Servants of the Thrallherd IC 2 [3.5, faster posting speed]

[Cavir]

Xaanthios ponders Fentir's words briefly. "Good point. Let's go just into the tunnel to wait."

As Cendrik rounds the building corner he spies the front of the cart. He jogs up to the driver and grabs the reins. "Come on down. Things don't need to get any messier."

Spoiler: OOC

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Xaanthios and Fentir move just inside the tunnel if Fentir agrees.

Cendrik 30' move to F13. Grab the reins with one hand. Keeping the driver in my threatened area.

[BelGareth]

Rex nods, "I think we should just leave, can we not equip our new friend with what we have?" he motions for LockHeed to follow as he walks towards the tunnel.

[Cavir]

With the driver doing nothing in response except gagging Cendrik removes any weapons the dwarf has, stuffing them into his own belt. "Best hope I don't find you causing trouble when I get back to the city." He then grasps the dwarven scum by the back of his collar and drags him to the guard by the tunnel entrance. "An accomplice to kidnapping. Hopefully you can deal with him appropriately."

Cendrik looks to the rest of the party. "Time to head in?"

Once the party is out of site of the entrance he turns to Fentir. "I'm Cendrik. That's Rex, Melinda, Xaanthios, and Lockheed. We hear your the best guide. Interested?"

[J-H]

After dealing with the thieves and writing off the gear you were scammed out of, the party enters the mines, with Fentir in the front and Lockheed bringing up the rear. It’s very dark – anyone without Darkvision will need to use a light source or be led about.

Spoiler: Fentir

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Dwarf
Rogue 5/Stonedeath Assassin 5 (RoS 125)
90hp
Speed 20'
AC 19 (+4 dex, +4 armor, +1 dodge)
BAB +6/+1
Grapple +8
Attack: Dagger+1; +11 for 1d4+3 (4d6 sneak)
Full attack: Daggers+1, +9/+4,+7 for 1d4+3
STR 14 DEX 18 CON 16 INT 12 WIS 12 CHA 8
Saves: Fort +5 Ref +12 Will +5
Feats: Dodge1 Mobility3 Spring Attack5 TWF 7 Iron Will9
Skills: Hide+17, MS+17, Sleight of Hand +15; Survival +14; Bluff +12; Sense Motive +12; Tumble +17; Spot/Listen/Search +14; UMD+12; Gather Info +12

Items:
Chain Shirt
Abberation Bane Bone Dagger +1, Dagger +1, Throwing Dagger x20

“The first couple of hours of travel are nice mines, well-mapped and with flat bottoms and reinforced roofs. We dwarves may be as comfortable under-ground as under-sky, but the sky doesn’t fall in on you if you cut away at the walls too much, does it?

We’re going to bypass most of the good veins of iron and adamantine – and there are a-plenty of them – and then take a couple of vertical climbs and follow a couple of natural caverns carved by water long ago. You’ll find it slow going unless you can walk on the walls, and yon beastie had best keep under control.

The good thing for us is that almost all of the caves, tunnels, and mines here are linked together in one way or another, by magic or tool or by the tunneling of some nasty critter long ago. The bad thing is that they’re all linked together, and many strange things live in the bowels of the earth… things not meant to walk the world above, if you know what I mean? No eyes, too many eyes, too quiet, too loud, too many legs or none at all. When I passed through here before, I went slow and quiet, except when I had to go fast. I know you all wear armor and are ready to fight, but not many of the things down here carry treasure… so fighting may not be worth it, y’ken?

What else do you need to know so I can help you not die? And where are you headed beyond just the other side of the mountains?”

Marching order please… Fentir should be in front or near the front, as he’s the one who knows the path.

[BelGareth]

Having gotten out of the tussle, with nothing less than a raised eyebrow, Rex nods to Fentir as he commands LockHeed to take up the rear position, where he himself would take up, just before him in order of march, allowing the faster, and smarter members of the fellowship to take positions, he figured Xaan or Cendrik would make better decisions than he, Lord Ruler wiling.

"Xaan, can you sense where it is? below or above us?"

[Kish]

"Right, avoid combat as much as possible." Melinda nods. "Let me know if I should stay back somewhere, I'm not particularly stealthy." She'll go as close to the middle as possible.

[Cavir]

Xaanthios slightly raises an eyebrow at the question. After a moment of taking notice of the mental beacon granted by Great Leader he responded. "That way, to the north. Seems about level with where we are. You can still feel it too right?"

Cendrik chimes in. "I'll follow Fentir. Even with my armor I can be quiet and move around quickly. Xaan then Melinda behind me? Melinda, can you supply the light? I can see in low light so a light further back should be good enough for me. If needed I can have darkvision a few times a day." That last word makes Cendrik pause a moment. "Whatever counts as a 'day' in here."

The swordsage listens intently on Fentir's introductions to the tunnels. "The four of us were brought together with a shared... mental beacon... to a location. We know it is in that direction and that it is under the mountains, but not how far it is. We want to get there. Slow and quiet as needed is fine. I can teleport when needed which may help secure a rope on the far side where needed. We're not here to wander blindly and kill things. Yes, if it comes to a fight we'll handle it. Get us there, we deal with whatever is there, and you get us back here. We'll make it very much worth your while at the end. We have our own magic for food and water. Safe to assume you can provide for yourself in here?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Using J-H's answer about the beacon from here.

[Kish]

"Of course." Melinda makes her dagger start glowing.

Spoiler: OOC

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Casting Light.

[J-H]

Spoiler: marching order

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Fentir
Cendrik
Melinda
Xaanthios
RexThaun
Lockheed

Order of travel established, Fentir starts leading you through the mines. “You’re not a very quiet bunch, are you? Lots of armor, used to facing problems head on instead of going around them? If you can do anything to quiet down, it’d help.”

(Move Silently scores are Cendrik +9, Xaanthios/Melinda 0, RexThaun -6)

“So I’m guessing you got taken for a ride by Whats-his-face, the Thieves Guild leader? No, really, I don’t know his name but he is some kind of shape-shifter – really smart and apparently not detectable by basic dweomers.”


The first couple of hours are as described – well-cut, shored up and secure mines, opening to cross-shafts and occasional wider areas and even large halls where some vein of ore seems to have been followed.

[Kish]

"Unfortunately, stealth is not in my training," Melinda sighs, not mentioning that she's glad not to be the noisiest one here. He posed as you or created some kind of illusion of you which told us you'd guide us for a bunch of equipment, which he currently has. Which technically means we did get the letter of what we bargained for, but it would have involved a lot less pain for his lackeys if he'd just told us up front that he would release you to us in exchange for the equipment."

[J-H]

"Tricks and lies, but I guess at least he wasn't trying to eat anyone's liver, right? I am through with that city."

[Cavir]

Xaanthios chimes in. "When need be, I can control sound to muffle our travels for a few minutes at a time, though it will slow my pace while doing it. Let's save it for when we really need it. My crystal counterpart Ariste is tiny, can see in total darkness and can fly should we need a scout."

As the group travels through the constructed tunnels, Xaanthios spends a good deal of his time studying/appreciating the quality construction.

[Cavir]

"I would like him to try eating my liver so I could eviscerate him with both sets of claws. Shape-shifter huh? If ever I have time without more important things to do I'll hunt him down for stealing our resources that were meant to help you help us."

Being the other stealthy member of the group, Cendrik works out hand signals with Fentir for when silence is golden.

[BelGareth]

Rex chimes in from the back "I would not like anyone to eat my liver, it would surely hurt. And" he pauses "I believe it to be a required organ for sustaining life"

Lockheed behind him snorts.

[J-H]

You continue onwards, passing into caverns and caves that show signs of passage less frequent. Unable to continue in a straight line, Fentir leads you left, then right, then down, then right, then up, then left, etc… apparently there are quite a few natural caverns, and a substantial amount of connections have been made over centuries.

Shortly after you take a break for lunch, Fentir motions and points at the floor ahead. It’s been disturbed by something digging through it, and looks unstable for a distance of about 15’. As you stop, you hear a faint scratching noise through the rock to your right.

“Some kind of digger’s trap, maybe? I'd rather not step on it.”

You’re in a long, gently curving tubular tunnel that’s about 10’ high and wide.

[Cavir]

Cendrik looks at the ground ahead and keeps his trained ears attuned to whatever is in the rock off to the right. He keeps his voice low. "Nice catch. Even if we get past that ground, is whatever it is in the wall going to keep on us? Any idea what it is? How would you get past it on your own?

Spoiler: OOC

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Using Hearing the Air Stance.

[J-H]

You detect no enemies within 30'. The scratching sounds are faint vibrations from within the walls.

[Cavir]

Cendrik uses his foot to draw a line just short of the unsafe area. "From there for about 15 feet it's unsafe. I can easily jump across. A bit tight for Lockheed to fly across with a rider right? Who have their own way across or ideas for others cross? I have a wand with Guidance of the Avatar to help you jump across but I'd rather save the charges."

"I do hear noise coming through that way. Maybe its whatever made the mess here and is waiting for prey to hit the unstable ground. Stay alert."

Spoiler: OOC

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Guidance of the Avatar
Creature gets a +20 competence bonus on a single skill check and must choose to use the bonus before making the roll to which it applies. Must be used within 1 minute.

[Cavir]

Xaanthios steps forward to the edge of the unstable mine floor, away from whatever has attracted Cendrik's attention to the right. "Let's try this." Xaanthios uses the power of his mind to reform the ground ahead of them into something more solid.

Spoiler: OOC

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Psionic Fabricate to reshape the disturbed earth. Can affect 90 cubic feet. Making that area into packed earth, or a basic bridge if the material is usable for that (like stone). 7PP spent, 66 remaining.

[J-H]

6/28/21

I’m ending this game today as well due to player loss. We are down to just 1-2 and the pace has fallen off. If we had all been able to keep up the 1/day posting rate, I think it would have ended a couple of years ago.

It’s been fun!

The current encounter is an Umber Hulk ambush. That digging ability can be used to rig pit traps of a sort...

After passing through the underdark-ish mountains full of aberrations (deep underground = aberrant stuff, often long-buried in this setting), the party would have emerged to a wild north type area populated by Uldra and tribal peoples (Neanderthal in stat terms), who often have to fight off slaving raids from Illithid.
Traveling north, the big landmark would have been a tower crafted from bones, occupied by a Neanderthal Shaman/Walker In The Waste Lich.

Travelling farther north for a week or two farther, the party would reach the a lone mountain in the plains. Some of the blind sonic-using draconic creatures (Yrthak) live here. Going down through a crystal-clear lake allows the party to reach a kua-toa city. Concealed behind a lost hidden door in an old temple the fishment have repurposed would be the Breaker’s storage place.

The Breaker is one of several artifacts being sought out to fuel an Ascension to an open spot in the pantheon. Here’s a list of all of them.

Spoiler: Artifacts

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THE BREAKER
The Breaker is an unmarked, 16" long, 1/2" diameter cylinder made from a single diamond. One end is a blunt cone.
When you pick it up, you perceive a single, gentle, pure chiming noise in your head, and you are instantly aware of its function and operation.

Once per round, it can be used by anyone with an Intelligence of 12 or higher to make a ranged touch attack with an inherent +10 bonus. When used, it shoots forth a white ray that affects the first target it strikes. The ray passes through and destroys Walls of Force, Walls of Energy, and the like.

When used against a person, all non-Epic magical, psionic, supernatural, SLA/PLA, or similar effects (including some (Ex) abilities) are removed. Against Epic magical effects, a dispel check is made using Caster Level 40 (d20+40 vs DC 11+caster level). All magical equipment on the target is suppressed (rendered non-magical) for 3 rounds. Additionally, a targeted entity must make a Fortitude or Will save (use whichever is higher) against DC 10+ the total number of spell levels (or equivalents) dispelled or be stunned for 1 round. Note that magic items are disabled, which removes stun immunity for many entities.

When used against an object, the object is rendered non-magical, and takes damage equal to 2 points per spell level dispelled, ignoring hardness.

If a person or object is under the effects of an area-of effect spell (Magic Circle Against Evil, a ward, etc., - but not including multi-target spells such as Haste, Slow, etc), the entire area-specific spell is subject to dispelling under the same conditions.

OTHER ARTIFACTS

SLAYER'S BLADE
This short sword appears to be a simple handle until grasped with intent to kill. At that time, a faint shimmer appears in the air, showing where the blade is.

This is a +6 brilliant energy short sword, with the brilliant energy cloaked by a darkness effect that reduces it to a mere blur. On hit, the short sword inflicts 6 negative levels on the target; a successful Fortitude save (DC32) reduces it to 3 negative levels.
Three times per day, it can be invested with 1 power point as a move action to charge a Knife to the Soul effect (similar to the Soulknife power of the same name); on the next hit, it will deal 5 points of INT, WIS, and CHA damage to the target.

PALADIN'S SHIELD
This +6 adamantine soulfire large shield grants the wielder a +3 insight bonus to all saves and a +4 insight bonus to charisma, as well as resistance 10/ against all energy damage types. Once per day, it can be used to inflict Harm (CL 15) in conjunction with a shield bash, and once per day, it can be used to cast Heal (CL 15).

ARMOR OF INVINCIBILITY
This +8 mithral full plate armor grants DR 10/, heavy fortification, a +2 Luck bonus to all saves, and a +4 Dodge bonus to AC.

SKULL MASK OF LIFE & DEATH
Undeath to death DC40 once per 10 rounds, raise dead 1x/hr, resurrection 1x/day, animate dead at will, create greater undead 1x/hr, hide from undead at will, lifesight at will, detect undead at will;

[if split: missing everything below the nose; lifesight, detect undead, hide from undead, animate dead 1/day, slay undead 1x/10 rounds Fort save DC 15

AMULET OF LEADERSHIP
This unadorned necklace, apparently made of brass, grants its wearer a +6 insight bonus to Charisma, a +4 insight bonus to his Will save, and increases his effective level by 3 for all Leadership-type effects. Additionally, it grants at-will Detect Thoughts and a +10 insight bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Gather Information, and Sense Motive skills.

THRONE OF THE MIND
This throne, made of mithril and adamantine, has been used by the Josen emperors for millenia. Unknown to them, it can function as a powerful psionic amplifier. Any manifester with a ML of 15 or greater seated in the throne regenerates 10 power points per round, has all of their powers' range increased (as though Enlarged twice), and their DCs for mind-affecting powers are increased by 10. Once per 10 rounds, the throne may be used to automatically negate any mind blank spell or power (but not class features such as the Illithid Slayer's) within a 1-mile radius.

This throne is being used by the rule of the city the Thrallherd is attacking, although only your boss knows its true nature.

The party would be around level 11-12 at this point.

The Breaker would be mounted in place being pointed at some sort of magical enemy that it was keeping disabled. I think I was going to go with a golem, but it’s been a couple of years since I thought it through in detail, and I don’t seem to have taken good notes for this part. Picking it up or moving it would trigger the fight, probably one with debuffs, and that gives a reason for the Breaker to be used on party members.

At that point, either it’s “Campaign over” or the Breaker pops one or more PCs out of the Thrallherd’s influence. Then you’d have to decide to either keep working for him, or to free the others and go do stuff to oppose him or gather artifacts for yourselves.

[BelGareth]

Sad to see this die, but I’m not surprised.

Thanks for the great game while it lasted J-H, one of my favorite games of all time.