Episode 16 - The Astral Sea & Village of Flotsam

Xiu charges the aberrant leader and slashes her, then uses action point to hit her again. Astral Giants are called to defend the aberrant leader, and they hit Xiu. Echo moves up and misses the leader. The light priest throws a ball of radiant light at Magnus and Alain, slowing them both. Foulspawn spit dark gooeyness at Echo, blinding him, then move in to attack him, one of them hits but the other attacks are deflected. Leader bites Echo, poisoning him. Alain fires predatory shards at one of the giants, then becomes immobilized due to the radiant light. Magnus shakes off the slow effect and moves up.

Xiu stabs the aberrant leader, then shifts away from one of the giants. Astral Giants take force damage, start attacking Xiu and she is bloodied. Echo shifts out of the darkness, activates his healing fonrt and uses virtuous strike on the leader, healing Xiu. Light priest summons light from the star dome, hitting everyone except Alain and healing the foes. Darkspawn summon more darkness on Echo and then attack him, and he is nearly dead. Leader bites Echo again, further poisoning him, then swings her greatsword at Echo. Alain activates animated arbalester, which crits the leader. Magnus moves up to flank the leader, and uses lasting threat on her, uses his action point to use crushing surge on her and misses.

Xiu uses arterial slice on the aberrant leader and kills her. As she dies, she calls out for someone to save her, which does not happen. Astral Giants look at the priest, who is struggling with indecision, and after taking force damage, they attack Xiu. Echo takes poison damage, is still alive, takes his second wind, lays hands on himself, is no longer bloodied. Light priest moves back and fires blinding light of power at Xiu, blinding her and damaging her, but she is still alive. Darkspawn attack Magnus to little effect, other one attacks Echo and misses, then they flee. Alain's arbalester hits Darkspawn, then he moves up and gives restorative infusion to Xiu. Magnus runs over to attack that Darkspawn and crits him with Tide of Iron.

Xiu steps away and takes a second wind, but she is still bloodied. Astral Giants close in to attack Xiu. Echo heals Xiu, who is now no longer bloodied, and moves in to attack the Astral Giant. Light priest calls stars down again, hits Xiu and misses Echo. Darkspawn move in to attack Magnus, who does avalanche damage to one of them, and they hit him with no effectiveness. Alain fires arbalester at bloodied Darkspawn, gives regenerative infusion to Xiu, swings and misses at Astral Giant. Magnus swings and hits the non-bloodied Darkspawn.

Xiu burns her regeneration for a healing surge, and is no longer bloodied, attacks the giant with bloodbath. Astral Giant hits Xiu with a crit, but Echo takes the damage instead, bloodying him. The other Astral Giant flanks Echo and hits him. Echo tries to give the Light priest a save, but it doesn't work and his holy symbol digs further into him, then he attacks the Astral Giant. Light priest moves to the back of the room and fires, blinding and bloodying Echo. Darkspawn dies from avalanche, the other one attacks Magnus to little effect. Alain fires the arbalester at the light priest, runs toward the light priest and uses his action point to static shock the light priest. Magnus swings and bloodies the remaining Darkspawn.

Xiu moves up, uses her action point to ride the light priest like a pony. Astral Giants attack Echo and miss. Echo, blinded, swings at the Astral Giant in front of him and misses. Light priest blasts Alain back, pushing him into a statue, then runs away with Xiu clinging to him. Darkspawn takes avalanche damage from Magnus. Alain fires arbalester at light priest, gives fleeting dweomer (force) to Xiu's weapon. Magnus kills the Darkspawn, then moves in to help Echo against the Giants.

Xiu uses her katar to slice the chain of the holy symbol, and the astral giant light priest's eyes clear (but remain pupil-less). The Astral Giants lower their spears and step back. The light priest knocks the statue over, and it smashes into a thousand pieces on the floor. He then spends a minute staring at the ceiling, and calls energy down to heal everyone.

The giant, who calls himself Zanashu, apologizes for being under the influence of a demon. We explain what we are doing here, and find out that the leader was unable to escape with information about the Auctorica Draconis. He explains that of the five pieces, some of them have moved recently. Two of them are in the possession of the fire giants at a place called Flamefall Tower, one remains hidden at a place called Ice Shear Isle, one is in the possession of a genie called Kasiim and one is in the home of the mayor of the city of Brealton. Kasiim lives in a village named Flotsam in the northern seas of Khorvaire, not far from Ice Shear Isle, there is a force of frost giants closing in on that island. Of the pieces not already under the control of the giant army, those two seem most vulnerable to Zanashu. He offers to teach the ritual to repair the divine engine and use it to re-establish the prison of Piranoth. We will also need the assistance of one of the creator dragons, Zenora.

Magnus asks if we can be transported to help Kasiim. After a minute and a half of consideration, Zanashu tells us he can effect our transportation back to our own world, and put us back in the northern part of our world. We all take an extended rest, and Magnus learns the ritual of binding Piranoth with the Auctorica Draconis.

We are transported to somewhere very cold and dark. We are in a cave full of stalagmites and stalactites of ice, and there is no apparent exit. Xiu climbs up the walls to where she saw lighter ice, and she hears wind, which seems odd since we're in an enclosed space. She suspects we're in a pocket of air inside a glacier, and that this part of the glacier she's next to is the thinnest. Magnus suspects that the teleportation circle is what causes the wind sound, which might be extraplanar. Xiu climbs high up, using her pitons and crampons, and finds it easier to see where she's going when the light isn't on. Alain notices that the runes for the circle are very old, not House Orien, and he suspects they date from the Age of Giants or before. With this in mind, Magnus is able to use the correct sequence of runes to activate the portal.

The cavern lights up, we vanish from the bubble and reappear in a frozen wasteland. We hear a great horn. Three kayaks made of ice, impossibly large, are heading toward the shore. They are filled with frost giants, and one of them blows the horn again.

The kayaks glide into shore. Echo uses wrath of god, we all move forward toward the giants. One giant moves off the kayak and kills a villager. The larger giant moves in and steps on one of the tents, then kills another villager with an ice spear. Echo charges the large giant and hits him for radiant damage. Xiu moves in and charges the large giant as well, but she misses. Magnus moves in to flank the giants. Alain moves up and misses the larger giant with his crossbow.

The smaller giant crushes his way past the tent, drawing an attack from Echo. The Frost Giant Windkeeper (larger giant) blows frosty breath and knocks us all down, then crushes through another tent. Echo stands, activates his healing font and charges the Windkeeper, missing him. Xiu stands and charges the Windkeeper, missing him. Magnus charges the Windkeeper and hits him, pinning him in place, then uses his action point to use come and get it. Alain fires predatory shards at the Windkeeper and frost giant.

Frost Giant takes force damage and misses Magnus. Windkeeper takes force damage, summons up a vortex of snow and ice that catches Xiu and Magnus, sliding them and breaking the pin, and then he stands up. Echo hits the Windkeeper with his blessed weapon and bloodies him. Xiu moves up and attacks the Windkeeper with arterial slice. Magnus uses inexorable advance on the Windkeeper, killing him, and then on the other giant. Alain gives flame dweomer to Xiu's weapons, fires repulsion strike at frost giant.

Frost giant misses Magnus. Echo uses virtuous strike on frost giant, who is bloodied. Xiu moves in and hits the frost giant with Rogue's Luck. Magnus uses crushing surge on the frost giant. Alain misses the giant.

Frost giant hits Xiu, drawing a hit from Magnus, then tries to flee, drawing attacks from Echo and Xiu that kill him.

Echo switches weapons and fires at the nearest frost giant, but he misses. Xiu leaps across the water onto the other island. Magnus dimisses his armor, stows his shield and jumps to one of the islets, and Alain follows him.

Frost Giants destroy huts in a frenzy, the other two Frost Giants move in on Xiu, one of them attacks her and the other throws handaxes at her, and she is down. Magnus jumps into the water, and swims up to shore, then puts his armor back on and draws his shield. Echo jumps onto the islet. Xiu is still vulnerable to cold. Alain moves into the water and begins sinking.

Frost Giant Marauder moves in on Magnus, hitting him with a handaxe. The other Marauder moves in and misses Magnus with a hand axe. Frost giants hit Magnus, making him vulnerable to cold and kick her into the water. Echo fires his bow at the frost giant and crits, healing Xiu and waking her up. Xiu swims up onto the islet and takes a second wind, and saves against vulnerability. Magnus attacks skirmisher with appalling crunch with a crit, marking all of the giants. Alain begins freezing, sinks further into the water.

Frost Giant Marauders throw axes at Magnus and Echo. Echo misses the skirmisher. Xiu throws shuriken with tornado strike and bloodies the marauder. Magnus uses crushing surge on bloodied Marauder and misses. Alain is drowning and freezing to death.

Frost Giant Marauders attack Magnus. Echo fires his bow and misses. Xiu drinks her potion of vitality and jumps onto the shore, then charges the frost giant. Magnus shifts up to use crushing surge on the bloodied Marauder and misses. Alain regains his wits, swims up onto one of the islets.

Frost Giant Marauder throws axe at Alain, the other one attacks Magnus. Frost Giants swing and miss. Echo fires an arrow attached to a rope to give himiself a handhold. Xiu tumbles next to the bloodied Marauder, activates her sidestep stance and attacks, nearly killing him. Magnus uses crushing surge on Marauder and misses. Alain fires runic resistance at the bloodied Marauder and Frost Giant.

Episode 15 - Journey Through The Astral Sea

Nymm 18-19

The siege has disbanded over the last two days, and we are able to enter the fortress and find Obanar. Echo has arrived in Argent and agreed to serve as a champion until the trouble subsides, and provides intelligence to Obanar about goings-on in Eberron. Obanar tells us that the giant incursion is not limited to Argent, which is not supposed to be possible. The army has largely returned to the mountains and back into the depths of Khyber. Frost giant raiding parties have been capturing villages in the northern part of Khorvaire. Zargosz is going to go back to the Eldeen Reaches and seek help for the demon in his head.

We spend a day memorizing rituals, building alchemical and magical items, and then head out to the Astral Sea to find the Astral Giants and the Temple of Inchoate Mysteries for information about the Auctorica Draconis. The pirates of Black Harbor will know where everything is in the Astral Sea. Obanar transports us to the Black Harbor, and we are in an unremarkable and dirty alleyway. Xiu determines that where there is noise, there are merchants, and goes to overhear conversations of crew near the Gossamer Ghost, a ship that looks promising.

We find the Captain, Akrathreal, drunk in a bar called the Drowned Rat, complaining about the quality of the drink. Xiu presents the grumpy captain with her bottle of wine. Echo gets an offer of two astral diamonds for passage. Magnus intimidates the captain, letting him know that he can provide muscle. Alain shows off a deep enough knowledge of the Astral Sea to get the captain to take us more seriously. Xiu believes that the captain is nervous about something, not us. Xiu pieces together that the mayor, also the captain of another ship, is not in port, and that Akratheal is eager to pick up his cargo and get out before the mayor returns. Echo convinces the captain that going out of his way might convince the mayor that he wasn't involved in whatever cargo he was supposed to be avoiding. He agrees to take us on for 5000 gold as long as we help load the ship, stay out of the way of the crew and avoid the cargo hold on pain of death.

The journey takes about 10 hours, after Magnus uses his Enhance Vessel ritual on the Gossamer Ghost. There is a golden staircase floating in midair, made up of giant-sized steps. There are four silvery giants on the stairs above us.

Xiu leaps into the air, comes down in front of an astral giant and swings at him with clever strike. Astral giant warpswords move in and swing swords at Xiu, one hits and one misses. Echo charges one of the warpswords with a blade of light, but the radiant damage does not seem to damage the giant much, and he seems surprised to see that. Astral Giants hit Xiu and crit Echo. Magnus moves up and uses come and get it on the giants. Alain moves up, fires a repulsion strike at one of the Astral Giant warpswords, gives Xiu a dancing shield and gives resistive formula to Xiu and Magnus.

Xiu attacks the Astral Giant with clever strike. Warpsword attack Echo and Magnus, hiting them and teleporting them into the astral sea and dazing them, although Magnus uses an item to resist. Echo fires off sign of vulnerability at an Astral Giant, making him vulnerable to radiant damage. Astral Giant attacks Xiu, the other one flies out to attack Magnus. Magnus draws an attack from the Astral Giant, charging back at one of the Warpswords and misses. Alain swings at the warpsword and misses.

Xiu tries and fails her changeling trick, uses accurate strike on the astral giant and bloodies him, causing the golden cords connecting him to the others to fade. Warpsword attacks Echo and causes ongoing radiant damage, the other warpsword attacks Magnus and misses. Echo swims forward and attacks with fervent strike and misses, but uses elven accuracy. Astral Giant misses Magnus, the other one attacks Xiu and misses. Magnus hits warpsword with appalling crunch, and he teleports away. Alain uses static shock for a critical on that warpsword.

Xiu charges with wild tumble cut at that warpsword and misses. Warpsword misses Echo and shifts back toward the stairs, and the other, bloodied one misses Magnus. Echo swims back onto the stairs and attacks the warpsword, but misses. Astral Giant attacks Xiu, another attacks Magnus and then floats back up the stairs. Magnus misses the warpsword. Alain uses resistive formula on Magnus and Xiu again, moves to the other warpsword and hits him with Greater Magic Weapon, which affects Echo's weapon.

Xiu hits the bloodied warpsword and he disintegrates into astral energy. The other warpsword hits Echo for a lot of damage. Echo lays hands on himself, hits the astral giant. Astral Giant attacks Xiu, the other one moves in and misses Magnus. Magnus misses the astral giant. Alain uses magic weapon on warpsword, steps back, calls the dancing shield, then uses his action point to fire static shock at the warpsword.

Xiu moves in on the bloodied astral giant and crits him, and he disperses into astral energy. The warpsword swings at Echo and misses. Echo uses lay on hands to heal himself, is no longer bloodied, uses bolstering attack on the warpsword. Astral Giant misses Xiu. Magnus moves up and crits the Astral Giant. Alain fires aggravating force at the warpsword, bloodying him. After a little more combat, we defeat them.

We climb the stairs, Alain notes that there are 86 of them. There is a grand landing and a massive set of double doors. There are statues of chimeraes, and a word is carved in Supernal above the doors. There are four more Astral Giants standing in front of the doors.

Alain tells them we come in peace, as he and Magnus put their weapons away. Echo steps up to tell them we were sent by Argent to seek the Auctorica Draconis. Magnus mentions Piranoth, the threat that is facing the multiverse. The giants step back away from the doors, and one of them pulls it open.

A massive dome full of stars makes up the roof, and the stars race by. Shrines occupy niches along the walls, each full of candles. Astral giants stand guard, while a third giant wearing a holy symbol stands beneath the dome, and there are four elven foulspawn in the room as well, led by a half-elf woman with tentacles. The astral giant rumbles "It seems you were correct, agents of Argent have come to steal the secrets. Guards, destroy them!"

Echo recognizes the holy symbol as a corrupted version of Boldrei's symbol.

4. Tomb of Horrors Chapter Four

We cross the bridge and see buildings comprised of randomly sized stones mortared together into uneven walls. The rocks are from cairns that were destroyed to make the building. There are a number of tapestries in the room, including one that looks like it's wrong, with a human in the tapestry who appears to have been trapped in it. We recognize him as Flynn Romani. Another one seems to be a warning about a trapped door. Some of them are mundane, but the one with Flynn inside has some sort of temporal magic. Erich pulls Flynn out of the tapestry, and Flynn relates that he ran into Quiver, and used that information to trace us here.

Erich and Eldaen go into the next room and see two series of numbers on the wall in brass and black iron. Pock theorizes that it is temporal based, like the sundial we saw earlier, which is proven correct when Baltazar stands in front off the flame and casts his shadow on the numbers. Baltazar stands in front of the number for the hour of the day, and five mad wraith terrors emerge to attack us.

Erich launches a psionic attack on two of the wraiths. Flynn swings his broadsword to bat aside of those wraiths and slides him back, knocking three of the wraiths prone. Pock fires ring of pain at another wraith, leaving him with resounding psychic pain. Eldaen swings a radiant smite at another wraith, and Baltazar follows up with a swing that misses.

Erich uses mind break on Pock's target, making him vulnerable to psychic damage. Flynn moves in to flank with Eldaen. Wraith attacks Eldaen and forces him to attack Baltazar. The wraith targeted by Erich is bloodied, and he moves in to attack Erich, who attacks Pock. missing and letting Pock shadow slip away. Erich reacts with infernal wrath to hit the wraith with fire, then uses his forceful push to send him out of the room. The others float back into the room. Pock uses shared agony on the bloodied wraith, destroying it. Eldaen swings a holy strike at the wraith in front of him. Baltazar orders Flynn to attack that wraith, and he bloodies him.

Erich unleashes a mind blast on the three other wraiths, stunning them. Flynn uses jumping blade assault on the bloodied wraith, knocking him prone. He stands up and swings his claws at Flynn, but he uses his bracer of defense to reduce damage. Pock blasts the bloodied wraith, making us invisible to him. Eldaen hits him with a holy strike, destroying it. Baltazar orders Erich to use mind break on the wraith in front of him, making him vulnerable to psychic damage.

Erich is bloodied by the wraiths' aura, uses a blast on all three wraiths, missing one and critically hitting another. Flynn tumbles past the wraiths to get into flanking position. One wraith is stunned, the others strike at Erich, hurting him fairly badly, and Flynn, bloodying him and sending him to attack Erich, but he misses. Pock launches witchfire at one of the wraiths, bloodying him. Eldaen moves in, uses his resurgent smite to attack a wraith, helping to heal both Erich and Pock. Baltazar heals Erich.

Erich uses dishearten on two of the wraiths. Flynn takes his second wind, and is no longer bloodied. The wraiths miss Eldaen and Erich, due to his intellect fortress. Pock fires eldritch blast at the bloodied wraith. Eldaen swings with heedless fury, and he is bloodied, but Baltazar immediately heals him with inspiring word.

Erich uses dishearten on two of the wraiths, hitting the non-bloodied one. Flynn uses rogue's luck on the bloodied wraith, but it isn't quite destroyed. Two of them swing back at him, bloodying him, and the other swings and misses Eldaen. Pock moves up, spends his action point, uses word of kharad to force them to move and hit one another, killing the bloodied wraith. Eldaen charges and crits a wraith, bloodying him. Baltazar orders him to do it again, and he misses.

Erich tries and fails to pick up the staff. Flynn moves to the back of the room, away from the aura, and is nearly unconscious. One wraith hits Eldaen, who resists with divine counter, and another misses him. Pock fires an eldritch blast at the bloodied wraith. Eldaen attacks the bloodied wraith with holy strike. Baltazar orders him to strike again, and he crits and destroys it.

Erich fires mind break at the remaining wraith, making him vulnerable to psychic damage and bloodying him. Wraith hits Eldaen. Pock fires an eldritch blast at the wraith. Eldaen hits the last wraith with holy strike, negating its aura. Baltazar moves forward and uses war of attrition on it, missing, then uses stand tough to heal the party.

Erich uses mind thrust on the wraith. Flynn moves out, draws a dagger and throws it with a sly flourish. Wraith hits Eldaen and bloodies him. Pock curses him, fires and misses. Eldaen swings a holy strike at the wraith, Baltazar follows up with a guarding attack and destroys it.

With the combat over, we take a brief rest, and begin inspecting the tapestries. One of them radiates illusion and weak teleportation magic. Baltazar puts the key in the lock of the tapestry, and there is a click. Flynn inspects it but can't make anything of it. Erich thinks back to the sun dial to figure out what time to match up on the torch, and he matches it, and a secret door reveals itself. We follow the corridor down and see a series of rooms. The chamber is luxurious, with five small gaming tables around the edge. Eldaen, hearing voices, closes his eyes and moves to put his hand on a table. Baltazar, Flynn and Eldaen are drawn into games with phantoms.

Flynn resists, and takes psychic damage for his troubles, at which point he sits down and begins playing. Eldaen uses insight to play against his foe, and tells the others to open their eyes. Erich, irritated at being excluded, runs over and demands to be let into a game, but his innate mental defenses resist it. Pock fires a bolt of fire at Eldaen's table, setting it alight. Baltazar intimidates his opponent.

Flynn and Eldaen continue playing, as Erich continues to try and get into a game, and Pock fires an eldritch blast at Eldaen's table again. Baltazar calls upon historical knowledge to try and win his game. Erich is finally dominated into a game.

We all continue playing except for Pock, who continues blasting Eldaen's table and discovers some teleportation magic preparing itself in the other room. Flynn, using cheating and bluff, manages to win his game. Pock blows up Eldaen's table, "winning" his game. Using his streetwise skills, Baltazar wins his game. Flynn goes over to try the last table, as Erich knocks the pieces over and leaves his game. Pock moves into the room and blasts another table.

Baltazar runs over to the table and hits it with his flail. Flynn is once again dominated by the table, and begins playing. Eldaen runs over and attacks the table Pock and Baltazar are attacking. Erich launches a psychic attack on the table. Pock destroys it with an eldritch blast. The table dominates Baltazar to defend him, and Flynn tries to use streetwise but is unsuccessful. Eldaen, Pock and Erich continue attacking the table, and Baltazar swings at Eldaen but misses him. Flynn defeats the game, and then we finish smashing the table.

We find a trap door, and Pock opens the lock so that we can go into some underground tunnels, where we find an entrance into an oddly shaped room. Eldaen stealthily scouts ahead, spotting runes on the walls and discovers something similar to Pock. The whole group advances into the room, and the runes begin lighting up again. Erich determines that illusion and teleportation magic is coming from the room. The lights go out, and when they come back up there are duplicates of each of us.

Pock's duplicate attacks him, and he becomes invisible in reaction. Flynn's duplicate attacks and misses him. Erich's duplicate steps back and attacks, missing him. Baltazar's duplicate blasts Erich, Eldaen and Baltazar, knocking them prone. Eldaen's duplicate reaches out and attacks him, bloodying him. Flynn uses his armor to turn invisible, then uses an action point to jump and attack Eldaen's duplicate. Eldaen moves up, attacks his duplicate with holy outrage, bloodying him, and spends an action point to lay hands on himself. Erich fires a hypnotic pattern at three of the duplicates, then spends an action point to dishearten all three of them. Pock teleports into the room, then teleports again to see the rest of the combat and curses Eldaen's duplicate, firing a blast of forceful assault at him. Baltazar stands and moves up, uses an action point to attack Eldaen's duplicate with bastion of defense.

Pock's duplicate moves in and hits him. Flynn's duplicate moves to attack Flynn. Erich's duplicate fires at Flynn with fire and radiant damage. Baltazar's duplicate tries to withering touch Eldaen, but he misses, and Eldaen's duplicate misses Eldaen. Erich slides Eldaen away from his duplicate, allowing Flynn a clear shot at Eldaen's duplicate, but he misses. Erich blasts three of the duplicates with dishearten, hitting Baltazar, Eldaen and his own duplicates. Eldaen moves up, finishes off his duplicate, which triggers Pock's curse on the remaining enemies. Pock uses shared agony on Erich's duplicate, destroying it, and then teleports next to Flynn. Baltazar misses his own duplicate.

Flynn's duplicate attacks and misses Eldaen. Pock's duplicate moves up and attacks Baltazar, and is knocked prone in response. Erich's duplicate rises up, spewing gray mist, and fires a flattering wind at Flynn and Pock, hitting Flynn and knocking him prone. Baltazar's duplicate misses. Eldaen's duplicate rises up and attacks Eldaen, missing him. Flynn charges Baltazar's duplicate, but he hits Baltazar instead. Eldaen swings at Baltazar's duplicate, who uses a power to swap places, so that Eldaen hits Baltazar and heals his duplicate. Erich blasts Pock's duplicate and Baltazar's duplicate, killing Baltazar's duplicate. Pock blasts Flynn's duplicate with witchfire. Baltazar uses inspiring fortitude to heal himself, and is no longer bloodied.

Pock's duplicate uses phase shift to teleport next to Pock. Flynn's duplicate moves past Eldaen and next to Flynn, drawing an attack from Eldaen. Baltazar's duplicate rises up, full of gray mist, uses flattering wind on Flynn and Erich, hitting only Flynn. Flynn stands and attacks his duplicate. Eldaen moves in, attacks Flynn, but holy outrage bloodies his duplicate. Erich uses mind thrust on Flynn's duplicate, but hits Flynn instead. He feels bad, so he uses Majestic Word to heal him. Pock shifts away from his duplicate and eldritch blasts Flynn's duplicate, missing him. Baltazar attacks Flynn's duplicate with war of attrition and misses, gives inspiring word to Flynn to end his bloodied condition.

Pock's duplicate moves up to attack Pock. Flynn's duplicate phase shifts next to Flynn. Flynn uses riposte strike on his duplicate, steps back. We finish them off. We find a weird lever in another room.