text:
For posterity, I'm adding the session log here, since it was an awesome game.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?bg0jr7472ftbbr9
Epilogue: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?kvsevc5hxi2do73
498 platinum
2 skull-shaped astral diamonds (10k gold each)
Potion of Recovery
Scroll of Whispers of the Edifice
Scroll of Imprisonment
Icon of Sin
+6 Amulet of the Unbroken
Shield of Ultimate Protection
Crown of Victory
Drakenrad is a mithril dragon that conspired to rule in Bahamut's stead. When he brought this to Bahamut's council, he was flatly denied, and cast out of Celestia for his insolence. It was then he conspired with an archdevil to regain the radiant throne, and with this archdevil's help, assaulted Bahamut's realm. Drakenrad slew the council members, the angelic hosts, and any others that were unfortunate enough to be there, including Jiergan, who only just barely managed to send a message for help.
That message got to our heroes, who were back from Granville and dealing with Howell. They quickly traveled to Celestia and found the place looking pristine. Everything in Bahamut's realm looked as if it were made of precious metals or gems; leaves looked to be made of emeralds, skin looked like agate, the sea seems to be made of liquid silver crystal. Angelic blood stained the floors gold.
After battling through a host of infernal defenders, as well as a colossus of justice, the heroes found Jiergan recently deceased. Lumi got to work resurrecting the dragonborn, and when he had returned, he sought to enter the fray once more, and he did so, defending the halls from more hordes of devils while the heroes dealt with Drakenrad in the Hall of Judgement; a courtroom where Bahamut doles out his justice.
Drakenrad was not like normal dragons; he was instead snake-like, with no wings and short clawed legs (like an East Asian dragon). When the heroes first saw him he was talking with a regal devil, who disappeared soon after their arrival. Drakenrad informed the characters that their efforts to defeat Tiamat and resurrect Bahamut was folly, for the two exist as two halves of a whole. With one, so must there be the other, and so if Bahamut were to return, Tiamat must inevitably return as well. His goal was not to resurrect Bahamut, but to end both of them, and in doing so, end the war that has existed between them since their birth.
Needless to say, the characters found his actions deplorable, and a fight broke out. The fight ended, however, when the characters, through a combination of tactical genius, clever improvisation, and a lot of luck, subdued the dragon. Krayus offered him a choice: Either he dies, or he surrenders his shard of Io's essence and can live. Drakenrad took the latter option, relinquishing his shard of Io's divinity to Krayus.
After the battle, the powers blocking the portals in the chamber were released, and two portals activated, and figures stepped out of either of them: Moradin, and Kord, the two other deities residing in Celestia. The talk with them was also brief, but they vowed to aid the characters, and to marshal their armies against Tiamat to end this conflict. The characters were tasked with one thing: to find the location of Tiamat's lair, so that it could be assaulted. Before they left, Moradin gifted the hammer War to Brimtim.
After the deities left, a third figure entered: the devil the characters saw with Drakenrad appeared in the room, stating how impressed he was, and that he has a proposition for the characters that they'll certainly be interested in…
After defeating Kalarel and relocating the remainder of the Red Dawn army, the heroes set their sights back to Granville, where Howell and Skyshatter both were. After making a deal with Dispater, they promised to kill Howell, and as well they learned that the only way to defeat Tiamat feasibly is to craft or augment weapons and armors from the remains of one of her slain exarchs, of which Skatter was one.
So the group teleported the Death Knell into Granville's airspace and disembarked to see Howell. Upon meeting him they gathered in Howell's tea room is his recently furnished civic hall and office. There they shared some very fine brandy in an attempt to loosen Howell's lips. Some conversation passed and the heroes began to suspect that Skyshatter might not simply be "away", but in fact might be kept as prisoner by Howell.
With some gut intuition to go on, the heroes made the short trip across the bay to the city's abandoned island-prison. After searching through the creepy atmosphere the heroes found a pit in the lowest levels of the prison; a pit that descended into a series of lava tubes. It seems this island was once a volcano. A volcano that, in the central magma chamber, holds Skyshatter, who is indeed a prisoner, held by magical chains and barriers, as well as inside the soul-stealing magic circle they've seen so often.
The heroes decided the best thing to do was to release Skyshatter (using up Tallon's expensive dagger in the process) and let him kill Howell. However, as soon as Skyshatter was free the volcano began to erupt. To make matters worse, several lava wyrms attacked the party, threatening to keep them in the volcano for too long to escape. But escape the heroes did, back to the city as the volcano blew and filled the harbor with ash and steam. Meanwhile the heroes high-tailed it back to find Howell, as a storm was brewing (literally, a lightning storm raged in the skies).
What was supposed to be the death of Howell quickly turned around as Howell held Skyshatter immobile and quickly beheaded him when he realized that you didn't believe him. Along with killing him, he absorbed part of Skyshatter's soul, despite your best efforts to prevent that. Though he only got a portion of it; Tallon got a portion as well.
Howell, seeing that he no longer had to play nice, teleported the heroes to a ruined building atop an icy mountain in the middle of a infinitely large snow-field. Here Howell and the heroes battled it out, finally. Jenkins (Howell's pet fire imp) joined in the fray, making the heroes' job more difficult. And when Howell looked to be defeated, he summoned another servant: a pit fiend named Alfred. The fight was gruesome but quick, and ended when Runt smashed Alfred into Howell, knocking them both unconscious.
At first Howell seemed dead as fire enveloped his body and his corpse burned. His flesh and clothes burned off until nothing was left but ash-white skin. That's when he stood up. The burned figure stood up and the heroes recognized him for who he really was: Sovocles, the devil they encountered in the Imperial City. The devil who destroyed Sorn's pact. The same devil stood before the heroes now.
Conversation was brief afterwards. Sovocles admitted to disguising himself as "Howell" to ingratiate himself with the party and to build a reputation. He admitted that his patron was Mephistopheles, lord of the Eight Circle of Hell, the Icy Wastes of Cania. He also said that his patron would likely contact them in the future. Though with that said he returned the party to Granville, where Skyshatter and Howell's body both lay amidst the chaotic and frantic city.
As the heroes rest, Tallon attempted to control the power of Skyshatter's essence, as it began to manifest by crackling lightning between his fingers. After some effort at channeling the energy he was able to manifest it in a needle-like lightning bolt that he could grasp in one hand and wield like a weapon. While this was going on, the rest of the group searched Howell, and the rest of his office. On Howell's body was found the rod that he wielded in battle, as well as a key. This key, after some searching, unlocked a small trapdoor in the basement which was revealed after Skyshatter destroyed the building), and that descended into a vast chamber filled to the brim with treasures and riches, all of which is likely Skyshatter's. Or was.
Treasure you found includes:
Also of note:
h3. You leveled up! Enjoy level 25.
The heroes fought a short and violent battle with Kalarel 200 feet above the ground. Several of the heroes were injured and it was looking grim, but their victory was sealed when Runt leaped onto the flying dracolich and punched Kalarel off his mount, sending him falling 200 feet, and killing him.
Kalarel's death rippled through the hordes of undead, causing them to lose their coherence and begin wandering aimlessly; it was a simple matter to clean up the rest of the enemies. Of the 180 troops that went into this battle 145 remain standing, if a little worse for wear.
Upon inspection the heroes found that Kalarel's body is missing and left in the spot where it would be is a pile of ashes ground up into the muddy rock, and a mummified hand, severed right below the elbow. This hand seethes some kind of dark magic, but you have yet to unlock its powers. When Lumi touched the hand, it sprang to life and attempted to claw at his left arm, and became still when he quickly dropped it in response. Lumi has tucked this hand safely away in a locked box and is keeping it on his person for future study.
In the aftermath of the battle, the soldiers begin talking about relocating to a castle town a few days away; with the undead threat gone for now they can make the trip without being attacked. The heroes decide this is a good idea and accompany the fighting force. Runt even convinces the Shifters to go with, and begins integrating them into society. To mark Runt's newfound leadership, his pack has gifted him with a set of cloth armor made for the leader.
Meanwhile, Tallon has become a popular person among the soldiers: the youthful face of the new order. When everyone arrives at the town and discover its citizens were spared Ashardalon's wrath there is hope for a new life. The noble running this town was not so lucky, however, and had gone mad what with everything going on, leaving the people to fend for themselves.
Next session will see the heroes traveling back to Granville to confront Howell, as they were told to by Dispater. Perhaps while they're there they will find Skyshatter, whom they know is an exarch of Tiamat, and they know that to face the Dragon Queen, they'll need to craft weapons and items from the remains of a slain exarch.
Sorry for the delay; there isn't much special that's going on except for combats, so I've not recorded anything important.
However, last session something new happened: Kalarel arrived, riding atop a dracolich, and threatened to destroy your army, forcing you to take to your airship and fly up to meet him. We stopped before the fight started since only 3 people were there, and I didn't want to slaughter you. Next session you'll have to face off against him and save your army!
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?45ajz1b47d4ao44
This week, At World's End, the heroes finished their research at the Swan Tower in Hestevar and returned to Starfall to discuss their next move. They have 3 options sitting before them:
1) Travel to Granville and confront Skyshatter the exarch of Tiamat and as such, he could be the key to defeating Tiamat. While in Granville, they can also deal with Howell, whom Dispater told Lumi, Tallon and Sorn to kill.
2) Find a way to get to Celestia, home plane of Bahamut, and find out what's going on with Drakenrad, the Mithral Dragon who sent assassins to kill the group while in Hestevar.
3) There is report of a small group of survivors from the attack on the Imperial City that are located in some ruins in a forest south-west of the city. Rurik was dispatched to see what's going on, and hasn't reported back. It might be worthwhile to see if these survivors are still alive.
In the end, the heroes chose to investigate the reports of survivors in the forest. Jiergan had gone away to Celestia to deal with Drakenrad as well as he could, and left word that he would bring the players there if he needed their help. And Howell or Skyshatter weren't in immediate need of dealing with.
The trip took a week on the Death Knell, but they eventually found the hidden ruins among the forests, where Rurik came to greet the heroes, and show them back to camp. We'll see how this turns out next week.
The session started with you hailing a patrol of angels to your location, and immediately after you were accused of murder, as you were sitting on top of the bodies of two slain dragonkin. However, you convinced the angels of law and order to go along with a speak with dead ritual on one of the dragonkin, and the results proved your innocents; the patrol let you go.
You made your way to the Swan Tower, where you spent the better part of a day searching through tomes, guided only by the spirit of pure knowledge. You learned much in the library, including some information on how you might oppose Tiamat, resurrect Io, as well as a biography on Skyshatter, who you learned is one of the exarchs of Tiamat.
On the subject of Tiamat, you learned that the only way to slay her is to either lure her to a place blessed by Bahamut, or by crafting weapons and items made from the flesh, bone and blood of her exarchs; the only one you know still living is Skyshatter.
While researching, Tallon was approached by an exalted spirit, claiming to have seen them in a prophecy, and in the vision she was showing them a room. And so she waited at the library until this day. She showed Tallon into the room in her prophecy, as was her duty.
In this room was a cache of items and money, along with a small piece of parchment, addressed to whomever was reading it. It contained short passages for each of the heroes, offering insight and advice on your futures, assumed to be written by Ioun herself. The items you found consisted of:
Ancient Warrior's Ringing Hammer Grandmaster Training**
Property: Whenever you score a critical hit, you deal an extra 3[W] damage, as the spirits inside you come to life and fight by your side.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?kimeyrarp2z4wyc
The heroes were ambushed! While traveling in Hestevar, the heroes were ambushed by a group of devils and dragonkin, all of whom were very intent on killing the group. In fact, there were a few times when the enemies were one or two strikes away from killing the whole party.
Still, like the stubborn heroes they are, the group pulled it together and hung onto victory and defeated the assailants. The devils' corpses didn't remain long to be examined, but the dragonkin, which you found out were a strange type of Mithril Dragonkin, had some kind of religious symbol emblazoned on their armor: a multicolored circle with golden threads trailing off the top and bottom of it. You're not sure what this could imply, but it's something you could look into at the Swan Tower.
In other news, you found some magic items!
After Team A's debacle in Hell, and Team B's half-success in the Shadowfell, the two teams regrouped at Starfall to plan their next move. Since knowledge is power, the party decided to travel to the Astral Sea and seek out Ioun, the goddess of knowledge. To that end, they're going to search for the same portal that kicked them out into Sigil, and see if they can find their way from there. The other option was hunting down a crashed Githyanki dreadnought, stealing its engine, and adding it to the Death Knell.
You decided to go to Sigil, since you found the portal on Starfall still remains. You came out somewhere different, but managed to track down a helpful Celestial who told you about Hestavar, where Ioun is located, and some other tidbits in exchange for some gold. Krayus went on a hunt and found the old merchant who sold you your first gate key, and purchased a similar gate key, this one a glass flower, that leads to a plaza in Hestavar.
You got to Hestavar, and an elf approached you, offering to lead you around, since the city can be confusing to new-comers. As Jon the Elf showed you around, you noticed you were being followed. You kept your distance and kept moving. You focused so much on that stalker, in fact, that you didn't notice that you walked into quiet back-alley of Hestavar, where a cleverly laid ambush was sprung.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?buiw8nmsaazrixv
Our first session of the new year saw some trouble brewing for the group. Team A (Lumi, Tallon and Sorn) continued their descent beneath the ruined city of Vor Rukoth, where they previously found, and destroyed, a gateway to hell. When that happened, they also learned that the warlord of Lumi's home village was also there, and somehow mixed up in all this. She fled through the gate after it had been destroyed, and the team wasn't nearly prepared enough to go after her, so she got away.
They're back there now, and searching for this warlord, as she may have some connections the players need to know about. Well, they got to Vor Rukoth, and did a little investigating. A quick View Location ritual showed them the gate, and it seemed that there wasn't too much activity. Some kind of building was erected on the other side of the portal, but this side had little going on, save for some patrols of devils. The caverns had shifted to a more infernal look: rivers of lava, stone being turned into twisted and jagged metal, the usual.
Well when the group sneaked down and through the portal as boss-status characters are wont to do, they learned that the structure built on the hell side of the portal was a fortress made entirely of metal. Inside, well, were a bunch of devils.
Battle soon broke out between the 3 heroes and the legions of devils, led by three powerful generals: Baalzephus the Iron Tyrant, Mephistus the Mkindbreaker, and Entralius the Thane of Elements. Battle ended quickly in the heroes' surrender as the devils overwhelmed Sorn by immobilizing him in lava, away from where anyone could save him. This led to his near-death and the surrender.
The heroes later found out they would be taken to the Iron Citadel, wherever that may be, and were clamped in chains and shackles for the trip.
For causing the party of heroes to surrender, Team B's players all receive 2 prestige points!
Session Log Part A: http://www.mediafire.com/?lipeak6jvqi2xg0
Session Log Part B: http://www.mediafire.com/?9wc84uc9t0r1uye
Not much happened. Everyone went to sleep and when they woke up, the group was all together again in a burning and ruined forest. Confused at their apparent setting change while sleeping, the group investigated a large crack in the ground that ran on as far as they could see. When they tried to inspect it, large tentacles burst out of the ground and attacked the players. Defeating these tentacles caused a much larger monster to appear in the crevasse, from the depths.
It was a dome-shaped horror, with dozens of mouths all over its yellow-green hide. Eight large Tentacles writhed around it, with fanged mouths where suction cups would have been on an octopus. This creature had no eyes to speak of, yet attacked the players mercilessly, whispering in a strange and alien language.
This creature's main tactic was to grab the party and overwhelm their fragile minds with its entirely corrupting will and make the characters attack each other. We ended the session with several members close to death, and there's no knowing what this creature will do next.
Session Log: http://mediafire.com/?n2efu5cn7nbr4jm
Lots of talking tonight. The team made it back to Letherna with the dead Aspect. They spoke with Orsik at length while trying to resurrect the Aspect, but to no avail. There was a short discussion about needing to see the Raven Queen, and Orsik decided he was long overdue for doing something stupid, and so Team B and Orsik charged up to the top of Fate's Palace to see the Raven Queen.
There she spoke with you about Kalarel's newfound powers, and that the use of the Power Words requires divinity, and can only be granted by a deity of that word's portfolio. The only other god of death is Vecna, as Orcus is a Demon Lord, not a deity. Somehow, Kalarel must have gotten power from Vecna, most likely as part of a bargain.
Lastly, Team B leveled up to level 22. Enjoy your new utility power. Team A will have a chance to catch up when the whole team gets back.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?b9p5i4row3subm5
A battle with The Judge ensued in the center of the gravity cube. It was a struggle, dealing with gravity changing every round, and platforms moving around. The party did give the Judge a run for his money, and at the end of the fight he got desperate and resorted to drastic measures: he stabbed the Aspect, killing her instantly, and then turning himself to ash. No one is sure if he's dead, but the Aspect is pretty well dead, and so the group grabbed her corpse and used a Planar Portal to get the heck out of there.
We then switched to Team A, who decided that they were going back to Vor Rukoth and through the portal to the Hells to see if they can't track down where Sanzenin might have gone. We'll see how that turns out.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?tfiew1j1e7b19zc
Finally, session summary!
We started with Team A: Tallon, Sorn and Lumi, all debating and discussing. Two important decisions were made. 1) They're going to keep Lumi's sister with them. 2) They're going to find a way to Hell to chase after Sanzenin (Lumi's village's warlord). Not sure if they'll wait for Team B before proceeding.
Team B infiltrated the cult's hideout, passing through lairs of worship, where they found out that the leader of this cult calls himself The Judge, and proclaims to be the scion of an undisclosed deity. They found The Judge on a metal platform suspended in the middle of a enormous cavern, next to him was the Aspect of the Raven Queen, his prisoner. When they stepped onto this platform to face him, the whole room shifted, and they were suddenly on the inside of a metal cube, with floating platforms in the center, facing The Judge, The Rage, and several undead. You'll have to face him next week, and see how well you fare in the 3d cube with gravity all whacked out.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?u842c8e5k76lopm
This was a session for strangeness. Team B dove through the portal that the Fear and Blood went through with the Aspect of the Raven Queen. You found yourself on a plane of chaos and madness: Pandamonium. Your introduction to this plane was disorienting. You were in an enormously large cavern, lit entirely by the lava that bubbled on the ceiling. The top of the cavern was a lake of lava, swirling around a huge crevasse into darkness. Upside down lava-falls filled the ceiling of this room, spilling over the edge of the floor, falling up, and meeting with the great lake above you.
For some strange reason, Feria decided to help you.
You stood on a spire of rock, and were able to leave by way of walking down the sides of these spires, to the bottom where there was another river of lava. You then had to jump from pillar to pillar, dealing with gravity changes to get to a singular tunnel; one of the dozens connected to this lower part of the chamber.
You then learned that this whole place must be a honeycomb of connected caves and corridors, and that you had to track the Fear through this series of these corridors. Even with Feria's help you got lost once or twice, and ended up having to flee from a pack of wights and specters. There was also the issue of having to cross a pool of lava that slowly dripped upwards to the ceiling. That was a challenge, until Krayus breathed cold on the lava, solidifying it to the point where the rest of the group could jump across it, while Brimtim burrowed his way through the walls.
You eventually found the hideout: it's door was on the ceiling, and required climbing to get to it. only half way up the wall the gravity changed so that you could walk up the walls, which is also very disorientating. To enter, Feria had you all hold on to her, and she touched the door, which rippled and pulled you all through…
… We moved to Team A in Cromlech, to see what they were up to. Lumi used a Make Whole ritual on the charred journal, mending it so that it was once again readable. You can find the journal's contents in Sanzenin's Journal.
Note for everyone: Sending me wishlists for your characters with items ranging from level 22 to 27 will get you 1 Prestige Point. You can also get 1 Point for updating your character description on the wiki with some information about how your character is coming to terms with their epic destiny, and how you think it might manifest. Lastly, you can earn a point for making a helpful comment on this post.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?wxjd91rjdbg5t7n
This week was a hectic session.
It started with Krayus using a new ritual he learned that allowed him to summon seven metallic dragons for you to use as steeds to give chase to The Fear, who had just kidnapped an Aspect of the Raven Queen. Along with some divination rituals, you found where they were going, and gave chase.
An hour and 45 minutes later, you found the group atop a large spire of stone, amidst the Thryn Gol Wasteland. There was some kind of stone archway on the spire, which you learned was a portal gate. you saw that on this spire was not only the survivor's of the last encounter you had: The Fear and a Shadow Angel, but also another humanoid similar to The Fear known as The Blood, a Slaughter Golem, a half dozen skeletal lich vestiges, and a shadow-wyvern. You had your work cut out for you.
The battle was quick. You killed the golem first, but in the time it took you to kill the golem, The Blood finished the portal ritual required to activate the gate. You tried to stop her but a lot of luck on their part, and very little on your part, left them victorious as the portal activated and they ran through, with the Aspect, while Runt tumbled over the edge of the spire. His death was prevented when one of the dragons caught him, though the shock of the ordeal left him unconscious.
We'll have to see how this plays out next week.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?h2s4y4jf9bn6vgu
There were two parts to this session:
Part 1 – Team A (Tallon, Lumi and Sorn) finished off the remaining intellect devourers in Cromlech. They've got some time to rest now and plan their next move.
Part 2 – Team B (Krayus, Runt and Brimtim) followed Orsik to where the Raven Queen presides: Fate's Palace. Unfortunately the queen was busy with more important issues, and so they met and spoke with one of the Raven Queen's exarchs, and an avatar for her when the need arises. The team asked about getting aid in dealing with the undead and the devils, but the exarch could not provide any assistance. Just when she was about to say something that seemed important, something Bad happened.
The room went completely dark, and the sound of glass shattering reverberated around the team. When the light's returned, they were surrounded by 3 figures: a drow, some skeletal humanoid, and a shadow angel. Not only that, but the spot where the exarch was blocked by some kind of shadowy vortex.
A fight broke out, of course. The team focused on the drow, Zarra, first. While this was going on, the shadowy vortex slowly moved west, off the central dias and closer to the windows. You also were aware that something within that vortex was targeting you, and that the exarch was missing. By the time Zarra was defeated, whatever was inside that vortex had made it close enough to the windows to leap out, taking the exarch with it, and flying away with the shadow angel. You defeated 2 of the assailants, but 2 of them got away. And they took the aspect of the Raven Queen.
There were some new faces this session:
The Fear – An enigmatic creature who used fear and psychic powers.
Feria – A dark angel of some sort.
Mavawhan – A skeletal humanoid. You defeated him and he turned to dust.
Zarra – A drow whom you defeated.
During this session, Team A played the monsters, and since they succeeded in kidnapping the Aspect, they all earn 2 Prestige Points.
Lastly, I would like it if you all could leave a comment on this with some ideas of what your team's next move will be. Remember that helpful comments will earn you Prestige Points. That is all.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?4sa9q0nu5q1ahwq
A fairly straightforward session: you headed back to Cromlech for some investigating. You found a bunch of corpses of humans, goliaths, and minotaurs that had appeared since you'd last been there. Not finding anything on their body indicating where they were from, you went to Sanzenin's building, and found it torched all to hell on the inside. Searching around you found a hidden trapdoor that led underground to a stone vault, inside which was a chained devil that had been stabbed to death. Along with that was a mostly burnt journal, which you weren't able to decipher. Perhaps later you'll get a chance to fix it or search through it later.
While you were doing this, you began hearing voices in your head, urging you to go back outside. Once there you found Lilith had returned and was insistent on hanging around with you. Soon after this reunion you were ambushed by some of the "corpses", which apparently weren't quite dead. After killing one of the, you saw that these corpses were being controlled by intellect devourers, which were moving between corpses, controlling them.
You didn't finish the combat, so we'll pick up next week.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?v4a127vr5c66b1q
This week our heroes split into Team Arcane and Team Brawn, and both went separate ways to tackle two problems; Tallon, Sorn, and Lumi went to Granville to speak with Howell about the Devils' involvement, while Krayus, Brimtim and Runt went to the Shadowfell to speak with Orsik about the undead involvement.
From here, Team B (Krayus, Brim, and Runt) go to see the Raven Queen, while Team A (Tallon, Lumi and Sorn) are off to Cromlech to see about the city's connection with the hells, and maybe find something about Lumi's old warlord, Sanzenin.
What'll our heroes find? Who knows, you'll have to tune in next week to find out!
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?pcdc3x5rsfclw3h
Sorry for the tardiness.
This was a combat-free session. You talked with your remaining allies: Jael, Jiergan, Spaffy, Remnar, Lia and Tiandra. You learned a lot about their histories, and where your Mortal Instruments come from. You also talked about your next moves for figuring out this new situation.
Some highlights you learned about other NPCs' backgrounds. You learned that Jael was previously an angel lieutenant during the Dawn War between the deities and the Primordials. Afterwards her god was betrayed and usurped by another angel named Asmodeus, who later became the lord of the 9 Hells. Jael was imprisoned in the uprising and tortured to the point where she lost her divine spark, and regressed to a Deva. When she was released, she tried to make it back into the immortal society, but was rejected by all her former peers as being tainted. She moved to the Mortal World to act as an observer. Her holy symbol was tainted with infernal power during her torture, and so she threw it into a chasm, and it became the first Mortal Instrument.
You also learned about Spaffy. He was a wanderer, and wandered all over the world. Through some trickery of time, he was "liberated" from the wheel of life and time. He didn't age, he could go wherever he wanted, become whoever he wanted. This freedom gave his cloak special properties, and he gave that cloak to Lucan, the half elf monk that dedicated his life to killing demons. The cloak in question was the Mantle of the Wandering Master, and it was the second Mortal Instrument.
You also made your decision on what you were going to do next, about Kalarel and about the issues with the devils. Krayus, Brimtim and Runt would go to the Shadowfell and talk with Orsik about the undead, while Sorn, Lumi and Tallon would go to Cromlech (Lumi's home) and see if they can find any clues about how to get to the Hells.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?m58cs4h86ma5lu7
We began this session with the heroes racing down the Imperial City keep and into the streets of the city. It became immediately apparent that the devils and the undead were fighting over something in the city; you guessed it might be the dead. Ashardalon did say that the city was surrounded by a ritual circle that prevented the dead from passing to their final resting place, and held them suspended in a type of limbo. Maybe the two sides are vying for the unclaimed souls; that many enslaved spirits would be cause for great alarm if they got into the wrong hands.
You arrived at the crashed Death Knell, and found Jael, Jiergan and Rurik defending it from the attackers. The devils and undead were in battle with each other, and you were caught in the middle as you tried to get to the ship with more enemies pouring in on all sides.
There were some tense moments: Runt and Tallon being dragged off by flying hellwasps, Sorn being pummeled by an infernal Gorillon, Lumi's strange powers killing mooks left and right. Not just that, but there's also Jael, who is blasting enemies with radiant light, and Jiergan, who is cutting down enemies with a large sword and has draconic wings unfurled. Rurik was just blasting enemies with the ballista at point blank range.
We'll have to see how this turns out next week.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?s7b50rlf1ybzapd
Returning to the fray, our heroes struggle to get to the downed Death Knell. To spur them on, General Eramor arrives, wounded and winded. He struggles, limping around the ship to get to the front. He was fighting off zombies and skeletons in a heroic manner, so that the few remaining soldiers around him might survive.
Around this time, a new face appeared. A lich named Kalarel, riding atop a skeletal steed. This lich took one look at poor Eramor and began speaking words of power: the same words of power that the gods had used to craft the earth. This lich wasn't crafting anything, however, he was aiming to slaughter. His power word rendered our heroes weak, with vertigo and nausea. However, for Eramor, it meant death: This lich just used Power Word: Kill. Eramor slumped over in a pool of his own blood, while Kalarel rode to his side, lowered his rod made of human spine to Eramor's chest, and lifted out of him a strand of ethereal energy, and then absorbed it. Eramor's soul, it seems, had been stolen.
This lich then turned on you, especially when Runt charged head first into him. This resulted in Runt being the next target of his power word. Thus Runt died. Again. Jael tried to defend with power words of her own, but she lacked the divine spark necessary to use such words, and could not hold off, and was the next victim to a power word.
The heroes raced to get to the airship, repair it, and flee before they all were killed, and they hurried as best they could, but not before Sorn fell in battle to the power words. With 4 dead, the players finally repaired the ship enough so that it could fly, and sped out of the city, watching it fall into the hands of the undead. Their army broken, their soldiers dying, dead and worse, and many of their stalwart allies lost.
The trip to Starfall took a month, which was enough time to perform a Raise Dead ritual on Sorn and Runt to bring them to, while Jael naturally woke up from her catatonic state 2 weeks into the trip. Once back at Starfall there were talks of the next course of action, but that was put on hold while the group mourned their lost companions and the death of Bahamut.
After that, Lia and Remnar presented Runt and Brimtim items of legacy, to help them face the foes that are undoubtedly in their future. These items are as follows:
Thorn of the World Tree
Skin of the Earth
Next week you will have time to plan your movements and discuss your options. Remember, there are still magic items that have yet to be claimed on the Loot Table.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?i7ydye45gst9947
Hooo boy, this session was a big one. To start with, you faced down Ashardalon in the courtyard of the Imperial City keep. This was a tough fight, as Ashardalon's three colored heads acted quickly and dealt lots of damage. You held tough and forced Ashardalon to retreat once more, this time to the top of the keep, where the elemental conduit was.
You had to rush through the keep then to get to the top, and found out that due to the proximity to the conduit, and how much energy it was channeling, the nature of the keep was changed: floors had been replaced with endless lakes of lava, gravity was distorted, jets of fire erupted randomly in places. You quickly passed through all of that and made it to the top with enough time to stop and marvel at the size of Ashardalon's treasure horde (see below).
After that you clamored up the ladder to the very tip top of the keep, next to the elemental conduit. Ashardalon was waiting, his three heads dripping with elemental energy: acid falling between his claws, lightning crackling between his wings and beams of fell light from his eyes. Here you would face him down once and for all. He acted first, blasting all of you with an explosive breath weapon, but you retaliated quickly, and with the help of Krayus, you damaged him very quickly.
Ashardalon returned the favor, attacking Runt, Brimtim and Krayus ferociously, and 3 critical hits, and Action Point, and 4 more attacks later, Runt was unconscious, Krayus was at 1 hit point thanks to his tenacious will, and Brimtim was below 0 hit points but still standing thanks to his diehard toughness.
Ashardalon then rushed to Lumi and Tallon, breathing an explosive breath in their faces, but Sorn and Lumi quick teamed up together to bring and end to this foul beast. With some quick blood magic Lumi finished off Ashardalon once and for all!
As Ashardalon died, he burst into flames and a Phoenix escaped from the ashes, then disappeared into the conduit, which imploded and winked out of this plane. The elemental energies within the city dissipated and you were left with a moment to catch your breath.
(The following is much better stated in the chat log, check it if you want more detail) It was then that Bahamut was drawn into the mortal world, and his size, which is normally that of mountains, diminished to merely the size of half the city. He shined radiance down upon you from the sky and warmed your soul. This was short lived though, as soon after Tiamat followed him, arriving on this plane. A fight broke out between the two, and during it much of the town was destroyed with Bahamut's disintegrating breath, including the Death Knell, which had taken a hit and crashed into the city.
Bahamut was forced to the ground after having a wing ripped off, and Tiamat covered him in all five breath weapons of hers, leaving the platinum dragon charred and dead. A darkness crept over the land, and Tiamat flew to the top of the keep, just above you, proclaiming to let you live so that you may pass on that her rule is absolute, and there can be no denying it.
Then, without warning, an army of the dead rushed into the city from the outlying forests; undead of all kinds from nowhere appeared and began slaughtering any who survived the brutal siege. Not only this, but Sovocles, and an army of used portals to arrive in the city and began fighting the undead; over what you're not sure.
All you know now is that Tiamat killed Bahamut, and there are thousands of undead fighting thousands of devils in this city. Ashardalon had told you that anyone who died in this city would have their soul held in pergatory, unable to pass to the afterlife. If that's true, there thousands of unclaimed souls floating around this city, most of which are those of your friends. So it seems your first goal as epic characters… Is to flee this city.
460,000 gold
Hood of the Wolf
Manual of the Planes
Ring of Heroic Health
+5 Wyrmtooth Dagger
+5 Quickcurse Rod
+5 Fireflower Pendant
+5 Abyssal Adornment
+5 Fleece of Renewal
+5 Parchment Snakeskin Leather Armor
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?51g9nhbntkgkxns
Campaign File for token editing: http://www.mediafire.com/?qzsa3z3o666qjwm
Here will be a running commentary on your efforts to secure the Imperial City back from Ashardalon and his forces. As the conquest continues, I'll update this single log rather than post separate ones for each session.
After defeating Rathoraiax and freeing Kurya you went back to Bridge and the Red Dawn, to find that Rath had flown back to Bridge for some reason, only to be killed by Jiergan, from what you've been told. You also finally joined up with the Dwarven Armada when their three airships arrived in Bridge: The Titan, their flagship airship, and two smaller vessels much like the Death Knell.
You then decided the best course of action would be to outfit the Death Knell with a Portal Circle so that you could fly over the city and drop soldiers directly into the Imperial City. The armada would join you in this, while the navy dropped troops off on the docks, and the dragonborn fought outside the city to draw forces away.
With that plan, you took off for the city. It took a little over a week but you made it there and grouped with the ground and sea forces. A small recon trip to the capital revealed some new issues: The prisoners that were kept in prison camps all around the country have been moved to outside the city. They seem to be hypnotized, un-moving, starring blankly at the city. This includes the elven prisoners from Eldarnath. Along with this, there were two Githyanki warships flying above the city; for what reason the Githyanki are joined in this fight you have no idea. Seems like the coming battle will be a tough one.
Session Log – Part 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?hdbddbhxn6daz34
The battle commences as you strike first at the capital. Iojad leads his dragonborn into battle just outside the city, away from the prisoners, while you fly with the armada above the city. On your way you are intercepted by the two Githyanki warships. Just before the clash, a bright flash lit up the sky and metallic dragons appeared, seemingly from nowhere, to fight the dozens of red dragons that took to the sky. Six of those metallic dragons parted with the rest of the group to aid you by letting you ride them as mounts, making the battle with the githyanki easier.
To disable the ships, Runt dropped onto one and punched a hole in its engine, while Krayus lit the other on fire after slaughtering the crew on board. With those taken out, you can securely drop troops into the city. At least, that was the idea, until General Eramor spoke to you via sending stones informing you that the navy is ready to dock, but there are a strange type of siege tower preventing them from doing so. Looks like you'll need to take care of that before they destroy the ships and all the passengers.
Session Log – Part 2: http://www.mediafire.com/?5yamym497bjjuhr
Okay, summary time! After receiving word that Eramor and the navy was in trouble, you headed to the docks, only to find that the docks were guarded by 4 large siege towers that belched fireballs with explosive force. Not only that, but there were 4 fire giants there as well, controlling the towers. You took them on fearlessly, and were able to take out half the towers with a devious ploy cooked up by Tallon: Teleport them over the water and let them sink to the bottom of the ocean. Of course you didn't plan on them exploding when destroyed, which made destroying them all the more difficult.
After your victory, Eramor got the ships docked and soldiers assembled in the harbor. You spoke with him about your tactics a bit, then left to see how the front lines were doing outside of the city. Much to your surprise, they were luring large portions of the city's defense away so that it was taking them longer to retreat back to defend against your sudden airstrike invasion. That was helpful. What wasn't, though, was when the sun showed up for a moment. Only it wasn't the sun. It was the elemental conduit at the peak of the keep's tower shining brightly over the city. This, coupled with the appearance of a hulking, winged beast, made your stomachs drop.
It was Ashardalon, he had actually shown up. He stood at the top of the keep for a moment before flying at blazing speed towards your airship armada. You tried to race him back to the fleet but were a moment too late; he rammed into one of the smaller ships, grabbed it with his claws, spun around twice, threw the ship 50 feet away and destroyed it with a single fireball. A devastating display of power to be sure. You intercepted him before he could take out the Death Knell, and exchanged words with the tyrant. Now we see if you can stop him from destroying your ships and drive him away long enough to finish deploying your troops…
Session Log – Part 3: http://www.mediafire.com/?vqsfh292dw8y583
You started this combat off by kicking Ashardalon's ass (props to Sorn for dominating him!), to the point where he retreated back to the elemental conduit atop the keep's highest spire. There he stayed while an enormous fire colossus titan emerged outside the walls of the city. Almost 100 feet tall and 50 feet wide, this colossus slowly waded his way through your front lines, crushing anything that got in the way. Its body dripping with lava, it left a wake of destruction wherever it stepped. To stop it, you quickly set out to find its power source. You learned that it wasn't the conduit at the spire powering the construct, but rather a devil working withing the city.
This devil, named Sovocles, was gentlemanly and charming. He offered you a simple choice: Sorn goes with him, and the colossus will stop its rampage. He also held up the contract Sorn made to get his powers, saying that he's "been on far to long a leash, and its time he repaid the freedom his master had granted him." The party was quick to condemn this devil, refusing to let Sorn leave. To that, Sovocles lit the contract on fire, ending the bond between him and his pact holder. What this means for his powers no one is really sure, but things will get stranger from here no out for sure. It also cements the idea that Ashardalon is allied with devils for some reason.
Oh, and the devil mentioned that it would be a shame for you to die within the city, considering the circle around it. Not sure what that means either. But you've threatened him, and to deal with you he summoned 2 Reaper Devils: these are the same as the blood sucking monster you fought in Lumi's home village, and now you get to fight TWO of them together.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?gt313f9gx1mhm3a
We're nearing the end of this epic trial! You defeated Sovocles and his hellish servants quickly, though not without a Lumi and Runt getting dangerously close to falling unconscious. Sovocles, upon becoming bloodied, teleported away, had his fire imp pet open a portal, and fled the fight, leaving his two devils to keep you occupied. After the fight Sorn attempted to take control of the fire titan colossus by imposing his will on it, succeeding marginally, able to stop its rampage while Lumi destroyed the altar controlling it. The titan crumbled and was reduced to a pile of burning stone.
From there you took wing on your dragons again and headed towards the keep, where Ashardalon was. You found out that the entire keep was blocked by a spherical barrier; a force wall of fire. Some detecting and searching led to the realization that the gates to the keep were still not open. As you headed for them, a group of dragons, giants, salamanders and elementals ambushed you. Your dragon allies urged you to press forward while they took care of the riff-raff out here. You did so and stepped through the gates to the keep, after which they sealed up with the barrier, locking you inside with Ashardalon, who strode out of the castle and into the courtyard. His whole body on fire, he beckoned you to fight as his body contorted and morphed; like a hydra he sprouted two new necks and heads on either side of his original head: a white dragon's head and black dragon's head. Seems Ashardalon has some tricks up his sleeve.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?dfzgpdd13l5w66f
This was an intense session, with the conclusion of the battle with Rathoraiax. You beat the dragon, and he beat back. Runt was a pin-cushion this fight, taking numerous hits and nearly dying several times. Fighting Rathoraiax wasn't entirely tough, he just took a beating. When be became bloodied and wounded, he blinded Brim and Runt, allowing him to escape. As he escaped, he pulled out his most devious trick…
One of his cronies released the golden dragon. He turned off the haze and released the spikes. The golden dragon, who had been driven insane through torture attacked you instantly, very brutishly, without regard for self preservation. Every attack damaged the dragon, and she was already very wounded. It was your job to make sure the dragon didn't kill itself. As this happened, there was a ritual put into effect that caused a bloodlust effect, and it made it hurt to not attack something. You were forced to attack the dragon, or take damage. A nasty ploy indeed.
In the end you had to use the tranquilizing gas to subdue the dragon, holding her in it long enough for it to knock her unconscious; Brimtim almost went to sleep keeping her there. In a climactic final confrontation, just before she was knocked onconscious, Runt moved to knock her dead. He attacked, used an action point and attacked again, almost killing her, but Krayus intervened with a diving tackle punch and knocked Runt out of the way, saving the dragon.
You then proceeded to bandage the dragon and rest. After a night's rest you were able to let the dragon wake up on her own. After a brief moment of confusion in which she whipped Brimtim across the room, the dragon seemed to have regained her sanity. After a brief conversation (which can be viewed in the session log), you learned that her name was Kurya, the Eye of Bahamut, and one of the seven great golden wyrms. She was there to learn what Ashardalon was doing, but had been captured more than a month ago. You told her some of the recent happenings, and she said she must leave quickly to report this.
Before she left, she seemed to have blessed Krayus' blade, but you don't know the outcome of that precisely yet. She then turned into a yellow canary and flew away, disappearing in a flash of light. You are now headed back to Bridge to get your army and take on Ashwing.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?f8po1q483opw9fv?
NOTES: You leveled to 20! Enjoy your new Daily power and feat! Send me your new character sheets, along with your tentative epic destinies.
You made it to Harrenhall, the lair of the red dragon Rathoraiax, where he is suspected of keeping a very important prisoner. Your first goal is to kill the dragon, so that the city of Bridge, and its captors will be able to join your military force, the Red Dawn. A secondary goal given by Jiergan: rescue this prisoner at all costs.
Your first steps into the fortress were somewhat unnerving: charred and scorched corpses littered the ruins, with their captain strung up like a scarecrow in the middle of a pyre with a piece of iron melted onto his head like a crown. As you poked around, the walls caught fire and several of the "dead" soldiers stood up, and attacked. This was made more creepy when you realized that these soldiers weren't dead; just tortured to insanity until they submitted to Rath as their god.
After the fight with them you descended into the cave behind the fortress, into the mountain. Here you found some barracks where more of the scarred and burned soldiers slept very soundly, thanks to some strange purple mist that kept them asleep, and threatened to make the rest of you fall unconscious. Hurrying through this room you kept on in the tunnel until it opened into a larger chamber filled with empty pools and a railing around the outside edge. At the center of this room was a sleeping dragon. At first you thought it was a red dragon, but closer inspection revealed it to be an extremely bloodied gold dragon.
This gold dragon, the prisoner Jiergan told you to rescue, has been horribly tortured: spikes attacked to the ground hold her foreclaws, while spears in her tail pin her backside. Her wings have been hooked together with a sinister looking chain, and her mouth has a spiked muzzle.
Not too long after you stepped into the room Rathoraiax showed his ugly head. Swooping down from the ceiling he surprised you (save Runt) and exhaled exceptionally hot fire. This is no ordinary dragon: his body has been mutilated, probably by himself. He's got chains around one of his legs that digs into his skin, swords sticking into his back where spines would be, pieces of metal welded onto his body; it's a gruesome and disturbing sight. What's worse, is that his presence instills in you a sadomasochistic feeling: you want to hurt him, and he wants to be hurt, and that thrills you.
While the fight is going on, more of the tortured soldiers have arrived, and are activating traps on the sides of the balcony above: one turned on a cascade of acid from a stone dragons-head attached to some chains that filled the pools, while you haven't seen any effect from the other control panels.
The fight is split: Runt and Brimtim fight Rath, Krayus and Lumi attempt to rescue the gold dragon, and Sorn and Tallon work on disabling the traps. We'll have to see how this fight turns out, and if you can rescue this gold dragon or not.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?k46dffnfvrixe8b
So this week you continued the battle with Krinya, the commander of the forces holding Bridge. You previously learned she was Arjhan's niece, and she fought viciously knowing that you had killed him. She presumed that you killed him to take power: to rule over New Arkhosia as High Prophet.
Despite the battle looking grim at times, you subdued Krinya and forced to her talk. With a few well-worded arguments and not a few threats she realized the truth about Arjhan's death: it was his own doing, and his choices regarding the resurrection of the empire was built on false pretenses. You told her about the dragons' cruelty and lack of divinity. She did not believe you at first, but slowly came around to see that the dragons were merely using their subjects for selfish reasons; not for any noble attempt to recreate the dynasty.
You asked for her help in the war, if she would join forces and fight with you. She refused to join because the red dragon Rathoraiax (RATH-or-EYE-ax) watched over the lands, and sometimes checked on the city. If he found the city deserted, there is no doubt he would raze the surrounding land until he caught the deserters and slaughtered them. You learned that Rathoraiax is especially cruel and sadistic. You also learned that he keeps his lair built within the ruins of the old keep Harrenhall; some of you have heard of it.
As you relayed this information back to Eramor and the other leaders Jiergan informed you that this dragon, Rathoraiax, is keeping prisoner a very important creature, one that could very well turn the scales in the coming battles. He stressed it was imperative that you rescue this prisoner at all costs, and that slaying Rathoraiax was secondary to this goal.
So with that information you decided, rather quickly, to head to the keep and slay this dragon (your first red dragon) and see what creature could be so important.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?5jhizk2a34z5etd
This week you infiltrated the keep on the Alden side of Bridge. You climbed up to the commander's window and busted through into the room. You found out the commander was a woman: Krinya Bloodscale, the niece of Arjhan. She's the new leader of the Bloodscale tribe and the commander of the forces in Bridge, and it seems that she doesn't know what went on between Krayus and Arjhan.
We ended mid-combat, so we'll have to see how this ends next week!
The Red Dawn began their march! It was along and uneventful 2 weeks of marching, but it was the beginning of the long and final campaign against Ashwing in the Imperial City. After two weeks you made it to Bridge. Well, Sorn and Runt did as they were scouting ahead. They ventured into the city and found it empty and destroyed, likely by the dragons. There were a few makeshift huts and shelters, but nothing substantial. That is, until you stepped onto the main roads, you found several bulwarks and barricades just before you were ambushed and surrounded by men (whom you could have easily taken out on your own).
You discussed a bit with their leader, and gave him a sending stone to communicate with the rest of the group to corroborate your story. You ended up convincing this leader, Logan, and he led you to his office of sorts. There you waited for the rest of the group to meet up with you and discuss tactics.
You learned that the only bridge to the other side of the city is blocked by two large gates, each locks on their own side. The dragonborn guard the far side, which is locked. That leaves only two options: sneak over the 170 foot deep, 145 foot wide canyon, or break down the gates. You opted to sneak across. There, you agreed to make your way up into the keep in the hopes of taking out the commander before a suitable defenses is able to be mustered. Then you can use the chaos to let your army in and wash over the city. That's the idea at least.
Session Log: For some reason I can't upload the file, so I'll get it in the next few days.
This session we see a finalization of the war efforts as Krayus puts Iojad in command of the Dragonborn, while Rurik commands the dwarves, Varithralis commands the eladrin and Eramor remains in charge of the humans. At this point you have a plan of attack, and you have a name: Red Dawn. It's suitably grim and hopeful at the same time. Jael also gave you some sending stones that transmit messages between all the commanders and yourselves for easy communication.
After this meeting Orsik had some good and bad news to tell you. Good news is that the gods have finally started acting on the things that are going on. Bad news is that the gods have to act on what's going on as it is not localized to just your world. The necromancer Krayus and Orsik killed oh so long ago has been a player in that, and Orcus has remained silent for too long and has the Raven Queen worried. Not only that but Bahamut has been looking into issues that Orsik was not privy to know.
Also in the news is that the Raven Queen has requested Orsik's presence in the Shadowfelll; she wants him to work for her there. The parting was bittersweet, though Orsik promised it wouldn't be the last time you saw him, and that you would certainly be meeting again, and for now, he'll be in the Shadowfell watching over you, keeping you all safe.
After this eventful departure you spent he rest of the day preparing equipment for your push into Alden towards the Imperial City.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?3kxe4ebwp9baskf
This week the heroes return to Granville after their journey in Vor Rukoth. You return to find the plaza rebuilt as a proper staging ground for a war effort. Camps for all factions of the army, training yards, barracks, medical tents, a command center, and even a makeshift alehouse. It's quite a sight. Too much, in fact. The city was not this well built up when you left a day ago, and could not have been fixed this much in a single day.
That, and Jiergan mentioned that you had been gone for two weeks. Somehow, your time in Vor Rukoth only took you a day, while for the rest of the world passed by 16 days. In that time, however, a great effort was spent into building an effective war strategy. General Eramor and Jiergan have discussed tactics, and with your help, have decided its best to first take the city of Bridge, and then sail your way down the river and across the lake to the east and take the Imperial City by sea. During this time, you will act as distractions and draw their focus away from the fleet on the water.
While this planning was going on, Runt met with a new dwarf that had been talking with Rurik, Brimtim. This dwarf was from the clans in the Dawnforge mountains to the south, and had made his way to Granville when he heard of a resistance there. Runt and Brimtim hit it off well, and eventually Runt invited the dwarf to join in their band, provided the two of them test his worth with a sparring match. It was close for a while there, but Brimtim's sturdiness proved too much for Runt to handle, and Runt eventually fell unconscious. Thus began a wonderful new friendship.
Next week we'll find out what the Shadar-kai, Jenit, wanted with Orsik, and Lumi's interrogation of Ryuunosuke went.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?pd8ry7ybda02u73
After 3 weeks of battling, you finally destroyed Najala's gate. For a short while the combat was touch and go, leaving both Tallon and Krayus unconscious during different parts of the fight. Sanzenin attempted to flee through the gate at one point, but Tallon was able to summon a small hurricane and pull her back. Unfortunately for you, Ryuunosuke, being her bodyguard, deflected an attack by Runt and pushed her further into the gate. This attack also left the gate destroyed, knocked off its hinges.
After Sanzenin escaped through the portal, Ryuunosuke tried to get away, but was interception by Tallon and Runt. After a slight beating, he threw down his sword and submitted to be your captive. His short confession revealed that you had acted precisely as planned in opening the gate for Sanzenin to get through, and that his job was done. We'll have to see where this goes next week.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?sho7278t5zpdc6v
Congratulations on reaching level 19!
You got some new loot:
This session started with the resurrection of Runt, finally. Though he was revived as a pretty chibi schoolgirl, unfortunately, since Lumi couldn't manage to get his original body. That didn't last long though, and Lumi was forced to remove the illusion after a beating.
Shortly there-after the heroes picked up the trail of Sanzenin and her bodyguard Ryuunosuke. The two of them descended beneath the throne room into a labyrinthine cavern. Hours of tracking trails later they passed through the home of a medusa, who they found hacked and slashed to pieces. Apparently the two had come through this way.
Further in you passed through a crypt, with unmarked sarcophagi. Further past this you descended deeper into the bowels of the earth. The temperature increased to an uncomfortably high point, and in random spots the temperature plummeted to freezing. It was very strange.
At the very deepest point in the caverns, you entered into a rough cavern filled with stalactites and stalagmites. At the entrance you could feel a light, warm breeze blowing towards you, making this entire chamber feel like the maw of some monstrous beast.
More to come tomorrow
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?t8ofwfbervydsmb
Also, rest in peace Justin, you will be missed. Orsik is in good hands.
This session saw the resolution to the fight with Hideyoshi, right-hand swordsman for Sanzenin. Lumi told you that Sanzenin, the lady you saw when you first returned to Vor Rukoth from the library, was the warlord of his hometown. She had been doing something occult in Vor Rukoth, though he doesn't know why.
Also, for some strange reason, Hideyoshi was revealed to be undead: a Death Knight. Upon receiving a large wound from Wafado, he began ripping off his skin until he was just a corpse wearing armor. Why Sanzenin would work with an undead is still a mystery, especially since magic in all forms was outlawed in Lumi's home town.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?0zg2j0724er0h41
On Hideyoshi's body, you found +4 Skeletal Stormscale Armor, which has been claimed by Krayus.
You were able to take an extended rest using the Solace Bole ritual. That does give Sanzenin an extra hour to do whatever she's doing; hopefully that won't prove fatal to you.
You started off this session looking for a way to to activate the runes that were around the foundation of the missing building. You learned that the runes represented celestial bodies, planes, deities, and elements: These runes were placed in a pattern: an outer pentagon, with a smaller, inner and inverted pentagon, with a smaller triangle inside of that. These runes, when matched up properly, created a bright light to surround the foundation and teleported you to the Taru Maaj library. There you were met by the Luminary, an old tiefling who guards the library. You were able to sweet-talk this tiefling into letting you peruse the library, as well as show you a resurrection ritual. In return, the Luminary took all of Krayus' memories, magically recording them in a large scale-hide tome.
While in the library you also found several interesting tomes. Krayus found a book on the history of the Turathi/Arkhosian Blood War. Orsik found a book on cults and dealings with Orcus. Tallon found a book on Queen Najala's history within Vor Rukoth. Sorn found a book about the history of tieflings and how they bound themselves to devils. Lumi had his ritual books, where he found several rituals (detailed below).
Once you left the library you found yourself trapped in a restraining circle of energy that had been placed in the center of the library's foundation. The perpetrators of this trap were, as you soon learned, cultists from Cromlech, Lumi's home town. Leading them was the female warlord Sanzenin and her two higher up lackies: Hideyoshi, the human sword-fighter, and Ryunosuke, the dragonborn executioner. Shortly after arriving Sanzenin and Ryunosuke left, claiming they had business to attend to, since you led them to the Ruby Court. The rest of the cultists remained behind to keep you all tied up.
Raise Dead
View Location
Consult Oracle
Planar Portal (contains 2 locus glyphs)
Memory Seal
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?ecefiigyn96j1mn
Delving through secret tunnels! You wander for hours beneath Vor Rukoth trying to find your way into the Ruby Court. You avoid fights with Kruthiks as they just seem to hover at the edge of your vision, not attacking, just lurking.
After hours of wandering you finally find your way out of the tunnels and arrive at the Ruby Court, where you promptly head to the armory. You did not immediately find the Taru Maaj library, but there was an unmarked building foundation where the entire building was seemingly gone; no rubble or ruins, just light debris and a solid foundation.
but in the armory you fought and defeated some of the defenders: golems and homunculi that guard the weapons and armors and other magical items. In the end you had to stop and rest before continuing, though in the 15 minutes you spent destroying and looting you found quite an amount of level quality magic items, as well as a very rare pair of boots.
After leaving the armory so as to avoid any more unnecessary fights you think to look at the empty building foundation for any clues as to what it once was. A preliminary search of the area and you spotted a single faded arcane symbol. What it means you have yet to determine, that will have to wait until next week.
Loot earned:
Swiftstrike Shoes
72,000 gold
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?0coaoitzxo2airx
Okay, finally getting to the session log:
You finished up fighting with the undead tieflings of the Zulfura house, though the fight did take its toll on all of you. After the fight you were able to take a closer look at what was in the room that Wafado fell into: lots of treasure: platinum and Orium Turathi-minted coins, worth quite a fortune. Along with the currency you found two magic items still in working order stored in a wardrobe. Finally, you stored the broken Diplomat's Table so that perhaps it could be put to better use later on after you've fixed it up (which will cost 6500 gold in reagents).
You also found a secret tunnel that led under the house in the treasure room. This must be the entrance to the underground tunnels that Sorn wasn't able to find. Once in the dark tunnel you slowly make your way through the roughly carved rock. As you do so you hear chittering sounds of insects all around you. You stumble upon a old carapace of a bug: a kruthik. Not much danger on their own, but they're never found alone. By the sounds in the tunnels, this swarm is mighty big. We'll see if you can survive it!
Loot Acquired: 98000gp, +4 cloak of resistance, Baldric of Shielding, broken Diplomat's Table
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?h1gv0pfctbzfi3i
After a fairly easy fight with some demons that seemed to underestimate you, you made it to the Zulfura Estate. A very ornate villa that has seen better days, the estate is covered in dust and blood pools that seem to be merged with the marble flooring. Nothing was bad at first; in fact, you seemed to get a good handle on the building. Then Wafado had to try and find the secret room. He ended up falling down a chimney that was meant to be climbed down, and ended up in the treasure room with a ghost. A nasty ghost.
The fight started then, with undead tieflings materializing from the floors and walls, surrounding and surprising you. The tieflings are ruthless, sucking the lifeforce from you. Ask Orsik, he's at least half dead at this point, with all the healing surges he's lost. Speaking of Orsik, he totally pulled a kool-aid man/juggernaut move by running THROUGH THE FREAKING WALL when he learned Wafado was trapped in a room full of treasure (and a wight). So manly and heroic. Then there's Krayus who got pummeled since Tiefling HATE dragonborn. It's true.
The fight is not over yet, but we will see how our heroes fare next week. With regards to the rest of the house: they found some crumbling books, and a broken Diplomat's Table that survived the destruction of the house. it could be useful if you fixed it up.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?oph0i81udh150vu
Session summary coming soon…
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?9223cu7lc3kk7sr
This session saw much discussion. Your first decision was to set up a teleportation circle in the Merchant Row of Granville: a large plaza for merchants to sell wares. Once you set it up Varithralis and Rurik both brought through token forces, informing that more would be sent through periodically as the supplies were gathered.
Redfang informed you of some of Ashwing's defenses, and about the Scions' involvement. He told you that the Scions showed up the same time a new advisor named Sovocles appeared, and has been in council with Ashwing. The Scions, from your last venture into Alden, have been trying to create rituals to bind a soul of someone to a hellish being. Redfang told you that those are the test trials, and that the real goal is to perform the ritual en masse.
He also told you that Ashwing has an open condiut to the Elemental Chaos, where he draws energy to fuel his defenses: flaming walls, streets of liquid fire, resurrected soldiers to fight for him, the whole shebang.
On the other side of town Orsik ventured to a small Raven Queen temple where he prayed to the Queen to keep Runt safe. Almost as if in response to such a prayer, a tiny raven flew down to Wafado and Orsik. It turns out that the raven was actually Lia, shifted into animal form. She said she came on behalf of Melora, her matron, to bring world that Runt was being kept safe on the Verdant Isles in the Astral Sea; the Raven Queen would not take his soul so long as she protected it. You don't know why Melora is interested in Runt, but his spirit is safe for now.
Lia also told you that the resistance in Eldarnath has been fighting a losing battle, and Cyan Bloodbane has been corrupting and twisting the forests to his will by using the nobles he has captured.
Now it is up to you to decide your next move. There is a lot that needs doing, a short list of what you've got on your plate is below:
Or you can do whatever else you think might help. It's all up to you! Leave a comment on this page letting the group know what you want to do, or if you want to split up and tackle different parts at the same time. If you do leave comments, please be specific in what you want to do, and how you're going to go about doing it. I can't help move the story along if I don't know how what you're doing and how you're going to do it.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?l81g9a4jbrrh5x4
This session was a bloody one as the fierce combat between our heroes and the two albino dragonborn known as the Eyes of the Emperor concluded. Towards the end the two dragonborn were almost insane, trying to resist the commands of Ashwing as they were lingering near death. Their connection became erratic, jumping between serving him and pleading for mercy and not to be killed.
In the end they were killed, but as they died, their bodies were taken over by Ashwing, and he spoke through them, threatening you with the deaths of all your loved ones. This threat culminated with his two servants exploding violently, throwing everyone against the walls, stunning them. This force shattered the windows and knocked down some of the walls, along with the burning balcony. Perhaps most importantly this shocked delivered a fatal blow to Runt, who was unconscious still bleeding and taking poison damage from a previous attack while everyone else was too stunned to help him in time, leading to his unfortunate death.
Skyshatter soon appeared at the cathedral, speaking to you through the ruined walls. He spoke of an alliance: he offered protection against Ashwing's forces while within Granville while you built up your armies. In exchange, you were to acknowledge his ownership of the city, and to include him in your plans to defeat Ashwing.
Out front you met with some unlikely allies. A group of red dragonborn, led by one only known as "Redfang", allied with Krayus, while the remainder of humans stood listening to General Eramor. Howell soon showed up and you conversed with them. Howell and Redfang mentioned that the Scions have been practicing rituals on humans. Howell said that these Scions come from Vor Rukoth, and that there is a Travel Stone there.
General Eramor also requested you bring all allies to Granville, as well as recruit from the nearby settlements, as there are very few humans left, and the dragonborn are not nearly enough to take on Ashwing. Oh, and Howell mentioned a resurrection ritual used by one Queen Najala. Might be worth investigating
More negotiations will continue next week, along with your decision for what you plan on doing about all of these new advancements.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?v60ozm8jsot4aaw
Finished combat on the steps of the cathedral, moved inside, started fight with the twin Albino dragonborn known as the Eyes of the Emperor. More will come when I'm not dead tired.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?zsif79v3rj49zbu
You began this session by looking for shelter. Making your way through the city a few bad decisions means you are surrounded by at least a hundred kobolds. After a futile attempt at fighting back, you rush to climb the buildings, where you outsmart a pair of blue dragonborn destroyers in your atetmpt to find a shelter among a fortified piece of real estate.
While rushing across an empty park to your goal, you find yourself chased by both kobolds and the bluespawn destroyers. You also see Skyshatter fighting with a red dragon overhead. Soon though, the red dragon plummets from the sky, crashing into and destroying a tree you were just hiding under. Skyshatter then followed, facing down the enemies behind you while you rushed to safety.
After a short rest, you descended into the sewers and made your way to the Cathedral of Bahamut, where you found Krayus fighting with 3 dragonborn reavers, 2 lay dead nearby. Combat quickly finished and those dragonborn died, but as soon as you think about entering the cathedral one of the dragon statues flanking the doors came to life, glowing red with inner heat, while the glass orb it held filled with fire and began to hover above ground. At the same time, a group of angels descended from the sky through a watery portal and entered into combat with you.
We'll have to see how this combat finishes next week!
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?w9wtj04xpfvdsdk
This session started off with a BANG! Right in the middle of mortal combat with a mutated blue dragonborn and its red dragonborn keeper, you struggles to remain conscious as you are continuously beaten back. Sorn jumps into the fray and takes a hit or two to keep the brute away from Runt and the barely conscious Orsik.
The bluespawn ended up falling at the hands of Sorn, and a nicely aimed hellish rebuke to the back of the neck. After the beast was slain, you traveled several blocks through town, until you found a gathering of kobolds in a muddy park. They were being commanded by an inspiring and every eloquent kobold: General Brobag. His speech was stirring, and he inspired the kobolds to rise and fight against the largelings, who drove them underground, to fight for their freedom and honor, and fight to be escape the red dragon tyranny.
His speech was interrupted by Sorn, who stepped between the kobold masses and summoned a bolt of fire from Phlegethos and hurled it straight at the general. Brobag raised his battle standard, a glorious banner dating back to the Nerathan empire, and a golden aura appeared around Brobag, and deflected the bolt so that it directly hit the large beam in the center of the raised platform on which he was standing. This beam splintered under the force, and caught fire. The fire quickly burned through the wood and split the beam so that it collapses, falling onto the platform (20 feet above the ground), and the whole structure went up in flames.
When the smoke cleared you found Brobag, the glorious general, impaled upon a large splinter of wood, decrying that his death was unjust with his kin still not free.
The fight continued, all of the kobolds swarming and attempting to kill Sorn, as the one who killed their leader. Sorn was beaten within an inch of his life, with only the team to account for his surviving. After the fight, however, with everyone thoroughly beaten, Howell spoke with you for a moment, informing you about what is going on. The most important part of the talk is that the attack is led by two albino dragonborn, the Eyes of the Emperor, who are rumored to wander the land razing villages and leading armies in the name of the emperor (for more information see the session log).
The session ended with a cryptic message about Sorn's debts, and that he would eventually have to pay them off, before Howell disappeared.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?uicexm8p4yj3838
After resting in Belegost you struck out again in the Death Knell, this time with General Eramor, on our way to Granville. After a week and a half of traveling you finally make it to the city, only to find it covered in storm clouds, and you get the strange sense that you've seen this all before.
As you get closer, you realize that the storm clouds are the same as when you flew to Mithrendain, and Skyshatter was fighting with Rime. Slowing entering the clouds that cover the city, your vision cuts to what's right in front of your airship. The sounds of battle rise up to meet you, and the smell of smoke mixes with the moist air. Something is happening below, but you're not sure what.
Then, out of the mists, a colossal red dragon spews a cone of inferno that goes just over the top of your ship, singing the sails and wood. This red wyrm then perches on the front of the Death Knell, snarling and growling at you as it looks down at your crew with malicious intent. All of a sudden the smell of ozone, and a forked spray of lightning blasts the dragon, blinding you momentarily, and Skyshatter, the beast of a blue dragon, descends down upon the red dragon, gripping its back with his enormous claws. Skyshatter rips the dragon from your ship, and a few panels of metal plating along with it. Skyshatter tosses the dragon into the mists again, and briefly turns and looks at you, as if seeing through to your very soul. He then takes wing and flies after the red dragon, leaving your ship shaking and smoldering.
It was at this point that you all descended to the cargo bay and leaped out into the city. Krayus stayed above to watch the city and mind the airship. When you landed, you found the city overrun with kobolds. Mobs of kobolds running through the streets, destroying buildings, setting the place aflame, led by singular commander kobolds. Your fight with then soon escalated as two red dragonborn approached, tailing behind a very large, almost mutant blue dragonborn. This blue dragonborn was grotesquely disfigured, with bulging muscles, an oversized mouth filled with hundreds of needle-like teeth. It wielded a man-sized jagged sword, charge through the streets, lightning crackling under its feet.
To make it all worse, Howell, the warlock that you met when you destroyed the Wanton Wyvern, showed up, first descending down with you using leathery bat-wings that seemed fused to his skin, and then landing with you. He didn't seem interested in fighting, instead, he spent the time watching you fight the kobolds and dragonborn, offering little tips, like that the general of the kobolds could be found to the east, and was a real blighter. Soon into combat though, he disappeared, only saying that he would see you again.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?1emargdthkcytjg
This session started with a stirring speech by Remnar, and a joining of forces: the dwarves and eladrin allied against the dragons, and they will be working to restore the world. The first move you agreed upon was moving the dwarves and eladrin forces to Granville, to fortify it and begin any military campaign. To this end, your goal will be to make it to Granville and set up a Travel Stone for them to utilize.
After this, you decided to leave army building/training to Remnar and Varithralis, while you strike at Eldarnath once more, to see what has become of the elves. All of this was discussed over King Remnar's own store of alcohol, a quaint hole-in-the-wall style parlor.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?u6d3v2stl7nc3mo
(Okay, now to actually put this thing here)
This session was the continuation of the fight with the Black Dragon Gulgol, Mistress of the Swamp. This session saw her downfall, though not before nearly taking Runt, Krayus and Lumi with her. The killing blow was delivered by Krayus, who scored a critical hit on the beast, causing her to rear up and thrash backwards, destroying a section of the wall of her cave, draining much of the water, and revealing a way out.
Shortly after this Sorn was able to pull Remnar out of the deathgrip vines, and through your combined efforts, were able to revive him. As a group, you then escaped, while Rurik used a sending stone to call for the Death Knell to pick you up.
On the return trip you were able to count the treasure left in Gulgol's horde, which was quite a sum. Remnar, during the trip, spoke with Sorn and, as a champion of Moradin, bestowed upon Sorn Moradin's Blessing of Iron Might as a boon for rescuing him.
The trip ended with a speech by Remnar about the importance of overcoming racial boundaries and working together, and gave you the princely sum of 300 platinum to fun the war effort.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?uvq9apraz72949f
LEVEL UP! Enjoy level 17, and your new encounter power.
Sorn received Moradin's Blessing of Iron
Runt got a Blazing Arc Ki Focus
You received two other items: Helm of Heroes, and a Ring of the Spectral Hands
You got 844 platinum from both Gulgol's horde, and from Remnar's war funds.
This encounter started off slow; a careful trip across a swampy cave chamber to rescue Remnar, but it quickly turned into a fight for dwarf-kind when Gulgol leaped from the water and grabbed Orsik in her mighty jaws. Gulgol held fast to Orsik, but Orsik escaped, and the heroes quickly turned against her and locked her down. The 6 heroes opened fire, quickly holding her still and keeping her from doing too much damage. But soon, after the first barrage of attacks was completed Gulgol became enraged and the fight turned for the worse.
Upon reaching her wounded state Gulgol shrugged off your effects and dove underwater, dragging Lumi with her. At first she remained hidden, but not for long as you spotted her thanks to some bubbles rising to the surface. With that you pinpointed her position again, bringing her back to the surface as Lumi teleported away.
She quickly changed targets and started going after Runt, whom she dragged to the bottom of the water, attempting to crush him with her jaws, and suffocate him. It almost worked, he barely made it to the surface before he began drowning. At this point, it's a race against time, can you kill her before she kills you? She has Krayus in her grasp, and your strength is waning as the fight turns against you.
Can you defeat the second godly dragon? Gulgol, mistress of the black dragons and ruler of the marshes: will you kill her, or will you, as she says, rot at the bottom of her watery kingdom.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?p973p7uzb95dvka
This session started off by contacting Rurik, who was en route to the great hall, thanks to the dwarves you sent off as runners. Upon meeting him there you find a few dozen dwarves banding together into groups to defend against the yuan-ti, all of whom appear to be retreating (or trying to). With Rurik at your side, you head off to examine the means by which the yuan-ti infiltrated the city.
This question is answered when you arrive at one of the old swamp reservoirs that is used to collect and filter water from the swamp. It seems somehow Gulgol blocked off the water feeding the reservoir and broke the grating blocking off the reservoir and used it as a tunnel into the mountain.
Like good adventurers, you followed this muck-filled tunnel for a quarter mile before you found an exit. Unfortunately, just before the exit was another tunnel, from which a torrent of water was spewing; the water that at one point filled the reservoir, no doubt. Thus came the challenge of not being flung about like a rag doll by the immense water pressure. Lumi started off by creating a bubble of protection, keeping water from crushing everyone while Sorn ran ahead as fast as he could. Sorn was pinned against a wall by the water, but quickly teleported further ahead, and up onto dry ground. The rest of the group didn't fare so well, as Rurik slowly slipped outside the sphere of protection, and Tallon and Lumi had to rush to save him. Lumi's distraction causes the bubble to collapse and water to rush around the heroes.
Now battling for their lives, the heroes attempted to hold fast. Krayus planted the Standard of the Silver Dragon and used his dragon's breath to freeze and slow the water some. Sorn, safe above the water attempted to blast the tunnel from which the water rushed, closed. At first it wasn't a success, rocks and debris was thrown loose, which knocked into the other heroes. His second attempt collapses a tree and blocked most of the tunnel, leaving the heroes able to swim to safety, only slightly the worse for wear. Rurik, however, was wounded in the process and is now likely unable to fight.
Once in the marsh-cave that you escaped through, you quickly find a water-filled room. This room had vines and roots hanging from the ceiling, a cluster of which held King Remnar suspended, unconscious. How you proceed with this room is entirely up to you, and will be determined next week!
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?887ypusp53f4q11
This session saw our heroes making their way into the royal quarters of Belegost. First they had to get past the door that closes the area. Two pressure plates, usually reserved for guards, that when stood on, reveal two symbols on the door for the guards to place their hands on, which opens the door. A rather convoluted measure, to be sure, but an effective one at keeping intruders out.
Past this door, you descended to the royal quarters, where the council chamber was upended and destroyed, and where you found more yuan-ti waiting in the throne room and adjoining chambers. Upon the throne was an Oni who loved to curse: Tzaryen Rroc. Leader of at least part of the invasion, this overlord was a pushover without his hordes of yuan-ti to fight for him.
After the fight you witnessed both a very inspiring and a very sad scene. Upon trying to communicate with the corpse of a dead guard you witnessed the very last moments of the dwarven resistance. The yuan-ti pushed the dwarves to the very end, until they were only a dozen, defending the throne room to keep Remnar and his wife safe.
Remnar summoned two elementals of stone to aid in the fight, and together they slew dozens of yuan-ti, but the hordes kept coming, and eventually only Remnar and his wife remained. Remnar was able to keep the hordes back, invoking his shamanistic power to hold the snakes with rock and stone and deflecting arrows with walls of earth…
… Until a stray arrow pierced his wife, and she fell back, poisoned, bleeding, dying. The bindings of earth fell away and the yuan-ti pressed forward, swarming over Remnar, binding him as he watched his wife die. As a final act, Remnar encased his wife in stone under the floor, ensuring the yuan-ti could not touch her. Then he was taken away, bound and unconscious.
After this scene, you spoke with the ghost: it told you that he had died 8 days ago, and that hek knew not where Remnar was taken. Lastly, he said that the yuan-ti arrived through the lower-south reservoir channel. The next move to be made is up to you, what will you do next?
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?5tbjh44j5dabgkw
On the Oni, Tzaryen Rroc, you found 56 platinum pieces, and an Iron Ring of the Dwarf Lords. I don't know who got the ring, so weigh in here if you'd like it. I've updated the Loot Table page accordingly, so check it out if you have questions.
This session the heroes took out a large amount of yuan-ti that were in the main hall of Belegost; those that didn't die to you all were fighting your the eladrin distraction team. Along with destroying more yuan-ti, you had to make sure that the dwarves made it out of the hall alive to warn other dwarves of the attack.
Two of the dwarves got caught off guard and came very close to dying, but thanks to your strength and ingenuity, you kept them alive (if not well). Next up is the King's chambers.
No session log for this week; I was tired and forgot to save one.
This session saw the players finishing their initial combat with the Yuan-ti assaulting the Travel Stones and keeping a group of dwarves pinned inside a closet for 3 weeks. The yuan-ti are a different type of enemy, able to manipulate their enemies' minds and force them to attack their allies. The battle was tough, but the heroes came out on top, with only a single Yuan-ti escaping.
After this, the eldarin reinforcements were brought in, led by Varithralis. A short planning session and an interrogation of a dead yuan-ti later, our heroes decided to send the eladrin to attack as a a distraction and draw out part of the yuan-ti forces holding Belegost's main city hall. This diversion worked, and just in time too, since shortly after reaching the main hall (and seeing the vastness of the yuan-ti forces which numbered at least a hundred), there were sounds of combat and flashes of magic from the higher levels of Belegost, drawing away many of the defenders from the lower level.
This left you three dozen of your own snakes to fight, but how you fare will be determined next week!
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?bhi66w0jo8x0ut4
After spending some time talking around Dorne, and resting up a bit, you have teleported once more to Belegost, where you find the portal moved to a storage chamber. The dwarves that did the moving were trapped, unable to retreat from that storage chamber because the Yuan-ti blocked them in.
In this storage room, you found some neat toys to use later on. Some clockwork bombs, a resonance crystal, and some potions of vitality. The four dwarves were a little edgy after spending 3 weeks huddled up in a tiny storage chamber; even dwarves get cabin fever.
To start off combat, you rigged up a trap to defend the room against attack, and then rushed out, igniting a combat with Yuan-ti (snake-creatures). Their venom proved too much for Krayus, and he ended up succumbing to the mind-controlling aspects the poison can have.
We'll have to wait until next week to see how the combat resolves, and what will happen next as you attempt to retake Belegost!
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?eoeetc3htgygkm6
This session involved two important plot points. Your discussion and planning with General Eramor informed you to the state of the Imperial City, which is guarded by a barrier of some sort, beyond which patrol fire giants, elementals, red dragons, and creatures of fire and shadow he did not know of.
Important plot point 1: Howell was one of Eramor's interrogators. He asked if the General knew of the city Vor Rukoth. As a group, you learned that Vor Rukoth was a Tiefling city that was powerful with various families during the Bael Turathi empire, and was important as it was had one of the only refineries for the rare red-gold metal Orium, which was said to be smelted in forges that summoned fire from the Abyss itself.
Important plot point 2: Rurik contacted you via the sending stones, and informed you that he arrived back at Belegost. Unfortunately the city's main hall had been taken by Yuan-ti forces of Gulgol, and stopped communication between all the branches of the dwarves, so they could not coordinate a counter attack. Rurik will be flying over the swamp, looking for Gulgol, and trying to draw attention away from the mountain.
At the end of the night, Eramor was sent to Starfall to remain safe, and Krayus made the rest of the group Bloodscales, invoking the Blood Trade that intertwines your honors and dishonors.
Now you have the time to craft magic items, so if you would like to make something, look at the Loot Table page to see how much gold you have, and leave a comment saying what you would like.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?0jll569x9yiplfg
This week saw the death of High Prophet Arjhan, who has been a thorn in your side for almost a year now. Before his death he revealed his ultimate goals: The rebirth of Arkhosia. To sum up his pre-death monologue:
In ancient Arkhosia dragons both metallic and chromatic were the rulers, who held the balance of Tiamat and Bahamut. The two gods were worshiped as two sides of the same coin: each needed the other. Arjhan found a dragon that survived the purging of the dragons and downfall of Arkhosia, and sought him out. This dragon was Ashardalon, or Ashwing.
Arjhan and the dragon struck a deal. Arjhan would rally his people and ready them for the coming of the dragons and the rebirth of their empire, while Ashardalon would return and inspire the dragonborn to rise again. Sadly, Ashwing was less noble and had grown hateful over thousands of years. His return brought not the empire Arjhan wanted, but a dark and twisted version.
Then Krayus hatches, blessed with the mark of Bahamut. Arjhan banishes him so that he will see the splintered way the dragonborn live, and eventually desire the same thing as Arjhan. It took many years, but all of this culminated atop Sunspear, where Krayus slew the prophet and took on the his mantle, aspiring to lead his people to glory once again, where Arjhan failed.
Word ran through the city quickly that Krayus had returned and almost all the citizens gathered around the tower. Though dissenters and those loyal to Arjhan were causing destruction and violence. Krayus calmed the masses (he was bloody terrifying), and inspired them to rally around his cause, to restore the empire of Arkhosia. Was this all part of Arjhan's plan? Guess you'll never find out now.
After the stirring speech, General Mance Eramor found you, urging you to discuss the retaking of his country, and his return to the Imperial City. One problem after another, it seems…
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?4obg3mb36uzx4rs
A fast-paced session, you were captured and had your weaponry removed from you, and then stuck into sun-rooms, which were exactly as they sound: open air prisons 90 feet above the ground. Krayus, however, was able to fly around to the cells, and deliver some tools to Sorn so he could bust open the locks. Though the commotion caused alerted a Bahamut priest to come investigating; Sorn turned him into a melted pile of bone and cloth.
After everyone had been freed, a second priest of Bahamut arrived, and revealed that he was part of the revolution against the prophet. He had kept all of your gear in the area, to help you escape easier. Along with your gear, you also found a few pieces of loot, but found Krayus' Bahamut's fang was missing.
You then raced upward, through Sunspear Tower to find Arjhan at the very top. You found him flying on a drakkensteed on the top of Sunspear, where you began to battle him. The fight seems to be easy, but you've only been through the first half so far. We'll see how things turn out next week!
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?12ag2qt044dasoo
You found some loot – +4 Elven Cloak, Rapidstrike Bracers, and 110 platinum
Can't wait to see how this fight turns out next week!
Sometimes fate can't be helped, and there is no good outcome for a situation. Tonight is one of those nights. After retreating from Devonshire in Alden (Krayus' sweet-talking abilities fell slightly short) with Valek, the small girl, and a ritual book for the ritual used on the two, you return to Starfall to deliver the bad news.
Through some study you find out that the ritual performed is a very potent and intricate ritual designed to draw the victim's soul out of their body, and bind it to another being, who can control and manipulate the soul like a puppet. The body is left in a catatonic state. Jael theorized that Valek might have died because he resisted (the victim needs to be in a state of terror and panic for the ritual to work properly), or because his death was part of some greater scheme.
After this research, and some ritual mastering, you used a portal to reach Dorne, where the General is being held, as Valek's dying note said. As a surprise, the Travel Stones in Dorne were moved, and you ended up walking into a trap. Two hulking dragonborn ambushed you, grabbing several of your group and allowing some smaller jailors to shackle you and keep you from counter-attacking. It was a brutal ambush, but you were about to pull through, before fate threw another sucker punch your way.
High Prophet Arjhan Bloodscale and four of his winged sentinels arrived, ending the fight pretty quickly. Wearing bright golden armor that shimmered in a magnificent way (like Tiandra, only more intimidating). He ordered his hulking dragonborn to stop, and requested that you all remain compliant, because he has no qualms with your deaths, but does not want it to come to that.
What his ultimate goals are remains to be seen, but for now, you have no real options besides cooperating. Maybe fate will be more lenient next time.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?ga4yhdoh51pfozs
I added a list of rituals known to the Loot Table page. Let me know what rituals you have so I can add them to the list.
This session saw our heroes returning from their side-trip into the woods surrounding Cromlech, Lumi's home town. They arrive at Devonshire within 4 days of their detour, and found it guarded by kobolds and dragonborn: not that unusual.
What was unusual, was that the guards mentioned that the Scions of the Horned Empire had taken residence in the local church and town hall, and no dragonborn were allowed in. The group, made up of Tieflings, take prisoners in on a daily basis, and none of them every leave. A sweep of the town revealed Valek prison house (thanks to Wafado's clue about searching for four of anything as a message), where they found a small note, on which was scribbled
"General sent to Dorne. Send Thalia my love, she was right about one thing. V"
Krayus then demanded entry into the chapel, which, upon entrance, teleported them to an extra-dimensional pocket where Tieflings were performing rituals upon Valek and a small girl no older than 8. Valek was dead on arrival, the girl was pinned, and could only move her eyes.
A fight ensued, which ended rather quickly with the death of the two tieflings and their cambion keeper. The room, which looked like a weird juxtaposition of hell became unstable, with the portal of dark energies spiraling out of control and the ground cracking underneath a blood red sky. The ground fell out from under you, and you fell into darkness, eventually landing in the church that was supposed to be there.
Upon returning to the prime, the girl went limp and the dragonborn began circling the building, looking in. We ended with Tallon hurrying to prepare a portal to Starfall, while Orsik tries to keep Valek from slipping further into darkness, and Krayus tries to reason with the dragonborn and convince them of their innocence…. We'll see how this all works out next week.
Points of Interest
Next week will be our first Sunday session, and will start at 6pm PST, unless people email me and let me know if they can be there earlier.
You got some loot! +4 Incisive Dagger, +4 Skin of Agonies, and 170 platinum. You can deliberate on distribution in the comments.
Thanks for a great session guys!
Session log: http://www.mediafire.com/?mi5zek2tgt71q5u
A brutal session that involved Lilith, Lumi's sister, arriving, and demanding to "play" with you after your investigation of the town revealed some scary journals written in blood on the walls, doors, and tables around the buildings.
Lilith appeared to have befriended a dark and powerful creature who has no name at this point other than "Hoodie", given by Lilith based on the dark robes the creature wears when not in combat. This beast, with its onyx skull head and four clawed arms, tore apart the heroes, inflicting major damage and really pushing you to your max. Lumi and Sorn came close to dying, as did Tallon if it weren't for a well-placed action point.
Lots of blood and gore all around, but read the log for more information on the dealings with Lilith, who disappeared into the fog with a shadowy creature after Hoodie died, proclaiming that she had fun watching you, and learned a lot. She'll be waiting for you and that you'll get a chance to play again.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?74917o7ctuztdob
Stuff happened; I'll update it when I have more time.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?l98nya97f1jikbb
After slaying three of the mightiest dragons in Granville, your words stirred a revolution in the hearts of the Granvillians, and got them ready for a war, once the General shows up again. Whether you can get the General before the city is destroyed is another matter entirely…
You also were approached by Jarod Umbermoore, guild master of the Metalsmith and Coiner's Guild, who offered you a sack of platinum as a token of friendship, now that he's one of the only remaining guildsmen. During the confrontation he admitted to betraying the Pirate Captain Morgan, though it was a job of his, and he was a mercenary. He did steal a bit of the treasure, and gave out a portion to the crew that mutinied with him.
In the end, you got him to apologize to the dead pirate at the mass grave for criminals. The catch is that Morgan was pissed, and so he ended up possessing Jarod and killing him from within, making him bleed out his eyes, ears and nose. After that, Morgan appeared, and hissed at you: "I'm going to hell… I'll see you there."
Lastly, Tallon revealed that one of the two people you rescued from the devils at the Wanton Wyvern was his foster sister Ryn (Ariel's biological sister). You talked with her about her staying in Granville with Alec, a friend of Tallon's mentor, but now she's been sent back to Starfall since Alec was killed in the bar.
Next up is the trip through southern Nentir into Alden for the first time. You'll be passing through (or around) a crossroads city on your way to Devonshire, the ultimate goal. You'll have to face patrols the dragons' minions and the harsh ashen wasteland that is Alden. Fun times for all!
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?8z59t8jx5rgjo6c
This session saw the continuation of the riots that started with the destruction and slaughter of the guild masters. With two unconscious guild masters it's tough to escape the carnage, but you do. As you are about to make your escape the Arcanist projects his voice over the city, calling out to you and challenging you to face him.
In the end you walked out to face him in the Plaza of Remembrance. There was a discussion about what had happened, and its summed up like this:
The ensuing combat was between the Arcanist and two other dragons: Relistrasza and Cylogosa. Together, the three proved challenging, though your strength has increased in leaps and bounds since you last fought the Arcanist.
As the session ended, you found a crowd gathered around the plaza, looking on with awe and terror, unsure what to make of the scene. How they react will depend on your next moves…
LEVEL UP! You have reached level 15. Enjoy your new daily power.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?5hr53tc4d8ky5cv
This session you crashed the high stakes poker game with all the guild masters! You broke in through the upper story balcony after some acrobatics with an immovable rod, and surprised the group. At first they thought it was funny, but after Orsik beheaded on, they began to take him seriously. Some bruisers and hit men attacked, led by the blue dragonborn Nevek Thunderwing, liaison for the Arcanist.
The fight was brutal, and almost led to the (second) death of Lumi, and even got knocked Orsik unconscious. Half way through the fight, when Nevek was looking haggard a new challenger appeared: Howell. A strange half-elf with even stranger powers. He could corrupt the mind, incinerate the flesh, and summon devils! He offered information that he knew of Sorn's pact holder, and that they could help each other.
Towards the end of the fight Sorn and Howell made a deal, and Howell agreed to stop fighting them, though he summoned a horde of devils to utterly kill the unconscious humans, though you all managed to save 2 (for what reason has yet to be seen).
The end result of this fight is that the bar went up in flames, and the bystanders watched, blamed the dragons for betraying them and killing their leaders (when it you who had killed their leaders). Krayus took the moment to incite riots against the dragons, using their love-turned-hatred for the dragons as a fuel. As the riots started the dragons grouped up, at least 5 where you are, and began turning the rioters to ash with lightning, but the damage had been done. The city burned and will forever be remembered as the Night of Pyres.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?pv1g875q7ke77q7
Leave comments or question below if you think I missed anything.
Lots of information thrown around this week!
First off, you emerged from the underground smuggling caves into an abandoned and unused house. This house was in the Sea Ward, in northern Granville. While here, Sorn heard a halfling talking in his head, saying "where are you guys, you were supposed to be here already." A quick message to Jael confirmed this was Wafado, who was warned of your arrival.
Your next goal was meeting him at the Plaza of Remembrance. On the way, you ran into some guards while looking at some of the wanted posters of your group (turns out Lumi and Tallon DID have wanted posters of them, they just weren't given to the hired swords in Sigil). Some quick thinking from Tallon and Sorn, and some fancy crowd control by Orsik, and you got away safely.
Once at the Plaza, you were pestered by a young punk kid, who threw an acorn at Lumi's head. He beckoned you to follow him, and he led you on a nice chase through Granville, avoiding guards and busy streets, until you ended up in a storm-celler, and the kid revealed himself as the Halfling Wafado; an operative in the Order.
He gave you a lot of information about Granville and Alden, so I'll go through this in a list:
Lastly, Wafado asked for help, since the guild masters were getting together for a high stakes poker game that night at the Wanton Wyvern bar. He said that if the leaders were taken out, the citizens would be impossible to control by the dragons, and it would be easy for the General to move in and claim control of the city.
So you took up this offer, and that's where we'll start next week!
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?f3cm4u9rrbbzcui
This session started with a gauntlet of hazards as you jumped between ships, while avoiding cannons, falling masts, broken flooring, shark infested waters, and hordes of undead pirates. It was tense, and there were a few scares when some of you fell into the water and were almost eaten by sharks, or blown away by cannon fire.
In the end, you escaped to the other side of the harbor and into a small room where Captain Morgan began to mind-control each of you and make you attack your allies. The only way to defeat him was to attack your allies, which hurt the Captain. There was a small puzzle, involving an empty fountain, but Sorn solved it in no time, by filling the fountain with water to dispel the illusion covering the exit.
Lumi's interaction with the spirit let you in on his reason for being there: His prior first mate, Jarod Umbermoore, betrayed him to soldiers and let him be hanged, while he stole away with most of his significant treasure horde.
80 platinum in gems and coin
+4 Retribution Executioner's Axe
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?g8tja9yy86rj87c
Leave a comment if you want to add any information you might want to keep.
A straight-forward session: You crewed a ship to Granville, where you realized security had been heightened, as the entire bay was blockaded off by warships. Not only that, but there were a couple dragons flying about the city.
So you took Spaffy's advice, and looked for one of the smuggling passages used in the past by pirates; and you found one. An old smuggling cave, which turned into some weird resting place for a pirate captain, his crew, and his pet shark.
You defeated the captain and his pet shark, but his crew is up next, manning old derelict vessels in a cave harbor under Granville. You'll have to wait and see what happens next!
This session saw you return back to Starfall with the dragonborn and Iojad. Jael gave some terrible news on the state of the world:
Granville is becoming more militarized.
Human sacrifices have started in Alden, and Valek is missing
Belegost has been invaded.
The Elven resistance has been destroyed, with Tariel, Ariel and Lia's sister all taken prisoner.
There was much interaction, and talk between Iojad, Jael and yourselves, but the decision was made to travel to Alden to find Valek and rescue General Eramor. To do that you will need to seek Wafado in Granville, who was the last to know where Valek was in Alden.
To that end, you will take a small replacement vessel to Granville. Spaffy has told you that there are secret tunnels in the cliffs of Granville that lead into the Bastille; pirates used them from time to time to smuggle goods into the city.
While you are doing all this in Granville and Alden, Iojad will take his dragonborn to Eldarnath to do what he can about the Elf prisoners there.
If there was anything important I forget, leave it in a comment. Sorry for the lack of combat tonight, but I promise I'll make it up next week!
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?d5qqpijhc4l9aba
This session saw the heroes messing around after their victory. Along with buying items, they engaged in numerous jovial activities.
Lumenai disguised himself as a really attractive female eladrin, and seduced and charmed Runt, eventually leading to the purchasing of a magic set of dice, which Runt gave to "Kaya". After that it was one short humiliation before Runt realized it was Lumi, when "Kaya" flashed a pair of scarred breasts, revealing himself as Lumi. Much fun was to be had, read the log for more of it.
Tallon was reunited with his mentor, Saeval Eveningfall, whom he had thought was dead. Apparently he was hiding when the attack happened, and taken prisoner. Ryn is in Granville, though where she is, is uncertain.
Krayus and Iojad had a conversation about each others' histories, and their future role as world-shapers together.
Sorn did some research in the massive Eladrin libraries, searching for clues to his heritage, leading to a small revelation about himself and which house he belong to.
The day ended with a drinking competition of great proportion, and Orsik, Sorn and Runt faced off by drinking some of the world's most expensive liquor. From elvish wine, to dragonborn whiskey, to goblin beer, to yuan-ti blood, the three really put their stomachs on the line for this one. In the end, it was a tie between Orsik and Sorn, with Runt having fallen out of the standings earlier.
You can see loot changes at the loot page here.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?wmmnoytidiy
This session marked the downfall of Rime! Though not without its own sacrifices. Lumenai fell victim to a merciless slaughter by the catastrophic dragon. Tiandra did her best to keep the group healthy, and she did. Her blessings ensured the heroes could face off against Rime without it leading to a total slaughter. At the end, Orsik found himself pushed over the edge of the spire, and he fell half way down before he could use his wings to regain control and land safely on a window sill.
After the battle, Skyshatter landed and spoke with you about the nature of Rime's existence, and how he sided with the Primordials during the Dawn War, forsaking Bahamut and Tiamat after Io was slain by the King of Terror. He was only slightly arrogant and condescending, which is a lot better than usual for dragon-"gods".
After Skyshatter left, Tiandra had the group move to the Ley Line, where she would resurrect Lumenai. Though not before revealing that her help in the fight was not part of the agreement, and she wanted some compensation for that. Her requirement was simple: a kiss. And Orsik obliged, giving Tiandra a kiss that sucked part of his soul out, and imbuing him with a shard of the Summer Queen's powers: His hair and eyes are not colored faintly red.
LEVEL UP! You have all reached level 14. Send me a character sheet for next week, and update your tokens.
Your help in retaking the city has left you with a small part of Rime's horde. You have earned 18,000 gold in gems, jewelry, and platinum pieces.
As a token of good faith, Tiandra has given Lumi an item to keep him safe: A +3 Mantle of Regret, since she regrets having let him die.
Off-Session Notes:
We will have the off-session not next week, but the following week. Please send me a character sheet for your character with the updates.
The updates are – Level 3 with two magic items of level 5 and 6 (or lower).
If you can make your own token, please do so. Justin will send out a campaign file for you to edit your tokens on and make sure they work. You can send me the token and character sheet at the same time.
If you absolutely cannot make a token, let me know and I'll try to get the token made.
I only expect the off-session to last a single session this time, rather than two, just so you know.
If there are any questions, leave a comment here or email me. Thanks for a great session, I enjoyed it (finally got to kill a PC after 2 years of playing :D).
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?hznjnzjrdyt
This session saw the heroes restore power to the ley lines, call forth the portals that would allow the Eladrin to arrive in the city. After this, the Eladrin poured forth in the hundreds, circling around the dragonborn fighting in the courtyard. After returning to ground level, it was apparent that Rime and Skyshatter still battling high above the city. Until now, the battle had been a stalemate, but with the ley lines no longer giving power to Rime, Skyshatter was able to wound the White Wyrm. Rime crashed into a tower, shattering the crystal, while the Blue Wyrm circled overhead like a hawk.
Tiandra, Queen of the Summer Fey, urged the heroes to finish off Rime, and so they were off, racing to the spire, and up to the top, where they find Rime laying on the floor, with a scorch mark on his underside from where the lightning bolt hit him.
A short conversation ensued, where-in the heroes learned that Rime is at least 6000 years old, possibly more so, as he hinted at living during the Dawn War (the cataclysmic war between the gods and primordials). At first the dragon was terrifyingly powerful, quickly making the heroes think that fleeing was a good idea. But after a minute of battle, Tiandra appeared on the tower, stunning the dragon and revitalizing the heroes with her magic.
Thus the fight began. Tiandra used her powers to boost the heroes' strength so that they might contend with such a powerful beast. Rime struggled to fight back, having already been wounded. In the end, the players struck down Rime. With his dying breath, the White Wyrm uttered a phrase in primordial, cursing the players. With that his body fell away, leaving a husk of a dragon, oozing with elemental and eldritch energy. Rime had showed his true form, revealing his purely elemental nature. This will be a fight harder than any our heroes have faced before.
Session: http://www.mediafire.com/?azzmcqmtoxm
This sessions saw the heroes treat with Captain Iojad, who has offered his self and the soldiers under him to fight with the heroes. All he has said on why he turned is that he would rather die with pride and honor than as a slave to a tyrannical god.
Once the short discussion ended, Iojad and his men moved to defend the spire so that the heroes could be inside and uninterrupted. There they found a hundred statues made entirely of ice. These statues were amazingly realistic and hyper-detailed, down to eyelashes and stray strands of hair. This is what happened to any left in Mithrendain after Rime took over: they became a frozen statue. It is unknown how they might be revived.
Then it was on to the ley line. Of course things didn't go as planned and the heroes ended up fighting a huge winter elemental, which was drawing energy from the ley line and using it to freeze the city. The battle was a spectacular one, in which Sorn almost died, but thanks to quick planning and lucky dice rolls, he didn't.
With the elemental destroyed, the city's power source was restored, and the ice covering everything was starting to melt as well. The last thing they heard was a mighty roar from one of the dragons, followed by a flash of lightning, a peal of thunder, and one more roar. After that, silence.
Session Log: TO BE ADDED
This session saw our heroes running a midnight spy session around the city, distracting guards, sending them off in search other places, scouting out the best routes to the Star Spire, and eventually making it back before dying of hypothermia in the below-zero degree weather.
The next morning, you moved on the spire quickly and easily, as all the guards were missing, oddly enough. The first form of resistance you find is the massive army of archons in front of the Star Spire, led by their commander, Zaelex. The dwarves covered your flanks while you attacked the group directly in front of the entrance to the spire, only to be repelled by a dozen soldiers, a few elite guards, their commander, and their pet beholder, and Eye of Frost. The battle was quick and efficient, though there were casualties on both sides. Several dwarves died, leaving your force at 8, not including Rurik and the dwarves on the airship.
After the Beholder fell, the troops began to flee, as did Zaelex, but all of them met their demise in doing so. The path into the Star Spire is open to you now, and the ley line awaits.
Before you could enter, more dragonborn, several dozen in fact, led by Captain Iojad arrived, facing your small force. Iojad nodded a small nod, looked straight at Krayus, and spoke in a proud, regal and commanding voice. He said, loud enough to echo through the streets, "Do what you came here to do, brother. We are with you."
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?ofdgjkd3wyo
This session started off with Orsik and his dwarf shock trooper buddies rejoining the fight. The dwarves blocked the northern and eastern fronts, so that you could focus solely on the frost giants (and the left over troops from Captain Iojad's command). The fight was tough, and it was thanks to Orsik, who was fresh and not fatigued that the fight ended with minimal casualties from the dwarves: three dwarves died, while 8 are exhausted and cannot fight until they take an extended rest.
After the frost giants fell, you spotted more dragonborn lining up along the large avenues, blocking your path to the Spire directly, but you found some side-roads to take. Unfortunately you couldn't decide quickly enough and had to run since a group of soldiers was gaining on you. Then came a series of running, jumping, and crawling over ice and snow to get away from the soldiers, with short breaks to help the dwarves.
When it seemed that you would be caught for sure, you spotted a large building, blocked off except for a few windows that hadn't been covered in snow. You hid in their, waiting for 10 minutes before the patrol moved on to other areas to search. Once free to roam around, you found that the building you were in was a storage building, containing everything from civic utilities to arcane training implements, to trinkets and decorations. In there you found a few magic items, as well as a hefty sum of gold in the form of valuable silks, gems, trinkets and jewelry. The magic items you found are as follows:
Magicians Ring – lets you cast wizard cantrips as a minor action.
+4 Rod of the Solstice (Rod of the Churning Inferno) – burns things.
Majestic Tapestry – allows you to use View Location through the tapestry without expending components.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?hfygkdz2nzy
Polassar and Polazandar, twin white dragons under the Winter God Rime swooped down and attacked while the heroes were trying to regroup. Along with the dragons, small squads of dragonborn and ice archons arrived and harried you, keeping you split up and letting the dragons threaten to kill Lumenai and Runt.
Several minutes into the combat another group entered, led by the dragonborn named Captain Iojad, who led a group of ice archons and dragonborn. He spoke to Krayus shortly, before being the subject of several dozen points of damage before retreating to safety. Perhaps you shall see him again.
Polassar was slain by Krayus and Runt's awesome double-teaming, leaving Polazandar facing Tallon and Lumenai. This did not end well. Lumenai was knocked unconscious, and the dragon flew off before Krayus could get a healing power on Lumi, leaving the group facing a squad of dragonborn and archons. Not to be challenged lightly, 3 frost giants are barreling towards the group, chasing Orsik who has been rounding up dwarven shock troopers, and are running from the giants.
We shall see how this battle ends next week!
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?ykjlnwtwmmm
This session was a doozy! The heroes took off from the Dwarven Kingdom in their airship Death Knell. They flew for 10 days over the icy tundra of north Illia. On the way the party got familiar with the dwarves they were working with. Krayus got to be pretty good friends with a few. Sorn stayed watch for most of the trip, his body heat making it easier to endure the frigid temperatures. Tallon and Lumi worked to keep the generator recharged, which was exhausting work by itself.
Hilarity ensued when Lumi was asleep one night… Orsik dressed up as a boat of death (reference to a comment Lumi made about death being a boat) and woke up Lumi, trying to get him to think he was dead. It might have worked, but Orsik has a very unmistakable dwarven voice. Tallon helped a little, as did Runt. Runt used his magic hat to turn into a ghost and try and get Lumi to hop on the "boat". Lumi refused to fall for it, so Orsik tackled him, and Runt tied Lumi up. Together they tossed Lumi overboard (he was tied to the railing, thankfully) and left him there until morning, at which point Lumi was suffering from hypothermia and frostbite. Lumi was seething and is currently plotting his revenge.
After the small airship shenanigans the party arrived at Mithrendain, only it was surrounded by a thick coat of storm clouds. Never afraid the group flew straight into the clouds, where they were met with lightning, hail and powerful winds. There were also shadows appearing and disappearing in the clouds that could be seen when the lightning struck.
The party navigated the storm carefully, and without much incident, though the hail and wind did some damage to the ship, nothing was too bad. The real challenge came when the ship burst free from the clouds and spotted the City of Glass. Two dragons took wing from their sentry spire perch and made haste to the ship, while a dragon roared behind them. A gargantuan blue dragon emerged from the clouds and turned back to face the way he came, ignoring the heroes. Soon after a similarly sized white dragon followed, and became the target of the Blue's lightning breath. The White blocked the attack and rushed forward, but missed as the Blue shot skyward, launching balls of lightning from its mouth. Another roar and the two dragons were gone, back into the clouds.
Rurik then took the helm and the heroes got set to leap from the ship, using the new Windows of Escape to make their fall painless. Each of them leaped from the ship, rolling and spinning to land where they needed to go: The Star Spire, where the ley line was located. 15 dwarves followed soon after, leaping and plummeting into the spiraled streets of Mithrendain. Rurik kept 5 soldiers with him for when they return to the battle after hiding the ship.
We'll see how well the heroes deal with regrouping in an alien city while under attack by 2 white dragons, along with whatever forces are in the city.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?wqzmomzcuom#1
This session started with the return of you all from your fourth trip out on Death Knell in just as many days. You have made the final attack run on the enemy, as their forward lines are all but gone. There has been no resistance from the dragons, though there was a token resistance of wyverns, griffons and drakes.
With the return of your fourth and final attack run, the Death Knell is being put to repairs and upgrades, while Bronn plans the next series of airships, the first of which will be the dwarven flagship. Bronn also informed you that your share of the spoils was 7,000 gold, since there was quite a bit of treasure left buried in the marsh. Bronn also passed on his tinkering gloves: a set of what look like fingerless oven-mitts, made of fine ringmail. The gloves protect against heat and can deliver a nasty zap when charged, thanks to the gizmo attached at the wrist.
After that discussion, you went to see Remnar about borrowing the airship, at which point a mini-skill challenge ensued, and resulted in the king letting you take the Death Knell with a force of 20 volunteer soldiers for help in liberating Mithrendain. He also asked that this offensive be carried out in the name of the dwarves, and that any fallen dwarves be returned to Belegost for proper burial.
After the conversation, a bit of spending went on. Krayus had two Windows of Escape installed on Death Knell (1,040 gold), creating the world's first dwarven orbital shock trooper. Tallon tattooed Runt with a Quick-Step Tattoo (2,600 gold), and Lumi did some things for which most deities would forsake him. All in all, you are left with 15,800 gold.
Bronn's Boxing Gloves of Tinkering:
Level: 16
Price: 45,000 gp
Item Slot: Hands
Property: Gain resist 10 fire.
Power (Daily * Lightning): Minor Action. The next attack power you use deals 2d6 extra lightning damage.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?tznzmytydvw
The battle aboard the Death Knell airship over the Fenreach Marshes continued with the emergence of Aldrazat, a fully grown adult black dragon. The first half of the battle was slow and Aldrazat took a toll on the ship, and nearly killed Bronn. Luckily Sorn escorted him down below decks and bandaged him up, though he'll most likely lose a limb or two.
With a well-placed cannon shot Aldrazat dropped down, not dead, but wounded. His return was a surprising one as he ambushed the back of the ship while a younger dragon came flying in perpendicular. This younger dragon was a female black wyrm Azshaldara. Together they fought, but both fell to the might of the Order, and their newest toy, Death Knell.
After the two dragons were slain you turned around, the engineers having dropped all the dragonfire and covered the marshes in green fire. You made it back to the mountains, and the hanger where the ship was originally docked.
NOTES: You all leveled up! Send me an updated character sheet by next week!
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?nwnmzf0dojm
Thus begins the meta-combat airship battle you've all been waiting for! The battle began with a heart-stopping plunge off a cliff before leveling out and riding towards the dragon's army. First you were met with a platoon of wyvern cavalry, all of which took strong measures to pick off Bronn, but you did well to keep him alive. You were also assailed by native vulture drakes. These beasts rammed straight into the ship and attempted to overwhelm you before you could react. Luckily Runt, the newest member of the team, and Orsik were able to beat them back before Sorn finished them off.
Wyverns fell like flies to the mighty cannons and balista the ship is loaded with. Not to mention the lightning generator. All in all, the ship was damaged a bit, and Bronn is slightly bloodied, and the rest of you are still going strong but will need to outlast the rest of the enemies… Namely the black dragon Aldrazat that's shown his face.
We'll see next week how you fare aboard Death Knell.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?lr0mwewxy4y
This session started nice and calm atop a mountain. From there it went downhill FAST. It started with climbing down the mountain, which alerted some wyvern patrols. The patrols didn't spot you, but notified the camp to increase patrols. Even still, you broke into their camp. From there you made it half way in before a guard spotted you. He went to warn a sentry, but Tallon made his demon turn into a gibbering orb, which scarred the crap out of the guard. Orsik them did a running tackle into a sentry tower, collapsing it on top of the orc, and the yuan-ti sentry. At this point, a raven swooped down and perched on the tower. From here you guys ran.
You ran, and ran some more, trashing tents and towers to cause chaos to throw off the pursuers. You make it to the catapults, but only just ahead of a group of guards. You manage to destroy all the catapults fairly quickly, and take out the squad of orcs and worgs. From there, it's a straight shot to home. Thankfully, nothing got in your way, though that's mostly due to some excellent use of powers on the party's part.
Once back in Belegost, you were whisked away to the upper reaches of the mountain where Chief Engineer Bronn showed you the beautiful airship that is to be either their ace in the hole, or final attempt at freedom. He told you that the ship housed many different weapons, and that you would have to defend the ship while some engineers dropped Dragonfire on the enemies. It will definitely be a fight to remember.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?zmidmfamyzk
After first stepping foot in the Feywild Lia began to feel different. Her primal instincts kicked in more, and she felt uneasy. Soon she began hearing muted whispers in the wind, and seeing figures in the shadows. The voices were quiet at first, but grew louder the deeper into the ancient forest she traveled. She could see the trees swaying as she past, almost beckoning to her. The whispering grew louder. She could hear voices, thousands of voices. The wind, the earth, the sun, the moon… They all spoke to her. She felt their calling. She was walking through a land filled with spirits. Filled with ancient vestiges since before time itself had any meaning. This continued on for the remainder of her time here. She was being called by them, though she did not know why.
This escalated to a point where she couldn't handle it any more. After her companions left to go check out the towers, she felt compelled to wander into the forest, and so she did. She followed the whispers and shadows until she was thoroughly lost. She couldn't tell how far she'd come, or where she might be. Time stood still. It was there she was able to end the whispers.
She found the spirits, surrounding her. She was overwhelmed at first, but grew comforted by their presence; at least she wasn't deluding herself that her task was real. There was an exchange. It isn't known what Lia heard, or what the spirits said to her, but it must have been important. After returning to Senaliesse, Lia made the decision to return to Eldarnath and aid the Elves on behalf of the Order. Something changed within her. Whatever happened with nature's avatars, she was compelled to return to her forest; she had been away too long.
Such ends the story of Lia Chaedi as a foremost member of the Order of Vigilance.
A slow session tonight, the heroes made plans with the Summer Queen to retake Mithrendain, to whom you presented the bloody head of Enaki. Together you agreed that if you retake the city, the eladrin would aid you in combating the more powerful dragons. To that end you learned that the city's power source is being diverted towards something, and that power source needs to be restored before the eladrin can teleport and provide backup.
To get to Mithrendain you have traveled to the Dwarven Kingdom, in hopes of finding a flying machine. Once you had spoken with Remnar you decided to help the dwarves break their siege so that you may use their flying machine. For that you will have to sneak into the army's camp and destroy the catapults that prevent the dwarves from launching their airship. Once that is done, you will be able to use the airship to break up Gulgol's army. From there, it's your hope that you'll get to use the ship to travel to Mithrendain.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?lmxhfn1lzym
The battle with Enaki the Preserver (or Corrupter) began! Her poisonous and debilitating powers took their toll as you found yourself taking damage or slowed most of the fight. Not only that, but dragonborn-like creatures fought with Enaki. They had wings and looks more like lizard-men than dragonborn, and they didn't talk, In fact, they were pretty weak, and fell within the first few moments of combat.
With Enaki on her own, she put up a tough fight, using her poison to keep some of you at bay, and protect herself. In the end, Krayus and Orsik double-teamed her and charged her into oblivion, though the rest of the party was quite helpful in locking down Enaki so that she could not move out of your dragon standard's range.
In the end you were victorious. During your after-battle rest you saw a bulky dragonborn exit the shrine to the north, and upon seeing Enaki dead, he leaped off the tower batman-style and flew between the trees until he was out of sight. In the shrine you found the dragon's horde, which contained the following:
12,440 gold
+3 Timeless Locket
+3 Sky Dragon's Armor (Frozen Armor)
Circlet of Arkhosia
You also found a sort of ritual book written in draconic that has several missing pages in the middle.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?yjtmgnnyyoz
You started this session knowing what tower you were meant to investigate, and thus you began your search for whatever the Summer Queen wanted you to eradicate. You quickly realized that you were facing lycanthropes: two werewolves and a weretiger. There might have been more, but they had either died or been kicked out.
You defeated the were-creatures efficiently, utilizing teamwork and cohesion to bring your foes down. There was nothing as you ascended the tower until the 5th floor, where the tree took over the fortress and broke through the next several floors, making the ascent much tougher. You also happened to run into a green dragon. Not just any green dragon, but this one you remember as the wyrm that you saw attacking the elven outpost and in the drow cave (where you found out about their experiments). Enaki the Preserver, as she titles herself, held a short conversation and lured you upwards, into the tree. You succeeded in climbing out, but only just. Once you reached the top, you found you stood on the roof, inside the tree-canopy and Enaki was circling, waiting for you. Thus, the battle began…
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?jyztnmonwkz
You traveled the Feywild, enduring the psychological effect it has all of you, making true feelings stronger. You took a rope-ride up to the tree-top palace of Senaliesse, home of the Summer Queen, Tiandra. There you spoke with the Queen, who agreed to your plan, though in exchange, you would show her that you are capable of what you say you are, by clearing out a few watch-towers of some mysterious enemy.
There was a lot of good role-playing this session on all parts, so I suggest if you want to remember what happened in detail, you should read the session log. There were quite a few excellent moments that I'll have to make comics out of.
You purchased two items, and sold one. Tallon sold his +2 Shimmering Robe, while Lumi bought a runed coffin to use with the Leomund's Secret Chest ritual. For the group, a Standard of the Silver Dragon was purchased, bearing the draconic name D'Argent in elven script. If you would like to keep track of items, you may refer to this page.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?hywzwmjtjgx
Our heroes slew the Fanglord after a mighty battle, and just barely managed to stop the wretch from killing Lia's sister, Yelena. The battle was intense, but you came out victorious. After the battle, as you were patching Yelena's wounds and making sure she was still with the living, Shandria burst into the temple and told you the battle was won.
The drow had been routed, captured, or they had fled. The captured prisoners are going to go before the eladrin court to be punished as proper protocol states; they are prisoners of war and given all the rights there-of. The battle, though, was not without loss. Most of the eladrin survived, but for every elf that remains living, 2 others died. 30 elves make up the resistance now, along with the addition of their new leader, [[:queen_tarial | Queen Tarial]. Lia's sister, Yelena, will be with them as well, under the protection of the queen. Aramir, since he survived, will also remain in Eldarnath to help the forces.
After the battle, you were payed by Shandria for your help through some spoils of war. You were given 10,300 gold worth of mundane valuables, coins, gems, trinkets and jewelry. Among the pile there was a magic ring, along with of black leather boots. The ring is a Ring of Shadow Travel (AV), and the boots are Shadowdancer's Boots (AV2). Not only did you find riches in coin, but also in knowledge, for you have earned enough experience to reach level 12.
After returning to the forest and taking a well-deserved rest, our heroes set out with Shandria and her company. Their going is slow, as she and her 15 spell-swords are also bringing with them the 40 or so drow prisoners, who are kept blindfolded, gagged and restrained. You continue to head south, into the very heart of Eldarnath. The forest is less corrupted here, though signs of taint still appear frequently, it is less powerful than before. Shandria explains that is most likely because the Feywild and the Material Plane cross over here, and the Fey energies are enough to counter the corruption.
You reach a fairly large field where grass and multi-colored flowers grow in abundance. The air shimmers and distorts like the air above a fire. The sun in the sky seems brighter, and from in the field, the shadows of the forest seem darker. You hear insects buzzing and birds chirping. The scent of the flowers is intoxicating for everyone, especially Lia. As you move about the field you get the sensation that time has slowed, and that each step you take, each word you speak, requires extra effort to complete. Shandria steps with no uncertainty to the center of the field and pulls out her sword. She draws several runes in the air and on the ground, speaking words of power. Lumenai will tell you that this ritual is the same one that is imparted to him by his sword. It is one to transport you into the Feywild from a crossing such as this.
With her ritual complete, you suddenly stop. Stop moving, stop hearing, stop feeling, but you don't stop seeing. Your body is frozen in place, but you see the sky turn to orange, then red, purple, yellow, green. The sky, and the world around you, changes colors, changing from vibrant to nearly monochromatic, from bright greens to deep reds. The world stretches, compresses, you feel yourself being pulled in two directions at once, tearing you apart!
Then it is all over. You are standing firmly on the ground, able to move your head around, with only a slight sensation of vertigo. You hear a roaring in your ears, somewhat muted but it soon clicks that you are near a waterfall, which is causing the noise. The world around you is bright, much brighter than your world. The field you are in is both similar and different. The flowers are much more exotic and there is not a river running through the field, which turns into a mighty waterfall at the south end. Beyond that there is no treeline. What was forest in your world is a cliff in this world, and that cliff overlooks a vast ocean, glistening light purple under the too-bright sun. Shandria looks at you, then to her warriors, and issues you the command to move on.
Level 11 Loot List:
Leave any comments, questions or concerns below. You can also take this time to discuss loot distribution, splitting the gold, buying items, whatever. You won't be able to until you get to an eladrin city, however.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?jnimwmde1yy
After disposing of the sadistic drow in their torture chamber, the heroes helped get Yelena, Lia's older sister, back to consciousness. Even with her conscious, however, the stress of her imprisonment left her slightly hysteric and paranoid. With a bit of effort, however, you managed to calm her down enough to where you could continue with your mission: finding and ending the Fanglord.
The next room in the temple is the grounds for that last trial, as you entered and found out it was the pedestal of the temple, so to speak. A long hallway, lined with spider-web-filled passages leading away from it, with a large stone pillar upon which stood the Fanglord, in his 8-legged glory. After a brief conversation the Fanglord the fight began: spiders emerging from the smaller hallways, flanking you completely.
The fight progressed, but is far from finished. If you fail here, the Fanglord will take his forces and wipe out your elven resistance, along with the rest of the forest.
Session log: http://www.mediafire.com/?jgjzvfjmmzf
You defeated Commander Zaknoril and stopped the drow reinforcements from arriving and slaughtering your meager elf war band. Luckily, you were able to distract groups of drow on your half-sneaky, half-lucky journey to the Temple of Lolth, and made it there with only minor wounds sustained. Once inside you sealed the doors and cut yourself off from the larger fight; you were taking things to the Fanglord now.
The first room featured two torture pits, one of which was complete with a drow inquisitor torturing a nearly dead female elf (who happens to be Lia's sister). A drow temptress watched over the torture as the inquisitor did his job. Two ogres lurked nearby, their job to guard and look intimidating, while a demonbinder stood in the shadows. A fight broke out (of course) and it appears this will be quite a tough battle, testing all your skills. Who knows, maybe after this the Fanglord will be a push-over. >:-D
Session log: http://www.mediafire.com/?x0kvnyn2emn
And so began the attack on the drow fortress city of Phaervovral. You first had Sorn and Lia infiltrate the city and burn down the armory where their weapons were kept, and then the ambush caused the drow to fight without any leader. You broke through the bridge-gate and found Sorn tied up in the barracks, as the commander there saw through his disguise and thought him a traitor (better than a camouflaged tiefling). A fight at he barracks ensued, which shall be completed next week!
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?5tztymtgjwy
Leave questions or concerns in a comment below! Thanks for a good game.
This session entailed much chaos. Bloody, violent and crit-happy chaos. With a critical hit per round (on average) you decimated the drow blademaster and their leader Calias Archwinter. Though drow did show up towards the end, since they planned to trap you, you slew them, along with mysterious archers in the woods, who turned out to be the elven resistance. You even stopped the escape of an Illithid who was dealing with the drow (for whatever reason Illithids do anything).
After the combat you found out that Lady Shandria, First Sword of Mithrendain, was leading the elven resistance. Apparently she, and a small group of her soldiers, came back to the Material Plane after fleeing their overrun city. The Court wouldn't let her take their army back to fight, but she was able to start the elven resistance, and protect it by moving in and out of the Feywild to avoid attack when they were pinned down.
Lady Shandria informed you that her plan is the rescue several elven nobles from the drow city near where you are. The city is watched over by the Fanglord, a sinister and very powerful drow leader. This attack will be your way to earn Shandria's trust, and if you succeed she will take you to talk with her matron, The Summer Queen. Perhaps then you can convince the eladrin to join in the fight for the world.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?0k0wjoo4qmh
Notes: You found some loot. +3 Armor of Night, a statue with some black pearls worth around 3k gold, and a box of gems worth about 1k gold.
Leave any questions or comments below! I had a great session, and this combat was a real fun one to really pull out all the stops. Hope you enjoyed it too.
Note about the secondary storyline: Justin will be DMing a one shot that will take place in the desert. The session will most likely happen after you reach level 12 (which is after you take the city, if you can actually take it). I'll let Justin post any specifics as he deems fit.
Our heroes traveled through Eldarnath on their way to the Fey Crossing in the southern region. However, as they walked, they came upon a camp of drow and their goblin minions. At first it was an easy fight. The drow were no match for our heroes, but soon the goblins returned in greater numbers and brought along their pet Umber Hulk to ravage the party with its mighty pincers and beefy, shelled arms. Yet, even those were of little consequence to our heroes. They took down the hulk and the goblin taskmaster efficiently. However, as the battle wore on they moved closer and closer to the drow's central camp.
Once the Umber hulk was dead, they saw a dominant male drow standing atop a small cliff. "Well done, you have slain my minions. But your life will end here, and your blood will be used to empower our Queen!" he said. His words rang with authority. A lithe drow stood by his side, his eyes glinting with malice. A third drow, female this time, stands with a staff of webs and black iron, smiling maliciously as our heroes step forward to confront these foes.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?ttdto3zznjd
Questions, comments and concerns are welcome!
A fight with the wights ensued! It was a short battle, and only left small stains on some of your souls. What came next was much more odd…. A meeting with an old friend. Kalarel was his name, and you already killed him once. At the time he was trying to open a portal to the shadowfell to unleash Orcus's armies on the world. What he's doing now you aren't so sure.
After that meeting, which didn't end in a fight, oddly enough, Kalarel pointed you to a means of getting back to the material plane. He said that the only he wanted you there was to see how you had grown as heroes. Other than that, it's still a mystery. Maybe time will tell more of his story.
Once back in the material plane, you trudged through a swamp that was charged with energies from the Elemental Chaos. From frozen crows to living shrubs to flaming snakes, you hacked through the swamp and made your way out of it only slightly the worse for wear. After finding yourselves in the middle of the Nentir hills, you teleported back to Starfall.
Once in Starfall you met some new faces and saw some old friends: Thalia, Wafado, Ariel, Smoke, and Spaffy where all there. The new faces you met were Sora, the female dragonborn, and Aramir, the elf sentry from Torias Syrdaes. You learned of several changes to the way the world is right now:
A group of elves has escaped and formed a guerrilla squad that has been attack settlements then disappearing into the woods. Several prisoner camps have been attacked so far. No word on where they are or who's been leading them.
The dwarves are under stress again, and Gulgol is pressing the offense and cutting off the dwarves' food supply. Rumor has it that there is a flying machine being built by them.
The White dragon Rime has been biding his time. It is speculated that he is waiting for Mithrendain to shift back into the Feywild then attack there, most likely destroying the eladrin.
The hobgoblins and goblins have pulled out of Granville and are going back to the Forsaken Plains. Why they are leaving you don't know. Granville is know controlled by the dockhand's guild; which was previously notorious for smuggling and other crimes.
Ashwing has begun to expand his borders into Nentir, but that has been met with resistance by the blue dragons so far.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?jy4yjymeymi
After a rousing evening getting a group tattoo and drunk (total cost of 50gp from your personal stash), you find yourself ambushed on a silent side-street of Sigil. A group of mercenaries and bounty hunters they were; you killed a few minions, but knocked out their leader and the other soldiers quickly surrendered to your might. They showed you several wanted posters from Granville, where the High Aracnist is offering large sums of gold for your capture and return, dead or alive (dead would probably be more merciful to you).
These bounty hunters were given these wanted posters by a mysterious figure, and the only clue you have to finding out who it is, is the wax seal on the envelope: A red 8-pointed starburst. You were told the person had that same symbol on his shirt. Perhaps the crest of an organization. After the scuffle, in return for allowing them to live, the bounty hunters gave you a platinum ring set with a pristine emerald in golden filigree.
The portal, in the Consortium Plaza, is a large half circle placed in the ground like an arch. Once you step through it, however, you don't find yourself in Tradegate. Rather you have been diverted to some type of crypt. The air is cold, oppressive and a sense of dread and gloom permeates through the stone. Your lights flicker off of several coffins, all of which seem to hold a secret. That secret is revealed when you enter further into the room. Wights exit from the coffins as an unintelligeble whisper breaths through the room like a wind. Fight or flee, these abominations are after your blood.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?yndhnm5ntnw
Hope you enjoyed your first post-paragon battle!
Turns out "crossroads of destiny" was a phrase that activated a portal back to your world. Except that it didn't go to your world, it led straight to a Cambion's bathroom wardrobe! Let me tell you, the Cambion was none too happy finding 6 fully armed crazies in his bathroom. After being kicked out of the house, you find yourself in a strange city, where the houses close in on you and the sky is covered in dingy brown haze. Not only that, but the city wraps around in a large donut shape, and you're on the inside of it: You're in Sigil!
After some initial panic, you set off to find an inn so you could regroup. A nice female tiefling named Kylie tracked you down and offered her services as a tout (guide), saying that berks like you, fresh off the prime, need a guide to stay out of trouble. Kylie told you all about Sigil, how it connects to all other planes, and portals lead in and out of the city and are activated using gate keys.
Once at the Chirper's Inn, you regroup and develop your plan of attack: head to the Feywild and convince the eladrin to take back their home. That requires both a way out of Sigil, and a way to the Feywild. Your way out of Sigil was sealed when you visited Lu Ruskin at the shop Tivuum's Antiquities. Lu is a well-known proprietor of gate-keys, and was able to sell you a key to the city of Tradegate, in north Nentir. From there it's only a short matter of walking up to Valyria and traveling to the Feywild; if all goes to plan…
In the city, you may purchase and sell magic items as you please. You have a group gold fund of 9590, plus whatever you have. If you split that 6 ways you have 1598gp and 4sp, plus whatever you're selling. I'll send out an email about that.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?znjtm1diznz
Hope you enjoyed it. I'm still not used to inter-city exploration/intrigue, but I hope I'm getting better! Can't wait to see where this goes.
You all fought a tough battle versus Energy Darters that threatened to overwhelm you as you tried to get the door open. Half the group slaughtered energy beasts while the other half puzzled out the door. In the end you succeeded, though it was a tense and close battle.
With the door open you entered into an extra-planar vault that contained statues of 7 deities: Bahamut, Avandra, the Raven Queen, Melora, Corelon, Pelor and Kord. The statue of Kord came to life and you conversed with it about the state of the world and your role in shaping its destiny. You were given the Mortal Instruments: items of power that will help you defeat the dragons. I don't feel like re-writing the conversation, so just take a look at the chat log.
You got a lot of new items. The mortal instruments are listed here:
Bahamut's Fang
Garb of the Raven Queen
Nature's Bounty
Emblem of the Darkened Sun
Mantle of the Wandering Master
Nehima, Charter Blade
You also received these items, which were placed in the chests:
10,000 gold
Chord of Natural Endurance (Cincture of the Githzerai)
+3 Drowmesh Armor of Aegis Expansion
+3 Drowmesh Runic Armor
+3 Heroic Dagger (Luckblade Dagger)
Platinum Scale (Battleforged Shield)
Rope of Climbing
Immovable Shaft
So far, your only clue out of the room is the phrase "Crossroads of Destiny" scribed on Kord's statue.
Session log: http://www.mediafire.com/?oo05ljzcnjm
Glad you guys got to paragon! I had a ton of fun with this, and am glad you like the Mortal Instruments. Leave comments, question and concerns below, especially regarding the items; I'd like to clear up confusion with them as soon as possible.
Our heroes descending into the cave that supposedly holds the Mortal Instruments. Upon entering they find a trial of sorts. Their resolve and will is tested by the six previous bearers of the Instruments. The battle is long, and hard. The power in the air swirls around, creating an unstable atmosphere for arcane and divine powers. The guardians were fierce, wearing down the heroes one by one until death loomed above everyone's head.
Then Duron fell, then Rhogar, and Paelias soon after. Sylvia followed suit, with Lucan and then finally Feodor. Nothing would stop our heroes, not even those of old. The guardians, the aspects of the gods, had been defeated. Their way no longer barred our heroes ventured forth into the next chamber, where they encounter motes of light flittering through the air. The motes radiated light that revealed the scope of this chamber: impossibly tall, with pits impossibly deep; are the heroes even in the mortal realm anymore? Have they stepped into some other world? One thing remains certain: they must get passed that bloody door to proceed.
The door that blocks their path is 40 feet tall, 10 feet wide and made of obsidian. Runes of all colors glide along the surface as if the door were liquid and the runes leaves floating on the surface. The door is like one giant lock, with the runes being the keys, if only they could be assembled and ordered correctly. This will be no easy feat, and will require the utmost care and precision…. Will it be too much for our heroes to accomplish? We shall have to find out.
Since paragon is so close, I would like to ask everyone to, once paragon is reached, do a little homework. I would like you to write at least two paragraphs explaining why your character chose the paragon path they did. If that is not enough, or is too obvious, you may instead write about what your character plans to do in the future, what goals drive them, how they have changed or will change.
Session log: http://www.mediafire.com/?qnenz3mytej
Questions or comments are appreciate. Criticisms of the battle are encouraged! I know it was a tough one, but great job pulling out a win.
This week started with some tension as our heroes stare down a fully matured brown dragon! At first it seems combat is inevitable, but some words were traded and you struck a deal: Provide a good enough meal for the dragon and he would let you live and tell you what he knows. And so the challenge began! Our heroes foraged for lizards, rodents and even a behemoth to prepare for this dragon's dinner. Orsik added in some of his booze while Tallon's demon friend set up the table just the way a dragon might like it.
Once the meal was prepared, the real problem came: would the dragon like the dinner you just made. It was a close call, but your efforts were rewarded when Arum-Kel invited you into his treasure horde. Full of food, ales, wines, spices and arkhosian artifacts, Arum-Kel's horde was quite a different cache all together. The crown jewel of his horde was the tomb and biography of Rhogar. The biography can be found here.
Krayus, thinking that they could learn the where to find these instruments opened up the tomb and found it protected by a magic barrier. Hoping that his hunch was right he took a deep breath and doused the corpse in flames. This revealed a dazzling display of smoke-imagery that ended in you finding a map of Starfall! Whether it's the final resting place or another turning point, Starfall is where you should be headed if you want to find out what the dragons are looking for.
Arum-Kel, in exchange for letting you destroy his most prized possession, requests that you return the artifacts you find to him. He let you use his items to find them, and he wants the end-result of your searching; it is only fair. Your next goal in mind, you return to Starfall.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?my5mno1dnzn
Great session all! I really enjoyed it and can't wait for next week. Have a Happy Christmas and New Years. Leave questions, comments and concerns as a comment.
This week we started with the heroes ambushing a group of human mercenaries and soldiers, along with their dragonborn commander: Khorvash, Sergeant of the Red Hand. The battle was short and fierce, with major wounds all around. Khorvash somehow gleaned power of Tiamat and was able to stun the heroes with his frightening roar and dark presence, but the heroes overcame! They knocked out Khorvash and interrogated him for the meaning of their presence.
Khorvash did not supply anything important, save that they were looking for the tomb of Rhogar to find the powerful artifact sealed with his tomb: these Mortal Instruments must be powerful for the dragons to send such a strong dragonborn to find it. They learned that there was a deep cavern below the ruins that housed a terribly beast to guard Rhogar's resting place. After leaving Khorvash in the hot sun, our heroes venture down the deep pit that lie beneath Rhogar's supposed tomb. The pit opened into a vast cavern, filled with jutting pillars of rock from a sandy floor. The heroes stand upon a square platform in the center of the cavern, that looks up to a large semi-circular platform that has a darkened tunnel heading away. To quote the last paragraph of the session:
You all reach the bottom after a strenuous climb, but since you are not rushed you can take your time. When you arrive at the bottom you find yourself standing on a stone platform 20 feet by 20 feet. A series of stairs from the platform lead to a higher platform. Your lights illuminate the cavern. It's quite huge, with several pillars of rock jutting from the sand 40 feet below. Some pillars rise higher than our platform, some lower. As you step to the higher rise of the platform you hear a voice. It is quiet at first, but grows louder, echoing around the cavern. It sounds… like a laugh.
The sound grows to a crescendo, bouncing off the walls. The hallway to the south is still dark, which is where the laughter is coming from. "Hahahaha…. HAHAHAHA…." From the shadows you hear slithering, before you glimpse a snake-like head rush from the shadow and on to the platform south of you, which is 10 feet above your platform. It is covered in brown scales and spikes. Along it's serpentine back are two elongated fins that look like wings. It's forked tongue lashes out at you.
The creature speaks, "You have returned, arrogant mortals. I have yet to finish devouring your commrades, and you bring me more snacks… HAHAHA!" The snake-like dragon leans over the edge and peers at you, sizing you up, presumably to see who would taste the best. It's tongue lashes out as sand swirls from its scales. "The way is blocked, foodlings. I have not had human in a long time…"
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?yde2nuejwim
Any questions, comments, concerns or praises can be left as a comment! Question of the week: How did b62 work for you? Was it any faster? It seemed to run faster for me, at least with macros. There were a few bits of slowness, but I don't think that was from the program, but rather from internet connections.
Our heroes faced the challenge of escaping Sunspear without alerting the guards. They rose to the challenge and met it head on. Or rather, they sidestepped around and quickly got passed the guards in the city. They talked their way out of the city and met up with a craftsman who builds "dune-gliders" for the army's scouting missions. These crafts are capable of speeding through the desert and terrifyingly high speeds, which you got to witness first hand as Tallon and Krayus pilot one of these babies south for two days to the coast of [Dorne | Dorne]].
During the trip you came upon a wrecked skiff half buried in the sand. There were several empty crates that once held food (as determined by Lia). You also found a small bag of coins and a jade statuette of a Yaun-ti, all together worth 540 gold. You aren't sure what caused the skiff to crash, but you do know that it was headed south. Perhaps they were headed the same place you are?
After another day of blistering heat and frigid cold you come upon the coast, where trees and ferns and cacti grow abundant. Not only that, but you find tracks from another dune-glider. These tracks take you through a carefully picked out path in the oasis wide enough for a glider to move through. Close after you arrived at a water hole where some behemoths rested, and the sand glider lie unused. More important are the ruins that lie next to the area. You hear laughter from within and find humans residing in the ruins. They talk and laugh and eat while you sneak into the ruins and hide behind pillars, waiting to attack. You charge, breaking up their meal and combat begins. Can you win after such a difficult trek across the dunes? We shall see next week!
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?znt55mt0bi2
Comments, questions or concerns? Post a comment below and you get a cookie!
After a brief rest at Starfall our heroes use the Travel Stones to arrive in a dank holding pen, filled with ravenous dragonspawn. Such creatures were born by mixing the blood of non-dragons with unhatched dragon eggs, and then performing dark eldritch rituals on them. It appears that these creatures were recently bred, as they were terrifyingly powerful but frail. Cages filled with cursed wyrmlings were in the holding pen as well. After a brief but bloody battle to defeat the tortured creatures you stepped out of the cave and into a small fortress area, where three dragonborn sat guard. Well, they weren't so much guarding as drinking and gambling.
After a fairly quick rush to disarm and restrain the guards Krayus and Tallon scared the piss out of them, and so began a long discussion about loyalties and shame and honor and trust. In the end, Krayus's words inspired the simple guards to step away from High Prophet Arjhan's propaganda and quietly spread word of revolution. Will Krayus get his army? How will the prophet react to this? Who is "the Hand", as the guards called it? Only time will tell. Right now the Order must work on getting out of Sunspear without being capture; a daunting task in its own right. Not to mention traversing several hundred miles of dunes to reach the tomb of Rhogar, and HOPE that the dragons haven't got there first.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?jqjn1zuwjkk
Any questions or comments or concerns about the happenings during the session? Leave a comment below! Bonus kharma points for participation!
This session you finished off the dryad and her entourage, and continued into the tomb. The next room contained the tomb of Lucan, covered by a large tree that extended through the ceiling. The dryad returned, and revealed several treasures for you. The journal and biography of Lucan was the first of these. Along with this you found:
Battlestrider Greaves
Gloves of Missile Deflection
Predator Earthhide Armor
Ritual Book (Call Wilderness Guide, Endure Elements, Traveler's Camoflage)
Lucan's Journal
You learned that the he held what is called a Mortal Instrument, which appear to be one part of a collective group of ancient artifacts of great power. You've also gained some information about a travel stone in Dorne, where Rhogar's tomb is supposed to lie.
You are now off to Dorne to track down Rhogar's tomb and see if there is any extra knowledge there, that can lead you to the instruments.
Session Log: http://www.mediafire.com/?jjj3rwkogau
There was a lot of RP info thrown around this last session. If you need help remembering it all, let me know and I can post more here.