The Godsmite

Naoidheamh 35-36, 6639 (yes, you repeated a day)

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, bat familiar
  • Clench, Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, Panther
  • Noona, Lion
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
  • Gimli Trollriver, Dwarven Fury
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
  • Herman Thorpe, Ectomancer
    • Baelnar Grimtor, Dwarven Sapper
• Crolack, Thrassian Gladiator
  • Kurt Steinbacke, Dwarven Deep Monk
• Mor Gibs, Wonderworker
• Saphira Moonstone, Gold Skinscribe
  • Pentzkin Singletossle Pocketspringer, gnomish beastmaster
  • Alun Tsornyl, Sylph Ranger
• Te'a Tsuki Megumi, Elven Polydoctorate
  • Harvey Usagi, Rabbitwere
• Fayleen Ross, Darklord
  • Zai-car, Zaharan Ruinguard
• Aingeal Bàs Eleonara, Witch

The final scale destroyed, a mage suddenly showed up, teleporting in with a CRACK. Gróin recognized him immediately - it was Chancellor Lucious! Though he seemed about 20 years older than last they had met, only a year and a half before. He waved it off as "something about time travel," and suggested that the group "meet some friends of his." A wave of steam washed over the plains, and when it cleared, the party found themselves standing in a dark, spacious, indoor amphitheater. On the stage are twelve podioums, grouped in sets of three, dark apart from a light that glowed over Chancellor Lucious's head. Interestingly, the entire party was there, including those that had teleported away to destroy the scale. He introduced the Council of 12:

• Human: Chancellor Lucious, lvl 14 Mage; middle-aged fellow, looks familiar, because he's the time-traveling fellow that killed a dragon turtle.
• Nobiran: Evelyn Archiater, lvl 12 Nobiran Wonderworker, one of the head Instrumentalists, with an obvious Instrumentalist brand on her forehead.
• Zaharan: Emir Yazdi, lvl 12 Zaharan Ruinguard, one of the head Seekers, obvious from the symbols on his gear.
• True Elf: Dwyn Vispasial, lvl 12 Elven Courtier; one of the newly-risen True Elves.
• Dwarf: Thorfridh Oakenback, lvl 13 Dwarven Vaultguard, a member of the Ruling Council of the Dwarves (she waved at Gróin).
• Dragon: Angura Whitefang, Venerable Amphithere; demigod of Lawful Dragons.
• Beastwere: Standing Bear, lvl 9 Wolfwere; aka Mother Bear, granddaughter of Bear (the god).
• Treant: Larch Hardwood, 14 HD Treant; last of the First Trees (though he spent thousands of years in a valley, and didn't really see much during that time).
• Magic: The Phares, a sentient +4 sword.
• Thrassian: Filesh Toggrodh, level 11 Thrassian Gladiator; descendant of the original Thrassians.
• Fae: Prince Fenix and Princess Maedhe (Fall/Winter), of the Summer and Winter Fae, respectively; they are sharing the podium, since it is Beastnight, the Fall Equinox.
• Gnome: Panderick Rumblefine Monkeybloomer, lvl 12 Gnomish Trickster, a deadly serious Gnome with a scar over his left eye.

Once the introductions were finished, the Nobiran explained the reason they were brought: "We called you here for a grave matter, of the utmost importance. You've come... rather highly recommended, actually, by Mannanan. And Loki. And Coyote, though you can never be too sure of what he's actually saying. They say that you... assisted them before. And that you are the ideal force for good, regardless of your... er... inclinations. Coyote said something about it being otherwise impossible, because you are the 'player characters', or something?"

The Zaharan interrupted. "Ignoring Coyote's mad ramblings, we have been lead to believe that you are the last, best hope for Mareten, and indeed all of Mor-Thir."

Nodding, the Elf took up the narrative: "Indeed - most telling is that you, and you alone, have managed to destroy the seven scales. Ah - when the sixth scale was destroyed, the Faultless Diamond fell to dust - and thus this meeting was convened."

The Thrassian adjusted his glasses, and finished, "We cannot interfere directly; our power as Council forbids it. We can, however, convey messages, and so gather any willing to assist you. We can only do so at your bidding, however; is this your desire?"

Caranthir managed to get out a "Ye-" before the Thrassian cut him off. "Ah, good, we already did. I hope you will find the people we summoned to your liking:"

• The Bardbarians, recently having finished their second Beyond The Wall tour.
• The silver dragon of Mareten Tower
• The three gargoyles from what is now Quetgar's base
• Flynn, the mage Arkus, and the cleric Clarence Silverbeak, from the God Squad
• Grek Trieb ("Grek Trieb! Member Grek Trieb? Yeah!")
• Hjalmar Greathearth the paladin, Ham the barbarian, Twych the cleric, and Toxwell Dishthunder Galazooks, Gnomish Wizard.
• The Original Nightblade, who has taken the name Du Ryst
• Mabel the goat and Winklestem Eustache Bottomwobbler, proprieter of "Another Man's Treasure" (& some of his more... potent items)
• Ajeela, of course
• The Airwalkers of the Tower, as well as the Blue Dragon there

The group were given a single day to prepare... the same day, in fact, as they were fighting the battle for the scale! The council transported them back in time...

Ready as they would ever be, the party and their friends were transported to a dim, misty battlefield. The Lawful and Neutral gods were arrayed on one side, with the most devout of their followers at their feet, ready for battle. Soon, across the shallow valley, a horde of chaotic creatures charged down; behind them, great shapes stepped out of the fog: Erklik, Jörmungandr, Serpent, Balor, and Ysbaddaden. Each lead its own group of evil minions. As the edges of the two armies met, and battle began, the party moved to assist Kai-Ra; they quickly cut through the massive war elephant and the men and scorpions arrayed against them.

Moving on, they assisted Thor, though during the battle Loki and many of his followers lost hope and fled. Next, while Caranthir and Aingeal tried to rally Loki's followers, the rest of the party took on Ysbaddaden's minions - Rakshasa and Dao - trying to divert focus from Danu. They succeeded, thanks to Quetgar's quick claws, and Manannán's horde of summoned undead. Manannán fought Ysbaddaden, throwing him into a suddenly-appearing swamp.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the valley, the shape of the Wyrm was taking form. With each chaotic god that fell, the Wyrm seemed less translucent. Indeed, it was the Wyrm who had killed the god in the Pointless Tower; he took that power and split it into the forms of the other chaotic gods, traveling here to there in a soul jar.

The party paused for a moment to watch Bear rip the skull from a stegosaurus, and use it to crush a number of enemies, while Coyote giggled and made trees sprout from the chests of charging men. They didn't seem to need much help... However, Lleu and Kai-Ra seemed to be struggling against Balor; they quickly came to their aid, carving through redcaps and trolls, while trying to avoid Balor's horrible death-ray eye. As they finished off the last of the enemies, Gwydion charged up from behind, his twin swords flashing in the weak sunlight; in a moment, Balor was dead.

The last of the chaotic gods destroyed, Alehim stepped onto the field. He approached the Wyrm, his massive sword at the ready, his golden armor flashing in the sunlight. The Wyrm, with a dark cry of rage, hurled itself at Alehim; Calmly, the god raised his sword, and caught the Wyrm on the tip, the sword stabbing into its throat and all the way down its insides. The Wyrm's mouth began to close over the god's arms, but a crack of light shone through the creature, then another, and in a sudden, blinding explosion of light, the Wyrm was destroyed. Good had triumphed! The Wyrm was no more, and its followers were routed, fleeing the battlefield.

Speaking of the battlefield... now that the mist had cleared, the party could see the sun, a dim light, far in the distance. A massive shape was rising on the horizon - the Devourer, also known as Yiyen Biri, or Devorat, a massive gas giant! They were no longer on Terrarum, but one of the great planet's moons; Daelna, in fact.

Danu came to speak with the party - in part, to ask why Gróin only ever used the teleportation aspect of his god-staff. The staff has, as he knew, greater planar teleport once per turn with no downside. It also can (temporarily) turn stones to gems (and vice versa), and can cast illusion spells at will, similar to phantasmal image or illusory terrain, except they are permanent until dispelled. Caranthir wondered what their reward would be for all this; Danu replied that while the gods had little use for treasure, magical or otherwise, she would see that the party were aptly rewarded for their role in the battle.

Indeed, the party had played a pivotal role; had they not assisted Kai-Ra, he would have fallen before Erklik. Of course, had they assisted Loki, he would not have fled; but in helping Lleu, they saved him from destruction by Balor.

---

I pondered how, exactly, I would award experience. While the party did, in fact, destroy 14 men, 5 scorpions, 1 elephant, 6 wyverns, 6 fire giants, 3 hags, 3 rakshasa, 3 dao, 40 redcaps, and 10 trolls, they also assisted in what was essentially a mass battle. Assuming each was treated, technically, as an independent hero in a mass battle, everyone would get a cut of the entire battle's XP. To that end, I present the XP gained from killing a single chaotic god: as a roughly 68,600 hit dice creature, a god such as Balor would have in the vicinity of 154,321,750 XP. Assuming an epic-scale battle with groups of 10 HD or more creatures, single units would have nearly a million XP. To that end...

Each PC and NPC will gain enough XP to be within 1 XP of their next level. Additionally, each PC present in the battle will receive the following, free except for upkeep, plus 150,000 gp:

• Rig Bigny: 1 unit of 120 trained battleshrews battlebadgers, and a Cloak of Protection +3
• Caranthir: 1 unit of 120 dwarven mounted crossbowmen, and a Ring of Spell Turning, with 10 charges
• Gróin: 1 unit of 120 dwarven mounted crossbowmen, and a Ring of Djinni Calling
• Crolack: 1 unit of 120 heavy infantry lizardmen, and Boots of Levitation
• Mor Gibs: 1 wonderworker of each level from 1 to 5, and Eyes of Petrification
• Saphira Moonstone: 1 skinscribe of each level from 1 to 5,
• Te'a Tsuki Megumi: 1 polydoctorate of each level from 1 to 5, and a Ring of Command Animal
• Fayleen Ross, Darklord: 1 unit of 120 Heavy Infantry Hobgoblins, and Eyes of Charming
• Aingeal Bàs Eleonara: 1 witch of each level from 1 to 5, and a +3 Vorpal Sword (while she can't use it in her usual form, a polymorphed form certainly could!)

Of special note, Sorvald managed to actually hit Balor with an arrow; for that, he is rewarded his own thieves' guild, in the city of his choice, for free.

And thus ends this chapter of The Fourth Age; we will be taking a break from ACKs for a while, to go through a new, unrelated campaign - LeTourneau: East Texas University!

Airplane

Ochdamh 25 - Naoidheamh 13, 6639; next holiday is Beastnight, 9/35

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Noona, the Lion
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
  • Gimli Trollriver, Dwarven Fury
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
  • Herman Thorpe, Ectomancer
    • Baelnar Grimtor, Dwarven Sapper
• Sorvald, Thief (As-yet-unnnamed), Thrassian Gladiator
  • Kurt Steinbacke, Dwarven Deep Monk
• Mor Gibs, the Wonderworker
• Craydos Silverskin, the Gold Skinscribe
  • Pentzkin Singletossle Pocketspringer, gnomish beastmaster
  • Alun Tsornyl, Sylph Ranger
• Te'a Tsuki Megumi, Elven Polydoctorate
  • Harvey Usagi, Rabbitwere
• Fayleen Ross, Darklord
  • Zai-car, Zaharan Ruinguard

Having defeated the dark force holding the tower at bay, and healing the magical vine at the center of the tower, the party exited. As they walked down the large stone steps, they could see vines had already wreathed the tower; as the last foot stepped off the building, there was a deep rumble, and the entire tower was dragged underground! In its place stood a tendril of the vine. The natives stared in shock, then immediately began bowing to the vine. Caranthir grumbled that it wasn't the vine that did all the work, but his comments were largely ignored.

By sheer happenstance, Winklestem Eustache Bottomwobbler, leading his goat Mabel, trudged onto the scene. With a cry of, "Look, Mabel, it's our best customers!" he set up shop, and immediately tried to pawn off his rapidly aging Neutral Water. Te'a and Fayleen were not enticed. They did, however, purchase a joke book, the King of Wands, and a wand of sentience. By way of testing the wands, they turned a wand sentient, and had the King of Wands command it to fire, which incidently used up its last charge. Te'a felt a little bad just discarding it, after that, and kept it around...

Things purchased, they teleported to Caranthir's kingdom, and spent an evening feasting - though Te'a and Harvey went on ahead to Slohaven, and started doing a little research on longevity. The party followed, and began selling off their immense treasure. After two weeks, they sold the lot. Sorvald, meanwhile, found the object of his dreams: the world's most perfect wheel of cheese. Knowing that no other wheel would ever be the same, he spent his entire fortune on the wheel. Its owner, a rather confused Thrassian, kept trying to make change for him, but was eventually convinced to take the whole pile of gold and various magical items. His dream fulfilled, Sorvald bid the party farewell. The Thrassian, realizing anyone with that much money must have quite the adventures - and looking for adventure himself - offered to take the thief's place, and the party agreed to bring him along.

Having a few spare moments on hand, they decided to find the last piece of Elric's equipment: his belt. They teleported to the desert, near where Gróin had envisioned it. They found two things: one, a ruin, with a single building in it, and two, a portal. To the Plane of Air.

In the Plane of Air (surely it's the Airplane? No, it isn't, and stop calling me Shirley), they met the Ying and Yang of the Gem Dragons, Diamond and Onyx. The two moved and spoke in perfect synchronicity; as guardians of the Plane of Air, they were happy to welcome humans and humanoids to their home plane. Various wind elementals, dragons, and other creatures of the air flew near and far; there was no land in sight, which was a little odd for a planet. The party asked where Elric's Earth Belt was; the dragons laughed, and pointed. "You are close, and yet far!"

Onyx pointed far into the distance - stars shimmered in the darkness, but the heavenly body he pointed to was no star, but a planet - the planet the party had just left! Diamond pointed to the portal, from which they had recently arrived. After some further chit-chat, the party returned through the portal, having now crossed that one off their list: they had visited the planes of Air, Water, Earth, and Fire. And had realized that the various planes were actually planets - or planet-like-places, anyway - in their solar system.

Back at the ruins, they met an elderly fellow, and managed to make him slightly more grumpy than he already was by making fun of people with number in their names. Septivus was... not amused. However, he lead them to the basement, where he offered a choice between three items: an item Gróin deduced to be a Sphere of Knowledge, a gold pin in the shape of the Seekers' Eye, and a compass, the symbol of the Instrumentalists. First, he chose the Sphere, which wasn't supposed to be there at all. Second, he chose the Eye, which made the Instrumentalist even more grumpy; he called in two further members, a mage the party had (briefly) met before, and an explorer named Nal McRandy. After much rule discussion, the mage rolled his eyes and left, and the cleric - a Humanist Cleric, granted divine power through his beliefs as a secular humanist - gave up on following the rather intricate regulations, and dumped the various items onto the table.

Along with the belt - which offered Gróin a vision of Elric struggling through a sandstorm, and being pelted with rocks, which he somehow managed to avoid, and showed the belt additionally provided immunity to knockback, along with earth-based damage - the party also was given an eye. A human eye, green, and apparently in perfect working order. Gróin quickly poked out his own eye (yuck) and inserted the new eye; after a moment, he felt he could now cast True Seeing once per day with the eye, and additionally could Sense Intentions and Sense Power, as the proficiencies. It was Ajeela's eye!

There were no encounters, nor treasure, this session, but the XP from selling goods is available:

• Caranthir, Gróin, and Sorvald receive 16040 XP, and 30086 gp
• Rig Bigny, Craydos, Fayleen, and Te'a Tsuki receive 13959 XP, and 25924 gp
• Elenora, Gimli, Laurita, Herman, Baelnar, and Kurt received 8021 XP, plus whatever their share of the treasure is.
• Pentzkin, Alun, Midnight, Noona, Harvey, and Zai-car each receive 6980 XP, plus their share of the treasure.

Additionally, starting XP is now: 137,669 XP.

Wyrm Welcome

Ochdamh 19-21, 6639; next holiday is Beastnight, 9/35

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Noona, the Lion
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
  • Gimli Trollriver, Dwarven Fury
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
  • Herman Thorpe, Ectomancer
    • Baelnar Grimtor, Dwarven Sapper
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Sorvald, Thief
  • Kurt Steinbacke, Dwarven Deep Monk
• Mor Gibs, the Wonderworker
• Craydos Silverskin, the Gold Skinscribe
  • Pentzkin Singletossle Pocketspringer, gnomish beastmaster
  • Alun Tsornyl, Sylph Ranger

Gróin had invested in a couple of scrolls of stone-to-flesh, and picked the map-holding man to unstone. Craydos read from the scroll, and instantly, the stone flaked away, revealing a startled looking man underneath. He jumped back, wildly looking for the monsters that had turned him to stone, but was quickly calmed. It seems that he and his friend were on their way back from the city of Endereise when they were waylaid by the creatures; thankfully, it had only been a few days. Gróin offered to shorten their journey in trade for the man's map; the man agreed, and Gróin teleported the two, along with Craydos, to the Mejastan city of Cuidado Mercado. Craydos, hoping to have his injuries restored, went with Laurita to a temple of Alehim. She cast Restore Life and Limb on him, and in an instant, the aches and missing finger were restored to normal! Unfortunately... there was a side effect. His injuries were healed, but his body was... changed. To that of a female, to be precise. Craydos was now a woman!

Returning to the others, Craydos reintroduced himself. Herself. Whatever. They moved on, and found the corpses of a number of giant scorpions; Pentzkin managed to get 405 XP worth of scorpion parts from them.

The city of Endereise was very different from the other deep dwarven city; for one, this city was built in a huge bowl, easily a hundred yards deep. They were met by a group of hooded dwarves; the spokesman welcomed them to the city, and relayed their message of the sorcerous spheres they found. That duty done, they explored the city. Craydos, wondering about the religions in the city, found three different churches, later explained to be the Church of the Flame, lawful followers of the cleansing fire; Church of the Clay, neutral followers of the warm earth; and Church of the Light, chaotic followers of the fickle, blinding light of the overworld. He was barred from the Church of the Flame when he asked about the Wyrm, but managed to have a short conversation with a minor obviate at the Church of the Light.

It seems a group of very deep dwarves hold a shadowy sway over all the churches, and indeed the cities of the dwarves; a sort of Praeumbrati, if you would, the dark version of the Illuminati. He and the strange gnome with him explained how the Wyrm was hated and feared by all sects of the churches - and how the scale the party was seeking was found in a deep cave in the center of the mountain. Interestingly, the dwarf mentioned a phrase that was not translated by the helm of comprehend languages; a truly dead language, perhaps?

The party teleported to Caranthir to pick him up, then teleported to within a day's journey from the deep cave. After some head scratching as to which way to go, the party settled on a direction, and continued on. After a day of marching through the soft sand, the party reached a well - or rather, a well-shaped hole. Well-cut stone steps lead into the hole. Shrugging, the party followed them down... and down... and down.

Hardly a few steps into the well, the globes of Continual Light went out! The torches managed to illuminate the steps, but even they burned dimly, as if some force was acting against the light itself. Other spells seemed to work, so the party merely pushed on. At the bottom of the well, the torches finally gave up. No light was visible. Only the infravision of the gnomes, dwarves, and dragon managed to pierce the blackness. The rest of the party followed them down a well-carved hallway, they began to hear the sound of chanting - countless voices, far away, chanting in an unknown language. Suddenly, the acoustics of the cavern changed - the party had stepped out into a large room. Caranthir could see a few figures, at the edge of his senses; stepping forward, he saw a semi-circle of beings, wrapped in thick cloth that hid their heat signatures and limited his infravision. Suddenly, a group of four dwarves moved towards them; the lead dwarf asked their purpose there.

Craydette, stepping forward, introduced himherself and their party, and why they were there - to destroy the Scale of Darkness. Immediately, the dwarf on the right chimed in: "Finally! Someone who understands! If you'd ask the Seeker over there, he'd say we should save it and study it! Destroy the blighted thing, before it's too late!"

As Craydette blinked in surprise (in the utter darkness, mind you), the dwarf on their left spoke up. "Certainly we should study it. Without study, how can we attain knowledge? We know not what will happen when the stone is destroyed..."

The dwarf standing behind the others spoke, his voice deep and course. "They cannot choose unless one receives the gift."

Sorvald, standing a few paces behind, started waving his hand. "Ooh! Pick me! I volunteer!"

Caranthir, shrugging, agreed. The party watched as the young thief was lead beyond the circle of chanting dwarves, and was lost to sight in the center of the circle. There, Sorvald felt the other dwarf grab his hand, and place it on the edge of a wide bowl - he estimated it to be about a yard in diameter. Feeling towards the center, his hand brushed something smooth; immediately, a light began to glow around him. He laid his hand on the stone - a small, shield-shaped pentagon of pure black. The dwarf warned, "Do not look up. Follow me."

Sorvald followed the dwarf back, casting furtive glances left and right. The room was well-lit, as if by daylight; the cavern was vaguely oval, with a ring of easily over a hundred dwarves sitting around the scale, chanting softly. When he reached the others, the four dwarves surrounded him. Behind him, the dwarf that had escorted him (wearing a charcoal-gray outfit), which I called the "Actor"; in front, the Speaker, dressed in simple white clothing; to his right, the Seeker, wearing green and gold; to the left, the Instrumentalist, wearing red and silver. They performed a ritual of sorts, asking Sorvald what he saw, and finally directing him to look up. 150 feet above his head... he saw an enormous face, hanging from the ceiling! Teeth, easily as long as his arm, protruded from the slightly open mouth of the great dragon-like creature over him! It was, as the others suspected, the Wyrm - asleep, as he had been for ages untold, and watched by the Deep Dwarves.

Now knowing the stone was indeed the Scale of Darkness, Caranthir asked the Speaker if they would be allowed to destroy it. The four dwarves huddled together, and after much deliberation, reached a decision: yes, the party could take the stone, but only if they bring a representative with them. If the stone is not destroyed, then the party must return it, and never return.

The party, along with the young dwarf picked to accompany them, teleported to the peak of the Northern Tower. In the thin afternoon light, the scale began to sizzle, pitting and slowly, slowly shrinking in the light. As the light died, however, the scale ceased to shrink; quickly, the party teleported to the opposite side of the world, where the sun would just be rising. Gróin cast Iron Platform, and the party flew up to it, looking down on rolling plains and a lovely lake to the north-west. As the day wore on, the light from the sun burned away the scale... only a thin scrap remained when the sun, once again, began to set. Meanwhile, however, Gróin and Craydette spoke with the young dwarf, who introduced himself as Kurt Steinbacke. Kurt was blind, and had been so since birth; however, he was skilled in combat, and had trained hard to be a protector of the scale. Gróin offered to heal his eyesight, but Kurt politely refused. "Perhaps, but for now... I am satisfied to feel the sun on my face."

The party teleported back to the Northern Tower, and in the midday sun, the scale finally cracked in half, then vanished into smoke. The scale had been destroyed. Kurt sat in silence, then spoke. "My duty is complete. I... would like to see, good dwarf." Laurita cast the spell, and Kurt opened his eyes, seeing this unfamiliar world for the first time in his life. He couldn't help but grin. Of course, only his eyes were healed; his depth perception was terrible, as one of the first things he tried to do was reach up and grab a cloud. The party teleported back to the dwarves to tell them the scale was destroyed. Kurt, however, stayed on, deciding to stick with Sorvald as a henchman.

• Experience from encounters: none
• Experience from treasure: none
• Experience from destroyign the scale: 5,000
• XP for Caranthir, Craydos, Gróin, Mor Gibs, and Sorvald: 588
• XP for Gimli, Laurita, Herman, Baelnar, Pentzkin, Alun, and Kurt: 294

Kurt Steinbacke is a Dwarven Deep Monk, level 5, with 28,308 XP (that includes the XP this session). His class sheet is found here. (I would suggest making him his own character sheet, rather than marking him in the tiny space on a henchman sheet - Monks and Mystics have a lot of associated information). His stats are as follows: Neutral; Str 13, Int 14, Wis 10, Dex 13, Con 13, Cha 13; Class Profs: Unarmed Fighting, Lay On Hands; General Profs: Survival, Theology (Church of Clay), Mimicry, Eavesdropping; a mundane warhammer, a collapsing spear, Miner's Robes (which provide +1 AC armor and Fire Resistance: -1 damage per die and a +2 to saves vs any flame attack), and a few smooth rocks worth 8,000gp.

Kill Them All

Deicheamh 12 - Deug 6, 6638; next holiday, Wintermas, Dara 1

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • [name], the Lion
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
  • Gimli Trollriver, Dwarven Fury
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Sorvald, Thief
• Mor Gibs, the Wonderworker
• Gianna, a Gnomish Trickster

The party journeyed to both cities of the Northern Dwarves, aka Mountain Dwarves; in Dundrende Klippe, they sold the Eyes of Petrification and the library staff for a pretty penny. Caranthir picked up a henchman, a Dwarven Fury named Gimli Trollriver. Then, off they went, following the wise words of an elder dwarven librarian - one of the Seekers. He pointed them to the locations of a good few items, and told them a bit about the Instrumentalists. Eventually, the group set off for Norston, then from there to the capital of Mareten, Slohaven.

After murdering some wild goats along the way ("I said herd, not hurt them!"), the group made it to Slowhaven, albeit with a few stops due to bad weather. In Slohaven, the King rewarded them with 50,000 gp (which was scoffed at by Caranthir), and a pair of amulets. The amulets will safely teleport anyone to the location of the other amulet. He thanked them for a job well done, and the group let once again, this time for a quick jaunt across the sea to the (much warmer) island of Malvados.

Once there, the group took a few hours to rest and relax, then headed inland. They found a haughty man directing groups of workers; after a brief verbal battle, Quetgar turned him into a fine pink mist.

A few other workers sounded an alarm; as the battle was joined, most of the group used dust of disappearance to vanish outright, and crept in among the soldiers as they advanced. Mor Gibs, meanwhile, wished for a spell. A "Summon Battle Kraken" spell.

The battle, predictably, did not go well for the unprepared Instrumentalists. They were woefully outmatched, even with their high-level casters nuking hexes with fireballs, and getting off a lucky disintegrate on the Princess. Even so, they managed to wear down the party; when two tall, well-built men in white robes arrived and began firing both arcane and divine spells, Ms. Gibs decided to use the second of the wishes she had collected, and wished for everyone to be at full health and power. Instantly, the party - including the not-so-disintegrated Princess - were at full health, though stripped of any previous magical health or might. Gróin grumbled about losing health from that wish, but the others were pleased to be alive.

The battle continued; one of the dark Nobiran wonderworkers (for that is what they were) fired off a spell and mired the attacking bunker in sludgy mud, blocking exit or retreat; the other created a wall of flesh, which terrified poor Gibs until the Laurita Turned it, forcing the grasping hands to retreat back into the ground.

At this point, the wonderworkers were on the offensive. They were confident in their spellcasting, and had plenty of spell slots to fire off. And then... tragedy. From about 300 yards in the air, Mor Gibs summoned four berserkers. He aimed them at the Nobirans below... and struck his mark. With a scream and a splash, one of the wonderworkers was permanently mixed with the poor barbarians. The other wonderworker was dispatched by a renewed Quetgar, and suddenly, the battle was turned.

The remaining mages tried to run, but were all captured and eaten by Caranthir. A few soldiers managed to escape, and one of the high level clerics used some very expensive jewelry to protect himself, restore one of the wonderworker, and teleport away, bringing another, lower level cleric with him.

Shrewfully, the party realized that the disintegrated-then-restored princess was likely out of her contract a little early. Indeed, she was; death tends to do that. However, due to her not unpleasant handling, she decided she would stay on and assist them, at least for the time being, or until something better came up. Besides, that whole "ocean" thing really freaks her out, and she'd be glad to get a ride back across. Fae and water... don't mix. Except for trolls, but trolls are just weird.

The battle over, the party gleefully set about looting the ruins. The ruins, as it turned out, weren't as ruined as they might have seemed; though the outsides looked as if they would crumble away at a touch, the insides were surprisingly well maintained. Apart from a number of sleeping quarters and storage areas (which were ransacked for their contents: jewelry, gems, and other treasure, including of course cold, hard, cash), they discovered a number of heavily secured treasure rooms. While locks and metal doors might have slowed the team down, with no one left to harass them, they could take their time and really destroy those doors. Inside, they found piles of magical loot. Helpfully, most items were well labeled! That is, apart from a large room with a sign over the door: "Unsorted Magical Items". The items found are below. Every item listed is magical, and did not detect as evil, apart from the very first item on the list, which seemed to be quite chaotic:

• Special Items:
  • The Motherlode stone (the gray scale)
  • The Pen of Artemis
  • Elrik's Water Boots
• Weapons:
  • War Hammer +2
  • 2 War Hammer +1
  • 2 Sword +2
  • Sword +1, light 30' radius
  • 3 Sword +1, +3 versus summoned creatures
  • Sword +1, +2 versus spell casters
  • 7 Sword +1
  • Crossbow Bolts +1 (Quantity: 19)
  • 2 Bow +1
  • 3 Axe +1
• Armor:
  • 4 Shield +1
  • 2 Shield +2
  • Plate Armor +2
  • Plate Armor +1
  • Leather Armor +2
  • 2 Leather Armor +1
  • Chain Mail Armor +1
  • Banded Plate Armor +1
• Staffs and Wands:
  • Staff of Healing
  • Wand of Detecting Magic with 17 charges
  • Wand of Detecting Magic with 14 charges
  • Wand of Detecting Magic with 9 charges
  • Wand of Detecting Magic with 5 charges
  • Wand of Detecting Magic with 17 charges
  • Wand of Detecting Magic with 5 charges
• Rings:
  • 3 Rings of Command Plant
  • Ring of Protection +1
  • Ring of Regeneration
  • Ring of Spell Storing, containing:
    • lvl 2: Glitterdust
    • lvl 3: Protection from Normal Missiles
    • lvl 5: Contact Other Plane
    • lvl 6: Disintegrate
  • Ring of Spell Storing, containing:
    • arcane lvl 2: Stinking Cloud
    • divine lvl 3: Cure Blindness
    • divine lvl 5: Create Food
• Misc. Items:
  • Amulet versus Crystal Balls and ESP
  • Boots of Traveling and Springing
  • Crystal Ball
  • Cube of Frost Resistance
  • Drums of Panic
  • Elven Cloak
  • Flying Carpet
  • Medallion of ESP
  • Rope of Climbing
• Potions:
  • Potion of Animal Control
  • Potion of Clairaudience
  • 2 Potions of Clairvoyance
  • Potion of Climbing
  • Potion of Diminution
  • Potion of Dragon Control
  • Potion of Fire Resistance
  • Potion of Giant Control
  • 2 Potions of Giant Strength
  • 2 Potions of Growth
  • 2 Potions of Healing
  • Potion of Heroism
  • Potion of Human Control
  • Potion of Levitation
  • Potion of Polymorph
  • 3 Potions of Speed
  • 2 Potions of Sweet Water
  • Potion of Treasure Finding
  • Potion of Water Breathing
  • Oil of Sharpness
  • Poison
• Scrolls:
  • Scroll of Arcane Spells (Written in Ancient Zaharan): Sleep (1st lvl), Magic Mouth (1st lvl)
  • Scroll of Arcane Spells (Written in Nobiran): Levitate (2nd lvl)
  • Scroll of Arcane Spells (Written in Nobiran): Remove Curse* (4th lvl)
  • Scroll of Arcane Spells (Written in Nobiran): Wall of Iron (6th lvl)
  • Scroll of Arcane Spells (Written in Old Elven): Protection from Normal Missiles (3rd lvl)
  • Scroll of Divine Spells (Written in Common): Restore Life and Limb (5th lvl), Find Traps (2nd lvl)
  • Scroll of Divine Spells (Written in Dwarven): Snake Charm (2nd lvl), Glyph of Warding (3rd lvl), Detect Evil* (1st lvl), Flame Strike (5th lvl), Detect Evil* (1st lvl), Bless* (2nd lvl)
  • 4 Scrolls of Ward against Elementals
  • 8 Scrolls of Ward against Lycanthropes
  • 2 Scrolls of Ward against Undead
• And 5 Treasure Maps.
• Additionally, in the room of unmarked items:
  • 6 Crossbow Bolts
  • a Shield
  • Plate Armor
  • 4 Staffs
  • 3 rings
  • a Crystal Ball
  • 4 Helms
  • a pair of Bracers of Armor
  • 3 Potions
  • 2 Scrolls

Near the Motherlode stone was a sheaf of notes; most of it was quite illegible, but a few sections seemed at least slightly readable. The few readable lines say:

• Odd interaction with metal/magic
• [indecipherable] properties of magenetics?
• Interaction with [smudged] HIGHLY reactive, suggest caution, and keep the blasted thing away from storms!
• Impossible to attain samples, exterior is impervious to instruments
• Copper?
• Reversing the neutron flow doesn't even make sense, you [torn from attempted erasure] simple-minded [page is torn completely]

Additionally, there are a few piles of various alchemical supplies; glass jars, copper wiring and tubing, and shavings of various metals.

Gróin, eager to collect the full set, pulled on Elrik's boots. They fit snugly, warm and dry. As he stood, he suddenly found himself looking down on Elrik again. This time, Elrik was aboard a ship; a storm tossed it about, flinging it headlong into a rocky shore. Battered by the waves, Elrik clung to the ship's mast as the ship foundered. As the ship turned on its side, a huge wave caught it, slamming it through the shoals and tearing the ship into pieces! Elrik didn't wait for another wave; as the water streamed past, he ran through the shoals, jumping from jagged rock to jagged rock... and sometimes, it seemed, onto nothing but the water itself. Finally, he reached the shore, and threw his arms around a boulder. The wave crashed against the rocks behind him, leaving naught but a gentle splash by the time it reached him. For just a moment, as the tip of the wave touched the boots, there was a blue glow...

Elrik's Water Boots: provide Water Walking at will; additionally, provide complete immunity to magical water damage.

• XP from Treasure: (weighing in at 762.5 stone)
  • Money:
    • 4000 Electrum weighing 4 stone
    • 5000 Gold weighing 5 stone
    • 5000 Platinum weighing 5 stone
  • Gems:
    • 2 Black pearl worth 2000gp, weighing 2/6 stone
    • 1 emerald worth 8000gp, weighing 1/6 stone
    • 1 ruby worth 1000gp, weighing 1/6 stone
  • Jewelry:
    • 18 amethyst cylinder seals depicting religious scenes, worth 1200gp, weighing 3 stone
    • 14 carved ivory netsuke and figurines worth 1000gp, weighing 2 2/6 stone
    • 2 emerald regalia worth 14500gp, weighing 2/6 stone
    • 1 topaz-studded gold regalia worth 5000gp, weighing 1/6 stone
    • 8 opal cameo portraits and intaglio erotic tableaux worth 800gp, weighing 1 2/6 stone
    • 6 platinum reliquaries with crystal panes worth 3000gp, weighing 1 stone
    • 1 diamond-studded platinum regalia worth 13000gp, weighing 1/6 stone
    • 1 ruby regalia worth 8000gp, weighing 1/6 stone
    • 1 Wrought orichalcum regalia worth 1000gp, weighing 1/6 stone
    • 199 jade carvings of heroes, monsters, and gods worth 39,800gp, weighing 33 1/6 stone
  • Other treasure:
    • 6 2HD monster carcasses worth 240gp, weighing 6 stone
    • 6 6HD monster carcasses worth 720gp, weighing 6 stone
    • 6 8HD monster carcasses worth 960gp, weighing 6 stone
    • 10 barrels of fine spirits or liquor worth 200gp, weighing 160 stone
    • 2 bundles of rare fur pelts worth 1000gp, weighing 10 stone
    • 2 crates of armor and weapons worth 450gp, weighing 20 stone
    • 2 crates of glassware worth 400gp, weighing 10 stone
    • 2 crates of monster parts worth 600gp, weighing 10 stone
    • 133 ingots of precious metals worth 39900gp, weighing 266 stone
    • 2 jars of spices worth 1600gp, weighing 2 stone
    • 350 monster feathers worth 1050gp, weighing 14 stone
    • 12 pieces of ivory worth 780gp, weighing 8 stone
    • 102 rare books worth 15300gp, weighing 51 stone
    • 5 rolls of silk worth 2000gp, weighing 20 stone
    • 117 typical fur capes worth 11700gp, weighing 117 stone
• Total Treasure Worth (once sold): 232,200 gp
• Total XP from Treasure, currently applicable: 57,000
• XP from Encounters:
  • 13 goats (65)
  • 1 lvl 5 fighter (500)
  • 100 lvl 1 fighters (1600)
  • 10 lvl 6 mages (13200)
  • 5 lvl 9 dark clerics (12500)
  • 2 lvl 13 mages (10800)
  • 2 lvl 13 neutral clerics (8800)
  • 2 lvl 10 shamans (5900)
  • 2 lvl 12 Nobiran wonderworkers (13200)
• Total experience: 123,565
• XP per PC: 14,537
• XP per Henchperson: 7,268

The rest of the experience will, as always, be rewarded upon the sale of the treasure.

The Journal of Görkem Ebrahimi

The journal, taken from the corpse of (as is noted in its pages) Görkem Ebrahimi, contains a wandering missive of the last several months of Görkem's life. While Llarm read every detail, the majority of his story could be wrapped up in the phrase, "Fighting is fun, but now I'm hungry." In short, his story read as follows: