It looks like Chris and I won't be moving until May 6-7. This means I won't be able to run or play anything on Friday the 5th. Our application is still pending on our new place. Wish us luck. Randy, I'll help you move if you help me!*
* Contrapositive: I won't help you move if you won't help me!
** Corollary: I might help you move if you would have helped me.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Upcoming Schedule IV: A New Hope
April 28th - Gaming Off (Randy moving... everybody else helping out? :)
May 5th - Gaming Off (Ben & Chris moving... everyone but Randy, who'll be on an ill-timed vacation, helping out? :)
May 12th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Nate out)
May 19th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Jason out)
May 26th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Memorial Day Weekend... Paul possibly out of town... everyone else in, or do we skip this week?)
If anyone's available to help move on Friday and/or Sunday... Suzanne and I could use help with moving, pretty much boxes... furniture and heavy stuff is going with movers the next week, and mostly we just need extra cars so we can make less trips. Chris & Ben may need the help more.
By the way, the new locale for gaming, at least sometimes, is 11205 Bending Bough Trail. You can get there via Mopac, IH-35, Lamar, etc. Lamar or IH-35 is easier and slightly closer. In that case, turn left. When you see Parkfield (which is, I believe, the first light after Lamar on Braker), take a left. There's a big church right there, if you need a landmark. Then take an almost immediate right onto Blossom Bell, pass Jordan and turn left onto Bending Bough. We're two (I think, maybe three) down on the left.
If you're coming from Mopac, you'll want to take a right on Parkfield, and it'll be a bit longer of a drive on Braker to get to it.
Map is HERE. This all presumes we actually get the closing done on the 27th, so everybody think good thoughts. :)
May 5th - Gaming Off (Ben & Chris moving... everyone but Randy, who'll be on an ill-timed vacation, helping out? :)
May 12th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Nate out)
May 19th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Jason out)
May 26th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Memorial Day Weekend... Paul possibly out of town... everyone else in, or do we skip this week?)
If anyone's available to help move on Friday and/or Sunday... Suzanne and I could use help with moving, pretty much boxes... furniture and heavy stuff is going with movers the next week, and mostly we just need extra cars so we can make less trips. Chris & Ben may need the help more.
By the way, the new locale for gaming, at least sometimes, is 11205 Bending Bough Trail. You can get there via Mopac, IH-35, Lamar, etc. Lamar or IH-35 is easier and slightly closer. In that case, turn left. When you see Parkfield (which is, I believe, the first light after Lamar on Braker), take a left. There's a big church right there, if you need a landmark. Then take an almost immediate right onto Blossom Bell, pass Jordan and turn left onto Bending Bough. We're two (I think, maybe three) down on the left.
If you're coming from Mopac, you'll want to take a right on Parkfield, and it'll be a bit longer of a drive on Braker to get to it.
Map is HERE. This all presumes we actually get the closing done on the 27th, so everybody think good thoughts. :)
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Upcoming Schedule III
In response to the idea of me (Jason) running a one or two shot during the gap. I have a couple of questions for the group: 1) What would you want to do? I can't see playing straight DnD, because we have two campaigns already running. I guess it would be easiest for me, right now, aside from DnD, to run a Pulp Hero adventure or Fantasy Hero, but character creation might be a problem. I am also, as I mentioned earlier, fairly well versed in Classic Traveller. I'll try almost anything with Hero, but have never run Champs, go figure. 2) What about Nate's OGL Horror idea? If he was ready to introduce it with a one shot that might work also. Nor do I have anything at all against going back to the prequel Realms under the great Ben. (Does that get me extra xp?) Anyway, comment with your thoughts and we can decide what everyone wants to do. Oh, and, I am really getting a kick out of Eberron, thanks Randy.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Eberron Adventure Journal: "Shadows of the Last War" (2)
Barrakas 9-10, YK 998
Part Three - Rose Quarry:
Wounded and weary from the combat, the adventurers began recovering their wits when William and Lysander spotted a dark figure at the entrance to the church below. He had a monstrous appearance, and was dressed in black robes. He stared up at them, and then transformed into a thick mist and floated away. William told the rest of the adventurers that there was a vampire, and that he had just flown away.
Unwilling to leave the quarry alone long enough for reinforcements to arrive, the adventurers decided to heal up using Lysander's wand of cure light wounds and then descend by rope into the zombie-infested village and seek out the map. They snuck up on a group of two zombies, and Pel tried to slip past them and into the House Cannith refinery. He was successful, but he got the attention of the two zombies inside the facility, and slipped back out.
A battle was joined between the adventurers and four of the glass-covered dwarf zombies. Because there were more of the vile creatures nearby, the adventurers were unable to retreat or maneuver very well, and they took some damage in subduing the creatures. William worked out that once you shattered the glass coating surrounding the zombies, they were susceptible to either slashing or magic weapons, and after taking relatively little damage, the adventurers managed to make short work of the Emerald Claw's undead guardians.
They then entered the Cannith chamber, and looked once more at the map on the floor. While Pel and Lysander searched the fireplaces for clues, Tock discovered that there was writing on the back of the statues at each fireplace. After a bit of looking around, Pel found that the Red Dragon statue read "Whitehearth, White Seal, NE 9." William figured out that the White Seal was the seal of Cannith in front of the white fireplace, and walked out 9 paces northeast onto the map. He found himself standing on a faint, barely noticeable mark of a crossed pick and shovel, which would be about 30 miles into the Mournland, in what was once the hills of southwestern Cyre.
While Brand used the statues and the map to make a detailed map of the area, including the locations of six Cannith facilities, William smashed the statues to prevent anyone else from discovering the location of Whitehearth. With this job done, the adventurers climbed out of Rose Quarry and headed back to Failin's cart.
Failin looked quite nervous, and had his dagger out and ready. When the adventurers explained where Whitehearth was, he at first refused to enter the Mournland. However, William then coerced Brand into revealing his own dragonmark and speaking the draconic word for "travel," attempting to convince Failin that they didn't need him. Unfortunately, Failin had sensed their deception and somehow locked the cart from receiving other commands. The adventurers offered him more money, and eventually negotiated 65 gp each for Failin to take them to Whitehearth. He spoke a different draconic word, under his breath, and "unlocked" the cart, allowing them to start rolling towards the gray mist that blocked off the Mournland.
XP: 160
Part Four - The Mournland:
The cart rolled towards the Mournland for about an hour, and then the adventurers stopped to make camp, rest and recover spells. 8 hours later, just as the sun began to rise, they got back into the cart and rolled toward the Mournland again. It took less than half an hour for them to reach the dead-gray mist, and they plunged in.
The elemental-powered cart kept them on track, but all of the adventurers, and Failin, were disoriented by the gray mist. A deep sense of isolation and dread grew within each of them. After a period of time that none of them could guess at, the cart rumbled through the dead-gray mist and into the corpse-strewn, magic-blasted, gray lit Mournland.
As the cart rolled on, the adventurers, and especially William, noted a large number of Karrnatthi and Cyran troops, obviously dead from the Day of Mourning. However, something about the magical effect had preserved the corpses, so that it looked they had died hours ago, not years. There was no sign of decomposition, and the wounds appeared fresh. William in particular found this quite disturbing, and announced that the place was cursed.
A short time later, the adventurers rolled past a broken siege engine, surrounded by a handful of dead Brelish soldiers. Lysander, Tock and Pel were curious about this sight, and Pailin was intrigued by the promise of treasure, so they rolled to a stop. As they did so, however, Brand looked out into the siege engine wreckage and saw shadows moving. He yelled a warning, but even as he did, the shadows revealed themselves as a half-dozen skeletal wolves and charged.
The wolves were skeletons, with human skeleton parts fused to their bodies by the weird arcane effects of the Mournland. Their jagged mouths barked silently as they approached, and they tried to leap into the covered cart from both ends. Tock yelled at Failin to start the cart and run them over, but when he revealed his dragonmarked arm, one of the wolves took a bite out of it. Another leaped into the cart and began attacking as well, and Failin used his dragonmark to dimension leap out of the cart and into hiding behind the siege engine. William, Brand and Pel disembarked from the back of the cart to fight three of the beasts while Tock and Lysander held the front. At one point, three of the wolves had leaped into the cart, while all of the adventurers had jumped out to avoid fighting in cramped quarters. The wolves did some damage, most notably to Pel, but eventually the adventurers triumped, in large measure due to William's greatsword, Tock's mace and the courage-inspiring effects of Lysander's songs.
The adventurers gathered in the cart and William urged Brand to try once more to activate it. He discovered that his dragonmark and the draconic "travel" were enough to start it rumbling, and William was gleeful at this discovery. Failin was not so gleeful, and he came running toward the cart, yelling "Don't leave me! Wait!" while brandishing a masterwork mace he had found among the Brelish solders. "Look what I found!" he yelled, desparate to get the adventurers to stop.
Not wanting to outright murder Failin by leaving him in the Mournland, the adventurers waited for him, although he wouldn't give Pel the mace until after he climbed in the cart, just in case. Brand found that he could only get the cart moving in a straight line, about half as fast as Failin, but it was clear that Failin still wasn't happy about this discovery. Tock claimed the mace, intending to check it later for any magical properties.
Failin took the helm of the cart once more, and the adventurers continued their journey into the Mournland. Another half hour passed and they came upon a scene of carnage massive and bloody even by the standards of the Mournland. A massive battle between Brelish infantry and Cyran archers provided the foundation for the carnage, but atop these four-year dead corpses were the remnants of a newer battle. A warband of Valenar elves had clearly encountered a party of Talenta halfling hunters, and it looked like they had torn each other apart. The real nature of this carnage soon became clear, however, as the mound of corpses shifted and a carcass crab emerged from the pile.
Certain that the massive crab would destroy his cart in a head-on collision, Failin ordered it to stop. William jumped out of the cart and began running toward the beast, and it responded by firing a poisoned barb at him, which he shrugged off. As the rest of the adventurers fired bows, crossbows and a wand of magic missiles, William pulled out his greatsword and charged, landing two powerful blows before the giant crab picked him up in both pincers and squeezed. William was grievously wounded and unable to move freely, but he summoned the strength to punch the weakened crab with his spiked gauntlet, killing it and forcing it to release him.
While William was ready to move on, Failin suggested that they search the bodies for treasure, even offering to give up his fee if he could keep half of the treasure found. Pel struck a deal with him that he would get an equal share of the treasure, rather than half, and could keep his fee. Failin agreed and the adventurers disembarked to search the corpses for weapons, magic and other goods that were no longer useful to the dead.
After three hours of searching, they turned up a small amount of coins, a letter of credit from the Kundarak Banking Guild, some potions, a cloak, a wand of magic missiles, a masterwork Talenta tangat and a magical Valenar double scimitar named Talaen Kara. Focused on the treasure and the labor-intensive work of gathering it, none of the adventurers noticed a single carrion bird circling high above them, watching their every move.
The final leg of the journey took about an hour, and the cart rolled up to a low hill. At the base of the hill was a dark tunnel that looked like any abandoned mineshaft, except for the House Cannith seal emblazoned on the center crossbeam. Pel disembarked to examine it for traps, and was caught off-guard as a vulture zombie dove in to attack. William emerged from the cart and quickly destroyed the bird, before it could do any more than scratch him once. With this minor threat dispatched, the adventurers turned and prepared to enter the lost Cannith facility known as Whitehearth.
XP: 480
Part Three - Rose Quarry:
Wounded and weary from the combat, the adventurers began recovering their wits when William and Lysander spotted a dark figure at the entrance to the church below. He had a monstrous appearance, and was dressed in black robes. He stared up at them, and then transformed into a thick mist and floated away. William told the rest of the adventurers that there was a vampire, and that he had just flown away.
Unwilling to leave the quarry alone long enough for reinforcements to arrive, the adventurers decided to heal up using Lysander's wand of cure light wounds and then descend by rope into the zombie-infested village and seek out the map. They snuck up on a group of two zombies, and Pel tried to slip past them and into the House Cannith refinery. He was successful, but he got the attention of the two zombies inside the facility, and slipped back out.
A battle was joined between the adventurers and four of the glass-covered dwarf zombies. Because there were more of the vile creatures nearby, the adventurers were unable to retreat or maneuver very well, and they took some damage in subduing the creatures. William worked out that once you shattered the glass coating surrounding the zombies, they were susceptible to either slashing or magic weapons, and after taking relatively little damage, the adventurers managed to make short work of the Emerald Claw's undead guardians.
They then entered the Cannith chamber, and looked once more at the map on the floor. While Pel and Lysander searched the fireplaces for clues, Tock discovered that there was writing on the back of the statues at each fireplace. After a bit of looking around, Pel found that the Red Dragon statue read "Whitehearth, White Seal, NE 9." William figured out that the White Seal was the seal of Cannith in front of the white fireplace, and walked out 9 paces northeast onto the map. He found himself standing on a faint, barely noticeable mark of a crossed pick and shovel, which would be about 30 miles into the Mournland, in what was once the hills of southwestern Cyre.
While Brand used the statues and the map to make a detailed map of the area, including the locations of six Cannith facilities, William smashed the statues to prevent anyone else from discovering the location of Whitehearth. With this job done, the adventurers climbed out of Rose Quarry and headed back to Failin's cart.
Failin looked quite nervous, and had his dagger out and ready. When the adventurers explained where Whitehearth was, he at first refused to enter the Mournland. However, William then coerced Brand into revealing his own dragonmark and speaking the draconic word for "travel," attempting to convince Failin that they didn't need him. Unfortunately, Failin had sensed their deception and somehow locked the cart from receiving other commands. The adventurers offered him more money, and eventually negotiated 65 gp each for Failin to take them to Whitehearth. He spoke a different draconic word, under his breath, and "unlocked" the cart, allowing them to start rolling towards the gray mist that blocked off the Mournland.
XP: 160
Part Four - The Mournland:
The cart rolled towards the Mournland for about an hour, and then the adventurers stopped to make camp, rest and recover spells. 8 hours later, just as the sun began to rise, they got back into the cart and rolled toward the Mournland again. It took less than half an hour for them to reach the dead-gray mist, and they plunged in.
The elemental-powered cart kept them on track, but all of the adventurers, and Failin, were disoriented by the gray mist. A deep sense of isolation and dread grew within each of them. After a period of time that none of them could guess at, the cart rumbled through the dead-gray mist and into the corpse-strewn, magic-blasted, gray lit Mournland.
As the cart rolled on, the adventurers, and especially William, noted a large number of Karrnatthi and Cyran troops, obviously dead from the Day of Mourning. However, something about the magical effect had preserved the corpses, so that it looked they had died hours ago, not years. There was no sign of decomposition, and the wounds appeared fresh. William in particular found this quite disturbing, and announced that the place was cursed.
A short time later, the adventurers rolled past a broken siege engine, surrounded by a handful of dead Brelish soldiers. Lysander, Tock and Pel were curious about this sight, and Pailin was intrigued by the promise of treasure, so they rolled to a stop. As they did so, however, Brand looked out into the siege engine wreckage and saw shadows moving. He yelled a warning, but even as he did, the shadows revealed themselves as a half-dozen skeletal wolves and charged.
The wolves were skeletons, with human skeleton parts fused to their bodies by the weird arcane effects of the Mournland. Their jagged mouths barked silently as they approached, and they tried to leap into the covered cart from both ends. Tock yelled at Failin to start the cart and run them over, but when he revealed his dragonmarked arm, one of the wolves took a bite out of it. Another leaped into the cart and began attacking as well, and Failin used his dragonmark to dimension leap out of the cart and into hiding behind the siege engine. William, Brand and Pel disembarked from the back of the cart to fight three of the beasts while Tock and Lysander held the front. At one point, three of the wolves had leaped into the cart, while all of the adventurers had jumped out to avoid fighting in cramped quarters. The wolves did some damage, most notably to Pel, but eventually the adventurers triumped, in large measure due to William's greatsword, Tock's mace and the courage-inspiring effects of Lysander's songs.
The adventurers gathered in the cart and William urged Brand to try once more to activate it. He discovered that his dragonmark and the draconic "travel" were enough to start it rumbling, and William was gleeful at this discovery. Failin was not so gleeful, and he came running toward the cart, yelling "Don't leave me! Wait!" while brandishing a masterwork mace he had found among the Brelish solders. "Look what I found!" he yelled, desparate to get the adventurers to stop.
Not wanting to outright murder Failin by leaving him in the Mournland, the adventurers waited for him, although he wouldn't give Pel the mace until after he climbed in the cart, just in case. Brand found that he could only get the cart moving in a straight line, about half as fast as Failin, but it was clear that Failin still wasn't happy about this discovery. Tock claimed the mace, intending to check it later for any magical properties.
Failin took the helm of the cart once more, and the adventurers continued their journey into the Mournland. Another half hour passed and they came upon a scene of carnage massive and bloody even by the standards of the Mournland. A massive battle between Brelish infantry and Cyran archers provided the foundation for the carnage, but atop these four-year dead corpses were the remnants of a newer battle. A warband of Valenar elves had clearly encountered a party of Talenta halfling hunters, and it looked like they had torn each other apart. The real nature of this carnage soon became clear, however, as the mound of corpses shifted and a carcass crab emerged from the pile.
Certain that the massive crab would destroy his cart in a head-on collision, Failin ordered it to stop. William jumped out of the cart and began running toward the beast, and it responded by firing a poisoned barb at him, which he shrugged off. As the rest of the adventurers fired bows, crossbows and a wand of magic missiles, William pulled out his greatsword and charged, landing two powerful blows before the giant crab picked him up in both pincers and squeezed. William was grievously wounded and unable to move freely, but he summoned the strength to punch the weakened crab with his spiked gauntlet, killing it and forcing it to release him.
While William was ready to move on, Failin suggested that they search the bodies for treasure, even offering to give up his fee if he could keep half of the treasure found. Pel struck a deal with him that he would get an equal share of the treasure, rather than half, and could keep his fee. Failin agreed and the adventurers disembarked to search the corpses for weapons, magic and other goods that were no longer useful to the dead.
After three hours of searching, they turned up a small amount of coins, a letter of credit from the Kundarak Banking Guild, some potions, a cloak, a wand of magic missiles, a masterwork Talenta tangat and a magical Valenar double scimitar named Talaen Kara. Focused on the treasure and the labor-intensive work of gathering it, none of the adventurers noticed a single carrion bird circling high above them, watching their every move.
The final leg of the journey took about an hour, and the cart rolled up to a low hill. At the base of the hill was a dark tunnel that looked like any abandoned mineshaft, except for the House Cannith seal emblazoned on the center crossbeam. Pel disembarked to examine it for traps, and was caught off-guard as a vulture zombie dove in to attack. William emerged from the cart and quickly destroyed the bird, before it could do any more than scratch him once. With this minor threat dispatched, the adventurers turned and prepared to enter the lost Cannith facility known as Whitehearth.
XP: 480
Game Notes
1. Tock is marked as having a heavy crossbow, but he's been doing damage (and reloading) as a light crossbow. Nate, do you want to upgrade to the heavy crossbow (and take the full-action reload that comes with it) that your character sheet says you have or stick with the light crossbow you've effectively been using?
I'm going to stick with the light crossbow for now. With the infusions it makes for an awesome little weapon.
2. Party Treasure - Chris, can you either type up the list of party treasure and post it here or get me the hardcopy on Friday? I want to keep that list updated on the blog as well.
C: Just saw this post. Sure I can do that. Can we put it in a sidebar or something, so it stays in one place?
3. Characters are updated with XP and equipment from the latest session. Chris, check the charges on your wand of magic missiles, I guessed 10 but wasn't sure.
C: I will check. Don't have that with me at work, obviously.
I'm going to stick with the light crossbow for now. With the infusions it makes for an awesome little weapon.
2. Party Treasure - Chris, can you either type up the list of party treasure and post it here or get me the hardcopy on Friday? I want to keep that list updated on the blog as well.
C: Just saw this post. Sure I can do that. Can we put it in a sidebar or something, so it stays in one place?
3. Characters are updated with XP and equipment from the latest session. Chris, check the charges on your wand of magic missiles, I guessed 10 but wasn't sure.
C: I will check. Don't have that with me at work, obviously.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Upcoming Schedule Part II
I've added my notes below. -Paul
Here's my proposal for "the gap": Either I run a 2-shot Realms game linking Part 1 of the Prehistory game to an upcoming Part 2 (where you'll actually start thinking about the World's Largest Boondogg-- er, Dungeon) or Jason runs a 2-shot somethingorother. In either case, Dave could play. I suppose. If he does of course I'll be sure to kill his character, the traitorous scum.
I think it'd be fun to see Jason DM!
April 7th - Eberron: Shadows of the Last War (Paul out)
April 14th - Randy & Suzanne's House-Cooling Party... no gaming
April 21st - Eberron: Shadows of the Last War (Chris NOT out)
April 28th - Ben's Realms or Jason's Something (Randy out, Paul Out)
May 5th - Ben's Realms or Jason's Something (Randy out, Paul Out)
May 12th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Nate out - Chris, are you going to want to skip this week because Live Art is next day? If so, we should go ahead and call this day off, and start Whisper of the Vampire's Blade with everybody on May 19)
May 19th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Everyone in?)
May 26th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Everyone in? Paul note: This is Memorial Day weekend. I may be out of town.)
Ben
Chris: I'll be there this week (4/21) after all. 5/5 may be tricky for Ben and I as we almost certainly will be moving that weekend. 5/12 - not sure at this point. I don't think it would be a problem for me though.
Chris: Update - looks like 4/28 weekend will be the actual move time. Let's discuss things tonight.
Here's my proposal for "the gap": Either I run a 2-shot Realms game linking Part 1 of the Prehistory game to an upcoming Part 2 (where you'll actually start thinking about the World's Largest Boondogg-- er, Dungeon) or Jason runs a 2-shot somethingorother. In either case, Dave could play. I suppose. If he does of course I'll be sure to kill his character, the traitorous scum.
I think it'd be fun to see Jason DM!
April 7th - Eberron: Shadows of the Last War (Paul out)
April 14th - Randy & Suzanne's House-Cooling Party... no gaming
April 21st - Eberron: Shadows of the Last War (Chris NOT out)
April 28th - Ben's Realms or Jason's Something (Randy out, Paul Out)
May 5th - Ben's Realms or Jason's Something (Randy out, Paul Out)
May 12th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Nate out - Chris, are you going to want to skip this week because Live Art is next day? If so, we should go ahead and call this day off, and start Whisper of the Vampire's Blade with everybody on May 19)
May 19th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Everyone in?)
May 26th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Everyone in? Paul note: This is Memorial Day weekend. I may be out of town.)
Ben
Chris: I'll be there this week (4/21) after all. 5/5 may be tricky for Ben and I as we almost certainly will be moving that weekend. 5/12 - not sure at this point. I don't think it would be a problem for me though.
Chris: Update - looks like 4/28 weekend will be the actual move time. Let's discuss things tonight.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Eberron Adventure Journal: "Shadows of the Last War"
Barrakas 1 - Barrakas 8, YK 998
Part One - Sharn:
Two weeks had passed since the adventurers had delved into the Cogs in search of a lost Cannith forge and fought the agents of the sinister Lord of Blades. In that time, the adventurers had been making regular stops at the House Sivis message station in Barmin Tower, looking for more messages from Lady Elaydren. William had stopped by the House Cannith enclave from time to time, but each time he stopped, he was told that Lady Elaydren wasn't in.
On another rainy day in Sharn, the adventurers went to make their semi-regular stop in at the Sivis message station. When they arrived, however, they saw that something was not right. The door hung open at an odd angle, one of its hinges separated from the doorframe, and a soft moaning came from inside. William and Brand drew weapons and charged in, while the others moved more cautiously, but they all soon saw the same scene: A ransacked store, with tables overturned and a clerk unconscious, but thankfully alive.
Brand woke Ella, the gnomish clerk they had come to know, and she rushed over in a panic to check the speaking stone. Fortunately, it was intact, and new messages were arriving just fine. Unfortunately, she reported that five kobolds and a humanoid in a cloak had burst in a little while before and snatched the message intended for William, then knocked her unconscious. A little bit of snooping confirmed that there had been kobolds, and they also determined from a careless footprint that the humanoid had been a warforged. Ella was unable to (and not allowed to) remember the message, but a slip of the tongue keyed the adventurers in to the realization that she remembered something, and after a little cajoling, she revealed that she did know the message had been sent by Lady Elaydren.
The adventurers left a message for Lady Elaydren to be picked up the next time Cannith sent messengers down and resolved to meet with her at the Broken Anvil Tavern the next evening. Their meeting turned out to be unnecessary, however, when they stepped back out into the rain and a giant owl flew in and deposited a scroll at their feet. On the scroll was a message from Lady Elaydren
The adventurers rushed over to the Broken Anvil, but fearing a trap, they sent Pel in disguised as a human. He discovered that the tavern was empty, save a woman in a cloak, and he approached her, trying to ascertain that it was Lady Elaydren. He got a look at her face just as she was beginning to cast a spell, and he quickly revealed his true nature. She appeared nervous and somewhat bedraggled, as if she had been on the run for some time.
The others came into the tavern, and Elaydren's nerves didn't seem to noticeably calm. She lifted a leather backpack off the floor and put it on the table, her eyes darting back and forth from the adventurers to the door. "There's no time to explain," she said. "Instructions, gold and supplies are in this pack. Take it and go. The letter in the left-hand pocket explains everything, but you must go now! Trust me. If you can accomplish this task, the rewards will be vast."
Before the adventurers could press Elaydren any further, the door from the street burst open, and the kobolds and warforged burst in. The warforged levelled his crossbow and fired a bolt at Elaydren as Tock reacted and fired his own crossbow at the attacking warforged. Neither bolt struck home, although Elaydren was nicked by the bolt as it went by.
A brutal melee erupted in the tavern, as the kobolds proved unusually proficient with their spears. One of them ran Pel nearly all the way through, another scored several surprising hits on William. The warforged proved even more dangerous, using a magical longsword to land brutal blows on William while keeping the kobolds focused and tactically sound. William managed to disarm the warforged, reducing him to swinging his metal fists, and together the adventurers managed to defeat the kobolds and their master. Elaydren grabbed one of the spears and yelled out "More of these assassins could show up at any moment. All the information you need is in the backpack. Take it and go! Get out of the city as quickly as you can!" and then ran out and into the nearest alleyway, disappearing into the night.
The adventurers picked up the backpack and dashed to a hideout that Pel kept in the Lower Dura Plateau to examine it. They discovered that it was a Heward's Handy Haversack, containing 80 arrows, 80 bolts, 50' silk rope, 5 bedrolls, 5 waterskins, 15 days of trail rations, an everbright lantern, flint and steel, a healer's kit, 5 torches, 3 sacks, 3 vials of holy water, 3 potions of cure light wounds, a pouch with 150 pp, a casket with 500 gp and several items that hinted at their mission.
There was a letter of credit for either House Orien or House Lyrandar covering passage to Rhukaan Draal, capital city of the Hobgoblin-ruled nation of Darguun. There was a three inch rod of blue metal with a sapphire tip which they speculated might be some kind of key, and there was a letter from Lady Elaydren.
The adventurers wanted to depart quickly, but they did take a little bit of time to spend some of the money in the pack, buying new armor and weapons, alchemist's fire, antitoxin, a wand of cure light wounds and a few other odds and ends. Then they decided to take the quicker method of journeying (and the one Brand had encouraged, since it allowed him to steer clear of House Orien), boarding a Lyrandar Elemental Galleon bound for Rhukaan Draal.
XP: 330
Part Two - Darguun
The Lyrandar Galleon Windrider left from the ports at the base of the Sharn cliffs, traveling from the Hilt to the Straits of Shargon along the coast before moving into Zilargo waters and then into Kraken Bay.
The first three days of the journey were fairly uneventful, and the adventurers spent their time recovering from their fight in the tavern. Tock used the time to brew a potion of Cat's Grace for Brand, who spent most of his time sleeping not in the shared cabin but up on the deck, out in the open air. This served him well on the third night, as he heard a scraping noise on the side of the ship. Lysander heard the sound inside the cabin, albeit more faintly, and began making his way up to the deck to investigate.
As it turned out, the mystery of the noise wouldn't last long. Brand went to the side and saw skeletons climbing over, using the fog as cover to climb the side of the ship. Before he could do much more than yell a warning of "Skeletons!" to the crew and his friends below, there were ten of the undead abominations aboard the ship. The half-elf captain dispatched four of his crew to help repel the boarders, and the adventurers, most of them decked out in sleeping clothes rather than armor, rushed to defend the ship as well.
The skeletons proved resistant to the bladed weapons that most of the ship's defenders were using, so William came up with the idea of bull-rushing them off the side and into the water. This tactic worked, and the skeletons were repelled or destroyed, although not before they killed the four half-elves attacking them. The captain gratefully offered a written commendation from House Lyrandar as well as 50 gold to each member of the party as thanks for defending the ship.
A day and a half later, the Windrider pulled into the port of Rhukaan Draal at mid-morning. The goblinoid city, built around what was once a Cyran frontier town, sprawled out in a way quite different from the metropolis of Sharn, full of tents, brick and stone buildings and mud huts, and all centered on a ten story red stone tower at the center of the city. Pel asked the captain how to locate the Bloody Market, and the adventurers had little difficulty finding it, as it was a vast marketplace full of haggling goblins, bugbears, hobgoblins and even a few humans and other humanoids. They did some asking around, and Tock learned that Failin did business in a tavern called The Clenched Fist.
The Clenched Fist seemed to cater to humans and other common races, rather than the goblinoid majority of Rhukaan Draal, but it was still quite crowded. William walked up to the bar and ordered ale for the party, overpaying the bartender, and asked where he could find Failin. The friendly bartender was only too happy to point him out, sitting at a table in the back of the tavern.
Failin was a gangly man with a shock of unruly red hair and clean, well-tailored clothing, giving the immediate impression that he did not lack for gold. He watched the adventurers curiously but unconcerned as they approached. Pel began to offer a diplomatic introduction, but the brusque Brand simply said "We heard you could get us to Rose Quarry."
"Rose Quarry?" Failin said, his words running together in an odd, quick method of speaking. "Very far away. Near the border. Near the gray mist. Mining town. I can take you. Yes. But it will cost you. Sixty gold each, forty up front. You bring your own supplies."
After a half-hearted bit of bargaining, the adventurers agreed to Failin's terms and gave him 20 platinum out of the Heward's Haversack. As they stood to leave, however, a pair of bugbears pushed their way into the bar. "Failin, you cheat us!" they growled, raising their morningstars to threatening positions.
William rushed forward, but Pel took this as an opportunity to negotiate. Failin was reluctant, but agreed to 37 gold each instead of 60, and William slashed into one of the bugbears, wounding him so grievously that he immediately fled. The other, braver than he was smart, attacked William and got killed for his troubles. Failin then rushed the adventurers out of the tavern, promising the refund he owed them "later, later. To my land cart!"
The land cart he spoke of was an Orien elemental-powered land cart, a large covered wagon with room for eight passengers. It was powered by a Khyber dragonshard that bound an earth elemental to the wagon, which had the side effect of making the wagon look as though it were decoared with stones, gems and other crystalline protrusions.
Failin rolled up his right sleeve, exposing a least Dragonmark of passage, and spoke the draconic word for "travel," which activated the land cart, starting a low rumbling sound. The adventurers packed in, and the rumbling noise got louder as the cart began moving across the ground, its wheels half-in and half-out of the ground, providing a smooth ride despite the terrain.
XP: 550
Part Three - Rose Quarry
It took about three and a half days for the land cart to make the trip from Rhukaan Draal to Rose Quarry. Like Rhukaan Draal, Rose Quarry was a Cyran frontier town before the war, but now it was a ruined town so near the Mournland that inhabitants could see the dead-gray mist from the ridge that surrounded it. Failin explained that House Cannith prospectors established the village when they found a massive vein of red marble, and then brought in dwarves from the Mror Holds to mine it. "Half the red stone in Khorvaire probably came from this quarry," he said.
When the land cart closed in on Rose Quarry, the sun had set and the moon was rising. Failin stopped the cart as they crested a rise, seeing light echoing off the sides of the red canyon and smoke drifting lazily into the air. "Were you expecting company?"
The adventurers proceeded on foot to the edge of the cliff, and looked down into the town, which sat in a crater about 50 feet below them. From their vantage point, they spotted about sixteen horses, two dozen wagons, and seven humans in chainmail armor. Lysander, his eyes sharper in the twilight, determined that they were wearing the distinctive half-faceplate design of the Emerald Claw, and that two skeletons stood guard at one of their tents. All of them heard a periodic ringing sound to the north, like that of a pick striking stone or ice.
Given his ability to see more clearly in the dim lighting and his stealth abilities, Lysander was chosen to scout the area, looking for the map that Elaydren's letter had told them about. He carried one of the invisibility potions Tock had brewed with him as a last resort.
Initially, the scouting mission seemed to be going alright. Lysander stayed north of the Emerald Claw camp, instead investigating the ruins to the north. He quickly realized that the entire town was covered in glass, as if it had been poured in molten form over the village, burning it to cinders and then freezing the remains. He encountered the former inhabitants of the village just after that, dwarven zombies coated in a layer of thick glass. He rushed to a nearby alcove and, afraid that the zombies would find him, drank his potion of invisibility.
He then decided to investigate one of the two standing structures in the town. He steered clear of the ruined church of the Sovereign Host, instead heading into the Cannith Refinery, which the ringing noises were emanating from. As he moved in, a powerful looking woman and an Emerald Claw soldier emerged from the entrance, and he froze when they seemed to hear him. The woman noticed that the dwarven glass zombies had moved, and using hand signals, indicated that the soldier should move in that direction. They both went to investigate the place where Lysander had just been, and he ducked into the refinery.
Once inside, he saw another dwarven zombie stacking rubble in the outer rooms, and he went into the inner room. There, he saw a large room with four chimneys that had obviously once been used to shape and polish the red stone from the quarry. He also saw two Emerald Claw soldiers, digging in the rubble and obviously looking for something. Perhaps most importantly, he noted that the floor was a detailed, bas relief map of central Khorvaire, showing the nations of Aundair, Cyre, Karrnath, Thrane and Breland, showing cities, topographical features and even major mines, although not the location of Whitehearth or other Cannith research facilities. The room was surrounded by six statues, located in pairs of two next to fireplaces on three of the walls.
Lysander realized his potion was wearing off, so he attempted to climb one of these fireplaces up and out. Unfortunately, his hands slipped and he fell to the bottom with a loud crash, just as his invisibility wore off. The Emerald Claw Soldiers turned and looked, surely thinking he had just climbed in through the fireplace.
As one charged and the other started to run for help, Lysander cast a sleep spell. The one who had been seeking help dropped into a dreamless sleep, but the other shook it off and swung his morningstar at Lysander, who ducked out of the way. Lysander ran out the door, with the Emerald Claw soldier in hot pursuit.
He ran out and around the refinery, heading for the rope he had used to descend into the canyon. The rest of the adventurers, seeing his situation, began firing arrows at his pursuer. This discouraged pursuit, but lead to the soldier rushing over to the camp, and as Lysander reached the top of the rope and pulled it up after him, the adventurers realized that a pitched battle with the Emerald Claw was coming.
The forces emerged from two different parts of the camp. Near Lysander's point of exit, on the far end of the ridge, the military leader of the forces, a human woman named Kaela, moved in with one Emerald Claw soldier, following their unsuccessful attempt to locate Lysander when they heard him moving around invisibly. The bulk of the forces, however, emerged from the camp. Keltis Doran, a cleric of the Blood of Vol, and Mallora, a female human necromancer, led a contingent of 9 Emerald Claw Warriors and 2 Skeletons toward the ridge. Half of the Emerald Claw soldiers provided covering fire with their crossbows, and one scored a lucky and grievous hit on Pel, while the others moved quickly toward the ridge. Meanwhile, the adventurers fired down on the advancing forces, hoping to whittle their numbers before they scaled the hill. Tock infused his crossbow bolts with a shocking aura, and combined with fire from Brand, Lysander and William, managed to kill Mallora despite her Mage Armor and use of cover.
The crossbow and bow shots from above and below the ridge mostly fell against the cover, and soon the melee had begun in earnest. Tock managed to finish off Kaela with one of his shocking bolts before she could fully charge, and dispatched her soldier shortly after he closed in as well. Meanwhile, the rest of the adventurers dealt with the larger Emerald Claw force. Brand and William both found themselves surrounded, and each of them took serious damage, but the use of their new Wand of Cure Light Wounds by Lysander kept them in the fight, and Brand managed to dispatch Keltis after William successfully shrugged off his attempt at a cause fear spell. The adventurers faced a pitched battle with the remaining Emerald Claw soldiers, but they eventually emerged, tired, battered and wounded but victorious.
XP: 1120
Part One - Sharn:
Two weeks had passed since the adventurers had delved into the Cogs in search of a lost Cannith forge and fought the agents of the sinister Lord of Blades. In that time, the adventurers had been making regular stops at the House Sivis message station in Barmin Tower, looking for more messages from Lady Elaydren. William had stopped by the House Cannith enclave from time to time, but each time he stopped, he was told that Lady Elaydren wasn't in.
On another rainy day in Sharn, the adventurers went to make their semi-regular stop in at the Sivis message station. When they arrived, however, they saw that something was not right. The door hung open at an odd angle, one of its hinges separated from the doorframe, and a soft moaning came from inside. William and Brand drew weapons and charged in, while the others moved more cautiously, but they all soon saw the same scene: A ransacked store, with tables overturned and a clerk unconscious, but thankfully alive.
Brand woke Ella, the gnomish clerk they had come to know, and she rushed over in a panic to check the speaking stone. Fortunately, it was intact, and new messages were arriving just fine. Unfortunately, she reported that five kobolds and a humanoid in a cloak had burst in a little while before and snatched the message intended for William, then knocked her unconscious. A little bit of snooping confirmed that there had been kobolds, and they also determined from a careless footprint that the humanoid had been a warforged. Ella was unable to (and not allowed to) remember the message, but a slip of the tongue keyed the adventurers in to the realization that she remembered something, and after a little cajoling, she revealed that she did know the message had been sent by Lady Elaydren.
The adventurers left a message for Lady Elaydren to be picked up the next time Cannith sent messengers down and resolved to meet with her at the Broken Anvil Tavern the next evening. Their meeting turned out to be unnecessary, however, when they stepped back out into the rain and a giant owl flew in and deposited a scroll at their feet. On the scroll was a message from Lady Elaydren
The adventurers rushed over to the Broken Anvil, but fearing a trap, they sent Pel in disguised as a human. He discovered that the tavern was empty, save a woman in a cloak, and he approached her, trying to ascertain that it was Lady Elaydren. He got a look at her face just as she was beginning to cast a spell, and he quickly revealed his true nature. She appeared nervous and somewhat bedraggled, as if she had been on the run for some time.
The others came into the tavern, and Elaydren's nerves didn't seem to noticeably calm. She lifted a leather backpack off the floor and put it on the table, her eyes darting back and forth from the adventurers to the door. "There's no time to explain," she said. "Instructions, gold and supplies are in this pack. Take it and go. The letter in the left-hand pocket explains everything, but you must go now! Trust me. If you can accomplish this task, the rewards will be vast."
Before the adventurers could press Elaydren any further, the door from the street burst open, and the kobolds and warforged burst in. The warforged levelled his crossbow and fired a bolt at Elaydren as Tock reacted and fired his own crossbow at the attacking warforged. Neither bolt struck home, although Elaydren was nicked by the bolt as it went by.
A brutal melee erupted in the tavern, as the kobolds proved unusually proficient with their spears. One of them ran Pel nearly all the way through, another scored several surprising hits on William. The warforged proved even more dangerous, using a magical longsword to land brutal blows on William while keeping the kobolds focused and tactically sound. William managed to disarm the warforged, reducing him to swinging his metal fists, and together the adventurers managed to defeat the kobolds and their master. Elaydren grabbed one of the spears and yelled out "More of these assassins could show up at any moment. All the information you need is in the backpack. Take it and go! Get out of the city as quickly as you can!" and then ran out and into the nearest alleyway, disappearing into the night.
The adventurers picked up the backpack and dashed to a hideout that Pel kept in the Lower Dura Plateau to examine it. They discovered that it was a Heward's Handy Haversack, containing 80 arrows, 80 bolts, 50' silk rope, 5 bedrolls, 5 waterskins, 15 days of trail rations, an everbright lantern, flint and steel, a healer's kit, 5 torches, 3 sacks, 3 vials of holy water, 3 potions of cure light wounds, a pouch with 150 pp, a casket with 500 gp and several items that hinted at their mission.
There was a letter of credit for either House Orien or House Lyrandar covering passage to Rhukaan Draal, capital city of the Hobgoblin-ruled nation of Darguun. There was a three inch rod of blue metal with a sapphire tip which they speculated might be some kind of key, and there was a letter from Lady Elaydren.
The adventurers wanted to depart quickly, but they did take a little bit of time to spend some of the money in the pack, buying new armor and weapons, alchemist's fire, antitoxin, a wand of cure light wounds and a few other odds and ends. Then they decided to take the quicker method of journeying (and the one Brand had encouraged, since it allowed him to steer clear of House Orien), boarding a Lyrandar Elemental Galleon bound for Rhukaan Draal.
XP: 330
Part Two - Darguun
The Lyrandar Galleon Windrider left from the ports at the base of the Sharn cliffs, traveling from the Hilt to the Straits of Shargon along the coast before moving into Zilargo waters and then into Kraken Bay.
The first three days of the journey were fairly uneventful, and the adventurers spent their time recovering from their fight in the tavern. Tock used the time to brew a potion of Cat's Grace for Brand, who spent most of his time sleeping not in the shared cabin but up on the deck, out in the open air. This served him well on the third night, as he heard a scraping noise on the side of the ship. Lysander heard the sound inside the cabin, albeit more faintly, and began making his way up to the deck to investigate.
As it turned out, the mystery of the noise wouldn't last long. Brand went to the side and saw skeletons climbing over, using the fog as cover to climb the side of the ship. Before he could do much more than yell a warning of "Skeletons!" to the crew and his friends below, there were ten of the undead abominations aboard the ship. The half-elf captain dispatched four of his crew to help repel the boarders, and the adventurers, most of them decked out in sleeping clothes rather than armor, rushed to defend the ship as well.
The skeletons proved resistant to the bladed weapons that most of the ship's defenders were using, so William came up with the idea of bull-rushing them off the side and into the water. This tactic worked, and the skeletons were repelled or destroyed, although not before they killed the four half-elves attacking them. The captain gratefully offered a written commendation from House Lyrandar as well as 50 gold to each member of the party as thanks for defending the ship.
A day and a half later, the Windrider pulled into the port of Rhukaan Draal at mid-morning. The goblinoid city, built around what was once a Cyran frontier town, sprawled out in a way quite different from the metropolis of Sharn, full of tents, brick and stone buildings and mud huts, and all centered on a ten story red stone tower at the center of the city. Pel asked the captain how to locate the Bloody Market, and the adventurers had little difficulty finding it, as it was a vast marketplace full of haggling goblins, bugbears, hobgoblins and even a few humans and other humanoids. They did some asking around, and Tock learned that Failin did business in a tavern called The Clenched Fist.
The Clenched Fist seemed to cater to humans and other common races, rather than the goblinoid majority of Rhukaan Draal, but it was still quite crowded. William walked up to the bar and ordered ale for the party, overpaying the bartender, and asked where he could find Failin. The friendly bartender was only too happy to point him out, sitting at a table in the back of the tavern.
Failin was a gangly man with a shock of unruly red hair and clean, well-tailored clothing, giving the immediate impression that he did not lack for gold. He watched the adventurers curiously but unconcerned as they approached. Pel began to offer a diplomatic introduction, but the brusque Brand simply said "We heard you could get us to Rose Quarry."
"Rose Quarry?" Failin said, his words running together in an odd, quick method of speaking. "Very far away. Near the border. Near the gray mist. Mining town. I can take you. Yes. But it will cost you. Sixty gold each, forty up front. You bring your own supplies."
After a half-hearted bit of bargaining, the adventurers agreed to Failin's terms and gave him 20 platinum out of the Heward's Haversack. As they stood to leave, however, a pair of bugbears pushed their way into the bar. "Failin, you cheat us!" they growled, raising their morningstars to threatening positions.
William rushed forward, but Pel took this as an opportunity to negotiate. Failin was reluctant, but agreed to 37 gold each instead of 60, and William slashed into one of the bugbears, wounding him so grievously that he immediately fled. The other, braver than he was smart, attacked William and got killed for his troubles. Failin then rushed the adventurers out of the tavern, promising the refund he owed them "later, later. To my land cart!"
The land cart he spoke of was an Orien elemental-powered land cart, a large covered wagon with room for eight passengers. It was powered by a Khyber dragonshard that bound an earth elemental to the wagon, which had the side effect of making the wagon look as though it were decoared with stones, gems and other crystalline protrusions.
Failin rolled up his right sleeve, exposing a least Dragonmark of passage, and spoke the draconic word for "travel," which activated the land cart, starting a low rumbling sound. The adventurers packed in, and the rumbling noise got louder as the cart began moving across the ground, its wheels half-in and half-out of the ground, providing a smooth ride despite the terrain.
XP: 550
Part Three - Rose Quarry
It took about three and a half days for the land cart to make the trip from Rhukaan Draal to Rose Quarry. Like Rhukaan Draal, Rose Quarry was a Cyran frontier town before the war, but now it was a ruined town so near the Mournland that inhabitants could see the dead-gray mist from the ridge that surrounded it. Failin explained that House Cannith prospectors established the village when they found a massive vein of red marble, and then brought in dwarves from the Mror Holds to mine it. "Half the red stone in Khorvaire probably came from this quarry," he said.
When the land cart closed in on Rose Quarry, the sun had set and the moon was rising. Failin stopped the cart as they crested a rise, seeing light echoing off the sides of the red canyon and smoke drifting lazily into the air. "Were you expecting company?"
The adventurers proceeded on foot to the edge of the cliff, and looked down into the town, which sat in a crater about 50 feet below them. From their vantage point, they spotted about sixteen horses, two dozen wagons, and seven humans in chainmail armor. Lysander, his eyes sharper in the twilight, determined that they were wearing the distinctive half-faceplate design of the Emerald Claw, and that two skeletons stood guard at one of their tents. All of them heard a periodic ringing sound to the north, like that of a pick striking stone or ice.
Given his ability to see more clearly in the dim lighting and his stealth abilities, Lysander was chosen to scout the area, looking for the map that Elaydren's letter had told them about. He carried one of the invisibility potions Tock had brewed with him as a last resort.
Initially, the scouting mission seemed to be going alright. Lysander stayed north of the Emerald Claw camp, instead investigating the ruins to the north. He quickly realized that the entire town was covered in glass, as if it had been poured in molten form over the village, burning it to cinders and then freezing the remains. He encountered the former inhabitants of the village just after that, dwarven zombies coated in a layer of thick glass. He rushed to a nearby alcove and, afraid that the zombies would find him, drank his potion of invisibility.
He then decided to investigate one of the two standing structures in the town. He steered clear of the ruined church of the Sovereign Host, instead heading into the Cannith Refinery, which the ringing noises were emanating from. As he moved in, a powerful looking woman and an Emerald Claw soldier emerged from the entrance, and he froze when they seemed to hear him. The woman noticed that the dwarven glass zombies had moved, and using hand signals, indicated that the soldier should move in that direction. They both went to investigate the place where Lysander had just been, and he ducked into the refinery.
Once inside, he saw another dwarven zombie stacking rubble in the outer rooms, and he went into the inner room. There, he saw a large room with four chimneys that had obviously once been used to shape and polish the red stone from the quarry. He also saw two Emerald Claw soldiers, digging in the rubble and obviously looking for something. Perhaps most importantly, he noted that the floor was a detailed, bas relief map of central Khorvaire, showing the nations of Aundair, Cyre, Karrnath, Thrane and Breland, showing cities, topographical features and even major mines, although not the location of Whitehearth or other Cannith research facilities. The room was surrounded by six statues, located in pairs of two next to fireplaces on three of the walls.
Lysander realized his potion was wearing off, so he attempted to climb one of these fireplaces up and out. Unfortunately, his hands slipped and he fell to the bottom with a loud crash, just as his invisibility wore off. The Emerald Claw Soldiers turned and looked, surely thinking he had just climbed in through the fireplace.
As one charged and the other started to run for help, Lysander cast a sleep spell. The one who had been seeking help dropped into a dreamless sleep, but the other shook it off and swung his morningstar at Lysander, who ducked out of the way. Lysander ran out the door, with the Emerald Claw soldier in hot pursuit.
He ran out and around the refinery, heading for the rope he had used to descend into the canyon. The rest of the adventurers, seeing his situation, began firing arrows at his pursuer. This discouraged pursuit, but lead to the soldier rushing over to the camp, and as Lysander reached the top of the rope and pulled it up after him, the adventurers realized that a pitched battle with the Emerald Claw was coming.
The forces emerged from two different parts of the camp. Near Lysander's point of exit, on the far end of the ridge, the military leader of the forces, a human woman named Kaela, moved in with one Emerald Claw soldier, following their unsuccessful attempt to locate Lysander when they heard him moving around invisibly. The bulk of the forces, however, emerged from the camp. Keltis Doran, a cleric of the Blood of Vol, and Mallora, a female human necromancer, led a contingent of 9 Emerald Claw Warriors and 2 Skeletons toward the ridge. Half of the Emerald Claw soldiers provided covering fire with their crossbows, and one scored a lucky and grievous hit on Pel, while the others moved quickly toward the ridge. Meanwhile, the adventurers fired down on the advancing forces, hoping to whittle their numbers before they scaled the hill. Tock infused his crossbow bolts with a shocking aura, and combined with fire from Brand, Lysander and William, managed to kill Mallora despite her Mage Armor and use of cover.
The crossbow and bow shots from above and below the ridge mostly fell against the cover, and soon the melee had begun in earnest. Tock managed to finish off Kaela with one of his shocking bolts before she could fully charge, and dispatched her soldier shortly after he closed in as well. Meanwhile, the rest of the adventurers dealt with the larger Emerald Claw force. Brand and William both found themselves surrounded, and each of them took serious damage, but the use of their new Wand of Cure Light Wounds by Lysander kept them in the fight, and Brand managed to dispatch Keltis after William successfully shrugged off his attempt at a cause fear spell. The adventurers faced a pitched battle with the remaining Emerald Claw soldiers, but they eventually emerged, tired, battered and wounded but victorious.
XP: 1120
Skill Synergies
As Paul noted last time, you guys now have enough skill levels that you will get synergy bonuses. As an example, Tock has a +2 to his Spellcraft because of 5+ ranks in Knowledge (arcana), a +2 on Spellcraft involving scrolls because of 5+ ranks in Use Magic Devices and a +2 on Use Magic Device involving scrolls because of 5+ ranks in Spellcraft. So everyone... check your synergy bonuses! You can find a guide HERE.
Upcoming Game Schedule
April 7th - Eberron: Shadows of the Last War (Paul out)
April 14th - Randy & Suzanne's House-Cooling Party... no gaming
April 21st - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Chris out)
April 28th - ?? (Randy out, no Eberron)
May 5th - ?? (Randy out, no Eberron)
May 12th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Nate out)
May 19th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Everyone in?)
May 26th - Eberron: Grasp of the Emerald Claw (Everyone in?)
By the way, I've offered Dave the chance to come in and "guest play" anybody who is out for the week if his other gaming group (filthy traitor!) schedule coincides. That way, maybe the NPC character will be less likely to be used as a door opener and arrow shield, etc.
April 14th - Randy & Suzanne's House-Cooling Party... no gaming
April 21st - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Chris out)
April 28th - ?? (Randy out, no Eberron)
May 5th - ?? (Randy out, no Eberron)
May 12th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Nate out)
May 19th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Everyone in?)
May 26th - Eberron: Grasp of the Emerald Claw (Everyone in?)
By the way, I've offered Dave the chance to come in and "guest play" anybody who is out for the week if his other gaming group (filthy traitor!) schedule coincides. That way, maybe the NPC character will be less likely to be used as a door opener and arrow shield, etc.
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