"A deep game, my friends, with many pieces on the board," says Pel "As yet I do not clearly see whose hand it is that moves them all against us. A masterful player, to be sure, but we've a few moves of our own to make before contest ends."
Enemies and others to watch out for
The Lords of Dust
The Emerald Claw - known to have negotiated with the Tyrants
The nations of Breland, Aundair and Thrane
uh, King Boranel
The King's Dark Lanterns
The Tyrants and Boromar allied crime families
The fake Wandering Wolves - who/what are they?
The fake Pel - who is it?
Sharri d'Deneith and House Deneith
Uncle Aeromus and House Orien
Lucan and Grilsha
regular old Bounty Hunters - I really do hope we run into some, actually.
Allies and potential help
House Phiarlan (intel and PR)
The Native
Brand's boss's daughter - (forgot her name, if I ever knew it) she could probably help w/travel, our reputation in Orien, getting through to Hackrazet?
Lady Elaydren - compromised by apparent spies in House K'nieth
Cardinal Hetrion - hindered by Thrane's war stance
Lucan Drosa - Thranish spy
Verodin Atrelioth - Thranish paladin
The church of the Traveler - dicey but potentially useful
Chance - preist of the Traveler and casino mogul in Sharn
The Traveler him/herself - why not?!?
Captain Alastair of the Golden Dragon
The Swords of Liberty - Brelish anti-monarchist revolutionaries (are they just Brelish? what's their deal? Classic movements of this type are often composed of a wealthy merchant middle class, or disgruntled peasants)
Ambassador Avadarrn of Karnath
Lysander's contact in Zilargo
just thought of him - Halas Martain?
our friends at Clifftop Guild including...
Elias Volan (mage) and his band which at last count also had a rogue, a cleric and a bard.
Hackrazet, Farmer Demon - surrounded by House Orien guards.
Tyman Karch - wealthy merchant of Fairhaven, has a paper and printing concern in Sharn
Cord Lanner - former enemy, current status unknown
Moloch - Daask Lt., status unknown
Theories and questions
Who is ultimately behind this? How are the Lords of Dust involved?
Is this a monolithic conspiracy or is a single individual/organization pulling the many strings?
Who would stand to gain by this war?
Is King Boranel a mover in this or is he being manipulated? Has he gone mad?
Why have the Wolves been specifically targeted? Who wants us out of the way and why?
How did they know about Gareth's Gear? Did they know we own it or were they just targeting Tock?
ok, well, I guess that's just questions. Answering some of these will help formulate the theories...and suggest more questions, I'm sure.
Suggested actions
Before we go to Xen'drik I suggest we do the following:
1. Make contact with our...contacts in House Phiarlan. They may be our best conduit for info/msgs in and out of Sharn and can help on several fronts.
a. General intel gathering - no one's better for this
b. Spreading positive WW PR thru bards and such. Manipulate teh scuttlebutt.
c. Vampirism cure research at Morgrave - I'd suggest they approach Elias Volan for this job, and he can put to good use the education that we paid for.*
d. If needed, Elias could likely also get general geo-political knowledge from Morgravian scholars as well. I'm sure the war is a hot topic on campus.
e. Sniff out Swords of Liberty as a possible resource
f. perhaps employ pamphleteering by SoL, poss. using Tyman Karch somehow**
g. if discoverable, Pel is curious about the fates of Cord Lanner and Moloch
i. find the spy in House K'Neith?
k. anything else?
*when all this is done we ought to set up a WW sholarship at Morgrave. or maybe just a Pel Grant. Ooooh!
**got the seeds of a scheme in mind how to do this, i'll put them at the end.
2. Pel would like to get a message to Chance at the Traveller's church in Sharn, whether through Phiarlan by some other means. The msg would re-state the Wolves innocence, breifly explaining where we've been, and point out that the "Pel" in Sharn is not Pel (if he hadn't already figured that out). It would likely include some cryptic phrase that would prove the sender's identity. Pel would ask that the truth be spread through the church's grapevine, with an appeal to render us aid when and where possible. (I blew a feat on having clerical clout and I expect it to pay off, damnit!)
3. Get similar messages to as many of the following as possible, however we can:
a. Ambassador Avadarrn
b. Brand's "girlfriend"
c. Captain Alastair (where is the Golden Dragon currently? what's it's schedule?)
d. Lysander's "gnomie" in Zilargo
e. Lady Elaydren (w/warning about spies)
f. Tyman Karch
g. Anyone else we can think of
These notes would all need to be be cryptically bland enough to escape undue scrutiny, yet with clues that mean something to the intended receiver.
4. Find a way to revive Tock. Shipped to Zilargo/vice versa?
5. Maybe have "Gareth" make an appearance in Sharn, perhaps filing some kind of claim on the shop. Pel can't do this, obviously, and the only person I can think of that might be able/willing to is Chance. I'm not married to this idea - it has some complications.
6. Once we have a better idea of what the vampire cure is, it may be needful to locate William before we head out - depends on what it is. I'm really excited about this idea and can't stress enough how important I think it is. Not only will it solve the William/Sharri/House Deneith problem, it could potentially do the same for Lucan, or anyone else who doesn't want to be a vampire anymore, thereby revolutionizing the entire undead economy!
7. Any other ideas, anyone?
a pamphleteering scheme might work as follows - If Karch and the SoL (or others) can be contacted and are willing to help, Master Karch's facility could be "broken into" and the necessary supplies "stolen". This would divert suspicion from Karch when tracts produced on his equipment begin to appear.
Before any of that of course, Pel will send a Message to Tyman Karch (Pel takes 10 on his diplomacy when composing this, giving him a 20):
Dear Master Karch,
Appropriate salutations.
I wanted to express once again my gratitude for your patronage, and the pleasure of having met you and your lovely family, despite the mildly unpleasant events of our journey.
I regret to say that due to the current circumstances, the speculative venture we discussed has been temporarily put on hold. My stating this may cause you some suprise at this missive, but may also allow you to correctly conclude that a certain politician is not who he claims to be, nor that my associates, whom are also known to you, have committed the acts which have been reported of them.
Though our proposed business matter cannot be pursued at this time, it may be possible for you, if you are willing, to lend some rather invaluable aid to our just cause, such as would greatly put us in your debt. If so, we will attempt to contact you again, either directly or through a verifiably trustworthy representative.
An appropriately pleasant closing statement.
Your Truly,
P of the WW
Monday, October 15, 2007
Characters, Backup Characters & House Rules
In order to help me with planning, can folks make sure and update their characters on the blog sometime in the next couple of weeks? If nothing else, if everyone could post in the comments what level you are (I believe everyone but Pel is 10th, but Pel may have reached 10th as well), that would be much appreciated.
Does everyone have a backup character that they might want to play in place? If not, it might be worth making one just in case.
Backup characters will always be built one level behind the average level of the party, which as of the last adventure is now level 10. This does mean that resurrection, even though it costs a level, is just as viable an option as a backup character, *if* you can find someone to resurrect you. You will have the XP in the middle between the level you are and the level of the rest of the party.
So currently, if you build a backup character, that character is level 9, and has 40,500 XP. You can spend as much of that XP as you want on building magic items if you have Crafting feats, as long as you don't exceed the cash limits for those items.
Which are: You will start with the wealth indicated on the Character Wealth by Level table (DMG, p. 135). Currently, that is 36,000 gp. You can spend up to 19,000 gp on a weapon (up to +3) or up to 16,000 on any one other magic item (no more than +3 armor, in other words). Other than that, no more than 9000 gp on any one item. This means that with the exception of the one special bonus item, you're limited to +2 weapons and armor. In addition, any wondrous item that costs more than 2500 gp, or any item that comes from a source other than the main Eberron book or the DMG, is subject to GM approval. You'll probably get it, but I reserve the right to say no.
I'm also instituting a new house rule regarding death. Instead of dying at -10, your character now dies if you exceed your Constitution score in negative hit points. This will make you considerably more durable and a little more resistant to instant kills, I hope.
Does everyone have a backup character that they might want to play in place? If not, it might be worth making one just in case.
Backup characters will always be built one level behind the average level of the party, which as of the last adventure is now level 10. This does mean that resurrection, even though it costs a level, is just as viable an option as a backup character, *if* you can find someone to resurrect you. You will have the XP in the middle between the level you are and the level of the rest of the party.
So currently, if you build a backup character, that character is level 9, and has 40,500 XP. You can spend as much of that XP as you want on building magic items if you have Crafting feats, as long as you don't exceed the cash limits for those items.
Which are: You will start with the wealth indicated on the Character Wealth by Level table (DMG, p. 135). Currently, that is 36,000 gp. You can spend up to 19,000 gp on a weapon (up to +3) or up to 16,000 on any one other magic item (no more than +3 armor, in other words). Other than that, no more than 9000 gp on any one item. This means that with the exception of the one special bonus item, you're limited to +2 weapons and armor. In addition, any wondrous item that costs more than 2500 gp, or any item that comes from a source other than the main Eberron book or the DMG, is subject to GM approval. You'll probably get it, but I reserve the right to say no.
I'm also instituting a new house rule regarding death. Instead of dying at -10, your character now dies if you exceed your Constitution score in negative hit points. This will make you considerably more durable and a little more resistant to instant kills, I hope.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
I'm Rich, Bitch! - Dividing The Treasure
I've also updated the Party Treasure listing, and you'll find that you've got roughly 17,800 GP worth of gold, platinum, silver and gems therein. If you want to divide it and leave the party treasure empty of everything save a few silver, you could have 4,450 GP each. On top of that, you have the following if you sell it all in Stormreach:
TOTAL SALE VALUE
43,335 GP (or roughly 10,800 gp each with 135 gp left for Party Treasure)
+1 Buoyant Splint Mail (2675 gp)
Granite Cup (100 gp)
Adamantine Armband with Ruby Inlay (400 gp)
Silver-Plated Copper Anklet (120 gp)
(1) Scale Mail (25 gp)
(1) Heavy Steel Shield (10 gp)
+1 Slick Studded Leather Armor (2475 gp)
Cloak of Resistance +1 (500 gp)
+2 Greataxe (4160 gp)
+1 Spear of Returning (4150 gp)
Masterwork Longsword (160 gp)
+2 Full Plate (2) (5,650 gp for both)
+1 Heavy Steel Shield (2) (1,170 gp for both)
+1 Healing Half Plate (4875 gp)
+2 Twilight Leather Armor (4580 gp)
+1 Studded Leather (585 gp)
Amulet of Natural Armor +1 (2) (2000 gp for both)
Cierra's Spellbook (Sell for 1700 gp)
8000 gp worth of spell components
As you can see, this will leave each of you quite wealthy to buy magic items or engage in your various plans and schemes. It will also leave the magic shops of Stormreach quite well stocked for a week or two at least.
In addition, here's what you each claimed personally for your treasure from the Corrupting Flame's hoard:
PEL
Ring of Invisibility
+2 Glamered Studded Leather
Eternal Wand of Cure Moderate Wounds
Hat of Anonymity
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds
LYSANDER
Ring of Protection +2
+1 Brutal Surge Whip (4150 gp if sold)
(13) +1 Arrows
Amulet of Health +2 (the Hand of the Mage will fetch 450 gp at market)
Wand of Magic Missile (5th level, 32 charges)
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds
Talisman of the Disk
BRAND
+3 Warhammer (9160 gp)
+2 Morningstar (8154 gp)
Minor Cloak of Displacement
+1 Hunting Longbow
+1 Bastard Sword
Potion of Cure Light Wounds
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (2)
LUGGOTH
+2 Greataxe
Masterwork Composite Longbow (Str 15) w/ (14) +1 Arrows
Bolt Shirt
Potion of Cure Light Wounds
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (2)
Potion of Cure Serious Wounds
It seems worth noting that upgrading a magic weapon from +1 to +2 costs 6,000 gp (and takes 6 days), upgrading from +2 to +3 costs 10,000 gp (and takes 10 days). Upgrading armor from +1 to +2 costs 3,000 gp (and takes 3 days), +2 to +3 costs 5,000 gp (and takes 5 days) and +3 to +4 costs 7,000 gp (and takes 7 days). Anything above that is beyond the scope of Stormreach's shops, or indeed most cities that aren't the size of Sharn or Fairhaven. Those costs are cumulative, by the way... upgrading from a +1 weapon to a +3 weapon costs 16,000 gp and requires 16 days total. Buying equivalent bonuses (keen, shock, etc.) are usually the same, although some abilities (especially ones in the Magic Item Compendium) have flat costs instead that tend to be higher. Buying a +1 magic weapon generally costs between 1,300 and 1,400 gp.
Oh, on an unrelated note, one of my regular customers (Chris Jones) has gamed a little bit with the Sunday group, and he's a nice guy who I think would fit in well with the group. Though a novice gamer, I asked him if he'd be interested in joining the group and he expressed an interest. Since he's a relatively new gamer, I don't know that he'd want to take on the daunting task of playing your spellcaster, but he might be able to play a new ally for the Wolves to help bolster the gaming party back up to five members.
TOTAL SALE VALUE
43,335 GP (or roughly 10,800 gp each with 135 gp left for Party Treasure)
+1 Buoyant Splint Mail (2675 gp)
Granite Cup (100 gp)
Adamantine Armband with Ruby Inlay (400 gp)
Silver-Plated Copper Anklet (120 gp)
(1) Scale Mail (25 gp)
(1) Heavy Steel Shield (10 gp)
+1 Slick Studded Leather Armor (2475 gp)
Cloak of Resistance +1 (500 gp)
+2 Greataxe (4160 gp)
+1 Spear of Returning (4150 gp)
Masterwork Longsword (160 gp)
+2 Full Plate (2) (5,650 gp for both)
+1 Heavy Steel Shield (2) (1,170 gp for both)
+1 Healing Half Plate (4875 gp)
+2 Twilight Leather Armor (4580 gp)
+1 Studded Leather (585 gp)
Amulet of Natural Armor +1 (2) (2000 gp for both)
Cierra's Spellbook (Sell for 1700 gp)
8000 gp worth of spell components
As you can see, this will leave each of you quite wealthy to buy magic items or engage in your various plans and schemes. It will also leave the magic shops of Stormreach quite well stocked for a week or two at least.
In addition, here's what you each claimed personally for your treasure from the Corrupting Flame's hoard:
PEL
Ring of Invisibility
+2 Glamered Studded Leather
Eternal Wand of Cure Moderate Wounds
Hat of Anonymity
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds
LYSANDER
Ring of Protection +2
+1 Brutal Surge Whip (4150 gp if sold)
(13) +1 Arrows
Amulet of Health +2 (the Hand of the Mage will fetch 450 gp at market)
Wand of Magic Missile (5th level, 32 charges)
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds
Talisman of the Disk
BRAND
+3 Warhammer (9160 gp)
+2 Morningstar (8154 gp)
Minor Cloak of Displacement
+1 Hunting Longbow
+1 Bastard Sword
Potion of Cure Light Wounds
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (2)
LUGGOTH
+2 Greataxe
Masterwork Composite Longbow (Str 15) w/ (14) +1 Arrows
Bolt Shirt
Potion of Cure Light Wounds
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (2)
Potion of Cure Serious Wounds
It seems worth noting that upgrading a magic weapon from +1 to +2 costs 6,000 gp (and takes 6 days), upgrading from +2 to +3 costs 10,000 gp (and takes 10 days). Upgrading armor from +1 to +2 costs 3,000 gp (and takes 3 days), +2 to +3 costs 5,000 gp (and takes 5 days) and +3 to +4 costs 7,000 gp (and takes 7 days). Anything above that is beyond the scope of Stormreach's shops, or indeed most cities that aren't the size of Sharn or Fairhaven. Those costs are cumulative, by the way... upgrading from a +1 weapon to a +3 weapon costs 16,000 gp and requires 16 days total. Buying equivalent bonuses (keen, shock, etc.) are usually the same, although some abilities (especially ones in the Magic Item Compendium) have flat costs instead that tend to be higher. Buying a +1 magic weapon generally costs between 1,300 and 1,400 gp.
Oh, on an unrelated note, one of my regular customers (Chris Jones) has gamed a little bit with the Sunday group, and he's a nice guy who I think would fit in well with the group. Though a novice gamer, I asked him if he'd be interested in joining the group and he expressed an interest. Since he's a relatively new gamer, I don't know that he'd want to take on the daunting task of playing your spellcaster, but he might be able to play a new ally for the Wolves to help bolster the gaming party back up to five members.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Upcoming Schedule for October & November
October 12th - Savage Worlds Pulp
October 19th - Expedition to Castle Ravenloft Arc Three
October 26th - Halloween Movie Night at Nate's
November 2nd - Expedition to Castle Ravenloft Arc Three
November 9th - Expedition to Castle Ravenloft Arc Three
November 16th - No Gaming - Wizard World Texas
November 23rd - No Gaming - Thanksgiving
November 30th - Eberron: Lure of the Ancient Spells Part One
OK, here's the schedule for the next couple months. Let me know in you comments if you guys would rather I prep for Eberron (the Wolves) or Deadlands at the end of November. Post about what's been going on while you've been hunting the Lords of Dust for a couple months should be coming later tonight or tomorrow.
October 19th - Expedition to Castle Ravenloft Arc Three
October 26th - Halloween Movie Night at Nate's
November 2nd - Expedition to Castle Ravenloft Arc Three
November 9th - Expedition to Castle Ravenloft Arc Three
November 16th - No Gaming - Wizard World Texas
November 23rd - No Gaming - Thanksgiving
November 30th - Eberron: Lure of the Ancient Spells Part One
OK, here's the schedule for the next couple months. Let me know in you comments if you guys would rather I prep for Eberron (the Wolves) or Deadlands at the end of November. Post about what's been going on while you've been hunting the Lords of Dust for a couple months should be coming later tonight or tomorrow.
Eberron Interlude: Return To The Eldeen Reaches
Eyre 28
When the Wandering Wolves reached the community of Sheryn Wayfinder, they were surprised to see several familiar faces. Arenydee had arrived from Sharn about two weeks ago, and with her were Luggoth's girlfriend Savannah and her son Borgoth. There was another shifter, too, a ruggedly attractive woman named Cavoletta whom they had met on the road.
Arenydee fills the Wolves in on what has been happening since they last communicated with Sharn, almost two months ago. After spending a couple of days in Fairhaven visiting with old friends, Arenydee took the Lightning Rail back to Sharn, where she did a variety of work for House Phiarlan. After getting some of the messages from the road from Lysander, she did a little digging on Cardinal Hetrion, to find out when he was traveling, but she never knew where to send the message.
On Therendor 20, Arenydee was relaxing in the House Phiarlan enclave when a pair of frightened shifters came in, asking for her. They were Savannah and her son Borgoth, and they claimed to have been attacked in the streets by fiendish looking humanoids of some sort. They fled to the Silver Flame chapel where they worshiped, but Savannah wanted to talk to Luggoth and let him know about this, because of the messages they had exchanged and the worry he had shown for them. Arenydee arranged for Savannah and Borgoth to stay with her until they sorted things out.
That turned out to be trickier than she had first thought, because on the night of Therendor 21, in the middle of a City Council party at the Celestial Vista Restaurant, someone tried to assassinate King Boranel. And House Phiarlan being what it is, they knew before the Sharn Inquisitive printed it the next day who that someone was.
It is at this point that Arenydee produces a copy of the Sharn Inquisitive for Therendor 22, with the front page article: "Renowned Adventurers Disrupt Event With Attempted Regicide." The article goes on to describe how the Wandering Wolves (made up of Luggoth, Maechen, Lysander and Brand), despite not having been invited to the party or seen prior to the attack, launched an ill-fated assassination attempt on King Boranel and his entourage, including his young bride. The King's guard held them off, and the Wolves were forced to flee. An investigation is ongoing, and King Boranel has offered a 2,000 gp reward for the capture of each member of the Wolves.
Arenydee tried to contact the Wolves. She had received a communique from Lysander just a week prior, indicating that they were heading to the Eldeen Reaches. She intended to set out for the Reaches immediately, but before she could leave, she heard word that Gareth's Gear had burned down, with at least two people inside it at the time. Gareth's was owned by a dear friend, she explains, and though his body was not found inside, the ruined metal and wood form of Tock, the store's artificer, and the body of dwarven manager Jalis ir'Mroranon were.
Baron Elvinor summoned Arenydee and told her that she suspected a conspiracy against the Wolves, and that they wouldn't hesitate to act against their loved ones. She arranged passage to Aundair on the Lightning Rail before things got worse, providing Arenydee with false identities and money to get them clear. The investigative powers of House Phiarlan were already being brought to bear on this clear frame of the Wolves.
Arenydee managed to keep up on the news, both through reading the Korranberg Chronicle and by using her own contacts. When Arenydee and her companions arrived in Fairhaven five days later, they immediately went to stay with Lady Elaydren, and she told them what had developed in that time. The Wolves had left about two weeks ago, and since then, Elaydren had been keeping tabs on information about them out in the world. She was quite distressed by what she had found.
After three days of investigation, the King announces that the Wolves had been involved in some sort of altercation in Thrane, and they were wanted there as well. Questions at their guild revealed that they had arrived back in Sharn a week ago, and that they had been seen talking with a half-orc who was now identified as a member of the Daask. Questioning Pel revealed that the group had taken on a contract from Droamm, which he had refused on moral grounds. He didn't know exactly what it entailed, only that it involved a great deal of money. Documents and platinum found in the living quarters of Luggoth revealed that they had taken on a contract from the Hags of Droaam to kill King Boranel. The King announced the formation of a special task force to hunt down the Wolves and bring them to justice.
He also announced that this was an act of war by Droaam, and increases the troops on the border. After a quick vote from the City Council, the Daask "arrest on sight" order was changed to "killed on sight," and a de facto martial law started in the lower territories of Sharn.
Statements were released in the Sharn Inquisitive and the Korranberg Chronicle by House Deneith and House Orien, both condemning the Wolves. Sharri d'Deneith promised the assistance of House Deneith to the King's task force, while Aeromus d'Orien expressed his deep regret about Brand, spilling dirty laundry about his father and saying that he should have trusted his instincts, rather than his desire to see his nephew redeem himself. Brand was officially exiled from House Orien, and Orien announced its intention to help capture the Wolves by posting information and making their own security aware of the Wolves and their compatriots. House Phiarlan issued a statement denying Lysander's involvement, claiming that this was a frame, but they could not provide proof of his whereabouts, and were generally discredited in the media by Sharri d'Deneith.
Arenydee explains that she, Savannah and Borgoth were only in Fairhaven for three days when they were attacked out in the open by fiendish agents of the Lords of Dust. She fought them off, but determined that their cover had been blown, and it was time to move again. Elaydren provided them with horses and Cannith security to get them to the Eldeen Reaches, where they could hopefully find the Wolves. She expressed her willingness to help, although Arenydee admits to you that she thinks Elaydren's house is compromised. She doesn't doubt Elaydren's sincerity, but believes that there are agents watching her and waiting for the Wolves to contact her for help.
While riding towards Varna in the Eldeen Reaches, Arenydee and her group was attacked. This time, in addition to a half-fiend leading from the air, there was a Zakya Rakshasa and other fiendish troops. The Cannith bodyguards fell quickly, and Arenydee was sure they were going to die. That's when Cavoletta made her presence known. Cavoletta burst in, and at first Savannah and Borgoth thought she was Luggoth. She tore into the attackers and drove them off, then revealed to Arenydee that she had been following them ever since they left Fairhaven. Arenydee tells you that this confirmed suspicions she had that they were being followed.
Cavoletta at this point breaks in to explain. She has been trying to find Luggoth ever since seeing stories about him in the Korranberg Chronicle. Like him, she is a weretouched master, and she only recently learned the truth about her family. Her human mother and father told her that they had found her when she was just a tiny child, beaten and bloody and near-death. They took her in, but were never able to figure out where she came from. Cavoletta believes that she was a member of Luggoth's tribe who survived the attack, and she's been looking for him ever since. She heard of Savannah and Borgoth in Sharn, and following rumors about their travel north, she went to Fairhaven. She heard about the attack on them and went to offer her aid, but she quickly found out that it was too late, and that they had fled the city. Using her tracking abilities, she followed them, and caught up to them a day before the attack. She had been off hunting to find some food as a peace offering before making contact, and came back just in time to help Arenydee drive of the agents of the Lords of Dust.
After five more days of traveling together, Arenydee, Cavoletta, Savannah and Borgoth reached Varna. They arranged to stay the night at an inn while Arenydee checked in discreetly with House Phiarlan. Much had happened while they were on the road. "The Sigilstar Accords" were signed in Thrane, with Aundair, Thrane and Breland declaring war on the nation of Droaam. The very day before they had arrived in Varna, these accords were acted upon, and Droaam was invaded by military forces from those three nations. Back in Sharn, Councilor Sava was killed by Daask forces, and her trusted aide Pel had taken over and was taking a hardline stance against the Daask and the gang war, helping to mobilize increasing numbers of Watch forces against the Daask.
Five days later, Arenydee, Cavoletta, Savannah and Borgoth arrived in Sheryn Wayfinder's village, only to hear that the Wolves had gone into the Demon Wastes about a week ago. They resolved to wait, and hope that no further attacks from the Lords of Dust or whoever was behind this conspiracy against the Wolves materialized in the meantime. That was almost two weeks ago.
The day before the Wolves returned, Baron Elvinor d'Phiarlan sent a messenger to speak with Arenydee at the druid community. After verifying her identity, this messenger told them that Elvinor had discovered a few things about the conspiracy. First, she was certain the Tyrants were involved, as the impersonation of the Wolves during the "assassination" was nearly flawless. If she wasn't sure it was a frame, she'd believe it was the Wolves themselves. Certainly Pel's exclusion from the group of assassins pointed to Tyrant involvement, but Elvinor knows that Pel is with the Wolves, so it seems that he may have been excluded from these plans as well. Indeed, Pel is probably in more danger than the rest of the Wolves, because someone has taken his identity, and Elvinor very much doubts it was without the permission of the Council of Tyrants. She has heard that the Council has new leadership, a changeling named Vadis having taken over and formed an alliance with the Boromar, bringing the gang war in Sharn to a close. There are even rumors that this new Boromar-Tyrant alliance is cooperating with the Sharn Watch and King's Dark Lanterns to root out the remaining Daask, as part of the war effort.
Elvinor heard that Cardinal Ossul Hetrion launched a raid on an Archbishop's home in Thaliost almost a month ago. A bishop believed to be in league with the Lords of Dust was killed, and a paladin and town priest were found in the basement of the Archbishop's mansion, tortured but alive. Their tales of Rakshasas, however, were without physical proof, and Hetrion's charges and claims of the Wolves' innocence were shouted down by the other Cardinals. All of this information was hushed up, but Phiarlan has spies everywhere. Elvinor believes that because Thrane went to war with Droaam partially due to the actions of the "Wolves," they can't afford to believe that they were tricked, and so they are avoiding looking too deeply into the matter.
Elvinor also knows that the task force hunting the Wolves is exceptionally skilled, featuring agents from the Citadel, the King's Dark Lanterns and even the Redcloak Brigade. Though even House Phiarlan was unable to discern their makeup, Elvinor has heard rumors that they have tracked the Wolves to Fairhaven and are no doubt on their way to the Eldeen Reaches. She has no doubt that, as it stands, they are more powerful than the Wolves in stand-up fight. Her suggestion is that they should flee to Xen'drik, where the reach of Khorvaire's laws doesn't quite extend, while the resources of House Phiarlan are put to work finding out more about who framed them and how it can be reversed. To avoid legal entanglements, she suggests traveling on foot to Zarash'ak inside the Shadow Marches, then paying to get aboard an independent cargo ship headed to Stormreach. It will be slow, as the trip is nearly two months long, but better that than running across the military and law enforcement forces of Thrane, Breland and Aundair, all of whom are now looking for the Wolves based on agreements in the Sigilstar Accords. Elvinor has provided Arenydee with 100 platinum, which she believes will be enough to get them all aboard a ship.
When the Wandering Wolves reached the community of Sheryn Wayfinder, they were surprised to see several familiar faces. Arenydee had arrived from Sharn about two weeks ago, and with her were Luggoth's girlfriend Savannah and her son Borgoth. There was another shifter, too, a ruggedly attractive woman named Cavoletta whom they had met on the road.
Arenydee fills the Wolves in on what has been happening since they last communicated with Sharn, almost two months ago. After spending a couple of days in Fairhaven visiting with old friends, Arenydee took the Lightning Rail back to Sharn, where she did a variety of work for House Phiarlan. After getting some of the messages from the road from Lysander, she did a little digging on Cardinal Hetrion, to find out when he was traveling, but she never knew where to send the message.
On Therendor 20, Arenydee was relaxing in the House Phiarlan enclave when a pair of frightened shifters came in, asking for her. They were Savannah and her son Borgoth, and they claimed to have been attacked in the streets by fiendish looking humanoids of some sort. They fled to the Silver Flame chapel where they worshiped, but Savannah wanted to talk to Luggoth and let him know about this, because of the messages they had exchanged and the worry he had shown for them. Arenydee arranged for Savannah and Borgoth to stay with her until they sorted things out.
That turned out to be trickier than she had first thought, because on the night of Therendor 21, in the middle of a City Council party at the Celestial Vista Restaurant, someone tried to assassinate King Boranel. And House Phiarlan being what it is, they knew before the Sharn Inquisitive printed it the next day who that someone was.
It is at this point that Arenydee produces a copy of the Sharn Inquisitive for Therendor 22, with the front page article: "Renowned Adventurers Disrupt Event With Attempted Regicide." The article goes on to describe how the Wandering Wolves (made up of Luggoth, Maechen, Lysander and Brand), despite not having been invited to the party or seen prior to the attack, launched an ill-fated assassination attempt on King Boranel and his entourage, including his young bride. The King's guard held them off, and the Wolves were forced to flee. An investigation is ongoing, and King Boranel has offered a 2,000 gp reward for the capture of each member of the Wolves.
Arenydee tried to contact the Wolves. She had received a communique from Lysander just a week prior, indicating that they were heading to the Eldeen Reaches. She intended to set out for the Reaches immediately, but before she could leave, she heard word that Gareth's Gear had burned down, with at least two people inside it at the time. Gareth's was owned by a dear friend, she explains, and though his body was not found inside, the ruined metal and wood form of Tock, the store's artificer, and the body of dwarven manager Jalis ir'Mroranon were.
Baron Elvinor summoned Arenydee and told her that she suspected a conspiracy against the Wolves, and that they wouldn't hesitate to act against their loved ones. She arranged passage to Aundair on the Lightning Rail before things got worse, providing Arenydee with false identities and money to get them clear. The investigative powers of House Phiarlan were already being brought to bear on this clear frame of the Wolves.
Arenydee managed to keep up on the news, both through reading the Korranberg Chronicle and by using her own contacts. When Arenydee and her companions arrived in Fairhaven five days later, they immediately went to stay with Lady Elaydren, and she told them what had developed in that time. The Wolves had left about two weeks ago, and since then, Elaydren had been keeping tabs on information about them out in the world. She was quite distressed by what she had found.
After three days of investigation, the King announces that the Wolves had been involved in some sort of altercation in Thrane, and they were wanted there as well. Questions at their guild revealed that they had arrived back in Sharn a week ago, and that they had been seen talking with a half-orc who was now identified as a member of the Daask. Questioning Pel revealed that the group had taken on a contract from Droamm, which he had refused on moral grounds. He didn't know exactly what it entailed, only that it involved a great deal of money. Documents and platinum found in the living quarters of Luggoth revealed that they had taken on a contract from the Hags of Droaam to kill King Boranel. The King announced the formation of a special task force to hunt down the Wolves and bring them to justice.
He also announced that this was an act of war by Droaam, and increases the troops on the border. After a quick vote from the City Council, the Daask "arrest on sight" order was changed to "killed on sight," and a de facto martial law started in the lower territories of Sharn.
Statements were released in the Sharn Inquisitive and the Korranberg Chronicle by House Deneith and House Orien, both condemning the Wolves. Sharri d'Deneith promised the assistance of House Deneith to the King's task force, while Aeromus d'Orien expressed his deep regret about Brand, spilling dirty laundry about his father and saying that he should have trusted his instincts, rather than his desire to see his nephew redeem himself. Brand was officially exiled from House Orien, and Orien announced its intention to help capture the Wolves by posting information and making their own security aware of the Wolves and their compatriots. House Phiarlan issued a statement denying Lysander's involvement, claiming that this was a frame, but they could not provide proof of his whereabouts, and were generally discredited in the media by Sharri d'Deneith.
Arenydee explains that she, Savannah and Borgoth were only in Fairhaven for three days when they were attacked out in the open by fiendish agents of the Lords of Dust. She fought them off, but determined that their cover had been blown, and it was time to move again. Elaydren provided them with horses and Cannith security to get them to the Eldeen Reaches, where they could hopefully find the Wolves. She expressed her willingness to help, although Arenydee admits to you that she thinks Elaydren's house is compromised. She doesn't doubt Elaydren's sincerity, but believes that there are agents watching her and waiting for the Wolves to contact her for help.
While riding towards Varna in the Eldeen Reaches, Arenydee and her group was attacked. This time, in addition to a half-fiend leading from the air, there was a Zakya Rakshasa and other fiendish troops. The Cannith bodyguards fell quickly, and Arenydee was sure they were going to die. That's when Cavoletta made her presence known. Cavoletta burst in, and at first Savannah and Borgoth thought she was Luggoth. She tore into the attackers and drove them off, then revealed to Arenydee that she had been following them ever since they left Fairhaven. Arenydee tells you that this confirmed suspicions she had that they were being followed.
Cavoletta at this point breaks in to explain. She has been trying to find Luggoth ever since seeing stories about him in the Korranberg Chronicle. Like him, she is a weretouched master, and she only recently learned the truth about her family. Her human mother and father told her that they had found her when she was just a tiny child, beaten and bloody and near-death. They took her in, but were never able to figure out where she came from. Cavoletta believes that she was a member of Luggoth's tribe who survived the attack, and she's been looking for him ever since. She heard of Savannah and Borgoth in Sharn, and following rumors about their travel north, she went to Fairhaven. She heard about the attack on them and went to offer her aid, but she quickly found out that it was too late, and that they had fled the city. Using her tracking abilities, she followed them, and caught up to them a day before the attack. She had been off hunting to find some food as a peace offering before making contact, and came back just in time to help Arenydee drive of the agents of the Lords of Dust.
After five more days of traveling together, Arenydee, Cavoletta, Savannah and Borgoth reached Varna. They arranged to stay the night at an inn while Arenydee checked in discreetly with House Phiarlan. Much had happened while they were on the road. "The Sigilstar Accords" were signed in Thrane, with Aundair, Thrane and Breland declaring war on the nation of Droaam. The very day before they had arrived in Varna, these accords were acted upon, and Droaam was invaded by military forces from those three nations. Back in Sharn, Councilor Sava was killed by Daask forces, and her trusted aide Pel had taken over and was taking a hardline stance against the Daask and the gang war, helping to mobilize increasing numbers of Watch forces against the Daask.
Five days later, Arenydee, Cavoletta, Savannah and Borgoth arrived in Sheryn Wayfinder's village, only to hear that the Wolves had gone into the Demon Wastes about a week ago. They resolved to wait, and hope that no further attacks from the Lords of Dust or whoever was behind this conspiracy against the Wolves materialized in the meantime. That was almost two weeks ago.
The day before the Wolves returned, Baron Elvinor d'Phiarlan sent a messenger to speak with Arenydee at the druid community. After verifying her identity, this messenger told them that Elvinor had discovered a few things about the conspiracy. First, she was certain the Tyrants were involved, as the impersonation of the Wolves during the "assassination" was nearly flawless. If she wasn't sure it was a frame, she'd believe it was the Wolves themselves. Certainly Pel's exclusion from the group of assassins pointed to Tyrant involvement, but Elvinor knows that Pel is with the Wolves, so it seems that he may have been excluded from these plans as well. Indeed, Pel is probably in more danger than the rest of the Wolves, because someone has taken his identity, and Elvinor very much doubts it was without the permission of the Council of Tyrants. She has heard that the Council has new leadership, a changeling named Vadis having taken over and formed an alliance with the Boromar, bringing the gang war in Sharn to a close. There are even rumors that this new Boromar-Tyrant alliance is cooperating with the Sharn Watch and King's Dark Lanterns to root out the remaining Daask, as part of the war effort.
Elvinor heard that Cardinal Ossul Hetrion launched a raid on an Archbishop's home in Thaliost almost a month ago. A bishop believed to be in league with the Lords of Dust was killed, and a paladin and town priest were found in the basement of the Archbishop's mansion, tortured but alive. Their tales of Rakshasas, however, were without physical proof, and Hetrion's charges and claims of the Wolves' innocence were shouted down by the other Cardinals. All of this information was hushed up, but Phiarlan has spies everywhere. Elvinor believes that because Thrane went to war with Droaam partially due to the actions of the "Wolves," they can't afford to believe that they were tricked, and so they are avoiding looking too deeply into the matter.
Elvinor also knows that the task force hunting the Wolves is exceptionally skilled, featuring agents from the Citadel, the King's Dark Lanterns and even the Redcloak Brigade. Though even House Phiarlan was unable to discern their makeup, Elvinor has heard rumors that they have tracked the Wolves to Fairhaven and are no doubt on their way to the Eldeen Reaches. She has no doubt that, as it stands, they are more powerful than the Wolves in stand-up fight. Her suggestion is that they should flee to Xen'drik, where the reach of Khorvaire's laws doesn't quite extend, while the resources of House Phiarlan are put to work finding out more about who framed them and how it can be reversed. To avoid legal entanglements, she suggests traveling on foot to Zarash'ak inside the Shadow Marches, then paying to get aboard an independent cargo ship headed to Stormreach. It will be slow, as the trip is nearly two months long, but better that than running across the military and law enforcement forces of Thrane, Breland and Aundair, all of whom are now looking for the Wolves based on agreements in the Sigilstar Accords. Elvinor has provided Arenydee with 100 platinum, which she believes will be enough to get them all aboard a ship.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Treasure of the Order of the Corrupting Flame
The following list is what you found on the persons and in the lair of the Order of the Corrupting Flame. Post in the comments what you want to claim for your characters, and you guys can sell the rest when next we play.
Weapons:
+3 Warhammer
+2 Morningstar
+2 Greataxe (2)
+1 Spear of Returning
Masterwork Composite Longbow (Str 15)
+1 Hunting Longbow
(27) +1 Arrows
Masterwork Longsword
Armor:
+2 Full Plate (2)
+1 Heavy Steel Shield (2)
+1 Healing Half Plate
+2 Twilight Leather Armor
+2 Glamered Studded Leather
+1 Studded Leather
Magic Items:
Amulet of Health +2
Eternal Wand of Cure Moderate Wounds
Minor Cloak of Displacement
+2 Ring of Protection
Wand of Magic Missile (5th level, 32 charges)
Hat of Anonymity
Amulet of Natural Armor +1 (2)
Cloak of Arachnida
Bolt Shirt
Ring of Invisibility
Scroll of Create Undead (11th)
Scroll of Teleportation Circle (17th)
Potions:
Cure Light Wounds (2)
Cure Moderate Wounds (6)
Cure Serious Wounds
Cierra's Spellbook:
1st - Charm Person, Distract Assailant, Feather Fall, Identify, Inhibit, Magic Missile, Ray of Flame, Shield; 2nd - Arcane Lock, Hideous Laughter, Invisibility, Scorch, See Invisibility, Sting Ray; 3rd - Dispel Magic, Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Lesser Telepathic Bond, Ray of Dizziness
Money and Goods:
8000 gp worth of spell components
20 vials of ink, 100 sheets of parchment
1000 pp
500 gp
1000 gp worth of gems
Weapons:
+3 Warhammer
+2 Morningstar
+2 Greataxe (2)
+1 Spear of Returning
Masterwork Composite Longbow (Str 15)
+1 Hunting Longbow
(27) +1 Arrows
Masterwork Longsword
Armor:
+2 Full Plate (2)
+1 Heavy Steel Shield (2)
+1 Healing Half Plate
+2 Twilight Leather Armor
+2 Glamered Studded Leather
+1 Studded Leather
Magic Items:
Amulet of Health +2
Eternal Wand of Cure Moderate Wounds
Minor Cloak of Displacement
+2 Ring of Protection
Wand of Magic Missile (5th level, 32 charges)
Hat of Anonymity
Amulet of Natural Armor +1 (2)
Cloak of Arachnida
Bolt Shirt
Ring of Invisibility
Scroll of Create Undead (11th)
Scroll of Teleportation Circle (17th)
Potions:
Cure Light Wounds (2)
Cure Moderate Wounds (6)
Cure Serious Wounds
Cierra's Spellbook:
1st - Charm Person, Distract Assailant, Feather Fall, Identify, Inhibit, Magic Missile, Ray of Flame, Shield; 2nd - Arcane Lock, Hideous Laughter, Invisibility, Scorch, See Invisibility, Sting Ray; 3rd - Dispel Magic, Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Lesser Telepathic Bond, Ray of Dizziness
Money and Goods:
8000 gp worth of spell components
20 vials of ink, 100 sheets of parchment
1000 pp
500 gp
1000 gp worth of gems
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Upcoming Schedule for September and October
September 7th - Savage Worlds Pulp Character-Building (Paul out)
September 14th - Game Off
September 21st - Savage Worlds Pulp (Paul out)
September 28th - Savage Worlds Pulp
October 5th - Savage Worlds Pulp (?)
October 12th - Expedition to Castle Ravenloft Arc Three
October 19th - Expedition to Castle Ravenloft Arc Three
October 26th - Expedition to Castle Ravenloft Arc Three
OK, so we're taking the second week of September 14th off because Paul, Nate and Dave are all out, and Randy will be very tired. Then we'll play Savage Worlds pulp to completion, either through September or into October depending on how long it runs, and then pick up with Ravenloft again in October, if that's cool with Nate.
For November, we can either come back to the Wolves, go back to pirates or play Deadlands (which I'm reading and prepping). I've also got the alternate Eberron campaign based on their "Eyes of the Lich Queen" mega-adventure that's supposed to run from 5th-9th level. Figure that if Matt Sturges wanted to play D&D, I might run that when he's available, so we have an alternate campaign to accommodate schedules.
I know that one week of November is Wizard World Texas, and we won't play then.
September 14th - Game Off
September 21st - Savage Worlds Pulp (Paul out)
September 28th - Savage Worlds Pulp
October 5th - Savage Worlds Pulp (?)
October 12th - Expedition to Castle Ravenloft Arc Three
October 19th - Expedition to Castle Ravenloft Arc Three
October 26th - Expedition to Castle Ravenloft Arc Three
OK, so we're taking the second week of September 14th off because Paul, Nate and Dave are all out, and Randy will be very tired. Then we'll play Savage Worlds pulp to completion, either through September or into October depending on how long it runs, and then pick up with Ravenloft again in October, if that's cool with Nate.
For November, we can either come back to the Wolves, go back to pirates or play Deadlands (which I'm reading and prepping). I've also got the alternate Eberron campaign based on their "Eyes of the Lich Queen" mega-adventure that's supposed to run from 5th-9th level. Figure that if Matt Sturges wanted to play D&D, I might run that when he's available, so we have an alternate campaign to accommodate schedules.
I know that one week of November is Wizard World Texas, and we won't play then.
Adventure: The Demons' Prophecy (7)
Eyre 22 - Eyre 27
The journey across the Demon Wastes was as harrowing as Gorash had promised. Fortunately for The Wolves, even without Gorash's guidance, Brand and Luggoth's expert tracking and hunting skills were up to the task of catching enough food to keep them fed, and the Cardinal's decanter gave them enough water. They moved more slowly due to the hunting, but they continued the 12 hour a day marching, which allowed them to make up the time.
The marching was grueling, and every day at least one of the Wolves would be exhausted by the end of it, collapsing into Daern's Instant Tent and resting for the night, healing whatever minor wounds they had gotten in conflict with the creatures on the Wastes. The Wolves were able to handle many of them with relatively little difficulty, but they never had a day when they weren't subjected to some kind of attack.
On the second day, as the sun was at its hottest, their journey took them across a series of mesas surrounded by a river of lava, with creaky, half-broken wood and rope bridges connecting them. As they approached, a group of ten half-orc barbarians, members of the Carrion Tribe known as the Plaguebearers, came rushing at them. Some of them leaped fifteen feet across to get at them, while others rushed without care over the precarious bridges.
Maechen cast Haste as spears flew past Lysander and Brand, and as Pel cast a bull's strength on Luggoth and Lysander cast mirror image on himself. Luggoth had his greatsword out and swinging at the nearest Plaguebearer, slashing him three times across the chest, back and shoulder, but the barbarian roared angrily in response, refusing to die so easily, even after Maechen peppered him with magic missiles. Brand pulled out the brutal surge whip, swinging it with both hands for balance and knocking one of the Plaguebearers over the side, but the barbarian managed to grab hold of the mesa and begin pulling himself back up.
The Plaguebearers flew into a rage, swinging their filth-encrusted spears and destroying most of Lysander's mirror images, as well as wounding Luggoth, Maechen and Pel. Lysander drew his rapier and attacked, stabbing one of the barbarians viciously in the kidney, leaving him bleeding and weak, but still alive, at least until Pel finished him off with a barrage of magic missiles from his wand.
Luggoth chopped the head off his wounded foe and swung through into the next, following up with a vicious blow that literally cut him off at the knees and stabbing into his fallen torso to kill him as well. Brand, meanwhile, threw a wolf from his bag of tricks into the midst of another group of Plaguebearers before moving in to assist it.
The Plaguebearers showed no fear at having lost three of their members, and while one of them threw a spear at Maechen, the others destroyed Lysander's last mirror image and struck Lysander himself, and another stabbed Brand once more with his filthy spear. Maechen responded to his attacker with an acid orb, and Lysander once again unleashed a flurry of blows on one of the barbarians, knocking him off-balance with well-placed stabs at his arms, legs and chest. Luggoth moved in between the suddenly exposed Lysander and his foes, slashing the off-balanced foe across the chest three times to finish him before moving on to swing his sword at another barbarian.
As Brand waded into melee alongside his wolf, swinging his shortsword and rapier together, Pel drew his scimitar and waded into melee as well. Maechen stepped back behind him and fired his wand of magic missiles at the barbarian who had been struck with an acid orb, who continued to battle, stabbing a spear into Pel, before Lysander moved over and finished him off with a pair of deadly rapier stabs. Lysander opened up an attack on another Plaguebearer, which Luggoth finished off with a series of deadly blows from his greatsword.
Brand continued to exchange blows with his foes, looking more and more like a dirty pincushion, but he did finish off his opponent. Meanwhile, Lysander and Luggoth combined to kill two more. Battling the last remaining Plaguebearer, Pel took another spear hit, but responded with a flurry of rapier strikes, including one that included a burst of deadly power from his devastation gauntlets, and Maechen finished him off with a blast of magic missiles.
As they caught their breath, recovering from the quick but brutal battle, the Wolves looked behind them and to the west and saw an army of at least one hundred more of the Plaguebearers charging at them. Lysander cast Allegro as Maechen's Haste spell faded, and the Wolves dashed across the rickety bridges over the lava. Brand slashed the bridges behind them with his longsword, staying just ahead of the raging horde, and he was last across one of the bridges when it snapped underneath him, but he managed to leap over to the mesa, and the Wolves got safely away.
Two days later, just after sunrise, as the Wolves had begun following a brackish green stream of what might have been water, they came upon a massive beast, dressed in chainmail, drinking from the foul water. It turned and its red eyes burned as it charged at them, fire bursting from its nostrils and mouth.
Maechen recognized it, yelling out "It's a Nessian warhound! They're pets of fiends!" as it moved toward them, showing a caution that indicated its fiendish cunning. Luggoth shifted and charged, and the warhound bit into him as he came in close, hard enough that his fiery jaws even cut through the protection of Pel's fire resistance spells. Brand moved in to assist his friend, suffering a savage bite from the warhound as well, but biting back with a slash of his shocking shortsword.
As Lysander began singing a song to inspire the Wolves, Pel pulled a scroll from his case and let loose with a burst of searing light that singed the beast. Luggoth attacked, finding the chainmail barding and natural armor of the warhound difficult to punch through, but successfully slashing it once, and it responded with a breath of fire against Pel, Luggoth and Brand. Brand's ring protected him, and Pel dove out of the way with his roguish quickness, and Luggoth suffered only minor burns. The warhound took note of this muted reaction to his usually deadly fire breath and switched over to biting for the rest of the fight.
Pel cast bull's strength on Luggoth as Maechen once again hasted the entire group, but when he moved to join the combat, a deep crack in the earth split even further, nearly causing him to tumble in. Lysander leaped over the chasm before it could completely separate him from the rest of the Wolves, tumbling in to join the fight.
Luggoth flew into a rage, slashing and chopping at the warhound, which gave as good as it got with vicious bites. However, there was only one of the warhound, while there were many Wolves, and Brand and Lysander assisted Luggoth in melee as Pel and Maechen fired crossbow and magic missiles at it. Pel's bolt hit the warhound in the ear, causing it to bleed but having surprisingly little effect in terms of pain.
The Wolves, having dealt what seemed like a massive amount of damage to the beast with little outward effect beyond blood and anger, began to think about withdrawing, but Luggoth slashed again, cutting off one of the warhound's foreleg and then bringing his sword down through its skull, causing the red light to go out of its eyes.
After some quick healing using spells and wands, the Wolves moved on, and found the rest of the day relatively uneventful.
Two more days of travel later, deep into the night, the Wolves spotted a castle in the distance that they believed to be the headquarters of the Order of the Corrupting Flame. Brand was somewhat tired, and Lysander a little bit as well, but the rest of the Wolves were relatively hale and hearty, and they determined not to wait any longer before approaching. After a brief discussion, figuring out who could see in the dark conditions (Pel with his goggles, Lysander and Luggoth with their natural abilities), they decided to use invisibility on Maechen, Luggoth and Pel while Lysander and Brand snuck in with them, Lysander leading the way. After about two minutes of walking at a hurried pace, they saw that approaching the castle wouldn't be quite so easy.
The castle was situated in the middle of a stone formation, clearly modified by magic, that sat a hundred feet above a huge (Lysander estimated it at about 100-150 feet wide) lake of lava. The only means of access was via a 15 foot wide bridge of stone, and guarding that bridge was an assortment of skeletons, zombies and other undead. In addition to the tower, there were three smaller structures on the stony island, none of them any closer to the bridge. With five minutes to go before their invisibility wore off, Brand used his ability to dimension door the group to the front door of the tower.
Pel went to work on the lock with his tools, only to discover that the door wasn't locked. The Wolves quietly snuck in, finding a massive pit filled with spikes, skeletons and decomposing bodies in the entryway. Lysander looked down and saw that the bodies showed obvious signs of torture, and that they included men, women and children. Though none of the Wolves heard it, Maechen accidentally kicked some stones into the sides of the pit, alerting their foes in the next room. Byron and Cierra Deloreth, the ranger/assassin and mage of the Order respectively, as well as Oreth Cyrt, their half-orc barbarian/rogue, were in the next room. Byron spotted two of the Wolves and realized there were more there, so he had his sister cast see invisibility and invisibility on him, as Oreth cast Shield of Faith. Oreth and Cierra climbed the ladder to warn the others as Byron stayed behind to prepare a welcome.
The Wolves entered the common room of the castle, which was divided by a lake of naturally occurring lava, metal roasting spits hung across for cooking. They also saw a water barrel full of fresh water. At the back of the room, standing in front of the ladder leading upwards, there were six skeletons, the servants of Oreth and Cierra, but the actual members of the Corrupting Flame had already moved or vanished.
Little did they know that Byron was moving in, his masterwork longsword drawn, preparing to launch an assassin's strike on Luggoth. He became visible as he stabbed the sword, but Luggoth's toughness and agility saved him, and Byron used his bolt shirt to teleport over to the top of the ladder, hanging on by means of his cloak of Arachnida.
Lysander fired his bow, hitting Byron, but the assassin managed to flip out of the way avoid Maechen's lightning bolt. However, upon landing back on the ladder, he caught a crossbow bolt in the gut from Pel. He fired his own bow at Luggoth, sinking an arrow into his chest, before jumping up and onto the higher level.
Up on the higher levels, as Oreth went to warn Suthar Askarda, the blackguard leader, and Mareth, the cleric, Cierra was casting shield on herself, and Vento cast shield of faith and bull's strength to prepare himself. Down below, Brand cast embrace the wild to gain the scent ability in order to detect Byron, and Lysander cast Eagle's Splendor on Pel, who used his newly enhanced turning to destroy the skeletons.
The Wolves began climbing up the ladder as the Order continued casting spells, with Mareth casting Shield of Faith and Veil of Shadow, a spell Vento also cast on himself. The Order was ready for a battle, as were the Wolves, when Brand initiated the combat by dimension leaping onto the second level. Cierra responded with a ray of dizziness that missed him, and then Vento charged in with Rhino's Rush, slashing him with his greataxe. Luggoth responded by shifting and leaping into the room, causing fear in Byron and slashing his sword across Vento's right arm, denting his plate mail.
Brand moved in to join Luggoth in attacking Vento, and Vento responded by slashing Brand with his axe. Byron tried once again to shoot Luggoth with an arrow using his Distract Assailant spells, but failed to connect with the armored and heavily agile shifter, and he took a burst of magic missiles from Maechen in return. Pel cast Prayer, aiding his allies and weakening his enemies.
As Suthar and Mareth climbed down the ladder to join the combat, Cierra tried to cast Hold Person on Luggoth and, when that failed, dropped a fireball in the midst of the Wolves. Unfortunately for her, the fireball had little effect on the Wolves but was enough to finish off Vento after the damage he'd suffered from Luggoth and Brand. Byron began firing arrows in bursts of three, first at Luggoth and then at Brand, and Lysander stepped up to cast a cure moderate from the wand on the beleaguered Brand.
As the battle was joined in earnest, Maechen cast Haste on the Wolves and Pel used a Keen Edge scroll on his scimitar. Tired of being fired upon, Luggoth charged in to attack Byron, but the one who had his attention was Suthar.
"Foul beast! Do you truly believe the Silver Flame didn't know? The passage spoke of tilting the balance, of struggle... could they trust that this unknown child, tainted with the very beast blood that the Silver Flame had once fought against, would tilt towards good? Or was it not imperative that they act? If they were wrong, the Prophecy would unfold without them, but if they were right, they would be saving the world from great evil."
Mareth cast Sacred Healing so that all of the Order would begin regenerating as Oreth joined the battle, attacking but missing Luggoth, and Cierra fired a Divine Vengeance spell at Brand. Byron stepped back from Luggoth, firing arrows, but he was shaken by Luggoth's intimidating presence and missed all three shots, which allowed Luggoth to painlessly move forward and slash him again. Pel cast a web spell that slowed all of the Order and trapped Oreth.
As Mareth cast a Mass Aid spell to counteract Pel's Prayer, Suthar closed with Luggoth and began attacking him, ranting all the while. "According to the Prophecy, you're fated to kill Jaela and plunge Eberron into war again. So you see, my bestial friend... you're as damned as I. You just haven't committed your act of heresy yet."
Luggoth responded by saying "You don't understand, I don't care if I'm damned, as long as you're dead!" and landed two vicious blows on Suthar.
"And I don't care if I die, as long as you're damned," Suthar responded, spitting blood onto the floor. "Your father didn't die quickly, you know. He fought like a demon to prevent me from getting to you. I had to disembowel him to get him to stop, and even then he kept clawing at me, pathetically, trying to stop me. His resolve was actually quite impressive... even though my men had cut off your mother's head, even though I had your baby sister's skull crushed with a mace, he wouldn't give up. Only when all of his lifeblood had spilled did the light in his eyes finally go out, as he realized he had failed."
As Suthar and Luggoth battled, Brand drank a potion of cure moderate wounds and then stabbed Cierra through the heart, killing her. Byron cried out with rage at the death of his sister and fired arrows at Brand, hitting him with one of them, as Lysander moved in to help Luggoth with Suthar, stabbing him with his rapier. Maechen opened up with bronze dragon breath on Oreth and Byron, but Byron dodged both that and an attack by Pel, focusing his enraged attacks on Brand, who had killed his sister.
"Mareth, I believe it's time we were leaving," Suthar said, causing Mareth to cast a Mass Sanctuary spell that shielded the living Order members from attacks by Lysander and Maechen, but the rest of the Wolves resisted. As Suthar tried to walk out, Luggoth attacked him, and the same thing happened with Oreth and Brand. Lysander, unable to attack directly, set fire to the web, dealing a little damage to Mareth before she could escape. Maechen, unable to attack, cast bull's strength on Brand, who could, as Pel moved in and attacked Byron.
Luggoth rushed over and bit Suthar in the jugular, causing the blackguard to stumble to the ground. As he stood up, Luggoth attacked again, and the unsteady Suthar missed his return attack on Luggoth. The rest of the Wolves and Order moved in to join the battle, exchanging some blows, and as Oreth and Byron attacked, they lost their protection from Sanctuary. Byron tried to kill Brand with a sneak attack and failed, and Brand launched a retaliating strike with his rapier, as Lysander stabbed Oreth.
Finally, Maechen breathed lightning breath at Suthar, who dropped to the ground, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. An enraged Luggoth looked down at Suthar, whose eyes registered exactly what had happened as the shifter stabbed his greatsword into the man who had orchestrated the murder of his tribe and then followed through by cutting Byron's head off and slashing a deep wound in Oreth.
Mareth, enraged by the death of Suthar, promised Luggoth that though he might kill them, he would remember them forever, and tried to cast Wither Limb, which Luggoth resisted. In casting the spell, she opened herself to attack, and when Lysander stabbed Oreth, the rogue flinched, drawing attacks from Lysander, Pel and Luggoth, whose sword claimed another member of the Order.
Mareth, all alone, was blasted by Maechen's magic missiles and then surrounded by the Wolves. She tried to inflict critical wounds on Luggoth, but failed to connect, and after Brand stabbed at Mareth, Lysander moved in to attack as well. He moved into Maechen's line of fire, preventing a blast of lightning, but Lysander yelled out to "do it, I'll be OK," Maechen blasted the cleric with lightning, killing her despite her armor of healing.
As Luggoth's rage began to end, he returned to Suthar's corpse and chopped his head off.
The Wolves explored the remainder of the compound, finding a stash of treasure and expensive spell components, as well as a teleport circle inside the stable. After debating whether it would take them to safety or to the lair of the Lords of Dust, they decided to try it as their best, easiest means of escape.
Brand was dismayed to find that the circle teleported them into the Eldeen Reaches, meaning that the victims of the Order had clearly been from villages in the area. He marked the location of the teleport circle, since it was a gateway from the Demon Wastes, and determined to tell his mother about it. Then the Wolves, bloody and battered but victorious and loaded down with treasure, began their journey back to the village of Sheryn Wayfinder.
XP
3800 (Lysander/Luggoth)
4180 Pel
4770 (Maechen/Brand)
The journey across the Demon Wastes was as harrowing as Gorash had promised. Fortunately for The Wolves, even without Gorash's guidance, Brand and Luggoth's expert tracking and hunting skills were up to the task of catching enough food to keep them fed, and the Cardinal's decanter gave them enough water. They moved more slowly due to the hunting, but they continued the 12 hour a day marching, which allowed them to make up the time.
The marching was grueling, and every day at least one of the Wolves would be exhausted by the end of it, collapsing into Daern's Instant Tent and resting for the night, healing whatever minor wounds they had gotten in conflict with the creatures on the Wastes. The Wolves were able to handle many of them with relatively little difficulty, but they never had a day when they weren't subjected to some kind of attack.
On the second day, as the sun was at its hottest, their journey took them across a series of mesas surrounded by a river of lava, with creaky, half-broken wood and rope bridges connecting them. As they approached, a group of ten half-orc barbarians, members of the Carrion Tribe known as the Plaguebearers, came rushing at them. Some of them leaped fifteen feet across to get at them, while others rushed without care over the precarious bridges.
Maechen cast Haste as spears flew past Lysander and Brand, and as Pel cast a bull's strength on Luggoth and Lysander cast mirror image on himself. Luggoth had his greatsword out and swinging at the nearest Plaguebearer, slashing him three times across the chest, back and shoulder, but the barbarian roared angrily in response, refusing to die so easily, even after Maechen peppered him with magic missiles. Brand pulled out the brutal surge whip, swinging it with both hands for balance and knocking one of the Plaguebearers over the side, but the barbarian managed to grab hold of the mesa and begin pulling himself back up.
The Plaguebearers flew into a rage, swinging their filth-encrusted spears and destroying most of Lysander's mirror images, as well as wounding Luggoth, Maechen and Pel. Lysander drew his rapier and attacked, stabbing one of the barbarians viciously in the kidney, leaving him bleeding and weak, but still alive, at least until Pel finished him off with a barrage of magic missiles from his wand.
Luggoth chopped the head off his wounded foe and swung through into the next, following up with a vicious blow that literally cut him off at the knees and stabbing into his fallen torso to kill him as well. Brand, meanwhile, threw a wolf from his bag of tricks into the midst of another group of Plaguebearers before moving in to assist it.
The Plaguebearers showed no fear at having lost three of their members, and while one of them threw a spear at Maechen, the others destroyed Lysander's last mirror image and struck Lysander himself, and another stabbed Brand once more with his filthy spear. Maechen responded to his attacker with an acid orb, and Lysander once again unleashed a flurry of blows on one of the barbarians, knocking him off-balance with well-placed stabs at his arms, legs and chest. Luggoth moved in between the suddenly exposed Lysander and his foes, slashing the off-balanced foe across the chest three times to finish him before moving on to swing his sword at another barbarian.
As Brand waded into melee alongside his wolf, swinging his shortsword and rapier together, Pel drew his scimitar and waded into melee as well. Maechen stepped back behind him and fired his wand of magic missiles at the barbarian who had been struck with an acid orb, who continued to battle, stabbing a spear into Pel, before Lysander moved over and finished him off with a pair of deadly rapier stabs. Lysander opened up an attack on another Plaguebearer, which Luggoth finished off with a series of deadly blows from his greatsword.
Brand continued to exchange blows with his foes, looking more and more like a dirty pincushion, but he did finish off his opponent. Meanwhile, Lysander and Luggoth combined to kill two more. Battling the last remaining Plaguebearer, Pel took another spear hit, but responded with a flurry of rapier strikes, including one that included a burst of deadly power from his devastation gauntlets, and Maechen finished him off with a blast of magic missiles.
As they caught their breath, recovering from the quick but brutal battle, the Wolves looked behind them and to the west and saw an army of at least one hundred more of the Plaguebearers charging at them. Lysander cast Allegro as Maechen's Haste spell faded, and the Wolves dashed across the rickety bridges over the lava. Brand slashed the bridges behind them with his longsword, staying just ahead of the raging horde, and he was last across one of the bridges when it snapped underneath him, but he managed to leap over to the mesa, and the Wolves got safely away.
Two days later, just after sunrise, as the Wolves had begun following a brackish green stream of what might have been water, they came upon a massive beast, dressed in chainmail, drinking from the foul water. It turned and its red eyes burned as it charged at them, fire bursting from its nostrils and mouth.
Maechen recognized it, yelling out "It's a Nessian warhound! They're pets of fiends!" as it moved toward them, showing a caution that indicated its fiendish cunning. Luggoth shifted and charged, and the warhound bit into him as he came in close, hard enough that his fiery jaws even cut through the protection of Pel's fire resistance spells. Brand moved in to assist his friend, suffering a savage bite from the warhound as well, but biting back with a slash of his shocking shortsword.
As Lysander began singing a song to inspire the Wolves, Pel pulled a scroll from his case and let loose with a burst of searing light that singed the beast. Luggoth attacked, finding the chainmail barding and natural armor of the warhound difficult to punch through, but successfully slashing it once, and it responded with a breath of fire against Pel, Luggoth and Brand. Brand's ring protected him, and Pel dove out of the way with his roguish quickness, and Luggoth suffered only minor burns. The warhound took note of this muted reaction to his usually deadly fire breath and switched over to biting for the rest of the fight.
Pel cast bull's strength on Luggoth as Maechen once again hasted the entire group, but when he moved to join the combat, a deep crack in the earth split even further, nearly causing him to tumble in. Lysander leaped over the chasm before it could completely separate him from the rest of the Wolves, tumbling in to join the fight.
Luggoth flew into a rage, slashing and chopping at the warhound, which gave as good as it got with vicious bites. However, there was only one of the warhound, while there were many Wolves, and Brand and Lysander assisted Luggoth in melee as Pel and Maechen fired crossbow and magic missiles at it. Pel's bolt hit the warhound in the ear, causing it to bleed but having surprisingly little effect in terms of pain.
The Wolves, having dealt what seemed like a massive amount of damage to the beast with little outward effect beyond blood and anger, began to think about withdrawing, but Luggoth slashed again, cutting off one of the warhound's foreleg and then bringing his sword down through its skull, causing the red light to go out of its eyes.
After some quick healing using spells and wands, the Wolves moved on, and found the rest of the day relatively uneventful.
Two more days of travel later, deep into the night, the Wolves spotted a castle in the distance that they believed to be the headquarters of the Order of the Corrupting Flame. Brand was somewhat tired, and Lysander a little bit as well, but the rest of the Wolves were relatively hale and hearty, and they determined not to wait any longer before approaching. After a brief discussion, figuring out who could see in the dark conditions (Pel with his goggles, Lysander and Luggoth with their natural abilities), they decided to use invisibility on Maechen, Luggoth and Pel while Lysander and Brand snuck in with them, Lysander leading the way. After about two minutes of walking at a hurried pace, they saw that approaching the castle wouldn't be quite so easy.
The castle was situated in the middle of a stone formation, clearly modified by magic, that sat a hundred feet above a huge (Lysander estimated it at about 100-150 feet wide) lake of lava. The only means of access was via a 15 foot wide bridge of stone, and guarding that bridge was an assortment of skeletons, zombies and other undead. In addition to the tower, there were three smaller structures on the stony island, none of them any closer to the bridge. With five minutes to go before their invisibility wore off, Brand used his ability to dimension door the group to the front door of the tower.
Pel went to work on the lock with his tools, only to discover that the door wasn't locked. The Wolves quietly snuck in, finding a massive pit filled with spikes, skeletons and decomposing bodies in the entryway. Lysander looked down and saw that the bodies showed obvious signs of torture, and that they included men, women and children. Though none of the Wolves heard it, Maechen accidentally kicked some stones into the sides of the pit, alerting their foes in the next room. Byron and Cierra Deloreth, the ranger/assassin and mage of the Order respectively, as well as Oreth Cyrt, their half-orc barbarian/rogue, were in the next room. Byron spotted two of the Wolves and realized there were more there, so he had his sister cast see invisibility and invisibility on him, as Oreth cast Shield of Faith. Oreth and Cierra climbed the ladder to warn the others as Byron stayed behind to prepare a welcome.
The Wolves entered the common room of the castle, which was divided by a lake of naturally occurring lava, metal roasting spits hung across for cooking. They also saw a water barrel full of fresh water. At the back of the room, standing in front of the ladder leading upwards, there were six skeletons, the servants of Oreth and Cierra, but the actual members of the Corrupting Flame had already moved or vanished.
Little did they know that Byron was moving in, his masterwork longsword drawn, preparing to launch an assassin's strike on Luggoth. He became visible as he stabbed the sword, but Luggoth's toughness and agility saved him, and Byron used his bolt shirt to teleport over to the top of the ladder, hanging on by means of his cloak of Arachnida.
Lysander fired his bow, hitting Byron, but the assassin managed to flip out of the way avoid Maechen's lightning bolt. However, upon landing back on the ladder, he caught a crossbow bolt in the gut from Pel. He fired his own bow at Luggoth, sinking an arrow into his chest, before jumping up and onto the higher level.
Up on the higher levels, as Oreth went to warn Suthar Askarda, the blackguard leader, and Mareth, the cleric, Cierra was casting shield on herself, and Vento cast shield of faith and bull's strength to prepare himself. Down below, Brand cast embrace the wild to gain the scent ability in order to detect Byron, and Lysander cast Eagle's Splendor on Pel, who used his newly enhanced turning to destroy the skeletons.
The Wolves began climbing up the ladder as the Order continued casting spells, with Mareth casting Shield of Faith and Veil of Shadow, a spell Vento also cast on himself. The Order was ready for a battle, as were the Wolves, when Brand initiated the combat by dimension leaping onto the second level. Cierra responded with a ray of dizziness that missed him, and then Vento charged in with Rhino's Rush, slashing him with his greataxe. Luggoth responded by shifting and leaping into the room, causing fear in Byron and slashing his sword across Vento's right arm, denting his plate mail.
Brand moved in to join Luggoth in attacking Vento, and Vento responded by slashing Brand with his axe. Byron tried once again to shoot Luggoth with an arrow using his Distract Assailant spells, but failed to connect with the armored and heavily agile shifter, and he took a burst of magic missiles from Maechen in return. Pel cast Prayer, aiding his allies and weakening his enemies.
As Suthar and Mareth climbed down the ladder to join the combat, Cierra tried to cast Hold Person on Luggoth and, when that failed, dropped a fireball in the midst of the Wolves. Unfortunately for her, the fireball had little effect on the Wolves but was enough to finish off Vento after the damage he'd suffered from Luggoth and Brand. Byron began firing arrows in bursts of three, first at Luggoth and then at Brand, and Lysander stepped up to cast a cure moderate from the wand on the beleaguered Brand.
As the battle was joined in earnest, Maechen cast Haste on the Wolves and Pel used a Keen Edge scroll on his scimitar. Tired of being fired upon, Luggoth charged in to attack Byron, but the one who had his attention was Suthar.
"Foul beast! Do you truly believe the Silver Flame didn't know? The passage spoke of tilting the balance, of struggle... could they trust that this unknown child, tainted with the very beast blood that the Silver Flame had once fought against, would tilt towards good? Or was it not imperative that they act? If they were wrong, the Prophecy would unfold without them, but if they were right, they would be saving the world from great evil."
Mareth cast Sacred Healing so that all of the Order would begin regenerating as Oreth joined the battle, attacking but missing Luggoth, and Cierra fired a Divine Vengeance spell at Brand. Byron stepped back from Luggoth, firing arrows, but he was shaken by Luggoth's intimidating presence and missed all three shots, which allowed Luggoth to painlessly move forward and slash him again. Pel cast a web spell that slowed all of the Order and trapped Oreth.
As Mareth cast a Mass Aid spell to counteract Pel's Prayer, Suthar closed with Luggoth and began attacking him, ranting all the while. "According to the Prophecy, you're fated to kill Jaela and plunge Eberron into war again. So you see, my bestial friend... you're as damned as I. You just haven't committed your act of heresy yet."
Luggoth responded by saying "You don't understand, I don't care if I'm damned, as long as you're dead!" and landed two vicious blows on Suthar.
"And I don't care if I die, as long as you're damned," Suthar responded, spitting blood onto the floor. "Your father didn't die quickly, you know. He fought like a demon to prevent me from getting to you. I had to disembowel him to get him to stop, and even then he kept clawing at me, pathetically, trying to stop me. His resolve was actually quite impressive... even though my men had cut off your mother's head, even though I had your baby sister's skull crushed with a mace, he wouldn't give up. Only when all of his lifeblood had spilled did the light in his eyes finally go out, as he realized he had failed."
As Suthar and Luggoth battled, Brand drank a potion of cure moderate wounds and then stabbed Cierra through the heart, killing her. Byron cried out with rage at the death of his sister and fired arrows at Brand, hitting him with one of them, as Lysander moved in to help Luggoth with Suthar, stabbing him with his rapier. Maechen opened up with bronze dragon breath on Oreth and Byron, but Byron dodged both that and an attack by Pel, focusing his enraged attacks on Brand, who had killed his sister.
"Mareth, I believe it's time we were leaving," Suthar said, causing Mareth to cast a Mass Sanctuary spell that shielded the living Order members from attacks by Lysander and Maechen, but the rest of the Wolves resisted. As Suthar tried to walk out, Luggoth attacked him, and the same thing happened with Oreth and Brand. Lysander, unable to attack directly, set fire to the web, dealing a little damage to Mareth before she could escape. Maechen, unable to attack, cast bull's strength on Brand, who could, as Pel moved in and attacked Byron.
Luggoth rushed over and bit Suthar in the jugular, causing the blackguard to stumble to the ground. As he stood up, Luggoth attacked again, and the unsteady Suthar missed his return attack on Luggoth. The rest of the Wolves and Order moved in to join the battle, exchanging some blows, and as Oreth and Byron attacked, they lost their protection from Sanctuary. Byron tried to kill Brand with a sneak attack and failed, and Brand launched a retaliating strike with his rapier, as Lysander stabbed Oreth.
Finally, Maechen breathed lightning breath at Suthar, who dropped to the ground, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. An enraged Luggoth looked down at Suthar, whose eyes registered exactly what had happened as the shifter stabbed his greatsword into the man who had orchestrated the murder of his tribe and then followed through by cutting Byron's head off and slashing a deep wound in Oreth.
Mareth, enraged by the death of Suthar, promised Luggoth that though he might kill them, he would remember them forever, and tried to cast Wither Limb, which Luggoth resisted. In casting the spell, she opened herself to attack, and when Lysander stabbed Oreth, the rogue flinched, drawing attacks from Lysander, Pel and Luggoth, whose sword claimed another member of the Order.
Mareth, all alone, was blasted by Maechen's magic missiles and then surrounded by the Wolves. She tried to inflict critical wounds on Luggoth, but failed to connect, and after Brand stabbed at Mareth, Lysander moved in to attack as well. He moved into Maechen's line of fire, preventing a blast of lightning, but Lysander yelled out to "do it, I'll be OK," Maechen blasted the cleric with lightning, killing her despite her armor of healing.
As Luggoth's rage began to end, he returned to Suthar's corpse and chopped his head off.
The Wolves explored the remainder of the compound, finding a stash of treasure and expensive spell components, as well as a teleport circle inside the stable. After debating whether it would take them to safety or to the lair of the Lords of Dust, they decided to try it as their best, easiest means of escape.
Brand was dismayed to find that the circle teleported them into the Eldeen Reaches, meaning that the victims of the Order had clearly been from villages in the area. He marked the location of the teleport circle, since it was a gateway from the Demon Wastes, and determined to tell his mother about it. Then the Wolves, bloody and battered but victorious and loaded down with treasure, began their journey back to the village of Sheryn Wayfinder.
XP
3800 (Lysander/Luggoth)
4180 Pel
4770 (Maechen/Brand)
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Eberron Adventure Journal: The Demons' Prophecy (6)
Eyre 6-Eyre 22
As the Cardinal got his bearings after several weeks in statue form, he explained to the Wolves the dangers of the Demon Wastes. Inside the Wastes, they would face deadly heat and a variety of fiendish beings who dwelled within. That assumed they could get past the Ghaash'kala, or "Ghost Guardians," the barbarian tribe sworn to prevent anyone from entering the Labyrinth, the natural formation of caverns and mesas that sealed the Demon Wastes away from the rest of Khorvaire.
In order to aid them, the Cardinal provided them with a few essentials. First he gave them his Decanter of Endless Water, which would ensure that they didn't go thirsty in the Wastes. Then he confirmed that the map they had found was probably a map to the compound of the Order of the Corrupting Flame, somewhere in the middle of the Wastes. Most importantly, he sent a message spell to Gorash Orno, a member of the Ghaash'kala. Gorash was a half-orc who had grown up in Thrane, and whose family still lived there, and the Cardinal was a family friend who had known the half-orc since his days as an infant. He called in favors owed by Gorash to guide the Wolves into the Labyrinth.
The Cardinal explained that though he could get Gorash to bend his oaths about letting someone enter the Wastes, even with the connection between the Silver Flame and the Binding Flame that the Ghaash'kala worshiped and the Cardinal's friendship, there was no way to get Gorash to bend on his oath to prevent anyone from leaving. The Ghaash'kala believed that anyone who entered the Wastes was potentially corrupted, and thus they would not let anyone out. In order to provide the Wolves with some sort of escape, the Cardinal told them he would arrange a vessel to sail around the other side of the coast with Verodin Atrelioth onboard. With any luck, a combination of Lysander's scrying and Brand's teleportation would allow them to board the boat. Brand asked about teleportation within the Wastes, and the Cardinal generally advised against it, saying that the magic of the Rakshasa Rajahs might interfere with it unpredictably.
Fearing that Whitehearth would not survive in the Wastes, Brand sent him back to his mother's village. The Wolves then set out along the Shadowcrags to get to the rendezvous point the Cardinal had arranged with Gorash.
After traveling for the better part of a day, the Wolves came to look up on the Labyrinth, a vast network of canyons and mesas that forms a natural maze of stone, some hundreds of miles across. Standing at a crack that made an entrance into the maze was a six and a half foot tall half orc dressed in burned and bloodied leather armor, a holy metal sword at his side. This was Gorash Orno. He warned the Wolves to turn back, warning them that even if they survived to reach their foes, they might be corrupted by the very nature of the Wastes. The Wolves insisted that they had to go in, Luggoth insisting more firmly than all the rest, and Gorash grimly agreed to take them in.
The heat was overwhelming, but Pel quickly set up a routine where he would cast a resistance to energy on everyone but Brand, who was wearing the Zakya's ring of heat resistance, at the beginning of each day. As a result, they were able to ignore the adverse effects of the heat, as well as avoiding dehydration with frequent use of the Cardinal's decanter.
Gorash told them that the journey would take them about twenty days at a standard pace, but he hoped to march longer each day and cut the time by as much as half. With the eternal rations that Brand had, as well as those they had acquired from the Zakya, they wouldn't have to hunt for the first eight days of the journey, which would help as well.
The Wolves generally managed to travel 12 hours each day instead of 8, although every day it tested the endurance of at least one of their number to do so.
In the middle of the first day of travel, the Wolves got their first taste of the dangers of the Wastes that did not involve the heat. As they walked through the caverns, at least one hundred feet tall on each side, an enormous ball of what seemed like lava began rolling toward them, pseudopods of flame and magma writhing in and out of its form. None of them could identify it, although Lysander guessed that it was some kind of ooze.
Pel aimed the Decanter of Endless Water, preparing to use its geyser effect on the massive ooze. As Brand and Luggoth began firing arrows to no noticeable effect, Gorash drew his longsword, Lysander began singing and Maechen entered Prophetic Favor. Then they had their next surprise about the nature of the ooze, as it moved its pseudopods in such a way to suggest spellcasting, and indeed tried to put Maechen and Lysander into a deep sleep, which they resisted.
Maechen blasted the ooze with an ice knife, which seemed to have an effect of slightly slowing and wounding it. Luggoth tried two more arrows, having some minor effect thanks to the magical nature of his bow, and Lysander began firing arrows from his magical bow as well. Seeing the minimal effect, Brand dropped his bow and pulled out his swords, moving up to draw the creature out, and Gorash moved up with him.
The ooze charged in, grabbing Brand with a powerful physical blow, and he could feel some kind of ooze in his system, but it was having no effect thanks to his ring of fire protection. Maechen tried a lightning bolt, but couldn't get past the ooze's magic resistance, and Luggoth decided to switch from his bow to his sword, as Pel unleashed a spray of water from the Decanter to minimal effect.
Gorash rushed in to help Brand, and was punched by the ooze in response, but he managed to attack in kind with his sword, sending jets of lava to the ground like spurting blood.
Maechen cast Haste to give the Wolves and their ally an advantage, and Brand tried to slip free of the ooze's grasp, finally deciding to dimension leap away from the creature's grasp. Luggoth charged in and joined Gorash in hacking at the ooze, but the creature responded by smashing and grabbing both of them, and they were held fast, struggling against its demonic strength. Pel gave up on the Decanter and threw a vial of holy water at the ooze, which sizzled on its surface, causing it some pain, but it was completely unclear how hurt (or not) the creature was.
Maechen used a spell to determine the creature's abilities and vulnerabilities, learning that they needed magical bludgeoning weapons to hurt it, and that it was vulnerable to ice, but somewhat resistant as well. As he shouted this information out, Brand grabbed Maechen's club, intending to give it to Luggoth when he broke free, but instead he had to rush over and dimension door Gorash away from the ooze before their guide was killed. Pel blasted away with magic missiles, but was unable to overcome the creature's spell resistance.
As Maechen cast a spell to give himself a bronze dragon's lightning breath and blasted the ooze, Luggoth managed to struggle free of the creature's grip and run back to join Brand and Gorash. Everyone was free, and someone suggested the idea of escape rather than battle. Even the dedicated Gorash had no trouble agreeing to this, but they hit a snag as the ooze moved with surprising speed and grabbed Pel, Maechen and Pel. Brand used one of his last dragonmark abilities for the day to teleport Maechen away, and Lysander used his dragonmark to summon a shadow ice storm while Pel fired his wand of magic missiles inside the ooze.
Exhausting his dragonmark completely, Brand teleported Lysander and Pel away as Maechen breathed lightning on the ooze once more. Before the ooze could close again, Luggoth grabbed Maechen and ran, with the rest of the Wolves close behind him.
Later that night, burned and beaten, the Wolves used Daern's Instant Tent to rest and recover. Worrying about how long they could keep up this pace, they exhausted healing spells and magic wands of healing to get everyone back up to full strength for the next day.
On the next day, again at about midday, they had their second encounter with the denizens of the Labyrinth. As they were walking, Brand caught a shadow on the ground, and looking up carefully and subtly, he spotted that they were being watched. There were some eight beasts following them, each about the size of a large cat, coming from different sides of the cavern.
Brand identified them as feral yowlers, the results of long-lost magical breeding experiments. They were pack hunters, evil and cruel, and they hunted by using a fearful yowl that shook their targets and made them easier prey. Even as he related this, the yowlers let loose with their piercing cry, and even the hardened Wolves found themselves a bit distracted by it.
Fortunately, Lysander was able to counter the effect as he began belting out a bawdy elven war song, and the Wolves leaped into action. Brand rushed forward into one of the groups, slashing at one of the yowlers, as Luggoth went to another cavern and attacked a different one, shifting as he did so. Maechen cast Haste once more, although Brand was outside its effect, and Gorash charged up to help the ranger as Pel fired his crossbow at one of the yowler's high up in the cliffs.
The yowlers pounced down into the canyons, moving in groups to attack. The battle soon split into threes, with Gorash and Brand defending against three of the yowlers on one side, Luggoth battling two others on the other side and Maechen, Lysander and Pel dealing with the remaining three in the center.
Lysander acquitted himself well, stabbing his rapier into the neck of one of the yowlers and then swinging his sword back around to stab it in the foreleg, putting it off-balance and allowing Pel to slash at its vital points twice with his scimitar. To their dismay, even three well-landed blows, though bloody and effective, didn't bring down one of the hideous catlike creatures. Brand discovered the same thing when he swung a salvo of three blows at one of his attackers, and Luggoth discovered a nasty property they had, a gift from their displacer beast traits, that gave them a minor displacement effect.
The yowlers struck back with claws and teeth, and they nipped at heels and legs, trying to trip their foes or distract them to help their pack-mates. Gorash was badly wounded, but all of the Wolves were feeling the results of multiple wounds, even as they continued to swing their attacks at the same beasts, none of which would seem to fall. Maechen flew into the air and breathed Silver Dragon breath, but the yowlers resisted its paralyzing effects.
Finally, after a barrage of rapier blows from Lysander, Pel was able to flank a badly wounded yowler and finish it off with his scimitar. Lysander tumbled over to flank the other yowler attacking the changeling, and he stabbed another well-struck blow from his rapier, stabbing into the creature's spine and causing electricity to run all through it and down its tail. To his dismay, this didn't kill the yowler. On the other side of the canyon, Brand felled his first yowler with a deadly strike through the chestbone, and it fell in a bloody heap.
The yowlers regrouped and attacked again, knocking down Pel and Luggoth and tearing Gorash's chest so badly that he fell unconscious, bleeding into the sandy floor of the Labyrinth. Brand wasted no time teleporting him across the cavern, but one of the yowlers they had been fighting followed, even as the other one moved to help its pack.
Luggoth didn't get up, instead slashing with his greatsword from the ground, killing one of the yowlers he had been attacking and starting in on the other one. Lysander continued to move and attack, stabbing with his rapier and trying to stay out of the way of the yowlers' teeth and claws, wounding one badly enough that Maechen was able to kill it with a well-aimed magic missile.
As Pel cast a healing spell on himself and Brand used a wand to help Gorash get up, the yowlers attacked once more. One of them bit Lysander in the arm, the other began stalking towards Brand, who was unable to get his sword out in time because of the use of the wand. However, the badly wounded Gorash, his sword drawn, stepped in front of his savior and slashed at the incoming yowler, wounding it badly and dodging its return attack. Maechen, meanwhile, used his dragon breath to paralyze one of the yowlers who had moved in to attack Pel and Lysander.
As Luggoth continued to chop from the ground, Pel and Lysander teamed up on another one, and the yowlers' numbers were diminishing. Lysander stabbed his foe in the chest, leaving a bloody, sucking chest wound, as, on the other side of the canyon, Brand finished off the yowler that had come after him and Gorash. Luggoth slashed at the hamstring of the last yowler attacking him, and it began to run pitifully away, as did its deeply wounded friend, but Luggoth killed it with a throwing axe, and Maechen touched down on the ground to smash the skull of the paralyzed yowler with his club. The last yowler, its chest wound leaving gouts of blood behind, wasn't fast enough to escape, and the Wolves fell upon it and killed it.
Badly wounded after the battle, the Wolves and Gorash nevertheless managed to travel a full day and a half again, and used a number of healing spells and abilities while resting in their tent. Fortunately, the next two days were uneventful, save for the brutal endurance tests that 12 hours of daily marching were causing.
On the fourth night, Brand heard a loud sound outside their tent, and when he looked out, he saw a massive, fiendish tyrannosaurus rex charging toward them. The Wolves and Gorash scrambled out, and as Lysander cast Allegro to increase their speed, Brand popped the tent closed and they fled from the frustrated beast, which watched its dinner speed magically away.
After an hour or so, they found another campsite and rested uneventfully until morning.
The next day, as they traveled, the screaming winds that echoed through the caverns were replaced by a loud whooshing sound, and a flash flood swept through the Labyrinth. Luggoth, Lysander and Maechen managed to scramble to higher ground, but Gorash, Pel and Brand were swept away in the flood. They managed to keep their heads above water and avoid the boulders and trees caught up in the maelstrom, and Maechen, using his flight spell, was able to fly ahead and catch them and get them out of the water. The Wolves waited for the rushing water to die down and then were on their way again.
This was the general tone for their march, a couple of days of uneventful travel interrupted by the occasional rockslide or flood or deadly creature. They ran afoul of a bluespawn godslayer that found Maechen's draconic alliances offensive, but they were able to flee from the beast with the help of Allegro, and they battled and killed a pair of greathorn minotaurs that thought the Wolves would make a tasty snack.
After eight days had passed and their eternal rations were expended, they found themselves traveling slower, even at forced march speeds, because they had to keep an eye out for food. The hunting was sparse, but with Gorash's knowledge and Luggoth and Brand's skills, they were able to hunt enough game to keep the group fed.
Finally, just over two weeks later, they emerged at last from the Labyrinth. Gorash pointed out across the expanse of volcanic wasteland, telling them that they should be careful, because being out in the open on the Wastes would be more dangerous than the Labyrinth. He guessed that at the speed they had maintained through the Labyrinth, it would probably take them about six days to get to the Order's fortress. He also told them that whichever of them survived should come to find him, and perhaps they could join his tribe. He had found them brave warriors, and he owed Brand in particular a debt of gratitude for saving his life.
Flattered but not entirely pleased by the notion of staying the Wastes as members of the Ghaash'kala, the Wolves turned to face the next leg of their journey: A week long trek across the Wastes in search of a deadly group of former Silver Flame warriors who had lived in this vast expanse for over twenty years.
XP
900 XP (Brand/Pel/Maechen)
667 XP (Lysander/Luggoth)
1600 XP (Gorash)
As the Cardinal got his bearings after several weeks in statue form, he explained to the Wolves the dangers of the Demon Wastes. Inside the Wastes, they would face deadly heat and a variety of fiendish beings who dwelled within. That assumed they could get past the Ghaash'kala, or "Ghost Guardians," the barbarian tribe sworn to prevent anyone from entering the Labyrinth, the natural formation of caverns and mesas that sealed the Demon Wastes away from the rest of Khorvaire.
In order to aid them, the Cardinal provided them with a few essentials. First he gave them his Decanter of Endless Water, which would ensure that they didn't go thirsty in the Wastes. Then he confirmed that the map they had found was probably a map to the compound of the Order of the Corrupting Flame, somewhere in the middle of the Wastes. Most importantly, he sent a message spell to Gorash Orno, a member of the Ghaash'kala. Gorash was a half-orc who had grown up in Thrane, and whose family still lived there, and the Cardinal was a family friend who had known the half-orc since his days as an infant. He called in favors owed by Gorash to guide the Wolves into the Labyrinth.
The Cardinal explained that though he could get Gorash to bend his oaths about letting someone enter the Wastes, even with the connection between the Silver Flame and the Binding Flame that the Ghaash'kala worshiped and the Cardinal's friendship, there was no way to get Gorash to bend on his oath to prevent anyone from leaving. The Ghaash'kala believed that anyone who entered the Wastes was potentially corrupted, and thus they would not let anyone out. In order to provide the Wolves with some sort of escape, the Cardinal told them he would arrange a vessel to sail around the other side of the coast with Verodin Atrelioth onboard. With any luck, a combination of Lysander's scrying and Brand's teleportation would allow them to board the boat. Brand asked about teleportation within the Wastes, and the Cardinal generally advised against it, saying that the magic of the Rakshasa Rajahs might interfere with it unpredictably.
Fearing that Whitehearth would not survive in the Wastes, Brand sent him back to his mother's village. The Wolves then set out along the Shadowcrags to get to the rendezvous point the Cardinal had arranged with Gorash.
After traveling for the better part of a day, the Wolves came to look up on the Labyrinth, a vast network of canyons and mesas that forms a natural maze of stone, some hundreds of miles across. Standing at a crack that made an entrance into the maze was a six and a half foot tall half orc dressed in burned and bloodied leather armor, a holy metal sword at his side. This was Gorash Orno. He warned the Wolves to turn back, warning them that even if they survived to reach their foes, they might be corrupted by the very nature of the Wastes. The Wolves insisted that they had to go in, Luggoth insisting more firmly than all the rest, and Gorash grimly agreed to take them in.
The heat was overwhelming, but Pel quickly set up a routine where he would cast a resistance to energy on everyone but Brand, who was wearing the Zakya's ring of heat resistance, at the beginning of each day. As a result, they were able to ignore the adverse effects of the heat, as well as avoiding dehydration with frequent use of the Cardinal's decanter.
Gorash told them that the journey would take them about twenty days at a standard pace, but he hoped to march longer each day and cut the time by as much as half. With the eternal rations that Brand had, as well as those they had acquired from the Zakya, they wouldn't have to hunt for the first eight days of the journey, which would help as well.
The Wolves generally managed to travel 12 hours each day instead of 8, although every day it tested the endurance of at least one of their number to do so.
In the middle of the first day of travel, the Wolves got their first taste of the dangers of the Wastes that did not involve the heat. As they walked through the caverns, at least one hundred feet tall on each side, an enormous ball of what seemed like lava began rolling toward them, pseudopods of flame and magma writhing in and out of its form. None of them could identify it, although Lysander guessed that it was some kind of ooze.
Pel aimed the Decanter of Endless Water, preparing to use its geyser effect on the massive ooze. As Brand and Luggoth began firing arrows to no noticeable effect, Gorash drew his longsword, Lysander began singing and Maechen entered Prophetic Favor. Then they had their next surprise about the nature of the ooze, as it moved its pseudopods in such a way to suggest spellcasting, and indeed tried to put Maechen and Lysander into a deep sleep, which they resisted.
Maechen blasted the ooze with an ice knife, which seemed to have an effect of slightly slowing and wounding it. Luggoth tried two more arrows, having some minor effect thanks to the magical nature of his bow, and Lysander began firing arrows from his magical bow as well. Seeing the minimal effect, Brand dropped his bow and pulled out his swords, moving up to draw the creature out, and Gorash moved up with him.
The ooze charged in, grabbing Brand with a powerful physical blow, and he could feel some kind of ooze in his system, but it was having no effect thanks to his ring of fire protection. Maechen tried a lightning bolt, but couldn't get past the ooze's magic resistance, and Luggoth decided to switch from his bow to his sword, as Pel unleashed a spray of water from the Decanter to minimal effect.
Gorash rushed in to help Brand, and was punched by the ooze in response, but he managed to attack in kind with his sword, sending jets of lava to the ground like spurting blood.
Maechen cast Haste to give the Wolves and their ally an advantage, and Brand tried to slip free of the ooze's grasp, finally deciding to dimension leap away from the creature's grasp. Luggoth charged in and joined Gorash in hacking at the ooze, but the creature responded by smashing and grabbing both of them, and they were held fast, struggling against its demonic strength. Pel gave up on the Decanter and threw a vial of holy water at the ooze, which sizzled on its surface, causing it some pain, but it was completely unclear how hurt (or not) the creature was.
Maechen used a spell to determine the creature's abilities and vulnerabilities, learning that they needed magical bludgeoning weapons to hurt it, and that it was vulnerable to ice, but somewhat resistant as well. As he shouted this information out, Brand grabbed Maechen's club, intending to give it to Luggoth when he broke free, but instead he had to rush over and dimension door Gorash away from the ooze before their guide was killed. Pel blasted away with magic missiles, but was unable to overcome the creature's spell resistance.
As Maechen cast a spell to give himself a bronze dragon's lightning breath and blasted the ooze, Luggoth managed to struggle free of the creature's grip and run back to join Brand and Gorash. Everyone was free, and someone suggested the idea of escape rather than battle. Even the dedicated Gorash had no trouble agreeing to this, but they hit a snag as the ooze moved with surprising speed and grabbed Pel, Maechen and Pel. Brand used one of his last dragonmark abilities for the day to teleport Maechen away, and Lysander used his dragonmark to summon a shadow ice storm while Pel fired his wand of magic missiles inside the ooze.
Exhausting his dragonmark completely, Brand teleported Lysander and Pel away as Maechen breathed lightning on the ooze once more. Before the ooze could close again, Luggoth grabbed Maechen and ran, with the rest of the Wolves close behind him.
Later that night, burned and beaten, the Wolves used Daern's Instant Tent to rest and recover. Worrying about how long they could keep up this pace, they exhausted healing spells and magic wands of healing to get everyone back up to full strength for the next day.
On the next day, again at about midday, they had their second encounter with the denizens of the Labyrinth. As they were walking, Brand caught a shadow on the ground, and looking up carefully and subtly, he spotted that they were being watched. There were some eight beasts following them, each about the size of a large cat, coming from different sides of the cavern.
Brand identified them as feral yowlers, the results of long-lost magical breeding experiments. They were pack hunters, evil and cruel, and they hunted by using a fearful yowl that shook their targets and made them easier prey. Even as he related this, the yowlers let loose with their piercing cry, and even the hardened Wolves found themselves a bit distracted by it.
Fortunately, Lysander was able to counter the effect as he began belting out a bawdy elven war song, and the Wolves leaped into action. Brand rushed forward into one of the groups, slashing at one of the yowlers, as Luggoth went to another cavern and attacked a different one, shifting as he did so. Maechen cast Haste once more, although Brand was outside its effect, and Gorash charged up to help the ranger as Pel fired his crossbow at one of the yowler's high up in the cliffs.
The yowlers pounced down into the canyons, moving in groups to attack. The battle soon split into threes, with Gorash and Brand defending against three of the yowlers on one side, Luggoth battling two others on the other side and Maechen, Lysander and Pel dealing with the remaining three in the center.
Lysander acquitted himself well, stabbing his rapier into the neck of one of the yowlers and then swinging his sword back around to stab it in the foreleg, putting it off-balance and allowing Pel to slash at its vital points twice with his scimitar. To their dismay, even three well-landed blows, though bloody and effective, didn't bring down one of the hideous catlike creatures. Brand discovered the same thing when he swung a salvo of three blows at one of his attackers, and Luggoth discovered a nasty property they had, a gift from their displacer beast traits, that gave them a minor displacement effect.
The yowlers struck back with claws and teeth, and they nipped at heels and legs, trying to trip their foes or distract them to help their pack-mates. Gorash was badly wounded, but all of the Wolves were feeling the results of multiple wounds, even as they continued to swing their attacks at the same beasts, none of which would seem to fall. Maechen flew into the air and breathed Silver Dragon breath, but the yowlers resisted its paralyzing effects.
Finally, after a barrage of rapier blows from Lysander, Pel was able to flank a badly wounded yowler and finish it off with his scimitar. Lysander tumbled over to flank the other yowler attacking the changeling, and he stabbed another well-struck blow from his rapier, stabbing into the creature's spine and causing electricity to run all through it and down its tail. To his dismay, this didn't kill the yowler. On the other side of the canyon, Brand felled his first yowler with a deadly strike through the chestbone, and it fell in a bloody heap.
The yowlers regrouped and attacked again, knocking down Pel and Luggoth and tearing Gorash's chest so badly that he fell unconscious, bleeding into the sandy floor of the Labyrinth. Brand wasted no time teleporting him across the cavern, but one of the yowlers they had been fighting followed, even as the other one moved to help its pack.
Luggoth didn't get up, instead slashing with his greatsword from the ground, killing one of the yowlers he had been attacking and starting in on the other one. Lysander continued to move and attack, stabbing with his rapier and trying to stay out of the way of the yowlers' teeth and claws, wounding one badly enough that Maechen was able to kill it with a well-aimed magic missile.
As Pel cast a healing spell on himself and Brand used a wand to help Gorash get up, the yowlers attacked once more. One of them bit Lysander in the arm, the other began stalking towards Brand, who was unable to get his sword out in time because of the use of the wand. However, the badly wounded Gorash, his sword drawn, stepped in front of his savior and slashed at the incoming yowler, wounding it badly and dodging its return attack. Maechen, meanwhile, used his dragon breath to paralyze one of the yowlers who had moved in to attack Pel and Lysander.
As Luggoth continued to chop from the ground, Pel and Lysander teamed up on another one, and the yowlers' numbers were diminishing. Lysander stabbed his foe in the chest, leaving a bloody, sucking chest wound, as, on the other side of the canyon, Brand finished off the yowler that had come after him and Gorash. Luggoth slashed at the hamstring of the last yowler attacking him, and it began to run pitifully away, as did its deeply wounded friend, but Luggoth killed it with a throwing axe, and Maechen touched down on the ground to smash the skull of the paralyzed yowler with his club. The last yowler, its chest wound leaving gouts of blood behind, wasn't fast enough to escape, and the Wolves fell upon it and killed it.
Badly wounded after the battle, the Wolves and Gorash nevertheless managed to travel a full day and a half again, and used a number of healing spells and abilities while resting in their tent. Fortunately, the next two days were uneventful, save for the brutal endurance tests that 12 hours of daily marching were causing.
On the fourth night, Brand heard a loud sound outside their tent, and when he looked out, he saw a massive, fiendish tyrannosaurus rex charging toward them. The Wolves and Gorash scrambled out, and as Lysander cast Allegro to increase their speed, Brand popped the tent closed and they fled from the frustrated beast, which watched its dinner speed magically away.
After an hour or so, they found another campsite and rested uneventfully until morning.
The next day, as they traveled, the screaming winds that echoed through the caverns were replaced by a loud whooshing sound, and a flash flood swept through the Labyrinth. Luggoth, Lysander and Maechen managed to scramble to higher ground, but Gorash, Pel and Brand were swept away in the flood. They managed to keep their heads above water and avoid the boulders and trees caught up in the maelstrom, and Maechen, using his flight spell, was able to fly ahead and catch them and get them out of the water. The Wolves waited for the rushing water to die down and then were on their way again.
This was the general tone for their march, a couple of days of uneventful travel interrupted by the occasional rockslide or flood or deadly creature. They ran afoul of a bluespawn godslayer that found Maechen's draconic alliances offensive, but they were able to flee from the beast with the help of Allegro, and they battled and killed a pair of greathorn minotaurs that thought the Wolves would make a tasty snack.
After eight days had passed and their eternal rations were expended, they found themselves traveling slower, even at forced march speeds, because they had to keep an eye out for food. The hunting was sparse, but with Gorash's knowledge and Luggoth and Brand's skills, they were able to hunt enough game to keep the group fed.
Finally, just over two weeks later, they emerged at last from the Labyrinth. Gorash pointed out across the expanse of volcanic wasteland, telling them that they should be careful, because being out in the open on the Wastes would be more dangerous than the Labyrinth. He guessed that at the speed they had maintained through the Labyrinth, it would probably take them about six days to get to the Order's fortress. He also told them that whichever of them survived should come to find him, and perhaps they could join his tribe. He had found them brave warriors, and he owed Brand in particular a debt of gratitude for saving his life.
Flattered but not entirely pleased by the notion of staying the Wastes as members of the Ghaash'kala, the Wolves turned to face the next leg of their journey: A week long trek across the Wastes in search of a deadly group of former Silver Flame warriors who had lived in this vast expanse for over twenty years.
XP
900 XP (Brand/Pel/Maechen)
667 XP (Lysander/Luggoth)
1600 XP (Gorash)
Friday, August 24, 2007
Eberron Adventure Journal: The Demons' Prophecy (5)
Therendor 13-Eyre 6, YK 999
Upon deciding they were safe from immediate reprisals from Solgar, the Wolves went directly to Oura Gellast to tell her what they had learned. When they told her that he was a Rakshasa, she was shocked and worried. She insisted that they had to get out of Thaliost and Thrane immediately. "Solgar is more dangerous than I'd guessed... he'll have trumped up charges within the hour. You need to cross the border into Aundair."
Oura agreed to come with them, but only after she had gotten Rav Corus, the priest who had covered for her. He'd be in danger as well. Brand used his connections to get first class passage booked to Fairhaven on the afternoon lightning rail, but just before the train was to depart, a young boy gave them a note indicating that Oura wasn't coming. She couldn't leave others behind to face the danger for her.
The journey into Aundair was relatively brief, although it was about 20 hours until they reached the city of Fairhaven in the early evening the next day. Onboard the train, the Wolves took time to rest and heal, and Lysander tried to scry Cardinal Ossul Hetrion, but he was unable to find him.
Upon arrival in Fairhaven, they went to the House Cannith enclave to see if Lady Elaydren was available. As luck would have it, she had returned from her honeymoon in Stormhome three days prior, and she met them in a lush reception chamber with cheese, wines and open arms. She also had a message, in a sealed envelope, that was addressed to Maechen Eyre in Draconic tongue.
The message was from his master, who indicated, in the usual obtuse speech of a dragon, that they should go to the Eldeen Reaches and Brand's mother, which would take them on the next leg of their journey, according to the will of the Prophecy. Elaydren offered to hide them for as long as she could, even if it put her own position in jeopardy, but they didn't need to take her up on her offer, as they decided to follow the directives of Maechen's master and head to the Eldeen Reaches. Elaydren offered them magebred horses and provisions, an offer they did accept.
Before they left Fairhaven, however, they had some messages to send and errands to run. Pel sent a vague, coded message to Brand's mother to expect visitors, but to be wary of danger, and he also sent a coded message to Alestair Marktaros in Trolanport to apprise him of their travel plans. Lysander sent a message to Arenydee and his superiors in House Phiarlan to give them an update, and Luggoth sent a message to Savannah that Sharn might not be safe, and that she should be especially careful.
After that, Lysander and Pel went to seek information about a cult of the Traveler in Fairhaven so they could get some scrolls to help if they should encounter a Rakshasa again, all the while subtly spreading the rumors of Solgar Dariznu's true identity. With little time in a bustling metropolis, they had a difficult task, but the two information-gatherers' exceptional skills helped them find a congregation of The Dark Six.
Unfortunately, later that night, Pel found out that the congregation was considerably more dangerous than the average Traveler meeting, and the price requested for scrolls was not in gold, but in favors to dark gods, a currency he wasn't willing to pay. Or at least, not willing to pay again, as an encounter with a priest of The Keeper who recognized his god's mark upon Pel reminded him of the price Lysander had agreed to for his resurrection, several months ago in Stormreach.
Before they left, Lysander scried on Verodin Atrelioth, and found him sitting at an inn in Trolanport that Lysander recognized as the Satyr's Pipe.
The next morning, the Wolves began their long horseback journey from Fairhaven to the Towering Woods of the Eldeen Reaches. They kept a low profile, traveling via less well-used roads and camping rather than stopping at inns, and had a relatively uneventful journey. About ten days into the journey, five days after they had crossed the Aundarian border into the Eldeen Reaches, they received a message from Alestair: "Cardinal kidnapped, most likely Rakshasa. We encountered Zakya, it escaped. Backtracking Cardinal's route from Sharn, hoping for clues. Further communication via Artos d'Sivis in Trolanport."
Three more days later, deep in the Towering Wood, the Wolves encountered one of the dangers of the Eldeen forests, a pair of horrid bears, twisted by the magic of Gatekeeper druids to protect against Xoriat, but now roaming free and remaining true to their bestial natures.
Having caught the attention of the beasts, the Wolves dismounted and began preparing for battle, as Maechen entered a state of Prophetic Favor and Pel cast Bless on the group. Luggoth moved forward and was attacked by one of the bears, which missed, dripping acid from its claws as it swung.
Brand and Luggoth engaged the bears as Maechen used fireballs to soften them up. One of the bears slashed at Brand, leaving an acidic rent in his armor and slashing him open at the chest. He fell to the ground, bleeding and unconscious. Lysander tried to distract the bear from his grievously wounded friend using mirror image as Pel cast Sanctuary and moved in to administer healing magics.
Luggoth shifted, his fearful presence driving one of the bears away temporarily. The other, emboldened by the blood it had drawn from Brand, remained in the fray, but suffered a deep sword wound from Luggoth, as well as a piercing from Lysander's rapier and a burst of magic missiles from Maechen. Though bloodied, the massive beast seemed to hardly feel these wounds, and the Wolves began to worry about the encounter.
Shifting out of his bestial form to heal, Luggoth swung at the bear again, leaving another deep gash in its chest. Lysander stabbed at its haunches as well. Brand, though unconscious, was stabilized by Pel's healing magics, but Pel shifted his focus to healing Luggoth, who was now going toe to toe with the horrid beast, even as the other one stopped its flight now that Luggoth's form was no longer fearful.
As Maechen peppered both bears with magic missiles, Luggoth shifted again, once again terrifying the more distant bear, which reconsidered its return and fled into the forest. The remaining bear swung one more acidic claw into Luggoth before another slash from Luggoth's greatsword and magic missiles from Maechen's wand finally killed it.
The remainder of the trip was uneventful, and on the morning of Eyre 4, the Wolves arrived at the village of Sharri Wayfinder, Brand's mother. They found a small but thriving druidic and ranger community, and met Sharri's husband, a ranger named Beren. They told the Wolves that their arrival was welcome, because the community had need of them.
Rorsa, the awakened dire wolf that the Wolves had rescued from Whitehearth in the Mournland, was there with her pack, although she had clearly been in a fight recently. She explained that a day before, she and her pack had encountered a band of trolls who were hunting in the forest. They had managed to escape, only losing two of their number, but there were forest trolls in the pack, and that meant they could certainly track the wolves back to the druid village. Sharri asked if the Wolves could deal with the troll band before it endangered the village.
By way of help, Sharri provided them each with goodberries and antitoxin for healing and poison resistance, given that the forest trolls were known to use poisoned weapons.
Brand was able to track the troll band, and the Wolves began silently approaching the troll camp. Brand scouted ahead, and saw that there was a massive mountain troll, the size of a giant, three ogres and a forest troll hiding in a tree. They were in two clearings, close to one another but separated by trees and a stream. After making plans and casting a number of spells to prepare themselves, they launched their plan.
Lysander used his mirror image, hat of disguise and a black bear from Brand's pouch to look like a pack of rangers so as to arouse less suspicion as he wandered into the range of the remaining trolls and ogres. He began singing, successfully fascinating every one of the monsters, except for the Mountain Troll.
Fortunately, it was enough of a distraction for Maechen to get off a fireball spell that killed one of the ogres and wounded the Mountain Troll slightly. This was the signal, and the rest of the Wolves charged in, with Luggoth and Pel combining to kill one of the other ogres as Brand, Whitehearth and the bear engaged the last ogre. The forest trolls, one of whom Brand hadn't seen, began throwing javelins, one of which hit Pel, but he didn't succumb to the poison.
Lysander pulled out his bow and began shooting seemingly ineffective arrows at the mountain troll, even as the black bear and Whitehearth continued to engage the remaining ogre. Whitehearth fled after the ogre landed a powerful blow to his skull, but the bear remained and managed to bite and claw the ogre to death.
While Pel began firing his wand of scorching ray at one of the forest trolls, Brand cast blades of fire on his weapons and dimension leaped into the tree to kill the other one, knocking it out of the tree. The angry mountain troll moved toward Maechen, whose know vulnerability spell failed, but Luggoth shifted and raged, moving in to attack the giant beast. He successfully got its attention and earned a solid smashing from his club as a result, which knocked the shifter down and severely bruised him.
Seeing the troll raising its club to finish his friend, Lysander, thinking himself protected by mirror image, rushed in to distract the troll, but discovered rather painfully that it could smell his true location and had no trouble hitting it with his tree trunk sized club. With both Lysander and Luggoth badly wounded at the hands of the mountain troll, Maechen fired off an empowered fireball in the vicinity of its head, hoping to bring it down, but it seemed only more angry at the damage, and angrier still as Luggoth stabbed his sword deep into the beast's ankle. Roaring with pain, he smashed Luggoth again, nearly killing him but missing Brand and the bear as he swung the club in a great arc.
Seeing the danger the mountain troll possessed, Pel distracted himself from combat with the forest troll that had closed with him and popped a flame strike scroll out of his infinite scrollcase instead. The flame strike angered and damaged the troll further, but it was difficult to tell if all the damage was having any effect on the massive foe.
The forest troll, clearly not liking the odds, ran away as the Wolves all began concentrating their attack on the mountain troll. Maechen fired empowered magic missiles and Pel fired his wand of scorching ray, as Brand moved in with his bear to attack the gigantic troll in melee. Luggoth and Lysander managed to crawl behind trees, and Lysander used magic to heal Luggoth, who had recovered somewhat from his wounds by shifting forms again.
As Maechen fired another empowered magic missile, Luggoth stood up and pulled out his longbow, but he didn't need it, as Pel fired one last scorching ray at the mountain troll and it fell, crashing to the ground and causing it to shake for a full 10 seconds.
Brand tracked the forest troll that had fled to their cave lair, and the Wolves killed it with little trouble. There, they found the trolls' stash of treasure and magic items, as well as an interesting package of a ring, a weeks' worth of eternal rations, and a map with notes in a language none of them spoke on the back.
They returned to the village to rest and memorize spells, and to tell Sharri that the trolls had been dealt with. In the morning, a comprehend languages spell revealed that the note was something the forest troll had written down, indicating that a Zakya was coming to the cave soon, and that he had the cardinal with him. It didn't take much deduction to realize that the map was more than likely a map to the Order of the Corrupting Flame's headquarters in the Demon Wastes, and that the Zakya was bound there. It was clear that the troll was an operative of the Lords of Dust, and the ring (protection against the fiery elements of the Wastes) and rations were for the Zakya. This was why the Prophecy had directed the Wolves to the Eldeen Reaches, clearly, and they weren't about to miss the opportunity.
Armed with this knowledge, the Wolves went back to the cave to await the arrival of the Zakya. They weren't sure exactly when he was coming, and so they took turns on watch. Pel spent his time outside as a troll, doing his best to "think troll thoughts" to fool any incoming Rakshasa, and Lysander used his hat of disguise to appear green and warty as well. He sensed someone trying to read his thoughts and resisted, and they saw another troll approaching.
The disguise didn't fool them, and the "troll" quickly revealed itself to be a Zakya.
The Zakya charged in and attacked Lysander, and the rest of the Wolves emerged from the cave. As Pel began casting align weapon on the Wolves' weapons and Maechen cast defensive spells on Luggoth, the Zakya maneuvered to keep his back protected and attacked Brand.
Maechen cast Haste on the group, and they moved in with their good-aligned piercing weapons and made short work of the Zakya, which only managed to score one hit on Lysander and one hit on Brand before he died.
Dumping out the Rakshasa's bag of holding, they discovered some a gem, some gold, a scroll, and a stone model of Cardinal Ossul Hetrion. They quickly realized that the Zakya had transformed the Cardinal to make him easier to transport, and Maechen used one of his scrolls of stone to flesh to restore the Cardinal. He was grateful, and offered to help them destroy the Order of the Corrupting Flame. For Luggoth, the thought of dealing with the men who had killed his family was more motivation than the favor of a high-ranking Cardinal of the Silver Flame and the reward he offered. But he'd take that too.
XP:
Lysander 1920 XP
Luggoth 2113 XP
Pel 2273 XP
Maechen 2273 XP
Brand 2513 XP
Upon deciding they were safe from immediate reprisals from Solgar, the Wolves went directly to Oura Gellast to tell her what they had learned. When they told her that he was a Rakshasa, she was shocked and worried. She insisted that they had to get out of Thaliost and Thrane immediately. "Solgar is more dangerous than I'd guessed... he'll have trumped up charges within the hour. You need to cross the border into Aundair."
Oura agreed to come with them, but only after she had gotten Rav Corus, the priest who had covered for her. He'd be in danger as well. Brand used his connections to get first class passage booked to Fairhaven on the afternoon lightning rail, but just before the train was to depart, a young boy gave them a note indicating that Oura wasn't coming. She couldn't leave others behind to face the danger for her.
The journey into Aundair was relatively brief, although it was about 20 hours until they reached the city of Fairhaven in the early evening the next day. Onboard the train, the Wolves took time to rest and heal, and Lysander tried to scry Cardinal Ossul Hetrion, but he was unable to find him.
Upon arrival in Fairhaven, they went to the House Cannith enclave to see if Lady Elaydren was available. As luck would have it, she had returned from her honeymoon in Stormhome three days prior, and she met them in a lush reception chamber with cheese, wines and open arms. She also had a message, in a sealed envelope, that was addressed to Maechen Eyre in Draconic tongue.
The message was from his master, who indicated, in the usual obtuse speech of a dragon, that they should go to the Eldeen Reaches and Brand's mother, which would take them on the next leg of their journey, according to the will of the Prophecy. Elaydren offered to hide them for as long as she could, even if it put her own position in jeopardy, but they didn't need to take her up on her offer, as they decided to follow the directives of Maechen's master and head to the Eldeen Reaches. Elaydren offered them magebred horses and provisions, an offer they did accept.
Before they left Fairhaven, however, they had some messages to send and errands to run. Pel sent a vague, coded message to Brand's mother to expect visitors, but to be wary of danger, and he also sent a coded message to Alestair Marktaros in Trolanport to apprise him of their travel plans. Lysander sent a message to Arenydee and his superiors in House Phiarlan to give them an update, and Luggoth sent a message to Savannah that Sharn might not be safe, and that she should be especially careful.
After that, Lysander and Pel went to seek information about a cult of the Traveler in Fairhaven so they could get some scrolls to help if they should encounter a Rakshasa again, all the while subtly spreading the rumors of Solgar Dariznu's true identity. With little time in a bustling metropolis, they had a difficult task, but the two information-gatherers' exceptional skills helped them find a congregation of The Dark Six.
Unfortunately, later that night, Pel found out that the congregation was considerably more dangerous than the average Traveler meeting, and the price requested for scrolls was not in gold, but in favors to dark gods, a currency he wasn't willing to pay. Or at least, not willing to pay again, as an encounter with a priest of The Keeper who recognized his god's mark upon Pel reminded him of the price Lysander had agreed to for his resurrection, several months ago in Stormreach.
Before they left, Lysander scried on Verodin Atrelioth, and found him sitting at an inn in Trolanport that Lysander recognized as the Satyr's Pipe.
The next morning, the Wolves began their long horseback journey from Fairhaven to the Towering Woods of the Eldeen Reaches. They kept a low profile, traveling via less well-used roads and camping rather than stopping at inns, and had a relatively uneventful journey. About ten days into the journey, five days after they had crossed the Aundarian border into the Eldeen Reaches, they received a message from Alestair: "Cardinal kidnapped, most likely Rakshasa. We encountered Zakya, it escaped. Backtracking Cardinal's route from Sharn, hoping for clues. Further communication via Artos d'Sivis in Trolanport."
Three more days later, deep in the Towering Wood, the Wolves encountered one of the dangers of the Eldeen forests, a pair of horrid bears, twisted by the magic of Gatekeeper druids to protect against Xoriat, but now roaming free and remaining true to their bestial natures.
Having caught the attention of the beasts, the Wolves dismounted and began preparing for battle, as Maechen entered a state of Prophetic Favor and Pel cast Bless on the group. Luggoth moved forward and was attacked by one of the bears, which missed, dripping acid from its claws as it swung.
Brand and Luggoth engaged the bears as Maechen used fireballs to soften them up. One of the bears slashed at Brand, leaving an acidic rent in his armor and slashing him open at the chest. He fell to the ground, bleeding and unconscious. Lysander tried to distract the bear from his grievously wounded friend using mirror image as Pel cast Sanctuary and moved in to administer healing magics.
Luggoth shifted, his fearful presence driving one of the bears away temporarily. The other, emboldened by the blood it had drawn from Brand, remained in the fray, but suffered a deep sword wound from Luggoth, as well as a piercing from Lysander's rapier and a burst of magic missiles from Maechen. Though bloodied, the massive beast seemed to hardly feel these wounds, and the Wolves began to worry about the encounter.
Shifting out of his bestial form to heal, Luggoth swung at the bear again, leaving another deep gash in its chest. Lysander stabbed at its haunches as well. Brand, though unconscious, was stabilized by Pel's healing magics, but Pel shifted his focus to healing Luggoth, who was now going toe to toe with the horrid beast, even as the other one stopped its flight now that Luggoth's form was no longer fearful.
As Maechen peppered both bears with magic missiles, Luggoth shifted again, once again terrifying the more distant bear, which reconsidered its return and fled into the forest. The remaining bear swung one more acidic claw into Luggoth before another slash from Luggoth's greatsword and magic missiles from Maechen's wand finally killed it.
The remainder of the trip was uneventful, and on the morning of Eyre 4, the Wolves arrived at the village of Sharri Wayfinder, Brand's mother. They found a small but thriving druidic and ranger community, and met Sharri's husband, a ranger named Beren. They told the Wolves that their arrival was welcome, because the community had need of them.
Rorsa, the awakened dire wolf that the Wolves had rescued from Whitehearth in the Mournland, was there with her pack, although she had clearly been in a fight recently. She explained that a day before, she and her pack had encountered a band of trolls who were hunting in the forest. They had managed to escape, only losing two of their number, but there were forest trolls in the pack, and that meant they could certainly track the wolves back to the druid village. Sharri asked if the Wolves could deal with the troll band before it endangered the village.
By way of help, Sharri provided them each with goodberries and antitoxin for healing and poison resistance, given that the forest trolls were known to use poisoned weapons.
Brand was able to track the troll band, and the Wolves began silently approaching the troll camp. Brand scouted ahead, and saw that there was a massive mountain troll, the size of a giant, three ogres and a forest troll hiding in a tree. They were in two clearings, close to one another but separated by trees and a stream. After making plans and casting a number of spells to prepare themselves, they launched their plan.
Lysander used his mirror image, hat of disguise and a black bear from Brand's pouch to look like a pack of rangers so as to arouse less suspicion as he wandered into the range of the remaining trolls and ogres. He began singing, successfully fascinating every one of the monsters, except for the Mountain Troll.
Fortunately, it was enough of a distraction for Maechen to get off a fireball spell that killed one of the ogres and wounded the Mountain Troll slightly. This was the signal, and the rest of the Wolves charged in, with Luggoth and Pel combining to kill one of the other ogres as Brand, Whitehearth and the bear engaged the last ogre. The forest trolls, one of whom Brand hadn't seen, began throwing javelins, one of which hit Pel, but he didn't succumb to the poison.
Lysander pulled out his bow and began shooting seemingly ineffective arrows at the mountain troll, even as the black bear and Whitehearth continued to engage the remaining ogre. Whitehearth fled after the ogre landed a powerful blow to his skull, but the bear remained and managed to bite and claw the ogre to death.
While Pel began firing his wand of scorching ray at one of the forest trolls, Brand cast blades of fire on his weapons and dimension leaped into the tree to kill the other one, knocking it out of the tree. The angry mountain troll moved toward Maechen, whose know vulnerability spell failed, but Luggoth shifted and raged, moving in to attack the giant beast. He successfully got its attention and earned a solid smashing from his club as a result, which knocked the shifter down and severely bruised him.
Seeing the troll raising its club to finish his friend, Lysander, thinking himself protected by mirror image, rushed in to distract the troll, but discovered rather painfully that it could smell his true location and had no trouble hitting it with his tree trunk sized club. With both Lysander and Luggoth badly wounded at the hands of the mountain troll, Maechen fired off an empowered fireball in the vicinity of its head, hoping to bring it down, but it seemed only more angry at the damage, and angrier still as Luggoth stabbed his sword deep into the beast's ankle. Roaring with pain, he smashed Luggoth again, nearly killing him but missing Brand and the bear as he swung the club in a great arc.
Seeing the danger the mountain troll possessed, Pel distracted himself from combat with the forest troll that had closed with him and popped a flame strike scroll out of his infinite scrollcase instead. The flame strike angered and damaged the troll further, but it was difficult to tell if all the damage was having any effect on the massive foe.
The forest troll, clearly not liking the odds, ran away as the Wolves all began concentrating their attack on the mountain troll. Maechen fired empowered magic missiles and Pel fired his wand of scorching ray, as Brand moved in with his bear to attack the gigantic troll in melee. Luggoth and Lysander managed to crawl behind trees, and Lysander used magic to heal Luggoth, who had recovered somewhat from his wounds by shifting forms again.
As Maechen fired another empowered magic missile, Luggoth stood up and pulled out his longbow, but he didn't need it, as Pel fired one last scorching ray at the mountain troll and it fell, crashing to the ground and causing it to shake for a full 10 seconds.
Brand tracked the forest troll that had fled to their cave lair, and the Wolves killed it with little trouble. There, they found the trolls' stash of treasure and magic items, as well as an interesting package of a ring, a weeks' worth of eternal rations, and a map with notes in a language none of them spoke on the back.
They returned to the village to rest and memorize spells, and to tell Sharri that the trolls had been dealt with. In the morning, a comprehend languages spell revealed that the note was something the forest troll had written down, indicating that a Zakya was coming to the cave soon, and that he had the cardinal with him. It didn't take much deduction to realize that the map was more than likely a map to the Order of the Corrupting Flame's headquarters in the Demon Wastes, and that the Zakya was bound there. It was clear that the troll was an operative of the Lords of Dust, and the ring (protection against the fiery elements of the Wastes) and rations were for the Zakya. This was why the Prophecy had directed the Wolves to the Eldeen Reaches, clearly, and they weren't about to miss the opportunity.
Armed with this knowledge, the Wolves went back to the cave to await the arrival of the Zakya. They weren't sure exactly when he was coming, and so they took turns on watch. Pel spent his time outside as a troll, doing his best to "think troll thoughts" to fool any incoming Rakshasa, and Lysander used his hat of disguise to appear green and warty as well. He sensed someone trying to read his thoughts and resisted, and they saw another troll approaching.
The disguise didn't fool them, and the "troll" quickly revealed itself to be a Zakya.
The Zakya charged in and attacked Lysander, and the rest of the Wolves emerged from the cave. As Pel began casting align weapon on the Wolves' weapons and Maechen cast defensive spells on Luggoth, the Zakya maneuvered to keep his back protected and attacked Brand.
Maechen cast Haste on the group, and they moved in with their good-aligned piercing weapons and made short work of the Zakya, which only managed to score one hit on Lysander and one hit on Brand before he died.
Dumping out the Rakshasa's bag of holding, they discovered some a gem, some gold, a scroll, and a stone model of Cardinal Ossul Hetrion. They quickly realized that the Zakya had transformed the Cardinal to make him easier to transport, and Maechen used one of his scrolls of stone to flesh to restore the Cardinal. He was grateful, and offered to help them destroy the Order of the Corrupting Flame. For Luggoth, the thought of dealing with the men who had killed his family was more motivation than the favor of a high-ranking Cardinal of the Silver Flame and the reward he offered. But he'd take that too.
XP:
Lysander 1920 XP
Luggoth 2113 XP
Pel 2273 XP
Maechen 2273 XP
Brand 2513 XP
Friday, August 17, 2007
Out tonight
My incoming email's experiencing about a 12 hour delay right now, so I'll post this hear in case the same goes for outgoing.
Since my mom and step-dad have decided to come into town this weekend, Shawna refuses to let me go to gaming. I don't know why she won't let me avoid my parents. I help her avoid hers all the time!
Anyway, sorry. I will be at gaming next week.
Since my mom and step-dad have decided to come into town this weekend, Shawna refuses to let me go to gaming. I don't know why she won't let me avoid my parents. I help her avoid hers all the time!
Anyway, sorry. I will be at gaming next week.
Crew Manifest
Being the Crew Manifest of The Stunted Lady
The saltiest sea-dog sadists this side o' the locker. Keep a weather eye out! Afore ya know they're even close, ya feel the steel on yer neck.
Nose to the wind brother.
If ya catch a hint of rum mixed with blood, piss, and vinegar, beware! Yer sea days er through, yer hell days er just beginnin'!
The Crew Manifest of the Stunted Lady
Captain Remy the Two Fisted Midget (Randy)
Hanno Nurvi--Lead Boarder (Chris)
Rude Willie McKitrick---Quartermaster (Dirty Dave)
Blackpowder Barclay--Sniper, Bodyguard, Hitman, Marine (Paul)
Jebediah Cotton--Master of Sails, Navigators Babysitter, Grizzled Veteran
Gurglin' Pablo Jones--Bright, Lookout
Johnny Bones--12 year old navigator prodigy
Hawkeye McGee--Agile, Master of Guns
Barnacle Brainjack--Carpenter, Happy
Sweatin' Wallace Dawkins--Surgeon (Young, rotund)
Gorgeous Roger Morgan--Bright and um, yeah, boarding party (bp)
Poopdeck Enrico--Lazy
The Last Blain Brother--Clueless, bp
Reekin' Radly Jones--Coward
"Tripod" Ezekiel Straw-Veteran, bp, distinguished
No-Eyes Javier-Agile, Lookout-ropemonkey, bp, distinguished
Scurvy Gums Wally-Sneaky, bad teeth, bp
Fartin' Rupert Slaughter--Gung Ho, bp
Booker Earbeard--Happy, bp
Eel Skin Jake--Veteran, bp, distinguished
The saltiest sea-dog sadists this side o' the locker. Keep a weather eye out! Afore ya know they're even close, ya feel the steel on yer neck.
Nose to the wind brother.
If ya catch a hint of rum mixed with blood, piss, and vinegar, beware! Yer sea days er through, yer hell days er just beginnin'!
The Crew Manifest of the Stunted Lady
Captain Remy the Two Fisted Midget (Randy)
Hanno Nurvi--Lead Boarder (Chris)
Rude Willie McKitrick---Quartermaster (Dirty Dave)
Blackpowder Barclay--Sniper, Bodyguard, Hitman, Marine (Paul)
Jebediah Cotton--Master of Sails, Navigators Babysitter, Grizzled Veteran
Gurglin' Pablo Jones--Bright, Lookout
Johnny Bones--12 year old navigator prodigy
Hawkeye McGee--Agile, Master of Guns
Barnacle Brainjack--Carpenter, Happy
Sweatin' Wallace Dawkins--Surgeon (Young, rotund)
Gorgeous Roger Morgan--Bright and um, yeah, boarding party (bp)
Poopdeck Enrico--Lazy
The Last Blain Brother--Clueless, bp
Reekin' Radly Jones--Coward
"Tripod" Ezekiel Straw-Veteran, bp, distinguished
No-Eyes Javier-Agile, Lookout-ropemonkey, bp, distinguished
Scurvy Gums Wally-Sneaky, bad teeth, bp
Fartin' Rupert Slaughter--Gung Ho, bp
Booker Earbeard--Happy, bp
Eel Skin Jake--Veteran, bp, distinguished
Friday, August 03, 2007
Upcoming Schedule for August and September
August 3rd - Pirates of the Spanish Main (Randy, Jason and Chris)
August 10th - Game To Be Decided (Randy, Jason and Chris)
August 17th - Game To Be Decided (Randy, Jason, Chris and Nate)
August 24th - Eberron: The Demons' Prophecy Part Seven
August 31st - Eberron: The Demons' Prophecy Conclusion
September 7th - Savage Worlds Pulp? (Paul out, Dave out)
September 14th - Savage Worlds Pulp? (Paul out, Dave out)
September 21st - Savage Worlds Pulp? (Paul out)
September 28th - Savage Worlds Pulp? (Everybody in?)
OK, so it looks like August is off for about half the group in the first three weeks, and then back on for the last two. That should give us enough time to finish up the latest Eberron adventure. I know Paul is out for two weeks in September, but I don't know if anybody else has anything going then. Jason, any interest in running a Savage Worlds pulp game around that time? Maybe one where Paul's character can trap door out in the 2nd and 3rd sessions, and trap door back in at the last? Dave, what do you think about playing pulp at that point? Will your other-game prep work be done at that point?
Alternately, if Jason's up for a couple one shots in the first and last weeks of September (or a two-parter with an extended break), I can run an Eberron one- or two-shot in the middle of September with new characters. Let me know what you guys think.
Then in October, we go back to Ravenloft, and after that, it'll probably be time for another return to Eberron.
August 10th - Game To Be Decided (Randy, Jason and Chris)
August 17th - Game To Be Decided (Randy, Jason, Chris and Nate)
August 24th - Eberron: The Demons' Prophecy Part Seven
August 31st - Eberron: The Demons' Prophecy Conclusion
September 7th - Savage Worlds Pulp? (Paul out, Dave out)
September 14th - Savage Worlds Pulp? (Paul out, Dave out)
September 21st - Savage Worlds Pulp? (Paul out)
September 28th - Savage Worlds Pulp? (Everybody in?)
OK, so it looks like August is off for about half the group in the first three weeks, and then back on for the last two. That should give us enough time to finish up the latest Eberron adventure. I know Paul is out for two weeks in September, but I don't know if anybody else has anything going then. Jason, any interest in running a Savage Worlds pulp game around that time? Maybe one where Paul's character can trap door out in the 2nd and 3rd sessions, and trap door back in at the last? Dave, what do you think about playing pulp at that point? Will your other-game prep work be done at that point?
Alternately, if Jason's up for a couple one shots in the first and last weeks of September (or a two-parter with an extended break), I can run an Eberron one- or two-shot in the middle of September with new characters. Let me know what you guys think.
Then in October, we go back to Ravenloft, and after that, it'll probably be time for another return to Eberron.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Remy The Two-Fisted Midget
History: Left on the orphanage steps in a basket with a note that read "We don't want this misshapen freak." He was bullied relentlessly by the other children, which made him mean and also quite tough. By the time he was 10 years old, he'd beaten up every child in the orphanage at least once, and had had plenty of the rules of the adults who couldn't be bothered to stop the others for teasing him.
So he left, after stealing several bottles of sherry from the headmistress' cabinet. He found that life outside the orphanage was not much less difficult for an ornery midget, and found himself engaged in plenty of tavern brawls. Eventually, he started fighting on the streets for money or trade, until the day he won a fight for a map of the territories, which inspired him: It was time to take to the seas and use his well-earned pugilistic skills in service of acquiring enough booty to keep him in whores and whiskey for the rest of his days.
Friday, July 06, 2007
I propose this for campaign theme song:
and just because it exists, here it is in Finnish:
Oon rosvo merten!
Eberron Adventure Journal: The Demons' Prophecy (4)
Therendor 9-13, YK 999
Having successfully raided the Flamekeep Archives for information, the Wolves had to decide what to do next. The discussion broke down into two camps, as Lysander suggested going to Thaliost to investigate Archbishop Solgar Dariznu, while Pel and Brand favored sending a message to Alestair Marktaros in Korth and then going to Trolanport to try and find Cardinal Hetrion.
Still uncertain about where they were headed but sure that they needed to find a safer place to discuss it, the Wolves split up as they headed back into Flamekeep. Luggoth and Lysander went to the inn where they had been staying to pack their gear, while Maechen and Pel went to the nearest Sivis message station to send a message to Nalos Venteri. After his response didn't come back in about 10 minutes, they went back to the inn to meet up with the rest of the Wolves.
Brand, meanwhile, went to the Lightning Rail station and, using his House connections, he purchases lightning rail tickets for the Wolves at a discounted rate. The tickets would take them to Sigilstar, leaving with the evening train in about four hours.
The rest of the Wolves met Brand at the Lightning Rail station, where they found a quiet corner at one of the station taverns to talk further. While enjoying a light meal of Thranish cuisine and ale, they wondered about whether or not anyone was tracking them, or whether their infiltration of the Flamekeep Archives was not yet a matter for law enforcement. Pel suggested letting the lightning rail leave without them and taking a different route out of town, but given that no state of alarm or even hints of anything wrong had shown up, the Wolves determined that this was more of a step than necessary.
However, it was deemed necessary to split up and keep their eyes open while waiting for their train to leave. Brand went into the staff lounge and chatted with local members of House Orien, while Pel and Luggoth (using the hat of disguise) wandered through the station, changing identities continuously and keeping their eyes open for anything unusual. Lysander and Maechen returned to Flamekeep proper to see if they could pick up any information. None of them found anything out of the ordinary, or anything to suggest that the burglary of the Archives was known to anyone outside of Erv, at least not yet.
Four hours later, as the sun began to set on Flamekeep, the Wolves boarded the lightning rail for Sigilstar. After a nine hour journey, during which they rested and used healing magic to regain their strength, they arrived in Sigilstar, the "crossroads of Thrane." Upon arrival, Pel sent another message via Sivis message station that read "Nalos Venteri, currently in Sigilstar, please send word."
When no immediate response came, Pel joined the rest of the Wolves at an inn located at the station, Crossroads' Rest, where they rented several rooms and rested. Early in the morning, they had meals of biscuits, porridge, spicy beef and fruit and vegetable skewers. Lysander then used his mirror to scry on Alestair Marktaros and watched him sleeping in a room somewhere.
Discouraged, the Wolves were ready to move on, but Pel continued checking the message station, and a few hours later, still early in the morning, he received a reply from Alestair. It read: "My friend, is the way clear for me to return to Thrane? Are you on the trail of those who have framed me, and who mean our mutual friend harm? Please, tell me where your plans take you?"
Pel responded with: "The way is not yet clear, many posters yet up in Flamekeep. We have discovered some information in regards to a previously thought disbanded group and we leave today for Trolanport, hopefully to see our mutual friend."
And Alestair responded: "Would like to speak more freely, any way to divert to my location?"
The Wolves, running low on funds, nevertheless decided to secure an airship to Korth to speak with Alestair as soon as possible. Lysander agreed to perform aboard the Pride of Thrane, the airship bound for Korth, and secured passage for himself and his companions for only 300 gold as a result. His performances were adequate, but not much more, perhaps due to the distracting nature of the mission they were on.
During the travel, the Wolves kept a low profile, but Pel adopted various guises to try and her some rumors. He heard some terrible things about Solgar Dariznu, archbishop of Thaliost, hearing that he engaged in public burnings, that he rarely emerged from his mansion, that the city was a hotbed of political unrest and dreary, broken citizenry, and that shifters should not enter the city and expect to leave with their lives.
20 hours later, in the very early morning, they arrived in Korth. They found Alestair, in his Nalos Venteri guise, waiting for them at the airship tower, and he gave them directions to The Boar's Head, a disreputable tavern in a bad part of town. The Wolves went there, separate from Nalos, and ordered bread, stew and ale to munch on while they waited for Nalos. He soon joined them, and they told him what they had discovered.
Nalos suggested that since he could not return to Thrane, that the Wolves should go to Thaliost and look into Archbishop Dariznu, try to find some proof of his involvement in the plot or continuing involvement with the Cleansing Flame. Nalos would take the Beginner's Luck to Trolanport to meet up with Verodin and the Cardinal. He told them that some within the church were working to oust Archbishop Dariznu, and that the secret organizer of these forces was Oura Gellast, a half-elf paladin who lived in Thaliost. He suggested that she would be a good place to start if they were investigating Dariznu.
Nalos, Maechen, Pel and Lysander worked up a code that they could use to communicate, and then they parted ways.
When the sun finally rose, the Wolves took the lightning rail to Rekkenmark, and then took a ferry across the river to Thaliost, arriving at midday to find a dreary, rain-soaked city. Pel used his skills to disguise most of the party, while Luggoh wore the hat of disguise to hide his shifter features from the potentially hostile town.
They got a recommendation from one of Nalos' local contacts to check in at Yarin's Place, a circumspect inn where they wouldn't be bothered. After checking in, they did some information gathering, and it didn't take long to find out that Oura Gellast was in one of the chapels. Pel disguised himself and entered the chapel, finding it relatively empty, but seeing a half-elven woman in armor talking to the priest at the front. The priest broke off his conversation to approach Pel, and Pel explained that he was seeking Oura. The priest pretended she wasn't there, asked if there was somewhere she could contact Pel when he next talked to her, and Pel gave him the name of Yarin's Place.
Pel left, and as he did, a child sitting out in front of the church got up and began to surreptitiously follow him. Pel didn't notice, but Lysander and Luggoth spotted him. Lysander cast invisibility to track the child, and Luggoth simply moved as quietly as he could. Maechen followed as well, carrying one of the rings of communication while Pel carried the other.
Lysander watched as the child stood outside the inn and watched Pel order a drink and casually sit at the bar, and then followed the child as he walked back to the church and went inside. A few moments later, Oura walked out and headed over to the tavern, followed by Luggoth, Lysander and now Brand.
Oura came into the bar and sat down with Pel to talk to him. It was clear that these precautions were to make sure that Pel wasn't an assassin, as she had been the subject of assassination attempts before. After she determined that Pel wasn't evil, and didn't seem to mean her any harm, they all walked back to the church.
Oura led them to the priest's private chambers, where they could talk. She revealed that Solgar hadn't been seen outside of his mansion in two and a half months, since the last time a shifter was burned in town. She also confirmed rumors they had heard that the priest's pet was a dire tiger, brought back from Xen'drik, and learned that he mostly sent Bishop Valtar Talandros out into town to carry out his orders. Other than a few Knights of Thrane who patrolled the property, Oura didn't know the details of Solgar's security.
Lysander used flight and invisibility to check out the mansion, finding a half-dozen guards patrolling the grounds and timing it out to determine that there was about a thirty second window to get in without being spotted. He was surprised to see that the mansion was relatively small and somewhat rundown, and that all of its windows were painted black, preventing anyone from seeing in.
Determining that their best course of action was to get Talandros out and try to infiltrate the mansion looking for information, the Wolves arranged with Oura for her friend the priest to call Bishop Talandros away during the next day. After resting for eight hours and preparing spells, they had the priest summon Talandros and then, after the bishop had left, they approached the gate.
Pel cracked the gate lock quickly, and the Wolves sprinted across the grounds to the heavy wooden doors. The door locks proved a little more tricky, and one of the guard patrols was coming around the corner as Pel feverishly worked at the lock. Lysander used a ghost sound to distract them long enough for Pel to crack the lock and get them all inside.
Once inside, they found a long hallway leading to some stairs, one set leading down into a foyer with a heavy pair of doors beyond it, the other leading upstairs. Brand spotted tiger tracks going upstairs and human footprints heading down, and so they began moving downwards. Then they heard it, a low growl from upstairs, and as Lysander readied his bow and Pel readied a scroll of web, they saw the dire tiger emerge.
Brand tried to charm the animal, but it resisted. Luggoth drew his bow and aimed it as Maechen turned invisible, but Lysander began singing and managed to soothe the beast, holding it fascinated.
Pel cautiously moved downstairs and went to the doors, but then they opened of their own accord, and Solgar Dariznu was there, holding a mace and wearing armor. He began talking to them, asking what they were doing in his home, although it seemed clear he knew more than he was letting on. He asked them to please release his tiger, which Lysander reluctantly did. He explained that he was a harsh man, but a fair one, and that Cardinal Hetrion was the corrupt one, so devious he had fooled even noble servants of the Silver Flame into following his plans, a loyal and dangerous servant of the Lords of Dust.
Even masters of reading mood and expression Pel and Lysander couldn't get a read on Dariznu, but Luggoth picked up on hostility as Dariznu began pushing him about the death of his family, finally asking him if he was sure they hadn't done something to deserve it. Luggoth loosed his arrows, which thudded into Dariznu with no visible effect, and Maechen tried casting magic missiles but met some kind of resistance that defused them before they struck their target.
The tiger charged, and Brand and Whitehearth stood ready to attack as it ran down the stairs. Luggoth shifted and flew into a rage, leaping off the balcony to attack Solgar with his greatsword moments after Solgar cast something that Maechen recognized as an arcane spell.
Maechen put it all together. Devious and crafty, invulnerable to most weapons, resistant to magic, an arcane spellcaster... Solgar Dariznu was a Rakshasa! When his lightning bolt failed to elicit a response from the Archbishop, he knew he was right, and Solgar, the truth now revealed, let his humanoid tiger form show.
Lysander put up an illusory wall of fire to block the dire tiger, but it leaped through and slashed at the bard, only to be met with vicious attacks from Brand and Whitehearth. While Whitehearth nipped at the tiger's ankles, distracting it, Brand stabbed relentlessly at vulnerable points, stabbing the tiger in its flank, its forelegs, its shoulder and one particularly painful and damaging blow that destroyed its right eye.
Trying to figure out a course of action given that the Rakshasa had them out-matched, Pel fired a scorching ray at the wall to set fire to the house. Angered by the attacks on his tiger, Solgar cast a rainbow blast of energy at Brand, who continued to move and strike with Whitehearth, again severely wounding the dire tiger, which was now gushing blood and looking considerably weaker.
Maechen, detecting the mood of the combat, cast flight on himself and flew to Lysander, preparing to cast a flight spell on him as well. Lysander, Brand and Whitehearth continued to attack the tiger, which bit Brand but dealt only a small fraction of the damage it was receiving.
Hoping to save his tiger, Solgar accepted a call for the battle to stop. He tried his best to corrupt Luggoth, telling him that the rest of his friends could go if only he would stay. That if he stayed, Solgar would promise him a confrontation with the man who killed his tribe, the man who had personally killed his father. He argued with the Wolves that Luggoth didn't need justice or good to triumph, that he just wanted revenge, but Luggoth replied that the Rakshasa didn't know him at all.
Once Brand was sure that Luggoth didn't want to stay, he dimension leaped over to him and dimension doored out, taking Luggoth, Maechen and Whitehearth with him. Pel cast Sanctuary on himself and fled, and a suddenly very alone Lysander used the wand of darkness he had for cover and fled as well.
The Wolves didn't stop running until they were quite far from the Rakshasa's mansion. A retreat for the Wolves was rare, almost unheard of. And now, they faced the difficult question of what to do next?
XP:
Luggoth 1200 XP
Pel 1200 XP
Lysander 1200 XP
Maechen 1500 XP
Brand 1500 XP
Having successfully raided the Flamekeep Archives for information, the Wolves had to decide what to do next. The discussion broke down into two camps, as Lysander suggested going to Thaliost to investigate Archbishop Solgar Dariznu, while Pel and Brand favored sending a message to Alestair Marktaros in Korth and then going to Trolanport to try and find Cardinal Hetrion.
Still uncertain about where they were headed but sure that they needed to find a safer place to discuss it, the Wolves split up as they headed back into Flamekeep. Luggoth and Lysander went to the inn where they had been staying to pack their gear, while Maechen and Pel went to the nearest Sivis message station to send a message to Nalos Venteri. After his response didn't come back in about 10 minutes, they went back to the inn to meet up with the rest of the Wolves.
Brand, meanwhile, went to the Lightning Rail station and, using his House connections, he purchases lightning rail tickets for the Wolves at a discounted rate. The tickets would take them to Sigilstar, leaving with the evening train in about four hours.
The rest of the Wolves met Brand at the Lightning Rail station, where they found a quiet corner at one of the station taverns to talk further. While enjoying a light meal of Thranish cuisine and ale, they wondered about whether or not anyone was tracking them, or whether their infiltration of the Flamekeep Archives was not yet a matter for law enforcement. Pel suggested letting the lightning rail leave without them and taking a different route out of town, but given that no state of alarm or even hints of anything wrong had shown up, the Wolves determined that this was more of a step than necessary.
However, it was deemed necessary to split up and keep their eyes open while waiting for their train to leave. Brand went into the staff lounge and chatted with local members of House Orien, while Pel and Luggoth (using the hat of disguise) wandered through the station, changing identities continuously and keeping their eyes open for anything unusual. Lysander and Maechen returned to Flamekeep proper to see if they could pick up any information. None of them found anything out of the ordinary, or anything to suggest that the burglary of the Archives was known to anyone outside of Erv, at least not yet.
Four hours later, as the sun began to set on Flamekeep, the Wolves boarded the lightning rail for Sigilstar. After a nine hour journey, during which they rested and used healing magic to regain their strength, they arrived in Sigilstar, the "crossroads of Thrane." Upon arrival, Pel sent another message via Sivis message station that read "Nalos Venteri, currently in Sigilstar, please send word."
When no immediate response came, Pel joined the rest of the Wolves at an inn located at the station, Crossroads' Rest, where they rented several rooms and rested. Early in the morning, they had meals of biscuits, porridge, spicy beef and fruit and vegetable skewers. Lysander then used his mirror to scry on Alestair Marktaros and watched him sleeping in a room somewhere.
Discouraged, the Wolves were ready to move on, but Pel continued checking the message station, and a few hours later, still early in the morning, he received a reply from Alestair. It read: "My friend, is the way clear for me to return to Thrane? Are you on the trail of those who have framed me, and who mean our mutual friend harm? Please, tell me where your plans take you?"
Pel responded with: "The way is not yet clear, many posters yet up in Flamekeep. We have discovered some information in regards to a previously thought disbanded group and we leave today for Trolanport, hopefully to see our mutual friend."
And Alestair responded: "Would like to speak more freely, any way to divert to my location?"
The Wolves, running low on funds, nevertheless decided to secure an airship to Korth to speak with Alestair as soon as possible. Lysander agreed to perform aboard the Pride of Thrane, the airship bound for Korth, and secured passage for himself and his companions for only 300 gold as a result. His performances were adequate, but not much more, perhaps due to the distracting nature of the mission they were on.
During the travel, the Wolves kept a low profile, but Pel adopted various guises to try and her some rumors. He heard some terrible things about Solgar Dariznu, archbishop of Thaliost, hearing that he engaged in public burnings, that he rarely emerged from his mansion, that the city was a hotbed of political unrest and dreary, broken citizenry, and that shifters should not enter the city and expect to leave with their lives.
20 hours later, in the very early morning, they arrived in Korth. They found Alestair, in his Nalos Venteri guise, waiting for them at the airship tower, and he gave them directions to The Boar's Head, a disreputable tavern in a bad part of town. The Wolves went there, separate from Nalos, and ordered bread, stew and ale to munch on while they waited for Nalos. He soon joined them, and they told him what they had discovered.
Nalos suggested that since he could not return to Thrane, that the Wolves should go to Thaliost and look into Archbishop Dariznu, try to find some proof of his involvement in the plot or continuing involvement with the Cleansing Flame. Nalos would take the Beginner's Luck to Trolanport to meet up with Verodin and the Cardinal. He told them that some within the church were working to oust Archbishop Dariznu, and that the secret organizer of these forces was Oura Gellast, a half-elf paladin who lived in Thaliost. He suggested that she would be a good place to start if they were investigating Dariznu.
Nalos, Maechen, Pel and Lysander worked up a code that they could use to communicate, and then they parted ways.
When the sun finally rose, the Wolves took the lightning rail to Rekkenmark, and then took a ferry across the river to Thaliost, arriving at midday to find a dreary, rain-soaked city. Pel used his skills to disguise most of the party, while Luggoh wore the hat of disguise to hide his shifter features from the potentially hostile town.
They got a recommendation from one of Nalos' local contacts to check in at Yarin's Place, a circumspect inn where they wouldn't be bothered. After checking in, they did some information gathering, and it didn't take long to find out that Oura Gellast was in one of the chapels. Pel disguised himself and entered the chapel, finding it relatively empty, but seeing a half-elven woman in armor talking to the priest at the front. The priest broke off his conversation to approach Pel, and Pel explained that he was seeking Oura. The priest pretended she wasn't there, asked if there was somewhere she could contact Pel when he next talked to her, and Pel gave him the name of Yarin's Place.
Pel left, and as he did, a child sitting out in front of the church got up and began to surreptitiously follow him. Pel didn't notice, but Lysander and Luggoth spotted him. Lysander cast invisibility to track the child, and Luggoth simply moved as quietly as he could. Maechen followed as well, carrying one of the rings of communication while Pel carried the other.
Lysander watched as the child stood outside the inn and watched Pel order a drink and casually sit at the bar, and then followed the child as he walked back to the church and went inside. A few moments later, Oura walked out and headed over to the tavern, followed by Luggoth, Lysander and now Brand.
Oura came into the bar and sat down with Pel to talk to him. It was clear that these precautions were to make sure that Pel wasn't an assassin, as she had been the subject of assassination attempts before. After she determined that Pel wasn't evil, and didn't seem to mean her any harm, they all walked back to the church.
Oura led them to the priest's private chambers, where they could talk. She revealed that Solgar hadn't been seen outside of his mansion in two and a half months, since the last time a shifter was burned in town. She also confirmed rumors they had heard that the priest's pet was a dire tiger, brought back from Xen'drik, and learned that he mostly sent Bishop Valtar Talandros out into town to carry out his orders. Other than a few Knights of Thrane who patrolled the property, Oura didn't know the details of Solgar's security.
Lysander used flight and invisibility to check out the mansion, finding a half-dozen guards patrolling the grounds and timing it out to determine that there was about a thirty second window to get in without being spotted. He was surprised to see that the mansion was relatively small and somewhat rundown, and that all of its windows were painted black, preventing anyone from seeing in.
Determining that their best course of action was to get Talandros out and try to infiltrate the mansion looking for information, the Wolves arranged with Oura for her friend the priest to call Bishop Talandros away during the next day. After resting for eight hours and preparing spells, they had the priest summon Talandros and then, after the bishop had left, they approached the gate.
Pel cracked the gate lock quickly, and the Wolves sprinted across the grounds to the heavy wooden doors. The door locks proved a little more tricky, and one of the guard patrols was coming around the corner as Pel feverishly worked at the lock. Lysander used a ghost sound to distract them long enough for Pel to crack the lock and get them all inside.
Once inside, they found a long hallway leading to some stairs, one set leading down into a foyer with a heavy pair of doors beyond it, the other leading upstairs. Brand spotted tiger tracks going upstairs and human footprints heading down, and so they began moving downwards. Then they heard it, a low growl from upstairs, and as Lysander readied his bow and Pel readied a scroll of web, they saw the dire tiger emerge.
Brand tried to charm the animal, but it resisted. Luggoth drew his bow and aimed it as Maechen turned invisible, but Lysander began singing and managed to soothe the beast, holding it fascinated.
Pel cautiously moved downstairs and went to the doors, but then they opened of their own accord, and Solgar Dariznu was there, holding a mace and wearing armor. He began talking to them, asking what they were doing in his home, although it seemed clear he knew more than he was letting on. He asked them to please release his tiger, which Lysander reluctantly did. He explained that he was a harsh man, but a fair one, and that Cardinal Hetrion was the corrupt one, so devious he had fooled even noble servants of the Silver Flame into following his plans, a loyal and dangerous servant of the Lords of Dust.
Even masters of reading mood and expression Pel and Lysander couldn't get a read on Dariznu, but Luggoth picked up on hostility as Dariznu began pushing him about the death of his family, finally asking him if he was sure they hadn't done something to deserve it. Luggoth loosed his arrows, which thudded into Dariznu with no visible effect, and Maechen tried casting magic missiles but met some kind of resistance that defused them before they struck their target.
The tiger charged, and Brand and Whitehearth stood ready to attack as it ran down the stairs. Luggoth shifted and flew into a rage, leaping off the balcony to attack Solgar with his greatsword moments after Solgar cast something that Maechen recognized as an arcane spell.
Maechen put it all together. Devious and crafty, invulnerable to most weapons, resistant to magic, an arcane spellcaster... Solgar Dariznu was a Rakshasa! When his lightning bolt failed to elicit a response from the Archbishop, he knew he was right, and Solgar, the truth now revealed, let his humanoid tiger form show.
Lysander put up an illusory wall of fire to block the dire tiger, but it leaped through and slashed at the bard, only to be met with vicious attacks from Brand and Whitehearth. While Whitehearth nipped at the tiger's ankles, distracting it, Brand stabbed relentlessly at vulnerable points, stabbing the tiger in its flank, its forelegs, its shoulder and one particularly painful and damaging blow that destroyed its right eye.
Trying to figure out a course of action given that the Rakshasa had them out-matched, Pel fired a scorching ray at the wall to set fire to the house. Angered by the attacks on his tiger, Solgar cast a rainbow blast of energy at Brand, who continued to move and strike with Whitehearth, again severely wounding the dire tiger, which was now gushing blood and looking considerably weaker.
Maechen, detecting the mood of the combat, cast flight on himself and flew to Lysander, preparing to cast a flight spell on him as well. Lysander, Brand and Whitehearth continued to attack the tiger, which bit Brand but dealt only a small fraction of the damage it was receiving.
Hoping to save his tiger, Solgar accepted a call for the battle to stop. He tried his best to corrupt Luggoth, telling him that the rest of his friends could go if only he would stay. That if he stayed, Solgar would promise him a confrontation with the man who killed his tribe, the man who had personally killed his father. He argued with the Wolves that Luggoth didn't need justice or good to triumph, that he just wanted revenge, but Luggoth replied that the Rakshasa didn't know him at all.
Once Brand was sure that Luggoth didn't want to stay, he dimension leaped over to him and dimension doored out, taking Luggoth, Maechen and Whitehearth with him. Pel cast Sanctuary on himself and fled, and a suddenly very alone Lysander used the wand of darkness he had for cover and fled as well.
The Wolves didn't stop running until they were quite far from the Rakshasa's mansion. A retreat for the Wolves was rare, almost unheard of. And now, they faced the difficult question of what to do next?
XP:
Luggoth 1200 XP
Pel 1200 XP
Lysander 1200 XP
Maechen 1500 XP
Brand 1500 XP
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