Post by David on Oct 6, 2008 16:14:52 GMT -5
The heroes (Dion, Marc, Mikhail with Samhain, Sky, Daj, Pepper, Semi, Helga, and Alec) awoke and started to look over their loot as well as search the bodies of the dead. Just then, Jellie and Thera stepped through a doorway in the air, accompanied by a tall, well-dressed wizard named Treblo SkyMage. Treblo offered the heroes his services for a few spells, identifying items and casting numerous strength and other spells. The group then headed off to the Temple, several thousand gold pieces lighter yet better equiped.
Jellie scouted ahead invisibly soaring above the group thanks to the fly spell she bought from Treblo. The unruly illusionist placed the rope ladder in the window of the Temple and caught a glimpse of a Medegian-looking woman with three reddish-brown dogs within. The woman readied a bow and when Jellie got a good look at her, she realized it was really a veiled medusa with three rust monsters!
Luckily, Pepper had prepared against JUST this possibility. Borrowing various protective items from her friends, Semi and Jellie hoisted little Pepper into the window a moment AFTER she cast gaze reflection. The medusa turned to stone! Marc then hurried in and tried to battle the rust monsters, but the creatures were too fast and tough. They would come up to feast on anything metal, then dash away, forcing the beastmaster to chase them all over the upper level of the Temple! It was only by offering up numerous items, including two spare suits of chainmail that Marc and Sky were able to corner and kill two of the three. The last rust monster, however, escaped into the dungeons below.
The party entered and realized that 18 skeletons were also in the Temple, as if waiting for an attack command that would never come. Dion set about destroying the undead, backed up by Thera.
The heroes descended back into the first level with Helga using her find traps at the point. Thera dispelleda glyph and the heroes kept going. The group decided to bypass the locked door and explore all the unlocked doors. While doing so, they began to argue and something began to pound on the OTHER side of the locked door. Mikhail reached out empathically, sensing fear, anxiety, a glimmer of hope, and a psionic mind! Helga hacks off the padlock, but it's Daj who finally shoulders the door open. Inside are a dozen captives, all destined to be sacrificed on one of the altars of elemental evil...!
The heroes spoke with the group determining that most were merchants or servants. One, however, Elric, was a psionist trained at the Institute Clanndennagh hailed from. He joined the heroes, but proved quite distrustful of Mikhail once he determined who the boy's master had been.
The party continued their exploration, finding and slaying four ghasts without much effort. Then they came to a room with 21 men-at-arms. Jellie created an illusionary wall of fire to contain the fighters, but they came out of two other doors instead! Luckily, Semi cleaved his way through nearly all of one group while Marc and his pack of animals savaged the others. One survived (thanks to Mikhail) and Thera charmed and questioned the man. He was going to show the party the way to the second level, but the group decided to take out the demon-elephant, the gorgotch, first!
Heading back to the Earth Temple, the party seems the monster. It charges, but is stopped flat by Semi's aura of protection. Instead, the monster lets out a blast of noxious vapors which nearly paralyze Semi (everyone else avoided the worst of the effects). Helga invoked a prayer while Thera cast an abjure on the demon and Jellie conjured a demi-shadow earth elemental of her own...!
Too bad Ogrèmoch, the Prince of Evil Earth, took offense to Helga's invocation of Haela Brightaxe! Thera sent the gorgotch back to the Abyss, but Ogrèmoch brought Jellie's demi-shadow monster to life and set it on the party while attacking himself! Only the paladin's aura prevented the heroes from a VERY early demise!
Daj uses magic missiles to help Marc slaughter the earth elemental very quickly. Ogrèmoch, however, recognizess the paladin as the source of the protection from evil and tries to turn him to stone! Semi miraculously remains flesh and the entire party tries to deal with the Prince of Evil Earth! =8-O
Unfortunately, only Semi's +4 defender, the one he took from Omega, has any ability to harm the creature. This is where Elric and Mikhail step in as the pair use their psionic powers to engage Ogrèmoch and keep him from slaughtering the paladin. Each time the Prince unleashed a psychic crush, Mikhail managed to block it with one of his own defenses while Elric kept piercing Ogrèmoch's own mental barriers. Unfortunately, the Prince of Evil Earth wore down Mikhail and finally scored one hit on Semi, nearly destroying the paladin's very brain and dropping him into a coma. Yet, still he lived and his aura remained...
Marc, meanwhile, kept attacking, his enchanted ring funneling some of the damage he did to his foe as healing energy back into the beastmaster's battered body! Sky quaffed half of her potion of growth and enwrapped the 10' tall elemental. Although her attacks and coils did no damage, her body's heat was able to cause Ogrèmoch some minor discomfort. Jellie gave her oil of impact to Helga to annoint Thera's enchanted hammer and the monster started to reel under the onslaught as Marc's attacks were joined by Helga's.
That's when Ogrèmoch realized these were no ordinary heroes and could not be dealt with quickly. Having already proven all but immune to their spells, he used a dispel magic to eliminate all their protective magics and powers, INCLUDING temporarily supressing Semi's aura. Ogrèmoch moved in for the kill, but Mikhail's psionic attacks kept him from attacking physically. Just then Marc scored another good hit and the Prince of Evil Earth chose to teleport away rather than face death at the hands of these mortals!
The heroes argued about who should sanctify the Earth Temple; Dion finally one as he was the only one with holy water! The rest of the party took watch while Dion consecrated the place in the name of Apollo, even though the ritual took over an hour to complete.
The next move? The heroes are in surprisingly good shape although are low on spells...:
Elric: full (7) and 25 PSPs
Daj: full (37) but only two 2nd lvl spells left
Pepper: full (26) and cast two 1st
Alec: full (15) but cast three 1st
Dion: full (44) but cast four 1st, four 2nd, three 3rd, and one 4th
Sky: full (61) [1]
Helga: 30 of 50 but cast CLW, three 2nd, and prayer
Semi: 8 of 23 and -2 to hit due to brain damage
Mikhail: full (39) [1] and 24 PSPs
Samhain: full (24) [2]
Marc: full (60) **nice ring**
King: 20 of 27
Queen: 19 of 23
Bronson: 9+1 of 19
Jellie: full (22) but cast three 1st, two 2nd, spectral force, demi-shadow
Thera: full (46) but cast four 1st, five 2nd, dispel magic, two 4th
Jellie scouted ahead invisibly soaring above the group thanks to the fly spell she bought from Treblo. The unruly illusionist placed the rope ladder in the window of the Temple and caught a glimpse of a Medegian-looking woman with three reddish-brown dogs within. The woman readied a bow and when Jellie got a good look at her, she realized it was really a veiled medusa with three rust monsters!
Luckily, Pepper had prepared against JUST this possibility. Borrowing various protective items from her friends, Semi and Jellie hoisted little Pepper into the window a moment AFTER she cast gaze reflection. The medusa turned to stone! Marc then hurried in and tried to battle the rust monsters, but the creatures were too fast and tough. They would come up to feast on anything metal, then dash away, forcing the beastmaster to chase them all over the upper level of the Temple! It was only by offering up numerous items, including two spare suits of chainmail that Marc and Sky were able to corner and kill two of the three. The last rust monster, however, escaped into the dungeons below.
The party entered and realized that 18 skeletons were also in the Temple, as if waiting for an attack command that would never come. Dion set about destroying the undead, backed up by Thera.
The heroes descended back into the first level with Helga using her find traps at the point. Thera dispelleda glyph and the heroes kept going. The group decided to bypass the locked door and explore all the unlocked doors. While doing so, they began to argue and something began to pound on the OTHER side of the locked door. Mikhail reached out empathically, sensing fear, anxiety, a glimmer of hope, and a psionic mind! Helga hacks off the padlock, but it's Daj who finally shoulders the door open. Inside are a dozen captives, all destined to be sacrificed on one of the altars of elemental evil...!
The heroes spoke with the group determining that most were merchants or servants. One, however, Elric, was a psionist trained at the Institute Clanndennagh hailed from. He joined the heroes, but proved quite distrustful of Mikhail once he determined who the boy's master had been.
The party continued their exploration, finding and slaying four ghasts without much effort. Then they came to a room with 21 men-at-arms. Jellie created an illusionary wall of fire to contain the fighters, but they came out of two other doors instead! Luckily, Semi cleaved his way through nearly all of one group while Marc and his pack of animals savaged the others. One survived (thanks to Mikhail) and Thera charmed and questioned the man. He was going to show the party the way to the second level, but the group decided to take out the demon-elephant, the gorgotch, first!
Heading back to the Earth Temple, the party seems the monster. It charges, but is stopped flat by Semi's aura of protection. Instead, the monster lets out a blast of noxious vapors which nearly paralyze Semi (everyone else avoided the worst of the effects). Helga invoked a prayer while Thera cast an abjure on the demon and Jellie conjured a demi-shadow earth elemental of her own...!
Too bad Ogrèmoch, the Prince of Evil Earth, took offense to Helga's invocation of Haela Brightaxe! Thera sent the gorgotch back to the Abyss, but Ogrèmoch brought Jellie's demi-shadow monster to life and set it on the party while attacking himself! Only the paladin's aura prevented the heroes from a VERY early demise!
Daj uses magic missiles to help Marc slaughter the earth elemental very quickly. Ogrèmoch, however, recognizess the paladin as the source of the protection from evil and tries to turn him to stone! Semi miraculously remains flesh and the entire party tries to deal with the Prince of Evil Earth! =8-O
Unfortunately, only Semi's +4 defender, the one he took from Omega, has any ability to harm the creature. This is where Elric and Mikhail step in as the pair use their psionic powers to engage Ogrèmoch and keep him from slaughtering the paladin. Each time the Prince unleashed a psychic crush, Mikhail managed to block it with one of his own defenses while Elric kept piercing Ogrèmoch's own mental barriers. Unfortunately, the Prince of Evil Earth wore down Mikhail and finally scored one hit on Semi, nearly destroying the paladin's very brain and dropping him into a coma. Yet, still he lived and his aura remained...
Marc, meanwhile, kept attacking, his enchanted ring funneling some of the damage he did to his foe as healing energy back into the beastmaster's battered body! Sky quaffed half of her potion of growth and enwrapped the 10' tall elemental. Although her attacks and coils did no damage, her body's heat was able to cause Ogrèmoch some minor discomfort. Jellie gave her oil of impact to Helga to annoint Thera's enchanted hammer and the monster started to reel under the onslaught as Marc's attacks were joined by Helga's.
That's when Ogrèmoch realized these were no ordinary heroes and could not be dealt with quickly. Having already proven all but immune to their spells, he used a dispel magic to eliminate all their protective magics and powers, INCLUDING temporarily supressing Semi's aura. Ogrèmoch moved in for the kill, but Mikhail's psionic attacks kept him from attacking physically. Just then Marc scored another good hit and the Prince of Evil Earth chose to teleport away rather than face death at the hands of these mortals!
The heroes argued about who should sanctify the Earth Temple; Dion finally one as he was the only one with holy water! The rest of the party took watch while Dion consecrated the place in the name of Apollo, even though the ritual took over an hour to complete.
The next move? The heroes are in surprisingly good shape although are low on spells...:
Elric: full (7) and 25 PSPs
Daj: full (37) but only two 2nd lvl spells left
Pepper: full (26) and cast two 1st
Alec: full (15) but cast three 1st
Dion: full (44) but cast four 1st, four 2nd, three 3rd, and one 4th
Sky: full (61) [1]
Helga: 30 of 50 but cast CLW, three 2nd, and prayer
Semi: 8 of 23 and -2 to hit due to brain damage
Mikhail: full (39) [1] and 24 PSPs
Samhain: full (24) [2]
Marc: full (60) **nice ring**
King: 20 of 27
Queen: 19 of 23
Bronson: 9+1 of 19
Jellie: full (22) but cast three 1st, two 2nd, spectral force, demi-shadow
Thera: full (46) but cast four 1st, five 2nd, dispel magic, two 4th
