Post by David on Aug 12, 2009 13:00:11 GMT -5
The heroes (Ichi, Maedhros, Torr, Idky, Squattingbeaver, Lowdog, and Yavin) have just driven off an invasion of demons and slaughtered multiple balor, but innocents have been captured and not all of the demons know their leaders are slain...
Lowdog, Torr, and Ichi tear down a teepee pole and break it into a ten foot long segment. Yavin then asks the party to gather around it and after Idky lighten loads the group, Yavin tells them all to grab onto the pole in order to levitate to the skyship where the victims have been carried off by the demons.
Ichi and 'Beaver elect to stay behind and insure that no other demons can threaten the refugees. Maedhros casts fly on Ichi and the pair zip off on the monk's magical broom...
Their first stop is the heroes' tent where 'Beaver casts nature's eyes to percieve which demons are where. There are two -- a dog-faced, multi-armed glabrezu nearby and a hulking rat-demon in the cornfields (which Torr later identifies as a uridezu). The pair decide to tackle the type III demon first, especially since it has grabbed a young villager. By the time Ichi and 'Beaver arrive, the demon has thrashed two braves as well. 'Beaver turns the broom in mid-air in order to use Ichi's momentum to propel him at the demon, but the glabrezu simply telekineses the monk into a tree. *THUD!*
'Beaver responds by hoping off the broom and loosing an arrow into the demon, which them recognizes the shaman as a "healer" and psychic crushes him in return, forcing him to erect a (shattered) defense and putting 'Beaver on the defensive. But, unlike a brave, Ichi is only a little bruised from the impact and thus leaps to his feet and smashes the glabrezu. Worried, the creature tires another psi attack before unleashing fear but both men resist the magic and Ichi kills the demon.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party gather onto the lightened log and Torr borrows Yavin's cloak in order to transform into a hawk. He then sinks his claws into the levitating wood and flies toward the skyship with the wieghtless party in tow. Ahead of them are several vrocks, each with one or more captives. The party is about 1000' below the demons when they clear the side of the ship and Torr releases the log and sprints after the vrocks, letting the rest of the party rise slowly with Lowdog and Maedhros' fly spells.
Torr reaches the deck about a minute and a half later. Most of the captives are dead with dozens of shadows sliding about draining the life of the hapless victims. Torr assumes human shape and bellows to the three nearest him to "dive for safety" while he holds off the shadows. Unfortunately, the Flan are confused and the shadows land a strike on the paladin, draining some of his strength. Desperate to save those he can, Torr grabs an old woman, a middle-aged woman, and a middle-aged man, turns his back to the shadows (who amazingly miss him!) and dives overboard. Unfortunately, drained of strength, Torr lacks the power to halt their fall...!
As the four speed toward the heroes on the log, Yavin looks up and feather falls Torr and his charges, allowing Lowdog to grab the two women and fly them back to the ground and (relative) safety. Torr hold onto the last man and recounts to the heroes what he's seen -- he would rather bring the man back up than waste time descending to the ground and then get back up to 2000' (the height of the skyship). To help, Maedhros uses his last fly on Torr.
Back on the ground, 'Beaver and Ichi go after the rat-demon, finding him on the edge of the cornfields. Ichi charges, but the demon bites the monk, its saliva paralyzing him. 'Beaver manages a neutralize poison, but is attacked himself in return (luckily, the saliva is slow-acting, giving Ichi a chance to land a few blows and keep the uridezu busy!). The demon's eyes flash red and 11 rats swarm out of the fields to attack the pair while the uridezu, now recognizing 'Beaver as a "healer" focuses his attacks on the shaman. A bite paralyzes Squattingbeaver, but he manages a slow poison before fully succumbing. Ichi ignores the rats attacking him and focuses on the rat demon, killing it. 'Beaver then animal charms the rats (while Ichi is slaughtering them!) and tells them to return to the fields, which they happily do.
'Beaver tends to the wounded braves and boy as well as himself and Ichi. Using his nature's eyes he sees a glabrezu is poking around the balor, Zurath's remains, but that François, Christien, and Narrissa are attacking it. He and Ichi head back to inform the three what is going on before speeding off to the skyship.
At roughly the same time, the group ascending toward the skyship is attacked by a glabrezu. This one jumped overboard and levitated to within attack range. It unleashes a blast of fear that causes the older man to frantically try and escape Torr's grasp, preventing the paladin from attacking, despite his requests to Maedhros and Idky to "hold this many for a moment". Yavin unleashes a mind thrust that erases the demon's recent memories and Maedhros magic missiles it. It tries another fear (having forgotten the effects of the previous one) before teleporting to safety.
Torr asks someone to "take care of" the old man and Maedhros uses a scroll to sleep him. Then, with Idky's help, Torr has the man tied to his back so he can do battle. He also asks for a strength spell from Maedhros to regain what the shadows stole.
Within moments, two vrock swoop down to attack. Torr rushes one while Yavin mind thrusts the other. Meadhros then uses magic missiles to blast off the wings of Yavin's target. The demon plummets to the ground, but manages to teleport to safety at the last instant. The other vrock, none-too-bright, attempts to use telekinesis to "take Torr's prize" but it doesn't realize the paladin can both fly and air-walk while the old man is tied to his back. Unfortunately, this also makes it hard to Torr to attack and easier to be hit. Yavin's mental attacks prove ineffective and the demon tears open Torr's arm, causing him to nearly drop his holy sword. Maedhros charges into combat as well and he and Torr kill the vrock.
The healers tend to the paladin and reach the bottom of the skyship's rigging where they turn all the shadows...including some in the shape of refugee villagers! Once the group reaches the deck they see the blanched bodies of nine villagers but no sign of anyone else. These innocents have had their life force drained by shadows and now join the undead marauding the ship. It's then that an alu-demon tries to gun down Idky, but the gun jams. Torr charges after her but she bolts deeper into the ship. The paladin runs headlock into two more vrock. Torr kills both with a little assistance from Yavin and Idky.
By this point, Lowdog, Ichi, and 'Beaver have joined the rest of the party on the skyship. The shaman is annoyed and reminds the party that this is ONLY a rescue mission, focusing his attention on over-eager Torr. Appealing to Torr's sense of loyalty, the shaman talks the paladin out of continuing the attack and regrouping on the ground below. Indeed, it will be hard enough to get everyone back to the surface with all the spells the party has used...so Yavin tries to convince Idky to join him in "a great sport among spell-jamming crew, re-entry diving." The cleric of Fharlanghn hesitates and 'Beaver escorts him to the flying broom but Maedhros agrees and the pair jump to the ground, feather falling at the last instant and gently zig-zagging to safety.
The party regroups at Turquoise Rain's tent where they find the shaman still unconscious. Yavin tries a combination of telepathic calls and psionic healing to revive her. The party questions the young Flan woman about why she cannot be healed and she admits to having recovered her mentor, Trembling Mountain's, rhion stone which grants limited invulnerability but at the cost of magical healing.
The group talks with François and his party and together the spell-casters all nap via Yavin's spell for an hour. Just before dawn, the Oerdian party heads back to the skyship. Maedhros and Torr turn the 33 shadows (former innocents and all) before boarding unchallenged. 'Beaver casts protection from spirits on Ichi, Lowdog, and Torr. Maedhros casts detect invisibility and Idky does a find traps before the group heads to the aft-castle. There the party finds a "nest" of treasure including:
Fur coat 140gp
Potion: antitoxin
Copper scepter 80 gp
Rare book
Fur pelt 5000 gp
Scroll:
Scroll:
Scroll:
The aft-castle is a dead-end and the group starts searching mid-ship. They find barrels of TNT (whatever that is) but no way deeper into the ship so the try the fore-castle. In the back of one cabin they find a secret door with a magical trap. Maedhros casts unseen servant off a scroll and has it open the door -- *BOOM!* goes the fire trap. Beyond are a glabrezu, the wounded alu-demon, a fresh vrock, and the vrock with the destroyed wing. The glabrezu launches a ray of fear that catches Maedhros. The heroes charge and slaughter the alu-demon and vrocks but the glabrezu teleports away while 'Beaver is removing fear on Maedhros.
Torr drops down the next hatch only to be feared again by the glabrezu, but he resists and slaughters the creature with Ichi and Lowdog's help.
The party continues, now fairly close to the runestone. They open the next door to see a glabrezu and a hezrou waiting for them. The type III demon's fear catches Ichi and 'Beaver. Before the paladin can reach the demons, he too is feared with Maedhros and Idky casting multiple remove fear spells. Lowdog quickly kills the glabrezu and the hezrou vanishes.
At the end of the massive hold is a sturdy door, already knocked off its hinges and propped in place, before which is the scorched outline of a tall, guant gnoll with a three-headed flail. In this room, however, is a vast scattering of treasure:
Potions:
speed
vitality
extra-healing
healing
mass destruction
super-heroism
emerald 1000 gp
pearl 250 gp (x2)
smoky quartz 25 gp
lapis lazuli 500 gp
pink pearl 250 gp
gold pendant of phoenix 5000 gp
gold/diamond anklet 4000 gp
fine wrought plat neckchain 1700 gp
4000 sp
9000 gp
1800 pp
Beyond is the runestone, floating alone in an empty room. Maedhros uses his lightning bolts to blast a hole in the side of the skyship. Lowdog then destroys the runestone on his third try. Maedhros, Ichi, and Yavin each grab a rhion stone while the rest of the party bails out, with Torr making sure the slower party members make it out. The heroes find they've recovered two more dull gray stones ('Beaver?) and a clear spindle that obviates the need for food or water.
The runestone shattered, the spirits are free and together they reward the heroes as they have each time since Pommeville. The remaining spirits, however, have lost quite a bit of strength and can only manage the following enhancements to their previous gifts:
Ichi: to hit bonus of 1/2 lvl (round up) vs chaotic foes now x2/day
Torr: to damage bonus of lvl vs chaotic foes x1/day (the spirit of the Lawgiver watches over the paladin)
Idky: may now move at +4" on any world that has a moon
Maedhros: the "spiritual forces" will intervene on his behalf if Babylonians want to kill him, but only if they contact their gods
'Beaver: may invoke max heal is now x2/day
Yavin: will earn +2 to bonus to Wisdom saves after another set of runestones
Lowdog: now cannot be sunburned, including sunscorch
Eeps: 5361 xps (base) + 800xps (each for saving 8 "victims") + mission accomplished (either 6k or 8k, depending on how many previous runs completed).
Lowdog, Torr, and Ichi tear down a teepee pole and break it into a ten foot long segment. Yavin then asks the party to gather around it and after Idky lighten loads the group, Yavin tells them all to grab onto the pole in order to levitate to the skyship where the victims have been carried off by the demons.
Ichi and 'Beaver elect to stay behind and insure that no other demons can threaten the refugees. Maedhros casts fly on Ichi and the pair zip off on the monk's magical broom...
Their first stop is the heroes' tent where 'Beaver casts nature's eyes to percieve which demons are where. There are two -- a dog-faced, multi-armed glabrezu nearby and a hulking rat-demon in the cornfields (which Torr later identifies as a uridezu). The pair decide to tackle the type III demon first, especially since it has grabbed a young villager. By the time Ichi and 'Beaver arrive, the demon has thrashed two braves as well. 'Beaver turns the broom in mid-air in order to use Ichi's momentum to propel him at the demon, but the glabrezu simply telekineses the monk into a tree. *THUD!*
'Beaver responds by hoping off the broom and loosing an arrow into the demon, which them recognizes the shaman as a "healer" and psychic crushes him in return, forcing him to erect a (shattered) defense and putting 'Beaver on the defensive. But, unlike a brave, Ichi is only a little bruised from the impact and thus leaps to his feet and smashes the glabrezu. Worried, the creature tires another psi attack before unleashing fear but both men resist the magic and Ichi kills the demon.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party gather onto the lightened log and Torr borrows Yavin's cloak in order to transform into a hawk. He then sinks his claws into the levitating wood and flies toward the skyship with the wieghtless party in tow. Ahead of them are several vrocks, each with one or more captives. The party is about 1000' below the demons when they clear the side of the ship and Torr releases the log and sprints after the vrocks, letting the rest of the party rise slowly with Lowdog and Maedhros' fly spells.
Torr reaches the deck about a minute and a half later. Most of the captives are dead with dozens of shadows sliding about draining the life of the hapless victims. Torr assumes human shape and bellows to the three nearest him to "dive for safety" while he holds off the shadows. Unfortunately, the Flan are confused and the shadows land a strike on the paladin, draining some of his strength. Desperate to save those he can, Torr grabs an old woman, a middle-aged woman, and a middle-aged man, turns his back to the shadows (who amazingly miss him!) and dives overboard. Unfortunately, drained of strength, Torr lacks the power to halt their fall...!
As the four speed toward the heroes on the log, Yavin looks up and feather falls Torr and his charges, allowing Lowdog to grab the two women and fly them back to the ground and (relative) safety. Torr hold onto the last man and recounts to the heroes what he's seen -- he would rather bring the man back up than waste time descending to the ground and then get back up to 2000' (the height of the skyship). To help, Maedhros uses his last fly on Torr.
Back on the ground, 'Beaver and Ichi go after the rat-demon, finding him on the edge of the cornfields. Ichi charges, but the demon bites the monk, its saliva paralyzing him. 'Beaver manages a neutralize poison, but is attacked himself in return (luckily, the saliva is slow-acting, giving Ichi a chance to land a few blows and keep the uridezu busy!). The demon's eyes flash red and 11 rats swarm out of the fields to attack the pair while the uridezu, now recognizing 'Beaver as a "healer" focuses his attacks on the shaman. A bite paralyzes Squattingbeaver, but he manages a slow poison before fully succumbing. Ichi ignores the rats attacking him and focuses on the rat demon, killing it. 'Beaver then animal charms the rats (while Ichi is slaughtering them!) and tells them to return to the fields, which they happily do.
'Beaver tends to the wounded braves and boy as well as himself and Ichi. Using his nature's eyes he sees a glabrezu is poking around the balor, Zurath's remains, but that François, Christien, and Narrissa are attacking it. He and Ichi head back to inform the three what is going on before speeding off to the skyship.
At roughly the same time, the group ascending toward the skyship is attacked by a glabrezu. This one jumped overboard and levitated to within attack range. It unleashes a blast of fear that causes the older man to frantically try and escape Torr's grasp, preventing the paladin from attacking, despite his requests to Maedhros and Idky to "hold this many for a moment". Yavin unleashes a mind thrust that erases the demon's recent memories and Maedhros magic missiles it. It tries another fear (having forgotten the effects of the previous one) before teleporting to safety.
Torr asks someone to "take care of" the old man and Maedhros uses a scroll to sleep him. Then, with Idky's help, Torr has the man tied to his back so he can do battle. He also asks for a strength spell from Maedhros to regain what the shadows stole.
Within moments, two vrock swoop down to attack. Torr rushes one while Yavin mind thrusts the other. Meadhros then uses magic missiles to blast off the wings of Yavin's target. The demon plummets to the ground, but manages to teleport to safety at the last instant. The other vrock, none-too-bright, attempts to use telekinesis to "take Torr's prize" but it doesn't realize the paladin can both fly and air-walk while the old man is tied to his back. Unfortunately, this also makes it hard to Torr to attack and easier to be hit. Yavin's mental attacks prove ineffective and the demon tears open Torr's arm, causing him to nearly drop his holy sword. Maedhros charges into combat as well and he and Torr kill the vrock.
The healers tend to the paladin and reach the bottom of the skyship's rigging where they turn all the shadows...including some in the shape of refugee villagers! Once the group reaches the deck they see the blanched bodies of nine villagers but no sign of anyone else. These innocents have had their life force drained by shadows and now join the undead marauding the ship. It's then that an alu-demon tries to gun down Idky, but the gun jams. Torr charges after her but she bolts deeper into the ship. The paladin runs headlock into two more vrock. Torr kills both with a little assistance from Yavin and Idky.
By this point, Lowdog, Ichi, and 'Beaver have joined the rest of the party on the skyship. The shaman is annoyed and reminds the party that this is ONLY a rescue mission, focusing his attention on over-eager Torr. Appealing to Torr's sense of loyalty, the shaman talks the paladin out of continuing the attack and regrouping on the ground below. Indeed, it will be hard enough to get everyone back to the surface with all the spells the party has used...so Yavin tries to convince Idky to join him in "a great sport among spell-jamming crew, re-entry diving." The cleric of Fharlanghn hesitates and 'Beaver escorts him to the flying broom but Maedhros agrees and the pair jump to the ground, feather falling at the last instant and gently zig-zagging to safety.
The party regroups at Turquoise Rain's tent where they find the shaman still unconscious. Yavin tries a combination of telepathic calls and psionic healing to revive her. The party questions the young Flan woman about why she cannot be healed and she admits to having recovered her mentor, Trembling Mountain's, rhion stone which grants limited invulnerability but at the cost of magical healing.
The group talks with François and his party and together the spell-casters all nap via Yavin's spell for an hour. Just before dawn, the Oerdian party heads back to the skyship. Maedhros and Torr turn the 33 shadows (former innocents and all) before boarding unchallenged. 'Beaver casts protection from spirits on Ichi, Lowdog, and Torr. Maedhros casts detect invisibility and Idky does a find traps before the group heads to the aft-castle. There the party finds a "nest" of treasure including:
Fur coat 140gp
Potion: antitoxin
Copper scepter 80 gp
Rare book
Fur pelt 5000 gp
Scroll:
Scroll:
Scroll:
The aft-castle is a dead-end and the group starts searching mid-ship. They find barrels of TNT (whatever that is) but no way deeper into the ship so the try the fore-castle. In the back of one cabin they find a secret door with a magical trap. Maedhros casts unseen servant off a scroll and has it open the door -- *BOOM!* goes the fire trap. Beyond are a glabrezu, the wounded alu-demon, a fresh vrock, and the vrock with the destroyed wing. The glabrezu launches a ray of fear that catches Maedhros. The heroes charge and slaughter the alu-demon and vrocks but the glabrezu teleports away while 'Beaver is removing fear on Maedhros.
Torr drops down the next hatch only to be feared again by the glabrezu, but he resists and slaughters the creature with Ichi and Lowdog's help.
The party continues, now fairly close to the runestone. They open the next door to see a glabrezu and a hezrou waiting for them. The type III demon's fear catches Ichi and 'Beaver. Before the paladin can reach the demons, he too is feared with Maedhros and Idky casting multiple remove fear spells. Lowdog quickly kills the glabrezu and the hezrou vanishes.
At the end of the massive hold is a sturdy door, already knocked off its hinges and propped in place, before which is the scorched outline of a tall, guant gnoll with a three-headed flail. In this room, however, is a vast scattering of treasure:
Potions:
speed
vitality
extra-healing
healing
mass destruction
super-heroism
emerald 1000 gp
pearl 250 gp (x2)
smoky quartz 25 gp
lapis lazuli 500 gp
pink pearl 250 gp
gold pendant of phoenix 5000 gp
gold/diamond anklet 4000 gp
fine wrought plat neckchain 1700 gp
4000 sp
9000 gp
1800 pp
Beyond is the runestone, floating alone in an empty room. Maedhros uses his lightning bolts to blast a hole in the side of the skyship. Lowdog then destroys the runestone on his third try. Maedhros, Ichi, and Yavin each grab a rhion stone while the rest of the party bails out, with Torr making sure the slower party members make it out. The heroes find they've recovered two more dull gray stones ('Beaver?) and a clear spindle that obviates the need for food or water.
The runestone shattered, the spirits are free and together they reward the heroes as they have each time since Pommeville. The remaining spirits, however, have lost quite a bit of strength and can only manage the following enhancements to their previous gifts:
Ichi: to hit bonus of 1/2 lvl (round up) vs chaotic foes now x2/day
Torr: to damage bonus of lvl vs chaotic foes x1/day (the spirit of the Lawgiver watches over the paladin)
Idky: may now move at +4" on any world that has a moon
Maedhros: the "spiritual forces" will intervene on his behalf if Babylonians want to kill him, but only if they contact their gods
'Beaver: may invoke max heal is now x2/day
Yavin: will earn +2 to bonus to Wisdom saves after another set of runestones
Lowdog: now cannot be sunburned, including sunscorch
Eeps: 5361 xps (base) + 800xps (each for saving 8 "victims") + mission accomplished (either 6k or 8k, depending on how many previous runs completed).
