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View Full Version : Journal The Dark Tides- 3.5 D&D



Techwarrior
2015-11-01, 06:23 PM
This is a campaign journal for a campaign I'm going to be running back home. We'll get everyone together every second or third weekend or so to game. The campaign is going to be a longer running one. We started at third level, and this could easily run to mid teens. The party has an unspecified adventure together under their belt and have come to the port city of Adrilanka to look for work and drink off their pay.

Name: Odium
Race/Class: Half Elf Rogue (houseruled to have Survival and Track)
Concept: Looking to be a hunter, but not a Ranger. Plays a very loner-esque style. So far has been the de-facto leader.

Name: Kyta
Race/Class: Half Orc Barbarian
Concept: Warrior basically. This player is new to the game, but has a knack for role playing the Kevin Smith moments of the 'strong silent type,' and is great fun. Wields a maul.

Name: Atropa
Race/Class: Halfling Cleric of Pelor
Concept: Wants to play a bright beacon of hope, light, and divine wrath. The player has never played a party face type, and is giving it a shot. Tends to be a little open with info, much to the Rogue player's chagrin.

Name: Tyranus
Race/Class: Elf Evoker
Concept: Wants to play a blaster wizard, and has been roleplaying the dark, mysterious wizard archetype. The player isn't the greatest socially, but is a fun person. He keeps getting confused as to how we always know what his dark, mysterious, Gandalf wizard is doing before he says it.
The group has come to a bar on the docks after completing their first adventure together to drink off their pay and look for more work. They ask the waitress about any work in the area, and they are directed to a bulletin posted on the wall.

The party crowds around the bulletin. A man named Therin, owner of Adrilanka's Best Shipping, wanted a group of warriors to take care of odd jobs. Odium tells the party that he's pretty sure that Therin's Shipping is about a dozen buildings down the dock, and that they could see him in the morning quite easily.

Morning comes quickly for the party, and after a quick assessment of their spells, they head off to Therin's Shipping.

The building has a small lobby with glass cases showing off various kinds of fine goods, and behind the counter is a store clerk that greets them warmly, asking if she can help them.

Atropa replies that yes, they were looking to see Mr. Therin about the bulletin he'd put up. The clerk tells her that while Therin isn't here right now, she'd let him know that they had inquired and he would meet them at the bar they were staying at noon for lunch.

The party is at a loss for what to do for a moment, but then Kyta decides that he's going back to the bar to drink some more. After that, the other party members easily find ways to pass the next few hours.

At noon, the group congregates around their table just in time to see a well built man with relatively simple dress walk in and immediately head over to them. He introduces himself as Therin, and after a brief exchange, he asks if they would be willing to take on 'a small problem' for him. The rogue declares that small problems are his specialty.

Therin offers them 50 gold each to take care of a large infestation that came in with his latest shipment, along with a 'minor magical bauble' he has lying around. The group readily accepts his offer and, after getting directions to the warehouse in question, heads off to take care of this 'small problem.'

The warehouse is at the end of a long wooden pier towards the lower end of the decks: a large barn-size building, complete with double doors. The suddenly nervous party quickly checks their weapons and has the half orc kick open the large doors.

The barn is shrouded in darkness, more so than would be expected off a building with no windows or lights. Sunlight just simply stops as it crosses the threshold of the doorway. This prompts a Nimbus of Light spell from the cleric. However, the light does not penetrate the magical darkness and after a moment of contemplation the party ventures into the darkness.

As the party enters, I begin describing the scratching noises of claws on wood, causing several anxious looks amongst the elf and halfling's players. After rounding the corner of several crates, the party comes upon an absolutely massive amount of rats of various sizes, the largest being about the size of a small dog. The rats are digging amongst the crates.

Odium tells Tyranus to 'light them up.' A successful Spot check from Odium gets him a note from me telling him that one of the rats looks back at him specifically, making eye contact with him as he gives the order.

The wave of rats moves to engulf them, and the rat Odium has recognized as intelligent makes a Hide check amongst the wave of rats, along with the darkness. Odium's keen elvish sight lets him track it through the swarm as it advances, and even notice that the rat is carrying a recorder of some kind in its paws.

Odium raises his shortbow, and lets fly an arrow at this rat. Natural 20, max damage rolled. The arrow flies straight through the rat, and shatters on a wooden slat beneath it. The rat snarls loudly, tanking a not-insignificant portion of the damage with DR. The rat immediately decides to ditch this place and squeezes through the wooden slats, dropping into the water below along with the instrument.

The fight after that is mostly mop up. 3 dire rats and a rat swarm would be a terrifying fight at level 1-2, but by this level they've got enough barbarian to rip through the fight, although everyone chipped in. The wizard's burning hands spells in particular made short work of the swarm.

A quick check in at the warehouse reveals that Therin will meet the party again for dinner and give the reward then. They kill some more time, simultaneously ignoring several other possible side quest hooks. They instead sit in front of the warehouse while the half orc goes back to the bar to drink and woo wenches. The party has concluded that, with the barbarian's perfect physique and insane charisma (an 18 in each physical stat, and a 16 into charisma, for a total of 20 Str, 18 dex/con, and 14 charisma) he is really good at wooing wenches.
The party is met at the warehouse by a moderate group of burly grunts, including a half orc. The halfling asks 'do you work for Therin?' To which the leader grunts in the affirmative before they go into the warehouse and begin moving the crates out of the warehouse.

The rogue player face palms at that, explaining that she at least needs to avoid using the guy's name when she asks that kind of thing.

Fast forward a few hours later and the party heads to their meeting with Therin. He meets them for dinner, and congratulates them on their success. Talk begins of the potential for further employment when a cloaked elf enters the bar and makes straight for Therin. He whispers in his ear for a moment, and his face is immediately blanks. Therin motions for the elf to sit, and introduces him as the guy who takes care of his larger problems. The elf immediately makes eye contact with Odium, obviously suspicious of him.

The conversation continues as the party gives a brief description of their exploits before the halfling drops the bomb by mentioning the recorder. The elf immediately perks up, as does Therin. There is a bit of intense questioning from Therin before he gives up on that. The halfling asks if they could help him find it, and he declines. Odium speaks up at this point, pointing out that that's likely a large problem, and 'we're just the small problems guys.'

The elf leaves, saying that they need to start tracking down that flute. Therin begins going over the rewards, first handing out a large pouch of coin and then a necklace. The necklace is a small gold coin on a silver chain with a moderately sized hole in it's center which the chain loops through. There are also four small engraved lines on the coin, arranged like the four points on a compass.

When asked what the medallion does, Therin says, "It brings the wearer to wherever they most need to be, when they are needed the most."

The topic of more work is brought up again, this time by Kyta. Therin responds that he always has more work for them as long as they are willing, he's been in need of a crew to handle his small problems. Odium replies that small problems are his specialty.

Therin tells them that he had been purchasing pearls from a small fishing village a few days ride to the north, near the edge of the Great Swamp. However, recently they'd been unable to send out shipments. He needed the party to fix that, whatever it took. Payment would be discussed on their return.
The party arranges to have horses procured for them by Therin in the morning and heads to bed. Little roleplaying was done at this point, but a small food break did separate these two portions of the session. I gave license to the party to select the color of their horses, and everyone chose roan. Well, except the dark, mysterious wizard. He wanted a black horse with a small white diamond on it's neck. Everyone made assorted jokes poking fun about the cliché.

The journey was swift. Several attempts caravans passed the party on their way, but very little roleplay was done. Mostly a 'hail' followed by carrying on.

The fishing village was located near a river which they followed for the last portion of their journey through rocky hills. The village, made up of about eight houses loosely arranged in a semi-circle on the coast, was at the bottom of a small valley. A largish fire was in the center of this semicircle. A Spot check revealed three man-sized figures standing around the fire. Only a single boat was tied up on the pier, and there was what appeared to be a large stockpile of wood near the fire.

The party rode down the hill and approached the three elderly fishermen around the fire as the fishermen attempted to warm their hands. Fall's chill was just starting to set in, so the fire didn't seem completely out of place. Several things were quickly established from talking to the grizzled fishermen. Firstly, for three weeks there had been sharks attacking boats and swimmers for seemingly no reason. Second, few people who had gone out to see in the last week had returned. Most of the boats had all washed up in an inlet nearby, hence the pile. Thirdly, at night, occasionally a dark mass could be seen looming in the distance.

The party decided to investigate the cove, and rode down the river to the inlet. A small tree stood at the top of the inlet, which was fed by a waterfall from the river down 30 feet. Rocky outcroppings separated the small pool inside the inlet from the sea.

The party is unsure what to do, and begins discussing possibilities for a couple of minutes. Kyta's player quickly gets fed up with the discussion of what they're planning to do and just dives into the inlet. After a quick check of his character's skills, it was decided that the half orc took no damage from the jump. Kyta can see a cave mouth past the waterfall. Everyone crowds around the cliff face for a moment before Odium gets out a rope to climb down on.

After a failed spot check, Kyta is shot at by an arrow and two crossbow bolts through the waterfall for minor damage. Initiative is rolled, but I point out to everyone that while they see the shots fired at Kyta, they still don't know what's going on.

Atropa and Tyranus have no actions to take, and Kyta immediately swims over to the rocks. Odium begins looping the rope around the tree several times to make it stay put. More shots are fired at Kyta, but nothing lands. Odium starts uncoiling armlengths of rope, Kyta 'performs evasive swimming maneuvers,' and Tryanus and Atropa argue about the safest way to get Kyta out of there.

Odium jumps off the cliff face, rope in hand. I declare that his jumping swing is very akin to a charge. As he tumbles into the area, he makes a huge sneak attack on the closest target for an instant kill. As Odium pulls himself up he gets a good look at what's on the other side of the waterfall. He is currently standing next to two large, bipedal fish-people (sahuagin), armed with a crossbow and a longbow. The one with the bow is obviously the one in charge, as it's directing the others. At his feet is the crumpled remains of the second crossbow-fish. Inside the cave sitting nearby with their tridents, are no less than eight of the sahuagin warriors.

"KYTA!!!" Odium cries out as he stands up fully and holds his rapier at the ready.

Kyta swims back towards the waterfall and the two casters begin climbing down the rope.

The party shudders as I pick up the dice. However, the round is basically filled with sahuagin getting into range and misses from the archer and crossbow.

Atropa throws a Sound Burst into the group of Sahuagin warriors, disabling half of them for a round. Odium calls out to take out the leader, and stabs at the crossbow-fish. Tyranus chants briefly and the leader collapses in howling laughter Hideous Laughter. Kyta gets into the cave and immediately rages and charges into the group of warriors, cleaving two of them with minimum damage from his raging Strength and Power Attack.

The crossbow-fish dies from an Attack of Opportunity as it tries to shoot at Odium, and the two Sahuagin not dead or incapacitated by magic run for the lake in the back of the cave. Loosing half of their members in a matter of seconds, and their leader being rendered prone from bouts of laughter is horrible for morale. The barbarian steps up and strikes at the laughing leader, but is so angry he can't even keep his aim under control. (Nat 1, full Power Attack) Odium however, moves into a flanking position and rolls incredibly high on his Sneak Attack, almost gutting the fish in one stab.

The spell is shaken off by the sahuagin, but his warriors are routed and running back into the lake. Being prone between a raging barbarian and a dexterous rogue, and already low on hit points, there isn't a whole lot of options left to the Sahuagin. It awkwardly croaks out "Parley?"

Odium: "Dammit! Do we even take prisoners?"

A quick discussion decides that they do in fact take prisoners and they awkwardly wrap the rope around the Sahuagin about a dozen times. (Rogue has no ranks in Use Rope) They then begin interrogating the Sahuagin, but it knows very little. It does tell them that it's tribe had been directed by the priestesses to attack the fishing vessels. It had no idea why though.

The party all climbs up the rope and then pull the creature up the cliff face. A joke is made about tying the prisoner to their horse and dragging it back that way, but I point out that it was unlikely to survive the ride being pulled against the ground. Instead, Odium holds one end of the rope and they walk back. Kyta angrily butts the back end of the Sahuagin with his maul handle whenever it seems to be going too slowly.

The ride back to town goes uneventfully, and they lead the sahuagin to the fishermen before relaying their story. The fishermen aren't sure what to do, but do tie up the sahuagin much more securely to a pole in the ground. Dinner is already being made, although Odium and Kyta decide to ride back to the cave and retrieve some sahuagin meat for the gumbo being prepared.

--End Session--

The party levels up to 4 between sessions, and I begin describing the storm setting in as they make up their beds in a house. Odium is beginning to look a little pale and feverish. He must have caught a disease from the bites of the rats.

Fisherman: "He won't be coming back anyway, you make yourselves at home there for the night. You don't want to go out tonight in this."

An extremely loud thunderclap wakes the party, and I begin describing how truly terrible the storm has gotten. The party begins looking outside, only to discover that they can't see outside from the Obscuring Mist that has set in.

Kyta: I take my dagger and cut myself a slice of the fog.
Atropa: What?
Odium Because it's as thick as pea soup!

A Listen check reveals some chanting and incantations not too far from their location. Tyranus tells the party that someone is summoning large, powerful animals. Everyone hurriedly grabs their weapons, and Atropa casts Nimbus of Light so that they can see clearly.

Tyranus peeks out the door.

Another summon is cast, and the party can easily hear the snarling, snapping of a large wolf. Tyranus starts to close the door, but it's ripped off of it's hinges by a wolf the size of a large horse. Initiative is rolled, and the dire wolf loses (thus beginning me rolling a single initiative higher than a 3 during the night).

Kyta and Odium both put hugely damaging arrows into the snarling creature, and Tyranus launches a lance of flame at the creature for moderate damage. Atropa pitches in with a quick curse. The whole party exchanges nervous glances as it comes up to the wolf's actions.

The dire wolf attacks Odium, who had executed a disgusting Sneak Attack on it. The creature bites him easily, but between Odium's strength and Atropa's curse on the wolf, it fails to bear him to the ground. A second dire wolf enters the house as a second thunderclap echoes down the beach, quickly followed by the groan of wood stressed under it's own weight.

Kyta drops his bow, and takes a huge maul swing to force the summon b ack whence it came as it disappears in a puff of smoke and dissolves away. Atropa uses her wand of Cure Light Wounds on Odium, afraid to enter the melee with the creature. Tyranus throws a devastating lance of flame at the second dire wolf, injuring it heavily and scorching it's fur.

The dire wolf leaps across the room and savagely rips the wizard with it's teeth, bearing him easily to the ground and taking about 80% of his hp in one go. Kyta moves in for a maul swing, but misses horribly, unable to find the same success as he did last round. Tyranus actually draws his longsword from prone, deciding against using more spells, and actually hits the dire wolf for decent damage. Odium fires off another Sneak Attack on the now flanked dire wolf. Atropa, concerned that Tyranus might die, spontaneously gives him a Cure Moderate to keep him in one piece.

A third thunderclap is heard, immediately followed by the shattering of wood.

The dire wolf, angry at the sneak attack, grabs Odium and with one quick bite drops him (-8 hp) instantly. Everyone scrambles at this point and Tyranus actually deals the killing blow with a critical hit from his longsword for about 15 damage.

As the players discuss their amazement at Tyranus for his strange melee competence (he touts his superior elven lineage as reasoning), I describe their search through the fog as they step across shattered chucks and splinters of wood. The fog abruptly ends some twenty feet away from the shoreline, and successful spot checks see the sahuagin they'd captured diving into the sea. Atropa fires off the ray from her Nimbus of Light as Tyranus, who had made an exceptionally high spot check, points out a golden eagle flying off towards the strange silhouette in the distance. The beam of light hits sea foam several meters from the sahuagin.

The party talks briefly of going out into the storm, but between their spell slots and their lack of knowledge on how to row a boat, they decide to wait until morning.

When morning comes, they prepare their spells (Atropa prepares two copies of Lesser Restoration to deal with Odium's disease) and talk to the old fisherman about borrowing his boat. Atropa asks if he would come with them, since they have no practical knowledge of boating. Several weak attempts at diplomacy later, Odium convinces the old fisherman.

Odium: Don't worry Captain. We've got this.
Fisherman: Oh dear gods... I'll go get ready.

The group gathers and heads out into the storm. The fisherman is leading the group, giving commands on when to row. The group travels like this for several hours, the silhouette in the distance looming ever closer and darker. Eventually, it takes on the shape of a lighthouse on a large rocky outcropping. Spot checks are failed, and the party gets nervous.

Fisherman: That's strange, it seems like that wave is headed towards us...

Suddenly an arc of lightning hits him dead in the chest, he falls to the deck of the boat immediately at 0 hp. Everyone makes spot checks, and can see lightning crackling in the distance from a sahuagin priestess, as well as what appears to be a wave bearing down on them. The waves rush over to them and splits into two separate waves. The two humanoid shaped waves flank the boat. One smacks at the half orc, and the other stops the boat dead in the water.

The party springs into action. Odium, Kyta, and Tyranus all grab their weapons and begin beating on the water elemental that attacked Kyta. The creature takes a major amount of damage from their combined efforts. A second arc of lightning sizzles above the waterline to strike Atropa. Atropa Commands the injured water elemental to flee, provoking an Attack of Opportunity from each of the melee fighters, Tyranus being the only one to land a solid blow on the water elemental. The second water elemental slams Odium with it's whip-like watery appendage.

The melee moves over to the other side of the ship, and the second water elemental is beaten on by the trio. A third arc of lightning hits Atropa, finally dealing her enough damage to begin to be a concern. Atropa channels negative energy and prepares herself for the return of the elemental she'd commanded. The water elemental surges back towards the boat, struggling to hold it's cohesion as it looses water and form. Atropa meets it as it comes into range with a single pulse of negative energy and the creature disperses, the momentum of the water rushing over her with a splash, leaving her soaking. The crackling lightning in the distance stops.

The party quickly mops up the second water elemental, and the sahuagin priestess dives below the surface. Charges of Cure Light Wounds wands begin getting pumped into the party and everyone gets ready to continue rowing. A bright light can be seen emanating from the lighthouse as the temperature continues to drop. Odium makes a Survival check to adjust their cloaks to better keep out the weather, and Atropa blesses Tyranus to keep him safe from the elements.

The lighthouse sits atop a large, circular bluff of rock, seemingly pulled from beneath the sea. Everything is covered in a black algae, and appears to be coated in the kind of slime one finds beneath the waves. The rain is still going, and as they near the island, breath begins to crystalize from some unnatural cold setting in around this area. The party finds a small cove on the side of the island, and pulls their boat in. A large cave mouth can be seen from the shoreline. Atropa mentions the possibility of climbing the cliff face, to which me and Odium's player laugh for a moment before telling her that isn't going to be realistic.

The party suggests to the fisherman that he stay near his boat, and he tells them that they'd better not get themselves killed, because it would be an absolute pain getting back to shore on his own. They then head towards the cave mouth. A load scream can be heard from the fisherman, along with the splash of water from many bodies moving out of the ocean.

The party turns to see the fisherman running from his rowboat as a ghast, followed by eight ghouls (lacedon really) rise from the water and climb into his boat. Initiative is rolled, and the ghast rolls a nat 20 and immediately runs towards the party. The wizard recognizes the faintly glowing orange beads on it's neck as a Necklace of Fireballs.

Now, guess what spell I totally had no idea that the wizard learned on level-up? Command Undead. Not only that, but he had the spell prepared as well. Nat 1 on my savings throw. So the wizard commands the ghast to take one of the beads from his necklace, and throw it at the ghouls. Instantly evaporates half of them from the roaring blast of magical fire, and leaves the rest with less hp than I can count on the fingers of one hand. Kyta and Odium take their bows and immediately drop one of those remaining.

Unsure precisely how to deal with this sudden change from their leader, I decide that in the fury of it all that they are still hungry hungry ghouls, and that the Cleric of Pelor is something that they crave. An attack of opportunity from the ghast drops a second ghoul as they run past it charging at the priest. One manages to actually hit, but the Halfling shrugs off it's paralytic touch. Quick swordplay from Odium and Tyranus drop the other ghouls.

Now cue the discussion of what to do with the ghast. Atropa asks if Tyranus can make the ghast suicide, and I remind him that any 'obviously suicidal order' immediately breaks the spell. Atropa and Odium want the creature disposed of, and Tyranus tries to persuade them to it as a tool that they can use in their adventure. Eventually, not wanting to directly combat the creature themselves (Atropa has enough Knowledge: Religion to know all about Ghast's Stench and Paralysis) they decide to use it as a front-liner, hoping that it will soak up some hits for them. They do insist that the necklace of fireballs be handed over, and Tyranus takes it up for himself.

Oh how hilariously well that went for them...

The ghast leading the way of the party, they head into the cave mouth, the fisherman (Expert 2) following behind them nervously. The cave itself is covered in the sludge, and is incredibly dark, so Odium lights a torch and hands it to Tyranus. The cave entrance is a moderately sized, roughly circular room with a tunnel leading up into darkness. However, Odium notices a strange draft emanating from the room. A quick search check turns up a boulder rolled up against one of the walls to form a wall/door. Kyta and Odium team up to push it out of the way, although Kyta does most of it.

The boulder rolls away to reveal several wolves that were sleeping on the ground in front of a huge makeshift bed. On top of the bed is a large humanoid creature with thick skin. The ogre is covered in furs, and the snoring of just a moment ago is replaced by a noisy cough as it wakes up and notices the party.

Kyta and Odium immediately back out of the doorway, telling Tyranus to send in the ghast. The ghast howls with hunger and charges into the newly formed doorway to strike the ogre, paralyzing him. The wolves start barking and then start retching like a dog that's getting ready to vomit. Odium and Kyta get their bows ready and say that until something leaves that room, they're holding their fire.

The ghast takes the wolves on with a howling glee as they try their best to fight it off. Between paralysis and the -2 to just about everything from the stench though, they barely manage to land more than a handful of blows. It takes the ghast the full 5 rounds of the first paralysis it landed on the ogre for it to shred the wolves. Atropa then Commands the ogre to Sit. A failed will save later and he grunts out "Okay." as he sits back down on the bed. The ghast immediately paralyzes the ogre again with it's next full attack and follows that up with a Coup de Grace for an instant kill. The ghast has 4 hp left. Everyone just kinda stares wide-eyed at this thing.

Tyranus: See, I knew he'd be useful.
Atropa: It. You knew it would be useful.
Odium: I'm just glad we didn't fight the thing ourselves.

Tyranus sends the ghast back out, telling it to watch the cave while they loot the room. Not much is turned up. The Ogre was utilizing a Masterwork Maul and a Longspear, and had a journal. Tyranus immediately snatches it up and begins to read while the warriors turn over the room. Atropa asks the distraught fisherman if he'd be comfortable holing up in the ogre's den while the party continued on into the cave.

Tyranus discovers from the terrible handwriting of the ogre that it was the rearguard for a small strike team that was hunting a dark creature through these caves. The journal made mention of the fishing being good outside, but that the ogre still needed to decide how best to go about fishing in the cave.

The party begins spelunking in earnest, heading up the tunnel. After a short travel time, I begin describing the sound of flowing water, and the occasional mushroom here and there which soon begin to multiply until the party is walking across what amounts to a carpet of small mushrooms. The tunnel suddenly opens up into a small chamber, absolutely covered in the mushrooms. Off to the party's right, Odium and Tyranus can see some vines along the ground as well as a pool of water. The party heads over to this pool, and I describe how the vines seem to span a semicircle coming off of the pool. The vines also go a few feet into the water, but those seem to just be floating. In the center of the circle of vines is a rowboat, atop of which is the skeleton of a large sized creature. The skeleton is covered in vines, but on it's right hand is a heavy, rusted gauntlet, pitted with rust.

Kyta: Ogre-sized?
Me: Yes.

The party, unwilling to venture into the vines, sends the ghast to retrieve the rusty gauntlet. It brings it back, and then the party commands it back into the vines while they examine the gauntlet. The gauntlet is covered in rust and pits, but has a leather interior which appears completely undamaged. Kyta puts the glove on, and I tell him that as he puts the gauntlet on, it changes size to perfectly fit his own hand. Furthermore, when he puts it on, it seems like the weight of the rusted metal disappears, and the glove is as supple and light as a leather glove. A quick test confirms that it does indeed regain that weight and heft of the rusted metal when it is no longer worn. Further discussion is curtailed however, as when Kyta puts the glove back on, he is smacked by one of the vines from an Assassin Vine that had been creeping up on them the whole time.

Tyranus chants briefly, and fire emanates from his Burning Hands in a semicircle. The vine creature is almost completely unharmed, but the normal vines and mushrooms burn up in the wake of the flames. Odium calls a tactical retreat, and everyone runs while Odium gets smacked heavily by the creature's attack of opportunity. The ghast is left behind and told to deal with the creature.

The ghast tore into the Vine viciously, ripping it apart with glee. The poor vine creature was still sick with the stench of the ghast, and never managed to land a blow on the undead abomination. My (and the party's) wonder and surprise at the creature grew even more as the creature fought off the vines and, after beating it inert, the ghast clambered out of the vines, eager for more.

The party decided not to take the rowboat, instead continuing through the series of tunnels ever upwards. I pass Odium a note letting him know that they had past several cut and tripped tripwires along their way. Odium's player nodded, and said "Chester Copperpot." The group continued until they reached a wooden door set into the tunnels. They could tell that the area around the door had been worked purposefully. The ghast opened the door.

The scene in the chamber was that of an absolute bloodbath. ogres and bugbears alike were strewn across the ground, blood was dried all over the smooth stone surfaces from the battle. The party ignored this, and continued onwards. As Kyta began to move over one of the bugbears, it reached up and smacked him with it's rotting arm. A pair of the bugbear corpses got up and moaned loudly. "Brains...."

Atropa immediately presented her holy symbol and invoked the power of Sun. Her turn damage was 1 hit die short of destroying both bugbear zombies, but the first one was obliterated in a bright divine fire. The party immediately started beating the remaining zombie to dust, Tyranus proving once again that he had a reasonable degree of competency with a longsword. The party continued onward.

The tunnel eventually opened up into a massive chamber full of large stalactites and stalagmites. A bitter, salty wind whipped through the chamber and made it difficult to hear anything else. You couldn't see more than 15 or 20 feet between all of the stone features. For lack of a better way, the party heads left, hugging the wall as close as they can through the cavern. The howling wind gets louder and louder until they find it's source. This side of the cave is exposed to the wind and rain outside, and the salt air whips through here especially hard. A quick look up determines that there's only 30 or 40 feet or so of wall before the surface, and the party discusses going up there but ultimately decides to continue through the cave.

I call for Fortitude saves from the prolonged exposure to the cold, and Odium fails his. Between the filth fever and the cold, he's having a real hard time of it right now.

Atropa: Are you going to be alright?
Odium: Yea, once we get out of this blasted cold.

The party continues along the outer wall until they happen upon a large pool of blood. More blood than they've seen in their lives, and they're adventurers. The blood is absolutely sprayed everywhere, all over all of the rocks, for around 30 feet or so. The corpses of seven wolves, one about the size of a horse, were scattered across the ground with large sword wounds cutting into them. Some of the blood had been baked dry by heavy blasts of fire which scorched the stone around the area. A search check turns up another one of those boulders rolled across an opening and Kyta and Odium began to push it aside. However, as soon as they started that, the screeching of thousands upon thousands of bats descended upon them.

The party was immediately surrounded by a bat swarm, although several dire bats were diving at them as well. Tyranus shone like a bright star, utilizing his torch to disperse the swarm while the others fought off the dire bats and Atropa passed around Cures.

After the bats had dispersed, and the dire bats had been killed, Kyta moved the boulder. A behemoth of a man, riddled with burn scars, stood behind the boulder, twelve foot sword at the ready. The creature had deep blue skin and sharp tusks with a large fu-manchu style mustache. "Leave." was all the giant said.

Odium: Okay

Odium immediately ushered everyone out, silencing anyone who tried to argue. The ogre mage slowly moved the boulder back, and meditation could be heard from behind the boulder. Once the party found a new tunnel, and had continued upward, the party finally stopped him and demanded answers.

Atropa: Why did you have us leave?
Kyta: Yea, we could've taken it.
Odium: Did you see those hounds back there? Do you want him to do that to you? He was willing to let us go.

The party continued up the tunnel until they could see the greyish light of day ahead. The party quickly hurried outside, back into the rain. The area was a relatively featureless plateau, dominated by the wrought iron lighthouse. A large set of double doors, etched in runes, set at it's base. A set of wide stone stairs rose from the ground to the doors, at about the slope of a ramp. Two metal gargoyles flanked the doors. Odium groaned. A spot check reveals a golden eagle flying from the top of the lighthouse to shore.

The party immediately begins describing how they want to 'set off' the gargoyles, spending minutes ordering the ghast around the statues as they arranged themselves over and over before eventually Kyta gave up.

Kyta: I poke the gargoyle.
Me: It's an iron statue.

Then the party begins discussing the glowing runes on the doorway. Odium suggests a good old dose of 'monk trap-finding' as the ghast's final move. Tyranus commands the ghast to open the door. I roll damage for the Glyph of Warding as a huge blast of fire incinerates the ghast. The smoke and dust clears, and the ghast is still standing.

1 hp left. :smalleek:

The ghast continues opening the door now that the glowing runes have disappeared, and a large booming noise can be heard echoing throughout the lighthouse. A cadre of sahuagin skeletons charges the ghast from the center of the room and all of them fail to even so much as scratch it.

Atropa Turns Undead.

The skeletons are bathed in a holy, cleansing light as they crumble away. The onxy gems in their eyes falling to the ground with a thud. The ghast is turned, and flees into the lighthouse. The party follows after it.

A metal staircase spirals up into along the edge of the lighthouse, up in circle after circle before leading up to the top. The light emanates from something in an iron pillar which leads from the point of the ceiling down to a glass floor which serves as the ceiling to this room. Snow is falling from the ceiling, and has already covered everything in the area. A strange snake creature is performing a ritual upon the light source, but stops and hisses at the party. "You Sssshould... leeeeave... thisss... placcce..."

Odium fires a shot at the ghast as the party charges up the stairs and misses. Tyranus casts a Shield spell upon himself. The naga moves to the edge of the stairs and fires a barrage of Magic Missiles at Tyranus which intercepts his shield of force. Kyta fires an arrow at the naga.

The naga gathers a chuck of snow with her tail and blows it into her spell as she hurls a lance of ice at Kyta, which pierces straight through his armor for decent damage. Odium puts another arrow into the air towards the ghast, hoping to finish it, but fails. Kyta sighs and dusts it with his own arrow. Atropa casts Heat Metal beneath the naga. Tyranus fires off a Scorching Ray at the naga, dealing some damage, but is partially resisted by her fire resistance.

Odium and Kyta both get into range of the naga, and both elect to charge into her. Tyranus takes his bow and puts an arrow to the air. Competent as he is in melee though, the wizard is not an archer. Kyta crashes into the naga, ripping through her DR with his raging, charging, power attack for approximately 30 damage. No crit, just max damage rolled.

The naga 5 ft. steps back and divides into several illusionary stakes as she Mirror Images. Kyta and Odium continue to melee with her as the iron beneath her glows hot and burns her. Tyranus further proves that he is not an archer.

The naga, getting desperate, Fears the barbarian, who runs right back down the stairs. As he does so, lightning arcs through the lighthouse and the sahuagin skeletons reassemble. Atropa heals Odium, who strikes an image. Tyranus casts Hideous Laughter, but the naga doesn't get the joke.

The naga gathers some more of the snow with her tail and throws another Ice Knife at Odium, but it misses and shatters dealing minor damage to Atropa and Odium. Atropa heals Odium again, who strikes another image. Tryanus casts Magic Missile dealing minor damage to the naga but eliminating the rest of the images.

The naga casts Fear again, and Odium runs down the stairs in panic. Atropa worriedly beats on the naga with her Morningstar, and hits, but can't deal any damage through her DR. Tyranus casts Shocking Grasp and moves to grab the naga, who manages to avoid him.

Several rounds go by with the panicked warriors fighting off the skeletons below as Tyranus tries to land his touch attack and Atropa starts casting Resistance. Their hp slowly whittling away from Ice Knives. Finally however, Tyranus manages to land his Grasp and electrical energy courses through the naga, arcing wildly throughout the room until it finally settles, having killed the naga.

Kyta smashes the onyx gems and the party gathers around the light in the upper chamber. A brightly glowing blade sits in the center of the pillar, sunk into the iron. The party discusses what to do briefly before Kyta decides to draw the sword from the pillar. The hand and a half sword is much lighter than it appears at first, and Kyta offers it to Odium. Kyta heavy, brutish swings wouldn't utilize the blade to it's fullest efficiency. Odium accepts gratefully.

----End Session----

Techwarrior
2015-11-01, 06:25 PM
Reserved, probably going to detail the basic setting a bit more here when I have time.

Techwarrior
2015-11-01, 06:26 PM
Reserved 2. Ambitious yes, but I trust this group to stick together with me for the long haul, even if that means this journal takes a year or so to complete.

ComaVision
2015-11-02, 12:33 PM
Subbed, looking forward to seeing more info from you.

Techwarrior
2015-11-04, 08:31 PM
First update complete. Small Problems, Part 2 details the second half of the first session. Our second session will be Saturday evening. Hopefully I'll get a chance to post some background tomorrow. Otherwise, next update will probably be Sunday or Monday.

Techwarrior
2015-11-14, 05:05 PM
Second update, The Lighthouse, has been added. I'm almost done typing up the setting information, and will be adding that either tonight or tomorrow.

Any comments would be appreciated.