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Kaww
2012-10-18, 12:26 PM
Hi all,

I decided to write a campaign journal for my latest 3.5 game. It's meant to be a fun relaxing game before the next horror show I run. So don't expect anything too serious from this.

I know people usually dislike these written from GM’s perspective, so I decided to disguise mine as prose told in third person. I will describe any OoC moments that got us laughing or holding our breaths in spoilers.

In this game there will be four PCs:

1. Party’s face and archer - Paddington, chaos gnome binder, female, Alignment C (confused)
2. Party’s angry face - Goliath barbarian/fighter, male, Alignment L; I just realized my player didn’t give me his sheet, so he will be unnamed for now
3. Healer - Elena Silverwig, aasimar spirit shaman, female, Alignment G
4. Scoundrel and skill monkey - Tiefling rogue, male, Alignment E; I have his sheet, but the character doesn’t have a name. He will be named Victor at a later date, since all characters this particular friend of mine makes end up being Victors.

The exact builds are not important because we use a ton of homebrew. I will try and make this a story played out by my players, not a railroad. I will not bore anyone with setting details and similar information that is not needed to understand the story.

What is needed for understanding the game can be found here:

The land in which PCs live is divided by war. Since the war started all casters that cast spells of level six or higher die within a day of attaining their power. Thus the party has only one caster that is seriously considering theurge-ing. A part of the land is occupied by a technologically advanced kind of humans. Until these people arrived there were no undead of any kind in the world. The occupational forces use unintelligent undead, constructs and genetically engineered animals as guards and warriors, alongside them they use human troops. The PCs belong to an underground resistance organization, I wanted to call it ‘La resistance’, but after some thirty seconds PCs shot that idea down and renamed it to NOB. They have just completed their training and were given their first mission.


And now for the first half of the first session, in which the reader sees how the PCs got into this mess:

It was a warm spring day. The four recruits came to see their former tutor. He was supposed to give them their first assignment. Master Laza was an elderly dwarf that wasn’t good with words and technical mambo-jumbo so his speech wasn’t awe inspiring:

“Um, you’re to go to, um V’kojeb’na and um, do something with the experiments Charlie is doing over there. I guess you should kill them, um, if you can. Now get out and talk to Pera the armorer. He ought to know more. Try and not get yourselves killed.”

With those brave words our chosen heroes left Laza’s tent and went to see Pera the mage. Pera was busy enchanting a ring and Paddington coughed to get the wizards attention. Wizard looked up with one eye, not stopping his work. “Yes?”

“Sir Laza sent us here for a briefing.” Paddington said, feeling proud she was going to kill something other than the cat they were forced to fight during their final exam.

“Ah, yes. The enemy is testing some new breed of undead creatures. Our sources tell us that they are planning to unleash them on V’kojeb’na to test them. Your mission is to see to it that the experiment fails and all creatures are killed. The village is due north, five days on foot, but if you decide to push yourselves you can get there in three. Any questions?”

“Is the village friendly or hostile? What are we to do if they turn against us?” The barely literate barbarian asked.

“The people of the village are friendly towards us and should provide you with a shelter. Please don’t change their mind.” The wizard said already having a bad feeling about this. “Any more questions?”

“So I can’t even kill an old man or a woman?” The tiefling asked, and Elena elbowed him in the ribs. Laza pretended not to have heard the remark.

Elena followed Victor outside for a little chat. “If that would be all we will leave.” Miss Paddington said, but the elf had more to say.

“Well, it has come to my attention that there is an ancient tomb holding a tome of great value. If you could retrieve it the high command would be most grateful. My friend told me that they are planning to send a squad to collect it at a later date, but you could save them time and make a name for yourselves if you succeed in retrieving it.”

“Where can we find this tomb? How is it protected?” The lowly barbarian asked smelling gold and ham.

“The locals should know where it is. I personally have only read about it and I have no firsthand knowledge myself. All I know is that it’s made of white marble so long ago that it was considered ancient in the first tomes that mention it. Now, if you could give me your lists I’ll see to your equipment for tomorrow. You should leave as early as possible.”

The small group heeded his advice and several days later they were exiting the forest path a mile away from the village of V’kojeb’na. It was midday and they could see the fields and several peasants tending to wheat that was about an inch tall. Elena spots a thin line of smoke and tells her fellows.

“I will send my trusty raven to scout ahead of us.” Miss Paddington says and smiles a black smile. The bird is off, flying away. and Elena’s player goes to the bathroom.
“I want to interrogate a peon.” Victor’s player says, seizing his moment and we all start laughing, knowing how this is going to end.

Viktor looks around and sees the nearest peasant. He runs towards him. “Good day my good man! Let me ask you something, why did you burn down your village?”

The man stares in confusion at the fiendish features of the man speaking with him and then notices the weapons. “You shouldn’t be seen wearing those. The government has issued a proclamation that armed men will be hanged by the neck.”

“He he, My good man.” Victor says while unsheathing his rapier. “You have bigger problems now than the government.”

The barbarian runs over to them. “What is the problem?” He asks and grabs his companion by the shoulder, hinting he might crush him if he did anything wrong.

“I’m just discussing removing the fellow’s teeth to make a necklace.” After hearing this and seeing the Goliath armed to the teeth the man runs away.

Miss Paddington approaches the group and for some reason universe can’t explain she says: “He did it again, didn’t he?”

Victor seizes his opportunity and takes his comrade’s crossbow. “Stop running or I will shoot you!”

The unnamed peasant stops running. “Now get back over here.”

“You do know that crossbow isn’t loaded?” Miss Paddington asks.

“Pssst, or he might hear you.” Victor says quietly to her and then continues more audibly. “Let’s kill him and hide the corpse in the wheat...”

“...Before Elena comes to her senses.”
“What are you doing now?” Elena’s player asks as she’s returning from the bathroom. “Nothing” he replies, but Miss Paddington’s player explains the situation. “That did not happen. I was beating him over the head since he got the idea.” “Sorry the damage is done.” I said.
“Right, so let’s kill him and hide the corpse in the wheat.”
“You do realize that wheat is only an inch tall.” Goliath’s player answers.
“Well you do have that maul...” Victor says, but his idea gets shot down by the rest of the party, fearing to lose their graces with the healer.
"Be about your business good man." Elena says. "Now let's see what's wrong with this village."

"As far as I can see through my raven's eyes the village has fifty houses. Forty of them are on this side of a small river and out of those four are burnt to the ground."

"Let us investigate." Barbarian says and with that they set off.

Kaww
2012-10-18, 12:27 PM
Part two, in which the rogue plays Hamlet:


As the party enters the village they notice that only a few people are in the street and not a single child is within sight. All the widows are shut and boarded. Goliath notices that this is strange and suggests to his fellows that they should ask a couple of questions.
They see a villager and Victor hails her. The woman hastens her step.

“I’m going after her.” Victor says, but Elena grabs his arm and shakes her head. “No you are not. Let’s check out the rubble.”
They approach the ruins of a home. It was burned down several days ago. They hear a scraping noise.

“Hello, who’s there?” The barbarian shouted.
“It’s us, help us.” A muffled voice replied from the ruins.
“And who the hell are you?” Barbarian asked again.
“Slavko, I’m from this village. I guess you are not.”
“How long have you been down there?”
“How the hell should I know? Long enough.”
“What have you been eating or drinking down there?” Our barbarian asked, not wanting to let go until he has the proof he needs.
“Some meat and water, I guess.”
“I want to hear the other one.”
“Help us please.” A woman’s voice cries out.
Then the barbarian turns to his party. “I think there’s two of them down there.”
“I’m going to look around and see if I can find anything out.” Paddington says and leaves them. Seeing his opportunity Victor sneaks off as well.


Elena’s and Goliath’s players were discussing what should be the party’s next step. After a short discussion they decided to go and see the village elder. While they were busy talking Victor’s player quietly told me he is going to search the other ruins and leave the rest of his party behind.


Victor is sifting through the ashes of a building and finds two small skulls. He correctly assumes that these belonged to children. He looks around, but the street is deserted. He ponders his situation for a bit and then stands behind a corner, with two skulls in hand.
A minute or so passes before he hears footsteps. Once they get near enough he jumps out and sees and old woman.

“Why did you burn down the children?” He said and pressed the small skulls against the old woman’s face. She starts screaming.
“Crap.” Victor says and pulls out a club. He tries to knock out the old woman, but misses.

”What is she doing?”
“Screaming in shock I guess.” I replied
“He he, that just means another round.” Victor’s player replies and rolls his dice.

Victor strikes the woman on the head with his second attack and she falls to the ground unconscious. He proceeds to tie her up and then pulls her body into a nearest ruin.


Part three, in which PCs skip rolling gather info:


Goliath and Elena heard the scream and came running as fast as they could.
“What in the hells was that?” The barbarian asks.
“I found the one who did it. When I confronted her with evidence she started screaming.”
“I’m going to strangle you.” Aasimar tells the tiefling coldly.

While Victor was busy digging up children’s bones Elena and Goliath went to talk to the village elder, who they found out runs the old watermill.

She knocked on the door and Toza the miller opened. “Yes? How may I help you?” He asked the strange people that were in front of his house.
“We are here to help you about your problem, the NOB sent us.”
“Please come in.”

It actually took them a hilarious half an hour to get inside. They started with things like “We’re here.” Only to have the miller reply “And who might you be?” I just didn’t want to add a transcript of such a pointless talk that made me chuckle a few times. The funny thing is they said the right thing after getting angry with me for not letting them enter with nonsense like “We were told about your problem.”

“Could you please tell me how you found out? Since all this started a little over a week ago.” The elder asked and Elena answered. Since he was satisfied with the answer he bid them welcome and told them what had been happening.

“Ten days ago Slavko and Zika went out of the tavern and they were attacked by three beggars. The lads in the inn heard the shouting outside and ran to help them. They puked their guts out once they got near them. They said that the beggars gave off a gagging smell, but it could be they were just plain drunk. Misa the blacksmith was with them and he didn’t gag on it. Could be dwarves have tougher stomachs or they hold their liquor better. Whatever the case he got to the beggars and started pulling on his Zika, his apprentice. One of the men touched him and Misa said it felt like he froze all over. The men tried to pull him away as well, but he was too heavy and they left dragging Slavko and Zika after them.”

The man made a brief pause before continuing. “We sent a hunting party in the morning, but they stopped after entering the forest. The invading force had forbidden us to enter it and said they unleashed some wild creatures in it. Three days later Slavko and Zika returned to their homes, followed by the beggars. They attacked their families and the villagers formed a mob and chased them. I tried to stop them, but the mob set the houses on fire. Slavko was trapped, but the rest got away.”

“The next day people started boarding the widows and putting heavy furniture on their doors. But the village idiot said it wasn’t necessary. He and his family got taken a night before last. Finaly last night they crawled through Mika’s chimney and they took them away as well. This morning we agreed that we should all light a fire in the fireplace as a precaution.”

“And why did you set the houses on fire?” Goliath asked.

“Well the first two were accidents, but when we realized that Slavko hid in the basement we burnt the remaining two as a precaution, in case there were more plagued people hiding somewhere. When we inspected the third and fourth house we found children’s bones. They were gnawed.”

“Don’t worry good man. We will kill Slavko and the others.” Elena said and then they heard a scream from outside. They ran out and the village elder shouted: “Is something wrong?”
Elena makes her threat and then asks Victor about the woman’s whereabouts.

“She is quite safe and packed as snugly as a ham. I used a whole length of rope to tie her up. By the way, I think these people are cooking children. Look what I found.” He said and showed them a small skull.
“Give me that.” Goliath says and when Victor gives it to him he places it in his pocket.
“Hey, find your own!” Victor says and the barb slaps him.
“We have found our information.” Elena says. “We should go talk to the blacksmith.” Elena tells Victor what they had found out.
“So you are sure that granny didn’t do it?”
“Yes.” Elena replies with murder in her eyes. She goes and frees the old woman.
“Where are we going to sleep?” Victor asked as she was busy.
Goliath shrugged. “In the inn I guess.”
“And where do we go now?”
“To the blacksmith, he was bitten by one of these creatures.” Elena tells Victor.
“In that case to the smithy!” Victor says and then Elena and Goliath show him the way to it.

In it they find the blacksmith making horseshoes. “Good day my good man! We have a few questions!” Victor says loudly. After finding out who they are and who sent them blacksmith is a little more at ease and agrees to answer the questions they have.

“We were told you went after one of those beggars. Could you tell us more?”

“There’s not much to tell. Humans have weak stomachs. They couldn’t handle the smell and they couldn’t come near. I did and when one of those fellows touched me it felt as if my blood froze. One of them bit a chunk of meat from my arm and then they tried to pull me with them. When they saw I was too heavy they decided against it and just left me there.”

“What about the bite?” Elena asked.

“Well, it was an awful sight, seeing someone rip away a piece of your own flesh, but it would’ve been worse if I could have felt it. Since I couldn’t feel a thing it only stings like a bitch.”

“I mean may I see the wound.”
“Ah, sure love, why didn’t you just say so.” He unties the bandages and shows her the bite wound.
Elena examines it and finds no signs of any disease known to her and the elderly dwarf claims not to have felt any sign of illness.

“Do you maybe have any traps, nails and such things?” Victor asks.
“I have a bear trap, only one tho. And I have a sack of nails there.” The dwarf points at a sack near the door.
“May I borrow these things?”
“You may keep them if it helps you get rid of these creatures.”
“Ok, in that case I’m off to the inn.” Victor says and leaves them behind.

“Should we follow him?” Goliath asked and Elena shook her head. “How much damage could he do?” After talking with the blacksmith Goliath and Elena find Paddington and they agree to dig up and kill Slavko and his wife. As a precaution Elena asks Paddington to send her raven to watch over Victor.
Victor finds the inns owner and makes the arrangements for the man to leave the inn empty, so they could use it as a base of operations and a trap for the infected people.


Part four, in which the trap is set:


Victor prepares the inn by making sure all windows, save for the two on the ground level are tightly sealed. He inserts nails in the chimney and wedges them in the floor around the two windows and in the windows themselves. Then he oils up the floor and pours flammable liquids over the oil. Victor takes several hours to do this, but once he’s done his deathtrap is ready.
Meanwhile Goliath digs up the debris and uncovers the cellar door. The ones in the cellar open the door, scream and then run down the stairs into the darker part and cower.

“Hmm, we could throw in a barrel of brandy down the stairs and set it on fire. It seems to be easier than just hacking them apart one at a time.” Feebleminded barbarian proposes.

Hearing this the creatures decide it is better to fight in sunlight to being burned down in the cellar. They charge the three companions.

The couple flail around with their arms and try to bite the Goliath, but only manage to strike his armor, if that. The Goliath and his fellows are taken by surprise and the creatures manage another fruitless attack.

Goliath cuts one of them deeply, but the creature is still standing, even tho there is a large wound gaping in its torso.
Paddington loads her crossbow and fires, but misses while Elena summons a spirit of her ancestors to aid them in combat.

One of the ghouls manages to scratch Paddington, but the gnome resists the cold feeling that tries to chill her blood.

Goliath strikes his foe with such force he cuts it in half and the blade goes through to hit the other one. Falchion sinks deeply into flesh, but the creature remains standing. Paddington looses another bolt. It hits the ghoul’s chest and the lifeless corpse sinks to the ground. The spirit heals Paddington before returning back to its realm.
Goliath left both ghouls exactly at 1hp after each strike. :smallwink:

Kaww
2012-10-21, 05:53 AM
Part five, in which the trap is sprung:


After dealing with Slavko and his wife the three adventurers go to the inn to have some dinner. They inspect Victor’s handiwork and are not convinced the traps will be able to do much. “Something’s better than nothing. Just be sure to remove them before we leave the village.” Elena says and goes to get her equipment ready.

“Yes, remove them, right. Here little one, take this.” Victor tells to nobody in particular as he gives a vial of alchemist’s fire to Paddington. “When you see them enter just throw that at one standing next to the killing field.”

“You mean that bunch of nails in the floor?”
“Laugh all you want, you’ll see how effective it is later.” Victor grumbles and places the finishing touch. The bear trap in the fireplace, then he covers it up with ash.

Sun sets and our heroes see that the villagers are lighting up the fires and can hear scraping of heavy furniture piled to block the doors.
“Are we crazy for having two open windows?” Elena asks.
“It’s in our job description” Barbarian answers.

After a few hours of boredom the ghouls arrive as the four are chatting. Each of them stood in a different corner of the common room. The creatures catch the heroes by surprise. Two former villagers jump inside and one of them slips and falls down, stabbing itself on a few nails. The other one is more careful and moves towards Paddington, since she is closest to it. Before the four have time to react one ghoul attacks the gnome and the other one gets up and approaches Victor. To make matters worse two more jump in and they both slip, fall down and get hurt by the nails.

Victor shouts: “It works, it works!” before throwing a vial on the closest prone assailant. The vial shatters and both the creature and the inn floor are ablaze. Goliath charges the two near Victor. He decapitates the one on the floor and then chops the other one’s arm off. The result of his attack are two limp, lifeless corpses. Paddington moves away from her attacker loads her crossbow and fires, barely scratching the creature that attacked her. “Guys I might need some help!” She shouts. Elena summons a spirit of her ancestors, knowing someone will need healing soon.

The plagued beggar rises from the floor and moves next to Elena. Elena gags with the smell and is feeling ill. The other one move closer to Paddington and attacks, but the tiny gnome dodges the attacks with ease. “Throw the vial at it!” Victor shouts and charges the one attacking his healer. The smell overpowers him as well, causing his attack to miss. Goliath looks at what is going on, he grows and turns green. Then he charges the beggar. His blade makes a ghastly wound, but the beggar is still standing. Paddington moves away from her assailant, picks up the vial and tosses it on it. She misses completely and hits the barbarian. The splash scorches the ghoul a little and ignites the other trap. “Better than I had imagined!” Victor shouts.

“The big one!” Shouts the beggar and the dead villager complies. She moves to flank barbarian and attacks, missing. Her attack was not in vain. The diseased beggar uses the barbarian’s split attention and manages to land three hits. Goliath feels his blood becoming ice cold and he feels that he can’t move a muscle.

Elena and Victor make their attacks, but as ill as they are feeling they fail to land any hits. Paddington shoots her crossbow and manages to embed another bolt in her nemesis. While that is happening the ghost of Elena’s aunt is trying to patch up Goliath.

The villager attacks Paddington and lands a blow, but the little gnome resists the terrifying feeling in her heart. The other one is more industrious. It lashes out at Victor and manages both to bite him and rend his flesh with its claw. Victor is as stiff as a board. “Damn!” Elena says and tries to hit the beggar with her club, but misses. “I’m supposed to heal, not fight.” Paddington takes another step away from her attacker and decorates it with another bolt.

Ghoul attacks Paddington without success, but its fellow strikes Elena and freezes her. It picks her up and carries her away towards the second window.

The battle between Paddington and her pincushion rages as the beggar uses the headless corpse of its former comrade as both a step and protection from flames. They leave the inn through the window. Both Victor and Goliath regain their senses. “You take care of the one Paddington is fighting.” Victor yells and leaves the inn the same way the beggar did. “Smart critter.” He says as he leaves the inn.

Goliath lashes out and slays the diseased villager. He looks around and decides to jump out of the window. He calms down and shrinks back to his original size. He takes a running jump through the window and rams his abdomen on the nails Victor placed in the frame. He grunts and lifts himself up, only to fall back down on the burning oil. He feels the nails sinking in his arm. “That’s how I intended it to work.” Victor says outside for some reason universe doesn’t know.

”So can I jump out through the window?” L, the Goliath’s player asks.
“If you were medium, sure.”
“The encounter is technically over right?”
I nod.
“Great, that means there is no fatigue. What’s the DC?”
I look at the map. “Fifteen to jump the distance and let’s say another five because you have to jump through a window.”
L: “That’s easy.” He rolls the die. It was a two or a three. He frowns. “That would be nineteen.”
Me: “Are you sure you can’t find one more?”
L: “Nope. Nineteen.”
Me: “Ok, you struck the edge of the window with your abdomen.”
G, Victor’s player: “Um, I sort of rigged the window frame with nails I sharpened on the other end.”
Me: “Well, L, Your character takes some minor damage.” I roll a d4. “Four damage.”
L: “Wait, I can still fall in a random direction, right?”
Me: “Sure. Here roll a d8.” Before he does I show what result means what.
L: “Five.”
Me: “Well you landed on you back. In the burning oil.”
G: “Don’t forget the nails.”
L: ”I hate you.”



Part six, in which the inn is saved:

While Paddington is busy extinguishing the barbarian, Victor is outside the inn. Since he can’t see or hear Elena anywhere he decides to go left. Then when he comes to a crossroad he chooses to run straight ahead. Elena regains her senses and screams while being held by the beggar.

Victor had chosen his direction well and runs faster. Some fifty feet away he sees Elena and the beggar. He charges the misshapen man and stabs him with his rapier.

The beggar lets go of Elena and bites Victor. Victor once again becomes paralyzed, but Elena casts a spell that entangles both the man and Victor as she's moving away from her foe. Seeing that there is nothing else for him to do and that the day is lost the beggar bites at Victor’s throat and Victor slumps to the ground.

Elena in her fury summons a small thunder cloud above the creature’s head. It zaps the beggar and he collapses to the ground.

J: “I want to cast entangle, so the ghoul won’t run away.”
Me: “OK? Sure, why not.” She shows the area under entangle and ghast has its move.
Me: ”Well, since I can’t do anything I’ll CDG Victor.” I roll the dice. “G, roll a fort save DC 24.”
He laughs and throws the dice. “Will a five do?”
I shake my head.
G: “Well, in that case I’m using a DM point to stay alive.”
J: “Sorry for making you waste it. I’ll cast thunder head on the thing, so we can follow it.”
She casts the spell and rolls damage.
Me: “The ghast dropps dead, since G left it at exactly three hit points.”
Players curse a bit. By the way Isi (Paddington’s player) the ghoul you were fighting and L finished had one hp left when he attacked it.
J, trying to ignore what I said: “Well, I’ll heal Victor. It’s the least I can do.”

Elena manages to save Victor and her deceased aunt heals him. He regains consciousness. “I saw death, it was this close.” Victor says and gestures with his hand, showing how close he came to dying. They go back to the inn, Victor is dragging the ghast’s corpse.

He throws it in through the burning window and throws two alchemists fires after it. While the two were killing the ghast and returning Paddington extinguished the barbarian. Goliath got up and saw that the fire was spreading. He ran to the blacksmith’s home. “Open up! I need a huge cauldron or something to put out the fire.”

The blacksmith opens the door and with the help of the villagers the inn is saved, for the most part. “I wasted those two vials.” Victor says cursing under his breath. With that they go to sleep in a half burnt tavern a few hours before dawn.


Thus ends the first session. It lasted a little over five hours and I actually cut out the bits that weren't that interesting...

Kaww
2012-10-25, 08:57 AM
Episode 2, in which the PCs wrap up their first mission:


The next morning, or about noon, to be more precise the group is ready to find the source of the contagion. Elena follows the tracks last night’s assailants had made. The party follows the tracks for more than four hours before arriving to a cave entrance. Scattered around it are bones, too small to belong to mature humans.

“I would guess they belonged to children, or a horde or gnomes.” Victor deduces.
Elena is upset by the sight. “Let’s just go inside and kill the lot of them. There might be some survivors.”

The entrance is ten feet wide and tall enough for Goliath to enter. “Maybe we should discuss strategy.” The barbarian suggests and after the four argue about who should go first they reach no conclusion. Elena enchants a dozen stones while the three are still arguing. She gives the pebbles to Victor and Paddington.

“Here, these should prove more useful than arrows or bolts.” After saying that she sends her dead aunt to explore the cave. Paddington walks about ten feet inside the den and sees a monster. She throws a stone at the first enemy she sighted. The stone lodges deep inside the woman’s cranium and she screams in pain before running away behind a corner.

Through the specter’s eyes Elena sees a dozen humanoids eating in the darkness. Encouraged by her success Paddington runs deeper into the cave before Elena manages to warn her of the actual danger that lies ahead.

The plagued ones run to help their injured comrade and surround Paddington, but the dexterous gnome is a difficult target and she manages to dodge all attacks. Victor and Goliath both see their chance and charge the misshapen men and women. Victor sinks his dagger and rapier in one and kills it, rending its flesh.

Goliath is filled by rage and turns green. His axe dispatches two opponents in one swoop. Elena’s aunt moves near Paddington and distracts the creatures. From the dark two hunched beggars emerge and attack the barbarian, but he slays one before it reaches him and inflicts a grievous wound onto the other.

Paddington decides against any form of attack and focuses her attention on dodging the numerous opponents. The diseased ones are no match for the barbarian and his flanking buddy. They are destroyed in mere seconds.

“Good idea acting as bait.” Barbarian says and pats the gnome’s head.
"Yes, I definitely did it on purpose." The little woman replies gingerly.

Tiefling explores the cave and finds a stash of children’s bodies. “I believe there are no survivors!” He yells from the deepest part of the cavern.

“We’ll go get a wagon, so we could bring them back to the village and bury them. Somebody needs to stay behind in case more of them return.” Goliath suggests.
“I’ll stay behind with the toys.” Victor says while he’s busy playing with the smallest corpse he could find, as if the body was a puppet.
Elena hits him over the head. “I’ll stay behind and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

With that the party splits for the third time in two sessions.



I'm really short on time right now, so I might post less frequently. I'll try my best to have regular updates, but I make no promises. I won't stop posting until the campaign is over, one way or the other.

Thanks for reading. :smallsmile:

Kaww
2012-10-27, 05:19 AM
Session 2 part 2, the red shirt:


Victor was busy making a barrier of corpses. One could argue that it was for tactical reasons of making the attackers more vulnerable as they climbed them to enter the cave. But his reasons were much simpler. He enjoyed his new playthings.

After he was done fortifying the cavern he checked its walls and found a small oval gem embedded near the entrance. He dislodged the stone and put it in his pocket. He and Elena went to sleep in the corpse filled cave and in the middle of the night they were both struck by fever.

While they were securing the cave Goliath and Paddington had reached the village and told the peasants about what had happened. Since it was too late they went to sleep in the partially burnt tavern.

Next morning the odd pair returned to the cave followed by several peasants and a cart pulled by a pair of mules. The peasants saw the bodies piled at the front of the cave and thought it was to make their job easier, unsuspecting what Victor was doing last night. Goliath helps them load the corpses and in less than fifteen minutes the gruesome task is done.

In the cave Elena heals damage caused by the fever and casts a spell to delay the illness’s effect until they reach a more skilled healer. Without much talk the dozen people head towards the village and then to the cemetery.

The whole village is gathered and the graves were being dug since before the sun rose. When the somber party arrived Goliath was about to help with grave digging when Victor started picking up the small corpses and shouting: “Does anyone know whose child this is?”

The villagers start shouting at him and Goliath and Elena pacified him. Feeling unappreciated Victor sees the tomb made of while marble. He realizes how lucky he must be to come where he wanted to go in the first place. The rogue moves towards it. What Victor fails to notice is that the priest moves to stop him, but the villagers hold him and have a quiet talk with him.

Not suspecting anything Victor approaches the crypt and when he is about five feet away from the entrance bursts into flames. The unlucky thief screams and curses as he falls to the ground badly burnt.

“Damn it! My red shirt!” Victor screams once he realizes that everything save for his enchanted equipment had become a pile of ash. Elena approaches him and summons the ghost of her aunt. Aunty starts patching up the prodigal son when the abbot comes their way.

“I told them I should warn you. But they said there was no need. That you knew what you were doing.”
“What the hell was that!?” Victor shouts as pieces of his skin are falling off in flakes and the new pink skin replaces it.
“Well, you see the tomb was used to execute criminals from this and surrounding villages. Whoever approaches the entrance bursts into flames. Very few actually survived the ordeal.”
“I’m going to kill them!” Victor screams and tries to walk towards the villagers, but Elena holds him tight. He screams again, on account of his burns.
“You deserved it and you know it.” She tells him without pity.
“Do you have any clothes nearby? You must have something in the church!” Victor yells at the priest.
“Well, I do, I guess...” The abbot mumbles and Victor continues his yelling.
“Then bring it here you moron.”
“Yyy-yes sir.” The abbot runs off and returns a minute later with the white robes of an altar boy.
“What the hell is this!?” Victor is foaming by now.
“The only spare clothes I have in the church.” The priest replies meekly.

Kaww
2012-11-11, 10:48 AM
After the rogue is patched up he decides to test whether he will be burnt by the trap if he touches the rear wall of the crypt. Victor gingerly approaches it and reaches for the marble wall with his eyes closed. He touches the smooth surface. He’s still alive, nothing had happened.

“Well, I was sure I was going to get burned.” He says with a nervous laugh. “What now?”
“I don’t know, that’s your job I guess.” Elena replies with a shrug.

Victor takes a better look and notices something odd about the arabesque. On first glance it looks like standard leaves and flowers motif, but he saw several sharp edges standing out. By the time Goliath is done digging graves Victor had deciphered a hidden message.

“What happened with him?” Goliath asks as he approaches. He was so engrossed in digging that he had missed Victor losing his hair. The barbarian was still upset because his white mane got burnt in the tavern fire.
“He got too close to the door of the crypt.” Elena says and points to the slab of marble that acts as a door.
“Oh, really?” Goliath rubs his chin, thinking.

“Hey, everyone, I figured it out!” Victor says as he approaches them. Suddenly Goliath pushes the weak rogue towards the door. In an instant Victor is enveloped in flames, again.
“Why did you do that?” Elena asks Goliath with surprising calm.
“I owed him one.”
“You do know I have to heal him now?”
“Wise woman’s gotta do what wise woman’s gotta do.”

Elena summons her aunt and the ghost starts healing Victor. “You never learn sweetie, do you?”
“You know, I have a theory on how we could get in. And you do sleep big boy, don’t you?” Victor says, ignoring the ghost.
Goliath frowns, but stays silent.

Once the spirit’s work is done Victor leads the other three to the back of the crypt. “See here.” He points at the arabesque. As they all examine the carvings Victor kicks Paddington towards the wall. Just before she collides with it she disappears.

“I thought so.” He takes a running start and slams into the unyielding marble wall.

Me: “Roll for bull rush, both of you.”
After rolling Victor wins easily.
Isi: “Why did you kick me and not L?”
G:”You are the only one I can kick.” Isi frowns a bit.
Me:“Well Isi, you are going to collide with a wall.”
Isi:“I have an anklet of translocation. Could I enter the crypt?”
Me:”Sure if you want to.”
Isi:”I do.”



Sorry for the delay. But I can choose to spend the little free time I have gaming once a week or updating this log. Which one would you choose? My schedule should clear up in the next two weeks, so the updates should be more regular.