as they are now. however, each character could only see (and choose) the other characters, not themselves.

- to their right were 3 past allies- Google, Ipiks and Khork. each could see only those he had a meaningful interacion with.

- to their left were major enemies- the Keeper, the Traveler, Auressia and some sort of a fiendish monstrosity combining all kind of lesser fiends (Rakshasa, bearded devils, mezoloth, arrow demons and the like), again, of the first 3 each saw only those they interacted with.

- various separate ones- JAela, Auxalia, Porcia, Creelog (the hobgoblin chief from chapter 2), Krozen, Grad the organ seller and Obraskyr.

when each was chosen the traveler behind the images asked "why is this one a part of you?"

Gabriel decided to choose first:
Red- "she is the love i'll never have"
Jaela- "she is the center of may Faith"
Auxalia- "Sacrifice"
Google- "a noble and Courageous friend"

Red chose second:
Past Red- "It is still me deep inside"
Gabriel and Google- "close friend I admire their morality"
Grad- "i gave him a part of me and got a part of something else"

Danves' turn
Red- "because sometime the tongue is mightier than the sword"
Google- " noble courageous friend"
Auxalia- " because of her search for knowledge and curiosity of mystery"
Fiend Monstrosity- "we all have monsters inside..."

Last was Grum, who was the most simple
Gabriel, Red and Danves- "because they are the ones i'm teamed up with"
Auressia- "because she is the one i'm teamed up against"

choices
part of the idea here was to give each one a possibility to express himself through their choices and interpretations. i must say they did NOT choose whom i thought, but some choices are interesting and indicative:
- both Google and Red were chosen 3 times. they were sort of the moral compass of the party, which shows the party's adherence to them.

- only Red chose her old slef, which shows that her change was not necessarily a welcome one, while both Danves and Gabriel reject the former selves, having undergone what they perceive a positive change.

- no one chose Grum, which stands to reason- he didn't have much time to bond with the group, and most still preferred Google.

- some characters such as Grad, Auxalaia or the fiend monstrosity i never expected even one vote. which shows that they may have had more effect on the game than expected.


self chosen, self rejected
"you have chosen yourself, what you shall carry on, now you must face what you shall leave behind!"
all figures that were rejected stepped out of the mirror and a battle was joined. it was soon clear the figures were not really the actual persona, and that their weapons and armor were not necesserily indicative of their power.

the party seemed simple at first, but shown it's dangers soon enough, as the keeper bestowed negative levels, or Ipiks poisoned Red severely, and both Grum and Alicia shot arrows aplenty. Danves fought his past as Gabriel gouht hers, as the Traveler mimicked different combatants and their powers.

but at the end the battle was won, without that great a difficulty. (and yet, the Link was damaged more) having done that the characters felt a sort of a gift... certain powers themed after the people they had chosen to be part of themselves- powers usable only once, usually for a minute, not extra powerful, but useful. there was darkness again before the light came back.

they were at the other side of the ancient halls.

DM design
the encounter of the mirror room had 3 purposes:
- enable more expression of the character (discussed in the previous spoiler)
- a sort of a recap of major NPCs and changes in the campaign.
- an interesting fun battle, where some characters got to bash their own selves.

the bonuses at the end are a little something extra to bring in to the final battle, a sort of "special alternate loot" to the battle.


continued on the next post, though not sure when i'll get to write it. :smallsmile:

[Kol Korran]

Meeting Number 24B: December 31th, 2011- End Game, Battle at Thronehold!

In game date- Dravago 16- 17 (Late spring, month of handling)

(sorry for the delay, real life and all that)

About Action points and the Link
Now, the party have used few action points so far, saving them (wisely) to the end game. some of the benefits from the mirror room choices gave them a few extra action points (amongst other things), especially Grum. they knew they need 3 action points to try and activate the link though. the following battles were planned with action points in mind though... in more than one way...

one step short of the end
the party continued down wards, ever downwards till they reached a longer corridor. the glyphs on the walls depicted dragons and fiends.. talking? conversing? civil? then the figures seemed to depict both races... combining forces? to put something bit, indecipherable below?

but the party paid this little attention, ahead of them they could see a room in which there were 4 Rakshasa prostrating themselves in front of a big hole in the ground. the 4 seemed oblivious to the party, caught in some sort of.. fervor? the party couldn't tell.

the Throne spoke to them again: "look at them. weak, Pathetic, wishing to control me to regain their glory back. they shall kneel as well. as all will. only my liberator understands. do you?"

They shook their heads trying to get the voice away and quickly coup-de-graced them (pardon my awful french)

the room was moderate size, with some blessed spears, bows and arrows on the side, plus some fountain that enabled those who drank from it to fly... fly where? to the gaping hole in the middle of the room, that looked to go down, down, down...

as one of our players quoted the best adventuring line ever: "small chance of success? certainty of death? what are we waiting for?" they drank from the fountain, and jumped to the depths of Throne hold...

The Throne's prison
a few minutes passed going down, till they saw the hole opening up to some big cave. the Throne spoke once more. "so you come to face my liberator, the one you call... Auressia? ah yes, frustration, anger, hate, desire to vanquish. you may make an (partner/ servant/ receptacle) as well? this should be... entertaining." they stopped and cast protective spells drank protective potions, and dove in.

the space they reached was HUUUUGE, a great cave that kept descending down to the depths, with some mists rolling. in front of them, (about 300 feet) was a big semicircular sphere set at the cave's wall (about 50ft radius). reaching the sphere from the south west was the cord of life (from Flame keep) throbbing, burning and powerful, and from the east the cord of Death (from the Temple of Nigh in Atur in Karrnath) pulsing in black purple energy.

and at the back of the Sphere stood none else than... Auressia. everyone got tense. she seemed to have some protective spells as well, from shimmering shields to multiple mirror images. in her sweet lacquered voice she spoke"you see? they have come, as i promised! despite all obstacles. they are destined to be yours oh Crown Eternal. but they will not come easily, will you?"

which is where we rolled initiative. (using this song list) (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEE4EA1159835732D&feature=plcp)Auressia began with a chain lightning, after which the party got cloe to Red, and she dimension doored to the fiend! but then a mezzoloth and some bearded devils were summoned from somewhere! from the Throne itself.

two can play Red's game and Auressia Dimansion doored herself to where the party was. this was a serious problem, since Red couldn't reach her with most of her spells (medium range) and the rest were used to close to Melee. Grum shot down some of her images and even hit her once, but this looked to be problematic. Danves and Red quickly disposed of the Mezzoloth (fearing it's dispel magic more than cloudkill) but for some strange reason they didn't leave the sphere. i was perplexed. :smallconfused:

Gabriel called on the benefit of Auxelia- knowing the nemy's plans in advance and alerted the party of a confusion spells which they averted. but the Throne tried to dominate (protection from evil notwithstanding against such power) over Grum's mind. they could feel it's power constrained, which with an action point is probably why Grum succeeded.

Ganriel cast some spell on Auressia which didn't penetrated her Spell resistance just barely, while REd's player tried to find what he could use! Throne got hold of Danves who attacked Gabriel, but she turned just in time to block his attack, after which he broke from the influence...

they decided to try and press towards her. Danves flew fast before being targeted by a hold person but succeeding due to an action point as well. Gabriel weary of the spells in closing the gap decided a subterfuge. she faked being hit by a spell and falleing of the edge of the sphere into the mists! an influence and sense motive later it seemed Auressia bought the trick! Gabriel started to fly in the mists towards the enemy.

new demons appeared, amongst them an arrow demon. Danves for some reason turned, calling on the beefit of the lesser fiends (fiend monstrosity) to be super effective against them and nearly killed it with one blow. Grum finished it off.

"one down! 3 to go!" auressia boasted, and got a bit closer, just close enough for Red to get in range. a small magical duel began with Red triumphing (again with action points) at dispelling nearly all of Auressia's defenses! (including scillinating scales and mirror images)

which came right in time as Gabriel broke from the mist below, with an unhealthy aura around her arm and grasped the Rakshasa lord's ankle, HARMing her deeply!

Auressia was deeply wounded, but her goal was achieved... for you see- the Throne prison needed a special essence to open it- heroic essence, and action points were pouring like water in this battle! Gabriel's use of action points reached the needed limit, and a grey misty cord shot through the prison, passed through Auressia, draggin her up, up and away!

DM design
the party has action economy, and i didn't want to increase Auressia's level more, since the Throne itself is an added major complication. so the main thing was the distance (which Gabriel's player overcome nicely) the second thing is the minor influences of the Throne. las thing was the ability to spring up a few defenses up (through legit methods) if her defenses fell. however, Gabriel came up RIGHT after Red took of her defenses, so i didn't get to it.

however, the abundant use of action points made this quite exciting, but not that character damaging.

a desire to rule?
The corad was draggin them to it, so they cast a few protective spells (Auressia did some dispelling herself) and let themselves be dragged up. through their journey up the Throne spoke to each again (i gave them printed pages) showing them the rulers of 4 of the five nations)

Throne Speaks to Red (facing Dannel, ghost queen of Cyre)
you come from the land lost, broken, twisted, forsaken... you wish to help it, but such help cannot be given without understanding the cause. The cause stand in front of you- Dannel, the so called ruler. ( I put pics on most pages. I didn't have her pic. It's the ghost of the queen of Cyre) This is no monarch!- first she lost land to the elves, than to the hobgoblins, and now in her folly she has lost the land and the people themselves.

I know the reason for the Mournland, and more than that- i know how to start and repair it, make it strong, stronger than before! Bring back it's glory! And it starts with you Kashana. I see you as it's new ruler. Bow to me, accept me and the power I give you, and Cyre shall rise again to heights never before imagined. Your power is great, but so is mine, can you conceive what we can both achieve?

Kashana known as Red, will you bow before me, so we can rule together? Strike your former queen, and claim your Throne!


Throne Speaks to Gabriel (picture of Jaela, ruler of Thrane)
I have sensed your power from a far sacred one. a faith so bright and scorching it lights up even my dark prison. You come here seeking to pull me down, but do you know what it is you're here to do? The fiends don't know it, but I am something else than they expected, something the dragons wish to keep secret. You have all been led as fools, fools by those secret puppet masters of Argonessen.

You may resent me for your church, but that was not my intent or doing. And still, don't you ask yourself how easily it had happened, how it was brought down with so slight an effort? Wasn't this the most powerful religion, the one to stand against darkness? And yet it falls within such a short time. "but it has not fallen, we saved the Keeper!" you say and rightfully so. But that was because YOU were there. Had it not been for YOU, the church would have been nothing but a crisp by now.

I offer salvation, I offer renewel, I offer rebirth! You can sense my power, and I can sense yours. The Silver flame must reach a new time, under a new leadership- your own, under me! With my power you can guide the people and the holy warriors to new heights, greater glory and spread the faith and it's war like never before!

Gabriel, will you bow before me and rule together? Strike your queen, claim your Throne!


Throne speaks to Danves (picture of Auralla, queen of Aundair)
some may think you the unlikely hero, but I sense the one true rational mind here, the one who see the odds, see the possibilities and knows of the road that must be taken, knows of tough choices, of hard decisions. The dragons are coming, and they come not just to stop me, but also ALL who know, or who MIGHT know…

You may stop me from breaking out, but then who will stop them from annihilating you? The dragons have a secret, and they wish it well kept. I have the power to stop them, stop their tyranny, stop them meddling with fate, the prophecy, all of our destinies. Will you help me? I am not as horrible as you've been led to believe. The fiends do not fully know what they release, and they will be surprised as well.

The time has come for new leaders, new men of foresight, not geared by greed, lust for power or ego like your former queen has been. Men like you. She stand before you, but I can have you take her place, rule her realm, shape it to your true vision, make it better for your kind. My power can ensure this.

Danves, will you bow before me, so we can rule together? Strike your queen, and claim your Throne!


Throne speaks to Grum (picture of Kaius, king of Karrnath)
unlike the three others, you serve no monarch. No- you serve a higher purpose, a greater ideal, you fight on your own. You think this purpose may be to bind me again, but I promise you it is not. I am terrifying, but not to the people of Khorvaire. The dragons come since they have a secret, which they wish to keep it that way, at all costs. Help me face these tyrants; acknowledge me as your throne, and I will show you a new world, better world, with you one of those leading it!

before you you see the Karrnathi King- a ruler of an army of undead, who have brought to practice the tradition of making his soldiers rise again as unholy abominations! A ruthless dark lord. But he has a secret- he is a vampire himself! A feeder of other's blood, how can it be left to rule a whole country?!

Take him down, and with my power you can take hold of his place, cleanse the country of it's undead abominations and give rise to a new shining era, directing it's forces towards a benevolent just cause! Yes, I can help with that for I am not so evil as you've been fooled to believe.

Grum, will you bow before me and rule together? Strike down King Kaius and claim your Throne!


as they read i drew the Throne room once more. Auressia was there (with some defenses and a bit healed) and next to her some tear in space, behind which... something could be seen. Throne? the party was seperated now, from west (aundair, Danves), south west (Thrane, Gabriel), south east (Mournland, Red) and east (Karrnath, Grum). the life and death power cords were still present, though the party didn't notice them except as obstacles.

the leaders were sweating, obviously under powerful control. but the party had to answer. Red and Grum "we never wished to rule!" while Danves and Gabriel's players contemplated... Danves answered with "i don't trust you!" while Gabriel thought to try and bluff him, but decided to just show defiance "Bah! to the hells with you!"

in return the 4 rules turned on their heels grimacing, and knelt in front of the Throne. they spoke their allegiance:

Auralla: "the kingdom of mages gives power to the Throne" (gives spell levels)
Jaela: "Thrane, who worships the Silver flame, we gives healing to the Throne" (regeneration_
Dannel (ghostly, tormented): "The dead nation of Cyre gives our sorrow and our pain to the Throne (spells deal extra pain)
Kaius: Karrnath now sees the true general, the true leader. Karrnath gives it's Solders to the Throne

DM design
3 purposes: first a chance for the characters to express themselves and show defiance. second it's a chance for the Throne to actually interact with the party on a non-battle level. i think it's required from a campaign's big boss. and thirdly, it opened up some interesting options. there were options for bluffing the Throne, bot taking down the rulers (who are the ACTUAL rulers), or just subduing them. the party did none of those... :smallannoyed:

Round 2!
this list for the battle music (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEEC33B24F6F7A7F5&feature=plcp) as the party showed defiance, about 12 lesser fiends, a sort of a primitive version of bearded devil sprang up as a sort of shield (to better give Auressia the time to cast her spells). But Danves won init, and utterly surprised everyone at tumbling past everyone straight to Auressia and attacking her channeling a combust spells, nearly killing her! she ran behind one of the thrones and used a limited wish to try and disintegrate him, but he had one more mirror image (spell storing ring), and it hit it.

Grum however, would not be deterred by cover, and 2 arrows later and Auressia was dead! the party's response? "Google kills!"

The Throne was pissed and use his influence over the rulers to try and make Danves kneel, but it succeeded. Gabriel strode forth and used opalescent glare (Spell compendium, 6th level) which made nearly all lesser devils to retreat! the party focused their powers on the throne, as it tried to control them (at times succeeded) or make them kneel (lose actions) through their rules, but through the use of more actions points the party avoided most.

Danves who was closest to the thing, noticed it's plate and serpentine body. suddenly a clawed limb struck at him, causing him great depression.

Suddenly the Throne's attention was up. "the new races disappoint me. weak, pathetic, full of themselves, disrespectful. i haven't had time to study their minds well yet, but the mind of a dragon... that i had time to study, for a long long time, i know it well!"

And the grey misty cord shot up again, taking them all up!

Spear of Galifar
As the party launched up they saw the visions- a great host of dragons (more than 100) coming close to Thronehold (to those wondering, these were the forefront force, the tip of the invasion), and suddenly with a shift- much closer, above the Spear of Galifar tower. "a twist here, a pull there, and..." (about half the dragons turn to fight the others!) "control, or elude till control. the dragons will serve me WELL"

the party was on top of the Spear, a much more limited space, with a small landing on it. the cords of life anddeath were very evident, stretching up to flame keep and Atur.

and the Throne was here, the rip larger and two great arms were coming out of it, directing some of the dragons to fight others! the sky was ablaze with fire, cold, lightning and clashing teeh and bites. they did not seem to see him! (

Round 3
took me awhile to make this list, the apex of the campaign! (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL28C0D9F897841003&feature=plcp) as the party rose to action, they found the will draining from them, they wanted to serve, to kneel, to be obedient. but some broke off of the influence, only to be punished (wounded) for their insolence! Grum started unleashing arrows, and Gabriel and Danves flanked the Throne, trying against all of their instincts to obey to fight the thing! it was hear to hit it (hye mostly hit the rip) and wound it, but they had. just a bit

which is when the huge copper dragon (random roll) started descending towards them. the Throne controlled dragons! "S**t!" went a curse around the table. the dragon breathed and hit Gabriel, before... jumping to the life cord, disintegrating itself! the cord shook violently and reduced to 2/3rds of it's size. the party was alarmed- it's was trying to fully free itself!

Grum decided to try and tap to the life cords power, perhaps strengthen it, but though he succeeded to reach it, he could only us it to heal himself. Danves gought against desperation again and again to strike the Throne, channeling succesfuly touches of Idiocity to decrease the power of it's influence.

another Dragon started gliding down. a huge Red one this time. Gabriel was desperate, and tried to use the Rod of the Mournland (gained from the traveler) but this random rod (sort of like a rod of wonder) served only to heal some (Throne included) and... make the rip bigger.

meanwhile Red dimension doored to the other side of the landing and touched on the essence of the Death cord, adding necrotic power to her spells. the dragon came and burned the unlucky Grum badly, and Gabriel only a bit. and then it jumped to the Death cord, shaking the tower, reducing the cord extensively...

knowing their time was coming to a close (the LInk's hit points were getting REALLY low) the party tried to activate the Link, but to no avail. the Throne was still to strong! oh, and another dragon started to descend. depression started to grip the group.

the role of heroes
They decided to give it what they had left. they had less then 9 Action points combined, the Link had about 30/40 hp left, and if it's gone, they'll have to actually BEAT the Throne (which was an option i was prepared for :smallamused:) Grum decided to delay after the rest. Red used her necrotic spells to cast a powerful empowered many jaws that finally broke through the Throne's high SR! ?(the player had bad luck through out the session. the Throne cringed at the jaws biting at him.

this was followed by a quadruple (!!) critical by Danves, which was followed by a quadruple (?!?!) massive strike by Gabriel (she has tons of damage bonuses). Danves' striketook him a bit into the rift, and he saw a serpentine great creature, like an ancient primitive wyrm, far bigger and more ancient feeling than even the dragons are. (the player thinks it's a lynnorm from MM2) feeling this might be enough, Grum touched inside and activated the link!

and it worked! the Throne was screeching roaring bound! by why wasn't it drawn back to it's prison... "something missing" they could hear the remants of Auxallia's voice. the party looked blank at each other, but Gabriel (and it's player) who knew a bit more about Eberron knew what it meant. "Gabriel jumps in!". "what? are you crazy? no! there is another way!". "there is no other way, this is what she would do, she runs in yelling, jumping into the rip!"

and with that the rip was suddenly drawn deep down, down to the bowels of the earth, underneath Thronehold, to the Throne's prison...

DM design- Sacrifice
why did i include the sacrifice? mainly because Gabriel's player wanted to sacrifice his character through out the campaign (as could have been seen most evidently in the Crimson ship affair, or wanting to sacrifice her at the earth seal). talking to the player afterwards he seemed ambivalent about it. part of him liked her to survive, but part of him likes this ending very much.

it was a bit forced, i know, for which i regret, but i hope this is good enough. however, it may have marred the taste of victory a bit. still, bitter sweet may be nice.

If you're read SilverClawShift journals than the "Link" and the sacrifice are somewhat familiar. i never said i was truly original... :smalltongue:

DM design- Throne
i had real problems with this one. it has gone through many kinds off changes and editions. but at the end i wanted to achieve 3 things:
- a single overpowering theme- domination. first it was the characters, than their rulers, then dragons.

- i wanted it to be a sort of a mystery, a final twist to their expectations- not exactly a Rakshasa Rajah, but something... different and connected to the dragons)

- i wanted it's mechanics to be different enough, strange enough so this might feel like a unique challenge (not sure i succeeded about this- it not attacking the party directly made it feel somewhat passive)


Not out of the woods yet
The control over the dragons was broken. they stopped fighting, though a few were already dead, some flew down, ready to incinerate them, but a gargantuan black dragon stopped them, and flew down to talk with Red. "who are you and what exactly happened here?"

Red was too tired, too distraught over the loss of a friend to be intimidated or awed. she talked with the dragon as equals, telling their story. some of the dragons wished to kill them for "knowing too much" but the black dragon would have none of that. he told them to keep things as secret as they can, and leave this place.

Red requested the dragons to treat their kind with more equality, like fellow sentient beings rather than lesser ones. the dragon seemed to think . "perhaps, perhaps you have evolved a little this day, there is much to think about. we shall remember you 3, and this Gabriel you spoke of" with that the dragons left, taking their wounded and the dead through their spells.

The 3 remaining heroes stood on top of The Spear of Galifar, victorious yes, but what lies next? kick in the ending credits music! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04854XqcfCY&list=PLE8DFE5EDBABD50B9&context=C3cbafacADOEgsToPDskKWQ6hKLul_2hoRUeqKVsvP )

Finishing up
The possessed power faltered with Auressia dead (they each held a tiny bit of her, though not commanded through the hive mind). the party returned with Jaela to Thran and together reclaimed Flame Keep. both Aundair and Thrane were able to take care of the possesed in their territory.

we talked a bit about what the characters might do now, but the players don't quite know ("i'll fight an ancient evil for some centuries to come" said Gabriel's player laughingly). we decided people will think about it and post it on emails (which i'll add when they come)
--------------------------------------------------------

Many Facets of Darkness
The End

the people were between happy and nervous. they felt we cut it real close, and they were kind of expecting a TPK! they looked mostly kind of stunned at the end... is that good or not? :smalltongue: i'm joking, but they seemed to have loved it.

the first campaign i finished, it was well worth it!
but the log isn't over yet, a few things in the next post... (short one):smallsmile:

[Kol Korran]

so what is next? is that it? well, the log will have a few more minor things on it, later on if you're interested:

1) a sort of "where are they now" kind of piece that the players and me are helping to create, a more detailed and thought of summary than can be done in 10-15 rushed minutes of the meeting end.

2) being the anal guy that i am, i've made a questionnaire for the party, mostly so i could learn better what worked and what didn't. i'll post the results (including my own thoughts) here. (Grum's player already sent back his, the rest haven't. i'm waiting for them all).

3) what's next with out group? Red's player will have his own adventure in a world he has been working on for quite some time (with vastly altered race and battle rules). this will take about 6 sessions. during this time i'll work on the next campaign, so if you liked reading this, there may be more coming.

i've made 11 suggestions for future campaigns, on widely varied routes. the players are discussing them. i'll post my suggestions here if you're interested.

4) i'll answer any questions anyone may have, which leads me to...

My Request of the readers: if you have enjoyed this campaign log, and read this far, i would be really really happy to know of it. i'm kind of etchy about asking this, as i imagine i have but a few readers, but it's would be really awesome to learn others have njoyed my groups efforts as well.
i'm not forcing anyone, but if you've read this far, please post and leave a word.

Thanks for reading! :smallsmile:
Kol.

[Duskranger]

Let me congratulate you. It was an epic read.

I also DM sometimes, but never as you seem to be able. You get a lot done in a session and your players are completely in the world (which is very well done).

In short, I will follow the next campaign also. And I wish you a lot of luck in your DM-ing Endeavors

[DoctorGlock]

Bravo, a good read

As the above poster noted, you cover alot each session, how long do your sessions generally run? I generally run about 3-4 hours myself and can never seem to get alot done (I admit it has much to do with everyone starting with favorite youtube picks and spouting memes for a half hour to an hour. Then we start the game)

I am going to be starting an Epic level game of Legend in about 3 weeks and want to put up a campaign journal. How did you go around avoiding thread necro when you posted sessions?

Last session, the primordial wyrm in the gate? Was that the dragon below? (Not very good with Eberron fluff, but I don't think they have Asmodeus)

[Kol Korran]

thanks Duskranger, DoctorGlock. glad you enjoyed it.


Bravo, a good read

As the above poster noted, you cover a lot each session, how long do your sessions generally run? I generally run about 3-4 hours myself and can never seem to get a lot done
we meet quite rarely (about once every 3-4 weeks) so when we get to play, we PLAY. an average meeting is about 7 hours, with the first half hour or so being burned on socializing and the like. but from then on we play up pretty straight.


How did you go around avoiding thread necro when you posted sessions?
it never really came up i guess. i think a thread "goes necro" if you post on it after a few months (6? :smallconfused:) but since the latest i posted was after a month and a half, it doesn't matter.
i have another thread in my link, a small project of mine (that i've neglected long enough) that got updated only once every few months. but in the first post or so i notified about this, and haven't had any trouble. (yet)


Last session, the primordial wyrm in the gate? Was that the dragon below? (Not very good with Eberron fluff, but I don't think they have Asmodeus)
no, it wasn't the dragon below. i'm not telling what it is since i notified my my players of the log, and this might have a significance on a future campaign. (depending what they'll choose). suffice to say it's my own contribution to the history/ mythology of Eberron, though i would hazard to say it draws inspiration from somewhere i can't pinpoint.

the concept was that it's something the fiends don't quite understand (except for perhaps Auressia) and the dragons have a vested interest in keeping secret. also- it seems to possess quite a knowledge about dragon minds (and less about lesser races' minds)

i hope this answered your questions! :smallsmile:

[LansXero]

That last fight scene was really amazing. I think its a great finale for an outstanding campaign. Youve been trying to many different things at different times, always looking back at your work and asking about this and that and always trying to top yourself... I must say I have nothing but respect and admiration for you and the work you put forth for your players. It seems like for you, DMing is a labor of love, and it shows in these journals how you bring every little bit that you can to the table to make it the best it can be. There may have been some misses (puzzles not being well received, for example) but overall the whole experience felt like a really great movie or TVseries. I would aplaud you but you already received a lot of praise for it, and well deserved at it. I will just simply say that one day I hope I can be half as good a GameMaster as you have shown yourself to be in this log, and to have a quarter of your will to improve, curiosity, humility and niceness.

Of course, a lot of it is from the players, all whom seem like really awesome people to have at the table. You are lucky to have them, and they are lucky to have you. Its a shame that it had to end, but what a great way to wrap things up!. Although, there are so many loose ends... but high level D&D is a mess hehe. Anyways, great job, great read, and make sure to keep us updated if you ever do another one! :D

[Kol Korran]

..... :smallredface: why, i'm so deeply flattered Sir! thanks for the praise!

in fact, i wanted to thank you as well LansXero- you've participated in most discussions and gave advice from about half way through, some of it affected the game more, some less, but all appreciated! it was encouraging seeing someone takes such an interest.

so thank you, and the rest of the readers. the players are great indeed, and though it is a cliche- i couldn't have done it without them.
---------------------------------

there is a possibility of a high level campaign, (about 1-2 years after we've finished) at least one player is pushing towards that (Red's) but the discussion is still going. some ends i'll close soon enough in a closing post, and others are left open on purpose.

when i start the next campaign (as i surely will, but probably in a few months from now) i may do the log differently, i'm contemplating. there may be a "planning a campaign log" for some of the more preparation intensive campaign ideas, in which you all will be welcomed to join.

[Kol Korran]

my players have been mostly lazy, so i don't have all i said i write yet, but we do have a decision about

The next Campaign!

the two runner ups were between the following

Here be Dragons
a continuation of this campaign, up to 20th level or perhaps beyond. basically more epic stuff, turned up a notch. the following was the promo for the players:
7) Dragons of Eberron: an unheard of event occurs- the party is invited to the nation of dragons- Argonessen! (Where no foot of the common races ever stepped) what do they want? Can the party withstand their intrigue, their power? 1 dragon is dangerous enough. What about 10? 50? 200? 2000?
- It doesn't get more Epic than this I think!
- This campaign is the most epic, but also the most dangerous. You need to navigate cautiously or else become a smear. High risks, high gains.
- Out of all the ideas in this category, this one is the most formed, though not as ideas 8 and 11 in the next. It is however, still quite plot driven.
- Extra material: dragons of Eberron (thanks for the book guy! Great inspiration for the DM only), draconmicon, dragon magic (both for players as well).

Red's player was the advocate of this campaign, with Grum's player supporting.


Pirate Campaign
Pirate Campaign- new world, low to mid/ high levels: I haven't seen yet the Pirates of the Caribbean (I know, I know…) but the general idea is sea voyages, islands, robbing merchants, stealing loot, fighting or evading a colonial force, and dealing with witchcraft and voodoo themed magic. Inspired greatly by Fire fly. (with some twists. Thanks Ariel!) The party will get a ship, and a crew, and seek their fortune on the high seas!
- Out of all my ideas this is the most fleshed out, followed closely by idea 8. Therefore a bit more detail is provided. It does not mean it's a favorite.
- The World is not Eberron, rather a place called the Withcling Isles- a continent that was fractured to numerous isles. An outside force called the Empire (comprised of humans mostly) controls the place, and there are other outside merchant forces. A HEAVY theme of superstition, curses, wily witchcraft (along with specific rules), as well as villainy, piracy, and being great scoundrels. But it also has place for high adventure and epic moments.
- This game also relies heavily, perhaps more than the rest, on player's involvement.
- The game focuses partly on adventures (which might be more episodic and less campaign focused, at least till a campaign emerges) and partly on the ship and crew management (I intend to make it fun!)
- There is no set plot or campaign in mind, but rather some starting adventure hooks. Out of them and mostly out of the characters themselves, we'll spring up adventures, and then a fully blown campaign. It is VERY open ended at this point.
- Beginning at level 2/3, but I don't know how high it will go. It has potential for mid- high or very high levels. Leveling will probably be around once every 2-3 sessions.
- The book Stormwrack will play a heavy part- it deals with navigation, weather, ships marine combat and more. Again- I'll detail the main things in a wiki, but further reading might benefit you.
- There are many changes to the common classes, and though the variety stays, the classes and many options are changed. For example- the islanders only use more intuitive warriors (which also use a simpler, more balanced version of Maneuvers from Tome of Battle, not out shine the casters). Their casters are spontaneous casters and similar magical vocations, where as the Empire has more schooled professions (wizard, fighter, cleric, paladins who hunt witches). The islanders are composed from a variety of races, while the Empire only has humans and dwarves (which you can't play, under normal circumstances)
- There is a subset of rules for curses, codes, vices and superstitions. My own invention. Adds mechanics to these… "mixed blessings".

Gabriel's player and Danves player wanted this one. (though Danves preferred yet another campaign over this)


aaaaand... it's the pirate campaign! Grum's player changed minds, and Red's player conceded for the time. i'm not sure about logs, here are my thoughts:
- a campaign building log, where you get to help plan things.
- possibly a campaign log, though maybe somewhat different in approach than this one.

still waiting on Danves' player to choose his ending and the questionnaire, and i'll post them then.