Session V
The cast:
- Hugo Reyes, Elvish Spellsword
- “Gaz” “Gazebo” Gazorpazorpfield, Dwarven Craftpriest
- Sinbad, Venturer
- Audarius, his henchman. Fighter
- Borgnar, Mystic
- Gnarrr, Thrassian Gladiator
- Aladdin, Elvish Nightblade
As was traditional for visits to Cyfaraun, the adventurers engaged in intense and excessive acts of decadence. When the alcohol wore off and they were again cognizant, they realized they had made a new friend, Hugo the Elvish Spellsword, cousin of the fallen Unser. Hugo had come to Cyfaraun seeking vengeance; learning that his cousin's slayer had already been ended, he decided he might as well get filthy rich.
There was then the question of what where next to seek adventure. The party was on the verge of venturing into the mysterious Black Mire when, gambling late one night, a local told Sinbad that a dozen black dragons were said to make the mire their home. Deciding that one definite dragon was less dangerous than a dozen potentially ones, the buried temple was hastily returned to.
As the party approached the temple's entrance, they were unsure of what they might find. With the kobolds, goblins, and bandits all defeated, which faction might have seized power? What they were not expecting to find was nothing. No one guarded the main door, no one stood in the main hall. The putrid corpses of Drusus and his brigands lay where they had fallen more than a month ago. Fear of the unknown being the greatest of all fears, this frightened the adventurers more than anything they had encountered so far. Having no idea of what to expect, they crept through the halls toward the orc territory.
Instead of orcs, they discovered an eldritch pool. Mundane in appearance, it nonetheless radiated an eerie energy. Knee-sized depressions systematically placed along its boundary suggested it had once been utilized by the cruel Zaharan sorcerer-priests for sacrificial mass drownings. Hugo, having some training as an alchemist, made to examine the water and learn what he could from it. He concluded that it had the capacity for both great weal and wretched woe. He thought back to words of advice his master had often shared with him, that “you make your own luck, Mr. Reyes”, and took a gulp of the water. Tragically, luck was not today in his favor, and the sorcerous water rendered him feeble of mind [in the process draining him of the nearly 1000 XP he had started with from his prime requisites and Unser's reserve XP]. “We all knew that was going to happen”, Sinbad quipped. The rest of the group guided their quietly babbling friend along with them as they continued exploring.
Entering the orc territory, the party was immediately struck by the wretched scent of orc foeces. Tracing this to its source, they came to an old animal hide stretched across an empty doorframe. Stealthy Aladdin pulled back the hide and saw a most peculiar sight: Eleven orcs sat in a circle, chanting slowly in unison. They were surrounded by old and rotting bookshelves, this room having once been a library. In the corner a dire wolf watched the ritual intently. The excrement caked around the orcs made it clear they had not moved from these positions for a remarkably long period of time. Knowing a bit of the orcish language, Aladdin was able to make out assorted appeals to Sakkara among the chanting, asking her to punish the interlopers who had so ruined their people.
Feeling that an assault on this room would be augmented significantly by a sleep spell, the party made a hasty retreat to Türos Tem. There they enlisted the divine powers of the priestess Genelen to heal Unser of his madness. Barely giving him time to reorient himself, the party then dashed back to the buried temple. As they had hoped, the orcs had not moved even an inch.
Like Unser, Hugo was able to finish his sleep spell before the orcs could charge the party. Unlike his cousin, Hugo proved himself a master spellcaster that day, for he put all but one of the orcs to sleep. Yet the beastman left unaffected was Apsa, King of the Orcs. Bereft of his most loyal followers, the orc king still proved himself a deadly combatant. First Borgnar and Gaz fell. The mystic escaped with a damaged knee, but the dwarf's sturdy spine was completely severed, and he bled out in seconds. Apsa's wolf, meanwhile, tore through Sinbad's knee and bit deep into Aladdin's chest. Yet Hugo, Audarius, and Gnarrr stood firm, and eventually their foes were defeated.
Once again, the party's strength had been shattered in a single blow. Yet Hugo had an idea. Before anyone could stop him, he grabbed Gaz's corpse and tossed it into the drowning pool. Gnarrr hissed and prepared to kill whatever might crawl from its murky depths. And moments later, with a great splash, Gazorpazorpfield pushed himself out of the water. He was alive! For a moment, it seemed his swim had had no ill effects. But then he felt a great pressure against his hauberk. Throwing it off, he discovered with horror that two fleshy tentacles now bulged from his chest! Audarius took this opportunity to vomit.
The party hoped desperately that Gaz's mind remained untainted by the chthonic powers that had granted him his new appendages. Meanwhile they hunkered down in Drusus' old camp and waited for Aladdin, Borgnar, and Sinbad to be well enough to travel. During their stay, they quickly learned to stay away from an old door behind the brigand king's throne. This door had been boarded up, perhaps excessively so. For every night, unnatural moans and groans could be heard from behind it. The adventurers knew that Drusus had not been lying when he spoke of undead living beneath the temple. They were divided as to whether this signaled great opportunity or terrible danger.
Returning to Cyfaraun, the party again sought the temple of Ammonar. Its priests were delighted to show their frequent guests a new golden statue of the sun god that the adventurers' frequent and generous donations had allowed the commission of. And more donations were promptly given. Aladdin's damaged lungs and Gaz's spine were healed. But the exchange was as twisted as it ever was. Gaz was left shaken and damaged. Sudden noises and lights left him completely stunned. And the energy needed to fix the nightblade's lungs must have been taken from his eyes, for he was stricken of his sight. Ever conscious of the important questions, he wondered how he would be able to shave his magically enhanced hair in such a condition. More importantly, how could the adventurers recover from this latest setback?
Mortal Wounds Count:
- Sinbad, knee wounded by dire wolf
- Borgnar, knee wounded by Apsa
- Gaz, spine severed by Apsa (later restored)
- Aladdin, lungs damaged by dire wolf (later restored)
Tampering with Mortality Count:
- Aladdin, blinded
- Gaz, paralyzed by sudden light and noise