Songs, Spectres, and Strangers

Deug the 18th - 24th (only 5 days 'til Wintermas!)

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
  • The Metal Man, construct
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Gottes Segen, Cleric

Picking up from last time, Quetgar read through the golem's book; he reasoned that the golem was looking for its control stone in the well, and decided that he would try to retrieve it. Moving quickly, he dove in before the stone golem could catch him, and dug through the fine silt at the bottom of the pool. He found a small chalice, and buried under the silk, a large ruby! Leaping out of the water, he turned, pointed the ruby at the golem, and commanded "Stop!"... and the golem kept moving. Realizing that the commands in the book were written in Nobrian, he again commanded "Stop!", but this time in the ancient language. The golem creaked to a stop.

A Stolen Song (Part I)

Deug the 17th

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
  • The Metal Man, construct
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
• Gottes Segen, Cleric

After a bit of listening in the pub in Crabaille, Quetgar and Gróin heard of an abandoned ruin in the forest, once the home of a sect of seer-monks, star-gazers who could tell the future. The villagers had avoided the spot for superstitious reasons, and adventures had avoided it because it seemed boring, for the most part. Still, the lumberman's story seemed interesting; while the others shopped around town, Gróin and Quetgar headed out to see what this strange hermitage really was.

Outside a large hill was a door, locked through magical means. After a bit of detective work, Gróin began playing the bagpipes; the "music" was all that was needed to open the door, and in they went. The first thing they saw was a strange coat-closet; instead of hooks, stone hands held the rotting scraps of what were once priestly robes, as well as a magical staff. Experimenting with a 10 foot pole proved that the hands would grab anything offered, but would only release something to the one who first placed it.

Wait, Vampires Are Scary?

Deug the 13th

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
  • The Metal Man, construct
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
• Gottes Segen, Cleric

After selling off the treasure, the dungeon delving continued, now on the sixth level. In the first room was a message, written on the wall: "That Which Never Sleeps shall reign forever!" Secretly, Caranthir swore to never sleep again, just in case. After some careful sweeps, and the discovery of a secret door, the group found a nest of six giant beetles - bombardier beetles, in fact. Leery of an encounter with ranged attacks of burning acid, the party decided to turn the other way, instead. Oddly, the rooms appeared to be well maintained; rather than lichen-covered walls and dusty floors, the rooms were actually fairly hospitable. Creeping forward, the party discovered a single footprint - a dusty tread from another room. The footprint was humanoid. Looking through the door in front of them with her x-ray ring, Rhea saw several cages, each with multiple humanoid figures inside. A few in the party heard scrabbling and hooting on the other side of the door. After a few moments' hushed conversation, Rhea knocked on the door, with Caranthir just behind her, and Quetgar the Thrassian Assassin lurking next to the door frame.

A Dungeoning We Will Go

Deug the 11th

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
  • The Metal Man, construct
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
• Gottes Segen, Cleric

In Wallace, the party sold the goods they had collected; while they were there, Llarm happened to run into a human cleric from her hometown, Sacred Grove. Recognizing an emblem on his robe, Llarm introduced himself, and offered the cleric a place in the party.

Are You My Mummy

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
  • The Metal Man, construct
• Loriel Straight Arrow, Elven Ranger
  • Little Bandit, ferret

After taking down the Skittering Maw - aka Sharktapede - the party returned to their original path, through the (now empty) insect room. After spotting two lesser hellhounds and dispatching them easily, they discovered the stairs down, hidden behind a trapped hidden door; Loriel also found 57 gp worth of gems, which she pocketed. She shared the 600 gp she found, though.

The group continued down the stairs, leaving the rest of the fourth level unexplored. Barely 10 feet inside the fifth level, they spotted a group of five giant scorpions! The menacing beasts clacked their great claws, but Llarm read them a soothing bedtime story, placing them in an enchanted sleep. The fifth beast was quickly slain, and the sleeping monsters destroyed.

The ranger, constantly forgetting to check for traps, flung open a door and set off a trap - a 20' deep spiked pit trap! She fell, impaling herself on two spikes; the party sent Zarc the thrassian down to retrieve her, and did their best to heal her, but she still needed a week's bedrest. Moreover, the fall had damaged her lung, and she was no longer able to move as quickly or as long as the others.

Kicking open a door, Caranthir stared into the gaping maw of three tentacled monsters! The nasty carcass scavengers struck, missing Luce (for once!), but instantly paralyzing Caranthir. The lizardman charged with his two-handed spear, stabbing the creature with enough power that it exploded into a cloud of red mist! Luce and the lizardman struck at the other creatures, and soon, both were dead.

Temples and Towers

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
  • The Metal Man, construct
• Loriel Straight Arrow, Elven Ranger
  • Little Bandit, ferret

Picking up from last time, the party approached the blacked temple. The gouts of flame seemed to erupt every 10 minutes or so, blasting from the top and several window-like holes around the outside. After some discussion, several members entered the temple. The temple itself is a large, round structure, set on top of a hill; inside, a second wall formed a shell. The party moved north, and ran into a group of zombies! These creatures looked like normal zombies, but for a tongue of flame, dancing over their head. And the fact that they unsheathed longswords from within their torsos. Not that it mattered; the zombies were quickly dispatched or Turned. Pursuing the fleeing zombies lead the party to a second set, guarding a doorway into the next ring; those zombies were also quickly dealt with. As the ranger held back attacked the zombies from a clockwise direction, the rest of the party continued pushing them counter-clockwise. Eventually, all the zombies were turned, and crushed as they cowered in a corner.

The second layer of corridors were filled with fire elementals - easy enough to deal with, especially when all those in combat had rings (or spells) of Fire Resistance. After destroying two of the creatures, they ran around the circle again, trapping the remaining two elementals and finishing them off. During all of this, Caranthir managed to traps the spirits of three of the creatures in his sword, joining the dragon and the poor lizardman. He felt the blade gain in power - it's now a +1 sword!

A Desert Jaunt

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
  • The Metal Man, construct
• Loriel Straight Arrow, Elven Ranger
  • Little Bandit, ferret

First, the party traveled to their employers, the other local lords (and lady). The journey was short and uneventful; they arrived the evening they left, in time for a large celebration. They met Lord Vincent Aldervat, a hawkish, conceited-looking man, though well-muscled; Lord Evan Elpus, a reedy fellow who had the odd habit of always standing behind people, as if hiding; Lady Christiana Vascelles, a late-middle-aged woman with a firm look of command about her; Lord Tomas Cordova, an obvious man of the earth, strong and rustic; and Lord Dunstan Kirkhill, a brawny, red-headed man with a bushy beard. After enduring several rounds of back-slapping from Lord Kirkhill and Lord Cordova, and even a thin hint of praise from Lord Aldervat, they dug in to the free food. Afterwards, thanks to some good negotiating, they managed to up their reward from 10,000 gp to 15,000 gp. Not bad for a few minutes of talking.