Post by David on Dec 8, 2010 20:47:48 GMT -5
The heroes (Idky, Torr with Zayüß, Lowdog with Woxin the eagle, Tensay the snow leopard, Masamo the giant constrictor, and Diawané the grizzly, Yavin, Stephan with Peter) spend the day planning what to do and speaking with the Goblin King. Treblo heads off to Oerth and returns with Artec Artlen, The Archer, half-orcish commander of the armies of Amberwood, as well as a young Viking girl named Björk with her cat familiar, Kelly. The party welcomes the new-comers and the SkyMage hands Björk a small token ("to be used later") with a smirk. In in the morning and head into the steamy, sulfurous passages leading to the lava dragon's lair. The moment Torr draws his holy sword, Wyrmsbane, however, Björk becomes aggetated while the sword pulses as if a dragon were near. The paladin and Viking talk and it's clear that the young woman's ancestry is not entirely human. Other than that, the first hour in the tunnels passes without event, despite passing one of the Goblin King's guard posts of über-hobgoblins.
The first break in the peace is a cavern full of stalactites which fall on the party, boring into their flesh. The heroes make short work of the piercers, although several of Lowdog's animal companions are wounded.
As the group continues along, a 25’ long worm oozes out of the wall behind Artec. The half-orcish archer notices and starts firing at it. The worm lashes out at him, missing. The Archer kills the monster with a few more arrows before anyone else can react. I guess there's a reason Artec's face is on every tarot deck on Oerth...
Continuing on another half hour, the heroes come upon a large cavern with three exits. Unfortunately, the map doesn’t show which tunnel to take. In the center of the cavern is a pool of iridescent water.
Stephan tosses a pebble into the pool of water, but nothing reacts. Hugging the right side, they get about halfway, 15 gargoyles swoop down from the hidden niches.
Idky casts prayer. Artec stuns two out of the air with arrows. Stephan magic missiles the wings of two gargoyles. Yavin attempts something telepathic, which doesn’t seem to work.
The gargoyles swarm the party, causing mostly minimal damage, except for Lowdog's animals.
Torr starts popping gargoyles, killing three in one round (nice!). Zayüß riverdances on his foe as well. The bear, Diawané, also shreds his gargoyle, nearly killing it while the snake, Masamo, bites his opponent. Despite this early victory, the fallen gargoyles join the fray the next round.
Yavin manages to get into one gargoyle’s head and tries to out which tunnel leads toward the lava flows. This is despite the assassin attacking the monster Yavin's established a telepathic link with...and in spite of the cleric's warning...!
Lowdog kills one and stuns another and Torr and Zayüß kill one more each while Artec kills yet another. Yavin continues to mentally “interrogate” his gargoyle, warning the party members off.
Torr takes one Idky’s off him, killing one and stunning the other and
Zayüß kills Bjork’s. Bjork magic missiles Torr’s other one, killing it too. Idky yells at Yavin to start using his spear and not his mind.
Lowdog kills the one Yavin was interrogating, ticking off the dreamy priest.
The last gargoyle cowers, and Yavin gets into its head, but it doesn’t know where the dragon is, but does know which passage leads to "a hot place".
The group finds some treasure and divides up most of it before moving on and heading down the right passage. Meanwhile, it's getting uncomfortably warm with everyone now dripping condensation and smelling of rotten eggs. Idky casts auras of comfort on the animals and Artec.
An hour of travel takes them to a large chamber with a river of boiling water moving through it. It gets even hotter, and they now have to cross a 15’ wide chasm. They walk to the right first looking for a bridge. They reach the wall and attract the attention of 23 more gargoyles. Suddenly it's clear why the Goblin King's forces never move through these tunnels...
Stephan casts web at them as they swoop in, but only two get caught. Idky casts prayer. Bjork stuns a gargoyle and Lowdog kills one.
Idky gets swarmed and pecked at by four gargoyles. Lowdog’s bear, Diawané, gets his chest ripped open.
Torr stuns one and kills another and his warhorse, Zayüß, kills another. Stephan magic missiles one gargoyle and Lowdog kills one and takes on a third. The young Viking maid shows her worth as Bjork kills her foe as well. Idky manages to connect, doing his normal minimal damage and needing a rescue... It's worse for Stephan who gets raked across the face, losing his eyes. Idky continues to get seriously thrashed by the stone monsters and the bear is nearly dead and bleeding out.
Lowdog kills his gargoyle and Björk goes to help out Idky, nearly killing one. Stephan magic missiles again and kills two wounded ones. Zayuss takes a gargoyle off Bjork while his master kills another. Yavin decides to mind thrust one of the gargoyles on the bear, saving it.
The gargoyles continue their attacks, but Artec stuns his gargoyle, steps back and kills him with an arrow. Yavin continues mind thrusting the gargoyle on the bear. Torr moves to help out the bear and Lowdog gives the bear his potion of extra-healing, saving its life. Bjork kills another. Idky continues to be shredded, but he gets his revenge!
Bjork keeps helping Idky with his gargoyles and Torr also helps with Idky’s gargoyles. Artec kills one of Idky’s gargoyles with one arrow, stuns two others two arrows. The rest are finished off by the fighters pretty quickly.
After healing up, the group moves to the other end. No bridge there either. With magical assistance, they make it across the chasm and come up to a huge black dragon. Oddly, neither Torr’s nor Bjork’s swords pulse or seem to notice the monster (although Wyrmsbane is still taking note of the young woman!).
Torr charges and Artec starts shooting at the dragon. Torr hits it but it doesn’t feel quite right (not chaotic evil, given the power of his dragon-slaying holy sword...!). The dragon then breathes a short gout of flame at Torr, but it’s not hot enough (and black dragons don’t breathe flame!) and doesn't hit anyone else. Meanwhile, it misses him when it attacks.
Artec continues shooting at the dragon and Torr quickly brings it down, saying “This wasn’t a dragon.”
The next cave gets even hotter and steamier, so much so that without magical protection the party will slowly steam-cook in their armor and clothing. Only Björk's sword and Torr's ring seem to offer sufficient protection from this greater heat...
Status:
Idky: 46 of 62, cast CLWx4, two 2nd, all 3rd, CSWx3, CCW
Björk: full (18), cast MM
Kelly: full (5)
Lowdog: full (103), cast all his spells
Woxin: full
Tensay: 6 of 21
Masamo: 42 of 49
Diawané: 30 of 45
Stephan: 24 of 34, cast all 1st, and two 2nd plus adder
Peter: full (9), STILL HAS STONESKIN
Torr: 92 of 93, cast CLW, STILL HAS STONESKIN
Zayüß: 41 of 45
Artec: 61 of 65
Yavin: 41 of 49, cast CLWx4, PSPs 50 of 89
David's quote: "I need to buy a chastity belt to protect the only appendage that hasn't been chopped off yet!" at 10:45pm, November, 18th, 2010 after Stephan had his eyes torn out...and previous lost a foot and leg...
The first break in the peace is a cavern full of stalactites which fall on the party, boring into their flesh. The heroes make short work of the piercers, although several of Lowdog's animal companions are wounded.
As the group continues along, a 25’ long worm oozes out of the wall behind Artec. The half-orcish archer notices and starts firing at it. The worm lashes out at him, missing. The Archer kills the monster with a few more arrows before anyone else can react. I guess there's a reason Artec's face is on every tarot deck on Oerth...
Continuing on another half hour, the heroes come upon a large cavern with three exits. Unfortunately, the map doesn’t show which tunnel to take. In the center of the cavern is a pool of iridescent water.
Stephan tosses a pebble into the pool of water, but nothing reacts. Hugging the right side, they get about halfway, 15 gargoyles swoop down from the hidden niches.
Idky casts prayer. Artec stuns two out of the air with arrows. Stephan magic missiles the wings of two gargoyles. Yavin attempts something telepathic, which doesn’t seem to work.
The gargoyles swarm the party, causing mostly minimal damage, except for Lowdog's animals.
Torr starts popping gargoyles, killing three in one round (nice!). Zayüß riverdances on his foe as well. The bear, Diawané, also shreds his gargoyle, nearly killing it while the snake, Masamo, bites his opponent. Despite this early victory, the fallen gargoyles join the fray the next round.
Yavin manages to get into one gargoyle’s head and tries to out which tunnel leads toward the lava flows. This is despite the assassin attacking the monster Yavin's established a telepathic link with...and in spite of the cleric's warning...!
Lowdog kills one and stuns another and Torr and Zayüß kill one more each while Artec kills yet another. Yavin continues to mentally “interrogate” his gargoyle, warning the party members off.
Torr takes one Idky’s off him, killing one and stunning the other and
Zayüß kills Bjork’s. Bjork magic missiles Torr’s other one, killing it too. Idky yells at Yavin to start using his spear and not his mind.
Lowdog kills the one Yavin was interrogating, ticking off the dreamy priest.
The last gargoyle cowers, and Yavin gets into its head, but it doesn’t know where the dragon is, but does know which passage leads to "a hot place".
The group finds some treasure and divides up most of it before moving on and heading down the right passage. Meanwhile, it's getting uncomfortably warm with everyone now dripping condensation and smelling of rotten eggs. Idky casts auras of comfort on the animals and Artec.
An hour of travel takes them to a large chamber with a river of boiling water moving through it. It gets even hotter, and they now have to cross a 15’ wide chasm. They walk to the right first looking for a bridge. They reach the wall and attract the attention of 23 more gargoyles. Suddenly it's clear why the Goblin King's forces never move through these tunnels...
Stephan casts web at them as they swoop in, but only two get caught. Idky casts prayer. Bjork stuns a gargoyle and Lowdog kills one.
Idky gets swarmed and pecked at by four gargoyles. Lowdog’s bear, Diawané, gets his chest ripped open.
Torr stuns one and kills another and his warhorse, Zayüß, kills another. Stephan magic missiles one gargoyle and Lowdog kills one and takes on a third. The young Viking maid shows her worth as Bjork kills her foe as well. Idky manages to connect, doing his normal minimal damage and needing a rescue... It's worse for Stephan who gets raked across the face, losing his eyes. Idky continues to get seriously thrashed by the stone monsters and the bear is nearly dead and bleeding out.
Lowdog kills his gargoyle and Björk goes to help out Idky, nearly killing one. Stephan magic missiles again and kills two wounded ones. Zayuss takes a gargoyle off Bjork while his master kills another. Yavin decides to mind thrust one of the gargoyles on the bear, saving it.
The gargoyles continue their attacks, but Artec stuns his gargoyle, steps back and kills him with an arrow. Yavin continues mind thrusting the gargoyle on the bear. Torr moves to help out the bear and Lowdog gives the bear his potion of extra-healing, saving its life. Bjork kills another. Idky continues to be shredded, but he gets his revenge!
Bjork keeps helping Idky with his gargoyles and Torr also helps with Idky’s gargoyles. Artec kills one of Idky’s gargoyles with one arrow, stuns two others two arrows. The rest are finished off by the fighters pretty quickly.
After healing up, the group moves to the other end. No bridge there either. With magical assistance, they make it across the chasm and come up to a huge black dragon. Oddly, neither Torr’s nor Bjork’s swords pulse or seem to notice the monster (although Wyrmsbane is still taking note of the young woman!).
Torr charges and Artec starts shooting at the dragon. Torr hits it but it doesn’t feel quite right (not chaotic evil, given the power of his dragon-slaying holy sword...!). The dragon then breathes a short gout of flame at Torr, but it’s not hot enough (and black dragons don’t breathe flame!) and doesn't hit anyone else. Meanwhile, it misses him when it attacks.
Artec continues shooting at the dragon and Torr quickly brings it down, saying “This wasn’t a dragon.”
The next cave gets even hotter and steamier, so much so that without magical protection the party will slowly steam-cook in their armor and clothing. Only Björk's sword and Torr's ring seem to offer sufficient protection from this greater heat...
Status:
Idky: 46 of 62, cast CLWx4, two 2nd, all 3rd, CSWx3, CCW
Björk: full (18), cast MM
Kelly: full (5)
Lowdog: full (103), cast all his spells
Woxin: full
Tensay: 6 of 21
Masamo: 42 of 49
Diawané: 30 of 45
Stephan: 24 of 34, cast all 1st, and two 2nd plus adder
Peter: full (9), STILL HAS STONESKIN
Torr: 92 of 93, cast CLW, STILL HAS STONESKIN
Zayüß: 41 of 45
Artec: 61 of 65
Yavin: 41 of 49, cast CLWx4, PSPs 50 of 89
David's quote: "I need to buy a chastity belt to protect the only appendage that hasn't been chopped off yet!" at 10:45pm, November, 18th, 2010 after Stephan had his eyes torn out...and previous lost a foot and leg...