The girlfriend has decided that my Friday night would be better spent repairing various bits of damage her dogs have done to our duplex. So, unless I can make the kitchen floor spotless and patch the chips in the concrete so we can put down new linoleum Saturday (dog # 2 ate the old linoleum) by seven or so, I won't be at gaming.
I'm gonna kill those fuckin' dogs...
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Eberron Character: Diarmand d'Deneith
Name: Diarmand d'Deneith
Race: Dragonmarked Human (Sentinel)
Class: Rogue 1/Sorcerer 1, Fighter 4
Experience: 16,066
Alignment: Neutral Good
Religion: Soveregn Host (Olladra)
Homeland: Karrnath
Age: 17 Height: 5'9" Weight: 153 lbs.
Statistics: STR 15, DEX 18, CON 14, INT 15, WIS 13, CHA 13, BAB +4, Fort +4 (+6), Ref +3 (+7), Will +3 (+4), Init +0 (+4), AC 15/16 (+1 natural armor, +4 Dex/+1 Dodge), 19/20 (Mage Armor), 23/24 (Mage Armor + Shield), Speed: 30' (Expeditious Retreat: 60'), HP 44
Skills: Bluff +4 (+5), Climb +3 (+5), Concentration +6 (+8), Diplomacy +4 (+6), Disguise +1 (+2), Escape Artist +4 (+8), Jump +9 (+13), Knowledge: Local +4 (+6), Knowledge: Nobility +1 (+3), Listen +0 (+3), Open Lock +4 (+8), Perform: Dance +3 (+4), Ride +1 (+5), Sense Motive +4 (+5), Sleight of Hand +4 (+8), Spot +0 (+3, +6 in bright light), Tumble +9 (+15)
Weapons/Attacks: +9 (1d6+2, +1d6 Sneak Attack), Rapier +1), +8 (1d4+2, +1d6 Sneak Attack, Dagger)
Equipment:
Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Rapier +1, Dagger, Wand of Magic Missiles (50 charges), Scroll: Feather Fall (1st level), Scroll: True Strike (1st level), Glamerweave Noble's Outfit, Belt Pouch (2), Waterskin, Signet Ring (House Deneith), Trail Rations (1 day), Small Steel Mirror, Flint & Steel, Whetstone, Thieves Tools, 54 GP, 5 SP
Feats: Alertness (Familiar), Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, Favored in House (Deneith), Least Dragonmark (Mage Armor: 2/Day, Caster Level 6, 1 Hour/Level), Lesser Dragonmark (Protection From Energy: 1/Day, Caster Level 6, 10 Minutes/Level or Until Discharged, 12 HP/Caster Level = 72 HP), Weapon Finesse
Spells: 0 (Cantrips) - 5/Day: Flare, Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, 1st - 4/Day: Expeditious Retreat, Shield
Class Abilities: Trapfinding, Sneak Attack +1d6, Familiar
Proficiencies: All Simple & Martial Weapons, All Armor & Shields
Languages: Common, Elven, Halfling
Name:
Race: Hawk Familiar
Statistics: STR 6, DEX 17, CON 10, INT 6, WIS 14, CHA 6, Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +1, Init +3, AC 18 (Touch 15, Flat Footed 14), Speed: Fly 60', Walk 10', HP 19
Skills: Listen +4, Spot +16
Feats: Alertness, Weapon Finesse
Special Abilities: Low Light Vision, Alertness, Improved Evasion, Empathic Link, Share Spells
Weapons/Attacks: +6 (1d4-2, Talons)
History: Little is known of Diarmand d'Deneith. He met the Wandering Wolves on board the Golden Dragon on her ill-fated maiden voyage.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Poker Report
We had five for poker this time out: Me, Charles, Dave, Nick, Rob Osborne. Rob went out first when he tried to bluff me off my trip nines. Nick went out second on a bluff, I believe against Dave. Dave was short stacked for a lot of the game, but after a couple of big hands against me (one suckout on the river when he nailed two-pair, A-J against my pair, which I don't remember, and one where I had trip Kings thanks to a pocket K and K-K board and he had pocket aces and an ace on the board) he was chip leader and I was short stack.
Dave, Charles and I went all in against each other on the final hand. I had flopped a straight, and Dave had two pair, 8s and 9s, while Charles had a single pair. The river card came, a third 8, giving Dave a full house and busting out the last two players at once. I walked off with my $5 back, for second place, and Dave took home the big twenty dollah and bragging rights for the night.
Fun game, thanks to everybody for coming.
Dave, Charles and I went all in against each other on the final hand. I had flopped a straight, and Dave had two pair, 8s and 9s, while Charles had a single pair. The river card came, a third 8, giving Dave a full house and busting out the last two players at once. I walked off with my $5 back, for second place, and Dave took home the big twenty dollah and bragging rights for the night.
Fun game, thanks to everybody for coming.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Brand New Player Character
Greetings, Wolves!
I just wanted to take a moment to announce to you the birth of one Gideon Thomas Jones. The young warrior was born into the Jones Clan at 11:20 a.m. on the 14th day of August. Mother, child and useless father are all fine. Congratulations are acceptable as are large sums of cash!
Yours,
Lysander
I just wanted to take a moment to announce to you the birth of one Gideon Thomas Jones. The young warrior was born into the Jones Clan at 11:20 a.m. on the 14th day of August. Mother, child and useless father are all fine. Congratulations are acceptable as are large sums of cash!
Yours,
Lysander
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Eberron Adventure Journal: Grasp of the Emerald Claw (2)
Sypheros 26 - Aryth 3, YK 998
Part Three - Stormreach:
As instructed, the Wandering Wolves slipped unobtrusively into Stormreach by means of the docks, and then split up to do some recon work. Luggoth and Whitehearth wandered around the outskirts of town, looking for any physical evidence of the Claw. Pel and Lysander spent about five hours hitting up dockworkers, tavern-goers and other likely suspects to see if they had seen Scimitar, the Emerald Claw or their vampiric leader, but they came up empty. Brand spent the same amount of time asking around about his father, Traega d'Orien, but also didn't have any luck.
Kanatash, however, had a most unexpected sort of luck. When he approached House Tharask to hire an inquisitive, an elf woman named Muroni, dressed in full plate and bearing the holy symbol of Aureon, stopped him. "You won't find the answers you're seeking in there. Your destiny lies in the jungles."
Muroni explained that she was a follower of the great silver dragon Vuulaytherus of the Chamber, and that his interpretation of the Prophecy had driven her here to seek out the Wolves. She had seen that great events surrounding a group of adventurers connected to House Cannith would take place in Xen'drik around this time, and had been sent to witness them. She offered up details that no one could possibly have known without being either a member of the Wolves, a top-notch spy or someone who truly had access to prophecy, and expressed a desire to accompany the adventurers and witness the events. She promised in exchange to aid in any way she could.
When the rest of the group found Kanatash, he engaged his mind link so they could discuss Muroni privately. They all agreed that given what she knew, they might as well trust her, as she was either an ally or an enemy so well-connected that they were all screwed anyway. The group went to The Chapterhouse, a joint House Phiarlan/House Ghallanda performance space and tavern, to talk and eat.
While there, Lysander asked around with the other musicians and found out that someone had seen Scimitar (or a warforged who looked a great deal like her) about two days ago, and that she had come aboard an airship. After asking questions about the deep jungle, they got in their airship and took off into the jungles of Xen'drik. Lysander also heard rumors that they had spoken to the Provost of the Morgrave Expedition.
As a result, Pel went over and caroused with a handful of students from the Morgrave Expedition, getting them drunk and working them for information. He found out that the name of the Expedition leader was Provost Baris Kaven, and that the expedition was based out of a boarding house not far from where their ship was docked.
Assuming the form of the student he had left passed out drunk in the Chapterhouse, Pel went to meet with Provost Kaven. He acted out the part of the drunken student, and managed to discover that Kaven had spoken with Scimitar and a Captain Rarwog, who were looking for advice on the lay of the land. Kaven had told them to follow the river.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Wolves went to the House Cannith enclave to get their travel arrangements taken care of. They were told to find Chinxero, captain of the elemental riverboat The Marlow, at the docks by the Rachi River.
After a night of sleep at the Chapterhouse, the Wolves went down to find Chinxero, who turned out to be something of a surly human. He groused at them when he saw their travel papers. "Too far. Too far and too dangerous. Besides, I have other runs to make, schedules to keep. Find another charter."
The Wolves were understandably unhappy about this turn of events, but they tried to argue with him. He relented slightly, telling them that a diversion into the jungle might get him killed, and would certainly cost him. If they were willing to essentially bribe him with 6000 gold, he would go along.
Muroni took Kanatash aside and explained that she had 4000 gold, which she was willing to part with if it would help. The Wolves argued with Chinxero, telling him that they had a paid travel voucher from Cannith and that what they had to accomplish was important, and finally they managed to talk him down to 4000 gold, put as a deposit on his boat. If the boat and his crew survived the journey completely intact, he'd return the deposit. This was deemed agreeable by the Wolves, although Kanatash did demand a receipt for the gold. So it was that on Sypheros 28, the Wandering Wolves boarded The Marlow for a trip down the Rachi River.
Part Four - Riding the Marlow:
The Marlow was a small elemental-powered riverboat, with a crew of 10 and not much room to get around. The Wolves had to share a small auxiliary cargo hold as their quarters, and so they spent most of their time on the deck of the boat, even sleeping out under the stars.
The first day of travel along the river seemed relatively civilized, as they saw small villages dotting the jungle along the river banks. By the second day, any villages were gone, and the Wolves were deep into the uncivilized jungles of Xen'drik. The Marlow would travel by day, then drop anchor at night, for safety reasons.
On the third day, as the Marlow was travelling, a band of Lizardfolk began throwing javelins at the boat. The Wolves dove for cover, except for Kanatash, who unleashed an electrical energy missile that killed four of the Lizardfolk on one side of the river and took a javelin in the shoulder as a result.
Pel, Luggoth and Lysander fired arrows at the Lizardfolk, and Lysander killed one of them with an expert shot. Muroni cured Kanatash's wound as Kanatash fired at the rest of the Lizardfolk with another energy missile, eliminating the threat.
The rest of the day and night passed uneventfully, but on the fourth night, while everyone but Brand and Whitehearth was sleeping, Brand saw a pair of large green hands grab the prow of the boat and begin to pull. He drew his swords and moved forward, just in time to slash his shortsword into a troll that pulled itself up onto the boat. As Whitehearth joined him in attacking the beast, another troll pulled itself aboard at the rear of the ship. Brand looked back quickly to see the other troll, and the momentary distraction allowed the troll he was battling to claw him across the chest.
Brand responded with a flurry of attacks, slashing the troll several times, but it began to regenerate and swung another claw at Brand, tearing a small chunk out of his shoulder. The other troll moved over to Luggoth, who was stirring but not yet up and awake, but it's claws glanced off his armor. Kanatash discharged a fire energy missile at both trolls, causing them to shriek in pain. Pel and Lysander tumbled to their feet, and Lysander cast a mirror image spell while Pel tried to cast hold person, which the troll shrugged off.
Luggoth stood, drawing an attack from the troll next to him, but he struck back with a glancing blow off the troll's neck.
Brand swung another flurry of attacks at his opponent, but landed only one successful nick across the troll's upper leg, which was quickly regenerated. The other troll, nearer to Kanatash and furious with the fire attack, swung his claws and tore the psion nearly in two. Fortunately, Muroni was there to cast a healing spell, and Kanatash channeled some of his own life energy into another missile, this one destroying the troll at the front of the boat and severly wounding the one next to him.
It was still strong enough to attack again, though, and once again nearly killed Kanatash by clawing and biting at him. The psion resisted the pain and used another fiery energy missile to kill the troll, leaving the Wolves to heal up and rest after a devastating and nearly fatal attack.
The next day (Aryth 3), as they reached a turn on the Rachi River, Pel spotted a pair of giant hands of stone reaching up toward the sky, the marker they had been told to watch for by Lady Elaydren. Behind the hands, in the distance, they could see a massive ruined temple. Next to the hands, they saw an air-skiff floating about 20 feet in the air, a rope ladder hanging down to the ground and a line spiked into the ground to keep the skiff steady.
As they disembarked, the Wolves realized that there were two Emerald Claw soldiers aboard the air skiff. The soldiers were waving their arms and yelling out that they surrendered, which seemed odd to the Wolves. However, the soldiers seemed sincere, climbing down the ladder and allowing themselves to be bound.
Lysander used his magics and bardic ability to help Pel interrogate the soldiers. They learned that their leader's name was Garrow, and that they soldiers claimed he was a great and powerful vampire, but both Pel and Lysander sensed that the soldiers were lying about that last part. They were also told that there were fifty soldiers in Garrow's force, which was investigating the temple. The soldiers were brusque and aggressive, and this caused Brand to try physically threatening them, stabbing one of them in the shoulder with his rapier.
This upset Kanatash, who saw the attack as torture, and he created a defensive energy wall around the prisoners. The Wolves got into a minor squabble, until Muroni pointed out this seemed like a distraction, and that they needed to get into the temple before Garrow found what he was looking for. This clicked with the Wolves, and they realized why the soldiers had been so eager to surrender... they were stalling in the name of their leader.
With that decided, the Wolves headed for the ruin, intent on stopping Garrow from acquiring the last schema.
Part Five - The Ruin:
As the Wolves approached the ruin, they couldn't help but be impressed by its scale. It was over 300 feet tall, and composed of solid stone that didn't seem to be any worse for wear despite its age, a sure sign of magical reinforcement. The obvious point of egress was a set of giant stairs, each one 10 feet high. Fortunately, there was a slave staircase built right next to it sized for elves, and the Wolves began ascending that staircase.
As soon as they were all on the stairs, however, they were met by a trap. A giant boulder rolled down the stairs, and the Wolves tried to scramble back out to avoid being rolled over. Pel and Whitehearth managed to avoid it entirely, but the others were caught to some degree by the boulder trap.
Following behind the boulder they had released was a small group of about a half-dozen drow, who didn't seem amenable to Kanatash's attempt to negotiate a truce.
Brand and Luggoth moved up and blocked the drow from coming any further down the stairs as Kanatash, Lysander and Pel fired ranged attacks from the bottom. They were attacked in kind by the drow throwing javelins, and they ducked behind cover to avoid the attacks.
Brand engaged the leader of the drow in combat, exchanging shortsword and rapier strikes with the drow's shortspear, both men taking severe damage in the exchanges. Luggoth swung his greatsword and finished the drow leader off.
Two more drow charged in, and Brand killed each of them in turn, assisted by arrows from Lysander and Pel and Luggoth's greatsword. Kanatash fired an electrical energy missile that killed three of the others, and Luggoth charged forward and killed the last drow standing with his greatsword.
The drow leader had been wearing magical leather armor, which Brand quickly changed into, moving his masterwork leather into the Heward's Haversack.
Drawing on their experience in the ziggurat in Thrane, the Wolves decided to move upward as quickly as possible, finding another staircase that led up to an enormous pair of stone doors, cracked open about five feet with light spilling out. Brand snuck up to check it out and saw a ziggurat inside the massive room, generating some sort of light sphere on top. Standing inside that light sphere was a mummy who was studying the runes on the ziggurat and a heavily-armed warrior of the Emerald Claw.
On the level just below the top, ten feet below, there were six Emerald Claw soldiers bearing crossbows and aiming at the door. Brand dimension leaped behind the mummy and his troops onto the second level of the ziggurat and sent back information through the mind link.
The Wolves moved quietly up to the door and prepared their plan, using the mind link to work it out silently. Brand was unable to see that the leader of the Emerald Claw troops had picked up on an impending attack and moved down toward the door, drawing his sword, but Lysander heard some chainmail clanking around, so he knew someone was moving.
Lysander cast invisibility on Kanatash and then mirror image on himself, and then moved throw the door, drawing the soldiers' crossbow fire. His mirror images held up, however, and he suffered no attacks himself. With the soldiers reloading their crossbows, Kanatash stepped in and fired off an electrical energy missile that killed five of them.
The rest of the Wolves charged in, and resisted the mummy's fear effect except for Luggoth, who was paralyzed for a few moments. Brand came around the ziggurat and attacked the last remaining Emerald Claw soldier, missing with his surprise attack but succeeding with a flurry of sword strikes seconds after to kill him.
Pel engaged in melee with the Emerald Claw leader as Whitehearth provided support while Kanatash and Lysander engaged the mummy. The mummy had begun firing magic missiles down at them, but when Kanatash tried to fire back with an energy missile, he found that the white sphere the mummy was in was in fact a globe of lesser invulnerability, rendering him immune to spell and psionic effects. Lysander guessed that the globe was being generated by ancient giant magics from the ziggurat itself.
Lysander began firing his bow at the mummy as Brand pulled himself up to the top of the ziggurat to engage him in melee combat. The mummy moved over and backhanded Brand with a powerful blow, and Brand felt a rotting sensation which he managed to shake off. But he realized that the legends Lysander had just imparted to them were true, and that a mummy could infect others by touch with a rotting disease.
Sure that his bow was having little to no effect, Lysander dropped it and pulled his sword, starting up a rousing battle song as he did. Kanatash moved in with his quarterstaff to aid Pel, but Luggoth also recovered his wits and moved in, finishing the Emerald Claw leader off with a powerful slash of his greatsword.
Brand slashed at the mummy, cutting into him for some minor damage, but the mummy struck back, this time infecting Brand with mummy rot. He knew that he now had at best minutes to live. Kanatash, using the tactic he had developed against the dire shark, cast time hop to give Brand more time.
The Wolves began struggling to the top of the ziggurat, jumping at the 10-foot levels and trying to reach the mummy as the mummy rained magic missiles down upon them. Finally, when Lysander, Pel and Luggoth had all reached the top, the mummy drank a potion, which had no immediate effect inside the globe effect.
Seconds later, the mummy leaped out of the globe and vanished in midair. Lysander jumped after him, swinging at empty air, as Kanatash used his psionics to dispel magic in the area, rendering the mummy visible right next to Lysander. Luggoth jumped down, flying into a rage and swinging his sword into the mummy, cutting off a chunk of his bandages and spilling black embalming fluid onto the ziggurat. Pel, meanwhile, jumped down and cast a cure spell, dealing positive energy damage to the mummy.
Enraged, the mummy struck Pel, who resisted the mummy rot and prepared to cast another spell. As he did, Kanatash blasted away with his dorje, hitting the mummy with a gout of flame, and Lysander cast a cure spell of his own, hitting the mummy with more positive energy. Pel called out to the Traveler and laid his hands on the mummy once more, and the foul undead creature disintegrated, leaving only a pile of rotting bandages.
With the mummy defeated and adrenaline wearing off, the Wolves turned to their doomed companion Brand, who appeared from his time hop. Almost simultaneously, a dimension door opened next to him, and a man who looked a great deal like him except older emerged.
"It's good to have oracles, boy," he said, and then spirited Brand away with a dimension door. Clearly, Brand's father was in Xen'drik, and through some magic, had been expecting his son.
XP: 3120
Part Three - Stormreach:
As instructed, the Wandering Wolves slipped unobtrusively into Stormreach by means of the docks, and then split up to do some recon work. Luggoth and Whitehearth wandered around the outskirts of town, looking for any physical evidence of the Claw. Pel and Lysander spent about five hours hitting up dockworkers, tavern-goers and other likely suspects to see if they had seen Scimitar, the Emerald Claw or their vampiric leader, but they came up empty. Brand spent the same amount of time asking around about his father, Traega d'Orien, but also didn't have any luck.
Kanatash, however, had a most unexpected sort of luck. When he approached House Tharask to hire an inquisitive, an elf woman named Muroni, dressed in full plate and bearing the holy symbol of Aureon, stopped him. "You won't find the answers you're seeking in there. Your destiny lies in the jungles."
Muroni explained that she was a follower of the great silver dragon Vuulaytherus of the Chamber, and that his interpretation of the Prophecy had driven her here to seek out the Wolves. She had seen that great events surrounding a group of adventurers connected to House Cannith would take place in Xen'drik around this time, and had been sent to witness them. She offered up details that no one could possibly have known without being either a member of the Wolves, a top-notch spy or someone who truly had access to prophecy, and expressed a desire to accompany the adventurers and witness the events. She promised in exchange to aid in any way she could.
When the rest of the group found Kanatash, he engaged his mind link so they could discuss Muroni privately. They all agreed that given what she knew, they might as well trust her, as she was either an ally or an enemy so well-connected that they were all screwed anyway. The group went to The Chapterhouse, a joint House Phiarlan/House Ghallanda performance space and tavern, to talk and eat.
While there, Lysander asked around with the other musicians and found out that someone had seen Scimitar (or a warforged who looked a great deal like her) about two days ago, and that she had come aboard an airship. After asking questions about the deep jungle, they got in their airship and took off into the jungles of Xen'drik. Lysander also heard rumors that they had spoken to the Provost of the Morgrave Expedition.
As a result, Pel went over and caroused with a handful of students from the Morgrave Expedition, getting them drunk and working them for information. He found out that the name of the Expedition leader was Provost Baris Kaven, and that the expedition was based out of a boarding house not far from where their ship was docked.
Assuming the form of the student he had left passed out drunk in the Chapterhouse, Pel went to meet with Provost Kaven. He acted out the part of the drunken student, and managed to discover that Kaven had spoken with Scimitar and a Captain Rarwog, who were looking for advice on the lay of the land. Kaven had told them to follow the river.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Wolves went to the House Cannith enclave to get their travel arrangements taken care of. They were told to find Chinxero, captain of the elemental riverboat The Marlow, at the docks by the Rachi River.
After a night of sleep at the Chapterhouse, the Wolves went down to find Chinxero, who turned out to be something of a surly human. He groused at them when he saw their travel papers. "Too far. Too far and too dangerous. Besides, I have other runs to make, schedules to keep. Find another charter."
The Wolves were understandably unhappy about this turn of events, but they tried to argue with him. He relented slightly, telling them that a diversion into the jungle might get him killed, and would certainly cost him. If they were willing to essentially bribe him with 6000 gold, he would go along.
Muroni took Kanatash aside and explained that she had 4000 gold, which she was willing to part with if it would help. The Wolves argued with Chinxero, telling him that they had a paid travel voucher from Cannith and that what they had to accomplish was important, and finally they managed to talk him down to 4000 gold, put as a deposit on his boat. If the boat and his crew survived the journey completely intact, he'd return the deposit. This was deemed agreeable by the Wolves, although Kanatash did demand a receipt for the gold. So it was that on Sypheros 28, the Wandering Wolves boarded The Marlow for a trip down the Rachi River.
Part Four - Riding the Marlow:
The Marlow was a small elemental-powered riverboat, with a crew of 10 and not much room to get around. The Wolves had to share a small auxiliary cargo hold as their quarters, and so they spent most of their time on the deck of the boat, even sleeping out under the stars.
The first day of travel along the river seemed relatively civilized, as they saw small villages dotting the jungle along the river banks. By the second day, any villages were gone, and the Wolves were deep into the uncivilized jungles of Xen'drik. The Marlow would travel by day, then drop anchor at night, for safety reasons.
On the third day, as the Marlow was travelling, a band of Lizardfolk began throwing javelins at the boat. The Wolves dove for cover, except for Kanatash, who unleashed an electrical energy missile that killed four of the Lizardfolk on one side of the river and took a javelin in the shoulder as a result.
Pel, Luggoth and Lysander fired arrows at the Lizardfolk, and Lysander killed one of them with an expert shot. Muroni cured Kanatash's wound as Kanatash fired at the rest of the Lizardfolk with another energy missile, eliminating the threat.
The rest of the day and night passed uneventfully, but on the fourth night, while everyone but Brand and Whitehearth was sleeping, Brand saw a pair of large green hands grab the prow of the boat and begin to pull. He drew his swords and moved forward, just in time to slash his shortsword into a troll that pulled itself up onto the boat. As Whitehearth joined him in attacking the beast, another troll pulled itself aboard at the rear of the ship. Brand looked back quickly to see the other troll, and the momentary distraction allowed the troll he was battling to claw him across the chest.
Brand responded with a flurry of attacks, slashing the troll several times, but it began to regenerate and swung another claw at Brand, tearing a small chunk out of his shoulder. The other troll moved over to Luggoth, who was stirring but not yet up and awake, but it's claws glanced off his armor. Kanatash discharged a fire energy missile at both trolls, causing them to shriek in pain. Pel and Lysander tumbled to their feet, and Lysander cast a mirror image spell while Pel tried to cast hold person, which the troll shrugged off.
Luggoth stood, drawing an attack from the troll next to him, but he struck back with a glancing blow off the troll's neck.
Brand swung another flurry of attacks at his opponent, but landed only one successful nick across the troll's upper leg, which was quickly regenerated. The other troll, nearer to Kanatash and furious with the fire attack, swung his claws and tore the psion nearly in two. Fortunately, Muroni was there to cast a healing spell, and Kanatash channeled some of his own life energy into another missile, this one destroying the troll at the front of the boat and severly wounding the one next to him.
It was still strong enough to attack again, though, and once again nearly killed Kanatash by clawing and biting at him. The psion resisted the pain and used another fiery energy missile to kill the troll, leaving the Wolves to heal up and rest after a devastating and nearly fatal attack.
The next day (Aryth 3), as they reached a turn on the Rachi River, Pel spotted a pair of giant hands of stone reaching up toward the sky, the marker they had been told to watch for by Lady Elaydren. Behind the hands, in the distance, they could see a massive ruined temple. Next to the hands, they saw an air-skiff floating about 20 feet in the air, a rope ladder hanging down to the ground and a line spiked into the ground to keep the skiff steady.
As they disembarked, the Wolves realized that there were two Emerald Claw soldiers aboard the air skiff. The soldiers were waving their arms and yelling out that they surrendered, which seemed odd to the Wolves. However, the soldiers seemed sincere, climbing down the ladder and allowing themselves to be bound.
Lysander used his magics and bardic ability to help Pel interrogate the soldiers. They learned that their leader's name was Garrow, and that they soldiers claimed he was a great and powerful vampire, but both Pel and Lysander sensed that the soldiers were lying about that last part. They were also told that there were fifty soldiers in Garrow's force, which was investigating the temple. The soldiers were brusque and aggressive, and this caused Brand to try physically threatening them, stabbing one of them in the shoulder with his rapier.
This upset Kanatash, who saw the attack as torture, and he created a defensive energy wall around the prisoners. The Wolves got into a minor squabble, until Muroni pointed out this seemed like a distraction, and that they needed to get into the temple before Garrow found what he was looking for. This clicked with the Wolves, and they realized why the soldiers had been so eager to surrender... they were stalling in the name of their leader.
With that decided, the Wolves headed for the ruin, intent on stopping Garrow from acquiring the last schema.
Part Five - The Ruin:
As the Wolves approached the ruin, they couldn't help but be impressed by its scale. It was over 300 feet tall, and composed of solid stone that didn't seem to be any worse for wear despite its age, a sure sign of magical reinforcement. The obvious point of egress was a set of giant stairs, each one 10 feet high. Fortunately, there was a slave staircase built right next to it sized for elves, and the Wolves began ascending that staircase.
As soon as they were all on the stairs, however, they were met by a trap. A giant boulder rolled down the stairs, and the Wolves tried to scramble back out to avoid being rolled over. Pel and Whitehearth managed to avoid it entirely, but the others were caught to some degree by the boulder trap.
Following behind the boulder they had released was a small group of about a half-dozen drow, who didn't seem amenable to Kanatash's attempt to negotiate a truce.
Brand and Luggoth moved up and blocked the drow from coming any further down the stairs as Kanatash, Lysander and Pel fired ranged attacks from the bottom. They were attacked in kind by the drow throwing javelins, and they ducked behind cover to avoid the attacks.
Brand engaged the leader of the drow in combat, exchanging shortsword and rapier strikes with the drow's shortspear, both men taking severe damage in the exchanges. Luggoth swung his greatsword and finished the drow leader off.
Two more drow charged in, and Brand killed each of them in turn, assisted by arrows from Lysander and Pel and Luggoth's greatsword. Kanatash fired an electrical energy missile that killed three of the others, and Luggoth charged forward and killed the last drow standing with his greatsword.
The drow leader had been wearing magical leather armor, which Brand quickly changed into, moving his masterwork leather into the Heward's Haversack.
Drawing on their experience in the ziggurat in Thrane, the Wolves decided to move upward as quickly as possible, finding another staircase that led up to an enormous pair of stone doors, cracked open about five feet with light spilling out. Brand snuck up to check it out and saw a ziggurat inside the massive room, generating some sort of light sphere on top. Standing inside that light sphere was a mummy who was studying the runes on the ziggurat and a heavily-armed warrior of the Emerald Claw.
On the level just below the top, ten feet below, there were six Emerald Claw soldiers bearing crossbows and aiming at the door. Brand dimension leaped behind the mummy and his troops onto the second level of the ziggurat and sent back information through the mind link.
The Wolves moved quietly up to the door and prepared their plan, using the mind link to work it out silently. Brand was unable to see that the leader of the Emerald Claw troops had picked up on an impending attack and moved down toward the door, drawing his sword, but Lysander heard some chainmail clanking around, so he knew someone was moving.
Lysander cast invisibility on Kanatash and then mirror image on himself, and then moved throw the door, drawing the soldiers' crossbow fire. His mirror images held up, however, and he suffered no attacks himself. With the soldiers reloading their crossbows, Kanatash stepped in and fired off an electrical energy missile that killed five of them.
The rest of the Wolves charged in, and resisted the mummy's fear effect except for Luggoth, who was paralyzed for a few moments. Brand came around the ziggurat and attacked the last remaining Emerald Claw soldier, missing with his surprise attack but succeeding with a flurry of sword strikes seconds after to kill him.
Pel engaged in melee with the Emerald Claw leader as Whitehearth provided support while Kanatash and Lysander engaged the mummy. The mummy had begun firing magic missiles down at them, but when Kanatash tried to fire back with an energy missile, he found that the white sphere the mummy was in was in fact a globe of lesser invulnerability, rendering him immune to spell and psionic effects. Lysander guessed that the globe was being generated by ancient giant magics from the ziggurat itself.
Lysander began firing his bow at the mummy as Brand pulled himself up to the top of the ziggurat to engage him in melee combat. The mummy moved over and backhanded Brand with a powerful blow, and Brand felt a rotting sensation which he managed to shake off. But he realized that the legends Lysander had just imparted to them were true, and that a mummy could infect others by touch with a rotting disease.
Sure that his bow was having little to no effect, Lysander dropped it and pulled his sword, starting up a rousing battle song as he did. Kanatash moved in with his quarterstaff to aid Pel, but Luggoth also recovered his wits and moved in, finishing the Emerald Claw leader off with a powerful slash of his greatsword.
Brand slashed at the mummy, cutting into him for some minor damage, but the mummy struck back, this time infecting Brand with mummy rot. He knew that he now had at best minutes to live. Kanatash, using the tactic he had developed against the dire shark, cast time hop to give Brand more time.
The Wolves began struggling to the top of the ziggurat, jumping at the 10-foot levels and trying to reach the mummy as the mummy rained magic missiles down upon them. Finally, when Lysander, Pel and Luggoth had all reached the top, the mummy drank a potion, which had no immediate effect inside the globe effect.
Seconds later, the mummy leaped out of the globe and vanished in midair. Lysander jumped after him, swinging at empty air, as Kanatash used his psionics to dispel magic in the area, rendering the mummy visible right next to Lysander. Luggoth jumped down, flying into a rage and swinging his sword into the mummy, cutting off a chunk of his bandages and spilling black embalming fluid onto the ziggurat. Pel, meanwhile, jumped down and cast a cure spell, dealing positive energy damage to the mummy.
Enraged, the mummy struck Pel, who resisted the mummy rot and prepared to cast another spell. As he did, Kanatash blasted away with his dorje, hitting the mummy with a gout of flame, and Lysander cast a cure spell of his own, hitting the mummy with more positive energy. Pel called out to the Traveler and laid his hands on the mummy once more, and the foul undead creature disintegrated, leaving only a pile of rotting bandages.
With the mummy defeated and adrenaline wearing off, the Wolves turned to their doomed companion Brand, who appeared from his time hop. Almost simultaneously, a dimension door opened next to him, and a man who looked a great deal like him except older emerged.
"It's good to have oracles, boy," he said, and then spirited Brand away with a dimension door. Clearly, Brand's father was in Xen'drik, and through some magic, had been expecting his son.
XP: 3120
Thursday, August 03, 2006
I'm out on the 4th
Just been informed that I'm expected to be at Shawna's cousin's rehearsal dinner, in addition to her wedding. Well, I make it sound worse than it is. There's free fajitas involved, and I go where the food is. Guess I'll see everybody in September.
Randy, have a blast in Florida!
Randy, have a blast in Florida!
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